[IsraelTimes] Hanan Leberman asserts he was excluded due to connection to Israel; organizers say he was asked not to speak over ‘potential disruption related to Zionism’
The organizers of a Martin Luther King Day event in San Diego have come under fire from local Jewish groups after a rabbi said he was disinvited from speaking at the event due to his "connection to Israel."
Rabbi Hanan Leberman, the leader of the Conservative Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, had initially been slated to give the closing prayer at the city’s All Peoples Celebration, which was organized by a community group called Alliance San Diego.
"This year, for the 38th annual All Peoples Celebration, we invite you to Choose Courage; to decide, with intention, to do what is right even when the fear and opposition are loud," a description of the event read. "Now more than ever, our voices must rise above hesitation. We must claim our dignity and echo the notion that any attack on one, is an attack on us all."
But in a post on Facebook Sunday, Leberman said he was "deeply upset" to learn he had been disinvited from the ceremony, writing that the reason behind the decision was due to his "connection to Israel."
Born in reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel... and raised in Philadelphia, Leberman moved to Israel at 20 and served for three years in the IDF’s undercover counterterrorism unit, often as its cantor. He was ordained as a rabbi in the Masorti movement in Israel and worked there before moving to San Diego in 2024.
"The decision to disinvite me is, in my view, a disservice to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
…who was a loud, proud Zionist…
" wrote Leberman. "I believe the organization would benefit from deeper education about what Zionism truly is and about what the Jewish community is facing today—from both the left and the right."
Alliance San Diego appeared to partially dispute Leberman’s account in a post on Instagram on Sunday. The group wrote in a statement that it had asked two speakers to give up their slots "in response to concerns about potential disruption related to Zionism and anti-Zionism," but said they had not been disinvited. The other speaker has not been publicly identified.
An interesting way to redefine disinviting someone because of prejudice.
"Our intention was never to exclude Jewish faith leaders or Jewish voices from this space," the statement said. "As an organization working across many communities under immense strain and confronting assaults on immigrant communities, including Jewish and Israeli immigrants colonists at a time of rising anti-semitism and fear, we acknowledge that our decision contributed to that pain rather than alleviating it."
Big of them. But they meant to redefine Jews to only include those who are not Zionists, excluding 95% of them. Nice.
The MLK Day event was sponsored by the San Diego PBS station, several local universities, and the American Federation of Teachers, whose head, Randi Weingarten, has faced criticism from the right over her response to antisemitism and from the left over her support for Israel.
No Jewish clergy spoke at the event, now in its 38th year, according to the Times of San Diego.
Q.E.D.
Organizers’ decision was decried by nearly four dozen synagogues and Jewish groups in San Diego in a joint statement published Sunday.
"Calling this gathering the All Peoples Celebration is difficult to reconcile with the exclusion of a Jewish leader for holding beliefs that are held by a strong majority of the Jewish community globally and here in San Diego," the groups wrote. "Many now see this decision as turning the event into an ’All Peoples (except for Jews) Celebration.’ That outcome should give everyone involved pause."
Over the summer, all of the participating Jewish organizations in San Diego’s annual Pride festival pulled out of the celebration over the inclusion of a performance by anti-Israel R&B artist Kehlani. At the time, the Jewish groups cited "serious safety concerns" as the reason behind their withdrawal.
#1
Organizers forgot the role the jews played in synergizing with the socialists, the communists, and nation of islam during the civil rights era which saw white fright and flight from our cities to the suburbs.
As the National Day of Mourning for the Victims of the Bondi Attack draws to an end, a light shines bright from the Bondi Pavilion, in a powerful reminder that #LightWillWin! pic.twitter.com/W6BySVFlvb
Just sit on the couch with snacks watching sportsball and telling yourself this is what it looks like when light wins, isn't winning, it's coping.
Sure, the oz gov made some giddy rubberneckers go home, but they dropped the hammer on the natives and started a weapon grab initiative before the last unarmed good Samaritan succumbed to injuries.
#LightWillWin!
#7
It's like something you'd see on a poster at a hippie candle store, or on the window in that fake cursive so the illiterates can read it.
Light.
Will.
Win!
[IsraelTimes] Al-Haq accuses Nir Barkat, who is at global elite conference to drum up business for Israel, of ‘international crimes’; Barkat: ‘No terror group will deter me’
The Paleostinian group al-Haq said on Thursday that it and others filed a criminal complaint in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... against Israel’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat, who is in Davos, for "international crimes."
The group, which Jerusalem has designated a terror group, posted that the Likud member and former Jerusalem mayor "is currently present in #Davos and the public prosecutor is obliged to examine it while he is present in the country."
Davos is the site of the World Economic Forum’s annual conference, which brings together the world’s business and political elite. Barkat is there to spur investment in Israel and meet with foreign officials. President Isaac Herzog is also in attendance, along with an array of other world leaders.
The posts by al-Haq do not detail specific "crimes" Barkat is alleged to have committed or name the other groups behind the complaint. But the request is the latest effort by a pro-Paleostinian group to prosecute Israelis on foreign soil for alleged war crimes 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... or the West Bank.
"Davos cannot be a safe haven for war criminals, where individuals facing serious allegations are granted impunity," the group said in the post thread.
A group called the Hind Rajab Foundation has advocated for the arrest abroad of Israelis who served in Gaza, often identifying them from social media posts and then petitioning authorities in foreign countries to detain them for alleged war crimes. Earlier this week, an Israeli comedian who had posted an inflammatory video from Gaza said he was detained for six hours in Canada due to a Hind Rajab complaint.
It’s unclear if Hind Rajab was involved in the complaint against Barkat. It did not refer to him on its own X account.
Al-Haq claimed on X post that Barkat, as economy minister, "is responsible for unlawful Israeli colonization of Occupied Paleostinian Territory and Israel’s actions in Gaza," alleging that he encouraged "genocide." It did not say which statements of Barkat’s it was referring to.
The group alleged that Barkat, as mayor of Jerusalem from 2008 to 2018, was "individually responsible for illegal Israeli settlement-related international crimes, including apartheid." It said, "He should be investigated for his role in planning, permits, enforcement and demolitions in occupied Jerusalem."
Much of the world considers East Jerusalem to be illegally occupied by Israel. Israel, which captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it more than 40 years ago, sees it as part of the country’s undivided capital. The al-Haq post does not appear to specify East Jerusalem.
Barkat posted a screenshot of an article about the threat, writing, "No terror group will deter me. I will continue to develop the Israeli economy and represent the state fearlessly everywhere in the world."
Al-Haq, which Israel designated a terror group in 2021 along with several other Paleostinian NGOs, accusing them of being fronts for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine terror organization, has previously sought international legal action against Israel.
It, along with two other groups, asked the International Criminal Court to arrest Israeli leaders over allegations of genocide in Gaza in November 2023, shortly after the Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... -led October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed some 1,200 people and launched the war in Gaza. The US sanctioned al-Haq and the other two groups in 2025.
Al-Haq also unsuccessfully sought to block the British export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel.
[PJM] Tell me when his knees hit the Algerian tarmac. Let Chris Van Hollen know they don't drink margaritas there
The most infamous foreign student activist against Israel and for Hamas at an American university could finally face deportation.
While the Trump administration has tried to deport Columbia University student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil more than once, woke judges have interfered, and the Trump administration has agreed to follow their ridiculous demands on Khalil’s behalf. But a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official indicated Wednesday evening that Khalil’s destination after deportation is tentatively settled.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich Tonight on Wednesday, “It looks like he’ll go to Algeria.
He has citizenship there through his mother and from Syria because he was born there, so two possibilities.
That’s what the thought is right now.” She followed up with a more widely applicable caution: “It’s a reminder for those who are in this country on a visa or on a green card. You are a guest in this country — act like it.”
Importantly, the Trump administration accuses Khalil of committing fraud on his green card application. And, of course, the federal government can revoke a visa or green card from anyone who shows himself a threat to our national security by supporting foreign terrorist entities, or by deliberately riling up social unrest, as Khalil did. Residing and studying in America as a foreign national is a privilege, not a right.
Indeed, those were exactly the words used by McLaughlin: “It is a privilege, not a right, to be in this country to live or to study.” That is why no judge should be able to dictate that Khalil “has to stay” in the United States.
The Trump-Rubio State Department has revoked 100,000 visas for criminal activity, including 8,000 student visas. The pro-Hamas riots that convulsed so many American campi following the Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities in Israel were a mix of brainwashed American leftists and foreign student agitators. Muslim foreign nationals, like Khalil, not infrequently acted as leaders or rabble-rousers for the violent and usually explicitly anti-Jewish protests.
In October, swollen with entitlement due to drooling praise from such politicians as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and the intervention of woke judges, Khalil actually had the hutzpah to whine that his appeals process moved too fast. Poor little terrorist sympathizer — the American courts don’t move at exactly his preferred pace.
Interesting, isn’t it, that despite his noisy empathy for Palestinian terrorists, Khalil has no interest in going to Gaza or to any Muslim nation? He wants to stay in a Western nation founded on Judeo-Christian values even while vilifying that nation. It’s almost as if he’s a huge hypocrite.
An excerpt from my colleague Tim O’Brien helps explain why Khalil might be sent to Algeria:
[Khalil] is not an American citizen. He was born in the mid-1990s at a refugee camp in Syria. His parents are described as Palestinian and Algerian, so he has citizenship in Algeria. Before coming to America, he had earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon, and then applied for admission into Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. In December of 2024, he received his master of public administration degree… Columbia became the site of some of the most contentious activity, and [Khalil] was at the heart of it all…He was, in effect, the ringleader.
#3
The fact our elected civilian govt cannot deport an illegal is an embarrassment to the system. The situation had me asking if our votes really matter. Glad it looks like it might be settled. Still waiting to see it before I believe it.
[YouTube] Karlyn Borysenko is a psychologist turned journalist exposing the radical left through deep dives, undercover investigations, and unapologetic truth-telling. I love this stuff. These "inside baseball" chats we finally get to see exposed to all the world. I like how they say forget about the Democrats and Walz is a simp who collaborates with Trump. Super interesting stuff if you want to look behind the curtain and see what's really going on these days and who is behind these protests.
#5
There is an easy way to deal with these idiots, it's just the willingness to do it.
Posted by: chris ||
01/23/2026 18:16 Comments ||
Top||
#6
They said it, not me. Because Walz isn't resisting ICE with the national guard? or with lawfare? We're getting a rare peek behind the curtain here and I don't know why they're saying what they're saying. Honestly i hoped some of the other highly knowledgeable commenters could say.
[israelTimes] Thousands of detainees from jihadist group are being transferred in US operation, in wake of fighting in Syria between government forces and Kurds
Iraq’s judiciary said Thursday it would launch legal proceedings against detainees from 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.... jihadist group who were transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US operation.
"The Iraqi judiciary will begin standard legal proceedings against the defendants who are received and placed in the relevant correctional institutions," Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said.
The US military said Wednesday it had launched an operation to move 7,000 ISIS prisoners from Syria to Iraq, as Syrian government forces moved on facilities long secured by Kurdish-led forces in Syria.
"All suspects, regardless of their nationalities or ranks within the terrorist organization, are subject exclusively to the authority of the Iraqi judiciary, and our judicial procedures will be applied to them all without exception," the judiciary said.
Not just repatriating Iraqis? Interesting.
Of the 7,000 ISIS detainees the US military aims to transfer from Syria to Iraq, the government in Baghdad has so far confirmed the arrival of 150.
Thousands of suspected jihadists and their families, including foreigners, have been held in detention centers and camps in Syria since ISIS’s defeat in 2019 at the hands of Kurdish-led forces backed by a US-led coalition.
Across the border in Syria, government forces have taken control of swathes of formerly Kurdish-held territory in the north and east.
That move has included a deal struck over the weekend between the two sides that will see the Kurds’ administration integrated into the state, while the government will take responsibility for ISIS prisoners.
On Thursday, US envoy Tom Barrack met Syrian Democratic Forces leader Mazloum Abdi and senior Kurdish official Ilhan Ahmed in Erbil, said the presidency of the autonomous northern Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Barrack posted on X about Washington’s "strong support for and commitment to advancing the integration process outlined in the January 18 agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian government."
He later thanked the Iraqi government for its willingness "to help safeguard the international community from the enduring threat posed by ISIS detainees," calling Baghdad’s contribution to stability in Syria and the wider region "indispensable."
Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch clutched at his other leg...... following the festivities between government forces and the Syrian Kurds, more than 134,000 people have been displaced in northeast Syria, the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... migration agency said Thursday.
In the past three days, the number of internally displaced people in Hasakeh province "has increased to approximately 134,803 individuals" compared to 5,725 recorded on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration said in a statement.
At the height of its power, ISIS held swathes of Syria and Iraq, subjecting populations on both sides of the border to a horrific regime characterized by mass death, sexual slavery of women and girls, and punishment for any dissent.
Iraqi courts have handed down hundreds of death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... s and life terms to people convicted of terrorism offenses, including hundreds of imported muscle — some caught in Syria and transferred across the border.
Some human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... groups have denounced "terrorism" trials in Iraq as rushed.
The country still has mass graves and many personal testimonies of ISIS brutality to be investigated.
In 2024, after a mission of the UN body investigating ISIS crimes ended, Iraq created the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation to gather evidence and document ISIS crimes.
The center is the main point of contact for foreign jurisdictions investigating alleged offenses.
Odd how they hate Israel, but want to use Israeli stuff.
[IsraelTimes] Jordan has been using Israeli digital surveillance tools since 2020 against civil society members, particularly activists in support of Palestinians in Gaza, according to a new report by Citizen Lab.
Phone-cracking products by Israeli firm Cellebrite “have been used by the Jordanian authorities to extract data from the phones of activists and civil society members without their consent,” the report says.
“During our forensic investigation of devices that were seized by authorities and returned to their owners, we uncovered iOS and Android Indicators of Compromise that we attribute with high confidence to Cellebrite’s forensic extraction products,” it says, adding that “court records shared with the Citizen Lab indicate use of Cellebrite products in criminal prosecutions against activists and members of Jordanian civil society in a manner that does not comply with human rights treaties that Jordan has ratified.”
[IsraelTimes] Hebrew media says Israel will operate remote surveillance systems and have advance approval of travelers’ information; IDF to deploy near gate of Gaza’s border with Egypt
Israel will reportedly conduct significant oversight of the Rafah Border Crossing, even if it buckles to international demands that the gate between Egypt and 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... fully reopen next week.
Israel will operate a remote surveillance system at the crossing, be in charge of granting advanced approval to travelers coming in and out of the Gaza Strip, and be able to scan any computers or other electronic devices passing through, the Kan public broadcaster reported on Thursday.
While the Israel Defense Forces will not be physically present at the crossing, Israeli troops will be deployed nearby and operate their own checkpoint aimed at preventing weapons smuggling.
The crossing itself will be operated by officers from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... Border Assistance Mission, founded in 2005 to monitor the crossing, along with uninformed members of the Paleostinian Authority’s intelligence service, Kan said. The network noted that the same framework was used during the previous Israel-Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... ceasefire in January 2025. Israel shuttered the crossing around two months later, and it has remained closed since.
Israel offered to reopen the crossing late last year, but only for Gazooks to exit, further raising fears in the Arab world that Jerusalem was trying to shrink the Strip’s population. Egypt refused to comply with the one-way reopening, and the crossing has remained closed, in violation of US President Donald Trump ...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party... ’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war. That document states that the crossing was to immediately reopen under the same parameters laid out in the January 2025 ceasefire.
In recent weeks, as Trump has launched the ceasefire’s second phase and US pressure on Israel to fully reopen Rafah has intensified, Washington raised the issue with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter’s visit to Florida late last month, a US official told The Times of Israel. The official added that the administration left those meetings optimistic that the crossing would reopen within days — which did not happen.
On Sunday, the security cabinet reportedly decided to keep the crossing shut amid anger over the inclusion of senior representatives from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... and 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... on the influential Gaza Executive Board tasked with overseeing postwar Gaza under Trump’s Board of Peace. Israel has also insisted that the reopening of Rafah be conditioned on the return of the final deceased hostage, Ran Gvili, and on Hamas giving up its weapons — two things that have not yet happened.
But during Thursday’s signing ceremony for the Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... , the head of the newly established Gaza technocratic governing panel announced that Rafah would reopen in both directions next week.
Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov subsequently announced that "an agreement has been reached" on the matter, indicating that Jerusalem had been consulted and was privately on board.
Netanyahu’s office didn’t deny the plan to reopen Rafah, issuing a statement to news hounds attributed to an anonymous Israeli official who said, "A special effort is underway to return the body of the late Ran Gvili, while making full use of the information in our possession" and that the security cabinet will reopen Rafah early next week, previewing a meeting of that group whose conclusion appeared foregone.
GAZA TECHNOCRATS ANNOUNCE BUDGET FOR PUBLIC SECTOR SALARIES
Also on Thursday, Gaza’s incoming Paleostinian technocratic government, officially known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), announced that its monthly budget for the salaries of public sector employees will be $100 million.
The 12-member panel of technocrats said in a statement that it is working toward "economic stability, free from the pressures of the [Israeli] occupation."
The statement appeared aimed at demonstrating financial transparency to the public and international community.
But the NCAG will be reliant on the US’s ability to fundraise for the Board of Peace, which is overseeing the technocratic committee’s work. Senior US adviser Jared Kushner said at Thursday’s signing ceremony that Washington will host a conference in two weeks where the contributions made by various countries will be announced. A slideshow presented by Kushner revealed that the US is seeking $25 billion in foreign investments to cover Gaza’s public sector costs.
It is also not yet clear which workers NCAG will be able to hire. Israel has, to date, been blocking the involvement of public sector workers on the Hamas or PA payroll, leaving very few other options for employees that NCAG can hire.
For its part, Channel 13 reported that Israel will, in fact, allow Paleostinians who were on Hamas’s payroll to work for NCAG, leading a senior Israeli official to warn the government that the terror group will retain significant influence in Gaza under Trump’s plan.
The network did not divulge the identity of the senior Israeli official and the report was not confirmed.
REPORT: US, MEDIATORS HOLD TALKS ON DISARMAMENT Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Fat Tony demanded his rosco back. He didn't say please... Channel 12 claimed Thursday that the US and key Gaza mediators have begun quiet talks with Hamas on a plan to gradually disarm the terror group and dismantle its military infrastructure in the Strip.
According to the report, discussions involving the US, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt have been underway for roughly two to three weeks. The plan presented to Hamas reportedly calls for the immediate destruction of heavy weapons, tunnels, arms-production sites and terror infrastructure, followed by a prolonged, phased process to collect and dismantle personal weapons held by Hamas operatives and other button men.
Under the proposal, those who agree to hand over their weapons would be offered either safe passage out of Gaza or integration into the security forces of the Paleostinian technocratic government tasked with running the Strip, the report said. In parallel, the US would seek to establish a Paleostinian police force subordinate to that technocratic administration, with exclusive authority over the use of force.
Channel 12 reported that the plan also envisions a gradual withdrawal by the IDF from positions inside Gaza, including a phased pullback from the Yellow Line that demarcates the border between the areas controlled by Hamas and Israel, contingent on progress in disarmament. Reconstruction efforts, as outlined by Kushner in Davos earlier today, would likewise be tied to compliance with the weapons handover.
The Channel 12 report came two days after a report in the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, which said that several senior Hamas commanders are expected to depart the Strip as part of arrangements linked to the next phase of the ceasefire and the entry of the technocratic administration.
That report — which was quickly denied by Hamas officials — said that the emerging framework is based on Hamas figures exiting Gaza in parallel with the technocratic committee assuming control, with Egyptian intelligence mediating the process. Turkey is said to be the primary destination under discussion, though no final decisions have been made and some Hamas commanders have reportedly refused to leave.
Earlier this month, a US official and two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel that Washington had been in talks with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which have assured Washington that Hamas will agree to a gradual disarmament plan that would begin with the terror group giving up its heavy weaponry and the launch of a "buy-back" program for lighter weapons.
At the time, the three sources said that the goal is to begin implementing the program in the coming weeks.
[Rudaw] Syria has pledged not to allow any entity to use its territory for activities that threaten Chinese security and interests, a senior Chinese official told Rudaw on Thursday, as concerns persist over the presence of Uyghur jihadists in the country.
Guo Jiakun, Spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that "Syria has pledged not to allow any entity to use its territory to engage in activities that harm China’s security, illusory sovereignty, or interests."
In early December 2024, a coalition of opposition forces led by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State... (HTS), then headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, launched a swift offensive that ousted longtime dictator 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... . Sharaa was appointed Syria’s interim president in late January.
Since Assad’s fall, one of the most pressing issues concerning the international community - including China - has been the presence of thousands of battle-hardened imported muscle in Syria.
For Beijing, the primary concern is the Uyghur turbans, whose status has become a point of friction with Syria’s new leadership, particularly after reports that many were integrated into the country’s emerging military structure.
Most of the fighters are affiliated with the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which Beijing refers to as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and designates as a terrorist organization.
For good reason — they’re vicious.
TIP turbans played a key role in the anti-Assad campaign, operating mainly in Idlib province in northern Syria and maintaining close ties with HTS.
So is HTS, as we’ve seen recently.
Following the collapse of Assad’s regime, the Syrian branch of TIP - along with other former opposition factions - was dissolved, and its members were absorbed into the newly formed defense ministry.
A 2025 report by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimated that between 3,500 and 4,000 Uyghur fighters were integrated into the newly established 84th Division of the Syrian army, a unit composed largely of imported muscle. Other estimates place the total Uyghur population in Syria, including families, at up to 15,000.
Jiakun reiterated to Rudaw on Thursday that "the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a terrorist organization recognized by China and listed by the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Security Council."
Importantly, the Chinese official’s remarks come days after a senior Syrian foreign ministry official denied reports claiming that Beijing had requested the handover of some 4,000 Uyghur fighters in Syria.
Qutaibi Idlbi, Director of American Affairs at the Syrian foreign ministry, told Rudaw, "So far, there has been no official contact from the Chinese government regarding this matter. When we receive an official request, we will have an official stance on it."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/23/2026 07:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1798 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria/HTS
#1
Qutaibi Idlbi, Director of American Affairs at the Syrian foreign ministry
[AI]
**Qutaiba Idlbi** is a prominent Syrian-American researcher, policy analyst, and development practitioner specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, particularly Syria. He currently serves as the **Director of American Affairs at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates**, where he oversees Syria’s diplomatic engagement with the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
Previously, he was a **Senior Fellow and Syria Lead at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East**, where he led research on Syria’s political transition, U.S. sanctions policy, and pathways to reintegration. His work has informed governments and multilateral organizations on stability, governance, and peacebuilding in conflict-affected regions.
Idlbi is a **co-founder and former Vice President of People Demand Change (PDC)**, an organization implementing civil society and peacebuilding programs in Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon. He has also served as a **Researcher at the Global Policy Institute**, **nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute**, and **Syria expert at the International Center for Transitional Justice**, where he researched political imprisonment and forced displacement in Syria.
He holds a **bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University** and an **associate degree in finance and banking from Damascus University**. Idlbi is a **2013 Leaders for Democracy Fellow** with the U.S. Department of State and a **2016 Peace Exchange Fellow** with the Dalai Lama. He currently serves on the boards of several organizations focused on refugee education, skills training, and women empowerment.
His insights have been featured in major outlets including the BBC, The Washington Institute, and C-SPAN, and he continues to be a key voice in shaping international understanding of Syria’s post-conflict future.
And some wonder why the world view of America is so twisted.
[IsraelTimes] US-based Human Rights Activists’ News Agency warns many more feared dead, as internet blackout crosses 2-week mark
The corpse count from Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests reached at least 5,002 people killed Friday, activists said, warning many more still were feared dead as the most comprehensive internet blackout in the country crossed the two-week mark.
The challenge in getting information out of Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... persists due to authorities cutting off access to the world through the internet on January 8, even as tensions rise between the United States and Iran as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East.
The US-based Human Rights Activists’ News Agency offered the toll, saying 4,716 were demonstrators, 203 were government-affiliated, 43 were children and 40 were civilians not taking part in the protests. It added that over 26,800 people were tossed into the calaboose in a widening arrest campaign by authorities.
The agency has been accurate in previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. Other groups have said the total corpse count from the protests will be far higher.
Iran’s government offered its first corpse count on Wednesday, saying 3,117 people were killed. It added that 2,427 of the dead in the demonstrations that began December 28 were civilians and security forces, with the rest being "terrorists." Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.
The News Agency that Dare Not be Named has been unable to independently assess the corpse count, in part due to authorities cutting access to the internet and blocking international calls into the country. Iran also reportedly has limited the ability of journalists locally to report on the aftermath, instead repeatedly airing claims on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that refer to demonstrators as "rioters" motivated by America and Israel, without offering evidence to support the allegation.
The new toll comes as tensions remain high over US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... laying down two red lines over the protests — the killing of peaceful demonstrators and Tehran conducting mass executions. The US military has moved more military assets toward the Mideast, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated warships traveling with it from the South China Sea.
A US Navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said Thursday that the Lincoln strike group is currently in the Indian Ocean. One official said additional air-defense systems were also being eyed for the Middle East, which could be critical to guard against any Iranian strike on US bases in the region.
The deployments expand the options available to Trump, both to better defend US forces throughout the region at a moment of high tension and to take any additional military action after striking Iranian nuclear sites in June.
In the past, the US military has periodically surged forces to the Middle East at times of heightened tensions, moves that were often defensive. However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... the US military staged a major buildup last year ahead of the June strikes.
In remarks on Thursday, Trump told news hounds aboard Air Force One that the US is moving an "armada" of ships toward Iran "just in case" he wants to take action.
"We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it," Trump said. "I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely."
"At an hour before this horrible thing was going to take place, they canceled it," he said, referring to the nearly 840 hangings that he claimed the Islamic Theocratic Republic cancelled after his threats, calling it "a good sign."
Trump also mentioned the multiple rounds of talks American officials had with Iran over its nuclear program prior to Israel launching the 12-day war against the Islamic Theocratic Republic in June and the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. He threatened Iran with military action that would make the earlier US strikes against its uranium enrichment sites "look like peanuts."
"They should have made a deal before we hit them," Trump added.
"If they try to do it again, they have to go to another area. We’ll hit them there too, just as easily," he said.
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.
...home of Al Capone, the Chicago Black Sox, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...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 
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
...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 
