Gaza's Gravediggers

 

This week I thought I’d do something a little different. Besides writing this blog for over eleven years, I’m also a book reviewer/book doctor and disgruntled novelist. This post is what I call an “extended book review,” one in which I don’t have to worry about the word count, etc. (Don’t be surprised if you see an abbreviated review elsewhere online later. Or post one yourself.)

I was given the chance to read Norman Finkelstein’s upcoming release, Gaza’s Gravediggers, and I can’t keep his insights to myself any longer. It documents the how and when and where of the why Israel is able to get away with committing a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people with little to no consequences. (And frankly, I don’t think Israel really cares about the consequences of being labeled bloodthirsty neo-Nazis just as long as nobody demonstrates the gumption to shut down their infernal killing machine.) 

Finkelstein has done us all a huge favor by methodically researching the recent International Court of Justice cases in regards to the genocide claim made first by South Africa. It’s all there in black and white, the details of how Israel apologists have infiltrated that court as well as other high positions in the International Criminal Court and the United Nations. The world is maintained in a perpetual stalemate so that both Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people and America’s imperialism can continue unabated.

If you want to invest in one book (and why just one?) that records for posterity the manipulation of international law behind this ultimate crime against humanity, then Gaza’s Gravediggers is it. —C.A. Matthews

 

Gaza’s Gravediggers

 by Norman G. Finkelstein

 O/R Books

Release date September 1, 2026 in the US, September 3 in the UK
Preorder by clicking  here

“Why isn’t the United Nations (UN) or the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or the International Criminal Court (ICC) doing anything to stop the terrible genocide happening to the Palestinian people?” is a remark one often sees online nowadays. The frustration expressed about the lack of action to end the violence is heartfelt. 

The world’s leading forensic scholar and professor of political theory and the Israel-Palestine conflict, Norman Finkelstein, isn’t afraid to tackle this question head on. His meticulously documented critique of recent UN/ICJ/ICC activities reveal how a deplorable element has infiltrated these international bodies, creating a stalemate that has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands, a number which grows daily...

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Unite for Peace! (Or Die)

by C. A. Matthews

Last September, the United Nations gave the apartheid state of Israel one year to comply with the rulings of the International Court of Justice to end the genocide in Gaza or face the consequences.

That year ends on September 18, 2025. It’s high time for the war criminals’ day of reckoning!

On September 18 (or even before), the United Nations can start imposing serious sanctions on Israel. This include a military embargo as well as establishing a war crimes tribunal. Israel can also be stripped of its credentials as a member state in the General Assembly. The UN then can send in a protective force to distribute food and medical aid and protect Palestinian civilians from further harm at the hands of genocidal Zionists. More than two-thirds of the General Assembly supports creating such measures—it was more than a ten to one ratio for the September 2024 vote—and there’s nothing the US, even with its Security Council veto, can do about these measures.

So, what’s stopping this overwhelming majority of member nations in the United Nations from ending the genocide of the Palestinian people today? The US can’t stop the General Assembly vote or prevent sanctions against Israel from taking effect. Israel can’t prevent itself from being kicked out of the UN if enough member states vote to do so. The time to take decisive action to end this ethnic cleansing is now.

But let’s say that Canada feels pressured by the US not to vote yes on the UN’s Uniting for Peace process. Are there other countries so terrified of the US that they’d be willing to ignore the vast majority of their own people who want to stop the genocide in Gaza? Could the oligarchs of other colonizing countries in particular want to keep their ties with the US and its corporate oligarchs intact? Could they instruct their UN representatives to vote no or abstain on the initiative? Could US allies such as the UK, Germany, France, Canada, or Australia actually vote against Uniting for Peace?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. But it’s still worth a shot even if there’s only a remote possibility to save lives, right? (...)

 

To read more about how we can start the Uniting for Peace process and how to become a part of the Lifeline for Palestine, please copy or click on this link: 

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And watch this video for a short explanation of Uniting for Peace:  https://youtu.be/79m9MSYH3kU 

This article is the 536th blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

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How Can We Make Reparations to Palestine?

by C. A. Matthews

There will come a day when the genocidaires of Israel and its mostly Western allies will be forced to make reparations to the Palestinian people. Justice demands that fair and proper restitution be made to the victims of Israeli war crimes. But what will these reparations look like? How will they be enacted? Who will oversee the implementation of these reparations?

I’ve pondered these questions and came up with an outline of what all should be covered in a reparations plan. I believe reparations should be made to the Palestinian people in the following categories:

1. Financial-Material Reparations

2. Cultural-Historical-Educational Reparations

3. Political-Judicial Reparations

4. Spiritual-Physical Reparations

Israel will have to make reparations to Lebanon, Syria, and Iran in addition to Gaza and the West Bank. In this article, I’m concentrating on reparations to be made to the Palestinian people, although this outline could be used as a pattern to help develop a reparations plan for other peoples Israel and its allies have committed war crimes against.

Financial-Material Reparations

Financial-material reparations are the most obvious ones that Israel and its allies will need to make. All buildings Israel has destroyed in its genocide of Gaza, as well as in its attempt to takeover the West Bank, must be repaired or replaced. This includes public edifices such as hospitals, schools, universities, churches, mosques, and community centers. It will also include restoring parks, beaches, tourist attractions, museums, theaters, and other public gathering places. Bridges, roads, port facilities, utilities, water treatment plants, power plants, and any other infrastructure damaged or destroyed will also need to be repaired or rebuilt and paid for by the war criminals.

Private homes, apartment buildings, business offices, shopping areas, and individual stores or kiosks must also be repaired or rebuilt in a timely manner. And because Israelis have deprived Palestinians of their livelihoods and homes, they would need to make good on the income Palestinians have lost during the commission of their war crimes. Israelis must continue to repay all Palestinians lost income during this period of rebuilding Gaza and the destroyed and stolen homes and villages of the West Bank.

I know what’s going through your head at this point: How will the state of Israel be able to afford the restoration of all the buildings and infrastructure it has destroyed? How will it afford to give financial support to the Palestinian families it has harmed? Who will be the workers to fulfill this plan?

I will discuss the worker situation later, but for now notice that I added “and allies” at the start when I mentioned who all have committed war crimes against the Palestinian people. Israel won’t be the only country that will be making good on these reparations. All of Israel’s allies that have provided funding, bombs, jets, tanks, munitions, mercenaries, military support and surveillance, etc., to attack Gaza will need to make restitution as well. No country that aided or abetted Israel’s war crimes gets to walk free under this reparations plan. All who are guilty will pay to restore the damages their activities and support of the state of Israel have caused. No exceptions...

 

To learn more about my reparations plan, please continue reading the rest of this article on Substack. Just copy or click on this link: 

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When Is A Ceasefire Not A Ceasefire?

If you still have any doubt that we live in a profoundly sick dystopia as deranged as anything that’s ever been imagined in fiction, take note of the fact that the most powerful empire in history is currently trying to propagandize you into thinking an obvious genocide is fine. -- Caitlin Johnstone

When Is A Ceasefire Not A Ceasefire?

by C.A. Matthews

When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? Recent headlines in the mainstream media confused me, so I did some research to find the answers.

US steps aside, allows 'non-binding' ceasefire https://youtu.be/wvuTyGROBZQ?si=gk82n6pl7hs6ZW9i

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the United Nations, emphasizes that the Security Council’s vote to approve a ceasefire in Gaza is “non-binding,” so that is why the US decided to abstain from voting no to a ceasefire resolution this time around. In her opinion, this ceasefire resolution is not really a “ceasefire,” and it can and will be ignored by the US and Israel.

Meanwhile, this is what the rest of the Security Council thinks about it:

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday characterized the United Nations Security Council resolution 2728 demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict as “non-binding,” a phrase also used by US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

 The US was rebuked by China, according to Akmal Dawi at VOA: “‘Security Council resolutions are binding,’ Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday.”

 Beijing is correct on the law, and the Biden administration is being disingenuous. If President Biden did not want a ceasefire resolution to pass, he should have vetoed it. By abstaining and letting the world community vote on the matter, Biden has elicited a binding decision, and his officials should stop dancing around it.

 The law here is clear.

 Article 25 of the UN Charter, to which the US, China and Israel are all signatories, says, “The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.”

Moreover, we could consider the actual language of the resolution, in which the UNSC:

“Demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs, and further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain”

You’d have to twist yourself into a pretzel to avoid concluding that the Security Council sees the ceasefire as binding, given the use of the verb “demand.” The UNSC isn’t suggesting. It isn’t hoping. It isn’t imploring. It is demanding. --From Naked Hypocrisy: The US Cited UNSC Resolutions to Invade Iraq, Now Call Gaza Ceasefire Demand ‘Non-Binding https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/28/naked-hypocrisy-the-us-cited-unsc-resolutions-to-invade-iraq-now-call-gaza-ceasefire-demand-non-binding/

Even more confusing, Ambassador Greenfield-Thomas complained that this particular UNSC ceasefire resolution doesn’t mention the “mass rapes by Hamas on October 7,” although these lurid allegations have all since been dismissed due to lack of evidence. In fact, there is now ample evidence that these false rape charges were concocted by the Israelis to discredit Hamas while simultaneously downplaying Israeli soldiers’ own sordid war crimes—many of which IDF troops proudly have uploaded to TikTok and other social media platforms.

Israeli “commission” on 7 October rape claims exposed as fraud https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-commission-7-october-rape-claims-exposed-fraud/45401

State Dept downplays reports of Israeli soldiers sexually abusing, slaughtering Palestinian women https://thegrayzone.com/2024/02/23/state-dept-israeli-soldiers-sexually-abusing-slaughtering-palestinian-women/

Apparently a “non-binding ceasefire” to the Biden administration means that the US will supply arms to Israel in defiance of the UN Security Council ceasefire resolution that just passed. Israel can continue to bomb, shoot, maim, torture, rape, and starve Palestinians with impunity, all because their good friend the United States of America will continue running interference for them in the United Nations and elsewhere.

Israel continues to bomb Gaza and block aid in defiance of UNSC ceasefire resolution https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/03/27/israel-continues-to-bomb-gaza-and-block-aid-in-defiance-of-unsc-ceasefire-resolution/

If no other countries are willing or able to take on the US and Israel, this UNSC ceasefire resolution won’t be able to make Israel cease firing bombs/weapons at the innocents in Gaza. It won’t stop war crimes from being committed by Israeli troops. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians will continue unabated.

So, when is a “ceasefire” not a ceasefire? A ceasefire is not an actual ceasefire when there is no way to back it up (with the use of force, if necessary) to make the parties involved in committing war crimes stop. The bad guys will continue to do what the ceasefire resolution explicitly tells them to stop doing, that is firing upon a civilian population. Worse yet, the bad guys will continue doing what they’re doing without any fear of being charged with, convicted of, or locked away for their war crimes.

When is a “genocide” not a genocide then? You should be able to follow the logic of this conundrum easily enough after the first example.

United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Francesca Albanese, submitted her “report on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967” this past week. She gave brief remarks in person about the report as well.

The official name of her report? “The Anatomy of a Genocide”. (You can download the report in full as a PDF file here.)

Independent UN Expert Alleges Israeli Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza https://youtu.be/3XrwNGWF108?si=JenHXmT3HLdyA5iX

Here’s the scenario: We have a United Nations human rights special rapporteur calling what is currently happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza a “genocide”. The International Court of Justice at The Hague in January made a preliminary ruling that Israel is committing “plausible genocide” against the Palestinian people while it continues to weigh more evidence. Many human rights organizations and aid groups, such as Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders, who have witnessed similar situations up close and personal previously have also called what is happening to the Gazans a “genocide”.

ICJ Hearings to Examine 57 Years of Israeli Occupation of Palestine https://www.commondreams.org/news/israeli-occupation

ICJ Rules in Favour of South Africa and Against Israel https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/icj-rules-in-favour-of-south-africa

International Court of Justice Rules That Israel Must Stop Killing Palestinians https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/24/international-court-of-justice-rules-that-israel-must-stop-killing-palestinians/

Even Israeli government officials and ministers have made public statements indicating that they are committing genocide: 22-Minute Speech Details Israeli Officials' Genocidal Statements at ICJ https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-genocidal-statements-2666930604

During Holy Week, a US State Department employee, Dr. Annelle Sheline, resigned her position in protest to the “genocide” occurring in Gaza. In her statement, she uses the word genocide to describe what is happening there.

I Could Not Stay Silent: Annelle Sheline Resigns from State Dept. over U.S. Gaza Policy https://youtu.be/nRI-MtoSD_E?si=Msrr5qLuEicKt5yF

With a United Nations human rights rapporteur and the assembled justices of the International Court of Justice calling the ethnic cleansing of 32,000+ Palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli military a “genocide,” along with a US State Department employee with a conscience and many respected human rights agencies, how could anyone doubt that a genocide is indeed occurring in Gaza? All of the 13,000+ dead Palestinian children just didn’t run into those US-provided bombs dropped onto their homes on purpose, did they? This argument is a no-brainer, isn’t it?

Not to the brainless US government officials and mainstream media it isn’t!

A US State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, insulted Ms. Albanese, calling her “anti-semitic” because of her report findings. How diplomatic is that phrasing coming from an employee of the State Department!

Miller said they oppose mandate of this rapporteur, accused her of antisemitism and rejected allegations of genocide: https://twitter.com/AssalRad/status/1773039432867749927

Simply put, a genocide is not a genocide when the fact of legally designating it as such gets in the way of implementing US foreign policy. The Biden administration has enthusiastically aided Israel in the commission of genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza by providing it with arms and political interference at the United Nations, but it doesn’t like the negative connotations of the word “genocide.” So the US State Department simply won’t use that word to describe what is happening in Gaza.

Let’s be honest. If the current administration could get away with calling what’s happening to the human beings currently trapped, starving, and dying in Gaza a “picnic”, then that is what it would be called. A picnic. And the public would believe it! Which leads us to our next question:

When is “journalism” not journalism?

What the mainstream media is putting out for public consumption recently cannot be defined as journalism. What they’re doing doesn’t even fit the basic definition of journalism I learned way back in high school. It’s all rather pathetic, isn’t it?

Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges laments how American mainstream journalism has become one big propaganda machine for the US and Israeli governments:

PEN America is a sock puppet of the U.S. and Israel… [It has] accepted funding from the Israeli government — which routinely censors and jails Palestinian journalists and writers in Israel and the occupied West Bank and assassinates them and their families in Gaza — for the literary group’s annual World Voices festival in New York. From PEN America Self-Destructs https://consortiumnews.com/2024/03/26/chris-hedges-pen-america-self-destructs/

I was taught that a journalist must answer the “who, what, where, when, why and how” of the situation in their reporting. This example shows how the “who” or the instigator of the famine in Gaza (the government of Israel) has been completely left out of the articles:

An entire Economist article on famine in Gaza doesn’t say the word “Israel” once. Not even when describing damage to farmland and water facilities or severely restricted aid deliveries. Saying *who* is destroying the farmland and restricting aid seems like basic info to include. https://twitter.com/AssalRad/status/1772862382462636150

The Western mainstream media is happy to manipulate the narrative in order to make their corporate owners (and our paid-off public officials’ biggest donors) happy. Jonathan Cook shows this to be the case in his article, We were lied into the Gaza genocide. Al Jazeera has shown us how: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/we-were-lied-into-the-gaza-genocide

Basic information is ignored or cut out of reportage of events in Gaza altogether. One would think we’d witness some feeling from Western journalists for the tremendous loss of life of their fellow journalists in Gaza over the past six months (more killed than in the entirety of the Vietnam War), but there isn’t any. Many big name Western journalists are perfectly fine with not fully reporting the who, what, where, when, why and how of the situation. They’re making lots of money acting as “stenographers for the oligarchy.” Why let the truth or morals get in the way?

This sad fact leads us to this question: When is “censorship” not censorship?

If a so-called “journalist” working for a big news network has no problems with not reporting the entirety of what’s happening in Gaza, has no problems with repeating US or Israeli propaganda and talking points, then why would they care if the US government (or one of its private agents) shuts down social media platforms or bans freelance journalists from posting? It makes for less competition and fewer embarrassing situations when the "stenographers" are caught out in a lie. Who really needs free speech? (Answer: You don't.) Learn more at:

I was banned from Elon’s ‘free speech’ X app for offending power https://thegrayzone.com/2024/03/19/banned-elons-free-speech-x-app/

Israel’s Shadow Over Free Speech: The Truth Behind the TikTok Ban Bill https://www.mintpressnews.com/israel-shadow-free-speech-truth-behind-tiktok-ban-bill/287113/

Last but not least, when is a “terrorist” not a terrorist? Maybe it’s when the terrorists are actually agents of the governments of the United States of America and Israel. These two nations are busily trying to shut down social media platforms for their own benefit, lying to, manipulating, and terrorizing people both at home and abroad in order to advance their agendas. They’re literally getting away with a genocide in Gaza. Don’t these nefarious actions fit the very definition of what makes a nation a "terrorist state?"

by Mark Taylor, DeMOCKracy Ink

Worse yet, these terrorists, these censors of free speech, these manipulators of the media, these murderers of children, they think they’ll get away with it. They don’t see any need to curtail what they’re doing. Ever.

Perhaps it’s time We the People who still possess a conscience and morals rise up and lock these war criminals away once and for all. 

But how? It won't be easy, but remember: We outnumber them. We are the workers and the consumers that make this corrupt imperialist-capitalist regime tick. We can shut the system down if we organize and act. But first we must decide that today's the day to end the terrorism.

Keep speaking out. Keep marching. Keep protesting. Keep striking and supporting the BDS movement. Don’t make life comfortable for the terrorists who won’t call themselves what they really are and use the correct terms to describe the evil they're really doing. 

Words are powerful, and we have the best ones on our side. We can and we must speak truth to power.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

Download the PDF of the Anatomy of a Genocide - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese (A/HRC/55/73)  https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/anatomy-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-situation-human-rights-palestinian-territories-occupied-1967-francesca-albanese-ahrc5573-advance-unedited-version

Ireland backs bid to include blocking of aid in definition of genocide https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/27/gaza-ireland-joins-battle-to-include-the-blocking-of-vital-aid-in-definition-of-genocide

Imagine If Russia Or China Did The Things Israel Is Doing In Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/imagine-if-russia-or-china-did-the

Stella Assange on the Assange Appeal Decision https://youtu.be/FMaLgiX-8a0?si=npBLwYVObXpJLDHH

VIPS MEMO: The French Road to Nuclear War https://consortiumnews.com/2024/03/25/vips-memo-the-french-road-to-nuclear-war/

Israeli “commission” on 7 October rape claims exposed as fraud hhttps://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-commission-7-october-rape-claims-exposed-fraud/45401

Released Hostage Reveals Oct 7th TRUTH! (It's Not What You Think.) https://youtu.be/NnJM9q6EHwA?si=LGRA5Ww9qR2RX5Cp

The Empire Slowly Suffocates Assange Like It Slowly Suffocates All Its Enemies https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-empire-slowly-suffocates-assange

Should Biden be tried for genocide crimes? https://youtu.be/HhyIxP7DTyg?si=gjyuaVQpYe1WQeEe

Israel lodges proposal with UN for dismantling of Palestinian relief agency  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/31/israel-plan-un-dismantle-palestinian-relief-agency-unwra

US State Dept’s favorite celebrity chef builds Gaza aid dock with stolen rubble https://thegrayzone.com/2024/03/27/us-state-depts-chef-gaza-aid-rubble/

Dead and Divine and Brother of All https://matthewhoh.substack.com/p/dead-and-divine-and-brother-of-all

CARTOON: ISIS-K? Wake Up To The Many US Connections To Moscow Terror Attack!  https://mark192.substack.com/p/cartoon-isis-k-wake-up-to-the-many

Israel Lies About Being A Victim So That It Can Victimize
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-lies-about-being-a-victim/

Violent Extremists Get Called "Moderates" By A Violent Extremist Empire https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/violent-extremists-get-called-moderates

Liberal Finger-Wagging At Netanyahu Is A Phony, Cynical Charade https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/liberal-finger-wagging-at-netanyahu

The Plan Is To Turn Palestine Into A Historical Footnote So It's Too Late To Save It https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-plan-is-to-turn-palestine-into

A Genocide Foretold  https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/31/chris-hedges-a-genocide-foretold/

The Nuclear Explosion That Makes US Aid to Israel Illegal
(Israel’s nuclear program has been in violation of international law for decades, rendering it ineligible for American assistance.)
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-nuclear-weapons/
 

A Human With A Conscience Award nominee Caitlin Johnstone has a new painting and video called "The Self-Immolation Of Aaron Bushnell" https://youtu.be/kAEc3qQloeQ?si=9N7UI1hSt4-0ftlT

On Easter Sunday, active-duty Air Force Senior Airman Larry Hebert began a hunger strike to highlight the plight of the starving children of Gaza.

Larry Hebert, age 26, from New Hampshire, and a member of Veterans For Peace, took authorized leave from his assignment at Naval Station Rota, Spain to participate in demonstrations demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to visit Congressional offices to press for stopping weapons shipments to Israel, which violate several U.S. laws.

Hebert said, “I was deeply touched when I saw that Aaron Bushnell took his own life at the Israeli Embassy for the people of Gaza and knew that I had to raise my voice in opposition to the U.S. government supplying Israel the bombs and rockets to commit genocide in Gaza. Active-duty members are afraid to speak out and I hope that my example and that of others, like Aaron, can change that.”

 * * *

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Marching Toward Justice

https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-complicity-gaza

Marching Toward Justice

by C.A. Matthews

No justice. No peace!
Know justice. Know peace!

I wore an orange jumpsuit and a black hood over my head this past Thursday (January 11) for two hours. I, along with a couple dozen activists, marched around our county courthouse chanting the above chant as well as many others concerning justice, freedom, and for the end of unjust detention and torture. Ours and many other protests worldwide this week marked the twenty-second anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, an extrajudicial prison operated by the US military that has held hundreds of men, many without charge, for the past 22 years.

(I’m carrying the “Close Guantanamo” sign in this video https://www.facebook.com/reel/1434577297270587)

There are currently thirty souls still detained at Guantanamo, sixteen of whom were supposed to have been released many years ago, but they haven’t been because the US simply doesn’t release these individuals to go back to their homes and families. They are only released to other countries that are willing to lock them up again behind bars or keep a close eye on them. You’re not really being “freed” if you’re simply placed into another prison or detention set-up without a trial and without a chance to see your family again, are you?

There are many parallels between the detainees of Guantanamo and the detainees of the open-air concentration camp known as Gaza. You can learn a lot (I sure did) from the following webinars. I recommend you watch them and share the links with others. Together, we can pull down the walls of unjust detention and tear down the torture chambers that have been built with US taxpayer dollars and used to destroy others in our names.

From Guantánamo to Gaza: Resisting State Violence and Occupation https://www.youtube.com/live/X9A9xUKXUpY?si=OapW7b5gqocTxLib

From Guantánamo to Gaza: Where Do We Go From Here?
https://youtube.com/live/aPxHKEjmCuw

If you feel so moved, please donate to the Guantanamo Survivors’ Fund. If and when a detainee is finally released, he receives no help in making the transition from imprisonment to life outside. He's given no money, no housing, no clothing, and no medical help to deal with his trauma of both mind and body. Please give generously if you’re able and share the link with others.

No justice. No peace.

And since I’m sharing video links, here are some well worth a look. These are the testimonies given at the International Court of Justice at The Hague by legal representatives from the Republic of South Africa and from the state of Israel this past week. The case presented by South Africa is well argued and, without a doubt, revealing of the true natures of Israel's leaders. The South Africans very wisely didn’t state that “Israel is calling for a genocide”—they simply quoted Israeli officials who openly called for the “elimination” or “complete annihilation” of the Palestinian people or the “human animals” of Gaza as the Israeli Defense minister named them. Their own hideously racist words will damn them. 

Day 1 of SA v Israel on Genocide at World Court
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/01/10/watch-day-1-of-sa-v-israel-on-genocide-at-world-court/

22-Minute Speech Details Israeli Officials' Genocidal Statements at ICJ https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-genocidal-statements-2666930604

It doesn’t take much to convince the public that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people when Israeli leaders are openly declaring that it’s what they’re in fact doing. But will the judges rule that a “potential for genocide” is indeed happening in Gaza?

In a perfect world, a ruling would be announced right away, but it will probably be two or three weeks (or more) until the world hears back from the ICJ justices. It is a very biased and political court  from what I’ve learned. Judges from countries that have had similar charges made against them in the past might not want to judge Israel guilty of the same crime in fear it could come back and bite their country at some point. The ICJ in reality, however, has little to no "bite" and no way to hold countries accountable for their war crimes, alas. Politics trumps justice in this imperfect world.

No justice. No peace. 

And now for our third story concerning the march toward justice this past week, The National March on Washington for Gaza (livestreamed in its entirety via BreakThrough News.)

 
“No country that supports genocide will ever flourish! ...Take a look at our irrational relationship with Israel!”-- Sh. Yasir Qadhi, a speaker at the March

“I don’t feel safe as a Palestinian.” – Anees, a Palestinian-American artist reading his poem in front of 400,000 people at the March

Biden, Biden you can’t hide! You’re supporting genocide!
Your silence is a license for Israeli violence!
We will free Palestine...within our lifetime!
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

I wish I could have attended the massive National March on Washington for Gaza this past weekend, but the march around the courthouse in the cold and damp earlier in the week was about all my old body could take for a while. The buses from our city heading toward DC were full, so I knew we would be well represented there.

Independent journalists broadcast live coverage on You Tube of all the rally speakers and the march to the White House to let “Genocide Joe” know that the majority of Americans want an end to the bombing of Gaza and a permanent ceasefire. BreakThrough News was the only media group that I could find online that followed all the events of the day. Once again, the American mainstream media purposefully ignored an anti-genocide/pro-Palestinian event in the nation’s capital in order to suppress its message and public knowledge of its large turn out.

Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now!

 

Speakers expressed their disgust and sheer horror at how the Biden’s administration continues to ignore the plight of the Palestinians and send even more weapons to Israel. How anyone could ignore the mass murders of so many civilians (now estimated at 30,000+ lives lost with 12,000 of those deaths being children’s) brought forth stern commentary using straightforward terminology. Biden and Secretary of State Blinken were painted as despicable, morally bankrupt, and explicitly complicit in the genocide against the Palestinian people.

That the Democratic Party even entertains the notion that Biden is a viable candidate after this and similar American rallies over the past three months demonstrates that they’re not really serious about keeping the White House. Perhaps that’s the plan of the oligarchy after all—to pass off control of the Executive Branch to the Republicans as a distraction from what’s really happening in the world at the expense of the struggling classes. 

 

The oligarchs probably believe that most Americans can't tell there are no actual differences between the two establishment factions. We are easily fooled. But on-the-street interviews during the march to the White House give evidence to the fact that the protesters know they have a choice in the voting booth. Some expressed their support for the Green Party’s Jill Stein, one of the speakers at the pre-march rally.

Dr. Stein was in good form. Wearing shades of blue, the wind blowing through her silver-white hair, she boldly proclaimed to the crowd as she took the stage, “I see power! I see justice! I see democracy as far as the eye can see!” She ended with, “You have the power! Remember, we have the power to change history. Together we are unstoppable!” Jill is collecting names for a pledge demanding an end to the genocide at her campaign web site now: https://www.jillstein2024.com/pledgetostopgenocide

You can watch Jill Stein's speech here: https://youtu.be/ooUatY8IATc?si=UFqvmOq6kQEgh6gu

The solidarity of the different groups of marchers was lovely to see. A young activist said of Joe Biden when asked why the president continued to send money and arms to Israel: “It’s not the eyes that are blind; it’s the heart that is blind.” “(Biden is) an excuse of a president,” another marcher told a reporter with BreakThrough News. “We are tired of being second class citizens in our own country.”

Very telling comments on this, the weekend of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. If Dr. King were alive today, no doubt he would have gone to DC and marched, proudly carrying a Palestinian flag.

“There’s no turning back,” said Liane, an activist with the Shut It Down For Palestine Coalition as she stood outside of the White House’s double-fence in the bitter cold after sunset. “Biden has lost legitimacy. No one running in either of the two parties has any legitimacy. Consciousness has been raised.”

Well said. It’s impressive how well-informed activists are and how they aren’t swallowing the pro-Zionist propaganda put out by the government. They're fighting back, speaking out, and naming names. They understand they have options, choices in the polling booth. Jill Stein, a strong pro-Palestine/anti-genocide candidate for the presidency, is one of them.

There is no justice and no peace yet for the beleaguered people of Palestine, but at least there is some hope on the horizon. And so we will continue marching on toward justice.

Related Articles and Interesting Links

The National March on Washington for Gaza, January 13, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/live/MCNrimImrH0?si=MAWHW7ZQfOj8XM4X

Chris Hedges: The Case for Genocide https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/12/chris-hedges-the-case-for-genocide/

Genocide is not a political problem. It is a moral one. We cannot, no matter what the cost, support those who commit or are accomplices to genocide. Genocide is the crime of all crimes. It is the purest expression of evil. We must stand unequivocally with Palestinians and the jurists from South Africa. We must demand justice. We must hold Biden accountable for the genocide in Gaza.

‘The Evidence of Genocide Is Not Only Chilling, It Is Also Overwhelming and Incontrovertible’
https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/12/the-evidence-of-genocide-is-not-only-chilling-it-is-also-overwhelming-and-incontrovertible/

What Israel Faces at The Hague
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/01/10/what-israel-faces-at-the-hague/

South Africa’s Impassioned Plea to Stop Israel’s Genocide https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/12/south-africas-impassioned-plea-to-stop-israels-genocide/

Your Man in the Hague (in a Good Way).
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2024/01/your-man-in-the-hague-in-a-good-way/

US and UK Bomb Yemen, Israel's Pathetic Defense at the International Court of Justice, and More
rumble.com/v46nujl-us-and-uk-bomb-yemen-israels-pathetic-defense-at-the-international-court-of.htm

Give to the Guantanamo Survivors Fund https://www.nogitmos.org/guantanamo-survivors-fund

An Ex-CIA Agent Looks Back at 22 Years of Torture at Guantánamo Bay https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/10/john-kiriakou-22-years-of-terror-at-guantanamo-bay/

Accountability and Legacy at Guantanamo: Some Progress, Still A Long Way to Go https://www.justsecurity.org/91156/accountability-and-legacy-at-guantanamo-some-progress-still-a-long-way-to-go/

Gaza crisis: another hospital facing dire shortages, warns WHO
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145332

 

Screams without proof: questions for NYT about shoddy ‘Hamas mass rape’ report https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/10/questions-nyt-hamas-rape-report/

Pro-Palestinian household targeted with bomb in Sydney, Australia
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/01/10/sohf-j10.html

Westerners Have An Absolutely Psychotic View Of Airstrikes https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/westerners-have-an-absolutely-psychotic

Western Empire Bombs Yemen To Protect Israel's Genocide Operations In Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/western-empire-bombs-yemen-to-protect

US and UK launch war against Yemen https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/01/12/vgxz-j12.html

US and UK Bomb Dozens of Sites in Yemen https://news.antiwar.com/2024/01/11/us-and-uk-bomb-dozens-of-sites-in-yemen/

We Could Try Simply NOT Provoking A Wider War Via The Continued Destruction Of Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/we-could-try-simply-not-provoking

Biden Is Everything People Feared Trump Would Be
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/biden-is-everything-people-feared

If You've Just Started Paying Attention To US Foreign Policy
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-youve-just-started-paying-attention

We badly need the kind of critical reporting that WikiLeaks supplied on the crimes of the “war on terror”
https://www.stopwar.org.uk/article/why-gaza-reporting-shows-that-julian-assange-should-be-free/

Abby Martin Explains Why Israel Will Never Be The Same
https://rumble.com/v46mcbr-abby-martin-explains-why-israel-will-never-be-the-same.html

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