Antinuclear

The UN Nuclear Ban Treaty is Leading Resistance to Nuclear Autocracy.

Robert Rust, December 13, 2023 Union of Concerned Scientists

During the week of November 27^th, under a cloud of international conflict and unease, delegates, politicians, activists and academics convened for the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN Headquarters in New York. Attendees came together to examine the global state of disarmament and harm-reduction work and call for more states to sign the nuclear ban treaty and join the stand against nuclear weapons. 

The TPNW is a broad coalition of nation states committed to building that framework through changing attitudes toward and the culture around nuclear weapons; currently, there are 93 signatories and 69 states parties. Unsurprisingly, none of the five nuclear-weapon states recognized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and France) have signed, and only seven of 38 OECD countries (Austria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ireland, Mexico, and New Zealand) have signed or ratified. Clearly, this is a movement by those who have less to demand better behavior from those who have more. Nuclear weapons harm and threaten the many for the benefit of the few; the many are working to end that. 

Speaking at a session on the treaty’s obligations within victim assistance and remediation, Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki of Hiroshima made a key point about the way we think about security. Nuclear deterrence, he said, is an idea become dogma, not a hard truth; relying on it for security locks us into a system with inherent massive risks. We must stop thinking of security in these “narrow nationalistic frames”, and work to build a “collective, sustainable security framework.” 

Voices from the frontline 

The most important participants at the 2MSP were members of frontline communities directly impacted by mining, bombing, testing and storage across the world. The hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have experienced the horrors of nuclear weapons like no one else. The 2MSP heard how post-war US secrecy around the atomic bomb fostered significant discrimination towards hibakusha in Japan. Indeed, victim testimony at the museums dedicated to the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki describes how US scientists and military personnel arrived to test and observe the bomb’s impact on the local environment, including its inhabitants.

That dehumanization and disregard for human life was also central in nuclear testing across the world. Just as they are among the first and most seriously impacted by the effects of climate change, indigenous communities have historically been on the front lines of nuclear testing and uranium mining.

Speaking at the 2MSP, Karina Lester, who is from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands) in the far Northwest of South Australia, spoke of her father and grandmother’s experiences of British nuclear testing in the area. She described how her father heard the ground shake and felt the “black smoke” move over their lands. The TPNW, she said, must continue to center the voices of those who have experienced the harm of nuclear weapons; the weapons must be made illegal, but governments must also work with those impacted to redress the harm caused. 

The TPNW should act as both a forum and a tool for those countries and communities who have been harmed. Powerful states have to respect the sovereignty of smaller states, honor their obligations through international treaties and respect the decisions of multilateral organizations. They have a history of failing to do so.

For example, discussing the work towards a nuclear-free Pacific, one speaker pointed out that after Christmas Island (Kiribas) was selected as a site for the United Kingdom’s nuclear testing, Samoa, which was a trust territory of New Zealand at the time, petitioned the UN Trusteeship Council to halt the 1957 test, but the United Kingdom did not listen. Indeed, examination of British military reports prior to the test show racist attitudes that were callously dismissive of harm to local “primitive” populations. The United Kingdom, United States and France saw the Pacific and Australia as “empty space”, erasing local populations entirely. ……………………………………………………………. more https://blog.ucsusa.org/robert-rust/the-un-nuclear-ban-treaty-is-leading-resistance-to-nuclear-autocracy/

December 14, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Gaza Is Deliberately Being Made Uninhabitable

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE, DEC 13, 2023  https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/gaza-is-deliberately-being-made-uninhabitable?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=82124&post_id=139740561&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&utm_medium=email

Infectious diseases are tearing through Gaza, whose healthcare system has been rendered almost nonexistent, and people are beginning to starve in massive numbers. All of this is due to concrete policy decisions made by Israel in its horrific assault on the Gaza Strip.

In an article titled “Gaza’s health system is ‘on its knees’ as Israel pushes into Khan Younis,” The Washington Post reports that the mass displacement of nearly two million Palestinians in Gaza has led to overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions that are rapidly giving rise to disease.

“Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry and other medical workers said they were recording new cases of acute hepatitis, scabies, measles and upper respiratory infections, mostly among children,” the Post reports. “Infectious diseases are spreading fast, said Imad al-Hams, a physician at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, as people crowd into tiny slivers of land to escape advancing Israeli forces.”

In a recent interview with CNN, Doctors Without Borders emergency coordinator Marie-Aure Perreaut described conditions in Gaza as “apocalyptic”, saying living conditions at the Al-Aqsa Hospital she’s working from “can barely be described as living conditions anymore.” 

“The healthcare system is completely collapsed at the moment,” Perreaut told Al Jazeera.

The UN World Food Programme reports that half of Gaza’s population is now starving due to Israeli siege warfare and the collapse of civilian infrastructure. In northern Gaza that figure goes up to nine in ten.

All of this aligns perfectly with Israeli policies of massive forced evacuations, attacking healthcare facilities, and laying complete siege to the Gaza Strip.

A doctor named Hafez Abukhoussa writes the following in a new article for Time titled “What I’ve Seen Treating Patients in Gaza’s Remaining Hospitals”:

Gaza’s health care system has almost completely collapsed as a result of Israel’s ongoing bombardment. Hospitals and ambulances have been repeatedly attacked. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 250 medical workers have been killed so far, including two of my colleagues from Doctors Without Borders, who died while performing their duties in Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza. Of Gaza’s 36 hospitals, only 11 are still functioning in any capacity, according to the World Health Organization. Hospitals in the north like Al-Shifa are barely functioning at all, as basic medicines and fuel have run out. My colleagues have been performing amputations by flashlight and without anesthesia. When Israeli soldiers raided Al-Shifa a few weeks ago — a move the head of the WHO called ‘totally unacceptable’ — doctors and staff were forced to abandon patients too sick or injured to evacuate. Some of those who refused to leave, including the hospital’s director, were arrested, alongside dozens of others. At Al-Nasr Children’s hospital, soldiers ordered staff to leave the patients, including four premature babies who required oxygen, who were later found dead.”

This all also aligns perfectly with the Netanyahu government’s reported agenda to “thin” the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip “to a minimum,” and with all the other calls for ethnic cleansing we keep seeing pushed by Israeli officials and thought leaders over and over again.

It also aligns perfectly with the suggestions made last month by an influential Israeli national security leader named Giora Eiland, a retired major general for the IDF.

“The international community warns us of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and of severe epidemics,” Eiland wrote. “We must not shy away from this, as difficult as that may be. After all, severe epidemics in the south of the Gaza Strip will bring victory closer and reduce casualties among IDF soldiers.”

Eiland was completely dismissive of the idea that there are innocent people in Gaza, a sentiment we’re seeing pushed harder and harder as Israel draws nearer and nearer to a very, very dark chapter in the history of human civilization.

“They are not only Hamas fighters with weapons, but also all the ‘civilian’ officials, including hospital administrators and school administrators, and also the entire Gaza population that enthusiastically supported Hamas and cheered on its atrocities on October 7th,” Eiland wrote, adding, “Who are the ‘poor’ women of Gaza? They are all the mothers, sisters or wives of Hamas murderers.”

“Behind every terrorist stand dozens of men and women, without whom he could not engage in terrorism,” Eiland adds. “Now this also includes the mothers of the martyrs, who send them to hell with flowers and kisses. They should follow their sons, nothing would be more just. They should go, as should the physical homes in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise, more little snakes will be raised there.”

When people talk about genocide in Gaza, they’re not just talking about the thousands of civilians who’ve been killed in Israeli airstrikes. The policies Israel has been deliberately putting in place have the potential to kill many, many more people than that in the coming months, and if Netanyahu and his goons get their way, that’s exactly what will happen.

December 14, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Wins, losses and participation trophies for US nuclear power in 2023

From the long-awaited commissioning of Vogtle 3 to the NuScale pilot’s collapse, here are the biggest wins and losses for nuclear from this year.

By Eric Wesoff, 12 December 2023,  https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/nuclear/wins-losses-and-participation-trophies-for-us-nuclear-power-in-2023

With this bumpy year for nuclear coming to a close and the world’s energy stakeholders having just gathered for the most nuclear-focused COP meeting ever, it’s a good time to assess the state of atomic power in the U.S.

Government pledges and consumer support for nuclear power in the U.S. have surged in recent years. Armed with this newfound policy support and financing, the relatively stagnant U.S. nuclear industry now has to start executing on its ambitious plans if the fuel is to play a meaningful role in decarbonizing the energy system.

So how did the U.S. nuclear sector fare in 2023? Here’s a list of its major wins and its losses.

A win on the world stage: Dubai hosts the first ​“nuclear COP”

More than 20 countries including the U.S., France, Japan and the U.K. pledged to triple global generation from nuclear energy by 2050 during this year’s COP28 global climate meeting in Dubai. Hitting that goal would require the world to install an average of 40 gigawatts of nuclear every year through 2050; presently, that annual installation figure is closer to 4 gigawatts.

Nuclear has received scant attention at previous COP meetings due to its financial challenges and the thorny issue of managing spent fuel, so the pledge is a marked departure from the policy status quo. All of this was enough to make this the year of the ​“nuclear COP.”

And although it’s a global pledge, President Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry helped spearhead the declaration, indicating the increasing embrace of nuclear power at the highest echelons of U.S. climate policy. Kerry said that the science has proven ​“you can’t get to net-zero 2050 without some nuclear.”

Participation trophy for Georgia Power: Vogtle 3 connects to the grid

It’s a bit of a stretch calling Vogtle 3’s long-awaited connection to the grid a ​“win” after a $16 billion cost overrun and a six-year overshoot of the target launch date, but the Department of Energy was looking forward to a new commercial reactor coming online this year, and the department ultimately did get its wish.

As of July 31, Georgia Power’s 1,100-megawatt Plant Vogtle Unit 3 nuclear reactor is supplying power to the grid — making it the first reactor to enter service since Tennessee’s Watts Bar Unit 2 began operating in 2016. Vogtle 4, a second 1,100-megawatt reactor, is nearing the finish line as well, with operations expected to start in early 2024, according to Georgia Power.

Thanks to then-Secretary Rick Perry, in 2019 the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office provided up to $12 billion in loan guarantees to help complete the Vogtle expansion amid a spate of spending freezes and lawsuits. The project generated more than 9,000 jobs during peak construction and will provide an additional 800 permanent jobs at the facility once fully operational.

Dan Yurman, publisher of Neutron Bytes, a blog on nuclear power, offered Canary Media this explanation for Vogtle’s major cost and schedule overruns: ​“The utility and the vendor kicked off a massive infrastructure project with major unaddressed risks in terms of supply chain, labor force skills, regulatory compliance and a 30-year gap in know-how to build large nuclear power plants. It is no surprise that the first-of-a-kind AP1000s came in at twice the cost and double the estimated time to complete them.”

The nuclear industry can call this a win — if it can learn from Vogtle and begin to remedy the missteps called out by Yurman.

A financial win: Nuclear funding and government support

The U.S. government is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to supporting nuclear power: The (barely) Bipartisan Infrastructure Law added $3.2 billion for development of modular and advanced nuclear reactors, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office has devoted $11 billion in loan-making authority for advanced reactors and supply chains. What’s more, the epochal Inflation Reduction Act devotes $700 million to the HALEU Availability Program to support the development of a non-Russian supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium.

Additionally, the IRA offers a preposterously generous $15 per megawatt-hour production tax credit meant to keep today’s existing nuclear fleet competitive with gas and renewables, as well as a similarly generous investment tax credit to incentivize new plant construction.

Losing the global nuclear crown: China is sprinting ahead of the U.S. on nuclear 

America has the world’s biggest nuclear power fleet at 93 reactors, but it’s on its way to losing that distinction.

China has built 37 new reactors over the last decade for a total of 55, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. America has added a grand total of two reactors during that same period. China also aims to double its nuclear energy capacity by 2035, and it is well on its way; it has 22 nuclear plants currently under construction with more than 70 in the planning stages.

Outside of Vogtle 4, it’s unclear when — or if — another nuclear reactor will be connected to the U.S. grid.

And despite small modular reactors being held up as a cure-all to the U.S. nuclear industry’s significant challenges, the only country in the world that has actually built an SMR is China. It demonstrated a pair of smallish high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor units using a ​“pebble-bed” design and a more concentrated fuel format last year.

Notably, China is not a participant in the COP28 nuclear pledge — an ironic development as it’s the only country with any real chance of meeting the goal of tripling its capacity by 2050.

Huge win, disappointing loss for SMRs: NuScale’s ups and downs

The nuclear gods are fickle creatures. Small modular reactor pioneer NuScale Power made history in January 2023 when it scaled the highest regulatory peak in the U.S.: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified the design of its 50-megawatt module, the first small modular reactor and only the seventh reactor design ever approved for use in the U.S.

This was a long-fought victory for NuScale and advocates of SMRs: Utilities and developers can now reference NuScale’s SMR design when applying for a license to construct and operate a reactor. NuScale and the DOE spent more than 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to reach this regulatory milestone.

Armed with this historic design certification, NuScale landed a promising inaugural customer in the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems and began working on a deployment near the Department of Energy’s national laboratory in Idaho. Project plans had called for one 77-megawatt unit to begin operation in 2029.

The Idaho project was once widely predicted to be not only the first small module reactor completed in the U.S., but the next nuclear reactor to be built in the country, period. However, it was not to be so.

The project was ultimately scrapped in November because it couldn’t secure enough subscriptions from utilities in the Western U.S. to make the project work financially.

The innovative SMR aspirant still has a pipeline of tentative agreements to deploy reactors across North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Win for domestic HALEU fuel: Bringing uranium enrichment capabilities back to the U.S.

Call this one a win because, for the first time in 70 years, America is home to a U.S.-owned enrichment facility producing the concentrated fuel needed by the many advanced reactors now in development.

Centrus, a company with roots in the Manhattan Project, began demonstration-scale enrichment operations at its facility in Piketon, Ohio in October. It marks the potential rebirth of a once-strong American enrichment industry. America was once the only source of uranium enrichment outside of the Soviet bloc, but over the last 30 years, it has surrendered that role to Russia and other countries.

The HALEU produced in Centrus’ centrifuges will be used to test new fuels and reactor designs, as well as to fuel the cores of the two demonstration reactors funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and supported by DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The U.S. currently depends on Tenex, part of Russian state-owned nuclear supplier Rosatom, to supply the low-enriched uranium fuel that’s used in our civilian fleet. And Russia (which is not blockaded on nuclear fuel exports) supplies all of America’s high-assay low-enriched uranium, the more concentrated material required by the new generation of advanced reactors.

It is a precarious situation for U.S. national and energy security.

The DOE is looking to jump-start the domestic market by directing IRA funding toward enrichment and fuel-processing facilities like Centrus’ plant in Ohio, as well as by acting as the initial customer, creating an inventory and providing a reliable customer and price.

It’s a win for the U.S., but it comes after years of stepping on rakes.

A win for preserving the existing nuclear fleet: Diablo Canyon lives on

Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the three large investor-owned utilities in California, decided to decommission both of the reactors at California’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in 2017.

But public outcry, political pressure and worries about grid failures seem to have helped get the plant’s operations extended an additional five years with the help of a state loan and up to $1.1 billion through the federal Civil Nuclear Credit Program designed to support economically ailing plants. It’s a win for California nuclear advocates and the emissions of the state’s grid.

PG&E has now filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year operating extension for the two 1,150-megawatt reactors at Diablo Canyon, which will trigger a review process expected to take a minimum of two years.

The U.S. nuclear fleet is the largest in the world, but it’s also one of the oldest: The average age of an American nuclear reactor is 42 years, compared to a world average of 31 years.

The majority of nuclear plant operators in the country have expressed interest in extending their operating licenses to allow operation up to 80 years, according to a poll of member utilities of Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade organization.

But even with such extensions, these older plants would all need to be replaced by around 2060, and nuclear power’s long lead times mean that decisions will have to be made about replacing their generation capacity in the late 2030s.

Neither a win nor a loss: Action in advanced reactors and microreactors 

Encouraged by government funding, shifting societal sentiment and a cornucopia of new reactor designs, 2023 witnessed a raft of startups and established vendors making deals in the U.S. and abroad to build next-generation nuclear reactors.

Microreactors like Oklo’s 15-megawatt fast breeder reactor, Aalo Atomics’ 20-megawatt thermal design based on the Marvel reactor at Idaho National Labs, and Westinghouse’s 5MWe eVinci design are intended to provide electrical power and heat in remote or behind-the-meter industrial applications. Ultra Safe Nuclear has plans to construct a microreactor facility in Gadsden, Alabama. The Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office’s Project Pele program is looking to build and demonstrate a 1–5 MWe mobile, high-temperature, gas-cooled microreactor capable of powering U.S. military bases.

But none of these designs are approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

For its part, the DOE is betting big on TerraPower and X-energy, with the agency’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program providing initial funding of $80 million to each, along with future cost-sharing funds. These two demonstration projects are poised to use HALEU from Centrus’ newly commissioned 16-centrifuge cascade.

TerraPower, founded by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is developing a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor coupled with a molten salt energy storage system. The company has raised $750 million to build its operating demonstration reactor in Wyoming.

X-energy is developing its high-temperature gas-cooled advanced small modular reactor and plans the initial deployment at a Dow Chemical facility in Texas. 

These reactor designs also are not approved by the NRC.

Despite the proliferation of tentative agreements, memorandums of understanding and handshake deals, all of these planned reactors — with the possible exception of NuScale’s — fall into the famous ​“paper reactor” category — meaning they are simple, light, small, cheap and quick to build. Importantly, they are also never actually going to be built.

December 14, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

TODAY. The demise of Vladimir Zelensky – when will the USA throw him under a bus?

The augurs are not good for Ukraine’s President Zelensky . 

Menacing clouds gather: Zelensky in his latest trip to Washington failed to get more $billions from USA – the Ukraine counter-offensive against Russia has failed – European support for Ukraine is faltering- huge losses of soldiers and civilians – continuing corruption in Ukraine – shutting down of Orthodox churches in closed trials, alienation of all except fascist and nazi -connected political parties – unhappiness of oppressed Russian-speaking citizens.

With complete disregard for Ukraine’s history, – its experiences during World War 2, the Minsk agreement, the 8 years of war against the Donbass region, and then disregard of Zelensky’s promises pre-election, – USA and the West swallowed the whole magical myth of Zelensky as messiah for Ukraine, saving the world from the satanic Putin.

It might have been wise to consider just who is this person they are choosing to lead Ukraine, USA, NATO into this super-expensive murderous mess. The comedic background sounds like fun - the clown who once pretended to play the piano with his penis. But not only did Zelensky lack a background in politics: he was really out of his depth in the complicated and corrupt world of Ukraine’s business and political system

What Zelensky did have was an inflated ego, a narcissistic personality, and a superb ability to charm, con and persuade people. So he’s brave, energetic, etc. But it has been a disastrous two-way street - Zelensky conning the West and the West conning Zelensky. into Ukraine’s suicidal aim to humiliate Russia, re-acquire Crimea and the Donbass, and become a NATO bastion. 

In the meantime, the Ukrainian death toll mounts, and the USA weapons manufacturers profits mount.

But hey! – now we’ve got the Israel-Gaza crisis. That all needs USA weapons, too, to keep that massacre going. The spotlight is off Ukraine.

There must be many who resent Zelensky – to put it mildly. Perhaps there will be a negotiated way out of the Ukraine mess, and Zelensky might safely slide off to quiet retirement overseas.

Vladimir Zelensky has been very useful to the USA. But it’s time to discard him.

December 14, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Australia’s Opposition Coalition opposes Australia tripling renewable energy, backs nuclear power pledge at Cop28

Ted O’Brien declares global climate summit ‘the nuclear Cop’ despite only 11% of nations backing the pledge

Guardian Australia, Adam Morton in Dubai 10 Dec 23

The federal Coalition has declared at the Cop28 climate summit that it will back a global pledge to triple nuclear energy if the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, becomes prime minister, but will not support Australia tripling its renewable energy.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference in Dubai, the opposition’s climate change and energy spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, also said a Coalition government would consider supporting Generation III+ large-scale nuclear reactors, and not just the unproven small modular reactors it has strongly touted.

The statement at the global summit confirmed the Coalition was on a markedly different path to Labor. The Albanese government last week joined more than 120 countries in backing a pledge to triple renewable energy and double the rate of energy efficiency by 2030, but did not sign up with 22 countries that supported tripling nuclear power by 2050.

While only 11% of countries at the talks – mostly nations that already have a domestic nuclear energy industry – backed the nuclear pledge, O’Brien declared “Cop28 will be known as the nuclear Cop”.

“Under a Dutton-led Coalition, at our first Cop in office we would sign Australia up to that pledge, together with our allies and our friends,” he said.

O’Brien’s speech was at a side event hosted by the World Nuclear Association and the Australian group Coalition for Conservation, which flew seven Liberal and National MPs to the summit. About 30 people attended, including Coalition members Bridget McKenzie, Andrew Bragg, Perrin Davey, Dean Smith and Kevin Hogan.

Asked if the Coalition would back the pledge to triple renewable energy by the end of the decade, O’Brien said he would not support Australia acting on it. “What we don’t need is all of our eggs in one basket, we need a balanced mix of technologies, and that includes renewables,” he said.

The Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, gave a different vision for Australia’s electricity future in his national statement to the summit, urging countries “not to drift further apart” and said those such as Australia with “massive renewable potential” had a responsibility to share it with others.

Hence Australia’s determination to become a global renewable energy superpower,” Bowen said. “We must look at our future and our fates and redouble our efforts to bring down our emissions and get our world back on track.”

In his speech, O’Brien said the Coalition would advocate for removing bans on uranium mining and exploration because Australia had “a moral obligation” to provide it to the world.

Asked why he did not accept the advice of the Australian Energy Market Operator, which found the country’s optimal future electricity grid would run on more than 90% renewable energy backed by firming support, O’Brien said he had looked at operator’s integrated system plan “in great detail”, but a Cop was “probably not the right place for going through it”.

“Nevertheless, if your question is ‘do we agree with Labor’s plan for 82% renewables in the grid by 2030?’ Well, no, we don’t,” he said.

Some observers questioned how the Coalition’s plan to slow renewable energy expansion would avoid power blackouts as old and increasingly failing coal-fired power plants closed over the next decade. O’Brien acknowledged in his speech that 80% of Australia’s “baseload power” was expected to leave the grid by 2035.

Experts say the country would not have a nuclear industry before 2040 even if the national ban on the technology was lifted now, and nuclear energy is more expensive than alternatives.

New South Wales Liberal MP Matt Kean, a former state treasurer, acknowledged O’Brien’s commitment to reaching net zero emissions but said “obviously nuclear is a long way away” and the country should back renewable energy now.

“Who knows what might be available in another 20 years – we may have flying cars in 20 years – but that doesn’t mean you base your whole transport around it,” he said.

The chief executive of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, Darren Miller, said there would be no room for nuclear energy if the country was headed towards 80% renewable energy by 2030. “It is not a flexible technology that helps you go from 80% to 100%,” he said………………………………………………………………….. more https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/10/coalition-tells-cop28-it-will-tback-tripling-of-nuclear-energy-if-peter-dutton-becomes-prime-minister

December 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

US Defense funding bill to include OK for nuclear subs, AUKUS tech for Australia

Riotat, December 2023 | Andrew McLaughlin

The US Congress is set to approve the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, green-lighting the transfer of at least two Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy.

Democratic Senator Joe Courtney (left) and Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd (centre) at the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. Photo: Senator Courtney LinkedIn.

The US Congress is set to approve the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, green-lighting the transfer of at least two Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy.

After months of wrangling, the $US874.2 billion ($A1.324 trillion) bill will put into US law the AUKUS Pillar 1 agreement between Australia, the UK and the US. It will also clear the way for a $US 3bn ($A 4.5 billion) investment by the Australian Government in US shipyards to expand their submarine manufacturing capacity and the release of sensitive US technologies to Australia.

The bill still needs to be voted on by Congress, but apart from pushback by the Republican ‘Freedom Caucus’, which has seen many of its proposed amendments unrelated to AUKUS removed, passing the largely bipartisan bill is expected to be a formality and completed before Congress rises for the Christmas break.

Importantly, the bill includes four key authorisations that are needed to enact the AUKUS agreement into law.

These include more time to approve a ”defense supplemental spending request’’ required to expand US submarine production capacity; the acceptance of the $US3 billion payment from Australia, allowing Australian industry personnel to train on the maintenance and use of nuclear-powered submarines; and an exemption for Australia and the UK from the US export control regimen if both countries develop comparable laws of their own.

That last authorisation will not only cover the nuclear reactors and other systems for Australia’s submarines but also a large number of technologies that will be required to develop many of the planned AUKUS Pillar 2 capabilities, including cyber, quantum computing, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, space-based capabilities and hypersonics.

The bill will also give Australian and British companies access to US federal grants under the Defense Production Act…………………………………………………….. https://the-riotact.com/us-defense-funding-bill-to-include-ok-for-nuclear-subs-aukus-tech-for-australia/729587

December 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Americanization of International Law: Legitimizing Palestinian Genocide and Promoting Nuclear Self-Defence

Nafees Ahmad, DECEMBER 10, 2023 Edited by: Hayley Behal | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US  https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2023/12/nafees-ahmad-americanization-international-law/

Nafees Ahmad, Ph.D., LL.M., Associate Professor, Faculty of Legal Studies at South Asian University, New Delhi, India, discusses the failure of international law and policy to address the sitiation in Palestine and Israel…

The 21st century is marked by globalization and Americanization, with transnational law under US dominance and a strong American influence on human rights. This Americanization of international law often conflates with modern neoliberal hegemonies, which downplay historical arrangements and change rights and injustices. The evolution of international law in this era differs from previous generations, and hegemonic international law has emerged as the primary language for asserting dominance. Studying the Americanization of international law is crucial, as discussions have recently emerged regarding actions taken by the US on behalf of NATO and Israel that seem to violate international law. Israel’s 55-year-long occupation of the Palestinian Territories is a saga of occupation to annexation that subjected the Palestinians to colonialism, apartheid, the legitimacy of occupation, and possible international criminal culpability. The harsh reality of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation for an extended period has a direct and tangible influence on international legal frameworks and legal obligations.

Travesty of Liberal International Order

The liberal international order (LIO), which has influenced US international relations since World War II, is declining due to President Biden’s rejection, criticism of US allies, and support for authoritarian leaders. The order has deteriorated for at least 15 years, with Russia and China aiming to challenge it through substitute regional organizations and alternative standards. Weaker states seek security cooperation and patronage from non-member countries like Saudi Arabia and China, which lack the same liberal political and economic conditions as the US and its democratic allies. A new wave of transnational networks emphasizing nationalism, illiberalism, and right-wing principles is also challenging the LIO. The Biden presidential campaign slogan, “Let’s finish the job,” accelerates these processes, undermining the US’s global standing.

Accountability for International Humanitarian Law

The use of force by Israel on Gaza is considered genocide and a grave international crime. More than 9,800 people have died in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, including 8,306 Palestinians and 1,538 Israelis. Tel Aviv has struck at UN buildings, schools, hospitals, medical convoys, refugee camps, and religious facilities. The UN has ordered the forced evacuation of 1.1 Palestinians from the northern region of Gaza, treating those unable or unwilling to flee as supporters of Hamas. The destruction inflicted upon Gaza is astounding, with an estimated 2.3 million Palestinians navigating dangerous waters for 16 years to survive the harsh economic and social blockade since 2007. Israel’s targeting of forbidden locations and the use of incendiary phosphorus bombs in heavily populated civilian areas are war crimes. Western leadership fails to convince the world that adherence to its rules-based order has anything to do with the UN Charter or international humanitarian law (IHL), demonstrating a calculus of friends and enemies. Occupation situations are officially classified as international armed conflicts under IHL, which is another way of saying they are armed confrontations between two or more states. Human rights law is still relevant in occupation settings in addition to IHL. As a result, an Occupying Power is required by international law to guarantee the local populace’s access to the full range of human rights. The West Bank has been classified as occupied territory under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations by the UN Security Council, the Supreme Court of Israeli, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Whither Responsibility to Protect and US Culpability?

The Palestinians have been denied legal redress, and the UN should bear more responsibility for implementing the partition plan and Security Council Resolution 242, which demanded the departure of the Israeli military presence. The UN can report on moral and legal wrongdoing but cannot carry out its recommendations without a Security Council resolution. The UN General Assembly can only make recommendations with a two-thirds majority vote, and the global legal system’s remedies are futile if the US culpability does not exempt Israel from accountability under international law. Despite having the law on their side since 1948, Palestinians have been subjected to Israel’s lawlessness for years. The UN’s policy processes can be effectively employed if there is political will. The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) standard was established after the 1999 Kosovo War, requiring UN accountability in situations like Gaza. In 2011, NATO countries turned a limited humanitarian mandate into a regime-changing intervention, leading to the execution of a leader and worsening the situation in Libya. Effective UN action without political will could exacerbate the problem. Israel has never stopped using excessive force, and the international community has not warned or pressured it to leave the occupied Palestinian territories. The UN’s responsibility to protect R2P is to address the suffering of Gazans by establishing a peace force. This force could potentially halt Israeli aggression, strengthen protection for Palestinians, and maintain peace. The Palestinians are currently the most vulnerable people in need of international forced protection. However, the UN cannot stop Israeli brutality without the political will of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Under the current Israeli administration, operationalizing R2P is unfeasible due to the complex context of the situation.

Western Media Defending Israeli War Crimes?

The Western media, particularly in the US and UK, has a biased stance toward Israel’s ongoing violence, supporting Israel’s claim to eradicate Hamas and find its leaders. This divide has led to a lack of proper protection for Palestinians. However, the footage of Israeli aggression toward women, children, and injured individuals has partially removed the mask of state propaganda. Under IHL, Israel is the Occupying Power and defines Gaza as an occupied area, which is irreconcilable with Israel’s discretion. 2.3 million innocent civilians living in Gaza, with 76% either refugees or descendants of refugees, were denied their international legal right of return. Despite attempts to challenge this right, violent Israeli suppression often occurs. This extra-legal impunity leaves Palestinians with no recourse for proper protection.

Ukraine-Palestine: The Crisis of Morality in International Law

There is significant humanitarian hypocrisy in the Western response to the Israeli attack on the Gaza population and the Russian attack on Ukraine. Israel enjoys impunity, while Russia is held responsible for NATO’s double standards and moral and legal dishonesty. This shows that international law is a manipulated set of standards that suit geopolitical players’ goals and frequently conflicting strategic objectives rather than a framework for governing nations on the premise of sovereign equality as essential to the international rule of law. Industrialized countries have no inherent incentive to abide by international law; instead, all international law is constrained by the logical decisions of self-serving parties. This argument dictates that efforts to enhance international collaboration must yield; governments cannot bootstrap cooperation by passing laws and enacting regulations, even though these measures may produce better results. States that find it advantageous to uphold international law tend to act quite haughtily when denouncing those who violate it. However, suppose it serves their interests to condone these grave breaches of IHL. In that case, they will either remain silent or, in this instance, provide unconditional and primarily, but not entirely, indirect support to the government and nation that is engaging in these egregious abuses. Such a dualistic view of international law undermines any argument that it is authoritative and worthy of respect, mainly concerning peace and security. It can be used as a tool of aggressive lawfare against enemies and legalistic evasion for strategic partners and friends. When international law is broken, enemies are hunted out and punished, but vital allies are given a shot of impunity.

Arming Israeli Self-Defense with Nuclear Weapons

The five most powerful nations in the world, who also happened to be the winners of World War II and the first five to develop nuclear weapons, were granted veto power since the UN was intended to be weak in this area. The significance and efficacy of the veto force lie in giving these most potent and dangerous nations, led by the US, the unbridled ability to disregard international legal obligations for nuclear weapons and the UN Charter. Whenever a proposed UN Security Council action conflicts with their strategic objectives, these five deinstitutionalize and defunct international law institutional framework against the very principles and purposes of the UNO. The ICJ ruled that nuclear bomb use is not reconcilable with IHL. However, the ICJ couldn’t make a definitive decision on the legitimacy of the state using nuclear weapons in self-defense situations. Several nuclear-armed states, including the US and the UK, claimed that treaty rules didn’t regulate or prohibit nuclear weapons use when hostilities rules were fully codified in 1977 in the First Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions.

Several legal authorities support varying interpretations of what is permissible because the boundaries of self-defense with nuclear weapons are hotly debated in international law. However, it is prohibited to attack a hostile civilian population with excessive force. Over the years, Israel has been guilty of using military force in many ways that, under any circumstances, whether or not justified and rationalized, would not be allowed as exercises of self-defence and would, therefore, constitute war crimes. This use of force in Gaza during the past few weeks has been particularly spectacular. Beyond this, it is debatable if Israel may legitimately rely on self-defence in Gaza, an occupied territory governed by Geneva Convention IV limitations. It is not reasonable for Israel, the Occupying Power, to assert that it is protecting itself against itself. Accepting this mishandled interpretation of the concept of self-defense in the context of an opponent society’s belligerent occupation—in whole or in part—by the international discourse is genuinely puzzling.

War Crimes Trial in International Criminal Court

At least 1,400 persons in Israel and 5,000 in Palestine have died since Hamas began its onslaught in Israel on October 7, 2023, which prompted an immediate and forceful military retaliation from Israel. Although Hamas militants carried out the first crime, the hospital explosion’s cause is yet unknown. The International Criminal Court (ICC) may look at potential war crimes in Israel and Palestine. Palestine joined the court in 2015. Recent appeals have also been made for the US to ratify the ICC treaty. The ICC faces challenges due to its inaction and political weakness in holding powerful Western nations accountable, particularly Israel. The lack of political will to prosecute Israel makes its practical application improbable. Despite not being signatories to the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate, indict, and bring charges against anyone who claims to be a victim of crimes committed on its territory. Palestine is one of the ICC Statute’s parties. Following the current wave of unchecked violence, attempts will be made to strengthen the ICC in light of geopolitics. While it would be unrealistic to expect accountability from Israel’s authorities, the desire to present evidence and accusations of Israeli wrongdoing would be persuasive to public opinion outlets and criminalizing civil society activists. In symbolic politics, proving or disproving the veracity of assertions has a significant political impact, and mere submission plays a crucial role.

Way Forward

The UN, governments, and people worldwide are facing a crisis due to the extreme abuse of state power, resulting in one of the most severe instances of genocide since 1945. Observers argue that Israel is using force against Gaza in an ongoing genocide, which is considered the most serious international crime. Preventing genocide is a shared responsibility of all governments, and establishing a Peoples Tribunal on Genocide Prevention in Gaza or on Israel’s War Against the People of Gaza can contribute to a world governed by law. The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has been extensively approved, including by parties involved in the bloodshed in Gaza and its diplomatic interactions.

Nafees Ahmad, Ph.D., LL.M., is an Associate Professor, Faculty of Legal Studies at South Asian University, New Delhi, India. Professor Ahmad teaches IHRL, IRL, CCL, and International Media Law.

December 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ralph Nader on Israeli Government’s War Crimes – Enabled & Defended by Biden & Congress

By Ralph Nader / Nader.org, more https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/10/ralph-nader-on-israeli-governments-war-crimes-enabled-defended-by-biden-congress/

The humiliation of the U.S. government, which is actively complicit in providing the weaponry, funding, and UN vetoes backing the Israeli government’s attack on the civilian Palestinians/Arabs in tiny Gaza, is in plain view daily. All in the name of the unasked American people and taxpayers.

Earlier this week, at a House of Representatives’ hearing, Trump toady Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) repeatedly assailed three University presidents with the question of would they discipline students calling for the genocide of Jews, without any evidence that this hateful speech is prevalent on campus.

Pursuing her fulminations, Stefanik was cruelly oblivious to the real ongoing genocide in Gaza with her support of unconditional shipment of American F-16s, 155mm. missiles and other weapons of mass destruction used to kill children, women and the elderly who had nothing to do with the preventable October 7^th Hamas violence.

Meanwhile, a State Department spokesman continues to say that the Israeli government does not intentionally target civilians. With U.S. drones over Gaza daily, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visual proof that the overwhelming bombing on civilian structures is killing innocent civilians.

The evidence is in the rubble of hospitals, health clinics, ambulances, schools, libraries, places of worship, marketplaces, water mains, homes, apartment buildings, and piles of unburied corpses being eaten by stray dogs.  All this information is in the possession of bomber Biden’s regime.

The Bidenites and their bloodthirsty cohorts in Congress were forewarned when the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and other Israeli officials on October 8^th shouted these chilling genocidal orders to their army: “No electricity, no food, no fuel, no water.… We are fighting human animals and will act accordingly.” (See, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide). Add an already illegal 16-year Israeli blockade of 2.3 Palestinians suffering from dire poverty, with 40% of their children down with anemia.

Now, about half of Gaza’s population are children, 85% of the entire population is homeless, wandering helplessly into nowhere, afflicted with pending starvation, sickened by spreading infectious diseases and dirty drinking water.  There is little or no medicines for diabetics and cancer patients. No surgery, no anesthesia, no emergency transport, no shelter from cold weather, only American-made bombs and missiles blowing up Palestinians into bits with Israeli snipers everywhere.

The Palestinians cannot flee from their open-air prison.  They cannot surrender – the Israeli government wants them gone. Bear in mind, the population that is not yet blown up is sick and dying, denied needed outside humanitarian aid. Defying feeble Biden’s wishes, Netanyahu only allows a trickle of aid trucks to enter Gaza, and those that do enter can scarcely reach their destinations.

All this raises the issue of the gross undercount of casualties. The Hamas Health Authority has restricted its count to the names of the deceased and injured supplied by hospitals and morgues. These locations are now largely rubble or inoperative. Bodies under the rubble, many of them children, can’t be counted. Thousands of missing people cannot be counted. The Ministry’s suspended count is over 17,000 fatalities, plus 45,000 injuries. With the far larger carnage unable to be tabulated, the actual fatality toll may reach 100,000 soon.

Nonetheless, about two weeks ago, the New York Times reported the death undercount of children in Gaza in two months was ten times greater than the deaths of Ukrainian children in nearly two years of Russian bombings. One of its headlines – “Smoldering Gaza Becomes a Graveyard for Children.”

There are about 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza and about 5,500 of them are due to give birth. Where are they going to do that? How can they be cared for and be nurtured? These mothers are sick and starving. Add the babies to the terrorists toll.

Gaza’s area is about the size of Philadelphia. How many dead, injured, and dying people would there be if 20,000 bombs were dropped on civilians and civilian structures in Philadelphia? Philadelphians trapped without food, water, medicine or any escape route. Imagine 85% of 1.5 million residents homeless, wandering in the streets and alleys. And with virtually no humanitarian aid coming from outside the city. There wouldn’t be any fire trucks or water to extinguish spreading fires.

There are courageous Jewish groups (e.g., Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now) and rabbis calling for an end to the slaughter, demanding a ceasefire. There are protestors at all of Biden’s public events/trips reminding him of next November.

Veterans for Peace and other veteran groups are engaged in non-violent civil disobedience in front of the Scranton, Pennsylvania factory producing 155mm missiles for Israel. (Scranton is Biden’s hometown.) Public opinion is turning against the Biden/Israel war without limits on the Palestinians.

Biden wouldn’t want to poll the American people about his $14.3 billion genocide tax, charging American taxpayers to further prosperous Israel’s war of extermination in Gaza. They’ll likely tell Biden that poor children, unaffordable health facilities and other necessities in America need that money first.

There are some 30 Democratic Senators demanding that this Biden bill contain conditions and safeguards so that the money is not used to blow up more Palestinian children and women. But what else are these funds for other than to expand Israel’s military budget? The Israeli extremist ruling coalition under Netanyahu has made no secret of wanting to take over all of remaining Palestine as part of their “Greater Israel” mission to include what they call Judea and Samaria. As Israel’s Founder, David Ben-Gurion, frankly declared referring to the Palestinians, “We have taken their country.” (As quoted in The Jewish Paradox(1978) by Nahum Goldmann.)

It is a cruel irony of history that Israeli state terrorism is producing a Palestinian Holocaust. Netanyahu’s regime has killed over 60 journalists—three of them Israelis—120 United Nations relief workers and instituted total blackouts to keep the grisly events in Gaza out of the news in real time. Netanyahu, to shield his colossal failure to defend Israel on October 7^thand to keep his job, is making sure that his country joins the world community of savage, slaughtering regimes, exemplified by the Bush/Cheney unlawful criminal destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, followed by Hillary Clinton toppling Libya into permanent violence and chaos since 2011. (Obama later called his conceding to Hillary’s demands as his worst foreign policy decision).

Capitol Hill and the White House don’t wait for any blood-guilt to be recognized. That will surely come later with the judgment of history and the nightmarish visions of innocents being vaporized because of Washington’s unconditional backing of the Israeli blitzkrieg against what the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has repeatedly called the “totally defenseless people” of Gaza.

December 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

US Blocks Gaza Peace Proposal at UN for 3rd Time, Holding World Hostage

The US government has paralyzed the United Nations, voting against the rest of the world and preventing peace in Gaza by vetoing three different resolutions in the Security Council. Meanwhile, Washington continues giving weapons to Israel.

By Ben Norton / Geopolitical Economy Report

The United States has used its veto power in the United Nations Security Council three times in less than two months to kill resolutions calling for peace in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Washington is sending billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel, directly assisting the country as it commits war crimes against Palestinian civilians.

On December 8, the Security Council voted on a resolution that called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and the unconditional release of all hostages.

The United States was the only country on the 15-member council that voted against the measure.

Close US ally the United Kingdom was the only country to abstain in the vote.

The United States helped to design the United Nations after World War II, concentrating power in the Security Council and giving permanent seats with veto power to the victors: the US, UK, France, USSR (now Russia), and China.

Many countries in the Global South have called to expand the Security Council and to eliminate the veto.

China and Russia have repeatedly expressed support for expanding the council. But Washington has adamantly opposed the initiative.

Global South leaders are particularly frustrated by the fact that the UK and France, each of which has a population of fewer than 70 million people, both have permanent seats on the Security Council, but not many of the most populous countries on Earth, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, or Brazil.

Brazil’s left-wing President Lula da Silva stressed this November that the failure of the UN to bring peace to Palestine demonstrates that the system is “broken” and has a “lack of credibility”.

“The UN needs change”, Lula said, calling to expand the Security Council and remove the veto.

“The UN of 1945 does not work in 2023”, the Brazilian leader added.

US rebukes UN secretary-general’s historic invocation of article 99

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has publicly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, but was rejected by Washington.

Guterres took the extraordinary measure of invoking article 99 of the UN Charter, for the first time in five decades.

Article 99 states, “The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.

The Associated Press noted, “Article 99 is extremely rarely used. The last time it was invoked was during fighting in 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh and its separation from Pakistan”.

In the case of the Bangladeshi national liberation war of 1971, Pakistan’s right-wing military regime ethnically cleansed and committed genocide against Bengalis, with the support of the US government – specifically President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger.

The genocidal situation in Palestine is strikingly similar today.

This November, top UN experts warned that “grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians… point to a genocide in the making”.

The UN experts wrote:

[Israeli officials] illustrated evidence of increasing genocidal incitement, overt intent to “destroy the Palestinian people under occupation”, loud calls for a ‘second Nakba’ in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, and the use of powerful weaponry with inherently indiscriminate impacts, resulting in a colossal death toll and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.

The Wall Street Journal reported on December 1 that the “U.S. has provided Israel with large bunker buster bombs, among tens of thousands of other weapons and artillery shells”.

In less than two months, Washington sent Israel approximately 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells.

In fact, Gaza is now one of the most heavily bombed areas in history, according to a report in the Financial Times.

US vetoed two other Security Council resolutions on Gaza

The United States voted against two similar resolutions in October.

On October 16, the US and its allies the UK, France, and Japan voted against a measure introduced by Russia that called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Two days later, the US unilaterally vetoed a resolution introduced by Brazil that urged “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza.

The UK abstained in that vote. Russia did too, but as a form of protest, arguing that the resolution was too weak, instead urging a ceasefire.

At the Security Council meeting on December 8, Russia’s UN representative, Dmitriy Polyanskiy, warned that the United States was “leaving scorched earth in its wake”.

China’s ambassador, Zhang Jun, stated, “The task required of the Council is very clear and definitive – act immediately, achieve a ceasefire, protect civilians and avoid a human catastrophe on a larger scale”.

139 of the 193 members of the United Nations recognize Palestine as a sovereign state, but it is not officially a UN member state – because the United States has prevented it from becoming one.

Palestine does however have observer status in the UN (along with the Vatican).

The representative of the observer state of Palestine, Riyad Mansour, participated in the December 8 Security Council session.

“Millions of Palestinian lives hang in the balance, every single one of them is sacred and worth saving”, he cautioned.

By failing to approve a ceasefire, the Security Council is ensuring that Israeli “war criminals are given more time to perpetrate their crimes”, Mansour added.

The Palestinian representative asked, “How can this be justified? How can anyone justify the slaughter of an entire people?”

December 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Chris Hedges Report: The Weapons Israel Tests on Palestinians Will Be Used Against All of Us

byEDITORDecember 11, 2023

As Antony Loewenstein explains, Palestine has been a testing ground for repressive technologies exported around the world, from spy software to killer drones.

By Chris Hedges / The Real News Network

Whether it’s drone technology or the infamous Pegasus spy software, Israel has long developed and refined repressive technologies used by governments around the world by testing them on Palestinians. Antony Loewenstein, journalist and author of The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World, joins The Chris Hedges Report for a deep dive into the disturbing links between Israeli Apartheid, the arms industry, and global repression of civilian populations.

December 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment