ISRAELI POLITICIAN: HUNGER & THIRST HELP RECRUIT COLLABORATORS

An Israeli politician made headlines when she said blockading the Gaza Strip, thereby starving Palestinians, would help Israel cultivate collaborators to gather intelligence. The Likud Party’s Revital Gotliv shocked many with this 23 October speech to the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body.

Continued…On 26 January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found it plausible that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide and issued a provisional ruling, ordering Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts. That includes punishing incitement to commit genocide, ensuring aid and services reach Palestinians under siege in Gaza, and for Israel to report to the ICJ within a month on its progress.

Tel Aviv appears to have ignored the UN court’s directive, continuing to throttle the flow of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave. Israel has bombed Palestinians at the Rafah border crossing near Egypt, while Israeli protesters have blocked aid trucks. The death toll has also risen, with Israel now having killed almost 30,000 Palestinians since the 7 October escalation in the 75-year Palestine-Israel conflict. Meanwhile, 1.5 million people have been displaced, and over 70 per cent of housing has been destroyed.

What do you think of the Israeli lawmaker’s remarks? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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ALL UN MEMBERS MUST STOP AIDING ISRAEL

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is holding advisory proceedings this week regarding Israel’s military assault against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. On 19 February, legal scholar Philippe Sands delivered this message as he represented Palestine: Every UN member state providing material support or aid to Israel must stop.

Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since the end of World War II, having received $150 billion (not adjusted for inflation) between 1948 and 2022. Just this month, the US House of Representatives voted down an additional $17.6 billion ‘stand-alone’ package to Israel. Another $14 billion in military aid to Israel, part of a larger $95 billion package to several countries, faces uncertainty in the House after passing in the Senate.

Continued…..The ICJ ordered Israel on 26 January to refrain from acts that would amount to genocide after hearing South Africa’s case. However, the bombardments and siege have continued, with the death toll surpassing 29,000.

How do you think the world can bring Israel’s bombardment and siege to a halt? Let us know in the comments.

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SOUTH AFRICA IMPLORES CJ TO END ISRAEL’S APARTHEID

The ICJ is holding a six day hearing based on a UN General Assembly request for a non-binding advisory on the legality of Israel’s policies in Palestine. Fifty-two countries will present their arguments- the largest number to participate in a single international court case.

South Africa opened the second day of hearings with ironclad arguments presented by Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands. He reiterated that Israel was responsible for perpetrating “apartheid” against the Palestinians, likening its occupation to what South Africans suffered under the oppressive settler colonial regime in their country. Such a shared pain, recalled Madonsela, demands a “special obligation” to call out apartheid wherever it occurs and ensure an “immediate end” to the current assault on the Gaza strip.

Continued…..To date, Israel’s assault in Gaza has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.

South Africa has a long history of support for Palestine, thus spearheading the ICJ case which has accused Israel of “genocidal” acts in its incessant and widespread bombardment of Gaza. Representatives from the South African government have called for the total withdrawal of Israeli troops with an immediate end to the illegal occupation.

Israel declined to attend the current proceedings and has continuously refused to recognize the legitimacy of the ICJ hearings.

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SEUN KUTI TALKS REVOLUTION

Seun Kuti, the youngest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, discussed the need for a revolution in Nigeria. He said the current system teaches the masses to think and behave like the oppressors.

In January 2012, Kuti participated in the Occupy Nigeria protests against then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s proposal to remove a fuel subsidy. After the SARS movement in October 2020, he helped revive his father’s political party, Movement of the People, a left-wing Pan-African movement. In late 2023, he signed the Artists Against Apartheid statement that expressed support for Palestinians.

What do you think of Kuti’s remarks on revolution? Let us know in the comments.

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‘IT IS SO PAINFUL TO BE A PALESTINIAN TODAY’

“It is so painful to be a Palestinian today” - that was the heartfelt message of the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, addressing the International Court of Justice. In a moving speech, Riyad Mansour had to fight back the tears and pause to compose himself.

The UN-instigated ICJ trial at which he spoke is looking into Israel’s annexation of lands in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - but his words also evoked the plight of Gazans, especially Gaza’s young, amid Tel Aviv’s brutal war, which has claimed over 10,000 children’s lives.

South Africa recently asked the same court to order a ceasefire - accusing Israel of genocide. But the ICJ ruled only that Tel Aviv must do all it can to prevent atrocities.

Mansour‘s plea is a powerful watch. Please share and let us know your reactions.

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REBELS CUT OFF SUPPLIES TO GOMA

As M23 rebels step up their vicious campaign of terror in eastern DR Congo, seizing territories and choking supply routes by cutting off transport on major roads, food supplies to the regional capital Goma have been disrupted, condemning over two-million residents and displaced individuals to a gruelling humanitarian crisis.

This vast country has grappled with decades-long militia violence, indirectly financed with Western funds, which has killed an untold number of people and uprooted about 7 million from their homes.

However, in the east’s largest city, Goma, the situation is rapidly deteriorating. Commodity prices are sharply rising as day-to-day essentials such as food and fuel are not getting into the city, which appears to be under a blockade from the rebels. For now, supplies are still making it in via canoes from villages around the shores of Lake Kivu.

African Stream’s Erick Gavala reports from the ground.

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ISRAEL KICKED OUT OF AFRICA

African nations are turning their backs towards Israel. The African Union, whose chair used to be very keen to have Tel Aviv join its sessions as observer, has now revoked that honour - amid growing condemnation within the bloc of the war in Gaza. That’s not at all how Benjamin Netanyahu had hoped things would go - a few years back, the Israeli Prime Minister had promised another African alliance, ECOWAS, that Israel was “coming back” to our continent. African Stream’s Ahmed Ghoneim breaks the new state of relations down in 90 seconds.

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SAMANTHA POWER PRESSED ON HYPOCRITICAL US POLICIES

U.S. authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to sell their policies to Millennials as the younger generation is more inclined to question establishment politics. In that vein, former U.S. envoy to the UN and current head of USAID, Samantha Power, found herself on the hot seat during a Question and Answer session at Johns Hopkins University where she was a guest speaker on climate policies.

Continued….During the talk, a young contract specialist at USAID, an organisation known for its food-diplomacy (or dependency) in exchange for towing US foreign policy,” asked her about Washington’s conflicting policies in Gaza, labelling them “hypocritical.” Power’s unconvincing, half-hearted response served to highlight the growing gap between U.S. political elite and young Americans. The divide has increased in recent months, especially due to Washington’s continued support for Israel in its assault on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.

Again, keep in mind, USAID is just one tool in the US foreign policymakers bag of tricks. Not only has it been used to weaponise food aid, making it mightier than bombs, missiles and foreign intervention in places like Africa, but some Global South governments have even accused the agency of being a CIA front. In recent years, USAID has expanded its operations, creating a social media network in Cuba called ZunZuneo in the hopes of undermining, weakening, or even overthrowing the government.

Do you think the detachment of U.S. policymakers from their young citizens will affect global politics?

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REMAINS OF S.AFRICAN SOLDIERS KILLED IN D.R.C ARRIVE HOME

On 21 February, the bodies of two South African soldiers killed while on a peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrived back home. Their remains were received amid sombre military salutations at Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa.

Captain Simon Mkhulu Bobe and Lance Corporal Irven Thabang Semono were killed last week when a mortar bomb hit a camp housing a South African military contingent. It’s the first fatalities for South Africa since it began deploying 2,900 soldiers to the Eastern Congo to help put an end to increasing rebel violence in the region. The mortar attack also left three soldiers with serious injuries.

Continued….At the invitation of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) agreed to deploy a regional peacekeeping mission to the Eastern DRC. In mid 2023, Tshisekedi announced that a SADC military battalion would replace soldiers from the East African Community (EAC) who had been deployed to Eastern Congo months earlier. Their role was to help fight the M23 rebels who are blamed for the rise in violence in the region. However, Tshisekedi accused the EAC forces of not only being ineffective against the M23 but also colluding with them. Equally unsatisfied with a two-decade-long United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in his country, Tshisekedi has demanded their total withdrawal from the Congo by the end of this year.

Several stakeholders, including the UN and the Congolese government, have accused neighbouring Rwanda of funding and arming M23, a charge that Kigali has repeatedly denied.

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MYSTERY DEATH: FAMILY DENIED ACCESS TO KENYAN HAITI-MISSION COP FOUND IN U.S. HOTEL

The family of a Kenyan police inspector found dead in mysterious circumstances in the US says it’s being denied access to the body.

Walter Nyankieya Nyamwato - along with a group of other officers - was en route from Kenya to Haiti, where Nairobi controversially intends to deploy 1,000 police on a security mission. He was found lying on his stomach, unresponsive, in his Washington hotel room. No explanation has been offered for his death.

Nyamwato’s father says another family member living in the US was turned away by police when he made enquiries - and was told that this would be a ‘government-to-government’ matter.

In this clip, the father relates what happened.

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I’M PROUD OF GAZA RUINS - ISRAELI POLITICIAN

Another shocking statement out of Israel. This time, May Golan, Israeli Minister of Social Equality & Women’s Advancement, said she’s proud of how the Israeli military has flattened Gaza with bombardments.

Golan was speaking during a 19 February debate in the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body, on a motion to expel Ofer Cassif, a member of the Arab-majority, left-wing Hadash-Ta’al political coalition, over his support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Continued…..One might assume that, as a woman, she would sympathise with the plight of women and children, who comprise 70 per cent of the nearly 30,000 Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip. A UN report documents that two women are killed every hour in the besieged enclave. Every day, 180 women are giving birth without water, painkillers, medical supplies or anaesthesia for Caesarean sections. Meanwhile, incubators cannot access electricity because the ongoing Israeli blockade that began in 2007 intensified with the 7 October escalation in the Palestine-Israel conflict.

As a supposed proponent of women’s advancement, Golan may go down in history books for cheerleading Israel’s murder of Palestinian women.

What do you think of this viral clip? Let us know in the comments.

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