12/30/23: Israel Demands US Attack Iran

against Israel for the crime of genocide. I want to spend a bit of time with that. Why it's significant, What is the case that they are making. We have Israel saying they regret the use of a particular munition in attacking a refugee camp. They don't regret striking the refugee camp, just the particular munition that they used in what has been one of the deadliest attacks on the

Gaza Strip since the beginning of their assault. Post October seventh, we have the US skipping congressional review to go ahead and sell addition munitions to Israel. This is significant in a number of ways. I want to break that down for you. You've got another alleged Biden versus bb fight, allegedly difficult phone conversation, So I'll break that down for you. What was it supposedly about and what happened there? What

does it mean? This war has apparently also unleashed a drug resistant super fungus that is attacking Israeli soldiers and undoubtedly Palestinians as well, So important to keep our eye on that. And ethnic cleansing being mainstreamed by US politicians, none other than our great friend, that moderate, that beacon of moderate politics, Nikki Haley herself. So I'll show you those comments too, But I wanted to go ahead and start with war drums beating for us to get directly

in a conflict with Iran. Now this is incredible on a number of levels. First of all, horrifying that anyone is suggesting or excited about the possibility of escalating this conflict into a regional conflagration, into a war directly between the US and Israel and Iran. But in addition, so this is eneught Aali Betta. He is a former Prime

Minister of Israel. Just a year or so ago, he was Prime Minister of Israel, and he published an op ed in The Wall Street Journal saying the US and Israel knew to take on Iran directly, make the Ayatolas pay for sowing chaos through their hamas Hesbela and Huthi proxies. Here he is tweeting this out. Iran is a terror octopus. It's arms, hamas Hesbela and the Huthis are sewing chaos and terror across the world. It's time for the US and its allies to target its head, Tehran and bring

down its regime. Now. Think if any other foreign politician published an op ed in a Western media outlet, in one of the top Western media outlets calling for US to send our sons and daughters into war, everyone be freaking out about this. Even if it was, you know, the Ukrainian Zelensky saying we should get directly involved and boots on the ground in a war with Russia, people

would rightly be freaking out. But here, for some reason, since it's Israel, just fine a dandy for their prime former prime minister, very recently former prime minister to write in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that Yeah, it's time for us to go to war with Iran. Let me read you a little bit of what he

says here. He says, there are many ways to weaken Iran and power, domestic opposition, ensure internet continuity during riots against the regime, strength and its enemies, increase sanctions and economic pressures. But Israel can't and shouldn't do this alone. The US should be leading the effort. So regime change effort that he's saying here now he's saying, Oh, it doesn't have to be it doesn't have to go to

all out war. He floats this sort of like wish list of what right wing hawks in Israel and here in America too, as I'm about to show you want us to be doing to Iran, including things like increasing sanctions. I mean, we're already sanctioning the hell out of Iran, and how has that worked out for us in terms

of our relationship. It's preposterous. But also to float all of these actions aimed directly at regime change within Iran and think that that includes no risk, no risk whatsoever, that you can just do these things without any cost or consequence. He can't be this stupid. There's no way that he's this stupid. He concludes by saying the US and Israel must set the clear goal of bringing down Iran's evil regime. Not only is this possible, it is vital for the safety and security of the Middle East

and the entire civilized world. So now you'll recall it the beginning of you know, right after the horrors of October seventh, there was this report, originally in the Wall Street Journal claiming that Iran was directly in involved in the October seventh attacks. This was always very questionable, based on really shoddy sourcing, and immediately both the US and Israeli intelligence shot this report down and said, look, Iran provides support to Hamas, but they were actually caught off guard.

They were actually surprised by the October seventh attacks. They were not directly involved in planning it. And so early on in the conflict, people like John Bolden others right wing Republican politicians here in the US started to build this case for war with the run and howd it really stopped. But once that initial report got kind of shot down, there was a little bit of you heard a little bit less of hey, now's the time we go after I run, because again, they are not directly

implicated in the October seventh attacks. But now we're coming back around to as we're saying what the hoo Thies are doing with regard to the Red Sea, we're coming back around to this incredibly hawkish case for direct war and conflict with Iran. The next example I'll show you again. He won't be surprised by this, because Lindsay Graham is always looking for an excuse to call for war with Iran, it seems. But he says the US should hit an Iranian base and blow it off the map. Let me

read you this from Newsweek. Senator Lindsay Graham is urging the Biden administration to blow parts of Iran off the map, the South Carolina Republicans said. He told Secretary of Defense Floyd Austin not to show weakness and make clear what the US red lines for retaliatory attack are. Without Iran. There are no Hoothias, Graham told Fox News on Wednesday. The Houthis are completely backed by Iran. I have been

saying for six months now. Hit Iran. They have oil fields out in the open, they have the Revolutionary Guard headquarters you can see from space. Blow it off the map, he continued, if you really want to protect American soldiers. Make it real to the Ayatola that if you attack a soldier through we are coming after you. So directly calling to blow the Revolutionary Guard headquarters off the map, off the map, It's Lindsey Graham. I've got one more

for you here. SHO shouldn't be left out. John Bolton again one of these people who you know. I guess it's just an ordinary day of the week for him to call for direct war with Iran. He says the lesson may now have no option but to attack Iran. Tehran will only accept it has miscalculated if it faces significant costs for its recent acts of aggression, and Caitlin Johnstone,

you're opining it's actually almost cute at this point. He just keeps making up excuses to get the one thing he desperately wants, like uh oh, looks like we'll have to do the thing I've always wanted to do. He's like a cartoon Breakfast Cereal mascot, always making news schemes to grab a bowl, which is fairly well said, but for me, it highlights just what a dangerous and precarious situation that we find ourselves in with risks of escalation

across the board. You know, the fact that we have so many service members still in the region makes means that there are targets and possibilities of dangerous escalation. The fact that you have this domestic push now coupled within Israeli push for direct conflict with Iran, this is not something to play around with. This is not something to downplay.

This is a risk we have to take incredibly, incredibly seriously because you know, with regard to Biden, who is mentally ailing and who has proven himself to basically do whatever Israel wants him to do, I don't think you can take any possibility off the table at this point.

But you know, I can't move on to the next piece without just saying how how sick it is to me to hear these people just so casual in calling for or you know, directly escalatory attacks, calling for blowing the Revolutionary Guard headquarters off the map, as if that wouldn't create the conditions for potential direct war. You know, I guess they're just so used to thinking of the globe as like some chessboard that they can just move

pieces around on. They don't even consider the human beings lives, it would be put at risk because I guess it wouldn't be them, it wouldn't be their family, it wouldn't be the people in their like elite bubble circles. And so it's just done so incredibly casually. And I you know, even though it's characters like Lindsay Graham, John Bolton who do this all the time, I still continue to find it, and I think you should still continue to find it

incredibly shocking and incredibly disturbing. All right, let's go ahead and move on to this next piece which I mentioned before, which is that South Africa has now officially instituted proceedings with the International Court of Justice against Israel for the

crime of genocide. You have Jeremy Scahill here, a fantastic reporter co founder of the INTERCEPTUO says this is a significant move, particularly because the action is being brought by South Africa, nation that fought for its own liberation against apart time regime supported for decades by the US. I want to read to you a little bit of their

letter and what they have to say here. They say, South Africa today filed an application instituting proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the UN concerning alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide the quote Genocide Convention in relation

to Palestinians in the Gaza strip. According to this application, acts and omissions by Israel are genocidal in character as they are committed with the requisite specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial, and ethnical group, and that the conduct of Israel, through the state organ state agents, and other persons and entities acting on its instructions or under the direction, control, or influence,

in relation to Palestines in Gaza is in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention. I also want to share with you just a bit of the actual case that they filed here, and it's like, you know, eighty some pages long, so obviously I'm not going to read all of it, but in the specific language about this about Genocide Convention and what it entails. You know, one of the most difficult to prove components is the idea

of intent. So you have to see the acts on the ground, which obviously, you know, we see in this mass bombing campaign, targeting civilians, targeting civilian infrastructure, targeting, you know, anyone who calls themselves a Palestinian, overwhelmingly in Gaza, but also targeting in the West Bank as well. You have to have the capability to actually effectuate genocide, and then

you have to have this component of intent. And as I said, this is typically, you know, according to people who study this, and I would recommend you go listen to Ryan and Emily did a fantastic interview with a scholar who's saying, this is, you know, textbook case of genocide. Typically, the intent piece is difficult to establish because usually politicians and media figures, etc. Military officials aren't running around saying, hey, guys,

I'm doing a genocide. What do you think. But in this particular case, they have so many examples of Israeli officials up to and including Benjamin Nett Yahoo saying very explicitly what they're up to here. And so I wanted to show you a little bit of that part of the report. It starts on page fifty nine under this subheading expressions of Genocidal intent, against the Palestinian people by Israeli state officials and others. They cite here comments from Netanyahu.

They talk about how, in a televised address he promised to quote operate forcefully everywhere. He confirmed, we are striking our enemies with unprecedented might. He said when Israeli air STRIKX had already killed over twenty six hundred and seventy Palestinians, including seven hundred and twenty four children. He said that Israeli soldiers understand the scope of the mission and stand ready to defeat the bloodthirsty monsters who have risen against

Israel to destroy us. In a formal address, you may recall this, he described the situation as a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle, a dehumanizing theme to which he returned on various occasions. They write, including on November third, in a letter to Israeli soldiers and officers published on X. The letter asserted that this is the war between the suns of light and the sons

of darkness. We will not let up on our mission until the light overcomes the darkness. The good will defeat the extreme evil that threatens us in the entire world. He returned a theme in his Christmas message, stating, we are facing monsters, monsters who murder children in front of their parents. This is a battle not only of Israel against these barbarians, It's a battle of civilization against barbarism.

On October twenty eighth, as Israeli forces prepared their land invasion of Gaza, he invoked the Biblical story of the total destruction of Amelek by the Israelites, stating, you must remember what Amelek has done to you, says our Holy Bible, and we do remember. He again referred to Amelek in a letter on November third, saying the relevant Biblical passage reads as follows, Now, go attack Amelek and prescribe all

that belongs to him. Spare no one but kill alike, men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses. They go on through the list. I won't give you all of these details. Some of these comments you'll remember Isaac Hertzog.

saying we're fighting human animals and are acting accordingly. Israeli Minister for National Security, Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Israeli Minister of Finance saying we need to deal a blow that hasn't been seen in fifty years and take down Gaza, the Israeli Minister of Heritage, the Israeli Minister of Agriculture, the Deputy Speaker of the Kanesset and member

of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee. You've got, in addition, you've got Israeli Army officials, advisors and spokespersons, Israeli Army Coordinator of Government Activities, Israeli Army of Reservist, Major General, etc.

Et cetera, et cetera. So, in terms of establishing intent, which again is oftentimes the most difficult part of proving that you know, the crimes are grave enough to meet what is intended to be of you know, high bar of the Genocide Convention, their own words make it quite clear how they are viewing this conflict, what their goals are, and what they're up to. So that's part, a key part of the case that they are making here to the International Court of Justice. You know, I think it's

also important. South Africa's Foreign minister was discussing this case against Israel and she had some very powerful words that I wanted to share with you about US hypocrisy and Western hypocrisy with regards to the view of Israel and the acts they're committing in Gaza Versus the Way, and this is something we've highlighted on the show Versus the Way that they discuss Russian war crimes against Ukraine and how you know, this hypocrisy, it really renders international law completely,

completely meaningless. So let's listen to what South Africa's Foreign minister has to say.

was never important for Palestine. It's very peculiar. If you believe in international law truly, then wherever sovereignty is infringed, it must apply.

it pass. We take it to the General Assembly. When some of us had been calling for the General Assembly to have a greater say, we never enjoyed support, but suddenly today see, that's where international law begins to mean nothing, because for some we see it as a cheating and for others we see it as a benefit. So our argument is, let's revise the international multilateral system to ensure that we observe that post nineteen forty eight has arrived.

the whoror that it was. But then when it's Israel that has literally destroyed the vast majority of Gaza, including apartment buildings, including there's actually New Wall Street Journal analysis, I believe seventy percent of homes, huge percentage of homes have been destroyed, schools, mosques, churches, farmland, water, infrastructure, you

name it, it's been destroyed. And virtual silence. You occasionally get this little like, oh, maybe you should do a little bit better, and or a leaked to the press of oh, you know, we're really worried about the civilians, and oh they need to stop. Biden even said they're, you know, indiscriminate bombing, and he described as indiscriminate bombing that is a war crime. And yet there is none

of the concern, there's none of certainly no repercussions. There's nothing but just green lighting more and more and more, which actually, you know, let me go ahead and show you what the latest is in that regard. We've got the Biden administration once again bypassing Congress on an emergency

weapons sale to Israel. So they are bypassing the normal procedure to allow for congressional approval and just going ahead and green lighting this sale, which given the context, given the fact, again you even have Biden describing what Israel is doing as indiscriminate bombing. You have you know, this genocide allegations being presented at the International Court of Justice. I mean, you have so much documented at this point. This is directly aiding in a betting those war crimes.

So let me read you a little but to the article, they say, for the second time this month, the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapon sale to Israel, as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas and Gaza under increasing international criticism, State Department said Friday, Secretary of State Anthony Blincoln had told Congress that he made a second emergency determination covering one hundred and forty

seven point five million dollars sale for equipment including fuses, charges, and primers that is needed to make the one hundred and fifty five millimeter shells that Israel has already purchased function Given the urgency of Israel's defensive needs, the Secretary notified Congress he had exercised his delegated authority to determine an emergency existed necessitating the immediate approval of the transfer. So I looked up the significance of these particular munitions.

So each round is about two feet long, weighs about one hundred pounds, is as the name indicates, about one hundred and fifty five millimeters or six point one inches in diameter. They're used in howitzer systems, which are toad large guns that are identified by the re of the angle of fire that their barrels can be set to, can be configured in many ways, can be packed with highly exposive material, use precision guided systems, pierce armor, or

produce high fragmentation. This is again according to the AP and these are highly sought after munitions. There are a few things that are really important to note here. As I mentioned before, just the green lighting of this, the bypassing of normal procedures, shows you how all in the Biden administration continues to be on Israel's assault on Gaza, any sort of words of concern. Notwithstanding that's number one. Number two, this is these are exactly the munitions that

and Ryan Grimm is pointing this out on Twitter. Ukraine is desperate for so it also shows you, you know, the pecking order in terms of US support and priorities. Ukraine has definitely fallen too. The back burder. We'll cover this next week when we're back doing normal shows. You now have being openly talked about, Hey, Ukraine may have to give up some territory, something that was absolutely off the table to even say up until very very recently.

And so they're you know, expediting this massive sale of these you know, very large munitions to Israel and circumventing the normal process in order to make sure Israel has absolutely everything they need to continue what Joe Biden himself has described as an indiscriminate bombing campaign in Gaza. And uh, speaking of which, let's discuss. There was recently I brought you some of these details previously, a huge attack on

a large refugee camp. It killed, reports are killed, hundreds, including you know, overwhelmingly civilians as usual, many women and children. And the Israelis are now expressing regret, not over the attack itself, but this is an Israeli government spokesperson on Sky News saying they regret that a wrong munition was used in this attack. Let's take a lesson.

If anything, it's more deadly, which makes sense, because obviously every the north is completely uninhabitable, utterly destroyed. There's barely anything left standing, you know, attacks on key parts of civilian life, including hospitals, Alshifa being sort of like the center of those attacks. That are very few hospitals that are even continuing to operate anywhere in the Gaza strip.

But the north is utterly destroyed, and almost everybody in the Palestinian Gaza population is now moved to the south, so you have people even more densely packed in even more close quarters. And the Israeli government and the IDF have told them, oh, there's this one place where you can go to be safer, while they still are bombing those places where they claim to tell them the population

that they can move to to be safe. As the UN has said, and as many analyzes, including from Western media out looks like the Wall Street Journal, in the Washington Post and the New York Times have said, there is nowhere safe in the Gaza strip. And yet we have yet another of these reports of how concerned Biden is and how he's really you know, behind the scenes, pushing back on bb and they're just they're doing their

best out there. This is from axios from a reporter Barock Revide scoop Biden in frustrating call, told bb to solve Palestinian tax revenue issue. So this has to do with the West Bank, which is run in part by the Palestinian Authority. The taxes that are directly owed to the Palestinian Authority. Israel has been withholding and this has been a particular project of extremist finance Minister Bezilielsmotrich, who

doesn't want any of this money to go to the PA. Well, they're already in a financial crisis and which has been you know, really exacerbated by the fact that Palestinians who used to be able in the West Bank to go and work in Israel's day laborers, et cetera, they have they have been blocked from doing that. So there's been

a huge drop in revenue and they're really struggling. And now Israel is completely withholding the tax revenue that they are owed in order to finance, you know, paying for their employees and their bureaucracy and basic services and security services, et cetera. So that's the context of this alleged conversation

that happened. Let me read you this report. They say President Biden held a difficult conversation with Netanyahu over at Israel's decision to withhold part of the tax remant collects for the PA, According to US and Israeli officials, The Big Picture, US officials said this part of last Saturday's call between the two leaders was one of the most difficult and frustrating conversations Biden has had with Netnahu since the beginning of the war. Sign of growing tensions between

Biden and YAHUO. I believe it when I see it. The tax revenues Israel collects for the PA under an agreement between the parties are a major source of income for the PA, which is already in a financial crisis. And as I mentioned, Israel's far right ulternationalist finance minister Bezialilsmotrich and October decided to suspend the transfer of all of the tax revenue funds after the Hamas terrorist attack.

Hamas does not run the West Bank, so why are they Why is the PA being targeted for something they had absolutely nothing to do with, so they say Behind the scenes, Saturday's forty five minute call focused on the next phase of Israel's ground operation but towards the end of the call, Biden raised his concerns about the withheld

Palestinian tax revenues. According to the officials, bidenes's Ntnyahu to accept a proposal that the Israeli Prime Minister had raised himself for weeks ago to transfer the withheld tax revenues to Norway for safekeeping until an arrangement can be found,

and the PA had agreed to that. Netanyahu had floated it previously, and now reportedly he backtracked on that, and at the end of the call, they say, after a few minutes of discussion, Biden told Netanyaho he expects him to solve this issue, added that this conversation is over and ended the call. The US official and source with knowledge of the call said.

is so horrific, but violence is dramatically escalated there. So it's not that it's not important. But you had this whole common conversation about the next phase of the quote unquote ground operation that all went fine and dandy, and the thing that you're getting completely hung up on is the tax revenue part. What about the human beings who are being massacred on a daily basis. What about this attack on the refugee camp that just you know, slaughtered

hundreds of civilians. What about the attacks on the hospital that they just blatantly lied about the extent of Hamas use and any sort of connection to Hamas command and control center. No, No, that none of that was the

part that really got Biden upset. It was the tax revenue, which, again not saying it's not important, but you know, I would if I had to choose between the things that are going on right now to really you know, fixate on and focus on perhaps the you know, plans for ethnic cleansing and the utter destruction of the Gaza strip and killing of some you know, twenty one thousand plus Palestadians in Gaza might might be an important thing to

race with Nyaho and get upset about as well. I also wanted to just show you this in the lane of fresh horrors that are being unleashed by this war. Apparently we have a new super fungus in Gaza because of Israel's destruction of all of the sanitation infrastructure. A wounded IDs soldier died after infection by this super fungus during the Gaza ground operation. Soldier was seriously injured in the strip. Some ten soldiers believed to have contracted the

same fungus. No confirmation from IDF doctors worn of dangerous battlefield infections. So apparently this was a drug resistant superfungus. And it's because the soil has been contaminated with sewage, with raw sewage, because all of the infrastructure has been

destroyed in Gaza. At the same time, we have mainstream US politicians who are now you know, just getting super comfortable with ethnic cleansing and arguing aggressively that this is the right approach for the day after in Gaza, here is Nikki Haley saying that starving Palestinians should go to pro Hamas countries.

able to get into Egypt. How are you supposed to even make it to Cutter at this in that telling that Egypt won't take them? Why won't Egypt take them because they don't trust which ones are terrorists and which ones aren't. It's a sad state of affairs. But if the reality of that evil is very clear in Arab countries too. Arab countries have very much always been cautious and know the threats that iron can place. They don't want those terrorist proxies coming out them. Saudi Arabia felt

the Huthi's in that fight for Yemen. Egypt knows exactly what they can do. But instead of the world hitting on Israel, who was brought to her knees in the worst invasion since the Holocaust. Why isn't everybody talking to Egypt. Why aren't they talking to Turkey? Why aren't they talking to Cutter, Why aren't they talking to Ron? Why aren't they doing something to help the Palestinians. If that's the case, why is it you come back to Israel and the US.

It's always the case. Everybody loves to help Israel when she's hit, but all of a sudden they hit. They're quick to beat up on Israel when she hits back. If that had happened to America, do you not think we would have hit back? But where are the friends of those pro Hamas people? Where are the friends of Gaza? They should be the ones doing what they need to to save them.

why the focus on Israel. Oh why doesn't Egypt want to take in all of these refugees who've been now forcibly displaced from their homes because of this bombing campaign. Oh I don't know, Maybe they don't really want to participate in an ethnic cleansing that Netanyahu is now openly floating and pushing for and clearly finding some support among mainstream US politicians. Nikki Hilly is supposed to be the moderate alternative to Trump, remember guys, And here she is saying, Oh, yeah,

that would be the humanitarian solution. I mean, that's the piece that always drives me completely insane. Is they frame this quote unquote voluntary migration. How voluntary is it when your home is bombed, everything has been destroyed, and there's nowhere left for you to return to, and your kids are sick and there's not enough food and it's a complete siege and you're starving and there's no water and there's no medicine. Oh yeah, voluntary voluntary migration. Why do

we focus on Israel? Why do we focus on the US, Because we're the ones who are making this entire area unlivable and forcing people out and killing them on a daily basis. So we had covered before all of these reports that, you know, I mean, it's clear at this point what Netanyahu's goal is then out the population quote unquote. We've had all these reports. We had that report about it finding mainstream bipartisan support within the US using US eight dollars to push countries in the region to take

in massive refugee populations. And Nikki Haley clearly down with that plan. And I've got one piece to add to that, which is a report from uh to PARSI highlighted this, and I just you know, this is one single source. This was in the New York Review of Books. A person here says that a Biden official reached out about studying the feasibility of building a tensity in the Sinai, which would be followed by a more permanent arrangement somewhere

in the northern part of the peninsula. So there are some indications that US officials looking to assist with this future ethnic cleansing plan. So again something to watch very very carefully, because it's quite clear what the Israelis want at the end of this situation. All right, guys, that's what I got for you today. I'll continue to watch and see if there are other updates that we need to bring, and we'll be back with a regular show on Tuesday, so if not before, I will certainly see you that