Monday, June 2: Engineered Scarcity
What is left to destroy at this point?
When all the hospitals and universities have been leveled and all the shops and homes have been destroyed, the apartheid state of Israel needs to innovate new ways to mass murder Palestinians. And what better way to fulfill their genocidal ambitions than by targeting the ‘aid distribution’ sites they’ve set up to prevent further starvation?
At least 31 people were killed and over 170 wounded yesterday as large crowds of Palestinians were on their way to receive food in Gaza. Witnesses to the attack said that apartheid-loving Israeli forces fired directly into the crowd just before dawn near the aid site run by an Israeli-backed organization. Of course representatives of the apartheid state were quick to trot out the same old lines denying that its soldiers would ever fire at civilians, even after everything we’ve witnessed for the past 604 days. An Israeli military official claimed that the genocidal troops were actually firing ‘warning shots’ at several suspects, so I guess it must’ve been a pretty emphatic warning.
These aid distribution sites are naturally located in Israeli military zones where independent media has no access, so it’s near impossible to assess the extent of the violence. UN agencies and other major humanitarian groups have refused to work with this new system, saying it violates basic humanitarian principles.
The apartheid state and its American sponsors claim that this new distribution system is aimed at preventing Hamas from benefiting from the assistance. Of course the apartheid state has yet to provide any evidence of systematic aid diversion, and the UN has consistently denied that it has ever occurred, but that sort of logic won’t get in the way of Israel’s genocidal intentions. UN agencies and major aid groups say this broken system of aid distribution allows the apartheid state to control who receives aid while forcing people to relocate to distribution sites, risking even more mass displacement.
While we witness these innovative efforts at ethnic cleansing, this article from The Intercept details how US senator John Fetterman recently enjoyed a three-day all-expenses-paid trip to his favorite apartheid state. Alongside his wife Gisele, Fetterman, aka the Shrek of the US senate, flew first class to the apartheid state and stayed in five-star hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as part of a so-called “Fact-Finding Mission”. Apparently the facts he found didn’t include the obvious genocide unfolding, but his vacation was funded by Relief Resources, a New York City-based nonprofit that purports to focus on ‘mental health in the international Jewish community’. A sitting senator really took a week off work for a ‘birthright’ trip to show his obedience to the apartheid state in the midst of a genocide.
During his trip, the slovenly Shrek impersonator met with Israeli prime minister and fellow scumbag Benny Netanyahu, who honored his guest by gifting Fetterman a silver beeper to commemorate the apartheid state’s terrorist attack in Lebanon (an event that the UN has called a “terrifying violation of international law.”) The pace of repression and the extent of repulsive behavior will always outstrip our ability to understand it, but it’s nice to see these guys finding new ways to celebrate before their eternal damnation.
Side Items
Attack in Boulder: A man with a homemade incendiary weapon attacked a group of people in Colorado this weekend, yelling “Free Palestine” at a crowd gathering to raise attention to the Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza. Eight people were injured, mainly with burns, and the 45 year old suspect, Mohamed Soliman, was booked into the county jail north of Denver. The suspect is expected to face heavy charges as the FBI was quick to investigate this as a ‘terrorist act’
Graduation Season: ‘Tis the season for college graduations, which means we’re witnessing the punishment of any student foolish enough to express solidarity, sympathy, or even recognition of Palestine and the ongoing genocide. MIT, the prestigious collection of nerds, banned their 2025 class president, Megha Vemuri, from their commencement ceremony last week after she delivered a pro-Palestinian speech. Vemuri was bold enough to correctly call out the university for its research ties with the murderous Israeli army while also "aiding and abetting" the apartheid state with its "assault on the Palestinian people." There have been countless stories of students at universities across the country facing heavy repercussions for their bravery and compassion. Another reminder that we live in a society that punishes students for speaking out against genocide while also arming the people committing it
French Annihilation: Congrats to PSG (that’s Paris Saint-Germain Football Club for those uninitiated) on finally lifting their first Champions League trophy and being crowned champions of Europe over the weekend, after a thorough dismantling of a clearly-overmatched Inter Milan squad. The final score was 5-0, the most lopsided game in the history of the championship, and it’s a deserved title for the French folk and their Qatari benefactors. Saturday's win was the culmination of ~15 years of excessive spending and French heartbreak and all the things that modern football forces us to consider at all times (sportswashing, legal battles, sovereign wealth funds and geopolitics)