Frog throughly boiled. It is ithe Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, after all.
[ToloNews] The leader of the Islamic Emirate met with the governor of Paktia and other provincial officials in Kandahar.
During the meeting, Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada emphasized that the time has come to implement Sharia in the country’s political, economic, and military sectors. He called on local officials to make serious efforts to enforce Islamic rulings, especially the law of "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice."
The deputy spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, Hamdullah Fitrat said: "The esteemed Amir al-Mu'minin instructed officials to strengthen the Islamic system, implement Sharia, enforce the law of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and serve the people."
The leader of the Islamic Emirate also stressed the importance of unity among the people and the prevention of divisions.
Fitrat further stated: "The Amir al-Mu'minin urged the people to cooperate with ministries, find solutions to public problems, and eliminate ethnic divisions."
Political analyst Abdul Sadiq Hamidzoy said: "If the government wants the support of the people, the foremost need is for social justice, so that no one feels disappointed or alienated."
This comes as the leader of the Islamic Emirate had previously, during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Kandahar, emphasized the importance of setting aside differences and said that an Islamic system can only succeed when there is unity and harmony among all citizens.
[Garowe] Recent battlefield advances by the murderous Moslem group al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... have prompted some U.S. State Department officials to propose closing the American embassy in Mogadishu, according to The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... The recommendation, driven by concerns over embassy security, echoes fears of past crises — including the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the 2021 collapse of the Afghan government following U.S. troop withdrawal.
However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... other officials within the Trump administration’s National Security Council have warned that shuttering the embassy could undermine confidence in Somalia’s federal government and risk political instability. These officials are urging continued engagement and support for Somalia’s fragile institutions.
The U.S. embassy in Mogadishu remains fully operational, with security conditions under regular review. The embassy was reopened in October 2019 under President Trump after being closed for nearly 28 years, marking a significant step in U.S.-Somalia relations.
In addition to the embassy closure, State Department officials have also floated the idea of withdrawing the 500 to 600 American troops stationed in Somalia and halting counterterrorism operations against al-Shabaab and ISIS.
It remains unclear whether former President Trump, who reduced troop levels in late 2020 before leaving office, would pursue these proposals if reelected. President Biden later redeployed a limited number of U.S. forces to Somalia in 2021.
#1
I guess if AFRICOM can run their Somalia missions from the comfort and safety of Germany, there's little need for an embassy in Somalia. Especially if the Ambassador just visits.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/12/2025 8:52 Comments ||
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#3
Somalia is not an actual country, its a target-rich Islamic warlord area full of whack-a-mole opportunities and foreign-aid con-jobs. The only real purpose of an Embassy there seems to be the immigration pipeline to the Somali Minneapolis Colony!
[GEO.TV] Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has reiterated Cairo's rejection of any plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza, reported Al Jazeera.
''Such acts are considered a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and undermine peace efforts and threaten regional peace and security,'' said Abdelatty, speaking at the Arab-Islamic ministerial committee meeting on Gaza.
Abdelatty said Egypt continues to engage in negotiations and called for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement to be implemented.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2025 00:18 ||
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[11122 views]
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#1
Egypt gets...8 Billion from the US annually. Maybe they no longer need it.
[GEO.TV] Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has condemned Israel's ''starvation and weaponisation of aid in Gaza,'' calling it a ''crime violating humanitarian values and international law'', according to Al Jazeera.
Speaking at the Joint Arab-Islamic Summit meeting in Antalya, Turkiye, he said the lack of accountability threatened the international system's stability and he urged decisive action.
The prime minister also reiterated Qatar's commitment to the Palestinian cause and to the establishment of an independent state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Ugh. When the government pays, they get to choose.
[IsraelTimes] He ‘cannot be entrusted with religious freedom of Jews,’ says one leader as Jewish community fumes over pick of online-ordained rabbi who calls Zionist Jews ‘Nazis’ and ‘apostates’
The Colombian Jewish community is reeling after an anti-Zionist "rabbi" was tapped to be the country’s director of religious affairs.
Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar was appointed to the post in Colombia’s Ministry of the Interior by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, according to an announcement Gamboa made on X last Thursday.
He thanked Petro for "the opportunity to serve excluded and marginalized religious minorities from the Directorate of Religious Affairs, in the construction of a just and peaceful Colombia for all."
But Colombia’s Jewish community does not recognize Gamboa as a rabbi, and Jewish groups have condemned him as an antisemite. He reportedly received his ordination from a Florida institution called the Esoteric Theological Seminary that advertises rabbinical degrees for $160. Gamboa’s LinkedIn displays an ordination certificate from the seminary.
Marcos Peckel, executive director of the Confederation of Jewish Communities of Colombia, expressed outrage over the appointment. Gamboa’s appointment comes after Petro severed diplomatic ties with Israel last May, accusing the country of committing 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... , an accusation Israel has denied.
"This man refers to Zionist Jews as heretics, apostates, and Nazis. That’s how he talks about us," Peckel told The Media Line. "A person who speaks this way cannot be entrusted with the religious freedoms of Jewish citizens."
Colombia’s Chief Rabbi Alfredo Goldschmidt also rejected the appointment of Gamboa, telling The Media Line, "We’ve had very good experiences with past religious affairs directors, usually evangelical leaders who respected all faiths. Gamboa has no such support—not from Jews, evangelicals, nor Catholics. He’s had festivities with all."
Gamboa has castigated Israel and Zionism online. In a post on X in February, he wrote that Israel is a "neo-Nazi ...adherents of a philosophy that was seen even at the time as pure evil, which makes them either consciously purely evil, or attention-seeking ratbags. Pick one, or both.... state" and said that "Zionism is an anti-Jewish, idolatrous, and apostate heresy."
The Anti-Defamation League joined the chorus of Jewish groups denouncing the appointment, posting on X that his appointment would "threaten religious freedom and the security of Colombia’s Jewish community."
The ADL also accused Gamboa of having "ties to turban groups." The Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a release that he and the ambassador representing Iran, Israel’s chief adversary, have had a close relationship.
Gamboa defended himself in another post on X, writing, "In the last 48 hours, my human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... have been violated in Colombia: religious freedom, right to honor and a good name, freedom of conscience... they have done so publicly and in my capacity as a HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER!"
They aren’t likely to get him. What’s their fallback?
[IsraelTimes] Argentine court ruled last year that Iran and Hezbollah were behind attack that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires; lead prosecutor says no immunity for Iranian supreme leader
By Grace Gilson
The names of bombing victims and the Spanish phrase "Memory and Justice" cover a wall after a ceremony was held to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish center that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, July 18, 2024. (AP/Natacha Pisarenko)
JTA — Argentine prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires.
Khamenei, who ascended to his position in 1989, was Iran’s leader at the time of the attack. It killed 85 people and was, at the time, the single deadliest attack against Diaspora Jews since the Holocaust. An Argentine court ruled last April that Iran and Hezbollah were behind the attack.
The lead prosecutor in the case, Sebastián Basso, argued in an Argentinian federal court that Khamenei was behind the decision to carry out the attack, and he did not have immunity from prosecution, Argentine newspaper Clarín reported Wednesday.
“It is the national judicial authorities who have the duty and the power to judge those responsible, regardless of their location and the social and political position they occupy in the territories where they reside,” said Basso, according to Clarín. He cited both Argentine and international law in his arguments.
Basso said that Khamenei “led the decision to carry out a bomb attack in Buenos Aires in July 1994 and issued executive order (fatwa) 39 to carry it out. It is also undeniable that Khamenei has always been, and continues to be, the main supporter of groups with military capabilities such as Hezbollah,” according to Clarín. Khamenei has previously denied allegations of Iran’s involvement in the attack.
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Previous prosecutors had said Khamenei could claim immunity for the charges. More broadly, Basso’s request signifies Argentina’s shifting approach to Iran’s role in the AMIA attack, which it had allegedly once tried to downplay before last April’s ruling.
Firemen and policemen search for wounded people after a bomb exploded at the Argentinian Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA in Spanish) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 1994. (Ali Burafi/AFP)
In 2013, Argentina took steps to jointly investigate the attack with Iran. Basso’s predecessor, Alberto Nisman, was assassinated in 2015, hours before he was set to present evidence that a former Argentine president had covered up Iran’s involvement in the bombing.
In 2021, Iran appointed two men to its government who were implicated in the bombing.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[KavkazUzel] An investigation has been launched into the criminal case of a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria who, according to investigators, justified terrorism in his publications on a social network.
A criminal case has been opened against a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism), the press service of the republican department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported today.
According to investigators, in November 2023, the suspect created an account on a social network and posted "publicly accessible publications containing statements justifying terrorist activity" and promoting the dissemination of the ideology of an international terrorist organization banned in Russia.
"The suspect's actions were identified and stopped by officers of the UFSB of Russia for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic," the department's Telegram channel said in a post. No other details were given.
Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for a fine of 300 thousand rubles to seven years of imprisonment.
[IsraelTimes] Spanish civil society has ‘concerns,’ due to war in Gaza, about Israel’s participation in annual song contest, writes Spanish RTVE network in letter to European Broadcasting Union
Spain’s public broadcaster said on Friday it has called for a "debate" over Israel’s participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... due to "concerns" over the situation in war-torn Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks.... RTVE has sent a letter to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which manages the event, "requesting a debate on the participation of Israeli public television (KAN)" in the contest, the Spanish public broadcaster said in a statement.
The Swiss city of Basel will host the glitzy annual extravaganza — one of the world’s biggest live television events, which involves countries from Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... to Australia — at the St. Jakobshalle indoor arena, with the semi-finals on May 13 and 15, and the final on May 17.
Public broadcasters of participating nations select the candidate which will represent them, so the absence of Kan would mean there is no Israeli performer at this year’s event.
RTVE said it "reiterates its support" for Eurovision "but also acknowledges the concerns that the situation in Gaza and the participation of KAN public television are raising within Spanish civil society."
"It would be appropriate for the EBU to recognize the existence of this debate and provide a forum for discussion between EBU member broadcasters on the participation of Israeli public television," the statement added.
Spain has been one of the most anti-Israel countries in Europe since the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... attack against Israel that sparked the war, recognizing a Paleostinian state in a move Israel says is a reward for terrorism.
Compare to just a few years ago, when Spain invited those who could prove their lineal descent from Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 to apply for citizenship. What changed?
Thousands protested at last year’s contest in the Swedish city of Malmo over Israel’s participation against the backdrop of the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group in Gaza. Israeli competitor Eden Golan had to change her lyrics over apparent references to the deadly Hamas assault. She finished fifth in the competition.
A survivor of the attack will represent Israel in Basel this year. When Lions of Islam killed more than 370 people at the Nova music festival, Yuval Raphael survived by hiding under a pile of bodies. She said she would be ready to face the kind of hostility Golan did.
Eurovision organizers shun Spanish request to hold debate on Israel’s participation
EBU notes ‘concerns and deeply held views regarding the conflict in the Middle East’ but says all members will participate in song contest
Eurovision organizers shun Spanish request to hold debate on Israel’s participation. EBU notes ‘concerns and deeply held views regarding the conflict in the Middle East’ but says all members will participate in song contest.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Victor Vasiliev
[REGNUM] The first EU-Central Asia summit, held in Samarkand on April 3–4, was attended by EU leaders, as well as the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The high-level event would have gone unnoticed in Russia if not for one scandalous detail.
Over the course of two days, the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, laid out everything that European diplomacy has been voicing for three years now: green energy, water management, communications, transport, and calls to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The only thing added was the newfangled topic of critically important materials.
Following the summit, a Joint Declaration consisting of 20 points was approved. However, point 4, which was noted by a number of experts, contained an anti-Turkish call.
In particular, the signatories of the declaration reaffirm their firm commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 550 of 1984.
It condemns “illegal separatist activities” in the Turkish-occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus in violation of previous resolutions, and again calls on UN member states not to recognize the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Turkish international journalist and war correspondent Arda Zenturk called the events a “geopolitical blow” to Turkey and an “act of betrayal.”
Another interesting thing is that during the summit, Turkish leader Recep Erdogan made a statement that “by getting closer to Turkey, Europe can also strengthen its relations with the Central Asian countries, and this is also a great opportunity for the Central Asian countries that want to free themselves from the influence of Russia and China.”
At the very least, Türkiye was counting on certain prospects as a result of this summit, playing on the contradictions between the EU and Russia, and certainly did not expect to get a knife in the back from its allies in the Organization of Turkic States (OTG).
Since the Central Asian countries themselves did not react to this scandal at all, one can assume that the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan simply did not bother to carefully read the final declaration. And one can understand them.
This is the third time that high-level meetings of this format have been held. The previous ones were held in 2022–2023 in Astana, Kazakhstan, and Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. At first glance, it is not even clear why this meeting is designated as the “first” and why the European side attaches special importance to it. Moreover, all the rhetoric and declarative part of the events are repeated exactly.
FRENCH HAIRPIN
The position of France had an undoubted influence on the text of the final declaration. It is France that has set the tone in all foreign policy activities on behalf of the EU in recent years.
France has also consistently failed to recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In 1983, the Fifth Republic supported UN Security Council Resolution 541, which declared the TRNC's declaration of independence legally invalid.
In 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Erdogan's calls for a two-state solution to the Cyprus issue, calling them a "provocation."
In December 2024, French military aircraft stationed at Paphos Air Base under a 2017 defence cooperation agreement between France and the Greek Cypriot administration violated TRNC airspace, sparking protests from the Northern Cypriot authorities.
These actions reflect France's traditional position of supporting the unity of Cyprus and non-recognition of the TRNC.
In general, it can be confidently assumed that the theses of point 4 of the Samarkand summit declaration were prudently “put in” by the French side. And while French foreign diplomacy is active in the Mediterranean, there is no point in talking about any potential membership of Turkey in the EU.
But, what is most interesting, a similar statement is partly true for Central Asia. If only because, over the past few years, Paris has achieved a significant increase in influence in this region, both in the diplomatic dimension and in the economic one.
France is pursuing its own strategy in Central Asia in defiance of both Moscow and Ankara, and its successes have come as a surprise to many traditional players in the region.
FRANCE'S STRATEGY IN CENTRAL ASIA
Last November, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev paid a state visit to Paris. The French recently hosted Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on a state visit. And Macron's visit to Kyrgyzstan was announced the other day. Such attention to the region is not accidental.
Emmanuel Macron's priorities are well illustrated by the details of the reception for the Uzbek leader, which took place on March 11-13. The French side threw a lavish banquet. The special attention to the leader of the Central Asian country is surprising for France, which has never organized such celebrations for its loyal satellites from Africa.
And then there was a whole reception at the Elysee Palace, attended by official delegations of the two countries, members of the French government, famous figures of culture, art and science, representatives of business circles and the public.
The French know how to make sweeping decisions in foreign policy. This was evident in the South Caucasus (the rise of Nikol Pashinyan and the velvet revolution of 2018 in Armenia are largely French style) and in Ukraine. And now Central Asia.
The official website of the President of Uzbekistan states the following about the results of the visit:
"A Joint Declaration on the establishment of strategic partnership relations was adopted, as well as a solid package of agreements on various areas of cooperation. The leader of our country took part in a round table with the heads of leading companies, banks and organizations of France. A Cooperation Program in the investment and innovation spheres was adopted, providing for the implementation of specific cooperation projects worth 6.5 billion euros."
Everything is explained quite simply. Uzbekistan ranks 10th in the world in terms of uranium reserves and 5th in terms of its production. France is the world's main consumer of uranium, while there are no deposits in the country itself.
It was uranium that at one time determined Paris’s special strategic interest in its former colonies on the Black Continent, in many of which it is mined (primarily in Niger, but also in Mali and the Central African Republic).
As France is forced to leave Africa due to objective reasons (terrorist threats, lack of security and convenient logistics) and pressure from competitors (Russia first and foremost), its gaze turns to the post-Soviet space. First and foremost, to Uzbekistan.
Coinciding with the Uzbek leader's state visit to Paris, French nuclear fuel company Orano said it would begin developing its South Dzhengeldy uranium mining project in Uzbekistan through its Nurlikum Mining joint venture with Uzbek state mining company Navoiyuran.
The mine is expected to operate for more than ten years, with peak production forecast to be 700 tonnes of uranium per year.
In addition to Orano, more than 50 French companies successfully operate in Uzbekistan in various sectors of the economy, including energy, infrastructure, environmental protection, aviation, food production and tourism.
Among the most well-known are SUEZ and Veolia (large companies in the field of water and waste management, actively involved in projects to develop water supply and sanitation infrastructure in Uzbekistan), TotalEnergies and Voltalia (energy companies expanding their presence in Uzbekistan, involved in renewable energy and infrastructure projects), Lactalis (one of the largest dairy companies in the world) and others.
Economic expansion is supported by initiatives in the field of culture and education: French lyceums and cultural centers have begun operating, scholarships and academic cooperation have been launched, various media and NGOs receive support from the French embassy.
A similar and quite successful strategy is being implemented by France in Kazakhstan.
Of course, Paris itself cannot compete with the influence of China or Russia in the region. However, it manages to play well on the desire of some local elites to reduce dependence on their usual partners. And at the same time, France really does have something to offer in economic terms, unlike Turkey.
France, like the EU as a whole, supports the diversification of foreign policy and economic relations between the countries of the region.
Given the leading role of French diplomacy in the EU, Paris can thus play at a fairly high level, at least outplaying Erdogan (as can be seen in the example above), adding to Russia’s troubles (competing in the nuclear industry and regularly recording a position in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity) and reducing the region’s dependence on Chinese loans and technologies within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative.
And finally, after Joe Biden's defeat in the US presidential election and the significant reduction of the American presence in the region, Paris has become the new favorite destination for some of the local intelligentsia and liberal-minded public.
France does not directly state its political demands in the region, if only because it has no historical interests in Central Asia. But it does softly and effectively position itself as an alternative to the influence of Russia, China and Turkey.
Posted by: badanov ||
04/12/2025 00:00 ||
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Ingrahm Angle 4/11/25, begins at 21 minutes and lasts 6.
[YouTube] Democrats are furious, and the piece starts with a clip of four unidentified congressmen on the floor on Thursday. The third is a gentleman who claims the Republicans don't want you vote, and in particular they don't want those that are a) married women, b) can't afford a passport and c) college students who've left their birth certificate at home.
A woman follows who actually looks to be the right size for her age, but unfortunately her face can't Save her. She says the bill is an anti-woman and democracy voter suppression bill cloaked in lies about election integrity.
Laura interviews NY congressman Mike Lawler, and starts with "Is your wife ok?" Mike says 4 Democrats voted for the bill including Henry Ouar (?) and that Democrats continue to demean all of these groups as too stupid to get an ID, and Chuck Schumer has said that they're going to kill it in the Senate.
A clip of Delia Ramirez (IL) is played, who is now identified as person #2 in the list above, and she tosses black, brown, veteran and working class Americans into the mix. Laura says the average cost of a REAL ID is $22.44, and they're using a scare tactic. Mike says the REAL ID act pas passed in 2005 for national security, and starting this year you'll need a REAL ID or a passport to get on a plane.
Laura ends with Democrats want illegals to vote or they won't ever win another election.
[KhaamaPress] In a move raising deep concern among Afghan communities in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has officially ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for citizens of Afghanistan, leaving thousands at risk of deportation in the coming weeks.
The decision, announced by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, concludes the protection previously granted to approximately 14,600 Afghan nationals who have lived in the U.S. under TPS since 2022. The protection had been extended due to the ongoing conflict, economic instability, and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan following the Taliban ...Arabic for students... ’s return to power in 2021.
TPS is a legal provision that allows individuals from countries experiencing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work temporarily in the U.S. without fear of removal. The Biden administration had last renewed Afghanistan’s TPS designation in September 2023, citing unsafe conditions for return. That designation was set to expire in May 2025.
Secretary Noem’s announcement, however, asserts that Afghanistan no longer meets the statutory requirements for continued designation under the TPS program. The department plans to issue a formal notice explaining the rationale behind the decision in the coming days.
The development has alarmed human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... groups, refugee advocates, and Afghan American communities, who argue that the situation in Afghanistan remains dire. The country continues to face widespread poverty, food insecurity, restrictions on women’s rights, and political repression under Taliban rule.
"Ending TPS for Afghans is not only premature but deeply troubling," said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President of Global Refuge. "Conditions in Afghanistan have not improved—they remain dangerous and unstable. This decision risks returning vulnerable individuals to a place where their safety and freedoms cannot be guaranteed."
Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, more than 80,000 Afghans have been evacuated, many through emergency parole programs. Some have since adjusted their status through asylum or Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), but a large number remain under TPS as their only legal protection from deportation.
Advocacy groups have also expressed concern over recent reports of Afghan parolees receiving notices to leave the country within days after their parole was revoked. DHS has acknowledged using its discretionary authority in some cases but has not clarified how many Afghans are affected.
The removal of TPS for Afghans comes as part of a broader rollback of humanitarian immigration protections by the Trump administration, which took office earlier this year. The administration has framed the move as part of efforts to "restore the rule of law," though critics say it targets vulnerable populations and undermines U.S. commitments to its wartime allies.
Legal challenges to the decision are possible. Earlier this year, a federal judge blocked the administration’s attempt to end TPS for Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south... ns, citing a lack of evidence and potential political bias.
For now, Afghan families under TPS are left in legal limbo, uncertain about their future in a country many have come to call home.
I wonder what percentage of the US population is considered "vulnerable". And if you're not "vulnerable" does that mean you're invulnerable, like a Congresscritter with seniority?
Posted by: Matt ||
04/12/2025 11:16 Comments ||
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BREAKING: The Council on American Islamic Relations is seeking to block Columbia from turning over records to Congress about the pro-Hamas group Students for Justice in Palestine.
CAIR is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and was labeled a terrorist group by the UAE in 2014. pic.twitter.com/aEZYe5RvKF
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) asked Columbia to produce records related to SJP's activities, finances, potential links to terrorist groups, and overall "threats to campus safety" by Wednesday. CAIR, which is suing Columbia’s board of trustees on behalf of detained protest leader Mahmoud Khalil and several other foreign anti-Israel students, objected to the request.
Releasing the documents, attorneys with CAIR's legal defense fund argued, could implicate Khalil and his classmates. They asked a federal judge in New York to implement a 30-day review period, during which CAIR could assess the documents and file objections. The judge, Arun Subramanian, responded by ordering Columbia to delay the release of the documents until Friday for CAIR's review, according to court filings.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/12/2025 2025-04-12 02:38 ||
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[GEO.TV] The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) denounced the ruling by an immigration judge to deport the permanent resident for his ''peaceful political activities'' calling it a ''dangerous, unconstitutional'' decision, Al Jazeera reported, citing a statement.
“Although today’s ruling is just the first step in a long legal process, it should be alarming to all Americans who cherish the Bill of Rights and basic freedoms like free speech,” said Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, in a statement.
“We are confident that federal courts will see through the Trump administration’s lawless attack on free speech and that the movement against the Israeli government’s genocide will continue to grow in our nation, despite these Orwellian attempts to suppress free speech.”
[GEO.TV] An immigration judge ruled Friday that a pro-Paleostinian student protester, a US permanent resident detained by the Trump administration, can be deported, US media and a legal rights group said.
Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jamee Comans said the government had met its burden to prove it had grounds to deport him, Fox News reported.
"An immigration judge ruled immediately after a hearing today that Mahmoud Khalil is removable under US immigration law," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
Comans had ordered the government to spell out its case against Khalil, who the government is seeking to deport on the grounds that his protest activities are a threat to national security.
In a letter to the court, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... insisted that Khalil's activism could hurt Washington's foreign policy.
Lawyers for Khalil are expected to appeal. And a federal judge in New Jersey has temporarily barred Khalil’s removal from the country.
Khalil’s lawyers, including representation from the American Civil Liberties Union, have challenged the legality of his detention, saying the Trump administration is trying to crack down on free speech protected by the US Constitution.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, has cited the Immigration and Nationality Act, passed in 1952, which gave the executive branch power to deport any noncitizen who poses “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
The law also specifically allows for the deportation of a non-citizen who “endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization.”
On Friday, Justice Department attorneys said in papers filed in federal court in Newark, New Jersey, that Comans would not have the authority to immediately free Khalil.
They said an immigration judge could determine if Khalil is subject to deportation and then conduct a bail hearing afterward if it is found that he is not.
Khalil isn’t accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. The government, however, has said that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country for expressing views that the administration considers to be antisemitic and pro-Hamas.
Khalil, a 30-year-old international affairs graduate student, had served as a negotiator and spokesperson for Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a student coalition that spearheaded anti-Israel protests at the school.
CUAD has praised “violent resistance” by Palestinians, including, explicitly, the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. The group also hosted a number of pro-Hamas figures to campus, including Khaled Barakat, who was later listed by the Biden administration as a specially designated foreign terrorist.
In addition, Khalil served as a negotiator and spokesperson for the anti-Israel encampment at Columbia last year, and for students who broke into and occupied a university building, unfurling a banner calling for “intifada.” He is not personally accused of participating in the building occupation, however, and wasn’t among the people arrested in connection with the demonstrations.
[Rudaw] Syria on Thursday asked the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Security Council to stop Israel from carrying out "attacks and incursions" into its territory, its ambassador told Rudaw.
"We called on the Security Council to take decisive and immediate actions to deal with these incursions and attacks," Koussay Aldahhak Syria’s ambassador to the UN, told Rudaw’s Sinan Tuncdemir following a Security Council meeting convened at Damascus’s request.
He censured the strikes and incursions as motivated by "false pretexts" and "baseless" allegations.
Israel has also "occupied" at least 10 percent of Syria’s territory, according to a blurb issued by the UN after the Security Council’s meeting.
Since the beginning of 2025, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented 44 Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, including 37 aerial strikes and six ground attacks. The Israeli military action has caused the destruction of approximately 50 sites, including weapons and ammunition depots, headquarters, command centers, and vehicles, according to the war monitor.
In its latest attacks, Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s targeted Hama’s military airport and the strategic T4 Air Base in Homs - both of which were believed to have been possible spots to house Ottoman Turkish forces.
"I warn Syrian leader Jolani [rebel name of Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa]: If you allow hostile forces to enter Syria and threaten Israeli security interests, you will pay a heavy price," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement reported by AFP.
Israel’s deputy UN representative Jonathan Miller said his country’s actions are driven by "necessity, not expansion."
"We will do whatever is necessary - for however long it takes - to prevent another 7 October," he told the Security Council, referencing the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... attacks of 2023.
Fikriye Asli Guven, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... member, but not the most reliable... ’s deputy representative to the UN, stated that they are cooperating with regional countries to "address shared security concerns." She also noted that eliminating "terrorist organizations" in Syria are necessary for "lasting peace and permanent unity."
The Ottoman Turkish diplomat was referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Ankara considers an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
"We are also closely monitoring the agreement made between the Syrian administration and the so-called SDF," she added.
Syria’s interim President Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed a landmark agreement on March 10 to integrate the SDF into the state apparatus. The agreement recognizes the Kurds as an integral part of Syria, includes a countrywide ceasefire, and stipulates the return of displaced Syrians to their hometowns.
Jerome Bonnafont, La Belle France’s representative to the UN, said at the Security Council meeting that the SDF-Damascus agreement is a "positive first step" toward a negotiated solution for Syrian unity and "guaranteeing the rights and interests of the Kurds in Syria."
[IsraelTimes] Officials tell ToI that Israel slightly reduced the number of living hostages it is demanding but wants speedier releases; agreed to withdraw from recently captured areas, hold talks on permanent ceasefire
Israel has come down slightly from an earlier demand for 11 hostages to be released as part of a deal with Hamas to revive a ceasefire that collapsed last month, two officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Friday.
Last month, Israel demanded the release of 11 living hostages in exchange for restoring the ceasefire. For its part, Hamas said it was willing to release five living hostages. For several weeks, both sides refused to compromise further, and the talks remained at an impasse as Israel expanded its military campaign throughout the Gaza Strip, which it resumed on March 18.
Seeking to meet the sides halfway, Egypt, in recent days, began pushing a new proposal that would see eight living hostages released.
After meeting with US President Donald Trump earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to soften his demands, the two officials said.
On Thursday, Israel submitted to Egyptian mediators its response to Cairo’s latest proposal, the officials said, revealing that the number of hostages Jerusalem now seeks is slightly lower than the 11 it demanded last month without further specifying.
However, Israel is demanding that the living hostages be freed during the first two weeks of the 45-day ceasefire, rejecting previous Hamas demands that the releases take place periodically during the duration of the truce.
Moreover, the Israeli proposal seeks to lower the ratio of prisoners — including those serving life sentences — who will be released for each hostage, one of the officials said.
In addition, the latest Israeli response seeks the release of 16 bodies of Israelis still held in Gaza, while offering to release the bodies of Gazans held by Israel in exchange.
Israel would also agree to allow the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza and withdraw its troops to where they were positioned in the Strip before it resumed fighting on March 18 and recaptured swaths of the enclave.
In its response, Israel agreed to hold negotiations on the terms of a permanent ceasefire once the truce has been restored, said the two officials.
Hamas’s top priority is securing a permanent ceasefire. However, an agreement by Israel to hold such talks would likely be viewed by the terror group as insufficient, as Israel already agreed to hold similar talks during the first phase of the now-collapsed ceasefire deal and did not adhere to that commitment, one of the officials said.
To address Hamas’s concerns, US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff has told Arab mediators that Trump would be willing to issue a public statement expressing Washington’s commitment to holding negotiations for a permanent Gaza ceasefire.
Egyptian mediators plan to share Israel’s response later this weekend with a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, which will arrive in Cairo on Saturday night, the officials said.
Hamas is expected to push back on many of Israel’s demands, and no resolution is expected in the coming days, the officials said.
However, recent weeks have seen Hamas back off its previous pledge not to agree to an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire.
Trust but Verify. Pay-to-Slay is central to the Palestinian governing raison d’être.
[IsraelTimes] After US expressed skepticism, top Abbas aide sends letter to Rubio encouraging Trump delegation to come to Ramallah after June 1 and certify new welfare system up and running
The Paleostinian Authority has formally invited the Trump administration to certify that Ramallah’s reform of its controversial welfare system viewed as incentivizing terror is being implemented, a US official and a PA official revealed to The Times of Israel on Friday.
The invitation was extended in a letter that PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> ’s top aide, Hussein al-Sheikh, sent on Wednesday to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration... The letter notes a decree Abbas signed in February canceling legislation that conditioned welfare payments to Paleostinian prisoners on the length of their sentences in Israeli jails, instead basing stipends solely on the financial need of the recipient, the officials confirmed.
Sheikh states that the PA is fully committed to implementing the reform and would welcome a US delegation to come to Ramallah and begin certifying that the new system is in place starting on June 1.
While June 1 will be nearly four months after Abbas signed the decree, the two officials said time was needed to get the new system up and running, given that families need to re-apply and their requests need to be adjudicated based on a strict set of criteria.
"This is a major step demonstrating that this is not just talk, but action because an invitation would not be extended if we weren’t confident that the US will certify," the PA official told The Times of Israel.
Asked to comment, a State Department spokesperson said, "We do not comment on diplomatic correspondence."
"This abhorrent practice of compensation that provides benefits and payments in support of terrorism needs to end now. We want to see actions, not words," the spokesperson added, repeating a statement it issued to The Times of Israel last month.
Abbas’s decree is designed to bring the PA into compliance with the Taylor Force Act, a 2018 congressional legislation that barred US economic aid that directly benefits the PA.
For such aid to resume, the US secretary of state is required to certify four conditions: (1) that the decree conditioning payments to prisoners on the length of their sentence has been revoked; (2) that those payments have actually ceased; (3) that the PA is taking steps to combat terror in the West Bank; and (4) that the PA is publicly condemning terror.
Abbas has met the first condition with his decree, and a US delegation will determine whether the second condition has been met come June 1.
As for the third condition, the PA official pointed to Ramallah’s continued security coordination with Israel and its efforts to crack down on gangs in the northern West Bank.
As for the requirement that the PA condemn terror, the PA official highlighted recent statements made by Ramallah condemning Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... A written letter of certification from Rubio is required for the PA to be deemed in compliance with the Taylor Force Act. Once that letter has been issued, it must be re-certified every 180 days.
The practice of paying allowances to those convicted of carrying out terror attacks, and to the families of those killed while carrying out attacks, has been pilloried by critics as incentivizing terror, and held up by Israel as a symbol of PA corruption and its inability to serve as a partner for peace.
Paleostinian leaders have long defended the payments, describing them as a form of social welfare and necessary compensation for victims of what they said is Israel’s callous military justice system in the West Bank.
While the State Department initially welcomed the decree signed by Abbas on February 10 as a "big win for the administration," it has since sharpened its tone against the PA.
Monthly payments to the families of security prisoners and the families of maimed and slain attackers have occurred twice since Abbas signed the decree on February 10, two Paleostinian sources directly familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel last month.
The Paleostinian official explained that this was because the payments were from months before the decree was signed. With Ramallah’s funds limited due to Israel’s withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues, the PA was only able to transfer welfare recipients their payments for December in February, while the stipends for January were received earlier this month.
Accordingly, it will likely take another month or two until the new payment system kicks in, the Paleostinian official said.
The Paleostinian official speculated that the US administration’s shift in tone toward the PA reform likely stemmed from an initial expectation that the new payment policy would be implemented sooner.
"We still plan to uphold the decree that was signed," the Paleostinian official said.
[IsraelTimes] Latest letter comes amid growing wave of criticism from reservists arguing that hostages must come first; Netanyahu says letters are ‘encouraging’ Israel’s enemies
Some 250 reservists from the IDF’s elite 8200 intelligence unit have thrown their support behind the Israeli Air Force pilots who recently called for an immediate shift in the government’s war policy, drawing the ire of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused them of "encouraging" Israel’s enemies.
The intelligence unit reservists said in a letter published Friday that they were joining "the call of the aircrews in demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of an immediate change in the conduct of the war."
The declaration was the latest in a growing wave of criticism from within Israel’s reserve forces over the continued war 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... and the failure to return the remaining 59 hostages.
The calls began with a group of roughly 1,000 Israeli Air Force veterans, the vast majority of whom are in retirement, who published a letter Thursday demanding as much.
The letter did not call for a general refusal to serve but instead urged the government to prioritize the release of hostages over the continuation of the war in Gaza, which the signatories argued now serves "political and personal interests" rather than national security.
Some 60 of the 1,000 IAF veterans are still active reservists, and the IAF has said that they will be dismissed.
The Air Force veterans were then joined by a group of some 150 ex-Navy officers and dozens of reservist doctors who signed their names to letters demanding an immediate end to the war for the sake of the remaining hostages.
Voicing many of the same concerns as those before them, the intelligence unit reservists also warned that high rates of reservists were experiencing "burnout" after multiple rounds of being called up, many of them to the front lines.
They said that they had "noticed the ever-increasing rates of non-reporting for the reserves," and as such were "concerned about the future effects of this trend."
Furthermore, it argued, the war in the Paleostinian enclave was not bringing Israel any closer to its oft-touted goals of returning the hostages, defeating the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... terror group, and ensuring that Gaza could no longer pose a threat to Israel.
"The continuation of the war does not contribute to any of its stated goals, and will lead to the deaths of hostages, IDF soldiers, and innocents," they wrote, adding lower down: "We see Hamas controlling the Strip and recruiting new operatives to its ranks, while the government has not presented a convincing plan to overthrow it."
None of the letters published over the last few days have included calls for refusals to serve.
Nevertheless, IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar slammed the letter written by Air Force veterans in a missive issued Friday, in which he said that the "manifesto that was published weakens the solidarity and leads to generalizations that affect servicemembers who are not partners to these views, as well as the entire [IAF].
"It is not appropriate for active reservists to call to stop the war, which they themselves take part in. We cannot allow this in any unit that participates in the war, including the Air Force," he said.
He said that he had been "forced to act and declare that active reservists who signed the manifesto cannot continue to serve in the IDF."
"This is a policy designed to maintain a strong, cohesive, and functioning [IAF]," he said, calling it a "painful, but necessary process."
"Over the past week, we have had conversations with those involved. This message was delivered directly and indirectly, with the aim of separating the military from politics," he said, adding that the IAF "will continue to operate like this in the future as well."
"When we stand together in a full partnership, we will stand up to every challenge and complete each task successfully. This is a historic time, we must remain strong and united. Only then can we win. As the Air Force commander, I am committed to you, all of the servicemembers," he said.
"May we stand with responsibility and professionalism with all the tasks we are given," he added.
In a scathing response to the letters on Friday, Netanyahu accused the reservists of representing a small minority funded by organizations he claimed wanted to overthrow his government.
"It is a small, noisy, anarchistic, and disconnected group of pensioners, a large group of whom have not served for years," he said, referring to the discovery that just 60 of the Air Force veterans who signed the original letter were active reservists, and within that number only a handful were competent pilots.
"The weeds are trying to weaken the State of Israel and the IDF and are encouraging our enemy to harm us," Netanyahu continued. "They already broadcast a message of weakness to our enemies once. We won’t allow them to do it again."
It was the second time in recent days that Netanyahu attributed the mass protests against his government that took place for most of 2023 as being a key factor in Hamas’s decision to launch its invasion and massacre in southern Israel on October 7.
Amid the protests against the government’s controversial judicial overhaul agenda, several groups of reservists, including some in the IAF, issued statements that they would refuse to serve under a regime they no longer viewed as democratic.
Despite Netanyahu’s claims, the IDF has said that Hamas had planned the attack at least a year in advance.
"Israeli citizens learned the lesson — a refusal to serve is a refusal to serve," no matter what dirty name they give it," the premier said, despite no reservists threatening this time around to refuse to serve.
"Whoever encourages refusal will be fired immediately," he said.
CIVILIANS BACK RESERVISTS’ DEMANDS
Also, on Friday, Ynet reported that some 1,840 academics signed a petition in support of the Air Force veterans and reservists and their call to end the war.
"We, faculty members at institutes of higher education, join the call of the Air Force personnel and demand the hostages return home without delay, even at the cost of immediately ending the war," they wrote.
They similarly declared that they found the war in Gaza to have shifted from its stated goals to instead serving "political and personal interests."
"As has been proven in the past, only an agreement has returned the hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers."
The signatories were said by Ynet to include Avishay Braverman, who served as the president of Ben-Gurion University from 1990-2006, and until 2015 as a member of Knesset for the Labor Party.
It was also signed by Joseph Klafter, president of Tel Aviv University from 2009-2019, and the former president of Ariel University, Yehuda Danon.
[GEO.TV] A Hamas official said on Thursday that the group welcomed the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that Paris could recognise a Palestinian state by June, hailing it as an "important step".
"France, as a country with political weight and a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council, has the ability to influence the course of fair solutions and push towards ending the occupation and achieving the aspirations of the Palestinian people," Mahmud Mardawi told AFP.
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France in itself is a good reason to get the USA out of NATO.
[REGNUM] A new scandal with a spy flair is on the front pages of Israeli newspapers. In early April, the secret services reported on the discovery of a major channel for financing the Palestinian movement Hamas.
The money flowed out of Israel and, having made a detour in a "third country", ended up in the enclave. The total amount of funds, converted into dollars, is estimated at tens of millions.
However, this time the main figure in the story was not Iran, to which Tel Aviv traditionally blames spy activities within the country, but Turkey. It was through Turkish “gray accounts” (with the tacit consent of the authorities) that the majority of funds intended for Hamas passed.
Official Tel Aviv has accumulated quite a few questions for Ankara, but it decided to voice them at the very moment when Turkish ambitions in the Middle East suddenly clashed with Israeli ones.
A CONFUSING ROUTE
According to a joint report by the General Security Service (Shabaq) and the "Israeli FBI" (Lahav 433), the criminal group included at least six people - Israelis of Arab, including Palestinian, origin.
Their activities were directed by an Israeli Arab, Fadi Arabi, who lived in the small town of Arraba in the north of the country. According to investigators, it was he who created the international network and provided communications between the Turkish headquarters of Hamas and its units in the Gaza Strip, as well as in Judea and Samaria.
He also allegedly coordinated the circulation of funds intended for Hamas. The money came from Turkey, where there were many sympathizers of the Palestinian movement, and from Israel - with a hook through dummy accounts in Turkish banks.
For these purposes, Fadi recruited his brother Nassim, who lived in Turkey and helped keep the financial channel out of the sight of Turkish law enforcement, and also promptly interacted with Hamas functionaries.
They, in turn, periodically transferred large consignments of cash for the needs of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They were transported the old-fashioned way - in suitcases.
It is noteworthy that Israeli law enforcement was already on the gang's tail in January, when several couriers with bundles of money of "unclear origin" were arrested. However, Arabi managed to elude the investigation and even recruit several new "financiers", which allowed the scheme to continue to operate for several more months.
"OXYGEN PIPELINE"
The Shin Bet dubbed the discovered financial channel an “oxygen pipeline,” since the financial aid coming from Turkey largely helped Hamas stay afloat and continue its fierce resistance to Israel.
It is known for certain that the group's members transferred more than 3 million shekels (about 800 thousand dollars) to the movement (in cash and by transfers). However, law enforcement officials insist that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
For example, Lahav 433 has data on ambiguous transfers from Turkey totaling $2.5 million, the real recipients of which have yet to be verified.
It is also proposed to include in the "overall calculation" the "additional expenses" that Israel incurred after the forced expansion of the counter-terrorist operation in Judea and Samaria. The total damage to the country according to this method is estimated at $15 million.
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST TURKEY
Israeli law enforcement and politicians are wondering why Turkey never informed Israel about the suspicious transfers. According to some of the suspects, local security officials were aware of the financial channel but did not interfere.
This led investigators to the idea that the arrested Arabi is not the only leader of the network and that the “conductor” of the financial channel should be sought among Turkish politicians and security officials.
The version that foreign intelligence services had a hand in promoting the “oxygen pipeline” is also being considered, since the detainees had no special training and, as further cross-examinations showed, had a poor understanding of how the global system for combating money laundering works.
However, Tel Aviv does not yet have enough trump cards to clearly accuse any third country of interference.
It is worth mentioning that information about the discovery of a secret channel for financing Hamas appeared on the day when representatives of Turkey and Israel held talks in Baku on the delimitation of spheres of influence in Syria.
Ankara's insistence and unwillingness to leave Syria deeply hurt the Israelis, and the parties were unable to reach an understanding.
But the failure of the negotiations has given free rein to the populists, both in the ranks of the parliamentary opposition and in the government. The Israeli establishment has once again started saying that the “heart” of Hamas should be sought not in Qatar or Lebanon, but in Turkey, where the real leaders of the movement have settled, and not “political extras.”
And the “oxygen pipeline” scandal only further inflames the debate.
It is largely beneficial to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, although the promotion is mainly carried out by his political opponents from the Shin Bet and the opposition camp.
Shifting the focus to Turkey will temporarily distract the public from the Qatargate investigation and highlight that Ankara deliberately ignored Hamas's gray scheme in order to weaken Israel from within and distract it from the struggle for influence in Syria and the rest of the Middle East.
Such a shift in emphasis could well make unviable the thesis that the Israeli prime minister, who provided image support to Doha, is solely to blame for the strengthening of Hamas’s position.
Given that it is objectively evil to claim that Bibi is solely or even mostly to blame for the strengthening of Hamas’s position…
[IsraelTimes] Supreme Court denied mental health parole for Ahmad Manasra, 20, convicted of terrorism for seriously wounding two in 2015 attack in Jerusalem
Israel on Thursday released a Paleostinian man who stabbed two people in Jerusalem when he was 13, and who lawyers claim developed schizophrenia as a result of his conditions in prison.
Ahmad Manasra, now 20, was released after completing his 9.5-year sentence, according to his attorney Khaled Zabarqa, who said he had no immediate information about Manasra’s condition but was with the ex-prisoner’s parents.
"We know in jail he’s been very ill. We’re waiting to know his health situation now," Zabarqa said.
The release came amid allegations by human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... groups and released Paleostinian prisoners of abuse in Israeli prisons. Israel’s Prison Authority declined to comment on Manasra’s detention and said all prisoners are held in accordance with Israeli and international law and that allegations of abuse are investigated.
In 2015, Manasra and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan Manasra seriously maimed a 20-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood. The terror attack took place amid a spate of stabbings by Paleostinians in the West Bank and across Israel that raised fears of a third intifada in 2015-2016.
Police responding to the attack fatally shot Hassan, and Ahmad was maimed when he was hit by a car as he tried to escape the scene of the attack. Graphic video would later circulate of the maimed assailant lying in the street, bleeding from the head as passersby cursed at him.
Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> claimed at the time that Israel had "summarily executed" Ahmad Manasra, prompting Israel to take the rare step of publishing a picture of the minor recovering at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center.
Manasra was convicted a year later and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2017, the Supreme Court reduced Manasra’s sentence to 9.5 years, citing his young age, rehabilitation, the opinion of prison authorities, and Manasra’s secondary role in the terror attack relative to his cousin.
Courts rejected repeated requests to release Manasra early on mental health grounds. Because Manasra was convicted of terrorism, he was deemed ineligible for a mental health release, regardless of age or psychological state.
In October 2021, an Israeli psychiatrist from the left-wing group Physicians for Human Rights determined Manasra was suffering from psychotic delusions, severe depression and suicidal thoughts, according to Amnesty International.
Authorities first moved Manasra to isolation a month later after a scuffle with another inmate. In interviews the following year, Manasra’s family and lawyers said he was locked in a small cell for 23 hours a day and suffered from paranoia and delusions that kept him from sleeping. His lawyer said Manasra had tried to slit his wrists.
In March 2023, a judge approved the extension of Manasra’s solitary confinement "to ensure the safety of Manasra, the safety of others from him and security and order in the prison." During the hearing, the state said Manasra was found fit for solitary confinement in physical and psychiatric examinations, Haaretz reported at the time.
Manasra’s family said he was transferred to the psychiatric wing of another prison every few months, where doctors would give him injections to stabilize him.
Speaking to left-wing site Local Call in 2022, Manasra’s lawyer Leah Zemel said Manasra had developed schizophrenia because of how he was treated in prison.
"Ahmad has no family history of schizophrenia," said Zemel. "His illness developed as a result of these conditions." She argued her client’s condition could be traced back to the crowd that gathered around him when he was injured while carrying out the terror attack.
"I think that was a very difficult moment for him, and he went into prison with that difficulty," said Zemel.
[AnNahar] Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... has been clearly informed that it can't rebuild what Israel has destroyed in more than a year of war with Hezbollah unless Hezbollah is disarmed.
Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji told Asharq al-Awsat, in remarks published Friday, that Deputy U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Morgan Ortagus has herself, among others before her, told Lebanese leaders that Lebanon will not receive foreign aid before disarming Hezbollah.
"The U.S. administration wants to help Lebanon liberate its land, rebuild (war-hit regions), and revive its economy, but in return two things are required of us - economic reforms and arms monopoly," Rajji said, adding that Ortagus did not mention a timeframe but said these prerequisites must be achieved as soon as possible and that what has been done is "good but not enough."
In an interview with al-Arabiya this week, Ortagus said she was encouraged by her meetings in Lebanon. "Yes and no," she answered, once asked if the Lebanese government is doing a good job. The government is working "very quickly", she said, but added that the situation is "not easy" and that reforms and change are "challenging" and will take time.
The U.S. envoy had said last month that Washington will be "bringing together Lebanon and Israel for talks aimed at diplomatically resolving several outstanding issues between the two countries" -- the release of Lebanese prisoners, the remaining disputed points along the Blue Line, and the remaining 5 "Strategic" hills where Israeli forces are still deployed in south Lebanon. She said she hopes diplomat-led working groups will soon negotiate these outstanding issues.
"The Israeli and the Americans want to form three working groups to negotiate (these issues) but we told them Lebanon is only ready to negotiate the disputed points along the Blue Line as Israel's withdrawal and the release of prisoners are non-negotiables and need to be done immediately and without conditions.
He added that the U.S. has suggested these working groups be civilian but that this topic has not been raised again since.
Lebanon wants the border demarcation to be negotiated through a military committee and not through direct talks -- like in 2022 when Lebanese and Israeli leaders separately signed a U.S.-brokered maritime demarcation deal after months of indirect talks -- and Lebanese politicians have unanimously said that the normalization of ties with Israel and direct negotiations are not on the table.
"Lebanon is calling on all countries to pressure Israel to withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories. Hezbollah will then have no excuse to hold onto its weapons and this will strengthen the position of the Lebanese state, which insists on liberating its land through diplomacy. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... until now, the Israelis are refusing to respond," Rajji said.
Israel deems the five hilltops "strategic" and says they are important for security and provide key vantage points to monitor Hezbollah movements and prevent potential threats along the border.
Israel has also continued to launch strikes on Lebanon despite a November ceasefire thon the lamly halted more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. Israel says the strikes target Hezbollah members or weapons but it has also targeted prefabricated homes set up for residents whose homes in south Lebanon were destroyed in the conflict.
[IsraelTimes] In rare coordinated effort, officials said to have warned Iran’s supreme leader that military threats from US and Israel are real, and country faces massive unrest if it goes to war
In a rare intervention, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> was urged by his brass hats to allow negotiations with the United States on the regime’s nuclear program or risk the fall of the Islamic Theocratic Republic, The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported Friday.
The US and 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... are set to meet in Oman on Saturday for talks over Tehran’s rogue nuclear program.
According to The New York Times report, which cited two senior Iranian officials who are familiar with the details, Khamenei held a meeting last month attended by heads of the judiciary and parliament. Those officials, in what the sources described as an unusual, coordinated effort, pressured Khamenei into accepting talks with Washington, even direct ones.
They told Khamenei that the threat of military action by the US and Israel against its nuclear sites was serious.
"If Iran refused talks or if the negotiations failed, the officials told Mr. Khamenei, military strikes on Iran’s two main nuclear sites, Natanz and Fordow, would be inevitable," the sources said, as reported by the Times.
The country, already in economic shambles, would be forced to respond, but then would also likely be plunged into domestic unrest if it were to go to war, they said.
The combination of such events would amount to an existential threat to the Islamic Theocratic Republic, the officials reportedly told Khamenei.
The sources said that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, an ex-Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps chief and current conservative head of Parliament, told Khamenei that a war combined with a domestic economic implosion could quickly get out of control.
They also quoted President Masoud Pezeshkian as telling Khamenei that managing the country through its current crises was not tenable. The report points to power cuts that threaten to shutter factories and water shortages in the central city of Yazd, which saw schools and government offices closed this week.
Iran previously rejected talks but has since relented amid US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... ’s threats.
Hossein Mousavian, a former diplomat who served on Iran’s nuclear negotiating team on a 2015 deal and is now a visiting fellow at Princeton University, told The New York Times that the change illustrated that preserving the regime was Khamenei’s main priority. Hossein Mousavian, a former diplomat who served on Iran’s nuclear negotiating team on a 2015 deal and is now a visiting fellow at Princeton University?
Signing him on was a real triumph, donchaknow. Their NearEast history and international relations students will be getting the story straight from the horse’s mouth. Wasn’t it Yale who had a former Talib minister matriculate with a full scholarship, despite being illiterate in both Pashto and English? Such an opportunity for his fellow students, wherever he was!
"Mr. Khamenei’s turnaround demonstrates his long-held core principle that ’preserving the regime is the most necessary of the necessities,’" Mousavian said.
While Khamenei relented and agreed to talks, he also imposed his own conditions, the report said.
Citing three Iranian officials, the NYT said that Khamenei agreed to discuss strict monitoring for the nuclear program and a significant reduction of the enrichment of uranium. However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes... he has said that Iran’s missile program is off limits, regarding it as being part of Iran’s defenses. The sources said that was a "deal breaker."
However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes... the report also said that Iran was "open to discussing its regional policies" and support for its terror proxies like Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... , Hezbollah and the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
More from the Times of Israel:
Then, there are the expectations of the two sides. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi maintains the negotiations will begin as indirect talks, likely with Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi passing messages between Tehran and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. Trump has maintained the talks will be direct. While not a major roadblock, it signals the challenge the negotiations face — particularly after years of indirect talks during the Biden administration went nowhere.
And while the US side can offer sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran could only maintain a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67%. Today, Tehran’s stockpile could allow it to build multiple nuclear weapons if it so chooses, and it has some material enriched up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. Judging from negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%.
One thing it won’t do is give up its program entirely. That makes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal of a so-called Libyan solution — “you go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution” — unworkable. Iran routinely threatens Israel with destruction and is the main backer of several proxy terror groups attacking Israel, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
Iranians, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have held up what ultimately happened to the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed with his own gun by rebels in the country’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, as a warning about what can happen when you trust the United States.
Already, a top adviser for Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, has warned what could happen if the US continues to threaten Tehran, including Iran expelling inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and ending cooperation with the UN watchdog.
“The transfer of enriched material to a secure location could also be considered,” he added, opening the door again to Iran having secret, undeclared nuclear sites as it did when the crisis over its program began over 20 years ago.
But Majid Takht-e Ravanch, a deputy Iranian foreign minister, offered a more positive note on Friday.
“If the American side refrains from raising unrelated issues and demands — and abandons threats and intimidation — there is a good opportunity to reach an agreement,” Takht-e Ravanch said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
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 Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
...adherents of a philosophy that was seen even at the time as pure evil, which makes them either consciously purely evil, or attention-seeking ratbags. Pick one, or both....
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
[GEO.TV] A Hamas official said on Thursday that the group welcomed the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that Paris could recognise a Palestinian state by June, hailing it as an "important step".
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
