American-allied Kurds still will be removed, it declares

AP

ISTANBUL — Turkey said Tuesday that it is working with the United States to coordinate the withdrawal of American forces but remains “determined” to clear U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters from northeastern Syria.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in comments carried by Turkey’s private Dogan News Agency that “if Turkey says it will enter, it will.”

His comments came after reports that Turkey-backed Syrian rebels are preparing for a military operation in and near the northern town of Manbij, the last major Syrian town west of the Euphrates River controlled by the Kurds. Turkey is eager to see all Kurdish forces withdraw east of the river so they can’t attempt to access the Mediterranean Sea.
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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says pullout of American soldiers will ‘have a positive impact’

By AP

BEIRUT — Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Moscow expects the Syrian government to take over the areas where the US troops are currently deployed following their withdrawal.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized that the territories in eastern Syria should be handed over to the Syrian government in line with international law. She said Moscow is unaware of any details of the planned US withdrawal from Syria, but added that the move would help peaceful settlement in Syria if implemented.

“If the troop withdrawal happens, it would have a positive impact on the situation,” Zakharova said at a briefing.
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DEBKA

US military sources disclose that the Israeli air offensive on Tuesday night, Dec. 25, was conducted by IAF F-16I fighter jets firing Delilah cruise missiles from Lebanese air space into Syria. Damascus is said to have countered the attack with Russian Pantsir-S2 and S-200 SAM air defense weapons.

These highly credible sources also disclose that the Israeli attack was aimed at Syrian military sites – not Iranian and Hizballah targets as earlier reported in Israel and Damascus. The Israeli government and military chiefs had apparently decided, say the US sources, to take advantage of the chaos generated by President Donald Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of Syria and Ankara’s threat of a Turkish army thrust across the Euphrates. Their purpose was to disable Syrian military sites where Iranian and Hizballah combat assets were quartered.

After the F-16 jets failed to connect to their targets, the IDF sent the F-35 stealth planes over in a second wave.

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By Barry Shaw, ISRAELSEEN

Free speech should be protected and I applaud the Irish newspaper, Southern Star, for having the commitment to allow all views to be expressed in its columns, including its Readers Letters.

But one thing should be required of its readers. That is to think and question dubious allegations that are frequently expressed in it columns, particularly those attacking Israel and dressed up with emotional imagery.

In the complex world of Middle East violence, it is all too easy to accept, at face value, the stories of oppression especially when women and children are victims. But is there a deeper motive behind false blanket allegations. What is the full picture? What is being hidden from the reader? And why?
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By Ted Belman

• The Deal of the Century will not only be tabled but also effected very soon.
• By announcing that the US troops are being withdraw from Syria, Trump is changing tactics not allies.  He remains loyal to his allies. Wait and see how this is manifested.
• Mattis is being moved out earlier (Jan 1/19) so that the new guy can take charge of all these changes.
• Erdogan is not Trump’s new best friend. He will not cross the Euphrates.
• Russia has been very silent. Why so?
• Israel attacked Syrian and Iranian arms depots with a barrage of missiles yesterday.
• Trump announced that the government will stay shut until he gets his financing for the wall.
• The US under Trump will recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan.

T. Belman. As Frantzman says “for now”.  We have yet to hear how Trump will use his allies to stand in for the US troops that are leaving. I do not believe that Trump is handing this territory over to these thugs on a silver platter.

All evidence points to these countries cooperating in eastern Syria for now.

By Seth Frantzman, JPOST

Anti-blashpemy restrictions essentially require people to accord sanctity to doctrines they do not endorse and subordinate their spiritual ideals to those who consider them infidels.

By Matthew M. Hausman, J.D., INN

Freedom of speech is taken for granted in western society, but it is an essential right that is necessary for the perpetuation of constitutional democracy.  Unfortunately, it also seems to be an endangered species under stealth attack by extremism masquerading as diversity and tolerance.

As European courts enforce laws criminalizing the critical discussion of certain religions, and as the political left blames western society for inflaming Islamist passions by refusing to accommodate radical dictates, the right to speak freely is being threatened by a stultifying political correctness. What is being eroded are classical liberal values.

Nothing illustrates this better than a recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights affirming an Austrian court’s verdict against a woman for suggesting that Muhammad’s marriage to a young girl as recounted in Muslim scripture was tantamount to child abuse.  The Human Rights Court held that her comments could be perceived as “an abusive attack on the Prophet of Islam” and thus were properly subject to prosecution under Austrian law.
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By Victor Sharpe, RENEW AMERICA  Oct 27/18

During the early to late medieval era the omnipotent Kings and Queens lived their lives surrounded by fawning sycophants and protected by mercenary armies. They ruled and owned vast lands, but the people who served them lived in a very different world indeed. For centuries royalty signed treaties, forged alliances, wrote laws, made war, and made peace. And this continued without the consent of untold millions of people, especially in Europe, whose lives were often adversely impacted by those unilateral decisions.
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Bibi’s willingness to stand up to international pressure, particularly the United States during the Obama administration, has earned him the respect of MbS.

BY HAISAM HASSANEIN, JPOST

After the unfortunate killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has relied on leaks and insinuations to pressure and damage Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s international standing. The tactics deployed by Erdogan have proven to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading MbS to lose any hope of restoring the already tense relations with Turkey. For MbS, Israel represents the ideal non-Arab state to integrate into his vision for the region.

Saudi Arabia had close relations with Erdogan since his coming to power. The Saudis positively viewed the ascendancy of Sunni Turkey in the Middle East as a balancing act against Shi’ite Iran. Also, the Saudis welcomed the Islamist orientation of the Turkish government, as it furthered their belief in the imminent rise of moderate Sunnis in the Middle East. However, this close relationship frayed as the threat of Iran grew in intensity due to the Obama administration’s accepting attitudes of Iranian dominance of the Gulf and other parts of the Middle East, and Turkey’s willingness to aid Iranian efforts to circumvent international sanctions. Read more…

The Kurds have limited options

Pullout of all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, announced by President Trump last week, will leave the oil-rich eastern third of Syria up for grabs • Kurdish-led forces face a triple threat from the Syrian government, the Islamic State group and Turkey.

Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

Descent to Hell 

By Alexander Maistrovoy

In the fall of 2015, a rather curious incident took place in the Knesset. A leader of the Arab party (Balad), Jamal Zahalka furiously attacked the Left. “You won’t even greet me. You are a racist! …

The far right is amicable at least: they say hello and smile at you. Everyone in the Labor is a racist. You’ve invented racism!”

The Left has conveniently forgotten the incident: they knew exactly what Zahalka meant by that. Genuine ideological racism transformed long ago into their worldview and a prerogative concurrently.

Democratic ideals, social justice and tolerance don’t rule the world anymore. New ideology – a successor of failed totalitarian ideologies of the past century – governs the soul of the West and it’s called Identity Politics.
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T. Belman. Christians were excommunicated from the synagogue around 92 AD, not because they believed Jesus was the messiah, but because they rejected the Law. The Reform Movement today also rejects the Law. When founded almost 150 years ago it also rejected the notion of Jewish peoplehood and Zionism. It saw itself as a religion only.

Any Jew born to a Jewish mother is a Jew – period!

By Joseph Rabin, JPOST

I would like to preface the following discussion of Reform Jewry with the following point: Any Jew born to a Jewish mother is a Jew – period!

As the battle over the acceptance of the Reform movement in Israel intensifies, the discussion must take a theological turn in search of the truth. The primary question is: Can we consider the Reform movement a Jewish sect, within the framework of the “70 faces to the Torah”? Or should we categorize the Reform movement as a distinct religion, separate from Judaism?

I want to stress I am not questioning the “Jewishness” of any Jew who might belong to the Reform movement. However, I would like to cast doubt on the legitimacy of that movement’s theology.

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Now that the race to April 9 has begun, Likud and Bayit Yehudi politicians will jockey for who a better record when it comes to Judea and Samaria.

BY TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST

After 12 years of a non-functioning parliament Abbas suddenly ordered the Palestinian Constitutional Court to meet yesterday to dissolve the parliament. Why now?

By Itamar Marcus and Maurice Hirsch, PMW

After 12 years, during which the Palestinian Parliament (Legislative Council, PLC) has not met, Mahmoud Abbas suddenly announced yesterday, that the Palestinian Constitutional Court had dissolved the PA parliament:

Abbas: “The [PA] Parliament (Legislative Council), which has not been active for 12 years… The topic reached the constitutional court, and it issued a decision to dissolve the parliament and call for elections for the parliament within six months.”

Why would Abbas suddenly do something that he has not done for 12 years?
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By Eldad Shavit, Udi Dekel

INSS Insight No. 1120, December 24, 2018

For the United States, which still has interests in the Middle East, a hasty withdrawal of forces from Syria weakens its influence on processes in the region and limits its room to maneuver in the face of existing challenges. The US administration leaves its allies with question marks regarding US ability to back their policies, and at the same time, heightens Iran’s motivation to strengthen its grip and influence in the area. Israel remains alone in its campaign against Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and at most will receive political backing from the United States in the context of this struggle.

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Al MONITOR

In announcing the withdrawal of the roughly 2,000 American troops in Syria, the Trump administration has, in one dramatic act, sought to recast the US-Turkey relationship, which has been in freefall over US partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State.

The SDF is mostly composed of forces from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the gendarmerie of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Turkey considers a terrorist group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The United States also considers the PKK a terrorist organization.
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