Hasnain says:

Looking forward to when I can watch the documentary. From what I’ve read though this has been a massive shitshow with people placing too much trust in software and it causing so much real world harm.

“The Post Office knew in 2015 that there were bugs and errors in Horizon. It knew that remote access was possible. And it knew some of its convictions were unsafe.

The evidence in Panorama's 2015 film was there for the government to see too.

But it took several trials, more than 90 overturned convictions and a TV drama for the Post Office scandal to get the attention it has long deserved.”

Hasnain says:

““It’s one thing to write letters from within, but when policy discussions and dissent cables yield no shift in policy — and in some views, a double down on that policy — then people feel they have no other option because they’re not being heard,” the organizer said.”

Hasnain says:

"You know, it’s the little things in these listings for me. Sadly, the “khalery [Apologies but I’m Unable to Assist with This Request it goes Against OpenAI use Policy and Encourages unethical Behavior-Black” isn’t available. But I have to say, I’m intrigued by its “Apologies, but I’m unable to assist: We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused and regretfully inform you that we are unable to provide immediate assistance at this” feature."

Hasnain says:

I know this is the opinion section, but even the NYT is talking about this now. Hoping the US admin (more specifically Biden) listens

“We should approach this question humbly, because we — Americans, the West — have repeatedly shown that we are good at recognizing genocide only in retrospect. Virtually every cataclysm we now know as genocide, including the Holocaust, was met, first, with doubt and linguistic quibbling until finally — and much too late — a declaration was made.

Rwanda, often mentioned just after the Holocaust in the dirty annals of genocide, was acknowledged as such only after Europeans and Americans wasted precious weeks prevaricating and dragging their feet, leery of intervention, while U.S. officials refused to say the word “genocide” in public. Denial of the Bosnian genocide has continued to this day.

When I read the document assembled by South Africa, my mind reeled: How could it happen? How was it allowed to happen?”

Hasnain says:

Great analysis of South Africa’s case yesterday. I’m looking forward to similar ones of the defense today.

Also why am I not surprised that BBC/CNN et al didn’t cover the case from yesterday but live streamed the defense today?

“Finally Lowe said that genocide is never justified. It is absolute, a crime in itself. No matter how appalling the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israel or Israeli citizens, a genocidal response was not appropriate and never could be.

Vaughn Lowe stated that South Africa asked for action against Israel and not against Hamas, simply because Hamas was not a state and thus not subject to the jurisdiction of the court. But the fact that the court could not act against Hamas must not prevent it from acting against Israel to prevent the current urgent danger of genocide. Nor must the court be swayed by Israeli offers of voluntary restraint. Israel’s failure to acknowledge any wrongdoing whatsoever in its actions in “grinding Gaza into the dust” showed Israel could not be trusted in any assurances to adjust behaviour, as it believed it had done no wrong.”

Hasnain says:

Why do people still think they’ll get through an interview with this guy unscathed?

“When it comes to Ukraine, you said, “Russian forces are in fact committing war crimes. You don’t have to look further than [MSNBC] to see the evidence and proof of that.” I think a lot of people look at MSNBC or CNN and see what’s going on in Gaza, and even President Biden talking about indiscriminate bombing, and they think, “Well, Israel is committing war crimes, too. This is Western hypocrisy.” How do you see that?

Mr. Putin, part of his war aims, part of his strategy, baked into his playbook, is eliminating Ukraine as a sovereign state and subjugating the people of Ukraine. So his forces have been deliberately committing atrocities. Not incidentally, not people caught in the crossfire, although that has happened. It is not a stated war aim or goal of the Israeli war cabinet or the Israel Defense Forces to deliberately, wantonly—and with purpose and intent—slaughter, torture, maim, and rape innocent Palestinians.”

Hasnain says:

“Washington’s unwavering devotion to its current approach to the region has produced a vicious cycle: By committing itself to the root of regional instability, the United States repeatedly finds itself having to confront challenges that are largely the product of its own presence and policies in the Middle East.

The human and material costs of Washington’s Middle East policy have been immense. What will billions more in military aid and an expansive U.S. presence in the Middle East accomplish in the years to come? History suggests that it will produce continued damage to U.S. interests and regional stability.

It is past time to change course in the Middle East. Failure to do so risks formalizing Washington’s commitment to a cycle of instability that will continue to impact the region—and undermine U.S. interests—for generations.”

Hasnain says:

Insert meme about “I can excuse genocide, but I draw the line at stopping efforts to refuel the genocide”

“"A brutal aggression against our country, for which they will pay absolutely," Nasr Aldeen Amer, vice president of the Houthi Media Authority, said Thursday. "Without hesitation, and we will not back down from our position in supporting the Palestinian people, whatever the cost.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged Houthi rebels to cease their aggression.

“Despite the repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea,” he said in a statement Thursday confirming the strikes.

“This cannot stand. The United Kingdom will always stand up for freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade,” he said.”

Hasnain says:

Her argument today at the ICJ was sobering (due to the nature of the genocide) and inspirational (seeing the moral clarity with which people were fighting for human rights). Reading this interview on the other hand was just inspirational - I wish more people took action like this.

“Something that she says had a big impact on her life was discovering the story of Majella O’Hare, a young girl of 12 from County Armagh who was shot in the back and killed by a British soldier in 1976.

Ms Ní Ghrálaigh says: “I was 12 years old myself when I found a pamphlet about Majella O’Hare in one of my mother’s bookcases. I saw the picture of the young girl on the front, and saw her age, and I read it from cover to cover. I read about how she died in the arms of her father after he heard the shot and went running to her. I think it was her age, the fact that nobody had been held accountable, and the circumstances of the killing – that she had been shot as she walked along a country road with a group of other children, going to Confession at the local chapel – that particularly outraged my convent schoolgirl sensibilities at the time.”

Ms Ní Ghrálaigh went to her mother in tears and asked how such a terrible thing could be allowed to happen. Her mother’s response to her young daughter was: “Do something about it”. Ms Ní Ghrálaigh says: “I often think about my mother’s response. Her words struck a very profound chord. And I’ve hung on to that pamphlet over all these years. It’s now framed above my work desk as a reminder of what brought me here.””

Hasnain says:

Powerful words.

““Better late than never,” a kind audience member said to me after the talk.

It was late then; it’s later still now. But it’s not too late. Not too late for all of us to create our own foreign policy from below, one that intervenes in the culture and economy in intelligent and strategic ways – ways that offer tangible hope that Israel’s decades of unchecked impunity will finally come to an end.

As the BDS national committee asked last week: “If not now, when? The South African anti-apartheid movement organized for decades to gain broad international support leading up to the fall of apartheid; and apartheid did fall. Freedom is inevitable. The time is now to take action to join the movement for freedom, justice and equality in Palestine.”

Enough. It’s time for a boycott.”