#Israel Pakistan Relations

[gayjaytodd]

one argument I keep coming across in relation to Israel is that "no one deserves an ethnostate" and, even ignoring my own discomfort at applying a white supremacist term to a Jewish state, it's an argument I hate for a few reasons:

It's wrong - Israel may be a Jewish state and thus built on Jewish traditions, culture and religion (but is that any different than Muslim nations like Pakistan, or even Western countries which have Christianity built into their foundations?), but not all Israelis are Jewish; there are Muslim Israelis and Buddhist Israelis and Christian Israelis

'ethnostate', by virtue of having been coined by white supremacists, bring to mind a swathe of white, US/European colonisers, and while many Israelis have European/USamerican ancestry, there are Israelis from North Africa and the Middle East and South Asia as well - many of whom came to Israel fleeing persecution in their own lands, which brings me to:

the argument is ignoring historical context; Israel is not the result (solely) of a European imperialist mindset - why do Jews, specifically, get a state of their own? Well, because historically, we have been kicked out or (attempted) ethnically cleansed from all other countries - the fear of pogroms, the anxiety of wondering when we'll have to flee again, is built into our culture, traditions, our DNA, and the only way to avoid a government that'll suddenly, from one day to the next, decide that it hates Jews and wants us dead, is to make our own country and our own government

and finally: it's a useless point to make. Whether you think Israel is a legitimate state or not doesn't actually matter or make any difference; the fact of the matter is that Israel is an internationally recognised state, and that's the fact we have to work off.

Does all of this mean Israel hasn't committed war crimes? No. Does this mean that Palestinians deserve to be murdered and driven from their homes? No.

But it does mean that, once again, leftists online need to come and join the rest of us in the real world - which includes nuance and historical context and other such complicated things - if they want to help foster real change.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Turkey has discreetly imposed a comprehensive ban on the export of weapons and defence-related items to India, one of the world’s leading arms importers, to show its support for Pakistan, India’s main rival in South Asia.[...]

“India, for example, is one of the world’s top five arms importers, a massive market, importing close to $100 billion. However, due to our political circumstances and our friendship with Pakistan, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not give us positive feedback on exporting any products to India, and consequently, we do not grant any permits to our companies in this regard,” he said.[...]

Turkey and India are at odds over a proposed initiative introduced by India, the United States and the European Union at the G20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. The initiative seeks to establish a substantial economic corridor linking Europe with the Middle East and India via rail and sea routes. It aims to connect India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Israel and the EU through strategically placed shipping ports and an extensive railway network.

Excluded from this corridor, Turkey openly expressed discomfort with the initiative, which it believes undermines its role as a trade hub and favors Greece and other regional competitors. Instead, Turkey supports China’s expansive Belt and Road projects.

Ankara is also advancing the realization of an alternative route, known as the Development Road, which aims to connect Europe and the Middle East through Turkey. “We say there can be no corridor without Turkey. The most suitable route for traffic from east to west must pass through Turkey,” said Erdogan on his return flight from India last year.

Erdogan said they are discussing a corridor that goes from Iraq, Qatar and Abu Dhabi through Turkey to Europe. The corridor is a 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) transportation route comprising railways, motorways and pipelines. It will stretch from Iraq’s Faw Port in Basra to the Turkish port of Mersin and is estimated to cost $20 billion.

Turkey’s anti-Indian policies have prompted New Delhi to seek alliances with countries where Turkey faces challenges in its neighborhood, such as Greece, Cyprus and Armenia, in order to send a message to Ankara that it is prepared to play hardball. As a result, security, military and intelligence cooperation among India, Greece, Cyprus and Armenia has been significantly enhanced in recent years.

18 Jul 24

[girlactionfigure]

Facts

The Palestinians have a history of duplicity and treachery towards Arabs and Muslims who once unequivocally supported them I’m not going to be too detailed on this as all of you can check and verify . 

1. The first example was when Arafat tried to overthrow the Jordanians. In what became known as Black September 1970 . King Hussein of Jordan called in the help of Pakistan ( that’s right , Pakistani troops under Brigadier Zia al-Haq ) and together they defeated the Palestinians. 25,000 Palestinians were killed and tens of thousands kicked out from Jordan to Lebanon and Tunisia.

2. In Lebanon in 1976 the Palestinians then tried to overthrow the Lebanese government . Using exactly the same barbaric tactics they used on October 7 , the Palestinians butchered hundreds ( probably thousands as number of deaths never accounted for accurately) of Lebanese civilians at Damour . The Lebanese Christians fought back and thousands of Palestinians left for the Gulf states .

3. In Kuwait the Palestinians who had been extraordinarily well treated there inexplicably supported the 1990 invasion by the Iraqi megalomaniac Saddam Hussein and tens of thousands of Palestinians were kicked out by the Kuwaitis who having received help from the USA defeated the Iraqis and Palestinians . The irony is that those Palestinians who went to Iraq before the Kuwait invasion were treated appallingly by the Iraqis who resented their presence. Numerous Palestinians were killed by Iraqi civilians in Iraq - only rarely reported in mainstream media but regularly reported in the Arab press at the time and by UN NGOs when they took responsibility for Palestinians in refugee camps after the failed Iraqi Kuwait invasion 

4. In 2007 Hamas supported by the Muslim Brotherhood defeated Fatah who had previously represented all Palestinians in Gaza . Thousands of Palestinians on both sides were killed .Both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood were then disciplined politically and militarily by the Egyptian Sisi administration who they had tried to displace 

5. In the last decade the Palestinians have supported the anti Syrian militias fighting to overthrow the Assad government . Over 5000 of 600,000 killed are Palestinian and 1,2 million refugees are in camps .

Naturally such historical facts are never presented to nor explained to the general public by mainstream media . The Palestinians are in fact detested by millions in the Islamic world . Much of the supposed support is to placate domestic audiences and not to expose their true contempt nor their willingness to normalise relations with Israel . Many Arab Sunni countries are in fact lowering their previous support for Palestinians recognising that normalising relationships with Israel is pragmatic and economically and militarily more beneficial……. The Palestinians have paid and will pay a huge price for supporting non Arab Shia Iran and their proxies against their previous Arab Sunni benefactors

Peter Baum

@baum_p

[mariacallous]

A 10-month-old boy in the Gaza Strip was recently paralyzed by poliovirus—the first such case in the region this century. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a limited ceasefire to allow 640,000 children in the enclave to be vaccinated against the virus. We asked a virologist to explain how the virus emerged in the region after all this time, and how it will be dealt with.

The Conversation: Given that polio was all but eradicated in this region of the world, how might the 10-month-old baby in Gaza have caught it?

Lee Sherry: The sequences of the polioviruses detected in Gaza in July 2024 suggest that these viruses may be related to a strain circulating in Egypt, with the virus potentially being introduced to Gaza as early as September 2023.

This is probably due to the nature of the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), which contains a weakened live poliovirus that can be shed by vaccinated people. This suggests the virus may have been introduced by someone traveling to the region.

The war in Gaza has also provided an ideal environment for the virus to thrive and spread, due to the unhygienic conditions caused by little access to clean water and sanitation.

Can the virus “survive” (remain viable) for long periods without a human host?

Yes, poliovirus is an incredibly stable virus that can remain infectious for long periods outside of the human body, depending on the environmental conditions. For example, polioviruses are capable of surviving in groundwater for several weeks.

Can you explain what “wild type” poliovirus is, compared with vaccine-derived “variants”?

Wild type poliovirus is a virus that is circulating naturally in the environment, whereas vaccine-derived strains are related to the weakened virus present in the OPV, which in extremely rare cases is capable of reverting to a form capable of causing paralysis.

Is the wild type still endemic anywhere in the world?

Due to the success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, led by the World Health Organization, that began in 1988, type 2 and type 3 polioviruses have been declared eradicated. Only type 1 poliovirus is currently circulating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where there have been 27 recorded cases so far in 2024.

Why are most cases of polio vaccine-derived variants?

Most cases of paralytic polio are now vaccine-derived due to the success of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. OPV has been instrumental in the near-eradication of wild polioviruses around the world. However, in areas where vaccination rates drop and enough people are susceptible to infection, the weakened virus can replicate. Unfortunately, each round of replication increases the potential for the virus to revert to a form that causes illness and paralysis.

Why was the old oral polio vaccine shelved in 2016?

Following the eradication of type 2 poliovirus in 1999, the only cases of type 2 paralytic polio were vaccine derived. Therefore, to stop these cases, there was a decision to shift from the original trivalent OPV, which contained all three poliovirus serotypes, to a bivalent OPV vaccine, which only contained type 1 and type 3 poliovirus strains. With an additional type 2 specific monovalent vaccine available to contain any vaccine-derived type 2 should any cases arise.

Was that a mistake, as some experts have suggested?

Although this decision was well intentioned, hindsight suggests that the level of vaccine-derived type 2 poliovirus was underestimated. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative commissioned a report into this decision and the draft report, which is open for public comment, has described the switch to bivalent OPV as an “unqualified failure”.

What type of poliovirus vaccine is being used in the current campaign in Gaza?

More than 1.6 million doses of the novel oral poliovirus vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) – a new poliovirus vaccine—will be delivered to the Gaza Strip to provide two doses to more than 640,000 children under the age of 10.

Will it have the same risks as the old poliovirus vaccine? That is, might it get in the wastewater and cause more polio cases?

No, the nOPV2 is a next-generation version of the traditional type 2 monovalent oral polio vaccine that is used to respond to vaccine-derived type 2 poliovirus outbreaks. The key difference is that the new vaccine contains a weakened virus that has been modified to make it more genetically stable and significantly less likely to revert to a more virulent form capable of causing paralysis, thereby increasing the chances of stopping these outbreaks for good.

What other diseases are likely to emerge in Gaza, given the interrupted vaccination campaigns?

Other vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and pneumonia, as well as diarrheal diseases, such as rotavirus, all have the potential to emerge, each with its own dangers and complications. Therefore it is really important that as many vaccines as possible are delivered into Gaza.

[dzthenerd490]

News Post

Palestine

Hamas and Fatah sign unity deal in Beijing aimed at Gaza governance | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Sinan Antoon on Palestine activism, literature and perseverance (newarab.com)

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested on Capitol Hill ahead of Netanyahu visit (nbcnews.com)

Ex-Biden Staffer Who Quit over Gaza Says Kamala Harris Must “Chart a New Path” on Israel-Palestine | Democracy Now!

Ukraine

Russia outguns Ukraine but suffers 3 times higher losses, Syrskyi says (kyivindependent.com)

Ukraine war: Russia is offering Moscow residents a record $22,000 to join the military | CNN

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 880 | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera

Sudan

https://sudantribune.com/article288577/

Sudan paramilitary leader plans to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland hosted by US, Saudi Arabia - ABC News (go.com)

Bringing More Attention to Sudan’s Crisis | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

Iran, Sudan exchange ambassadors after eight years | News | Al Jazeera

Other

Egypt showing flexibility on IDF staying along its Gaza border to block arms smuggling | The Times of Israel

Could the Nile dam dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia escalate? (newarab.com)

Huge rise in Mpox cases in DR Congo: govt (medicalxpress.com)

Pakistan Reopens Key Border Point With Afghanistan After Months Of Closure (rferl.org)

Violence spirals with Afghan community in Tehran following death of Iranian | Iran International (iranintl.com)

At least 229 people killed in Ethiopia landslides | Weather News | Al Jazeera

Myanmar junta leader assumes presidential powers as president takes ‘sick leave,’ state media reports | CNN

What’s behind the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States? | Politics News | Al Jazeera

[batboyblog]

Ireland has had an antisemitism problem long before the creation of the modern state of Israel; for an example - see the 'Limerick boycott'.

Other nations that have very small Jewish populations and yet a lot of antisemitism include Iceland (and also all the Arab nations where Jews used to live in large numbers before having to flee to save their lives - although in these nations the small size of the Jewish population is a direct result of the antisemitism, whereas Ireland and Iceland have never had a sizeable Jewish population).

Iceland has also expelled Jews and in the late 30ies the Icelandic authorities even offered to pay for the further expulsion of Jews to Germany if the Danish authorities* wouldn't take the Jewish expellees. *for further context, see Icelandic-Danish relations

I learned that Dublin is the only city in Western Europe with a statue honoring a Nazi collaborator, Seán Russell, who died on a Nazi U Boat on his way back to Ireland to undertake a German plan to attack the British. So thats cool....

Yes the Nordics have always been weirdos when it comes to Jews, they've been passing bills to ban circumcision and Kosher slaughter.

Pakistan is another country, along with Malaysia, that have very small Jewish populations historically (and now) that are insanely antisemitic, though very next level compared to the worst Europe has to offer. There are a lot of literal Hitler fans out there, oh there was a clothing story in India called "Hitler" and an ice cream place

who wants some Hitler ice cream? no? huh. Maybe telling how India's small historic Jewish communities all dried up nearly at once after the founding of Israel, more Jews decided to stay in Iran than stayed in India.

[humusboii2thereturnoftheking]

Israel is the low-hanging fruit Human Rights Organizations pick on for validation.

Remember these organizations operate on donations. If you were attempting to maximize donations, which topic would you discuss?

(A) The Uyghur concentration camps in China

(B) The genocide and ethnic cleansing in Sudan

(C) The genocide and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar

(D) One of the worst humanitarian crisis ongoing in Yemen

(E) The terrible human rights violations in Iran

(F) Pakistan expelling two million refugees

(G) Russia's war crimes and massacres in Ukraine

(H) The war in Gaza launched by Hamas

Obviously, the answer is G, as evident by the mind-boggling amount of attention the conflict receives. The popularity of the Israel-Palestine conflict pales in comparison to other global major events and Human Right Organizations know it.

For The Red Cross, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch It is much more profitable, popular and safer to criticize Israel than Russia, Iran, Sudan, China, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, etc.

Let's summarize:

The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) has made 6 times more statements to criticize Israel and has often resorted to hyperbole to cast Israel as a “limitless” destroyer to evoke sympathy for one side and demonize Israel. No statement was made speaking directly about the massacre of October 7th. Beyond language, only 2 statements condemning Hamas include videos and pictures while 38 tweets condemning Israel contain images, graphic testimonies, and videos designed to solicit greater attention and a stronger response. Through their Twitter, it is evident that the ICRC has dedicated large amounts of resources to interviewing doctors and victims in Gaza, to editing infographics and videos, and to appearing on the news to talk about the devastation in Gaza. Comparatively little to no attention was paid to Israeli victims.

Human Rights WatcH (HRW) - Is obsessed with criticizing Israel in the conflict and has been called out by their own founder for abandoning their mission and focusing on scrutinizing Israel. HRW disproportionately focuses on condemnations of Israel and that publications related to Israel often lack credibility. HRW also promotes an agenda based solely on the Palestinian narrative of victimization and Israeli aggression.

Amnesty International - Disproportionately singles out Israel for condemnation, focusing solely on the conflict with the Palestinians, misrepresenting the complexity of the conflict, and ignoring more severe human rights violations in the region. In October 2023, in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, Amnesty emphasized “the root causes” of the conflict, in particular “Israel’s system of apartheid imposed on all Palestinians.” Amnesty does not identify “root causes” on the part of any other actor, including Palestinians and terror groups.

I will reiterate- these organizations follow the wishes of their donors and while their funding isn't fully transparent here are some notable moments:

• In November 2023, MEMRI leaked a document detailing a €3 million donation in 2018 to HRW from Qatar.

• In February 2020, it was revealed that HRW's Executive Director Ken Roth accepted a donation in 2012 from a Saudi real estate tycoon for $470,000 “promising not to support advocacy of the LGBT community in the Middle East and North Africa.”

• In December 2013, Amnesty International admitted to working with the Alkarama foundation, whose Qatari co-founder has been accused of financing Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

• In February 2021, Indian officials accused Amnesty International India of money laundering.

Recommended further reading:

For those complaining I'm relying on UNWatch and NGO-Monitor: Every word is backed by a source which you are encouraged to verify yourself. Anyone refusing to accept factual data because of their cognitive bias should not be discussing this topic in the first place.

Today is the 187 day since Hamas abducted men, women, elders and children from their homes. 133 of them are still in captivity. Ceasefire will only come when Hamas surrenders and releases the hostages.

[best-non-english-word-torunament]

Round two: עם, am vs

فنا, fanaa

(poll at the end)

עם, am (Hebrew)

[am]

Translation: Tends to be translated as 'people (as a group like 'the jewish people')' but also its... so much stronger than that. It's like... group? Tribe? But like. Bigger. Not necessarily in size but in... feeling i guess? It's stronger.

Hebrew is an Afro-Asiatic language belonging to the Semitic branch and is the Jewish language in which the Tanakh was written down, originating in today’s Israel. Even after Hebrew stopped being spoken by Jews, it lived on as a literary medium and religious language. Using a modern version of Hebrew as a daily language was promoted principally by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda in the late 19th century. Reviving efforts went well and Hebrew is now the official language of Israel, where it's spoken by 8 million people. 1 million people outside Israel also speak Hebrew.

Motivation: I'm kinda sad it doesn't really have an equivalent in English because it means there's no way to really express what a lot of ethnic groups are on a deeper cultural level. Are Jewish people an ethnic group? A religious group? A culture? A 'people'? We're all of them at the same time. We're עם. It's a fairly simple word yet it carries so much power that I find most of the English equivalents (despite how precise they are at describing different types of groups) kind of lack.

Note: Another possible translation is nation, in the sense of a people not a state

فنا, fanaa (Urdu)

[fənɑ:]

Translation: To be destroyed, ceasing to be, death, vanishing

Urdu is an Indo-European language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch, but includes borrowings from Arabic and Persian. It’s the national language of Pakistan and spoken by 164 million people there (by 15 million as their native language). It’s spoken by x million worldwide, of which 62,8 million are in India (50,8 million as their first language), mostly in use by Muslims in the provinces closest to Pakistan. Urdu is closely related to Hindi and the two are intelligible. Urdu is primarily written with the Arabic script, but in India it can be written with Devanagari script instead.

Motivation: Fanaa is often used in poetry and songs because the word is beautiful to speak and also because it describes the essence of tragic love stories in a single word

Note: The submitter had submitted the translation “to be destroyed in love”, but I could find no proof of the love part though it seems to be used poetically. The word seems to be an Arabic loanword from فَنَاء, fanāʔ meaning annihilation, evanescence, extinction, perishment.

[collapsedsquid]

A Japanese or South Korean attempt to obtain nuclear weapons would be risky in many ways. It could trigger a preemptive strike—by North Korea against South Korea, for example. Even if it did not provoke an aggressive response, however, it could result in unwelcome diplomatic outcomes. It would put a serious strain on relations with the United States, which serves as the “policeman” of nonproliferation.

Thus a more likely scenario involves these countries adopting a nuclear opacity posture similar to that developed by Israel. Indeed, as the American “unipolar moment” fades, nuclear opacity may become an increasingly attractive option for regional powers facing growing geopolitical risks—and such opaque proliferation might be in line with U.S. interests as well. [...] Bilahari Kausikan argues that for Japan or South Korea there is no other way. An Asia in which not only China, North Korea, Russia, or India but also Japan and South Korea possess nuclear weapons, Kausikan argues, will be more stable, even if this stability would be preceded by a period of uncertainty. “Independent nuclear deterrents,” asserts Kausikan, “will keep Japan and South Korea within the U.S. alliance system. With India and Pakistan in the equation, a multipolar nuclear regional balance will freeze the existing configuration of the Indo-Pacific, preventing its domination by any single major power.” He goes on to explain that this would be tantamount to the end of the “China Dream,” insofar as the latter means a hierarchical order in Asia with the PRC at the top. Perhaps, then, the path to multipolar stability in Asia leads through nuclear opacity.

[mohite1]

Modi’s Pm Tenure Is the Second Longest Tenure in the History of India.

PM Modi took the oath of pm along with 72 cabinet members

Modi 3.0

The rumble of the pm post came to an end after pm Modi became the third consecutive prime minister of India. There were rumours like I.N.D.I.A bloc to make Nitish Kumar the PM of India but the offer was not accepted by Nitish Kumar hence last night Modi became the pm.

But as the many changes happen in the movie more changes happened in the Indian election there were ups and downs once it was looking like the I.N.D.I.A bloc was going to sweep the election but the fate of Modi was good at this time Chandra Babu Pawan Kalyan also Nitish Kumar scored well and hence were offered to became deputy prime minister of INDIA which was shocking but things did not happen as per Congress term.

PM Modi now has taken the oath of PM and has started his duty but will the government be strong as a diamond till 2029 or it will dissolve like butter?

We have seen what Triple Alliance has done in the state of Maharashtra.

Inter Politics of India

From 2014 till 2023 no one in the country could challenge the BJP because of its strong ideology of Hindutva and leadership of MODI but after the result of 2024.

The Modi wave has been downed by the current situation the ideology of Hindutva has also been which was extremely booming but why God knows due to the tactics played by the centre have not positively affected the states of India and mostly the people of India don’t’ like such type of politics? That could be the reason.

The centre’s policy to look upon Gujrat development is also not liked by the people of India specially the state people of Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, because the growth of these states has simultaneously been reducing as Maharashtra’s GDP should have been positive but due to the new leadership of Maharashtra it has been fall and matter got worse after 17 tech companies of Pune left Maharashtra.

Seems the state election is going to soon happen in Maharashtra and the rumble will be on for the most prosperous state of Maharashtra whose GDP is more than Pakistan.

Geo Politics Around India

The South Asia group of Nations called ASEAN is now dead as the entry of PLA (people’s Liberation Army of China) & U.S.A. in the politics of Bhutan, Myanmar, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan only Bangladesh has been pro-India. In such a situation, India also has to develop its own naval fleet.

India has developed in the past decade since Andaman & Nicobar Island is India’s best asset government of India has mainly developed these islands as a naval fleet to keep an eye on China’s trade and especially the presence of China’s navy in the Indian Ocean. And also, for Pakistan which has become a close ally of China these days.

In the Persian Gulf India has made its two allies Iran & Afghanistan which are contemporary enemies of Pakistan.

If we move towards the Arabian region India has maintained great relations with Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Oman which are contemporary trade partners, and especially Oman which is the doorway for India to do trade with the other nations of Arab nations.

Central Asia

If we move up towards central Asia India has to maintain special relations with Tajikistan as India has its air base in Tajikistan.

Other central nations have maintained neutrality in the context of Indo-central relations.

RUSSIA

If we look at the past century Russia is one of the closest and most trustworthy allies. This is positive to India as the current political scenario Russia is more towards China as China provides Trade and other needs to Russia as it is affected by the restrictions put by the West & U.S.A.

Russia signed the same treaty with China as India in 1971 as a treaty of peace and cooperation. The same treaty was signed by Russia and India in the 1971 war but there is a loop.

The relationship between China and Russia has not been good since the issue of the Mussoorie River clash in 1969 hence China is a trade partner of Russia not of trusted partner.

Korean peninsula

The Korean peninsula conflict is since WW2 but India has maintained a balance and good relations with South Korea & North Korea and India has developed the tech trade with South Korea and Japan.

Japan is becoming the new military as well as a tech partner with India. India is going to operate a military base in Japan both sides bilateral talks were conducted at the 13th Japan Summit.

South East Asia

Southeast Asia and India relations have been very negative since the independence, also during the 1964 Indo-Pak war Indonesia was in full support of Pakistan and was ready to attack India but due to the maintenance of Indian armed troops in Andaman and Nicobar, the problem was swept.

India has historically traded with South East Asia during the time of Rajendra Chola who was one of the greatest kings of India. Now the situation is different the countries of Southeast Asia are ready to trade with India but due to the military coup in Myanmar and China’s dominance in the South China Sea, it is becoming difficult for India to trade with Southeast Asia.

As for handling National & International politics India’s current situation needs a strong leader who should be the next prime minister

MODI OR RAHUL GANDHI?

[laurellynnleake]

Writing While Muslim: The Freedom To Be Offended - Rafia Zakaria, 2015

When the attacks on Charlie Hebdo happened last January, I wrote an essay pointing out how more Muslim journalists had been killed in 2014 than those of any other faith, yet Muslims continued to occupy a position in the Western imaginary as haters of free speech, collectively given to riots and ruin. Greater valor is accorded Westerners dying at the hands of terrorists than, say, journalists dying in Pakistan or Iraq or Syria at the hands of the same forces while engaged in the same task. There is a particular valuation of valor inherent in this, which says simply that the war is “there” not “here,” and hence it is a greater tragedy for journalists to be killed “here” — in this particular case, lovely, romantic, sophisticated Paris — than on the streets of Karachi. ...Westerners, by and large, do not consider themselves complicit in the perpetuation of the wars that have led to the deaths of the very journalists that are buried without awards and without recognition of their courageous exercise of free speech pinned to their names.

I came across this essay (I've added spaces for readability) while refreshing my memory on the Charlie Hebdo bombings, and Neil Gaiman/Art Spiegelman/Alison Bechdel's related "Cartoonist Lives Matter" bullshit in 2015...Zakaria's essay is unfortunately still just as relevant today as liberals like Gaiman and orgs like PEN America keep both-sides-ing the genocide in Palestine.

I'd somehow forgotten that PEN America lionized the extremely racist & Islamophobic CH cartoonists with an award at a star-studded Gala. I had to re-read Neil Gaiman's weird essay where he ponders why-oh-why 6 writers refused to attend in protest. He imagines that they were merely "upset", and "only supporting the freedom of the kind of speech [they] like."

More and more I understand how deliberate this hypocrisy is, and how it works to deny the reality of Israel murdering Palestinians (including journalists, artists, and writers) in front of our eyes. "Writing While Muslim: The Freedom To Be Offended" is an excellent reminder of how people were fighting back against this bullshit in 2015 (and every year before). Give it a read!

[zvaigzdelasas]

The Saudis had infuriated the US last year by siding with Russia to cut oil production in a move that Biden feared would spike domestic inflation. Biden told Saudi Arabia there would be "consequences" for their decision, echoing campaign trail rhetoric in which he had pledged to make the crown prince a "pariah" over the assassination of dissident Jamal al-Khashoggi. But Crown Prince Mohammed's decision to draw closer to China, the US' arch global rival, has shifted attitudes in Washington — and it looks like Biden has made a u-turn.

The US has replaced its threats with lucrative contracts for the crown prince as part of a high stakes power game being waged over dominance of the region. Biden last weekend dispatched his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, to Saudi Arabia, for discussions with Saudi officials. He was the most prominent US official to visit the kingdom since Biden himself made the trip last summer. [...]

"For the Biden administration, challenging China's rising influence in the Middle East and other parts of the world is a high priority," Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Washington DC based consultancy Gulf State Analytics told Insider. In an indication of the rapidly-shifting power dynamics in the region, Sullivan offered the Saudis lucrative infrastructure investment to improve links between railways and ports in Gulf states and India, one of the world's fastest growing economies and a geopolitical rival of China, reports say, [...]

According to The Wall Street Journal, the crown prince believes that by playing rival superpowers against each other, he'll be able to secure valuable concessions from the US in areas such as nuclear technology.

10 May 23

The current reality supports a framework for the ongoing, unprecedented alignment between India, Israel, and the Sunni Arab states (UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt) to balance the rising Eurasian powers of the region and prepare a US shift towards the Indo-Pacific. Two major obstacles were the Arab-Israeli conflict and the India-Pakistan conflict. As the world is drifting towards a multipolar system, pragmatism is prevailing and legacy relationships with no strategic purpose are running out of time — paving the way for the Abraham Accords in 2020 and more interest-based relations between India and Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt. [...]

Saudi Arabia and India established a Strategic Partnership Council in 2019 for cooperation in defense, security, counterterrorism, energy security, and renewable energy. Both sides aim to enhance overall defense cooperation by expanding military-to-military engagements, such as joint exercises, expert exchanges, and industry cooperation. The current robust relationship between Saudi Arabia and India signals a departure from Riyadh's longstanding strategy of leaning towards Pakistan in South Asia. This shift can be attributed to the pragmatic approaches adopted by the two largest economies in the region and their increasing global strategic and economic importance.

12 May 23

[secular-jew]

Daily Caliphate Headlines: The Repugnant and Vile Voices of the Global Islamic Caliphate:

Syrian Journalist: Supporting Terrorist Organizations In The Name Of Solidarity With The Palestinian Cause Endangers The Middle East

In Speech Leading To Her Arrest, International Coordinator Of Samidoun Charlotte Kates At Vancouver Rally: Long Live October 7; Hamas, PFLP, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah Are Not Terrorist Groups, They Are Heroes

Muslim American Society Staten Island Imam Abdelrahman Badawy: The Zionist Devils Have Envy, Hatred, Evil In Their Hearts; They Are Like The Sneaky, Cunning, Conniving, Foul Jewish Tribe That Battled The Prophet Muhammad

Islamic State Mozambique Province Releases Photos Showing Operatives Taking Down Crosses, Torching Church In Christian Village In Nampula

Jordanian MPs Join The 'Gaza Freedom Flotilla' In Turkey: We Have Written Our Wills And Are Here With The Intention Of Waging Jihad, Becoming Martyrs; We Will Sacrifice Our Souls And Blood To Redeem Our People; We Will Break The Siege And Join Our Brothers In Gaza

Hamas Senior Official Mousa Abu Marzouk: Most Of Hamas's Leaders Are Jordanian Citizens; If We Had To Leave Qatar, We Would Go To Jordan

The Houthis Seek To Position Themselves As A Regional Power Opposing The U.S. And The West; Houthi Shura Council Member: Everyone Hostile To America Is Our Friend, We Will Welcome Exchange Of Military Expertise

Strengthening Relations With Palestinian Factions; Coordination With Hamas Regarding Crew Of Highjacked "Galaxy Leader" Ship

Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) Claims IED Attacks Against Nigerian Army, Affiliated Militia In Borno State; Publishes Photos Of Armed Assault On Army Barracks In Niger's Diffa Region

'Al-Akhbar' Daily: Iran-Backed Militias Deliberately Not Claiming Responsibility For Attacks Against U.S. Forces; Attacks To Continue Until U.S. Forces Withdraw, War In Gaza Ends

Iranian TV Report About Gaza 'Freedom Flotilla,' American Attorney Lamis Deek: The Age Of Israeli Impunity Has Ended; We Will Make Sure Every Israeli Soldier, Settler, Head Of State Pays For Every Crime Committed Against Palestinians Since 1948

Yemeni-Houthi Minister Of Information Dayfallah Al-Shami: We Chant 'Curses Upon The Jews' Because They Are Cunning Schemers; We Would Fight Against The Zionists Directly In Gaza, But It's Too Far Away

English-Language Salafi-Jihadi Telegram Channel Criticizes 'Tamed' Version Of Islam That Limits Jihad; Endorses Terror Attacks In Non-Muslim Countries

In Dari-Language Article, Hizb-ut Tahrir Afghanistan Writes: 'America Is Trying To Influence And Interfere In Afghanistan In Many Ways, Including The Issue Of Women'; 'Women In Western And American Thought Are Nothing More Than A Commodity To Be Used... To Secure The Evil Interests Of Western And American States' 

In Karachi, Suicide Bombers Target Van Carrying Japanese Nationals Working In Pakistan's Export Processing Zone

Sec.-Gen. Of The Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit: The Jews Have No Conscience Left – It Was Burned In The Holocaust; Israel Does Not Have The Right To Self-Defense Just Like The Nazis Did Not Have It In WWII

Hamas's Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades Spokesman Abu Ubaida: We Salute The Heroes In The West Bank And The Jordanian Masses And Call Upon Them To Escalate Their Activity And Resistance

 Pro-Al-Qaeda Media Group Praises Stabbings In Australia, France; Warns 'Crusader Peoples' Against Defaming Islam

Commanders Of Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias Hold Secret Meeting In Syrian City Of Al-Bukamal

Senior Hamas Official Praises Anti-Israel Demonstrations Across U.S.: 'Today's Students Are The Leaders Of Tomorrow'

Hizbullah-Affiliated Academic Sheikh Sadek Al-Naboulsi: The Pre-October 7 Element Of Surprise Has Been Lost, But Hizbullah Is Preparing For Nasrallah's Orders To Cross Into The Galilee At The Right Time

Qatari Shura Council Member Essa Al-Nassr: October 7 Was An Introduction To The Annihilation Of The Zionist State; There Can Be No Peace With Them; They Are The Slayers Of The Prophets

Dearborn, Michigan Friday Sermon By Dr. Baqir Berry: Zionism, Israel Pose An 'Imminent Danger' To Humanity, Like Nazism; The Jews Need To Be Re-educated; In America Too, The Zionists Are Barbaric, Criminal Savages – What Kind Of Peace Can You Have With Them?

Greenville, North Carolina Friday Sermon By Imam Khadem AbuZain: Allah Decreed Friday Sermons In Order To Inspire Youth To Raise The Banner Of Jihad; We Have Become Numb To The Nature Of The Jews, Who Killed Prophets And Apostles, And Strive To Spread Corruption; Gaza Is Harboring The Heroes Of Palestine Who Declared Jihad

[mariacallous]

The recent conflicts in the Middle East have ignited open debate among Iran’s political elite over whether the country should weaponize its vast nuclear program. The rationale for doing so, from Iranian leadership’s perspective, appears more convincing than ever.

Above all, Iran needs to reestablish deterrence equilibrium with its longtime foes Israel and the United States. Traditionally, to deter its adversaries from attacking or implementing regime change, Tehran relied on a three-pronged approach focused on missiles, militias, and a nuclear program.

To offset its weak air force, Iran invested heavily in its missiles program, making its arsenal one of the most advanced in the region. Iran also anchors its asymmetric warfare strategy through the so-called “forward defense” policy of using militarized nonstate actors to encircle Israel and the U.S. regional military presence and to mobilize these forces to attack if required. Iran has cultivated its relations with groups that are hostile to the United States and Israel, building the so-called Axis of Resistance, providing them with arms—including sophisticated missiles and drones—as well as training and financial support.

However, Iran’s missiles capabilities and the Axis of Resistance have taken a hit in recent months. The Israeli onslaught against Iran’s most trusted partner, Hezbollah in Lebanon, has delivered a blow to its arsenal, fighters, and command and control structure. Iran was left humiliated by Israel’s ability to assassinate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran this summer. Following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this month, Israel seems determined to keep upping the ante to establish a new regional order.

Although Hamas and Hezbollah will continue to undermine Israeli security, the ability of these groups to mobilize in defense of Iran seems severely diminished while they fight for their own survival. Meanwhile, the United States has doubled down on its efforts to shield Israel, moving new anti-missile systems into the country, together with American troops to operate them, in a bid to defang future attacks from Iran and its allies.

Perhaps Iran’s biggest Achilles’s heel is its self-restraint. Over the past year, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly held back from a direct war with Israel and the United States. He has also shied away from triggering a full assault by the Axis of Resistance front. Israel has interpreted this restraint as a weakness and exploited it.

This shift in regional deterrence has strengthened the argument in Tehran favoring a nuclear umbrella. Iran has already obtained nuclear threshold status, placing it at the tipping point of weaponization. Iran can develop enough material for a nuclear bomb in just over a week, with some experts assessing that it could build a nuclear warhead to carry these bombs within several months. In the same way that India and Pakistan achieved a relative cold peace, Tehran may look to check Israeli behavior through rebalancing the nuclear playing field.

Another argument for why Iran could dash for the bomb is that the country has already paid the high cost of becoming a nuclear weapons state without receiving the perceived benefits of having the bomb.

Ever since the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, which Iran was in full compliance with at the time, the United States has imposed its largest-scale sanctions to date against Iran. Western relations with Tehran further plummeted over Iran’s abysmal human rights record, its regional posture, and military assistance to Russia during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Given the anti-Iran sentiment across Western capitals, the Iranian leadership would be correct to conclude that major U.S. sanctions relief of the type seen in 2015 is not on the horizon. If Iran is already being treated as a nuclear pariah state by the West, then why not secure the perceived security benefits of going nuclear?

Finally, the broader geopolitical conditions today mean the costs associated with Iran becoming a nuclear state are lower than a decade ago. Tensions between world powers now make it increasingly unlikely that Russia, and possibly China, will stand in Iran’s way. Tehran can also capitalize on the Ukraine war by pushing to trade its military equipment—which Moscow desperately needs—for Russian nuclear know-how, technology, and defense at the U.N. Security Council. The United States already fears this could be happening.

Against this backdrop, those inside Iran favoring nuclear weaponization likely see two choices ahead: either Iran’s nuclear facilities are eventually destroyed by Israel and the United States first, and then Tehran stumbles toward nuclear weapons over a longer timeframe with depleted resources, or Iran starts the weaponization now while it has advanced nuclear capabilities and Israel is bogged down in Gaza and Lebanon. Iranian strategists may be swayed for the latter option when faced with a weakened Axis of Resistance, a formidable Israeli-U.S. military force and an Israel poised to strike at Iranian nuclear sites. Despite the strong likelihood that the country will be bombed throughout this process by Israel and the United States, Iran’s leadership may conclude it can bear the brunt of military action and come out of it stronger.

Following the hits Iran has taken to its deterrence capabilities, there is an acute risk of Iran reaching for the bomb. Western governments should act now to shape the internal debate inside Iran to avoid this outcome. A nuclear Iran can act with greater impunity at home and abroad. It will almost certainly trigger a nuclear arms race across the Middle East. This outcome would make a region close to Europe even more dangerous, not just because of the increased risk of violent conflict among states but also the risk of terrorist groups gaining access to nuclear weapons.

Western governments need to warn Iran’s leaders that if they decide to weaponize the country’s nuclear program, it will backfire. Becoming a nuclear state will likely offer Iran’s leaders greater guarantees against large-scale military intervention and externally imposed regime change. But it will expose Iran to vicious cycles of military strikes, cyberattacks, and assassinations. Future Iranian nuclear weapons will not deter Israel against striking Iran—just as Tehran was not deterred against taking the unprecedented step this year of barraging Israel, itself a nuclear power, with missiles.

Over the past year, Europe and the United States have not seriously pursued a political off-ramp with Tehran. The United States has been trapped—by both Israeli and Iranian conduct—into an escalation cycle and seems willing to only play a military card. Absent a political agenda, Iran’s dash to the bomb is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. History reveals that the more the United States and Israel carry out attacks inside Iran, the more Iran inches closer to the bomb.

The instances when Washington and Europe have shifted Iranian calculations away from weaponization involved serious diplomacy. The new Iranian government comprises technocrats who have a long history of supporting negotiations with Europe and the United States and have implemented the deals struck. Iran’s new reform-minded president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has amplified his government’s openness to diplomacy with the West—and this intent must now be put to the test.

In this diplomatic endeavor, a coalition of willing Western governments should ally themselves with Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Iraq, which among them have notable influence with Iran, Israel, and the United States. A new track of pursuing diplomacy with Iran within a coalition of regional actors is the best door opener for the West to prevent the Iran-Israel war spiraling out of control and to wedge open wider space to reduce tensions on other issues.

While there is considerable distrust between Iran and the West at this moment, both sides need to engage in transactional hard-nosed diplomacy to make a course correction. Otherwise, the current path will lead to the worst of all worlds.

[dragoneyes618]

I have been hesitating over writing this column for some weeks. The topic is sensitive and involves people I either know or admire or both. With the volume of antisemitism growing to deafening proportions, I finally decided it’s too important not to write.

I should also admit to some unease that all three are women. That is accidental, I simply don’t personally know three men in equivalently influential positions.

The first of the three is Lady (her husband is a Lord) Nicola Mendelsohn. I am a friend of her parents and used to teach her in Manchester, UK where she grew up.

She chose advertising as her career and success soon gained her senior positions in some of the world’s most successful advertising firms that handle the accounts of clients like, Honda and Heineken. She has been repeatedly voted one of the most influential women in the UK by several organizations.

Nicola occupies several other prestigious roles like non-executive director of Diageo which owns 42% of all Scotch Whiskey. Unsurprisingly and typically, Nicola is involved in lots of charity work too.

But it’s her most significant role that makes her one of the three women in this piece. Nicola Mendelsohn is the Head of Global Business Group at Meta, leading the company’s relationships with top marketers and agencies, as well as global partnerships.

Meta is the 2021 rebranded name for Facebook. In the last few days, it has posted its best quarterly results in two years. If only that was the only metric for judging Meta, but it isn’t.

The scandals surrounding the company are legion. One of the most egregious (and there are so many) is its inaction over pedophiles. Several governments have accused it of offering sanctuary to child abusers. However, I am going to focus on another of its worst failures, antisemitism.

I have written here before about Facebook’s abysmal and ongoing inaction over antisemitic content on its site. Much worse; since October 7, has been its “Fact Checkers” interventions to quell and stifle posts supportive of Israel or condemning Hamas.

Here’s only one example from the Spectator Magazine’s, Rod Liddle entitled, “Facebook’s not so secret police.”

“A woman on Facebook was warned she would be blocked because she was spreading ‘false information’…the beheading of babies by Hamas…the Fact-Checkers that Facebook quoted were based in Pakistan – not a country renowned for its amicable relations with Israel.”

And so, Lady Mendelsohn, as I know you to be an outstanding person and certainly one loyal to your people; allow an old teacher to urge you to resign.

I am sure you will argue that things would be even worse if you were not there, but… to stand up proudly as a Jew and say loudly and fearlessly that you can no longer be associated with and oppose Meta’s tolerance of Jew hatred, would be the best thing you could do after October 7’s micro-Holocaust.

The second of my great Jewish ladies is Journalist Melanie Philips. Her autobiographical account of her life tells the story of a Jew of evolving Jewish awareness and commitment. It also shows her great courage.

She publicly took a stance against two pronounced enemies of the Jewish people she once used to be part of, the Guardian newspaper and the British Labour party. She resigned from both.

Interestingly, when in 2022 I resigned as a writer and broadcaster with the BBC, Melanie (whom I know and admire) was very upset. I left after an incident which showed the BBC had stopped camouflaging their antisemitism behind the pretense of anti-Zionism. I declared it to be irretrievably and institutionally antisemitic.

Melanie’s distress was about something I said in one of the numerous TV and radio interviews I gave at the time…

“I simply don’t see how I or any Jew who has any pride in that name can be associated with the BBC anymore.”

Melanie passionately disagreed and wrote, “I have no intention of resigning from the BBC… We need more platforms and more fighters, not fewer. Why oh why, Rabbi YY?”

I respected Melanie too much to respond. Many others did challenge her argument, asking why then, she hadn’t stayed within the Labour Party or the Guardian to fight?

The answer she gave in her autobiography was that she simply felt there was no point.

So now, post-October 7, allow me to ask Melanie the “Dr. Phil question; “How’s that working out for you?”

Has your “fight” and Israel advocacy over the last two years made things better at the BBC… or have they become exponentially worse despite your courageous lone soldiering?

Melanie was quite right when she wrote of my resignation that it would not change the BBC’s mind one jot. It did though deliver it a parting blow and brought it more unwelcome scrutiny over its antisemitism. So, to my second remarkable Jewish woman, allow me to ask, is it not now time to resign?

The last Jewish woman in my troika is Dr. Deborah Lipstadt and the only one I don’t know personally. She has been the U.S. special envoy to combat antisemitism since 2022.

My connection to her is through the event that probably defined her career more than any other; her trial in England for libel brought by David Irving whom she had accused of being a Holocaust denier.

I was contacted by her defense team after speaking on national BBC Radio about a Holocaust survivor I knew who had been in the gas chambers but was taken out at the last moment as the SS needed some tall men for a certain job.

English law puts the burden of proof on the person accused of libeling someone to prove that their statement is true.

As Irving argued that there was no evidence to support the gas chambers, the burden of proof lay with Lipstadt. My broadcast and friend testifying on her behalf, was a trump card they could use.

Recently, she joined with Michele Taylor, U.S. ambassador to the UN to write an article in the Guardian newspaper bemoaning the world’s hesitancy to condemn the Hamas rapes and violence against Israeli women and girls.

However, she is crucially part of the Biden administration that has appeased and empowered the source and inspiration of Hamas’ violence and so much suffering in the Middle East, Iran.

That administration’s support for Israel has wobbled and is keen to appease Michigan’s pro-Hamas Arab/Muslim community to get their votes. Then there is the matter of Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and the rest of the Squad. Oh! and the large number of the Democratic party that are Hamas-friendly. Their latest anti-Israel action is to try to stop Israel replacing Palestinians, (most of whom are pro-Hamas) with foreign workers citing “Human Trafficking” as the justification!

So, Ambassador, I admired the stand you took against someone who denied the Holocaust in 1996, but it is time to take that stand again against the support the October 7 mini-Holocaust is getting from members of your administration and its party. The Guardian column was nice… but it’s time to recapture the passion of the past. It is time to resign.