Foreign Minister Lavrov indicates Moscow open to Israeli demands that Iranian forces be kept far from Israel’s frontiers; urges withdrawal of all ‘non-Syrian forces’

By TOI STAFF

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that only the Syrian regime should field military forces in the country’s southern border areas.

Lavrov’s comments, made at a press conference in Moscow, apparently referred to areas including the Syrian  Golan Heights region abutting the Israeli Golan Heights and the border with Jordan, and indicated that Russia was open to Israeli demands that Iranian forces should be kept far from Israel’s borders.
Read more…

The report said a Jordanian mediator carried messages between the sides.

Israel and Iran engaged over the weekend in indirect negotiations in Jordan regarding fighting in southwestern Syria, according to a Saudi-owned website.

According to the Elaph website, the Iranians pledged not to participate in expected battles in southwestern Syria between President Bashar Assad’s forces and rebel groups, and Israel has made it clear that it will not intervene in the battles in the tri-border area, as long as Hezbollah and the Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias are not involved.
Read more…

A Hamas website article attempts to predict the future of the Palestinian Arabs after Abbas and warns of the growing possibility of the Emirate Plan coming to pass.

By Dr Mordechai Kedar, INN

The end of the Mahmoud Abbas period is fast approaching, giving rise to several weighty questions:

The Hamas website posted an article by one Khaider Almatzder recently, whose title was “After Abbas – Palestinian decentralization.” The accepted Hebrew translation of the word decentralization is “bizur” a word signaling the granting of power and autonomy to the various branches of government, so that each branch is administrated almost entirely independently of the central government. For example, in the USA, each state possesses a  large degree of autonomy and can decide on taxation, transportation, planning, education and more, while security and foreign affairs are the purview of the Federal government in Washington.
Read more…

By Vic Rosenthal, ABU YEHUDA

Identity politics demands special status not by virtue of fundamental human rights (which necessarily must be based on something other than distinct national, racial, sexual, or other identities) but of grievances. And it constricts its ethical claims by refusing to make harsh criticism of certain behaviors no matter who originates them.

But perhaps the greatest irony is that people who play identity politics count on others to respond in a humanistic way – with concern for individual welfare based on a shared humanity. – Daphne Patai, What Price Utopia? Essays on Ideological Policing, Feminism, and Academic Affairs, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, p. 8

Identity politics is the scourge of democratic aspirations wherever it is found. When the political choices of individuals are based on their group identity – and every society at some level divides into groups, if not on racial lines then by class, gender and other distinctions – then the “democratic process” doesn’t work to promote the overall welfare of the nation, but the relative advantage of particular groups.
Read more…

JPOST

Twenty one people were killed, including nine Iranians, in Thursday night’s attack on the Dabaa military airport in central Syria, Sky News reported on Saturday.

The strike was reportedly aimed at Hezbollah members and militias supporting the Assad regime.

According to reports, six strong explosions, allegedly caused by missile strikes, were heard in the Homs region, near the Lebanese border. Syrian air-defense systems reportedly attempted to intercept the missiles.

Asharq Al-Awsat Saturday, 26 May, 2018

Western diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday that Tel Aviv (They won’t say Jerusalem) has informed Moscow about its decision to “expand the scope of its red lines” in Syria by preventing Iran from consolidation its military presence and that of its militias, including “Hezbollah,” across all Syrian territories, and not just in the south.
Read more…

Kurdish politics has been in disarray since the independence referendum last September.

By Seth Frantzman, JPOST

At a meeting of Kurdistan Democratic Party officials on Saturday in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, the party sought Kurdish unity in negotiations with Baghdad.

Two weeks after the May 12 election, the Kurdish parties, of which the KDP is the largest, are trying to determine how they can continue to play a central role in the coalition building that must take place for a new government to be formed.

But Kurdish politics has been in disarray since the independence referendum last September, and critics say the current discussions with Baghdad look more like begging for a role than playing the kingmaker as Kurds once did.
Read more…

By Bruce Walker, AMERICAN THINKER

What the left calls “multiculturalism” is actually the systematic destruction of cultures and the replacement of these cultures by a synthetic, artificial, and meaningless global culture.  When the left talks about “diversity,” it really means the crushing of differences in thought, values, and art into a sort of baby food which neither nourishes the soul or elevates the mind.

This is because cultural differences are based on geography and exist in nations and regions rather than in the nonsensical “global” community.  Indeed, there are cultural differences within most nations of any size that reflect the differences within parts of a nation.

Read more…

LONG OVERDUE CONVERSATION – FASCINATING.

We should also question whether diversity is our strength, as we are constantly told or in fact our weakness. To me, unity is our strength. I think we are stronger if we are unified.

What is the point of undermining a successful culture, one that produces peace and prosperity with an unsucessful one. Why should not all Canadians be expected to assimilate into the successful dominant culture. I believe in the melting pot.

But this riles the leftists who favour equality of outcome rather than a meritocracy.

Immigrants come to succesful countries because they want a better life, so why undermine the culture which produced it.

DEBKA

The Trump administration delivered an unmistakable military warning to Moscow and the Assad regime on Saturday, May 26, to hold off from their big offensive to capture the southeastern Daraa region. The US would respond to such “ceasefire violations” with “firm and appropriate measures,” the State Department said, after Assad government leaflets were dropped on Deraa urging US- and Jordanian-trained and armed rebel fighters to disarm. Washington saw the leaflets to mean that Assad and Hizballah forces were ready to launch their offensive, after gaining a promise of Russian air and other support. US intelligence informants had also reported the arrival of Russian officers and mercenaries to take the lead of the Syrian-Hizballah operation.
Read more…

The poll also revealed widespread hostility toward and ignorance about Israel.

JTA

Zionism is a Jewish conspiracy meant to manipulate Western societies to benefit Jews.

That’s the belief of a majority of 1,007 French respondents to a poll about the Jewish nationalist movement.

Some 53 percent of the respondents to the survey conducted this year by the Ifop polling company agreed with the statement that “Zionism is an international organization that seeks to influence the world and societies to the Jews’ benefit,” the Union of Jewish Students in France, or UEJF, said in a report this week about the poll that it commissioned Ifop to perform.
Read more…

JNS BRIEF

(May 24, 2018 / JNS) At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised that he would work towards an appointment of a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.

During testimony in front of the House committee, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.H.), a senior member of the committee, had asked the Pompeo to act on the appointment of the vacant Special Envoy position. “And in 2004, I authored the Anti-Semitism Special Envoy. That, too, has not been filled,” Smith said to Pompeo of the vacancy. “And I know that you care deeply about combating the scourge of anti-Semitism, which is rising all over the globe. Please move on that as well.”

“You have my word,” Pompeo told Smith in response.
Read more…

T. Belman. Inline with these EU goals, French President speaks out against the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, calls for two-state solution.

EU unity on the Palestinian cause is being fractured as EU countries consider moving their embassey too. Not only is Trump’s decision to move the embassey important in and of itself, his rational “only recognizing reality” and Pence’s pronoucement that policy is based on “facts not fantasy” totally undercuts the false Palestinian narrative”

By Eldad Beck, JNS

(May 25, 2018 / JNS) For years now, the European Union has been funding activities that are detrimental to Israel’s interests and that cast doubt on its right to exist. The apparent paradox between the E.U.’s commitment to Israel’s existence, security and welfare with its actual policies, which include the generous funding of the most virulent opponents of Israel’s existence both within and outside Israel, is due to the compromising and pacifist policies of past Israeli governments. Those governments shut their eyes to the notoriously subversive activity of the E.U., which undermines the foundation of Israel’s existence.
Read more…

T. Belman. Doran describes American policy under Pompeo vis a vis Iran as one of aggressive containment. He argues, it not so easy to do and recommends continency plans to respond to each counter measure by Iran. I am in total disagreement.

The goal of American policy should be regime change. Just as Trump shows he means business with N. Korea, he should adopt the same threatening stance against Iran. Iran must understand that either she commits suicide i.e., change her spots so that she no longer who she was, or regime change.

If Iran doesn’t accept American dictat, the US should bomb its air defenses in Iran and its nuclear installations. She should also decimate the IRGC. At the same time she should be financing and arming the minorities in northern Iran which comprise 50% of the population. This could be done via the Kurds who are on both sides of the Iran border.

By Michael Doran, HERITAGE

On May 22, Michael Doran testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa in a hearing titled “Lebanon and Iraq: After the Elections.” Following is the full text of Mr. Doran’s testimony:

Toward a Two-Speed Strategy

Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member Deutch, members of the subcommittee, it is a privilege to speak to you today. I thank you for the opportunity to testify on the implications of the elections in Iraq and Lebanon. In both countries, the results represent a setback for the United States. In Lebanon, they have obviously strengthened the hand of Hezbollah and Iran. In Iraq, opinion is divided about the extent to which Muqtada al-Sadr’s rise represents a similar victory for Tehran. Even if the final results turn out to be less damaging than the pessimists now predict, there is little doubt that they will complicate American efforts to contain Iran.
Read more…

The truce proposals come after weeks of clashes between Israel and Palestinians on the Gaza border.

BY MAARIV ONLINE

Are Israel and Hamas moving toward a truce that will resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip?

According to a report by Channel 10 broadcast on Wednesday, there are currently two proposals on the table – from Egypt and Qatar.

Israel has reportedly demanded a complete cessation of rocket fire and tunnel building, in addition to respecting the security perimeter at the Gaza border and a solution regarding the missing Israelis held in Gaza.
Read more…

Democrats have no problem trampling the Constitution for the sake of Muslim support.

By Amil Imani

Muslims are embraced by the left as a natural ally, as illegal aliens and blacks have been for decades.  More than 90 Muslims, nearly all of them Democrats, are running for public office across the country this year.  Many are young and politically inexperienced, and most are long shots.

According to the Pew report, fully two thirds of U.S. Muslims identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party (66%).  Far fewer say they are Republican or lean Republican (13%), while one in five say they prefer another party or are politically independent and do not lean toward either major party.  Muslim Americans’ partisan composition is little changed over the last decade, and they remain much more strongly Democratic than the public as a whole.
Read more…

The words “proportionate” and “disproportionate” are not literary terms. They do not mean “equal” or “nearly equal.”

By Micah Halpern, JPOST

IDF soldiers stationed near the Gaza border on May 15th, 2018.. (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)

Two words: disproportionate response.

This is the term being hurled at Israel by her detractors when describing Israel’s response to the attacks against Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip.  To state the obvious: Gaza is controlled by Hamas; Gaza is not Israel.

The now infamous fence, the boundary that separates Israel and the Gaza Strip, is known in military jargon and international diplomacy as a “hot border.”
Read more…