NoW UPDATE: UKRAINE

 

Russian Artillery--Battle of Berlin, Spring 1945

OH Wait! I forgot. There’s another war going on in Eastern Europe...that Ukraine thingy. It is interesting in the last couple of months to see how mixed Western leaders and mainstream media have become around prognosticating what Ukraine’s chances are for success in the war against Russia.  A growing number of analysts suggest that the best Ukrainians can hope for is some kind of stalemate, with the lines of contact frozen, something  akin to the Korean DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) model. That’s a best-case scenario. Chances are, Ukraine will have to accept far worse, the longer the conflict continues.

OTHERS feel Ukraine may go on the defensive and develop asymmetric warfare tactics (long-range drones, missiles, sabotage, pinprick strikes behind Russian lines) as its primary method of operation. But bigwigs like the American Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, NATO chief Stoltenberg, and EU President Ursula von der Leyen still believe in magic and achieving the impossible, when stating yet again that Ukraine can carry on its fight against Russia as long as it’s given enough money and armaments. Meanwhile, French President Macron blows hot and cold around the idea of sending French forces into Odessa to discourage Russia from attacking the famous Black Sea port. Of all the dangerous, dumfuk ideas! And ridiculous (as in it ain't gonna happen). In Brussels last week, Stoltenberg, Blinken and American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, tiresomely reaffirmed their commitment to bring Ukraine into NATO, ignoring Russia’s red lines and its demand that Ukraine becomes a neutral country and never joins NATO.

 

BUT lesser minds think alike: Stoltenberg et al are banging on for the EU to pony up 100 billion bucks to be set aside in a slush fund to finance Ukraine’s war efforts into 2025 and beyond and, in addition have those greenbacks locked  into NATO’s budget just in case Trump wins the presidency in November (and acts to end the war and scale back U.S. commitment to the 75-year old military alliance). To finance this boondoggle effort, Stoltenberg suggests the EU and U.S. steal confiscate Russian central bank assets on deposit and “frozen” in West since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. However, such a potentially disastrous action is deemed unlikely.😨

FINANCING the Ukrainian war effort is becoming less palatable for Europeans now that American funding commitments have been held up in Congress and U.S. attention is turning toward Israel and the Gaza horror show. As a sign of their desperation, EU leadership has even floated the idea of borrowing money in international money markets for Ukraine. Throwing good money after bad and adopting policies to further provoke Russia seems the modus operandi these days.

 OF COURSE:

👉Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was illegal under international law, but it was not an unprovoked attack, as many politicians and MSM talking heads will suggest. For years, Russian officials warned the West that bringing Ukraine into NATO was a red line for them. Yet our foolish officials continued to insist that was their intention, come hell or high water. Just last week, American Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made mouth noises underscoring their commitment to this foolishly provocative and wholly unnecessary goal. Of course, the real goal was to “weaken Russia", not save Ukraine (and never mind how many Ukrainians have to die in the process).

👉Ukraine has already lost. It is a dead man walking. Inertia, additional funding, and policies pursued by errant knaves in Kiev and Washington can keep it going for a while, but some analysts suggest Ukraine's battered army may not last the summer. The war-ravaged country is out of weapons, out of manpower and out of time.

👉Contrary to public opinion, the Russian military is no “Potemkin” construct. It is robust and growing. Recently, it created a fifth military district, the “Leningrad District”, to address the security threat posed along its western and northern borders by the new NATO idiots members, Norway and Sweden. Plans to create a 1.5-million-man army are on schedule, with a significant number of volunteers joining the ranks each month.

👉Its weapons industries manufacture military equipment, missiles, bombs, artillery shells, tanks, drones, etc., on a scale multiples greater than the entire West’s military production capabilities combined.

👉If the recent terrorist attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, killing nearly 140 concert goers and that ISIS now takes credit, was found to have been formulated or supported by Ukrainian intelligence services or Britain’s MI6 or even the CIA, then the repercussions could be deadly if Russia chooses to launch reprisal attacks.

👉Unless Ukraine bids for peace now it could well lose Kharkiv and Odessa and their surrounding territories, leaving it a land-locked and dysfunctional rump state on the ass end of Europe.

👉In a recent meeting with Belarusian president Lukashenko, Putin laid out Russia's position on key points necessary to end its Special Military Operation in Ukraine:

        👌The "Istanbul Agreement" of 2022 Between Kiev and Moscow that was sabotaged by former British PM Boris Johnson, can be a starting point for future talks, "but a number of new realities have emerged in two years," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Significant modifications and additions to the original proposal are necessary to craft an 'Istanbul Plus' treaty. "But realities [i.e., four eastern Ukrainian oblasts and Crimea are now part of Russia. That's non-negotiable. Ed.] have to be taken into account."

        👌No NATO. Ukraine must be neutral, like Austria, with a limited size for its army, post-conflict.

        👌"De-Nazify" Ukraine through the enactment of new laws.

        👌It must accept security guarantees from Russia.

        👌Russia will have veto power over any foreign troop presence in Ukraine.

👉Moscow does not think Ukraine or the West will consider Istanbul Plus a basis for negotiation, but Putin laid down his markers. It should be noted that Zelensky is presenting his completely unworkable (as far as the Russians are concerned) 10-point plan at a major "Peace" conference in Switzerland in June. Russia was not invited. How they expect this to work when two years of sanctions and warfare have only strengthened Russia, is anybody's guess. And what's the point of such a gathering when the other side isn't there to negotiate?😕

    Paris Peace Conference, 1919

👉Western intransigence means Ukraine's fate will be determined on the battlefield, not around the negotiating table.          

👉Russia has the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. Something to keep in mind.

   

FUN FACT#1—Palestinians living in northern Gaza, several hundred thousand, where much of the infrastructure and homes have been destroyed, making the enclave there more like a moonscape or something from a post-Apocalyptic movie, have adopted the “Gazan Diet” as part of their health and fitness regimes. Starvation, make no bones about it, is the timeless weight-loss method guaranteed (you heard me!) to drop those unwanted pounds and inches in record time.

 

FROM the famines of early Rome to the “Volcanic winter” of 535-536 that affected food production globally, [Sorry, no stats on this one. Ed.] to the climatically impacted famines experienced by the Mayan peoples of Central America, where decades-long droughts killed an estimated 1,000,000, to the many, many famines and micro-famines occurring in Europe and elsewhere throughout our shared millenniums including, more recently, the Russian famine* of 1601-03 that killed 1/3 of the population, famine has proven it is the number one diet to win the battle of the bulge. There are perennial favourites like the Irish Potato Famine of 1844-49, the 1876-78 Indian famines (est. 5.5 million), and Ukraine’s “Holodomor” (3 to 5 million in 1931-32). Of course, the record holder is Mao Zedong’s “Great Leap Forward” social engineering faux pas, during which an estimated 15 to 55 million Chinese died of starvation. Honorable mention goes to the “Holodomor”, of course.

 

TODAY, we turn our attention to Gaza Strip where Oxfam reports that Palestinians in the northern half of the enclave receive 245 calories per day⁺ or less than 12% of an average diet. (Hell! My burger’s condiments have more calories than that!) And Gazans in Rafah and in the southern zone currently receive “just 41 per cent of the daily calories needed per person.”

By all accounts, Israelis are doing a bang-up job assisting Palestinians with their diets. It remains to be seen, in the coming weeks and months, whether the Gazan Diet will be up to snuff in the starvation stats. The Holodomor killed an estimated 13% of the Ukrainian population. A ‘back-of-the-napkin’ calculation gets us a hefty 336,000 deaths that the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza must tote up if they want to beat Ukraine’s record. Granted, they have a long row to hoe, but with the IDF’s (Israeli Defense Force) help, through its blockades, killing of aid workers, closing food distribution networks, destroying infrastructure, homes, and croplands, those perky residents of the Gaza Strip have a shot at topping Ukraine’s death-by-starvation numbers, and to drop those unwanted pounds permanently. 

 

AS AN ASIDE, Jonathan Swift’s 1729 “A Modest Proposal”, while dealing primarily with the issue of poverty in Ireland, and suggesting the Irish poor sell their children as a food source to the wealthy (no need mentioning how the Irish breed like rabbits—then and now!), it goes without saying that Gaza, with nearly half its population under the age of 18, would be well advised to consider Swift’s proposal as a way of solving both their impoverishment issues, and at the same time maintaining healthy protein levels with a steady supply of meat at hand. Cannibalism is not the exclusive domain of the rich!   

 

FUN FACT#2 PEOPLE ARE FUNNY—It seems just about every other day there are reports of a school shooting somewhere in the United States (and, though rarer, here in Canada, as well). “Soft targets.” That’s what they call places like schools, churches, community buildings, in other words places that cannot monitor and identify every threat coming their way. No matter how advanced today's security systems are there’s one thing they can’t do: They can’t read people’s minds. 

For example, the smiling scholar stepping to the podium to get his diploma might carry a samurai sword beneath his robes as he prepares to lop off his professor’s head over some imagined grievance. The “ugly duckling”, teased for years by her classmates, might carry a semi-automatic handgun in her frumpy, unstylish gym bag, all set to murder the sorority queens as they shower after cheer-leading practice.

HARM can come to your child from ‘mad hatters’ with blades or ticking time-bombs in lunchpails. And guns, of course. Guns are a part of the culture and are everywhere in the lower forty-eight with over 393 million firearms thought to be in the possession by Americans. It goes without saying that some gun owners are bad apples. Some are loons and even terrorists. All it takes is the slightest pull on the trigger to release chaos and harm upon those we love, particularly our children. Our precious ones live safe and sheltered in their homes, under their parents’ watchful eyes. But what happens to them on the walk to school? During recess? In the classroom? How can we prevent our children from becoming statistics in police reports—dead, in black and white. THAT’S WHY my heart skipped a beat when I read about guns designed for children.

 

 I REMEMBER, back in the day, watching the movie, “Old Yeller”, waiting for the scene when young Travis Coates, tears streaming down his face, uses his 22-rifle to put down his beloved, but now rabid, pet dog. I don’t know if the rifle he used to kill “Old Yeller” was adult-sized or a smaller version—I couldn’t see through my tear-blurred eyes. Fast forward a few decades and gun makers have given us a remarkable solution: protection that comes in a range of firearms, from handguns to long rifles, even semi-automatics, that are designed in size and operability with children in mind.  What an important development in gun design and personal safety! Providing functional, easy to use handguns and rifles for our children, arming them so they can be safe from the random violence and mayhem so prevalent in our modern world. 

 

  Note the orange safety zip-tie trigger guard

IT’S SIMPLE—train and school our children how to use real weapons to defend themselves. Help pass “Carry Concealed” laws in every state (and province!). LOWER age restrictions for possessing a weapon. “How young?” Some ask. I say: how young is too young when the lives of our children are at stake?

IS YOUR CHILD starting school next year? Are they heading into the world, away from the safety of their home to learn the “3 Rs”? Well, it’s high time they learned a fourth, namely Rifle! Give them the proper tools and let them learn how and when to use them. Safety and security in their knapsacks or in quick response, open-carry holsters. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!   

 

Cheers, Jake. ______________________________________

 

* “If only,” I hear reader’s saying. “If only it could have been worse, then we wouldn’t have all the trouble we have now with those damn Reds!” If wishes were calories, we'd all be "Mr. Creosote."

 

+ Israelis are efficient in their blockade methods. For example, after 2007 Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza following the election of Hamas as the enclave’s government. Gaza was then walled-off (remaining sequestered to this day) while Israeli officials clamped down on imports, even calculating the minimum calories Gazans needed for survival, and limiting food imports accordingly. In 2010, they had to ease their blockade somewhat following the disastrous Mavi Mamara incident during the “Gaza Freedom Convoy” which sought (unsuccessfully) to bring food and supplies into the Palestinian territory by ship.

See: "Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip – Red Lines."

 

 

 

 

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NoW UPDATE: GAZA

GAZA—On 25 March, the UNSC (United Nations Security Council) issued a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan and for the “immediate release of hostages and for ensuring humanitarian access to Gaza”.  The vote was 14 yeas and 1 abstention. All ten, non-permanent SC members (E-10) voted in favour of the resolution, as did four permanent members (France, Britain, China, and Russia) with the fifth, the United States, abstaining. Note: each permanent member has veto power over any resolution brought before the SC. The vote comes after four previous Security Council ceasefire votes since 7 October. Of these, three were vetoed by the U.S. and one vetoed by Russia and China (who found the language in the proposal too vague to actually demand a ceasefire from Israel). And contrary to what UN ambassador for the United States Linda Thomas-Greenfield and U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said after the successful fifth ceasefire vote, the UNSC resolution is indeed binding, “in accordance with Article 25 of the UN Charter which was ratified by the US.” (Al Jazeera). In other words, it becomes a statute in international law. That’s what a resolution voted on and passed by the Security Council is supposed to do. Duh!

Both Thomas-Greenfield and Miller claimed the UNSC "Resolution-2728" was non-binding, that is, Israel did not have to comply with the SC’s decision. Wrong. Israel is obligated under the UN charter to obey the Council’s order, and the Security Council is obligated to find a mechanism to enforce it. (What about stopping oil shipments via Turkey to Israel? Weapon sales? What about sanctions?)

Furthermore, on 28 March the ICJ (International Court of Justice), which is an institution founded by—but separate from—the United Nations, issued a new order:*

 

“…in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza, in particular the spread of famine and starvation, [Israel shall take] all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full cooperation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians throughout Gaza”. (ICJ)

 

WHILE Israel has scaled back its bombing and shelling of Gaza somewhat, there is still the ugly matter of people inside the enclave suffering acute food insecurity. Cases of death by starvation, in northern Gaza particularly, are becoming daily occurrences with the infirm, elderly and, of course, children most at risk. There is simply not enough food and medical supplies entering Gaza due to onerous Israeli inspection procedures, as well as radical Israeli settlers protesting at the entrance gates and slowing down or stalling altogether relief trucks from entering.

A FURTHER PROBLEM is the chaotic conditions within Gaza itself, with over 60% of the infrastructure (roads, sewage, water, hydro, public buildings, schools, hospitals, homes) destroyed by Israeli bombs and shelling. Relief agencies can’t get to those in need rapidly enough or at all. And we are reminded that UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) operations have been stopped due to claims by Israel that members of the agency aided Hamas militants on 7 October. However, no reliable proof has been forthcoming from the Netanyahu government, yet funding for the agency was stopped by several Western governments, including Canada (which has since resumed its funding) solely on this unsubstantiated assertion. Legislation pending in the U.S. will curtail until next year that country's UNRWA support to the tune of hundreds of million of dollars. 

 

    JLOTS vessel en route.

And even if members of the relief organization had somehow aided Hamas, should the entire operation be shut down? UNRWA was the largest relief agency in Gaza, with thousands of staff and has operated there for decades. Hamas, it must be remembered, is also a political party, chosen by Gazans in a fair election several years ago. It runs (or ran) governmental services in Gaza, and it would be surprising, indeed, if UNRWA staff had nothing to do with Hamas in the course of their work. As well as providing daily food aid to Gazans, UNRWA operated schools there. Other relief agencies like the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World Central Kitchens, Oxfam, Médecines Sans Frontières are there but hopelessly understaffed and in no way able to bring in and distribute food, potable water, and medical aid to adequately address the humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes. 

 

    Example of proposed JLOTS quay.

IN RECENT WEEKS there have been air drops of supplies from the US and other countries like France and Jordon into Gaza that Israel allows to fly in (wholly inadequate to the task, of course), as well as a temporary pier being constructed by a relief charity “World Central Kitchen” (WCK)⁺ run by celebrity chef, Jose Andres. The charity is bringing barge loads of food into Gaza, with the Israeli military set to distribute it. Incidentally, the jetty being built south of the Gazan city of Jabalia, uses rubble from the houses and buildings destroyed in Israel’s relentless bombing and shelling campaign, now in its sixth month. Palestinians, whose destroyed houses the construction crews excavate for their work, are not consulted whether they wish their former homes to be used in this manner. Grotesquely, it is quite possible that the remains of individuals killed in the bombing and buried in the rubble will be become part of WCK’s temporary jetty.

AND SPEAKING of quays, the United States is sending a Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore (JLOTS) construction convoy to build another “temporary offshore maritime pier” where aid ships can dock, and relief supplies can be offloaded.

ONCE COMPLETED in late May or early June, the facility could, theoretically, scale up relief efforts to begin to address the food and medical supply needs of a large number of Gazans. Problem is, people are starving now.

 

OKAY. I’m sorry I made you read all that—all the blather about court cases, and international law, logistic difficulties during a famine, and wowser pier engineering feats, etc. Let’s make it simple:

 

👉God did not grant the Jewish people a homeland in the Levant.

👉ISRAEL is a settler-colonial, apartheid state. It has been so since its inception in 1948 and certainly after the 1967 war when it annexed the Golan Heights, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

👉The United States could stop this bloodbath in a heartbeat by cutting off arms shipments and money to Israel. Easy peasey. 

👉Zionism is a political, not a religious, set of doctrines, first articulated by Theodor Hertzl in the late 1890s. It cloaks its racism in a thin veneer of religiosity.

👉Zionism’s core tenet is that the biblical lands of Palestine belong to people of the Jewish faith, “from the river to the sea”. It is a racist ideology that today promotes Jewish-Israeli exceptionalism and superiority over Palestinian Arabs. Joe Biden proudly calls himself a "Zionist."

It's disturbing to realize that a majority of Israelis favour what the IDF (Israel Defense Force) is doing in Gaza. And cabinet is behind the military operation 100%.

👉The idea of Jews ‘reinhabiting’ Palestine had been around since the Nineteenth Century. The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1917 divided up the Ottoman Empire between France, Britain, and Russia, in anticipation of an eventual victory over Germany and its allies.

    British Mandate c. 1920

👉The 1917 Balfour Declaration promoted as British policy a Jewish “home” in Palestine. BTW, the wording is precise here—it did not call for a Jewish state. Only a 'home' for Jews in Palestine. After WWI, Britain administered the territory, and facilitated Jewish immigration to Palestine over the objections of the indigenous Arab communities living there, who comprised 90% of the population, with Jews a mere 10% at the start of the British Mandate in 1920. By 1935, the Jewish population had risen to 27%. Conflict between Arabs, Jews and the British army continued throughout the 25 years or so the British ruled Palestine until the state of Israel was recognized by the United Nations in 1948.¹ 

 

    Pre-WWII Proposed Palestine Borders

👉The years between the world wars saw thousands of deaths through conflicts between Jewish and Arab militias, culminating in the 1947-48 civil war that saw the ethnic cleansing of around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs from their towns and villages, many ending up in Jordon, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. 

👉This period is known as the “Nakba”, an Arabic word meaning “The Catastrophe”. The Gaza Strip was administered by Egypt until the 1967 War when Israel made it part of their territory.  

👉When elections were held in the Palestinian territories in 2007, the West Bank voted for the Fatah party while the Hamas party was elected in Gaza.

👉In 2008, due to its security concerns with Hamas, Israel blockaded Gaza, preventing any viable Palestinian state from developing in the enclave. The blockade remains in place to this day.

👉A small percentage of Gazans crossed daily to work in Israel. There were local businesses in Gaza but unemployment levels were among the highest in the world. There are young Palestinians who have spent their entire lives behind the walls in Gaza. It has no functioning port for international trade and its airport was destroyed by Israel in 2008.

👉Israel controls all humanitarian aid and supplies into Gaza which has been described as the “world’s largest open-air prison.”

👉Israel has conducted five major military operations into Gaza since the 2008 blockade, which are euphemistically referred to as “mowing the lawn”. Previously, the longest operation was in 2014 lasting 50 days. Today’s brutal assault is in its sixth month.

👉To be clear, since the 1967 War, and arguably earlier, Israel’s intention was always to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from 'their' land. All of them.

👉On 7 October, Hamas militias attacked Israel kibbutzim and military posts, killing upwards of 1200 people, and taking around 250 hostages. In their response to the attack, the hard-right Israeli government saw this as an opportunity to make their ethnic cleansing goals a reality, especially since the majority of its population, like Americans did after 9/11, demanded retribution.

👉At last count, some 33,000, mostly women and children (65-70% of total deaths), have been killed by Israeli bombing and shelling with over 75,000 injured. This is a low estimate given there are 1000s still missing and presumed buried under the rubble. Much of the enclave lay in ruins, with its population forced into the southern city of Rafah and environs. Israel does not intend they ever return to their homes.

👉Israel is razing Gaza to the ground, making it unlivable, with much of its critical infrastructure and homes turned to rubble. And they will do the same in the West Bank.

👉Starvation is a near-term probability, especially in northern Gaza where more than 300,000 Palestinians remain.

👉The use of starvation as a tactic in war is a war crime. 

👉A dock is being built on the Gazan shore to bring in relief supplies in by sea while hundreds of relief trucks are lined up in Egypt at the Rafah border crossing ready to bring in food, water, and medical supplies now.

 

👉The docks [The U.S. will build a larger quay. ETC is early June.] being built will eventually be used to ship Palestinians from their homeland into Europe or parts unknown. Gazans will become this century's "Boat People."

👉For decades, Israel has ignored UN calls to return to the pre-1967 borders and leave occupied Palestinian lands. It ignores the UN and, with American backing, it continues doing so. It seems like the Security Council's rulings, the ICJ's deliberations, all the diplomatic wrangling and hand wringing are for naught, that they are "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." (Macbeth) But, given time, they may yet turn Israel from the dark path it has taken. World opinion is turning against it. 

👉Meanwhile, Zionist Israel continues to attrit and immure the population of Gaza, even as radical settlers gleefully begin parceling out Gazan land for condos and beach front property.

👉As it commits genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, it denies it commits genocide and ethnic cleansing.

👉And the future? MAYBE Israel makes their land an exclusively Jewish state "from the river to the sea." In doing so it becomes a pariah state, shunned by the world community. MAYBE it plans to wait-it-out until the world forgets what they did and then it's back to business as usual. Or MAYBE this whole clusterfuk goes pear-shaped and a larger, regional war is ignited. Then all bets are off.

👉Whatever the outcome, it's likely Gaza will be turned "into a parking lot" and Palestinian Gazans driven from their homeland. 

 

Cheers, Jake. ______________________________________

 

* Recall that on 29 December 2023, South Africa made an application with the World Court accusing Israel of the crime of genocide. The ICJ is currently in the process of weighing all the evidence and will make a ruling, perhaps later this year. On 26 January 2024, the Court issued its preliminary findings, saying it would take up South Africa’s submission and begin deliberations on the question of Israel’s complicity in genocide. It also issued provisional measures, essentially ‘cease and desist’ orders for Israel (stop killing civilians, let humanitarian aid in, stop destroying infrastructure, etc.)  The ICJ’s 28 March “new order”, is a modification to its “provisional measures” decree to address the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel will ignore the ICJ's ruling as it has ignored the 25 March United Nations Security Council's resolution.

 

^{+ UPDATE: A CWK (Central World Kitchen) convoy was struck by either an Israeli drone or missile, last night. April Fools! Seven aid workers were killed returning to their warehouse from the new dock the relief organization had built. CWK is suspending its Gaza operations. PM Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, say it was an accident and promise an investigation into the incident. 💥 [Looks like a bulls-eye to me. Just sayin'. Ed.]}

1.One reason the British took this part of the Levant for their spoils after WWI was to keep Egypt and the Suez Canal within their sphere of influence. The Great Powers of the time divided up the Middle East (and just about everywhere else) between them and there’s been problems in the region ever since. 

 

[I should mention Yemen's Houthis who are blocking access to the Suez Canal for ships that are Israel-bound, as well as vessels of countries that attack them (US, UK).  Ships are forced to go around Africa to reach ports in Europe and beyond, or use land routes, raising costs up and down the supply chains. (Yemen is also blocking Indian Ocean traffic.)

OF all the nations of the world, only Yemen and South Africa are taking action to challenge Israel's genocidal rampage in Gaza directly. One commentator quipped that Yemen was following  the "Responsibility-to-Protect"  principle, using missiles and drones to stop the mass killings and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, i.e., the Houthis are acting within the framework of international law. It's interesting that the United States is currently bombing Yemen, one of only two countries in the world acting to prevent genocide. 👍

South Africa uses the law to combat this gross injustice we witness every day. It has made a complaint before the ICJ (International Court of Justice) accusing Israel of genocide in its assault on Gaza. It also is compiling a brief to present to the ICC (International Criminal Court) charging individuals with warcrimes.👍 Deeds matter. Words matter. Ed.] 

 

    

   

 

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