[IsraelTimes] The US Supreme Court is considering taking on a case filed by Jewish professors from New York City’s public university system against their union.
The case filed by six professors from the City University of New York (CUNY) — five of whom are Jewish — claims CUNY’s faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress, discriminates against Jewish and Zionist members.
The lawsuit was filed in the federal US Southern District Court of New York in 2022, and stems from a 2021 resolution by the union that condemned Israel and later calls by the union to consider boycotting Israel.
The plaintiffs said they were discriminated against following the resolution and were forced to resign from the union.
The essence of the lawsuit is a challenge to a New York State law that grants union leaders bargaining power for public sector employees, including employees who do not want to affiliate with the union. That law, known as the Taylor Law, violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights by allowing the union leaders to impose representation on the professors, the lawsuit argues. Under the state law, the Professional Staff Congress is the only faculty union with which CUNY engages in collective bargaining.
"New York’s Taylor Law prevents the Professors from dissociating themselves from PSC’s representation to protest its anti-Semitic conduct and other failings. The Professors are being compelled, against their will, to associate with an advocacy group they oppose," says a brief to the court filed last month.
The professors are represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Fairness Center.
"No public worker should be forced to associate with union officials who denigrate their culture and identity. But unfortunately, this is exactly what New York State’s Taylor Law and many similar laws around the country allow," Mark Mix, the president of the National Right to Work Foundation, said in a statement last month.
"The Supreme Court has expressed concerns with monopoly bargaining for decades, and it’s high time that the justices finally acknowledge the First Amendment protects babus government employees from being forced to accept ’representation’ they adamantly oppose."
The US district court dismissed the case in 2023, and an appeals court rejected it last year, prompting the plaintiffs to appeal to the Supreme Court.
A court listing for the case confirms justices are scheduled to confer on the case today, and the court is expected to announce its decision on whether to take the case on Monday.
[Garowe] Information Minister Mahmoud Aided Dirir of Somalia's Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... State disclosed that imported muscle associated with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group have turned themselves and surrendered to local forces amid a major counterterrorism operation in the Bari region.
Dirir announced that plans are in motion to send these imported muscle back to their countries of origin, with assistance from international bodies such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Red Islamic Thingy. Details regarding the number of fighters, their origins, and the timeline for their repatriation were not specified.
However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... specifics such as the count of fighters, their nationalities, or the schedule for their return have not been revealed. Last month, at least 8 ISIS foreign bandidosLions of Islam from 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... , Tunisia, Tanzania, Algeria, and other countries were killed in a foiled attack on a military base in the Dharjaale area within Puntland's Bari region.
"The ISIS foreigners have surrendered to Puntland forces, and we are coordinating their return home with the assistance of the IOM and the Red Islamic Thingy," Dirir added.
He underscored that legal proceedings would treat all individuals equally, irrespective of their nationality, should they be involved in any criminal acts. ISIS branch was established in Puntland by ex-Al-Shabaab ... al-Qaeda's tentacle in East Africa... leader, Abdulkadir Mumin in late 2015. The group competes against al-Shabaab over dominance in the region and for extortion from Bosaso businesses.
On the other hand, Puntland's information minister quashed speculation that these imported muscle would be barred from President Said Abdullahi Deni's amnesty initiative, affirming that the amnesty extends to them as well.
[Beitbart] France on Saturday handed over its second army base in Chad as part of an agreement with the country’s authorities to withdraw its military forces. The central African country in late November abruptly ended military cooperation with its former colonial ruler, and French troops began leaving the country in late December.
“Today… marks the handover of the Abeche base,” Defence Minister Issaka Malloua Djamouss said during an official ceremony. He called it a key step “leading to the final and total withdrawal of this army in our country”.
Around 100 troops left the Abeche base on Saturday, after equipment convoys departed Friday evening. The French army had around 1,000 personnel in Chad.
Djamouss added that the January 31 deadline for France to remove forces for good was “imperative”, “irreversible” and “non-negotiable”.
French soldiers and fighter aircraft have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since the country’s independence in 1960, helping to train the Chadian military. The planes also provided air support that proved crucial on several occasions in stopping rebels moving to seize power.
Mid-December, the jets were the first to go, followed by a contingent of 120 soldiers and the handover of the Faya base in northern Chad.
“Partnerships evolve but the friendship remains between our two nations, as does the solidarity between two sovereign nations that will continue to move forward side by side as they always have,” French embassy representative Fabien Talon said at the event.
French was once the language of diplomacy…
The central African country, one of the poorest in the world, was the last Sahel nation to host French troops. Paris at one point had deployed more than 5,000 soldiers as part of its anti-jihadist operation.
Chad had been a key link in France’s military presence in Africa and its last foothold in the wider Sahel region after the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in the wake of military coups.
The military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have pivoted towards Russia in recent years. Chad’s leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has also sought closer ties with Moscow in recent months, but talks to strengthen economic cooperation have yet to bear concrete results. "Now. Who is the highest bidder?"
Deby described the agreement as “completely obsolete” and no longer aligned with the “political and geostrategic realities of our time”.
His election in May brought an end to a three-year political transition triggered by his father’s death in clashes with rebels in 2021.
Longtime ruler Idriss Deby Itno had received support from the French army to quell rebel offensives in 2008 and 2019.
In the UK, after discovering that immigrants are r@ping underage girls, why would the Welsh Refugee Council use 12 yr old girls in ads meant to entice migrant men to come to Wales? The refugee council is a far left group. @elonmuskpic.twitter.com/rdtLS9Qr3k
[KhaamaPress] German media reports have highlighted the continued deportation of Afghan migrants colonists from the country, with more than 1,300 Afghan asylum seekers being expelled in 2024 alone.
The Deutsche Welle (DW) news network reported on Wednesday, January 8, citing the German Ministry of the Interior, that a total of 1,361 Afghan refugees were deported from Germany in 2024 to Afghanistan or other countries.
The report further revealed that some Afghan migrants colonists were sent back to Afghanistan, while others were transferred to countries responsible for handling their asylum cases under the "Dublin Regulation."
The Dublin Regulation pertains to the management of asylum applications within European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... member states. It stipulates that asylum claims must be processed by the country deemed responsible according to the regulation’s rules.
Additionally, German media has reported a noticeable increase in the deportation of asylum seekers in 2024 compared to previous years. Findings from Germany’s Bild newspaper indicate that deportations have risen by approximately 20% compared to 2023.
The German federal government began focusing on Afghan deportations after several Afghan migrants colonists with Death Eater Islamist ideologies were involved in violent mostly peaceful incidents within the country. This has raised concerns over security and migration policies.
As a result, the humanitarian crisis surrounding Afghan refugees continues to deepen, with increasing deportations leaving many vulnerable individuals in a dire situation. The urgent need for international cooperation and solutions to address the plight of these refugees is becoming ever more apparent.
[KhaamaPress] On Wednesday, January 8, 124 refugees were arrested on the island of Karpathos, located in the eastern part of Greece. The Greek coast guard stated that 58 individuals were detained during an inspection near the island’s main port in the eastern Aegean Sea, while 66 others were apprehended in a remote area to the north of the island.
The coast guard reported that some of the detainees were found on land, while others were arrested from a speedboat without any identification markings.
Details about the identities of the detained refugees have not been disclosed. However, Turkey and Greece are key transit points for refugees and migrants from countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and Iraq on their way to Europe.
Greek authorities attribute the rise in illegal migration from Turkey to Greece, and then to other European countries, to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Last year, Greece reported nearly a 50% increase in illegal migrant arrivals, with Syrians making up the largest group.
[DW] The AfD is actively courting voters with an immigrant background while at the same time stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment. Why would any voters with an immigrant background support Germany's far-right party?
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) sets out its views on immigrants colonists clearly in its program: "The AfD views the ideology of multiculturalism as a serious threat to social peace and to the continued existence of the nation as a cultural entity."
And yet multiculturalism doesn't appear to be a serious threat to the AfD itself: In the past few months, more and more of the far-right's messaging has been aimed at voters from Germany's many immigrant communities — with some success.
Born in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... , 55-year-old Ismet Var has lived in Germany since his childhood, been a German citizen since 1994, and a supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) since it was founded in 2013.
Var works as a delivery driver in the German capital, and his work was directly hit by the rise in fuel prices following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Now he can't understand why so much money is being "thrown away" on economic and military aid for Ukraine. His main concerns, he says, are that taxes are lowered and criminal immigrants colonists get deported.
The latter is already happening — latest statistics show that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left government increased deportations in the last year. "Now! Now they're deporting people!" says Var over a coffee in the international Kreuzberg district of Berlin. "But they didn't used to." He believes that it took the AfD's intervention in the German political scene for the government to act.
As an Alevite, he also feels that Germany has become too tolerant of what he calls "strict Moslems." "I've got nothing against them when they pray at home, but when they do propaganda, then I'm against them," he said.
Var experienced racism as a new arrival in Germany in the 1970s: He remembers a janitor in his building telling him that he and his family wouldn't be there if Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like... were still in power: "But it didn't bother me. I was little," he says.
REFUGEE CHILDREN FOR THE AFD
Anna Nguyen has also experienced plenty of racism in Germany. Born near Kassel in 1990 to Vietnamese refugees, she is now an AfD representative in the Hesse state parliament. But, she insists, it isn't Germans who are racist towards her — it is mainly people she thinks are Arabs.
"During COVID, it was always people with an immigrant background, presumably Arabs, who shouted 'corona, corona' after me and my Chinese friend," she said. "It's true that on the internet I get flooded with racist comments — but from the left, even though they call themselves anti-racists."
Nguyen insists that her party, meanwhile, is indifferent to race and is not strategically seeking out voters like her. "It's not about immigrant background," she says. "It's about the fact that all the sensible people in this country want to prevent this green ideological madness. It's about: Can I afford a good life? Is it safe? Do we have a safe electricity supply?"
TARGETING NEW VOTERS
Voters with an immigrant background are a demographic reality in Germany: Official statistics from 2023 show that some 12% of the German electorate have a non-German background — some 7.1 million people. As recently as 2016, some 40% of voters of migrant background voted for the center-left Social Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... (SPD), and another 28% for the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). But those loyalties appear to have eroded.
According to the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), which is releasing a study on voting habits among migrants colonists at the end of January, there is little difference between voting behavior with or without an immigration background. As late as the general election in 2017, 35% of German Turks voted for the SPD, while 0% voted for the AfD. Now, according DeZIM, immigrant voters don't vote for the AfD any more or less than non-migrant Germans do.
DeZIM's Jannes Jacobsen, who co-authored the upcoming report, said the AfD appears to be becoming more attractive for people from different backgrounds. He also pointed out that these voters are German citizens — and see themselves as German. "So it's maybe not such a big surprise that these people don't vote very differently to people who have no immigrant history," he told DW.
In 2023, Robert Lambrou, also an AfD state parliamentarian in Hesse, founded an organization named "With Migration Background for Germany" for immigrant AfD supporters. The organization's website says it has 137 members from over 30 countries, and that it is open to anyone "who professes their belief in German culture as the dominant culture and work for the continued existence of the nation as a cultural entity."
"My experience of the AfD is that it makes no difference whether one is of immigrant background or not," the 55-year-old Lambrou, whose father was Greek, told DW. "I don't see the party as xenophobic — we want a sensible migration policy."
But that is hard to square with statements like that of AfD Bundestag member René Springer, who, in the wake of revelations early last year that AfD politicians were part of a meeting planning mass "remigration" of immigrants colonists and non-white Germans, who wrote on X: "We will send foreigners back to their home countries. By the million. That isn't a secret plan. That is a promise."
Lambrou agreed that some statements are not helpful if they are not properly founded in facts or express important nuances. "When we notice statements by party members that we don't think are ok, then we try to seek out internal party dialogue," he said.
NO PROBLEM WITH RACISM?
Nevertheless, there do appear to be more and more pro-AfD TikTok videos made by non-white people in the past few months.
Özgur Özvatan, CEO of the political consultancy Transformakers, and author of an upcoming book on the political impact of Germans of immigration background, said that the AfD has been actively seeking out the attention of immigrant voters for at least the last year — particularly people with Russian and Ottoman Turkish roots — mainly because those communities are more likely to have voting rights. According to Germany's official statistics, there are over 2.9 million people of Ottoman Turkish background in Germany, of whom nearly 1.6 million have German citizenship. The post-Soviet diaspora, meanwhile, also runs into the millions, and includes several nationalities and ethnicities — including German. Many of these are also likely to feel attracted to the AfD's pro-Russia stance on the Ukraine war.
Özvatan argues that this all part of the AfD's larger strategy to expand its voter base. "Its potential voters in the non-immigrant landscape are of course finite," he said. "They might have a potential vote-share of around 20-25% there — but if they want to get towards 30-35%, then they need to expand their portfolio, and that will mean creating content and promise policies for immigrant communities."
"People who immigrated earlier are not automatically in favor of immigration," Özvatan told DW. "They can be immigrants colonists and hold anti-immigration positions."
Nguyen insists that immigrant voters aren't deterred by the racism and contradictions "because they know who is meant by that — that's the illegal immigrants colonists, especially those since 2015. It's those that are criminal — and people of immigration background suffer just as much from those as anyone."
Özvatan thinks many immigrant voters simply aren't aware of the racist statements, and even when they do hear overt racism, they quickly dismiss it as secondary to their main perception of the AfD — that they don't mean them. "The main feeling is, 'they are friendly towards us,'" he said, "And the AfD tries to engender that feeling."
#1
The AfD has morphed into a leftist nationalist corbynized party during the last 3-4 years.
In the own words of leading AfD politicians they are pro Erdogan, pro Qatar, pro Iran, anti Rushdie and by implication pro Sharia rules for non-Muslims in the West and specifically pro totalitarian Islamic influence on German politics (which is Erdogan's agenda.)
Also they are pro Russia and pro China.
Weidel's co-chair Chrupalla is opposed to any military reaction to 10/7 and expressed grief for all those killed on 10/7 implicitly including the Palestinian war criminals who were neutralized on that day.
This doesn't make the AfD worse than the mainstream 'democratic' parties but they're not better either.
Their only remaining redeeming quality is their opposition to the Green Great Leap Forward which will cause a depression if not an outright economic collapse.
The nationalist Alternative for Germany party has voted to replace its existing youth organization with one over which it would have more control. AfD leaders have faced problems with some of the group's past activities.
The party leadership of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Sunday voted to replace its "Young Alternative" (JA) group with a new one under greater party oversight.
The decision, ahead of the early February 23 parliamentary election, comes after Germany's domestic intelligence service classified the JA as a confirmed extremist movement.
What changes are planned?
The JA is relatively independent. Members of the association — with the exception of the board members — do not have to be in the AfD.
That would not be possible in the new organization, except for under-16s, who would not yet be able to join the AfD as members.
The board's proposal was approved after a lively debate at a two-day party conference in the eastern German town of Riesa, having achieved the two-thirds majority required for the rule change.
Board members have suggested the name "Patriotic Youth" for the organization.
A now-adopted change in the statutes stipulates that the youth organization's activities "must not contradict the order and principles of the party."
It says the AfD and its youth organization — for members up to the age of 36 — should "promote each other's activities to the best of their ability."
The party leadership has long been dissatisfied with the JA, saying its difficult-to-control activities could bring the entire party into disrepute.
Germany's BfV domestic intelligence services in 2023 said it had found indications that there was enough evidence that the JA had aspirations against the free democratic basic order for it to be treated as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization.
[DW] The number of asylum applications submitted in Europe fell in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to the EU asylum agency. Germany once again accounted for the most applications submitted.
Asylum applications in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland decreased by around 12% in 2024, according to a report by European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
The Malta-based agency recorded just over 1 million initial applications last year in the 27 EU member nations, along with Norway and Switzerland, compared to 1.14 million in 2023, based on the report seen by German news agency DPA and newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
GERMANY REMAINS MOST POPULAR MIGRANT DESTINATION
The majority of applications covered by the report for last year were submitted in Germany, amounting to a total of 235,925 initial applications, according to EUAA data reported by the Welt am Sonntag.
However, Germany also saw a decrease of 30.2% in asylum applications compared to 2023, DPA cited the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) as saying.
According to the new EUAA figures, most people seeking asylum in the EU came from Syria (15%), Afghanistan (8.7%), Venezuela (7.3%) and Turkey (5.5%).
The BAMF said that most of the initial applications received in Germany were from people from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.
Spain, with 165,398 applicants, ranked second in the list of European countries with the most asylum applications, followed by France (158,512) and Italy (154,824).
In the same period, Hungary received only 29 new asylum applications in 2024. Budapest has come into repeated conflict with Brussels over its refusal to take in migrants.
Migration is also a key issue for voters going into the German election in February, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gaining ground with its anti-immigrant rhetoric.
[IsraelTimes] A Pro-Paleostinian conference in Denmark cancels the participation of an anti-Israel group that works to file complaints against IDF soldiers for alleged war crimes.
In a post on X, the Hind Rajab Foundation
…the foundation is a project launched last October by the March 30 Movement, itself named in memory of the Palestinian general strike on that date in 1976 in the West Bank against the Israeli government, since referred to as Land Day. Both groups are lawfare boiler rooms generating endless laswsuits against Israelis and those who support Israel in Western Europe and elsewhere, and between times propagandizing against Israel using the currently fashionable far left shibboleths. March 30 appears to be the hobby of lawyer Haroon Raza, and appeared on the scene at the end of 2023, but at bottom it’s a Hezbollah front founded by Dyab Abou Jahjah (Dyab Abu Jahjah), a serial founder of Hezbollah fronts — his first, the Arab European League, was stirring up trouble between Moslem colonists and native Europeans since 2002……
says its representative was already in Copenhagen to attend the European Paleostinian Network Conference, where he was set to join a panel discussion.
"Mr. Haroon Raza traveled to Copenhagen to represent the HRF, but moments ago, the organization informed him that the Hind Rajab Foundation’s participation was canceled due to information disseminated in the Israeli press, falsely linking us to resistance movements in Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... and Paleostine," the group writes.
There is no official statement from the conference organizers on the cancellation.
The organization, which proclaims in the post that its "sole mission remains the pursuit of justice and accountability for the victims and perpetrators of this ongoing genocide," is named after six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... in January.
Her death was blamed on the IDF, but an initial probe conducted by the army said that there were no troops in the area at the time.
Hebrew media reported this week that Israeli authorities are aware of at least 12 such cases in which complaints have been filed abroad against IDF soldiers accusing them of war crimes in Gaza.
[IsraelTimes] Not On Our Dime pushes referendum that would require Pittsburgh to divest from Israel, companies related to Israel, which officials say could be deeply challenging for city
Activists wanting Pittsburgh to divest from Israel are determined to force their will on the city, despite losing one battle in court last year.
Not On Our Dime, a "volunteer-led campaign made up of a coalition of Pittsburghers," according to its website, is attempting to gather more than 12,500 signatures before February 18, hoping to force a referendum onto May’s primary ballot which would mandate changes to Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter. If successful, the referendum would compel the city to cease doing business with what it refers to as "governments engaged in morally reprehensible behavior — such as Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Paleostinian civilians 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 apartheid policies in Occupied Paleostinian Territories."
It goes on to claim that Israel’s actions are in "stark misalignment with the values of Pittsburgh residents," demands the city cease engaging with "corporations and entities developing tools and technologies used in acts of state violence against civilians," and alleges that these tools could be used by the city against its residents.
The organization’s website lists Project for Responsive Democracy as its fiscal sponsor. Project for Responsive Democracy is a 501(c)(4) organization created in September 2024. It lists Adeline Lord as its founder.
Lord is a Democratic operative who previously served as a part-time aide in the District 5 office of City Councilmember Barb Warwick and as the vice chair of the city’s 15th ward, comprised of Hazelwood, Glen Hazel, Glenwood, Greenfield and a small portion of Squirrel Hill.
At its heart, Warwick said, the referendum is about trying to take action in a world where "our leaders seem unable or unwilling to put a stop to all this terrible suffering."
Still, she said, out of deference to her Jewish constituents, she won’t be signing the petition.
So thoughtful.
The referendum is being promoted online by the Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America.
Of course.
The referendum initiative is also endorsed and promoted by Pitt Divest from Apartheid, Students for Justice in Paleostine at the University of Pittsburgh and Jewish Voice for Peace Pittsburgh, organizations that support the BDS movement, have expressed support for last year’s encampments at Pitt and called for an unconditional ceasefire by Israel following Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... ’s terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.
Not On Our Dime’s attempts to have a similar referendum added to the November 2023 ballot were thwarted after its petition signatures were challenged in court by the city controller’s office and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. The organization withdrew the initiative rather than face a judge’s decision over the matter.
Now the group is focused on training petitioners on the requirements of valid signatures and how to counter questions and challenges by citizens.
Julie Paris, StandWithUs’ Mid-Atlantic regional director, said she is concerned about the spread of misinformation by Not On Our Dime, including its claim that Israel is an apartheid state committing genocide and participating in ethnic cleansing. The referendum, she said, would potentially deprive Pittsburgh of global technology and innovation developed by Israel, including medical and scientific research. Divesting from Israel, Paris said, is nearly impossible and would inflict irreparable damage; she noted that Pennsylvania exported more than $263 million of manufacturing goods to Israel in the last year. Since 1996, the total has been $5.4 billion, making Israel Pennsylvania’s 31st leading trading partner.
StandWithUs, Paris said, is committed to working with partners like the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to challenge the referendum.
Jeremy Kazzaz, executive director of the Beacon Coalition — a Pittsburgh-based advocacy and education group focused on combatting antisemitism in the American political landscape — said that the new divestment initiative goes beyond responding to Israel’s war with Hamas.
It’s "really leaning into the tropes of the boycott, divest and sanctions movement," he said, "making it clear that it has nothing to do with the current conflict."
The referendum, he said, would create additional duties for the city controller and other city offices.
"It’s unclear where the funding for that comes from," he said. "How much is this ultimately going to cost taxpayers and the city government if it were to be implemented and how far back will it set the city?"
The attempts to change the city’s Home Rule Charter, Kazzaz noted, are part of the same anti-Israel activism that has been occurring since October 7, 2023.
"I think some of these groups feel like they have the wind at their back because people show up at their events," he said. "I don’t think they really look electorally to understand the vast majority of people in this country want a functioning local government focused on local issues, a growing economy and safe communities."
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, who did not contest the first referendum’s petition, said in a prepared statement that he received the text of the new referendum on Monday and is in the initial stages of reviewing it. The mayor said he knows there are concerns in the Jewish community and he will continue to hear those concerns. Gainey said his office could not comment on whether he would challenge the petition until he had a chance to review it but said if its language is similar to the previous proposal’s, he would have concerns "about the restrictions it would impose on the city’s ability to perform even the most basic functions since many of the companies we do business with are global companies that conduct business in Israel. Without question, we would have to take steps to protect against massive disruptions to core city services."
If he reviews long enough, perhaps the referendum will go away without him having to take polarizing action, sure to annoy someone.
Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, who is challenging Gainey for mayor in the May primary, said in an email that he opposes the proposed referendum because it would "severely limit Pittsburgh from providing the best and most cost-effective services for your city."
"For example, last year, in response to a similar proposed referendum, the Pittsburgh Firefighters noted that the primary vendor for our fire safety equipment is a local company which would have been barred from doing business with the City. This referendum goes even further and, if passed, will cost Pittsburgh taxpayers, both in having to pay higher costs and limiting the available source of products," he said.
O’Connor criticized Gainey’s response to last year’s attempt to get the referendum on the ballot, accusing the mayor of failing "to take a strong stance."
City Controller Rachael Heisler, whose office successfully challenged the first referendum in court, said in an email that her office is committed to safeguarding the city’s financial health and "is continuing to assess the potential fiscal impact of this referendum."
"We welcome collaboration with City leaders to carefully evaluate the broad language used in the proposal and to ensure we collectively understand its scope and potential effects on Pittsburgh’s residents and operations. While we remain focused on assessing its implications, we acknowledge the complexity of the issue and are committed to transparency in addressing any concerns or unintended consequences it may present."
District 8 City Councilmember Erika Strassburger is also concerned about the referendum’s effect on the city’s ability to operate.
"It would eliminate the city’s ability to do business with several huge companies," she said, "particularly in the tech sector."
Strassburger is also concerned that the referendum might violate state or federal law. Since 2016, Pennsylvania has had a law on its books preventing the state from contracting with businesses or entities that participate in the BDS campaign against Israel. If the referendum succeeds, that law might prevent the state from doing business with Pittsburgh.
Jeff Finkelstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said his organization will once again defeat the attempts to add a referendum to the ballot.
"Pittsburgh citizens don’t want their city entangled in unproductive efforts to discriminate against the citizens of Israel and their supporters," he said.
The referendum, Finkelstein continued, makes "outrageous and false claims of genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid." He urged city residents to reject the initiative and to continue to foster a community built on mutual respect, collaboration and shared prosperity.
The Chronicle reached out to Not On Our Dime for an interview. The organization replied that no one was available to speak with the Chronicle, but said in an email that Jewish Americans, including Jewish organizers and supporters of the campaign, "hold the Netanyahu regime’s endless war in contempt."
Other Jewish Americans, including those opposed to this campaign, admire Bibi immensely and are grateful he is there to hold the line until Israel wins all the battlefronts of the current war.
"We want our city to live up to basic moral standards, and that means not sending our tax dollars to fund war crimes," the email said. It did not mention the hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas forces of Evil or explain whose moral standard the group wants the city to live up to.
The Chronicle reached out to city councilmembers Bobby Wilson, Theresa Kail-Smith, Bob Charland, Anthony Coghill, R. Daniel Lavelle and Deb Gross but did not receive a response before going to press.
[JustTheNews] Tragic start to 2025 prompts worries about a new era of terrorism foretold in a 2023 Rand Corp. report to the Homeland Security Department.
Thank goodness the grownups are in charge again, unlike the Biden administration ignoring the obvious possibilities.
A year before twin New Year’s Day incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas darkened the start of 2025, the Department of Homeland Security commissioned a study that warned America was facing a new era of terrorism and was ill-prepared to protect its citizens from that threat.
“Attacks on soft targets (STs) and crowded places (CPs) (ST-CPs) represent a significant challenge in the 2023 security environment,” Rand Corp’s Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center reported to the agency, urging a significant change in posture for a security apparatus that spent two decades hardening defenses against the sort of foreign-inspired and spectacular attacks that al-Qaeda pulled off on Sept. 11, 2001.
Rather than flying planes into hardened security targets of major institutions like the Pentagon or World Trade Center towers, a growing number of foreign-inspired or domestic-grown terrorists and mass shooters have deployed low level tactics – vehicles, improvised explosive devices and guns – on targets with less security but that still house large numbers of potential human victims, the report noted.
Drivers in Wisconsin in 2022 and Germany in 2024 plowed through Christmas Day gatherings with extreme lethal consequence. Shooters from Buffalo, N.Y.; to Charleston, S.C.; and Orlando, Fla.; to San Bernandino, Calif.; claimed numerous victims by focusing on stores, schools, and houses of worship with lower security postures. Plots to plant improvised explosive devices multiplied in the last decade too, a Just the News review of tens years of mass casualty incidents showed.
Meanwhile, such soft targets have been provided little training and security guidance, Rand warned.
“We found little specifically on how to secure open spaces and non-secured buildings that, almost by definition, do not have more-intensive security measures,” the report warned. “What little is present sometimes includes surveillance cameras and other sensors (for areas that have shot detection). The only reliable security measure present, however, is the bystanders themselves.”
You can read the full report here.
Rand’s report was as academic as it was prescient. On Wednesday, police said, an Army veteran apparently radicalized to support ISIS drove his vehicle bearing an ISIS flag into a crowded French Quarter in New Orleans, where scores were still celebrating New Year’s Eve, claiming 15 lives and injuring many more.
The driver, identified as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar of Texas, also came armed with guns to shoot officers and had explosives both inside his car and planted in the neighborhood he targeted.
FBI officials said it was a terror attack, and they believed others, still uncaptured, assisted it.
Meanwhile, another driver pulled up to the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas a few hours later on Wednesday morning and detonated a rented Tesla Cybertruck filled with fireworks and explosive materials, killing one and injuring seven.
FBI officials said they were trying to determine if it was a terrorist attack and whether it was related to New Orleans. Both drivers, authorities said, rented from the same rental company, heightening concerns.
Whatever the final outcome, the incidents reaffirmed that soft targets remain soft and easily accessed, creating potential catastrophic opportunities for bad actors when they are crowded like a hotel and public celebration area were on the New Year’s holiday.
The vulnerabilities coupled with four years of an insecure border under President Joe Biden and liberal defund the police movements in big cities have created a perfect storm, one key lawmaker told Just the News on Wednesday night.
"With the Democrats defund the police and open borders policy fiascos, it was always just a matter of time before America would experience these terrorist type of attacks,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and soon to be chairman of the Senate’s most powerful investigative body.
Johnson’s home state experienced the Christmas parade massacre carried out by a lone driver in 2022 in Waukesha, Wis., and he has warned for years that America has too many soft targets for bad actors to strike.
“President Trump has some major Democrat-created messes to clean up,” he added.
The question of local police capabilities has already surfaced in the New Orleans tragedy, where officials admitted security barriers known as bollards that were intended to protect pedestrians from vehicles had been temporarily removed and were to be replaced because they malfunctioned at times before the attacker drove through Bourbon Street shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday.
“Bollards were not up because they are near completion, with the expectation of being completed before the Super Bowl,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell admitted Wednesday afternoon.
The lack of barriers and the ease the driver found in driving into the French Quarter is particularly alarming for experts given that the city was hosting a major college championship football game, the Sugar Bowl, on Wednesday and the NFL's Super Bowl a month later.
"There's obviously a lot of blame to go around for this terrorist attack in New Orleans,” former CIA analyst and National Security Council chief of staff Fred Fleitz told Just the News. “Security barriers in the street that were put in place to prevent this type of attack were not activated. That is the fault of New Orleans police and officials. “
But Fleitz said the federal government and the Biden administration also deserved blame, focusing on issues like opening the borders to more illegal aliens, imposing ideologies like Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on security agencies, and equating political dissent with terrorism.
“The Biden administration has admitted at least 250 of the known migrants were on the U.S terrorist list. I believe a much larger number of terrorists entered the country as illegal migrants across the southern border since 2021,” he said.
“We also have a Homeland Security Department and an FBI that has lumped radical Islamist terrorists, a non-politically correct term government employees are forbidden to use, with peaceful protesters such as parents who attend PTA meetings, pro life protesters, and the January 6 protesters.
Fleitz said he is "very concerned that Biden's mismanagement of our homeland security agencies has seriously undermined their ability to defend the American people against real domestic security threats like radical Islamist terrorism."
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who was briefed on the New Orleans tragedy, suggested Americans will be more alarmed when all the details are eventually made public.
“Here’s what I want to ask from the federal government: Catch these people and then tell the American people the truth,” Kennedy said. “Now, I don’t want you to tell us yet anything is going to interfere with the investigation. And there are things that I’ve been told that I think are true that I’m not sharing with you today because it could interfere with their investigation.”
The platform is more than 10,000 square feet and traditionally holds more than 1,600 people for the Swearing-In Ceremonies, including: the President and Vice President and their families; the President-elect and Vice President-elect and their families; the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court; former Presidents; the Diplomatic Corps; Cabinet Members and Nominees; Members of Congress; Governors; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and other guests
#5
And the Biden response to the discovered vulnerabilities continues to be to ship more cash into the Ukrainian laundry mat.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/12/2025 8:20 Comments ||
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#6
We're all one big, soft target.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/12/2025 8:56 Comments ||
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#7
There's no genuine defense against terrorism because the purpose of the attack is not to destroy any target but the attack itself.
The only antidote strategies are preemption, neutralizing potential terrorists before an attack, and deterrence, a credible promise to retaliate and inflict unacceptable damage on the terrorists' assets.
#8
^ and call out the communities that support it. The same people who seek to shame whites about slavery and segregation that ended generations ago, have no problem shutting up when you know who perpetrates these attacks.
[IsraelTimes] A senior source in Hamas tells the Qatari outlet al-Araby al-Jadeed that the framework of a ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and the Palestinian terror group has been completed, with mediators now waiting for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval before announcing the agreement.
The outlet also reports that under the deal, Israel would not fully withdraw from the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border until the last day of the agreement’s final phase, after gradually pulling out forces during the earlier two stages.
#4
I think if Hamas were stupid enough to do another 10/7, Ebbeting Jones8196, Israel would not temper its response — unlike this time, when PM Netanyahu let the Biden administration and the West persuade him to go slow, to pause, to target attacks in order to avoid harming civilians as much as possible. There’d be no phone calls and “knocking” to let the civilians know to get away from the target before smashing it.
What Gaza is getting is cold anger. Do it again and the anger would turn white hot. And if Egypt were to be so profoundly stupid as to rear up on its hind legs to join in the fun, it wouldn’t be tanks through the desert to the Suez Canal, but bombers over Cairo, and Egypt trading the Sinai for peace.
[IsraelTimes] The IDF releases footage showing how Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank have used mosques to launch attacks on Israeli troops and carry out other terror activities.
“Time and time again, the IDF detects terror activity by terrorists at civilian infrastructures, including mosques, hospitals and clinics, and educational institutions,” the military says in a statement.
In a first example, the IDF says that during a raid in Jenin on November 19, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on troops from within a mosque in the city.
The following morning, the military says troops returned to the mosque to search it, where they found on its bottom floor a shooting range and training area, as well as firing positions and observation posts.
“Dozens of shell casings from the shooting that took place the night before were found near every window in the mosque,” the IDF says.
During the same operation in November, the IDF says a drone identified a large group of gunmen opening fire at troops from outside another mosque in Jenin.
In a separate raid in Tulkarem on December 25, the military says a drone spotted terror operatives hurling explosive devices at troops from the roof of a mosque in the city.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/12/2025 10:23 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Muezzins and searchlights and flak
And the Kaaba all covered in black
And a thrill through the Reich:
Will the infidels strike
Muslims' missal and plan of attack?
...
As an Amsterdam man lights a match,
police and firetrucks respond with dispatch!
[IsraelTimes] The Hamas terror group issues a propaganda video after former hostage Sharon Cunio earlier this week published an Arabic video urging her husband David’s captors to send a video showing that he is still alive.
The Hamas video does not show signs of life of David Cunio, or any information regarding his current wellbeing.
Rather, the terror group shows an older clip with Sharon, David, and one of their children in Gaza in the early days of the war, along with text mocking her request.
Vile.
Israel says Hamas’s hostage videos are deplorable psychological warfare.
And so they are. Perhps they’ll change their tune after January 20th. If not, then they can enjoy their spite while turning into red smears in the rubble.
BREAKING: The Palestinian Authority has released an unprecedented statement condemning Hamas.
"We will not allow Hamas, which gambled with the Palestinian people for Iran’s benefit and caused the destruction of Gaza, to repeat its adventures in the West Bank." pic.twitter.com/6Scjki8qyp
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party issues a rare statement vowing not to “allow Hamas, which sacrificed the interests of the Palestinian people for Iran and caused destruction in the Gaza Strip, to replicate its actions in the West Bank.”
The statement comes as Fatah seeks to rally public opinion in support of its ongoing security operation in the Jenin refugee camp targeting Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed terror groups who have gradually gained prominence in the northern West Bank.
The statement notably calls out not just Hamas, but also Iran, which Fatah accuses of bankrolling the various armed groups throughout the West Bank, particularly the so-called Jenin Brigade.
Fatah tears into Hamas’s decision to launch a war against Israel with its October 7 onslaught, which Abbas’s party says has led to the death or injury of over 200,000 Palestinians and “catastrophic conditions” in the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas is now attempting to stir security chaos in the West Bank, thereby continuing its policy that brought disaster upon the Palestinian people,” Fatah says, appearing to again reject Hamas’s strategy of armed conflict with Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2025 2025-01-12 03:36 ||
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[11153 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
[IsraelTimes] The Yesha settlement council says it will send an official delegation to the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in Washington next week after receiving an invitation, as it seeks to hit the ground running with the potentially settlement-friendly leader.
The umbrella group representing Israel’s more than 120 West Bank settlements makes the announcement on Facebook, where it also asks supporters to sign a Hebrew-language letter it says it intends to deliver to the administration thanking Trump for “redeeming” Jerusalem and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
According to Israel National News, the delegation will include Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Gantz, who heads Yesha; Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, and Yesha foreign affairs chief Eliana Passentin, a native Californian, among others.
“The invitation we received from the government is an expression of the values Israel and the settlement movement share with the US as a light of Biblical values,” Gantz says in a statement carried by the outlet, which has close ties to the settler movement
Yesha has long administered its own foreign policy wing independent of the Israeli government, though they often work in concert. The group has close ties with likely incoming US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
In 2017, the group sent a lower-level delegation to Trump’s first inauguration, led by former Efrat mayor Oded Revivi, who was the group’s foreign envoy. At the time, he told the Associated Press that the group had been invited by a member of Trump’s “first circle” of advisers, but refused to name the person.
[BenarNews] Authorities estimate 375 Indonesians, including 145 children, live in camps housing Islamic State fighters.
After the collapse of President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... ’s regime in Syria, Indonesia should repatriate nearly 400 citizens linked to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group, otherwise they could be exploited in global conflicts or fall back into militancy, analysts are warning.
One of them, Yanuardi Syukur of the University of Indonesia’s Center for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, sees opportunities to work with the new Syrian leadership.
Rebel forces captured Damascus on Dec. 8 and toppled the Assad regime, which was accused of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... abuses including the use of chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented... "The Indonesian government should proactively engage with this new government for repatriation," Yanuardi told BenarNews, highlighting the need to safeguard Indonesian citizens while ensuring they no longer pose a security threat because of holy warrior ideologies.
The Syrian conflict, which began in 2011 during the Arab Spring — a groundswell of anti-government uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East — has left a complex legacy including the plight of imported muscle and their families.
Following the defeat of Islamic State (IS) in 2019, many nations have faced the dilemma of repatriating and deradicalizing citizens or prosecuting them for terror-related crimes.
In Indonesia, the world’s largest Moslem-majority nation, the issue is particularly sensitive because of the country’s history of Islamist militancy and terrorist attacks.
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) estimates 375 people, including 145 children, are confined to the al-Hol and Roj camps in Syria. The people living at the camps are families of IS fighters. The al-Hol camp alone houses over 70,000 refugees, according to recent figures from the government and rights organizations.
Conditions in the camps are dire, with reports of exploitation, indoctrination and deteriorating living standards, analysts said.
After the fall of President Assad, a new political landscape is unfolding in Syria with Ahmed al-Sharaa (once known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani) emerging as a key figure in the transitional government. Analysts expect it to take a moderate approach compared to the radical factions under Assad.
Still, Yon Machmudi, a lecturer in Islamic studies at the University of Indonesia, warned that the former IS members including Indonesians could become mercenaries.
"They could move from place to place with no other option, surviving by becoming imported muscle," he told BenarNews.
SHIFT IN POLICY
BNPT is assessing which individuals are safe to repatriate, focusing on deradicalization and reintegration, said Tjandra Sulistiyono, the agency’s head of the general bureau.
"We are in the process of identifying and evaluating how many Indonesian citizens will be repatriated," Tjandra told BenarNews, adding that rehabilitation facilities have been established in Sentul, near Bogor.
In 2020, the government of then-President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced it would not repatriate citizens who had joined IS in Syria but would consider bringing back some of their children on an individual basis.
Repatriating former IS members is fraught with political and security risks, as demonstrated by past cases of returnees reverting to holy warrior behavior.
An Indonesian husband-and-wife suicide kaboom team killed 23 people attending Catholic Mass in Jolo, Philippines, in January 2019. At the time, Indonesian authorities said that the couple, Rullie Rian Zeke and Ulfah Handayani Saleh, had been rehabilitated through a government program after they unsuccessfully tried to join IS in Syria.
In 2022, BenarNews reported that over 2,150 Indonesians had traveled to Syria and Iraq to join IS between 2013 and 2017, based on figures from the BNPT.
Of those, more than 555 were deported before they entered Syria, 194 voluntarily returned home and 127 were confirmed dead. The BNPT classified the remaining 1,250 Indonesians as living in IS refugee camps, being detained in Kurdish prisons, missing or on the lam in Syria and Iraq.
Despite the risks, Haula Noor, a researcher in terrorism and family dynamics, said some action must be taken or those still in Syria could be exploited during the ongoing conflicts in Syria.
"This needs to be done. There’s a fear that if they stay too long, they could be exploited," she said.
Haula, who teaches at the International Islamic University of Indonesia, called for a phased process based on an assessment of radicalization levels.
"Returnees must be classified into those still loyal to IS and those who have renounced its ideology. Repatriation should start with individuals and families deemed low-risk," Haula said.
Legal obstacles complicate the process. Many Indonesians in the camps are children born to mixed-nationality couples and their legal status as citizens is unclear, analysts said.
Rakyan Adibrata, a researcher at the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, stressed the importance of prioritizing children.
"When they went to Syria, they had no choice but to go and did not have an option to argue against their parents," Rakyan told BenarNews.
[IsraelTimes] The Lebanese army says it is completing its deployment of troops to the western sector of southern Lebanon, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
In a post on X, the Lebanese Armed Forces says it is deploying to the border towns and villages of Naqoura, Aalma ash-Shaab, Dhayra, Aitaroun, Bint Jbeil, Tayr Harfa, Majdal Zoun, Salhani, and Qouzah.
The LAF says it is working to strengthen its positions in the area, in coordination with UNIFIL and a five-member committee supervising the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
The LAF also warns locals to not approach the area until engineering units have scanned the towns and cleared them of unexploded ordnance and other debris.
The IDF is still deployed to some areas of southern Lebanon, and has until the end of the month to withdraw under the ceasefire agreement.
IRGC Chief Commander visited an underground missile base in Iran that was used in the confrontation with Israel back in October 2024. pic.twitter.com/8AaPEYlOm9
[IsraelTimes] Iranian state TV shows the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps touring an underground missile base used in an attack against Israel, hours after fighters marched through Tehran.
The footage of the missile base at an undisclosed location “in the mountains” and the parade by paramilitary Basij volunteers come after the weakening of Iran’s allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during wars with Israel.
They also come days before US President-elect Donald Trump is due to take office. During his first term, he oversaw the killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq, and reinstated sanctions on Tehran after pulling out from a landmark nuclear deal.
State TV showed Guards chief Hossein Salami visiting the missile base, which the report says has “dozens” of different types of missiles and was used during Iran’s second ever direct attack on regional foe Israel late last year.
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... was holding air defense exercises Saturday, state media reported, as the country braced for more friction with Israel and the United States under incoming US president Donald Trump ...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania... The war games came a day after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps released footage of what it called an underground "missile city," claiming that weapon production had ramped up, contrary to Israeli claims.
Iranian leaders are thought to be readying for the possibility that Trump could empower Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, while further tightening US sanctions on its oil industry through his "maximum pressure" policy.
"In these exercises,...defense systems will practice the fight against air, missile and electronic warfare threats in real battlefield conditions... to protect the country’s skies and sensitive and vital areas," Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said.
The drills were part of two-months-long exercises launched on January 4 which have already included war games in which the elite Revolutionary Guards defended key nuclear installations in Natanz against mock attacks by missiles and drones, state media said.
Iran’s military has said it was using new drones and missiles in the exercises.
On Friday, Iran released video showing IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami visiting an underground missile production facility with tunnels large enough to hold large trucks and multiple production areas.
"Maybe the enemy thought that our production power has stagnated," he said in the televised speech. "But the growth rate of our missile power" is rising.
State-linked media claimed that only 10 percent of the facility had been shown.
The structure in the video appeared to bear similarities to an underground missile production facility in Syria that Israel has alleged was built by Iran. Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces revealed that it had sent a team of commandos into the heavily fortified facility in September, who managed to lay explosives inside the plant built deep inside a mountain, largely destroying it.
The raid was one of several setbacks suffered by Iran in recent months, including Israel dismantling the leadership and arsenal of client terror group Hezbollah, an Israeli strike on Iranian air defense targets and the loss of ally Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... in Syria.
While Iranian officials have downplayed Iran’s setbacks, an Iranian general, Behrouz Esbati, who was reportedly based in Syria, said in a speech circulated on social media that Iran had "badly lost" in Syria. Rooters could not verify the recording.
Trump in 2018 withdrew from a deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama How much damage could he do in four years?... Eight, then... in 2015 in which Iran agreed to curb uranium enrichment, which can yield material for nuclear weapons, in return for the relaxation of US and UN economic sanctions.
[NAHARNET] The weakening of Hezbollah in last year's war with Israel allowed Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... 's long deadlocked parliament to reach consensus around a president who has the confidence of the international community.
Army chief Joseph Aoun, who was elected on Thursday ending a more than two-year vacancy, signaled a readjustment of Lebanon's foreign policy as the country works with international creditors to forge a way out of six years of deepening financial crisis.
Deadlock in parliament between pro- and anti-Hezbollah blocs had stalemated a dozen previous attempts to elect a president, leaving the country largely rudderless in its efforts to secure an emergency bailout.
But two months of full-fledged war with Israel last fall dealt heavy blows to the Iran-backed group, with its longtime leader Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> killed in a September Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... Hezbollah also lost a strategic ally last month when Islamist-led rebels ousted longtime Syrian ruler 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... Hezbollah's "political defeat follows its devastating military defeat," said Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut.
Lina Khatib, of Britannia's Chatham House think tank, said it was "the first time since the end of the Lebanese civil war (in 1990) that a Lebanese president is elected without prior approval by Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and by the ousted Syrian regime."
"Hezbollah's acceptance of Aoun's election underlines that it no longer dictates the political agenda," she told AFP.
"The significant shift in the political status quo... is the direct result of the larger geopolitical changes in the Middle East in which Iran's influence in the region is ending."
- FOREIGN BACKING -
The United States, La Belle France, 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... , 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 rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... and Egypt had all lobbied heavily for the election of Aoun to fill the presidential vacancy.
"The role of the quintet was decisive, particularly the last-minute support of Saudi Arabia," a French diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The kingdom had appeared to lose interest in Lebanon in recent years as the influence of Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsor grew.
Aoun committed to "a policy of positive neutrality" and better relations with Arab countries in his inaugural speech.
He also pledged a state monopoly on bearing arms, signaling difficult discussions on disarming Hezbollah, which kept its weapons after the civil war ended in 1990 to fight Israel's occupation of the south, which largely ended with a 2000 withdrawal.
A source close to Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...perennial Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... told AFP that the two parties only voted for Aoun after obtaining reassurances on the reinforcement of the ceasefire with Israel "and the name of the next army chief."
- 'RIGHT LEADER FOR THIS TIME' -
In the first round of voting on Thursday, Aoun failed to secure the required two-thirds majority, but after meeting with representatives of Hezbollah and Amal, he achieved that in the second round with 99 of the 128 votes cast.
Analysts say the army's central role in implementing the November 27 ceasefire was a key factor in Aoun's rise to the presidency.
U.S. President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. This Is A Man That Does Not Seem Demented... said on Thursday that Aoun was "the right leader for this time" and would provide "critical leadership" in overseeing the truce.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the army is deploying in the south as Israeli troops withdraw.
Hezbollah is required to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure in the area and pull its forces back north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border.
Khashan said it was now down to Aoun with his military background to persuade Hezbollah to lay down its remaining weapons.
"Only a president hailing from the army can disarm Hezbollah, especially after Israel destroyed more than 80 percent of its military hardware," he said.
At this stage, "Hezbollah has no option but to transform itself into a political party without a military component."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/12/2025 00:00 ||
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[11135 views]
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Iran has expressed its readiness to help Greenland, Canada, Mexico and Panama in the fight against US aggression.
Seriously??? Surely Iran is already feeling more than a tad overextended with all their failing and failed anti-Israel projects, without taking on new anti-America things.
“Just as we have always been ready to support other countries, Iran is ready to provide assistance to Canada, Mexico, Panama and Greenland in the fight against US aggression and terrorism,” a message appeared on January 8 on the Iranian Armed Forces account on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
As reported by the Regnum news agency, recently the elected US President Donald Trump has made a number of provocative statements about plans to annex new territories or geographical objects to the US. On December 3 last year, the American politician declared the "absolute necessity" for the US to take possession of the island of Greenland, which is part of Denmark. In response, the island's Prime Minister Mute Egede reminded that Greenland is not for sale and will not be sold.
Trump also suggested that Canada become the 51st state of the United States. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ultimately responded with a laconic "Hell no."
In late December, Trump announced plans to return the Panama Canal to the United States, which was given away last century, calling the fees charged for using the canal a "rip-off." Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino stressed that the Panama Canal fully belongs to his country based on a 1977 treaty and its return to the United States is not up for discussion.
In early January, the Republican said he intended to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded by suggesting the American continent be called the Gulf of Mexico, showing a 1607 map of North America that included that name.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on Trump's geopolitical statements, noted that the American politician has not yet officially taken office. According to her, it will be necessary to evaluate such statements only when Trump officially takes over as head of state.
That’s certainly one approach. It’ll leave you breathing American dust, but you do you,
Posted by: badanov ||
01/12/2025 00:00 ||
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[11134 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
Apparently 3 previous considerations to acquire Greenland. The first by Seward (following the Alaskan purchase), the second in the 1910's and the most recent in the 1950's. Used to fly to Sondestrom and Thule - not a very appealing locale for tourism.
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.
[IsraelTimes] The US Supreme Court is considering taking on a case filed by Jewish professors from New York City’s public university system against their union.
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
[KhaamaPress] German media reports have highlighted the continued deportation of Afghan 
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like...
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
[IsraelTimes] Not On Our Dime pushes referendum that would require Pittsburgh to divest from Israel, companies related to Israel, which officials say could be deeply challenging for city
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
...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 
...Arabic term meaning 
