Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was born April 28, 1937 and died December 30, 2006. He was the fifth President of Iraq, holding that position from July 16, 1979 until 9 April 2003. He was one of the leading members of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, and afterward, the Baghdad-based Ba’ath Party and its regional organization Ba’ath Party, Iraq Region, which advocated ba’athism, an ideological marriage of Arab nationalism with Arab socialism. (Patricia Ramos, july 2013)
An especially dangerous threat to liberty occurs when members of the press collude with government agencies instead of monitoring and exposing the abuses of those agencies. Unfortunately, collusion is an all-too-common pattern in press coverage of the national security state’s activities. The American people then receive official propaganda disguised as honest reporting and analysis.
"The national security of America and the security of the world could be attained if the American leaders [..] become rational, if America disengages itself from its evil alliance with Zionism, which has been scheming to exploit the world and plunge it in blood and darkness, by using America and some Western countries. What the American peoples need mostly is someone who tells them the truth, courageously and honestly as it is.
They don’t need fanfares and cheerleaders, if they want to take a lesson from the (sept. 11) event so as to reach a real awakening, in spite of the enormity of the event that hit America.
But the world, including the rulers of America, should say all this to the American peoples, so as to have the courage to tell the truth and act according to what is right and not what to is wrong and unjust, to undertake their responsibilities in fairness and justice, and by recourse to reason..."
Saddam Hussein, INA 15-9-2002
Joe Biden & Truth - 2009
US Vice President Joe Biden said that the new administration would seek the
unvarnished truth from its spies, whether or not their information supported
the goals of the government.
The Vice President's address was greeted with loud cheers by the several hundred CIA employees who gathered for the swearing in ceremony in the foyer of the Agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Standing before the wall of 89 stars representing the CIA staff who have died in the line of duty, Mr Biden said:
"We expect you to provide independent analysis, not to engage in group think. We
expect you to tell us the facts as you know them wherever they may lead, not
what you think we want to hear." (Tim Shipman. 20-2-2009)
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign
ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid
to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation
that is afraid of its people …
The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men. …
Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind." John F.Kennedy
“Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you can not retain.”
Saadi Shirazi
(Persian poet & humanist, born in Shiraz, Iran, c. 1210)
"The post-September 11 era in the US has heralded in a new age of ideology whose discourse and world views have served not only to accommodate such extremist views as those held by Sharon, but also to provide him with a platform and an influence that were unthinkable only a year ago.
Thus while the American President is busy devising a new Manichean universe of absolute good and absolute evil, pronouncing policy on the basis of a simplistic polarization of the world, and unilaterally defining the terms while categorizing state and non-state actors accordingly, Sharon’s Israel has maneuvered itself into a position of even greater power on the world stage provided explicitly by the US."
"The globalists wants to make the world unipolar in order to move towards a globalist non-polarity, where the elites will become fully international and their residence will be dispersed throughout the entire space of the planet.
Accordingly, for the salvation of people, peoples, and societies, the Great Awakening must begin with multipolarity.
This is not just the salvation of the West itself, and not even the salvation of everyone else from the West, but the salvation of humanity, both Western and non-Western, from the totalitarian dictatorship of the liberal capitalist elites.
And this cannot be done by the people of the West or the people of the East alone. Here it is necessary to act together. The Great Awakening necessitates an internationalization of the peoples’ struggle against the internationalization of the elites. Multipolarity becomes the most important reference point and the key to the strategy of the Great Awakening.
"Holism is the most fundamental discovery of 20th century science. It is a discovery of every science from astrophysics to quantum physics to environmental science to psychology to anthropology.
It is the discovery that the entire universe is an integral whole, and that the basic organizational principle of the universe is the field principle: the universe consists of fields within fields, levels of wholeness and integration that mirror in fundamental ways, and integrate with, the ultimate, cosmic whole...." "For many thinkers and religious teachers throughout this history, holism was the dominant thought, and the harmony that it implies has most often been understood to encompass cosmic, civilizational, and personal dimensions. Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Lord Krishna, Lao Tzu, and Confucius all give us visions of transformative harmony, a transformative harmony that derives from a deep relation to the holism of the cosmos."
About political holism
Political holism is based on the recognition that "we" are all members of a single whole. There's no "they," even though "we" are not all alike. Because "we" are all part of the whole, and therefore interdependent, we benefit from cooperating with each other. Political holism is a way of thinking about human cultures and nations as interdependent. Political holists search for solutions other than war to settle international disagreements. Their model of the world is one in which cooperation and negotiation, even with the enemy, even with the weak, promotes political stability more than warfare.
In an overpopulated world with planet-wide environmental problems, the development of weapons of mass destruction has rendered war obsolete as an effective means to resolve disputes.
Political dualists consider political holists unpatriotic for questioning the necessity to defeat "them." In times of impending war, political dualists tend to measure patriotism by the intensity of one's hostility to the country's immediate enemy. Naturally, they would view as disloyalty any suggestion that the enemy is not evil, any call for cooperation with the enemy, any criticism of one's own country.
To political dualists, cooperation with the enemy means capitulation, relinquishment of the nation's position of dominance. At its extreme, political dualism is essentially tribalism. (Betty Craige, 16-8-1997)
Desmond Tutu & Ubuntu
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."
"We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World.
When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity." (Ubuntu info)
"We want the lights to work," chanted protesters, some of whom were brandishing the green flags of the Kadhafi regime.
Libya’s rival leaders were under growing street pressure Saturday after protesters stormed parliament as anger exploded over deteriorating living conditions and political deadlock.
Hundreds of protesters marched in the streets of the capital, Tripoli, and other Libyan cities on Friday, with many attacking and setting fire to government buildings, including the House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk.
A senior UN official for Libya on Saturday condemned the storming of the parliament’s headquarters.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all protesters “to avoid acts of violence and on the security forces to exercise utmost restraint,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Friday’s protests came a day after the leaders of the parliament and another legislative chamber based in Tripoli failed to reach an agreement on elections during UN-mediated talks in Geneva.
Libya failed to hold elections in December, following challenges such as legal disputes, controversial presidential hopefuls and the presence of rogue militias and foreign fighters in the country. The failure to hold the December vote was a major blow to international efforts to bring peace to the Mediterranean nation.
Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui said that “for more than a year, the overwhelming majority of diplomatic and mediation efforts around Libya have been monopolised by the idea of elections, which won’t happen for at least two years, given the failure of the Geneva negotiations.”
This year “has been extremely painful for Libyans” because the country “imports almost all its food and the Ukraine war has hit consumer prices,” Harchaoui said. Libya’s energy sector, which during the era of former longtime ruler Muammar Gadhafi financed a generous welfare state, has also fallen victim to political divisions, with a wave of forced closures of oil facilities since April.
Supporters of the eastern-based administration have shut off the oil taps as leverage in their efforts to secure a transfer of power to Bashagha, whose attempt to take up office in Tripoli in May ended in a swift withdrawal.
“There is kleptocracy and systematic corruption in the east as in the west, as the fancy cars and villas of the elite constantly remind the public,” Harchaoui said, accusing militias from both camps of carrying out “massive” fuel trafficking.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the international sympathy with Ukraine illustrate the hypocrisy and double standards the West employs to handle this issue as opposed to the silence and superior handling of other issues in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Libya. FIFA and UEFA have prevented athletes and the public who support Palestine from mixing sports and politics, while sympathy for Ukraine has become part of the rituals of matches and ethics of these two organizations.
The hypocrisy and double standards of the Western countries and their institutions have deeply disappointed us, although we had previously been aware of their positions. In response, many began reconsidering their dealings with these institutions, leading to a loss of respect for them.
The Russian tennis player Artem Dzyuba said he opposes any war, but he asked, “Why did they separate politics from sports for so long, and then, when it came to Russia, they forgot this principle.” Morals are indivisible, i.e., one cannot respect the feelings and rights of one group while ignoring or despising those of another group.
As a result, many people, including former Egyptian football star Mohamed Abu Treika, have called for sanctions against Israel, similar to those taken by FIFA and its European counterpart, UEFA, against Russia and its clubs.
The “neutral” stance of FIFA on settlement clubs participating in the Israeli league confirms the essence of its leadership which is biased in favor of Israel and the Israeli lobby.
FIFA must give in to influential powers, such as the United States and Israeli lobby, such concessions being its refusal to impose any sanctions against the Israeli Football Federation, and its declaration that the “Territories” are a concern for international authorities, and FIFA must remain impartial...
Now that FIFA, along with UEFA, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and others have swiftly joined the West’s anti-Russia measures as a result of the latter’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Palestinians and their supporters are puzzled.
Years of relentless advocacy to sanction Israel at international sports competitions have paid little or no dividends. This has continued to be the case, despite the numerous documented facts of Israel’s intentional targeting of Palestinian stadiums, travel restrictions on athletes, the cancelation of sports events, the arrest and even killing of Palestinian footballers.
Many Palestinians, Arabs and international activists have already highlighted the issue of western hypocrisy in the case of the Israeli military occupation of Palestine by Israel within hours of the start of the Russian military operations. Almost immediately, an unprecedented wave of boycotts and sanctions of everything Russian, including music, art, theater, literature and, of course, sports, kicked in.
What took the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa decades to achieve was carried out against Russia in a matter of hours and days...
As long as within our hearts The Jewish soul sings,
As long as forward to the East
To Zion, looks the eye –
Our hope is not yet lost,
It is two thousand years old,
To be a free people in our land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Arab students from Haifa University in northern Israel refused to stand for the Israeli national anthem during a graduation ceremony.
The university held the ceremony on campus Sunday for undergraduate students. At the end of the graduation ceremony, Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikva” was played and participants asked to rise.
A number of Arab students remained seated, however, and refused to join in singing the anthem.
“The situation was upsetting and inappropriate,” one graduating student told Israel National News. “They are Israeli citizens. Even if they don’t identify with its ideals, they should at least stand to honor the singing of the national anthem of the state they are a part of.”
MK Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) responded on Twitter to footage of the incident, saying: “This isn’t a matter of semantics, and it isn’t a minor [phenomenon].”
“This is critical for our future. The audacity, the impudence, and the gall of many Israeli Arabs has reached new heights and is turning into an existential threat [to Israel] and security threat to all of us.”
Hatikvah, literally “the hope,” is Israel’s national anthem. Its lyrics were written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, a poet originally from Galicia. The melody was written by Samuel Cohen.
A Tunisian court has frozen the bank accounts of several key opponents to President Kais Saied, including Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Ennahdha party, previously the biggest party in the country’s dissolved parliament.
The Tunisian Financial Analysis Committee issued a statement on Wednesday informing banks that they must “immediately implement the ruling from the investigating judge of the anti-terrorism pole”.
The statement carried a list including Ghannouchi, who was also the last parliament’s speaker, his son Mouadh, former Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem, all of whom are or were key Ennahdha figures. Ghannouchi has been one of the most influential people in Tunisia since his return to the country after the fall of former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
His Ennahdha party, a “Muslim Democrat” party formerly tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, and previously banned under Ben Ali, has dominated the country’s politics in the past decade, but has also attracted a lot of criticism.
Last week, Saied unveiled a draft constitution set for referendum on July 25, the anniversary of his power grab.
Opponents accuse him of waging political vendettas and dragging the country back to dictatorship...
Flashback 2013: Rached Ghannouchi says
he doesn’t want an Islamic state in Tunisia. Saddam's Death Page 27
The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) would deepen its military cooperation with the Syrian regime to ward off a potential Turkish offensive, officials announced on Monday.
"We are working in coordination with Syrian [regime] officials to develop a common working formula and draw up a defence plan in the face of any Turkish aggression," Nuri Mahmoud, the spokesperson for the People’s Protection Unit (YPG), the main militia of the AANES’ armed forces, told Sputnik on Monday.
Mahmoud said that while there had been "positive developments" in this cooperation, the regime and the AANES had yet to reach an "appropriate formula for a solution" to a potential Turkish invasion. On June 1, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey would soon "cleanse" two AANES-held areas, Tel Rifaat and Manbij, of "terrorists."
Turkey considers the AANES and its military wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as an extension of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK has been engaged in a decades-long armed struggle with the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdish territory and is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the EU.
Despite fierce political disagreements with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the AANES allow regime forces to deploy in its territory. In October 2019 the AANES asked for its assistance in helping fight Turkish forces who launched the “Operation Peace Spring” military offensive then.
"It is the duty of the Syrian government to defend the borders and sovereignty of Syria. [Syrians] must unite to repel any invasion and expel the occupier from its lands," Bazad Amou, a Qamishli-based activist and media figure, told The New Arab.
In spite of the occasional military cooperation, the AANES and the regime are generally hostile to one another. On-and-off negotiations between the two to settle on the status of the AANES within the Syrian state have stalled for years. The AANES wants to maintain its autonomous political status, while the regime is mostly interested in reimposing control over northeast Syria and absorbing the SDF into its armed forces.
"The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP or TWI) is an American pro-Israel think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East. The institute's mission statement says that it seeks "to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them."
WINEP was established in 1985 with the support of AIPAC and the funding of many AIPAC donors, in order to provide higher quality research than AIPAC's publications. The institute was described in 2008 as "part of the core" of the Israel lobby in the United States, a characterization that WINEP rejects. " (Wikipedia Info)
Eyal Zamir, one of the leading candidates to take over as the next chief of the Israeli military, warned in a lengthy report that Iran has managed to establish a significant foothold in Syria and called for more assassinations of Iranian military officials to curb such efforts.
In a 74-page document published as part of his current position as a research fellow at the Washington Institute, Zamir said Iran has managed to establish a comprehensive military infrastructure within Syria and has deployed missiles and UAVs that are a direct threat to neighboring Israel. The report, titled “Countering Iran’s regional strategy” and dated May 8, was released Tuesday.
“Some of the Iranian militias base themselves in special camps in Syria, and in the case of an Israeli campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, they could conceivably fire missiles from deep within Syria at Israeli targets,” Zamir wrote.
Zamir said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “is the backbone of the regime and the main means by which it seeks to dominate the region,” and listed several ways Israel and its allies could curb the IRGC’s efforts to strengthen Iranian proxies.
“Target the organization’s leadership, commanders, and key operatives who are behind the planning and execution of terrorist attacks and subversion; issue international arrest warrants of designated individuals; and conduct targeted killings against individuals plotting attacks (the Soleimani model),” he said in the report, referring to the 2020 US assassination of the head of the IRGC’s expeditionary Quds Force.
He said more action should be taken to carry out attacks against Iranian facilities, including missile silos and manufacturing plants, as well as Iran’s air defenses and its supply lines to its proxies.
“Damage the IRGC’s operational center of gravity — its long-range strike capabilities such as rockets, missiles, and drones — by covert action against manufacturing plants and missile and UAV main operating and forward bases, while preparing a plan of action to damage Iran’s defensive system,” Zamir wrote in the report.
“Interdict and disrupt supply lines — on land, in the air, and at sea — that the IRGC uses to support its proxies and militias,” he said, detailing Tehran’s use of Syria as a transportation hub for weapons sent to its proxies in the region, primarily Hezbollah.
Other candidates to replace IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi named by Gantz last month included Herzi Halevi, the current deputy chief of staff, and Yoel Strick, a former commander of the military’s Ground Forces, also serving as a research fellow at another think tank in Washington.
Halevi is thought to be the frontrunner, with Zamir a rumored dark horse candidate after being named as a candidate in 2018 but ultimately not being nominated to replace then-chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot.
Abdul Salam Al Badri, the former Deputy Prime Minister of the Libyan Interim Government said that Libya is in desperate need of a partner, like China, to develop the industrial and housing sectors. This especially since the Chinese workforce is very well trained, and they charge a lot less when compared to other countries.
In an interview with Libya Review, Al Badri said that the Chinese presence in Africa has great significance, because the Chinese goal is the growth of the countries they are in, not robbing their resources.
The Libyan official highlighted that the Chinese companies have implemented a large part of the housing project that was due but, unfortunately, was not completed due to the civil war that plagued the country in 2011.
“China is capable of totally controlling the housing sector in Libya, especially that it is the first country in history to start global trading through the Silk Road,” the former Deputy Prime Minister stressed.
When asked about the current rivalry between the United States (US), Russia, and China over Libya, the former Deputy Prime Minister said that they are concerned with what’s in their best interest.
He noted that the problem today is that China is close to the top of the world’s chart of powerful world economies and this is disturbing the US, which seeks to create weak Russia and China, so they can keep their world domination for a longer period.
He also recalled the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) airstrikes against Libya, saying that the North African country was destroyed by foreign hands and not by its people.
NATO destroyed Libya through unjustified airstrikes and by supporting terrorism, which led to the full destruction of many cities. Al Badri noted that almost 40% of Benghazi buildings were completely destroyed, adding that all Libyan cities have faced destruction due to the NATO airstrikes...
Vijay Prashad responds to Biden’s announcement of another U.S. initiative to counter Beijing’s rapidly growing infrastructure development and investment project....
At the G7 Summit in Germany on June 26, U.S. President Joe Biden made a pledge to raise $200 billion within the United States for global infrastructure spending. It was made clear that this new G7 project — the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) — was intended to counter the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)....
In 2013, the Chinese government inaugurated the Silk Road Economic Belt project, which is now known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Rather than go from North to South, the BRI went from East to West, linking China to Central Asia and then outward to South Asia, West Asia, Europe and Africa.
The aim of this project was to bring together the Eurasian Economic Community (established in 2000) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (set up in 2001) to work on this new, and bigger project.
Roughly $4 trillion has been invested since 2013 in a range of projects by the BRI and its associated funding mechanisms (including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund). The investments were paid for by grants from Chinese institutions and through debt incurred by the projects at rates that are competitive with those of Western infrastructure lending programs.
Putin: "People in most countries are simply tired
of humiliating themselves in front of those
who consider themselves exceptional." Ahram online|AFP, Thursday 7 Jul 2022
President Vladimir Putin on Thursday challenged the West to try and defeat Russia "on the battlefield" and said Moscow's intervention in Ukraine marked a shift to a "multi-polar world."
Delivering one of his strongest speeches since he sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, Putin also raged against "totalitarian liberalism" that he said the West has sought to impose on the entire world.
"Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. Well, what can you say here? Let them try," Putin told senior lawmakers on the 134th day of Russia's offensive in Ukraine. He accused "the collective West" of unleashing a "war" in Ukraine and said Russia's intervention in the pro-Western country marked the beginning of a shift to a "multi-polar world."
"This process cannot be stopped," he added.
He also warned Kyiv and its Western allies that Moscow has not even started its military campaign in Ukraine "in earnest." "Everyone should know that we have not started in earnest yet," he said.
"At the same time we are not refusing to hold peace negotiations but those who are refusing should know that it will be harder to come to an agreement with us" at a later stage.
Putin said most countries did not want to follow the Western model of "totalitarian liberalism" and "hypocritical double standards."
"People in most countries do not want such a life and such a future," he said. "They are simply tired of kneeling, humiliating themselves in front of those who consider themselves exceptional."
Lebanon’s LGBTQ community, long among the most vocal and visible in the Middle East, has been targeted by a crackdown that has seen queer activists harassed and Pride gatherings canceled.
It has heaped pressure on a community that already lost many of its safe spaces in the devastating 2020 Beirut port explosion and has been depleted by an exodus driven by Lebanon’s severe economic crisis.
An icy chill went through the crisis-tested community when the interior ministry, in a June 24 letter, instructed security forces to clamp down on events “promoting sexual perversion.”
Lebanon has never been a safe haven for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. But the state’s latest directive — condemned by human rights groups as unlawful — deepens the multilayered crisis that members say now threatens the very survival of the community. The ministry argued that LGBTQ events violate customs, traditions and “principles of religion” in Lebanon, where political power is split along faith lines between Shiite and Sunni Muslim, Christian, Druze and other groups.
June was supposed to be a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ people worldwide.
While this remains true in parts of the West, where festivities expanded into street parades, concerts, and cultural events, in Lebanon and the Middle East at large, pride is kept under wraps for safety and security concerns.
In Beirut, organisers of Beirut Pride had placed a flower billboard in the predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Achrafieh. Donned the ‘Blooming Billboard’, it started off as greenery that slowly bloomed into rainbow-coloured flowers with the message ‘love always blooms’ written underneath. On 25 June, members of a Christian religious group calling themselves the ‘Soldiers of God’ filmed themselves tearing down the installation as they quoted verses from the bible and asserted that “There will be no Satan in Achrafieh - this neighbourhood is for the soldiers of God”.
This comes amidst a series of homophobic attacks and government crackdowns on LGBTQ+ events, prompting activists and human rights experts to warn against a shrinking atmosphere of freedom and tolerance for Lebanon’s LGBTQ+ community.
Who are the Soldiers of God?
According to core member and founder of the group, Joseph Mansour, 'Soldiers of God' is meant to be a bible study group that has no activities, nor meetings on the ground.
The founder says that the billboard incident was a spontaneous act and not pre-planned. We never threatened the community nor did we attack individuals directly. We merely acted on God's teachings and removed a sign we believe is satanic," Mansour said.
On 25 June, Lebanon's outgoing Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi ordered the country's security forces to break up gatherings held by the community after being pressured by religious figures under the unlawful pretence that these gatherings will "promote homosexuality", which is "a violation of the habits and traditions".
A few hours later, Lebanon's top Sunni religious figure, Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, released a statement saying that Dar Al-Fatwa (the highest Sunni authority in Lebanon) "would not allow the legalization of homosexuality or civil marriage".
Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon [Likud] wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Yair Lapid Sunday warning of potential dangers to Israel's sovereignty posed by the proposed itinerary of US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel this week.
"This coming Wednesday, for the first time, US President Joe Biden will land in Israel. We always welcome every American president. The US President's visit to Israel is a very important political event. However, it already appears that the visit will include two unprecedented political concessions: Israeli consent to a Palestinian representation at the Allenby crossing and tacit consent (and even encouragement by Lapid's office) to Biden's visit to Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem," Danon said.
Genesis 17:7: I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, and with your descendants who come after you, generation after generation, as an eternal covenant, to be your God and your descendants' God after you. (Danon's Bible Speech, 16-5-2019)
"Biden is coming to Israel as part of a trip to the Middle East as part of which he will also visit Saudi Arabia where he will meet with representatives of Arab countries. For Israel, the visit comes at a very bad time. The Knesset has been dissolved, Israel is at the beginning of an election process and the Israeli prime minister is a transitional prime minister, lacking political experience who needs every bit of legitimacy and image of a leader to strengthen his position as part of his election campaign. [..]
In this situation, Israel has no ability to stand up for its interests in the face of American pressure for political concessions that comes along with the president's visit. The Americans recognize the weakness of the transitional government, and the teams already in the country are making concessions that they would never have dared to ask if Israel had a strong national right-wing government today. [..]
"An American president has never visited Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem. Neither Bush the father nor the son, not Clinton, not Trump and not even Obama. The meaning of such a visit is to give the green light to the Americans to challenge Israel's sovereignty in Jerusalem. Lapid as interim prime minister has no mandate to allow such a move. [..]
As Israel's ambassador to the UN, I headed many delegations of diplomats who came to visit Israel, including two UN secretaries. There, too, there has always been a desire to include a tour of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. It never happened. We have always known how to prevent such moves while conveying quiet but decisive messages. I call on Lapid today to refrain from political concessions." [..]
"Lapid, you have no mandate to relinquish Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem," Danon concluded,
Biden kicks off first Middle East trip with Israel stop
By Middle East Eye staff, 13 July 2022
The two-state solution will not likely happen in the near future, US President Joe Biden said upon his arrival in Israel on Wednesday to kick off his first trip to the Middle East since taking office.
In addition to meeting Israeli leaders in Jerusalem, Biden is due to visit the occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian leaders, and Saudi Arabia, where he will have talks with Gulf officials, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
US Air Force One landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Lydd (Lod) at around 12:30 GMT and Biden was welcomed by Israel's caretaker PM, Yair Lapid, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Speaking at the arrival ceremony, Biden said he still views the two-state solution as the best possible outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We'll discuss my continued support, even though I know it's not in the near term, for a two-state solution, which remains the best way for equal measures of freedom and democracy for Israelis and Palestinians," Biden said.
Isaac Herzog and Yair Lapid also spoke briefly at the arrival ceremony.
"As Joseph, son of Jacob, who sought out his brothers here, Mr President, you are truly amongst family... Like the biblical Joseph, you are both visionary and a leader," said Herzog at the welcoming ceremony. Lapid hailed Biden as a "great Zionist" and one "of the best friends Israel has ever known."
"You once defined yourself as a Zionist. You said that you don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist, and you were right. And in your case, a great Zionist," Lapid said.
Ahead of his arrival, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem launched a campaign seeking to turn Biden's attention to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
The group put up billboards and digital screens in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah, stating: “Mr. President, this is apartheid”.
"Without constant backing by the US, Israel would not have been able to politically, geographically and demographically re-engineer the area under its control; to impose military rule over millions of subjects and deny them rights for 55 years; to annex East Jerusalem to its sovereign territory; or to systematically discriminate against its Palestinian citizens," B’Tselem said in a statement released on Wednesday.
"The US must acknowledge that the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is governed by an apartheid regime, and change its attitude to Israel accordingly," said the group's executive director, Hagai El-Ad.
Biden will travel to the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday for a brief stop to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The trip will culminate on Friday afternoon with a visit to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah to attend a summit with Gulf countries, in which Biden will push for increased oil production in an attempt to control spiralling fuel costs and inflation in the US.
Biden has defended his decision to visit Saudi Arabia, despite previously calling for it to be made a "pariah" state and issuing vocal criticism of the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Israel hopes Biden's visit will help kickstart the process of normalising ties with Saudi Arabia.
Flashback 2014
Joe Biden: "Our allies in the region were our largest problem FARS News, 4-10-2014
TEHRAN (FNA)- When Joe Biden gets candid, he really lets rip. The US vice president, speaking at the John F. Kennedy Jr Forum at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, on Thursday told his audience – point blank – that America’s Sunni allies are responsible for funding and arming Al Qaeda-type extremists in Syria.
And he named names: Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, specifically. Others – like Qatar – are undoubtedly complicit too, but Biden’s comments were made off-the-cuff during the question and answer period following his prepared statement. Biden said Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar took time to realize the threat ISIS posed to them...
Of course, much of what Biden said has been suspected for years by Syria watchers, but to acknowledge this outright during the early days of President Barack Obama’s much-vaunted ISIL-busting Coalition – featuring these very same Sunni Arab partners – is a jaw-dropping concession.
But that’s not all. Biden also managed to fundamentally undermine his administration’s efforts to train and arm “moderate” Syrian rebels today, by claiming there is no “moderate middle (in Syria) because the moderate middle are made up of shopkeepers, not soldiers.”
- Question: In retrospect do you believe the United States should have acted earlier in Syria, and if not why is now the right moment?
- Biden: What my constant cry was that our biggest problem is our allies – our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria....
What were they doing? They were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war, what did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad except that the people who were being supplied were Al Nusra and Al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world...
Now you think I’m exaggerating – take a look.... We could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them....
American President Joe Biden landed in Israel on Wednesday and started his four-day tour of the Middle East, the first since he took office. Moments after landing in Tel Aviv, he delivered a speech which outlined his intentions during this controversial tour.
In his speech on Wednesday, he repeated his support for the occupation state, highlighting that he is a Zionist Christian; emphasising that supporters of Israel don't need to be Jews.
He also told the journalist: "As president, I'm proud to say that our relationship with the State of Israel is deeper and stronger, in my view, than it's ever been. And with this visit, we are strengthening our connections even further. We've reaffirmed the unshakable commitment of the United States to Israel's security, including partnering with Israel on the most cutting-edge defence systems in the world." Biden stressed that "generation after generation" the "connection grows," adding: "We invest in each other. We dream together. We're part of what has always been the objective we both have." Thus highlighting that the two states have been working to achieve shared objectives and address global challenges.
Biden stated that Israel is united with the US, stressing that they have "shared values" and a "shared vision". While making efforts to extend the US' domination over the world, Biden wished America and Israel could "continue to grow and prosper together for the benefit of the entire world."
The US president failed, once again, to mention Israeli violations and aggression against Palestinians and other countries in the region. "We'll continue to advance Israel's integration into the region; expand emerging forums and engagement," he said.
He mentioned the two-state solution, which remains, in his view, "the best way to ensure the future of equal measure of freedom, prosperity and democracy for Israelis and Palestinians alike." This, while Israeli occupation forces confiscated large swathes of Palestinian land slated for the potential Palestinian state just a few miles away.
The following day, Biden met with Israel's caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid in Jerusalem, where Israel has been working to evict Palestinians and force them from their homes. There they signed "The Jerusalem US-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration" in which the US pledged to protect Israel and meet its security demands. "The United States and Israel reaffirm the unbreakable bonds between our two countries and the enduring commitment of the United States to Israel's security," the declaration stipulated. Ignoring Israel's abuses of human rights and violations of international law, it adds that the US and Israel share "unwavering commitment to democracy and the rule of law" in order to "repair the world."
The declaration reiterated the US "commitment to Israel's security, and especially to the maintenance of its qualitative military edge." As part of the declaration, the US reiterated "its steadfast commitment to preserve and strengthen Israel's capability to deter its enemies and to defend itself by itself against any threat or combination of threats."
Touching on the alleged Iranian threat, it said the US is committed to "never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that it is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that outcome." The declaration also stipulated that the US will continue to help Israel in its attack on the non-violent grass roots Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign:
"The United States and Israel affirm that they will continue to work together to combat all efforts to boycott or de-legitimise Israel, to deny its right to self-defence," the declaration stated, stressing that "they firmly reject the BDS campaign." Biden went on to stress that the US needs Israel to stand beside it in its fight in the Middle East, which America is returning to in order to prevent the Russian and Chinese influence.
A recent study by Princeton University's Arab Barometer network finds that the majority of Arabs believe democracy, as a system of government, has failed to meet their expectations, leading many to think it is not the right formula for their social ills.
The study, in which 23,000 individuals across ten countries were asked different questions about economies, politics, cost of living and freedoms, is quite comprehensive in scope and reach.
Those surveyed are mainly people living in the Middle East and North African countries, where some form of democracy has been in place for the last few years. Elections were regularly organised or promised as a way forward. Many Arab countries were not included in the study but it still represents widely shared beliefs, indicative of the way people think.
Strikingly, most respondents said they prefer strong leaders who can lead them into better economic conditions even if that meant bending "the rules" to get things done.
This comes a decade after the so called "Arab Spring", which was supposed to have "liberated" the masses, giving them the power to decide their future. Tunisia is always a good example to consider since it was the birthplace of the "Spring" – turned winter long before it was expected, as 77 per cent of Tunisian respondents expressed preference for strong leaders over democracy itself ..
The same Tunisians, who forced Zine El Abidine Ben Ali out in January 2011, elected President Kais Saied in 2019 giving up on what they were told by democracy advocates was their best chance of charting their future. They saw Mr. Saied, a complete outsider, as a saviour; after the euphoria of victory in 2011 gave way to the country's most turbulent years in which their elected Parliament became anything but a respected chamber where elected representatives act responsibly.
Furthermore, President Saied, in 2021, was given carte blanche when he took over power last July, later dissolving the Parliament and now offering Tunisians his own constitution.... He did that on the back of massive public support across the country simply because the people liked what he was doing and saw his "extraordinary measures" as their best chance to overhaul the "democratic" corrupt system that took over Tunisia over the last eight years.
In Tunisia's eastern neighbour, Libya, another 77 per cent of those surveyed said they prefer a strong leader over the shallow democratic process that kept failing them since they first went to the polls in 2012.
Unlike Tunisians, Libyans had to learn the lesson the hardest of ways as their country was invaded in 2011, when their version of the "Arab Spring" turned sour from the start. Today they compare life to how it was before 2011 under their long-time leader. Muammer Gaddafi. The man was demonised and made to look as the only hurdle between Libyans and their flourishing paradise, if only he is gone. When he was toppled they ended up less secure, disenchanted and poorer, despite their country being rich as a top oil producer.
Many Western powers that have dominated the area have not been honest in supporting democratic changes.
When Tunisians revolted against Ben Ali, France and the United States attempted to save him. The same happened in Egypt during the Egyptian revolution in 2011. The case of Libya was the worst example of Western double standards and hypocrisy, leading many Libyans to believe their salvation comes only through military invasion, just as was the case in Iraq in 2003.
When Libya plunged into chaos after Gaddafi and Iraq disintegrated after Saddam Hussein, Westerners blamed the people, not themselves, for the outcome...
Today Libya is held hostage to the very militias the West helped to topple Gaddafi, but when they started strangling the country the West simply left the issue to its regional proxies, while blaming Libyans themselves.
Turkey wants Russia and Iran to back its fight against terrorist groups in northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday, specifically underlining the United States' continued support of the PKK's Syrian branch YPG in the region.
Speaking to reporters on his way back from Iran where he attended a trilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Iran's Ebrahim Raisi in the capital Tehran for the seventh summit in the Astana format to discuss the recent developments in Syria, Erdoğan said that Turkey, Russia and Iran as three guarantor countries under the format of the Astana Peace Process have some differences in their opinions on the issue of the Syria crisis but all three countries have a common aim, which is the fight against terrorism.
"We inevitably unite against the PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist organizations on the issue of terrorism. Moreover, it is the problem that causes the most damage to the Syrian regime. Currently, the terrorist organization absorbs and exploits oil wells, especially in the east of the Euphrates; after that, it sells to the regime as well," he said, referring to the PKK terrorist group's Syrian branch, the YPG – which is backed by the United States. Erdoğan reiterated that: "The United States has carried thousands of trucks of weapons, ammunition and equipment to terrorist organizations there, including during the previous presidents. This is still going on. Even the coalition forces continue their support in the same way."
He noted that he conveyed Turkey's concerns on this issue to U.S. President Joe Biden by saying: "Look, you are sending all these trucks here. You are giving this support to all terrorist organizations here. After that, you say 'we are together in the fight against terrorism, we are together in NATO.' How are we together? We have to work on these issues constantly."
Regarding a new possible cross-border operation against the YPG, Erdoğan said that a new operation will continue to be on Turkey's agenda as long as its national security concerns are not resolved.
The Astana process agreed on the decision that the United States must withdraw from the east of Euphrates, Erdoğan said and added: "The United States has to leave the area east of the Euphrates at once.
This is the finding that came out of the Astana process. They say that the U.S. should withdraw its troops from the east of the Euphrates. Now, a result that will emerge from here is also the expectation of Turkey. Because it is the U.S. that feeds the terrorist organizations there. Since the U.S. is feeding terrorist organizations, and we are also fighting with these terrorist organizations, our job will be easier when it withdraws from there or if it does not feed these terrorist organizations."
The Astana peace process was launched in January 2017 at the initiative of Turkey, Russia and Iran to establish a cease-fire and bring conflict processes under control in Syria. The Astana initiative continues to be used as a platform where political and humanitarian issues are discussed...
The summit also enabled Erdoğan to hold his first meeting with Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Erdoğan became the first NATO leader to meet face-to-face with Putin since the bloc last month declared Russia the "most significant" threat as NATO leaders endorsed a new Strategic Concept for the military alliance.
Putin's message to Sisi emphasises fruitful cooperation
between Moscow and Cairo: Presidential spokesperson Ahram Online, Sunday 24 Jul 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin's message to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, conveyed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday, asserted the ongoing fruitful cooperation between the two countries, especially in light of the massive investments and projects established by Russia in Egypt, according to Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady.
Speaking to TEN TV channel on Sunday, Rady noted Lavrov briefed El-Sisi on developments in the Ukrainian crisis and Russia’s position internationally during the first leg of the top Russian diplomat’s tour of African countries.
The spokesman pointed out that El-Sisi affirmed Egypt's firm stance toward the crisis that gives priority to dialogue, adding that the meeting also dealt with bilateral relations in the fields of tourism and executive sectors.
The meeting with Lavrov came on the heels of several high-level international meetings for the Egyptian president over the past week that started with the Jeddah Summit and also included visits to Germany, Serbia and France, said Rady, adding that the common topic across all these visits was the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. The spokesman referred to the five main points that El-Sisi presented during his speech at the Jeddah Summit, including the development of partnership between the Arab countries and the United States and the inevitability of resolving the Palestinian cause.
Alluding to Europe’s efforts to find sources of non-Russian gas, he recalled the president's remarks seven years ago about the importance of making use of the east Mediterranean gas, a matter which is now essential for all countries.
As for food supply chains, which were badly affected by the crisis, Rady referred to tireless efforts by all parties, including Russia, Ukraine, the US and the European Union, to find safe passages for the grains from the Ukrainian and Russian ports to all the world.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the League of Arab States Council that Russia and Arab states are planning to organise a six-way Arab-Russian Cooperation forum as soon as possible.
The forum has convened five times before, said Lavrov on Sunday, who is currently visiting Cairo at a start of an African regional tour from 24-28 July. In remarks in front of the Arab League (AL) Council, the top Russian diplomat greatly appreciated what he called "a balanced, just and responsible stance" of the league’s member states regarding the Ukrainian crisis.
The Russian foreign minister reviewed the latest developments in the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, saying that Moscow welcomes dialogue with friends in the Arab League and other parts of the world.
Russia has nothing to hide, Lavrov stated.
The West has neglected Moscow's legitimate concerns about its security starting with the expansion of NATO, which is getting closer to Russia's borders despite promises made to the Soviet Union before its dissolution, as well as mobilising former members of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, to join the alliance, he added.
Kyiv has been provided with various weapons, with plans to establish some military bases in Ukraine to be used against Russia, Lavrov said. No promises made to Russia have been fulfilled since 2014, he added.
The status of the Russian language in Ukraine was abolished and a declaration of intentions to eliminate the Russian presence in Ukraine was issued, he further added. The Russian foreign minister affirmed the importance of adhering to the Minsk Agreement, which preserved Ukraine as a single state enjoying sovereignty and territorial integrity, with a special status granted to Donetsk and Luhansk.
In February 2015, the Minsk II agreements were signed by Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Germany's Angela Merkel, France's Francois Hollande and Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko. (Moscow Times)
The Minsk Agreement has been weakened for seven years, Lavrov said.
NATO was insistent on expansion regardless of the interests of Russia and other countries, he added.
Ukrainian bombing continued against the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk instead of giving them special status according to the Minsk Agreement, Lavrov told the Arab League Council.
The flow of arms to Ukraine continued, and we realised that the Minsk agreement would not be implemented. So, we had no other choice but to recognise the declaration of independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, sign cooperation agreements with them and provide them with military assistance to protect their peoples from any violations or attacks, he added.
The Ukrainian military operation against Luhansk and Donetsk developed in a very specific way, as Kyiv adopted several laws prohibiting the Russian language in education, media and daily life, as well as introducing administrative penalties for those who use it in any local office or shop, Lavrov said.
Russian culture is eroding in Ukraine just as it happened in Latvia, Estonia and other parts of the European Union, he added.
The Russian foreign minister said his country was determined to help the citizens of eastern Ukraine to be able to freely use their language and practice their culture, traditions and family values.
The Russian and Ukrainian peoples will continue to live together, and of course, Moscow will help the Ukrainian people get rid of the regime that is hostile to their own people and history, Lavrov said.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will refrain from launching a new struggle for power, even though the movement still enjoys wide support, its acting leader said Friday.
The once formidable movement won Egypt's first free presidential election in 2012, but was overthrown in a military coup a year later after mass protests against its rule and has endured a fierce crackdown by authorities since then.
Many of its leaders and thousands of its supporters are in jail or have fled Egypt, and the group has been excluded from a political dialogue to be launched soon by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who was the army chief who deposed the Brotherhood in 2013. Cairo has designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, but acting leader Ibrahim Munir reiterated the group's long-standing rejection of violence.
He also appeared to rule out challenging for power through the ballot box - something the group is unable to do directly while it remains banned in Egypt, although it did field independent candidates in parliamentary elections in the past.
Munir took the mantle of acting leader two years ago because the Brotherhood's general guide, or leader, has been in jail since the group lost power in 2013 and his initial successor was then detained in 2020.
Munir acknowledged that the Brotherhood had experienced internal division over how to respond to the crisis and that a new leader would be chosen "when the situation stabilizes."
A few months ago, the acting supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood decided to expel his opponent Mahmoud Hussein, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Istanbul and former secretary-general, from the organization. This step triggered fierce internal conflicts between the two wings in London and Istanbul.
The conflict also revolves around the question of who holds the post of supreme leader of the group. The Istanbul faction declared Ibrahim Munir deposed from the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood and in turn appointed Mustafa Tolba as provisional supreme leader for six months.
However, the London faction and Munir rejected this move and denied that Tolba should be allowed to hold this post. The Istanbul wing, in turn, responded by announcing the formation of a committee to lead the Muslim Brotherhood, again under Tolba’s leadership.
On July 12, 2022, the Muslim Brotherhood announced in a statement by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Consultative Assembly that Ibrahim Munir was exempted from membership of the Muslim Brotherhood and he is no longer represents or expresses the Muslim Brotherhood as a result of “non-compliance with the decisions of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Consultative Assembly, and formation of parallel entities away from the legitimate ones.”
Muslim Brotherhood of foreign fronts exchanged accusations after the conflict arose between the “Istanbul Front” led by former Sec-Gen Mahmoud Hussein and the “London Front” led by acting leader Ibrahim Munir. The crisis heightened after the London Front formed a new Shura Council, dismissing six members of the Istanbul Shura, including Hussein himself.
The new council replaced the one in Istanbul. It was elected in the presence of officials residing in Turkey and affiliated with the Istanbul Front and several leaders living in European countries. In response, the Istanbul Front issued a statement claiming that “Munir’s front weakens and divides the Brotherhood,” accusing it of using social media to publish false allegations and information.
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