WSJ admits no proof of UNRWA staff collaborating with Hamas
Al Mayadeen | August 5, 2024
The chief editor of The Wall Street Journal Elena Cherney has admitted to not having evidence to back up its January claims that numerous UNRWA employees in Gaza were involved in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Semafor news reported.
The Wall Street Journal stated in January, citing Israeli intelligence, that at least 12 UNRWA employees were personally involved in the events of October 7.
“The fact that the Israeli claims haven’t been backed up by solid evidence doesn’t mean our reporting was inaccurate or misleading, that we have walked it back or that there is a correctable error here,” Cherney said at the time.
Sources told Semafor that since the WSJ article was published, its writers have attempted to validate the information several times but have failed at doing so.
They also divulged that WSJ journalists covering the war on Gaza have frequently expressed worry about the newspaper’s biased coverage of “Israel”.
In March, Reuters reported that following weeks of a nonstop Israeli-targeted campaign against the UN agency, UNRWA said in an unpublished report that some of its staffers were coerced into falsely stating that they had ties with the Palestinian Resistance movement – Hamas and that they took part in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7
The occupation entity alleged in January that 12 of the 12,000 UNRWA members in Gaza participated in the October operation.
According to the news agency, UNRWA’s report dated February said that its workers were subjected “to threats and coercion” by the Israeli authorities “while in detention and pressured to make false statements against the Agency,” including that it has affiliations with Hamas and that “UNRWA staff members took part” in the Resistance operation in October 2023.
The Israeli allegations prompted over 15 countries, including the United States, to suspend almost half a billion dollars in UNRWA funding. The agency warned of the catastrophic repercussions of this decision on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, already in shatters due to “Israel’s” ongoing genocide and starvation policy.
Since then, several countries resumed their funding as none of the Israeli allegations were corroborated.
‘Israel’ passes bill in first reading to label UNRWA ‘terrorist org.’
Last month, the Israeli parliament granted initial approval to a bill that aims to label UNRWA as a “terrorist organization” and suggests severing ties with the humanitarian agency.
The bill received approval during its first reading in the Knesset. It was set to be sent back to the Israeli “Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee” for additional review and discussion before the final decision is made.
Commenting on the Knesset’s measure, UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma warned that this is “another attempt in a wider campaign to dismantle the agency,” adding that “such steps are unheard of in the history of the United Nations.”
The Palestinian Resistance group Hamas condemned the approval of the bill, saying that the bill seeks “to end the Palestinian cause, foremost the refugee issue.”
Hamas called on the international community and the United Nations to “take firm stances against Israel” and protect UNRWA from the occupation’s attempts to “eliminate it.”
Similarly, the Palestinian al-Mujahideen Movement condemned the bill, describing it as a “Zionist attempt to eliminate one of the legal witnesses to our people’s tragedy and their displacement in 1948,” asserting that the decision is a “precursor to a new policy of starvation and siege” against the Palestinian people.
Resistance Axis: a calculated, simultaneous strike on Israel
Hezbollah source: Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen will launch simultaneous retaliatory strikes against Israel, to overwhelm the Iron Dome.
By Ali Rizk | The Cradle | August 5, 2024
West Asia stands on a knife’s edge as the region’s Axis of Resistance prepares to retaliate against a series of recent Israeli assassinations and aggressions.
Iran, Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Ansarallah-aligned armed forces have vowed to make the occupation state pay a heavy price following the targeted killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in southern Beirut.
Additionally, Israel bombed the Hodeidah port in Yemen following Sanaa’s successful ‘Yafa’ drone operation in Tel Aviv on 19 July.
An official from the Lebanese resistance has informed The Cradle that “The response will come at once from Iran, Hezbollah, and Yemen,” adding that the goal was to “inflict a painful blow to Israel which may not be achieved should separate retaliations be pursued.”
Executing the ‘Unity of Fronts’
Retaliation is all but certain and could happen within hours, according to senior US officials. A report yesterday by Axios claims that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed his G7 counterparts that the response could begin as early as within the next 24 hours.
Just yesterday, Ali al-Qahoum, a member of the political bureau of Ansarallah, emphasized that the response to Israel will not just come from Tehran:
We affirm our commitment to the battle, steadfastness, awareness, honor, and pride in standing with Palestine, the cause of the nation.
The critical question now is the scope and severity of the retaliation. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has promised a painful yet calculated blow to Tel Aviv. During Shukr’s funeral procession, Nasrallah warned that Israel had crossed the line, promising “a real and well-calculated response” – distinct from the cross-border operations Hezbollah has conducted against Israel since 8 October.
Flattening the Iron Dome
Other well-informed sources agree that the response could be coordinated, suggesting that retaliation from multiple fronts simultaneously is likely. They tell The Cradle that such an approach could take Israel’s primary air defense system, the Iron Dome, out of commission by preventing it from rapidly rearming. They believe this is achievable given Hezbollah’s capacity to launch a significant barrage of missiles and given Lebanon’s geographical proximity to potential Israeli targets.
These assessments appear to be consistent with those made by US officials who have warned that the Iron Dome could be overwhelmed by Hezbollah’s missile and drone arsenal should a full-scale war erupt.
Senior US military officials, meanwhile, have gone on the record cautioning that Washington would probably be unable to provide Tel Aviv with sufficient protection even in a single front, full-scale war with Hezbollah. US Joint Chief of Staff Charles Brown said as much in his remarks to the press in late June.
From our perspective, based on where our forces are, the short-range between Lebanon and Israel, it’s harder for us to be able to support them [Israel] in the same way we did in April [with Operation Truthful Promise].
Unwilling US support for Tel Aviv
Although much has been said about the US and its allies successfully thwarting Iran’s response to the Israeli attack on its consulate last April, it is noteworthy that all targeted Israeli military bases were hit during the Iranian retaliatory strikes. Operation Truthful Promise was intended more as a message, indicating that Tehran would no longer tolerate Israeli aggression against its interests.
US military reinforcements in the region may help intercept missiles and drones coming from Lebanon, while vassal state Jordan could also play a part as it did during Iran’s retaliatory strikes. However, this also makes US military assets and those of its partners legitimate targets for the Resistance Axis.
As former Pentagon analyst Michael Maloof explains to The Cradle:
Hezbollah would likely target US warships in the region that would take part in intercepting missiles directed at Israeli targets.
“As in 2006, I envision US involvement focused more on evacuating many of the 86,000 Americans now in Lebanon who would want to leave,” adds Maloof.
Washington’s top military officials also appear firmly opposed to being drawn into an active offensive role should a wider war erupt with Hezbollah, let alone a dreaded multi-front war. This stance is supported by statements from US Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown, indicating the Pentagon’s limited willingness to protect the occupation state.
Note that Washington’s pledges to defend Israel have made no mention of potential offensive action, reflecting an American desire to avoid a wider war. Experts doubt the US will become heavily involved in any full-scale war, supported by public statements underscoring the importance of avoiding regional escalation – and voiced more privately, the desire to keep US military targets safe from retaliatory strikes.
Military risk and political calculations
As Brown said at the time, Washington’s main message is:
To think about the second order of effect of any type of operation into Lebanon, and how that might play out and how it impacts not just the region, but how it impacts our forces in regions as well.
The general – the most senior ranking US military official and the senior military advisor to the White House – was delivering a message that carries special significance amidst the recent developments.
By stating that an Israeli-initiated war on Lebanon put US troops at risk, Brown was essentially saying that a wider regional war was not seen as helping US interests by the Pentagon’s top brass.
Given these statements, it remains possible – though far from guaranteed – that the outgoing Biden administration may rein in Israel regardless of how painful a blow is delivered to it by the Axis of Resistance.
The upcoming US election in November is another factor that may prevent a regional conflagration. “The US getting more militarily involved with Israel,” warns Maloof, “would lead to riots in the streets of Chicago at the Democratic Convention later this month.”
These realities suggest a scenario where Washington might force Tel Aviv to absorb the Axis of Resistance’s retaliation, however severe it may be.
What arsenal will Iran use to punish Israel over Haniyeh’s assassination?
By Ivan Kesic | Press TV | August 5, 2024
The stage is set for the retaliatory military operation against the Israeli regime following the assassination of Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
A series of statements by the Iranian leadership, including Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) indicate that the regime must brace up for a severe and unprecedented punishment.
Haniyeh was assassinated along with his bodyguard in a terrorist attack in the Iranian capital early on Wednesday. He was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Pezeshkian.
The attack came barely hours after Israel killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike on a residential area in the southern suburb of Beirut, in which an Iranian military advisor and some civilians were also martyred.
Following the attack on Haniyeh, Iran called upon the UN Security Council to take immediate and decisive action, describing the attack as a “serious infringement on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran” and a “blatant violation of the basic norms and principles of international law.”
In a letter to the world body, Amir-Saeed Iravani, Iran’s permanent ambassador to the UN, emphasized the country’s right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
“This rogue and terrorist regime and its accomplices bear responsibility. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right to self-defense, as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to respond decisively and promptly,” he said.
In a statement on Sunday, IRGC said the attack was carried out with a “short-range projectile” with a warhead of approximately 7 kg fired from outside the residence of Haniyeh in north Tehran.
How will retaliation unfold?
There is an intense and animated debate in military and policy circles about the nature of Iran’s response to the terrorist attack against Haniyeh and the kind of weapons that could be used.
Iran possesses a massive arsenal of long-range precision strike weapons, which it has demonstrated in recent years against regional terrorist strongholds and with direct strikes on the Zionist entity in April.
The country has a massive arsenal of ballistic, quasi-ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, by far the largest in the region and one of the four largest in the world, as well as some of the most advanced models of loitering munitions, also in colossal quantities.
The long ballistic missiles tailor-made for retaliation against the Zionist regime include Shahab-3, Ghadr-110, Fajr-3, Ashura, Sajjil, Emad, Qiam-1, Rezvan, Khorramshahr and Kheibar, while relatively smaller ballistic missiles include Dezful, Kheibar Shekan and Haj Qasem.
The first group of ballistic missiles has a range of 1,000 to 2,500 km and a warhead of 700 to 1,500 kg, while the second group has a range of 1,000 to 1,500 km and mostly carries a half-ton warhead.
Some of them can also carry several warheads, each capable of aiming different targets and some are fitted with submunitions dispensers for striking wide areas like air bases.
This means that Iran is capable of hitting Zionist targets from every ballistic base or site across the country, and the large payload is equivalent to the most powerful bunker busters and can penetrate hardened targets protected by several meters of concrete.
Novelties in Iran’s missile arsenal are the precision-guided Fattah hypersonic missiles with a terminal speed of Mach 13 to 15, and the new Fattah-2 glider version, both untouchable for existing air defense systems.
Furthermore, the last stages of these models also have hypersonic speeds, from Mach 5 to 12, so they are also difficult to intercept by enemy systems, as proved by the operation ‘True Promise’ in April.
Iranian long-range cruise missiles include Soumar, Meshkat, Ya-Ali, Hoveyzeh, Abu Mahdi, Paveh, Talaiyeh and Qadr-474, while long-range loitering munition (kamikaze drones) include Ababil, Arash, Shahed-131, Shahed-136 and Shahed-238.
Iran also has a large fleet of warplanes and drones capable of carrying various bombs and air-to-ground missiles, but previous experience shows that the above-mentioned expendable weaponry is favored for retaliatory operations of this type.
In the April operation against Israel, Iran did not use the most capable ballistic missiles or loitering munition, but still managed to successfully hit Israeli air bases with Kheibar Shekan missiles and engaged numerous Israeli, American, British and French aircraft in the interception of Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.
In that operation, the main purpose of small, cheap and slow kamikaze drones with 50 kg warheads was not to cause damage but to load radar systems in a simultaneous attack with more powerful missiles.
A flight hour of modern jets and their air-to-air missiles, or air defense missiles, cost several times more than kamikaze drones, hence the successful shooting down of swarms represents a cost-efficiency loss.
Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Division, said that in the operation “True Promise” only 20 percent of the originally planned weapons were used, but the enemies had to mobilize everything at their disposal to counter them.
This time, for the announced new strike on the Zionist entity, it is possible to see newer models of missiles and kamikaze drones or those relatively older models in larger quantities.
This time, the targets could be new, since the Ramon and Nevatim air bases were targeted in April as warplanes that took part in the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus had taken off from there.
Since the latest terrorist attack in Tehran was most likely carried out by Zionist intelligence operatives, the headquarters of Israeli spy organizations are potential targets.
These headquarters, unlike the two mentioned air bases, are not in uninhabited desert regions but in the densely populated metropolitan Tel Aviv, where half of the population of the Zionist entity lives.
Other likely targets are military bases, vital industrial infrastructure, ports or regime buildings, also in the areas of Tel Aviv, Haifa and other major cities in the occupied territories.
Due to the high sophistication and precision of Iranian missiles, the only danger for ordinary settlers in the occupied territories is the debris of their own interceptor missiles, either in the case of successful or unsuccessful shooting down.
Warnings from Iran
On Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei had warned the Israeli regime of a “harsh response” for the assassination of a “dear guest” – the leader of the Hamas resistance movement.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself,” the Leader said.
“He was not afraid of embracing martyrdom in the way of God and saving God’s servants, but we consider it our duty to avenge his blood in this bitter and horrific incident that took place in the Islamic Republic’s territory,” he asserted.
President Pezeshkian, in a meeting with Jordanian top diplomat Ayman Safadi on Sunday, described the assassination of Haniyeh as a “great crime” that he said “will not go unanswered.”
The IRGC said in a statement that the terrorist attack was “planned and executed” by Israel with the support of the US government, warning that the Zionist regime would receive “a severe punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner.”
The top commander of IRGC, Major General Hossein Salami, strongly warned the Israeli regime of the consequences of the recent assassinations in Tehran and Beirut.
The perpetrators, he said, “should await sacred fury, harsh revenge, and vengeance on the part of the devoted, resolute, and determined mujahedeen of the various fronts of the regional resistance.”
On Friday, Ali Baqeri Kani, acting Foreign Minister, said Iran will certainly exercise its inherent and legitimate right to punish the “criminal Zionist gang” for its terrorist attack.
Baqeri made these remarks during a phone call with Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, emphasizing that the Israeli regime’s terrorist act, in addition to violating Iran’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty, has endangered regional and international peace and stability.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in remarks on Sunday said Iran’s “crushing and smart response” to the Israeli regime and the US will make them regret the assassination
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced the deployment of additional warplanes and warships to the Persian Gulf region, as well as an additional 4,000 Marines and sailors amid heightened tensions.
Iran to cross what ‘Israel’ deems ‘red lines’ in retaliation: Sources
Al Mayadeen | August 4, 2024
Iran considers the assassination of martyr Ismail Haniyeh to be one of its red lines that was crossed, “regardless of the details of the operation,” indicating that it will handle the response accordingly, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Tehran reported, citing an informed Iranian source.
That is why “Iran will respond in a way that crosses the red lines set by the Israeli occupation,” the source informed source stated.
They also pointed out that “Iran will not yield to pressures and messages of de-escalation because any abandonment of retaliation will open the door to more Israeli aggressions.”
Today, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, affirmed that his country “has not and will not leave any attack on its sovereignty unanswered,” stressing that the Israeli occupation and the United States “will regret their actions and will be forced to change their calculations.”
A response stronger than ‘Operation True Promise’
Earlier, Kazem Gharibabadi, the Deputy Chief for International Affairs of the Iranian Judiciary, warned in an interview for Al Mayadeen that the Israeli occupation would face severe repercussions for its actions, such that “it would not dare to commit further acts of terrorism or violate Iran’s sovereignty.”
Gharibabadi’s remarks come in response to the Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, alongside one of his guards in Tehran, on July 31.
He emphasized that the response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, would be “more decisive than Operation True Promise“.
Gharibabadi described the Israeli action as “an act of terrorism that defies international resolutions,” arguing that it reveals not the strength but the impotence of the Israeli entity.
He asserted that the killing of innocent civilians, including women and children in Gaza, demonstrates the defeat of the Israeli entity.
CENTCOM chief in Israel for ‘preparations’ against Iran, Hezbolla
The Cradle | August 4, 2024
The US CENTCOM chief arrived in Israel on 3 August to help Tel Aviv prepare for an Iranian retaliation to the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on its soil last week, as well as Hezbollah’s response to the strike on Beirut hours before.
General Michael Kurilla arrived in Israel on Saturday “as preparations continue for a possible attack against Israel from Iran [and Hezbollah] in retaliation for the assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders,” two US officials told Axios on 4 August.
Kurilla had already been planning a trip to Israel prior to the serious escalation, which saw Tel Aviv attack Beirut and Tehran within hours of each other.
“He is expected to use the trip to try to mobilize the same international and regional coalition that defended Israel against an attack from Iran on Apr. 13,” an official told Axios. At the time, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in response to the destruction of its consulate in Damascus and the killing of several Iranian officials.
Three US officials told the outlet they expect an Iranian retaliation to Haniyeh’s killing “as early as Monday.”
According to the report, Washington is concerned it will be difficult to garner the same amount of regional support in defense of Israel as it did in April, given that Haniyeh’s assassination comes within the context of the Gaza war – for which Israel has drawn major criticism from the Arab world and internationally.
Kurilla is set to visit several Gulf nations, as well as the kingdom of Jordan – which played a major role in intercepting Iranian projectiles during the April attack. Amman has already vowed to confront any violation of its airspace.
Jordan also opened up its airspace to US and Israeli jets during Iran’s April operation. “The U.S. hopes the same will happen again if needed,” another US official told Axios.
US and Israeli officials also “don’t know if Iran and Hezbollah will conduct a coordinated attack or operate separately … they think both Iran and Hezbollah are still working on finalizing their military plans and approving them at the political level.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Washington has been beefing up its presence in the region in anticipation of the Resistance Axis’s responses, which could potentially include Iraq’s resistance factions and Yemen’s Ansarallah movement.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US will maintain the presence of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, and has ordered more ballistic missile and defense-capable cruisers and warships to the region.
An additional squadron of fighter jets has also been deployed, in line with US President Joe Biden’s vow to send new deployments in defense of Israel during his phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed last week a “harsh punishment” for Israel. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah also warned Tel Aviv: “You do not know which red lines you have crossed.”
Source tells Tasnim NYT report on Haniyeh assassination false
Al Mayadeen | August 3, 2024
An informed source has dismissed a recent report by The New York Times regarding the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Speaking to Tasnim News Agency on Saturday, the source described the NYT article published on August 1 as being “riddled with lies” and a continuation of a psyop of the Israeli occupation that lacks any news value.
The source specifically highlighted the involvement of Ronen Bergman, one of the report’s authors, suggesting that his track record undermines the credibility of the article.
“The Zionist regime has crossed a major red line and committed a barbaric and cowardly assassination, whose full details are being investigated,” the source stated.
They accused the Israeli occupation of mobilizing its security elements within media outlets to disseminate false details, thereby confusing the public and experts to cover up their terrorist acts.
According to the source, vital information has surfaced about Haniyeh’s martyrdom. They refuted the NYT‘s claim that Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device covertly smuggled into his residence. Instead, the source stated that evidence indicates an aerial projectile, possibly carried by a drone, was responsible for the explosion.
The source further denied claims in the NYT report that members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council met with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei at 7 am on July 31.
The source described such details as part of an old media tactic designed to make readers believe in the authenticity of the report by providing seemingly precise information.
UK Joins US in Deploying Military Forces to Middle East After Israeli Escalation
Sputnik – 03.08.2024
The United Kingdom will deploy additional military personnel in the Middle East amid tensions in the region after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, the country’s government said.
“Military personnel are also in the process of deploying to the region to provide Embassies with operational support to help British nationals,” read a statement from Whitehall.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said it had received a report of a distress signal from a vessel proceeding 170 nautical miles (195 miles) southwest of the Yemeni port of Aden.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed military cooperation with his UK counterpart John Healey Friday as Western countries seek to protect Israel as it escalates tensions in the Middle East. Iran enjoys the right under international law to launch a retaliatory strike against Tel Aviv after the Zionist state launched an attack on sovereign Iranian territory earlier this week.
The United Kingdom and Israel significantly upgraded relations in 2021 to “strategic partnership” status. The British government has been criticized for its foundational role in unrest in the Levant, which it provoked in 1917 by granting its colonial holdings in Palestine to Zionist settlers. The UK has continued to back Israel diplomatically and militarily, although the modern armed forces of the former colonial power are considered relatively weak.
Earlier this week Hamas confirmed that Haniyeh had been killed in an Israeli attack on his residence in Tehran after he took part in the inauguration of newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Hamas blamed Israel and the United States for the highly provocative attack on its territory and vowed to retaliate.
Israel has also launched attacks on civilian targets in Yemen and Lebanon this week, killing Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.
Paris Olympics epitomize toxic Western elitism and disconnect from real world
Macron has boasted about the Paris Games being a “crazy idea being made real”
Strategic Culture Foundation | August 2, 2024
The Paris Summer Olympic Games opened last Friday to a global controversy with the organizers accused of offending billions of Christians and Muslims around the world through profane depictions of Jesus Christ (a revered prophet in Islam) surrounded by drag queens.
It wasn’t just the alleged scurrilous debasement of Da Vinci’s iconic Last Supper tableau. The entire opening ceremony of the XXXIII Olympiad was a kitsch spectacle that seemed to be reduced to a tawdry Gay Pride event. The Paris 2024 organizers claimed that the theme was meant to convey “inclusiveness” and humanitarian tolerance – although, indicative of fault, they later offered a groveling apology for offending.
The controversy continued during the first week of sporting events when the triathlon swimming in the Seine River was initially canceled due to dangerous pollution levels and then ordered to go ahead despite concerns for the safety of participants. Athletes complained that they were forced to swim through sewage and rat-infested waters so that the French organizers would not lose face over a public relations disaster.
The pollution fiasco could serve as a metaphor for how Western elitist politicians have lost the plot on the realities of today’s world. No amount of fancy French perfumery can hide the stink behind the cheap politicization of the Games.
After spending over $1.5 billion on purportedly cleaning it up, the Seine is as toxic from contamination as it ever was since public bathing was banned in the river a century ago.
Western politics has likewise become a deceitful charade and parody of liberalism. No amount of whitewashing can conceal the burgeoning detritus of lies and corruption emanating from Western capitals. On the one hand, politicians talk about the lofty values of democracy and rules-based order, while on the other hand, they drop bombs on civilians with rainbow flags painted on the warheads. Or they sponsor NeoNazi killers in Ukraine wearing Gay Pride logos.
Uniting humanity through sports is supposed to be the Olympian principle of the modern Games which first took place in 1896 in Greece as conceived by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin. Over the decades, the world’s foremost sporting event has been disrupted by wars and geopolitics, especially during the Cold War years when the Games were boycotted in 1980 and 1984. Despite the vagaries over the years, there was always a semblance of neutrality in international politics.
Not anymore. The current Paris Olympics have become flagrantly politicized. Russia and Belarus have been banned due to the conflict in Ukraine after the Western-dominated International Olympic Committee declared “solidarity with Ukraine”.
This is an absolute disgrace for the IOC and the Games. The hypocrisy is putrid. Never was it considered to ban the United States and its NATO allies over the many illegal wars that they engaged in, from the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, among other aggressions.
Arguably, the war in Ukraine is a proxy war waged by the U.S. and its NATO allies against Russia. The history of the conflict points to Western responsibility and calculated provocation. To define the conflict as solely down to “Russian aggression” is a dubious political position, one that the West promulgates but which is not shared by many other nations.
It is an abuse of its credentials for the IOC to adopt a partisan position on the Ukraine war.
The double standard is brazen when one considers that Israel is free to send its national delegation to the Olympics without any official reservations. Yet the International Court of Justice has ruled Israel’s conduct of hostilities in Gaza constitutes a genocide. It is a sordid spectacle when Israeli athletes are afforded untrammeled participation while their state has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, during the past nine months of unrelenting violence. Western capitals have given the Israeli regime diplomatic cover and vital military support to conduct this genocide. The horrendous massacres in Gaza from refugee camps being blown up and whole families slaughtered in cold blood continue unabated while the Games are televised around the world.
The juxtaposition of this Western-enabled barbarism in Gaza amid Games that champion “diversity and tolerance” is too sickening and perverse for words. Indeed, one could say without any equivocation that the Paris Olympics are morally depraved given the abomination of mass murder in Gaza.
That the organizers of the Paris event seek to cover their proceedings with a veneer of supposedly sophisticated inclusion and humanitarianism is doubly obscene. The moral decadence is manifest in the blasphemous insults towards religious beliefs. Nothing is sacred, it seems, except Western notions of elitism. Criticism is not permitted without incurring petulant accusations of bigotry and ‘Transphobia”.
French President Emmanuel Macron has boasted about the Paris Games being a “crazy idea being made real”. One can say that again, with absolute contempt.
Macron and other Western political leaders are encumbered with narcissistic notions that they represent noble values of “liberal democracy”.
This is while Macron and his Western cohorts have recklessly fueled the slaughter in Ukraine and Gaza. Then they have the gall to ban Russia and Belarus from the Games.
The edifying concept of the Olympics has been debased to a gaudy propaganda show aimed at promoting pretensions of Western virtue.
However, the reality is that this is not a demonstration of supposed tolerance and inclusivity but rather an imposition of twisted Western elite ideology on the majority of humanity.
One might argue the toss about whether the offense against Christianity and Islam was an unfortunate mistaken interpretation of French artistic license.
But what is inarguable is the heinous hypocrisy demonstrated over the Western-enabled genocide in Gaza and the sanctioning of Russia over Ukraine.
No wonder many people around the world have lost the usual interest in the “Jeux Olympiques”. The Paris event has alienated much of the planet because of its cheap and dirty politicization.
The stink emerging from the River Seine – possibly the world’s biggest open sewer – is the groaning reality dump on Western duplicity and pretensions.
See Also:
Israeli police arrest Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher for mourning Haniyeh
Sheikh Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories walks outside an Israeli police station after being summoned for interrogation, in Jerusalem on January 2, 2023. [Saeed Qaq/NurPhoto via Getty Images]
MEMO | August 2, 2024
Israeli police, on Friday, arrested Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, for mourning slain Hamas Political Bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, Anadolu Agency reports.
Haniyeh was assassinated on Wednesday in Tehran, Iran’s capital. While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing, Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied its responsibility.
One of Sabri’s relatives told Anadolu that the Israeli police officers stormed into his home in the Occupied East Jerusalem and arrested him.
Following the Friday prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sabri led a funeral prayer in absentia for Haniyeh.
“The people of Jerusalem and the environs of Jerusalem from the pulpit of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque mourn the martyr Ismail Haniyeh,” he said during his sermon.
Following the sermon, the Israeli police said they were probing whether the statement constituted “incitement” and that they would act accordingly.
The 85-year-old preacher was detained multiple times by the Israeli forces in the past and was banned from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem for several months.
Sabri is a staunch critic of the decades-long Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories. He had previously held the position of Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories from 1994 to 2006.
US Sen Graham Introduces Bill Authorizing Military Force in Iran
By Ian DeMartino – Sputnik – 02.08.2024
After the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Tuesday, Iran promised a “harsh punishment” for Israel. On Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin declared that the United States was ready to defend Israel in the event of an attack by Iran.
US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced legislation right before the Congress recess in August that would authorize President Joe Biden to use military force against Iran if he determines that Iran has capabilities that threaten the national security interests of the United States.
“The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against the Islamic Republic of Iran if the President determines that the Islamic Republic of Iran–
1) Is in the process of possessing a nuclear weapon that threatens the national security interests of the United States; or
2) Possesses uranium enriched to weapons-grade level, possesses a nuclear warhead, or possesses a delivery vehicle capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that threatens the national security interests of the United States.”
While the bill specifies that it is limited to Iran’s nuclear program, it is broad enough to potentially authorize Biden to strike Iran as soon as the bill passes. While Iran is not believed to possess a nuclear warhead, it already has an arsenal of missiles that would be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead if Iran were to obtain one. Biden seemingly would be authorized by the bill to strike Iran if he determines that to be a threat.
The same day, Graham also introduced a bill that would affirm any “escalation by Hezbollah” will be seen as an escalation by Iran and urges Congress and the President “to use all diplomatic tools and power projection capabilities to hold both parties accountable for their actions,” but stop short of specifically authorizing military force.
On Thursday, Graham posted on X that “it is long past time to start talking about offense when it comes to Iranian threats against Israel, the United States, and the world.”
Both bills come as tensions are rising between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel and Iran and Israel. Earlier this week, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran and Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukur was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut.
Iran and Hezbollah have promised retaliation.
The Senate will go into recess on August 3rd. Unless an emergency session is called, both chambers of Congress will return to Washington on September 9.
Prominent activists, former officials urge Indian govt to end ‘abominable’ arms trade with Israel
The Cradle | August 2, 2024
A group of 25 prominent Indian activists, including former judges, diplomats, activists, writers, and economists, issued a letter urging their government to cancel arms exports to Israel, the Hindustan Times reported on 2 August.
In a letter addressed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the group argues that licenses issued for the export of arms and ammunition to Israel violate India’s commitments under international law and its constitution.
“We are writing to you as concerned citizens, alarmed at the continued grant of export licenses and permissions to various Indian companies, for the supply of military arms and munitions to Israel, since the war on Gaza began,” the letter states.
The group, which includes Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy and renowned lawyer Prashant Bhushan, referenced recent rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) showing Israel is in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention and that Israel’s occupation and settlement of the West Bank are illegal.
The group noted that, as a result of the ICJ rulings, any supply of military material to Israel would amount to a violation of India’s obligations under international humanitarian law and the mandate of Article 21 read with Article 51(c) of the Constitution of India, the group noted.
“We urge you, therefore, to cancel the concerned export licences and halt the granting of any new licences to companies supplying military equipment to Israel,” the letter concludes.
Several countries have imposed unofficial or “silent” arms embargoes on Israel in response to its war on Gaza, which has killed over 39,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and displaced some 90 percent of the strip’s 2.3 million residents.
In response, Israel has begun to rely more heavily on India for weapons purchases. Israel also exports large amounts of weapons to India.
Several Indian companies, both government-owned and private, have joint ventures with Israeli defense manufacturers and make sub-systems and parts for the original manufacturers.
The letter highlights the role of three Indian companies working closely with the Israeli military: Munitions India Ltd, Premier Explosives Ltd, and Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India Ltd.
“We demand, therefore, that India should immediately suspend its collaboration in the delivery of military material to Israel,” the letter urged, adding that, “International law aside, we consider such exports to be morally objectionable, indeed abominable.”
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Who Runs Our World?
Netanyahu addresses US Congress
By Richard Hugus | January 4, 2019
Our world is run by oligarchs, the holders of vast wealth from monopolies in banking, resource extraction, manufacturing, and technology. Oligarchs have such power that most of the world doesn’t even know of their influence over our lives. Their overall agenda is global power — a world government, run by them — to be achieved through planned steps of social engineering. The oligarchs remain in the background and have heads of state and entire governments acting in their service. Presidents and prime ministers are their puppets. Bureaucrats and politicians are their factotums.
Who are politicians? Politicians are people who work for the powerful while pretending to represent the people who voted for them. This double-dealing involves a lot of lying, so successful politicians must be good at it. It’s not an easy job to make the insane agenda of the powerful seem reasonable. Politicians can’t reveal this agenda because it almost always goes against the interests of their constituents, so they become adept at sophistry, mystification, and the appearance of authority. For example, wars for Israel have been part of the agenda of the powerful for years. Since 2001, wars for Israel have been sold as “the war on terror” and lots of lies had to be made up as to why the war on terror was a real thing. The visible faces promoting the war on terror were neoconservatives in the US, almost all of whom were advocates for Israel, or Zionists. Zionists are not the only members of the oligarchy, but they seem to be its lead actors. ... continue
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