Step comes when France is leading a push to recognise Palestinian state after Israel’s unyielding bombing of GazaJason Burke (The Guardian)
Exciting day for the #Fediverse! This morning at #UN #OpenSource Week, @haubles announced that @Mastodon has been named as a Digital Public Good for its work to empower communities, protect privacy, and foster authentic connections.
blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/06/…
#Mastodon #DPG #DigitalPublicGoods #UnitedNations #FreeSoftware #FOSS #FLOSS
Mastodon has been added to the Digital Public Goods Alliance's DPG Registry.Mastodon Blog
I'm not about to turn this account into US political drama posting full time, but I'd like to take a moment to talk about the Linsdey Graham tweet about the Gaza flotilla and anti-genocide activist Greta Thunberg. If you haven't seen it, there's a screenshot in the Zeteo article below, but the short story is that Graham posted or quoted an image of Thunberg on the deck of a flotilla vessel, and wrote over top "hope Greta and her friends can swim."
Graham's behavior is of course disgusting and condemnable on its face. I want to talk about it today however because I think if you take the Senator from South Carolina's post in the proper context, it reveals quite a lot about where the US government, buttressed by a pro-genocide corporate media, stands in contrast to the rest of the world on the subject of Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Lindsey Graham's Disgusting Tweet About Greta Thunberg Is 'Brain Rot' in Its Truest, Most Vulgar Sense
zeteo.com/p/lindsey-grahams-di…
"The warped logic, wildly insulting to the intelligence or basic morals of the Americans he serves, is one thing. As with their comical hypocrisy, the refrain about the modern Republican Party that “the cruelty is the point” is baked into US politics. But the extent to which these threads undergirding American conservatism are put into total overdrive when it comes to Israel is jarring to any observer.
Because, to be clear: Graham, a US senator, paid by our taxes, is apparently calling for a government that’s killed at least 54,000 (and likely, far more) Palestinians to bomb a boat carrying food to a starving population (or, if I’m being incredibly generous, he is just hoping the ship sinks). It’d be one thing if Graham was operating in the already-broken framework of the draconianism we’re used to: egging on the detaining of protesters and cheering for the bombing of Gaza under the auspices of “eliminating Hamas.”
Think how far we’ve come: pointing out Israel’s bombing of humanitarians was a “blood libel.” Now, it’s a punchline.
Here, we reach the endpoint of it all: a Republican, sealed off in his grotesque, hermetically-sealed bubble, finding it not only appropriate, but actively helpful in his (and his Israeli friends’) PR crusade to buoyantly rejoice at the idea of 12 volunteers – including a young college-aged person – being bombed, and left to tread in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea."
There's honestly so much going on here that you could write a whole book about this tweet, and the political moment in America that produced it. There are literal layers of grotesque inhumanity behind a US Senator cheerfully wishing death on a world famous activist and her friends for the high crime of trying to feed people we're helping to starve out of existence. Graham's callous, if not gleeful disregard for human life speaks to a modern, cultishly-devoted to Trump Republican Party whose broader motto might as well be "we're for killing and starving people" at this point; a sentiment their voters seem to embrace so long as the leopards aren't eating *their* faces.
If you know that the previous flotilla food aid attempt involving Thunberg was unable to reach Gaza after being struck by weaponized drones widely-believed to be Israeli in origin, then Graham's tweet reads like an open threat by a US Senator on behalf of a foreign government conducting a genocide we're paying for; which at almost any other point in American history would be earth-shaking news, but passes more or less for business as usual in the American pro-genocide reality bubble. This would be appalling under any circumstances, but for Graham to post this at the very same time the US government under Trump is pretending it is forcing Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, while openly concentrating starving Palestinians into corrals for the IOF to shoot at, is next-level Third Reich-type shit; and the whole world knows it.
Which then brings us back to the larger point about Israel's genocide in Gaza, and failing international support for the Netanyahu regime and an IOF committing open war crimes and mass murder. At the precise time that the entire international order except the United States is running away from their prior support for Israel's genocidal actions because starving children to death on livestream is extremely unpopular, the United States is accelerating the body count and a US Senator is openly threatening a European peace activist on behalf of our openly eliminationist ally, for the high crime of attempting to feed starving people our govt would clearly prefer dead. The Trump regime and the broader pro-genocide establishment in America are out of step with the rest of the Pig Empire, and out of touch with reality; Israel isn't the only country flirting with pariah state status as the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza continues to unfold.
#USPol #Gaza #Israel #UN #LindseyGraham #GazaFlotilla #GretaThunberg #Genocide #Starvation #WarCrimes #Palestinians #GOP #Trump
As the Zeteo contributor set sail on the Gaza aid flotilla, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted: "Hope Greta and her friends can swim!"Prem Thakker (Zeteo)
After seven weeks of bombing and a genocidal blockade of all humanitarian and food aid going into Gaza, the UN's World Food Program is now announcing that it has run out of food inside the strip; which will further exacerbate a humanitarian crisis engineered by the government off Israel as part of the genocide it's conducting against Palestinians in the enclave.
commondreams.org/news/gaza-foo…
UN Program Out of Food in Gaza as Israel Maintains Blockade
"No humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered Gaza for more than seven weeks as all main border crossing points remain closed," WFP said Friday. "This is the longest closure the Gaza Strip has ever faced, exacerbating already fragile markets and food systems. Food prices have skyrocketed up to 1,400% compared to during the cease-fire, and essential food commodities are in short supply, raising serious nutrition concerns for vulnerable populations, including children under 5, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly."
Over 18 months into a U.S.-backed military assault for which Israel faces a genocide case at the Interenational Court of Justice, WFP said that "the situation inside the Gaza Strip has once again reached a breaking point: People are running out of ways to cope, and the fragile gains made during the short ceasefire have unravelled. Without urgent action to open borders for aid and trade to enter, WFP's critical assistance may be forced to end."
While conditions are dire, WFP is prepared to keep feeding people, if Israel will allow aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave. The program highlighted that "more than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance—enough to feed 1 million people for up to four months—is positioned at aid corridors and is ready to be brought into Gaza by WFP and food security partners as soon as borders reopen."
The program called on "all parties to prioritize the needs of civilians and allow aid to enter Gaza immediately and uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law."
I need to stress here that this isn't an activist organization, or political representatives from Gaza talking here; this is a UN program that feeds refugees, the exploited, and folks in crisis situations. There is absolutely no reason to believe they're exaggerating the situation, which in turn means we're watching Israel commit a crime against humanity in real time. If this were anyone other than a US client state in the MENA, the entire American establishment would be able to see that there is no reason to continuously bomb Gaza while enforcing a nearly two month long blockade on food, supplies, and humanitarian aid, unless you're actively trying to kill innocent people. Which of course Israel is; they're committing a genocide, the Trump administration is happily paying for it, and a bipartisan US establishment awash in PAC and donor money, is quietly ignoring that genocide for political, financial, and ideological reasons.
#Israel #Genocide #Gaza #Palestinians #Blockadge #UN #WorldFoodProgram #Starvation #CrimesAgainstHumanity #Fascism #Trump #Media #Blackout #Imperialism #SettlerColonialism
"No humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered Gaza for more than seven weeks as all main border crossing points remain closed. This is the longest closure the Gaza Strip has ever faced," said the World Food Program.jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)
At this point I'm starting to believe the primary purpose of the sham ceasefire in Gaza, broken by Israel to continue a US-backed genocide of Palestinian people, was to allow US corporate media to catch its breath and reset to a position of trying very hard to ignore blatant war crimes against clearly innocent Palestinians. A United Nations investigation has revealed that the IDF executed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, including a UN employee, in March 23rd; then tried to bury the evidence, including crushed ambulances, to hide this crime against humanity. Details of the murders make it clear that this activity was deliberate, and yet the portions of the mainstream western media that remain firmly pro-genocide have hardly registered any sort of outcry or calls for action.
1) theguardian.com/world/2025/mar…
Israel killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers one by one, says UN
“Seven days ago, civil defence and PRCS ambulances arrived at the scene,” the head of Ocha in Palestine, Jonathan Whittall, said in a video statement. “One by one, [the paramedics and civil defense workers] were hit, they were struck. Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave.
“We’re digging them out in their uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave,” Whittall said. “These ambulances have been buried in the sand. There’s a UN vehicle here, buried in the sand. A bulldozer – Israeli forces bulldozer – has buried them.”
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said that one of its employees was among the dead found in Rafah."
As an American, please let me once again remind you that none of these atrocities would be happening without US financial, material, and diplomatic support. We're subsidizing the Israeli government, we're shipping the IDF the bombs and weapons being used to exterminate Palestinians in Gaza, and it is by US diplomatic force that Western support for Israel even as it commits a genocide, remains strong, if somewhat less overt than it was at the start of this genocide. Trump (and Biden before him) could end this inhuman slaughter today if he wanted to; he just doesn't want to because killing brown people and taking their resources (beachfront property and natural gas, in this case) is a important business activity for the entire Pig Empire.
In an environment where the media is actively cultivating a numb complicity, and western states are either ignoring the massacres, or as in the Trump regime's case, openly celebrating them, it behooves all of us in the so-called West to reject these attempts to rewind time and protect the genocide. In the months leading up to the ceasefire, Western political leaders and media were on the backfoot as independent media, folks with Tik Tok accounts, protestors, and even everyday people refused to accept the complicity of silence and demanded action. This "reset" must not be allowed to continue while Palestinians in Gaza are murdered with impunity and the complicity of the larger Pig Empire; as noted by Ahmed Moor writing in the Guardian - which is sadly where I have to get my mainstream news about a US-enabled and supported genocide the Trump administration is happily paying for, because US media outlets are still trying to pretend none of this is real:
2) theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Israel executes unarmed Red Crescent paramedics with the west’s blessing
"Nor will global leaders intervene to end the mass murder which has been punctuated by this latest obscenity. Some of them – such as Emmanuel Macron, who called for a ceasefire, might appear to want to end the slaughter. After all, dead babies in incubators and paramedics in a mass grave are unpleasant garlands to wear. But 18 months in, they are too deeply implicated. Who can forget Ursula von der Leyen’s embrace of Netanyahu? Or Keir Starmer’s affirmation of Israel’s “right” to starve Palestinians in Gaza?
Today, those who are tasked with upholding international law have been co-opted by the Israeli leadership, whether they like it or not. The logic of gangland drug dealers and criminals – new members commit crimes to join, and are locked in – prevails.
So far from being complicit, US and European leaders are the authors of this latest atrocity by their Israeli colleagues in Gaza."
#Gaza #Genocide #Israel #Trump #CrimesAgainstHumanity #USA #WarCrimes #Netanyahu #IDF #Media #EthnicCleansing #UN #Imperialism #Netanyahu #UNRWA #SettlerColonialism #RedCrescent
Workers on a mission to help colleagues were buried in mass grave in southern Gaza, says humanitarian officeLorenzo Tondo (The Guardian)
Announcing the first 15 endorsers of the United Nations #OpenSource Principles" – 8 practical ways for groups around the world to promote global digital cooperation through free and open source software.
✍️ Like software freedom itself, these principles are for everyone, everywhere - and the orgs you support can join a list of endorsers today.
#boostsAppreciated - spread the word!
unite.un.org/news/fifteen-orga…
#FreeSoftware #FLOSS #FOSS #UN #UnitedNations
The United Nations Open Source community is proud to announce that 16 leading organizations have the UN Open Source Principles, following the initial endorsement by the Open Source Initiative (OSI), bringing the total to 17.unite.un.org
🇺🇳 Our UNDP digital team is taking on really meaningful and interesting work in helping countries use technology in ethical, responsible ways. And filling a bunch of #internships. Fully #remote, around the world, and flexible around individuals' schedules.
🏦 While there's a stipend, it's low. Our leadership is working hard to break a long history of unpaid internships in the #UN, but there is still a distance to go for fair pay.
🔎 Learn more and apply:
🇺🇳 
Some folks have asked how our efforts are going helping governments be good open source citizens as they leverage free software to provide public services.
🎉 The answer is: Things are going very well, and they're getting better every week.
📋 With 4 months until UN Open Source week, here's a current update from our UNDP team:
undp.org/digital/blog/open-sou…
#UN #UNDP #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #FLOSS #FOSS #GovTech
UNICC has chosen Element to secure its communicationsChiara Castro (TechRadar pro)
Beijing supports 'full' UN membership for Palestinian state, says Chinese FM Wang Yi
> Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday says that Beijing supports the “full” membership of the Palestinian state in the United Nations.
> “We support #Palestine becoming a formal member of the United Nations,” foreign minister Wang Yi told journalists at a press conference. firstpost.com/world/china-un-p… #UN #China #Israel
The Chinese foreign minister added that the ’long-cherished wish’ of the Palestinian people to create an independent country can no longer be ignored and that ’the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people cannot continue for generation…Ayndrila Banerjee (Firstpost)
Kick terrorussia from UN
change.org/p/kick-russia-from-…
With the current #UN Membership, #russia is neither a part of the council nor a member. russia is the only country which did not go through the procedure of being admitted into the UN, according to Article 4.
According to Article 23 of the UN charter, russia is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council!
The UN’s current charter says that the Soviet Union still exists, while russia is not mentioned altogether.
We ask António #Guterres and UN DGACM to provide the documents, according to which, russia takes place in the UN. In the absence of such documents, the procedure for russia's accession to the UN in accordance with Article 4 should be initiated. The article clearly states that only a peace-loving country can be admitted to the UN, which is impossible until the end of russian aggression against #Ukraine.
Such a course of action would remove russia's UN veto power, which blocks many peaceful resolutions, and restore peace and order to the international community.
