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The only substantive moves by US and its European accomplices in response to the ICJ finding against Israel has been to defund UNRWA. This, based on allegations brought against UNRWA by unnamed Israeli intelligence sources. A new low. This unspeakably evil act, and its timing, further implicates the Biden Admin and several Euro states as complicit in genocide.

In a world with any shred of decency left to it, Biden and other key persons would be removed from office and charged in both the US and at the ICC.

We're not living in that world.

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Israel murdered at least 100 UN staff in Gaza - but neither Biden nor any EU state took any action, no defunding, no sanctions

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In a just and decent world, Biden, Blinken, Netanyahu, etc. would be placed in irons and handed bodily over to the people of Gaza, there to receive whatever fate the people there choose to mete out.

I say this, not because I am so bloodthirsty, but because sociopaths learn only from reward and punishment. But they are quite capable of learning.

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founding

Speaking on an individual level, the only thing sociopaths and psychopaths tend to learn is to be more careful, more clever, next time. Once Conscience, the sense of right and wrong, empathy, has been profoundly damaged, either through some combination of years, esp early years, of ongoing neglect, hatred, shaming, gaslighting, abuse, etc. (which can cause sociopathy) or especially, genetically/epigenetically (psychopathy), it is very hard to regain. Genetically almost never. They do not even know something is wrong with them - it all gets projected out, onto whoever, whatever. Even when caught. Yes, they must be stopped at all cost. But in some ways, the brutish, paranoid inhuman mind state they live in is it's own worst revenge, like being hounded forever by the Furies.

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Oh, I said nothing about getting a conscience. But they can learn the fear of punishment.

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founding

Yes, that's true. But that's very small consolation to the tens of thousands of Gazan victims whose deaths and terrible wounds at the hands of these 'Four Horsemen' would be far better served, healed, given hope, by genuine remorse and by International recognition (led right now by South Africa and the millions of people standing up around the world) and steps toward justice and the stopping of this horrific genocide against them.

And importantly, so that it will not then as easily happen next, unnoticed, somewhere else - as it is in Yemen - where the U.S./Israel/Britain/EU/Saudis etc. etc. and their insatiable, conscienceless, profit driven corporate entities want to continue selling trillions of dollars worth of weapons to steal trillions of dollars worth of oil and resources that are not theirs. But again, I've slipped back into the realm of conscience, which you weren't talking about, but I feel is critical because it is another "species" in danger of extinction if the current western world of merged government/military/corporate politics and power continues unchecked. Men after power are interchangeable, so I don't see their punishment as stopping these voracious forces of greed.

I have greater trust in the light the Gazans are paradoxically shining from their long long bitter agonizing dark night out into the world, that is awakening a light in the millions of people of conscience and the youth around the world as a direct result of their endurance, strength, faith and martydom. I know it does not look this way, but ultimately their power is far greater - like that of MLK and others - than the power of death they are up against. Palestine Will Live, and it is living in all of us.

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"Don't quote laws to us. We carry swords. " - Gnaeus Pompeius

Israel and its American thug carry swords.

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founding

There are other laws at work far greater than the swords.

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

MLK

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deletedJan 27
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founding

Yes it is very cold comfort, no comfort, to those children. But the Furies, three forces of vengeance, never haunt children or innocents or people of good will, but only those who intentionally do evil.

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deletedJan 28
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founding

I appreciate your question Jon. In Greek mythology as in Buddhism causes are often simplified or we're not told - those threads are so complex and tangled they lie beyond human comprehension. But trauma threads throughout Greek myths and they are teaching stories, maps of well worn paths by which to navigate and heal those earthly wounds.

The Immortal twice-wounded Centaur Chiron (half man/half horse) comes first to mind and a little of his story is worth the telling. Perhaps it is also a story for all Palestinians. In Homer's tale he was emotionally wounded as a baby when he lost his parents and later physically wounded by a poisoned arrow to his leg, a wound that would not heal. He was found and fostered by Apollo, god of light, as a child, who taught him the arts, music, healing arts, prophesy.... Over the years he became the wisest of the Centaurs and learned that by healing others the pain of his own wounding lessened. He is said to have furthered Apollo's arts, founding medicine, pharmacy and surgery. He healed and taught many, including Achilles, Hercules, Theseus, Perseus and Asclepius who became the father of medicine.

One day, while tending the wounded in a battle, he was struck by a poisoned arrow in his leg he could not heal. Though living in unbearable pain, he again healed others, during which his own pain would lessen. Eventually the gods took pity on him and offered him human death at the cost of his immortality. But he would only sacrifice himself and accept death in exchange for the freedom of Prometheus, eternally punished for stealing Fire from the gods for mankind. This Zeus did, and Chiron, who in this act died a martyr, was placed forever revolving in the heavens as the constellation Centaurus, shining the two brightest stars in the Southern hemisphere for all to see: Alpha and Beta Centaurus. In the North he is sometimes seen as Sagittarius.

To be traumatized and to become a wounded healer is not something anyone chooses. It is too hard a path. It chooses us. Chiron was wounded both emotionally and physically, but he was rescued, loved, nurtured and taught the healing arts as a means to grow and heal himself and to learn to heal others, shining the healing light of hope and possibility that he reclaims within and devoting and living a life of loving service.

It is so hard to witness the horrific wounds these innocent children of Gaza are experiencing, and which would still be too raw for these stories. But the myth is a source of timeless wisdom and hope that we can hold inside for them. As a mother, I find it almost unbearable to see and hear what is happening to these children (and mothers! and fathers!) day after night after day and to imagine what they have yet to go through. But I must hold the hope that they will find those who will help them to heal. And that perhaps they are the healers of tomorrow our world so desperately needs. Inshallah.

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Can anyone explain to me, in light of the events in Gaza and the West Bank, the difference between the Chosen People and the Master Race?

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I assume this is Expert Sarcasm at it's best. Love it and thank you.

Free Palestine. Vote NO on Genocide Joe. Stein/West ticket 24?

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The difference is the intolerance to historical criticism. The master race was effectively parodied by Mel Brooks in The Producers, with the biggest complaint that maybe it was a little crude (I laughed my derriere off). In contrast, the moment Woody Allen parodied the chosen people in his movies (Radio Days etc.), he was instantly labeled a self-hating Jew.

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More similarities than differences - both wanted "lebensraum and were prepared to massacre civilians to expand into their territory, both regard 'the other' as inferior, to be wiped from the earth ('human animals'), both use inhuman, evil levels of brutality

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founding

forceOfHabit, they both are self-appointed roles. The latest archeological digs have found that the Chosen People were chosen by themselves, not by God. What they chose was to be free.

"The Bible's Buried Secrets" NOVA's science documentary shows that the Israelites were Canaanites. Canaan consisted of well-fortified city-states, each with its own king, that in turn served Egypt and its pharaoh. These city-states contained elite upper-class Canaanites as well as lower-class commoners, serfs, and slaves. Archeological evidence suggests that, rather than conquering the Promised Land from outside territories as a separate people (as described in the book of Joshua), the Israelites were actually disenfranchised Canaanites who joined in a revolt to overthrow the elites. Out of these people who overthrew the ruling class, a culture of Israelites emerged which worshiped the Canaanite god EI (Elohim) who presided over a divine consul of other gods including his wife the goddess of fertility Asherah and others like Baal, Anat and Astarte. Later when the Israelites wanted a separate identity, they created the myths of Abraham coming from Ur, the exodus, Moses and Joshua. The word Israel means "EI perseveres". Only much later after the Babylonian captivity the prophets established a true monotheism.

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Jan 27·edited Jan 27

Complicity? Indifference? More like actively, openly and consciously enabling and abetting genocide.

Not only that, but Biden could stop this with a phone call.

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He did. He called his Iranian Mullah friends.

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Thank you Mr. Hedges. My heart is breaking for Palestine, and your work inspires me to, rather than sink into despair, get up and do something about it. As a U S citizen, I have to hang my head in shame at my government's complicity in genocide. Then I have to hold my political "leaders" accountable, to the degree I can. By myself, I am brainwashed into believing I'm powerless. But I'm not by myself. Along with millions seeking justice, we can make and will make this world better. I'll be at Jared Huffman's office (he's my Congressman) in San Rafael at noon today, along with many others, demanding that he actually serve those of us who elected him, and stop this slaughter.

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Who here have seen anyone talking about the fact that, since Israel is occupying Gaza (and the WB) illegally, its claim that it's defending itself - and has the right to do so - in Gaza are basically invalid?

At some point, it must be made clear that it's illegal to use violence to enforce an illegal occupation. To me, that means that even Hamas may have legal rights to fight Israeli forces. Granted Hamas has committed a minuscule amount of war crimes when they attacked civilians, but is the world saying Hamas has no right to violently resist the illegal occupation against Israeli armed forces? Surely the world must say that Palestinian civilians have that right, and look at the absurdity here. The Palestinians have the legal right to resort to violence against Israel, but it's wrong for them to provide for armed forces that could do such a thing.

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Yes, that has been covered on most discussions, Chris, The GrayZone, Katie Halper, Bad Faith, Jimmy Dore, Revolutionary Blackout Network, Sabby Sabs etc.

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Thanks for highlighting the ICJ ruling and sharing this interview! This moment could offer a learning moment for Americans who forget our country’s history.

Washington today openly refuses to accept the jurisdiction of international institutions created to ensure accountability for human rights violations, despite waging and winning a world war 75 years ago in order to establish those institutions in the first place. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/never-forgetwhat

And the genocide of Native Americans that began long before then continued much longer than most people who call themselves Americans care to remember. It is a sadly consistent theme of U.S. history. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/indigenous-lives-matter-from-north

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This ICJ ruling will be used as a Causus Belli by world nations to Isolate 'Israeli' society. Governments often look toward legal minutia to justify their actions, & now they have such a thing:

Bilateral Sanctions, Embargoes, Blockades, etc., will soon come into play & the so-called 'Jewish state' will suffer the same fate that Outremer & the Crusader entities of centuries ago did:

Namely, total isolation (commercial, diplomatic, etc.) followed by Demographic Implosion via Mass Emigration outward. This Death Spiral is all but guaranteed given the ICJ ruling!

'Israel' will cease to be. Palestine Will Live. Palestine Will be Free & it will be Prosperous!

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It won't happen because there are too many moneyed Jewish people in the world. They control mostly everything.

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they don't control civil society, this is where the push back will come from

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They do not control the Trade Routes. American Seapower is Moribund & any Oil price over 200 USD per Barrel implodes the world economy.

This is why Iran is a Great Power: It alone has this ability to bring the Empire & its Moneyed interests to its knees should it pursue said path.

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founding

BDS will scare them.

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(For those interested)

If you wish to read (& listen!) to more of My commentary, here is my Main Stack:

https://thefallofthewest.substack.com

Thank You Kindly to everyone!

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founding

Amen. The Arabs need another Saladin capable of unifying the Sunys and the Shias

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We will need to invest. The West will make this as hard as possible to rebuild and grow Palestine.

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Thank you for your perspective and citizen questions for a healthy debate. We are complicit, while we learn about the holocaust , other nazi war crimes medical related are less emphasized. Terminology such as ‘ ‘Herrenvolk’ is not taught. We discuss Hitler and have no idea about Himmler.

People remain silent for their own self protection and quality of life. Perhaps, if more people engaged in community or even neighborhood based civic ideals, people not be the follower. This requires self motivation, qualities not many people use or chose to use. Easier to follow and hide in our own routine cocoons.

My thoughts..

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I would like to hear more about the economic reasons for the US funneling billions of dollars to Israel. I hear talk of a Ben gurion canal that is slated to go through Gaza and oil reserves found off coast of Gaza.

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IF I remember correctly that oil belongs to the Palestinians.

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founding

The only economic reason I think of is the juicy bribes to our leaders from AIPAC and the military industrial complex because the American support to Israel has cost us enormously financially and morally.

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This could be as simple as a launching pad to control Iranian oil AGAIN. With so many of the worlds easy to pump fields going unprofitable, due to salt water separation costs this makes sense.

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founding

In a similar vein, has anyone noticed how much Biden is trying to egg on Iran and build a case against Iran in the mainstream media (and with the bombings of Yemen) ("Iran backed Hamas"; "Iran backed Houthis"; "Iran backed Hezbollah", etc. etc.)? The mainstream press never says "U.S. backed Israel." Much as was done to encircled Russia to start the proxy war with the Ukraine (whose oil we/Exon Mobil/Chevron etc. now own! There are huge stakes for the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, the Military/Industrial/Oil Conglomerate Complex involved. The Gaza oil fields are small stakes and look what the U.S./Israel/Samething are doing!!!

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I think if this was a profitable oil/gas field, a number of Co.s would have stolen the fields years ago. Profitable is the question. If Oil where to hit 150$barrel we would see every postage stamp field being pumped. I assume the war on Russia is purely about controlling the oil/gas fields now that the North Sea is in rapid decline. The clue is the amount of water injection over time. Water injecting increases the pressure to pump however risks the collapse of the head. The water flips the oil in the reservoir and destroys pumping. I wrote a story years ago about resource depletion all the rage a decade ago, Dirty Dozen to Mars ha. Most of those temporary fixes of fracking are failing especially at less then 80$barrel. End Stage Capitalism demands cheap energy, Fission and Fusion have been championed since I was a little kid. They are not cheap. Solar was also an interesting diversion from reality too. Just think a solar panel the size of the u.s. South West to replace the electrical power we currently use, that includes night/weather/dust and degrading efficiency. I am assuming this blood lust is more about energy than, let me pause to laugh, democracy hahahahahahaha. Even Vietnam was about offshore oil/gas possibilities. What is really strange, we in the u.s. have spent roughly 22 Trillion on military over the decades and Yemen is kicking sand in our collective faces. I love the people of Yemen, thank you friends for saving the world. I know that sounds hyperbolic but, when the bully wins shit happens. Free Palestine and free the world

: )

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founding

Thank you for this!

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deletedJan 27
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I think that is the reason the failing u.s. global war attempts are purely about control of energy in decline. Fracking works with high prices and lots o water for injection. Many of these fracking co.s are failing at less the 80$ a barrel. End Stage Capitalism demands cheap energy and slave labor. The Coming Global War For Energy sounds like a story told many times. Fascinating if it where only a video game.

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deletedJan 29
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founding

And the Imperialist Capitalist trap is a growing grid/gridlock with more and more countries/populations becoming victims or being bought/threatened with military might, devastation national debt to the IMF, etc. into letting International investors in, and receiving a fraction of the profits for their own people and being devastated anyway. I was just reading about what has happened to the Sudanese in 60 years - millions killed, displaced, villages burned, villagers killed, cattle stolen, girls and boys sold into slavery and on and on - and how many Capitalist countries have been involved in that pillaging! And there is the bigger issue affecting all life on Earth in that most of the oil needs to stay in the ground where Mother Earth can wisely distribute that hydrocarbon needed by all of life forms to sustain life on Earth.

I'm glad you are good friends with the Sun and and Wind, Jon.

This is beautiful about the U'wa: https://www.lifegate.com/uwa-resistance

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Thank you Chris for your tremendous insight and reporting expertise as I have used your work often in my days as a high school teacher. With any luck some of y my students may have retained some of the things you presented.👌👏😎👊✌️

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More power to you in your most important work with kids, Phil Pantages.

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Thank you for such a fine interview. What a fine human being Mr Mokhiber is. His disaffection with “institutions” as a source of Justice and right action and his faith in the power of the good in the people rising to bring to the fore what is so crushingly missing in the acts of the institutions/ nation states inspires. It finally all boils down to each of us committing to truth and creative right action. Thank you Chris Hedges for the wisdom you bring in your questions and especially for your granting Mr. Mokhiber a spacious ness to respond so thoughtfully.

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UN is just another immoral political tool of the Empire. It should be dismantled, just like NATO.

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I don't now if I am correct but I looked at the Forbes List of Jewish millionaires/billionaires and companies from around the world.

I am not a person who believes in 'fake' news but it does seem to me that a huge number of Jewish people own a lot of the world.

Was this done so they could have more control?

IF so it started a long time ago with an agenda which has slowly become a wrecking ball for civil rights in the world.

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Chris, we don’t have to agree on everything. For example, I chose personal autonomy when it came to the C19 vax mandate debate. I choose pro human environmentalism, despite all of our flaws, rather than the cult of climate alarmism. But I still appreciate your efforts to share your truths.

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Working people would have great power if we all thought like that. I don't have to agree with everything someone believes as long as we share the most important ideas. Vote NO on Genocide Joe and maybe this election is the third party destroying the Monopoly party. Me Stein/West 24

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Yes, controlling Iranian oil is likely a factor, the money politicians get from Israeli lobbies, but also the ongoing profits for military industrial complex players and we might add bit Pharma. But if Israel does build a canal through Gaza then there is at the added marked of sea and commerce control. In the past year alone at least 7 US hedge funds moved to UAE. It seems that Israel is being positioned to become as strong as US in terms of an economic center. The assumption is it would not turn against US but since US does it's bidding the two nations, power wise, as essentially one. If you look at top 25 billionaires, including one from India, they all came out in support of the genocide. The Indian billionaire's group, Adani, just bought the port at Haifa, which is why I think there is another market opening to control sea movement, this could be in response to China's Belt project. This is why Saudi Arabia is critical to the sea project. I don't think it can happen without Saudi Arabia. So there is a lot of money that is going to be gained in these new projects.

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Jews are committing genocide against Palestinians because Palestinians are not Jews.

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