![bimbo twins](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53859747868_3de0ba97a8.jpg)
that is Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Bimbo Twins Destroy Right Wing Christian Values."
love it.
but i didn't love the news of a passing.
let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
Biden is in a bind because there’s little he can do to turn the narrative around. Pollsters continue to find that his key vulnerability is the long-held perception that he’s too old for the job — and some surveys even find that voters find it more concerning than Trump’s criminal charges. Biden can do a lot to try to connect more with voters, but he can’t become younger, and, thus, he can’t do anything about his most glaring vulnerability.
Democrats are correct to worry that Biden’s weak standing in polls bodes poorly for not only his re-election prospects, but also for their prospects in elections across his entire party. That could be what pushes some lawmakers who are on the fence about to press him to step aside.
Over the weekend, more War Crimes as the Israeli government continued its assault on Gaza. THE NATIONAL notes, "The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 90 people were killed by Israeli air strikes on Al Mawasi displacement camp in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, updating a series of earlier tolls.The attack injured 300 others, including some in serious condition, the ministry said." Rushdi Abualouf, Tom McArthur and Lucy Clarke-Billings (BBC NEWS) report, "BBC Verify has analysed footage of the aftermath of the strike, confirming that it took place within an area shown on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) website as a humanitarian zone." Get it? War Crime. Hadeel al-Shalchi spoke with Scott Simon (NPR) about the attack, "Now Al Mawasi, like you said, is a designated humanitarian by the Israeli military. Thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering there in encampments." ALJAZEERA reports:
The United Nations and countries across the Middle East have denounced Israel after its military attacked a designed humanitarian safe zone in Gaza, killing at least 90 Palestinians and wounding 300 others.
[. . .]
Jordan
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack on “displaced persons’ tents in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, in an area that Israel had previously classified as safe, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Palestinians”.
Spokesperson Sufyan Al-Qudah said Jordan called for the international community to act to bring an end to Palestinian suffering amid Israel’s repeated violations of international law.
Egypt
In a statement, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israel’s “ongoing violations against the rights of Palestinian citizens” add serious “complications” to achieving a ceasefire deal.
Egypt has been among the countries working to mediate such an agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli raids on the al-Mawasi area,” the Foreign Ministry said.
[. . .]
United Nations
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked and saddened” by the Israeli air raids which killed at least 90 Palestinians.
“The [Israeli military] stated that they were targeting two senior members of Hamas,” Guterres said in a statement. “The Secretary General underlines that international humanitarian law including the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack must be upheld at all times.”
Julia Conley (COMMON DREAMS) adds:
The United Nations' top expert on human rights in Palestine condemned the Israeli military as it resorted to a familiar excuse for the killing of nearly 100 Palestinians on Saturday in an area that had been designated as a "humanitarian zone"—just the latest massacre of dozens of people whom the Israel Defense Forces dismissed as collateral damage in attacks they claimed were targeting Hamas.
"The justification is always the same: 'targeting Palestinian militants,'" said Francesca Albanese, U.N special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. "When is the world going to stop this death machine?"
Albanese was referring this time to the bombardment of al-Mawasi, a coastal area west of Khan Younis where hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents have been sheltering after fleeing cities including Rafah.
And ALJAZEERA notes that Oxfam has called out the attack:
Countries that continue to supply Israel with weapons are demonstrating “abhorrent complicity” with Israel’s “heinous approach to warfare”, the humanitarian organisation Oxfam has said in response to Israel’s latest attacks on the al-Mawasi camp.
“Once again, we are witnessing the absolute disregard Israel has for Palestinian lives and for international law,” said Oxfam’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Sally Abi Khalil in a statement.
“Nowhere in Gaza is safe – we need a ceasefire now, for arms transfer to Israel to end immediately, and for Israel to be held to account for all violations of international law,” she added.
AFP notes Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, has called out the slaughter stating, "The most recent bombing in the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent people, is unacceptable." He is also calling on other leaders to speak out "in the face of this endless massacre." ANADOLU AGENCY adds, "Other Latin American leaders such as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Bolivian President Luis Arce have backed Lula's stance and have joined in the condemnation of the atrocities committed by Israel." ALJAZEERA quotes Doctors Without Borders' Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib stating, "I have never seen a mass casualty event like [Saturday]. Every corner in the hospital was busy. Every space was occupied by the injured or bodies of the dead."
Jessica Elgot (GUARDIAN) notes, "David Lammy is to call for an immediate ceasefire during talks with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his first visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories as foreign secretary. Lammy said he would push for the release of all hostages as well as an increase in aid into Gaza, announcing a new £5.5m humanitarian and medical assistance package." THE NATIONAL quotes Lammy stating, "The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. This war must end now, with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides. The fighting has got to stop, the hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists need to be released immediately and aid must be allowed in to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions," INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS notes, "On Sunday, Lammy met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. He will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday." Rainia Abu Shamala (ANADOLU AGENCY) notes another leader calling for a cease-fire, "Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan renewed his country's call on Sunday for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and access to humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave. Speaking during a joint press conference in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, bin Farhan emphasized the importance of achieving an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians suffering from dire humanitarian conditions."
CAIR issued the following:
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned both an Israeli massacre of at least 20 Palestinian worshippers praying in the ruins of a Gaza mosque previously destroyed by Israel and a similar massacre of 15 people at a UN-run school sheltering displaced Palestinians.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“What words are left to describe a world in which massacres occur daily while our own government ships the bombs to a genocidal government so that those massacres can continue. The Biden administration’s silence about the daily slaughter and support for the far-right Israeli government’s genocide is a stain on our national history that will remain for generations.
“All people of conscience must condemn the Israeli genocide, forced starvation and ethnic cleansing and demand that the Biden administration stop aiding and abetting the daily slaughter.”
Yesterday, CAIR called on President Biden to “stop enabling” the mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians after Israel killed at least 90 Palestinians and wounded hundreds in strikes on the al-Mawasi “safe zone” in Gaza.
[NOTE: Al-Mawasi, where Palestinians forced from their homes across Gaza sought shelter, was designated as a “safe humanitarian zone” by the Israeli military.]
CAIR also condemned a newly-reported decision by the Biden administration not to sanction an Israeli army unit despite evidence of gross human rights abuses it committed against Palestinian civilians, including the murder of an elderly Palestinian-American. CNN quoted a former member of the unit who said: “A lot of us probably did not see Arabs, Palestinians in particular, as someone with rights – okay, like they’re really the occupier of some of the land and they need to be moved.”
CAIR recently condemned a reported decision by the Biden administration to send Israel the 500-pound bombs for its genocide in Gaza that had previously been held back.
Israel has slaughtered almost 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children. Other estimates put the total death toll at 186,000. The vast majority of Gazans have been driven from their homes.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook
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https://action.cair.com/a/newsletters
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Sunday, the Israeli government attacked another UN school. Australia's ABC NEWS notes, "There are reports this morning of another deadly Israeli strike in Gaza, this time on a UN school in a refugee camp." AFP explains, "The civil defence agency in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday that 15 people were killed by a strike on a school in Nuseirat, where the Israeli army said its air force had hit 'terrorists'." THE NEW ARAB provides context, "Israeli warplanes on Sunday staged a fifth attack in eight days on a Gaza school sheltering war displaced, and residents said more casualties were inflicted." XINHUA quotes the United Nations' Adnan Abu Hasna stating, "The UN agency sends the coordinates of its facilities daily to the Israeli army, yet the army insists on targeting it and the United Nations headquarters."
Edith M Lederer (AP) has noted United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stating that the Israeli government has required the Palestinians "to move like human pinballs across a landscape of destruction and death." Exactly. Is Joe Biden capable of any kind of leadership at all? How many more days is this genocide going to be allowed? How many more months?
Gaza remains under assault. Day 283 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." ALJAZEERA notes, "At least 38,664 Palestinians have been killed and 89,097 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, the ministry says." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted: