Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Qassem denies divisions within Hezbollah, says group ''has recovered'' — Naharnet

2025-07-10

[NAHARNET] Hezbollah "has recovered and is now ready" to confront Israel in case of an attack on 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?...
, the group's leader Sheikh Naim Qassem

... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies...
said in a televised interview.

The interview was recorded on June 11 but only broadcast Tuesday on Lebanese pan-Arabist news channel al-Mayadeen.

Qassem said that President Joseph Aoun is being "very pressured" by the U.S. and other Arab countries to disarm Hezbollah by all means, even by force. "But he knows this would lead to strife and would not be fruitful," Qassem told journalist and director of al-Mayadeen Ghassan Bin Jeddo.

"Lebanon is strong because of Hezbollah's weapons and we will not accept that Lebanon becomes weak," Qassem said, adding that the medium and heavy arms that have been destroyed during the war with Israel are south of the Litani River, in a hint that Hezbollah has weapons in other regions across the country.

Qassem denied internal divisions within Hezbollah. "Usually, when there are wings, you can see them, right? Because they fly... I haven't seen any wings yet," he sarcastically said.

Two months of full-fledged war with Israel last fall dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah, with its longtime leader Sayyed
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 when Islamist-led rebels ousted longtime Syrian ruler Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
.

"Hezbollah communicated with the Lebanese army when problems occurred in the Hermel area" on the Lebanese-Syrian border, Qassem told Bin Jeddo. "There were gunnies trying to enter Lebanese territory but Hezbollah was not involved and we have no intention of fighting them so we communicated with the army."

Link

Africa North

Tunisia sentences prominent opposition leader to 14 years in prison

2025-07-10

[AFRICANEWS] A Tunisian court on Tuesday sentenced one of the country's most prominent opposition leaders to 14 years in prison, adding to a string of convictions that he received in other cases.

Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's Ennahda movement, was among those sentenced as part of a sweeping case in which politicians were charged with conspiring against state security. Several other detained members of his party were sentenced to 12 years.

Ghannouchi's party rose to power after Tunisia became the first country in the region to oust a longtime dictator as part of the Arab Spring. He later served as speaker of the country's assembly and is among the opposition figures who have faced prosecution since President Kais Saied took power six years ago.

His defence team denied the charges and said in a statement that the proceedings didn't meet the standards of a fair trial.

''All accusations were based on a false and contradictory testimony by a secret, anonymous witness who failed to present any evidence for his baseless and contradictory allegations, and who ultimately retracted most of them,'' attorneys said in a statement.

The judge overseeing the case issued arrest warrants for several party members tried in absentia, including Ghannouchi's son and a former foreign minister.

The defendants faced charges including participating in an organization linked to terrorist acts, inciting violence, attempting to overthrow the government, and recruiting and training individuals for terrorist purposes both within Tunisia and abroad.

Ghannouchi, 86, is facing charges in several other cases and refuses to appear before courts he considers politically manipulated. He has already served multiple prison sentences totalling more than 20 years, notably for money laundering.

His lawyers denounce what they call ''unjustified judicial harassment'' by the authorities and are calling for the release of imprisoned Islamist leaders.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

For 2nd time in days, IDF says troops arrested terror cell in Syria working for Iran

2025-07-08

[IsraelTimes] Military says forces captured several members of IRGC-linked terror cell; UK-based war monitor says IDF raided a village in the Quneitra countryside and detained two brothers

For the second time in days, the IDF said Monday morning that it carried out an overnight raid in southern Syria, where forces captured a cell of operatives operating on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Reservists of the Alexandroni Brigade and field interrogators of the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 operated overnight in the Kwdana area — close to the border and near an IDF post in southern Syria — to detain the cell, the military said.

Several members of the cell who the IDF said were operating on behalf of the IRGC were nabbed.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israeli forces raided a village in the Quneitra countryside of southern Syria early Monday and "carried out searches targeting several homes, which ended with the arrest of two brothers."

On Wednesday, Israel’s military said its forces had apprehended members of an Iranian-backed terrorist cell in southern Syria and seized weapons.

Since Assad’s fall, Israel has carried out strikes and raids in Syria aimed at denying military assets to the Islamist-led interim administration.

Israel has said it is interested in striking normalization agreements with Syria and neighboring Leb
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?...
, but insisted the strategic Golan Heights — which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed — would remain part of Israel under any peace accord.

The two countries are currently engaged in "advanced talks" to end official hostilities and resolve the buffer zone issue, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel last week.

The contacts are focused on coordination around security matters, said the official, who would not speculate on when a full peace deal between the two enemy states could turn into reality.

The neighboring states have been in conflict for decades, including direct and often bitter combat from the 1948 War of Independence through the 1982 First Lebanon War.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

US revokes terror label for Syria’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which toppled Assad

2025-07-08

[IsraelTimes] Measure comes amid warming ties between Damascus and Washington, which seeks to reintegrate war-battered country into global economy

The United States on Monday announced that it was revoking its "foreign terrorist organization" designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS), a group once linked to al-Qaeda that took control of Syria in December 2024.
"In consultation with the attorney general and the secretary of the treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
h Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (and other aliases) as a foreign terrorist organization," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
in a memo, with the move to formally take effect on Tuesday.

An armed coalition led by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew then-Syrian president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
in December, ending half a century of brutal rule by the latter’s family.

The former Islamist guerrilla fighter’s rule as interim president has been cautiously welcomed in Washington, Europe, and elsewhere.

While historic foe Israel initially viewed Sharaa with suspicion, it later expressed interest in striking normalization agreements with Syria and neighboring 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....
. It has insisted that the strategic Golan Heights — which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed — would remain part of Israel under any peace accord.

US President Donald Trump
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
last week formally dismantled US sanctions against Syria, saying he hoped to reintegrate the war-battered country into the global economy.

Trump had lifted most sanctions against Syria in May, responding to appeals from Saudi Arabia

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Group of Europe-based imams visits Israel, bearing ‘message of peace’

2025-07-08

[IsraelTimes] Delegation meets President Herzog; will spend a week touring the country, and meeting military, political and religious authorities, victims of October 7

When Imam Youssef Masbeh introduced himself to President Isaac Herzog on Monday, he could not help but start singing a special chant in Arabic, offering a reinterpretation of the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah.

Masbeh, who has served as a religious leader in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway for 20 years, was part of a delegation of about a dozen imams and Moslem community leaders who were visiting Israel from several European countries, including La Belle France, the United Kingdom, and Italia.

Masbeh also encouraged his colleagues and all those present to join him in singing and dancing, celebrating the moment of togetherness.

"We are all children of Abraham, and I believe the historic progress in our region is a progress of dialogue between Moslems and Jews, and Jews and Moslems," Herzog said. "What you’re doing on this visit, and in your courageous work, reflects the silent majority in the Middle East and around the world who yearn for this kind of shared life."

The delegation was organized by ELNET, an NGO that promotes ties between Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
and Israel.

On Monday, the group also held meetings at the Knesset, before heading to Jerusalem’s Old City to visit Moslem, Jewish, and Christian holy sites, including the Temple Mount, where the al-Aqsa mosque compound stands.

The trip will also include a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, meetings with Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef and with IDF Arabic Spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee, and visits with family members of former Bedouin hostages 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 Druze victims of the Majdal Shams massacre at the hands of Hezbollah.

Herzog encouraged the visitors to return to their communities with a message of peace.

"Here in Israel, we want peace," he said. "We want to see all our hostages back home, and we want to see an end to the suffering of the people in Gaza, too. We want to see better lives for everyone."

The president also expressed hope that "peace will come with Syria, with Leb
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects....
, inshallah even with 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 that we will continue moving forward."

Almost all of the religious leaders were visiting the Jewish state for the first time. For many, being in Jerusalem was especially meaningful.

"I already did my pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and I was waiting to come to Jerusalem," Ali El Aarja told The Times of Israel.

Based in Turin, Italia, El Aarja serves as the president of the newly established Italian Islamic Confederation (CIIN) and is one of the several members of the delegation originally from Morocco.

On the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Morocco was home to some 270,000 Jews, most of whom emigrated to Israel or La Belle France in the following two decades.

Though only a few thousand Jews remain in the country, over the past 20 years, the authorities have demonstrated growing attention and sensitivity toward its Jewish community.

In 2020, Morocco joined the Abraham Accords, fully normalizing its ties with Israel.

"Morocco is a country open to all religions: Moslems, Christians, and Jews live together, and we hope we can set an example for the world," El Aarja said.

"We are here to send a message of peace," he added. "For our Paleostinian brothers and for our Jewish brothers, we do not want war, we hope we can go back to dialogue."

An ELNET spokesperson told The Times of Israel that participants were selected for the trip in close collaboration with Imam Hassen Chalghoumi, chairman of the Conference of Imams of La Belle France. A Tunisia-born interfaith activist, Chalghoumi has been known to many as "the peace imam" and a steadfast supporter of Israel.

"My message to you is one of deep affection — for you and for your remarkable people," Chalghoumi said, addressing Herzog. "It is a message of brotherhood and solidarity and a heartfelt prayer that the hostages will return home in peace, and that the pain and suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza will come to an end."

The imam stressed that the regional conflict sparked by the Hamas
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
atrocities on October 7, 2023, "is not merely a conflict between Israel and Hamas, nor between Israel and Hezbollah—the so-called ’Party of Satan’."

"It is a confrontation between two fundamentally different worlds," Chalghoumi said. "You represent the world of brotherhood, of humanity, of compassion. You stand for the values of democracy and liberty."

According to another member of the delegation, Noor Dahri, founder and executive director of the UK-based organization Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, Moslem communities in the Western world often struggle to understand the difference between Islam as a religion and Islamism.

"Extremists are more powerful in Western countries than in the Middle East or in Pakistain because, in the Middle East and Pakistain, there are two types of people — Moslems and Islamists — and Moslems know when an organization is an Islamist organization and they either join it or distance themselves from it," Dahri told The Times of Israel.

"In the West, everything is mixed and people do not know how to make the distinction," he said. "For decades, the majority of mosques have been run by Islamist charity organizations, so they managed to establish deep roots in the Moslem communities, and it’s difficult to root out Islamism from Western-world Islam."

For this reason, Dhari said that bringing imams to visit Israel is a very important initiative.

"Since October 7, even those Moslems who were previously supportive of Israel and Israelis either turned their backs or kept silent in fear of their life," he said. "Now, this delegation of imams and religious scholars from different Moslem backgrounds has come to Israel to send one message across the Moslem world — that the Jewish nation is not the enemy of Moslems, that the State of Israel is not against Islam, and we Moslems should not have any enmity toward the Jewish people because they are our cousins, and they are fighting against Islamism."

Link

Europe

France on Edge: Macron Demands "Concrete Solutions" on Islamist Threat

2025-07-08

[JFEED] French President Emmanuel Macron convened a high-level emergency security meeting at the Elysee Palace on Monday to address what he called the ''strategic threat'' of Muslim Brotherhood infiltration into vulnerable neighborhoods across the country.

This marks the second such meeting in recent months, following a similar session in May which, according to Macron, failed to produce meaningful action. Frustrated by the lack of progress, the president demanded that his ministers now present ''concrete proposals'' to curb the spread of Islamist ideology, particularly in impoverished suburbs.

The meeting was initiated by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and attended by top officials including the education and sports ministers. According to government sources, Macron was angered by leaks to the press regarding the classified security report that triggered the meeting. The report detailed what officials are calling a ''quiet ideological takeover'' in certain urban zones, warning that these trends pose a direct risk to the unity of the French Republic.

While Macron stressed that not all Muslims in France should be lumped together, he underlined the need to take ideological subversion seriously. ''There's a difference between legitimate criticism and deliberate blindness,'' he said, cautioning against both panic and complacency.

The political reactions have been deeply divided. Left-wing parties accused Macron of stigmatizing entire communities, warning that his rhetoric could inflame tensions. Meanwhile, the far-right National Rally (RN) party led by Marine Le Pen blasted the government for being too soft, calling for sweeping action, including banning certain Islamic organizations, cutting public funding to religious NGOs, and revoking legal recognition from groups with suspected extremist ties.

Within Macron's inner circle, discussions are underway about forming a dedicated intelligence unit focused exclusively on Islamist activity and possibly establishing a special legal body empowered to take administrative action against radical groups—bypassing slow criminal proceedings.

Reports indicate Macron aims to unveil a clear and assertive policy before the French Parliament reconvenes for its winter session. A formal ban on the Muslim Brotherhood is reportedly under consideration, mirroring similar moves already enacted in Jordan and other countries.

As France grapples with rising extremism, demographic shifts, and growing political polarization, the battle over what defines ''republican values'' may soon become one of the most defining debates of Macron's presidency.

Link

Africa North

Mali junta chief extends army rule by five years, rules out elections

2025-07-05

And everyone was sooooo surprised.

[AFRICANEWS] The bill granting Gen. Assimi Goita an unelected presidential mandate was approved by Mali's transitional parliament on Thursday.

The text of the bill reads that Goita's mandate can be 'renewed as many times as necessary' without elections.

The text got unanimous approval from all 131 members of the transitional assembly present on Thursday.

41-year-old Goita has exercised presidential power since August 2020 when the military overthrew then-President Ibrahim Boubacar Ke ta, blaming him for his handling of a deadly Islamist murderous Moslem insurgency in Mali's north.

Thursday's decision clears Goita to rule Mali at least until 2030.

Mali's junta has resisted regional and international pressure to organize elections, and a return to civilian rule.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

IDF says troops arrested Iranian terror cell in southern Syria

2025-07-03

[IsraelTimes] Israeli troops arrested several members of a terror cell deployed by Iran
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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
in southern Syria in an overnight raid, the military says.

The cell was operating in two locations near the border with Israel and was targeted based on intelligence gathered over recent weeks, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

During the raid, troops from the 474th Golan Regional Brigade, who carried out the raid together with field Sherlocks from Military Intelligence’s Unit 504, also seized weapons, including firearms and grenades.

The IDF says it will continue efforts to thwart the entrenchment of Iranian-linked terror groups in Syria, particularly near the Israeli border.

Israeli troops have been stationed in Syria since the fall of the former Assad regime in December, where they are holding a small buffer zone near the border.

Update from An Nahar at 10:35 a.m. EDT:

Israel's military said on Wednesday its had apprehended members of an Iranian-backed "terrorist cell" in southern Syria, where state TV reported three arrested by Israeli troops.

An Israeli military statement on Wednesday said that in a "targeted night-time" raid, troops "apprehended several terrorists" and seized weapons.

It said the operation targeted "a terrorist cell operated by Iran", Israel's arch-foe against which it had fought an unprecedented 12-day war last month.

Syrian state TV said an Israeli patrol "consisting of eight vehicles and around 40 soldiers arrested three individuals from the village of Al-Bassali" in the Quneitra area of southwest Syria bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported an operation which "resulted in the arrest of three citizens of Palestinian origin".

It said the people were inside a farm "at the time of the raid, without any clashes or intervention by (Syrian) military or security forces in the area".

According to the Observatory, the overnight operation came two months after a relative of the three was arrested and transferred to an Israeli prison.

Since the December overthrow of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes primarily on military sites and sent troops to carry out raids aimed at denying military assets to the Islamist-led interim administration. It has also deployed troops across the demilitarized zone on the Syrian side of the armistice line that used to separate the opposing forces on the Golan, with Israeli troops regularly carrying out raids in southern Syria.

On June 12, Syria said the Israeli military killed one civilian and detained seven people during an overnight incursion, with the Israeli army saying it seized members of Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israel said Monday it was "interested" in striking normalization agreements with Syria and neighboring Lebanon, but insisted the strategic Golan Heights -- which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognized by the United Nations -- would "remain part of" Israel under any peace accord.

Link

Down Under

Australian nurses who said they’d kill Israeli patients handed 2-year ban

2025-07-02

[IsraelTimes] Two Australian nurses who threatened to kill Israeli patients in a viral video earlier this year have been banned for two years from working under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

But not from working as nurses elsewhere in the country? That is only safe if all Australian Jews are medically disabled...

The two had been suspended from work in February after the video first surfaced. They have also been charged with federal offenses and are due to appear in court on July 29.

I suppose if convicted, they won’t be able to work as nurses outside the prison where they’re serving their sentence for the duration.

On February 12, Israeli influencer Max Veifer posted online a video chat he had with a male and a female nurse at a Sydney hospital, identified as Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh.

Mr. Veifer is not the only Israeli dialing random strangers around the world to chat. Several have been appearing regularly in my Facebook Reels feed lately — some even speak Arabic and know the Koran better than their Muslim interlocutors. It’s interesting how many of my very small sample of internet-savvy Millennial and GenZ Muslims are willing to spontaneously tell the world they love Israel and admire the Jews, or at least converse thoughtfully and politely when one appears on their computer screen.

After Veifer told them he was from Israel in the chat, Nadir responded, “I’m so upset that you’re Israeli… eventually you’re going to get killed and go to [hell].”

Abu Lebdeh said she would not treat any Israeli patients and instead would kill them. Nadir, with a threatening gesture, said he had already sent many “Israeli dog[s],” who visited the hospital, to “Jahannam,” the term for Islamic hell in Arabic.

Both were nurses at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney. Mr. Nadir is an Afghan refugee who only became an Australian citizen four years ago; Ms Abu Lebdeh is of Palestinian extraction. They were referred to the police for investigation by shocked hospital management, despite a whistleblower revealing after 10/7/2023 that staff were enthusiastic supporters of egregious anti-Israel slogans.

The video sparked outrage across Australia and the Jewish world after it was released.

It’s made me thoughtful, too…

NDIS provides medical services for Australians with significant and permanent disabilities under 65 years old.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Trump formally lifts sanctions shackling Syria amid hopes for transformed Mideast

2025-07-01

[IsraelTimes] Executive order follows through on May promise to remove restrictions blocking Damascus from global finance, in move that could bolster bid to bring country into Abraham Accords

President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
on Monday formally dismantled US sanctions against Syria, hoping to reintegrate the war-battered country into the global economy as Israel eyes ties with its new leadership.

Trump lifted most sanctions against Syria in May, responding to appeals from 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 ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
after former Islamist guerrilla Ahmed al-Sharaa ended a half-century of rule by the Assad family.

In an executive order, Trump terminated the "national emergency" in place since 2004 that imposed far-reaching sanctions on Syria, affecting most state-run institutions including the central bank.

"This is in an effort to promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told news hounds.

Brad Smith, the Treasury Department official in charge of sanctions, said the move "will end the country’s isolation from the international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce and galvanizing investments from its neighbors in the region as well as from the United States."

The orders still maintain sanctions on elements of the former government, including Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
, who fled to Russia late last year.

Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shibani said the US move marked a "major turning point."

"With the lifting of this major obstacle to economic recovery, the long-awaited doors are opening for reconstruction and development" as are the conditions "for the dignified return of displaced Syrians to their homeland," he wrote on X.

Syria recently carried out its first electronic transfer through the international banking system since around the time it descended into a brutal civil war in 2011.

The United States still classifies Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism, a designation that could take longer to lift and which also severely discourages investment.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
said the State Department would review the listing, along with terror designations on Sharaa and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
, the al-Qaeda offshoot he leads.

TRANSFORMED MIDDLE EAST
Israel kept pounding military sites in its historic adversary after the fall of Assad and initially voiced skepticism over the trajectory of its neighbor under Sharaa, who was formerly linked to an al-Qaeda affiliate.

But Israel said earlier Monday that it was interested in normalizing ties with Syria as well as Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel...
in an expansion of the so-called "Abraham Accords," in what would mark a major transformation of the Middle East.

Iran’s holy manal state’s once-strong influence in Syria and Lebanon has declined sharply under pressure from Israeli military strikes since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
Trump administration officials argued that lifting the sanctions on Syria would better integrate the country into the region and incentivize overtures by Israel.

Israel’s intensive attacks on Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
in June opened a "window that has never existed," said Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey who serves as Trump’s pointman on Syria.

"It’s an opportunity that we have never, ever seen, and this president’s put together a team that can actually get it done," Barrack told news hounds.

Until Trump’s surprise announcement of sanctions relief during a trip to Saudi Arabia, the United States had insisted on progress first in key areas including protection of minorities.

The country has seen a series of major attacks against minorities since the fall of Assad, a largely secular leader from the Alawite minority sect.

At least 25 people were killed and dozens more maimed in a suspected Islamist attack against a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus on June 22.

Link

Iraq

First batch of PKK fighters to disarm soon: Sources

2025-07-01

[Rudaw] The first batch of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters is set to disarm in the Kurdistan Region next month, two well-informed sources said, in a major step towards ending four decades of bloody conflict.

The disarmament process will take place in the Kurdistan Region in the beginning of July to launch the practical steps of implementing the PKK’s decision to dissolve and end its armed struggle against ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
, the informed sources told Rudaw, on the condition of anonymity.

"In the next few days, Abdullah Ocalan, the tossed in the calaboose
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
leader of the PKK, will publish a new message about the process, and after that, the disarmament process will begin," one source said.

The PKK announced its dissolution and an end to its four-decade armed struggle on May 12, responding to a call from Ocalan to end the conflict that has claimed around 40,000 lives and pursue a political and democratic path.

Ankara has welcomed the steps but wants the decision to materialize. The PKK expects democratic steps from Ankara.

The two source said that between July 3 and July 10, a number of PKK fighters - ranging between 20 to 30 - will lay down their arms in a ceremony in Sulaimani province.

"The guerrillas will lay down their weapons in the ceremony and return to where they currently live, meaning they will not return to the cities," a source said.

But despite renewed efforts toward a grinding of the peace processor, Ankara has continued striking suspected PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region. A series of strikes in the vicinity of Duhok province’s Metina Mountain - a conflict hotspot - on Sunday sparked wildfires that have yet to be controlled.

On Saturday, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) told Rudaw that it will soon submit a proposal to the parliament speaker for the formation of a commission to oversee the grinding of the peace processor with the PKK.

DEM Party is the main mediator of the talks, and its delegations have made several visits to Ocalan and relayed his messages.

Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told Rudaw in a recent interview that the commission was initially their idea. He recommended that it include representatives from all 16 political parties in the legislature and be chaired by the parliament speaker.

Zekeriya Yapicoglu, leader of Turkey’s Kurdish Islamist Free Cause Party (Huda Par), told Rudaw earlier in June that he expects the PKK to take "concrete steps" to lay down arms in the summer.

Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted its focus toward achieving broader political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey.

The group has been labeled as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its allies.

Link

Fifth Column

Asra Nomani: How Socialist Muslims pulled off a 20-year takeover of the Democratic Party

2025-06-30

Long, information dense, lots of names to remember and correlate. Here’s a taste:

[FoxNews] The rise of Zohran Mamdani is the product of a strategy partly funded by the House of Soros, uniting socialism (red), political Islam (green), and the Democratic Party (blue)

Many people are wondering how Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old socialist Muslim who wants to defund the police, globalize the intifada, and destroy capitalism, has emerged as the Democratic Party's nominee for New York City mayor, with leaders like former President Bill Clinton fawning over him.

To understand Mamdani’s political ascent, you have to trace the red-green-blue spider’s web that brought him here. This isn’t a complete map — I've written a book, "Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance That Is Undermining America’s Freedom," to document that story — but it is a snapshot of key turning points over two decades of strategy, narrative manipulation, and activist training.

A critical moment traces back to a Friday night in 2008, according to investigative reporting I’ve done at the Pearl Project, a nonprofit journalism initiative. It reveals how socialists (red) and Muslims (green) seized the Democratic Party (blue) over a long 20-year campaign. At 9:28 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2008, former ACLU civil rights lawyer Ann Beeson sent an email to former Clinton administration senior advisor John Podesta.

Beeson was executive director of U.S. Programs at George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, where she said she oversaw $150 million in annual grants to "promote human rights, social justice and accountability nationwide."

In her email, publicly discussed here for the first time, Beeson wrote, "I’m writing to follow up on one topic we discussed — what the incoming Administration could do to address domestic national security policies and practices that unfairly target Muslim, South Asian, and Arab communities in America."

She attached a memo from Farhana Khera, then executive director of Muslim Advocates, a group based in San Francisco, and Aziz Huq, then the director of the "liberty and national security project" at the William J. Brennan Center for Justice, both Open Society "grantees."

As a former Wall Street Journal reporter who has investigated the convergence of radical leftist politics and Muslim political activism for decades, I have followed a paper trail of tax returns, grant lists and confidential memos, and this email represented the culmination of a decades-long ideological drive that began with Muslim international students arriving in the U.S. in the 1960s, not just to study, as my father did at Rutgers University, but to lay the institutional groundwork for political Islam, or Islamism, in the United States. By the 1980s, they had established a strategic base at 500 Grove Street in Herndon, Va., later investigated by the FBI for alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, both groups seeking to destroy Israel and America and build a global caliphate.

The transformation accelerated after December 2005, when Muslim governments convened at an "Extraordinary Islamic Summit" of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. There, they launched a campaign to weaponize the term "Islamophobia" to silence critics of extremist Islam. American Muslim leaders seized the moment to re-engineer the national security narrative, using American philanthropic networks, like the House of Soros, as a Trojan horse to racialize Islam, frame Muslims as the "oppressed" and embed illiberal ideologies within America’s liberal institutions, including the Democratic Party.

By January 2008, with Soros pumping money into Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, his philanthropy staff launched a "National Security and Human Rights Campaign" with D.C.-based Atlantic Philanthropies, committing at least $20 million to "dismantle" Bush-era counterterrorism policies. One grantee, the Proteus Fund, based in Waltham, Mass., ballooned in revenue from $9.5 million in 2008 to $73 million in 2023. Soros dollars flowed to groups including Muslim Advocates, the Brennan Center, the ACLU and many others who set their sights on targets, including the New York Police Department. Today, Mamdani says he wants to "defund the police."

A Pearl Project analysis of 38 documents detailing the operations and funding of the National Security and Human Rights Campaign revealed the coordinated efforts of progressive and Islamist activists to reframe post-9/11 narratives. The aim: clear the path for red-green candidates like Mamdani.

Muslim Advocates grew nearly 10-fold, from $76,331.03 in annual revenues in 2005 to $992,892 in 2023. The Brennan Center’s revenue exploded from $6.6 million to $57.9 million during the same period.

Soros soon funded a new "Security and Rights Collaborative" at Proteus Fund to "restore civil liberties and human rights lost in the name of the ‘war on terror.’" Headquartered in a one‑story building off Research Drive in Amherst, Mass., the new "collaborative" was run by Shireen Zaman, a Muslim activist previously at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a Washington, D.C., group tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. Their focus: America’s "Muslim, Arab and South Asian community," called "MASA." Zaman now works at the Ford Foundation.

Their strategy went beyond policy to narrative warfare.

Starting in late 2008, Soros pumped some $20 million into a "fieldwide communications hub" to arm Muslim groups and leftist media allies with messaging tools. The recipient: ReThink Media, a nonprofit in Berkeley, Calif., co-founded by "progressive" political operatives Peter Ferenbach and Lynn Fahselt, then a consultant to Democratic donors, including Open Society, Proteus Fund, Ploughshares Fund, Carnegie Corporation, Piper Fund, Atlantic Philanthropies, and others "progressive" donors that have since pumped money into ReThink Media.

ReThink Media became the loudspeaker for the red and the green. Last year, Proteus Fund paid ReThink Media $643,000 as a "communications consultant." Soros also backed Media Matters, run by ex-conservative-turned-Democrat David Brock, to shape media narratives about Muslims attacked by Republicans.

Over the years, ReThink Media has hired and trained alumni of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, including staffers Zainab Chaudary and Corey Saylor, to promote an "echo chamber" for liberal groups. One narrative: Muslims were under attack in the West, and the Democratic Party would defend Muslims.

This storyline took hold in the post-Obama political landscape.

In late 2010, Open Society staffers in Beeson’s U.S. Programs division distributed an internal memo, "Extreme Polarization and Breakdown in Civic Discourse," announcing they were giving Podesta’s Center for American Progress $200,000 for a new "Examining Anti-Muslim Bigotry Project" that would "document structures underlying the Islamophobia movement."

The memo detailed plans to do "opposition research" on groups like the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Middle East Forum, which track Islamic extremism.

The project description noted that "progressives were caught off guard" earlier that year when New York City residents opposed the building of a "Ground Zero mosque" near the site of the former World Trade Center.

"Progressives" were in "urgent need of high-quality opposition research so that they can switch from playing defense to develop a proactive strategic plan to counter anti-Muslim xenophobia and to promote tolerance," protecting "progressive counter-terrorism policies," they wrote.

Related by Daniel Greenfield:

Only 5% of New Yorkers Voted for Mamdani

Who are those 5%? They aren’t New Yorkers because polls showed us Mamdani performing poorly with anyone over 50, with African-American, Latino and working class white voters. What’s left? White hipsters and Muslim immigrants.

Link

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