https://twitter.com/MidwesternDoc/status/1854781830693581049
US appeals court overturns 1983 Beirut bombing victims’ $1.68B judgment against Iran
Press TV – November 14, 2024
A US appeals court has revoked a $1.68 billion judgment against Central Bank of Iran (CBI), known as Bank Markazi, regarding the damages won by the families of the victims of a 1983 bombing in Beirut, which targeted a US Marine Corps barracks in the Lebanese capital and was blamed on the Islamic Republic.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan threw out the $1.68 billion judgment on Wednesday and said a lower court judge should have addressed questions of state law before ruling against Bank Markazi and Clearstream, a subsidiary of Germany’s stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse where Iranian assets are held.
In a 3-0 decision, the panel also rejected a claim that a 2019 federal law designed to make it easier to confiscate Iranian assets outside the United States waived Bank Markazi’s sovereign immunity.
That law “neither abrogates Bank Markazi’s jurisdictional immunity nor provides an independent grant of subject matter jurisdiction,” Circuit Judge Robert Sack wrote.
The court returned the case to US District Loretta Preska in Manhattan to address state law questions in the 11-year-old case, and decide whether the case can proceed in Bank Markazi’s absence.
Bombing victims sought to hold Iran liable for what they claimed to be providing material support for the October 23, 1983, suicide attack that killed 241 US service members, by seizing bond proceeds held by Clearstream in a blocked account on the CBI’s behalf.
The CBI declared immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally shields foreign governments from liability in US courts.
The plaintiffs sued in 2013 to partially satisfy a $2.65 billion default judgment they had won against Iran in 2007. Another judge dismissed the case in 2015, but the 2nd Circuit Court revived it in 2017.
Then in 2020, the US Supreme Court ordered a fresh review in light of the 2019 law, which then-President Donald Trump signed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
The plaintiffs have said they hold more than $4 billion of judgments against Iran and have been unable to collect for decades.
Trump names RFK Jr. to cabinet position
RT | November 14, 2024
US President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), declaring that the former Democrat will ensure that “everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals [and] pollutants.”
Trump announced his choice in a social media post on Thursday evening. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” he wrote.
“HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country,” he continued. “Mr. Kennedy will restore these agencies to the traditions of gold standard scientific research… to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
The New York Post claimed the previous day that some of Trump’s closest advisers were pushing for Kennedy to be given an advisory position, but that the former Democrat was “stubborn” in demanding control of HHS.
If confirmed, Kennedy would oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other sub-agencies. Kennedy has been vocally critical of all of these agencies, and vowed to enact sweeping reforms if placed in charge of them.
A long-time vaccine skeptic and proponent of organic agriculture, Kennedy has promised to “get processed food out of school lunch immediately,” to recommend that fluoride be removed from the water supply, and to crack down on the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides in farming.
Kennedy announced last October that he would run for the presidency as an independent candidate, ending his bid to challenge President Joe Biden in the Democratic Party’s primary elections. He suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump in August, citing Trump’s support for free speech, his promise to end the Ukraine conflict, and his willingness to tackle what Kennedy called “the chronic disease epidemic” afflicting American children.
Michigan Senate Advances Bill To Impose Fines for Spreading Election “Misinformation”
By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | November 14, 2024
A Senate committee in the US state of Michigan has approved Bill 707, which seeks to impose fines on those who, under the proposed legislation’s scope, are found to be spreading election misinformation, and doing that intentionally.
Introduced earlier in the year by Senator Mary Cavanagh, if adopted, this bill would amend the Michigan election law to introduce fines ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 and qualify “spreading of election disinformation” as an offense.
Disinformation here is defined as statements and misrepresentations that are considered false by the authorities – but the authorities would also have to determine if those statements are made intentionally.
This is not the first time Cavanagh, a Democrat, has tried to push through legislation of this kind; the first attempt happened in 2022.
And it’s not the first time that similar proposals, similarly vaguely worded have seen the light of day in the US these last years; here as well, opponents are wondering who would be “the judge and jury” that declares somebody had intent to spread false information – but also, how the amended bill would be enforced.
“What is the burden of proof here? Is it clear and convincing evidence?,” asked Senator Ed McBroom, a Republican.
Supporters of the new bill – accepted by the Senate’s Elections and Ethics Committee along party lines – say it would “clarify” the state’s existing law dealing with voter intimidation, and adapt it to “modern” intimidation techniques.
Senator Cavanagh said that in addition to “specifying” that an individual (or a company employing them) must know their election-related statements are false, the bill aims to make sure voters in this swing state are aware of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling.
Namely, it decided that the First Amendment protections somehow “do not extend to intentionally false speech about election misinformation,” Cavanagh noted.
Therefore, what was left to do was introduce a new bill that “specifies” (but crucially, opponents think – it actually doesn’t) what passes for “intentionally spreading election disinformation,” and then suppress this speech.
Marco Rubio’s love affair with Israel, MKO, Pahlavis
Press TV – November 14, 2024
Marco Rubio, a Republican foreign policy hawk tapped by Donald Trump to lead the US Department of State in his new administration, is known for his confrontational stance toward Iran and close ties with anti-Iran groups.
A staunch ally of the Republican Jewish Coalition, Rubio has even advocated for a direct attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities by the Israeli regime, saying such an attack “would have been successful.”
In a 2015 interview, he asserted that the Tel Aviv regime “has a right to act in its self-defense, which it did in the past when it struck facilities in Syria and other places.”
The Florida senator is an ardent and self-proclaimed Zionist who supports the Tel Aviv regime’s settler-colonialism project and land grabs in the occupied West Bank, as well as ongoing genocide in Gaza and Lebanon.
Like Trump and Biden, Rubio is fiercely opposed to the truce and blames all civilian casualties on the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, for which he even employs dehumanizing vocabulary. He was heard recently referring to Palestinian resistance fighters as “vicious animals.”
Trump’s pick for Secretary of State is among the Israeli lobby’s biggest recipients of donation, receiving at least $1,013,563 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the top Zionist lobby group in the US that exerts considerable influence in US power corridors.
The incoming American top diplomat is also known for his open association with foreign-based anti-Iran groups, including the Albania-headquartered Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) terror cult.
He has been invited to MKO galas many times in the past and has been photographed with the son of the deposed Iranian monarch, mainly to demonstrate his antagonism toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to those who have followed his work, Rubio is seen as a young member of the new generation of neoconservative pundits, compared to older ones such as John Bolton, John McCain and Dick Cheney, who have had direct hand in American hegemonic projects across West Asia and South Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Support for MKO terrorists
In September 2020, Rubio spoke at an event organized by MKO, a Zionist-sponsored terrorist cult that aggressively seeks to overthrow Iran’s democratic political system.
The terrorist group is notorious in Iran for being responsible for the deaths of 17,000 Iranian citizens, participating in Iraqi Baathist aggression against Iran, and supporting the genocide of Iraqi people in the 1980s.
It was on the list of terrorist groups in the United States but was removed after intense lobbying by neocon and Zionist groups who recognized it as a means to harm Iran.
In his speech at the MKO gala, Rubio emphasized that they share a “common battle” that is not just to deter “nuclear weapons acquisition” and “support for terrorism” but to “give power back to the people,” a euphemism for overthrowing the democratic Islamic Republic.
Apart from Rubio, others who spoke at the event were US Senators Ted Cruz, Roy Blunt, Bob Menendez, Joseph Lieberman, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former National Security Advisor James Jones, and former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.
Attendees of these events are rewarded handsomely by the cash-rich West-backed terror cult. Frequent MKO event attendee John Bolton was found to have received $180,000 for his multiple appearances, including $40,000 for an event in Paris.
The speech delivered by Rubio, according to privy sources, reportedly made him richer by tens of thousands of dollars.
Promoting wannabe dictators and monarchist terrorists
Rubio’s support and endorsement of anti-Iranian groups is not only limited to the MKO terror cult but extends to monarchist terrorists and their sympathizers as well.
In June 2021, he met with Reza Pahlavi, the son of the West-backed deposed Iranian dictator, who in recent years has become more involved in self-promotion with Zionist and American financial assistance.
According to media reports, the duo discussed US policy toward Tehran and Iranian domestic politics, bizarrely stating that they advocate “human rights, freedom, and democracy.”
According to observers, what both have in common is sponsorship by pro-Israel lobbies, friendship with Benjamin Netanyahu, anti-Palestinian sentiment, and an unfulfilled desire for the downfall of Iran’s democratic political system.
Earlier this month, Rubio also condemned the death of Jamshid Sharmahd, a convicted terrorist on death row who died in prison of natural causes. Rubio called him a “dissident” and labeled the court verdict against him as “bogus,” along with typical insults toward Iranian authorities.
Sharmahd was the leader of the monarchist terrorist group Tondar, responsible for a 2008 terrorist attack on a mosque in Shiraz, killing 14 and wounding 215 people.
Before his arrest by Iranian services, he lived for years in Germany and the US, where he openly took responsibility and glorified terrorist attacks on his website, without reaction from authorities there.
Sharmahd enjoyed widespread support from government officials in the United States, Canada and Germany, despite his proven track record of terrorist activities in Iran.
Backing 2022 Iran riots
In late 2022, Rubio expressed open support for foreign-backed deadly riots in Iran that resulted in hundreds of casualties and extensive damage to public properties across the country.
He has repeatedly claimed that Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian girl who died in police custody as a result of natural causes, was “beaten and killed” by the police, even though surveillance cameras and forensic medical records have dismissed such claims.
Together with Democratic Senator Alex Padilla, Rubio introduced the “MAHSA Act,” named after the Iranian girl, which was passed by the US Congress and signed into law by President Biden in April of this year.
This federal law imposes various new sanctions on Iran, based on false accusations of “oppression, crimes against humanity, and international terrorism.”
Rubio has consistently lobbied for piling up sanctions against Iran, as evidenced by the fact that even before the Iran riots broke out, he had prepared the “PUNISH Act” with Joni Ernst and Mike Waltz, alleging that Iran was attempting to assassinate US politicians.
These accusations surfaced again recently after a foreign national was arrested in the US for “plotting to assassinate” American politicians, including Trump. Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed the accusations.
On his page on X Rubio also expressed support for Reza Rasaea, who was executed in August this year for his involvement in Iran riots, including the murder of security guard Nader Bayrami.
The Republican described the rioter convicted of murder as a “courageous protester.”
All Of Your War Propaganda Describes Israel
By John Weeks | The Libertarian Institute | November 14, 2024
On October 30, former President Bill Clinton gave a campaign speech for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. Speaking at the Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Church, Clinton attempted to persuade American Muslims in that crucial swing state to vote for Harris despite her support for the Joe Biden administration’s disastrous Middle East policy.
It did not go well. For one thing, Harris went on to lose Michigan (and the election) in stunning fashion. There was also immediate backlash.
As the Huffington Post put it, “Bill Clinton Justifies The Mass Killings Of Palestinians In Racist Michigan Speech.”
Clinton’s support for mass murder is not surprising. After all, this is the same Bill Clinton who presided over the massacre of American citizens and their foreign national guests at the Mount Carmel church and residence outside of Waco during the first year of his presidency.
The Waco slaughter was accompanied by a massive state and regime media disinformation campaign to convince the American people that the good folks to be sacrificed on the state’s altar were raving lunatics, armed to the teeth, and intent on waging war on downtown Waco.
The demonic entity that the propaganda portrayed the Christians of Mount Carmel as was pure fantasy. But decades later, the demon has slithered onto the world stage for real. That demon is Israel, and just like the fantasy version, the real demon was Made in America™.
The Waco propaganda was so good, more than thirty years later it still exists in the public mind. On the same day Clinton gave his pro-genocide speech, Stephen Colbert told a Waco joke during the opening monologue of The Late Show:
“[Elon] Musk already has eleven children and sources say he wants to gather them all together by creating a family compound in Texas. And you know a story is always going to end well when it starts with a compound in Texas.”
A “compound in Texas” is clearly a reference to the Mount Carmel church and home, which the state and its minions demonized as a compound with a “bunker” run by “lieutenants.” Did some deep state apparatchik submit that joke to The Late Show staff as a subtle threat against Musk (who heavily endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign)?
The state certainly has been filled with levity recently:
“State Department spokesman Matt Miller on Monday [November 4] made a joke and laughed when pressed about Israel failing to meet U.S. requests to allow more aid into Gaza as it’s imposing a starvation blockade on the northern part of the Strip.”
The point is that the state’s Waco talking points still resonate. In fact, they have become part of a larger propaganda template routinely used by the United States Imperial Government (USIG).
As the Soviet Union was in free fall, the USIG launched its war of choice against Iraq in 1991. It even got the Soviets to diplomatically back the Desert Storm adventure. As George Carlin put it:
“We couldn’t wait for that Cold War to be over, could we? Couldn’t wait for the Cold War to be over so we can go and play with our toys in the sand. Go and play with our toys in the sand.”
The USIG took most of the toys it had been training with to fight the Soviet Union and unleashed them on its own client state:
“Desert Storm was, in effect, the NATO–Warsaw Pact war that never was, pitting largely Soviet weaponry, doctrine, and tactics against a Coalition, which reflected NATO strategic thinking.”
Desert Storm, like all U.S. wars, was based on lies. The Cold War was over, so the fantasy of international communism taking over America was obsolete. After Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, President George H. W. Bush went with a fan favorite and accused Hussein of being “Hitler Revisited.” The regime falsely claimed Iraq was poised to invade Saudi Arabia and that its soldiers had murdered over 300 babies by taking them from their incubators and [leaving them] “on the cold floor to die.”
At Mount Carmel, the imperial information warfare directorate and some of the toys from Desert Storm were deployed on the mainland to crush Americans who had the misfortune of drawing the AFT’s attention during budget season. As Libertarian Institute Executive Director Scott Horton put it:
“… these are Texans. These people are 100 miles up the road. But they’re a foreign nation. They’re Iraqis dude. You could just drop the nuke on them and… the housewives of Northwest Austin would have been happy with that.”
David Koresh, the preacher who oversaw Mount Carmel, was the new Saddam Hussein; the new Hitler. As Horton observed, the propaganda template became locked in.
The template was deployed over and over again, most famously during the Iraq War in 2003. Saddam Hussein was the new Hitler. (Again.) His regime possessed illegal weapons of mass destruction. And he was bad to his own people. As Horton put it, “That’s all Waco was. It was Iraq War II writ small.”
Koresh might have been a morally indefensible man, but the government never provided any evidence he broke any law. Saddam was a monster (which is why he worked for years as a U.S. government proxy) and he brutally repressed his own people, but he did not have the fantasy nuclear weapons the Bush regime pretended he did. Nor did he have ties to Al Qaeda.
Israel, meanwhile, fully fits the template. It is run by madmen who peddle religious kookery. It has illegal nuclear weapons. It is mean to its own people. It has supported Al Qaeda and ISIS. It has slaughtered U.S. military personnel. It interferes with American democracy. It is committing genocide. It is attempting to spark a regional war. Israel even kills little newborn babies for real, the way Iraq did in the fantasy.
The state is a disease masquerading as its own cure. Keep that in mind when the likes of Bill Clinton tell you Israel is defending western civilization.
West Asia reacts to Trump’s dalliance with Zionism
By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR | Indian Punchline | November 14, 2024
The election victory of Donald Trump in the November 5 election is being perceived in the West Asian region with growing anxiety as presaging the US aligning one hundred percent with the Zionist project for Greater Israel.
Although Trump has kept out vociferous neocons from his government positions, the same cannot be said for pro-Zionist figures. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims he has spoken three times with Trump already since the election and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components.”
The “components” implies that Netanyahu hopes to get a blank cheque from Trump to accelerate the ethnic cleansing in Gaza, for annexation of West Bank, violent reprisals against Palestinians and, most important, to carry the war right into Iranian territory.
Three events in as many days this week show the first signs of a backlash building up. On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei gave Tehran’s first official reaction to Trump’s election victory. Baqaei took a nuanced line saying, “What matters to us in this region is the United States’ actual behaviour and policies regarding Iran and the broader West Asia.”
Notably, Baqaei expressed “cautious optimism that the new [Trump] administration might adopt a more peace-oriented approach, reduce regional hostilities, and uphold its commitments.” (Tehran Times) Baqaei also refuted the recent allegation by Washington that Iran was involved in plots to assassinate Trump. He called the Biden Administration’s allegation as “nothing more than an attempt to sabotage relations” between Tehran and Washington by “laying traps to complicate the path for the next administration.”
Baqaei also held out an assurance to the incoming US administration that Tehran firmly adheres to a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes. He announced that Rafael Grossi, head of International Atomic Energy (IAEA) was due to arrive in Tehran on Wednesday night.
Taken together, Baqaei’s remarks suggest that Iran hopes there’s still daylight possible between Trump and Netanyahu. The clincher here would have been the remark that Trump slipped into his victory speech with great deliberation on November 6 that “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”
Trump was on record during his election campaign that “I don’t want to do damage to Iran but they cannot have nuclear weapons.” Tehran’s consultations with Grossi responds to Trump’s concern. This is smart thinking. Iran’s non-provocative stance would mean there is no alibi for attacking Iran.
That said, however, the “known unknown” still remains — namely, Iran’s retaliation to the Israeli attack on October 26. On November 2, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a video released by Iranian state media, promised “a crushing response” to Israeli attack. Conceivably, the period till January 20 when Trump is sworn in, is going to be critical.
Meanwhile, this week witnessed that Iran and Saudi Arabia have given verve to their detente, which is now manifesting as Riyadh’s solidarity and open support for Iran in its growing confrontation with Israel.
Amidst the growing tensions in the region, the chief of staff of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, visited Tehran on November 10 and met with his Iranian counterpart General Mohammad Bagheri. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke on the phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the phone in the context of a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – Arab League in Riyadh on November 11-12. Iran has extended an invitation to MbS to visit Tehran!
Two hugely significant highlights of the Riyadh summit have been, first, the Saudi prince’s inaugural address where he warned Israel against hitting Iran. This marked a historic turn by Riyadh toward Tehran-Israeli conflict, and away from US-supported normalisation with Jerusalem.
MbS told the summit that the international community should oblige Israel “to respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands.”
Again, Saudi Arabia accused Israel for the first time of committing “genocide” in Gaza. MbS told the leaders who gathered in Riyadh, that the kingdom renewed “its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people…”
Trump has been put on notice that he’s meeting a radically different geopolitical landscape in West Asia compared to his first term as president. The Trump transition team is keeping its cards close, offering NatSec Daily a boilerplate statement that Trump will take “necessary action” to “lead our country” and “restore peace through strength.” But warning bells are ringing.
The key pillars of Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy against Tehran — isolating Iran and ramping up economic pressure while maintaining a credible threat of military force as deterrent — have become wobbly.
On the other hand, the massive Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1 and the colossal failure of the Israeli air strike on Iran twenty-six days later convey a loud message all across West Asia that Israel is no longer the dominant military power it used to be — and there is a new sheriff in town. Trump will have to navigate the fallout of both sides of this issue with diminished US diplomatic and geopolitical capital at his disposal.
Meanwhile, Tehran is also deepening its cooperation with Russia, which adds a giant new Ukraine-sized complexity to Trump’s Iran policy. While in Eurasia, the US has allies, Trump is navigating in West Asia pretty much alone.
The US’ stark isolation comes home dramatically by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement on Wednesday that Turkey, a NATO member country, has severed all ties with Israel. Erdogan disclosed this to journalists aboard his plane after visiting Saudi Arabia. A regional trend to ostracise Israel is visible now and it is destined to expand and deepen.
The summit in Riyadh witnessed the African Union joining hands with the Arab League and OIC to sign a tripartite agreement on Tuesday to establish a mechanism to support the Palestinian cause, which will be coordinated through the three organisations’ secretariats as a game changer to strengthen their influence in international forums. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan noted that the three organisations will now onward speak with one voice internationally.
Even as the summit concluded in Riyadh, Crown Prince Salman had a call on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin readout stated that the two leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to continue the consistent expansion” of Russian-Saudi ties and specifically “stressed the importance of continuing close coordination within OPEC Plus and stated the effectiveness and timeliness of the steps being taken in this format to ensure balance on the global energy market.”
On the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Kremlin readout noted with satisfaction that “the principled approaches of Russia and Saudi Arabia with regard to the Middle East settlement are essentially identical.”
MbS’ initiative to re-invigorate his conversation with Putin can only be seen against the backdrop of the profound misgivings in Riyadh regarding the Trump-Netanyahu bromance and the spectre of a possible regional war haunting the region stemming out of Israel drawing encouragement from the seamless US support expected through the coming 4-year period for the Zionist cause.
US rewards Israeli regime with more weapons for breaching 30-day Gaza aid ultimatum
By Alireza Akbari | Press TV | November 13, 2024
During a meeting on Tuesday at the White House, Israeli President Isaac Herzog lavished praise on his outgoing American counterpart Joe Biden for his steadfast support of Israel, both in “words and deeds,” referring to Biden as “an incredible friend of Israel for decades.”
During the meeting, which coincided with the expiration of the US 30-day deadline for Israel to enhance aid flow to Gaza, Herzog presented Biden with a lucrative gift.
“You are clearly a Zionist, Mr. President,” Herzog told Biden, echoing his own words.
Despite the Biden administration vowing reduction in US military assistance if the Israeli regime failed to allow aid into the Gaza Strip in 30 days, the deadline expired without any change in the US policy.
Herzog told reporters in Washington on the sidelines of his meeting with Biden that the US government remains committed to ensuring the “security” of the Israeli regime.
In mid-October, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a crucial deadline to their Israeli counterparts amid the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with the regime obstructing nearly 90% of humanitarian flow between the northern and southern regions.
The letter outlined that Israel needed to take “urgent and sustained actions” to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza within 30 days.
Specifically, it called for the daily entry of at least 350 trucks of aid, the opening of a fifth border crossing, enhanced security for aid sites and the movement of humanitarian workers, an end to the isolation of northern Gaza, and the facilitation of movement for individuals in al-Mawasi to travel inland.
Furthermore, the letter highlighted US laws that could “restrict military assistance” to those impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid.
As the November 12 deadline passed, the State Department announced that it would not suspend military assistance to Israel and stated that they had “not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law,” giving a clean chit to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.
The US decision not to impose reductions in military assistance to the Israeli regime can be understood within the broader framework of its unwavering support for Israel since October 2023, according to experts, as the death toll continues to surge in the territory.
Washington has maintained its “iron-clad” military support for the Tel Aviv regime amid the genocidal war on Gaza, providing arms worth tens of billions of dollars, breaking all records.
This contradiction between rhetoric and reality raises significant questions about the United States’ true commitment to addressing humanitarian issues in Gaza, according to human rights activists.
The United States has significantly bolstered its military support for Israel since early October 2023.
Shortly after the Israeli regime unfolded a genocidal campaign in the region, the US began deploying warships and warplanes, pledging to provide Israel with “whatever it needs.”
By October 10, the commitment deepened, as additional ships were dispatched, and more personnel in the US were put on alert for possible deployment.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin further bolstered the US military presence on October 12 by ordering about 2,000 troops to be prepared for potential deployment to Israel. This military buildup included five shipments of American weapons and equipment arriving in Israel by October 17.
On October 18, the US wielded its veto power in the United Nations Security Council, blocking a resolution that called for a pause in hostilities. The following days saw President Biden actively advocating for increased military support, urging Congress to approve more aid.
On October 20, Biden formally requested 14 billion in military aid for Israel, part of a larger 105 billion package intended for various global needs.
The Pentagon continued its military readiness by announcing the deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems and additional Patriot batteries to the region on October 21.
By November 2023, the US House of Representatives responded to the intensified support efforts by approving a plan allocating $14.5 billion in military aid for Israel, further cementing the US’s commitment to its ally amid the ongoing war on Gaza.
Despite the extensive military support provided to Israel, the Biden administration has attempted to project concern for the humanitarian situation in the West Asia region.
In February 2024, the administration issued a national security directive requiring written assurances from Israel that it was using US-supplied weapons in accordance with international law.
This move came amid growing scrutiny of Israel’s acts of aggression and their impact on civilians.
By March 2024, the US began advocating for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, linking it to the release of hostages. However, Congress simultaneously approved $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel.
On March 29, despite escalating tensions, the Biden administration authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel.
In April, a supplemental appropriations act provided an additional $8.7 billion in military aid to Israel, further solidifying the US commitment to its ally.
By May, the White House announced a pause in the shipment of large bombs to Israel in anticipation of a pending assault on Rafah, though it indicated that other military assistance would continue.
The administration’s support for Israel continued to grow, with the announcement of $20.3 billion in new arms sales agreements in August.
Since October 2023, the United States has consistently approved military aid to Israel, reaching a record number of 17.9 billion in security assistance, including $6.8 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), $5.7 billion for missile defense systems, $1 billion for heavy weaponry, and $4.4 billion to replenish US weapon stocks transferred to Israel.
During this period, the US has facilitated over 100 military aid transfers to Israel. These shipments have encompassed a wide array of munitions, including artillery shells, precision-guided bombs, and 2,000-pound bunker-buster munitions.
Israel has benefited from expedited deliveries drawn from a US strategic stockpile since the 1980s, underscoring the depth of the military partnership between Washington and the Tel Aviv regime.
The state-backed settler war to annex the West Bank
By Robert Inlakesh | The Cradle | November 13, 2024
Despite Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and military aggression against Lebanon, Tel Aviv is preparing to unleash its fanatical Jewish settlers in a coordinated war against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, aiming to ethnically cleanse what remains of the territory and pave the way for further annexation.
Adding fuel to the fire, billionaire Miriam Adelson, the wealthiest Israeli in the world, bankrolled Donald Trump’s “huge victory” in his successful presidential campaign with one clear condition: support for annexing the West Bank.
Last month The Times of Israel noted that the wealthy widow “is carrying on a legacy she built with her late husband, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson,” and that “The Adelson family has long been one of the largest sources of campaign money for Republican candidates and has backed Trump during each of the last three general elections.”
The complete consolidation of the West Bank
Speaking to The Cradle, Ubai al-Aboudi, executive director of Palestinian rights group ‘Bisan Center,’ says that “the Israeli settlers are preparing to carry out a major attack, to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population,” adding that this attack will be particularly focused on completely erasing Palestinians from what is known as Area C, which constitutes roughly 60 percent of the West Bank.
That escalation has already begun. On 4 November, armed settlers launched a brazen assault on the Palestinian city of Al-Bireh, marking a surge in the violence that has gripped the West Bank. In October alone, settlers carried out at least 1,490 attacks against Palestinians, their property, and their land – often under the supervision and protection of occupation soldiers.
In the past, extremist settler attacks against Palestinians were characterized by their spontaneous nature and uncoordinated thuggery, but this has begun to change. During a recent interview with Israel’s Channel 7 News, West Bank Settlement Council leader Israel Gantz commented on a meeting he had with the recently sacked Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant:
“We asked that the West Bank be treated as Jabalia, Rafah, and the villages of southern Lebanon were treated, which means displacing the residents, killing the terrorists in these villages, cleansing the terrorist infrastructure, confiscating the weapons and then returning them to their villages.”
While the statement includes the idea of returning Palestinians to their villages, if such an operation replicated Gaza and southern Lebanon, there would be no village to return to. Gantz also requested that Palestinian villages bordering illegal Jewish settlements be ‘cleansed’ due to the potential security threat posed to Israelis living there – both ideas reportedly opposed by Gallant.
On 5 November, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replaced Gallant and handed the defense minister position to long-time ally Israel Katz. While serving in his previous role as Israel’s foreign minister, Katz openly called for expelling Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank, unlike his predecessor.
‘Organized militias’
Last November, it was revealed that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir had ordered the police to stop enforcing the law against West Bank settlers.
This is why the armed settler assault on Al-Bireh was seen as so significant. As Netanyahu reshuffles his cabinet to include a full deck of right-wingers, many of whom are themselves West Bank settlers, these groups are becoming even more brazen.
The assault on Al-Bireh was particularly alarming – a “pogrom-style attack,“ according to Aboudi, as “they feel emboldened by the impunity they enjoy.” Rampaging settlers burned 18 vehicles and two apartments while Israeli soldiers looked on.
One West Bank Palestinian described to The Cradle how settlers showed up outside her home armed with Molotov cocktails, but “were luckily scared off” prior to assaulting family members:
“I had just left my home prior to the attack, but I knew something was wrong because the soldiers were acting very violently at all the checkpoints as I was leaving … you have to understand that these kinds of attacks don’t happen without the soldiers participating in some way.”
“The settlers are acting more and more like organized militias; they are an extension of the Israeli army working towards an agenda of ethnic cleansing,” insists Aboudi, affirming that this year’s attacks have been dramatically increasing. According to statistics, settler violence has been escalating every year since 2021, reaching an unprecedented number of attacks in 2024.
Through the use of state-backed settler ‘defense squads,’ Israel has managed to ethnically cleanse 16 Palestinian communities in the southern hills of Al-Khalil (Hebron). In 2023, it was discovered that the Israeli army had established the ‘Desert Frontier’ unit, comprised of the most extremist Jewish settlers from the notorious ‘Hilltop Youth’ group. Human rights groups have also documented the use of Israeli standard-issue rifles by West Bank settlers attacking Palestinians, all pointing toward state complicity in these attacks.
According to Aboudi, “around 700 [Israeli] roadblocks cut off Palestinian villages from each other.” Set up by occupation forces, the roadblocks provide cover for “attacks from violent settlers who target Palestinians passing by … greatly affecting the ability to even travel safely across the West Bank.” The attackers can rely on unconditional impunity from Tel Aviv, he explains:
“They feel that they have enough resources, weapons, arms, political backing, to commit whatever crime they choose.”
Trump and West Bank annexation
Yossi Dagan, the settler leader of Samaria Regional Council, recently purchased some 500 rifles to arm and prepare “emergency security teams” in anticipation of a war in the West Bank. In September, Israel declared the West Bank a “combat zone,” and created closed military zones as buffers surrounding the illegal Jewish settlements.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister who was recently gifted control of settlement affairs for the occupied Palestinian territories, issued a public call for annexation in late October. As a longtime West Bank settler himself, Smotrich openly works on behalf of a 2017 settler movement proposal, outlined in a document entitled ‘Decisive Plan,’ which seeks to double the settler population of the West Bank.
If this is combined with Israel’s decision to begin transferring the Israeli settler population from military to civil control, it becomes clear that the process of annexation is already underway.
With the victory of Donald Trump in the recent US elections, it is more than likely that Netanyahu views annexation of the West Bank to suddenly be a very viable option, despite the historic opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July that declared Israel’s occupation of the territories to be a violation of international law and demanded that Tel Aviv end its occupation, dismantle all settlements, pay reparations for damages to Palestinians, and facilitate the return of all displaced natives.
But Trump’s sweeping electoral victory was aided by uber-Zionist Adelson’s contribution of $100 million to his campaign, with the single request that the Republican leader permit Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
Recall too that the Adelsons financed Trump’s first presidential bid, in 2016, with the quid pro quo that the Republican leader move the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize the Holy City as Israel’s undivided Capital – a promise that Trump implemented in 2018.
Now, Miriam Adelson is pushing for the annexation of the West Bank. Combined with the surge in settler violence, the formation of Jewish militias, military training programs for settler civilians, and the distribution of 120,000 rifles, a calculated strategy is taking shape. This is not just about sporadic attacks – it is a deliberate, state-backed campaign to alter the demographics of the West Bank permanently in line with the expansionist, settler-colonial ideology of the most extremist coalition government in Israel’s history.
How will ‘Israel’ finance its F-15IA fighter jets deal with Boeing?
Al Mayadeen | November 13, 2024
The Israeli Security Ministry’s recent announcement of an agreement with Boeing to purchase 25 F-15IA fighter jets for $5.2 billion, with funding to be drawn from US military aid, raised several questions, primarily about whether US military aid to “Israel” would cover the latest procurement, the Israeli news website Globes reported Wednesday.
According to the Watson Institute at Brown University, the US provided “Israel” with $17.9 billion in military aid during the first year of the war, significantly exceeding the formal annual aid package of $3.8 billion that Washington has committed to Tel Aviv, the news website highlighted.
It noted that among the $3.8 billion annually in military aid—$3.3 billion allocated for procurement and $500 million for joint air defense projects—along with other grants provided each year.
Globes added that the Israeli Security Ministry has stated that delivery of the F-15IA fighter jets is expected to begin in 2031, with 4-6 aircraft delivered per year through 2035 under the most favorable scenario.
It pointed out that this raises further questions about the financial structure of the deal, particularly as the total investment exceeds the annual US aid to “Israel” by $1.4 billion.
So how will “Israel” finance the F-15IA deal?
The report suggested that payments to Boeing may be structured in installments.
In this regard, Globes cited Moti Besser, who served as a financial advisor to the Israeli occupation forces Chief of Staff and headed the Ministry of Security’s budget division from 1997 to 2000, as saying that “Israel” is unique in that US security aid enables it to commit to long-term contracts based on project milestones.
Besser highlighted that while other parties must pay for defense products upfront before delivery, “Israel has a different model that has been built over the years and allows for funding to be deployed over a long period of time and to take into account existing and future sources.”
He explained that when a $5.2 billion contract is spread out, it doesn’t deplete accumulated aid, but rather aligns with a multi-year funding flow that supports additional procurements.
It is noteworthy that since October last year, the Israeli Air Force has conducted relentless airstrikes in the region, killing more than 43,000 people in the Gaza Strip and more than 3,000 others in Lebanon, in addition to leveling civilian infrastructure.
Israeli aircraft have also been used in repeated assaults on Syria and Yemen, as well as Iran.
In late September, “Israel” received a new US military aid package totaling $8.7 billion.
Ido Nehushtan, president of Boeing Israel, pointed to the long-standing relationship with the Israeli occupation entity and confirmed the company’s commitment to “working with the US and Israeli governments to deliver the advanced F-15IA aircraft through standard military procurement channels.”
What’s Behind Saudi Crown Prince’s Demand to Israel Not to Attack Iran?
MBS Trumps Adelson
By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 13.11.2024
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also referred to as MBS, warned Israel against attacking Iran at an Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit in Riyadh on November 11.
The crown prince specifically said that the international community should make Israel “respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands.”
“This is certainly an interesting development,” Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University Qatar, tells Sputnik.
Kamrava outlined possible reasons behind the crown prince’s move:
- Trump’s decision to appoint anti-Iran politicians to key foreign policy positions could embolden Israel to step up attacks against Iran and ignite a larger regional war. “What we’re seeing is an attempt by Saudi Arabia to signal its displeasure and disapproval of a potential expansion of the conflict,” the pundit says.
- MBS laid the groundwork for de-escalation, giving Iran the opportunity “to gracefully back out” of the conflict with Israel.
- “Iran has now renewed popularity in the proverbial Arab street because of it being the only regular army to have attacked Israel after 1973,” the professor continued, suggesting that MBS’s words were also a show of support to Tehran.
- “This is part of a broader regional sign that is being sent to Washington” with regard to its overall Middle Eastern policy, according to Kamrava.
Meanwhile, in October, Saudi Arabia and Iran held joint naval drills in the Sea of Oman. MBS and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke on the phone a day before the summit. On November 10, Saudi Arabia’s top military official visited Tehran to meet with his Iranian counterparts.
These signals are “important” and “significant”, the pundit emphasizes.
European lackeys in panic mode as Trump signals detente with Russia
By Finian Cunningham | Strategic Culture Foundation | November 12, 2024
It’s early days yet. However, there are signs that President-elect Trump is moving toward a detente with Russia over Ukraine.
One good sign is that Trump will not invite Mike Pompeo or Nikki Haley to join his cabinet when he is inaugurated as the 47th U.S. president on January 20. Both of these figures were rabid anti-Russia hawks during Trump’s previous administration. There were suggestions that Pompeo and Haley might return with senior posts in his second administration. But Trump has announced the pair will not be offered new positions.
Another positive sign is from people close to Trump’s inner circle who are letting the Kiev regime know – rudely – that the U.S. military aid spigot is being turned off.
Donald Trump has yet to hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin. But both leaders have already expressed a willingness to negotiate a peaceful settlement over the Ukraine conflict.
Another promising sign of potential detente between the United States and Russia is the sheer panic among European leaders. The news of Trump’s election last week has caused most European elites to scramble like scared children on hearing “boo!”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron are consoling themselves by urging Europe to “come together” in the wake of Trump’s stunning election victory. The collapse of Germany’s coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is an early casualty of the Trump impact.
European leaders fear that if Trump pulls the plug on military aid to the Kiev regime they will be left holding the can to fund the proxy war against Russia, which the weak European economies have no chance of sustaining.
It’s no secret that the main European states were betting on Democrat candidate Kamala Harris winning the race to the White House. Harris would have ensured the continuation of NATO’s backing for the Kiev regime. With Trump becoming president, all bets are off.
The political price will be ruinous for European leaders who have invested huge political capital in waging war to “defend Ukraine from Russian aggression.” Trump has shown skepticism toward that false narrative. He has told Europe to go it alone if it wants to. And the European Russophobes know they can’t do that.
If Trump follows through on his election promise to negotiate with Putin on a settlement in Ukraine, then the Europeans are going to be left with serious amounts of egg on their faces.
One thing about Trump that is of concern to the Europeans is his frustration with them as being, in his view, freeloaders on American protection. Another is Trump’s vindictive streak. He’s not going to forget that most of the European leaders wanted him to lose the election.
Take Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer. His Labour Party sent volunteers over to the U.S. to advise Harris on winning the election. The British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has also been reminded that he previously disparaged Trump as a racist “sociopath.”
Trump’s election is bad news for Britain and there is no doubt that Starmer is now trying to repair post-Brexit relations with Europe as a hedge against the expected chill from Washington during the next four years.
When Britain pulled out of the European Union after its 2016 Brexit referendum, there were high hopes that it could negotiate a special trade deal with the U.S. That deal didn’t work out and looks even less likely now. Hence, Starmer has been busy since taking office in Downing Street trying to restore relations with the EU.
This week, the British leader attended the Armistice ceremony in Paris to commemorate the end of the First World War. The last time a British leader honored that event in Paris was in 1944 when Winston Churchill visited the French capital following its liberation from Nazi occupation.
Macon invited Starmer to lay wreaths in the Champs-Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe.
The choreographed caper of European unity is a reflection of the panic gripping European leaders in the aftermath of Trump’s return to the White House.
But everything is up in the air for the European politicians. Starmer was bending over backward to renew relations with Germany as a way to forge a warmer connection between London and the European Union after years of post-Brexit bitterness, only for that to be thrown into doubt.
Last month saw a landmark security deal between Britain and Germany in which German arms maker Rheinmetall would open a new factory in Britain, and the German Luftwaffe would be able to fly warplanes from an RAF base in Scotland. The deal was touted as “a sign of joint European security in the face of Russian threat.”
With the collapse of the government in Berlin over the unbearable financial costs of the Ukraine war to the German economy, the British security treaty may not materialize. That means a big setback to Starmer’s reset plans with Europe.
Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Robert Fico are in the minority of European politicians who genuinely welcomed Trump’s election as an opportunity to wind down the NATO proxy war in Ukraine against Russia.
On the other hand, the ardent NATO warmongers in Europe, including Britain, Germany, France, Poland and the Baltic states now face a desperate dilemma. Along with EU leaders like Von der Leyen and the Dutch NATO chief Mark Rutte, they have all nailed their colors to the mast for continuing the reckless proxy war against Russia.
Trump seems to be showing good sense in calling off that proxy war and finding a way to negotiate sensibly with Russia on detente. Moscow wants its long-term security demands to be met. That means no NATO membership for Ukraine, an end to the NeoNazi regime in Kiev, and recognition of its historical lands in Crimea and the Donbass.
This is all eminently negotiable, and Trump might just be ready to cut a deal to avoid World War Three, as he has repeatedly indicated he would do. That would mean Trump dumping the false narrative that Biden, Harris and the Democrats – and their European vassals – contrived about “defending Ukraine”.
That would leave the European lackeys in a disastrous lurch. How will they explain to their electorates the three-year slaughter in Ukraine? How will they justify the tens of billions of Euros and Sterling wasted on pushing a war that not only destroyed millions of lives but their economies as well?
The stupid European leaders are in panic mode, and that’s a good thing.
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Iran UN ambassador calls for destruction of all nuclear weapons
Iran’s ambassador to the UN Gholamali Khoshroo
Press TV – March 29, 2017
Iran’s ambassador to the UN Gholamali Khoshroo has called for the total eradication of nuclear weapons.
Khoshroo reiterated Iran’s call during a UN conference aimed at creating a nuclear weapons ban treaty in New York on Tuesday.
“Iran, as a victim of chemical weapons, strongly feels the danger posed by the existence of weapons of mass destruction and is determined to engage actively in international diplomatic efforts to save humanity from the menace of nuclear weapons,” he said.
Khoshroo stressed that Iran is committed to its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations, which include negotiations based on effective nuclear disarmament measures.
He added that several countries continue to ignore international calls and treaties for nuclear disarmament and even continue to increase their nuclear stockpiles. “They do not have political determination to abandon doctrines of nuclear deterrence and nuclear terror,” he went on to say.
Iran’s UN ambassador noted that boycotting the talks by many countries, including the US, shows that the world’s nuclear powers are by no means committed to the eradication of nuclear arms. Britain and France were also among the some 40 countries that did not join the talks.
“We note that prohibition of nuclear weapons must be accompanied by the elimination of such weapons. There can be no doubt that without complete abolition of nuclear weapons, there will be no absolute guarantee against the danger of nuclear war and the use of such weapons,” Khoshroo added.
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