Ashley Gate

Visited the bouncing baby at Bryant Park today. Mini timeline cleanse. #birdcpp

The security council has allowed unchecked power and brutality. To protect peace, we must reform the UN | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

"In just four weeks, thousands have lost their lives, including first responders and humanitarian workers. Hundreds of thousands have been uprooted. Essential infrastructure critical for the supply of energy, water and health care has been damaged or destroyed."

The Lemkin Institute is horrified by the recent spike in the number of civilian casualties in Lebanon due to ongoing Israeli strikes, as well as the expansion of Israel’s target area within Lebanon. In our last RFA on Lebanon, the death toll stood at 394, including 83 children. In the span of only two weeks, the figures have surged to over 1,094 people killed, including 121 children and 81 women. According to UNICEF, the equivalent of an entire classroom of children is killed or injured every day in Lebanon. These numbers can be expected to increase as Israel continues its attacks on densely populated areas. The repeated “evacuation orders” issued with limited time notice, and lacking clearly defined safe corridors, effectively function as mass displacement orders. One million people are now displaced from their homes. As in Gaza, medical workers in Lebanon are on the frontlines of Israeli attacks. Since the war began on 2 March, Israel has struck at least 128 medical facilities and ambulances across Lebanon, killing 42 healthcare workers and wounding 107. The Israeli governments is now openly threatening to export its mass atrocity crimes perpetrated in Gaza to Lebanon. Defense Minister Israel Katz recently directed the military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and demolish homes near the border “in accordance with the model of Beit Hanoun and Rafah,” in reference to Israel’s prior razing of towns in Gaza. These attacks he said, are “a message to the Lebanese state.” The message that emerges most clearly is that Israel is actively preparing the ground for the invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon. The Lemkin Institute reiterates its call for effective international action to stop Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Israel is heading down the same road of total destruction that it paved in Gaza and is paving in the Occupied Territories. It is time for world powers to show courage and act on principle. Even if IHL no longer exists, as many powerholders say, the morality and ethics reflected in IHL still do. Without them, the world is lost. Full Statement: bit.ly/RFALebanonUpda… Photo credits: Philippe Pernot

Leaders around the world appear to be struggling to respond to an American administration that is no longer constrained by pretending to care about human lives, the law, or the cost of their hubris. My latest, with @newrepublic newrepublic.com/article/207300…

No words. Complete failure of humanity.

"The Voice of Hind Rajab" incorporates audio of real phone calls from Hind as she was trapped under Israeli fire for hours. Oscar-nominated Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania says Hind’s mother gave permission to do the film, hoping it would bring justice for her daughter.

Trump wants to incease the military budget by $500 billion by next year to $1.5 trillion. $500 billion would already be a far larger defense budget than every other country on earth

NEW: WASHINGTON (AP) — US to withdraw from over 65 international organizations as Trump administration further retreats from global cooperation. W/ @APDiploWriter

This is a fantastic post by @rgoodlaw, @bridgewriter, and Mike Schmitt. I would only add that the use of force against Venezuela not only violates Art. 2(4), it is also a paradigmatic example of a "manifest violation" of the UN Charter that qualifies as the crime of aggression.

The UN’s aid budget for 2026 is meager. “We’re asking for just over 1% of what the world is spending on arms, defence right now.” UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said. “I’m asking the world to spend less on defence and more on humanitarian support.” thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2025/12/0…

A New Gold(en) Mine for Arms Contractors by William D. Hartung, Ashley Gate @WilliamHartung @AshleyGate333 #goldendome #militaryindustrialcomplex #nuclearweapons #raytheon #LockheedMartin #Boeing original.antiwar.com/william-d-hart…

Did you know that the Paris Agreement does not require nations to report their military emissions? Millions of tones of carbon dioxide emissions a year, hidden from the public and the UN. thenation.com/article/enviro…

The elephant in the room at COP 30 is not Trump, it’s military emissions. Your nation’s military is hiding its pollution from you. My latest piece up at The Nation explains why the Paris Climate Accords allowed this grave omission. thenation.com/article/enviro…

@AshleyGate333 & @WilliamHartung at TomDispatch today: Donald Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defense system will cost a fortune and do next to nothing to defend us. tomdispatch.com/doomed-not-dom…

Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system would pump billions into arms contractors, but critics warn it won’t work as promised and risks escalating the global nuclear arms race rather than making the US more secure. truthout.org/articles/trump…

The question is: Can our policymakers be as realistic in their assessment of missile defense as the makers of a major Hollywood movie? ask @WilliamHartung and @AshleyGate333. commondreams.org/opinion/trump-…

So far, Golden Dome seems like a marketing concept designed to enrich arms contractors and burnish Trump’s image rather than a carefully thought-out defense program. Our latest on the Golden Dome boondoggle. tomdispatch.com/doomed-not-dom…

“All of this U.S. support has enabled Israel to engage in mass slaughter, with devastating human consequences…over 236,000 Gaza residents have been killed or injured during the war, an astounding 10 percent of the territory’s population.”