The Israeli state has used the mental health professions to further its occupation.

“In February 2024 the International Court of Justice will pronounce on the legality of this occupation. Hopefully this will pave the way for a new dispensation from which an independent Palestinian State will emerge. Until then the world will watch Israel’s assault with mixed feelings. Western Powers like U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, France, Netherlands and Italy, which all share a colonial past in which they behaved like Israel towards their indigenous peoples, will block attempts to stop the conflict and will continue to support Israel’s genocidal war.”

“Oxfam said Gaza is also virtually out of clean water, making some of the food that has been let in, such as rice and lentils, useless since people do not have clean water or fuel to prepare them. The group said Israeli airstrikes have hit bakeries and supermarkets, further straining the food supply. The electricity blackout and lack of fuel have also disrupted the supply of food.”

“Statistically, the majority of the persons killed in Gaza in the past two weeks must be from families displaced in 1948. Many more of their number are at risk of being killed in like fashion in the coming weeks.”

The U.S. government has twice vetoed calls for a ceasefire during the current crisis at the UN Security Council. Al Jazeera reports: “Nearly 90 countries were on the speakers’ list for Tuesday’s debate including about 30 foreign ministers and deputy ministers, with many echoing calls for a ceasefire and a halt to attacks on Palestinian civilians amid widespread destruction in Gaza and the mounting death toll.” FRANCIS BOYLE, [email protected] Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. His books include The Bosnian People Charge Genocide (1996) Palestine, Palestinians and International Law (2009) and World Politics, Human…

“The killing is escalating. 756 Palestinians killed in Israeli bombardment in the last 24 hours, including 344 children. Toll now at 6,546 dead, including 2,704 children. 17,439 wounded. 65 percent of casualties in the past week in southern Gaza, where Israel said to evacuate to, according to the health ministry. … Health ministry in Gaza says the health system has completely collapsed and calls for immediate supplies of fuel and medical aid to resume work.”

“It seems to us that this double standard reflects an entrenched colonial discourse that has weaponized the Bible to justify the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples in the Americas, Oceania, and elsewhere, the slavery of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade, and decades of apartheid in South Africa. Colonial theologies are not passé; they continue in wide-ranging Zionist theologies and interpretations that have legitimized the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the vilification and dehumanization of Palestinians — Christians included — living under systemic settler-colonial apartheid.”

“Raji Sourani’s home was bombed by Israel. He was on “Democracy Now” this morning. He heads the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, based in Gaza and is an acclaimed human rights icon, receiving many honors including the Right Livelihood Award.”

Dozens of pharmacists at Walgreens and CVS have staged walkouts this month, and more walkouts are planned in coming weeks to protest unsafe working conditions in pharmacies. 

“Media portrayals of Gaza are so devoid of humanity — and often facts — that it is unsurprising that the horrifying violence we saw take place on Oct. 7 has been spoken of as ‘unprovoked.’ It is easy to forget our tax dollars — over $3 billion to Israel every year — have been directly supporting war crimes, sowing seeds of anger and war that will yield bitter fruit for generations to come.”