Germany Logs Uptick in Antisemitic Crimes amid Gaza Conflict | DW News

Jan 26, 2024 | Authorities in Germany have noted a sharp increase in crimes with antisemitic motives amid the conflict in Gaza. The government's commissioner tasked with combating antisemitism called the figure "shameful."

Oldest Holocaust survivor turns 112 amid rise in antisemitism: Rose Girone is the oldest member of a group that numbers 245,000, according to a new survey. »

Netanyahu: 'Israeli Needs Security Control over All Territory West of the Jordan River' | DW News

Jan 19, 2024 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised news conference that Israel would not halt its offensive until it achieves its goals of destroying the Hamas militant group in Gaza. Netanyahu vowed to press on with the war in Gaza in the coming months. His comments came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would never have "genuine security" without a pathway toward Palestinian independence. "We obviously see it differently," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday, referring to Netanyahu's comments about pressing on with the war. At least 24,620 Palestinians, around 70% of whom are women, children, and adolescents, have died in Gaza, according to the latest Health Ministry figures in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, and the US, among others.

Bernie Sanders: Children Are Starving to Death in Gaza

Jan 14, 2024 | What’s going on in Gaza right now is a humanitarian catastrophe. Children in Gaza are starving to death. More than 23,000 people in Gaza have been killed and more than 85% of the population displaced. Congress must take action.


CONGRESS'S RESPONSE:

Senate votes against Sanders resolution to force human rights scrutiny over Israel aid: Senator’s bid to make US military support conditional on whether Israel is violating human rights in Gaza fails by 72 votes to 11 »

Peter Oborne: ‘I Can’t Forgive Myself’ for Voting for Brexit, but Britain Will Rejoin EU

Jan 13, 2024 | Peter Oborne joins Hugo Rifkind to talk about everything from Brexit, the upcoming general election, and the war in Gaza.

Haaretz Columnist Gideon Levy on Israel's Conduct in Gaza | Amanpour & Co

Jan 9, 2024 | Palestinian authorities say one in every 100 residents of Gaza have been killed over the past three months. That’s more than 23,000 dead, nearly two-thirds of them women and children. This human toll is front and center as Western officials visit the region expressing increasing concern about the situation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken today has been meeting with top officials in Israel to persuade them to protect civilians, allow more aid into Gaza, and try to prevent a wider war. The German Foreign Minister is in the occupied West Bank, where she condemned Israeli settler violence towards Palestinians. But is the Israeli government listening to its strongest allies? And what are the long-term consequences of such destruction? Haaretz Columnist Gideon Levy says there’s no way to explain Israel’s conduct in Gaza. He joined the program from Tel Aviv. | Originally aired on January 9, 2024

Senator Rubio Destroys Anti-Israel Voices | #shorts

He says that Hamas are 100% to blame for all the deaths of civilians.

En direct, guerre Israël-Hamas : les habitants de Gaza vivent une « catastrophe humanitaire monumentale », dénonce le chef de l’ONU

LE MONDE : Le secrétaire général de l’ONU, Antonio Guterres, a réclamé un « véritable cessez-le-feu humanitaire », mercredi, devant le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU. Les négociations sont toujours en cours pour prolonger la trêve entre Israël et le Hamas, censée arriver à son terme jeudi matin. LIVE EN COURS » | mercredi 29 novembre 2023

Israeli Military Reservist Says He Witnessed "Slaughters and Massacres"

Oct 13, 2023 | Rudy Rochman, one of more than 360,000 IDF reservists called on after the Hamas attack, joined CBS News New York live from Israel.

May God protect Rudy. Rudy is so impressive; impressive in every way. – Mark

Bundespräsident: Solidarität auch mit einem „Israel, das sich wehrt“

Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier im März 2021 während einer Pressekonferenz mi dem israelischen Präsidenten Reuven Rivlin in Berlin | Bild: DPA
STEINMEIER UND BAS IN ISRAEL:
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Vor seinem Israelbesuch distanziert sich Frank-Walter Steinmeier von der zunehmend schärferen Kritik an Israels Vorgehen im Gazastreifen. Der Bundespräsident bekräftigt das Recht auf Selbstverteidigung.

Die beiden höchsten Vertreter Deutschlands reisen an diesem Sonntag nach Israel. Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier und Bundestagspräsidentin Bärbel Bas führen dort politische Gespräche, treffen aber auch mit Angehörigen der Geiseln zusammen, die von der Hamas bei ihrem terroristischen Überfall auf Israel am 7. Oktober genommen wurden und deren Freilassung langsam vorankommt. Steinmeier sagte vor seinem Abflug, er fahre „gerade jetzt“ nach Israel, um das Land der fortgesetzten Solidarität Deutschlands zu versichern „nicht nur mit Israel als Opfer des Terrors, sondern auch als Israel, das sich wehrt“. » | Von Eckart Lohse | Sonntag, 26. November 2023

En direct, Gaza : 13 otages israéliens et 7 étrangers, ainsi que 39 prisonniers palestiniens, seront libérés ce soir, affirment le Hamas et le Qatar

LE MONDE : Un peu plus tôt, la branche armée du mouvement islamiste avait annoncé retarder la libération d’otages « jusqu’à ce qu’Israël respecte l’accord », lui reprochant en particulier des manquements dans l’acheminement de l’aide humanitaire. LIVE EN COURS » | samedi 25 novembre 2023

Spanish and Belgian Prime Ministers Call for Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza at Rafah Crossing

Nov 24, 2023 | Spain and Belgium's prime ministers called for a 'permanent ceasefire' on Friday at the Rafah border crossing, welcoming a four-day truce that paused fighting between Israel and Hamas. 'It is absolutely necessary to establish a lasting humanitarian ceasefire to reverse the catastrophic situation that the people of the [Gaza] Strip are going through,' said Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. Alexander De Croo, Belgium's prime minister, echoed Sánchez, saying: 'The destruction of Gaza is unacceptable. We cannot accept that a society is being destroyed the way it is being destroyed'

Number of Palestinians Killed Is ‘Truly Unbearable’, Says Spanish PM

THE GUARDIAN: Pedro Sánchez says all civilians must be protected in Israel-Hamas war and reiterates call for two-state solution

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has urged Israel to rethink its offensive in Gaza, telling its president and prime minister the number of dead Palestinians is “truly unbearable”, and that the response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks last month cannot include “the deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children”.

Sánchez’s blunt pleas came during a visit to the Middle East with the Belgian prime minister, Alexander de Croo, during which he called for a peace conference and reiterated that the creation of a Palestinian state remained the best way to bring peace and security to the region.

Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 239 taken hostage when Hamas fighters crossed the border from Gaza on 7 October. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, more than 14,100 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes. (With video) » | Sam Jones | Thursday, November 23, 2023

En direct, guerre Israël-Hamas : l’ONU alerte sur le « risque immédiat de famine » dans la bande de Gaza, où nourriture et eau sont « quasi inexistantes »

LE MONDE : « Avec l’hiver qui approche à grands pas, les abris précaires et surpeuplés, ainsi que le manque d’eau potable, les civils sont confrontés à un risque immédiat de famine », a déclaré dans un communiqué la directrice exécutive du Programme alimentaire mondial, Cindy McCain. LIVE EN COURS » | jeudi 16 novembre 2023

Tony Blair ‘Discussing Situation’ in Gaza and Open to Role in Effort to End Crisis

THE GUARDIAN: Former UK PM has let it be known he is available to help but his office denies he has been offered specific job

Tony Blair at Downing Street before the Remembrance Sunday ceremony. The former PM has an office in Israel, his spokesperson said. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock
Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, has let it be known that he is available if needed to help in an effort to end the growing crisis in Israel and Palestine.

His office, however, denied a report in the Israeli press that he had already been offered a specific job.

Blair has built extensive contacts in the Middle East, and he worked as special envoy for the Quartet – the UN, the US, the EU and Russia – after leaving Downing Street in 2007, trying to build the Middle East economy.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would not reject a role for Blair. Both the EU and UN have Middle East envoys.

Blair has strong contacts with the Gulf states. In an earlier period, he played a role behind the scenes encouraging Hamas to change its stance towards Israel, but he has always been implacably opposed to the direction of the Iranian leadership. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Monday, November 13, 2023

Arab League Holds Summit: Regional Leaders Gather in Riyadh to Discuss War

Nov 11, 2023 | The summit in Riyadh has started, with the Saudi crown prince delivering his opening remarks.

Qatar’s emir condemns silence on Gaza »

Uncomfortably Numb: Inside Gaza's Opioid Addiction Crisis | Rewind

Oct 6, 2019 | The Gaza Strip - at points just 10km wide - is a narrow piece of land along the eastern Mediterranean coast. Its Palestinian population is sealed behind a separation barrier and tightly controlled checkpoints.

Gaza is home to more than 1.5 million Palestinians - half of them under the age of 15. Unemployment is among the highest in the world and every day is a struggle to survive. Thousands of young people regularly risk their lives protesting their occupation by Israel along the border fence.

But there is a lesser-known unintended consequence of the occupation: opioid addiction. In 2010, Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad travelled to Gaza and found that more and more young people were turning to prescription drugs to escape from the harsh realities of their lives.

In the underground tunnels between Egypt and Gaza - where lifelines including food and clothes are smuggled into the blockaded strip - Al Jazeera found that a dangerous drug, Tramadol (or Tramal as it is known in Gaza), was also slipping through. The dangerously addictive painkiller is illegal without a prescription, but a growing number of Gazans were getting hooked on it and going to extreme lengths to get it.

"I buy fake prescriptions," Khaled al-Jarah, a long-term drug user, told Al Jazeera at the time. "If I don't get this prescription there are other ways to get the pills. Dealers bring in boxes of them through the tunnels."

Psychologist Dr Samir al-Zaqout treats addicts at Gaza's Community Mental Health Programme, one of the few places they are able to go for help.

"Most of the addicts are between the ages of 18 and 30 ... Those who are supposed to build our future are the most affected," he told Al Jazeera at the time. "If the number of cases I have seen are 150, there are hundreds of others that I have not seen and who would never seek the help of a doctor. Why? Because we live in a traditional society that fears the stigma attached to mental illness. And addiction is not just considered to be a mental health issue. It's seen as even more serious."

Almost a decade on, Rewind returned to Gaza where Dr al-Zaqout told us that most users are still reluctant to come forward to be treated at the facility. "People don't go to therapy or to a psychologist because they are afraid to do so on two counts: they're scared of the Resistance labelling them as collaborators; and they're also afraid of the associated stigma within society," he said.

With Gaza's political and humanitarian situation deteriorating further in recent years, and with a new upsurge of violence at the border, the painkiller problem has also worsened. Although authorities clamped down on Tramadol, other drugs, including Lyrica and Fioricet, have gained popularity. "Now it is smuggled to Gaza through all ports and, consequently, the Strip has been drowned with drugs," said Dr al-Zaqout.


Please note well that my posting of this documentary is NOT a political statement. I am in no way familiar with the actual problems in Gaza, since I have never been there. Having spent many years in the Arab world in years past, I am very familiar with the Middle East; but it is my belief that many of the problems which Gazans face are problems which are peculiar to Gaza itself, especially because of its unique situation and circumstances.

I should like to remind all my visitors and followers once again that I strive to bring you balance, and in three languages. My posts should in no way be understood to mean that I endorse the sentiments expressed therein. – Mark

Israel-Hamas War: Crown Prince of Iran Tells Piers Morgan Regime "Is The Godfather of Terrorism"

Nov 8, 2023 | Piers Morgan opens up his latest show with a monologue on Benjamin Netanyahu's desire to occupy Gaza before interviewing Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. The prince discusses the rise of Islamic extremism across the region and warns that radicals want to change the way of life "even in Europe." Of terrorism he says: "It's a disease that needs to be cured… the cure is to put an end to what is the source to this extremism or radicalism." Asked if he had any doubt Iran was behind the events of October 7th, he said the regime were the “godfather of terrorism”, adding he hoped to see regime change in Iran in future.

I warned of the dangers of Islam to the West many years before even 9/11. One of the biggest problems is Islam's insistence on there being no separation of politics and religion, no separation of mosque and state. I have said it before, many times, and I will say it again: oil and water simply do not mix. The real problem will never be solved because Western politicians and the Western mainstream media simply skirt around the real problem. – @ Mark Alexander

Arab States Intensify Pleas for Gaza Cease-fire as Public Anger Mounts

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Citing deepening fears for regional stability, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries are beseeching the U.S. to push Israel to end its military campaign in Gaza.

A rally in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in Amman, Jordan, on Oct. 27. | Khalil Mazraawi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Facing growing anger from their own people, Arab countries are intensifying their appeals to the United States to pressure Israel to implement an immediate cease-fire in Gaza or risk sabotaging the security of the entire Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have all implored American officials, including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, to get Israel to halt its military assault.

“The whole region is sinking in a sea of hatred that will define generations to come,” the Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, warned at a news conference this weekend.

As unrest spills into the streets and fear spreads that Iran-backed militias in the region will enter more directly into the conflict, some Arab leaders are worrying for their own security, said Elham Fakhro, an associate fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program.

“Long-term resentment among the Arab public is fuel for extremist groups,” she said. “The region is already walking a delicate balance,” she added. “This is what drives Arab governments to use their available leverage to call for a cease-fire.” » | Vivian Nereim, Reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Nine Countries Have Recalled Their Ambassadors from Israel due to War on Gaza

Nov 7, 2023 | Since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza, 9 countries have withdrawn their ambassadors, or severed ties.

They've called for an immediate ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to enter the strip unhindered.

NATO member Turkey is among those that pulled their ambassador out. So did Israel's neighbour, Jordan, that said Israel is committing "war crimes".

The latest to join the list are South Africa and Chad. Bolivia was the first to sever ties entirely with Israel - saying its decision was a "condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip”.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reports from the Occupied East Jerusalem.

For in depth analysis, Marwan Bishara is Al Jazeera's Senior Political Analyst.

Gaza Is Becoming a 'Graveyard for Children', Says António Guterres

Nov 6, 2023 | The UN secretary general has warned that 'no one is safe' in Gaza as he reiterated his urgent call for a humanitarian ceasefire. He said Gaza was 'becoming a graveyard for children' with hundreds of boys and girls reportedly killed or injured every day. Israeli ground operations and bombardments are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and UN facilities including shelters, Guterres said. He said the situation in Gaza was 'more than a humanitarian crisis, it is a crisis of humanity'.

Read the GUARDIAN article here.