Previously hampered by a lack of imagination, learning finally occurs.
[IsraelTimes] While many US Jewish organizations believe in free speech, they are hoping the incoming president will curb antisemitism on college campuses and in schools.
#3
1&2^
Several people have written about why people hold untenable beliefs after getting lots of evidence of the falsehood of the beliefs.
Essentially, the pleasure of thinking oneself morally superior is so great that it overwhelms the analytical part of the intellect. It takes a significant emotional experience (like seeing your wife arrested and raped for no crime) or a significant physical one (like being robbed and beaten) to overcome the feeling.
Most of this has been explained by defectors from Communism but also from defectors from NYCity and LA leftism.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/19/2024 19:23 Comments ||
Top||
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday the resumption of the work of its embassy in Syria, starting tomorrow.
Earlier, Qatari Foreign Ministry front man Majed al-Ansari announced that ''a Qatari diplomatic delegation arrived in Damascus to complete the necessary procedures for opening the Qatari embassy.''
Al-Ansari added that the delegation renewed, during its meetings with the interim government in Syria, ''the State of Qatar's full commitment to supporting the Syrian people.''
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2024 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Qatar (MB)
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Mohammad Ali al-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... , a member of the Supreme Political Council, confirmed that the American-British Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on the capital Sana'a and 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... i provinces will not deter the Yemeni people from supporting the Paleostinian people 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... This came during a visit by Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, along with Minister of Information Hashim Sharaf al-Din, to the al-Ardi complex in the Bab al-Yemen area of Sana'a, to inspect the damage caused by two airstrikes waged by the US- British aggression forces early today.
He pointed out that the US-British airstrikes will not affect the Yemenis or their military capabilities. ''The more the US targets and bombs Yemen, the more steadfast, defiant, victorious, and prepared we become for confrontation,'' he said. Well all good then. On to victory, assholes!
''If the US and British attacks were able to achieve their goals, we would have stopped on the first day. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... the Revolution Leader clearly stated that the US threatened to stop humanitarian relief and launch direct military actions against Yemen, making multiple threats if Yemen did not stop supporting Gaza. The Revolution Leader's response was explicit: our operations in support of Gaza will not stop until the aggression and siege on Gaza end,'' he added.
''The attacks by America and its allies continue against our country, but targeting the capital Sana'a and other provinces will not deter us from supporting Gaza. We are moving in the right direction, and we fully understand the truth of the grievances faced by the Paleostinian people, just as the Yemeni people face their own hardships,'' he stated.
He explained that the US Navy and the countries attacking Yemen are afraid of the heroes, leadership, and personnel of the Ministry of Defense. ''The steadfastness of our heroes is due to their belief, awareness of the hegemonic plans of America, Britannia, and Israel, as well as their love for their homeland and their understanding of the nature and course of the conspiracy being woven against the Yemeni people,'' he added.
Mohammad Ali al-Houthi considered the leader's weekly speech as a motivation for the people of Yemen, particularly for the Ministry of Defense and the Yemeni army, which faces the enemy with pride, innovation, and continued development of military capabilities according to the guidance of the wise revolutionary leadership.
''We assure the Yemeni people that the al-Aradi complex will remain a symbol of resistance, steadfastness, and defiance. Its heroes will defeat all aggressors and will not fear anyone,'' he declared.
''Yemen does not care about America or its allies in the region, because we have faced them for ten years. We are now in a phase of de-escalation, and if Washington stops its support for the Zionist enemy, which is annihilating the people of Gaza, that would be a better option for us to halt military operations,'' added the Supreme Political Council member.
He condemned the US-British airstrikes, considering them barbaric and terrorist acts that will not change Yemen's position in supporting Gaza and the Paleostinian cause. He stressed that the battle continues against all who attack our country.
Mohammad Ali al-Houthi reiterated that ''America's interests are being targeted by the Yemeni armed forces, which have prepared a plan to confront America within the framework of their operational capacity. The Yemeni people and the army heroes, led by the Revolution Leader, will not fear any movement. The strikes of our heroes in the missile and drone forces has reached the Mediterranean, Arabian, Red, and Indian seas, and even 'Yaffa.' We have no red lines as long as the sons of Yemen are being bombed and targeted, and as long as the war of annihilation continues in Gaza.''
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2024 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Despite negative findings, study says educational content related to the Holocaust and Jewish history has improved since last report in 2016
[IsraelTimes] The State Department has carved out exceptions for close ally Israel that block a US law restricting foreign military support over human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... abuses, a lawsuit from a group of Paleostinians 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 American relatives aassert. Who don't have standing, right?
Former State Department officials and crafters of the 1997 "Leaky" Leahy law are among those advising and backing the lawsuit.
The lawsuit details the barriers that it accuses the State Department of creating on Israel’s behalf to skirt enforcement and asks courts to intervene. That is after campus protests and moves by some politicians failed in their goal of limiting US military support to Israel over civilian deaths in Gaza during the war with Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... The law bars US military assistance to foreign military units when there is credible evidence of gross human rights abuses.
The State and Justice departments decline to comment. Secretary of State Antony Blinken ...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm... has previously denied that the department has given Israel a pass. "Do we have a double standard? The answer is no," he said in
[IsraelTimes] At the UN Security Council meeting, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield slams Israel’s recent conduct in the West Bank.
While she acknowledges the recent Israeli decision to extend a corresponding banking agreement for another year, which prevents the Paleostinian Authority from collapsing, Thomas-Greenfield says it’s just a start given the dire economic situation in the West Bank.
The US envoy urges Israel to ease restrictions on Paleostinian economic activity, including by re-issuing worker permits for well over 100,000 Paleostinians that were revoked following Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... ’s October 7 onslaught.
Thomas-Greenfield slams Israeli actions that have undercut the PA and dampened prospects for a two-state solution — a framework that the current Israeli government opposes.
Israel continues to withhold hundreds of millions of shekels in Paleostinian tax revenues that the US has long urged Israel to release.
She pans Israel’s recent advancement of plans for over 500 new homes in several settlements throughout the West Bank and laments that more settlement units were approved this past year than in any other 12-month period this last decade. The total number of homes advanced by the end of 2024 will be 9,221.
Thomas-Greenfield calls out continued settler attacks against Paleostinians, noting that many of them have been carried out by suspects living in some of the several dozen new outposts established over the past year — hamlets that are illegal even under Israeli law, but that are rarely subject to any enforcement measures.
Last year saw the highest number of Paleostinians killed in the West Bank since the UN began collecting data in 2005, she says, calling on Israeli authorities to act against the phenomenon and to dismantle illegal outposts.
[IsraelTimes] US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield knocks both Israel and the United Nations for failing to appropriately cooperate to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach civilians in Gaza.
“It is time for Israel and the United Nations to stop working against each other and instead take pragmatic steps to ensure there is no interruption of humanitarian aid delivery to Palestinians in desperate need,” Thomas-Greenfield says in remarks at the monthly UN Security Council session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The US envoy calls on Israel not to restrict the delivery of aid, lift obstacles that hamper such deliveries and ensure that the recently passed Knesset legislation aimed at dismantling UNRWA doesn’t further harm the aid effort.
But Thomas-Greenfield also urges the UN to work with Israel and other parties to advance a viable plan to ensure the delivery of aid once the Knesset legislation goes into place late next month.
She laments that a recent letter from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s office, defending the work of UNRWA amid a flood of revelations tying the relief agency for Palestinian refugees to Hamas, indicated that the UN “has not yet begun an earnest conversation with Israel regarding implementation of the [Knesset] legislation.
“Nor does it appear that relevant UN agencies have had detailed conversations regarding steps they could take to help ensure continuity of UN aid deliveries to Gaza,” she continues. “With lives in the balance, this must change. The UN must demonstrate that it will continue to work to find a path to support the people of Gaza.”
[IsraelTimes] An anonymous Hamas official tells the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news outlet that there has been considerable progress in the negotiations for a phased hostage release and ceasefire deal with Israel.
According to the official, Israel’s demand during the first stage of the deal is for the release of 34 hostages on humanitarian grounds — chiefly all remaining women and children, including female IDF soldiers, and the sick and elderly.
And these are all alive? What are their names?
In return, Israel will release an unconfirmed number of Palestinian security prisoners, including some serving life sentences, al Mayadeen reports.
The Hamas official alleges that during the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire, Israel will allow a significantly increased flow of humanitarian aid to enter the Strip, as well as the equipment needed to repair and rebuild Gaza’s hospitals and public facilities.
The official claims that Israel has also agreed to withdraw from densely populated areas in the Strip during the first phase of the deal.
He says that while all parties have agreed to reopen the Rafah Crossing on the border with Egypt during the first phase, the issue of who will maintain control of the crossing has yet to be resolved.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Israel has agreed to a gradual withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, and that Hamas had agreed it would not be involved in running the Rafah Crossing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long vowed that Israeli troops would remain on the route.
The crossing has remained shuttered since May of this year when the IDF launched its offensive in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli assessments were nearly identical, but Netanyahu decided to step up campaign in Lebanon, deeming the heavy cost worth paying, officials tell ToI
10/7 changed all calculations. The promise of repeated 10/7 attacks changed them even further. Naturally the Biden administration missed that point.
US intelligence assessments before Israel escalated its conflict against the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group in September said that such a move risked sparking an all-out war in which hundreds — if not thousands — of Israelis would be killed, three US officials and one Israeli official told The Times of Israel this week.
The assessments relied heavily on similar ones crafted by Israel’s own intelligence community, the US officials said, acknowledging that both countries’ assessments proved wildly inaccurate within days, as the IDF methodically took out much of Hezbollah’s missile and drone capabilities, dismantled its military infrastructure in southern Leb ...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... , picked off almost every member of its big shotship and killed or maimed thousands of operatives — many of them in audacious mass detonations of the terror group’s communication devices.
Hezbollah did manage to expand the range of its rocket and drone launches, disrupting life for tens of thousands of citizens in parts of Israel that had been free of such threats over the past year. Fifty-seven Israeli soldiers and 21 non-combatants were killed during the roughly two-month escalation that ensued.
But Israel’s military achievements in Lebanon were overwhelming and ultimately led the Iran-backed Shiite group to agree to a ceasefire late last month after having pledged for over a year that it would not halt its attacks — which it began hours after Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... ’s October 7 onslaught — until Israel agreed to a still-elusive ceasefire 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... As tensions between Israel and Hezbollah began to ratchet up over the summer, US intelligence assessments had warned of a very different scenario in the offing.
"The assessments... were that this was potentially going to be a catastrophic war that would cause potentially hundreds or thousands of Israeli casualties as Hezbollah missiles overwhelmed Israeli defenses," said one of the US officials.
The disaster scenario appeared increasingly likely as Israel began striking targets deeper into Lebanon while Hezbollah refused to unlink its conflict with Israel from the one in Gaza, and negotiations for a hostage release and ceasefire deal in the Strip failed repeatedly to reach a breakthrough, said the three US officials.
Upon receiving the assessments from the American intelligence community, top aides to US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Gave an airbase and billions in military hardware to the Taliban and called it an extraordinary success... in the Pentagon and the White House began to hold meetings to formulate Washington’s response to the expected deadly war, the first US official said.
The US officials stressed that intelligence assessments coming out of Washington weren’t very different from those being crafted in Jerusalem and even relied on the latter’s assessments.
"There’s a narrative out there that [Israel’s major offensive against Hezbollah] would have happened a lot earlier if the Americans hadn’t applied pressure on Israel and prevented it. That’s not what happened. Everybody was very concerned on both sides about what this would look like and how severe it would be," said the first US official.
"This was why for many months Israel held off on launching the kind of attacks it began conducting in September. They were no less concerned about what a full-blown war with Hezbollah would mean," said a second US official.
"Ultimately, they moved forward anyway, but it wasn’t under the assumption that it wouldn’t come at a major cost. The Israelis just believed that this cost was necessary," the US official added.
On September 17 and 18, Israel simultaneously set off thousands of explosive-laden Hezbollah communication devices. Even then, the US privately continued to caution Israel to exercise caution, fearing the shock-and-awe operation would drag 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... into the conflict, the US official said, while confirming reports that Israel rushed to launch the exploding pager operation amid fears that its details had been exposed.
But Israel was unmoved by the words of caution from Washington, and the IDF conducted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s two days later that eliminated the leadership of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force. Then, on September 27, Israel killed Hezbollah’s longtime secretary-general, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... it was the widespread air raids that the IDF conducted several days earlier against Hezbollah’s rocket and weapon depots across Lebanon that "fundamentally" changed the US assessment regarding the trajectory of the war, the first US official said, adding that Washington went on to shift its position to back Israel piling on the blows against the badly battered terror group.
That doesn’t explain why the US still sought to broker a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, announcing the initiative on September 25. But it does explain why the US quickly moved away from the temporary ceasefire effort as Israeli military gains against Hezbollah began to accumulate in the days and weeks that followed.
The White House said publicly at the time that it wouldn’t have moved forward with the effort if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hadn’t indicated his support.
The US was further emboldened in its position days later when it helped Israel thwart a second Iranian missile attack, demonstrating that Tehran was almost powerless to come to the aid of its proxies.
Reflecting on how events developed over the past several months, a third US official noted that it was possible to defend the summertime intelligence assessments by chalking up Israel’s battlefield achievements to luck.
However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat... they weren’t very convinced by that argument and maintained that the ordeal should warrant a reckoning for the intelligence communities in the US and Israel.
During an onstage interview Tuesday evening at the 92nd Street Y in New York, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was asked which of the events in the Middle East over the last several months were most surprising — from Israel’s restoration of its escalation dominance, to the apparent implosion of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance®, to the overthrow of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... ’s regime in Syria.
"Yes," Sullivan quipped in response, seemingly suggesting that all of those events caught the US off guard.
"Every one of those pieces has been maybe not surprising directionally — in the sense that, one could see the ways in which Israel, backed by the United States... was taking the fight to its enemies," Sullivan began.
"One could see the weakening and the fracturing of the Axis of Resistance® and the weakening of Iran, and one could see the pressure on Assad — particularly because his two main patrons, Iran and Russia, were distracted and weakened.
"But the speed, the scope and the scale of the remaking of the Middle East in this short amount of time — I think you’d find very few people who could have predicted all of that and that we would be sitting here in December of 2024 with the picture looking the way that it looks," Sullivan said.
#4
Perhaps the US intelligence and pols had no idea as the depth of knowledge the IDF/Bibi knew about Hamas and Hezbollah. IDF performance is/was impressive.
#5
It seems that US Intel hasn't been very intelligent for some time now.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/19/2024 11:29 Comments ||
Top||
#6
When I think of war fighters, I dont think of the rainbow flag cult. But apparently there is a Gay Bar Index. When there is a foreign crisis and the gay bars in Dupont Circle, DC are empty, you know the crisis is serious and getting analyzed by the IC. With the Occupancy of Gay Bars in DC as a metric, you have to ask if there's a correlation with the IC being so incompetent.
[IsraelTimes] Palestinians told to move away from 4 residential areas in Bureij; Hamas-run authorities say at least 12 killed in recent strikes; IDF probing reports of attack on hospital
The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday ordered another evacuation in central 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... ahead of an offensive in the area, even as Israel and Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... appeared to inch closer to a hostage-ceasefire deal in the 14-month war.
"This is an advance warning ahead of an offensive," IDF front man Avichay Adraee posted on X, asking the residents to move to a "humanitarian zone" in the Muwasi area.
The order included four residential block areas in Gaza’s central Bureij, where Adraee said that Paleostinian operatives had fired rockets at Israeli troops.
The order came after sources with knowledge of the Gaza talks told Rooters on Tuesday that CIA Director Bill Burns was set to meet Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha on Wednesday to try to bridge the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas on a hostage-ceasefire deal.
Three US, Israeli, and Arab officials have told The Times of Israel that a renewed push to close an agreement before US President-elect Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... takes office has made progress, though major obstacles remain, despite various reports touting breakthroughs in the negotiations.
President Isaac Herzog was set to meet Wednesday with Trump’s Mideast envoy, Adam Boehler, in Jerusalem. Boehler, a former aide to Jared Kushner, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.
The deal on the table includes a six-week pause in fighting during which Hamas would release 30 hostages, including three of the four who are dual Israeli-US citizens, in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Paleostinian security prisoners.
US State Department front man Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that "cautious optimism is a fair way to characterize it, though very much tempered by realism."
Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, the little lost dog backed into the corner and showed its teeth. And what big teeth they were!... the Hamas-run civil defense agency in Gaza said on Wednesday that IDF strikes across the Strip had killed at least 12 people, the majority of them displaced Paleostinians taking shelter in a house in the north.
Civil defense front man Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 10 Paleostinians were killed when an Israeli strike at dawn hit a house in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strikes.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Later on Wednesday, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia said that "gunfire and tank shells" caused a fire in the intensive care unit, with some patients suffering burns.
Hospital director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP that staff had to quickly move all patients out of the intensive care unit.
The IDF said it was looking into that incident.
Elsewhere in northern Gaza, Bassal said a child was killed and several others maimed in a strike that hit a house in Jabalia, where Israeli forces have focused their operations in recent months.
Overnight, a tent in an Israeli-designated safe zone in the southern Gaza Strip was hit, killing one Paleostinian, according to the civil defense front man.
[IsraelTimes] A new Tel Aviv University study has revealed “encouraging data regarding coexistence in Israel,” with 57.8% of Arab Israelis saying they “believe that the ongoing war has fostered a sense of shared destiny between Arabs and Jews in Israel,” the university says in a press release.
The study was conducted by the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at the university’s Moshe Dayan Center.
The announcement noted that a June 2024 survey had found only 51.6% of Arab respondents felt the same. And a similar study conducted in November 2023, just a month after the October 7, 2023, attacks, showed that “the majority of the Arab public (69.8%) said the war had harmed solidarity between Arabs and Jews,” it says.
And so “the current figure represents a statistically significant increase in this metric,” the release notes.
The press release highlights further results from the current survey:
Only 9% of Arab Israeli respondents said that “their Palestinian identity is the dominant component of their identity,” with 33.9% noting Israeli citizenship, 29.2% citing religious affiliation and 26.9% their Arab identity as the “dominant elements” in their personal identity.
Just 6.7% “think Hamas should continue governing the Gaza Strip after the war,” while 20.7% favored the Palestinian Authority, 20.1% a multinational force, 17.9% Israel and 15.8% “local Gazan entities.”
More than half of the respondents, 53.4%, said “a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia could signal a positive regional development,” and almost half (49.2%) said that “resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should not be a precondition for such an agreement.”
A majority of Israeli-Arab respondents, 71.8%, “support the inclusion of an Arab party in the Israeli government after the next elections,” with some 47.8% supporting Arab parties joining “any government, not just a center-left coalition.”
At the same time, a “weak sense of personal security,” largely caused by “the high incidence of violence in Arab communities,” was reported by 65.8% of the respondents.
A majority, 65.1%, reported “a relatively good economic situation.”
“It appears… that under the dark shadow cast by the war over all citizens of Israel, both Arabs and Jews, meaningful bright spots are emerging, that could redefine the rules of the game in the post-war era,” says Dr. Arik Rudnitzky, project manager at the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation.
[IsraelTimes] Four anti-government protesters accused of launching flares at the Caesarea home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month have said they were jailed by “terrorists and spies,” in a letter from prison obtained by Channel 12.
The four, Rear Adm. (res.) Ofer Doron, 63, his son Gal Doron, 27, and two other longtime anti-government activists, Itay Yaffe, 62, and Amir Sadeh, 62, were indicted in the Haifa District Court on charges of carrying out an act of terror through the reckless and negligent use of fire and attempted arson.
They have argued they did not intend to hit the home and only meant to fire the flares in its vicinity in protest.
Y’all are officers. You know all about never show a gun unless you plan to use it, and no plan survives first contact with the enemy. So your intention not to hit when you fired something exactly designed to hit is more than a bit disingenuous.
In their letter penned from detention, the four say: “We were interrogated by about 10 Shin Bet investigators for long days.”
“By the third day of the investigation, the investigators concluded that we had no intention to harm the prime minister or his residence,” they assert. At the same time, “We were interrogated as if it were a grave terrorist act, even though the flares we launched are completely legal.”
Not when shot toward where people can be expected to be.
“In the Shin Bet interrogation facility, we were held in isolation, adjacent to cells of terrorists, spies, and detainees suspected of harming state security,” they say. “Later, we were transferred to the Turkish Detention Center at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem, where we were kept in a freezing and unbearable cell.”
So you think you are better than the general run of prisoners, you elitist? You deserve special treatment?
“The attitude of the prison service guards was fair, but the conditions were harsh, certainly for men of our age,” they add. “We were treated as terrorists, even though all our actions were part of non-violent protest.”
You cased the joint ahead of time, snuck in — trying to avoid being seen by security cameras — waited in position until your target time, then shot the same kind of rocket used by Hamas. Where is the non-violence in all that?
They claim that in their act “there was no intention to harm or create panic. Our protest was solely intended to convey a message.”
The message that Bibi andhis family are unsafe in their own home. Got it.
Their monkeys copying our monkeys. Did it occur to anyone over there to invite Mr. Musk for a discussion of the matter?
[IsraelTimes] Israel is among a number of United States allies that have expressed concerns Elon Musk could share sensitive information with others, defense officials tell The New York Times.
Israel’s Defense Ministry called Musk a “wild card” after early 2023 meetings between Israeli military intelligence officials and US defense officials over Starlink, two individuals with knowledge of the talks tell the newspaper.
Israeli officials were reportedly concerned Musk could pass sensitive information about Israel to other parties, although they eventually allowed Starlink to begin operating this year.
The report says the US Air Force recently denied high-security access to Musk due to potential security risks, with the billionaire and his SpaceX company facing at least three federal reviews over whether they have complied with federal reporting rules aimed at protecting national security.
A 2018 incident in which Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, smoked marijuana on a live web show with Joe Rogan also sparked a security clearance review by the Pentagon.
The New York Times says the new reviews were initiated by the Air Force, the Defense Department’s inspector general and the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. It cites eight people with knowledge of the rocket company and internal documents.
Last month, two Democratic US senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Jack Reed, wrote in a letter that reports that Musk has held multiple calls with Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, should be investigated by the Pentagon and law enforcement agencies on national security grounds. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall responded last week to Shaheen that he shared those concerns but could not comment on the status of a person’s security clearance.
Tech billionaire Musk spent at least $270 million to help Donald Trump win the US presidency, according to new federal filings, making him the country’s biggest political donor.
Trump has selected the South African-born tycoon and fellow ally Vivek Ramaswamy to head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, through which the pair have promised to deliver billions of dollars of cuts in federal spending.
Musk does not respond to a request for comment and there is no comment from the Israeli Defense Ministry.
[IsraelTimes] Alice Jill Edwards calls hostage-taking a ‘war crime,’ says she’s hopeful for deal; pledges to speak to PA about sexual violence, and Israel about allegations of abusing detainees
Because the two things are equal, in the eyes of the UN.
The United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... ’s senior expert on torture visited the kibbutzim that were attacked on October 7, 2023, for the first time on Wednesday, to offer support to families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... 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... Alice Jill Edwards, the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment, spoke to Rooters, as mediated talks continued between Israel and Hamas for a potential hostage-ceasefire deal.
"I’m very hopeful for a deal. I’ve been calling for a long time for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages. This is an unlawful act under international law. It’s an atrocity. It’s a war crime," she said in an interview.
"I am hopeful that the families will be able to see their loved ones as soon as possible and that there will be peace restored in this region."
Some 3,000 Hamas-led holy warriors invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault. The Hamas attack started the ongoing war in Gaza, which has also included fighting on other fronts.
On her visit, Edwards described the scene as both eerie and uneasy, a mix of flowers and greenery amid broken windows and shattered glass, the result of intense shootouts and homes being set on fire by the Hamas invaders as they attempted to flush residents out on that October day 14 months ago.
Edwards said she had written to the Paleostinian Authority — which governs parts of the West Bank, and does not have a presence in Gaza — about independent and verifiable reports of sexual torture and violence that occurred on October 7. It was not immediately clear whether Edwards made any reference to Hamas or other terror groups that participated in the attack.
In March, the UN envoy on sex crimes during conflict presented a report at the UN indicating that rape and gang rape likely occurred during the onslaught, that "clear and convincing" evidence shows that hostages were raped while being held in Gaza, and that those currently held captive are still facing such abuse.
Edwards said she would also speak to Israeli authorities about allegations of torture and mistreatment of Paleostinians in Israeli detention.
The UN human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... office issued a report in July, alleging that Paleostinian detainees held by Israel since October 7 have been subjected to torture, including waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, the release of dogs, and other forms of mistreatment.
The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Prison Service said at the time that all prisoners are treated in accordance with international law, and that reports of abuse are investigated.
Israel’s High Court of Justice said in September that authorities must abide by the law in their treatment of Paleostinian terror suspects, addressing in particular the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility, where several soldiers have been investigated, and one indicted, over alleged abuse of detainees.
Edwards said Wednesday, "It is very important that when you have two communities that are suffering and live so close together, that we recognize the suffering of each. They are different. They are of different scale. They will be different individually."
"But, you know, everybody counts and every life counts and we should preserve that. And that is the essence of human rights. It’s not about, you know, picking sides. The side is of human rights and the people’s right to live in safety, peace and security," she said.
Edwards said her goal was to document what happened in Israel and to let the hostages and their families know there are people who are fighting for the captives’ safe return, and the return of the bodies of hostages who have been killed in captivity.
Yuval Haran, 38, whose father was killed and whose seven relatives were kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, stood outside the rubble of his parents’ home.
"This isn’t about the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict, it isn’t about politics or right or left, it isn’t about war, it’s about human beings and we need to remember these are human beings that for almost 440 days are being held," he said.
"We don’t care about Dire Revenge. You know, my father was murdered here, but I don’t want Dire Revenge for my father ... I want all the hostages back. I want that we have a quiet and peaceful life. This is what I pray for."
Edwards said: "All of the crimes that have been committed in these last 13, 14 months need independent and impartial investigations."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Options for cooperation with Syria were voiced by Ramzan Kadyrov as part of a PR campaign by the Russian authorities, who are trying to save face after the fall of the Assad regime, analysts said.
As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ", on December 16, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, outlined the idea of cooperation with the "new authorities of Syria" in order to "prevent a humanitarian catastrophe" in Syria. He proposed excluding the group "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham"*, which seized power in Syria, from the Russian list of terrorist organizations and sending Chechen security forces to that country to "patrol the streets" and transfer "experience and knowledge to the Syrian police."
On December 1, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* group forced Syrian government troops to leave Aleppo, which had been controlled by President Bashar al-Assad's army since 2016. On the night of December 8, armed opposition fighters entered Damascus. Assad left the presidency and left the country. Sources reported that he and his family arrived in Moscow. By December 15, the situation in Aleppo had stabilized, and the city's residents had returned to peaceful life.
Ramzan Kadyrov's statement was commented on to the "Caucasian Knot" by political scientist and orientalist, author of the Telegram channel "Nerusskiy" Rinat Mukhametov, orientalist and political analyst Harun Sidorov, as well as Turkish journalist and political scientist Salman Niyazi.
Russia's statement through Ramzan Kadyrov about its readiness to cooperate with the new Syrian government, patrol Syrian streets and remove Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* from the list of terrorists is an element of a PR campaign that has little to do with real life, Rinat Mukhametov believes.
"This is more of a propaganda campaign. The issue of Russian bases has more real grounds, but I don't think that in the long term they have any chance of staying there, including with Turkey's participation. Russia will be allowed to leave, saving face, so as not to complicate relations with the new authorities and Turkey itself. The issue of Russian bases will develop precisely in this vein," he said.
Mukhametov ruled out any anti-Israeli military activity by the new Syria in the near future. "They are interested in preserving the country, and they do not need conflicts with those who are obviously stronger, and in a confrontation with whom they will simply be destroyed.
Hopefully HTS will indeed be that wise.
Hamas itself expressed support and understanding of this situation, especially since Hamas has not been based in Syria for a long time - in recent years, its centers were in Qatar and Turkey. Therefore, Syria has not been so important for it for a long time," the orientalist believes.
THIS WILL NOT AFFECT REFUGEES IN THE CAUCASUS
Relations with the new government will not affect the attitude of the Russian and Chechen authorities to refugees in the Caucasus, as well as the situation of Palestinian refugees in Syria itself, the expert believes. "This will not affect refugees in the Caucasus - this is a parallel process. As for the Palestinians, I think the situation with the refugees will not change - they will remain in Syria," Mukhametov said.
In October 2023, the Muslims of the North Caucasus reacted sharply to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Refugees from Palestine began to arrive in the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District. A year later, more than 200 refugees from the Gaza Strip lived in Chechnya, and a Palestinian national and cultural autonomy was created in the republic.
KADYROV'S STATEMENTS ARE PART OF THE POLITICAL BEHAVIOR THAT MODERN GROZNY IS DEMONSTRATING
Speaking about Turkey's reaction to the possible presence of Russian forces in Syria in the person of Kadyrov's men, Rinat Mukhametov called the presence of any conflict of interest in this issue minimal. "In Turkey, no one takes the presence of Kadyrov's men seriously. No one will raise this issue, stir it up or react. Kadyrov's statements are part of the political behavior that modern Grozny is demonstrating, nothing more," he said.
The preservation of the Russian presence in Syria can be called a negative development of the situation, but such a possibility is not excluded, believes Harun Sidorov. "It is impossible to completely exclude such a possibility. Although it should be noted that the statements that this is a settled issue may be a kind of information operation of Russian propaganda. This is intended to sweeten the pill and, so to speak, save face - to the extent that it is possible for them. Especially considering that they have largely lost it in Syria, where the fall of the Assad regime is undoubtedly a huge defeat for Russia and Putin personally. Therefore, it is possible that these conversations, even if the issue is not resolved, are intended to create the impression that "not all is lost" and that these two bases, for which they allegedly fought, will remain. Russia is trying to present the situation as if it came out with minimal losses," the orientalist said.
According to him, the new Syrian authorities "may decide to temporarily or limitedly retain Russian bases for reasons of playing on checks and balances between external players." "Statements have been made [in Syria] that Russia will be given the opportunity to "reset relations." It is possible that such a decision will be made temporarily, so that Russia can save face, although this will not correspond to reality. Technically, it is clear that the withdrawal of equipment and infrastructure takes time," said Harun Sidorov.
VIEWING RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES AS A COUNTERWEIGHT TO ISRAEL IS NAIVE
Turkey's role, according to the expert, could be that of a mediator in this matter. "It could indeed play a mediating role in the negotiations. It is difficult to say on what basis the bases could remain - supposedly as a counterweight to Israel. But it is absolutely obvious that Russia and Israel have established behind-the-scenes interaction and coordination on key issues for Israel. It is naive to consider Russian military bases as a counterweight to Israel: in all this time, except for voting on declarations in the UN, Russia has done nothing that would really threaten Israel. The Russian presence can be explained by anything, but not by a real confrontation with Israel," Sidorov noted.
At the same time, Ankara’s interests are more obvious and are aimed at both resolving the Kurdish issue and interacting with the Syrian democratic forces and maneuvering in relations with the West, he said.
"Theoretically, we cannot rule out a scenario in which Turkey would benefit from preserving the Russian bases in exchange for something, and it would ask the new Syrian authorities to meet them halfway. However, this is not obvious, especially considering the contacts of the new Syrian authorities with the British leadership after the visit of Turkish Defense Minister Hakan Fidan. Turkey has normal relations with Britain, and if the British influence the situation, preserving the Russian bases will become unlikely," Sidorov predicted.
In his opinion, there are no grounds for changing the situation with Palestinian refugees in Russia in connection with the change of power in Syria. These are "different cases," Harun Sidorov explained. "The reception of Palestinian refugees, including Muslim regions of the Russian Federation, remains part of Russia's reputational policy in the Islamic world and a means of its "positioning as a defender of the Palestinians."
Defending the Palestinians against who? You have already stated that Russia will not stand against Israel. And Russia certainly is not going to defend the Palestinians against HTS, the new rulers of Syria.
There is no logical connection with the change of power in Syria in this context. However, given the lack of logic in Russian policy, nothing can be ruled out in principle," he said.
The attitude of the new Syrian authorities to the Palestinian issue will be two-tiered, the expert noted. “Ideologically, the Syrian authorities are certainly on the side of the Palestinians. Julani [Ahmed al-Sharaa, known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani] himself said that the mujahideen should strive to come to Jerusalem.
Interesting. Hezbollah has been describing those killed by the IDF post 10/23/2023 as having died on the road to Jerusalem…
At the same time, HTS* [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] and Julani are demonstrating a patient strategy for the long term. After the fall of Aleppo, when full-scale military actions froze, HTS tacitly observed a ceasefire. Then they needed a break and a reboot, and this allowed them to return to solving strategic tasks. Israel is a more serious factor than the Assad regime. If it took time to strengthen relations with Assad, then with Israel this task is many times more difficult. Therefore, the new Syrian authorities will avoid being drawn into a confrontation with Israel, which now could be suicidal. The Israeli leadership, however, is doing a lot to provoke Syria into conflict, but so far the new government has not given in to this,” Sidorov said.
The analyst ruled out the possibility of military activity by Palestinian groups in Syria. "The priority of the new government now is to establish itself as a state, strengthen itself, and restore the army and infrastructure. This follows from the statements of Julani, who emphasizes the need to think like a state, not like an opposition. Thus, the new Syria will avoid being drawn into a military confrontation with Israel, especially given that HTS* does not control the entire country. There are unresolved issues in relations with the Syrian National Army, Turkey, the Kurds, and the Druze. This process will be difficult, and only after Syria is strengthened as a state will it be possible to assess the prospects for decisive action, including on the Palestinian issue," Sidorov concluded.
Russian military bases in Tartus and Khmeimim play an important role in ensuring Russia's interests in Africa, but their future remains in question, says Salman Niyazi. "Considering the importance of two ports in Syria - Tartus and Khmeimim - for ensuring interests in Africa, it seems logical that Russia would like to preserve its bases there by all possible means... It is clear that negotiations and contacts are underway regarding their continued presence, but this fate seems unclear," he said.
According to him, the Russian military presence "remains a symbol of Moscow's bloody past" in the Syrian conflict. "Russian bases there serve as a reminder of support for Assad, who destroyed his cities, bombed Aleppo, including [with the support] of the Russian Aerospace Forces," the political scientist noted.
This is an attempt to build bridges using the Muslim factor. And this bridge is Kadyrov.
Russia's attempts to use Chechen security forces to demonstrate cooperation with the new Syria are more likely political manipulation, Niyazi believes. "What patrolling can offer is an attempt to build bridges using the Muslim factor. And this bridge is Kadyrov. It is no secret that the Russian Federation has tried to do this more than once, for example, in the case of the UAE, or when Chechen servicemen under Assad patrolled in Syria. But the possibility of their appearance there is extremely small," he added.
The military police battalion was first sent from Chechnya to Syria in December 2016. Military police from Chechnya accompanied humanitarian convoys in Syria, patrolled territories and guarded facilities.
Turkey takes a balanced position on the Syrian issue and continues to pursue a pragmatic policy, Niyazi believes. "Turkey is monitoring the possibility of Russia's presence there and is trying to pursue a balanced policy, not wanting to offend anyone. As Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, they are trying to establish a dialogue so that there are no losers in the region," the political scientist emphasized.
The Syrian government needs two things now - money and recognition.
In his opinion, the further preservation of Russian bases in Syria faces the question of their expediency for the new Syrian government. "The question remains: what can the Russian Federation offer the new leadership in return, what leverage does it have? Under Assad, it was the guarantor of his survival, but now Russia is bogged down in the Ukrainian conflict. It will not be possible to increase military supplies, and the lifting of sanctions against Syria by the West depends on the withdrawal of Russian bases... The new Syrian government now needs two things - money and recognition from the international community. Russia cannot provide either one. Rather, on the contrary, it can complicate the achievement of these goals," the expert explained.
At the same time, cooperation between Russia and Turkey, in his opinion, will smooth out possible disagreements. "The presence of the Russian Federation in Syria is not a problem for Turkey. In addition to the immediate proximity of Russian bases on the border with Turkey in Armenia, a joint monitoring center in Aghdam, Ankara and Moscow have experience of interaction within the framework of the Astana process. Therefore, for Turkey, the presence of Russia nearby will not be a strong irritant, the parties have experience of interaction," Niyazi noted.
The new Syrian government is not enthusiastic about the Russian presence, the political scientist claims. "From official statements, the representative of HTS*, Ubeida Arnaout, stated that Russia should reconsider its presence and interests in Syria," Niyazi recalled.
As for the Palestinian issue, the new Syrian regime will avoid confrontation with Israel, the expert is sure. "HTS leader* Julani said that they are not going to conflict with anyone, since they have just emerged from a bloody civil war. Their main task is to collect the torn economy, and Syria will not aggravate the situation with Israel," Niyazi said.
He also noted that HTS* will not become a transit route for arming Palestinian groups. "Support may only be in words, but it will not reach the practical level now," he said.
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the country’s oil industry and control up to half the exports that generate most of Tehran’s revenue and fund its proxies across the Middle East, according to Western officials, security sources and Iranian insiders.
All aspects of the oil business have come under the growing influence of the Guards, from the shadow fleet of tankers that secretively ship sanctioned crude, to logistics and the front companies selling the oil, mostly to China, according to more than a dozen people interviewed by Rooters.
The extent of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) control over oil exports has not previously been reported.
Despite tough Western sanctions designed to choke Iran’s energy industry, reimposed by former US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... in 2018, 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... generates more than $50 billion a year in oil revenue, by far its largest source of foreign currency and its principal connection to the global economy.
Six specialists — Western officials and security experts as well as Iranian and trading sources — say the Guards control up to 50% of Iran’s oil exports, a sharp increase from about 20% three years ago. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Three of the estimates were based on intelligence documents about Iranian shipping while others derived their figures from monitoring shipping activity by tankers and companies linked to the IRGC. Rooters is unable to determine the exact extent of the IRGC’s control.
The IRGC’s growing domination of the oil industry adds to its influence in all areas of Iran’s economy and also makes it harder for Western sanctions to hit home — given the Guards are already designated as a terrorist organization by Washington.
As part of their expansion in the industry, the Guards have muscled in on the territory of state institutions such as the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and its NICO oil trading subsidiary, according to four of the sources.
The IRGC, NIOC, NICO and Iran’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
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[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the mother of a US journalist missing in Syria that Israel is careful not to strike areas in which Austin Tice might be held.
In a letter to Tice’s mother Debra Tice, published by journalist Barak Ravid, Netanyahu says: “Please rest assured that Israel and its intelligence agencies are fully coordinated with the relevant American authorities on the matter and that the IDF is not active in the area where Austin may be located.”
Debra had written to Netanyahu asking him to halt Israeli strikes in a particular neighborhood of Damascus where Tice is credibly believed to be held.
“We have credible information… that Austin may now be held in a prison called Mt. Qasioun prison. This prison has a secret tunnel which connects the Al-Maliki neighborhood to the Republic Palace. The prison is located underneath a military museum,” Debra Tice wrote.
“We are aware that your military has an active campaign in the area, preventing rescuers from approaching and accessing the prison facility,” she said. “We urgently request you pause strikes on this area and deploy Israeli assets to search for Austin Tice and other prisoners. Time is of the essence. We are calling on you to leverage all your relationships and resources to liberate that prison.”
Israel does not have troops on the ground in the area, with its forces only deployed near the Israeli border to secure it.
🚨🚨🚨Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised the mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice that the IDF isn't conducting airstrikes in areas in Syria where he might be located. My story on @axioshttps://t.co/Hzopew9lIWpic.twitter.com/zkMxsx5gY5
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), formed after the fall of Damascus, is gradually resetting contacts with its former allies, in particular, Qatar.
A high-level delegation of Qatari diplomats visited Damascus on Sunday to “finalize preparations” for the opening of the country’s embassy. After 13 years, Doha, which supported the Syrian opposition “from afar,” is officially returning to Syria, giving the new authorities a chance to strengthen their international status.
However, despite the warm welcome, other allies of yesterday's opposition have their own plans for developing ties with the "new Syria." And here Qatar will have to show some urgency to keep up with its competitors.
FRIENDS OF THE OPPOSITION
In 2011, Doha froze relations with Damascus in response to "repressive measures" taken by the government of Bashar al-Assad to suppress mass protests.
In addition, the Qatari authorities quickly established channels of communication with the armed opposition in Syria: in 2013, their first “diplomatic mission” in the region opened on Qatari territory.
Individual Qatari philanthropists provided financial support to the “born of the revolution” by launching special charity projects and supplying food and supplies to Idlib, which is controlled by anti-government forces.
However, the fact of support for the opposition and the reduced level of diplomatic relations with official Damascus did not prevent Qatari business from consistently developing the Syrian market.
By mid-2024, at least two Qatari banks, several dozen large technology and trading firms, as well as a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises were operating in Syria (at the representative office level).
Moreover, during the diplomatic crisis (2017–2021), when Qatar found itself politically isolated by most of its Arab partners, the Syrian market turned into one of the “windows” that allowed Doha to bypass the economic blockade and keep its own exports afloat.
The fall of the Assad regime gives Qatar the opportunity to take economic cooperation with Syria to a new level and take over a part of the market that was previously controlled by other players, such as the Iranians.
Given its solid economic background, Doha has every chance of taking the position of one of the leading partners of the “new Syria” – especially in light of the willingness of Qatari leaders to unfreeze investment programs for the post-war reconstruction of Syria.
Another opportunity that has opened up for Qatar is the revival of the joint gas pipeline project with the Turks through Syrian territory, which was “cut short” at one time due to the fundamental disagreement of the Assad government.
The new Syrian authorities are showing interest in the project, seeing it as an opportunity to strengthen not only their international prestige, but also their local power, and are ready to provide their partners with every possible assistance.
Of course, Qatar is showing much less zeal here than its ally Turkey (the key beneficiary of the project) – for Doha, the gas pipeline project still looks like a “side project”. Especially considering that over the past decade, the country has been consistently building up its gas fleet, making seaborne LNG deliveries its “calling card”.
At the same time, the opportunity to strengthen influence on official Damascus through smart investments in infrastructure is interpreted positively by the Qatari government.
THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO
Despite the intensive dialogue between Doha and Damascus and the mutual desire to take relations to a new level, Qatar is far from the only contender for a leading role in the development of the “new Syria.” And, more importantly, it is not the only major sponsor of yesterday’s opposition.
Turkey is pulling the blanket over itself, in whose eyes Doha is still a “junior partner” in the alliance of the two countries, and therefore can only act in Syria as a supporter of Turkish foreign policy plans.
There is a rationale for such claims. Ankara was among the first to initiate a discussion about unfreezing and increasing foreign investment in the “new Syria”; it was also at its instigation that the forgotten gas pipeline project returned to the forefront.
In addition, Turkey was among the first to launch a discussion on the possible rehabilitation of the representatives of the “Idlib freebooters” and the removal of the terrorist organization label from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* (HTS*). It is not surprising that, with so many efforts, Ankara demands that the new Syrian authorities prioritize their interests.
In addition, Qatar's neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will not allow Qatar's influence in Syria to grow too strong. And this is not just a matter of economic interests, although Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are not averse to developing new niches in local markets.
The Arabian monarchies still suspect Doha of secret sympathies for Iran and fear that Qatar will try (through the new Syrian authorities) to maintain the Iranian transit corridor through Syria, thereby creating new threats to Arabian interests in Iraq and Lebanon.
Finally, Qatar's position inside Syria is affected by the deepening contradictions between factions of the new Syrian government. The disagreements that have been accumulating since the "Idlib liberties" have only intensified with the fall of Damascus (although they are carefully hidden from the eyes of external partners).
And despite the fact that Doha is currently trying to build relations with the PSS as a whole, without singling out any specific party or group, sooner or later it will have to choose a favorite.
True, the longer Qatar takes a wait-and-see position, the fewer factions in the new government are left without a strong external patron. And Doha is not in the mood to “beat off” someone else’s creature – at least for now.
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The fall of the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad occurred due to a long-term economic crisis in the republic caused by sanctions from the collective West. This was stated by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov during a briefing.
“The offensive of the armed opposition is due to the Syrian army’s inability to conduct regular combat training and the low morale of its personnel as a result of the long-term economic crisis caused by unprecedented sanctions by the US and its allies,” he said.
Gerasimov also clarified that the “Astana format” for a peaceful settlement in Syria proposed by Russia was rejected by the United States and Great Britain.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on December 8 it became known that Assad had decided to leave the presidential post and left the country, giving instructions to peacefully transfer power. Information also appeared that the politician and his family had arrived in Moscow, Russia had granted them asylum.
For several years, Russia has supported the Syrian government led by Assad in its fight against terrorist forces. Moscow has pledged to provide support as long as the Syrian state itself is conducting military operations, noted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Back in 2015, he emphasized that “we are not going to be more Syrian than the Syrians themselves.”
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[IsraelTimes] The Iranian rial falls to its lowest level in history, losing more than 10% of value since Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November and signaling new challenges for Tehran as it remains locked in the wars raging in the Middle East.
The rial traded at 777,000 rials to the dollar, traders in Tehran say, down from 703,000 rials on the day Trump won.
Iran’s Central Bank has in the past flooded the market with more hard currencies in an attempt to improve the rate.
In an interview with state television Tuesday night, Central Bank Gov. Mohammad Reza Farzin said that the supply of foreign currency would increase and the exchange rate would be stabilized. He said that $220 million had been injected into the currency market.
The currency is plunging as Iran ordered the closure of schools, universities, and government offices today due to a worsening energy crisis exacerbated by harsh winter conditions. The crisis follows a summer of blackouts and is now compounded by severe cold, snow and air pollution.
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[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, announced on Tuesday his readiness to establish a demilitarized zone in Ain al-Arab (Kobani) and deploy security forces under American supervision and presence.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Abdi explained that the proposal aims to address Ottoman Turkish concerns and ensure lasting stability in the region.
The Manbij area, which has an Arab majority in northeastern Aleppo province, is controlled by the Manbij Military Council, composed of local fighters operating under the umbrella of the SDF, with the Kurds being its backbone and supported by the US.
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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.
...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...
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the 
...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
..always the voice of sweet reason...
...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 
