#economic jihad

[cartoonmirror]

Godi Media War

[tamamita]

hey sal feel free to ignore this but i got into an argument with a zionist who claimed that arabs sold their lands to them, is this true

This is interesting, because it ignores a lot of context. Keywords to remember is the Ottoman capitulation, the Felaheen, the Sursock purchase and the eviction of Palestinians that inhabited the area at that time.

The Sursock family was a family of Aristocratic landlords with strong ties to the Turkish and European nobility dating back to the 19th century. The Sursocks were known to have mass purchased land in Palestine from the Ottoman Turks. While they were absentee landlords, they hired Arab labours who inhabited the purchased land at that time. When the Turks capitulated following WW1, the Turks were pressured into allowing the land to be sold to the PLDC, the Palestinan (later Israeli) Land Development Company. The PLDC sought to purchase the Jezreel valley, which consisted of 20-25 Arab villages, from the Sursock. . Keep in mind that the Jezreel valley was the most fertile land of Palestine and close to the economic city of Haifa. Following the mass purchase of land by the PLDC, the Jewish landbuyers expelled Arab tenants and depopulated the Arab villages despite their usufruct, and right to toll on the land. This all came as a surprise to the Arab inhabitants. This was all part of the idea that cheap Arab labour should be replaced with Jewish labour, this despite the fact that Arab labourers had greater expertise on the agricultural field; the settlers were unfamiliar with the land. Keep in mind that according to JNF, the Jewish national fund, only 3% of the Palestinian land were uncultivated, destroying the myth that the land bloomed as a result of its settler colonizers. The Hashomer Hatzaeer would come to be the center of these kibbutzim and would establish over 30 kibbutzim built ontop of the Arab villages before 1948. As a result, the Arabs, or Felaheen (The Arab peasant class) put up a resistance against the JNF out of concrete material reasons and attempted to fight back against the expansion of these kibbutzim. This was the first instance of Arab resistance against Zionism.

All of these lands were purchased before 1948 and the Arabs were expelled and depopulated only for the kibbutzim to be established with the help of the money provided by the Jewish Colonization association and its organs. However, the British mandate did not require the landowners to compensate for the expelled Arab tenants. The Arabs were forced to migrate to slums and towns. In one of these towns, a notable Syrian resistance fighter would rise up, namely, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, and declare jihad on the British. When the Arabs resisted their dispossession by every means necessary, even violence, the Zionists used this as an excuse to fortify their colonizers and expand them due to "escalating security needs". Since the colonizers were too weak to face the resistance, they turned themselves to the British to gain their support in an attempt to expand their lands as means of security for the Kibbutzim. In a memondarium written by the Kibbutz Hazora (a settlement in Jezreel) to the Jewish Agency in 1936: "Our basic demand is for our own instutions to help us ugently in getting the British authorities to expand our territory--this is a vital issue for us.". A similar pretext is used whenever the colonized put up resistance against their colonizers, in which the same excuse is used to further expand and colonize the lands. This is the logic of the oppressor in any context, whether it is colonial or in the class struggle.

[adorkableshephard]

Okay also, Dune isn’t just about Paul being The Villain. Like, as far as Frank Herbert wrote, there was a legitimate point to Paul’s action in unleashing the jihad and becoming a messiah. The answer at the end of the series is that Paul’s Jihaad and the God Emperor’s terrible reign were the Only way for humanity to evolve far enough and grow strong enough as a species to defeat the AI machines that enslaved their ancestors.

The world of the Dune books does technically-as far as Paul and Leto II can be trusted- need a messiah to push and squeeze and prune humanity into a mass that can survive forever.

And what we learn is that to do that, to follow Any messiah figure, The Worst of Atrocities must be committed at unimaginable scale. Billions dead, suffering, relocated, imprisoned, whole peoples slaughtered, and then the whole empire forced into isolated planetoid islands. Thats the cost of a messiah. Is it worth it? Paul started the path and decided it wasn’t. Leto stuck with it and everyone was saved, but he sacrificed everything he had to fulfill the role.

If humanity’s only hope is a messiah, we’re fucked, the cost in human blood will be unimaginable. Any so called messiah would be a devil for leading people through that path. So, it��d be a lot better if everyone figured out how to get by without one instead, because looking for a messiah will lead to ruin.

There’s a separate discussion to be had about Paul and Leto being false messiahs since they lie, or allow their priesthoods to lie, about what the point of all this is. The point is to get on the golden path of species survival, but both allow or encourage the belief in spiritual, ecological, or economic salvation.

[mariacallous]

Hi Ms Callous!! I hope you’re having a lovely weekend. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for books that could help lay out the history of/situation in Syria? You had a post generally referring to this subject a few days ago but I can’t find it. I’ve found your recommendations so helpful in the past!! Thank you!!!! 🥰

Thank you for the compliment!

Destroying a Nation: The Civil War in Syria by Nikolaos Van Dam

Fragile Nation, Shattered Land: The Modern History of Syria by James Reilly

Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria by Sam Dagher

The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency by Charles Lister

Syrian Requiem: The Civil War and Its Aftermath by Itamar Rabinovich and Carmit Valensi

[eretzyisrael]

Saudi school textbooks drop hatred of Israel

A bright spot in the current gloom that is the Middle East is Saudi Arabia: a new report idenitifies a strong shift in the Saudi education system away from anti-Israel ideology and toward more liberal, Western ideals. The Palestinian textbooks, regrettably, show the opposite trend. The New York Post reports:

De facto’ Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), issued a report on the 2023/24 curriculum in Saudi Arabia. Following a critical review of 371 Saudi textbooks from 2019 to 2024, IMPACT-se evaluated changes made to textbooks for the current school year. As always, we measured them against internationally recognized UNESCO standards of peace and tolerance in education.

What we found was very encouraging. Continuing a steady positive trend in Saudi textbooks over the last several years, passages that endorsed violent jihad have been removed, antisemitic language is no longer found and texts that in the past promoted male superiority over women have been removed or altered, providing much-needed gender-parity in a region where it’s been lacking. Meanwhile, Zionism is no longer portrayed as the product of European colonialism.

As Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) works towards implementing his comprehensive vision for his Kingdom’s future, the way Saudi children are being educated is instructive. It is no coincidence that these textbook changes are taking place as MBS, who has faced scrutiny, opens his Kingdom up to the world. As the Saudi desire for economic development, modernization and closer relations with the West persists, a curriculum which is increasingly tolerant and inclusive makes this prospect all the more likely.

Read article in full

[beardedmrbean]

How can we understand the terrible, self-imposed deprivation now gripping the people of Gaza? The heart-wrenching stampede that unfolded in Gaza last Thursday casts a stark light on the brutal reality of life under Hamas's rule. It is a somber reminder of the urgent need to address the suffering of Gaza's people, but it also serves as a crucial moment to clarify the accountability for Gaza's plight.

The chaos and desperation that led to this tragedy are direct outcomes of Hamas's governance, which prioritizes violence and killing Jews over the welfare of its population. The stampede, occurring during an aid distribution, tragically underscores the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Driven by sheer desperation, people found themselves in a deadly crush, a situation that should never occur.

To pave the way for peace and stability for my brothers and sisters in Gaza, it is essential to acknowledge the root causes of their suffering. Hamas's diversion of resources, suppression of dissent, and neglect of civilian needs must end. The international community, along with the Palestinian people, must demand accountability and seek a future where governance prioritizes human dignity, economic opportunity, and peaceful coexistence. Only through addressing these fundamental issues can we hope to prevent such tragedies and build a brighter future for all Palestinians.

As a Palestinian human rights activist deeply sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people and the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that the terrorist group Hamas is responsible for the suffering of Gazans.

Outside obfuscators often try to misplace blame for the suffering onto Israel's "blockade" on the Strip, but a brief consideration of the timeline shows the absurdity of this conceit. Israel unilaterally withdrew all of its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. Within hours, Hamas-aligned looters had stripped bare and destroyed the greenhouses and farms Israel had left behind for local sustenance. In 2007, Hamas seized military control of the strip in a brutal local coup against the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority (PA), throwing its supporters off the roofs of buildings.

Since then, rather than engage in peacemaking and economic development, Hamas, like a Mediterranean North Korea, has diverted all of its resources to warfare. It and its ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), have repeatedly fired rocket salvos into central Israel—in 2008-9, 2012, 2014, and 2021. In October 2023, Hamas breached all precedent with an all-out invasion of Southern Israel, massacring over 1,200 innocents in a single day—including 300 young people at an all-night nature dance party celebrating peace.

Rape, torture, and bodily mutilation were reported on a systemic scale, and over 240 innocents were dragged back to Hamas's terror emirate in Gaza as hostages. Hamas is still holding over 130 of these innocents hostage.

As a human rights activist and a human being, I recognize that it defies all rules of geopolitics, morality, and human nature to suggest that Israel not respond militarily to dismantle Hamas and rescue its people, who we now know are being raped and psychologically tortured in captivity.

Read more

I'm a Palestinian. Hamas Alone Is Responsible for the Blood Shed in Gaza

We Palestinians Must Dump Our Leaders and Accept Israel's Offers for Peace

Hamas Is Committing Terrorism Against My Palestinian Brothers and Sisters

And yet, amidst the intensity of the ongoing war, Israel has facilitated the transfer of international aid to Hamas-controlled territory—while Hamas has been seizing these essential supplies and transferring them for military purposes. Hamas has built a massive network of tunnels under the Strip that exceeds the New York subway system in length, where hostages have been kept underground without light and used as human shields to protect terrorist commanders. Hamas's cannibalization of the civilian economy has gone so far as to dig up water pipes and convert them into makeshift rockets to fire into Israeli territory.

Beyond economic manipulation, Hamas's rule in Gaza is marked by a severe crackdown on political dissent. Opposition and press voices are silenced, often violently, with human rights organizations reporting arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings. LGBTQ+ individuals, and anyone else who defies the harsh religious extremism governing all life in the Strip face torture and execution.

The real victims of Hamas's governance are the ordinary people of Gaza, who endure the consequences of their rulers' bloodthirsty actions. The youth, facing unemployment rates that are among the highest in the world, see their futures evaporate in an economy stifled by mismanagement and artificially exacerbated conflict. The sick suffer from a health care system in disarray, with hospitals overwhelmed and under-resourced, in part due to the diversion of medical supplies to serve Hamas's fighters and the repurposing of these healing spaces into military command centers.

As a Palestinian human rights activist, my loyalty lies with the Palestinian people, whose rights and future have been compromised by a cruel leadership that prioritizes military and terrorist objectives over human welfare. For those of us caught in the middle, the path forward requires an honest confrontation with the reality of our situation.

The plight of Gaza is a wound at the heart of the Middle East, a testament to the failures of an international policy that has foolishly coddled a brutal tyrant and implacable foe. Only by dismantling the governing rule of the irredeemable Hamas can we begin to heal this wound and move toward a future where the rights and dignity of all Palestinians are upheld, and peace and economic development alongside our Israeli neighbors can at last bear fruit for both sides.

Bassem Eid is a Palestinian human rights activist. He lives in the West Bank.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

[probablyasocialecologist]

As Sheila Ryan writes, from 1948 until mid-1973 “Israel had received the staggering sum of over $8 billion in economic assistance from various foreign sources, or $3,500 total for each Israeli – an average of $233 per year per capita in aid. Thus, an average Israeli each year received in aid alone more than double the per capita income of an Egyptian ($102 in 1969).” Between 1943 and 2023, the US has provided Israel with $160 billion in aid (with inflation adjusted reaching about $260 billion), without considering the regular loan guarantees extended to the entity that are worth billions. This aid to Israel is an investment in militarism for US-led imperialism. The peculiarity of the Zionist entity lies in it being a settler-colonial formation, as much as the US, incubating a mode of consciousness that promotes imperialist values and secures US hegemonic domination in the region. By acquiring nuclear weapons and through its numerous military attacks on and invasions of other countries of the region – i.e., such as Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Israel has been the major force behind imperialist capital accumulation and its corollary, Arab de-development. As the Palestinian leftist circles in the 1960s-70s consistently emphasised, Zionism is the spearhead of imperialism in the region. As much as the liberation of Palestine is a struggle against US-led imperialism on whose behalf Israel acts as a gendarme, an attack on Israel is an attempt to undermine directly the core interests of the US and its reactionary allies in the region. As per the oil-rich Gulf monarchies, the control of the ruling classes of these political formations guaranteed the supremacy of the US dollar at the international level through dollar-denominated oil sales, which were then being recycled in the purchase of US treasury bonds and weaponry. In recent years, following the various attacks on the sovereignty of secular Arab republics (Iraq, Libya, and Syria), coordinated with the money and weapons of the Gulf countries, the US has also pushed an agenda of normalisation with Israel. The more Israel is recognised officially in the region, the more secure the interests of US-led imperialism are.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Rushdi Abualouf

Published: Nov 8, 2024

The most prominent Islamic scholar in Gaza has issued a rare, powerful fatwa condemning Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, a former dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, is one of the region’s most respected religious authorities, so his legal opinion carries significant weight among Gaza’s two million population, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.

A fatwa is a non-binding Islamic legal ruling from a respected religious scholar usually based on the Quran or the Sunnah - the sayings and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.

Dr Dayah’s fatwa, which was published in a detailed six-page document, criticises Hamas for what he calls “violating Islamic principles governing jihad”.

Jihad means “struggle” in Arabic and in Islam it can be a personal struggle for spiritual improvement or a military struggle against unbelievers.

Dr Dayah adds: “If the pillars, causes, or conditions of jihad are not met, it must be avoided in order to avoid destroying people’s lives. This is something that is easy to guess for our country’s politicians, so the attack must have been avoided.”

For Hamas, the fatwa represents an embarrassing and potentially damaging critique, particularly as the group often justifies its attacks on Israel through religious arguments to garner support from Arab and Muslim communities.

The 7 October attack saw hundreds of Hamas gunmen from Gaza invade southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign to destroy Hamas, during which more than 43,400 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Dr Dayah argues that the significant civilian casualties in Gaza, together with the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and humanitarian disaster that have followed the 7 October attack, means that it was in direct contradiction to the teachings of Islam.

Hamas, he says, has failed in its obligations of “keeping fighters away from the homes of defenceless [Palestinian] civilians and their shelters, and providing security and safety as much as possible in the various aspects of life... security, economic, health, and education, and saving enough supplies for them.”

Dr Dayah points to Quranic verses and the Sunnah that set strict conditions for the conduct of jihad, including the necessity of avoiding actions that provoke an excessive and disproportionate response by an opponent.

His fatwa highlights that, according to Islamic law, a military raid should not trigger a response that exceeds the intended benefits of the action.

He also stresses that Muslim leaders are obligated to ensure the safety and well-being of non-combatants, including by providing food, medicine, and refuge to those not involved in the fighting.

“Human life is more precious to God than Mecca,” Dr Dayah states.

His opposition to the 7 October attack is especially significant given his deep influence in Gaza, where he is seen as a key religious figure and a vocal critic of Islamist movements, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

His moderate Salafist beliefs place him in direct opposition to Hamas’s approach to armed resistance and its ties to Shia-ruled Iran.

Salafists are fundamentalists who seek to adhere the example of the Prophet Muhammad and the first generations who followed him.

Dr Dayah has consistently argued for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that adheres strictly to Islamic law, rather than the political party-based systems that Hamas and other groups advocate.

“Our role model is the Prophet Muhammad, who founded a nation and did not establish political parties that divide the nation. Therefore, parties in Islam are forbidden,” he said in a sermon he gave at a mosque several years ago.

He has also condemned extremism, opposing jihadist groups like Islamic State and al-Qaeda, and has used all of his platforms to issue fatwas on various social and political issues, ranging from commercial transactions, social disputes over marriage and divorce, to the conduct of political violence.

The fatwa adds to the growing internal debate within Gaza and the broader Arab world over the moral and legal implications of Hamas’s actions, and it is likely to fuel further divisions within Palestinian society regarding the use of armed resistance in the ongoing conflict with Israel.

Sheikh Ashraf Ahmed, one of Dr Dayah’s students who was forced to leave his house in Gaza City last year and flee to the south of Gaza with his wife and nine children, told the BBC: “Our scholar [Dr Dayah] refused to leave his home in northern Gaza despite the fears of Israeli air strikes. He chose to fulfil his religious duty by issuing his legal opinion on the attack”.

Ahmed described the fatwa as the most powerful legal judgment of a historical moment. “It’s a deeply well researched document, reflecting Dayah’s commitment to Islamic jurisprudence,” he said.

==

Reminder that the Islamic Fatwa Council issued a fatwa against Hamas back in March 2023, declaring "the Muslim Brotherhood movement and all of its branches as terrorist organizations".

Reminder also that Hamas tortures citizens. They are the enemy of free people.

Hamas is responsible for every single death.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Seth J. Frantzman

Israel conducted an airstrike overnight between June 5 and June 6 that targeted Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who had illegally taken over part of a UN school in Gaza. The UN has complained about the airstrike and various reports have parroted these claims. However, the presence of terrorists at a UN facility once again shows that the UN is not doing enough to protect civilians from Hamas.

“Overnight, the IDF conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike targeting dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists hiding inside a UN school in Gaza. Some of these terrorists participated in the Hamas Massacre of October 7. I will soon reveal the identities of some of the terrorists we eliminated,” the IDF said.IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari went on to note, “The terrorists were operating from this UN school. They were planning and conducting attacks from inside classrooms of this UNRWA school. Our precise strike was based on concrete intelligence, from multiple sources. The terrorists inside this school were planning more attacks against Israelis, some of them imminent. We stopped a ticking time-bomb. This is what it was.”

The UN undersecretary for humanitarian affairs said that the strike is “yet another tragedy proving there is nowhere safe for civilians in Gaza. The rules of war must be respected. Civilians must be protected. States must use their leverage: Diplomatic and economic pressure, conditioning arms exports, and cooperation in fighting impunity.”

The Israeli claims and the UN claims once again show how the UN and other international organizations in Gaza are not doing enough to protect civilians from Hamas.

[straynoahide]

the zenith of antisemitism: the Samson Option conspiracy and western foreign policy

as much as antisemitism is based in old tropes that took off with the diaspora in europe, esp during the middle ages, it is important to keep up with the new iterations of old conspiracies. not every piece of antisemitism is as consequential in scale - some things are local, others are regional; others are unprecedented and global.

lately and since oct 7th, antizionism is becoming the main productive engine of antisemitism because through western disinformation and propaganda, islamic-country apologists of terror and jihad can use the western progressive movements to dress up antisemitism in the rhetoric of anticolonialism, anti-liberalism, anti-imperialism.

then, these movements do the exact opposite of the values they purport, promoting islamofascism, arab imperialism and theocracy - economically and through international institutions (like UNRWA and the ICC) - these groups seek first and foremost to hurt israelis. as a side-effect, it also makes western jews and israelis more reactionary, from xenophobic trauma reactions and personal/demographic isolation. even the internet is becoming a place of 'online ghettos'.

the jewish democracy is held to a double standard that dehumanizes jews among any other group of people. every human group can have a national existence, but jews. every human group can have a religion or patriotism while being loyal to a republic, but jews. when it is the most vulnerable, the antisemites attacks grow more vicious. when jews and israelis are stronger, they play dumb and harmless.

antisemitism surges when jewish populations are in peril or literally hostage to a sworn enemy. when "ceasefire" becomes, 'keep the hostages', full-out war becomes the only existential choice, but at the same time war is demonized as aggression.

an old enemy rises too. in america, the country with the largest christian population, the christian right with white nationalist and christofascist groups (both protestant and catholic) are more than willing to take advantage of this moment of confusion and plausible deniability, with the left having normalized 'anti-zionist' slurs.

they are now doing so by accusing israel of plotting to nuke not iran or palestine, but the west, in line with canards of jewish power in government and 'double loyalties'. phrases like "israel first" are used to describe the establishment by right-wing groups that are no longer that fringe.

The Sampson Option refers to a strategy attributed to Israel, where, in the event of an existential threat or imminent destruction, Israel would retaliate with its nuclear arsenal, causing catastrophic damage not only to its enemies but potentially risking global repercussions. The term is derived from the biblical story of Samson, who, in his final act, brought down the pillars of a Philistine temple, killing himself and his enemies.

why? why does anyone say an enemy is going to destroy them first?

well, to justify obliteration. not of israel but of "zionists", of course. obviously so that (left-leaning) western governments can become persuaded to cripple israel first, and to cripple it hard (economically, militarily, technologically), and to tolerate first deplatforming 'zionist support' and ultimately, down the line, marginalizing the jewish identity in politics.

i.e. it is not the world/"us" (americans, westerners, the international institutions) that conspire against jews - it is jews that conspire against the entire world - this is the ultimate form of the antisemitic canard in the nuclear era, before the shadow of wwiii

genocide of jews becomes "self-defense". this is the zenith of antisemitism in human history. something that has no precedent, the ultimate form of holocaust reversal conspiracy aimed to have the international community not just exclude but fight israel and, ultimately, neutralize jewish agency altogether.

[zvaigzdelasas]

[The Hill is US Private Media]

Earlier this year, The Hill published an Op-Ed I wrote that was titled “Puerto Rico’s political status, an issue of national security.” In that piece I presented a series of events to stress and relate the political future of Puerto Rico, its importance to the U.S. national security needs and how foreign powers push their agenda through the pro-independence movement within the island.

This past June, the United Nations Decolonization Committee met to discuss the issue of Puerto Rico at the request of Cuba. That body also passed the 41st consecutive resolution asking for the island’s self-determination and independence, with complete disregard of the will of its residents, who are US citizens. I tried to set the record straight by submitting a written and oral statement but the representative of Cuba had other plans. My statement blew the Cuban representative’s mind that led to an interruption rampage. Somehow my statement[...] made him forget that he was not in Cuba and that the UN is a place where different points of view are supposed to come together in order to encourage a thorough discussion of the issues pressing the world. I can attest that this wasn’t one of the UN’s best moments. 

But what was he trying to hide? Simple, for the Cuban representative, the truth is inconvenient. Its ties with China and Russia are publicly known and widely reported. The Wall Street Journal, in June 20, 2023, wrote “Beijing Plans a New Training Facility in Cuba.” This is something that the Cuban representative did not want on the UN record. But why would China want to establish a military training facility in Cuba? Maybe for the same reason, the Chinese wanted to buy what used to be Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico but couldn’t. [...]

In June 2023, Francisco Urdinez wrote for the [US industry thinktank] Wilson Center, “At the OAS, where China is an observer, an analysis by George Meek showed that between 1948 and 1974, the United States influenced 75 percent of the 297 roll-call votes. That influence has clearly diminished. Between 2001 and 2021, countries in which China has displaced the United States economically were 26 percentage points less likely to vote in alignment with Washington than other member states.” This clearly represents a shift in political power because of ill conceived policies that fail to recognize the importance of U.S. leadership in Latin America.[...]

It is important to remember that the involvement of foreign powers and interests in Latin America is not new. In 2011, the subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing on Hezbollah in Latin America — Implications on U.S. Homeland Security, and received the testimony of Ambassador Roger F. Noriega, former US Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OEA) and stated, “Hugo Chaves hosted a terror summit of senior leaders of Hamas (supreme leader “Khaled Meshal), Hezbollah (unnamed “chief operations”), and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Secretary General Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah) in Caracas on August 22, 2010. That extraordinary meeting was organized at the suggestion of Iran,… In addition to the summit, operatives from other countries gathered in Caracas to meet with these terrorist chieftains.”

These are but a few indications that Puerto Rico’s political status may have a significant impact on U.S. security and foreign policy interests. The island’s current political status is not sustainable and when it comes to an end there will be only two options: it either becomes a state, thereby ensuring a strategic U.S. presence at the crossroads of the Americas, or it becomes a sovereign country which would be tantamount to ceding the island to our adversaries. The longer Congress takes to act on Puerto Rico’s political status, the greater the likelihood of the latter outcome.[...]

[The Author] José Enrique Meléndez-Ortiz, Esq., LLM., is representative at large in Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives.

"Puerto Rican Independence is a Russian-Chinese-Iranian Plot" now a mainstream narrative being pushed among self described progressive media by sitting politicians [22 Oct 23]

[secular-jew]

Since 10-7, if you're like me, it's easy to lament the historical repetition of Islamic colonial oppression which others seem to be overtly ignoring.

Unfolding before our very eyes, in this generation, our generation. That which we thought -- unthinkable.

We are not the generation of our great grandparents. We are not the generation of economic depression and drought. We are not the generation of poverty and world war. We are not the generation of blood libel and property dispossession. We are not the generation of cattle cars and death camps. We are not the apathetic, naive generation. And mostly, we are NOT the generation of silence.

Never again meant what exactly?

Many discouraged colleagues have disconnected from social media. Gone underground for the most part. Hiding from exposure, doxxing, or worse.

We are living in an age of outspoken antisemitism reincarnate. 1930s Nazi propaganda has been effectively adopted by the Islamists, focused on Israel as a stepping stone to the re-colonization of Andalusia (Spain), the rest of Europe, and North America, also in their sites.

Highlighting Islamic oppression, jihad/terrorism has led to being cancelled, silenced and demonized on social media, the new technological ally of the Islamists. Our social media accounts frozen or closed-down entirely.

Exodus redux? Feels like wandering aimlessly in the dessert, similar to the ancients searching for Canaan, but without a guide.

Whatever one thinks about Tumblr, I can tell you from experience, that life is much worse on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and much better on Twitter (X).

For instance, Zuckerturd has doubled down on censorship and overrun his site with state-sponsored "fact-checkers."

At the same time, Musk has held true to his word, reinstating banished voices who have taken on numerous global tyrants, almost single-handedly.

They say history repeats. But it doesn't need to be that way. We seem to be approaching the rubicon.

[deceivingyears]

In its first part, the book deals with the political and economic conflicts that Iraq faced during that era, as well as Iraq's relationship with the international inspection teams that were constantly flipping the cards of Iraq’s armament program in a provocative manner, as it reached the point of inspecting sensitive and sovereign sites, which led to their continuous clash with the Iraqi government at the time.

Moreover, the book delves into Iranian espionage to provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the country's past and the factors that produced Iraq's present and future. From 1989 until 2003, Iran played a complex and often controversial role in Iraq. Iran lent its support to various Iraqi opposition groups that sought to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime, but they were met with resilience from the Iraqi regime. Those groups that presented themselves to the international community as an Iraqi opposition, included radical groups and organizations, some of which were accused of either terrorism or sympathy for those accused of terrorism, such as the Shiite Islamic Jihad, the Dawa Party, the Supreme Council and its military arm the terrorist Badr militia, which is closely linked to the terrorist Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has, beyond any doubt, used these groups as its agents to exercise its influence on its western neighbor and undermine the influence of the Iraqi state in all stages of conflict and peace between the two countries, especially after the theocratic government came to power in Iran after the fall of the Shah's regime in 1979.

[randomshobhit]

It is now clear that BJP will not be able to form government on its own unlike the last 2 terms and has to rely on its coalition partners to survive. Many people rightly called that the results provide a sense of breathing space for the independence of the institutions and the future of democracy in the country, since the government will not be able to bulldoze its will the way it has came to be known for. It's worth celebrating.

Yet, those of us who wants to see a truly democratic and truly secular India should not get too carried away with the results. The roots of hindutva fascism has been penetrated deeply in the Indian society in last several decades, backed by systemic and organised forces.

Family WhatsApp groups will still receive islamophobic forwards, cause of poverty will still be blamed upon "population explosion" and conspiracy theories like love jihad and land jihad will still circulate. Many of the supporters and members of the opposition coalition are just as communal, sexist, and bigoted as those who are in the government and despite being less authoritarian in some ways are still representatives of the capitalist class.

The real enemy is capitalism itself which has to be overthrown in order to defeat fascism. As Lenin said "Fascism is capitalism in decay", and to ignore the root cause of fascism and pin it solely to some inherent authoritarianism of some individuals would be foolish.

We should use the newly found breathing space provided to us by the results of the 2024 elections in order to take anti-capitalist program to the people, educate them about their cause of misery and explain how this capitalist system is inherently incapable of fulfilling their needs. We should highlight how communal propaganda blooms in times of economic distress and are a means of diverting the blame away from the wealthy and powerful to a section of common people so that exploitation can continue.

[satellitebroadcast]

Senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan in a speech addressed to Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. In light of the brutal aggression and war of genocide being waged by the occupation against our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip, and the daily massacres it commits, the latest being the massacre that took place at dawn today, where enemy aircraft targeted displaced people's tents in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, which had been declared a safe zone, with heavy bombs. Amidst what our people in Gaza are enduring from siege, hunger, and deprivation, especially in the northern part of the Strip where people lack the basic necessities of life such as food, water, clothing, and shelter, deadly diseases are spreading while the healthcare system is incapacitated due to the continuous targeting by the occupation of its facilities and staff. As a result of the procrastination by the occupation government and its obstruction of mediators' efforts to cease fire and end the war of genocide in Gaza, as well as the exchange of prisoners, they hinder all these efforts by committing more massacres and imposing more impossible conditions. In light of the blatant violations by the extremist settler government, which threatens to change the status quo in the West Bank and Al-Quds, and directly supports settlement activities and the Judaization of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in light of the killing and destruction carried out by the occupation forces, especially in the northern West Bank, with the aim of repeating the crime of genocide in our occupied West Bank. In the face of all these crimes and violations, we place our Arab brothers, the foreign ministers, before their genuine Arab responsibilities, and we emphasize that the continuation of the occupation and aggression poses a danger not only to Palestinians but also to the collective Arab national security. In this context, we remind the esteemed foreign ministers of Arab states and His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Arab League of the outcomes of the joint summit between the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation last November, which was held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The summit emphasized the need to work towards an immediate halt to the aggression, provide relief to the Palestinian people, and lift the siege. At this critical moment in the history of our people and the region, we look forward to your meeting producing the following: - First, immediate and direct action to pressure the occupation and its supporters to halt the aggression and war of genocide in the Gaza Strip. - Second, providing relief to our steadfast people in Gaza by opening the crossings and directing urgent aid in the form of food, medicine, clothing, and shelter supplies. - Third, we look forward to a clear condemnation of the occupation’s practices and its ongoing crimes in Palestine, and the pursuit of legal and judicial accountability for the occupation state and its leaders in all international forums. - Fourth, we expect the exposure of the occupation's intransigence and its stalling of mediators' proposals, and holding it fully responsible for the failure of efforts to achieve a ceasefire and prisoner exchange, especially since Hamas and the resistance agreed to the latest proposal presented by mediators on the 2nd of July. - Fifth, taking all necessary measures to protect Al-Quds and the sanctities, and preventing the zionist enemy from continuing its plans to change the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Judaize the holy city. - Sixth and finally, we look forward to the immediate severance of political, diplomatic, and economic relations with the zionist entity, which persists in killing our people and committing genocide. We ask Allah, the Exalted, to guide us towards what is good. It is a jihad of victory or martyrdom.

[eretzyisrael]

By Bassem Eid

Outside obfuscators often try to misplace blame for the suffering onto Israel's "blockade" on the Strip, but a brief consideration of the timeline shows the absurdity of this conceit. Israel unilaterally withdrew all of its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. Within hours, Hamas-aligned looters had stripped bare and destroyed the greenhouses and farms Israel had left behind for local sustenance. In 2007, Hamas seized military control of the strip in a brutal local coup against the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority (PA), throwing its supporters off the roofs of buildings.

Since then, rather than engage in peacemaking and economic development, Hamas, like a Mediterranean North Korea, has diverted all of its resources to warfare. It and its ally, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), have repeatedly fired rocket salvos into central Israel—in 2008-9, 2012, 2014, and 2021. In October 2023, Hamas breached all precedent with an all-out invasion of Southern Israel, massacring over 1,200 innocents in a single day—including 300 young people at an all-night nature dance party celebrating peace.

Rape, torture, and bodily mutilation were reported on a systemic scale, and over 240 innocents were dragged back to Hamas's terror emirate in Gaza as hostages. Hamas is still holding over 130 of these innocents hostage.

As a human rights activist and a human being, I recognize that it defies all rules of geopolitics, morality, and human nature to suggest that Israel not respond militarily to dismantle Hamas and rescue its people, who we now know are being raped and psychologically tortured in captivity.

And yet, amidst the intensity of the ongoing war, Israel has facilitated the transfer of international aid to Hamas-controlled territory—while Hamas has been seizing these essential supplies and transferring them for military purposes. Hamas has built a massive network of tunnels under the Strip that exceeds the New York subway system in length, where hostages have been kept underground without light and used as human shields to protect terrorist commanders. Hamas's cannibalization of the civilian economy has gone so far as to dig up water pipes and convert them into makeshift rockets to fire into Israeli territory.