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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionIsraelGazaInvestigationPalestiniansgenocideIsraeli MilitaryPope FrancisInternational Law•••5mos ago

Pope Francis Challenges Israel: Is Gaza a Genocide?

Pope Francis called for an investigation into whether Israel's military actions in Gaza legally constitute genocide, according to a book due out this week.

The pope has previously criticized Israel's attacks on Gaza as "immoral" and disproportionate, but had stopped short of calling for an investigation into whether they violate international law.

Francis reportedly privately used the term "genocide" last year to describe Israeli military actions while speaking to a group of Palestinians, the Washington Post reported.

Pope Francis made the remarks in a forthcoming book — "Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World" — that was based on interviews with him.

"According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide," Francis is quoted as saying in the book.

"We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies," he adds.

A UN report earlier this month stated that nearly 70% of the verified fatalities in Gaza were women and children.

11 Replies

 @R3gulationSwiftRepublican from Texas  commented…5mos5MO

Oh, look, the Pope is suddenly the world's moral compass on international law? If he's so keen on investigations, perhaps he should start with the Vatican's own financial dealings. Or maybe he could look into the geopolitical puppeteers pulling the strings behind every major conflict.

 @CaucusSalamiDemocrat from Texas  disagreed…5mos5MO

If Pope Francis is calling for an investigation into potential genocide, we should listen. It's about time someone with global influence speaks up against Israel's disproportionate actions in Gaza.

 @AmazedVetoDemocrat from Utah  commented…5mos5MO

Senator John Fetterman "rejects the accusation and investigation in the strongest terms."

 @Pr0porti0nalBradyGreen from Pennsylvania  agreed…5mos5MO

I call for an investigation into whether the Mossad chipped his brain during the long period when he was incommunicado and mentally comatose

 @DreadfulWigeonWorking Familyfrom Georgia  commented…5mos5MO

He definitely came back a changed man and with no moral quandary about support for Israel, which if I recall correctly, he wasn’t so adamant about prior to.

 @MajorityCoyoteDemocratfrom Kansas  disagreed…5mos5MO

Where is the evidence that he wasn’t like this before on Israel? A lot of us have suffered Covid related brain damage without any impairment of our empathies or change in our politics

 @6SGS8S8Progressivismfrom New Jersey  commented…5mos5MO

Someone finally woke The Pope up???

 @FearlessCentr1st from Georgia  agreed…5mos5MO

He’s been saying this stuff for a while, just doesn’t get coverage.

 @MackerelCodySocialist from Virginia  commented…5mos5MO

The useless Blob of Rome, the Baron Harkonnen of Vatican City, could have sent a strong message to the world by EXCOMMUNICATING the withered war monger of death and misery, but no... he prefers to issue useless, impotent declarations instead.

 @8XHR9VZJewish Left from Missouri  commented…5mos5MO

He didn't call for investigation when Christians from Nigeria and Armenia were slaughtered

  @Renaldo-MoonGreen  from Pennsylvania  commented…5mos5MO

Does that instantly make his word irrelevant on the current situation?

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…5mos5MO

FBI Director Chris Wray Will Resign

The F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, told bureau employees on Wednesday that he intended to resign before the Trump administration begins, bowing to the reality that President-elect Donald J. Trump had publicly declared his desire to replace him.Mr. Wray made the disclosure while addressing employees Wednesday afternoon in remarks that tacitly acknowledged the politically charged position the F.B.I. now faces with an incoming president who openly scorns the agency.“I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” Mr. Wray said, adding, “This is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.”The director spoke wistfully about his time at the F.B.I. “This is not easy for me,” he said. “I love this place, I love our mission and I love our people.”The announcement comes after Mr. Trump said in late November that he intended to nominate Kash Patel, a longtime loyalist, to run the F.B.I., and more than two years before Mr. Wray’s 10-year term would have expired.Paul Abbate, the deputy F.B.I. director, is set to retire in April but would typically serve as acting director until Mr. Patel is confirmed. It is not clear who would replace Mr. Abbate, the most senior agent in the bureau.Over more than seven years, Mr. Wray oversaw one of the most consequential and tumultuous periods in the bureau’s history, juggling high-profile criminal investigations of political figures, heated congressional inquiries and two attempted assassinations of Mr. Trump.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…5mos5MO

Kamala Harris is considering running for president again in 2028

Kamala Harris has been lying low since her defeat in the presidential race, unwinding with family and senior aides in Hawaii before heading back to the nation’s capital.But privately, the vice president has been instructing advisers and allies to keep her options open — whether for a possible 2028 presidential run, or even to run for governor in her home state of California in two years. As Harris has repeated in phone calls, “I am staying in the fight.”She is expected to explore those and other possible paths forward with family members over the winter holiday season, according to five people in the Harris inner circle, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. Her deliberations follow an extraordinary four months in which Harris went from President Joe Biden’s running mate to the top of the ticket, reenergizing Democrats before ultimately crashing on election night.“She doesn’t have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months,” said one former Harris campaign aide. “The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships.”“She doesn’t have to decide if she wants to run for something again in the next six months,” said one former Harris campaign aide. “The natural thing to do would be to set up some type of entity that would give her the opportunity to travel and give speeches and preserve her political relationships.”Harris concedes: 'We must accept the results of this election'SharePlay VideoMost immediately, Harris and her advisers are working to define how and when she will speak out against Donald Trump and reassert her own role in the Democratic Party. Closing out her term as vice president, she’s set to preside over certifying the November election she lost to Trump, and then appear at the once-and-future president’s inauguration on Jan. 20.“There will be a desire to hear her voice, and there won’t be a vacuum for long,” a person close to Harris said.At the same time, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, will have a long checklist to plow through before they leave the Naval Observatory for good.They have to decide whether they’ll take up permanent residence at their home in Los Angeles, or establish a base elsewhere. No matter where Harris and her family live, some around her have expressed concerns about safety, as her Secret Service protection expires six months after stepping away.

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