[Rudaw] The bodies of Naila Mustafa and her 9-month-old daughter Noor who drowned when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea, were returned to Sulaimani on Saturday to be buried in Ranya.
"On November 28, we received news that their boat had sunk in the waters between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... and Greece. Besides my niece and her daughter, three Afghans drowned," Mustafa’s uncle Ismail told Rudaw, adding that the boat they were on could carry a maximum of 15 people but the smuggler had 32 people aboard.
Ismail said Mustafa and her family decided to leave the Kurdistan Region after her spouse lost his job.
Mustafa’s brother Rasul Mustafa said they have learned that the boat operator and the smuggler are Ottoman Turkish nationals and were arrested by the Greek police.
"The Greek police encountered the smugglers on the way and out of fear of being caught, they quickly turned the boat, resulting in the boat capsizing and five victims," Rasul Mustafa explained at a presser on Saturday.
Speaking to Rudaw the day after the boat sank, Mustafa’s husband Kawez Saadulla also blamed the smuggler for the death of his family.
The boat sank north of the island of Samos, Peshraw Abdullah, a representative of the Returning Refugees Association, told Rudaw after the tragedy.
According to a report of the Association of Returning Kurdish Refugees in Europe, 46 citizens of the Kurdistan Region have bit the dust this year, 14 of whom were from the Autonomous Administration of Raparin, which includes the city of Ranya.
Every year, tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region take perilous routes out of the country toward Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... in the hope of escaping endless crises, including a lack of employment, political instability, and corruption.
[NEWARAB] Germany's foreign minister is warning anyone involved in atrocities for the ousted Syrian regime against seeking refuge in her country, saying they would face "the full force of the law".
Germany has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade, and several hundred thousand Syrian nationals live there. In rulings since 2021, former Syrian secret coppers already have been convicted in Germany for overseeing or facilitating the abuse of detainees.
"To any of (former President Bashar) Assad's torturers who might be considering fleeing to Germany now, I can only say clearly: We will bring all the regime's henchmen to account for their terrible crimes with the full force of the law," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told Sunday's edition of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
Baerbock called for international security authorities and intelligence services to work closely together.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Germany is "extremely vigilant" and pointed to border checks that the country already has put in place on its frontiers as it tries to reduce irregular migration.
She told Bild am Sonntag that "no one who participated in atrocities is safe from prosecution here." She said the convictions already handed down show that Germany pursues such crimes rigorously and should act as a deterrent against people involved in them going there.
More broadly, German officials have stressed that many well-integrated arrivals of recent years will be welcome to stay after the removal of Assad, which came after a number of European countries decided to suspend asylum applications for Syrians, and some talk by politicians on sending refugees back. Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged this in a video released on Friday which "deeply unsettled" them.
"Anyone who is working here, who is well integrated, is and remains welcome in Germany," he said. "That goes without saying."
"Some of the refugees hope they can soon return to their homeland. We will support that as soon as the situation allows," he added. But "only the coming days, weeks and months will show what direction Syria takes after Assad."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2024 00:00 ||
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[PUBLISH.TWITTER] In part a response to this story from three weeks ago about Irish Hamas-love and Jew-hate in schools and elsewhere, but mostly about blatant Irish anti-Israel politics.
⚠️BREAKING: It's official: Israel will be closing its embassy in Ireland, due to the government of Ireland's "Extreme and anti-Israel policies."
[IsraelTimes] Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris says that the decision by Israel to close its Dublin embassy is “deeply regrettable.”
“I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel,” Harris writes on X. “Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law.”
“Ireland wants a two state solution and for Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Ireland will always speak up for human rights and international law,” he adds.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced that he would be closing the embassy earlier today, citing the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish government” as his reason for doing so.
Israel recalled its ambassador in May after Ireland became one of three EU countries that said they would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. Ireland has not recalled its envoy to Israel. More:
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said the two countries would maintain diplomatic relations and that there were no plans to close Ireland’s embassy in Israel.
Ireland has been one of Israel’s most outspoken critics throughout 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... , which broke out on October 7, 2023, with Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... ’s unprecedented attack in which 3,000 Death Eaters murdered some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, mostly civilians.
Last week, Ireland’s cabinet voted to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of "genocide" at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
"The antisemitic actions and rhetoric that Ireland is taking against Israel are based on delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state and on double standards," says Sa’ar in a statement. "Ireland has crossed all red lines in its relationship with Israel. Israel will invest its resources in promoting bilateral relations with the countries of the world according to priorities that are also derived from the attitude of the various countries towards it."
At the same time, Sa’ar announces that Israel will open an embassy in Moldova, which already has an embassy in Israel. The opening is expected to occur in the next year, and Israel is beginning the process of finding a site and appointing an ambassador.
"There are countries that are interested in strengthening their ties with Israel and do not yet have an Israeli embassy," says Sa’ar. "We will adjust the Israeli diplomatic structure of our missions while giving weight, among other things, to the approach and actions of the various countries towards Israel in the political arena."
[Rudaw] Ottoman Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Sunday more than 7,000 Syrian refugees had returned to their homes from The Sick Man of EuropeTurkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... in five days following the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... ’s regime.
A total of 7,621 Syrian refugees returned to their country from across Turkey in a "voluntary, safe, honorable, and regular" manner since Assad’s downfall, Yerlikaya said on X.
There are over three million Syrian refugees in Turkey. Many are returning to their homeland after the fall of the Assad regime.
"The tyrant Bashar was killing and displacing people, that's why we fled," Mohammed, a Syrian national who was at the border crossing, told Rudaw on Monday, before returning to Syria after years of displacement.
Thousands of Syrian refugees last week erupted into the streets in Istanbul and Ankara to celebrate the fall of Assad, some thanking Ottoman Turkish authorities for their warm welcome to the refugees fleeing war.
Ankara has been working to return the Syrian refugees to their homeland over the past few years amid economic challenges; however, it has faced backlash from humanitarian organizations, which have characterized the conditions in Syria as unsafe.
Hakan Fidan, Turkey's foreign minister, said on Monday that Ankara will work for the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.
He also said Turkey will help Syria with reconstruction efforts and will engage with all "regional actors" in that regard.
Syria’s civil war dramatically reignited late last month when a coalition of rebels led by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS) launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army, ending over five decades of Baathist rule.
While Turkey has announced it had no role in the offensive that led to the fall of the Assad regime, it said on Sunday that it wanted the new government in Syria to be inclusive, with its future determined by the Syrian people.
[IsraelTimes] Kaja Kallas says new leaders will have to ensure rights of minorities and women, disavow religious extremism in order to make good on their assurances of moderation
The EU will not lift sanctions on Syria before its new rulers ensure minorities are not persecuted and women’s rights are protected within a unified government that disavows religious extremism, the EU’s top diplomat said on Sunday.
In other words, never. Why are they even playing this game, when the target is not only totally uninterested, but despises such things as effete, proof only of the fact that the EU is ripe for conquest?
An EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Monday, which has Syria on the agenda, would not discuss expanding financial support to the country beyond that already provided by the EU through United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... agencies, said the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ’s new foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.
"One of the questions is whether we are able to, in the future, look at the adaptation of the sanctions regime. But this clearly is not the question of today, but rather in the future where we have seen that the steps go in the right direction," Kallas told Rooters in an interview.
While the EU has in place a tough sanctions regime against Syria, the rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian president Bashir al-Assad — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... — has also been under sanctions for years, complicating matters for the international community.
The EU was already the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Syria, Kallas said.
"We need to discuss what more can we do. But as I say, it can’t come as a blank check," Kallas added.
She was speaking after attending a conference in Jordan on Saturday that brought together regional and Western powers to discuss Syria’s post-Assad future. Diplomats agreed that the protection of Syria’s minorities was a major concern.
"Syria faces a hopeful but uncertain future," said Kallas, who is making her first visit to the Middle East in her new post. Syria’s new interim leaders had made "positive signals" but these were not enough, she said.
"They are judged by the deeds, not only the words. So the coming weeks and months will show whether their deeds are going to the right direction," Kallas said.
"What everybody is looking at is, of course, the treatment of women and girls also, which shows the society and how it goes, how the institutions are built up, so that there is a government that takes on board everybody," she added.
Human rights bodies say tens of thousands perished under the Assad family’s authoritarian rule, and the ousted president had to be held accountable, Kallas said.
"It’s clear that Assad has been responsible for the crimes committed in Syria, so there clearly has to be accountability," she said, and the International Criminal Court would be expected to look into how he would be prosecuted
"Without accountability, there is no justice, and without justice, it’s also very hard to build the country," she added.
[IsraelTimes] The four anti-government protesters charged with terrorism for allegedly firing lit flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Caesarea home last month were subjected to a full strip search after meeting with Labor MK Gilad Kariv last week, Hebrew media reports.
According to Channel 12, the Israel Prison Services ordered the strip search on suspicion that Kariv had smuggled them a communications device or similar contraband when visiting on Thursday. However, speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Kariv says he was scanned for weapons and other suspicious items before entering the prison facility.
Kariv, in a statement responding to the report, accuses the IPS of “deliberately thwarting the ability to carry out parliamentary oversight of the conditions of detention” and says that the reported incident is proof that the categorization of the detainees as security prisoners “severely violates their rights.”
The Public Defender’s Office in response says that being strip searched “is a harsh, humiliating and degrading act.”
“The Public Defender’s has previously criticized the inappropriate phenomenon of unnecessary strip searches,” it continues. “Even in instances where the Prison Service has the legal authority to conduct a strip search on a person in custody, this should only be done when appropriate, when there is a real suspicion of the transfer of prohibited substances.
“Even when a person loses his freedom, he does not lose his dignity,” it adds.
They’ve demonstrated they aren’t trustworthy. Therefore they are not trusted.
[IsraelTimes] The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says that over the past week, 1,316 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, a similar number of aid trucks, 1,318, were distributed to humanitarian warehouses and shelters in Gaza over the past week, “in coordination with aid organizations and the international community,” COGAT says.
The trucks carried food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment. The aid was transferred following a “thorough security screening” by Israeli authorities.
Had they not attacked, they would not have been ruined. Do they consider Hezbollah and the government of Iran ruined, too?
[BREITBART] A bigwig within the Paleostinian terrorist organization Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... admitted to a Saudi media outlet that the October 7 terror attack caused the destruction of the organization because of the ferocity of Israel's response.
Israel Hayom reported Sunday:
A senior Hamas official currently based in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... told Saudi media that the 37th anniversary of the terrorist organization's founding comes during a period of decline due to defeats 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 broader region.
The official disclosed, ''Hamas is suffering from a genuine leadership crisis. The al-Aqsa Flood attack backfired on us, submerging us in a sea of blood and crises. The most recent blow was the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's regime in Syria, with which Hamas had been attempting to rebuild relations.''
According to a report by the Saudi news site Elaph, the Syrian government has ordered Paleostinian terrorist groups to shut down their offices, hand over their weapons, dismantle training camps, and leave Syria as soon as possible.
That would be the conquering Hayat Tahrir al Sham, as the various elements of the Assad government are occupied with running like rabbits to any haven they can find.
The primary Paleostinian group active in Syria has been the Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... . In contrast, Hamas's political bureau left Syria earlier due to its support for Salafist tough guys at the start of the Syrian civil war, which sparked a rift with Assad.
Israel Hayom also cited reporting that Paleostinian holy warriors in Syria fled to Iran, but may leave for other countries due to the fear of liquidation (Israel is suspected of having killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister of Gaza after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintained a separate PM in the West Bank. Zapped during the 23-24 war, to eveyone's satisfaction... in Tehran in July.)
There are also Hamas officials in Turkey, and some are in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... — including some who reportedly returned there at the urging of the incoming Trump administration, solely for the purpose of negotiating a hotage deal by January 20.
The report that Hamas leaders are accepting that the October 7 terror attack was a strategic mistake is a reversal from past months, and suggests that Israel is succeeding in restoring a deterrent against its enemies.
However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... there are European nations who continue to reward Hamas, with Ireland the latest to join South Africa's ''genocide'' case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Ireland, Spain, and Norway also recognized a Paleostinian state.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2024 00:00 ||
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#1
You ain't seen nothing yet, Ahmad. For 80 years Israel fought you animals with one brain lobe tied behind its back - it's all over now.
#2
Everyone knows that Israel founded Hamas, right?
The source is that notorious right-wing conspiracy theorist and frequent Alex Jones guest, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] . The head of the Israeli General Security Service Ronen Bar and the head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Service Ahmad Husni held secret talks on the situation in Syria. This was reported on December 14 by the Axios portal, citing its sources.
It is specified that the parties discussed the situation in Syria and interaction with the armed opposition that came to power in the country, which is forming a transitional government. In particular, the issue of arms smuggling to the West Bank of the Jordan River, which threatens to aggravate the situation in the Palestinian territory, was raised.
Israel and Jordan have expressed their desire to work together to address common security concerns.
Jordan is currently the key mediator between Israel and Syrian armed opposition groups.
Earlier, Regnum news agency reported that the leader of the armed Syrian opposition, Ahmed al-Sharaa (known by the nickname Abu Muhammad al-Julani), called on the international community to stop the “Israeli escalation” in Syria.
Al-Sharaa accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of violating the demarcation line in the Golan Heights and striking Syrian territory, and called Tel Aviv's arguments for justifying its actions weak.
On December 8, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Bashar al-Assad had resigned as President of Syria. He ordered a peaceful transfer of power and left for Russia with his family, where they were granted asylum.
Israel then began to strike military targets in Syria. On December 10, the IDF announced that it had destroyed most of the neighboring republic's strategic weapons in 48 hours.
Al Mayadeen TV also reported on December 10 that Israeli tanks had come within 21 km of Damascus. The IDF denied this information, stating that it was holding only a buffer zone on the Golan Heights and approaches to the state border.
On December 14, Yeni Şafak, citing sources, stated that the Turkish army intends to shoot down Israeli warplanes if they help the Syrian Kurds with their strikes. According to the publication, the Kurds asked the IDF to help in the fight against pro-Turkish forces.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Israel's actions in Syria, said that they are unlikely to contribute to stabilizing the situation. Moscow hopes for a speedy settlement in the region, he added.
[IsraelTimes] Money to go toward education, renewable energy, establishment of a student village, and a plan for absorbing new residents in Israel’s northern region
The plan only pertains to the Israel-held part of the Golan.
The cabinet gave unanimous approval Sunday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s NIS 40 million ($11 million) plan to double the population in the Golan Heights.
Around 50,000 people live on the Israeli-controlled side of the heights, evenly split between Jews and Druze.
The money will go toward education, renewable energy, the establishment of a student village, and a plan for absorbing new residents, said the Prime Minister’s Office.
"Strengthening the Golan Heights is strengthening the State of Israel," Netanyahu was quoted in the statement as saying, "and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold on to it, make it flourish and settle it."
The plan only pertains to the Israel-held part of the Golan.
And now for the usual complaints from the usual complainers:
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... slammed the new plan Sunday as "sabotage" against Syria.
In a statement, Riyadh’s foreign ministry expressed "condemnation and denunciation" of the plan, which it called part of a "continued sabotage of opportunities to restore security and stability in Syria" after Islamist-led rebels overthrew president Bashir al-Assad earlier this month.
Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... asserted that the Israeli declaration was a "new episode in a series of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories and a blatant violation of international law."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] 1. Negotiations with HTS regarding our bases are ongoing. The parties are currently exchanging proposals and discussing possible parameters. There are already certain points of contact on a number of parameters. But there are a couple of problematic issues.
2. There are currently no decisions on the complete withdrawal of bases in Latakia and Khmeimim. For now. If we fail to reach an agreement with HTS regarding the bases, we will have to organize the process of withdrawing troops and equipment in full. This is also not a quick process. But I would like to believe that the bases will be preserved. This is easier than negotiating alternatives in other countries.
3. From the remaining strongholds in Syria that were not specified in the agreement on bases in Latakia, our troops are being pulled back in the direction of Tartus or Khmeimim. So far, without any significant incidents.
4. The surplus equipment that is generated in Latakia will be removed, and the group, even in the case of an agreement with HTS on bases, will be reduced due to the absence of previous tasks for it, which required an expanded military presence in different areas of Syria.
5. The Russian embassy in Damascus also remains for now and will probably remain. The security of the external perimeter is currently provided by HTS militants, driving away militants from groups that are not part of HTS (a carbon copy of the situation in Kabul), including with a fatal outcome for some of them.
6. In addition to Assad, a number of high-ranking officials of the previous army and government of Syria are now in Russia in de facto political exile. In the foreseeable future, they are unlikely to be able to return to their homeland and they have currently dropped out of current Syrian politics.
7. The remnants of the Syrian army that went to Iraq are unlikely to be able to represent a combat-ready force now. Perhaps the Iranians will take them under their wing and create formations from Syrians under the wing of their numerous proxy structures. Although the question of the combat capability of the Syrian formations remains in question. But this is already the Iranians' concern.
8. In Syria itself, especially outside the major cities, killings of people associated with the previous government and army, as well as robberies and looting, continue. HTS militants are trying to create the appearance of legality, but outside several major cities, power essentially belongs to various armed gangs that take advantage of the vacuum of power and security. HTS, even if it wanted to, would not be able to stop all this in a short time.
9. Israel continues to consolidate its position in the occupied Syrian territories and demonstrates a desire not only to hold and populate the Golan Heights captured earlier, but also to extend the occupation to new territories. Even HTS was forced to publicly declare that it is against the Israeli occupation and that Israel must stop striking Syria. However, HTS is unlikely to be able to do anything to Israel now.
10. The key question of Syria's future is whether HTS and Turkey will limit themselves to painting Syria green along the Euphrates (including the upcoming capture of Tabqa and Raqqa) or whether there will be an invasion of the mainland Rojava. The US and Turkey are currently negotiating this issue. Everyone understands that without Rojava's oil, the economic situation for "green" Syria will be as unacceptable as it was for the Assad government. Erdogan obviously wants to finally resolve the Kurdish issue while there is still an opportunity. The US, of course, does not want to give up the Kurdish card, which they use to cover up the theft of Syrian oil and maintain their military presence in Syria.
[IsraelTimes] A special Russian air force flight from the Khmeimim air base in Syria has evacuated some of the Russian diplomatic personnel in Damascus as well as Belarusian and North Korean diplomats, the Russian foreign ministry says.
“The work of the Russian Embassy in Damascus continues,” the crisis situation department of the Russian foreign ministry says on its Telegram messaging channel.
Russia’s RIA state news agency reports, citing the Belarusian foreign ministry, that all Belarusian diplomats have been evacuated from Syria.
Posted by: badanov ||
12/16/2024 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Students return to classrooms in Syria as the country’s new rulers order schools to reopen in a potent sign of some normalcy a week after rebels swept into the capital in the dramatic overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad.
The country’s new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, faces a massive challenge to rebuild Syria after 13 years of civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Cities were bombed to ruins, the economy was gutted by international sanctions and millions of refugees still live in camps outside Syria.
Officials say most schools were opening around the country today, the first day of the working week. However some parents were not sending their children to class due to uncertainty over the situation.
Pupils waited cheerfully in the courtyard of a boys’ high school in Damascus and applauded as the school secretary, Raed Nasser, hung the flag adopted by the new authorities.
“Everything is good. We are fully equipped. We worked two, three days in order to equip the school with the needed services for the students’ safe return to school,” Nasser says, adding the Jawdat al-Hashemi school had not been damaged.
In one classroom, a student pasted the new flag on a wall.
“I am optimistic and very happy,” says student Salah al-Din Diab. “I used to walk in the street scared that I would get drafted to military service. I used to be afraid when I reach a checkpoint.”
[IsraelTimes] Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that spearheaded the insurgency that toppled Syrian president Bashir al-Assad, has reportedly ordered Paleostinian terror factions in Syria to lay down their weapons, close their training camps and dissolve their military formations. "We'd rather die!"
"Your choice, bub."
According to a report published in the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily al-Akhbar on Friday, HTS has informed the Paleostinian factions, chiefly among them Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... , the Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine, headquartered in Damascus, that they will be able to retain their charities and conduct political activities under the aegis of the Syrian state, but will not be allowed to use Syria as a base or a point of passage for military actions against Israel.
HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, a former al-Qaeda member, has sought to rebrand himself and his group as a moderate force that will stabilize Syria and respect religious minorities, and has indicated that he will not seek military confrontation with Israel.
[IsraelTimes] An unnamed Israeli military source tells The Washington Post that the Israel Defense Forces strikes on Iran in October meant that while prior to the strikes Tehran had been able to produce fuel for two new ballistic missiles a day, it was now probably limited to one per week. !!!!!
The source tells the newspaper that it was assumed the shortfall would continue for a year. !!!!!!!!!!
Additionally, former defense minister Yoav Gallant tells the outlet that the aim of the October 26 strikes — which also targeted air defenses and, reportedly, an active nuclear weapons research facility — was to ensure “Iran is weaker and Israel is stronger,” with Tehran unable to respond to future strikes. No !!! — that one we already knew.
“There is no strategic defense around Tehran,” he says.
Gallant also says that the strikes, which were in retaliation for a massive Iranian ballistic missile barrage on Israel on October 1, created “a window to act against Iran” before it manufactures a nuclear weapon.
The former minister additionally confirms that Israel was behind the strike in April on a radar system for an air defense battery in Iran’s central city of Isfahan. That strike was in response to Tehran’s massive drone-and-missile attack against Israel on April 13.
“We hit them precisely, but it wasn’t enough to deter them,” he says.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/16/2024 00:00 ||
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#1
Back when the IDF was delivering their response, there was a lot of chatter about how they were wussing out by not destroying Iran's nuke facilities and more military targets instead of hitting air defense sites and factories. Kinda sorta looks like the Israelis are playing the long game.
[NAHARNET] Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... said on Saturday that Syria's new rulers, who ousted the Lebanese gang's ally Bashir al-Assad, should not recognize neighboring Israel or establish ties with it. Good idea, Naim. Give those stinkards a good, hard warnin’.
"We hope that this new party in power will see Israel as an enemy and not normalize relations with it," Qassem said in a televised speech, his first public remarks since Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad following an offensive launched on November 27, the same day that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.
Qassem admitted that his group can no longer be supplied militarily through Syria.
"Hezbollah lost a military supply line via Syria," Qassem said in a televised address in which he added that "the resistance must adapt to the circumstances."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2024 00:00 ||
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[NAHARNET] Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for Syrians who sought refuge in his country to return home following the fall of Syria's longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad.
"The consequences of the Syrian war made Lebanon home to the largest number of refugees per capita, with one-third of our population comprising of Syrian refugees", Mikati said Saturday at a Rome political festival.
"The strain on our resources has been substantial, worsening existing economic trouble and creating fierce competition for jobs and services," he said in English.
"Today, and after the political transformation in Syria, the best resolution to this issue is for Syrians to go back to their homeland," he said.
Authorities say Lebanon, population 5.8 million, currently hosts around two million Syrians, while more than 800,000 are registered with the United Nations -- the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.
Many fled Syria after its civil war began following the repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
Mikati told a festival held by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party that "the international community, particularly Europe, should assist in the return of Syrians".
They should do so "by engaging in early recovery efforts in secure areas with Syria", he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2024 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Posted by: Fred ||
12/16/2024 00:00 ||
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An enormous amount of people in Arab countries are killed by reckless gunfire yearly, and nobody does anything to stop it.
It is a traditional tribal custom, like marrying your cousin. Everybody does it.
As a side note, what exactly constitutes "an enormous amount of people"? Firearm fatalities in Eastern Saudi Arabia: impact of culture and legislation
A study of all firearm fatalities in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia during the 10-year period from 1985 to 1994 is presented. The overall number of cases was 71 (0.35 per 100,000 population), of which 48% were homicides, 28% were suicides, and 24% were accidental (about 17 of the 71 cases). Hell, 17 is like the first warm weekend in Chicago.
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 occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
[Regnum] . The head of the Israeli General Security Service Ronen Bar and the head of the Jordanian General Intelligence Service Ahmad Husni held 
...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...
[IsraelTimes] Students return to classrooms in Syria as the country’s new rulers order schools to reopen in a potent sign of some 
..always the voice of sweet reason...
[IsraelTimes] An unnamed Israeli military source tells The Washington Post that the Israel Defense Forces strikes on Iran in October meant that while prior to the strikes Tehran had been able to produce fuel for two new ballistic missiles a day, it was now probably limited to one per week.
[NAHARNET] Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for Syrians who sought refuge in his country to return home following the fall of Syria's longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad.
