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Renaissance for Syrian Jews?

New Jewish Resistance

In a video published on social media, a representative of the new transitional government in Syria spoke with Bakhour Chamntoub, head of Damascus' small remnant Jewish community, promising "peace and security" and even calling on Syrian Jews abroad to return to the country. Said the representative, Mohammad Badarieh: "Good evening everyone... from the home of the head of the Jewish community in Damascus, Bakhour. Reassure us that you're alright." Replied Chamntoub: "Thank God, all is well." Referring to Syrian Jews outside the country, Chamntoub acknowledged: "They don’t believe there will be peace, and that they can return home." But, addressing the diaspora, he echoed the pledge of the transition government: "You will be safe, there will be peace and quiet, and God willing, you'll return, everyone to his house, to his neighborhood, and to his people...." Chamntoub added that he hopes for the restoration of the city's Jobar synagogue, which was badly damaged in shelling by the Assad regime. (Photo: Chrystie Sherman)

BP accused of Gaza war crimes complicity

CounterVortex

A group of Palestinian-British individuals took initial steps to bring British Petroleum (BP) to court, accusing the company of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The action led by Bimdman's LLP asserts BP's complicity through the continuous supply of crude oil to Israel, facilitated by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, amidst ongoing military operations in Gaza since October 2023. The claimants, backed by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), aim to hold BP responsible for their suffering and press for the company's immediate cessation of activities they say expedite the conflict. (Photo: Fossil Free London via MEMO)

Israel deliberately deprives Gaza of water: HRW

CounterVortex

Human Rights Watch released a report accusing Israeli authorities of intentionally depriving Palestinian civilians in Gaza of adequate access to water since October 2023. This systematic obstruction is said to have caused or contributed to "thousands of deaths," and is part of a policy aimed at "inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population," thereby legally constituting an "act of genocide." (Photo: Maan News Agency)

Syria: after the fall of the regime

CounterVortex

As Syrian rebels advanced on Damascus in a surprise lightning offensive, the Rojava Kurds seized territory from the Bashar Assad regime, and the Druze took up arms in their own region. After years of the lines in the conflict being frozen and the genocidal Assad dictatorship being "normalized," the unthinkable happened and the dictator fled. Suddenly the 13-year aim of the Syrian Revolution has been realized—the fall of the regime. But the lead rebel faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has an ugly past, its partner the Syrian National Army (SNA) is in the political orbit of Turkish aspiring dictator Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the threat of Arab-Kurdish ethnic war in northern Syria looms closer. Amid a conflict now dominated by armed actors, can the unarmed civil resistance that began the revolution 13 years ago re-assert itself, and revive the secular-democratic spirit of 2011? In Episode 254 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes a hard look. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo of Aleppo Citadel in rebel hands via social media, e.g. Twtter)

Annexation agenda escalates West Bank conflict

CounterVortex

The Israel Defense Forces killed four Palestinians in an air-strike on the village of Siir, in Jenin district of the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Israeli forces "prevented our teams from reaching the bombing site," declaring it a "closed military zone." Two days later, an IDF drone strike near the village of Aqaba in the Jordan Valley left two dead. The IDF again reportedly prevented ambulances from reaching the site. Two days after that, fire-fights erupted in Jenin as Palestinian Authority security forces responded to the theft of military equipment. A PA statement said "a group of outlaws opened fire on the headquarters of the security services" and stole two vehicles. Despite the designation of "outlaws," the vehicles were reportedly paraded through the streets by a band flying the flags of Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has meanwhile introduced legislation to bar use of the term "West Bank" by the US government in favor of the official Israeli designation "Judea & Samaria." (Photo: delayed gratification)

Podcast: nullify the election! III

CounterVortex

In Episode 254 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to make the case for mass pressure to demand nullification of the election—on the constitutional basis of the Insurrection Clause. Trump indisputably instigated an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and the Supreme Court has ruled that invoking the Insurrection Clause to bar him from the presidency is the prerogative of Congress. And the Electoral College has the power to refuse to seat him on the same grounds. A candidate for county commissioner in New Mexico has already been barred from office on the basis of having participated in the Capitol insurrection—and MAGA congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn could also have been barred on that basis if he hadn’t been primaried out as the case over the matter was still pending before the courts. Leading Democrats like Rep. Jamie Raskin have spoken in support of such disqualifications—yet are mysteriously silent with the country now on the countdown to a fascist takeover. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Podcast: nullify the election! II

CounterVortex

As the Trump team's plans fall into place for mass detention of millions of undocumented immigrants—perhaps even naturalized citizens—and establishment of a concentration camp system, invocation of the Insurrection Act to mobilize the army for the round-ups has been broached. Sending National Guard troops from red states into blue states to carry out round-ups and put down protests—over the objections of governors who have refused to cooperate—could portend civil war. There is still time to invoke the 14th Amendment to bar Trump from the presidency—just as Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, indicted for leading a Trump-stye attempted auto-golpe in 2022, has been barred from office. And just as the Congressional Black Caucus sought to bar Dubya Bush from office over considerably lesser matters on Jan. 6, 2001. In Episode 253 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to make the case for mass pressure to demand nullification of the election. (Image: CounterVortex)

Nullify the election!

CounterVortex

As Trump assembles his cabinet of dangerous cranks and far-right extremists, his election is being openly celebrated by reigning fascists and arch-reactionaries from Russia to Hungary to Bosnia. The fascist world order that began to consolidate under his first term is poised to be cemented under a global triumvirate of tyranny—Trump, Putin and Xi. Biden's cooperation in the transfer of power is a betrayal not only of the nation but of humanity—and Trump has still failed to sign the ethics pledge mandated by the protocol of presidential transition, making clear his ill intent. Evidence that the Kremlin directly hacked the vote on behalf of Trump (rather than merely using disinformation propaganda, as in 2016) warrants investigation. Furthermore, the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment, under which Trump was impeached, should be invoked to bar him from office. There is still time to stop the fascist takeover of the United States through the Electoral College or in the certification process. Despite the Supreme Court decision upholding state laws against "faithless electors" who refuse to vote for the candidate they pledged for, this is by no means equivalent to the "fake electors" contrived by Trump's team to try to throw the 2020 election. On the contrary, it is a constitutional mechanism, as outlined by Hamilton in the Federalist Papers. In Episode 252 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg makes the case for mass pressure to demand nullification of the election. The protests against Trump since Election Day are a good start. But a mass movement on the scale of the post-electoral protests now seen in the Republic of Georgia and Ecuador is urgently mandated. (Image: APhilosophicalEnquiry)