Saddam's Death, 207 [august-sept 2024]
attempt to destroy political holism in the middle east

See also: Page 206: june-july 2024 and Page 208: oct-nov 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 - Israel's Knesset overwhelmingly rejects Palestinian statehood - The West Bank is completely missing


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

Do not hate the individuals who do evil, hate only the evil deed itself
Saddam Hussein, Last Will, 26-12-2006

(Quran 25: 72) As a general rule the servants of Merciful God remain away from all kind of absurdities
and would bypass nonsense with dignity

O brothers and great people, I call on you to preserve the ideals that made you worthy of being believers, of being the bright lamp of civilization, and of belonging to the land that gave birth to the father of prophets, Abraham, and also of other prophets. These ideals have made you the bearer of the official and authentic greatness...
I call on you not to hate the peoples of the countries that have committed aggression on us. I call on you to distinguish between the decision-makers and the people.
Hate only the deed. Even if someone's deeds deserve to be fought and combated, do not hate him as a human being. Do not hate the individuals who do evil, hate only the evil deed itself, and repel that evil as it deserves.
Firmness is a must whenever necessary. However, in order that firmness is acceptable to the people and the nation, it ought to be on the basis of the law, and to be fair and just, and not aggressive and based on malice or illegitimate ambitions.


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)

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei formally endorses
Masoud Pezeshkian as Iran’s new president.
PressTV [Iran] Monday, 29 July 2024

High-ranking dignitaries from different countries have arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran to take part in President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony.
Pezeshkian, Iran’s ninth president since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, formally began his four-year mandate on Sunday when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed his victory in the second round of the presidential vote on July 5.
During the endorsement ceremony, Pezeshkian vowed to follow “the path of fairness and justice,” serve the people and address their problems, adding that these tasks would be “impossible without sticking to the law and unity.”
In a speech, Ayatollah Khamenei praised Pezeshkian as a “competent president,” saying, “We all have to help him and his government do great jobs.”
In a decree, giving his official approval for Pezeshkian, Khamenei said the new Iranian president was a “wise, honest, popular, and scholarly” person.


Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian faces reform dilemma
K-Y Oweis & Lizzie Porter, The National, 30 July, 2024

Hardly a day goes by in Iran without its incoming President Masoud Pezeshkian updating the country on progress in forming his new cabinet. His overwhelmingly reformist candidates for ministers have already riled conservatives who were defeated in the presidential poll last month.
So far, he has appointed Mohammed Reza Aref, an aide to former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, as his First Vice President while Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator, is expected to become Foreign Minister.

Mr Pezeshkian is the latest in a line of political figures who have pledged to bring social and political change to Iran, while staying clear of directly challenging the limits of the theocracy that replaced Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s reign after the 1979 revolution.
A turnout rate of 50 per cent in the presidential elections indicated mass dissatisfaction with the system, and the reformist movement has been beleaguered by clampdowns and internal disputes that have undermined its credibility.
“The golden era of the reformists was during Mr Khatami’s era and at no other time have they been able to repeat it,” said conservative Iranian commentator Mohammed Mohajeri.
“The reformists have not been able to return to their golden era – and the possibility of them doing so is not very high.”

Mr Khatami, a cleric who left power after his second term expired in 2005, espoused non-violence. He was the driving force behind the decision to open up the political space, including the move to allow political parties and organisations not linked to the government.
Mr Pezeshkian was health minister at the time. His ability to effect change will remain checked by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a council under his control, with de facto veto power on who can hold office.
“Most people are not very hopeful,” said a Tehran resident. “Now, we will have to see if, in the next four years, they [the reformists] can change people’s minds. Of course, that’s going to be hard.”

Flashback - Khatami 2004:
Dialogue among civilizations

"I am happy (the initiative of) dialogue among civilizations has been welcomed by university professors and students," Mohammad Khatami said after delivering a speech at Yerevan State University.
Human beings faced war, grudge, terror and two world wars over the past century and terrorism also was expanded in the world, he added.
He noted that dialogue among civilizations seeks the rule of justice in the world and direct human life towards peace.
"Although the idea of dialogue among civilizations was put forward in 2001 [..] warmongers filled the world with war and occupation under the pretext of campaign against terrorism.
"But human conscience is against such actions," Khatami said. (IRNA, 9-9-2004)

Jesus & the Chief Inspector
President Khatami's Address to Seton Hall University

Our call to Dialogue among Civilizations is an invitation to replace the discourse of violence and hostility with a discourse of mutual understanding and reason. Any dialogue among civilizations and cultures is incumbent upon taking into consideration the most fundamental cultural and civilizational element, that is religion, beyond historical prejudice and fanaticism.
In such a dialogue, we should emphasize bright points of essential concordance, and leave aside divisive issues, which derive not from the essence of religions but only from historical factional conditions and only when fanaticism prevails over fairness.
One cannot but wonder in bewilderment at the insurmountable gap between Jesus Christ who was all for love, beauty, freedom and compassion on the one hand, and the appalling character of a cardinal who sides with Satan and whom Dostoyevsky mockingly calls "the Chief Inspector" in his Brothers Karamazov. (Seton Hall University 2001)

The Grand Inquisitor

In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us:
Make us your slaves, but feed us.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Grand Inquisitor

The Grand Inquisitor is a parable told by Ivan to his brother Alyosha in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879 1880). The Grand Inquisitor is an important part of the novel and one of the best-known passages in modern literature because of its ideas about human nature and freedom, and because of its fundamental ambiguity.
In the tale, Christ comes back to earth in Seville at the time of the Inquisition. He performs a number of miracles (echoing miracles from the Gospels). The people recognize him and adore him, but he is arrested by Inquisition leaders and sentenced to be burnt to death the next day. The Grand Inquisitor visits him in his cell to tell him that the Church no longer needs him. The main portion of the text is devoted to the Inquisitor explaining to Jesus why his return would interfere with the mission of the Church.

The Inquisitor frames his denunciation of Jesus around the three questions Satan asked Jesus during the temptation of Christ in the desert. These three are the temptation to turn stones into bread, the temptation to cast Himself from the Temple and be saved by the angels, and the temptation to rule over all the kingdoms of the world.
The Inquisitor states that Jesus rejected these three temptations in favor of freedom, but the Inquisitor thinks that Jesus has misjudged human nature. He does not believe that the vast majority of humanity can handle the freedom which Jesus has given them. ...
The Inquisitor says that under him, all mankind will live and die happily in ignorance. Though he leads them only to "death and destruction," they will be happy along the way. ...
The segment ends when Christ, who has been silent throughout, kisses the Inquisitor on his "bloodless, aged lips" instead of answering him.
On this, the Inquisitor releases Christ but tells him never to return. (Wikipedia info)

Hamas leader assassinated in Iran
Egypt condemns Israeli escalation,
warns against assassinations' repercussions
Ahram Online , Wednesday 31 Jul 2024


People hold up the Palestinian flag and a portrait of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh Hamas chief during a rally at Tehran University, in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, 2024, as Iran declares three days of mourning. AFP
Egypt condemned Wednesday the recent serious Israeli escalations in the Middle East, warning against the impact of assassinations, violations of national sovereignty, and the potential for increased conflict in the region.
Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed in a statement concerns that such actions could drag the region to severe security implications.
Egypt urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and key international players to take responsibility for halting this dangerous escalation in the Middle East.
The ministry further emphasized the need to prevent the security situation in the region from spiralling out of control and to end such provocative actions.
Furthermore, Egypt noted that the timing of this regional escalation, alongside stalled ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, complicates the situation.
This indicates a lack of Israeli political willingness towards de-escalation and undermines the tireless efforts by Egypt and its allies to stop the war in Gaza and end the humanitarian suffering of the Palestinian people, the ministry's statement read.

Early Wednesday, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in an Israeli strike in Iran, where he had been attending the inauguration of the country's new president.
According to Iranian media, Haniyeh was killed in a special residence in northern Tehran after being hit by an aerial projectile in the early hours of Wednesday.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said the attack is under investigation and the results will be announced later. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed to make Israel "regret" the "cowardly" killing of Haniyeh in Tehran.
Israel did not comment on the death, but many countries have warned that it will have a major impact on efforts to bring a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Hours earlier, Israel carried out a rare strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut that it said killed the top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur.

Haniyeh "will be given an official and public funeral ceremony in the Iranian capital, Tehran, tomorrow," Hamas said in a statement, explaining his body would be transported to the Qatari capital later the same day.
It said funeral prayers will be held at Imam Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab Mosque, Doha's largest mosque, after Friday prayers, with the burial carried out at a cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital.
The Hamas statement added the ceremony in Doha would be held "with popular and factional attendance and the participation of Arab and Islamic leaders".

"Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president," Hamas said in a statement.
He was attacked at a residence in Tehran using an “airborne guided projectile,” state-run news agency IRNA said. The attack occurred around 2 a.m. local time.

See also: Israel at war (Gaza War 2023|24)


Hezbollah congratulates Sinwar as new Hamas political chief
by Naharnet Newsdesk [Lebanon], 7-8-2024


hamas leaders

Hamas ally Hezbollah on Tuesday congratulated Yahya Sinwar on his selection as the Palestinian militant group's new political chief following the killing last week of his predecessor Ismail Haniyeh.
Sinwar's appointment affirms that "the enemy... has failed to achieve its objectives" by killing Hamas leaders and officials, a Hezbollah statement said.
It is also "a strong message" to Israel, the United States and allies that "the Hamas movement is united in its decision, solid in its principles, firm in its important choices, and determined" to continue on the path of resistance, the statement added.
Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israel since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel that triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
The heavily armed Lebanese movement says it is acting in support of Gazans and Hamas with its attacks, and that only a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory will put an end to its cross-border fire.

Hezbollah is the most prominent member of the "axis of resistance" of Iran-backed regional armed groups opposed to Israel and the United States. The grouping also includes Hamas, Iraqi movements and Yemen's Houthi rebels.
"The axis of resistance is waging a heroic and historic battle on a number of fronts at a sensitive time on the regional level as part of support and assistance to the oppressed Palestinian people," the Hezbollah statement said....
The Israeli military and officials accuse Sinwar of being one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack on Israel, making him one of Israel's most wanted militants.

Trump: Kamala Harris VP pick 'very insulting to Jewish people'
by Taboola, Arutz Sheva [voice of right wing Israel], Aug 7, 2024

Former US President Donald Trump criticized his presumptive Deemocratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, over her choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, calling the pick "insulting to Jewish people."
“This is a shocking pick. And I think it’s very insulting to Jewish people, and I think it’s very insulting to people that want security. I think it’s very insulting to anything having to do with making America great again," Trump said in an interview with Fox & Friends on Wednesday.
“If you look at his record with no walls, no security, let everybody in," Trump said of Walz. "He’s worse than they are. You know, nobody knew how radical left she was, but he’s a smarter version of her, if you want to know the truth.
He’s probably about the same as Bernie Sanders, he’s probably more so than Bernie Sanders, she is more so than Bernie Sanders. That’s got to be your guide, Bernie Sanders, and it’s not a great guide,”

According to Trump, "There’s never been a ticket like this. This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately, if not sooner.”
"She is not nearly as good as the people she was looking at," Trump said of Harris. "She’s the worst of the group, and she is the one that’s leading it.
Look at this decision, this is a really bad decision for the country. You know, ultimately I want the country to have good decisions because ultimately what we want is for the country to do well. But the country can’t do well with these two people, they’re very similar.”

Flashback 2019
Trump says US recognizes Israeli control of Golan Heights
AP|Ahram online, Thursday 21 Mar 2019

President Donald Trump said Thursday that it's time for the United States to recognize Israel's control over the disputed Golan Heights, an announcement that signals a shift in U.S. policy and comes ahead of the Israeli prime minister's planned visit next week to the White House.
The administration has been considering recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967. Last week, in its annual human rights report, the State Department dropped the phrase "Israeli-occupied'' from the Golan Heights section, instead calling it ``Israeli-controlled.''
"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!'', Trump tweeted.
Minutes later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his appreciation.
"At a time when Iran seeks to use Syria as a platform to destroy Israel, President Trump boldly recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Thank you President Trump!''

"You could imagine what would have happened if Israel were not in the Golan," the Israeli prime minister said. "You would have Iran on the shores of the Sea of Galilee."
Richard Haass, a former senior State Department official who is president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a tweet he strongly disagreed with Trump's Golan decision. He said the move violates UN Security Council resolution 242, "which rules out acquiring territory by war and serves Israel as it says all states have right 2 live in peace."

Trump's announcement came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Jerusalem, lauding warm ties with Israel and promising to step up pressure on Iran. Pompeo's words gave a public boost to the Israeli leader at the height of a tight re-election campaign....


Israel-Palestine conflict
Israel’s Netanyahu calls occupied West Bank ‘part of our homeland’
By Al Jazeera Staff, 8 Aug 2024

Less than a month after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and must end “as rapidly as possible”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country will not relinquish control over the occupied West Bank.


netanyahu's visit to samaria (occupied west-bank)

“It’s part of our homeland. We intend to stay there,”anyahu said of the occupied Palestinian land in an interview with TIME Magazine, published on Thursday.
The Israeli prime minister also reiterated his opposition to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, suggesting that hesupports limited self-rule for the Palestinians while Israel maintains security control over the occupied territory…
While the Palestinian Authority has some administrative powers in the West Bank, the territory is actually ruled by Israel, which controls its security, airspace, ports of entry and planning policy.
The Israeli government is also partly responsible for tax collection and the economy in the West Bank. And it has an alternative judicial system for Palestinians in the territory through its military courts.
Leading human rights groups have accused Israel of imposing a system of apartheid against Palestinians in occupied territory.

In his interview with TIME, Netanyahu also said Israel will push on with the war in Gaza until it destroys Hamas’s military capabilities and makes sure the Palestinian group does not run Gaza in the future.
Netanyahu suggested that some Arab countries would help create Palestinian governance in Gaza after Hamas is defeated.
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara dismissed Netanyahu’s plans as “dreaming”.
“Certainly, no Arab partner is going to step in without the Palestinian Authority being in charge in Gaza,” Bishara said. “And having said all of that, we have no clue what’s going to be happening in Gaza next because clearly Hamas is not about to give up any inch of Gaza, and certainly they’re not about to lose the war.”


Flashback: The young generation of Jewish Americans,
find it very hard to identify with Netanyahu's Israel
Tzipi Shmilovich, YNet News Opinion, 08.07.2020

Until the beginning of the 21st century, support for Israel was a mainstream idea among not only American Jewry, but across political lines.
The real change came during the last decade, mainly with the current generation who started to see the world differently.
Most young American Jews grew up on the ideals of liberalism and reformed Judaism, object to any kind of discrimination and stand firmly for social justice.
These young men and women look at today's Israel – the Nation-State Law, the disagreement over egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall, opposition to a ban on gay conversion therapy, politicians calling for satirical shows to be taken off the air, girls being sent home from school because their trousers were too short – and they find it hard to see the values they were told the Jewish state stands for...
Another issue influencing young liberal Jews is the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center several years ago, only a quarter of Jews between the ages of 18-29 in the U.S. said they believe the Netanyahu administration "is working to bring a peace settlement with the Palestinians."
Added to this is the growing objective distance from the Holocaust and the difficulty of keeping its significance felt among young Jews.


Vladimir Putin and President of the State of Palestine
Mahmoud Abbas held talks in Novo-Ogaryovo.
Kremlin website, August 13, 2024

President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
Mr President, friends, First of all, welcome to Moscow. It has been two years since we last met, although we have stayed in touch, and I am delighted to see you and your delegation.
As everyone knows, unfortunately, today Russia finds itself having to defend its interests and its people with arms in hand. However, we still pay close attention to the situation in the Middle East and the developments in Palestine. We have long-standing and deep ties with the Arab world in general, and with Palestine in particular, which we greatly value.
We are closely following the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Palestine with deep anguish and concern. We are making every effort to support the Palestinian people...
As you know, we have always advocated for a peaceful settlement, and we understand – in this regard, we share the same position – that this problem has deep historical roots and is primarily related to the disregard of decisions made by international organisations, primarily the UN, to establish and create an independent Palestinian state.
Our stance on this matter remains unchanged. We believe that in order to secure lasting and stable peace in the region, it is imperative to implement all UN resolutions, with the establishment of a full-fledged Palestinian state as a priority.

President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas:
Thank you, Mr President. I am pleased to be here in Moscow. This country has been a steadfast friend to the Palestinian people for decades, starting from the time of the Soviet Union and continuing through the Russian Federation. Throughout all these years, we have consistently felt Russia’s support, both from its Government and its people, standing firmly with the Palestinians.
Russia consistently upholds the principles of law and truth. Whenever I discussed international law with the President, we reviewed the resolutions adopted since 1947, totalling over 1,000 resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council. Despite this, the UN has been unable to fulfil its mission and pass a single resolution ensuring the implementation of the rights of the Palestinian people, largely due to the influence and pressure from the United States....
Mr President, there is another issue I would like to address. The recently published recommendations of the International Court of Justice clearly state that the Israeli occupation and settlement activities are unacceptable. This decision calls on the Security Council, the General Assembly, and all nations to do our best to stop Israel’s actions. The resolutions adopted by the International Court urge Israel to cease actions that are entirely inconsistent with international humanitarian law.

Mahmoud Abbas vows going to Gaza,
by Daily Sabah, Aug 15, 2024

In a historic speech to the Turkish parliament in the capital Ankara, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appreciated Türkiye’s official policy that made Palestinian cause central to its efforts.
Everyone in attendance wore shawls with flags of Türkiye and Palestine as they listened attentively to Palestinian leader who met Erdoğan and parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmuş before his speech.
Abbas warned against Israel’s attempts to spread the conflict to wider Middle East, adding that they won’t allow Zionists trying to control the whole region.
The president said Gaza cannot be considered as a separate entity and it was part of Palestine state, adding that Israel’s genocide aimed to destroy the entire Palestinian state. He stated that he’d visit Gaza and reiterated that Gaza, along with West Bank and Jerusalem are part of the Palestinian state.
"I have decided to go to Gaza with other brothers from the Palestinian leadership," Abbas said to standing ovation by Turkish lawmakers. "I will do that. Even if this would cost my life. Our life is not more worthy than the life of a child," he added.
He said that the Palestinian people would stand tall despite the Israeli strikes. "Gaza is ours as a whole. We don't accept any solution that would divide our territories," he told the parliament. "There cannot be a Palestinian state without Gaza. Our people will not surrender," he promised.

The parliament invited representatives of political parties, ambassadors and journalists to the session. It also held an exhibition on the sidelines of the session that focused on Haniyeh, including photos of the late leader’s visits to Türkiye, as well as documents from Ottoman archives about Palestine and parliament’s past joint declarations about Palestine.

Efforts underway to coordinate Abbas's
proposed visit to Gaza: statement
Xinhua | China, 2024-08-19

RAMALLAH - Preparations are taking place for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's planned visit to the Gaza Strip as the Palestinian officials have reached out to countries worldwide for support, according to a statement published by Palestinian official news Agency WAFA on Sunday.
The visit aims to demonstrate solidarity with Gaza's residents, assert that the State of Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) are the legitimate authorities over all Palestinian territories, and promote national unity, said the statement.
The statement noted that "the Palestinian leadership" is engaging with the UN agencies, UN Security Council members, Arab and Islamic countries, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the EU, the African Union, and other global powers to ensure the initiative's success and garner support. Israel has also been informed, it added.
In a speech delivered at a Turkish parliamentary assembly, Abbas said he decided to travel to Gaza with all members of the Palestinian leadership, emphasizing his commitment to stand with the Palestinian people, WAFA reported.

Media training for young Arab professionals launches in Beijing
By Heba Elayyan, Jordan Times, Aug 19, 2024

BEIJING — A comprehensive media training programme for young Arab media professionals has started in Beijing, running from August 15th to 28th.
Organised by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and hosted by China Broadcasting International Economic and Technical Cooperation Co., Ltd. (CBIC), the two-week programme has brought together 32 journalists from Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Palestine.
This initiative underscores China’s ongoing efforts to enhance media cooperation with Arab nations, promoting mutual understanding, knowledge exchange, and collaboration in journalism.
The opening ceremony, held on Wednesday, featured the attendance of Chang Jin, Senior Advisor at the National Radio and Television Administration of China (NRTA), and He Dongbo, Assistant President of CBIC.
In his welcoming address, Chang highlighted the strong ties between China and the Arab world, with a particular emphasis on the longstanding cooperation with Jordan. "This training course for young Arab media professionals symbolises the enduring friendship between Arab nations and China," Chang remarked.
He further explained that the training is part of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, an initiative led by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since its inception in 2004, the forum has been held every two years, with six successful media courses conducted to date.” This year's course is especially significant, as it marks the 20th anniversary of the forum's establishment, aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation,” Chang said.
Chang also highlighted that the National Radio and Television Administration has signed cooperation agreements with 16 Arab countries, alongside the League of Arab States and the Arab States Broadcasting Union. These agreements have resulted in the launch of 50 joint projects to strengthen media collaboration between China and the Arab world...

Moral Values and Political Activism
Towards the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
By Adinda Buamona, Modern Diplomacy, August 20, 2024

Adam Smith believes that humans have adopted moral values that can be universally understood.
This happens due to similar mundane experiences in modern human society, and with these shared experiences we are able to imagine ourselves in the positions of others.
Quoting the opinion of Sugiono (1996) moral sentiments possessed by humans are a product of a voluntary agreement that enables us to imaginarily position ourselves with others....

The use of social media has helped people around the world to care about humanitarian issues that occur in distant places and spark political activism in all parts of the world.
The genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people is a massive occurrence in the international world that has sparked political activism.
Discourse, pragmatic actions of humanitarian actions from individuals and forms of political activism on social media are a manifestation of universal moral values that are no longer shackled by distance...
Space is not an obstacle for sympathy, social media fulfills the role of displaying incidents in far and near parts of the world.
Users of social media actively engaging in responding to conflict and incidents much like the genocide in Palestine can use social media as a platform to respond and voice out a ‘solution’ or to simply help provide aid to the people in need.
Responses over humanitarian crises built from sympathy is proved by a number of humanitarian movements on the media to show support and voice out opinion on the oppression and genocide faced by the Palestinian people.

The relevance of social media as a forum for connecting sympathy is manifested in the political actions of various members of society. In the view of the moral sentiment theory, human responses are created through these voluntary agreements that place ourselves in the position of another individual, and efforts are realized in the actions that are perpetuated in movements supported by social media and realized through pragmatic actions.

Wikipedia Info

Adam Smith (baptised 16 June [O.S. 5 June] 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics" or "The Father of Capitalism", he wrote two classic works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776).
The latter, often abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work that treats economics as a comprehensive system and as an academic discipline. Smith refuses to explain the distribution of wealth and power in terms of God's will and instead appeals to natural, political, social, economic, legal, environmental and technological factors and the interactions among them.

Info: Modern Diplomacy does not stand behind any specific agenda, narrative, or school of thought. We aim to expose all ideas, thinkers, and arguments to the light and see what remains valid and sound.


Iran's parliament approves all members
of president's Cabinet, first time since 2001
AP|Ahram online, Wednesday 21 Aug 2024

Iran's hard-line parliament on Wednesday approved all members of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian's Cabinet, the first time in over two decades a leader has been able to get all of his officials through the body.
The approval marks an early win for Pezeshkian, a longtime lawmaker who found himself catapulted into the presidency after a helicopter crash in May killed his hard-line predecessor.
Getting his officials approved shows Pezeshkian picked a Cabinet of Consensus with names palatable to all of the power centres within Iran's theocracy, as opposed to going for controversial choices as well.
Underlining that point, Pezeshkian posted an image online with him standing next to Iran's judiciary chief, a Shia cleric, and the country's parliament speaker, a hard-liner he once faced in the election. “Consensus for Iran,” he wrote in the caption.
Among those in Pezeshkian's new Cabinet is Abbas Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat who will be Iran’s new foreign minister. Araghchi was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that capped Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.
The candidate who received the most support from lawmakers was the country's new defence minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, who received 281 votes out of 288 present lawmakers. Nasirzadeh was chief of the Iranian Air Force from 2018 to 2021.
The only female minister proposed, Housing and Road Minister Farzaneh Sadegh, a 47-year-old architect, received 231 votes. She is the first female minister in Iran in more than a decade.
Dropping proposed ministers has been a tradition in Iran’s parliament, making Pezeshkian's success that much more striking.
Former reformist President Mohammad Khatami was the only president who received a vote of confidence for all of his proposed ministers in both 1997 and 2001.

UN says Libya deteriorating 'rapidly'
AFP|Ahram online, Tuesday 20 Aug 2024

The United Nations expressed concern on Tuesday about the rapid deterioration of the economic and security situation in Libya, denouncing the "unilateral" moves by Libyan actors that have "increased tension."


Flashback: Who is responsible for the catastrophes in the Middle East? Bill van Auken, World Socialist Website, 30 June 2014
The country of 6.8 million people has struggled to recover from years of conflict after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew Moamer Kadhafi, and remains divided between a UN-recognised government based in the capital Tripoli and a rival administration in the east, backed by military chief Khalifa Haftar.
Now, reemerging bloodshed and power struggles in the vast North African nation have raised fears of a broader escalation, threatening to deal a fatal blow to the UN-brokered political transition and push the war-torn country deeper into turmoil.
"Over the past two months, the situation in Libya has deteriorated quite rapidly in terms of political, economic and security stability," Stephanie Koury, acting head of the UN's political mission in Libya (UNSMIL), told the Security Council.
"Unilateral acts by Libyan political, military and security actors have increased tension, further entrenched institutional and political divisions and complicated efforts for a negotiated political solution," she added.
She cited a number of events since the beginning of August, including fighting between armed groups on the outskirts of Tripoli and attempts to forcibly expel the governor of the central bank.
The American diplomat is acting head of UNSMIL pending the appointment of a successor to Abdoulaye Bathily, who threw in the towel in April, condemning a "lack of political will and good faith" by Libyan leaders.
"In the absence of renewed political talks leading to a unified government and elections, you see where this is heading: greater political, financial and security instability, entrenched political and territorial divisions, and greater domestic and regional instability," warned Koury.
"Libyans are frustrated with the status quo and the toll it is taking on their lives. People struggle to withdraw money from the banks and to meet their daily needs. Many express fear about war once again erupting," she said.


Outgoing Israeli envoy calls for UN building
in Jerusalem to be 'erased from earth'
By MEE staff, 21 August 2024

Israel's outgoing ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said that the organisation's building in Jerusalem should be "erased from the face of the earth".
Erdan made the remarks in an interview with i24News, a preview of which was published on Tuesday evening.
"The UN building in Jerusalem needs to be closed and erased from the face of the earth. This building may look beautiful on the outside, but it is crooked and distorted from within."
Erdan announced in May that he would be ending his four-year tenure as ambassador to the UN.
Throughout his time in the role, he has been consistently critical of the UN, particularly of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa).
Last month, he was quoted as saying: "We must take unprecedented steps against the UN, such as closing the UN compound in Jerusalem and expelling the heads of the agencies stationed in Israel to send a clear and unequivocal message that the continued bias and exploitation of the UN against Israel will come at a price."
Regarding the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month on Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, Erdan criticised the ruling, saying: "The distorted and immoral decision of the court is part of a long series of UN decisions, institutions and organisations against Israel."
The ICJ determined that Israel's decades-long occupation of the Palestinian territories is "unlawful" and that its "near-complete separation" of people in the occupied West Bank violates international laws concerning "racial segregation" and "apartheid".
The World Court further stated that Israel's policies and practices in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem amount to the annexation of large parts of these territories and that Israel systematically discriminates against Palestinians in these occupied regions.
ICJ President Nawaf Salam said that Israel must make reparations to Palestinians for damages caused by its occupation, emphasising that the UN Security Council (UNSC), the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and all states have an obligation not to recognise Israel's occupation as legal.
Erdan responded: "The opinion is not legally binding, and we will work to nullify it and ensure that it has no practical consequences on the ground. I have no doubt that the United States will veto any anti-Israel decision that may be brought to the Security Council following the court's decision."
In the same interview, Erdan also expressed his ambitions to lead Israel's ruling Likud party in the future. "I know I have a mission. I see myself leading Likud in the future after the Netanyahu era."

Flashback: The more things are intelligent,
moderate, measured and proven,
the less they reverberate - Haaretz 7-6-2011

There is no longer any serious intellectual discussion in the Israeli media today," says Prof. Moshe Zuckermann, an intellectual historian at Tel Aviv University. "The discourse has degenerated, and is now completely vacuous." "Nobody tries to examine the political, ideological or social aspects. Nobody asks why something happens and what it says about our fate."

"We are living in a world that is violent - verbally, mentally and militarily," Translator, poet and publisher Rafi Weichert says.
"The more things are intelligent, moderate, measured and proven, the less they reverberate. The more extreme, provocative, metaphorical, laden with historical imagery and bloody they are, the more they are heard. We keep expecting more and more blood and extreme language."
In this world, people of values have been pushed to the margins. The people of values are no longer on the front line. This is part of the violence and lack of culture in the discourse.


"One Security Council member does everything to
sabotage any action to bring peace to the Middle East"
Rudaw News, Kurdistan Region, 24-8-2024

Rudaw’s Sinan Tuncdemir spoke with Dmitry Polyanskiy, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, in New York, 21-8-2024

- I would like to talk a bit about Gaza. It has been more than ten months, and unfortunately the Security Council could not make a peace there, and there is some critics for the Security Council because they think the Security Council cannot meet its responsibilities, because their responsibility is to ensure the peace and security of the world. Do you believe that Security Council can still do something, and if you do not, why?

Well, the Security Council has been taken hostage on this issue by one of its members, the United States, so when you speak about the collective responsibility of Security Council, I will not agree with you, because 14 members of the Security Council have been working painstakingly to find solutions to this crisis.
As far as Russia is concerned, we proposed the first draft resolution demanding immediate ceasefire back on the 16th of October, last year, can you imagine how many lives would have been saved if this resolution was adopted?
But the United States rejected this resolution, and you know that the United States in total used its right to veto five times to protect Israel.
There were two resolutions adopted that contained ceasefire, one of them was about the month of Ramadan, but immediately after adopting this text, the American representative, who abstained, said it was not binding, which was a big scandal here in the UN.
Another resolution 2735 which was the last one adopted, it contained the so-called Biden peace plan, and we abstained because we said that we do not have any confirmation that this plan is accepted by the parties, by Israel first and foremost. Americans were saying that Israel is fully behind this plan, which turned out to be a lie...
So in fact, this resolution has become what we have warned it would become, it has become a spoiler, which prevents Security Council from further moves to enforce the ceasefire on Israel first and foremost.
That is why when you speak about Security Council you need to distinguish, between Security Council as a whole and in this case, one Security Council member who consistently does everything to help Israel and to shield Israel from any criticism, and to sabotage any Security Council action to bring peace to the Middle East. That is the right picture.

- What about Syria? You know that Security Council adopted a couple of resolutions, actually two resolutions, for Syria, but we did not really see the implementation of these resolutions. Do you still believe that those resolutions could work for Syria or do you believe that Security Council needs a new resolution to build peace in Syria?

I do not see the need for a new resolution. On Syria, for example Resolution 2254 contained everything necessary, provided us with a toolbox to seek a political solution in Syria. It was accepted by all the parties and you know that negotiations are happening in the framework of this resolution and efforts have been deployed, a lot of efforts.
We think that it is high time for the Syrian people to reunite and to move forward. But there are a lot of spoilers from the other side.
We cannot ignore the way that the Syrian government is being treated by Western countries. They introduce unilateral sanctions and coercive measures, and with these measures, they absolutely prevent any progress in Syria.
This factor should also be taken into consideration. Another issue is the question of Syrian refugees who are in the neighboring countries, and according to our information, many of them want to return, but it would be a bad scenario for Western countries who want to present a picture that there are no conditions for the return of these refugees and they are actually preventing them to return, they are discouraging them from returning.
We think that these efforts are absolutely undermining the peace process in Syria and we categorically condemn these type of policies.


'Holy Redemption': Horrifying tale of how settlers steal land
by Nagihan Haliloğlu, Daily Sabah, Aug 26, 2024

[TRT documentary Holy Redemption reveals the terror tactics of the Israeli settler group Hilltop Youth, an organization that builds outposts in order to steal more land from Palestinians]

"Holy Redemption" focuses on the Hilltop Youth, a group of teenagers and young men in their twenties, who are taught that they are the descendants of the sons of Jacob and that what they can see when they go on a hilltop is all their land.
This story is recounted to us by Daniella Weis, one of the leaders of the Hilltop movement. The camera lingers on her face while the almost surgical light reveals every fleck and crease when she gets animated by her belief that Palestine belongs to the Jews and that Palestinians must be exterminated at all costs for God’s word to be realized...
Her insistence on the centrality of the "Bible" in her vision is explained when she tells the story of how, in 1967, she heard the air sirens and thought this was the voice of God telling her that the Jews had not done enough to Judify the Holy Land.
Weiss is, of course, not the only misguided zealot on God’s green earth. Many cult leaders hold similar views.
What is horrifying here is that this zealot’s views are backed by the state of Israel and its allies, who keep sending money and weapons for her Biblical dreams to be realized.

Wikipedia info

Daniella Weiss (born August 30, 1945) is a far-right Israeli Orthodox Zionist settlement movement extremist, and a former mayor of Kedumim, an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank.
Daniella Weiss was born in Bnei Brak, Palestine, in 1945. Her father was from the United States and her mother was born in Poland and raised in Palestine since her first year of life. Both Jewish immigrants, they were members of Lehi, a Zionist paramilitary militant organization, and took part in underground activities. She attended a religious high school in Ramat Gan, and studied English literature and philosophy at Bar-Ilan University.
Since the 1970s, Weiss has been a notable figure in the Gush Emunim settlement movement, active in the establishment of many new settlements in the West Bank. In 2010, she founded the Nachala Settlement Movement, which aims to settle and create Jewish communities in the West Bank. She serves as its director.
In early 2023, Weiss appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to stop the judicial reform program in response to protests, claiming that the Israeli Supreme Court was attempting to eradicate the national and Jewish element of Israel and needed to be stopped.
In a 2023 interview with The New Yorker, Weiss made the statement of what drives the Israeli push to settle Jewish land:
"In Israel, there's a lot of support for settlements, and this is why there have been right-wing governments for so many years. The world, especially the United States, thinks there is an option for a Palestinian state, and, if we continue to build communities, then we block the option for a Palestinian state.
We want to close the option for a Palestinian state, and the world wants to leave the option open. It's a very simple thing to understand."

Flashback: Canada sanctions Israeli extremists,
settler groups over violence against Palestinians
By Lazar Berman, Times of Israel, 27 June 2024

Canada announced Thursday sanctions against seven Israelis and five organizations for “their violent and destabilizing actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank.”
The organizations are the Amana association, which lobbies for, develops and builds West Bank settlements and outposts; Lehava, which opposes intermarriage and the assimilation of Jews with Arabs; The Hilltop Youth, young Israelis who build illegal outposts throughout the West Bank; Moshe’s Farm; and Zvi’s Farm.
Lehava founder Bentzi Gopstein and settler activist Daniella Weiss were also listed, as were Shalom Zicherman, Meir Mordechai Ettinger, Ely Federman, Elisha Yered, and Einan Ben-Nir Amram Tanjil.

The sanctions were met with backlash from Israel’s far-right.
“Several Zionist movements that have been engaged in the holy work of building our country for many years continue to receive sanctions from many countries due to political decisions,” far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir wrote on X.
“Today’s decision by the Canadian government to join the ranks of countries that have decided to harass settlers in Judea and Samaria is a clear antisemitic decision,” he said, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.
“The common denominator of all the sanctions and all the countries imposing them is an attempt to force us to establish a terror state in Judea and Samaria, a state that would endanger the existence of the State of Israel,” far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote.

Shin Bet chief warns settler violence
doing ‘indescribable damage’ to Israel
By Middle East Eye staff, 23 August 2024

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has warned that increasingly overt settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is wreaking “indescribable damage” on Israel, changing it “beyond recognition".
In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that was published by Channel 12 News on Thursday, Bar took aim at National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, warning that his incursions into Al-Aqsa mosque could “lead to bloodshed.”
Ben Gvir has led repeated raids on the Al-Aqsa compound in occupied East Jerusalem, an Islamic site where unsolicited visits, prayers, and rituals by non-Muslims are forbidden according to decades-long international agreements.
In his letter, Bar emphasised that settler violence in the occupied West Bank had become increasingly “widespread and visible,” noting that extremist groups were being armed with weapons “that have been legally distributed by the state".
He added that the government’s light-handed approach and “secret” police backing of far-right settler group, Hilltop Youth, who have “long become a widespread phenomenon of violent activity against Palestinians,” is encouraging their actions which he said were tantamount to “terrorism".
This tacit support, he wrote, has legitimised the movement and meant it has “significantly” expanded, and in so doing, undermined the work of the security forces.
Bar said that ratcheting settler attacks has resulted in Israel’s “global delegitimisation,” adding additional strain on security forces and prompting retaliatory attacks by Palestinians...

Jewish Terror Has Exploded,
and Nothing Is Standing in Its Way.
Haaretz Editorial [Israel], Aug 25, 2024

The letter sent by Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to the prime minister, cabinet members and the attorney general, in which he warns that Jewish terror is a danger to the state's existence, constitutes a flashing warning light.
In any normal country, there would be no hesitation in doing the right thing. They would remove the radical right from the government and instruct security services to treat Jewish terror with the same gravity they do with Palestinian terror.
But as long as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich remain in the government, it will be impossible to fight Jewish terror. As long as the former is in charge of the police and the latter is in charge of the occupied territories, Jewish terror will know that it has the backing of higher authorities.

The picture depicted in the Shin Bet chief's letter is gloomy. He describes a change in the nature of Jewish terrorist activities: "from focused covert activity to broad, open activity. From using a cigarette lighter to using weapons of war. Sometimes using weapons that were distributed by the state lawfully....
If Israel continues to deny the bitter truth that a Jewish wild weed that has grown in the territories is now out of control, Jewish terror will bring Israel down...
Following the publication of Bar's letter, Ben-Gvir demanded his dismissal at a cabinet meeting. Netanyahu and other ministers backed Bar, which led to Ben-Gvir leaving the meeting. But experience shows that if his base is angry, Netanyahu will change his mind.
Bar has for quite a while been on the list of Bibi-ist and Kahanist targets. In the wake of his warning letter, this camp's attacks on him will only increase...


Trump blames Biden for Oct. 7,
vows 'unyielding strength' against evil
By Rachel Goldstein, Israel Hayom, 08-26-2024

Former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign released a new video Monday, sharply criticizing the Biden administration's Middle East policy and issuing a stark warning to Iran. The one-minute advertisement, shared on social media platform X, contrasts Trump's approach to regional security with current policies.
The video opens by referencing the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which claimed the lives of 31 American citizens, supported by a quote from Axios displayed in the footage. It goes on to allege Iran's involvement in planning the assault, citing an Oct. 8 New York Post report.
Criticizing the current administration, the ad mentions President Joe Biden's decision to release frozen Iranian assets, referring to it as a "$6 billion ransom to Iran," also a quote from an Oct. 8 New York Post report. The narration then pivots to highlight Trump's past actions, claiming he "played hardball with Iran, destroyed ISIS, kept the Middle East at peace, and kept us out of endless wars through strength."

In a direct-to-camera address, Trump delivers a forceful message, "History shows very plainly that evil only respects one thing: unyielding strength. When I'm back in the White House, our enemies will know if you spill a drop of American blood, we will spill a gallon of yours."
The advertisement incorporates various visual elements to reinforce its narrative, including footage of missile strikes, images of burning American flags, Iranian weaponry, and clips of Trump with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as with US troops and with American flags in the background.
The video concludes with the narrator stating, "President Trump, the strength we need to make America Strong again," followed by Trump's standard campaign approval message.


Israel launches massive assault on West Bank,
widening circle of violence
The Arab Weekly, Thursday 29/08/2024

IIsrael launched a large-scale operation on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, where the military said it killed many Palestinian fighters, in an assault analysts describes as the largest in two decades.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s health ministry, while Israel’s offensive has caused widespread destruction and displacement.
Early on Wednesday, Israel launched coordinated raids across four northern West Bank cities, Jenin, Nablus, Tubas and Tulkaram, where the military has focused much of its recent operations.
Armoured columns entered two refugee camps, in Tulkaram and Tubas, as well as Jenin, where an AFP correspondent said gunfire and explosions were heard into the evening.
According to military spokesman Nadav Shoshani, Wednesday’s operation was not “extremely different” from regular activity.
But Foreign Minister Israel Katz called it “a war” aiming to “dismantle Iranian-Islamic terror infrastructure”.
Posting on social media platform X, he appealed for Israeli forces to act “with the same determination … (as) in Gaza, including temporary evacuation of residents.”

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the Israeli operations took place “in close proximity to four hospitals” and at least some “have been surrounded”, affecting the movement of medical teams.
Guterres “calls for an immediate cessation of these operations,” a later statement from his office said.
The UN Human Rights Office said Israel’s raids risk “deepening the already catastrophic situation” in the West Bank.

What might Kamala Harris' Mideast policy look like?
By Patsy Widakuswara, Voice of America, August 27, 2024

Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris has aimed to strike a balance between reaffirming U.S. support for Israel and advocating for Palestinian humanitarian needs... Harris summed up her position in her acceptance speech as the Democratic presidential nominee at the party’s convention in Chicago. “President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said.


Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East Reviewed by Lisa Anderson, January/February 2021. Foreign Affairs
Those looking to see whether Harris' Mideast policy will diverge from Biden’s can look to her national security adviser, Phillip Gordon, who is expected to remain in the role if she is elected. He would be the principal adviser to the president on all national security issues, including foreign policy.
“Phil Gordon is the type of adviser that colors in the lines,” Hall told VOA. “He's the kind of person that I think very much is sort of old-fashioned American foreign policy.”
Gordon was against ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power in 2003.
He chronicled American efforts to overthrow leaders in the Middle East in his 2020 book, “Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East.”
“The U.S. policy debate about the Middle East suffers from the fallacy that there is an external American solution to every problem, even when decades of painful experience suggest that this is not the case,” he wrote. “And regime change is the worst 'solution.'"

Unlike Biden, who often underscores that he is a Zionist, a loaded term often viewed with scorn in many parts of the world, Harris may be more sensitive to views from the Global South, Natasha Hall says.
In a 2018 speech to an Indian American group, Harris spoke fondly of childhood visits to the home of her maternal grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, describing him as someone who had fought for “freedom and for justice and for independence.”
She is aware of how the rest of the world may feel about the Middle East, about neocolonialism, neoimperialism,” Hall said. “I really hope that she has the opportunity to bring those experiences to bear if she becomes the president.”


West Bank: Palestinian Authority directionless
in face of Israeli attacks
Lubna Masarwa - Rayhan Uddin, Middle East Eye, 30 August 2024

A severe escalation in Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank has left the Palestinian Authority weakened and in a state of flux, according to analysts.
This week, the Israeli army launched its largest operation in the territory in decades. In Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, Israeli drones and snipers killed at least 17 Palestinians.


Trump's peaceplan 2020: "This is all they can get"
Military bulldozers ploughed into critical infrastructure, cutting off communications and resources from several Palestinian cities and refugee camps.

This is the latest move in a broader Israeli offensive, marked by almost daily arrests and killings, in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war on Gaza began in October 2023.
While President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA) administration frequently condemn Israel’s raids, they have been largely unable to counter them.

Israel is seeking to “minimise the role of the PA” to something akin to municipalities rather than a larger political body, according to a senior Fatah member who spoke to MEE on condition of anonymity. He explained that Israel does not want to completely dismantle the PA but aims to render it impotent.
The Israelis want to keep the PA on its bare bones - dysfunctioning but not obsolete just yet. But the Israeli approach makes the collapse of the PA inevitable,” the Fatah figure said.

For many Palestinians, the latest Israeli raids on the West Bank are a manifestation of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to annex the territory to Israel.
Jamal Juma, a prominent Palestinian activist and analyst, said that Israel continues to limit the Palestinian presence to a minimal area, “providing alternative roads for settlers and engineering the geography of the land”.
He added that main roads were destroyed with bulldozers, while civilian infrastructure and resources were cut off.
The senior Fatah figure said that “empty[ing] a large number of the residents from the West Bank” is a key objective of Israel’s far-right government.


‘Türkiye welcomes Russian efforts for Syria normalization’
by Dilara Aslan, Daily Sabah [Turkey], Sep 03, 2024


Barbara Walters' Interview 2011 - Call for Engagement With Syrian Government

Ankara welcomes Moscow’s efforts to normalize ties between Türkiye and Syria after years of tensions, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Öncü Keçeli said.
Most recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “We made a great effort in foreign and defense ministries to hold meetings last year to discuss conditions that could lead to the normalization of relations between Syria and Türkiye.”
"We now believe it would be reasonable to prepare another meeting. I am sure that it will take place in the foreseeable future,” Lavrov told RT.
We want to see a Syria, where its people have returned, which is in peace with its population and which has achieved a real national compromise with steps taken within the scope of legitimate demands and expectations mentioned in the UNSC,” Keçeli told Daily Sabah.
“We aim for this not only for Türkiye but for a Syria that exports stability instead of instability for its region, that develops its economy on a mutually beneficial basis and that enhances the prosperity of its people,” the spokesperson added.
He said that efforts should be made to implement this with good intentions, without preconditions and with a realistic approach.
“Efforts to prepare the necessary ground within this framework will continue,” Keçeli said.

War-damaged souks reopen
in Syria’s Aleppo after restoration
The Arab Weekly, Saturday 31/08/2024


islamic council - destroyed souk - aleppo 2024

Four historic souks in northern Syria’s Aleppo, heavily damaged during some of the most intense fighting of the 13-year civil war, reopened this week following their restoration.
After I reopened my old shop, following the renovation of the market, I felt my spirit return with it,” said merchant Omar al-Rawwas, 45, who inherited his family’s carpet business at the revived Saqtiya 2 souk.
Once famous for its bustling markets and old citadel, Aleppo’s Old City was rendered almost unrecognisable by some of the worst violence in Syria’s conflict between government forces and rebels that began in 2011.
The fighting in Aleppo, which lasted until 2016 when Damascus recaptured the area with Moscow’s support, completely destroyed many of the famed markets in the city previously considered Syria’s economic capital.
Four souks in the Old City, restored through combined public and private efforts, reopened — drawing officials, residents and charity representatives to the celebration.
“Thank God, things have improved and the country has gotten better,” Rawwas told AFP, noting that some of his business is from people returning to Aleppo since calm returned.
The revived strip of shops, some reduced to ashes at the start of the conflict, stretches for about 100 metres across the Old City. In previous years, three other souks of the total of 37 that once surrounded the citadel were restored.
The Syrian army recaptured eastern Aleppo from opposition groups after a siege and heavy bombardment that forced tens of thousands of civilians and fighters to flee.
“In 2012, we fled the souk under bombardment and gunfire. We didn’t leave by choice but were forced to,” said Abdallah Chawwa, 49, who sells Aleppo’s famous olive oil soap. “I am now back in my shop and my spirit has returned to me.”


Dubai-China Alliance:
A Strategic Blueprint for Arab-Asian Prosperity
Hussain Shahid, Modern Diplomacy, September 3, 2024

In an era where global connectivity is paramount, the partnership between Dubai and China is rapidly emerging as a cornerstone of economic prosperity, with significant implications for the UAE and China and the broader Arab-Asian region. The recent delegation of Dubai Chambers to Beijing underlines the global economic dynamics, this alliance exemplifies how nations can strategically collaborate to drive mutual growth, foster innovation, and ensure stability.
The Dubai-China relationship has developed into a sophisticated model of modern diplomacy, blending economic strength with cultural and technological exchange.

As a global economic hub within the UAE, Dubai plays a pivotal role in this partnership.
With its strategic location, world-class infrastructure, and business-friendly environment, Dubai has positioned itself as a critical enabler of trade and investment between China and the broader Arab world.
At the heart of the Dubai-China alliance is a robust economic collaboration that has driven growth in both nations.
China is the UAE’s most significant global trading partner, with non-oil bilateral trade reaching Dh264.2 billion ($72 billion) in 2022. Conversely, the UAE has established itself as China’s largest trading partner in the Arab world.
This economic interdependence spans multiple sectors, including crude oil, petrochemicals, artificial intelligence, and green development.

Dubai’s strategic location as a gateway to the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, combined with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), creates significant synergies that enhance connectivity and trade across these regions...
The Dubai-China partnership increasingly focuses on technology and innovation, reflecting a global shift towards a knowledge-based economy...
While economic and technological collaboration forms the foundation of the Dubai-China partnership, cultural and educational exchanges are equally crucial in strengthening the relationship. The UAE’s promotion of Chinese language education through the “Hundred Schools Project” is a strategic move to deepen understanding and friendship between the two nations...
As the UAE and China continue to deepen their relationship, the Dubai-China alliance is a testament to the potential of strategic partnerships to shape the future of global trade, investment, and innovation. This alliance represents a success story for Dubai and China and serves as a model for the world to follow.


Erdogan receives El-Sisi in Ankara for
‘historic’ visit ushering in new phase in cooperation
Ahram Online , Wednesday 4 Sep 2024

​Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Ankara on Wednesday afternoon, marking his first visit to Turkey since assuming office in 2014.
El-Sisi’s “historic visit to Turkey,” comes at the invitation of Erdogan, ushers in a new phase in the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, both bilaterally and at the level of the region, said a statement by the Egyptian presidency earlier today.
"I am deeply pleased with my first visit to the Republic of Turkey and my meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” El-Sisi wrote on his official Facebook page on Wednesday.
El-Sisi added that Egypt and Turkey are bound by deep-rooted historical and popular ties, and have enjoyed strong political relations since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
“My visit today, following President Erdogan's visit to Cairo, reflects our shared will to begin a new phase of friendship and cooperation between Egypt and Turkey,” he added.

Sisi's visit builds on the progress made during Erdogan's trip to Egypt in February, which was the first in over a decade...


Libyan Parliament Speaker Calls for
Urgent National Reconciliation
Libyan Review, September 6, 2024

Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, Ageela Saleh, recently voiced profound concerns regarding the deep-rooted issues plaguing Libya.
He pinpointed armed groups not only exerting force and control but also dominating state institutions and occupying the streets of Libya in a literal sense.
Saleh underscored that these groups rule the capital, take over state buildings, and terrorize government employees, questioning how a nation can recover and regain its sovereignty under such duress.
During his address, Saleh emphasized that addressing these issues requires more than just dialogue about calm and reconciliation; it demands a united stand from all Libyans against this security chaos.
He explicitly called for the capital to be cleared of these outlawed armed groups that constitute significant obstacles to restoring peace and stability in the country.
Saleh also pointed out the significant hindrance illegal prisons pose to the justice system in Libya... He lamented how a smooth political transition is feasible under these circumstances, where individuals are imprisoned and tortured outside the law without fair trials...
On a constructive note, Saleh revealed that the House of Representatives has tasked him with drafting a reconciliation and reparations law.
This proposal forms part of a broader strategy for national reconciliation, aimed at forming a dedicated body to oversee justice and reconciliation for those affected by the conflicts. Saleh stressed that this reconciliation must be genuine, based on justice and transparency, to truly turn the page on Libya’s dark past...
According to Saleh, true reconciliation is not merely political agreements but a genuine partnership among all Libyans, starting from the South and extending to every corner of the country.


Iranian embassy: West’s push for two-state solution
to Palestine-Israel conflict ‘hypocritical’
IRNA News [Iran], 6--9-2024

The Iranian Embassy in London has described as hypocritical the West’s push for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine.
The embassy reacted on Thursday hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to foreign media in occupied al-Quds [Jerusalem] about the Gaza war. During his speech, he used a map that appeared to have erased the occupied West Bank.
In the map that Netanyahu presented to foreign media reporters, the West Bank is completely missing (have erased). Yet, many hypocritically continue to express support for a two-state solution.
A Palestinian government—on what land?”, the Iranian diplomatic mission said on its official X account.


Tim Walz: Israel has to move towards a two-state solution
Elad Benari, Arutz Sheva [Israel], 6-9-2024

Tim Walz, the running mate of US Vice President Kamala Harris in the November election, called on the Israeli government to start moving towards a two-state solution.
Speaking to WCMU public radio in Michigan, Walz was asked how a Harris-Walz administration would handle the Gaza war and whether it would break with the Biden administration in any way.
“Well, I think first and foremost what we saw on October 7th was a horrific act of violence against the people of Israel. They have the right to defend themselves and the United States will always stand by that, but we can't allow what's happened in Gaza to happen,” replied Walz.
The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves.
We need to continue, I think to put the leverage on to make sure we move towards a two-state solution. I think we're at a critical point right now. We need the Netanyahu government to start moving in that direction...
“We need to find a way that people can live together in this and we’ve said it and continue to say it, getting a ceasefire with the return of the hostages and then moving towards a sustainable two-state solution is the only way forward,” he stated.


When Six Israelis Are Mourned More
Than 40,000 Palestinians
Gideon Levy, Haaretz [Israel], Sep 5, 2024

Israel mourns six hostages who were killed. The world also mourns them. Their names, their pictures, their life stories and their families led news broadcasts in Israel and around the world...
Their becoming a global story is understandable. Less understandable is the unbelievable contrast between the wide coverage of their lives and deaths and the total disregard for the similar fate of people their own age – as blameless and ingenuous and beautiful as them, and just as much innocent victims – on the Palestinian side.
While the world is shocked by the fate of Gaza, it has never paid similar respect to the Palestinian victims.
The president of the United States does not call the relatives of fallen Palestinians.. The United States has never called for the release of thousands of Palestinian abductees that Israel has detained without trial....

Everything has already been said about the overlooking and concealment of Palestinian suffering in the Israeli public conversation, and not enough has yet been said. The Palestinian killed in Gaza who had a face, a name and a life story and whose killing shocked Israel has not yet been born.
The 17,000 children killed in the Strip since the war began also had hopes and dreams and families that were destroyed by their deaths. They hold no interest for a majority of Israelis; a minority even rejoices in their deaths. In the world beyond Israel they are seen as terrible victims, but even there they usually have neither names nor faces.
It's not difficult to imagine how Gazans feel in the face of the world, which was rocked by six dead Israeli hostages while losing interest with alarming speed in 40,000 dead Palestinians...

Algeria's Tebboune re-elected with 94.65% of vote
AFP|Ahram online, Sunday 8 Sep 2024

Algeria's incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has been re-elected with almost 95 percent of the vote, the country's electoral authority ANIE said Sunday.
"Of 5,630,000 voters recorded, 5,320,000 voted for the independent candidate Abdelmadjid Tebboune, accounting for 94.65 percent" of Saturday's vote, ANIE head Mohamed Charfi told reporters in the capital Algiers.
Tebboune, 78, was heavily favoured to secure a second term in the race against moderate Islamist Abdelaali Hassani, 57, and socialist candidate Youcef Aouchiche, 41.

Polls closed late Saturday and vote counting was underway as Algerians awaited an announcement of the results. The country's election authority at 12:10 a.m. said that vote counting to so far suggested voter turnout was 48% in Algeria and 19.6% for precincts abroad — outpacing the country’s 2019 presidential election, where 39.9% of voters turned out to vote.
“Uncle Tebboune," as his campaign called the 78-year-old, was elected in December 2019 after nearly a year of weekly “Hirak” demonstrations demanding the resignation of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Flashback: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune:
"You Can’t Question a People’s History
Britta Sandberg|Monika Bolliger, Der Spiegel, 9 november 2021

Since December 2019, the presidential palace has been occupied by Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The 75-year-old became president after two decades of rule by Abdelaziz Bouteflika...
Algeria is a key country for Europe from both a strategic and political perspective. Migrant routes run through the country, used by people from sub-Saharan Africa and others eager to reach Europe. And Algeria also supplies natural gas to Spain and other European countries.
The largest country in Africa by area, Algeria shares a border with northern Mali, a restful region controlled by various groups, some of them Islamist, where French and German troops have been the target of repeat attacks. The country’s other neighbors include Libya, Tunisia and Morocco. As such, the government in Algiers plays a vital role of mediator and as guarantor of security – when it actually decides to take on the task.

Tebboune is currently attempting to reposition his country on foreign policy, seeking to establish closer ties to new partners like the United States, Italy and Germany, in part as a way of distancing his country from the former colonial power of France. In October [2021], he broke off diplomatic relations with Paris and is allegedly no longer taking calls from the office of French President Emmanuel Macron...

-- DER SPIEGEL: Mr. President, in a conversation with young Algerians in late September, the French president raised the question as to whether Algeria had even been a nation prior to its colonization by France. You immediately broke off diplomatic relations in response. Is a single sentence enough to justify such a reaction?
-- Tebboune: You can’t question a people’s history and you can’t insult the Algerians. What was revealed there was the old hatred harbored by the colonial masters.. It is the same discourse that has long been pursued by right-wing extremist journalist Éric Zemmour: Algeria wasn’t a nation, he claims, it was France that transformed it into a nation. With his comment, Macron placed himself on the same side with those who justify colonization.

-- DER SPIEGEL: Last year, the French president commissioned a report from a historian who has been asked to make recommendations for how Paris should deal with its colonial history. What did you expect from him, from France? An apology?
-- Tebboune: Our country doesn’t need an apology from Macron for something that happened in 1830 or 1840. But we do want a complete and unreserved recognition of the crimes that France committed. And Macron has already done so. In 2017, he declared publicly that colonization had been a crime against humanity...

-- DER SPIEGEL: Two years ago, you promised to put an end to the old way of doing things and initiate a new era in Algeria. How much of that has since come true?
-- Tebboune: I eliminated taxes for all salaries below 30,000 dinars, around 190 euros, per month. I have increased the minimum wage. Rural regions that have thus far been largely forgotten are receiving special assistance. But one of the most important tasks is that of injecting new morals into the administration and the economy. We have been battling corruption for the last two years...
We are currently completely revamping the audit office. We are going after tax dodgers. And we have agreed on a new constitution that will grant the citizens more rights.

-- DER SPIEGEL: You would, then, tell all your doubters that you are serious about transforming Algeria?
-- Tebboune: The Hirak, the uprising, is over. I am now the Hirak. The uprising was a national movement, not some collection of splinter groups. I have declared Feb. 22, the date on which the protests began in 2019, as a national holiday because this movement put a stop to the deterioration of our country.
Perhaps you remember the images showing a resilient people with a well-developed sense for freedom – similar to Cuba, Vietnam and other revolutionary countries.

The Hirak - Wikipedia Info

The 2019–2021 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles or Hirak, began on 16 February 2019, six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term in a signed statement. These protests, without precedent since the Algerian Civil War, were peaceful and led the military to insist on Bouteflika's immediate resignation, which took place on 2 April 2019.


Saudi Arabia reopens its embassy in Damascus
Saudi Gazette report, September 10, 2024

DAMASCUS — Saudi Arabia has reopened its embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus after it was closed since the beginning of the Syrian crisis 12 years ago.
Abdullah Al-Harees, acting Saudi Chargé d'Affaires in Syria, announced the official opening of the embassy, in a ceremony held ​​in the presence of a number of Syrian ministers and senior officials as well as members of the accredited diplomatic corps, and a group of dignitaries and intellectuals.
Addressing the ceremony, Al-Harees said: “This day is an important moment in the history of relations between the two countries."
He also underscored the keenness of the embassy and its staff to move forward and make every effort to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
Speaking on the occasion, Syrian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Deputy Minister Ayman Raad emphasized that through this step, the relations between both countries will be activated in order to enhance joint Arab action in a way that would serve the interests of peoples of the region...
It is noteworthy that in May this year Saudi Arabia had appointed Faisal bin Saud Al-Mujfel as its ambassador to Syria, months after announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, becoming the first Saudi ambassador since the embassy was closed in 2012.
Syria appointed earlier Dr. Muhammad Soussan as new ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

"The Bibi Files” - a controversial documentary
By Soheila Zarfam, Tehran Times, 10-9-2024

"The Bibi Files" is not merely a documentary; it's a harrowing exposé, a cinematic indictment of a man who, for over a decade, held Israel in his iron grip.
It's a story of ambition unchecked, of political gamesmanship masquerading as statesmanship, and ultimately, of a society fractured by the relentless pursuit of power.


revisionist - bible fanatic - warrior

This film, meticulously crafted with archival footage, damning interviews, and expert analysis, paints a stark portrait of Benjamin Netanyahu, a leader whose legacy is marred by a toxic cocktail of political manipulation, blatant disregard for ethical conduct, and a dangerous penchant for playing on the deepest fears of the Israeli public.
From the outset, "The Bibi Files" doesn't shy away from exposing Netanyahu's manipulative tactics. It showcases his chilling mastery of fearmongering, his calculated use of divisive rhetoric, and his cynical exploitation of the media to create a climate of perpetual crisis, all designed to consolidate his own power.
The film unravels the myth of Netanyahu as a strongman, revealing the hollowness beneath his image of resolute leadership.
It exposes his willingness to sacrifice unity on the altar of political expediency, turning a society once advertised to be a “vibrant democracy” into a fractured landscape of mistrust and suspicion.
"The Bibi Files" doesn't shy away from the allegations of corruption that have haunted Netanyahu's career. The film dives into the murky world of "Case 1000," "Case 2000," and "Case 4000," showcasing how these scandals, fueled by a culture of entitlement and a blatant disregard for ethical boundaries, reveal a leader who saw power as a personal entitlement rather than a public trust.
The film goes beyond mere accusations, offering a chilling glimpse into how Netanyahu's political strategy has systematically undermined the Zionist regime’s institutions.
It reveals how he cultivated a culture of fear within the media, using his influence to silence critics and control the narrative surrounding his actions.
"The Bibi Files" exposes the insidious influence of a leader who, rather than seeking to unify his society, deliberately sowed discord to maintain his own grip on power.

The documentary doesn't spare Netanyahu's handling of the Palestinian conflict, exposing how his policies, often driven by political opportunism rather than a genuine desire for peace, have only deepened the cycle of violence and mistrust.
The film showcases the detrimental impact of his approach, highlighting the lost opportunities for peace and the ever-widening chasm between Israelis and Palestinians.

"The Bibi Files" is not merely a collection of facts; it's a visceral experience, a testament to the devastating consequences of unchecked power.
It's a warning to all, specifically those who believed in propagandic notion of “the only democracy in the Middle East”: a stark reminder that when a leader prioritizes his ambition over the well-being of their people, the results can be catastrophic.
"The Bibi Files" is not simply a film about one man; it's a chronicle of a political system that has allowed the pursuit of power to override the pursuit of peace. It's a film that compels us to ask: what are we willing to sacrifice in the name of political stability? And is there a price too high to pay for the pursuit of power?

In First Presidential Debate, Harris Says
Gaza War Must End as Trump Accuses Her of Hating Israel
Ben Samuels, Haaretz, Sep 11, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday sharply attacked the other over their respective positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Gaza war during their landmark 2024 presidential debate.
The exchange reflected what has now become standard points from both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates: Harris insisting that Israel has a right to self-defense and how it goes about this matters, while Trump insists Israel will cease to exist under a Harris presidency.

Harris was asked nearly an hour into the 90-minute debate how she would break the current stalemate in cease-fire negotiations.
"What we know is that this war must end. It must end immediately. And the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal, and we need the hostages out, and so we will continue to work around the clock on that work, around the clock, also understanding that we must chart a course for a two state solution," she continued.
Harris added in that solution "there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel, and an equal measure for the Palestinians. But I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself... But we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve."
Trump responded with his standard attack point that "if I were president, it would've never started."
"When she mentions Israel, all of the sudden - she hates Israel. She wouldn't even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech, she refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers, she wanted to go to the sorority party. She hates Israel," he said....
"If she's president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now. I've been pretty good at predictions that I hope I'm wrong about that one. She hates Israel.
At the same time she hates the Arab population, because the whole place is going to get blown up. Arabs, Jewish people, Israel will be gone..." he said.


flashback

Trump continued to accuse the Biden administration of empowering Iran, saying "it was broke under Donald Trump.... They had no money." "They were broke. Now, they are a rich nation," he continued, saying "they are spreading that money around. Look at what's happening with the Houthis and Yemen. Look at what's going on in the Middle East, this would have never happened. I'll get it settled and fast."


Iran’s Pezeshkian says in Erbil to ‘resolve all problems’
Rudaw News, Kurdistan Region, 12-9-2024

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran is seeking to advance its relations with Erbil and Baghdad and to “resolve all problems,” in his first foreign visit since taking office.
“The relationship with Erbil, with Kurdistan, and Iraq, we came here to strengthen them and to resolve all problems that have existed so far, God willing,” Pezeshkian told reporters in Kurdish alongside Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani.
Pezeshkian arrived in Erbil on Thursday and was received by President Barzani, after concluding a visit to Baghdad the previous day, when he met his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
“We have historical, cultural, and linguistic ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Iranian president’s visit to the Kurdistan Region is a historic event,” President Barzani told reporters, expressing Erbil’s desire to improve ties with Tehran.
In Erbil, Pezeshkian also met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani.
After his Erbil visit, Pezeshkian will travel to Sulaiman to meet with the leaders in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The Kurdistan Region and Iran enjoy good ties. During a forum in Sulaimani in April, President Barzani said that Iran has contributed to the economic “success” of the Kurdistan Region.
But the relationship has been strained in recent years by Tehran’s attacks inside Kurdistan Region’s borders on exiled Kurdish groups and deadly missile strikes on locations that it alleged were Mossad bases. Erbil has vehemently rejected the claims.
Iran and Iraq have shared a strong relationship since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Tehran has increased its influence over Baghdad, and the country has dozens of armed groups who are affiliated with the Shiite rule in Tehran.


A Focus on Truth and Diplomacy
Iran-Russia relations developing amid Western accusations
By Faramarz Kuhpayeh, Tehran Times, September 14, 2024

On Thursday, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg.
The meeting, that took place on the sidelines of the meeting of BRICS’s security chiefs or national security advisors, underscored the deepening ties between Iran and Russia, reflecting their growing strategic partnership in an increasingly multipolar world.
The visit occurred amid heightened scrutiny from Western nations, particularly the United States, which has accused Iran of supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia—a claim that Tehran has consistently and categorically denied.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had claimed that Russia might soon receive Iranian missiles for use in Ukraine, prompting new sanctions against Iran, including measures targeting its national airline, IranAir.
The U.S. along with its European allies has also announced further restrictions and canceled bilateral air service agreements with Iran.
In response to these allegations and sanctions, Iran has condemned the actions of the U.S. and European nations as baseless that are primarily intended to create a commotion against Iran.
From Tehran's perspective, this is yet another example of a politically motivated campaign to vilify the nation without substantiated proof.
The Kremlin has dismissed the accusations of missile transfers as unfounded. It aligns with Iran’s stance that these claims are part of a broader effort to undermine its position on the global stage.
The Western focus on Iran’s alleged involvement in missile transfers to Russia also reflects the broader geopolitical context surrounding the Ukraine conflict.
As the war drags on, Western governments are increasingly looking for scapegoats to explain the ongoing challenges in countering Russian military advancements.

BRICS media summit concludes
with emphasis on stability, cooperation
Tehran Times, September 15, 2024

The 7th BRICS media summit, hosted by Russia's TASS News Agency in collaboration with China's Xinhua News Agency, concluded in Moscow today, after two days of discussions aimed at strengthening media cooperation among BRICS nations.
The event, held on September 14-15, 2024, brought together leaders and representatives from over 45 major media outlets across BRICS countries and nations seeking membership in the bloc.
The summit focused on two key themes: "The Role of the BRICS Media Community in Strengthening Stability and Cooperation in a Multipolar World" and "BRICS Media: Technological Transformation on the Way to a New World."

During the discussions, participants from BRICS countries pledged to leverage their media platforms to support the creation of a fair and multipolar world order rooted in international law and the principles of equality, sovereignty, non-interference, and indivisible security.
They also emphasized the media's pivotal role in fostering and maintaining international dialogue, and agreed to offer extensive coverage of BRICS and BRICS+ mechanisms in political, economic, and humanitarian fields.
A strong commitment was made to uphold unbiased and fact-based journalism, with BRICS media representatives expressing readiness to collaborate in the fight against disinformation.


UN General Assembly reviews draft resolution
by Palestine calling for end to Israeli occupation
Al Jazeera, 17 sep 2024

In a historic moment, Palestine, newly recognised by the UN General Assembly, has submitted a draft resolution demanding an end to Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
Building on a recent International Court of Justice ruling, the resolution calls for Israel to withdraw its troops, halt settlement expansion, and return land taken since 1967 within 12 months.
While the US opposes the resolution, it has no veto power in the General Assembly, which has previously supported Palestine's recognition. The resolution, set for a vote, would not be legally binding but reflects global opinion as leaders gather for high-level UN meetings next week.

Info: Starting with the 79th General Assembly session the Palestinians can submit proposals and amendments, and sit among member states.
The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, took his place on Tuesday, the 12th of september, at a table marked "State of Palestine" between Sri Lanka and Sudan. (AFP News)

Daily Sabah, 18-9-2024: The General Assembly of the United Nations formally adopted a resolution requesting Israel end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months. The text is based on an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) calling Israel's occupation since 1967 "unlawful."
There were 124 votes in favor, 14 against and a notable 43 abstentions.


Saudi Arabia will not recognize Israel
without Palestinian state, crown prince tells Shoura Council
Arab News, September 18, 2024

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday that the Kingdom would not recognize Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state.
During an address to the Shoura Council, he also strongly condemned the “crimes of the Israeli occupation” against the Palestinian people.
The Kingdom will not stop its tireless work toward the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and we affirm that the Kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the crown prince said.
Prince Mohammed thanked “countries that recognized the Palestinian state in embodiment of international legitimacy,” and urged other countries who had not done so to “take similar steps.”


Saudi Vision 2030

Turning to the Kingdom’s domestic situation, the crown prince said that any achievement made through Saudi Vision 2030’s comprehensive umbrella of various paths was an elevation for the nation, a benefit for the citizen, and immunity from fluctuations and changes for future generations.
“We are proceeding with optimism and confidence in continuing the journey to achieve our targets, according to a comprehensive and integrated approach based on careful review and prioritization,” the crown prince said.
“Our nation has made significant strides during this transformative period. Non-oil activities have reached a new pinnacle, contributing 50 percent of the real GDP last year. This achievement fosters sustainable and inclusive growth, solidifying our economic diversification efforts.
The crown prince added that while the Kingdom moved forward “on the paths of modernization and diversity,” the country was keen to protect its identity and values, “which are an extension of the journey of our grandfathers and fathers.”


How the Israeli Settlers Movement shaped Modern Israel
By Arie Perliger, The Conversation 09/19/2024

The increase in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank over the past year has been unprecedented.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and the start of the war, there have been more than 1,000 attacks, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group.
The spike, which has raised international alarm, is often blamed on the permissive policies of Israel’s right-wing government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to a U.N. investigation, nearly half of all settler attacks documented in October 2023 were conducted in collaboration with, or in the presence of, Israeli military forces....

Israel took over the West Bank, then ruled by Jordan, during the 1967 Six-Day War against its Arab-majority neighboring countries.
Afterward, Israel imposed martial law in the region, yet Jewish settlement in the occupied area began immediately afterward. The first settlements were erected illegally and were allowed to stay on a temporary basis. Eventually, after the right-wing Likud party came to power in 1977, the settlements gained legal status and their number expanded rapidly. Most countries, however, consider them a violation of international law.

The first groups of settlers, and still the majority of them, are part of the larger religious Zionist movement, which aspires to combine dedication to a Jewish nation-state with religious orthodoxy.
These Israelis consider the emergence of the Zionist movement, the establishment of the state of Israel and its subsequent military victories as phases in a holy redemption, which will end with the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of a Jewish kingdom.
Many believe this process can be expedited by restoring a Jewish presence in the West Bank, which is part of the biblical kingdoms of Judea and Israel.

In order to build more support, the settlers movement adopted a complementary narrative, focusing on their communities’ contribution to national security.
Activists magnified the settlements’ role as a buffer zone between the Palestinian population living under occupation and the main Israeli population centers. Today, nearly half of Jewish Israelis believe they help strengthen national security.
In addition, the movement likened West Bank settlers to the Zionist pioneers who arrived in Palestine at the turn of the 20th century and founded modern Israel – although many of those original Zionists were staunchly secular. Thus, settlers legitimized their cause by portraying themselves as followers of Israel’s founding fathers.
Simultaneously, the settlers gained power within influential Israeli institutions, including the military.
Today, settlers hold prominent positions in the army’s leadership, which may partially explain the often weak response to settlers’ illegal activities.

Following 2022 elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu included extremist settler leaders in his cabinet, which signaled to many settlers that violent and illegal acts against Palestinians would be considered legitimate.
In addition, the appointments have further politicized government bureaucracy. The minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir – a former member of the Kahanist movement – has transformed the police force, employing aggressive measures against Palestinians and demonstrators opposing Netanyahu’s government.
Bezalel Smotrich, the political leader of the Hardali stream of the settler movement, now serves as minister of the treasury. Smotrich has pushed to direct more funding to settlements, approve expansions and legalize unauthorized outposts.

Arie Perliger, Director of Security Studies and Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass Lowell


USA News: House Passes Bill to Label Products
From West Bank Settlements “Made in Israel”
By Sharon Zhang, Truthout, September 19, 2024

The House passed a bill on Wednesday to label products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as originating from “Israel,” essentially recognizing Israel’s annexation of the region...
The bill would make permanent a Donald Trump-era policy to mislabel products from Palestine. Under the proposal, products from areas encompassing the majority of the West Bank would be labeled as a “Product of Israel” or “Made in Israel.”
Meanwhile, the bill would also mandate that products from the occupied West Bank and Gaza no longer be labeled in conjunction as being from “West Bank/Gaza” or “West Bank and Gaza” — a labeling scheme recognizing their unity as Palestine — but rather, be labeled only as being from the “West Bank” or “Gaza.”

The bill is a way to advance the U.S.’s recognition of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, even as the occupation and states’ recognition of it has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice; even the bill’s title, the Anti-BDS Labeling Act, referring to the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, takes a swat at advocates for Palestinian rights.
When the Trump policy was announced by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020, it was considered by some to be even more extreme than Israel’s own stances in advancing its annexation of the West Bank at the time. Now, it has taken a step toward becoming permanent U.S. law.


Netanyahu gets his war but any victory will be pyrrhic
By Osama Al-Sharif, Arab News, September 24, 2024

Almost a year after the calamitous events of Oct. 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is finally getting what he always wanted: an all-out regional war.
Make no mistake, the dangerous escalation on Israel’s northern front can only be described as a full-fledged war, with all cards laid on the table. Forget about the tactical euphemisms, it is everything short of an open war. The reality is that Israel is hitting Hezbollah all over Lebanon, from the south to the Bekaa and from the Lebanese coast to Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In return, a badly injured and humiliated Hezbollah is trying to salvage its reputation and ability to respond. It is now firing missiles deep into northern Israel, as well as the suburbs of Tel Aviv. No one knows how far the two parties will go in this latest exchange of blows.

Israel has hit southern Lebanon hard right after carrying out a series of “below the belt” blows to the pro-Iran militia. As far as one can tell, Hezbollah has suffered critical losses to its top military leadership, has lost confidence in the integrity of its command and control communication system and has suffered severe blows to its underground missile bases in southern Lebanon....
The foremost goal of Israel’s military operation against Hezbollah is to force the Shiite group’s hand into accepting the delinking of its support of the Gaza resistance.
In his most recent TV speech, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah vowed to maintain that link at any price. The Israeli operation ostensibly seeks to convince him to drop that demand, accept a truce and allow thousands of Israelis to return to their homes in northern Israel.
While a shaken Nasrallah ponders this offer, Israel is bent on creating a buffer zone in southern Lebanon that extends way north of the Litani River. It is using a Gaza-like carpet bombing of south Lebanon, causing tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee. A week or more of the Israeli bombing of south Lebanon will render this area a parched and empty space. There is no way that Hezbollah can reclaim this territory.

More than 11 months of war on Gaza has decimated the Palestinian enclave.
More than 70 percent of the civilian infrastructure has been destroyed. More than 41,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed. More than 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza are cramped into a 40 sq. mile area. It is no longer about Hamas, but about the fate of almost all Gaza residents.
Netanyahu was never interested in the fate of the Israeli captives. He wanted to destroy Hamas, which he almost did while pushing for a master plan: Occupy most of Gaza and force the Palestinians to Egypt’s borders, while allowing his extremist partners to terrorize Palestinians in the West Bank.
Aside from his legal ordeals, Netanyahu has always believed that he has a mission to debunk any attempt to create a Palestinian state. In later years, he thought that he could carry out such a scheme with the help of extremist coalition partners.
The reality today underlines Israel’s far-right plan to annex most of the West Bank, leaving the Palestinians in ghettos with limited self-administration.

Once this war ends, Israel will still face hard questions. What to do with more than 7 million Palestinians between the river and the sea?
This latest cycle of violence may well end in a partial Israeli victory. But it will prove to be a pyrrhic victory for Netanyahu. Hezbollah, like Hamas, will survive in one way or another.
The threat to Israel will never disappear. The only way for Israel to survive is to make peace with the Palestinians. So far, Netanyahu has not seen this...

Gaza Info: Israel at war (Gaza War 2023|24)


In UN speech, Netanyahu holds map showing
West Bank, Gaza as part of Israel
Middle East Monitor, September 27, 2024

In his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, displayed two maps, which did not identify the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but showed all the territory as part of Israel, Anadolu Agency reports.
Holding the maps, Netanyahu said the world must choose between a “blessing” and a “curse”.
The first one showed Israel’s potential Arab allies in the region, while the second, Iran and its allies. Both the maps expunged Gaza and the West Bank.
Netanyahu issued stern warnings to Iran, saying: “I have a message for Tehran, if you strike us, we will strike you.” “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East,” he added.
He condemned the world for “appeasing Iran for too long”, asserting that such appeasement “must end now”.

He reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to continue its military operations in Gaza, where it has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since last October, demanding that Hamas “surrender, lay down its arms and release all the hostages.”
The Israeli leader insisted that Hamas should not be involved in post-war Gaza, calling it “inconceivable and ridiculous” for the group to play a role in the enclave after the war.
He expressed support for any peaceful civilian governance in the Palestinian enclave. “We are ready to work with regional and other partners to support a local civilian administration in Gaza.”
Netanyahu also announced the continuation of military actions in Lebanon, where its forces have killed hundreds in extensive air strikes this week, saying: “I’ve come here today to say enough is enough. We won’t rest until our citizens can return safely to their homes.”
“We will continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met,” he added.

As Netanyahu took the stage, a large number of delegates, including that of Turkiye, left the hall.

News | Israel's war on Lebanon
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in Beirut strike
Middle East Eye, 28 September 2024

Lebanon's Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed after Israel launched a series of air strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut a day earlier.
In an assassination that risks triggering all-out war in a region already teetering on the edge, Israeli fighter jets fired approximately ten bunker-busting bombs at residential buildings in the southern neighbourhood of Dahiyeh on Friday, with footage seen by Middle East Eye showing thick plumes of smoke emerging from the blast site.
The Israeli military immediately confirmed it was behind the raids, and initially claimed it targeted Hezbollah's command centre. Later, Israeli media reported that Nasrallah, 64, was the intended target of the strikes, but did not confirm whether he was killed.
On Saturday, the Israeli army posted a message on X, saying, "Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world."
The Arabic spokesman of the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, also said in a statement on X that Nasrallah was killed alongside Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah's southern front, as well as a number of other commanders.
"The message is clear: We will reach everyone who threatens the citizens of Israel in the north, in the south, and on more distant fronts."
Later, Hezbollah said in a statement: "His eminence, the master of resistance, the righteous servant, has passed away to be with his lord who is pleased with him as a great martyr.
"The leadership of Hezbollah pledges ... to continue its jihad in confronting the enemy [Israel], supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people."

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