Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Malala urges Pakistan, India to prioritise peace, protection of civilians

2025-05-08

[GEO.TV] Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called for calm and dialogue as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following cross-border military strikes.

In a video statement shared on social media, Malala said hatred and violence should be recognised as the "common enemies" of both countries. She also urged leaders on both sides to prioritise peace and the protection of civilians, especially children.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ahmed al-Sharaa said to seek peace with Israel, eyes Syrian entry to Abraham Accords

2025-04-25

[IsraelTimes] In desperate push for removal of US sanctions, Islamist leader tells American lawmaker Syria wants to normalize ties with Jerusalem ‘under the right conditions’

New Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that Damascus seeks to normalize ties with Israel, US Congressman Cory Mills

…(R-Florida), 82nd Airborne sergeant — Yugoslavia and Iraq, business owner …

told Bloomberg on Thursday after a meeting with him last week in Syria.

Mills said he held talks with Sharaa about the conditions for removing US-imposed economic sanctions, as well as the possibility of peace with Israel, according to the report.

Sharaa told Mills during their meeting that Syria is interested "under the right conditions" in joining the Abraham Accords — the series of normalization agreements that US President Donald Trump
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
’s previous administration negotiated between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

According to Mills, Sharaa is also open to clarifying how he plans to address the presence of imported muscle still operating in Syria and offer guarantees to Israel, which remains deeply distrustful of the Syrian leader and opposes any easing of sanctions.

Syria’s new Islamist-led leadership has pushed for the US and Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
to fully lift sanctions so the country can kickstart an economy decimated by more than a decade of civil war.

Mills, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, and US Congressman Marlin Stutzman

…(R), farmer, business owner….

of Indiana, both landed in Damascus on Friday to meet Syrian officials, the first visit by American politicians to the war-ravaged country since Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
was ousted from power by an Islamist-led rebel offensive in December.

Mills met with Sharaa, who is still under US and UN sanctions for his previous ties to al-Qaeda, on Friday night, during which the two discussed the US sanctions and 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...
for some 90 minutes.

Mills told Bloomberg that he will bring Trump a letter from Sharaa, without providing details on its contents, and that he will brief the US president and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz after his trip.

"I am cautiously optimistic and look to maintain open dialogue," Mills said.

Mills and Stutzman, both members of Trump’s Republican party, toured parts of the Syrian capital destroyed by the war, met with Christian religious leaders, and said they planned to meet other Syrian government ministers.

"There’s an opportunity here — these opportunities come around once in a lifetime," Stutzman told Rooters. "I don’t want Syria pushed into the arms of China, or back into the arms of Russia and Iran."

Last month, the US gave Syria a list of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief — including removing imported muscle from leadership roles — but the Trump administration has otherwise engaged little with the new rulers.

Stutzman said Syrians in Damascus spoke to him about Israel’s strikes on the country, which have targeted military sites in the south as well as around the capital. Israel has also sent ground troops into a buffer zone in southern Syria and has repeatedly expressed its distrust of Sharaa.

"My hope is that a strong government is established in Syria that is supportive of the people of Syria, and the people of Syria support the government — and that the relationship between Israel and Syria can be a strong relationship. I think that’s possible, honestly, I do," Stuzman said.

Among the conditions placed by the US to remove its sanctions on Syria is the destruction of any remaining 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...
stores and cooperation on counter-terrorism, sources told Rooters last month.

In return for fulfilling all the demands, Washington would provide some sanctions relief, sources said. One specific action would be a two-year extension of an existing exemption for transactions with Syrian governing institutions and possibly the issuance of another exemption.

The US would also issue a statement supporting Syria’s territorial integrity, reported Rooters, adding that Washington did not provide a specific timeline for the conditions to be fulfilled.

SYRIA’S AIMS AND ISRAEL’S MISTRUST
In a past interview with The Economist in February, Sharaa explicitly said he doesn’t rule out regional normalization, but noted that accomplishing it with Israel is complex.

When asked if he could establish ties with Israel as part of a broad peace deal in the Middle East, Sharaa said his country "want[s] peace with all parties, but there is great sensitivity regarding the Israeli matter in the region."

He named the three major wars fought between Israel and Syria, and Israel’s control over the captured Golan Heights since 1967, as complicating issues.

Israel has since annexed the portion of the Golan Heights that it captured in 1967, and the move was recognized by Trump in his last term. However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
it has not been recognized by the rest of the international community.

"We entered Damascus only two months ago, and there are many priorities in front of us, so it is too early to discuss such a matter because it requires a wide public opinion. It also requires a lot of procedures and laws in order to discuss it, and to be honest, we have not considered it yet," Sharaa said at the time.

The report on Sharaa’s desire to join the Abraham Accords is not surprising, said Carmit Valensi, senior researcher on Syria and head of the northern arena program at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).

"Al-Sharaa has made several comments in recent months expressing an interest in peace with their [Syria’s] neighbors and saying they have no desire to enter into conflict with Israel," she told The Times of Israel.

Valensi acknowledged "the restrained and cautious policy" Sharaa has adopted toward Jerusalem, saying how "Despite the IDF’s presence in Syrian territory, despite the intense ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s and Israel’s demand to demilitarize southern Syria, [Syrian leaders] have not tried to act against or challenge Israel—in fact, they’ve generally maintained moderate rhetoric toward it."

A day after the fall of the Assad regime, Israel sent its troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights, where it now maintains a military presence. The IDF has described its presence in southern Syria’s buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure, though Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed in the area "indefinitely."

Israel has repeatedly declared its mistrust 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...
, the Islamist faction headed by Sharaa that toppled Assad and emerged from a group that was affiliated with al-Qaeda until it cut ties in 2016. Israel has also expressed its intention to prevent Syria from falling into the hands of any hostile regime.

Israeli and Ottoman Turkish delegations met in Azerbaijan earlier this month for Syria deconfliction talks aimed at preventing unwanted incidents as both countries’ militaries operate in the country.

Last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rebuked Sharaa and called for international condemnation of the actions of Syria’s new rulers, after reports that over a thousand civilians were massacred in the country’s Alawite heartland.

"They were jihadists and remain jihadists, even if some of their leaders have donned suits," said Sa’ar, referring to Sharaa.

TRUMP’S AMBITIONS AND THE "RIGHT CONDITIONS"
Trump vowed in March that more countries would be added to the Abraham Accords, speaking to news hounds at a cabinet meeting at the White House.

US Vice President JD Vance added that with the return of Trump to the White House, they are being tasked with "building out the Abraham Accords, adding new countries to it," and that while it’s "early, we’ve made a lot of progress."

Trump reiterated this on Thursday.

Asked whether he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump responded, "Maybe for the Abraham Accords."

Speaking to news hounds in the Oval Office, the American leader reiterated his claim that additional countries will normalize relations with Israel through brokering from the US. "We are going to be filling it up very rapidly... A lot of countries want to come into the Abraham Accords," he said.

"There’s no doubt that it takes a fair amount of courage to make such a statement," said Valensi about Sharaa’s expression of interest in normalizing ties with Israel.

"Sharaa is already facing serious criticism over the moderation process he’s undergoing, and that criticism is only going to intensify now. The question is the second part of the sentence: what does he consider the ’right conditions’? That’s what we’ll need to find out."

"I think it will be easier for [Syria] to move [toward normalization with Israel] if there’s also progress 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...
, so the move would be perceived as part of a regional trend," Valensi continued.

"As for the conditions, they could range from a minimal demand for troop withdrawal and a halt to attacks, to more strategic demands regarding the future of the Golan Heights—an Israeli withdrawal, or at the very least, a declaration of it as a demilitarized zone or under joint control."

In a sign that Sharaa was moving beyond talk, Paleostinian media reported Tuesday that the new Syrian regime arrested Khaled Khaled, in charge of the Syrian arena in the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
terror organization, and Abu Ali Yasser, responsible for the organization’s executive committee in Syria, though there was no official confirmation from Syrian authorities on the matter.

In an official statement, the PIJ said they were arrested in a manner "they wouldn’t expect" from Syria.

Link

India-Pakistan

Malala urges world to hold Taliban accountable for ''apartheid against women''

2025-01-13

[GEO.TV] Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai

...a Pashtun blogger and advocate for girls' education from Mingora, in Swat. She is esteemed as an ambassador of international good will, even though she can't go home lest some fellow in a turban shoots her in the head again...
has called on the international community to tackle the global crisis of girls' education, emphasising the vital role educated women play in building a thriving society.

"We should begin by recognising what we are up against, a crisis that holds our economy back by hundreds of billions in lost growth, a crisis harming the health, safety and security of our people," Malala said while speaking on the second day of "International Conference on Girls' Education in Moslem Communities: Challenges and Opportunities" on Sunday.

The federal capital hosted the two-day conference that brought together global experts, educators to address issues surrounding girls' education in Moslem countries.

Pakistain faces its own severe education crisis, with more than 22 million children out of school, according to government figures, one of the highest numbers in the world.

Malala stressed "if we don't tackle this crisis, our society will not thrive as it should".

"We will fail to live up to Islam's fundamental values of seeking knowledge."

This conference, she said, is an encouraging first step. "But we can only have an honest and serious conversation about girls' educations, if we call out the worst violations of it."

The event was snubbed by Afghanistan's Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
government, as Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told AFP that Islamabad had extended an invitation to Kabul, "but no one from the Afghan government was at the conference".

Since returning to power in 2021, the Afghan Taliban government has imposed an austere version of religious law that the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
has called "gender apartheid".

Their curbs have shut women and girls out of secondary school and university education, as well as many government jobs, and seen them sequestered out of many aspects of public life.

Muhammad Al Issa, a Saudi holy man and secretary general of the Moslem World League — which has backed the summit — said "religion is no grounds for blocking girls from school".

Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber...
Pakistain is facing its own severe education crisis, with more than 22 million children out of school, according to government figures, one of the highest numbers in the world.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel set to pass bills shutting down UNRWA despite int'l pressure

2024-10-28

[Jpost] The Knesset is set to pass two bills on Monday that would shut down the United Nations Relief and Works Agency operations in east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank within 90 days, despite a massive international pressure campaign against such a step.

A source in the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that the bills were expected to pass.

Foreign Ministers from Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement expressing their "grave concern" over the shutdown, particularly in light of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza due to the war.
As long as UNRWA exists, the only solution to the "Palestinian Problem" is the destruction of Israel - in your dreams, Amalek!

Link

International-UN-NGOs

Anger over UNRWA's nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

2024-10-11

Nominating is easy. Wasn’t Donald Trump nominated each year he was president?
[Telegraph] The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which was implicated in the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, was reportedly in the running for a Nobel Peace Prize, sparking backlash from Israeli and Jewish groups...

It’s a calculated insult.
Update from the Times of Israel at 3:30 p.m.ET

Japan’s Nihon Hidankyo group wins Nobel Peace Prize for work against nuclear weapons

Link

Bangladesh

No elections before reforms in Bangladesh: Muhammad Yunus

2024-10-09

[GEO.TV] In a major development, Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus has refused to give a timeframe for elections before electoral reforms in the country.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was appointed the country's "chief advisor" after the student-led uprising that toppled ex-premier ~~the loathesome~~ Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and now exiled former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She was President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia showed such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums. That is probably because Khaleda's late husband was the Pak tool who had Mujib assassinated...
in August.

The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer is helming a temporary administration, to tackle what he has called the "extremely tough" challenge of restoring democratic institutions.

"None of us are aiming at staying for a prolonged time," Yunus said of his caretaker government, in an interview published by the Prothom Alo newspaper.

"Reforms are pivotal," he added. "If you say, hold the election, we are ready to hold the election. But it would be wrong to hold the election first."

Hasina's 15-year rule saw widespread human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

More than 600 people were killed in the weeks leading up to her ouster, according to a preliminary United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
report which said the figure was likely an underestimate.

Her government was also accused of politicising courts and the civil service, as well as staging lopsided elections, to dismantle democratic checks on its power.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

When the world presses for a Mideast ceasefire, it means Israel Is crushing evil

2024-10-02

[IsraelNationalNews] The world loves dead Jews. They all come to Yad Vashem to shed a tear and lay a wreath in the same way that they travel elsewhere to see a leaning tower, a statue with a torch, a coliseum, and a large clock that plays the opening melody in "Peter Pan." They love dead Jews. They remember them, memorialize them.

And their beautiful thing is that most of them don’t even have to come to Jerusalem to lay wreaths and shed tears for dead Jews because they already have murdered so many Jews themselves, for centuries, that they can save the airfare and lay wreaths and shed tears at one or another Jewish cemetery or Holocaust museum in their own backyards or along the Rhine or Seine.

The world has less patience for live Jews. They mask their words, and most Jews are too oblivious to realize that many of their "friends" actually despise them. So many Jews buy the baloney. In a world of diplomacy, sensible people simply do not say "I hate you people and want you all dead." They are more elegant and speak in subtleties that only skilled and trained interpreters and translators can help other Jews better understand.

When a British person wants to say "car trunk," he says "boot." When he wants to say "elevator," he says "lift." When he wants to say "truck," he says "lorry." See? It’s that way.

When a New Yorker says "Your mother," he is meaning "I respectfully disagree with you." A Texan says it differently:"That dog won’t hunt." When an Israeli says "Al lo davar" (eh, it’s nothing, really!), he is saying "One day, you will make it up to me."

And when a non-Jew wants to see Jews dead, or — at best — does not care one way or another, he says: "It’s time for Israel to enter into a CEASEFIRE."

Read old newspapers. View old videos. In all of recorded history, no non-Jew ever asked Jews or their antagonists to enter into a ceasefire when Jews were losing. Never happened. Not during the Holocaust. Not during any of Israel’s wars. Not when Jewish kids get pummeled and abused at American colleges. When Jews are losing, everyone turns the other way. Many are happy and want the Jews dead. Many others — not just a few, but many others, good people — feel bad for the Jews, pray to their gods for the Jews, and even teach their kids that it is wrong to beat up and murder Jews because Jews are kind-of similar to everyone else.

But when Jews are winning, as when Israel’s Irgun, Lechi, and Haganah — ultimately the Palmach and Tzahal (IDF) — emerged capable of kicking out the British and then defeating the seven invading Arab armies, it was then that the United Nations sent Count Folke Bernadotte to bring about a CEASEFIRE. He came with a beautiful plan: the Arabs would get almost everything except for two Jews’ backyards, a patio, and some sand. Haifa port would be internationalized. Also Lod airport. Also Jerusalem — all of it. After a brief interregnum, it would be a matter of international oversight as to whether any more Jews even could enter the country any more. In other words, Jerusalem, Haifa port, and the international airport at Lod would end up under Arab sovereignty, with a ban on future Jewish immigration even into the truncated Jewish section.

All he wanted was a CEASEFIRE. The Lechi did not agree. So they did not cease firing — and, G-d bless the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir and his men — on him. That problem solved.

By 1967, it was war again. Early word was that Gamal Abdel Nasser and his Egyptian air force were destroying Israel from one side while Syria was massacring Jews from the north. The news of the slaughter was so enticing that King Hussein of Jordan came in for the ride. In New York, the United Nations knew only what the Arabs were proclaiming to the media.

Only Chaim Herzog, then Israel’s U.N. ambassador, knew the Arab governments all were lying, as they always do. (Remember the denials recently, assertions that Mohammed Deif had not been eliminated? And that Haniyah had not been in the house? Or that Nasrallah survived? They always lie until they can’t hide it anymore.) So Ambassador (later President) Herzog kept the actual truth of Israel’s stunning successes on the ground a secret at the U.N., a task particularly easy to perform.

Why? Because Israel knew the U.N. would not call for a ceasefire as long as they believed the Arabs were driving the Jews into the Sea. And Israel wanted extra time to keep winning, to keep driving the Arabs back, and to emerge (despite the perpetually politically cowardly Dayan) with all of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the Golan and the Sinai and Gaza. Indeed, the moment "the cat was let out of the bag," and the world realized that Israel was winning and had reached Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount), the Security Council raced to demand a... CEASEFIRE.

The same in 1973. Remember? It seemed Sadat had taken Israel by surprise on Yom Kippur and was marching on Jerusalem, while Syria was racing to Jerusalem from the north, and brave Dayan was experiencing a nervous breakdown and Golda Meir was pocketing her cyanide tablets. Remember? No one called for a ceasefire then.

But, then, Ariel Sharon — when he was a national military hero, before he became a corrupted politician — built that pontoon bridgehead across the Suez, and started threatening to march toward Cairo, and Israel suddenly had Egypt’s Third Army totally surrounded for slaughter. Remember? Suddenly, Kissinger — the Bernie Sanders of his day, other side of the political aisle but same kind of Jew, brother of another mother — was there demanding a CEASEFIRE. Rescue the Egyptian Third Army to kill the Jews another day and lay the groundwork for giving Sadat (i) the Etzion air base, (ii) the Alma oil fields, (iii) the Abu Rudeis oil fields, and all the rest of Sinai.

And so it is, and so it was, and so it will be. Half a century later, Yair Lapid, a talk show host without a high school degree, was giving precious Israeli gas resources and territory to the, uh, late Hassan Nasrallah. (Assistedy by Naftali Bennett.)

When Macron or England’s Keir Starmer or David Cameron or America’s Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or Rashida Tlaib calls for a CEASEFIRE, they are not jockeying for a Nobel Peace Prize. Rather, they are sounding the clarion call, the shofar sound to the world: "The Jews are winning! We have to stop them! CEASEFIRE!"

Link

Home Front: WoT

Yazidis build new Shingal in America's Midwest

2024-09-29

Long. But happy human interest.

[Rudaw] Shahab Bashar spends hours every day working on a 12-acre farm in Lincoln, Nebraska where he improves his English and plants the vegetables that he grew up eating in his hometown of Shingal. He is one of thousands of Yazidis who are calling the American city home. They are establishing a new Yazidi heartland in the heart of middle America.

Bashar had to flee his Shingal home in northwestern Iraq a decade ago in the face of 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....
(ISIS) assault. Despite the eventual liberation of the district, he could not see a stable future there and chose Lincoln as a more fertile land to plant the seed of hope.

He used to work as a translator for the United States army and then as a teacher before the brutal ISIS attack in 2014.

"Before ISIS came, I had a stable life, working at a laboratory and teaching at a school close to my home," Bashar reminisced with deep sorrow in his voice. "We enjoyed our lives."

Like many others fleeing the radical group, he spent a week on top of the nearby Mount Shingal, suffering under the intense August sun with limited food and water and the constant fear of ISIS. He then lived in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Sulaimani province until returning to Shingal in 2016.

Bashar tried to resume his life as a school teacher. He received funds from various non-governmental organizations to run the school and tried to start a new life in his hometown.

"I opened the school and started from scratch," Bashar recounted.

But Shingal was not the same. The infrastructure was in ruins, various gangs were moving in, and most of the Yazidi population had not returned. Restoring the normality that he knew before ISIS was inconceivable.

ISIS committed genocide in Shingal. The terror group kidnapped 6,417 women and kiddies, forcing a large number of them into sexual slavery and labor. So far, 3,581 have been rescued, Hussein Qaidi, head of the Office for Rescuing Abducted Yazidis, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Region Presidency, told Rudaw in August.

According to unofficial figures from Qaidi, between 120,000 and 130,000 Yazidis have left Iraq since ISIS swept through Shingal. Iraq has failed to provide the community with protection and prosperity and a huge number of Yazidis no longer consider the country home.

Bashar had been reluctant to make such a life-changing move, but finally decided that his best chance of creating a home again lay outside of the country.

The journey in pursuit of a better life was somewhat easier for those who had worked with the US army during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and for those sponsored by European countries, but many Yazidis had to take irregular routes, putting their fate at the mercy of the waves of the sea and snow-covered forests in search for a better life.

Lincoln, Nebraska, already home to thousands of Yazidis, became the favorite choice for those who used to work for the American army and were fleeing ISIS atrocities. Bashar was one of them.

He arrived in Lincoln along with his wife and daughter in 2017. The couple had two more daughters born in the US. In 2018, he joined Community Crops, a non-profit organization that supports local agriculture. He began working as a translator but soon found an unexpected love for farming. Today, he is responsible for 12 acres of farmland, in addition to providing translation services for Yazidi farmers.

"When I first came here, it was really difficult as I could not speak good English and I had to work at a factory for three to four months and also worked at markets," Bashar said, stating that the Yazidi Cultural Center helped him improve his English and join Community Crops.

"I joined this job to improve my English. Then I started to love nature and soil and wanted to help my community to find the right seeds of vegetables we could not find in USA markets," he told Rudaw English.

In addition to wanting to grow the familiar vegetables that are part of the northern Iraqi diet, Bashar wished that Nebraska’s plains had mountains like Shingal.

Bashar’s success story has been widely featured in US media. He has given many interviews about the tragedy he witnessed in Shingal and the start of a new life in Lincoln.

"We are a small Shingal here. We are building it and we have our freedom to talk and work and feel we are not second class, we feel we are home," he said.

Lincoln is home to the largest community of Yazidis in the US, numbering about 3,500, according to unofficial figures Rudaw English obtained from the Yazidi Cultural Center - the most prominent Yazidi center helping im~~migrants~~ colonists start new lives in the US and integrate into the American community. The center is affiliated with the non-profit organization Yazda.

Ahmed Mastto, the director of the center, told Rudaw English that they offer Yazidis translation services and help them find jobs. The American government has been financially supporting the center since its establishment in 2017.

Bashar also works as a translator at the center.

The first Yazidi family is believed to have moved to the city in the late nineties. They faced many challenges, primarily when learning English and finding jobs. Those who fled ISIS atrocities struggled with the additional challenge of overcoming the trauma they experienced.

Mastto was in the town of Khanasor, on the north side of Mount Shingal, when ISIS attacked. He was displaced to a camp in Duhok’s Zakho district before moving to the US along with his wife and four children in 2016. Working as a translator for the US army in 2004 paved his path of immigration to Nebraska.

His aunt and her family were kidnapped by ISIS. She was able to escape, but her husband and their son remain missing.

Asked why he chose to live in Lincoln, Mastto replied, "because the largest Yazidi community is here and we practice our religion freely and we do whatever we did back in Shingal."

He said Yazidis are also treated with a lot of respect by the local community.

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird told Rudaw English that they are "proud" to host the largest Yazidi community in the US.

"In Lincoln, Nebraska, we are proud to be home to the largest community of Yazidi refugees in the United States. Through years of collaborative efforts by local organizations and individuals, we have created strategies to ensure that refugees are fully included in our community's economic, social, civic, and cultural life," she said.

"We believe that, by fostering a welcoming and inclusive community, we create new opportunities for everyone in our capital city," added the mayor.

She visited Bashar and other Yazidi farmers in 2021.

Community Crops has helped Yazidis wanting to farm.

"Our nonprofit program has worked with New American families from all over the world in our garden program for many years. Many Yazidi were gardeners with us. As they asked for more and more land and we learned more about their backgrounds, we realized this community had many experienced farmers that might want to create new farm businesses here in Nebraska. From this, the Yazidi Farmers Project was born," Megan McGuffey, Community Crops program coordinator, told Rudaw English.

Bashar has been working with them as a translator and interpreter since the early days of the project. It was through this program that he and his wife decided to become farmers.

Bashar has become "an integral part" of the organization, McGuffey said.

About ten Yazidis have participated in the Yazidi Farmers Project over several years.

Bashar said farmers from Shingal grow vegetables in large quantities, including several types of produce that are new to Lincoln markets such as varieties of pepper, eggplant, and cutting celery.

"We are trying to help farmers to sell their vegetables through Yazidi markets or Arab markets. We are building our relationship to sell to other American markets too," he said.

McGuffey said that although farming requires extremely hard work and marketing the products is a challenge, Yazidi farmers have "shown real resilience in pursuing their farm business dreams."

Some of the Yazidis, who used to farm on Mount Shingal before the ISIS attack, have transferred their experience to Lincoln.

"The knowledge and skill of the Yazidi farmers we work with is impressive. They are constantly experimenting to improve their farms and are always willing to learn new skills and ideas to improve their farm businesses," McGuffey said, adding that a "bright" future awaits them.

Murad Ismail, a prominent Yazidi activist, told Rudaw English that the United States is one of the most hospitable countries and that American people respect Yazidi faith and culture, "something we lacked in our environment back home."

He recently visited Bashar and other Yazidi farmers and was impressed by their work. He explained why most Yazidis prefer Lincoln to other American cities.

"The main reason people settled here is that when the first group of Yazidis came in the '90s, they were Yazidi Iraqis who became refugees in Syria. A group of them settled in Lincoln randomly by the resettlement agency; others were sent to other states, but the Lincoln group became a kind of attraction for them. Lincoln makes sense as it is a small town, easier to live in than big cities, and it's economically doing well too. When new Yazidis arrived after 2007, it was natural for them to come to Lincoln because a large community was already here," he stated.

He explained that preservation of the Yazidi culture and faith is one of the advantages of living where there is an existing community.

"There are weddings here every month, Yazidis have a cemetery where they bury their dead, and people come together all the time. In many ways, they have recreated the life they once had," said Ismail, who co-founded Yazda.

There are challenges as well, he noted, including how much Yazidis can integrate into American society and accept American norms.

Khalida Shamo was only a baby when ISIS attacked her home in Shingal. Her family fled and moved to Nebraska when she turned four.

Now 16, Shamo told Nebraska Public Media on the tenth anniversary of the genocide that she teaches her school peers about the massacre.

"It was really scary. Even though it didn’t impact me directly, it still did because it was my family... It’s hard hearing your grandma cry over the phone because she doesn’t want to leave the place that she grew up in," she said.

Her grandmother finally joined them in the US, but her grandfather chose to stay in Shingal.

Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US State Department, said on the tenth anniversary of the genocide on August 3 that the survivors "bear the painful scars" of that catastrophic day.

"We urge continued implementation of the Yezidi Survivors’ Law and full application of the security, reconstruction, and administrative provisions of the 2020 Sinjar Agreement, in consultation with the communities that call Sinjar home," he said in a statement.

Iraq’s parliament passed the Yazidi Survivors Bill in 2021, after it languished in the legislature for two years. It offers reparations to the survivors of ISIS, but implementation has been criticized as flawed.

"Implementation of the law will need to be focused comprehensively supporting & sustainably reintegrating survivors," Nadia Murad, one of the survivors of the genocide said in a post on X (then Twitter). She is a prominent Yazidi activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The 2020 agreement Miller referred to was signed between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in a bid to normalize the situation in Shingal, especially its security. Both sides have accused the other of not implementing it.

The presence of several gangs, including ones linked to Baghdad and Erbil, has hindered efforts to restore life in the town, making many Yazidis sheltering in the Kurdistan Region reluctant to return to their homes, despite pressure from the Iraqi government.

Bashar still considers Shingal his home, but does not plan to return.

"I see Lincoln as my second home after Shingal," he said, adding that he prefers living in Lincoln. "I have a normal life now."

He hopes for better lives for his relatives who have chosen to remain in Shingal or have not yet had a chance to leave.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Biden's failure to secure an Israel-Hamas ceasefire is good news for the entire world: here's why

2024-09-22

[NY Post] Michael Goodwin Op-Ed
The good news trickled out quietly, and despite the huge significance, is not getting the attention it deserves.

The White House now believes it won’t get a cease-fire deal in Gaza before Joe Biden leaves office.

"No deal is imminent," a US official told The Wall Street Journal.

"I’m not sure it ever gets done."

Hold the tears — cue the celebrations.

No deal is the best deal available.

Israel and the entire civilized world are saved from the awful consequences of an American bid to appease evil in the name of peace.

And politics.

For months, Biden and Kamala Harris have tried to force Israel to accept fatally flawed terms with Hamas in Gaza and, by extension, Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Democrats are motivated by fear that anti-Israel voters in the upper Midwest, especially Muslim Americans in Michigan, will abandon the party.

The result has been a relentless pressure campaign against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, complete with attempts to undermine him politically at home and hamper Israel’s military by withholding munitions.

Recall that Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat in on cabinet meetings to dictate which targets Israel could attack.

The disgraceful effort, which included following the same playbook as anti-Israel mobs at the United Nations, prolonged the war and gave Hamas incentives to hold out for better deals.

EMBOLDENING HAMAS
Although some details remain unknown, the US was pushing for Israel to get back the remaining hostages abducted during the horrors of Oct. 7, some of them American citizens.

In exchange, it would release thousands of Palestinians arrested on terrorism charges.

Even worse, Hamas would have survived in some capacity, letting its leaders again plunder international aid, gain government control in Gaza and attack Israel again.

Even as Hamas kept upping its demands, Washington kept the heat on Israel.

Finally, Netanyahu spoke in the only language terrorists understand.

He rejected the Biden-Harris demand to halt Israel’s ground operation in Gaza and green-lighted last week’s sensational beepers-go-boom operation in Beirut.

Like a story line from "Fauda," the hit streaming series about Israeli secret agents, disrupting Hezbollah’s communications delivered a psychological blow in addition to killing scores of fighters and injuring several thousand others.

Netanyahu followed with attacks on Hezbollah rocket launching sites and the targeted killing of one of the group’s top leaders.

Given that the leader, Ibrahim Aqil, was a US-designated terrorist linked to the 1983 bombings of our Marines barracks and embassy in Beirut that killed nearly 400 people, most of them US citizens, the White House should be celebrating.

Aqil had a $7 million American bounty on his head, and if Biden had any sense, he would send the check to Israel with a big thank you.

Instead, watch for long faces in the Harris campaign now that it’s clear she won’t get the Michigan political benefit of a pre-election cease-fire.

Shattered, too, is Biden’s fantasy of getting a Nobel Peace Prize for forging a deal on a Palestinian state.

The weakest link in the offers the White House pushed was that Iran’s malignant role would have remained intact.

It finances and directs Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen, yet its money and vow to eliminate Israel were virtually ignored in the talks.

OCT. 7 REALITY CHECK
No prime minister of Israel could accept that fact given Oct. 7 and the displacement of 60,000 Israelis in the north by Hezbollah shelling.

For the same reasons, a separate Palestinian state is a pipe dream.

Palestinians used their self-rule to turn Gaza into a terror state, and Israel would be suicidal to believe an Arab state that included the much-larger West Bank would be a peace-loving neighbor.

Indeed, the significance of Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah, which includes moving ground forces north, is the message that it will no longer tolerate the daily tit-for-tat exchange of fire.

By one count, Hezbollah has fired some 7,500 rockets at Israel since October, making much of northern Israel uninhabitable.

Unfortunately, giving Iran a pass has become routine during the Biden-Harris term.

Copying the delusions of the Obama-Biden administration, the White House still harbors fantasies that the mad mullahs can be coaxed into playing a constructive role on the global stage.

The facts prove otherwise.

In recent years, Iran has helped Syrian butcher Bashar al-Assad kill his own people and, through Hezbollah, taken over much of Lebanon.

It is supplying arms to Russia, including short-range ballistic missiles for use against Ukraine.

Yet Biden still acts as if Iran is not central to the coordinated attacks on Israel.

Since taking office, he and Harris have lifted sanctions on oil sales, yielding Tehran hundreds of billions of dollars, much of which goes to funding its terror proxies.

The White House also paid $6 billion for the release of five American hostages, and released five Iranian prisoners in a deal widely seen as rewarding the hostage takers.

Iran has also plotted to assassinate Trump and several of his foreign policy aides, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the FBI says.

The mullahs also hacked Trump’s campaign website and sent the contents to the Harris campaign, officials say.

That’s obvious election interference and illustrates that Iran wants Harris to win.

The reasons are obvious: Its leaders view Dems as a soft touch and believe their aim to wipe Israel off the map will make more progress under a Harris administration.

Trump has been saying as much, including in a speech last week where he warned: "If I don’t win, I believe Israel will be eradicated."

It seems like eons ago that his administration countered Iran’s export of terrorism by droning Quds force general Qasem Soleimani.

He also moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, making him enormously popular in the Jewish state.
Trump’s Mideast hope

The historic breakthrough of the Abraham Accords likely would have expanded to include Saudi Arabia had Trump been re-elected.

But the Saudis now say a Palestinian state is required before they recognize Israel, which could be a roadblock to more normalizations.

Meanwhile, Trump has made some cringe-worthy statements about American Jews and their support for Dems.

Because of Biden’s terrible Mideast policies, Trump has accused Jewish Dems of being disloyal to Israel, which is an odd charge given that antisemites often accuse Jews of being loyal only to Israel.

Then last week, after promising to be the best friend American Jews have ever had in the White House, Trump added that if he loses, "Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss."

Ironically, he said that at an event billed as "Fighting Antisemitism in America," leading to complaints he was actually stoking antisemitism with talk of blame and disloyalty.

The crude remark suggests a good rule of thumb for voters this year: Judge the candidates by what they have done, not what they say.

Link

Africa Horn

Ethiopian troops take control of airports in Somalia

2024-09-12

[Garowe] Members of the Æthiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) have reportedly taken over airports in western parts of Somalia, a move that could trigger diplomatic fallout and possible war within the Horn of Africa region.

For eight months, Somalia and Æthiopia have been at loggerheads after the latter signed an agreement with Somaliland

...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells....
, a breakaway region of Somalia, which gives it access to 20 kilometers of the Red Sea in exchange for recognition as a sovereign state.

But Somalia has strongly objected to the move, accusing Æthiopia of violation of international laws, illusory sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The matter is still pending with Somalia rejecting Ottoman Turkish-led mediation efforts, which are yet to materialize.

And on Monday, reports emerged that Æthiopian troops had reportedly taken control of all airports in the Gedo region of Somalia. Gedo region is mostly manned by Æthiopian troops working in the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).

Some of the affected airports include the strategic Luuq, Doolow, Bardere, and Garbaharey. The airports are important to the members of the diplomatic Corps, the humanitarian teams, and members of the public who prefer air transport.

This comes as Egypt is set to deploy troops to the border regions, raising tension within the Horn of Africa nation. Somalia had sought help from Egypt, which is also at loggerheads with Æthiopia over the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Over the weekend, Æthiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said "We have no desire for conflict or war". Ahmed is a Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2019 but his credentials have been suspect lately due to conflicts in his own country.

Prime Minister Abiy highlighted Æthiopia's peaceful approach towards its neighbors over the past six and a half years, emphasizing the importance of regional stability. He noted that Æthiopia's primary goals are peace, prosperity, and maintaining its illusory sovereignty.

While reaffirming the country's commitment to peace, the Prime Minister also mentioned Æthiopia's readiness to defend itself if necessary. Æthiopia is also battling internal challenges, including inter-tribal wars.

Link

Bangladesh

Nobel laureate Yunus takes charge of Bangladesh interim govt

2024-08-09

[GEO.TV] Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge of Bangladesh's caretaker government, with hopes of healing the country convulsed by weeks of violence that forced ex-prime minister ~~the loathesome~~ Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and now exiled former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She was President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia showed such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums. That is probably because Khaleda's late husband was the Pak tool who had Mujib assassinated...
to resign and flee to neighbouring India.

Known as the "banker to the poor", Yunus is the pioneer of the global microcredit movement. The Grameen Bank he founded won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for helping lift millions from poverty by providing tiny loans to the rural poor who are too impoverished to gain attention from traditional banks.

As chief adviser of the caretaker government, he is, however, tasked with bringing stability back to the country which witnessed some of its worst violence in decades and then hold fresh parliamentary elections.

"The country has the possibility of becoming a very beautiful nation," Yunus earlier told news hounds when he arrived in Dhaka following medical treatment in Gay Paree, after protesters backed him for the role in a caretaker set up.

The student protesters had saved the country, he said, adding: "Whatever path our students show us, we will move ahead with that."

A harsh critic of Hasina, Yunus became emotional and seemed to hold his tears back as he referred to a student he said had been shot during the protests and that sacrifice could not be forgotten.

"Now again we have to rise up. To the government officials here and defence chiefs — we are a family, we should move ahead together," he said.

Hasina's flight from the country she ruled for 20 of the last 30 years after winning a fourth term in January triggered jubilation and violence as crowds stormed and ransacked her official residence.

Link

Bangladesh

President Shahabuddin gives nod to form interim government, students demand Dr. Yunus head it

2024-08-06

[Dhaka Tribune] President Mohammed Shahabuddin decided on Monday to form an interim government to run the country following the resignation of ~~the loathesome~~ Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums. That is probably because Khaleda's husband was the Pak tool who assassinated Mujib...
, the country's longest-serving prime minister, amid the recent unrest that saw over 400 deaths since mid-July.

This decision was made during a meeting at Bangabhaban after discussing the current situation with the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, leaders of various political parties, and members of civil society, according to a blurb signed by Muhammad Shiplu Zaman, Assistant Press Secretary of Bangabhaban.

The meeting also decided to release BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister ~~the loathesome~~ Khaleda Zia
...Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, Pak foil, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
, who is under house arrest after being convicted in several cases.

The Army has been tasked with stopping the vandalism and ensuring law enforcement, which deteriorated severely after Sheikh Hasina left the country Monday afternoon.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin also approved the release of all students who were recently arrested during the ongoing quota reform movement.

The meeting adopted a condolence motion expressing profound shock at the deaths of students and others during the anti-quota movement.

Leaders present at the meeting emphasized ensuring the safety of all religions, as several houses and places of worship for Hindus and other minority religions have been torched across the country since Monday afternoon.

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Bangladesh Parliament now. pic.twitter.com/4Kp7qrBP6d
— Dr Shajul Islam | Humanitarian Aid Worker (@DrShajulIslam) August 5, 2024

Student leaders demand swift formation of interim govt headed by Dr Yunus

[Dhaka Tribune] The coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement have announced an outline for an interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus.

…Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. I have a friend who worked with him on the microcredit thing — my feeling is that he is a wonderful banker but would be terrible at politics and governance…

This information was conveyed in a video message by key coordinators of the student movement, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and Abu Bakar Mazumdar, at 4:15am on Tuesday.

Earlier on Monday night, Nahid had announced that an outline for an interim government would be formulated within the next 24 hours.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
as widespread violence persisted throughout the night, the coordinators decided to announce their stance as quickly as possible, even in the middle of the night.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Monday night gave his nod to form an interim government to run the country following the resignation of ~~the loathesome~~ Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and now exiled former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She was President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia showed such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums. That is probably because Khaleda's late husband was the Pak tool who had Mujib assassinated...
This decision was made during a meeting at Bangabhaban after discussing the current situation with the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, leaders of various political parties, and members of civil society, according to a blurb signed by Muhammad Shiplu Zaman, Assistant Press Secretary of Bangabhaban.

The Army has been tasked with stopping the vandalism and ensuring law enforcement, which deteriorated severely after Sheikh Hasina left the country Monday afternoon.

Earlier in the afternoon, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman held a meeting with several political party leaders and civil society members at the Army Headquarters. After the meeting, he told the media that the formation of an interim government had been decided and would take effect shortly after discussions with the president.

In a press briefing after the meeting, the army chief said justice would be ensured for all killings and injustices.

"Keep trust in the army," he said, calling on everyone to shun the path of violence and return home.

The army chief also mentioned that he would soon meet with representatives of students and teachers.

He expressed confidence that the situation would return to normal soon and sought all-out cooperation from people of all classes and professions, including students, regardless of party affiliations and opinions.

Link

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