#Is East Turkey safe?

[astrobiscuits]

Astro obs part 9

🐌 The planets in your 12th house indicate your sleeping style:

Sun in 12th house - their sleep schedule is extremely messed up; for them, daylight hours = nighttime hours and vice versa, so they have trouble being themselves during the day; their true self comes out at night

Moon in 12th house - goes to sleep very late; full moons have a special effect on these people; their intuition is more clear at night; as kids, they probably slept a lot with their mother

Mercury in 12th house - loves texting/calling people late at night; they might journal their thoughts before sleep because they overthink a lot and it helps to clear their mind or maybe they just like to relax by reading a book at night

Venus in 12th house - cares a lot about getting their "beauty sleep"; sleeps with sleep masks on, buys expensive bed lingerie, skincare night routine might be very important; loves sleeping in general lmao

Mars in 12th house - enjoys working out before going to sleep, can go to sleep angry because they tend to get into conflict more at night than during the day

I have Uranus in 12th house and i can be both a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper, depending on where i am. For example, when i'm traveling, during the first night i wake up several times, but from the second night on i sleep like a baby lmao. Another thing would be that i can't sleep in a quiet car but i don't have any problem sleeping during a thunderstorm

🐌 Mars in fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sag) and Mars in 3rd house individuals love riding motorbikess

🐌 While Mars in 9th house peeps would probably love to go on a world tour on their motorbike. The sign ruling their 9th house represents the countries they would love to visit (i'm aware that some of these can only be visited by plane, take it with a grain of salt): 

♈ in 9th house: Ireland, Poland, Japan, Zimbabwe

♉ in 9th house: Cuba, Paraguay, South Africa, East Timor

♊ in 9th house: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Montenegro

♋ in 9th house: Canada, USA, Bahamas, Argentina, Slovenia, Madagascar

♌ in 9th house: Hawaii, France, Italy, The Netherlands, India, South Korea, Peru, Bolivia

♍ in 9th house: Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Vietnam

♎ in 9th house: Belgium, Portugal, China, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho

♏ in 9th house: Panama, Spain, Turkey, Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE), Palestine, Lebanon

♐ in 9th house: Finland, Lithuania, Romania, Tanzania, Thailand

♑ in 9th house: UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Australia, Camerun

♒ in 9th house: Greece, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka

♓ in 9th house: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Mauritius, Saint Lucia

🐌 I have a feeling Pisces Suns like to spend their time in a garage lmao. Mostly because their opposing sign, Virgo, would hate to spend time in a garage due to how dirty it can get.

🐌As a 7th house Sun who's been in love for almost a year now (haha, are we surprised, ofcours not; i'm not even in a relationship with him but ugh we're so perfect for each other), i realised that Sun in 7th house people tend to behave differently with their partner when they're in a healthy relationship vs when they're in a toxic one

Sun in 7th house in:

♈ Aries in a healthy relationship: empowers their partner, knows how to balance me time vs us time in a healthy manner, encourages their partner to take safe risks

♈ Aries in an unhealthy relationship: impulsive, impatient, selfish, dismisses their partner's feelings, often controlled by rage, prone to abusing their partner

♉ Taurus in a healthy relationship: veryyy generous (their love language is gift giving), accommodating to their partner's wants and needs, cooks for their partner

♉ Taurus in an unhealthy relationship: stubborn af, hard to please, focused more on the material gain from their partner rather than the love they share

♊ Gemini in a healthy relationship: curious, always lightens the mood of their partner by cracking up tons of jokes or telling them funny stories, knows that communication is key to everything so they're not afraid to discuss serious topics, teaches their partner a lot of random stuff

♊ Gemini in an unhealthy relationship: superficial, doesn't have a problem moving on from their partner to another person in a matter of seconds, if they're still in school/college, then they prioritize studying over their partner

♋ Cancer in a healthy relationship: nurturing, knows how to balance babying their partner vs being babied by their partner, emotionally vulnerable, feels safe enough to present their partner to their family early on in the relationship

♋ Cancer in a unhealthy relationship: if they don't trust their partner, they tend to become emotionally closed off to hide their deep sadness; defensive, but if their partner attackes them, then they'll hide, worries excessively, avoids presenting their partner to their family

♌ Leo in a healthy relationship: treats their partner like the king/queen they are, keeps their ego in check so it doesn't interfere with the relationship, if they've got artistic talents (music, acting, art etc.), they'll show their love for their partner by performing in front of them

♌ Leo in an unhealthy relationship: egocentric, shows off their partner/relationship too much out of pride, often feels entitled in the relationship and wants to be put on a pedestal by their partner

♍ Virgo in a healthy relationship: selfless to a healthy degree, remembers every lil detail from every casual conversations with their partner just to please them, remembers every important date and plans ahead for it, takes care of their partner when they're sick

♍ Virgo in a unhealthy relationship: critical, overfixates on past hurts and mistakes that their partner made in the relationship (often times their partner doesn't even remember those things because they're usually not that serious), loves their pets more than their partner

♎ Libra in a healthy relationship: romantic, charismatic, truly values their partner and the relationship with them, acts fair in the relationship, teaches their partner lovingly about the importance of honesty, truth and a healthy give and take dynamic in a relationship

♎ Libra in an unhealthy relationship: doesn't prioritize the relationship; instead, they flirt with others despite being in a relationship, emotionally detached, cold and calculated in their current relationship

♏ Scorpio in a healthy relationship: loyal, loves their partner deeply and intensely, but without suffocating them, keeps their partner's secrets like they're a locked safe box with no public access

♏ Scorpio in an unhealthy relationship: obsessive, manipulative, seeks to dominate their partner, displays stalkish behaviour in the relationship, liar

♐ Sagittarius in a healthy relationship: exposes their partner to various cultures, belief systems and philosophies to expand their mind and form their own opinion on certain topics, loves freely but is still able to maintain a long-term relationship, improves their partner's mood, usually brings an element of surprise and excitement to the relationship

♐ Sagittarius in an unhealthy relationship: travels in order to avoid dealing with their partner, parties a bit too much, doesn't take the relationship seriously

♑ Capricorn in a healthy relationship: loves their partner in a mature, serious and secure manner, doesn't shy away from improving their partner's social status and/or career if they can, discusses plans for the future (getting married, having kids, adopting pets, buying a house) with their partner early on in the relationship, they make time for their partner, despite the fact that they're busy most of the time

♑ Capricorn in an unhealthy relationship: displays no emotions or physical affection in the relationship, has a hard time communicating their thoughts with their partner, settles in a relationship for the wrong reasons (money/kids/safety/"i'm getting old and i need to have my life established"), prioritizes work/career over their partner

♒ Aquarius in a healthy relationship: flexible, makes their partner's dreams and aspirations come true (whether they're related to the relationship or not), has got a very open-minded attitude towards their partner's opinions, lifestyle and identity, takes the time to become friends firsts with their future partner because they value a relationship built on solid foundation (often times their partner is also their best friend), knows how to balance couple time vs time with friends

♒ Aquarius in an unhealthy relationship: displays wishy-washy behaviour, emotionally detached, prioritizes their friends over their partner, seeks online validation from strangers and acquaintances to fulfill their needs

♓ Pisces in a healthy relationship: sensitive to their partner's emotions, knows how to balance wearing their heart on their sleeve vs hiding their emotions in unfavourable circumstances, always honest with their partner

♓ Pisces in an unhealthy relationship: prone to drown their relationship problems and sorrows in alcohol, drugs and meds for mental health issues, runs away from problems instead of dealing with them with their partner, displays dishonesty to a fault, prone to self-sabotage

[thats-very-like-a-whale]

Being a Jew or a Muslim in the world has gotten much scarier in the past month, and the number of takes being normalized on the Internet that are actually just blatant hatred of Jewish and/or Muslim people is deeply worrying, so here's a list of clarifications about the Israel–Palestine conflict:

The Jewish people have a right to exist in the land of Israel. The Jewish people trace our history in the region back thousands of years, and there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Israel since the Bronze Age.

The Palestinian people have a right to exist in the land of Israel. They have existed in this region, on his land, for hundreds of years.

Claiming one people has the right to exist here but the other people does not means you hate that group of people. If you believe Palestinians have the right to an autonomous state in the land of Israel but the Jews do not, you are a Jew-hating antisemite. If you believe the Jews have a right to an autonomous state in the land of Israel but the Palestinians do not, you hate Palestinians.

Zionism is the ideology that the Jewish people have the right to build a national homeland in the land of Israel. Since the foundation of Israel, being a zionist purely means you believe that Israel has the right to exist. As such, being “anti-zionist” makes you antisemitic.

The Jewish people did not colonize the land of Israel, like, ever. There has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land of Israel for thousands of years, and the major waves of immigration to Israel - called the Aliyot - were during the Ottoman and British occupation of the Levant.

Saying “the Jews are all white European colonizers” is deeply misinformed, antisemitic, and racist. There are Jews - many of whom live in Israel - from Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Sudan, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and most of the rest of the Middle East & north Africa.

Wait but why are there so many "white" (Ashkenazi) Jews in Israel and around the world? Well in 1933 there were 9.5 million Jews living in Europe. In the years 1933–1945, the Nazis genocided 6 million of them. Currently the Jewish population of Europe is around 1.3 million, and today there are still half a million fewer Jews than there were before the Holocaust. Most of the Ashkenazi survivors of the Holocaust immigrated to Israel, and many others immigrated to countries like the US.

Following the 1948 Israel–Palestine war, roughly 700,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes. In the years before and after the war, 900,000 Jews were expelled from various Muslim countries.

I'm going to continue to reblog this post with more clarifications about the I/P conflict. Feel free to reblog w/ stuff you wanted to add, and feel free to send me questions/comments in my asks. Stay safe everyone ❤️

[boreal-sea]

The conflict isn’t really between Israel and Palestine. It’s not even really between Israel and Hamas. The conflict is between Israel and the surrounding Arab states who were against Israel’s formation for multiple reasons.

Firstly, these states are antisemitic. Places like Iran have not been welcoming to Jews. Ignoring the incredible level of hate for Jews in the region means you’re not going to understand what’s going on.

But secondly, they opposed Israel because it is a foothold of Western power in the Middle East. I think if you’re not aware of this larger political friction you’re going to misinterpret a lot of what has happened over the past 70 years. There is a reason the USA is such a staunch ally of Israel. It’s political.

And that’s where Hamas comes in. Hamas does not fund itself. Where do you think they are getting the thousands of rockets they’ve fired into Israel? Where do their leaders hang out? Hint: it’s not Palestine. Hamas is funded and armed by countries like Iran, Qatar and Turkey. Iran also funds Hezbollah. Countries like Iran know it’s a bad idea to declare outright war on Israel, even though that’s what they want. So they use Hamas instead.

And that’s what makes this conflict look one-sided, makes it look like it’s the overwhelming military power of Israel against a small rebel group.

But that’s not the actual situation.

Hamas was founded by Palestinians, but it is being used by Iran and others as a political tool. These other countries do not actually care about Palestinians: they care about torturing Israelis, ands keeping the region unstable. These countries don’t allow Palestinian refugees. They don’t particularly like Palestinians. They do not care about the fate of Palestine except to use it as a political tool. A treaty between Palestine and Israel would be a terrible blow against these other countries, so they are invested in preventing that peace.

Now. I don’t like how Israel was founded. I don’t think the Nakba was justified. I fully support the Palestinian right to form. I don’t like Israel’s current actions in Gaza. I want them to stop. I want them to find real peace with Palestine. I want the illegal settlements to stop. I want Netanyahu out of power. I want everyone there to be free and safe.

And if you also want peace, you need to stop treating Hamas like they’re freedom fighters. They’re not. They are funded and armed by people who do not want peace, who have political reasons to keep Palestine and Israel at war. Hamas brutally oppresses the people of Gaza - their own people - and they are violently antisemitic. Nothing they have done is justified.

[eretzyisrael]

by Phyllis Chesler

How could so much rabid and vulgar Jew-hatred suddenly erupt everywhere? Did someone flick a switch that unleashed millions of haters programmed to disrupt public meetings, graduation ceremonies, legislative sessions, and singing and athletic contests? To block streets, schools and bridges? To smash windows, deface synagogues and kosher or Israeli restaurants, and publish false narratives about Israel and the Palestinians all over the world?

I’ve been asking myself this question ever since Oct. 7. Today, I may have something of an answer.

This worldwide non-stop attack on the world’s Jews did not happen when the U.N. passed its infamous resolution equating Zionism with racism in the 1970s. It did not occur after Palestinian terrorists bombed synagogues, hijacked planes and murdered Israeli athletes at the Olympics. Nor when Arab countries launched attack after attack on Israel, subjecting it to countless wars.

It did not even happen when Palestinian terrorists blew up Israeli civilians on buses and stabbed, car-rammed and shot Israeli civilians to death on Israeli streets. Nor did it happen after Iranian proxies launched rockets at the Jewish state, sent flotillas of armed assassins in the name of “peace” and declared their intention to exterminate the Jews once and for all.

Despite incredible losses, Israel rose triumphantly each time.

Here’s what’s different now:

First, back then, the well-funded and well-organized media and university assault on Israel had not yet indoctrinated three or four generations of Westerners.

Second, on Oct. 7, perhaps for the first time, Israel looked genuinely vulnerable. This rendered both Israelis and Jews everywhere fair game.

It’s as simple as that.

Once the terrible sight of Israeli blood, of charred and/or raped Israeli corpses, was broadcast the world over, the haters knew it was possible to chase the Jews down, to try to destroy us yet again. Who would protect us? The IDF was under the most profound siege on Israel’s northern and southern borders and in its historical heartland in Judea and Samaria.

Diaspora Jewry was seen as safe because Israel was militarily, economically, culturally, scientifically and technologically strong. Israel led the world in counterterrorism and was the only country in the Middle East that protects all religions, not just Judaism.

Israel’s strength meant that left-wing Diaspora Jews who loudly criticized Israel’s every imperfection and failure, and right-wing Diaspora Jews who kept supporting Israel no matter what, were safe because Israel existed. Israelis who excel at dissenting politics and are geniuses at criticizing their government were also kept relatively safe because Israel was and was seen as strong. Without this, we would all be subject to the historically endless pogroms and persecutions that have characterized Jewish existence in both the Muslim and the Christian world.

Things have changed. Israel looks vulnerable and the Jew-haters have been emboldened as a result.

So, if Diaspora Jews and our Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim friends the world over want to help both the Jews and the West to defeat barbarism, they must strengthen the IDF in every way. These precious young men and women are on the front line fighting for civilization. However imperfect Israeli and American leaders and political systems may be, they are far better than those of Iran, China, Russia, Turkey, Afghanistan and North Korea.

Now is the time to act. I am urging you, imploring you, to do so.

Send money to the IDF and Israel’s ambulance and medical services. Volunteer as physicians and physical therapists, nurses, harvesters, fruit pickers and compassionate caregivers. Stand with pro-Israel demonstrators. Attend your local city council meetings, write articles for and letters to newspapers. Sue schools for harassing and chasing Jewish students away. Work to end the poisoned curriculum that has turned students into Jew-hating zombies.

This work may take decades to complete. Begin it today. And whatever you choose to do, never stop.

The fate of the world is in your hands

[secular-jew]

While there were periods of tolerance with Jews in Islamic-populated and controlled regions of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), let this chronology disavow any notion that Islam treated its Jewish neighbors "well."

The list of massacres of Jews throughout all of Europe largely at the hands of Christianity, is equally, if not even more exhaustive.

But for Jews in MENA, it all started with Muhammad, who gave birth to concept of regularly demonizing and terrorizing, the majority and minority Jewish communities, often ending in outright theft of property, and then rape and murder of those folks who would not "submit."

The horrific attacks on Oct 7, 2023, all filmed for the world to see (because Islamists now publicly revel in their barbarity of infidels), was just one in a long list of 100+ of atrocities at the hands of Muhammad and his followers:

622 - 627: Ethnic cleansing of Jews (who comprised roughly 50% of the population of Medina) carried out by Muhammad and his Jihadis. Over 800 Jewish men and boys (based on a pubic hair check), were killed by beheading. Women were forced into sexual slavery, and the children were given to Islamic Jihadis as slaves. Mohammad force-married Safiyyah, after murdering her husband and father.

629: 1st Alexandria Massacres of Jews, Egypt.

622 - 634: Exterminations of Arabian Jewish tribes.

1106: Ali Ibn Yousef Ibn Tashifin of Marrakesh decrees death penalty for any local Jew, including his Jewish Physician, and as well as his Jewish military general.

1033: 1st massacre of Jews in Fez, Morocco.

1148: Almohadin of Morocco gives Jews the choice of converting to Islam, or expulsion.

1066: Granada Massacre of Jews, Muslim-occupied Spain.

1165 - 1178: Jews of Yemen given the choice (under new constitution) to either convert to Islam or die.

1165: Chief Rabbi of the Maghreb was publicly burnt alive. The Rambam (Maimonides, Moses ben Maimon), forced to flee Spain to Egypt.

1220: Tens of thousands of Jews massacred by Muslims Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt, after being blamed for Mongol invasion.

1270: Sultan Baibars of Egypt resolved to burn all the Jews, a ditch having been dug for that purpose; but at the last moment he repented, and instead exacted a heavy tribute, during the collection of which many perished.

1276: 2nd Fez Pogrom (massacre) against Jews in Morocco

1385: Khorasan Massacres against Jews in Iran

1438: 1st Mellah Ghetto massacres against Jews in Morocco

1465: 3rd Fez Pogrom against Jews in Morocco, leaving only 11 Jews left alive

1517: 1st Safed Pogrom in Muslim Ottoman controlled Judea

1517: 1st Hebron Pogrom in Muslim-controlled Judea, by occupying Ottomans

1517: Marsa ibn Ghazi Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Libya

1577: Passover Massacre throughout the Ottoman Empire

1588 - 1629: Mahalay Pogroms of Jews in Iran

1630 - 1700: Yemenite Jews considered 2nd class citizens and subjugated under strict Shi'ite 'dhimmi' rules

1660: 2nd Judean Pogrom, in Safed Israel (Ottoman-controlled Palestine)

1670: Expulsion of Mawza Jews in Yemen

1679 - 1680: Massacres of Jews in Sanaa, Yemen

1747: Massacres of the Jews of Mashhad, Iran

1785: Pogrom of Libyan Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tripoli, Libya

1790 - 92: Tetuan Pogrom. Morocco (Jews of Tetuuan stripped naked, and lined up for Muslim perverts)

1800: Decree passed in Yemen, criminalizing Jews from wearing clothing that is new or good, or from riding mules or donkeys. Jews were also rounded up for long marches naked through the Roob al Khali dessert

1805: 1st Algiers Massacre/Pogrom of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Algeria

1808: 2nd Ghetto Massacres in Mellah, Morocco

1815: 2nd Algiers massacres/pogroms of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Algeria

1820: Sahalu Lobiant Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1828: Baghdad massacres/pogroms of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Iraq

1830: 3rd massacre/pogrom of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Algiers, Algeria

1830: Ethnic cleansing of Jews in Tabriz, Iran

1834: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Hebron, Judea

1834: Massacre/pogrom of Safed Jews in Ottoman-controlled Palestine/Judea

1839: Massacre of the Mashadi Jews in Iran

1840: Damascus Affair following first of many blood libels against Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1844: 1st Cairo Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt.

1847: Dayr al-Qamar massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Lebanon

1847: Ethnic cleansing of the Jews in Jerusalem, Ottoman-controlled Palestine

1848: 1st Damascus massacre/pogrom, in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1850: 1st Aleppo massacre/pogrom of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1860: 2nd Damascus massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Syria

1862: 1st Beirut massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Lebanon

1866: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans Kuzguncuk, Turkey

1867: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Barfurush, Turkey

1868: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Eyub, Turkey

1869: Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tunis, Tunisia

1869: Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Sfax, Tunisia

1864 - 1880: Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Marrakesh, Morocco

1870: 2nd Alexandria Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1870: 1st Istanbul massacre of Jews in Ottoman Turkey

1871: 1st Damanhur Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1872: Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Edirne, Turkey

1872: 1st Massacre of Jews by Ottomans in Izmir, Turkey

1873: 2nd Damanhur Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1874: 2nd Izmir massacre of Jews in Turkey

1874: 2nd massacre of Jews in Istanbul Turkey

1874: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Beirut, Lebanon

1875: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Aleppo, Syria

1875: Massacre of Jews in Djerba Island, Ottoman-controlled Tunisia

1877: 3rd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Damanhur, Egypt

1877: Masaacres of Jews in Mansura, Ottoman-controlled Egypt

1882: Masacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Homs, Syria

1882: 3rd Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Alexandria, Egypt.

1890: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Cairo, Egypt.

1890: 3rd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Damascus, Syria.

1890: 2nd massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tunis, Tunisia

1891: 4th massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Damanahur, Egypt.

1897: Targeted murder of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Tripolitania, Libya.

1903 &1907: Masaacres of Hews in Ottoman-controlled Taza & Settat, Morocco.

1901 - 1902: 3rd set of massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Cairo, Egypt.

1901 - 1907: 4th set of Massacres of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Alexandria, Egypt.

1903: 1st massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Port Sa'id, Egypt.

1903 - 1940: Series of massacres in Taza and Settat, Morocco.

1907: Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Casablanca, Morocco.

1908: 2nd Massacre of Jews in Ottoman-controlled Port Said, Egypt.

1910: Blood libel against Jews in Shiraz, Iran.

1911: Masaacre of Jews by Muslims in Shiraz, Iran.

1912: 4th massacre in Ottoman-controlled Fez, Morocco.

1917: Baghdad Iraq Jews murdered by Ottomans.

1918 - 1948: Yemen passes a law criminalizing the raising of a Jewish orphan in Yemen.

1920: Massacres of Jews in Irbid Jordan (British mandate Palestine).

1920 - 1930: Arab riots resulting in hundreds of Jewish deaths, British mandate Palestine.

1921: 1st Jaffa (Israel) riots, British mandate Palestine.

1922: Massacres of Jews in Djerba, Tunisia.

1928: Jewish orphans sold into slavery, and forced toonvert to Islam by Muslim Brotherhood, Yemen.

1929: 3rd Hebron (Israel) massacre of Jews by Arabs in British mandate Palestine.

1929 3rd massacre of Jews by Arabs in Safed (Israel), British mandate Palestine.

1933: 2nd Jaffa (Israel) riots, British mandate Palestine.

1934: Massacre of Jews in Thrace, Turkey.

1936: 3rd riots by Arabs against Jews in Jaffa (Israel), British mandate Palestine.

1941: Masaacres of Jews in Farhud, Iraq.

1942: Muslim leader Grand Mufti collaboration with the Nazis, playing a major role in the final solution.

1938 - 1945: Full alliance and collaboration by Arabs with the Nazis in attacking and murdering Jews in the Middle East and Africa.

1945: 4th massacre of Jews by Muslims in Cairo, Egypt.

1945: Masaacre of Jews in Tripolitania, Libya.

1947: Masaacre of Jews by Muslims in Aden, Yemen.

2023: Massacre, rape, torture and kidnapping of ~1,500 Israelis (mostly Jews) by Muslims in numerous towns throughout southern Israel

[dyinginfandom]

Been trying to put my frustration with what Israel is doing in Gaza into words for months. But I’m done with the bullshit from Zionists and their supporters

My grandfather was Hungarian and as part of a non political paramilitary youth organisation likely had to have a hand in the war I know this from his POW papers from 1945 in an American pow camp in Germany . He would later flee the soviets in Hungary after taking part in their attempted revolution. He abandoned his family; a wife and son and we don’t know what their fates were. He first went to Austria then to Turkey then the uk where he met my gran and they married in 1963 and moved away from her entire support system to a city with many Hungarian refugees like him working in cutlery works and steel factories. He’d never talk of the war or of his first family past them existing, his siblings families don’t know their fates other and with no one from his generation left we can only guess. He was an awful man who died an awful death alone because of his own actions.

I use this to preface what I’m about to say

He was forced to take part in a genocide and support it, I’m watching my government do that now, watching as universities label anti Zionism as antisemitism while my uni hosts one of the Brits who went over and fought for the IDF and was allowed to return while a girl who joined isis almost a decade ago just lost her appeal for her citizenship back. Both went over to partake in a foreign war and commit acts of terror, one is stateless and the other is allowed to walk around with no consequences. We aren’t allowed to protest on campus so the Palestine society held one off campus to try and stop him from visiting.

The university of east anglia has labelled these two quotes graffitied on campus as antisemitic and the BBC is reporting on this as such, antisemitism. They are anti Zionist. ‘Judaism opposes Zionism’ and ‘Zionism = colonialism’.

Aaron Bushnell an active duty US service man set himself on fire in protest of the war on Gaza.

Brazil’s president spoke out against the Zionism and Israel decided to have a word with the Brazilian ambassador but knowing what was coming Brazil recalled him

China has called out that Hamas should not be labelled as terrorist under international law as it is armed resistance.

Countries have cut funding to the UNRWA a relief group that exists because Israel refuses to call the Palestinians refugees or allow their return to their ancestral homes once it has stolen it

Israel is knowingly committing a genocide and has said it won’t listen to the ICJ

They are killing their own hostages that are being held by Palestine then cheering when 2 are saved while others lay dead murdered by their own hands.

They are executing young children in front of their parents who are then carrying them to hospital to hope for salvation.

They’re stealing belongings from walking canes to underwear from those they’ve killed or displaced to humiliate them for owning normal things.

They killed the Family of a six year old girl, Hind, while she was in the car with them then when the Red Crescent ambulance arrived which they allowed in they bombed it and killed her and the two paramedics, Ahmed and Yousef, who were there to save her.

During the Super Bowl they displayed propaganda while they bombed Rafah, the safe Zone they had told people to go to. There was a little girl, Sidra, hanging from a window!

They are targeting journalists and their families. Wael’s family was killed while he worked and he was reported, he was attacked with his camera man who was killed and he reported on it. Over 25 journalists killed

They have attacked every place where documents can be found to destroy them, mosques, churches, government buildings, universities, everything gone.

Egypt is building a buffer zone in the desert, Bissan a brave young journalist has talked of her fear of this desert buffer zone killing them

Canada has removed Palestine as a country of birth on passports

ITV filmed as a man with a white flag they had just interviewed and was walking way as he was murdered by a sniper

In the West Bank IDF shot a teenager at a family bbq then prevented his family getting him to an ambulance

Also in West Bank IDF dressed up as civilians walked into a hospital and assassinated a man incapacitated in a hospital bed and those at his bedside

THEY HAVE LABELLED ALL PALESTINIANS AS TERRORISTS!

Heck they’re allowed to stay in Eurovision, ‘October rain’ in name alone has political connotations meanwhile Russia and Belarus are banned and the Palestine flag has been banned - Iceland was fined the other year for a free Palestine banner.

This occupation, this genocide has been happening for over 75 years since the creation of Israel in the aftermath of ww2 but their want for this land goes back further. When Zionism was founded in the late 1800s they chose Palestine, a peaceful place where the abrahamic religions lived in peace, to be their land and no one else’s (did we not learn from the crusades?) in 1903 they got the support of the British govement then ww2 and the Holocaust happened and Britain ‘owning’ Palestine gave them what they wanted, Palestinians who had not been consulted or considered in this who’s homes were stolen fought against it and you get the war of 1948 where this kicks off.

When you look at their defenses for this we have ‘self defence for October 7th’ that isn’t an excuse for genocide and reminds me of Germany faking a polish invasion to invade them and kick off ww2. ‘They have hostages’ so do you and you’ve refused to exchange hostages for a ceasefire heck you’ve killed your own hostages in Gaza. ‘Palestine started it’ see my very very cut down explanation of the history.

Then there’s the classic ‘we can’t be committing a holocaust cos that happened to us’ see the cycle of abuse, the number of Holocaust survivors in poverty in Israel, and the other victims of the Holocaust cos everyone focuses just on the Jewish casualties of the Holocaust that 6 million number cos they’re the biggest proportion but there were 5 million other victims, political enemies of the reich, disabled people, lgbt, poc, Romani, Soviet pows, by making the Holocaust just a Jewish genocide in discussion you erase the rest of that genocide.

I put on les mis for a fanfic I’m writing and all I can think about instead of what I’m writing is what Palestine was and how we treat Palestine today.

I was labelled a nazi for my heritage growing up, just like Israel is calling Palestinian children Hamas. Only difference is that Hamas is closer to those of the Warsaw Getto or the French resistance than the Nazis. Because Israel’s laws against Palestine are extremely close to the Nazi laws against the Jews.

End Zionism on Israel and return Palestine to the Palestinians

FREE PALESTINE

[girlactionfigure]

Realtime Updates

🚨LARGE BOMBING IN KERMAN, IRAN AT ENEMY GENERAL’S U.S. ASSASSINATION COMMEMORATION… 2-4 bombs set off, reports of 100+ killed, 170+ wounded.  Iran blames Israel, no claims of responsibility from Israel (and Iran has plenty of enemies, and mass bombing a public event is not Israel’s style).

⬆️ Northern Front 🗞 Airstrikes in Markaba, a-Labuna, Ayta Ash Shab.  Rockets at Dovev.  Over 25 IDF air force strikes today.

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah to speak at 6:00 PM Israel/Lebanon time.  Anti-tank missile hits electric infrastructure near Malkia, knocking out power.

⚠️BE PREPARED… with the risks from Gaza having lowered, most (not in or affected by army service) have returned to normal life routines.  This is a tense moment and the possibility of a major attack from the north is real.  Listen and follow ALL Homefront Command instructions.  Taking precautions this evening and tomorrow in Israel is wise.  Homefront command in Israel (only works in Israel) https://www.oref.org.il/en

⬇️ Southern Front 🗞 Rockets from Gaza to near-Gaza towns, 1 round.

Holes drilled through walls, looks like a dryer air vent, it’s an RPG shooting position, or anti-tank missile shooting position, or sniper position.  Other times it might simply be an observation position - to direct fire of one of the above.  Combat teams are frequently finding shooting positions and observation positions…

In Kherbat Ahzaza, IDF combat teams located and destroyed observation posts and anti-tank launching positions, and a tunnel shaft in a school.  Interestingly the school included laminated pictures of different types of weaponry… ‘children, can you say soccer ball?  grenade?  RPG?’  

In Khan Yunis, IDF forces pushing deeper into the city.  Terrorist attempted to attach a bomb to a tank, he and his squad taken out by drone strike.  Weapons captured, safe with hundreds of thousands of shekels captured (thanks for the war effort donation Hamas!), munitions production facility bombed.

In Tupach Michlal, an enemy drone squad was eliminated by drone strike.

IDF warns civilians to evacuate Nizirat.

In destroying a tunnel network in southern Gaza yesterday, the IDF used TONS of explosives and blew up the network and the whole neighborhood above.

Enemy claims to have shot down an IDF Hermes 900 observation drone via a shoulder launched anti-aircraft missile.  Analysis: possible.

➡️ Eastern Front 🗞 Counter-terror, (enemy report) IDF blows up an explosives lab and whole building in Noor Shams, Tulkarm.  In East Jerusalem, suspects arrested, building in Jebel Makbar, East Jerusalem prepared for demolition.

🚢 Red Sea Front 🗞 The Houthis attacked a ship in the Red Sea after it did not respond to calls.  Houthis say the CMA CGM Tage was attacked.  French shipping company CMA CGM said “the vessel did not suffer any incident” and was sailing through the Red Sea toward Alexandria, Egypt.

▪️ECONOMY - In the 12th week of the war, public spending reached 11 billion shekels - a jump of 19.2% compared to an average week, headed towards recovery.

▪️US SEC STATE - to visit Turkey on Shabbat, Israel on Monday.

▪️HEZBOLLAH LEADER HAS BEGUN SPEAKING… after a delay.  So far: pays tribute to the assassinated commander and companions. Salutes martyrs.  Speaks of good results for Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

▪️IRAN ON THE MOVE IN SYRIA - (enemy’s enemy report) IRGC are evacuating their bases in northern Syria.

▪️HOSTAGE KILLED - The IDF has notified the family of hostage Sahar Baruch that he was killed during an attempt to rescue him on December 8, and says is unable to determine the cause of death at this stage, it is unknown if he was murdered by Hamas or killed by Israeli fire.  Two IDF soldiers were seriously wounded in the failed hostage rescue attempt.

▪️IDF PUBLISHES PROOF OF USE OF CHILDREN as spotters, ammunition carriers, and messengers, as well as sending them to indoctrination camps with weapons training.

▪️TUNNEL LOCATED - JUDEA… IDF forces locate tunnel in the area of Kfar Tarkomia near Hebron, headed towards the town of Salem.

▪️MK’s WHO LIVE IN JUDEA-SAMARIA GIVEN VESTS AND HELMETS… due to increased security concerns, by the Knesset Guard and recommended by the police.

▪️3 TERRORISTS ARRESTED IN ARGENTINA… possibly planning terror attack against Jewish community. (N12)

▪️HIGH COURT RULES… it is ordered to postpone the applicability of Amendment No. 12 to the Basic Law: The Government regarding the arrangement of the Prime Minister (and under what basis he can be suspended as PM), so that it will enter into force at the beginning of the 26th Knesset term. This is because it is a distinctly personal amendment that constitutes an abuse of the Knesset's constituent authority.

⬆️ Northern Front 🗞 Airstrikes continue at a heavier pace than previously.  Hezbollah has fired 6 very-large rockets at Israel.

⬇️ Southern Front 🗞 Heavy fire in the Sheikh Radwan area, north Gaza and IDF Navy firing at west Gaza targets.

➡️ Eastern Front 🗞 IDF operating in Jenin, Jericho and Qalqilya to make arrests. Firefight during the operation in Jenin.  Tulkarm, IDF dozer hit by huge IED (via enemy video). 

🚢 Red Sea Front 🗞 (no updates)

[mariacallous]

ODESA, Ukraine—In his office overlooking Odesa’s Pivdennyi Port on the Black Sea, Viktor Berestenko smiled contentedly at the half-dozen large international cargo ships just beyond the harbor. “It’s as beautiful as your first kiss,” said the grinning president of the Association of International Freight Forwarders of Ukraine. Speaking to Foreign Policy in late March Berestenko was only too happy to inform me that Ukraine’s three free ports—all in and around Odesa—are operating 24/7, and that the country’s grain exports are back to prewar levels.

The restoration of Black Sea trade is a major breakthrough for Ukraine, in stark contrast to the losses it has endured this year on the eastern fronts. In the Black Sea theater, Ukraine has pulled off the unthinkable: beating back the esteemed Russian Navy even though it has next to no naval force of its own.

From the tiny swath of coastline around Odesa, Ukraine has stymied Moscow’s attempt to landlock and hobble its economy by rendering it unable to market its voluminous agricultural exports. In the spring of 2022, the Russian military barricaded Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and brought exports to a standstill. This forced Ukraine to shift to land routes to market its goods and caused worldwide grain prices to spike, which raised concerns about famine in the Middle East and Africa. Today, Russia still occupies 16 Ukrainian ports. But the Black Sea front looks more hopeful for Ukraine than at any time since the war’s onset more than two years ago.

The Ukrainian fleet lost 80 percent of its vessels after the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014. But, relying a combination of missile systems and unmanned drone boats guided by advanced GPS and cameras, Ukraine’s armed forces claim to have crippled a third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. They have also upended the Russian supply lines that serve thousands of troops in the occupied areas of southern Ukraine.

On March 24, Ukraine landed another blow, reportedly using U.K.- or French-made air-to-surface missiles, taking out two large Russian landing ships and other infrastructure near the occupied Crimean port city of Sevastopol. Russia’s fleet has suffered such a drubbing that it prompted the firing of its top admiral, Nikolai Yevmenov, in mid-March. Today, Russia’s remaining ships are in docked in berths along the far side of the Crimean Peninsula, out of sight but not entirely out of Ukraine’s reach.

“Russia wanted to turn the Black Sea into a big Russian lake. But Ukraine reversed it,” said Volodymyr Dubovyk, the director of the Center for International Studies at the Odesa Mechnikov National University. “Russian ships today don’t venture into the northwest of the Black Sea.”

This cover has enabled Ukraine to improvise a sea corridor that begins in Odesa and hugs the safe shores of NATO members Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey as ships travel southwest en route to the Bosphorus Strait, through which most Black Sea trade passes. Exploiting a bumper crop, Ukraine is now exporting as much grain—corn, wheat, and barley—as it did before the war, as well as other goods, and has opened its Odesan ports for nighttime business to handle yet more. Prior to the war, Ukraine traded more grain than the entire European Union and supplied half of the globally traded sunflower oil, as well as iron ore and fertilizer, according to Bloomberg.

“This is enormously important for Ukraine’s economy, for the Odesa region, and for our future,” said Sergey Yakubovskiy, an economist at Odesa National University. “We have to do everything to keep this route open and reliable.”

Ukraine’s asymmetric Black Sea strategy relies ever more upon Ukraine-made drone boats—known as uncrewed surface vessels (USVs)—that speed across the water beneath Russian radar carrying up to 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) of explosives. These projectiles have sunk or disabled some of the 24 lost Russian warships, evidence that Ukraine’s domestic arms production has been stepped up and is increasingly consequential in the absence of anticipated U.S. and European assistance. According to the Guardian, there are currently 200 drone manufacturing companies in Ukraine, some of them bankrolled by crowdfunding campaigns. In December 2023, they delivered 50 times as many robotic explosives as in the entire year of 2022, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Ukraine’s strategy is to maintain its presence in the Black Sea with the prospect of soon acquiring the longer-range missiles that it needs to hit Crimea itself and Russia proper beyond it, Dubovyk said. For Ukraine, he explained, the pressing issue is what comes next. “Crimea is in play, and if Ukraine can put more pressure on Russia there, it can make the occupation untenable. It would change the war’s logic if Russia couldn’t supply the eastern fronts from Crimea,” he said.

Russia’s response has been to target Odesa’s ports, energy infrastructure, and housing blocks with ballistic missiles. Seldom does a day pass without air raid sirens in the port city, which send its residents scrambling into their cellars. In March alone, Russian attacks killed 32 civilians.

One would think that the new coastal sea route would obviate Ukraine’s need to access EU markets via land, namely through Central Europe, and thus ameliorate the friction it has caused between the Central Europeans and Ukraine. Following Russia’s invasion, the EU allowed Ukraine tariff-free access to its markets, which had the effect of undermining the Visegrad Group states’ own grain trade and prompting farmers to take to the streets in anger, above all in Poland. Now, logically, trade could revert to its previous routes and the injurious tiff come to an end.

Not so quickly, explained Yakubovskiy, the economist. He pointed out that Ukraine’s new sea corridor is a temporary and unsanctioned byway, possible now only as a result of Russia’s naval weakness and an informal agreement between Russia and Ukraine not to target civilian shipping. It could end at any moment, he said.

As for Russia, it is not likely to improve its Black Sea positions soon. This is because Turkey controls the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and Ankara has chosen to adhere to the letter of the 1936 Montreux Convention, which prohibits the passage of warships through the straights into the Black Sea in a time of war. Russia thus has no way of getting reinforcements to its ports.

The upshot of Russia’s retreat from Black Sea waters and Turkey’s control of the straits has put Ankara in the driver’s seat. Whether Ukraine maintains its new trade route thus depends, to some extent, on Turkey.

In the past, Ankara has shown itself deft at using leverage to promote its own interests, whatever they may be. It could turn Viktor Berestenko’s bliss into a short-lived fling.

[unhonestlymirror]

Nadia Lipes:

"Okay, I'll give you a short text that you can safely send to your controversial callers. So short, so that they can read it in three seconds and not drown in sophistry and long, confusing historical facts.

1. Israel and Jews have existed much longer than Arabs, Muslims and whoever else they are on this planet. One could already come to terms with the idea that there will always be Jews, because if they did not exist, they would have to be invented. You have to blame someone for all your troubles. And Jews are convenient.

2. The Jews never left the territory in which Israel and Judah existed until they were destroyed by someone. Arabs, as a concept, appeared in the 5th century and in general it is a collective image. More than half of this image prefers a nomadic lifestyle, searching for a better life, jobs, etc. Some of these nomads at the beginning of the last century migrated closer to Jewish settlements in search of work.

Yes, you read everything correctly, it were the Arabs who came to the Jews to find work and not vice versa.

Jewish settlements were formed because Jews bought land from the Turks, to whom this land then conditionally belonged. Conditionally belonged because they seized it at one time. In general, over the last 2 thousand years, and even the last 200, someone has taken something from someone else. And the Jews distinguished themselves here too. They bought the land.

3. Jews lived with Arabs, sometimes amicably, sometimes not very well, in the 17th year of the last century, Turkey lost the war and its territories of the Middle East were divided by the victorious countries. The Israeli part went to Britain, and solely so that Britain could create two states. Arabic and Jewish. But Britain created only Arabic, and left the second part under itself. It began to incite the local Arab population, so pogroms like the Hebron one happened, but overall everything was calm. But despite the fact that it was the Jews who supported England in World War II, the local English authorities continued to prevent the creation of a Jewish state and fed and armed the Arabs. And Jewish refugees, of course, were not allowed in.

It’s as if you don’t live at home, which means the house is not yours, but in reality they simply don’t let you there. Even though you have documents for ownership.

4. In 1947, the world finally gave the green light and decided to allow Israel. And another Arab state. 28 purely Muslim countries were not enough. There was the need for one more. The Jews agreed and said, "Thank you anyway." But the Arabs were extremely against it. And together, they attacked what had not yet even become Israel. But they didn't succeed.

5. Muslim countries did not calm down and continued to attack Israel with enviable frequency. And Israel began to add territories with the same frequency.

The last time this happened was in 1967. But the neighbors did not calm down. And six years later they attacked Israel again. Six days were enough for them to understand the pointlessness of this initiative. But the Soviet Union, which sponsored the last two events, was offended by Israel. It was offended and invented Palestinians, who never existed, but they suddenly appeared, and in very noticeable numbers.

Nothing complicated, of course. We take any random Arab, a native of any neighbouring country, and say: Bro, you are no longer just an Egyptian or some Syrian. A proud Palestinian, different from others. Rejoice.

Here, take a bagel and a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

.

Jews are the kind of people who want to be ahead of the rest of the planet, especially in the humane part, and if suddenly no war happened. We have to spend our time somewhere. And energy.

So they thought and thought and decided that hell with it. The Palestinians may never have existed, but we recognize them. At the same time, we will give Sinai to Egypt. Well, let them love us deeply because we are kind. And we will love the local Arabs too, you see, they will love us someday. Interestingly, the Jews succeeded with the Christian Arabs, Druze and Bedouins, and even Egypt.

But with the Palestinians - no.

And there's a reason for that.

The first reason was the Soviet Union, which was against it, and the second was the concerned world community, which, of course, never fell in love with Jews, it liked Jews of a different type, mainly this type is located in cemeteries, and it did not like living Jews very much. But the public is also fashionable and humane, and guilty of the Holocaust, so they can’t say straight to your face - well, I don’t like you. But they can support the myth of the proud people of Palestine, who are mocked by the Israelis. And of course, Jews and Israelis are completely different things. They are for the Jews, but against the Israelis. Because those are occupiers. Why are they occupiers? How are they occupiers? This is already unnecessary information. Occupiers because they are occupiers.

Israel was very upset by such a statement. Well, of course, they are a nation of artists, writers, doctors, inventors of a bunch of all sorts of humane and useful crap, such as Google Whatsapp, Facebook and so on, and here they are occupiers. And out of this frustration, Israel left Gaza. Completely. It left but left behind the infrastructure, such as water supply, sewerage, and electricity. As well as gardens, fields, and fully functioning million-dollar businesses such as Gush Katif greenhouses.

Where are they all now?

.

Israel, as we remember, withdrew from Gaza, continuing, by the way, to finance it.

But it was not enough for everyone. And most importantly, it was not clear how one could not love Jews now, if there seemed to be no reason for it. And they came up with an idea.

And they started firing rockets at Israel. At first, these were missiles from the very same water pipes that Gaza inherited, and then from somewhere, in the most magical way, under a complete blockade, real, super modern weapons began to appear among the Gazavat. And kilometers of underground tunnels.

They did not build any greenhouses, and they completely destroyed the Gush Katif, nor modern hospitals, because they went to Israel to treat complex diseases at Israeli expense, again, no modern schools, no universities, except those in which they learn to make bombs with missiles, aiming them at a target, etc., nothing has appeared in Gaza during the 20 years of freedom from Israeli occupation. Except money. Where did they get the money? That's right, from the world community. Where did they go? That's right, they spent money on building tunnels and rockets.

Well, as we know, after October 7, for a bunch of melee weapons.

In general, our relationship has looked like this for the last twenty years.

Gaza will shoot, Israel will respond, the world community will be outraged and Israel will stop responding. And everyone has long been accustomed to these entertainments and relaxed. They relaxed to such an extent that the Shabak was forbidden to tap terrorists' phones. Private life, prosecutor's sanctions, all of that.

Well, the Israeli part of the world community, which gave the Gazavat people work on their territory, took them to treatment, and was generally actively concerned about troubles, kept trying to reconcile the two entities with each other, forgetting the old folk saying - no matter how much you feed the wolf, it will still look to the forest. However, this public does not know russian. Maybe that's the point.

And then what happened happened. On October 7, a pack of well-trained Wolves entered Israel to sow death. And behind them, flocks of jackals, whom the world community calls the peaceful civilian population, passed through the holes of a very expensive fence, stuffed with electronics, but absolutely useless, as we see.

Again. Nobody attacked them. They were supplied with water and electricity, treated in our hospitals, given jobs, yet they came to sow death.

They did this in different ways. To be honest, having written a book about the pogroms of the Civil War, I didn’t think that the methods of death could surprise me. But they did it. They did it so well that hundreds of victims are still unidentified due to the lack of DNA in the ashes.

Hundreds of victims remain unidentified.

In super-technological Israel, which can grow gardens, square watermelons, and carrots in the desert in a year, which do not need to be washed and peeled.

Hundreds of victims have not been identified and hundreds of people have been taken captive. In a fucking captivity. In the 21st century. And no one knows where they are, our captives, 40 of whom are children. Not soldiers, not men. Children. And about 80 of old people. Including Holocaust survivors.

The world shook. For two days. And then, it started singing again about the disproportionate response. The ground operation has already been going on for more than a week. More than 30 soldiers have already died. And of course, there was another option for waging war. Carpet. But Israel can not do this. There are hostages there. Moreover, there are two types of hostages there. Some are Israeli, and others are the same civilian population, which is not peaceful at all, but they also have children.

So Israel walks through the land and loses its own children. And it does this so that those other children have a chance to survive.

Jews are such strange people.

[ritchiepage2001newaccount]

Kakistocracy #CorpMedia #Idiocracy #Oligarchs #MegaBanks vs #Union #Occupy #NoDAPL #BLM #SDF #DACA #MeToo #Humanity #DemExit #FeelTheBern

JinJiyanAzadi #BijiRojava SDF balance sheet of battle in northern Syria for the 11th day [UPDATES]

The Turkish military offensive seeking to invade North and East Syria was launched on October 9 and continues despite the ceasefire between the U.S. and Turkey announced on Thursday…

RELATED UPDATE: US secrecy on Baghdadi raid exposes distrust of NATO ally Turkey

RELATED UPDATE: Treasury Report Highlights Turkey as Islamic State’s Logistical Hub

RELATED UPDATE: America's allies in Syria accuse Turkey of giving ISIS a "safe zone"

RELATED UPDATE: IntelBrief: Turkey has Long Been an Important Support Base for Islamic State

RELATED UPDATE: Questions and Answers: Turkey’s Threatened Incursion into Northern Syria

RELATED UPDATE: Turkey will launch Syria ground operation after strikes - Erdogan

RELATED UPDATE: U.S. calls for de-escalation as Turkey threatens ground assault into Syria

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/23/turkey-kurds-syria-attack/

RELATED UPDATE: Mazloum Abdi: Turkish Attacks Impact Fight Against ISIS

https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/88619

FURTHER READING:

[magz]

Palestine related summary. April 8 to April 14, 2024 - from LetsTalkPalestine. Quote.

April 8. Day 185

•⁠ 38 Palestinians killed, 47 injured in Gaza in last 24 hours

⚖️ Nicaragua presented its case against Germany today at ICJ, Germany will conclude the hearing tomorrow — check back then for our summary

🇺🇳 UN membership committee received State of Palestine’s application for membership after Fatah-controlled PLO request for renewed consideration of its 2011 application

🚚 Israel says 322 aid trucks entered south Gaza, but still inadequate + gave no convoys access to north. Uncertainty on its delivery as Israel blocks UNRWA’s movements + raised concerns after @ wckitchen attack that killed 7

•⁠ Israeli forces raid, assault & abduct people at funeral of martyred Palestinian Walid Daqqa who was killed yesterday by Israeli medical negligence

🇯🇴 Unknown man approached Jordanian crossing to occupied Palestine & opened fire on Israeli patrol car on Saturday. He didn’t infiltrate the border & fled. No casualties

🇱🇧 Israeli air strikes on south Lebanon kill 3 incl. Hezbollah commander

"Middle East Eye", instagram stories quote of April 8, Nicaraguan representative on ICJ, questioning Germany's support of Israel.

April 9. Skipped Day.

April 10. Day 187 - Eid

• 122 Palestinians killed, 56 injured in past 24 hours

• Israel murdered Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh‘s 3 sons + 3 grandkids in targeted missile attack on their car while meeting family on Eid

🇮🇪🇪🇸🇲🇹🇸🇮 Ireland, Spain, Malta & Slovenia commit to recognizing Palestinian statehood; Ireland in the coming weeks & Spain by July

🇹🇷 Turkey’s new export restrictions to Israel can increase Israeli property & rent prices by bans on steel, cement & granite

• Israeli army to establish new border crossing to north Gaza, refusing to open previously promised Beit Hanoun crossing claiming fear of blockade from Israeli protestors, the new crossing is in more remote location

🇬🇧 UK gov’t ignores their lawyers’ advice to halt arms sales to avoid culpability. UK Foreign Sec insists they evaluated arms licenses & will continue sending to Israel

• 30+ Israeli settlers attack Ramallah (West Bank) firing live bullets & torched a barn, injuring 4 Palestinians, incl. a 15 y/o

April 11. Day 188

•⁠ 63 Palestinians killed, 45 injured in last 24 hours

•⁠ ⁠Israel bombs Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, attacking 2 mosques & 2 schools, killing 5 & injuring many

🇳🇮 Nicaragua closes its embassy in Berlin after its ICJ case vs Germany for facilitating genocide by giving Israel military & financial aid

•⁠ ⁠Israel shuts down town of Jayyus in West Bank for 5th day, blocking Palestinians from leaving their homes during Ramadan & Eid. Israeli forces are storming homes, abducting Palestinians & seizing homes as temporary army bases, even confiscating & destroying kids’ toys

•⁠ ⁠IOF abduct 14 y/o girl in West Bank while photographing landscapes w/ her phone

•⁠ Hundreds of Israelis rally in Jerusalem, calling for ground invasion of "safe zone" Rafah to achieve "complete victory"

🇺🇳 UN Security Council issues statement expressing "grave concern" over "horrific" Israeli attack that killed 7 @ wckitchen aid workers, calling for investigation + Israel to improve aid entry & delivery

April 12. Day 189

• 89 Palestinians killed, 120 injured in last 24 hours

• Israeli settlers raid town near Ramallah (West Bank), protected by Israeli forces; shot & killed Jihad Afif + set fire to 7 homes & 20 cars + arbitrarily shot people & ambulances, injuring 35 w/ bullets & severe beatings

🇩🇪 Germany refused entry & detained Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta at airport, expected to speak at a German Palestine conference on surviving 43 days of genocide. German police cracked down on the event, canceling it midway

• Israel launches fierce attack on Nuseirat camp (central Gaza), killing 5 people & injuring 70+ incl. 2 journalists

🇳🇴 Norway joins Ireland & Spain, ready to recognize a Palestinian state. Ireland is close but aims to coordinate on timing w/ other like-minded states

• Barely 3 months into the year, 2024 marks record amount of Israel seizing land in West Bank, likely future settlements — so far 2,743 acres seized

• Israeli attack on home in Gaza City killed 29 people, dozens injured

[Iran specific updates for April 13, in next post]

April 13 to April 14.

Non-Iran Updates on Palestine you may have missed

• 52 Palestinians killed, 95 injured in Gaza within 24 hours yesterday

• UN warns that cases of waterborne diseases are spreading in Gaza from no access to clean water & the weather is getting warmer. WHO already recorded 345,000+ cases of diarrhea including 105,000 in children under 5 since Oct 7

• Israel has been heavily bombarding Nuseirat camp (central Gaza) since Wednesday. Yesterday they targeted 3 schools + several homes, killing 19 and injuring 200 within 24 hours, majority women & children

• Israeli settler’s expanded raids all of yesterday in the West Bank, a raid on Abu Falah near Ramallah injured 5 Palestinians + several settler attacks reported in various areas of the West Bank. Israeli army had sent in additional troops to West Bank, fortifying border checkpoints

[valueside]

Iran Strikes Israel...The Rest Of The Story

Modern information technology has put the globe at our fingertips. Today’s internet allows information to be gathered from the world’s four corners and instantly transmitted to us here in America. It has led most of us to believe we always have a complete worldview.

Consequently, in a situation like Iran’s attack on Israel yesterday, many of us believe that we’re getting the whole story of the conflict. Unfortunately, I’m here to say that isn’t the case. A review of most of the American News Services shows a slight variation of the same perspective.

In the American Press version of the story, it is detailed how Iran shot hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. All of this is true, of course, and an accurate resuscitation of yesterday’s events. But few of the reports indicate that this attack was in response to Israel’s attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria.

Inevitably, the news reports quickly transition to describing Israel’s response to the attack and, many times, the statement by US President Joe Biden of unconditional support for Israel should the conflict escalate.

Most Americans are left with the impression that Iran, once again, committed a wanton act of aggression without provocation. I see dozens of “comments” from other readers. Many, but certainly not all, Americans see this as an attack on the United States’ principal alley in the Middle East, Israel. With that, many call for America’s immediate retaliation, falling in line behind President Biden’s call for complete military support of Israel.

If only those were the facts of the matter, I can see how that response would be justified. But there is much, much more to this story. The American reports on Saturday evening events do not provide a historical context.

The immediate trigger for Iran’s attack was Israel’s missile attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. 16 Iranians were killed in the strike, including one of Iran’s most senior Military officers, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, along with seven other officers.

The attack was an effort by Israel to expand the scope of the conflict now raging in Gaza. By taking out Iran’s military leadership visiting nearby Syria, it is presumed that Israel was attempting to mitigate any support these leaders may give to Hezbollah fighting in Gaza. At least, that’s the only logical reason I can see.

No matter the rationale behind the attack, it was an apparent expansion of Israel’s growing war with Hezbollah. A step toward a Regional, if not Global, Conflict. Israel is playing with fire.

In International Law, an Embassy is considered a sovereign part of the country it represents. It is a place where citizens of that country can seek asylum and are safe from arrest by the host country. An attack on the Iranian Embassy by Israel was a direct attack on Iranian territory and, thus, an act of war under International Law.

Universally, most expected that Iran would retaliate.

Do you see now how the limited perspective of the American Press distorted reality? The Iranian drone and missile attack on Saturday evening was NOT unprovoked. Instead, it was a response to an Israeli Attack on their Embassy two weeks earlier.

With this simple change of perspective, perhaps we can change how America should react. While the President’s call to unconditional support would have been warranted if, indeed, Iran’s attack was unprovoked, that is not the case today. A simple recitation of this recent history indicates that it was Israel that was the aggressor, at least regarding its attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.

Much of the world sees these events in this alternate way. Experts in Turkey, Pakistan, and Yemen were quick to point out that Iran was justified in launching missiles and drones precisely because of the Israeli attack on the Iranian Embassy.

And that’s all understandable: allies support allies. We should expect the Muslim world to support Iran, just as the United States supports its ally, Israel.

The danger arises when we refuse to look at the other side of the conflict. When lines are drawn in the sand, and positions hardened, conflicts become intractable when we refuse to see the view from the other side. Local conflicts become regional wars and perhaps even worse.

That’s where we are today. Each side is digging in its heels, preparing its populations for what may follow — building the momentum for all-out conflict. Someone needs to step back and see the other side’s view. It’s time to pick up the phone and begin discussions.

Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening on the American side, where the US President sets the tone by declaring unconditional support of one side before the other side’s drones even reach the Negev Desert. It is a “quick-draw” foreign policy that risks World War III.

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up March 16, 2023

Under the cut:

A remarkable video released by the Pentagon shows the moments before a Russian fighter crashed into a $32m US Reaper drone after spraying it with jet fuel on Tuesday morning over the Black Sea. The declassified footage shows an Su-27 Flanker jet making two exceptionally close passes of the uncrewed drone, spraying fuel in front of it, a harassment tactic that US experts say has not been seen before.

Poland will become the first country to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine in the next few days, marking a significant upward step in military backing for Kyiv ahead of an expected counter-offensive. The precedent, involving four Soviet-era MiG-29s as a first instalment, could lead to other Nato members providing warplanes, a longstanding Ukrainian request.

Negotiations about a possible conversation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are ongoing, but it is too early to say whether a conversation will actually take place, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser.

Ahead of the Black Sea grain agreement expiring this weekend, the United Nations emphasized that the deal states it would be extended for 120 days — even though Russia said it agreed to a 60-day extension of the deal after negotiations in Geneva on Monday. The Black Sea Grain Initiative is an agreement between Ukraine and Russia, brokered by the UN and Turkey, that was established in July 2022 to guarantee safe passage for ships carrying grain and oilseeds — some of Ukraine's most important exports.  

Russian attacks were reported in Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts in the east, south, and north of Ukraine over the past 24 hours. According to local authorities, one person was killed, and 14 were wounded. Russian attacks killed one civilian in Bakhmut and injured 11 more in Donetsk Oblast, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported in his morning update on March 16. Russia hit ten settlements and three communities in the region, damaging over 25 houses, five high-rises, a school, an educational institution, and cars, said Kyrylenko.

(Content warning: Torture, rape.) Russia has committed wide-ranging war crimes in Ukraine such as wilful killings and torture, a U.N.-mandated investigative body said on Thursday, in some cases making children watch loved ones being raped and detaining others alongside dead bodies. The alleged crimes, including the deportation of children, were detailed in a report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which said some acts may amount to crimes against humanity.

“A remarkable video released by the Pentagon shows the moments before a Russian fighter crashed into a $32m US Reaper drone after spraying it with jet fuel on Tuesday morning over the Black Sea.

The declassified footage shows an Su-27 Flanker jet making two exceptionally close passes of the uncrewed drone, spraying fuel in front of it, a harassment tactic that US experts say has not been seen before.

On the second pass, the Su-27 moves so close to the MQ-9 Reaper that the image briefly becomes pixelated, indicating a collision had happened.

When the camera recovers, a bent propeller wing can be seen – damage sufficiently serious for the US Air Force to force the drone down. It fell into international waters in the Black Sea, and senior Russian officials have said they hope to salvage it.

The head of US Central Command, General Erik Kurilla, said Russian planes had also become more aggressive towards US bases in Syria over the past two weeks, flying loaded with weapons “in an attempt … to be provocative”.

“What we are seeing is an increase recently in the unprofessional and unsafe behaviour of the Russian air force in the region,” Kurilla told the Senate armed services committee. “We have seen a significant spike since about 1 March,” he added.

US officials briefed that the footage of the downing of the Reaper drone “absolutely confirms” there was a collision and dumping of fuel – but they added it did not confirm the Russian pilot’s intent and whether it was intended to strike the Reaper.

By pausing the imagery it is possible to see that the Su-27 was armed with at least four missiles. The US has said the Reaper was unarmed, most likely undertaking surveillance and reconnaissance related to the conflict in Ukraine.

The Pentagon said the footage, which is about 40 seconds long, had been edited by the US military for length but showed events in a sequential order at the end of a sustained period of harassment by two Russian jets.

The US has previously said the drone was damaged after a pair of Su-27s had spent at least half an hour trying to disrupt it by dumping fuel on it and flying in front of it. US air force officials said earlier this week that the jets flew close to the drone 19 times, spraying jet fuel on the last three or four times.

Russia has denied US accusations that its jets acted recklessly and has that its aircraft came into contact with the drone. It insists the drone fell from the sky after making a “sharp manoeuvre” and that it was flying towards Crimea, which Russia has occupied since 2014.

The video was released with the following caption: “Two Russian Su-27 aircraft conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept with a US Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 aircraft operating within international airspace over the Black Sea on 14 March 2023. Russian Su-27s dumped fuel upon and struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing US forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters.”

Justin Bronk, an aviation analyst with the Rusi thinktank, said: “The footage does show two extremely close and unprofessional passes at significant angles of attack, which is in line with the US claims that the Russian pilot involved in the collision was flying recklessly and accidentally collided with the MQ-9.”

On Wednesday, the Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, called the incident a provocation. “We are concerned about the unacceptable activity of the US military in the immediate vicinity of our borders,” he said, accusing the US of supplying intelligence to Kyiv. The US had summoned the ambassador over the incident.

The MQ-9 Reaper is a large remotely piloted aircraft, 11 metres long with a wingspan of more than 22 metres, and can be armed if necessary. The US Air Force says its primary use is as “an intelligence-collection asset” but it has frequently been used in drone strikes against targets in the ongoing “war on terror”.

The defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, and joint chiefs of staff chair, Gen Mark Milley, have spoken to their Russian counterparts about the destruction of the drone.”-via The Guardian, video is at source link

~

“Poland will become the first country to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine in the next few days, marking a significant upward step in military backing for Kyiv ahead of an expected counter-offensive.

The precedent, involving four Soviet-era MiG-29s as a first instalment, could lead to other Nato members providing warplanes, a longstanding Ukrainian request.

The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, made the announcement in Warsaw. He said the first planes being handed over were inherited from East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Duda said the MiGs were coming to the end of their working lives after 30 years, but were “still in working order”. The president said that more Polish MiGs were being serviced and repaired in preparation for being handed to Ukraine. In all, Poland has 28 MiG-29s which are to be replaced over the next few years by South Korean FA-50s and US F-35s.

Until now, Ukraine’s backers in Nato have only provided spare parts for its fleet of Soviet-era warplanes, amid fears that delivering functioning planes to Ukraine would be seen by Moscow as direct participation in the war. A year ago, Poland offered to hand over all its MiGs to the US at its airbase in Ramstein, Germany, so they could be passed on to Ukraine, but Washington rejected the plan.

Slovakia, Finland and the Netherlands have all said they would consider supplying Ukraine with warplanes. The US and UK have so far refused to supply their F-16s and Typhoon combat aircraft respectively, on the grounds that they require too much training, ground support and long, smooth runways to be of any short-term help to Ukraine. However, the UK has offered to provide air cover for any eastern European country willing to supply Kyiv with Soviet-era jets.”-via The Guardian

~

“Negotiations about a possible conversation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are ongoing, but it is too early to say whether a conversation will actually take place, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser.

"We can't say for sure, because negotiations are ongoing," Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said on national television Thursday.

The Ukrainian president is open to conversations with other leaders as well, not just Xi, "in order to explain the nature of the war and to say why, without taking into account Ukraine's position, this war cannot be ended," Podolyak said.

"Why supporting for instance only the Russian side firstly will not lead to the finalization of the war, and secondly, it will not add points to China as a global player that understands the nature of war and understands how to end it," he added. Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had a telephone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. The two discussed Ukraine's peace plan and "the significance of the principle of territorial integrity," Kuleba said in a post on his official Twitter account.”-via CNN

~

“Ahead of the Black Sea grain agreement expiring this weekend, the United Nations emphasized that the deal states it would be extended for 120 days — even though Russia said it agreed to a 60-day extension of the deal after negotiations in Geneva on Monday.  

The Black Sea Grain Initiative is an agreement between Ukraine and Russia, brokered by the UN and Turkey, that was established in July 2022 to guarantee safe passage for ships carrying grain and oilseeds — some of Ukraine's most important exports.  

“The agreement is public, it’s an open document. It foresees a rollover of 120 days,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.   Russian state-run news agency RIA, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, reported on Monday that Russia and the UN had agreed to a 60-day extension of the grain deal after the negotiations in Geneva.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the addition of 60 days was a “goodwill gesture” on Russia's part when asked by reporters why the deal had not been extended by 120 days.  

When asked Thursday about the difference in the duration of the extension between Russian and the UN versions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that it may be a display of “UN’s incompetence.”  

Dujarric responded to Zakharova’s remark, saying, “I was just stating and reading a line from the agreement, which talks about the fact that the agreement foresees a renewal for 120 days.”   The spokesperson stressed that the UN doesn't direct the talks or terms to the deal. The Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey are the parties involved in the agreement, with the UN as a witness, Dujarric said.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters on Wednesday that Ankara hopes to resolve the issue in a positive way “as soon as possible,” according to Turkish state media Anadolu.

“We started negotiations with the idea of extending the grain corridor for another 120 days in line with the initial version of the agreement. Our friends with the Russian and Ukrainian sides held talks at the technical level. We also continue our talks at the ministerial level,” he said.”-via CNN

~

“Russian attacks were reported in Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts in the east, south, and north of Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

According to local authorities, one person was killed, and 14 were wounded.

Russian attacks killed one civilian in Bakhmut and injured 11 more in Donetsk Oblast, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported in his morning update on March 16. Russia hit ten settlements and three communities in the region, damaging over 25 houses, five high-rises, a school, an educational institution, and cars, said Kyrylenko.

Russian forces struck Kherson Oblast 88 times, firing 413 projectiles on the oblast's settlements, according to Kherson Oblast Military Administration. The attacks reportedly wounded three people in the region as well as damaged houses and apartment buildings in the city of Kherson.

Russian troops launched an S-300 missile at Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv on March 15, damaging an educational institution, a high-rise, and cars, said Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Russia also attacked four regional districts over the past day, damaging houses and infrastructure sites in the villages of Hatyshche and Lemishcheno, Syniehubov added. No casualties were reported.

On the morning of March 16, Russian forces hit the community of Bilopillia with artillery and grenade launchers in Sumy Oblast, bordering Russia, according to the regional administration.

Earlier on March 15, Russia shelled four other communities in the region, destroying a farm building and an office building, the administration wrote. There were no casualties in the attacks.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration reported that Russia had struck civilian infrastructure in 17 settlements. Local authorities received ten reports about damage to citizens' households and infrastructure sites due to Russian attacks. The administration didn't provide information on casualties.

In Chernihiv Oblast, Russian troops used mortars to attack the villages of Berylivka and Yeline close to the Russian-Ukrainian border on March 15, according to the Northern Operational Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

The next day, the General Staff reported Russian attacks on two other regional settlements. No casualties were reported.

Russia also shelled four settlements in Luhansk Oblast, the regional administration said on Telegram. It didn't provide information on casualties or damage.”-via Kyiv Independent

~

(Content warning: Torture, rape.)

“Russia has committed wide-ranging war crimes in Ukraine such as willful killings and torture, a U.N.-mandated investigative body said on Thursday, in some cases making children watch loved ones being raped and detaining others alongside dead bodies.

The alleged crimes, including the deportation of children, were detailed in a report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which said some acts may amount to crimes against humanity.

At her weekly press briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow regularly heard accusations like these.

She added that if those behind such reports supported objectivity "then we are ready to analyse specific cases, answer questions, provide data, statistics and facts. But if they are biased, if they represent only one point of view ... then there is no use responding to these reports."

Russia denies committing atrocities or attacking civilians in Ukraine.

Based on more than 500 interviews as well as satellite images and visits to detention sites and graves, the report comes as the International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to seek the arrest of Russian officials for forcibly deporting children from Ukraine and attacking civilian infrastructure.

It said Russian forces carried out "indiscriminate and disproportionate" attacks on Ukraine and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

"The ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine has had devastating effects at various levels," Erik Møse, chair of the commission, told a press briefing. "Human losses and the general disregard for the life of civilians...are shocking."

The report said at least 13 waves of Russian attacks since October on Ukraine's energy-related infrastructure as well as its use of torture "may amount to crimes against humanity."

It found that some 16,000 children have been unlawfully transferred and deported from Ukraine, citing a Ukraine government figure. Russia denies the charge, saying it has evacuated people voluntarily from Ukraine.

Other children were forced to watch their loved ones raped or, in one instance, detained in a school basement alongside the bodies of the deceased, the report said.

Victims in Russian detention facilities were subject to electric shocks with a military phone - a treatment known as a "call to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin" - or hung from the ceiling in a "parrot position", the report said.

The commission's 18-page report will be presented to the Geneva Human Rights Council on Monday. Countries at the council, the only body made up of governments to protect human rights worldwide, aims to extend and deepen the commission's mandate.

Sometimes, the council's probes lead to prosecutions in international courts. The commission said it is working on a list of possible perpetrators that would be passed onto U.N. authorities.

Asked whether Russia's acts might amount to genocide, as Ukraine believes, Møse said it had not yet found such evidence but would continue to follow up.

Ukraine, which has called for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia's political and military leadership with aggression over the invasion, has said the commission was essential to ensure Russia would be held accountable.

The commission found reasonable grounds to conclude that the Ukraine invasion qualifies as an act of aggression.

The report also found that Ukraine forces had committed a "small number of violations" including what appeared to be indiscriminate attacks and torture of prisoners of war. The Ukrainian presidency was not immediately available for comment.”-via Reuters

[dougielombax]

Just leaving this here.

Feel free to reblog.

Reblog the shit out of this.

[bopinion]

2024 / 13

Aperçu of the Week:

"Peace is never made with weapons, but by stretching out our hands and opening our hearts."

(Pope Francis at this year's Easter blessing "Urbi et Orbi" in Rome)

Bad News of the Week:

Turkey has voted. "Only" local elections, but an important test of sentiment in view of the severe economic problems facing the country of two continents, such as inflation of almost 70%. The winner was not the conservative AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi / Justice and Development Party) of ruling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but the largest opposition party CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi / Republican People's Party), a social democratic party founded by none other than the father of the country, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

The CHP now holds the office of mayor in the country's five largest cities, including Ankara and Istanbul. The latter in particular will hurt Erdogan, as he himself was once mayor of the metropolis on the Bosporus. A 75% voter turnout proves that the voice of the people has indeed spoken here. This is remarkable in that Erdogan has become more and more of an autocrat in recent years - among other things by restricting freedom of expression and the press, curtailing the independent judiciary, persecuting critics of the regime and transforming the state into a presidential republic.

The election result is therefore much more than just a yellow card to those currently in power, a "midterm effect" so to speak. It is a clearly articulated, unmistakable rejection of an authoritarian style of leadership in general and of wannabe despot Erdogan in particular. This rejection is all the more pleasing as the opposite direction has become increasingly established worldwide in recent years, especially in patriarchal societies. Freedom, pluralism, peace, equality and democracy are finding it increasingly difficult to be seen as fundamental foundations of nation building.

Many states such as Libya, Iraq and Yemen have been unable to emerge from the maelstrom of a failed state for years and decades. And beacons of hope such as Tunisia, which adopted a constitution following the Arab Spring revolution and held the status of the only democratic country in the Arab world from 2014 to 2020, have reverted to autocracies. Others, such as Myanmar, which tried to establish democratic elements from 2011 to 2021, are now even under the rule of military dictatorships. Which makes this actually good news into bad news after all.

Good News of the Week:

I have never understood many things that happen in Israel. For example, why the ultra-Orthodox - 13% of the population - enjoy so many exceptions in a theoretically secular state, such as not being called up for compulsory military service. Or why a people that has suffered so much from radicalism in its history is increasingly voting for far-right parties. Or why anyone who criticizes Israeli policy is immediately and reflexively vilified as an anti-Semite.

Israel could always be sure of one thing, no matter what it was about: the support of the USA. Although the protection of Israel is the official reason of state in Germany, it is primarily the Americans who see themselves as the unwavering protector of the Israeli state. Automatically and unfortunately often without reflection. For example, in all previous military conflicts in the Middle East, in which Israel has violated international law on more than one occasion, or in the oppression of the Palestinian people, which can safely be described as apartheid, the US veto has always ensured that Israel has not been subject to a UN Security Council resolution. Until now.

An abstention by the USA was the first time that a (theoretically legally binding) UN resolution called for a ceasefire, serious peace efforts and protection of the civilian population in Gaza - 14 votes for, 1 abstention, 0 votes against. Side note: historically, most UN resolutions were not prevented by the Soviet Union/Russia or China, but by the USA. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted like an offended child. Among other things, by canceling the US visit of an Israeli delegation. Which was actually on a mission to ask for more weapons. In soccer, this is called an own goal. The media response was corresponding - even in Israel, whose enlightened population continues to take to the streets in their tens of thousands against the wannabe despot.

You can take whatever view you like on the proportionality of Israel's military response to the Hamas attack. But this behavior proves once again that Netanyahu is not a sovereign politician who serves the interests of his people without thinking of himself. He is a selfish, consultation-resistant, undemocratic power politician who pushes an autocratic agenda regardless of the consequences. In this respect, any behavior that reveals this character is fine with me. Because that makes his re-election less likely. Which would be good for peace in the Middle East. And for the world. Which makes this actually bad news into good news after all.

Personal happy moment of the week:

We rarely treat ourselves with dining out. And there's a work colleague whose company I really appreciate, but rarely see, as he works from the north of Germany. Last week, he was a guest in our little town, of all places, for a three-day training course. And as this is a very beautiful area, he brought the whole family with him. And we met them with our whole family in a long-established inn to spend an evening feasting and exchanging anecdotes. Lovely.

I couldn't care less...

...that once again - and once again completely unnecessarily - summertime has begun. The basic idea dates back to 1784, when Benjamin Franklin (of all people) saw it as a way of saving energy by using less electric lighting. Its complete uselessness has long been proven, and the impact on wildlife is enormous. Which in this case includes me.

It's fine with me...

...that "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud in the collapse of his cryptocurrency stock exchange FTX. First, because he commited fraud. Secondly, because I reject all forms of speculation and (trading) derivatives in principle. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but the real economy is probably called that because it's real.

As I write this...

...I listen to the typically melancholy piano music of Frederik Chopin. It goes perfectly with the cold and wet April weather, which started right on time today.

Post Scriptum

Hardly anyone outside Germany has ever heard of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) from Munich. It is named after Joseph von Fraunhofer, a leading inventor in the field of optics, e.g. telescope construction - hence the inscription on his tombstone "Approximavit Sidera" (He brought us closer to the stars). The purpose of the association is applied research for the direct benefit and advantage of society. In other words, less theoretical basic research than concrete usability.

The results of the 30,000 or so people working there are certainly noticeable in everyday life: The MP3 audio format, white LEDs, High Definition Television (HDTV), airbags or RFID technology are just examples of the inventions we are all familiar with. The institution comes up with over 600 inventions every year. These are not - as is the case with an industrial patent - exclusively available to one manufacturer, but to everyone. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is now celebrating its 75th anniversary. Congratulations. And thank you.

[girlactionfigure]

MDA first responder Fadi Dekidek: 'Jews save Arabs. Arabs save Jews'

The paramedic who was on the front lines of the deadly Jerusalem terror attack believes that education is the solution to the endless violence

The massacre that occurred in Jerusalem on Friday night after Khaire Alkam, 21, opened fire on a synagogue and killed seven also left a number of civilians injured. One of the people on the front lines providing life-saving medical treatment was veteran Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedic Fadi Dekidek.

Dekidek hails from the Beit Hanina neighborhood in east Jerusalem. His family is originally from Turkey, and his first name means “redeemer.”

During his nearly two decades in an MDA uniform, Dekidek has seen “many terror attacks," he told The Jerusalem Post. "I was in danger. I made sure that the others in the ambulance were safe and rushed into the synagogue and nearby buildings to see if there were more wounded or dead, but there were none," he said.

Read More: Here