#Middle East envoy

[trendynewsnow]

Steven Witkoff's Challenges Amid New Diplomatic Role

Challenges Faced by Steven Witkoff Amid New Role Steven Witkoff, a prominent billionaire and New York real estate magnate, has recently been appointed by President-elect Donald J. Trump as the special envoy to the Middle East. However, as of 2018, Mr. Witkoff found himself navigating through a complex situation. His co-investor in a significant Manhattan hotel venture had been indicted by the…

[reality-detective]

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SO FAR:

•Vice President: JD Vance

•Secretary of State: Marco Rubio

•Attorney General: Matt Gaetz

•Defense Secretary: Pete Hegseth

•Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem

•Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard

•National Security Advisor: Mike Waltz

•CIA Director: John Ratcliffe

•White House Chief of Staff: Susie Wiles

•EPA Administrator: Lee Zeldin

•Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee

•Ambassador to the United Nations: Elise Stefanik

•White House Counsel: Bill McGinley

•Deputy Chief of Staff: Stephen Miller

•Border Czar: Tom Homan

•Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee

•Government Efficiency Advisors: Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy

•Middle East Envoy: Steve Witkoff

Dan Scavino, James Blair and Taylor Budowich will also take senior staff roles in the White House.

And here's this👇

For proof 🤔

[fullfriendnerdclutch]

An Operative

Every year, you will always see an Arab-looking local guide or envoy that happily helped to assist the staffer of American embassies across the Middle East. It seems odd of course, noting how Middle East general population tend to have this stiff or at least awkward relations with Americans. But, these envoys are always there in the end of the day, willingly helping American to navigate the tricky challenge of Middle East political landscape

Will it surprise you then if these envoy were just mere skinsuit created out of thin air, worn by junior staffer of the State Department like me? My first overseas assignment landed me in Muscat, Oman, but they assigned me to slid inside Kamal here as the previous occupant of Kamal got promoted after 2 years of service

To be fair, I have no apprehension being inside of such a fine stud. After all, looking this delicious will definitely serve me well if I ever need to get a hookup around here among the other foreigners, and heck, I can even pleasure myself by just looking at my reflection. But that incident yesterday really disturbed me. That young man, aged what....18, 19 maybe, suddenly hollered in delight when he crossed the street and witnessed me. He called me "akhi" which means brother and ranted on how I've been missing with no contact for ages.

I just ignored him and sped up as soon as the light turned green, I noticed that young man wailing in the middle of the street from the rearview mirror but I cannot help but tantalized to overthink about all of this predicament. Out of thin air, they said? What if these suits used to be a real person?

[doorhine]

"Israel is reported to have readied a proposal for a two-month truce that aims to secure the release of captives held by Hamas and other groups but without ending the war in Gaza.

US and Israeli press reported late on Monday that Israel is optimistic that it could conclude a deal with the help of the US. The plan comes against a backdrop of intensified combat in southern Gaza as well as increasing pressure on the Israeli government to find a deal to bring the captives home.

US website Axios quoted Israeli officials as saying that the proposal has been presented to Hamas through Qatari and Egyptian mediators. It includes a two-month truce during which all Israeli detainees in Gaza will be released.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported that the principles of the deal consist of three to four stages of captive release. Meanwhile, the Israeli military would withdraw from some areas of the enclave, but without ending the war.

Reports suggest that the US is pushing the plan with regional partners. The White House’s Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, is now in Cairo to discuss the deal, with plans to continue to Qatar."

[girlactionfigure]

A US representative announces suspension of UNRWA funding is now permanent. 

The cessation of American funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is now irreversible, confirmed a top U.S. envoy during an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

U.S. special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, David Satterfield, emphasized bipartisan congressional support for ending funding to UNRWA and exploring alternative U.N. agencies to assume humanitarian responsibilities in the Gaza Strip. 

Satterfield clarified that Congress has unequivocally prohibited further funding to UNRWA, characterizing it as a permanent cessation rather than a temporary suspension.

[phoenixfeathersinfall]

The cabinet picks are starting to come out...

Susie Wiles for Chief of Staff

Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense

Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.

Marco Rubio for Secretary of State.

Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. (He has resigned from Congress.)

Kristi Noem for Secretary of Department of Homeland Security.

Mike Huckabee for ambassador to Israel.

Steve Witkoff for Special Envoy to the Middle East

Elise Stefanik for ambassador to the UN

Lee Zeldin for EPA administrator

John Ratcliffe for CIA director

Bill McGinley for White House Counsel

Tom Homan for border czar

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy heading up a new agency, the Department of Government Efficiency.

USA Tumblrinas...the clown car is filling up and we can hear the squeaking shoes and honking noses of these largely incompetent and dangerous folks already. But most of them are, in fact, elected officials, which means they represent us. Start keeping track of them as you're able; you can tell them NO.

And remember: there is hope. Take a look at this video. Lawrence Tribe, one of the most prominent legal scholars in the country reminds us that the guard rails are not gone. That civil society has a very important function as we begin these uncertain days. That it's time to get involved.

[zvaigzdelasas]

[SCMP is Private Hong Kong Media]

Critics, including the US, crammed more than half a dozen condemnations and recommendations into 45-second speaking slots; 163 countries took the floor, in some cases abandoning formal niceties to squeeze in as many points as possible.

“We condemn the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and transnational repression to silence individuals abroad,” said US envoy Michèle Taylor, in a breathless intervention that also called for China to repeal “vague national security counter-espionage, counterterrorism and sedition laws, including the national security law in Hong Kong”.

Britain called on Beijing to “cease prosecutions” related to the national security law, “including Jimmy Lai”, founder of the Apple Daily newspaper.[...]

The European Union’s united front on China’s human rights record was breached by Hungary, Beijing’s closest partner within the bloc, which said the review “shouldn’t be used for instrumentalisation of human rights issues”.[...]

By comparison, Germany remained “highly concerned about serious human rights violations, especially Xinjiang and Tibet”.

Austria urged China to “cease destruction of Uygur cultural heritage” and to catalogue what “demolition or damaging of religious sites” or “Uygur, Kazakh or Kyrgyz Unesco-listed cultural items” had already taken place.[...]

India’s envoy took note of “the progress made by China” since its last review and made only soft recommendations, including for Beijing to “continue to play a constructive role in the realisation of aspirations of developing countries”.

Indonesia asked Beijing to “strengthen the protection of freedom of religion or belief for all people”, without elaborating. Mexico and Argentina urged China to be more open with UN inspectors and eliminate “repressive restrictions” on NGOs.[...]

Israel condemned China for its treatment of ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang while the Palestinian envoy, along with other majority Muslim countries in the Middle East, did not.[...]

“We commend China’s commitment to the promotion of humanity’s common values which embrace universal and inalienable human rights,” the Ukrainian envoy said, recommending that Beijing “strengthen democracy” and “expand people’s participation in political affairs”.

Russia praised China’s “impressive progress in the field of social economic development”, which helps it “effectively uphold human rights”.

24 Jan 24

[dwellordream]

“Medieval scholars inherited the idea from ancient times that there were seven primary colours: white, yellow, red, green, blue, purple, and black. Green occupied a central position, symbolically balanced between the extremes of white and black. It was also regarded as a soothing colour. Scribes often kept emeralds and other green objects nearby to rest their eyes. The poet Baudri de Bourgueil even suggested writing on green tablets instead of white or black ones for this reason.

Michel Pastoureau writes that “the true medieval opposite for white was not so much black as red.” This can be seen in the way Europeans adapted chess. When the game was adopted in Europe, the pieces and chessboard were painted in white and red, contrasting with the black and red sets common in India and the Middle East.

It was only towards the end of the Middle Ages that the white versus black dichotomy became more favoured. A key factor in this shift was the advent of printing, where black ink was used on white paper, reinforcing the perception of these colours as natural opposites.

Arthurian romances, one of the most popular forms of literature in the High Middle Ages, frequently employed colour symbolism, particularly in the depiction of knights. Pastoureau notes that these narratives used colours to convey deeper meanings and character traits. He writes:

The color code was recurrent and meaningful. A black knight was almost a character of primary importance (Tristan, Lancelot, Gawain) who wanted to hide his identity; he was generally motivated by good intentions and prepared to demonstrate his valor, especially by jousting or tournament. A red knight, on the other hand, was often hostile to the hero; this was a perfidious or evil knight, sometimes the devil’s envoy or a mysterious being from the Other World. Less prominent, a white knight was generally viewed as good; this was an older figure, a friend of protector or the hero, to who he gave wise council. Conversely, a green knight was a young knight, recently dubbed, whose audacious or insolent behavior was going to cause great disorder; he could be good or bad. Finally, yellow or gold knights were rare and blue knights nonexistent.

During the Early Middle Ages, monastic rules stipulated that monks should not concern themselves with the colour of their clothing. However, over the centuries, their attire became increasingly darker. The Cluniacs, one of the most influential monastic communities, believed that black was the appropriate colour for one’s habit. This perspective faced backlash in the twelfth century when the Cistercians adopted a white habit.

The debate over monastic colours was intense among the leaders of these orders. Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, argued that black represented humility and renunciation, while white symbolized pride and was suitable for holidays and resurrection. In contrast, Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot of Clairvaux, claimed that white stood for purity, innocence, and virtue, whereas black symbolized death and sin, even likening it to the devil’s appearance.

Green is widely associated with Islam, but this association only developed in the twelfth century. The Quran mentions green eight times, always positively, as a colour representing vegetation, spring, and paradise. The Prophet Muhammad favoured green garments, including a green turban. While green was linked to Muhammad’s descendants, different colours were associated with the ruling Islamic dynasties: white for the Umayyads, black for the Abbasids, and red for the Almohads.

Pastoureau believes that green became a unifying colour for Muslims in the 1100s. He writes, “Its symbolism is associated with that of paradise, happiness, riches, water, the sky, and hope. Green became the sacred colour.” Consequently, many medieval copies of the Quran had green bindings or covers, a tradition that continues today. Religious dignitaries often wear green, whereas green gradually disappeared from carpets to avoid trampling on such a venerable colour.

Michel Pastoureau’s book on blue begins by highlighting the neglect this colour faced among the ancient Greeks and Romans, who rarely wrote about it or used it. He even explores the intriguing question of whether ancient peoples could perceive blue at all! This neglect persisted through the early Middle Ages until the twelfth century. “Then suddenly,” writes Pastoureau, “in just a few decades, everything changes – blue is ‘discovered’ and attains a prominent place in painting, heraldry, and clothing.”

The first significant shift in the ‘blue revolution’ was the use of blue to represent the clothing of the Virgin Mary. The scene of Mary mourning Jesus’ crucifixion was popular in the Middle Ages, and once artists began depicting her cloak in vibrant blue, it quickly became the standard. Additionally, artists, especially those working in stained glass, overcame technical limitations in creating blues, allowing the colour to be used in various mediums and clothing. Pastoureau notes that by the thirteenth century, monarchs such as France’s Louis IX and England’s Henry III began wearing blue, leading it to become the colour of medieval royalty.

Yellow initially benefited from its resemblance to gold, which bolstered its reputation. Many medieval heraldic symbols incorporated yellow, and possessing blonde hair was considered highly fashionable. However, in the Later Middle Ages, yellow began to acquire negative associations, including envy and heresy. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was increasingly depicted wearing yellow clothing. Consequently, it was unsurprising that when the Catholic Church convicted the Czech reformer Jan Hus of heresy in 1415, they dressed him in a yellow robe for his execution.

Yellow also became associated with Jews, and as European Christians enforced clothing regulations on Jewish communities, yellow was often (though not always) included. By the early modern period, yellow fell out of favour, perceived as gaudy and unpopular.”

- Michel Pastoureau, “Colour in the Middle Ages”

[mariacallous]

In June 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden nominated Robert Forden to be the next U.S. ambassador to Cambodia. Forden, a senior career diplomat, would take the helm of an embassy in a strategically important region of Southeast Asia where Washington is struggling to blunt growing Chinese military and geopolitical influence.

Forden has yet to take the job, however. His nomination has been stuck in the Senate for more than two years, emblematic of a wider backlog of senior national security posts that have sat empty for months or even years amid political impasse in Congress.

Dozens of Biden’s nominees for top national security jobs, including many ambassador posts, have sat unfilled as political disputes and crowded congressional calendars delay or entirely halt the confirmation process.

Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the backlog poses a national security risk as the United States tries to compete on a global scale with adversaries—including Russia and China. And each side blames the other for the mess.

Foreign Policy interviewed a dozen lawmakers, Senate staffers, and current and former senior national security officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations about the issue, as well as reviewed a trove of internal congressional documents on the matter that have not been previously reported on.

While the nomination process has long been mired in delays and politicking, these officials and lawmakers have expressed increasing alarm over how broken the nomination process has become. Tensions between the committee and State Department have flared up over the matter, both in public hearings and behind the scenes.

“It’s really a disaster,” said one senior Democratic Senate staffer, who—like others—spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal committee matters.

Lawmakers and aides expect no fix to the backlog when Congress comes back from recess next month, particularly as both parties shift their focus to the upcoming elections in November.

Republicans have opposed some of Biden’s nominees, including Forden, due to the nominees’ backgrounds, but others are caught in wider policy disputes between Capitol Hill and the administration.

Seasoned Capitol Hill and State Department veterans say that the statistics are startling. Forden’s nomination has sat in the Senate for nearly 600 days, but he is not alone. Margaret Taylor, Biden’s nominee to be the top legal advisor to the State Department, was initially nominated more than 480 days ago. Andrew Plitt, the nominee to be the top U.S. Agency for International Development official on Middle East issues, has sat in limbo awaiting Senate confirmation for more than 330 days even as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza spirals to dangerous new levels. Michael Sfraga, the nominee to be the U.S. envoy for Arctic affairs, was initially nominated 554 days ago; David Kostelancik, a senior career diplomat, was nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to Albania 578 days ago.

Erik Woodhouse, the nominee to be the top U.S. sanctions coordinator—a key post for coordinating the economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—withdrew his name from consideration after nearly a year of impasse. That post has been vacant since October, 2023.

All told, there are 45 nominees for senior national security posts awaiting action from the Senate.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is at the center of the backlog. This committee, historically a bastion of bipartisan work even as the rest of Congress descends into hyperpartisanship, oversees the vetting and confirmation for senior jobs at the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and other foreign affairs agencies.

The committee is led by Maryland Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, the chairman, and Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, the ranking Republican. Cardin took over the committee after Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was charged (and later convicted) of federal bribery charges related to his ties with foreign governments.

Democrats say that the Republican side is the root cause of all the backlogs. Some Republican lawmakers—including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance (now former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate)—have, in the past, put sweeping blanket holds on Biden’s foreign affairs nominees, which administration officials and Democrats say have wreaked havoc on the nomination process and unfairly put career diplomats in the crosshairs of partisan political disputes.

Democrats now say that Risch is stalling meetings to move nominees out of the committee to the Senate-wide floor votes for confirmation.

“In the past when there’s been a backlog, the chair and ranking member have worked together to make sure we are moving nominees quickly through the committee process,” said the senior Democratic Senate staffer. “The opposite has been happening in this Congress.”

“It’s making the prospect of them getting confirmed in a timely fashion almost impossible,” the staffer added.

Risch and his team strongly push back on these assertions, pointing out that some nominees delayed themselves by not submitting all the proper paperwork on time, and that Risch opposed others on the merits of their credentials.

Risch opposed one batch of nominations, including Forden, for example, over Forden’s tenure as the U.S. Embassy in China’s second-in-command during the COVID-19 pandemic. Risch has alleged that Forden did not do enough to protect embassy personnel from onerous Chinese government pandemic testing and quarantine environments. Forden’s supporters pushed back against this allegation, saying these issues were out of his control as deputy chief of mission in Beijing during an unprecedented and difficult moment in a global pandemic, and that decisions on how the State Department dispatched its diplomats to China and accepted quarantine conditions were made in Washington, not by Forden.

In other cases, Risch said he has held nominees as the sole way to pressure the administration to provide information on administration policies that he said he needed to conduct proper congressional oversight. He also said Democrats have been stalling on GOP-crafted legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court within the Foreign Relations Committee.

“I’ve always worked in good faith to move nominations, even when the same courtesy has not been extended to me,” he told Foreign Policy in a statement. “At this time I am still engaged in serious conversations with the State Department regarding their nominees and my oversight efforts. I have not received adequate information on a number of issues. That said, I have made clear that there is a path forward if the majority party and the State Department would do their part.”

In March, Risch sent a private letter to Richard Verma, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, castigating the State Department for being “unresponsive and dismissive in its attitude toward basic information requests” from the committee, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Foreign Policy. Republicans say this issue has not gone away in the months since.

A spokesperson for the State Department said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top department leaders, including Varma and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, have engaged with Congress repeatedly to move the backlog. The empty positions are often filled in a temporary capacity by lower-level officials.

Yet the delays are causing increasing anger and frustration on the Democratic side and leading to the perception that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is effectively paralyzed, as Punchbowl News has also reported. “There comes a point in time you’ve got to vote, you’ve got to bring [nominees] up. And if you’re trying to hold them for leverage, I don’t want any part of that,” Cardin told a group of reporters, including Punchbowl and Foreign Policy, last month.

“It’s a perennial problem to get certain people confirmed, but it’s not a perennial problem to see this intense level of obstruction from all levels of nominations, including career diplomats and technocrats,” noted another Democratic aide.

At least 21 of the senior national security positions are for ambassador posts in countries or institutions—such as the United Nations—that the U.S. government considers particularly susceptible to influence from China, according to another Foreign Relations Committee document reviewed by Foreign Policy. All of those countries have Chinese ambassadors in place.

“We are giving up a strategic ability to compete in those countries. … China’s ambassadors are pressing the flesh, cutting deals, getting their narrative out in local media outlets,” Cardin said at a public hearing last month on U.S. competition with China.

“When we don’t have an ambassador in place, our adversaries fill the void,” the State Department spokesperson said.

[darkmaga-returns]

Has Matt Gaetz Been Set-up for Eviction from Public Life?

Paul Craig Roberts

I have had a horrible thought. Of all of Trump’s appointees, Matt Gaetz and Robert Kennedy will be the most difficult to get confirmed. And Gaetz has resigned from the House of Representatives where he is the most effective member against the ruling establishment. Was his appointment as Attorney General a trick to get him out of public life?

Robert Kennedy’s appointment was said to be in doubt because  he would be hard to confirm, but so would Gaetz. Gaetz’s high profile powerful position  scares to death the corrupt Justice (sic) Department, the corrupt FBI, the corrupt Democrats, and the corrupt ruling elites.

Perhaps the Senate will let Trump have his appointments without confirmation as recess appointments, so non-confirmation is not an issue.

It is revealing that there were no confirmation worries about Trump’s appointments of his Zionist war cabinet. Some claim that it is not a war cabinet, that Stefanik, Waltz, Rubio, and Hegseth have been cured of their Zionism by Israel’s massacre of Palestinians. Perhaps, but I have not heard a recantation from a single one of the “die-for-Israel” crowd. Certainly, Huckabee, sent by Trump as ambassador to Israel, and Witkoff, sent by Trump as his Special Envoy to the Middle East, will not take exception to Israel’s claim to title to Palestine. So how are they going to bring about any Israeli restraint? Isn’t it curious that Trump didn’t appoint anyone inclined to rein-in Israel?

That the Democrats stood down from stealing the presidency in 2024 doesn’t mean they didn’t steal House and Senate seats. The Republicans barely did well enough to change a thin Democrat Senate majority into a thin Republican majority, and it seems there was little, if any, change in the House. In contrast, when Reagan won in 1980 the Republicans captured 12 Democrat seats in the Senate. It is suspicious that Trump’s convincing win did not carry over into Congress.

Trump is taking Republican members of Congress as appointees into his administration. Republican governors can appoint replacements until the next election, but the appointed replacements might be vulnerable as they were not elected. Matt Gaetz was secure in his base. Will his appointed replacement be as secure?

We can be thankful that Trump has appointed some officials who fight for the correct causes.  We can keep hoping that Trump will make a difference.

[philsmeatylegss]

Hamas offered to release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire.

Israel prime minister said no.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-netanyahu-rejects-hamas-conditions-hostage-deal-which-include-outright-2024-01-21/

Israeli (and American) news sources either are lying and say it’s the other way around or lie in the headline by writing “Hamas said their is no chance hostages will come home” and forgets the part of the quote that says “after Israel rejects to a ceasefire.”

Families of Israeli hostages have stormed meetings after learning this news. There’s tons of news outlets lying about this after the real story was posted before. Don’t let the damage control fool you.

[workersolidarity]

🇨🇳🇺🇸 🚨

CHINESE ENVOY TO THE UNITED NATIONS ACCUSES UNITED STATED OF ESCALATING TENSIONS IN RED SEA

The Chinese envoy to the United Nations accused the United States of escalating tensions in the Red Sea Saturday, adding that U.S. strikes do nothing to contribute to freedom of navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb straight where Yemeni forces have interfered with trade to and from Israel in solidarity with Palestinians under siege in Gaza.

The United States and the United Kingdom launched a series of drone and missile strikes Thursday night targeting installations belonging to the Armed Forces of Yemen, attempting to degrade their ability to respond to ships heading to or from ports in the occupied territories.

China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, expressed grave concern over the U.S. strikes, saying in a statement "It is regrettable to see that the blatant military actions taken by the relevant countries against Yemen have not only caused infrastructure destruction and civilian casualties, but have also resulted in heightened security risks in the Red Sea."

"This does not contribute to the protection of the safety and security of the commercial vessels and freedom of navigation," Zhang said, adding that "The relevant military operations could also undermine the political process in Yemen."

The Chinese envoy referred to the United Nations Security Council, pointing out that the body never authorized any state to use military force against Yemen, and added that the military actions taken by the U.S.-led coation are in direct contravention of recently adopted Security Council resolution 2722.

"The current tense situation in the Red Sea is one of the manifestations of the spillover effects of the conflict in Gaza," Zhang, the Chinese envoy to the UN said.

"Allowing the conflict in Gaza to drag on while expecting it will not spread is wishful thinking and an illusion. What's more, calling for the prevention of the spillover of the conflict on the one hand, while adding fuel to the fire on the other hand by provoking military confrontation is self-contradictory and irresponsible," Zhang added.

"The Middle East region is already on the brink of extreme danger. The last thing we need at this stage is reckless military adventurism. The first thing we need is calm and restraint to prevent a further expansion of the conflict."

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[guerrilla-operator]

Warren Zevon // The Envoy

Nuclear arms in the Middle East Israel's attacking the Iraqis The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese And Baghdad does whatever she please Looks like another threat to world peace for the envoy

[lookninjas]

You know, it's interesting to me that I saw an article as I was scrolling through my dash this morning that (supposedly) blames the U.S. for being deeply involved in a genocide in Sudan. You might think from such a description that we'd be talking about U.S. military aid or boots on the ground or the CIA or something like that, and not just the Trump administration tanking our diplomatic efforts and Biden's administration not making the best decisions to right the ship. You might also think that such an article would not include a section like this:

David Satterfield, who replaced Feltman as US special envoy to the Horn of Africa and who has since resigned, said that Washington did not have anything but bad choices in Sudan, and therefore had to strike deals with the Sudanese military. According to Satterfield, “If there is ever an opportunity to return to a path towards restoration of a civilian-led government, you’re going to have to talk to the military then as well.

You also might not think that such an article would outright reference Russian involvement in Sudan, which it does.

Russia believes that its strong presence in Sudan will augment its status in Africa and the Middle East, which is considered an American redoubt. Since 2014, and with Moscow’s aspirations to exploit African mineral riches, the Kremlin has strengthened its ties to Sudan in order to ameliorate western sanctions following its invasion of Crimea, sanctions that became even harsher after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.16 In 2017, former Sudanese President al-Bashir visited Russia and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two countries agreed to establish a holding company run by the paramilitary Wagner Group to mine gold ore. Russia also signed a 25-year lease in December 2020 to build a military base at Port Sudan on the Red Sea that can receive nuclear-powered ships. It was also interesting that Hemedti headed an official delegation to Moscow on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

And while we're talking about Russian involvement in Sudan, which is why I'm here in the first place, it's really really really interesting to me that this article was phrased as proof that the U.S. was heavily involved in genocide in Sudan, despite the fact that the Russian Wagner group (accused of war crimes in Ukraine) has been providing missiles and military training to the Sudanese paramilitary group RSF while smuggling gold out of Sudan to fund their own activities in Ukraine. Fun fact about the Wagner group: They're also heavily involved in social media misinformation campaigns.

Wasn't there a Russian misinformation campaign on tumblr leading up to the Presidential elections in 2016?

And despite the "mysterious" death of Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash (a short time after his aborted march on Moscow), Russia is still working on bringing the Wagner organization back under their control. Because, you know, they still have that whole invasion of Ukraine they're working on. An invasion of Ukraine that would sure be a whole lot easier for them if they could convince Americans to stop providing military support to Ukraine. They're already doing pretty nicely with the Republican party, but the Democrats (and the American left in general) have been harder to get on-side.

It does kind of feel like tying American military involvement in other countries to active genocide would be a great way to discourage people on the American left from supporting continued involvement in Ukraine, wouldn't it?

We're slightly less than a year away from the next American presidential election. There is no reason to believe that the Russian propaganda machine, which has already been operating at full blast since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, is going to slow down. This quote from the linked article is particularly chilling:

A particular challenge is that people tend to spread falsehoods “farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth”; this is particularly the case for false political news (Vosoughi, Roy and and Aral, 2018[7]). For example, one study found that tweets containing false information were 70% more likely to be retweeted than accurate tweets (Brown, 2020[8]). Another study found that false information on Facebook attracts six times more engagement than factual posts (Edelson, 2021[9]). In addition, feedback loops between the platforms and traditional media can serve to further amplify disinformation, magnifying the risk that disinformation can be used to deliberately influence public conversations, as well as confuse and discourage the public.

I think it's important to remember, especially now, that we are capable of spreading misinformation. The article about U.S. involvement in Sudan wasn't placed on there by an algorithm. This is fucking tumblr. That was one of my mutuals. Because they're concerned about American military intervention and they're against genocide and it sounded bad and they were upset and they didn't think to read the article. Because they didn't spend the time of Prigozhin's march on Moscow mainlining information on the Wagner group the way that I did, so they didn't go "Hey, Sudan? Wait a minute --" the way I did. Because misinformation that isn't targeted at your group is designed to be easy to spot, so you'll think that the misinformation that is targeted to your group will also be easy to spot, and it fucking isn't.

Because this culture of "If you care, you'll share" has gotten people to click that reblog button without thinking twice about it.

Don't keep falling for it. You don't have to spend an hour digging up sources and pulling out quotes for a ten-note post the way that I did. I'm like this as a human. It's fine if you're not. But if you're not even going to click the link to read the article and actually read it critically (or if there's no sources at all except a twitter screenshot, which I've also seen quite a bit of), then don't reblog it. Save it as a draft for when you have time to do the research, or just don't do anything with it at all. You're not obligated.

And if you have the relevant background to spot the disinfo, I mean -- again, look, you're not obligated to take that hour and search those sources. Even I don't do this all the time. It's hard, it's frustrating, and it will not spread the way the disinfo does. I'm gonna see that genocide post like five times at least on my dash, and I'm probably going to see it at least once from someone who has at least liked this post (if not reblogged it as well). But if you can. If you have the energy and the time. Try to put a little info out there. It might help someone.

That's all. Be good. Be skeptical.

[girlactionfigure]

🔘LEGAL SYSTEM DISAGREEMENTS, YET MORE “DEAL” NEWS - Real time from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO - US Central Command: the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln is in the area [of the Middle East] )

⭕75 HEZBOLLAH ROCKETS fired at Israeli Civilian towns yesterday in the north, as well as 20-30 or so SUICIDE DRONES.

⭕HEZBOLLAH DRONE STRIKE hit a factory in Nahariya WITHOUT ALARM. No injuries.

▪️APPEAL AGAINST DISMISSAL OF LEGAL “ADVISORS”.. The “Movement for the Quality of Government” NGO appealed to the High Court against the dismissal of ministerial dept legal advisors: "The continuation of the coup d'état, during the war. The govt decision will constitute a serious injury to the independence of the legal advisory system for govt offices, and will result in significant damage to the fundamental principles of the State of Israel."

The legal advisors opinions are considered binding, and appear to often be used in apparent disagreement with ministry policies.

▪️POLICE COMMISSIONER vs. ATTORNEY GENERAL.. Commissioner Danny Levy referred to the letter by Attorney General Beharve-Miarat "if he does not freeze the reassignment of the police senior legal advisor (from his advisor position to a department manager), he will be acting against the law", and replied that "the Israel Police addressed her letter last week and there is nothing to add in the matter. I am busy from morning to night fighting crime and leading the organization." 

After she informed him that his decision was frozen, Levy wrote to Beharev-Miara "I do not recognize a legal obligation to consult with you before making an appointment. Your request means a de facto expropriation of my authority."

.. (Ch. 13) “Legal authorities”, the commissioner’s conduct may lead to his removal.  National Security Minister Ben Gvir: in your dreams.

▪️ECONOMY.. Ministry of Finance: Ahead of budget discussions, the chief economist updated (REDUCED) the growth forecast for the years 2024 and 2025, to levels of 0.4% and 4.3% respectively.

♦️LEBANON - Hezbollah commander of the Eyta al-Sha'ab area surrendered to the Golani fighters.

.. The Lebanese report extensive destruction in the village of Jbaa in Nabatieh district following a series of about 12 attacks on the place last night. Several buildings collapsed.

♦️SYRIA - Syrian sources: Israel blew up a minefield in the area west of the village of al Qahtaniyah in the Qunaitra district in southern Syria. (This would allow rapid maneuvering.)

♦️GAZA - Air Force attacked terrorists in the humanitarian area in Khan Yunis.

♦️GAZA IED’s - Ch. 14, we were asked not to say that there was an explosion inside a building (where soldiers were killed). We will not hide it. 12 fighters were killed by IEDs in Jabaliya. It's time for tough questions (of why going building to building instead of air striking or tank fire.)

🔹HAMAS.. Report: Muhammad Sinwar replaced his brother as the leader of Hamas.

🔹US CENTRAL COMMAND.. General Michael Korilla will arrive tomorrow for a visit to Israel.

🔹US Ambassador to the UN: The US believes that Francesca Albania, the UN's special rapporteur for the “occupied” territories, is not suitable for her position. The UN should not tolerate anti-Semitism from an official appointed to promote human rights.

🔸DEAL NEWS.. proposal of the day: new Qatari proposal: a month of truce in exchange for 11 hostages, mostly females, without ending the war.  As always, Hamas has not agreed while these are publicly floated to pressure Israel.

.. Hezbollah official: "We will not hold talks under fire.. And we have not received an official offer.” (After the visit by the US envoy.)

✡️A word of Torah: Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it. - The Rambam

[meluiloth]

The Life of Thranduil

I've been meaning to write this up for a while (partly inspired by @starlight5cat's request to know more about Thranduil's history!), so here is a narrative of the life of Thranduil, the Elvenking of Mirkwood! A lot of this is drawn from canon, but since little is known of him in the grand scheme of things, there will be elements of my own headcanons for him as well. Specifically, the entire relationship between Thranduil and my original character Faecalen is only speculation.

Thranduil was born in the ancient kingdom of Doriath sometime during the First Age; the exact time is unknown, but I imagine it was shortly before the death of Thingol and the sack of Doriath. At that time, his father Oropher was a Doriathrim lord, an emissary and close friend of King Thingol. His mother was Clauriell, a Vanya lady of Finrod's company who decided to remain in Doriath; that was how she met Oropher.

Thranduil's childhood was spent in Doriath, and he lived the rich and comfortable life of a noble, doted on by his mother and trained by his father to be an intelligent diplomat like himself. By his teen years, he traveled with his father's envoy across Beleriand to treat with the peoples of Middle-Earth; they went to Nogrod many times, as by this point Thingol had commissioned the Dwarves to create the Nauglamir, and young Thranduil was awed by their skill in craftsmanship.

However, when the Dwarves betrayed Thingol and launched an attack on Doriath, Thranduil, still not quite an adult, suffered the terror of the assault and lost his mother in the destruction. He managed to escape with his life because of his father, who led him and a group of refugees over the Blue Mountains and into the east, where they were welcomed and sheltered by the Silvan Elves.

This was when Thranduil first met Faecalen, the princess of the Silvan Elves (and his future wife). They grew to be fast friends, and Faecalen taught him the skills of hunting, tracking, and foraging in the forest, often teasing him about his proper upbringing. Thranduil's companionship with her and the rest of her people helped him to heal from the trauma of losing his mother and his home, and he grew to love the forests as much as the Silvan Elves.

His father Oropher, meanwhile, became close in counsel with the King of the Silvan Elves, and helped them to expand their dealings and relations with the other kingdoms, even establishing trade with the Noldor of Lórien (though Oropher still disliked Galadriel and her kin). In fact, it became his will that, should he ever fall in battle, Oropher was to inherit the throne (as he had only one daughter and no other living relatives). Following his death in a battle against the Orcs, this will was enacted and Oropher became King of the Silvan Elves.

Thranduil, to his surprise, found himself to be the Prince of the Silvan Elves, a title he was not entirely pleased with; he had always been content to be an ordinary lord, with little responsibilities except to attend festivals and occasionally speak with emissaries from other kingdoms. Faecalen was also deeply resentful of his sudden inheritance, as she felt that he now had taken what was rightfully hers, and their bond suffered because of it. Thranduil's relationship with his father also became strained during this time.

During Oropher's rule, Thranduil and Faecalen's friendship went through its most turbulent period. Thranduil, now well into adulthood, realized that he loved her romantically, and tried to court her - but Faecalen was too embittered to reciprocate his love. She did, however, see his feelings as a way to weave her way back into the line of succession, so she played along. Their romance proceeded like this even when they became engaged, Thranduil being blissfully unaware of his betrothed's motives and Faecalen becoming more and more guilt-ridden; she realized that her own feelings for him were becoming more genuine and less a ploy for power, and she confessed her initial intentions.

Thranduil, shocked and hurt by the revelation but still understanding Faecalen's reasons, decided to break off the engagement and focus entirely on his duties as prince, but agreed to remain friends with Faecalen; she was, after all, as intelligent and loyal to her people as Thranduil, and he harbored a secret hope that they could rebuild trust on an equal footing. Under his father's tutelage, Thranduil became a rational and charismatic leader; his diplomatic skills honed from a young age became an asset as he learned how to navigate the politics of the world, and he helped Oropher lead the Elves to, and establish, the kingdom of Greenwood the Great. He worked closely with Faecalen during this time, and eventually their partnership blossomed into a relationship founded on real love and respect. When Thranduil married her, they walked forward not as King and Queen, but as husband and wife.

Thranduil and Faecalen had a son, Legolas, whose childhood years were spent much like Thranduil's own: in the bliss of a prospering kingdom, where he and his people wanted for nothing. Thranduil was content, and confident that Greenwood Kingdom would remain this way forever - quiet, magical, powerful, wonderful - but the peace was not to last. Though Morgoth had been defeated in the War of Wrath, his servant Sauron strove to be a worthy successor, and began to spread darkness and shadow to the farthest corners of Middle-Earth. Greenwood became darker, and strange Spiders began to breed and attack the Elves.

Eventually, Oropher led his people to war. All the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth united against Sauron, and the Silvan Elves fought with their Eldar kin - but the price they paid for victory nearly broke Thranduil's heart. His father, Oropher, fell in battle, as did his beloved wife Faecalen, leaving Thranduil to face the daunting task of rebuilding his people and raising his son alone. Although Sauron was confirmed to be defeated, the disease in Greenwood only worsened, and soon it became known as Mirkwood; the Spiders became stronger, and Thranduil was forced to move his people northward and into the mountain that soon became known as the Elvenking's Halls; despite his dislike for Dwarves, he enlisted their help to build the fortress, and had to trade a chest of precious jewels that had once belonged to Faecalen.

Thranduil, though a strong leader and beloved king, was not strong enough to combat the forces of evil spreading in his realm (especially since the war that had taken his wife and father also wiped out two-thirds of the Silvan army), so every decision was made out of survival. He completely turned his sights inward and shut off all trade with the other kingdoms (embittered by their abandonment of his people), becoming known as a 'hoarder of treasure' and trading only with the Laketown men nearby. He also focused on making his people as comfortable and merry as they could be in the midst of what he considered to be a losing battle, throwing many feasts and encouraging them to rebuild and support one another.

The first step Thranduil took outside of his kingdom in centuries came when Thorin and his company of Dwarves passed through Mirkwood on their way to the Lonely Mountain; though he imprisoned them for trespassing, his curiosity was piqued at the possibility of having a portion of the gold in the mountain. However, when the Dwarves escaped and Smaug razed Laketown, Thranduil's compassion was sparked, and he brought provisions and allyship to the refugees. His people were forced to take part in the Battle of the Five Armies, but to his surprise, the Silvan Elves prevailed over the Orcs with minimal losses, and Thranduil earned the friendship of both the people of Laketown and a few of the Dwarves of Erebor.

Later, when Aragorn the Ranger and Gandalf brought the creature Gollum to Mirkwood, Thranduil agreed to keep him imprisoned, but treated him kindly - and when he escaped captivity, Thranduil took responsibility for the loss by sending his son Legolas to Imladris to explain the loss. But when Legolas did not return from the council, and Thranduil learned that he had embarked on an impossible quest with the Fellowship of the Ring, his heart was plunged into anxiety and despair. He had already lost so much in trying to combat the darkness, and now he feared he would lose his only son - and that if he did, no one in Middle-Earth would care, since they had not before.

During this final struggle against Mordor, Sauron's forces invaded Mirkwood, something that had never happened before. Thranduil and his subjects were forced to fight for their lives in the Battle under the Trees, and over time many of his people fell and the forest was decimated by the Orcs. Thranduil feared that they would be alone in this war, but Galadriel, Celeborn, and the forces of Lórien came to their aid, and Galadriel cast all the evil out of the fortress Dol Guldur once and for all. On the new year, Thranduil and Celeborn negotiated a treaty between their peoples: Thranduil took the northern region of Mirkwood, renaming it Eryn Lasgalen, while Celeborn took the southern region and called it East Lórien.

Peace came again to Thranduil's realm, and his son Legolas survived the war as well; though many of the Elven realms diminished when their leaders' Rings lost their power, Thranduil had never borne a Ring of Power to begin with, and Eryn Lasgalen remained unchanged. The Silvan Elves entered an age of peace and prosperity, completely free from evil.

Thranduil had thought he would remain in Middle-Earth until he faded, never sailing to Valinor, but after a few centuries Legolas became overcome with the yearning for the Sea and he sailed to Valinor (with Gimli, his Dwarf friend). Thranduil lingered in Greenwood for many years, but soon he, too, succumbed to yearning - not for the Sea, but to be reunited with his family. So, he and a company of loyal followers (mostly Sindarin Elves) left Greenwood behind to the Silvans (who chose to remain in their forests) and sailed to Valinor, where Thranduil was reunited with his father, mother, wife, and son.

So that was a very long post. Let me know what you think of this narrative, and thank you if you read all the way to the end!