Tony Cartalucci ■ NATO needed a “game changer,” because it was playing a game it was clearly losing. The dubious circumstances surrounding the downing of MH17 – occurring just as Kiev’s forces were deteriorating across the country and additional US sanctions against Russia fell flat – is more than a mere coincidence. RUSI and the Atlantic Council’s statement represent an increasingly desperate and shrinking corner the West finds itself in. With the ascension of Russia along with other BRICS nations, a “game changer” was desperately needed to “stain Russia’s relations with the world for years to come,” and help arrest what appeared to be the irreversible rise of the global East and South, in tandem with the irreversible decline of the West.

Finian Cunningham ■ US Aims at Blowing EU-Russia Rift with Downed Airliner || The downing of Malaysian Airlines MH17 over eastern Ukraine with the loss of all 298 onboard comes amid mounting frustration between Washington and its European allies over the imposition of further trade sanctions on Russia. Days before the doomed flight, American officials were quietly voicing their agitation at European leaders’ reluctance to apply sanctions that would hit Russia’s key economic sectors. While media reports earlier this week suggested that the US and the European Union were adopting a «united front» in the ramping up of penalties on Moscow, the underlying reality was very different. EU leaders were actually telling media that they were not yet ready to go beyond existing sanctions against Russian individuals, by following Washington’s latest measures against Russia’s energy, banking and defence sectors.

Jason Ditz ■ Much Hysteria on Downed Plane, Little Evidence || The big problem is that the plane crashed in a warzone, and evidence isn’t readily obtainable so far, though the Ukrainian rebels active in the area insist that they have already allowed OSCE and Ukrainian investigators onto the site to investigate, and would allow other international groups access to the site. [...] Right now, everyone is denying responsibility for the shoot-down, and the desperate array of dubious evidence pointing in a million different directions makes it impossible to know the truth. That investigators from Ukraine et al. seem focused primarily in shifting the blame to a politically convenient target only adds to the difficulty of getting an honest assessment of the incident.

Nahida Izzat ■ An invitation to All Palestinians and their supporters to unite under the banner of LIBERATION, affirming our Inalienable Rights and clarifying our aims and aspirations to ourselves and to the world. For the sake of historical truth, and for defending, preserving and protecting the rights of future Palestinian children, we present this document. LET US UNITE TO STOP THE MACHINE. LET US UNITE TO STOP THE SELL OUT.

Injured patients in the Gaza Strip are in dire need of medical supplies after Israeli warplanes and tanks bombed hospitals across the besieged region. ● This comes as a hospital in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip was struck by Israeli artillery shells on Friday. Israel has "fired several shells" at the hospital, "causing heavy damage," media outlets quoted hospital director, Ayman Hemdan, as saying. Hundreds of patients were also evacuated after Israel bombed al-Wafa hospital several times on Thursday evening. Senior Palestinian officials have described the attacks as a "brazen violation of international norms." At least 274 Gazans have lost their lives so far and over 2,000 have been injured, most of them infants, children, women and the elderly. According to Palestinian medical sources around a quarter of the victims are children. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says some 30,000 Gazans have headed to its shelters across the impoverished territory.

Israeli MP: Mothers of all Palestinians must be killed
Rationales Justifying Collective Punishment of Amalek
Where is all this criminal arrogance coming from? ("Sharing our Home with 'Settlers' ")
In Palestine Something Miraculous Happens
Hard Talk: Zionists occupiers...Heed my call

US Senate Unanimously Passes Resolution Supporting Israeli Assault on Gaza
PressTV: Israel uses strange toxic gas to kill Gazans: Medics
IMEMC: Ten More Palestinians Killed In The Gaza Strip
Andalou Agency: 70 Gazans killed in Israeli ground assault
Andalou Agency: Gaza death toll rises to 309: Ministry
PressTV: Israel ground invasion of Gaza kills more Palestinians

● On two consecutive days this week, journalists reporting from the Gaza war zone who evinced empathy for the Palestinians and less than unquestioning support for Israel were removed by television network executives. NBC News’ Ayman Mohyeldin, an award-winning Egyptian-born journalist who provided on-the-spot coverage of the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2008-2009 and had distinguished himself for his objective reporting on the current Israeli war, was suddenly pulled from the region on Thursday. He was removed after he described via social media and video the murder Wednesday of four Palestinian children by Israeli gunboats as the youth, between the ages of 9 and 11 and all from the same family, played soccer on a Gaza beach near hotels used by foreign journalists.
● On Friday, CNN removed correspondent Diana Magnay from her post covering the Israeli invasion of Gaza. She was banished in retaliation for a tweet in which she described as “scum” Israelis who were cheering the bombing of Gaza and threatening to attack her if her report diverged from the Israeli government line. Magnay appeared on CNN Thursday, reporting from a hill overlooking the Israel-Gaza border. As she was reporting, Israelis could be heard cheering as missiles were fired at the Palestinian territory. After the live report, Magnay tweeted: “Israelis on hill above Sderot cheer as bombs land on Gaza; threaten our car if I say a word wrong. Scum.”

Glenn Greenwald: Why Did NBC Pull Veteran Reporter After He Witnessed Israeli Killing of Gaza Kids?
TPM: CNN Pulls Reporter From Israel-Hamas Coverage Over 'Scum' Tweet

Recommended reading: Nahida Izzat ■ Who are the Warmongers?

This series is based on an article by Jeff Gates, who is a widely acclaimed author, attorney, merchant banker, educator and consultant to governments worldwide, who served for seven years as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. He is the author of Guilt by Association, Democracy At Risk and The Ownership Solution.

A US assassination drone attack kills at least 11 people in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region near the border with Afghanistan. ● According to reports, the drone fired eight missiles at a building in North Waziristan region early on Saturday morning. The US carries out targeted killings through drone strikes in several Muslim nations such as Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia. US drone attacks in other countries have intensified since Barack Obama became the country's president.

Robert Stevens ■ The vote to fast track into legislation the Data Retention and Investigative Powers Act (DRIP) by Britain’s Parliament provides stark warning of the extent to which the structures for police states are being prepared in Europe. ● The law gives the UK government new sweeping powers of surveillance, compelling Internet and phone companies to store all the communications data of British citizens, generated by phone calls, email, texts and Internet use, for 12 months, and make it freely accessible to police and intelligence agencies. To this end, any semblance of democratic norms was jettisoned to ensure that the legislation was railroaded through Parliament in just three days this week. In what amounts to a political conspiracy, the governing Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition stitched up a backroom deal with the Labour Party to rubber stamp legislation that has the gravest implications for civil liberties. In only a few hours, the overwhelming majority of MPs voted by 436 in favour of the new bill. Just a handful of MPs voted against and were given 47 minutes to submit amendments.

Robert Stevens ■ Edward Snowden condemns UK surveillance legislation

Eric Garner, 43, about to be arrested on charges of illegally selling cigarettes, was arguing with the police. When an officer tried to handcuff him, the he pulled free. The officer immediately threw his arm around his neck and pulled him to the ground, holding him in what appears, in a video, to be a chokehold. Eric Garner can be heard saying “I can’t breathe” over and over again as other officers swarm about. Now, his death is being investigated by the police and prosecutors. At the center of the inquiry is the officer’s use of a chokehold (“any pressure to the throat or windpipe, which may prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air”) — a dangerous maneuver that was banned by the New York Police Department more than 20 years ago but that the department cannot seem to be rid of.

Justin Raimondo ■ A group of Palestinian boys is playing on the beach in Gaza, kicking a soccer ball around in the bright sunshine. But not for long: an Israeli missile hits a nearby shack, where their family members keep their fishing boats: it bursts into flames and the boys take off running. But they can’t run fast enough to evade the second shot: four are instantly killed, and several wounded. ● The shells were fired from an Israeli ship patrolling off the coast, which was no doubt equipped with the highest hi-tech monitoring system American tax dollars can buy. There isn’t any doubt that the Israelis knew just what they were doing and who they were targeting. ● What possible purpose can be served in killing children?" Because as a military doctrine terrorism works: it can cow a people into submission, it can cause them to give up and flee their homes – which is precisely what the Israelis want to accomplish in Gaza. ● Israel cannot be reformed or "saved": it can only be dismantled. The whole society is poisoned by hatred, racism, and a quasi-religious ideology rivaled in its violent fanaticism only by groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS. The Israelis are demonstrating this every day as they wantonly dismember Palestinian children while celebrating their own brutality. They don’t care what the West thinks – as long as the "aid" spigot isn’t turned off. They are sadists, pure and simple, who murder for the sheer joy of it. ● As such, the rest of humanity has only one option: to turn our backs on them, to boycott and isolate them, to sanction them and drive them out of the international community. A poll recently cited Israel as the main danger to peace on earth, and this is absolutely true. Until the world is rid of this nuclear-armed rogue state, none of us are safe.

CNN correspondent Diana Magnay hasn't tweeted since Thursday, when she referred to a group of Israelis who cheered the bombing of Gaza as "scum." And on Friday, the cable news channel said she's no longer covering the conflict. Magnay wrote the tweet shortly after she filmed a live shot from a hill near the Israel-Gaza border. During Magnay's report, cheers could be heard off-camera as a missile descended upon the Gaza Strip. "And it is an astonishing, macabre and awful thing really to watch this display of fire in the air," she said. Not long after that on-air report, Magnay sent the tweet before deleting it a short time later. A screenshot of the tweet can be viewed at Mediaite. "Israelis on hill above Sderot cheer as bombs land on #gaza; threaten to 'destroy our car if I say a word wrong'. Scum," she wrote.

NBC News Pulls Veteran Reporter from Gaza After Witnessing Israeli Attack on Children
NYT story edited at least five times and finally almost completely rewritten in order to blame the victims

As the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip continues and the bodies continue to pile up, Palestinians try to maintain a semblance of normal life while old and young mourn the losses of friends and families. Noor Harazeen reports for Middle East Eye in Gaza.

SANA: Undeterred, Israeli enemy invades Gaza and commits more crimes
IMEMC: Eighteen killed Friday before dawn in Israeli ground invasion of Gaza

America’s sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis demonstrate Washington's impotence and will mainly hurt US businesses and Washington’s allies, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts told RIA Novosti on Friday.

“The sanctions announced by the Obama regime against Russian defense and energy companies are a demonstration of Washington’s impotence,” Roberts asserted, adding that they will cause more damage to the US banks that are now prohibited from doing business with Russian companies. “The Russian companies can borrow, if they need loans, from European banks or from China, and have no need for US bank loans. It is in Russia’s strategic interests to have no business relationships with the US.”

“Sanctions are encouraging countries to withdraw from the dollar payments system that is the foundation of US power," Roberts added. "Even Washington’s NATO puppet states are becoming unwilling to hurt their own economies in order to help boost Washington’s power over Russia."

Paul Craig Roberts ■ Sanctions and Airliners