UK police arrest NHS doctor for denouncing Israel, supporting Palestine
Press TV – October 21, 2025
A British-Palestinian National Health Service (NHS) doctor has been arrested in the United Kingdom for denouncing Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and expressing support for Palestine.
Rahmeh Aladwan was taken into custody on Tuesday following her recent post on X, in which she criticized the Israeli occupation and voiced support for Palestine at a rally.
“The arrests relate to an ongoing investigation, led by the Met’s Public Order Crime Team, into allegations that comments made at a protest and online in recent months were grossly offensive and antisemitic in nature,” the Metropolitan Police spokesperson said.
During the demonstration held in Whitehall on July 21, Dr. Aladwan articulated the “Palestinian principles of liberation,” emphasizing the right to resistance, the right to self-determination, Al-Quds as the capital of Palestine, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands in what is now the occupied territories.
She also described Israel as “a terrorist entity that sits on top of Palestine,” and committing genocide against the oppressed residents of Gaza.
In her X post, Dr. Aladwan stated, “October 7. The day Israel was humiliated. Their supremacy [was] shattered at the hands of the children they forced out of their homes … The children who watched [Zionists] execute their loved ones, rape their land, and live on their stolen soil.”
Before her arrest, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a pro-Israel advocacy group, had accused Dr. Rahmeh Aladwan of anti-Semitism, claiming her social media posts and public appearances made her “unfit to practice medicine.”
However, on September 25, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) ruled that Dr. Aladwan is fit to practice, rejecting the anti-Semitism allegations.
Despite this, the UK General Medical Council (GMC) has referred her to another interim orders tribunal scheduled for Thursday, October 23, as it continues its investigation into the claims made by UKLFI.
The Al-Aqsa Flood operation, launched by Palestinian resistance groups on October 7, 2023, was a response to decades of oppression of the Palestinians by the Israeli regime.
Following the operation, Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza, killing at least 68,229 people and wounding 170,369.
From Syria to Gaza: Israel’s proxy playbook returns
By Robert Inlakesh | The Cradle | October 21, 2025
With the already violated ceasefire in place, and Israeli occupation forces implementing a phased withdrawal, Gaza remains under siege, this time through Tel Aviv’s use of armed collaborator militias.
Drawing on tactics refined in Syria, these death squads have been unleashed to assassinate resistance figures, sow chaos, and undermine what remains of the Hamas-led administration.
Three proxy groups backed by Tel Aviv have since escalated their military campaigns against Gaza’s security forces and society. These militias of collaborator death squads have been used to stir chaos on direct orders of the Israeli army, seeking to establish bases of control in the portions of the territory that Israel has yet to withdraw from.
Upon the cessation of hostilities between the Israeli military and Palestinian resistance factions, at least 7,000 security personnel affiliated with the Hamas-led civil administration took to the streets of Gaza to establish law and order. Yet, almost immediately, they were confronted with ambushes, and armed clashes broke out in a number of areas of the territory.
In particular, the armed clashes in northern Gaza have received the most attention in the media, with Israeli and a handful of Palestinian Authority (PA) aligned personalities attempting to sell the situation as a “civil war.”
Collaborator militias exploit the Gaza ceasefire
Amid the chaos, the son of senior Hamas leader Bassem Naim was shot in the head by proxy forces. Mohammed Imad Aqel, son of a prominent Qassam Brigades commander, was murdered by members of the Doghmush clan. And Saleh al-Jaafarawi, a prominent journalist, was kidnapped, tortured, and shot dead at point-blank range.
At the beginning of October, in Khan Yunis, the Majayda family reportedly collaborated with Hossam al-Astal under Israeli air cover, launching attacks on security positions – a key example of Tel Aviv’s use of clan structures to advance its proxy war strategy.
Israeli researcher Or Fialkov noted:
“The Majaydeh clan from Khan Yunis – which fought Hamas a week ago – announces it has disarmed. The clan, which received assistance from the Israeli army in airstrikes against Hamas members, said it has handed over its weapons to Hamas. Hamas is settling scores across the strip and showing everyone who is in charge.”
To counter the threat posed by these armed collaborators, Hamas formed two new specialized units. The first, Sahm (Arrow) Forces, is comprised of officers from the civil security services. The second, the Resistance Security Force (Amn al-Muqawamah), includes fighters from Hamas’s military wing, as well as those from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Fatah al-Intifada, and other factions.
A senior security source in northern Gaza tells The Cradle that a document containing a hit list was discovered during a raid on a collaborator’s hideout. Although the document itself could not be shared, the source claims it noted that Israel’s “goal is to create chaos, to carry out assassinations, allow for lawlessness, and to fight the resistance through its collaborators.”
This account was reinforced in a KAN News interview, in which the leader of one collaborator militia confirmed that the Israeli army is providing his forces with security support and authorization to operate beyond the so-called Yellow Line. Roughly 54–58 percent of Gaza is still under the occupation army’s control.
US advisors recently informed Axios that Washington is working on an Israeli-backed plan to create pathways for Palestinians opposed to Hamas to live outside of Israel’s Yellow Line. To this effect, the Israeli military is currently marking this line by installing cement blocks and security equipment to demarcate its boundaries.
According to Israel Hayom, the American-Israeli plan seeks to use Gaza reconstruction funds to begin rebuilding hospitals, schools, and homes inside the territory that is jointly controlled by the Israeli army and its ISIS-linked proxy groups.
Under this scheme, Palestinians will be presented with the choice to live under Hamas along the coast or inside the newly constructed areas. It appears as if a proposed multinational military force will also be used to help implement such a model.
Despite this, the collaborator groups currently operating there do not enjoy popular support, and Israel is continuing to demolish the remaining civilian infrastructure located there. Meanwhile, all the major families, segments of whom began fighting Gaza’s security forces, have issued statements aligning themselves with Hamas and against any collaborators in their midst.
The Ramallah-based PA has also expressed its interest in vying for power in the Gaza Strip, yet Israel has at least publicly rejected this idea over fears that this will put it in a stronger position to demand a Palestinian State. Nevertheless, the PA has been part of a propaganda campaign designed to delegitimize Hamas as a political entity in Gaza and accuses it of indiscriminately targeting its opponents.
Tel Aviv retools death squads as ‘Popular Forces’
Throughout the two-year Israeli war on Gaza, humanitarian aid convoys were routinely looted in the southern enclave, triggering food shortages and creating a booming black market. The looting initially involved armed clans and petty criminals who charged extortionate bribes for aid access. But following the 6 May invasion of Rafah, the phenomenon transformed into a more coordinated enterprise.
That evolution gave rise to the Abu Shabab militia, a gang led by convicted drug trafficker Yasser Abu Shabab, who has long-standing links to ISIS affiliates in Sinai. His fighters, many from the Bedouin Tarabin clan, have ties stretching from Israeli-occupied Bir al-Saba (Beersheba) to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
A Hamas official familiar with the file on drug trafficking tells The Cradle:
“These individuals were known to routinely cross into the Sinai and maintained close ties to extremists. These criminal elements were also tied to the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis group [ISIS in the Sinai] and later Wilayat Sinai that came after it. These people do not have a coherent ideology and will shift over time, they are criminals, which is why they are also involved in activities like drug smuggling, and their connections come through familial ties.”
Following the surface of footage of these militants driving around in SUVs bearing Sharjah license plates registered in the UAE, sources belonging to Al-Akhbar claimed that Emirati intelligence has been cooperating with these militia forces.
A month prior to the introduction of the Abu Shabab aid looting gang to the scene, Israel’s top human rights group B’Tselem had issued a report accusing Tel Aviv of “manufacturing famine” in the enclave. A later investigation conducted by Sky News revealed that while most Palestinians were suffering a severe food shortage, the Abu Shabab gangs were living a life of luxury, with an abundance of stolen aid, along with vehicles and weapons supplied by Israel.
This group, despite becoming infamous throughout Gaza for stealing aid from humanitarian organizations, demanding a $4,000 bribe fee for each truck, was soon to be destined for a task much more pernicious.
In November 2024, the Israelis saw that it was time to give their aid looting cadres a facelift, as the Washington Post interviewed Yasser Abu Shabab himself, who is portrayed as a criminal by necessity and claims that “Hamas has left us with nothing.”
Amid the January ceasefire, the gang resurfaced as the “Popular Forces,” now dressed in Israeli tactical gear and openly operating with occupation military backing.
The Wall Street Journal even published an op-ed supposedly authored by Abu Shabab titled “Gazans are finished with Hamas.” Local sources confirm to The Cradle that the militia leader is illiterate and could not have authored a piece in Arabic, let alone English.
By June, former Israeli minister Avigdor Lieberman publicly accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of backing ISIS-linked militias in Gaza. Netanyahu not only confirmed the collaboration – but defended it. Then, in September, Haaretz reported that Popular Forces militias were receiving direct orders from the Israeli army and Shin Bet.
Israel’s proxy model expands across Gaza’s clans
As the Israeli military was experiencing a manpower crisis, recently struggling to recruit 60,000 soldiers for operation “Gideon’s Chariots 2” to occupy Gaza City, it made the decision to expand this proxy militia strategy.
In August, Israel worked alongside Hossam al-Astal, a former member of the PA’s Preventive Security Forces (PSF), to form the “Counterterrorism Strike Force” (CSF) that would run operations in the Khan Yunis area of Gaza. Astal, according to two security sources speaking to The Cradle, had long been suspected of holding ties with the Israeli Shin Bet.
Alongside the CSF, new groups like the “People’s Army Northern Forces” (PANF) have emerged in Jabalia and Beit Lahia. Led by Ashraf Mansi, who had been openly praised by Abu Shabab. The PANF consists of drug dealers and ex-Jaish al-Islam fighters, some linked to ISIS. The group even held an armed parade after the ceasefire, before engaging in clashes with Gaza’s Radaa security unit, which captured several of its fighters.
In Gaza City, the Doghmush clan launched a violent campaign to assert control over parts of the north. It raided civilian homes, looted properties, and allegedly murdered prominent figures. After the killing of journalist Saleh al-Jaafarawi, Hamas cracked down, arresting dozens and killing up to 40 armed members of the clan.
The family has long developed a negative image throughout Gaza, due to actions committed by certain elements within it, dating back decades to before the Intifada, when individuals from the Doghmush family would steal cars from Israeli-held territory. The Mukhtar of the clan was assassinated by Israel back in 2023, and according to local reports, groups of men within the family have been arming themselves throughout the war.
Soon after tensions escalated, especially surrounding the murder of Jaafarawi and the clashes that ensued on Sunday, the Doghmush family released a statement disavowing collaborators and “transgressors,” reminding the public of how many members of the clan were killed by Israel. It is still unclear whether the militants from the Doghmush family were working alongside the PANF militia or were operating as a solo force motivated by control of territory.
However, the Doghmush clan represents a more complex case. While certain elements have openly collaborated with Israeli intelligence, others have refused such alliances. The clan is divided, with some fighting Hamas for over two decades, and others remaining within resistance ranks.
Reports have also linked segments of the clan to Dahlan networks and Emirati funding, alongside Salafi militant ties.
Salafist group Jaish al-Islam, once led by Mumtaz Doghmush, was responsible for the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Initially allied with Hamas, the group later turned against it, pledging allegiance to Al-Qaeda and even kidnapping two Fox News journalists.
Hamas has long battled Salafist militants inside Gaza, including Jund Allah and the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade. In 2009, it crushed Jund Allah in Rafah after the group attempted to declare an “Islamic emirate.” By 2015, the Omar Hadid Brigade was dismantled. In 2018, ISIS formally declared war on Hamas.
Today, Israel’s proxy fighters recycle the same Salafi justifications. Popular Forces fighter Ghassan Duhine, for instance, cited ISIS fatwas branding Hamas as apostates who deserve death.
But despite Israeli efforts to fragment Gaza’s internal cohesion, many families and clans have pushed back. The Majayda family has denounced collaborators, as have key members of the Tarabin clan.
“Israel hoped to install these agents to run concentration camps for Palestinians, like they planned in Rafah with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” a senior Hamas official tells The Cradle. “But our people can see through all of these conspiracies.”
While Tel Aviv pretends its military campaign is on pause, the facts on the ground reveal otherwise. Israel has outsourced the next phase of its war to collaborators, criminals, and extremists – executing its war objectives through mercenaries while claiming plausible deniability. It is a page taken straight from its playbook in Syria, now recycled in Gaza with deadly effect.
Excessive US demands prevent return to negotiations: Iran FM
Press TV – October 22, 2025
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran will not return to negotiations with the United States so long as Washington continues its policy of excessive demands.
“Until the Americans abandon their excessive and maximalist policy and stop making unreasonable demands of us, we will not return to the negotiating table,” Araghchi told reporters upon arrival at Mashhad’s Hasheminejad Airport on Wednesday, where he was attending a provincial diplomacy conference.
The foreign minister said the previous talks collapsed precisely due to Washington’s overreach.
“The negotiations that were previously underway with the Americans, as well as the New York talks, were stopped and did not progress due to the excessive demands of the American side,” he said, referring to five rounds of nuclear talks before the US-Israeli aggression against Iran in June.
Araghchi said the two sides could also reach a “reasonable, mutually beneficial solution” during the recent annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York, but that opportunity was also lost due to a similar reason.
Araghchi said Iran has consistently demonstrated its commitment to peace and diplomacy, even while facing an adversary unwilling to honor such principles.
“We have shown we are always committed to diplomatic solutions, but this does not mean giving up the rights of the Iranian people.”
“Wherever the interests of the Iranian people and the higher interests of the country can be secured through diplomacy, we have acted. But we are dealing with those who have never adhered to diplomacy,” Araghchi said.
He said Iran recently exchanged messages and contacts with US negotiator Steve Witkoff through intermediaries, but he made it clear that Iran will not re-enter talks unless the US fundamentally changes its approach.
“As long as this spirit exists in negotiations with the Americans, naturally, there is no possibility of returning to negotiations, unless the American approach changes and they accept that negotiations must be based on mutual respect and from equal positions.”
The Iranian minister said Washington’s failed strategies will yield no results. “They have tried other paths and have not succeeded, and if they continue on this path again, they will once more achieve nothing.”
For the first time, Israel and the United States launched large-scale strikes on Iran in June, hitting nuclear and military facilities.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories and a major US military base in Qatar.
US President Donald Trump claimed afterward that Iran was close to producing nuclear bombs, but without providing any proof for his claim. Iran says it does not seek nuclear weapons.
In the previous nuclear talks, the Trump administration repeatedly asked Iran to dismantle its nuclear and missile development infrastructure altogether, a demand Tehran rejects.
Nearly half of attacks in occupied al-Quds target Armenian Christians: Watchdog
Press TV – October 22, 2025
An Israeli organization documenting anti-Christian attacks has revealed that nearly half of the attacks in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds target Armenian Christians, amid an alarming spike in hate crimes in the Armenian quarter of the city.
The Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC), in its new quarterly report titled Incidents Against Christians in Israel, published on Tuesday, recorded 31 anti-Christian hate crimes across the occupied territories.
According to the report, which covers July to September 2025, 43% of all incidents in the Old City of al-Quds targeted Armenian Christians, with the Armenian Patriarchate once again emerging as the most frequently targeted site.
The incidents included spitting, verbal harassment, trespassing, vandalism, defacement, online provocation, and the desecration of sacred sites, predominantly focused in and around the Old City of al-Quds.
Among the 31 recorded attacks, 9 incidents (29%) were characterized by spitting, 8 (26%) involved verbal abuse, 7 (23%) were related to online incitement, 3 (10%) pertained to vandalism of signage, 3 (10%) reflected disrespect towards a holy site, 2 (7%) were instances of defacement, and there was at least one case of trespassing.
Within the Old City, a total of 13 incidents (42%) were documented, with 43% (6) occurring at the Armenian Patriarchate, 23% (3) along the Via Dolorosa, 17% (2) in proximity to Jaffa Gate (known as Bab al-Khalil in Arabic), and David Street, and an additional 17% (2) in the Jewish Quarter.
Incidents were reported outside the Old City in West al-Quds (16%), Mount Zion (6%), and other regions beyond al-Quds (36%), such as Migdal HaEmek, Latrun, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, and Mary’s Spring located in Ein Kerem.
In numerous instances, police forces were purportedly on the scene but did not take action.
Official complaints were submitted, however, the RFDC observes that subsequent follow-up is still minimal.
The report highlights a distinct difference in enforcement actions: at the Polish Monastery, law enforcement responded promptly to halt harassment, whereas at Mary’s Spring in Ein Kerem, it appears that no authority is willing to assume responsibility, resulting in the site’s signage being consistently vandalized without any investigation.
As stated by RFDC director Yisca Harani, the official statistics probably reflect merely a small portion of the actual situation, pointing to extensive underreporting stemming from fear, resignation, and a deficiency in accountability.
The report cautions that “reports are filed, convictions are non-existent,” illustrating a trend of impunity that has rendered Christian communities more susceptible.
Over 20,000 Students Killed, 31,000 Injured Since October 7, 2023
IMEMC | October 21, 2025
The Palestinian Ministry of Education announced Tuesday that more than 20,000 students have been killed and over 31,000 injured since the onset of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and serious escalation in the occupied West Bank, which began on October 7, 2023.
According to the ministry’s statement:
- Student casualties:
- In Gaza, 19,910 students were killed and 30,097 injured.
- In the West Bank, 148 students were killed, 1,042 injured, and 846 detained.
- Educational staff:
- 1,037 teachers and administrators were killed.
- 4,740 were injured across both regions.
- Over 228 were detained in the West Bank.
- Destruction of educational infrastructure:
- 179 public schools in Gaza were completely destroyed.
- 63 university buildings were reduced to rubble.
- 118 public schools and more than 100 UNRWA-run schools were bombed or vandalized.
- 30 schools—along with their students and staff—were entirely erased from the educational registry.
- West Bank damage:
Israeli forces demolished Ameera Elementary School in Yatta (Hebron) and Aqaba Elementary School in Tubas. Eight universities and colleges were repeatedly raided and damaged.
The ministry emphasized that the scale of destruction has not only disrupted education but has also targeted the very foundations of Palestinian academic life.
On the twelfth day of the ceasefire following 735 days of genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis remains dire, Gaza faces dire humanitarian conditions amidst ongoing Israeli violations and limited amount of humanitarian aid.
On Sunday, Israeli forces launched a wave of airstrikes across Gaza, killing at least 44 Palestinians and wounding many more.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces continue to enforce a “fire control zone” up to 1.5 kilometers inside Gaza, preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes.
The situation remains volatile, and the ceasefire hangs by a thread. As international actors scramble to preserve it, the people of Gaza continue to suffer under the weight of destruction, displacement, and grief.
The overall toll of Israel’s genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, has now reached more than 68,159 Palestinians killed and 170,203 wounded, the vast majority of them children, women, and the elderly. These figures reflect the scale of devastation and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Investigation reveals Israeli commander behind killing of Palestinian child Hind Rajab, paramedics
The Cradle | October 21, 2025
A new Al Jazeera documentary released on 20 October has identified the Israeli soldiers and officers who were directly involved in the killing of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and her family last year, as well as the rescue workers who were dispatched to the scene.
The investigation reveals the involvement of the Israeli army’s 401st Brigade. This includes Lt. Col. Daniel Ela and field officer Maj. Shon Glass.
According to the report, Glass was the one who ordered Israeli troops to fire the tank shells that killed the Rajab family in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa. He also ordered the attack on the ambulance teams sent to the rescue.
The soldiers belong to a unit calling itself the “Vampire Empire.”
Evidence analyzed by Forensic Architecture, as well as satellite imagery, found that their tank was within around 400 meters of the car carrying Hind and her family. The evidence also ruled out any crossfire.
A Forensic Architecture investigation from last year confirmed the Israeli army’s responsibility for the massacre of the Rajab family, refuting Israel’s denial that its forces were in the area and at the time of the killings.
Hind and her relatives were killed on 29 January 2024 while fleeing their neighborhood in Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for the area. Their bodies were finally recovered 12 days later.
After the Israeli tank gunner killed Hind’s 15-year-old cousin Layan, Hind was the only person left alive in the car. PCRS dispatchers sent paramedics Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun in an ambulance to rescue her. When they reached the site of Hind’s car, they were immediately killed.
Over 330 bullets were fired at the car carrying the Palestinian family.
The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), named after the six-year-old victim, was founded months later and launched a global effort to legally pursue Israeli soldiers involved in war crimes in Gaza.
HRF has announced submitting a full legal case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Glass, Ella, and dual Israeli-Argentinian citizen Itai Shukerkov, who took part in killing Hind.
Another 21 soldiers “who directly participated in or facilitated the attack” are also being pursued, HRF said.
“The Hind Rajab Foundation calls on the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to … expand the investigation to include the Vampire Empire Company, the 52nd Armored Battalion, and the 401st Armored Brigade and issue arrest warrants for the 24 identified perpetrators,” HRF said.
Natacha Bracq, Head of Litigation at HRF, said the submission to the ICC “establishes a direct chain of command, operational control, and deliberate intent.”
The NGO also took part in the Al Jazeera documentary.
The new investigation confirms that Tel Aviv has launched an organized effort to smuggle wanted soldiers out of foreign countries via private planes and military bases, before they can face legal action.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has helped soldiers vacationing abroad escape legal action.
According to HRF, over 1,000 legal cases against Israeli soldiers and officers have been filed across the world.
Al Jazeera has also revealed a document containing a list of the names of nearly 30,000 Israeli Air Force pilots and personnel who took part in military operations during the genocide in Gaza.
Nearly half of Democrats reject AIPAC-backed candidates, poll finds
Al Mayadeen | October 21, 2025
As discontent with “Israel” deepens among Democratic voters after more than two years of genocide in Gaza, a new internal poll suggests that financial support from the pro-“Israel” lobby may now be a liability rather than an asset for Democrats competing in primary races.
The survey, conducted by Democratic firm Upswing Strategies, polled 850 registered Democratic voters across competitive congressional districts in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Participants were asked about their views on the “Israel”-Palestine struggle and their perceptions of lobbying groups such as the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
AIPAC, one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying groups, backed 152 Democratic candidates during the 2024 elections, spending more than $28 million, and played a significant role in unseating several progressive lawmakers, including former Representatives Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York.
48% of Democratic voters ‘could never support’ AIPAC-funded congressional candidate
According to the Upswing poll, nearly half of Democratic voters (48%) in these battleground districts said they “could never support” a congressional candidate funded by AIPAC or similar pro-“Israel” organizations. More than a quarter (28%) expressed this view strongly. By contrast, only 40% said they “could see” themselves supporting a candidate linked to AIPAC if they agreed with their positions on other issues, though only 10% felt that way strongly.
The poll’s findings, shared on social media by Illinois reporter Matthew Eadie of Evanston Now, have reportedly circulated among Democratic campaign operatives in multiple competitive districts since early September. Eadie noted that the results are “circulating among Democrats in over a half-dozen competitive primaries in mostly Illinois.”
With Senator Dick Durbin’s seat opening in 2026, several Illinois representatives are expected to run, setting off a scramble for their House seats, including some who have enjoyed long-standing support from pro-“Israel” donors. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, for instance, received more than $63,000 from pro-“Israel” groups in the 2023–24 cycle and roughly $269,000 since his first campaign in 2016. Representative Robin Kelly has taken in about $109,000 from such groups since 2012.
Half a century of political norms unravels before our eyes
Pro-“Israel” organizations are also expected to once again target the Chicago-based district of Representative Danny Davis, who has repeatedly faced primary challenges from progressive activist Kina Collins. During the 2024 race, AIPAC’s affiliated political action committee, the United Democracy Project, spent roughly half a million dollars on ads attacking Collins, who had described “Israel’s” blockade of Gaza as a “war crime”.
Another Illinois progressive, Representative Delia Ramirez, who has called “Israel’s” campaign in Gaza a “genocide” and introduced legislation to suspend US military aid to “Israel”, was the target of over $157,000 in digital ads and mailers from the Democratic Majority for “Israel” in 2022. However, by 2024, pro-“Israel” groups opted not to challenge her re-election bid, calculating that her local support base was too strong.
Similar dynamics are unfolding beyond Illinois. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a long-time AIPAC target, faced no major challenge in 2024 due to her enduring popularity. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Representative Haley Stevens, one of the House’s most outspoken defenders of “Israel”, received more than $5.4 million from AIPAC and allied groups in 2024 to help defeat progressive Jewish incumbent Andy Levin, whom AIPAC’s former president once labeled “the most corrosive member of Congress to the US-Israel relationship.”
Although Upswing’s data did not specify district-level results, the findings point to a significant mood shift among Democratic voters. In an era defined by “Israel’s” genocide in Gaza, support from the “Israel” lobby appears increasingly out of step with the Democratic base. The changing tide was illustrated recently by Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who announced he would return AIPAC donations, saying, “I’m a friend of Israel, but not of its current government, and AIPAC’s mission is to back that government.”
The poll also reinforced broader trends showing a collapse in sympathy for “Israel” among Democrats. Respondents expressed overwhelmingly positive views of Palestine and international organizations such as the United Nations and Doctors Without Borders, while describing “Israel” and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in sharply negative terms.
While issues like accountability for President Donald Trump and cost-of-living concerns remained top priorities, 53% of Democratic voters rated “putting pressure on the Israeli government to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” as a 10 out of 10 in importance, and 72% rated it at least an 8.
Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, summarized the shift bluntly, saying, “It’s astonishing how quickly the politics are moving.” He added that Democrats “don’t fear AIPAC. They fear being associated with AIPAC. The political rules of the last almost half-century are changing before our eyes.”
Germany on the Geopolitical Stage of the Global South: Between Media Image and Real Capacities
By Ramiz Khodzhatov – New Eastern Outlook – October 21, 2025
The attempts of Friedrich Merz’s government to “relaunch” Germany’s role as a global political actor in the Global South without revising its conceptual foundations risk leaving the country stranded on the margins of international diplomacy – caught between formal participation and substantive isolation.
The Gaza Summit and the New Security Architecture
On October 13, 2025, under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a peace summit on Gaza took place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The event, co-chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump, gathered representatives from over twenty nations to observe and validate the signing of the first phase of the American initiative for conflict resolution. Egypt and the United States, alongside Qatar and Turkey, acted as the principal mediators of the emerging architecture of multilateral diplomacy. Serving both as brokers of the ceasefire and as the de jure guarantors of the “Declaration on Lasting Peace and Prosperity,” they oversaw a framework that encompassed bilateral agreements on the release of hostages and prisoners, coordination of humanitarian aid, and a detailed roadmap for demilitarization and post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure.
A wave of criticism followed the paradoxical absence of the conflict’s key parties, the Israeli cabinet and Hamas. At the same time, attention focused on the participation of several unorthodox players in the Middle Eastern geopolitical arena, notably the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The German presence drew disproportionate attention due to an evident dissonance between its media portrayal and its actual diplomatic standing. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, standing to the side of the main participants, appeared frozen in an uneasy, almost constrained posture, smiling politely yet refraining from engaging any of the leaders. The image quickly spread through German and international media, sparking debate. This scene became emblematic of Berlin’s uncertain role within the emerging security architecture. The question arises: what position does Germany seek to claim, and why, despite shifting geopolitical realities and the lessons of history, it risks remaining a “paper player,” bereft of real influence or credibility across the Global South and the Middle East?
From “Feminist Foreign Policy” to the Merz Plan
To understand Germany’s current trajectory, one must revisit the recent phase of its foreign policy. Under Chancellor Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, diplomacy was anchored in the doctrine of so-called “feminist foreign policy,” framed as a flagship direction of global engagement. Yet in practice, this approach revealed its conceptual inadequacy. Its normative and universalist foundations clashed with the political cultures and socio-cultural frameworks of the Global South. Gender and humanitarian rhetoric, imported indiscriminately into conflict zones, failed to take root, particularly when juxtaposed with Western double standards evident in the humanitarian catastrophe of Gaza.
Another blow to Berlin’s image came from its insistence on the “green agenda” as an alternative to traditional energy models. Amid a domestic energy crisis, this stance not only weakened Germany’s position in international negotiations but also eroded its reputation as a reliable and autonomous economic actor. To many states of the Global South, German initiatives in climate and energy diplomacy appeared declarative and unsupported by functional mechanisms.
Against this backdrop, Russia’s advocacy of “multipolarity” gained increasing traction, widely perceived as an attractive alternative to the neo-colonial logic of the West. Moscow succeeded in institutionalizing this discourse through frameworks such as BRICS, which evolved into both an economic and symbolic vehicle of a new international subjectivity. Germany and its European partners failed to propose an equivalent model, thereby cementing their peripheral status in dialogue with the Global South.
The Old–New Architecture of Irrelevance
Despite its declining relevance, Berlin continues to undertake institutional steps aimed at restoring its international agency. Notable measures include expanding humanitarian assistance, covering medical support and the establishment of temporary camps for displaced persons—participating in prospective Palestinian self-governance structures, co-organizing an international conference on Gaza’s reconstruction, and devising instruments for monitoring and coordinating humanitarian aid. Germany aspires to act not merely as a donor but as a mediator, presenting itself simultaneously as a humanitarian and political broker.
However, these ambitions collide with structural constraints. Key mechanisms for monitoring, hostage exchange, and aid distribution depend on the consent of regional actors who, tellingly, were absent from the summit. Germany’s declarative and instrumental efforts to secure influence falter against the realities of local political culture, where situational alliances, pragmatism, and realpolitik shape diplomacy far more than normative idealism. Berlin still relies on a logic of moral universalism inherited from previous decades, cloaked in new labels and narratives yet perpetuating the same disconnect between ambition and capability.
This pattern mirrors the systemic flaws observed during Baerbock’s “feminist foreign policy.” The persistent refusal to engage with regional geopolitical realities produces a gap between Germany’s ambitions and its actual leverage. The now-famous image from Sharm el-Sheikh thus becomes a visual metaphor for deeper structural dysfunction: the fragmentation of the Western course, wherein the American line retains strategic dominance while Europe’s voice fades amid inconsistency and moral self-contradiction.
The declarative support for Israel expressed by the Merz cabinet within the Middle East peace process has triggered a crisis of trust toward Germany as a would-be neutral actor. Rooted in the concept of Staatsräson and the moral logic of historical atonement, this stance increasingly contradicts the disposition of public opinion. Recent YouGov data reveal that 62% of Germans consider Israel’s actions in Gaza an act of genocide, a view shared across party lines, including 60% of supporters of Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc. Over two-thirds of the population now hold a negative view of Israel, while sympathizers account for only 19%. Support for Palestinian recognition has climbed to 44%. This gap between domestic consensus and foreign policy undermines the legitimacy of Germany’s global agency and weakens its credibility as an impartial mediator.
Internationally, the erosion of trust is even more pronounced. Since 2023, Germany has increasingly been seen across the Global South and the Middle East as a partisan ally that has abandoned neutrality for rigid pro-Israeli alignment. Decisions such as boosting arms supplies to Tel Aviv and abstaining from U.N. ceasefire resolutions are widely interpreted in Arab and African contexts as emblematic of Western double standards. Meanwhile, as several EU states, including Spain, Ireland, and Norway, have recognized Palestine, Germany finds itself isolated even within Europe. This loss of trust is quantifiable: Arab Barometer surveys show Germany’s favorable rating in the Middle East has plunged from 70% to 35% over just two years.
The position intended to affirm moral leadership has, paradoxically, curtailed Berlin’s diplomatic efficacy. Bereft of real leverage, Germany remains a participant without presence – a formally engaged yet substantively excluded actor on the geopolitical stage of the Global South.
Friedrich Merz’s attempt to “reboot” German foreign policy reveals a structural impasse: institutional innovations without conceptual transformation cannot yield genuine agency. Without a fundamental rethinking of its diplomatic worldview, Germany risks remaining on the periphery of international affairs, caught between symbolic involvement and strategic irrelevance. The image from Sharm el-Sheikh may thus endure as more than a fleeting moment of awkwardness, it embodies Berlin’s broader crisis of orientation in an increasingly multipolar world.
Ramiz Khodzhatov – political scientist, international observer, expert in geopolitics, international security and Russian-German relations
US envoy says Syria ‘back to our side’ after joint raid with extremist-led govt forces
The Cradle | October 20, 2025
US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack declared on 19 October that Syria and the US are once again allies.
In a post on X, Barrack said, “Syria is back to our side,” following reports of a joint US-Syrian security operation near Damascus, allegedly to detain an ISIS member.
Barrack commented on a post by Qatar-funded analyst Charles Lister claiming that US special forces launched a helicopter-borne raid into the town of Dumayr in the desert northwest of Damascus on 18 October. The operation was carried out in cooperation with Syrian counter-terror units to capture an ISIS operative.
However, the raid raises questions about its authenticity, as the ISIS operative detained during the operation, Ahmed Abdullah al-Badri, was openly living in Dumayr and enjoyed close ties with officials in the current Syrian government, led by self-declared president and former ISIS commander Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Kurdish-Syrian journalist Scharo Maroof reported that Badri had invited the governor of Damascus, Mohammed Amer, to his guest house in September. Maroof pointed to a photo showing Badri walking alongside the governor and his delegation during their visit to Badri’s home.
The Syrian government has carried out several fake raids against ISIS cells since coming to power in December, including after allegedly foiling an ISIS attack on the Sayyida Zaynab Shrine in southern Damascus in January, and following a suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus in June.
It was later revealed that members of Sharaa’s General Security Service (GSS) carried out the suicide attack that killed 25 worshipers and injured 52 more at the church in the Duweila district of Damascus.
The logic behind targeting Christians and blaming the attack on ISIS was explained by a former founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria (Nusra Front), Saleh al‑Hamwi.
While promoting the narrative that ISIS was responsible for the Mar Elias attack, he stated on the social media site X that, as a result, “The international community will rally around [the Syrian government], it will receive significant support, and it will join the international coalition against ISIS.”
He added that the government was releasing ISIS leaders from prisons in Idlib and exploiting “the ISIS file internationally in exchange for lifting sanctions.”
The US and Israel have a long history of supporting Al-Qaeda linked groups such as the Nusra Front and ISIS in Syria as part of the CIA-led operation known as Timber Sycamore.
Starting in 2011, the US, Israel, and allied countries sparked anti-government protests in Syria while flooding the country with Al-Qaeda operatives from Iraq and Lebanon, to topple the government of Bashar al-Assad for his anti-Israel foreign policies.
In 2012, Jake Sullivan, advisor to then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, wrote in a leaked email that “AQ [Al-Qaeda] is on our side in Syria.”
Israeli officials later acknowledged supporting Al-Qaeda groups by paying their salaries, shipping them weapons, and allowing them to cross into Israel for treatment at Israeli hospitals.
The operation was finally successful on 8 December of last year as Assad was toppled and replaced by Sharaa, the head of the Nusra Front (rebranded as Hayat Tahir al-Sham, HTS).
The same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly took credit for Sharaa’s rise, stating that the events in Syria were the “direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, the main supporters of the Assad regime,” since 7 October 2023.
US envoy renews threats against Lebanon as Israeli warplanes strike south
The Cradle | October 20, 2025
US envoy Tom Barrack renewed threats against Lebanon on 20 October in an opinion piece published on his social media account, warning that Beirut must “act” or face an “inevitable” Israeli assault.
The US “must assist Lebanon in decisively distancing itself from Hezbollah before the country is overtaken by a growing global shift toward zero tolerance for terrorist organizations.”
“If Beirut fails to act, Hezbollah’s military wing will inevitably face a major confrontation with Israel, at a moment when Israel is at peak strength and Iranian support for Hezbollah is at its weakest,” the US envoy added.
Barrack went on to say that disarming Hezbollah “is not only a security necessity for Israel, but also Lebanon’s opportunity for renewal, the restoration of sovereignty, and a chance for economic recovery.”
This was not the US envoy’s first threat to Lebanon.
In late September, Barrack confirmed Washington’s intention of placing the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in a direct confrontation with the resistance.
“Who are they going to fight? We’re gonna arm them so they can fight Israel? I don’t think so. So, you’re arming them so they can fight their own people. Hezbollah,” he said. He also warned Lebanon to commit to disarming Hezbollah or face a new Israeli war, while confirming that Israeli forces will not withdraw from south Lebanon until the resistance gives up its arms.
Barrack’s newest comments on 20 October came the same day Israeli warplanes carried out violent strikes on the Al-Mahmoudiya–Jarmaq area in south Lebanon. Israeli drones also buzzed over the capital at low altitude.
A few days earlier, Israel launched its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the ceasefire, destroying millions of dollars’ worth of reconstruction equipment.
Over 300 people, including scores of civilians, have been killed by Israeli attacks on the country since the ceasefire was reached in November last year. Israel has also expanded the occupation it established during the ceasefire in violation of the deal, and Tel Aviv has said that it will not consider withdrawal until Hezbollah is disarmed first. Washington has publicly backed Israel’s position more than once.
The Lebanese government adopted a decision to disarm Hezbollah in August under heavy pressure from the US.
Hezbollah has rejected the decision. It says it is open to discussing a national defense strategy, which would see its weapons incorporated into the Lebanese army and be available for use in defending the country if needed.
Yet the resistance group has emphasized that these talks cannot take place while Israel continues to attack Lebanon and occupy its territory in the south.
In early September, Lebanese army chief Rudolphe Haikal presented his disarmament plan to the government after being tasked to draft a strategy following the 5 August cabinet decision to disarm the resistance, which Hezbollah continues to reject. Deliberations have been kept confidential, and the army has been ordered to present monthly updates about the implementation.
Given the confidentiality, the timelines of the plan remain unclear. Some Lebanese media reports have said that the government “backtracked” from its decision.
Last month, Barrack said, “the Lebanese … all they do is talk.”
US knew Israeli bulldozer, not Hamas, caused deadly Rafah blast: Reports
Press TV – October 20, 2025
Reports have revealed that the US was aware that the deadly Rafah explosion, which killed two Israeli soldiers, was caused by an Israeli bulldozer hitting unexploded ordnance (UXO), not by a Hamas operation.
Journalist Ryan Grim reported on Monday that, according to a source familiar with the matter, both the White House and the Pentagon knew the Rafah incident was the result of an Israeli settler bulldozer running over a UXO, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Hamas had attacked an Israeli tank.
Sources cited by Grim said that after the US administration confronted Israel with its findings, Netanyahu abruptly reversed his position and announced that crossings would reopen within hours. The Pentagon reportedly reached the same conclusion as the White House.
Journalist Curt Mills of The American Conservative also quoted a senior US administration official confirming that “Hamas did nothing. An Israeli tank hit an unexploded improvised explosive device (IED) that had probably been there for months.”
Following Sunday’s explosion, in yet another blatant breach of the ceasefire, Israeli forces launched a new wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 15 civilians, including a journalist, in what observers described as an effort to justify renewed aggression.
Refugees sheltering south of the nearby European Hospital said the latest attacks were accompanied by artillery shelling, with explosions shaking parts of Rafah.
They also reported at least 12 airstrikes in eastern Khan Yunis, part of what residents described as a “fire belt.”
The assaults sent thick plumes of smoke rising over the city and caused widespread panic among displaced families.
The revelation further exposes the Israeli regime’s attempts to mislead the public and inflame tensions in Gaza, where its ongoing violations of the ceasefire have deepened an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Analysts say Israel appears determined to provoke further conflict despite the ceasefire signed in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.
Recent strikes on civilian areas have raised fears that Israel intends to derail the agreement and sustain military pressure on Gaza.
Since the ceasefire took effect, Israel’s military has repeatedly breached it, killing at least 97 people and wounding another 230, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.
The first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire, which began on October 10, was aimed at bringing an end to Israel’s assault, a partial withdrawal of its troops to a so-called yellow line along Gaza’s borders, and a modest increase in humanitarian aid.
Last Monday, Hamas released all living captives, as well as the remains of 12 of the 28 dead Israeli captives.
In return, Israel freed 2,000 Palestinian detainees and returned 15 Palestinian bodies for every one dead Israeli captive returned.
Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, launched on October 7, 2023, has killed at least 68,000 Palestinians and wounded 170,000, most of them women and children
Experts warn that the true death toll could reach hundreds of thousands once the missing and those buried beneath the ruins are fully counted.
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From the Archives
Fourteen Incredible Facts About 9/11
By Kevin Ryan | Dig Within | August 8, 2015
… What is known about 9/11 is that there are many incredible facts that continue to be ignored by the government and the mainstream media. Here are fourteen.
- An outline of what was to become the 9/11 Commission Report was produced before the investigation began. The outline was kept secret from the Commission’s staff and appears to have determined the outcome of the investigation.
- The 9/11 Commission claimed sixty-three (63) times in its Report that it could find “no evidence” related to important aspects of the crimes.
- One person, Shayna Steiger, issued 12 visas to the alleged hijackers in Saudi Arabia. Steiger issued some of the visas without interviewing the applicants and fought with another employee at the embassy who tried to prevent her lax approach.
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