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Unspoken Objective: Israel Wants to Confiscate Gaza’s Offshore Gas Reserves Which Belong to Palestine Review of Haaretz Article entitled "U.S. to Push Israel on Allowing Gaza Offshore Gas Reserves to Revitalize Palestinian Economy" 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. Introduction According to Haaretz (See Full Report by Ben Samuels and Amir Tibon below): Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Biden’s energy security advisor, is currently visiting Israel to discuss preventing a second front from opening between Israel and Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah, as well as potential economic revitalization plans for Gaza centered around undeveloped offshore natural gas fields. Biden’s Envoy Hochstein “was most recently in Bahrain, where he discussed the opportunity to develop offshore gas fields on behalf of the Palestinians as part of plans for post-war Gaza.” “Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off Gaza’s coast in June, stressing it would require security coordination with both the PA and Egypt. The Gaza Marine field, nearly 20 miles off Gaza’s coast, has remained undeveloped despite holding an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This total is hypothetically much more than needed to power the Palestinian territories, and some of it could be potentially exported.” Haaretz) There is More than Meets the Eye. The Objective is “Not On Behalf of Palestinians” Quite the Opposite. Israel Wants to Confiscate Gaza’s Offshore Gas Reserves Which Belong to Palestine Netanyahu’s October 2023 declaration of war against 2.3 million people of the Gaza Strip is a continuation of its 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza under “Operation Cast Lead.” The underlying objective is the outright military occupation of Gaza by Israel’s IDF forces and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland. There are powerful financial interests which stand to benefit from Israel’s criminal undertaking (Genocide) directed against Gaza. The ultimate objective is not only to exclude Palestinians from their homeland, it consists in confiscating the multi-billion dollar Gaza offshore Natural Gas reserves, namely those pertaining to the BG (BG Group) in 1999, as well the Levant discoveries of 2013. This is what is contemplated. Outright confiscation with the complicity of Egypt Egypt-Israel “Secret Bilateral Talks” In 2021-22, Egypt and Israel were involved in “secret bilateral talks” regarding “the extraction of natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip. “Egypt succeeded in persuading Israel to start extracting natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, after several months of secret bilateral talks. This development … comes after years of Israeli objections to extract natural gas off the coast of Gaza on [alleged] security grounds, … British Gas (BG Group) has also been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. What is significant is that the civilian arm of the Hamas Gaza government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields: The field, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the Gaza coast, was discovered in 2000 by British Gas (currently BG Group) and is estimated to contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The official in the Egyptian intelligence service told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “An Egyptian economic and security delegation discussed with the Israeli side for several months the issue of allowing the extraction of natural gas off the coast of Gaza. …Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022 A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Egypt and Israel, which had the rubber-stamp of the Palestinian National Authority (PA): “The Egyptian official explained that Israel required the start of practical measures to extract gas from the Gaza fields at the beginning of 2024, to ensure its own security. (Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022 The occupation of Gaza is intent upon confiscating Palestine’s maritime gas reserves, starting in early 2024, as outlined in the Secret bilateral Agreement between Egypt and Israel. This initiative will NOT “Revitalize the Palestinian Economy” as outlined in the article below, Unless Palestinians take full control over offshore gas resources that belong to the State of Palestine, and which Israel wants to confiscate with the support of the Biden Administration. Egypt is in on the game Cairo is complicit with total disregard for the rights of Palestinians. It’s a criminal undertaking. Egypt will establish refugee camps in the Sinai desert in coordination with Israel and the U.S., in exchange for a token participation in the exploitation of Gaza’s maritime, which are worth billions and billions of dollars. For more analysis, see the following articles, . Video: “Wiping Gaza Off The Map”: Big Money Agenda. Confiscating Palestine’s Maritime Natural Gas Reserves By Felicity Arbuthnot and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, November 26, War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 21, 2023 Michel Chossudovsky, November 26, 2023 *** U.S. to Push Israel on Allowing Gaza Offshore Gas Reserves to Revitalize Palestinian Economy by Ben Samuels and Amir Tibon Haaretz, November 20, 2023 Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Biden’s energy security advisor, is currently visiting Israel to discuss preventing a second front from opening between Israel and Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah, as well as potential economic revitalization plans for Gaza centered around undeveloped offshore natural gas fields. “While in Israel, Hochstein will emphasize that restoring calm along Israel’s northern border is of utmost importance to the United States and it should be a top priority for both Israel and Lebanon,” a U.S. official told Reuters. He has been “backbriefing” Israeli officials on his meetings in Lebanon, according to U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “We don’t want to see this war escalate or widen, we certainly don’t believe it’s in anybody’s interest – certainly not the Israeli people,” Kirby said. Hochstein was most recently in Bahrain, where he discussed the opportunity to develop offshore gas fields on behalf of the Palestinians as part of plans for post-war Gaza. Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off Gaza’s coast in June, stressing it would require security coordination with both the PA and Egypt. The Gaza Marine field, nearly 20 miles off Gaza’s coast, has remained undeveloped despite holding an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This total is hypothetically much more than needed to power the Palestinian territories, and some of it could be potentially exported. “There is an opportunity here to develop the gas fields in offshore Gaza, on behalf of the Palestinians,” Hochstein told The National, adding “as soon as we get to the day after and this horrible war ends, there are companies willing to develop those fields”. “We shouldn’t exaggerate its potential, but it can absolutely be a revenue stream for a Palestinian government, and to ensure there is an independent energy system for Palestine,” he continued, adding that there is “clear mechanism that we have developed, that would pose no threat and would maximize the effectiveness for the Palestinian people”. Hochstein noted that he is “100 percent” sure Israel would allow this, adding that “I am very confident, there is no reason for them not to, it is not theirs [the Israelis], the gas belongs to the Palestinian people.” Click here to read the full article on Haaretz. * Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. Featured image is from The Cradle Related Articles from our Archives https://www.globalresearch.ca/unspoken-objective-israel-wants-to-confiscate-gazas-offshore-gas-reserves-which-belong-to-palestine/5841045

Unspoken Objective: Israel Wants to Confiscate Gaza’s Offshore Gas Reserves Which Belong to Palestine Review of Haaretz Article entitled "U.S. to Push Israel on Allowing Gaza Offshore Gas Reserves to Revitalize Palestinian Economy" 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. Introduction According to Haaretz (See Full Report by Ben Samuels and Amir Tibon below): Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Biden’s energy security advisor, is currently visiting Israel to discuss preventing a second front from opening between Israel and Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah, as well as potential economic revitalization plans for Gaza centered around undeveloped offshore natural gas fields. Biden’s Envoy Hochstein “was most recently in Bahrain, where he discussed the opportunity to develop offshore gas fields on behalf of the Palestinians as part of plans for post-war Gaza.” “Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off Gaza’s coast in June, stressing it would require security coordination with both the PA and Egypt. The Gaza Marine field, nearly 20 miles off Gaza’s coast, has remained undeveloped despite holding an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This total is hypothetically much more than needed to power the Palestinian territories, and some of it could be potentially exported.” Haaretz) There is More than Meets the Eye. The Objective is “Not On Behalf of Palestinians” Quite the Opposite. Israel Wants to Confiscate Gaza’s Offshore Gas Reserves Which Belong to Palestine Netanyahu’s October 2023 declaration of war against 2.3 million people of the Gaza Strip is a continuation of its 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza under “Operation Cast Lead.” The underlying objective is the outright military occupation of Gaza by Israel’s IDF forces and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland. There are powerful financial interests which stand to benefit from Israel’s criminal undertaking (Genocide) directed against Gaza. The ultimate objective is not only to exclude Palestinians from their homeland, it consists in confiscating the multi-billion dollar Gaza offshore Natural Gas reserves, namely those pertaining to the BG (BG Group) in 1999, as well the Levant discoveries of 2013. This is what is contemplated. Outright confiscation with the complicity of Egypt Egypt-Israel “Secret Bilateral Talks” In 2021-22, Egypt and Israel were involved in “secret bilateral talks” regarding “the extraction of natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip. “Egypt succeeded in persuading Israel to start extracting natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, after several months of secret bilateral talks. This development … comes after years of Israeli objections to extract natural gas off the coast of Gaza on [alleged] security grounds, … British Gas (BG Group) has also been dealing with the Tel Aviv government. What is significant is that the civilian arm of the Hamas Gaza government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields: The field, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the Gaza coast, was discovered in 2000 by British Gas (currently BG Group) and is estimated to contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The official in the Egyptian intelligence service told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “An Egyptian economic and security delegation discussed with the Israeli side for several months the issue of allowing the extraction of natural gas off the coast of Gaza. …Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022 A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Egypt and Israel, which had the rubber-stamp of the Palestinian National Authority (PA): “The Egyptian official explained that Israel required the start of practical measures to extract gas from the Gaza fields at the beginning of 2024, to ensure its own security. (Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022 The occupation of Gaza is intent upon confiscating Palestine’s maritime gas reserves, starting in early 2024, as outlined in the Secret bilateral Agreement between Egypt and Israel. This initiative will NOT “Revitalize the Palestinian Economy” as outlined in the article below, Unless Palestinians take full control over offshore gas resources that belong to the State of Palestine, and which Israel wants to confiscate with the support of the Biden Administration. Egypt is in on the game Cairo is complicit with total disregard for the rights of Palestinians. It’s a criminal undertaking. Egypt will establish refugee camps in the Sinai desert in coordination with Israel and the U.S., in exchange for a token participation in the exploitation of Gaza’s maritime, which are worth billions and billions of dollars. For more analysis, see the following articles, . Video: “Wiping Gaza Off The Map”: Big Money Agenda. Confiscating Palestine’s Maritime Natural Gas Reserves By Felicity Arbuthnot and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, November 26, War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 21, 2023 Michel Chossudovsky, November 26, 2023 *** U.S. to Push Israel on Allowing Gaza Offshore Gas Reserves to Revitalize Palestinian Economy by Ben Samuels and Amir Tibon Haaretz, November 20, 2023 Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Biden’s energy security advisor, is currently visiting Israel to discuss preventing a second front from opening between Israel and Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah, as well as potential economic revitalization plans for Gaza centered around undeveloped offshore natural gas fields. “While in Israel, Hochstein will emphasize that restoring calm along Israel’s northern border is of utmost importance to the United States and it should be a top priority for both Israel and Lebanon,” a U.S. official told Reuters. He has been “backbriefing” Israeli officials on his meetings in Lebanon, according to U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “We don’t want to see this war escalate or widen, we certainly don’t believe it’s in anybody’s interest – certainly not the Israeli people,” Kirby said. Hochstein was most recently in Bahrain, where he discussed the opportunity to develop offshore gas fields on behalf of the Palestinians as part of plans for post-war Gaza. Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off Gaza’s coast in June, stressing it would require security coordination with both the PA and Egypt. The Gaza Marine field, nearly 20 miles off Gaza’s coast, has remained undeveloped despite holding an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This total is hypothetically much more than needed to power the Palestinian territories, and some of it could be potentially exported. “There is an opportunity here to develop the gas fields in offshore Gaza, on behalf of the Palestinians,” Hochstein told The National, adding “as soon as we get to the day after and this horrible war ends, there are companies willing to develop those fields”. “We shouldn’t exaggerate its potential, but it can absolutely be a revenue stream for a Palestinian government, and to ensure there is an independent energy system for Palestine,” he continued, adding that there is “clear mechanism that we have developed, that would pose no threat and would maximize the effectiveness for the Palestinian people”. Hochstein noted that he is “100 percent” sure Israel would allow this, adding that “I am very confident, there is no reason for them not to, it is not theirs [the Israelis], the gas belongs to the Palestinian people.” Click here to read the full article on Haaretz. * Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. Featured image is from The Cradle Related Articles from our Archives https://www.globalresearch.ca/unspoken-objective-israel-wants-to-confiscate-gazas-offshore-gas-reserves-which-belong-to-palestine/5841045

Most New Cars Sold In UK Will Have To Be Fully Electric By 2030, Government Confirms Green campaigners relieved after last week’s decision to delay ban on petrol and diesel cars The government has confirmed the majority of new cars sold in Britain will have to be electric by 2030 despite Rishi Sunak’s decision last week to delay a ban on petrol and diesel cars by five years. Under the long-awaited zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, 80% of sales must be fully electric, or another alternative, within seven years. Carmakers would have to pay £15,000 for each petrol or diesel engine above that threshold, the Department for Transport said on Thursday. The announcement broadly confirms proposals in March, modelled on moves in California, which will force manufacturers to rapidly increase the proportion of battery electric cars produced. ...Richard Hebditch, the UK director of the thinktank Transport & Environment, said for all the fanfare of the U-turn on the government’s 2030 ban on internal combustion engines, “the zero emissions vehicle mandate will pretty much end sales of new petrol and diesel cars by the early 2030s. 🔗Source: The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/28/majority-of-newscars-sold-in-uk-will-have-to-be-fully-electric-by-2030-government-confirms) #greenenergy #news #Economy #electricvehicles #automotive

“Zionism is Not Judaism”, “Insane Megalomania”: The Zionist Cause Is a Dark Reversal of the Real Destiny of Israel — A True Story 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. *** During the Summer of 1975 I worked as a volunteer on a Kibbutz in Northern Israel, close to the border with Lebanon. As a recent organic farming exponent in the UK, I wanted to explore how this unique socioeconomic experiment on the land was working. Although my stay in Israel was relatively short, it was an intense and meaningful experience. One which, as you will see as this story unfolds, throws a highly prescient light on the current catastrophe. There were maybe two hundred residents of the kibbutz, named ‘Rosh Ha Nikra’. One rose early and went to work on the land, coming back for a common breakfast at 9.a.m. It was too hot to work later in the mornings so one returned to the fields late afternoon to put in another session. At its inception, the basis of this community was carved out of a desert. Only an intense commitment to establishing an enduring self-sufficient village could turn the sour, salty land into something capable of growing sufficient food to provide for its occupants and a trading income. By the time I visited, there was already a thriving rural economy in operation, growing and exporting avocado pears and dairy products. Houses and land are integrated as a cooperative in the kibbutz movement, with no private ownership. Being situated close to the Lebanese border had its disadvantages. Missiles were periodically launched into surrounding territory as unresolved hostilities flared-up intermittently on the border land. It was disconcerting to an outsider, but the Rosh Ha Nikra community was hardened to this reality and did not let it break their daily routines. I am not Jewish, but have worked closely with Jewish colleagues in theatre and education projects based largely in the USA and Belgium. This led me to become interested in further exploring the background to the Israeli/Palestinian tensions that dog the peaceful functioning of the ‘two-state’ land division established in 1948. In a break from the Kibbutz work schedule, I was fortuitously given the opportunity to meet a senior figure of the Israeli military in Haifa. A kind, thoughtful individual who was close to retirement. Questioning him about his perspective on Israeli/Palestinian tensions, he responded in a way that threw a highly significant light on the reality. I recount here my memory of the deeply prescient contents of what he said: “Israel is not a country. The word in Hebrew means ‘to strive with God’ (to work with God). It is a tribal aspiration, it is not a place. To give the name Israel to this area of land is a falsification. It comes from the Zionist belief that this country is the original homeland of the Jews. There is no historical evidence for this belief, it is a dangerous fixation. Zionism is not Judaism.” At the time I was not fully aware of the ramifications of this reply; however it vividly endured in my mind from there on. My host asked what places I intended to visit in Israel. Definitely Jerusalem, I replied. His response was quite firm “Go beyond Jerusalem into the West Bank; into Jordan. Experience this place where Jordanians and Palestinian refugees live and work together.” I took his advice, initially boarding a bus to Jerusalem. It was here that I first experienced an uneasy tension between Palestinian and Jewish citizens. It should be remembered that a number of holy sites in Jerusalem are places of worship for both Palestinians and Jews. The ancient claims of both parties to the rights of ‘ownership’ of these sites causes an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion to never be far from the surface. Over the years, many bloody incidents have flared-up out of this febrile tension. Within deeper spiritual texts of old, bestowing imaginary religious powers on material objects and buildings, is considered a form of blasphemy of God, whose omniscient presence is recognised as a manifestation of infinite spirit, giving equal status to all races, colours, creeds and places. A manifestation of universal truth, not a proclamation about rights of ownership. This reflects on just why associating ‘Israel’ with a material possession would completely distort the true significance the epithet ‘To strive with God’. After exploring the impressive but austere architecture of old Jerusalem, I stepped into a colourful, creaking bus heading down into the ancient city of Jericho. Immediately the atmosphere lifted. The bus and its occupants slowly weaved its way down a long twisting road into the fertile valley below, while Arabic songs wailed out from the radio and the air became perfumed by sweet incense. Arabic headdresses replaced the casual Westernised attire of most Israelis. Outside, barren mountain slopes predominated, but in a number of places basic agricultural cultivations were in progress. Upon arriving in Old Jericho, a hoard of young men exuberantly offered their services to show visitors the local sites. I duly accepted the services of a young man with a broad smile, a good approximation of the English language and a promise of full knowledge of the relics of this ancient city. After a long day spent walking the ruins and rugged path ways, my guide asked me where I was staying. I don’t know, was my reply. Did he recommend anywhere? No he didn’t, advising it was not a good idea to stay in a local hotel. Instead, he invited me to his family home and to attend a ceremony celebrating the birth of his brother’s first child. A raucous event of much fraternal dancing and singing into which I was fully integrated. During more quiet moments my host told me about living in a form of Israeli police state. He admitted the tensions, but never spoke badly of the occupiers of his homeland, even praising Jewish agricultural achievements made on the barren hills East of Jerusalem. I spent a further few days visiting local townships; mostly peaceful, but some of the larger market towns, like Nablus, widely patrolled by Israeli armed police clearly expecting trouble. A few weeks later I left the country, with a strong impression left imprinted on my mind: on the kibbutz I was treated as a co-worker – and in Jordan I was treated as a brother. It was possible for me to see how these two quite different cultures could coexist in peace. But this could only work if the Israeli population would adopt the wisdom of the military leader I met in Haifa; and the Palestinians echo the respect for Israeli workers shown by my young Jordanian friend. Such qualities, forming the foundation of humanitarian inter-cultural respect, are the best, and perhaps only, chance for lasting peace and unity. Almost fifty years later, my reflections are not dimmed. However they have been dashed on the rocks of a terrible political deception which has now emerged as the catalyst for an ethnic cleansing nightmare that blows apart any opportunity for a peaceful resolution. This is a conflict created by the dark spin doctors of the New World Order. It is part of a deadly and carefully planned chess game designed to wipe Palestine, Gaza and the Palestinian people off the map and free-up the country of Israel to become the Zionist capital of the world. Prime Minister Netanyahu has publicly declared as much. For him and his fanatical Zionist colleagues, it is ‘God’s will’ that they should obliterate any and all opposition to the ‘chosen race’ achieving its ends. The great majority of Jews I know – and I believe the one’s I don’t – are appalled by this utterly insane megalomania. They have seen through the distortions and lies that surround the supposed preordained right of total ‘possession’ of this ancient strip of land at the Eastern most point of the Mediterranean sea. Those warm hearted brothers, sisters and elders who presently live in Israel, hold the key to the restoration of sanity. I most ardently call upon them to show the courage and irrevocable determination to resist Netanyahu’s mass extermination plans. Such resistance has the potential to catalyse a large ground swell of bottom-up support from around the world; but to do so – it must start from within Israel itself and embody: Total non compliance with political orders. A nationwide refusal to to be party to the murder of fellow human beings. A solid rebuttal of the demands of military recruitment. A ‘pro humanity’ expression of unequivocal solidarity with Palestinian brothers, sisters and children who share the same territory and know it as home; and whose fate it is to be subject to the view that they are ‘animals’ destined for the slaughter house. No thinking, feeling, self-respecting Israelite could fall into line with such depravity. Israel, as I learned, means ‘to strive with God’. A fine and liberating ideal. So if one is proud to be an Israeli citizen, one should know that this means to carry out actions that will be smiled upon by one’s Creator. This is the true ideological goal of the tribe of Israel. Anything else is a falsehood and must be recognised as that. Not just for the sake of preventing an unimaginable tragedy for the people of Palestine and of Israel, but for all of humanity. * Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. Julian Rose is an organic farmer, writer, broadcaster and international activist. He is author of four books of which the latest ‘Overcoming the Robotic Mind’ is a clarion call to resist the despotic New World Order takeover of our lives. Do visit his website for further information www.julianrose.info He is a regular contributor to Global Research. Featured image is by Latuff, 2006 (Source: Looking out at the World from Canada) https://www.globalresearch.ca/zionist-cause-dark-reversal-real-destiny-israel-true-story/5840693

Can an economy in which 10% of the households qualify as middle class claim to offer widespread opportunities for secure prosperity? No, it cannot.

U.S. and Russia ‘can’t stop’ Turkey’s new Syria incursion By ALEXANDER WARD, MATT BERG and LAWRENCE UKENYE 11/22/2022 03:59 PM EST Syrian Kurds attend a funeral of people killed in Turkish airstrikes. Syrian Kurds attend a funeral of people killed in Turkish airstrikes in the village of Al Malikiyah, northern Syria, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. | Baderkhan Ahmad/AP Photo Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Matt With help from Phelim Kine and Lara Seligman PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Nov. 28. Turkey is threatening to kill more U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters in Syria — and the United States and Russia might not try very hard to stop it. Turkish President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOÄžAN vowed to soon launch a ground attack on U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria, claiming they were responsible for a deadly terrorist attack last week. “We have been bearing down on terrorists for a few days with our planes, cannons and guns,” ErdoÄŸan said Tuesday, alluding to Turkey’s recent lethal aerial bombardments in Syria. “God willing, we will root out all of them as soon as possible, together with our tanks, our soldiers.” It’s unclear if it was Kurdish separatists who killed six people in the heart of Istanbul on Nov. 13. The Kurds deny the allegation, after all. But experts say it has presented ErdoÄŸan with a pretext to delve deeper into northern Syria, a push he’s long wanted to do. “Turkey is quite serious about the current Syria offensive,” the Middle East Institute’s and St. Lawrence University’s HOWARD EISSENSTAT told NatSec Daily. “This fits with both long-standing Turkish assumptions about its security interests and ErdoÄŸan’s need to look strong in advance of elections scheduled for June. Under the current circumstances, Russia or the U.S. might be able to impose limits on Turkish actions, but they can’t stop them entirely.” Both have reasons to be worried about Turkey launching a ground attack. Russia backs Syrian President BASHAR AL-ASSAD while Turkey supports rebels seeking to topple him. “We understand and respect Turkey’s concerns about ensuring its own security,” Kremlin spokesperson DMITRY PESKOV told reporters. “At the same time, we call on all parties to refrain from steps that could lead to the destabilization of the overall situation.” About 900 U.S. troops, meanwhile, are in Syria to keep ISIS at bay alongside Syrian Democratic Forces and fear heavy fighting could disrupt their plans. Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself and its citizens, National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY told NatSec Daily during a Tuesday news conference, but added cross-border operations “might force a reaction by some of our SDF partners that would limit and constrain their ability to fight against ISIS…and we want to be able to keep the pressure on ISIS.” “We continue to urge for deescalation on all sides and in our conversations,” Pentagon deputy press secretary SABRINA SINGH later told reporters. But those statements don’t fully reflect the state of play, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s SONER CAGAPTAY told NatSec Daily, because “Ankara has just about aligned all-stars for an incursion.” The U.S. may not resist too strongly since it wants Turkey, a NATO ally, to accept Sweden and Finland’s accession to the alliance. Cagaptay said a Monday State Department statement that barely lambasted Turkey over the violence in Syria was evidence of Washington’s light approach. “I can’t recall any statement that nicely worded about Turkey’s incursion into Syria in a long time,” he said. And Russia is providing millions for Turkey’s economy and energy sector, propping up ErdoÄŸan ahead of next year’s vote. In exchange, experts say ErdoÄŸan may finally accept Assad as Syria’s legitimate ruler, effectively bringing an end to what remains of the war in Syria. If that’s the case, it seems the U.S. and Russia may stand aside as Turkey kills more Kurds — and American allies — in Syria. The Inbox U.S. LEADERS IN ASIA: Vice President KAMALA HARRIS warned of U.S. intervention if China takes aim at the Philippines, our own PHELIM KINE reports. In a visit to the Philippines, Harris pushed back against Beijing’s expansive territorial claims in the region, pledging $7.5 million for the Philippine Coast Guard. On Monday, Harris also warned of a U.S. response if there is “an armed attack” on Filipino ships or aircraft in the South China Sea, invoking a treaty between the allies. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson ZHAO LIJIAN clapped back on Tuesday, warning that U.S.-Philippines cooperation “should not target or hurt other countries’ interests.” Meanwhile, Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN met with his Chinese counterpart in Cambodia on Tuesday, discussing strained bilateral relations and regional and global security issues, the Associated Press’ HENG SINITH reports. The two met on the sidelines of a regional meeting, marking the second time in six months Austin and Gen. WEI FENGHE met face-to-face. It comes just over a week after President JOE BIDEN met with Chinese leader XI JINPING in Indonesia, a gathering widely seen as an effort to ease tensions between the two world powers. On the issue of Taiwan, Austin assured Wei of Biden’s commitment to the “one China” policy, but called on China to refrain from taking destabilizing actions toward the island nation, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. PAT RYDER said. EUROPE’S NEW MIGRANT INFLUX: Europe is struggling even more to properly welcome thousands of people seeking asylum from war and famine. Specifically, the EU plus Norway and Switzerland recorded about 564,000 applications in August this year — an increase of 62 percent from the same period last year, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum. That increase doesn’t include the millions of Ukrainian refugees moving westward since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. “Tents and sleeping bags have become a common sight along the canal in central Brussels, as well as in underpasses and railway stations, as some asylum seekers are forced to wait months for shelter after lodging applications,” per The Financial Times’ SAM FLEMING and GUY CHAZAN, underscoring just how overwhelmed the reception system is right now. NAVY BLAMES IRAN FOR DRONE ATTACK: The U.S. Navy confirmed Iran’s involvement in a Nov. 15 drone attack on a commercial tanker, identifying the drone as a Shahed-136 — the same type Iran has supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine. The attack fits “a historical pattern of Iran’s increasing use of a lethal capability directly or through its proxies across the Middle East,” reads a statement by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. “The Iranian attack on a commercial tanker transiting international waters was deliberate, flagrant and dangerous, endangering the lives of the ship’s crew and destabilizing maritime security in the Middle East,” said Vice Adm. BRAD COOPER, the command’s chief. U.S. officials had already said they suspected Iran was behind the strike. IT’S TUESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at [email protected] and [email protected], and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @woodruffbets, @politicoryan, @PhelimKine, @BryanDBender, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @AndrewDesiderio, @magmill95, @ericgeller, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco and @Lawrence_Ukenye. Flashpoints ARCTIC POWER: Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN touted Moscow’s growing footprint in the Arctic at a Tuesday flag-raising ceremony that commemorated two new nuclear-powered icebreakers that will allow the country to have year-round access to western parts of the Arctic, Reuters reports. The icebreakers “are part of our large-scale, systematic work to re-equip and replenish the domestic icebreaker fleet, to strengthen Russia’s status as a great Arctic power,” Putin said. The Arctic has become more significant due to climate change as melting ice has prompted countries like Russia, the U.S. and China to try to increase their influence in the region, which could also affect trade and shipping lane access. Keystrokes KISS IT GOODBYE, FOR NOW: The idea of creating a new platform where the government and the private sector can rapidly share data on cyber threats has hit a Fort Meade-sized speed bump: the National Security Agency, our friends over at Morning Cybersecurity (for Pros!) report. Until recently, the joint collaborative environment looked like a solid bet to make it into the final version of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, featuring in both the House and Senate markups of the must-pass defense bill. But the NSA began voicing objections to the JCE in the last few weeks, tilting the scales against the provision on the Hill, two Hill staffers granted anonymity to speak freely about the proposal told MC. The NSA’s “biggest concern” about the legislation is that it “would overly constrain” the NSA and CISA’s ongoing threat-sharing efforts, ROB JOYCE, the director of NSA’s cybersecurity directorate, told MC. The Complex ON THE WAY: The Army is on track to award the multibillion-dollar contract for the UH-60 Black Hawk replacement by the end of the year, our friends over at Morning Defense (for Pros!) report. Competing for the deal are Bell, with its V-280 Valor tiltrotor, and a Sikorsky-Bell team, with the SB-1 Defiant coaxial helicopter for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, Army acquisition chief DOUG BUSH told reporters Monday. Bell estimates the program is worth more than $100 billion because of foreign military sales opportunities. Black Hawks won’t be phased out of the Army overnight. The service intends to buy them through fiscal 2028 and does not anticipate the replacement to come online until 2035. On the Hill NOT WINGING IT: Republicans have an answer for anyone asking about the effect the party’s populist wing might have on foreign policy: Sorry, what? Lawmakers at the Halifax International Security Forum told our own ANDREW DESIDERIO that “Congress is likely to allocate well more than the $38 billion the Biden administration requested for Ukraine’s military and economic needs as part of a year-end governing funding bill. And that extra infusion is set to advance with the help of senior Republicans, even as influential conservative groups urge a pause.” That means Republicans predict enough Democrats and Republicans will support the package, drowning out loud voices on the right who don’t want to give Kyiv another penny. “If we were on the other side of this, they’d be pounding the table saying, ‘Send more money to Ukraine,’” Sen. JIM RISCH (R-Idaho), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview. Lawmakers from both parties believe the package will get through Congress before newly elected representatives and senators arrive in Washington. SEND ARMED DRONES TO UKRAINE: Sixteen senators are urging the Biden administration to give Ukraine armed drones to better repel Russia’s invasion, our own LEE HUDSON reports. The Biden administration has been hesitant to send the drone to Ukraine due to fears that sensitive technologies aboard the aircraft may end up in Russian hands. An electro-optical/infrared ball on the Gray Eagle provides real-time intelligence, targeting and tracking. The administration was also concerned that the drone and the instruments it carries would pose too many training and logistics challenges for the Ukrainian military. But the bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Sens. JONI ERNST (R-Iowa) and JOE MANCHIN (D-W.V.), say the benefits of helping Ukraine take out Russian positions outweigh the risks. “The MQ-1C could erode Russia’s long-range fires advantage. Most importantly, armed UAS could find and attack Russian warships in the Black Sea, breaking its coercive blockade and alleviate dual pressures on the Ukrainian economy and global food prices,” they wrote in the letter. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the letter. Broadsides FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHIPS IN 889: Loyal NatSec Daily readers will remember our report that two senators want to ban the federal government from acquiring products or services from Chinese chipmakers. Simply put, they want to update Section 889 in the federal code to include three Chinese firms and Chinese-made semiconductors. Well, the backlash to that bill by Sens. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) and JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) has begun. “Left unaddressed, adding the covered semiconductors to part B of section 889 would harm federal agencies’ ability to procure the essential goods and services they need to promote our nation’s well-being, while putting added financial pressure on businesses that are operating in an inflationary economy,” reads a draft letter obtained by NatSec Daily. It’s signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Aerospace Industries Association, among other groups. The groups are fine with the section’s Part A, which deals with the procurement of items, even though “it presents federal contractors with costly and complex compliance burdens.” Their main gripe is with Part B because it bans interactions with a contractor that “uses” a banned technology. That makes compliance much harder, they argue. “A company with both federal and nonfederal customers would be barred from selling to the government because it ‘uses’ a coffee service that ‘uses’ the covered semiconductors,” the letter reads. Some lawmakers in both parties told NatSec Daily they don’t fully support the Schumer-Cornyn bill because of Point B. The draft note, dated Nov. 22, is addressed to Sens. JACK REED (D-R.I.) and JIM INHOFE (R-Okla.), the top members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Still, much of the non-government national security community is behind the chip ban out of fear China can manipulate the semiconductors for its own purposes. Some of the three companies up for a ban allegedly have ties to China’s military. An AIA spokesperson said of the reason for sending the letter: “We have serious concerns about the cumulative effect of well-intentioned, but burdensome regulations that could drive small businesses out of the industrial base.” Transitions — MICHAEL HOCHMAN is now chief of staff for the White House Office of the National Cyber Director. He previously was deputy chief of staff and deputy general counsel. — HADY AMR has been named a special representative for Palestinian affairs, the first time the State Department has had a D.C.-based post focused on that issue. He was previously the deputy assistant secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian affairs. What to Read — NATHALIE TOCCI, POLITICO: Europe’s Defense Efforts Remain Underwhelming — BEN OLLERENSHAW and JULIAN SPENCER-CHURCHILL, Real Clear Defense: To Deter China, the U.S. Must Have the Political Courage to Retaliate Against Russia — ANDREW KREPINEVICH, JR., Foreign Affairs: Is Putin a Rational Actor? Wednesday Today — The Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: “Countering Russian Influence in Georgia” Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a new defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot me an email at [email protected] to be featured in the next edition of the newsletter. Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who has aligned the stars to gain full control of this newsletter. And we thank our producer, Kierra Frazier, who is a star in her own right. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2022/11/22/u-s-and-russia-cant-stop-turkeys-new-syria-incursion-00070431

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 41: Israel ignores legally binding UNSC resolution, saying ‘it will not happen.’ Leila WarahNovember 16, 2023 Displaced Palestinians near Nasser Hospital and UNRWA schools in Khan Yunis, November 14, 2023. (Photo: © Mohammed Talatene/dpa via ZUMA Press APA Images) Displaced Palestinians near Nasser Hospital and UNRWA schools in Khan Yunis, November 14, 2023. (Photo: © Mohammed Talatene/dpa via ZUMA Press APA Images) Casualties 11,255 killed*, including 4,630 children, and 29,000 wounded in Gaza 196 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200 *This figure covers the casualties from October 7 to November 14. Key Developments Israeli airstrikes have targeted the perimeter of the Ahli Arab Hospital on Thursday afternoon, reports Al Jazeera, who believes the attacks could be seen as an indicator of preparation to storm the hospital. Israeli forces violently stormed Al-Shifa Hospital twice within 24 hours, destroying the inside of the medical complex despite finding no Palestinian fighters inside. The UN Security Council passed a legally binding resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses,” unrestricted aid delivery, including fuel and medical evacuations, and the release of captives inside Gaza; however, Israel says “it will not happen.” UNOCHA: Those fleeing to the South using the Israeli force’s “so-called safe corridors” face arrest, and the UN has received reports of “beatings and people being stripped of their clothes by Israeli soldiers.” According to a police statement, Israeli security forces killed three people who arrived in a “suspicious vehicle and opened fire towards our forces,” shooting and injuring four people at a checkpoint near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank on Thursday morning, according to Israeli media. Israeli forces have detained 69 Palestinians during overnight military raids on Palestinian homes across the occupied West Bank, including four siblings in Kufr Rai village near Jenin in an effort to force their brother to turn himself in, reported Wafa, UNOCHA: The Palestinian Red Cross is no longer able to respond to the hundreds of calls from people seeking assistance in evacuating people wounded or trapped under the rubble. As of November 10, about 2,700 people, including some 1,500 children, remain missing and presumed to be trapped or dead under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza The Red Cross and UNRWA are calling for the evacuation of the 650 patients trapped by the Israeli military in al-Shifa Hospital to other facilities, including in Egypt, as the patients are beyond the capability of Gaza’s already collapsed healthcare system, reports Al Jazeera. On Wednesday, Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel warned that Gaza is expected to enter a communications blackout as the company’s data centers and equipment will shut down due to the lack of fuel. At least seven staff members at the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza were injured at the ER entrance as they tried “to tend to Palestinians who themselves had been injured in Israeli air strikes,” said a spokesperson for the Jordanian army, adding that Jordan is investigating the incident and holds Israel responsible for the protection of their faculty and staff. The Palestine Red Crescent Society has shared a distressing video showing Israeli forces targeting the organization’s paramedics as they shell the vicinity of Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza last Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, is publicly calling on the Prime Minister to resign because the public has lost trust in him. Bombing, shooting, detaining, and strip searching Palestinains Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, has been stormed twice by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours, even though they have only found civilians, including medical staff, patients, and displaced persons. Evidence of an alleged Hamas command center is also absent. The first military incursion started at dawn on Wednesday before soldiers withdrew in the evening, maintaining their siege on the medical complex as “the smell of death wafts everywhere,” Al-Shifa Hospital director Muhammad Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera. According to the Gaza government’s media office, Israeli forces expelled several children and patients, “depriving them of treatment and leaving them to face the threats of bombings, snipers and deadly drones” and even attacked several medical staff inside al-Shifa hospital during the incursion. “They forced them to take off their clothes, insulted and cursed at them. They asked medical staff to leave their stations so they could interrogate them under the threat of weapons,” the office said. Similarly, Wafa news reported that eyewitnesses saw Israeli forces forcing displaced people to strip naked and detaining and interrogating doctors, patients, and civilians. The Palestinian news outlet added that Israeli forces were also seen installing facial recognition cameras and electronic gates in the courtyard of the medical complex. As Israeli forces stormed Al Shifa hospital on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said on X, “There is no place in Gaza that we cannot reach.” “We will arrive, we will eliminate Hamas, and we will return the hostages. These two goals are sacred…Yesterday, I spoke with President Biden again. We will be relentless. We will eliminate Hamas, achieve victory, and return the hostages,” he continued. After finding little to no verifiable evidence of al-Shifa Hospital being used as the central operations headquarters for Hamas, Israeli forces launched a second raid on the hospital in the early hours of Thursday, less than 24 hours later. Al Jazeera reported that the entire building had been damaged from the inside, stating that the Israeli military tore apart the walls and partitions between rooms and destroyed all the medical equipment. Israeli bombardment has also caused “material damage to the specialized surgeries department at the hospital,” the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Telegram. The World Health Organization described Israel’s assault on Al-Shifa hospital as “totally unacceptable.” “Hospitals are not battlegrounds,” the statement said. “Health workers have endured weeks of bombardment and siege and yet continue doing all they can to save lives. The international community must act now to end Israel’s systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health system and secure an immediate ceasefire,” Melanie Ward, the CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, said in a statement. “Apparently, no crime, no matter how grave, is enough for the international community, including the Security Council, to say to Israel: Stop,” said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer. “Calls for restraint are clearly not working,” he added. “The demands for respect of international law must be backed by immediate, serious, collective efforts to enforce the law.” According to Al Jazeera, Israeli forces have complete control of the medical complex, and civilians are trapped inside the hospital and detained under Israeli custody. Israeli forces have taken some Palestinians to unknown locations, and their fate is still unknown. It is becoming increasingly difficult for anybody to reach any of the medical staff, patients, and displaced people still stuck inside the hospital. “I cannot even imagine … the panic among the patients, the panic among doctors and nurses. What they’re [going] through is really something that is unbelievable,” Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told Al Jazeera on Wednesday evening. Longa added that hospitals being forced to shut down due to the lack of fuel, among other essentials, is “something that is not acceptable” as thousands of Palestinians trapped in the besieged enclave no longer have access to healthcare. In a publicity stunt on Thursday, Israel gave UNRWA just over 23,000 liters of fuel to be used inside the Gaza Strip, which is about 9% of what the agency needs to provide support to Palestinians in the besieged enclave. “Much more fuel is needed. We need 160,000 liters of fuel every day for basic humanitarian operations,” he said, calling on Israel to “immediately authorize the delivery of the needed amount of fuel as is required under international humanitarian law.” Even worse, Commissioner General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini says Israeli Authorities “restricted the use of this fuel “only to transport the little aid coming via Egypt,” meaning it cannot be used in hospitals or for water purification. “It is appalling that fuel continues to be used as a weapon of war,” he added in a statement on X. Meanwhile, Israeli politicians continue pushing back on allowing basic humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave, collectively punishing the 2.3 million people living in Gaza because of the possibility that Hamas will use the fuel. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared that “Diesel = weapon,” on Wednesday. Similarly, transportation Minister Miri Regev said that “fuel for UNRWA is fuel for Hamas.” However, the UN reiterated that “Fuel underpins access to and provision of all humanitarian services in Gaza. Without it, access by the people of Gaza to life-saving humanitarian assistance will all but cease.” “We are already seeing a cascading collapse in water, sewage, and sanitation services, telecoms, food shortages, and healthcare,” they added. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, highlighted that “Gaza is ‘occupied’ given Israel’s effective control, regardless of Hamas’ existence,” and that Israel “has a right to protect itself but not to wage war” on the Palestinian people who have been kept under Israel’s “belligerent occupation” since 1967. Meanwhile, in the South of Gaza, the Israeli army is once again demanding Palestinians to evacuate “immediately,” this time from eastern Khan Younis, including Al-Qarara, Khuza’a, Bani Suhaila, and Abasan. It is crucial to note that Israel has been gradually pushing Gaza’s inhabitants farther south, claiming it is for their safety, despite every area being as deadly as the other. Notches were dropped from the sky asking people to go to “known shelters,” Yousef Hammash, who works with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), tweeted. “Can someone tell me where these known shelters are?” Hammash stated. While most civilians have evacuated from Gaza City, those left in homes surrounding the al-Shifa hospital have been told by the Israeli military to leave, reported al Jazeera. However, there have been reports of families being targeted by snipers if they try to evacuate and are not being afforded safe passage. Questionable evidence As Israel’s operation in the hospital expands, the military has been releasing unverified claims about what its forces found within the medical complex. “The army is in the hospital and no one knows what they’re doing or what weapons they brought with them to claim they found them inside the complex,” the Palestinian foreign ministry said on Wednesday evening as Israel released videos claiming they have confirmed that Hamas used al-Shifa Hospital as an operational command center. Similarly, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, questioned Israel’s “evidence.” “It’s kind of baffling. Why would Hamas leave the guns and not anything else?” said Bishara. The Israeli military “doesn’t have anything to show as justification for the genocide that they’ve carried out against Gaza and for the bombings of the hospitals and other facilities and for the collective punishments,” he added. Hamas official Bassem Naim also told Al Jazeera the evidence presented by the army is “ridiculous” and “worthless.” Israel has previously claimed to uncover a Hamas tunnel underneath another medical facility in Gaza, which Al Jazeera quickly debunked. On Thursday, Israeli media reported the military taking down a video of Israeli spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus claiming to show proof of weapons being held inside al-Shifa Hospital. While the army has not commented on the deleted post, online commentators have pointed out various consistencies in the images posted by the military with reports from Fox News, who had a correspondent with them during the raid. The Israeli army later reposted the video with parts being blurred out, leading to even more public speculation on the authenticity of the clips. Calls for Netanyahu to resign As these military operations take place, captives are still being held in Gaza and subject to Israel’s ruthless bombardment of the area, which has led to an outcry among Israelis as Netanyahu puts off negotiations with Hamas. While Qatar has reportedly continued mediating negotiation efforts for a deal between Hamas and Israel, nothing has been agreed upon. “Israel is still delaying the release of 50 women and children from the captives in exchange for a humanitarian truce, the release of a number of women and children detainees in prisons, and the entry of relief aid to all areas in the Gaza Strip,” Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said on Telegram. Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement “but is stalling to continue its aggression and war against defenseless civilians,” Izzat al-Risheq continued. As Israel’s poorly woven narrative about Hamas unravels, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, is calling on the Prime Minister to resign because the public has lost trust in him. “We need a government that can be trusted,” said Lapid, suggesting that his own party could form a government with Netanyahu’s Likud and other political parties. The Times of Israel reported that Likud, Israel’s major right-wing political party, accused Lapid of “play[ing] politics in a time of war.” Lapid said, “This government isn’t functioning, we need change, Netanyahu cannot continue to be prime minister, we cannot allow ourselves to conduct a prolonged [military] campaign with a prime minister that the public has no faith in,” reported Al Jazeera, commenting that this is a significant shift in Israeli politics and the first time the opposition has publicly called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign. According to Israeli media, Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, believes that replacing the prime minister at this time is “nothing less than crazy.” “I hear the voices saying this is not the time. We waited 40 days, there is no more time. What we need right now is a government that will deal with nothing but security and the economy. We cannot afford another election in the coming year,” Lapid continued. UN Security Council Resolution passed: Israel does not care On Wednesday evening, the UN Security Council finally passed a resolution after four failed attempts to respond to Israel’s war on Gaza. Drafted by Malta, the resolution calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses,” unrestricted aid delivery, including fuel and medical evacuations, and the release of captives inside Gaza passed with 12 votes in favor and 0 against. Three countries abstained from voting: Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The text also stressed the need to safeguard civilians, especially children, and called for “corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days,” yet it made no mention of a ceasefire. Malta’s ambassador to the UN said the resolution “aims to ensure respite from the current nightmare in Gaza and give hope to the families of all victims.” The fact that Washington “finally stopped paralyzing the Security Council on Israel and Palestine” demonstrates to Israel that “global concern, even among its allies, is strong,” said the UN director at Human Rights Watch, Louis Charbonneau. In response, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said the resolution is “disconnected from reality” and has “no meaning.” Erdan said point blank, “It will not happen.” “Israel will continue to act until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages are returned,” he continued, maintaining that Israel’s assault on Gaza is in keeping with international law despite the repudiation of several experts. Although Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays says the resolution is “binding under international law,” there have been “many” other binding Security Council resolutions “that Israel does not comply with.” “Israeli authorities, who have already lost their legitimacy in the conscience of humanity, will not be able to conceal the crimes they committed by bombing hospitals and killing women and children in front of the whole world,” the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Before you go – we need your support At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-41-israel-ignores-legally-binding-unsc-resolution-saying-it-will-not-happen/

Chris Hedges: The Enemy From Within April 30, 2023 You Are What They Eat – by Mr. Fish By Chris Hedges / Original to ScheerPost America is a stratocracy, a form of government dominated by the military. It is axiomatic among the two ruling parties that there must be a constant preparation for war. The war machine’s massive budgets are sacrosanct. Its billions of dollars in waste and fraud are ignored. Its military fiascos in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East have disappeared into the vast cavern of historical amnesia. This amnesia, which means there is never accountability, licenses the war machine to economically disembowel the country and drive the Empire into one self-defeating conflict after another. The militarists win every election. They cannot lose. It is impossible to vote against them. The war state is a Götterdämmerung, as Dwight Macdonald writes, “without the gods.” Since the end of the Second World War, the federal government has spent more than half its tax dollars on past, current and future military operations. It is the largest single sustaining activity of the government. Military systems are sold before they are produced with guarantees that huge cost overruns will be covered. Foreign aid is contingent on buying U.S. weapons. Egypt, which receives some $1.3 billion in foreign military financing, is required to devote it to buying and maintaining U.S. weapons systems. Israel has received $158 billion in bilateral assistance from the U.S. since 1949, almost all of it since 1971 in the form of military aid, with most of it going towards arms purchases from U.S. weapons manufacturers. The American public funds the research, development and building of weapons systems and then buys these same weapons systems on behalf of foreign governments. It is a circular system of corporate welfare. Between October 2021 and September 2022, the U.S. spent $877 billion on the military, that’s more than the next 10 countries, including China, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom combined. These huge military expenditures, along with the rising costs of a for-profit healthcare system, have driven the U.S. national debt to over $31 trillion, nearly $5 trillion more than the U.S.’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This imbalance is not sustainable, especially once the dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency. As of January 2023, the U.S. spent a record $213 billion servicing the interest on its national debt. The public, bombarded with war propaganda, cheers on their self-immolation. It revels in the despicable beauty of our military prowess. It speaks in the thought-terminating clichés spewed out by mass culture and mass media. It imbibes the illusion of omnipotence and wallows in self-adulation. Support our Independent Journalism — Donate Today! The intoxication of war is a plague. It imparts an emotional high that is impervious to logic, reason or fact. No nation is immune. The gravest mistake made by European socialists on the eve of the First World War was the belief that the working classes of France, Germany, Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia and Great Britain would not be divided into antagonistic tribes because of disputes between imperialist governments. They would not, the socialists assured themselves, sign on for the suicidal slaughter of millions of working men in the trenches. Instead, nearly every socialist leader walked away from their anti-war platform to back their nation’s entry into the war. The handful who did not, such as Rosa Luxemburg, were sent to prison. A society dominated by militarists distorts its social, cultural, economic and political institutions to serve the interests of the war industry. The essence of the military is masked with subterfuges — using the military to carry out humanitarian relief missions, evacuating civilians in danger, as we see in the Sudan, defining military aggression as “humanitarian intervention” or a way to protect democracy and liberty, or lauding the military as carrying out a vital civic function by teaching leadership, responsibility, ethics and skills to young recruits. The true face of the military — industrial slaughter — is hidden. The mantra of the militarized state is national security. If every discussion begins with a question of national security, every answer includes force or the threat of force. The preoccupation with internal and external threats divides the world into friend and foe, good and evil. Militarized societies are fertile ground for demagogues. Militarists, like demagogues, see other nations and cultures in their own image – threatening and aggressive. They seek only domination. It was not in our national interest to wage war for two decades across the Middle East. It is not in our national interest to go to war with Russia or China. But militarists need war the way a vampire needs blood. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev and later Vladimir Putin lobbied to be integrated into western economic and military alliances. An alliance that included Russia would have nullified the calls to expand NATO — which the U.S. had promised it would not do beyond the borders of a unified Germany — and have made it impossible to convince countries in eastern and central Europe to spend billions on U.S. military hardware. Moscow’s requests were rebuffed. Russia was made the enemy, whether it wanted to be or not. None of this made us more secure. Washington’s decision to interfere in Ukraine’s domestic affairs by backing a coup in 2014 triggered a civil war and Russia’s subsequent invasion. But for those who profit from war, antagonizing Russia, like antagonizing China, is a good business model. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin saw their stock prices increase by 40 percent and 37 percent respectively as a result of the Ukraine conflict. A war with China, now an industrial giant, would disrupt the global supply chain with devastating effects on the U.S. and global economy. Apple produces 90 percent of its products in China. U.S. trade with China was $690.6 billion last year. In 2004, U.S. manufacturing output was more than twice China’s. China’s output is now nearly double that of the United States. China produces the largest number of ships, steel and smartphones in the world. It dominates the global production of chemicals, metals, heavy industrial equipment and electronics. It is the world’s largest rare earth mineral exporter, its greatest reserve holder and is responsible for 80 percent of its refining worldwide. Rare earth minerals are essential to the manufacture of computer chips, smartphones, television screens, medical equipment, fluorescent light bulbs, cars, wind turbines, smart bombs, fighter jets and satellite communications. War with China would result in massive shortages of a variety of goods and resources, some vital to the war industry, paralyzing U.S. businesses. Inflation and unemployment would rocket upwards. Rationing would be implemented. The global stock exchanges, at least in the short term, would be shut down. It would trigger a global depression. If the U.S. Navy was able to block oil shipments to China and disrupt its sea lanes, the conflict could potentially become nuclear. In “NATO 2030: Unified for a New Era,” the military alliance sees the future as a battle for hegemony with rival states, especially China. It calls for the preparation of prolonged global conflict. In October 2022, Air Force General Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, presented his “Mobility Manifesto” to a packed military conference. During this unhinged fearmongering diatribe, Minihan argued that if the U.S. does not dramatically escalate its preparations for a war with China, America’s children will find themselves “subservient to a rules based order that benefits only one country [China].” According to the New York Times, the Marine Corps is training units for beach assaults, where the Pentagon believes the first battles with China may occur, across “the first island chain” that includes, “Okinawa and Taiwan down to Malaysia as well as the South China Sea and disputed islands in the Spratlys and the Paracels.”. Militarists drain funds from social and infrastructure programs. They pour money into research and development of weapons systems and neglect renewable energy technologies. Bridges, roads, electrical grids and levees collapse. Schools decay. Domestic manufacturing declines. The public is impoverished. The harsh forms of control the militarists test and perfect abroad migrate back to the homeland. Militarized Police. Militarized drones. Surveillance. Vast prison complexes. Suspension of basic civil liberties. Censorship. Those such as Julian Assange, who challenge the stratocracy, who expose its crimes and suicidal folly, are ruthlessly persecuted. But the war state harbors within it the seeds of its own destruction. It will cannibalize the nation until it collapses. Before then, it will lash out, like a blinded cyclops, seeking to restore its diminishing power through indiscriminate violence. The tragedy is not that the U.S. war state will self-destruct. The tragedy is that we will take down so many innocents with us. NOTE TO SCHEERPOST READERS FROM CHRIS HEDGES: There is now no way left for me to continue to write a weekly column for ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show without your help. The walls are closing in, with startling rapidity, on independent journalism, with the elites, including the Democratic Party elites, clamoring for more and more censorship. Bob Scheer, who runs ScheerPost on a shoestring budget, and I will not waver in our commitment to independent and honest journalism, and we will never put ScheerPost behind a paywall, charge a subscription for it, sell your data or accept advertising. Please, if you can, sign up at chrishedges.substack.com so I can continue to post my now weekly Monday column on ScheerPost and produce my weekly television show, The Chris Hedges Report. Chris Hedges Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times, where he served as the Middle East Bureau Chief and Balkan Bureau Chief for the paper. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and NPR. He is the host of show The Chris Hedges Report. He was a member of the team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for The New York Times coverage of global terrorism, and he received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. Hedges, who holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, is the author of the bestsellers American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle and was a National Book Critics Circle finalist for his book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He writes an online column for the website ScheerPost. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University and the University of Toronto. https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/30/chris-hedges-the-enemy-from-within/

Genocide 101: How US/Israeli Axis of Evil Funds Ethnic Cleansing in Palestine Meet the American Zombies Being Fleeced for The Terrorist Colony of Israel Johnny PunishNovember 11, 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. Remember when USA used to be Super Heroes? Now, look at them. It’s beyond grotesque! by Johnny Punish Most of you know about the public funding of the genocide taking place to expand the US/Euro Colony of Israel. But for those who don’t, in summary, each year the US Congress sends the tiny nation of 9 million people billions of US Taxpayer dollars in the form of aid; since 1948, its’ been $ 280 Billion. This is primarily secured by the bribery of US Congress by foreign agents posting as legit lobbies with the leader being AIPAC; American Israel Public Affairs Committee. To give you context, I have a fine Jewish friend who just said to me; “I attended an AIPAC event many years ago and vowed never to go again as I didn’t care for their radicalism and obstinance. But you may want to look at the Evangelical Christian community as the ones who have consistently exerted the most pressure on American politicians regarding Israel. They take the “end times” very seriously and are no fans of the Palestinian cause. Their organizations and lobbyists far exceed AIPAC in influence not only regarding Israel but more domestic issues as well.” And he is spot on! This phony Christian cabal is now the most dangerous enemy of freedom around the world. They are putting the lives of Israelis and Palestinians on the line with their crazy extremist ideologies. Calling them the Taliban is selling them short. 2023: In 30 days of US/Israeli Massacre of Gaza, they murdered over 11,000 human beings including over 5000 children and injured over 25,000 people while displacing over 1,000,000 human beings from their homes; a war crime of the century that is being cover by the UN which is held hostage by the US/Israeli Empire This dangerous American Christian Evangelical Zionist Operation or Nationalists, a group whose leaders open lie and indoctrinate their flock into believing complete non-sense about the end of days and why they should support Israel 100% without question no matter what is literally destroying the very fabric of the USA, and putting the lives of everyday Israeli’s and Palestinians on the line; killing them with their grotesque funding of Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing. It’s the most incredible Zombie indoctrination of a mass of people since NAZI Josef Goebbels did it about 90 years ago. Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German Nazi politician who was the Gauleiter of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945. They’ve turned the average down-home “folk” into Zombies for Israel. It’s truly incredible and scary for real. In fact, this one is much more impressive than the Nazis because it’s now gone public and America has normalized its insanity to the point where most don’t even question its complete fabrication. The elites wield this mind control without mercy fleecing their zombies at will while they sheepishly nod “Oh Israel, oh Israel”. It’s grotesque! Since its founding in 1948, the United States has provided Israel with over $125 billion in bilateral assistance focused on addressing new and complex security threats, bridging Israel’s capability gaps through security assistance and cooperation, increasing interoperability through joint exercises, and helping Israel … Source: International Trade Administration Oh, I forgot to mention that the US Congress delivers “offense” contracts, or what they like to call “defense” contracts that amount to billions more per year which props up its economy and continues to turn the US/Euro Colony Terror State into a serious global force for evil against its indigenous populations serving to destabilize Middle Eastern unity to ensure control of the regions’ resources securing it’s dominate empire worldwide. So there’s that… But what world power you ask? Well, it’s an elite transactional confederation of psychotic predators whose ambition is to maintain control of the world and its resources by any means necessary. Some call it “The West”, and some call it “The Zionists”. It’s actually both and more. This cabal is made of up Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Pagans. But mostly none of them are actually religious. They just play religious figures for public consumption. For example… Let’s take the lovely Saudi Royal Family who are in charge of the holiest sites in Islam. They are famous for being the leaders of the Wahabi sect of Islam. But in reality, underneath those $ 50,000 golden-laced robes are old greedy men in Machiavellian suits whose only loyalty is oil and their place at the Zionist table. They are degenerates like the rest of them. But for their public face, they act as if they are holy men. It’s just an act. And as long as their public buys it, then they can stay in power without any hiccups. So they play the game. The Religion of Oil and Power NOT Islam are these phony baloneys trade du jour But What About US Presidents? Don’t They Have a Say? The short answer is NO! They don’t! They are figureheads. They are NOT the leaders in this elite group. They are mere hostages, stooges for the major elite powers to push around at will. This is why Netanyahu meets with all of them and he’s treated like a KING. They all hate him and yet they bow to him. Each year, people point at US Presidents as if they have a say in the matter. They complain he’s this and that when, in reality, they are puppets in a humongous global game of chess. These figureheads are threatened with political failure and even their lives if they don’t comply. We are dealing with a very dangerous cabal folks. They are NOT choir boys but real-life gangsters with massive power backing them up and I’m not talking about Joe Pesci’s Nicky Santoro, I’m talking about the best military arms in the world and hitmen that would make James Bond shiver! Nicky Santoro, played by actor Joe Pesci, was a “made man” in the Mafia that ruled the streets of Las Vegas in the 1995 movie “Casino“. He was a nasty piece of meat with two eyes killing everything that walked; a psychopath in a cheap suit! But we’re talking funding right? So let’s see what else the US “unbreakable relationship” with its’ 51st state gets from the US Taxpayer. Oh wait, there’s direct financing; bonds, lots of bonds… In fact, it is so disgraceful that it will make you sick to your stomach. Yep, over $ 1 Billion in Israeli Bonds have been sold and purchased in the U.S. since Oct 7th — much of it with Taxpayers’ money. US States, cities, and small investors are behind the spike in sales. “Our security and economy will come out stronger,” said Israel Bond CEO Dan Naveh The Development Corporation for Israel has raised $1 billion from bond sales in the United States since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed at least 1,400 Israelis and took another 240 as hostages. Dan Naveh served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1999 and 2007 and as a government minister from 2001 until 2006. He is the founder and the managing general partner of Agate Medical Investments, served for seven years as the chairman of Clal Insurance, and is currently president and CEO of Israel Bonds. The Ministry of Finance issued new bonds in the days immediately following the attack selling them as if they were liberating Europe from the Nazis. And Americans are eating them up! The $1 billion raised in the last four weeks is the largest amount of Israeli Bonds ever purchased in a short period, according to the Development Corporation, the agency behind Israel Bond sales. It also makes 2023 a record year for Israel Bonds. According to a statement from the organization, most of the money came from 15 state and municipal bond funds, as well as a few banks. The main buyers were state governments in Florida, New York, Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Nevada, Louisiana, South Carolina, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Two counties in Florida, Broward and Palm Beach, also bought Israel Bonds in the last four weeks, as did Ohio’s Franklin County. Two banks made notable buys, New Jersey-based Cross River Bank and Cleveland-based Key Bank, which made a $15 million dollar bond purchase. A spokesperson for the bank called the sales part of “a more than 35-year relationship with Israel Bonds.” Executives at Israel Bonds said about $250 million of the total raised in the last month came from individual investors, large and small, throughout the United States, who purchased the bonds directly. American Zombies for Israel are being fleeced like never before and are ready to die for a cabal of elites who laugh in front of their zombie faces And so there you have it! The US/Israeli Axis of Evil is proudly financing Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing like never before. It’s committing war crimes in public view with support from its propaganda media with impunity. Worse, it is protected by a UN created when the USA once stood for something of principle giving it power to keep the world in balance. But now, it uses that power to ensure that no other country can stand up to them when they are the ones openly and publicly committing crimes that have NOT been seen since the days of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Johnny Punish (During the COVID ERA 2021) at the Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, or Cathédrale de Strasbourg, German: Liebfrauenmünster zu Straßburg or Straßburger Münster), also known as Strasbourg Minster, is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Postscript: I was in Strasbourg France in 2021. In the local main church, there hangs a plaque saying “In Memory of The American Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Soldiers Who Gave Their Life to Free Alsace”. I was so proud of that plague because that’s when America did something good. Yeah, I know, it was never perfect but at least it stood for pushing back the wild expansionism of the Nazis and helped the occupied people of France get back their dignity and freedom. It was good. And it launched a better world moving forward. But now, who is this version of America? Remember when the USA used to be the Super Heroes? Now, look at them. It’s beyond grotesque! Johnny Punish founded VT in 2004. After 20 years at the helm, he “retired” from the daily operations in late 2023 passing the ball over to the new owner of VT, Chief Justin Time. He now writes for VT as “Writer Emeritus”. He is also a global citizen eco-activist, visionary, musician, artist, entertainer, businessman, investor, life coach, podcast host, and syndicated columnist. Punish is an ethnically cleansed Palestinian-American whose maternal family was evicted from their home in Haifa, Palestine in 1948 by Irgun; a Euro-Zionist Settler Terrorist Group. The family became part of the over 1,000,000 Palestinians who are Al-Nakba refugees (The Catastrophe). The family fled to Beirut Lebanon for 13 years eventually emigrating to the USA in 1961 via a Brasilian passport obtained by his Palestinian Brasilian-born grandmother (In the early 1900s, the family was sent to Sao Paolo Brasil as guest workers in the mining industry. Punish’s father is Italian-American from New York City. Punish’s paternal great-grandparents emigrated to the USA from Naples Italy and Marineo in Sicily in the 1890s. Punish was born in the Bronx, New York in 1963. Punish was educated at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (1980-81) and California State University Fullerton (1981-1984) with studies in accounting and business. Before the “internets” had been invented, he owned and ran (5) national newspapers in the United States of America from 1987-1998. From 2004 to 2023, he owned and managed VT Foreign Policy retiring at the end of 2023. Punish is also a recording artist. He has over 100 original songs written. He records and produces music. A member of ASCAP, Punish has several songs placed in feature films. His music is promoted worldwide and played on all digital networks and net radio. He is also the founder and owner of Global Thinkers, a freedom media that helps free thinkers create real wealth. Resources: Facebook – YouTube – Apple Music – SoundCloud – Spotify – X (Twitter) Read Johnny’s Full Bio at JohnnyPunish.com >>> www.johnnypunish.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/genocide-101-how-us-israeli-axis-of-evil-funds-ethnic-cleansing-in-palestine/

Russia's public pivot to Palestine As the west's support for Israel's Gaza war becomes indefensible, Moscow aligns itself with the global majority in defense of Palestine. The complex, nuanced issue of Russia’s geopolitical neutrality in the Israel-Palestine tragedy was finally clarified last week, in no uncertain terms. Exhibit A is Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing - in person, on 30 October - his country's Security Council, top government officials, and heads of security agencies. Among other notables, his audience included Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Speaker of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin; Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov; and Director of SVR (foreign intel) Sergei Narishkin. Putin took no time to cut to the chase detailing the official stand of the Russian Federation in the current geopolitical incandescence of two intertwined wars, Ukraine and Israel-Palestine. This was addressed as much to his high-profile audience as to the political leadership of the western Hegemon." "There is no justification for the terrible events taking place in Gaza now, where hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being killed indiscriminately, without having anywhere to flee or hide from the bombing. When you see blood-stained children, dead children, the suffering of women and old people, when you see medics killed, of course, it makes you clench your fists as tears well in your eyes.” The US-led coalition of chaos Then came a preview of the context: “We must clearly understand who in reality is behind the tragedy of peoples in the Middle East and in other regions around the world, who has been organizing this lethal chaos and who benefits from it.” In no uncertain terms, Putin described “the current ruling elites in the United States and its satellites” as “the main beneficiaries of the global instability that they use to extract their bloody rent. Their strategy is also clear. The United States as a global superpower is becoming weaker and is losing its position, and everyone sees and understands this, even judging by the trends in the world economy.” The Russian president made a direct connection between the American drive to extend “its global dictatorship” and the policy obsession with promoting non-stop chaos: “This chaos will help it contain and destabilize its rivals or, as they put it, their geopolitical opponents, among which they also rank our country, which in reality are new global growth centers and sovereign independent countries who are unwilling to kowtow and play the role of servants.” Crucially, Putin made a point to “repeat again” to both his internal and Global South audiences that, “the ruling elites of the United States and its satellites are behind the tragedy of the Palestinians, the massacre in the Middle East in general, the conflict in Ukraine, and many other conflicts in the world – in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and so on.” It is a vitally important point. By conflating the perpetrators of the Ukraine conflict and the war on Gaza - “the United States and its satellites” - the Russian president has effectively lumped Israel in with the western Hegemon and its agenda of “chaos.” Moscow aligns with the real ‘international community’ Essentially, what this tells us is that the Russian Federation unequivocally aligns itself with the overwhelming majority of Global South/Global Majority public opinion – from the Arab world to all the lands of Islam and beyond, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Interestingly, Moscow aligns with the analyses by Iranian Leader Ayatollah Khamenei – a strategic partner of Russia - and Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, in his searing, sophisticated, Sun-Tzu tinged address this past Friday, on “the spider that is trying to entangle the entire planet and the whole world in its cobweb.” Exhibit B on Russia’s official position, specifically on Israel-Palestine, came from Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, at a special UN General Assembly session on Palestine two days after Putin’s address. Nebenzya made it abundantly clear that Israel, as an occupying power, does not have “the right for self-defense” – a fact supported by a UN International Court consultative ruling way back in 2004. At the time, the court also established, in a 14 out of 15 judicial vote, that Israel’s construction of a massive wall in occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, was against international law. Nebenzya, in legal terms, nullified the endlessly evoked “right to self-defense” argument brandished by Tel Aviv and the whole NATO galaxy. The Hegemon, Tel Aviv’s protector, recently vetoed Brazil’s draft humanitarian UN Security Council just because it did not mention Israel’s “right to self-defense.” Even as he underscored that Moscow does recognize Israel’s right to ensure its security, Nebenzya stressed this right “could be fully guaranteed only in case of a fair resolution of the Palestinian problem based on recognized UN Security Council resolutions." The record shows that Israel does not respect any UN Security Council resolution on Palestine. Lavrov’s priorities in occupied-Palestine Exhibit C on Russia’s stand regarding Israel/Palestine was provided by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a press conference with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sabah Al-Sabah, two days after Nebenzya’s intervention at the UN. Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s priorities already stressed by Putin and Nebenzya: an urgent ceasefire, humanitarian corridors, and a return to the table to negotiate “an independent Palestinian state, as envisaged by the UN Security Council within the 1967 borders, which would coexist in peace and security with Israel.” Lavrov stressed once again that several US-Israeli diversionary tactics are being employed “aimed at delaying (if not burying) the UN Security Council's decision to establish a Palestinian state.” This, says the Russian foreign minister, implies condemning the Palestinians “to an eternal existence without rights. This will ensure neither peace nor security in the region, it will only drive the conflict deeper. And you won't be able to drive it deep. The next ‘grapes of wrath’ will be sown, which will quickly ‘sprout.’” Lavrov’s analysis, as much as Putin’s, converges with Khamenei’s and Nasrallah’s: “This is not about Gaza, but about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The State of Palestine is an integral part of that solution.” Russia is sowing the seeds to exercise the role of trusted mediator for all parties in Israel/Palestine – a role totally unsuitable for the Hegemon, especially after the tacit approval of the current Israeli ethnic cleansing of Gaza. It’s all here, clearly formulated by Lavrov: “It will be fundamentally important for us to know the unanimous opinion of the Arab world.” That is a message specifically targeting Sunni regimes vassalized by Washington. Then, when they get their act together, “we will support the Arab solution to this very difficult issue.” Multipolarity's prerequisite: Peace in Palestine Examined together, Exhibits A, B, and C show how Moscow is way ahead of the game. The overall message – which is being minutely decoded all across the Global South/Global Majority – is that even considering non-stop Empire of Chaos gambits, the immutable, exclusionist Zionist Project is now dead on arrival. The least bad solution so far is the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - subscribed by everyone from the lands of Islam to Russia, Iran, and China: an independent Palestinian state, back to the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The problem is how to convince out-of-control Zionism to back off. Imperative facts on the ground would have to include severing the Washington-Tel Aviv weaponized/securitized umbilical cord - and expelling from the geopolitical spectrum the neocon Christian Zionist matrix in the US, which happens to be deeply entrenched in silos across the Deep State. Both of these imperatives are impossibilities – in short, medium, and even long term. Meanwhile, a simple look at the map shows that for all practical purposes, the two-state solution - from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip - is dead. It may be heart-wrenching for the leaders of multipolarity to admit it. It will take some time, and shifting of public discourse, to recognize that the only viable solution is supreme anathema for the Zionist Project: a one-state with Jews and Arabs living together in peace. All that brings us to a stark formulation: without a just solution for Palestine, tangible peace across the emerging multipolarity spectrum remains unattainable. The current enabled horror in Gaza shows that peace continues not to be a priority for the Empire of Chaos, and it will take a Russia - with perhaps a China - to shift the game.

https://new.thecradle.co/articles/russias-public-pivot-to-palestine Pay very close attention. Repercussions will be immense. Exhibits A, B and C: Putin, Nebenzya and Lavrov. Russia's public pivot to Palestine As the west's support for Israel's Gaza war becomes indefensible, Moscow aligns itself with the global majority in defense of Palestine. The complex, nuanced issue of Russia’s geopolitical neutrality in the Israel-Palestine tragedy was finally clarified last week, in no uncertain terms. Exhibit A is Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing - in person, on 30 October - his country's Security Council, top government officials, and heads of security agencies. Among other notables, his audience included Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Speaker of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin; Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov; and Director of SVR (foreign intel) Sergei Narishkin. Putin took no time to cut to the chase detailing the official stand of the Russian Federation in the current geopolitical incandescence of two intertwined wars, Ukraine and Israel-Palestine. This was addressed as much to his high-profile audience as to the political leadership of the western Hegemon." "There is no justification for the terrible events taking place in Gaza now, where hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being killed indiscriminately, without having anywhere to flee or hide from the bombing. When you see blood-stained children, dead children, the suffering of women and old people, when you see medics killed, of course, it makes you clench your fists as tears well in your eyes.” The US-led coalition of chaos Then came a preview of the context: “We must clearly understand who in reality is behind the tragedy of peoples in the Middle East and in other regions around the world, who has been organizing this lethal chaos and who benefits from it.” In no uncertain terms, Putin described “the current ruling elites in the United States and its satellites” as “the main beneficiaries of the global instability that they use to extract their bloody rent. Their strategy is also clear. The United States as a global superpower is becoming weaker and is losing its position, and everyone sees and understands this, even judging by the trends in the world economy.” The Russian president made a direct connection between the American drive to extend “its global dictatorship” and the policy obsession with promoting non-stop chaos: “This chaos will help it contain and destabilize its rivals or, as they put it, their geopolitical opponents, among which they also rank our country, which in reality are new global growth centers and sovereign independent countries who are unwilling to kowtow and play the role of servants.” Crucially, Putin made a point to “repeat again” to both his internal and Global South audiences that, “the ruling elites of the United States and its satellites are behind the tragedy of the Palestinians, the massacre in the Middle East in general, the conflict in Ukraine, and many other conflicts in the world – in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and so on.” It is a vitally important point. By conflating the perpetrators of the Ukraine conflict and the war on Gaza - “the United States and its satellites” - the Russian president has effectively lumped Israel in with the western Hegemon and its agenda of “chaos.” Moscow aligns with the real ‘international community’ Essentially, what this tells us is that the Russian Federation unequivocally aligns itself with the overwhelming majority of Global South/Global Majority public opinion – from the Arab world to all the lands of Islam and beyond, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Interestingly, Moscow aligns with the analyses by Iranian Leader Ayatollah Khamenei – a strategic partner of Russia - and Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, in his searing, sophisticated, Sun-Tzu tinged address this past Friday, on “the spider that is trying to entangle the entire planet and the whole world in its cobweb.” Exhibit B on Russia’s official position, specifically on Israel-Palestine, came from Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, at a special UN General Assembly session on Palestine two days after Putin’s address. Nebenzya made it abundantly clear that Israel, as an occupying power, does not have “the right for self-defense” – a fact supported by a UN International Court consultative ruling way back in 2004. At the time, the court also established, in a 14 out of 15 judicial vote, that Israel’s construction of a massive wall in occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, was against international law. Nebenzya, in legal terms, nullified the endlessly evoked “right to self-defense” argument brandished by Tel Aviv and the whole NATO galaxy. The Hegemon, Tel Aviv’s protector, recently vetoed Brazil’s draft humanitarian UN Security Council just because it did not mention Israel’s “right to self-defense.” Even as he underscored that Moscow does recognize Israel’s right to ensure its security, Nebenzya stressed this right “could be fully guaranteed only in case of a fair resolution of the Palestinian problem based on recognized UN Security Council resolutions." The record shows that Israel does not respect any UN Security Council resolution on Palestine. Lavrov’s priorities in occupied-Palestine Exhibit C on Russia’s stand regarding Israel/Palestine was provided by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a press conference with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sabah Al-Sabah, two days after Nebenzya’s intervention at the UN. Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s priorities already stressed by Putin and Nebenzya: an urgent ceasefire, humanitarian corridors, and a return to the table to negotiate “an independent Palestinian state, as envisaged by the UN Security Council within the 1967 borders, which would coexist in peace and security with Israel.” Lavrov stressed once again that several US-Israeli diversionary tactics are being employed “aimed at delaying (if not burying) the UN Security Council's decision to establish a Palestinian state.” This, says the Russian foreign minister, implies condemning the Palestinians “to an eternal existence without rights. This will ensure neither peace nor security in the region, it will only drive the conflict deeper. And you won't be able to drive it deep. The next ‘grapes of wrath’ will be sown, which will quickly ‘sprout.’” Lavrov’s analysis, as much as Putin’s, converges with Khamenei’s and Nasrallah’s: “This is not about Gaza, but about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The State of Palestine is an integral part of that solution.” Russia is sowing the seeds to exercise the role of trusted mediator for all parties in Israel/Palestine – a role totally unsuitable for the Hegemon, especially after the tacit approval of the current Israeli ethnic cleansing of Gaza. It’s all here, clearly formulated by Lavrov: “It will be fundamentally important for us to know the unanimous opinion of the Arab world.” That is a message specifically targeting Sunni regimes vassalized by Washington. Then, when they get their act together, “we will support the Arab solution to this very difficult issue.” Multipolarity's prerequisite: Peace in Palestine Examined together, Exhibits A, B, and C show how Moscow is way ahead of the game. The overall message – which is being minutely decoded all across the Global South/Global Majority – is that even considering non-stop Empire of Chaos gambits, the immutable, exclusionist Zionist Project is now dead on arrival. The least bad solution so far is the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - subscribed by everyone from the lands of Islam to Russia, Iran, and China: an independent Palestinian state, back to the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The problem is how to convince out-of-control Zionism to back off. Imperative facts on the ground would have to include severing the Washington-Tel Aviv weaponized/securitized umbilical cord - and expelling from the geopolitical spectrum the neocon Christian Zionist matrix in the US, which happens to be deeply entrenched in silos across the Deep State. Both of these imperatives are impossibilities – in short, medium, and even long term. Meanwhile, a simple look at the map shows that for all practical purposes, the two-state solution - from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip - is dead. It may be heart-wrenching for the leaders of multipolarity to admit it. It will take some time, and shifting of public discourse, to recognize that the only viable solution is supreme anathema for the Zionist Project: a one-state with Jews and Arabs living together in peace. All that brings us to a stark formulation: without a just solution for Palestine, tangible peace across the emerging multipolarity spectrum remains unattainable. The current enabled horror in Gaza shows that peace continues not to be a priority for the Empire of Chaos, and it will take a Russia - with perhaps a China - to shift the game.

Basics of Commerical Real Estate will equip you with an understanding of the essential elements of CRE such as Who owns Commercial Real Estate, and why The different types of commercial property, their characteristics, and what defines and distinguishes them from one another; not just physically, but also financially The opportunities in commercial real estate for a new commercial agent, the many different players and their motivations The different types of commercial leases and a simple way to remember and distinguish one lease type from another The fast changing area of Market Analysis and how our digital economy is impacting and improving our ability to predict the future performance of commercial investment real estate Basics of Investment Analysis. You do not need to be a math genius to understand the basic calculations used to value and compare commercial real estate investments. for more detail https://shorturl.at/nFIQT

The endgame for the #economy has apparently arrived: according to the Treasury's own calculations, total interest is now over $1 trillion (or $1.027 trillion to be precise).

Normalization with Israel 'still on the table': Saudi minister The Saudi minister rejected the possibility of using oil as leverage to force a ceasefire in Gaza The Saudi Minister of Investment, Khalid bin Abdulaziz al-Falih, confirmed that the issue of normalizing relations between the kingdom and Israel is still on the table, but it is conditional on a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue. Falih responded to a question about normalization in a discussion session at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum held in Singapore: “This matter was on the table, and it is still on the table, and it is clear that the recent withdrawal (from the talks) explains why Saudi Arabia is so determined to make a solution to the Palestinian conflict part of broader normalization in [West Asia].” When Falih was asked whether Saudi Arabia would use economic tools, such as the price of oil, to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, he laughed and replied: “This is not on the table today. Saudi Arabia is trying to achieve peace through talks that seek peace.” In 1973, Saudi Arabia imposed an oil embargo on the United States and other countries for their support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War against Egypt and Syria. According to Falih, in the coming days Saudi Arabia is expected to host three separate summits with the participation of Arab, African and Islamic countries, aimed at promoting a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Before the war between Hamas and Israel erupted on 7 October, Tel Aviv and Riyadh were in advanced talks to normalize relations. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) was reportedly asking the US for security guarantees and access to civilian nuclear technology and advanced weapons in exchange for a deal. Saudi diplomats also stated Israel must agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state as detailed by the 2002 Saudi Peace Initiative. Though allowing a Palestinian state was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several Jewish supremacist ministers in his government, reports continued to emerge that a deal was close. However, following Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on 7 October and Israel’s brutal bombing campaign in Gaza, which many describe as genocide, it was widely assumed that a normalization deal between Tel Aviv and Riyadh was now not possible, as public anger in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries regarding Israel’s killing of Palestinians has skyrocketed. https://new.thecradle.co/articles/normalization-with-israel-still-on-the-table-saudi-minister