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"...the crimes of violence committed for selfish, personal motives are historically insignificant compared to those committed ad majorem gloriam Dei, out of a self-sacrificing devotion to the flag, a leader, a religious faith or political conviction."

-- Arthur Koestler

News and Opinion

Democrats Have Decided To Just Ignore American Muslims This Election Cycle

A new poll from the Council on American-Islamic Relations has Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein beating Kamala Harris among American Muslims in three key battleground states, with an especially large lead in Michigan.

Among Muslims, Stein leads Harris 35 percent to 29 percent in Arizona, 44 percent to 39 percent in Wisconsin, and a whopping 40 percent to 12 percent in Michigan.

This would be interesting in and of itself, but what really stands out for me is the extreme contrast between how American Muslims and the rest of the US population are polling right now. An August report by the Statista Research Department has Jill Stein polling at just 0.2 percent overall among the general population, with Harris leading the Green Party candidate by 46.8 percent to 0.2 percent in Arizona, by 47.7 percent to 0.8 percent in Wisconsin, and by 46.1 percent to 0.9 percent in Michigan.

The fact that there's such a massive, MASSIVE gap between Muslim voters and white liberals right now suggests liberals have decided they're simply not going to listen to Muslim voices this election cycle. Which they already demonstrated when they shut Palestinians out of the DNC. pic.twitter.com/YFwgCxrIcF

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) September 10, 2024

To call this a night and day difference would be a severe understatement. Clearly Muslim Americans are seeing something they care deeply about this election season which the rest of the population has decided doesn’t matter very much.

That something is of course the US-backed genocide in Gaza, which the Biden-Harris administration has been forcefully supporting for nearly a year. Stein opposes these atrocities, while Harris is currently serving in the administration that’s making them possible. Activist campaigns like the Uncommitted National Movement have been rallying pro-Palestinian voters to pressure Biden and Harris to stop the slaughter in Gaza under the threat of losing their votes, and now polls show that those votes are hemorrhaging into the Green Party among Muslims.

And I just think it says a lot that American liberals have decided to simply ignore this. Not just the leadership of the Democratic Party — who famously refused to allow any Palestinian Americans to even speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month — but ordinary members of the public as well.

White non-Muslim liberals, who would normally claim to stand with Muslim Americans and support listening to black and brown voices, have decided to simply turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to what their Muslim neighbors are saying this election cycle.

DNC attendees cover their ears as the names of dead Palestinian children are read as they leave the convention pic.twitter.com/9bueCbFeEr

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) August 22, 2024

Everything this particular marginalized community is saying gets met with fingers in the ears. Any other minority group on any other issue at any other time and it would be “I hear you, I see you,” but when it comes to this particular religious minority group with regard to ending an actual genocide, they are saying the exact opposite.

Which, just like the destruction of Gaza itself, says so much about where the real values of mainstream western liberalism actually lie. It’s not about being good, it’s about feeling good. It’s not about being moral, it’s about feeling moral. It’s not about fighting for justice and equality, it’s about fighting for electoral wins and emotional comfort. While people who actually care are trying to wake everyone up to the reality of the nightmare in Gaza, American liberals are trying to get everyone to shut up and stop shaking the bed so everyone can go back to sleep.

What’s happening in Gaza should radicalize you against status quo politics, and if you are a good person, it will. The fact that Democrats of all levels are so completely incurious and indifferent toward what Muslims in their country have been saying since October shows they are not good people, and shows they are not what they pretend to be.

Aaron Maté : Victoria Nuland War Criminal

Israel says ‘highly likely’ its troops killed Turkish-American activist

Israel’s military has said it was highly likely its troops fired the shot that killed Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, the American-Turkish woman killed at a protest in the occupied West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said her death was unintentional and expressed deep regret.

The statement came as Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, called the killing of the 26-year-old last week “unprovoked and unjustified”. Speaking on a diplomatic visit to London, Blinken told journalists that Eygi’s death showed the Israeli security forces needed to make fundamental changes to their rules of engagement. ...

On Tuesday, the IDF said commanders had conducted an investigation into the incident. “The inquiry found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” the military said. “The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tyres and hurled rocks towards security forces at the Beita junction." ...

Eygi’s family said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli military’s preliminary inquiry into her killing was “wholly inadequate”. “We are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional. The disregard shown for human life in the inquiry is appalling,” they said. They added: “Israeli officials must be transparent and release the evidence they compiled, to be reviewed by the family and independent authorities.

UN says lives of staff endangered in Israeli halt of Gaza polio vaccine convoy

Israeli soldiers halted a UN convoy involved in the recent polio vaccination drive in Gaza and detained two staff members for questioning, in an incident during which live shots were fired and vehicles damaged by a bulldozer, the UN has said. Details of the incident, which occurred at the Al Rashid checkpoint, were revealed in a statement by the office of the UN humanitarian coordinator for Palestine, Muhannad Hadi, who said the lives of UN staff in the vehicles had been endangered.

He said a convoy of 12 UN staff members “whose movement was fully coordinated with Israel Defense Forces, and whose details were shared with them in advance, was stopped on its way to North Gaza to support the third phase of the Gaza Strip-wide polio vaccination campaign” on Monday. According to the statement: “While at the checkpoint the team was informed that the IDF wanted to hold two of the UN staff members in the convoy for further questioning.

“The situation escalated quickly, with soldiers pointing their weapons directly towards the convoy personnel. Live shots were fired, and tanks and bulldozers approached, engaged with, and damaged UN vehicles, endangering the lives of UN staff inside the vehicles. The convoy remained held at gunpoint while senior level UN officials engaged with the Israeli Authorities to de-escalate the situation."

“The two staff were eventually questioned, one by one, and then released. After seven and a half hours at the checkpoint, the convoy returned to base without being able to fulfil its humanitarian mission to support the polio campaign."

“This incident highlights the ongoing dangers and obstacles humanitarian personnel face in Gaza. Despite daily coordination of humanitarian movements with the Israel Defense Forces, our staff and assets were not provided with sufficient protection, hindering our work. Under international humanitarian law, such protection is mandatory.”

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Top EU Diplomat Warns Israeli Impunity Will Lead to West Bank Becoming 'a New Gaza'

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday urged the international community to stop "radical members of the Israeli government" from thwarting Palestinian statehood and prevent Israel from turning the illegally occupied West Bank into "a new Gaza."

Speaking to attendees of an Arab League conference in Cairo, Borrell lamented that a Gaza cease-fire agreement "has still not been signed and does not seem likely to be signed in the near future."

"Why? Quite simply, because those who are waging the war have no interest in putting an end to it," he continued. "So, they are just pretending... Because, as it turns out, their intransigence is accompanied by total impunity."

"If acts have no consequences, if blatant violation of international law remains disregarded, if institutions such as the International Criminal Court are threatened, if the International Court of Justice rulings are totally ignored by those who promote a rules-based order, who can be trusted?" Borrell asked.

"Not only is there no pause in the war in Gaza," he noted. "But what looms on the horizon is the extension of the conflict to the West Bank, where radical members of the Israeli government—Netanyahu's government—try to make it impossible to create a future Palestinian state."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his far-right government have openly boasted about their efforts to derail the so-called "two-state solution," and Israeli lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in July to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state.

Borrell asserted that "a new front is being opened with a clear objective: to turn the West Bank into a new Gaza—in rising violence, delegitimizing the Palestinian Authority, stimulating provocations to react forcefully, and not shying away from saying to the face of the world that the only way to reach a peaceful settlement is to annex the West Bank and Gaza."

Since last October, Israeli soldiers and settler-colonists have killed more than 600 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, including more than 140 children. Settlers have carried out more than 1,000 attacks including multiple deadly pogroms, during which Israel Defense Forces soldiers stood by, protected, and even joined the attackers.

"Without action, the West Bank will become a new Gaza," Borrell stressed. "And Gaza will become a new West Bank, as settlers' movements are preparing new settlements."

"Against this backdrop, it is clear that the prospect of a two-state solution—which we have been ritually repeating—is receding ever further while the international community deplores, feels, and condemns, but finds it hard to act," Borrell added.

"What can we do?" he asked, continuing:

We need to raise our voice at the next [United Nations General Assembly] and prevent a sort of "Gaza fatigue," which will embolden the extremists and postpone once again the idea of a political settlement. We have to launch a process where all parties who want to work on an agenda—a concrete and practical agenda to implement the two-state solution—can work together.

Second, we need to revitalize the Palestinian Authority to support their reform process, but also to support [them] financially.

Third, [we have] to facilitate all attempts at dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis.

Fourth, [we must] not give up on engaging with Israeli civil society, even in this context—and especially in this context. Everyone, not just the Europeans—Palestinians, and Arab civil society, must do it. I know how difficult it is to reconcile both narratives, but it is the only way to move forward...

Fifth, the Palestinians have to reach a common vision, to overcome their divisions, because the more these divisions exist, the more they undermine the legitimacy and representativeness of the Palestinians.

Sixth, the Europeans need to adopt a common approach. That is what I am working tirelessly on, even if the success is limited, because I have never seen such a dividing issue among the Europeans as the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Seventh, the Arab States need also to adopt a truly common approach [to] coordinating and showing solidarity.

"All in all, it means building a balance of power on realistic foundations for the two-state solution—before it becomes, definitely, too late," Borrell concluded. "I know, it is extremely difficult. However, we must never give up."

Last month, Borrell called for sanctioning Israeli leaders for hate speech and inciting war crimes in Gaza and the illegally occupied West Bank. He has also called for an arms embargo on Israel.

Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice. Meanwhile, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking to arrest Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders—at least one of whom has been assassinated—for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Since October 7, when the Hamas-led attack on Israel left more than 1,100 people dead—some of them killed by so-called "friendly fire"—and over 240 others kidnapped, Israeli forces have killed at least 40,988 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children. At least 94,825 other Palestinians have been wounded. Almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced, while Israel's "complete siege" has starved and sickened people across the enclave, with dozens dying of malnutrition.

UN expert accuses Israel of “deliberate starvation” as a means of exterminating the Palestinians

Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has published a report accusing Israel of carrying out the “deliberate starvation” of the Palestinians in Gaza as a means of exterminating them and annexing their land. “Israel has engaged in an intentional starvation campaign against the Palestinian people, which evidences genocide and extermination,” Fakhri said in his report.

“Never in post-war history has a population been made to go hungry so quickly and so completely as was the case for the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza.” The report continues, “On October 9, 2023, Israel announced its starvation campaign against Gaza. By December, Palestinians in Gaza made up 80 percent of the people in the world experiencing famine or catastrophic hunger.”

The UN rapporteur’s report stands as an indictment not only of Israel but also of the imperialist powers, including the United States, UK, France, Germany and Canada, that have funded, armed and politically defended the genocide.

Fakhri was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as the lead investigator, also known as special rapporteur, on the right to food in 2020. He is a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law.

In a post on X, Fakhri noted, “In Gaza, malnutrition, famine, and disease are killing more people than bombs and bullets.” Fakhri asks, “Why is this happening? This is about land. In 2023, Israel seized more Palestinian land than in any given year in the past 30 years. Israel wants to erase the Palestinians from their homeland and territory and deny them their right to return to Palestine.”

Fakhri’s report asserts that famine is always deliberate because humanity produces more than enough food necessary to feed everyone.

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South Korea reveals new evidence of ‘violent and systemic’ forced adoption abroad

South Korea has found new evidence that mothers were forced to give up their children for adoption in countries including Australia, Denmark and the United States. At least 200,000 South Korean children had been adopted abroad since the 1950s, but allegations have emerged that hospitals, maternity wards and adoption agencies systematically colluded to force parents – primarily single mothers – to give up their children.

Adoption workers in some cases insisted that adoptees were abandoned children and blamed the biological parents for not looking for them. But a report from a government Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up to investigate the claims has detailed some of the coercive methods used to force mothers living in welfare shelters to give up their sometimes day-old children.

In one case, a mother unwilling to be separated from her child was recorded as being “a problem” and “mentally ill”. The record was later updated to explain that the parental rights’ waiver had been secured and the baby transferred to an adoption agency. International adoption was not well understood at the time, according to researchers who spoke to the Guardian last year, with parents told that it was like sending your child to study abroad and that they would come back.

Adoptees said they had grown up being told they were better off as an adoptee in Denmark than living as an impoverished South Korean child. Among its recommendations, the commission urged the government to issue a formal apology and offer financial compensation to victims of the detention centres.

“Hearing [about these stories] is horrible. It’s inconceivable how violent and systemic it was, but there’s also redemption in the truth coming out,” said Peter Møller, an adoptee himself and founder of the Danish Korean Rights Group (DKRG), which has campaigned for an inquiry into the adoption industry that sent them predominantly to white families in western countries.

Family of Ethel Rosenberg say US document proves she was no Soviet spy

The family of Ethel Rosenberg, who was sent to the electric chair along with her husband, Julius, in 1953 after being convicted of spying for the Soviets at the height of the Red Scare, have called on Joe Biden to formally exonerate her after a newly released document appeared to show that the US government knew she was not a spy.

The couple maintained their innocence until the end and the case of the Rosenbergs has long been seen as a possible miscarriage of justice. Though most historians see Julius Rosenberg as a real Soviet spy, questions about Ethel Rosenberg’s role have lingered and their sons, Robert and Michael Meeropol, have long campaigned in their family’s cause.

Now, according to a National Security Agency document, a top US codebreaker who decrypted secret Soviet communications during the cold war concluded that Ethel Rosenberg knew about husband Julius’s activities in atomic espionage but “did not engage in the work herself”.

The Meeropol brothers, who were just seven and three years old when their parents were arrested, have worked for decades to establish that their mother was falsely implicated in spying. They now want Biden to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg by issuing a presidential proclamation stating that she was wrongfully convicted and executed.

“My brother and I are both relieved and angered to learn that the US government concluded that our mother, Ethel Rosenberg, was not a spy, seven months before her trial in 1951 and nearly three years before her execution in 1953,” Michael Meeropol, 81, said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are relieved to know the truth, but we are angered that the US government committed this unspeakable injustice and then took 74 years to finally tell the truth by declassifying and releasing this key exculpatory memo,” he added.

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Presidential Debate Reaction: Glenn Reacts to ABC News Debate Between Kamala and Trump

Antarctic sea ice on cusp of record winter low for second year running

Sea ice surrounding Antarctica is on the cusp of reaching a record winter low for a second year running, continuing an “outrageous” fall in the amount of Southern Ocean that is freezing over.

The Antarctic region underwent an abrupt transformation in 2023 as the sea ice cover surrounding the continent crashed for six months straight. In winter, it covered about 1.6m sq km less than the long-term average – an area roughly the size of Britain, France, Germany and Spain combined.

Scientists at the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership said the latest data showed this had been repeated in 2024. On 7 September the amount of frozen ocean was less than on the same date last year. While the winter record is not yet complete, and it is therefore not clear if the extent of sea ice for the season will be less than last year, the scientists said it was part of a body of evidence that the Antarctic system had moved to a “new state”. ...

Dr Phil Reid, from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, said it was too early to definitively say whether the winter sea ice had reached its annual maximum level, but it was startling it had dropped so far below average in consecutive years. He said while scientists were just starting to understand the impact low sea ice levels had on the weather and climate, recent studies had suggested it contributed to an increase in summertime rain events and dry winter days in Australia. “Ocean and atmosphere interactions induced by Antarctic sea ice loss are thought to drive these changes,” Reid said.

Brazilian president flies into Amazon amid alarm over droughts and wildfires

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has flown into the Amazon amid growing alarm over the droughts and wildfires sweeping the rainforest region and others parts of Brazil.

Speaking during a visit to a riverside community near the city of Tefé, the Brazilian president said Amazonia was suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years. He said he had come to discover “what is going on with these mighty rivers” that in some places now resemble deserts. Lula voiced concern over the often criminally set fires that are consuming three of Brazil’s six biomes: the Amazon, the Cerrado and the Pantanal wetlands.

“It seems to me that things are getting worse, year after year after year,” Lula said as he visited drought-stricken communities in Amazonas state, where all 62 municipalities have declared a state of emergency. More than 340,000 people have reportedly been affected.

“In the Pantanal we’ve had the worst drought in the last 73 years … This is a problem that we have to fix because otherwise humanity is going to destroy our planet,” Lula added. “We cannot destroy that which we rely on for our life.” The president’s visit came as huge swaths of South America’s largest country, and neighbours such as Bolivia and Peru, grappled with the consequences of extreme climate events that have caused temperatures to hit record highs and fires to rage.

Francine intensifies into hurricane as Louisiana residents brace for landfall

Francine became a hurricane on Tuesday evening as it barreled toward southern Louisiana, strengthening over extremely warm Gulf waters as those in possible harm’s way rushed to complete storm preparations, filling sandbags, buying gas and stocking up on necessities for an expected landfall in the coming day.

Residents, especially in south Louisiana, have a 24-hour window to “batten down all the hatches”, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry warned at midday while Francine was still a tropical storm.

The freshly minted category 1 hurricane packed top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and forecasters warned it was expected to crash ashore Wednesday afternoon or evening in Louisiana with a potentially life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds – perhaps even as a category 2 storm with winds of 96 to 110 mph (155 to 175 kph).

Also of Interest

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

Democrats Don’t Care If You Vote For Them And Don’t Care If They Lose

Harris And Trump Debate Whatever

‘Life’s Mission’ – Smotrich Vows to Prevent Establishment of Palestinian State

‘I’ve never seen the depth of moral corruption’: controversial Netanyahu doc screens at Toronto

Ukraine’s Kursk Incursion Is a Two-Edged Sword

Has Communism Happened Yet?

Spanish judge shelves landmark case of Franco-era torture victim

Moderator Bias, Mistakes, Missteps & Blown Opportunities!

A Little Night Music

Jaybird Coleman - Cane Brake Blues

Jaybird Coleman - Man Trouble Blues

Jaybird Coleman - Giving It Away

Jaybird Coleman - No More Good Water, 'Cause The Pond Is Dry

Jaybird Coleman - Mistreatin' Mama

Jaybird Coleman - I'm Gonna Cross the River Jordan Some of These Days

Jaybird Coleman - Boll Weevil

Jaybird Coleman - The Wild Cat Squawl

Jaybird Coleman - Coffee Grinder Blues