Manufacturing Consent

Impartial broadcaster btw.

The US State Department has been advised to cut nearly $1.3bn in grants for global pro-democracy initiatives, according to a report in The Guardian on Thursday.

The move would cut approximately 80 percent of programmes that sit under the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour (DRL), except for two programmes that operate in China and Yemen. The State Department oversees the DRL.

The overhaul was reportedly outlined in a foreign assistance review produced by the Office of Management and Budget and would impact 391 active grants. The review was seen by three State Department officials, who were sourced by The Guardian.

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The final death toll from the attack is now thought to be 695 Israeli civilians, including 36 children, as well as 373 security forces and 71 foreigners, giving a total of 1,139.

The Israeli army has offered five conflicting stories to deny its role in the killing of 31 starving civilians and the injury of over 200 others at the US-Israeli aid distribution point in Rafah. The massacre, known as the Witkoff Massacre, has triggered global outrage.

• Narrative 1: “Nothing happened.”

Initially, Israel claimed that no incident occurred near the aid center. This was quickly disproven by eyewitness videos and images showing bodies scattered near aid trucks.

• Narrative 2: “Something happened—but not near the aid center.”

After mounting pressure, the army admitted there had been an incident. However, it claimed the event happened far from the aid site and had no connection to Israeli forces. The army then released a video showing normal aid distribution in a different area.

• Narrative 3: “Soldiers fired in the air only.”

The third claim was that Israeli soldiers fired warning shots into the air, not at people. This contradicted medical reports and survivor testimonies that confirmed victims had direct gunshot wounds to the head, chest, and abdomen.

• Narrative 4: “No one was hurt.”

In its fourth version, the army insisted that no casualties resulted from the incident. But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) later confirmed that 21 dead bodies had arrived at its field hospital in Rafah.

• Narrative 5: “Hamas militants were responsible.”

Finally, Israel published a drone video claiming Hamas fighters shot civilians. However, the footage was filmed in Khan Younis—not Rafah—and showed looting by gangs backed by Israel. The clip lacked any evidence of a gunfight.

Rami Abdu, director of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, called the video “a scandal.” He said, “The footage showed gangs stealing aid, not Hamas shooting civilians. Israel is trying to hide its crime with lies.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/29/pro-palestine-group-targets-jewish-owned-business-alleging-links-to-israeli-weapons-firm

In a statement, Palestine Action said: “During the early hours of Thursday, activists from Palestine Action targeted the London-based landlords of Elbit’s Instro Precision weapons factory. The registered address … was covered in red paint and the front windows were shattered, to demonstrate against the company’s involvement in arming the Gaza genocide.”

Max Geller, a spokesperson for Palestine Action, denied that targeting the Stamford Hill business was antisemitic. He said: “We treat all businesses which work with Israel’s biggest weapons firm equally, irrespective of the identities of those businesses’ owners.

“We are 600 days into a genocide perpetrated by companies operating in Britain. Whether businesses supply Elbit or provide them with the premises to build Israeli weapons, we will target them until they drop Elbit.”

The group claims Instro Precision was granted more than a dozen weapons export licences last year for the shipment of arms to Israel. Palestine Action says it targets all those who profit from the operations of Israel’s biggest weapons producer and demanded the landlord evict Instro Precision.