News Releases

Appearing on C-SPAN “Washington Journal” today, Institute for Public Accuracy executive director Norman Solomon began by focusing on implications of the unequivocal statement by former CIA director and Defense secretary Leon Panetta that Israel’s attack on pagers in Lebanon was “a form of terrorism.”

Since last October “the Israeli government with U.S. support has been engaging in de facto terrorism” in Gaza, Solomon said. The “protracted terrorism” during the last 50 weeks, he added, “raises the question, for instance, why did the White House just greenlight $20 billion more worth of weapons to this government that might be called a terrorist organization?”

Solomon’s 30-page afterword about the Gaza war was published this month in the paperback edition of his book War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine.

C-SPAN’s video of today’s interview is posted here.

Available for interviews:

NORMAN SOLOMON, in DC through Sept. 28, solomonprogressive@gmail.com

On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly begins its general debate Tuesday morning, with various heads of state, including Joe Biden, speaking in New York. See IPA news release from last week: “UN Demands Israel End Occupation,” which featured legal analysts available for comment as events develop.

CommonDreams reports: “Calls for U.S. Arms Embargo as Israel Kills Nearly 500 in Lebanon.”

Protests are being held in DC and New York City today. On Thursday, major protests are planned around the UN under the banner of “Arrest Netanyahu.”

BASHIR SAADE, bashir.saade@stir.ac.uk, @bashir_saade
Saade is author of Hizbullah and the Politics of Remembrance (Cambridge University Press) and is available for a limited number of interviews.

MOHAMAD BAZZI, mohamad.bazzi@nyu.edu, @BazziNYU
Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and is a journalism professor at New York University. He just wrote the piece “Opinion: Israel’s growing war with Hezbollah is traumatizing Lebanon. There’s only one path to peace,” which states: “Biden repeatedly failed to follow through on the most likely path to preventing a regional war: pressing for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, particularly by using U.S. leverage to withhold billions of dollars in weapons to Israel. … The road to de-escalation in the Middle East must begin with a cease-fire in Gaza.”

Jimmy Carter was born October 1, 1924.

DAVID GIBBS, dgibbs@arizona.edu
Gibbs is professor of history at the University of Arizona, as well as affiliated faculty in Africana Studies there. He is the author of the recently published Revolt of the Rich: How the Politics of the 1970s Widened America’s Class Divide (Columbia University Press).

Gibbs, who has been studying the Carter presidency for the past 15 years, said today: “My research has found that Carter was far more conservative than previously recognized. Evidence from newly opened archives show that Carter initiated the deregulation of U.S. industry and finance, reduced the power of organized labor, lowered taxes on business, and imposed austerity measures that intentionally raised unemployment among working people. Carter also augmented military spending for the first time in a decade, diverting resources from domestic programs, while increasing U.S. interventions overseas. He reoriented the Democratic Party in a free market direction, a change that endured for the long term. America’s right turn in domestic and foreign policy really began during the Carter presidency, not — as is widely believed — during that of his successor, Ronald Reagan. Carter should also be remembered for his support of racial justice and his many impressive achievements after he left the presidency. But we must not whitewash his central role in overturning FDR’s New Deal and concentrating wealth among the top 1 percent of the U.S. population.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

September 23, 2024

Institute for Public Accuracy
accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
@accuracy * ipaccuracy

The UN General Assembly begins its general debate Tuesday morning, with various heads of state speaking in New York. See IPA news release from last week: “UN Demands Israel End Occupation.”

CommonDreams reports: “Israel Launches Massive Bombing Campaign in Lebanon as ‘U,S, Weapons Continue to Flow.'”  Antiwar.com reports: “Netanyahu Considers Ethnic Cleansing Plan for North Gaza.” See Antiwar news with Dave DeCamp. Jeremy Scahill posted: “Media should stop saying Israel is telling people in southern Lebanon to ‘evacuate.’ Israel is engaged in psychological warfare against civilians as part of its broader military attacks. This is an expulsion order under threat. It is the same tactic used in Gaza.” See IPA news release from Friday: “Israel and a Wider War.”

In “Israeli soldiers raid, order closure of Al Jazeera office in Ramallah,” Al Jazeera reports: “Heavily armed and masked Israeli soldiers raid Al Jazeera bureau in the occupied West Bank and deliver 45-day closure order.” See from October: “Report: Blinken Urged Qatar to Censor Al Jazeera Coverage of Gaza Genocide.”

CHIP GIBBONS, Chip@RightsAndDissent.org, @ChipGibbons89
Policy director at Defending Rights & Dissent, national civil liberties organization dedicated to protecting the right of political expression, Gibbons recently co-wrote the piece “More Than 100 Journalists Come Together With Their Fellow Journalists in Palestine and Against U.S. Complicity in Their Killing.”

Reuters reports: “Israeli warplanes carried out late on Thursday their most intense strikes on southern Lebanon in nearly a year of war, heightening the conflict between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah amid calls for restraint. … The intense barrage followed attacks earlier in the week attributed by Lebanon and Hezbollah to Israel that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers, killing 37 people and wounding about 3,000 in Lebanon.”

MOHAMAD BAZZI, mohamad.bazzi@nyu.edu, @BazziNYU
Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor at New York University. He recently wrote the pieces “The war in the Middle East is escalating fast — and Biden has squandered too many chances to stop it” and “Kamala Harris should do what Joe Biden won’t: commit to actually reining in Israel” for the Guardian.

Bazzi posted on X on Wednesday: “I did another round of phone calls today to check on family and friends across Beirut and the Dahiyeh [a suburb]. On almost every call, I could hear ambulance sirens wailing in the background.”

He recently wrote: “One of the Biden administration’s biggest mistakes over the past few months has been to frame the protracted ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel as only focused on Gaza, without recognizing that all of Iran’s allies in the region, especially Hezbollah and the Houthis, have made clear that they too would stand down once the fighting stops in Gaza.”

Dave DeCamp at AntiWar.com just published the piece “U.S. Officials Say There Will Be No Gaza Ceasefire Deal Before Biden’s Term Ends.” See his news summary.

UN whistleblower Craig Mokhiber posted on X: “If a mass terrorist attack like that perpetrated by Israel in Lebanon occurred in any western country, western leaders would be marching arm-in-arm through the streets of Paris, western media would provide non-stop, tearful coverage, the UK flag would be at half-staff for weeks, and the U.S. Air Force would be bombing the perpetrators (and several other countries). But this is Israel, the country above all law.”

Bazzi has also written that Harris should “declare that she will suspend arms shipments to Israel because American law requires the U.S. to halt weapons transfers to militaries that are committing human rights violations. … A majority of Americans have told public opinion polls that they are opposed to arming Israel indefinitely, as Biden is doing.”

A new Center for Media and Democracy report found that American Majority, a tax-exempt group, trains Republican candidates and party organizations on how to win elections. But the organization’s tax-exempt status prohibits it from such activities. CMD filed complaints with the Internal Revenue Service and the Minnesota attorney general’s office, requesting a thorough investigation into American Majority’s partisan and electoral activity. 

American Majority has active offices in Arizona, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. According to a CMD press release, “the group’s Minnesota operation provides a prime example of how it works under the cover of its tax-exempt status to build the Republican Party and get Republicans elected.”

DAVID ARMIAK; david@prwatch.org, @duboo 
    Armiak is Research Director at CMD. 

Armiak told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “It is very clear that American Majority exists and works to the benefit of the Republican Party. Because it is a 501c3, it is not supposed to be electioneering or helping to win campaigns, so it’s abusing our tax-exempt laws. We don’t expect people to take our word from the report; they will look at the evidence and do a thorough investigation. But we hope that American Majority will lose its tax-exempt status and stop operating under that status. 

“The IRS doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to taking action against tax-exempt groups that are abusing the law, but we’re hopeful. Keith Ellison [Minnesota’s attorney general] is a reasonable man. We hope he will take a strong look at this. It’s possible we might not get IRS action, but we could get action in Minnesota.” Minnesota in particular has laws on the books that designate candidate trainings as in-kind contributions; nonprofits are barred from making these kinds of contributions. Armiak noted that knowingly violating that prohibition merits a criminal charge in Minnesota. 

“American Majority operates in other states, so those states might see what happens in Minnesota and decide to investigate [the organization] and their actions in those states. A lot of the trainings and webinars held by American Majority are similar across those states.”

Electioneering by 501c3s is a “pretty big problem,” Armiak said. “This is probably an example of something that is more widespread. There are likely more of these organizations out there. I would attribute that to lack of enforcement and oversight by the tax-exempt division of the IRS. The IRS enforcement division seems to be nonexistent and unwilling to dive in and remove tax-exempt status for these groups. We filed [similar] complaints in the past, and haven’t received anything from the IRS. The IRS isn’t required to respond.”

The UN General Assembly today voted 124-14 with 43 abstentions for a resolution which “demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” [PDF]

UN whistleblower Craig Mokhiber summarizes the resolution: “Implement the findings of the World Court that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza is entirely unlawful and must be quickly dismantled, Palestinians must be compensated and allowed to return, Israel is practicing apartheid and racial segregation, and all states are obliged to cut off all support and end the occupation.”

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He successfully represented Bosnia at the International Court of Justice in its Genocide Convention case against Yugoslavia. He was just featured on the IPA news release “UN to Vote on ‘Mild Resolution’ From Court Rulings on Palestine.” He said today: “This is good public relations for the people back at home when in fact they are all not doing much to stop the genocide. Much stronger action is needed. But it should be useful to buttress other efforts, like BDS — the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.”

JOHN QUIGLEY, quigley.2@osu.edu
Professor emeritus of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley’s books include The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict (Cambridge University Press). He said today: “The International Court of Justice’s (also called the World Court) proper role is like that of the U.S. Supreme Court. It says what the law — like the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions and Genocide Convention — mean. The ICJ specifically said recently that the UN Security Council and General Assembly should implement the rulings of the high court. The just-passed UN General Assembly resolution is the bare minimum that should be done. Some have claimed that the resolution went beyond the ICJ ruling. It’s the other way around. The ICJ said all the settlers needed to be evacuated out of the occupied territories. The resolution says that should happen within a year. There could be further resolutions. They could come in with a resolution setting up a peace keeping force, or strong economic sanctions, especially if Israel does not comply with what they said today, and Israel obviously will not comply.”

In 1956, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution creating the United Nations Emergency Force which mandated that the UK, France and Israel withdraw from the Sinai and the Gaza Strip, which the three of them had invaded.

The Norwegian Refugee Council and 15 other aid organizations just released a statement: “Israel’s siege now blocks 83 percent of food aid reaching Gaza, new data reveals.”

They “demand international pressure for an immediate ceasefire, arms embargo, and end to Israel’s systematic aid obstruction.”

The groups stated: “New data has revealed the scale of aid obstruction, and the consequential drastic fall in aid entering Gaza. This is driving a humanitarian disaster, with the entire population of Gaza facing hunger and disease, and almost half a million at risk of starvation.

“While Israeli military attacks on Gaza intensify, lifesaving food, medicine, medical supplies, fuel, and tents have been systematically blocked from entering for almost a year.” See full statement for details.

Other groups include: CARE International, Save the Children, ActionAid, Christian Aid, War Child, Islamic Relief, HelpAge International, American Friends Service Committee and Oxfam.

The groups continue: “Ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, aid agencies are calling on governments to demand Israel end aid obstruction and to:

* “Secure an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

* “Implement an arms embargo and end the export of weapons and military equipment that risk being used in violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

* “Demand compliance with the International Court of Justice’s findings and recommendations, an end to the Israeli government’s siege of Gaza, and heed the call of the ICJ in its advisory opinion to end the occupation of Palestinian territory.”

Contact:

NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no, @nrc_norway
Ahmed Bayram, Middle East Media Adviser, in Amman: ahmed.bayram@nrc.no

As the UN General Assembly begins its annual session, which will include heads of state speaking there in the coming weeks, it is expected to vote on a resolution Wednesday (see video and coverage by AP) using the “Uniting for Peace” procedure to overcome the U.S. veto at the Security Council on Israel.

(Meanwhile, the ICC prosecutor Khan has called for an “urgent” arrest warrant for Netanyahu and said that “threat and harassment” won’t dissuade him.)

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He successfully represented Bosnia at the International Court of Justice in its Genocide Convention case against Yugoslavia.

Boyle said today: “The proposed resolution is very mild. The International Court of Justice — also called the World Court — has issued two major groups of rulings on Palestine this year. In the Genocide Convention case brought by South Africa, it has said that Israel must stop its genocidal acts including its invasion of Rafah. The U.S. government has used its veto and threat of veto to prevent these rulings from being implemented at the Security Council.” See IPA news release which featured Boyle from June 10, the day the UN Security Council passed the U.S. government resolution: “U.S. ‘Ceasefire’ a ‘Ploy to Sabotage the Rule of Law.'”

Boyle added: “The ICJ has also issued a determination regarding the illegality of the 57-year occupation by Israel of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The proposed UN General Assembly resolution is a very moderate implementation of this ICJ opinion.”

The current resolution has apparently already been watered down since last week. [See text comparison.]

Boyle said, the “UN General Assembly, using Uniting for Peace, with a two-thirds of voting members could suspend Israel from participation in its activities as the General Assembly did to the former criminal apartheid regime in South Africa and to the genocidal Yugoslavia;

“Set up an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel in order to prosecute its highest level civilian and military officials for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;

“Recommend an arms embargo and economic sanctions against Israel;

“Recommend UN members sever diplomatic relations with Israel.

“This current resolution doesn’t do those things. It does say that Israel must withdraw from occupied territory in one year (the original draft said six months). And it talks of implementing ‘sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against natural and legal persons engaged in the maintenance of Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in relation to settler violence.’

“In 1981, you had the General Assembly criticize the Western members of the Security Council for protecting South Africa as it occupied Namibia. It called on ‘all states, in view of the threat to international peace and security posed by South Africa, to impose against that country comprehensive mandatory sanctions.'”

See ‘‘Uniting for Peace’ is Next Step in Invoking Genocide Convention Process to Protect Palestine” by Sam Husseini, which quotes UN whistleblower Craig Mokhiber: “You could have seen a resolution with teeth, with substance, resolution that included diplomatic, military, political, economic sanctions — not the enforcement of those sanctions, but the call for those sanctions — the deployment of a protection force, the establishment of a tribunal, the establishment of permanent mechanisms, as was the case within the United Nations during apartheid in South Africa.”

Monday, CODEPINK, World Beyond War, and Catholic Worker kick off a series of events, holding a press conference followed by a peaceful march from the South African Mission to the United Nations to the Israeli UN Mission to call on the UN to impose an arms embargo on Israel. The events take place in conjunction with the new UN General Assembly session.

The groups stated: “The United Nations was founded to end the scourge of war. The Security Council is empowered under the UN Charter to take action to ensure international peace and stability, but it has failed to do so, particularly in its response to Israel’s assault and siege of Gaza, as well as the expansion of settler violence and annexation in the West Bank. The General Assembly has the power, however, to act on its own under the Uniting for Peace resolution to override U.S. and Israel’s obstruction at the Security Council. The march will feature powerful visuals, including banners and props resembling commandments that read, ‘Thou Shall Not Kill’ and ‘Thou Shall Not Steal.'”

Press Conference at South Africa UN Mission and March to the Israeli UN Mission
Date: September 16, 2024
Time: Press Conference 1-1:20 p.m.; March thereafter until 3:00 p.m.
Location: South Africa Mission to the UN (845 Third Avenue) to Israeli UN Mission (42nd Street and 2nd Avenue), New York City.

The organizers are urging the enforcement of the World Court’s Provisional Measures to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure that international law is upheld. They call on members states to “embargo arms, oil and tech on Israel to stop settler terrorism and destruction in the West Bank and Israeli military genocide in Gaza.”

Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right said UN member states “can now invoke the authoritative ruling of the World Court to credibly assert that participating in boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid is not only a moral imperative and constitutional and human right, but also an international legal obligation.”

ROBERT JERESKI, mutualaid10@gmail.com, @codepink
An attorney, Jereski works with the peace group CODEPINK and has been participating and organizing meetings with various UN missions regarding what they can do about the killing in Gaza. He said today: “Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already been killed or maimed, and the humanitarian aid to Gaza which is urgently needed continues to be obstructed by the Israeli government. We are demanding justice and accountability for these atrocities and call upon the global community to uphold the principles of peace and human rights.”

Jereski appeared on the IPA news release from June 10, the day the UN Security Council passed the U.S. government resolution: “U.S. ‘Ceasefire’ a ‘Ploy to Sabotage the Rule of Law’.”

Also available: Melissa Garriga, melissa@codepink.org
Contact: Krys at krys@codepink.org