The Free

3 of up to 20 US captives may be released in Gaza today- Bombing finally STOPS?-

from thefreeonline on 24th Nov 2023 By Ben Bartee at Global Research Report updated today

‘Three of the over 20 Americans could be part of the first group of hostages released: two adults and a 3-year-old girl named Abigail, a senior Biden administration official said’.

Families of the 3 US hostages who may be released

However Israeli officials tried to exclude release of captives from other nationalities “Israel will not exchange Palestinian prisoners in exchange for non-Israeli hostages, a senior Israeli official who gave NBC News details on an agreement with Hamas..” NBC News: 2 of the US captives, Judith and Natalie Raanan, have already been released.

“Over 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners are now being held in Israeli prisons. Most of them are imprisoned without or awaiting trial, or in “administrative detention”. In effect they too are ‘hostages’.

US media have been censoring the identities and even the exact number of the US citizens imprisoned. Israeli society is more open with a huge protest movement demanding freedom for the hostages and an end to Israeli carpet and bunker busting bombing of Gaza, which Hamas officials say has killed at least 50 of the captives, along with up to 14,000 Gazans + thousands still under the rubble”.

‘Relief’ in war-torn Gaza as truce takes effect in Israel-Hamas war

Aid begins to trickle in to Gaza as the first pause begins after seven weeks of hostilities between Israel and Hamas.… By Al Jazeera Staff….

Displaced Palestinians walk on a road as they return to their home, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip — Displaced Palestinians walk along a road in Khan Younis as they return to their homes [Ibraheem 24 Nov 2023.. Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

A Qatar-mediated four-day truce has taken effect in Israel’s war on Gaza. The first pause after seven weeks of bombardment has been met with relief by Palestinians.

“The landmark deal that will also involve a four-day pause in fighting, the delivery of hundreds of aid trucks, and the release of 150 Palestinian women and children* held in Israeli jails.”

*Note that when Israeli civilians are held in Gaza, they were “kidnapped” and are termed “hostages,” but when Israeli jails Palestinian women and children with no charges or judicial process of any kind, they do not receive the benefit of the same designation in Western corporate state media. That’s how subtle propaganda can get, and it’s easy to miss it if you’re not attuned to the pettiness with which these organizations play semantical games.

It appears Israel is not making any effort to get non-Israeli hostages released — only Israeli and some US citizens

Biden Will Not Escape History’s Judgement for Failure to Stop Gaza Assault. Ralph Nader

Israel’s strategic play here is obvious to anyone not blinded by its powerful propaganda network that extends, unfortunately, deep into American corporate state media.

In the immediate term, the continued captivity of all nationalities by Hamas serves Israel’s interests more than their release would.

It serves as a valuable propaganda tool to gin up anger and provides an ongoing pretext to do whatever Israel likes in Gaza with impunity under the guise of pursuing the release of hostages.

One of 1000’s of children killed by US backed Israeli revenge bombing

Western brands hit hard by boycott campaign against Israeli goods

from thefreeonline 24th Nov 2023 by Aletho News

Workers at an empty Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant, November 20, 2023. (Photo by Reuters) Press TV – November 23, 2023

A boycott campaign against Israeli products over the occupying regime’s war on the Gaza Strip has severely affected Western fast-food giants in several Arab countries, with the move having the potential to spread to other countries across the globe.

Freedom and justice For Gaza: Boycott action against 7 complicit …

Weeks after Israel waged a brutal war on the besieged Gaza Strip, a boycott campaign against Israeli goods started to gain momentum in Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, significantly hitting Western fast-food giants like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and KFC.

The impacted companies are either perceived to have taken pro-Israeli stances in the war or are alleged to have financial ties to Israel or investments there.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 14,532 Palestinians, including 6,000 children and 3,920 women, have been killed and more than 35,000 others injured by Israeli strikes since October 7, when the Israeli regime launched a full-scale war on the densely-populated enclave.

“I feel that even if I know this will not have a massive impact on the war, then this is the least we can do as citizens of different nations so we don’t feel like our hands are covered in blood,” said 31-year-old Cairo resident Reham Hamed, who is boycotting US fast food chains and some cleaning products.

As the global pressure is mounting on Tel Aviv over its atrocities in the Palestinian sliver, there are signs that the boycott campaign is also spreading in some other Arab countries, including Kuwait and Morocco.

BDS Movement (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) – Israel Team

The boycott calls of the protest campaign have already circulated on social media and expanded to include dozens of companies and products, urging shoppers to shift to local alternatives.

In Jordan, citizens who support the protest campaign sometimes enter McDonald’s and Starbucks branches in the country to encourage a few customers to take their business elsewhere.

“No one is buying these products,” said Ahmad Al-Zaro, a cashier at a large supermarket in the capital Amman where customers were choosing local brands instead.

The current boycott campaign could be considered the latest part of the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Israeli regime.

The BDS movement, which is modeled after the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, was initiated in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations that were pushing for “various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law.”

Thousands of volunteers worldwide have since joined the BDS movement, which calls for people and groups across the world to cut economic, cultural, and academic ties to Tel Aviv to help promote the Palestinian cause.

In Gaza BDS gives us hope | BDS Movement