Our Response in Crisis will Demonstrate Our Core Values as Muslims We feel hopeless and helpless witnessing all this violence. How we respond to these emotions will determine whether we are better human beings. Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism Every day, we are witnessing acts of violence, terrorism and extreme military campaigns that do not give any consideration to children, women and civilians and even to the international communities and laws. Be it coming from Hamas, who is seeking justice for the decades of oppression under Israel’s military occupation, or all the dehumanising acts by the Zionist Israeli military who are taking advantage of the incident on 7 October 2023 to justify their merciless military actions, further illegal expansions and occupation of Palestinian lands and the collective punishment of innocent Palestinians. We are witnessing how the sacredness of human life that has been bestowed by Allah s.w.t. has not prevented people of power and influence from exploiting that power and manipulating narratives to garner support by dehumanising the other side. All these cause us pain, stir our emotions, and evoke anger within us. We feel hopeless and helpless and sometimes lose our trust in the authorities. The emotions are sometimes confusing and suffocating, especially when we see images that shrink our hearts and send currents up our spines. These emotions are natural for us human beings who have been nurtured to have a good heart, respect lives and humanity, and trust in one another. Read: A Mental Health Guide for Those Grappling With The Crisis in Gaza Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism How we respond to these emotions will determine whether we are better human beings. We are defending the humanity of everyone. Violence and terrorist acts have no place in humanity. All Palestinians and Israelis have the right to live peacefully and in harmony. All of them have their rights to the necessities of life like water, food, safety and security. For youths, as we go about our daily routines and activities amidst the images, narratives of violence and hatred that are flooding social media, let us be mindful of our actions. Let us reflect and think through some of these principles and take them as our guidance in finding our emotional, psychological and spiritual balance and equilibrium. Violence Begets Violence, Hatred Begets Hatred Through this conflict, we observe that violence begets violence, and hatred begets hatred. This is a universal law. When violence becomes the heartbeat that defines a conflict, innocent civilians are the primary victims. Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism The current government of Israel is led by a Prime Minister and several ministers who are known for their far-right extremist ideologies. For example, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the current Minister of National Security, is known for his extremist views and advocacy for radical groups in Israel.[1] The government has clearly outlined its commitment to solidify the dominance of Jewish identity while continuing to suppress Palestinian rights in both Israel and the occupied West Bank. This is proposed through a governance system that establishes distinct tiers, perpetuating inequality across all levels. As a result, Palestinians have been deprived of their rights and protections, rendering them more vulnerable to violence and worsening the hardships they already face.[2] The leadership issues among the Palestinian people involve the disunity of several political groups governing Palestine, including Fatah, Hamas, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Authority and various political parties. One of the key points of division among them is how to engage and interact with Israel. Does it involve violence and force, or do they pursue objectives via negotiations and diplomacy?[3] Simultaneously, we must also be cautious of irresponsible people who propagate hate speeches, instigate disunity among us and take advantage of the emotional instability of people to propagate their own agendas. We have seen how extremist individuals and groups have exploited the internet and social media to lure vulnerable youths into radicalisation. Read: How Does Social Media Influence Online Radicalisation? Emulate and Embody the Prophetic Exemplars To end this long conflict requires restraint, big hearts, compassion, justice, humility, and other values that define us as human beings. Therefore, we should embody these values of humanity instead of succumbing to what is portrayed by these conflicts. This is truly a test not just for the whole of humanity but also individually for ourselves as well. Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism Our best example to emulate and embody is the exemplary traits of our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Let us reflect on this tradition, especially the collection of Imām al-BukhārÄ«, where a hadith[4] narrated by Khabbab Bin Al-Arat r.a. tells us how he asked Rasulullah s.a.w. to pray for the Muslims due to the intensity of the persecution they were facing in Makkah during the early days of Islam. The Prophet s.a.w. replied that the previous community of believers (of past Prophets) also faced persecution of such severity. Even when it intensified, they would not lose or abandon their faith. Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. then continued to prophesise that the lands of Sana’a and Hadramaut in Yemen would eventually be populated by Muslims. A prophecy that is proven true today without a doubt. This was a glad tiding to the declining situation of the relatively small generation of early Muslims. The hadith demonstrates to us the patience of the Prophet and the hastiness of the companions, at that time, who wanted to win over the people who oppressed them. The Beloved Prophet s.a.w, who is fully connected to Allah, assured the companions that Allah would grant them victory to the point that the route between Sana'a and Ḥaḍramawt would become safe. We Must Be Thankful for Allah’s Blessings Bestowed Upon Us in Singapore One way to be thankful for this blessing is to protect it. We must believe in the model of our Muslim community in Singapore. The fact that we are all able to carry on with our daily routines and activities in these difficult times does not come about by chance. As Singaporeans, we all have worked hard to develop trust with one another. We live amicably with our friends and neighbours who are of different races and religions, with the Islamic values of care, compassion, and trusting one another. We have lived peacefully with one another way before the coming of Sir Stamford Raffles to this island. We can see different places of worship within a neighbourhood or a street built way before Singapore’s independence. The peace and harmony we enjoy are rare commodities in this world. Let us all continue to be gracious Singaporeans to one another, believing in and trusting each other. As we advocate for our cause, let us ensure that we remain respectful and wise, avoiding personal attacks and hate speeches that could erode the trust we've built together. The Palestine-Israel Crisis Is Not a War Between Islam and Judaism Israel is not equal to Judaism. Israel is not equal to Jews. Simultaneously, Hamas does not represent all the Palestinians. Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived peacefully in the land in the last century. The crisis involves territorial disputes, historical grievances, and differing claims to the land. While it has often been framed in religious terms due to the significance of the land to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, at its core, the issue is primarily about land, power, and self-determination. Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Abrahamic faiths Some of the rhetoric being played out on social media aims to create the impression for both the Muslim and Jewish communities that this conflict is a religious one. Some individuals employ religious symbols and the chant of "takbÄ«r" in an effort to garner attention from the public. Others invoke end-of-time discourses when discussing this conflict. Such discussions are not limited to Muslims; they also involve Christians and Jews. These narratives have raised concerns as public sentiments among both Muslims and Jews have been mocked and condemned. Read: Dealing With Recurrent Claims About The End Of The World We must be wary of the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia to the point that it could potentially cause tensions in our multi-religious country. More importantly, as we strengthen our faith for the Hereafter, let us pay attention to how Prophet Muḥammad s.a.w. advised us to navigate the signs of the end of times. Narrated by Anas r.a, from the Prophet s.a.w: “Even if the Day of Judgement is approaching and you have a palm shoot in your hand and can plant it before the Hour arrives, you should plant it.” (Adab Al-Mufrad) Do Not Underestimate the Power of Dua Never underestimate the power of dua (supplication) with a firm belief. It can change what you may have thought was impossible to change. Dua is never wasted. So, keep making supplications as it is a special gift that Allah has given to us. He is the Best Listener and He is always Listening. Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism, Dua, Supplication Keep knocking on the door of the Merciful, and it will open eventually. The key is to be patient. Allah knows when is the right time to fulfil our supplications and bring us relief. The Prophet s.a.w. said: “Supplication is the shield of a believer, a pillar of the religion and light of heavens and earth.”[5] The Prophet further taught us the best way we can carry out our supplication. He said: “Whomsoever has completed reading the Quran, ask Allah with it” (Narrated by Imam At-Tabrani) Based on the above hadith, we can make supplications for our brothers and sisters in Gaza, Palestine and for all humanity after reading ṣūrah al-Ikhlāṣ three times as reading this ṣūrah three times is equivalent to completing the Qurān. Let us make duā after every á¹£olat for all those who are experiencing oppression to be given patience, perseverance and paradise for the sacrifices that they are experiencing. رَبِّ سَلِّمْ سَلِّمْ Oh Allah, save us, save us رَبِّ سَلِّمْ سَلِّمْ إِخْوَانَنَا فِى فِلِسْطِيْنَ Oh Allah, save us, save us, save our brothers and sisters in Palestine Read: Seeking Allah in Times of Distress As the crisis continues, we can be overwhelmed when we experience moments of incapacity to help, the loss of freedom of choice to voice our concerns and acts, and other types of emotions. This is where we seek refuge in Allah out of our sheer necessity with no other ulterior motive. All these emotions are His creations, and we turn ourselves towards Him with these emotions. As we turn ourselves towards Him, we acknowledge our weaknesses and inabilities and read a dua taught to us by Allah in Surah Ali-’Imran, حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ “For Allah suffice for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.” (Surah Ali-’Imran, 3:173) This was the dua read by Nabi Ibrahim a.s when he was catapulted into the fire. As he flew into the fire, he read this dua, and Allah commanded the fire to cool down for Nabi Ibrahim a.s. قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ We said, “O Fire! Be your coolness and safety unto Ibrahim” (Surah Anbiya, 21:69) Read: Dua Qunut Nazilah With English Translation Channel Our Energy Towards a Good Cause Work together with others in contributing towards humanitarian aid during this conflict. People in Singapore, regardless of race and religion, were able to raise almost five million dollars in humanitarian aid for Palestine in less than 2 weeks after the fundraiser by the Rahmatan Lil Alamin (Blessings to all) Foundation, or RLAF, was launched. Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism, Humanitarian, UNRWA, Help Always start something good within your means and circle of influence. For example, aside from making dua, donating and raising awareness about the crisis, we can also channel our efforts by volunteering at the mosque near our homes. Join the youth wing of the mosque and start supporting one another. Seek Guidance From Our Local Certified Asatizah As the conflict continues to unfold, we will continue to be bombarded with many different narratives. You may feel overwhelmed by the discussions and the emotions attached. Look for our local asātizah to process your feelings and thoughts. Go to the nearest mosque to seek help. Or you can look for a trusted adult to speak about your worries. Palestine, Israel, Hamas, Fatah, Crisis, Conflict, Middle East, Apartheid, Violence, Terrorism, Humanitarian, Safe Space, Discussion, AYN There are available channels for you to seek help, like the Asatizah Youth Network, mysafespace.sg, Asatizah Solace Care and others. Keep an eye on divisive speeches and extremist thoughts in virtual chat rooms or in social media platforms. Read: Ask An Ustaz or Ustazah Questions Through Anonymous Chat With MYSAFESPACE The Prophet always wants us to unite instead of being divided. Narratives that seek to plant the seed of hatred towards fellow Muslims and others are signs for us to distance ourselves from them. In conclusion, let us take the opportunity in this challenging time to explain and showcase the beauty of Islam. Let us elucidate the core principles and values such as Peace, Excellence, Mercy, Forgiveness, Justice and Wisdom that are contained in the Qurān and the exemplars of the Prophet s.a.w. Read: 4 Ways to Respond to the Suffering Faced by the Palestinian People References & Notes: [1] Ruth Margalit, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Minister of Chaos, The New Yoker, February 20, 2023. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/27/itamar-ben-gvir-israels-minister-of-chaos accessed on 8th November 2023. [2] Jonathan Guyer, Israel’s new right-wing government is even more extreme than protest would have you think, in Vox Journalism, 2023. https://www.vox.com/world/2023/1/20/23561464/israel-new-right-wing-government-extreme-protests-netanyahu-biden-ben-gvir, accessed on 8th November 2023. [3] Alexandra Sharp, A Guide to Palestinian and Other Anti-Israel Factions, Foreign Policy, October 10 2023. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/10/10/what-is-hamas-israel-war-palestine-fatah-hezbollah/ accessed on 8th November 2023. [4] Narrated by Khabbab bin Al-Arat, “We complained to Rasulullah s.a.w. (of the persecution inflicted on us by the enemies) while he was laying down (and resting his head on a cloth) under the shade of the Kaabah. We said to him, "Would you seek help for us? Would you pray to Allah for us?" He said, "A man from the previous nation would be put in a ditch that was dug for him, and a saw would be put over his head, and he would be cut into two; yet that (torture) would not make him give up his religion. His body would be combed with iron combs that would remove his flesh from the bones and nerves, yet that would not make him abandon his religion. By Allah, this religion (i.e. Islam) will prevail till a traveller from á¹¢an‘ā (in Yemen) to Ḥaḍramawt will fear none but Allah, or a wolf as regards his sheep, but you (people) are hasty” (Sahih Al-Bukhari) [5] https://www.islamweb.net/ar/library/content/74/1701/index.php assessed on 8th November 2023. https://muslim.sg/articles/our-response-in-crisis-will-demonstrate-our-core-values-as-muslims

Burning Inferno of Gaza: Part 1 Brig. General Asif H. RajaNovember 16, 2023 VT Condemns the ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIANS by USA/Israel $ 280 BILLION US TAXPAYER DOLLARS INVESTED since 1948 in US/Israeli Ethnic Cleansing and Occupation Operation; $ 150B direct "aid" and $ 130B in "Offense" contracts Source: Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. and US Department of State. Burning Inferno of Gaza by: Asif Haroon Raja Part-1 Background History of Creation of Israel The Christan Zionists had emerged in 1890 and grew in London. In 1905, Arthur James Balfour promulgated the 1905 Aliens Act to stop the immigration to Britain of the Jewish refugees fleeing anti-Semitism in Russia. Theodor Herzl was the founder of Zionist movement. He floated the idea of a Jewish state for the wandering Jews in Europe suffering at the hands of Christian anti-Semites. The latter wanted to get rid of the Jews. The project of sending all Jews to Palestine was jointly pursued by the Zionist movement and the British anti-Semites. The Balfour Declaration of Nov 6, 1917 was inked at the behest of Zionist Rothchild with a view to provide a homeland for the Jews. After the 2nd world war, Palestine became the colony of Britain, which considered it a fit place for a Jewish State. Palestine Palestine, where the great majority was of the Arab Muslims extended from River Jordan in the East to the Mediterranean in the West, and from Ras Al Naqarush in the North to Umm Al-Rashrash in the South. It was a prosperous state where all the communities lived in harmony without any discrimination. At the start of the 20th century, the Jewish population in Palestine was less than 5%. After 1920, it swelled to over 30% due to manipulated immigration from Europe. From 1945 onwards the intensity of immigration of Jews to Palestine intensified and the UK helped the Jews to buy lands and properties and to settle down. In 1947-48, the militant gangs of the Zionist Jews resorted to terrorism and systematically demolished 531 Palestinian villages. In 1947, the UK proposed division of Palestine, which was executed by the UN to carve out a state for the Jews in May 1948. Almost half of Palestine was awarded to Israel. Before the 1948 Arab-Israeli war in May 1948, 200 villages were destroyed. It gave birth to the Arab-Israeli conflict and led to the 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 wars. The combined armies of Egypt, Syria and Iraq supported by other Arab countries were roundly defeated by the IDF in all the wars. Displacement of Palestinians In 1948, two forcible displacements of 250,000 and 350,000 Palestinians took place They were expelled from their homes. In May 1948, another 750,000 were displaced/expelled and forced to live as refugees in several Arab States, West Bank (WB), and Gaza Strip which is just 365 Sq area, 41 KM long and 6 KM wide. It now has about 2.5 million people. During the 2nd Intifada, about 5000 homes were demolished and 50,000 Palestinians were displaced. From 2009 to 2023, 9000 homes were destroyed and 1,50,000 Palestinians killed/injured. In the current war in Gaza, 1.4 million Gazans have been displaced. Settlement of Jews During the Partition plan, the Jews owned 7% of the land in Palestine and its population was 55%. In 1947, the Jewish possessions in Palestine were 9-12% of cultivable land, which increased to 81% in 1977. From 1967 to May 1977, Israel established 133 settlements in occupied territories of WB, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and Sinai. Since 1979, settlers in WB have risen from 3200 to 17,400. In East Jerusalem, the number of settlers has risen to 80,000. From 1949 to 1967, Israel gobbled up 78% of Palestinian lands, and thereafter continued to nibble more territory, reducing the territory held by the Palestinians to only 8%. The Western world and the UN legitimized Israel’s robbery of land and wanton barbarities against the victims under the plea of right to self-defense. Peace Efforts PLO was created in 1964 by Yasser Arafat, which started an armed resistance movement in the late 1960s after Israel launched its policy of settling Jews in Palestinian lands. The Madrid Conference in 1991 jointly chaired by George Bush senior and Gorbachev was the first attempt to bring the Arabs and Israelis on a negotiating table. Oslo Accords was signed by Israel under Yitzhak Rabin and PLO in 1993. Yasser Arafat agreed to recognize Israel in return for peace and a two-state solution. He earned the animosity of hawkish members in PLO, he fell ill and died in Paris hospital. Many speculated that he was slow-poisoned to death. In pursuance of the peace agreement, Israel withdrew from Gaza Strip and agreed to hand over 97% of WB territory. It agreed to recognize Palestine as an independent State comprising Gaza, WB and East Jerusalem as its capital, for which the PLA was created. Camp David summit hosted by Bill Clinton for the final settlement in 2000 proved inconclusive, because of disagreements on territory, refugees and the status of Jerusalem. The next phase of resistance put up by the PLO was in the form of unarmed Intifada in 2001, in which children threw stones on the occupying Israeli forces. Their sole demand was to return their occupied lands and grant them the right to exist independently. Road map for peace formulated in 2003 met a similar fate due to Israel’s obduracy and boycott by Hamas. Same happened with the Annapolis Conference hosted by George Bush junior in 2007. Another effort was made by John Kerry to revive peace talks in 2013-14, but Hamas rejected the talks for being tilted in favor of Israel. Trump played a role in brokering Abraham Accords in 2020 which led to the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab States. Israel declared Jerusalem as its capital and the USA hastened to shift its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Not only did Israel violate the peace deal, it launched a vigorous forward settlement program to further encroach into the Palestinian territory and to change the demography of Gaza, WB and East Jerusalem that were illegally annexed in 1967. Number of illegal settlers rose from 200,000 in 2008 to over 700,000 in 2023. It laid to rest the two-state solution. Rise of Hamas Mehmood Abbas who succeeded Arafat after the death of Arafat as the head of PLA, made compromises with Israel, which defanged the resistance movement and made him unpopular. His unpopularity gave space to a new political party ‘Hamas’ under Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza. Hamas was elected with a big majority in 2006 elections in which the non-performing PLA under Abbas was defeated. The latter, egged on by Israel, refused to accept the results and formed its own government in the WB in 2007. Hamas govt was democratically elected, but it was not accepted by Tel Aviv and its chief patron USA, and was declared a terrorist group. Israel and the USA played a role in creating misgivings and pitting the PLA against Hamas to weaken the Palestine cause. Hamas bettered the lives of the Gazans through good governance and honesty and won their hearts which was not to the liking of Israel. The IDF carried out ruthless ground and air offensives against Gaza from 2008 to 2020, killing and injuring 120,286 innocent people and destroying their infrastructure and livelihoods. Deaths and injuries of Israelis were 5887. Al-Aqsa Mosque was repeatedly desecrated even when the Palestinians were praying. This was done in a bid to topple Hamas Govt, or to compel the Gazans to detach themselves from Hamas, but they didn’t, and have braved the barbarism of Israel. Despite friendship with Abbas, Israel kept encroaching into WB and killing the Palestinians and established over one hundred new settlements. Israel’s aggressive policies forced Hamas to create a militant wing for the defence of Gaza. Role of the USA The US has been protecting and safeguarding the interests of Israel since its creation in 1948. It helped Israel to become a nuclear power and the strongest power in the ME, and its airspace, border and coastline was made impregnable. The militarily and economically strong Arab States were neutralized and tamed. The US and Europe justified Israel’s sins against humanity by arguing that it is a victim of aggression and has the right of self-defense. Ignoring the extreme pains of the Palestinians and their legitimate resistance movement, who were deprived of their lands and homes, they are accused of unprovoked cruel aggression against Jews. Heavy military assistance to Israel by the USA is considered rightful, but humanitarian assistance to the Gazans is seen by the duplicitous West as illegal. The certificate of terrorism given to the Palestinians by the US led West and unwavering support of the US encouraged Israel to constantly delegitimize, brutalize and dehumanize them, deprive them of their right of self-defense, or to seek basic human rights. A stage came in 2020 during Donad Trump era, that the Arab States abandoned the cause of the Palestinians as well as the two-state solution and decided to recognize Israel. They took the plea that friendship with Israel would help in resolving the Palestinian dispute. After several Arab States opened diplomatic and trade relations with Israel, the change of scenario emboldened an arrogant Netanyahu to boast that in near future there will be no Palestine on the map of the world. Pressure was mounted on Pakistan to recognize Israel. The main argument of pro-Israel lobbies was that when the directly involved Arab nations had changed their policies, there was no earthly reason for Pakistan not to recognize Israel with which it doesn’t share border and there is no dispute between the two. They further argued that it was hypocritical to maintain friendly relations with the USA and hostility with Israel. Ambitions of the Imperialist Powers The Muslim leaders must understand the future ambitions of the three imperialist strategic partners – USA, ISRAEL and INDIA. The US wants to control the global resources and monopolize the world after neo-colonizing the Middle East. Israel’s quest is to create Greater Israel, which stretches from River Nile to Euphrates and includes parts of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. India strives for Mahabharata, which envisages the whole of South Asia, Afghanistan, parts of Central Asia, Iran and Indonesia, and stretches up to the Gulf region. Both Israel and India backed by the USA are pursuing uniform policies of genocide, rapes, destruction and change of demographic complexion of the occupied territories. Both have broken all records of tyranny, cruelty and human rights, but being the darlings of the West, all their sins are ignored. Instead of restraining them or punishing them, they are encouraged and further strengthened by their patrons. To be continued… Stay Tuned for Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 The writer is a retd Brig Gen, war veteran, defence, security and political analyst, international columnist, author of five books, MSc War Studies, served as Directing Staff in Staff College Quetta, defence attaché Egypt and Sudan and Dean of the Corps of military attaches, held high staff and command appointments, after retirement he was appointed Colonel of the Battalion he commanded, he chaired Thinkers Forum Pakistan for 4 years, takes part in TV talk shows. [email protected] Brig. General Asif Haroon Raja is on the board of advisors for Opinion Maker. He holds an MSc war studies degree. A second-generation officer, he fought the epic battle of Hilli in northwest East Bengal during 1971 war, He served as Directing Staff Command & Staff College, Defence Attaché Egypt, and Sudan and Dean of Corps of Military Attaches in Cairo. He commanded the heaviest brigade in Kashmir. He is tri-lingual and speaks English, Pashto, and Punjabi fluently. Currently, he is a defense analyst and columnist and writes articles on security, defense, and political matters for numerous international/national publications. He is chairman at the Thinkers Forum Pakistan, Director Measac Research Centre, & Member CWC PESS & Veterans Think Tank He is also the author of many books; ‘Battle of Hilli’, ‘1948, 1965 & 1971 Kashmir Battles and Freedom Struggle’, ‘Muhammad bin Qasim to Gen Musharraf’, and Roots of 1971 Tragedy’. His latest book is ‘Tangled knot of Kashmir : Indo-Pakistan antagonism: vol. 1 and vol. 2″ www.opinion-maker.com ATTENTION READERS We See The World From All Sides and Want YOU To Be Fully Informed In fact, intentional disinformation is a disgraceful scourge in media today. So to assuage any possible errant incorrect information posted herein, we strongly encourage you to seek corroboration from other non-VT sources before forming an educated opinion. About VT - Policies & Disclosures - Comment Policy Due to the nature of uncensored content posted by VT's fully independent international writers, VT cannot guarantee absolute validity. All content is owned by the author exclusively. Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VT, other authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, or technicians. Some content may be satirical in nature. All images are the full responsibility of the article author and NOT VT. https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/2023/11/burning-inferno-of-gaza-part-1/

Israel’s 9/11: “The Greater Israel”, Maritime Natural Gas, and the Prospect of a Middle East Multi-Front War Transcript Included All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name. To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here. Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. a a*** “Yes, this could end up being a multi-front war. Now if this becomes a multi-front war, it is a regional war that will escalate to a global war. No question about it! The Chinese and the Russians back the Iranians.” – Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya (From this week’s interview.) “Israel needs the United States in this fight, and the way to get the United States into this fight is to provoke a large scale attack from Iran or an Iranian proxy. That’s I think the game that’s being played right now. So, where I see this going Michael, is we are heading to a major, major war in the Middle East.” – Dimitri Lascaris (From this week’s interview.) LISTEN TO THE SHOW Click to download the audio (MP3 format) “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible.” “go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” [1] These are the statements made by the Prime Minister of the country ranked 15th in the world in total military expenditures – and a major ally of the United States. And Canada. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for all their proclaiming of upholding science, for their respect for progressive political values, still seem to be prepared to support an apparent “religious fanatic” spouting claims from the same book of the Old Testament that proclaimed that the sun stood still in the sky while the forces of the children of Israel pounded the enemy of the day. “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still [dom] upon Gibeon; and you, Moon, in the valley of Ayalon.’” (Joshua 10:12) The dead in Gaza have now vastly outnumbered those who died in Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces have slowly begun a ground invasion of Northern Gaza. Meanwhile, the U.S. has positioned aircraft carriers. guided missile ships, Bataan ARG ships, aerial defense and Tomahawk cruise missiles, THAAD and Patriot missiles, and 2,500 marines in the Middle East in addition to two F-16 an A10 Squadron and 20 refuelling tankers in the Persian Gulf. [2] These developments are disturbing. Just as Russian forces parked their troops at the border with Ukraine for months before eventually charging in on the 24th of February of last year, one can only wonder what new development Uncle Sam is waiting for before the second shoe drops. It’s been said that war is good for business, as was the case with World War I and World War II. And right now, one can see where certain elite figures might welcome and even agitate for another major financial windfall. However, the citizens of countries around the world, including the U.S. are protesting Israel’s action in sizes growing every weekend. November 4 is expected to be the largest Palestine solidarity protest in history. [3] The Great Plan for Gaza, supposedly to prevent any more terror attacks from Hamas, may escalate into other areas supporting Palestinians, from Lebanon, to Syria and Iran and ultimately to the United States, Russia and China. Is the epic World War III finally on the collective plate of humanity? One of many questions to be probed on this week’s Global Research News Hour. Our first guest, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, returns to the Global Research News Hour to share one of his own analyses of the Israel-Gaza conflict, explains how the October 7 attack by Hamas was an early “Christmas present” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, talks about the disinformation surrounding the crimes of Hamas, focuses on Natural Gas as a prize for Netanyahu’s biblical crusade, and mentions how Iranian involvement could spark a horrific cataclysm. Our second guest, Dimitri Lascaris, took a trip to Lebanon since the Israel-Gaza war was underway. He brings an assessment of how forces there could be shaping into a second front against Israel, how he sees the war escalating to a broader front, and how the people of the West wanting to thwart the plans of Israel should take to the streets and “protest like Hell.” Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is an award-winning author and geopolitical analyst, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is the author of The Globalization of NATO (Clarity Press) and a forthcoming book The War on Libya and the Re-Colonization of Africa. He has also contributed to several other books ranging from cultural critique to international relations. He is a Sociologist and Research Associate at the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He published an article on November 26, 2022: Preparing the Chessboard for the “Clash of Civilizations”: Divide, Conquer and Rule the “New Middle East” Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, a journalist and an activist. From 2004 to 2016 he was a member of Canada’s leading class action law firm Siskinds LLP. He now works pro-bono legal cases. In 2020, he ran for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada and placed second with 45.5% of the membership. (Global Research News Hour Episode 407) LISTEN TO THE SHOW Click to download the audio (MP3 format) Transcript of Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, October 31, 2023. Part One Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya: One thing I’d like to start off with is, you brought up September 11th, or 9/11 as it is colloquially called. People have paralleled this, called this Israel’s 9/11. Well, you should – the audience should remember that the president of the United States, George W. Bush Jr., was very unpopular before 9/11. There was a lot of problems in the United States, and all that disappeared. His popularity went up and it was – it allowed for this new militarized foreign policy to come into play. Now, the same thing is happening with Israel, although Israel’s foreign policy has always been militaristic. And I think it’s even a misnomer to call it a foreign policy, because it’s dealing – we’re dealing with occupation here. Second point I’d like to bring is: pardon me, but I will use some religious expressions. Christmas came early for Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu, he was under investigation by the Israeli judicial system. There is so much evidence to prove that Mr. Netanyahu was going to be found guilty. Definitely, the courts were going to throw the book at him. His solution to this was to politicize the judicial system of Israel, the state of Israel. So, what he was doing is basically he wanted to have control over the judicial system by changing the law and, basically, the constitutional structure of Israel. Re-wiring it, whereas the court system, which has always been independent, the judicial branch has been independent from the executive and legislative branches in Israel, the Prime Minister’s office and the Knesset. He wanted to basically subordinate it. This basically resulted in a civil war in Israel. What do I mean by a “civil war”? I mean, that the country was divided heavily. There were protests, the rule of law was not being followed. Benjamin Netanyahu started even re-channelling security and military and police assets to Tel Aviv and other major centres against protesters, you know. Because the protesters were not letting up, they were getting stronger. He was trying to outlaw them. So, this was the dynamics in Israel, and even the President of Israel, on the records, said he was afraid there would be a civil war. So, what this – what happened in Israel with the October 7th, actually froze this civil war. It put it on ice. And it gave Mr. Netanyahu, I think, he thought, a gift. But in the end, he’s going to realize that this is not a gift. It’s actually going to hurt him in the end. What he has done, he has made many strategic blunders. He has blamed all the Israeli securities for what’s happened. The second point in regards to this constellation of what I’m talking about that I’d like to make audiences think about: what happened with the Egyptians – I don’t want to segue – is they sent intelligence to Netanyahu saying that there – Palestinians are in Gaza, Hamas, and other Palestinian resistance fighters, they’re going to do something. So, a message was sent. And even the United States government, the US Congress, Senate Foreign Affairs committee has testified that this is correct. The Israeli government knew days beforehand that something was going to happen. Now, someone can say they were distracted, someone can say they underestimated it, and someone can say they looked the other way. It’s possible, all these are possibilities. So, this was very convenient for Netanyahu. That’s what I’d like to put forward. Of course, there are people who are conspiratorial-minded and they think that maybe Hamas was manipulated into doing this. Maybe the Palestinians were manipulated into doing this. These are all possibilities that can’t be ruled out. But I want to talk on sureties, on facts that we know. We know that there were problems in Israel with Netanyahu. We knew that he was in legal trouble. We knew his popularity was diving. And we also know that the Israeli economy is not as robust as it was before. The handouts coming from the West, the United States, are still coming, but there’s economic problems in the West and that is also affecting Israel. And the Israelis also have their eyes on the Gaza Strip’s territorial waters where there are massive natural gas reserves. So, in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus, where there was conflict between the Turks, the Greeks, Cypriots, and even Israelis over natural gas. Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip all have large amounts of natural gas, and the Israelis want this. It’s specifically Northern Gaza, just to let you know. If you look on a map, you can find the maps. Anybody who wants to in this age of technology can find maps showing the gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean. You’ll see Northern Gaza, which the Israelis want evacuated, has a lot of natural gas. So, did Hamas give them moral grounds to do this? Absolutely not, I disagree. First of all, I want to point out that Hamas is being typecast in the wrong way. In many ways, the situation is misrepresented. First of all, Hamas is a resistance group that is not solely a militia. It is a political party as well. It has a militia branch. The militia branch, the militants, the resistance fighters, or as the Israelis call them, and the Canadian government, terrorists. They were the ones who launched this as a joint Palestinian operation. It was not just Hamas. It was different Palestinian resistance groups. They released a letter about it when they did it. And they did not expect it to be so easy. Why? I cannot say why it was so easy. Maybe it’s because the resources weren’t there. Maybe it’s because Israel is not as strong as people think. Maybe that they planned this so well. But the Israeli defences fell immediately. So much so, that — Global Research: Do you think — MDN: — civilians from Gaza were — GR: But, sorry to interrupt. Basically, what you’re saying is: it doesn’t – I mean, they might have had foreknowledge, or they may not. But either way, I guess Netanyahu was kind of, you know, rubbing his hands together saying, ‘Okay, this is our opportunity.’ MDN: Exactly, — GR: I mean, that — MDN: — you hit the nail right on the head. So, this was opportunistic. So, this is the parallel with September 11th: the United States used this as an excuse to invade Afghanistan. Geostrategically, very important placement between Pakistan, India, Iran, China, and the former Soviet Union. It used this to invade Iraq to steal Iraq’s oil. It used this as an excuse to go into other countries in the region that we call the Middle East. Longest serving prime minister of Israel. Yeah, basically Christmas came early for him. And he used this opportunity to justify what is undoubtedly a genocidal attack on a predominantly civilian – like, almost all of these people are civilians. We cannot forget that the Gaza Strip is the most densely populated place on the Earth. That the Gaza Strip is – the distance in the Gaza Strip is less than the distance of a marathon. People who run the Boston Marathon run a longer distance than the entire length of the Gaza Strip, all right? So, you can run the Boston Marathon and that’s a longer distance of land than the Gaza Strip, that’s just to put it into comparison. And the majority of people there are children. GR: 2.3 million people in that space. MDN: 2.3 million prisoners, essentially. It has been called by Jimmy Carter, former US president, a man who supported Israel, he has – he basically said it was an open-air prison. Many Israelis themselves say that. The United Nations says that. How many people and how many qualified people have to say this for those people in the rest of the world who disagree and support Israel to see that this is an open-air prison and it’s unacceptable to do that. And this is not a defensive war, this is not a war. First of all, the language, as a sociologist – a sociologist who studies power, who has throughout his life studied power dynamics and how language is used to exercise power relationships and to show them and to instruct people, I can tell you that it’s not a war. And legally, it’s not a war, it’s an occupation. And there’s a resistance to an occupation. Nobody would say anything about the Chinese in Nanking who resisted the Japanese attacks on Nanking. Nobody would say anything about the French Resistance. Now, the French Resistance did some really bad things to Nazis, or German soldiers, all right? People do bad things in war. And I’m not here to justify them. I, actually, morally think that one civilian getting killed is unjustifiable. So, that said, Hamas has been smeared. How do I believe Hamas has been smeared? I can tell you from the first days they said they beheaded people. There was absolutely no evidence, and this type of nonsense, or propaganda, has been used many times. Then, they talked about rape. I highly doubt that there was rape. It’s possible, but that would not be the trend. I mean, there was no – I don’t believe that there was massive rape and people were intentionally raping. I believe that there was an attack. And I believe that the light of the event will become clearer over time of exactly what happened. There still is this fog of war over what happened. So, when I heard about children being beheaded and 40 children being beheaded, I knew immediately that’s not true. The reason I knew it’s not true, one of the reasons I knew it’s not true is because there is a history of Israel and the United States using these type of statements and then retracting them or forgetting about them, and just using it to rile people up, to work up people’s emotions. So, they said 40 kids and now, everybody, all these politicians started talking about ‘Beheaded kids, beheaded kids.’ A gentleman by the name of Ben Shapiro started saying ‘40 kids, 40 kids,’ and then when he was asked to provide evidence, he brought a picture that later, experts said used AI. And it was just one kid and nobody third party, nobody in a position of authority even authenticated it. The Israeli president started presenting Al Qaeda booklets – I don’t know if you’re aware – he did a press conference and he said this Al Qaeda booklet was found amongst Hamas fighters. He expects us to believe Hamas fighters within an hour were planning on building chemical weapons, and they’re using a manual in English? The front of the manual says Al Qaeda in English. That was clearly meant for a foreign audience. No Hamas fighter would have a paper manual that says Al Qaeda. It would use the Arabic language with squiggly writing. The script wouldn’t be Latin and the language wouldn’t be English. GR: I’m reminded of the 1991 Persian Gulf War where they took the nurses talking about incubator baby being thrown on the floor by Iraqi — MDN: Exactly. GR:— soldiers. (inaudible) MDN: Exactly. A PR company. She was trained by (Hill and Knowlton), a PR company, who was – she was pretending to be a nurse. But she was really the Kuwaiti ambassador’s daughter. She gave a false testimony to the US Congress, George H. Bush (SIC) used it to start war. In fact, Michael, that is exactly what I thought of when I heard “beheaded children.” I thought of that. I don’t think they went around beheading children. These are people under occupation and I don’t think that they want to necessarily spread the same misery that they’ve been facing through an occupation that I actually, in my head, I recall biblical stories of the pharaoh, what he did to the children of Israel. And I parallel this to that. Like, you know, all those things that are described in the Bible that were done to the children of Israel, the Palestinians today are facing that from a modern Netanyahu or a pharaonic Egypt embodied in this state of Israel. The other propaganda — GR: How is — MDN: — was the rapes. There’s no evidence. They never provided any – I don’t believe anything unless they provide evidence. And they have not provided — GR: (inaudible, 14:17) — MDN: — any evidence. GR: Going, like the Yinon Plan going way, way back, you know, in which they’re wanting to expand, you know. And that’s something that’s been happening, you know, going into West Bank and Gaza. But they’re aiming to go also to expand, at least according to articles, into Syria and into – also into parts of North Africa. I’m wondering — MDN: Well, they have — GR: — like, the — MDN: — expanded, Michael. They’re already annexed Golan Heights in Syria. They already occupy the Shebaa Farms still in Lebanon. They had a plan to annex a lot of Lebanon. It didn’t work, because the Lebanese resistance was so strong with the Iranian support. The view of the Israelis is not necessarily to physically occupy land, as you can see in Gaza. Gaza, and officially and under technical and legal terms and in practice, is occupied. But no Israeli army has been on Gazan territory. They control the airwaves, they control the borders. What is imported was exported. The finances. They control the skies, they control the seas. So, that’s how they occupy Gaza, still. There’s still legally the occupational power of who’s responsible for the civilians. Israeli is still, under International Law, responsible for the civilians. A responsibility that it has intentionally neglected. But in regards to expanding Israeli influence, they don’t necessarily see this as physical, territorial gains. They see this as – it does include that, but they see this as economic influence. Which is why there is this normalization, the Abraham Accords. They see themselves as being the economic, I would say, gendarme of the United States. Now, I want to also point out that the Yinon Plan is not necessarily just about Israel. It’s about Israel serving a great power’s interest in the regions. So, Israel would be the local bully, or the local policeman. I don’t want to use the word “police” because they enforce the law. So, maybe local bandit of a great power like the United States. I have to also point this out since we’re talking about the subject: the Jewish people themselves are victims of the state of Israel. And what do I mean by this? The state of Israel thrives on anti-Semitism. It thrives on this. And in the sense that when people dislike or there’s bad things happening to them, some might turn to Israel. Some might think the only place in the world we got to go is Israel. So, it thrives on this and it gives it a raison d’etre. It uses this to justify its existence and this colonialism. When in reality, specifically in that region of the world, anti-Semitism in terms of negative views towards Jews was not really a common thing. Most Muslim Arabs and Christian Arabs, as well as Jewish Arabs, and other people, ethnic people of those three faiths, got along. Jews, Muslims, Christians predominantly lived together in peace. When they say they haven’t lived together, that’s ahistorical. It’s not historically correct. So, Israel thrives on these things and it wants the region, that region of the world, to be redrawn in a Zionist image. What do I mean by Zionist image? It wants states that are homogeneous and solely made for specific ethno-sectarian religious groups. So, a Kurdish state or a Shiite Arab state or a Sunni Muslim Arab state. It wants that. And that’s not how the world really is. People live together of different faiths and creeds – I mean, different creeds and colours. And that’s how that region really is. It’s always been a mixed region, you can look at Lebanon: Orthodox Christians, various Catholic Christians, even Protestants living together with different types of Shiite Muslims such as Alawites and Jaafaris and Sunni Muslims, as well as Druze. Palestine was just like this before the Israelis came. Different Christians, Palestinian Christians, Palestinian Muslims, both Shiite and Sunni, the North had Shiite, as well as Druze and Jews. Palestinian Jews, until this day, there are even Palestinian Jews still in the West Bank, they’re called Samaritans. They call them Samartians. This area was a place of coexistence, and the state of Israel, the experiment of Israel, tried to erase this and create a model of a homogeneous state, although Israel is not a homogeneous state in many ways. There are many cleavages there between different types of Jews in terms of where they originate from and in terms of different sects of Judaism. As well as different ethnicities. Like, for example, there are Israeli citizens who are Palestinian, they call them Israeli Arabs. Some of them are Christian and many of them are Muslim. Twenty percent, roughly, they even have seats in the Knesset. The Yinon Plan though, however, going back to it – sorry, I might have sidetracked a little. It wants to redraw the region in this model of Zionism in terms of just homogeneous states. And to do this would mean war and partition. Just think of what happened in India and Pakistan and the misery that came with it and the tensions between a fraternal people. Indians and Pakistanis are more or less the same people. But until — GR: You mentioned in — MDN: — this day there’s animosity between them. —Intermission— Part 2 GR: What about the other states that are going to fight back. I mean you have Hezbollah in Lebanon, you have Hamas, of course. There’s also things that Palestinians could do in the West Bank. There’s even the topic of Iran being (inaudible), a five front war against Israel. Do you think — MDN: Okay, that’s a great subject you’re bringing up. I, first of all, I have to be very frank. I have never considered the Israelis to be this juggernaut militarily. I always thought it was an illusion. And myself being a former soldier, you know, as a former serviceman in the military myself, I always looked at how they – I mean, I always looked at generally a lot of the things that they did in their military and it was very questionable on how professional they were. So, I mean I don’t think that this is a strong military in many ways. And answering your question, they’re very good at beating up civilians, you know? They’re very good at going at against countries that had civil wars and who have been downgraded and, you know, their military has been broken. They’re very good at sucker shots, like against Syria while there’s internal fighting and the military is worn down. Going against Lebanon after a bloody civil war when everyone is divided. They’re very good at bombing Iraq while it’s at war with Iran. So, they can do things like that and assassinations. But when it comes to an actual, conventional war, I think they’ll lose. Now, they always – looking at what military historians talk about their success in the Yom Kippur War, for example. You have to remember, the Arab armies they fought at were also – fought with were also fledgling armies. Those Arab armies were fledgling. They were not well organized. They were young, they were new. Those states also freshly became independent. And they were not as well-armed, in many cases. So, the Israelis have used this propaganda and this image to make themselves look like this Goliath in the region, which I have never agreed with and I want to make that clear. I have always seen it as an illusion. And that’s another point I make. The Israelis are very good at casting illusions. And for them, always their deterrent power was their most prized possession. And that’s why they’re good at making illusions as deterrents. If they fight against the Iranians, I think that the – first of all, the Israelis won’t fight against the Iranians. It would be the United States. That’s why the US Navy is there. That’s why those US Navy battle groups are there. So, the United States, ironically, calls for constraint while it funnels weapons into that region to Israel. While it stops ceasefires, while it’s there to fight. That’s some strange definition of constraint. The Iranians and the Americans are negotiations. There are negotiations going between them. As well as Hamas through Qatar. In fact, the Iranians even said there was talk about sending the Israeli captives to Iran, through Turkish or Qatari intermediaries. So, yes, this could end up being a multi-front war. Now, if this becomes a multi-front war, it is a regional war that will escalate to a global war. No question about it. The Chinese and the Russians back the Iranians. There was an Iranian advisor who came to Beijing, government advisor, two weeks ago. More or less, when I listen to him, he said, essentially, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. So, the conflict will escalate. But it’s not because this is something that’s going to happen in the Middle East, because all these states there are at each other’s throats. I think it’s by design that the United States is trying to create a broader, three-front conflict. I’m not going to use the word ‘war’ yet, between Russia, China, and Iran. They’ve already started war in Eastern Europe using Ukraine. Now in Palestine, they’re using the Palestinians and the Israelis to create a front there. In Chinese Taipei, which is basically, more or less, a rogue province of China, as Beijing sees it, they’re arming Taipei. And there’s a connection. In fact, the funding that Mr. Biden is sending right now is for all three of these places. Maybe Israel has priority, but it’s all three of them. There is a connection: the conflicts in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe will go to the – are being pushed in the Asia Pacific region. And definitely, the Chinese are cognizant about this. And the Chinese position against Israel on this has been very assertive. And I think, very fair in terms of International Law. And definitely, the Chinese public, more or less, are not supportive of Israel. In the Chinese public, if you go on Weebo, TikTok, WeChat, if you look at all these, majority of the Chinese public are against Israel. And the Israelis actually have agents trying to push their propaganda and win hearts and minds in the People’s Republic of China and it’s not successful. The Chinese understand what’s at stake, they understand that this is connected to great power maneuvers. At the end of the day, the United States is – this goes back to Washington. It’s not a question of — GR: I want — MDN: — what television is necessarily doing. GR:Yeah. Mahdi, unfortunately we’re starting to run out of time. I wanted to basically give you a chance to maybe remark on anything that you haven’t remarked on yet or maybe emphasize the things that you have. Basically, you know, say in terms of this war where, you know, there are citizens all over the place who are still determined to – who are resisting, you know, in numbers like — MDN: Well, — GR: — what we’ve seen since 20 years ago. What do you think we should say to the citizens to communicate the importance of this situation and maybe — MDN: So, — GR:— things like what you do and how to stop it. MDN: I’m not anybody special to pontificate to other people on how to follow their moral compasses. But I do think that time is running out for a lot of innocent people. So, I believe that if you have no – if you can do something to help, do it. If you can’t do something positive to help, then at least speak about it. Speak out against that evil or negativity or darkness. And if you cannot do that, and you’re (inaudible) hate it in your heart, dislike it in your heart. What I have to say is: I think time is running out for a lot of innocent people. There is a genocide, no question about it. When you listen to Israeli media and Israeli leaders, they are talking about genocide. Like the president of Israel said this is a collective crime, all Palestinians are guilty. Hamas represents them, it’s their government, they’re all guilty. The Israeli defence minister called them “human animals.” A few years ago, they said they would even do another Holocaust there, a few years ago. I mean, Benjamin Netanyahu invoked the Bible and a people that were erased in the Bible. So, they are going to do this. And in fact, in Israel, there is a government document that has been circulated by Israeli media that calls for the ethnic cleansing, or genocide, in Palestine, where all of the Palestinians will be forced to go into the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt and never allowed to come back. They will never be allowed to come back. They will be kicked off the land and forced to live in a tent city in the Sinai, kilometres away from the border with Gaza. And that document actually goes out of it’s way to tell them – they want to tell them that God punished them. That’s what they’d like to tell them, that God punished the Palestinian people and that’s why they’re there. This is actually an Israeli government document from the intelligence services, that they put together. The final thing I have to say is that I hope that peace prevails, but I think that, in the end, this is going to hurt Israel and the United States. They will be the two biggest losers from this. That is my strong belief, this will actually backfire against Israel. They are actually committing political suicide. And you can see that the whole world is waking up in this age of social media technology and realizing what they are doing. And in that sense, there is a danger for the supporters of Israel who are trying to outlaw supporting Palestinians. So, in Europe, in France and Germany, at the start, they were trying to ban rallies in support of Palestine. And then, there are people Orwellianly trying to say if you support Palestinian rights and freedom, it means you support terrorism or Hamas. Hamas is not the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian people are not Hamas. But I also think Hamas is being misrepresented, as well. I want to point that out. A lot of things you’re hearing, you should double-check. And in much of the world, they are not considered a terrorist organization in a large part of the world. They are considered a resistance group. Whether you like their politics and their tactics and their ideology, they are considered a resistance group. So, those are some things that I want to put out there. And I hope this fighting stops, but in the end I think that we all need to speak out in whatever way we can to stop it. The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM out of the University of Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca . Other stations airing the show: CIXX 106.9 FM, broadcasting from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. It airs Sundays at 6am. WZBC 90.3 FM in Newton Massachusetts is Boston College Radio and broadcasts to the greater Boston area. The Global Research News Hour airs during Truth and Justice Radio which starts Sunday at 6am. Campus and community radio CFMH 107.3fm in Saint John, N.B. airs the Global Research News Hour Fridays at 7pm. CJMP 90.1 FM, Powell River Community Radio, airs the Global Research News Hour every Saturday at 8am. Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia airs the Global Research News Hour starting Wednesday afternoon from 3-4pm. Cowichan Valley Community Radio CICV 98.7 FM serving the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, BC airs the program Thursdays at 9am pacific time. Notes: https://www.infowars.com/posts/netanyahu-declaring-invasion-you-must-remember-what-amalek-has-done-to-you-says-our-holy-bible/ Avi Scharf and Anshel Pfeffer (Oct 31, 2023), ‘OSINT Shows Third U.S. Naval Group Arrives in Mideast, Countries Prep to Evacuate Thousands’, Haaretz; https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2023-10-31/ty-article-magazine/.premium/osint-third-u-s-naval-group-arrives-in-mideast-countries-prep-to-evacuate-thousands/0000018b-854f-d805-a98f-b5df147e0000 https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/11/01/biggest-palestine-solidarity-march-in-us-history-expected-to-take-place-on-saturday/ Related Articles from our Archives

U.S. readies plans for mass evacuations if Gaza war escalates Officials said that the more than 600,000 Americans living in Israel and Lebanon are of particular concern, but they stressed that an operation of such magnitude is a worst-case scenario Yasmeen Abutaleb The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower departs Norfolk with its coterie of escort ships on Oct. 14 in response to Israel-Gaza War. (Anderson W. Branch/AFP/Getty Images) correction A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Hezbollah has controlled Lebanon since 1992. It entered parliament that year. The article has been corrected. The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of American citizens will require evacuation from the Middle East if the bloodshed in Gaza cannot be contained, according to four officials familiar with the U.S. government’s contingency planning. The specter of such an operation comes as Israeli forces, aided by U.S. weapons and military advisers, prepare for what is widely expected to be a perilous ground offensive against Hamas militants responsible for the stunning cross-border attack that has reignited hostilities. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail internal deliberations, said Americans living in Israel and neighboring Lebanon are of particular concern, though they stressed that an evacuation of that magnitude is considered a worst-case scenario and that other outcomes are seen as more likely. Still, one official said, it “would be irresponsible not to have a plan for everything.” What a ground war in Gaza could look like The administration, despite its forceful public support for Israel, is deeply alarmed by the prospect of escalation, and in recent days it has turned its attention in part to the complicated logistics of abruptly having to relocate a large number of people, according to three people familiar with the discussions. There were about 600,000 U.S. citizens in Israel and another 86,000 believed to be in Lebanon when Hamas attacked, according to State Department estimates. Story continues below advertisement The concern in Lebanon is chiefly over Hezbollah, a political party and militant group that, along with allies, currently controls the largest number of parliamentary seats. It entered parliament in 1992. It has long accepted training and weapons from Iran, prompting concerns that it could attack Israel from the north, creating a two-front war that would stretch Israeli forces. Already, there have been skirmishes along their shared border. Israeli tanks fired shells toward southern Lebanon on Oct. 15, following reports of a strike launched from within Lebanon against the Israeli town of Shtula. (Video: Reuters) “This has become a real issue,” one official said. “The administration is very, very, very worried that this thing is going to get out of hand.” The administration’s concern extends beyond those two countries, as officials watch the street protests that have spread across the Arab world, putting both U.S. personnel and citizens in the region at heightened risk. The bombardment of Gaza has inflamed regional fury at Israel and its treatment of Palestinians — an issue some officials believed no longer carried as much importance in the Arab world. Story continues below advertisement “The street to a large extent is now in charge,” said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former official in the Clinton administration. “We were told for the last 10 years that the Arab world and Muslim world didn’t care about Palestine anymore, and Abraham Accords were proof of that,” Riedel added, referring to agreements, signed by the governments of Sudan, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, aimed at normalizing relations with Israel. “Well, Palestine has come back. I don’t think it ever went away.” More than 5,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians and children, have been killed amid unrelenting Israeli airstrikes since the Oct. 7 attacks, Palestinian health officials say. How the Biden administration tried to slow Israel’s invasion of Gaza Top U.S. officials have not wanted to discuss such contingency planning in public, hoping to avoid setting off a panic among Americans in the region. But their posture has shifted in recent days to convey the anxiety about other actors entering the conflict. Story continues below advertisement Last week, the State Department issued an advisory to all U.S. citizens worldwide “to exercise increased caution” due to “increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, [and] demonstrations or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests.” The warning was in response to demonstrations that have erupted in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and broader anger in the Arab world over Washington’s full political, economic and military backing of Israel. Depending on the scale of a potential U.S. evacuation, it could be more difficult than any previous operations in recent memory, experts said. It could involve Air Force aircraft or Navy warships, which have surged to the region this month. Story continues below advertisement “With 600,000 Americans in Israel and threats to other Americans across the region, it’s hard to think of an evacuation that might compare to this in scale, scope and complexity,” said Suzanne Maloney, the director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. “The sort of advisories the State Department has put out lately have been fairly blunt,” she added. On Monday, the Pentagon signaled, too, that it is bracing for a significant increase in attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East, and the department singled out Iran for its extensive sponsorship of militant groups with a long history of using rockets and drones to target American military positions. In response, Pentagon officials said, they are surging additional missile-defense systems to the region. Story continues below advertisement Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that a “broader escalation” is possible “in the days ahead.” Senior military leaders, he said, are taking “all necessary measures” to safeguard U.S. personnel. Particularly vulnerable are the estimated 3,400 troops deployed in Iraq and Syria, where earlier in the day U.S. personnel based near the Jordan border intercepted at least two one-way attack drones, officials said. Americans operating in those countries have been targeted for years by Iranian-backed militias, including Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraq-based group that claimed responsibility for some of the previous attacks disclosed over the last week. U.S. intercepts missiles near Yemen as troops face drone attacks in Middle East “We don’t necessarily see that Iran has explicitly ordered them to take these kinds of attacks,” Ryder said. “That said, by virtue of the fact that they are supported by Iran, we will ultimately hold Iran responsible.” Story continues below advertisement It’s unclear how many times deployed personnel have come under fire since the Israel-Hamas crisis began Oct. 7. Officials said that the Pentagon was compiling a list of confirmed incidents but that the effort had been hampered by what one senior defense official called the profusion of “disinformation and misinformation.” No U.S. personnel are known to have been killed or seriously injured in any of the spillover violence. An American contractor in Iraq did suffer a fatal heart attack last week as troops and others at the Ain al-Asad air base raced to take cover from what proved to be a false alarm of an incoming attack. Sarah Dadouch in Beirut and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.

🚨BREAKING: 'We Will Have to Intervene’ | Iran Warns Israel Against Ground Offensive in Gaza Iran has sent a message through the UN warning Israel against a ground offensive in Gaza. Axios reports that Iran has warned Israel it will take direct action to intervene should Israel launch a ground offensive in Gaza. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with UN envoy to the Middle East Tor Wennesland on Saturday in Beirut, according to diplomatic sources, to convey the message. Iran's message, sent to Israel through the UN, comes as the Biden administration has been trying to deter Iran and Lebanon-backed Hezbollah, supported by Iran, from joining the war, even sending the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group to the Israeli coast to be ready for any hostile actions by Iran. Such a move by Iran, either by Iranian forces or a militant group such as Hezbollah, could expand the conflict to engulf the entire Middle East. The UAE, recently aligned with Israel through the Abraham Accords, has sent a message warning Syria to refrain from active participation in the conflict. According to Axios, Wennesland urged Amir-Abdollahian to help prevent a spillover of the conflict in Gaza and Israel to the wider region in the Middle East. The Iranian foreign minister replied that Iran doesn't want the conflict to turn into a regional war and wants to try and help with the release of civilians who are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. At the same time, he stressed that Iran has limits of its own - among them a ground offensive in Gaza. Should that happen, Amir-Abdollahian commented, Iran would be left with no choice but to intervene. 🔗Source: Israel National News #israel #news #breaking #iran #gaza

Julius Caesar's assassination (March 15, 44 BCE): A lunar eclipse occurred on March 13, 44 BCE, two days before the assassination, which Romans believed was a bad omen. Battle of Hastings (October 14, 1066): This decisive battle happened one day after a lunar eclipse on October 13, 1066, and was considered an omen by astrologers. Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815): A lunar eclipse took place two days before this battle on June 16, 1815, which marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. California Gold Rush (January 24, 1848): A lunar eclipse occurred on January 27, 1848, three days after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, sparking the Gold Rush. U.S. Civil War begins (April 12, 1861): A lunar eclipse happened two days prior, on April 10, 1861, before the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. Abraham Lincoln's assassination (April 14, 1865): Lincoln was assassinated three days before a lunar eclipse on April 17, 1865. Titanic sinking (April 15, 1912): The Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg, and a lunar eclipse occurred three days prior, on April 12, 1912. Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination (June 28, 1914): This event triggered World War I, and a lunar eclipse occurred three days before, on June 25, 1914. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945): The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, with a lunar eclipse taking place two days prior, on August 4, 1945. Apollo 11 Moon Landing (July 20, 1969): The lunar eclipse on July 18, 1969, preceded the successful moon landing by two days. Fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989): A lunar eclipse occurred on November 7, 1989, two days before the fall of the wall. 9/11 Terrorist Attacks (September 11, 2001): A lunar eclipse took place three days prior, on September 8, 2001. COVID-19 Pandemic (declared on March 11, 2020): A lunar eclipse occurred three days after the pandemic declaration, on March 14, 2020. original post from @wstickevers, twitter

I am a CHILD OF GOD (The Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)

On April 21, 1832 Abraham Lincoln enlisted with the Illinois Militia to serve in the Black Hawk War. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Tara Ross - This Day in History: The Civil War https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-ft-sumter-pt-two #Confederacy #Union #SouthCarolina #FortSumter #AbrahamLincoln #Lincoln #Beauregard #RobertAnderson #GeorgeSJames #CivilWar #History

“The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression can not be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow, must not be forgotten.” Abraham Lincoln from his final public address which was delivered on April 11, 1865. Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Madaxweynaha DDS, mudane Mustafe Muxummed Cumar iyo wafti uu hoggaaminayay Wasiirka Difaaca Dalka Dr. Abraham Belay oo loo xilsaaray dabagalka mid ka mid ah mashaariicda dhanka dalxiiska ee uu Raysal wasaaraha Dalku ka hirgalinayo Deegaannada Dalka qaarkood ayaa isla soo cayimay goobta ugu haboon ee laga dhisi doono goob dalxiis oo casri ah. Wafdiga ayaa loo asteeyay buuraha quruxda badan ee ku yaala agagaarka xarunta degmadda Shabeellay. Mashruucan “Shabeellay Resort” oo ilaa iyo 2 billion oo Birr lagu maal-galin doono waxaa 1 billion oo kamid ah bixinaya Xafiiska Raysal wasaaraha oo lacagta ku soo uruuriyay barnaamijyadii lacag uruurinta ahaa ee uu sameeyay. Mashruuca ayaa ka koobnaan doona xarun dalxiis oo leh huteello casri ah, goobo dhaqan, iyo biyo-xidheen casri ah oo loo dalxiis tago.

Today's birthday is Abraham Lincoln president of United States Born February 12, 1809 near Hodgenville, Kentucky. Died April 15, 1865 (aged 56) Washington, D.C., United States #potus #birthday #alive #somee #history #cent #infowars #neoxian

THE TRUTH; ????????WE KNOW GOD'S LAW(THE TEN COMMANDMENTS) IS UNARGUABLY TRUE AND ETERNAL, JUST AS GOD IS ETERNAL. BUT OUR LUST IS OUR NEMESIS...YES,LUST MAKES US TO TRY JUSTIFYING OR EXPLAINING AWAY GOD'S WORD, BECAUSE WE DREAD THE CONSEQUENCES! THE SAME WAY SCIENCE AND WHATEVER,ARE BATTLING TO EXPLAIN AWAY GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY. But,fools that we are,*MAKING OURSELVES COMFORTABLE DOESN'T MAKE GOD COMFORTABLE WITH US* Those who practice this, aren't doing it ignorantly...no, they yearn to please the flesh...they love the attractions and ALLURES presented to them by their master...the one ruling and promoting chaos in the world...but you can't serve two masters. 6. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal 6: 6-7) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (Luk 16: 25) 24. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 25. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. 26. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (Luk 6: 24-26)

JUST A MINUTE PLEASE (THE PREACHER'S CORNER)! """"""""""'""""""""""''"""''' THE GRACE TO SAY NO! ============= Joseph said NO to Sex! Jesus said NO to Power! Elisha said NO to Money! Elijah said NO to Baal! Caleb said NO to Fear! Balsam said NO to Gold! Moses said NO to Egypt! Meshach said NO to King! Aaron said NO to Slavery! David said NO to Giants! Joshua said NO to Defeat! Lot said NO to Sodomy! Rechabites said NO to Wine! Esther said NO to Comfort! Daniel said NO to Defilement! Hezekiah said NO to Death! Shadrach said NO to Idolatry! Paul said NO to Hypocrisy! Zacheous said NO to Corruption! Hannah said NO to Barrenness! Hosea said NO to Divorce! Rahab said NO to Prostitution! Abraham said NO to his Father's House! Isaac said NO to Strife! Jacob said NO to Cursed Blessings! Tamar said NO to Injustice! Ezra said NO to Syncretism! Nehemiah said NO to Shame! Gideon said NO to Evil Altars! Samuel said NO to Prayerlessness! Samson said NO to Oppression! Solomon said NO to Foolishness! What have you said NO to? What can't you say NO to? In this 2021,in order to be Divinely compensated for our lost and wasted years,we have to make a concerted effort to say NO to the remnants that have defied our NO before now! In the Mighty Name of Christ Jesus of Nazareth, receive GOD'S GRACE TO SAY NO PERMANENTLY,AMEN!!!