By Michael Curtis, AMERICAN THINKER
They don’t appear too often, musical geniuses, and when they do, they sometimes die too young. Of these immortals, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at 35, and George Gershwin, originally named Jacob Gershowitz, born of Jewish Ukrainian and Lithuanian parents, in Brooklyn in 1898, died in Los Angeles of a brain tumor at 38.
Mozart began composing at age 5, composed over 600 works, symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral. His friend Joseph Haydn said of him, “Posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.” Haydn was almost exactly right. Gershwin, who began playing piano at 10, and left school at 15 and became a song-plugger in Tin Pan Alley, began composing at 17, a song that earned him 50 cents, and wrote popular, jazz, and classical music, combining highbrow and lowbrow sensibilities.
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T. Belman. The last sentance of this article. “There is more pressure on NES to reach an agreement with Damascus due to US President Donald Trump’s repeated statements expressing his desire to leave Syria.” obviously Trump’s withdrawal forced the issue. The Kurds were being too intransigent.
Sept 20/19
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The US envoy to the international anti-Islamic State (ISIS) coalition said on Friday that the US will work to stop “penetration” from the Syrian regime into Kurdish-controlled northeast Syria.
James Jeffrey’s comments to The Defense Post come a day after the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threatened to remove Kurdish forces from the area.
“The relevant international position which we adhere to is U.N. Resolution 2254, which makes it clear that there should be a nationwide ceasefire and nobody should be trying to obtain further terrain from anybody else, and that definitely includes the Assad regime,” Jeffery told The Defense Post. “So that’s our position.”
T. Belman. I refuse to join the Trump pile on. Although it is easy to be critical of Trump’s withdrawal of forces, I maintain that he is serving a hidden agenda, which, when achieved, will validate his withdrawal.
Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted on Sunday. “This decision by President Trump will be a game changer – in all the wrong ways – for Turkey.” I believe that too.
Syrian troops have already entered the fray pursuant to an agreement between Syria and the Kurds. “We know that we would have to make painful compromises with Moscow and Bashar al-Assad if we go down the road of working with them,” Mazlum Abdi, the overall commander of SDF forces, said in an op-ed published by Foreign Policy magazine on Sunday.
BY
Johny Messo, President of the World Council of Arameans (WCA; indigenous Syriac speaking Middle Eastern Christians), has written thoughtfully and sympathetically about Zionism as a (belated) prototype for “Arameanism,” though he guardedly refrains from “championing” Zionism, outright, today. Mr. Messo, nonetheless, does not appear to have imbibed in any way the vitriolic Antisemitic persuasions one too frequently encounters, sadly, among Middle Eastern Christians (rooted in continued promotion of the Deicide allegation, and rejection of Vatican II’s ecumenism toward Jews and Judaism). Indeed, Mr. Messo expressed his sincere gratitude when Israel became the first nation to officially recognize Aramean during September, 2014, as a unique national identity within its population registry, and the WCA invited the first registered Aramean from Israel to present a statement of recognition on behalf of the Arameans worldwide at the U.N. The WCA’s press release a month later further included this remarkable statement about Israel’s indigenous Christian population, and their growing tendency to reject “Arabization”—consistent with Messo’s earlier sympathetic posture toward Zionism:
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syria’s army have begun advancing towards the Kurdish-controlled northern towns of Kobani and Manbij on Sunday, the Kurdish-led administration of northeast Syria said, after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)and Damascus negotiated a deal to prevent further Turkish advances in the area.
With Operation Peace Spring, Turkey aims to clear its border with Syria, to settle the Kurdish-majority area with up to three million, mostly Arab refugees in what opponents call demographic re-engineering.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) announced the deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government in a Sunday evening statement.
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Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the move came after the US learned that Turkey was pressing further into Syria than had been expected.
And the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seeking a deal with the Syrian regime and Russia to counter-attack against the Turks in the north, Esper added.
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In democracies, minority groups will often embrace one political party and cling to that attachment irrespective of changing political circumstances. This seems especially true of minorities that have experienced discrimination, marginalization, and other forms of abuse.
In America, the groups that have been most closely attached to the Democrat Party for virtually the last century are African Americans and Jews. Even consideration in the abstract of the wisdom of being predictably committed to one party would suggest likely more negative than positive consequences – for example, being taken for granted by that party while given up on and not pursued by the other – and experience has borne that out.
Germany, the country that did its best to exterminate the Jewish people, promised in the 1950s to devote its energies to healing this terrible wound. Yet in recent years, it has stood by as hatred against Jews and Israel has risen.
Fiamma Nirenstein, ISRAEL HAYOM
Last modified: 2019-10-13 09:19
As I write these lines in Jerusalem, Yom Kippur has just come to an end. The news has just reached us that during the holiday, a synagogue was attacked in the German city of Halle, and that two people have been killed.
According to the media reports, the assailant, all of 27-years-old and a neo-Nazi, attempted to force his way into a synagogue to massacre those inside. At the time of this writing, no further details are known. But while much about the attack remains unclear, one thing is certain: This crime occurred in the country with the greatest obligation of any in the world to eradicate antisemitism.
In the first months of this year alone, there were 400 antisemitic incidents reported in the country.
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It’s still unclear whether Israel’s next election will be in four years or four months. But either way, if the center-right wants a better outcome, it needs to learn the lessons of September’s election. So here are two: First, while center-right voters realize that many things leftists deem “anti-democratic” actually aren’t, they dislike behavior that’s genuinely anti-democratic. Second, though the Arab parties are shunned deservedly, treating all Israeli Arabs as anti-Israel is both wrong and counterproductive.
In April’s election, the nonreligious center-right parties (Likud and Kulanu) won a combined 39 seats running separately. But in September, running together, they won just 32 seats. Moreover, most of those lost votes didn’t stay in the center-right/religious bloc: Though the bloc as a whole lost only five seats, that was mainly because fewer religious Zionist votes were wasted on parties that didn’t make it into the Knesset.
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Turkey’s Syria invasion following US withdrawal of its troops means that all bets are now off in the Middle East
By invading northern Syria last week, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an achieved what many thought impossible – uniting all the regional countries and rival powers with a stake in the country in furious opposition to what they see as a reckless, destabilising move.
A truculent nationalist-populist with dictatorial tendencies, Erdo?an has often cast himself as one man against the world during 16 consecutive years as Turkey’s prime minister and president. Now he really is on his own.
www.verygoodnewsisrael.
In the 13th Oct 19 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
T. Belman. Greenblatt said “The dispute over the territory is a question that can only be resolved in the context of direct negotiations between the parties,” If that is the starting principle there is no peace in sight because there will be no negotiated sharing of the land.
That doesn’t sound realistic to me.
What needs to be done is the US must cede the lands west of the Jordan R to Israel just as it ceded the Golan Heights to Israel. Nothing else will work.
Outgoing US envoy sums up his work, discusses peace plan. “No one can put forth a plan that everyone will embrace.”
By Yoni Kempinski, ARUTZ SHEVA
Arutz Sheva spoke with outgoing White House Mideast Envoy Jason Greenblatt, who discussed the US peace plan and summed up his work.
What can you tell us at this stage about the peace plan, when will it be released?
There isn’t much that our team will reveal about our vision for peace until it’s officially released – which we have always said will be when the time is right. Most people who understand the complexity of the conflict know that only a realistic solution has a chance at ending it. It’s our hope that our vision can advance the cause of peace and bring people together to start a productive, realistic discussion – even if it’s not embraced immediately. But it’s important to remember that nobody can force this vision upon anyone. When the plan is released, it will be up to both sides to decide how to proceed. When the vision is released, we hope that both parties will read it carefully and not make any hasty decisions. We fully expect criticism from all sides. No one can put forth a plan that everyone will embrace. But we believe our plan is a realistic and implementable plan, one which can significantly improve the lives of millions of people.
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T. Belman. DEBKA is wrong to say both the US and Russia have created no-fly zones. I see no evidence of that in reports.
The Turkish push into northeastern Syria started with the aim of conquering three border towns, Ras al-Ayn, Tel Abyad and Ain al Issa, held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). By Saturday, Oct. 12, Day 4, that triple object proved beyond the Turkish army’s strength without bringing in substantial foot and armored reinforcements and incurring many casualties, say DEBKAfile’s military sources. Turkey therefore decided to start with two targets, grabbing the outskirts of Ras al-Ayn and sections of the key M4 highway near Ain al Issa. (On Saturday afternoon, Turkish sources claimed that the town had fallen.) If Ras al-Ayn was really in their hands, which other sources deny, Turkish troops would be able to surround and overwhelm the SDF force defending the town of Kobani.
To prevent this happening, the US last week sent a small Marine force to take up position in the northeast town of Kobani and on the hill overlooking the M4. On Friday, this force came under Turkish artillery fire, which caused no harm. Turkey claimed it was “a mistake,” which is hard to believe since the Turkish officers have detailed maps of the locations of US forces in the region. At all events, by Saturday, M4 had not been captured by the Turks.
HUDSON INSTITUTE
Soldiers at a staging area for the Turkish Armed Forces in the Turkish town of Akcakale along the border with the Syrian town of Tall Abyad. (Photo by Anas Alkharboutli/picture alliance via Getty Images)
This week the U.S. withdrew forces from northern Syria, allowing Turkey to wage a military offensive against the region’s Syrian Kurdish fighters. Is President Trump fulfilling a campaign promise to reduce military entanglements, or abandoning a key ally in the mission to eradicate ISIS?
Online and offline, Hudson experts are debating Turkey’s actions and the risks of a U.S. pullback from Syria. Below, find some of their key arguments, and join us next Tuesday as Hudson experts Blaise Misztal and Michael Doran go head-to-head on the issue.
T. Belman. The reason Trump is acheiving so much in his presidency is because 90% of his Cabinet and senior officers all have sound acheivments in business compared to only 8% in Obama’s Cabinet.
This is chilling! These numbers are prima facie evidence as to why every president that we have had in our lifetime was incapable of running the country successfully. I submit that even with 50% having been in business, it is simply not enough for our country’s problems to be addressed with solutions that work. And here we are today, with Trump running against a flock of RATs any one of whom would make things even worse. I hope you are including Trump in your daily prayers, because if he fails to be President for the next six years, we may never be the same again at any time in the future save an armed revolution, and today, even that would be an iffy proposition.
These numbers help explain why the last administrations eight years were disastrous for the USA. I read the last item and then looked at Trump’s Cabinet. No wonder Washington, DC is in a turmoil. Trump’s picks are bosses who expect their employees to work. These are Eye Opening Numbers. This is what bothers a lot of people about Trump. He won’t accept a can’t do attitude, or inexperienced, incompetent performance. He will get results; it just might not be smooth or pretty.
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By DOV FISCHER, THE SPECTATOR October 11, 2019
His demeanor makes some of us wince. His language makes many of us uncomfortable. Presidents in democracies reflect something about the people who elect them. In some cases, as with the aptly named House of Representatives, people sometimes even vote to be reflected by an assortment of lowlifes. Ilhan Omar reflects her district, as does Rashida Tlaib, as does [O-] Cortez. Hillary lost because even Democrats were revulsed by the thought that she reflects them.
Trump, too, reflects his electorate: we who put him there. In balancing all that he comprises, we focused in November 2016 on greatness. Eight years of Obama — incompetence, weakness, economic malaise, societal decay — left us focused on restoring greatness. Thus, even Christian pastors, devout Catholic theologians, and Orthodox rabbis vigorously support Donald Trump. The free world’s last great hope is America, and she was in peril.
What about his language, some of his dishonorable private deeds, flaws in his character?
US deploying thousands of additional forces to Saudi Arabia, including fighter squadrons, early detection aircraft, and air defense systems.
By Elad Benari, INN
Smoke at Aramco facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia
The United States is deploying thousands of additional US forces to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the Iran’s attack on Saudi oil facilities in September, the Pentagon announced on Friday, according to ABC News.
The deployment includes fighter squadrons, early detection aircraft, and air defense systems.
“[Defense] Secretary Esper informed Saudi Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Muhammad bin Salman this morning of the additional troop deployment to assure and enhance the defense of Saudi Arabia,” said Chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman in a statement on Friday.
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Trump defends decision to pull troops from northern Syria, but stresses US is not abandoning the local Kurds.
At the same time, Trump in a series of tweets also stressed that the US is not abandoning the Kurdish population in northern Syria, which Turkey views as a terrorist organization which is aligned with the PKK movement which has been outlawed by Ankara.
“So many people conveniently forget that Turkey is a big trading partner of the United States, in fact they make the structural steel frame for our F-35 Fighter Jet. They have also been good to deal with, helping me to save many lives at Idlib Province, and returning, in very good health, at my request, Pastor Brunson, who had many years of a long prison term remaining. Also remember, and importantly, that Turkey is an important member in good standing of NATO. He is coming to the U.S. as my guest on November 13th.
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T. Belman. This looks promising. It is an attempt to join Likud and form a right wing government before Netanyahu relinquishes his mandate. Netanyahu must get UTJ and Shas to make some concessions to Liberman.
MK Forer sends letter to Likud’s Min. Levin requesting parties’ negotiating teams meet, says ‘no doubt’ of agreement on sovereignty.
Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer on Friday sent a letter to Likud’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, requesting that the parties’ negotiating teams meet to determine the basic tenets of a potential unity government.
The letter, published on Twitter, reads: “The need for the formation of a national unity government, together with the many challenges it will face, obligates us to work tirelessly in order to advance the issue. I turn to you so that we can hold a meeting of our negotiating staffs as soon as possible, to discuss the basic tenets of a potential government.”
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The US has neither major influence in Syria nor an interest in confronting Turkey to protect the Kurds. Trump avoided war with Turkey this week and began extracting America from an open-ended commitment to the Kurds it never made.
Caroline B. Glick, ISRAEL HAYOM
The near-consensus view of US President Donald Trump’s decision to remove American special forces from the Syrian border with Turkey is that Trump is enabling a Turkish invasion and double-crossing the Syrian Kurds who have fought with the Americans for five years against the Islamic State group. Trump’s move, the thinking goes, harms US credibility and undermines US power in the region and throughout the world.
There are several problems with this narrative. The first is that it assumes that until this week, the US had power and influence in Syria when in fact, by design, the US went to great lengths to limit its ability to influence events there.
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By Gerald A. Honigman
The threatened Turkish assault and invasion of heavily Kurdish northern Syria, which prompted President Trump to withdraw American forces, has begun.
Try as one may to paint a nicer picture, this brings back repeated bad memories…
Unfortunately, for at least a half century, America has replaced Great Britain as primary “outside” user and abuser of the Kurds.
Inside, Kurds have let internal divisions and shortsightedness to allow Arab and Turk conquerors of their own millennially geographical majority territory to do this to themselves as well. Some Kurds even allied with Saddam Hussein, responsible for Operation Anfal and other Arab genocidal actions, which ultimately took some 200,000 Kurdish lives–including many gassed to death.
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