Despite Gaza Massacre, Israel Remains Immune From Criticism

Patrick Cockburn

Thousands of protesters returned to the border last Friday, burning great heaps of tyres to produce a black smokescreen which they hoped would hide them from Israeli snipers. Gaza’s health ministry has said that five people were killed and 1,070 people were wounded on Friday, including 293 by live fire.

The demonstrators know what to expect. A video from the first day of the march shows a protester being shot in the back by an Israeli sniper as he walks away from the fence separating Gaza from Israel. In other footage, Palestinians are killed or wounded as they pray, walk empty-handed towards the border fence, or simply hold up a Palestinian flag. All who get within 300 yards are labelled “instigators” by the Israeli army, whose soldiers have orders to shoot them.

“Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed,” claimed a tweet from the Israeli military the day after the mass shooting on 30 March at the start of 45 days of what Palestinians call the “Great March of Return” to the homes they had in Israel 70 years ago. The tweet was deleted soon after, possibly because film had emerged of a protester being shot from behind.

The sheer scale of the casualties on the first day of the protest a week ago is striking, with as many as 16 killed and 1,415 injured, of whom 758 were hit by live fire according to Gaza health officials. These figures are contested by Israel, which says that the injured numbered only a few dozen. But Human Rights Watch spoke to doctors at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City who said that they had treated 294 injured demonstrators, mostly “with injuries to the lower limbs from live ammunition”.

Imagine for a moment that it was not the two million Palestinian in Gaza, who are mostly refugees from 1948, but the six million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan who had staged a march to return to the homes that they have lost in Syria since 2011. Suppose that, as they approach the Syrian border, they were fired on by the Syrian army and hundreds of them were killed or injured. Syria would certainly claim that the demonstrators were armed and dangerous, though this would be contradicted by the absence of casualties among the Syrian military.

The international outcry against the murderous Syrian regime in Washington, London, Paris and Berlin would have echoed around the world. Boris Johnson would have denounced Assad as a butcher and Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, would have held up pictures of the dead and dying before the Security Council.

Of course, Israel would furiously deny that there was any parallel between the two situations. Its government spokesman, David Keyes, rebuked CNN for even using the word “protest” when “what actually happened is that Hamas engineered an event where they wanted thousands of people to swarm into Israel, to crush Israel, to commit acts of terror. Indeed, we have captured on camera pictures of people shooting guns, people placing bombs, people shooting rockets.”

In the event, no pictures of these supposedly well-armed protesters ever emerged. But four days later, Human Rights Watch published a report entitled Israel: Gaza Killings Unlawful, Calculated. Officials Green-Light Shooting of Unarmed Demonstrators, which said that it “could find no evidence of any protester using firearms”. It added that footage published by the Israeli army showing two men shooting at Israeli troops turned out not to have been filmed at the protest.

Israeli ministers are unabashed by the discrediting of claims that the demonstrators pose a military threat to Israel. Defence minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israeli soldiers had “warded off Hamas military branch operatives capably and resolutely … They have my full backing.” The free-fire policy is continuing as before and, as a result, the Israeli human rights organisation, B’Tselem, has launched a campaign called “Sorry Commander I Cannot Shoot”, which encourages soldiers to refuse to shoot unarmed civilians on the grounds that this is illegal.

Why is the surge in Palestinian protests coming now and why is Israel responding so violently? There is nothing new in Palestinian demonstrations about the loss of their land and Israel’s aggressive military response. But there may be particular reasons that a confrontation is happening now, such as Palestinian anger at President Trump’s decision in December to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the move of the US embassy to there from Tel Aviv. This trumpeted Washington’s unconditional support for the Israeli position and the US disregard for the Palestinians and any remaining hopes they might have to win at least some concessions with US support.

Strong support from the Trump administration is reported by the Israeli press to be further reason why the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, feels that bad publicity over the shootings in Gaza will not damage Israel’s position in the US. In the past, controversy over the mass killings of Palestinian or Lebanese by Israel has sometimes provoked a negative US response that has curbed Israel’s use of force.

So far, Israel has faced little criticism from an international media uninterested in the Gaza story, or else is happy to go along with Israel’s interpretation of events. The vocabulary used by news outlets is often revealing: for instance, the BBC website on 31 March had a headline reading “Gaza-Israel border: Clashes ‘leave 16 Palestinians dead and hundreds injured”. The word “clashes” implies combat between two groups capable of fighting each other, though, as Human Rights Watch says, the demonstrators pose no threat to an all-powerful Israeli military machine – a point reinforced by the fact that all the dead and wounded are Palestinian.

Possibly, the Israelis are miscalculating the impact of excessive use of force on public opinion: in the age of wifi and the internet, graphic images of the victims of violence are immediately broadcast to the world, often with devastating effect. As in Syria and Iraq, the political price of besieging or blockading urban areas like Gaza or Eastern Ghouta is rising because it is impossible to prevent information about the sufferings of those trapped inside such an enclaves becoming public, though this may have no impact on the course of events.

Contrary to Keyes’ claims, the idea of a mass march against the fence seems to have first emerged in social media in Gaza and was only later adopted by Hamas. It is the only strategy likely to show results for the Palestinians because they have no military option, no powerful allies and their leadership is moribund and corrupt. But they do have numbers: a recent report to the Israeli Knesset saying that there are roughly 6.5 million Palestinian Arabs and an equal number of Jewish Israeli citizens in Israel and the West Bank, not counting those in East Jerusalem and Gaza. Israel has usually had more difficulty in dealing with non-violent civil rights type mass movements among Palestinians than it has had fighting armed insurgencies.

Keyes claims that the demonstrations are orchestrated by Hamas, but here again he is mistaken on an important point because witnesses on the spot say that the impetus for the protests is coming from non-party groups and individuals. They voice frustration with the failed, divided and self-seeking Palestinian leaders of both Hamas and Fatah. The most dangerous aspect of the situation in terms of its potential for violence may be that nobody is really in charge.

Era of Corporate Surveillance

Sridhar Yenamandra

George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty Four visualized a situation, where a citizen is under the constant surveillance by the State. It keeps a constant watch on the anti-state activities by its citizens. Any perceived or real situation seen to be going against the perceived interest of the state is immediately acted upon. Such conditions continue to prevail in the country with the State continually trying to find out ‘anti-national’ persons and ‘anti-national’ activities.

A situation that was perhaps not visualized was the surveillance by the corporate agencies. With the growth of the ‘market forces’ and continual ‘corporate’ search for potential consumers, a constant track of the citizens is being kept. The linkage of Aadhaar, Bank Account, and Mobile while is being shown as a means to improve efficiency in delivery of welfare services, it on the other hand is creating a means whereby every data related to the private activities of an individual is being made use of by corporate agencies to identify potential consumers and thereby develop marketing strategies.

The contemporary technological process undertaken in the name of digital connectivity is also a means of enhancing market connectivity. Subscribers to Apps, Social media platforms, Email users, online shopping sites also become forums where vital information on their personal interests such as choices for holidaying, spending patterns on clothing and purchase of consumer durables, recreational activities undertaken such as towards food films etc become data points for corporate agencies. Each information related to what we do, who we meet, where we go, when we spend, how we make choices are tracked. Data Science is emerging as a major discipline. The big data also happens to be the Data on the potential consumers, which is sought to be made use of by the corporate agencies.

Social media which emerged as a forum for social networking and sharing of personal information also happens to throw up data for usage by the commercial firms. A number of firms have emerged in the world which mine data available from internet and other sources, analyze the psychological patterns of the consumer and develop advertisements based on the same. Recently there was news that data of NaMo app of the Prime Minister was sold to a company in US. The data was related to email Ids, photos, gender and names of the users. Similarly the news of facebook data being used for commercial purposes is known.

In this data driven forms of strengthening the market, personal lives of humans become data points. The data on individual lives available with apps and social media sites becomes a commercial commodity for sale to Data analysis firms. For the Data analysis firms, this becomes a raw material, which is to be further processed, converted into commodities and handed over to industrial and commercial firms for ready usage. In the whole process, our own personal lives and information related to the same become commodities. On the other hand, this information is further used to push us towards purchase of more commodities and become loyal consumers to corporate companies.

While Orwell was able to rightly predict the dangers of state surveillance, what was missed out was the corporate surveillance. While state surveillance pushes us to become obedient citizens without questioning the ‘state hegemony’, on the other hand ‘corporate surveillance’ pushes us to become a mere ‘consumer’ ever ready to accept the unnecessary products that gets dumped on.

The digital revolution is not a problem by itself but the commercial and market connection attached to it. However, this could also be a means for social transformation. The same data can be used by forces of social change to bring about radical transformation.

Pakistan: 11 Coal Miners Killed In Deadly Accidents

Ali Mohsin

A series of deadly accidents has claimed the lives of 11 coal miners in Pakistan since late March. The tragic deaths of the miners once again demonstrates the dismal state of worker safety in the country. The accidents also highlight the deeply exploitative character of the mining industry, which after years of privatization is now dominated by private corporations.

The most recent accident occurred on the night of April 4, when 6 workers were suffocated by poisonous gas at a coal mine in the Sikandarabad area of Kalat in Balochistan, Pakistan’s poorest province. According to reports, the miners were digging deep inside the mine where a lethal amount of methane gas had accumulated, causing them to lose consciousness. Workers outside the mine tried desperately to rescue their friends and colleagues, but to no avail. They had all perished by the time rescue teams arrived. The mine was operating illegally, without the requisite government license, according to the Mines and Minerals Development Department of Balochistan’s provincial government.

A few days earlier, on April 1, 4 coal miners were killed at Ali Mines in the Jhelum district of Punjab. They were among 6 workers trapped under debris when an explosion caused a roof to collapse. Those killed included, Rehmatullah, Sabir Rehman and pair of brothers, Naseebzadah and Naseebullah, all of whom hailed from the Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation, another coal miner, Faiz Ullah, was killed in an accident at the Sharigh Coal Mine in Balochistan on March 27.

Poverty-stricken Pakistan has a long history of industrial accidents, which have claimed the lives of countless workers across various industries. According to sources familiar with Pakistan’s coal industry, at least 275 coal miners have been killed in accidents since January 2010. While mining is a dangerous job anywhere, it is especially perilous in Pakistan, where working conditions are deplorable and miners are made to follow outdated procedures. In addition to the threat of lethal accidents, miners are also exposed to toxic chemicals and dust that take a toll on their health. They are forced to endure these conditions while earning a pittance.

The country’s coal mining industry is unregulated. It is also plagued by the illegal ownership and operation of mines, lack of implementation of existing safety and health laws and a severely overburdened mining inspectorate. Mine owners routinely flout the existing regulations, fully cognizant of the fact they won’t suffer any consequences.

Pakistan’s coal miners are also insufficiently organized, with many lacking union representation. The existing unions, meanwhile, tend to limit their activities to appeals directed at the country’s crooked politicians and various domestic and international NGOs.

Last month, IndustriALL Global Union, an international federation of unions, launched a campaign to improve worker safety in Pakistan’s mines. The campaign was launched in partnership with its 10 Pakistani affiliates. IndustriALL has called on the government of Pakistan to immediately ratify the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 176 on safety and health in mines. First adopted in 1995, ILO Convention 176 establishes a framework for countries to create safer mining conditions and provides miners with increased rights. Most significantly, it recognizes the right of workers to participate in workplace safety through independent representation and acknowledges the right of workers to refuse to perform dangerous tasks. While the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 176 would significantly improve worker safety in mines, only 32 countries have ratified it over the past 23 years.

If history is any guide, the call by IndustriALL to ratify ILO Convention 176 will fall on deaf ears. Successive governments in Pakistan have proven that the country’s elite is utterly impervious to the plight of the working class. Indeed, the response of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the opposition parties to the recent accidents has been one and the same—silence.

The exploitative mine and factory owners will continue to take advantage of this state of affairs until workers unite across industries to fight for safe and humane working conditions.

Saudi Arabia And Israel: The New ‘Friends With Benefits’

Priyale Chandra

International politics often seems like a subplot straight out of Game of Thrones, with its numerous alliances, strategic agreements and rhetoric of (and sometimes, actual) war. The latest development in this ever-changing game of alliances is the Saudi crown prince’s recent remarks on Israel.

In a recent interview on his tour of the United States, Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that he recognised the right of Israelis to’ their own land’. The statement is significant because it marks a public announcement of Saudi Arabia’s growing closeness with Israel- a nation it still does not officially recognise.

“I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations”- Prince Salman

Reasons for the new-found closeness

Backchannel talks have existed between Saudi Arabia and Israel for a long time. However, the two countries have found a reason to become firm allies- Iran. Both countries regard Iran as a threat and had earlier criticised the Obama administration nuclear deal with Iran.

Iran’s new found emergence and bid for hegemony in the Middle East has raised concerns in both Saudi Arabia and Israel. This has brought the two countries closer. This new found closeness is reflected in the countries’ united stance on Qatar’s diplomatic and economic blockade last year.

The complicated game for supremacy in the Middle East has pitted Saudi Arabia and Iran against each other for years. Israel has been their common foe. But Iran’s growing dominance in Syria, Lebanon as well as Iraq, has resulted in a rapprochement between Saudi and Israel. The recent statements can serve as a veiled threat to Iran about the possibility of both nations uniting against it.

There is also a demand for Israeli technology, both in defence as well as water desalination, that have influenced relations with its neighbours. Israel has few allies in the region, but its dominance in technology ensures that backdoor relations are always there.

A possibility exists that both Israel and Saudi Arabia might try to collectively influence the Trump administration to adopt a more hardliner approach to Iran. Trump, who has already been extremely critical of the Iran nuclear deal, may be seen by both countries as an easy person to influence in their favour on the issue of Iran.

Foreign investment- another factor?

The place and timing of Prince Salman’s remarks is also important. To revitalize his country’s economy by reducing its dependence on oil exports, Prince Salman has actively been courting foreign investors. It is believed that the decision to allow women to drive was also based, to an extent, on rehabilitating Saudi Arabia’s image to attract more economic investment.

Now in the US for a visit, Prince Salman’s statements could have multiple audiences. Apart from aiming to dominate Iran, the statement acknowledging an Israeli state seeks to attract investors. By conceding the implicit existence of Israel, Prince Salman also wants to gain more economic investment from USA, which has been a firm ally of both countries.

A divided policy?

However, it does not seem likely that the ties between Saudi and Israel will have more overt displays. King Salman reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for a Palestinian state in a phone call to President Trump. No mention was made of his son’s statements on Israel.

This could point to a divide concerning Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy. Prince Salman has adapted a newer, more aggressive role for his country ever since he entered political life. His actions are aimed at his support base, which consists mostly of youngsters. But they have put him at odds with the old guard still in power. Acknowledging Israel could be the latest move that puts a barrier between the new and older generation of the Saudi political elite.

In any case, the statements supporting a Jewish state are unlikely to result in any actual political move endorsing the same. The only thing that will be worth watching out for is whether the newfound ‘friendship’ between Saudi Arabia and Israel will solidify into a permanent alliance against Iran.

Degeneracy And Fundamentalism Of Western Media Control

Andre Vltchek 

There is nothing sadder and more pathetic, than a notorious liar shouting, spitting saliva, insulting normal people left and right, while terrorizing those who are telling the truth.

Lately, the West has gone clearly berserk. The more it is scared of losing control over the brains of billions of people in all corners of the world, the more aggressively it is screaming, kicking and making a fool of itself.

It doesn’t even hide its intentions, anymore. The intentions are clear: to destroy all of its opponents, be they in Russia, China, Iran or in any other patriotic and independent-minded state. To silence all the media outlets that are speaking the truth; not the truth as it is defined in London, Washington, Paris or Berlin, but the truth as it is perceived in Moscow, Beijing, Caracas or Teheran; the truth that simply serves the people, not the fake, pseudo-truth fabricated in order to uphold the supremacy of the Western Empire.

Huge funds are now being allocated for the mortal propaganda onslaught, originating predominantly in both London and Washington. Millions of pounds and dollars have been allocated and spent, officially and openly, in order to ‘counter’ the voices of Russian, Chinese, Arab, Iranian and Latin American people; voices that are finally reaching ‘the Others’ -the desolate inhabitants of the ‘global south’, the dwellers of the colonies and neo-colonies; the modern-day slaves living in the ‘client’ states.

The mask is falling down and the gangrenous face of Western propaganda is being exposed. It is awful, frightening, but at least it is what it is, for everyone to see. No more suspense, no surprises. It is all suddenly out in the open. It is frightening but honest. This is our world. This is how low our humanity has sunk. This is the so-called world order, or more precisely, neo-colonialism.

*

The West knows how to slaughter millions, and it knows how to manipulate masses. Its propaganda has always been tough (and repeated a thousand times, not unlike corporate advertisements or the WWII fascist indoctrination campaigns) when it originates in the United States, or brilliantly Machiavellian and lethally effective when coming from the United Kingdom. Let us never forget: the U.K. has been murdering and enslaving hundreds of millions of innocent and much more advanced human beings, for many long centuries and all over the world. Due to its talent in brainwashing and manipulating the masses, Great Britain has been getting away with countless genocides, robberies and even managing to convince the world that it should be respected and allowed to retain both a moral mandate and the seat at the U.N. Security Council.

The Western regime knows how to lie, shamelessly but professionally, and above all, perpetually. There are thousands of lies piling up on top of each other, delivered with perfect upper-class ‘educated’ accents: lies about Salisbury, about Communism, Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, Syria, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, South Africa, Libya, refugees. There are lies about the past, present and even about the future.

Nobody is laughing, seeing such imperialist thugs like the U.K. and France preaching, all over the world andwith straight face, about both freedom and human rights. Not laughing, yet. But many are slowly getting outraged.

People in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America are beginning to realize that they have been fooled, cheated, lied to; that the so called ‘education’ and ‘information’ coming from the West have been nothing else other than shameless indoctrination campaigns. For years I worked on all continents, compiling stories and testimonies about the crimes of imperialism, and about the awakening of the world, ‘summarized’ in my 840-page book: “Exposing Lies Of The Empire”.

Millions can now see, for the first time, that media outlets such as BBC, DW, CNN, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, have been encoding them mercilessly and thoroughly, for years and decades. Reuters, AP, AFP and several other Western press agencies, have managed to create a uniformed narrative for the entire planet, with local newspapers everywhere in the world now publishing identical fabrications that originate from Washington, London, Paris and other Western capitals. Totally false pictures about such important subjects as the Soviet Union, Communism, China, but also freedom and democracy, have been engraved into billions of human brains.

The main reason for the opening of the eyes of people of the world which is still oppressed by Western imperialism, is, the relentless work of media outlets such as the Russian-based New Eastern Outlook (NEO), RT and Sputnik, as China-based CGTN, China Radio International and China Daily, Venezuela-based TeleSur, Lebanese Al-Mayadeen, and Iranian Press TV. Of course, there are many other proud and determined anti-imperialist media outlets in various parts of the world, but the above-mentioned ones are the most important vehicles of the counter-propaganda coming from the countries that fought for their freedom and simply refused to be conquered, colonized, prostituted and brainwashed by the West.

One mighty anti-imperialist coalition of truly independent states has been forming and solidifying. It is now inspiring billions of oppressed human beings everywhere on Earth, giving them hope, promising a better, optimistic and just future. Standing at the vanguard of many positive changes and expectations is the ‘new media’.

And the West is watching, horrified, desperate and increasingly vitriolic. It is willing to destroy, to kill and to crush, just in order to stop this wave of ‘dangerous optimism’ and strive for true independence and freedom.

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There are now constant attacks against the new media of the free world. In the West, RT is being threatened with expulsion, brilliant and increasingly popular New Eastern Outlook (NEO) came just recently under vicious cyber-attack from, most likely, professional Western hackers. TeleSur is periodically crippled by sanctions shamefully unleashed against Venezuela, and the same banditry is targeting Iranian Press TV.

You see, the West may be responsible for billions of ruined lives everywhere in the world, but it is still faces no sanctions, no punitive actions. While countries like Russia, Iran, China, Cuba, DPRK or Venezuela have to ‘face consequences’ mainly in the form of embargos, sanctions, propaganda, direct intimidation, even military bullying, simply for refusing to accept the insane Western global dictatorship, and for choosing their own form of the government and political as well as economic system.

The West simply doesn’t seem to be able to tolerate dissent. It requires full and unconditional obedience, an absolute submission. It acts as both religious fundamentalist and a global thug. And to make things worse, its citizens appear to be so programmed or so indifferent or both, that they are not capable of comprehending what their countries and their ‘culture’ are doing to the rest of the world.

*

When being interviewed, I am often asked: “is the world facing real danger of WWIII?”

I always reply “yes”. It is because it appears that both North America and Europe are unable to stop forcing the world into obedience and to virtual slavery. They appear to be unwilling to accept any rational and democratic arrangement on our Planet. Would they sacrifice one, tens or hundreds of millions of human beings, just in order to retain control over the universe? Definitely they would! They already have, on several occasions, without thinking twice, with no regret and no mercy.

The gamble of the Western fundamentalists is that the rest of the world is so much more decent and much less brutal, that it could not stomach yet another war, another carnage, another bloodbath; that it rather surrenders, rather gives up all its dreams for a much better future, instead offightingand defending itself against what increasingly appears to be an inevitable Western military attack.

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Such calculations and ‘hopes’ of the Western fanatics are false. Countries that are now being confronted and intimidated are well aware what to expect if they give up and surrender to Western insanity and imperialist designs.

People know, they remember what it is like to be enslaved.

Russia under Yeltsin, collapsed, being plundered by Western corporations, being spat at, in the face, by the European and North American governments; its life expectancy dropped to sub-Saharan African levels.

China survived unimaginable agony of “humiliation period’, being ransacked, plundered and divided by French, British and the U.S. invaders.

Iran robbed of its legitimate and socialist government, having to live under a sadistic maniac, the Western puppet, the Shah.

The entire ‘Latin’ America, with its open veins, with ruined culture, with Western religion forced down its throat; with literally all democratically-elected socialist and Communist governments and leaders either overthrown, or directly murdered, or at least manipulated out of power by Washington and its lackeys.

North Korea, survivorof a beastly genocide against its civilians, committed by the U.S. and its allies in the so-called Korean War.

Vietnam and Laos, raped and humiliated by the French, and then bombed to the stone ages by the U.S. and its allies.

South Africa… East Timor… Cambodia…

There are living carcasses, decomposing horrid wrecks, left after the Western deadly ‘liberating’ embraces: Libya and Iraq, Afghanistan and Honduras, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to name just a few. These are serving as warnings to those who still have some illusions left about the Western ‘good will’ and spirit of justice!

Syria… Oh Syria! Just look what the West has done to a proud and beautiful country which refused to fall on its knees and lick Washington’s and London’s feet. But also, look how strong, how determined those who truly love their countrycan be. Against all odds, Syria stood up, it fought foreign-backed terrorists, and it won, surrounded and supported by the great internationalist coalition! The West thought it was triggering yet another Libyan scenario, but instead, it encountered an iron fist, nerves of steel, another Stalingrad. Fascism was identified, confronted and stopped. At an enormous cost, but stopped!

The entire Middle East is watching.

The entire world is watching.

People now see and they remember. They are beginning to remember clearly what happened to them. They are starting to understand. They are emboldened. They clearly comprehend that slavery is not the only way to live their lives.

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The Anti-Western or more precisely, anti-imperialist coalition is now solid likesteel. Because it is one great coalition of victims, of people who know what rapeis and what plunder is, and what thorough destructionis. They know precisely what is administered by the self-proclaimed champions of freedom and democracy – by the Western cultural and economic fundamentalism.

This coalition of independent and proud nations is here to protect itself, to protect each other, as well as the rest of the world.

It will never surrender, never back up. Because the people have spoken and they are sending clear messages to their leaders: “Never again! Do not capitulate. Do not yield to the Western intimidations. We will fight if attacked. And we will stand, proudly, on our own feet, no matter what, no matter what brutal force we have to face. Never on our knees, comrades! We will never again fall to our knees in front of those who are spreading terror!”

And the media in these wonderful countries that are resisting Western imperialism and terror is spreading countless optimistic and brave messages.

And the Western establishing is watching and shaking and soiling its pants.

It knows the end of its brutal rule over the world is approaching. It knows those days of impunity are ending. It knows the world will soon judge the West, for the centuries of crimes it has been committing against humanity.

It knows that the media war will be won by ‘us’, not by ‘them’.

The battlefield is being defined. With some bright exceptions, the Westerners and their media outlets are closing ranks, sticking to their masters. Like several other writers, I had been unceremoniously kicked out from Counterpunch, one ofthe increasingly anti-Communist, anti-Russian, anti-Syrian and anti-Chinese U.S.-based publications. From their point of view, I was writing for several ‘wrong’ publications. I am actually proud that they stopped publishing me. I am fine where I am: facing them, as I am facing other mass-circulation media outlets of the West.

The extent of Western ideological control of the world is degenerate, truly perverse. Its media and ‘educational’ outlets are fully at the service of the regime.

But the world is waking up and confronting this deadly cultural and political fundamentalism.

A great ideological battle is on. These are exciting, bright times. Nothing could be worse than slavery. Chains are being broken. From now on, there will be no impunity for those who have been torturing the world for centuries.

Their lies, as well as their armor, will be confronted and stopped!

ICC Warns Israeli Leaders Over Gaza Killings

Ali Abunimah

The International Criminal Court has issued an unprecedented warning that Israeli leaders may face trial for the killings of unarmed Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip.

“Since 30 March 2018, at least 27 Palestinians have been reportedly killed by the Israeli Defence Forces, with over a thousand more injured, many, as a result of shootings using live ammunition and rubber bullets,” Fatou Bensouda, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, stated on Sunday.

“Violence against civilians – in a situation such as the one prevailing in Gaza – could constitute crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as could the use of civilian presence for the purpose of shielding military activities,” Bensouda said.

Statement of #ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda regarding the worsening situation in Gaza: " The resort to violence must stop" https://t.co/npthwrsQrf

— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) April 8, 2018

“Any person who incites or engages in acts of violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing in any other manner to the commission of crimes within ICC’s jurisdiction is liable to prosecution before the court,” Bensouda added.

Bensouda’s reference to using civilians for “shielding military activities” appears to be a nod to Israel’s claims that the Great March of Return mass rallies organized by Palestinians over the last two Fridays along Gaza’s boundary with Israel are a Hamas ploy to shield “terrorist” activities.

However, as an investigation by Human Rights Watch determined, and observations by journalists have confirmed, there have been no such “military activities” by Palestinians taking part in the demonstrations.

The festival-like rallies have brought out tens of thousands demanding an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the right of return for refugees.

Over the course of several hours at the #Gaza border today and Thurs, I haven't seen any protesters with guns or Molotov cocktails.

I've seen a tiny handful – single digits among thousands of young men – with axes, knives or heavy shears for cutting the fence.

— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) April 6, 2018

No Israelis have been reported injured as a result of the Palestinian protests in Gaza.

But what is not in doubt is that Israeli leaders have ordered the targeting of unarmed civilian protesters in what Human Rights Watch termed “calculated” killings of people who posed no threat whatsoever.

HRW’s @OmarSShakir: “The Israeli forces treated the buffer zone as the “free-fire zone” #GazaReturnMarch https://t.co/FSkMibDsEp pic.twitter.com/rsLGSGvEp5

— Carbonated.TV (@CarbonatedTV) April 7, 2018

Three of those slain have been children.

Our investigation confirms Israeli forces killed 13-year-old Hussein Mohammad Adnan Madi in Gaza yesterday around 4 pm local time. He sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen & was later pronounced dead at Shifa hospital. #GazaReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/TJfsnVqvU3

— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) April 7, 2018

Yesterday, Israeli forces shot & killed 15-year-old Aladdin Yahia Ismail Zamili in Gaza around 6 pm local time. He sustained a gunshot wound to the neck and was later pronounced dead at Youssef Al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. #GazaReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/xJb918JeMa

— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) April 7, 2018

Israeli forces shot dead Ibrahim Abu Sha'er on March 30. @DCIPalestine investigations confirmed he was 17 years old when he was killed, not 22 years as reported by news media. Under international law, any person below 18 years is considered a child. #GazaReturnMarch pic.twitter.com/G9j6kILNQk

— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) April 6, 2018

In advance of this Friday’s demonstrations, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem had warned soldiers that they would be committing crimes if they obeyed “patently illegal” orders to shoot unarmed civilians.

Yesterday, yet again, the Israeli military used lethal force with no justification in Gaza. Shooting live ammunition at unarmed protesters who pose no threat is immoral, and a command ordering it is manifestly illegal. Israeli policy makers must change these orders immediately.

— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) April 7, 2018

We reiterate our appeal to Israeli soldiers to refuse to abide by patently unlawful orders to use lethal force against unarmed protesters in Gaza. The dangerous assertions made by Minister Lieberman, implying Gazan protestors are legitimate target, evince disdain for basic morals https://t.co/F9ZlxcdP6S

— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) April 8, 2018

Israeli snipers stationed along the boundary with Gaza killed nine Palestinians on Friday.

Breaking ranks with the European Union, which is still refusing to condemn Israel’s actions, France on Saturday condemned Israel’s “indiscriminate fire” against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Territoires palestiniens – bande de Gaza
9 morts et plusieurs centaines de blessés causés par la répression des manifestations. La France réprouve à nouveau les tirs indiscriminés de l’armée israélienne. La lumière doit être faite sur ces graves événements.https://t.co/xaax1Y9N5o

— France Diplomatie (@francediplo) April 7, 2018

But despite such warnings, Israeli leaders have refused to change their live-fire orders, and have repeatedly commended their soldiers for the bloodshed.

"I think the division and the forces of the Southern Command fulfilled their mission in an impressive way." – Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Commanding Officer of the Southern Command pic.twitter.com/vIZMffPybY

— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) April 6, 2018

Re: killing of 31 Palestinians & wounding of more than 1,000 from live fire in Gaza #GreatReturnMarch: Israeli army (women) scouts say they have "followed every 'terrorist' for 5 hours before deciding to shoot him"https://t.co/8BHAYUZf8q

— Asaf Ronel (@AsafRonel) April 7, 2018

On Sunday, defense minister Avigdor Lieberman declared in effect that all two million of Gaza’s residents are legitimate targets, telling Israeli media that “in the march of terror there were no innocent civilians, they were all Hamas members.”

According to The Times of Israel, Lieberman “later clarified that his use of the Hebrew word tamim was intended to mean not ‘innocent,’ but ‘naive.’”

His walking back the comment is not surprising since such statements can be used as evidence of intent in any international criminal trial.

Lieberman had been slamming calls to investigate the killing of journalist Yaser Murtaja who was fatally shot while wearning a vest clearly marked with the word “Press” on Friday.

“We have seen dozens of cases of Hamas activists [who] were disguised as medics and journalists,” Lieberman claimed.

“We also saw a journalist approach the border and operate a drone, we do not take chances in those cases,” he added, an assertion which the Israel military has found no evidence to support.

Oh & @IDFSpokesperson has a new reason why a sniper killed journalist Yaser Murtaja: he was activating a drone.
BTW, not that it should be a capital offence, but all eye witnesses of the moment he was shot say he wasn't activating any dronehttps://t.co/ekVFnS7NtI

— Asaf Ronel (@AsafRonel) April 8, 2018

Israeli Forces Continue to Target Journalists Despite “PRESS”-Marked Vests#Gaza#GreatMarchOfReturn https://t.co/HEK9fgzmdJ pic.twitter.com/WIJIw4fsNM

— Al Mezan Center (@AlMezanCenter) April 9, 2018

Head of Reporters Without Borders says death of Gaza journalist shot by Israel was “deliberate” https://t.co/meyatCovXw

— Joe (@joedyke) April 7, 2018

At the rallies the week before Murtaja’s slaying, Israeli forces injured 10 journalists, including several with live ammunition, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Despite Lieberman’s objections, the Israeli army on Sunday named one of its own generals to investigate its actions that have led to the killings of Palestinians in Gaza, including of Murtaja.

But such military self-investigations have historically been nothing more than whitewashes that have served to bolster Israeli impunity and deter investigation by the ICC.

This is why the ICC prosecutor’s statement carries particular significance, since the international court is only mandated to step in when national judicial authorities are unwilling or unable to carry out genuine proceedings.

In her statement Sunday, Bensouda noted “the situation in Palestine is under preliminary examination by my office.” That is the procedure by which the prosecutor decides whether to open a formal investigation that could lead to indictments.

But the open-ended preliminary examination has been going on for years with Bensouda appearing to drag her feet.

In a case related to Israel’s 2010 attack on a flotilla to Gaza, Bensouda has acknowledged that Israeli forces likely committed war crimes in international waters, but she has nonetheless declined to open a formal investigation.

The lawyers for the families of those killed when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara have accused Bensouda’s office of going “out of its way to sidestep having to launch any real investigation at the international level, knowing full well that the national [Israeli] authorities are not investigating these crimes.”

Since its founding, the ICC has lost much credibility because of its exclusive focus on prosecuting Africans, despite the fact that the 1998 Rome Statute mandates the court to “put an end to impunity” for the gravest crimes no matter where they are committed.

Palestinians are planning more mass rallies in Gaza in the weeks leading up to Nakba Day – the 15 May annual commemoration of the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

It remains to be seen if Bensouda’s warning will deter Israeli leaders from further slaughter and if the court will finally move to end the impunity Israel has enjoyed for decades.

Swiss Mining Corporations in Flagrant Violation of Human Rights – Swiss Government Complicit

Peter Koenig

Peru, Espinar (Cusco Province), 4 April 2018 – Violent attacks have been carried out by the copper mining giant Glencore’s security forces and Glencore-contracted national police on defenseless women and even children, on the poorest of the poor segment of Peru’s population. Glencore, is a Swiss registered Anglo-Swiss mining corporation, exploiting mineral resources in developing countries around the globe, where they pay almost no taxes, as their profit center is in Switzerland, in Baar, Canton Zug, one of the Cantons, that has the lowest tax rates in Switzerland.

In addition, none of the socioenvironmental standards, to protect the environment and the local communities, are generally applied in developing countries. In the specific case of Peru, local laws are totally ignored. In fact, never mind Peruvian laws, they are like non-existent for the corporate world; they are simply bought. Never mind Glencore’s own “Due Diligence” rules, they are not respected in a country so corrupt, where laws, judges, lawyers, police, politicians – and even medical facilities are bought.

Above Espinar, on about 4,000 to 4,200 m elevation, Glencore operates open pit copper mining complexes, Tintaya and Antapaccay (“Antapaccay” was a Peruvian mining company bought by Glencore in 2013). The mine is also yielding gold (copper and gold usually go together), at the tune of some 221,000 tons of copper and 115,000 Troy ounces of gold per year (Troy ounce = 31.1 grams). Both figures are for 2016. To do so, Glencore moves some 80,000 to 100,000 tons of earth and rock per day.

An adjacent new mining area, Coroccohuayco, is being explored for continuous exploitation as the current mine is approaching its end. The capacity of this mining complex is estimated at 20 to 30 years, about two and a half generations of rural dwellers will be exposed to this horrendous Glencore atrocities and injustice, if nobody takes actions in their defense. Plus, after the mine is fully exploited, the miners usually packs up and leave – leaving an environmental disaster of poisoned soil and water – what’s left of it – behind. Restauration of such huge areas of mining ruins can take hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Glencore, with a total production of 1.23 million tons (2016) is the world’s third largest copper producer, employing some 55,000 people in 30 countries. According to MarketWatch, Glencore’s profit for 2017 registered a massive increase to $5.78 billion, from $1.38 billion in 2016 (compared to the Swiss food Giant, Nestlé, with CHF 8.3 billion, or US$ 8.6 billion, equivalent – 2017).

Glencore would have no shortfall of money to respect socioenvironmental laws, which includes compensating local communities for confiscated land and water, for avoiding deadly contamination of water and soil, spreading into human and animal bodies, causing countless deaths. They have plenty of means to take such protective measures. Butit’s obviously cheaper and less cumbersome to corrupt Peruvian authorities, so that nobody dares opening their mouth and speaking up in front of such abuse. Local authorities are all afraid or bought, or both.

Anti-mining riots in 2012, when the new pits “Antapaccay” opened, caused 3 deaths and more than 100 injured. The mayor, who supported the protesting campesinos was temporarily jailed. Peruvian central government authorities have taken full position in favor of the mining corporations; and this throughout the country, where similar disasters are repeated – no respect for local communities, force-expropriating them, poisoning their waters and soil with toxic heavy metals – mercury, cyanite, cadmium, arsenic and others, causing slowly countless deaths and destroying the landscape, water and soil.

Arriving in Espinar in the early morning hours of 4 April, we were hit by the news of violent physical aggressions having been perpetuated by Glencore’s security forces and hired national police, on destitute defenseless, unarmed women around noon the day before, 3 April. This happened when the men were out working either at the mine or in the fields, eking out a modest living for their families.

The mine is surrounded by some 6 mountain communities of an average of 1,200 people. None of them have running water or electricity. They are extremely poor and would fall way below the World Bank standard of extreme poverty (less than US$ 1 / day). The community that was attacked has a well and a close-by small river which the mine wants for refining purposes and for diversion to other mining communities where water had already been stolen. There was not even an attempt of negotiating compensations. A local leader, advised about the violence, reached the community towards the end of the assault and took video testimonies of the beaten women.

In an exercise of intimidation, the assault was executed by some 30 to 50 Glencore security forces and hired police. The police were equipped with government provided riot gear. They were beating down on the totally vulnerable women with their typical police batons. In one case, four men grabbing a 65-year-old woman, beating her almost to death. A bulldozer was ready to destroy their modest stone shacks. While one house was already destroyed about two weeks ago, thanks to the protesting women and the village men that eventually came to their rescue, it didn’t happen this time.

We met with activists, including the former mayor of Espinar. They all confirmed the Glencore assault. Then we went to the mining area, surrounded by small impoverished farmer communities. We met with the women who told us in tears what happened, showing their bruises all over their bodies – crying. The elderly 65-year-old woman was so badly beaten, she almost died. She was laying in herrickety stone hut that was earlier demolished and shakily rebuilt, moaning from pain, possibly with several broken ribs, no medication and no medical attention. Her situation is highly precarious. In addition to her state of health, her stone hut could collapse at any moment from the tremors of the daily mining explosions.

This bullying campaign is by no means new. It’s a common practice, as was confirmed by former mine workers and farm laborers of the area. Glencore wants to expropriate the peasants without compensation, because they want their water. Mining needs a huge amount of water to the detriment of the population – and Glencore doesn’t pay a penny for the water they consume and pollute with toxic heavy metals. Glencore doesn’t even offer the peasants alternative housing and living areas. – The women attempted to file complaints with the local police – but the police refused to even hear them. Of course, they are paid and fully under Glencore’s control.

Other leaders and activists told us about their health situation. How people die like flies from cancer around them and living in the vicinity of the mine – even if they are not directly working for the mine – water, earth and vapor contamination of the air they breathe, is so toxic, affecting every living being in the surrounding area, eventually dying a slow death.

Corruption is almost unimaginable. Glencore buys literally not only all police, lawyers, judges, politicians, but also medical doctors, clinics, laboratories in the vicinity. Two community inhabitantstold us how already three months ago they were giving blood and urine samples to be tested for heavy metals. The analysis results have not been returned yet – and will probably never be handed out to the victims, as they would reveal the heavy intoxication. One of them said under tears that he had lost one of his sons (31) to mine-induced cancer.

According to them, a similar fate afflicts a number of other inhabitants living in the zone. Some 1,200 victims suffer from various heavy-metal related diseases, mostly in their lungs and joints, extreme tiredness, memory loss and lack of concentration. Heavy metals accumulate in the body and are known to affect the nervous system. Several of the people interviewed said they and many of their neighbors and friends were resigned to simply die without any help.

Not only does Glencore not provide for medical assistance, but mine workers are hired from other regions of Peru.When they get sick, protest or die they are immediately ‘repatriated’ to their home region, so as not to cause havoc in the Espinar vicinity. Hence, it follows Glencore’s unethical logic: They pay doctors, clinics and labs not to reveal the level of toxins they discover in the victims’ bodies.

According to testimonies from several inhabitants of the region, including the ex-mayor of Espinar, mental retardation of children and other birth defects are increasing exponentially since Glencore first started operating in 2006 under Xstrata which later merged with Glencore.

The Swiss Government is fully aware of and consequently complicit with these corporate crimes. They know what is going on outside the Swiss borders – inside of which the same corporations would have to adhere to strict rules and follow the rule of law. About four years ago, a Swiss parliamentary delegation visited the Glencore site in Espinar. The visit was announced much in advance, so that Glencore had plenty of time to “clean up”, getting rid of potentially protesting voices. The delegation met with the then mayor, who worked in defense of the people and who gave the Swiss parliamentarians a dose of reality. Nevertheless, the delegation was wined and dined during two days by Glencore. The report back to Parliament was accordingly benign.

When recently approached on another case of flagrant mining abuse, including child work, prostitution and drug trafficking – in this case goldmining related to Metalor in Rinconada, near Puno, Peru – representatives of the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s Ethics Office simply said they had nothing to do with this case. Each one of these companies observed their “Due Diligence” and the government trusts them to adhere to their own standards. In case they wouldn’t, it was up to the host government where they work, i.e. Peru, to hold them responsible. Period.

That’s the noble stand of the Swiss authorities, who know very well that in Peru, like in many other countries where these Swiss-registered corporations operate, corruption is so rampant, that they buy themselves out of every crime, including homicide caused by intoxication of heavy metals from their mining operations. After all, Switzerland like other countries, have diplomatic representations in almost all countries, reporting back home on the state of their host country.

It is not widespread knowledge among the Swiss people, that the highest echelons of the Swiss Government meet regularly with CEOs of key corporations to discuss Switzerland’s future finance and economic policies. This may be common practice also in Germany, France and other EU countries – typical for neoliberal economies, that big business decide on the economic fate of the people.

Switzerland is the only OECD country where parliamentarians are allowed to sit in as many Boards of Directors of the business and finance sectors as they please. It is a virtually built-in lobby. This accepted inherent conflict of interest is diagonally opposed to the democratic principles of which Switzerland boasts itself as being a model.

Switzerland has long seized being the Switzerland where I was born. I feel deep pain for the peasant women living in the area of the Glencore exploited mine, the victims of Glencore’s abject and shameless human rights abuses, and for other sufferers of unethical corporate misconduct.