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Economic Implications of the Yemeni Seizure of the Galaxy Leader

Sputnik – 21.11.2023

As confirmed by multiple media sources, the ship seized by the Houthis in the Red Sea is the Bahamian flagged Galaxy Leader. According to marinetaffic.com, this ship is designed to carry vehicles, and has a capacity of 1500 passenger cars.

The ship was en route from the Turkish port of Korfez to the Indian port of Pipavav with 25 crew members, including Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans and Ukrainians, but no Israelis on board.

According to Reuters, Netanyahu’s office described the ship as ” British-owned and Japanese-operated”, adding that, “There were no Israelis on the ship,” and “Israel was not involved in its ownership or operation.” However, Yemen’s official news agency, SABA, states that multiple Israeli news media have reported that “The ship controlled by the “Houthis” belongs to the Israeli billionaire Rami Unger, who is close to the Mossad.” Unger is, indeed, a veteran of the Intelligence Corp of the IDF, and has had a decades long close personal and business relationship with Yossi Cohen, the former Director of Mossad, and National Security Advisor to Netanyahu.

In 2019, the personal net worth of Rami Unger and his wife was estimated at $2.1 billion. In 2004, it was reported that Unger owned between 12 and 14 vehicle transport ships, worth about $50 million each, a reasonable estimate of the value of the Galaxy Leader, which was built in 2002. The political and economic impact of this operation goes far beyond the mere value of the ship.

In spite of the estimated $50 million cost/value of the ship, from an economic point of view, it is actually of little worth to the Houthis. They can’t sell it, they can’t use it, Unger and his insurance companies probably won’t ransom it. The ship was sailing without cargo, which if it had been, would have been approximately 1,500 new cars, worth between $20 and $30 million in total. So, clearly, there was no economic benefit from the seizure of the vessel for the Houthis, but the full political and economic ramifications remain to be seen.

It should be understood that the Houthis have not just seized the Galaxy Leader, they have put all Israeli shipping in the Red Sea under threat. The value of that shipping can be roughly estimated by the fact that out of Israel’s $165 billion in total exports in 2022, 24% went to Asian markets. The shortest shipping route from the Mediterranean to Asia is the Suez Canal. Everything that goes through the Suez Canal goes through the Red Sea, and 12% of all global trade passes through the Suez Canal. With these calculations, the economic impact on the Israeli economy by the seizure of this single ship can be estimated in the billions of dollars. The Houthi area of military operations in the southern Red Sea is more than 1,000 miles from Israel, and beyond the reach of timely Israeli military response.

Economic warfare and military warfare are two sides of the same coin. The Houthis, with one helicopter and less than a dozen commandos, have hit the Israeli economy as hard as the entire Israeli military is hitting the people of Gaza. All in all, it must be admitted, it was a successful gambit. Especially considering that it was a bloodless operation in which, unlike the Israeli operation in Gaza, no one was harmed.

Of course, like the October 7th Hamas attack, Netanyahu could very well try to exploit this incident to “justify” another Israeli attack, this time on Iran. War is by nature, always full of dangers and deception. However, the Houthis are likely to find broad and real support for their raid across the Arab and Muslim world.

In an announcement by Yemeni Armed Forces, ” the Armed Forces renewed their warning to all ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or dealing with it that they will become a legitimate target. It called on all countries whose nationals work in the Red Sea to refrain from any work or activity with Israeli ships or ships owned by Israelis.” The statement pointed out that the operations of the armed forces only threaten the ships of Israel and those owned by Israelis, as was previously indicated.

November 21, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , , | Leave a comment

US attempts to single-handedly resolve Israel-Palestine conflict failing – Putin

RT | November 21, 2023

The escalation between Israel and Hamas that has already led to the “deaths of thousands of people” has come as a result of America’s desire to single-handedly decide the fate of the standoff between Israel and Palestine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an emergency BRICS video conference on Tuesday.

The US had sidelined other members of the Middle East Quartet – a group seeking to navigate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that also includes Russia, the UN, and EU – the Russian leader said. Instead, Washington has sought to “monopolize the role of the mediator” while blocking the efforts of other international actors, he added.

“The history has vividly demonstrated that attempts to single-handedly cut the Palestinian knot are not viable and counterproductive,” Putin said.

UN decisions envisaging the establishment of “two independent sovereign states – Israel and Palestine,” ended up being sabotaged, the Russian president told the conference. This has led to a situation in which “generations of Palestinians were raised in an atmosphere … of injustice,” while the Israelis could not fully guarantee the security of their state, he added.

The current conflict in Gaza has already led to the deaths of thousands, a massive exodus of civilians from the enclave, and a humanitarian catastrophe, Putin said, calling these developments a cause for the “deepest concern.”

Russia urges the international community to unite in an effort to achieve a speedy de-escalation and a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president said, adding that the BRICS nations and regional actors could play a leading role in this process.

November 21, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular | , , , , | Leave a comment

Raisi Calls on BRICS Leaders to Use Economic, Political Opportunities to Pressure Israel

Sputnik – 21.11.2023

TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday called on BRICS leaders to use all economic and political opportunities to put pressure on Israel.

Amid escalating horrors in the Gaza Strip during the “second phase” of Israel’s conflict with Hamas, the former has intensified its actions, resulting in a rise in civilian casualties. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in response, has called on BRICS leaders to leverage economic and political avenues to exert pressure on the Israeli government.

“The United States has made all international organizations faceless. Iran wants BRICS members and governments to stand up for security, establish justice and fight racial discrimination in the world, as well as use all their political and economic opportunities and power to exert pressure on Israel and its supporters from Western countries,” Raisi at the BRICS extraordinary summit on the Middle East.

Raisi urged the BRICS countries to recognize the Israeli government as a “terrorist regime.”

“Israel’s continuous attacks on hospitals, medical centers and religious sites, as well as the murder of women and children, doctors, nurses and journalists are acts of terrorism, and it is necessary to recognize the Israeli regime as a terrorist regime and its army as a terrorist organization,” Raisi said.

BRICS countries must adopt a resolution at the UN to stop Israel’s crimes in the Gaza Strip, Raisi said.

November 21, 2023 Posted by | Economics, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism, War Crimes | , , , , , | Leave a comment

China labels Canadian side ‘thief crying stop thief’ after media exposes rift between ‘two Michaels’

By Chen Qingqing and Wang Tianmi | Global Times | November 20, 2023

The Chinese Embassy in Canada said on Monday that Canadian side hyping up of so-called “arbitrary detention” of “two Michaels” is purely a case of a thief crying stop thief and it fully exposed Canada’s hypocrisy, after the Canadian media the Globe and Mail revealed that one of the two Canadians blamed his fellow inmate for sharing intelligence on North Korea with Canada and allied spy services.

One of the two Canadians jailed by China for nearly three years in a case that was at the heart of a diplomatic crisis is seeking a multimillion-dollar settlement from Ottawa, Canadian media reported, citing two sources. Michael Spavor alleged that he was detained because he unwittingly provided intelligence on North Korea to Canada and allied spy services.

He alleges that the deception was conducted by fellow Canadian prisoner Michael Kovrig, and it was intelligence work by the latter that led to both men’s incarceration by Chinese authorities, according to the Globe and Mail.

Two Canadians confessed their guilt for crimes they committed in China and were released on bail for medical reasons before they departed China by plane to Canada on September 24, 2021.

Spavor, who was sentenced in August, 2021 to 11 years in prison for espionage and illegal provision of China’s state secrets to foreign entities, was found to have taken photos and videos of Chinese military equipment on multiple occasions and illegally provided some of those photos to people outside China. He also had personal property of 50,000 yuan ($7,700) confiscated.

The photos and videos Spavor took during his time in China have been identified as second-tier state secrets.

Spavor was a key informant for Kovrig and provided him with information over a long period. Sources told the Global Times that from 2017 to 2018, Kovrig entered China using the forged identity of a businessman and had collected a large amount of information on China’s national security through his contacts in Beijing, Shanghai and Jilin in Northeast China.

However, Canada had repeatedly denied that the two Canadians were involved in espionage, insisting that the “arbitrary detention” of the two Canadians was in retaliation for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a senior Huawei executive, in Canada in 2018.

Confidential negotiations are taking place between Toronto lawyer John K. Phillips, who is representing Spavor, and Patrick Hill, executive director and senior counsel at the federal Department of Justice and Global Affairs Canada, the Globe and Mail reported, citing unnamed sources.

Phillips is alleging that his client was arrested by China because of information that he shared with Kovrig. That information, he alleges, was later passed on, unbeknownst to Spavor, to the Canadian government and its Five Eyes spy-service partners in the course of Kovrig’s duties as a diplomat with the Foreign Affairs department’s Global Security Reporting Program, according to the media report.

He is also alleging, the sources say, that a senior diplomat in Beijing had conversations with Kovrig about his relationship with Spavor after Kovrig took a leave of absence from Global Affairs Canada in 2017 to join the International Crisis Group (ICG), an independent, non-governmental global think tank.

The spy row between the two Canadians has triggered a wide ranging discussions, as observers believed that it not only put the Canadian government in an awkward position but is also a slap in the face for its accusation against China on so-called arbitrary detention.

A third highly placed source told The Globe that Kovrig was considered an intelligence asset, as a diplomatic officer at the Global Security Reporting Program (GSRP) within the Canadian embassy in Beijing, and later when based in Hong Kong at International Crisis Group.

The source said Kovrig was not an employee of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service but that information he gathered in China was viewed as valuable by the spy agency.

However, a Canadian department spokesperson told the Canadian media that GSRPs operates openly and meet with a broad range of contacts on a voluntary basis. The program does not recruit or run human sources, and it does not pay for information.

The information exposed by Canadian media once again demonstrates that China’s legal actions against two Michaels were legitimate, as they indeed engaged in activities inconsistent with their stated identities, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

Meanwhile, Canada’s accusations against China are filled with falsehoods, reversing right and wrong, in an attempt to spread misinformation about China in the international community and to conceal its own inappropriate actions, Li said.

Canada’s rebuttal overestimates its own ability to spread rumors, the expert said. From reports of Canadian media, we have essentially come to learn that Canadian personnel, under the guise of “diplomats,” have been involved in activities related to intelligence work, he said.

Even after so much information has been revealed, Canada remains obstinately unenlightened, failing to honestly disclose the truth of the matter to the public. Instead, Canada continues to obscure the facts and even falsely accuse China, reflecting Canada’s lack of sincerity in dealing with China-related affairs and its attempt to tarnish China’s image in the international community, Li said.

“We advise Canada to face up to the facts and reflect deeply on its own mistakes, rather than continue to attack and discredit China and mislead the public,” a spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Canada said.

See also:

Canada owes an apology to China and others deceived: Global Times editorial

November 21, 2023 Posted by | Deception, Progressive Hypocrite | , | Leave a comment

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