"For so long I wondered why I survived while family and friends were killed. Now I know the only difference between life and death may have been an AI algorithm..."

Palestinians search for missing people under the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli air strikes on Deir Al Balah, 22 February 2024. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

 NAZA   in The Guardian 

Watching NAZA was like peering through a window – and seeing the machinery of killing in Gaza

Mahmoud Mushtaha

The lights go down, and for a moment I forget I’m watching a screen. It fills with a rooftop in Tel Aviv at night, black and grey. The camera pans down. Through windows, we see people watching screens of their own – couples holding each other close, following the news, eating food. They appear absorbed in their own worlds, and why wouldn’t they be?

That’s the thing I can’t get past as a Palestinian journalist from Gaza, watching this apparent tranquillity: this must be it – this must be what safety actually looks like. Just an evening uninterrupted, with no military aircraft flying overhead or drones buzzing incessantly. Meanwhile, men and women on the rooftop above them calmly talk about how they decided how many Palestinian civilians would die on any given night.

These are the soldiers, mostly intelligence officers, who helped Israel carry out its destruction of Gaza. Their testimonies form the basis of NAZA, a documentary whose title comes from an Israeli military acronym used to indicate how many civilians are likely to die in an airstrike on the territory.

What surprised me in the film wasn’t the massive scale of the killing, or even the coldness of it, but the proficiency of the soldiers who coolly described destroying people’s lives as if they were discussing a routine errand. One described the work simply as a “mission”, while another compared it to a “video game”.

One soldier described knowing exactly what some of the people were doing in the moments before he killed them. He recalled hearing a man talking to his wife in bed. A baby crying. The sound of the TV. Despite taking all that humanity in, he quickly gave permission to drop the bomb...  READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/17/naza-film-documentary-killing-gaza

[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 here, there- and everywhere]  

The Guardian view on NAZA’s persecuted directors: journalism is not treason. Politicians who threaten filmmakers rather than investigate alleged military crimes expose not strength but a leadership frightened of the evidence

Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham face being stripped of their citizenship for treason. Photograph: Maria Laura Antonelli/AGF/Shutterstock

The Guardian Editorial

NAZA   Fri 18 Sep 2026 

Across Israel, politicians, military leaders and much of the media are trying to discredit a documentary that almost none of them have seen. Produced by the Guardian, NAZA examines the AI-powered targeting systems used by the Israel Defense Forces to bombard Gaza after Hamas’s brutal 7 October 2023 attacks. Named after the Israeli military acronym euphemistically used for “collateral damage”, NAZA features interviews with 24 anonymous insiders who reflect on their role in the death-dealing. Israeli leaders have branded the film a “blood libel” and “fiction”. Its Oscar-winning directors, Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham, face being stripped of their citizenship for treason.

This is absurd. NAZA shows how bureaucratic distance and routine can turn extreme violence into ordinary work. More than 73,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, have been killed in the campaign by Israel’s military. A democracy that values life would at least investigate the film’s claims. Instead Israel’s government, which says it is committed to democratic accountability, is attacking journalists.

The allegations in NAZA come from military insiders. For many, it does not appear to be remorse that drives them to speak out. Some are proud of what they have done. One recalls the “insane fun” of planning airstrikes in Gaza... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/18/the-guardian-view-on-nazas-persecuted-directors-journalism-is-not-treason

 [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 here, there- and everywhere]

“It’s good to criticise governments for violating children’s rights. It’s something that everyone should be doing. Because we’re the grownups of this world and we’re meant to keep children safe. And the fact that we are not is horrific” Ms Rachel, the queen of toddler TV- Her preschool fanbase are, of course, unaware of any of her politics, and they cannot get enough of her.

Ms Rachel: ‘All my experiences have led me to knowing that we should take care of each other.’ Photograph: Joanna McGowan/The Guardian

Educational TV

Interview    Sun 20 Sep 2026  

Ms Rachel, the controversial queen of toddler TV: ‘My goal isn’t to be the most liked. It’s to help kids and speak the truth’

Sophie McBain

Her catchy videos have racked up billions of views, but Rachel Accurso’s statements on everything from Gaza to LGBTQ rights have caused a stir. She talks about screen time, song fatigue and speculation she might enter politics

The YouTube star Ms Rachel, toddler whisperer extraordinaire, spots me before I clock her, and even from a distance and without her trademark pink T-shirt and denim dungarees, she is instantly recognisable by her wave, which is accompanied by an enthusiastic bounce. I half expect her to say, “Hi, friends”, as she does at the start of many of her videos. Instead she bounds over, wearing a classic off-duty mum uniform – Sesame Street sweatshirt, grey leggings, baseball cap that reads “Mama” – and removes her oversized sunglasses. She’s very sorry, she says, rubbing her eyes, that she is so tired – but her manner remains unfailingly, characteristically peppy.

It is only seven years since Rachel Accurso, who used to be a preschool music teacher, uploaded her first video to YouTube, a counting song for preschoolers called Bubble, Bubble Pop!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi4AV2S4xA0 . She and her husband, Aron Accurso, who worked as a music director on Broadway, made the video because their one-year-old son had a speech delay and there seemed to be a dearth of quality videos online that could help toddlers learn to speak.

Nowadays, the Ms Rachel YouTube channel has more than 21 million followers, and since she signed with Netflix in 2025, the series has been streamed more than 69m times, becoming the highest-ranked new kids’ TV show. You can buy Ms Rachel dolls, rattles, talking toy phones, books and pyjamas. The couple are releasing their first album this month.

Ms Rachel, who is 43 and has a 17-month-old daughter, Susannah, as well as her eight-year-old son, Thomas, has also amassed a huge following on Instagram (5.5 million) and TikTok (11 million), where the mums of her superfans congregate, and where she cuts a more controversial figure, having become a vocal opponent of the Israeli government over its war in Gaza, and a campaigner on other humanitarian issues, such as family immigration detention centres in the US and the war in Sudan... READ MORE 

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/20/ms-rachel-the-queen-of-toddler-tv-interview 

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Dear America- How much pollution and corruption has been generated by the manufacturing, transport, and deployment of bombs?

September 21: UNITED NATIONS International Day of Peace

letter I just sent to my elected leaders

Dear America,

My vote is for decency, dignity, and kindness. Kindness to people, kindness to our planet, to our skies and galaxy... and kindness to the future. 

Stop forcing every American taxpayer to be a cog in the ugly war machine, the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX that has been killing children, tormenting families, pulverizing homes, destroying communities, and brazenly polluting our shared planet earth... and now our skies.

How many men, women, and children have been killed by American made weapons of war, cruel policies, and cuts to aid since 1990 ?

How much pollution and corruption has been generated by the manufacturing, transport, and deployment of bombs?

9/11 was one day for all of America, one day with some utterly horrifying hours filmed, memorialized, seen, and talked about for decades now, while American bombs have been blasting- terrorizing, wounding and killing countless strangers who had nothing at all to do with 9/11.

American bombs have been killing civilians day after day for decades, in a slow torture of all humanity. 

Might is not right.

We should be funding human needs- healthcare, education, families, public transportation so that more people can get and keep a good job. Diplomacy. Democracy. Freedom... Not more and more war!

Social Security needs to be solvent.  Invest in the people's needs, including parks and environmental protections.

We should not be funding war and Israel:  Pennsylvania Treasurer, Stacy Garrity, poured tax payer funds into Israel bonds- $20 million since 2023, raising Pennsylvania's investment to $56 million   https://littlesis.org/news/u-s-state-and-local-treasuries-hold-at-least-1-6-billion-in-israel-bonds/

Since October 7th 2023, at least fourteen USA state governments, four USA municipal governments and one public pension fund have invested in Israel bonds. Combined, these investors have recently purchased $564 million in bonds... $1.6 billion worth of Israel bonds combined.

Don’t invest in bombs or buy Israel bonds.

Vote for America, vote for and invest in a better future for all people, regardless of supposed race, religion, gender, or nationality. !

We don't need government tyranny empowered by data centers that record every click of every mouse, with algorithms compiling favored lists of who says what and who to imprison and destroy - we need the rule of fair and just laws, for everyone's sake.

Please help support the United Nations- empower international law and respect for UNIVERSAL human rights.

Stop state sponsored terrorism and "preemptive" wars...  SCORN VIOLENCE!!!

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

The US military just confirmed that it has deployed weapons in space.

The US government is the notorious #1 financier of Israel’s crimes, followed by a more dubious network of individuals and institutions who have directly transferred at least $8 billion in Israel bonds to the Israeli government in the first six months of its genocide on Gaza.

Rare film footage of Palestine from 1896, captured by the Lumière Brothers – pioneers of cinema. These unique films provide an invaluable glimpse into daily life in the Holy Land under the Ottoman Empire, offering a rare perspective of a time long past. Watch as Palestine appears over 100 years ago, during an era when the world was rapidly changing, and cinema was just beginning to take shape!

“What Are You Doing to My Brother?” A true story by Mike Hanini Odetalla (Abu Odeh) ... Here was an elderly Orthodox rabbi, aboard a plane filled largely with Jewish passengers headed to Israel, publicly kissing the hand of a Palestinian Muslim and calling him brother.

Palestinian American activist arrested and ‘charged for trespassing at a public hearing’. Noura Erakat says a Florida mayor shortened speaking time and banned discussion of investment in Israeli bonds

'Everything changed': The human cost of 25 years of US wars... Successive wars launched after 9/11 have killed at least 4.5 million people and displaced more than 38 million others.

4.7 Million Dead, $8 Trillion: Counting the Devastating Human & Economic Costs of the Post‑9/11 Wars

Never forget also means remembering who else was hurt on 9/11 | - Ann Van Dyke, PennLive letters

Datacenter rush will create ‘tsunami’ of discarded electronics, report says: Global push will triple toxic e-waste annually in 25 years, filling enough shipping containers to circle globe six times

"The White Dove" by artist Reem Arkan

"It’s worth remembering that no one actually asked for AI, and yet here it suddenly is trying to kill us. And even if that’s averted, it’s embedding itself in our workplaces and in our emotional lives (ChatGPT may be the largest provider of mental health services in the US), robbing us of the capacity for critical thinking, and threatening economic and social stability." Brigid Delaney

"There is something historically inevitable in this. Immigration from countries and backgrounds against which the US has waged military and ideological war eventually yields not a cowed assimilation, but a sort of political cosmopolitanism – kryptonite for American exceptionalism."

Report by Israeli human rights group [B’Tselem] says systematic and broad assault being waged on conditions required for Palestinians’ existence

Children. Displaced people. Farmers. Shepherds. People returning to check their homes. Israeli drones track their movements, and strike them with precision.

The violence and the creation of new outposts are two different aspects of settlement activity, but together they show how illegal settlement expansion is occurring not only through established communities and government planning, but also through new activity on the ground.... Animated map shows spread of illegal Israeli settlements across Palestine

Why protect nature with criminal law (#EcocideLaw)? Criminal law: 👼 Shapes moral boundaries 💰 Redirects financial flows 🤵 Creates personal accountability

From Spain to Netherlands to UK: Israel exploits Gaza aid coordination to entrench occupation and settlements- Israel leverages its control over humanitarian aid coordination, which is an international legal obligation meant to assist civilians, to blackmail, punish, and isolate states

"Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed are probably today’s most visible Muslim American politicians. What makes them noteworthy is not just their obvious communication skills, but their deliberate attention to policies that enhance the public good for all."

For now, it is Palestinians who are being killed and displaced. But ideologies of supremacy and domination threaten us all- In Gaza, we’ve seen horror unfold with global powers’ support. Is that a blueprint for elsewhere?

"In the coming year, amidst a world filled with horror, may we turn our rage, our grief, and our despair into steadfast action. May we renew our dedication to the Palestinian freedom struggle. May we double down in our commitment to collective liberation." Jewish Voice for Peace - Rosh Hashanah

A quarter century later, we must recognize that “wars on terror” have undermined Human Rights and stretched the fundamental principles of international law to breaking point. Security and human rights must go hand in hand

“Consider what we didn’t do,” said [Ben] Rhodes. “I sometimes am haunted by this. The trillions of dollars spent on a forever war: what could that have been spent on? Climate change, universal healthcare, public education. There’s a real opportunity cost to how we chose to spend our time and resources."

“What is taking place today in the West Bank is a Chillul HaShem, a violation of God’s name of the worst order. We cannot stay silent. This is terrible for Palestinian people who want to get on with their lives in peace. It is terrible for Israel,” he said. Wittenberg added: “We must speak out. We must do so out of deep concern for what is human and just, and for the sake of Israel and Judaism. We cannot turn away.”

A Palestinian child looks at the funeral of three-year-old Saadi Ghalia, who was killed by an Israeli tank shell, in Deir al-Balah. Testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders ​on the secret ​systems used in ​the war on Gaza​ has been revealed in a new documentary film about the mass killing of Palestinian civilians.

Grief Tsunami

A poem by award winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye from her newest book (2026) Sidekick

"As the CIA director John Ratcliffe said of advanced AI models this summer, “it would be … not misplaced to refer to their capabilities as akin to digital nuclear weapons.” This technology should be treated with this deadly seriousness, not the move fast, break things ethos defining Silicon Valley. And right now, stopping the race to build labor-replacing machines – ones the public does not want and the industry can no longer control – is the only surefire way to head off calamity." Garrison Lovely

Trump’s repeated threats to ‘wipe out’ Iran are normalizing mass violence: The president’s latest warning barely registered, written off as typical behavior. But the threats have real-world consequences

Secret systems used by Israel in mass killings of Gaza civilians revealed in new film. Testimony from Israeli military insiders involved in surveillance and remote killings features in documentary produced by the Guardian

United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk stresses that respect for human rights, international law & accountability are essential to building lasting peace...

Miliband rejects chief rabbi’s claim that West Bank sanctions put UK Jews at risk. Foreign secretary says Sir Ephraim Mirvis wrong to suggest measures against Israeli settlements will make British Jews less safe

The Guardian view on Britain’s new Middle East policy: an unlawful occupation must carry a price- Ed Miliband has delivered Britain’s toughest indictment of Israeli conduct in Palestinian lands - and rightly says this has economic consequences

"Our sanctions aren’t about the Israeli people, but about the unacceptable policies of the Israeli government, and the suffering they cause Palestinians" Andy Burnham, prime minister of the United Kingdom

UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing. Ed Miliband announces sanctions on trade with settlements as PM says in the Guardian it is time to act

United Nations: For 80 years, the UN has been saving lives & helping people by: 🇺🇳 feeding the hungry 🇺🇳 helping those forced to flee 🇺🇳 vaccinating children 🇺🇳 promoting human rights 🇺🇳 protecting the planet 🇺🇳 responding to humanitarian crises & more....

Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection

"As the Sept. 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows have said numerous times, war will not end terrorism or bring peace." William Lambers

"Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Gaza was not that the world allowed it to happen. It was discovering that Gaza was only the beginning...."

"In Gaza, rubble is not just construction waste. It is part of a crime scene, a graveyard, and the material record of a brutal and senseless 2-year bombing campaign" Francesca Albanese

The world is finally watching Palestine. But who gets to narrate its story? As courts and sports stadiums turn towards Palestine, a quieter struggle runs beneath the headlines over memory, heritage and the right of Palestinians to speak for themselves

"A state banning “dates from Ma’ale Adumim [a city in the West Bank]” while “continuing to licence the equipment used to enforce the checkpoints around it” had not “changed its relationship with the occupation … It has rearranged its communication strategy.” UN expert Francesca Albanese calls for ‘true paradigm shift’ as Miliband resets policy on Israel Exclusive: UN special rapporteur on occupied territories says ban on goods from settlements ‘important’ but must go further if it is to amount to more than a ‘press release’

Israeli ministers keep telling everyone their brutal plans – so why doesn’t the world take them seriously? Schemes to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza are not being promoted by fringe voices. But the international community continues to avert its eyes

"Zionists have been contemplating the ethic cleansing of the Palestinians ever since Herzl. 750,000 were evicted in 1948; 325,000 more in 1967. Katz & Ben Gvir want to kick out 2m more: "US rejects Israeli suggestions of removing Palestinians from Gaza"" William Dalrymple

Between Dec 2024 and Jan 2026, Israel’s “Operation Iron Wall” expelled the entire populations of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, killed 102 Palestinians, including 21 children, and largely destroyed the emptied camps, making them uninhabitable. The Operation raises concerns of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and appears aimed at entrenching the Israeli occupation and undermining the viability of a Palestinian state. Read the report:

Israel ‘organised and prepared’ to remove Gaza population if US gives green light, Katz says

POWER ... a 2026 Poem by Anne Selden Annab

Symbols of Palestine- Palestinian artist- Fedaa Boqaileh, 1948... "I dream of a gallery … one day , exact vision here… where people can smell the jasmine, hear the oud,share a coffee and sit to admire falasteen…"

Ben-Gvir did not come into power in a vacuum: he was helped into his position by an international community that has afforded Israel complete impunity

Israeli settler violence and escalating Israeli military operations alongside severe movement restrictions, demolitions and widespread displacement “have eroded Palestinian livelihoods and contributed to increased food insecurity...”

Dear America, I know for a fact that there are good and decent Jewish people on planet earth, there are good and decent Jewish groups on earth... but Israel is bad.

DEAR AMERICA

WE THE PEOPLE are being forced to fund weapons, escalating war, hate, and hypocrisy everywhere.

ICE and Israel should both be de-funded and de-fanged.

Jobs created by the weapons industry bring temporary economic relief to some- while inflicting immense pain and suffering on many many many more.

Pushing all commerce online to "Save A Tree" ends up decimating numerous forests and fields for energy and water hungry Data Centers. CEOs and our elected leaders take huge profits while taxpayers are left with escalating losses, including the surging loss of land and water for hyperscale Data Centers.

Anti-immigrant legislation and excessive funding for ICE are more about protecting wealthy people and corporations, who can hire illegals knowing that the workers and their families will be too afraid to complain about dangerous working conditions, low pay, long hours, and slum landlord housing.

You can't win a modern war. You can destroy homes & families, you can usurp land & resources from the rightful owners, and you can undermine & destroy a free press and the fourth estate- but people worldwide have memories, as well as a sense of right and wrong that cannot be bombed into oblivion.

STOP THE BOMBS and the bigotry, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop accepting bribes & propaganda & bad advice from a very foreign country that seeks to destroy support for UNIVERSAL human rights and the rule of fair and just laws.

Along the way we learned that slavery is wrong. We learned that domestic violence is wrong. We learned that racist hate is wrong. SO WHY are we funding Israel and why are we bombing Iran for Israel!!!

Violence is a problem- not the answer

The power of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the power of ideas to change the world. It inspires us to continue working to ensure all people can gain freedom, equality and dignity...

In 1945, 50 nations came together in San Francisco to create a new organization for peace, prosperity & human rights- the United Nations

"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/

The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties.  https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

The real refugee crisis is the failure to make peace. Refugees flee war, conflict and persecution. End the wars that force people to run for their lives.

Rare film footage of Palestine from 1896, captured by the Lumière Brothers – pioneers of cinema. These unique films provide an invaluable glimpse into daily life in the Holy Land under the Ottoman Empire, offering a rare perspective of a time long past. Watch as Palestine appears over 100 years ago, during an era when the world was rapidly changing, and cinema was just beginning to take shape!

 https://youtu.be/f6gnUgxkfLE?si=rMiU1PA833rngj9H

Paddystinian

@Paddystinian

 

Palestine was never empty.  The camera already knew that. 

 

In 1896–97, the Lumière brothers sent Alexandre Promio to film the Holy Land under Ottoman rule. What he captured is among the earliest moving images of Palestine: Jaffa Port, the courtyard of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, Jerusalem’s railway station, sacred sites, and people in the streets. 

 

Muslims. Christians. Jews. Walking the same gates, the same roads, the same land. 

 

Not a slogan. Not a later map. Actual footage of a living country called Palestine — ports, churches, stations, markets, worshippers — before partition, before occupation, before the claim that this was a vacant stage waiting for someone else. 

 

Watch the people, not the propaganda. Jaffa was a port. Bethlehem was a town. Jerusalem was a city of three faiths under one sky. That is the historical record, not a talking point. 

 

Palestine had a name. Palestine had people. The film is still there.

 

https://x.com/Paddystinian/status/2100978157813744079 

  [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 here, there- and everywhere]