The untold ICC story: How the Global South helped Palestine challenge Western Institutions
May 31st, 20240 Even the most optimistic of political analysts did not expect that the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor would be uttering these words: “I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu... and Yoav Gallant... bear criminal responsibility for... war crimes and crimes against humanity...” Aside from...
AI Image “All Eyes on Rafah” goes viral on Instagram with 45 million shares
May 31st, 20240 An AI-generated image bringing attention to the attack on Rafah has gone viral, with nearly 45 million Instagram users sharing the image on their accounts. Celebrities, including Gigi and Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa and Nicola Coughlan, also shared the post. The AI image read "All Eyes on Rafah" in large letters surrounded by what seems to be...
Iran’s President Raisi buried in Mashhad as mourners pack Iranian holy city
May 24th, 20241 President Ebrahim Raisi was buried in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad on Thursday as many thousands of mourners packed its streets for his funeral, four days after he died in a helicopter crash, footage broadcast by Iranian media showed. Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who...
“Israel must be stopped” in Gaza, South Africa tells World Court
May 17th, 20240 THE HAGUE – On Thursday, South Africa urged the U.N.'s top court to order a halt to Israel's offensive on Rafah, saying attacks on Gaza city "must be stopped" to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people. South Africa's ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, asked judges to order Israel to "immediately, totally and...
Palestinians mark 76 years of their dispossession, the Nakba, as more catastrophe unfolds in Gaza
May 17th, 20240 On Wednesday, Palestinians marked the 76th year of their mass expulsion from their country, Palestine — what is now Israel — an event at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians refer to it as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe....
Federal lawsuit filed against Lebanese banks and their American affiliates for defrauding U.S. depositors
May 17th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to a complaint filed May 15 in federal court, for years, Banque du Liban (BDL), Byblos Bank, S.A.L. (Byblos) and others (together, the “Lebanese Banking Enterprise”) have stolen billions of dollars from U.S. depositors. These U.S. citizens and residents claim the Lebanese Banking Enterprise...
More than 500 Oxford faculty and staff endorse Gaza solidarity encampment
May 17th, 20240 OXFORD, U.K. – On Tuesday, just over a week since the establishment of Oxford’s “Liberated Zone” for Gaza, more than 500 members of the faculty and staff at the University of Oxford have now pledged their support in writing for the solidarity encampment and its demands. More signatures are being added in support daily. The...
Who are Israel’s main weapons suppliers and who have halted exports?
May 10th, 20240 The United States has suspended a shipment of weapons to Israel, including heavy, bunker-busting bombs Israeli forces have used in their war against Hamas militants in Gaza that have killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in seven months. President Biden acted in the face of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to pursue a...
Biden says U.S. won’t supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah
May 10th, 20240 President Biden said that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. On Wednesday Biden said in an interview with CNN that the U.S. was still committed to Israel’s defense and would supply...
NATO’s never-ending war: The 75-year-old bully is faltering
May 8th, 20243 The Western discourse on the circumstances behind the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 75 years ago, is hardly convincing. Yet, that over-simplified discourse must be examined in order for the current decline of the organization to be appreciated beyond the self-serving politics of NATO’s members. The...
Netanyahu assures Israelis of “total victory”, while teetering on the brink of total defeat
May 8th, 20240 By Jamal I. Bittar Last Friday, Israel launched an assault on Iran in response to an Iranian incursion onto Israeli soil the weekend prior, involving over 300 missiles and drones. Among the various options available to the Israeli government – ranging from assaults on numerous nuclear facilities, military bases and key national...
Pro-Palestinian students protests and encampments spread across major Canadian universities
May 8th, 20240 TORONTO — Quebec Premier Francois Legault said on Thursday the encampment at Montreal's McGill University should be dismantled as more students erected pro-Palestinian camps across some of Canada's largest universities, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel. The Canadian protests come as police have been arresting...
Palestinians are gratified for American students’ support, wonder why students in the Arab world are dormant
May 6th, 20240 Palestinians may be gratified to see American university campuses erupt in outrage over Israel's offensive in Gaza, but some in the embattled enclave are also wondering why no similar protests have hit the Arab countries they long viewed as allies. Demonstrations have rocked U.S. universities this week, with confrontations between...
Pro-Palestinian protests and encampments sweep campuses of major universities across the nation
April 26th, 20240 INTIFADA ON CAMPUSES College campuses have become breeding grounds for pro-Palestine protests. Student protesters have continued to set up encampments at their universities and display their support for Palestinians and against Israeli aggressions. Students are also demanding that their universities divest from companies that...
Mass graves discovery in Gaza: What do we know and what are the consequences under international law?
April 26th, 20240 THE HAGUE – The discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals, said by Palestinian authorities to contain hundreds of bodies, have triggered calls by the U.N. rights chief and others for an international investigation. While not defined under international law, a mass grave is a burial site containing multiple bodies, the existence......
U.S. vetoes widely supported resolution backing full U.N. membership for Palestine
April 19th, 20240 NEW YORK – The United States vetoed a widely backed U.N. resolution Thursday that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor, the United States opposed and two...
More than 100 arrested in pro-Palestine protest on Columbia University’s campus
April 19th, 20240 NEW YORK — Police officers arrest more than 100 people following a pro-Palestine protest at Columbia University. According to law enforcement officials, protesters were arrested on a preliminary charge of criminal trespass. They'd camped on the lawn in efforts to stand as the "Gaza solidarity Encampment", according to reports. Mayor......
Tehran vows revenge after U.N. Security Council fails to condemn Israel’s strike on its embassy in Syria
April 7th, 20241 On Wednesday, the United States, Britain and France opposed a Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council statement that would have condemned an attack on Iran's embassy compound in Syria, which Tehran has blamed on Washington's ally Israel. Press statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed to by consensus. Diplomats said the U.S.,...
U.S. looking at report that Israel used AI to identify bombing targets in Gaza
April 7th, 20240 The United States was looking into a media report that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN on Thursday. Kirby, in the CNN interview, said the U.S. had not verified the content of the media report published...
World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
April 6th, 20240 Seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed by an Israeli attack in Gaza. They were delivering aid when their convoy was hit. Chef Jose Andres, founder of the WCK charity group, said he had communication with the Israeli military, and that they knew the aid workers' locale. Some of the workers killed included Lalzawmi...
Washington employs a blatant double standard, which is both evident and hypocritical
March 30th, 20240 By Jamal I. Bittar After numerous unsuccessful efforts spanning five months during Israel's destructive conflict in Gaza, the United Nations Security Council finally approved a resolution on Monday, urging for an immediate ceasefire. The United States, previously the sole obstacle to such a decision, opted not to veto the resolution......
The big question about the U.N. Security Council’s Gaza ceasefire resolution
March 30th, 20240 On March 25, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2728, regarding the ongoing war in Gaza, by a vote of 14-0. The United States abstained rather than — as it usually does when the Israeli regime dislikes a resolution — using its "permanent member" veto. The meat of the resolution "emands an immediate ceasefire for...
Ireland to intervene in South Africa Genocide Case against Israel at the International Court of Justice
March 30th, 20240 Ireland plans to file an argument in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, according to the Irish government, making the move as the country has strongly condemned Israel’s actions against civilians in Gaza. South Africa has brought a case against Israel in the I.C.J., the United......
World court orders Israel to take action to address Gaza famine
March 30th, 20240 THE HAGUE — on Thursday, Judges at the International Court of Justice unanimously ordered Israel to take all the necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza. The ICJ said the Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions of life, and famine and starvation...
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war’s toll on Palestinian children
March 29th, 20240 An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned. One toddler died from a brain injury caused by an Israeli strike that fractured his skull. His cousin, an infant, is still......
