Where the fuck should they go?!?
Not on any international news site, as far as my quick search shows:
Nicole Deitelhoff (PRIF), Rainer Forst, Klaus Günter, and Jürgen Habermas, all members of the research center “Normative Orders” at the University of Frankfurt, published an open letter (also available in English - scroll down).
I think it is addressed at the broader German general public, and also specifically at journalists and politicians,
and is written in regard to antisemic reactions prompted by Israel’s response after the attacks of Oct. 7th.
However, I expect this letter also to get international resonance, and hope for the best while fearing the worst.
Reports in Gaza say all communication networks are down
All telecom services in the Gaza Strip have gone down as all energy sources sustaining the network have been depleted, Gaza’s main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal said in a statement on Thursday.
Variety has some thoughts about Israel’s screenings of footage
No Mental Health Without Democracy has certainly thought through the consequences. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Nov. 7 floated the notion of publicly broadcasting “Bearing,” this organization, representing a broad range of Israeli therapists, issued a statement strongly urging him to reconsider the idea or risk retraumatizing the country.
The IDF is also citing the film as a defense against the creeping onslaught of “massacre denial” beginning to inevitably rear its ugly head on social media. Yet the sad realization is that in our post-truth society, even the most convincing proof you provide will be rejected no matter what.
And what’s worse, in an age when artificial intelligence-fueled technologies can easily conjure up any kind of deepfake, the footage salvaged in “Bearing” comes with an automatic asterisk. Indeed, the magic of AI is already being harnessed to concoct all sorts of visual nonsense out of Gaza.
My hope is that in its current form, “Bearing” is just in a beta phase and the decision makers represent an unofficial test market of sorts. Perhaps the film will eventually take on other forms, one being a more fully fleshed-out documentary with more than just violent clips, that people will pay to see in theaters and streaming services or sliced and diced into free, shortform consumption on YouTube and TikTok.
I have not listened to this yet, but was going to in a bit…
From the Guardian liveblog:
Sewage is now flowing through the streets of Gaza, the director of the UN agency Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) affairs in the besieged enclave has said.
UNRWA has warned that many of its services in the Gaza Strip have already been shuttered due to a lack of fuel, including dozens of water wells, two water plants and sewage pumping stations.
Opens with some violence, so be warned…
From the Guardian liveblog:
World Food Programme warns civilians in Gaza ‘face immediate possibility of starvation’
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the Gaza Strip now faces a “massive” food gap and widespread hunger while nearly the entire population of the Palestinian enclave is in “desperate” need of food assistance.
In a statement on Thursday, WFP executive director Cindy McCain said food and water supplies are “practically non-existent” in Gaza, and “only a fraction” of aid that is needed is reaching the territory through the borders. She said:
With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation.
There is no way to meet current hunger needs with one operational border crossing. The only hope is opening another, safe passage for humanitarian access to bring life-saving food into Gaza.
Earlier this week, WFP confirmed the closure of the final bakery operating in partnership with the agency due to lack of fuel. Bread, a staple food for people in Gaza, is scarce or non-existent, it said.
The shortage of fuel is also crippling humanitarian distribution and operations, including the delivery of food assistance, it said. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said there will be no aid deliveries into Gaza from the Rafah crossing from tomorrow because of fuel shortages.
In the second part of the video he does a good job threading the needle on some of the language in the war…
Bloomberg - 16 November 23
US and EU Back UN Force in Postwar Gaza, Adding Pressure on Israel
The US and its European allies are pushing a plan to deploy an international peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip after the war, according to people familiar with the matter, raising pressure on Israel to bring its military operation to an end as civilian casualties mount.
