It is difficult to imagine a more depraved, brutal and cowardly act than bombing refugee families in their tents, but I think we now all understand there is no moral depth which the terrorist entity that is Israel will not plumb.
I think you know I have been regularly crying hot tears over the slaughter of innocents and the complicity of the western states. I hope that you will understand it is not from indifference to the unspeakable suffering, that I respond with a disquisition on grammar.
There was an extraordinary unanimity across the entire mainstream media in giving the same misrepresentation of the recent ICJ Order to Israel to stop operations in Gaza.
How does it happen that both media and political class unite in pumping out the same misinterpretation of a document, when that interpretation is not only wrong but impossible?
We are told that the ICJ did not unambiguously order Israel to stop its operations in Rafah, but left “wiggle room” for Israel to conduct operations in a surgical manner without endangering civilians.
The propaganda line goes that Israel was only ordered to halt its offensive insofar as it may cause conditions that could endanger the Palestinian group as a whole.
But what the court said is this:
Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
The Zionist spin is that the final clause qualifies the first clause and thus the offensive need only be stopped if it “inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
The argument then runs that an offensive in Rafah allegedly designed not to do this may go ahead. [I explain the Zionist spin, leaving aside for the moment that it is plain to the entire world that Israel is anyway inflicting exactly those conditions of life on the Palestinians.]
But that is a grammatically impossible interpretation.
I do accept that the second comma means that the final clause does also apply to the first statement and not just the “any other action” clause, although that is arguably ambiguous.
But even accepting that, if we remove the middle clause and apply the final clause only to the “offensive”, we still get this:
Israel must immediately halt its military offensive… which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
The order to stop the offensive is peremptory. There is no way to parse the entire sentence which does not give a direct order to “immediately halt its military offensive.”
Let me give a precise analogy.
“Stop playing football in the house, you may break the Ming vase”
CANNOT mean
“Carry on playing football, you might not break the Ming vase.”
I might take time to note the position of the British Labour Party, which is claiming it supports the International Court of Justice, but on the basis of the deliberate misinterpretation of its rulings. Keir Starmer has still at time of writing not condemned last night’s massacre in Rafah.
This is a turning point in history. The mask has been pulled away from the West and the pretence of support for international law has almost entirely been abandoned. It is fascinating to witness the determined efforts of the media and politicians to keep events in Gaza out of the election campaign.
As both major parties support continued arms sales and military support to Israel, and in the words of Keir Starmer support Israel “unequivocally”, it is unsurprising they wish the genocide happening now to be ignored in the campaign.
We have to make sure that does not happen.
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The phrasing of the ICJ statement as it stands was semi-literate, but your “grammatical analysis” is only partially correct.
Yes, as it stands and as you state, the ICJ statement tells Israel to “…halt its military offensive… which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” It would have been infinitely better if “any” had been used instead of “its” but there we go – horses for courses.
However, with the insertion of the two commas, what the pro-Israeli lobby are claiming, and what your “grammatical analysis” denies – that action in the Rafah Governorate at a level below a full military offensive “…any other action…” but which does not result in “…conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” can take place – is correct.
I am sorry but that is nonsense. I have shown that it isn’t. You cannot counter that by simple assertion that black is white.
Craig, you know this site is on the GIYUS watchlist. So, hardly surprising that John S tried to rubbish your excellent article.
Craig is right. I had the same line of thinking. And please see my comment below concerning the opinions of four of the judges
John S loves lecturing Craig. That is all he ever does. ignore.
Right.
“Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
The final clause “…which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” constitutes their definition of genocide.
The position of the commas necessitates that this clause applies equally to both previous clauses, as you admit, viz.: “I do accept that the second comma means that the final clause does also apply to the first statement and not just the “any other action” clause…”.
Applied to the first clause, “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive…which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”, it tells Israel that it must stop any military offensive throughout Gaza that may result in genocide.
Applied to the second clause, “…any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”, it tells Israel that it must stop any other action that does not come within the definition of a “military offensive” but the pursuit of which may result in genocide.
So, we have a situation in which Israel has been told not to commit genocide in two different ways – by “military offensive” and by “any other action” – but has not been told not take “sub-genocidal” action in Rafah. There is no ambiguity here: it is either designed or incidental ignorance that allows the killing to go on.
“Applied to the first clause, “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive…which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”, it tells Israel that it must stop any military offensive throughout Gaza that may result in genocide.”
What utterly ridiculous and illogical special pleading! No one can honestly believe that “its” is synonymous with “any”, or that “which” is synonymous with “that”, or that the ICJ just accidentally wrote “its” and “which” when they really meant “any” and “that”.
You also contradict yourself by insisting at one and the same time that the ICJ statement is “semi-literate” (an exaggeration) and that its use of two commas must have been entirely conscious and correct, allowing only one interpretation, which mysteriously only you are prophetically gifted enough to discern.
Since it is admitted by all that the statement isn’t perfectly well expressed, why can’t it be that the ICJ put the second comma in erroneously? (I can’t resist pointing out that Craig himself often misuses commas in almost exactly the same way! Harrumph!) Make that one edit, and it reads almost (but not quite) perfectly. And its meaning is not the one that you are so perversely determined to push.
We can agree that the ICJ statement is sloppily written and punctuated. (I’m very annoyed by it myself.) But your interpretation of it is strained, tendentious, unnatural, and downright dishonest.
Give it up! It’s embarrassing. You’re not fooling anybody (probably not even yourself).
Kenneth Roth, who knows a thing or two about this subject and is not obsessed with grammatical pseudo-intellectual posturing:
“The International Court of Justice ruling for Rafah did NOT mean that Israel could kill 45 people in the name of attacking two Hamas officials, call it a “tragic accident,” and leave unaddressed the rules of engagement that permitted this war crime.”
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/middle-east/2024/05/what-will-stop-israel-in-rafah
On reflection, I feel that my comment was unnecessarily rude, and that I could have made the same points (which I still think are correct) in a less scornful, gloating, and indeed bullying manner. I apologise for having lowered the tone of the discussion.
This international cooperation of psychos and their kowtowing media outlets, can’t possibly change their behaviour now that they have debased past agreements, the Genocide convention, International law courts they once held up and their own claims to rule their constituencies with dignity and respect for voters.
I expect that they might end up in a hung Parliament and as an a..e-saving exercise of voter betrayal and their addiction to power mongering will ruin our lives further with a not-so-grand coalition.
That’s why we need truth speakers and sensible representatives that speak out to their faces in Parliament.
Shouldn’t that be a ‘hanged’ Parliament?
I have written this before – ‘hamas’ in Hebrew means ‘violence’. So every time someone says ‘hamas’, Hebrew speakers hear ‘violence’, and some are , perhaps, spurred on to that end in defence, of course.
Very well-adjusted human response to babies being beheaded and burned alive in tents.
no babies were beheaded by Hamas.. IDF has burned thousands alive tho.
“This is a turning point in history.”: History’s turning points aren’t defined by lawyers, As Bob Dylan sang “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”.
Yes, I wonder what Bob thinks about it all, what with him being Jewish.
I think when Bob sold his back-catalogue to a hedge fund or some such for $400 million or whatever it was, what he thinks about anything became an irrelevancy to me – actions speak louder than words
It was his stuff to sell legally but I found the symbolism “fin de siecle” as far as the author is concerned.
This in no way detracts from his work – it was a moment in time that has now passed. Indeed I believe it is seasoned it with all the sadness that passing time can add. Consider verse 6 and 7 from this track
“How much do I know
To talk out of turn?
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul”
— Masters of War, Bob Dylan
Even when the singer fails or goes silent, the song remains the same
On reading your post I did a search re >bob dylan gaza palestine israel< to see what, if anything, came up, and in the moment I clicked to search for results it suddenly came back to me that he did a song about it many years ago, and when the list of results came up, there it was:
Neighborhood Bully (the Ameriican spelling is different) from the Infidels album
Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man
His enemies say he's on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He's the neighborhood bully.
.
[MOD: Kindly desist from posting the entire lyrics of lengthy songs, people can look them up if they are interested ]
Also came across this Times of Israel article from 2016:
'Bob Dylan’s forgotten pro-Israel song, revisited'
https://www.timesofisrael.com/bob-dylans-forgotten-pro-israel-song-revisited/
Alan a couple of verses is enough, of anything. Have you no thought for my mouse wheel? If you continue exhausting it, I might have to contact the RSPCA
Explain why you would want to put a whole song that is proisrael? Are you proisrael?
Unlike you Alan I’m not gonna put up whole songs by has-been sellouts. No Alan I’m going to quote a fresh work of art, from last year by new talent in the proisrael market.
You will remember those delightful Israel children singing “The Friendship Song 2023”? In case you don’t here’s a few lines to jog your memory
“Autumn night falls on the coast of Gaza
Planes bomb destruction .. destruction
Here the Israeli Army crosses the line
To eliminate swastika holders
Another year there will be nothing
And we will return safely to our homeland
In a year, we’ll eliminate them all”
Of course one can’t blame the children can one Alan? No just the abusers who put them upto it. Oh but Israel does blame the children and is killing tens of thousands of them
Right up your street I would imagine Old Bean?
I assume Craig was referring to this, which I just came across on the BBC News website when checking out a a completely unrelated article (about an american actor being shot and killed), posted an hour ago (at the time of typing). Here are some clips:
‘Dozens reported killed in Israeli strike on Rafah’
At least 45 people have been killed, including women and children, in an Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
Videos from the scene in the Tal al-Sultan area on Sunday night showed a large explosion and intense fires burning.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had killed two senior Hamas officials and that it was reviewing reports that civilians were harmed as a result of the strike and fire it ignited.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Sunday’s air strike targeted tents for displaced people near a UN facility in Tal al-Sultan, external, about 2km (1.2 miles) north-west of the centre of Rafah.
Abed Mohammed al-Attar said his brother and sister-in-law were killed, leaving their children as orphans.
“The [Israeli] army is a liar. There is no security in Gaza. There is no security, not for a child, an elderly man, or a woman,” he said.
The IDF said in a statement on Sunday that it had carried out an air strike in Tal al-Sultan that eliminated two Hamas leaders – Yassin Rabia, the chief of staff of the armed group’s fighters in the occupied West Bank, and Khaled Nagar, another senior official in the West Bank wing.
“The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review,” the statement added.
An initial statement insisted that the strike was “carried out against legitimate targets under international law, using precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence that indicated Hamas’ use of the area”.
Yep, no doubt the ‘precise munitions’ they’ve been using all along.
I was just checking out Al Jazeera’s website in relation to this latest massacre by Israel and, as such, there was the following article, which was almost definitely posted before the BBC News article above, because they have the number of people killed as ‘more than forty’ (and in another article – obviously posted sometime afterwards – they have it as 45). And my point is this: In the Al Jazeera article there’s a long list of country’s and organisations condemning the attack, none of which are included in the BBC article. Here are the first few of them:
Qatar condemned the Rafah attack as a grave violation of international laws that will aggravate the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip. It said the attack could hinder mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Qatar, alongside the US and Egypt, has been engaged in months of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Egypt condemned the “deliberate bombardment”. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Israel to “implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would do “everything possible” to hold “barbaric” Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to account over the deadly strikes. “We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity,” he said.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the bombing of Rafah was “one more day with innocent Palestinian civilians being killed”. He said the gravity of the attack “is even larger” because it comes after the ICJ order directing Israel to halt its operation in Rafah and the rest of Gaza.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin described the attack as “barbaric”. “One cannot bomb an area like that without shocking consequences in terms of innocent children and civilians. We would urge Israel to stop, to stop now, in terms of the military operation in Rafah.”
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the attacks are a “material breach of the decision of the highest court of the world”…….
There are many, many more.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/27/heinous-massacre-israels-attacks-on-rafah-tent-camp-widely-condemned
“The incident is under review,” the statement added.
The standard IDF meaningless response.
Because I am ancient and easily confused I will confess to being a tad puzzled by the phrase “international law”. Is there a set of binding statutes by which every country is beholden to behave in a particular way? I suspect not – which is why the USA and Israel (and others like them) can pursue whichever path they want whether or not the the rest of the world looks on in distaste and is unable to bring them to book.
As for Keir Starmer, the less said about this pusillanimous waste of space the better. As perfect an illustration as one would want of someone terrified of saying the “wrong” thing in case he he is later found out. Pathetic.
As I am sure others will say better than me, international law is the sum of international treaties that individual countries have signed up to, including UN, etc. Some such as the ICC and ICJ also apply to countries or persons who haven’t signed up. Israel and the US typically don’t sign up or withdraw but still expect to impose the rules on others, but not on themselves.
And yet for all his risk-averse terror Starmer still somehow manages to put his foot in his mouth on a regular basis, as when, for example, he told Nick Ferrari that Israel does have the right to cut off food and water to the people of Gaza.
“for all his risk-averse terror Starmer still somehow manages to put his foot in his mouth”
There is a difference between following orders and being incompetent ie even incompetents can follow orders but it is fair to say they might or will do this incompetently, depending on the degree of incompetence they exhibit and as you mention Starmer exhibits a broad and wide-ranging incompetence, reliably lol.
I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t know “international law”. I know some voluntary declarations by some countries. In reality, there is the law of the strongest. At the moment it is the nuclear shield. Putin and Netanyahu would have suffered the fate of M. Gaddafi or S. Hussein long ago if they did not have nuclear weapons.
As far as Israel is concerned, Netanyahu can only be stopped by cutting off military and humanitarian aid, which has been going on for too long, namely 75 years. The unpunished expansion of Israel’s borders and the expulsion of Muslims are today a simple consequence of the crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
For the Western media to accept and publish the truth ICJ would have to change it´s legal formulation entirely in ways even a child would understand.
E.g. many still will contest the genocide and thus would have a “measured” view – as most outlets simulate it – of the final part:
“conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
They deny the “physical destruction”.
No way that in Germany any critical media majority would ever admit this.
Whatever Israel does – including nuking the place – nothing could ever amount to “physical destruction”.
That´s the colonialist mindset of over 500 years: “We are benign.”
Remember the Spanish Inquisition torture was to the benefit of the tortured – and the public.
That´s also why it would have been desireable for the ICJ to rule that it´a genocide. Without any “but”.
The people around here don´t understand but brute formulations and acts.
Look at how European diplomats, US politicians behave and talk behind closed doors – and increasingly in public too. And this wil get worse – before it will get better – a few decades from now…
AG do you remember PROM’s and EEPROM’s – programmable and electronically erasable read-only memory?
The brain has structures which somewhat resemble PROM/EEPROM firmware. These are not innate nor are they ad hoc but are constructed by members of a group in response to habituation to shared social stimulus
One of these semi-permanent neural structures is concerned with holding a false historical narrative. It is found amongst “in-groups” and serves to justify their shared dominance over resources and the various out-groups.
These erroneous beliefs can be corrected but require the individual be in some way, removed from the social environment that engendered them – a bit like blowing an EEPROM with new data
The point I’m making is the behaviour you mention is not simply some statements forming “the web of belief” as general humanity might experience it but an evolutionary fortress, built by an “in-group” constructed out of language and symbol to prevent thoughts which might damage the shared narrative as well as to identify and neutralise members of “out-groups”. It explains why some of these mofos have a patina of authenticity, as if they believe themselves lol – which they don’t – it’s just neural “firmware”
We know Starmer, Lammy and all the other LFI support the genocide. Everybody saw and heard what they said before the Hague got involved. Starmer explicitly said Israel has the right to deny Gazans water and electricity. Lammy went further even than the Israelis themselves in trying to dehumanize Palestinians and justify their extermination by claiming that they “raped babies”. No surprise that the media are going along with this fake, election-friendly 180 . Has any politician ever been given an easier ride by state and corporate media than Sir Keir Starmer?
Nicola Sturgeon?
The ICJ ruling is unambiguous, the “interpretations” of it as meaning anything else are wilfully misleading. None of that is a surprise as the support for the USofA’s Zionist client state continues unchecked. Anyone expressing doubt about the righteousness and nobility of the plucky warmongers is condemned as an anti-Semite and any other actions seems to run the risk of being made illegal. How is it that the practically the only main stream news outlet to fairly reflect what is going on is Al Jazeera? How is it that, as with the war in Iraq, we are not given an alternative to the main parties unqualified support for Israel in the coming election. They are now beyond the pale.
The ICJ/ICC/UN is a fairly toothless body. If the USA and Israel (and UK/five eyes) decide to ignore it then they will, and there is nothing the rest of us can really do about it – other than talk about grammar and count the bodies. Russia and China are happy to sit back and let us destroy ourselves. Come the election the great unwashed masses will take more notice of the publications of the Daily Mail and the BBC than the ICJ. They will, on the whole, vote the way they always vote, red or blue, because that is what they always do. Red for the working class, blue for the private sector. Middle Class ‘rebels’ will vote Orange because they’re mindless. FPTP ensures that differing opinions hold no weight. Craig may win, and good luck with that, also Starmer will possibly win, so TPTB will be satisfied. The sooner this shitshow is over the better, there will be no solution to our problems via the ballot box. Rant over.
“there will be no solution to our problems via the ballot box.”
Cardinal Richelieu wouldn’t need six lines from you Stevie Boy, just one clause – like the one above lol
It’ll be a major surprise if Starmzy doesn’t win, Stevie. The odds of him becoming the next PM are around 95% on Betfair (as of 10pm Monday 27th May):
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/politics/market/1.205534101
(1/1.055 = 0.95)
“major surprise”
Lol
Don’t you think the Special Services have got it all sown up by now?
Thanks for your reply Will. Starmzy doesn’t need the Special Services’ (whoever they are) help to win the election – Rishi and the Tories have been doing more than enough on that front already.
——-
With regard to your reply* on the previous blogpost: When I stated that no one had been killed, I was referring to police infiltrations of leftist and environmentalist groups in the 80’s & 90’s, not what was going in Afghanistan in the early years of the 21st century, about which I don’t know everything, but I’d say I know more than most.
* Only on Craig Murray’s blog can you read comments posted at half-four in the morning referencing inter alia Anand Gopal’s ‘No Good Men Among the Living’ (which I’ve already read – thanks for asking), Brueghal the Elder’s ‘The Fall of the Rebel Angels’, and Bernard Matthews’ turkey breeding units. Bootiful – so, if you’re not doing so already, please consider making a contribution towards the blog’s upkeep, people.
If you’ve read Gopal, how about a para on YOUR thoughts on it?
You are aware of David Killcullen one the West’s premier counter-insurgency experts? This deviant announced some time ago that the Anglo-American Empire needed to carry out a global “Phoenix Program” to preserve it’s dominance – both at home and abroad.
The Phoenix Program was an assassination program used in an attempt to pacify South Vietnam but it was so much more. Using terror tactics developed by the Gestapo – it was America’s opus in terror. After the Cheney led coup, COG (Continuity of Government), which followed the destruction of WTC and the deployment of American-made weaponised Anthrax against senior, resistant elected officials, America began implementing Phoenix at home, via the Patriot Act and Phoenix abroad in the various American satrapies via their bought servants, e.g. Brit Uniparty who agree on what is good for the superich is everything, the rest don’t matter, throw them a bone and if they don’t stop moaning, kill them – standard operating procedure.
You will learn in time, that “time” is subjective. Most in my generation have learnt this now, for the aged are nothing but realists. Yet because of my peculiar origins I have known this since the very start of “me”.
I offer a clear unedited view of the world, far from the malign influence of corrupt military “intelligence” and the rest the propagandising cretins. That Turkey vid contains a real truth or even several such truths – yet you spurn this gift due to your innate or acquired snobbery. One fine Xmas day you will eat your own words and I won’t be around to laugh – so you will have to learn how to do this for yourself.
We are living signs and each sign is unique, yet I am not blind enough to believe I own the data I perceive, nor foolish enough to essay speculation concerning the transmission of this data nor it’s provenance – I know my place; do you?
Thanks for your reply Will. No Good Men Among the Living is a bit of a curate’s egg in my opinion: good on detailing how the coalition forces got themselves sucked into sundry tribal squabbles, which ultimately led to them alienating a lot of people they didn’t need to, but barely covering Taliban atrocities (particularly from the Haqqani Network), nor the pernicious role of Pakistani’s ISI – which, of course, is coming back to bite those idiots on the arse. Will that do ya?
Assuming you’re over 60, then, in the West at least, most of your generation have essentially learnt **** all, which is why, unlike previous generations, they’ll leave their societies in significantly worse states than they were when they acquired leadership of them. On the plus side, they’ve so far managed to avoid getting us embroiled in World War III – though not for want of trying. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m a vegetarian (almost vegan), so rather than turkey, I usually have nut-roast for Christmas lunch.
P.S. Forgot to mention before: it’s ‘sewn up’ not ‘sown up’. Thanking you, ta.
Yes a somewhat unsatisfactory account, but nonetheless the data Mr Gopal does choose to present is sobering, is it not? I think it was here I read of a person, arrested and tortured for several years who then died. The detainee never spoke in all that time. I was arrested by this image and it plays on my mind from time to time.
I suggest there are no “vegans” on the Internet – at best lapsed omnivores who are in denial.
There may be vegans in “reality” – indeed I have been told several times that this is so and I would not be surprised if there were such exotic fauna present there, because as I’m sure you know “reality” is quite a big place and a lot of things happen there – relatively speaking of course.
But the hypothetical question remains, if we allow for the existence of vegans, how would the story play out, if a vegan, or indeed a mere vegetarian community group crashed their plane in an unknown location in the high mountains with the survivors having no food? The outcome would reveal something about the nature of this “reality”, would it not? And it would reveal several things about the nature of the various subjective “realities” experienced by each and every survivor. GIGO – garbage in, garbage out, NINO – nothing in, nothing out.
You once wrote “no gets a free pass from me, there are no sacred cows” and I thought how much like Reinhard Heydrich you sounded like, when he spoke at Wannsee, discussing “the Final Solution of the Jewish Question” and now with your vituperative, and unprovoked attack on the elderly I very much feel a sense of relief that you are not a decision maker in the Social Care sector. You are better off in a lab. At least there your presence will assist with the enterprise moving forward.
To avoid any possible ambiguity, the ICJ could have said: “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, because it is inflicting on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
Or, even clearer: “Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, because it is killing civilians”.
But they chose their mealy mouthed phrase instead.
I’m more inclined to believe the ICJ just fucked up. I agree they needed to proof their directive against malign interpretation, but legalese never breaks up a sentence where it can be strung out over a number of clauses (more sophisticated, innit?). That’s where the room for this spurious ‘ambiguity’ crept in.
Yes, but what does it matter ? The ICJ doesn’t have a military wing to enforce its judgements. They can say what they fucking like. The USA are the only ones who can conceivably stop the crazies – but they are more than happy with the way things are going.
I have long suspected that many of the genocidal statements made by BN and other Israeli politicians etc have never made it into the MSM in the UK (and ditto for the US and Australia and Canada and most – if not just about all – European countries, or only one or two of them have, and only in the odd newspaper (or broadcaster) here and there. It would of course take ages to do a search (of the UK media) in respect of each one of these statements (although I have had it in mind to do so since months and months ago), but I just found this El Pais article which lists quite a few of them, the first of which is one by Nissim Vaturi, in which he says ‘Gaza must be burned’, and so I did a search re >nissim vaturi gaza<, and the only news outlets that came up in the results (and directly covered it) were the Jewish Post and Times of Israel and Haaretz and Middle East Eye and MSN, and the Guardian mentioned it within an article. But the JC didn't come up in the results, and so I just did a search on their website, and there were 0 results, which is interesting.
I'll try doing a search re BNs biblical rant at some point to see what comes up in respect of that, but I have little doubt that apart from those of us who follow the likes of Craig and Jonathan Cook and Caitlin Johnstone and Skwawkbox and MediaLens et al, the vast majority of the British public are unaware of most – and perhaps ALL – of these psychopathic murderous statements.
‘Wipe Gaza off the face of the earth’: The statements made by Israeli politicians on which South Africa supports its genocide case
https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-11/wipe-gaza-off-the-face-of-the-earth-the-statements-made-by-israeli-politicians-on-which-south-africa-supports-its-genocide-case.html#
The West is giving Israel what it wants, because that is what bad parents always do with a spoiled child.
The repercussions will eventually be visited upon the citizens of the West regardless of the CIA/MI6/etc.
“The repercussions will eventually be visited upon the citizens of the West regardless of the CIA/MI6/etc.”
Should read “The repercussions will shortly be visited upon the citizens of the West if the CIA/MI6/etc. have anything to do with it, which they will.
I wonder what delights the Senior Service will bring to our new “Jerusalem” – Obeidi will be hard to top but not impossible.
“And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark satanic mills?”
— Jerusalem, William Blake (circa 1808)
Will. Correct terminology please, Secret or Security Service. ‘Senior Service’ usually applies to the Royal Navy or a packet of fags …
Senior Service – informal name for Royal Navy
Stevie Boy I thought it was you that mentioned the Obeidi travesty about three weeks ago when alluding to “fake terror”
Responsible Statecraft has a piece on students and shift in political convictions towards Israel.
A few numbers:
– “Pew Research reported, “A third of adults under 30 say their sympathies lie either entirely or mostly with the Palestinian people, while 14% say their sympathies lie entirely or mostly with the Israeli people” and “older Americans, by comparison, are more likely to sympathize with Israelis than Palestinians.”
– “In November, the Brookings Institution reported, “Even before the Hamas invasion, there were distinct generational differences in Americans’ attitudes towards Israel,” adding, “only 41% of those aged 18-29 had a favorable view of Israel, compared to 69% of those aged 65 or older.”
– “50% of young Americans trust news from social media nearly as much as they do legacy media, and that more student protesters are relying on foreign media like Al Jazeera”
Polls on this issue are however deceiving. If I were to do this in Germany most likely I would get a pretty unrealistic picture as many do not dare say what they truly think.
The question is how will things look like on the ground in Gaza in 5 years.
I fear it will take much longer to overcome the real obstacles and only in the wake of the rise of BRICS or related shifts of power of economies.
See the RS poll article (with more numbers):
“Will Gen Z change America’s foreign policy towards Israel?
Not just the protests, but myriad polls show a dramatic shift away from unconditional support”
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/young-americans-israel/
Walking past Manchester Museum yesterday, I saw a large encampment of students supporting the Palestinians. I was slightly surprised, as there’d been no coverage of this on the ‘news’, national or local.
Such camps probably exist near most universities, they’re just not being covered by the ‘news’.
That’s how propaganda, censorship, ‘controlling the narrative’ etc. works.
Another example – the actor Guy Pierce was photographed at Cannes wearing a Palestine flag badge on his suit. In the Vanity Fair photo however, the badge had been edited out. Brazen. Cannes Film Festival: Outrage after magazine edits out Guy Pearce’s Palestine pin
They silence people and squash dissent.
On the police violently breaking up the students’ peaceful protests, the classic is Biden’s “We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. But order must prevail.”
You’ve just got to love that.
We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. But…
There seems to be no end in the sophistry, twisting of truth, deliberate obfuscation etc all to cover up and justify heinous killing of civilians.
Remember last year how David Lammy tried to defend killing palestinian refugee civilians in tent!
David Lammy: Israeli strike on refugee camp ‘can be legally justified’
https://www.thenational.scot/news/23893590.david-lammy-israeli-strike-refugee-camp-can-legally-justified/
With that argument palestinians must have the same right to attack an israeli mall if there is a high ranking IDF commander there shopping/”hiding among civilians”.
I see in the news that atleast 1 egyptian soldier have been killed by israeli fire at the Rafah border, I have zero sympathy with the egyptans, let them feel the pain people in Gaza have felt by the israeli carnage, all supported by egyptian complicity.
Might not be a biggie but Germany´s oldest alternative media site, Telepolis – which since 2022 has introduced some very questionable updates like censoring comments – and publishing odd articles – however is following a strange contradictory publishing strategy – has also featured some more serious analyses on Israel from time to time:
For the first time they have now dedicated a longer piece on some of Israel´s pre-2023 war crimes, and – beware – are quoting Norman Finkelstein.
The Engl. machine translation would be here:
“”Like hooligans”: Israel’s Gaza campaign in 2008 and 2009″
https://www-telepolis-de.translate.goog/features/Wie-Hooligans-Israels-Gaza-Feldzug-2008-und-2009-9732840.html?seite=all&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp
It even mentions Richard Goldstone.
The article´s final paragraph:
“After the publication of his commission report on September 25, 2009, Goldstone was subjected to a relentless smear campaign. Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz compared him to Josef Mengele, the “Angel of Death” of Auschwitz; The then Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, accused Goldstone of saying that his report was even worse than “Ahmadinejad and the Holocaust deniers. What a shame.”
“What a shame” is written in English.
For Germany this is unusual.
The degree of complicity and the level of misrepresentation of the ICJ’s hearings and rulings is quite breathtaking. As a child growing up one always wondered how a state could allow itself to fall into the barbarism that tolerated and participated in the well known crimes against humanity ( in Germany and South Africa) and although I have a more developed historical sense now it still leaves me feeling as if I’m in waking dream, from which either I or my fellow citizens must awaken.
An honest mistake, shhhhurely…. Israel (and its apologists) _genuinely_ believe that this ruling means it’s just fine to carry on murdering people. “It’s just fine!” – that’s what the court said, really.
Because if the court had told them to cut it out, they would of course discontinue their, ahem, purely defensive actions against ‘Hamas’.
Incidentally, why would anyone think that “hiding amongst civilians” would be a way to avoid being blown up? Being among the citizens of Gaza – or anywhere near them – is clearly the most dangerous place one could possibly be.
Unfortunately, the clear language of this clause is not only “raped” by Israeli media (even the liberal Haaretz, it seems), but also by four of the ICJ judges, namely not only by the two dissenting judges from Israel and Uganda (as could be expected), but also by the two judges from Germany and Romania in their separate “declarations”. Probably they consented to vote with the majority if being tolerated to write this nonsense. This makes me really sad.
Anne, Rumania is a write off.
It is run by former members of the murderous “Securitate”, Ceaucescu’s internal security forces and now their children
Corruption is written through the country, as if it was a stick of rock. What I have read, in BalkanInsight webzine would cast doubt on any high official of the Rumanian nomaklatura, especially judges and police generals and Pols – 100% corrupt at the top
Will Moon, the three judges deciding about the arrest warrants at the ICC are from Benin (presiding, good, did the decision on jurisdiction), France (hopefully good) and ROMANIA (possibly not so good, but replacing the Hungarian (looked like Austrian-Hungarian) judge from Hungary who voted against in2021. Let us hope that they will make a meaningful decision soon.
Romania is an oddity.
Haven´t been there for some time. But during the era of Bush and the NATO/Georgia push.
You have countless under 40s who distrusted anybody older for the reasons you mention.
Of course how far up that distrust reaches I don´t know.
As wealth is concerned, naturally lineages persisted since there never was a German like clean-sweep.
But did that any good? No.
So whatever you do it´s a catastrophe.
The true desaster, any social democratic, or socialist idea is DOA there. At least during my years.
But I would assume there is considerable division within the population since there weren´t many who were fond of Mr. C. And those older ones who were, were bitterly disappointed by him later on.
There was an interesting angle to this, concerning Romania´s NATO-membership – since the only available long-term expertise was the one from the former regime, allegiances had to be suspected with FSB by the same liaison officers who were getting accustomed to Brussels and Straßbourg. But it could as well have been just a ruse – interestingly I never heard any news about THIS particular issue from NATO complaining publicly. Complaints started only towards Putin after 2006-08.
Problems of integrating the former European “enemy” states into NATO was never discussed as a potential internal security problem.
Romanian power and traditions is an interesting but very dark subject. I left the place to never return (however for other reasons.) The people I had the privilege to work with were extraordinary however in their thoughtfulness about these things.
It is some kind of spook state – a completely capitalist/commercial, bastardised polity with a certain dynastic future for the former spooks and kids and feudalism for everyone else – barring unforeseen circumstances of course
It sounded grim – a pointless place that the young leave, like the Baltics
Ben-Gvir’s response to yesterday’s massacre:
Itamar Ben Gvir, a hardline public security minister who is not part of Israel’s war cabinet, urged the army to hit Rafah harder. “Rafah with full force,” he posted on X.
Reuters
Yes the Kach is alive and well with this self confessed terrorist killer eh Alan
Cutting to the chase, which country/countries are going to stop the Zionists? the UN has no standing forces and and the ICJ relies on other nations apprehending the criminals and delivering them to the ICJ if they the war criminals step outside their own nation.
There’s talk of sanctions and on Tuesday Spain Norway and the Republic of Ireland will formally recognise a Palestinian state which is good as many Western European nations don’t yet. However this won’t stop the Zionists from continuing to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It would appear that Netanyahu and his forces WILL continue to do whatever they want with regards to the genocide against the utterly oppressed Palestinians, I get the feeling that many nations would do something but they fear sanctions or worse from the US and the UK if they act.
History will remember that Westminster and Washington helped facilitate the genocide of the civilians of Gaza.
Speaking on faciitating the genocide, western nations are deeply entrenched and responsible themselves, therefore you will never see anything from the west in terms of real actions. The crimes Israel had commited according to Netanyahu go far beyond the ICC criminal charges against Putin, still the west are rotten to the core and have pretty much kept mum since the ICC call for arrest when it comes to Netanyahu. There are even criminal investigations in multiple western states being prepared against Putin. Against Netanyahu? Of course not. That is the “rule based west” huh.
UK and probably other western nations were, once again, present during the Rafah massacre the other day:
The British Air Force Shadow R1 Spy Plane was active over Gaza when Israel conducted its strike on the tents of displaced people in Rafah & killed dozens civilians.
https://x.com/MenchOsint/status/1794832406568144990
I know some people here hate this but the only party that could do something is the silent, passive arab/muslim world of almost 500 million arabs in the region, but they are too yella, too corrupt, too immoral and obviously too feeble-minded to raise up against the 10 million regime of Israel. No I am not talking about military action even though that is of course 100% legitimate by now, I am talking about sanctions, pressure, ultimatums leveled at both Israel and the west. The fact that arab leaders have, during the massacare of arabs in Gaza, meetings with both US and Israel to talk about normalization of relations smack of disgusting treachery.
When Iran attacked Israel the arab leaders shot down multiple drones, missiles going for Israel, I mean…where was this gusto past 7 months? Arab world need a new Arab Spring, a real one this time, especially the Mubarak-infested regime of Egypt and the corrupt Jordnian King Abdullah should be the first to be kicked out from their power.
Jack I think you are being naïve.
You are on Craig Murray’s website. He is a thoughtful older guy with a lot of experience
Yet this father-figure was arrested at the airport on terrorism charges. He is a former British Ambassador, and a person of substance compared to most.
Can you imagine what it is like to be a nobody in a corrupt Arab country? You can’t can you? I’m a nobody in corrupt Britain and it is hard going, without community support, almost impossible. We buy the Arab countries so they can afford to be trained in the latest civil society suppression techniques by America, israe, Britain etc
As for calling 500 million people “too yella, too corrupt, too immoral and obviously too feeble-minded” please don’t . I will think less of you. I read a lot of stuff on the Concentration Camps and came across many voice slagging the victims off for not putting up more resistance, including many Zionist voices – you are not doing this are you?
will moon
Both arab people and arab leaders have the agency to act as I mentioned – both groups have the power, remember Arab spring? Do you remember how many “nobody’s” that were out protesting in the street? Millions.
Remember how quickly and unified the Arab leaders acted against the iranian attack on Israel?
So, they could have acted on Gaza, they chose not to, again they even trying to normalize the relations with the mass-murderer right at this moment and when it comes to the ICJ I believe only 1-2 (of 22!) arab states joined South Africa in their cause, what should we call that if not corrupt, yella, treachery or feeble-minded? Please help me out finding out a better term.
If you think my views are offensive, you should look into what the Gazans think of the passive arab leadership.
Calling 500 million people names is stupid Jack. You sit in your safe space and kvetch about ordinary people, who have no more agency than me but what do you risk? You would be better focussing your ire on the political leadership.
I remember the Arab Spring – the CIA and the NED flexing their muscles; you clearly don’t.
In your response you consistently conflate the corrupt leaders with the people. Make up your mind Jack. Just like Jews, Arabs are not a monolith and each individual, whether Jew or Arab, deserves the treatment you are getting from me: i.e. to be judged on their own merits as individuals.
You have been moaning consistently about Arabs for over six months can’t you moan about somebody else?
“It is pleasant, when the sea is high and the winds are dashing the waves about, to watch from the shores the struggles of another.”
Livy
Jack.
I don’t think that they are to “yella” as you say, corrupt yes, many odious ME regimes (such as Bahrain) are supported by the likes of the USA and the UK, they help the ruling dictatorships etc oppress its own people, and without their backing the people might rise and overthrow them, alternatively threats of a colour revolution can and probably are made by the likes of the USA and UK against these vile regimes if they don’t comply with USA, UK interests.
Yemen is putting up a good fight, and Iran is backing other groups, as you say more could be done.
For what it’s worth, the Turks have (ostensibly) suspended trade with Israel, and they were a major trading partner.
Hi, what do you think about the resistance act of the 7th of October?
Please tell me what that act of terrorism, that act of war, had to do with resistance. It was purely the culmination of generations of breeding children to commit this violence. This was a moment where an entire people group literally and openly celebrated the murder and abduction of innocents and who stubbornly – despite their risk of their own death – refuse to give back those abducted.
This is what you get when your equivalent of Sesame Street has children singing about dancing in the blood of the Jews.
In the west we are simply taught that the Palestinian people are somehow oppressed by evil Israel – but the reality on the ground is a people oppressed by a genocidal ideology and leaders who us their people as a means of self-enrichment – leaders who steal from their own people and galivant around the globe without a single shit given about how their people live day to day. They’ve sure figured out the formula. Keep the people in abject hate of the Jews – they’ll blame all their misfortunes on the Jews – and we can just rob them blind with full international support.
Ludicrous to call that an act of resistance. It was the desired outcome that Hamas leaders have openly been telling the world for ages.
“for ages”
How long is that?
Person slipped up, referring to the Palestinians as “people.” The paymasters won’t like that.
What do you think about the Warsaw Uprising?
“A superior [person], in regard to what [s]he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect”.
– (“The Rectification of Names”) Confucius, Analects, Book XIII, Chapter 3, verses 4-7, translated by James Legge
Confucius had a point there. Conversely – if wicked people wish to get away with all kinds of vile behaviour, they cannot do better than to start by corrupting language. Hence also:
“A Man that should call every thing by its right Name, would hardly pass the Streets without being knock’d down as a common Enemy”.
– Lord Halifax, ‘The Complete Works Of George Savile Marquess of Halifax’, Digital Library of India, 1912, p.246. https://www.medialens.org/2022/the-price-of-selective-inattention-iraq-ukraine-libya-and-the-climate-apocalypse/
Spot on here Tom
Especial thanks for that second quote. I have been trying to birth that sentence from Halifax for thirty years when observing the phenomenon yet it never came – until now, so ta
It’s absolutely amazing the depth of intellectual masturbation happening all over the world, self gratification based on abject ignorance of the situation and arm-chair speculation.
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s I lived in Israel, as a gentile, and was shocked to learn – even then – what lengths Israel has gone to over the years to avoid a full scale conflict as they are facing now. Buses were lined with bags of pig-fat to discourage Palestinian’s from blowing themselves up in their attempt to achieve immortality within their community. Palestinians were free to travel, conduct and own businesses and there was absolutely no discrimination in opportunity. However, there were constant reminders that despite this openness – the Palestinian people were biding their time with full intent to kill the Jews.
I had befriended a Palestinian man and had dinner with his family several times. I will never forget how he pulled me aside and shared with me that if anything “got weird” (specifically if I heard certain songs being played loudly and men arming themselves) that I needed to get out immediately and he could not offer me any level of protection – that despite our friendship, if he didn’t behead me himself, he and his family would be in grave danger of the same fate. He was trapped between an ideology and reality. His prison was not Gaza – his prison was the ideology that dictated his relationships, worldview, way of life and opportunity to succeed. His prison was the worldview that kept his children trapped – literally singing songs about dancing in the blood of the Jews and themes like “from the river to the sea”.
This conflict is the culmination of decades of teaching children to dance in the blood of their enemies – the Jews. The international community is free to pontificate on the “genocide” in Gaza, but it rings completely false, hollow and like the navel gazing of ignorant fools who cannot possibly be bothered to truly understand what the situation truly has been for decades.
Israel, as always, is left to attempt to defend their right to exist without international support, against an enemy who literally breed their children to support explicitly genocidal values. Once again – they have to come up with creative solutions to get their people back – somehow without anyone getting hurt.
Once again, Israel gets labeled the bad guy, even though they literally teach restraint in warfare, they are leaders in limited engagement – never seen in war fighting before. Please show me any historical conflict with such restraint. Anywhere, from any time. They do not teach their children to kill or even hate Palestinians. They do not celebrate murder and terrorism. Their schools do not teach anything remotely similar to the Palestinian rhetoric.
But y’all go ahead and sit on your high moral ground and go ahead and tell Israel they’re genocidal. Not a single mention of giving back the hostages taken in ….. ummmm hello October!!!! No a single voice saying – “hey, give their people back”. Nope. Ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous.
With this logic, anyone should be allowed to abduct and murder your citizens, and suffer absolutely no repercussions – no accountability. Just full hall pass. Right?
Thanks for the screed straight from Hasbara Central. Most people who have been to Israel, like myself, will not recognise a word of it. As for the high moral ground, don’t kid yourself in your attempt to take it. Just read the daily reports of colossal carpet bombing of defenceless people, and then the Israeli blatant lies and ludicrously inept, unbelievable propaganda. But of course you won’t, and will repeat the same old debunked nonsense we always hear from the kids who flood social media with their scripts. The problem is nobody believes a word of it now. The evidence is overwhelming, the sources multiple and also include the appalling IDF videos of those ‘brave’ soldiers partying and celebrating destruction, snipers killing children, the disabled, the bodies piled up with hands tied, the torture and abduction of medics, teaches, the killing of journalists and the total destruction of an entire society – the very definition of genocide if you care to look it up, which you won’t.
The names are cool too, first “ANNA” now “PERSON” – (get a better scriptwriter) – oddly the word “Hasbara” always reminds me of the toy company “Hasbro” 🤔
Always preferred Steve Jackson game to Hasbro one’s
Did you ever play “Illuminati”. If you did you must remember they covered all these conspiracy and conspiracy theories that proliferate on the internet with a card game lol!
My group had loads of addons and some we made ourselves and the full expanded game system produced a spooky experience, too far from reality to worry but to too near to dismiss
No, I only heard of it – “Illuminati” were the OTHER group 😉
(However, what coincidence – I once ended up in a test screening for the box-office bombing picture “Illuminati” some 25 years ago)
There were different occult factions that vied for global power over a hapless and passive mass. While writing this reply I note that Brit newspapers report the claim that the game predicted the attack on WTC in 2001, lol!
My first contact with it was spectating. At one point, I heard one of the players say
“As my action this turn I’m going to up the violence in the ghettos”
I was hooked. That was in the 80’s -90’s then the Internet came and it changed into a multi-billion industry – the conspiracy industry. Shot through with “operators” and grifters in equal measure. The game was derived from Robert Anton Wilson’s “Illuminati” trilogy but when played by an enthusiastic group, in the later stages of the game’s development, it far outstripped its literary progenitor, suggesting something like a “Ouji Board” and told many intriguing stories in the form of a card game and even the losers played a part in the stories that were told.
You might find the story of the games company who made this game interesting. As I recall the Federal Authorities, and those of Texas where the company was based, dramatically shut the company down but the story was complex and interesting, maybe even conspiratorial,. A clear image of an authoritarian state exercising power over a games company!?
They (Israel) “teach restraint in warfare” – seriously? You reckon all those that were involved in the process of bombing homeless, starving people in tents skipped that class?
Talking about hostages, how about releasing the tens of thousands of Palestinians Israel has taken hostage? Maybe ask your handlers to stop torturing and raping them too, since they’re so moral and kind and all that. At the very least, leave the children alone.
Amazing that you actually expect anyone to believe Israeli IDF thugs are so restrained – that must be everyone’s imagination that runs wild every time we check the news. Seriously, are you reading from an out of date playbook or something? Nobody believes that crap any more.
Person, just out of interest, what were the ‘certain songs’ your Palestinian friend referred to? Anyway, it was very thoughtful and considerate of him to take you aside and tell you that you have to scarper quickly in the event anything got weird, or he’d have to behead you. Was that on the first occasion you had dinner with him and his family?
Afterthought: If I’d been in your friend’s situation I think I would have warned you at the point when I first invited you to come and have dinner…..
“Look I’d love to invite you to come and have dinner with me and my family, but there’s a possibility I may have to behead you if you do. But you’re very welcome.”
It is a pity Israeli’s don’t take Palestinian families aside and say if things get weird I’ll have to kill you all with weapons that fry you at several thousand degrees eh Alan?
All perfectly valid, if Israel was carved out of historic German territory & surrounded by vengeful Nazis.
But it wasn’t, and it isn’t.
The Palestinians aren’t obliged to accept displacement from one inch of land. In order to assuage European holocaust guilt or fulfil Zionist ambitions.
Whatever is currently fashionable to them in an ideological sense. Doesn’t change that basic inarguable truth.
My heart is Breaking
George was on Fire last night over Rafah –
https://youtu.be/7cHvq7AV2Gs?t=1443
Andrew Bridgen apparently claims the election was called out for Sunak not wanting to be a war PM.
But when I hear Bridgen actually say it I somehow didn´t buy it.
Anyhow, there is a lengthy entry by Simplicius on the new apparent escalation which I posted in the UKR forum.
I have to look into this, I don´t trust it yet.
Still feels like an intelligence stunt to look how the public reacts.
And if anyone scrutinizes anything. May be even to divert from ICC.
(TATYANA how are you? I think, the area allegedly hit was Krasnodar radar station.)
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/forums/topic/ukraine-date-nov-2023/page/12/#post-98071
He’s being used as a psyop or being fed dog-s**t so he’ll discredit himself. The latter being an old trick, to deal with troublesome people.
If the UK/NATO was going to war, they needed to start preparing to go in two years ago, at the very latest. They’ve done bugger all but empty out their armouries, tell stupid lies and push Ukraine towards national suicide Paraguay-style.
Facts on the ground are The Ukrainians have never been weaker and the Russians never stronger, since the war started.
So it’d be like an intervention in the US Civil War circa1864, to save the Confederates. Far too late to win, yet still soon enough to lose.
Thus all this belligerent flatulance by the establishment, is just an attempt to gaslight people into compliance, using fear of the foreign boogy. It’s as old, stale and unconvincing as all their other BS.
Same with their moronic arse-pulled “national service” idea. It’s a headline grabbing gimmick, just like “leveling up” or HS2.
Old chums will get indentured service from the young plebs &:the army will get bigger on paper. Assuming of course this s**t idea, isn’t dropped almost instantly, due to mass non compliance.
Being an outsider to British politics, however I would tend to totally agree.
(i.e. the drone attack was another test and preparatory action for future scare-mongering ops.)
“ If the UK/NATO was going to war, they needed to start preparing to go in two years ago, at the very latest”
That would very much depend on what kind of war was being prepared for – nowadays that could be NBC war, psychotronic warfare, low earth orbit etc etc.
They don’t like to make the first move if you recall. A war could occur with no preparation yet fully planned, leaving civil society to play catch-up with the ugly truths discernible when interacting with the “Homefront” and indeed with “the Homeland” Security Architecture, which be of “the gloves off” sort
“Andrew Bridgen apparently claims the election was called out for Sunak not wanting to be a war PM.”
Another, funny claim is that Sunak timed the election to fit in with the USA school term times, so that when his ass is kicked out and he runs off to the land of the free his kids will not be inconvenienced.
A British RAF R1 Shadow spy made two trips that day from Cyprus.
How involved in providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) i.e. tracking mobiles, for Israeli targeting we are, idk? No leading politician will bother to ask either, in all probability. There must be qualms over whatever assistance it is the UK is giving after horrific scenes like that, even if it’s not mirrored among the govt.
Since the US/UK are providing weaponry and diplomatic support it’s highly likely FVEYs are providing SIGINT targeting help. They have world leading voice analysis tools too. So prepaid ‘burner phones’ aren’t secure when they’re processing every voice. However, it’s never justifiable, to kill dozens of people to take out two militants. And that’s if the Israeli’s are telling the truth, which is itself highly unlikely.
‘We’ provided SIGINT for the Saudis in Yemen and ‘we’ are currently providing SIGINT for the USA in Yemen. So, it’s 100% certain we are doing the same over Palestine for the zionists – and Sunak and Starmer support that.
Biden needs to get tough with Netanyahu the way that Reagan did with Begin. The younger generation in America will need to push for BDS and get Biden to do what Jimmy Carter did, and institute sanctions against the latter-day apartheid state.
Let’s be fair, the reason the regime & it’s propaganda apparatus can’t tell the truth on this issue.
Is because they’re directly complicit in the mass-killing in Gaza.
They’ve provided military, financial, diplomatic and propaganda support, to everything.
While I agree with Craig’s conclusion that the wording cannot grammatically be interpreted other than to mean that Israel must halt its Rafah offensive, I remain unconvinced that the key word “which” qualifies BOTH the first clause AND the subsidiary cause “..and any other action…”, whatever the supposed function of the second comma. The word “which” clearly must either qualify both clauses or only the second clause, since semantically the second clause makes little sense without that qualification. However the official French version of the order states:
“…..arrêter immédiatement son offensive militaire, et toute autre action menée dans le gouvernorat de Rafah, qui serait susceptible de soumettre le groupe des Palestiniens de Gaza à des conditions d’existence capables d’entraîner sa destruction physique totale ou partielle “.
The key word here is “serait” which is in the singular and therefore, if I am not mistaken, can only refer to one of “offensive militaire” and “toute autre action” but not both. By my previous reasoning the reference must therefore be solely to “toute autre action” – i.e. the second clause.
Having said that the English text seems to me execrably poorly worded and was probably the result of some half-baked attempt at a fudge which did not succeed; and who knows how the French text was arrived at.
There is No Longer a Key Word…as you Know Scottish Independence Eh
The Israeli interpretation of UNSC Resolution 242 fills many libraries, it is just their way of clouding what many scholars think is an Israeli claim that black is white.
As context to this discussion, readers may be aware that some Israelis claim that because 242’s wording
says,“Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict”and not“the
territories,
.https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cjpme/pages/2214/attachments/original/1471976661/20-En-Resolution-242.pdf?1471976661