Desperate to quell the bloody protests spreading through Iraq, Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani flew into Baghdad and seized control of its army and security services. On Wednesday, Oct. 30, a special helicopter carried the Revolutionary Guards Al Qods chief from Baghdad international airport to the capital’s fortified Green Zone. In the prime minister’s office, he found a meeting in progress of military and security chiefs on ways to hold back the resurgent protest that from Oct. 25 had already claimed hundreds of dead and thousands of injured as it raged through Baghdad and the Shiite towns of the south.
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MEMRI
In an article, titled “Globalism Is A Far Stronger Threat To Russia”, Russian journalist Sergey Mardan states that Russia sorely lacks a genuinely conservative force. He asserts that “true” Russian intellectuals and their communities should develop an anti-modern and anti-globalist agenda for introduction in Russia’s cultural, political and social life.
A strengthening of Russia’s conservative position will serve as a prophylactic that will prevent the country from being weakened or threatened by those who “dream of a gender-neutral world.” According to Mardan, if this happens, then Russia can be firm in its identity and resemble “Christian America”, which does not feel endangered by “leftist intellectuals”. “Then the gender-neutral dolls in our stores would not cause us a nervous giggle, but just a dry statement to the effect that our merchants are able to squeeze the last ruble out of everything and everyone, [and] even out of gay activists,” Mardan reasons.
Below is Mardan’s article:
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Jordanian analyst Muhammad Faraj said in an October 3, 2019 interview on Mayadeen TV (Lebanon) that the only way for Jordan to solve its economic, social, and political problems is to turn its back on its historical alliances with the U.S. and Israel and turn to Iran, which he said is the country most seriously confronting schemes to eliminate the Palestinian cause and diminish Jordan’s geopolitical role. He said that Jordan’s role as a “buffer state” is no longer necessary because many Gulf countries are openly normalizing relations with Israel, making it necessary for Jordan to form an alliance with Iran, which he said is a model for independent national development in the Middle East and which he praised for supporting the Islamic resistance and the Palestinians.
Following are excerpts:
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By Tabitha Korol
Even when one American – who has done nothing wrong – is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril. – Harry Truman
Some years ago, when I visited family in Buenos Aires, I was taken to a country club, one that no doubt had been quite fashionable in its heyday, an era of more than a half-century before. What I saw now were the remnants of elegance, broken tile floors and grounds that were surrendering to the incursion of weeds, signs of a government that was not of, by, or for the people.
I was introduced to Beatriz, one of a group sitting poolside who spoke enough English to complement my conversance in Spanish. Her interests included theater, but she soon came around to expressing her disdain for America because we had the temerity to build the tallest Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to flaunt our wealth and we were therefore deserving of the 9/11 destruction! Read more…
Notes on the J Street conference
By SARAH N. STERN, ENDOWMENT FOR MIDDLE EAST TRUTH
Like many other Jewish organizations, J Street is seduced by lofty slogans like “pro-Israel/pro-peace.” These words are intended to give the impression that all that Israel has to do is immediately withdraw from the territories, and then peace would ultimately break out.
(October 31, 2019 / JNS) Like our colleagues at AIPAC, I have long believed that support for Israel should be a bipartisan issue. Once it becomes a partisan issue, we create enormous enmity for the State of Israel within at least 50 percent of the population, which would ultimately give succor and support to Israel’s enemies. And it certainly does not help the Jewish state survive if an incoming American president regards Israel as “the other party’s issue.”
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By MARTIN SHERMAN
Former Justice Minister, ‘Tommy’ Lapid: “…the legal system in Israel is being undermined by an over-zealous State Prosecutor’s Office, that is losing esteem and credibility with each additional trial…”
They who sow the wind will reap the storm – Hosea 8:7.
[There is a] dangerous symbiosis between elements in the police Major Crimes Unit, the State Prosecutor’s Office and the media.—citation from Justice Minister Amir Ohana’s Press Conference- Oct. 29, 2019
This week was a tumultuous one for Israel’s legal establishment—and rightly so.
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Not only has the peace between Jordan and Israel turned cold, it looks to be on the verge of collapse
By Yochanan Visser, ISRAEL TODAY
Jordan ‘celebrated’ the 25 anniversary of the peace treaty with Israel by recalling its ambassador to the Jewish State.
The move is highly symbolic for the state of affairs in the relations between Israel and Jordan 25 years after the peace agreement was signed by the late King Hussein and the slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin in the presence of former US President Bill Clinton.
In Israel, there are those like Ksenia Svetlova of Mitvim, The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, who agree with Jordanian anti-Israel activists that the deterioration in the relations between the two countries is solely to blame on the Netanyahu government which allegedly misses every opportunity to increase cooperation with the Hashemite Kingdom.
As protests in Lebanon over the dire economic situation and political corruption gain momentum, demonstrators’ irreverence toward senior figures who have long commanded respect shatters social traditions.
by Reuters , Israel Hayom Staff
Demonstrators wave Lebanese national flags during ongoing anti-government protests at a highway in Jal el-Dib | Photo: Reuters /Alkis Konstantinidis
In the protests sweeping Lebanon, nothing is sacred.
Political leaders, who a few weeks ago enjoyed the loyal support of core followers despite worsening economic conditions, are now the target of many of those people’s ire.
That show of irreverence toward senior figures who have long commanded respect has broken taboos, setting these demonstrations apart from previous waves of dissent.
The simple answer to a student’s “question” should have been: There is no ethnic cleansing or exile of Palestinians. Prove it!
An Arab student at Benedictine University last week called on Professor Harold Kasimow, a child survivor of the Holocaust, to condemn the establishment of Israel and the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in Israel, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported. She then walked out when he did not do so.
Kasimow is the George Drake Professor emeritus of Religious Studies at Grinnell College in Iowa and a visiting scholar at Benedictine. He has been involved in Jewish-Buddhist dialogue since the 1960s.
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I know that I sound like a broken record. OK, none of you are old enough to know what that sounds like. How about a scratched CD, one that plays the same phrase over and over and over: Bibi, Gantz, Lieberman, Lapid: get your acts together. It is a matter of life and death.
I have sometimes sounded smug when I criticize the USA, my former home, for descending into madness. On the one hand you have the spitting and cursing leftist “resistance” to Trump, who find an angle to criticize everything that he does, accuse him of every imaginable crime, boo him at baseball games, and would certainly murder him if they could. On the other side are his partisans, to whom every action he takes, no matter how ill-considered, is portrayed as a stroke of genius. Normal mortals may not be able to see it, but there is a Plan.
That’s just the politics. Culturally, people are obsessed with race and gender in ways that defy reason, there is a strong current to throw away the idea of free speech, and – yes – they are beating up and shooting Jews there, too.
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Supporters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement assault an anti-government protestor in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 29. (Hassan Ammar/AP)
You cannot protest in the Middle East. That has become clear in Iraq, as more than 200 people have been murdered by snipers and security forces. On Tuesday, Hezbollah and supporters of the Amal Movement Party attacked a peaceful protest in Beirut, scattering soldiers and civilians and destroying their tents.
Iran and its allies are concerned that protests will challenge its attempts to slowly consume Lebanon and Iraq. Any mass mobilization of young people or anyone who wants to dissent must be crushed. In Iraq, it is being crushed with bullets and tear gas canisters purposely fired at people’s heads.
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Amir Ohana doubles down after Tuesday press conference, saying he wants to ‘cleanse’ the system which he says determines politics through the interrogation schedule
By TOI STAFF
Justice Minister Amir Ohana delivers a statement to the press, at the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem, on October 29, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Justice Minister Amir Ohana said he is considering setting up an investigative committee to examine the conduct of state prosecutors, days after he launched a scathing attack accusing them of persecuting public officials they feel threaten their standing.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, excerpts of which were published Thursday, Ohana said he did not regret Tuesday’s press conference, and could formalize his drive against what he sees as a “prosecution within the prosecution,” which is using the media to attempt to push out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“My appeal was for an investigation of leaks in the State Attorney’s Office,” Ohana said. “It is very possible that if there is not a serious response to Tuesday’s press conference, I would like to exercise my authority and set up a government investigation committee into the conduct of the prosecutor’s office.”
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The Hizballah “special forces” battling Lebanese protesters are bound to swap their sticks for live ammo as Lebanon plunges into regime breakup amid a crumbling economy. Saad Hariri’s resignation as prime minister on Tuesday, Oct. 29, did not of itself greatly impact the declining political situation in Beirut – not only because he was not a strong leader, but because the sustained protest across the country had already cast Lebanon into three major power groupings in which he had no place:
DEBKAfile outlines those groupings:
T. Belman. It is important to note that Bagdati’s compound’s was roughly three-and-a-half miles south of the border with Turkey and a little more from the Turkish settlement of Kavalcik. Osama ben Ladin, when killed, had been hiding in Pakistan. Conclude what yo0u will.
What Trump has done is put a stop to the conflict between Turkety and the Syrian Kurds and shifted the Kurds to the south where they will be of great assistance in protecting the oil fields and containing Iran.
In recent days, many people are disturbed by President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria, pondering what the logic was behind it. Their feeling is that a hasty US withdrawal from Syria strengthens Iran and Assad and that all the gains made by the US against ISIS are now in jeopardy. Given how much the Kurds contributed to the US-led war against terrorism, they maintain, they do not deserve to fall victim to Erdogan’s genocidal ambitions or to live under the Iranian axis. The Kurds are US allies and some even see the Syrian Kurds as friends of the State of Israel despite their mistreatment of Jews under their control and overt antisemitism..
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T. Belman. I admire Mark for swimming upstream and taking the heat by defending Trump’s decision. My information is that Trump has cut a deal with Putin to stabelize North Syria and protect the Kurds. Putin is still allowing Israel and the US to act to contain and pushback Iran. Trump is still calling the shots. He simply redeployed to the south.
Trump has learne the lessons of history and does not want to repeat it.
By Mark Langfan, INN –30/10/19 07:35
[..]
It’s a simple military axiom: At all costs, avoid a two-front war.
In their hysteria, the anti-Trump “defend the Kurds from a NATO ‘Ally’” crowd seems to have forgotten that in the Middle East, apart from the Turks and Kurds, there is a real possibility of war brewing between Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. America has tens of thousands of its soldiers in the Gulf area and in the Iranian line of fire. Given the volatile Iranian Front, President Trump made the necessary military decision, and avoided facing a Turkish Northern Front, all the while reinforcing forces against the likelihood of an Iranian attack in the Persian Gulf. President Trump’s executive command decision likely has saved thousands of American soldiers’ lives.
With all the Trump-bashing on “The View” talk show and in the halls of Congress, one would have thought the Kurds were an actual NATO ally. Let’s recall some of the facts that President Trump was aware of when he made his North Syria retreat decision:
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Israel has good reason to be deeply worried.
Nearly every week, the Democrats reach new heights of radicalism. Israel has good reason to be deeply worried.
Until 2000, the peaceful transition of power in the wake of elections was a feature of American democracy that everyone took for granted. In 2000, the Democrats shifted. They refused to accept the election results in Florida that gave Bush his victory in the state, and through it, in the electoral college, until the Supreme Court ruled that the results were legitimate. Even afterwards, many Democrats considered Bush’s victory and his presidency illegitimate.
Democrat party’s radicalization
In retrospect, the Democrats’ refusal to accept the legitimacy of the 2000 election results marked the beginning of the party’s radicalization.
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“Lebanon” has not existed for quite some time. The country’s agenda is dictated by Tehran, and its military and economy are designed to serve the needs of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
by Dr. Mordechai Kedar, ISRAEL HAYOM
I have some news for my readers: there has been no state of Lebanon for some time now. The entity to the north of us is nothing but a mask covering up the bitter reality – the state is a state of Hezbollah, and its ruler is Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Its agenda is dictated by Tehran, Hezbollah’s army is stronger than the official Lebanese army, and the economy is designed to serve Nasrallah’s goals.
The Lebanese parliament, government, president, and all other state institutions are nothing more than a façade for players directed by Nasrallah, who also decides on what they will be paid for “good behavior” and whether his collaborators can collect favors from the corruption that is running rampant.
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By Alex Traiman, JEWISH PRESS October 30, 2019
This week, a recording of a conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the owner of Israel’s Yediot Achronot newspaper, Arnon Mozes, was released to the press.
The clip, one of many recordings being used as evidence in Case 2000—one of three cases in which Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit may soon issue formal indictments against the prime minister—demonstrates an attempt by Netanyahu to secure more favorable coverage in one of Israel’s largest papers.
A steady stream of leaks from all three cases have been gifted to the media for the purpose of souring much of Israel’s political establishment and public on Netanyahu’s otherwise intractable reign as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also said the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been “racist.”
By Jackson Richman, JNS October 29, 2019
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at the J Street National Conference, Oct. 28, 2019. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, stated on Monday at the annual J Street Conference in Washington, D.C., that a portion of the U.S. military assistance to Israel should go towards humanitarian relief in the Gaza Strip.
“I would use the leverage of $3.8 billion,” Sanders said, referring to the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Israel negotiated by former President Barack Obama. “It is a lot of money, and we cannot give it carte blanche to the Israeli government or, for that matter, to any government at all. We have a right to demand respect for human rights and democracy.”
There is no other site where the American flag can be reliably planted while uniquely depending upon Kurdish Peshmerga to achieve conjoint security goals.
KURDNAS President Sherkoh Abbas, Robert Sklaroff, MD 27/10/19 12:02 | updated: 14:00
Within a fortnight—triggered by President Trump’s abrupt relocation of American protection for Kurds in the Rojava—the Russians have helped Turkey consolidate its ethnic cleansing of Kurdish cantons and have flipped to coveting the oil-rich region of NE-Syria now peacefully governed by the Kurds.
Accompanying this historic blunder have been misstatements and smears that have relegated Kurds’ valiant efforts to avoid being massacred to a schoolyard scuffle with the parties to be separated “after they fight a bit”: “We have no troops in Syria, and want to negotiate between the Turks and the Kurds….Kurds aren’t angels…Did Kurds help us in Normandy?”
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