Sadly, as Muslims around the world decorate their cities, towns, and neighborhoods for the holiday, in Palestine grief is everywhere. Parents, siblings, family members, and neighbors mourn the latest casualties of Israeli violence. Countless Palestinians are joining their brothers and sisters in Israeli prisons – tortured, denied the right to a defense – and in Palestinian hospitals helpless in trying to treat the injured.
I will never forget the first time I saw the walls and alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem decorated for Ramadan. The celebrations, once the fast was over, included food and music, and families were out all night enjoying it all.
Equally memorable, yet sad, were the years 2014 and 2021, when the month of Ramadan was filled with violence and fear: while the walls and alleyways of the Old City were decorated, violence reigned. People stayed home with their doors locked, and Jerusalem was empty after sundown. Fears are mounting that this year’s Ramadan could resemble that of last year.
The arrogance of an apartheid regime
There is one point on which I would argue that the recent Amnesty International Report on Palestine was inaccurate. The report claims that the State of Israel is committing the crime of apartheid, whereby I would argue that the State of Israel is in and of itself the crime of apartheid. Israel is a regime of apartheid that has taken over Palestine violently and established itself through violence.
Now, over seven decades after its establishment in Palestine, we know that the arrogance of the Israeli apartheid regime is equal only to its brutality. Now that Palestinians are once again taking the fight into 1948 Palestine, or what some call “Israel proper,” Israeli authorities are quick to delegitimize Palestinian claims for liberty and justice and label Palestinian resistance as “terrorism.” Furthermore, Israel has declared its intentions to deploy more forces and bring more violence into a country already steeped in Palestinian blood.
the palestinians suffer and mila kulis never takes to the stage at the oscars to ask for a moment of silence. no, the plight of the palestinians is ignored by most of american television. there has been a huge shift from when i was a young college student. few would speak out, few would say anything. but our numbers have grown and they will contine to grow.
this is from another article by milo:
The violence that has characterized the State of Israel since its establishment is, without a doubt, extreme and overwhelming. Over the years Israel has developed many “security” agencies that are renowned for their ruthlessness. The IDF, or the Israeli military; the Shabak, or internal security service; the Mossad; the various special commando units that are merely glorified terror squads; the Israeli police with its terror units, and on and on. And yet, it seems that the Israeli public’s appetite for violence has not been satisfied.
Israelis feel the work being done by Israel’s enormous security apparatus is insufficient and there are calls for citizens to take up arms. What is even more alarming is that we see the emergence of civilian-run militias already operating in Palestinian communities.
As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, Israel is ramping up violent attacks on Palestinians. The violence is perpetrated not only by the usual state-run agencies but by newly armed civilian militias operated mostly by well-organized and well-armed radical racist gangs.
Throughout the country, violence from both the Israeli authorities and armed Israeli nationalist gangs is spreading. One can expect that during Ramadan we may well see a repeat of the events of May 2021, and there is the possibility that things will be far, far worse.
On March 22 of this year, Muslims gathered at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque to observe Isra and Miraj, when Muslims commemorate the prophet Mohammad’s night journey from Mecca to Al-Aqsa, and then from Jerusalem to the heavens. The celebration turned into violent chaos as Israeli police brutally assaulted Palestinians in the city.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that “Israeli forces detained at least 20 Palestinians in clashes in Jerusalem’s Old City, and 14 were wounded, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, four of whom were rushed to hospital.” This, the Zionist paper admitted, was “signaling mounting tensions ahead of Ramadan.”
around the world, people have woken up. it's just the corporate media in the u.s. that refuses to do so.
let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
Tuesday, April 5, 2022. It's time for a specail counsel to be appointed for Hunter Biden, the Kurds do not have to sacrifice yet again to make the US government happy, and much more.
Starting with Jonathan Turley and his latest column at THE HILL:
“We absolutely stand by the president’s comment.” With those words, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield reaffirmed that President Biden maintains his son Hunter Biden did “nothing [that] was unethical” and never “made money” in China.
Those claims appear demonstrably false — and they make the positions of both the media and Attorney General Merrick Garland absolutely untenable.
For the media, the ongoing investigation of Hunter Biden by U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware has presented a growing danger of self-indictment over its prior coverage (or noncoverage). Weiss has called a long line of witnesses before a grand jury, and there is growing expectation of criminal charges against Hunter Biden.
Nothing concentrates the mind as much as a looming indictment.
Thus, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media faced the embarrassing prospect of an indictment based on a story they previously suggested was either a nonstory or Russian disinformation. Suddenly, in recent days, they all rushed to declare the story legitimate, 18 months after the New York Post reported it in October 2020.
What quickly emerged, though, was a new narrative: None of this implicates President Biden. On CNN, White House correspondent John Harwood declared, “There is zero evidence that Vice President Biden, or President Biden, has done anything wrong in connection with what Hunter Biden has done.” Anchor Brianna Keilar then added for emphasis that Harwood was making “an important distinction.”
It was important, but not because it was true. While many media figures now willingly admit the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s abandoned-laptop story, they are avoiding what the emails found on that laptop actually contain. Hundreds of emails appear to detail a multimillion-dollar influence-peddling enterprise by the Biden family, including Hunter Biden and his uncle James Biden.
An ongoing investigtation is taking place. Joe Biden and the White House are not at liberty to comment. IAs the head of the federal government, it is inappropriate for him to comment. From the beginning, the problem has not only been the lies from Joe on behalf of his son, it has also been that he doesn't grasp his role.
It is time for a speical prosecutor. One should have been appointed long ago but this behavior demonstrates that the rules are not being followedc and will not be followed. This is outrageous. Joe has created a standard for his son that is inappropriate and goes to how he is repeatedly attempting to steer the investigation with his comments as president of the United States.
He is not standing back. If this were his best friend, as president of the United States, he would not be able to comment. This is his son. We are seeing that Hunter means all ethics go out the window. Gee, wonder what message that passed on to Hunter growing up?
He has put himself into this conflict. He didn't have to speak. The appropriate response is "We do not have any comment at this time as a result of this being an ongoing investigation."
More to the point, this issue came up during the primaries and Joe lied repeatedly. His son did nothing wrong!!!! No, his sond id huge wrongs. These were ethical issues and they should have been addressed then. They weren't. But Joe ran for the nomination knowing this was out there.
He may have thought he could bully the press intos ilence on this matter foerever.
Well he bet wrong.
That's on him.
And now it is necessary for a special prosecutor to be appointed.
He has made it clear that he intends to put a thumb on the scales of justice, that he is unable to prevent himself from doing so.
And it's time for the press to stop coddling him and his crooked son. The editorial board of THE BOSTON HERALD notes:
Here’s how we see all this. A free press must remain vigilant and non-partisan while hunting for lies, crimes, abuse and neglect while calling out politicians and pundits who try to quash a good story just because it doesn’t fit the narrative of the prevailing political winds.
The New York Times and Washington Post can be great newspapers. They sometimes do meaningful work. They just need to get out of their own way.
The AP needs to stop trying to be the voice of America and just chase down the news. If a tweet or post somewhere in the cesspool of trolls and scam artists on the web does warrant coverage, then have at it. But a running feature of every little oddity that fires up TikTok is just a waste of time.
Joe Biden has become a portrait of hypocrisy. He's recently begun screaiming War Crimes at others. Richard Medhurst notes:
The World Can't Wait's Debra Sweet notes:
While
the victims of U.S. wars are nameless, U.S. media is 24/7 on the tragic
death Russia is bringing to Ukraine. Children, pregnant women, elderly
have all died there, just as they have in Yemen by the Saudis with U.S. weapons, as they died in Libya by U.S./NATO forces.
People here are being led to cheer for a dangerous U.S. escalation, including a direct war with Russia that could ensue from a "no-fly zone," up to and including a nuclear exchange. Everyone should oppose Russia's aggression, but no one who understands what the U.S. empire has done across the globe should be cheering for U.S./NATO war on Russia.
Our WarCriminalsWatch.org site has a curated series of worthwhile background readings on this situation:
Russia’s Ukraine War Heightens Urgency Around Biden’s Nuclear Weapons Strategy
Sara Sirota, The Intercept
“Anti-Authoritarianism” as a “Cover” for Supporting U.S. Imperialism
Bob Avakian, Revcom.us
The Plank in Uncle Sam’s Eye: A Plea for Humility as War Pigs Move to “Close the Sky”
Paul Street, Counterpunch.org
Calling Russia’s Attack ‘Unprovoked’ Lets US Off the Hook
Bryce Greene, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
How the U.S. Started a Cold War with Russia and Left Ukraine to Fight It
Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies, CodePink.org
Time
for the US to take the lead for peace in Ukraine: The US’s Aggressive
Expansion of NATO Created This Horror; The US Can and Should End It
Dave Lindorff, This Can't Be Happening
'Let Them Kill as Many as Possible': The Roots of US Militarism in Russia and Around the World Brian Terrell, Common Dreams
OMG, War Is Kind of Horrible David Swanson, Let's Try Democracy
War Torn: Continental Drifters and the Nationless Nation Nick Turse, Tom Dispatch
On Iraq, at THE HILL, David Schenker offers nonsense:
For Washington and other supporters of a sovereign and prosperous Iraq, the October 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections were a success. Contrary to expectations, Iranian-backed Shiite Islamist parties and their militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashd, were defeated at the ballot box. The Hashd lost not to Western-oriented candidates but to another credible local Shiite party whose leader’s hashtag, #NeitherEastnorWest, was an unambiguous call for an Iraq dominated by neither Tehran nor Washington. The election results mitigated toward the establishment of a new, majoritarian government — the first since the 2003 U.S. invasion — capable of pursuing better governance and an independent Iraq.
It’s cruel irony that this potential outcome, a longstanding U.S. aspiration for Iraq, appears to have been undermined in part by Washington’s best friends in Iraq: the Kurds.
The big winner in the electoral contest was Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric whose Sairoun political party won a plurality of the seats in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, Sadr’s “Mahdi army” emerged as a leading adversary of the U.S., and the firebrand was nearly targeted by U.S. forces. More recently, however, Sadr, an unabashed populist who tapped into the electorate’s resentment of Iranian overreach in Iraq, has developed into a somewhat more responsible politician.
How stupid do you have to be to write that garbage. Moqtada's cult turned out. Not in the numbers they have in previous elections -- he had a huge fall off. But they did turn out. He was not the clear winner. A clear winner would be someone who had enough seats to move forward without having to partner with anyone else. He had a few more seats. But coaltitions could have been cobbled together without his seats.
Does the idiot even understnad how it works in Iraq or how many MPs are needed to form a coalition?
What a lying moron.
ANd now he wants to? Blame the Kurds.
The Kurds are not the problem.
Yes, the KDP wants the presidency and yes the PUK wants the presidency. My take? The KDP got sigfinicantly more seats in the eleeciton so they should have the presidency. The PUK has consistently lost support -- a trend that no one wants to talk about in the US because it requires admitting facts that the US doesn't want to admit. Including? That every time there's a problem, the US government expects the Kurds to sacrifice their own goals and save the US government's ass by 'coming together' with some other side.
I don't think the PUK deserves the presidency.
That's my opinion.
That doesn't mean that they don't have the right to fight for it. That doesn't mean the KDP doesn't have the right to fight for it.
But, yet again, another American has emerged to insist that it is time for the Kurds to sacrifice for the 'good' of Iraq.
In other words, for the good of what the US government wants in Iraq.
Elections were held October 10th. There is no president still. That's not the Kurds fault. It is the fault of Moqtada al-Sadr who does not know how to assemble a governmentt.
Iraq had a poltiical stalemate in 2010 that lasted eight months. There the problem wasn't Nouri couldn't assemble a government. Back then, the problem was Nouri al-Maliki lost the election and refused to step down as prime minister. Eventually, Joe Biden led a negotiation resulting in The Erbil Agreement which named Nouri prime minister-desigante. Nouri imemediately put together a government.
This is the a six month political stalemate and it has lasted this long because Moqtada is incompetent.
That's where you start laying the blame, not at the Kurds.
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