Australian Red Cross calls on the Australian Government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Black Mist and the Ban
On the 70th anniversary of the first nuclear weapon test on mainland Australia, we support the call for a nuclear weapons ban.
On the 70th anniversary of the first nuclear weapon test on mainland Australia at Emu Field on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands, and at a time when people in Australia consider deeply new ways to address realities in the experience of First Nations people, we support the call for Australia to urgently join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
On 15 October 1953, the first nuclear weapons testing on mainland Australia took place at Emu Field as part of Operation Totem. This was only one in a series of twelve major nuclear weapons tests and the hundreds of smaller-scale trials conducted in Australia from 1952 to 1963. Today, First Nations People continue to suffer long-term and inter-generational effects from these blasts, impacting their health, communities, and homelands.
The devastating legacy of nuclear weapons testing in Australia cannot be undone, it must never be forgotten and we, as Australians, must do everything in our power to right these wrongs. These actions include compensating affected communities, remediating contaminated lands, and recommitting to the fight in ensuring that these weapons are never used again.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), as the first and only treaty to comprehensively ban these bombs, recognises their disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities. The Treaty, which also provides for victims’ assistance and environmental remediation, is the clear path forward to addressing these weapons’ destructive force in Australia.
Australian Red Cross calls on the Australian Government to sign and ratify the TPNW. We endorse the “Black Mist and the Ban” Statement, released by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and co-drafted by Karina Lester, Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman and second generation survivor of the Emu Field nuclear tests, urging the Government to take swift action towards the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.
TODAY. Voices for decency
As a (recovered) Catholic, I have often pondered on the cruelties done by the Catholic religion, and yet, also on the compassion and kindness of the Catholic communities.
Now we witness the horrors of the Israeli mass execution of Gazans – in this supposedly “advanced” 21st Century era. And, we’re told, it’s being done by the Jews, against the Islamists . Some Jews hold extremist beliefs. And some Muslims hold extremist beliefs. But in either case, they are not the majority.
The genocide of Gaza is not being done on behalf of all Jews, and today, we learn of the desperate call from Jews For Peace, and IfNotNow, for a ceasfire and diplomacy, in the Israeli war, and fairness for the Palestinians. They call for a new system of collective liberalism in place of militant ethnonationalism.
At the same time, do we witness a tiny opening skirmish by journalists, against the prevailing dogma of regurgitating the USA pro Israel line on the Israeli war? Today some mainstream media journalists, like CNN’s Clarissa Ward, daring to contradict the story that Palestinians bombed their own hospital? #Israel #Palestine
Radioactive instrument missing at South Australian steel plant
The West Australian, Neve Brissenden and Jacob Shteyman AAP, Thu, 19 October 2023
Authorities are scratching their heads after a piece of radioactive material went missing at a steel plant in South Australia.
The Environmental Protection Authority was called to the Liberty OneSteel site on the Eyre Peninsula three weeks ago with reports of a missing industrial bin level gauge – a measuring instrument containing a small radiation source.
Despite a combined effort of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, police, firefighters and steelworkers, the device – which is about the size of a domestic gas BBQ cylinder – is yet to be found.
The EPA said there was no risk to the public and the 35-year-old device had low levels of radioactivity.
…………………………………….A spokesman for ARPANSA said a team of experts with specialised detection equipment were performing “extensive radiological searches for the missing item”.
He said repercussions would be determined by the regulator and the missing devices were not unusual. https://thewest.com.au/news/radioactive-instrument-missing-at-sa-steel-plant-c-12256768
Jewish Voice for Peace Holds Massive Rally at Capitol for Israel-Gaza Ceasefire
Israel’s government “is on the brink of genocide against Palestinians,” a member of the group organizing the event said.
By Chris Walker , TRUTHOUT, October 18, 2023, https://truthout.org/articles/jewish-voice-for-peace-holds-massive-rally-at-capitol-for-israel-gaza-ceasefire/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_campaign=431d0bc2ba-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_20_2023_13_41_COPY_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbb541a1db-431d0bc2ba-650192793&mc_cid=431d0bc2ba&mc_eid=73e1cd43d0
A massive protest is being held on Wednesday at noon in front of the Capitol building in Washington D.C., organized jointly by Jewish-led anti-occupation groups Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow, in which participants are demanding that lawmakers pass a resolution calling for the U.S. to facilitate a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
According to a press release from JVP, the event is part of a broader effort to have “ten thousand American Jews…lead a week of massive protests” in the nation’s capital in reaction to the violence that has been perpetrated by the Israeli military in Gaza.
Earlier this week on Monday, a similar event took place in front of the White House, with hundreds of demonstrators engaged in acts of civil disobedience (including blocking entrances to the White House grounds), carrying signs and chanting demands to end war, apartheid and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Around 30 individuals were arrested during the protest.
The Wednesday demonstration demands that lawmakers in Congress adopt an already-drafted resolution, authored by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) and endorsed by other progressive members of Congress, to compel President Joe Biden to “facilitate deescalation and a cease-fire” agreement between Israel and Hamas. It also calls on the Biden administration to “promptly send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” which has been blocked by the Israeli government since the start of hostilities.
Biden is currently in Israel to demonstrate the United States’s official support for the country, including its aims to completely destroy Hamas. While he has advised the country not to occupy Gaza when the fighting ends, Biden’s comments have largely been supportive of Israel throughout its military campaign and blockade of food, water and electricity to the strip. Other American diplomats have also expressed support for Israel while its leaders have said the conflict “will be a long war.”
In addition to demanding the U.S. change course and facilitate a ceasefire, JVP is specifically calling out Israel for its retributive and indiscriminate violence against innocent Palestinians, which began after an attack by Hamas earlier this month resulted in hundreds of Israeli residents being killed or kidnapped by the organization. While they have shown support for Israel after that attack, several international organizations have accused Israel of a number of war crimes in Gaza, including collective punishment, use of the chemical weapon white phosphorus, , and possibly illegal evacuation demands that have led to the displacement of thousands of residents in the territory.
On its website, JVP has also decried Israeli and American leaders for “dehumanizing Palestinians with vitriolic rhetoric that calls to mind the most hysterical days of Bush’s War on Terror.”
“We know where this will lead: genocide,” the website’s description of the planned Wednesday rally says. “President Biden and every American political leader must demand a ceasefire now.”
“The Israeli government is on the brink of genocide against Palestinians,” Jay Saper, a JVP member, said in a press release from the organization promoting the planned protest. “It has never been more important for Jews and all people in the U.S. to rise up with literally everything we have — the way that we would have wanted others to rise up for our ancestors.”
“What we know from past Israeli state atrocities against Palestinians is that the bombs only stop once there is a sufficient mass outcry from the international community,” said JVP member Eliza Klein. “It’s on us to build that outcry — as fast as we possibly can.”
In a video message she posted on Monday after the event at the White House, JVP board member Naomi Klein urged her followers on X to attend the rally at the Capitol on Wednesday.
We’re calling for a ceasefire, we’re calling for an end to the war crimes in Gaza,” the writer and activist said, adding:
We cannot simply watch the collective punishment, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing that is happening now in Gaza. Gazans are not human shields, they are human beings, deserving of as much care, dignity and protection as the Israeli civilians in whose name this vengeance-fueled onslaught is being unleashed. #Israel #Palestine
Israeli Military Has Killed 1 Child in Gaza Every 15 Minutes: Rights Group
“Additional children are unaccounted for and missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings, indicating the true death toll is much higher,” said Defense for Children International–Palestine.
By Jake Johnson / Common Dreams, https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/17/israeli-military-has-killed-1-child-in-gaza-every-15-minutes-rights-group/
Israel’s relentless bombing campaign in the occupied Gaza Strip has killed more than 1,000 Palestinian children—roughly one every 15 minutes—since it began on October 7, according to the latest tally from Defense for Children International–Palestine.
Children have faced some of the most horrific impacts of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, where roughly half of the population is under the age of 18. Israel has dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Gaza—home to 2.3 million people—in the wake of Hamas’ deadly attack.
Mohammad Abu Rukbeh, senior Gaza field researcher at DCIP, said in a statement Monday that “the repercussions of this war will not only affect the victims we have lost, some of which are still trapped under the rubble of their homes, and not only the residential areas that have been completely destroyed, including our own homes, but the psychological impact on us civilians and our children will be catastrophic.”
Research released before Israel’s latest bombardment of Gaza found that four out of five children in the Gaza Strip reported living with depression, grief, and fear amid a yearslong Israeli blockade and frequent outbreaks of deadly violence.
Israel’s current military campaign in Gaza is its deadliest to date, and the unlawful total blockade it has imposed on the strip has further deprived children and the rest of the civilian population of food, fuel, electricity, and clean water. Some Gazans have resorted to drinking seawater and water contaminated by sewage, and hospital staff have reportedly had to drink from IV solution bags.
“Israeli authorities cut water supply to Gaza on October 9, and since then, all three water desalination plants in Gaza have been forced to cease operations,” DCIP noted Monday, citing the United Nations. “Even though Israeli authorities claimed to resume water supply to southern Gaza yesterday, there is no electricity to operate water pumps, Israeli airstrikes have damaged many water lines, and very little water in Gaza is drinkable in the first place.”
“Israeli authorities cut water supply to Gaza on October 9, and since then, all three water desalination plants in Gaza have been forced to cease operations,” DCIP noted Monday, citing the United Nations. “Even though Israeli authorities claimed to resume water supply to southern Gaza yesterday, there is no electricity to operate water pumps, Israeli airstrikes have damaged many water lines, and very little water in Gaza is drinkable in the first place.”
Al Jazeerareported that more than 70 people were killed in their homes on Tuesday “after Israel conducted air raids on Gaza’s Khan Younis, Rafah, and Deir el-Balah.”
Last week, the Israeli military ordered the entire population of northern Gaza to evacuate to the south ahead of an expected ground invasion and was subsequently accused of bombing supposed “safe routes” that civilians were using to flee.
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement Tuesday that “appalling reports that civilians attempting to relocate to southern Gaza were struck and killed by an explosive weapon must be independently and thoroughly investigated, as must all allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law.”
“Those who managed to comply with the Israeli authorities’ order to evacuate are now trapped in the south of the Gaza Strip, with scant shelter, fast-depleting food supplies, little or no access to clean water, sanitation, medicine, and other basic needs,” said Shamdasani. “We echo the U.N. call for a humanitarian pause to enable aid delivery and to prevent further suffering and deaths of the already much beleaguered civilian population of Gaza. Urgent immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access needs to be ensured.” #Israel #Palestine
The Mainstream Press Keep Slamming Israel’s Hospital Bombing Story
CAITLIN JOHNSTONE, OCT 19, 2023 https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-mainstream-press-keep-slamming?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=138092278&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&utm_medium=email
A new report from the UK’s Channel 4 News adds to the surprising amount of opposition we’re seeing in the mainstream press to Israel’s narrative about the deadly explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza this past Tuesday.
The report, led by Channel 4 chief correspondent Alex Thomson, spotlights glaring plot holes in Israel’s claim that a failed rocket by Palestinian Islamic Jihad was responsible for the blast, and in the supposed audio clip Israel published which it claims is an intercepted conversation between two Hamas fighters saying Israel was not responsible. It also presents an argument that will be inconvenient for Israel apologists who’ve been claiming photos of the damage to the hospital rule out the possibility of an Israeli airstrike.
“So what of Israel’s explanation?” says Thomson. “Sensing a major problem they worked through the night to get their version out. Press conference first thing. Conclusion: an Islamic Jihad rocked caused it all.”
“They present what they say is two Hamas operatives talking about the attack,” Thomson reports. “Hamas call this an obvious fabrication. Two independent Arab journalists told us the same thing, because of the language, accent, dialect, syntax and tone. None of which is, they say, credible.”
“Equally, Israel claims the Islamic Jihad failed missile was fired from here: a cemetery very close to the hospital,” Thomson continues. “But look again at the video of the event — the trajectory of the missile doesn’t line up with that location. Too high. Too horizontal. Confusingly, the Israelis’ presentation also says the missile was fired from a location down in the southwest; it can’t be both.”
Thomson also reports that while the photos of the blast site do appear to rule out a ground-detonating Israeli munition, they’re entirely in keeping with other munitions used by Israel which could easily have taken such a toll on human life.
“This is what you see at the hospital today — small craters you’d expect to see from a mortar strike or artillery round, not a missile,” says Thomson. “Surrounding buildings have only superficial damage, not structural collapse. Some of the windows of an adjoining church remain intact. This makes a ground-detonating Israeli missile strike unlikely, but it doesn’t rule out an airburst munition, which could cause major loss of life, but would produce far less structural damage.”
Thomson also notes that “Israel has form when it comes to war propaganda”, citing its false denials of the IDF killings of British filmmaker James Miller and Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
On Twitter (or whatever we’re calling it now), Thomson’s remarks on the Israeli audio file were even more pointed.
“Several experts confirm Hamas’ view to Channel 4 News that the audio tape of ‘Hamas’ operatives talking about the missile malfunction is a fake,” tweeted Thomson. “They say the tone, syntax, accent and idiom are absurd.”
This is a still developing story with much still to be revealed, but this to me might be the most damning evidence against Israel yet. If Israel didn’t bomb that hospital, then why is it publishing fake audio clips of people posing as Hamas fighters agreeing with each other that Israel definitely didn’t bomb that hospital?
I mean, if people were saying I bombed a hospital, and I knew I didn’t, the last thing I’d do is publish an audio file of me pretending to be two guys talking about how Caitlin definitely didn’t bomb the hospital.
Picture a recording of me doing two blokey-sounding voices going,
“Hello my evil friend!”
“Hello!”
“Did you hear that Caitlin definitely did not bomb that hospital?”
“She didn’t?”
“No! It turns out it was we, the Evil Bad Guys!”
“We did it?”
“Yes, it was us!”
That would look pretty silly, right?
If Israel is making itself look this ridiculous, then it’s no wonder the western press are not lining up to help it cover up this particular misdeed. They’ve got to maintain at least some credibility if they’re going to keep manufacturing consent for other wars, after all.
World may have crossed solar power ‘tipping point’.
The world may have crossed a “tipping point” that will inevitably make
solar power our main source of energy, new research suggests. The study,
based on a data-driven model of technology and economics, finds that solar
PV (photovoltaics) is likely to become the dominant power source before
2050 – even without support from more ambitious climate policies.
However, it warns four “barriers” could hamper this: creation of stable
power grids, financing solar in developing economies, capacity of supply
chains, and political resistance from regions that lose jobs.
The researchers say policies resolving these barriers may be more effective
than price instruments such as carbon taxes in accelerating the clean
energy transition. The study, led by the University of Exeter and
University College London, is part of the Economics of Energy Innovation
and System Transition (EEIST) project, funded by the UK Government’s
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Children’s Investment
Fund Foundation (CIFF).
“The recent progress of renewables means that
fossil fuel-dominated projections are no longer realistic,” Dr Femke
Nijsse, from Exeter’s Global Systems Institute.
Exeter University 17th Oct 2023 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Israeli Politician Says “Children of Gaza Have Brought This Upon Themselves”
When children are explicitly framed as “not innocent,” all-out genocidal warfare is possible.
TruthOut, By Jonathan Ofir , MONDOWEISS, October 18, 2023
t really is hard to imagine a more malicious statement than “the children of Gaza have brought this upon themselves” when children in Gaza are now being massacred by the hundreds. But this was actually said in a recent Knesset session. And it wasn’t someone considered an extreme right-winger, but a liberal centrist – Meirav Ben-Ari from Yair Lapid’s opposition party Yesh Atid.
The full, over-three-hour session from Monday can be seen here. Ben-Ari is evidently getting worked up as Palestinian lawmaker Aida Touma-Sliman (around two hours into the session) bemoans the loss of civilian lives “both in the area surrounding Gaza and in Gaza,” imploring to make an effort to release hostages and to “get the civilians out of the circle of blood.” “Jews as well as Arabs, Israelis as well as Palestinians.” “A child is a child,” Touma-Sliman reminds everyone, pointing out that at that point, over 900 children had been killed from Israel’s bombing of Gaza (a day later, that number swelled to well over a thousand).
All this humanity was just too much for Ben-Ari. She started shouting and heckling Touma-Sliman, saying, “There is not symmetry, there is no symmetry!”
“Between children there is symmetry,” she said.
Ben Ari went livid: “There is no symmetry!!”
Touma-Sliman emphasized: “A child is a child is a child.”
Twenty-five minutes after this unbearable episode, Ben-Ari came up to speak, admittedly unplanned. This is precisely 2.5 hours into the session video:
“I did not plan to speak, of course, but I have to say one thing that should be clear: There is no symmetry. There is no symmetry. Me, my friends, ok, were on the way to the synagogue on the day of Simchat Torah, and they were shot at, only because they were Jews in this state. That’s it. And friends of mine – their children went to the party, to celebrate – seculars, religious, doesn’t matter who, only because they were Jewish, they were murdered. So there is no symmetry! And the children in Gaza – the children in Gaza have brought this upon themselves! We are a peace-seeking nation, a life-loving nation. There is no symmetry – our children are kidnapped over there!” (My emphasis)……………………………………………………………………..
Ben-Ari’s genocidal rhetoric was actually echoing a comment just made by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is also known as a liberal, even from further left. At a recent press conference on October 13, Herzog answered a question by Rageh Omar from ITV, who asked him what Israel can do to alleviate the impact on the over two million civilians in Gaza, many of whom have nothing to do with Hamas. Herzog answered:
“We are working, operating militarily in terms according to rules of international law, period. Unequivocally. It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. …………………………………..
This is really unmistakable – Herzog is really implying that an “entire nation is responsible,” and the implication is that they are legitimate targets. However, he later denied that this is what he meant.
This rhetoric has a long history among Israeli politicians. In 2018, when Avigdor Lieberman was Defense Minister, he declared that “there are no innocent people in the Gaza Strip” because “everyone has a connection to Hamas.” This was in April 2018, when Israel was beginning to turkey-shoot unarmed Palestinian protesters in the Great March of Return. When a video filmed by Israeli snipers, where they celebrate their shooting of a motionless, unarmed Palestinian, surfaced on social media around that same time, Lieberman commented that they deserved a medal for their shots. I could just as well mention that Lieberman has advocateddecapitating “disloyal” Palestinian citizens with an axe and the drowning of Palestinian prisoners in the Dead Sea. Lieberman is now regarded as a Netanyahu critic who is considering joining the “unity government” so as to “join the war cabinet in order to bring about the fastest possible victory.”
You may say this is just rhetoric, but these words also lead to actions. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant’s comments referred to Palestinians as “human animals” as Israel closed all the water taps to Gaza, making the already unlivable living conditions there a genocidal nightmare. The relationship between words to actions is obvious. ……. more https://truthout.org/articles/israeli-politician-says-children-of-gaza-have-brought-this-upon-themselves/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_campaign=431d0bc2ba-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_3_20_2023_13_41_COPY_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbb541a1db-431d0bc2ba-650192793&mc_cid=431d0bc2ba&mc_eid=73e1cd43d0 #Israel #Palestine
The Mainstream Press Keep Slamming Israel’s Hospital Bombing Story
CAITLIN JOHNSTONE, OCT 19, 2023 https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-mainstream-press-keep-slamming?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=138092278&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&utm_medium=email
A new report from the UK’s Channel 4 News adds to the surprising amount of opposition we’re seeing in the mainstream press to Israel’s narrative about the deadly explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza this past Tuesday.
The report, led by Channel 4 chief correspondent Alex Thomson, spotlights glaring plot holes in Israel’s claim that a failed rocket by Palestinian Islamic Jihad was responsible for the blast, and in the supposed audio clip Israel published which it claims is an intercepted conversation between two Hamas fighters saying Israel was not responsible. It also presents an argument that will be inconvenient for Israel apologists who’ve been claiming photos of the damage to the hospital rule out the possibility of an Israeli airstrike.
“So what of Israel’s explanation?” says Thomson. “Sensing a major problem they worked through the night to get their version out. Press conference first thing. Conclusion: an Islamic Jihad rocked caused it all.”
“They present what they say is two Hamas operatives talking about the attack,” Thomson reports. “Hamas call this an obvious fabrication. Two independent Arab journalists told us the same thing, because of the language, accent, dialect, syntax and tone. None of which is, they say, credible.”
“Equally, Israel claims the Islamic Jihad failed missile was fired from here: a cemetery very close to the hospital,” Thomson continues. “But look again at the video of the event — the trajectory of the missile doesn’t line up with that location. Too high. Too horizontal. Confusingly, the Israelis’ presentation also says the missile was fired from a location down in the southwest; it can’t be both.”
Thomson also reports that while the photos of the blast site do appear to rule out a ground-detonating Israeli munition, they’re entirely in keeping with other munitions used by Israel which could easily have taken such a toll on human life.
“This is what you see at the hospital today — small craters you’d expect to see from a mortar strike or artillery round, not a missile,” says Thomson. “Surrounding buildings have only superficial damage, not structural collapse. Some of the windows of an adjoining church remain intact. This makes a ground-detonating Israeli missile strike unlikely, but it doesn’t rule out an airburst munition, which could cause major loss of life, but would produce far less structural damage.”
Thomson also notes that “Israel has form when it comes to war propaganda”, citing its false denials of the IDF killings of British filmmaker James Miller and Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
On Twitter (or whatever we’re calling it now), Thomson’s remarks on the Israeli audio file were even more pointed.
“Several experts confirm Hamas’ view to Channel 4 News that the audio tape of ‘Hamas’ operatives talking about the missile malfunction is a fake,” tweeted Thomson. “They say the tone, syntax, accent and idiom are absurd.”
This is a still developing story with much still to be revealed, but this to me might be the most damning evidence against Israel yet. If Israel didn’t bomb that hospital, then why is it publishing fake audio clips of people posing as Hamas fighters agreeing with each other that Israel definitely didn’t bomb that hospital?
I mean, if people were saying I bombed a hospital, and I knew I didn’t, the last thing I’d do is publish an audio file of me pretending to be two guys talking about how Caitlin definitely didn’t bomb the hospital.
Picture a recording of me doing two blokey-sounding voices going,
“Hello my evil friend!”
“Hello!”
“Did you hear that Caitlin definitely did not bomb that hospital?”
“She didn’t?”
“No! It turns out it was we, the Evil Bad Guys!”
“We did it?”
“Yes, it was us!”
That would look pretty silly, right?
If Israel is making itself look this ridiculous, then it’s no wonder the western press are not lining up to help it cover up this particular misdeed. They’ve got to maintain at least some credibility if they’re going to keep manufacturing consent for other wars, after all.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 