The Daily Psyop

Where Skepticism Meets Insight

Month: August 2024

News

US To Let Israel Restart Military Operations in Gaza After First Phase of Ceasefire Deal

The US is ready to guarantee that it would allow Israel to restart the genocidal war in Gaza after the first phase of any hostage and ceasefire deal that might be reached with Hamas, according to Israeli media reports.

Hostage deal talks have been stalled since the Israeli killing of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, and it’s unclear when they will resume, but the US and Israel have been discussing potential proposals.

According to The Times of Israel, a proposal that’s been discussed would involve three phases where Israel would halt its military operations and Hamas would release hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants a guarantee that he’ll be able to restart military operations after the first phase, which is when negotiations will be held on implementing the next two phases.

The US has not yet provided a written agreement that it would allow Israel to restart operations but has expressed its approval of the idea. Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the US wouldn’t give the guarantee in writing until an agreement is reached with Hamas.

The Israeli condition could make Hamas less likely to agree to a deal since one of its main demands has been a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. During previous negotiations, Hamas had agreed to language that was vague enough that Israel could accept without actually committing to a permanent ceasefire. But it’s unclear if Hamas would agree to a deal where Israel gets an explicit guarantee from the US that it could restart military operations.

In the weeks and months leading up to Haniyeh’s assassination, Netanyahu had been working to sabotage the chances of a deal. After Hamas made the concession that it wouldn’t seek a guarantee for a permanent ceasefire upfront, Netanyahu began making new public demands that Mossad Director David Barnea, the Israeli official in charge of the talks, said would thwart an agreement.

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News

Syrian Arab Tribes Attack US-Backed Kurdish Forces in Deir Ezzor

On Wednesday, Arab tribesmen launched a major attack on the US-backed Kurdish SDF in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, and reports say US helicopters helped defend the Kurdish forces.

According to Turkey’s Daily Sabah, the Arab tribes attacked seven villages, including Dhiban, which is only a few kilometers from the al-Omar oil field that houses SDF fighters and US troops.

Local residents told Sputnik that at least three civilians were killed and seven more were injured during the fighting. The SDF and Arab tribes also suffered casualties, but the number is unclear.

The operation was the most significant attack since heavy fighting between the Arab tribes and the SDF broke out in August 2023, which lasted several months.

The SDF said in a statement: “In the late hours of yesterday evening and continuing into this morning, Syrian regime-backed mercenaries and groups of the so-called National Defense Forces launched a ground attack against areas on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River, east of Deir Ezzor.”

Al Mayadeen reported that during the clashes, US helicopters used machine guns to target Arab tribesmen along the bank of the Euphrates River in Dhiban. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that US aircraft used machine guns against the western bank of the Euphrates.

In Deir Ezzor, the US and the SDF occupy areas to the east of the Euphrates, and the Syrian government controls the territory on the west side of the river. The US has about 900 US troops in Syria and reportedly reinforced its base at the al-Omar oil field during the clashes.

The attack comes as the region is on edge and expecting an Iranian reprisal attack against Israel for the killing of Hamas’s political chief in Tehran. The US is vowing to defend Israel, and its bases in Syria could also come under attack if Iran’s operation is coordinated with its Shia allies in the region.

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News

Hamas Says It Will Continue Ceasefire Talks Under Sinwar

A Hamas official has said the Palestinian group will continue ceasefire negotiations with Israel after it appointed Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau following the Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Sinwar is Hamas’s leader in Gaza, and the appointment makes him the top political official as well. “The negotiations were managed by the leadership, and Sinwar was not far from the negotiation process. He was part of its details,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Anadolu.

Haniyeh was the highest-level Hamas official outside of Gaza, which put him in charge of negotiations with Israel, although Hamas officials said Sinwar was always involved. The Israeli assassination of Haniyeh was seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest attempt to sabotage the chances of reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

“The problem was not Hamas, but Israel, Netanyahu, and the US, which was not sincere in its mediation or in its attempt to push for a ceasefire,” Hamdan said. The US has not publicly criticized the Israeli killing of Haniyeh and is vowing to defend Israel from any Iranian reprisal attack.

Israeli officials have told The Times of Israel that negotiations with Hamas are on hold until after Iran’s expected attack, although if the situation turns into a full-blown regional war, it could end any hopes of a ceasefire in Gaza.

After Sinwar was appointed as Hamas’s political chief, the Israeli military made new threats against his life. “We will strive to find him, attack him, and have them replace the head of the political bureau again,” Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday.

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News

What Cori Bush’s loss means for pro-Palestine voices in US Congress

What Cori Bush’s loss means for pro-Palestine voices in US Congress

Activists say pro-Israel lobbying group Aipac targeted lawmaker because she was one of most vocal pro-Palestinian voices in politics

Umar A Farooq

Wed, 08/07/2024 – 21:17

Representative Cori Bush holds sign reading ‘Lasting Ceasefire Now’ as President Joe Biden delivers State of the Union address at US Capitol in Washington, on 7 March 2024 (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)

US Congresswoman Cori Bush has lost her primary election to the Aipac-backed candidate and St Louis City prosecutor, Wesley Bell, in what Palestinian and progressive activists say is a devastating setback to the burgeoning pro-Palestinian movement in Congress that has been building up over the past few years.

Bush, a nurse and community activist from St Louis, Missouri, who spent more than a year on the frontlines of the Ferguson protests against police brutality in 2014, was one of the most prominent voices and legislators propping up Palestinian rights, as well as labour and housing issues.

Several weeks into the war on Gaza, and as Democrats and Republicans alike were pushing for Israel to continue its assault on the Palestinian enclave, Bush led a resolution in Congress calling for a ceasefire. Several days into the war, she was calling for an end to US military aid to Israel.

Since being elected to Congress, she has sponsored and voted in favour of numerous pieces of legislation pushing for Palestinian rights. Bush has also stood apart from other progressive lawmakers who previously voted in favour of funding Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system and labelled elements of the Palestinian activist movement as antisemitic.

In 2021 Bush voted against funding Israel’s Iron Dome and has stood behind the antiwar protesters both on and off college campuses. In May she released a statement condemning the police crackdown of these protests and equated the plight of demonstrators to the protesters in Ferguson rallying against police brutality in 2014.

“Cori Bush is our highest ranked and rated congressional official in the USCPR Action scorecard,” Ahmad Abuznaid, the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, told Middle East Eye.

“She’s not only been someone who has been fearless in her championing of Palestinian rights but housing rights too. She’s been out in the streets in Ferguson protesting against the murder of Mike Brown. Part of the reason Cori meant so much to the movement is because she came from the movement – that’s the legacy that she brought with her to Congress.”

Aipac’s ‘dark money’ campaign

Aipac, the American Israel Public Affairs Council, spent more than $8m in campaign spending against Bush and in favour of Bell, who previously dropped a campaign to run in the Senate to oppose Bush.

The “dark money” campaign against the progressive lawmaker was censured by many progressive activists, who highlighted that the American public’s concerns about democracy in the upcoming presidential election should also extend to smaller elections in Congress, where pro-Israel groups are spending millions of dollars. 

“This defeat highlights the desperate measures taken by those opposed to Palestinian rights,” Ayah Ziyadeh, advocacy director for Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action), told MEE.

Harris’ VP pick Tim Walz and his views on Palestine, Israel and Gaza protests

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“Dark money from Aipac and the rest of the Zionist lobby must be controlled, and they need to be held accountable for their undue influence on our political system.”

Aipac and other groups have been spending heavily to unseat progressive candidates during this year’s elections. In June, Congressman Jamaal Bowman lost his primary election to George Latimer, who was backed by Aipac. The group spent more than $2m in favour of Latimer against Bowman during the election.

In total, pro-Israel groups have spent more than $17m in this year’s election cycle alone.

For Abuznaid, the amount of spending is a huge issue for proponents of Palestinian rights, but it is also a sign of how much these groups have seen the rise in pro-Palestinian sentiments in the United States.

“It signifies that we have to fight. The opposition isn’t going to simply lay down and allow for us to continue to build power with the masses. This is their attempt to continue to maintain the status quo,” Abuznaid said.

“Attempts to continue to stifle the mass movement that is building behind the demand for Palestinian freedom, and so it is as I’ve heard before, a minor setback for a major comeback.”

After her loss, Bush spoke in front of a crowd of her supporters on Tuesday night, saying that her fight was not over.

“Pulling me away from my position as Congresswoman, all you did was take some of the strings off,” she said. “All they did was radicalise me, so now they need to be afraid … Aipac, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.”

The “era of coercion and repression is what we are quickly transitioning to and will shape the years to come, but that too comes with reputational costs for pro-Israel forces and will eventually collapse as well,” Yousef Munayyer, the head of the Palestine/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington DC, wrote in an opinion column on Wednesday.

“When it does, voices like Cori Bush’s will be commonplace in our political class and she will be remembered for valiantly standing up for the rights of Palestinians when too many still did not have the political courage to do so.”

Washington

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News

What Cori Bush’s loss means for pro-Palestine voices in US Congress

What Cori Bush’s loss means for pro-Palestine voices in US Congress

Activists say pro-Israel lobbying group Aipac targeted lawmaker because she was one of most vocal pro-Palestinian voices in politics

Umar A Farooq

Wed, 08/07/2024 – 21:17

Representative Cori Bush holds sign reading ‘Lasting Ceasefire Now’ as President Joe Biden delivers State of the Union address at US Capitol in Washington, on 7 March 2024 (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)

US Congresswoman Cori Bush has lost her primary election to the Aipac-backed candidate and St Louis City prosecutor, Wesley Bell, in what Palestinian and progressive activists say is a devastating setback to the burgeoning pro-Palestinian movement in Congress that has been building up over the past few years.

Bush, a nurse and community activist from St Louis, Missouri, who spent more than a year on the frontlines of the Ferguson protests against police brutality in 2014, was one of the most prominent voices and legislators propping up Palestinian rights, as well as labour and housing issues.

Several weeks into the war on Gaza, and as Democrats and Republicans alike were pushing for Israel to continue its assault on the Palestinian enclave, Bush led a resolution in Congress calling for a ceasefire. Several days into the war, she was calling for an end to US military aid to Israel.

Since being elected to Congress, she has sponsored and voted in favour of numerous pieces of legislation pushing for Palestinian rights. Bush has also stood apart from other progressive lawmakers who previously voted in favour of funding Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system and labelled elements of the Palestinian activist movement as antisemitic.

In 2021 Bush voted against funding Israel’s Iron Dome and has stood behind the antiwar protesters both on and off college campuses. In May she released a statement condemning the police crackdown of these protests and equated the plight of demonstrators to the protesters in Ferguson rallying against police brutality in 2014.

“Cori Bush is our highest ranked and rated congressional official in the USCPR Action scorecard,” Ahmad Abuznaid, the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, told Middle East Eye.

“She’s not only been someone who has been fearless in her championing of Palestinian rights but housing rights too. She’s been out in the streets in Ferguson protesting against the murder of Mike Brown. Part of the reason Cori meant so much to the movement is because she came from the movement – that’s the legacy that she brought with her to Congress.”

Aipac’s ‘dark money’ campaign

Aipac, the American Israel Public Affairs Council, spent more than $8m in campaign spending against Bush and in favour of Bell, who previously dropped a campaign to run in the Senate to oppose Bush.

The “dark money” campaign against the progressive lawmaker was censured by many progressive activists, who highlighted that the American public’s concerns about democracy in the upcoming presidential election should also extend to smaller elections in Congress, where pro-Israel groups are spending millions of dollars. 

“This defeat highlights the desperate measures taken by those opposed to Palestinian rights,” Ayah Ziyadeh, advocacy director for Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action), told MEE.

Harris’ VP pick Tim Walz and his views on Palestine, Israel and Gaza protests

Read More »

“Dark money from Aipac and the rest of the Zionist lobby must be controlled, and they need to be held accountable for their undue influence on our political system.”

Aipac and other groups have been spending heavily to unseat progressive candidates during this year’s elections. In June, Congressman Jamaal Bowman lost his primary election to George Latimer, who was backed by Aipac. The group spent more than $2m in favour of Latimer against Bowman during the election.

In total, pro-Israel groups have spent more than $17m in this year’s election cycle alone.

For Abuznaid, the amount of spending is a huge issue for proponents of Palestinian rights, but it is also a sign of how much these groups have seen the rise in pro-Palestinian sentiments in the United States.

“It signifies that we have to fight. The opposition isn’t going to simply lay down and allow for us to continue to build power with the masses. This is their attempt to continue to maintain the status quo,” Abuznaid said.

“Attempts to continue to stifle the mass movement that is building behind the demand for Palestinian freedom, and so it is as I’ve heard before, a minor setback for a major comeback.”

After her loss, Bush spoke in front of a crowd of her supporters on Tuesday night, saying that her fight was not over.

“Pulling me away from my position as Congresswoman, all you did was take some of the strings off,” she said. “All they did was radicalise me, so now they need to be afraid … Aipac, I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.”

The “era of coercion and repression is what we are quickly transitioning to and will shape the years to come, but that too comes with reputational costs for pro-Israel forces and will eventually collapse as well,” Yousef Munayyer, the head of the Palestine/Israel programme at the Arab Center Washington DC, wrote in an opinion column on Wednesday.

“When it does, voices like Cori Bush’s will be commonplace in our political class and she will be remembered for valiantly standing up for the rights of Palestinians when too many still did not have the political courage to do so.”

Washington

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