Kashmir now a settler-colonial project, Kashmiri leader tells Islamic convention on Pakistan Today

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A noted Kashmiri leader told the annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North American (ISNA) in Chicago that Jammu and Kashmir, which India unilaterally annexed in August 2019, was now “a full-fledged settler-colonial project,”  one similar to Israel’s in the occupied Palestinian territories. “A genocidal and ethnic cleansing plan is in place”, Ghulam Nabi Mir, President of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum and Chairman of the Kashmir Global Coalition, said in a speech to delegates from across the United States.

Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum was the Emcee of the event. He said that Kashmir, Palestine and Rohingya genocide are the three important international conflicts. 

Continue reading at https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2023/09/04/kashmir-now-a-settler-colonial-project-kashmiri-leader-tells-islamic-convention/

24 Democratic Congress members visit Israel, give unconditional support to the apartheid regime by Sameena Rahman

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Twenty-four U.S. Democratic Party congress members visited Israel this week and gave unconditional support to the ultra-reactionary Netanyahu government, whose genocidal policies towards Palestinians have reached new heights.

… This blatant tone-deafness from the Democrats is hardly surprising as they continue to ignore the widespread repression and violation of Palestinians human rights. Just this year alone, multiple Palestinian communities have faced repeated assault by the Israeli Defense Forces despite international condemnation. On Aug. 6, Zionist settlers who murdered three Palestinian children were hailed as heroes by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Such crimes and incitements of genocide by high Israeli officials was ignored, with the Democrats’ blanket endorsement and legitimizing the racist state.

… The Biden administration has thus far only offered mild admonishment with no teeth to force Israel to uphold any semblance of democracy for Palestinians as it spirals further into a fascistic state. The Democrats delegation’s uncritical visit is a green light for Israel’s racist crimes to continue with impunity, and puts the Democratic Party fully in league with the likes of Netanyahu, Beh-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a self-described “fascist homophobe” and promoter of genocide. 

Continue reading at https://www.liberationnews.org/24-democratic-congress-members-visit-israel-give-unconditional-support-to-the-apartheid-regime/

Letter of Support: Standing With Our Palestinian Student Population by Wayne State’s Student Senate

PLEASE TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW AND SEND YOUR LETTER TO THE UN OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ADVISER ON THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE AND THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR.

As Wayne State University’s student governing body, we are responsible for representing students’ voices on matters that impact our community. Per our mission statement, we are committed to providing representation and advocacy for all by bridging the gap between students, faculty, staff, and administration. Student Senate is focused on the student experience first, ensuring inclusivity and equity for our peers… As a student body, we strongly condemn the genocide of the Palestinian people by the Israeli apartheid government.

Continue reading at https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvr-PN3rS9v/?img_index=1

Milwaukee activists protest at U.S. Representative Moore’s office over blind support for Israel on Fight Back! News

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Speakers from both Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) and JVP condemned the resolution and Gwen Moore’s vote, while expressing solidarity and support for Palestine.

“These are the facts: Israel has been brutalizing, displacing and murdering Palestinians – including women, children and the elderly – for 75 years. They have enacted policy after policy which explicitly target Palestinians, creating an apartheid state while they actively pursue genocide,” said Remi Schueler of the MAC, adding that Representative Moore’s “blind support for Israel in spite of its flagrant and repeated violations of human rights does not speak well of her character. To side with Republicans now, on an issue of racism of all things as they attack DEI and affirmative action, is absurd.”

Continue reading at https://www.fightbacknews.org/2023/7/30/milwaukee-activists-protest-us-representative-moore-s-office-over-blind-support-israel

Letter | Richard McGowan: Pocan’s double-speak on Israel on The Capital Times

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On July 18, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan voted yes on a resolution that asserts that Israel “is not a racist or apartheid state… This is beyond an insult to the Palestinian victims that he has pretended to champion, after previously having taken trips to the occupied territories where he got his photo-op and proceeded to vote for more billions to fund Israel’s escalating violence toward Palestinians who are staring down genocide, from Jenin to Gaza.

Continue reading at https://captimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-pocans-double-speak-on-israel/article_008faaf1-9215-536c-ac88-3a87e5eb5338.html

118th Congress 1st Session H. RES. 388: Recognizing the Ongoing Nakba and Palestine Refugees rights. by Ms. Tlaib and Ms. Omar, Ms. Mccollum, Mr. Bowman, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, and Ms. Bush to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

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Whereas the United States Congress enacted the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–441) mandating the President to identify, monitor, and report on potential and ongoing atrocities, and to develop policies and programs to improve the United States response, and noting that it is the policy of the United States to ‘‘regard the prevention of atrocities as in its national interest’’; Whereas Israeli politicians are increasingly threatening a second Nakba against the Palestinian people…

[We] request from the President the application of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–441) to the treatment of Palestinians by Israel (both state and nonstate actors), including—
(A) a report on the situation in the mandated annual reporting to the Congress;
(B) training for United States Foreign Service Officers stationed in the United States Embassy to Israel per section 4 of such Act and section 4028(d) of title 22, United States Code; and
(C) supporting and protecting Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups and human rights defenders working to monitor, document, prevent, and respond to atrocities;

Continue watching at https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hres388/BILLS-118hres388ih.pdf

Local Jewish Academics Respond to Israeli Assault on Al-Aqsa Mosque by David Luhrssen

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We are familiar with white supremacy—would you consider actions by militant Zionists as an expression of religious supremacy?

Rachel Ida Buff: Religious supremacy and white supremacy—witness attitudes in Israel towards Jews from the Middle East and North Africa—the attitudes towards Palestinian are genocidal and racist. 

Continue watching at https://wisconsinmuslimjournal.org/jewish-academics-respond-to-israeli-assault-on-al-aqsa-mosque/

Letter to The Capital Times: Similarities Between the Irish and Palestinian Struggles by Richard McGowan on Washington Report

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Today when I hear “Give Ireland Back to the Irish,” I can’t help but think that if we swapped “Ireland” and “Irish” with “Palestine” and “Palestinian” that it would reveal as much truth as the original… Palestinians endure humiliating military checkpoints, extrajudicial killings, land theft, political disenfranchisement, an apartheid legal system and genocide.

Continue watching at https://www.wrmea.org/2023-may/similarities-between-the-irish-and-palestinian-struggles.html

Israel: Evidence of Bezalel Smotrich’s support for genocide is clear. The US must act by Eitay Mack

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Like all of these previous comments, Smotrich’s statements from last week about the pogrom in Huwwara can only be construed as a direct and public incitement to commit genocide against the Palestinian people. According to article 3(c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and according to the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda (ICTR) and the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in terms of the mental element necessary for the crime of “incitement” to commit crimes against humanity and genocide, the instigator must act intentionally, that is, there must be an intention to provoke or cause to commit the crime, or at least awareness of the likelihood that committing a crime will be a possible result of his actions.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide establishes on state parties the obligation to take measures to prevent and to punish the crime of genocide (article 1), including by enacting relevant legislation and punishing perpetrators, “whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals” (article 4).

That obligation to “prevent” genocide, in addition to the prohibition not to commit genocide, has beenconsidered a norm of international customary law and therefore binding on all states, including the US… As detailed above, Smotrich, in my opinion, appears to support genocide and the full denial of human and civil rights recognised in international law of those he sees as “enemies”. Under these circumstances, he should be sanctioned in accordance with article 3(b), including inadmissibility to the US and the blocking of his property.

Continue watching at https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-us-bezalel-smotrich-evidence-genocide-support

PETITION | Department of State: Don’t let Smotrich fundraise for genocideby Adalah Justice Project

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The effectiveness of policies of elimination requires two conditions: mass killings and varying degrees of violence on the one hand, and a supportive or complicit public on the other. Israel has both.

The phenomenon known as “settler violence” is a daily and endless sequence of assaults, of which only the tip of the iceberg ever reaches the Israeli media. Under the banner of a “war on terror,” soldiers can commit intolerable crimes, many of which, too, are rarely reported. The mass of the crimes, their frequency, their pervasiveness, and the explicit endorsement of them by Israel’s leadership and public opinion, are all designed to produce a reality in which the law of elimination becomes a law of nature.

Continue reading at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/department-of-state-dont-let-smotrich-fundraise-for-genocide