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Israel alleges a security threat. Others have free speech concerns.

On April 1, 2024, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a sweeping statement indicating the immediate ceasing of Al Jazeera’s operations within Israeli territory. The Prime Minister’s staunch decision followed the legislative green light enhancing the authority of senior ministers to terminate the operations of non-domestic news agencies that are perceived as a potential threat to national security.

Emphasizing his intention to immediately commence action according to newly approved legislation, Netanyahu proclaimed, “Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel.” The declaration, which received widespread publicity through a post on X, was made right after the final iterations of the law received parliamentary approval.

Netanyahu’s decision can be traced back to an ongoing conflict with the Qatar-based media house, which he accuses of biased reporting against Israel. With a 70-10 majority vote in the Knesset, the legislation empowers the Prime Minister, alongside the Communications Minister, to order the closure of foreign networks in Israel and seize their equipment if identified as a security hazard.

An immediate international reaction to the news came from the White House, where spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre opined that restricting Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel would be “deeply concerning.”

Al Jazeera has denied allegations that its coverage jeopardizes Israel’s security, labeling these claims as “dangerous and ridiculous lies.” The network, known for its critical stance on Israel’s military actions in Gaza, has accused Israeli authorities of deliberately targeting its offices and staff.

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EXCLUSIVE: Col. Douglas Macgregor Warns Attack On Iran Would Cause WWIII And Mass Migration

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The Flock cameras also represent the ongoing merger between governments and corporations in an effort to assert greater control over the populace.

If you’re not a criminal then you have nothing to hide, right?  This is the perpetual argument used in favor of state mass surveillance throughout history.  It’s the underlying justification at the birth of every surveillance agency from the Soviet Cheka to the German Stasi and beyond.  Don’t commit crimes and “you have nothing to worry about.”

Of course, this argument requires the public to overlook a simple and universal truth – That which is legal today can be made illegal tomorrow, and the people who make these decisions are often not good people.  With the ability to track and trace the behavior and movements of the citizenry in real time, the temptation to abuse that technology to increase government power is exponential.  That is to say, mass surveillance tends to inspire governments to abuse their authority and treat people like criminals even when they are innocent.

As we witnessed around the world during the pandemic lockdowns, authoritarianism can rear its ugly head without much warning and with incredible speed.  Some western countries (and even a few American states) aggressively sought to make resistance to covid restrictions criminal, to the point that authorities were legislating and even building “camps” designed to lock up covid offenders.  These plans were of course denied by political leaders even as they were putting the pieces in place to implement them. 

All of this was done in the name of a virus with a 99.8% survival rate.  What might they do when a legitimate crisis comes along?

We have seen how far our governments are willing to go to go to secure greater power over the populace; they have proven they’re not trustworthy enough to handle unilateral oversight. With real-time AI based surveillance in place the dangers are far greater.  Across the country there has been a quiet rollout of a new algorithm driven camera network from a company called Flock Safety.  

Flock offers AI integrated cameras with off-grid options (solar) that they say are meant primarily for license plate reading and vehicle identification.  California Governor Gavin Newsom recently applauded the creation of a new 480 camera network from Flock that will ostensibly focus on the Oakland metro area.

First, it’s clear that Newsom’s ongoing claims that California crime rates are dropping are not accurate.  There are a number of ways states and cities manipulate this data to hide rising crime, but they can’t hide the increasing public complaints or the measures they are forced to take to appease the public.  Installing hundreds of AI cameras are, in a way, an admission that all is not well in the Golden State.

Second, it’s also clear that this is an attempt by Newsom to address the exploding crime concerns within California without necessarily increasing law enforcement budgets.  The expansion of AI cameras is funded in large part by the Biden Administration’s infrastructure legislation passed in 2022. Biden authorized states to utilize up to 10 percent of the bill’s $15.6 billion highway safety funds to purchase cameras and other “automated traffic enforcement” tools. 

Similar to Amazon’s “Ring” cameras and Alexa devices, these cameras combine to create a vast connected system of private and government surveillance that can be legally accessed by local law enforcement as well as federal agencies.  The difference with the Flock cameras is that they are connected to cell phone towers and use AI to identify pre-designated vehicles, immediately alerting authorities to their presence.  In other words, it’s a live centralized tracking system that is always watching.

Flock in an effort to mitigate public concerns states that their cameras are not to be used for simple traffic violations and do not contain facial recognition software.  However, law enforcement agencies can easily run Flock footage through their own facial recognition systems and the potential for abuse is high.  

The ACLU has recently opposed the cameras, and though some of their complaints are based on ridiculous far-left talking points like “racial profiling” or cameras being used to “track people leaving red states to get abortions,” some of their arguments are valid. 

The danger of AI mass surveillance being used as a traffic citation machine and revenue generator for cities that are broke is one concern.  Another is the constant interstate tracking of individuals simply because they ended up on a government list for the wrong opinions.  The ACLU notes that the fine print within Flock’s contract allows them to use collected data for essentially any purpose they see fit.  They deny this would happen, but there’s nothing legally stopping them from selling data or disclosing data to malicious parties.      

Because the system is owned by a private corporation, cities and states are able to dodge a large number of regulations and restrictions on surveillance which has made the option enticing to politicians and police departments.  The next obvious step (which is likely already in place at least in limited form) is a comprehensive real time national biometric tracking system integrated into already existing cameras.  This is exactly what has been put in place in Orwellian societies like China, and the west is not very far behind.

The Flock cameras also represent the ongoing merger between governments and corporations in an effort to assert greater control over the populace.  The problem is not only relegated to Big Tech and social media platforms censoring speech at the request of politicians; there’s also the problem of governments using corporate partners to circumvent legal restrictions on surveillance.  Closing this loophole is a difficult issue dealing with the rights of private companies vs the rights of individuals and the public, but it needs to be addressed all the same. 

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EXCLUSIVE: Col. Douglas Macgregor Warns Attack On Iran Would Cause WWIII And Mass Migration

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The death of a fully-vaccinated soccer player in his 20s has left family members heart broken and doctor’s “baffled.” Ross Aikenhead – whose cause of death has not been disclosed – has been described as […]

The post Another Vaccinated Top Soccer Player Dies Suddenly at 24 – Doctors Baffled appeared first on The People’s Voice.

Tennessee has become the first State in America to ban Bill Gates’ toxic mRNA from being pumped into the food supply. The move comes after the billionaire eugenicist vowed to force vaccinate every human being […]

The post Tennessee Bans Bill Gates’ mRNA From Food Supply appeared first on The People’s Voice.

Michelin-starred celebrity chef Jose Andres’ NGO, World Central Kitchen, has described the attack on its convoy as “unforgivable”.

Seven aid workers, including four foreigners, providing meals for the World Central Kitchen (WCK) have been killed in a “targeted attack” by Israeli forces in Gaza, the NGO, founded by Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres, has said.

All of the group’s operations in the Palestinian enclave have been suspended following the Monday incident, it added.

Five fatalities were reported initially as a result of the airstrike, but WCK announced an updated death toll in a statement on Tuesday. The victims include a dual US-Canadian citizen, three Palestinians, an Australian, a Pole and a British national, the group said.

According to the NGO, its staff members were attacked in the town of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza as they were leaving a warehouse after unloading tons of food aid earlier delivered to the Palestinian enclave by sea.

The aid workers were traveling through a de-conflicted zone in two armored cars with the WCK logo on them as well as a soft skin vehicle, the NGO said. The convoy was struck despite WCK coordinating its movements with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the statement read.

“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations, where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” WCK CEO Erin Gore said.

Read more UK govt lawyers conclude Israel in breach of humanitarian law – media

Videos from the scene of the attack show the bodies of several people in World Central Kitchen vests. British, Polish and Australian passports were also seen in the clips.
Andres wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he was “heartbroken” by what had happened. The Michelin-starred chef urged the Israeli government to stop its “indiscriminate killing,” restriction of humanitarian aid and “using food as a weapon” in Gaza.

Australia has confirmed that one of its citizens was killed in the IDF strike, with the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying that Canberra “expects full accountability for the deaths of aid workers, which is completely unacceptable.”

US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson wrote on X that Washington was “deeply troubled” by the deaths of the WCK staff. “We urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened,” Watson said.

The Israeli military said it was carrying out a thorough review in order to understand the circumstances of the incident in Deir al-Balah.

“The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” it insisted.

READ MORE: Netanyahu approves ‘operational plan’ to attack Rafah in Gaza

The UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said last month that 165 of its workers have been killed since October 7, when the IDF began its attacks on Gaza in response to an incursion into Israel by Hamas, in which at least 1,200 were killed and 250 taken hostage. The death toll from Israel’s airstrikes and ground offensive in Gaza has already reached 32,845 people, according to the enclave’s health ministry.

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EXCLUSIVE: Col. Douglas Macgregor Warns Attack On Iran Would Cause WWIII And Mass Migration

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According to a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military unit, seven IRGC officers were killed in the Israeli attack, among them two high-ranking generals-advisors – Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, and his deputy, Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Hajizadeh.

Tehran has warned Tel Aviv of a response following the strike in Syria on Monday in which at least seven died.

Israel’s attack on Iran’s General Consulate in Damascus will not go unanswered, President of the Islamic Republic Ebrahim Raisi has said.

“The Zionist regime [Israel] must bear in mind that it won’t be able to achieve its sinister objectives with such inhumane measures and will have to face the growing strength of the resistance front and also the free nations’ hatred and aversion to its illegitimate nature. This unfair crime won’t go unanswered,” he stated, as cited by Tasnim news agency.

On Monday evening, the Syrian Ministry of Defense reported an airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on the General Consulate of Iran in Damascus. The building also housed the residence of the ambassador of the Islamic Republic to the SAR, Hossein Akbari, who was unharmed during the attack. The missile strike completely destroyed the consulate.

According to a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s elite military unit, seven IRGC officers were killed in the Israeli attack, among them two high-ranking generals-advisors – Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, and his deputy, Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Hajizadeh.

In response to Israel’s attack, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that it “reserves the right” to personally respond to Tel Aviv’s airstrike and to determine how “to punish the aggressor.”

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EXCLUSIVE: Col. Douglas Macgregor Warns Attack On Iran Would Cause WWIII And Mass Migration

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