The Israeli Goverment Has Become The Monster

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Dumbass Netanyahu never knows when it is better to stop.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

It seems that the mullahs in Iran are more sane than Israel's war cabinet. Because:

Tehran plays down reported Israeli attacks, signals no retaliation

Explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.
The limited scale of the attack and Iran's muted response both appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working round the clock to avert all-out war since an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel last Saturday.

Iranian media and officials described a small number of explosions, which they said resulted from Iran's air defences hitting three drones over the city of Isfahan. Notably, they referred to the incident as an attack by "infiltrators", rather than by Israel, obviating the need for retaliation.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters there were no plans to respond against Israel for the incident.
"The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," the official said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-missiles-hit-site-iran-abc-news-reports-2024-04-19/

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The two state solution is dead at the moment. The USA at the United Nations Security Council (USNC) vetoed a draft resolution on the recognition of Palestine as a state and membership in the UN.

The Palestinian membership vote in the UN Security Council was vetoed by 12 acceptances, 1 rejection (US), 2 abstentions.

This is a dick move of epic proportions given the fact that Biden administration always is telling that the two state solution is a requirement for a lasting peace in the region.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/18/us-veto-palestine-membership-request-united-nations-council

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

The two state solution is dead at the moment. The USA at the United Nations Security Council (USNC) vetoed a draft resolution on the recognition of Palestine as a state and membership in the UN.

The Palestinian membership vote in the UN Security Council was vetoed by 12 acceptances, 1 rejection (US), 2 abstentions.

This is a dick move of epic proportions given the fact that Biden administration always is telling that the two state solution is a requirement for a lasting peace in the region.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/18/us-veto-palestine-membership-request-united-nations-council

Yeah.... the stated reason is because they want Israel to be on board in the negotiation, but I think we need to strong arm them more on this.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This is a dick move of epic proportions given the fact that Biden administration always is telling that the two state solution is a requirement for a lasting peace in the region.

Why, though? I mean, believing that a lasting peace in the region depends on there being an independent state of Palestine doesn't mean that, at present, there actually exists an independent state of Palestine for the UN to recognise.

Might the Palestinian Authority be, at some point in the future, the basis for an independent state of Palestine? Very probably.

Is it at present, by any stretch of the imagination, anything resembling an independent state? Clearly not. Indeed, I'd say it currently looks far less like an independent state than do Catalonia or Scotland.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Why this is a dick move? Because the USA are greatly contradicting themselves here: openly they always do argue pro two state solution, and how important it is as a foundation to peace in the region, while in reality the USA behind the scenes are heavily working against it!

Simple as that. Even worse, the USA are the ones who are saying at the moment that an independent state of Palestine would deteriorate peace in the region right now!

By the way The Intercept is documenting how America tried to find supporters of them opposing the resolution.

Leaked Cables Show White House Opposes Palestinian Statehood

Despite Biden’s pledge to support a two-state solution, cables argue that Palestine should not be granted U.N. member status.

theintercept.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Sorry, Bartholomew Gallacher, but I still don't get it. The US, as does most of the UN, takes the view that a two state solution is necessary as a foundation for peace in the region.

Self-evidently, though, there does not currently exist an independent Palestinian state, any more than there exists an independent Kurdistan, or an independent Scotland or an independent Catalonia.

How can the UN recognise an hypothetical independent state that does not yet exist, much though we might wish such a state did exist?

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

How can the UN recognise an hypothetical independent state that does not yet exist, much though we might wish such a state did exist?

Well maybe that question was valid before 2012, because back then Palestine was granted the observer status in the UN. Which means it was acknowledged as a state back then by the UN.

As the resolution from back then clearly states: "General Assembly Votes Overwhelmingly to Accord Palestine ‘Non-Member Observer State’ Status in United Nations".

https://press.un.org/en/2012/ga11317.doc.htm

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Well maybe that question was valid before 2012, because back then Palestine was granted the observer status in the UN. Which means it was acknowledged as a state back then by the UN.

As the resolution from back then clearly states: "General Assembly Votes Overwhelmingly to Accord Palestine ‘Non-Member Observer State’ Status in United Nations".

https://press.un.org/en/2012/ga11317.doc.htm

And what has changed since 2012 so that Palestine should now be regarded as a member state of the UN? If anything it seems even less to resemble a functioning state than then it did.

The UK never recognised the legitimacy of the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, but, quite apart from the Soviet Union's veto on the Security Council, it would have been counterfactual to recognise them as independent nations before 1990/91.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

It doesn't matter what your personal view about Palestine might be. Fact is that back in 2012 the UN classified it as non-member state.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

 

[Essence Lumin]

Link to article at haaretz.com is paywalled.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

It doesn't matter what your personal view about Palestine might be. Fact is that back in 2012 the UN classified it as non-member state.

Yes, I know. As far as I know, the 2012 resolution identifies the Palestinian Authority as the body that represents the Palestinian people in this non-member state. Which leaves me wondering whether Gaza is supposed to be part of the Palestinian State, since the Palestinian Authority has had nothing to do with running Gaza since 2018, I think.

What geographical area is the putative Palestinian State said to occupy, that the UN should recognise as a full member, and who are considered its legitimate representatives -- the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, or some other group or groups?

 

[Ellie]

"A special State Department panel recommended months ago (Dec) that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses."

"The incidents under review mostly took place in the West Bank and occurred before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. They include reports of extrajudicial killings by the Israeli Border Police; an incident in which a battalion gagged, handcuffed and left an elderly Palestinian American man for dead; and an allegation that interrogators tortured and raped a teenager who had been accused of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails."

"Human rights organizations tracking Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attacks have collected eyewitness testimony and videos posted by Israeli soldiers that point to widespread abuses in Gaza and the West Bank.

“If we had been applying Leahy effectively in Israel like we do in other countries, maybe you wouldn’t have the IDF filming TikToks of their war crimes now because we have contributed to a culture of impunity,”

Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes

"“Nobody said it but everyone knew the rules were different for Israel. No one will ever admit that, but it’s the truth,” said one former state department official. "

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/us-supply-weapons-israel-alleged-abuses-human-rights

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

In a letter announcing his retirement, the IDF's military intelligence chief Major General Aharon Haliva said, "the Intelligence Division did not live up to the task we were entrusted with. Throughout my duties, I knew that alongside authority comes heavy responsibility." He called for the establishment of a state investigative committee, "that can investigate and find out in a thorough, in-depth, comprehensive and precise manner all the factors and circumstances that led to the difficult events."

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-04-22/ty-article-live/israel-hamas-war-day-199/0000018f-0383-d224-a9cf-07f3f43a0000

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

It seems that Joe Biden is running out of patience with Netanyahu. The US are planning sanctions against members of the Netzah Yehuda battalion of the IDF, a unit established in 1999 whose members mostly are religious and ultra-orthodox jews. The reason why the US want to sanction them are alleged human rights abuses done by this unit againt Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Of course Netanyahu is fuming with foam on his mouth against it, and vows to protect this unit against the planned sanctions.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/22/middleeast/israeli-military-us-sanctions-west-bank-intl/index.html

 

[Ellie]

"Disturbing reports continue to emerge about mass graves in Gaza in which Palestinian victims were reportedly found stripped naked with their hands tied, prompting renewed concerns about possible war crimes amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

The development follows the recovery of hundreds of bodies “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste” over the weekend at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, and at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the north. A total of 283 bodies were recovered at Nasser Hospital, of which 42 were identified.
“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands…tied and stripped of their clothes,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."

"“Every 10 minutes a child is killed or wounded. They are protected under the laws of war, and yet they are ones who are disproportionately paying the ultimate price in this war,” said the High Commissioner."

"The UN rights chief also reiterated his warning against a full-scale Israeli incursion of Rafah, where an estimated 1.2 million Gazans “have been forcibly cornered”."

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148876

 

[Mona Eberhardt]

With a war monger like Netanyahu, do you really think Israel will choose de-escalation?

Problem is, Israeli society is astonishingly militarised, given to a religiously-fuelled, nationalist-colonialist ideology, and it seems "peace through coexistence and mutual respect" is a taboo term there. Netanyahu is a symptom; he's merely the most popular among a variety of nationalist / ultra-nationalist political leaders whose only difference is the economic and public governance model each one promotes. So, I'm afraid there'll never be any de-escalation. The Netanyahu regime, emboldened by Biden's, Sunak's, Starmer's, and Scholz' unconditional support (political, diplomatic, financial, technological, and military), will not stop until Palestinians are driven out of their lands for good or killed off. And don't think for a moment that he'll stop there. His next targets are Israel's neighbouring states.

 

[Mona Eberhardt]

It seems that Joe Biden is running out of patience with Netanyahu. The US are planning sanctions against members of the Netzah Yehuda battalion of the IDF, a unit established in 1999 whose members mostly are religious and ultra-orthodox jews. The reason why the US want to sanction them are alleged human rights abuses done by this unit againt Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Of course Netanyahu is fuming with foam on his mouth against it, and vows to protect this unit against the planned sanctions.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/22/middleeast/israeli-military-us-sanctions-west-bank-intl/index.html

At the same time, Biden approved yet another $26 billion dollars for Israel, and even more munitions to kill Palestinians with. These sanctions he's supposedly planning are meaningless.

 

[Mona Eberhardt]

"Disturbing reports continue to emerge about mass graves in Gaza in which Palestinian victims were reportedly found stripped naked with their hands tied, prompting renewed concerns about possible war crimes amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday.

The development follows the recovery of hundreds of bodies “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste” over the weekend at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, and at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the north. A total of 283 bodies were recovered at Nasser Hospital, of which 42 were identified.
“Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands…tied and stripped of their clothes,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights."

"“Every 10 minutes a child is killed or wounded. They are protected under the laws of war, and yet they are ones who are disproportionately paying the ultimate price in this war,” said the High Commissioner."

"The UN rights chief also reiterated his warning against a full-scale Israeli incursion of Rafah, where an estimated 1.2 million Gazans “have been forcibly cornered”."

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148876

Can we say "Srebrenica"?