What Comes Next for the Palestinians?
Trump unlikely to oppose Netanyahu’s genocide
By Philip Giraldi • Unz Review • November 6, 2024
Well, it’s over… or is it? Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States backed by a GOP controlled Senate and possibly even a majority in the House of Representatives. And one should not discount the advantage derived from having a largely conservative Supreme Court, but much depends on who Trump appoints to key cabinet positions, a weakness in the first Trump presidency as he tended to select ideologues rather than candidates with relevant knowledge or experience. One hopes, for example, that neither the usual claque of neocons nor establishment characters like Mike Pompeo or Tom Cotton, who have been mentioned as possible candidates for Secretary of Defense, will appear on anyone’s list for high office.
During the lead-up to the presidential campaign, Trump sometimes referred to himself as the most popular politician in Israel, including a conceit that if he were able to run for office in that country he would be able to get elected to the highest offices without any problem. That was, at least in Donald’s mind, an expression of gratitude for how he had done so much for Israel in 2016-2020, including moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, accepting the annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, providing political cover for Israeli actions, and a declaration that the US would not do anything to interfere with military and police actions connected to Israeli settlement expansion on the nominally Palestinian West Bank. Israel also appreciated Trump’s appointment of his lawyer David Friedman as US Ambassador. Friedman proved to be a full time apologist for Israel, not representing or defending American interests. In the recent presidential campaign, Trump spoke frequently to Jewish Republican groups and declared himself to be Israel’s best friend and supporter among US politicians.
The Israeli media has also reported that the present Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu much preferred Trump over Kamala Harris, possibly because the PM has developed what is reported to be a close personal relationship with the Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has apparently served often as a conduit to Donald. Netanyahu in fact was the first foreign head of state to telephone personally to congratulate Trump on his repeat victory at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Netanyahu declared that Trump’s win was “historic” and said it “offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!”
It is generally believed that Netanyahu also apparently harbors some deep suspicion of the Democratic Party in spite of the Biden Administration’s generosity in arms and cash transfers, presumably in part because the Democrats harbor a small but active progressive wing which has been vocal about blocking arms sales to Israel due to its genocide of the Palestinians. The Republicans have no such tendencies apart from a persistent Tom Massie in the House and Rand Paul occasionally saying the right thing from the Senate. And key Republicans like current House speaker Mike Johnson are so in bed with Israel and all its works that he should perhaps consider moving there permanently as the average American gets nothing from the expensive and exceedingly bloody relationship apart from opprobrium from nearly the entire world for complicity in the extermination of the Palestinians. In other words, if one is expecting a return to sanity over what is going on in the Middle East, don’t expect it to come from Donald Trump.
And Netanyahu should be very pleased with the Trump victory for one other important reason, which is how he will be able to deal with an American president. The Wall Street Journal is already reporting from Israeli sources that Netanyahu is definitely expecting a “freer hand” from the new administration to do whatever he wants politically and militarily. Trump’s ego and his personal and spontaneous manner of governing is exactly the kind of relationship Bibi feels most comfortable dealing with. Netanyahu believes he can manipulate Trump and cultivate his personal relationship with the president to include dealing with him directly without worrying about any other players. Netanyahu will be in position to personally flatter, mollify, or confuse Trump even if the president were to surprisingly decide that it would be better if Israel backed off on its aggression. Netanyahu and his allies in the US Congress will be united in convincing Trump that this would be a bad idea.
Bearing in mind that Joe Biden will continue to be president for the next two months and he has demonstrated an infinite capacity to screw things up through his clueless proxies Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin plus the comic interlude provided by State Department spokesman Matt Miller, who cracked a joke and laughed about the clearly demonstrated Israeli attempt to starve the Gazans to death. But possible Biden missteps notwithstanding, Israel should be on balance very pleased with the election result. Trump is, of course, fully supportive of the slaughter of the Palestinians and is quite willing to deal similarly with the Iranians if they should “spill one drop of American blood” by “spilling gallons of theirs.” His advice to the Israeli government has been that they should “finish the job” on dealing with the Pals not for either humane or political reasons but rather because Israel is getting a bad reputation for its openly espoused massacring of civilians, including in excess of 13,000 children. In a phone call with Netanyahu in October, Trump praised escalation of Israeli military actions in Lebanon. Senator Lindsay Graham, who was on the call, described how “He didn’t tell him what to do militarily, but he expressed that he was impressed by the pagers [and] he expressed his awe for their military operations and what they have done. He told them, do what you have to do to defend yourself.”
Trump is also appreciative of the millions of dollars that went his way during the presidential campaign from Israel’s best friends in the US. The reported $100 million that came from a single donor, casino billionaire Israeli Miriam Adelson, was allegedly in exchange for a Trump agreement to permit Israel’s annexation of what remains of the Palestinian West Bank. The multi-ethnic Arab country called Palestine in 1948 would thereby become the Jewish state of Israel de jure as well as de facto. And the expansion and warmaking with Israel’s neighbors as Netanyahu seeks to establish his country’s military dominance over the entire region will go on, with US garrisons illegally based in Syria and Iraq playing supporting roles. Trump could have removed them as well as carrying out a withdrawal from Afghanistan when he was last in office, but for reasons unknown chose not to, possibly due to pressure from the Israelis.
In short, based on the record in 2016-2020 and recent campaign rhetoric, there is no possibility that President Trump will put any pressure on Israel to cease and desist from what it has been doing in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. This is potentially bad news for the Palestinians and Lebanese but it also is not welcomed by the likely majority of Americans who now oppose arming and funding Israeli genocide. It comes on top of Trump’s frequent denunciation of “useless wars” though he most often cites Ukraine in that context, promising to end that conflict “in one day” by virtue of his sheer star power, personal intervention and diplomacy. One hopes that is true, and, of course, Kiev has no powerful domestic lobby apart from the arms industry to object and continue to want to feed the fighting, so it is possible that Russia-Ukraine is actually moving towards some kind of end. Maybe if that fighting ends and sets a good example, someone in Washington will wake up and seek the same type of agreement to calm the Middle East.
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.
Iran president urged to skip COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan
Press TV – November 6, 2024
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has been urged to skip his planned visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, next week to attend this year’s United Nations climate change summit, known as COP29.
The semi-official Fars news agency said in an article published on Wednesday that Pezeshkian should not attend the COP29 summit for various reasons, including reports suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be present in the summit.
It also said that Azerbaijan has been “problematic” for Iran in the past years mainly because of its efforts to change the geopolitical maps of the region following its victory over Armenia in the 2020 war on Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Logically, it would be wise for the Iranian delegation not to participate in the summit, let alone that the president attends it,” said the article.
However, the article also criticized United Nations climate change policies and said that agreeing to decisions planned to be adopted in COP29 would be “against Iran’s national interests”.
It added that accepting UN demands on climate change, which requires countries to invest heavily to reform the way they produce and consume energy, would inflict huge financial losses on Iran as a country which still relies on fossil fuels for a bulk of its energy needs.
It said experts are still critical of a former Iranian administration’s decision in 2016 to sign up to the Paris Agreement, which requires countries to slash their greenhouse gas emissions by 12% in a relatively short period.
“That would cause the country’s economy to shrink and will cost some $52 billion,” said the article
The public relations office of the Iranian Presidency said on Monday that Pezeshkian will attend the COP29 summit which is planned to begin on November 11.
Canada’s McGill University event with UN rapporteur relocated amid pro-Palestine crackdown
UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca P. Albanese in Brussels, Belgium on April 10, 2024 [Thierry Monasse/Getty Images]
MEMO | November 6, 2024
UK government crackdown on pro-Palestine support may turn to lawfare against political dissidents
By Muhammad Hussein | MEMO | November 6, 2024
Throughout the past year of Israel’s war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the purported objective of wiping out Hamas, many governments across Europe have served as a kind of buffer for Tel Aviv, stopping at nothing to crush pro-Palestine protests. Demonstrators have been arrested and protests have been banned. The shameless labelling of all and any advocates for Palestinian rights as “Hamas sympathisers” and “anti-Semites” has exposed the obvious bias of European policymakers and police forces towards Israel and the Zionist narrative.
After around a year of such incidents and power games, the UK — the quiet repressor of dissent and rare expresser of policy positions — stepped up its own crackdown, arresting journalists or raiding their homes because of their support for Palestine and its people, as well as their criticism of Israel and its genocide in Gaza.
Last month, for example, British counter-terrorism police raided the home of journalist Asa Winstanley as part of “Operation Incessantness”, reportedly linked to his pro-Palestine social media posts. Although the specific posts were not detailed by reports, the authorities claimed that they were possible offences under sections 1 and 2 of the 2006 Terrorism Act, which pertain to the “encouragement of terrorism”.
Others to fall foul of this official crackdown in the UK include Palestine solidarity activists Mick Napier and Tony Greenstein, who were arrested last year over their expressions of support for legitimate Palestinian armed resistance and resistance movement Hamas itself. More recently, activist Sarah Wilkinson had her home raided by counter-terrorism police, and journalist Richard Medhurst was detained under the Terrorism Act upon arrival at Heathrow Airport.
Such raids, arrests and detentions by the British authorities are part of the wider repression of civil, political and press freedoms across the West as a whole.
First glimpsed during the “war on terror” years, we have seen the implementation of legislation granting governments greater freedom to monitor their citizens. The crackdown on hard-won freedoms was felt more heavily during the Covid pandemic. Many people who had not felt the weight of counter-terrorism policies realised suddenly that they too might not be exempt from being subject to pressure from the state, overreach and enforcement.
Today, with Western governments crushing expressions of support for the Palestinian cause or opposition to the Israeli occupation and genocide in Gaza, we are witnessing the next level of repression, symbolised by the way that the Establishment is protecting a rogue state which treats international laws and conventions with contempt — Israel — and the war crimes and crimes against humanity which are the inevitable result of such protection.
The repression is expected to get worse, with the UK in particular on a very worrying downward trajectory.
Following the election in July of the new Labour government under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, there was a brief moment when it looked as if the UK was ready and to offer more diplomatic and humanitarian support to the Palestinian people. There was even hope that the British government would not intervene to stop the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants sought for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and (now former) Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Now, though, we see the Labour government putting the brake on soon-to-be applicable legislation in order to cancel pro-Palestine activism on university campuses. The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 was passed by the previous Conservative government in order to protect freedom of speech in universities and student unions by obliging them to take “reasonable steps” to promote free speech at the risk of facing legal action.
According to Labour’s Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, the government is applying the brake just days before the legislation is due to come into force, “In order to consider options, including its repeal.” She claimed that it “could expose students to harm and appalling hate speech on campuses.”
Despite the UK government insisting that it remains “absolutely committed” to freedom of speech, it is suspected by many of seeking to avoid at all costs the possibility of higher education institutions, figures and even officials being held to account over censorship of pro-Palestinian views and criticism of Israel.
Tragically, the state crackdown in the UK and other parts of the Western world could have serious implications for campaigners who refuse to stop advocating for Palestinian rights. The days of assassination, indefinite detention without trial or state-sponsored kidnapping of dissidents’ family members have generally long passed in the Western world — for now, at least — but so-called “extraordinary renditions” of dissidents to more brutal Western allies around the world are not unknown.
Western states and intelligence agencies have another trick up their sleeves, however, and one that is perhaps more powerful due to its facade of legitimacy: lawfare. False allegations, heavy-handed investigations and legal action under draconian laws look like being the bludgeon of choice for governments to attack political and other dissidents, including journalists and activists. Anything is possible in the clamour to protect the Zionist state of Israel.
Character assassinations are likely, and even so-called “sexpionage”.
The Western media is already largely complicit in such acts, being very pro-Israel in any case, so they would come as no surprise to anyone engaged in pro-Palestine, pro-justice activism.
Individuals and organisations in Britain have already faced such attempts to discredit them. No evidence is ever produced; it is enough for Israel to say “terrorist” and Western governments and media join the fray. Once the “terrorist” genie is out of the bottle, it is very difficult to get it back in. Mud sticks, whether thrown legitimately or not. The intention, of course, is to intimidate people into submission, so that Israel can continue to act with total impunity, free from criticism.
Even ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan has faced allegations of sexual misconduct recently. Is it coincidental that these allegations have surfaced when he is seeking the aforementioned arrest warrants against Israeli leaders over war crimes, and shortly after a pro-Israel group threatened him with legal action if he failed to reconsider his efforts?
Another key example of political lawfare in contemporary times is none other than Donald Trump, who has faced countless allegations, lawsuits and character assassinations that have never truly stuck. He may not be the finest moral example, nor is he any great advocate for the Palestinians, but it is naive not to acknowledge that many of the attempts to discredit him have been politically-motivated.
According to US Senator Chuck Schumer in 2017, Trump was “being really dumb” for taking on the US intelligence community regarding its analyses of Russia’s reported cyber activities. “Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” said Schumer in as clear an admission you can hear that if the government and its agencies truly decide to discredit anyone, they can and will do so.
That is true for most Western states, including the UK. If allegations of Anti-Semitism and support for Hamas don’t stop pro-Palestine activists, then lawfare surely will. That’s the Starmer government’s hope, anyway. And given that very few individuals have the same wealth, tenacity and popular support as someone like Trump to help them fight against the allegations, self-confessed Zionist Starmer is probably right to be optimistic. We are heading into dark times, and all in order to protect an alien state engaged in genocide. It’s a shocking and disgraceful situation.
Israel chief of staff calls for end to Gaza war, prisoner exchange deal with Hamas
MEMO | November 6, 2024
Iran-Arab Rapprochement Gains Ground
By Salman Rafi Sheikh – New Eastern Outlook – November 6 2024
Israel’s escalation in Gaza and Lebanon has severely hindered U.S. efforts to expand the Abraham Accords by bringing Saudi Arabia into the fold.
When Israel began its brutal war on Gaza following Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Arab-Israel peace deal became nearly impossible. Washington, however, did not abandon its efforts to pursue expanding the Abraham Accords by getting Saudi Arabia to sign them. However, Washington’s inability to control Netanyahu’s war has undermined its efforts to convince Saudi Arabia.
Simultaneously, this overall failure has also negatively affected Washington’s ability to drive a wedge between Iran and Saudi Arabia to undo the Beijing-mediated normalisation between the two erstwhile rivals in the Middle East. Instead, this normalisation seems to have found new grounds in the wake of Israeli expansion of the war into Lebanon against Hezbollah. Riyadh, as reports show, categorically denied Israel the leeway it needed to execute its plans to attack Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities. How Saudi Arabia reached this conclusion is an outcome of, among other things, Iran’s active diplomacy.
Iran-Arab Normalisation
According to a recent report in Reuters, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE explicitly gave Washington an ‘enough is enough’ call when they asked it to stop Israel from attacking Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities. Simultaneously, all three of these states have also closed their space for Israeli jets and missiles to cross to attack Iran. As the report mentions, “the moves by the Gulf states come after a diplomatic push by non-Arab Shi’ite Iran to persuade its Sunni Gulf neighbours to use their influence with Washington amid rising concerns Israel could target Iran’s oil production facilities”.
The fact that Arab states conveyed Iran’s message – and explicitly took Tehran’s side – reveals many things. But, most importantly, it shows their ability to transcend the US-imposed narrow confines of ‘sectarian rivalry’ to follow a radically alternative line of foreign policy – one that prioritises long-term regional goals. In other words, while Arab states may have failed to bring Israel’s war on Gaza to an end, they have certainly succeeded in denying Israel an easy way to impose another war in the region – a war, if it breaks out, will affect Arab states more than the Gaza war.
It has turned out to be a source of confidence for Iran to confront Israel. The Foreign Minister of Iran recently noted Iran’s readiness to respond to any hostile actions by the Zionist regime, stating, “We are not seeking to escalate tensions or war.”
No Anti-Iran Alliance
In terms of regional politics, the Arab states’ refusal to become a party to tensions between Iran and Israel means that Washington – and Israel – will not be able to establish an anti-Iran regional alliance, which was one of the goals of The Abraham Accords. Thanks to the proactive diplomacy of China and Russia, Arab states no longer share with Washington and Israel the anti-Iran enthusiasm that, until recently, defined the very core of Arab geopolitics in the region. This is one of the reasons why the US and Saudi Arabia have not been able to finalize their otherwise ‘history making agreement’.
For one thing, if Saudi Arabia has openly declared its intentions to not engage Iran in a military fight, Washington sees no potential benefit arising out of this pact vis-à-vis the security of Israel and its ability to manipulate regional politics to its advantage and at the expense of its global rivals.
This failure, in many ways, has to do with how Washington behaved in 2019 when Saudi oil facilities came under Houthi attacks. The US failed to ‘protect’ Saudia Arabia – something that created an opening for China to push for an alternative to war.
For the Saudis as well, signing this treaty in the present context has become a lot more complicated than it would have been in a context with no Israeli war on Gaza and no prior Saudi-Iran rapprochement. Riyadh understands that tying its defence deeply with Washington via a treaty means it will have to, for instance, offer its space for the US/Israel to launch strikes on Iran. It would also mean Saudi Arabia exposing itself – once again – to Iran and Iran-backed Houthis. It also means Saudi Arabia going back to the past insofar as its ties with Iran are concerned and insofar as its plans to push for a multipolar order, both in the region and worldwide, are concerned. From the Saudi perspective, this treaty not only offers (an illusion of) protection but also comes with (the very real possibility of) a new phase of military conflict.
Alternatives to Washington
Middle Eastern states having become assertive vis-à-vis Washington’s dictates has also to do with the fact that the US is no longer the only global player in the region. Russia and China are already two major players that these states have deep ties with. Beijing, for instance, reportedly invested US$152 billion in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region between 2013 and 2021.
Russia’s sale of advanced missile and air defence systems to countries like Turkey and Iran showcases its willingness to deepen its defence with the region, presenting itself as an alternative to Washington. The availability of alternatives allows Arab states to better position themselves vis-à-vis Washington.
Will this pattern be permanent in the region? This is a key question. The Middle East, as it stands, is unlikely to see any major internal shift in terms of one state singularly dominating the region. Still, the region itself is surely moving towards a system that has multi-alignment as its central feature. It means Arab states are not necessarily becoming anti-US; it means they are diversifying in ways that give them a lot more leverage to manoeuvre and protect their interests. It means they are becoming stronger both regionally and globally.
Salman Rafi Sheikh is a research analyst of International Relations and Pakistan’s foreign and domestic affairs.
Rachel Maddow threatens Musk over ‘Russia ties’
RT | November 6, 2024
Elon Musk can’t possibly keep his US government contracts because of his alleged secret contacts with “America’s worst enemy,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has said.
The Wall Street Journal claimed last week that Musk had communicated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and withheld the services of his Starlink network to Ukraine’s military. Both Musk and Moscow have dismissed the report as fake news.
Maddow, however, proceeded as if the Journal’s reporting was a proven fact in her election day show on Tuesday evening.
“You really can’t have the head of a company that is the primary rocket launcher for the defense department and NASA, you can’t have the head of that company in secret communications with America’s worst enemy while America’s enemy is actively waging a war against one of our allies, especially once you learn that he’s using his businesses to help the other side, to help Russia in that war,” Maddow said.
“Now that we know what we know about Elon Musk, this election – regardless of who wins – has produced a national security problem,” she continued, arguing that it will likely produce “tons of drama.”
“So, buckle up. Even if [Donald] Trump doesn’t win, the Defense Department and NASA are gonna need a new arrangement for all their rockets and for all the multi-billion-dollar contracts Elon Musk’s companies have with the US government,” Maddow said. Either the government will have to get out of those contracts, or Musk’s companies “will have to unwind from him.”
Musk has denied the Journal’s claims, pointing out that Starlink was “the BACKBONE of Ukrainian military communications at the front lines, because everything else has been blown up or jammed by Russia.”
The founder of SpaceX and owner of X (formerly Twitter) addressed Maddow’s comments shortly afterward, speaking to journalist Tucker Carlson in a livestream from Mar-a-Lago.
“Rachel Maddow is a crazy person,” Musk said, describing her as “frothing-at-the-mouth crazy fascist, basically, sort of pretending to be a liberal.”
Asked how much pressure he has been under because of his support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Musk resorted to a joke.
“Well, apart from multiple Democrats saying they want to put me in jail, take away government contracts from my companies, nationalize my companies, deport me as an illegal, and have me arrested for apparently being Putin’s best friend, nothing besides those things,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Journal’s claims were untrue, “most likely linked” to Musk’s support for Trump, and should not be taken seriously.
While the official count of votes in the US presidential election is still pending, Trump has secured the needed 270 electoral votes, according to multiple media organizations.
What Does Trump’s Win Mean For the Middle East?
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 06.11.2024
Donald Trump has won the 2024 presidential election, but what impact will that have on Middle Eastern nations?
“Donald Trump, of course, makes his own policies, but it is also important to see who he surrounds himself with,” Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University Qatar, told Sputnik.
Kamrava defines Trump as “transactional” in contrast to Joe Biden, who is “ideological” and believes in a “particular world order”.
By “transactional”, Kamrava means Trump is first and foremost a pragmatic deal-maker.
“During Donald Trump’s first term, we saw extremely close relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel,” the pundit noted. “Those were the two pillars of America’s policy in the region, and I think we will continue to see that.”
“I think we’re going to see deeper transactional relationships between the Middle East and the United States, deeper economic relationships, particularly in the Persian Gulf,” he added.
Kamrava said Trump had two solutions to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. He could either give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu full support, or call upon Tel Aviv to wind down the conflict in Gaza and in Lebanon “because it’s not good for business.” He believes the newly-elected president will pick the second option.
The professor also expects Trump to take a more cautious approach to Iran compared to his predecessor. During his first term Trump showed “an aversion to war” in the Middle East, he stressed.
“The Biden administration, in fact, did sleepwalk into a war, into escalatory conflict not just in Gaza and a genocide in Gaza, but then in the West Bank, in Lebanon, and of course, in relation to Iran,” Kamrava said.
Hamas says it will judge new US president on his stances towards Palestinians
Palestinian Information Center – November 6, 2024
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – The Hamas Movement has said that it will judge the new US administration on its actions and policy towards the Palestinian people and their national cause.
“Our position on the new US administration depends on its positions and practical behavior towards our Palestinian people, their legitimate rights and their just cause,” Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The new US administration must realize that our Palestinian people will continue to confront the abominable occupation and will not accept any trajectory that detracts from their legitimate rights to freedom, independence, self-determination, and the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Hamas underlined.
“Unfortunately, all the successive US administrations, since the occupation of Palestine in 1948, have had negative positions on the Palestinian cause and have always been the biggest supporter of the [Israeli] occupation in all fields and situations,” Hamas said.
“The previous US administration took a supportive path towards the occupation and its aggression by granting its war criminals political and military cover to help them persist in the most heinous wars of extermination known in modern history, which confirmed its role as a full partner in the killing of tens of thousands of our people, including children, women and elderlies,” Hamas added.
Hamas called for ending the blind bias in favor of the occupation state and working seriously on putting an end to the genocidal war on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The Movement urged the US president-elect “to listen to the American community’s voices that have been resounding for over a year in rejection of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip” and their country’s support for the occupation state.
Donald Trump was elected the 47th president on Wednesday, four years after his defeat by outgoing president Joe Biden.
Top Three Reasons Why Trump Won
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 06.11.2024
Donald Trump has been declared the winner of the 2024 presidential race, prompting a meltdown in the Kamala Harris camp and the US corporate media – who are struggling to understand what went wrong.
Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel gives the top three reasons behind Trump’s victory:
- Abject Failure of “Bidenomics” Despite Borrowing and Spending Trillions of Dollars: “Americans vote thinking first about their economic welfare and prospects,” Ortel told Sputnik. “The only beneficiaries of the Biden-Harris administration were connected political donors and insiders. Wages after taxes and inflation for private sector workers – the core slice – are way down and under continuing threat.”
- Soaring Crime, Especially in Cities: “The Biden-Harris Open Borders approach, coupled with George Soros-funded district attorneys refusing to prosecute and the ‘defund the police’ movement, pushed moderates and first-time voters into the MAGA movement.”
“An Arrogant Slate of Idiots on the Democrat Ticket Backed by Out-of-Touch and Classless ‘Celebrities'”: “The 2024 Democrat ‘campaign’ was even less competent than Hillary in 2016 and Joe in 2020,” the Wall Street analyst points out. “This time, Harris and Walz were obviously inauthentic, incompetent and abysmal at connecting with likely voters, whereas Trump built a diverse Dream Team of authentic heroes – while Trump himself is a master leader and salesperson.”
Ortel drew attention to a high number of black, Latino and women’s votes for Trump, even though those demographics have long been considered pro-Democratic.
The analyst believes Democrats tried to rig the 2024 election “in countless ways” but the wave of support from Trump’s supporters “was too big to rig.” Misconduct by Democrats can only be fully exposed after Trump gets his cabinet picks confirmed into key positions, Ortel believes.
Trump’s Focus Will Be on Domestic Issues, Not Overseas Wars
Donald Trump’s first job when he takes office will be to clean house, Ortel believes.
“The largest single piece of the American economy is a woefully-bloated and ineffective slew of ‘government’ actors that will swiftly be put on a rigorous diet,” Ortel said. “Here, Elon Musk and other truly-accomplished standouts will play key roles.”
The analyst suggests that Robert F Kennedy Jr could be instrumental in reforming “the absurdly expensive ‘healthcare’ mess that actually seems to be hurting all Americans while enriching corrupt actors.”
The Trump administration also needs to bring down the cost of education and “strip away political indoctrination” in teaching, Ortel continues.
“In addition, the Trump team can finally bring countless crooked charities to a justice that is long overdue,” says the analyst, who has been investigating the Clinton Foundation’s alleged fraud for several years.
“Once Trump restores confidence in the Department of Justice, the IRS and the Judiciary branch of government, I believe trillions of dollars in investment capital will flow back inside America and many valuable private sector jobs will be created by entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and others,” Ortel predicts.
Moscow reacts to Trump’s vow to ‘stop wars’
RT | November 6, 2024
US presidential election winner Donald Trump’s promise to end international conflicts should be backed up by concrete actions once he returns to the White House, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
During his speech on Wednesday in which he declared victory in the US election, Trump also stated that during his first term from 2017 to 2021 “we had no wars, except we defeated ISIS (Islamic State/IS).” The 78-year-old dismissed claims by his opponents that he would “start a war” once he returns to office. “I am not going to start a war. I am going to stop wars,” the Republican insisted.
When asked to comment on Trump’s promise, Zakharova told the Russia 24 TV channel that “of course, those theses must be followed by actions, concrete actions.”
According to the spokeswoman, the international community will be judging Trump’s second presidency based on what he does, rather than what he says.
She also suggested that Trump’s promise to end foreign wars was an acknowledgment that the US needs to focus on its own problems.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reacted to Trump’s victory by pointing out that he has “one useful quality” for Russia.
“As a businessman to the core, he hates spending money on various freeloaders,” which includes the government in Ukraine, Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, wrote on Telegram.
However, he added that he does not expect the US funding of Ukraine to stop completely under the new president. “Trump might be stubborn, but the system is stronger,” Medvedev argued.
During his campaign against Democratic rival Kamala Harris, Trump repeatedly claimed that he would end the fighting between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours if reelected, but did not explain how he would achieve this.
Last month, Trump said that the Ukraine conflict was “a loser” and that Zelensky “should never have let that war start.” He described the Ukrainian leader as “one of the greatest salesmen I have ever seen,” referring to his ability to persuade the administration of US President Joe Biden to provide him with more military aid every time he went to Washington.
In June, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on media reports that Trump’s team was developing a roadmap for settling the Ukraine conflict, and stressed that “the value of any plan lies in the details and whether it takes into account the situation on the battlefield.”
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Moscow is ready for talks to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. He recalled that the two sides had already negotiated in Istanbul in late March 2022 and had reached a “mutually acceptable agreement.” However, Ukraine later rejected it, acting on “external advice,” Putin said.
How Israel invented the Gaza ‘Strip’ during its founding war of ethnic cleansing
If Americans Knew | November 4, 2024
Ilan Pappé, a renowned Israeli historian, challenges common perceptions of the Gaza Strip’s history. He asserts that prior to 1948, Gaza was not known as a “strip” but was a cosmopolitan town with a rich, diverse culture. In a video circulating online from January 2024, Pappe emphasises that the term “Gaza Strip” emerged post-1948, following the Israeli invasion, reshaping Gaza’s identity and geography.
SOURCE: Middle East Eye Apr 10, 2024 
• How an Israeli war criminal turned Ga…
RELATED: “Israeli communities near Gaza are on stolen land, former owners consigned to the Gaza ghetto” – https://israelpalestinenews.org/israe…
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Hands off ‘our hemisphere’ or Venezuela pays the price: US Senator warns Russia
RT | February 13, 2019
The US staked a claim on half the world, as Senate Armed Services Committee chair Jim Inhofe said Washington might have to intervene in Venezuela if Russia dares set up a military base not just there, but “in our hemisphere.”
“I think that it could happen,” Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) told a group of reporters on Tuesday. “You’ve got a guy down there that is killing everybody. You could have him put together a base that Russia would have on our hemisphere. And if those things happen, it may be to the point where we’ll have to intervene with troops and respond.”
Should Russia dare encroach on the US’ neck of the woods, Inhofe said: “we have to take whatever action necessary to stop them from doing that.” … continue
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