I can’t remain silent.
There is a particular kind of silence that isn’t peace. It’s the silence of people who know something is wrong but have calculated the cost of saying so and decided it’s too high. I know that silence. I’ve felt it. And I have decided I am no longer willing to make it.
What is happening in Gaza is not unfolding in secret. It is being documented in real time—by independent journalists who have paid for that documentation with their lives, by United Nations human rights experts, and by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. We are not waiting for history to render its verdict. The record is being written now, in front of us. It is a test of our humanity, our institutions, and our willingness to call things by their true name.
The question that remains is what kind of witnesses we will be.
This is my answer to that question. Not as a political statement. As a human one.
What Significance Does the Commitment to "Never Again" Hold?
A few days ago, we marked Holocaust Memorial Day, prompting reflection on the lessons derived from the agony and loss of 6 million Jews and an additional 11 million victims. The question arises: What significance does the commitment to “never again” hold?
As human beings, we must consider the profound suffering inflicted by the U.S.-backed Israel on millions of Palestinians, terrorized and stripped of their dignity as human beings, as well as the anguish and fear of Israeli families who have their loved ones hostage in the hands of Hamas and have been left behind by their own country, Israel. Which has consistently demonstrated a disregard for protecting the lives of Israelis since the start of the conflict using the “Hannibal Directive.“
For me, “never again” extends beyond a specific group; it signifies a universal pledge for all humanity. This universal commitment is exemplified by the existence of the Hague, where the International Court of Justice (ICJ) operates today. But we are facing a state that does not adhere to the law.
U.S.-backed Israel consistently breaches established law, flouting binding Security Council resolutions, disregarding international court decisions, and violating binding treaties.
I am horrified by the current actions of the U.S.-backed Israeli government, and it’s crucial to differentiate them from the Jewish population.
The government, characterized as an occupying apartheid force, has chosen a path of vindictiveness, misery, and a genocidal campaign against Palestinians following the Hamas attack on October 7th. Instead of adhering to international law and avoiding war crimes or potential genocide.
Despite claiming to protect their people, the invocation of the “Hannibal Directive,” which involves targeting their own citizens, and the unfolding events increasingly suggest that the goal of Israel has always been to expand the occupation, ethnically cleanse Gaza and the West Bank, and persecute the Palestinians to pursue its territorial conquest.
Before October 7th, 2023, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank had lived for 75 years under conditions that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have each documented in formal, named reports as a system of apartheid: movement restricted, land confiscated, water access controlled, and administrative detention without charge or trial.
Under international law, an occupying power does not hold the right to invoke self-defence against the population it occupies. This is not a fringe position. It reflects a foundational principle of occupation law, articulated by Professor Ralph Wilde of University College London and grounded in both the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions. Conversely, international law does recognize the right of an occupied people to resist.
This is not a statement about Hamas or its conduct, which also warrants accountability under international humanitarian law. It is something more precise: the legal and historical context in which October 7th occurred did not begin on October 7th. A narrative that erases 75 years is not journalism. It is selection.
What the Cameras That Remain Are Showing
In over 117 days of war, U.S.-backed Israel killed more than 100 journalists and their families by using AI and the technology of drones. Over 27.000 Gazans have been killed and 66.000 wounded by U.S.-backed Israel since the beginning of the bombing. UNICEF estimates that at least 19,000 Gazan children have been orphaned by the IDF. 2.3 million Palestinians are homeless with no access to water, food, or medications, and Israel is purposely starving them. They have no roof and no possibility to shower; they cannot protect themselves from the rain and the cold; over 8,000 people are missing; and outbreaks and hunger are spreading.
Bombardment, forced displacement, and a breakdown in healthcare: the onset of the conflict in Gaza has led to the displacement of nearly 1 million women and girls. In total, more than 690,000 menstruating women and adolescent girls in Gaza need menstrual hygiene products, along with access to clean water, sanitary facilities, and privacy.
Hospitals, the so-called safe zones, schools, and everyplace in Gaza are bombed by Israeli forces. Children, when they can get the medications, are treated or undergo amputation of limbs without anesthesia; women are having a C-section without any kind of safe support; and they are hungry, dehydrated, and unable to breastfeed. These millions of Palestinians are terrorized and stripped of their dignity as human beings.
On January 26, 2024, Something Happened at The Hague
South Africa filed its application against Israel under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in December 2023, arguing that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes genocidal conduct under international law. On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice issued its provisional measures ruling.
The Court did not declare a genocide. What it found—in the precise language of international law—is that “some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the Genocide Convention.“
On that basis, it issued binding orders requiring Israel to ensure, “with immediate effect,” that its military does not commit acts including killing members of the Palestinian group; cause serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part; and impose measures intended to prevent births within the group.
These are not diplomatic suggestions. Rulings of the International Court of Justice are binding under international law. Third-world states must now enact these orders—arms and diplomatic embargoes, triggering national jurisdictions—to prevent Israel’s genocide.
As Professor Francis Boyle, international law scholar and counsel to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority, assessed the ruling, “This is a massive, overwhelming legal victory for the Republic of South Africa against Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. The UN General Assembly can now suspend Israel’s participation in its activities, as it did for South Africa and Yugoslavia. It can admit Palestine as a full member. And, especially since the International Criminal Court has been a farce, it can establish a tribunal to prosecute the highest-level officials of theIsraeli government, both civilian and military.”
Jews who support “never again” called for universal justice and are condemning Israel. They are calling what Israel is doing in Gaza genocide, including Prof. Alexander Hinton, UNESCO Chair on Genocide Prevention at Rutgers University, for whom genocide is defined through three lenses: legal, social, scientific, and conventional; and Jewish scholars Profs. Segal, Bartov, and Schabas, who have all come out on record to call what is happening a genocide or very close to meeting even the legal definition (which is the most technical definition).
The day after that ruling, twelve Israeli cabinet ministers gathered in Jerusalem at a conference dedicated to the resettlement of Gaza by Israeli settlers. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a sitting member of the Israeli government, called for the departure of Gaza’s existing population and the simultaneous arrival of Israeli settlers into the territory. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was among those present.
This is not interpretation. It is documented testimony from named ministers at a named conference, the morning after a binding court order.
Genocidal acts, war crimes, and crimes against humanity have been perpetrated and persist, as I write, both in Gaza and the West Bank, by the U.S.-backed Israeli government and its soldiers. It remains crucial to differentiate them from the Jewish population in the world, which is championing the call for justice and peace. An impartial international investigation is essential to examine the actions of both Israel and Hamas, at the very least.
UNRWA, and What the Defunding Actually Means
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees—UNRWA—was established by the UN General Assembly and operates under a mandate renewed by that same body. It is the primary humanitarian infrastructure for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Its mandate is directly tied to the unresolved question of Palestinian refugees’ right of return under UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
One day after the ICJ provisional measures ruling, Israel announced allegations that a small number of UNRWA staff members had participated in the October 7th attacks. Within 48 hours, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, and several other governments suspended their funding to UNRWA.
The allegations had not been independently verified. The UN launched an immediate investigation. UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated that the agency had terminated the contracts of the identified staff. UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness, who served in that role for 14 years, described the campaign as coordinated: designed to discredit the agency following the ICJ ruling, to provide a counter-narrative to the court’s findings, and to reduce the evidentiary weight of UNRWA’s documentation before the court. Watch the video below.
Twenty international NGOs issued a joint statement on January 29th: “We are outraged that some donors have united to suspend funding for UNRWA, the main aid provider for millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the region. This comes amid a rapidly worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.“
As Professor Francis Boyle has argued, the defunding states are no longer merely complicit in violation of the Genocide Convention’s Article 3(e). They are, in his legal reading, now directly in breach of Article 2(c): “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.“
What the suspension means in physical terms: 2.3 million people, already displaced and already without reliable food, water, or medicine, lost access to the primary agency through which humanitarian aid was being delivered. In conditions a binding international court had already found plausibly genocidal, Western governments—led by the U.S. and including Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, Australia, Italy, Austria, Finland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden—removed the infrastructure of survival.
Canada’s suspension of UNRWA funding betrayed both its legal obligations under the Genocide Convention and its stated identity as a peacemaking, humanitarian nation. These obligations are not rhetorical. They are legal commitments Canada has voluntarily assumed.
The defunding of UNRWA is important because it shows intent. Not intent by Israel; we knew that already from South Africa’s ICJ case and the statements of Israeli leaders. But now we have intent by the U.S., UK, and others—intent to aid a genocide, with no plausible deniability.
Here is the interview with Chris Gunness, who was a UNRWA spokesman for 14 years until 2020, takes apart Israeli claims about a tiny proportion of staff that have been used to justify Western countries pulling the plug on funding—catastrophic collective punishment during a humanitarian disaster.
What Canada Owes
I am writing this as a Canadian. I say that because it matters where you stand when you speak.
Canada has conducted a Truth and Reconciliation process that named the treatment of Indigenous peoples as cultural genocide. Canada has signed and ratified the Genocide Convention. Canada has spoken consistently, in international forums, about the rules-based international order and the universality of human rights.
Those commitments are not decorations. They carry legal weight. They carry moral weight. They carry historical weight that Canada is now, in its actions on Gaza, actively contradicting.
Canada must immediately reverse its suspension of UNRWA funding. Canada must apply to the situation in Gaza the same standards — the same language of international law, the same demand for accountability, the same willingness to name what is documented — that it applied to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Canada must press, through every available diplomatic channel, for full compliance with the ICJ’s binding provisional measures.
These are not partisan positions. They are the legal obligations of a state that has voluntarily entered into the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter.
Gratitude to Norway, Scotland, Slovenia, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, and Luxembourg for their continued commitment to UNRWA funding. These governments chose accountability over alignment. That choice has a name in international law: compliance.
The Double Standard That Can No Longer Be Hidden
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in violation of the UN Charter, Canada’s response was immediate: diplomatic condemnation, sanctions, military support, and public solidarity. That response was correct. The invasion was illegal under the same instruments of international law that exist today.
The Geneva Conventions prohibit collective punishment. They prohibit the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals. They prohibit starvation as a method of warfare. The Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court, criminalizes the wilful killing of civilians, the destruction of civilian property without military necessity, and the use of prohibited methods of warfare.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, whose mandate covers the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, has written that “genocide is a dormant gene of settler-colonialism.” She has called for all states to comply with the ICJ’s provisional measures and for accountability under the Rome Statute.
The ICJ found those measures necessary. The question is whether the governments that built the rules-based international order intend to apply it consistently—to themselves and their allies—or only to their adversaries.
That question has been answered in the open now, in a way that cannot be unseen. And it matters beyond Gaza, beyond this moment, beyond any single conflict. Because a legal order that applies selectively is not law. It is policy. And policy shaped by power is exactly what the post-war international legal framework was designed to replace.
Israel’s settler colonialism in Palestine is fuelled by religious motivations and historical claims. Emerging from 19th-century European roots, the Zionist movement aimed to establish a Jewish homeland, viewing it as a fulfillment of religious promises. This narrative draws strength from biblical ties to the region, emphasizing a divine right to the land. The ideological fusion of nationalism and religious fervour justifies the settlement enterprise.
This approach intertwines political objectives with religious beliefs, contributing to the complex and contentious nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ideologies behind colonialism have evolved over time, and different colonial powers had varying justifications for their imperial pursuits.
Colonial powers used the differences in culture, ethnicity, and religion for the creation of “us vs. them” mentalities, fostering dehumanization, discrimination, and violence. They used the “terra nullius” defence, meaning “land belonging to no one,” to conquer regions inhabited by indigenous peoples who had different land-use systems that were not recognized or understood by the colonizers. This concept allowed colonial powers to disregard the presence and rights of indigenous populations, leading to the dispossession, displacement, and mistreatment of native communities. A cultural presumption that imperialist poet Kipling represented at one point in history as the moral burden of the white race, who are “divinely destined” to “civilize” the brutish, non-white inhabitants of the barbarous parts of the world. And that is the root of colonialism, the dehumanization operation, and the seed of genocide.
The chilling resonance of such atrocities should reverberate through history, serving as stark reminders of the human cost of conquest. But today the masks are lifted. Colonial powers find themselves at a critical moment for integrity in front of the genocide that Israel is committing in Gaza. But with the ruling of the CIJ, the international community, through the United Nations, must prevent and punish the crime of genocide that U.S.-backed Israel is committing.
On one side, there are nations with a history of aggression and genocide in denial of the events in Gaza, employing double standards, and engaging in political maneuvering. On the other side, there are nations that were victims of these aggressors, raising the alarm.
The ICJ’s decision will, at the very least, expose the hypocritical stance of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Europe, and France, who support Israel against genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice. These states struggle to distance themselves from a legacy of violent arrogance persisting through centuries, marked by wars that still resonate with historical atrocities.
The USA is responsible for nearly eradicating the Native American population and participating in numerous conflicts against the global south, including Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, and Gaza!
The United Kingdom is accountable for imperial transgressions globally, encompassing devastating famines in India, the violent suppression of the Mau Mau uprising, and the Amritsar Massacre. And Gaza!
Germany bears responsibility for the initial genocide of the 20th century in Namibia, as well as the Holocaust and Nazi atrocities. AndGaza!
France is responsible for the torture inflicted upon numerous African nations through colonialism, along with the bloodshed of 1.5 million Algerians who sacrificed their lives for Algeria’s independence. And Gaza!
Canada is responsible for the genocidal annihilation of the First Nations and Inuit, as well as cultural genocide through the forced assimilation of the natives that remained. While leading the truth and reconciliation processes, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s position on Gaza is like him walking on eggshells. Instead of stating its position as clearly as it is doing for Ukraine, he seems more committed to not annoying the powers who sustain him politically and the United States.
The European Union is incapable of having a shared foreign policy because the 27 states are divided over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which is in contrast with near unity when Ukraine accused Russia of violating the Genocide Convention. Contrast explained by the axis of imperialist alliances.
When these nations refer to “shared values,” we need to recognize that these are not principles of freedom and democracy but rather economic interests rooted in aggressive settler-colonialism. The Western formula has always been “International Law for thee, but not for me.”
The Genocide of Palestinians is Part of a Geopolitical Battle
What is happening here is clearly a battle in which a change in the global socio-political structure is at stake.
On the one hand, an imperialist system led by the United States has put public institutions in crisis by increasing the power of the lobbies of private multinationals that are out of control, which has facilitated the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, the thinning of the middle classes, and the general impoverishment of the world’s civil society, already characterized by abyssal and intolerable inequalities.
On the other hand, the US-led capitalist system is put in crisis by the new BRICS alliances (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), to which other ME states must be added.
The two wars, Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza, represent, at this historic moment, the leverage in the two conflicts that is strategically employed to manipulate the dynamics underpinning socioeconomic and political agreements.
The imperialist mindset of the Western world can only endorse the concept of a “rules-based international order” for preserving global peace and security when it is dictated by the US and its allies. It is now imperative to foster a multipolar world where every nation has equal rights and is held accountable under the rule of law.
The masks have been lifted. The conflicts are not driven by the rationales presented in propaganda but stem from a ruthless, ethically devoid colonial mindset. If the act of taking innocent lives, especially those of infants and children, is deemed a heinous crime, which it is, then it should be condemned as such in all conflicts, not just when it aligns with the political convenience of one world or the other.
Why Journalists Were Killed Showing the Genocide to Us?
“The Holocaust did not commence with the gas chambers; it began with hate speech. We must unite in our efforts to prevent and eradicate hate speech in all its manifestations.” UN Geneva Director-General @UN_Valovaya’s plea during the #HolocaustRemembranceDay commemoration. The assertion that the Holocaust was initiated by the propaganda machine is a valid observation. The influence of communication in moulding public opinion is now more forceful than in Goebbels’s era.
John Pilger spent decades asking what it means when governments and media agree on what you are allowed to see. His 2010 documentary The War You Don’t See examined the relationship between embedded journalism, military control of information, and the systematic exclusion of civilian experience from war coverage.
By the time this piece was written, more than 100 journalists had been killed in Gaza since the October 7th bombardment began—the highest rate of journalist deaths in any conflict in recent recorded history, documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The overwhelming majority were Palestinian. Most were not embedded. They were independent. They were the eyes of the civilians. And they were killed.
The distinction between embedded and independent journalism is not aesthetic. As one American journalist described in Pilger’s film, when you embed, “you are giving the military the full power to control where you go, how you get there, what you see and when you see it, and in a lot of instances, even how you are going to report that.”
Independent journalists in Gaza were not under that control. And so they were targeted.
An impartial international investigation must examine this pattern. Media outlets that have disseminated unverified claims, or that have failed to apply basic journalistic standards equally to all parties in this conflict, must be held to account for the consequences of that failure. Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has stated directly that “incitement and complicity in genocide are crimes“—and that the standard must apply to media as it applies to governments.
Here, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata recently accompanied the Israeli military into Gaza, explaining the difference between embedded journalism and independent journalism.
The alarming issue arises when reporting shows clear bias or neglects to fact-check influential sources with significant stakes and potential consequences. Investigating certain topics is often avoided, and instead, news outlets tend to merely echo press releases from the vested interests they cater to.
The main media is excluding information that doesn’t portray theUS, Israel, and their allies favourably and frequently exaggerating aspects that align with their political narrative. The outcome is a distorted version of the day’s events. We are observing western politicians manufacturing wars and embarrassing themselves with speeches that are trying to twist, coerce, and negate the fact that Israel is committing genocide.
Here is another interesting analysis that Peter Oborne, a British former chief and political commentator for The Daily Telegraph, gave to Owen Jones during an interview. Oborne talks him through the media’s complicity in the horrors of Gaza, Israel’s defiance of the ICJ ruling, and the outrageous role of our political establishment.
When Speaking Truth to Power Becomes an Act of Passion
There is a Latin word—”passio”—from which we derive the word “passion,” and it means suffering. “Com-passion” means suffering together. Not from a distance, not as an intellectual exercise, not as a political position. Together.
What the documentation from Gaza asks of each of us is not a political alignment. It is a moral reckoning with the question of whether we can allow another person’s suffering to remain a matter of indifference.
The institutions built after the worst atrocities of the twentieth century—the Genocide Convention, the International Court of Justice, and the UN human rights mechanisms—were built precisely for this kind of moment. Whether they hold depends not only on governments. It depends on whether enough people refuse to look away.
You are reading this because something in you has already refused.
That refusal is not nothing. The courage to hold a truth the official narrative wants you to release—to keep holding it, in the face of pressure, in the face of social cost, in the face of the accusation that you are taking a side when in fact you are applying a standard—that courage is what accountability depends on.
The path to a sustainable world begins when our personal healing aligns with the healing of humanity, acknowledging that, as human beings, we all share the common pursuit of hope, peace, and belonging to the human community in our diverse lives.
You are not too late. You are exactly on time.
Appendix
A Note on Voices.
This piece draws on the documented analysis and public statements of named scholars, jurists, journalists, and human rights experts. Among them: Professor Francis Boyle, international law scholar and counsel to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority; UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese; Professor Avi Shlaim, British-Israeli historian of Iraqi Jewish descent; Chris Gunness, former UNRWA spokesman; Mark Kersten, international criminal justice scholar at the University of the Fraser Valley; Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Besides perusing conventional newspapers and consuming mainstream media, seeking insights from independent journalists, activists, professors, international lawyers, and various alternative sources can provide valuable perspectives for comprehending current events.
Here are a few recommendations:
International Court of Justice (CIJ). Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in theGaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel).
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Oct7factcheck.com, Committed to thorough research and data collection to ensure an accurate representation of the events of Oct7 and its aftermath.
Great to see thorough investigation by @jdiamond1 at @CNNfinding that “Israeli commanders failed to prove their claim during a three-hour visit to the Bani Suheila cemetery and the surroundingarea.” Journalism like this is critical and should be applauded.
Confirmed TRUE: the IDF fired upon Israeli citizens during Oct 7. With a tank. During an active hostage negotiation.
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Independent Jewish Voices, A grassroots organization in Canada grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism & advocates for justice and peace for all in Palestine-Israel.
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Jewish Voice for Peace. Like generations of Jewish leftists before us, we fight for the liberation of all people.
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Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. It engages in global grassroots genocide prevention, promotion of just human security, and support for accountability. Genocide Prevention | Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention
“The safety and sanctity of refugee status in the region have been routinely violated by Israel – this is no longer an allegation but forms a critical part of the South African case before the ICJ. Taking action against UNRWA as a whole represents an intensification of anti-refugee acts, including the 58 refugee camps reliant on UNRWA funding, core responsibilities, and daily operation.”
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Chris Hedges, the former Middle East Bureau Chief for The New York Times, spent seven years covering the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Chris Hedges “The Genocide in Gaza”
Chris Hedges “The Death of Israel: How a Settler Colonial State Destroyed Itself”
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Dr. Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic), Associate Professor at Edinburgh, international law scholar, and leading expert on human shields in conflict and the intentional destruction of hospitals.
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John Pilger was an investigative journalist and critical analyst of international issues. His 2010 documentary film “The War You Don’t See” was written, produced, and directed by him.
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The Elders, Founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, are independent global leaders working together for peace, justice, human rights, and a sustainable planet.
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Avi Shlaim is a prominent Israeli Professor and British historian of Iraqi Jewish descent.
“Avi Shlaim calls for critical reflection” – The Economist
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Norman Gary Finkelstein is an American political scientist and activist. His primary fields of research are the politics of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Finkelstein was born to parents who are both Jewish Holocaust survivors in New York City in1953.
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Francis Anthony Boyle is an American human rights lawyer and professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He has served as counsel for Bosnia and Herzegovina and has supported the rights of Palestinians and indigenous peoples.
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Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. As Chomsky said, “education is not memorizing that Hitler killed 6 million Jews; it’s learning to spot the signs of history repeating itself.”
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Clayson Monyela is a South Africa’s Head of Public Diplomacy.
To be clear… the #ICJ has effectively ordered an immediate ceasefire & for #Israel to halt military operations. The order: “The state of Israel shall ensure WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT that its MILITARY does NOT commit any acts described in point 1. These are: a) Killing of members of the group (Palestinians) b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm. #Israel must submit a report next month on how they’re implementing these measures.
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UN News is the official United Nations News Service, a one-stop shop for all information related to the @UN and its agencies. Breaking news, features, and human stories.
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UN Human Rights Palestine, @OHCHR_Palestine, is internationally mandated to monitor and report publicly on human rights in theOPT and is the official UN voice on human rights in the OPT.“UN Human Rights Office calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately end the unlawful killing of Palestinians in the occupied#WestBank , which the office has increasingly documented after 7October, and to provide accountability for all unlawful use of force.”
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UN Special Procedures: The Special Procedures of @UN_HRC are human rights experts independent from any government or organization, serving in their individual capacity. “Gaza: UN experts condemn killing and silencing of journalists”
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Haaretz is Israel’s leading outlet.
“’You’re Dancing on Their Blood’: Israeli Hostage Families Outraged Over Resettlement Conference”
“In this ‘crazy zone’ in the West Bank, they shoot Americans too” by Gideon Levy
11,500 children have been killed in Gaza. Horror of this scale has no explanation | Opinion | Gideon Levy
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Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, The Canadian Foreign Policy Institute informs people about the country’s diplomatic, aid, intelligence and military policies abroad.
Canadian officials face threat of prosecution for complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The US labelled Nelson Mandela a terrorist. And Canada banned members of the ANC from entering the country without a visa until2012. Here. See the video here.
Amazing list of speakers yesterday demanded Defund Genocide, Not Aid to Genocide Angela Davis, Gabor Mate, Roger Waters & many others raised voices against & others governments cutting aid to UNRWA while ICJ finds it “plausible” Israel committing genocide. Here.
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Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
CANADA’S REDIRECTION OF GAZA AID FUNDING MAY VIOLATE ICJ ORDERS ON GENOCIDE
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Decensored News, History, mass media, geopolitics, science, tech, health, and human freedom. Examining power structures and #propaganda with a focus on primary source research.
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Accuracy.org, the Institute for Public Accuracy, is an independent media outreach organization broadening public discourse with well-documented analysis of current events.
“World Court Cited UNRWA Against Israel, Now, U.S. Is Targeting It.”
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Davide Mastracci, • Opinion Editor @mapleopinion, formerly knownas Passage •Aspiring Marxist •Words:Al Jazeera, Electronic Intifada, HuffPost Canada, Canadaland, etc.
Saturday morning newspaper headlines in Canada…
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Sulaiman Ahmed, investigative journalist, MA Philosophy, PGCEMathematics, LLB Law, Author.
WSJ HIT-PIECE AGAINST UNRWA WAS WRITTEN BY EX ISRAELI SOLDIER CARRIE KELLER- LYNN.
An interesting analysis was made by Sulaiman about the Hamas’s1988 charter, the updated 2017 charter, and the recent small book. Intheir charter, they envision a land where Jews, Muslims, Christians,and people of other faiths or no faith live in peace, harmony, andsafety. He compares this to the charter of Netanyahu’s Likudgovernment, which aims to have complete control over the entiretyof the land. (Here)
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Mark Kersten, Human Rights, International Criminal Justice,Canadian Law | Prof @goUFV | @WayamoFound | BCL/JD McGill |PhD, @LSEnews Author: Justice in Conflict (OUP 2016)
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Craig Mokhiber, Human rights lawyer, justice campaigner, global citizen.
All states have a duty under international law to act to stop genocide. Yemen did so by blocking shipping to the offending regime. The US is now bombing them for daring to interfere with the US-supported genocide in Gaza. There is your “rules-based order.”
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TheBreachMedia, Journalism to map a just, viable future.
If you read Canada’s major newspapers, Palestinians have never been massacred—only Israelis.
Canadians are filling the streets for a ceasefire in Gaza, but JustinTrudeau won’t budge. Why?
Read here how Canada’s major newspapers are failing to present the breadth of public opinion about Gaza.
Canada’s double standard on genocide is here.
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Max Blumenthal, editor.
As the “Hamas mass rape” narrative collapses, new evidence surfaces suggesting the Guardian’s @mck_beth not only plagiarized NBC’s similarly bogus report, she copied from the same document furnished to both outlets by the Israeli government. The Guardian needs to explain this.
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Owen Jones, Guardian columnist, author, and podcaster. YouTube channel.
“Israel’s Claims Torn Apart By Ex-UN Spokesperson: The Truth AboutUNRWA, w/ Chris Gunness” (here)
Peter Oborne knows the British media industry inside out and offers a devastating account of media complicity. (here)
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The Intercept, is an award-winning news organization dedicated to holding the powerful accountable through fearless, adversarial journalism.
NEW YORK TIMES PUTS “DAILY” EPISODE ON ICE AMID INTERNAL FIRESTORM OVER HAMAS SEXUAL VIOLENCE ARTICLE because of weak evidence. Sources at the Times say Gettleman has been assigned a follow-up to gather evidence supporting his original reporting.
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AJEnglish, for breaking news alerts, follow @AJENews.
“Canada is legally exposed unless there’s a major shift in our foreign policy towards Israel.”
“Israel’s war on Gaza has exposed the true nature and purpose of Western media.”
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The Arab News, The New Arab is a fast-growing English-language news and current affairs website bringing you the biggest stories from the Middle East and North Africa and beyond.
Israeli officials rely on Gaza health ministry death toll, contradicting public claims
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Democracy Now! Independent, daily global news hour.
In a landmark lawsuit filed by @theCCR, the Biden administration is standing trial in the United States for failure to prevent genocide in Gaza.
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Guardian news, independent journalism.
How war destroyed Gaza’s neighbourhoods – visual investigation.
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The CCR, “We fight against oppression. We stand with social justice activists and communities under threat. We use the power of the law to achieve justice for all.”
Defence for Children International – Palestine v. Biden
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Sam Husseini, independent journalist.
The Provisional State of Palestine could have invoked the Genocide Convention. Can now do many things, see my most recent piece.
South African minister Pandor @DIRCO_ZA: “we encourage States that are so inclined to approach the Court to intervene in the proceedings so as to send a strong message to the international community that the situation in the Gaza Strip is indefensible.”
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Rula Jebreal, Visiting Professor, The University of Miami. Author. Foreign Policy analyst.
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EuroMedHR, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. Defending Freedom Throughout Europe and the MENA Region.
Statistics on the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.
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Mehdi Hasan, Former host, @mehdihasanshow on @MSNBC & NBC’s @peacockTV. New York Times best-selling author.
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Dr Myriam François, Story hunter. Journalist, presenter, writer, and documentary filmmaker.
‘Israelism’: The promised land needs a new narrative’ (here)
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Caitlin Johnstone, 100% reader-funded writer. All works free to republish, bootleg, use or c/p. All works co-authored by Tim Foley.
An Egyptian woman at the Rafah crossing exposes western media hypocrisy on Palestine.
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Kenneth Roth, @KenRoth Former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022). Now visiting professor at Princeton SPIA.
Israel vs UNRWA:Deflection and deception
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Craig Murray, Historian, journalist, dissident, human rights activist, and former diplomat.
Quality and Propaganda – Craig Murray
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William l. Youmans, Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University.
“The current crisis in Gaza shows the extent to which legacy media in the United States continue to misinform the American public on foreign policy. Only one Palestinian national was a guest on any of the shows. By contrast, Israeli guests appeared a total of ten times on all four programs.” (here)
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Ralph Wilde, int.l law; human rights law; colonialism; self-determination; refugees; IHL; occupation; use of force; int.l orgs; UNlaw.
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Trita Parsi, is the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, as well as the founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council.
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Zachary Al-Khatib. Zachary’s practice also includes select civil matters including defamation, human rights and wrongful dismissal cases, and estates disputes (particularly issues involving Islamic wills and inheritance).
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Dimitri Lascaris, is a lawyer and journalist. Avocat et journaliste.
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Aaron Maté, Journalist with The Grayzone, where I host “Pushback.” Contributor to Real Clear Investigations. Temporary co-host of “Useful Idiots.” In 2019, won the Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media for Russiagate coverage in The Nation.
[unlocked] Biden sacrifices American troops, and Mideast security, for US-Israeli hegemony
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Mona Shtaya, a Palestinian digital rights defender, has pinned in her profile an interesting discussion which emphasizes the need to address the role of social media platforms in allowing genocidal incitement to spread and flourish, calling for increased efforts to protect people and prevent genocide.
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Prof. Faisal Kutty, (TheMuslimLawyer), Lawyer & Law Prof. | Speaker @TEDx | Words @TorontoStar @AJEnglish @MiddleEastEye @CBCNews
An analysis of social media videos found Israeli soldiers filming themselves in Gaza and destroying what appears to be civilian property. The footage provides a rare and unsanctioned window into the war. Here via NYT
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Tayab Ali, Partner at Bindmans LLP | Head of International Law | Crime, Fraud & Regulatory | Ranked in Chambers & Partners | Legal500 | Director at ICJP.
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Avi Lewis, Filmmaker, Climate Activist, Educator. Associate Prof @UBCGeog, Former NDP Candidate
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Alon Mizrahi is an Israeli author, blogger, and public speaker.
“Started talking about how terrible zionism is for jews, too”
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Azaiza Motaz, independent photojournalist. Portraits and people, @unrwausa Gaza content producer.
“Today, I sat down with @AJStream for a personal conversation about my experiences during the war.”
