"Theintelfrog" has done a count of all the US military strategic airlift (C-17 Globemaster III and C-5M Super Galaxy) operations related to the transfer of air defence systems to the Middle East.
Bomb, bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran...
#3
Yes but - - - that's only the actual military airlift. Nobody is (publicly) tracking the Atlas, Kalitta, etc lift to both military and civilian airports.
#4
Where's the link to the original article? Or is this opinion?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/04/2026 8:46 Comments ||
Top||
#5
With all the military and commercial satellite imagery available it is hard to move Patriot and THAAD batteries without someone seeing. That doesn't include hobbyists who track planes for fun.
We are probably being obvious anyway to make Iran realize we are serious and to see how they react and get signal and other intelligence from how they react.
TheIntelFrog has a very active X page, Bobby. But even though it is open source information, our moderators have security concerns about sharing the information here.
Tensions armées dans le sud de la Libye et instabilité croissante à la frontière avec le Niger
Le sud de la Libye a connu une détérioration sécuritaire notable après l’annonce par un groupe armé se présentant comme « révolutionnaire » de sa prise de contrôle du poste-frontière… pic.twitter.com/h9ndyvtK8X
Armed Tensions in Southern Libya and Growing Instability at the Border with Niger
Southern Libya has experienced a notable deterioration in security following the announcement by an armed group presenting itself as "revolutionary" of its takeover of the Al-Tum border post, between Libya and Niger.
The group accuses the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly... of plundering the South's resources and being responsible for the economic and social crisis that severely affects local populations, particularly through fuel shortages and the degradation of living conditions.
[IsraelTimes] Cut off from dollar system, Iranians use blockchain to move money abroad; research firm says it found over 5,000 IRGC-linked addresses and that Guards moved $3 billion in crypto since 2023
US Sherlocks are examining whether specific crypto platforms have facilitated sanctions evasion by Iranian officials, a blockchain researcher told Rooters, as cryptocurrency activity booms in the Islamic Theocratic RepublicIran’s crypto transaction volumes hit an estimated $8-10 billion last year as both state-linked groups and retail investors have turned to digital currencies, according to estimates from TRM Labs and Chainalysis.
The US Treasury is now looking at whether crypto platforms have enabled state-linked players to evade sanctions when seeking to move money abroad, access hard currency, or procure goods, said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at US-based blockchain analysis company TRM Labs, who said he had direct knowledge of the Treasury’s concerns.
A Treasury spokesperson referred Rooters to a September statement announcing measures the department was taking against "shadow banking" networks supporting Iran, including those it said used crypto to skirt sanctions.
Redbord did not identify any cryptocurrency platforms being probed or where they were based.
TRM Labs estimates there was around $10 billion of crypto activity in Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... last year, against $11.4 billion in 2024. Chainalysis, another US-based blockchain analysis company, said Iranian wallets received a record $7.8 billion in 2025, up from $7.4 billion in 2024 and $3.17 billion in 2023.
Iran’s mission at the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... did not respond to emailed requests for comment for this article.
Cryptocurrencies remain a small part of the global financial system, but their use is expected to grow in emerging markets with weak currencies, the International Monetary Fund has said. Iran has been effectively severed from the dollar-based system and has seen a rapid devaluation of its rial currency. Oil revenues remain by far its largest source of foreign currency, hitting $53 billion in 2023, according to the latest estimates from the US government’s Energy Information Administration.
"The harder one squeezes the Iranian economy, the more one better be ready to deal with the consequences, one of which is the expanding use of crypto," said Tom Keatinge, director of the Center for Finance and Security at UK think-tank the Royal United Services Institute.
Iran has also faced a series of crises over the past year, including the 12-day war with Israel as well as American strikes on its nuclear facilities. A recent wave of anti-government protests and the Tehran government’s deadly crackdown have prompted threats of further military action from US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... as well as fresh scrutiny of Iranian finances.
Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran last month, including on 18 people it accused of being part of shadow-banking networks of sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS
Crypto wallet addresses are pseudonymous — recorded on the blockchain as a string of letters and numbers — making it difficult to establish who is behind transactions or their locations. Researchers estimate crypto activity using data sources, including web traffic and wallet addresses identified by countries, including the US and Israel, as linked to sanctioned entities.
Gaining a complete picture of Iran’s crypto usage is near-impossible, the researchers said. Indeed, estimates of the split between state-linked and retail volumes vary significantly.
Chainalysis estimates that 50 percent of Iran’s volumes last year were linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a powerful political, military, and economic force with close ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> By contrast, TRM Labs estimates that 95% of Iran-linked flows come from retail investors. Still, the company says it has identified more than 5,000 addresses it labels as IRGC-linked and estimates the Guards have moved $3 billion worth of crypto since 2023.
British blockchain research company Elliptic said last month that the Central Bank of Iran, which, like the IRGC, is subject to international economic sanctions, had acquired at least $507 million worth of the stablecoin USDT in 2025, in what Elliptic called a "sophisticated strategy to bypass the global banking system."
Iran’s UN mission didn’t respond to questions on the IRGC’s or the central bank’s alleged use of crypto. Rooters couldn’t independently verify the findings of Elliptic and other blockchain researchers.
Tether, which issues USDT, said it maintained a "zero-tolerance policy toward the criminal use of our tokens," and that it worked closely with law enforcement agencies to identify and freeze assets linked to illegal activity.
Andrew Fierman, Chainalysis’s head of national security intelligence, said that when a crypto wallet is publicly identified or sanctioned, owners can easily create new ones to use instead, complicating the task of US authorities.
RUSI’s Keatinge said the scale of the challenge facing US authorities was enormous.
"It requires significant resources to do the kind of blockchain tracing and so on, to issue the sanctions," he added. "It’s the ultimate high-speed whack-a-mole game."
15 MILLION CRYPTO USERS IN IRAN
Ordinary Iranians, meanwhile, may be buying crypto because of the rapid rial devaluation, the researchers told Rooters. Crypto activity rose sharply during bouts of social and geopolitical instability last year, including during the recent protests, until the government blocked the internet on January 8, the analysts added, citing activity on Iranian exchanges.
Nobitex, the largest of Iran’s crypto exchanges, told Rooters that about 15 million people in Iran had some exposure or used crypto assets, based on industry estimates. It said it had 11 million customers, with the majority of activity from retail and smaller investors. "For many users, crypto primarily functions as a store of value in response to the continued depreciation of the local currency," Nobitex said in an email.
Iranians can move money off local exchanges to wallets and platforms located elsewhere, blockchain researchers and finance experts say.
Singapore-based blockchain researchers Nansen said some Iranians had pulled funds from Nobitex in 2025, with balances of major cryptocurrencies having declined sharply from a mid-year peak. Nobitex was hit by an anti-Iranian hacking group in June last year.
Nansen said it had identified hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of crypto that were transferred from Nobitex to international cryptocurrency exchanges.
"These funds did not simply leave crypto. Instead, they increasingly moved to international exchanges," said analyst Nicolai Sondergaard. "Overall, the data suggests crypto in Iran acted as a slow, structural exit route throughout 2025."
Nobitex said some customers may use crypto to transfer funds internationally, but it did not track the destination or purpose of such transactions. The exchange said it safeguards user assets by robust monitoring of activity, including checks to identify potentially suspicious transactions. It said it was understandable that some users may have had concerns regarding asset safety following the June hack.
"In many cases, users transfer assets to self-custodied wallets (not other international exchanges) as a precautionary measure, allowing them time to assess the situation and determine whether to redeposit funds at a later time," Nobitex added.
[IsraelTimes] The trial of the two, who were caught on video last February saying they sent ‘Israeli dogs’ to hell, is scheduled for August 31
Two Sydney nurses accused of threatening to kill Israeli patients in a viral video last year pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." on Monday, Australian media reported.
Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 27, and Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 28, were seen in a viral video last February, allegedly showing them making threats against Israeli patients during a chat with Israeli influencer Max Veifer.
Both were nurses at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney. Mr. Nadir is an Afghan refugee who only became an Australian citizen four years ago; Ms Abu Lebdeh is of Palestinian extraction. They were referred to the police for investigation by shocked hospital management, despite a whistleblower revealing after 10/7/2023 that staff were enthusiastic supporters of egregious anti-Israel slogans.
The video sparked outrage across Australia and the Jewish world after it was released. The pair were later barred from working as nurses nationwide.
At the Downing Centre District Court, both entered not-guilty pleas on Monday when asked by Judge Stephen Hanley to respond to charges of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend. Abu Lebdeh also faces a charge of threatening violence against a group.
Their trial is scheduled to begin on August 31, and is expected to run for five days. A pretrial hearing on the issue is scheduled for June 1. The pair remain on bail.
Nadir’s lawyer said he will challenge whether the video can legally be used in court as evidence. He did not elaborate.
The video showed TikTok influencer Veifer talking to the two nurses at the Bankstown Hospital.
"I’m so upset that you’re Israeli... eventually you’re going to get killed and go to [hell]," Nadir said after Veifer mentioned he is from Israel in their video chat.
When asked why he would be killed, Abu Lebdeh said: "It’s Paleostine’s country, not your country," and then unleashed a torrent of obscenity.
Abu Lebdeh said she would not treat any Israeli patients and instead would kill them. Nadir, with a threatening gesture, said he had already sent many "Israeli dog[s]," who visited the hospital, to "Jahannam," the term for Islamic hell in Arabic.
The video caused outrage throughout Australia and the global Jewish community.
"The comments are vile, the footage is sickening and it is shameful," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in parliament after the video went public.
"I do not want to leave a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think that they will ever work for New South Wales Health again," the state’s Health Minister Ryan Park said at the time.
Since Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the 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... war and setting off a tidal wave of antisemitism across the globe, Australia’s Jewish community has been among the hardest hit, with attacks and incitement that culminated in December with the Hanukkah terror attack on Bondi Beach that killed 15 and injured dozens.
A report published in December by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) said the country saw 1,654 incidents during the 12-month period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025 — about five times the annual average recorded in the decade prior to the Hamas assault.
Last week, it was revealed that one of the survivors of the Hanukkah terror attack on Bondi Beach was given a non-Jewish-sounding pseudonym when she was admitted to the hospital following the attack. Staff at the Liverpool Hospital in western Sydney changed the name of Rosalia Shikhverg to the alias "Karen Jones" in the medical records, possibly in order to "disguise" her identity from antisemitic staff members, an investigation by Sky News found.
[IsraelTimes] Mayor condemns ‘sick’ images of Naveed Akram designed in style of iconic ‘Aussie’ campaign promoting country’s diversity, says municipal staff working to take them down.
The posters feature Naveed Akram, who, together with his father, Sajid Akram, killed 15 people and wounded dozens attending a Hanukkah party at Bondi Beach on December 14.
🚨 MELBOURNE: TERRORIST GLORIFICATION
Posters praising Naveed Akram, one of the Bondi Beach attackers, were plastered across Melbourne’s CBD. About 40 posters, designed to mimic inclusive street art, were put up illegally. The Anti-Defamation Commission says this is… pic.twitter.com/xjgtYfSnHr
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2026 13:36 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Antipodean non-Ashkenazis'
Cartoonish new poster sez, "AUSSIE!"
"Mate, pick up a bat
By its neck, and smite." [SPLAT!]
[bright red Rorschach with looney runes: MOSSIE]
[IsraelTimes] Diplomatic official tells ToI just 12 crossed in each direction, far lower than the quota; report says those who entered Gaza were escorted by armed men to IDF checkpoint
Only 12 of the 42 Paleostinians who sought to return to the 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... Strip via the Rafah Border Crossing Monday were allowed to enter, according a Tuesday report, which said 30 were blocked and were returned to Egypt.
Monday was the first day of a limited reopening of the Rafah Crossing, a move hailed by Paleostinians and international organizations as a milestone in the Gaza ceasefire. But the number of people who actually crossed the border was significantly lower than the number permitted, which was set at 50 per day into the Strip and up to 150 people leaving it and entering Egypt — 50 medical patients, each with up to two companions.
A diplomatic official told The Times of Israel that only 12 people crossed in each direction.
A source at the border quoted by AFP said that the 12 people who left the Strip for Egypt were "five injured people and seven companions."
According to the Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i channel al-Araby, 30 people who tried to enter Gaza Monday were stopped and returned to Egypt. The report did not specify who these 30 people were or why they were prevented from entering the Strip.
Citing unnamed sources, the network said those who successfully returned to Gaza were interrogated several times during their journey, including by masked button men who stopped them at a checkpoint some 500 meters from the Rafah Crossing.
The sources said that the armed individuals handed the returnees over to IDF troops, whereupon they were interrogated and their belongings were confiscated.
Paleostinians returning to Gaza via Egypt first pass through the Rafah Crossing, which is being operated by a team of Paleostinian Authority representatives and monitors from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... From there, they make their way to an IDF checkpoint — located around five kilometers northeast of the Rafah Crossing, on the Salah a-Din highway — for a security screening. Only afterward are they permitted to continue toward the Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... -controlled areas of Gaza.
An area between Rafah Crossing and the IDF’s checkpoint is controlled by the Popular Forces, a militia founded by an anti-Hamas armed Bedouin leader, Yasser Abu Shabaab, who was killed late last year.
Going in the other direction, five of the 12 Paleostinians who left the Strip for Egypt on Monday did so for medical treatment. Several were children accompanied by adult relatives. An Egyptian health official told AFP that three ambulances had arrived with Paleostinian patients who were screened upon arrival to determine which hospital they would be taken to.
Al-Qahera News, citing Egypt’s health ministry, reported that 150 hospitals across the country and 250-300 ambulances have been prepared to receive Paleostinian patients as the Rafah Crossing resumes operations.
It said 12,000 doctors and 30 rapid deployment teams have been allocated to work with those transferred.
The director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, said there were 20,000 patients in the territory in urgent need of treatment, including 4,500 children.
All Gazook Paleostinians seeking to enter or leave the Strip are required to receive Egyptian approval, with Egypt sending the names to Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service for clearance.
Israel is supervising the exit of Gazooks to Egypt remotely. From a control room, Israeli officers, using facial recognition software, verify that those leaving the Strip are on the list of approved names and open a gate at the crossing to allow them through.
A team of Paleostinian Authority representatives and monitors from the European Union stationed at Rafah Crossing are tasked with conducting security screenings for those leaving the Strip.
The crossing was briefly opened for the evacuation of medical patients during a ceasefire in early 2025. Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing since the October ceasefire, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza last week cleared the way to move forward.
There are no plans to allow the crossing to be used for aid and goods, which go through other crossings where they are screened by Israel for contraband, especially weapons.
In the years before the war, Hamas used the Rafah Crossing to bring in numerous weapons and other supplies into the Strip for its military wing, without any Israeli oversight, according to the IDF and security officials.
The Israeli defense establishment is backing an idea for a tri-border crossing between Israel, Egypt, and Gaza, where the current Kerem Shalom Crossing is located.
[IsraelTimes] Statement from religious leaders seemingly portrayed IDF veteran Ihab Shlayan as outside consensus for Zionism and other activism, but letter lacked Catholic backing and may have been directed from above
An Israeli Christian organizer whose activities are thought to have been targeted in a controversial statement put out by church leaders condemning Christian Zionism last month says the move was initiated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem under pressure from the Paleostinian Authority and Jordan.
Ihab Shlayan, founder of the Israeli Christian Voice advocacy group, was not named in the January 17 statement, which sparked an interconfessional fight on social media over Israel and Zionism. But he was widely understood to have been its focus due to his criticism of church leadership and embrace of Israel and its military.
Yet while some have pointed to the letter as evidence that Shlayan and other evangelical Zionists fall outside the margins of mainstream Christianity, questions have arisen regarding the actual extent of support for the extraordinary statement.
The declaration was issued under the rubric of the Patriarchs and Heads of Local Churches of Jerusalem, an umbrella group which includes the heads of the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Eastern Catholic, and other Orthodox churches.
According to Shlayan, the driving force behind the initiative was Greek Orthodox leadership under the heavy guidance of forces outside Israel, which he maintains wields only symbolic power in East Jerusalem.
"Those who control the entire Patriarchate and all of East Jerusalem are the Jordanian Waqf and the Paleostinian Authority," he said. The Waqf refers to the Jordanian-controlled endowment that administers the Temple Mount for Moslems.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Jordanian embassy and PA all did not respond to requests for comment.
Shlayan said the statement was the result of his outreach activities on behalf of Christians in areas where the church leaders and others felt he had no standing to do so.
"So many events happened recently [involving Israeli Christian Voice] that the [Greek Orthodox] patriarch started receiving pressure from Jordan and the Paleostinian Authority because I spoke on behalf of Christians in the Paleostinian territories about what they’re going through there," alleged Shlayan.
"The day that Israel and the US wake up and understand that things can’t continue like this, then these types of statements won’t go out," said Shlayan.
In the statement, church leaders condemned "recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies," singling out Christian Zionism by name.
"The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches further note with concern that these individuals have been welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally," continued the statement.
The group regularly issues statements on issues of concern to Christians in the region, including fairly sharp criticisms of Israel.
But January’s statement was different.
Aside from not naming the mystery individual spreading "damaging ideologies," the letter was out of character for some of the leading Church leaders, especially Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who do not usually pick public fights with other Christians.
Shlayan, a reservist IDF lieutenant colonel who served in the army for 25 years, went public with his efforts to create a movement of Israeli Christians who openly support the state after retiring from military service in June 2024. He had been involved quietly since 2012 in The Forum for Drafting the Christian Community and related organizations, pushing Israeli Christians to join the IDF.
In recent months, Shlayan met with senior local and foreign officials to speak about the needs of Israeli Christians, arguing that the current Church leadership is failing to meet their needs.
On August 22, he met with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a fellow Christian Zionist, to discuss the welfare of Christians in Israel, and they agreed to meet again with local clergy.
The two discussed "future courses of action with the Trump Administration and with the Government of the State of Israel, in order to advance the needs and requests of the Christian community in Israel and the Holy Land," Israeli Christian Voice said. "We will continue to hold meetings with big shots across the Western and Christian world, and with every organization and nation that believes in our mission — for the protection of Christians in the Middle East and in the State of Israel."
That follow-up meeting took place on January 9, with holy mans from both Israel and the West Bank.
Shlayan was also invited to President Isaac Herzog’s January 12 New Year’s reception for Christian leaders, including those in the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches group.
Shlayan noted that Israeli Christian Voice has regularly criticized church leaders, though without mentioning them by name, putting him and the group in the crosshairs of some of the leading churches.
"The Christian people today are suffering: no job opportunities, no land, no homes, and no clear horizon for the future, while some continue to theorize from behind desks and privileges," the group wrote on its social media pages recently.
It also called on Christians leaders to "let the people speak" and to "give them the right to decide without guardianship or intimidation."
As the highly publicized letter from the patriarchs spread quickly online, those hostile to Israel used it as evidence that Christian Zionists were outside a firm cross-denominational consensus.
It turns out that it was anything but.
MISSED MESSAGES
The Catholics wanted nothing to do with the letter, The Times of Israel has learned.
The Latin Patriarchate, as the Roman Catholic Church is known in the Holy Land, did not share the Christian Zionism statement on its website or on any of its social media channels, though it has shared all the previous Patriarchs and Heads of Churches statements. Pizzaballa’s name does not appear on the statement, nor does his signature.
The Custodia Terre Sancte, the Franciscan mission to the region, removed the statement from its website as well.
When asked by The Times of Israel if the Latin Patriarchate supports the statement, an official from the Patriarchate said only, "No comment."
Pizzaballa, the top Catholic official in the region, is an unlikely candidate to sign on to such a statement. The Italian Franciscan, who famously offered to go into captivity 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... in the place of Israeli hostages, is a gentle bridge-builder, one who has gained great admiration from Israeli and Jewish leaders.
"In my opinion, it would be wonderful if he were elected [pope], not just because he comes from here and he understands us, but because he’s such an exceptionally bright and good person," Rabbi David Rosen, former American Jewish Committee international director of Interreligious Affairs, said ahead of the 2025 conclave.
Pizzaballa is a fluent Hebrew speaker and earned an MA from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Though he is not afraid to speak out about pressures on Christians in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, he is not looking to make headlines attacking the Jewish state or Zionism.
According to Shlayan, citing sources in the churches, the statement was rushed out, and Pizzaballa was not aware of it until after it came out.
According to a person familiar with the umbrella group’s workings, statements are sent to members as a draft and if there are no objections by a certain time then it is assumed that the church leaders all agree with the statement.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... Pizzaballa was in Jordan visiting Catholic communities there when the statement came out, meaning it is possible he never saw the secretariat’s draft.
Shlayan, who prays at the Immanuel Evangelical Church in Haifa on Fridays and the St. Gabriel Greek Orthodox Church on Sundays, is a proud "Christian, Israeli, Zionist," but has harsh words for Israel’s approach toward Christians in the country.
He wants Israel to recognize Christians as their own unique minority community in the country, as it does with Druze, Bedouin, and Circassians. In general, Israel regards Christians according to their ethnic background, meaning most are considered part of the Moslem-majority Arab community.
Shlayan also wants Christians to have their own pedagogical department in the Education Ministry, so that Christian children can learn their own history instead of Moslem history in Arab schools.
In the IDF, he lamented, there is no one responsible for Christian recruitment, and the state has not created a memorial for the 29 Christians who fell in the IDF.
"What do I have to tell the Western Christian world?" he asked rhetorically. "Other than that, we manage to breathe and live with a bit of dignity without being killed, that we can dress as we like and we can pray? Beyond that—nothing, nothing."
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.
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
[IsraelTimes] The trial of the two, who were caught on video last February saying they sent ‘Israeli dogs’ to hell, is scheduled for August 31
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
