Saddam's Death, 205 [april|may 2024]
attempt to destroy political holism in the middle east

See also: Page 204: feb-mar 2024 and Page 206: june-july 2024
Gaza Info: Israel at war (Gaza war 2023|24)



Israel & The Temple Revolution & Unesco & the Temple
Regime Change in Iraq - Overview 2002/2003 - Trump & the Pisces Messiah - Kennedy Speech 1961 - Eisenhower's Social Gospel - "I Have, I Rule and I will Destroy" - Iran & the dialogue of civilizations - Netanyahu & Infantilization of Israel - Jesus & Pophet Muhammed: "Be a stranger in the world" - Ideological Warfare Center - Jewish fundamentalism in the State of Palestine - Palestinian Martyrs and Jewish Heroes - The Balfour Declaration - Trump's move on Jerusalem (2017) - Abbas & Trump's "slap of the century" - John Bolton, prominent war hawk, National Security Adviser to President Trump - Lies & Provocations: France, UK and USA show their dark face - Trump, the 'deal-breaker' - Explaining America’s economic might - Netanyahu & The Survival of the Fittest - Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ Is Now Pence’s ‘Wolf Pack of Rogue States’ - Mike Pence & antisemitism - Amnesia of the US Foreign Policy Establishment - Israeli Elections 2019 - Was Jesus a Palestinian? - Labor disappears from Knesset - Settlers from the White House - NO to International Law - Israel & The Three Central Dilemmas - Netanyahu & Neo-Zionism - Secularism & 'Jewish' identity - Pompeo & Christian leadership - Jeremy Corbyn & Jewish Witch Hunt - Trump's Deal of the Century - Netanyahu & the Moongod Abraham - Gantz' betrayal - Trump's sanctions against ICC officials - The Ceasar Act - The Turkey-Armenia conflict - Joe Biden's Running Mate - The UAE-Israel-deal - The Sudan-US-Israel-deal - Robert Fisk Articles" - Joe Biden elected president - The return of Victoria Nuland - Putin 2014: New Rules or a Game without Rules - Alexander Dugin & The Great Awakening - Bennett is an 'evil' and 'wicked' Reform Jew, say haredi MKs - The Taliban enter Kabul - UAE leaders receive Syrian President Assad - Lapid & the Palestinian state - Yusuf al-Qaradawi died in Qatar - Israel heading toward a fascist theocracy - Ukraine is now a failed state: - The Global Civilization Initiative - Assad joins Arab leaders in Jeddah - Israel at war: Rockets slam Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, 2023


Index Page - Start

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)


How the National Security State Manipulates the News Media
Ted Galen Carpenter, antiwar.com, March 09, 2021

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)


Flashback- Hanan Ashrawi 2002:
The New Age of Ideology

"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."

Index Page


"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)

Naked Hypocrisy:
The US once cited UNSC Resolutions to Invade Iraq,
now calls Gaza Ceasefire Demand “Non-Binding”
Thoughts on the Middle East by Juan Cole, 03/27/2024

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday characterized the United Nations Security Council resolution 2728 demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict as “non-binding,” a phrase also used by US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The US was rebuked by China, according to Akmal Dawi at VOA: “‘Security Council resolutions are binding,’ Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday.”
Beijing is correct on the law, and the Biden administration is being disingenuous.
If President Biden did not want a ceasefire resolution to pass, he should have vetoed it. By abstaining and letting the world community vote on the matter, Biden has elicited a binding decision, and his officials should stop dancing around it.

The law here is clear: Article 25 of the UN Charter, to which the US, China and Israel are all signatories, says, “The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.”
Moreover, we could consider the actual language of the resolution, in which the UNSC “Demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs, and further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain”
You’d have to twist yourself into a pretzel to avoid concluding that the Security Council sees the ceasefire as binding, given the use of the verb “demand.”
The UNSC isn’t suggesting. It isn’t hoping. It isn’t imploring. It is demanding.

Washington’s hypocrisy on this matter is legendary and stunning.
After the Gulf War of 1990-1991 the UN Security Council passed resolutions demanding the disarmament of Iraq. We now know that Iraq complied. But the US and other major powers refused to believe Baghdad’s assertions or even documents in this regard.
One of the grounds that George W. Bush put forward for invading Iraq was precisely its failure to abide by those UN Security Council resolutions.
He actually represented the US not as acting unilaterally for narrow American purposes but as upholding the authority of the UNSC.
Robert McMahon at Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty wrote in 2002, “Expressing frustration and alarm, U.S. President George W. Bush says Iraq’s long defiance of United Nations disarmament resolutions has placed the UN’s credibility in question.”
So disobeying the UNSC according to Washington is so serious a matter that it could get you invaded and your government overthrown. I guess that’s not non-binding.

The only real sense in which UNSC Resolution 2728 is “non-binding” is not a legal one but a practical one. Since the US has a veto, if the UNSC tries to sanction Israel for its defiance, as it did Iraq, Iran and North Korea, the Biden administration would use its veto to protect the fascist government presently ruling Israel.
But that action is not high diplomacy, just arbitrary and disgusting partisanship that makes a mockery of international law and of ethical principles.

US sends more bombs and warplanes to Israel
while admitting ‘pain’ caused by Gaza war
The Arab Weekly, Saturday 30/03/2024

The US in recent days authorised the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, sources familiar with the effort told Reuters on Friday, even as it publicly expresses concerns about an anticipated Israeli military offensive in Rafah and the mounting casualty toll in Gaza.
The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, said the sources, who confirmed a report in the Washington Post.
[US president Joe] Biden on Friday acknowledged “the pain being felt” by many Arab Americans over the war in Gaza and over US support for Israel and its military offensive. Still, he has vowed continued support for Israel despite an increasingly public rift with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
The White House declined comment on the weapons transfers.

The package comes as Israel faces strong international criticism over its continued bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza and as some members of President Joe Biden’s party call for him to cut US military aid.
The United States has been rushing air defences and munitions to Israel, but some Democrats and Arab American groups have criticised the Biden administration’s continued support of Israel, which they say provides it with a sense of impunity.
The decision on weapons follows a visit to Washington by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant this week when he discussed Israel’s weapons needs with US counterparts.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Gallant, apparently seeking to cool US-Israeli tensions, said he stressed the importance of US ties to his country’s security and of maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge” in the region, including its air capabilities.
Many Muslims and Arabs in the United States have urged the Democratic president to call for a permanent ceasefire, stop the sale of weapons to Israel and use more leverage to protect civilian lives as a humanitarian crisis unfolds in Gaza...

Biden Won't Put Conditions on Military Aid to Israel
By Patsy Widakuswara, VOA, March 29, 2024

US President Joe Biden has steadily ramped up pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to allow more humanitarian aid and to rein in its offensive in the Gaza Strip. That includes increasingly public criticism of Israel and the recent U.S. abstention vote at the U.N. Security Council that allowed for a cease-fire resolution to pass.
However, Biden has stopped short of using what may be his strongest leverage — conditioning U.S. aid for Israel. The U.S. provides Israel with nearly $4 billion a year, most of it in the form of military assistance.
Lawmakers from his own party have voiced dissent. Both Senate and House Democrats have demanded that Biden comply with the Foreign Assistance Act and cut off military aid if Israel continues to block U.S. humanitarian aid to Gaza.
His constituents have signaled their outrage — hundreds of thousands voted "uncommitted" in Democratic primary elections in various states.
The latest polls show 75% of Democrats now disapprove of Israel's war conduct. Fifty-six percent of them say continuing to give military aid to Israel would make them less likely to support a presidential candidate.
Despite the political cost, Biden is steadfast in his support for Israel... On various occasions, Biden, who is of Irish Catholic descent, has proclaimed himself as a Zionist...
Biden has decades of personal relationship with Netanyahu, in 2010 calling him a "close, personal friend of over 33 years." However, as Netanyahu continues to go against U.S. goals in Gaza, many are questioning whether Biden's reliance on his relationship with the prime minister is helpful in finding an end to the war...


Biden says Netanyahu's approach to the war is a mistake
AP|Al-Ahram Weekly, Wednesday,10 Apr 2024

US President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza a mistake and called for his government to flood the beleaguered territory with aid, ramping up pressure on Israel to reach a ceasefire and widening a rift between the two staunch allies.


Israel at war (Gaza war 2023|24)

Biden has been an outspoken supporter of Israel’s war on Gaza since Oct. 7. But in recent weeks his patience with Netanyahu has appeared to be waning and his administration has taken a more stern line with Israel, rattling the countries’ decades-old alliance and deepening Israel's international isolation over the war.
The most serious disagreement has been over Israel’s plans for an offensive in the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah and the rift has spiraled since, worsened by an Israeli airstrike last week on an aid convoy, which killed seven workers with the food charity World Central Kitchen, most of them foreigners. Israel said the deaths were unintentional but Biden was outraged....
What he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. He was responding to being asked if Netanyahu is prioritizing his political survival over the national interest.
Biden said Israel should agree to a ceasefire, flood beleaguered Gaza with aid for the next six to eight weeks, and allow other countries in the region to help distribute the aid. “It should be done now,” he said.

Netanyahu has vowed to achieve “total victory” in the war, pledging to destroy Hamas' military and governing capabilities to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7 Al-Aqsa Flood Operation and to return the captives. He says that victory must include an offensive in Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last major stronghold, but more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are currently seeking shelter there.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for alleged corruption, is under pressure to decide on a postwar vision for Gaza. But critics say he is delaying because he doesn’t want to anger his ultranationalist governing partners, who support resettling the Gaza Strip, which Israel withdrew from in 2005 and an idea Netanyahu has ruled out.
Netanyahu's governing partners also oppose making significant concessions to Hamas in the ongoing negotiations. They have threatened to exit the government, a step that would cause the ruling coalition to collapse and trigger new elections.

The war has ignited a humanitarian catastrophe. Most of the territory’s population has been displaced and with vast swaths of Gaza’s urban landscape leveled in the fighting, many areas are uninhabitable.

Iran News
IRGC fires missiles, drones at Israeli positions in retaliatory attacks
IRNA News, Tehran, 14 april 2024

Iran on Saturday night and early Sunday launched hundreds of missiles and drones at key military sites in the Israeli-occupied territories in retaliation for the regime’s airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria that left seven military advisors dead on April 1.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has announced firing dozens of drones and missiles toward the positions of the Zionist regime in the occupied Palestinians territories.

Operation against Israel more successful than expected

Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the operation carried out by the force against the Israeli regime was more successful than expected.
Major General Hossein Salami said on Sunday that the IRGC had received reports showing that part of the weapons fired by the force toward the Israeli-occupied territories had directly hit their targets.
“Our information on all of the hits is not complete yet but on that part of the hits that we have accurate, documented and field-related reports show that this operation has been carried out with a success that exceeded the expectation,” said Salami.
He said that the IRGC was capable of carrying out a large operation against Israel but it opted for a more restricted and limited one to hit Israeli resources that had been used for an airstrike on an Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month which killed senior Iranian military commanders.
Salami said Iran has entered a new phase in its confrontation with Israel, adding that the country will respond from its own soil to any attack by Israel on Iranian interests, assets, notable people and citizens in any part of the world.

Ballistic missiles fired by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has targeted the Zionist regime’s Navatim Airbase, located in the south of the occupied territories.
The Israeli media have confirmed that several rockets were hit the Negev Desert where the base is located. Channel 14 had previously reported that some rockets also hit Arad, an area east of the city of Beersheba in the south of occupied Palestine, leaving several people injured at the site of the impact.
According, the Palestinian Shahab news agency, several missiles fired from Iran hit the Ramon Airport in the Negev, located in the south of occupied Palestine.

Chief of staff says Iran plans no more actions against Israel

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri says Iran has no intention of continuing the operation against Israel, and the operation has been concluded.
The operation was conducted because the Zionist regime had crossed Iran's red line and it was unacceptable, Baqeri said.
"The Zionist regime's act to target Iran's consulate in Damascus and to martyr the Iranian legal advisors who were present in that country upon the invitation of the Syrian government was crossing red lines that all countries except two or three supporters of the Zionist regime condemned," he added.
The senior general further said the Israeli offensive had to be responded to, and the Supreme Leader said this punishment must be done.
Earlier on Sunday, the IRGC issued the stern warning in a second statement... It warned the US against supporting and participating in any action that harms Iranian interests, promising a reciprocal and proportional response to American and Israeli threats originating from any country.

Five key points on Iran’s attack on Israeli regime

- First and foremost, the Iranian attack was the first direct confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the fake Zionist regime. For the first time ever, Iranian aircraft attacked enemies of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the skies over this site.
- The second point is that the Iranian military action displayed the Islamic Republic’s fulfillment of its promise to punish the aggressor.
- The third point is that the Islamic Republic’s attack on Israeli positions is the second strategic assault on the regime following the Palestinian Al-Aqsa Storm Operation on October 7. The Al-Aqsa Storm Operation increased the popularity of Palestinian resistance groups. The military action will significantly help increase popular support for Iran in the region.
- Fourth, the IRGC operation was carried out as world media outlets earlier reported the imminent occurrence of the attack. But, despite the Zionists’ expectation to be able to counter Iran's weapons, numerous images prove that Iranian drones and missiles successfully hit predetermined military targets.
- Fifth, the usage of hundreds of missiles and drones in the recent as well as the intensiveness of the punitive operation will likely make the authorities of the Zionist regime realize that any reaction or response to Tehran can pave the ground for even more devastating attacks by Iran against Israel.


David Friedman: Iran literally attacked the Al Aqsa Mosque
Yoni Kempinski, Arutz Sheva (voice of right wing Israel), Apr 14, 2024

Former US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman presented his "takeaways" to the massive Iranian attack and the response of Israel and its allies to the attack.
Friedman noted on social media that the attack against Israel, with more than 200 drones, cruise and ballistic missiles was "more aggressive and pervasive than expected".
The former Ambassador stated: "This is the time for Israel, the West and the moderate Sunni nations to unite against this evil, terrorist nation".
Friedman then later added: "The fact that Israel and its Allies obliterated Iran’s onslaught of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles doesn’t give Iran a free pass on its attempted murder on a mass scale. Iran needs to get a clear message that it cannot do this again".

Netanyahu, Empowered by Biden’s Grant of Impunity,
baits Iran into his genocidal Gaza War
Juan Cole, Ann Arbor, 04/14/2024

Despite all the hype about Iran’s largely symbolic barrage of over 200 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles, unleashed on the thinly populated Negev Desert (where it was mainly Palestinian Bedouin who were put in danger), the military significance of this action was minimal.
An Israeli base was hit at Dimona, which houses the country’s nuclear warheads, but the government said that the damage was minimal. Almost all of the projectiles were shot down, by the Jordanian and Israeli and American Air Forces, or by anti-missile missiles. The only casualty appears to be a 7-year-old Palestinian Bedouin girl, who was seriously injured by a falling missile.

Iran struck because Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on April 1 had the consular annex of the Iranian embassy in Damascus bombed, killing high-ranking Iranian officials, including Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and seven other officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Coprs (IRGC).
Those officials were there at the invitation of the Syrian government, and embassies are protected from military attack by the Vienna Convention.
Iran cited Article 51 of the United Nations Charter for its counter-strike on Israel, which guarantees states the right of self-defense. Embassies are considered national soil.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s clerical Leader, had said Wednesday at his Eid al-Fitr sermon: “The consulate and embassy institutions in any country are the soil of that country. The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished and will be punished.”
He added, “The events in Gaza showed the evil nature of Western civilization to the world. They killed thirty thousand defenseless people; aren’t these human? Do they not have rights?”

As many observers are pointing out, this very dangerous situation is caused by President Joe Biden’s mishandling of the Gaza crisis.
He should have cut Netanyahu off at the knees by January 1, once it became clear that the Israelis were implementing their notorious Amalek imperative, which implied genocide...
Biden, UK PM Rishi Sunak and other leaders could also have defused the deliberate provocation of Iran by Netanyahu by simply condemning the embassy attack of April 1 and defending the Vienna convention.
Again, the Iranian mission to the UN said this plainly:
“Had the UN Security Council condemned the Zionist regime’s reprehensible act of aggression on our diplomatic premises in Damascus and subsequently brought to justice its perpetrators, the imperative for Iran to punish this rogue regime might have been obviated.”
Instead, Biden and his allies declined to condemn Netanyahu’s action, continuing the North Atlantic insouciance toward Israeli war crimes and continuing the implementation of their double standard whereby International Humanitarian Law applies only to white people.


Russia claims Iranian attack was justified self-defense
Arutz Sheva News, Apr 14, 2024

The Russian foreign ministry defended Iran's massive drone and missile attack by Iran against Israel on Saturday night and called for all sides to "show restraint".
“We express our extreme concern over another dangerous escalation in the region," the ministry stated. “We call on all parties involved to exercise restraint.”
The Russian statement claimed that Iran's launching of drones and missiles at Israel fell within Iran's right to self-defense under the UN charter due to the assassination of a senior Iranian general in Damascus earlier this month in an airstrike Iran has blamed on Israel.
The foreign ministry blamed the UN Security Council's failure to act following the Damascus strike for the escalation of tensions in the Middle East over the last two weeks.
“We have repeatedly warned that the numerous unresolved crises in the Middle East, primarily in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, which are often fueled by irresponsible provocative actions, will lead to an increase in tension," the ministry said.

Wikipedia Info:
On 1 April 2024, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the Iranian consulate annex building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, killing 16 people, including a senior Quds Force commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and seven other IRGC officers. Two civilians were killed in the attack.
The airstrike took place during a period of heightened tension between Israel and Iran, and amidst the Israel–Hamas war and the Israel–Hezbollah conflict.
On 13 April 2024, Iran retaliated against the attack with missile and drone strikes against Israel.

Netanyahu Is Trying to Drag the U.S. Into War With Iran
And it looks as if Biden might let him.
James W. Carden, The American Conservative, Apr 14, 2024

The basic problem we confront in the Middle East today is that when it comes from Benjamin Netanyahu, there is nothing Joe Biden will not eat.
Biden has been the object of Bibi’s bullying for years. Netanyahu delighted in humiliating then–Vice President Biden on the latter’s trip to Israel in 2010, announcing on the day of his arrival a massive expansion of “settlements” in east Jerusalem.
At some point, one would think, it would become a question of self-respect, of manhood—for Biden to stand up to Netanyahu. But no....



flashback: saddam's death, page 151, 2019

Yet Biden is hardly alone among the American political and media class who assume the prone position when the Israeli Duce saunters into the room.
Of course, there was a time when American officials like Secretary of State James A. Baker were comfortable telling Bibi where to go. Even Bill Clinton, who slobbered over the Israel lobby, found Netanyahu so obnoxious that he reportedly snapped, “Who’s the f*cking superpower here?”
But that is long in the past.
Both the lobby and the Israeli government have long known that ol’ Joe marches in time to the tune they call.
At a fundraiser at a D.C. hotel in December, Biden told his donors, “We’re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process. Not a single thing.”
He’s been as good as his word.
Biden’s response to Netanyahu’s savagery has been to grant Israel carte blanche...


Libya News: What did Abdoulaye Bathily Achieve
during His Appointment as UN Envoy to Libya?
Libya Review, April 17, 2024

Since he was appointed the UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily has failed to persuade Libyan parties to agree and gather around a single table, and to create the conditions for elections throughout his 17-month tenure.
Bathily proposed multiple initiatives to resolve the Libyan crisis and conduct elections, but none of these initiatives saw the light of day or were implemented on the ground.

Yesterday (april 16), Tuesday, Bathily announced his resignation from his position as the UN envoy to Libya following his briefing to the UN Security Council, pointing out that under the current circumstances in Libya, the United Nations has no means to act successfully.
In his last briefing to the Security Council, Bathily stated that Libyan officials dominating the political scene prioritize their personal interests over the country’s interests, urging the Security Council to pressure them and force them to dialogue to settle differences.
Bathily described the positions of the political parties in Libya as rigid, saying, “The selfishness of Libyan leaders comes at the expense of the Libyans and must stop immediately,” adding that all his attempts “met with stubborn resistance, unrealistic demands, disregard for the interest of the Libyan people, and a desire to delay the elections indefinitely.”

Bathily is the eighth diplomat to hold the position of the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Libya since 2011, officially appointed in September 2022.
Bathily faced numerous criticisms from political leaders. He was not a consensus figure due to his bias towards the western camp represented by the Government of National Unity and the advisory State Council.

Erdogan sees ‘turning point’ in relations with Iraq
The Arab Weekly, Tuesday 23/04/2024

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said relations with Iraq were entering a new phase after the neighbours agreed to cooperate against Kurdish militants, boost economic ties via a new trade corridor and consider Iraq’s needs for access to scarce water.
Erdogan was in Iraq on a long-awaited visit, the first by a Turkish leader since 2011, following years of strained relations as Ankara ramped up cross-border operations against PKK militants based in mountainous, mainly Kurdish northern Iraq.
I shared my belief that the PKK’s presence in Iraq will end. We discussed the joint steps we can take against the terrorist organisation PKK and its extensions targeting Turkey,” Erdogan said at a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani in Baghdad.
“I believe that my visit and the agreements just signed will constitute a new turning point in Turkey-Iraq relations,” Erdogan said in a joint news conference with Sudani.

Erdogan had previously announced a major operation against the PKK during the summer, with the aim of “permanently” eradicating the threat it poses. He did not specify what actions Turkish forces would take in Iraq but they have in the past carried out numerous ground offensives against PKK in northern Iraq, while Turkish jets frequently target suspected PKK sites.
Ankara now aims to create a 30 to 40 kilometre deep security corridor along the joint border with Iraq, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler told journalists last month....
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday on his flight back from a visit to Iraq, Erdogan said Turkey’s battle with terrorism would continue in line with international law. He said he believed Iraq saw the need to eliminate the Kurdish PKK militia and that it had the will to do so...

Iraq and Turkey signed more than 20 MOUs during Erdogan’s one-day visit on everything from cultural and agricultural cooperation to education and health, a statement from Sudani’s office said.
Erdogan and Sudani also oversaw the signing of a four-way memorandum of understanding between Turkey, Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for joint cooperation on Iraq’s $17 billion Development Road project, with Qatari and Emirati ministers in attendance.
Launched last year, the 1,200 kilometre road and rail project aims to turn Iraq into a transit hub, connecting Asia and Europe with a link between Iraq’s Grand Faw Port in the oil-rich south and Turkey in the north.

After meetings in Baghdad, Erdogan was set to travel to Erbil, the provincial capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, for talks with Iraqi-Kurdish officials.
An oil pipeline running from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region to Turkey has been shut down since March 2023, after an arbitration court ruling ordered Ankara to pay Iraq $1.5 billion for oil exports that bypassed Iraq’s central government in Baghdad. The sharing of oil and gas revenues has long been a contentious issue between Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Erbil.

UNRWA closes HQ in east Jerusalem
after Israeli mob arson attack
Ahram Online, Friday 10 May 2024

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini announced late Thursday that the agency was closing its occupied east Jerusalem headquarters after the latest in a series of increasingly violent attacks by Israeli extremists attempted to burn the UNRWA headquarters in east Jerusalem.
Lazzarini announced its decision after posting on X that “Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied east Jerusalem.”
He said “This took place while UNRWA and other UN Agencies’ staff were on the compound. The lives of UN staff were at a serious risk.” Lazzarini said the compound would remain closed "until proper security is restored."
An Israeli mob chanted “Burn down the United Nations” as they besieged the HQ. The fire caused extensive damage to the outer areas of the building.

The recent attack on the UNRWA HQ comes after two months of violent protests by Israelis outside the compound.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack.. Jordan also issued a scathing condemnation of the attack, calling on Israel to “assume its responsibility as the occupying power in Jerusalem,” and end rampant attacks and harassment on aid agencies.
The Qatari foreign ministry decried the "systematic Israeli targeting of UNRWA," stating it was part of an attempt “to liquidate it (UNRWA) and deprive millions of Palestinians of its necessary services."
Saudi Arabia also condemned "the blatant attack by Israeli settlers," and maintained that "the Israeli occupation is responsible for the repeated crimes committed against unarmed civilians and workers in humanitarian and relief organizations."

In January, top donors to UNRWA, led by the US, suspended funding to the agency, following unsubstantiated claims by Israel that 19 UNRWA staffers had been involved in the 7 October attack.
At the time, Lazzarini argued that the true motive behind Israeli calls for the dismantling of UNRWA was not rooted in humanitarian principles but an attempt to end the refugee status of millions of Palestinians. He has maintained that Israel is waging a concerted campaign aimed at destroying the agency.
UNRWA is the largest aid organization in Gaza, employing around 13,000 staff in the Gaza Strip. an refugees.


Spain, Ireland to recognize
Palestinian state on May 21 — EU’s Borrell
Arab News, 10-5-2024

Spain, Ireland and other European Union member countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state on May 21, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said late on Thursday ahead of an expected UN vote on Friday on a Palestinian bid to become a full member.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take the first steps toward recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.
Asked on local Spanish radio station RNE if May 21 was when Spain, Ireland and other EU countries would recognize a Palestinian state, Borrell said yes, mentioning Slovenia as well.
“This is a symbolic act of a political nature. More than a state, it recognizes the will for that state to exist,” he said, adding that Belgium and other countries would probably follow.

Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.
On Friday the United Nations General Assembly is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the UN Security Council to “reconsider the matter favorably.”
Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.

UNGA votes in favor of Palestine's full membership
by Reuters|Daily Sabah, May 10, 2024

The U.N. General Assembly approved a vote on Palestine's bid to become a full member of the global body, recommending the Security Council to "reconsider the matter favorably."BR> The assembly adopted a resolution on Friday with 143 votes in favor and nine against - including the U.S. and Israel - while 25 countries abstained. It does not give the Palestinians full U.N. membership, but simply recognizes them as qualified to join.

Shredding of the United Nations Charter by Gilad Erdan
"We want peace, we want freedom," Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the General Assembly before the vote. "A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state.... It is an investment in peace.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who spoke after Mansour, accused the Assembly of shredding the U.N. Charter - as he used a small shredder to destroy a copy of the Charter while at the lectern. "Shame on you," Erdan said.
The ambassador said on Monday that, if the measure was approved, he expected the U.S. to cut funding to the United Nations and its institutions...

An application to become a full U.N. member first needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly. If the measure is again voted on by the council it is likely to face the same fate: a U.S. veto...
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012.


UAE hits out at Netanyahu:
We won’t serve as cover for Israeli occupation
Arab Weekly, 12-5-2024

The United Arab Emirates hit out at Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday after the Israeli leader said the Gulf state could be involved in aiding a future government in Gaza after the war.
The prominent and influential Gulf state, is one of few Arab states with official diplomatic ties to Israel, which it has maintained through Israel’s more than six-month war in Gaza, although relations appear to have become frayed.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan rebuked Netanyahu in an early morning post on X, saying Abu Dhabi denounced the Israeli leader’s comments.
“The UAE stresses that the Israeli prime minister does not have any legal capacity to take this step, and the UAE refuses to be drawn into any plan aimed at providing cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip,” he said in an Arabic post.
Sheikh Abdullah said the UAE would be prepared to support a Palestinian government that met the hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people, which he said included independence.

Prominent members of Netanyahu’s cabinet reject the idea of an independent Palestinian state and Netanyahu has said Israel would need to maintain security control of Gaza after the war.
The UAE has frequently criticised Israel over the war and the high civilian death toll, though it has asserted that diplomatic ties have allowed it to get aid into the Gaza Strip.

Iran News - Khamenei: "Kurds are one of us"
Tehran Times, May 11, 2024

In a meeting with Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani, Spiritual leader Ali Khamenei emphasized the close bonds between Iran and the Kurdish communities outside the country.
"We consider the relations between us and the Kurdish community, both in Iran and Iraq, to be closer than those with any other nation," Ayatollah Khamenei stated. "They (Kurds) are one of us," he told Barzani.
President Barzani, in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian later that day, praised his productive and problem-solving encounter with Ayatollah Khamenei.He acknowledged Iran's unwavering support for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and praised the role of the late anti-terror icon, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in regional security.
"Since we believe Iran's security is tied to the security of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, the Kurdish region will never be a point of threat against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Barzani emphasized.
He also highlighted the progress made in implementing the security agreement between Iran and Iraq, an expressed the Kurdistan Region's commitment to its full implementation.


Iranians vote in parliamentary run-off
in vote dominated by hard-liners
The Arab Weekly, Friday 10/05/2024

Iranians went to the polls on Friday in a run-off election for the remaining seats in the country’s parliament after hard-line politicians dominated the March ballot.
Voters in 22 constituencies across the country will elect 45 representatives from a pool of 90 candidates, 15 of whom are considered moderate.
In the March election, hard-liners won 200 out of 245 seats, with more moderate candidates taking the other 45.
A total of 25 million ballots were cast, for a turnout of just under 41 percent. The previous lowest turnout was 42 percent in the 2020 parliamentary election.
Politicians calling for change in the country’s government, known broadly as reformists, were generally barred from running in the election.
Those calling for radical reforms or for abandoning Iran’s theocratic system were also banned or did not bother to register as candidates.

Cairo to Support ICJ case as Israel’s Rafah offensive
ratchets up tensions with Egypt
Arab Weekly, Monday 13/05/2024

Egypt on Sunday said it would intervene in support of South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, citing the growing scale of Israel’s operations in Gaza and their impact on civilians.
The move highlights the growing tensions between the two neighbours as the Israeli operation in border town Rafah tests long-term agreements and security cooperation. It also further strains US-Israeli relations.
Egypt on Sunday said its move to back the case comes “in light of the worsening severity and scope of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip”, according to a foreign ministry statement.
It further pointed to Israel’s systematic “targeting of civilians and destruction of infrastructure” and “pushing Palestinians into displacement and expulsion”.

Pretoria had brought its case to the ICJ in December, calling on the UN court to order Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza.
Hamas expressed its “appreciation” to Egypt in a statement on Sunday evening, calling on “all countries around the world to take similar steps in support of the Palestinian cause by joining the lawsuit”.
South Africa asked the court on Friday to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures in an ongoing case that accuses Israel of acts of genocide.

At the same time, Minister Sameh Shoukry sought to calm worries over the future of the peace deal.
“The peace agreement with Israel has been Egypt’s strategic choice for 40 years, and it represents a core pillar of peace in the region for peace and stability,” he said adding, without going into details, that there are mechanisms for adjudicating violations of the agreement.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and has acted as a key mediator between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, including in the current war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated opposition to a major military assault on Rafah, and told CBS that Israel would “be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency” without an exit from Gaza and postwar governance plan.
An all-out Israeli offensive on the Gaza city of Rafah would provoke “anarchy” without eliminating Hamas, he said.
Separately, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan emphasised Washington’s concerns about an offensive in a call with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi.
Israaeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting until victory..


Palestinians mark 1948 'Nakba' anniversary
as Gaza endures Israeli genocide
Yasmine Osama Farag, Ahram online, 15 May 2024

Since 7 October 2023, Israel has killed more than 35,000 and wounded nearly 80,000 (five percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population) - most of whom were children and women. Thousands of dead bodies remain buried under the rubble. Israeli airstrikes destroyed most residential buildings, schools, and hospitals in the strip.
More than 80 percent of the civilian population in the strip has been displaced - many several times.
UN agencies say 550,000 people, nearly a quarter of Gaza's population, have been newly displaced in just the last week as Israeli forces pushed into the southern city of Rafah.

The sight of desperate families carrying their scant belongings through the ruins of war-scarred cities in Gaza evoked memories of the bloody events of 1948 when Zionist militias expelled 80 percent of Palestinians from their historic homeland.
"Your Independence Day is our catastrophe," protesters chanted in Israel on the eve of Nakba Day at a rally joined by many Arab-Israelis, according to AFP.
Arab-Israelis are descendants of Palestinians who were not expelled by Zionist militias in the 1948 war and now live as a second-class minority in Israel.

During the Nakba of 1948 that led to the establishment of today’s Israel, Zionist forces took more than 78 percent of historic Palestine, ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 villages and cities, and killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres.
The refugees and their descendants number some 6 million and live in built-up refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In Gaza, refugees are the majority of the population, with most families having been expelled from what is now central and southern Israel.

In a statement marking Nakba, Hamas said: "The ongoing suffering of millions of refugees inside Palestine and in the diaspora is directly attributed to the Zionist occupation."


Democrats Fracture Over Republican Bill
Forcing Weapon Shipment to Israel
by Kyle Anzalone | Libertarian Institute, May 15, 2024

Democrats in Congress are breaking with President Joe Biden and preparing to support a Republican bill that will force the White House to ship 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. Biden has threatened to veto the legislation.
Last week, for the first time since October 7, President Biden placed some conditions on US military support to Israel. He informed CNN that if Israel attacked population centers in Rafah, the White House would withhold some munitions from Tel Aviv. US officials confirmed to the Washington Post that one shipment of bombs has been suspended.

While restricting the arms marks a shift in Biden’s Israel policy, it appears to have little impact on Tel Aviv’s ability to wage war in Gaza.
Israeli forces have conducted attacks throughout Rafah, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, but the White House says the operations do not violate Biden’s red line.
Additionally, Israeli officials say they have all the munitions needed to destroy Rafah, and Washington is already moving ahead on a separate arms package worth more than $1 billion containing tank shells, mortar rounds and other weapons.

Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew explained that the US did not have a real disagreement with Israel and that the relationship between the two nations had not fundamentally changed.
“Just to be clear, we’re providing an enormous amount of aid. It’s increased since October 7. And even this week, as everyone’s focusing on the decision to just delay, to hold one set of munitions, everything else keeps flowing,” Lew said.


Iran News: Pres. Raeisi, FM Amir-Abdollahian,
companions die in chopper crash
Press TV [Iran] Monday, 20 May 2024

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have died in a helicopter crash in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.
The helicopter carrying President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation crashed on Sunday in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azarbaijan Province.
It was transporting Raeisi, Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, Friday Prayers leader of the city of Tabriz Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem and a member of the president’s bodyguard team Mahdi Mousavi. The helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot and crew were also among others on board the chopper.

President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation were returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
Following the announcement of the martyrdom of Raeisi and his team, the cabinet held an emergency session headed by Vice President Mohammad Mokhber.
Ayatollah Khamenei on Sunday said the nation should not be worried or anxious, because “there will be no disruption to the work of the country.”

Profile: Mohammad Mokhber,
who will serve as Iran's interim president
Press TV, Monday, 20 May 2024

Following the tragic death of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran, the first vice president has taken charge as the interim president.
Mohammad Mokhber, who served as President Raeisi’s first deputy since 2021, has taken over as the acting president for 50 days, in line with the constitutional requirement.
Holding a PhD in international law, Mokhber was born in the city of Dezful in the southern province of Khuzestan in 1955. He rose through the ranks to assume important social and political roles.
Due to Mokhber’s years of experience in top managerial roles, especially as the president of the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), also known as Setad, he was an automatic choice as Raeisi’s executive deputy.

Wikipedia info:
The Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), also known as the Executive Headquarters of Imam's Directive or simply Setad, is a parastatal organization under direct control of the Supreme Leader of Iran.
It was created from thousands of properties confiscated in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini originally ordered three of his aides to take care of and distribute the confiscated property to charity.
The organization was launched on April 26, 1989, when the first Supreme Leader of Iran, "The Imam" Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a two-paragraph order... The order called for the implementation of Article 49 of Constitution of Iran under which the government had the right to confiscate all wealth accumulated through illegal means, restore "it to its legitimate owners"; and if those owners could not be identified, entrust it "to the public treasury".
Khomeini died about a month after giving his order, and the organization did not disband but developed and grew for more than two decades, under the second Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Generally, Setad has consisted of two main foundations: the Barakat Foundation that "has the duty of eliminating poverty and empowering poor communities" and Tadbir Economic Development Group to "set up an investment management firm".

Ali Bagheri: foreign minister (20-5-2024)

The spokesperson for the Iranian government, Ali Bahadori Jahromi announced that Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri was appointed as acting foreign minister of Iran, following the martyrdom of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a helicopter crash.
He has been a diplomat since 1990. He was Deputy Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council from 2007 to 2013 and currently serves as advisor at the council. He is the son of Mohammad-Bagher Bagheri, a former member of the Assembly of Experts.
Bagheri is considered close to Iran's ultraconservatives and a member of the inner circle of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the father-in-law of Bagheri's brother.

Dignitaries from over 50 countries in Tehran
for funeral of Raeisi, companions
Press TV [Iran], Wednesday, 22 May 2024

Dignitaries from dozens of countries have arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran to take part in funeral ceremonies held for late President Ebrahim Raeisi and companions who were martyred in a helicopter crash northwest of the country over the weekend.
The official IRNA news agency said that nearly 68 senior officials from more than 50 countries and several international organizations attended an official ceremony at the Iran International Conference Center in Tehran to pay respect to the bodies of President Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other people martyred in the helicopter crash.
The delegations included 10 heads of state and 20 ministers as well as parliament speakers and special representatives dispatched by foreign governments to attend the ceremony.

Kurdish leaders attend Raisi funeral in Tehran
Rudaw News [Kurdistan Region] 22-5-2024

A top delegation from the Kurdistan Region visited Tehran on Wednesday to attend the funeral processions of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions who lost their lives in a helicopter crash earlier this week.
The delegation, including President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, visited Tehran to pay their respects to Raisi and several top Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who were killed on Sunday after their helicopter crashed in a rugged, mountainous region in East Azerbaijan province.
Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani and Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed were also among the Kurdish delegation which flew from Erbil.
“The delegation extended their condolences to the leadership, government, and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the family and friends of the late President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions,” said a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.

Iran's interim president pledges
Tehran's full support for resistance axis, Syria
Press TV, Thursday, 23 May 2024

Interim Iranian President Mohammad Mokhber assures the Syrian leader that Tehran will continue its full support for the resistance axis, particularly Syria.
Mokhber made the remarks in a phone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday as the latter offered his condolences to the Iranian government...
Mokhber thanked Syria's move to declare three days of mourning and the presence of the country's prime minister and his accompanying delegation in Tehran to take part in the funeral processions held for the Iranian martyrs."Syria is a strategic partner and a constant friend of the Iranian nation," he added...
The Syrian president, for his part, said he was eager to express his condolences to Ayatollah Khamenei in person and added that he will travel to Tehran as soon as possible.


Norway, Ireland and Spain
recognize a Palestinian state in a historic move
AP|Ahram online, Wednesday 22 May 2024

It was a lightning cascade of announcements. First was Norway, whose Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said “There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.”
Gahr Støre said the Scandinavian country will officially recognize a Palestinian state as of May 28. “By recognizing a Palestinian state, Norway supports the Arab peace plan,” he said.
“Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state.”, the Norwegian government leader said. The Scandinavian country “will therefore regard Palestine as an independent state with all the rights and obligations that entails,” Gahr Støre said.

The development comes more than 30 years after the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993.
Since then, “the Palestinians have taken important steps towards a two-state solution,” the Norwegian government said. It said that the World Bank determined that a Palestinian state had met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, and that national institutions have been built up to provide the population with important services.
“The war in Gaza and the constant expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still means that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades,” the Norwegian government said.

Also Wednesday, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris made his announcement, saying it was a move coordinated with Spain and Norway, “a historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine.” He said the move was intended to help move the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to resolution through a two-state solution.
The Irish prime minister said he thinks other countries will join Norway, Spain and Ireland in recognizing a Palestinian state “in the weeks ahead.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that his country will recognize a Palestinian state also on May 28. Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist leader since 2018, made the expected announcement to the nation’s Parliament on Wednesday.
Sánchez has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state, as well as a possible ceasefire in Gaza. He has said several times that he was committed to the move.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered Israel’s ambassadors from Ireland and Norway to immediately return to Israel... He also threatened to recall Israel’s ambassador to Spain if the country takes a similar position.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state and called on other countries to follow.

Egypt's former foreign minister Amr Moussa
urged all EU nations to recognize the State of Palestine.
Ahram Online Thursday 23 May 2024

“I call on the European Union countries to get out of the cage and promptly recognize an independent and effective Palestinian state,” Moussa wrote on X on Thursday.
Moussa urged the Arab League to formally address the African Union, European Union, and the Organization of American States to recognize the Palestinian state, saying “Let’s strike while the iron is hot.”
He said the recognition of the Palestine state by three European countries (Norway, Ireland, and Spain) represents a relaunch of the peace process in the Middle East from a true perspective: the state first, then its details.

Amr Moussa, who served as Egypt’s foreign minister from 1991 to 2001 and who was the secretary-general of the Arab League for the following decade, stressed that the right of the establishment of the Palestinian state is non-negotiable.
He admitted that the matter is not that easy, as Israel rejects the establishment of Palestinian statehood and receives support from the United States: “This means giving Israel the right to veto against the establishment of the state, so this must be exposed globally.”
In April, the United States used its veto power in the UN Security Council to block a Palestinian effort to achieve full UN membership.


Israeli far-right minister ‘visits’ Jerusalem site
in new provocative act after Europeans’ move
The Arab Weekkly, Thursday 23/05/2024

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Wednesday in what he described as a protest against the recognition of a Palestinian state by three European countries.
It was the latest provocative act by an ultranationalist settler leader who has transformed himself over the decades from an outlaw into one of Israel’s most influential politicians, although still an extremist by any standard.
Ben-Gvir toured the contested hilltop compound that is home to the Al Aqsa Mosque to denounce a decision from Spain, Ireland and Norway to recognise a Palestinian state.
Ben-Gvir said he wanted to make a statement “from the holiest place for the people of Israel, which belongs only to the state of Israel.”
In his cabinet post, Ben-Gvir oversees the country’s police force. He has used his influence to push forward pet projects and encourage Netanyahu to press ahead with the war in Gaza against widespread calls to reach a ceasefire deal that would bring home hostages.
The rise of Ben-Gvir, 48, reflects a rightward shift in the Israeli electorate that brought his religious, ultranationalist ideology into the mainstream and diminished hopes for Palestinian independence.


Erdoğan says ‘barbarian’ Netanyahu must be stopped
by Daily Sabah {Turkey] Jun 02, 2024

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday had fresh insults for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Tel Aviv keeps pounding the blockaded Gaza Strip.
This barbarian called Netanyahu, who is dragging our region, whole world into disaster, must be stopped,” Erdoğan told his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lawmakers at a consultation meeting.
Erdoğan convened the party’s Central Decision Making and Administrative Committee in Ankara for a three-day camp to discuss Türkiye’s stance on the Palestinian cause amid Israel’s war on Gaza and a road map to the 2028 local elections.
“Türkiye objects to the persecution, massacres, and injustice going on for 76 years on every platform. We stand by Palestinian people with all our means,” he said.
The Turkish leader has been a virulent critic of Israel, has met Hamas leaders and welcomes the Palestinian resistance group as a liberation movement, unlike the majority of the Western world.
More than 36,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel’s deadly offensive on Gaza since last Oct. 7 following a Hamas attack. The majority of those killed have been women and children, with over 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities. Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.

Netanyahu’s office on Friday rejected a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages, despite U.S. calls to accept it and reiterated his intention to continue his deadly offensive in Gaza until all of Tel Aviv's war goals are achieved.
On the fight against terrorism, Erdoğan said: "Türkiye cannot find peace or feel secure until the terror-producing swamps in northern Iraq and Syria are drained."
He was referring to the PKK terrorist group that operates a stronghold in northern Iraq’s Qandil region close to the Turkish border and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG, which has occupied the country’s northeastern regions with U.S. support since 2015.
The PKK has led an insurgency in Türkiye since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands of people.


The War Criminal Netanyahu
Should Not be Invited to Address Congress
by Bernie Sanders, CounterPunch, 3-6-2024

It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited – by leaders from both parties – to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
Israel, of course, had the right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7th, but it did not, and does not, have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people.

Israel does not have the right to kill more than 34,000 civilians and wound over 80,000 – 5% of the population of Gaza. It does not have the right to orphan 19,000 children. It does not have the right to displace 75% of the people of Gaza from their homes. It does not have the right to damage or destroy over 60% of the housing in Gaza. It does not have the right to destroy the civilian infrastructure of Gaza, to obliterate water and sewage systems, and deny electricity to the people of Gaza. It does not have the right to annihilate Gaza’s health care system, knocking 26 hospitals out of service and killing more than 400 health care workers. It does not have the right to bomb all 12 of Gaza’s universities and 56 of its schools, or deny 625,000 children in Gaza the opportunity for an education.
It most certainly does not have the right to block humanitarian aid – food and medical supplies – from coming in to the desperate people of Gaza, creating the conditions for starvation and famine. It does not have the right to condemn hundreds of thousands of children to death by starvation. This is a clear violation of American and international law.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend.

Bernie Sanders is a US Senator, and the ranking member of the Senate budget committee. He represents the state of Vermont.

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