Letter from Bethlehem: Mazin Qumsiyeh

  posted at https://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2026/10/good-news.html

Good news
1) The largest country in South America (Brazil) has rejected the Zionist and ecocidal crazy right wing Bolsonaro and voted for Lula Di Silva who will protect the Amazon from Zionist and corporate takeover. Trump and Zionists thus lost big time.
2) The student-led movement succeeded in defeating Vucic and other right wing corrupt politicians who had pushed to give Zionist Kushner prime Serbian lands for foreign "development." The student led movement is pro-human rights and against Zionism.  Again Trump and Zionist lost big time
3) Netanyahu is slated to lose in the Israeli elections per all the polls. But this may not all be good news since a majority of Israeli Jews will vote for parties that support ethnic cleansing and genocide.
4) Polls show that a tectonic shift is coming in US elections unless Trump and Musk do their dirty tricks to ensure the people's will is not respected (as they have done before).  But a revolution is coming and isolation of the genocidal and apartheid Israeli regime is coming regardless. Please help and donate to progressive candidates (people like Ilhan Omar and Abdul El-Sayed) and organizations who watch for US public interests (and not the corrupt politicians). And do insist that they release all and unredacted Epstein (Israeli Mossad linked) files and dig-up other 'Epsteins' working below the radar to destroy the US for the benefit of global Zionism.
5) Iran's response to the US/Israeli aggression (and let us be clear US foreign policy is dictated in Tel Aviv and is contrary to US interests, even US imperial interests) is WORKING.  A high leveeel meeting in Tehran recently included Saudi, Turkish, and Pakistani leaders. Oil prices are $100-110 per barrel (doubled since the aggression started) and are slated to double again despite the illegal takeover of Venezuela. People around the world are waking up to the links between Zionist greed and their own pocketbooks (e.g. demonstrations in Italy and France against inflation and lack of basic services).

Obviously much more work is needed to end the rule of the oligarchs, the rich bankers, and billionaires (and the trillionaire Musk who put in $366 million in this election cycle.

On bad news:
1) Another Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem is demolished https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/we-have-lost-hope-world-looks-away-palestines-history-crushed
2) Lana Nusseibah, UAE envoy of Palestinian heritage (but clearly follows UAE Zionist policies) was nominated to the UN Top. The UAE is also complicit in the genocides in Sudan, Gaza, Yemen and more. See also how wanted war criminal Netanyahu views the regional landscape: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/netanyahu-map-shows-rsf-friendly-israel-and-uae-backing-separatist-movements
3) Greece becomes bigger partner in Israel's crimes
https://electronicintifada.net/content/greece-becomes-bigger-partner-israels-crimes/51705
4) (collective punishment): Thousands of Palestinians in Hebron ethnically cleansed
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-forces-begin-days-long-hebron-operation-force-families-from-their-homes
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/26/collective-punishment-palestinians-displaced-israeli-forces-take-over-hebron-homes
5) Apartheid regime "elections" give choices of fascists and ultra fascists. All are apartheid and genocide supporters.

So the struggle continues (A luta continua)

Starbucks’ New Flagship Built on Stolen Uyghur Property

 

A groundbreaking investigation by journalist Kasim Kashgar for Kozet.org reveals the reality behind Starbucks’ recent expansion into Chinese-occupied East Turkistan.

Starbucks’ flagship store in Urumqi stands wall-to-wall with commercial property unlawfully seized from the Enver family (Bayliq Trading Company). After Jibrillah Enver was sentenced to 10 years on fabricated charges, the family's $9.6 million asset was confiscated and auctioned off on Taobao to state-controlled entities. Starbucks built its flagship directly on the family's former driveway in partnership with local state capital.

While appropriating traditional music and silk weaving, Starbucks has completely erased the word “Uyghur” from its store branding—profiting alongside an active genocide.

Read for more.

Donate To 
Save Uyghur

Christians dragged from homes and forced to do Hindu rituals in India

Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party won the elections in the state of Bengal, Muslims have faced increasing discrimination, attacks and persecution. As is expected, that is now being extended to the Christians of the state also. In a recent report by the Indian Express, Christian families were dragged from their homes and forced to perform Hindu rituals over a period of three days. The Christians of the country have faced sporadic attacks. Most of the ire of the Hindutvadi mobs is directed towards Muslims, but increasingly, Christians have also come under attack.  OUR WORK: Our work bringing the attacks on Christian Churches, especially in the state of Manipur, was followed by Christian groups in the United States to release a strong statement against the handling of the situation by Indian authorities. In a humble gesture, one of the drafters of the statement even came and thanked us for our work. WHAT CAN YOU DO: Hold an inter-faith meeting. Connect with us. Bring us in to speak to your congregation as well as your inter-faith partners. Only by working together can we hope to defeat the scourge of Hindutva. Donate To Save India Campaign

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f55s7iP0Cu4

 

What a photojournalist learned after being beaten by Jewish settlers

 

CNN's Jake Tapper interviews Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was hospitalized after Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank attacked her and a group of Palestinians during the annual olive harvest.

Arakan Army Firms Up Relocation Plan For Villages on Bangladesh-Myanmar Border

 By Rajeev Bhattacharyya

October 27, 2026

People from the border villages of Pyar Re and Kyauk Lone that lie near Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh are constructing huts after relocating to Maungdaw in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya

The Arakan Army (AA) is preparing to relocate some villages from the restive Bangladesh-Myanmar border at a time when the outfit is also deeply engaged in fierce battles against the Myanmar military’s renewed attempts to reclaim territories in Rakhine State.

The plan being fine-tuned will move residents of select villages from the border to areas in different parts of Maungdaw district in Myanmar’s Rakhine State that are well connected by roads and rivers.

In an interview on March 2, Arakan Army (AA) chief Twan Mrat Naing told this correspondent about the relocation plan, which would focus on “remote villages” along the border, many of which are inhabited by the Buddhist Mro community.

Twan Mrat Naing explained that concern for “better security arrangements” for the residents was the primary reason for the decision to shift residents of a few villages to other zones. “Many villages are isolated and scattered. We will have to ensure that this isolation comes to an end.  We will have to relocate them and move them to a place where we can provide security and keep an eye on them,” he said.

The AA chief did not spell out any deadline for completion or details of the project.  But the concerns he expressed over the security of some villages has multilayered connotations for the current situation along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border and AA’s plan to take control of it.

The 271 km-long Myanmar-Bangladesh border includes a riverine border of 64 km, where the Naf River serves as the boundary between the two countries. In Myanmar, the border runs along the districts of Maungdaw in Rakhine State and Paletwa in Chin State, contiguous to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

The two districts are both under AA’s control, but the focus of the relocation is on the border villages in Maungdaw, where the population of Rohingya Muslims is over 90 percent.

There is no clarity on how many villages there are along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. Observers believe there were more Rohingya-inhabited villages before the ”clearance operations” of 2017, when many settlements were destroyed and ceased to exist. Currently, there are over a hundred villages, mostly inhabited by non-Rohingya communities such as Rakhine Buddhists, Mro, Khami, and Chakma.

The Rohingya village of Phegeepara along the border at Maungdaw in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Photo by Rajeev Bhattacharyya.

ARSA’s Presence Along the Border 

Underlying the AA’s decision to relocate border villages is its inability to establish absolute control along the border, unlike other parts of Rakhine State that it captured from the military two years ago.

Besides, the AA has to contend with the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya Muslim militant group, which is seeking to carve out a distinct region for the community in northern Rakhine State.

In 2016-17, ARSA carried out a series of attacks on police and military outposts in northern Rakhine State. The military retaliated with the “clearance operations,” resulting in the death of thousands of Rohingya and the displacement of over 700,000 people, now lodged at refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The situation changed in late 2023 when the Myanmar military joined hands with Rohingya rebel outfits, including ARSA and the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), to stall the AA’s campaign to capture Maungdaw. While the military could not prevent the AA from taking control of Maungdaw, the violence resulted in more Rohingya and rebel functionaries crossing over to Bangladesh.

ARSA has support in the Rohingya villages in north Maungdaw. It mounts operations intermittently against the AA and residents of non-Rohingya villages. Its functionaries also frequent the Mayu mountains, which cut across the townships of Buthidaung, Maungdaw, and Rathedaung.

ARSA has clashed with the AA often. It has also abducted and murdered non-Rohingya residents from villages located either near the border or the Mayu mountains. Its victims were mostly from the Rakhine Buddhist, Mro, Khami, Thet, and Chakma communities.

On November 12 last year, ARSA abducted and killed three people, including a 10-year-old girl from Kone Chaung village in Maungdaw. “They were in a group of six people.  Three men managed to escape with injuries,” Soe May, a resident of the village, whose daughter was killed, told The Diplomat.

A new batch of recruits being trained by the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Photo by Rajeev Bhattacharyya.

Possibility of Battles on Multiple Fronts

Currently, the AA is engaged in a fierce battle against the Myanmar military in Sittwe and the adjoining region. The Myanmar military unleashed a renewed offensive codenamed Operation 4926 to claw back territories it had lost to the AA in Rakhine State.

However, so far, the military has met with little success. Functionaries of the AA and its political wing, the United League of Arakan, who spoke to this correspondent, were of the view that the military might equip ARSA with weapons to launch more attacks against the AA in north Rakhine State. Reports have emerged of ARSA stepping up its campaign along the border even as the military offensive in Rakhine State deepens.

The AA is concerned about the vulnerability of non-Rohingya border villages to ARSA attacks. Residents of these villages often visit Bangladesh to purchase essential commodities and for medical treatment; this could cease if ARSA trains its guns on them.

A senior ULA functionary pointed out that the most vulnerable to ARSA attacks are about 20 villages located between border pillars 50 and 57, most of which are inhabited by the Mro and Rakhine Buddhist communities.

ARSA, along with the RSO, could target the AA and border villages from camps it has established on the Bangladesh side of the border. Traders from Maungdaw town who frequent the border, including some Rohingya, told The Diplomat that they have seen ARSA and RSO camps at Bandarban in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts.

“Some of these camps are not far from the outposts established by the Bangladesh Border Battalion. The border around Tombru in Bangladesh is the area where the ARSA is most active,” said Kyaw Aye Than, a trader based in the border village of Waylartaung, who occasionally lives in Maungdaw town.

The AA has diverted most of its resources to fight the military for control of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State. In addition, it has cadres stationed in the Bamar heartland such as Sagaing Region, Magwe, and Ayeyarwady, where it has teamed up with the local People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) in the movement against the military. The outfit would be overstretched if it were to divert more resources to confront ARSA along the border.

Two months ago, the AA launched its second compulsory recruitment drive under a special law called the National Emergency Defense Provision to increase its cadre strength.

The AA has reportedly learned of the “intimate ties” between ARSA and a section among the non-Rohingya villages, Twan Mrat Naing told me. A sustained collaboration between them could extend to information sharing, which would weaken the AA further in the border areas.

In addition to relocating villages, the AA plans to use technology to surveil the border areas. Drones, camera, and other equipment are being actively considered, the AA chief said.

After relocating from villages along the border two years ago, people have set up shops near Kine Gree village at Maungdaw in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Photo by Rajeev Bhattacharyya.

Border Residents Have Started Relocating

Some non-Rohingya households from the border villages have started relocating to safe areas in Maungdaw, even as the AA is giving final shape to its relocation plans.

On February 10, I saw four huts being constructed near Kine Gree village, located about 20 km north of Maungdaw town. The residents, who belonged to the Mro community, hailed from Don Nyou village near pillar 52 on the border.

An elderly man named Kaing Htauk was among the group engaged in building the huts. He said that since last year 85 households had begun the process of relocating from Pyar Re and Kyauk Lone villages near border pillars 55 to 58. They are now building new homes on plots of land allocated by the ULA. He cited safety concerns as the reason for the move.

“ARSA camps and training facilities across the border in Bangladesh are not very far from our village,” Kaing Htauk said.  “We were told by ARSA functionaries to join hands with them. They warned us of dire consequences if we did not.”

Two incidents prompted these residents to arrive at the momentous decision. In April last year, ARSA burnt an AA outpost. Five months later, six farmers, who crossed the border at pillar 52 to visit a market in Bangladesh, went missing. Alarmed villagers then began relocating from their villages.

“Residents of four villages comprising around a thousand people have already shifted to different areas in Maungdaw. More residents from other villages, mostly Mro, Rakhine Buddhists, and Khami, plan to do the same,” said Aung Hlaing, vice chairman of Mro Affairs Committee. He relocated three years ago from the border in a group of 30 people.

Most of the residents of the border villages were engaged in shifting cultivation or petty trade dependent on merchandise from Bangladesh. They face hardships in finding a livelihood in the new location, as it meant adapting to new occupations. While some of them have become daily wagers, others are cultivating food crops such as rice and vegetables and selling them in shops.

Rohingya crisis explained: deportations, citizenship, and the genocide case

 On October 4, Malaysia deported around 1,500 Myanmar nationals by naval vessel, ignoring UN warnings that returnees could face persecution and forced conscription in a country at war. Myanmar says they were convicted of immigration violations and are “genuine citizens.” Whether any were Rohingya is unclear.

The deportation reopens a much older question — what happens to a people no country will claim? The Rohingya, a largely Muslim minority from Rakhine State, were effectively made stateless by Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law. Decades of discrimination and waves of violence followed, with major episodes in 1978, 1991, 2012, 2016 and 2017. Myanmar offers citizenship only if they accept the label “Bengali,” which many see as a denial of who they are.

Click here to read more: Rohingya crisis explained: deportations, citizenship, and the genocide case - Telegraph India

Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity

 

Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amid continuing genocide in Gaza, UN Commission of Inquiry finds

NEW YORK  – Israel has committed war crimes and the crimes against humanity of extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, intentionally targeting Palestinian civilians as it continues to commit genocide in Gaza, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today.

The report to the UN General Assembly, which focuses on killings and bodily and mental harm by state-actors, found that the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated gravely since 7 October 2023. The number of deaths caused by airstrikes in the West Bank has increased significantly: six Palestinians were killed by airstrikes in the West Bank between 2008 and 6 October 2023, while 254 Palestinians were killed by airstrikes between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026. The Commission concluded that Palestinians in the West Bank are being targeted on the basis of their nationality, race and ethnicity, gender and age.

In Gaza, the report found that Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts even after the so-called ceasefire agreement, with the intent to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part.

“The intentional killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians and destruction of homes in the West Bank combined with Israel’s persistent denial of responsibility form part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unliveable,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission. “Meanwhile, Israel’s expansion of territorial control in Gaza continues to result in the killing and harming of Palestinian civilians who approach or cross the Yellow Line.”

In the West Bank, the report found that Israel - through military operations reinforced by sustained settler violence - has waged a widespread and systematic attack against civilians since 7 October 2023. The conduct of Israeli authorities during this period indicates that they intended for military operations and settler violence to form part of a coordinated attack against Palestinians.

Torture, reproductive violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence form part of the broader attack directed against the civilian population in the West Bank. Sexual violence has been used with the intent to displace, subjugate and destabilize the Palestinian people.

Israeli forces have also deliberately killed and inflicted serious bodily and mental harm against children in the West Bank – as they have in Gaza – committing age-based persecution against Palestinian children.

As part of a broader investigation into the root causes of recurrent tensions and protraction of conflict, the report outlines the key drivers of Israeli violence and concludes that Israel has striven to expand territorially and displace Palestinians through violence since the 1947-48 war. Military operations since January 2025 have led to the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, with 34,176 Palestinians remaining displaced as of August 2026.

“Seizing maximum land while minimizing the Palestinian population in relation to size, autonomy and viability stems from Israel’s colonising policies and is rooted in historical practices and patterns of action, resulting in the excessive and discriminatory application of lethal force, displacing, injuring and killing Palestinians over generations,” said Muralidhar. “Attempting to equate Palestinian statehood with a threat to the existence of Israel is blocking any viable attempts to realize Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”

The Palestinian Authority, the report found, has targeted Palestinians who voice dissenting views. Journalists and human rights defenders have been killed and injured, resulting in an increasingly diminished civic space.

“Despite an increase in unnecessary or disproportionate use of force since 7 October 2023, the Palestinian Authority has failed to conduct effective and impartial investigations into incidents of killings and to ensure effective remedy, including financial compensation to victims and their family members,” said Muralidhar.

The Commission makes several recommendations to the concerned States and the international community. Israel should comply with the advisory opinion of July 2024 of the International Court of Justice and immediately end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory and remove all settlers and settlements. Essentially, Israel should end and reverse confiscation and appropriation of Palestinian property and reservation of Palestinian land for military purposes and return all confiscated land to its Palestinian owners. The Palestinian Authority must cease the targeting of human rights defenders and conduct independent investigations into alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and provide remedies for the harm suffered by victims who were wrongfully killed and injured by the Palestinian security forces.

ENDS NEW YORK  – Israel has committed war crimes and the crimes against humanity of extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, intentionally targeting Palestinian civilians as it continues to commit genocide in Gaza, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today.

The report to the UN General Assembly, which focuses on killings and bodily and mental harm by state-actors, found that the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated gravely since 7 October 2023. The number of deaths caused by airstrikes in the West Bank has increased significantly: six Palestinians were killed by airstrikes in the West Bank between 2008 and 6 October 2023, while 254 Palestinians were killed by airstrikes between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026. The Commission concluded that Palestinians in the West Bank are being targeted on the basis of their nationality, race and ethnicity, gender and age.

In Gaza, the report found that Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts even after the so-called ceasefire agreement, with the intent to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part.

“The intentional killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians and destruction of homes in the West Bank combined with Israel’s persistent denial of responsibility form part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unliveable,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission. “Meanwhile, Israel’s expansion of territorial control in Gaza continues to result in the killing and harming of Palestinian civilians who approach or cross the Yellow Line.”

In the West Bank, the report found that Israel - through military operations reinforced by sustained settler violence - has waged a widespread and systematic attack against civilians since 7 October 2023. The conduct of Israeli authorities during this period indicates that they intended for military operations and settler violence to form part of a coordinated attack against Palestinians.

Torture, reproductive violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence form part of the broader attack directed against the civilian population in the West Bank. Sexual violence has been used with the intent to displace, subjugate and destabilize the Palestinian people.

Israeli forces have also deliberately killed and inflicted serious bodily and mental harm against children in the West Bank – as they have in Gaza – committing age-based persecution against Palestinian children.

As part of a broader investigation into the root causes of recurrent tensions and protraction of conflict, the report outlines the key drivers of Israeli violence and concludes that Israel has striven to expand territorially and displace Palestinians through violence since the 1947-48 war. Military operations since January 2025 have led to the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, with 34,176 Palestinians remaining displaced as of August 2026.

“Seizing maximum land while minimizing the Palestinian population in relation to size, autonomy and viability stems from Israel’s colonising policies and is rooted in historical practices and patterns of action, resulting in the excessive and discriminatory application of lethal force, displacing, injuring and killing Palestinians over generations,” said Muralidhar. “Attempting to equate Palestinian statehood with a threat to the existence of Israel is blocking any viable attempts to realize Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”

The Palestinian Authority, the report found, has targeted Palestinians who voice dissenting views. Journalists and human rights defenders have been killed and injured, resulting in an increasingly diminished civic space.

“Despite an increase in unnecessary or disproportionate use of force since 7 October 2023, the Palestinian Authority has failed to conduct effective and impartial investigations into incidents of killings and to ensure effective remedy, including financial compensation to victims and their family members,” said Muralidhar.

The Commission makes several recommendations to the concerned States and the international community. Israel should comply with the advisory opinion of July 2024 of the International Court of Justice and immediately end the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory and remove all settlers and settlements. Essentially, Israel should end and reverse confiscation and appropriation of Palestinian property and reservation of Palestinian land for military purposes and return all confiscated land to its Palestinian owners. The Palestinian Authority must cease the targeting of human rights defenders and conduct independent investigations into alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and provide remedies for the harm suffered by victims who were wrongfully killed and injured by the Palestinian security forces.

ENDS