Marwan Barghouti in solitary confinement

Over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israel on hunger strike

The following is culled from various news reports.

Over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails began a hunger strike on Monday, April 17. Israel responded by placing the movement's leader Marwan Barghouti in solitary confinement and said it will not negotiate with the prisoners.

  

At present there are 6.500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israel in 24 Israeli prisons/detention centers. Of these 56 are female, 300 under the age of 18, 500 serving life sentences, 3 member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, 28 journalists, hundreds of sick prisoners, 29 prisoners from before the signing of the Oslo Interim Accords, 500 prisons under Administrative  Detention (without trial or charge)

There have been 1,000,000 cases of Palestinians in Israel jails since 1948 and 200 deaths of Palestinian prisoners while in detention by the Israeli occupation army. Some of these were extra judicially exterminated while others died as a result of deliberate medical negligence or torture.

The demands of the Open Hunger Strike for Freedom and Dignity include an end to Torture, Unfair Trials, Medical Negligence, Degrading Treatment, Solitary Confinement, Arbitrary Administrative Detention, The Arrest and Detention of Children, Denial of other Human Rights including the Right to Education.

Israel has responded by placing the movement's leader Marwan Barghouti in solitary confinement! It has also vowed not to negotiate with the prisoners.

In an op-ed published in the New York Times on April 16, one day prior to the start of the hunger strike. Barghouti explained why he organized the strike: “Having spent the last 15 years in an Israeli prison, I have been both a witness to and a victim of Israel’s illegal system of mass arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners. After exhausting all other options, I decided there was no choice but to resist these abuses by going on a hunger strike.”

He also stated that Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel "have suffered from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and medical negligence." (NYT full op-ed on https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/opinion/palestinian-hunger-strike-prisoners-call-for-justice.html

Israel calls them security prisoners — held for offenses ranging from stone throwing and membership in outlawed groups to carrying out attacks that killed or wounded Israelis. Several hundred are being detained without charges.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he had read the Sunday article in the Times that "presents arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti as a 'parliamentarian and leader'." He said that calling Barghouti a political leader was akin to calling Syrian President Bashar Assad a doctor.

"These are terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting exactly what the international law requires," he told Israel's Army Radio. "My policy is that you can't negotiate with prisoners such as these... There is no reason to give them additional conditions in addition to what they already receive."

As for Barghouti being put in solitary confinement, Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan said Barghouti was transferred to another prison in northern Israel and was placed in solitary confinement.

"It doesn't have to do with publishing the article (in the New York Times) but rather that he is instigating mutiny and leading the hunger strike and that is a severe violation of the rules of the prison," he said.

Who is Marwan Barghouti?

He has spent the last 15 years in an Israeli prison, and has been both a witness to and a victim of Israel’s illegal system of mass arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners. According to him he was only 15 when I was first imprisoned and barely 18 when an Israeli interrogator forced him to spread his legs while he stood naked in the interrogation room, before hitting his genitals. He passed out from the pain, and the resulting fall left an everlasting scar on his forehead. The interrogator mocked him afterward, saying that he would never procreate because people like him give birth only to terrorists and murderers.

A few years later, he was again in an Israeli prison, leading a hunger strike, when his first son was born. Instead of the sweets  usually distributed to celebrate such news, he handed out salt to the other prisoners. When his was barely 18, he in turn was arrested and spent four years in Israeli prisons.

The eldest of his four children is now a man of 31. And today Marwan is still pursuing the struggle for freedom along with thousands of prisoners, millions of Palestinians and the support of so many around the world.

Barghouti is serving consecutive life sentences on five murder convictions imposed by Israeli courts. He was jailed by Israel in 2002. In 2004, he was convicted by a Tel Aviv district court of murder in three attacks that left five dead. He was also convicted of being a member of a terrorist group.

He is seen by some as a potential peacemaker because of grassroots appeal among Palestinians and his support for negotiations with Israel.

Barghouti, who learned Hebrew and absorbed Israeli history during earlier jail terms, was once touted by former Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer as a potential peace partner with enough popularity to win support for a deal.

He has long been viewed as a future president of a Palestinian state.

A March poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that Barghouti would win a plurality of 40% in a three-way race among Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. If he were to run head to head against Haniyeh, he would win by a 23 percentage-point margin.

At the main Israeli checkpoint on the road from Ramallah, the de facto Palestinian capital, to Jerusalem, Palestinian motorists drive by a giant mural on Israel’s West Bank separation wall. It depicts Barghouti, with fists handcuffed, opposite an image of Yasser Arafat.

In effect, it equates Barghouti with the founding father of the Palestine Liberation Organization

.

Israel’s record on human rights

UN report:

A new United Nations report has concluded that Israel has established an “apartheid regime” and recommended that national governments support BDS activities to challenge Israel’s illegal system of oppression of the Palestinians. The report was co-authored by Richard Falk, an international law expert and former U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“Israel’s ruthless policy of holding Palestinian prisoners arrested in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in prisons inside Israel is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It is unlawful and cruel and the consequences for the imprisoned person and their loved ones, who are often deprived from seeing them for months, and at times for years on end, can be devastating,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Instead of unlawfully transferring prisoners outside the occupied territories, Israel must ensure all Palestinians arrested there are held in prisons and detention centres in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Until then, the Israeli authorities must stop imposing excessive restrictions on visitation rights as a means of punishing prisoners and their families, and ensure that conditions fully meet international standards.”

Under international humanitarian law, detainees from occupied territories must be detained in the occupied territory, not in the territory of the occupying power. They must also be allowed to receive visitors, especially near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible. However Israel flouts this international law. All but one of its 17 detention facilities are located inside Israel.

US 1914 annual US State Department report

The 1914 annual US State Department report on human rights violations worldwide contained harsh criticisms for Israel’s alleged institutional discrimination against Palestinians, especially in regard to its treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

In the report titled “Country Reports on the Human Rights Practices for 2014: Israel and the Occupied Territories,” Israel is accused of “excessive use of force against civilians, including killings; abuse of Palestinian detainees, particularly during arrest and interrogation.”

Details of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians included “austere and overcrowded detention facilities; improper use of security detention procedures; demolition and confiscation of Palestinian property; limitations on freedom of expression, assembly, and association; and severe restrictions on Palestinians’ internal and external freedom of movement.”

The report said that Israeli authorities routinely coerced confessions from Palestinian minors suspected of stone-throwing, by using physical violence, long-term handcuffing, threats, intimidation, and solitary confinement. In some cases, the report said, Israeli tactics used against minors amounted to torture.

Citing testimonies provided by NGOs, the report said that in 2014, Israel held 156 minors in prisons as security prisoners or detainees.Seventeen of the detained minors were between the ages of 12 and 15.

Israeli Human Rights groups report

According to a 54 page report from Israeli human rights groups. HaMoked and B'Tselem, released in February 2016, blows to the head and sleeping in insect-infested beds are among numerous examples of "degrading" and "inhuman" treatment of Palestinian detainees by Israeli interrogators.

The report further claimed that the treatment of detainees is at times "tantamount to torture". It documents physical abuse by Israeli interrogators both in the field and at the Shikma detention facility in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon.

"One Palestinian] was beaten until he passed out. Another detainee related that police officers photographed themselves next to him as he lay handcuffed on the ground after being beaten for about half an hour," the report stated, noting that abusive conditions had been "used systematically against Palestinians interrogated at Shikma".

The findings were based on the testimonies of 116 Palestinians interviewed between August 2013 and March 2014, along with dozens of affidavits and medical records.

The cell was full of cockroaches [and] very dirty. The blankets stank. After about 10 days, I had a rash all over my body. Ibrahim Sabah, 19

Researchers found that interrogations by the Israel Security Agency are a lengthy component of Palestinian prison stays, and can last up to three months.

Most Palestinians interviewed for the report said they were arrested overnight, blindfolded and handcuffed during transit. Thirty percent reported beatings before arriving at a detention facility. Once transferred to holding facilities, the report found "detainees were punched, kicked or beaten with rifle butts or clubs".

One-third of the Palestinians interviewed said they were imprisoned outdoors. "At night, four soldiers came and made us go out into the yard. It was cold and raining, and they made us take all our clothes off, strip completely naked," said Imad Abu Khalaf, 21.

Others were held indoors in solitary confinement between interrogation rounds. "The cell was full of cockroaches [and] very dirty," said Ibrahim Sabah, 19. "The blankets stank. After about 10 days, I had a rash all over my body. I scratched myself so much that I bled."

B'Tselem and HaMoked said there has been a lack of accountability for the mistreatment of detainees. Of more than 3,000 complaints filed with army prosecutors from September 2000 to the start of 2010, only 15 resulted in indictments for physical abuse, and of around 950 complaints made directly against Israel's interrogation agency from 2001 to 2015, all cases were closed without any formal investigation.

In September 2015, HaMoked filed a petition with Israel's high court to review the conditions in Shikma.

Note: After creating a Jewish state on land primarily inhabited by Muslims and Christians in 1948, Israeli forces have continued to occupy what little land Palestinians have left for the last 50 years. Palestinians are subjected to a different set of military laws than Jewish settlers are. There are over 6,500 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails. There are no Israelis in Palestinian jails. 

The Anglo Indians (Paert 1)

 Anglo Indians (those with mixed Indian and British ancestry) are a distinct and unique community.They have British blood as well as Indian blood in them. The British were the rulers in India. Indians wanted to push the British out of India. The Anglo Indians had to decide on which side they were going to be.

Though the British never put Anglo Indians on par with themselves, they did put them a notch above the native Indians. And the British, always aware that the Indians resented them, trusted the Anglos more than the native Indians. All high posts in sensitive services were given to the Anglos. They dominated posts in the railways and police. The Anglos, as a community, naturally chose to align themselves with those in power. In most homes of Anglo Indians one saw framed pictures of the King, and later the Queen. No pictures of Gandhi or Nehru. And their attire, cuisine and life style were more British than Indian. Shirts and pants and suits, complete with ties and even bowties for men. Dainty dresses and frocks for the ladies. They read English novels, saw English movies, danced English dances to English music.

There were around 800,000 Anglo-Indians by 1947. They were certainly in a precarious situation. During the independence movement, many of them identified (or were assumed to identify) with British rule, and, therefore, incurred the distrust and hostility of Indian nationalists. They felt a loyalty to a British "home" that most had never seen and where they would gain little social acceptance. They felt insecure in an India that put a premium on participation in the independence movement as a prerequisite for important government positions. Many Anglo-Indians left the country in 1947, hoping to make a new life in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Nations, such as Australia or Canada.

This series is intended to throw light on the lives of Anglo Indians, their thoughts, their struggles, in India prior to and after independence, as also in the countries to which they migrated from India after independence. 

In this first instalment an Anglo Indian speaks of her life in India prior India’s independence, her life in England after she migrated there and her life in India when she returned there after India’s independence

Anglo Indians of Bombay.

By Katherine Hebb

We are all from the forties and fifties. We were the lucky ones. After independence we were moving fast. We had all the latest films and records from America. Remember how we used to go into the cubicles in the record shops in Byculla. All got married young and planned to go abroad. The Indians were glad to get rid of us so they could put all the Indians In the jobs. It was not hard to get passports if you were an Angelo Indian. England had their doors open. They had lost a lot of their men in the war.

We all worked very hard and took advantage of the free education at that time and all our kids are doing fine. We were lucky. These days everyone has to pay for university. Anyway, India is now for the Indians. When i went back to stay in Goa I felt like a stranger in a country I was born in. What had happened was that Indians had children and they grew up not knowing people like us that had grown up in India. Luckily I spoke Hindi fluently so was accepted. I grew up in the jungles so mixed with the Indians. A white Anglo with an Indian brain.

You know what the Anglos were like. They never mixed too much with the locals not because of color but they were brought up with different views. Not now though. Things have changed again. The western ways have taken over. I guess that's how it goes.

Not all Anglo's were in the railways but we were all the same. We all went to the same clubs and gymkhana. We had the best bands and we ate the same food and all we did was talk about food. Socializing is what we enjoyed. Everyone knew everyone. Anglo Indian's still have reunions all over the world. We are very proud to have our British roots. It’s a shame the British don't know much about us

I was so hurt when we came to England in the sixties. We were called ‘coloreds’. I won't get into that. it's much better now. We've all integrated. Most of our kids went to university and are doing well. Lots of the Anglos have gone to Australia, America and Canada. Some couldn't hack the weather in England. Ah well, that's all I can say.Just my version.

When will US REALLY care?

By Gulamhusein A.Abba

The day after the sarin/chlorine gas attack in Syria, US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley stood up from her seat in the UN and said, “…….Yesterday morning, we awoke to pictures….”. She went on to describe in detail what the world had woken up to that morning. To emphasize her point, she held up pictures of children in the throes of death. She rightly condemned the gas attack and demanded not just words but actin by the UN. She emphasized that if the UN failed to take “collective action” this time, “…there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action”, hinting that the Trump administration would act unilaterally if the UN did not act.By Gulamhusein A.Abba

The day after the sarin/chlorine gas attack in Syria, US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley stood up from her seat in the UN and said, “…….Yesterday morning, we awoke to pictures….”. She went on to describe in detail what the world had woken up to that morning. To emphasize her point, she held up pictures of children in the throes of death. She rightly condemned the gas attack and demanded not just words but actin by the UN. She emphasized that if the UN failed to take “collective action” this time, “…there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action”, hinting that the Trump administration would act unilaterally if the UN did not act.

All this is very commendable and brave. The only trouble is that she has blamed Russia and the Assad government for the attack. Both, Russia and the Syrian government have denied responsibility for the attack. Russia claims that the atrocity in Idlib was the result of a regime airstrike on a rebel chemical munitions depot and the gas that killed the children was what had escaped from the rebel chemical munitions depot.

One may be excused for hesitating to accept the US accusations against the Assad regime. US and its western allies have been eager to topple any regime in the Middle East that shows any independence. They have been gunning for the Assad regime for years.

What is the truth? It is difficult to say for sure at this early stage, especially one day after the attack. If the Assad regime or Russia is responsible, clearly strong action aginst the guilty party is called for. There can be no question about that.

As I read Nikki Haley’s remarks, another picture flashed through my mind.

On January 15, Israel dropped at least three white phosphorus shells on the main UNRWA compound in the Rimal neighborhood of central Gaza City, wounding three and starting fires that gutted four buildings and destroyed more than US$3.7 million worth of medical supplies.  According to UNRWA officials, they had been speaking with IDF officers throughout the morning as the shells landed progressively closer to the compound, asking them to halt fire.  About 700 civilians were sheltering in the UN compound at the time.

 On January 17 Israel dropped at least three white phosphorous shells on a well-marked UN facility

– a school in Beit Lahiya sheltering roughly 1,600 displaced persons. One discharged shell landed in a classroom, killing two brothers who were sleeping and severely injuring their mother and a cousin.  The attack wounded another 12 people and set a classroom on fire.  As with all of its facilities in Gaza, the UN had provided the IDF with the GPS coordinates of the school prior to military operations.

These two days are not the only ones on which Israel used white phosphorous, nor are the two sites mentioned the only ones on which they were used. Israel used white phosphorous extensively.

The use of white phosphorous in war in populated areas is as illegal as is use of chemical weapons and deaths caused by it are even more ghastly than those caused by sarin/chlorine gas.

Apart from using white phosphorous aginst innocent Palestinians, Israel has killed thousands of them and committed ghastly crimes again and again.

The world has woken on many mornings to these crimes. On any one of those mornings the US ambassador to the UN could have stood up and spoken about them in the UN using the very same words that Haley used.

“This Security Council thinks of itself as a defender of peace, security, and human rights,"  "When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action." These atrocities were raised in the UN, and the UN did fail to act collectively against them. But the US ambassador, far from condemning them and demanding action, vetoed UN resolutions condemning Israeli actions and calling for action.

Speaking of the attack in Syria Haley said, “We cannot close our eyes to those pictures. We cannot close our minds of the responsibility to act” But when it came to pictures of atrocities committed by Israel, the US ambassador to the UN DID close his/her eyes and he/she DID close his/her minds of the responsibility to act.

Haley criticized Russia for standing in the way of accountability by Asad when the Security Council attempted to hold it accountable. But the US ambassador to the UN had no compunction about standing in the way when the UN Council attempted to hold Israel accountable for its crimes. The US “defied the conscience of the world” to use Haley’s words.

Haley said “…if Russia had been fulfilling its responsibility, there would not even be any chemical weapons left for the Syrian regime to use” And if the US had been fulfilling its responsibility, the atrocities by Israel would have stopped long back.

Haley said, “We know that if nothing is done, these attacks will continue. Assad has no incentive to stop using chemical weapons as long as Russia continues to protect his regime from consequences”.

It can well be said that if nothing is done by the UN, Israeli violations will continue. Israel has no incentive to stop its violations as long as US continues to protect its regime from consequences.

Haley said “We regularly repeat tired talking points in support of a peace process that is regularly undermined by the Assad regime”. That is exactly what the US does in the UN when it comes to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it is regularly undermined by Israel.

Haley said “There is an obvious truth here that must be spoken. The truth is that Assad, Russia and Iran have no interest in peace” Another truth is equally obvious. Israel has no interest in arriving at a peaceful and fair solution with the Palestinians.

Haley said “The illegitimate Syrian government, led by a man with no conscience, has committed untold atrocities .. Assad has made it clear that he doesn’t want to take part in a meaningful political process. Iran has reinforced Assad’s military, and Russia has shielded Assad from UN sanctions”

Can it not be sad that the Israeli government, led by a man with no conscience, has committed untold atrocities …. Netanyahu has made it clear that he doesn’t want to take part in a meaningful political process. The US has reinforced Israel’s military and has shielded Israel from UN sanctions

Once again, to quote Haley, “If Russia has the influence in Syria that it claims to have, we need to see them use it. We need to see them put an end to these horrific acts. How many more children have to die before Russia cares?... The United States sees yesterday’s attack as a disgrace at the highest level, an assurance that humanity means nothing to the Syrian government.”

Rephrase “If the US has the influence in Israel that it claims to have, we need to see it use it. We need to see it put an end to these horrific acts. How many more Palestinian children have to die before US cares?”

I can go on and on. But you get my point. I will end by just one more trans positioning. Haley said, “….there are times when we are compelled to take collective action. I will now add this: When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action”.

Peace and justice loving people all over the world ache to hear those words from a US ambassador in the UN with reference to Israel’s brutal, illegal and long running occupation of Palestinian lands.

Please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frmdu-Gqh8E

All this is very commendable and brave. The only trouble is that she has blamed Russia and the Assad government for the attack. Both, Russia and the Syrian government have denied responsibility for the attack. Russia claims that the atrocity in Idlib was the result of a regime airstrike on a rebel chemical munitions depot and the gas that killed the children was what had escaped from the rebel chemical munitions depot.

One may be excused for hesitating to accept the US accusations against the Assad regime. US and its western allies have been eager to topple any regime in the Middle East that shows any independence. They have been gunning for the Assad regime for years.

What is the truth? It is difficult to say for sure at this early stage, especially one day after the attack. If the Assad regime or Russia is responsible, clearly strong action aginst the guilty party is called for. There can be no question about that.

As I read Nikki Haley’s remarks, another picture flashed through my mind.

On January 15, Israel dropped at least three white phosphorus shells on the main UNRWA compound in the Rimal neighborhood of central Gaza City, wounding three and starting fires that gutted four buildings and destroyed more than US$3.7 million worth of medical supplies.  According to UNRWA officials, they had been speaking with IDF officers throughout the morning as the shells landed progressively closer to the compound, asking them to halt fire.  About 700 civilians were sheltering in the UN compound at the time.

On January 17 Israel dropped at least three white phosphorous shells on a well-marked UN facility

– a school in Beit Lahiya sheltering roughly 1,600 displaced persons. One discharged shell landed in a classroom, killing two brothers who were sleeping and severely injuring their mother and a cousin.  The attack wounded another 12 people and set a classroom on fire.  As with all of its facilities in Gaza, the UN had provided the IDF with the GPS coordinates of the school prior to military operations.

These two days are not the only ones on which Israel used white phosphorous, nor are the two sites mentioned the only ones on which they were used. Israel used white phosphorous extensively.

The use of white phosphorous in war in populated areas is as illegal as is use of chemical weapons and deaths caused by it are even more ghastly than those caused by sarin/chlorine gas.

Apart from using white phosphorous aginst innocent Palestinians, Israel has killed thousands of them and committed ghastly crimes again and again.

The world has woken on many mornings to these crimes. On any one of those mornings the US ambassador to the UN could have stood up and spoken about them in the UN using the very same words that Haley used.

“This Security Council thinks of itself as a defender of peace, security, and human rights,"  "When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action." These atrocities were raised in the UN, and the UN did fail to act collectively against them. But the US ambassador, far from condemning them and demanding action, vetoed UN resolutions condemning Israeli actions and calling for action.

Speaking of the attack in Syria Haley said, “We cannot close our eyes to those pictures. We cannot close our minds of the responsibility to act” But when it came to pictures of atrocities committed by Israel, the US ambassador to the UN DID close his/her eyes and he/she DID close his/her minds of the responsibility to act.

Haley criticized Russia for standing in the way of accountability by Asad when the Security Council attempted to hold it accountable. But the US ambassador to the UN had no compunction about standing in the way when the UN Council attempted to hold Israel accountable for its crimes. The US “defied the conscience of the world” to use Haley’s words.

Haley said “…if Russia had been fulfilling its responsibility, there would not even be any chemical weapons left for the Syrian regime to use” And if the US had been fulfilling its responsibility, the atrocities by Israel would have stopped long back.

Haley said, “We know that if nothing is done, these attacks will continue. Assad has no incentive to stop using chemical weapons as long as Russia continues to protect his regime from consequences”.

It can well be said that if nothing is done by the UN, Israeli violations will continue. Israel has no incentive to stop its violations as long as US continues to protect its regime from consequences.

Haley said “We regularly repeat tired talking points in support of a peace process that is regularly undermined by the Assad regime”. That is exactly what the US does in the UN when it comes to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it is regularly undermined by Israel.

Haley said “There is an obvious truth here that must be spoken. The truth is that Assad, Russia and Iran have no interest in peace” Another truth is equally obvious. Israel has no interest in arriving at a peaceful and fair solution with the Palestinians.

Haley said “The illegitimate Syrian government, led by a man with no conscience, has committed untold atrocities .. Assad has made it clear that he doesn’t want to take part in a meaningful political process. Iran has reinforced Assad’s military, and Russia has shielded Assad from UN sanctions”

Can it not be sad that the Israeli government, led by a man with no conscience, has committed untold atrocities …. Netanyahu has made it clear that he doesn’t want to take part in a meaningful political process. The US has reinforced Israel’s military and has shielded Israel from UN sanctions

Once again, to quote Haley, “If Russia has the influence in Syria that it claims to have, we need to see them use it. We need to see them put an end to these horrific acts. How many more children have to die before Russia cares?... The United States sees yesterday’s attack as a disgrace at the highest level, an assurance that humanity means nothing to the Syrian government.”

Rephrase “If the US has the influence in Israel that it claims to have, we need to see it use it. We need to see it put an end to these horrific acts. How many more Palestinian children have to die before US cares?”

I can go on and on. But you get my point. I will end by just one more trans positioning. Haley said, “….there are times when we are compelled to take collective action. I will now add this: When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action”.

Peace and justice loving people all over the world ache to hear those words from a US ambassador in the UN with reference to Israel’s brutal, illegal and long running occupation of Palestinian lands.

Please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frmdu-Gqh8E

Here are some pictures one hopes Haley or somefuture US ambassador to the UN might show to the Council some day