This mini-documentary gives much more extensive coverage of our visit to Baalbek just before the ceasefire. The day before we went, sixty civilians had been killed in Israeli bombings throughout the small city. This video captures something of the terror with which the inhabitants had been living for months, and their extraordinary resilience.
With thanks to Niels Ladefoged for the filming and editing.
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Thank you for reporting these crimes at extreme personal risk. They need to be documented with Biden again calling the Syrian President a brutal dictator “whose hands are stained with the blood of innocents”.
“The origins of the Israelites are obscure. Outside their own writings there is virtually no mention of them as a people before the 9th century BC and many of the events recorded as history in the Hebrew scriptures have no separate archaeological or documentary evidence to confirm them. This has made any discussion of their history intensely difficult. Since the 19th century, there have been Western scholars preoccupied with fitting the stories of the Old Testament to historical evidence, some of them implying that the existence of a Christian God could be substantiated if such links were found while the establishment of Israel as a state in 1948 led to intensive efforts to confirm the link of the Jewish people with their territory back to kings such as David.
Much depends on the status given the Hebrew scriptures/Old Testament as a historical source. The scholar Amelie Kuhrt gives a balanced assessment: ‘like many accounts of the past the Old Testament was not intended to provide a critical historical study; rather it contained stories detailing the interaction of a people, Israel, with their God, Yahweh, who had chosen them to work out his divine plan’. It is a complex, ideologically driven compilation, within which stories were refashioned to drive home particular lessons of the past. In other words, historians should read the Hebrew scriptures as texts in which historical events have been shaped to provide a coherent understanding of how the Israelite people came to be, above all in relation to their god, Yahweh. In this the scriptures remain the only account of a Near Easten people that describes how they themselves visualised the emergence of their nation. Increasingly scholars are insisting that the history of Israel can only be fully understood if the first Israelites are placed among their neighbours of the region and seen as facing many of the same challenges.”
(Ref. “Egypt, Greece, and Rome” by Charles Freeman.)
@Malcolm – I’m not sure what a “Christian God” is, or how his existence could be “substantiated”, but the fact that the followers of the world’s two largest monotheistic religions believe that their supposedly universal God used to be the tribal god of the Jews, who helped his chosen people steal land and commit genocide, does rather weaken their cases.
The notion that the “first” temple of Jerusalem didn’t exist on the physical plane, and nor did the kingdom of David and Solomon, is important and probably true. I am not sure whether you are aware of the role in these matters (both in the past and now) of 1) the chemical substance DMT and 2) ideas of the astral plane.
DNA studies indicate that the Palestinians have a bigger claim on being descended from ancient Israelites than the bunch of eastern european nazis that stole Palestinian land 75 years ago.
Biblical texts tell a good story, but that’s all it is, a story – and one written long after the reported events.
Israel is undeniably a settler state. The closest comparator may be French Algeria. I have said this to Arab friends and they have shaken their heads but without suggesting a better comparator.
Very nice video. The sanctuary in Baalbakk is wonderful. Of course they don’t say the temple survived because it was converted into a medieval castle with the colonnades walled up (Baalbakk was never conquered by the Crusaders, so it’s an Islamic castle). The French of course cleaned off the medieval masonry, but there are parts of the castle still there.
Congratulations. Baalbekk was certainly worth the trip. Too bad this obnoxious drone ruined the soundtrack on your video, but maybe this can be corrected by further mixing. Having the whole site open just for your private party was no little achievement. Laith was very efficient.
And you give a remarkable performance of your favorite simile, your famous ‘Celts claim over Switzerland’ routine. Very adequate. You could also wonder why the French Normans don’t claim property of England, where they settled back in 1066. Even funnier.
Nothing looks more like rubble than more rubble. In that capacity, Baalbekk doesn’t change much from Beirut from what you saw. It’s probably quite different in the south of Lebanon where former residents struggle to get back to their homes.
Best of luck for your future reports.
The Normans are still there, as grand landowners, at least were when I was young.
Please let Craig know, so he can make variations to his number.
The Normans were just a bunch of Vikings with their helmets off.
No question about it. That’s exactly why they can be a perfect example of the insanity of territorial disputes based upon prior history. Craig Murray is by all means the best defender of this thesis.
Sent the link to my MP and a few other peopIe I know.
In Russia it’s being said today that the Ukrainian government – and in particular its military intelligence service – may have been involved in the HTS offensive in Syria. The specific allegation is made that both Ukrainian and Turkish officers were killed in a strike by the Syrian government on an HTS facility. As far as I know, this allegation hasn’t been made explicitly by the Russian government yet, but it has been reported (attributed to “experts”) by TASS, the government-owned news agency:
https://tass.com/pressreview/1880493
Any military action or sabotage that links the European and Middle Eastern theatres of war deserves attention. We all know the prophecies about Megiddo and the army coming down from the north. One day soon we might wake up one morning and BANG, Russia and Israel have fallen out with each other. And that is *not* going to be a pretty sight.
Personally I don’t think Ukraine has an independent foreign policy or war policy any more than Britain does.
The South Korean martial law event was strange and it’s clear that someone was absolutely stitched up like a kipper.
Meanwhile there has been an incident in the Baltic Sea involving a Russian warship and a German army helicopter. The British f*ckwit “buy toilet paper now before the Albanians do” gutter press are loving it. Meanwhile there are Russian military “exercises” in the eastern Mediterranean.
It was widely reported that the West transported ‘ISIS’ fighters out of Syria and into Ukraine. So it’s no stretch to assume that the West could and would transport some of them back with their Ukrainian buddies and plenty of armaments.
Dead bodies don’t lie …
What is the word from Lebanon on why Russia has moved some ships out from its base in Tartus on the Syrian coast?
The Torygraph are spreading the view “We don’t know, but it doesn’t mean much, and anyway Russia is weak”.
This suggests to me that actually MI6 think they have a fairly good idea, it means a lot, and Russia is strong.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/04/putin-russian-navy-retreat-tartus-base-warships/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/04/putin-tartus-naval-ukraine-ceasefire-bosporus-black-sea/
Meanwhile, King Abdullah of Jordan has been in Brussels with NATO, and NATO will “soon” open an office in Amman:
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_230977.htm
I don’t know whether Mark Rutte was trying to be funny when he said
“In return for troops and weapons, Russia is providing North Korea with support for its missile and nuclear programmes. These developments could destabilise the Korean Peninsula and even threaten the United States.”
The Korean peninsula includes South Korea where yesterday there was an abortive attempt to declare martial law. But don’t worry – NATO will keep things “stable” there! NATO to the rescue – in the Russian-Ukrainian theatre, the Middle East, and Korea. And then there was Donald Trump.
Is punishment imminent for those who spoke or voted for the anti-genocide motion at the Oxford Union, and for those who allowed the debate to happen in the first place? The Torygraph and the ascendancy are putting it out that the debate “broke the law”:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/03/israel-gaza-apartheid-state-genocide-oxford-union-debate/
Apparently a genocidalist got “hectored”. Oh the indignity! Someone must pay!
It won’t surprise me if Genocide Starmer himself is made to apologise for the debate happening.
Meanwhile the Jewish Chronicle is sticking the boot into Britain’s other top university, Cambridge:
https://www.thejc.com/news/billionaire-son-of-holocaust-survivors-defunds-cambridge-over-infestation-of-anti-israel-bias-vivhfsum
And Nigel Farage is accusing the British government of “pandering to Hamas”:
https://www.thejc.com/news/politics/nigel-farage-meets-emily-damaris-mother-and-accuses-government-of-pandering-to-hamas-peebwzkc
Presumably no doors are about to be closed to Nige. No flies on him!
The Telegraph article (on the Oxford Union debate that passed the motion “Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide” by 278 votes to 59) reports its president Osman Mowafy as saying “The video recordings of the speeches will be released on YouTube in the usual manner where these matters can be judged better.” I look forward to viewing Susan Albulhawa’s speech. It should be inspiring stuff!
Available now! Speeches at the Oxford Union debate in favour of the motion “This House Believes Israel is an Apartheid State Responsible for Genocide”.
Susan Abulhawa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW5U_ZqGmZU
Ebrahim Osman Mowafy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDWiWLya3Mg
As Craig Murray said a while back, we are the bad guys. Let’s all repent. Only martyrs in the ME may forgive us. Genocide Joe, back up. Let our people go. Oh Lord, when will the bloodshed stop?
As Mr Murray mentioned previously military and political events don’t just happen, they are the result of intense and detailed planning.
The circulating drones and bomber jet planes are sent on missions by teams of people, military and civilian, Israeli and foreigners, sat around planning tables and computers.
Every civilian death and every destroyed building was the results of the planning teams, no accidents or chance mistakes, all planned, and all part of a grand strategy which will definitely be documented somewhere.
Stevie Boy. Correct.
Those who want to discuss how many Angels there are on a head of a pin re – genocide is:
Is this collateral damage or is it policy? It is policy.
The Israeli government have not lied about it – it’s been announced on Israel and Western TV and X as well as other outlets and so on. It’s also proven that their backers agree with it – that’s been shown and issued on all of the above media.
For the signatories to the ICJ, all of them have a legal obligation to ‘prevent’ a genocide, never mind stop one. You can’t miss it.
The main point of the last ruling referred to a Genocide in whole or PART. There has been a massive PART Genocide and the ruins of Gaza and the Palestinians who lived there has also been shown on the above media and is testimony to the fact that, not only has a genocide not been prevented, but the backers of the genocide have not even tried to prevent the PART from becoming worse.
By definition the assistants in the PART Genocide should be in the Dock too. Prisoners reside in UK Prisons for being at the scene of a killing and are jailed just for being with the killer and ironically are jailed for not trying to prevent the murder from happening.
The Law and Starmer work in mysterious ways.
You can’t miss it.
@Stevie – Planning absolutely does not mean there are no accidents. “No plan survives contact with the enemy”. (Helmuth von Moltke – Prussian chief of staff, generally agreed to be pretty damned competent.) Something always f*cks up in every military operation. That is one reason morale is so important.
The Zionists are deliberately murdering and terrorising civilians for sure. That is not quite what you said though.
I’d suggest that Helmuth von Moltke’s statement referred to equally matched adversaries. The Palestinians and Lebanese are not equally matched in any respect against the USA/Israel. So, I absolutely do not buy the ‘accidents happen’ excuse. The genocide is planned. Bombs dropped from fifth-generation warplanes, babies and journalists shot in the head by snipers, the Palestinians and Lebanese have literally no viable defences. It’s a, planned, ‘turkey shoot’.
BTW. I prefer the Mike Tyson quote: “Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth”
” military and political events don’t just happen, they are the result of intense and detailed planning.”
Its remarkable that genocide supporting parties have come to power all over the West in time for these events.
Things have gone from bad to worse here Craig, Guinness is being rationed.
Emmerdeur Macron has been in Saudi while the government he appointed in France has been falling.
This is from the (Zionist) Jerusalem Post:
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-831875
^ The article has a big photo of Mohammed bin Salman shaking Macron’s hand. And the headline reads “Saudi crown prince, France’s Macron to lead Palestinian state conference in June”.
The first sentence reads: “French President Emanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced they would co-chair a conference for the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to a Wednesday AFP report.”
Macron is set to address the French nation tomorrow (Thursday) at 1900 GMT.
Just to be clear: the Palestinian state is already recognised by over 140 UN member states, including Saudi. What exactly are Macron and MBS planning?
Macron could be removed quite easily. There is so much dirt on the wretch.
This will be the concentration camp in the Sinia desert.
Thank you for your Work over there Craig. Brave of you – or Clever – to be walking around looking an Important person. Or do they Know who you are> … Likely … Evil you are amidst. Stay safe.
Francesca lets rip on Stupid so-called reporters –
https://youtu.be/fxsj4wxcl7w?t=482
Jonathan Cook on the fearful repercussions of the genocide for the West.
Biden and Starmer are destroying international law to protect Israel’s genocide
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/biden-starmer-destroying-international-protect-israel-genocide
“The truth is that the idea of a British liberal democracy is unravelling before our eyes. When the guardians of the liberal order, of the rule of law and humanitarianism, are unmasked as charlatans – as is the case with both Starmer and Biden – the forces of darkness rush in to fill the void.
When everything is exposed as a lie, the biggest liars triumph. That is the future that awaits us.”
Biden, Starmer and Lammy should be in the dock for intimate active collusion and participation in genocide.
“It will be hard [for the ICC] to restrict the charges to Netanyahu and Gallant, or even other Israelis, especially when western leaders, including Biden, Starmer and Lammy, show they deserve to be in the dock alongside them.
Britain has been intimately colluding in Israel’s genocide from the very outset.
It is selling weapons and components vital to the operation of F-35 fighter jets that have been bombing Gaza and killing huge numbers of civilians.
It has been gun-running for Israel too from its Cyprus airbase: the largest number of deliveries of weapons to Israel have been via the RAF.
And from the same airbase, British surveillance planes secretly fly over Gaza numerous times a day to provide Israel with intelligence – intelligence that most likely has been used to target and destroy infrastructure, making the enclave uninhabitable.
And on top of all that, Starmer and his government have been justifying Israel’s war crimes as “self-defence” and pre-empting the judgment of the ICJ on whether Israel is guilty of genocide.
That goes far beyond genocide denial into the realms of active collusion and participation.”
Not coincidentally, Amnesty’s verdict today that genocide is being committed in Gaza is not being reported on BBC news nor is it mentioned anywhere on the BBC’s main news page.
Franky…I think Amnesty were, ARE part of it..They can’t just pip up now.. and expect praise – well Norman F lets the truth be told –
Amnesty International Lambasted by Finkelstein –
9 mins –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_NaU5S_Wnw&t=63s
Praise? No, simple reporting of the findings of a major western human rights organisation they otherwise pretend to respect.
Do you think the BBC aren’t informing people about the report because they agree with Norman Finkelstein about Amnesty? Or because the British government is outright denying genocide, while actively colluding and participating it.
It’s good that more and more ‘names’ are stating the reality. However, you’re right Amnesty is not clean, from its backers to its selection of the ‘right’ causes to support, it is heavily compromised, at best.
One has to ask the obvious question, why now, cui bono ?
@Franky – I don’t like Amnesty (and in Britain one of their functions is a leisure activity for wives of men in powerful official positions living in cathedral towns – it’s not so far from “Help for Heroes” really) but in answer to your question the reason for the BBC’s silence isn’t because they agree or disagree with anyone about anything. They are British government media.
It is absolutely fundamental for anyone who wants to stand critically apart from the British political regime and from bourgeois “separation of powers” bullsh*t that the BBC and the judiciary etc. should not be talked about in ways that suggest they are “independent”. The BBC is basically the Ministry of Propaganda. The courts are basically part of the executive. It is not stupid or ignorant to say so. It is intelligent, intellectually honest, and self-respecting. I used to listen to BBC Radio 4 until Covid. I switched it on the other day and they were sounding like my memory of Radio Tirana in the 1980s. Eff you sea kay the lot of them.
Many hours now and BBC has still not put up any article on Amnesty declaring that Israel commit acts of genocide
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/amnesty-international-concludes-israel-is-committing-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/
If it was the other way around, that palestinian was accused of genocide, oh it would be top news. Or if Russia was accused of genocide. But Israel? Nope. The Genocide won’t be televised…on BBC.
The gaslighting by politicans is perhaps the worse even though Amnesty now or ICC some weeks back conclude x and y the response by the west is simply to bury or ignore the claim altogether or simply claim – “we do not agree with the findings” like all the work by these organisations is simply rejected out of hand.
Kudos to Amnesty though, it will positively affect the ICJ investigation on the genocidal claim. Hopefully HRW will follow the same path as Amnesty now to build some momentum,
Franky… It seems we agree, EH
No there is still nothing, even in their sub-section on the ‘Israel-Gaza War’. It is almost 12 hours now since Amnesty released its report to the media.
Good point you make about the potential effect of the Amnesty report on the ICJ investigation. As for the BBC, if they ever do acknowledge it you can be sure they will lead with condemnation by the Israeli government and then Starmer and Lammy.
On page 222 of the Amnesty report it says the following:
In its October 2024 letters to the Hamas authorities, Amnesty International asked Hamas about Israel’s claims that it was using mosques, cultural sites and critical infrastructure for military purposes. In a November 2024 response, Hamas’s Political and International Relations Department denied that Hamas was using or conducting military operations in or near health, educational, cultural or religious sites and said that the Israeli military had failed to substantiate its claims with evidence.
As with the numerous schools where civilians were sheltering and the IDF bombed them because – or so they claimed – Hamas had a command center at the location, surely the only way the IDF could have determined that that was the case is from a drone, or drones, surveying the building(s), in which case they must have video footage/proof/evidence, as such. I’ve only read this particular section of the report, but I would have thought that Amnesty International asked Israel how they determined that Hamas were present in said locations (prior to bombing them) and, if they did ask them, I very much doubt they recieved a reply to the question.
NB In the section I read it referred to a letter Amnesty sent to the Israeli Ministry of Defence enquiring about such and such…
The Amnesty study is being reported on by BBC Radio 4 today.
‘As for the BBC, if they ever do acknowledge it you can be sure they will lead with condemnation by the Israeli government and then Starmer and Lammy.’
Yep, that’s exactly what I was thinking, Franky, and they’re just waiting for it, as with other MSM news organisations. And not forgetting Genocide Joe, of course. But then again, they’ll all just probably blank the report completely, as the last thing they want is to draw attention to it and have people reading it.
Allan
A BBC article has finally appeared within the last hour, and yes a higher percentage of the word count is spent on the Israeli response than on the report itself. (The rest of the article is just miscellaneous context and Gaza news unrelated to the Amnesty report).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjwl0v4w5j3o
The BBC, like the government, is infested with zionists, as well as spooks and outright nutters.
I see from the BBC article about the Amnesty Report that ‘In the past day…. at least 50 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza’, and that ‘At least 23 people were killed and many more wounded in an air strike on a camp for displaced people in al-Mawasi in Khan Younis’, and that yet AGAIN:
Israel’s military said its attack targeted senior Hamas operatives acting in what it considers a humanitarian zone. “Following the strike, secondary explosions were identified, suggesting the presence of weaponry in the area,” it said in a statement.
It said it had taken steps “to mitigate the risk of harming civilians” and accused Hamas of using civilians “as human shields for terrorist activity”.
I have little doubt that the military are lying through their nasty rotten teeth again, but as I said in a post earlier in effect, surely the only way the IDF could have identified these alleged senior Hamas operatives is by a drone – or drones – and so therefore there must be footage and, as such, proof that these senior Hamas operatives were in the camp in al-Mawasi.
I mean if we were to take the IDF at its word, then every single time they identify Hamas fighters (or operatives, whatever that’s supposed to mean) in locations where civilians are sheltering, they bomb the location anyway, so therefore the people sheltering there DON’T deter the IDF/Israeli air force from bombing the location and Hamas, and so Hamas are hardly gonna hole up in such locations if the civilians DON’T act as a human shield.
In other words, Israel would have us believe that Hamas keep using such locations where civilians are sheltering so as to deter Israel from bombing them, and yet it never does, so therefore Israel is obviously lying when it claims Hamas use the people sheltering there as human shields, because these ‘human shields’ are non-existent.
@Allan – Yes, good point – if the Zionists have “evidence” to say such-and-such a civilian place where they’ve just murdered lots of women and children is in fact a “Hamas command centre”, they could of course produce it. The idea that they’re protecting their agents in Hamas is ludicrous. I’m sure those geniuses could find a way to produce an iota or two of info that wasn’t compromising to themselves. Hamas does not murder innocent civilians. Zionists do. Hamas are not colonialist settlers with a Nazi-type ethnic supremacist and genocidalist ideology. Zionists are. One shouldn’t have to keep repeating this because it has been shown again and again and again – written not in “theory” but in blood on the streets and dead bodies.
Plus of course Hamas lads and lasses need to be treated in hospitals when they are wounded.
Amnesty International’s report “Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza” can be downloaded here:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/8668/2024/en/
Its conclusion (page 35):
“Amnesty International concludes that following 7 October 2023, Israel committed and is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
Among its recommendations are comprehensive arms sanctions.
Pepe Escobar has a wonderful article out today regarding the planning by various actors which enabled the massive incursion into Syria, he says the Global Majority should be on full alert. The Greater Idiblistan attack is part of a complex interconnected operation.
The timeline tells the story.
November 18: Ronen Bar, Israel’s Shin Bet chief, meets with heads of MIT, Turkey’s intel.
November 25: NATO Chief Mark Rutte meets with Turkey’s Sultan Erdogan.
November 26: Salafi-jihadis assembled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly Nusa Front, supported by Turkish intel, plus a hefty Rent-a-Jihadi coalition, launch a lightning-fast attack against Aleppo.
The Rent-a-Jihadi offensive originated in Greater Idlibistan. That’s where tens of thousands of jihadis were holed up, according to the – now proven failed – 2020 Damascus-Moscow strategy, which Turkey had to grudgingly accept. The Rent-a-Jihadi mob comprises scores of mercenaries who crossed over from – where else – Turkey: Uighurs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Ukrainians, even ISIS-K imports.
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/12/04/the-syria-riddle-how-it-may-turn-into-the-first-brics-war/
Erdoğan (the backstabber) must be sidelined by Russia, China and Iran. The Astana process has been torn to shreds in order for Erdogan’s Turkish expansionist dreams, probably also to curry favour with the incoming Trump administration. As regards Israel he talks a big game but still supplies Israel with cheap oil and other trade.
In my opinion the Al CIAda were closely involved how could it be otherwise, as detailed up thread.
Thanks will read up on this.
I read right now how the syrian city of Hama have fallen to the “rebels”. Yes very odd how this insurrection could occur without Syria or their allies picked up any intelligence/movement. I assume we soon will hear calls from the west for Assad to step down or creating no-fly zones. Turkey seems eager to go in and occupy etc.
Israel and the anti-shiite sunni regimes are happy today. Hamas and Hezbollah more or less gone and now al-qaida-affiliates make a move against another iranian allied – Syria.
It is almost too good to be true, Israel surely milked that 7th of october event. Most likely they knew/stood back and instead thought of utilizing the event to the maximum.
Interesting to note the difference in tone in the media, rag-tag al-qaeda affiliates in Syria are considered the good guys that have legitimate grief and needs to be protected, meanwhile Hamas, Hezbollah are bad guys even though these are local, domestic groups that fight a real military occupation and have a legal right to do so.
Assad’s not going to be stepping down. What do you make of Russian ships sailing out of Tartus?
My itching thumbs tell me that one day soon we may wake up and Russia and the Zionists will be at war with each other. And in case there are those who don’t get how serious that would be: those are two major nuclear powers.
What a shame the USSR didn’t wipe Israel off the map in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Instead they were one of the first countries to “recognise” it.
Brian, I believe that one third of Israelis are of Russian origin. And there are many Jewish people in Russia – more the closer you get to the Kremlin.
Re. Erdoğan. He has his own agenda and that doesn’t necessarily follow the West or Russia. I suspect he has dreams of a new Ottoman empire, a bit like Mussolini trying to resurrect the Roman Empire. However, whilst he continues to host the Incirlik Air Base everything he says has to be taken with a bucket of salt.
It will be interesting to see how Syria and Russia will take back Aleppo and other parts of Syria, when the US are using close support aircraft (A10s) which the US has just deployed to attack Iranian and other Shia groups now entering Syria. Don’t forget these groups have been invited into the country by the legitimate Syrian government, as per International Law. Will the US act as the air force for the motley band of head choppers?
“US Air Force (USAF) A-10 Warthog combat jets were purportedly deployed in Syria to conduct airstrikes against Iran-linked militias that entered Syria to fight the rebels that have launched a fresh offensive against Bashar al-Assad regime”.
https://www.eurasiantimes.com/u-s-a-10-warthogs-rain-hell-on-iran-backed/
Two ideas for stocking fillers (little books):
Raja Shehadeh, What does Israel fear from Palestine? Profile Books, 2024. ISBN 180522347X. 128 pages.
Ilan Pappé, A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict. Oneword Publications, 2024. ISBN 0861549716. 160 pages.
Well Consortium News Breaks it again… –
Israeli Army Chief Visited Britain After ICC Warrants
Days after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, its top general flew to London, John McEvoy and Mark Curtis report.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/12/05/israeli-army-chief-visited-britain-after-icc-warrants/
Which regimes in the world will consent to being visited by Netanyahu or Gallant?
So far, the list is empty.
Brian Red
They wouldn’t visit even if told they’re welcome by politicians. Which itself is also highly unlikely, given their unpopularity. That’s why Israel, along with the US lobbied so hard against the process and the court’s power.
It’d be risky visiting, even with the tacit promise of diplomatic immunity from officials. Take France for example, Macron’s now ex-ministers there, had claimed the arrest warrants aren’t valid because Israel isn’t a member of the ICC.
But Article 27 of the Rome Statute, which established the court, states its rulings “apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity” and “in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility”.
Any visit could end in a messy judicial standoff, with either in legal limbo.
How does the Israeli brand play this? Send Netanyahu to a junior place like Hungary, or wait until Trump is inaugurated and send him to the USA, for the moment not sending him anywhere? He’s unlikely to pop up in France, Germany, Netherlands, Britain in the near future.
Good Point Brian. Well said … He can’t come here
or probably will in secret, Eh Starmer … Cos I know Israel are monitoring Truth tellers, and that means Craig.