Top News: War Profiteer Stocks Jump as Iran Strikes Israel

Tuesday, October 1, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  'So Sick': War Profiteer Stocks Jump as Iran Strikes Israel "Remember that members of Congress are permitted to own stock in war manufacturing, so when they vote to send more bombs or send our loved ones to war, they profit personally," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib. By Jessica Corbett 'Why We Need Medicare for All': Boeing Revokes Health Benefits for Striking Workers "Like other wealthy countries we must guarantee healthcare to every man, woman, and child as a human right, not a job benefit. Whether you're on strike or not, everyone is entitled to healthcare," said Bernie Sanders. By Edward Carver Iran Retaliates Over Nasrallah Killing With Missile Strikes on Israel "Only through diplomacy can threats to Israel, the United States, and Iran be reduced and security restored," said one advocacy group. By Julia Conley Youth Arrested Demanding VP Debate Question on Climate Emergency The Sunrise Movement wants CBS moderator Norah O'Donnell to ask Republican JD Vance "if his prayers outweigh the millions he takes from Big Oil to deny the climate crisis." By Jessica Corbett 'This Must Stop': UN Chief Condemns March to All-Out War in Middle East "We absolutely need a cease-fire," said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. By Jake Johnson 'Corporate Greed vs. Workers Rights': East Coast Dockworkers Go on Strike "We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve." By Edward Carver JOIN THE MOVEMENT As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. JOIN WITH US TODAY ■ More News Israel Again Accused of Illegally Using White Phosphorus in Lebanon "If Hezbollah rained white phosphorus over Tel Aviv there would be wall-to-wall coverage and every major leader would be saying it's the worst war crime," said one critic. Israeli forces were accused Tuesday of the war crime of firing white phosphorus artillery munitions over populated areas of southern Lebanon as Israel escalates an assault on its northern neighbor that has killed or wounded thousands of people. Video footage published on social media and reported by Middle East Eye shows distinctive explosions that appear consistent with the use of white phosphorus rounds over civilian areas of southern Lebanon, including the village of Kfar Kila. While white phosphorus munitions are not completely prohibited under international law, their use in populated areas is forbidden. White phosphorus round are primarily used to create smokescreens. However, when used as an incendiary weapon, white phosphorus—which ignites on contact with air and burns at nearly 1,500°F (815°C)—can maim and kill by burning flesh straight through to the bone, often causing a slow, agonizing death. Water does not extinguish it. There have been multiple confirmed reports of Israeli forces firing white phosphorus munitions in Lebanon since the political and paramilitary group Hezbollah began attacking Israel with rockets, drones, and other weapons in solidarity with Gaza after Israel's assault on the Palestinian coastal enclave in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice over its military assault of Gaza, which has left more than 147,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Israeli forces have also used white phosphorus in previous wars, including during the 2006 invasion of Lebanon and over a United Nations school during the 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead invasion of Gaza. Responding to a 2013 petition to Israel's High Court of Justice filed by human rights groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Israel Defense Forces said it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas, with "very narrow exceptions" that it would not disclose. U.S. forces used white phosphorus following the invasion of Iraq and elsewhere across the region during the post-9/11 so-called "War on Terrorism." Responding to Israel's earlier use of white phosphorus in Gaza, HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said: "Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering. White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians." "To avoid civilian harm, Israel should stop using white phosphorus in populated areas," Fakih added. "Parties to the conflict should be doing everything they can to spare civilians from further suffering." In First Speech Since Release, Assange Says Imprisonment Set 'Dangerous Precedent' With Green Light From Biden White House, Israel Invades Lebanon Judge Strikes Down Georgia's Six-Week Abortion Ban in 'Absolutely Epic Ruling' VIEW ALL NEWS ■ Opinion Will Helene Force Vance to Face Climate Crisis on the Debate Stage? In a time when we face unprecedented disaster, we need our media institutions to be a source of truth and honesty and to be ready to hold those in power accountable. By Aru Shiney-Ajay A smoke plume erupts after an Israeli airstrike targeted the outskirts of the village of Ibl al-Saqi in southern Lebanon on September 30, 2024.  (Photo by Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images) 6 Things to Know as Israel Invades Lebanon The first step to halting the devastation and the risk of ever-widening war is for the United States to stop sending the weapons. By Khury Petersen-Smith As of this writing, Israel’s rampage in Lebanon has killed more than a thousand people in two weeks, wounded thousands more (including many maimed for life), and displaced hundreds of thousands. The Israeli onslaught — including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with a 2,000 pound, U.S.-made bomb that killed others too — has mostly garnered approval from American leaders, particularly the president and vice president. Continuing its genocidal assault of Gaza, bombing Yemen for the second time this year, and carrying out aerial bombardment in Lebanon at a speed and on a scale perhaps unseen in the 21st century, Israel launched a ground invasion on Tuesday, one it described as "limited" in scope. As the invasions and attacks escalate and expand across the region — and Washington continues to send Israel weapons — here are six key things to know about the crisis in Lebanon and how it could be resolved. 1. Israel has a long history of attacks on Lebanon. In 1982, at the height of Lebanon’s catastrophic, 15 year civil war, Israeli forces invaded, attacking Lebanese villages and Palestinian refugee camps with tanks, airstrikes, and shells. Israel laid siege to Beirut and collaborated with far-right Christian Lebanese militias as they carried out a notorious massacre of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and the Shatilla refugee camp, killing thousands. It was during these years that Hezbollah formed to fight the Israeli occupation. 2. Israel occupied Lebanon for 15 years. Israel occupied a wide strip of Southern Lebanon from 1985 until 2000. During that time, the Israeli military propped up the South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia, which detained Lebanese and Palestinian dissidents at a notorious prison — administered under Israeli protection — where Amnesty International and other human rights organizations documented systematic torture. Israel justified its brutal occupation by claiming it needed a “buffer zone” to protect itself — the same excuse it is using to justify its attacks in southern Lebanon today. 3. Hezbollah is a political and social organization, not just a military one. Though Hezbollah formed as a military resistance movement, the organization plays a much larger role in Lebanese society. Hezbollah began participating in elections after the end of the civil war and remains one of the country’s largest parties today. Hezbollah also runs an extensive social services infrastructure, maintaining hospitals and schools, providing for families of those killed in war, and carrying out reconstruction since Israel’s withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in 2000. So when Israel detonated hundreds of pagers to attack members of Hezbollah, people targeted included medical, educational, and other non-military personnel. 4. Israel invaded Lebanon again in 2006. As Israeli forces bombard Lebanon today, they are reviving fresh memories from the last Israeli invasion, in 2006. That assault, which Israel escalated following a brief exchange of rockets across the Lebanon-Israel border, lasted for 34 days, killed over 1,000 Lebanese civilians, and destroyed civilian infrastructure, such as the Liban Lait milk factory. In the words of an Israeli officer who commanded a rocket unit, “what we did was insane and monstrous; we covered entire towns in cluster bombs.” Unexploded munitions in Southern Lebanon have remained over the years since, posing a grave threat to residents — especially children. The 2006 Israel-Lebanon war was fought simultaneously with the first major Israeli assault on Gaza following the withdrawal of settlers there. 5. A permanent ceasefire in Gaza could halt the fighting in Lebanon. Given the history, it’s not surprising that there have been frequent military exchanges on the Israeli-Lebanese border. But the past year of violence is rooted directly in the catastrophic Israeli offensive in Gaza. Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023 and Israel has carried out its own cross-border strikes. Though Hezbollah has rockets capable of striking almost any Israeli city, it has largely — with a few exceptions — limited its attacks to villages across the border, which were largely evacuated after October 7. Hezbollah has said it will stop firing rockets when Israel ends its assault in Gaza. Indeed, when Israeli forces and Hamas reached a temporary ceasefire and exchange of hostages and prisoners in November 2023, Hezbollah honored the ceasefire. 6. Suspending U.S. arms sales is key to getting a ceasefire. Ending the growing disaster in Lebanon — and preventing its escalation into an expanded war — requires the same solution as ending the carnage in Gaza: an immediate and lasting ceasefire. And that means the U.S. must stop sending arms to Israel. President Biden, in his final address to the UN General Assembly on September 24, said that it is time to “end this war.” But his actions say the opposite. In August, the White House approved $20 billion in new weapons transfers to Israel despite months of well-documented abuses by Israeli forces in Gaza and months of Israeli threats to invade Lebanon. The devastation in Gaza, and now perhaps Lebanon as well, will take generations to recover from. But the first step is for Washington to stop sending the weapons — in line with what the majority of Americans are demanding. The Threat of 1,000 Holocausts Puts Everything at Stake If a nuclear war happens, of course we won’t be around for any retrospective analysis. Or regrets. So, candid introspection is in a category of now or never. By Norman Solomon On the Dangers of Israel's Assassination of Nasrallah Israel has a history of decapitating Hezbollah, and the approach has not gone well for Israel. By Paul Pillar VIEW ALL OPINION Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to: Common Dreams · PO Box 443 · Portland, ME 04112-0443 · USA Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax-deductible. EIN: 20-3368194