[FOX] War Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce plans to reduce by 20% the number of positions reserved for generals and admirals during his State of the Force address on Wednesday.
Hegseth approved reduction plans for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the military's joint pool earlier this month, according to memos seen by Fox News Digital. The services were directed to implement the plans and complete the reductions by Jan. 1, 2027.
Wednesday's address in Quantico, Va. is expected to lay out Hegseth's priorities for the military in the year ahead, with the reduction in senior leadership positions among the changes he will unveil.
The new target doubles the 10% overall reduction in general and flag officer positions Hegseth ordered last year as part of his effort to streamline the military's senior ranks. That earlier directive separately called for a 20% reduction in active-duty four-star positions and a 20% reduction in National Guard general officers.
[HumAngleMedia] Sixteen years into the war against Boko Haram and ISWAP in Nigeria, public records still do not show what the North East campaign costs, where the money goes, or which interventions produce lasting security.
by Ahmad Salkida
After 16 years of war, Nigerians still cannot find the answer to a basic question: how much does it cost to face one insurgent on the battlefield?
It is noteworthy that requests have not been made of the military to reveal information such as intelligence sources, targeting files, or troop locations. Nigerians are asking for an auditable account of what the state spends, what it buys, and what security that money delivers. However, Nigeria seems unwilling to state the annual cost of fighting Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and unverified estimates often suggest figures above ₦700 billion a year, but those estimates are not linked to any official dataset.
No consolidated public account exists for Operation Hadin Kai, the principal counter-insurgency operation in the North East. National budgets combine salaries, weapons, aviation, intelligence, fuel, logistics, pensions, construction, and operations across the country under broad national budget lines. They do not show what goes to Borno, Adamawa, or Yobe; what supports several theatres at once; or what was budgeted but never released.
The accounting failure extends beyond combat. The government has received large numbers of people leaving insurgent-controlled territory, with some being fighters and others non-combatants like farmers, children, forced recruits, and captives. A much smaller group has passed through Operation Safe Corridor, the federal programme for screened, low-risk adults selected for deradicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration.
Yet the public does not have answers to questions like: what does it cost to screen, house, feed, rehabilitate, and monitor one participant? How long does each stage take? How many graduates remain safely disengaged after three years? What support do receiving communities and victims receive? And what does the state save when an eligible person leaves an armed network for good?
Nigerians argue that they are asked to analyse force and rehabilitation, or justice and peace, without the evidence needed to judge what any option costs or achieves. Without this information and data, the government cannot establish that rehabilitation is cheaper than continued combat, even if it may be, and critics cannot prove that military pressure alone offers better value or more durable security.
[IsraelTimes] Official denies report by Jewish Chronicle, after Middle East minister says more than 80 licenses have been suspended or refused over Gaza
A British government source denied on Tuesday a Jewish Chronicle report that the United Kingdom has widened restrictions on military exports to Israel.
The Chronicle’s report came after Middle East minister Stephen Doughty said earlier this month that London had suspended or refused more than 80 export licenses in relation to Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... When restrictions intended to prevent British military equipment from being used in the Gaza war took effect in September 2024, they applied to about 30 licenses.
The 50 licenses rejected since then reflected new applications submitted under the existing restrictions, rather than an expansion of the original Gaza-related policy, the British official told The Times of Israel.
The denial comes after Doughty, in a debate at the House of Commons, said that Britannia had "suspended or refused more than 80 export licences in relation to Gaza."
Doughty also said Britannia would now refuse applications for arms and other exports deemed to "materially contribute to the occupation," describing that measure alongside the existing Gaza restrictions as a "double lock" on relevant exports. He said the restriction would remain in place for affected items for as long as Britannia considers the occupation to persist.
At the same time, Doughty stressed that the government "reject(s) those who make any attempt to de-legitimize Israel, or to support the so-called BDS — boycott, divestment and sanctions — movement.
"Our disagreements are with the Government of Israel and their actions, not with Israel, and certainly not with the Israeli people."
The current restrictions date to the start of September 2024, when then-foreign secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of 30 of roughly 350 British arms export licenses to Israel. The affected licenses covered components for aerial systems including fighter jets, helicopters and drones.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Lammy said then that the decision came in the wake of a review of UK arms export licenses, which found a "clear risk" that some "might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law."
Lammy stressed that the decision was "not a blanket ban" or an arms embargo, and British officials did not conclude that Israel itself was violating international humanitarian law.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the move at the time as "shameful," arguing that it would embolden Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
FB Reel:
Ben Shapiro on domestic Israeli politics
80% center right:
1. military independence no one else controls material supply
2.everybody needs to serve in the military (10% Arab, 10% Haredi disagree)
3. economic deregulation
Problem is that Bibi — who agrees on all three — cannot form coalition because so many politicians despise Bibi because he most effective politician in last quarter century. 2/3rds of opposition is former Bibi deputies
Left nonexistent, destroyed by 10/7
[PJMedia] U.S. Border Patrol is already warning the caravan of illegal aliens recently formed to head toward our southern border that they are going a long way just to be disappointed.
It is not clear why the caravan formed at this particular time. Perhaps illegal aliens are hoping that if Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... sweep the midterms, the Trump administration will be so busy fighting a Democrat Congress that it will not have the time or attention to continue guarding the southern border well. After all, the Trump administration always listens to court orders, no matter how illegitimate, telling them not to deport illegal aliens and terrorists. Is this what the cartels have in mind?
In any case, as of right now, no illegal alien caravan is going to be able to sneak across the border with Mexico and into our country. No large migrant group has achieved that feat since soon after the second Trump administration took office.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared a statement with Fox News that correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X September 28. "The United States Border Patrol is actively tracking a migrant caravan which departed San Pedro Sula, Honduras on September 20, 2026. USBP is closely engaged with its international partners to monitor their movement and any additional developments," the statement began.
DHS added, "USBP reminds migrants colonists that under the leadership of President Trump and Homeland Secretary Mullin, the border has remained closed and secured for the last 16 months. Migrants considering making the dangerous journey to our country should also be aware that the days of ’catch and release’ are over, and Biden’s disastrous open border policy has been SEALED SHUT. Anyone attempting to illegally enter the United States will be apprehended, prosecuted, and removed from the country."
The caravan originally started in Honduras but has now crossed into Mexico, according to Fox News. As of Monday, hundreds of people were involved in it, but it still seems to be much smaller than the gargantuan floods of millions that charged our border during the Biden-Harris administration. So most of the foreigners considering coming to America still understand that this is not the most promising time just to walk in and demand asylum.
Fox quoted one member of the Honduran caravan who claimed there was no leader of the group, that hunger and poverty were the only reasons they headed toward the United States. But we have no idea whether we can trust anything he says. And obviously there must be some reason that these illegal aliens are putting all this effort into hiking toward America even though the Trump administration is already planning to deny them entry.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The value of Russian oil exported from September 21 to 27 reached $2.75 billion amid rising supply volumes and crude prices. Bloomberg reported this on September 29.
"Russia shipped a record volume of oil in a month and a half, and the price jump brought the cost of these cargoes close to the highest level since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022," the article states.
The four-week average prices of Russia's main Urals and ESPO crude oil grades rose to their highest level in more than three months. However, over the past week, the price of Urals crude oil has fallen, following global oil prices. Bloomberg also notes that the effect of increased oil supplies and their prices is partially offset by restrictions on diesel exports and reduced supplies of Russian petroleum products.
On September 15, the Wall Street Journal reported that the global fuel crisis warned about by American oil executives had already arrived. According to the journal, commercial fuel reserves in countries have been depleted for more than six months, and the capacity for further use of strategic petroleum reserves is nearly exhausted.
The latest escalation in the Middle East began with the US resumption of military operations against Iran on July 10. A few days later, Washington announced a complete naval blockade of Iranian ports and launched a series of strikes against Iranian targets. In response to the US actions, Iranian forces again began striking American bases in the region.
CHART OF THE DAY: Crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar (via all routes). At a huge costs and with the help of the US Navy, the group has lifted oil exports to nearly 80% of pre-war levels (Important to note is only *crude*). pic.twitter.com/9lidYlF0qw
🚨 WOW! President Trump was just asked what his midterm message is for millions of Americans to vote red, and he dropped RAPID FIRE truth nukes to the Fake News in the Oval Office:
- 17 months in a row of ZERO illegal crossings - The best crime numbers in history, even after… pic.twitter.com/0todedjOiS
…even after Democrats let in 25 million people
- The most jobs in the history of the United States
- M*rders are lower than at any time since 1900
- New plants are being built every day, like today's $18B investment
- $21 TRILLION being invested in America, the most in history
- China has only $3 trillion, and Biden had just half a trillion
- The war will be won very soon
- Gas prices will come tumbling down
- "Nobody else could have done that. Nobody else."
- Democrats want to open the border back up
Today we officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR and Antifa as terrorist organizations per the anti-sharia law signed earlier this year. pic.twitter.com/qIZRIFa7au
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Ilya Maximov
[Regnum] Almost every update to the Pentagon's official casualty database (Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS), which publishes statistics related to the Iran conflict, has been met with controversy due to attempts to conceal some of the casualties.
This week, the agency quietly added 37 wounded to the public registry—29 U.S. Navy sailors and eight Marines—bringing the total number of casualties to 861. No official explanation was forthcoming: authorities limited themselves to the usual statements that all of them had already returned to duty and would not disclose their identities.
Officially, the Navy attributed the situation to "standard verification protocols," which delayed the DCAS system's updates. However, a scandal could not be avoided.
NBC News journalists have discovered that Marine Corps soldiers were injured in an Iranian missile strike on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on September 14. Eight Marines—seven enlisted men and one officer—suffered smoke inhalation, and some suffered concussions.
The most curious thing is where exactly they were located. Sources stated bluntly: it wasn't a US Navy ship, but some kind of "naval vessel," and the Marines were operating as part of a battalion-sized landing group.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the ship in question may be the British mail and passenger liner St. Helena, which, according to TradeWinds News, was struck in the Strait of Hormuz that very day. Its mission has not been disclosed.
They were likely either providing security for maritime trade or serving aboard an auxiliary fleet ship used by the navy in its operation against Iran.
Nothing is known about the 29 injured sailors—it can only be assumed they were in the same area. However, it cannot be ruled out that they were injured elsewhere and under different circumstances.
The omissions regarding the number of wounded are only part of the problem. The situation with fatalities is even more serious. According to six sources familiar with the Defense Department's internal casualty accounting system, four or five dead service members are not reflected in the public database.
Several officials interviewed by the publication reported 22 deaths in the Middle East since February 28, with a sixth official reporting 23. At the time of publication, DCAS officially listed 18 deaths. Three agency contractors were also reported killed, though they are not included in DCAS.
Not all of the unsolved cases are combat casualties, but they are all related to the deployment of American troops in the region.
After some time, one name finally emerged: U.S. Army Captain Bianca Wilkerson, posthumously promoted to major. She served in a logistics unit and died on September 18 on a plane en route to the Middle East. According to her brother, heart problems may have been the cause of death, as Bianca's deployment overseas had been postponed several years earlier due to a blood clot.
However, the exact cause has not yet been determined. "It's unclear whether the clot is related to the issue that caused her death. An autopsy is pending," the deceased's brother explained to The Virginian Pilot.
This death was the 19th case officially added to DCAS during the war with Iran. However, the question of how many fatalities were left unaccounted for remains unresolved.
At the same time, the Pentagon continues to call itself “the most transparent military department in history,” and Vice President J.D. Vance, back in early September, commenting on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, said: “I wouldn’t call it a war.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described The Washington Post's report on underreporting casualties as "disgusting and false," adding, "Even if we wanted to try to hide combat deaths, we never would, and we couldn't."
On social media, American citizens nevertheless note that the current situation raises questions regarding the Pentagon's stated openness.
"During the Vietnam War, Walter Cronkite reported the daily casualty figures every night. We're talking about the 1960s. There's no chance our government will do the same now. They lied to us about Vietnam, but not about our own dead. I never thought I'd trust Iran more than the US," wrote one disgruntled American.
Amid these scandals, a process that in itself has become an admission of the failure of US policy in the Middle East—the withdrawal of troops from Iraq—is coming to an end. By September 30, US military personnel must leave their last bases, ending a 23-year military presence.
This is the second withdrawal of American troops from the Middle Eastern country in 15 years. The first took place in 2011, when the main forces serving there since the 2003 invasion were withdrawn. Back then, the process was accompanied by solemn ceremonies and received widespread media coverage, as it was presented as the end of the war.
This year, everything is being done quietly—both for security reasons and because there's nothing left to brag about. Perhaps, except for how cleverly they managed to gain control of the proceeds from the sale of Iraqi oil, which has been channeled through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for all these years.
On the political and military fronts, the results are far more modest. In 2014, Iraq became a stronghold for the Islamic State (IS)*, prompting the withdrawal of overseas troops. During the current operation against Iran, pro-Iranian groups actively operated on its territory. Tellingly, seven of the 19 officially recorded American military casualties during the new conflict were stationed in Iraq.
All this suggests that the Americans have failed to establish their own order outside the oil fields and the "Green Zone" in Baghdad. This is also evidenced by the losses over 23 years: nearly 4,500 killed and over 32,000 wounded—two and 1.5 times more, respectively, than in the Afghan campaign, although it lasted only three years shorter.
As in the case of Afghanistan, the withdrawal of troops will leave a vacuum in the country that the government will have a hard time filling.
The commander of the pro-Iranian Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, called the withdrawal "a historic victory for Iraqi Muslim resistance groups and honest Iraqis and a crushing defeat for the American project."
"On September 30, we will turn a dark page in Iraq's history and mark the failure of an occupation that sought to impose its will on our country," Reuters quoted him as saying.
Amir Hayat Moghadam, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee, expressed confidence that after the American withdrawal, "lasting peace will reign" in the region.
Security expert Jassim al-Bahadli bluntly admitted: “Iran will benefit strategically from the coalition’s withdrawal, as it removes the military presence that has served as a counterweight to Tehran’s influence in Iraq for years.”
Meanwhile, the allies Washington is effectively abandoning are openly expressing discontent. Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called the withdrawal "shameful": "The threat is real—we are vulnerable, we are under attack. Now, to be left alone without any adequate defense system is shameful."
London School of Economics expert Toby Dodge summed it up in an interview with the Financial Times: "The message to long-term US allies in the region: make your own deal with Tehran, because Washington can't be relied upon."
The threat of ISIS* returning adds to the uncertainty. Kurdish commanders report that the activity of terrorist sleeper cells has increased since the announcement of US forces being sent home.
The withdrawal of troops from Iraqi territory comes amid a continued decline in popularity of the Iran campaign within the United States. According to a Fox News poll, over 70% of voters believe the current administration lacks a clear strategy for ending the war. Sixty percent call the decision to launch the war wrong, and the number of those opposed to it has grown significantly since June.
47% believe the confrontation will negatively impact US security in the long term. Tellingly, Iran isn't perceived as a major concern by Americans: only 4% see it that way, while 34% cite the cost of living.
The conflict, which began as a show of force, has ultimately become a burden for the United States, and the quiet withdrawal from Iraq only underscores this.
Posted by: badanov ||
09/30/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[IsraelTimes] Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to form a coalition that will participate in the parliamentary elections alongside former senior Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan, who is close to the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian officials tell The Associated Press.
Islamic Jihad Deputy Secretary General Mohammed al-Hindi confirmed the formation of the electoral alliance in an interview with AP in Istanbul yesterday.
According to al-Hindi, the alliance will support a “unified national list” that could be made up of independent figures rather than members of the groups themselves. However, it is unclear whether the Palestinian Authority will allow the list to participate in the elections.
According to AP, the list will include a bloc led by Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief who went into exile in 2010 following a bitter falling-out with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and who had previously been driven out of Gaza by Hamas. Dahlan has since cultivated close ties with the UAE, where he serves as an adviser to the country’s ruler. The report does not make clear whether Dahlan himself will run or who would represent his bloc on the list.
In an interview on September 26, Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said his movement would participate in the parliamentary elections as part of a “national coalition,” but did not elaborate.
Registration for lists seeking to participate in the elections opened several days ago. The Palestinian Central Elections Commission said six lists have already submitted applications to participate, some of them little-known and others representing factions within the PLO, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian National Initiative. One unusual list, Masar Jadid, is associated with Fatah figures who oppose the current policies of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The commission has yet to approve the lists’ participation.
In recent weeks, the Palestinian Authority has not explicitly addressed whether Hamas will be allowed to run in the elections. However, Hamas did not participate as an organization in the local elections held several months ago, and the prevailing assessment is that the PA will not allow Hamas to run as an organization in the parliamentary elections either. It is possible, however, that the PA could approve a list in which Hamas is involved behind the scenes but which does not include figures openly identified with the group.
[IsraelTimes] City Hall initiative pledges education and public messaging, but omits Jewish connection to Israel and only highlights white supremacist violence against Jews
In December 2025, as then-New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s administration was taking shape, a report surfaced social media posts by some of his appointees. One of Mamdani’s incoming staffers had referred to "money hungry Jews" and "rich Jewish peeps," echoing age-old tropes about Jewish greed and wealth. Mamdani immediately accepted her resignation and said he would not have hired her if he had known about the comments.
Other Mamdani appointees had made anti-Zionist comments, saying that Zionists were worse than Nazis, that "Zionists are never Jews," and that Zionism was a "genocidal ideology," according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Mamdani disregarded criticism of those comments.
"We must distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government, and the ADL’s report oftentimes ignores this distinction, and in doing so, it draws attention away from the very real crisis of antisemitism," he said.
That exchange, soon after his election win, illustrated Mamdani’s understanding of discrimination against Jews — that "classic" antisemitism and hatred from the right is unacceptable, but that leftist rhetoric demonizing Israel or Zionism is not discriminatory.
The framework goes against the view of mainstream Jewish groups in the city. The divide is that many Jews view a connection to Israel as essential to their identity, while the other side of the debate views Zionism as a political ideology that one can opt out of, and political views are not protected by anti-discrimination measures.
Mamdani’s critics have consistently argued that his anti-Zionist rhetoric, such as his repeated accusations of "genocide" in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , could endanger New York Jews, forming a central point of tension between City Hall and mainstream Jewish groups.
The Mamdani administration’s plan to combat antisemitism announced on Tuesday did not address those concerns, avoiding the issue of Israel and anti-Zionism. The omission left mainstream Jewish groups dissatisfied and the plan is unlikely to smooth their tense relationship with City Hall.
Jews make up around 10 percent of New York’s population and are targeted in more than half of all confirmed hate crimes in the city, according to NYPD data. Antisemitic hate crimes are up about 8% since Mamdani took office, alongside an increase in hate crimes against some other groups.
Mamdani has, in the past, endorsed the bifurcation between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. During a 2021 protest, while he was a state assembly member, Mamdani said, "Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, and in the anti-Zionist movement that I believe in and belong to, there is no room for antisemitism."
"We are often tarred with the characterization of being antisemitic, and let’s be clear — anti-Zionism is not antisemitism," Mamdani told a crowd in 2023. "We will not be scared into believing that it is because we know that this is a politically motivated charge seeking to silence us."
His administration’s 33-page antisemitism plan released Tuesday continues on that track by not mentioning Zionism. The plan focuses on education and public messaging, and generally groups antisemitism with other forms of hatred.
The only reference to Israel is an acknowledgment that Israelis are one of the city’s Jewish constituencies and that New York is the home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel. The plan does not refer to Jews’ connection to Israel. A large majority of American Jews say that a connection to Israel is important to their identity.
The report notes that antisemitic crimes have risen since the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... invasion of October 7, 2023, but makes no other mention of the attack or the ideology behind the spike in hate, such as far-left or Islamist ideologies. There is no mention of the anti-Zionist movement anywhere in the report.
The only specific antisemitic incidents referred to in the report are attacks driven by a clear white supremacist ideology — the 2017 demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia; the 2018 killings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and the shooting in Poway, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, in 2019.
The report leaves out more recent killings of Jews that were motivated by a hatred of Israel, such as last year’s Molotov cocktailing of a hostages protest in Colorado and the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC.
Mamdani’s plan repeatedly supports Holocaust education, a central tactic of Jewish groups for decades that some Jewish leaders now view as insufficient for combating contemporary antisemitism. The Nazis were motivated by a racial hatred of Jews, an ideology that is now widely understood as discrimination, while anti-Zionism is often framed as protected political speech.
Antisemitic white supremacist groups like the Goyim Defense League are active in other parts of the US, but there is scant organized white supremacist activity in New York City.
Anti-Zionist protests in the city often echo old anti-Jewish tropes, such as casting Israeli leaders as satanic or calling Israelis "baby killers."
The report does not endorse any definition of antisemitism, which could have clarified the distinction.
Mamdani scrapped the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism on his first day in office. The definition says some forms of anti-Israel rhetoric are discriminatory, while stating that "criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic."
"New York City can and will leverage all of the tools at its disposal to combat antisemitism effectively without needing to adopt a definition for this specific form of hate," the report said.
The definition matters because it would help determine how the city responds to anti-Zionist activity, such as lessons delegitimizing Israel in schools, activism from teachers, or protests outside synagogues hosting Israel-related events. Some of the protests have incorporated explicit antisemitism and support for US-designated terrorist groups.
Mamdani’s plan also leaves out protests and activism on college campuses. The only mention of demonstrations is a footnote stating that federal agencies do not categorize "political protest as a crime and this administration supports all New Yorkers’ right to protest."
Mamdani has condemned Hamas and support for terror groups in the city, and the NYPD has tightly controlled protests at synagogues since he took office.
Mamdani’s predecessor Eric Adams ...Hizonner da Mare of Noo Yawk. As a Manchurian candidate, Hizonner was all in favor of law and order and that kind of stuff. Once in office, a bunch of his friends found cushy jobs with the city, the windows kept getting broken, and Soros-funded DA Alvin Bragg remained right where he was. Most people comfort themselves with the thought that he's not Bill di Blasio but that's pretty small comfort with kids who actually go to school getting bumped off while standing in front of them. But he's a Dem, so the rubes will vote for him next election too, so he's what they deserve... , a firm supporter of Israel, released a blueprint for combating antisemitism late last year that described Israel as a "spiritual center and practical refuge" for Jewish New Yorkers and said, "The practical consequence of anti-Zionist rhetoric is the dehumanization of Zionists (the vast majority of Jewish people)."
Jewish leaders have repeatedly asked Mamdani to tone down his anti-Israel rhetoric, arguing that, while Mamdani may distinguish between Jews and the Jewish state, some of those who hear him might not.
Last month, rabbis implored Mamdani to stop "vilifying Israel" because the comments were causing harm to Jews.
Mainstream Jewish groups and leaders applauded parts of the antisemitism plan, such as its measures for education and security, but were dissatisfied with its disregard for anti-Zionism.
City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, a co-chair of the council’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, said, "There is much to welcome in the Mayor’s strategy, particularly its focus on education, prevention, and ensuring Jewish New Yorkers can live openly and proudly in our city."
"This strategy, however, misses an opportunity to confront the reality of the intersection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism," Dinowitz said. "We cannot ignore that attacking or excluding ’Zionists’ can and has become a convenient way to disguise antisemitism as political disagreement."
[i24news] Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, issued an apology on Monday after falsely claiming that Jews were called "Muslims" in Nazi concentration camps.
In an interview with the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of State Workers, the diplomat attempted to demonstrate that the term "antisemitism" originally referred to hostility towards all Semitic peoples and not specifically Jews.
"When they were being led to the gas chambers, some accounts of life in the concentration camps indicate that the Jews were called 'the Muslims,'" she had said.
Francesca Albanese had also stated that the term "antisemitism" was originally intended to refer to any non-European person from the Middle East, before becoming focused on hatred of Jews.
In a message published on X, the UN official acknowledged having misunderstood the German term "Muselmann," literally "Muslim."
“I misinterpreted the term ‘Muselmann,’ used in Nazi camps to designate prisoners on the verge of death, and I wrongly concluded that the word antisemitism originally referred to hatred of all Semitic peoples,” she wrote.
She then acknowledged that the word had been created specifically to refer to hatred of Jews.
The term "antisemitism" was popularized in 1879 by the German journalist Wilhelm Marr to refer to campaigns hostile to Jews. According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, it has always referred, since its inception, to prejudice and hatred directed at Jews.
The term "Muselmann" was used in the Nazi camps to describe inmates suffering from extreme exhaustion and severe symptoms of starvation. Its precise origin remains uncertain.
These prisoners, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, were often close to death and frequently selected to be killed. The term therefore did not constitute a racial category used by the Nazis to associate Jews with Muslims.
Yad Vashem denounced a "fundamental distortion" of the historical meaning of the word. The Israeli institution recalled that the expression had developed among camp inmates and that it could refer to both Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners.
[IsraelTimes] The United States has sanctioned 10 individuals and entities that allegedly procured weapons and weapons components for Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, the US Treasury Department’s website shows.
They’ve decided to admit that he’s dead after all?
[IranWire] Two informed sources told IranWire that upon reaching an agreement with the United States and following the end of military engagements with the U.S. and Israel, a new Supreme Leader will be selected for the Islamic Republic.
These two sources, who maintain close ties with various factions inside the Islamic Republic regime, stated in exclusive interviews with IranWire that both political leaders across different factions and numerous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders believe that continuing Mojtaba Khamenei’s leadership, purportedly assisted by artificial intelligence, is unsustainable and actively weakens the system.
According to one IranWire source in contact with grand ayatollahs’ offices (Beyt) in Qom: “Praise be to God, there is no shortage in the system of just, pious theologians aware of their time, who are courageous, capable managers and strategists (the core constitutional requirements for leadership). His Eminence Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, for certain reasons, most likely physical, is unable to perform all duties. For this reason, high-ranking country officials are waiting for conditions to calm and the war to end, at which point one or a group of those esteemed theologians will assume Velayat (guardianship). Naturally, those figures will continue to benefit from the views and experience of His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei (may God protect him).”
According to this source, numerous members of the Assembly of Experts also support the selection of a new Supreme Leader.
Another IranWire source, who served in the IRGC for years, believes that recent demonstrations against former President Hassan Rouhani and recent activities by the “Janfada Campaign” (Puyesh-e Janfada) are aimed at preventing the selection of a new leader and retaining Mojtaba Khamenei: “Certain groups in the country, particularly individuals in the IRGC and Basij and those with overt or covert economic ties to these two institutions, see their present and future solely in the continuation of hostility and war. The absence of a strong leader is a blessing for them that they want to exploit as much as possible.”
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
...every time you hear the phrase 
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
