“On the Brink of an Irreversible Climate Disaster:” Inside the 2024 State of the Climate Report

Patrick Mazza

 October 31, 2024
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Amos power plant, West Virginia. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

Scientists have issued yet another clarion call regarding our seemingly unstoppable momentum toward climate catastrophe. In a recent article, The 2024 state of the climate report: Perilous times on planet Earth, some of the world’s leading climate scientists lay it out.

“We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis . . . For half a century, global warming has been correctly predicted even before it was observed—and not only by independent academic scientists but also by fossil fuel companies.

“Despite these warnings, we are still moving in the wrong direction; fossil fuel emissions have increased to an all-time high, the 3 hottest days ever occurred in July of 2024, and current policies have us on track for approximately 2.7 degrees Celsius peak warming by 2100.

“Tragically, we are failing to avoid serious impacts, and we can now only hope to limit the extent of the damage. We are witnessing the grim reality of the forecasts as climate impacts escalate, bringing forth scenes of unprecedented disasters around the world and human and nonhuman suffering. We find ourselves amid an abrupt climate upheaval, a dire situation never before encountered in the annals of human existence. We have now brought the planet into climatic conditions never witnessed by us or our prehistoric relatives within our genus . . . “

Just how out of whack things are is depicted in one of the article’s graphics, which shows key climate metrics hitting levels way out of the historic record:

Credit: Ripple et al, 2024The scientists cite specifics of our wrong way paths.

The scientists spell out the gory details, illustrating our global wrong way direction.

“Fossil fuel consumption rose by 1.5% in 2023 relative to 2022, mostly because of substantial increases in coal consumption (1.6%) and oil consumption (2.5%).”

“Global tree cover loss rose from 22.8 megahectares (Mha) per year in 2022 to 28.3 Mha per year in 2023, reaching its third-highest level; this was at least partly because of wildfires, which caused tree cover loss to reach a record high of 11.9 Mha.”

“Annual energy-related emissions increased 2.1% in 2023, and are now above 40 gigatons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent for the first time  . . .  the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane are at record highs. . . Carbon dioxide levels were recently observed to be surging . . . Furthermore, the growth rate of methane emissions has been accelerating, which is very troubling . . . Nitrous oxide is also at a record high; annual anthropogenic emissions of this potent long-lived greenhouse gas have increased by roughly 40% from 1980 to 2020.”

“Surface temperature is at a record high, and 2024 is expected to be one of the hottest years ever recorded. Each 0.1°C of global warming places an extra 100 million people (or more) into unprecedented hot average temperatures.”

To the credit of this group, led by William Ripple of Oregon State University, they place the situation in the overall context of ecological overshoot.

“Global heating, although it is catastrophic, is merely one aspect of a profound polycrisis that includes environmental degradation, rising economic inequality, and biodiversity loss. Climate change is a glaring symptom of a deeper systemic issue: ecological overshoot, where human consumption outpaces the Earth’s ability to regenerate. Overshoot is an inherently unstable state that cannot persist indefinitely. As pressures increase and the risk of Earth’s climate system switching to a catastrophic state rises. more and more scientists have begun to research the possibility of societal collapse.”

“In a world with finite resources, unlimited growth is a perilous illusion. We need bold, transformative change: drastically reducing overconsumption and waste, especially by the affluent, stabilizing and gradually reducing the human population through empowering education and rights for girls and women, reforming food production systems to support more plant-based eating, and adopting an ecological and post-growth economics framework that ensures social justice.”

Will the world listen? Has it listened to decades of such clarion calls? A new United Nations report assesses climate plans of the world’s nations. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell states, “The report’s findings are stark but not surprising – current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy, and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country.”

Even if all plans are fully implemented, a highly uncertain proposition, climate pollution would only be reduced 2.6% from 2019 levels by 2030, compared to the 43% needed to hold global heating below 1.5°C, a limit beyond which climate disruption sharply accelerates.

The world is clearly not getting it.

This first appeared on The Raven..

 

How Bluey Conquered the United States

Cattle Dog Gusto

by Binoy Kampmark / October 29th, 2024

For decades, the cultural phenomenon known as Americanisation has taken place with diffusing ease.  Momentum was gained with the retreat of communism from Europe’s eastern states with the end of the Cold War and the eventual termination of the Soviet Union in 1991.  Global brands of Americana from fizzy drinks to Dallas became pervasive cultural presences.  Not even children’s programming was exempt.

Converts and devotees would mimic accents, adopt terms of reference, and emulate patterns of behaviour.  In terms of children’s programming, Sesame Street, the work of the non-profit organisation Sesame Workshop, has been the global standard bearer.  Jenny Perlman Robinson and Daniela Petrova, writing for Brookings in 2015, delved into its significance as an informal educating tool, reaching millions of children across 150 countries.  “What had started as an educational television program more than 40 years ago is now a multimedia platform that uses everything from radio, video, and books to the latest in interactive media and technology.”

In 2018, Australia made its own contribution in the field.  The Australian Broadcasting Corporation released an animated series that has since become a giddying global phenomenon.  The US has not been spared, suggesting that Americanisation, at least in some areas, can also be given hearty doses of its own medicine.  The series in question, Bluey, features an Australian dog of the Blue Heeler variety: one Bluey, a six-year-old cattle dog who lives in the Queensland city of Brisbane with sister Bingo, and parents Bandit and Chilli.

By the end of March 2020, the series had won an International Emmy in the children’s preschool category, something no doubt helped by the enforced isolation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.  In 2023, Bluey became the second most popular streaming show in the US, logging 731 million hours.  In 2024, the series became the most viewed show in the United States.

Such success was due, in no small part, to a distribution deal struck between the BBC and Disney in 2019.  “The warmth and authenticity of Bluey’s family dynamic is what first captured our interest in the show,” explained Jane Gould, senior vice president of Disney Channels Worldwide.  “Bluey reminds us all of our own families, and it plays out in the small but emotionally epic dramas of day-to-day life in surprising, heartfelt and very funny ways that will engage children and parents alike.”

The fascinating aspect about Bluey is its central premise: neither the viewing parents nor their engaged children are treated like passive imbeciles.  Both groups can partake in the themes of the series without feeling infantilised.  “It trusts,” wrote David Sim in The Atlantic in August last year, “that its young audience will be able to understand stories that are about the foibles and insecurities of parents too.”  The web traffic site, Similarweb.com, yields an interesting statistic: the largest demographic of visitors to the official Bluey website (Bluey.tv) are those between 25-34, coming in at 28.86%.

Fantasy and imagination mingle with testing, even potentially contentious issues. There are questions about premature birth (“Early Baby”); the appearance of friends who proceed to vanish (“Camping”); even questions about the fine line between full blooded banter and unacceptable teasing.  In a Father’s Day episode, Bluey’s dad, Bandit, openly wonders about the merits of getting a vasectomy.

Given such a format, it was bound to interest academics keen to tell us the obvious after generating the usual quantitative quarry of data.  In a survey of 700 adults – part of a research project called Australian Children’s Television Cultures – we are told that Bluey was most keenly enjoyed by parents wishing to view a series with their children.  Those behind the research project were keen to note the words of one of the respondents in describing the series.  Bluey was “representative of an idealised Australian ethos – relaxed, curious, and hard-working.”

The influence of Bluey has also been noted in another respect.  In 2022, a father in Massachusetts revealed that his child had begun using the term “dunny” instead of “toilet”.  This brought much pleasure to ABC Sydney radio presenter, Richard Glover.  “Finally,” he chortled in the Washington Post, “we have our revenge.”

According to Glover, US popular culture had ensured that Australians of his generation had “enrolled in a PhD program” on the subject. “We paid the price for our enthusiasm, regularly scolded by our parents for ‘using those terrible American words.’ These included ‘sidewalk’ instead of ‘footpath’ and ‘trash’ instead of ‘rubbish’.”  Now, it was time for those in the US, notably children, to learn that breakfast could be called “brekkie”, a chicken a “chook”, and “tradie” a skilled tradesperson.

Little wonder that we can find a Master of Arts thesis dedicated to the adult fandom phenomenon around Bluey, including its appeal to those millennials who show “higher rates of anxiety, a greater distrust in the American government, and disbelief in American excellence than those of previous generations.”  Anthropomorphised cattle dogs had become saviours of a sort.

Something else is at play here. If Bluey is naturalistic, touching on the raw end of life in parenting and children’s lives, it functions in a digital world that is less adult, increasingly infantile and increasingly disabling.  Children and adults are becoming increasingly estranged from relations through technological parting and an addiction to the screen.  Funny that it should fall to a family of animated Australian cattle dogs to tie parents and children in a gentle knot of play and accommodation.FacebookTwitterReddit

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com. Read other articles by Binoy.

 

What Venezuelans Think about their Presidential Election

by Roger D. Harris / October 29th, 2024

It’s been nearly three months since the Venezuelans went to the polls on July 28, and there is still contention domestically and abroad regarding the winner of the presidential election. This is not unexpected.

The US has not recognized the legitimacy of the previous two presidential elections in Venezuela and had announced way before this election that if Washington’s chosen candidate lost, it could only be because of fraud.

The official Venezuelan electoral authority (CNE) declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro the winner with 52% of the vote. The nearest contender, the US-backed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, got 43% of the vote.

That outcome was subsequently audited and confirmed by the Venezuelan supreme court (TSJ). Gonzalez claimed that he had evidence that proved he won, but refused to show them to the TSJ, even when he was summoned.

Washington contests the vote

US President Joe Biden had quickly called for new elections in Venezuela. Just as quickly, Biden’s handlers walked that back. The current US position is that the election was for sure fraudulent, but they are waiting for Caracas to issue data on individual polling places before declaring Washington’s designation of the actual president.

The Venezuelan electoral authority has not published detailed vote-count data. Their supreme court’s audit appears to be considered sufficient by the government. As Misión Verdad has noted in various Spanish-language social media, it is common in Latin America for courts to resolve electoral disputes:

• Peru 2021 – Keiko Fujimori claimed fraud against Pedro Castillo. The national electoral court certified Castillo a month and a half later.
• Brazil 2022 – Jair Bolsonaro challenged Lula da Silva’s victory before the superior electoral court. The court certified Lula 43 days later.
• Paraguay 2023 – Two candidates did not recognize Santiago Peña’s victory. The electoral court ratified the results certifying Peña a month later.
• Guatemala 2024 – Bernardo Arévalo was certified 5 months after winning the elections, when challenges in the first and second round were settled by the supreme electoral court.
• Mexico 2024 – Xólchit Gálvez challenged Claudia Sheinbaum’s victory. The electoral court certified the winner two months later.

Even in the US, when Donald Trump claimed fraud against Joe Biden in several states in 2020, the courts rejected the complaints, and Biden was certified 41 days later.

Moreover, it is a near certainty that the US will not recognize a Maduro government as legitimate irrespective of how well the election is documented. As a UK blogger observes, “The CIA has reacted with disappointment after the world’s largest oil reserves ended up with the wrong leader again.”

Meanwhile, an over enthusiastic Western press claims that the US has already recognized Gonzalez as the legitimate president of Venezuela, despite any such declaration from Washington…yet.

But what do the Venezuelan people think? 

Addressing that question was Oscar Schemel, head of the respected Venezuelan polling firm Hinterlaces. Schemel spoke at a webinar on October 24 sponsored by the Venezuelan Solidarity Network and organized by the Alliance for Global Justice.

Schemel is arguably among the most qualified people regarding public opinion in Venezuela. His firm, Hinterlaces, takes the pulse of the nation every two weeks. Their polls have been correct, calling most elections in the country within a few points, while most of Venezuela’s other polls have been distorted and politically biased.

Schemel himself is an independent, known for his objectivity. He has not been shy about criticizing the Venezuelan government. On the other hand, he fiercely opposes US unilateral coercive economic measures – euphemistically called sanctions – on his country.

What Schemel reports is that the number one issue on the minds of Venezuelans is not who won the electoral horse race but rather the state of the economy and, more to the point, their personal income. Hinterlaces reports 72% of Venezuelans want to “close the electoral stage and continue working.”

Venezuelans have conflicting views on who won the election. According to a Hinterlaces poll taken on August 9, a significant majority of 59% believe Maduro won. A very divided opposition, Schemel explained, did not have the capacity to mobilize voters.

Both pro-government chavistas and disaffected sections in the broader population are weary of the polarization, longing for national peace.

Polls show a consistently loyal 35% support for the government Socialist Party (PSUV). But even the party faithful seek a more effective and productive socialism.

A hardcore 14% fall into the committed opposition camp. But despite Washington anointing Gonzalez as the leader of a “unified opposition,” there is no one opposition politician that appears to have a dedicated following on the ground, according to Schemel.

Washington’s designated opposition leader, Edmundo Gonzalez, was completely unknown before he was personally chosen to run for the presidency by another US-anointed opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado. She was ineligible to hold public office due to past offenses.

In any case, Gonzalez voluntarily left Venezuela for Spain on September 8, taking the wind out of the opposition’s sails. His departure on a Spanish military plane was negotiated with the Venezuelan government.

US intervention in Venezuela

Gonzalez and Machado have welcomed US sanctions on their country and have called for even harsher measures to force Maduro out of office. In contrast, Hinterlaces reports 63% of Venezuelans believe that leaders who called for sanctions should be prosecuted.

Gonzalez ran on a platform of privatizing nearly everything, which runs contrary to most popular sentiment. Hinterlaces reports, for example, that 61% of Venezuelans reject the idea of privatizing PDVSA, the state oil company.

Schemel condemned the nearly one thousand sanctions by the US. What amounts to a blockade has devastated PDVSA, the primary source of funds for public services. Under the impact of US unilateral coercive economics measures, Schemel reports that the role of the state as a guarantor of social welfare has been eroded.

Washington’s “multi-dimensional war,” in Schemel’s words, has led to a decline in the quality of life. This “unfair and unequal” assault has generated anxiety and rage in the population.

The majority, Schemel reports, still favor a mix of socialist and private economic measures consistent with the chavista vision. Some 70% do not believe the opposition can solve the country’s economic problems. This majority wants to see the chavista model work more fruitfully, according to Schemel’s data. They do not want regime change but rather yearn for reconciliation and union.

In about six weeks from now, Venezuela will inaugurate its next president on January 10. Gonzalez, incredibly, claims that he will be back in Caracas to receive the presidential sash.

And what will Washington do? US Vice President Kamala Harris says “we’re not going to use US military” on Venezuela if Maduro doesn’t voluntarily leave office. Such a statement from the vice president of the world’s hegemon is to be welcomed. But the fact that she even thinks that the violent overthrow of a sovereign state is something worth explicitly ruling out itself speaks volumes.FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Roger D. Harris was an international observer for Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election. He is with the US Peace Council and the Task Force on the Americas Read other articles by Roger.

 UK

What Do You Say to Your Pro-Israel MP?

My local MP answered a letter I signed demanding "no UK arms to Israel"

by Stuart Littlewood / October 30th, 2024

I recently signed a letter drafted by Amnesty UK to MPs which included this message:

“The human rights violations taking place in Gaza have long been at catastrophic levels. Despite knowing this, the UK still hasn’t suspended all transfers of arms to Israel. Stopping some arms isn’t enough, there should be no loopholes and no UK arms to Israel

“The International Court of Justice has warned of a plausible risk of genocide against Palestinians by the Israeli authorities. Continuing to allow some arms transfers is not in line with international legal standards and demonstrates a dire need for accountability in arms transfers.”

Our newly-elected MP John Cooper, a Conservative, replied with the sort of pro-Israel froth we’ve heard many times before from his party. Here are some of his remarks, which presumably represent the ‘party line’, and my own responses….

JC began by saying: “Israel suffered the worst terror attack in its history at the hands of Hamas, and Palestinian civilians continue to face a devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. My thoughts are with the families of those still held hostage.”

Stuart Littlewood: What Israel suffered on October 7 last year was nothing compared with the terror, illegal occupation and dispossession inflicted on Palestinian civilians by Israel’s brutal occupation forces for the last 76 years. In the 23 years leading up to October 7, Israelis were slaughtering Palestinians at the rate of 8:1 and children at the rate of 16:1. Actual figures: Palestinians killed by Israelis 10,651 including 2,270 children and 6,656 women; Israelis killed by Palestinians 1,330 including 145 children and 261 women (source: Israel’s B’Tselem).

You seem worried only for Israeli hostages held by Hamas rather than the 7,200 Palestinian hostages, including 88 women and 250 children, languishing in Israeli jails on the day before the attack. Over 1,200 were imprisoned under ‘administrative detention’ without charge or trial and denied ‘due process’.

Add the fact that Gaza had been under cruel military blockade for 17 years with Israel regularly “mowing the grass” (you surely know what that means), and October 7 was clearly a retaliation. Or do you think the Palestinians should have taken all that lying down?

JC: “I want to see the Gaza conflict brought to a sustainable end as quickly as possible…. Pauses can also help to create the conditions necessary to bring about a permanent and sustainable end to hostilities.”

SL: How would pauses bring about a permanent end to hostilities? Under international law the correct way to deal with the threat posed by Hamas is by requiring Israel to immediately end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and theft of Palestinian resources. Wouldn’t that be a more sensible way forward?

JC: “In the longer term, I continue to support a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution of Israel and Palestine.”

SL: The Israeli regime has said repeatedly that it will not permit or accept a Palestinian state.

The only credible pathway was mapped by international law decades ago but never followed because it doesn’t suit Western powers’ ambitions in the region. They prefer lopsided negotiations through dishonest brokers like the US (and unfortunately the UK). This ensures the problem drags on indefinitely while Israel continues annexing Palestinian land and creating irreversible ‘facts on the ground’.

There can be no peace without law and justice. Failure to understand that simple truth has brought us all to the present horrific crisis.

JC: “I support Israel’s right to defend itself, in line with international humanitarian law. Indeed, it is important that international humanitarian law be respected and civilians protected….”

SL: Indeed it is. But Israel has no claim to self-defence against a threat from the territory it belligerently occupies. That has been made perfectly clear by the UN and many other authorities. It’s the Palestinians who have a cast-iron right to self-defence, using “armed struggle” if necessary, against Israel’s illegal military occupation and murderous oppression (UN Resolutions 37/43 and 3246). As China reminded everyone at the ICJ, “armed resistance against occupation is enshrined in international law and is not terrorism”.

It does no good to keep saying that Israel must abide by international humanitarian law. Israel has no intention of doing so, and everyone knows it. Israel wants to dominate the Holy Land and has advertised its evil intent very clearly for a very long time. As is well documented, it was a criminal enterprise from the start.

JC: “The UK’s position, which I support, is clear and longstanding. There should be a negotiated settlement leading to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state, based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, with Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states, and a fair and realistic settlement for refugees. The UK has consistently called – bilaterally and via the UN – for an immediate end to all actions that undermine the viability of the two-state solution.”

Longstanding is the word. So longstanding that you might ask why it hasn’t happened yet. It’s because Britain has played a leading part in blocking the two-state idea. We promised a Palestinian state back in 1915 in return for Arab help in defeating the Turks but repeatedly reneged on it – in 1917, in 1923, in 1948 – and continue to sidestep the issue. The UK position is anything but clear.

What would this “negotiated” two-state solution look like? Our Government can’t or won’t describe it. Why must Israel be “safe and secure” and Palestine only “viable”? One’s security is no more important than the other’s. The UK still stands in the way of Palestinian statehood while 140+ other nations have recognised it. At the same time the UK has done nothing to prevent Israel overstepping its 1947 UN Partition boundaries and seizing swathes of Palestinian land and key resources at gunpoint. And the UKGov (of both flavours) has been shamefully supportive of Israel’s year-long genocide and war of extermination which has sickened all decent-minded people.

In any case, why should Palestinians have to negotiate their freedom in their own homeland? Notice how keywords like law and justice are always missing in the UK’s position statements.

JC: “The Government’s decision to announce an arms embargo on the day that Israel was burying murdered hostages, and within weeks of British military personnel and arms defending Israel from Iranian attack, was difficult to swallow…. We must be clear that there is no moral equivalence between Hamas and the democratically elected Government of Israel.”

SL: Yes indeed, there is no moral equivalence. Hamas were democratically elected under the scrutiny of international observers at the last election permitted in Palestine (2006). Israel is no Western-style democracy with Western values — it is an unpleasant ethnocracy which recently enacted discriminatory nation state laws to prove it.

‘Think Hamas, think terror’ is what UKGov and mainstream media teach us. Branding Hamas a terrorist organisation was a propaganda masterstroke. It has allowed Zionists and other pro-Israel elements within our Government to avoid having to explain Israel’s far greater terror record, and instead focus hatred on Hamas (and now Hezbollah).

But the inescapable fact is, the Israelis wrote the manual on terrorism long before Hamas (and Hezbollah) came into being. Read their Dalet Plan, or ‘Plan D’. This was the Zionists’ blueprint for the violent and bloody takeover of the Palestinian homeland drawn up in early 1948 by the Jewish underground militia, the Haganah, at the behest of David Ben-Gurion, then boss of the Jewish Agency. Plan D anticipated the British mandate government’s withdrawal and the Zionists’ declaration of Israeli statehood, and plotted the ethnic cleansing that was to follow. They have pursued it relentlessly ever since.

You mention British military personnel and arms defending Israel from Iranian counter-attack. Why weren’t they defending Palestinian women and children from Israeli genocide?

JC: “For many years, the UK has been very clear that Settlements are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and threaten the physical viability and delivery of a two-state solution. Settler violence and the demolition of Palestinian homes is intolerable, and I expect to see Ministers firmly raising these issues with the Israeli Government, and taking robust action where necessary.”

SL: Agreed. But it’s pointless merely “raising” these issues with the Israeli Government. Settlements have been key to Israel’s expansionist ambitions since 1967. Pointless also sanctioning settler organisations. Many of the settlers are racist thugs on a terror mission. You need to sanction the criminals who send them into Palestinian territory, pay them and arm them – and that’s the Israeli Government itself.

Respected legal opinion (Ralph Wilde) puts it this way:

“There is no right under international law to maintain the occupation pending a peace agreement, or for creating ‘facts on the ground’ that might give Israel advantages in relation to such an agreement, or as a means of coercing the Palestinian people into agreeing on a situation they would not accept otherwise.

“Implanting settlers in the hope of eventually acquiring territory is a violation of occupation law by Israel and a war crime on the part of the individuals involved. And it is a violation of Israel’s legal obligation to respect the sovereignty of another state and a violation of Israel’s legal obligation to respect the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people; also a violation of Israel’s obligations in the international law on the use of force. Ending these violations involves immediate removal of the settlers and the settlements from occupied land and an immediate end to Israel’s exercise of control, including its use of military force.…”

JC also mentioned: “the planned new Free Trade Agreement with Israel”.

SL: This is now is being championed by Jonathan Reynolds, the new Business Secretary. For him and the Starmer Government it’s business as usual with the apartheid regime while it conducts its non-stop genocide against the women and children of the Holy Land. No surprise there when you realise that Reynolds is a vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel which, it seems to me, puts him in breach of the Government’s Ministerial Code and Principles of Public Life which (see ‘Integrity’) state: “Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work….. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.” Like all the other Israel stooges embedded in Westminster he doesn’t.

Question 1 – Why is the UK so head-over-heels in love with a depraved, criminal regime like Israel?

It is certainly not because we the British people share the Israelis’ moral values (although some in leadership positions at Westminster apparently do). The answer is probably to be found in America’s QME doctrine. In 2008 Congress enacted legislation requiring that US arms sales to any country in the Middle East other than Israel must not adversely affect Israel’s “qualitative military edge” (QME). This ensures the apartheid state always has the upper hand over it neighbours. It is central to US Middle East policy and guaranteed to keep the region at or near boiling point and ripe for exploitation.

The UK seems to have superglued itself to America’s cynical partnership with Israel for security reasons and in the hope of profiting from the misery and unrest, though it would never admit this. But the world, and especially the Middle East, is changing. Our track record out there is abysmal and we’re increasingly disliked.

Question 2 – Why prolong the UK’s century of betrayal by still not recognising Palestinian statehood?

Freedom and self-determination are a basic right which doesn’t depend on anyone else, such as the US-UK-Israel axis, agreeing to it. The UK thinks otherwise when we should be among the vast majority of nations that have already recognised Palestinian statehood. When 138 of the world’s states at the UN General Assembly voted in 2012 to re-designate Palestine’s status from ‘non-member Entity’ to ‘non-member State’, it had the legal effect of establishing statehood. But the UK and other Western influencers who are dragging their feet need to finally accept it before statehood become effective on the world stage.

UKGov recognised Israeli statehood quickly enough in 1949 after Zionist gangs carried out countless atrocities including massacres at the King David Hotel, Deir Yassin, Lydda and elsewhere, trashed 500 Palestinian towns and villages, drove 700,000 civilians out of their national homeland, and made clear Israel’s ambition to dominate the entire Holy Land “from the river to the sea”.

It’s time our political leaders understood that the British public don’t want to be tainted by defending and protecting a so-called ally that’s bent on genocide and the wanton destruction of another people’s homeland and heritage, and has been contemptuous of human rights and norms of decency for as long as most of us can remember.

Kind regards, etc.

 

Stuart LittlewoodFacebookTwitter

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Stuart Littlewood, after working on jet fighters in the RAF, became an industrial marketeer in oil, electronics and manufacturing, and with innovation and product development consultancies. He also served as a Cambridgeshire county councillor and a member of the Police Authority. He is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and has produced two photo-documentary books including Radio Free Palestine (with foreword by Jeff Halper). Now retired, he campaigns on various issues, especially the Palestinians' struggle for freedom. Read other articles by Stuart, or visit Stuart's website.

 

Bill Maher Strikes Again

Racism is no Joke

by Dan Lieberman / October 30th, 2024

An overwhelming white majority of baseball fans skeptically approached Jackie Robinson’s entrance on their well-kept baseball fields. After watching Jackie’s dazzling performances, the fans begged for tickets and attendance at Brooklyn Dodgers games soared. The racism that barred black baseball players from performing on the national stage subsided, or did it; did black ballplayers mean money and did earning bucks come ahead of racial exclusion? If Robinson was just a good player and not a superstar and crowd drawer, would the major league baseball fields have opened themselves to the marginalized black hitters? Recent events in the Women National Basketball Association (WNBA), founded on April 24, 1996 and struggling for survival from day one, revealed that Jackie Robinson only reduced the appearance of racism; a stash of cash always smashes the illusion.

Reports had Caitlin Clark, considered the college all-time greatest female basketball player and “rookie of the year” with the Indiana Fever, leaving the WNBA for the European League. Who better to ask about this sensational occurrence than political commentator, Bill Maher.

The comedian turned talk show host indicated that Clark was a victim of racism. After showing a clip of Caitlin Clark body checked by an opponent, Maher said, “We also have a racial element to this. We can’t deny that.” He followed the remark with, “Women are catty. The league is very lesbian and she’s not, and there’s race,” he said. “There’s a lot going on.”

Those words don’t proceed from logical arguments — body checks by a few aggressive players against rookie stars are not unique and appear in all sports. Holding an entire league responsible for the actions of a few hyperactive players is conspiratorial. Describing women as “catty,” and the league as “lesbian” and racial are examples of illiberal bigotry. The WBNA has predominantly black players, similar to the NBA . In the sport of ping pong, Chinese people are superior. In the sport of basketball, black people are superior.

Another comment attributed to Maher, which I have not been able to verify on any video, is, “Women’s basketball got on my radar — like everybody’s — because of Caitlin Clark,” he explained. “And the other girls and the league are delighted for her success. … I’m joking of course. They f—king hate her.”

This type of comment, that Caitlin Clark inspired many in the white world to become interested in the WBNA, which other commentators have stated, proves that Jackie Robinson’s exploits only reduced the appearance of racism. Caitlin Clark may be an excellent player but she is seventh in scoring and tied for fourth in overall efficiency in the league’s statistics. Just as the NBA is the same NBA without rookie of the year, Victor Wembanyama, the WNBA is the same WNBA without rookie of the year, Caitlin Clark. The white majority became interested in the WNBA when their great white hope entered the courts to battle black players. In the fortuitous moments, they learned that the WNBA league housed exciting basketball and entertaining basketball handlers, something their prejudice prevented them from knowing. Television and streaming services quickly observed the money flow and the WNBA, previously a sidetracked oddity of mostly black women hoopsters, became a sports rage. The next time, Maher charges others with racism, he should look in the mirror.

The rumor that started the crass statements has been body checked. ESPN announcer, Ryan Ruocco, reports, “We talked to Caitlin Clark earlier today. She said she almost definitely will not play basketball this offseason. So it is likely we will not see her play again until April.”

The decades apart racisms exhibited in the sports arenas are not isolated cases. They demonstrate that Americans look inwards and have a lack of unawareness that racisms, of many forms, are imprinted in their psyches. When the agenda of a controlling institution changes — financial, political, social, or economic — and the particular racism impedes the agenda, then Americans are told to change their attitude; an imprint is relieved.

By excessive attention to a genocide committed almost 100 years ago in a Western nation to Western people, a controlling institution has imprinted its racist attitude in the minds of Americans. The agenda assures that the World War II genocide is given consistent recognition, and the genocide by western oriented people in an Arab country does not register. Racism, as shown by Bill Maher’s remarks and attitude, is a significant factor that guides the genocide of the Palestinian people.FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Dan Lieberman publishes commentaries on foreign policy, economics, and politics at substack.com.  He is author of the non-fiction books A Third Party Can Succeed in America, Not until They Were Gone, Think Tanks of DC, The Artistry of a Dog, and a novel: The Victory (under a pen name, David L. McWellan). Read other articles by Dan.

 

The Test Case for Eradication of Life in Gaza

by Paul Larudee / October 31st, 2024

North Gaza has become Israel’s feasibility test for its version of genocide: total eradication of all life. All of Gaza north of the Netzarim Corridor, created by Israel as a barrier between the northern metropolis and the rest of the enclave, is now sealed off from any supplies, and the extinguishers of life are eliminating the remaining population and life forms, as well as all that sustains them.

Prior to October 8, 2023, northern Gaza was home to more than a million Palestinians. As recently as a few weeks ago, it was estimated to have as many as 400,000. Now, the estimates are closer to 100,000, and declining rapidly. Perhaps half of the original population fled to southern Gaza, where between 50,000 to 100,000 of their numbers have died – thousands from Israel anti-civilian weaponry, but mostly from malnutrition, disease, exposure and dehydration, predominantly women and children, especially newborns and infants. That is only among those who left north Gaza, and these are only rough estimates based on conditions and the proliferation of mass graves. The totals for the entire population of Gaza are at least double that number.

But the immediate Israeli objective is to create a wasteland in northern Gaza, where only weeds, insects and small reptiles survive. In Beit Lahia, a single bombing attack killed more than 100 civilians, mostly women and children. More than 100 such attacks took place in northern Gaza in October 2024, one of which eliminated the last remaining hospital, with its entire medical staff killed or taken prisoner. No food or medicine has entered northern Gaza for more than two weeks. Journalists have been assassinated, and few images or news have been received from inside.

Israel may achieve its goal of an empty northern Gaza as soon as the end of November. If so, it will serve as a model for the rest of Gaza, and the larger West Bank, as well. Until now, however, none of this has reduced the effectiveness of Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian resistance, even in northern Gaza. It therefore remains to be seen whether Israel’s Jewish settlers will be able to inherit the land.

In the meantime, Israelis continue to leave Israel, as many as a million or more since October 7, 2023, with long waiting lists for departure. 1300 out of 1700 reservists recently called up refused to report, and more than 100 active soldiers refuse to continue. Casualty rates of soldiers are beyond anything Israel has experienced, thwarting the ground invasion of Lebanon. The Israeli military is saying that it does not have enough soldiers. Trade with Israel has ground to a halt in many sectors, and hundreds of businesses have closed. Israel’s attempt to widen the war by attacking Iran was a near total failure. Its options are dwindling.

How many Israelis will face war crimes tribunals? Palestinians and their allies are compiling lists of murderers with incriminating evidence often placed on social media by the perpetrators themselves. Despite the inaction of most of the world, and the enormous weaponry and wealth placed by the US and a few other countries at the disposal of Israel, it is increasingly doubtful that the Zionist vision will survive any more than the Crusaders, the Nazis, neoconservatives, neoliberals, or any other delusional megalomaniacs and their visions.FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Paul Larudee is a retired academic and current administrator of a nonprofit human rights and humanitarian aid organization. Read other articles by Paul.