Tag: gaza

Xenophobic Trump. 2025 will be a terrible year for Arab Americans

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 1.1.2025

It’s going to be a difficult year for Arab Americans as extremist Donald Trump returns to power with his xenophobic mind set. One place where his racist policies will be on abhorrent display will be those sycophants he places in power to implement his warped governance.

Israel will be given a free reign to continues its murderous assault against the Palestinian children, women and men of Gaza facilitated by outgoing President Joe Biden.

Bibi Netanyahu and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are responsible for the wanton slaughter of over 45,000 Palestinians. Killed in retaliation with American supplied weaponry since the Hamas attack on Israel killing over 1200 on October 7, 2023.

A Palestinian youth faces down The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 1.1.2025

Trump’s pro-Israel picks for key positions

There are voices like Khalid Turaani’s, an Arab American activist, warning that the situation for people in Gaza and Arabs in the United States would only get worse under Trump.

Turaani cited the selection of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as the ambassador to Israel. Huckabee once said, “There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”

Protests against Trump’s ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries took place in airports around the United States

“When he says there’s no such thing as Palestinians, when people don’t exist, then there’s no genocide,” said Turaani. “You cannot kill or genocide a group of people who do not exist. I think throughout history when people commit genocide, they deny that those people existed.”

Israeli Defense Forces on the march 1970. Jerusalem – Postcard purchased by blogger Lee during a 3-month adventure in Israel/Palestine. Much of the time spent living in a hotel in the Old City (Arab section of Jerusalem)

Turaani said he was also concerned about Trump selecting New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.

These are the type people Trump and his xenophobic flunkies seek to humiliate and displace.

A childhood spent in a camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria has made Turaani wary of Stefanik’s stance toward the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Stefanik has repeatedly expressed support for Israel’s decision to defund UNRWA and called on the US to do the same, as Trump did in 2018.

Uum Kulthum. Icon in the Arab world and inspiration for Palestinian people. During his stay in Jerusalem blogger Lee listened to Uum Kulthum while drinking tea in the Old City cafes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_Kulthum

https://www.dw.com/en/arab-americans-eye-trumps-pro-israel-government-picks/a-71062610

Liz ready for the Women’s March in San Francisco to protest Trump’s inaugural in 2017

Will Germany arrest Bibi? Indicted Netanyahu in cross-hairs of ICC.

SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 11.24.2024

Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted by the international war crimes tribunal. What will Germany do if The Israeli Prime Minister sets foot in Germany?

The German government is one of 124 countries who are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

Germany was perpetrator of the Holocaust which saw the extermination of six million, mostly Jews, during the Nazi reign of terror (1933-1945), Germany is in a tough position.

Since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, which resulted in the deaths 1200 people, Netanyahu has led the ferocious reprisal against the people of Gaza. Nearly 50,000 people have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Supplied with American weapons.

There is no doubt unrepentant and compromising Netanyahu must be held accountable.

What will Germany do to hold the accused leader of the Jewish state liable for his war crimes?

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 11.22.2024

The German minority government made up of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens would definitely have preferred to avoid the issue, even if officials should have seen it coming a long time ago: The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The court said it had found sufficient evidence that both were complicit in crimes against humanity and war crimes as part of Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza. The military campaign began after Gaza-based group Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. An arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif with the same charges, even though Israel says it killed Deif in July.

Germany is regarded as one of the biggest supporters of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which began its activities in July 2002 and is supported by 124  states. However, it does not include globally important states such as the US or Russia.

What is important in the current case is that the court has no means of enforcing the arrest warrants itself. Member states — including Germany — are formally obliged to take wanted persons into custody should they cross their borders. 

https://www.dw.com/en/would-benjamin-netanyahu-be-arrested-in-germany/a-70863500