ISRAEL HITS DAMASCUS SYRIA WITH AIRSTRIKES FOR THE SECOND NIGHT IN A ROW

Of Course, The Propaganda Ministry (a.k.a Mainstream Media) Forgot To Tell Your That Was The Fifth Time Israel Bombed Syria In March – Because They Are Controlled By Israel.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that Syrian air defenses “intercepted hostile targets” in the airspace of Damascus. There was no mention of any casualties or damage caused by the strikes.

Less than 24 hours earlier, SANA reported that two Syrian soldiers were wounded in Israeli strikes on the Syrian capital. Israeli officials haven’t commented on either strike, as Israeli typically does not take credit for individual airstrikes in Syria.

The intensified Israeli airstrikes in Syria come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a political crisis at home. After massive protests and dissent within the Israeli government, Netanyahu delayed his controversial judicial overhaul, but unrest in the country continues.

Earlier this month, Israeli airstrikes targeted the airport in the Syrian city of Aleppo, which was devastated by the massive earthquake that hit northwest Syria and Turkey on February 6^th. The strikes temporarily shut down the airport, cutting off a vital channel for earthquake aid.

Israel claims its operations in Syria target Iran and Iranian weapons shipments, but the airstrikes often kill Syrians and damage civilian infrastructure. Of course, they are Syrians so their deaths and suffering mean nothing to the American or Israeli regimes/

20 YEARS LATER WE HAVE IRAQ WAR II

“We Are Fighting A War For Israel. When The Body Bags Come Home, And The Dead Are Buried, Let This Be Inscribed On Their Tombstones: They Died For Ariel Sharon.”

Well it seems like only yesterday, though it was half a lifetime ago.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their men and women, especially the neoconservatives, knowingly and deliberately lied this country into starting an aggressive war against Iraq – a war they pretended was a “preemptive” attack against a nation that could never have laid one hand on the United States of America in a trial of a thousand years.

According to his later CIA interrogator, Saddam Hussein, the evil dictator said to be plotting with al Qaeda terrorists against us, was instead semi-retired, busy writing a romance novel and refusing to believe America would really invade and occupy his country when he was giving them no cause to whatsoever.

It was later credibly reported that Saddam had offered virtually unconditional surrender twice to neocon ringleader Richard Perle who told Hussein’s emissary: “Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad.”

One hundred and fifty million Americans, if mostly for partisan reasons, knew better. The other 150 million, mostly fooled into believing Iraq had attacked us on September 11, did it anyway.

What was the real reason behind it all? As the great Justin Raimondo told the crowd in his important speech to the Libertarian Party of Illinois, “Libertarianism in the Age of Empire,” 20 years ago:

“We are fighting a war for Israel. When the body bags come home, and the dead are buried, let this be inscribed on their tombstones: They died for Ariel Sharon.”

It was never the weapons. America had disarmed Iraq of unconventional weapons in 1991 and they knew it. They also had two spies at the highest levels of the Iraqi government who both confirmed there were no banned weapons left before the war. That’s why they had to resort to citing forged documents, Katusha rocket tubes, cartoon drawings of mobile biological weapons labs and the wholly invented threat of mushroom clouds over American cities to convince Americans to support the war.

And they knew Iraq was not working with al Qaeda. The CIA did a major review just after the September 11th attacks of 2001. They told the president there was nothing there. So the CIA tortured Abu Zubaydah and Ibn al-Libi, two associates, though not operatives of the al Qaeda group, into pointing the finger at Saddam Hussein’s regime.

But the neoconservatives, determined to improve Israel’s position in the region, outdid even the CIA when it came to coming up with the lies to justify the war. After setting up what Secretary of State Colin Powell later called, “a separate government” inside the government, including “Douglas Feith’s Gestapo office” at the Pentagon, Cheney and the neocons pushed the lies through and got their war.

They got 4,500 American soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen and guardsmen killed. Hundreds more contractors, including mercenaries were killed with them.

On the other side of the ledger, the United States destroyed the nation of Iraq, probably permanently. By fighting a brutal civil war on behalf of the super-majority Shi’ite Arabs, and helping them “cleanse” especially the capital city of its minority Sunni opposition who had dominated the former government, America helped get approximately a million people killed. They decimated small, local minority religious sects and ethnicities, including Chaldean Christians, Jews, Turkmen, Marsh Arabs and others, and they deprived the rulers of the new parliament of the last incentive to compromise with their defeated enemies.

Hell, they no longer had any incentive to compromise with the United States. The Iraqi regime W. Bush installed forced him to sign on the dotted line and agree to pull American forces out by the end of 2011.

Instead of empowering the American-Israeli-Turkish-Jordanian alliance, as the neocons had envisioned, the Americans had moved Iraq to Iran’s side of the ledger, where Baghdad would join with Tehran, Damascus and Lebanese Hezbollah instead. The Sunni Arabs of the Anbar and other western provinces were left men without a country.

This is why Bush’s successor, Barack Obama, and his Israeli, Turkish, Saudi and Qatari allies backed the radical Sunni jihad in Syria next door which grew into the so-called Islamic State, seizing eastern Syria in 2013. It is also why ISIS then had no trouble rolling right in and taking over western Iraq a year later, leading to the declaration of the so-called Caliphate and then America and its allies’ Iraq War III to destroy them again in 2014–2017.

The war of course also spread to Libya, Mali and the rest of West Africa, Syria, as mentioned above, then Yemen. Hundreds of thousands more people have been killed; 37 million refugees have been forced from their homes, the greatest such crisis since the second world war.

It’s the damndest thing, all of it.

George W. Bush himself now finally admits it. On May 19, 2022, After his big Freudian slip when he blurted “Iraq” instead of “Ukraine” while denouncing Putin’s “wholly unjustified and brutal invasion,” his conscious mind then conceded: “Iraq too.”

It is as certain that he deliberately lied us into that war as it is that neither he nor any of his people will ever be held accountable for their crimes. Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell have already set the precedent.

But we can at least work to make sure they are remembered only as liars and butchers.

And we can keep in mind that the same media stars who lied us into that war have remained in a position to lie to us about everything under the sun in the time since then, including the current war in Ukraine.

And we can remember fondly our great friends and mentors Justin Raimondo, Alan Bock, and Burt Blumert who knew better and tried to show us the way.

THE TRAGIC REALITY OF RACHEL CORRIE’S DEATH

Twenty Years Ago On March 16, The World Got A Tragic Glimpse Into What The State Of Israel Was Going To Become.

Given the green light in the Oval Office by President George W. Bush, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon – “a man of peace,” Bush said at the time – started the now-inevitable march to apartheid and the murderous treatment of the Palestinians against whom the main battle would be waged.

That glimpse was the senseless murder of a passionate, 23-year-old woman whose laudable purpose at the time was simply the protection of Palestinian homes being bulldozed by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). On that day, Rachel Corrie, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, was brutally murdered by an IDF armored bulldozer as she tried to interject herself between it and its merciless destruction of yet another Palestinian home in the southern Gaza Strip.

Almost at wit’s end because of the negative response of the government then in Tel Aviv, Rachel’s parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, came to Washington to seek the American Government’s assistance. But despite all efforts, official and personal, they could not prevail on the Israeli government to be forthcoming, honest, or at day’s end even polite. Their well-coordinated response was to deny completely any responsibility – just as would be the case more than two decades later, ultimately, with the brutal assassination of another American citizen, journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. It was an utterly depressing and profoundly sad moment for us as we watched a state that claimed a tight alliance with my country, dishonor that alliance markedly yet again.

In the case of Rachel Corrie, it was strongly recommended the Corries take their case to the Israeli courts, as many believed they were the final bastion of not only the rule of law but of human decency in that country. Years later, the Israeli Supreme Court denied the Corries any real justice. Since then, that leadership has been corroborating the speculation of what was going to come in almost every way conceivable. Today, it is even trying to diminish significantly the power of that final outpost of the rule of law, the Israeli supreme court.

Of course, we will be branded an anti-Semite for making these brief but accurate remarks, as are almost all Americans today who criticize the state of Israel. So be it. If that brand is the price of truth-telling these days about the deeply-harmful, one-sided relationship America now has with Jerusalem, and about the Israeli government as well, I will pay it willingly.

We fear for Israel’s future given its present leadership and policies, and we fear for America because of its unquestioning acceptance of that leadership and those policies. The very infrequent and light criticisms – emanating, for example, from such august persons as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently – make matters worse not better because they change absolutely nothing on the ground.

Who will be the next innocent casualty like Rachel was 20 years ago? Or like Shireen Abu Akleh was only recently? Or like the Palestinians who are dying now almost daily?

Two parents’ unreconciled grief today marks starkly the beginning; Shireen the continuum; and every innocent death since and forthcoming the ultimate end – perhaps in a Third Intifadah.

And where will that lead? Most certainly not to a return to the oft-described “only real democracy in the Middle East.”

ORGANIZERS CLAIM HALF A MILLION PROTESTERS IN THE TENTH WEEK OF THE BIGGEST PROTESTS IN ISRAELI HISTORY

Armed With Banners And Flags, Israeli Demonstrators Turned Out In Droves For The Tenth Week To Decry The Netanyahu-Led Government’s Judicial Coup.

Israelis took to the streets for the tenth week straight in the largest demonstration in the country’s history on Saturday, with organizers claiming as many as 500,000 pro-democracy protesters in attendance nationwide.

A record 50,000 Israelis rallied in Haifa – according to police estimates –while at least 8,000 demonstrated in the southern city of Be’er Sheva, which is considered a Likud stronghold. Opposition leader Yair Lapid told the crowd there that Israel “is facing the greatest crisis in its history.

“A wave of terrorism is hitting us, our economy is crashing, money is escaping the country. Iran just signed yesterday a new agreement with Saudi Arabia. But the only thing this government cares about is crushing Israeli democracy,” he said.

In the central city of Netanya, hundreds of red-clad ‘handmaids’ held a silent vigil as large crowds gathered. Leading the city’s protesters in chants of “We are all Ami Eshed,” former Labor leader Amram Mitzna voiced solidarity with the dismissed Tel Aviv district commander, who was ousted from his post on Thursday by Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai under pressure from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over his lenient policy toward protesters.

Moshe Karadi, Israel’s former police chief, warned against Ben-Gvir’s hold on Israel’s law enforcement agency while speaking at the main Tel Aviv demonstration.

“Israel is facing a danger it has not faced since the 1948 War of Independence,” he said, adding that the Ben-Gvir, “a convicted felon, is enacting a hostile takeover of the police and trying to turn it into a private militia to serve his political purposes.”

In a dramatic live address on Saturday night, Shabtai said he “made a mistake” by dismissing Eshed, adding that he regretted the “judgement, timing and manner” of his decision. He said that he would “accept” Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miari’s decision to freeze the decision. Eshed, meanwhile, was met with constant cheers of “Ami, Ami” as he walked through crowds of Tel Aviv protesters on Saturday night.

Protesters in Tel Aviv’s central demonstration were ultimately able to circumvent police barricades to block the city’s busiest highway from both directions, though crowds were notably thinner than in previous battles for control over the symbolic Ayalon Highway.

‘I’M GLAD MY CHILDREN LIVE IN THE U.S.’

High-tech worker Uri Stern, who was dressed as Moses holding the Ten Commandments, said he joined the Tel Aviv protest “hoping we can make a change.”

Another high-tech employee present at the main Tel Aviv demonstration, 36-year-old Naama, echoed his sentiment. “I’m not going anywhere,” she explained, holding a sign which read “This is my home” in Hebrew. “I’m not interested in foreign passports. I’m here to be part of the struggle.”

Shlomo Perets, a draft refuser also demonstrating at the main Tel Aviv protest, weighed in on the impact of the widespread protest movement. He said that the current political situation could additionally lead to more Israelis rejecting their mandatory military service.

“I feel that with Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, more people will refuse to serve,” Perets explained. “For me it was not easy to do, but I never regretted it. Need to remember military prison for soldiers is nothing compared to where Palestinians are sent.”

Farther north, in the central city of Netanya, 64-year-old protester Lili Tenneshe said she was participating in her first demonstration “to show people I care that we are losing our country.”

“It was hard for me to come in a wheelchair but some friends agreed to bring me,” she said. “What’s happening here is awful. I don’t want to live in a dictatorship. My two kids live in the U.S. This is the first time I’ve been glad that they do.”

POLICE DETAIN HAARETZ JOURNALIST OVER ‘THREATS’

Police on Saturday detained Haaretz journalist Uri Misgav outside his home as he left for the protest in Tel Aviv, asking him whether he intended to act violently against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Officers told him they had received complaints about a tweet by him suggesting that Netanyahu cancel his upcoming trip to Berlin. He was released after several minutes.

The main organizers behind the massive demonstrations across Israel’s major cities announced another day of action on Thursday, meant to “escalate the resistance” to the government’s judicial coup. For the previous two weeks, the protest movement held a “day of resisting dictatorship” and a “day of disruption,” where protesters blocked major roads and clashed with police.

PALESTINIAN CHILDREN’S ART EXPOSES ISRAEL’S CULTURAL GENOCIDE

Israel Continues To Employ Old Tactics To Control The Conversation On The Israeli Occupation Of Palestine. However, In Some Cases Israel’s Success Is Really Failure.

The following reveals the story of what pro-Palestinian communities around the world are fighting for, and what pro-Israelis are fighting against: “We are delighted to report that Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has removed a display of artwork designed by children from Gaza.”

That was the summary of a news report published on the homepage of the pro-Israel group, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). The group is credited for being the party that managed to successfully persuade the administration of a hospital in West London to take down a few pieces of artwork created by refugee children from Gaza.

Explaining the logic behind their relentless campaign to remove the children’s art, UKLFI said that “Jewish patients” in the hospital “felt vulnerable and victimized by the display.” The few pieces of artwork were those of the Dome of the Rock in occupied East Jerusalem, the Palestinian flag and other symbols that should hardly victimize anyone.

The UKLFI article was later edited, with the offensive summary removed, although it is still accessible via social media.

As ridiculous as this story sounds, it is, in fact, the very essence of the anti-Palestinian campaign launched by Israel and its allies worldwide. While Palestinians are fighting for basic human rights, freedom and sovereignty as enshrined in international law, the pro-Israel camp is fighting for a total and complete erasure of everything Palestinian.

Some call this cultural genocide or ethnocide. While Palestinians have been familiar with this Israeli practice in Palestine since the very inception of the state of Israel, the boundaries of the war have been expanded to reach anywhere in the world, especially in the western hemisphere.

The inhumanity of UKLFI and their allies is quite palpable, but the group cannot be the only party deserving blame. Those lawyers are but a continuation of an Israeli colonial culture that sees the very existence of a Palestinian people with a political discourse, including children refugees’ art, as an “existential threat” to Israel.

The relationship between the very existence of a country and children’s art may seem absurd – and it is – but it has its own, albeit strange, logic: as long as these refugee children recognize themselves as Palestinian, as long as they will continue to count as part of a larger whole, the Palestinian people. This self-awareness, and the recognition by others – for example, patients and staff at a London hospital – of this collective Palestinian identity, makes it difficult, in fact, impossible, for Israel to win.

For Palestinians and Israelis, victory means two entirely different things, which cannot be consolidated. For Palestinians, victory means freedom for the Palestinian people and equality for all. For Israel, victory can only be achieved through the erasure of Palestinians – geographically, historically, culturally and in every way that could be part of a people’s identity.

Sadly, the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is now an active participant in this tragic erasure of the Palestinians, the same way that Virgin Airlines bowed to pressure in 2018 when it agreed to remove “Palestinian-inspired couscous” off its menu. At the time, this story appeared as if it was a strange episode in the so-called “Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” though, in reality, the story represented the very core of this “conflict.”

For Israel, the war in Palestine revolved around three basic tasks: acquiring land; erasing the people and rewriting history.

The first task has been largely achieved through a process of ethnic cleansing and unhinged colonization of Palestine since 1947-48. The current right-wing extremist government of Benjamin Netanyahu is only hoping to finalize this process.

The second task involves more than ethnic cleansing, because even the mere awareness of Palestinians, wherever they are, of their collective identity, constitutes a problem. Thus, the active process of cultural genocide.

Though Israel has succeeded in rewriting history for many years, that task is now being challenged, thanks to the tenacity of Palestinians and their allies, and the power of social and digital media.

Palestinians are arguably the greatest beneficiary of the rise of digital media. The latter has contributed to the decentralization of political and even historical narratives. For decades, the popular understanding of what constitutes “Israel” and “Palestine” in mainstream imagination was largely controlled through a specific Israeli-sanctioned narrative. Those who deviated from this narrative were attacked and marginalized, and almost always accused of “antisemitism.” While these tactics are still unleashed at critics of Israel, the outcome is no longer guaranteed.

For example, a single tweet exposing the “delight” of UKLFI has received over 2 million views on Twitter. Millions of outraged Brits and social media users around the world have turned what was meant to be a local story into one of the most discussed topics, worldwide, on Palestine and Israel. Expectedly, not many social media users took part in the “delight” of the UKLFI, thus forcing them to reword their original article. More importantly, millions of people have, in a single day, been introduced to a whole new topic on Palestine and Israel: that of cultural erasure. The “victory” has turned into a complete embarrassment, let alone defeat.

Thanks to the growing popularity of the Palestinian cause and the impact of social media, initial Israeli victories almost always backfire. A more recent example is the dismissal and the quick reinstatement of the former Director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth.

In January, Roth’s fellowship at Harvard University’s Kennedy School was revoked due to the recent HRW report that defines Israel as an apartheid regime. A major campaign, which was started by small alternative media organizations, resulted in the reinstatement of Roth within days. This, and other cases, demonstrates that criticizing Israel is no longer a career-ender, as was often the case in the past.

Israel continues to employ old tactics to control the conversation on the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It is failing because those traditional tactics can no longer work in a modern world in which access to information is decentralized, and where no amount of censorship can control the conversation.

For Palestinians, this new reality is an opportunity to widen their circle of support around the world. For Israel, the mission is a precarious one, especially when initial victories could, in hours, become utter defeats.

ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE HAS HALTED EARTHQUAKE AID FLIGHTS INTO ALEPPO SYRIA

This Attack, Designed To Inhibit The Delivery Of Humanitarian Aid Should Make The Sadistic Nature Of The Israeli Regime Very Clear To You.

The strike hit the airport early in the morning on Tuesday, about one month after an earthquake devastated Aleppo, a city that has already been struggling to rebuild after years of war due to American sanctions that are specifically designed to prevent Syria’s reconstruction.

“It is no longer possible to receive aid flights until the damage has been repaired,” said Suleiman Khalil, a Syrian Transport Ministry official. He said more than 80 aid flights had landed at the Aleppo airport since the earthquake hit.

In a statement, the Syrian Transport Ministry said the aid flights would be rerouted to airports in Damascus and Latakia. The Syrian Foreign Ministry called the strike a “double crime” because it hit a civilian airport and a key channel for the arrival of earthquake aid.

Israel stepped up its airstrikes against Syrian airports last year, claiming they were targeting Iranian weapons shipments. Israel frames its strikes in Syria as operations against Iran, but they frequently kill Syrians and damage civilian infrastructure.

Israel hasn’t commented on the Aleppo airport strike and typically does not take credit for individual airstrikes on the country. The American regime and it’s propaganda ministry has been quiet about the Aleppo strike and tacitly backs Israel’s operations in Syria by never condemning them.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, America also reviews and approves Israeli airstrikes if the warplanes launching them are passing near American bases in Syria. Damascus said the Alepppo strike was launched from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, signaling it didn’t pass an American base this time.

ISRAEL IS CONTINUING TO DEMOLISH PALESTINIAN HOMES DURING RAMADAN

Ben Gvir Insists Police Continue Inflammatory Practice In East Jerusalem Despite Warnings Of Security Officials.

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, demanded on Monday that police continue demolishing Palestinian homes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In the past, Israel has refrained from demolishing Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem during Ramadan to avoid inflaming tensions. Demolishing homes in an occupied territory is a war crime.

This year, however, Israeli media reported that police will follow Ben Gvir’s demands and demolish Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem during the holy month, when in recent years tensions have risen over Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel demolishes Palestinian homes for various reasons, including claims they were built without permits that are near impossible to obtain from Israeli authorities. Often, Israel demolishes the homes of suspected Palestinian attackers’ families, in a policy condemned by rights groups as collective punishment.

The Times of Israel reported that Israeli police have warned Ben Gvir that the force is already stretched to the limit and the approaching Ramadan period, which coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover, could be highly volatile.

Ramadan is expected to begin on March 23^rd., while Passover is set for April 5^th.

In a closed-door meeting, Israeli security services warned Ben Gvir that demolishing Palestinian homes during Ramadan could tip the West Bank into unrest.

Two years ago, Israeli violations in Jerusalem during Ramadan – including the attempted expulsion of families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, sparked Hamas rocket barrages, an Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza and riots in mixed Palestinian-Jewish cities in Israel. Over 11 days, 274 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces (243 in Gaza alone) and 13 were killed on the Israeli side.

In a leaked recording on Sunday, published in Israeli media, Ben Gvir is heard sharply criticising Israeli security officials for their intention to stop Jews from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards for 10 days as “absolute madness and surrender to terrorism”.

The Israeli security services in a separate meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised that “there is a consensus in the security services that the law enforcement operations initiated by Ben Gvir in East Jerusalem must be halted”.

Earlier this year, Ben Gvir entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards in a highly provocative move. His actions were widely condemned.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the holiest sites in Islam and the site of the Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.

Since Israel occupied the site following the 1967 Middle East war, Jewish prayer at the site has been officially forbidden, though far-right settlers such as Ben-Gvir (some of whom want to demolish Al-Aqsa and replace it with a third Jewish temple) have frequently prayed there under heavy security backing in recent years.

RISING TENSIONS

Recent weeks have seen a spike in tensions which culminated in a Israeli settler rampage in the Palestinian village of Huwwara.

At least one Palestinian was killed and nearly 400 wounded in the attacks on Huwwara and other West Bank towns and villages, Palestinian health officials said.

Settlers completely burnt down at least 35 homes and 40 others were partially damaged, and many of the buildings were set on fire while their Palestinian inhabitants sheltered inside. More than 100 cars were burnt or otherwise destroyed.

Hundreds of Israeli settlers, flanked by soldiers, attacked Palestinian towns and villages near Nablus following a shooting that killed two Israelis in Huwwara town earlier in the day.

Israeli far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the state of Israel to “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwwara in the wake of a violent rampage.

At least 65 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis this year, at a rate of more than one fatality per day. Meanwhile, 13 Israelis and one police officer have been killed by Palestinians in the same period.

This follows a steep increase in violence in 2022 when at least 167 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the highest death toll in those territories in a single year since the Second Intifada. Palestinian attacks killed 30 Israelis last year.

ASK THE PROPAGANDA MINISTRY – “HOW MANY NUCLEAR BOMBS DOES IRAN HAVE?”

A Survey Of News Sources Finds That The Propaganda Ministry Mentions Tehran’s Non-Existent Nukes More Than Actual North Korean Or Israeli Arsenals.

Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons. North Korea and Israel do. But the media cares more about Iran’s non-existent atom bomb than North Korea’s real nuclear missiles, data suggests, while Israel’s arsenal barely gets a mention.

All three countries have been in the headlines lately. After the discovery of 84 percent enriched uranium in Iran — nearly weapons-grade — CIA director Bill Burns said that Iran has not yet decided to build a nuclear bomb. Even so, the Biden administration encouraged Israel to “do whatever they need to” towards Iran to prevent it from building a nuke.

Meanwhile, American officials have been holding drills for a North Korean nuclear attack, after months of escalation between South Korea and North Korea.

Politics play a huge role in driving news coverage of different issues. At best, the press seeks to help the public make informed democratic decisions, so journalists cover issues related to their government’s policy. At worst, journalists allow the concerns and taboos of the elite to determine what issues deserve attention and how they should be covered.

The media’s coverage of different countries’ nuclear programs certainly reflects American political concerns. Although North Korea is an adversarial state with the power to strike inside America, the American-North Korean conflict is mostly frozen in place. Washington has a lot more room to keep the American-Iranian conflict active, or even escalate it.

Politicians often cite Iranian threats against Israel as a reason to fear Iran’s nuclear capabilities. But as the late American secretary of state Colin Powell privately argued in 2015, the “Iranians can’t use [a nuclear weapon] if they finally make one. The boys in Tehran know Israel has 200, all targeted on Tehran, and we have thousands.”

The American people do not necessarily understand what “the boys in Tehran” do. In 2010, a poll found that 70 percent of Americans believed Iran already had nukes. In 2021, 60 percent still believed in the existence of Iranian nukes, with another 23 percent of Americans claiming that they did not know. Only about half of respondents on the 2021 poll even knew that Israel had nuclear weapons.

“In other words, more than four-fifths of the public doesn’t know the correct answer to a simple question about a matter of fact on one of the most high-profile foreign policy issues of the last 15 years,” foreign policy commentator Daniel Larison wrote in 2021. “That is what decades of misinformation and propaganda will get you.”

Media coverage regularly refers to Iran’s “pursuit of nuclear weapons,” despite the fact that neither the United States nor Iran are claiming that there is an active Iranian nuclear weapons program. While it is rare for journalists to outright claim that Iran already has a nuclear weapon, there is a lot of vague or inaccurate coverage about Iranian nuclear activities that could leave readers with the impression that Iran is pursuing or even has nuclear weapons.

“Hawks make a constant effort to promote falsehoods about foreign threats in order to frighten the public into acquiescing to more aggressive policies, and eventually they use those falsehoods to agitate for military action,” Larison added.

Over the past 12 years, the media has mentioned the word “Iran” or “Iranian” alongside the word “nuclear” or “atomic” an average of 1.46 times per million words of newsprint. North Korea was mentioned in the same context 0.247 times per million words.

Israel was only mentioned alongside “nuclear” 197 times in total, a minuscule 0.0117 mentions per million words.

Even a more narrow search for phrases related to nuclear weapons shows that Iran — despite the country not possessing nuclear bombs — was mentioned more than North Korea, except during a few crisis periods. Again, Israel’s nuclear weapons were barely mentioned.

Why would that be the case? Maybe, because of who really controls the media?

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE UN STATEMENT ON PALESTINE – THE FALSE HOPES AND BROKEN PROMISES

Palestinians Are Left With No Other Option But To Carry On With Their Resistance To The UN And Its “Watered-down” Statements.

Rarely does the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations make an official remark expressing happiness over any UN proceeding concerning the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Indeed, the Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour is “very happy that there was a very strong united message from the Security Council against the illegal, unilateral measure” undertaken by the Israeli government.

The “measure” is a specific reference to a decision, on February 12^th, by the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to construct 10,000 new housing units in nine illegal Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank.

Expectedly, Netanyahu was angered by the supposedly “very strong united message” emanating from an institution that is hardly known for its meaningful action regarding international conflicts, especially in the Palestinian-Israeli case.

Mansour’s happiness may be justified from some people’s perspective, especially as we seldom witness a strongly worded position by the UNSC that is both critical of Israel and wholly embraced by the United States. The latter has used the veto power 53 times since 1972 – per UN count – to block UNSC draft resolutions that are critical of Israel.

However, on examination of the context of the latest UN statement on Israel and Palestine, there is little reason for Mansour’s excitement. The UN statement in question is just that: a statement, with no tangible value and no legal repercussions.

This statement could have been meaningful if the language had remained unchanged from its original draft. Not a draft of the statement itself, but of a binding UN resolution that was introduced on February 15 by the UAE Ambassador.

Reuters revealed that the draft resolution would have demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” That resolution – and its strong language – was scrapped under pressure from the American regime and was replaced by a mere statement that “reiterates” the Security Council’s position that “continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-state solution based on the 1967 lines.”

The statement also expressed “deep concern”, actually, “dismay” with Israel’s February 12^th announcement.

Netanyanu’s angry response was mostly intended for public consumption in Israel, and to keep his far-right government allies in check; after all, the conversion of the resolution into a statement, and the watering down of the language were all carried out following a prior agreement among the American regime, Israel and the PA. In fact, the Aqaba conference held on February 26 is a confirmation that that agreement has indeed taken place. Therefore, the statement should not have come as a surprise to the Israeli prime minister.

Moreover, the American media spoke openly about a deal, which was mediated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The reason behind the deal, initially, was to avert a “potential crisis”, which would have resulted from America vetoing the resolution. According to the Associated Press, such a veto “would have angered Palestinian supporters at a time that the US and its western allies are trying to gain international support against Russia.”

But there is another reason behind the Washington’s sense of urgency. In December 2016, then American Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, refrained from vetoing a similar UNSC resolution that strongly condemned Israel’s illegal settlement activities. This occurred less than a month before the end of Barack Obama’s second term in the White House. For Palestinians, the resolution was too little, too late. For Israel, it was an unforgivable betrayal. To appease Tel Aviv, the Trump Administration gave the UN post to Nikki Haley, one of the most ardent supporters of Israel.

Though another American veto would have raised a few eyebrows, it would have presented a major opportunity for the strong pro-Palestine camp at the UN to challenge American hegemony over the matter of the Israeli occupation of Palestine; it would have also deferred the issue to the UN General Assembly and other UN-related organizations.

Even more interesting, according to the Blinken-mediated agreement – reported by AP, Reuters, Axios, and others – Palestinians and Israelis would have to refrain from unilateral actions. Israel would freeze all settlement activities until August, and Palestinians would not “pursue action against Israel at the UN and other international bodies such as the World Court, the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council.” This was the gist of the agreement at the American-sponsored Aqaba meeting as well.

While Palestinians are likely to abide by this understanding – since they continue to seek American financial handouts and political validation – Israel will most likely refuse; in fact, practically, they already have.

Though the agreement had reportedly stipulated that Israel would not stage major attacks on Palestinian cities, only two days later, on February 22^th, Israel raided the West Bank city of Nablus. It killed 11 Palestinians and wounded 102 others, including two elderly men and a child.

A settlement freeze is almost impossible. Netanyahu’s extremist government is mostly unified by their common understanding that settlements must be kept in constant expansion. Any change to this understanding would certainly mean a collapse of one of Israel’s most stable governments in years.

Therefore, why, then, is Mansour “very happy”?

The answer stems from the fact that the PA’s credibility among Palestinians is at an all-time low. Mistrust, if not outright disdain, of Mahmoud Abbas and his Authority, is one of the main reasons behind the brewing armed rebellion against the Israeli occupation. Decades of promises that justice will eventually arrive through American-mediated talks have culminated in nothing, thus Palestinians are developing their own alternative resistance strategies.

The UN statement was marketed by PA-controlled media in Palestine as a victory for Palestinian diplomacy. Thus, Mansour’s happiness. But this euphoria was short-lived.

The Israeli massacre in Nablus left no doubt that Netanyahu will not even respect a promise he made to his own benefactors in Washington. This takes us back to square one: where Israel refuses to respect international law, the American regime refuses to allow the international community to hold Israel accountable, and where the PA claims another false victory in its supposed quest for the liberation of Palestine.

Practically, this means that Palestinians are left with no other option but to carry on with their resistance, indifferent – and justifiably so – to the UN and its ‘watered-down’ gutless statements.

A PALESTINIAN WAS KILLED AS ISRAELI SETTLERS RAMPAGE THROUGH THE WEST BANK

During Those Attacks Nearly 400 Palestinians Were Wounded While Scores Of Homes, Shops And Cars Were Destroyed.

Israeli settlers rampaged through towns in the occupied West Bank on Sunday evening in revenge attacks, burning and attacking Palestinian homes and property for hours.

At least one Palestinian was killed and nearly 400 wounded in the attacks, Palestinian health officials said.

Sameh Hamdullah Aktech, 37, was shot dead in Za’tara town near Nablus. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its staff treated someone for stabbing wounds and at least two others suffered head injuries.

Homes, shops, cars and agricultural land were set ablaze by settlers who roamed the streets of several Palestinian towns, mainly near Nablus. Attacks were reported in Ramallah and Salfit.

PRCS said at least 35 homes were completely burned down and 40 others were partially damaged. More than 100 cars were burnt or destroyed, it added.

The riots followed a shooting earlier in Huwwara town earlier in the day by a suspected Palestinian which left two Israeli settlers killed.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian activist monitoring the expansion of Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, told Middle East Eye at least one shop was burned down as of 9:15pm local time.

“What the settlers are doing tonight are war crimes similar to the events of the Nakba and the attacks of the Zionist gangs,” Daghlas said, referring to the violent “catastrophe” of 1948 that lead to the creation of the State of Israel.

Nine Palestinian families have had to be rescued from their burning homes, Israel’s Channel 12 news reported.

‘OUR LIVES ARE IN DANGER’

One Huwwara resident, Ziyad Dmaidi, said that he barely got his family to safety before his home was set on fire.

Dmaidi was returning from work when he saw a group of settlers heading towards his house, he said, recalling a feeling of panic as he rushed inside to gather his family.

Within minutes “dozens of settlers” began smashing in windows, breaking into the house. The family escaped just as burning rubber tyres were thrown inside. His home was completely destroyed.

“Sounds of assault were louder than everything: swearing in Hebrew, smashing windows, burning … It was very terrible” according to Fida Hamad, a Huwwara resident.

“I never thought about the house or all our stuff, I was only thinking about my children and how to save them from this nightmare,” Dmaidi said.

“We got out of the house and off to safety with the help of the ambulance crews who were also attacked while trying to evacuate us.

“Our lives are in danger and all this is happening while the Israeli soldiers stand around waiting only to protect the settlers,” he continued.

Fida Hamad, another resident, said that the settlers’ attack was the largest she had ever experienced and that houses were set on fire with families still inside.

Large clouds of smoke billowed throughout the town to the constant sounds of screaming, she said.

“We were sitting in our homes, and suddenly we heard explosions and screams of panic. We learnt that the settlers had attacked the town,” Hamad recalled.

“My children started crying and I tried to calm them down, but the sounds of assault were louder than everything: swearing in Hebrew, smashing windows, burning vehicles, homes, and shops … It was very terrible.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh charged the Israeli government with full responsibility for the attacks in Huwwara and urged the international community to provide protection to the civilian population.

Meanwhile, Aida Touma-Suleiman, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, condemned the attacks, tweeting: “The settlers are committing a horrific crime tonight in Huwwara – burning homes while families are inside and wreaking havoc.

“They are acting in the spirit of the fascist government,” Touma-Suleiman said. “I spoke to several ambassadors and asked them to intervene.”

At least one Palestinian fire truck attempting to respond to the fires was attacked and its windows smashed. Several ambulances were also damaged, according to reports on social media. PRCS said they were prevented from reaching areas affected by the attacks in Huwwara for two hours.

SETTLERS ‘SEEK REVENGE’

Earlier on Sunday, Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, two brothers from Har Bracha, an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, were fatally shot in their car while driving through Huwwara.

The assailant rammed the vehicle, before shooting at the two and fleeing the scene. Just after the shooting, Israel’s military said it was pursuing the perpetrator.

Israeli settlers issued calls to organise a march to Huwwara on social media to “seek revenge” for the attacks.

“Israeli settlers have been terrorising the Palestinian communities today, in the occupied West Bank, attacking civilians and torching down houses and businesses,” the official account of the Palestinian mission to the UK tweeted, sharing a video of one of the fires and tagging Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and two Foreign Office Twitter accounts.

The occupied West Bank is home to about 2.9 million Palestinians as well as an estimated 475,000 Jewish settlers who live in state-approved settlements that are illegal under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a joint statement following Sunday’s initial shooting, announcing that parliament had passed legislation approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism offences against Israelis.

“On this difficult day when two Israeli citizens were murdered in a Palestinian terrorist attack, there is nothing more symbolic than passing a death penalty law for terrorists,” the statement read.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials held talks in Jordan to try to secure calm in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

At least 62 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis this year, at a rate of more than one fatality per day. Meanwhile, 12 Israeli civilians and one police officer have been killed by Palestinians in the same period.

This follows a steep increase in violence in 2022 when at least 167 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the highest death toll in those territories in a single year since the Second Intifada. Palestinian attacks killed 30 Israelis last year.