(November 8, 2024)
Trump told Abbas that he would “work to stop the war,” and that he looks forward to working to “promote peace in the Middle East.”
The call represents a shift in Trump’s relations with the Palestinian Authority. During his first term, the group severed ties with the U.S. due to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Until now, Trump had not since spoken with Abbas.
(November 8, 2024)
President Abbas also reaffirmed his readiness to work with President Trump in pursuit of a just and comprehensive peace, based on international legitimacy and principles.
In response, President Trump emphasized his commitment to the stop the war and reiterated his willingness to collaborate with President Abbas, as well as other regional and global stakeholders, in efforts to achieve peace in the region.
US President Donald Trump told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a phone conversation on Friday that he‘s committed to stopping the war in Gaza and willing to collaborate with the Palestinian leader, Wafa news agency reported.
President Abbas congratulated the US president during the call and expressed his hope that Trump would lead the United States towards further progress and prosperity during his term in office.
(November 6, 2024)
In the congratulatory cable, Abbas stressed his commitment to the Palestinian people’s pursuit of freedom, noting that his people will continue to fight for peace and its right to a country and the respect of their rights to exit and be treated with respect.
He laid out his hopes for the second Trump administration, saying: “We are confident that the United States will support, under your leadership, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.”
(November 8, 2024)
The Biden administration has lifted a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine to help the country’s military maintain and repair US-provided weapons systems, particularly F16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, an official with direct knowledge of the plan told CNN.
(,,,)
It is not clear whether Donald Trump will keep the policy in place when he takes office in January. Trump has said he hopes to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “within 24 hours” of returning to power.
(November 8, 2024)
A senior Ukrainian official confirmed to Fox News that Elon Musk joined a Trump-Zelenskyy call on Wednesday in which President Zelenskyy congratulated the president-elect on his win.
„It was a very good call. Our work continues,“ said the Ukrainian official to Fox News.
(November 7, 2024)
The Ukrainian President wrote:
“I had an excellent call with President [Donald Trump] and congratulated him on his historic landslide victory—his tremendous campaign made this result possible. I praised his family and team for their great work.“
Zelenskyy noted that both leaders “agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation,” emphasizing that “strong and unwavering US leadership is vital for the world and for a just peace.”
(October 23, 2024)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday „now is the time“ to end the conflict in Gaza, and urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told RAI television that changing UNIFIL‘s rules of engagement or increasing troop numbers could happen if Israel stopped its operations.
„The message we want to send to Israel is that if you stop your army, the U.N. can also change its approach in that part of Lebanon, so that we can peacefully achieve what you‘re now trying to do by attacking Hezbollah‘s bases militarily,“ he said.
(September 25, 2024)
Iran is ready to end its nuclear standoff with the West, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, while calling for an end to Russia‘s war in Ukraine through dialogue.
(September 24, 2024)
Recalling the “historic” 2015 nuclear deal, he noted that Iran, under the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA), had agreed to the highest level of nuclear oversight in return for the recognition of its rights and the lifting of sanctions.
However, former US President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA represented a “threat-ridden approach” to politics, Mr. Pezeshkian added, stressing that unilateral sanctions targeted innocent people and weakened the Iranian economy.
“We are ready to engage with JCPOA participants. If JCPOA commitments are implemented fully and in good faith, dialogue on other issues can follow,” he said.
“We have the opportunity to transcend limitations and enter a new era, commencing with the acknowledgment of Iran‘s security concerns and cooperation on mutual challenges,” he said.
Reiterating the destructive impact of sanctions, he emphasized that Iran is ready to foster meaningful economic, social, political and security partnerships with its neighbours and global partners, “based on equal footing.”
(23. Mai 2013)
Now, the speech:
The president who dramatically expanded the CIA secret drone war, ordered a troop surge in Afghanistan and aggressively prosecuted leakers made a forceful defense of his actions and an even more forceful case for winding down the war on terrorism.
The key line: „This war, like all wars, must end. That‘s what history advises. That‘s what our democracy demands.“
Harris maintained the same stance she has previously shared regarding the war in Gaza: She condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack while expressing support for a cease-fire and a two-state solution.
“Israel has a right to defend itself,” Harris said. “It is also true far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed—children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end.”
„Do you believe you bear any responsibility in the way that withdrawal played out?“ Harris was asked by a moderator.
„Well, I will tell you, I agreed with President Biden‘s decision to pull out of Afghanistan.“ she said.
„Four presidents said they would and Joe Biden did.“
During the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, 13 U.S. service members were killed in a terrorist attack.
Wenn am nächsten Sonntag Landtagswahl wäre …
„Relativ spät im Spiel begannen die Ukrainer, um Rat zu fragen, wohin diese Sache führen würde, und es wurde uns, den Briten und anderen klar, dass Putins Hauptbedingung in einem Anhang zu diesem Dokument, an dem sie arbeiteten, versteckt war. Sie enthielt Beschränkungen für die genauen Arten von Waffensystemen, über die die Ukraine nach der Vereinbarung verfügen durfte, so dass die Ukraine als militärische Macht im Grunde kastriert wäre. Für Russland gab es keine ähnlichen Beschränkungen. Russland wurde nicht verpflichtet, sich zurückzuziehen. Russland wurde nicht verpflichtet, eine Pufferzone an der ukrainischen Grenze einzurichten, und es wurde nicht verlangt, dass seinem Militär, welches der Ukraine gegenüberstand, dieselben Beschränkungen auferlegt werden. Und so begannen die Menschen innerhalb und außerhalb der Ukraine zu fragen, ob dies ein guter Deal sei, und das war der Punkt, an dem er auseinanderfiel.“
“Relatively late in the game the Ukrainians began asking for advice on where this thing was going and it became clear to us, clear to the Brits, clear to others that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin‘s main condition was buried in an annex to this document that they were working on,” she said of the deal being discussed by the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Türkiye’s largest city.
The proposed agreement included limits on the kinds of weapons that Kiev could possess, as a result of which Ukraine “would basically be neutered as a military force,” while there were no similar constraints on Russia, the former diplomat explained.
“People inside Ukraine and people outside Ukraine started asking questions about whether this was a good deal and it was at that point that it fell apart,” Nuland said.
In einem wichtigen Punkt war man sich einig: Dass es keinerlei Chance auf eine internationale formale und rechtliche Anerkennung der russischen Annexionen ukrainischen Territoriums gibt und dass Russland nicht darauf drängen wird. Es wurde eingräumt, dass dies nicht nur von der Ukraine und dem Westen abgelehnt würde, sondern auch von China, Indien und Südafrika, die die russische Annexion der Krim im Jahr 2014 nicht anerkannt haben.
Es besteht daher die Hoffnung, dass im Rahmen einer Friedensregelung die Frage des Status dieser Gebiete auf endlose zukünftige Verhandlungen verschoben wird (wie die ukrainische Regierung im März 2022 in Bezug auf die Krim vorschlug), bis sie schließlich von allen vergessen wird. Das Beispiel der (nicht anerkannten, aber praktisch unangefochtenen) Türkischen Republik Nordzypern wurde erwähnt. Das bedeutet, dass die Ukraine nicht öffentlich aufgefordert würde, diese Gebiete „aufzugeben“, sondern lediglich anzuerkennen, dass es unmöglich ist, sie mit Gewalt zurückzuerobern.
Wenn am nächsten Sonntag Landtagswahl wäre …
Wenn am nächsten Sonntag Landtagswahl wäre …
(06.05.2024)
The United Nations General Assembly could vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would recognize the Palestinians as qualified to become a full U.N. member and recommend that the U.N. Security Council „reconsider the matter favorably.“
It would effectively act as a global survey of how much support the Palestinians have for their bid, which was vetoed in the U.N. Security Council last month by the United States.
On May 10, the United Nations’ 193 member states can end the Gaza war and the longstanding suffering of the Palestinian people by voting to admit Palestine as the 194th UN member state.
In der Vergangenheit war der Heldenplatz am 8. Mai stets in der Hand der schlagenden Burschenschaften, die mit Fackeln des Endes des Zweiten Weltkriegs gedachten. Die Aufmärsche wurden meistens von heftigen Protesten begleitet, die Polizei war im Großeinsatz. Mit Rückendeckung der Regierung und der Stadt Wien wurde vor elf Jahren der Spieß umgedreht. Auch heute findet zum 8. Mai in Wien wieder ein „Fest der Freude“ statt.
On May 8, 1945, World War II in Europe came to an end. As the news of Germany’s surrender reached the rest of the world, joyous crowds gathered to celebrate in the streets, clutching newspapers that declared Victory in Europe (V-E Day). Later that year, US President Harry S. Truman announced Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II. The news spread quickly and celebrations erupted across the United States. On September 2, 1945, formal surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri, designating the day as the official Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day).
We raise our hats out of respect for them, as these protests in the universities and streets of the western world and the Global South keep the flame of hope burning in the souls of our people who long for freedom and justice.
These protests indicate profound, radical changes that separate an ageing American generation that blindly supports Israel and a new generation that promotes justice in Palestine and demands an end to the Israeli occupation and to the war on Gaza.
They represent the future of America and its bright face, the emergence of which we have long awaited.
Thousands protested in Tel Aviv on Monday night, April 29, in a rally that later descended into clashes with police forces, arrests, and police violence toward protesters and relatives of hostages. The rally reached the King George Street near of the ruling Likud party’s headquarters, where police used a water cannon and mounted cops to disperse the protest.
Cops shoved Ilana Gritzewsky, Matan Zangauker’s partner who was kidnapped on October 7 and released in the November deal. Early protesters blocked the army headquarters entrance at Begin Street and Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan, addressed Netanyahu, saying he had to choose between bringing the hostages home and keeping intact his government over the objections of racist ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who vehemently oppose a hostage deal that would require a ceasefire. Einav Zangauker told Ynet that cops had pushed her to the ground at the Likud headquarters and that the police used excessive force and sent in disproportionate forces to disperse the crowd, in what she called “stepped-up violence.”
(20.10.2023)
After Hamas’s brutal massacre of over a thousand Israel civilians and Israel’s massive military response, peace may appear inconceivable. Certainly, few would blame those unwilling to forgive the shocking violence of days past. Yet peace does not demand forgiveness of the unforgivable—and shattering events have a way of producing unanticipated consequences.
A prisoner exchange—which historical patterns suggest is likely—could, despite it all, reopen a path to peace.
Laut Mützenich könnte aller Voraussicht nach China auf Russland einwirken für eine mögliche Lösung. „Wir müssen China davon überzeugen, dass die Volksrepublik ein existenzielles und wirtschaftliches Interesse hat, stärker im von Russland zu verantwortenden Krieg diplomatisch aktiv zu werden.“ China habe wahrscheinlich noch einen gewissen Einfluss auf Russland. „Diese Debatten muss die Politik doch führen, anstatt darüber zu reden, wo die Schrauben beim ‚Taurus‘ sitzen. Die Optionen, wie ein militärischer Konflikt beendet werden kann, die werden am Ende politische sein.“
(5. März 2022)
Was eine (weitere) verantwortliche, eine rationale, eine solidarische Maßnahme aus dem Weißen Haus wäre, ähnlich wie die Zurückhaltung was die Provokationen aus dem Kreml angeht: von sich aus auf eine N.A.T.O.-Mitgliedschaft der Ukraine zu verzichten. Neben der Lieferung von Defensivwaffen gäbe es nichts Besseres, was “der Westen” derzeit für die Ukraine tun kann. Man könnte vielleicht auch verkünden, man habe sich in den letzten 30 Jahren mit der N.A.T.O. genug gedehnt. Und zwanzig Jahre lang genug ruhmreichen Terrorkrieg geführt. Ein paar Millionen Tote würden nun reichen.
Das Ende des Afghanistan-Krieges, allein beendet durch den Befehl eines einzigen Mannes, Joe Biden, war diesbezüglich ein guter Anfang. Zur Erinnerung; die “Authorization for Use of Military Force” aus 2001, das entscheidende Kriegsermächtigungsgesetz was in Deutschland bis heute fast keiner kennt, ist vom Kongress immer noch nicht aufgehoben, obwohl dies bereits 2013 von Barack Obama angekündigt wurde.
(16.11.2023)
The people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said US and European officials concede big questions remain about whether such an operation would be workable in Gaza, and recognize that Israel remains highly skeptical of such a plan. But they said even discussing the idea may help push Israel to think more about wrapping up the campaign and consider what might come next.
The party wants to reform the EU and limit the European Commission’s power, but “if such a reform is not possible, if we cannot restore the sovereignty of the EU member states, then the citizens should decide, just like in the U.K.,” Weidel said in an interview with the Financial Times published Monday.
Praising the U.K. for its exit from the EU after a 2016 plebiscite, Weidel said she believes Germany “could have a referendum on ‘Dexit’ — a German exit from the EU.”
Eindringlich rief der Papst in seiner Urbi-et-Orbi-Botschaft dazu auf, sich für Frieden einzusetzen. „Er komme bald in Israel und Palästina, wo der Krieg das Leben dieser Völker erschüttert. Ich umarme sie alle, insbesondere die christlichen Gemeinschaften in Gaza und im gesamten Heiligen Land. Ich trauere im Herzen um die Opfer des verabscheuungswürdigen Angriffs vom 7. Oktober und erneuere meinen dringenden Appell für die Freilassung derjenigen, die noch immer als Geiseln festgehalten werden. Ich flehe darum, dass die Militäroperationen mit ihren entsetzlichen Folgen unschuldiger ziviler Opfer eingestellt werden und dass man etwas gegen die verzweifelte humanitäre Situation unternimmt, indem man das Eintreffen der Hilfslieferungen ermöglicht.“
Franziskus richtete den Scheinwerfer aber über das aktuelle Gaza-Drama hinaus auf die Zukunft der Menschen und Völker im Nahen Osten. „Man schüre nicht weiter Gewalt und Hass, sondern führe die palästinensische Frage zu einer Lösung, und zwar durch einen aufrichtigen und beharrlichen Dialog zwischen den Parteien, der von einem starken politischen Willen getragen wird und von der Unterstützung der internationalen Gemeinschaft.“ Der Vatikan wirbt für eine Zwei-Staaten-Lösung Israel/Palästina und für einen international garantierten, freien Zugang zu den Heiligen Stätten.
Following the birth of the Saviour came the slaughter of the innocents, the Pope recalled, and he remembered the innocents, the „little Jesuses“ of today, who are victims „in their mothers’ wombs, in odysseys undertaken in desperation and in search of hope, in the lives of all those little ones whose childhood has been devastated by war.“
We must say „yes“ to peace and „no“ to war the Pope decried, as every war marks „a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly.“ He also called for a „no“ to weaponry given that with human weakness we can often end up using it for war sooner or later.
Peace is even more difficult, he observed, „when arms production, sales, and trade are on the rise“ and public funds spent on arms can come at the expense of bread for the hungry. He decried „the interests and the profits that move the puppet strings of war.“ And these must be brought to light, „talked about and written about,“ he emphasised, since many have no idea how much of their public funds are being spent on weapons, whereas they should be informed.
(December 23, 2023 7:03 PM)
Houthi officials in September visited Riyadh for the first time since the war broke out. That followed a first round of Omani-mediated consultations between Riyadh and Sanaa, running in parallel to U.N. peace efforts, when Saudi envoys visited Sanaa in April.
The peace initiatives gained momentum after arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to re-establish ties in a deal brokered by China. A permanent ceasefire in Yemen would mark a milestone in stabilising the Middle East.
Under these circumstances, this Declaration calls not only for the denunciation of Israel’s genocidal assault but also for taking effective action to permanently prevent its repetition. We come together due to the urgency of the moment, which obliges global intellectuals to stand against the ongoing horrific ordeal of the Palestinian people and, most of all, to implore action by those who have the power, and hence the responsibility, to do so. Israel’s continuing rejection of a permanent ceasefire intensifies our concerns.
Many weeks of cruel devastation caused by Israel’s grossly disproportionate response to the October 7 attack, continues to exhibit Israel’s vengeful fury. That fury can in no way be excused by the horrendous violence of Hamas against civilians in Israel or inapplicable claims of self-defense against an occupied population.
(…)
In addition, Israel has been greenlighting settler-led violence and escalating ethnic cleansing efforts in the West Bank. Given these developments we urge national governments to embargo and halt all shipments of weapons to Israel, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, which should also withdraw their provocative naval presences from the Eastern Mediterranean; we urge the UN Security Council and General Assembly to so decree without delay.
Yesh Gvul was founded in 1982 with the outbreak of the First Lebanon War, as a refusal movement of soldiers in the reserves force.
Its first petition, which would define the movement’s trajectory, reads:
„[…] you are trying to solve the Palestinian problem by warfare … to impose a ‘new order’ on the ruins of Lebanon, to spill our blood and the blood of others for the sake of the Phalange. That is not why we enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces.”
Close to 3,000 reservists signed the petition, 160 of whom were jailed for refusing to serve on Lebanese territory. Yesh Gvul supported the first Lebanon War refuseniks, most of whom were selective objectors, and worked to influence public opinion against waging wars in Lebanon. Ever since, the movement has helped soldiers who refuse to serve or are considering refusal, as well as their families.
Südafrika und die Republik Kongo drängten zudem darauf, dass der Krieg in der Ukraine beendet und die afrikanische Friedensinitiative beraten wird. Der von afrikanischen Staats- und Regierungschefs vorgelegte Friedensplan verdiene Aufmerksamkeit, sagte der Präsident der Republik Kongo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, auf dem Russland-Afrika-Forum.
African leaders also used the second day of the summit to press Mr Putin to move ahead with a peace plan they are proposing to end the war resulting from Moscow‘s full-scale invasion of its neighbour last year.
The plan calls for Russia and Ukraine‘s sovereignty to be recognised, urgent peace talks and continued unhindered grain exports.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine was a war crime, although one that was provoked by NATO expansion and by the United States backing of the 2014 “Maidan” coup which ousted the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych wanted economic integration with the European Union, but not at the expense of economic and political ties with Russia. The war will only be solved through negotiations that allow ethnic Russians in Ukraine to have autonomy and Moscow’s protection, as well as Ukrainian neutrality, which means the country cannot join NATO. The longer these negotiations are delayed the more Ukrainians will suffer and die. Their cities and infrastructure will continue to be pounded into rubble.
(April 20, 2023)
Daniel Ellsberg — who died Friday at 92 — fully expected to spend the rest of his life in prison after he leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and The Washington Post in 1971. The documents revealed decades of government lies and mistakes about the war in Vietnam, and eventually, they helped end it.
The charges against Ellsberg were ultimately dismissed, but he had a secret: The Pentagon Papers were only supposed to be the beginning. Alongside the documents about Vietnam, he’d copied thousands of pages of other documents about America’s nuclear war planning that he believed would shock the public conscience. But a series of mishaps kept those documents from ever coming to light.
(Dec 22, 2022)
@yousural-hlou8400
5 months ago
Hi, I’m Yousur Al-Hlou and I produced this visual investigation along with my colleagues Masha Froliak, Dmitriy Khavin, Christoph Koettl, Haley Willis, Alexander Cardia, Natalie Reneau and Malachy Browne. I’ll never forget the reporting trips Masha and I made to Bucha, Ukraine, in early April: we witnessed bodies, some with arms bound behind their backs, strewn along a single street in this town on the outskirts of Kyiv. We decided to investigate who killed them. Eight months later, we know. Using exclusive phone records, documents, interviews and thousands of hours of video, we proved how a single paratrooper military unit, the 234th Air Assault Regiment, killed dozens of Ukrainians on Yablunska Street.
(Apr 6, 2022)
#Bucha #Ukraine #RussianInvasion
ABC News‘ James Longman reports from Bucha, where residents are detailing alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces, as human rights groups document the atrocities.
The Bucha massacre (Ukrainian: Бучанська різанина, romanized: Buchanska rizanyna; Russian: Резня в Буче, romanized: Reznya v Buche) was the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war[12] by the Russian Armed Forces during the fight for and occupation of the city of Bucha as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photographic and video evidence of the massacre emerged on 1 April 2022 after Russian forces withdrew from the city.
(Jun 18, 2023)
Kyiv did not react to Vladimir Putin‘s comments.
The peace agreement was discarded by Ukraine as soon as Russia obliged the request and withdrew troops from Kyiv, Vladimir Putin alleged, saying, “Where are the guarantees that they will not renounce any other agreements in the future?”
(19.06.2023)
During a meeting with the African Union leaders spearheaded by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at St. Petersberg‘s Konstantinovsky Palace, Putin accused Ukraine of signing a peace treaty with Moscow earlier, claiming that Kyiv later threw it into the ‚garbage of history‘, Hindustan Times reported.
(September 2, 2022)
Russia and Ukraine may have agreed on a tentative deal to end the war in April, according to a recent piece in Foreign Affairs.
“Russian and Ukrainian negotiators appeared to have tentatively agreed on the outlines of a negotiated interim settlement,” wrote Fiona Hill and Angela Stent. “Russia would withdraw to its position on February 23, when it controlled part of the Donbas region and all of Crimea, and in exchange, Ukraine would promise not to seek NATO membership and instead receive security guarantees from a number of countries.”
The news highlights the impact of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s efforts to stop negotiations, as journalist Branko Marcetic noted on Twitter.
Putin pointed out that the Russian side has never rejected negotiations with Ukraine. It was Ukraine that declared its unwillingness, which was cemented by Zelensky’s decree.
Putin also pointed out that the Ukrainian authorities have preliminarily signed the draft agreement with Moscow, prepared in March, 2022, in Istanbul; however, after Russian forces were withdrawn, Ukraine disregarded the document. The President presented the document, which includes 18 articles and appendixes, to the African leaders. The document included clauses on neutrality and guarantees of security.
„It also touches upon armed forces and other things. It was all written down – up to numbers of vehicles and personnel,“ Putin disclosed.
Ramaphosa went on to outline a proposal that has been agreed upon by the seven countries involved in the mission:
– Both leaders must listen to one another;
– The war must be settled through negotiations and diplomatic means;
– There must be a de-escalation of conflict on both sides;
– The sovereignty of countries in terms of the UN Charter and internationally recognised principles should be recognised;
– There needs to be a guarantee of security for all the countries involved. This issue has been raised by all sides;
– The movement of grains across the Black Sea must be opened up to remove blockages so that commodities can reach markets;
– humanitarian efforts must be set up for those affected by the war;
– Prisoners of war must be released and children returned to Ukraine;
– There must be reconstruction of the destruction caused by the war; and
– Further engagements should be held to encourage more dialogue through the Africa Peace Mission.