mintpressnews--2020-03-17--Institutional Racism Lies at the Heart of Israel’s Internal Political Struggles

The third Israeli elections to be held within a twelve-month period once again failed to bring about the desired outcome .
If anyone was hoping to see an end to the political deadlock that exists within Israeli politics , they must be very disappointed .
In fact , prospects for a stable government that is supported by a majority in Israel ’ s main legislative body , the Knesset , seem as unlikely as ever .
At the time these words were written , Benny Gantz , leader of the Blue and White party , was asked by the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government .
So far , based on the recommendations of the other parties , he does have the ability to secure a majority of 61 in the 120 seat Knesset , however , 15 of those 61 votes would be from outside of the coalition .
Why ?
Because those fifteen votes come from the Joint List , or as it is officially called , the Joint Arab List .
In Israeli politics racism and prejudice against Palestinians is so prevalent that no government could be formed through a partnership with Palestinian , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ While this may change at any moment , it is important to note that Gantz was tasked by Israel ’ s President Reuven Rivlin to do this only because the Joint List , which is made up of four predominantly Palestinian parties , made it possible .
The coalition is currently the third-largest bloc in the Knesset and has decided to recommend Gantz to the president .
That decision was based largely on a desire to bring an end to the reign of Benjamin Netanyahu .
If things do not change and Gantz @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he will remember to pay back the people who got him there .
Gantz is feeling uneasy about being recommended by the Joint List .
During the election campaign , Gantz , serving as leader of the Blue and White party , vowed several times not to head a government that includes the Joint List or that even relies on their support .
In fact , in a video posted recently by his opponents , he is shown making this pledge twenty-five times .
Yet , since the Joint List increased its presence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seats and Blue and White lost a couple of seats , Gantz had little choice .
The reality that was subsequently forced onto him and all the other Zionist parties is an impossible one .
Half of them want Netanyahu to remain as Prime Minister and the other half despise him and want him out .
They all want a seat at the table but none of them have enough seats to get what they want .
Gantz said several times that if Netanyahu steps down he will agree to form a national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party , but that doesn ’ t seem likely .
So far the “ Right Block , ” which includes the Likud party and its fringe right-wing allies , remains loyal to the “ boss ” and that means that for the time being , Netanyahu is not going anywhere .
It can not be easy for Arab citizens of Israel to support any of the current Israeli political party leaders .
Since the establishment of the state of Israel , not a day , or even a moment , has gone by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dispossessed , detained , faced discrimination , violence , and even outright killing , all carried out by state institutions .
Most , if not all of Israel ’ s political leaders , were involved in one way or another in crimes against the Palestinian people and they all support the current system of apartheid .
All of the Israeli political leaders and their constituents believe in the legitimacy of Israel as a so-called Jewish State , where Israeli Jewish citizens have privileges that are denied to Arabs .
The mantra that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zionist parties is that Israel must be “ Jewish and democratic.
” While it is a good sound bite , there is no way to have a state that is Jewish and democratic in an overwhelmingly Arab country .
There is not a Palestinian alive that has not suffered from Israeli brutality in one way or another and so Gantz should be immensely grateful that Joint List members recommended him at all .
Gantz is known to be the general that prides himself on killing countless Palestinians and on the destruction he left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported that another military figure in the Blue and White party , General Gaby Ashkenazi , is now negotiating with Netanyahu ’ s Likud Party regarding a possible unity government .
If the Post ’ s reporting is accurate , it would mean that Ashkenazi would have to break a campaign promise not to sit with Netanyahu but it would clearly be easier and more beneficial for Gantz in the long run , allowing him to avoid what he fears most , the prospect of being remembered as the prime minister that had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The disdain with which Blue and White ’ s leaders talk about the Joint List was described by Israeli journalist Orly Noy as “ the tone of an IDF officer to a Palestinian at a checkpoint.
” One wonders if people who were not raised in a racist society , or were victims of one , can possibly understand just how deep the racism runs and how normalized it is in Israeli discourse .
The only Israeli political campaign that did not include hate and incitement was that of the Joint Arab List @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of tolerance and inclusion , and the results speak for themselves – an unprecedented fifteen seats .
The only way out of this political impasse is to undo the system that created it .
Five million Palestinians denied a voice must be allowed to participate in the process .
Once the two million Palestinians locked up in the Gaza Strip and three million in the West Bank participate in the elections , the Zionist regime will fall and a new democratic system will take its place .
The emergence of a strong Palestinian-led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The members of the list set aside their differences and opted for unity and that brought them the strength they needed in order to be heard .
This may well be the first step toward a truly democratic system .
Feature photo | Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz addresses his supporters during election campaign rally in Tel Aviv , Israel , Feb. 29 , 2020 .
Oded Balilty | AP Miko Peled is an author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem .
He is the author of “ The General @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Israeli in Palestine , ” and “ Injustice , the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five .
”

The third Israeli elections to be held within a twelve-month period once again failed to bring about the desired outcome. If anyone was hoping to see an end to the political deadlock that exists within Israeli politics, they must be very disappointed. In fact, prospects for a stable government that is supported by a majority in Israel’s main legislative body, the Knesset, seem as unlikely as ever.
At the time these words were written, Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, was asked by the president of Israel to try to form a government. So far, based on the recommendations of the other parties, he does have the ability to secure a majority of 61 in the 120 seat Knesset, however, 15 of those 61 votes would be from outside of the coalition. Why? Because those fifteen votes come from the Joint List, or as it is officially called, the Joint Arab List. In Israeli politics racism and prejudice against Palestinians is so prevalent that no government could be formed through a partnership with Palestinian, or “Arab,” parties.
While this may change at any moment, it is important to note that Gantz was tasked by Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin to do this only because the Joint List, which is made up of four predominantly Palestinian parties, made it possible. The coalition is currently the third-largest bloc in the Knesset and has decided to recommend Gantz to the president. That decision was based largely on a desire to bring an end to the reign of Benjamin Netanyahu. If things do not change and Gantz does become Prime Minister one would hope he will remember to pay back the people who got him there.
Campaign Promise
Gantz is feeling uneasy about being recommended by the Joint List. During the election campaign, Gantz, serving as leader of the Blue and White party, vowed several times not to head a government that includes the Joint List or that even relies on their support. In fact, in a video posted recently by his opponents, he is shown making this pledge twenty-five times. Yet, since the Joint List increased its presence in the parliament with an unprecedented fifteen seats and Blue and White lost a couple of seats, Gantz had little choice.
The reality that was subsequently forced onto him and all the other Zionist parties is an impossible one. Half of them want Netanyahu to remain as Prime Minister and the other half despise him and want him out. They all want a seat at the table but none of them have enough seats to get what they want. Gantz said several times that if Netanyahu steps down he will agree to form a national unity government with Netanyahu’s Likud party, but that doesn’t seem likely. So far the “Right Block,” which includes the Likud party and its fringe right-wing allies, remains loyal to the “boss” and that means that for the time being, Netanyahu is not going anywhere.
An Uneasy Choice
It cannot be easy for Arab citizens of Israel to support any of the current Israeli political party leaders. Since the establishment of the state of Israel, not a day, or even a moment, has gone by in which Palestinian Arabs were not forcibly dispossessed, detained, faced discrimination, violence, and even outright killing, all carried out by state institutions. Most, if not all of Israel’s political leaders, were involved in one way or another in crimes against the Palestinian people and they all support the current system of apartheid.
All of the Israeli political leaders and their constituents believe in the legitimacy of Israel as a so-called Jewish State, where Israeli Jewish citizens have privileges that are denied to Arabs. The mantra that is repeated ad nauseam by leaders of the Zionist parties is that Israel must be “Jewish and democratic.” While it is a good sound bite, there is no way to have a state that is Jewish and democratic in an overwhelmingly Arab country.
There is not a Palestinian alive that has not suffered from Israeli brutality in one way or another and so Gantz should be immensely grateful that Joint List members recommended him at all. Gantz is known to be the general that prides himself on killing countless Palestinians and on the destruction he left behind in Gaza.
A Way Out
The Jerusalem Post reported that another military figure in the Blue and White party, General Gaby Ashkenazi, is now negotiating with Netanyahu’s Likud Party regarding a possible unity government. If the Post’s reporting is accurate, it would mean that Ashkenazi would have to break a campaign promise not to sit with Netanyahu but it would clearly be easier and more beneficial for Gantz in the long run, allowing him to avoid what he fears most, the prospect of being remembered as the prime minister that had to rely on the “Arabs.”
The disdain with which Blue and White’s leaders talk about the Joint List was described by Israeli journalist Orly Noy as “the tone of an IDF officer to a Palestinian at a checkpoint.” One wonders if people who were not raised in a racist society, or were victims of one, can possibly understand just how deep the racism runs and how normalized it is in Israeli discourse. The only Israeli political campaign that did not include hate and incitement was that of the Joint Arab List. They held on to the principles of tolerance and inclusion, and the results speak for themselves – an unprecedented fifteen seats.
The only way out of this political impasse is to undo the system that created it. Five million Palestinians denied a voice must be allowed to participate in the process. Once the two million Palestinians locked up in the Gaza Strip and three million in the West Bank participate in the elections, the Zionist regime will fall and a new democratic system will take its place.
The emergence of a strong Palestinian-led Joint List is an important lesson. The members of the list set aside their differences and opted for unity and that brought them the strength they needed in order to be heard. This may well be the first step toward a truly democratic system.
Feature photo | Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz addresses his supporters during election campaign rally in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 29, 2020. Oded Balilty | AP
Miko Peled is an author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem. He is the author of “The General’s Son. Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” and “Injustice, the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.”


mintpressnews--2020-03-17--The Coronavirus Outbreak is Revealing the Appalling Conditions Faced by Palestinians in Israeli Pris

The Coronavirus Outbreak is Revealing the Appalling Conditions Faced by Palestinians in Israeli Prisons

Ramallah , West Bank — Palestinian political prisoner Muwaffaq Arouq , 77 , is now in critical condition .
He has lost weight , has a fever and can only eat through a feeding tube inserted into his abdomen , according to the Committee of Prisoners and Former Prisoners ’ Affairs .
Doctors discovered Arouq had cancer in July , but the Israeli Prison Service ( IPS ) delayed his treatment until November — worsening his condition .
And yet , amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus , Israel continues its policy of medical neglect against Palestinian prisoners .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arouq and other sick prisoners , Qaddoura Fares , president of the Palestinian Prisoners ’ Club , says the coronavirus pandemic has increased concerns for prisoners whose health is deteriorating .
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called on the Israeli government to release all prisoners , especially children and those suffering from diseases last week but Fares doesn ’ t have hope that drastic measures like this will be taken .
“ We are calling on the Israeli government to clean the rooms and the spaces prisoners are moving in to be sure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this virus , ” Fares said .
“ But the prisoners tell me that the Israeli administration did nothing.
” Fares mentioned that the IPS is “ acting as usual ” except for adding new procedures like denying family visits to prisoners .
Palestinian prisoner rights organization , Addameer , detailed Israel ’ s so-called preventive procedures in a new report .
In addition to canceling family visits , Israeli authorities suspended lawyers ’ visits and changed instructions regarding civil court procedures .
Trials for security prisoners at Israeli civil courts will now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These sessions will be attended by the prisoner ’ s lawyer and detainees will be permitted to be in contact through visual or audio means from prison .
Charlotte Kates , international coordinator for Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network , said it is already incredibly difficult for families to receive reliable information about their loved ones in jail , even when there ’ s not a health crisis happening .
“ There ’ s been this constant push to prevent family visits so it doesn ’ t seem like a real attempt to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across instead as another way of punishing Palestinian prisoners , ” Kates said .
According to news reports , 19 Palestinian prisoners and 15 Israeli officers were held in quarantine at Asqalan Prison after an Israeli doctor interacted with a Palestinian prisoner seeking treatment .
The physician tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus five days before meeting with the prisoner .
And in Al-Maskobiya prison in Jerusalem , 100 prisoners were isolated after an officer was suspected of having the virus .
Both quarantines have officially ended .
However , the IPS is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadly virus at Sahranem Prison in the Negev desert along the Egyptian border .
More than 5,000 Palestinians — including women and children — are currently held in Israeli prisons with 700 suffering from poor health and nearly 300 in critical condition , according to 2019 statistics from Palestinian non-governmental organization The Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “ Hurryyat.
” Four prisoners are suffering from dangerous cancers , 10 have tumors , 68 have been shot or injured , 11 are paralyzed and 17 suffer from mental illnesses .
Palestinian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kidney failures , blood pressure problems and diabetes .
In 2019 , five Palestinian prisoners died in Israeli jails , with three dying as a direct result of medical negligence .
Eighteen prisoners are now permanently hospitalized at the infamous Ramleh Prison Hospital .
This facility is where prisoners with the most debilitating health problems go for treatment .
Sick inmates may wait for days at the hospital to see a doctor , but the trip there can be equally as long .
Fares details how ailing prisoners traveled three days in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feet and hands cuffed .
They don ’ t have access to food or a toilet as they spend hours picking up other sick prisoners .
Most sick inmates won ’ t even go to Ramleh because they know how excruciating the journey can be .
“ A lot of prisoners refuse to get out [ of the jail ] because they understand what is waiting for them , ” Fares said .
Lana Ramadan , International Advocacy Officer for Addameer , said that prisoners dying from medical negligence ranges from two to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Usually these things happen , the prisoner would be in a really harsh situation , he may or may not get treatment , maybe he dies , people would speak about it and then things would calm down until it happens again , ” Ramadan said .
“ So it keeps on happening .
It is systematic .
It ’ s a policy the IPS has .
They don ’ t give medical treatment to prisoners.
” As described in Addameer ’ s report , prisons are overcrowded , with small cells lacking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adequate nutrition and water are scarce .
Prisons lack sterilizers and cleaning materials , although Addameer noted that some prisoners were given cleaning equipment recently .
“ These people who are suffering from severe health conditions are spending their days in conditions that are not sanitary , not cared for properly and they are not receiving the reliable health care treatment that they need , ” Kates said .
She pointed out that often more than six to ten inmates are stuffed together in tiny , dirty cells crawling with insects and vermin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the canteen but may be banned from purchasing items if they participate in protests like hunger strikes .
In these instances , prisoners may share these hygiene products with each other — only further reducing cleanliness and sanitation .
“ There ’ s no system here that ’ s making sure these folks ’ health is being protected , ” Kates said .
“ Instead they ’ re being subjected to even more dangers to their health beyond the threat of COVID-19.
” As the prison conditions exacerbate inmates ’ health , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the severe illnesses prisoners experience .
Doctors in Israeli jails are not specialized .
In most cases , they just prescribe water and painkillers .
This was the exact outcome for Palestinian prisoner Sami Abu Diak , who , in 2015 , was merely given painkillers instead of a proper diagnosis .
Without a legitimate diagnosis , Abu Diak suffered for weeks and his condition worsened before he finally began treatment for cancer .
Abu Diak lost his battle to cancer in November inside Ramleh prison clinic .
For Helmi Al-Araj , Executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the poor medical treatment isn ’ t just because these physicians are unqualified .
“ These doctors deal with ailing prisoners with irresponsibility and no respect to prisoners because they deal with their enemies , ” Al-Araj said .
“ They don ’ t take this as a humanitarian case .
They deal with prisoners as enemies who are terrorists and did something against their government.
” Fares , who spent 14 years in prison for armed activism , agreed Palestinians are seen as “ the other.
” “ Israel is developing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between the soldier and the prisoner , ” Fares said .
“ In their mind , they think we are not human enough.
” Yet while Fares does believe medical negligence stems from the growing far-right ideology of the Israeli government , he thinks reform is possible if Palestine presents a united front .
“ Today Hamas is acting alone .
Fatah is acting alone .
And the Israeli administration knows how deep the Palestinian crisis goes , so they use it.
” Feature photo | Rasila Zahran holds a photograph of her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a partial hunger strike for nearly three months , outside Israel ’ s Ofer military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah , Dec. 19 , 2019 .
Majdi Mohammed | AP

Ramallah, West Bank — Palestinian political prisoner Muwaffaq Arouq, 77, is now in critical condition. He has lost weight, has a fever and can only eat through a feeding tube inserted into his abdomen, according to the Committee of Prisoners and Former Prisoners’ Affairs. Doctors discovered Arouq had cancer in July, but the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) delayed his treatment until November — worsening his condition. And yet, amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Israel continues its policy of medical neglect against Palestinian prisoners.
As activists demand for the release of Arouq and other sick prisoners, Qaddoura Fares, president of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, says the coronavirus pandemic has increased concerns for prisoners whose health is deteriorating.
‘Punishing Palestinian prisoners’ with new procedures
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called on the Israeli government to release all prisoners, especially children and those suffering from diseases last week but Fares doesn’t have hope that drastic measures like this will be taken.
“We are calling on the Israeli government to clean the rooms and the spaces prisoners are moving in to be sure that they will not be attacked by this virus,” Fares said. “But the prisoners tell me that the Israeli administration did nothing.” Fares mentioned that the IPS is “acting as usual” except for adding new procedures like denying family visits to prisoners.
Palestinian prisoner rights organization, Addameer, detailed Israel’s so-called preventive procedures in a new report. In addition to canceling family visits, Israeli authorities suspended lawyers’ visits and changed instructions regarding civil court procedures. Trials for security prisoners at Israeli civil courts will now be held without the detainee present. These sessions will be attended by the prisoner’s lawyer and detainees will be permitted to be in contact through visual or audio means from prison.
Charlotte Kates, international coordinator for Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, said it is already incredibly difficult for families to receive reliable information about their loved ones in jail, even when there’s not a health crisis happening.
“There’s been this constant push to prevent family visits so it doesn’t seem like a real attempt to protect people from the disease and comes across instead as another way of punishing Palestinian prisoners,” Kates said.
According to news reports, 19 Palestinian prisoners and 15 Israeli officers were held in quarantine at Asqalan Prison after an Israeli doctor interacted with a Palestinian prisoner seeking treatment. The physician tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus five days before meeting with the prisoner. And in Al-Maskobiya prison in Jerusalem, 100 prisoners were isolated after an officer was suspected of having the virus. Both quarantines have officially ended. However, the IPS is preparing to house prisoners diagnosed with the deadly virus at Sahranem Prison in the Negev desert along the Egyptian border.
A systematic policy of medical neglect
More than 5,000 Palestinians — including women and children — are currently held in Israeli prisons with 700 suffering from poor health and nearly 300 in critical condition, according to 2019 statistics from Palestinian non-governmental organization The Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat.” Four prisoners are suffering from dangerous cancers, 10 have tumors, 68 have been shot or injured, 11 are paralyzed and 17 suffer from mental illnesses. Palestinian prisoners also suffer from heart disease, kidney failures, blood pressure problems and diabetes. In 2019, five Palestinian prisoners died in Israeli jails, with three dying as a direct result of medical negligence.
Eighteen prisoners are now permanently hospitalized at the infamous Ramleh Prison Hospital. This facility is where prisoners with the most debilitating health problems go for treatment. Sick inmates may wait for days at the hospital to see a doctor, but the trip there can be equally as long. Fares details how ailing prisoners traveled three days in a metal van tied to metal chairs with feet and hands cuffed. They don’t have access to food or a toilet as they spend hours picking up other sick prisoners. Most sick inmates won’t even go to Ramleh because they know how excruciating the journey can be. “A lot of prisoners refuse to get out [of the jail] because they understand what is waiting for them,” Fares said.
Lana Ramadan, International Advocacy Officer for Addameer, said that prisoners dying from medical negligence ranges from two to four every year on average. “Usually these things happen, the prisoner would be in a really harsh situation, he may or may not get treatment, maybe he dies, people would speak about it and then things would calm down until it happens again,” Ramadan said. “So it keeps on happening. It is systematic. It’s a policy the IPS has. They don’t give medical treatment to prisoners.”
Israel’s prison conditions worsening inmates’ health
As described in Addameer’s report, prisons are overcrowded, with small cells lacking proper ventilation. Resources like medications, adequate nutrition and water are scarce. Prisons lack sterilizers and cleaning materials, although Addameer noted that some prisoners were given cleaning equipment recently.
“These people who are suffering from severe health conditions are spending their days in conditions that are not sanitary, not cared for properly and they are not receiving the reliable health care treatment that they need,” Kates said. She pointed out that often more than six to ten inmates are stuffed together in tiny, dirty cells crawling with insects and vermin. Prisoners have to purchase hygiene products from the canteen but may be banned from purchasing items if they participate in protests like hunger strikes. In these instances, prisoners may share these hygiene products with each other — only further reducing cleanliness and sanitation.
“There’s no system here that’s making sure these folks’ health is being protected,” Kates said. “Instead they’re being subjected to even more dangers to their health beyond the threat of COVID-19.”
As the prison conditions exacerbate inmates’ health, medical staff is not trained to handle the severe illnesses prisoners experience. Doctors in Israeli jails are not specialized. In most cases, they just prescribe water and painkillers. This was the exact outcome for Palestinian prisoner Sami Abu Diak, who, in 2015, was merely given painkillers instead of a proper diagnosis. Without a legitimate diagnosis, Abu Diak suffered for weeks and his condition worsened before he finally began treatment for cancer. Abu Diak lost his battle to cancer in November inside Ramleh prison clinic.
For Helmi Al-Araj, Executive Director of Hurryyat and a former prisoner, the poor medical treatment isn’t just because these physicians are unqualified. “These doctors deal with ailing prisoners with irresponsibility and no respect to prisoners because they deal with their enemies,” Al-Araj said. “They don’t take this as a humanitarian case. They deal with prisoners as enemies who are terrorists and did something against their government.”
Fares, who spent 14 years in prison for armed activism, agreed Palestinians are seen as “the other.” “Israel is developing a mentality that there is a difference between the soldier and the prisoner,” Fares said. “In their mind, they think we are not human enough.”
Yet while Fares does believe medical negligence stems from the growing far-right ideology of the Israeli government, he thinks reform is possible if Palestine presents a united front. “Today Hamas is acting alone. Fatah is acting alone. And the Israeli administration knows how deep the Palestinian crisis goes, so they use it.”
Feature photo | Rasila Zahran holds a photograph of her son Ahmed Zahran, who has been on a partial hunger strike for nearly three months, outside Israel’s Ofer military prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Dec. 19, 2019. Majdi Mohammed | AP


mintpressnews--2020-03-18--Big Tech Firms are Using Automation to Censor News About the Coronavirus

Big tech is again attempting to define the range of acceptable political discussion on its platforms ; this week YouTube announced a number of changes in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic , chief among those being that automated systems , rather than humans , will predominantly be authorizing or removing content in the foreseeable future .
“ As COVID-19 evolves , we ’ re doing our best to support those who watch , create , & make a living on YouTube .
Many of us here & in our extended workforce are unable to work as usual , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certain offices , causing some disruptions , ” it said in a message on Twitter .
“ With fewer people to review content , our automated systems will be stepping in to keep YouTube safe .
More videos will be removed than normal during this time , including content that does not violate our Community Guidelines .
We know this will be hard for all of you.
” The news that the video sharing platform is now at the mercy of an automated system that even its creators admit does not function properly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ YouTube did not explain why watching and judging content on its platform could not be done remotely .
Other big tech firms like Facebook and Twitter also notified the public that they were switching to potentially defective automated moderation during the pandemic .
Facebook had been criticized last week for insisting that employees continue to come to work but has now performed an about face .
“ We may see some longer response times and make more mistakes as a result , ” it similarly warned .
The problem with measures like these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been designed , they generally hit alternative media hardest .
In the past , Facebook has deleted pages belonging to anti-establishment outlets like the Black Agenda Report and Venezuelanalysis on the unsubstantiated grounds that they were potentially Russian-backed fake news or simply for “ suspicious behavior.
” In early February , Twitter blocked the account of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and deleted those of 2,000 of his supporters .
Immediately after the new changes were implemented , social media was awash with people angry that their posts had been removed for no legitimate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with our story about Cuba ’ s response to the coronavirus flagged and blocked .
Meanwhile , it appears alternative media outlet 21st Century Wire has been deleted altogether .
MintPress CEO Mnar Muhawesh described it as censorship under the guise of fighting fake news .
Whether active or not , big tech algorithms privilege corporate media and de-list , de-rank and de-monetize alternative stances against war , empire and government secrecy , bucking the government line , often being precisely why people visit the sites in the first place .
Big media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government agencies that they are supposed to be holding to account .
In their book titled , The New Digital Age : Reshaping the Future of People , Nations and Business , Eric Schmidt and fellow Google executive Jared Cohen wrote , “ What Lockheed Martin was to the twentieth century…technology and cyber-security companies [ like Google ] will be to the twenty-first.
” Last year , Facebook announced that it was partnering with NATO think tank , the Atlantic Council , in order to help weed out fake news on its site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a whos-who of high state officials , including Henry Kissinger , Colin Powell , Condoleezza Rice and multiple former CIA chiefs , including Michael Hayden , Leon Panetta , and Michael Morell .
After working with the council , Facebook immediately began banning and removing accounts linked to media in official enemy states like Iran , Russia , and Venezuela and began silencing critics of Western governments .
39 percent of Americans get their news from Facebook , 20 percent from YouTube and 15 percent from Twitter , according to the 2019 Reuters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar numbers of people in other countries rely on those platforms to understand world events ; effectively meaning the U.S. government is increasingly in control of what the planet sees online .
A case in point is Iran in January , when , at the behest of the Trump administration , Instagram banned all messages of support for General Qassem Soleimani , who had been killed in a U.S. drone strike .
“ We operate under U.S. sanctions laws , including those related to the U.S. government ’ s designation of the Iranian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its leadership , ” a tech spokesperson said .
Instagram has over 24 million Iranian users .
A University of Maryland poll found over 80 percent of Iranians held a positive view of the general , meaning that Trump , through Silicon Valley monopolies over online communication , could effectively censor a majority opinion from being spoken by Iranians , to Iranians .
One of the principal problems with any decision over moderation on these tech giants is that they are so dominant they have effectively become public utilities , too big , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But until they are either broken up or nationalized , their opaque structure will always lead to decisions like this which increase suspicion and alienation .
Feature photo | An activist of the group ‘ Pause the System ’ dresses up to protest in front of the Downing Street gate to ask the government to follow WHO guidelines for the coronavirus outbreak in London , March 17 , 2020 .
Frank Augstein | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Big tech is again attempting to define the range of acceptable political discussion on its platforms; this week YouTube announced a number of changes in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, chief among those being that automated systems, rather than humans, will predominantly be authorizing or removing content in the foreseeable future.
“As COVID-19 evolves, we’re doing our best to support those who watch, create, & make a living on YouTube. Many of us here & in our extended workforce are unable to work as usual, so we’re reducing staffing in certain offices, causing some disruptions,” it said in a message on Twitter. “With fewer people to review content, our automated systems will be stepping in to keep YouTube safe. More videos will be removed than normal during this time, including content that does not violate our Community Guidelines. We know this will be hard for all of you.”
The news that the video sharing platform is now at the mercy of an automated system that even its creators admit does not function properly was greeted with skepticism, especially as YouTube did not explain why watching and judging content on its platform could not be done remotely.
Other big tech firms like Facebook and Twitter also notified the public that they were switching to potentially defective automated moderation during the pandemic. Facebook had been criticized last week for insisting that employees continue to come to work but has now performed an about face. “We may see some longer response times and make more mistakes as a result,” it similarly warned.
The problem with measures like these is that the way the algorithms have been designed, they generally hit alternative media hardest. In the past, Facebook has deleted pages belonging to anti-establishment outlets like the Black Agenda Report and Venezuelanalysis on the unsubstantiated grounds that they were potentially Russian-backed fake news or simply for “suspicious behavior.” In early February, Twitter blocked the account of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and deleted those of 2,000 of his supporters.
Immediately after the new changes were implemented, social media was awash with people angry that their posts had been removed for no legitimate reason. MintPress was no exception, with our story about Cuba’s response to the coronavirus flagged and blocked. Meanwhile, it appears alternative media outlet 21st Century Wire has been deleted altogether. MintPress CEO Mnar Muhawesh described it as censorship under the guise of fighting fake news.
Whether active or not, big tech algorithms privilege corporate media and de-list, de-rank and de-monetize alternative stances against war, empire and government secrecy, bucking the government line, often being precisely why people visit the sites in the first place.
Big media giants are becoming increasingly intertwined with big government agencies that they are supposed to be holding to account. In their book titled, The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business, Eric Schmidt and fellow Google executive Jared Cohen wrote, “What Lockheed Martin was to the twentieth century…technology and cyber-security companies [like Google] will be to the twenty-first.” Last year, Facebook announced that it was partnering with NATO think tank, the Atlantic Council, in order to help weed out fake news on its site. The Council’s board is a whos-who of high state officials, including Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and multiple former CIA chiefs, including Michael Hayden, Leon Panetta, and Michael Morell. After working with the council, Facebook immediately began banning and removing accounts linked to media in official enemy states like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela and began silencing critics of Western governments.
39 percent of Americans get their news from Facebook, 20 percent from YouTube and 15 percent from Twitter, according to the 2019 Reuters Institute Digital News Report. Furthermore, similar numbers of people in other countries rely on those platforms to understand world events; effectively meaning the U.S. government is increasingly in control of what the planet sees online. A case in point is Iran in January, when, at the behest of the Trump administration, Instagram banned all messages of support for General Qassem Soleimani, who had been killed in a U.S. drone strike. “We operate under U.S. sanctions laws, including those related to the U.S. government’s designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its leadership,” a tech spokesperson said. Instagram has over 24 million Iranian users. A University of Maryland poll found over 80 percent of Iranians held a positive view of the general, meaning that Trump, through Silicon Valley monopolies over online communication, could effectively censor a majority opinion from being spoken by Iranians, to Iranians.
One of the principal problems with any decision over moderation on these tech giants is that they are so dominant they have effectively become public utilities, too big, and too important not to use. But until they are either broken up or nationalized, their opaque structure will always lead to decisions like this which increase suspicion and alienation.
Feature photo | An activist of the group ‘Pause the System’ dresses up to protest in front of the Downing Street gate to ask the government to follow WHO guidelines for the coronavirus outbreak in London, March 17, 2020. Frank Augstein | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-03-18--China’s Damning US Human Rights Report May Be Propaganda, but It’s Not Wrong

Amid a global pandemic , you might be forgiven for having missed that the State Council Information Office of the People ’ s Republic of China just released a 13,000-word report on the state of human rights in the United States .
Entitled “ The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019 , ” it begins by quoting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo .
“ We lied , we cheated , we stole … It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment , ” Pompeo said of his time as head of the Central @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Texas A & M University .
The document reads similarly to reports from other human rights groups like Amnesty International , Freedom House or Human Rights Watch , providing copious facts and figures to highlight shortcomings of the American system on a range of issues .
For example , on racist policing , it notes that , “ Shootings and brutal abuse of African Americans by policemen are frequent .
African American adults are 5.9 times more likely to be incarcerated than white adults .
A U.N. Special Rapporteur called such racial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ segregation.
” The report expresses alarm at the increase in racial hate crimes .
“ White supremacy in the United States has shown a resurgence trend , ” it claims , noting that the majority of domestic terror related arrests were linked to white supremacist individuals or groups .
It cites a November FBI study that counted thousands of racial hate crimes , almost half of them motivated by anti-African American sentiment .
Intolerance against Jews and Muslims is also increasing rapidly the report noted .
It also takes aim at Immigration and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ zero tolerance ” policy on illegal immigration , noting that well over 100 people were arrested while demonstrating against those policies .
Thus , if skim-read , China ’ s report could be mistaken for one written by liberal Western organizations based in London or Washington , D.C .
But , in fact , it was written directly in opposition to the human rights industry ; in its foreword it explicitly states : The United States claims to be founded on human rights , touting itself as a world human rights defender @ @ @ @ @ @ @ narrow understanding of human rights and using its core interests of pursuing global hegemony as a yardstick , the United States released annual reports on other countries ’ human rights every year by piecing together innuendoes and hearsay .
These reports wantonly distorted and belittled human rights situation in countries and regions that did not conform to U.S. strategic interests , but turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the persistent , systematic and large-scale human rights violations in the United States.
” Furthermore , it goes much further than most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic and social rights into its critique .
These rights are enshrined in the United Nations ’ 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are commonly seen as the cornerstone of human rights .
The report states that homeless people are in a “ miserable situation , ” in the United States and are rarely treated with sympathy or helped , noting that an astonishing 80,000 California community college students had been forced to sleep in cars during the previous year alone .
It also highlights the “ shocking problem ” of child @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children having barely improved in the last 30 years .
The report concluded that , “ No child should have to worry where her next meal will come from or whether she will have a place to sleep each night in the wealthiest nation on Earth.
” A lack of healthcare is also a killer ; around 14 percent of adults have no coverage whatsoever .
The United States , however , has always explicitly rejected the Universal Declaration and its economic and social rights .
Its ambassador to the U.N. during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ labeled the Declaration a “ letter to Santa Claus.
” Likewise , Western human rights organizations rarely broach the topic of economic or labor rights ; Human Rights Watch ’ s co-founder believed them to be antithetical to democracy and even described the very concept as “ authoritarian.
” The Chinese report also expands its field to discuss the U.S. role in harming human rights worldwide .
“ In order to maintain its hegemony over the world , the United States pursued unilateralism and trampled on the international order and international system with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Charter as its core , ” it states , citing the rights of Afghans , Iraqis and Syrians whose lives have been destroyed by American interventions and condemning the U.S. for its sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela .
Of course , many in the West will simply brush the report off as Chinese-government funded propaganda , which it is .
The report certainly has an agenda , as its foreword and conclusion make clear .
But perhaps we should go deeper and question if this well-written , well-sourced document is propaganda , what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any different ?
Freedom House , for example , is overwhelmingly funded by Washington , consistently shows a strong conservative bias , and was even employed by the Pentagon to perform what it called “ clandestine activities ” – i.e .
regime change – in Iran .
Human Rights Watch began as a Cold War organization directly targeted against Communist governments and last November proved crucial in the overthrow of Evo Morales , the democratically-elected socialist president of Bolivia .
Amnesty International , perhaps the most famous human rights organization in the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As MintPressNews revealed last year , one co-founder of the organization , Peter Benenson , was an avowed anti-Communist with deep ties to the British Foreign and Colonial Offices , propping up the apartheid regime of South Africa at his government ’ s request .
Another co-founder , Luis Kutner , was an FBI asset who was involved in the government ’ s assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton .
Kutner went on to form an organization called “ Friends of the FBI , ” dedicated to countering and combating criticism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they are united against a common enemy – the coronavirus – the U.S. and China are again at loggerheads , President Trump is facing criticism for continually describing COVID-19 as the “ Chinese Virus , ” despite explicit World Health Organization warnings against doing so .
Trump has used the outbreak to double down on the necessity of building the border wall against Mexico , despite the fact that the virus began in China .
Professor Ian Haney Lopez of the University of California , Berkeley , an expert in racist language in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it convinces many Americans of its legitimacy remains to be seen .
Feature photo | A homeless person holds a shoe while camped on a street bench , March 17 , 2020 , in Oakland , Calif. Ben Margot | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Amid a global pandemic, you might be forgiven for having missed that the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China just released a 13,000-word report on the state of human rights in the United States. Entitled “The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019,” it begins by quoting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “We lied, we cheated, we stole … It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment,” Pompeo said of his time as head of the Central Intelligence Agency during a Q&A at Texas A&M University.
The document reads similarly to reports from other human rights groups like Amnesty International, Freedom House or Human Rights Watch, providing copious facts and figures to highlight shortcomings of the American system on a range of issues. For example, on racist policing, it notes that, “Shootings and brutal abuse of African Americans by policemen are frequent. African American adults are 5.9 times more likely to be incarcerated than white adults. A U.N. Special Rapporteur called such racial disparities a vestige of slavery and racial segregation.”
The report expresses alarm at the increase in racial hate crimes. “White supremacy in the United States has shown a resurgence trend,” it claims, noting that the majority of domestic terror related arrests were linked to white supremacist individuals or groups. It cites a November FBI study that counted thousands of racial hate crimes, almost half of them motivated by anti-African American sentiment. Intolerance against Jews and Muslims is also increasing rapidly the report noted.
It also takes aim at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration, noting that well over 100 people were arrested while demonstrating against those policies. Thus, if skim-read, China’s report could be mistaken for one written by liberal Western organizations based in London or Washington, D.C. But, in fact, it was written directly in opposition to the human rights industry; in its foreword it explicitly states:
The United States claims to be founded on human rights, touting itself as a world human rights defender. Following a framework of its own narrow understanding of human rights and using its core interests of pursuing global hegemony as a yardstick, the United States released annual reports on other countries’ human rights every year by piecing together innuendoes and hearsay. These reports wantonly distorted and belittled human rights situation in countries and regions that did not conform to U.S. strategic interests, but turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the persistent, systematic and large-scale human rights violations in the United States.”
Furthermore, it goes much further than most Western human rights reports do, incorporating economic and social rights into its critique. These rights are enshrined in the United Nations’ 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are commonly seen as the cornerstone of human rights. The report states that homeless people are in a “miserable situation,” in the United States and are rarely treated with sympathy or helped, noting that an astonishing 80,000 California community college students had been forced to sleep in cars during the previous year alone. It also highlights the “shocking problem” of child poverty; the poverty ratio of American children having barely improved in the last 30 years. The report concluded that, “No child should have to worry where her next meal will come from or whether she will have a place to sleep each night in the wealthiest nation on Earth.” A lack of healthcare is also a killer; around 14 percent of adults have no coverage whatsoever.
The United States, however, has always explicitly rejected the Universal Declaration and its economic and social rights. Its ambassador to the U.N. during the Reagan years, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, famously labeled the Declaration a “letter to Santa Claus.” Likewise, Western human rights organizations rarely broach the topic of economic or labor rights; Human Rights Watch’s co-founder believed them to be antithetical to democracy and even described the very concept as “authoritarian.”
The Chinese report also expands its field to discuss the U.S. role in harming human rights worldwide. “In order to maintain its hegemony over the world, the United States pursued unilateralism and trampled on the international order and international system with the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter as its core,” it states, citing the rights of Afghans, Iraqis and Syrians whose lives have been destroyed by American interventions and condemning the U.S. for its sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela.
Well-written, well-sourced propaganda
Of course, many in the West will simply brush the report off as Chinese-government funded propaganda, which it is. The report certainly has an agenda, as its foreword and conclusion make clear. But perhaps we should go deeper and question if this well-written, well-sourced document is propaganda, what makes those from Western-backed human rights organizations any different?
Freedom House, for example, is overwhelmingly funded by Washington, consistently shows a strong conservative bias, and was even employed by the Pentagon to perform what it called “clandestine activities” – i.e. regime change – in Iran. Human Rights Watch began as a Cold War organization directly targeted against Communist governments and last November proved crucial in the overthrow of Evo Morales, the democratically-elected socialist president of Bolivia.
Amnesty International, perhaps the most famous human rights organization in the world, has an arguably darker past still. As MintPressNews revealed last year, one co-founder of the organization, Peter Benenson, was an avowed anti-Communist with deep ties to the British Foreign and Colonial Offices, propping up the apartheid regime of South Africa at his government’s request. Another co-founder, Luis Kutner, was an FBI asset who was involved in the government’s assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. Kutner went on to form an organization called “Friends of the FBI,” dedicated to countering and combating criticism of the Bureau.
Despite the fact they are united against a common enemy – the coronavirus – the U.S. and China are again at loggerheads, President Trump is facing criticism for continually describing COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus,” despite explicit World Health Organization warnings against doing so. Trump has used the outbreak to double down on the necessity of building the border wall against Mexico, despite the fact that the virus began in China. Professor Ian Haney Lopez of the University of California, Berkeley, an expert in racist language in American politics, told MintPress:
Labeling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” is entirely in keeping with Donald Trump’s pattern of dog whistling. The term is designed to trigger racist fears (foreigners as disease-carriers), while preserving plausible deniability (defensible as merely a statement about geography).
The Chinese report concludes by stating:
People have discerning eyes. The United States has long been deceitfully touting itself as a so-called “role model” for upholding human rights, while flagrantly playing with double standards on human rights issues. Human rights, viewed by the United States as a tool to maintain its hegemony, have been championed or violated by it according to its own needs. Actions speak louder than words. The United States, a country preoccupied with human rights problems at home, unscrupulously tramples on the human rights of people in other countries, resulting in untold sufferings.
Whether it convinces many Americans of its legitimacy remains to be seen.
Feature photo | A homeless person holds a shoe while camped on a street bench, March 17, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. Ben Margot | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-03-18--How Victims of the US’ “Maximum Pressure” Campaign Are Coping with Coronavirus

As Western nations descend into a panic over the coronavirus pandemic , Americans are getting a taste of what it ’ s like for the millions who have been living under U.S. sanctions and warfare .
Iran has been hit hard by the pandemic with 850 confirmed deaths to date .
It ’ s Rial lost 80 percent of its value and food costs have nearly doubled .
With the country scrambling to handle the crisis , nations are refusing to sell the Islamic Republic medical supplies for fear of running afoul of U.S. sanctions .
Iran ’ s foreign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ numerous times on Twitter .
On March 14 , Zarif tweeted that “ Viruses recognise no politics or geography .
Nor should we , ” adding that U.S. sanctions against Iran had been seriously hampering the country ’ s efforts to combat COVID-19 .
Last week , Both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Zarif penned letters to their foreign counterparts and to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanding that U.S. sanctions be lifted so that Iran could deal more effectively with a global crisis of seemingly unprecedented proportions .
In one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the strongest terms , “ it is immoral to let a bully ( US ) kill innocents , ” he said .
And this is precisely what U.S. sanctions are doing .
The U.S. and its EU and UK allies have systematically imposed sanctions upon target nations with the knowledge that these measures collectively punish the ordinary people in those nations .
Sanctions are an integral component in modern hybrid war strategies , designed to weaken a nation chosen for destabilization .
Ostensibly , sanctions are a means of bringing a recalcitrant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agendas .
The reality is that they hit the weakest sectors of the population , depriving them of essential infrastructure and healthcare .
This was witnessed in Iraq where Madeleine Albright notoriously described the deaths of 500,000 children as a “ price ” that was “ worth it ” to fulfill U.S. policy objectives in the region .
In that same country , the United States deliberately targeted almost every water treatment plant , seven out of eight dams were destroyed and then sanctions targeted supplies of water purification components , even chlorine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for waterborne illnesses was increased exponentially .
Combined with wartime poor sanitation , these orchestrated conditions would expose hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to U.S. engineered disease and misery .
All this to provide post-war leverage for the U.S. and its allies .
In an article originally published in 2001 , Professor Thomas Nagy describes the discovery of Defence Intelligence Agency documents ( DIA ) which proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the U.S. “ used sanctions against Iraq to degrade the country ’ s water supply after the Gulf War.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Water Treatment Vulnerabilities , ” is dated January 22 , 1991 .
It spells out how sanctions would prevent Iraq from supplying clean water to its citizens .
“ Iraq depends on importing specialized equipment and some chemicals to purify its water supply , most of which is heavily mineralized and frequently brackish to saline , ” the document states .
“ With no domestic sources of both water treatment replacement parts and some essential chemicals , Iraq will continue attempts to circumvent United Nations Sanctions to import these vital commodities .
Failing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shortage of pure drinking water for much of the population .
This could lead to increased incidences , if not epidemics , of disease.
” Today , very similar conditions are being seen in Yemen , where the quagmire of a Saudi-led war is increasing the risk of disease exacerbated by a UN-endorsed land , air and sea blockade .
The Saudi coalition could not operate effectively without military assistance from the U.S. , UK , and EU and it is systematically destroying water , sewage and desalination plants across Yemen , leaving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with inadequate sanitation facilities .
In March 2020 , the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) recorded a horrifying 2,263,304 cholera cases in Yemen and 3,767 related deaths since 2017 when the epidemic took hold in the battered and besieged nation .
Without the sanctions and the Saudi blockade , this disease would be both preventable and curable .
Internal documents from the Sana ’ a-based Ministry of Health confirm that while the Sana ’ a government is responding to COVID-19 by banning all flights and closing its borders , the Saudi-backed regime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually increased the number of flights into Yemen , especially from Cairo , which is predicted to develop into a major Coronavirus-affected location .
The Health Ministry in Sana ’ a has accused the Hadi administration of gross negligence regarding national security and has warned of catastrophic consequences if the pandemic arrives in Yemen as a result of this irresponsibility .
The actions of the Saudi Coalition , which effectively control the Hadi regime ’ s policies , risk the introduction of a more potent pandemic into the midst of a country already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disproportionate , unjustified war of aggression that has seen the country dealing with a host of devastating epidemics .
The flaunting of safety measures by the Saudi Coalition , endorsed by the UK and US , must be effectively considered as biological warfare and a crime against humanity .
Much like the Saudi-led Coalition aggression against Yemen , the 2011 NATO bombing campaign in Libya was intended to destroy that country ’ s standard of living .
According to journalist and academic , Professor Michel Chossudovsky , “ the objective of the NATO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country ’ s standard of living , its health infrastructure , its schools and hospitals , its water distribution system.
” In Libya too , the combination of sanctions and devastation of infrastructure would ensure an unprecedented rise in epidemics among weakened and immune-system-deficient wartime populations .
Corporate carpetbaggers historically arrive in the wake of the destruction they have manufactured with rebuilding campaigns and projects almost invariably financed by the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) and World Bank .
“ War is good for business ” for predator nations and disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humanitarian ” military intervention .
With the explosion of COVID-19 , Iran had no other option but to approach the IMF for funding to fight the coronavirus .
The head of Iran ’ s Central Bank , Abdolnaser Hemmati , confirmed that a request has gone to the IMF for $ 5 billion .
It remains to be seen how the IMF , of which the United States is the largest shareholder , will respond to the request and if it will honor its commitment to help all countries to overcome the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ differences .
The decision ultimately lies with the United States , as it holds veto power over the IMF .
What is apparent is that the combination of the so-called maximum pressure campaign being waged by the United States and the coronavirus have brought about unexpected dividends for those levying the sanctions , and those dividends will be paid out in potential IMF loans to Iran .
Interest on IMF debts inevitably leads to greater pressure on education , healthcare , and other social services when limited funds have to be diverted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those sectors will still be negatively impacted by sanctions .
Will the U.S. exploit global desperation or will it discover a hidden well of humanity hitherto concealed ?
History tells us that America ’ s long term predatory reflex will be the dominant feature of its response to cries for help from nations it has historically perceived as prey or competition to U.S. unipolar supremacy .
Beirut-based political science professor Amal Saad summed it up in a single succinct tweet : Iran and Yemen are not the only countries devastatingly affected by U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a pandemic as ferocious as COVID-19 .
Venezuela and Syria are also besieged and weakened by what is effectively economic terrorism .
As MintPress News recently reported , the United States ’ hybrid war on Venezuela has de facto intensified since the global outbreak of COVID-19 .
According to former United Nations special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas , U.S sanctions have already been responsible for the death of over 100,000 Venezuelans .
As elsewhere , the effects of sanctions are most damaging on the health sector , which directly impacts Venezuela ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the scale of COVID-19 .
Leonardo Flores , a Latin America policy expert says that if it “ were it not for the solidarity of China and Cuba , which sent testing kits and medicine , Venezuela would be woefully ill-equipped to handle the coronavirus .
The sanctions are worsening an already dangerous situation , forcing Venezuela to spend three times as much for testing kits as non-sanctioned countries.
” Venezuela was the first country affected by COVID-19 to seek a loan from the IMF .
The request for $ 5bn was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lack of certainty over the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro ’ s government ” .
A “ lack of certainty ” that has been generated largely by Washington and their aligned media .
The collective punishment meted out by U.S. sanctions inflicts damage on entire populations in prey nations , under the 1949 Geneva Convention , this is a war crime .
To maintain such punitive economic pressures during a time of global health insecurity must be a supreme crime against humanity as defined by the United Nations International Law Commission in 1947 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. armor , no response to demands for humanity from peoples already decimated and ravaged by U.S. neo-colonialist policies .
The United States leaves target nations with no other option but to break the blockade by any means possible and to find ways to circumnavigate the draconian restrictions imposed upon them by successive U.S. administrations .
The WHO , despite its own apparent funding issues , has been instrumental in providing essential medical equipment and testing kits to Venezuela and Iran and has heaped praise upon Iran ’ s handling of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , dedicated response of health workers in the city of Qom , south of Tehran .
Other non-aligned nations such as China and Cuba have been responding proactively to the world health crisis , despite China having just emerged from an intense period of combat against the virulent disease themselves .
Cuba allowed the docking of a British cruise ship after five passengers tested positive for COVID-19 .
The MS Braemar , carrying six hundred passengers , the majority of whom are British , had been stranded at sea for two days while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permit docking .
Cuba was the only nation to respond positively and the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said : “ These are times of solidarity , of understanding health as a human right , of reinforcing international cooperation to face our common challenges , values that are inherent in the humanistic practice of the Revolution and of our people ” There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 yet in Syria .
Syria ’ s health sector has been severely affected and decimated by a 9-year proxy military campaign to topple the elected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bashar Al Assad .
Aside from financing and arming extremist and terrorist groups , among them al Qaeda and ISIS , the U.S.-led intervention has turned the economic screws on the Syrian people across all sectors .
Syria ’ s overburdened health sector trying to rebuild in liberated areas and to recover its equilibrium after almost a decade of war and terrorist occupation is going to be hard-pressed to respond adequately to a pandemic as rapacious as COVID-19 .
The United States and allies are well aware of this and despite all pretensions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Syrian people , we see no move by any of the countries involved to ease the sanctions even temporarily .
This , combined with the military campaign in Idlib , north-west Syria , the inevitably high numbers of displaced civilians and the looming threat of COVID-19 , has the potential to create the “ perfect storm ” in Syria unless western countries respond humanely to the situation .
Bear in mind , these sanctions , imposed by the United States , UK and European Union , are “ the most complicated and far-reaching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UN special rapporteur , Idriss Jazairy .
The fact that the Syrian state has not collapsed is a testament to the unity of the people behind their government and their resistance in the face of U.S. efforts to destabilize the region .
The Syrian Health Ministry is responding efficiently to the crisis , working closely with the WHO and despite nine years of war , the University Medical Faculties and public hospitals across liberated Syria are still operating fully staffed and offering free health services .
Despite these measures , the threat of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seriously .
The neighboring countries of Lebanon , Turkey , Palestine and Jordan have all reported cases .
Syria ’ s borders are not secure , particularly with Turkey where inbound and outbound foreign mercenaries and refugees have transited almost without restriction for nine years .
Despite all measures taken by the Syrian government and Health Ministry , which include some border closure and controls , the risk remains perilously high .
What does COVID-19 reveal about the world we live in ?
While the United States , the EU and UK populations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is sweeping their nations , countries like Yemen and Syria who have been dealing with humanitarian siege warfare , economic sanctions and full-scale military war for extended periods of time , are responding with a more sanguine approach .
These countries know what it means to survive unimaginable hardship and COVID-19 is another test of their resolve and steadfastness , one they will not fail .
In 2019 , a number of countries met at the United Nations in New York to discuss the United States ’ unilateral sanctions that violate the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the non-aligned resistance movement to create a formal group to challenge and combat these economic pressures and imperialist doctrine on a global scale .
It is indicative of the emergence and strengthening of a global resistance movement against neo-colonial expansion and the solidarity of nations resisting the predation by the U.S. COVID-19 is a test for humanity , an unprecedented catalyst for real , organic transformation .
Will we allow our governments to imprint upon us an even more profound level of isolationism driven by fear and panic , enforced by martial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the only way humanity can survive , now and in the future , is by uniting and responding to the crisis in solidarity with all oppressed nations in this world ?
The litmus test is how governments in the West respond to what is a global health crisis .
Will they genuinely put human beings first and lift the punitive sanctions that make it almost impossible for many countries to combat Coronavirus or will they exploit the situation in a last-ditch attempt to bring these nations to their knees .
A recent tweet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggests that the U.S. will double down on its hybrid war against Syria while claiming to “ stand on the side of the Syrian people.
” The United States should be aware that their humanitarian fig-leaf no longer exists , more and more people have seen through the charade .
With a resistance axis in ascendance , the U.S. is in real danger of losing its full-spectrum dominance in an increasingly multi-polar world where nations demonized by the United States are stepping up to the plate to assist countries affected by the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the empire ’ s coffin ?
Only time will tell , but one thing is for sure , the U.S. is not looking good and non-aligned nations are showing the world what the world should really look like during a global crisis .
Feature photo | Medics wearing protective gear work in a ward dedicated for people infected with the new coronavirus , at Baqiyatallah Al ’ Azam Hospital in Tehran , Iran , March 7 , 2020 .
Mohammad Hasan Zarifmanesh | Tasnim via AP Vanessa Beeley is an independent journalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Middle East – on the ground in Syria , Egypt , Iraq and Palestine , while also covering the conflict in Yemen since 2015 .

As Western nations descend into a panic over the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are getting a taste of what it’s like for the millions who have been living under U.S. sanctions and warfare.
Iran has been hit hard by the pandemic with 850 confirmed deaths to date. It’s Rial lost 80 percent of its value and food costs have nearly doubled. With the country scrambling to handle the crisis, nations are refusing to sell the Islamic Republic medical supplies for fear of running afoul of U.S. sanctions.
Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif has decried the sanctions numerous times on Twitter.
Unlawful US sanctions drained Iran's economic resources, impairing ability to fight #COVID19. They literally kill innocents It is immoral to observe them: doing so has never saved anyone from future US wrath Join the growing global campaign to disregard US sanctions on Iran. — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 17, 2020
On March 14, Zarif tweeted that “Viruses recognise no politics or geography. Nor should we,” adding that U.S. sanctions against Iran had been seriously hampering the country’s efforts to combat COVID-19.
Last week, Both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Zarif penned letters to their foreign counterparts and to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres demanding that U.S. sanctions be lifted so that Iran could deal more effectively with a global crisis of seemingly unprecedented proportions.
In letter to UN SG @antonioguterres, I urge the world body—and member states—to disregard inhuman US sanctions on my country. And insist that they be lifted. As the #COVID19 ravages Iran, we should recognize that viruses don't discriminate. To fight them, neither should humans. pic.twitter.com/YDqw9fKzHl — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 13, 2020
In one of his tweets, Zarif expressed his frustration in the strongest terms, “it is immoral to let a bully (US) kill innocents,” he said. And this is precisely what U.S. sanctions are doing. The U.S. and its EU and UK allies have systematically imposed sanctions upon target nations with the knowledge that these measures collectively punish the ordinary people in those nations. Sanctions are an integral component in modern hybrid war strategies, designed to weaken a nation chosen for destabilization.
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Sanctions: a “small price to pay”
Ostensibly, sanctions are a means of bringing a recalcitrant government into line with U.S. foreign policy agendas. The reality is that they hit the weakest sectors of the population, depriving them of essential infrastructure and healthcare. This was witnessed in Iraq where Madeleine Albright notoriously described the deaths of 500,000 children as a “price” that was “worth it” to fulfill U.S. policy objectives in the region.
In that same country, the United States deliberately targeted almost every water treatment plant, seven out of eight dams were destroyed and then sanctions targeted supplies of water purification components, even chlorine. As a result, the potential for waterborne illnesses was increased exponentially. Combined with wartime poor sanitation, these orchestrated conditions would expose hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to U.S. engineered disease and misery. All this to provide post-war leverage for the U.S. and its allies.
In an article originally published in 2001, Professor Thomas Nagy describes the discovery of Defence Intelligence Agency documents (DIA) which proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that the U.S. “used sanctions against Iraq to degrade the country’s water supply after the Gulf War.” The primary document, “Iraq Water Treatment Vulnerabilities,” is dated January 22, 1991. It spells out how sanctions would prevent Iraq from supplying clean water to its citizens.
“Iraq depends on importing specialized equipment and some chemicals to purify its water supply, most of which is heavily mineralized and frequently brackish to saline,” the document states. “With no domestic sources of both water treatment replacement parts and some essential chemicals, Iraq will continue attempts to circumvent United Nations Sanctions to import these vital commodities. Failing to secure supplies will result in a shortage of pure drinking water for much of the population. This could lead to increased incidences, if not epidemics, of disease.”
Today, very similar conditions are being seen in Yemen, where the quagmire of a Saudi-led war is increasing the risk of disease exacerbated by a UN-endorsed land, air and sea blockade. The Saudi coalition could not operate effectively without military assistance from the U.S., UK, and EU and it is systematically destroying water, sewage and desalination plants across Yemen, leaving tens of thousands without clean water and with inadequate sanitation facilities.
In March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recorded a horrifying 2,263,304 cholera cases in Yemen and 3,767 related deaths since 2017 when the epidemic took hold in the battered and besieged nation. Without the sanctions and the Saudi blockade, this disease would be both preventable and curable.
Internal documents from the Sana’a-based Ministry of Health confirm that while the Sana’a government is responding to COVID-19 by banning all flights and closing its borders, the Saudi-backed regime of fugitive President Abdul Mansour Hadi has actually increased the number of flights into Yemen, especially from Cairo, which is predicted to develop into a major Coronavirus-affected location. The Health Ministry in Sana’a has accused the Hadi administration of gross negligence regarding national security and has warned of catastrophic consequences if the pandemic arrives in Yemen as a result of this irresponsibility.
The actions of the Saudi Coalition, which effectively control the Hadi regime’s policies, risk the introduction of a more potent pandemic into the midst of a country already battling a five-year humanitarian blockade and a disproportionate, unjustified war of aggression that has seen the country dealing with a host of devastating epidemics. The flaunting of safety measures by the Saudi Coalition, endorsed by the UK and US, must be effectively considered as biological warfare and a crime against humanity.
Much like the Saudi-led Coalition aggression against Yemen, the 2011 NATO bombing campaign in Libya was intended to destroy that country’s standard of living. According to journalist and academic, Professor Michel Chossudovsky, “the objective of the NATO bombings from the outset was to destroy the country’s standard of living, its health infrastructure, its schools and hospitals, its water distribution system.” In Libya too, the combination of sanctions and devastation of infrastructure would ensure an unprecedented rise in epidemics among weakened and immune-system-deficient wartime populations.
Wartime carpetbaggers profit from postwar misery
Corporate carpetbaggers historically arrive in the wake of the destruction they have manufactured with rebuilding campaigns and projects almost invariably financed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. “War is good for business” for predator nations and disease is profitable for the purveyors of “humanitarian” military intervention.
With the explosion of COVID-19, Iran had no other option but to approach the IMF for funding to fight the coronavirus. The head of Iran’s Central Bank, Abdolnaser Hemmati, confirmed that a request has gone to the IMF for $5 billion. It remains to be seen how the IMF, of which the United States is the largest shareholder, will respond to the request and if it will honor its commitment to help all countries to overcome the pandemic, regardless of historic enmity or ideological differences. The decision ultimately lies with the United States, as it holds veto power over the IMF.
What is apparent is that the combination of the so-called maximum pressure campaign being waged by the United States and the coronavirus have brought about unexpected dividends for those levying the sanctions, and those dividends will be paid out in potential IMF loans to Iran. Interest on IMF debts inevitably leads to greater pressure on education, healthcare, and other social services when limited funds have to be diverted to pay off the loan. Meanwhile, those sectors will still be negatively impacted by sanctions.
Will the U.S. exploit global desperation or will it discover a hidden well of humanity hitherto concealed? History tells us that America’s long term predatory reflex will be the dominant feature of its response to cries for help from nations it has historically perceived as prey or competition to U.S. unipolar supremacy.
Beirut-based political science professor Amal Saad summed it up in a single succinct tweet:
The Corona pandemic's potentially devastating impact on every aspect of human existence illustrates how superfluous the concept of *national security* is. There can be no national security without human security–protecting people from disease, poverty, environmental degradation — Amal Saad (@amalsaad_lb) March 16, 2020
Iran and Yemen are not the only countries devastatingly affected by U.S. sanctions that threaten their ability to cope with a pandemic as ferocious as COVID-19. Venezuela and Syria are also besieged and weakened by what is effectively economic terrorism.
As MintPress News recently reported, the United States’ hybrid war on Venezuela has de facto intensified since the global outbreak of COVID-19. According to former United Nations special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas, U.S sanctions have already been responsible for the death of over 100,000 Venezuelans. As elsewhere, the effects of sanctions are most damaging on the health sector, which directly impacts Venezuela’s ability to deal with a pandemic on the scale of COVID-19.
Leonardo Flores, a Latin America policy expert says that if it “were it not for the solidarity of China and Cuba, which sent testing kits and medicine, Venezuela would be woefully ill-equipped to handle the coronavirus. The sanctions are worsening an already dangerous situation, forcing Venezuela to spend three times as much for testing kits as non-sanctioned countries.”
Venezuela was the first country affected by COVID-19 to seek a loan from the IMF. The request for $ 5bn was rejected by the IMF “claiming a lack of certainty over the legitimacy of President Nicolas Maduro’s government”. A “lack of certainty” that has been generated largely by Washington and their aligned media.
The collective punishment meted out by U.S. sanctions inflicts damage on entire populations in prey nations, under the 1949 Geneva Convention, this is a war crime. To maintain such punitive economic pressures during a time of global health insecurity must be a supreme crime against humanity as defined by the United Nations International Law Commission in 1947. Yet we see no chink in the U.S. armor, no response to demands for humanity from peoples already decimated and ravaged by U.S. neo-colonialist policies.
The United States leaves target nations with no other option but to break the blockade by any means possible and to find ways to circumnavigate the draconian restrictions imposed upon them by successive U.S. administrations. The WHO, despite its own apparent funding issues, has been instrumental in providing essential medical equipment and testing kits to Venezuela and Iran and has heaped praise upon Iran’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis and in particular the rapid, dedicated response of health workers in the city of Qom, south of Tehran.
Other non-aligned nations such as China and Cuba have been responding proactively to the world health crisis, despite China having just emerged from an intense period of combat against the virulent disease themselves.
Cuba allowed the docking of a British cruise ship after five passengers tested positive for COVID-19. The MS Braemar, carrying six hundred passengers, the majority of whom are British, had been stranded at sea for two days while trying to find a country that would permit docking. Cuba was the only nation to respond positively and the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said:
“These are times of solidarity, of understanding health as a human right, of reinforcing international cooperation to face our common challenges, values that are inherent in the humanistic practice of the Revolution and of our people”
In Syria, a perfect storm is brewing
There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 yet in Syria. Syria’s health sector has been severely affected and decimated by a 9-year proxy military campaign to topple the elected and popular government headed up by President Bashar Al Assad. Aside from financing and arming extremist and terrorist groups, among them al Qaeda and ISIS, the U.S.-led intervention has turned the economic screws on the Syrian people across all sectors.
Syria’s overburdened health sector trying to rebuild in liberated areas and to recover its equilibrium after almost a decade of war and terrorist occupation is going to be hard-pressed to respond adequately to a pandemic as rapacious as COVID-19. The United States and allies are well aware of this and despite all pretensions of caring about the welfare of the Syrian people, we see no move by any of the countries involved to ease the sanctions even temporarily. This, combined with the military campaign in Idlib, north-west Syria, the inevitably high numbers of displaced civilians and the looming threat of COVID-19, has the potential to create the “perfect storm” in Syria unless western countries respond humanely to the situation.
Bear in mind, these sanctions, imposed by the United States, UK and European Union, are “the most complicated and far-reaching sanction regimes ever imposed” according to UN special rapporteur, Idriss Jazairy. The fact that the Syrian state has not collapsed is a testament to the unity of the people behind their government and their resistance in the face of U.S. efforts to destabilize the region.
The Syrian Health Ministry is responding efficiently to the crisis, working closely with the WHO and despite nine years of war, the University Medical Faculties and public hospitals across liberated Syria are still operating fully staffed and offering free health services. Despite these measures, the threat of COVID-19 entering Syria must be taken very seriously.
The neighboring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, Palestine and Jordan have all reported cases. Syria’s borders are not secure, particularly with Turkey where inbound and outbound foreign mercenaries and refugees have transited almost without restriction for nine years. Despite all measures taken by the Syrian government and Health Ministry, which include some border closure and controls, the risk remains perilously high.
What does COVID-19 reveal about the world we live in?
While the United States, the EU and UK populations respond with panic to the COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping their nations, countries like Yemen and Syria who have been dealing with humanitarian siege warfare, economic sanctions and full-scale military war for extended periods of time, are responding with a more sanguine approach.
These countries know what it means to survive unimaginable hardship and COVID-19 is another test of their resolve and steadfastness, one they will not fail.
In 2019, a number of countries met at the United Nations in New York to discuss the United States’ unilateral sanctions that violate the UN Charter. This was an attempt by the non-aligned resistance movement to create a formal group to challenge and combat these economic pressures and imperialist doctrine on a global scale. It is indicative of the emergence and strengthening of a global resistance movement against neo-colonial expansion and the solidarity of nations resisting the predation by the U.S.
COVID-19 is a test for humanity, an unprecedented catalyst for real, organic transformation. Will we allow our governments to imprint upon us an even more profound level of isolationism driven by fear and panic, enforced by martial law, or will we realize that the only way humanity can survive, now and in the future, is by uniting and responding to the crisis in solidarity with all oppressed nations in this world?
The U.S. is taking action to sanction Assad regime Lt. General Ayoub for the violence perpetuated against the people of northern #Syria. Such violence that impacts civilians, humanitarian workers, and hospitals must not be tolerated. We stand on the side of the Syrian people. — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) March 17, 2020
The litmus test is how governments in the West respond to what is a global health crisis. Will they genuinely put human beings first and lift the punitive sanctions that make it almost impossible for many countries to combat Coronavirus or will they exploit the situation in a last-ditch attempt to bring these nations to their knees. A recent tweet from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggests that the U.S. will double down on its hybrid war against Syria while claiming to “stand on the side of the Syrian people.”
The United States should be aware that their humanitarian fig-leaf no longer exists, more and more people have seen through the charade. With a resistance axis in ascendance, the U.S. is in real danger of losing its full-spectrum dominance in an increasingly multi-polar world where nations demonized by the United States are stepping up to the plate to assist countries affected by the pandemic. Will Coronavirus be the final nail in the empire’s coffin? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, the U.S. is not looking good and non-aligned nations are showing the world what the world should really look like during a global crisis.
Feature photo | Medics wearing protective gear work in a ward dedicated for people infected with the new coronavirus, at Baqiyatallah Al’Azam Hospital in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2020. Mohammad Hasan Zarifmanesh | Tasnim via AP
Vanessa Beeley is an independent journalist and photographer who has worked extensively in the Middle East – on the ground in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine, while also covering the conflict in Yemen since 2015.