Tägliche Diskussion - 29. März 2024

Deutschland ändert seinen Ton im Gaza-Krieg, da die Zahl der Todesopfer steigt

Days after Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was one of the first Western leaders to arrive in Tel Aviv.

Standing beside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, he declared that Germany had “only one place — and it is alongside Israel.”That place now feels increasingly awkward for Germany, Israel’s second-largest arms supplier, and a nation whose leadership calls support for the country a “Staatsraison,” a national reason for existence, as a way of atoning for the Holocaust.

Last week, with Israel’s deadly offensive continui…  ng in Gaza, the chancellor again stood next to Mr. Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, and struck a different tone. “No matter how important the goal,” he asked, “can it justify such terribly high costs?”With international outrage growing over a death toll that Gazan health authorities say exceeds 32,000, and the looming prospect of famine in the enclave, German officials have begun to question whether their country’s support has gone too far.

“What changed for Germany is that it’s untenable, this unconditional support for Israel,” said Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. “In sticking to this notion of Staatsraison, they gave the false impression that Germany actually offered carte blanche to Netanyahu.”

But this week, Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said she would be sending a delegation to Israel because as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, her country “is obliged to remind all parties of their duty to abide by international humanitarian law.”

During a visit to the region, her sixth since the attack, Ms. Baerbock also described the situation in Gaza as “hell” and insisted that a major offensive on Rafah, where more than a million people have sought shelter, must not happen.

“People cannot vanish into thin air,” she said.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, responded to Ms. Baerbock’s criticisms in a statement on social media, saying: “We expect our friends to continue supporting Israel during these challenging times and not weaken it against the terrorist organization Hamas.”

Berlin, like Washington, has tried to position itself as a concerned friend, intent on ensuring Israel’s long-term security by not allowing it to go so far that it loses even more international backing. But the stakes are high for Germany, too.

Der polnische Premierminister sagt, Europa müsse sich „auf den Krieg vorbereiten“.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Europe is in a “pre-war era” but still has a “long way to go” before it's ready to face the threat ahead.

“I don't want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept from the past,” Tusk said in an interview with several European media outlets. "It is real, in fact it already started more than two years ago."

Tusk said what’s most worrying right now is that “literally any scenario is possible," adding that Europe has not faced a situation like this since 1945.

“I know it sounds devastating, especially to people of the younger…   generation, but we have to mentally get used to the arrival of a new era,” he said. “The pre-war era. I don’t exaggerate. This is becoming more and more apparent every day."

Amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which started in February 2022, Western allies and top military officials have become increasingly worried about a potential spillover of violence — despite Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly denying any intentions to attack NATO.

Last week, a Russian missile entered Polish airspace, prompting Warsaw to activate F-16 fighter jets, in what Tusk called a “troubling incident.”

But while tumult is on the horizon, Tusk warned that Europe is not ready to face the threat.

“We must be ready. Europe still has a long way to go,” he said. The first step is for countries to meet NATO’s target of spending 2 percent of their GDP on defense, he added.

"Today we have to spend as much as we can to buy equipment and ammunition for Ukraine, because we are living in the most critical moment since the end of the Second World War," he said. "The next two years will decide everything. If we cannot support Ukraine with enough equipment and ammunition, if Ukraine loses, no one in Europe will be able to feel safe."

Die USA stehen kurz vor Vereinbarungen mit Palästinensern, um das „Pay For Slay“-Programm zu beenden

The U.S. is near a deal with the Palestinian Authority to end its contentious “martyr payments” for people who commit acts of violence against Israel, two Biden administration officials said.

That would be a key win for the multifaceted U.S. push to reform the PA — from instituting anti-corruption measures to improving basic services — so that it can take over governance of the Gaza Strip whenever the Israel-Hamas war ends.

The PA oversees parts of the West Bank, and it is seen by the Biden administration as the best option for governing Gaza in the future. But the PA is reviled…   by many Palestinians, as well as Israelis and Arab leaders, who see it as corrupt, inefficient and out of touch.

The “martyr payments” program financially supports Palestinians and their families if they are wounded, imprisoned or killed while carrying out acts of violence against Israel. It has long infuriated Israelis who say it incentivizes terrorism and call it “pay for slay.” Many Palestinians say it provides crucial support for people standing up to an oppressive Israeli occupation.Drafts of the PA payments reform plans seen by U.S. officials indicate that Palestinian leaders will replace the current scheme with a general welfare program.

Further specifics were not immediately available.“There’s been a great deal of work on this behind the scenes, and the progress is encouraging,” a senior Biden administration official said. Another administration official confirmed changes to the system were expected soon. That said, as with all things involving Israel and the Palestinians, new roadblocks could emerge.

Der Gouverneur von Virginia legt sein Veto gegen Gesetz über legales Marihuana ein

A push to establish a legal marijuana market in Virginia is officially dead after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation on Thursday.

Virginia has allowed adults over 21 to possess and cultivate cannabis at home since the Legislature passed legalization legislation in 2021. But the law required another vote to implement commercial sales, which failed after Republicans won the House of Delegates later that year.

“The proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety,” Youngkin said in his veto statement. “It also doe…  s not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety.”

Pro-legalization advocates were hopeful that a marijuana regulation bill could make it to the finish line this year after Democrats won back the House of Delegates last November.

While Youngkin has historically opposed efforts to liberalize marijuana laws, the marijuana sales bill was poised to be used as a bargaining chip by Democrats in budget negotiations over one of Youngkin’s top priorities: A $2 billion stadium deal to bring the Washington Capitals and Wizards to Northern Virginia.

But earlier this month, the final budget enacted by Virginia’s Legislature did not contain funding for the “Glenn Dome,” as Democratic Senate Finance and Appropriations Chair Sen. Louise Lucas dubbed the project.

Kommerzielle Fluggesellschaften werfen Russland „GPS-Störungen“ bei Flugzeugen vor

Airplanes flying over the Baltic region are reporting an increasing number of missing or fake GPS signals — and Russia is seen as the likeliest culprit.

The blackout episodes — known as GPS jamming — have been occurring regularly since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. The jamming seems to be concentrated around Russia's Kaliningrad exclave — a key military area for Moscow.

“Russia is regularly attacking the aircraft, passengers, and sovereign territory of NATO countries,” said Dana Goward, president of the U.S.-based Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, a GPS user…  s lobby group.

“It is a real threat,” Goward warned. “There is one instance of accidentally jamming we know of that almost resulted in a passenger aircraft impacting a mountain,” he said, referring to a case reported by NASA in 2019.

The EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is looking into the issue, but so far regulators say that the GPS problems are not a danger to flights.

Interference cases reported by pilots “have been increasing steadily since January 2022,” said Eurocontrol, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation — which receives reports from pilots through its voluntary incident reporting system EVAIR.

The problem seems to be getting worse.

“During the first two months of 2024, EVAIR recorded high increases in GPS outages reports. In absolute figures we received 985 GPS outages compared with 1,371 for the whole of 2023," Eurocontrol said, adding that there were almost seven times more incidents in the first two months of this year compared to the first two months of 2023.

On Sunday night, an open source intelligence profile on X, formerly Twitter, named Markus Jonsson said that GPS jamming in the Baltic region had been going “for 47 consecutive hours making this the longest run ever” affecting “1,614 unique airplanes,” but the actual number could be higher.

Israel wollte die Hamas vernichten und Geiseln befreien – aber es befürchtet, dass es nicht beides schaffen kann

Israeli society is divided over how to give priority to the country’s two main war aims—destroying Hamas and freeing 130 hostages, including over 30 dead hostages, abducted almost six months ago. While Israel is seeking wartime unity, many see the goals as currently irreconcilable, since most hostages—hidden deep in tunnels—can’t be freed by force and Hamas is demanding that Israel allow the militant group to survive in order to release them.

“The two aims are clashing with each other, and both can’t happen,” said Mitchell Barak, a political analyst at Jerusalem-based Keevoon Global…   Research. “There is no side that will be happy here.”

The divisions have heightened as Israel negotiates with Hamas, via the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, over a cease-fire that could last six weeks and see the release of 40 Israeli hostages. These hostages would be women, including female soldiers, children, the elderly and the sick. Hamas is demanding Israel let go thousands of Palestinian prisoners, some seen as deadly terrorists in Israel. Hamas also wants Israel to agree to concessions that could preserve the group’s control over Gaza even after the U.S.-designated terror group planned and executed the worst attack in Israel’s history.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said deciding between freeing hostages and defeating Hamas isn’t a binary choice but part of the same goal—winning the war. But threading the needle between both camps is both a matter of political survival and a nearly impossible task, analysts say.

On one side are centrist and left-wing Israelis and most families of the hostages, who have become a political force since the war began and are willing to pay a high price for their freedom. They argue the state has a fundamental moral duty to the hostages that, if breached, would undermine citizens’ sense of security for the foreseeable future. They also argue Hamas can be fought in the future, but the hostages may die in the present.

But Israel’s right wing—Netanyahu’s political base—largely opposes on moral grounds any deal that allows Hamas to survive and frees thousands of prisoners implicated in terrorist attacks, because it would imperil Israel’s national security and the lives of citizens and soldiers in the future. They say the hostages should be freed by forcing Hamas to release them through military pressure.

If Israel’s negotiating team brings back a deal seen as giving the tactical victory to Hamas, Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition partners are threatening to bolt the government. If he fails to get a deal to free hostages, his centrist partners in the emergency government could leave, engendering a wave of protests demanding elections.

Netanyahu wants a deal, according to Israeli officials close to him, but his challenge is striking a pact that keeps his current government together and doesn’t alienate his political base ahead of likely elections later this year.

Israelische Raketenangriffe töten 40 Menschen in Syrien

Israeli air strikes on Syria’s northern province of Aleppo have killed more than 40 people, most of them soldiers, according to news agencies and a war monitor.The fatalities included six members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group confirmed on Telegram.

The attacks about 1:45am on Friday (22:45 GMT on Thursday) targeted several areas in Aleppo’s countryside, Syria’s Ministry of Defence said. It did not provide casualty figures, only saying a number of civilians and military personnel were killed and property was damaged after Israel and unnamed armed groups carried out the strikes…  , according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.

The SOHR, an opposition war monitor, said in posts on X that Israeli strikes hit a weapons depot near Aleppo International Airport, resulting in a series of large explosions.

At least 36 Syrian soldiers were killed, it said, adding that Hezbollah weapons depots were located in the area.

The Israeli military has not confirmed the attacks.

Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said while Syrian state media did not reveal the target, activists on the ground said Syrian soldiers and fighters from Hezbollah, which has a military presence in Syria, were killed.

Die USA planen, nach dem Krieg Truppen nach Gaza zu schicken

Biden administration officials are in preliminary “conversations” about options for stabilizing post-war Gaza, including a proposal for the Pentagon to help fund either a multinational force or a Palestinian peacekeeping team.

The options being considered would not involve U.S. troops on the ground, according to two Defense Department officials and two other U.S. officials, all granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomatic and military negotiations. Instead, DOD funding would go toward the needs of the security force and complement assistance from other countries.

Aske…  d for comment, a senior administration official said “we are working with partners on various scenarios for interim governance and security structures in Gaza once the crisis recedes,” declining to detail specifics. “We’ve had a number of conversations with both the Israelis and our partners about key elements for the day after in Gaza when the time is right.”

It could be weeks or months before Washington and its partners approve any plan, especially since regional players want to see a commitment to a two-state solution before seriously engaging with the options. There are also questions about the viability of training a potential Palestinian-led force in time to maintain order in Gaza, which has been decimated after five months of brutal fighting.

And Israel is reluctant to have these conversations until it defeats Hamas militarily and secures the release of hostages being held by the group. Some officials within the Israeli government have called for Israel to occupy Gaza after the war, a proposal the U.S. opposes.

“Israel is the long pole in the tent,” said one of the DOD officials, noting that Israel “has their hands full with other things.”

“It would be one thing if the administration and the Israeli government were aligned on the way ahead, but that is just not the case,” said the official.

China veröffentlicht KI-Videos, um den „amerikanischen Traum“ zu verspotten

As storm clouds gather over an urban landscape resembling New York City, the words “AMERICAN DREAM” hang in a darkening sky as the video ends.

The message is clear: Despite its promises of a better life for all, the United States is in terminal decline.

The video, titled American Dream or American Mirage, is one of a number of segments aired by Chinese state broadcaster CGTN – and shared far and wide on social media – as part of its A Fractured America animated series.

Other videos in the series contain similar titles that invoke images of a dystopian society, such as Amer…  ican workers in tumult: A result of unbalanced politics and economy, and Unmasking the real threat: America’s military-industrial complex.

Besides their strident anti-American message, the videos all share the same AI-generated hyper-stylised aesthetic and uncanny computer-generated audio.

CGTN and the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC did not respond to requests for comment.

The reason that they’ve done it in this way is, you could hire an animator, and a voiceover artist to do this, but it would probably end up being more time-consuming. It would probably end up being more expensive to do,” Ajder told Al Jazeera.

“This is a cheaper way to scale content creation. When you can put together all these various modules, you can generate images, you can animate those images, you can generate just video from scratch. You can generate pretty compelling, pretty human-sounding text-to-speech. So, you have a whole content creation pipeline, automated or at least highly synthetically generated.”

China has long exploited the enormous reach and borderless nature of the internet to conduct influence campaigns overseas.