Philippe Lazzarini @UNLazzarini: It was an honour to have a private audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV... I sought the Holy Father’s support to preserve UNRWA’s critical services, primarily in the area of education, public health & safety nets for Palestine Refugees in #Gaza & across the region until a just & fair political solution is in place.

 

Philippe Lazzarini

@UNLazzarini

 

It was an honour to have a private audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

 

I briefed him on the immense suffering endured by Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as on the political & financial challenges confronting @UNRWA. 

 

I stressed that the attacks on UNRWA are an assault on the multilateral system & a defiance of international law with reverberations far beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

 

I also stressed that bringing back to a learning environment the more than 600,000 girls & boys currently living in the rubble of Gaza should be our common priority to avoid a lost generation. 

 

I sought the Holy Father’s support to preserve UNRWA’s critical services, primarily in the area of education, public health & safety nets for Palestine Refugees in #Gaza & across the region until a just & fair political solution is in place.

 

https://x.com/UNLazzarini/status/2010787468845728160

 

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies] 

"... What other ethnic group would be treated with such indifference or ignorance or bias? Especially a devastated population, with the heaviest casualties among babies and children, by U.S.-made weapons. " Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader

@RalphNader

 

The media’s continued indifference to the massive under death count of Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the genocidal Netanyahu—embraced for the 5th time this year at the White House—by Dictator Trump. The total death count coming from the most intense bombardment and starvation (food, water, medicine and healthcare) of a human population in military history in the tiny enclave is not nearly 70,000. It’s about 600,000—or slightly over a quarter of the civilian population. 

 

What other ethnic group would be treated with such indifference or ignorance or bias? Especially a devastated population, with the heaviest casualties among babies and children, by U.S.-made weapons.

https://x.com/RalphNader/status/2007105459719713058 

 

Civic Self-Respect

by Ralph Nader

Seven Stories Press  https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4505-civic-self-respect?srsltid=AfmBOooe0l0Zvtxn-KJ-9dBiwv1L4dS67VqFbFGz0XDZ9sJdDJ9MGgh7

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies] 

Born in Connecticut in 1934, RALPH NADER has spent his lifetime challenging corporations and government agencies to be more accountable to the public. His 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed permanently altered the course of a reckless U.S. automobile industry and made Nader a household name. His lobbying and writing on the food industry helped to ensure that the food we buy is required to pass strict guidelines before reaching the consumer. One of Nader’s greatest achievements was his successful lobbying for a 1974 amendment to the Freedom of Information Act, which gave increased public access to government documents. Over the years he has co-founded the public interest groups Public Citizen, Critical Mass, Commercial Alert, and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law. His 2000 presidential campaign on the Green Party ticket served to broaden the scope of debate on the nation’s priorities. Named by the Atlantic as one of the hundred most influential figures in American history, Nader continues to be a relentless advocate for grassroots activism and democratic change. He lives in Washington, D.C. 

 "$14.3 billion is larger than the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s 20 times the budget of the Occupational Safety and Health Agency. It’s four times the budget of the National Park Service, which has 300 million visitors. So there is rising opposition to it in the Congress, mostly among Democrats, but not enough. And I think the Jewish Voice for Peace and other valiant people who are resisting should focus more on the Congress." 

Ralph Nader on Gaza Ceasefire & Why Suppression of Palestine Advocacy Is the Real Problem on Campus

January 05, 2024

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman.

We end today’s show with Ralph Nader, longtime consumer advocate, corporate critic, four-time former presidential candidate. We’ll talk to him about several topics, including his new book, The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right. He’s also the founder of Capitol Hill Citizen newspaper, has been named by Time and Life magazines one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century.

But, Ralph, let’s begin with U.S. policy in Gaza. Amidst the protests nationwide calling for a ceasefire, senior Biden education official Tariq Habash resigned this week — he’s the first Biden appointee — over what he called Biden’s, quote, “complete unwillingness to demand an immediate and permanent cease-fire” in Gaza. Biden is facing reelection amidst a broader Middle East conflict. Ralph, you said, quote, “Biden and Congress are vigorously enabling the annihilations” in Gaza. What do you mean? And what do you feel needs to happen?

RALPH NADER: Well, the important thing in the U.S. here is to focus on Congress and the White House, because they are waist deep in this genocidal war in Gaza. The Congress is basically a rubber stamp and doesn’t even have public hearings as it shovels billions of dollars to Israel. And it’s about to pass, unless Bernie Sanders and others who are opposed, a $14.3 billion — with a “B” — appropriation for Israel, military arms and other aspects of the Israeli right-wing regime’s priorities.

And $14.3 billion is larger than the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s 20 times the budget of the Occupational Safety and Health Agency. It’s four times the budget of the National Park Service, which has 300 million visitors. So there is rising opposition to it in the Congress, mostly among Democrats, but not enough. And I think the Jewish Voice for Peace and other valiant people who are resisting should focus more on the Congress.

As far as Biden is concerned, it really gives a new meaning to hypocrisy. He keeps saying publicly that Israel should reduce its impact on civilian casualties and let humanitarian trucks in. At the same time, he’s sending ships full of munitions and cargo planes full of munitions to Netanyahu. You cannot have humanitarian trucks coming in — and there needs to be about 700, at least, a day — if you don’t have a ceasefire, because who’s going to go in? The roads are torn up. They can’t get to their destination. The hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or disabled. There’s no markets. There’s no ability to receive these materials. And the Israelis are letting in maybe 10, 20 trucks a day, but they’re delaying hundreds and hundreds of trucks ready to come in, which Biden has already paid for. So, Biden is playing Netanyahu’s game, but he’s trying to get away with highfalutin adherence to international law.

We don’t hear enough about the violation of international law, U.S. treaties, Geneva Conventions. It’s as if the U.S. can do anything it wants in Syria and Iraq, and Israel can continue to bomb repeatedly in Syria and do other violent acts, and the press never raises the issue of law... READ MORE or watch the video https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/5/ralph_nader_on_stopping_gaza_war