#sisi is so positively stunning

[theculturedmarxist]

Western media start to note how their politicians' unwavering support for Israel and Ukraine is diminishing their countries' global standing.

At Naked Capitalism Yves Smith notes the devastating political effects of the Gaza bombing on Biden's foreign policies:

Biden Gets Zelensky Treatment in Middle East as Israel Tries to Escalate

The US, in a continued demonstration of the degree of enbubblement of what passes for its leadership, seems to believe it still has the force and soft power to be able to bully talk its way out of its geopolitical messes. Yet this week we have stunning examples of how critical players in the rest to the world no longer buy what the US is selling. The gap between the American establishment’s connection to reality and facts on the ground has opened up to a yawning chasm as the Arab world, as Jordan cancelled a Biden summit with its King Abduallah II plus PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in response to Israel’s shelling of Al-Ahli Arab hospital. Not only are they rejecting the attempt to shift blame for the attack to Hamas (we’ll soon address the “rogue shell” claim), but also the bigger pretense behind that, that the US is incapable of, as opposed to unwilling to, applying the choke chain to Israel. Even the Western media are not much on board with the Israeli and Biden Administration pretense that somehow Hamas dunnit, when Israel has been trying to herd Palestinians out of northern Gaza and specifically attempted to order the evacuation of the hospital. Oh, and this follows Israel ordering the UN to evacuate from Gaza in 24 hours and then shelling its warehouse there: ...

Israel bombed, probably with a U.S. made Hellfire missile, the courtyard of the Baptist al-Ahli Arab hospital where thousands had sought refuge. A short video of the immediate aftermath shows several dozens if not hundreds of dead and wounded. Doctors later held a press conference while standing among some of the casualties.

Like other hospitals al-Ahli Arab had been told by Israel to evacuate but could not do so as there are no other places where the sick and wounded, including many intensive care cases, could be cared for.

Three days earlier, notes the UN, the same hospital had, like others, already been bombed:

14 October 2023: In Gaza city city and governorate, Ahli Arab Hospital was hit by Israeli airstrikes, partially damaging two floors and damaging the ultrasound and mammography room. Four people were injured. Sources: Al Jazeera V and Personal Communication

To then claim, as Biden did, that 'the other team' was responsible for the attack is unfathomable.

It was also way too late says a RUSI fellow:

Going to repeat this as the situation has moved more in the past 16 hours than in the previous week. The plates have shifted, radically. The window for Israeli operations has shrunk from more than a month, to a few days...if at all. That is now the reality of where we stand.

No country besides the U.S. and a few Europeans will ever defend such barbarity. They will simply stop listen to what the 'west' has to say.

The Financial Times quotes a G7-official who struggles with this global divide:

Rush by west to back Israel erodes developing countries’ support for Ukraine (archived)

Western support for Israel’s assault on Gaza has poisoned efforts to build consensus with significant developing countries on condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine, officials and diplomats have warned. The reaction to the October 7 attack on Israel by Islamist militant group Hamas and to Israel’s vow to hit back against Gaza has undone months of work to paint Moscow as a global pariah for breaching international law, they said, exposing the US, EU and their allies to charges of hypocrisy. In the flurry of emergency diplomatic visits, video conferences and calls, western officials have been accused of failing to defend the interests of 2.3mn Palestinians in their rush to condemn the Hamas attack and support Israel. ... The backlash had solidified entrenched positions in the developing world on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, officials said. They warned that this could derail future diplomatic efforts on Ukraine. “We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South,” said one senior G7 diplomat. “All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost . . . Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.” ... Some American diplomats are privately concerned that the Biden administration’s response has failed to acknowledge how its broad support of Israel can alienate much of the Global South.

Looking at the current BRI anniversary meeting of some 140 states in Beijing, the New York Times voices similar concerns:

New Global Divisions on View as Biden Goes to Israel and Putin to China

Russia and China are siding with a Palestinian people seeking liberation and self-determination, while in Washington’s eyes, they themselves deny those same possibilities to the Ukrainians, the Tibetans, the Uyghurs and even to the Taiwanese. But in their reluctance to blame Hamas and effort to associate themselves with the Palestinian cause, both Russia and China are appealing to a wider sentiment in the so-called Global South — and in large parts of Europe, too. For them, it is Israel that is conducting a colonialist policy by its occupation of the West Bank, its encouragement of Jewish settlers on Palestinian land and its isolation of the 2.3 million people of Gaza, who are subjected even in normal times to sharp restrictions on their freedoms. The Global South, a term for developing nations, is a vital area of the new competition between the West and the Chinese-Russian alternative, said Hanna Notte, the director of a Eurasia program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. From the point of view of many in the Global South, she said, “the United States fights Russia, the occupier of Ukraine, but when it comes to Israel, the U.S. is on the side of the occupier, and Russia taps into that.”

The editorial board of the Washington Post also declares the failure of U.S. policies:

It would be a moral and strategic mistake to ignore Gaza’s plight

Still, the plight of Gazans has been treated by the United States and the wider international community as a sad but immutable fact in an irresolvable conflict. This was a moral and strategic error, helping promote the instability that has, for now, wrecked efforts on the part of Israel, the United States and Arab states to build a durable diplomatic settlement among the region’s big players.

The Carnegie Council explains how the global rift necessitates a change in western policies. It especially sees a need to ditch the so called "value-" or "rules-based-order" policies:

A Requiem for the Rules-Based Order The Case for Value-Neutral Ethics in International Relations

Regardless of how it eventually concludes, the Russo-Ukrainian War represents a seismic event signaling profound changes in the global landscape. The unipolar era is at its end, major countries are more concerned with their cultural sovereignty and strategic autonomy than they have been in decades, and it seems inevitable that the once-dominant Western hegemony must gradually yield to a more diverse and multipolar system. The period following World War II witnessed the ascendancy of the United States and its allies as architects of a new international order premised on the institutionalization of Western values such as democracy and human rights. This Western-centric approach to global governance—known as the “rules-based order”—has encountered mounting challenges. China's rise, Russia's geopolitical subversiveness, and the growing assertiveness of emerging powers from the Global South have eroded Western dominance. The outcome is a more diverse world, characterized by multiple centers of power coexisting, challenging any single ideology or set of substantive values. ... Our particular sense of morality in the West should not stop us from aspiring to pursue what’s both wise and right. The evolving international order, characterized by polycentrism and multipolarity, challenges the conventional Western-dominated “rules-based” order. Drawing from Nietzsche's perspective on values, we recognize that values are context-dependent rather than innate, timeless, or universal. Similarly, the decline of our ancien regime does not spell the end of international ethics. If the current transition is understood correctly, it could promise the birth of a new normative system based on a functional, value-neutral, situational, and diplomatic ethic that has its primary concern in managing reciprocal relations between world powers. Instead of attempting to impose our values on others (no matter how good or true we think they are), we in the West should prioritize engagement with other major powers based on common interests and shared objectives. ... ... In sum, within the intellectual framework offered by cultural realism, we need an alternative instrumentalist and pragmatic ethic that 1) accepts the realities of power politics and spheres of interest without moralizing and projecting a Manichaean mentality upon the world, and 2) is grounded in principles that are conducive to a pluralist modus vivendi, including mutual and equal recognition, statesmanship, non-interference, humility, strategic empathy, and open dialogue.

Some might say that the west will never change its behavior but I do not believe that.

The west WILL HAVE TO change its behavior or it will go down into history's graveyard. There is no longer an alternative as the 'rules based order' has proven to be an unsellable dead end.

Posted by b on October 18, 2023 at 15:31 UTC

[terrifyingstories3]

rose loves dancing and has a natural talent for it. she gravitates more to the kind of dancing you’d find at a party or club where there’s music she can find her rhythm in, but she likes other forms of dance, too. she would enjoy slow dancing even though she doesn’t really have much formal training in it with the right partner, and can pick up on things fairly quickly. she thinks dancing is really fun and also just really sexy and there’s a confidence and grace about her when she dances that makes HER very sexy without needing to try. it’s very intuitive to her and speaks to her learning style (physical). she’s the whole moment ya’ll

[berniesrevolution]

IN THESE TIMES

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, A NEW COHORT OF PROGRESSIVES IS RUNNING FOR—AND WINNING—ELECTIONS. 

The stunning victory of democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic congressional primary in New York is perhaps the most well-known, but she is far from alone. Most of these candidates are young, more than usual are people of color, many are women, several are Muslims, at least one is a refugee, at least one is transgender—and all are unabashedly left. Most come to electoral politics after years of activism around issues like immigration, climate and racism. They come out of a wide range of social movements and support policy demands that reflect the principles of those movements: labor rights, immigrant and refugee rights, women’s and gender rights, equal access to housing and education, environmental justice, and opposition to police violence and racial profiling. Some, though certainly not all, identify not just with the policies of socialism but with the fundamental core values and indeed the name itself, usually in the form of democratic socialism.

Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American woman in Detroit, just won the Democratic primary for the legendary Congressman John Conyers’ seat. Four women, two of them members of Democratic Socialists of America and all four endorsed by DSA, beat their male incumbent opponents in Pennsylvania state house primaries. Tahirah Amatul-Wadud is running an insurgent campaign for Congress against a longstanding incumbent in western Massachusetts, keeping her focus on Medicare-for-All and civil rights. Minnesota State Rep. Ilhan Omar, a former Somali refugee, won endorsement from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and is running for Keith Ellison’s former congressional seat as an “intersectional feminist.” And there are more.

Congressional nominee Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shocked the Democratic political community recently after an upset win against Representative Joe Crowley in the New York Democratic primary. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Many highlight their movement experience in their campaigns; they are champions of immigrant rights, healthcare, student debt organizing and the fight for $15. Intersectionality has grown stronger, as the extremism of Trump’s right-wing racist assault creates significant new gains in linking separate movements focused on racism, women’s rights, immigrant rights, climate, poverty, labor rights and more.

But mostly, we’re not seeing progressive and socialist candidates clearly link domestic issues with efforts to challenge war, militarism and the war economy. There are a few exceptions: Congressional candidate and Hawaii State Rep. Kaniela Ing speaks powerfully about U.S. colonialism in Hawaii, and Virginia State Rep. Lee J. Carter has spoken strongly against U.S. bombing of Syria, linking current attacks with the legacy of U.S. military interventions. There may be more. But those are exceptions; most of the new left candidates focus on crucial issues of justice at home.

It’s not that progressive leaders don’t care about international issues, or that our movements are divided. Despite too many common assumptions, it is not political suicide for candidates or elected officials to stake out progressive anti-war, anti-militarism positions. Quite the contrary: Those positions actually have broad support within both our movements and public opinion. It’s just that it’s hard to figure out the strategies that work to connect internationally focused issues, anti-war efforts, or challenges to militarism, with the wide array of activists working on locally grounded issues. Some of those strategies seem like they should be easy—like talking about slashing the 53 cents of every discretionary federal dollar that now goes to the military as the easiest source to fund Medicare-for-all or free college education. It should be easy, but somehow it’s not: Too often, foreign policy feels remote from the urgency of domestic issues facing such crises. When our movements do figure out those strategies, candidates can easily follow suit.

Candidates coming out of our movements into elected office will need clear positions on foreign policy. Here are several core principles that should shape those positions.

A progressive foreign policy must reject U.S. military and economic domination and instead be grounded in global cooperation, human rights, respect for international law and privileging diplomacy over war. That does not mean isolationism, but instead a strategy of diplomatic engagement rather than—not as political cover for—destructive U.S. military interventions that have so often defined the U.S. role in the world.

Looking at the political pretexts for what the U.S. empire is doing around the world today, a principled foreign policy might start by recognizing that there is no military solution to terrorism and that the global war on terror must be ended.

More broadly, the militarization of foreign policy must be reversed and diplomacy must replace military action in every venue, with professional diplomats rather than the White House’s political appointees in charge. Aspiring and elected progressive and socialist office-holders should keep in mind the distinction between the successes and failures of Obama’s foreign policy. The victories were all diplomatic: moving towards normalization with Cuba, the Paris climate accord and especially the Iran nuclear deal. Obama’s greatest failures—in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen—all occurred because the administration chose military action over robust diplomacy.

Certainly, diplomacy has been a tool in the arsenal of empires, including the United States. But when we are talking about official policies governing relations between countries, diplomacy—meaning talking, negotiating and engaging across a table—is always, always better than engaging across a battlefield.

A principled foreign policy must recognize how the war economy has distorted our society at home—and commit to reverse it. The $717 billion of the military budget is desperately needed for jobs, healthcare and education here at home—and for a diplomatic surge and humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to people of countries devastated by U.S. wars and sanctions.

A principled foreign policy must acknowledge how U.S. actions—military, economic and climate-related—have been a driving force in displacing people around the world. We therefore have an enormous moral as well as legal obligation to take the lead in providing humanitarian support and refuge for those displaced—so immigration and refugee rights are central to foreign policy.

For too long the power of the U.S. empire has dominated international relations, led to the privileging of war over diplomacy on a global scale, and created a vast—and invasive—network of 800-plus military bases around the world.

Now, overall U.S. global domination is actually shrinking, and not only because of Trump’s actions. China’s economy is rapidly catching up, and its economic clout in Africa and elsewhere eclipses that of the United States. It’s a measure of the United States’ waning power that Europe, Russia and China are resisting U.S. efforts to impose new global sanctions on Iran. But the United States is still the world’s strongest military and economic power: Its military spending vastly surpasses that of the eight next strongest countries, it is sponsoring a dangerous anti-Iran alliance between Israel and the wealthy Gulf Arab states, it remains central to NATO decision-making, and powerful forces in Washington threaten new wars in North Korea and Iran. The United States remains dangerous.

Progressives in Congress have to navigate the tricky task of rejecting American exceptionalism. U.S global military and economic efforts are generally aimed at maintaining domination and control. Without that U.S. domination, the possibility arises of a new kind of internationalism: to prevent and solve crises that arise from current and potential wars, to promote nuclear disarmament, to come up with climate solutions and to protect refugees.

That effort is increasingly important because of the rapid rise of right-wing xenophobic authoritarians seeking and winning power. Trump is now leading and enabling an informal global grouping of such leaders, from Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to Victor Orban in Hungary and others. Progressive elected officials in the United States can pose an important challenge to that authoritarian axis by building ties with their like-minded counterparts in parliaments and governments—possibilities include Jeremy Corbyn in the United Kingdom and Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico, among others. And progressive and leftist members of Congress will need to be able to work together with social movements to build public pressure for diplomatic initiatives not grounded in the interests of U.S. empire.

In addition to these broad principles, candidates and elected officials need critical analyses of current U.S. engagement around the world, as well as nuanced prescriptions for how to de-escalate militarily, and ramp up a new commitment to serious diplomacy.

GEOPOLITICAL POWER PLAYS

1. RUSSIA:

Relations with Russia will be a major challenge for the foreseeable future. With 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons in U.S. and Russian hands, and the two powers deploying military forces on opposite sides of active battlefronts in Syria, it is crucial that relations remain open—not least to derail potential escalations and ensure the ability to stand down from any accidental clash.

Progressives and leftists in Congress will need to promote a nuanced, careful approach to Russia policy. And they will face a daunting environment in which to do so. They will have to deal with loud cries from right-wing war-mongers, mainly Republicans, and from neo-con interventionists in both parties, demanding a one-sided anti-Russia policy focused on increased sanctions and potentially even military threats. But many moderate and liberal Democrats—and much of the media—are also joining the anti-Russia crusade. Some of those liberals and moderates have likely bought into the idea of American exceptionalism, accepting as legitimate or irrelevant the long history of U.S. election meddling around the world and viewing the Russian efforts as somehow reaching a whole different level of outrageousness. Others see the anti-Russia mobilization solely in the context of undermining Trump.

But at the same time, progressive Congress members should recognize that reports of Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 and 2018 elections cannot be dismissed out of hand. They should continue to demand that more of the evidence be made public, and condemn the Russian meddling that has occurred, even while recognizing that the most serious threats to our elections come from voter suppression campaigns at home more than from Moscow. And they have to make clear that Trump’s opponents cannot be allowed to turn the president’s infatuation with Vladimir Putin into the basis for a new Cold War, simply to oppose Trump.

2. CHINA:

The broad frame of a progressive approach should be to end Washington’s provocative military and economic moves and encourage deeper levels of diplomatic engagement. This means replacing military threats with diplomacy in response to Chinese moves in the South China Sea, as well as significant cuts in the ramped-up military ties with U.S. allies in the region, such as Vietnam. Progressive and socialist members of Congress and other elected officials will no doubt be aware that the rise of China’s economic dominance across Africa, and its increasing influence in parts of Latin America, could endanger the independence of countries in those parts of the Global South. But they will also need to recognize that any U.S. response to what looks like Chinese exploitation must be grounded in humility, acknowledging the long history of U.S. colonial and neocolonial domination throughout those same regions. Efforts to compete with Chinese economic assistance by increasing Washington’s own humanitarian and development aid should mean directing all funds through the UN, rather than through USAID or the Pentagon. That will make U.S. assistance far less likely to be perceived as—and to be—an entry point for exploitation.

3. NATO:

A progressive position on NATO flies straight into the face of the partisan component of the anti-Trump resistance—the idea that if Trump is for it, we should be against it. For a host of bad reasons that have to do with personal enrichment and personal power, Trump sometimes takes positions that large parts of the U.S. and global anti-war and solidarity movements have long supported. One of those is NATO. During the Cold War, NATO was the European military face of U.S.-dominated Western anti-Communism and anti-Sovietism. With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, peace activists from around the world called for the dissolution of NATO as an anachronistic relic whose raison d’etre was now gone.

Instead, NATO used its 50th anniversary in 1999 to rebrand itself as defending a set of amorphous, ostensibly “Western” values such as democracy, rather than having any identifiable enemy—something like a military version of the EU, with the United States on board for clout. Unable to win UN Security Council support for war in Kosovo, the United States and its allies used NATO to provide so-called authorization for a major bombing campaign—in complete violation of international law—and began a rapid expansion of the NATO alliance right up to the borders of Russia. Anti-war forces across the world continued to rally around the call “No to NATO”—a call to dissolve the alliance altogether.

But when Trump, however falsely, claims to call for an end to the alliance, or shows disdain for NATO, anti-Trump politicians and media lead the way in embracing the military alliance as if it really did represent some version of human rights and international law. It doesn’t—and progressives in elected positions need to be willing to call out NATO as a militarized Cold War relic that shouldn’t be reconfigured to maintain U.S. domination in Europe or to mobilize against Russia or China or anyone else. It should be ended.

In fact, Trump’s claims to oppose NATO are belied by his actions. In his 2019 budget request he almost doubled the 2017 budget for the Pentagon’s “European Deterrence Initiative,” designed explicitly as a response to “threats from Russia.” There is a huge gap between Trump’s partisan base-pleasing condemnation of NATO and his administration&rdqou;s actual support for strengthening the military alliance. That contradiction should make it easier for progressive candidates and officeholders to move to cut NATO funding and reduce its power—not because Trump is against NATO but because the military alliance serves as a dangerous provocation toward war.

THE WAR ON TERROR

What George W. Bush first called “the global war on terror” is still raging almost 17 years later, though with different forms of killing and different casualty counts. Today’s reliance on airstrikes, drone attacks and a few thousand special forces has replaced the hundreds of thousands of U.S. and allied ground troops. And today hardly any U.S. troops are being killed, while civilian casualties are skyrocketing across the Middle East and Afghanistan. Officials from the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations have repeated the mantra that “there is no military solution” in Afghanistan, Syria, or Iraq or against terrorism, but their actions have belied those words. Progressive elected officials need to consistently remind the public and their counterparts that it is not possible to bomb terrorism out of existence. Bombs don’t hit “terrorism”; they hit cities, houses, wedding parties. And on those rare occasions when they hit the people actually named on the White House’s unaccountable kill list, or “terrorist” list, the impact often creates more terrorists.

The overall progressive policy on this question means campaigning for diplomatic solutions and strategies instead of military ones. That also means joining the ongoing congressional efforts led by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and others  to challenge the continued reliance on the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).

In general, privileging diplomatic over war strategies starts with withdrawing troops and halting the arms sales that flood the region with deadly weapons. Those weapons too often end up in the hands of killers on all sides, from bands of unaccountable militants to brutally repressive governments, with civilians paying the price. Congress members should demand an end of massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other U.S. allies carrying out brutal wars across the Middle East, and they should call for an end to the practice of arming non-state proxies who kill even more people. They should call for a U.S. arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan and Israel (which presents a whole other set of arms-related challenges), while urging Russia to stop its arms sales to Syria, Iran and Pakistan. Given the power of the arms industries in the United States, arms embargoes are the most difficult—but perhaps the most important—part of ending the expanding Middle East wars.

Progressives in Congress should demand real support for UN-sponsored and other international peace initiatives, staffing whole new diplomatic approaches whose goal is political solutions rather than military victories—and taking funds out of military budgets to cover the costs. The goal should be to end these endless wars—not try to “win” them.

1. ISRAEL-PALESTINE: 

The most important thing for candidates to know is that there has been a massive shift in public opinion in recent years. It is no longer political suicide to criticize Israel. Yes, AIPAC and the rest of the right-wing Jewish, pro-Israel lobbies remain influential and have a lot of money to throw around. (The Christian Zionist lobbies are powerful too, but there is less political difficulty for progressives to challenge them.) But there are massive shifts underway in U.S. Jewish public opinion on the conflict, and the lobbies cannot credibly claim to speak for the Jewish community as a whole.

Outside the Jewish community, the shift is even more dramatic, and has become far more partisan: Uncritical support for Israel is now overwhelmingly a Republican position. Among Democrats, particularly young Democrats, support for Israel has fallen dramatically; among Republicans, support for Israel’s far-right government is sky-high. The shift is particularly noticeable among Democrats of color, where recognition of the parallels between Israeli oppression of Palestinians and the legacies of Jim Crow segregation in the United States and apartheid in South Africa is rising rapidly.

U.S. policy, unfortunately, has not kept up with that changing discourse. But modest gains are evident even there. When nearly 60 members of the House and Senate openly skipped Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech when he came to lobby Congress to vote against President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, the sky didn’t fall. The snub to the Israeli prime minister was unprecedented, but no one lost their seat because of it. Rep. Betty McCollum’s bill to protect Palestinian children from Israel’s vicious military juvenile detention system (the only one in the world) now has 29 co-sponsors, and the sky still isn’t falling. Members of Congress are responding more frequently to Israeli assaults on Gaza and the killing of protesters, often because of powerful movements among their constituents. When Trump moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz acknowledged the divide: “While members of the Republican Party overwhelmingly expressed support for the move, Democrats were split between those who congratulated Trump for it and those who called it a dangerous and irresponsible action.”

That creates space for candidates and newly elected officials to respond to the growing portion of their constituencies that supports Palestinian rights. Over time, they must establish a rights-based policy. That means acknowledging that the quarter-century-long U.S.-orchestrated “peace process” based on the never-serious pursuit of a solution, has failed. Instead, left and progressive political leaders can advocate for a policy that turns over real control of diplomacy to the UN, ends support for Israeli apartheid and occupation, and instead supports a policy based on international law, human rights and equality for all, without privileging Jews or discriminating against non-Jews.

To progress from cautiously urging that Israel abide by international law, to issuing a full-scale call to end or at least reduce the $3.8 billion per year that Congress sends straight to the Israeli military, might take some time. In the meantime, progressive candidates must prioritize powerful statements condemning the massacre of unarmed protesters in Gaza and massive Israeli settlement expansion, demands for real accountability for Israeli violations of human rights and international law (including reducing U.S. support in response), and calls for an end to the longstanding U.S. protection that keeps Israel from being held accountable in the UN.

The right consistently accuses supporters of Palestinian rights of holding Israel to a double standard. Progressives in Congress should turn that claim around on them and insist that U.S. policy towards Israel—Washington’s closest ally in the region and the recipient of billions of dollars in military aid every year—hold Israel to exactly the same standards that we want the United States to apply to every other country: human rights, adherence to international law and equality for all.

Many supporters of the new crop of progressive candidates, and many activists in the movements they come out of, are supporters of the increasingly powerful, Palestinian-led BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement, that aims to bring non-violent economic pressure to bear on Israel until it ends its violations of international law. This movement deserves credit for helping to mainstream key demands—to end the siege of Gaza and the killing of protesters, to support investigations of Israeli violations by the International Criminal Court, to oppose Israel’s new “nation-state’ law—that should all be on lawmakers’ immediate agenda.

2. AFGHANISTAN: 

More than 100,000 Afghans and 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed in a U.S. war that has raged for almost 17 years. Not-Yet-President Trump called for withdrawal from Afghanistan, but within just a few months after taking office he agreed instead to send additional troops, even though earlier deployments of more than 100,000 U.S. troops (and thousands more coalition soldiers) could not win a military victory over the Taliban. Corruption in the U.S.-backed and -funded Afghan government remains sky-high, and in just the past three years, the Pentagon has lost track of how $3.1 billion of its Afghanistan funds were spent. About 15,000 US troops are still deployed, with no hope of a military victory for the United States.

Progressive members of Congress should demand a safe withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, acting on the long-held recognition that military force simply won’t work to bring about the political solution all sides claim to want.

Several pending bills also would reclaim the centrality of Congress’ role in authorizing war in general and in Afghanistan in particular—including ending the 2001 AUMF. Funding for humanitarian aid, refugee support, and in the future compensation and reparations for the massive destruction the U.S.-led war has wrought across the country, should all be on Congress’ agenda, understanding that such funding will almost certainly fail while U.S. troops are deployed.

3. IRAN: 

With U.S. and Iranian military forces facing each other in Syria, the potential for an unintentional escalation is sky-high. Even a truly accidental clash between a few Iranian and U.S. troops, or an Iranian anti-aircraft system mistakenly locking on to a U.S. warplane plane even if it didn’t fire, could have catastrophic consequences without immediate military-to-military and quick political echelon discussions to defuse the crisis. And with tensions very high, those ties are not routinely available. Relations became very dangerous when Trump withdrew the United States from the multi-lateral nuclear deal in May. (At that time, a strong majority of people in the United States favored the deal, and less than one in three wanted to pull out of it.)

The United States continues to escalate threats against Iran. It is sponsoring a growing regional anti-Iran alliance, with Israel and Saudi Arabia now publicly allied and pushing strongly for military action. And Trump has surrounded himself with war-mongers for his top advisers, including John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, who have both supported regime change in Iran and urged military rather than diplomatic approaches to Iran.

Given all that, what progressive elected officials need to do is to keep fighting for diplomacy over war. That means challenging U.S. support for the anti-Iran alliance and opposing sanctions on Iran. It means developing direct ties with parliamentarians from the European and other signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, with the aim of collective opposition to new sanctions, re-legitimizing the nuclear deal in Washington and reestablishing diplomacy as the basis for U.S. relations with Iran.

It should also mean developing a congressional response to the weakening of international anti-nuclear norms caused by the pull-out from the Iran deal. That means not just supporting the nonproliferation goals of the Iran nuclear deal, but moving further towards real disarmament and ultimately the abolition of nuclear weapons. Progressives in and outside of Congress should make clear that nuclear nonproliferation (meaning no one else gets to have nukes) can’t work in the long run without nuclear disarmament (meaning that the existing nuclear weapons states have to give them up). That could start with a demand for full U.S. compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which calls for negotiations leading to “nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament.”

(Continue Reading)

[uberstip]

Jalan-jalan sendiri itu seru, ga pake drama. Jalan bareng temen yang nyambung lebih seru lagi! Ga harus temen sepermainan, sohib kentel ataupun temen tapi demen. Temen yang baru kenal pun bisa jadi lebih seru. Biasanya semakin sering traveling, semakin asyik orangnya. Pengalaman membuat dia mengerti cara bersahabat dengan orang lain seperti bersahabat dengan dirinya sendiri. Temen kaya gini sama-sama tau bahwa tiap orang punya hobi dan kesukaannya masing-masing. Tipe temen yang bisa memisahkan diri kapan saja dan ga takut ditinggal ataupun jalan sendirian. Walaupun ga ada orang yang sempurna, setidaknya kita bisa berharap teman traveling kita memiliki beberapa sifat kaya gini…

Setrooong. Ga letoy. Ga gampang cape. Ga takut item. Ga gampang mati kedinginan. Ga gampang tersakiti. Ga gampang masuk angin lalu minta dikerikin. Ga cengeng kecuali dia abis ditinggal kawin mantan. Ga takut sama preman yang yang godain, bahkan premannya dia godain balik.

Auranya Positive. Easy going dan ga gampang ngeluh. Dia tahu caranya tetap tersenyum dan menikmati perjalanan. Kalo pergi bareng dia, kita ikut ngerasa seneng. Aura nya terpancar bak sinar matahari pagi. Saat kita lemah, dia menguatkan dengan membelikan es krim kesukaan kita.

Bukan tipe Teman tapi Acu. Tidak mengambil apa yang menjadi milik temannya. Bangun-bangun kamera kita lenyap bersama dia yang tidak diketahui keberadaannya. Saat keluar kamar, kekasih pun hilang ditelan bumi. Antara dia kawin lari dengan temanmu atau kamu cuma punya kekasih khayalan. Bangun, mblo!

Ga miskin-miskin amat. Makan siang dia skip, ga pesen alesannya mau hemat. Pas makanan kita dateng eh main nyomot aja. Pas mau mandi ‘minjem’ shampo, sabun, pasta gigi, lengkap dengan perfume Jo Malone. Alibinya kelupaan bawa atau ga sempet beli. Pas mau masuk tempat wisata, dia ga beli tiket, menyusup kaya ninja dengan lompat pager diem-diem.

Berjiwa Petualang. Ga takut nyobain hal baru. Entah itu makanan lokal, destinasi yang rada pelosok, ataupun wahana yang memacu adrenaline. Ga panik saat kesasar, ga ada data plan, cara manual pun jadi. Dia akan mengencingi pepohonan sebagai tanda daerah itu telah dilewati. Temen Tapi Doggy.

Ga Otoriter. Kalo hari itu kita pingin nyantai di cafe sementara dia pingin mendaki gunung lewati lembah. Misah bentar ga masalah dong. Kalo malemnya dia pingin disko, saya pingin tidur. Dia ga maksa kita harus ikut. Ga semua hal harus dilakukan bareng-bareng. Dia bebas untuk pergi sendiri tanpa takut kesepian. Ga perlu sampe ngambek lalu pecahin piring di hostel. Apalagi sampe mukul kaya Giant.

Suka menolong. Kalo lagi bener-bener kepepet entah kemalangan terjadi seperti dompet dan passport hilang dicuri. Dia ikut nemenin lapor ke kantor polisi terdekat, dan rela meminjami uang. Ga perhitungan kecuali dia minjemnya 5 Milyar.

Ga labil. Sebentar girang, sebentar nangis dipojokan. Pagi aktif manjat pohon, mendadak mager berhari-hari. Kadang semangat berapi-api, tau-taunya gila. Temennya beli barang borju dikit dia sirik, temennya cakepan dikit dia operasi plastik. Intinya jangan sampe emosi temen kita ga terkontrol. Kalo marah bisa lamaaaa banget, masalah ga selesai-selesai sampe 30 tahun. Padahal yang namanya traveling ga akan luput dari marah-marahan, namanya dua manusia yang berbeda traveling bersama-sama. Sama belahan jiwa aja bisa brantem kok apalagi temen. Yang penting gimana caranya cepet baikan, dan lanjut asik lagi.

Seperti perjalanan saya ke Europe, teman baru yang saya kenal di tur asik-asik semua. Kebetulan anggota rombongan saat itu banyak anak mudanya, ditambah om om dan tante tante gaul yang age gap nya ga terlalu jauh. Saya merasa beruntung traveling bareng mereka yang punya selera humor tinggi. Bareng-bareng menertawakan kegilaan, keanehan, dan kebodohan yang sama-sama dianggap lucu. Bayangin kalo joke kita ditanggapi dengan cemberut kaga ngarti atau paling parah malah ngatain kita norak. Dua minggu di Europe, kalo jalan sama orang yang ga nyambung cengok juga. Kadang ga cuma tempat tujuannya yang menyenangkan, proses perjalanannya malah memunculkan pelangi tersendiri.

The Arno river is a great walking destination that flows between Florence and Pisa. It was a drizzle day, but i really enjoyed walking on the edge of this river. The view is simply peaceful

Sehabis mengunjungi menara Pisa, saya bersama rombongan tur melanjutkan perjalanan ke Florence. Kota ini sebenarnya ga masuk itinerary, jadi saya ga memiliki gambaran jelas tentang Florence karena belum sempat browsing. Tour leader mengatakan kota seni dan budaya ini sangat sayang untuk dilewatkan. Lokasinya berdekatan dengan Pisa, jadi sekalian lewat. Mampir bentar ga jadi masalah. Saya pun jadi penasaran pingin liat se-‘nyeni’ apa sih kotanya.

The lonely Arno river

Wander along the river. Posing behind Ponte Vecchio. Picturesque Roman bridge with that precious glance of sky, water, and rich buildings, shimmering quietly

Gerimis menyambut kedatangan kami siang itu. Begitu turun dari bus, kami langsung diajak tour leader menelusuri sungai Arno. Berjalan kaki di tengah rintik hujan tak mengurangi keindahan rumah warni-warni yang berjejer rapi di pinggir sungai. Langkah kaki terhenti di depan Uffizi Gallery. Saat Koh Hendry sang tour leader menjelaskan tentang museum ini, saya sibuk minta tolong orang untuk fotoin. Cekrik! Oppa pun diabadikan dengan background jembatan Ponte Vecchio yang melebur cantik dengan bangunan di pinggir kali. Untungnya ga ada yang lagi pup atau cuci baju disitu.

The Uffizi holds the world’s most important collection of Renaissance art. I read it online that you must buy tickets ahead of time to avoid long lines. Noted!

Tentu saja kami ga masuk ke dalam museum. Dari riset online kecil-kecilan, beberapa koleksi paling terkenal disini adalah lukisan The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea del Verrocchio, Doni Tondo by Michelangelo, dan Venus of Urbino by Titian. Penasaran kan hasil karyanya kaya apa? Belum bisa masuk ke museum nya, liat fotonya dulu deh. Saya cantumkan foto lukisan hasil karya mereka yang bersumber dari Wikimedia Commons.

Doni Tondo by Michelangelo

Venus of Urbino by Titian

Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea del Verrocchio, ‘Annunciation’ sumber ©WikiCommons

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus sumber ©WikiCommons

Uffizi Gallery

16th-century building housing vast collection of Primitive & Renaissance paintings & masterpieces

Address: Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6, 50122 Firenze

Hours: Selasa – Minggu 8:15AM–6:50PM

Entrance Fee: 20 Euro | Rp. 329,000

Direction: Uffizi Gallery Google Maps Location

Visiting a city of art like Florence is a unique experience.The Galileo Museum preserves an important collection of tools designed and made by Galileo Galilei. I wish i could stay longer next time

Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c. 1308 – August 25, 1368), better known as Orcagna, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect active in Florence. One of his best work is “Altarpiece of the Redeemer” (1354–57) in the Strozzi di Mantova Chapel at Santa Maria Novella

Such a renaissance beauty.  Pictures can’t tell enough beauty. You must see by yourself to admire the miracle of this cathedral. You will be left speechless by its magnitude

Kemudian kami berjalan kaki ke il Duomo yang letaknya ga terlalu jauh dari Uffizi. Begitu tiba di depan gereja, saya langsung terpukau dengan eksteriornya yang mengagumkan. Sambil mendongak ke atas, mulut saya menganga lebar. ‘Whoaaaa… this is supreme, stunning, marvelous, astonishing, breath taking. What other adjective can be used to describe this magnificent work of art?’ It is all just so impossibly beautiful. I’m just standing and stare at it for minutes appreciating the masterpiece of a real architecture gem.

The Baptistery of St. John, Iconic octagonal basilica with striking marble facade, known for its bronze doors & mosaic ceiling

You can also climb to the church’s dome for a breathtaking skyline view of Florence

Butuh waktu 150 tahun untuk membangun gereja ini. Kasian yah yang bikin awal-awal, belum liat gerejanya jadi, dah mati duluan. Bagian luarnya dilapisi dengan marmer berwarna merah muda, hijau dan putih. Dirancang sedemikian rupa hingga terlihat menyatu harmonis. Dihiasi ukiran dan patung dengan detail dan presisi yang luar biasa. Bagian atas dome atau kubahnya dibangun dengan menggunakan 4 juta batu bata! Dari eksterior sampe interior nya, tak henti membuat mulut saya menganga. Kecantikan di luar batas akal manusia. Pesona keindahan yang tersebar ke seluruh penjuru kota.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Landmark 1200s cathedral known for its red-tiled dome, colored marble facade & elegant Giotto tower

Address: Piazza del Duomo, 50122 Firenze

Direction: Santa Maria del Fiore Google Maps Location

The rainbow of an umbrella

What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus

Close up picture of one of the many doorways into the Cathedral. That detail is unbelievable, how could they build all these? The real highlight is the view from the top where you get the most panoramic view of Florence and the iconic red roofs that cover the buildings

The image of love upon death’s frame

The clock above the main door inside the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. At its centre, a golden star decorates the blue disc of the clock’s face, whilst the heads of what are believed to be the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are encircled at each corner of the dial’s square frame

Setelah sampai disini seperti biasa Koh Hendry mempersilahkan kami untuk pergi kemana saja, dan berkumpul di tempat dan jam yang di tentukan. Kemudian saya pun masuk ke dalam gereja. Suasana magis yang saya rasakan di dalam gereja ini adalah nuansa gothic yang begitu gelap. Kaca jendela nya merefleksikan sinar matahari sehingga aura ruangan berubah tergantung dari cahaya yang masuk.

Jika kamu punya banyak waktu, pasti akan mengasyikkan menaiki 463 anak tangga sampai ke atas untuk melihat sisi dalam Brunelleschi’s Dome. Menikmati dari dekat lukisan seni maha tinggi Fresco ‘The last judgement’, dan melihat panorama kota Florence dari atas.

Next time jika saya traveling sendiri tanpa tur, saya berniat kesini lagi. Menyaksikan keindahan langit sore kota Florence dari atas. Matahari yang sayup-sayup terbenam pastinya bakal SWAG abis! Tiga menara besar lainnya yang bisa kamu naiki adalah Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto’s Bell Tower dan Arnolfo Tower di Palazzo Vecchio.

 The biggest artwork within the cathedral is The Last Judgment Frescoes painted by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari (1572-1579). It is the largest surface in the world painted with frescoes – 3,600 square metre. They were designed by Vasari. But after his death, his painting continued by his student Zuccari

Yang paling berkesan di dalam gereja ini adalah Fresco dengan lukisan ‘The Last Judgement’ karya Giorgio Vasari. Fresco adalah lukisan cat air pada plester basah di dinding atau langit-langit, dilukis dengan cepat agar warna catnya menembus plester lalu mengering dan merekat kuat di dinding. Jadi bikinnya sendiri memang ga gampang. Lukisan di Fresco gereja ini menggambarkan kedatangan Kristus yang kedua kali, penghakiman terakhir bagi umat manusia.

Calvary covers it all

The lonely angel hugs herself

One of Florence’s most popular sites is the Duomo Cathedral. This huge Gothic construction project was begun in 1296

The construction of il Duomo, Battistero di San Giovanni, Campanile di Giotto marked the beginning of Renaissance architecture, blending an old and a new design to the future

Gucci Gang

Piazza della Repubblica is a nice square with people hanging out all day. A lively part of the town. I had a great time even with a little rain

Lovely square  with a lots of restaurants and stores around the area. It looks so magical with a Carousel and Christmas tree

Setelah keluar dari gereja saya berjalan santai menikmati detail tiap sudut kota. Sampailah saya di alun-alun terbesar sejak zaman Romawi kuno. Dulunya alun-alun ini menjadi tempat orang Yahudi diwajibkan tinggal oleh Cosimo I de’ Medici yang merupakan adipati yang memerintah Tuscany pada abad pertengahan. Dari waktu ke waktu bentuk, ukuran, dan fungsi alun ini terus berevolusi menjadi pasar rakyat.

Namun ada satu hal yang ga berubah, energi kegembiraan yang terpancar tetap sama. Di Era sekarang pancaran kebahagiaan itu tersalurkan lewat restoran, butik, pertokoan happening yang menghiasi square ini. Belanja-belanji, ngafe, ngemut gelato, duduk-duduk di bangku taman sambil nontonin orang berlalu-lalang, naik kuda-kudaan carousel bareng pacar (kalo punya), atau sekedar liatin musisi jalanan bernyanyi. Mamamia! Mungkin ini yang dinamakan seni merayakan hidup.

Piazza della Repubblica

Pedestrianized square lined with elegant cafes, also featuring a traditional merry-go-round.

Address: Piazza della Repubblica, 50123 Firenze

Florence Apple store, beauty inside out

La Rinascente, the Italian department store with the best fashion, beauty, design and gourmet food. Where shopping is inspiring and your wallet becomes magic

Many high class stores and a few restaurants along this historical building

Disney is timeless. Imagination has no age

A whole new world. That’s where we’ll be. A thrilling chase, a wondrous place, for you and me

There’s always a time for Gelato break in Italy. Recharge your mood with love! There’s nothing more enjoyable than grabbing a cone and strolling around the town

Piazza della Signoria, the historic and political center of the city. Look at that Arnolfo Tower! Finished at the end of the 13th century, Palazzo Vecchio was constructed as the headquarters of the Florentine republic. Half fortress, half city hall, it was the seat of a European powerhouse-by the 1290s Florence was one of Europe’s five largest cities, with a population of about 100,000 – Wikipedia

Relax and chill, people watch and shopping

Kemudian saya berjalan menuju ke salah satu alun-alun unik lainnya. Di alun-alun berbentuk huruf L ini terdapat patung replika David karya Michelangelo, The Palazzo Vecchio yang merupakan Istana pada abad ke-13 dan Loggia dei Lanzi galeri Patung-patung masterpiece yang dipajang outdoor, dan Fountain of Neptune air mancur dengan patung pangeran telanjang. Sangat menyenangkan fotoin deretan patung megah yang menghiasi gedung bersejarah disini. Kaya lagi berjalan-jalan di masa lalu yang penuh dengan penyair, pelukis, pematung dan pujangga classic.

Traveling is the ruin of all happiness. There’s no looking at a building after seeing Italy – Fanny Burney

Piazza della Signoria

The city’s heart, a square dominated by the 14th-century crenellated tower of the Palazzo Vecchio.

Address: Piazza della Signoria, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy

Direction: Piazza della Signoria Google Maps Location

My favorite statue in Piazza della Signoria is that of Perseus with the head of Medusa. This statue was created by Benvenuto Cellini in 1545, but unlike the other statues, this one was created from bronze, not marble

Replica of David overlooking the square, it is one of the most impressive sculptures in the world. One piece of art in the city that is a must see. You can see it the real one at the Galleria dell’Accademia

Giambologna, Equestrian monument of Cosimo I de’ Medici, 1587-94, bronze, piazza della Signoria Florence. Cool statue, fitting tribute to the great ruler from Medici family

Patung yang paling terkenal disini tentu saja David atau kalo di negara kita lebih dikenal dengan Daud. Super hero yang mengalahkan Goliath. Kisah yang sudah ga asing lagi didengar. Dengan hanya menggunakan ketapel, Daud berhasil mengalahkan Goliat yang bertubuh besar, lalu memenggal kepalanya dengan pedang. Nah, patung Daud disini dijadikan simbol sempurna kota Florence. Keberanian yang teguh, kekuatan yang tak terduga, dan ketekunan daud, menjadi inspirasi rakyat Florence melawan ancaman penjajahan pada abad pertengahan.

Daud telanjang bulat ini dianggap sebagai salah satu mahakarya paling bernilai dalam sejarah. Saya pun harus puas hanya melihat replika patung David. Patung yang merupakan karya terbaik pelukis, pemahat, pujangga, dan arsitek terbaik di zaman Renaissance, Michaelangelo.

Sebenarnya saya pingin banget ke Galeria dell’Accademia, tempat patung David yang asli dipajang. Museum yang berisi karya seni maha tinggi dengan antrian yang selalu berjubel. Orang-orang dari penjuru dunia banyak yang datang kesini untuk melihat secara personal seperti apa patung David. Walaupun penikmat seni level miaw seperti saya cuma bakal plonga plongo. Tapi setidaknya saya bisa mengagumi detail patung David yang termahsyur itu sambil manggut-manggut sok ngerti. Karena keterbatasan waktu, saya mengurungkan niat masuk ke museum. Daripada  ngantri seharian, mending jalan-jalan mengitari kota.

“When all was finished, it cannot be denied that this work has carried off the palm from all other statues, modern or ancient, Greek or Latin; no other artwork is equal to it in any respect, with such just proportion, beauty and excellence did Michelagnolo finish it”. – Giorgio Vasari

Galleria dell’Accademia

Art museum with Michelangelo sculptures, including David, plus Renaissance painting & Russian icons

Address: Via Ricasoli, 58/60, 50122 Firenze FI

Hours: Selasa – Minggu 8:15AM–6:50PM

Small lane, beautiful wall. Nothing beats classic architecture that fits to the country’s culture

Pada abad ke-14, Florence merupakan salah satu kota terkaya di Eropa. Kota yang menggerakkan Renaissance Wave, semacam Korean Wave ala Eropa di masa lalu. Masa yang melahirkan seniman ternama seperti Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, dan Michelangelo. Kalo di masa sekarang mungkin mereka terlahir sebagai Lee Min Ho, Song Jong Ki, dan G-Dragon Big Bang.

Seni adalah jantung nya kota Florence. Hanya sehari disini saya dibuat terpesona oleh gereja gothic, museum berkelas, bangunan dengan arsitektur menawan ala romawi kuno,��shopping centre elegan, maupun musisi dan pelukis jalanan. Florence seperti taman bermain orang dewasa yang kaya akan sejarah dan budaya. Setiap sudut kota seperti sedang mendongeng kisah di masa lalu. Nyeni banget! Hasil seni yang lahir disini telah menginspirasi seniman di dunia untuk melahirkan karya yang lebih indah. Di era modern, Florence tetap menjaga kekayaan sejarah, budaya, dan bangunan menjadi nilai jual yang menarik minat banyak turis. Menurut Mbah Google, 13 juta turis datang ke kota ini tiap tahunnya, menjadikannya salah satu kota yang paling banyak dikunjungi di dunia.

“Sure, Florence is touristy. But where else can you stroll the same pedestrian streets walked by Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Botticelli while savoring the world’s best gelato?” – unknown

Sea of human. Tourists and local citizen can be difficult to walk in the old part of the city, and the lines for the major sites and attractions look intimidating

Street view of Florence is simply adorably classic. The intricately designed buildings are filled with hand-carved details

Lovey dovey couple sharing Gelato together while i’m walking on my own. *song play in the background ‘All by myself don’t wanna be all myself anymore’

La Basilica di Santa Croce. I couldn’t believe myself that the tombs of one of the greatest artists of all time Michelangelo and the leader of scientific Renaissance Galileo Galilei are actually here

Sebagai penutup, kami berkumpul kembali dengan Koh Hendry dan melanjutkan perjalanan dengan berjalan kaki 15 menit dari il Duomo menuju ke gereja Santa Croce. Gereja yang khusus dibangun untuk warga lokal Florence ini juga dikenal dengan nama Basilica of The Holy Cross. Gereja sekaligus makam seniman ternama seperti Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Gentile, Rossini, Leonardo Da Vinci dan Dante. Gedung gereja kemuliaan Italia ini terlihat sakral sekaligus misterius. Memandang nya saja membuat saya membayangkan adegan film abad pertengahan.

Setelah itu kami kembali ke bus dan melanjutkan perjalanan ke Milan. Selama di Europe, saya merasa nyaman dengan Koh Hendry, saya rasa teman-teman lainnya sependapat. Terlihat sekali dia sangat berpengalaman dan memiliki personal touch yang baik. Wawasan nya tentang Eropa luas, dan bisa mendongengkannya sejarahnya dengan menarik. Kita pun jadi ga bosan di bus, suara nya jadi nina bobo yang sempurna. Selain itu dia bisa ngumpulin peserta tur tepat waktu tanpa kita merasa sedang ikut wajib militer, bisa ngelucu kapan aja, bisa kompromi soal itinerary contohnya seperti nyelipin Florence di sela-sela tur ini. Hanya dalam beberapa hari, dia seperti mengenal watak dari anggota tur dan menyatukan kita seperti satu keluarga besar. Bravo, il capitano!

Basilica of Santa Croce di Florence

Neo-Gothic Franciscan church known for its Giotto frescoes, plus tombs of Michelangelo & Galileo

Address: Piazza di Santa Croce, 16, 50122 Firenze

Direction: La Basilica Di Santa Croce Google Maps Location

Che figata! dua kata Italia untuk menggambarkan Florence. Ungkapan yang berarti ‘how cool it is!’ Tak pernah terlintas di angan untuk jatuh cinta dengannya. Paris membuat saya kesepian. Rome membuat saya gagah kaya Gladiator. Tapi Florence seperti penebar pesona yang mencuri hati lalu hilang tanpa jejak. Meninggalkan misteri yang menawan bagi pemburu seni kebahagiaan. Seperti bunga yang memekarkan dirinya untuk menarik lebah. Seperti gerimis yang mengubah dirinya menjadi pelangi saat bertemu dengan matahari. Membuatmu jatuh cinta berkali-kali.

“Florence rewards me with their ‘artistic happiness’. I lose myself and leave a tourist guide behind, linger along the Arno, roam its streets, go through a tiny old streets, accidentally come across surprising statue, eating a cone of gelato. Let myself be delighted by Florence’s charm.”

Things i want to do, if i have a chance to go to Florence again

Mengunjungi ACCADEMIA GALLERY, ngeliat langung patung asli David karya Michaelangelo

Naik ke atas Piazza Del Duomo

Melewati jembatan Ponte Vecchio ke Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens

Melihat panorama kota Florence dari Piazzale Michelangelo

How to get to Florence (save it for my next adventure)

Bandara International paling dekat dengan pusat kota Florence adalah Amerigo Vespucci Airport (FLR), berjarak hanya 30 menit. Namun Bandara Galileo Galilei di Pisa adalah yang terbesar di Tuscany. Kedua bandara ini saling terhubung dengan kereta dan bus. Pilihan terbaik untuk mencapai Florence adalah melalui kedua bandara ini. Bandara Galileo Galileo Pisa juga melayani low-cost airlines seperti EasyJet, RyanAir, Transavia, dan Thomsonfly.

DARI PISA. Dari Terminal 1 Bandara Pisa, naik kereta ke SMN Firenze Station. Jumlah kereta di Airport ini tak terbatas, jadi reservasi tidak diperlukan. Cukup beli tiket saat tiba di stasiun. Perjalanan memakan waktu 1,5 jam. Tarif 11,10 Euro

DARI ROMA, MILAN, ATAU VENICE. Naik kereta Trenitalia. Harga tiket selalu berubah-ubah. Kalo pas high season dan mesennya mepet, harga tiket jadi lebih mahal. Yang terbaik adalah memesan jauh-jauh hari via online. Tarif dimulai pada 19,90 Euro

DARI KOTA Eropa lainnya. Fly or Train. Dari Paris. Pilihan termurah dengan naik kereta cepat ke Turin (waktu tempuh 5 jam 40 menit, Tarif 29 Euro). Kemudian, naik kereta Italia Trenitalia dari Turin ke Florence (waktu tempuh 2 jam 45 menit, Tarif 19,90 Euro) Dari Zurich, Swiss. Naik EuroCity Train ke Milan (waktu tempuh 3 jam 26 menit, Tarif 9 Euro) lalu naik kereta Trenitalia ke Florence (waktu tempuh 1 jam 40 menit, Tarif 19,90 Euro

Terpikat Pesona Florence. Kota Paling Nyeni Di Dunia Jalan-jalan sendiri itu seru, ga pake drama. Jalan bareng temen yang nyambung lebih seru lagi! Ga harus temen sepermainan, sohib kentel ataupun temen tapi demen.

[ladystylestores]

In Stunning Reversal, Turkey Emerges as Libya Kingmaker

CAIRO — A string of victories by Turkish-backed forces in western Libya this week dealt a heavy blow to the ambitions of the aspiring strongman Khalifa Hifter and signaled the arrival of Turkey as a potentially decisive force among the foreign powers battling for supremacy in the Middle East’s biggest proxy war.

Libyan fighters backed by Turkish firepower captured on Monday a major air base west of Tripoli, the capital, used drones to destroy newly arrived Russian air defense batteries, and on Thursday pressed their offensive by ousting Mr. Hifter’s forces from a key town south of Tripoli.

The triumphs marked a stunning reversal of fortunes for the United Nations-backed Tripoli government, which looked weak and badly besieged by Mr. Hifter until President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey sent troops and armed drones in January. It was Turkey’s most forceful intervention in the oil-rich North African nation since the end of the Ottoman Empire over a century ago.

“It’s Turkey’s Libya Now,” read the headline on a briefing posted by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Over a year ago, Mr. Hifter began an offensive to capture Tripoli and appeared to have the upper hand in the conflict, positioning his foreign sponsors, including Russia, to play a major role in Libya’s future.

But on Wednesday, triumphant soldiers loyal to the government in Tripoli paraded through central Libya with a captured air defense system, built by Russia and financed by the United Arab Emirates, in a pointed humiliation of Mr. Hifter’s two most powerful foreign backers.

Then, on Thursday, Mr. Hifter’s forces were driven out of Asaba, a small but strategic town they had held 60 miles outside the capital.

The United Nations envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, warned the Security Council this week that the escalating fighting, driven by a flood of foreign-supplied weapons, warplanes and mercenaries, risked “turning the Libyan conflict into a pure proxy war.”

Although Turkey’s dramatic gains this week appeared to change the course of the war, they were by no means conclusive. The fortunes of the players in Libya’s conflict have seesawed wildly since the fall of the former dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011.

On Thursday Mr. Hifter, 76, a self-styled field marshal and onetime C.I.A. asset who has been compared by critics to Colonel el-Qaddafi, vowed to strike back with what his air force chief called “the largest aerial campaign in Libyan history” against Turkish targets in Tripoli.

“All Turkish positions and interests in all cities are legitimate targets for our air force jets,” the air force chief, Saqr al-Jaroushi, said in a video.

In reality, Mr. Hifter’s next move will be determined by his sponsors in Moscow, Cairo and Abu Dhabi, where the leaders who have backed his 14-month-old assault on Tripoli, which has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced 400,000 people, were scrambling to assess their support for a stubborn ally who has repeatedly spurned political talks.

Fathi Bashagha, the Tripoli government’s interior minister, told Bloomberg on Thursday that eight Soviet-era jets, escorted by two newer Russian fighter jets, had flown from a base in Syria to boost Mr. Hifter. A European official said he had received similar reports, but said it was unclear if the jets were Russian or Syrian.

Any overt Russian military action would be a significant escalation for Moscow, which until now has exerted influence in Libya through mercenaries from the Wagner Group, the private army with close links to the Kremlin that played a key role in Mr. Hifter’s advance on Tripoli last fall.

The European official said that the jets were most likely a signal from the Kremlin to Turkey to slow down its offensive and turn to a negotiated solution.

Russia did not comment on the reports, but after a phone call between the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on Thursday morning, the two countries jointly called for an immediate cease-fire in Libya and the resumption of a United Nations-led political process, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Russia and Turkey made a similar joint appeal in January, in advance of an international conference on Libya. But their calls were ignored by Mr. Hifter, who has often infuriated his allies by playing one against the other.

As world leaders met at the conference in Berlin on Jan. 19, Mr. Hifter’s biggest ally, the United Arab Emirates, had started a covert air bridge to send military supplies to eastern Libya. The cargo flights, many of them contracted through shell companies, are under investigation by United Nations officials charged with policing the international arms embargo on Libya, a United Nations official said.

The victories by the Turkish-backed forces have given them air superiority over Tripoli, and have left Mr. Hifter’s forces in western Libya with just one final stronghold in Tarhouna, southeast of the capital.

“We’ve had quite a change in the military balance,” said Wolfram Lacher, a Libya specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “Taken together, this could have dramatic consequences for the morale of Hifter’s forces, and for the cohesion of his alliance.”

Turkey’s success struck alarm bells in Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is a bitter rival of President Erdogan, a fellow autocrat, and where any suggestion that Turkey could leverage its new influence to establish a permanent military presence in Libya is a cause of widespread alarm.

As foreign powers meddle, ordinary Libyans continue to pay with their lives. Ms. Williams, the U.N. envoy, said that 58 civilians were killed in fighting between April 1 and May 18, mostly by forces affiliated with Mr. Hifter. “Those guilty of crimes under international law must be brought to justice,” she said.

With the international community so divided on Libya, though, the chances of any true accountability appear vanishingly slim. The best hope for now, analysts say, is that a chastened Mr. Hifter might finally accede to political negotiations.

In a conversation on Wednesday, President Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of France noted “worsening foreign interference” in Libya and “agreed on the need for urgent de-escalation,” the White House said in a statement.

In the past, though, Mr. Hifter has preferred to double down on military action rather than turn to talks. Last month he publicly reneged on the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations-sponsored deal signed in 2015 that underpins Libya’s shaky national institutions, in what was viewed at the time as an effort to shore up his power base in eastern Libya.

“Europe’s window of opportunity in Libya is closing,” Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations said. “It needs to move fast if it is to protect its role as a barrier against Russian encroachment, and prevent the development of another Syria-style conflict in its neighborhood.”

Carlotta Gall contributed reporting from Istanbul, and Andrew Higgins from Moscow.

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[newstfionline]

Despite Our ‘Patriotic’ Propaganda, the U.S. is a Force for Destruction in the Middle East

By Danny Sjursen, TomDispatch, September 7, 2017

I used to command soldiers. Over the years, lots of them actually. In Iraq, Colorado, Afghanistan, and Kansas. And I’m still fixated on a few of them like this one private first class (PFC) in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2011. All of 18, he was short, scrawny, and popular. Nine months after graduating from high school, he’d found himself chasing the Taliban with the rest of our gang. At five foot nothing, I once saw him step into an irrigation canal and disappear from sight--all but the two-foot antenna on his radio. In my daydreams, I always see the same scene, the moment his filthy, grizzled baby face reappeared above that ditch, a cigarette still dangling loosely from his lips. His name was Anderson and I can remember thinking at that moment: What will I tell his mother if he gets killed out here?

And then... poof... it’s 2017 again and I’m here in Kansas, pushing papers at Fort Leavenworth, those days in the field long gone. Anderson himself survived his tour of duty in Afghanistan, though I’ve no idea where he is today. Several of his buddies were less fortunate. They died, or found themselves short a limb or two, or emotionally and morally scarred for life.

From time to time I can’t help thinking of Anderson, and others like him, alive and dead. In fact, I wear two bracelets on my wrist engraved with the names of the young men who died under my command in Afghanistan and Iraq, six names in all. When I find a moment, I need to add another. It wasn’t too long ago that one of my soldiers took his own life. Sometimes the war doesn’t kill you until years later.

And of this much I’m certain: the moment our nation puts any PFC Anderson in harm’s way, thousands of miles and light years from Kansas, there had better be a damn good reason for it, a vital, tangible national interest at stake. At the very least, this country better be on the right side in the conflicts we’re fighting.

It’s long been an article of faith here: the United States is the greatest force for good in the world, the planet’s “indispensable nation.” But what if we’re wrong? After all, as far as I can tell, the view from the Arab or African “street” tells a different story altogether. Americans tend to loathe the judgments of foreigners, but sober strategy demands that once in a while we walk the proverbial mile in the global shoes of others. After all, almost 16 years into the war on terror it should be apparent that something isn’t working. Perhaps it’s time to ask whether the United States is really playing the role of the positive protagonist in a great global drama.

I know what you’re thinking: ISIS, the Islamic State, is a truly awful outfit. And so it is and the U.S. is indeed combatting it, though various allies and even adversaries (think: Iran) are doing most of the fighting. Still, with the broader war for the Greater Middle East in mind, wouldn’t it be appropriate to stop for a moment and ask: Just whose side is America really on?

Certainly, it’s not the side of the average Arab. That should be apparent. Take a good, hard look at the region and it’s obvious that Washington mainly supports the interests of Israel, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s military dictator, and various Gulf State autocracies. Or consider the actions and statements of the Trump administration and of the two administrations that preceded it and here’s what seems obvious: the United States is in many ways little more than an air force, military trainer, and weapons depot for assorted Sunni despots. Now, that’s not a point made too often--not in this context anyway--because it’s neither a comfortable thought for most Americans, nor a particularly convenient reality for establishment policymakers to broadcast, but it’s the truth.

Yes, we do fight ISIS, but it’s hardly that simple. Saudi Arabia, our main regional ally, may portray itself as the leader of a “moderate Sunni block” when it comes to both Iran and terrorism, but the reality is, at best, far grayer than that. The Saudis--with whom President Trump announced a $110 billion arms deal during the first stop on his inaugural foreign trip back in May--have spent the last few decades spreading their intolerant brand of Islam across the region. In the process, they’ve also supported al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria.

Maybe you’re willing to argue that al-Qaeda spin-offs aren’t ISIS, but don’t forget who brought down those towers in New York. While President Trump enjoyed a traditional sword dance with his Saudi hosts, the air forces of the Saudis and their Gulf state allies were bombing and missiling Yemeni civilians into the grimmest of situations, including a massive famine and a spreading cholera epidemic amid the ruins of their impoverished country. So much for the disastrous two-year Saudi war there, which goes by the grimly ironic moniker of Operation Restoring Hope and for which the U.S. military provides midair refueling and advanced munitions, as well as intelligence.

If you’re a human rights enthusiast, it’s also worth asking just what kind of states we’re working with here. In Saudi Arabia, women can’t drive automobiles, “sorcery” is a capital offense, and people are beheaded in public. Hooray for American values! And newsflash: Iran’s leaders--whom the Trump administration and its generals are obsessed with demonizing--may be no angels, but the Islamic republic they preside over is a far more democratic country than Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy.

After Israel, Egypt is the number two recipient of direct U.S. military aid, to the tune of $1.3 billion annually. And that bedrock of liberal values is led by U.S.-trained General Abdul el-Sisi, a strongman who seized power in a coup and then, just for good measure, had his army gun down a crowd demonstrating in favor of the deposed democratically elected president. And how did the American beacon of hope respond? Well, Sisi’s still in power; the Egyptian military is once again receiving aid from the Pentagon; and, in April, President Trump paraded the general around the White House, assuring reporters, “in case there was any doubt, that we are very much behind President el-Sisi... he’s done a fantastic job!”

In Syria and Iraq, the U.S. military is fighting a loathsome adversary in ISIS, but even so, the situation is far more complicated than usually imagined here. As a start, the U.S. air offensive to support allied Syrian and Kurdish rebels fighting to take ISIS’s “capital,” Raqqa--grimly titled Operation Wrath of the Euphrates--killed more civilians this past May and June than the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. In addition, America’s brutal air campaign appears unhinged from any coherent long-term strategy. No one in charge seems to have the faintest clue what exactly will follow ISIS’s rule in eastern Syria. A Kurdish mini-state? A three-way civil war between Kurds, Sunni tribes, and Assad’s forces (with Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic Turkey as the wild card in the situation)? Which raises the question: Are American bombs actually helping?

Similarly, in Iraq it’s not clear that the future rule of Shia-dominated militia groups and others in the rubble left by the last years of grim battle in areas ISIS previously controlled will actually prove measurably superior to the nightmare that preceded them. The present Shia-dominated government might even slip back into the sectarian chauvinism that helped empower ISIS in the first place. That way, the U.S. can fight its fourth war in Iraq since 1991!

And keep in mind that the war for the Greater Middle East--and I fought in it myself both in Iraq and Afghanistan--is just the latest venture in the depressing annals of Washington’s geo-strategic thinking since President Ronald Reagan’s administration, along with the Saudis and Pakistanis, armed, funded, and supported extreme fundamentalist Afghan mujahedeen rebels in a Cold War struggle with the Soviet Union that eventually led to the 9/11 attacks. His administration also threw money, guns, and training--sometimes illegally--at the brutal Nicaraguan Contras in another Cold War covert conflict in which about 100,000 civilians died.

And don’t forget Washington’s support for Jonas Savimbi’s National Movement for the Total Independence of Angola that would contribute to the death of some 500,000 Angolans. And that’s just to begin a list that would roll on and on.

That, of course, is the relatively distant past, but the history of U.S. military action in the twenty-first century suggests that Washington seems destined to repeat the process of choosing the wrong, or one of the wrong, sides into the foreseeable future. Today’s Middle East is but a single exhibit in a prolonged tour of hypocrisy.

Maybe it’s because most Americans just aren’t paying attention or maybe we’re a nation of true believers, but it’s clear that most of us still cling to the idea that our country is a beacon of hope for the planet. Never known for our collective self-awareness, we’re eternally aghast to discover that so many elsewhere find little but insincerity in the promise of U.S. foreign policy. “Why do they hate us,” Americans have asked, with evident disbelief, for much of this century. Here are just a few hints related to the Greater Middle East:

*Post-9/11, the United States unleashed chaos in the region, destabilized it in stunning ways, and via an invasion launched on false premises created the conditions for ISIS’s rise. (That terror group quite literally formed in an American prison in post-invasion Iraq.) Later, with failing or failed states dotting the region, the U.S. response to the worst refugee crisis since World War II has been to admit--to choose but a single devastated country--a paltry 18,000 Syrians since 2011. Canada took in three times that number last year; Sweden more than 50,000 in 2015 alone; and Turkey hosts three million displaced Syrians.

*Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s attempts to put in place a Muslim travel ban haven’t won this country any friends in the region either; nor will the president’s--or White House aide Stephen Miller’s--proposed “reform” of U.S. immigration policy, which would prioritize English-speakers, cut in half legal migration within a decade, and limit the ability of citizens and legal residents to sponsor relatives. How do you think that’s going to play in the global war for hearts and minds? As much as Miller would love to change Emma Lazarus’s inscription on the Statue of Liberty to “give me your well educated, your highly skilled, your English-speaking masses yearning to be free,” count on one thing: world opinion won’t miss the duplicity and hypocrisy of such an approach.

*Guantánamo--perhaps the single best Islamist recruiting tool on Earth--is still open. And, says President Trump, we’re “keeping it open... and we’re gonna load it up with some bad dudes, believe me, we’re gonna load it up.” On this, he’s likely to be a man of his word. A new executive order is expected soon, preparing the way for an expansion of that prison’s population, while the Pentagon is already planning to put almost half a billion dollars into the construction of new facilities there in the coming years. No matter how upset the world gets at any of this, no matter how ISIS and other terror groups use it for their brand of advertising, no American officials will be held to account, because the United States is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court. Hypocritical? Nope, just utterly all-American.

*And speaking of prisons, thanks to nearly unqualified--sometimes almost irrational--U.S. support for Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank increasingly resemble walled off penal complexes. You almost have to admire President Trump for not even pretending to play the honest broker in the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He typically told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “One state, two state... I like whichever you like.” The safe money says Netanyahu will choose neither, opting instead to keep the Palestinians in political limbo without civil rights or a sovereign state, while Israel embarks on a settlement bonanza in the occupied territories. And speaking of American exceptionalism, we’re almost alone on the world stage when it comes to our support for the Israeli occupation.

Given the nature of contemporary American war-fighting (far away and generally lightly covered by the media, which has an endless stream of Trump tweets to fawn over), it’s easy to forget that American troops are still dying in modest numbers in the Greater Middle East, in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, and--almost 16 years after the American invasion of that country--Afghanistan.

As for myself, from time to time (too often for comfort) I can’t help thinking of PFC Anderson and those I led who were so much less fortunate than him: Rios, Hensley, Clark, Hockenberry (a triple amputee), Fuller, Balsley, and Smith. Sometimes, when I can bear it, I even think about the war’s countless Afghan victims. And then I wish I could truly believe that we were indisputably the “good guys” in our unending wars across the Greater Middle East because that’s what we owed those soldiers.

And it pains me no less that Americans tend to blindly venerate the PFC Andersons of our world, to put them on such a pedestal, offering them eternal thanks, and so making them and their heroism the reason for fighting on, while most of the rest of us don’t waste a moment thinking about what (and whom) they’re truly fighting for.

If ever you have the urge to do just that, ask yourself the following question: Would I be able to confidently explain to someone’s mother what (besides his mates) her child actually died for?

What would you tell her? That he (or she) died to ensure Saudi hegemony in the Persian Gulf, or to facilitate the rise of ISIS, or an eternal Guantanamo, or the spread of terror groups, or the creation of yet more refugees for us to fear, or the further bombing of Yemen to ensure a famine of epic proportions?

Maybe you could do that, but I couldn’t and can’t. Not anymore, anyway. There have already been too many mothers, too many widows, for whom those explanations couldn’t be lamer. And so many dead--American, Afghan, Iraqi, and all the rest--that eventually I find myself sitting on a bar stool staring at the six names on those bracelets of mine, the wreckage of two wars reflecting back at me, knowing I’ll never be able to articulate a coherent explanation for their loved ones, should I ever have the courage to try.

Fear, guilt, embarrassment... my crosses to bear, as the war Anderson and I fought only expands further and undoubtedly more disastrously. My choices, my shame. No excuses.

Here’s the truth of it, if you just stop to think about America’s wars for a moment: it’s only going to get harder to look a widow or mother in the eye and justify them in the years to come. Maybe a good soldier doesn’t bother to worry about that... but I now know one thing at least: I’m not that.

Major Danny Sjursen is a U.S. Army strategist and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has written a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.

[theculturedmarxist]

Posted onOctober 18, 2023 by Yves Smith

The US, in a continued demonstration of the degree of enbubblement of what passes for its leadership, seems to believe it still has the force and soft power to be able to bully talk its way out of its geopolitical messes. Yet this week we have stunning examples of how critical players in the rest to the world no longer buy what the US is selling. The gap between the American establishment’s connection to reality and facts on the ground has opened up to a yawning chasm as the Arab world, aa Jordan cancelled a Biden summit with its king Abduallah II plus PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in response to Israel’s shelling of Al-Ahli Arab hospital. Not only are they rejecting the attempt to shift blame for the attack to Hamas (we’ll soon address the “rogue shell” claim), but also the bigger pretense behind that, that the US is incapable of, as opposed to unwilling to, applying the choke chain to Israel.1

Even the Western media are not much on board with the Israeli and Biden Administration pretense that somehow Hamas dunnit, when Israel has been trying to herd Palestinians out of northern Gaza and specifically attempted to order the evacuation of the hospital. Oh, and this follows Israel ordering the UN to evacuate from Gaza in 24 hours and then shelling its warehouse there:

To wind back to just before the hospital attack, first, we had the highly visible snub of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken by a nominal ally, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, by keeping Blinken cooling his heels for hours. Blinken got a less impolite but still chilly reception in Egypt and Jordan.

Then Biden decided to go to the Middle East, as if he would be able to get Egypt and Jordan to reverse their firm position that they are not taking in Palestinian refugees. Not only do they not want to enable ethnic cleansing or take on aneconomic burden, they also don’t want the militant contingent operating in and from their territories.

Israel has been acting as if it’s indifferent to forcing Palestinians out of Israel versus eliminating them in place. There are credible accounts of Israel not only refusing to allow humanitarian aid in from Egypt and foreign passport holders out, but also multiple Isreali shellings of the crossing point. It does not take much in the way of discernment to see that denying Palestinians in Gaza water and food is a death sentence.

But even with rising international outrage over these war crimes, the shelling of the hospital was an escalation too far. It’s derailed even the feeble US attempts to get in front of this crisis. Israel, being stymied in its desire to clear Gaza by its obvious inability to do so (lack of experience, lack of equipment, reluctance to take the baked-in high casualties) instead appears to have settled on Plan B of shelling and starving it until everyone there dies.

To clear up “whodunnit”:

Recall that Jacob Dreizin reported that JDAM kits were being sent in bulk to Israel:

I also reported extensively from Raqqa during the war against ISIS, and from Ukraine during the battle of Kyiv. No Palestinian group has a missile powerful enough to level a hospital. It was a fucking JDAM. https://t.co/mRhsjvpcLq — Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) October 17, 2023

This is not yet confirmed as of posting time but should go viral shortly if this rumor pans out:

While as far as I can tell, the Western media has yet to take this press conference up, the number of views on Twitter indicate it is getting traction in the Algosphere, and one has to think elsewhere:

Now to the stunning spectacle of the US/Collective West surprise as to the reaction outside the rapidly shrinking US sphere of influence. A new story in the Financial Times, Western rush to back Israel erodes developing countries’ support for Ukraine, makes for good one-stop shopping.

Before we get to the body of the story, let’s deal with the headline claim. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that various votes in the UN intended to condemn Russia have shown lower and lower vote counts supporting that position. US former at least sometimes friendlies Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Argentina joining BRICS is another proof of waning US influence.

In addition, in the 2023 Munich Security Conference, the US invited Global South members to enlist their support for Project Ukraine. That plan backfired as the US/NATO team was told that Ukraine was a European affair and of no concern to the rest of the world….save they were being dragged in via sanctions blowback, specifically denying poor countries access to Russian grain and fertilizer. Recall that the Collective West doubled down on showing its lack of concern about suffering in poor countries by not delivering on its half of the Ukraine grain deal, which included ending sanctions on the Russian agricultural bank to allow for purchase of Russian fertilizer, as well as not barring Russian shipments.

And finally recall that even UN votes are not a great indicator of sentiment outside the US. There have been reports of the US browbeating foreign diplomats, including threatening expulsion of the kids of UN representatives from schools in the US and dinging any applications to US higher education institutions.

So now to the Financial Times:

Western support for Israel’s assault on Gaza has poisoned efforts to build consensus with significant developing countries on condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine, officials and diplomats have warned… In the first days after Hamas’s assault, some western diplomats worried that the US was giving carte blanche to Israel to attack Gaza with full force. That had eroded efforts since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to build consensus with leading states in the so-called Global South — such as India, Brazil and South Africa — on the need to uphold a global rules-based order, said more than a dozen western officials.

I have to stop here. Those of you who watch Alexander Mercouris or Alex Christoforu regularly will have seen clips of how Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is received at various conferences…as in enthusiastically. And as both Putin and Lavrov have taken to saying, no one has the rules for this supposed rules-based order, calling out the US pretense that it means anything more than the US preserving its hegemony.

The story continues:

“We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South,” said one senior G7 diplomat. “All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost . . . Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.” Many developing countries have traditionally supported the Palestinian cause, seeing it through the prism of self-determination and a push against the global dominance of the US, Israel’s most important backer…. “What we said about Ukraine has to apply to Gaza. Otherwise we lose all our credibility,” the senior G7 diplomat added. “The Brazilians, the South Africans, the Indonesians: why should they ever believe what we say about human rights?”

This comes off as Western diplomats having gotten high on their own PR. The fact that some countries are still trying to maintain a productive relationship with the US can’t be seen as tantamount to support. But the US has been desperate to depict our relations with key players as better than they are, witness in particular China. Chinese officials repeatedly turned down US meeting requests and were apparently upset when the US leaked the fact that a supposedly confidential meeting between Jake Sullivan and (IIRC) Wang Yi in Italy was publicized, apparently to depict US and Chinese relations as on the mend. Recall also that after that incident, Xi decided not to go to the G20, with some pundits taking the view that it was to make sure he was not buttonholed by Biden, which the US would then try to depict falsely as a thawing.

And now the US is reduced to desperately scheming to prevent a Russian UN Security Council proposal, which includes among other things a cease fire, from garnering enough votes to force US veto. The article skips over what it would take to get such a resolution to the floor of the General Assembly where the odds are good that the US and Israel would get a stunning rebuke by it passing:

Russia’s proposed UN security council resolution garnered support from only four countries — China, the United Arab Emirates, Mozambique and Gabon — but many western diplomats worry that an amended Russian resolution could gain the nine votes required to pass. The US, UK or France might then veto it, handing Moscow a propaganda victory. “We have to prevent Russia . . . supported by the Chinese . . . taking the initiative to use this against us,” said a senior western diplomat. “There’s a risk that at the next vote in the [UN] General Assembly on supporting Ukraine, we’ll see a big explosion in the number of abstentions.”

In other words, the loss of US authority has become so visible that even loyal organs like the Financial Times are forced to take notice. How long before the rest of the mainstream media follows suit? Or is Biden so deluded that he too will escalate in the hope that playing war president will force a show of loyalty?

____

1 Consider how intransigent Israel would be if it were told replacement parts for US weapons would not be forthcoming until they shaped up. The reason the US does not use that and other obvious sources of leverage is fear of the Israel lobby in DC. It’s striking how the US tries to bully pretty much everyone except our military dependents who need to have their ears boxed. And that is set to decline generationally as young Jews in the US don’t much identify with that cause.

2 Anyone who knows the procedure is encouraged to pipe up.

[newstfionline]

The Qatar crisis offers a window into feuding within the Trump administration

By Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, June 30, 2017

At a speech in Washington Thursday, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani hailed the “invaluable efforts” of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in seeking to resolve the diplomatic crisis threatening to unravel one of the few stable corners of the Arab world.

But conspicuously absent in the Qatari minister’s remarks was Tillerson’s boss, President Trump.

We’re now in the fourth week of a Saudi- and Emirati-led blockade of Qatar that Trump has loudly supported. The Persian Gulf states have justified the move as a way to punish Doha for its alleged support of Islamist militancy, its perceived coziness with Iran and the subversive rhetoric of the Qatari-funded Al Jazeera news channel. Qatar, which hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East, has had to build new supply chains for food and other goods with the help of countries like Turkey, Iran and Oman.

“We were surprised and frankly shocked by these measures, and considered them unwarranted and unjustified,” said al-Thani of the blockade.

In theory, his government is supposed to meet a deadline next week whereby, among other actions, it would have to shutter Al Jazeera; kick out Turkish troops hosted on Qatari soil; sever what links they have to Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Iran; and submit themselves to regular auditing by Gulf neighbors. Qatar has so far refused to accede to any of the demands.

“This ultimatum is not a list of demands, or requests, but a clear effort to undermine our foreign policy and national sovereignty,” said the Qatari minister.

Qatar’s adversaries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC--the bloc of wealthy Arab states now plunged into crisis--appears in no mood to compromise. It’s high time, their argument goes, to punish their unruly cousins.

“The battle is clear. Qatar targets regimes by weakening them or toppling them,” wrote Saudi journalist Abdulrahman al-Rashed in a blunt column calling for Doha’s submission. “It is inevitable for such actions to be responded to in the same way. Therefore, it is best for this misbehaved cat of ill repute to wave the white flag instead of being dragged behind its propaganda and believing it itself.”

This uncompromising negotiating position is not welcome in Doha--nor, it seems, in European capitals or even with Tillerson. He has urged an easing of the blockade and suggested the current crisis is disrupting U.S.-led efforts to fight the Islamic State and hedge against Iran.

But that’s exactly where Tillerson’s disagreements with the White House seem to come in. On the same day that Tillerson urged swift reconciliation earlier this month, Trump congratulated the Saudis and Emiratis on their “hard but necessary” move.

According to a report published by journalist Mark Perry in The American Conservative, Tillerson was furious, particularly irked by what he perceived to be the influence the UAE’s envoy in Washington seems to have over the White House. Here’s Perry:

“A close associate of the secretary of state says that Tillerson was … ‘absolutely enraged that the White House and State Department weren’t on the same page.’ Tillerson’s aides, I was told, were convinced that the true author of Trump’s statement was UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, a close friend of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. ‘Rex put two-and-two together,’ his close associate says, ‘and concluded that this absolutely vacuous kid was running a second foreign policy out of the White House family quarters. Otaiba weighed in with Jared and Jared weighed in with Trump. What a mess.’ The Trump statement was nearly the last straw for Tillerson, this close associate explains: ‘Rex is just exhausted. He can’t get any of his appointments approved and is running around the world cleaning up after a president whose primary foreign policy adviser is a 36-year-old amateur.’”

News of Tillerson’s frustration bubbled to the surface on Thursday when Politico reported that the secretary of state “exploded” at a meeting last week at the White House, complaining about his inability to staff State Department posts. The outburst apparently “stunned” senior White House officials.

Discord within the Trump administration is not going to help settle what could be a destabilizing standoff. Analysts note that the impasse is only pushing Qatar closer to Tehran’s orbit. Al-Thani also coyly suggested Thursday that Trump may want to better coordinate with other wings of his government, including the State Department and Treasury Department--the latter which has already been keeping tabs on Qatari efforts to curb terror financing.

“I think further engagement across agencies inside the United States would give a better insight for the president on the nature of the relationship between the United States and Qatar,” said al-Thani.

At the same time, the grievances of the four main countries blockading Qatar--Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain--are deep-seated, as Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy explains:

“Saudi Arabia has long been irritated by Qatar, the huge gas reserves of which give it financial independence from the kingdom. The UAE has resented the support Qatar has given to the Muslim Brotherhood, members of which have plotted against the ruling family in Abu Dhabi, the leading emirate of the confederation. President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood regime, which survived in power for two years largely because it was propped up financially by Qatar. Bahrain has had a history of land disputes with Qatar--and while these were resolved in 1994, ill will persists, encouraged by Riyadh.”

In short, neither side seems willing or likely to back down. Meanwhile, the crisis “raises a big question mark over the future of the GCC,” said the Qatari foreign minister, dashing whatever dreams of Sunni Arab unity Trump had pushed while visiting Saudi Arabia. And the consequences of this unraveling pose new headaches that Tillerson, Kushner nor anyone else in the administration needs.