Tag: genocide

  • Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

    Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

    The 50th Met Gala took place this week — also known as the “Superbowl of Fashion”. Every year, celebrity outfits make headlines. But this year, it was different.

    The event coincided with Israel’s genocide taking place in Gaza — particularly the invasion of Rafah. Public, as well as residential areas have been targeted, 110,000 Palestinians have fled, while aid has been halted into the city.

    People, including staunch celebrity fans, are now calling for not only unfollowing but also blocking singers, actors, and other members of the entertainment industry on social media.

    We the People.Resist has compiled a list of celebrities who participated in The Met Gala and need to be “digitally guillotined” which they referred to as “Digitine”.

    People are calling out the celebrities for choosing to remain silent on the on-going genocide and ignorantly attending a mega event which often acts as a distraction from real-life issues demanding attention.

    Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

    Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

    Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

    Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

    Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

    Celebs ignoring Gaza genocide have karma coming their way with #blockout2024

  • Pro-Palestinian student protests spread in Switzerland

    Pro-Palestinian student protests spread in Switzerland

    Pro-Palestinian protests on Tuesday spread to three universities across Switzerland — inspired by similar student demonstrations that began in the United States.

    For weeks, students around the world have been calling for their universities to cut ties with Israeli institutions over the war in Gaza.

    Students at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) were the first to mobilise in Switzerland, with several hundred occupying a hall Thursday evening to demand an end to partnerships with Israeli universities.

    UNIL responded in a statement that it “considers that there is no reason to cease these relations”. Protesters and the rector will meet later Tuesday.

    On Tuesday, the movement spread to the prestigious EPFL university in Lausanne, where a group of students occupied the university’s hall, an AFP photographer observed.

    The students are demanding “an academic boycott” of Israeli institutions and “an end to censorship at EPFL”, and called on other universities to join in.

    Tens of students protested in the entrance hall of the ETH Zurich shortly before midday on Tuesday, shouting “Free Palestine” and rolling a poster onto the floor that said “no Tech for Genocide” before being removed by police, according to news agency Keystone-ATS.

    In Geneva, the Palestine Student Coordination – University of Geneva (CEP-UnigGe) took over a hall at the university with sofas, chairs and tables around midday, the Swiss agency reported.

    Numerous Palestinian flags and banners were hung on all floors of the building. An assembly is scheduled for Tuesday.

    In a letter to the university’s rector, the group called for “an immediate end to links between the University of Geneva and Israeli universities” and called on the rectorate to encourage the admission of Palestinian students.

    Students across Europe have launched pro-Palestinian protests on campuses in Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

  • Pro-Palestinian students camp out at Mexico’s largest university

    Pro-Palestinian students camp out at Mexico’s largest university

    Mexico City (AFP) – Dozens of pro-Palestinian students from Mexico’s largest university camped out Thursday in solidarity with similar protests that have swept colleges in the United States.

    Mounting flags and chanting “Long live free Palestine,” the protesters set up tents in front of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s (UNAM) head office in Mexico City.

    The students called on the Mexican government to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel.

    “We are here to support Palestine, the people who are in Palestine, and the student camps in the United States,” said Valentino Pino, a 19-year-old philosophy student.

    Jimena Rosas, 21, said she hoped the protest would have a domino effect and spread to other universities in the country.

    “Once people see that UNAM is beginning to mobilize, other universities should start as well,” she said.

    Dozens of universities in the United States have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent weeks, leading to clashes with police and counter-protests.

    Israeli genocide against Palestinians since October 8 has killed more than 34,500 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

  • Saudi crackdown on anti-Israel social media comments intensifies

    Saudi crackdown on anti-Israel social media comments intensifies

    In recent months, Saudi Arabian authorities have arrested a growing number of citizens for criticising Israel on social media.

    This surge in arrests comes amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which has triggered widespread condemnation and protests across the Middle East.

    According to a report by Bloomberg, among those detained is a high-ranking executive involved in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic development initiatives, including the ambitious Vision 2030 project.

    Another detainee is reported to have urged Saudi citizens to boycott American brands operating in the Gulf Kingdom, while a third is a media figure who publicly stated that Israel should never be forgiven for its actions in Gaza.

    A source close to the Saudi government, who requested anonymity, stated that these arrests are driven by concerns about national security and the potential influence of pro-Iranian groups in Saudi Arabia.

    However, there are no official figures indicating how many individuals have been arrested since the Israeli offensive in Gaza began on October 7, 2023.

    The crackdown on dissent coincides with efforts by the United States to broker a deal for the normalisation of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.

    During a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that negotiations have brought both parties “potentially very close to completion.”

    However, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly emphasised that it will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until an independent Palestinian state is recognised.

    Meanwhile, Israel’s ongoing military offensive in Gaza has had devastating consequences.

    According to the Wafa news agency, more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 77,000 wounded since the start of the conflict.

    The United Nations reports that 85 per cent of Gaza’s population has been internally displaced due to the violence, and 60 per cent of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure has been severely damaged or destroyed.

    Critical shortages of food, clean water, and medical supplies have compounded the humanitarian crisis.

    Israel has been accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In January, the World Court issued an interim ruling ordering Israel to halt genocidal acts and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilians.

    South Africa, which initiated the case against Israel, has since accused the country of disregarding the court’s ruling. Israel has denied all allegations against it.

    As tensions continue to rise, the arrest of Saudi citizens for criticising Israel reflects the broader geopolitical complexities in the region.

    The outcome of US-led negotiations and the humanitarian situation in Gaza will likely have significant implications for the future of Saudi-Israeli relations and the stability of the Middle East.

  • 37 million tonnes of debris in Gaza could take years to clear: UN

    37 million tonnes of debris in Gaza could take years to clear: UN

    There are some 37 million tonnes of debris to clear away in Gaza once the Israeli offensive is over, a senior official with the UN Mine Action Service said Friday (Apr 26).

    And unexploded ordnance buried in the rubble would complicate that work, said UNMAS’ Pehr Lodhammar, who has run mine programmes in countries such as Iraq.

    It was impossible to say how much of the ammunition fired in Gaza remained live, said Lodhammar.

    “We know that typically there is a failure rate of at least 10% of land service ammunition,” he told journalists in Geneva.

    “What we do know is that we estimated 37 million tonnes of debris, which is approximately 300 kilos of debris per square metre,” he added.

    Starting from a hypothetical number of 100 trucks, that would take 14 years to clear away, he said.

    Lodhammar was speaking as UNMAS launched its 2023 annual report Friday.

    The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas erupted when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct 7.

    The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

    Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas, and its ensuing military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 34,356 people, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

  • Student demonstrations against Gaza genocide take world by storm

    Student demonstrations against Gaza genocide take world by storm

    Anti-Zionist students in the US have taken to their campuses to call out the blatant atrocities being committed by Israel in the besieged strip and the West Bank, and asking the universities to divest from investing in Israel.

    The demonstrations have now expanded beyond US borders.

    French police broke up a pro-Palestinian protest by dozens of university students in Paris, officials said Thursday, as Israel’s bombardment of Gaza sparks a wave of anger across college campuses in the United States.

    AFP reports that according to witnesses, the protesters were demanding that Sciences Po university “cut its ties with universities and companies that are complicit in the genocide in Gaza” and “end the repression of pro-Palestinian voices on campus”.

    Similarly, students in Sydney, Australia, have also set up a camp at Sydney University and carried out demonstrations.

    Background:

    The mass protests started from Columbia University on April 17 which then spread across colleges and universities in America.

    The US has been openly supporting and financing Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. And while many people have lost their jobs and students have been expelled due to their support for Gaza, the demonstrations on university campuses are getting bigger by the day.

    Top universities such as Yale, NYU, and Columbia are facing heightened tensions as pro-Palestinian demonstrators are being arrested amid escalating conflicts between the two sides of the genocides.

    Columbia granted students protesters an extension to disassemble their encampments twice, citing ongoing negotiations aimed at resolving the tense situation. All classes will be conducted virtually on Monday due to mounting tension.

    On Monday, 60 individuals at Yale, including 47 student protesters, were arrested for trespassing after blocking traffic around the campus. Additionally, several protesters were also arrested at NYU.

    Other American colleges and universities with Gaza encampments include Emerson College, MIT, Tufts, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Brown, Rice, and more.

    It is a big moment in the midst of a genocide, a point in time where we all must decide to stand on the right side of history.

  • A hundred pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at New York’s Columbia University

    A hundred pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at New York’s Columbia University

    Police arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian student protesters at New York’s Columbia University Thursday, a day after the president of the prestigious school was grilled in Congress over accusations of anti-Semitism on campus.

    “NYPD officers moved in to ensure the safety of the campus, the students and the staff made more than 108 arrests, and the NYPD ensured that there was no violence or injuries during the disturbance,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference.

    The arrests and dismantling of tents that had been erected Wednesday also attracted a crowd of other demonstrators in support, according to an AFP journalist.

    According to The New York Times, the daughter of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar was among those detained and she has been ordered to appear in court.

    The students were calling for the school, which has an exchange program with Tel Aviv University, to boycott all activities associated with Israel in light of the country’s war with Hamas and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

    University president Nemat Shafik requested police intervention to disperse the protesters, who she said had violated campus security regulations.

    Universities have become the focus of intense cultural debate in the United States since the October 7 attack and Israeli genocide in Gaza, as many students’ pro-Palestinian sentiments drew accusations of anti-Semitism.

    Congressional Republicans have taken up the issue, calling the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University to testify, and Harvard’s president Claudine Gay resigned shortly after.

    Shafik herself appeared in Congress Wednesday, where she said “anti-Semitism has no place on our campus.”

  • UN agency finds unexploded 1,000-pound bombs in Gaza schools

    UN agency finds unexploded 1,000-pound bombs in Gaza schools

    The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday it had found unexploded 1,000-pound bombs inside schools after Israel pulled troops out of southern Gaza’s main city Khan Yunis.

    The Israeli army has carried out relentless air strikes and bombardments in Gaza since October 7 attacks.

    UN agencies led an “assessment mission” in Khan Yunis after Israeli forces withdrew from the embattled city last week, UNRWA said.

    It found “significant challenges in operating safely due to the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), including 1,000-pound bombs inside schools and on roads”.

    “Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) require a range of lifesaving assistance, including health, water and sanitation, and food,” it said.

    Earlier this month, the United Nations said it would take “millions of dollars and many years to decontaminate the (Gaza) Strip from unexploded munitions”.

    “We work off the rule of thumb that 10 percent of ordnance doesn’t function as designed,” UN Mine Action Service chief Charles Birch said in a statement earlier this month.

    “We estimate that, to begin the clearance of Gaza, we need around $45 million.”

    Israeli genocide in Gaza since October 7 has killed at least 33,843 people in the besieged strip, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.

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    © Agence France-Presse

  • Five Palestinians sue Germany over weapons for Israel

    Five Palestinians sue Germany over weapons for Israel

    Five Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip have filed a legal complaint in Berlin against the German government over its delivery of weapons to Israel, an NGO representing them said Friday.

    The complaint seeks to “revoke the export licences issued by the German government for arms deliveries to Israel”, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said in a statement.

    A spokeswoman for the administrative court in Berlin confirmed it received the complaint late Thursday. The five plaintiffs live in different parts of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, the official added.

    The Palestinians are “challenging the authorisation already granted for the delivery of anti-tank weapons” and seeking to stop deliveries that have not yet been authorised, the spokeswoman said.

    The complaint is directed against the economy ministry, which now has two weeks to respond.

    The five Palestinians have all had family members killed in Israeli missile attacks since Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, according to the ECCHR.

    The plaintiffs say Berlin is failing to fulfil its obligations under international law, including the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.

    “Germany cannot remain true to its values if it exports weapons to a war in which serious violations of international humanitarian law are evident,” said Wolfgang Kaleck, general secretary of the ECCHR.

    Germany is the second biggest arms exporter to Israel after the US, accounting for 30 percent of imports between 2019 and 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

    Berlin is facing a case in the International Court of Justice in which Nicaragua says it is in breach of the UN Genocide Convention, set up after the Holocaust.

    On Tuesday, Berlin’s representatives insisted that Germany supplied arms only “on the basis of detailed scrutiny… that far exceeds the requirements of international law”.

    Israeli genocide in Gaza Strip has killed more than 33,000 people since October 7, according to the Gaza health ministry.

  • Israel on alert after Iranian threat as genocide in Gaza grinds on

    Palestinian Territories – Israel was on alert Thursday after Iran threatened reprisals over a strike in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals, and as genocide in Gaza continues.

    Days after Israel strengthened its air defences and paused leave for combat units, the United States also warned of the risk of an attack by Iran or its allied groups at a time Middle East tensions have soared.

    Iran is “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel,” US President Joe Biden said Wednesday, pledging “ironclad” support for its top regional ally despite diplomatic tensions over Israel’s military conduct in Gaza.

    Israel was widely blamed for an April 1 attack that destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.

    Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Wednesday that Israel “must be punished and will be punished”, days after one of his advisers said Israeli embassies are “no longer safe”.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz swiftly replied on social media site X that “if Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack Iran”.

    Biden said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that “our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad”.

    US Central Command chief Michael Kurilla was in Israel on Thursday to discuss the situation with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon said.

    “We warned Iran,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing without elaborating.

    During a visit to an airbase in central Israel, Netanyahu spoke of “challenging times” on multiple fronts.

    “We are in the middle of the war in Gaza which continues in full force… but we are also preparing for scenarios of challenges from other arenas,” he said in comments released by his office.

    Moscow called on both Iran and Israel to exercise restraint.

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged “maximum restraint”, and Lufthansa said it had extended a temporary suspension of Iran flights until Saturday.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he had received phone calls Thursday from Baerbock as well as her British and Australian counterparts.

    In a post on X, he said he had told them that “when the Zionist regime breaches the immunity of diplomatic persons and places” and the UN Security Council fails to condemn it, “legitimate defence… is a necessity”.

    Israel and the United States have long faced off against Iran and its so-called “Axis of Resistance” allies based in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

    ‘Panic among children’

    Regional tensions have been stoked following October 7 attack in Israel left.

    Israeli genocide in Gaza has killed at least 33,545 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

    Hamas said 20 people were killed in Israeli bombardments on Thursday. It said two schools and two mosques were among the buildings hit and an imam was among the dead.

    In the Nuseirat area, which took the brunt of the bombing, Imad Abu Shawish, 39, said “the situation is dire and still getting worse. Bombardment hasn’t stopped and is still happening now.”

    Much of Gaza has been reduced to a bomb-cratered wasteland, with yet more bodies feared under the rubble.

    An Israeli siege has deprived Gaza’s 2.4 million people of most food, water, fuel and medicines, the dire shortages only alleviated by sporadic aid deliveries.

    Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Wednesday “Hamas is defeated” militarily but pledged to keep fighting “what remains of it” in the years to come.

    An Israeli air strike on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’s Qatar-based leader Ismail Haniyeh.

    Haniyeh insisted their deaths would not influence Hamas’s position in ongoing talks in Cairo for a truce and hostage release deal.

    Those talks, which started Sunday, have brought no breakthrough on a plan presented by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Hamas said it was studying.

    The framework plan would halt fighting for six weeks and see the exchange of about 40 hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, as well as more aid deliveries.

    Biden said that “it’s now up to Hamas, they need to move on the proposal that’s been made”.

    Israel accused Hamas Thursday of “walking away” from what government spokesman David Mencer called “a very reasonable offer on the table”.

    Hamas official Bassem Naim said only a ceasefire could provide “enough time and safety” to locate Israeli hostages held across the territory and ascertain their fate because they are held by different groups.

    ‘Destabilising Middle East’

    Washington has ramped up pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a truce, increase aid flows and abandon plans to send troops into Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah where about 1.5 million civilians are sheltering.

    Rafah is the last Gazan city yet to face a ground incursion.

    Gallant promised Israel would “flood Gaza with aid”, using an Israeli crossing point, streamlined checks and two new routes organised with Jordan.

    He said they expected to reach 500 aid trucks a day, the pre-war average.

    However, a UN Security Council statement Thursday said “more should be done to bring the required relief given the scale of needs in Gaza”.

    Israel has faced a chorus of international criticism over its handling of the war.

    Spain is among several Western nations, including Ireland and Australia, to have suggested they would recognise a Palestinian state as a starting point for wider peace talks.

    Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned that Israel’s “disproportionate response” in Gaza risked “destabilising the Middle East and, as a consequence, the entire world”.

    burs-jd/srm/kir

    © Agence France-Presse