We Are the Dead
With "one supreme act" of dying unquestioning in the name of war, said James Garfield on 1868's first Memorial Day, the fallen showed "the highest virtues of men." It's unclear if he'd include in that noble fellowship the forsaken children and women of Gaza who burned to death in their tents in Rafah after a gruesome attack Israel later blithely deemed "a mishap." Goddamn. One more time to Bibi and his ilk, the "fungus that grows on the rot": "There is no glory in war."
Three years after the Civil War, on May 5, 1868, Maj. Gen. John Logan of the Union veterans' Grand Army of the Republic declared Decoration Day, calling on the nation to decorate the graves of those who "for love of country" had "accepted death" and "made immortal their patriotism and their virtue." Americans were urged to "observe (what became) Memorial Day by praying, according to their individual religious faith, for permanent peace." That sentiment has kinda fallen by the wayside to make way for flag-drunk parades, sales on grills, laptops, lawnmowers, and in the case of grifterswho just won't go away, a slobfather's rant against his "human scum" enemies and his clueless younger son's outlandish claim to celebrate, "The family that gave up everything to Save America" - a canard one patriot termed, "For fuck's sake, even for a Trump, shockingly awful." Far more vital is the dictate from Veterans For Peace to remember the victims of what our "sociopathic leaders told us were 'the enemy,'" (and) the few elite winners in "the racket of war (who) delight in telling their puppets in government to order up another one."
And so to Gaza. 35,647 Palestinians dead, 79,852 wounded, over 11,000 missing, at least 520 dead in the West Bank. Since Thursday, 275 more dead, 666 more wounded. Ongoing Israeli assaults in north and central Gaza, looming famine, "catastrophic" closed crossings with already meager food and medical deliveries suspended and aid trucks intercepted by hungry crowds intent on "self-distribution." Most hospitals closed; doctors at those open say, "Nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies what we have witnessed here." Talks stalled on ceasefire and hostage release, vengeful madmen in power, a war whose benefits are "manifestly unclear," the ICC ruling a genocidal Israel must halt its offensive in Rafah and open all border crossings. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on the government of "Mr. Delusional Total Victory": "It is not winning in the war on Hamas or Hezbollah, so it has declared a war on reality." "We are running out of words to describe what is happening in Gaza," says senior UN aid official Edem Wosornu. "We have described it as a catastrophe, a nightmare, a hell on earth. It is all of these."
Astoundingly, it got worse Sunday night when Israel, having rejected the ICC ruling on Rafah with a "gloating," indiscriminate series of airstrikes, bombed a crowded tent camp in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, an Israel-designated "safe zone." The missiles started a fire among flammable tents that quickly spread into a massacre: Footage shows panicked women and children screaming and frantically trying to escape the flames amidst people trapped, cowering, burning in melting tents, charred bodies of children, some headless, on the ground, and exhausted civil defense teams rushing to rescue those burning and put out the flames. At least 45 people were killed; over 250 wounded, many critically with severe burns and severed limbs, were taken to the inundated Kuwaiti hospital, and the death toll is likely to rise. Survivors said they had finished night prayers "in peace" or gone to bed when the conflagration began. "There is no safe place here. No one is safe. Not even the dead who are buried underground are safe," said a bitter, distraught Abo Sebah. "Destruction, corpses, and killings. This is our life."
Israel’s attack on Rafah tent camp widely condemnedwww.aljazeera.com
The world, evidently impotent before Israel's barbarism, raged. Ireland, Italy, Germany, Norway, France, Spain, Canada, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the E.U., U.K., UAE and many in Israel were "horrified" and "outraged" by the "heinous massacre"; having funded the atrocities, the U.S. showed its usual moral fearlessness. "Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians," said a White House spokesperson. "We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened." Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the U.K.'s Labor Party, called the bombing "a monstrous failure of humanity." Aida Touma-Sliman, a Palestinian member of the Knesset, excoriated "this bloody government," which " is taking the madness and vindictiveness to a new criminal level." Israeli journalist Chaim Levinson cited an "it's-not done basic norm" in a well-ordered country: "This concept no longer exists, neither in Israel nor in the United States, because the Bibi-ist camp has no basic norms. Netanyahu needs a rotten state because he is the fungus that grows on the rot."
Humza Yousaf, the former first minister of Scotland, noted the footage of the victims - hungry, innocent, dispossessed babies, children, women, the elderly, living in tents, screaming, dismembered, burnt alive - to furiously pose the question of the times: "Bear witness to the images and ask yourself, 'Are you on the right side of history?'" "We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity," said Lebanese journalist Dalal Mawad, still haunted by seeing, in 1996 in a UN displaced camp during the Qana massacre by Israel, a decapitated newborn baby. "Last night, the same crime was committed again. Impunity means history will always repeat itself." Others cited other haunting sights from these brutal months in Gaza: too many lifeless babies, wrapped in blood-soaked white sheets, carried by weeping parents; the skeletal horror of wide-eyed children being starved to death; the searing video of Razan Muneer Arafat, 11, who lost her entire family in an Israeli air strike along with one of her legs, sobbing and shrieking, "I want my leg!"
Palestinian girl mourns loss of leg in Israeli attackwww.youtube.com
In response to the uproar, Israel has done what Israel does when charged with its countless crimes against humanity: Deny, deflect, defend, lie. In quick succession, they issued a stream of bullshit. First, they conducted the attack "in accordance with international law, using precise munitions, and based on prior intelligence indicating that two senior Hamas operatives were present," despite residents repeatedly saying they've never seen Hamas in that area. Then, apparently, "The strike ignited a blaze in a tent camp for displaced persons." Then, they "became aware of reports indicating that as a result several civilians in the area were harmed." Then, assured the IDF, "prior to the strike, many steps were taken to reduce the chances of harm to uninvolved people, including a visual aerial inspection...on the basis of which it was estimated that harm to uninvolved civilians was not expected." Then, "despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, there was a tragic mistake," though at first Bibi called it "a mishap." "We are investigating the incident," he told the world, "because this is our policy."
In his second Inaugural speech in 1865, near the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln sought to heal a broken nation by urging fellow-citizens to move forward "with malice toward none." On a Memorial Day during World War One, an editorial in The Nation cited his call to ask, "Shall we learn no wisdom from this day?" Facing another war, "with its maimed bodies and shattered minds," it noted the vain "dreams of brotherhood and peace, dreams of the America that never yet has been." And so it goes. The war meant to end all wars has, of course, begotten many more, each with its folly, its dead, its wounded "with invisible, lifelong devils (in) their heads." Jeanette Rankin, the first woman in Congress, voting against war in 1917: "You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake." "We are the Dead," wrote John McCrae, a soldier and doctor serving in Belgium. "Short days ago/We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow/Loved and were loved, and now we lie/In Flanders fields." Nearly 370 Americans are buried there. Over 15,000 children are dead - though many have yet to be buried - in Gaza. A hell on earth. Lest we forget, man-made, by Israel and America.
'Undeniable Wrongdoing': Congressional Democrats Ask DOJ to Investigate Big Oil
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Jamie Raskin formally called on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the fossil fuel industry for propagating disinformation about climate change and obstructing a green transition on Wednesday, following the release of a report by their committees on April 30.
The report, based on a three-year investigation, found that the industry has deceived the public about climate change since at least the 1960s, with its strategy shifting over the decades from outright denial to disinformation and doublespeak. It was authored by the Senate Committee on the Budget, chaired by Whitehouse (D-R.I.) , and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats, led by Raskin (D-Md.).
Whitehouse's committee held a hearing on May 1 in which Raskin along with several scientists and legal experts spoke in remarkably clear terms about the industry's culpability, drawing parallels to Big Tobacco's past disinformation and lies about its products.
In the letter to Garland, the two lawmakers have taken the next step, calling for legal accountability for the wrongdoing they uncovered:
Our investigation revealed how [fossil fuel companies and lobby groups] worked in concert to mislead the public, policymakers, and investors with public promises to reduce emissions and meaningfully contribute to the transition away from oil and gas, while privately seeking to lock in continued fossil fuel production for decades into the future. The investigation also demonstrated that the fossil fuel industry continues to knowingly obfuscate the dangers of natural gas, which it has billed as a clean and green fuel.
Public interest groups called for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to heed the call from Whitehouse and Raskin, which they cited as an important step.
"This is the most substantive and consequential call yet for the Justice Department to take action against Big Oil companies for their ongoing and catastrophic campaign of lies," Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement. "In a nation of laws, powerful corporations must not be allowed to lie to the public with impunity—especially when those lies cause great harm to public health and safety."
HUGE: @SenWhitehouse & @RepRaskin just formally referred the findings of their investigation into Big Oil's climate lies to DOJ.
The lawmakers found "a continuing pattern of the fossil fuel industry knowingly and deliberately misleading the public through an ongoing enterprise." pic.twitter.com/C4rqteHCdO
— Center for Climate Integrity (@climatecosts) May 22, 2024
The attorneys general of at least eight states have already filed suits against Big Oil for deceiving the public about climate science and the industry's role in perpetuating climate change, and Michigan's attorney general recently announced that the state would also do so; many municipalities around the country have filed similar suits.
"As states and communities across the country are fighting in court to hold fossil fuel companies accountable, it's time for the nation's top law enforcement agency to stand up for the American people and bring this renegade industry to justice," Wiles said.
Similarly, David Arkush, director of Public Citizen's Climate Program, called for the DOJ to take up the investigation as a way of "standing up to the powerful actors that are endangering communities nationwide."
The joint investigation revealed "shocking and undeniable wrongdoing" by the fossil fuel industry, Kathy Mulvey, accountability campaign director in the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement.
"There's now a mountain of evidence confirming the fossil fuel industry's ongoing efforts to defraud the public, manipulate our political system, delay the necessary transition to clean energy, and risk shareholder investments in the name of power and profits," Mulvey said. Referring to government cases against Big Tobacco and Big Pharma, Mulvey said that "similar action is warranted in the face of the fossil fuel industry-driven climate crisis," arguing that the industry must be required to "stop lying and correct past lies."
Despite the climate crisis, the industry is booming. In 2023, the combined profits of ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP—four of the companies under investigation in the congressional probe—were over $100 billion. In the same year, the U.S. experienced the most disasters causing $1 billion or more in damage, Mulvey noted.
Whitehouse and Raskin also named one more reason that Garland should investigate fossil fuel companies: They obstructed the congressional investigation. None of the six entities under investigation—the four aforementioned companies, as well as the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—fully complied with the committees' work, despite congressional subpoenas, according to Whitehouse and Raskin. They flouted "long-standing congressional practices and norms for investigations," the letter to Garland states.
This lack of full disclosure has lead to questions about what wrongdoing has not yet come to light.
"Strong evidence already in the public domain suggests that Big Oil has likely violated a number of federal laws," Arkush of Public Citizen said. "And yet, as this letter makes clear, there is ample reason to think the industry is hiding even worse wrongdoing."
FTC Chair Lina Khan Should Take Jim Cramer's 'Unhinged' Obsession as 'Badge of Honor'
The American Economic Liberties Project on Monday called outCNBC's Jim Cramer for at least dozens of "hostile" televised attacks on Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and her "historic pro-working families record."
The left-leaning group has been compiling Cramer's "most egregious on-air outbursts" over Khan since early last year and its tracker now features more than 30 clips from "Mad Money" and "Squawk on the Street."
When President Joe Biden nominated Khan to lead the FTC in 2021, she was an associate professor of law at Columbia Law School who had previously worked for the Open Markets Institute, the office of former Commissioner Rohit Chopra, and the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.
As the clips collected by the project show, Cramer has described Khan as an "empty suit," "stupid," and a "total hack." The ex-hedge fund manager has also compared the agency leader's views to those of Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, and Don Quixote.
Cramer has called out specific FTC actions under Khan—repeatedly blasting a lawsuit against Amazon, a company founded by one of the richest persons on the planet—and broadly accused the "rogue" agency of "torturing all the companies that America likes."
When one of Cramer's colleagues pointed out last October that he has taken "every opportunity to just come back to Khan," he responded, "No, I've missed opportunities and I regret that."
The tracker page states that "if Cramer was accurately reporting what the FTC is doing, he would see that Chair Khan is pursuing a pro-business, pro-innovation, and pro-worker agenda. And he is capable of it: he did, for example, proclaim the FTC's case against Kroger-Albertsons to be strong."
Noting Cramer's praise for Jonathan Kanter, an assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice whom the host has called a "heavyweight" and "rigorous thinker," the page adds that "he is so blinded by his obsession of Chair Khan that he sometimes even rails against her for suits brought by the DOJ and forgets to give the Antitrust Division credit for its work."
American Economic Liberties Project spokesperson Jimmy Wyderko said in a statement Monday that "Jim Cramer's anger over the FTC's enforcement record has turned into a full-blown obsession, launching nearly weekly barbs at Chair Khan with the zeal of a carnival barker defending his turf."
"This has manifested on national cable news through a series of unhinged, incoherent, and often inaccurate rants from Jim Cramer attacking the FTC for standing up to big corporations and delivering kitchen table wins to working families," he continued.
"Given Jim Cramer's role as mouthpiece and cheerleader for monopolists across the economy, Chair Khan should consider his harassment a badge of honor," Wyderko added. "We hope to see Jim Cramer get over his fixation syndrome, which is evidently even starting to frustrate his colleagues, as soon as he is able."
Senators Launch Probe of Trump's $1 Billion Offer to Big Oil
In the wake of Donald Trump attending a Big Oil-hosted fundraiser in Texas, two Democratic Senate chairs on Thursday initiated an investigation into the recent quid pro quo offer to fossil fuel industry executives by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
After The Washington Postreported that during an April event, Trump pledged to gut climate policies implemented under Democratic President Joe Biden if the fossil fuel industry raised $1 billion for his 2024 presidential campaign, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) launched a probe last week, sending letters to the leaders of a trade group and companies whose executives appear to have attended that Mar-a-Lago gathering.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) followed suit on Thursday, sending letters to the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the same eight companies: Cheniere Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, Continental Resources, EQT Corporation, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, and Venture Global LNG.
"Such an obvious policies-for-money transaction reeks of cronyism and corruption," Whitehouse and Wyden wrote. "This solicitation, coupled with troubling reports that fossil fuel interests and other companies have been drafting language for use in executive orders favorable to their businesses during a possible second Trump administration, demand immediate additional inquiry."
"Such an obvious policies-for-money transaction reeks of cronyism and corruption."
"According to reports, Mr. Trump made specific policy commitments, including promises to auction off more oil and gas leases on federal lands and in federal waters, reverse pollution standards for new cars, and end drilling restrictions in the Alaskan Arctic," they detailed. "He also vowed to terminate the pause on new permits for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, allegedly pledging to do so 'on the first day.' Notably, Mr. Trump called the proposed arrangement a 'deal' for the executives given the tax and regulatory benefits that he would deliver for Big Oil companies and executives."
As Common Dreamsreported last week, one analysis found that if the industry executives took Trump up on his $1 billion offer—that has been undercovered by cable news—there would be a major return on investment for the companies, which would enjoy an estimated $110 billion from the tax breaks alone.
"Mr. Trump's blatant quid pro quo offer is particularly concerning in light of concurrent reporting by Politico that the oil and gas industry is drafting 'ready-to-sign' executive orders," Whitehouse and Wyden noted. "The fossil fuel industry's active attempts to write policy for its preferred presidential candidate are simply the latest installment in Big Oil's decadeslong pattern and practice of lobbying for anti-climate policies even while trying to greenwash its public image."
The pair of senators pointed to documents released last month by Raskin and Whitehouse's panels as part of a three-year probe that on Wednesday culminated in them urging U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the fossil fuel industry for decades of spreading disinformation about their products and the climate emergency.
Speaking with The New Republic's Greg Sargent about Trump's reported comments to Big Oil executives, Whitehouse said last week that "this is practically an invitation to ask more questions," and a "natural extension of the investigation already underway."
As the senators highlighted Thursday: "Of particular relevance here, documents released in the joint investigation detail the industry's outsized influence on energy policy during Mr. Trump's first administration... In turn, the Trump administration appeared to rely on the oil and gas industry to support and defend its anti-climate energy agenda."
"Time and time again, both Mr. Trump and the U.S. oil and gas industry have proved they are willing to sell out Americans to pad their own pockets," they continued. "And now, emboldened by impunity, Mr. Trump and Big Oil are flaunting their indifference to U.S. citizens' economic well-being for all to see, conferring on how to trade campaign cash for policy changes. Such potential abuses must be scrutinized."
Whitehouse and Wyden are demanding answers and documents from API and the executives by June 6. Raskin, in his letters, called for responses and records by next Monday.
Louisiana GOP Moves to Classify Abortion Pills as 'Controlled Dangerous Substances'
Ignoring the pleas of nearly 300 doctors and other healthcare professionals, the Republican-controlled Lousiana state House on Tuesday was poised to vote on a bill that would reclassify two drugs used in medication abortions as "controlled dangerous substances"—and potentially limiting healthcare providers' access to the frequently prescribed pills.
Senate Bill 276, originally proposed by state Sen. Thomas Pressly (R-38), centers on making it a crime in the state to use the pills to induce an abortion "on an unsuspecting pregnant mother without her knowledge or consent," but after its passage in the Senate, Pressly added amendments to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol.
Under the legislation, a person found with the pills without a prescription could be convicted of a felony, punishable with up to 10 years in prison.
Healthcare workers across Louisiana have called on Pressly to reconsider his amendments, which were co-written by the powerful pro-forced pregnancy group Louisiana Right to Life, and have warned they could dangerously delay or eliminate care for other health conditions for which the medications are prescribed.
"Mischaracterizing misoprostol, a drug routinely and safely used on labor units throughout the state, as a dangerous drug of abuse creates confusion and misinformation, and harms women seeking high quality maternal care," wrote more than 280 health professionals in a recent letter to Landry.
The doctors emphasized that with one of the country's most stringent abortion bans in place in Louisiana, healthcare workers have not recently been prescribing misoprostol for abortion care.
But the drug is used on a daily basis in the state's hospitals and doctor's offices, they said, to treat people who have suffered miscarriages, to induce labor, to prepare the cervix for intrauterine device (IUD) insertions, and to stop postpartum hemorrhaging—the third leading cause of maternal mortality.
"Misoprostol is such a literal life-saver," New Orleans OB-GYN Dr. Nicole Freehill toldRolling Stone on Tuesday. "It's a very inexpensive medication and very effective at preventing hemorrhage, for IUD insertions, for endometrial biopsies, to prep a patient's cervix when they have a miscarriage. It's utilized for so many things and on a very regular basis."
State Rep. Mandie Landry (D-91) called the effort to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol as dangerous drugs "harmful and malicious."
"It is purely the product of Louisiana Right to Life and their politics," Landry toldRolling Stone. "Doctors and common sense are all against it."
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) said that the "first-in-the-nation" bill would further endanger pregnant people in a state where a near-total abortion ban has already "ravaged reproductive healthcare."
A report released in March by Physicians for Human Rights showed that unnecessary cesarean sections have been performed more frequently under the ban in cases of preterm labor, in order "to preserve the appearance of not doing an abortion" and to protect physicians from potential prosecutions. The pregnant patients were not given a choice regarding whether to have the major abdominal surgery. Doctors in the state have also begun delaying routine prenatal care until the second trimester to avoid suspicion, in the case of a miscarriage, that they performed an abortion.
"Patients across the country should be put on notice—we know Republicans across the country will soon feel emboldened to follow in Louisiana's footsteps and criminalize abortion medication too," said Ahbi Rahman, communications director for the DLCC. "The DLCC will continue to sound the alarm on egregious attacks on women and healthcare providers—in Louisiana and across the nation. State legislatures are the battlegrounds determining the whole spectrum of reproductive care."
On Monday, the Louisiana Society of Addiction Medicine submitted a letter to state House Speaker Phillip R. DeVillier (R-41), saying Pressly's proposal "goes against the spirit of the drug scheduling system, which is designed to classify drugs based upon their danger, potential for misuse, and medical benefits."
"Simply put, S.B. 276 represents a clear and worrying interference in the patient-clinician relationship that will negatively impact populations that we serve," said the group.
World Leaders Urged to Protect Syrian Refugees Amid Lebanon's Crackdown
Amnesty International on Monday reiterated human rights groups' rising concerns about a Lebanese crackdown on Syrian refugees as the European Union hosted a conference in Brussels focused on "supporting the future of Syria and the region."
The conference comes at right-wing leaders in the E.U. campaign as anti-migrant ahead of the bloc's June elections and after European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen in early May announced a three-year, €1 billion ($1.06 billion) assistance package to support "the most vulnerable people in Lebanon, including refugees, internally displaced persons, and host communities," as well as "urgent domestic reforms" and "border and migration management."
The package was seen as part of the E.U.'s efforts to limit migration to Europe, as refugees leave Lebanon and try to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Cyprus and Italy—journeys that often involve crowded, unsafe vessels and lead to deaths.
"Once again, President Von Der Leyen has put her desire to curb the flow of refugees at any cost into Europe before the E.U.'s obligations to protect refugees fleeing conflict or persecution," Aya Majzoub, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said Monday.
"This appears to have emboldened Lebanese authorities to intensify their ruthless campaign targeting refugees with hateful discourse, forced deportations, and stifling measures on residency and labor," she continued. "Yet, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita and has struggled to assist refugees amid an acute economic crisis."
"I swear if there is a safe zone in Syria, I would've been the first to return... The regime isn't safe for us."
Less than a week after the E.U. aid package was revealed, Amnesty explained, "the Lebanese General Security announced sweeping new measures against Syrian refugees including restrictions on their ability to obtain residency permits and work in the country, and has stepped up raids, collective evictions, arrests, and deportations."
Rights groups in the region and around the world have condemned the Lebanese moves and stressed that they, along with the United Nations and E.U., have concluded that Syria remains unsafe for refugees—a sentiment echoed by displaced Syrians.
"I swear if there is a safe zone in Syria, I would've been the first to return! Safe, as in not under the control of the [Syrian] regime. The regime isn't safe for us," one Syrian mother told Amnesty, referring to the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
"Many like us, if they're granted the capacity to return to the regions not controlled by the regime, they run back, without the need for organized return trips! If I had 1% hope that my husband and I will be safe upon return, I swear we wouldn't stay in such harsh conditions here," added the mother, who requested anonymity for safety reasons.
Alia, another Syrian mother now living in Lebanon, told the BBC that "we live in constant fear and anxiety... Every evening when my son comes back home, his youngest brother hugs him—relieved that he hasn't been arrested."
"I started overhearing people at places like the supermarket or the street saying: 'Look at the Syrians. They are living the good life while we can't afford anything in our own country,'" Alia said. "If only they knew what kind of life we live."
Amnesty's Majzoub argued Monday that "as a show of solidarity, European states should increase the number of resettlements to European countries of Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon."
"Donors at the annual humanitarian conference for Syria and refugee host countries must press the Lebanese authorities to immediately cease their unprecedented crackdown on Syrian refugees and lift abusive measures aimed at pressuring them to leave the country despite the well-documented risks they could face upon their return," she said.
"Human rights organizations unanimously agree: No part of Syria is safe for refugee returns," Majzoub added. "Lebanon's authorities must stop summarily deporting refugees to a place where they are at risk of violations, lift restrictions, and end their vitriolic campaign against refugees. E.U. countries similarly have a legal and moral obligation to refrain from forcibly turning back boats carrying migrants to Lebanon."
Over the past 13 years, Syria's civil war has forced millions to flee their homes. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said that as of March, 7.2 million Syrians were internally displaced and over five million had fled to countries including Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.
"We're going to be sending a very clear message from Jordan as a host country that we feel that refugees are being abandoned," the Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told reporters while arriving in Brussels for the conference, according toReuters. "Host countries are being abandoned."
With wars raging in Ukraine, Sudan, and the Gaza Strip, U.N. agencies and international humanitarian groups are also stretched thin and having a hard time providing adequate assistance to civilians within Syria. As The Associated Pressreported Sunday:
Living in a tent in rebel-held northwestern Syria, Rudaina al-Salim and her family struggle to find enough water for drinking and other basic needs such as cooking and washing. Their encampment north of the city of Idlib hasn't seen any aid in six months.
"We used to get food aid, hygiene items," said the mother of four. "Now we haven't had much in a while."
"We have moved from assisting 5.5 million a year to about 1.5 million people in Syria," Carl Skau, the U.N. World Food Program's deputy executive director, told the AP. "When I look across the world, this is the (aid) program that has shrunk the most in the shortest period for time."
Genocide Prevention Group Says 'Israel Must Be Stopped Now'
"Even if there were legitimate doubts about Israel's genocide, there is no doubt that Israel is committing atrocity crimes of the most barbaric kind," the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention said.
A U.S.-based group dedicated to preventing genocide blasted what it called "the cynical lies and propaganda" from Israeli and U.S. leaders who deny that Israel's obliteration of Gaza is genocidal, while imploring humanity to stop the slaughter.
In a statement published Monday on social media, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (LIGP) argued that "one can have different views about the definition of genocide, but one may not use definitional disputes to deny genocide."
"If a genocide may be occurring, every nation is compelled by customary law to try to stop it," asserted the Philadelphia-based group named after Raphael Lemkin, the 20th-century Polish lawyer who is credited with coining the word genocide in the 1940s.
"Let us be clear: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The U.S. is complicit in genocide," LIGP said. "These are not political statements. They are statements that are made from knowledge and experience."
"Nevertheless, you do not need a Ph.D. , a law degree, or X-ray vision to see the genocidal dimensions of Israel's carnage in Gaza. It is clear in the behavior of the state and its military, on full display in yesterday's horrific bombardment of a Rafah camp," the group added, referring to the attack on a refugee encampment in the southern city's Tal al-Sultan neighborhood that killed at least 45 people and wounded hundreds of others, including many women and children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strike a "tragic mistake." Two days later, at least 21 more Palestinians were killed in another Israel Defense Forces attack on a different refugee camp in southern Gaza.
LIGP said that "even if there were legitimate doubts about Israel's genocide, there is no doubt that Israel is committing atrocity crimes of the most barbaric kind."
"Israel must be stopped," the group stressed. "Israel must be stopped now."
LIGP continued:
We are disgusted by Western leaders, especially in the USA, Germany, and the U.K. They have demonstrated not only that they don't care one bit about genocide prevention and human rights, but also that they are willing to allow an ally to commit atrocity crimes while they offer material and diplomatic support. It is reprehensible and the individuals involved in this gaslighting campaign should be deeply ashamed. They should also be put on trial.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan last week formally applied for warrants to arrest Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for alleged crimes including extermination committed on and after October 7.
Israeli and U.S. leaders deny there is genocide in Gaza. U.S. President Joe Biden said in October that he had "no confidence" in Palestinian health officials' Gaza casualty reports—figures deemed reliable by United Nations agencies, human rights groups, international and Israeli mainstream media, and even the U.S. State Department.
Biden, who early in the war declared his "unwavering" support for Israel, has approved billions of dollars of new U.S. military aid for the key Middle Eastern ally. His administration has repeatedly sidestepped Congress to expedite weapons transfers to Israel. The U.S. has also provided diplomatic cover for Netanyahu's far-right government by vetoing several United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolutions.
The International Court of Justice is currently determining whether Israel is committing genocide, as alleged by South Africa and over 30 countries and regional blocs supporting the case. The ICJ recently ordered Israel to immediately halt its invasion of Rafah. Israel has ignored the legally binding order, prompting calls for punitive action including sanctions.
According to Palestinian officials and international human rights defenders, at least 36,096 Palestinians—mostly women and children—have been killed during Israel's 235-day assault on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack that left more than 1,100 people dead and over 240 others taken prisoner. At least 81,136 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli bombs and bullets. Upward of 11,000 other Gazans are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out buildings.
Meanwhile, famine in the north and widespread starvation throughout Gaza have been exacerbated by Israel's blockade of the besieged coastal enclave, where around 90% of the population have been forcibly displaced.
"Humanity has a choice: Either we decide that our children can all be killed whenever a superior force alleges that 'terrorists' are among us, or we decide that under no circumstances will we allow these superior forces to lay waste to our world any longer," LIGP said. "We each must choose and act accordingly. The watershed moment is now."
At least hundreds of legal and human rights experts around the world—including Israelis—accuse Israel of genocide. In March, the United Nations Human Rights Council published a draft report that found "reasonable grounds to believe" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
On Sunday, Human Rights Watch co-founder Aryeh Neier—a Jewish Holocaust survivor—reiterated his earlier assertion that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Neier explained how his assessment of Israel's conduct has evolved during the war.
"I thought Israel had a right to retaliate against Hamas, and I thought Israel had a right to try to incapacitate Hamas so that it would never be able to do anything like that again," Neier said. "But I was disturbed by some of the actions of Israel, by the use of very large weapons, 2,000-pound bombs, which are utterly inappropriate in a crowded urban area."
Is Israel committing humanitarian crimes in Gaza? The Israeli gov’t strenuously denies it.
Aryeh Neier, a giant in the world of human rights who escaped Nazi Germany and later cofounder Human Rights Watch, says the answer is yes.
Our conversation from today’s GPS: pic.twitter.com/dQC20WDywO
— Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) May 26, 2024
Neier also condemned Israeli and U.S. officials' efforts to equate criticism of Israel's policies and practices with antisemitism.
"Antisemitism has been a great scourge," he said, "but it doesn't insulate the Israeli government from being held to the same standards as other governments have to be held to around the world."
Amid Outrage Over Rafah Massacre, Second IDF Attack on Camp Kills 21
"How much more can the Palestinians survive this?" asked one researcher. "Safe zones targeted, refugees killed with merciless brutality."
As humanitarians and world leaders condemn an Israel Defense Forces bombing and resulting fire in a Rafah "safe zone" that killed 45 people and wounded hundreds more, the Israeli military on Tuesday killed at least 21 more at another refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.
"Four tank shells hit a cluster of tents in Al-Mawasi, a coastal area that Israel had advised civilians in Rafah to move to for safety," Reutersreported, citing health officials in the Hamas-governed Palestinian enclave. "At least 12 of the dead were women."
Gaza-based journalist Hind Khoudary said on social media Tuesday: "I have a live hit on Al Jazeera in a bit and all I'm thinking about is how I will report on this massacre again. My heart is pounding so fast. My [fingers] are shaking. I want to cry."
Journalist Hind Khoudary says Israel's latest attack on a tent encampment, which has killed nearly 22 Palestinians, was in an area that Israel had declared a 'safe zone' and ordered people to move to. pic.twitter.com/rlcLKr8fW1
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 28, 2024
According to Agence France-Presse, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters on Tuesday that "I don't know about this incident. We are putting this incident under investigation, and we will update you in advance."
Hagari also addressed a probe into the Rafah attack—which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a "tragic mistake"—during a Tuesday press briefing, saying that "on Sunday night, we eliminated senior Hamas terrorists in a targeted strike on a compound used by Hamas" and "due to unforeseen circumstances, a fire ignited tragically taking the lives of Gazan civilians nearby."
"Contrary to reports, we conducted the strike outside the area that we designated as a humanitarian area and called civilians to evacuate to. Our strike was over a kilometer-and-a-half away from the Al-Mawasi humanitarian area. What we call the safer zone," Hagari said. "Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size... We are looking into all possibilities including the option that weapons stored in a compound next to our target, which we did not know of, may have ignited as a result of the strike."
The IDF's claims about the Sunday massacre have not quelled outrage around the world—including from U.S. lawmakers urging President Joe Biden to suspend weapons and diplomatic support for Israel's war, which has killed over 36,000 Palestinians, injured another 81,000, and left thousands more missing and believed dead beneath the rubble, according to Gaza health officials.
Palestinians who have so far survived the Israeli assault on Gaza for more than seven months are struggling to find food, water, shelter, and medical care. The IDF has destroyed civilian infrastructure—including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques—across the enclave and severely restricted the delivery of humanitarian aid.
"Day after day, massacre after massacre, and the Biden administration continues to ship the bombs to the far-right, openly genocidal Israeli government that it uses to slaughter Palestinian children, women, medical personnel, journalists, international aid workers, and the sick and elderly, and continues to shield Israel from international accountability," Council on American-Islamic Relations national executive director Nihad Awad said Tuesday.
"This genocidal brutality, which is being exposed daily by piles of charred and dismembered Palestinian civilians, must stop," Awad added. "Sadly, because of President Biden's insistence on sending more bombs to enable Netanyahu's war crimes in Rafah, this is now as much an American genocide as it is an Israeli genocide."
Both deadly IDF attacks on displaced Palestinians in and near Rafah came in the wake of the International Court of Justice last week directing Israel to "immediately halt its military offensive or any other action in the Rafah governorate," which followed the ICJ's January order that the country "take all measures within its power" to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
Middle East Eyereported Tuesday that Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a Palestinian presidential spokesperson, "called the new attack a massacre, and called for the implementation of the International Court of Justice decision last week for Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah," which began earlier this month.
Responding to the Tuesday attack on social media, London-based researcher Naks Bilal said that "without humanitarian intervention it is impossible to see how this does not stop."
"How much more can the Palestinians survive this? Safe zones targeted, refugees killed with merciless brutality," Bilal added. "Focus energy on calling for intervention, or there will be no Palestinians."
This post has been updated with comment from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Majority of US Voters Back Legal Action Against Big Oil
A new poll shows public appetite for not just civil action but also criminal prosecution, and district attorneys are showing "real, serious interest" in the idea, one expert said.
A majority of U.S. voters support civil lawsuits against fossil fuel companies for their role in creating the climate crisis, while roughly half support criminal charges, a new poll from Data for Progress found.
The poll results, released Tuesday, indicate support for the dozens of civil cases against Big Oil currently in U.S. courts, many of which were brought by municipalities or states. In a sample of over 1,000 respondents, 62% of likely voters said that they supported legal accountability for oil and gas companies for "their contributions to climate change," including 84% of Democrats and 40% of Republicans.
"Voters strongly want to see companies held accountable for their harmful actions," Grace Adcox, a climate strategist at Data for Progress, toldThe Guardian.
"These national findings show these cases may be able to earn popular support, particularly in blue jurisdictions," she added.
Public interest groups have supported the civil cases and pushed for the U.S. Department of Justice to also take civil action against fossil fuel companies, which, the lawsuits generally argue, spread disinformation about the climate consequences of their products for many decades and continue to block substantive climate action. The case against Big Oil has been strengthened by improved attribution science, which can show the links between climate change and extreme weather events such as forest fires. Many experts draw comparisons to lawsuits once brought against Big Tobacco.
The uptick in legal activity is by no means unique to the U.S.—there are thousands of lawsuits against fossil fuel companies around the world. Yet the new poll does touch on an emerging idea among American experts.
In addition to its broader findings, Data for Progress found that 49% of likely voters support criminal charges against Big Oil—68% of Democrats and 32% of Republicans—while just 39% oppose the idea.
This is really significant. Nearly 70% of Democrats, and even a third of Republicans, support the criminal prosecution of Big Oil companies for their climate crimes. https://t.co/teP2FwJbbP
— Aaron Regunberg (@AaronRegunberg) May 28, 2024
So far, there have been no criminal prosecutions of Big Oil companies or executives anywhere in the world. Last week, a group of French citizens and nonprofits filed a criminal complaint against TotalEnergies, a French petroleum multinational; the prosecutor has three months to decide whether to take the case.
Experts said the poll results showed how an American jury might view such a case. "It gives you an indication of what a cross-section of citizens on a jury might do with this kind of evidence," Chesa Boudin, former San Francisco district attorney, told the Guardian.
"The fact that this hasn't been done before may lead many to say, well, it can’t be done, there’s no precedent. But there was no precedent for anything until there was," he added.
Two experts made the case for criminal homicide charges against Big Oil in a paper in Harvard Environmental Law Review:
Fossil fuel companies learned decades ago that what they produced, marketed, and sold would generate 'globally catastrophic' climate change. Rather than alert the public and curtail their operations, they worked to deceive the public about these harms and prevent regulation of their lethal conduct. They funded efforts to call sound science into doubt and confuse their shareholders, consumers, and regulators. They poured money into campaigns to elect or install judges, legislators, and executive officials hostile to any litigation, regulation, or competition that might limit their profits.
The paper, which was officially published only recently but was first written and reported on by Common Dreams last year, was co-authored by David Arkush of the nonprofit Public Citizen, which has long advocated for holding Big Oil to account and which teamed up with Data for Progress on the new poll, according to The Guardian.
The idea of criminal prosecution has received "real, serious interest" from several district attorneys' offices, Aaron Regunberg, senior counsel at Public Citizen, told the newspaper.