#Louis Charbonneau

[thehauntedrocket]

Vintage Paperback - Barrier World by Louis Charbonneau

Lancer (1970)

[galerymod]

Attention, this is not a joke but a killing joke,

Saudi Arabia takes over chairmanship of UN Commission on the Status of Women - human rights activists appalled.

Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch made it clear on X (formerly Twitter): "Saudi Arabia's election to head the UN Commission on the Status of Women shows a shocking disregard for women's rights everywhere." A country that already imprisons women for fighting for women's rights has no right to such a post, Charbonneau continued.

He also criticised the other countries in the Commission for not preventing the change. "If everyone had stood up straight, this wouldn't have happened. But everyone kept quiet."

How can something like this go so wrong?

Abdulaziz Alwasil, Saudi Arabia's UN envoy, will be the chairman. According to the Guardian, none of the envoys from 45 countries raised any objections to his nomination at the CSW's annual meeting. There were also no opposing candidates.

The Philippines actually held the chairmanship for two years. However, other members from Asia had urged the country to hand over the seat after one year. Bangladesh had actually been intended as the successor, but instead Saudi Arabia pushed its way to the top with a lot of lobbying.

Let's put it plainly: everyone has let themselves be bought by a world of greed and corruption! That's what the nice, generous Saudis love. They simply buy influence and culture, football, golf, ...... pukes sorry

Saudi Arabia is trying to polish up its image to the outside world with reforms such as allowing women to drive.

What a charade, makeup on the ugly face of the unjust state.

Hooray, the goat has been declared a garden.

And they are about to prove to the saudis what they think of women's rights.

Completely nothing

Case: Manahil al-Utaibi

Fitness trainer faces eleven years in prison in Saudi Arabia

There have been some makeup reforms in Saudi Arabia recently. The country wants to appear cosmopolitan. At the same time, critics are silenced with long prison sentences. The case of a young fitness trainer is apparently no exception.

According to human rights activists, a female activist in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to eleven years in prison for her choice of clothing and support for women's rights. Manahil al-Utaibi was sentenced in January - more than a year after her arrest - by a special court for terrorism, the organisation Amnesty International announced on Tuesday evening.

The accusations against the 29-year-old fitness trainer related to her clothing and her calls on social networks to end the male guardianship system in the kingdom. She had also published videos of herself without the traditional Abaja overdress.

Saudi Arabia's government confirmed the arrest in December following an enquiry into the case by a UN special rapporteur. Al-Utaibi had been convicted of "terror offences", it said. The country's laws would protect the right to freedom of expression unless actions could "violate or exceed the limits of public order or social norms".

The last sentence immediately made us think of George Orwell! Freedom of expression with limits is good!

Amnesty International and the human rights organisation ALQST urged the kingdom to release Al-Utaibi immediately and unconditionally. According to them, she was physically and psychologically abused in detention following her arrest in November 2022. In addition, she was held in an unknown location for several months.

Well, chairmanship of UN Commission on the Status of Women

How is the status of Al-Utaibi ?

One of the representatives of nice Mohammed bin Salman, who simply had a journalist killed and dismembered in Turkey.

Shit, nobody would believe that in a novel, if you want to write a novel like that at all.

The new human injustice game for women's rights only. Now new from the nice grinning man who rules Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia rights vs women's rights

The New Game

There is only one dice with over all one on it for the women

A stack of cards with a card for women on it say go to jail for a long time and lose your wife and even your bonus human rights.

The Saudis always have one more bonus card when they need it where it says we always win.

A board of politicians, police, special courts, torturers, prison and just an absolute terrorist suspect wife.

Start of the game: The woman catches and does something really stupid she thinks she's women right, and Saudi Arabia wins.

Game idea from the makers I have a journalist killed in Turkey and nobody can catch me : Moammed bin Salman.

[bluemoonscape]

there’s something irredeemable about him

[acti-veg]

Human Rights Watch has criticised the US for vetoing a UN security council resolution that would have called for humanitarian corridors, a pause in the fighting and a rescinding of the order by Israel requiring citizens in Gaza to leave the north of the territory.

Louis Charbonneau, HRW’s UN director, said the US once again “cynically used their veto to prevent the UN security council from acting on Israel and Palestine at a time of unprecedented carnage.”

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield explained her country’s veto in the Council chamber saying “this resolution did not mention Israel’s right of self-defence.” The UK abstained, citing similar concerns.

[bee-of-saint-ambrose]

The Lion (Christian Bestiary)

In his magnum opus, The Bestiary of Chris, Louis Charbonneau-Lassay introduces his entry on the lion as follows:

"The KING. BEHOLD the King: the first of those four kings whom God disclosed to the dazzled eyes of Ezekiel on the banks of the Chebar! ... the Lion, awesome king of the beasts"

For millennia even before the birth of Christ, the lion was a symbol of many noble qualities:

Royalty: Because he is the King of the Beasts, powerful and magnificent

Courage: Because he is bold and fearless - "lion-hearted" is a very venerable compliment.

Justice: Because the lion was said by the ancients never to pounce on prey when it was not hungry, nor to assault those who had fallen before their fight began - in this, the lion was therefore a model of Medieval chivalry

Watchfulness: Because the lion was said to sleep always with its eyes open, and in this way became a symbol of Christ, whose divine nature was awake and alert even while His human nature rested in the tomb.

Another behaviour given to the lion, from which much art arose, was its supposed practice of giving birth to stillborn cubs, who remained dead for three days, until the father breathed life into them. This, naturally, made the lion a strong symbol of the resurrection

Hosea prophesised of the Messiah that

“They shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west!" - Hosea 11:10

And in Joel

"The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake" - Joel 3:16

Which may well be why preaching pulpits of old have traditionally been supported by figures of lions.

[littlefeather-wolf]

Sacajawea

Sacajawea was an indigenous woman belonging to the Shoshone tribe who accompanied and guided the Lewis and Clark Expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark — in their exploration of the western part of the United States of America. Sacajawea traveled with the expedition between 1804 and 1806, from North Dakota to the coast of present-day Oregon. Some members of the expedition called her Janey.

Sacajawea was of great help indicating the steps to follow to reach the Pacific Ocean, being part of one of the most important reconnaissance trips of the North American territory.

An edition of US one dollar coins issued in 2000 shows Sacajawea and hers her son Jean Baptiste, The face of the coin reproduces the face of a present-day Shoshone woman named Randy'L He-dow Teton, as there is no certain image of Sacajawea.

Charbonneau and Sacagawea, returning from the expedition, spent three years among the Hidatsa before accepting Clark's invitation to settle in the city of St. Louis, Missouri in 1809. They entrusted Clark with the education of Jean Baptiste, who was enrolled in a boarding school in San Luis.

Sacagawea had a daughter, Lizette, sometime after 1810. According to Bonnie "Windwalker Spirit" Butterfield, historical documents suggest that Sacagawea died in 1812 from an unknown disease.

Within months, fifteen men were killed during an Indian attack on Fort Lisa, located at the mouth of the Bighorn River. John Luttig and Sacagawea's youngest daughter were among the survivors. Some say that Toussaint Charbonneau was killed in this massacre, but others claim that he only passed formal custody of his son to Clark in 1813 ...

[mariacallous]

Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Friday that urged a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza.

The text, which was supported by 10 other members of the 15-member Security Council, called on all parties in the conflict to abide by international humanitarian law and rejected any efforts to reduce the territory of Gaza through the creation of a security buffer zone, an idea that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has put forward in his plan for Gaza’s postwar future.

The resolution is the latest sign of a subtle shift in the Biden administration’s stance on the war as it seeks to curb the spiraling humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian territory. However, experts say it does not represent a meaningful departure from Washington’s long-standing support for Israel at the United Nations. 

“The U.S. was not attempting to make a fundamental shift in its policy at the U.N. over the war,” said Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group’s U.N. director. 

Washington has historically used its position as a permanent member of the Security Council to defend Israel, including by exercising the U.S. veto. Friday was the fourth time the council held a vote on a cease-fire resolution since the start of the war. The previous three efforts were vetoed by the United States for failing to include language referring to Israel’s right to self-defense and for calling for an unconditional cease-fire that was not linked to the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. 

U.S. sponsorship of this latest resolution was likely intended to send a message to the Netanyahu government. “The mere fact that the U.S. was willing to do anything in the Security Council at all was a small signal to the Israelis to be cautious,” Gowan said. 

The Biden administration has stood by Israel in the wake of the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed and 240 people taken hostage, and has continued to provide the country with military aid in the face of mounting domestic and international criticism. 

At the same time, U.S. President Joe Biden has become increasingly frustrated by what he has described as the “indiscriminate” nature of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza and the throttling of humanitarian aid into the territory.

Even if the resolution had passed, it would likely have had little “operational impact,” said Louis Charbonneau, Human Rights Watch’s U.N. director, who noted that the text refrained from using some of the more forceful language seen in other similar Security Council resolutions. “If you wanted to have strong obligatory language, it would say ‘demands’ an ‘immediate and sustained cease-fire.’ It doesn’t say that,” Charbonneau said. 

Language used in Security Council resolutions is carefully calibrated, as even slight shifts in tone and word choice can carry significant diplomatic meaning. The 2,000-word U.S. resolution tabled on Friday, which refers to Israel by name only once, said the Security Council “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire.”

Russia and China cited that watered-down wording as a reason for their veto. Ahead of the vote, Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said Moscow supported a cease-fire, but he described the U.S. resolution as an “empty rhetorical exercise.” China’s U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, made similar comments. “If the U.S. was serious about a cease-fire, it wouldn’t have vetoed time and again multiple council resolutions,” he said. “It wouldn’t have taken such a detour and played a game of words while being ambiguous and evasive on critical issues.”

Russia has faced increased scrutiny at the U.N. over the past two years for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “The Russians, in particular, from the get-go used the war [in Gaza] as an opportunity to distract from their own behavior in Ukraine and put the U.S. on the back foot,” Gowan said.

Permanent council members have long wielded their vetoes to protect their interests and those of their allies, but they were often able to work effectively on other fronts. Now, tensions between Russia and the West are increasingly seeping into all areas of the council’s work, diplomats say.

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, including some 13,000 children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas but whose casualty figures are regarded as broadly accurate. Israel has severely limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has left much of the population on the brink of a catastrophic famine, the World Bank warned this week. 

Friday’s vote at the Security Council came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East on his sixth trip to the region since the war began. After a meeting in Cairo to discuss ongoing efforts to broker a cease-fire, Blinken said it would be a “mistake” for Israel to launch a planned ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge from the conflict. 

A defiant Netanyahu said the operation would go ahead, with or without U.S. support. “I hope we will do it with the support of the U.S., but if we have to, we will do it alone,” he said.

[nem0c]

Vietnam War - Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, June 1968

Sourced from: http://natsmusic.net/articles_galaxy_magazine_viet_nam_war.htm

Transcript Below

We the undersigned believe the United States must remain in Vietnam to fulfill its responsibilities to the people of that country.

Karen K. Anderson, Poul Anderson, Harry Bates, Lloyd Biggle Jr., J. F. Bone, Leigh Brackett, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mario Brand, R. Bretnor, Frederic Brown, Doris Pitkin Buck, William R. Burkett Jr., Elinor Busby, F. M. Busby, John W. Campbell, Louis Charbonneau, Hal Clement, Compton Crook, Hank Davis, L. Sprague de Camp, Charles V. de Vet, William B. Ellern, Richard H. Eney, T. R. Fehrenbach, R. C. FitzPatrick, Daniel F. Galouye, Raymond Z. Gallun, Robert M. Green Jr., Frances T. Hall, Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Joe L. Hensley, Paul G. Herkart, Dean C. Ing, Jay Kay Klein, David A. Kyle, R. A. Lafferty, Robert J. Leman, C. C. MacApp, Robert Mason, D. M. Melton, Norman Metcalf, P. Schuyler Miller, Sam Moskowitz, John Myers Myers, Larry Niven, Alan Nourse, Stuart Palmer, Gerald W. Page, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Lawrence A. Perkins, Jerry E. Pournelle, Joe Poyer, E. Hoffmann Price, George W. Price, Alva Rogers, Fred Saberhagen, George O. Smith, W. E. Sprague, G. Harry Stine (Lee Correy), Dwight V. Swain, Thomas Burnett Swann, Albert Teichner, Theodore L. Thomas, Rena M. Vale, Jack Vance, Harl Vincent, Don Walsh Jr., Robert Moore Williams, Jack Williamson, Rosco E. Wright, Karl Würf.

We oppose the participation of the United States in the war in Vietnam.

Forrest J. Ackerman, Isaac Asimov, Peter S. Beagle, Jerome Bixby, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Lyle G. Boyd, Ray Bradbury, Jonathan Brand, Stuart J. Byrne, Terry Carr, Carroll J. Clem, Ed M. Clinton, Theodore R. Cogswell, Arthur Jean Cox, Allan Danzig, Jon DeCles, Miriam Allen deFord, Samuel R. Delany, Lester del Rey, Philip K. Dick, Thomas M. Disch, Sonya Dorman, Larry Eisenberg, Harlan Ellison, Carol Emshwiller, Philip José Farmer, David E. Fisher, Ron Goulart, Joseph Green, Jim Harmon, Harry Harrison, H. H. Hollis, J. Hunter Holly, James D. Houston, Edward Jesby, Leo P. Kelley, Daniel Keyes, Virginia Kidd, Damon Knight, Allen Lang, March Laumer, Ursula K. LeGuin, Fritz Leiber, Irwin Lewis, A. M. Lightner, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Katherine MacLean, Barry Malzberg, Robert E. Margroff, Anne Marple, Ardrey Marshall, Bruce McAllister, Judith Merril, Robert P. Mills, Howard L. Morris, Kris Neville, Alexei Panshin, Emil Petaja, J. R. Pierce, Arthur Porges, Mack Reynolds, Gene Roddenberry, Joanna Russ, James Sallis, William Sambrot, Hans Stefan Santesson, J. W. Schutz, Robin Scott, Larry T. Shaw, John Shepley, T. L. Sherred, Robert Silverberg, Henry Slesar, Jerry Sohl, Norman Spinrad, Margaret St. Clair, Jacob Transue, Thurlow Weed, Kate Wilhelm, Richard Wilson, Donald A. Wollheim.

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UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity  (voanews.com)

UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity 

September 22, 2024 10:58 AM

By Associated Press

 Print

United Nations, United States — 

The United Nations on Sunday adopted a "Pact for the Future" aimed at addressing sprawling 21st-century challenges ranging from conflict to climate change and human rights, despite last-minute objections from a group of countries led by Russia. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who organized the "Summit of the Future," had billed it as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to reshape human history by rekindling international cooperation. As an opening act for the annual high-level week of the U.N. General Assembly, which begins Tuesday, dozens of heads of state and government gathered for the signing of the text. In the adopted version, leaders pledged to bolster the multilateral system to "keep pace with a changing world" and to "protect the needs and interests of current and future generations" facing "persistent crisis." "We believe there is a path to a brighter future for all of humanity," the document says.

The pact outlines 56 "actions," including commitments to multilateralism, upholding the U.N. Charter and peacekeeping. It also calls for reforms to international financial institutions and the U.N. Security Council, along with renewed efforts to combat climate change, promote disarmament, and guide the development of artificial intelligence. The adoption of the text faced a brief delay when Russia's deputy minister of foreign affairs, Sergey Vershinin, introduced an amendment emphasizing the "principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states" and urging the U.N. to avoid duplicating efforts. Russia's objections were backed by allies Belarus, North Korea, Iran, Nicaragua and Syria, but its amendment was overwhelmingly dismissed in a motion to take no action. During the negotiations phase, Guterres had urged nations to show "vision" and "courage," calling for "maximum ambition" to strengthen international institutions that struggle to respond effectively to today's threats. But while there are some "good ideas," the text "is not the sort of revolutionary document reforming the whole of multilateralism that Antonio Guterres had originally called for," Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP. That sentiment was widely shared among diplomats, many of whom expressed frustration when discussing the ambition and impact of the text, describing it as "lukewarm," "the lowest common denominator," and "disappointing." "Ideally, you would hope for new ideas, fresh ideas," said one diplomat. The fight against global warming was one of the sticking points in the negotiations, with references to the "transition" away from fossil fuels having disappeared from the draft text weeks ago, before being re-inserted. Despite the criticism, it is still "an opportunity to affirm our collective commitment to multilateralism, even in the difficult current geopolitical context," one Western diplomat said, emphasizing the need to rebuild trust between the Global North and South. Developing countries have been particularly vocal in demanding concrete commitments on the reform of international financial institutions, aiming to secure easier access to preferential financing, especially considering the impacts of climate change. The text does indeed include "important commitments on economic justice and reforming the international financial architecture," Human Rights Watch (HRW) commented, while also praising "the centrality of human rights." However, world leaders "still need to demonstrate that they are willing to act to uphold human rights," said Louis Charbonneau, HRW's U.N. director. Regardless of its content, the pact and its annexes — a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations — are non-binding, raising concerns about implementation, especially as some principles — such as the protection of civilians in conflict — are violated daily. "Our next task is to breathe life into them, to turn words into action," Guterres urged on Saturday.

[ulkaralakbarova]

Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled – he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn’t come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Frank Keller: Al Pacino Helen Cruger: Ellen Barkin Sherman: John Goodman Terry: Michael Rooker Frank Keller Sr.: William Hickey Gruber: Richard Jenkins Serafino: Paul Calderon Struk: Gene Canfield Dargan: Larry Joshua Lieutenant: John Spencer Gina Gallagher / Lonelyheart: Christine Estabrook Miss Allen: Barbara Baxley Older Woman: Patricia Barry Murdered Man: Mark Phelan Raymond Brown: Michael O’Neill Doorman: Michael Fischetti Omar Maldonado: Luis Antonio Ramos Efram Maldonado: Rafael Báez Black Guy: Samuel L. Jackson Ernest Lee: Damien Leake Tommy: John Thaddeus Willie: Joshua Nelson Supermarket Manager: Christofer de Oni Supermarket Cashier: Dwayne McClary Helen’s Mother: Jacqueline Brookes Toastmaster: Thom Curley Cable Supervisor: Fred Sanders Clipboard Guy #2: Larry Mullane Clipboard Guy #3: Anthony Catanese Bartender: Thomas Wagner Doorman: Manny Alfaro James Mackey: Brian Paul Tense Woman: Deborah Taylor Sasha: Ferne Downey Raymond Brown’s Wife: Nancy Beatty Clipboard Guy #1: Tony De Santis Yuppie Detective #1: Jackie Laidlaw Yuppie Detective #2: Paul Hubbard Surveillance Team Member: James Kidnie Sherman’s Wife: Bridget O’Sullivan Criminal Type: Franz Fridal Hallway Cop: James O’Regan Hallway Cop: Wayne Best Young Cop: John Bourgeois Young Cop: Hugh Thompson Bride: Miranda de Pencier Groom: Ty Templeton Denice Gruber (scenes deleted): Lorraine Bracco Film Crew: Editor: David Bretherton Director: Harold Becker Director of Photography: Ronnie Taylor Unit Production Manager: Louis A. Stroller Producer: Martin Bregman Costume Design: Betsy Cox Script Supervisor: Blanche McDermaid First Assistant Camera: Yves Drapeau Second Assistant Director: Rocco Gismondi First Assistant Director: Michael E. Steele Second Assistant Director: David Sardi First Assistant Director: Thomas J. Mack Camera Operator: Andy Chmura Casting: Mary Colquhoun Production Design: John Jay Moore Second Assistant Director: Madeleine Henrié Additional Photography: Adam Holender Associate Producer: Michael Bregman Makeup Artist: Irving Buchman Hairstylist: Bryan Charbonneau Hairstylist: Bob Grimaldi Makeup Artist: Irene Kent Key Makeup Artist: Leslie A. Sebert Stunts: Dick Ziker Writer: Richard Price Stunts: Glenn R. Wilder Stunts: Buddy Joe Hooker Production Assistant: Liam Kiernan Stunts: Kenny Bates Stunts: Steve Boyum Stunts: Rick Parker Stunts: Shane Cardwell Production Manager: Barbara Kelly First Assistant Camera: Michael Hall First Assistant Camera: Horace Jordan Location Manager: Debra Beers Production Accountant: Dorothy Precious Production Coordinator: Toni Blay Sound Mixer: Keith A. Wester Boom Operator: Steve Switzer Gaffer: Rae Thurston Best Boy Grip: Howie Balbraith Grip: Randy Tambling Dolly Grip: Robert DaPrato First Assistant Art Direction: Lucinda Zak Set Decoration: Gordon Sim Set Dresser: Raman Majlath Property Master: Vic Rigler Wardrobe Master: Gail Filman Second Assistant Camera: Rick Perotto Assistant Location Manager: Anne Richardson Assistant Accountant: Karen Demontbrun Assistant Set Decoration: Richard Ferbrache Assistant Property Master: Jeff Poulis Wardrobe Assistant: Debi Weldon Production Secretary: Regina Robb Carpenter: Boyd Allen Scenic Artist: Reet Puhm Transportation Coordinator: Neil Montgomerie Unit Publicist: Joan Eisenberg Still Photographer: Rob McEwan Casting: Stuart Aikins Extras Casting: Scott Mansfield Additional Editing: John Wright Assistant Editor: Francine Fleishman Assistant Editor: Irvin Paik Assistant Editor: Charlene Olson Assistant Editor: Haydn Streeter Supervising Sound Editor: Norval D. Crutcher Supervising Sound Editor: Randle ...

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

Saudi Arabia will now be responsible for promoting gender equality worldwide. The kingdom has been chosen as the next chair of the UN's top forum for women's rights, despite its questionable record at home. The kingdom's ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, will lead the Commission on the Status of Women. Saudi Arabia's unopposed bid has been heavily criticized by human rights groups. The Saudi government has repeatedly jailed women's rights activists. Chapters: 0:00 The Controversial Appointment 0:43 Louis Charbonneau, Human Rights Watch 4:57 Bissan Fakih, Amnesty International

[swissforextrading]

What’s the future of UNRWA? The Struggle for Balance in Gaza's Aid Operations

Discover the current state and potential future of UNRWA's aid operations in Gaza in this informative video. Learn about the challenges and efforts to maintain balance in this crucial humanitarian effort. From Swiss Info, the leading source for English news and information about Switzerland. Israel has accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) of being involved in the October 7th attacks.  “October 7th was a gamechanger. Because the involvement, direct involvement, of those 13 UNRWA employees in the October 7th attacks on Israel changed everything,” said Nina Ben-Ami, Head of Bureau, International Organizations and UN Division, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Inside Geneva looks at what’s at stake.   UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini says: “Today the needs are absolutely staggering in the Gaza Strip." UNRWA has fired the employees under suspicion, but its major donors have cut funding, even before the formal UN investigation into Israel’s allegations is completed. UNRWA has 13,000 staff in Gaza, providing schools and clinics.   “Even if the allegations are true, that's no justification for cutting off funding for the most important aid and relief agency in the Gaza Strip,” says Louis Charbonneau, UN Director at Human Rights Watch.  Can other aid agencies step up if UNRWA has to stop?  Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council: “All of the non-governmental organisations, all of the Red Cross, Red Crescent organisations, all of the UN agencies combined, we're not even half of what UNRWA is for Gazan society.”  Where does this leave the 1.5 million Gazans now crammed into Rafah?  Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, explains that “Israel is thinking of going in with a bloody ground offensive. We would hold the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and all of these other countries providing the arms to this…we will hold them accountable for what is going to happen in Rafah.” “UNRWA remains the only lifeline in a region full of despair. A region which now deserves that we collectively look at promoting a proper genuine peaceful political solution,” concludes Lazzarini.   Join host Imogen Foulkes on our Inside Geneva podcast to learn more about the allegations and possible outcomes for UNRWA.     Get in touch! • Email us at insidegeneva@swissinfo.ch (mailto:insidegeneva@swissinfo.ch) • Twitter: @ImogenFoulkes and @swissinfo_en Thank you for listening! If you like what we do, please leave a review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V--gusiuzk (Source of the original content)

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Départ de 105 enfants infirmes pour le camp "Le Grillon"," La Presse. August 10, 1943. Page 8. --- Dans cette photo on remarque un groupe d'enfants infirmes qui sont partis, ce matin, pour le camp "Le Grillon", sis dans l'ile S.-Bernard, à Châteauguay, sur le lac S.-Louis. On remarque également: M. C.-D. TURCOTTE, vice-président de la Société de Secours aux enfants infirmes, le Dr J.-A. LANDREVILLE, du service de la santé, section de l'hygiène enfantine, ainsi que les infirmières, Miles M. ROULEAU, J. BOUCHER, L. LEBLANC, A. BOIGNEE, M. NADEAU, Y. LEVESQUE, A, PREFONTAINE, G. CHARBONNEAU, de ce service. A la gauche de M. Turcotte, Mile M. COURBAT secrétaire, et Mile MALLETTE, assistante-directrice du service social. Mme Bruneau, fondatrice et présidente de l'oeuvre n'apparait pas sur la photo. Ces cent cing enfants ont été examinés par les médecins et les infirmières avant le départ pour le camp. - (Cliché la "Presse").

[xtruss]

The United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Top UN Official in New York Steps Down Citing ‘Genocide’ of Palestinian Civilians

Craig Mokhiber, Director of Human Rights Body, Accuses the US, UK and Much of Europe as ‘Wholly Complicit in the Horrific Assault’

The director of the New York office of the UN high commissioner for human rights has left his post, protesting that the UN is “failing” in its duty to prevent what he categorizes as genocide of Palestinian civilians in Gaza under Israeli bombardment and citing the US, UK and much of Europe as “wholly complicit in the horrific assault”.

Craig Mokhiber wrote on 28 October to the UN high commissioner in Geneva, Volker Turk, saying: “This will be my last communication to you” in his role in New York.

Mokhiber, who was stepping down having reached retirement age, wrote: “Once again we are seeing a genocide unfolding before our eyes and the organization we serve appears powerless to stop it.”

He said that the UN had failed to prevent previous genocides against the Tutsis in Rwanda, Muslims in Bosnia, the Yazidi in Iraqi Kurdistan and the Rohingya in Myanmar and wrote: “High Commissioner we are failing again.

“The current wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people, rooted in an ethno-nationalist colonial settler ideology, in continuation of decades of their systematic persecution and purging, based entirely upon their status as Arabs … leaves no room for doubt.”

Mokhiber added: “This is text book case of genocide” and said the US, UK and much of Europe were not only “refusing to meet their treaty obligations” under the Geneva Conventions but were also arming Israel’s assault and providing political and diplomatic cover for it.

The outgoing director’s departure letter did not mention the 7 October attack by Hamas on southern Israel killing more than 1,400 people and taking 240 hostages. Even more contentiously, his letter calls for the effective end to the state of Israel.

“We must support the establishment of a single, democratic secular state in all of historic Palestine, with equal rights for Christians, Muslims, and Jews,” he wrote, adding: “and, therefore, the dismantling of the deeply racist, settler-colonial project and an end to apartheid across the land.”

Mokhiber has worked for the UN since 1992, serving in a number of increasingly prominent roles. He led the high commissioner’s work on devising a human rights-based approach to development, and acted as a senior human rights adviser in Palestine, Afghanistan and Sudan.

Craig Mokhiber

In his role as director of the New York office of the high commissioner for human rights, he has come under occasional fire from pro-Israeli groups for his comments on social media. He was criticised for posting support of the boycott, divest, sanctions (BDS) movement and accusing Israel of apartheid – an accusation which he repeated in his retirement letter.

Journalists and academics began posting the letter’s content to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the UN in New York sent the Guardian a statement about Mokhiber, saying: “I can confirm that he is retiring today. He informed the UN in March 2023 of his upcoming retirement, which takes effect tomorrow. The views in his letter made public today are his personal views.”

The statement went on: “The position of the office on the grave situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel is reflected in our reports and public statements.”

Reaction to Mokhiber’s outspoken departure from such a prominent UN position was mixed. Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at Human Rights Watch, told the Guardian that he had made a powerful argument against double standards in the stance of the world body.

“You don’t have to agree with everything in the letter to see that he’s made a powerful and depressing case that the UN lost its way on human rights when it comes to Israel and Palestine, partly due to pressure from the US, Israel and other governments. It’s not too late to turn the UN ship around, but they need to do it quickly.”

By contrast, Anne Bayefsky, who directs Touro College’s Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust in New York, accused Mokhiber on social media of “overt antisemitism”. She said he had used a UN letterhead to call for “wiping Israel off the map”.

— Craig Mokhiber: Craig Mokhiber is a Famous American High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), who was born on in New York, United States.

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Russia failed to return to the UN Human Rights Council

Russia failed to return to the UN’s top human rights body 18 months after suspending its powers amid the war in Ukraine.

The General Assembly held a secret ballot among 193 members, with Bulgaria receiving 160 votes and Albania 123, granting the two countries a three-year term on the Human Rights Council, beginning on January 1.

Russia came in third place with 83 votes. UN Director at Human Rights Watch, Louis Charbonneau, stated that the United Nations did not welcome countries involved in “war crimes.”

UN member states sent a strong signal to Russia’s leadership that a government responsible for countless war crimes and crimes against humanity doesn’t belong there.

Read more HERE

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The Tetramorph (Bestiary Lore)

The tradition of the Medieval bestiary is vast and complex - a world of layered, interlacing symbolism in many cases altogether lost to us today. Animal symbolism undergirded both the visual representation of the Christian faith and its poetical, hymnographic expression, and perhaps no symbol except the lamb and the dove were more significant than the Tetramorph

The image of the Tetramorph derives from two Biblical passages, both prophetic visions, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. The first is Ezekiel, who on the banks of the river Chebar had a striking vision of the Heavens:

"... And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures." Ezekiel 1:1, 4-5

He goes on to describe the likeness of these four "living creatures"

"... And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings ... Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward ... As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle." Ezekiel 1:1, 5-10

The second vision of the Tetramorph is from the Book of Revelation, in which St. John famously writes:

"Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!'" - Revelation 4:2, 6-8

The four animals listed here epitomize the heights of Creation - as symbolist and archaeologist Louis Charbonneau-Lassay writes, the Lion is king of the beasts; the Ox king of sacrificial victims; the Eagle king of the air and Man king of the world. Surrounding the throne of Heaven, and so the Heavenly King, the four beasts of the Tetramorph were from early days taken as symbols of the four evangelists: Mark, the lion, Luke, the ox, Matthew, the man, and John, the eagle.