This ordinary guy basically had the entire national press roll up on his doorstep, in the middle of his ordinary life, just after discovering that his young neighbor who he didn't know that well had shot two people in DC and made international news as well as setting off a global Israeli-pushed political firestorm. And his message is one of empathy, it clearly places the genocide on Israel's shoulders, highlights his country's complicity, and keeps message discipline without getting drawn into media spin or distraction.

It really demonstrates how all these lib and 'left' politicians and pundits really aren't worth a damn that they can't manage this shit.

Israel has used drones to attack a Gaza humanitarian aid flotilla in International waters off the coast of Malta.

UPDATE from Thiago Ávila, coordinator of the Freedom Flotilla still in Malta:

We had another mission 15 years ago that was attacked, and 10 of our participants were killed in this mission of the Mavi Marmara. And right now we just suffered another attack, where two drones attacked our boat and put our boat on fire and created a big hole on our boat. There was a distress signal that was sent to all neighboring countries, to all the vessels nearby.

And until very early in the morning, no one had responded to this. This happened now six hours ago. And now that we finally — the fire was put down, and finally, the drones that attacked the boat are out of the region.

But we are very concerned for our participants. This is part of a humanitarian mission that was carrying food and medical aid to Gaza, because Gaza has now been for 58 days under total blockade — that not a single bag of flour, not a single bottle of water has entered Gaza for 58 days under a state of famine in the Gaza Strip.

So we were trying to break the siege and create a people's humanitarian corridor, with people from over 20 different countries and carrying all the aid we could carry. We had members of parliament, we had actors, we had doctors, we had news outlets, we had influencers, we had grassroots solidarity movement activists as well for Palestine.

And we were doing our best. This was a confidential mission. Because they've been attempting bureaucratic warfare on us, we were not disclosing the information until then that we were going, because they've been trying to hinder us. We were supposed to be on the boat three days ago now, and we've been hindered. And now, a few hours before we depart, we were attacked.

And so we are due to share this information, to contact local politicians, to contact everyone you can, so that the Maltese government organize a proper rescue operation, which is not ongoing until now, and it's been many, many hours. We don't want to antagonize this government.

We actually think this government needs to be an ally on a rescue mission, but we really need to denounce the war crime that happened because the boat was 13 nautical miles from Maltese territory, so it's in international waters, but it's nearby Malta, and we need people to denounce this attack, this war crime that just happened against a peaceful humanitarian mission to Gaza. And we need people to put the spotlight as well on the total blockade that Gaza has been suffering for 58 days.

We only went to the boat because we knew there was no other choice to open a humanitarian corridor, so the people of the world were willing to open it.

And we were attacked. So we were urged for your help, and Nicole here is part of our delegation, has been doing an amazing, amazing job, and we count on you to follow up with her, because we really need you right now, and especially the people, the Palestinian people in Gaza need you more than ever.

From elsewhere on Twitter:

We spoke with Jasmine, one of the organizers of the Freedom Flotilla.

She reports that the 30 people aboard the ship are afraid to board lifeboats—fearing Israel will strike them again once exposed. As of now, there are no confirmed injuries, but communication with the ship has been lost.

Jasmine is currently organizing an independent operation with others to reach the Freedom Flotilla after 7 hours without any response to the ship’s SOS. Authorities, embassies, and officials have remained silent.

The ship is sinking in international waters.

Despite multiple calls to embassies, media, and an SOS call and beacon no countries responded for over 6 hours until a Cypriot vessel picked up the SOS call and sent help.

I don't have the national makeup of activists on board for obvious reasons, but if any of them were British then it's highly likely that the British government has actively assisted in the illegal drone striking of one of its own citizens since they provide radio surveillance of that area, as well as surveillance flights and targeting for Israeli drones from RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus.

History is repeating itself again, as a reminder; in 2010 Israeli military boarded and stormed a previous Gaza humanitarian flotilla and executed at least 10 activists, all unarmed, some at point blank range, including UK and US citizens.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think these people are alive. They were never going to let a Senator from the opposition in for a photo-op but giving zero proof of life feels less like a middle finger and more like they can't.

Continuing their state-protected tour of violence, dozens of Israeli fans beat a french fan in the stands of the France v Israel match the other night. Some media has framed it as 'booing and clashes' but more and more videos from the game have been appearing since then.

Police and security did little to nothing to stop the violence as fans further down the stands looked on helplessly, but arrested French fans trying to get others out of the mob of Israeli hooligans. After the match an Israeli fan in an IDF tee shirt was interviewed by the French media grinning and saying the level of security was "wonderful, magnificent, maybe too much even" before pointing out that they had a "small incident in Block K" which they dealt with "directly". There's also video of French fans showing police and security, with video evidence on their phones, that the Israel fans were the aggressors. Of course they were ignored.

Macron and other French ministers were at the match to "show their support for fighting anti-semitism" after Amsterdam. They didn't mention or condemn the Israeli violence against French fans afterward from what I can see.

When the leaders of European states repeatedly and reflexively defend Israeli violence against and above their own citizens as victims - in countries that are already sliding ever-rightward - they're pouring fuel on the kindling of actual antisemitism. It's going to end very badly indeed.

NYT on Crooks' motive...

"When the F.B.I. was able to finally access Mr. Crooks’s cellphones and other electronic devices, agents could see that he had searched for images of Mr. Trump as well as President Biden, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and even F.B.I. Director Christopher A. Wray.

Mr. Crooks also had at typed in “major depressive disorder” and searched for dates and places for appearances for both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump.

One of Mr. Trump’s planned appearances happened to be about 50 miles from Mr. Crooks’s house in Bethel Park, Pa."

Motive might have just been that Trump was a shorter drive than Biden or others.

Extremely American.

Not surprising, but a revealing moment of police culture regarding the protests here.

For those that can't see the Twitter video...

Police are violently arresting protestors on the bridge. Batons out. Often five or sex different officers tackling individuals, kneeling on them, getting licks in.

One officer in a riot helmet and drawn baton is stood to one side, watching, but not wanting to get stuck in with the other five or six officers with a protester already on the ground.

A much larger superior comes over to him aggressively, getting in his face, and yells *"Let's go! Let's go! You're the police! Let's go! Don't be a fucking traitor!"

Not only is this very clearly gang shit, but the idea that he could be a 'traitor' clearly shows that the police view this as a war against the protesters.

Again, this won't be surprising to anyone. But it's laid out so perfectly in this five seconds or so of footage.

As well as attackers who served in the IOF, it seems there was more Israeli involvement in the attacks on UCLA protesters.

• The ADL held a rally event before the attack and one of the speakers was amongst the crowd and had been harassing the encampment all week, as mentioned before.
• An IOF affiliated private security company, Magen Am, were at UCLA and coordinating with the LAPD.
• An Israeli special forces veteran, 'law enforcement trainee & counter terrorism analyst' was there coordinating with the LAPD and ran a "quiet infiltration operation".

The Guardian has been editing out mentions of Israel in its articles without even telling the authors in question that edits were made. It was highlighted this morning by author Noreen Masud, but other authors have chimed in to say they've gone back and checked and it's been done to their articles too.

Twitter thread here and some excerpts posted below:

I wrote about what I’d been reading, for the @guardian. Now: editing’s important. I’m happy to be edited and I welcome it. But isn’t it funny how it’s always the same word that gets edited out?

I did not approve these edits and I condemn the moral cowardice behind them. Name the hand behind the deaths of 15,000 children. It is Israeli violence, funded and supported by the US and the UK.

I am so so sickened by the cowardice of our media

UPDATE. No one has been in touch with me

Despite the thread blowing up and her contacting the Guardian they were ignored until, according to an email screenshot, her publisher intervened with the Guardian.

the ‘lost’ word has mysteriously been found

Another author who was asked by the Guardian to write about the conflict then chimes in with others with another particular egregious example:

(2nd Author) I noticed a similarly shocking omission in a piece I’ve just read about the horrors unfolding in Rafah.

My god - am I right in thinking that Israel is not mentioned there even once in a whole article about its violence towards Gaza’s children?

(2nd Author) Not once

Speechless

Reporting from the ground that one encampment member was taken out on a stretcher. Zionist attackers then threw their fireworks towards it.

Elsewhere...

At Columbia cops threw protestors down a flight of stairs, then denied access to EMS or medical help despite the fact that one was unconcious.

At Washington University St Louis, video has come out of police tackling and beating a professor for filming a police assualt. He's still in hospital multiple broken bones and in the video you can see the bicycle cop deliberately breaking his ribs while he's restrained on the ground.

A Gallup poll the following week revealed nearly 60 percent placed total blame on the students, while only 10 percent blamed the guardsmen (30 percent had no opinion). Means cites multiple uses of the phrase “They should have shot more of them [students]” and similar sentiments.

David Katz is one of the best, and most accessible, especially on how the Baltic states have deliberately curated and used it to whitewash their own Nazi pasts and current far-right - mostly because he spent about 25 years living and researching it there (he now lives and teaches in Lithuania).

This a the useful overview article that I posted the other day.

He also collaborated with a number of other academics and historians to create the DefendingHistory website. Here's their archive on double genocide related stuff. There's some background links at the top, then papers by different authors, then related news articles etc.

Liberalism: acceptable to many, desirable to few.