Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 2

IOF kidnaps Gaza nurse as medical staff struggle to work under fire

 

Palestinian Information Center

GAZA – Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Thursday abducted nurse Tasneem al-Hems from a medical point in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, in yet another attack on Palestinian health workers. She is the daughter of Dr. Marwan al-Hems, the director of Gaza’s field hospitals, who was kidnapped by an IOF undercover unit in July this year.

Family sources confirmed that Tasneem was seized by a special IOF unit near her workplace. Her father, Dr. al-Hems, was shot in the leg and abducted on July 21 near the International Committee of the Red Cross hospital in western Khan Yunis. He has since been held in Ashkelon prison, denied access to his lawyer, and remains in detention under extended orders.

The Gaza-based al-Dameer Association for Human Rights condemned the kidnapping and confirmed that Israel is using enforced disappearance against medical professionals. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 361 Palestinian medical staff are currently imprisoned by Israel.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s Ministry of Health warned that the few hospitals still partially operating in Gaza City are facing extreme risks. In a statement Thursday, the ministry said that reaching Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Al-Quds Hospital, and Al-Helou Hospital has become “highly dangerous” due to ongoing Israeli bombings.

The ministry urged international bodies to intervene immediately to protect medical institutions and staff and to ensure safe access to health facilities.

Health authorities recently reported that 20 hospitals in Gaza have been forced out of service, with only eight functioning at limited capacity under constant threat of IOF strikes.

[…]

Via https://english.palinfo.com/news/2025/10/02/348949/

Barcelona Port blocked by mega demo for Gaza / Israel shamed worldwide

via thefreeonline. 2/10/25

The pro-Palestinian movement blocks the main access to the Port of Barcelona after Israel’s attack on the flotilla

On the occasion of the Israeli army’s attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, the movement in defense of Palestine has decided to gather at the entrances of the Port of Barcelona.

The port of the Catalan capital has become a transit point for military components coming from or traveling to Israel. Goods from companies such as Carrefour, Decathlon, Coca-Cola, or Starbucks also circulate there, which according to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement are collaborators in the genocide perpetrated by the Netanyahu government.

Explained by Albert Alexandre

[…]

Via https://thefreeonline.com/2025/10/02/barcelona-port-blocked-by-mega-demo-for-gaza-israel-shamed-worldwide/

Italian dockworkers block ships bound for Israel amid Gaza flotilla tensions

Dockworkers and citizens at the garrison outside the Tuscan dock pose for a photo and rejoice at the news that Israeli ship Zim is preparing to leave the port of Livorno without unloading or loading after Italian dockworkers on strike, block the Darsena Toscana terminal during a protest in support of Gaza, Palestine and Global Sumud Flotilla on September 29, 2025 in Livorno, Italy. [Photo by Laura Lezza/Getty Images]

Middle East Monitor

Dockworkers in several Italian ports are stepping up actions to block shipments to Israel as tensions mount over the approach of the “Sumud Flotilla” to Gaza.

Labour unions across Europe have pledged coordinated efforts to disrupt maritime trade with Israel if the flotilla comes under attack. In a meeting held in Genoa, union representatives said they had set up an alert system to monitor shipments and respond rapidly by halting the loading or unloading of vessels.

Italy has become the epicenter of the movement. Genoa was the first port to act, followed by Livorno, where union-led strikes have already disrupted operations. The container ship Zim Virginia was kept waiting for five days off the Tuscan coast after dockworkers refused to allow it to dock.

Another vessel, the Zim Iberia, is expected to arrive in Livorno on 3 October and is likely to encounter similar resistance, according to union organizers.

In Genoa, tensions escalated last week when about 2,000 protesters gathered at the port. The demonstration forced the Zim New Zealand to leave without loading any cargo after reports that several containers were suspected of being linked to Israeli shipments.

Union leaders said their campaign is aimed at putting pressure on Israel and demonstrating solidarity with Gaza. They warned that actions would intensify if the flotilla is obstructed.

[…]

Via https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20251002-italian-dockworkers-block-ships-bound-for-israel-amid-gaza-flotilla-tensions/

Israel’s Gaza flotilla interception sparks protests, strikes, diplomatic expulsions

A screengrab from a live stream video shows Israeli navy forces aboard the Gaza-bound vessel Florida, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which flotilla organizers report has been intercepted, October 1, 2025. (Via Reuters)

Press TV

Israel’s seizure of a civilian flotilla bound for the besieged Gaza Strip has unleashed global backlash, sparking protests and strike calls across Europe and Latin America as well as diplomatic expulsions, with governments denouncing the move against unarmed activists.

The Israeli navy intercepted 13 boats from the 50-vessel flotilla – Global Sumud Flotilla – as they neared Gaza’s coast, arresting activists and jamming communications to block live-stream coverage of the incident.

According to flotilla spokesperson Saif Abukeshek, Israeli forces detained more than 200 participants, including groups from Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Malaysia.

Despite the arrests, he added, around 30 vessels remain at sea, determined to break the Gaza blockade.

Turkey condemned the interception as a dangerous assault on peaceful civilians in international waters, denouncing Israel’s policies it described as genocidal and responsible for Gaza’s famine.

The seizure sparked worldwide protests, diplomatic condemnations and threats of strikes against the occupying entity, which has barred some two million Palestinians in the war-torn coastal territory from receiving basic humanitarian aid during the past several months.

In Italy, where a general strike had already been organized in solidarity with the flotilla, thousands rallied in cities to support the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is carrying roughly 500 people from 37 countries, including parliamentarians, lawyers and activists such as Greta Thunberg.

Demonstrations also broke out in Brussels, Athens, Buenos Aires, and Berlin, while Spain’s government urged Israel to safeguard the rights and safety of those aboard.

In Rome, hundreds chanting “let’s block everything” showed up near the main train station, leading authorities to restrict access and close some metro stations. Pro-Palestinian marches also took place in Milan, Turin, and Genoa. In Naples and Pisa, protesters briefly occupied platforms and blocked trains.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators block the Gran Via street in Madrid, Spain, on October 1, 2025. (Photo by Reuters)

In Bologna, thousands marched carrying flags and banners. Italian media estimated around 10,000 people demonstrated in Rome, with local television networks speculating about the fate of several Italian MPs aboard the flotilla.

Two of Italy’s largest unions called for a general strike the following Friday. The CGIL union described the Israeli action against civilian ships with Italian citizens as “extremely serious,” while the USB union vowed to blockade the port of Genoa. In recent weeks, dockworkers have prevented ships associated with Israel from docking or loading, targeting what they described as Israeli-linked trade vessels.

Turkey’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the action as an “attack” and “act of terror” that jeopardized civilians’ lives. Ireland’s foreign minister characterized the flotilla as a “peaceful mission” to highlight a severe humanitarian crisis; an Irish senator had been aboard, and Sinn Féin accused Israel of “kidnapping” those detained.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro expelled all remaining Israeli diplomats over what he called a new international crime by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also demanded the release of two Colombian women detained by Israeli forces who had been working on the flotilla’s solidarity mission.

Mexico, for its part, urged Israel to respect the rights of its citizens abroad. Brazil called for Israel to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

Malaysia’s prime minister condemned the interception, noting the vessels carried unarmed civilians and vital aid, and vowed to pursue accountability through lawful means. Malaysian volunteers had joined the flotilla, including singer Zizi Kirana, who posted a video reporting her detention.

[…]

Via https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/10/02/756122/Palestine-Gaza-Israel-Global-Sumud-Flotilla-Italy-Spain-Turkey-Colombia

Al Jazeera’s Latest Anti-Russian Propaganda Film

Russia’s Shadow on Africa

Al Jazeera (2025)

Film Review

This film is a fairly typical propaganda piece by Al Jazeera concerning the rising influence of Russia’s private mercenary army the Wagner Group in the Central African Republic (CAR). Giving up his career as a Kremlin caterer, Putin’s long time friend Yevgeny Prigozhin started the private militia in 2014 to support Russian separatist forces in Ukraine. Prior to arriving in the CAR, the Wagner Group also served as mercenaries in Crimea and Syria.

A former French colony, in 2018 the CAR requested Russian assistance in suppressing rising terrorist and Muslim separatist activity on the advice of the French government and the UN Security Council. The Russian government provided them with free weapons and Russian army officers to train their army. When the number of Russian troops stationed in the CAR reached 1,000, they were replaced with Wagner Group mercenaries.

The film includes extensive commentary by a former Wagner Group mercenary who resigned in 2023, owing to the Prigozhin’s growing influence on the Russian government. The former notes that by early 2025 the Wagner Group had totally infiltrated CAR society, starting language courses, local radio stations, beauty contests and beer and vodka companies.

The majority of CAR residents love them, for successfully ending years of terrorist and rebel violence after the failure of 15,000 UN peacekeeping forces to end the murders, rapes and kidnappings. By taking control of the diamond, gold and uranium mines, the Wagner Group has also stopped the theft of precious resources by gangsters,rebels, and smuggler.

A few residents make claims that that the Wagner Group also controls international trade of these valuable resources, as they appear to pocket all the profits. There are also complaints that the Wagner Group, which some blame for crushing food inflation, won’t “allow” the CAR president to organize free and fair elections. They are also blamed for teachers and doctors not being paid as of February 2025, when this video was produced. The film interviews a Muslim man and two Muslim women who complain about arbitrary Wagner violence against CAR Muslims.

Important Omissions

The filmmakers seem to deliberately imply the Russian government has dispatched the Wagner Group to illegally occupy the CAR and profit from their mineral wealth. However as an August AP article article clarifies, the Wagner Group serves in the CAR at the behest of the CAR president Fautin Archange Touadera, who pays them with a share in the country’s mineral wealth. The Russian government disagrees with this arrangement and is trying to pressure Touadera to contract with their government-run Africa Corps for security.

The film also conveniently omits any mention of the coup Wagner Group leader Prigozhin launched against Putin in 2023, his subsequent exile to Belarus nor his mysterious death in a helicopter cash a few month later. It also fail to distinguish between gold, diamond and uranium mines run by the Wagner group, and the half dozen Russian companies who CAR has invited to invest in mines since the French military was asked to withdraw in 2022. It also fails to mention the free food and fuel the Russian government has provided the CAR, nor the $11 billion they have invested in infrastructure development since 2023. Or a Memorandum of Cooperation the Russian Government signed with the CAR in January 2025, committing to assist the CAR to develop their rich mineral resources for their own benefit. See Interfax and ecomnewsafrique and Tass.

This comes after years of France monopolization of CAR mineral wealth without any assistance with industrialization or infrastructure development.

An International Force for Gaza: Why President Petro’s Proposal is the Sole Moral and Strategic Solution

C.B. Forde The ongoing genocide and devastation in Gaza has reached a level that many scholars, human rights organizations, and even state leaders describe as nothing less than genocidal. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, critical infrastructure has been deliberately targeted, and tens of thousands of civilians — most of them women and children — have been killed or displaced in what the Israeli government frames as a campaign against Hamas. For the people of Gaza, however, the experience is one of systematic annihilation.In this context, Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s call for an international force to stop the genocide in Gaza should not be dismissed as political rhetoric from the Global South. It stands as perhaps the only realistic solution to a crisis that has exposed the impotence of international humanitarian law, the paralysis of the United Nations system, and the complicity of the great powers with Israel’s war machinery. Petro’s proposal crystallizes not only the moral urgency of the moment but also the geopolitical logic of intervention when the conventional international mechanisms are broken.

The Inadequacy of Existing Institutions

The first justification for Petro’s argument lies in the failure of existing international institutions.

The United Nations Security Council has been repeatedly blocked by U.S. vetoes from passing binding resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. This underscores the structural bias within the system, where one permanent member consistently shields Israel from accountability. The very body entrusted to authorize peacekeeping or protective missions has thus become an obstacle to their formation.The International Criminal Court has opened investigations into Israeli actions and war crimes in the Occupied Territories, but these proceedings advance slowly, are vulnerable to political pressure, and lack immediate enforcement capacity. Law, when reduced to mere procedure, cannot stop the bombs falling daily on Gaza.Regional actors like Egypt or Jordan are constrained by their dependence on Western military aid and by domestic political vulnerabilities. They cannot provide the neutral and international force necessary to halt the cycles of assault, nor can they authoritatively mediate under the shadow of Israel’s overwhelming military dominance.

Given these failures, Petro is correct: only the deployment of a multinational, politically independent international force can change the material conditions on the ground.

The Concept of “Responsibility to Protect”

The 2005 UN World Summit established the principle of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) — that the international community must intervene, by military means if necessary, when a state commits or fails to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, or crimes against humanity.

Israel’s actions in Gaza — mass expulsions, targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure, obstruction of humanitarian aid, and indiscriminate bombardment — fulfill every definitional threshold of R2P. Indeed, Gaza is the quintessential case study for its application. Yet because Israel enjoys impunity due to U.S. diplomatic cover, no institutional path remains viable within the Security Council framework. Here again, Petro’s vision rises as the only operationalization of R2P in this crisis: a coordinated force, potentially organized under the General Assembly’s Uniting for Peace resolution of 1950, to bypass veto paralysis and act directly on behalf of global conscience.

The Geopolitical Stakes

An international force in Gaza is not merely a humanitarian necessity; it is a geopolitical imperative.

Preventing regional collapse: The Gaza war continuously risks regional spillover. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Syria, Iran-aligned forces in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen have already interjected at varying levels. The longer the war continues unchecked, the greater the probability of escalation into a regional conflagration. An international force to protect civilians and guarantee a ceasefire would also serve as a stabilizing mechanism for the entire Middle East.Ending cycles of impunity: Israel’s decades-long military doctrines — from the Dahiya Doctrine of disproportionate force to the ongoing siege doctrines against Gaza — demonstrate that without external deterrence, its conduct will not change. Only the credible threat of international deployment can impose material limits on Israeli military strategy.Rebalancing global order: A Latin American head of state, not a European or U.S. leader, has raised the most forceful call for global intervention against genocide in Gaza. This reflects a shifting world order where the Global South increasingly asserts moral and political leadership on matters abandoned by the West. An international force for Gaza would mark the first decisive assertion of multipolar humanitarian enforcement, free from U.S. veto domination.

Why Petro’s Proposal Is the Only Solution

Critics might argue that diplomacy, sanctions, or arms embargoes are alternative remedies. Yet these mechanisms have repeatedly proved ineffective:

Diplomatic pressure has been ignored, with Israel moving aggressively to consolidate destruction despite global condemnation.Sanctions face resistance from Western governments, and even if applied, their timeline would not match the immediacy demanded by a humanitarian catastrophe.Humanitarian aid itself is weaponized, with convoys blocked, UN agencies systematically undermined, and starvation used as a tool of war.

The calls for “restraint” and “humanitarian pauses” have become meaningless in practice. Israel has demonstrated that words alone cannot halt its campaign. Thus, Petro correctly identifies what follows logically: force must be met with force, not in the interest of warring parties, but in the higher interest of humanity itself.

Just as NATO intervention was justified in Kosovo on humanitarian grounds, despite lacking explicit Security Council authorization, so too must the international community rise to defend Gaza. Unlike Kosovo, however, Gaza is under occupation, formally governed by international law as occupied territory, which further strengthen—not weakens—the legal basis for deploying external forces to protect its civilian population.

Conclusion

President Gustavo Petro’s call for an international force to stop the genocide in Gaza is not a radical outburst but the only coherent response to grave crimes being committed in real time. Diplomatic mechanisms have failed, legal proceedings lack enforcement, and regional actors lack capacity. What remains is the universal moral duty to protect—to intervene militarily not to conquer, but to shield a people from extermination.

If the international community ignores Petro’s appeal, the consequences will be twofold: the irreversible destruction of Gaza’s society and culture, and the effective burial of international humanitarian law as anything more than rhetoric. If, however, his proposal is heeded, it could establish a new precedent—one in which the world finally takes seriously the principle that genocide is not negotiable, that sovereignty does not shield atrocity, and that humanity has the right and the duty to defend itself against annihilation.

Petro’s voice, breaking from the margins of power to demand the deployment of an international force, may prove to be the moral compass of a fractured world. The question is whether the world will follow before Gaza ceases to exist.

The UN’s Hidden Power to Launch Military Action in Gaza

[…]

Via https://thepostil.com/president-petros-proposal-is-the-sole-moral-and-strategic-solution/

Trump’s NSPM-7 Labels Common Beliefs As Terrorism “Indicators”

Trump displays NSPM-7 at the Oval Office on ThursdayKen KlippensteinSep 28, 2025 New directive targets “anti-Christian,” “anti-American,” and “anti-capitalism” opinions

With the mainstream media distracted by the made-for-TV drama of James Comey’s indictment, Trump has signed a little-noticed national security directive identifying “anti-Christian” and “anti-American” views as indicators of radical left violence. Called National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, it’s being referred to as “NSPM-7” by administration insiders.

“This is the first time in American history that there is an all-of-government effort to dismantle left wing terrorism,” Trump’s homeland security advisor Stephen Miller said, referring to the issuance.

To the extent that the major media noticed the directive at all, they (even C-SPAN!) incorrectly labeled it an “executive order,” like this week’s designation of “Antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization.

Come on, C-SPAN

The mainstream media is hopeless in the face of the complexity and secrecy of the national security state. Please help us in our quest to reveal what the national security state is up to by becoming a paid subscriber

It’s hard to overstate how much different NSPM-7 is from the over 200 executive orders Trump has frantically signed since coming back into office.

An executive order publicly lays out the course of day-to-day federal government operations; whereas a national security directive is a sweeping policy decree for the defense, foreign policy, intelligence, and law enforcement apparatus. National security directives are often secret, but in this case the Trump administration chose to publish NSPM-7 — only the seventh since he’s come into office.)

Previous national security directives have been controversial, even politically earthshaking. In 1980, for example, President Jimmy Carter signed the Top Secret Presidential Directive 59 (“PD-59”) directing new nuclear warfighting policies that persisted until the end of the Cold War. When revealed, PD-59 caused a public furor.

Declassified copy of PD-59 | Carter Library

Similarly, President George W. Bush signed a series of classified national security directives after 9/11, the most famous of which authorized NSA’s unlawful domestic intercepts, a directive that wasn’t publicly revealed until four years later.

In NSPM-7, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” President Trump directs the Justice Department, the FBI, and other national security agencies and departments to fight his version of political violence in America, retooling a network of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to focus on “leftist” political violence in America. This vast counterterrorism army, made up of federal, state, and local agents would, as Trump aide Stephen Miller said, form “the central hub of that effort.”

NSPM-7 directs a new national strategy to “disrupt” any individual or groups “that foment political violence,” including “before they result in violent political acts.”

In other words, they’re targeting pre-crime, to reference Minority Report.

The Trump administration isn’t only targeting organizations or groups but even individuals and “entities” whom NSPM-7 says can be identified by any of the following “indicia” (indicators) of violence:

anti-Americanism,anti-capitalism,anti-Christianity,support for the overthrow of the United States Government,extremism on migration,extremism on race,extremism on genderhostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family,hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, andhostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.

“The United States requires a national strategy to investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts,” the directive states (emphasis mine).

A “pre-crime” endeavor, preventing attacks before they happen, is core to the post-9/11 concept of counterterrorism itself. No longer satisfied to investigate acts of terrorism after the fact to bring terrorists to justice, the Bush administration adopted preemption. Overseas, that led to aerial assassination by drones and “special operations” kill missions. Domestically, it led to a counter-terrorism campaign whose hallmark was excessive and illegal government surveillance and the use of undercover agents and “confidential human sources” to trap (and entrap) would-be terrorists.

Now, with Donald Trump’s directive retooling the counter-terror apparatus to go after Americans at home, this means monitoring political activity, or speech, as an investigative method to discover “radicalism.” (Contrary to other national security documents all during the post-Watergate era, NSPM-7 doesn’t even mention the First Amendment or the fundamental right of Americans to organize and protest.)

The focus on speech is evident throughout NSPM-7. The directive says that political violence is the result of “organized campaigns” that often begin (with the left) dehumanizing targets in “anonymous chat foras, in-person meetings, social media, and even educational institutions.”

To give a sense of how broad this formulation is, Trump’s earlier designation of Antifa as a domestic terrorist group was accompanied by a White House fact sheet singling out people who “celebrated” Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. As I wrote at the time, this describes a lot of Americans!

Trump’s new national security memorandum also alludes to Mangione but adds to it even larger categories of potential targets.

NSPM-7 is fundamentally a law enforcement directive, and it dispenses with the complications of using the active duty military or the National Guard in pursuit of political violence. It directs the Department of Justice to focus the FBI’s approximately 200 Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) to the new mission. The FBI network of task forces comprises over 4,000 members—including FBI personnel and task force officers (or TFOs) from more than 500 state and local agencies and 50 federal agencies, including special agents, police officers, intelligence analysts and surveillance technicians. First established in New York City in 1980 to systematize FBI and NYPD cooperation, today there are task forces around the country, including at least one in each of the FBI’s 55 field offices.

For the Trump White House, the beauty of using an already existing network is that it bypasses Congressional oversight and scrutiny and even obscures federal activity to governors and legislatures at the state level. States, cities, and local police have already signed Memoranda of Agreements with the feds to fight terrorism and officers are already assigned as task force officers.

NSPM-7 says the JTTFs “shall investigate” potential federal crimes relating to “acts of recruiting or radicalizing persons” for the purpose of “political violence, terrorism, or conspiracy against rights; and the violent deprivation of any citizen’s rights.” It authorizes the JTTFs to investigate individuals, organizations, and funders “responsible for, sponsor, or otherwise aid and abet the principal actors engaging in the criminal conduct.”

“The Attorney General shall issue specific guidance that ensures domestic terrorism priorities include politically motivated terrorist acts such as organized doxing campaigns, swatting, rioting, looting, trespass, assault, destruction of property, threats of violence, and civil disorder,” NSPM-7 says. Civil disorder?

I don’t want to sound hyperbolic but the plain truth is that NSPM-7 is a declaration of war on anyone who does not support the Trump administration and its agenda. Yes, it repeats the word “violent” over and over to purport only to go after citizens who are moved to take up arms, but it also directs monitoring and intelligence collection to map and target the new “evildoers,” to borrow a Bush label he took from the Bible just days after 9/11.

The partisan focus couldn’t be more obvious.

“The real problem is this: since Charlie [Kirk] was murdered — a friend of mine, assassinated — nothing’s changed on their side,” White House counter-terrorism czar Sebastian Gorka told Newsmax after NSPM-7 was signed. “Not one leader —not one left wing thought leader, member of Congress, Senator — nobody has said we distance ourselves from the violent rhetoric.”

“The left refuses to rid themselves of the justification for violence,” Gorka continued, “and as such, President Trump is taking measures to protect us from the violent rhetoric that becomes snipers and bullets.”

[…]

Via https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-nspm-7-labels-common-beliefs

Israel wins TikTok

Larry Ellison and a constellation of billionaires will finally get their way, buying the very app they wanted to kill a year ago for being too ‘pro-Palestinian’

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

Sep 27, 2025

A year ago, powerful critics in Congress and the tech world were complaining that TikTok was promoting anti-Israel messaging and were suggesting it needed to be shut down.

Turns out it didn’t need to be eliminated. TikTok is a message force multiplier after all, and only requires, apparently, the right people to own it. Like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, the second richest man in the world and the single biggest private donor of the Israeli Defense Forces, who has referred to the state of Israel as his own. He has direct stakes in a head spinning galaxy of news, television and Hollywood media companies, mainly through the recent Paramount Skydance Corporation takeover, a mega conglomerate now run by his son David Ellison (who is reportedly on the cusp of making vigilantly pro-Israel journalist Bari Weiss a top exec at newly-acquired CBS). Ellison the elder also is a major stakeholder in X and Tesla.

Add Rupert Murdoch, head of media conglomerate NewsCorp (Fox News), a perennial critic of “anti-Israel bias” in the media who in 2024 said Israel is “alone on the front line of Western democratic civilization.” Also Ellison’s right-hand at Oracle, Israeli-American Safra Catz, great friend of President Trump, who has traveled to Israel several times since Oct. 7, 2023 in support of its war and continued Oracle partnerships there, and in a July appearance in Israel told an an audience that “we (Oracle) are on the side of freedom. We are on the side of democracy.” She followed that with “some of the best people in the world are here in Israel, and there’s no question about that. And everyone knows it. Some of the big winners will be here. Mark my words.”

Throw into this mix billionaire Jeff Yass, a top GOP donor and current TikTok investor whose philanthropy is connected to a carousel of pro-Israel outfits that have funding ties to the IDF and AIPAC, plus explicitly anti-Muslim campaigns that among their issues, advocate for U.S. confrontation with Iran.

All of these individuals and more are reportedly part of a mega deal to buy TikTok for $14 billion. The details are here. Trump says the full roster of private U.S. investors (China’s Bytedance can only own a 20% stake) will be announced in a “matter of days.” But Forbes says Ellison’s “Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake and MGX, an AI-focused investment firm established by the government of Abu Dhabi” will have a whopping 40% stake in the new TikTok. Oracle is reportedly to get 15% and be named the app’s “security provider.”

The $14 billion deal is being called a “fire sale” by some observers who point out that Elon Musk paid triple that for Twitter in 2022. This highly suggests that this transaction is more about geopolitics and ideology rather than a financial gain for investors. Aside from its more than 1.5 billion regular users world-wide, TikTok has now become where 30% of Americans get their news. Now, not only will American companies like Oracle, which has numerous government tech contracts spanning defense, intelligence, and civilian agencies, have access to TikTok’s user data, it will also have control of the algorithms that manage the kind of news, the messaging and images, that all of those users see.

“This was not a fair-market transaction,” said Milton Mueller, a professor at Georgia Tech specializing in digital governance, in Newsweek. “It’s a politically determined restructuring.” Some might say, with the constellation of GOP and MAGA supporters in the reported investor mix, this has the makings of a new Trump-friendly megaphone. But it is so much more. In essence, like Safra Catz says, the big “winners” will be in Israel.

[…]

Via https://responsiblestatecraft.org/tiktok-larry-ellison-israel/

Most US voters oppose more aid to Israel – survey

Hundreds of protesters gather outside the UN headquarters to denounce Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, New York, US, September 26, 2025. © Getty Images / Selcuk Acar/Anadolu

RT

Six out of ten Americans say West Jerusalem should end its military operation in Gaza, a new poll suggests

Israel is quickly losing US public support for its military operation in Gaza, a new poll suggests. Conducted by the New York Times and the Siena Research Institute, the survey was released hours after US President Donald Trump unveiled his new roadmap for peace in Gaza on Monday.

According to the findings, 51% of Americans oppose sending “additional economic and military support to Israel,” while only 31% back further aid. Six out of ten voters (58%) say West Jerusalem should immediately end its Gaza campaign, even if hostages remain in captivity and Hamas is not eliminated.

The poll also found that 40% of US voters believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians in Gaza. A larger share (62%) say Israel is not taking enough precautions to avoid civilian casualties.

Overall, 34% of respondents side with Israel and 35% with the Palestinians in the conflict. The survey was conducted nationwide from September 22 to 27 among 1,313 registered US voters.

The findings contrast sharply with polling in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, when the militant group killed 1,200 people and seized more than 250 hostages. At that time, 47% of American voters sided with Israel and only 20% with the Palestinians.

Since the Gaza escalation in October 2023, Washington has approved billions in emergency weapons and defense aid to Israel. Its campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians – a toll that a UN committee this month labeled genocide. Israel also recently launched a ground offensive in Gaza City, one of the last areas outside of IDF control – spurring some countries to recognize a Palestinian state, while international bodies and hostage families have pressed for a settlement.

On Monday, the US unveiled a 20-point plan to end the Gaza war, calling for an immediate ceasefire, a hostages-for-prisoners exchange, a staged Israeli withdrawal, Hamas disarmament, and a transitional international administration.

Netanyahu endorsed the framework but warned that Israel would “finish the job” militarily if Hamas refuses. Media reports said Hamas negotiators have received the plan and promised to review it “in good faith,” though no official response has been issued.

[…]

Via https://www.rt.com/news/625625-us-voters-oppose-israel-aid/

Israel bankrolling influencers to boost image in US

FILE PHOTO. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the TikTok logo on a phone screen. © Getty Images / Harun Ozalp;  Anadolu

RT

Israel has been paying influencers for social media posts to improve its image in the US, according to online magazine Responsible Statecraft. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently stressed the role of content creators in maintaining support for the Jewish state.

Responsible Statecraft reported on Tuesday that documents filed under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) revealed details of an “Influencer Campaign” run by Bridge Partners, a Washington-based consulting firm working for Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Invoices sent to Havas Media Group Germany, which is managing the campaign, show $900,000 in funding from June through November 2025 for a group of 14 to 18 influencers. The filings estimate 75 to 90 posts in that period – equivalent to between $6,143 and $7,372 per post, according to Responsible Statecraft. The documents do not disclose which influencers are involved.

Bridge Partners, co-owned by Yair Levi and Uri Steinberg, has enlisted a former IDF spokesperson and a former representative of the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group.

Last week, Netanyahu told a press conference it was crucial to secure Israel’s “support base in the US” by using influencers, particularly on TikTok and X.

Israel’s image campaign comes amid declining support in the US, particularly over the Gaza war. A recent New York Times survey suggested that six in ten Americans believe Israel should end the war, with more than half opposing additional economic and military support to West Jerusalem.

Lawmakers including Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have described the situation in Gaza as “genocide” and opposed additional aid to Israel.

US President Donald Trump, who continues to support the Jewish state, has recently acknowledged that the Israeli lobby – once wielding “total control” over Congress – has seen its influence dwindle.

Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage. Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, which has so far killed over 68,000 Palestinians according to local health authorities.

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Via https://www.rt.com/news/625705-israel-us-influence-campaign/