Is this the picture that shocked the consciences of the world? or are they coldly unmoving, please tell me — israelis commit #Genocide pic.twitter.com/MDGAFxvdhL

— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) October 28, 2023

Andre Damon | The Lancet, the prestigious peer-reviewed British medical journal, has warned that the true death toll in the Gaza genocide could be 186,000 or more. | This staggering figure amounts to 8 percent of the population of Gaza. ■ A similar percentage of the US population would be 26 million people. It stands as an indictment of the United States and its imperialist allies, who have funded, armed and politically defended Israel’s genocide in Gaza. ■ The official death toll since the onset of the Israeli attack, according to Gazan government sources, is 37,396. But The Lancet noted that this figure reflects neither the thousands of people buried under the rubble nor the countless deaths caused by the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s food distribution, healthcare and sanitation systems.

Fighting has intensified around the Russian-speaking city of Khakov in recent months as Ukraine has launched strikes on Russian territory from the region. Moscow has promised to respond to Kiev's attacks, which frequently kill and injure Russian civilians. | Germany has decided to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory bordering the Kharkov region with German-supplied weapons to impede Russian progress around the city, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a news conference Wednesday. [...] The chancellor also said German military aid to Ukraine would soon be facilitated via NATO facilities in the Germany city of Wiesbaden. [...] Fighting has intensified around the Russian-speaking city of Khakov in recent months as Ukraine has launched strikes on Russian territory from the region. Moscow has promised to respond to Kiev's attacks, which frequently kill and injure Russian civilians.

US president says it is time to ‘pass the torch’ to younger voices that ‘defence of democracy’ is more important than personal ambition. | United States President Joe Biden has made his first public address since dropping his re-election bid, saying he pulled out of the race against Republican challenger Donald Trump to unite his party and save the country’s democracy. ● The 81-year-old politician struck a sombre tone on Wednesday as he sat behind the Resolute Desk at the Oval Office of the White House, and announced that it was “time to pass the torch” to younger voices. [bla...bla...bla...]

■ Biden is done for, what’s next? (RT.com)
■ Extraordinary Events Taking Place in America (Simplicius)

Multiple Palestinian factions have released statements criticizing the US for hosting Netanyahu in the Congress on Wednesday. | Izzat Al-Risheq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, blasted Netanyahu's speech before the United States Congress, describing it as "a criminal's speech filled with lies and a mockery of the [peoples'] intelligence."Another senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that Netanyahu's speech addressing the US Congress is evidence that he does not want to conclude a ceasefire deal.

💬 "Netanyahu's speech was full of lies and it will not succeed in covering up for the failure and defeat in the face of the Resistance to cover up for the crimes of the war of genocide his army is committing against the people of Gaza," Abu Zuhri said in an interview.

■ Netanyahu's lies in Congress speech debunked amid huge boycott (The New Arab)
■ Iran Condemns US For Welcoming Israeli PM (Asharq Al-Awsat)
■ Türkiye: Netanyahu's speech to US Congress great stain on legislative body (TRT World)
■ Democrats to Netanyahu: 'Liar with promotion campaign', 'war criminal' (Al Mayadeen)
■ Key takeaways from Netanyahu’s speech and the protests outside US Congress (Al Jazeera)
👉 Netanyahu Commands, US Obeys (Joe Lauria)

Ron Unz | Israel Shahak and the Middle East ● The Unusual Doctrines of Traditional Judaism ● The Attitude of Judaism Towards Non-Jews ● The Historical Role of Jews in Western Societies ● The Controversial Scholarship of Ariel Toaff [...] My encounter a decade ago with Shahak’s candid description of the true doctrines of traditional Judaism was certainly one of the most world-altering revelations of my entire life. But as I gradually digested the full implications, all sorts of puzzles and disconnected facts suddenly became much more clear. There were also some remarkable ironies, and not long afterward I joked to a (Jewish) friend of mine that I’d suddenly discovered that Nazism could best be described as “Judaism for Wimps” or perhaps Judaism as practiced by Mother Teresa of Calcutta. [...]

■ “Jewish values”? (Nahida Izzat)
■ THE EXPRESSION OF HATRED FOR GENTILES Richard Edmondson/Nahida Izzat) (10/04/14)

Mike Whitney | Chinese diplomats expect the path to peace to be implemented in three phases [...] China should be applauded for bringing the rival factions together and making such a courageous effort to bring the 10 month-long bloodbath in Gaza to an end. They should also be commended for understanding that the broader crisis cannot be resolved without internal reconciliation, which is why China’s foreign ministry arranged to bring all the factions together at one time. Fortunately, the three-day confab helped the leaders to iron-out their differences on key issues including the creation of a provisional “national reconciliation government that will be formed according to the consensus of Palestinian factions and the current Basic Law of the Palestine.” [...]