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"The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don't ask for their love; only for their fear."

-- Heinrich Himmler

News and Opinion

Defunding UNRWA aimed at starving Palestinians to death and completing Israel’s plans for ethnic cleansing

The withdrawal of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) by the United States and other imperialist powers epitomizes their direct collusion with the Netanyahu regime in bombing and starving the Palestinians out of Gaza, with the aim of seizing it for Israel. It is part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, including in the West Bank and throughout the Middle East.

On January 27, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must “take all measures within its power” to avoid acts of genocide. Within hours, Israel launched a pre-planned counterattack. UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, acting under instruction from Washington, reported just hours later unsubstantiated allegations handed to him a week ago by Israel’s security services claiming that 12 of his 13,000 personnel in Gaza had taken some part in the October 7 Hamas-led incursion into Israel. The US immediately suspended all funding to UNRWA. Washington was followed by 10 other states, including Germany, the UK and France.

The implications are horrific.

Some 21 international aid agencies, including Save the Children, ActionAid, Oxfam and the Danish Refugee Council, wrote that they were “deeply concerned and outraged” at the decision taken “amid a rapidly worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.”

Their joint letter continued:

The suspension of funding by donor states will impact life-saving assistance for over two million civilians, over half of whom are children, who rely on UNRWA aid in Gaza. The population faces starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease under Israel’s continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate deprivation of aid in Gaza.

Palestinian groups, including the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Rafah, described the move as “a continuation of the genocide practiced by the occupation forces in Gaza,” which would lead more than two million Palestinians in the Strip to “die of starvation.” Death by starvation is the clear intent of Israel and all of its backers, no matter what cynical statements to the contrary they may occasionally make. All of the imperialist powers have unwaveringly defended Israel’s supposed “right to defend itself,” as its armed forces slaughtered around 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, wounded 65,000 others, razed more than half Gaza’s essential infrastructure to the ground and left 1.9 million people (85 percent of its population) internally displaced.

Without blinking an eye, Israel and its allies have now signed a death warrant for tens of thousands more.

Biden GENOCIDE COMPLICITY: US Court Backs ICJ

Israel OPENLY Bragging About 'Nakba 2', GENOCIDAL INTENT For Palestine

Hamas mulls ceasefire proposal amid intense fighting across Gaza

Heavy bombardment of Gaza continued on Wednesday as the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was expected to arrive in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire proposal in the Israel-Gaza war that would reportedly involve the staged release of Israeli hostages. A Hamas official said Haniyeh would be in the Egyptian capital for talks on Wednesday or Thursday, as intense fighting was reported in the south of the territory in Khan Younis and in the north in Gaza City.

The health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that 26,900 Palestinians had been killed in the territory since the war began on 7 October, following Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel, and almost 66,000 people had been injured.

Israel said three of its soldiers had been killed in battles in Gaza in the past 24 hours, bringing the total killed since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza to 224.

Fighting was heaviest in Khan Younis around the Nasser hospital, the largest hospital still functioning in the southern half of Gaza where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, and the residential area of al-Nimsawi, reports said.

The Hamas media office said “dozens of air raids” had hit the city overnight and the Palestinian Red Crescent said there was shelling and gunfire around another Khan Younis hospital, al-Amal, where the Palestinian news agency Wafa said “armoured tanks continue to intensively target and surround [it] for the 10th day, amid constant shooting to prevent any movement on the ground”.

Israel is a European Invention & Gaza Genocide Was Made in West, w/ MEPs Clare Daly & Mick Wallace

Map Shows Gaza Strip DESTROYED, In RUIN; IDF Has Set ILLEGAL Fires To Homes

IDF Troops Occupy, Burn Gaza Homes in Likely War Crime​s

Israeli troops invading the Gaza Strip are occupying and then burning Palestinian homes there, apparent war crimes that follow literally incendiary calls by some Israeli leaders to "burn Gaza"—actions and words under consideration in the South African-led genocide case before the International Court of Justice.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Wednesday that IDF soldiers have burned hundreds of Gaza homes and everything in them, on direct orders of their commanders. Some Israeli troops have posted videos on social media showing them taking part in home burnings and describing their actions as revenge for fellow soldiers' deaths or the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.

Israeli forces have also occupied homes, according to the newspaper. In one case, soldiers spared a home so that other IDF troops could use it, leaving a note reading, "We are not burning the house so you can enjoy it, and when you leave—you'll know what to do."

Israeli soldiers playing chess ,after burning a Palestinian house in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/VorDRc8UNb

— Walid Mahmoud  (@WalidMahmodRouk) January 30, 2024

According to Haaretz:

Until last month, the army's combat engineering corps mostly used mines and explosives, and in some cases heavy machinery such as D9 bulldozers, to demolish structures. Setting fire to homes belonging to noncombatant civilians, for the mere purpose of punishment, is forbidden under international law.

The U.S. has recently appealed to Israel, demanding that its forces stop destroying public buildings such as schools and clinics in Gaza, claiming that continuing to do so would harm the everyday life of Gazans who seek to return to their homes after the war.

An analysis reviewed by the BBC found that at least half of all buildings in Gaza—between 144,000-175,000 structures—have been destroyed or damaged by Israeli forces since October 7. This has been a major factor in the displacement of what the United Nations says is more than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people, and has prompted debate by experts over whether Israel is committing domicide, or the systemic destruction of homes with the objective of rendering Gaza uninhabitable.

Previous reports have documented Israeli troops burning humanitarian aid supplies including food meant for starving Gazans, vandalizing Palestinian businesses, and ransacking homes.

Biden Plans WEEKS-LONG BOMBING To Punish Iran in Middle East: Report, Protestors SHUT DOWN DC

US Troops Put on Standby for Potential US Ground Involvement in Gaza

US Air Force personnel in Iraq received a memo in January ordering them to be on standby to support potential US ground involvement in Gaza, The Intercept reported on Tuesday.

The memo contained orders for the airmen to be placed “on standby to forward deploy to support troops in the case of on ground US involvement in the Israel Hamas war.” A separate personnel document also obtained by The Intercept showed the order was meant for personnel deployed to Iraq last year.

The document does not suggest US ground operations in Gaza are definitely going to happen, but it does demonstrate the lengths the US might be willing to go to support the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians.

On the question of Iran's role in the deaths of three U.S. servicemen, President Biden said "I do hold them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it." Does he feel the same way about the 26,000 deaths caused by U.S. weapons in Gaza?

— William Hartung (@WilliamHartung) January 31, 2024

"Houthis Are Not Iranian Proxies": Helen Lackner on the History & Politics of Yemen's Ansar Allah

Report: US Plans Weeks-Long Bombing Campaign Against Iranian Targets

US officials told NBC News that the US is planning to launch a weeks-long bombing campaign in the Middle East in retaliation for the drone attack in northeast Jordan that killed three American soldiers.

The officials said that the targets are expected to include Iranian targets outside of Iran, and the campaign will involve strikes and cyber operations. Other reports have said the US is considering targeting Iranians in Iraq and Syria or the Iranian navy.

While the potential targets are not inside Iran, direct attacks on the Iranian military could provoke a full-blown war between the US and Iran. The US is considering taking this course of action even though the Pentagon admitted it has no evidence Iran was directly involved in the drone attack in Jordan.

Preventing a wider war in the Middle East

Chicago Now Biggest US City to Demand Gaza Cease-Fire

A drawn-out battle in Illinois over a Chicago City Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Israel's war on the Gaza Strip ended Wednesday when Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson cast a tiebreaking vote to pass the "Uniting for Peace" measure.

Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States by population—after New York City and Los Angeles—and now the country's biggest to demand a cease-fire nearly four months into the U.S.-backed war. Dozens of other smaller communities nationwide as well as advocacy groups, labor unions, and political leaders have issued similar calls while the death toll in Gaza has mounted.

Amb. Craig Murray: Fallout From ICJ Ruling Against Israel

Tlaib Is a 'No' on Tax Breaks for Rich to Get 'Crumbs' for the Poorest

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is calling on her fellow Democrats to "stay at the table and demand a better deal for our children" instead of supporting the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, a bill that pairs a partial expansion of the child tax credit with major tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, which was expected to reach the House floor for a vote Wednesday evening.

Tlaib (D-Mich.) echoed the concerns of Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), a longtime champion of an expanded child tax credit (CTC), saying Democrats and Republicans have negotiated a bill that "gives billions of dollars in tax breaks to the rich, while leaving behind millions of children living in poverty."

A number of progressive groups have joined Republicans in calling for the passage of the bill (H.R. 7024), which was negotiated by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), but Tlaib and DeLauro have each analyzed the legislation and found that while it offers an average of $57,530 in tax breaks for the richest 0.1% of Americans, the poorest 20% of households would receive just $60 in tax credits.

"Our families deserve so much better than a bill that trades massive tax breaks for the richest Americans for crumbs for a fraction of the poorest children in our country. In the first year, the richest 120,000 households would get a larger share of the tax benefits than the bottom 88 million families," said Tlaib.

Federal Reserve continues to hold interest rates at 23-year high

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for another month as the US inflation rate continues to fade from its highest level in a generation.

Policymakers at the central bank, who have signaled they expect to cut rates three times this year, opted to keep rates steady at a 23-year high after their first two-day meeting of 2024.

Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, also pushed back strongly against the idea that it could start reducing rates as early as March.

But officials are edging closer towards ordering the first rate cut since 2020. In a statement, the Fed said the factors behind its goals for inflation and employment were “moving into better balance”.

It comes as price rises are easing, unemployment remains low and economic growth remains largely resilient, raising hopes that the Fed will guide the world’s largest economy to a so-called “soft landing”, where price growth normalizes and recession is avoided.

Teamsters union pays $2.9m to settle racial discrimination lawsuit

Thirteen former Black and Hispanic employees for the Teamsters International Union filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the union and its president, Sean O’Brien, alleging racial discrimination over their firings after O’Brien assumed the helm in March 2022. The lawsuit was filed in Washington DC last February, alleging violation of the DC Human Rights Act. The Teamsters paid $2.9m to settle the lawsuit, according to three union officials.

In an email seen by the Guardian, Teamsters – a union of 1.3 million members – asked its executive board last week to approve the settlement, but denied any wrongdoing. “I approved it because of the financial liability. I believe had it gone to court it would have cost our members a lot more,” said John Palmer, a Teamsters executive board member. “I’m extremely disappointed.”

The lawsuit claimed that “rather than maintaining or increasing diversity at Teamsters, IBT [International Brotherhood of Teamsters] fired more than a dozen people of color and turned the Organizing Department from a diverse department into a majority white department”.

The terminations “set back the Organizing Department’s goals of effectively recruiting and organizing non-whites”, it alleged, “in favor of bolstering the majority white membership and leadership of the union. In total, Teamsters terminated 72.73% of the department’s staffers who were people of color, while firing only 28.57% of white staffers. Teamsters then proceeded to hire new staff members who were 73.33% white.”

The lawsuit also claimed that O’Brien “publicly humiliated” the plaintiffs in the case, claiming they were fired because they were “bad apples” and were “lazy” in their work.

Prosecutor in Trump racketeering case subpoenaed to testify in disqualification hearing

The Fulton county district attorney, Fani Willis, and Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in her office, have both been subpoenaed to testify at a 15 February hearing seeking their disqualification from the criminal racketeering case against Donald Trump and 14 others for their efforts to overturn the election.

It is not guaranteed that either will actually testify. Both could seek to quash the subpoena.

Michael Roman, a seasoned Republican operative and a co-defendant in the case, is seeking the disqualification of Willis and Wade and a dismissal of the indictment. He alleges the two had a romantic relationship and that Wade used the money he earned from his employment in her office to pay for vacations. Trump and another defendant, Robert Cheeley, have both joined the request.

Experts generally consider disqualification unlikely, but Willis has not directly responded to the allegation. She has said she will respond in a court filing that is due on Friday.

Biden ABANDONS Michigan Arab Americans - Losing Polls In Every Swing State

Women accuse Biden-Harris staff of Islamophobia for barring them from event

Two women have accused Biden-Harris campaign staffers of Islamophobia, claiming they were profiled and disinvited from a campaign event because they were wearing hijabs. Staff with the campaign have since countered that the women were barred after disrupting other events held by Democratic leaders.

The incident was captured on video and shared to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday by an account named Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation. The viral video, which has garnered over 2m views, shows an unidentified staffer for the Get the Vote Out event in Las Vegas on Saturday telling the women that they are not allowed to enter the venue. “We are choosing who’s going in and out of the event. I’m sorry,” the staffer said.

Off camera, one woman responds: “Why are you choosing us not to go in when we have an invite?” A separate woman, also off camera, says: “You specifically singled us out.” The women then accuse the staffer of being “racist” and asks if they were prevented from attending because they are wearing hijabs. ...

Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation accused the Biden-Harris campaign of “explicitly turning away Muslim constituents from attending campaign events” in a statement shared to X. “It is shameful to see the Biden-Harris staff and [Nevada] Dems staff use post-9/11 racist tactics to target Muslims and Arab Americans in 2024,” the group said in a statement.

‘Literally off the charts’: global coral reef heat stress monitor forced to add new alerts as temperatures rise

The world’s main system for warning about heat stress on the planet’s coral reefs has been forced to add three new alert categories to represent ever-increasing temperature extremes. The changes introduced by the US government’s Coral Reef Watch program come after reefs across the Americas were hit by unprecedented levels of heat stress last year that bleached and killed corals en masse.

Coral Reef Watch, hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, previously issued warnings for coral reefs in four stages, with the highest, alert level 2, suggesting that “severe bleaching and significant mortality [is] likely”. ... Now the program has added three further alert levels to a program used by scientists, conservationists, marine park managers and citizen scientists around the world to understand the conditions being faced by coral reefs in their areas.

Underlying the warning system is a measure of the amount of accumulated heat stress that corals are facing at any given time, known as degree heating weeks. For example, 1 DHW is accumulated if corals are subjected to temperatures that are 1C above the usual maximum for seven days. Coral Reef Watch’s old system gave the highest rating at 8 DHWs or above, but last year in the northern hemisphere summer, large areas of reef across several countries experienced heat stress well beyond that highest rating, surpassing more than 20 DHWs in some areas. ...

“We know that coral mortality starts at about eight degree heating weeks and we know that now things are getting catastrophic – greater than 20 degree heating weeks. ... Coral Reef Watch’s new alert level 3 represents DHWs of between 12 and 16; alert level 4 from 16 to 20, and alert level 5 for anything above 20.

EU to delay new green rule in bid to appease protesting farmers

Farmers protesting across Europe have won their first concession from Brussels, with the EU announcing a delay in rules that would have forced them to set aside land to encourage biodiversity and soil health.

About 10,000 French farmers stepped up their protests on Wednesday, with at least 100 blockades on major roads across France, as 18 farmers were arrested for blocking traffic as they tried to reach the wholesale food market at Rungis, south-east of Paris and 79 others were detained after they managed to get inside.

Belgian farmers joined protests at the French border and others blocked access roads to the Zeebrugge container port for a second day. Spanish and Italian farmers also demonstrated. ...

Until now, farmers have not been impressed with the quick fixes offered by politicians or officials in Brussels. They have concerns about the high cost of land, the pressure from supermarkets to sell crops at near-cost prices, and the plethora of new environment rules coming in the form of EU nature restoration laws.

Their critics say EU farmers are among the most cosseted sectors in the industry, with more than €307bn (£260bn) – 30% of the overall EU budget – earmarked for them between 2023 and 2027.

‘Pineapple express’ storms bring strong winds and flash flood risk to California

The first in a series of back-to-back atmospheric rivers arrived in California on Wednesday, as forecasters warn the severe storms will batter the state with heavy downpours, strong gusty winds and risks of flash floods.

Both “pineapple express” atmospheric river systems – which pull streams of moisture from the Pacific near the Hawaiian islands before making landfall along the west coast – have the potential to wreak havoc, especially in vulnerable areas where past wildfires have left burn scars, or where the landscape has already been saturated by previous rains. The storms will also dump heavy snow over the Sierra and intermountain west region and churn up high surf along the coasts.

“This system has the potential to bring a six- to 12-hour period of heavy to locally very heavy rainfall in NorCal on Wednesday,” said the climate scientist Daniel Swain in a discussion of the storm posted on Tuesday, warning that widespread roadway and small-stream flooding is likely. ...

The storm rolled into California’s far north first before moving down the coast. Dark clouds gathered over the San Francisco Bay area on Wednesday morning, with rain arriving by the afternoon.

Much of the first storm’s heaviest downpours and mountain snow was due to arrive late on Wednesday and overnight into Thursday. Forecasters expect an even more powerful storm to follow it on Sunday.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Chris Hedges: The Silence of the Damned

By Hurting UN Agency, the West Sides With Genocide

Russiagate & Gaza

Diseases spread in overcrowded Rafah as Gaza’s population forced south

Iraqi Militia Suspends Attacks on US Forces, Paving Way for Troop Withdrawal

Clear Talk About History’s Sweep

Senator Sherrod Brown Takes on the Fed’s Support of Wealth Stripping the Middle Class

How a US mining firm sued Mexico for billions – for trying to protect its own seabed

Iraqi militias agree to stop attacking US troops

CNN CATCHES IDF Cemetery Atrocity Lie

A Little Night Music

Mamie Smith - Crazy Blues

Sippie Wallace w/ Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools - Section Hand Blues

Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools - Kansas City Blues

Perry Bradford & his Gang - Original Black Bottom Dance

Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools - I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle

Georgia Strutters with Perry Bradford - It's Right Here For You

Sippie Wallace w/ Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools - Parlor Social De Luxe

(Perry Bradford's) Georgia Strutters - Everybody Mess Around

Georgia Strutters with Perry Bradford - Rock, Jenny Rock