Le Figaro, August 13, 2023, By Stanislas Poyet, After the putsch in Niger, France fears being overtaken by its American ally, DECRYPTION - Refusing the military option, Washington seems to be considering speaking with the perpetrators of the coup State. (Own translation) "With allies like that, we don't need enemies", is slipped in Paris. At the Quai d'Orsay, during the French presidency, the American diplomatic choices in Niger went badly. The United States has been very present since the crisis in Niger. Too present even, when the number three of American diplomacy, Victoria Nuland, sat at the table of the putschists on August 7th. "They did the exact opposite of what we thought they would do", it's continued..."

The article (In French) is on:

https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/apres-le-putsch-au-niger-la-france-craint-d-etre-doublee-par-son-allie-americain-20230813

Terri Purvis

Eurasian Times, July 31, 2023, “...The bipartisan amendment to the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act ...On July 19, 2023, US Senate admitted the Kaine-Rubio amendment, which prohibits POTUS (US President) from unilaterally deciding and withdrawing from NATO until it is approved by a two-thirds majority, both in the House and Senate". This decision comes in the wake of the probable and possible return of Donald Trump to the White House. It may be recalled that Trump had told US allies, “I will not protect you from Russia,” and added that the US would withdraw from NATO unless all NATO members spent at least 2% or more of their respective GDP on defense... Although his proposal was accepted even in 2023, quite a few NATO members have not met the goal...

President Macron of France has been most vocal and critical about US hegemony over NATO affairs. During an interview in July 2018, ahead of the NATO London summit, Macron said, “The bloc was undergoing ‘brain death.'”....Macron went on to add: “European countries could no longer rely on America to defend NATO strategically and politically. We need to recognize that we have a problem. We should reassess the reality of what NATO is in light of the commitment of the United States. There is no coordination whatsoever of strategic decision-making between the US and its NATO allies....”

Read the Article on:

https://www.eurasiantimes.com/cracks-in-nato-france-opposes-us-global-policing-policies/

Jeune Afrique, August 28, 2023, By Fadwa Islah, Emmanuel Macron, the French president who did not understand the Maghreb. "While the Head of State had bet on good relations "at the same time" with Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, it must be admitted that his plan for a balanced Maghreb policy is for the moment a failure. Will Emmanuel Macron be remembered as the French president who managed to get angry with everyone in the Maghreb?..." (Own translation)

Source (in French):

https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1465120/politique/emmanuel-macron-le-president-francais-qui-ne-comprenait-pas-le-maghreb-par-fadwa-islah/

FRANCE MEDIATOR? extract from: "I have excellent relations with them" Colonna hopes to rally the countries of the South to the peace plan in Ukraine, By Mathilde Karsenti, Marianne, August 29, 2023 (Own translation) "An initiative that brings together “an increasingly large number of so-called “Southern” countries (…) because we will not act alone and we will not succeed alone,” added Catherine Colonna. She also clarified that she no longer wanted to use the expression “country of the global South” due to excessive use by Russia. “Moscow is obviously seeking to pit these countries against the West and create blocs, which is not the case,” she said. The dialogue for a peace plan will continue in Kyiv and New York during the United Nations General Assembly which begins on September 19. And in this regard, the minister considers herself “able to convince southern countries such as South Africa, India or Ethiopia to position themselves” because of the “excellent links” she maintains with them. Earlier in the morning, before France's representatives abroad gathered in Paris, the Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that "law and morality" were "at stake", as were the interests of France, the European security and international stability. And he insisted: “Russian aggression must be a failure”

Read the article in French on:

https://www.marianne.net/monde/europe/jai-dexcellentes-relations-avec-eux-colonna-espere-rallier-les-pays-du-sud-au-plan-de-paix-en-ukraine

France-USA: Je t'aime moi non plus! Illustration: Xinhua, PARIS, August 29, (Own translation) "In front of the ambassadors of France gathered in Paris for their annual conference, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, advocated Tuesday a "renovated and reinforced multilateralism" in a field international marked by “too many fractures”. France is "always a source of proposals in the service of a renovated and strengthened multilateralism", as it demonstrated in June with the organization of the Summit for a new global financial pact "to re-weave the North-South link", a affirmed the senior diplomat.

For the minister, if France is "fully committed" to this "multilateralism of results", it is thanks to its "tireless spirit of independence", which is one of the "principles of our action". “Everywhere, France will continue to refuse bloc logic to promote the freedom of choice that the affirmation of the sovereignty of each State allows,” she said. “This takes nothing away from the exemplary nature of our involvement in our alliances,” continued Ms. Colonna, and “this is precisely why we are strengthening our commitment within NATO.”

That being said, “it is useful to the transatlantic community that different voices can exist within it,” she stressed.

“In 2003 in Iraq, we warned about the consequences of an intervention. In 2012 we spoke before others of getting stuck in Afghanistan. In 2013, we regretted the American choice not to enforce the defined red lines together regarding Syria. France will continue to have its unique voice,” declared the head of French diplomacy.

The 29th edition of the conference of French ambassadors takes place from Monday to Wednesday in Paris around the theme: "affirm our principles, our interests, our solidarity". Dmytro Kouleba, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, is the guest of honor.

In a speech delivered Monday as a prelude to the work of the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron developed the four axes of French foreign policy: security and stability, European independence, France as a trusted partnership power and a political of France's influence and influence internationally.

Read the article in French on:

http://french.xinhuanet.com/20230829/904bd8875b324a5ca378add7749993fa/c.html

CNEWS with AFP, August 28, 2023. This Monday, August 28, at the opening of the annual Conference of French Ambassadors, Emmanuel Macron warned of a “risk of weakening” of Europe and, more broadly of the West. Excerpts “Emmanuel Macron first mentioned “the emergence of (new) great international powers” which leads to increased competition but also the “dilution of our population” and “our wealth in global trade”. He deplored “a progressive questioning of our international order (in which) the West had a preponderant place and still has a preponderant place.” The President of the Republic estimated that the diplomatic context "has rather hardened" recently, which according to him "runs the risk of a weakening of the West and more particularly of our Europe"... The war in Ukraine played a role in this shift according to the head of state, who also pointed to the rise of a “politics of resentment” from Asia to Africa, which feeds on “anticolonialism, reinvented or fantasized" and an "instrumentalized anti-Westernism"... He saluted the work of France and Europe on this issue, estimating that "what was done by our diplomacy was particularly useful" and “created a significant surprise effect. The Europeans did not divide, reacted quickly and in an appropriate manner. Citing the “multiple sanctions packages” inflicted on Russia, but also the policy of support for Ukraine, the head of state designated the European Union as “Ukraine’s primary supporter”, without forgetting that “ very valuable to our American allies"...

According to Emmanuel Macron, the Sahel is facing an “epidemic of putsches” in the face of which France is showing firmness, without “paternalism or weakness”. He called on the countries of this region of Africa to have a “responsible policy” in this matter, estimating that “the weakness that some have shown with regard to previous putsches has nourished regional vocations”...

Read the article in French on:

https://www.cnews.fr/monde/2023-08-28/conference-des-ambassadeurs-emmanuel-macron-sinquiete-dun-risque-daffaiblissement

In line with the previous Post: An African point of view on Emmanuel Macron's speech, by Patrice Aimé Césaire Miakassissa on DAC-Press, August 29, 2023: a formal indictment which begins with (Own translation): "The inaudible double speech in Africa of Mr. Emmanuel Macron during the Conference of Ambassadors on August 28, 2023 in Paris becomes insipid. It is the eruption of the end, and of the past making a clean slate..." and ends with "Instead of thinking about development based on access to health care, education, food, electricity and others, "the European Union (EU) plans the deployment of a new European military mission in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast which aims in particular to prevent an expansion of the activities of jihadist groups and counter Russian influence in the region. "The problem in black Africa is not the Russians or the Chinese, but the lack of development and unrequited exploitation of African wealth. The only war that Africa wants to win is that against poverty and for mutual respect in the concert of civilized nations..."

Read the article, in French, on:

http://www.dac-presse.com/la-france-humiliee-au-niger/

Liberation, August 30, 2023, by Samuel Ravier-Regnat, Coup d'Etat in Gabon: "Libreville was one of the pillars of Françafrique". After the overthrow of Ali Bongo on Wednesday, August 30, journalist Antoine Glaser looks back on the historic relations between Paris and the dynasty that has ruled the West African country for more than fifty years. Edifying interview on the "unchallenged reign of the Bongo dynasty in the small West African country. A period marked by a very strong proximity between Libreville and Paris, particularly at the time of Omar Bongo, supported by France despite the autocratic nature of its regime. Since his death and his son's coming to power in 2009, relations have however become strained, explains to Libération Antoine Glaser, journalist and author with Pascal Airault of Macron's African Trap (Fayard, 2021)...

https://www.liberation.fr/international/afrique/coup-detat-au-gabon-libreville-etait-un-des-piliers-de-la-francafrique-20230830_CTT5VK4RGNCI7CF3RJPSG7F5FE/

"Cost of energy" is not just a matter of price or LCOE, but covers major geopolitical issues. This paper [1] by Bocse (2020) "From the United States with shale gas" is, two years after, surprisingly topical. It explains the major geopolitical and economic stakes related to the energy issue in Europe. One may read in the paper's conclusion: "After 2014, the US argued openly that strategic considerations need to be strongly considered and can trump market considerations when developing pipelines key to enhancing EU energy security. Public intervention in pipeline development can be considered an exceptional measure, a suspension of pure market forces to cope with a security threat.

The value attached to strategic considerations (such as the diversification of the EU gas supply and routes away from Russia) rather than pure market considerations explains the support of the US for the Southern Gas Corridor and their opposition towards Nord Stream 2. Sure, some might claim that the American opposition to Nord Stream 2 is explained by the desire to open the EU market to American LNG. However, if the US position is motivated exclusively by such economic considerations, we cannot explain the US support for the Southern Gas Corridor.

However, securitization did not go as far as creating the momentum needed to conclude the negotiations on a TTIP inclusive of an energy chapter. But it cannot be denied that the crisis contributed to setting the US energy policy towards EU on a new path maintained to a considerable degree by the Trump administration (when it comes to the support for LNG gas exports, support for supply and routes diversification infrastructure and opposition to Nord Stream), a surprising development given the clash between the Obama and the Trump administrations in other policy areas. Bilateral interactions between US and EU high officials and policymakers, in the framework of the EU-US Energy Council, or outside it, play an important role in the transatlantic cooperation on energy"

Illustration Source: From [1]

[1] Bocse, A. M. (2020). From the United States with shale gas: Ukraine, energy securitization, and the reshaping of transatlantic energy relations. Energy research & social science, 69, 101553.

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/The_energy_pattern_and_the_perspective_of_large-scale_exploitation_of_shale_gas_What_alternative_solutions

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Energy_Renewable_Energy_and_Levelized_Cost_Of_Energy_LCOE_Paradoxes/3

The report of the commission of inquiry of the National Assembly "aiming to establish the reasons for the loss of sovereignty and energy independence of France" was presented on Thursday, April 6, 2023. The report makes 30 recommendations, most largely in support of nuclear revival. The return to nuclear reminds us of the current events and upheavals in France-Africa relations, particularly with regard to the exploitation and trade of raw materials and in particular rare earths.

Read more (in French) on:

https://www.lemondedelenergie.com/energie-france-a-pris-30-ans-retard-selon-commission-enquete-parlementaire/2023/04/07/

FranceInfo with AFP, Sept. 1, 2023. Putsch in Gabon: France's military cooperation are suspended, according to the French Minister of the Armed Forces (Own translation) "As far as the military presence is concerned, they are soldiers who do training and who have always been alongside the Gabonese army. At present, their activities have been suspended while waiting for the political situation to be clarified. "said Sebastien Lecornu.

Read the article in French on:

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/gabon/putsch-au-gabon-la-cooperation-militaire-de-la-france-suspendue-selon-le-ministre-des-armees-francais_6038204.html

La Nouvelle Tribune; September 3, 2023. Uranium: the Financial Times announces a price increase because of Niger (own translation) "... The impact of the recent coup d'état in Niger, one of the main suppliers of uranium, is being felt strongly on world markets. According to the Financial Times, retail investors are turning to funds linked to uranium due to fears over the stability of supply. These concerns have been amplified by geopolitical tensions, notably the war in Ukraine, which have exacerbated concerns over gas supplies. These events pushed the price of uranium concentrate to a 16-month high, reaching $58.8 per pound...."

Read the article in French at:

https://lanouvelletribune.info/2023/09/uranium-le-financial-times-annonce-une-augmentation-du-prix-a-cause-du-niger/

"From a postcolonial perspective, the transition from democracy to military autocratic regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger demonstrated the self-confidence of the new power elite (Daffé, 2023). It was triggered by a vehement rejection of the colonial framework in the foreign policies of the countries concerned, not only by the military, but also by large sections of the population, including the youth, who had no prospects of earning a living in their own country and were therefore increasingly inclined to migrate to Europe." This is the ultimate conclusion of the paper "Kohnert, D. (2023). Will the UEMOA survive the rise of anti-French sentiment in West Africa? Hamburg. https://nbnresolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-88697-7

Available on:

https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/88697/ssoar-2023-kohnert-Will_the_UEMOA_survive_the.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y&lnkname=ssoar-2023-kohnert-Will_the_UEMOA_survive_the.pdf

Dignity and Revolution. The "Enough!" ("¡Ya Basta!") proclaimed by the Zapatistas on the first day of 1994 was the cry of dignity [1]. Likewise in Tunisia, on January 14, 2011, the people stood up to shout "Get out!" ("Dégage!") slogan of what the people called in its constitution the "Revolt of Freedom and Dignity" and what the world has, wrongly, referred as "Revolt of Jasmine”, the prelude to what was called “Arab Spring”.

The loss of “Dignity” is, among all attacks on a human person, the strongest, the most intolerable, the most buried in the depths of oppressed souls. The desire to restore “Dignity” creates a groundswell, always devastating: what will happen afterward is not important and does not come into play.

What is happening today, little everywhere in the world, is just a repetition of History. "Those who don't remember history are condemned to repeat it" Said, George Orwell.

[1] Holloway, J. (2018). Dignity's revolt (pp. pp-159). PM Press. Available on:

http://cril.mitotedigital.org/sites/default/files/content/zap-dignitys_revolt-holloway.pdf

In line with my previous post. The chapter [1] mentioned above explains what it means to put dignity first in order to live a human life against and in an inhumane society. This is precisely the leitmotif of oppositional thought, at the heart of the struggle of millions of people all over the world. One may read within the Chapter [1] "Dignity, the refusal to accept humiliation and dehumanization, the refusal to conform: dignity is the core of the Zapatistas ' revolution of revolution. The idea of dignity has not been invented by the Zapatistas, but they have given it a prominence that it has never before possessed in revolutionary thought. When the Zapatistas rose, they planted the flag of dignity not just in the center of the uprising in Chiapas, but in the center of oppositional thought. Dignity is not peculiar to the indigenous peoples of the southeast of Mexico: the struggle to convert 'dignity and rebellion into freedom and dignity' (an odd but important formulation) is the struggle of (and for) human existence in an oppressive society, as relevant to life in Edinburgh, Athens, Tokyo, Los Angeles or Johannesburg as it is to the struggles of the people of the Lacandon Jungle."

[1] Holloway, J. (2018). Dignity's revolt (pp. pp-159). PM Press. Available on:

http://cril.mitotedigital.org/sites/default/files/content/zap-dignitys_revolt-holloway.pdf

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience/9

France-Africa & France-USA: Je t'aime moi non plus! Very interesting to read the article "France is losing its footing in Africa: The “Françafrique” empire is collapsing" published in Perspectives Méditerranéennes on September 4, 2023. The article analyzes the point of view of Scott Ritter, former intelligence officer American on recent developments in Africa. Recall that Scott Ritter is also very critical of the interventionist policy of the United States, including vis-à-vis its military support for Ukraine.

One may read within the article (Own translation): "The Gabon putsch represents a continuing manifestation of a process of decolonization in Africa and strongly threatens France which is losing its economic ties, estimated Scott Ritter, former American intelligence officer. “This is something that constitutes an existential threat to France. It has extensive economic ties with Africa and the rapid disintegration of these ties will impact the French economy. This will have political repercussions, as many members of the French political elite have acquired their wealth through the continued exploitation of Africa,” he said in an interview with the Gegepol YouTube channel.

Indeed, Gabon represented “the overall strategic posture of France” after decolonization and “was a source of uranium which made possible the French nuclear force” independent of the United States, he recalls. According to him, France should expect “consequences”, without dreaming of surviving these transformations “quietly”. In particular, because “France is not a superpower and has limited military capacity in Gabon”. Furthermore, Paris could do nothing if Libreville decided to expel it from its territory by force “unless the United States was willing to come to its aid,” suggests S. Ritter. However, Washington does not seem to be "aligning itself to support France's postcolonial policies on the African continent", according to him. And to add that “the future is disastrous for France”, according to the former US officer. The French “will find themselves facing the limits of their power and the anger of Africa which has reached this point with French postcolonial policy”.

This series of changes of power on the continent constitutes a fed-up with Paris which continued to dominate the “former colonial territories by controlling their political, economic, social and military aspects”. “Africa is waking up and becoming aware of the persistent poverty that rages in these countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Niger, Gabon,” says Scott Ritter. All of these nations are adrift in domestic chaos and poverty while a political and economic elite thrives. […] This is why we are witnessing successive military coups aimed at ousting pro-French political elites. And Gabon is the most recent example,” he further notes".

Read the article in French on:

https://perspectivesmed.com/la-france-perd-pied-en-afrique-lempire-francafrique-secroule/

ANTIL, A. & LESIGNE, L., 2023. Emmanuel Macron's trip to Central Africa: a look back on a difficult diplomatic exercise, IFRI: Institut Français des Relations Internationales. Briefings de l’Ifri, 10 mai 2023. Summary: "On February 27, 2023, Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech on French-African relations before traveling to Central Africa to meet with the leaders of four countries: Gabon, Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This briefing looks back at the key moments of his latest presidential trip and analyzes the limits of this diplomatic exercise. Emmanuel Macron has visited 25 African countries since his first election in May 2017, making him one of the world leader with the most diplomatic engagements with African nations.

In his speech on France's new Africa policy, the French president emphasized a "renewed partnership" with African countries. He wants to move away from the "French backyard", a discourse that is not new.

On the military front, he wants to reduce the number of French soldiers in Africa and focus on military cooperation and training initiatives, an ambition that seems difficult to achieve with reduced personnel.

The announced objective of this tour was to improve France's image on the African continent, while other rival powers such as Russia, China, or Turkey are gradually imposing themselves. The results are mitigated, the trip was badly perceived by many African governments".

This publication is in French.

The South has to consider its future differently, off the beaten track of economic and especially political corruption. An outstanding illustration of the heatable current situation is given by trial related to Multinationals ELF and its affairs in Africa, especially in Gabon is majestically rendered in Lucas Belvaux's film "The Predators": All the actors are extraordinary but Nicole Garcia and the late Claude Brasseur are breathtaking: The film produced in 2007 has recently been on youtube to the delight of moviegoers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWFylTjWJiw

Jeune Afrique, September 1, 2023, By Fadwa Islah. Mohammed VI in Paris, prelude to a warming between Morocco and France? This private visit by the King of Morocco comes after Emmanuel Macron's admission of failure in the Maghreb policy. Will the French president take the opportunity to put an end to the diplomatic cold between Paris and Rabat?

Article in French on:

https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1478531/politique/mohammed-vi-a-paris-prelude-dun-rechauffement-entre-le-maroc-et-la-france/

Le Parisien, September 9, 2023, Earthquake in Morocco: King Mohammed VI shows up in action after a long silence. The silence of King Mohammed VI, the day after the terrible earthquake that devastated part of Morocco, on the night of Friday to Saturday, contrasted with the rapid reactions of the international community. According to information from Le Parisien in France, "Mohammed VI was not in his country when the earth shook. But in France, where he had not been since June 2022. The sovereign would have arrived there on September 1, not to go to his house in the Oise but for medical reasons.... However, this Saturday, the French authorities refused any confirmation". (Own translation)

Read the article in French on:

https://www.leparisien.fr/international/seisme-au-maroc-ou-est-le-roi-mohammed-vi-09-09-2023-AB5DJ2POQ5EXHJBAKRMIZTJSYY.php

Article by Jean-Yves Camus in the famous satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo posted online on September 9, 2023, Africa: the choice between the putsch and the Ehpad. "In Gabon, the coup d'etat is the fifth since 2020 on the African continent. France finds itself faced with an impossible choice: to rely on octogenarian presidents who have not been retired by putches, or withdraw in favor of China and Russia..."

PS: EHPADs (Etablissements d'Hébergement pour Personnes Agées Dépendantes: Establishments for Housing Dependent Elderly People) are medical retirement homes

Article on:

https://charliehebdo.fr/2023/09/international/afrique-le-choix-entre-le-putsch-et-lehpad/

Le Point September 10, 2023, Niger: Macron submits the redeployment of French forces to the will of Bazoum. “Emmanuel Macron renewed his support for Mohamed Bazoum, in the face of “officials who, today, are taking a president hostage”... “If we redeploy anything, I will only do so at the request of President Bazoum,” declared Emmanuel Macron at the G20 summit in New Delhi. (Own translation)

Read the article in French on:

https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/niger-macron-soumet-le-redeploiement-des-forces-francaises-a-la-volonte-de-bazoum-10-09-2023-2534861_24.php

This paper [1] Military Coup in Niger: The Legacies of Colonialism and the U.S. War on Terror in West Africa, released 3 days ago deals with two compelling questions: "How has the militarization of West Africa, explored through the lens of the war on terror, set the stage for the recent coup in Niger, and what does this upheaval signify for the future of the region? Amidst the shifting sands of power, a closer examination of these connections and motivations reveals a tale of hidden agendas, geopolitical chess moves and the struggle for control over a land where history and destiny collide"

[1] Zambakari, Christopher, Military Coup in Niger: The Legacies of Colonialism and the U.S. War on Terror in West Africa, 2023. AFRICA REPORT No 14 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4546350

Interesting and well-documented thesis dissertation by Walton, R. 2020, with the revealing title "No Room for Frenemies: Why a Strong Franco-American Relationship Is Important, The American University of Paris." Abstract: "Considering the current administrations of both France and the United States is essential when discussing the impacts of weak Franco-American relations. The characteristics of the two administrations shape the relationship and can potentially be detrimental to current and future policy goals of both nations. Contrasting views and foreign policy goals enervate the continuation of a strong relationship as well as the efficacy and reliance on multilateral

institutions such as NATO and multilateral deals such as the Paris Agreement and the JCPOA Iran deal to achieve common goals in the international system. This thesis will argue that maintaining strong Franco-American diplomatic relations are important for both France and the United States in order to maintain their leadership role in the world and to maintain legitimacy in the international system in order to promote their interests. The first chapter of this paper provides a discussion of realism and power as explained by John Mearsheimer and Joseph Nye followed by a description of Franco-American relations after the Cold War that incorporates the roles realism and power may have played in foreign policy decisions. The second chapter reviews the Trump-Macron relationship since 2017 by highlighting their personal and diplomatic relations, realist actions, and foreign policy decisions to underline the source of weakened bilateral relations. The last chapter of this thesis will include an evaluation of the current relationship and the future of Franco-American relations by professionals in the foreign affairs field. This research hopes to portray that negative impacts can occur if a relationship that is meant to remain stable is not. The paper will then conclude with what it could mean for the bilateral relationship if Trump were to win a second term as President as well as encourage future French and American administrations to seek beneficial relations with their strongest allies".

Thesis dissertation available on:

https://search.proquest.com/openview/09192979cf83518517cd26931dd58a46/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2026366&diss=y

RFI, Issued on: 21/06/2023 Uproar as leaked documents reveal Madagascar's president is French "Revelations that Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina, holds dual French nationality have caused a stir in the Indian Ocean island, where the law says anyone who acquires citizenship of a foreign country automatically loses their Malagasy nationality."

Read the article on:

https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20230621-uproar-as-leaked-documents-reveal-madagascar-s-president-rajoelina-is-french

Not without relation to the previous post. Reuters, September 6, 2023, Madagascar President Rajoelina to seek re-election in November "Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina said on Wednesday he will seek re-election in November, speaking in front of thousands of supporters, despite opposition claims that he should be barred from running on constitutional grounds. Madagascar is hoping for its third peaceful election since the upheaval of 2009, when Rajoelina ousted President Marc Ravalomanana in a coup, prompting an exodus of foreign investors from the Indian Ocean island."

Read the article on:

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/madagascar-president-rajoelina-seek-re-election-november-2023-09-06/

France 24, September 10, 2023, Niger military accuses France of deploying forces with view to 'intervention'. Niger's coup leaders have accused France of gathering forces, war materials and equipment in several neighbouring West African countries with a view to "military intervention". "Nigeriens junta leaders walk while Nigeriens gather one month since coup, in support of the putschist soldiers and to demand French ambassador to leave..."France continues to deploy its forces in several ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries as part of preparations for an aggression against Niger, which it is planning in collaboration with this community organisation," Niger's regime spokesman .... Paris, which refuses to recognise the military regime in Niger, does not consider the soldiers who overthrew the president as party to those cooperation deals...France is engaged in a tug-of-war with Niger, which has also withdrawn the diplomatic immunity of French ambassador Sylvain Itte and ordered police to expel him. France has refused the demand on several occasions, saying the military regime has no legal right to make such an order..."

Read the article on:

https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20230910-niger-military-accuses-france-of-deploying-forces-with-view-to-intervention

Libération, September 18, 2023, Tribune by Achille Mbembe. "Répondre aux crises africaines à l’instar d’un amoureux éconduit ne mènera nulle part". Responding to African crises like a spurned lover will lead nowhere, (Own translation). "For the Cameroonian intellectual, if France's adoption of security measures in the Sahel can be justified, these are not the economic sanctions nor military interventions which will stem the proliferation of coups d'état. It is only in democratic cooperation, he believes, that the exit from the old postcolonial pact can be played out...."

Read the article in French on:

https://www.liberation.fr/idees-et-debats/tribunes/repondre-aux-crises-africaines-a-linstar-dun-amoureux-econduit-ne-menera-nulle-part-par-achille-mbembe-20230918_FK6GM3T27FG57D2UC6GO5W43J4/

On Turkey EU Relationship. Carnegie Europe, September 18, 2023, by Marc Pierini Prospects and Impediments as Seen From Brussels. Excerpts: "... In view of Turkey’s domestic evolution and global changes, the question arises of whether EU accession was ever the ideal policy vehicle for the country. The EU’s accession requirements are simply incompatible with Erdoğan’s chosen governance structures and style. Yet, the enlargement criteria will not change, as stated by EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi on September 12. Outside the EU accession framework, the rule-of-law requirements of governments and business circles will also remain. How to reconcile these seemingly incompatible tracks—rule-of-law requirements and institutionalized autocracy—will be the key topic of future discussions between Ankara and Brussels. Ultimately, the EU will not collapse if Turkey prefers a different model of government. Turkey will not collapse either, but without a normalized relationship with the EU it may be a less relevant actor on the global stage.

Conclusion: The world is witnessing momentous geopolitical changes in continental Europe and beyond. In parallel, Turkey is reorienting its foreign policy and expanding its global role. Turkey is obviously free to follow its own trajectory. What remains to be seen is how the country will balance its global geopolitical ambitions with its European neighborhood and its core economic interests and constraints. Amid a massive upheaval in world geopolitics, it has become crucial for all players to make a workable assessment of international realities.'

Read the paper on:

https://carnegieeurope.eu/2023/09/18/turkey-s-european-goals-prospects-and-impediments-as-seen-from-brussels-pub-90557

This paper [1] by Bocse (2020) "From the United States with shale gas" is, two years after, surprisingly topical. It explains the major geopolitical and economic stakes related to the energy issue in Europe. One may read in the paper's conclusion: "After 2014, the US argued openly that strategic considerations need to be strongly considered and can trump market considerations when developing pipelines key to enhancing EU energy security. Public intervention in pipeline development can be considered an exceptional measure, a suspension of pure market forces to cope with a security threat.

The value attached to strategic considerations (such as the diversification of the EU gas supply and routes away from Russia) rather than pure market considerations explains the support of the US for the Southern Gas Corridor and their opposition towards Nord Stream 2. Sure, some might claim that the American opposition to Nord Stream 2 is explained by the desire to open the EU market to American LNG. However, if the US position is motivated exclusively by such economic considerations, we cannot explain the US support for the Southern Gas Corridor.

However, securitization did not go as far as creating the momentum needed to conclude the negotiations on a TTIP inclusive of an energy chapter. But it cannot be denied that the crisis contributed to setting the US energy policy towards EU on a new path maintained to a considerable degree by the Trump administration (when it comes to the support for LNG gas exports, support for supply and routes diversification infrastructure and opposition to Nord Stream), a surprising development given the clash between the Obama and the Trump administrations in other policy areas. Bilateral interactions between US and EU high officials and policymakers, in the framework of the EU-US Energy Council, or outside it, play an important role in the transatlantic cooperation on energy"

Illustration Source: From [1]

[1] Bocse, A. M. (2020). From the United States with shale gas: Ukraine, energy securitization, and the reshaping of transatlantic energy relations. Energy research & social science, 69, 101553.

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Energy_Renewable_Energy_and_Levelized_Cost_Of_Energy_LCOE_Paradoxes

https://www.researchgate.net/post/The_energy_pattern_and_the_perspective_of_large-scale_exploitation_of_shale_gas_What_alternative_solutions

Control of energy and its sources is and has always been one of the cornerstones of world leadership no matter how it is dressed up: Nationalism, colonialism, inference use and misuse of human rights, freedoms, environmental protection, fight against climate change, and other universal principles, new colonialism, free and unfair trade, multinational occult activities, corruption, military interventions, support for armed movements, mercenary companies, support for totalitarian and sometimes criminal powers, NGO and connections, Humanitarian aid, military or civil coups. All means and methods are well provided so that the black blood of the earth flows in the right direction.

This is an interesting recent overview [1] of civil nuclear energy in the world and the associated geopolitical issues by Lewandowski (2023): "Change climate and energy crisis: new deal for global civil nuclear power". One may read there: "The second largest source of low-carbon electricity in the world, the first in the EU, it is a major asset in the fight against climate change. It also contributes, over the long term, to the security of electricity supply and the economic development of the countries that use it. It is in the light of these different criteria that the “return to grace” of nuclear power observed in several European countries since 2020 is assessed. “Nuclear diplomacy” is therefore more active than ever: while the barycenter of new nuclear power is now in Russia and China, the United States is very committed to regaining its leadership by massively supporting its research and its national industry, especially in the field of small modular reactors, and by developing its international partnerships. In this context, the success of the resumption of the great adventure of civil nuclear power in France requires a major national project allowing human, industrial and financial mobilization that will allow it to recover its vocation as a nuclear power".

[1] Lewandowski, C. (2023). Change climate and energy crisis: new deal for global civil nuclear power. Herodote, 188(1), 119-138.

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Energy_Renewable_Energy_and_Levelized_Cost_Of_Energy_LCOE_Paradoxes

The study [1], by Raza, Ahmed, Russia's War on Ukraine-2022 - Validating Jean de Bloch's 'Theory of The Future War-1898' (February 3, 2023), shows how some enlightened spirits can see beyond space and time. One may read there: "While covering the “Ongoing Russo-Ukraine War with no End in Sight (for the time being)” is exclusively based on Jean de Bloch’s remarkably exhaustive study on the outcome of “Future War” who prophesied that technological developments’ induction into the (future) war would lead to stalemate, unmanageable expensiveness and unimaginable expansiveness; all contributing to irreparable losses in terms of men and material; thus leaving none to claim victory in the end".

[1] Raza, A. (2023). Russia's War on Ukraine-2022-Validating Jean de Bloch's' Theory of The Future War-1898'. SSRN 4346616.

Available at:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4346616

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace/15

CNN (released 5 hours ago) By Chris Liakos, France will end its military presence in Niger by the end of 2023, Macron says. "France will end its military presence in Niger by the end of 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday, marking the latest major development amid high tensions between the two countries since a military junta seized control of Niger in July. “We are putting an end to our military cooperation with the de facto authorities of Niger because they don’t want to fight terrorism anymore,” Macron said regarding the military leaders who took over rule of the northwest African country. French ambassador is being 'held hostage at the French embassy' in Niger, says Macron. France has not recognized Niger’s military authorities and insists that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, who was toppled in the coup, remains the country’s only legitimate authority. The decision to end the “cooperation” is “because we are not there to deal with internal politics and be hostages of putschists,” Macron said, referring to the military group. The withdrawal will be organized in the coming weeks, he said. “They will come back in an orderly manner in the weeks and months to come, and for that, we will coordinate with the putschists because we want this to happen calmly,” Macron said.

Niger’s ruling military power said it welcomes France’s decision to pull its troops from the country, according to a statement posted to Niger’s state television, Tele Sahel. “This Sunday, we celebrate another step towards Niger’s sovereignty. French troops and the French ambassador will be leaving Niger by the end of the year,” the statement said. “Imperialist and neo-colonialist forces are no longer welcome on our national territory.” “Any person, institution or structure whose presence threatens the interests and outlook of our country will have to leave the land of our ancestors, whether they like it or not,” it added. “Our resistance will be unwavering, and will deal with any institution or structure attempting to challenge the higher interests of our nation.”..

Read on:

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/24/europe/france-end-military-presence-niger-intl/index.html

The National News, Sep 26, 2023, by Sunniva Rose, France's environment minister takes swipe at Sunak's pushback on net zero. Christophe Bechu says tensions over the green transition in Europe must be met with more explanations from politicians. "French Environment Minister Christophe Bechu on Tuesday lashed out at UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for walking back last week on green commitments on cars and domestic heating as he called on European leaders to communicate better on the topic. “When you see the position of Rishi Sunak which consists in explaining that you have to slow down the rhythm [of the green transition], you can appreciate that across Europe, there is a need for explanations,” said Mr Bechu during an online brief with journalists. Mr Sunak last week announced a shift of Britain's climate goals, pushing back a ban on new petrol-only cars from 2030 to 2035 and delaying another ban on buying new boilers. “We have stumbled into a consensus about the future of our country that no one seems to be happy with,” he said. His decision drew criticism from climate experts who warned that avoiding short-term costs was likely to lead to a greater bill for taxpayers down the road..."

Read more on:

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2023/09/26/frances-environment-minister-takes-swipe-at-sunaks-pushback-on-net-zero/

La Tribune, September 27, 2023, "In 2023, Russia's economic growth will exceed that of the euro zone, despite Western sanctions. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development even estimates that Russia's GDP will increase by 1.5% in 2023. A resilience that the EBRD attributes in particular to the rise in oil prices. (Own translation)

Read the paper (in French) on:

https://www.latribune.fr/economie/international/en-2023-la-croissance-economique-de-la-russie-va-depasser-celle-de-la-zone-euro-malgre-les-sanctions-occidentales-977691.html

Moral: "Europe is taking great steps backward and veiling its face so as not to admit that it is the turkey of the farce. De Gaulle very early, and even Mitterrand with Vedrine in particular and later Chirac with de Villepin, they understood the geostrategic stakes but after that it is the decline, not in France only but on the whole of Europe". Where is Europe Today? Who speaks of?

VOA-News September 27, 2023, by Henry Ridgwell, Slovakia’s Election Threatens to Upend Western Unity on Ukraine. LONDON: Slovakia is due to hold parliamentary elections Saturday amid fears in Kyiv and Western capitals that the result could jeopardize unity on support for Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. "The populist Smer, or Direction, party, led by former prime minister Robert Fico, is leading the polls with around 18% of the vote. He has campaigned on a platform of ending military support for Ukraine and blocking the country’s path to NATO membership, while opposing sanctions on Russia. ...“Peace is the only solution. I refuse to get criticized and labeled as a warmonger just for talking about peace, whereas those who support war and killing are being called peace activists. We have it all messed up in our heads." Fico pledged to reverse such policies. “Why for God’s sake don’t we go negotiate peace? Why do we only talk about how much ammunition we are going to send to Ukraine, what tanks are we going to send, how many billions are we going to spend on more armaments?” he said....A recent survey by GLOBSEC showed that just over half of Slovaks believe the West or Kyiv are responsible for the war following Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Similarly, half of respondents saw the United States as posing a security threat for Slovakia, up from 39% in 2022.... Until now, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, has been the sole NATO and EU member to openly question Western support for Ukraine. Fico sees Orban as a future ally, says Grigorij Meseznikov of the Slovak Institute for Public Affairs....“I'm afraid it might cause a bit of a domino effect, especially in countries that are awaiting elections. We're already seeing in Poland that the issue of support for Ukraine is being brought up,” Hajdu said. Poland is due to hold elections October 15..."

Read more on:

https://www.voanews.com/a/slovakia-s-election-threatens-to-upend-western-unity-on-ukraine/7286950.html

To be followed with concern, over the next few days...

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace/16

France 24, Released 8 hours ago, EU's Mediterranean leaders meet on migration. Valletta (AFP) – The leaders of nine Mediterranean and southern European countries, including France's Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Giorgia Meloni, meet Friday in Malta for talks set to focus on migration. "The EU is poised to agree a revamped Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will seek to relieve pressure on frontline countries such as Italy and Greece by relocating some arrivals to other EU states. Those countries opposed to hosting asylum-seekers -- Poland and Hungary among them -- would be required to pay the ones that do take migrants in....Both Meloni and Macron also want to prevent boats departing from North Africa by working more closely with Tunisia, despite questions over the country's human rights standards and treatment of migrants...Rome and Paris are also keen to intensify EU controls at sea. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will be at the Malta summit, included the possible expansion of naval missions in the Mediterranean in a 10-point action plan this month in Lampedusa. There are fears arrivals could spiral further if instability in the Sahel affects North African countries. The "Med 9", which brings together Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain, is expected to call for greater investment by the bloc in the so-called Southern Neighbourhood. Extra funding may be earmarked for countries across the Mediterranean's southern shore in the review of the EU's 2021-2027 long-term budget, a European diplomatic source told AFP...."

Read more on:

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230929-eu-s-mediterranean-leaders-meet-on-migration

See also: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Depopulation_versus_Overpopulation_Demographic_growth_transition_and_decline_What_else_Demographic_Crisis_or_even_Demographic_Crash/1

i24NEWS October 01, 2023 Turkey 'no longer expects anything' from EU, irate Erdogan says ..."We have kept all the promises we have made to the EU but they have kept almost none of theirs," he said before an inaugural session of parliament, which reopened as planned. The president added that he would not "tolerate any new demands or conditions on the accession process" for his country to join the bloc..".

Read more on:

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/levant-turkey/1696168255-turkey-no-longer-expects-anything-from-eu-says-irate-erdogan-hours-after-ankara-bombing

About the North Stream Gas Pipeline. It is quite common when reading the news to find opposing points of view on the same subject. It’s even natural, interesting, and enriching. On the other hand, when the same press group provides us, without further explanation, with divergent analyses on a given subject, we question the unsaid reasons for information/disinformation.

In May 2021, Le Monde Diplomatique gave us an article on the North Stream Gas Pipeline entitled “American forcing to supplant Russian deliveries. How to sabotage a gas pipeline (Own Translation); Where one can read: “Tube diplomacy was better before. In the 1970s, gas exchanges between Western Europe and the Soviet Union delighted the chancelleries: stable, and durable, the gas pipelines built a bridge between the two rival blocks of the Old Continent. And, when the Americans decide to disturb the "détente", they must be disillusioned: in 1982, President Ronald Reagan sanctioned several European companies involved in the construction of a Euro-Siberian gas pipeline which, in his eyes, would make Europe dependent on “reds”. But the ten members of the European Economic Community (EEC) refused to apply the embargo, and France requisitioned a company to force it to deliver equipment to the Soviets... A few months later, Washington backed down."

Read the article on (in French):

https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2021/05/RIMBERT/63053

On the same subject, Le Monde, from September 14, 2023, gives us a new reading of the subject in an article entitled “The Nord Stream Trap”: Putin’s “diabolical pipe” (Own translation); Where one can read “In a book too gripping as a thriller, journalist Marion Van Renterghem tells how the head of the Kremlin patiently weaved his web to make Europeans dependent on his gas... Nord Stream is the centerpiece of the premeditated trap that Vladimir Putin set for Europe to make it hostage to its gas.

Read the article on (in French):

https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2023/09/14/le-piege-nord-stream-le-tuyau-diabolique-de-poutine_6189334_3232.html

A premonitory analysis of the situation in Europe, already before the Ukrainian crisis has been presented within a paper by Anaïs Voy-Gillis on European radical-right parties, with a map: Europe: "the irresistible rise of radical-right parties", Posted on 05/26/2020: https://www.lanouvellerepublique.fr/a-la-une/europe-l-irresistible-montee-des-partis-d-extreme-droite

Where one may read “The post-coronavirus economic crisis risks reinforcing nationalism and causing some of the Member States of a European Union to turn in on themselves which is, for the moment, not up to the emerging issues, as it has not been able to respond to the concerns of many of its members....For European extremists, who strengthened their position during the 2019 European elections, the criticism of the EU essentially concerns the fact that it “comes to deprive the Nations of their sovereignty to the detriment of the peoples. These criticisms are based on two major points: immigration with free movement, and the euro, the single currency for seventeen states. The example of Brexit reinforces this feeling of a legitimist sovereignty that it is good to find again”...(Own translation from French); Anaïs Voy-Gillis, is a geographer at the French Institute of Geopolitics.

Map from the article (See also the Legend for more on the source)

The Great Continent, October 3, 2023. France-Germany: understanding the reasons for distancing (France-Allemagne : comprendre les raisons d’un éloignement). Relations between Paris and Berlin are currently not good, and that is saying something. On both sides, we no longer understand each other to the point where the main pillars of Franco-German cooperation appear to be at a standstill. To understand the causes of this distance, Michaela Wiegel, FAZ correspondent in Paris, answered questions by Pierre Mennerat "The Great Continent" (Own translation)

Since the start of the coalition and even more so since the war in Ukraine, there has been a series of misunderstandings, even divergences between Paris and Berlin - you mentioned some of them in your editorial in the FAZ of September 18 - How to explain Do you see this fundamental change in Franco-German relations from February 2022?

Michaela Wiegel: To understand the fundamental change in the Zeitenwende, we must not forget that Germany rediscovered in February 2022 that it was under the American nuclear umbrella. One of the first political measures was to close a ten-year-old debate and buy planes to carry American nuclear bombs stored on German territory as part of the famous nuclear sharing with the United States within NATO. This decision to buy the American F35s was seen as a first sign of distrust in France when it was rather a reaction to a German awareness of extreme vulnerability.

Read the rest of the interview (In French) on:

https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2023/10/03/france-allemagne-comprendre-les-raisons-dun-eloignement/

In the same way, as in France, we observe a recent trend toward Nuclear Revival in the UK (the same causes produce the same effects), The recent paper by Caglar, A. E. 2023 is in this regard uplifting: "Can nuclear energy technology budgets pave the way for a transition toward low‐carbon economy: insights from the United Kingdom. Sustainable Development, 31(1), 198-210". However, this is not yet the case in Germany even if Germans have no problem in buying Nuclear Electric Power from outside the country.

The paper mentioned is available on:

Article Can nuclear energy technology budgets pave the way for a tra...

One may read within the conclusion: "Our study demonstrated the positive impact on the environmental quality of the government's increased R&D spending for nuclear power. Thus, the government should allocate more budget to R&D investments for nuclear energy during the transition to a low-carbon economy until renewable energy matures. There has been an increase in R&D budgets, especially since 2008. However, when compared to 1974, the budget is relatively low. The government can move away from fossil fuels and control energy security by allocating more resources from the general budget for nuclear power R&D".

Schuman, Robert, and Michel Barnier. Pour l'Europe. Paris: Nagel, 1963.

EURACTIV with AFP, The European Union “cannot accept” Israel stopping water supplies to Gaza’s population, which “clearly” violates international law, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday (18 October). “Suspending the water supply to a community under siege is contrary to international law. But we can’t accept that,” he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg..." Read more on: https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/eu-cannot-accept-israel-illegally-halting-water-to-gaza-borrell/

Link to the speech video

https://twitter.com/i/status/1714657666901946504

“You can run away from everything except your conscience.” By Stefan Zweig

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace/19

Winston Churchill said [1]: "We must take change by the hand or rest assuredly, change will take us by the throat". It seems that Europe has not taken this into account for its energy security and decision-makers are realizing this. Better late than never! In this respect, the commission of inquiry of the National Assembly "aiming to establish the reasons for the loss of sovereignty and energy independence of France" produced a report, presented on Thursday, April 6, 2023. The report makes 30 recommendations, most largely in support of nuclear revival, but also in favor of hydroelectricity and the development of heating networks.

Read more (in French) on:

https://www.lemondedelenergie.com/energie-france-a-pris-30-ans-retard-selon-commission-enquete-parlementaire/2023/04/07/

[1] https://www.pinterest.com/pin/we-must-take-change-by-the-hand-or-rest-assuredly-change-will-take-us-by-the-throat-winston-churchill- -198510296058348575/

La Dépêche: October 25, 2023, Dossier: Guerre Israël-Hamas : la proposition inattendue d'Emmanuel Macron d'une "coalition" contre le Hamas surprend (Israel-Hamas war: Emmanuel Macron's unexpected proposal for a "coalition" against Hamas surprises, Own translation) Excerpts: "...The idea of mobilizing the anti-Daesh coalition – created in 2014 and which brings together 80 countries – against Hamas, while calling to avoid any conflagration, has, in any case, surprised in the Middle East among certain Arab countries allied with France, as in France. “Be careful, the words have a meaning precise in diplomacy. The war on terrorism by the return of the coalition against Daesh means France is participating in the war against Hamas. Where? When? In Gaza? Now? So where is the ceasefire? This point Macron's speech is extremely questioning. The return to the theory of the war on terrorism of G. W. Bush and the neoconservatives is a whole world that French diplomacy rejects", tweeted the leader of LFI Jean-Luc Mélenchon... .While the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, yesterday condemned the “clear violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza”, MM. Macron and Abbas began their meeting..."

Read the Article (In French) On:

https://www.ladepeche.fr/2023/10/25/dossier-guerre-israel-hamas-emmanuel-macron-surprend-avec-une-coalition-contre-le-hamas-11540369.php

Without complicity, connivance, and perhaps pressures, intimidation, and menace at the highest decision-makers, there cannot be significant corruption wherever. The trial on corruption within the European Parliament is an example. This academic paper tackles the mechanisms of such occult maneuvers:

Obydenkova, A. V., & Arpino, B. (2018). Corruption and trust in the European Union and national institutions: Changes over the Great Recession across European states. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 56(3), 594-611.

This is an outstanding paper "CLIMATE GEOENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES: CORRUPTION AND INTEGRITY GAPS", 03 June 2022, Where one may read: "Among CDR technologies, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage...For SRM, marine cloud brightening and stratospheric aerosol injection..However, if deployed at large-scale, CDR and SRM technologies are likely to come with “far-reaching and profound social, political, and environmental risks and impacts. The effects would – by nature of the intervention – be transboundary as well as potentially large-scale, unpredictable and irreversible.” For example, according to the IPCC, “[m]ost current and potential CDR measures could have significant impacts on land, energy, water or nutrients if deployed at large scale …. Afforestation and bioenergy may compete with other land uses and may have significant impacts on agricultural and food systems, biodiversity, and other ecosystem functions and services...Corruption risks exist in a situation where governments are placed in a position to grant rights or privileges..to enhance patent eligibility, geoengineering technology inventors could try to conceal, suppress or misrepresent adverse information about the risks and impacts of such technologies while at the same time portraying such technologies as the solutions to climate change and its impacts, or try to establish “patent thickets” to block follow-on innovation or extract maximal royalties... Such actions would undermine the patent system and negate any public good rationale that may have been behind the patent grant in the first place...This would create patent and cost barriers to the rapid diffusion, uptake, adoption and adaptation of such inventions and technologies in the rest of the world. Patent barriers could make it more difficult for developing countries to obtain the technologies they need to undertake effective climate action and ultimately develop their own endogenous environmental technologies". Paper available on: https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/climate-geoengineering-technologies-corruption-integrity-gaps

"How do we explain continuity and change in foreign policy (FP)? What roles do emotions, affect and discourse play in FP decision-making? How do we account for contradictions and paradoxes between what state leaders invoke and some of their actions in practice? In what ways can we engage ethically and critically with FP decisions or lack thereof? These are key questions in the study of FP, to which Eberle’s Discourse and Affect in Foreign Policy contributes greatly". Extracted from:

Mandelbaum, M. M. (2023). Discourse and Affect in Foreign Policy: Germany and the Iraq War by Jakub Eberle (2019). Emotions and Society, 1-3. Released 2 weeks ago, Available on:

https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/emsoc/aop/article-10.1332-26316897Y2023D000000007/article-10.1332-26316897Y2023D000000007.xml

The article by Akarsu, M. Z., & Gharehgozli, O. (released 5 days ago). "The impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on European Union currencies: a high-frequency analysis. Policy Studies, 1-24 "examines how the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war has affected the valuation of five European Union currencies: the Polish Zloty, Hungarian Forint, Czech Koruna, Swedish Krone, and Romanian Leu... The Russia-Ukraine war had varying effects on the currencies of non-Eurozone countries. Poland, Hungary, and Sweden experienced significant impacts, while Czechia and Romania remained relatively stable. Our research also highlights the stability of the Euro as a reserve currency, which attracts investors during times of crisis and protects participating economies from currency fluctuations. Additionally, our analysis underscores the distinct impact of war on these currencies, influenced by their unique political, economic, and financial structures and strengths"

Associated Press, 30 oct. 2023, Thousands rally in support of Gaza in cities worldwide "Thousands of people participated in rallies in cities around the world to protest against the war in Gaza and show support to Palestinians who are suffering Israel’s bombardments".

See:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFmXb3np93g

See also:

À Brooklyn, une marée humaine contre les bombardements israéliens à Gaza (In Brooklyn, a human tide against Israeli bombings in Gaza)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26McbqtSkQ

The Guardian (1 hour ago) "The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has “firmly condemned” attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, his office has said. The statement came after Borrell held calls with the Saudi, Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers and the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Hissein Brahim Taha, AFP reported.

More than 120 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since 7 October, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry."

The paper by Horton, R., '(Released on October 26, 2023), "Offline: Israel–Gaza—what comes next?. The Lancet, 402(10412), 1511", gives an objective point of view on the situation in Gaza and puts into perspective a possible crisis exit: "... although Israel's plan to launch a ground offensive may physically eliminate Hamas, it will not succeed politically. As the deaths of Palestinian civilians mount, so will the number of radicalised young Gazans willing to sacrifice their lives in retaliation. We know who the principal victims of a ground war will be—women and children... ". To conclude, the author, writes: "...societies engaged in conflict can find enduring peace by recognising the mutual dignity and potentiality of human lives. Palestinians and Israelis deserve—they surely demand—an alternative to conflict, instability, and inequity. Their political leaders have an opportunity, even in the midst of war, to choose dialogue in place of violence".

Paper available on:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02398-X/fulltext

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace/22

The New York Times, October 28, Their Sons Went Missing Fighting for Ukraine. They Want Answers. "In a rare show of public criticism in wartime, families of missing Ukrainian soldiers are pressing the government for information on their status.

Read more on:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/world/europe/ukraine-missing-soldiers-war.html

Reuters, November 1, 2023 (released 5 hours ago) EU's Borrell 'appalled' by number of casualties in refugee camp bombing. "The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell on Wednesday said he was "appalled" by the high number of casualties from the bombing by Israel of a refugee camp in Gaza and called for fighting parties to respect the international rules of war... "Laws of war and humanity must always apply, including when it comes to humanitarian assistance," Borrell said... U.N. and other aid officials said civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave were facing a public health catastrophe, with hospitals struggling to treat snowballing casualties as electricity supplies peter out. "With each passing day, as the situation becomes more and more dire, this is more urgent than ever," Borrell said as he repeated last week's plea. "The safety and the protection of civilians is not only a moral, but a legal obligation.""

Read more on:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eus-borrell-appalled-by-number-casualties-refugee-camp-bombing-2023-11-01/

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), November 1, 2023. Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war "...As of November 1, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 33 journalists and media workers were among more than 10,000 killed, including 8,525 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis, since the war began on October 7... “The IDF is targeting all Hamas military activity throughout Gaza,” the IDF letter said, adding that Hamas deliberately put military operations “in the vicinity of journalists and civilians … we cannot guarantee your employees’ safety, and strongly urge you to take all necessary measures for their safety....

As of November 1:

• 33 journalists and media workers were confirmed dead: 28 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 1 Lebanese.
• 8 journalists were reported injured.
• 9 journalists were reported missing or detained.
• Continued attacks, arrests, threats, censorship and killings of family members.
• CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes."

Read more on:

https://cpj.org/2023/11/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/

See also

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

TRT Français, November 1, 2023, Top UN official resigns citing 'exemplary case of genocide' in Gaza. Craig Mokhiber, director of the human rights body, says the United States, the UK and much of Europe were "totally complicit in the horrific aggression" carried out by the Israelis in Gaza. (Own Translation from Frech). "Craig Mokhiber, director of the office of the high commissioner for human rights in New York, announced his resignation in a letter made public Tuesday, in which he protests against the "failure" of the Nations united to prevent what he calls the "genocide" of Palestinian civilians in Gaza by the Israelis. "Once again, we are witnessing a genocide taking place before our eyes, and the organization we serve seems powerless to stop it. 'stop,' he wrote in a letter addressed on October 28 to Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights"..."

Read more (in French) on:

https://www.trtfrancais.com/actualites/un-haut-travailnaire-de-lonu-demissionne-en-evoquant-un-cas-exemplaire-de-genocide-a-gaza-15641122

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

EL PAÍS, November 1, 2023, The Israeli army used artillery shells containing white phosphorus against civilians in Lebanon, "Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The organization said the October 16 attack on the Lebanese village of Dhayra should be investigated as a war crime as it was an “an indiscriminate attack that injured at least nine civilians” who inhaled or had contact with this chemical. The report from Amnesty International comes after Human Rights Watch (HRW) verified that Israel also used projectiles with white phosphorus on Gaza City"..."

Read more on:

https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-11-01/amnesty-international-accuses-israel-of-using-white-phosphorus-against-civilians-on-the-lebanon-border.html

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

The Economist, Nov 1st 2023, Ukraine’s top general on the breakthrough he needs to beat Russia, General Valery Zaluzhny admits the war is at a stalemate. "Five months into its counter-offensive, Ukraine has managed to advance by just 17 kilometres. Russia fought for ten months around Bakhmut in the east “to take a town six by six kilometres”. Sharing his first comprehensive assessment of the campaign with The Economist in an interview this week, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, says the battlefield reminds him of the great conflict of a century ago. “Just like in the first world war we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate,” he says. The general concludes that it would take a massive technological leap to break the deadlock. “There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”..."

Read more on:

https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/11/01/ukraines-top-general-on-the-breakthrough-he-needs-to-beat-russia

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

Reuters, November 3, 2023 (Released 9 hours ago), By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Emma Farge, UN experts say ceasefire needed as Palestinians at 'grave risk of genocide', "...Israel says it is targeting Hamas, not civilians, and accuses the Iran-backed militant group of using residents as human shields. "We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide," the group of experts, made up of seven U.N. special rapporteurs, said in a statement. "We demand a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure that aid reaches those who need it the most."..."

Read more on:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-experts-say-ceasefire-needed-palestinians-grave-risk-genocide-2023-11-02/

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

What is surprising and in some respects disappointing is that politicians and number of Journalists are more advanced, more objective, and more rational than certain intellectuals and scholars in understanding, analyzing, and commenting on current political affairs. Example this article published (6 hours ago) in Kyiv Post, November 2, 2023 ‘Russia Shouldn’t Be Underestimated’ – Zaluzhny Admits ‘Stalemate,’ Warns of a Positional War, Read more on:

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/23572

See Also: https://www.researchgate.net/post/Scientific_Integrity_on_ResearchGate

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Scientific_Integrity_Research_Ethics_and_Higher_Education_Deontology_The_Senior_Scholars_Duty

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

On Adam Smith's Invisible Hand and War. "Adam Smith (1723–1790) was born “a fatherless and sickly child” to a “relatively well-to-do family” in Kirkaldy, Scotland.1 He was a lifelong friend of David Hume, a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, and, among other things, chair of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He is best known as a pioneer of political economy, but he was also a moral philosopher with an enduring interest in social theory and human psychology. Smith’s first major work was The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), but he is better known for An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), which secured his reputation as the father of modern economics. Smith’s most influential ideas relate to his theory of natural liberty and the free market, which formed the basis of what is now referred to as classical economics. But he also wrote on many other topics, including those of international relations and war". Expert from the Chapter by Hill, L., 2009, "Adam Smith on War (and Peace). In: Hall, I., Hill, L. (eds) British International Thinkers from Hobbes to Namier. Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York". This chapter explores Adam Smith’s attitude toward war and discusses academic analyses of the topic. Available on:

Chapter Adam Smith on War (and Peace)

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

In the same vein. "The invention of firearms, an invention which at first sight appears to be so pernicious, is certainly favorable both to the permanency and extension of civilization." This at first glance paradoxical assertion is analyzed in the outstanding paper by Minowitz, P. 1989, "Invisible Hand, Invisible Death: Adam Smith on War and Socio-Economic Development. Journal of Political & Military Sociology, 305-315."

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Sciences_Paradoxes

On the black blood of the earth. Control of energy and its sources is and has always been one of the cornerstones of world leadership no matter how it is dressed up: Nationalism, colonialism, inference to impose human rights, freedoms, and other universal principles, new colonialism, free and fair trade, multinational activities, corruption, military interventions, support for democracies, emancipations of peoples, mercenary companies, environmental protection, fight against climate change, support for totalitarian and sometimes criminal powers, NGO and connections, Humanitarian aid, military or civil coups. All means and methods are well provided that the black blood of the earth flows in the right direction

Radio Canada, November 4, 2023, Ces Juifs qui s’opposent à Israël "These Jews who oppose Israel", Au Canada as in US, several groups of Jewish activists are calling for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas (Own Translation). Interesting, but at the same time disconcerting article. It provides insights into Jewish religious communities in North America on their perceptions of Judaism, Jewish doctrines, Zionism, Israel, and Exile. The paper, in French enameled with photographs, reports comments, and testimonies from Jews from North America, religious people, Holocaust survivors, activists in various Jewish entities or citizens in general.

Photo from the Article: Several groups of Jewish activists participated in a demonstration in front of the US consulate in Toronto on Saturday. PHOTO: RADIO-CANADA / ALEXIS RAYMON

Read the paper (in French) on:

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2024046/juifs-antisionisme-israel

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience/23

I am posting this reply on another thread. Quote: “It is the decision of the American people who will become the American president. If American society supports Ukraine, if we share the same values. We will understand all the challenges, as well as the result and damage from the war. I think that any president will help Ukraine,” Zelensky added." Lamentable! Subjecting the destiny of an Army, a People, a Country to an electoral outcome that will happen thousands of kilometers away is also a way of affirming the incomparable genius of a Statesman. One Can only pity Ukraine (Martyrdom) and Europe (Lamentable) from the Atlantic to the Urals.

See also

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

LAProgressive, November 7, 2023, by Norman Solomon, (His most recent book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, was published in June 2023 by The New Press) Israel Military Is Part of U.S. War Machine. Excerpt. "The governments of Israel and the United States are now in disagreement over how many Palestinian civilians it’s okay to kill. Last week—as the death toll from massive Israeli bombardment of Gaza neared 10,000 people, including several thousand children—top U.S. officials began to worry about the rising horrified outcry at home and abroad. So, they went public with muted misgivings and calls for a “humanitarian pause.” But Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that he would have none of it.

Such minor tactical discord does little to chip away at the solid bedrock alliance between the two countries, which are most of the way through a 10-year deal that guarantees $38 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel. And now, as the carnage in Gaza continues, Washington is rushing to provide extra military assistance worth $14 billion..."

Read the Article on:

https://www.laprogressive.com/the-middle-east/israel-military

Comment: If one counts only the extra military assistance worth $14 billion to Kill all Palestinians in Gaza, this amounts to $6000 per inhabitant. What Cynical!

Another paper from the same Author. LAProgressive, October 30, 2023, by Norman Solomon, Biden: “Enabler in Chief” for Israel’s Ongoing War Crimes. Unconditional support for Israel makes Biden and the vast majority of Congress directly complicit with mass murder and genocide. Excerpt. "For three weeks, President Biden has played a key role in backing Israel’s war crimes while touting himself as a compassionate advocate of restraint. That pretense is lethal nonsense as Israel persists with mass killing of civilians in Gaza"

Read the Article on:

https://www.laprogressive.com/the-middle-east/enabler-in-chief

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism

Another paper in LAProgressive, November 2, 2023, by Ann Garrison, (Independent journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who received the Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Democracy and Peace Prize for her reporting on conflict in the African Great Lakes region) Israel Declares Most of Humanity Illegitimate and Irrelevant. After the ceasefire resolution passed, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan confirmed Israel’s increasing isolation by delivering a tirade. Excerpt. "Both the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly continue to grapple with the Israel/Hamas War, also known as the Gaza War, with the Security Council deadlocked and the General Assembly demanding an immediate ceasefire.

On Tuesday, October 25, Russia, Sudan, and Venezuela introduced a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. The US introduced a competing resolution which called for humanitarian pauses to let aid into Gaza, but not for a ceasefire.

The Russian resolution failed because it did not win the two-thirds majority required to pass, and the US resolution failed because Russia and China, both of which have veto power on the Council, voted against it, as did the United Arab Emirates.

After 120 members of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Israel demonstrated its increasing isolation by declaring the UN illegitimate and irrelevant.

After the US resolution failed, China explained that it had voted against it because it considered it a green light to Israel.... China also objected that the US resolution denied Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestine, ..."

Read the Article on:

https://www.laprogressive.com/the-middle-east/israel-declares-most-of-humanity-illegitimate

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism

Irish Times (released 2 hours ago) Israel-Hamas war: Gaza hospitals come under new Israeli attacks, say officials, Israel’s campaign to wipe out Hamas leaves hospitals struggling with fallout Israel launched air strikes on or near at least three hospitals on Friday, further endangering a health system swamped with thousands of casualties and people displaced by Israel’s war against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave, Gaza officials have said. Excerpt. "The Israeli occupation launched simultaneous strikes on a number of hospitals during the past hours," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra told Al Jazeera television. Qidra said Israel targeted the courtyard of Al Shifa, the biggest hospital in Gaza City, and there were casualties, but he did not provide details. Israel said Hamas has hidden command centres and tunnels beneath Al Shifa, allegations Hamas denies.."

Read the article on:

https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2023/11/10/israel-hamas-war-gaza-hospitals-come-under-new-israeli-attacks-say-officials/

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism

In the literal sense of the term, only "States" can declare "War". In the literal sense of the term, it is only against a "State" that "War" can be declared. Le Devoir, November 8, 2023, Is the Israel-Hamas conflict really a “War”? To answer this question the author, Zacharie Goudreault, looks back on the decades which preceded the events of October 7. Excerpts (Own translation) "At a time when the number of Israeli victims has stagnated at around 1,400 deaths since mid-October, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli bombings is climbing daily. Monday, the Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip — under the control of Hamas — reported more than 10,000 victims in nearly a month, including more than 4,000 children. Bombings had also taken place regularly in Gaza, under Israeli blockade since 2005, well before the attacks of last October on Israeli soil.

“Israel is not attacking an army, but an armed group. And she does this without respecting international law. I find it difficult to call it a war for these reasons,” notes national security expert Huda Mukbil, who teaches at the University of Ottawa. She recalls that Israeli strikes particularly affected refugee camps, while hospitals had to close due to lack of fuel to supply them.

“In my opinion, it is not a war, and it is not even a conflict,” says Yakov Rabkin, professor emeritus at the University of Montreal and author of the book Understanding the State of Israel. Ideology, religion and society. Rather, he sees it as “one of the strongest armies in the world” opposing “a population with resistance groups who use all kinds of means that we call terrorists”. He thus compares the situation in the Gaza Strip to the “pacification campaigns” formerly carried out by the French and British empires against the “native” population of their colonies when “revolts” took place there. “Israel, since the beginning, in 1948, has been trying to control the Palestinian resistance in one way or another.”..."

Read more (in French) on:

https://www.ledevoir.com/monde/moyen-orient/801495/conflit-israel-hamas-conflit-israel-hamas-est-il-reellement-guerre

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

I am posting this reply on another Thread. @**** wrote, "The encirclement of all main hospitals, i.e. Hamas headquarters in Gaza, has been completed...Journalist Nir Dvori writes about this with reference to his own sources.". No independent verification is possible. Israel prohibits access to Gaza to all independent observers and journalists. Moreover, on November 6, 2023, Gaza officials called for international inspections to refute Israel's claims that hospitals are used for military purposes.

Read on:

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/gaza-officials-call-for-international-inspections-to-refute-israel-hospital-claims

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism

Doctors Without Borders, November 9, 2023, Palestinians in the West Bank face death and displacement as violence escalates, In the West Bank, reverberations of war in Gaza. "Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank, has seen a dramatic increase in violence from Israeli forces since October 7, particularly within the last 24 hours. On the night of November 8-9, an Israeli soldier fired at the emergency unit of Jenin hospital, hitting the wall in full view of MSF team members standing outside. The following morning, our team witnessed Israeli forces firing at the entrance of the hospital, with bullets hitting the wall directly above the door. Our teams treated a paramedic who was shot while inside an ambulance, and Israeli military vehicles blocked ambulances from entering hospitals. Leaflets were dropped on Jenin refugee camp telling residents to evacuate. Many have no safe place to go..."

Read more on:

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/palestinians-west-bank-face-death-and-displacement-violence-escalates

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

I am posting this reply on another Thread. Like this Quebec Cardiologist, may other bursts of consciousness allow other souls, tortured by hatred, contempt, and arrogance to be released. TVA Nouvelles, November 10, 2023 “The renowned cardiologist at Pierre-Boucher Hospital, Éric Sabbah, who called for a “great cleanup” of the Gaza Strip a few days ago, apologizes. (Own translation)

Read the article in French on:

https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2023/11/10/grand-nettoyage-de-gaza-le-medecin-de-lhopital-pierre-boucher-sexcuse

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

Les Echos, November 12, 2023, Israel-Hamas war: the WHO, the UN and MSF are alarmed by the situation in Gaza hospitals (Own translation) "While Gaza hospitals have been targeted for several days, particularly the hospital al-Chifa in Gaza City, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was "gravely concerned about the safety of health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support, and displaced people who remain inside the hospital." The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was alarmed early Sunday at having "lost contact" with his interlocutors within this hospital. From his On the other hand, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it feared that these establishments would turn into “morgues” in the absence of a ceasefire. According to the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), 20 of the 36 hospitals of the Gaza Strip are “out of service”..."

Read on:

https://www.lesechos.fr/monde/afrique-moyen-orient/direct-guerre-israel-hamas-le-point-sur-la-situation-ce-dimanche-12-november-2028301

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

The Israeli Narrative no longer convinces anyone, including in the West Camp. Financial Time, November 11, 2023 "...French president Emmanuel Macron on Friday became the first leader of a big western country to call for a ceasefire, and urged Israel to stop killing babies and women in Gaza. “De facto — today, civilians are bombed — de facto,” he said in an interview with the BBC. “These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop.” Macron's comments followed a warning from Blinken that “far too many Palestinians” had been killed in the fighting... The UN's humanitarian arm OCHA said 20 of the 36 hospitals in Gaza had ceased operating as a result of the conflict. On Saturday, the biggest medical facility in the enclave, the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, suspended operations because it had run out of fuel for its generators. Doctors without Borders said that hospitals in Gaza had been “under relentless bombardment” over the past 24 hours, and that Shifa had been hit “multiple times”..."

Read more on

https://www.ft.com/content/c8d52c00-90c4-4a9e-9251-34a8d1e9bc80

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

Le Devoir, November 9, 2023, by Emilie Nicolas, Devoir de Conscience, (Duty of Conscience), Excerpts (own translation): "...The toll of Palestinian victims has passed the milestone of 10,000 deaths...The Israeli army admits to having bombed a convoy of ambulances near Al-Shifa hospital, ...Several schools affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East were also bombed.... 18,500 Gazans present on its territory. ... were directed by Israeli forces towards the crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip, ... Many of them no longer have a home to return to.... The Israeli forces also arrested and detained hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank... Ahed Tamimi, ... a symbol of Palestinian resistance to the occupation of the West Bank, joined the lot of those incarcerated..."

Read more on:

https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/801604/chronique-devoir-conscience

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

"How do people react when they are targeted for genocide? Who cooperates with the killers? Who resists? Who flees and who simply tries to cope? In Ordinary Jews, Finkel's answer combines compelling historical evidence, convincing theory, and a moving narrative. This is a truly extraordinary book, rich with lessons for us all." Nancy Bermeo's (University of Oxford)" Review on the book by Finkel, E. (2017). Ordinary Jews: choice and survival during the Holocaust. Princeton University Press.

About the book. How Jewish responses during the Holocaust shed new light on the dynamics of genocide and political violence. "Focusing on the choices and actions of Jews during the Holocaust, Ordinary Jews examines the different patterns of behavior of civilians targeted by mass violence. Relying on rich archival material and hundreds of survivors' testimonies, Evgeny Finkel presents a new framework for understanding the survival strategies in which Jews engaged: cooperation and collaboration, coping and compliance, evasion, and resistance. Finkel compares Jews' behavior in three Jewish ghettos—Minsk, Kraków, and Białystok—and shows that Jews' responses to Nazi genocide varied based on their experiences with prewar policies that either promoted or discouraged their integration into non-Jewish society.

Finkel demonstrates that while possible survival strategies were the same for everyone, individuals' choices varied across and within communities. In more cohesive and robust Jewish communities, coping—confronting the danger and trying to survive without leaving—was more organized and successful, while collaboration with the Nazis and attempts to escape the ghetto were minimal. In more heterogeneous Jewish communities, collaboration with the Nazis was more pervasive, while coping was disorganized. In localities with a history of peaceful interethnic relations, evasion was more widespread than in places where interethnic relations were hostile. State repression before WWII, to which local communities were subject, determined the viability of anti-Nazi Jewish resistance.

Exploring the critical influences shaping the decisions made by Jews in Nazi-occupied eastern Europe, Ordinary Jews sheds new light on the dynamics of collective violence and genocide."

Author / Editor information

About the Author. Evgeny Finkel is assistant professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University.

UN News, 10 November 2023, 'Nowhere and no one is safe' in Gaza, WHO chief tells Security Council,

"WHO's Tedros: Health system is ‘on its knees’ The situation on the ground in Gaza is grim, said the WHO chief, from hospitals conducting operations without anaesthesia to the fact that a child is killed every ten minutes. “Nowhere and no one is safe,” he said, adding that medical staff are grappling to try to manage the health needs of 2.3 million people.

Since the start of the conflict, there have been more than 250 attacks on healthcare in Gaza and 25 in Israel, including hospitals, clinics, patients and ambulances, he said. More than 100 UN colleagues have been killed. Half of Gaza’s hospitals are not functioning at all and the remaining are operating far beyond their capacities. “The health system is on its knees,” he said.

Tedros said he fully understood the anger and grief of the Israeli people following the "barbaric" Hamas attacks. The killing of 1,400 was "incomprehensible", he added, noting the mental health consequences for survivors would continue for a long time. Gravely concerned for the hostages still being held, he said he would meet with more of their families next week in Geneva.

He said he also understood the anger, grief and fear of the people of Gaza, suffering "the destruction of their families, their homes, their communities and the life they knew". WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus briefs the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. Tedros said having lived through war as a child and as a parent, he well understood the suffering and horror being experienced in Gaza today.

Expressing a long-held view and drawing on his experience as foreign minister of Ethiopia, he said the Council itself does not serve the purpose for which it was established and not for the 21st century, adding that “to remain credible, relevant and a force for peace in our world, Member States…must take seriously the need to reform the Security Council.”

Read on:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/11/1143462

Le Devoir, November 9, 2023, by Emilie Nicolas, Devoir de Conscience, (Duty of Conscience), Excerpts (Own translation) "...questions as painful as they are urgent remain: if the Israeli army does not hesitate to bomb populations when it is suspected that Hamas is among them, and that the Israeli hostages are with Hamas, how can Netanyahu guarantee that he is not decimating the people in whose name his military operation was launched? If there is no more water and food for the Gazans, how can there be any left for the Israeli hostages taken in Gaza? Even for people who have little regard for Palestinian lives, the current military strategy is becoming unsustainable..."

Read more on:

https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/801604/chronique-devoir-conscience

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

On the destruction and decommissioning of hospitals in Gaza. While the WHO chief tells Security Council that "Nowhere and no one is safe in Gaza", and there, the Health system is "on its knees", it should be remembered that hospitals and health centers in the Jewish community have survived the Nazism episode and continued to operate until liberation. The story of one of them is told in Daniel B. Silver's book "In Refuge in Hell, How Berlin's Jewish Hospital Outlasted the Nazis, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Ed., 2001" In his book, Daniel B. Silver explains "How did Berlin's Jewish Hospital, in the middle of the Nazi capital, survive as an institution where Jewish doctors and nurses cared for Jewish patients throughout World War II? How could it happen that when Soviet troops released the hospital in April 1945, they found some eight hundred Jews still on the premises? Daniel Silver carefully uncovered the often surprising answers to these questions and, through the skillful use of primary source materials and the vivid voices of survivors, revealed the underlying complexities of human consciousness."

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

Le Devoir, November 9, 2023, by Emilie Nicolas, Devoir de Conscience, (Duty of Conscience), Excerpts (Own translation) "... UN experts, academics and citizens alike who raise warnings about the possibility of genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians are increasingly under attack from all sides. We forget that, since 2005, all States have adopted at the United Nations the principle of the “responsibility to protect” (R2P) populations against these types of horrors. The idea implies in particular that the international community must act when a population is at risk and the State in charge is not concerned about it. For R2P to have meaning, it must generate denunciations before an at-fault state has reached the end of its violence – and not only after the fact, before an international court.

For these reasons, it is impossible to look away from Gaza right now. Let’s call it a “duty” of conscience.

In closing, let us highlight Justin Trudeau's outing against Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, which are skyrocketing in Canada. Too many of our citizens live in fear. We must denounce with him the attacks against the Jewish and Muslim communities and, at the same time, urge him to take his responsibilities internationally to reduce tensions here."

Read more on:

https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/801604/chronique-devoir-conscience

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

I am posting the following reply on another thread. Quote “It would be better to remain silent: the German newspaper Bild condemned Greta Thunberg for her anti-Israel campaign" Attacking a young activist like Greta Thunberg, without any potential for effective nuisance, is despicable, especially when it comes, hold in tight! from a Scholar. It is an intolerable pettiness that betrays an irrational feverishness, a sign of an incontestable intellectual debacle. The same goes for the arrest of another young activist Ahed Tamimi hold in tight! by the Israeli Army. Read for example the article by Reuters, November 7, 2023 Israeli troops arrest Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi in West Bank, available on:

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-troops-arrest-palestinian-activist-ahed-tamimi-west-bank-2023-11-07/

Uplifting! One can read there: "The Israeli military said it apprehended Ahed Tamimi, 22, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. Tamimi rose to prominence in 2017 when, at age 16, she slapped an Israeli soldier who raided her village. She and others have for years protested Israeli land seizures. Tamimi "is suspected of inciting violence and calling for terrorist activity to be carried out," the military said. Her mother, Nariman Tamimi, said more than a dozen Israeli soldiers entered their house overnight and arrested her daughter. Israeli authorities alleged the young woman "wrote an inciting (Instagram) post calling for the killing of settlers and saying what Hitler did wasn't enough - but Ahed does not have an Instagram account," her mother said in an interview."

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience https://www.researchgate.net/post/Scientific_Integrity_on_ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/post/Scientific_Integrity_Research_Ethics_and_Higher_Education_Deontology_The_Senior_Scholars_Duty

I am posting the following reply on another thread. Dear @**** thank you for your reply. You are right. Is there anything more monstrous than attacking innocent civilian populations, wherever they are, whenever it happens? Human suffering is one or is not. All past, present, and future massacres of innocent civilian populations are unbearable abominations and this has been going on for 75 years in the occupied territories. However, your reply does not respond to the interrogations I submitted to you. Here is a reminder "António José Rodrigues Rebelo wrote, "Will the demonstrations that are emerging in defense of the Palestinians, in fact, of Hamas, be honest? Legitimate? Was the attitude of the UN General Assembly honest?" Sorry, I didn't grasp the idea behind your post. Are we to understand that because Hamas is in Gaza we must irradiate Gaza, the hospitals in Gaza, the churches and mosques in Gaza, the schools, the homes in Gaza, and deport or exterminate its population? Now Hamas is not in the occupied West Bank and yet atrocious massacres of civilian populations are being carried out there by the army and by the settlers. Are we to understand from your post that because Hamas is Palestinians and there are Palestinians in the West Bank, we must irradiate the West Bank, the hospitals in the West Bank, the churches and mosques in the West Bank, the schools, the homes of West Bank and deport or exterminate its population? Tell us please @*** if that is what is in your mind."

But never mind, I see that you are eluding the core of the moral issue raised. You are right when saying "I have information which I believe is sufficient to be able to express a free opinion". This is your right: To each his own conscience. Thank you anyway.

I am posting the following reply on another thread. Quote: "A video from a few days ago that is running strong on social networks. The boy pretends to be injured, his mother (apparently) thinks he is really injured, and then they remove the bandage from his head and reveal to the mother - there is nothing, everything is fine." This would unfortunately not be the case for the 11,180 people killed in Israeli airstrikes, including 4,609 children and more than 100 from the UN staff, for the families of which nothing would be fine, just like all civilians suffering the pangs of blind terror. For "Scholars", who seek the twists and turns of social networks and blogs as information sources (One can only pity their Students), these figures were reported in the CNN article (released 1 hour ago) by Hande Atay Alam and Helen Regan, UN mourns the deaths of more than 100 aid workers in Gaza, the highest number killed in any conflict in its history. One may read there: "...UN offices around the world lowered their flags to half-mast and UN staff held a moment of silence Monday to mourn and honor their colleagues killed in Gaza. “They will never be forgotten,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who led the minute of silence from UN headquarters in New York. UNRWA said those killed were among 13,000 of its staff working in Gaza and many had died alongside their families during Israel’s bombardment and blockade of the Palestinian territory following the October 7 attack by Hamas militants. “They were teachers, school principals, health workers, including a gynecologist, engineers, support staff and a psychologist,” the statement said. The UN aid workers are among at least 11,180 people killed in Israeli airstrikes, including 4,609 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which draws its figures from the Hamas-controlled territory."..

Read the article on:

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/14/middleeast/united-nations-staff-deaths-gaza-intl-hnk/index.html

Financial Times (2 hours ago), by James Shotter in Jerusalem, Hospitals in north Gaza stop functioning as humanitarian crisis deepens. WHO warns that al-Shifa hospital is ‘nearly a cemetery’ as calls grow for Israel to exercise restraint. "All but one of the hospitals in the north of Gaza have stopped functioning, according to the UN, as Israel’s war against Hamas deepens a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. Hospitals in Gaza have gradually been forced to stop operating over the past two weeks as Israeli forces advance deep into the enclave and severely restrict supplies of fuel, water and food to the besieged territory. The World Health Organization warned on Monday that al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza, was “nearly a cemetery”, while a doctor at al-Ahli, the only hospital still working in the north of the strip, said that surgery on “all injuries up to the moderate level” was being done without anaesthesia as supplies were on the “verge of depletion”.

“The pain experienced by the patients during the surgical interventions without anaesthesia is beyond what humanity on this earth can endure,” Fadel Naim, a doctor from the hospital, wrote on social media platform X. The UN’s humanitarian arm said 32 patients — including three premature babies — had died at al-Shifa since Saturday as a result of the loss of power and “dire conditions” at the hospital. Mohamed Abu Silmeyeh, director of the hospital, warned on Saturday that medics were having to wrap babies in cellophane to keep them alive after incubators stopped working due to the lack of power.

Israel claims that al-Shifa is a significant site for Hamas’s operations because it sits on top of the armed group’s underground infrastructure that the Israeli military intends to destroy. Doctors at the Gaza City hospital have denied the claim, and said thousands of patients, medical personnel and civilians were sheltering there..."

Read the article on:

https://www.ft.com/content/1e96e6ad-1768-4256-a8e4-1f342e8e5c7a

The Chapter (released 3 days ago) by Genovese, M.A., 2023, "Nixon’s Curse: A Nation Divided Against Itself, In: The Legacy of Watergate and the Nixon Presidency. The Evolving American Presidency. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham", returns to the Watergate episode and its implications for the US political system. In particular, the author analyzes the genesis of partisan politics that developed after Watergate. This analysis leads the author to ask and examine questions in relation to the current context, particularly with regard to the illiberal challenge launched to liberal democracy and the way in which Nixon and then Trump led to the current crisis.

Hospitals, Health and Death in Gaza. This is the title of a paper by Arana_Cedeño, M. released 2 days ago in "Social Medicine, 16(03), 155-159." Abstract: Human rights violations harm dignity and inflict suffering by causing loss of health and/or life.  Thus, illness and death are the most tangible and irrefutable evidence of the commission of these crimes.  The mounting death and injury toll from Israel's siege of Gaza, as well as its relentness and indiscriminate shelling against civilian population is part of a cruel and unjustified collective punishment of Palestinians. Any honest health worker could use the figures of civilian deaths and injuries caused by the Israeli army every day, to count on enough arguments to refute the lukewarmness and ambiguity with which the spokespersons of several country governments and international organizations hesitate to demand a ceasefire and to denounce this massacre as a crime against humanity or  a genocide.

When attacking hospitals, all the armies always declare that their attacks are legitimate under the pretext that the hospitals were used to protect military targets. Unfortunately, the legal argument is admissible as International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has introduced exceptions that legitimize attacks against hospitals. The paper by Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini, “‘Hospital Shields’ and the Limits of International Law, European Journal of International Law, Volume 30, Issue 2, May 2019, Pages 439–463”, deals precisely with this legal issue. Tracing the history of hospital bombings alongside the development of legal articles dealing with the protection of medical units, the authors wrote "we demonstrate that the shielding argument justifies bombing hospitals because they have ostensibly assumed a threshold position in-between the two axiomatic poles informing the laws of war – combatants and civilians. We argue, however, that medical units tend to occupy a legal and spatial threshold during war and, since IHL does not have the vocabulary to acknowledge the liminal nature of medical units and identifies between liminality and criminality, it introduces several exceptions that help belligerents legitimize their attacks. By way of conclusion, we maintain that the only way to address the deliberate and widespread destruction of medical units is by reforming the law through the introduction of an absolute ban."

Comment: I find the conclusion of outstanding clairvoyance. The only way to avoid the inhumating destruction of medical units, like what is happening in Gaza the absolute ban on medical unit attacks.

CNN (1 hour ago) by Helen Regan, Israeli troops and tanks raid Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital. "..IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner told CNN later Wednesday that the operation at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital was “ongoing.” Israeli radio reported that, so far, the army had found no indication of hostages inside the hospital. Israeli tanks and military vehicles were “inside the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital,” Khader Al Za’anoun, a reporter for the Palestinian news agency, Wafa, told CNN.... The United Nations’ Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said he was “appalled by report of military raids in Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.” “The protection of newborns, patients, medical staff and all civilians must override all other concerns. Hospitals are not battlegrounds,” Griffiths said on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.... UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday repeated his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza “in the name of humanity.”... Hundreds of staff and patients are still inside Al-Shifa, according to the most recent reports from the hospital, along with several thousand who have sought shelter from Israel’s air and ground offensive..."

Press Release. Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on her visit to Gaza, GAZA, 15 November 2023 – “Today I visited the Gaza Strip to meet with children, their families and UNICEF staff. What I saw and heard was devastating. They have endured repeated bombardment, loss and displacement. Inside the Strip, there is nowhere safe for Gaza’s one million children to turn. “The parties to the conflict are committing grave violations against children; these include killing, maiming, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access – all of which UNICEF condemns. “In Gaza, more than 4,600 children have reportedly been killed, with nearly 9,000 reportedly injured. “Many children are missing and believed buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings and homes, the tragic result of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Meanwhile, newborn babies who require specialized care have died in one of Gaza’s hospitals as power and medical supplies run out, and violence continues with indiscriminate effect. “At the Al Naser hospital in Khan Yunis, I met with patients and displaced families seeking shelter and safety. A 16-year-old girl told me from her hospital bed that her neighborhood had been bombed. She survived but doctors say she will never be able to walk again.

“In the hospital’s neonatal ward, tiny babies were clinging to life in incubators, as doctors worried how they could keep the machines running without fuel. “During my time in Gaza, I also met with UNICEF staff who are continuing to deliver for children amidst the danger and devastation. They shared their own heartbreaking stories with me of the impact of the war on their children, of family members killed, and of how they have been displaced many times over.

“Many people, including our staff and their families, are now living in overcrowded shelters with very little water, food or decent sanitation – conditions which could lead to disease outbreaks. “The risk to humanitarian actors inside Gaza cannot be overstated. More than 100 UNRWA staff have been killed since October. “UNICEF and our partners are doing everything we can, including bringing in desperately needed humanitarian supplies. But diesel fuel has practically run out, causing some hospitals and health centers to stop functioning. Without fuel, desalination plants cannot produce drinking water and humanitarian supplies cannot be distributed.

“The intermittent opening of Gaza’s border crossings to shipments of humanitarian supplies is insufficient to meet the skyrocketing needs. And with winter around the corner, the need for fuel could become even more acute. When I left Gaza today, the rain was pounding down, adding to the misery. “I am here to do whatever I can to advocate for the protection of children. I once again call on all parties to ensure that children are protected and assisted, as per international humanitarian law. Only the parties to the conflict can truly stop this horror. “I also call on the parties to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, to safely release all abducted and detained children, and to ensure that humanitarian actors have safe, sustained and unimpeded access to reach those in need with the full range of lifesaving services and supplies.”

The Guardian (Released 8 hours ago): Erdoğan: Israel is a terror state and Turkey will work to ensure Israeli settlers are recognised as 'terrorists' "The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said on Wednesday Israel was a “terror state” committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, while repeating his assertion that the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a terrorist organisation. He said Hamas was a political party that had been elected by Palestinians. Speaking to lawmakers in parliament, Reuters reports Erdoğan also called on Benjamin Netanyahu to announce whether Israel had nuclear bombs or not, adding that the Israeli leader was finished in his post.

Erdoğan went on to say that Turkey would work on the international stage to ensure that Israeli settlers are recognised as terrorists. Turkey has withdrawn diplomats from Israel in the wake of Israel’s response to the 7 October Hamas attack. Israel has never disclosed in public whether it possesses nuclear weapons, although earlier in the war against Hamas a junior minister in Netanyahu’s government stated that dropping a nuclear weapon on the Gaza Strip was an option.

The Turkish health minister, Fahrettin Koca, is in Cairo on Wednesday, meeting his Egyptian counterpart, Khalid Abdel Ghaffar, to discuss aid supply to Gaza, and the transfer of some patients to Turkey."

Read On:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/nov/15/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-israeli-military-al-shifa-hospital-gaza-operation?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65549c0a8f087302118b4ecb#block-65549c0a8f087302118b4ecb

The Guardian (Released 2 hours ago): France expresses 'serious concern' over Israel's al-Shifa operation. "France said on Wednesday it had “very serious concern” about Israel’s “targeted operation” inside the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, and that it was worried about the impact on the civilian Palestinian population. “The Palestinian population should not be made to pay for Hamas’s crimes, even less so the vulnerable, injured or sick and the humanitarian workers who courageously continue their work in extremely dangerous conditions,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement, reported by AFP.

France “expresses its very serious concern about Israeli military operations in [the] al-Shifa hospital,” the ministry added. It said the country recognised “the absolute necessity for Israel to comply with international humanitarian law, which particularly provides for the protection of hospital infrastructure”.

Read on

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/nov/15/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-israeli-military-al-shifa-hospital-gaza-operation?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-6554e7cd8f08fcf720c2d87a#block-6554e7cd8f08fcf720c2d87a

France 24 (Just released) by Joanna York, Israel-Hamas war: Al Shifa Hospital becomes focus of conflicting narratives. Fighting has reached the gates of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza: Israeli ground troops have almost fully encircled the medical buildings which it says sit above Hamas’s underground headquarters in Gaza City. Hamas and hospital staff deny the claims and say Israeli forces have trapped patients and civilians inside in dire conditions. "Al Shifa Hospital has become a focal point of the war in Gaza as a symbol of devastating civilian suffering and conflicting narratives from Israel and Hamas. At the heart of competing claims about the hospital is Israel’s stance that Al Shifa sits above an extensive tunnel network housing the Islamist militant group’s headquarters in Gaza.... Hamas and hospital staff at Al Shifa deny the Israeli allegations and have called for an independent investigation into the claims. Meanwhile, Israeli troops look to have almost entirely encircled the medical complex, located in Gaza City, where as many as 3,000 patients and staff are sheltering inside without adequate fuel, water or food, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN agencies said on Monday.

“It is very plausible to believe that Hamas might have a weapons cache and they might have tunnel access underneath [Al Shifa],” said Dr Marina Miron, researcher in the War Studies Department at King’s College London. “However, to demonstrate that will be very difficult.” The “alleged evidence” that Israel has provided so far is simply not enough, Miron added. “We have seen in the past that such evidence can be doctored.”... “It is very, very hard to verify much of the narrative that the Israelis want to present when they don't allow independent journalists into Gaza to actually give first-hand witness accounts about what is actually happening on the ground,” said Clive Jones, Professor of Regional Security Durham University. “Unless both sides are prepared to let independent observers to go in and verify the claims of each other then all we have is narratives and counter-narratives,” he added... So far only Hamas has said it would welcome such an investigation, which would require ensuring safe access for a team of independent experts along with lengthy analysis of multiple data sources such as footage, maps and satellite imagery. In the current circumstances, such an investigation is highly unlikely. This plays to Hamas’ advantage, according to Miron. “For them, depicting [the narrative] as Israeli atrocities targeting the hospital is beneficial.” Emphasising the humanitarian crisis within hospitals has strengthened international calls for a ceasefire which, for Hamas, would likely mean an opportunity to “regroup, recover and strike again”, Miron said."

Read on:

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231114-israel-hamas-war-al-shifa-hospital-becomes-focus-of-conflicting-narratives

Times of Israel By AFP, 15 November 2023, Macron condemns ‘in strongest terms’ bombing of ‘civilian infrastructure’ in Gaza. "French President Emmanuel Macron harshly condemns the bombardment of civilian infrastructure in the war between Israel and Hamas. “We condemn in the strongest terms all bombardment of civilians and in particular civilian infrastructure, which must be protected under international law", Macron tells reporters in Bern, during a state visit to Switzerland."

Read on:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/macron-condemns-in-strongest-terms-bombing-of-civilian-infrastructure-in-gaza/

The National News (release 2 hours ago) Israeli evidence of Hamas base at Al Shifa Hospital 'not very impressive', says expert. Palestinians and rights groups say Israel has recklessly endangered civilians as it seeks to eradicate militants. "A security expert has described the results of Israel's search for a Hamas base at Al Shifa Hospital as “not very impressive”. Israeli writer and journalist Yossi Melman, who has worked as intelligence and strategic affairs correspondent, questioned whether the raid inside the hospital on Wednesday had been worthwhile. Writing on X, Mr Melman asked: “Was it worth the expectation and the damage to [Israel's] international image?” The military operation followed days of besieging Al Shifa, Gaza's largest health complex, where thousands of displaced people are sheltering from Israeli bombardments..."

Read on:

https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/palestine-israel/2023/11/16/israel-hamas-al-shifa-hospital/

AP News (3 hours ago) by Mogomotsi Magome, South Africa refers Israel to ICC over Gaza attacks as pressure mounts to cut diplomatic. "JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa has filed a referral to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said. The move comes as South African lawmakers were expected to debate a motion on Thursday calling for the closure of the Israeli Embassy in South Africa and the cutting of all diplomatic ties with the country until it agrees to a cease-fire. Ramaphosa said his country believes Israel is committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed and hospitals and public infrastructure have been destroyed. “As South Africa we have accordingly, together with many other countries across the world, referred this whole Israeli government action to the International Criminal Court,” Ramaphosa said Wednesday during a state visit to Qatar. “We have put through a referral because we believe that war crimes are being committed there. And of course we do not condone the actions that were taken by Hamas earlier, but similarly we condemn the actions that are currently underway and believe that they warrant an investigation by the ICC,” he added. Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress party said it would support the motion tabled by the leftist opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters for the country to shut down the Israeli Embassy and cut diplomatic ties with the country".

Read on:

https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-israel-palestinians-icc-referral-6f1dd2b3af534d4d42d56a156968eae4

See Also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_and_history_serving_political_and_ideological_totalitarianism