prepareforchange--2020-01-09--Will ICC pierce Israel’s bubble of impunity?

The destroyed al-Nada towers in Beit Hanoun , northern Gaza Strip , among the civilian infrastructure targeted by Israel during its 51-day assault on Gaza in 2014 .
The road to justice in Palestine has had plenty of checkpoints , roadblocks and other obstacles along the way .
The latest detour came with this month ’ s announcement by Fatou Bensouda , the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court .
Bensouda said that she had concluded her preliminary examination on Palestine , now in its fifth year , and was satisfied that requirements to launch a war crimes investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ requested that a pre-trial chamber of judges confirm the court ’ s jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes in the occupied West Bank , including East Jerusalem , and the Gaza Strip .
Israel , which effectively controls those territories , is not a signatory to the Rome Statute and thus not a member of the International Criminal Court .
The state vehemently rejects ICC jurisdiction in the West Bank and Gaza .
A legal adviser to Israel ’ s government claims that “ the Palestinians , by appealing to the court , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the two parties and push the court to decide on political questions which should be settled in negotiations and not in criminal-judicial proceedings.
” For decades , Israel engaged in protracted political negotiations with Palestinian leaders as it simultaneously established facts on the ground in the form of settlements and other infrastructure to predetermine any political resolution .
Political negotiations are a framework still pushed by the UN ’ s Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov , and one that has prioritized a two-state solution over securing human rights .
The State of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigate Israel , is a signatory to the Rome Statute but does not have sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza , which are occupied by Israel .
Bensouda observes that the United Nations General Assembly , International Court of Justice and UN human rights bodies have “ uniformly deemed ” that Israel ’ s settlements and West Bank wall “ obstruct the viability of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution and impinge on the realization of the Palestinian people ’ s right to self-determination.
” In other words , Palestinians do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Gaza as a result of Israel ’ s war crimes .
But depending on how the pre-trial chamber rules on the question of jurisdiction , the unjust reality for which Palestinians seek redress could mean there won ’ t be any investigation at all .
Despite this uncertainty , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the court of anti-Semitism over Bensouda ’ s finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that Israeli authorities have committed war crimes by transferring Israeli civilians to the West Bank .
“ Just like we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we have now learned of new decrees against the Jewish people brought by the International Criminal Court , that told us we have no right to live here , ” Netanyahu said during a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem .
Netanyahu is mentioned in Bensouda ’ s request to the pre-trial chamber .
“ Despite the clear and enduring calls that Israel cease activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory deemed contrary to international law , there is no indication that they will end , ” she states .
“ To the contrary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only continue , but that Israel may seek to annex those territories , ” Bensouda adds .
“ In August and September 2019 , Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to annex large parts of the West Bank if re-elected.
” Unilateral annexation of occupied territory by an occupying power has “ no legal validity , ” the chief prosecutor states .
The acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible under international law , despite the greenlighting of Israel ’ s settlements by the Trump administration in Washington .
Israel ’ s energy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claims , calling Bensouda ’ s announcement “ a type of ‘ blood libel , ’ ” as the Haaretz newspaper reported – and which at least one of its opinion writers has since repeated .
Ayelet Shaked , an Israeli lawmaker who has promoted calls for genocide against Palestinian mothers , called Bensouda ’ s decision “ hypocritical ” and said that “ Israel must battle it with all the means at its disposal.
” Bensouda rejected such claims , calling them “ misled and unfounded ” : Three leading Palestinian human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights – jointly stated that the ICC is “ the only avenue for Palestinians to secure justice for Israel ’ s criminal breaches of international law.
” Amnesty International welcomed the end to Bensouda ’ s protracted preliminary investigation .
Philip Luther from Amnesty called on the court ’ s pre-trial judges to “ reach a conclusion swiftly and avoid further delays.
” Kenneth Roth , director of New York-based Human Rights Watch , said Bensouda ’ s finding “ that there is a basis for her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the situation in Palestine affirms the urgent need for accountability for serious crimes committed there.
” Bensouda was also criticized by human rights groups for requesting a ruling on jurisdiction .
“ Bensouda ’ s decision to seek guidance from the court ’ s judges nearly five years into her preliminary inquiry means that perpetrators of serious crimes will not face justice at the ICC anytime soon , ” Roth stated .
“ The prosecutor should have proceeded directly with a formal probe as was within her power to do , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups questioned why Bensouda “ delayed for so many years in addressing such a seemingly integral question on territorial jurisdiction , especially as it was raised year after year ” during her preliminary examination .
The groups added that “ territories under occupation retain full sovereignty , which is merely temporarily de facto suspended and during which time , the occupying power exercises limited rights of administration over the territory and does not have rights of sovereignty.
” A pretrial examination of territorial jurisdiction in the occupied Palestinian territories “ is a redundant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unnecessary delay in the progression of the situation to full investigation , ” the groups said .
In her 112-page request to the pre-trial chamber , Bensouda argues that the court does indeed have jurisdiction in the West Bank and Gaza .
She also states “ there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes have been or are being committed ” in the territories .
“ There are no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve the interests of justice , ” she adds .
So why is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , thus delaying an investigation while breaches of international law in the occupied territories are ongoing , as she acknowledges ?
As more than one expert has observed , it leaves open the possibility that the judges will determine that the court has no jurisdiction – an argument made by Israel ’ s attorney general in a 34-page memo released hours before Bensouda ’ s announcement .
If the prosecutor thinks an investigation into war crimes in Palestine is warranted , why might she not want it to move forward ?
It would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also the US , which has threatened to sanction the ICC and individuals associated with it if a Palestine investigation moves forward .
The Trump administration closed the Washington offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization in protest over efforts to see Israeli officials prosecuted at The Hague .
Earlier this year , court judges declined to proceed with the chief prosecutor ’ s recommendation to investigate war crimes allegations in Afghanistan , in what critics said was a capitulation to US pressure and non-cooperation .
In that case too , Bensouda concluded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to believe ” that war crimes had been committed by the US military , the CIA , the Taliban and Afghan state forces .
But a pre-trial chamber – which has different judges than the one deliberating on jurisdiction in Palestine – determined that an investigation of alleged war crimes occurring since May 2003 “ would not serve the interests of justice.
” That ruling is currently being appealed .
The request for a ruling on court jurisdiction could be a strategy to leave any fallout from inevitable litigation over the matter at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wish to avoid deferring the determination of jurisdiction to the trial stage , after the conclusion of an investigation which will require substantial resources .
The pre-trial chamber which will rule on the matter is the same panel of judges who asked the chief prosecutor twice to reconsider her decision to close the file on Israel ’ s deadly raid on a flotilla headed to Gaza in international waters in 2010 .
“ In Israel ’ s case , the panel of judges hearing the request is not friendly , ” Nicholas Kaufman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the International Criminal Court and for the Israeli military – told Haaretz .
Should an investigation move forward , what can be expected ?
Bensouda has raised three examples of crimes meeting the threshold requirement of court jurisdiction in relation to the situation in Palestine .
Firstly , she states that there is a basis to believe that both the Israeli military and members of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes during hostilities in Gaza during 2014 .
Some 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza were killed during the 51 days of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dropped an explosive force roughly comparable to that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb .
Around 1,500 of those Palestinians killed were civilians , including more than 500 children .
Seventy-one Israelis were killed during the hostilities , among them 66 soldiers , one security coordinator and four civilians , including a child .
A foreign national was also killed in Israel .
The allegations against the Israeli military include launching disproportionate attacks , wilful killing , and intentionally attacking “ objects or persons using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva conventions , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Palestinian health care workers were killed while on duty during the summer 2014 war , and 45 ambulances were damaged or destroyed .
According to the Paris-based human rights group FIDH , the Israeli military was given the locations of healthcare facilities and ambulance insignia in an effort to “ secure respect for medical neutrality.
” Despite these efforts , more than 50 healthcare facilities included on the list of coordinates “ were attacked and , in some instances , medical vehicles appear to have been directly targeted while transporting patients.
” As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Palestinian fighters , those include intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects , using protected persons as shields , depriving protected persons of the rights of fair and free trial , wilful killing , torture and inhuman treatment , and outrages upon personal dignity .
Some of those charges likely relate to the extrajudicial execution of at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel during the summer offensive .
Six were publicly executed in front of a crowd of hundreds on 22 August 2014 .
Amnesty International has previously said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to war crimes.
” “ At least 16 of those executed had been in Hamas custody since before the conflict broke out , ” Amnesty stated .
“ Many had been awaiting the outcome of their trials when they were taken away from prison and summarily executed.
” Whether cases of alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza in 2014 would be admissible to the ICC remains to be determined .
The court defers to a country ’ s internal investigations , where they exist .
Israel has a self-investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ Tselem , the leading human rights group in the country , as a whitewashing mechanism that insulates the military from accountability .
Bensouda states that her office ’ s assessment “ of the scope and genuineness ” of Israel ’ s domestic proceedings “ remains ongoing at this stage.
” However , she has “ concluded that the potential cases concerning crimes allegedly committed by members of Hamas and PAGs [ Palestinian armed groups ] would currently be admissible.
” Human rights groups have previously stated that human rights violations committed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amount to war crimes , likely do not “ amount to a policy or plan reaching the threshold of widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population.
” The second example given by Bensouda of a potential war crimes case that would arise from an investigation of the situation in Palestine is the transfer of Israel ’ s civilian population into West Bank settlements .
This is the allegation that has caused Israeli political leaders to lash out with accusations of anti-Semitism – and which also may leave them most vulnerable to prosecution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the West Bank and Gaza , told Arab News : “ On the settlement issue , it is an open and shut case : There is a strong argument that settlements are a violation of international law.
” Accountability “ would apply to Israeli political and military leaders as well as settlers ” involved in fundraising for and building settlements , Lynk added .
Bensouda ’ s third example of an investigation within her scope is the Israeli military ’ s use of force against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Gaza beginning in March 2018 .
More than 200 Palestinian civilians , including more than 40 children , have been killed during those demonstrations , and thousands more wounded by live fire .
Bensouda warned Israeli leaders that they were liable to prosecution for ordering sniper fire against protesters in April that year – before dozens of Palestinians , including a paramedic , were killed during a single day of protests the following month .
There is no overstating the significance of war crimes prosecutions at the International Criminal Court in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first time that the court would try war crimes suspects who aren ’ t African citizens .
And as Palestine remains the longest unresolved question to fall under the responsibility of the UN , it has “ become a litmus test for the efficacy of the international system as a whole , ” as a number of human rights groups stated earlier this year .
War crimes prosecutions would pierce Israel ’ s bubble of impunity , potentially deterring additional unnecessary loss of human life , suffering and destruction .
But it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Palestine ’ s liberation .
The International Criminal Court , with its scope limited to the West Bank and Gaza , will not examine Israel ’ s crime of apartheid as a whole in all of historic Palestine .
The UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recently stated it “ remains concerned at the maintenance of several laws ” which discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza .
These laws “ create differences among them , as regards their civil status , legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefits , or right to land and property , ” the committee added .
And the International Criminal Court will not – at least at this stage – provide redress to the millions of Palestinian refugees denied the right to return to the lands from which their families were expelled before , during and after the establishment of Israel in 1948 .
They remain disenfranchised from the statehood framework now being considered by a pre-trial chamber of judges .
Disclaimer : We at Prepare for Change ( PFC ) bring you information that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and therefore may seem controversial .
The opinions , views , statements , and/or information we present are not necessarily promoted , endorsed , espoused , or agreed to by Prepare for Change , its leadership Council , members , those who work with PFC , or those who read its content .
However , they are hopefully provocative .
Please use discernment !
Use logical thinking , your own intuition and your own connection with Source , Spirit and Natural Laws to help you determine what is true and what is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dialogue , it is our goal to raise consciousness and awareness of higher truths to free us from enslavement of the matrix in this material realm .

The destroyed al-Nada towers in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, among the civilian infrastructure targeted by Israel during its 51-day assault on Gaza in 2014. Basel YazouriActiveStills
Maureen Clare Murphy,
The road to justice in Palestine has had plenty of checkpoints, roadblocks and other obstacles along the way.
The latest detour came with this month’s announcement by Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Bensouda said that she had concluded her preliminary examination on Palestine, now in its fifth year, and was satisfied that requirements to launch a war crimes investigation had been met.
But she also requested that a pre-trial chamber of judges confirm the court’s jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
Israel, which effectively controls those territories, is not a signatory to the Rome Statute and thus not a member of the International Criminal Court. The state vehemently rejects ICC jurisdiction in the West Bank and Gaza.
A legal adviser to Israel’s government claims that “the Palestinians, by appealing to the court, seek to breach the established framework between the two parties and push the court to decide on political questions which should be settled in negotiations and not in criminal-judicial proceedings.”
For decades, Israel engaged in protracted political negotiations with Palestinian leaders as it simultaneously established facts on the ground in the form of settlements and other infrastructure to predetermine any political resolution.
Political negotiations are a framework still pushed by the UN’s Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov, and one that has prioritized a two-state solution over securing human rights.
The State of Palestine, which petitioned the ICC to investigate Israel, is a signatory to the Rome Statute but does not have sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza, which are occupied by Israel.
Bensouda observes that the United Nations General Assembly, International Court of Justice and UN human rights bodies have “uniformly deemed” that Israel’s settlements and West Bank wall “obstruct the viability of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution and impinge on the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.”
In other words, Palestinians do not have sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza as a result of Israel’s war crimes.
But depending on how the pre-trial chamber rules on the question of jurisdiction, the unjust reality for which Palestinians seek redress could mean there won’t be any investigation at all.
Israel lashes out
Despite this uncertainty, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the court of anti-Semitism over Bensouda’s finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that Israeli authorities have committed war crimes by transferring Israeli civilians to the West Bank.
“Just like we fought against anti-Semitic decrees 2,000 years ago, we have now learned of new decrees against the Jewish people brought by the International Criminal Court, that told us we have no right to live here,” Netanyahu said during a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu is mentioned in Bensouda’s request to the pre-trial chamber.
“Despite the clear and enduring calls that Israel cease activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory deemed contrary to international law, there is no indication that they will end,” she states.
“To the contrary, there are indications that they may not only continue, but that Israel may seek to annex those territories,” Bensouda adds. “In August and September 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to annex large parts of the West Bank if re-elected.”
Unilateral annexation of occupied territory by an occupying power has “no legal validity,” the chief prosecutor states. The acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible under international law, despite the greenlighting of Israel’s settlements by the Trump administration in Washington.
Shilo, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, in June 2015. Israel’s transfer of its civilian population into territory it occupies is an “open and shut” war crimes case, experts say. Ahmad Al-Bazz ActiveStills
Israel’s energy minister Yuval Steinitz echoed Netanyahu’s claims, calling Bensouda’s announcement “a type of ‘blood libel,’” as the Haaretz newspaper reported – and which at least one of its opinion writers has since repeated.
Ayelet Shaked, an Israeli lawmaker who has promoted calls for genocide against Palestinian mothers, called Bensouda’s decision “hypocritical” and said that “Israel must battle it with all the means at its disposal.”
Bensouda rejected such claims, calling them “misled and unfounded”:
Human rights groups received the chief prosecutor’s announcement more warmly.
Three leading Palestinian human rights groups – Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights – jointly stated that the ICC is “the only avenue for Palestinians to secure justice for Israel’s criminal breaches of international law.”
Amnesty International welcomed the end to Bensouda’s protracted preliminary investigation. Philip Luther from Amnesty called on the court’s pre-trial judges to “reach a conclusion swiftly and avoid further delays.”
Kenneth Roth, director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Bensouda’s finding “that there is a basis for her office to launch a formal investigation into the situation in Palestine affirms the urgent need for accountability for serious crimes committed there.”
Justice delayed
Bensouda was also criticized by human rights groups for requesting a ruling on jurisdiction.
“Bensouda’s decision to seek guidance from the court’s judges nearly five years into her preliminary inquiry means that perpetrators of serious crimes will not face justice at the ICC anytime soon,” Roth stated.
“The prosecutor should have proceeded directly with a formal probe as was within her power to do,” he added.
The three Palestinian human rights groups questioned why Bensouda “delayed for so many years in addressing such a seemingly integral question on territorial jurisdiction, especially as it was raised year after year” during her preliminary examination.
The groups added that “territories under occupation retain full sovereignty, which is merely temporarily de facto suspended and during which time, the occupying power exercises limited rights of administration over the territory and does not have rights of sovereignty.”
A pretrial examination of territorial jurisdiction in the occupied Palestinian territories “is a redundant and moot point, amounting to an unnecessary delay in the progression of the situation to full investigation,” the groups said.
In her 112-page request to the pre-trial chamber, Bensouda argues that the court does indeed have jurisdiction in the West Bank and Gaza. She also states “there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes have been or are being committed” in the territories.
“There are no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve the interests of justice,” she adds.
Rubble at the site of al-Wafa rehabilitation and geriatric hospital in Shujaiyeh, Gaza City, bombed by Israel during its summer 2014 assault on Gaza. Basel Yazouri ActiveStills
So why is Bensouda seeking a ruling on the matter, thus delaying an investigation while breaches of international law in the occupied territories are ongoing, as she acknowledges?
As more than one expert has observed, it leaves open the possibility that the judges will determine that the court has no jurisdiction – an argument made by Israel’s attorney general in a 34-page memo released hours before Bensouda’s announcement.
If the prosecutor thinks an investigation into war crimes in Palestine is warranted, why might she not want it to move forward?
It would invite the wrath of not only Israel but also the US, which has threatened to sanction the ICC and individuals associated with it if a Palestine investigation moves forward. The Trump administration closed the Washington offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization in protest over efforts to see Israeli officials prosecuted at The Hague.
Earlier this year, court judges declined to proceed with the chief prosecutor’s recommendation to investigate war crimes allegations in Afghanistan, in what critics said was a capitulation to US pressure and non-cooperation.
In that case too, Bensouda concluded that there was a “reasonable basis to believe” that war crimes had been committed by the US military, the CIA, the Taliban and Afghan state forces. But a pre-trial chamber – which has different judges than the one deliberating on jurisdiction in Palestine – determined that an investigation of alleged war crimes occurring since May 2003 “would not serve the interests of justice.”
That ruling is currently being appealed.
The request for a ruling on court jurisdiction could be a strategy to leave any fallout from inevitable litigation over the matter at judges’ feet. Bensouda may also wish to avoid deferring the determination of jurisdiction to the trial stage, after the conclusion of an investigation which will require substantial resources.
The pre-trial chamber which will rule on the matter is the same panel of judges who asked the chief prosecutor twice to reconsider her decision to close the file on Israel’s deadly raid on a flotilla headed to Gaza in international waters in 2010.
“In Israel’s case, the panel of judges hearing the request is not friendly,” Nicholas Kaufman – a lawyer who has worked at the International Criminal Court and for the Israeli military – told Haaretz.
Should an investigation move forward, what can be expected?
Gaza 2014
Bensouda has raised three examples of crimes meeting the threshold requirement of court jurisdiction in relation to the situation in Palestine.
Firstly, she states that there is a basis to believe that both the Israeli military and members of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes during hostilities in Gaza during 2014.
Some 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza were killed during the 51 days of bombardment that summer, during which Israel dropped an explosive force roughly comparable to that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Around 1,500 of those Palestinians killed were civilians, including more than 500 children.
Seventy-one Israelis were killed during the hostilities, among them 66 soldiers, one security coordinator and four civilians, including a child. A foreign national was also killed in Israel.
The allegations against the Israeli military include launching disproportionate attacks, wilful killing, and intentionally attacking “objects or persons using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva conventions,” such as ambulances and hospitals.
Sixteen Palestinian health care workers were killed while on duty during the summer 2014 war, and 45 ambulances were damaged or destroyed.
According to the Paris-based human rights group FIDH, the Israeli military was given the locations of healthcare facilities and ambulance insignia in an effort to “secure respect for medical neutrality.”
Despite these efforts, more than 50 healthcare facilities included on the list of coordinates “were attacked and, in some instances, medical vehicles appear to have been directly targeted while transporting patients.”
A crowd gathers around the blood of Palestinians executed for suspected collaboration with Israel, Gaza City, 22 August 2014. APA images
As for potential war crimes committed by Hamas and Palestinian fighters, those include intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, using protected persons as shields, depriving protected persons of the rights of fair and free trial, wilful killing, torture and inhuman treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity.
Some of those charges likely relate to the extrajudicial execution of at least 23 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel during the summer offensive. Six were publicly executed in front of a crowd of hundreds on 22 August 2014.
Amnesty International has previously said Hamas abuses during that period “amount to war crimes.”
“At least 16 of those executed had been in Hamas custody since before the conflict broke out,” Amnesty stated. “Many had been awaiting the outcome of their trials when they were taken away from prison and summarily executed.”
Whether cases of alleged war crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza in 2014 would be admissible to the ICC remains to be determined.
The court defers to a country’s internal investigations, where they exist. Israel has a self-investigation system – albeit one described by B’Tselem, the leading human rights group in the country, as a whitewashing mechanism that insulates the military from accountability.
Bensouda states that her office’s assessment “of the scope and genuineness” of Israel’s domestic proceedings “remains ongoing at this stage.” However, she has “concluded that the potential cases concerning crimes allegedly committed by members of Hamas and PAGs [Palestinian armed groups] would currently be admissible.”
Human rights groups have previously stated that human rights violations committed in Palestinian-controlled areas, while serious and may amount to war crimes, likely do not “amount to a policy or plan reaching the threshold of widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population.”
Settlements: “an open and shut case”
The second example given by Bensouda of a potential war crimes case that would arise from an investigation of the situation in Palestine is the transfer of Israel’s civilian population into West Bank settlements.
This is the allegation that has caused Israeli political leaders to lash out with accusations of anti-Semitism – and which also may leave them most vulnerable to prosecution.
As Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the West Bank and Gaza, told Arab News: “On the settlement issue, it is an open and shut case: There is a strong argument that settlements are a violation of international law.”
Accountability “would apply to Israeli political and military leaders as well as settlers” involved in fundraising for and building settlements, Lynk added.
Palestinians protest during Gaza’s Great March of Return demonstrations, January 2019. Israel has used live fire against unarmed protesters, killing more than 200 and wounding thousands more. Mohammed Zaanoun ActiveStills
Bensouda’s third example of an investigation within her scope is the Israeli military’s use of force against Palestinians during Great March of Return protests in Gaza beginning in March 2018. More than 200 Palestinian civilians, including more than 40 children, have been killed during those demonstrations, and thousands more wounded by live fire.
Bensouda warned Israeli leaders that they were liable to prosecution for ordering sniper fire against protesters in April that year – before dozens of Palestinians, including a paramedic, were killed during a single day of protests the following month.
There is no overstating the significance of war crimes prosecutions at the International Criminal Court in the context of Palestine.
It would be the first time that the court would try war crimes suspects who aren’t African citizens.
And as Palestine remains the longest unresolved question to fall under the responsibility of the UN, it has “become a litmus test for the efficacy of the international system as a whole,” as a number of human rights groups stated earlier this year.
War crimes prosecutions would pierce Israel’s bubble of impunity, potentially deterring additional unnecessary loss of human life, suffering and destruction.
But it will not be the silver bullet to Palestine’s liberation.
The International Criminal Court, with its scope limited to the West Bank and Gaza, will not examine Israel’s crime of apartheid as a whole in all of historic Palestine.
The UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recently stated it “remains concerned at the maintenance of several laws” which discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
These laws “create differences among them, as regards their civil status, legal protection, access to social and economic benefits, or right to land and property,” the committee added.
And the International Criminal Court will not – at least at this stage – provide redress to the millions of Palestinian refugees denied the right to return to the lands from which their families were expelled before, during and after the establishment of Israel in 1948.
They remain disenfranchised from the statehood framework now being considered by a pre-trial chamber of judges.
Source: https://electronicintifada.net
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prepareforchange--2020-01-09--Prepare For Change Global Mission Statement…A Perspective for 2020

From all of us at Prepare For Change : Truth never changes .
As we enter the new year it seems appropriate to reflect on what might really matter in our lives , particularly as we move into ever more difficult times and our questioning of reason and purpose persists .
It helps to take a deep breath and contemplate on things that ground us in our inner knowing .
Although written years ago , the Mission Statement as shared on the Prepare For Change Global Facebook page , rings true even as we enter a new decade .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all of the answers , but we strive to present and pursue information in hopes of allowing us all to find our own Truth as we seek spiritual liberation .
We encourage you to take a few minutes to read the following .
May you find new meaning or understanding in establishing your own objectives for 2020. https : //www.facebook.com/prepareforchangelosangeles/ deals with that “ which is ” .
Man must confront that which IS so that he can change of it into a path of glory instead of a path into slavery and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ KNOWING these truths can set you free ?
remember this , the truth may not always be pleasant to KNOW , most specially in THESE TIMES you are participating in .
Once you KNOW you can PREPARE yourselves FOR CHANGE and REMEMBER how to allow GOD ’ S co-creative mind to assist you in making strategic plans of action for returning balance to ALL unbalanced circumstances .
On the other hand , when you exist in ignorance of truth , such as is the “ State Of Affairs ” for MOST upon the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of preparation to make the necessary balanced changes .
You will simply suffer the consequences of your inaction or unbalanced action which is a result of ignorance .
Truth is quite disagreeable and unpalatable at best , do we wish to upset you and bring your joy into vanquishment ?
No–but truth will set you free and bring unto your JOY– “ JOY ” ALONE WILL NOT BRING YOU INTO FREEDOM .
We only ask that you use your reasoning ability to see truth and not justify continuation of the ridiculous lies thrust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you .
IF YOU PERCEIVE IT AS DOOM & GLOOM THEN PERHAPS YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES AND FROM WHERE YOU MIGHT PERCEIVE SUCH A CONCEPT .
ACTUALLY WE BRING TRUTH AND PREACH GLORY , TRANSITION UNTO LIGHT , RADIANCE & KNOWLEDGE–BALANCE AND HARMONY .
Only the truth can liberate mankind…not only meditation & prayer .
Isaiah 5:13 , “ My people are gone into captivity , BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE : and their honorable men ARE FAMISHED , and THEIR MULTITUDE dried up with thirst ” God has said that in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( The Truth ) to the four corners of the world so that each soul could decide his/her own course toward , or away from divinity based upon TRUTH .
“ And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free ” ~ John 8:32 APOCALYPSE ( noun ) : The Greek word ‘ Apocalypse ’ actually means to ‘ uncover , reveal or unveil ’ the truth that has been ignored , forgotten , misinterpreted and misunderstood , and the phrase ‘ apokalupsis eschaton ’ literally means ‘ revelation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age ’ Far from being a horrible experience the ‘ End Times ’ or ‘ Apocalypse ’ means the ‘ Lifting of The Veil ’ or ‘ Revelation ’ …A disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception , the ‘ Revealing of the Nature of Things ’ .
It ushers and era of forgotten freedoms and unprecedented clarity .
This ‘ Lifting of The veil ’ will set us free from the misery that has been the result of ignorance !
So God @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TRUTH and this is one of the ways he has chosen to present it , this are compilation of information already available on earth , researched and compiled by others and destined for those who truly want to SEE & HEAR !
As man comes agin into the understanding of God and Creation he will automatically begin to turn again into Truth and Love ; He will do this by recognizing the errors and lies thrust upon him so that he can understand that portion of his actions and beliefs that have led @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There is something you must learn as we come into and along with our presentation and association .
We are not a cult , church–etc .
We are the Hosts of God come to prepare the “ way ” .
These ones here are workers efforting to fulfill committed missions–individually and unified only in production–each does what each is qualified to do .
GOD DOES NOT BEG !
GOD TAKES NOTHING !
GOD ONLY GIVES AND REGIVES .
THEREFORE , THOSE WHO PLACE A “ PRICE ” ON YOUR “ SALVATION ” ARE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOD DOES NOT BEG !
He presents you with opportunities , offers you “ answers ” for your journey , accepts and plentify that which you offer back unto Him and is in constant service to give unto you that which you ask in honest and sincere petition from the heart .
Question Everything .
The past is prologue.
” And , since history repeats , apply practical principles to “ PREPARE FOR CHANGE ” that lies ahead .
Read voraciously because to know the truth , first you must know the lie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the four corners of the world , it must be freely passed on .
“ For there is nothing covered , that shall not be revealed ; neither hid , that shall not be known.
” Luke 12:2 “ If I have told you earthly things , and ye believe not , how shall ye believe , if I tell you of heavenly things ?
” ( John 3:12 ) “ Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse , deceiving , and being deceived.
” “ For thy merchants [ corporations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earth [ globalists ] ; for by thy sorceries [ pharmakeia = drug use ] were all nations deceived ” .
( 2Ti 3:1-13 ; Rev 18:23 ) ; “ Verily I say unto you , whatsoever YOU permit on earth WILL be permitted in heaven ” .
( Matthew 18:18 ) But know this , that in the last days perilous times will come : For men will be lovers of themselves , lovers of money , boasters , proud , blasphemers , disobedient to parents , unthankful , unholy , unloving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , brutal , despisers of good , traitors , headstrong , haughty , lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God , having a form of godliness but denying its power .
And from such people turn away !
II Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV DO NOT DESPAIR !
‘ THIS MEANS EVERLASTING LIFE ’ , your coming to know me , THE ONLY TRUE GOD , and the one whom I sent forth , ( John 17:3 ) .
I Love you , and I want to personally see you survive the coming peril @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would not miss you [ sobs… ] should you choose to remain within the convenience of thy ignorance about the “ Event ” ( https : //prepareforchange.net/the-event/ ) Dear honorable-distinguished awesome Ladies & Gentlemen , your geo-physical plane is about to be reset , and I pray you to get aboard the safe side .
“ The kingdom of God is within you ” ( Luke 17:20-21 ) Do you read me ?
Good for you .
Aho !
THE TIME OF TRUTH UPON EARTH HAS ARRIVED .
YE ONES SHALL BE IN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ENDING OF A CYCLE AND A FORTHCOMING TRANSITION IS AT HAND .
THE FULFILLING OF THE PROPHECIES ARE ALL BUT TO THE FINAL CHAPTER .
YE ONES ARE IN THY FINAL DAYS !
WE COME FORTH–TO HELP YOU REMEMBER AND THEN , IT IS SOLELY UP TO YOU , THAT WHICH YOU WILL DO .
NO ONE IS GOING TO COME SNATCH YOU OFF AND INTO UTOPIA–AT ONE POINT YOU ARE GOING TO MEET YOUR GOD FACE TO FACE AND DO A LITTLE JUDGING OF YOUR ACTIONS .
SO BE IT I AM @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AND THE CREATION I AM AND YE CAN BE AS I AM !
….DO YE KNOW WHO YE MAY BE ?
Note by PFC Editor : Due to heavy Facebook censoring , if you have a Facebook account and enjoy and appreciate the relentless and selfless work the Prepare For Change team has been doing for the last 7 years we ask you to “ LIKE ” our page : Prepare For Change Global and then “ Recommend ” our page by adding a “ review ” to maintain our good rating in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Change ( PFC ) bring you information that is not offered by the mainstream news , and therefore may seem controversial .
The opinions , views , statements , and/or information we present are not necessarily promoted , endorsed , espoused , or agreed to by Prepare for Change , its leadership Council , members , those who work with PFC , or those who read its content .
However , they are hopefully provocative .
Please use discernment !
Use logical thinking , your own intuition and your own connection with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help you determine what is true and what is not .
By sharing information and seeding dialogue , it is our goal to raise consciousness and awareness of higher truths to free us from enslavement of the matrix in this material realm .

From all of us at Prepare For Change:
Truth never changes. As we enter the new year it seems appropriate to reflect on what might really matter in our lives, particularly as we move into ever more difficult times and our questioning of reason and purpose persists. It helps to take a deep breath and contemplate on things that ground us in our inner knowing. Although written years ago, the Mission Statement as shared on the Prepare For Change Global Facebook page, rings true even as we enter a new decade. We at Prepare For Change may not know all of the answers, but we strive to present and pursue information in hopes of allowing us all to find our own Truth as we seek spiritual liberation.
We encourage you to take a few minutes to read the following. May you find new meaning or understanding in establishing your own objectives for 2020.
Victory of the Light!
Mission statement: ‘Prepare For Change Global’ Alternative News Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/prepareforchangelosangeles/ deals with that “which is”. Man must confront that which IS so that he can change of it into a path of glory instead of a path into slavery and destruction. You maybe asking yourselves how KNOWING these truths can set you free? remember this, the truth may not always be pleasant to KNOW, most specially in THESE TIMES you are participating in. Once you KNOW you can PREPARE yourselves FOR CHANGE and REMEMBER how to allow GOD’S co-creative mind to assist you in making strategic plans of action for returning balance to ALL unbalanced circumstances. On the other hand, when you exist in ignorance of truth , such as is the “State Of Affairs” for MOST upon the planet then you will not have benefit of preparation to make the necessary balanced changes. You will simply suffer the consequences of your inaction or unbalanced action which is a result of ignorance.
Truth is quite disagreeable and unpalatable at best, do we wish to upset you and bring your joy into vanquishment? No–but truth will set you free and bring unto your JOY–“JOY” ALONE WILL NOT BRING YOU INTO FREEDOM. We only ask that you use your reasoning ability to see truth and not justify continuation of the ridiculous lies thrust about you by ones who would enslave you.
IF YOU PERCEIVE IT AS DOOM & GLOOM THEN PERHAPS YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES AND FROM WHERE YOU MIGHT PERCEIVE SUCH A CONCEPT. ACTUALLY WE BRING TRUTH AND PREACH GLORY, TRANSITION UNTO LIGHT, RADIANCE & KNOWLEDGE–BALANCE AND HARMONY.
Only the truth can liberate mankind…not only meditation & prayer. Isaiah 5:13, “My people are gone into captivity, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE: and their honorable men ARE FAMISHED, and THEIR MULTITUDE dried up with thirst”
God has said that in the End Times will come THE WORD (The Truth) to the four corners of the world so that each soul could decide his/her own course toward, or away from divinity based upon TRUTH. “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” ~ John 8:32
APOCALYPSE (noun): The Greek word ‘Apocalypse’ actually means to ‘uncover, reveal or unveil’ the truth that has been ignored, forgotten, misinterpreted and misunderstood, and the phrase ‘apokalupsis eschaton’ literally means ‘revelation at the end of the eon or age’
Far from being a horrible experience the ‘End Times’ or ‘Apocalypse’ means the ‘Lifting of The Veil’ or ‘Revelation’…A disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, the ‘Revealing of the Nature of Things’. It ushers and era of forgotten freedoms and unprecedented clarity. This ‘Lifting of The veil’ will set us free from the misery that has been the result of ignorance!
So God has send his messengers to present that TRUTH and this is one of the ways he has chosen to present it, this are compilation of information already available on earth, researched and compiled by others and destined for those who truly want to SEE & HEAR!
As man comes agin into the understanding of God and Creation he will automatically begin to turn again into Truth and Love; He will do this by recognizing the errors and lies thrust upon him so that he can understand that portion of his actions and beliefs that have led him astray in the first place.
There is something you must learn as we come into and along with our presentation and association. We are not a cult, church–etc. We are the Hosts of God come to prepare the “way”. These ones here are workers efforting to fulfill committed missions–individually and unified only in production–each does what each is qualified to do. GOD DOES NOT BEG! GOD TAKES NOTHING! GOD ONLY GIVES AND REGIVES. THEREFORE, THOSE WHO PLACE A “PRICE” ON YOUR “SALVATION” ARE FALSE TEACHERS AND PREACHERS OF GOD. GOD DOES NOT BEG! He presents you with opportunities, offers you “answers” for your journey, accepts and plentify that which you offer back unto Him and is in constant service to give unto you that which you ask in honest and sincere petition from the heart.
Question Everything. The past is prologue.” And, since history repeats, apply practical principles to “PREPARE FOR CHANGE” that lies ahead. Read voraciously because to know the truth, first you must know the lie. If the Truth is to reach the four corners of the world, it must be freely passed on.
“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.” Luke 12:2 “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12)
“Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” “For thy merchants [corporations] were the great men of the earth [globalists]; for by thy sorceries [pharmakeia = drug use] were all nations deceived”. (2Ti 3:1-13; Rev 18:23); “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever YOU permit on earth WILL be permitted in heaven”. (Matthew 18:18)
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! II Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV
DO NOT DESPAIR! ‘THIS MEANS EVERLASTING LIFE’, your coming to know me, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and the one whom I sent forth, (John 17:3). I Love you, and I want to personally see you survive the coming peril. Oh, but know that I would not miss you [sobs…] should you choose to remain within the convenience of thy ignorance about the “Event” ( https://prepareforchange.net/the-event/ ) Dear honorable-distinguished awesome Ladies & Gentlemen, your geo-physical plane is about to be reset, and I pray you to get aboard the safe side. “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21) Do you read me? Good for you. Aho!
THE TIME OF TRUTH UPON EARTH HAS ARRIVED. YE ONES SHALL BE IN THE CHOOSING OF THY TRUTH FOR THE ENDING OF A CYCLE AND A FORTHCOMING TRANSITION IS AT HAND. THE FULFILLING OF THE PROPHECIES ARE ALL BUT TO THE FINAL CHAPTER. YE ONES ARE IN THY FINAL DAYS! WE COME FORTH–TO HELP YOU REMEMBER AND THEN, IT IS SOLELY UP TO YOU, THAT WHICH YOU WILL DO. NO ONE IS GOING TO COME SNATCH YOU OFF AND INTO UTOPIA–AT ONE POINT YOU ARE GOING TO MEET YOUR GOD FACE TO FACE AND DO A LITTLE JUDGING OF YOUR ACTIONS. SO BE IT
I AM THAT I AM, ONE WITH GOD AND THE CREATION I AM AND YE CAN BE AS I AM!….DO YE KNOW WHO YE MAY BE?
Note by PFC Editor: Due to heavy Facebook censoring, if you have a Facebook account and enjoy and appreciate the relentless and selfless work the Prepare For Change team has been doing for the last 7 years we ask you to “LIKE” our page: Prepare For Change Global and then “Recommend” our page by adding a “review” to maintain our good rating in Facebook.
Your Tax Free Donations Are Appreciated and Help Fund our Volunteer Website and Orphanage


prepareforchange--2020-01-10--Perhaps the Middle East is More Stable When the US Stays Away

It has been a mantra of U.S. foreign policy for a decade or more that , without the United States , the Middle East would descend into chaos .
Or even worse , Iran would resurrect the Persian Empire and swallow the region whole .
Yet when U.S. President Donald Trump opted not to go to war with Iran after a series of Iranian-attributed attacks on Saudi Arabia last year and declared his intentions to pull troops out of the region , it wasn ’ t chaos or conquest that ensued .
Rather , nascent regional diplomacy—particularly among Iran , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emirates—and de-escalation followed .
To be sure , the cards were reshuffled again in January , when Trump ordered the assassination of Qassem Suleimani , one of Iran ’ s most important military figures .
Courtesy of Trump , the region is once more moving toward conflict , and the early signs of diplomatic progress achieved during the preceding months have vanished .
It is thus time for Washington to answer a crucial question that it has long evaded : Has America ’ s military dominance in the Middle East prevented regional actors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
And in that way , has it been an impediment to stability rather than the guarantor of it ?
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 , U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a new doctrine : “ An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region , ” he stated , “ will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America , and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary , including military force.
” In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preventing the Soviets—the main outside force Carter was worried about—from gaining control over the energy-rich region had a strategic logic .
But over time , that logic shifted .
In the 1980s , U.S. President Ronald Reagan expanded the doctrine to include threats to the flow of oil originating from inside the region , too .
As the geopolitical context changed still further , subsequent presidents found even more ways to justify America ’ s growing military presence in the Middle East .
What started as a policy to prevent others from establishing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Persian Gulf morphed into a policy of asserting American hegemony in the region in order to “ save ” it .
As long as U.S. allies lack the capability or competence to secure the region , the thinking went , Washington would have no choice but to shoulder this responsibility .
U.S. President George W. Bush was explicit about that ; without an increase in U.S. troop levels in Iraq , he claimed , there would be chaos in the region .
He missed the irony , of course , that his invasion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ event in the Middle East of the past decades .
As the scholars Hal Brands , Steven Cook , and Kenneth Pollack wrote endorsing the Carter Doctrine and its continuation , “ the United States established and upheld the basic rules of conduct in the region : the United States would meet efforts to interfere with the free flow of oil by force ; uphold freedom of navigation ; demand that regional powers give up their irredentist claims on other states or face grave consequences ; and prevent the proliferation of weapons of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough ( although the last rule on the list always exempted Israel ) , but the story glosses over how the policy also gave cover to U.S. allies for some fairly destabilizing behaviors of their own .
That ’ s an omission Brands makes in a Bloomberg article , too , where he points to Saudi Arabia ’ s slaughter of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi to argue that a “ post-American Middle East will not be stable and peaceful .
It will be even nastier and more turbulent than it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2018 , “ If it weren ’ t for the United States , they ’ d be speaking Farsi in about a week in Saudi Arabia.
” All this without a nod to the fact that , if anything , the United States ’ protection of the Saudi regime has enabled its promotion of terrorism and its destabilizing activities in the region , which have , in turn , prompted further Iranian response .
Assertions about the United States ’ pivotal role in the Middle East , no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been proved true .
Iran , ravaged by sanctions , corruption , and economic mismanagement , is nowhere near establishing hegemony in the region .
Saudi Arabia spends more than five times as much on its military than does Iran ; the entire Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ) —Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , Qatar , Bahrain , Oman , and the UAE—outspends Iran by a factor of eight .
Meanwhile , whereas Iran has no nuclear weapons yet undergoes more inspections than any other country , Israel has a nuclear weapons program @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may have been adept at taking advantage of U.S. overextension and missteps in the last few decades , but establishing hegemony is a different matter altogether .
Further , the region did not fall into deeper chaos as a result of Trump ’ s earlier refusal to get into a shooting war with Iran after attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi oil installations in September 2019 .
Critics lamented the president ’ s decision as an abandonment of the Carter Doctrine , calling it a disaster for the GCC and warning that it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nuclear weapons .
Instead , recognizing that the U.S. military was no longer at their disposal , Saudi Arabia and the UAE began exercising the diplomatic options that had always been available to them .
For its part , Saudi Arabia stepped up direct talks with Houthi rebels in Yemen as a way to ease tensions with their backer , Iran .
The level of violence on both sides declined as a result , and more than 100 prisoners of war were released .
In November , the United Nations ’ Yemen envoy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent reduction in Saudi-led airstrikes , and there were no Yemeni deaths in the previous two weeks .
Riyadh also opted to reduce tensions with Qatar , a former ally that had become a nemesis .
The Saudi government seemingly ordered its notorious Twitter army to tone down the insults against Qatar and its emir , Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani , and some sporting events between the two countries resumed , according to the New York Times .
Saudi officials also claimed that they had quietly reached out to Iran via intermediaries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in turn , welcomed the prospective Saudi-Qatari thaw and , according to the New York Times , floated a peace plan based on a mutual Iranian-Saudi pledge of nonaggression .
An even stronger change of heart occurred in Abu Dhabi .
In July , the UAE started withdrawing troops from Yemen .
The same month , it participated in direct talks with Tehran to discuss maritime security .
It even released $ 700 million in funds to Iran in contradiction to the Trump administration ’ s maximum pressure strategy .
Some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than strategic .
Saudi Arabia may have reduced tensions with Qatar and the Houthis in order to better situate itself for a confrontation with Tehran down the road or to offset international condemnation of its killing of Khashoggi , human rights abuses at home , and brutal tactics in Yemen .
The UAE , too , may have felt that a tactical reduction of tensions was warranted .
Nevertheless , as the United States appeared poised to back out of the region , its erstwhile allies ’ calculations tilted toward diplomacy .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but to cease some of their recklessness because they could no longer operate under the protection of the United States .
If stability in the Middle East is the United States ’ main goal , Washington should have celebrated rather than bemoaned these developments .
In the wake of the U.S. assassination of Suleimani—which some former U.S. officials have called an act of war—the calculations may change once more .
According to Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi , Suleimani was in Iraq to bring him Tehran ’ s response to a message from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , presumably as part of the House of Saud ’ s renewed interest in diplomacy .
The Iraqis , according to him , were mediating between the two rivals , an initiative that has now been thrown into question .
Iran may very well conclude , rightly or wrongly , that Saudi Arabia and the UAE conspired with Washington to assassinate Suleimani and as a result not only end the recent diplomacy but also target Riyadh and Abu Dhabi as part of the revenge for Suleimani ’ s death .
This is yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which U.S. activities in the region have brought more turmoil than stability .
To be sure , there is no guarantee that recent diplomatic efforts would have been successful .
A more responsible Riyadh might not have begotten a more responsible Tehran .
But it is noteworthy that diplomacy did not even begin in earnest until Washington clearly demonstrated its unwillingness to entangle itself in a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran .
And by returning to the region in a show of military force , Trump may once again disincentivize the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seriously .
They may even interpret Suleimani ’ s killing as a license to resume their recklessness—activities like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ’ s purported kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister and ordering of the dismemberment of Khashoggi ; Saudi Arabia and the UAE ’ s imposition of a blockade on Qatar ; and the two countries ’ further destabilization of Libya , Syria , Lebanon , Sudan , and Yemen .
As in the past , in other words , it seems as if the Middle East ’ s descent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States than without it .
Trita Parsi is the Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute and author of Losing an Enemy – Obama , Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy .
Disclaimer : We at Prepare for Change ( PFC ) bring you information that is not offered by the mainstream news , and therefore may seem controversial .
The opinions , views , statements , and/or information we present are not necessarily promoted , endorsed , espoused , or agreed to by Prepare for Change , its leadership Council , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or those who read its content .
However , they are hopefully provocative .
Please use discernment !
Use logical thinking , your own intuition and your own connection with Source , Spirit and Natural Laws to help you determine what is true and what is not .
By sharing information and seeding dialogue , it is our goal to raise consciousness and awareness of higher truths to free us from enslavement of the matrix in this material realm .

By Trita Parsi,
It has been a mantra of U.S. foreign policy for a decade or more that, without the United States, the Middle East would descend into chaos. Or even worse, Iran would resurrect the Persian Empire and swallow the region whole.
Yet when U.S. President Donald Trump opted not to go to war with Iran after a series of Iranian-attributed attacks on Saudi Arabia last year and declared his intentions to pull troops out of the region, it wasn’t chaos or conquest that ensued. Rather, nascent regional diplomacy—particularly among Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—and de-escalation followed. To be sure, the cards were reshuffled again in January, when Trump ordered the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, one of Iran’s most important military figures. Courtesy of Trump, the region is once more moving toward conflict, and the early signs of diplomatic progress achieved during the preceding months have vanished.
It is thus time for Washington to answer a crucial question that it has long evaded: Has America’s military dominance in the Middle East prevented regional actors from peacefully resolving conflicts on their own? And in that way, has it been an impediment to stability rather than the guarantor of it?
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a new doctrine: “An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region,” he stated, “will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.” In the context of the Cold War, preventing the Soviets—the main outside force Carter was worried about—from gaining control over the energy-rich region had a strategic logic.
But over time, that logic shifted. In the 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan expanded the doctrine to include threats to the flow of oil originating from inside the region, too. As the geopolitical context changed still further, subsequent presidents found even more ways to justify America’s growing military presence in the Middle East. What started as a policy to prevent others from establishing hegemony over the oil-rich waters of the Persian Gulf morphed into a policy of asserting American hegemony in the region in order to “save” it.
As long as U.S. allies lack the capability or competence to secure the region, the thinking went, Washington would have no choice but to shoulder this responsibility. U.S. President George W. Bush was explicit about that; without an increase in U.S. troop levels in Iraq, he claimed, there would be chaos in the region. He missed the irony, of course, that his invasion of Iraq was the single most destabilizing event in the Middle East of the past decades.
As the scholars Hal Brands, Steven Cook, and Kenneth Pollack wrote endorsing the Carter Doctrine and its continuation, “the United States established and upheld the basic rules of conduct in the region: the United States would meet efforts to interfere with the free flow of oil by force; uphold freedom of navigation; demand that regional powers give up their irredentist claims on other states or face grave consequences; and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
This account is accurate enough (although the last rule on the list always exempted Israel), but the story glosses over how the policy also gave cover to U.S. allies for some fairly destabilizing behaviors of their own. That’s an omission Brands makes in a Bloomberg article, too, where he points to Saudi Arabia’s slaughter of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi to argue that a “post-American Middle East will not be stable and peaceful. It will be even nastier and more turbulent than it is today.” And in the words of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2018, “If it weren’t for the United States, they’d be speaking Farsi in about a week in Saudi Arabia.”
All this without a nod to the fact that, if anything, the United States’ protection of the Saudi regime has enabled its promotion of terrorism and its destabilizing activities in the region, which have, in turn, prompted further Iranian response.
Assertions about the United States’ pivotal role in the Middle East, no matter how often repeated, have not been proved true. Iran, ravaged by sanctions, corruption, and economic mismanagement, is nowhere near establishing hegemony in the region. Saudi Arabia spends more than five times as much on its military than does Iran; the entire Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the UAE—outspends Iran by a factor of eight. Meanwhile, whereas Iran has no nuclear weapons yet undergoes more inspections than any other country, Israel has a nuclear weapons program with no international transparency whatsoever. Iran may have been adept at taking advantage of U.S. overextension and missteps in the last few decades, but establishing hegemony is a different matter altogether.
Further, the region did not fall into deeper chaos as a result of Trump’s earlier refusal to get into a shooting war with Iran after attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi oil installations in September 2019. Critics lamented the president’s decision as an abandonment of the Carter Doctrine, calling it a disaster for the GCC and warning that it may even prompt Saudi Arabia to seek nuclear weapons.
Instead, recognizing that the U.S. military was no longer at their disposal, Saudi Arabia and the UAE began exercising the diplomatic options that had always been available to them. For its part, Saudi Arabia stepped up direct talks with Houthi rebels in Yemen as a way to ease tensions with their backer, Iran. The level of violence on both sides declined as a result, and more than 100 prisoners of war were released. In November, the United Nations’ Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, reported an 80 percent reduction in Saudi-led airstrikes, and there were no Yemeni deaths in the previous two weeks.
Riyadh also opted to reduce tensions with Qatar, a former ally that had become a nemesis. The Saudi government seemingly ordered its notorious Twitter army to tone down the insults against Qatar and its emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and some sporting events between the two countries resumed, according to the New York Times.
Saudi officials also claimed that they had quietly reached out to Iran via intermediaries seeking ways to ease tensions. Tehran, in turn, welcomed the prospective Saudi-Qatari thaw and, according to the New York Times, floated a peace plan based on a mutual Iranian-Saudi pledge of nonaggression.
An even stronger change of heart occurred in Abu Dhabi. In July, the UAE started withdrawing troops from Yemen. The same month, it participated in direct talks with Tehran to discuss maritime security. It even released $700 million in funds to Iran in contradiction to the Trump administration’s maximum pressure strategy.
Some of these measures may have been more tactical than strategic. Saudi Arabia may have reduced tensions with Qatar and the Houthis in order to better situate itself for a confrontation with Tehran down the road or to offset international condemnation of its killing of Khashoggi, human rights abuses at home, and brutal tactics in Yemen. The UAE, too, may have felt that a tactical reduction of tensions was warranted.
Nevertheless, as the United States appeared poised to back out of the region, its erstwhile allies’ calculations tilted toward diplomacy. The Saudis and Emiratis simply had no choice but to cease some of their recklessness because they could no longer operate under the protection of the United States. If stability in the Middle East is the United States’ main goal, Washington should have celebrated rather than bemoaned these developments.
In the wake of the U.S. assassination of Suleimani—which some former U.S. officials have called an act of war—the calculations may change once more. According to Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, Suleimani was in Iraq to bring him Tehran’s response to a message from Riyadh on how to defuse regional tensions, presumably as part of the House of Saud’s renewed interest in diplomacy. The Iraqis, according to him, were mediating between the two rivals, an initiative that has now been thrown into question.
Iran may very well conclude, rightly or wrongly, that Saudi Arabia and the UAE conspired with Washington to assassinate Suleimani and as a result not only end the recent diplomacy but also target Riyadh and Abu Dhabi as part of the revenge for Suleimani’s death. This is yet one more instance, it seems, in which U.S. activities in the region have brought more turmoil than stability.
To be sure, there is no guarantee that recent diplomatic efforts would have been successful. A more responsible Riyadh might not have begotten a more responsible Tehran. But it is noteworthy that diplomacy did not even begin in earnest until Washington clearly demonstrated its unwillingness to entangle itself in a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. And by returning to the region in a show of military force, Trump may once again disincentivize the United States’ allies from taking diplomacy seriously. They may even interpret Suleimani’s killing as a license to resume their recklessness—activities like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s purported kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister and ordering of the dismemberment of Khashoggi; Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s imposition of a blockade on Qatar; and the two countries’ further destabilization of Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, and Yemen.
As in the past, in other words, it seems as if the Middle East’s descent into chaos is more likely with the United States than without it.
Trita Parsi is the Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute and author of Losing an Enemy – Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy.
Your Tax Free Donations Are Appreciated and Help Fund our Volunteer Website and Orphanage


prepareforchange--2020-01-10--USA Manufacturing Employment, New Orders & Production Fall Fastest Since Apr-Aug 2009

US manufacturing took a turn from lousy to worse in December , according to the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business , released today , with employment , new orders and new export orders , production , backlog of orders , and inventories all contracting .
The overall Purchasing Managers Index ( PMI ) dropped 0.9 percentage points from November to 47.2 % in December 2019 , the fifth month in a row of contraction , and the fastest contraction since June 2009 .
Values below the 50 % mark signify contraction , values above it signify growth ( data via @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report are private-sector measures , based on how a panel of manufacturing executives – names are not disclosed – see new orders , production , employment , etc .
at their own companies in the current month ( December ) .
PMIs are the timeliest measure .
In terms of demand : The ISM ’ s New Orders Index dropped to 46.8 % , the fifth month in a row of contraction , with new export orders having been in contraction mode in five of the past six months , and “ recording @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contributing to the faster contraction of the New Orders Index , ” the ISM report said .
The contraction in the New Orders Index was the fastest since April 2009 ( data via YCharts ) : The Employment Index fell to 45.1 , the fifth month in a row of contraction , and the fastest contraction since August 2009 ( data via YCharts ) : Order backlogs contracted for the eighth month in a row to 43.3 as manufacturers have been eating into their backlogs while new orders have declined .
The Production @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 43.2 , the fifth month in a row of contraction and the fastest contraction since April 2009 ( data via YCharts ) : The executives on the panel of the Manufacturing ISM Report represent 18 manufacturing industries .
Only three industries reported growth in December – down from five in November : The remaining 15 industries reported contraction in December , with Transportation Equipment being the weakest .
: While the declines were very broad affecting 15 out of 18 industries , December also saw some big special items : Boeing suspended production @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s strike bled into the beginning of December .
How hard will this hit the US economy ?
Services-producing industries amount to the equivalent of 70 % of US GDP by value added , and to 80 % of the private sector economy .
In the third quarter , revenues by the services-producing industries rose 4.9 % from a year ago .
In the Finance and Insurance sector , the biggest of them all , revenues soared 6.6 % ; in health care , revenues grew 4.4 % ; in professional services and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and telecom sectors – revenues grew 6.0 % and 5.8 % respectively .
We have to wait a little while for the detailed Q4 services data to emerge , but at this point , there are no indications that there was a sharp deterioration in Q4 .
But with manufacturing deteriorating at this pace , and based on the historical relationship between manufacturing and the rest of the economy , the ISM Report estimates that the December manufacturing index value corresponds to a 1.3 % increase in real GDP in December on an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot slower growth than the range between 2.5 % and 2.1 % over the past four quarters .
Disclaimer : We at Prepare for Change ( PFC ) bring you information that is not offered by the mainstream news , and therefore may seem controversial .
The opinions , views , statements , and/or information we present are not necessarily promoted , endorsed , espoused , or agreed to by Prepare for Change , its leadership Council , members , those who work with PFC , or those who read its content .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Please use discernment !
Use logical thinking , your own intuition and your own connection with Source , Spirit and Natural Laws to help you determine what is true and what is not .
By sharing information and seeding dialogue , it is our goal to raise consciousness and awareness of higher truths to free us from enslavement of the matrix in this material realm .

By Wolf Richter,
US manufacturing took a turn from lousy to worse in December, according to the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business, released today, with employment, new orders and new export orders, production, backlog of orders, and inventories all contracting.
The overall Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped 0.9 percentage points from November to 47.2% in December 2019, the fifth month in a row of contraction, and the fastest contraction since June 2009. Values below the 50% mark signify contraction, values above it signify growth (data via YCharts):
PMIs like the ISM report are private-sector measures, based on how a panel of manufacturing executives – names are not disclosed – see new orders, production, employment, etc. at their own companies in the current month (December). PMIs are the timeliest measure.
In terms of demand: The ISM’s New Orders Index dropped to 46.8%, the fifth month in a row of contraction, with new export orders having been in contraction mode in five of the past six months, and “recording 10 months of poor performance and likely contributing to the faster contraction of the New Orders Index,” the ISM report said. The contraction in the New Orders Index was the fastest since April 2009 (data via YCharts):
The Employment Index fell to 45.1, the fifth month in a row of contraction, and the fastest contraction since August 2009 (data via YCharts):
Order backlogs contracted for the eighth month in a row to 43.3 as manufacturers have been eating into their backlogs while new orders have declined.
The Production Index plunged nearly 6 percentage points to 43.2, the fifth month in a row of contraction and the fastest contraction since April 2009 (data via YCharts):
The executives on the panel of the Manufacturing ISM Report represent 18 manufacturing industries. Only three industries reported growth in December – down from five in November:
Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products
Miscellaneous Manufacturing
Computer & Electronic Products.
The remaining 15 industries reported contraction in December, with Transportation Equipment being the weakest.:
Apparel, Leather & Allied Products
Wood Products
Printing & Related Support Activities
Furniture & Related Products
Transportation Equipment
Nonmetallic Mineral Products
Paper Products
Fabricated Metal Products
Petroleum & Coal Products
Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components
Textile Mills
Primary Metals
Chemical Products
Plastics & Rubber Products
Machinery
While the declines were very broad affecting 15 out of 18 industries, December also saw some big special items: Boeing suspended production of the 737 Max and GM’s strike bled into the beginning of December.
How hard will this hit the US economy?
Services-producing industries amount to the equivalent of 70% of US GDP by value added, and to 80% of the private sector economy. In the third quarter, revenues by the services-producing industries rose 4.9% from a year ago. In the Finance and Insurance sector, the biggest of them all, revenues soared 6.6%; in health care, revenues grew 4.4%; in professional services and information services – which include the tech and telecom sectors – revenues grew 6.0% and 5.8% respectively.
We have to wait a little while for the detailed Q4 services data to emerge, but at this point, there are no indications that there was a sharp deterioration in Q4.
But with manufacturing deteriorating at this pace, and based on the historical relationship between manufacturing and the rest of the economy, the ISM Report estimates that the December manufacturing index value corresponds to a 1.3% increase in real GDP in December on an annualized basis, which would be a lot slower growth than the range between 2.5% and 2.1% over the past four quarters.
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prepareforchange--2020-01-10--Gold, Silver, Oil, DOW “Controlled”…Free Markets are Dead!!

ALL markets will be controlled during this time of economic stress .
This has always been the case since the @ @ @ @ @ of the rigging happens in the basement of the US Treasury under Steve Mnuchin , @ @ @ @ @ market rigging !
!
Disclaimer : We at Prepare for Change ( PFC ) bring @ @ @ @ @ offered by the mainstream news , and therefore may seem controversial .
The opinions , @ @ @ @ @ information we present are not necessarily promoted , endorsed , espoused , or agreed to @ @ @ @ @ its leadership Council , members , those who work with PFC , or those who @ @ @ @ @ , they are hopefully provocative .
Please use discernment !
Use logical thinking , your @ @ @ @ @ connection with Source , Spirit and Natural Laws to help you determine what is true @ @ @ @ @ By sharing information and seeding dialogue , it is our goal to raise consciousness and @ @ @ @ @ free us from enslavement of the matrix in this material realm .

ALL markets will be controlled during this time of economic stress. This has always been the case since the invention of computers and most of the rigging happens in the basement of the US Treasury under Steve Mnuchin, ex-Goldman Sachs head of computer market rigging!!
Your Tax Free Donations Are Appreciated and Help Fund our Volunteer Website and Orphanage


prepareforchange--2020-01-10--Tired of targeted ads on Facebook and Google? Here’s how to get rid of them!

When the holidays have finally come around and it ’ s time to tackle your shopping list it ’ s normal to browse multiple websites and products looking for the perfect pick .
It ’ s just as common to see those same products popping up in targeted ads on your social media and web browsers long after you ’ re done shopping .
Is someone tracking your online activity ?
Can you stop these ads from following you around the web ?
Learn how these targeted ads are made and how you can stop Facebook ads and other nuisances @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you around the web .
Many consumers swear their web browsers and social media accounts are listening to their conversations .
That belief is understandable given the accuracy of some of the ads users are seeing nowadays .
However , there ’ s a system to the way advertisers get their ads in front of the right eyes .
They work closely with social media platforms ( like Facebook ) or web browsers ( like Google ) to do it .
So , let ’ s say you ’ ve been shopping the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ add to your living space and discussing your options with a few friends .
Not even a week later , those options are showing up in display ads alongside your newsfeed .
Here are a few ways this can happen : • You were logged into your social account while browsing the products .
• You fit the target demographic the company asked their ads to be shown to .
• You ’ ve purchased from the company before and they ’ re targeting you specifically .
• You ’ re active on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services ( Google Maps , Google Chrome , Gmail , Waze ) so they have a detailed profile on your likes and dislikes .
If you have social media apps on your phone , the odds are you ’ re logged in to those accounts and they ’ re monitoring your browsing activity on other sites .
Facebook , in particular , is especially skilled at this thanks to Facebook Pixel , a technology that sends messages back to Facebook from sites you ’ ve visited .
You may also be seeing ads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ target audience or you ’ ve purchased from the retailer before .
But if you ’ re seeing the exact products in your cart displayed in ads elsewhere , that information was passed along to the social media app via Pixel .
Google is able to put together a pretty extensive list of who you are , where you go and what you ’ re into , based off of your activity on any of their various services .
So if you frequent any of Google ’ s popular platforms and you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ platforms are constantly learning from you in order to serve up ads specifically for you .
You don ’ t have to let shopping decisions of the past haunt you forever .
There are a few simple hacks and edits to your settings that can make targeted ads a thing of the past on social media and your web browser .
Take a look at how to stop Facebook ads and some steps you can take on popular platforms like Google .
You can ’ t opt out of ads completely but you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you see and what data is used to select these ads .
You can click on any ad directly and choose to hide it specifically , hide ads from the advertisers or check out why you ’ re seeing it in the first place .
From there , you can get a better idea of how to stop Facebook ads by seeing what data is being used and then change the data that ’ s influencing your ads .
To turn off ads based on your relationship status , employer , job title @ @ @ @ @ @ @ navigate to the main menu .
Select Settings in the Settings & Privacy dropdown .
• Scroll down to the Ads section and select Ad Preferences .
• Select Your information and deactivate any of the profile fields listed to stop ads based on these categories .
To stop ads based on data from advertisers , offline interactions ( like purchases , your use of partner websites or apps ) and your activity on Facebook Company Products : • Navigate back to the Ad Preferences menu and choose Ad settings .
• Click @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or Ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere .
• Select No to deactivate these ad influencers .
These instructions aren ’ t universal to every social media platform , but making these changes on a player like Facebook could actually take care of a good bit of your ad targeting problems .
Because Google is behind some of the largest web-based services in the industry ( YouTube , Waze and Google Chrome , to name a few ) the changes you make to your Google account @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the ads you see overall .
To edit which data Google uses to create your ads : • Open your Google account profile and select Data & personalization in the main menu .
• Scroll down to the Web & App Activity and disable ads influenced by your activity altogether or pick and choose which activities are included using the checklist .
You ’ ll also have the option to stop data collection from your location history as well ( especially useful for Google Maps users ) .
To stop your data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can scroll down a bit further to the Ad personalization settings and deactivate this setting completely .
As consumers , we ’ ll never be able to totally escape ads , but if you know how they work and how you can influence them , you can get some of your privacy back .
Disclaimer : We at Prepare for Change ( PFC ) bring you information that is not offered by the mainstream news , and therefore may seem controversial .
The opinions , views , statements , and/or information we present @ @ @ @ @ @ @ espoused , or agreed to by Prepare for Change , its leadership Council , members , those who work with PFC , or those who read its content .
However , they are hopefully provocative .
Please use discernment !
Use logical thinking , your own intuition and your own connection with Source , Spirit and Natural Laws to help you determine what is true and what is not .
By sharing information and seeding dialogue , it is our goal to raise consciousness and awareness of higher truths to free us from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ realm .

From allconnect.com:
When the holidays have finally come around and it’s time to tackle your shopping list it’s normal to browse multiple websites and products looking for the perfect pick. It’s just as common to see those same products popping up in targeted ads on your social media and web browsers long after you’re done shopping.
Is someone tracking your online activity? Can you stop these ads from following you around the web? Learn how these targeted ads are made and how you can stop Facebook ads and other nuisances from haunting your holiday shopping and following you around the web.
How do targeted ads work?
Many consumers swear their web browsers and social media accounts are listening to their conversations. That belief is understandable given the accuracy of some of the ads users are seeing nowadays. However, there’s a system to the way advertisers get their ads in front of the right eyes. They work closely with social media platforms (like Facebook) or web browsers (like Google) to do it.
So, let’s say you’ve been shopping the TJ Maxx home section for something to add to your living space and discussing your options with a few friends. Not even a week later, those options are showing up in display ads alongside your newsfeed. Here are a few ways this can happen:
You were logged into your social account while browsing the products.
You fit the target demographic the company asked their ads to be shown to.
You’ve purchased from the company before and they’re targeting you specifically.
You’re active on one of Google’s many web-based services (Google Maps, Google Chrome, Gmail, Waze) so they have a detailed profile on your likes and dislikes.
If you have social media apps on your phone, the odds are you’re logged in to those accounts and they’re monitoring your browsing activity on other sites. Facebook, in particular, is especially skilled at this thanks to Facebook Pixel, a technology that sends messages back to Facebook from sites you’ve visited.
You may also be seeing ads because you fit the company’s target audience or you’ve purchased from the retailer before. But if you’re seeing the exact products in your cart displayed in ads elsewhere, that information was passed along to the social media app via Pixel.
Google is able to put together a pretty extensive list of who you are, where you go and what you’re into, based off of your activity on any of their various services. So if you frequent any of Google’s popular platforms and you’ve never altered the settings, those platforms are constantly learning from you in order to serve up ads specifically for you.
How to stop targeted ads
You don’t have to let shopping decisions of the past haunt you forever. There are a few simple hacks and edits to your settings that can make targeted ads a thing of the past on social media and your web browser. Take a look at how to stop Facebook ads and some steps you can take on popular platforms like Google.
How to stop Facebook ads
You can’t opt out of ads completely but you do have a say in which ads you see and what data is used to select these ads. You can click on any ad directly and choose to hide it specifically, hide ads from the advertisers or check out why you’re seeing it in the first place.
From there, you can get a better idea of how to stop Facebook ads by seeing what data is being used and then change the data that’s influencing your ads.
To turn off ads based on your relationship status, employer, job title or education:
Open Facebook and navigate to the main menu. Select Settings in the Settings & Privacy dropdown.
in the dropdown. Scroll down to the Ads section and select Ad Preferences.
section and select Select Your information and deactivate any of the profile fields listed to stop ads based on these categories.
To stop ads based on data from advertisers, offline interactions (like purchases, your use of partner websites or apps) and your activity on Facebook Company Products:
Navigate back to the Ad Preferences menu and choose Ad settings .
menu and choose . Click on Ads based on data from partner or Ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewher e.
or e. Select No to deactivate these ad influencers.
These instructions aren’t universal to every social media platform, but making these changes on a player like Facebook could actually take care of a good bit of your ad targeting problems.
How to stop Google ads
Because Google is behind some of the largest web-based services in the industry (YouTube, Waze and Google Chrome, to name a few) the changes you make to your Google account ad settings will make a major impact on the ads you see overall.
To edit which data Google uses to create your ads:
Open your Google account profile and select Data & personalization in the main menu.
in the main menu. Scroll down to the Web & App Activity and disable ads influenced by your activity altogether or pick and choose which activities are included using the checklist.
You’ll also have the option to stop data collection from your location history as well (especially useful for Google Maps users).
To stop your data from influencings your ads altogether, you can scroll down a bit further to the Ad personalization settings and deactivate this setting completely.
As consumers, we’ll never be able to totally escape ads, but if you know how they work and how you can influence them, you can get some of your privacy back.
Your Tax Free Donations Are Appreciated and Help Fund our Volunteer Website and Orphanage