Palestine today
Don’t say you didn't know
The 49 times the US used veto power against UN resolutions on Israel
In the past year alone, Washington has vetoed four Security Council resolutions calling for a Gaza ceasefire. The United States on Wednesday vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, marking the 49th time the US has used its veto power against Israel-related UN Security Council draft resolutions. The draft resolution was brought forth by the 10 elected members of the Security Council, and every member except for the US voted in favour of the measure. The veto marked over a year of US diplomatic cover provided to Israel as it continues to wage its war on Gaza, which last month was expanded with Israel's invasion of Lebanon. However, this diplomatic support for Israel from Washington is nothing new and has been taking place on a bipartisan basis for decades. In addition to giving Israel around $3bn in military aid each year, the US has also been Israel’s biggest ally in the international body and has often used its veto power at the Security Council to block diplomatic measures targeting Israel for its treatment of Palestinians. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, the US has used its veto power 48 other times against draft Security Council resolutions pertaining to Israel since it first began using it in 1970.
Several UN Security Council members denounce US veto of Gaza ceasefire resolution
Several members of the UN Security Council, on Wednesday, denounced a fourth US veto on a proposed ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports. China’s envoy, Fu Cong, expressed disappointment with the outcome of the vote and accused the US for hindering hopes of Palestinians “for survival, pushing them further into darkness and desperation” via the use of the veto. Saying that member states’ actions would not “escape the harsh judgment of history”, Fu asked: “Does Palestinian lives mean nothing?” “How many more people have to die before they (US) wake up from their pretend slumber?” he asked rhetorically. Fu argued that repeated vetoes by the US “has reduced the authority of the Security Council and international law to an all time low.” “We call on the US to take its responsibilities as a permanent member of the Council seriously. The US should stop being passive and evasive,” he said.
Algeria’s envoy, Amar Bendjama, said, “Today’s message is clear to the Israeli occupying power; ‘You may continue your genocide, you may continue your collective punishment of the Palestinian people with complete impunity.'” He said the US veto sent another “clear” message to the Palestinian people, before adding that “while the overwhelming majority of the world stands in solidarity with your plight, others remain indifferent to your suffering.” The French envoy, Nicolas de Riviere, expressed “deep regret” about the veto, and noted that the situation in Gaza is worsening every day. “International humanitarian law is being trampled underfoot,” he said, indicating the only response would have been a ceasefire. Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, argued it is no shock that the US vetoed the resolution.
United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese has doubled down on her criticism of Israel and world leaders for failing to stop the "colonial erasure" of Palestinians in Gaza, and called for more arrest warrants to be issued for Israeli leaders over suspected war crimes. In a wide-ranging interview with Middle East Eye, Albanese accused the British foreign secretary of being a "genocide denier," called on Europe to halt trade with Israel, and denounced the delay by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over Gaza atrocities.
Albanese said the prosecutor of the Hague-based court was already late in applying for warrants in May of this year.
"The International Criminal Court should have acted much earlier," she said, referring to the investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Palestine opened by the ICC in 2021 in a case that started over a decade ago. In his request six months ago, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister at the time Yoav Gallant. He also requested warrants for three Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohamed Deif, all of whom have been killed by Israel over the past year.
Top genocide scholar calls Starmer and Lammy ‘hypocrites’ over Gaza stance
William Schabas noted how British leaders previously voted in favour of recognising genocides in conflicts of a lesser scale than Gaza. One of the world’s leading scholars on genocide, William Schabas, on Monday denounced British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy for refusing to label Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide. “These people are hypocrites. They speak with a forked tongue. They do not interpret or apply the Genocide Convention in a consistent manner,” Schabas, a Canadian academic specialising in international criminal and human rights law, told Middle East Eye. “The statements of British parliamentarians vary depending upon whether they are referring to their friends or their enemies,” said Schabas, who is the former president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the author of more than 20 books on genocide and other international law topics.
Schabas noted that Lammy and Starmer voted in favour of a House of Commons motion in 2021 condemning China for genocide against the Uyghur minority. “Although there is some evidence of persecution of Uyghur in China, there is no serious evidence of killings. Not millions. None. The treatment of Uyghur in China and that of Palestinian Arabs cannot be compared.” Schabas also referred to Starmer’s role as a lawyer representing Croatia in its genocide case against Serbia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2014, in which he argued that Serbia had committed genocide in Croatia. “Again, the acts of Serbia in Croatia and those of Israel in Gaza bear no comparison,” said Schabas…
The Palestine-Global Mental Health Network, along with its international counterparts, is now launching an international campaign to demand that world governments hold Israel accountable to the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child—principles which prioritize the inherent right to life and uphold the best interests of all children. Save the Children International, in an October 2024 report, stated, “[o]ne year of Israeli bombardment has shattered childhoods in Gaza. The occupied Palestinian territory, specifically Gaza, is the deadliest place on earth to be a child.” Every day, children face violence, fear, loss, displacement, hunger, and devastation. They are being killed at an unprecedented rate. They are dying because of forced starvation and disease.
They have lost homes, loved ones, and the safety to which they have a right. Those who survive are being stripped of their childhood. The longer this continues, the harder it will be for children even to begin to recover from the trauma inflicted on them (Save the Children International, October 2024). Save the Children reported that over 26,000 children were killed or injured in a mere six-month period, reflecting a shocking scale of violence directly impacting children (Save the Children International SCI). In Gaza, more than ten children a day lose a limb ( SCI report); the parents of at least 17000 children have been either killed or separated from their children ( UNICEF report); newborn babies are simply dying from starvation (UN News); every newborn in Gaza is underweight.
Protests as Malcolm Turnbull backed Bisalloy Steel sells armour to the IDF
Australian steel maker Bisalloy provides armour for Israeli tanks and is due to begin work on the AUKUS submarine deal. The Malcolm Turnbull-backed company is facing protests tomorrow against unlawful supply. In 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and then Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma travelled to Israel to sign an arms deal. This deal marked the beginning of a steep increase in Australia’s arms trade with Israel, which often relies on Bisalloy’s specialty steel as central to the supply line. Between October 7, 2023 and November 14, 2024, Bisalloy Steel Group’s (ASX:BIS) shares have risen from $2.06 to $3.62, or 75%. As of January 2023, Turnbull & Partners Pty Ltd owned 2.372m shares (as per ASX disclosures), currently worth $8.4m. His company became a substantial shareholder in July 2021. Dave Sharma was obliged as an MP to disclose in December 2022 that both he and his wife had investments in Bisalloy.
The largest shareholder is Bisalloy chairman David Balkin, with 7.78m shares. Balkin served as president of the Jewish Communal Appeal from 2005-2011, where he remains in the roles of director and Honorary Life Governor. Peter Smaller is the second largest shareholder. Smaller was the president of Jewish National Fund Australia (JNF) from 2012-2017, and remains a director of the charity. Further, Smaller is the executive chairperson of Southern Steel Group, which also owns Bisalloy shares while distributing raw materials to Bisalloy. Both the Jewish National Fund and Jewish Communal Appeal are fundamentally pro-Israel organisations. JNF’s mission statement is “developing the land of Israel, strengthening the bond between the Jewish people and its homeland.”
Israeli forces wreak havoc in Jenin on second day of raid
The military incursion in the West Bank city has killed six people and destroyed vital infrastructure Naseem Yousef al-Nakheileh, a store owner in the city, told Middle East Eye that residents have gotten used to the incursions by the Israeli army. "The first attack they committed against us was bulldozing the roads and the entire area, they also harmed us as businesses," he said. "The [Israeli army] is making us get used to all this so that we aren't surprised if one day they come and bulldoze everything," he said. "They want to scare us, displace us and make us tired of living... in any way possible. "But we will remain defiant. We don't care what they do or attack, we will still restore and fix. " Omar Mohammed Abu Ras, a young resident in Jenin, told MEE that the Israeli army destroyed the infrastructure in his area. "The neighbourhood is destroyed. The bulldozers entered, dug up the place and destroyed the area," Abu Ras said, describing how the army bulldozed buildings, stores and infrastructure. "They left nothing functioning," he added.
Israel's continuous bombardment has poisoned Gaza's soil and environment
Khaled Marai, 34, from the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood west of Gaza City, was greatly disappointed after he tried to grow tomatoes and cucumbers to confront the famine prevailing in the northern Gaza Strip. Marai, who has more than 20 years of agricultural experience, told The New Arab, "I tried to grow vegetable seedlings in my own nursery, and every time the seedlings wither and die despite my regular irrigation." He explained that after conducting tests on the soil, it was found that it had become unsuitable for agriculture due to its severe contamination by chemicals from Israeli munitions.
Over the course of 13 months of bombing, the Israeli army dropped more than 85,000 tons of bombs on the Gaza Strip—equivalent to more than five times the power of the Hiroshima bomb dropped on Japan in 1945—causing widespread destruction of infrastructure and serious pollution of agricultural soil in the Gaza Strip, which will hinder agriculture for decades according to a statement issued by the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority. Ashraf Al-Turk, an environmental expert at the Environment Quality Authority, told TNA that these pollutants will have significant negative effects on the general health of the population, especially children and the elderly, and are a major cause of the spread of respiratory, digestive and skin diseases.
"In the long term, these environmental pollutants in the air, soil and water increase the risk of cancer," he added. Al-Turk pointed out that the Israeli army has destroyed aspects of animal agriculture such as cows and sheep, and bird farms such as poultry, and has also destroyed fish farms either by bombing or by cutting off the electricity. "The Israeli army has also bulldozed 48% of the trees in the Gaza Strip, especially perennial trees such as palm trees, sycamore, mulberry, and cypress, which are trees that prevent soil erosion and limit climate extremes," he said.
At least 36 killed in Israeli attack on Syria’s Palmyra: State media
Syrian Ministry of Defence statement says attack causes ‘significant material damage’, state media report. At least 36 people have been killed and 50 wounded in an Israeli attack that hit residential buildings in the Syrian city of Palmyra, Syrian state media report. The air attack caused “significant material damage”, Syria’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Wednesday that was quoted by the state news agency SANA. Al-Tanf is an area near the Iraqi border controlled by the United States. Syrian state media reported several Israeli attacks last week in Homs province, which borders Lebanon. Palmyra is located in Homs. Palmyra is known for its ancient city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was seized by the ISIS (ISIL) armed group in 2015 and partially destroyed before it was recaptured by the Syrian army.
The attack was carried out as US envoy Amos Hochstein is in the Middle East for talks on a potential ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel and as Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said the group would not accept an agreement that violates Lebanese sovereignty. In a recorded speech on Wednesday, Qassem said Hezbollah seeks a “complete and comprehensive end to the aggression” and “the preservation of Lebanon’s sovereignty. … The Israeli enemy cannot enter [Lebanese territory] whenever it wants.” “Israel cannot defeat us and cannot impose its conditions on us,” he added.
The Amsterdam incident exposes Australian supine and servile dishonour and dishonesty
Wong described the Dutch reaction to Israeli mob violence in Amsterdam as “abhorrent”, and had nothing to say about the instigators or their chants expressing support for the murder of children in Gaza and the rape of Palestinian prisoners. So now it is antisemitic to stop Israelis from brazen violent behaviour in a foreign country. Would Wong endorse a Blinken statement that the Israeli soccer team being beaten 5 – 0 was an example of anti-semitism? Just to drive home how flagrantly and egregiously Penny Wong distorted the truth about what happened in Amsterdam one only has to watch and hear video recordings of the events, and read what reputable witnesses had to report. Two highly credentialed journalists, Patrick Lawrence and Johnathon Cook, among others, have written at length about the truth of the matter, the video evidence embedded in their articles.
Cook made the point that it was an Israeli politician, Ofer Cassif, who made clear what Penny Wong refuses to acknowledge, that “[Israeli] fans go on a violent rampage, carry out beatings, tear up Palestinian flags in the streets as if they were an occupying force, and shout Nazi slogans in favour of the extermination of a nation [Palestinians], and then whine when the situation degenerates into complete chaos and violence returns to them like a boomerang.” Lawrence, in noting some of the “obscene, probably criminal slogans” used by the Israelis — “Kill the Arabs,” “Fuck you Palestine,” “There are no schools in Gaza because there are no children left,” “Let the IDF fuck the Arabs,” – identifies the last slogan as support for IDF soldiers found to have gang-raped Palestinian prisoners. This is some of the evidential context within which the Australian foreign minister chose to depict these hooligans as victims of antisemitism.