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'I felt like I was about to die': A Palestinian journalist shares trauma of being blinded by 'Israeli sniper fire'


RT
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 10:41 UTC
MuathAmarneh
© RT
Muath Amarneh, Journalist
Palestinian journalist Muath Amarneh lost his eye covering a protest near the West Bank town of Surif. Israel denies shooting Amarneh, but the freelance cameraman told RT Arabic that his colleagues are being deliberately targeted.

Amarneh was covering a rally near Surif two weeks ago. He said the demonstrations were non-violent, and were a show of dissent against Israeli occupation of the region. Surif is located near the Israeli border, between Hebron and Jerusalem, and lies on the edge of 'Area C,' or the portion of the West Bank fully under Israeli control and home to the vast majority of Jewish settlements.

The protests descended into scuffles between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. Dressed in his press uniform - the blue body armor and helmet worn by conflict reporters worldwide - Amarneh was taking photographs, when he was struck in the eye by what he says was a bullet banned under international humanitarian law. He maintains the hit was a result of "Israeli sniper fire."


Comment: The above mentioned report from MEMO, 9/11/2019, stated:
Israeli occupation forces committed 600 violations against Palestinian journalists between October 2018 and October 2019, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) announced on Friday. According to the report, which covered the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, the most dangerous violations were the direct shootings of journalists.

The report stated that 60 journalists were shot and suffered serious wounds; some of them still suffering at the time of the report. It also disclosed that 43 journalists had sustained light wounds as they were hit by sound grenades directly thrown at them by the Israeli occupation forces.

"More than 170 journalists were beaten, detained or banned from coverage," the PJS' Freedom Committee revealed. It also exposed that more than 180 violations were committed by Facebook in coordination with the Israeli occupation authorities.

During the period covered by the report, Israel detained 10 journalists, raising the number of journalists inside Israeli jails to 18.

The violations, according to the PJS, included raids of homes, offices, fines and bans of movement inside the country and traveling abroad.
See also:

Palestinian journalist loses eye after being shot with Israeli rubber bullet at West Bank land seizure protest

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NPC

Sheer delusion: Meet the Extinction Rebellion protesters on hunger strike to force party leaders to support climate emergency bill

Jessica Murray
The Guardian
Wed, 27 Nov 2019 18:23 UTC
extinction rebellion hunger strike
© Graeme Robertson/The Guardian
Peter Cole, 76, and Marko Stepanov, 67, during their hunger strike outside the Conservative party headquarters.
It's lunchtime at the Conservative party headquarters, and people come and go clutching bags of Pret a Manger and Greggs food. Most barely cast a glance at the man stood just outside the gates, 76-year-old Peter Cole, who hasn't eaten in 10 days.

He's one of seven Extinction Rebellion members who have vowed to remain on hunger strike until all political party leaders agree to meet them and pledge support for their climate and ecological emergency bill. Known as the "three demands bill", it would require the future prime minister to declare a climate emergency, commit to net zero emissions by 2025 and establish a citizens' assembly.

"The first three days are quite hard because of the hunger pangs," says Cole, an emeritus professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London. "Now I'm just a little bit slower than normal." He says his main regret about taking part is being unable to keep up his hobby of Argentinian tango dancing.

While the strikers remain upbeat, XR is not downplaying the risks or severity of the action. Trained first aiders, doctors and wellbeing coaches are on hand to support the strikers, who take it it turns to man their protest sites - outside Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat party headquarters - while others rest.

Comment: Some additional hunger strike-related tweets:





See also:

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Heart

Troopers rush donor heart to hospital after transplant team gets stranded

Emily Shapiro
ABC News
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 11:01 UTC
Police officersIllinois State Police Illinois State Police posted photos on Facebook of two ISP Troopers who helped deliver a heart to University of Chicago Medicine's Hyde Park campus.
© Illinois State Police
Illinois State Police posted photos on Facebook of two ISP Troopers who helped deliver a heart to University of Chicago Medicine's Hyde Park campus
When a surgical transplant team -- carrying a donor heart -- was stranded with a flat tire, two Illinois troopers stepped in to help get the organ to surgery in time.

A surgeon, transplant coordinator and medical student were on their way from Chicago's Midway International Airport back to the University of Chicago Medicine's Hyde Park campus when the transplant vehicle got a flat tire, said the Illinois State Police.

A heart is viable for surgery for about four to six hours -- and this team had already been traveling for approximately three hours, said Ashley Heher, spokeswoman for UChicago Medicine.

Time was "of the essence," Heher said in a statement.
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Russian Flag

Moscow wins 'tourism Oscar,' overtaking Paris, London, NYC & others as world's top city destination


RT
Sat, 30 Nov 2019 14:35 UTC
Moscow, Russia
© Pixabay.com
The Russian capital has beaten stiff competition to emerge as this year's 'World's Leading City Destination.' Moscow triumphed over the British and French capitals, as well as 16 other cities, including St. Petersburg.

The World Travel Awards (WTA) red carpet ceremony took place in Muscat (Oman), awarding leaders in the tourism, airline, hotel and hospitality sectors.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin expressed gratitude to all those who voted for Moscow in the nomination.

"Moscow is in fact #thebestcityonearth! We have won one of the main awards in the field of tourism... Thank you for your recognition! This is a high assessment of our work and of all Muscovites," Sobyanin wrote on his Instagram account.
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Arrow Down

Puritan gatekeepers' wish to censor Paul Gauguin paintings demeans art


RT
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 09:29 UTC
The Birth (Te tamari no atua)
© Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
The Birth (Te tamari no atua), 1896. Found in the Collection of Neue Pinakothek, Munich.
Paul Gauguin is under attack from supporters of post-colonialism and feminism because of his erotic paintings of Polynesian girls and women. Is censoring art of long-dead artists for moral reasons constructive?

Curators of the current display of Gauguin portraits at the National Gallery in London have not included any of his famous nudes, even though they could be described as portraits. Gauguin is in the firing line because of his erotic paintings of Polynesian women and his life, while living in Polynesia from 1891 until his death in 1903. The attacks come from supporters of post-colonialism and feminism. Academic post-colonial studies treat colonialism and all its products as irredeemably unjust; feminism is deeply hostile to any sexualised depictions of women by men.

Some criticism of Gauguin has been vicious: "He was, in almost every way, an absolute prick." "Exquisite art by the Harvey Weinstein of the 19th century," adds another review. The exhibition seems part artistic assessment and part historical trial.
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Attention

Hostage rescued after "assailant" with axe storms game hall in Buchholz, Germany

Tim Korso
Sputnik
Sat, 30 Nov 2019 15:55 UTC
germany police
There have been no immediate reports of casualties although ambulances were reportedly spotted at the site of the incident.

An unidentified assailant armed with an axe took one patron of a slot machine hall in the German city of Buchholz, in Lower Saxony, hostage at around 12 p.m. local time on 30 November, the online media outlet Nonstopnews reported.

An hour later, responding police units commenced the operation to free the hostage, with the perpetrator reportedly fleeing from them into the gaming hall's restroom. The person was later overpowered and arrested by police officers.

Comment: This is the latest in a recent spate of events to strike Europe in 48 hours:

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Eye 2

Palestinians reel from violent harassment during Jewish celebration in Hebron

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Wed, 27 Nov 2019 12:00 UTC
settlers
© Quds News Network
Thousands of settlers descended upon Hebron over the weekend, violently attacking Palestinians as they made their way through the city
More than a dozen Palestinians, including a baby, were injured over the weekend in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, when tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims descended on the city and many became violent.

According to local reports, extremist Israelis wreaked havoc on the city, verbally harassing and physically attacking Palestinian residents on their way to mark the occasion of "Chayei Sarah," a portion of Torah reading that discusses the life of Abraham's wife Sarah, who Jews believed is buried in the Ibrahimi Mosque (Tomb of Patriarchs) in Hebron's Old City.

Groups of settlers reportedly hurled rocks at Palestinian homes and businesses, while others engaged in physical altercations with Palestinian bystanders.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Wedding Rings

In the UK children of divorce are sticking at marriage, as divorce rate fallen to lowest for almost 50 years

Gabriella Swerling
The Telegraph
Sat, 30 Nov 2019 13:17 UTC
holding hands

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today published data showing that there were 90,871 divorces of opposite-sex couples in 2018, a decrease of 10.6% compared with 2017 and the lowest number since 1971.
Children of divorce are sticking at marriage, experts say, as official figures reveal that the divorce rate has fallen to the lowest for almost 50 years.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today published data showing that there were 90,871 divorces of opposite-sex couples in 2018, a decrease of 10.6% compared with 2017 and the lowest number since 1971.

Researchers also found that the percentage of marriages ending in divorce has been decreasing for those who have married since the mid-1990s.

The Divorce Reform Act 1969, which came into effect on 1 January 1971, made it easier for couples to divorce upon separation.

Following the publication of the latest divorce statistics, family lawyers claimed that the children of divorce are likely to want to avoid the trauma of splitting up their own families.

Zahra Pabani, family law partner at Irwin Mitchell said: "If divorce rates are dropping because of genuine happiness and relationships working out, then that is fantastic and should be lauded.
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Jet1

In defense of journalism

Peter Hitchens
Spectator
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 08:20 UTC
US Air Force B-1 Bomber
© Getty Images
A US Air Force B-1 Bomber separates from the boom pod after receiving fuel from an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker en route to strike chemical weapons targets in Syria.
It was lucky for the New York Times and the Washington Post that they did not uncover the Pentagon Papers or the Watergate Scandal in this unhappy age. They would have found themselves mercilessly beset by 'citizen journalists' denouncing them as tools of the Soviet Kremlin or the Red Chinese.

Perhaps the same self-appointed guardians of rectitude would also have gone through the past writings and sayings of the journalists involved, and found they were insufficiently loyal to the fashionable opinions of the time. It is a form of McCarthyism. And if you scoff at that, you have to ask yourself honestly if you would have recognized Joe McCarthy for what he was in his own time, or stood up to him, as so few actually did? How the junior senator for Wisconsin would have loved Twitter.

What they could not have done, of course, would have been to refute the devastating stories which these great newspapers brought into the daylight, with considerable courage. Because those stories were true. But even so, they might have frightened reporters and editors out of pursuing them. And in that case we would be living now in a darker and less truthful world.

Comment: Hitchens clearly has a lot wrong (his characterization of Putin and Assad, for one), but he gets the crux of the problem. But he should keep in mind that many 'citizen journalists' (Caitlin Johnstone comes to mind) who relentlessly pursue the truth and get it out there and act as a guard against 'consensus realilty'. Hitchens should be aware of the fact that, in today's politically charged climate, he's a dying breed - real journalism, that goes after the story regardless of the consequences to ideology, is hard to come by.

See also:

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Pistol

Some upset that London Bridge terrorist who had just stabbed numerous people was killed by police

Paul Joseph Watson
Summit News
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 00:46 UTC
london bridge stabbing
Some people are upset that the London Bridge terrorist who was wearing fake explosives and had stabbed multiple victims was shot dead by police, arguing that he should have been arrested.

The attacker was apprehended by brave citizens who disarmed him of his weapon before police moved in to gun down the assailant.

This disturbed numerous leftists on Twitter who were upset that the terrorist was killed.

Comment: Conservatives are scoffing at the suggestion that the London Bridge incident was a false flag to cement support for the Conservative Party in the upcoming election. But Sott.net's Joe Quinn called this 3 weeks ago. Posted on Facebook:
"I'll make a little prediction now, that if there is another "Muslim terror attack" in the UK before the Dec. 12th general election, it will be pretty clear evidence that the British establishment, as represented (as always) by the Conservative party, uses "Muslim terrorism" to maintain their position in power.

Why? Because "Muslim terrorism" was THE reason that a majority of British people voted for Brexit. If that reason were to be brought back, front and center, it would likely swing a general election vote in favor of the Conservatives, with the people thinking that by voting for the Conservatives they are voting for "Brexit" (and an end to immigration) when they are merely voting for 5 more years of Conservative party rule (and the continued destruction of the NHS)."
For more on this developing story, see: Convenient London Bridge Terrorist Attack Occurs Two Weeks Before General Election

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