Chomsky’s Failed State is about 20 years old now. I read it shortly after it came out (while on a beach holiday, because reading Chomsky is how I relax 
) and it was genuinely life changing seeing him list the various ways the UN and the ICC were just pissing in the wind at addressing violations made by the US and Israel.
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I already had this on my must see list , even moreso now.
…and the UK
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Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader of the Senate, is an old school NY Jew with a steadfast support for Israel as if it is still the 60s. Today he called for a new election to remove Bibi and to condition aid to them.
This feels like a real watershed moment in US politics.
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Yeah, and the Republicans crucified him.
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Putting this here not as an endorsement, but as an example of what North American audiences are seeing. Edmonton is Alberta, but much more centrist than the rest of the province. Doubtless American audiences are seeing stuff at least as raw as this
Don’t underestimate what Schumer has done
They’d argue the sky was red if Schumer had called it blue. I don’t think the message was for them.
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The narrative is changing against Israel.
Schumer’s step is a small step albeit but in the right directions. This will force Israel to atleast have a rethink on global concerns.
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News presenter: We see repeated incidents of aid distribution centers coming under attack and people getting killed trying to get aids. What can be done to change the situation?
Well, Einstein, not shelling/shooting/bombing the aid centers would be a start.
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To repeat what Arminius already said. This is a huge step. It might look small in distance travelled, but the obstacle that had to be overcome to move that far is enormous.
Even just rhetorically the statement that must have conditions on the delivery of arms to them is huge, because that is already law. The high profile exit from the State Department of Josh Paul back in October was directly in response to us not applying those legal conditions. It was controversial for saying it yet also not controversial in the sense that everyone knew it was true. For Schumer to now position it this way is an acknowledgment that we 1) we were not applying those rules and 2) Israel would have failed the tests had we been.
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🚨 1 in 3 children under 2 years of age are now acutely malnourished in northern #Gaza.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) March 16, 2024
Children's malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in #Gaza. Famine is looming. There is no time to waste.@UNICEF @UNICEFmena @unicefchief https://t.co/YbkEf2C9ay
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Hamas asking for 50 prisoners to be released in exchange for 1 Israeli.
What makes them think they hold any cards here ? Both the sides (Hamas & Israeli govt) are behaving equally unreasonable.
Yes, because it’s in both their interests that this war gets prolonged.
Not in the interest of the respective nations, but the individuals’ petty interests.
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I don’t know who this MP is, but this is good. Has cards but does not show them until the Israeli government spokesman has both been caught in a lie and refused to take the opportunity to back peddle once pushed.
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That is not out of line with past deals that Israel has done. Look at the Gilad Shalit deal, about 1500 for one.
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Maybe , but that assumes that Israel are at all looking at bringing the hostages back.
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I saw Chomsky and Edward Said speak passionately about Palestine at a university event at Amherst, Massachusetts way back in the late 1990s. Sadly, not much has changed, if anything things have gotten worse.
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Fair question.
Maybe because Israel is a government who’s holding the Palestinians in Jails and Hamas is a terrorist organisation who’s keeping the Israelis in various places.
Perhaps because Israel take hostages at a far greater ratio than this.
A better question is why innocent civilians held by Israel are called ‘prisoners’ while those held by Hamas are called ‘hostages’?
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