[IsraelTimes] Oscar-nominated US actress tells Sunday Times she made a ‘terrible mistake’ in saying American Jews ‘are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country’
Yes, she did. But what has she learnt?
Movie star Susan Sarandon claims she was blacklisted in Hollywood after she said, at a pro-Paleostinian rally in November of last year, that US Jews fearing for their safety, given a spike in antisemitism, "are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Moslem in this country."
The Hollywood talent agency UTA cut ties with the Oscar-winning actress as a client a few days after a clip from the rally went viral, despite her issuing an apology.
"I was dropped by my agency, my projects were pulled," Sarandon told the UK’s Sunday Times in an interview for a profile article that was published on Sunday. "I’ve been used as an example of what not to do if you want to continue to work."
"There are so many people out of work right now [since] November of last year ... who have lost their jobs as custodians, as writers, as painters, as people working in the cafeteria, substitute teachers who have been fired because they tweeted something, or liked a tweet, or asked for a ceasefire," she told the British newspaper.
Sarandon said that she had made a "terrible mistake," and that her comments at the rally implied that "until recently Jews have been strangers to persecution, when the opposite is true."
Implied is not the word I would have chosen, but do go on, my dear.
The actress has been intensely critical of Israel throughout the war
…fashionably critical, in fact…
with Hamas family:courier,"Courier New","Courier 10 Pitch",serif;background:#FFFB99'>..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... 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... , which was triggered on October 7, 2023, when some 3,000 Hamas bandidosturbans burst through the border into southern Israel, killed at least 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
At a rally earlier in November, she told attendees that it was important to examine the events of October 7 in the context of Israel’s history, which some saw as blaming Israelis for the atrocities committed by Hamas.
"So many people don’t understand the context in which this October 7 assault happened," she said, "They don’t understand the history of what has been happening to the Paleostinian people for 75 years. So this is an opportunity to educate people if they can have an open mind."
If only her mind had been open so she could have been educated before her mouth spew such fashionable poison, but the precious darling isn’t smart enough for that kind of self-awareness.
As the war has unfolded, she continued to share accusations of genocide and war crimes by Israel, has shared misinformation denying elements of the massacre, and praised Hamas as a "resistance group."
It sounds like she was much too busy displaying fashionable opinions to work anyway
[IsraelTimes] Taiwan investigators say there was no evidence that Taiwanese individuals or firms were involved in a deadly September attack targeting Hezbollah communications devices that exploded in Lebanon. "Wudn't us"
“Our investigation has verified that no nationals or domestic companies were involved in Lebanon’s high-profile pager detonation incidents,” Taiwan prosecutors say in a statement.
The pagers that exploded, in an attack blamed on Israel, appeared to have been made by Taiwan’s Gold Apollo.
Gold Apollo denied producing the devices and instead pointed the finger at its Budapest-based partner BAC Consulting KFT.
[IsraelTimes] The Europa League match between Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv has been moved from Istanbul to Debrecen in Hungary, UEFA announces.
"The match will be played behind closed doors, following a decision of the local Hungarian authorities," the governing body of European football says in a statement.
The decision comes after a wave of violence in Amsterdam last week when Maccabi Tel Aviv played Ajax in the Europa League.
Israeli officials said 10 citizens were maimed in the attacks after the game, which were apparently committed by local Arab and Moslem gangs. Hundreds more Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked. Many said that Dutch security forces were nowhere to be found.
Besiktas had already announced that their match against Maccabi on November 28 would be played "in a neutral country" for security reasons, and said in a statement today that the events in Amsterdam were behind the decision to play behind closed doors.
"In light of the recent incidents that occurred between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, the match will take place without spectators," the Istanbul club says.
"We kindly ask our supporters to cancel their travel plans for this match to avoid possible inconveniences."
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu), and former merchant mariner - discusses the decision by Spain to refuse the docking of MV Maersk Denver, a US-flagged containership, in the port of Algeciras, leading to the ship heading to Tangier, Morocco, along with a discussion on the wider implications losing the freedom of the seas.
It sounds like the Saudis aren’t ready for peace after all. Or aren’t ready to be seen making peace. What a pity — for the last four years the Biden-Harris administration were working for this result, but President Trump thinks differently. MBS was so busy negotiating for the last inch of advantage, clever lad that he is, that he may have missed the opportunity altogether.
[IsraelTimes] Mohammed bin Salman warns Israel against hitting Islamic Republic, marking turn toward Tehran and away from US-supported normalization with Jerusalem
Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... ’s de facto ruler on Monday called on Israel to respect Iran’s illusory sovereignty and refrain from attacking Iranian soil, while appearing to step up criticism of Jerusalem, accusing it of genocide.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists... made the comments at a summit of Arab and Moslem leaders organized to press for the establishment of a Paleostinian state, a year after the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held a first conference on the subject.
Mohammed told the summit that the international community should oblige Israel "to respect the illusory sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Theocratic Republic of 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... and not to violate its lands."
Speaking days after Americans voted to send former president Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... back to the White House, Mohammed also appeared to harden the kingdom’s rhetoric against Israel, signaling that Riyadh may be moving further away from US efforts to broker a normalization deal with Jerusalem.
Mohammed told leaders gathered in Riyadh that the kingdom renewed "its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Paleostinian people, which has claimed the lives of 150,000 deaders, maimed and missing, most of whom are women and kiddies."
"We affirm that Israel’s continued crimes against innocent people, its persistence in violating the sanctity of the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque, and its detraction from the pivotal role of the Paleostinian National Authority in all Paleostinian territories will undermine the efforts aimed at obtaining the Paleostinian people’s legitimate rights and establishing peace in the region," he added.
Before the war against Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... began, Saudi Arabia was in talks about a so-called mega-deal that would have seen it recognize Israel in exchange for deeper security and bilateral ties with the United States.
That would have built on the Abraham Accords brokered during Trump’s first term as president, which saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... and Morocco agree to normalize relations with Israel.
However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... Riyadh has also moved to patch up ties with Iran after a March 2023 rapprochement deal brokered by China.
The restored ties between Riyadh and Tehran have reshaped the diplomatic landscape, which Trump will have to reckon with when he takes office again next year, said H.A. Hellyer, Middle East expert at the Royal United Services Institute.
"Clearly Riyadh and Tehran are warming their relationship, and this is a very different regional environment as compared to when Trump was last in office," Hellyer said.
"Trump may want to expand the Abraham Accords when he takes office next year, but unless Israel changes tack drastically in the region, that’s going to [be] fraught with many more challenges than last time," he said.
Iran and Saudi Arabia severed ties in 2016 following attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Theocratic Republic during protests over Riyadh’s execution of Shiite holy man Nimr al-Nimr. Relations had already been frayed by Saudi Arabia’s mobilization of a military coalition to counter Iran-backed 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... rebels 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... Though issues remain in the complex relationship, the rapprochement amounts to a signature diplomatic achievement for Mohammed, who has taken a more conciliatory approach to regional diplomacy in recent years.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have maintained high-level contacts as part of what they say are efforts to contain the 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... At the same time, Iranian proxy groups and Iran itself have attempted to expand the war by launching attacks on Israel from around the Middle East, including a ballistic missile fired at central Israel from Yemen earlier Monday.
Israel has said it will respond if Iran goes through with threats to attack the country in retaliation for Israeli strikes on military sites on October 26. The Israeli sorties came after Iran fired some 200 ballistic missiles at cities across Israel on October 1.
The warning against hitting Iran appeared to mark a shift since April, when Saudi Arabia reportedly allowed its airspace to be used to counter a volley of hundreds of drones and missiles fired by Iran at Israel.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah, a Lebanese terror group that Israel is fighting to halt over a year of incessant rocket fire, are backed by Iran, and had previously been blacklisted by Saudi Arabia as terror groups.
In an earlier sign of Saudi Arabia’s shifting positions, Riyadh said in October it was revoking the license of Saudi-owned news broadcaster MBC after it called slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a terrorist.
At the summit Monday, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref claimed Israel’s liquidations of Sinwar and Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> were "nothing but lawlessness and organized terrorism."
He also said the international community was expecting Trump to end Israel’s wars against Hamas and Hezbollah.
"The American government is the main supporter of the actions of the Zionist regime, and the world is waiting for the promise of the new government of this country to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ," Aref told the joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s top military official, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials, weeks after Saudi Arabia announced it had held war games with Iran and other countries in the Sea of Oman.
Mohammed and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke by phone on Sunday ahead of the summit.
Pezeshkian is not attending because of pressing "executive matters," an Iranian government statement said.
#4
President Trump thinks differently. MBS was so busy negotiating for the last inch of advantage, clever lad that he is, that he may have missed the opportunity altogether.
I think that comment sizes it up just about right. MBS wants to change the starting line.
Posted by: Cleared Cookies Lost Nic ||
11/12/2024 9:42 Comments ||
Top||
#5
MBS couldn't beat the Houthis
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/12/2024 10:57 Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Investigation to be conducted by external oversight body after court’s internal watchdog dismissed claims; Karim Khan says allegations are misinformation campaign
The International Criminal Court in The Hague confirmed on Monday that it will launch an external probe into sexual misconduct accusations against its top prosecutor, keeping alive a case that the court’s internal watchdog had closed within five days. Khan said he won’t step down during the probe.
A statement from the president of the Assembly of States Parties, the world court’s management oversight and legislative body, said that the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) will lead the external investigation.
"An external investigation is... being pursued in order to ensure a fully independent, impartial and fair process," the statement read.
"I must insist on due respect for the privacy and the rights of all involved parties, as well as the confidentiality of such an investigation. Further information can only be shared once the investigation has concluded," the statement added.
In his own statement Monday, Khan said he welcomed "the opportunity to engage in this process." "I'm happy as a clam!"
He also declined to step down during the investigation. ’’I will be continuing all other functions as Prosecutor, in line with my mandate, across situations addressed by the International Criminal Court," he said.
An News Agency that Dare Not be Named investigation found that two court employees in whom the alleged victim had confided came forward with the accusation in May, a few weeks before Khan sought arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... leaders — all of whom have since been killed — on war crimes charges.
A three-judge panel is now weighing that request. Israel has rejected the charges out of hand.
The AP reported that Khan had traveled frequently with the woman after transferring her to his office from another department at the ICC’s headquarters in The Hague.
During one foreign trip, Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest with him on a hotel bed and then "sexually touched her," according to whistleblower documents shared with the court’s watchdog and seen by the AP. Later, he came to her room at 3 a.m. and knocked on the door for 10 minutes.
Other allegedly nonconsensual behavior cited in the documents included locking the door of his office and sticking his hand in her pocket. He also allegedly asked her on several occasions to go on a vacation together.
After the two co-workers reported the alleged behavior, the court’s internal watchdog interviewed the woman, but she opted against filing a complaint due to her distrust of the watchdog, according to the AP investigation. Khan was never questioned and the watchdog’s inquiry was closed within five days.
While the court’s watchdog could not determine wrongdoing, it nonetheless urged Khan in a memo to minimize contact with the woman to protect the rights of all involved and safeguard the court’s integrity.
Khan categorically denied the accusations, and said the misconduct allegations align with a misinformation campaign against his office.
The decision to launch an external probe came as the court comes under pressure from US senators to not issue warrants over the Israel-Hamas 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... until the misconduct claims are investigated.
[Rudaw] So far this year, around 10,000 Yazidis have returned to their homes in the Shingal (Sinjar) region of northern Nineveh province, Iraq’s migration and displacement ministry on Saturday as Baghdad continues its efforts to close camps across the country.
Ministry spokesperson Ali Abbas said that nearly 10,000 people have returned to the Yazidi heartland, with the latest convoy of 326 people departing Mam Rashan camp in Duhok province on November 6.
Each returning family will be given four million Iraqi dinars (about $3,050) along with some basic household items including a fridge, stove, and television, according to Abbas. This is provided by the Iraqi government to encourage internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return home.
Despite the incentives, many families are reluctant to leave because of continued violence in their homelands, a lack of reconstruction following the destruction of their houses, and little in the way of basic services. Some who voluntarily left the camps have been forced to return, unable to piece together the basics.
Many of the camps in the Kurdistan Region suffer from a lack of funds, as the humanitarian focus has shifted from emergency response to development and stabilization.
Human rights advocates have expressed concern about Iraq’s push to close the camps, stressing that all returns must be safe, voluntary, and dignified.
According to the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... International Organization for Migration, as of August there are 1,053,038 IDPs across the country, primarily in Duhok, Erbil, Nineveh, Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... and Sulaimani provinces. It has documented 4,897,129 people who have returned to their homes after the defeat of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS).
So far this year, about 70,000 people have returned to their homes, according to the UN figures.
[IsraelTimes] Sources say 75% to 85% of reserve soldiers have been showing up for duty in recent weeks, compared to over 100% at start of fighting
There has been a significant decline in the rate of reserve soldiers showing up for duty in recent weeks compared to the start of the war, The Times of Israel learned on Monday.
At the start of the war, the Israel Defense Forces reported that more than 100 percent of reservists called up for duty had shown up — nearly 300,000 reservists in total, marking the largest-ever call-up of reservists in Israel’s history.
In some units, the turnout rate reached 150%, with many reservists showing up for duty despite not receiving formal orders.
In recent weeks, the turnout rate in the reservist units currently fighting in Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... and 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 has varied between 75% and 85%, according to defense sources.
The decline has been attributed by senior officers to burnout among reservists after fighting for over a year of war, along with them being away from their families for extended periods, losing jobs, or missing academic studies.
It has also been attributed to resentment over the failure of the country to draft masses of the ultra-Orthodox community, while the national religious and secular communities serve at high rates.
The IDF has been seeking to expand its ranks and lengthen the mandatory military service time to relieve the reservists from extended duty, as many of them have already been serving for most of the war and are expected to be called up for over 100 days of duty next year as well.
The ongoing war in Gaza began on October 7, when Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... -led forces of Evil rampaged through southern communities, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. The hostilities on the northern border began shortly afterward and ramped up significantly in recent months.
The military has said that it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat troops — but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, due to their specific needs. This group is in addition to some 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually.
The dispute over the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of governmental and judicial attempts to settle the issue never achieving a stable resolution. The Haredi religious and politicianship fiercely resists any effort to draft its community’s young men.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews say that military service is incompatible with their way of life, and fear that those who enlist will be secularized.
Israelis who do serve, however, say the decades-long arrangement of mass exemptions unfairly burdens them, a sentiment that has intensified since the October 7 onslaught and the ensuing war, in which more than 780 soldiers have been killed and some 300,000 citizens called up to reserve duty.
This past year, 63,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service.
[IsraelTimes] Spokesman says PM personally approved operation; Netanyahu reportedly told cabinet he okayed attack despite ‘opposition’ from senior defense officials
A spokesperson for Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed to media outlets on Monday for the first time that Israel was behind a string of devastating attacks on Hezbollah communications devices in September.
During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu reportedly boasted that Israel was behind the attacks, but while the Jewish state was widely believed to have been responsible, there had been no official confirmation from the government or military until front man Omer Dostri’s statement on Monday.
On September 17, thousands of pagers simultaneously went kaboom! in the southern suburbs of Beirut and other Hezbollah strongholds across Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... The coordinated attack dealt a deadly blow to the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group, and kicked off an escalation that continued with the liquidation of almost all of Hezbollah’s leadership, including Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> , and a limited Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... , had said the incident was the "biggest security breach" for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
Among the victims rushed to hospital, many had eye injuries, missing fingers or gaping holes in their abdomens, Rooters witnesses saw, indicating their proximity to the devices at the time of detonation. In total, the pager attack, and a second on the following day that activated weaponized walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and maimed more than 3,400.
The tolls did not differentiate between civilians and members of the terror group, and among the maimed was Tehran’s ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani. A Hezbollah official told Rooters a week later that the attacks put 1,500 of the group’s fighters out of commission due to their injuries, with many having been blinded or had their hands blown off.
In the aftermath, various media outlets reported that the attack was a highly sophisticated Israeli intelligence operation years in the making in which Hezbollah was fooled into purchasing the compromised devices.
The pager explosions occurred after almost a year of incessant rocket and drone attacks on Israel by the Hezbollah terror group, which began a day after Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... ’s October 7, 2023, massacre and led to the evacuation of some 60,000 residents from northern Israel towns on the border with Lebanon.
The attacks on northern Israel since October 2023 have caused the deaths of 40 civilians. In addition, 61 IDF soldiers and reservists have died in cross-border skirmishes and in the ground operation launched in southern Lebanon in late September.
Netanyahu reportedly claimed to cabinet ministers on Sunday that senior defense officials and political figures were opposed to the detonation of the pagers but that he went ahead with the operation.
"The pager operation and the elimination of [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah were carried out despite the opposition of bigwigs in the defense establishment and those responsible for them in the political echelon," he reportedly said, in a clear dig at recently fired defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu and Gallant have clashed repeatedly over the course of their time in government together. In March 2023, Netanyahu fired Gallant a day after the then-defense minister called for pausing the legislation process of the government’s contentious judicial overhaul plans, which he said caused divisions that posed a threat to national security.
He was reinstated less than a month later, however, and was at the helm of the Defense Ministry when Hamas committed its deadly terror assault in southern Israel on October 7 last year. Gallant remained in his post throughout the subsequent war in 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, the fighting on the northern border, and the ground operation in southern Lebanon, until he was fired by Netanyahu last week.
Gallant said in a presser Tuesday he was ultimately fired due to his positions on the need to draft Haredi men to the IDF, the imperative to bring back the hostages from Gaza, and the need for a state commission of inquiry in the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught and ensuing war.
The re-election of Donald Trump is a cleansing gale well beyond America’s borders.
#1
Gallant said in a presser Tuesday he was ultimately fired due to his positions on the need to draft Haredi men to the IDF, the imperative to bring back the hostages from Gaza, and the need for a state commission of inquiry in the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught and ensuing war.
Actually, it was due to his willingness to yield control of Gaza-Egypt border to "International peacekeepers" (UNIFIL II) & accept another ceasefire in Lebanon. (in short echoing Blinken)
[GEO.TV] Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz, said on Tuesday that during a meeting with military officials, he reiterated that Israel will continue hitting Hezbollah with full force and that there will be no ceasefire.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/12/2024 02:31 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Photos show trenches and fortifications being built along Syrian side of Golan Heights border; UN confirms Israeli encroachment ‘into the area of separation’
Israel has begun a construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Golan Heights from Syria, apparently laying asphalt for a road right along the frontier, satellite photos analyzed by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named show.
Israeli troops have entered the demilitarized zone during the work, the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... confirmed to the AP.
Earlier satellite photos show the work began in earnest in late September.
Photos at the link.
So far, there has been no major violence along the Alpha Line, which delineates the demilitarized zone between Syria and the Golan Heights that UN peacekeepers have patrolled since 1974.
Syria, which has officially been at war with Israel since its founding in 1948 and relies on 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... for support, has remained silent regarding the construction.
”Please don’t bomb us more!”
The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment and Syrian officials in Damascus declined to comment.
High-resolution images taken on November 5 by Planet Labs PBC for the AP show over 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) of construction along the Alpha Line, starting some two miles (3.2 kilometers) southeast of the Druze town of Majdal Shams, where a Hezbollah rocket strike in July killed 12 children playing soccer.
The images appear to show a trench between two embankments, parts of which seems to have been laid with fresh asphalt. There also appears to be fencing running along it, as well toward the Syrian side.
The construction follows a southeast route before heading due south along the Alpha Line, and then again cutting southeast. The images show excavators and other earth-moving equipment actively digging along the route, with more asphalt piled there. The area is also believed to be littered with unwent kaboom! ordnance and mines from decades of conflict.
The United Nations maintains a peacekeeping force in the demilitarized zone called the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, or UNDOF.
"In recent months, UNDOF has observed construction activity being carried out by the IDF along the ceasefire line," UN peacekeeping spokesperson Nick Birnback told the AP.
"In this regard, UNDOF has observed in some instances, IDF personnel, Israeli excavators, other construction equipment, and the construction itself encroach into the area of separation."
Birnback added that "no military forces, equipment, or activity by either Israel or Syria are permitted in the area of separation." "Permitted". What you gonna do about it, asshat?
While Israel has not acknowledged the construction, it sent a 71-page letter in June to the UN outlining what it described as "Syrian violations of the Alpha Line and armed presence in the area of separation (that) occur daily." The letter cited numerous Israeli-alleged violations by Syrian civilians crossing the line.
"Syrian violations of that agreement only heighten tensions in our already volatile region," the letter added.
”Since you haven't done your job, we’re going to do it for you. The option is that we treat Syria like we’re treating Lebanon — your choice. Do let us know what you decide.”
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 braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
I don't recall any of the 9/11 bombers being from Sweden. 
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...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 
