Yawn....... Israel attacked by Hamas

gwb-trading · Dec 6, 2023

themickey said:
‘Anti-Zionism is antisemitism,’ US House asserts in ‘dangerous’ resolution
Palestinian rights advocates denounce a Republican-led measure as a push to smear Israel’s critics amid the war in Gaza.

'Opposing the policies of the government of Israel and Netanyahu’s extremism is not antisemitic,' Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said on social media [File: Nathan Howard/AP Photo]
By Ali Harb Published On 6 Dec 2023
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023...tism-us-house-asserts-in-dangerous-resolution

Washington, DC – Palestinian rights advocates are denouncing a congressional resolution that equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, calling it a “dangerous” measure that aims to curb free speech and distract from the war in Gaza.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the measure on Tuesday in a 311-14 vote, with 92 Democratic members abstaining by voting “present”.

The symbolic resolution was framed as an effort to reject the “drastic rise of anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world”.

But it contained language saying that the House “clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism”. It also condemned the slogan “From the River to the Sea”, which rights advocates understand to be an aspirational call for equality in historic Palestine.

Instead, the resolution described it as a “rallying cry for the eradication of the State of Israel and the Jewish people”. It also characterised demonstrators who gathered in Washington, DC, last month to demand a ceasefire as “rioters”. They “spewed hateful and vile language amplifying antisemitic themes”, the resolution alleges.

Husam Marajda, an organiser with the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), said the resolution is an effort to “cancel” Palestinian rights advocates by accusing them of bigotry and labelling their criticism of Israeli policies as hate speech.

“It’s super dangerous. It sets a really, really bad precedent. It’s aiming to criminalise our liberation struggle and our call for justice and peace and equality,” Marajda told Al Jazeera.

What is Zionism?
Zionism is a nationalist ideology that helped establish the state of Israel in 1948. It contends that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in historic Palestine, which Zionists view as their ancestral homeland.

The rise of Zionism in the late 1800s was partly in response to anti-Semitism in Europe.

But many Palestinians reject Zionism as a driver of the settler colonialism that dispossessed them during the founding of Israel. Israel’s establishment coincided with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were forcibly driven from their homes in what is known as the Nakba, the Arabic word for “catastrophe”.

While Palestinians view themselves as the native people of the land, Zionists say Jewish people have historic and biblical claims to what is today Israel.

Some hardline Zionists, including members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, argue that the present-day Palestinian territories — the West Bank and Gaza — also belong to Israel.

At a United Nations General Assembly speech in November, Netanyahu held up a map of Israel that showed the country stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, encompassing the West Bank, Gaza and Syria’s Golan Heights.

Some Palestinians also blame Zionism for Israeli abuses against them, which amount to apartheid, according to leading human rights groups like Amnesty International.

In the US, Palestinian rights supporters have long rejected conflations of Zionism with Judaism, noting that many Jewish Americans identify as anti-Zionist.

“Opposing the policies of the government of Israel and Netanyahu’s extremism is not antisemitic. Speaking up for human rights and a ceasefire to save lives should never be condemned,” Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said in a social media post on Tuesday, explaining her vote against the resolution.

‘Extremely dangerous’
Marajda stressed that Palestinians have a right to oppose Zionism, a position he said has nothing to do with prejudice.

“This resolution is saying that if you’re critical of this Israeli government, essentially you hate Jewish people,” he said. “I didn’t choose — the Palestinians didn’t choose — their occupiers.”

The resolution is one of several pro-Israel motions approved by Congress since October 7. Most US legislators have expressed unwavering support for Israel amid its offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 16,000 Palestinians.

Yasmine Taeb, the legislative and political director at MPower Change, a Muslim American advocacy group, called the resolution “extremely dangerous”.

“It unequivocally equates any criticism of the Israeli government with anti-Semitism. Essentially it smears millions and millions of people demonstrating globally in support of a lasting ceasefire, including Jewish-American organisations,” Taeb told Al Jazeera.

The advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) was also quick to denounce the congressional measure.

“Falsely stating that anti-Zionism is antisemitism conflates all Jews with the Israeli state and endangers our communities. It fuels deadly violence and censorship campaigns against Palestinians,” JVP Action said in a social media post.

“We are proud anti-Zionists Jews. We refuse to pit communities against one another.”

All House Republicans but one — Congressman Thomas Massie — voted in favour of the resolution. But Democrats were split on the measure: 13 voted against it and 95 for it, on top of the 92 who abstained with a “present” vote.

Jerrold Nadler, a key Jewish House Democrat, had decried the resolution on Monday, noting that some Jewish communities oppose Zionism for religious reasons and should not be branded as anti-Semitic.

“While most anti-Zionism is indeed anti-Semitic, the authors, if they were at all familiar with Jewish history and culture, should know about Jewish anti-Zionism that was, and is, expressly not anti-Semitic,” he said.

Democrats divided
Nadler accused Republicans of using support for Israel to advance “partisan wedging at the expense of the Jewish community”. Still, he did not vote against the resolution on Tuesday. He opted for “present”.

The vote highlighted the divisions among the Democrats over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. While the party’s progressive wing has pressed for a ceasefire, President Joe Biden and the majority of congressional Democrats have avoided such calls.

But that could signal a disconnect from the party base. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in November indicated 62 percent of Democratic voters considered Israel’s response “excessive”. Two in three survey respondents backed a ceasefire.

Republicans, meanwhile, have led motions that critics say are designed to bring the Democratic schism to the fore. Last month, for instance, they moved to censure Congresswoman Tlaib, the only Palestinian in the House, over her comments on the Gaza war.

Conservatives have accused Democrats who vote against such measures of being anti-Israel, if not anti-Semitic.

That creates a political dilemma for Democratic lawmakers. If they support the bills, they risk upsetting large segments of their base, but if they oppose them, they open themselves to Republican attacks.

Taeb said the lawmakers who voted “present” did not want to go on the record as equating anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism, but at the same time, they wanted to be seen as countering anti-Semitism.

“It’s just politics,” she told Al Jazeera.

Tuesday’s resolution was co-sponsored by Congressman Max Miller, who has faced outrage in recent weeks for saying, “We’re going to turn [Palestine] into a parking lot.”

Taeb said the fact that lawmakers who have promoted anti-Palestinian hate are championing such resolutions shows that Tuesday’s measure is not about combating prejudice.

“The intent of these members is to smear and silence peace activists calling to end the massacre of Palestinian children and families.”
More...

Once in a while the U.S. House of Representatives gets something completely right. In this case by a vote of 311-14 the House outlined that shoveling “from the river to the sea” and other crap about Israel urging the wiping out of the country and all the Jews is completely antisemitic.

Cuddles · Dec 6, 2023

Asked if the Israelis were making any real effort to minimize civilian casualties, the US national security council spokesman, John Kirby, said: “We have seen some indications that there are efforts being applied in certain situations to try to minimize, but I don’t want to overstate that.” holy spin batman

Cuddles · Dec 6, 2023

gwb-trading said:
Once in a while the U.S. House of Representatives gets something completely right. In this case by a vote of 311-14 the House outlined that shoveling “from the river to the sea” and other crap about Israel urging the wiping out of the country and all the Jews is completely antisemitic.
More...

actually bad (codifying antisemetism):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzl's_Mauschel_and_Zionist_antisemitism

themickey · Dec 6, 2023

Republicans block Ukraine funding over US-Mexico border despite Biden pleas

US President warned lawmakers not passing the measure would ‘kneecap’ Ukraine on the battlefield and be a ‘gift’ to Putin.

Biden speaks from the White House on the need to continue backing Ukraine [Evan Vucci/AP Photo]
Published On 7 Dec 20237 Dec 2023https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/7/republicans-block-ukraine-funding-over-us-mexico-border-despite-biden-pleas

Republican senators in the United States have blocked $106bn in new funding for Ukraine and Israel, rejecting appeals from President Joe Biden amid anger over the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.

Biden had earlier warned of dire consequences for Kyiv – and a “gift” to Russia’s Vladimir Putin – if Congress failed to pass the measure, which includes about $61bn to help Ukraine keep up pressure on Russia during the freezing winter months, as well as help for Israel and Gaza...........

gwb-trading · Dec 7, 2023

IDF releases photo of senior Hamas officials killed in Gaza military operation
https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live...s-12-07-23/h_0fb0af80b5865f5c75a5d4a327b3a1fd

The Israel Defense Forces has released a photo of a group of senior Hamas officials it claims to have killed in its military operation in Gaza.

The photo shows 11 men from the Northern Gaza Brigade — the second largest unit in Hamas, according to the IDF, seated around a table, five of which have been circled in red and labeled as "eliminated."

The men indicated to have been killed are:

Abu Rakba, head of the Aerial Division

Rafat Salman, Aid Battalion commander

Ahmed Al-Ghandour, Northern Brigade commander

Wael Rajab, deputy Northern Brigade commander

Ibrahim Al-Biari, Central Jabaliya Battalion commander

In a statement, the IDF said the fighters were killed in an attack on a Hamas tunnel where they were "hiding under civilian homes and close to the Indonesian hospital."

According to the IDF, Al-Ghandour was "head of the military formation and responsible for the observations in the north of the Gaza Strip."

The brigade was hard hit in the attack, according to the IDF, and its functioning has been significantly compromised due to damage to its command center and infrastructure in the tunnels below Gaza.

The IDF also claims to have killed four battalion commanders in the Gaza Brigade who are not pictured, destroying its battalion headquarters and infrastructure as well as taking control of central Gaza strongholds.

CNN has reached out to Hamas for comment.

gwb-trading · Dec 7, 2023

themickey said:
Republicans block Ukraine funding over US-Mexico border despite Biden pleas

US President warned lawmakers not passing the measure would ‘kneecap’ Ukraine on the battlefield and be a ‘gift’ to Putin.

Biden speaks from the White House on the need to continue backing Ukraine [Evan Vucci/AP Photo]
Published On 7 Dec 20237 Dec 2023https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/7/republicans-block-ukraine-funding-over-us-mexico-border-despite-biden-pleas

Republican senators in the United States have blocked $106bn in new funding for Ukraine and Israel, rejecting appeals from President Joe Biden amid anger over the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.

Biden had earlier warned of dire consequences for Kyiv – and a “gift” to Russia’s Vladimir Putin – if Congress failed to pass the measure, which includes about $61bn to help Ukraine keep up pressure on Russia during the freezing winter months, as well as help for Israel and Gaza...........
More...

The GOP

themickey · Dec 8, 2023

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/i...ost-destructive-yet-with-conventional-weapons

Is Israel’s Gaza War the most destructive yet with conventional weapons?
Some military analysts have compared the Israeli bombardment of Gaza with bombing campaigns from World War II.......

themickey · Dec 8, 2023

Western countries have accused Tehran of supporting Russia's offensive in Ukraine by providing it with large quantities of drones and other weaponry.
1 Min read

Errrrrr let's take a look at the blatant hypocrisy for a minute....
The whole world have accused America of supporting Israel's offensive against defenseless Palestinian civilians in Gaza by providing it with large quantities of drones and other weaponry.
1 Min read

themickey · Dec 8, 2023

3 years ago.....

Like Trump, Biden has promised to end the ‘forever wars.’ The landscape remains complicated.

By Dan Lamothe December 9, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/12/09/biden-wars-terrorism-iraq-afhganistan-syria/

President Trump took office after repeatedly promising to “beat the hell” out of the Islamic State and end the United States’ “endless wars.” But reality proved more complicated.

Although his administration oversaw the destruction of the Islamic State’s caliphate in Syria and a Special Operations raid that killed its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, remnants of the group remain active in several countries.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is still involved in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and other terrorism hot spots, after four years of Trump vowing to bring troops home.

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to face a similar landscape — and political pressure — as he takes over the White House.

In similar fashion to Trump, Biden has said it is time to “end the forever wars,” a catchall for 19 years of military operations launched in response to the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Thousands of U.S. troops — and many more civilians — have been killed since then, and trillions of dollars have been spent.

But Biden has indicated that ending the wars does not mean shutting down all counterterrorism operations abroad.

Although the “vast majority” of U.S. troops should come home, the United States must “narrowly define” and continue counterterrorism operations targeting al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, Biden wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine in the spring.

“We must maintain our focus on counterterrorism, around the world and at home, but staying entrenched in unwinnable conflicts drains our capacity to lead on other issues that require our attention, and it prevents us from rebuilding the other instruments of American power,” he wrote.

And in the meantime.....

Exclusive: Iraq Militia at War with America Has 'Surprises' in Store for Biden
Dec 07, 2023 at 6:00 AM EST By Tom O'Connor
https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-iraq-militia-war-america-has-surprises-store-biden-1850179

Senior Writer, Foreign Policy & Deputy Editor, National Security and Foreign Policy

The political chief of a powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia engaged in an ongoing series of attacks against U.S. troops in response to Israel's war in the Gaza Strip has issued a new, direct warning to President Joe Biden in a rare, exclusive interview with Newsweek.......

themickey · Dec 8, 2023

themickey said:
"......We must maintain our focus on counterterrorism, around the world and at home, but staying entrenched in unwinnable conflicts drains our capacity to lead on other issues that require our attention, and it prevents us from rebuilding the other instruments of American power,” he wrote.
More...

Biden; Short memory, short attention span.