After 17 years of litigation, a monumental win for victims of paramilitary violence in Colombia before a court in the United States.
Related:
Chiquita Found Liable for Colombia Paramilitary Killings
National Security Archive Schedule of Chiquita’s Paramilitary Payments Evidence at Trial
Jury Awards Banana Company Victims $38.3 Million in Landmark Human Rights Case
Chiquita bananas, CIA funded coups, and Colombian hit squads.
U.S. Pushes to Shape Israel’s Rafah Operation, Not Stop It
Rafah has been at the center of a growing rift between Israeli and U.S. political leaders. Those tensions boiled over on Monday, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit to Washington by top aides to discuss U.S. concerns over the planned offensive on Rafah, where Hamas fighters are making a final stand. The tit-for-tat move was in response to the U.S. abstaining from a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire while also demanding the release of hostages.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, however, proceeded with his meetings at the White House and Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday, which had been previously scheduled. Gallant is part of Israel’s three-member war cabinet that includes Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, the prime minister’s chief political rival.
…
Both sides also agreed that the Hamas battalions in Rafah must be dislodged so that the militants cannot attempt a comeback or continue to smuggle weapons into the enclave, which are prerequisites for ending the war and paving the way for a new political authority in Gaza. And that means trying to find ways to work with Israel on its Rafah strategy, for lack of better options.
Related:
Washington sends Israel more city-busting bombs to level Rafah
Read More »Diplomatic source to ‘Post’: Gaza maritime route was Netanyahu’s idea
According to the source, on October 22, two weeks following the war’s outbreak, Netanyahu discussed with President Biden the concept of “delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza via the sea, contingent on an Israeli inspection in Cyprus.”
…
Years before the Gaza war, Israel Katz, now the Foreign Minister, had drawn up plans for a maritime route via Cyprus involving a floating island.
The project was never executed. But he revived it after the war began on October 7.
Related:
Gallant: Maritime Aid Corridor Will Advance Overthrow of Hamas
“The process is designed to facilitate aid directly to civilians and in this way, it advances [our goal] of overthrowing Hamas’ rule in Gaza,” the minister said.
“We will facilitate aid via the maritime route that is coordinated with the United States (security and humanitarian aspects), with the assistance of the United Arab Emirates on the civilian side,” he said. “It will include the appropriate inspections in Cyprus, and the goods will be brought by international organizations with American assistance.”
Air, sea, and land: When will US boots be on the ground in Gaza? Authored by Yonah Jeremy Bob*
Then suddenly, last Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced that the US would also supply maritime aid to Gaza, including building a makeshift artificial port off the coast.
This already imposes a long-term US military footprint in Israeli-Gaza territorial waters rather than a “mere” series of fly-throughs.
…
How hard would it be for a small complement of US Marines accompanying the aid deliveries to travel a kilometer or so into Gaza and to place themselves squarely in the middle of where Israel
does notwant them?…
Moreover, US forces have been and are already on the ground.
US generals and counter-terror experts have been in and out of Israel since the start of the war, including visits to Gaza.
There are also a variety of US military personnel regularly in Israel on military and intelligence exchange programs.
US attempts to reform the PA
Speaking of intelligence, multiple times when a decision was made to try to improve and reform the Palestinian Authority security forces, it was the CIA and US special forces who came to the West Bank and Gaza to help train and prepare these forces.
It seems quite likely that the Jewish state, at some point, will ask Washington to perform the same service again in Gaza.
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A broader version could involve a US-led peacekeeping force handling internal Gaza security for an indefinite period until enough Gazan Palestinians disconnected from Hamas can be convinced that taking on this role will not lead to them being slaughtered later by a resurgent Hamas.
From this perspective, the question about US forces on the ground in Gaza seems less of an if than it does a when, how many, and under more or less coordinated circumstances with Israel.
*Yonah Jeremy Bob was raised in Baltimore and graduated from Columbia University and Boston University Law School, respectively. He previously worked for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Military International Law Division, and the Israeli Justice Ministry. – Wikipedia
“The Imperial March” plays over the loudspeaker of a US Army vessel departing on a mission to construct a temporary port for aid deliveries to Gaza
Twitter
Related:
2. THE EMPIRE WAS NAZI GERMANY
From stormtroopers to Imperial officers’ uniforms and even Darth Vader’s helmet, which resembles those worn by the Wehrmacht during WWII, the analogies between Nazi Germany and the Galactic Empire are not exactly subtle.
The gradual rise of Hitler from German chancellor to Nazi dictator is further mirrored in the rise of Darth Sidious, or Sheev Palpatine, from chancellor to world’s most horrific-looking emperor.
MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU: HOW WWII INSPIRED ‘STAR WARS’
PFLP Warns of Suspicious US Plan for Gaza Pier, ‘Humanitarian Aid’
The movement emphasized that the US plan is “suspicious and dubious” and goes beyond the goal of aiding the Palestinian people, opening the door to executing other alarming objectives, such as forced displacement plans under humanitarian and other pretexts.
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“No US boots will be on the ground,” Biden claimed. [He’s lying]
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Five Palestinians, including two children, were killed on Friday due to an aid airdrop mishap, where at least one parachute malfunctioned, causing a package to fall on them. The tragic incident occurred in the al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza at approximately 11:30 am local time.
…
According to Politico, the airdrops expose Biden’s very limited approach with “Israel” since the US usually delivers airdrops to areas that are occupied by “terrorist groups or hostile regimes, not allies.”
Related:
U.S. Says Building Gaza Pier ‘Likely’ to Take Up to 60 Days
Although the massive U.S. military operation will involve both soldiers and sailors, the U.S. military will not be deploying troops ashore — even temporarily to anchor the dock to the beach, said Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder. [He’s lying, as well]
Video: Gaza Pier Pressure | How the US Military Builds a Pier | Joint Logistics Over the Sea (JLOTS)
Activists claim the UK and US use Cyprus as an “unsinkable warship” as recent conflicts in the Middle East spark renewed controversy over British military bases on the Mediterranean island.
UK ‘bases of death’ in Cyprus see controversy amid Middle East conflicts
Previously:
Attacks by the Rwanda-backed M23 have led to another wave of mass displacement in the province of North Kivu. The rebel group has tried to make advances towards the provincial capital of Goma, attacking the town of Sake which lies just 25 kilometers away.
Tens of Thousands Forced to Flee Democratic Republic of Congo as US/Rwanda-Supported M23 Attacks Intensify (+Coltan)
Related:
CONGRESS: Do Not Allow Our Tax Dollars To Fund Conflict In The Congo!
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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