The Palestine Chronicle
18 Sep 2024 | 9:52 pm
1. Creating Confusion – Were the Exploding Pagers in Lebanon Part of a Larger Israeli Blunder?
By Jamal Kanj
Is there a connection between the original timing of the leaflets and the detonation of the pagers?
Besides the hollow excuse for a lack of proper authorization, army units do not have printing machines to prepare leaflets that include the exact date and timing¾4 p.m. (13:00 GMT)¾by which civilians should complete their evacuation. Leaflets are typically brought by other specialized units to the frontline.
This raises the question, could the leaflets have been part of an earlier war plan? Did Hochstein's visit force a delay in the timing, but the change wasn't communicated down to the unit responsible for distributing the leaflets?
Then on the following day, Tuesday, September 17, approximately 3000 pagers exploded simultaneously across Lebanon.
Is there a connection between the original timing of the leaflets and the detonation of the pagers?
The above two incidents suggest a serious misstep and could have possibly derailed the original Israeli war plans against Lebanon. In fact, these miscalculations may potentially become larger than Israel's security screw-up on October 7, 2023.
Before arguing the points for this hypothesis, one must acknowledge that booby-trapping the pagers was possibly one of the most sophisticated espionage operations orchestrated by the Israeli Mossad; no less than the assassination of Ismail Hania in Tehran. Having stated the above, however, one might be surprised to conclude that as far-reaching as this covert action was for the Israeli spies, in all likelihood, this was a failure.
The Israeli terrorist assault resulted in the killing of fourteen Lebanese, including a child, and injuring close to 3000 individuals. Despite what was reported in the managed Western media, many were innocent civilians, some were driving cars, while others were shopping in crowded markets.
In this attack, Israel did not aim to terrorize civilians only, they do that daily. More importantly, targeting the pagers intended to interrupt the communication channels for Resistance operatives, as well as the civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and civil defense.
Therefore, for the above to achieve optimum effectiveness, such an operation would need to have taken place during the initial Israeli military attack, not on a normal afternoon in Lebanon. Hence, the relationship between the "unauthorized" leaflets ordering Lebanese civilians to evacuate by 4 p.m. September 16, and the flub of the exploding pagers precisely 24 hours later.
In essence, it appears that Israel had initially prepared to order the evacuation ahead of a planned military action on the 16th. At the same time, the pagers were programmed to detonate during the initial phase of the war, 24 hours later, to disrupt communication channels, and create confusion and disarray in the midst of war.
However, the overextended Israeli army failed to prevent the release of the evacuation leaflets on May 16, when the war was likely delayed. It also did not halt the premature detonation of the pagers on September 17. The last oversight, the second within 24 hours, may have resulted in a missed strategic opportunity for the Israeli army, and another blunder for the Israeli leadership.
– Jamal Kanj is the author of "Children of Catastrophe," Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America, and other books. He writes frequently on Arab world issues for various national and international commentaries. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle
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18 Sep 2024 | 9:22 pm
2. ‘God Will Avenge Us’ – Lebanese React to Israel’s Cyber Terror Attacks
Editor's note: This article was written before the second wave of explosions that hit Lebanon on Wednesday, also killing a number of Lebanese civilians and wounding hundreds.
BEIRUT – Beautiful Lebanon woke up sad this morning following the massive Israeli cyberattack that hit the whole country on Tuesday afternoon. The streets are gloomy and traffic is less heavy than it usually is on a busy weekday, as people are still in utter shock, trying to process the events of September 17.
All public and private schools and universities are closed today and a general strike was called by the General Workers Union in memory of the victims who were killed and the thousands who were injured.
'Shock and Astonishment'Wireless devices exploded during a funeral procession in Lebanon. https://t.co/7k4y2kmYDo pic.twitter.com/OalVaCWj7J
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) September 18, 2024
Joanna Nasserdine, the Beirut correspondent for the Jordanian Roya TV who covered the events of yesterday, told the Palestine Chronicle that she was as puzzled as the rest of the population when news of the attack started coming in as there were numerous questions and unclarity.
"Today, I can say that I am in a state of shock and astonishment over what happened yesterday because it is a crime that was committed against Lebanon, which did not differentiate between a civilian or a child or a military man, it is a disaster for the whole country," Nasreddine said.
She told the Palestine Chronicle that what touched her most as a Lebanese citizen and as a reporter were the horrific scenes in front of the different hospitals in the capital Beirut.
"The scenes of victims, injured, with blood everywhere was a stark reminder of the explosion of the Beirut port in 2020, along with all the feelings of fear, anxiety, and panic that reigned yesterday," the Lebanese reporter added.
According to Nasreddine, the criminal Israeli cyberattack is unprecedented in the long Arab-Israeli conflict and is extremely dangerous since it was able, in one minute, to harm at least 4,000 people, 300 of whom are in critical condition, and kill at least 12, including two children.
"How can an entity be so criminal to attempt to take the lives of thousands in one minute," she questioned, expressing the fear of all Lebanese of what is to come next, given how vulnerable the country is at the moment.
New explosions of wireless communication devices were reported in several Lebanese regions.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG https://t.co/7k4y2knwsW pic.twitter.com/gDkVNlHIhs
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) September 18, 2024
Indeed this is what people feel: vulnerable and exposed.
One of the incidents that took place in yesterday's attack involved a young man who was passing by a building in Mrijeh, in the southern district of Beirut.
The young man was seen by the neighbors bleeding. They all thought that he had been shot by stray bullets in the air so they grabbed him and tried to hide in one of the buildings.
When it was clear there was no shooting in the area, they asked the man if it was his phone or the battery trying to pinpoint the source of bleeding, until the man realized that the pager on his waist had exploded, according to a friend who preferred not to be named.
"People were everywhere, their clothes stained with blood, the smell of blood reminded me of what happened after the Beirut port explosion, I could not bear it, I left in a hurry," a businessman, who preferred not to be named, told the Palestine Chronicle, recounting his experience while passing by one of the hospitals yesterday.
Following the 'pagers' attack yesterday, messages heavily circulated on WhatsApp groups requesting from people in their homes to disconnect their wi-fi from their home inverters since many of the inverters work on lithium, which apparently detonated the pagers in the cyberattack.
The New York Times unveiled on Wednesday new details about how Israel rigged communication devices that exploded, resulting in the deaths and injuries of numerous Lebanese citizens.https://t.co/LhkrmBDPLp
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) September 18, 2024
The majority of people in Lebanon depend on inverters for electricity, which feed on generators or the solar system due to electricity shortages or lack of electricity altogether. A state of panic reigned amongst the majority of Lebanese in fear that the inverters might be hit as well.
An expert on technology told Sawt el Chaab (La Voix du Peuple), a local radio station, in answer to people's fears regarding their inverters and mobile phones, that "batteries in mobile phones have higher protection," admitting nonetheless that the gap between Lebanon and Israel is immense in regard to technology.
'A Child Just Died'The scene by the American University Hospital (AUH) and other hospitals in Lebanon was indeed a stark reminder of the Beirut port explosion in 2020. Hospitals were flooded with the injured and relatives and friends outside of the medical facilities were packed trying to get any news about their loved ones.
A day after the Israeli attack, people are still gathered around hospitals, waiting for any piece of news on their loved ones. The only topic of conversation is the attack of yesterday and the state of the patients inside. The streets by the hospitals are dotted with doctors and nurses running in and out of the hospital.
"A child just died," one man said while on the phone coming out of AUH.
A group of young men in front of the hospital were discussing the insanity of these devices being detonated all at the same time.
I approached two women sitting on a bench by the AUH and asked them if they were waiting for someone.
"My nephew is inside," she said. "How is he?", I asked. "He's ok, thank God," she answered, "God will avenge us," she added.
At the nearby Clémenceau Medical Center (CMC), and Makassed General Hospital further away, although less crowded, the scene is similar to military presence around the medical facilities.
'Mass Killing' – World Leaders Condemn Israel's Terror Attack in Lebanon
"The situation is bad, the hospital is full, they are even opening the outpatient departments due to the flooding of patients, it's very bad," a registered nurse at one of Beirut's hospitals who spoke to the Palestine Chronicle on condition of anonymity.
She explained that most injuries are in the fingers, face and hip.
"It depends where the pager was, most people held the pager when it beeped to check if there was a message and it exploded in their hand so some endured injuries in the face and in the fingers. Others the pager was on their waist," the registered nurse added.
The Palestinian hospitals, especially in the south of Lebanon, namely Al Hamshari Hospital in Saida, received numerous injury cases due to the over-flooding of the Lebanese hospitals.
Also, Palestinian hospitals throughout Lebanon mobilized their staff and volunteers throughout the country to receive the wounded and "provide (the victims) with all support and assistance," according to the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ashraf Dabour.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), along with all Palestinian groups in Lebanon, condemned the criminal attack and expressed their utmost "support and solidarity with the Lebanese people in the face of the Zionist attack."
'Sudden, Unexpected''Use It or Lose It' – Israel Launched Attack on Lebanon amid Fears of Being Exposed
Lebanese political analyst Hussein Ayoub and editor in chief of the Arabic website '180 Post, told the Palestine Chronicle that Tuesday's events are unprecedented due to the unconventional method that was used and the extremely high number of casualties, which he says is expected to rise.
"It was a sudden and unexpected terrorist attack and a huge security breach," he said, adding that he's been asking himself since the attack yesterday what if this attack happened during the war and why didn't the Israelis leave it till the war breaks.
According to Ayoub, the answer to this question could surface in the coming hours, because had Israel done this during a war the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The political analyst admitted that "at one point in a battle you have to admit that your enemy did hit you but that this strike does not determine the outcome of the battle."
Tensions with Hezbollah Escalate – Nasrallah Expected to Speak
Ayoub says that Hezbollah must reconsider all its approaches, military formations and the subject of communications during the war.
"I believe that the matter requires a different kind of discussion, first, regarding seizing the national unity in the country, since everyone is in solidarity right now regardless of whether they are with the Resistance or not," he stressed.
"Secondly, in light of the Israeli superiority in war of technology, Hezbollah must return to the traditional and primitive means of previous guerrilla work," the political analyst added.
Ayoub believes that this is extremely necessary because we must understand that "the world's capabilities are mobilized in service of Israel, including weapons, technology and AI, and all these are not in our service, on the contrary, they are fighting us."
(The Palestine Chronicle)
The post 'God Will Avenge Us' – Lebanese React to Israel's Cyber Terror Attacks appeared first on Palestine Chronicle.
18 Sep 2024 | 9:07 pm
3. One Of Lebanon’s Top Novelists Passes Away – Who Was Elias Khoury?
In the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas-led operation al-Aqsa Flood, Elias Khoury wrote an article that attracted massive criticism in the Western and Israeli media.
Award-winning novelist Elias Khoury passed away at the age of 76, an announcement met with sorrow from those who connected with his works and his advocacy for the Palestinian cause. He remained a staunch opponent of Israel's war on Gaza through months of illness.
Born on July 12, 1948, to a Greek Orthodox family in Beirut, Elias Khoury emerged as one of Lebanon's leading voices in the field of Arabic literature.
Khoury studied at the Lebanese University and the University of Paris where he received a PhD in social history. He would later go on to teach at Universities around the world.
AUB Mourns Acclaimed Lebanese Novelist Elias Khoury (Hon DHL '23)https://t.co/wPDVeVeIxJ pic.twitter.com/XgmqMqW3Pf
— American University of Beirut (@AUB_Lebanon) September 16, 2024
In the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas-led operation al-Aqsa Flood, Elias Khoury wrote an article entitled 'It's Palestine", which predictably attracted massive criticism in the Western and Israeli media, as he wrote:
"The biggest open-air prison, the besieged Ghetto of Gaza, has launched a war against Israel, occupied settlements and forced settlers to flee."
In 1967, aged 19, Khoury traveled to Jordan and became a member of the Palestinian political party, Fatah, which was leading the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) under the command of its chairman Yasser Arafat.
However, the Lebanese novelist would soon have to flee the Kingdom of Jordan after the Hashemite ruler, King Hussein, launched an attack against the Palestinian resistance which caused them to flee. The incident is known as Black September, in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.
During the Lebanese Civil War, Khoury was part of the Lebanese National Movement that opposed right-wing Christian militias and was formed of Leftist and pan-Arab parties that were supportive of the PLO.
Prolific novelist, fighter, critic, fiery public intellectual and beloved teacher Elias Khoury has passed away (1948-2024). His work traverses a large historical and stylistic range and he dedicated his life to writing about Palestine and the Palestinian experience.
Rest in… pic.twitter.com/TD4QKfgFsd
— Radical Books Collective
(@WARSCAPES) September 15, 2024
Working for al-Quds al-Arabi, he also published for a range of Arabic media outlets and gained fame across the Arab World for his articles, additionally working as an editor for a range of newspapers, outlets and magazines.
He even served as a co-editor for the PLO's magazine Shu'un Filastiniyya between 1975 and 1979, working alongside Palestinian literary icon Mahmoud Darwish. Elias Khoury published his first novel in 1975 and would go on to write a number of novels and literary critiques that would become famous across the Arab World, some later turned into movies and plays.
Elias Khoury taught at Ivy League Universities across the United States, while also teaching at colleges in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, and in his home country of Lebanon.
Elias Khoury, Lebanese novelist and intellectual dedicated to writing about Palestine and the ongoing Nakba, has passed away.
Today, we honor his legacy and commitment to the liberation of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/pvdQn91yYi
— CODEPINK (@codepink) September 15, 2024
Throughout the years he had been involved in various political debates regarding a range of topics across the Arab World, drawing praise from some and the criticism of others.
Yet, the central role of the Palestinian cause in his writings served to unite a broad audience behind his works and receive the ears of those with whom he politically disagreed.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
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17 Sep 2024 | 8:27 pm
4. ‘Programmed and Directed’ – Gaza Genocide has Sealed Israel’s Fate as ‘a Country of Blood’
By Iqbal Jassat
Posing a challenge to Israelis, Levy says the time now is for them to ask themselves if they are willing to "live in a country that lives on blood".
In an astonishing piece published in Haaretz by one of its most forthright journalists, Gideon Levy launches into a powerful and courageous attack on Israel and Israelis.
In his fearless column, Levy accuses Israel of turning into a country that lives on blood. He writes that while the daily crimes of the occupation are already less relevant, the past year has seen the emergence of a new reality of mass killing and crimes of an entirely different scale.
"We are in a genocidal reality; the blood of tens of thousands of people has flowed."
Posing a challenge to Israelis, Levy says the time now is for them to ask themselves if they are willing to "live in a country that lives on blood".
"Are we, the Israelis, willing to live in the only country in the world whose existence is based on blood? The only vision that is widespread in Israel now is to live from one war to another war, from one bloodletting to the next, from massacre to massacre, with intervals spaced as widely as possible."
Levy slams the "right" for promising a permanent blood-soaked reality: war, mass killing, systematic violation of international law, a pariah state, repeating in an endless cycle.
"The Palestinians will continue to be massacred, and Israelis will continue to close their eyes to it? Hard to believe. A time will come when more Israelis will open their eyes and recognize that their country subsists on blood. Without bloodshed, we are told, we have no existence – and we make our peace with this horrific statement."
'Exist Forever?'Can such a country "exist forever"? According to Levy, Israelis not only believe that it will but are convinced that its existence is dependent on "blood offering".
"We not only believe that such a country can exist forever, we are convinced that without the blood offering, it has no existence. Every three years, a bloodletting in Gaza, every four years, in Lebanon. In between, there is the West Bank, and, occasionally, a blood sortie to additional targets. There is no other country like it in the world."
Levy's column makes clear his infuriation and annoyance with Israel's population. He finds it difficult to imagine them willing to "live in a country that runs on blood".
Describing the war in Gaza as a watershed, he lambasts Israeli media for campaigns that demonize and dehumanize the Palestinians.
In his unrestrained fashion, a trademark of his forthrightness, Levy slams a "monstrous chorus of commentators" for "successfully selling us the idea that we can live for eternity on blood".
Clearly "gatvol" (fedup/exasperated) Levy writes that living in a country of blood requires that "… we will execute generation after generation of young regime opponents, imprison tens of thousands of people in concentration camps, we will expel, cull, expropriate and, of course, kill, and that is how we will live…".
Has the world allowed it?
Yes, indeed the world continues to allow Israel to commit the most horrendous genocide in Gaza. Notwithstanding efforts undertaken by South Africa at the International Court of Justice, the world has failed to rein in Netanyahu and his criminal gang of warlords.
However, the question posed by Levy is whether the Israelis are willing to allow it and how long can they live with the knowledge that their existence depends on blood.
"When will we ask whether there genuinely is no alternative to a country of blood? After all, there is no other country like this."
'Programmed and Directed'Levy writes that Israel was programmed and directed to behave as a country that lives off blood, even more so after October 7.
As is widely known, though Zionist apologists try to sweep it under the carpet, October 7 did not happen in a vacuum.
The carefully coordinated attack launched by Hamas was a powerful reminder that Israel's colonial enterprise is neither tenable nor sustainable, as per Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.
Though Levy does not – in this article at least – extend his anguish to countries and Zionist organizations who fund, facilitate and defend Israel's slaughter of Palestinians, it is essential to charge them as complicit in the shedding of blood.
Not a single pro-Israel Zionist group may escape from their culpability, no matter whether they are based in New York or Johannesburg.
Jonathan Cook makes a number of pertinent observations in his book 'Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair', that may explain why Levy's consternation and dismay are justified.
Though published almost two decades ago, Cook warned that Israel has developed and refined policies to disperse, imprison and impoverish the Palestinians in a relentless effort to destroy them as a nation.
The crux of it lies in the false Zionist narrative that Palestinians never existed as a people.
– Iqbal Jassat is an Executive Member of the South Africa-based Media Review Network. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle. Visit: www.mediareviewnet.com
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16 Sep 2024 | 9:36 pm
5. On This Day – 42 Years since the Sabra and Shatila Massacre
September 16 marks the day in 1982 when thousands of Palestinians were brutally massacred at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon; an atrocity seen as one of the most heinous in modern history.
After besieging and bombarding the area for days, the Israeli-backed Lebanese phalange militias attacked, killing at least 3,000 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians.
After the siege of the two camps on September 15, the Israeli army under the command of Ariel Sharon lit the skies with flares as armed Lebanese militias entered the camps through Israeli army lines and proceeded to kill everyone in their way, regardless of whether they were elderly, women, or children.
They also broke into the camp hospital and killed nurses, doctors and patients who escaped from the massacre.
Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila Massacre, which took place on the 16th-18th of September 1982. This attack is remembered as one of the most harrowing events of the Lebanese Civil War and in Palestinian history. pic.twitter.com/ZKC03puvqp
— ICJP (@ICJPalestine) September 16, 2024
Over three days, and under the watch of Sharon's army, the militias proceeded with their slaughter until news of the massacre was leaked out of the camp and the horrifying pictures of the dead were seen throughout the world before pressure was exerted on Israel to stop the militias.
The 1983 Kahan Commission, established by the Israeli government, found that Sharon, who was Defense Minister at the time, bore "personal responsibility" for the massacre.
Despite this, Sharon later became Prime Minister of Israel in 2001.
On December 16, 1982, the UN General Assembly condemned the massacre and declared it an act of genocide.
Ongoing GenocideCurrently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
The government also continues to flout a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, 41,226 Palestinians have been killed, and 95,413 wounded in Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
New Massacre in Nuseirat – Ten Palestinians Killed, Including Women, Children
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by 'friendly fire'.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine's largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, WAFA)
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16 Sep 2024 | 8:21 pm
6. Arms Exhibition and Gaza Genocide – Protecting the ‘Merchants of Death’
By Jeremy Salt
Although primarily anti-war, the Gaza genocide and the presence of Israeli arms merchants in Melbourne were the sharp edges of demonstrations against this marketing of the weapons of war.
Of the 900+ participants taking part in the arms exhibition in Melbourne, one was missing but only because he was dead. Basil Zaharoff was the king of the 'merchants of death' from the late 19th century to the 1930s. The proceeds turned him into one of the richest men in the world.
Death was his trade and war was the single lode of his wealth. He set governments against each other while selling arms to all of them. He was unscrupulous and amoral but that of course was the nature of the business. Governments didn't care about that as long as he could deliver the weapons they wanted. They were equally unscrupulous and amoral.
Zaharoff was showered with honors, including a knighthood from the British government. Alive, he would have been stitching up new deals and rubbing shoulders with fellow merchants of death gathering from around the world at the 2024 'Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition' held in September at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The exhibitors included four from Israel, Fibrotex Technologies, UVision Air, Elbit Systems and Rafael, but even before allowing them through the door, the federal and Victorian state governments had established a pattern of collaboration with Israel. 'Defense' deals were signed at the federal level and a joint 'center of excellence' research center was opened in 2022 by the Victorian government and Elbit.
An extension of this project was the two-year partnership set up between Elbit and RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) to research natural disasters. The architect of these agreements was the then premier Daniel Andrews, a longstanding 'supporter' of the Zionist state.
Only recently the media unearthed details of a 'Memorandum of Understanding' (MOU) quietly signed in 2022 by the Victorian government and the Israeli 'defense ' ministry. The two sides would collaborate on "defense industry objectives" by capitalizing on "global tensions" and countries "wanting to protect their national interests.
In 2017 the federal government signed a 'defense' MOU with Israel but has refused since to release any details of the document as "it could harm Australia's international standing and respect."
In February this year – five months after the onset of the Gaza genocide – it awarded a $917 million contract to Elbit Systems for the provision of "advanced protection fighting capabilities and sensors" for infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) being built in the Melbourne electorate of Defence Minister Richard Marles.
This deep engagement with a genocidal state was taken a stage further in September 2024 by allowing Elbit and Rafael and two other Israeli corporations to take part in the 'defense' exposition.
The exhibition center was fenced off and closed to the public for six days. Basically, it was turned into an exclusion zone close to the city center. No one under the age of 16 was allowed in and only those with a direct connection to the 'defense' industry were allowed in any way.
Although primarily anti-war, the Gaza genocide and the presence of Israeli arms merchants in Melbourne were the sharp edges of demonstrations against this marketing of the weapons of war.
According to its own propaganda, Rafael, established in 1948, "provides global warfighters with today's most advanced technologies and life-saving defense solutions that ensure operational superiority."
These 'solutions' include remote control weapons stations, add-on armor shields, laser weapons systems, the Spike 'fire and forget' anti-tank and anti-personnel guided missile, and variants of the Popeye air-to-surface missile. Elbit's range includes the Iron Sting precision-guided mortar bomb supplied to infantry units. Exploding on impact, the Iron Sting ejects metal cubes that can cut a human in half and turn to shred anyone within a radius of 20 meters.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, had no public mandate for setting Melbourne up as an international sales center for arms merchants, let alone for Israeli corporations whose weapons are killing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza. Children – 17,000 of them so far – are the largest single category of the dead.
Against this background, allowing Rafael and Elbit and the two other Israeli 'defense' corporations to market their products in Melbourne was open incitement by the Victorian government.
Protecting these armorers of the genocide, Allan set an army of police on to their opponents. The weapons in their hands – apart from the usual brute force – included stun guns, 'flashbang' bombs, capsicum spray, hard foam baton rounds (similar to rubber bullets) and PAVA powder (Pellargonic Acid Vanillylamide), fired in liquid form, more potent than CS gas and causing severe pain to the eyes.
Despite police intimidation and thuggery, only a few demonstrators responded with violence of their own, by throwing stones, horse manure, water bottles filled with an acidic substance, and cans of baked beans at the police. Far more demonstrators than police were hurt.
Inverting truth, Allan blamed the demonstrators and not the merchants of death or the police – let alone herself and her government – for bringing "conflict and division to the streets of Melbourne." In any case, she said, the weapons exposition was "good for our economy" and "good for local jobs." The previous premier, Andrews, had estimated that the exposition would bring $65 million into Victoria.
Victorian universities will enjoy the spin-off effects. Deakin, La Trobe, Monash, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), Swinburne, and the University of Melbourne all have 'defense' research capabilities in line with government priorities and money. Deakin even 'hosts' a 'zone 4 classified secret-rated defense research facility' tied to the Department of Defence and the 'defense industry.'
Treasurer Tim Pallas said more 'defense' expositions would be held in Melbourne, undoubtedly bringing more 'conflict and division' into its streets, especially if Rafael and Elbit are again given space to flog their wares.
'Plausible' Now Flagrant
The federal and Victorian governments are fully aware of the ICJ's ruling on Israel's "plausible" genocide. That was months ago. The "plausible" is now even more flagrant, live-streamed daily for a year, and proof of Israel's determination to do whatever it wants whatever the world thinks.
Of course, there is a vast difference between plausible genocide and actual genocide. The ICJ's wheels grind exceedingly slow. The US is under pressure from Israel to compel South Africa to drop the genocide case and no need to say that it has formidable weapons to get its way.
Given the pressure also exerted behind the scenes on the ICJ or the countries of origin of the jurists, the ICJ may never turn 'plausible' genocide into actual genocide. Furthermore, the ICJ has no power to enforce its rulings. It can issue compulsory decisions, obliging state parties to act on them but the states first have to agree to accept them. Many do but the US does not.
Given this thicket of brambles, a people's tribunal might be an effective alternative. In 1966 the philosopher Bertrand Russell set up a people's tribunal to hear evidence on the military intervention of the US and other countries (including Australia) in Vietnam.
Even though the tribunal had no legal standing, the findings of its high-profile panelists, including the judgment that the US had committed genocide in Vietnam, had a significant effect on world public opinion.
The Russell Tribunal has since continued to fight against governments that trample on international law, including the military dictatorships in Latin America and the US administration over its invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Between 2009-12 the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RtoP) also heard evidence against Israel, which in 2014 it accused of committing "appalling and inhumane" war crimes during its 'Operation Protective Edge' in Gaza.
Complicity in Genocide
Australia's politicians know that genocide is a crime under international law but they also need to know that "complicity in genocide," as laid down in Article III of the 1948 genocide convention, is a crime punishable under the same law, "whether they [the offenders] are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals."
Complicity does not mean just supplying weapons to a genocidal state as a number of states are doing, led by the US and Germany, whose arms exports to Israel have increased ten-fold since October 7.
Here are some suggestions as to what complicity might constitute as argued in a court of law or before a people's tribunal:
- Maintaining trade and diplomatic relations with a government committing even a "plausible" genocide.
- Refusing to condemn the war crimes and crimes against humanity clearly being committed by that government.
- Selling arms to that government or buying arms from it.
- Signing 'defense' or research agreements with that government or with corporations producing the arms being used in the genocide.
- Allowing these corporations to advertise and sell their weapons on Australian soil.
- Allowing Australian nationals to fight in an army, air force and/or navy committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On all of these counts the Australian federal government and Victorian state government would have to be found guilty, not to speak of other state governments that also might be complicit.
The lesson underlined here is that there is nothing independent about 'independent' Australia when it comes to foreign policy. It is a remora fish stuck to the side of the US foreign policy whale and feeding off its shit.
On Israel/Palestine, Iran, Russia, Ukraine and China, Australia sticks to the American line, with only minor allowable variations. This is why 'tragedy,' 'too many civilians are being killed' and 'there must be a ceasefire' take the place of what is needed to stop the Gaza genocide, which is an open, robust condemnation of Israel and punishment through the suspension of diplomatic and trade relations
– Jeremy Salt taught at the University of Melbourne, at Bosporus University in Istanbul and Bilkent University in Ankara for many years, specializing in the modern history of the Middle East. Among his recent publications is his 2008 book, The Unmaking of the Middle East. A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands (University of California Press) and The Last Ottoman Wars. The Human Cost 1877-1923 (University of Utah Press, 2019). He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
The post Arms Exhibition and Gaza Genocide – Protecting the 'Merchants of Death' appeared first on Palestine Chronicle.
15 Sep 2024 | 9:39 pm
7. Celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday in Gaza – Al-Omari Mosque before Its Destruction (PHOTOS)
Before its destruction in an Israeli strike on December 8, 2023, the Great Omari Mosque was the largest and oldest mosque in the Gaza Strip.
Not long before Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, the Palestine Chronicle reported on the celebration of Prophet Mohammed's birthday from inside the historic Al-Omari Mosque in Gaza.
Thousands of people took part in the celebration, as there was not enough space inside the mosque to accommodate the large and growing crowd.
The spirit was that of hope, faith, and resilience.
Before its destruction in an Israeli strike on December 8, 2023, the Great Omari Mosque was the largest and oldest mosque in the Gaza Strip.
Located in Gaza's Old City, the mosque was particularly famous for its minaret, which was octagonal on top and square-shaped at the bottom, typical of the Mamluk architectural style.
The mosque and nearly every other mosque in the whole of Gaza, numbered at around 1200, has been destroyed by the Israeli war.
The Palestine Chronicle shares these photos from previous celebrations of the Prophet's birthday, and other religious occasions as a reminder that the power of the Palestinian people does not stem from blocks of concrete, but from their own spirituality, faith and hope.
Indeed, Palestinians in Gaza continue to pray near the ruins of their destroyed mosques, in their refugee encampments, and under the sounds of bombs and the whizzing of Israeli rockets.
Gaza has taught us that faith is neither a mosque, a church, or a temple, but the undying spirit of a people, who will surely resurrect their houses of worship from beneath the rubble and rebuild their cities once more.
(All Photos: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)
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14 Sep 2024 | 2:38 pm
8. No Accountability – The Deadly US Weapons of Civilian Destruction
By Thalif Deen
Unfortunately, there will be no accountability for the killing of the American-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi, Dr. Ramzy Baroud pointed out.
As the devastating 11-month-old conflict in Gaza keeps escalating, with over 41,000 mostly civilian killings, and more than 92,000 Palestinians injured, the Israelis continue to defy the United States which maintains its uninterrupted flow of heavy weapons to Tel Aviv.
There are two hardcore lessons in this conflict. Perhaps Israel should realize that you cannot continue biting the hand that feeds you while the Biden administration should realize that you cannot continue to feed the mouth that bites you.
The world's weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) are categorized mostly as nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological weapons. But the US-supplied missiles and 2,000-pound bombs dropped on Gaza are best described as weapons of civilian destruction (WCDs) which have also reduced cities to rubble.
On September 11, the New York Times ran a story on the latest killings of civilians, titled "Israel Kills Gazans as its Air Power Hits a Humanitarian Zone"
The Times quoted Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance-disposal technician, as identifying a fragment found at the most recent bombing in Gaza as "the tail section of a SPICE-2000 kit, a precision-guided kit used with 2,000-pound bombs.
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If Israel is accused of genocide and war crimes, where does the US fit in as the major supplier of arms that are killing all these civilians?
And, on August 13, as the civilian killings continued unabated, the Biden Administration formally notified Congress of its plan to authorize the sale of a staggering list of arms to Israel including:
An $18.8 billion sale of 50 F-15 fighter jets and related equipment;
A $774 million sale of up to 32,739 120mm tank cartridges and related equipment;
A $583 million sale of Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV)s and related equipment;
A $102 million sale of 30 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and related equipment; and, A $61 million sale of 50,000 M933A1 120mm High Explosive mortar cartridges and related equipment.
In June 2024, Reuters reported that the Administration had transferred at least 14,000 MK-84 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire precision-guided air-to-ground missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions.
Dr Ramzy Baroud, a journalist and Editor of The Palestine Chronicle, told IPS that "for Israel to commit its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, it requires a large and steady supply of weapons. Most of these weapons come from the United States."
"In fact, over 11 months of Israeli genocide and following numerous reports by international organizations, we know precisely how US bunker busters and other weapons and munitions intended for mass killings have been used," he pointed out.
Yet, despite all of this, the US continues to give Israel all the bombs and rockets necessary to inflict the most deadly violence against Palestinians, including those sheltered in displacement camps, at UN schools, at hospitals, and other areas that are intended to be 'safe zones'.
But American support for Israel cannot be confined to that of weapon supplies, Dr Baroud said, because Washington remains Israel's strongest backer and defender at international institutions, including the UN Security Council. This blind and unconditional support has emboldened Israel to carry on with the most despicable genocide against an innocent and besieged nation.
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Even Biden's so-called 'ceasefire proposal' last May was supposedly communicated on behalf of Israel, then, oddly rejected also on behalf of Israel.
There can be no other interpretation of this: the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza is carried out jointly by Israel and the United States, said Dr Baroud, a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).
According to a Cable News Network (CNN) report early this week US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has called for "fundamental changes" to the way Israeli forces operate in the occupied West Bank after the killing of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi at a protest last week.
US President Joe Biden condemned Eygi's killing on Wednesday. "I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi," Biden said in a statement, adding that the shooting "is totally unacceptable."
Biden called for "full accountability" for her death after Israel "has acknowledged its responsibility." Israel, he added, "must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again."
As an old Middle Eastern saying goes: The dogs bark but the caravan moves on.
Is this a reflection of the unrestrained power of the Israeli lobby in the US Congress, which one-time Republican US presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, called "Israeli-occupied territory"? Does this now include the White House?
Unfortunately, there will be no accountability for the killing of the American-Turkish activist, Dr Baroud pointed out. "We know this for a fact because there has never been a precedent in history in which the US has held Israel accountable for anything".
The family of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was deliberately run over by an Israeli army bulldozer, knows exactly how frivolous the US use of language in this kind of situation can be.
The US speaks of "accountability", "responsibility", "full investigations", yet ultimately accepts the Israeli narrative as the truth. More recently, the US has used similar language following the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, before circling back to accepting the Israeli story that her killing was not deliberate and was not part of a larger policy to target civilians.
Israel vs. International Law – Why Erdan Wants to Destroy the UN
Infuriatingly, but still unsurprisingly, the US is using the above language at a time when over 41,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed in Gaza, with thousands more missing and tens of thousands wounded, he said.
Not only no such accountability has been achieved or even called for, but the US continues to give Israel the very murder weapon so that it may continue its genocide against Palestinian civilians, said Dr Baroud.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the death of at least 18 people, including children, women, and six UNRWA staff, in Israeli airstrikes that hit a school serving as a shelter in Nuseirat on 11 September.
This incident raises the number of UNRWA staff killed in this conflict to 220. The IDF stated that they had targeted a command-and-control center in the compound. This incident must be independently and thoroughly investigated to ensure accountability.
The continued lack of effective protection for civilians in Gaza is unconscionable. Civilians and the infrastructure they rely on must be protected and the essential needs of civilians met. The Secretary-General calls upon all parties to refrain from using schools, shelters, or the areas around them for military purposes. All parties to the conflict have the obligation to comply with international humanitarian law at all times.
The Secretary-General also reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This horrific violence must stop, he declared.
Restoring Psychological Deterrence – Torture of Palestinians as a 'Systematic Strategy'
According to an October 2023 report from the US State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, steadfast support for Israel's security has been a cornerstone of American foreign policy for every U.S. Administration since the presidency of Harry S. Truman.
Since its founding in 1948, the United States has provided Israel with over $130 billion in bilateral assistance focused on addressing new and complex security threats, bridging Israel's capability gaps through security assistance and cooperation, increasing interoperability through joint exercises, and helping Israel maintain its Qualitative Military Edge (QME).
This assistance has helped transform the Israeli Defense Forces into "one of the world's most capable, effective militaries and turned the Israeli military industry and technology sector into one of the largest exporters of military capabilities worldwide".
Israel has also been designated as a U.S. Major Non-NATO Ally under U.S. law. This status provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation and is a powerful symbol of their close relationship with the United States.
This article originally appeared in the Inter Press Service News Agency.
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13 Sep 2024 | 4:49 pm
9. Strikes on ‘Safe Areas’ – Israel’s Bloody Negotiations Strategy in Gaza
By Jamal Kanj
Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to supply Israel with the means to commit these war crimes, while using the White House platform to spread disinformation, making Israel's "lies sound truthful and murder respectable."
Fifty-two years ago, almost to the day, on September 8, 1972, I survived the first of many Israeli air and sea raids on my refugee camp in northern Lebanon. I was less than two hundred yards from the area across the river where a group of us young kids met every day, between 4 and 5 PM, to play in the large field, swim in the river, or in the Mediterranean Sea.
At first, I heard what sounded like a humming plane. Before I could even turn my head to look up at the sky, I was startled by the booming sound of low-flying fighter jets passing overhead, dropping massive rockets onto the open field. The first bomb exploded in the northwest corner of the field, creating a massive fireball—a black column of smoke intertwined with a glowing red blaze. The shockwave threw me off my bike. Soot filled the air and fragments rained down like strafing bullets all around me.
In less than 15 minutes, the once grassy green play area of approximately 20 acres was transformed into a lunar landscape, pocked with craters. One pit was so large and deep that groundwater filled the hole.
If the Israeli air raid had occurred just five or ten minutes later, I would have been in the middle of the field, playing with other 14-year-old kids. My friend Barakat, who was already there and likely had been eagerly anticipating my arrival, was killed. The raid left many unexploded devices and time-delayed bombs, making it difficult to recover his body until the next day. Our neighbor Mahdi was also killed, and buried under the plowed soil. Years later, his skeleton was discovered when the area was being graded.
I'm reminded of this today, September 10, 2024, as I watch footage of the huge crater left behind by an American-made 2,000-pound MK-84 bomb. The bombs were dropped in the middle of the night on 20 tents housing displaced civilians in an Israeli-designated "safe area" in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza.
Early in the morning, the Israeli army issued its disinformation boilerplate communiqué, declaring the raid was a "precise strike" on senior resistance members. But videos from the crater, where tents lay buried under the sand, suggest that Israel targeted civilians in a supposed safe area.
Reading about the "precise strike" on a BBC site took me back 52 years. Almost three hours after the raid on my camp, I remember my father and our neighbors gathering around the radio to listen to the 7 PM BBC Arabic news. I still recall how they stopped breathing, their eyes wide, mouths agape, as the BBC quoted an Israeli army spokesman claiming Israel had targeted a military base in Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
While I don't remember the exact number of the killed and injured that afternoon, I know for certain that 100 percent were civilians—mostly boys and girls, with at least one elderly man among them. I felt then as helpless as many of those who were sleeping on September 10 in their "safe" tents, unable to tell their story to the world. The photos left behind by the US-manufactured 2,000-pound bombs, however, expose Israel's lies and the complicity of the managed Western media,
It is utterly despicable that the lecterns at the White House and the State Department have become platforms to market such lies, emboldening Israel's intransigence and whitewashing its genocide. Especially egregious is the disinformation spread by White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby, who blamed the Palestinians as "the main obstacle" to a ceasefire. This brazen lie comes less than a week after the leak of a document pointing to new conditions that were added in late July by Benjamin Netanyahu to Joe Biden's proposal from May 27 which torpedoed the ceasefire agreement.
After the Palestinians rejected Netanyahu's new conditions in late July, Israel intensified its systematic campaign of bombing displaced civilians in safe areas, including 16 UN schools converted into mass shelters. Unable to compel a ceasefire on its terms, Israel is using these attacks on designated safe areas as part of its bloody negotiation strategy to exert pressure by inflicting maximum suffering on civilians through murder and starvation.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to supply Israel with the means to commit these war crimes, while using the White House platform to spread disinformation, making Israel's "lies sound truthful and murder respectable."
– Jamal Kanj is the author of "Children of Catastrophe," Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America, and other books. He writes frequently on Arab world issues for various national and international commentaries. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle
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12 Sep 2024 | 9:12 pm
10. ‘Genocide Washing’ – Upcoming ‘Liberal Zionist’ Conference in South Africa Slammed
By Nurah Tape – The Palestine Chronicle 
"It is without a doubt not just genocide washing, it is not just Israeli apologists, it is spitting on the struggle of Palestinian people, on real progressive Israelis like Ilan Pappe who are not trying to defend their government."
A conference scheduled to take place in South Africa next week touted to provide "meaningful dialogue" for peace in the Middle East has been slammed as "genocide washing" by "Israeli apologists" and a page out of the "Zionist playbook."
"Essentially what you have is a very sophisticated piece of sophistry that is occurring, and what you are doing is you are acting like you are creating dialogue, when in actual fact you are not accepting that there is a genocide taking place," Donovan Williams of the South African BDS coalition told the Palestine Chronicle on Thursday.
Williams said the organizers "are making it seem that the only people that regard it as a genocide are radicals. But that the organizers are moderate liberal voices," who debate "not just whether there is a genocide, but how do you resolve this matter, like it's an equal conflict, and not a war and genocide on Palestinians."
In that regard, he added, "What it then does, (is) it removes the people struggling, the people being oppressed, the people being killed and murdered, and this is how you wash away the idea that it is a genocide, that you can have a dialogue, a very nice civil dialogue on matters."
'Stellar Lineup of Experts'The African Global Dialogues conference, organized by the New South Institute is its "signature annual event" aimed at addressing major political and policy challenges relevant to South Africa and the Global South, according to the NSI website.
This year's conference from September 18 to 20, is "aimed at" addressing the "Narrative Conditions Towards Peace in the Middle East," and lists "a stellar lineup of experts" from around the world, the NSI said, including Benny Morris, an Israeli professor based at the Ben-Gurion University.
"Join celebrated global leaders and scholars in meaningful dialogue to foster sustainable peace," states the conference website.
We are excited to announce our second round of exceptional experts who will be leading key conversations on September 18-20. Click the link to register for the LIVE broadcast: https://t.co/VJTete7izn #HIPI #MiddleEast #PublicPolicy #Democracy #AfricanGlobalDialogue #Global pic.twitter.com/TNnzyugcOV
— African Global Dialogues (@AG_Dialogues) September 10, 2024
Williams said "this is basically being Israeli apologists and genocide apologists. So this is sophisticated sophistry. It is taking place at a time when all over the world, there is an acceptance that Israel is wrong."
He pointed out that even in countries where the governments are major supporters of Israel "the people are standing up to their governments saying this is wrong."
Williams further said "It is without a doubt not just genocide washing, it is not just Israeli apologists, it is spitting on the struggle of Palestinian people, on real progressive Israelis like Ilan Pappe and so forth, who are not trying to defend their government and their people in any matter whatsoever. So it is without a doubt genocide-washing."
'Radicalized Discourse'The outline for the conference refers to "the physical assault on Israel on the 7th of October and the subsequent Israeli war with Hamas in Gaza," adding that "the public discourse on Israel/Palestine has radicalized in crude and violent ways."
"I think what they're trying to do by using this kind of name and talking about narratives and moderates …, they're trying to paint the pro-Palestine movement as essentially based on emotion and one-sided and not considered, said Josh Marcus of the SA Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) organization.
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"Whereas they, on the other hand, are promoting themselves as having discussions about this, willing to speak to everyone, which is why they've got all these names on their list who seemingly are not coming," he added.
Marcus told The Palestine Chronicle that "we've heard from a number of people who are listed on their website as speakers that they're not going to, that they haven't actually heard of the conference in the first place."
Listed Speakers UnawareHis statement concurs with that of the BDS coalition which said, in a press release, that "African Global Dialogue has attempted to lend credibility to the conference by listing a number of people as speakers, participants and invitees, most of whom have no intention of attending, disagree with the aims of the conference or have no knowledge at all of the event."
"These people include Minister Ronald Lamola, Siphamandla Zondi, Philani Mthembu, Imraan Valodia, Adebayo Olukoshi, Kuben Naidoo, Saths Cooper, Achille Mbembe, Zeblon Vilakazi, Ferial Haffejee, Lebohang Lieopollo Pheko and others," the statement said.
According to the statement, Pheko, a political economist, said: "This is nefarious…people that I've spoken to on that list know nothing about it…and certainly are not sympathetic to Zionist apologetics… myself included."
Marcus further said "I think it's the Zionist playbook, as we've always seen it. They bring speakers who, they often use the whiteness of the speakers and Jewishness to imply that these are experts, these are the people who know what they're talking about.
"And they don't give the Palestinian perspective because part of the Zionist project and the propaganda from the beginning has been to pretend that there is no Palestinian perspective. The erasure has been, or the attempt at erasure has been complete."
'Progressive' vs Right-Wing ZionismHe said that many, like himself, who have attended Jewish schools "were taught that there were no people in the land when the Jews arrived there. And we were taught that the Nakba didn't happen, not only that it didn't happen, but it wasn't presented to us as something that was even a consideration."
"So at a conference like this, or at any Zionist conference, they cannot have speakers from who they consider the other side, because they don't have space for those narratives."
Marcus explained that "the threat" of this conference, or what the general public often thinks is that right-wing Zionists, are "the most extreme ones are the biggest threat, because they are the ones who openly want to commit genocide."
"But from our perspective, it is the liberal Zionists who are the biggest threat, because they normalize Zionism. Without them, this genocide couldn't go ahead, because America and all of the nations supporting it will have a very difficult time selling it if every single face of the genocide was Smotrich or Ben-Gvir," he said.
Marcus added, "A conference like this which seeks to present Zionism as this system which is progressive is particularly dangerous. So our approach is to show why it is not just not progressive but that it is as racist and as problematic as right-wing Zionism is."
'No Authentic Voices'The BDS coalition also criticized the line-up of speakers at the event saying the conference website names a number of pro-Zionist speakers including Benny Morris, from Ben Gurion University in Israel,"a Zionist genocide apologist whom Ilan Pappé and Norman Finkelstein eviscerated for his racist anti-Palestinian statements and support for genocide."
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Williams said "There are no authentic voices there, there is no acceptance of Palestinian leadership both Fatah and Hamas…they are united as we saw them get together in Beijing" in July signing a unity agreement, adding "and yet you cannot invite them."
BDS called the conference "a feeble attempt to undermine South Africa's case against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)" saying it comes shortly before South Africa presents its 500-page memorial dossier to the World Court.
"It should be seen alongside Israel's attempt to put pressure on the US Congress to stop South Africa from pursuing its legal case at the ICJ," the movement stressed.
Choice of VenueConstitution Hill, the choice of the venue for the conference, has also come under fire since it is the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
"We hope that Constitution Hill will not allow this event to take place and call on people to boycott this attempt to undermine the global campaign against genocide and the Palestinian call for international solidarity through boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS)," the movement said.
BDS said that under "the guise of promoting so-called 'dialogue' in South Africa, this conference is aimed at demonizing the right of Palestinians to resist 75 years of settler colonialism, occupation, ethnic cleansing and genocide."
It pointed out that the conference takes place "mere weeks" before the one-year mark since the massive escalation of Israel's 76-year genocidal campaign against Palestinians, "in which we have witnessed displays of deplorable inhumanity, along with the devastation of Gaza's infrastructure and the increasing pogroms and terror in the West Bank."
Over 40,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza over the last 11 months through direct bombing and "many more will die of illness and starvation."
The SA BDS Coalition and others intend to demonstrate against the conference if it goes ahead.
The Palestine Chronicle could not reach the media liaison for the conference at the time of publication.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Nurah Tape is a South Africa-based journalist. She is an editor with The Palestine Chronicle.
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