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."
"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)
For decades, Daniella Weiss has been one of the leaders of Israel’s settlement movement. Weiss became involved in settlement politics in the wake of the 1967 war.
In the early seventies, her family moved to the settlements in the West Bank and she later served for a decade as mayor of Kedumim, a community in the north. She has also been arrested numerous times, including for assaulting a police officer and interfering with an investigation into the destruction of Palestinian property.
More recently, she has been affiliated with the Nachala settlement organization, which helps younger settlers establish illegal outposts in the West Bank, an initiative that’s controversial even among the settler community. (Weiss is a neighbor and an ally of Bezalel Smotrich, the extremist minister of finance, who has said that the Palestinian people do not exist and that Palestinian communities need to be erased; he also lives in Kedumim.)
Weiss and I recently spoke by phone. Since the Hamas massacre of October 7th, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government—in addition to invading Gaza—has, with its allies in the settler movement, become increasingly aggressive in the West Bank.
Sixteen Palestinian communities have been removed from their land, and a hundred and seventy-five Palestinians have been killed. I wanted to talk to Weiss to understand the extremism of the settler movement, and her ultimate intentions for the West Bank. During our conversation we also discussed how her religious attitudes shape her view of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, why human rights should not be considered universal, and why she should not be expected to mourn for dead Palestinian children.
-- I was born in Israel in 1945, three years before the birth of the modern Jewish state. I was born in the Tel Aviv area.
-- And your parents?
-- My father was born in the United States. My mother was born in Warsaw, Poland, and she immigrated with her parents to Israel when she was a year old. So she came to Israel many years before the state of Israel was born.
-- How would you describe the settler movement?
-- I see the settler movement today as a direct continuation of the settler movement of a hundred and twenty, thirty, forty years ago. I see it as a chapter in the history of Zionism, and we are in one of those chapters of modern Zionism. Settlement is the way to return to Zion.
-- You said, "Settlement is the way to return to Zion”?
-- Yes. It’s the end of the dispersion and the beginning of the revival of the Jewish nation in this homeland.
-- What are the borders of that Jewish nation?
-- The borders of the homeland of the Jews are the Euphrates in the east and the Nile in the southwest. [This would include the territory of multiple Middle Eastern countries as well as the territory that Israel controls today.]
-- There’s a Palestinian slogan that has become very controversial: “From the river to the sea,” which means from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. It’s controversial because it would include all the land that currently makes up Israel. But you’re saying from the river to the—
-- What is controversial?
-- Palestinians sometimes use the slogan “From the river to the sea.” But what you’re saying is that from the river to the Nile is the Jewish homeland, correct?
-- Of course. If someone decides to invent a new religion today, who will decide the rules? The first nation that got the word from God, the promise from God—the first nation is the one who has the right to it.
The others that follow—Christianity and Islam, with their demands, with their perceptions—they’re imitating what existed already. So, why in Israel? They could be anywhere in the world. They came after us, in the double sense of the world.
-- When did you first get involved in the settler movement?
-- In 1967, in the Six-Day War. The Six-Day War was such a miracle, and aroused very deep feelings toward the birthplace of our nation—Hebron, Shiloh, Jericho, Nablus. And, because of the miracle of the war, we had this spiritual sensation that something happened in the dimensions of a Biblical scene.
I felt that I wanted to be an active part in this miraculous happening. My husband didn’t like the idea of moving from Tel Aviv to the mountains of Judea and Samaria. He liked our life near Tel Aviv. But then, when the Yom Kippur War broke out, in 1973, I became involved in a very intensive way, and so did my husband.
We both became part of the settlement movement of Gush Emunim, the movement that established communities in Judea and Samaria. I forced my husband to follow me and our two daughters—they were little ones—to a tiny tent on the mountains of Samaria, where we all live today. Now we have a big family with four generations. My mother-in-law came with us, and then we have our daughters and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They are all settlers in Samaria.
-- In a lot of these places where settlements have been developed, from 1967 to the present day, there have been Palestinian communities and Palestinian families. What is your feeling about where these people should go?
-- It’s the opposite. None of the communities in Judea and Samaria are founded on an Arab place or property, and whoever says this is a liar. I wonder why you said it. Why did you say that, since you have no idea about the real facts of history? That’s not true. The opposite is true. Who got this idea into your mind?
-- Palestinian communities have been removed from their land, kicked off their land by—
-- No, you never read things like that. No. There are no pictures. [According to a report by Btselem, an Israeli human-rights group, parts of Kedumim, where Weiss lives, were built on private Palestinian land; in 2006, Peace Now found that privately owned Palestinian land comprised nearly forty per cent of the territory of West Bank settlements and outposts.]
-- O.K. I’m a little surprised you are denying this. I thought you were going to say, “It’s O.K. to kick Palestinians off land because it belongs to the Jewish people.”
-- You did no homework before you interviewed me. Everything that you say is the opposite of my personality and my philosophy. You are interviewing a person, and you don’t know anything about them. It’s very strange. I’ve never encountered a situation like this.
-- I was trying to understand where Palestinians who live in the West Bank should go.
-- Why should they go? Why should they go?
-- They should stay where they are, you’re saying?
-- They should accept the fact that in the Land of Israel there is only one sovereign. This is the issue. So let’s not confuse things. We the Jews are the sovereigns in the state of Israel and in the Land of Israel. They have to accept it.
-- If they accept it, should they receive full voting rights and things like that?
-- In the state of Israel, they have the right to vote for the Knesset, because Ben-Gurion gave them this right. He trusted them—and, even if he didn’t trust them, he didn’t have much of a choice.
He wanted to have a state for the Jews, and he knew the world would make problems with the issue of voting. But, in the seventy-five years since independence, the Arabs in the state of Israel and the Arab members of the Knesset showed in every possible way that their idea is to establish a Palestinian state. They are not working for the interests of the state of Israel.
So I think the Arabs in Judea and Samaria have no right to ask for rights or take part in elections for the Knesset. They lost their right to vote for the Knesset. They will never get this right.
They will have their own Palestinian Authority where they can run their civilian affairs in a logical way, but not as members of the Knesset. No, no, no.
-- So rights are not some sort of universal thing that every person has. They’re something that you can win or lose.
-- That’s right.
You’ve been part of the settlement movement during a lot of different governments. How do you feel that the current government of the past year has been treating settlers broadly compared with past governments?
-- I will say that it’s better under Netanyahu. It doesn’t satisfy my ambitions and my dreams and my plans, but there are eight hundred thousand Jews—or settlers, if you want. So this gives me a lot of encouragement that from eight hundred thousand we will become two million, then three million.
-- When you say that the government’s been better, but it hasn’t realized your dreams, what are those dreams?
-- Two million Jews in Judea and Samaria. More settlements, more farms, bigger cities.
-- When you say that you want more Jews in the West Bank, is your idea that the Palestinians there and the Jews will live side by side as friends, or that—
-- If they accept our sovereignty, they can live here.
-- So they should accept the sovereign power, but that doesn’t necessarily mean having rights. It just means accepting the sovereign power.
-- Right. They are not going to have the right to vote for the Knesset. No, no, no...
The world, especially the United States, thinks there is an option for a Palestinian state... We want to close the option for a Palestinian state... It’s a very simple thing to understand.
Netanyahu lobbying Likud MKs, saying only he can
prevent a Palestinian state in Gaza, West Bank Jacob Magid|Times of Israel, 27 November 202s
netanyahu, [occupied] west-bank, 2020
[Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly met with at least 10 backbenchers in his Likud party over the past week in an effort to ensure their continued support, as the ruling party drops further and further in the polls since the war.
“I am the only one who will prevent a Palestinian state in Gaza and [the West Bank] after the war,” the Kan public broadcaster quotes Netanyahu as having told the lawmakers. The stance clashes directly with the policy of the Biden administration, which has sought to revive talk of a two-state solution in order to maintain the support of the Arab world, as he continues to offer full-throttled backing of Israel.
“I have known [US President Joe] Biden for more than 40 years, and know how to speak to the American public,” Kan quotes Netanyahu as having told the Likud backbenchers in individual meetings...
Israel’s war on Gaza, now almost two months old, has polarized the world and created a yawning rift between people and governments in the West, with millions of Europeans and Americans marching for a “free Palestine” and an end to the occupation, while their governments continue to support Israel’s military campaign in Gaza without calling for a permanent ceasefire.
But the initial blind support of Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has slowly morphed, with the Biden White House and most European capitals now calling on Israel to adhere to international humanitarian law, avoid targeting civilians and allow for an uninterrupted flow of aid to the people of Gaza.
The most extreme support of Israel came from US President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Both continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself against “terrorist Hamas,” while complementing this with the almost vacuous statement that the US supports the two-state solution, even when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes out and says that he is the best man to derail it.
But where the White House speaks of the two-state solution, the mood on the Hill is different. The vast majority of US lawmakers have pledged unquestioning support to Israel, providing billions of dollars and openly calling for the total destruction of Hamas at any cost.
When it comes to the two-state solution and the possibility of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, both chambers are completely and vocally at odds with the declared US foreign policy position on the Palestine-Israel conflict.
The solution to the occupation of Palestine, resolving the refugee problem and establishing a permanent and lasting peace in the region will not come from Israel.
That hope dissipated long ago — thanks to Netanyahu and his sponsorship of the far right over the last 20-plus years. The Israeli left is dead. All polls show that, if elections were to be held in Israel today, Labor, the party that led Israel for decades after its founding, would not get the necessary votes to pass the legal threshold to enter the Knesset. The right and far right now have the upper hand and will continue to do so for some time. The Palestinian answer to ending the occupation lies in Washington. And there is the problem....
The sad reality is that the American presidency has been weakened by bipartisan squabbling in Congress, servility toward Israel and unprecedentedly deep polarization over issues such as abortion, immigration, traditional family values, taxing the rich and climate change, among others.
But while candidates for the highest office in the land bicker over such issues, they all agree on one thing: blind support for Israel.
Speaking at a press conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will be taking control of Gaza's security after the war is over.
In reference to the Israeli army, Netanyahu said: "And in order for Gaza to be demilitarized, there is only one force that can see to this demilitarization – and that force is the IDF. No international force can be responsible for this".
"We have seen what has happened in other places where they brought in international forces for the goal of demilitarization. I am not prepared to close my eyes and accept any other arrangement".
Netnahyahu also added that "Israel's friends" in the world who are pressing for a quick end to the war: Our only way to end the war and end it quickly, is to apply crushing pressure against Hamas and destroy it.
After 7 days of temporary humanitarian truce, Israel resumed its brutal bombardment of the besieged strip, expanding its ground offensive towards the southern Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said the army had also besieged Jabalia and Khan Younis, adding "There is no place we cannot reach".
Hamas military group announced on Oct. 7 a military operation called "Al-Aqsa Flood" against Israel which is the biggest offensive in decades. Palestinian fighters “infiltrated” Israel from the Gaza Strip and captured military bases and took hostages as photos and videos went viral online showing Hamas fighters on vehicles inside Israel and others paragliding into occupation territory.
In response, Israeli armed forces announced targeting Hamas positions inside the Gaza Strip. Thousands were killed, and dozens of thousands of others were injured in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
According to the latest Ministry of Health statistics, the Israeli aggression on Gaza claimed the lives of 16,248 people. The victims include 7,112 children and 4,885 women, while more than 43,616 others were injured.
Saudi Arabia announces tax incentives to multinational
companies relocating regional HQ to Riyadh Saudi Gazette, December 05, 2023
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday a new package of tax incentives, including zero percentage of income tax, to multinational companies for a period of 30 years in the event of relocation of their regional headquarters to Riyadh.
The announcement was made by the Ministry of Investment, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, and the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, as part of their bid to encourage and facilitate the procedures for international companies to open their regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi program to attract the regional headquarters of international companies is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Investment and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City. The program aims to attract international companies to establish their regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia and make the Kingdom the first choice for these companies in the Middle East and North Africa region, by providing a set of benefits and distinctive support services.
The tax exemption package for regional headquarters for a period of 30 years includes a zero percentage of income tax on regional headquarters entities, and withholding tax for approved activities of regional headquarters of international companies.
These companies will benefit from the tax exemption package from the date of issuance of the regional headquarters license, the Saudi News Agency reported.
Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih said that granting tax incentives to the regional headquarters of international companies in the Kingdom is an important incentive to make the Kingdom a major center for those regional headquarters in the region...
The minister said that the presence of distinctive competencies and expertise in the Kingdom, in addition to its strategic location and strong growth prospects have contributed to attracting more than 200 companies to the program.
On his part, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that the new tax exemptions granted on regional headquarters activities will give the regional headquarters of international companies in the Kingdom more clarity of vision and stability...
These companies can also participate in the process of development and transformation that we are witnessing in the Kingdom, he said.
Relations between Russia and the United Arab Emirates have reached an unprecedented high level, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
"Today, thanks to your position, our relations have reached an unprecedented high level. You and I are in constant contact, and our colleagues constantly work with each other. And indeed the United Arab Emirates is Russia’s main trading partner in the Arab world," Putin said at a meeting with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The president added that during the meeting, they will discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as he will inform about the Ukrainian crisis.
Additionally, the Russian president invited the UAE counterpart to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan next year.
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday praised the role of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the strengthening of relations between the countries.
"In recent years, relations between our countries have actively developed in various areas. I appreciate your personal effective role in strengthening bilateral relations. In this regard, I would like to say that the UAE is Russia’s largest trading partner and the largest investor among Arab countries in its economy," the president said at a meeting with Putin.
In 2022, non-oil trade between the two countries increased by almost 109%, he said, adding that "this unprecedented leap speaks of the special nature of the relationship between our countries."
"[The UAE] expects to continue to work together and develop cooperation with Russia in energy, infrastructure projects and advanced technologies," he added.
President Vladimir Putin is visiting Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates starting Wednesday, as the West-sanctioned Russia seeks to seize on opportunities offered by the two Arab Gulf countries’ quest for diversification of partnerships.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry said the Russian leader would discuss bilateral relations, the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas and other international issues. Moscow has blamed the United States for failing to resolve the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Russia has positioned itself as a potential mediator, having maintained ties with both Israel and Hamas. But ties with Tel Aviv have soured since the start of the war over the perception of a hostile bias against Israel.
Putin has rarely travelled abroad in recent years, and mostly to states of the former Soviet Union. His last trip beyond those countries was to China in October.
Apart from cooperation in OPEC+, Putin is keen to cultivate the Gulf states as part of his drive to build global alliances with non-Western countries in order to demonstrate what he says is the failure of the United States and its allies to isolate Russia with sanctions over the war in Ukraine.. After Putin’s trip this week, he is expected to host Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday.
Iran’s official news agency Irna said Raisi would be travelling to Moscow following an invitation from Putin. “Bilateral issues, including economic interactions, as well as discussions about regional and international issues, especially the situation in Gaza, will be high on the agenda of the one-day trip,” it reported.
US veto to halt the bloodshed in Gaza sparks global outcry
Ahram Online, Saturday 9 Dec 2023 Israel at war: 2023
Global outcry ensued as the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution seeking a ceasefire in Gaza, further increasing Washington's diplomatic isolation for shielding Israel in its brutal war on the Palestinian territory. Thirteen Security Council members voted in favour of a the resolution, put forward by the United Arab Emirates on Friday, while the United Kingdom abstained.
Russia's Deputy Charge d’Affaires, Dmitry Polyanskiy, fiercely criticized the United States and the United Kingdom for their respective actions—voting against and abstaining from supporting a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli war on Gaza. Polyanskiy labeled their actions as "complicit in a merciless Israeli bloodbath." Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said it was "a disgrace and another blank cheque given to the occupying state to massacre, destroy and displace."
"What is the message we are sending Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza?" Deputy UAE U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab asked the council.
"Indeed, what is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations?"
Guterres says UN Security Council 'paralysed' over Gaza,
stressing he will never give up
AFP|Ahram online, Sunday 10 Dec 2023
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Sunday said he regrets the Security Council's failure to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, condemning the divisions that have "paralysed" the world body. The body's "authority and credibility were severely undermined" by its delayed response to the conflict, he said two days after a US veto prevented a resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire.
"I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared," he told the Doha forum."Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it," he added. "I can promise, I will not give up." Guterres had convened an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after two months of fighting that have left more than 17,700 people dead in Gaza, most of them women and children.
The secretary-general deployed the rarely-used Article 99 of the United Nations Charter to bring to the council's attention "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security". The rule had not previously been invoked by a UN chief in decades.
Before President Bashar al-Assad, Mr. Ayman Soussan was sworn in as Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Mr.Maher Baddour as Syria’s Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria. SANA, 6-12-23
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appointed a new envoy to Saudi Arabia following an 11-year absence, amid a recent thaw in relations between Damscus and Riyadh.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Soussan was appointed with the role according to Syria’s state-run news agency SANA, and was subsequently sworn in during a ceremony attended by Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad.
The move comes as ties between Syria and Saudi Arabia were restored earlier this year, after Riyadh severed its ties with Damascus in 2012 over the country’s devastating civil war... Many Arab states withdrew their envoys as a result...
During the outbreak of the war in 2011, Riyadh gave its backing to the Syrian opposition, and accused the Assad regime of carrying out war crimes.
Since the rapprochement, Mekdad and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan have paid visits to the countries’ capital in April.
Meanwhile in May, Riyadh and Damascus announced they would be begin resuming the work of its diplomatic missions.
Saudi Arabia’s warming up to Syria paved the way for Damascus’ readmission to the Arab fold - as well as the Arab League.
Riyadh hosted a Syrian delegation for an Arab League summit in May, with the body’s members agreeing to the country’s return with immediate effect.
The decision, however, was met with opposition from Qatar, who said that normalisation with Syria can’t occur until a political solution the country’s conflict is reached. Additionally, Saudi Arabia - and by extension the Arab world’s - normalisation with Damascus was rejected by members of the Syrian opposition.
I do not believe that anything I say about what is happening in Gaza will affect Israeli or American policy in that conflict. But I want to be on record so that when historians look back on this moral calamity, they will see that some Americans were on the right side of history.
>B>What Israel is doing in Gaza to the Palestinian civilian population – with the support of the Biden administration – is a crime against humanity that serves no meaningful military purpose.
Let me elaborate.
First, Israel is purposely massacring huge number of civilians, roughly 70 percent of whom are children and women. The claim that Israel is going to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties is belied by statements from high level Israeli officials. For example, the IDF spokesman said on 10 October 2023 that "the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy." That same day, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced: "I have lowered all the restraints – we will kill everyone we fight against; we will use every means."
Second, Israel is purposely starving the desperate Palestinian population by greatly limiting the amount of food, fuel, cooking gas, medicine, and water that can be brought into Gaza. Moreover, medical care is extremely hard to come by for a population that now includes approximately 50,000 wounded civilians.
Third, Israeli leaders talk about Palestinians and what they would like to do in Gaza in shocking terms, especially when you consider that some of these leaders also talk incessantly about the horrors of the Holocaust. Indeed, their rhetoric has led Omar Bartov, a prominent Israeli-born scholar of the Holocaust, to conclude that Israel has “genocidal intent.” Other scholars in Holocaust and genocide studies have offered a similar warning...
Unsurprisingly, as the New York Times reports, it is part of normal Israeli discourse to call for Gaza to be “flattened,” “erased,” or “destroyed.”
Fourth, Israel is not just killing, wounding, and starving huge numbers of Palestinians, it is also systematically destroying their homes as well as critical infrastructure – to include mosques, schools, heritage sites, libraries, key government buildings, and hospitals.
As of 1 December 2023, the IDF had damaged or destroyed almost 100,000 buildings, including entire neighborhoods that have been reduced to rubble. Consequently, a stunning 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes.
Fifth, Israel is not just terrorizing and killing Palestinians, it is also publicly humiliating many of their men who have been rounded up by the IDF in routine searches. Israeli soldiers strip them down to their underwear, blindfold them, and display them in a public way in their neighborhoods...
Sixth, although the Israelis are doing the slaughtering, they could not do it without the Biden administration’s support. Not only was the United States the only country to vote against a recent UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but it has also been providing Israel with the weaponry necessary to wage this massacre...
Remarkably, the Biden administration has sought to expedite sending Israel additional ammunition, by-passing the normal procedures of the Arms Export Control Act.
Seventh, while most of the focus is now on Gaza, it is important not to lose sight of what is simultaneously going on in the West Bank. Israeli settlers, working closely with the IDF, continue to kill innocent Palestinians and steal their land...
Along with its assault on Gaza, the Israel government has markedly increased the number of arbitrary arrests in the West Bank. According to Amnesty International, there is considerable evidence that these prisoners have been tortured and subjected to degrading treatment.
A wartime opinion poll among Palestinians has showed a rise in support for Hamas, which appears to have ticked up even in the devastated Gaza Strip, and an overwhelming rejection of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, with nearly 90% saying he must resign.
The findings by a Palestinian pollster signal more difficulties ahead for the Biden administration's postwar vision for Gaza and raise questions about Israel's stated goal of ending Hamas' military and governing capabilities.
Washington has called for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, currently led by Abbas, to eventually assume control of Gaza and run both territories as a precursor to statehood. U.S. officials have said the PA must be revitalized, without letting on whether this would mean leadership changes.
The PA administers pockets of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has governed Gaza until a takeover by Hamas militants in 2007. The Palestinians have not held elections since 2006 when Hamas won a parliamentary majority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads the most right-wing government in Israel's history, has soundly rejected any role for the PA in Gaza and insists Israel must retain open-ended security control there.
Arab allies of the U.S. have said they'll only get involved in post-war reconstruction if there's a credible push toward a two-state solution, which is unlikely under the Netanyahu government dominated by opponents of Palestinian statehood.
"Israel is stuck in Gaza," pollster Khalil Shikaki told The Associated Press ahead of the publication of the survey's results by his Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, or PSR. "Maybe the next (Israeli) government will decide that Netanyahu is not right in putting all these conditions, and they might decide to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza. But the default for the future, for Israel and Gaza, is that Israel is in full reoccupation of Gaza."
The survey was conducted from Nov. 22 to Dec. 2 among 1,231 people in the West Bank and Gaza and had an error margin of 4 percentage points.
Shikaki said that Gaza residents are more critical of Hamas than those in the West Bank, that support for Hamas typically spikes during periods of armed conflict before leveling out, and that even now most Palestinians do not back the militant group.
Despite the devastation, 57% of respondents in Gaza and 82% in the West Bank believe Hamas was correct in launching the October attack, the poll indicated.
A large majority believed Hamas' claims that it acted to defend a major Islamic shrine in Jerusalem against Jewish extremists and win the release of Palestinian prisoners. Only 10% said they believed Hamas has committed war crimes, with a large majority saying they did not see videos showing the militants committing atrocities.
Shikaki said the most popular politician remains Marwan Barghouti, a prominent figure in Abbas' Fatah movement who is serving multiple life terms in an Israeli prison for his alleged role in several deadly attacks during the second Palestinian uprising two decades ago.
In a two-way presidential race, Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled political leader of Hamas, would trounce Abbas while in a three-way race, Barghouti would be ahead just slightly, the pollster said.
Overall, 88% want Abbas to resign, up by 10 percentage points from three months ago. In the West Bank, 92% called for the resignation of the octogenarian who has presided over an administration widely seen as corrupt, autocratic and ineffective.
At the same time, 44% in the West Bank said they supported Hamas, up from just 12% in September. In Gaza, the militants enjoyed 42% support, up slightly from 38% three months ago.
Mossad Director David Barnea, on Thursday night met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the Mossad headquarters. Following the meeting, the two lit candles for the eighth day of Hanukah. (Arutz Sheva, 15-12-2023)
Assistant to the US President and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Friday morning is holding a press conference in Tel Aviv.
Sullivan said, "Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas." "I'm here to emphasize on President Biden's behalf that we are here to support Israel." "We're not here to tell anybody, 'You must do x you must do y,'" he said, emphasizing that the US is "here to support our partners."
Sullivan also emphasized that the US continues to work towards "a two -state solution where Israel's security is guaranteed."
When asked what might happen if Israel requires two more months, or six more months, to complete the high-intensity stage of the war, Sullivan said, "This fight against Hamas deeply entrenched terrorist group in Gaza is going to take time, and it's going to happen in phases. There's no contradiction." "Laying out Israel's war plan for the public is only going to help Hamas," he said, stressing that he would not go into details.
"We will work together in partnership, in coordination, and we will continue to supply our ideas," he said, adding that distinguishing between innocents and Hamas terrorists is both a moral and strategic concern, and that his Israeli counterparts understand this.
"The Israeli government has indicated that it does not have a long-term plan to control Gaza. ... We do not believe it is right for Israel to occupy Gaza over the long term."
Asked about Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Sullivan said that the PA needs to be "revamped and revitalized," so that it can deliver a two state solution "in which Israelis and Palestinians live side-by-side in peace and security."
“Why are you obsessed with a two-state solution?” said Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the UK during a Sky interview this week, snapping at the journalist for pressing her on the international consensus for ending Israel’s decades-long illegal occupation.
“Why are you so obsessed with a formula that never worked?” the Israel envoy growled, insisting that there is “Absolutely no” chance for the two-state solution.
In Israel Communications Minister, Shlomo Karhi, echoed Hotovely’s rejection of a peaceful settlement in favour of the maximalist position long espoused by Zionist leaders:
“There will be no Palestinian State here,” Karhi said on X. “We will never allow another State to be established between the Jordan and the sea. We will never go back to Oslo,” he added, referring to the 1993 agreement. Hotovely’s remarks triggered a swift response from the UK’s two major political parties.
“The Labour Party is steadfast in its long-standing support for a two-state solution,” said David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary. He stressed that “a viable and independent Palestine alongside a safe and secure Israel, where all can enjoy security, dignity and statehood is the only credible basis for long-term peace”.
UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, also publicly disagreed with the Israeli ambassador by telling Sky News that it is the long-standing position of the UK government that there should be an independent Palestinian State established alongside the existing one of Israel – giving both peoples their own territory....
However, anyone remotely familiar with the pace of Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory and the transfer of over 750,000 Israelis in Jewish-only settlements knows that, not only is a viable Palestinian State no longer a realistic possibility, but decades of impunity have meant that Israel has never been forced to make such a choice. Israelis have made no secret of the fact that control and domination of every inch of historic Palestine takes priority over considerations like democracy and even lesser considerations like the rights of Palestinians.
In 2021 Hotovely laid out her vision for a greater Israel in an article, “The Five Stage Plan for the Greater Land of Israel.” In it she acknowledges that most Israelis do not want to relinquish control over the Occupied Territories. She claims that previous Israeli leaders avoided annexation solely to avoid dealing with incorporating Palestinians.
To overcome this problem, the Israeli ambassador advocates launching a campaign to massively increase Jewish immigration to Israel, seeking two million new Jewish citizens within a decade.
The administration of United States President Joe Biden has once again bypassed Congress to greenlight an emergency weapons sale to Israel, which has only intensified and broadened its attacks on the Gaza Strip despite growing international outrage.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress that he had made a second emergency determination in less than a month, covering a $147.5m sale of equipment to Israel, the State Department said on Friday.
“Given the urgency of Israel’s defensive needs, the secretary notified Congress that he had exercised his delegated authority to determine an emergency existed necessitating the immediate approval of the transfer,” it said. “The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against the threats it faces.”
Friday’s emergency determination, which is rare but has been used by at least four previous US administrations, means that a requirement for a potentially lengthy congressional review for foreign military sales will be bypassed.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane said it was important to point out the broader context of the messaging.
“We’ve been hearing from all the top Biden administration officials for weeks that it is time for Israel to move to a lower-intensity conflict. In essence, stop the mass bombing. Stop the mass deaths of civilians,” she said.
“So, in that context – knowing that is what they say they want – they are now selling to Israel the exaction munitions they need to continue a high-intensity campaign.”
The Biden administration has tried to counter criticism over the mounting death toll in Gaza and continued US arms sales to Israel by saying it constantly maintains contact with Israel to stress the importance of minimising civilian casualties.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the war “is generating destruction comparable in scale to the most devastating warfare in the modern record”.
By mid-December, Israel had dropped 29,000 bombs, munitions and shells on Gaza, destroying or damaging nearly 70 percent of homes, the report said.
More than 21,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the besieged enclave since October 7, most of them children and women, in what has been widely described as collective punishment. Thousands more are missing...
Israeli officials are in clandestine talks with several African countries to receive Palestinians from Gaza, the Israeli daily Zman Yisrael reported on Wednesday.
The policy to cleanse Gaza of Palestinians wholesale, “is slowly becoming the leading and official policy of the government and the coalition,” the report said.
Speaking to Zman Yisrael on Tuesday, Israel’s Minister of Intelligence Gila Gamaliel said that "voluntary [emigration] is the best and most realistic plan for the day after the fighting".
According to the report by Zman Yisrael, "Congo" seems willing to accept thousands of Palestinian refugees, although it did not say whether it was referring to the Democratic Republic of Congo or the Republic of Congo.
The Israeli government is keen to say that Palestinians are not being ethnically cleansed from Gaza, but rather that the move would be a “voluntary immigration policy".
The distinction has been scrutinised because Israeli politicians have explicitly gone on the record laying out plans to make Gaza unlivable for its inhabitants and replace the population with Israeli settlers.
Another option being floated by the Israeli cabinet on Tuesday is to negotiate with Saudi Arabia to potentially take thousands of Palestinians, the report added. It is unlikely that Saudi Arabia would want to be seen publicly helping Israel ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.
Voices in Israel are increasingly open about plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza after the almost three-month bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory.
The Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in November backed a plan for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians. In addition to Smotrich, the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on Monday there should be a “migration of the residents of Gaza” to the outside of the besieged enclave.
On Tuesday, US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller took the unusual step of directly calling out the two ministers.
“The United States rejects recent statements from Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible,” he said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman strongly condemned the remarks made by extremist Israeli Ministers of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Bezalel Smotrich advocating for the displacement of Gaza residents, the re-occupation of the strip, and the construction of Israeli settlements.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday. The statement emphasized the "importance of international community collaboration to activate international accountability mechanisms against the Israeli occupation government, through its statements and actions, in violation of international legitimacy and humanitarian law."
Qatar, a prominent mediator in the prisoner exchange process between Hamas and Israel, also strongly denounced the Israeli ministers' statements.
The Omani Ministry, in a statement, affirmed its firm position in considering the Gaza Strip an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories according to the UN resolutions, which binds Israel to withdraw from all the lands it occupied...
The Israeli ministers' remarks also drew condemnation from Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who labeled the Israeli statements as"inflammatory and irresponsible." "Forced displacements are strictly prohibited as a grave violation of IHL (international humanitarian law) & words matter," he said on social media.
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