Israel Seizes Associated Press Equipment And Dismantles Gaza Live Shot As It Ramps Up Media War James Farrell Forbes Staff May 21, 2024 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alison...-trial-as-defense-rests-case/?sh=43690095a519 Israeli officials reportedly seized equipment from the Associated Press and shut down a live shot of Gaza, alleging the news wire service provided images to Al Jazeera in violation of a media law banning Al Jazeera from operating in Israel—escalating tensions between Israel and media outlets covering the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Smoke billows after an explosion in the Gaza [+] Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Key Facts The Associated Press reported the seizure Tuesday, claiming officials from the country’s communications ministry arrived at the AP’s location in the Israeli town of Sderot with a paper claiming the AP had violated its media law. At the time of the shutdown, the AP was broadcasting a live “general” view of northern Gaza, and claimed it was complying with the Israeli military’s rules prohibiting broadcasts of troop movements, the AP reported. The outlet, a wire service that distributes articles, images and videos to thousands of news outlets around the world, says Al Jazeera is one of its clients and on Tuesday, Lauren Easton, vice president of corporate communications at the AP, accused Israel of acting “not based on the content of the feed but rather an abusive use by the Israeli government of the country’s new foreign broadcaster law.” The AP reported it had received a verbal order last week to cease the live feed but refused to do so. Easton urged Israeli authorities to return the equipment and re-establish the live feed “so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world.” Forbes has contacted the Israeli communications ministry for comment—but in a statement to the AP, the ministry said it would “continue to take whatever enforcement action is required to limit broadcasts that harm the security of the state,” in accordance with the government instruction. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday stopped short of condemning Israel for its seizure of AP equipment, but said the White House found the reports “concerning” and will “look into it.” She also emphasized the White House’s belief that journalism is “essential” and that it’s necessary that “journalists have the ability and the right to do the job.” Key Background In April, Israel passed a new media law that allows Israeli officials to shut down any media outlet and confiscate their equipment if they are deemed to be harming Israeli national security—with Israeli officials signaling their intent to ban Al Jazeera. After the law’s passage, Israel ordered Al Jazeera to shut down, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing the Qatari-based broadcaster and digital outlet of being a “Hamas mouthpiece” that “harmed Israel’s security and incited against soldiers.” Al Jazeera has provided reporting critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza and has frequently published comments and statements directly from Hamas officials. But the feud between the outlet and Israel goes back years, with Israeli officials frequently accusing Al Jazeera of biased reporting and Al Jazeera accusing the country of unfair treatment—coming to a head in 2022, when an Al Jazeera correspondent was killed during an Israeli raid. Contra Al Jazeera had previously called the Israeli government’s crackdown on its reporting a “criminal act,” accusing the country of suppressing a free press in “an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip.” The outlet says “Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats” will not deter its reporting. Chief Critic Israel’s decision to confiscate the AP’s equipment is “an act of madness,” said Israeli opposition leader and Netanyahu rival Yair Lapid, according to a translation of a post on X. “This is not Al Jazeera, this is an American media outlet that has won 53 Pulitzer Prizes.”
In my opinion it was unwise on the part of Israel to ban Al Jazeera and to seize this AP equipment just because Al Jazeera is one of the thousands of news outlets worldwide which uses AP news stories and footage.
Good! Israel revokes decision to shut down Associated Press news agency's Gaza live feed https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgeeyvkep4yo
Israel’s war on Gaza live: ‘Catastrophe, nightmare – all these and worse’ By Stephen Quillen and Umut Uras 21 May 2024 The critical distribution of food in Rafah is suspended because of Israeli attacks and a lack of supplies getting through, with one United Nations official describing the situation as a “catastrophe, nightmare, hell on Earth – all of these and worse”. At least 85 people were killed and 200 wounded over the last 24 hours, Gaza health ministry says. Rights group denounces US government ‘complicity’ in Israel’s ‘crimes’ The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the ongoing deadly attacks by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. “As the [US] Biden administration continues to fund and deny Israel’s ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced starvation, the far-right Israeli government is escalating its war crimes and human rights abuses against Palestinian civilians in not only Gaza but also the West Bank. Our nation’s complicity in these crimes and abuses must stop,” said Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the US-based CAIR, in a statement. Video obtained by Al Jazeera shows Israeli soldiers removing corpses from a morgue at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital in November. More than 100 bodies were reportedly loaded onto a truck and taken to Israel. Forensic and civil defence workers recover human remains at al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest [AFP]
I thought UNRWA stated they were going to distribute all of this aid. They have done nothing -- well except steal some of it. Whatever aid left the pier area was either taken by Hamas or by desperate mobs near the pier. Most of the aid delivered already is simply being stored near the pier. This is a complete cluster -- in context that this pier was eventually expected to support the needs to 25% of the Gaza population. Pentagon says none of the aid unloaded from US pier off coast of Gaza has been delivered to broader Palestinian population https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/21/politics/us-gaza-pier-aid-not-delivered/index.html
Portside.org? So you are Hot for Hillary, Canadian, and get your 'news' from a place called Portside.org. Its no wonder nobody takes you seriously.
Yeah ok, so now the real truth comes out. (American politician puts foot in mouth and tells the truth unintentionally). (This is the same American clown who suggested recently Israel should nuke Gaza.) What I hope to happen is that we level sanctions against the ICC for this outrage,' says Lindsey Graham 22.05.2024 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/i...ncern-over-icc-arrest-warrant-request/3226488 'If they do this to Israel, we're next': US Senator raises concern over ICC arrest warrant request WASHINGTON US Senator Lindsey Graham raised concern Tuesday over the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's application for arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, saying "if they do this to Israel, we're next.” "Hopefully, together, we will find a way to rest our displeasure with the ICC because if they do this to Israel, we're next," Graham said while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified before a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing. "At the end of the day here, what I hope to happen is that we level sanctions against the ICC for this outrage to not only help our friends in Israel but protect ourselves over time," Graham added. "I welcome working with you on that," Blinken responded when asked by Graham whether he would support sanctioning the ICC. Blinken also told lawmakers Tuesday that the State Department will work with Congress to develop an "appropriate response" after ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan filed applications for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. "Sen. Risch, in short, let's look at it. We want to work with you on a bipartisan basis to find an appropriate response. I'm committed to doing that," Blinken said under questioning from Sen. Jim Risch, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Republican. "As you say, the devil's in the details, so let's see what you got. And we can take it from there," he added. Blinken's comments mark the strongest signal of a shift within the Biden administration after the White House on April 30 pushed back against threats from US lawmakers to retaliate against the Court's officials, their families and associates if the ICC issues arrest warrants for Israeli officials. The Biden administration has maintained that the Court lacks jurisdiction over Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. While Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding document, Palestine acceded in 2015. While the Biden administration has rejected the Court's jurisdiction over Israel because it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, it lauded the ICC's decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Like Israel, Russia is also a non-signatory to the Rome Statute.
Opinion Netanyahu’s response to the ICC invokes another genocidal biblical reference Netanyahu’s rant against the ICC quoted a biblical verse that warns against the dangers of not completely wiping out your enemy’s society. It doesn’t take much to figure out what this means for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. By Jonathan Ofir May 21, 2024 Screenshot of Netanyahu delivering the Hebrew statement addressing the ICC, May 20, 2024. (Photo: Screenshot from IsraelPM Youtube Channel/Government Press Office) The news about the ICC case against Israel’s top leaders is everywhere. The court’s Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, wants to issue arrest warrants for PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (in addition to three top Hamas leaders) on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the biggest bombshell in the whole affair was that Israeli leaders’ impunity seems to be eroding. Netanyahu, of course, was livid. It was the moral comparison with Hamas that seemed to have enraged him most, and he was, in fact, not alone — Israeli liberal leaders who have fiercely criticized Netanyahu for his conduct during the Gaza war now rallied to his defense, including opposition leader Yair Lapid, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, and former PM Ehud Olmert. But for Netanyahu, the ICC news was an occasion to once again make allusions to the biblical war of extermination against “Amalek.” This was the same biblical reference Netanyahu invoked in a statement on October 28 at the outset of the Israeli ground invasion in Gaza. “Remember what Amalek did to you,” he said, quoting the biblical verse where God commanded the Israelites to wipe out the enemy nation of the Amalekites down to their babies and animals. South Africa submitted Netanyahu’s statemet at the ICJ as evidence of Israel’s genocidal intent in Gaza. This time, Netanyahu is using the same reference to rally the nation against its enemies — which apparently now includes the ICC — using coded language in the Hebrew version of his rant against the Court. Apparently, Netanyahu believes that if he makes his Amalek references more vaguely, that they will fly under the radar. The version of the address that he delivered in English (text here) was also unhinged, calling the ICC application a “blood libel” and likening the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor to a Nazi judge. But that’s where the English version ended, with an invocation of the Holocaust in asserting that “never again is now.” The Hebrew version was different. It ended with a Hebrew phrase — “Netzah Israel lo yeshaker” — which means “the Eternal One of Israel shall not lie.” This was the phrase he directed at “the lies at The Hague,” as he said in the statement. The significance of this phrase will not be apparent to the general public, as it draws upon loaded codes in both biblical and Zionist history and mythology. The phrase itself comes from Samuel I, 15:29. Context here is everything. King Saul was admonished by the prophet Samuel for not completely eradicating the Amalekites — Saul had spared their king Agag and “the best of the sheep and cattle,” which the Israelites “were unwilling to destroy completely.” According to the Bible, this level of annihilation was not enough and displayed King Saul’s supposed weakness. That is why the Prophet Samuel admonished the biblical king: “The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” Saul seeks to defend his actions, but Samuel delivers an uncompromising message: “You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!” Saul seeks forgiveness, but Samuel delivers the unrepentant message: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors — to one better than you. He who is the Eternal One of Israel shall not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” (Author’s emphasis) This was the sentence Netanyahu used at the end of his Hebrew address reacting to the ICC application. In other words, he is sending a message that he will not make the same mistake as King Saul by not completely eradicating Amalek. He will go all the way in Gaza. He will continue into Rafah. He will “wipe off the seed of Amalek,” as Israeli soldiers were recorded chanting back in December. But the importance of this verse is not just in its biblical significance — it has acquired contemporary relevance in Zionist history, signifying defiance against the powers that be. Israelis will know this from their Zionist history lessons. ‘Netzhah Israel lo yeshaker’ forms the acronym, “NILI.” NILI was a Zionist underground spy ring that operated during WWI between 1915 and 1917. It was an intelligence-gathering group that worked for the British against the Ottomans, who still ruled Palestine at the time. The Zionist movement’s alliance with the British at that critical historical juncture delivered the infamous Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised the Zionists a “national home” in Palestine. Netanyahu’s invocation of “the Eternal One of Israel shall not lie” isn’t just a biblical reference to the dangers of not going all the way in annihilating Amalek (who, in this instance, are the Palestinians that remain in Rafah and the rest of Gaza) — it is also a historical reference to the Zionist movement’s defiance of power when it is unfavorable to the Zionist cause, with the suggestion that it can be replaced in one way or another (much like the Ottomans were replaced by the British, with NILI’s assistance). Netanyahu is a master at political survival, and he is also a master of rhetorical manipulation. He knows how to speak to his public, how to hide his codes, and how to press emotional buttons — for his religious-nationalist supporters in particular, but also for many other Zionists. Most of all, he has a shrewd sense of timing and is adept at exploiting international opprobrium to garner local support. He now seems to be doing just that, enjoying the support of his usual critics and political rivals. Nothing unifies a nation quite like war, and today, that war is apparently against the ICC.
This is your reminder that Israel voluntarily provided Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 and removed all the Jewish settlers in Gaza. There is no plan for Israel to settle Gaza again, no matter what Hamas propagandists peddle. Netanyahu: Resettlement of Gaza was ‘never in the cards’ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3012276/netanyahu-resettlement-gaza-never-in-cards/