President Trump confirmed last month his administration plans to cut the U.S. troop size in Germany roughly in half. The decision drew backlash from both sides of the aisle.
Archiv: areas of influence / hegemonies / occupations / colonies / annexations
U.S. Jews Are Clear: We Won’t Back Bibi’s Conspiracies, Colonial Inclinations or Corruption
We believe in a Jewish and democratic Israel. We feel no obligation to defend Netanyahu’s pathological viciousness, monumentally stupid annexation, incitement and self-enrichment
Mitsotakis: Greece will not accept conditions on coronavirus aid
The former „troika“ of Greece’s creditors, the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund had „forced (Greece) to do reforms“ even though „there was never really any domestic buy-in“
A six-monthly review of economic performance carried out by the European Commission was sufficient, Mitsotakis said.
Joint List to EU: Suspend Ties with Israel if It Won’t Desert Annexation
In letters to senior EU officials, including foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the 15 Joint List MKs wrote that “the traditional approach based on providing incentives to Israel has thus far failed to achieve our shared legitimate positions.” According to Hadash MK Youssef Jabareen, “We requested that top EU officials act to prevent annexation including re-evaluating the EU-Israel partnership agreement, recognizing a Palestinian state according to the ’67 borders and labeling goods from the occupied Palestinian territories. Palestinians deserve independence and freedom.”
Joint List Urges Major British Parties to Oppose Annexation
The Joint List called on Britain’s biggest political parties to vigorously oppose Israel’s plans to annex parts of the Palestinian occupied West Bank. The two letters, dated June 26 were penned by Hadash MK Yousef Jabareen, the head of the Joint List’s international relations committee, and were sent to the UK Conservative party leader, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the Labour party’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer. In the letters, the Joint List parliamentarians said the UK needed to “actively oppose” attempts by Israel to unilaterally annex territory.
“History has demonstrated the tragic consequences of illegal annexations,” the letter read. “We fear that if Britain and its European allies do not urgently act to prevent this impending annexation, our region may witness yet another major upheaval.”
Palestinian-Israeli Joint List urges US Democrats to stop annexation
(25.06.2020)
So far, the party has only verbally denounced Israel’s plans. The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has categorically ruled out setting conditions on US aid to Israel.
In the Senate, a letter warning that annexation would „erode the strong support among the American people for the special relationship and diplomatic partnership with the United States that Israel currently enjoys“ only gained the support of 21 legislators.
US claim of ‘Russian Bounty’ plot in Afghanistan is dubious and dangerous
Max Blumenthal breaks down the “Russian bounty” story’s flaws and how it aims to prolong the war in Afghanistan — and uses Russiagate tactics to continue pushing the Democratic Party to the right
Engel bragged, ‘I sit down with AIPAC on every piece of legislation’ coming out of Foreign Affairs Committee
(20.06.2020)
Embattled congressman Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has bragged that he sits down with the rightwing pro-Israel organization AIPAC on “every piece of legislation coming out of the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
In a 2018 speech to an AIPAC gathering in his NY district, Engel noted that he and Rep. Nita Lowey had both been in the House 30 years and were soon to assume chair positions that they could use to help Israel.
Netanyahu Will Miss Trump, But Can Live With Biden
In the last three Israeli electoral campaigns, Trump worked hard to keep Bibi in office. Now it is Trump who is running for re-election. The president fully expects Bibi to reciprocate.
But loyalty and gratitude are not among Bibi’s virtues.
Many Will Take Credit, but This Is the Real Reason Netanyahu Delayed His Annexation Plan
Joe Biden is the main reason Netanyahu is not annexing.
There are few politicians who have a keener understanding of polls than Netanyahu. He has several pollsters on his official and unofficial payroll, and keeps in touch with others. His polling brain-trust is heavily American and though they have misled at least once in the past, when he thought that Mitt Romney had a chance of denying Barack Obama a second term in 2012. He is fully aware now that Trump’s chances of winning in November are vanishing.
15 members of the Israeli Knesset’s Joint List sent a letter to Democrats, calling on them to oppose annexation: „Democrats have a decision to make. Will they keep wringing their hands and expressing ‘concern,’ or are they going to do something about it?“
Palestinians offer negotiations days before planned annexation – report
The Palestinian Authority dispatched a letter on Monday addressed to the Quartet on the Middle East stating that it’s prepared to renew negotiations with Israel and agree to „minor territorial exchanges,“ according to reports by Ynet News on Monday night.
The Quartet on the Middle East, a foursome consisting of the United Nations, the US, Russia and the European Union involved in mediating the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
Coronavirus Israel Live: Public Gatherings Capped Amid Fears of Second Wave
Palestinian Authority to lock down all areas with confirmed cases
Joint List MKs to Democrats in the US Congress: Stop the Annexation
Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List), who initiated the letter, said about the appeal to Congress: “The annexation and the occupation are international issues. The US administration constantly intervenes in the region and gives backing to the oppression of Palestinians. The administration can give the green light or put the brakes on annexation. Therefore, we have asked members of the Democratic Party, who might assume power soon, to express their clear objection to Israel’s annexation plans, to denounce the entire Trump plan, and to clarify that, if such plans are implemented, future administrations will not recognize their legitimacy. Annexation is illegal according to international law and is a crime against the Palestinian people. The entire international community must stand against it.”
Palestinian Members of Israeli Parliament Call on Democrats to Oppose Annexation
House Democrats are currently circulating a letter opposing annexation, but its wording is based around concerns for Israel’s security and there’s no mention of holding the country accountable for any of its actions towards Palestinians. A letter developed by Senate Democrats earlier this year implied that the United States/Israel relationship could be threatened by annexation, but any mention of this possibility was quickly removed.
This letter was sent to democratic members of US congress. The Joint List calls on Democrats to state loudly and clearly that they oppose Israel’s illegitimate annexation plans and the occupation.
(26.06.2020)
The Blatant Moral Bankruptcy of U.S. Jewish Groups Shilling for Israel’s Annexation
How is it that despite the warnings of three previous Israeli prime ministers, including two IDF Chiefs of Staff and a former justice and foreign minister, that these sorts of steps towards annexation would lead to „apartheid,“ that not a single leader of a dominant Jewish organization in America can bring themselves to use the same word publicly?
How is it that in just a generation, the muscular Jewish leadership that existed in the Diaspora has been replaced by an Israeli caricature of itself: weak galus yidn, unwilling to stand up for our own beliefs, whose only role is to support our strong brethren in the Holy Land?
Gantz Disappoints Time and Again
This isn’t how a political leader talks, and certainly not one who is interested in being an alternative to the inciter in the Prime Minister’s Office. Gantz’s contempt for the Palestinians demonstrates arrogance, pettiness and lack of understanding of the national conflict between the two peoples. If there’s any “deep shit” in which the Palestinians are drowning, it’s the 53-year-old occupation, a messianic project of oppression that has been perpetuated by successive Israeli governments and maintained by the army, formerly headed by Gantz himself.
Labour leader Keir Starmer confirms his role as establishment Thought Crime Enforcer, purging Rebecca Long-Bailey after she innocently shared an interview with a celebrity who happens to support BDS. Only pro-apartheid thoughts allowed in Labour!
From Occupation to ‘Occupy’: The Israelification of American domestic security
(December 2, 2011)
Back in New York, the NYPD set up a secret “Demographics Unit” designed to spy on and monitor Muslim communities around the city. The unit was developed with input and intensive involvement by the CIA, which still refuses to name the former Middle East station chief it has posted in the senior ranks of the NYPD’s intelligence division. Since 2002, the NYPD has dispatched undercover agents known as “rakers” and “mosque crawlers” into Pakistani-American bookstores and restaurants to gauge community anger over US drone strikes inside Pakistan, and into Palestinian hookah bars and mosques to search out signs of terror recruitment and clandestine funding. “If a raker noticed a customer looking at radical literature, he might chat up the store owner and see what he could learn,” the Associated Press reported. “The bookstore, or even the customer, might get further scrutiny.”
The Israeli imprimatur on the NYPD’s Demographics Unit is unmistakable. As a former police official told the Associated Press, the Demographics Unit has attempted to “map the city’s human terrain” through a program “modeled in part on how Israeli authorities operate in the West Bank.”
Israel Security Forces Are Training American Cops Despite History of Rights Abuses
(September 15 2017)
In the aftermath of 9/11, Israel seized on its decades-long experience as an occupying force to brand itself as a world leader in counterterrorism. U.S. law enforcement agencies took the Jewish state up on its expertise by participating in exchange programs sponsored by an array of pro-Israel groups, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, and the Anti-Defamation League. Over the past decade and a half, scores of top federal, state, and local police officers from dozens of departments from across the U.S. have gone to Israel to learn about its terrorism-focused policing.
Yet Israel’s policing prowess is marred by its primary purpose: occupation.
With Whom are Many U.S. Police Departments Training? With a Chronic Human Rights Violator – Israel
(August 25, 2016)
Baltimore law enforcement officials, along with hundreds of others from Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington state as well as the DC Capitol police have all traveled to Israel for training. Thousands of others have received training from Israeli officials here in the U.S.
Many of these trips are taxpayer funded while others are privately funded. Since 2002, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs have paid for police chiefs, assistant chiefs and captains to train in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Tzipi Hotovely Is the Ugly, Extremist Face of Israel. British Jews Should Welcome Her
(19.06.2020)
Hotovely is the right Israeli ambassador for our time. She will remind British Jews how powerless they are (as is the British government, to be fair) to influence matters in Israel and how distant the current Israeli leadership is from the mainstream of British Jewry.
And if left-wing British Jews are serious about trying to get their community to finally wake up to the damage the occupation is doing to Israel’s soul, then having Hotovely as ambassador is the best thing that could happen to them.
Israeli forces trained cops in ‘restraint techniques’ at Minneapolis conference
(03.06.2020)
Neta Golan, co-founder of International Solidarity Movement (ISM), said: “When I saw the picture of killer cop Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd by leaning in on his neck with his knee as he cried for help and other cops watched, I remembered noticing when many Israeli soldiers began using this technique of leaning in on our chest and necks when we were protesting in the West Bank sometime in 2006.
“They started twisting and breaking fingers in a particular way around the same time. It was clear they had undergone training for this. They continue to use these tactics—two of my friends have had their necks broken but luckily survived—and it is clear that they [Israel] share these methods when they train police forces abroad in ‘crowd control’ in the U.S. and other countries including Sudan and Brazil.”
Engel Teaches Dems That Backing War and Apartheid Has a Downside
Engel was one of blue America’s most enthusiastic supporters of the war in Iraq. He was an opponent of Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran. After the Obama administration allowed the passage of a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, Engel introduced a House resolution condemning the U.N. In 2016, as Saudi Arabia was starving and bombing Yemeni civilians, Engel joined Republicans in defeating a measure that would have restricted Riyadh’s access to cluster munitions, weapons that leave behind mine-like explosives that can kill civilians for decades after a conflict has ended.
Gantz on Annexation: Palestinians ‚In Deep Shit,‘ Israel ‚Won’t Keep Waiting for Them‘
Gantz, who in the past publicly backed dialogue with the Palestinians toward an agreement leading to a two-state solution, said the Israeli government should “not only to manage the conflict but shape it as well.” And if the Palestinians choose not to hold talks with Israel about the annexation, “then we will have to move forward without them,” he said.
Egypt, Jordan likely to opt for symbolic response if Israel annexes West Bank parts: report
Mossad (Israel’s foreign intelligence) chief Yossi Cohen and his Egyptian counterpart Abbas Kamal reportedly spearheaded the talks, which yielded an agreement on the scale of the response.
While the world is busy in dealing virus & regional tensed situation, Greater Israel Plan is happening on 1st July,2020.
(…)
Netanyahu caters to Right, divorces Palestinian statehood from annexation
(31.05.2020)
IT WILL likely go like this. Netanyahu will rely on the formal public pledge he made in his 2009 Bar-Ilan speech to support a demilitarized Palestinian state. That pledge was made when former US president Barack Obama was in power and was designed to satisfy an administration that wanted a two-state solution based on pre-1967 lines.
Netanyahu did not speak of the 1967 lines in the speech, but Obama accepted Netanyahu’s statehood pledge nonetheless.
Caught between annexation and his public’s apathy, Abbas hopes for symbolic wins
But that won’t stop the initiatives, a Palestinian official says.
“The current plan is to keep appealing to UN institutions in order to be recognized, even if the proposals are vetoed over and over. Many countries support this move, so the leadership supports it as well.”
He adds: “There are already 12 or 13 European states that are willing to recognize a Palestinian state under occupation in the event of an Israeli annexation, and that’s the price Israel will have to pay.”
Did Putin save Israel from Obama at UN, and why are we hearing this now?
Danon appealed to his Russian counterpart Vitaly Churkin, and the matter went up to the Netanyahu-Putin level. The Russians did not agree to veto Resolution 2334 condemning settlements, but they were opposed to the second one, and generally did not approve of the Obama administration making these last-minute moves right before Trump took office.
The Israeli source posited that the Obama administration did not want to be seen as less pro-Israel than Russia, so they backed down from the second initiative.
Report: Putin nixed Obama initiative to create Palestinian state within 1948 borders
In late 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin prevented former US President Barack Obama’s attempt to pass a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution demanding Israel relinquish the West Bank territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and accept a two-state resolution based on 1948 borders, freshly declassified documents appear to show.
Will Germany Be Bombing Afghanistan With Israeli Drones?
Israel’s drone deals with Germany began in 2009, when it first leased drones to the German army for use in Afghanistan. Seven years later there was a similar transaction, this time to operate the drones in Mali.
Willkie Sues Defense Agencies For Info On Taliban Payments
(yesterday)
International law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has sued U.S. defense agencies for records of protection payments that government contractors in Afghanistan allegedly made to the Taliban, saying the agencies have failed to hand over the requested documents.
In five separate lawsuits filed in a D.C. federal court Tuesday, Willkie accuses the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Drug Enforcement Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency of failing to fulfill the firm’s Freedom Of Information Act requests for documents that allegedly show eight Afghanistan reconstruction companies paid the …
Netanyahu mulls applying sovereignty to West Bank areas in two phases: report
Under the Middle East peace plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump, Israel has been given a green light to annex some 30 percent of the West Bank.
However, one of the options Netanyahu is considering is to start off with 10 percent, beginning with settlements located deep into the area.
After that, the Palestinian side would be invited to hold negotiations; if no talks materialize, Israel would go ahead and apply sovereignty to the remaining 20 percent, the newspaper reports.
Trump’s move to pull troops from Germany draws bipartisan warnings
“The United States’ military presence in Germany is mutually beneficial to both nations, and bolsters the transatlantic alliance. It’s also an invaluable hub for U.S. military operations,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, said in a statement Tuesday.
Full text of the letter from House Democrats warning Israel about annexation of the West Bank
We remain steadfast in our belief that pursuing two states for two peoples is essential to ensuring a secure, Jewish, democratic Israel able to live side-by-side, in peace and mutual recognition, with an independent, viable, de-militarized Palestinian state.
Unilateral annexation would likely jeopardize Israel’s significant progress on normalization with Arab states at a time when closer cooperation can contribute to countering shared threats. Unilateral annexation risks insecurity in Jordan, with serious ancillary risks to Israel. Finally, unilateral annexation could create serious problems for Israel with its European friends and other partners around the world. We do not see how any of these acute risks serve the long-term interest of a strong, secure Israel.
As committed partners in supporting and protecting the special U.S.-Israel relationship, we express our deep concern with the stated intention to move ahead with any unilateral annexation of West Bank territory, and we urge your government to reconsider plans to do so.
Sincerely,
Stop Calling Israel a Jewish Democracy
(08.06.2020)
The looming annexation of the West Bank will create a one-state reality, forcing American elites to choose between a commitment to the country’s Jewishness and democratic values.
U.N. rights experts condemn Israel’s annexation plan and U.S. support
The joint statement, signed by nearly 50 independent experts, voiced dismay at U.S. support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “unlawful” plan to extend sovereignty, de facto annexation of land that the Palestinians seek for a state.
Trump confirms plan to cut US troops in Germany to 25,000
“We’re putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Germany’s delinquent,” Trump added. “They’ve been delinquent for years, and they owe NATO billions of dollars, and they have to pay it. So we’re protecting Germany, and they’re delinquent. That doesn’t make sense.”
Only a third of Israelis support annexing parts of the West Bank in July
(10.06.2020)
Support for a two state solution, while not a majority opinion, continues to be the favored result overall – 42% backed a two-state solution as their preferred course of action in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A quarter of respondents wanted annexation to be the next step, while 22.8% thought that the government ought to continue with the status quo.
Polls: Only 1/3 of Israelis Support Netanyanu-Trump Annexation Plan
According to the Midgam Institute poll, support for a two state solution continues to be the favored result overall: 42% indicated that this is the course of action the prefer; a quarter of the respondents wanted annexation to be the next step; while 22.8% thought that the government ought to continue with the status quo.
However, a clear majority (54.3%) of the respondents to this poll maintained that Palestinians to have the right to establish an independent state next to Israel, within the framework of a peace agreement.
International Criminal Court oversight chief ‘deeply regrets’ US decision to target officials investigating Afghanistan war crimes
The decision, announced on Thursday by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, defence secretary, Mark Esper and attorney general, William Barr, targets ICC officials investigating war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan by all sides, including the US, and will also see visa restrictions imposed on their families.
Report: Palestinian leadership fails to rally crowds for protest against annexation
While the annexation plan met with harsh criticism from the Israeli left, as well as parts of the international community, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party could secure a meager turnout of some 200 protesters at a rally in Ramallah, according to Haaretz.
Assassinations, Terror Attacks and Even Castration – the Hidden Actions of Israel’s Pre-state Militia
Such operations continued right up to the establishment of the state. At the end of March 1947, Mordechai Berger, who worked in the Mandatory police’s traffic division, was murdered in the street after being suspected of divulging information about the Haganah to the British. “The assailants gagged him and hit him over the head with clubs. Berger fell bleeding,” wrote Prof. Yehuda Lapidot, an Irgun member who later researched the history of Mandatory Palestine.
“None of the organizations emerges with clean hands from this dark matter,” Haskin wrote. He added that the fingers of right-wing organization members were lighter on the trigger, but emphasized the role of Haganah members in assassinating Jews.
Israel: 400 Jewish studies professors condemn annexation as ‚crime against humanity‘
The annexation, the letter argues, will result in a system where small Palestinian enclaves in the annexed territories are effectively controlled by Israel in, what it alleges, will amount to „conditions of apartheid.“
Apartheid is seen as a crime against humanity under the international law, the letter warns, adding that Israel could grant citizenship to residents of the target areas, but the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided against that.
Annexation? Israeli Apartheid? Hounding Journalists? Gantz Didn’t Come to Fight
The Kahol Lavan leader seems to have forgotten that his party was supposed to represent an alternative to Netanyahu’s aggressive ways
ASP President O-Gon Kwon rejects measures taken against ICC
I will convene an extraordinary meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly next week to consider how to renew our unwavering commitment to the Court.
I call upon the States Parties and all the stakeholders in the Rome Statute system to reiterate once more our relentless commitment to uphold and defend the principles and values enshrined in the Statute and to preserve its integrity undeterred by any measures and threats against the Court and its officials, staff and their families.
U.S. Decision to Sanction International Crime Court Was Coordinated With Israel, Source Says
The move was discussed in a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem last month, the source said on Thursday.
Israel’s High Court Strikes Down West Bank Land-grab Law as ‚Unconstitutional‘
Israel’s High Court of Justice ordered on Tuesday to nullify a law that would legalize the status of settlements partially built on privately owned Palestinian land under the claim that it is „unconstitutional.“
Israeli Leftists, Apologizing for Your Beliefs Won’t Spare You. Get Off the Defensive
Even if you say “Jewish left” instead of “Israeli left” because it sounds more patriotic, they’ll always have another loyalty test on the way. Because groveling, stammering and apologizing for what you believe in won’t spare you.
The right is ready to go on television, on radio, online, wherever necessary, to defend an apartheid plan, to defend billions being spent at a time of deep recession and to defend a corrupt prime minister. They’re ready to defend the most galling things, and you’re not ready to defend the truth? Try it sometime. Believe me, it’s easier.
How Bernie Sanders Came to Address an Anti-annexation Rally in Tel Aviv
Odeh and Sanders first met in February 2017, when the Odeh visited Washington to attend that year’s J Street conference.
Israeli Left’s Show of Strength Highlights Weakness of Anti-annexation Protest
One can argue about whether the disparate 100-year history of confrontation and occupation between Israelis and Palestinians totally negates parallels to white America’s 400 years of African American subjugation and discrimination. But one glaring gap is undeniable: The majority of U.S. public opinion now acknowledges the legitimacy of black grievances, while the majority of Israelis ‒ including most of the Jewish center-left ‒ continues to view Palestinians, at least those beyond the former Green Line, as a mortal enemy bent on their country’s destruction
Trump to Pull Thousands of U.S. Troops From Germany
Move would cut 9,500 American service members from Germany, where 34,500 are permanently assigned, amid strains between two key NATO allies
Blue and White Is My Race
The nation-state law is the constitutional cornerstone of apartheid. And naturally, Hauser’s arguments also tie into the intent to annex parts of the West Bank in the framework of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan: Israel intends to expand its violations of its residents’ equal rights on an ethnic/racial basis.
It’s turning out much sooner than expected that when parts of Kahol Lavan joined the right-wing government, their merger was an expression of a deep ideological partnership.
Netanyahu Says Palestinians in Jordan Valley Won’t Get Citizenship After Annexation
The Palestinians “have to recognize that we are the ones dictating security rules over the entire territory. If they agree to all of this, then they will have their own entity that President Trump defines as a state.” Netanyahu added that an American diplomat told him “’it won’t be a state,’” to which he replied “’call it whatever you want.’”
Transcript: Joe Biden foreign policy adviser Antony Blinken on COVID shortfalls, failures in Syria
Iran has now restarted some of the dangerous aspects of its nuclear program that the nuclear deal stopped dead in their tracks. And unfortunately, it’s taken a series of provocative actions endangering our own forces in the Middle East, in Iraq and Syria, as well as our citizens. And all of that has happened at the same time that we managed to alienate ourselves from our closest allies. We disagree fundamentally with the approach the administration took on Iran. So this is just not working on its own terms. If Iran comes back into compliance with the deal, then yes, Joe Biden said we would do the same thing, but we would use that as a platform to try to build a stronger and longer deal working with our partners.
And I think we’d have a decent chance of doing that because our partners would be with us, not alienated from us. And at the same time, much more likely to join us in trying to curb other actions by Iran that we find objectionable.
Terrible stuff from @JoeBiden . As the grandson of a Jew who escaped Nazi Germany in 1939, I hope he and his campaign will stop undermining our ability to address anti-Semitism by using it as a euphemism for peaceful opposition to human rights abuses by the Israeli government.
‘Almost hard to believe’: Joe Biden attacks antisemitism on the left in US and UK
It comes as Mr Biden’s presidential campaign considers how he can appeal to progressives on the left of the Democratic party, and younger voters in particular, who criticise Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Mr Biden, who was asked about antisemitism among sections of the left in the US and UK, said that whilst antisemitism was “the mother of all conspiracy theories”, Americans had not heard enough about the dangers of the Holocaust happening again.
Jordan’s king warns of ‘massive conflict’ if Israel annexes land in West Bank
Jordan has been lobbying the EU to take “practical steps” to make sure annexation doesn’t happen. In a statement, Safadi “stressed the need for the international community and the European Union in particular to take practical steps that reflect the rejection of any Israeli decision to annex.”
Pompeo in Israel for Meetings on Annexation, Virus, Iran and China
“The most important thing is actually generating the information and then sharing the information,” Mr. Netanyahu interrupted Mr. Pompeo to say, an unmistakable reference to the Israeli intelligence services’ track record of developing information of value to the United States.
Notably, Mr. Pompeo’s short schedule of meetings included a session with the Mossad director, Yossi Cohen.
Netanyahu can’t get away with his criminal plans by promoting lies
Netanyahu, who is now forming the new right-wing government, is trying to propagate such lies to make his criminal plan a de facto reality by showing the Palestinians that they no longer have support from the Arab world, especially among the key Arab states whose support has kept the Palestinian struggle for independence alive.
Resuming international travel, Pompeo to visit Israel to meet with Gantz, Netanyahu
A staunch supporter of Israel, Pompeo will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist rival turned partner Benny Gantz in Jerusalem on May 13, the day the government is expected to be sworn in.
Poll shows majority of Israeli Jews against West Bank annexation
The poll, commissioned by the group Commanders for Israel’s Security, an organization made up of ex-senior officials from the country’s defense establishment, shows that 26 percent of respondents support Israel extending its sovereignty into the West Bank.
Some 40% of those surveyed, however, said they prefer a two-state solution to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while 22% favor a unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians.
Amb. Friedman: Asking Israel to give up its ‚biblical heartland‘ is ‚unreasonable‘
Israel’s withdrawing from the West Bank city of Hebron is an absurd proposition tantamount to the idea of the United States abandoning the Statue of Liberty, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told Israeli media Friday.
Speaking to Israel Hayom, Friedman stressed the importance to Israel of Jewish communities outside the large settlement blocs in Area C of the West Bank, which is widely expected to remain under Israeli control.
Whatever you think of Israel’s decision on the West Bank, let’s be clear: The Trump peace plan leaves open the possibility of a two-state solution. Israelis will never accept withdrawal to ‘67 border, uprooting of hundreds of thousands of people.
(08.05.2020)
UAE warns of dangerous repercussions following Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory
In a statement issued after the virtual meeting – held on the invitation of the State of Palestine – Arab countries condemned Israel’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank in contravention of international consensus.
UN: Israeli annexation plans ‚entirely unacceptable‘
“Israel’s decision to unilaterally march ahead with the planned annexation on July 1 undermines human rights in the region, and would be a severe body blow to the rules-based international order,” said Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967.
11 European envoys warn Israel against annexation
The ambassadors of the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, along with the deputy ambassador to the EU, issued a warning to Anna Azari, Israeli Foreign Ministry’s European deputy, in a meeting via a Zoom conference call.
Israel: Dozens of ultra-Orthodox communities expected to go into full lockdown soon
The Israeli government is expected to declare full lockdowns of numerous ultra-Orthodox communities across the country and West Bank to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.
A Knesset (Israeli Parliament) ministerial committee was formed late on Sunday to oversee the decision that is expected to affect at least eight cities that and more than a dozen neighborhoods.
Gantz Wants a Six-month Coronavirus Government, Netanyahu Wants Annexation
With Joe Biden possibly the U.S. president come January 20, many Likudniks think it’s now or never for a West Bank land grab
Former member of Israel-backed militia killed in Lebanon
The Lebanese-American man, Amer Fakhoury, had been jailed in Lebanon since September and charged with murder and torture of prisoners at the same SLA-run prison — charges he denied. A Lebanese judge ordered him released last week, saying more than 10 years had passed since the alleged crimes.
U.S. officials confirmed Fakhoury was aboard a U.S. Marine V-22 Osprey seen taking off from the U.S. Embassy compound northeast of Beirut on Thursday.
every man is the architect of his own fortune
Each person is the chief cause of their success or failure in life.
Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague, 18 October 1907.
SECTION III
MILITARY AUTHORITY OVER THE TERRITORY OF THE HOSTILE STATE
Art. 42. Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the
hostile army.
Germany Goes 19th Century with New Statement on Law of Occupation – On Status of US Forces in Syria
In Germany’s current view, the United States cannot be considered an occupying power in these areas, because although it exercises physical control over them, it does not “exercise jurisdiction” there. On this approach, for an occupation to materialize, two cumulative elements must be fulfilled: effective physical control and the actual establishment of an administration in the area.
Granted, this interpretation can be read into the text of Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations,
A Different Germany? Not With Its Israel Policy
Late in her impressive career, under the threat of anti-Semitism in her country, Angela Merkel is willing to forgive Israel everything in an utter knee-jerk reaction. Thus she’s abusing her office as chancellor of the different Germany and one of the last defenders of human rights in the world. We’re left with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
A Germany that doesn’t allow an investigation into war crimes, no matter by what country, isn’t a different Germany but a Germany that provokes war crimes.
Siding With Israel, Germany Says ICC Has No Jurisdiction in Palestinian Territories
Germany filed a petition Friday with the International Criminal Court in which it requested to be „a friend of the court“ (amicus curiae) in deliberations that will examine if the court has jurisdiction to rule whether Israel committed war crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
In its petition, Germany backed Israel’s argument that the court’s jurisdiction does not extend to occupied Palestinian territories, as Palestine is not a state that fulfills all the criteria under general international law, although it has joined the ICC’s Rome Statute.
Palestinians shelve plan for UN vote on Trump’s Middle East plan
Palestinian-backed plans for a UN security council vote on Tuesday designed to show international opposition to Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan are expected to be shelved after the US and the UK raised separate objections to the draft text.
In what was being seen as a key test of the diplomatic support for Trump’s “ultimate deal”, Tunisia, with Arab League and Palestinian support, …
Tunisia Sacks U.N. Ambassador for Opposing Trump’s Peace Plan
(07.02.2020)
Two of those diplomats said they understood Tunisia’s newly elected President Kais Saied had fired Baati—who has served for only five months—following complaints from the United States.
All eyes on Germany as UN Security Council debates anti-Israel resolution
The draft resolution demands that any two-state solution forces Israel to return to its pre-1967 war lines.
Washington and Tehran’s dance over Iraq: Iraqis want both countries out
Choreographed sword fights, such as those traditionally performed in Gulf Arab countries, may look like clashes between deadly enemies but in fact require close coordination between the participants.Many Arabs believe the conflict between the US and Iran in Iraq is similar.
Netanyahu: First Phase of Annexation to Be Brought Before Government on Sunday
U.S. recognizes applying Israeli law to settlements, PM says after Trump unveils plan
Israeli human rights group @btselem describes the Trump administration plan as „apartheid“, rather than „peace“. „The Trump plan drains the principles of international law of any meaning and completely neuters the concept of accountability for breaching them.“
I’ve never heard Netanyahu this ecstatic. He’s talking about humiliations imposed by Trump on the Palestinians like mouth watering items at an apartheid all you can eat buffet.
Donaldus Trumpus Caesar Set to Reward Provincial Governor Netanyahu With ‚Deal of the Century‘
If one believes the leaks emanating from Netanyahu’s office and other top right-wing politicians in recent days, Trump’s “deal of the century” shouldn’t be classified as a proposal at all. Its main purpose is to serve as a crude cover for Israel to annex the Jordan River Valley and most Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Once the Palestinians reject the plan as expected, Israelis have been led to believe, the U.S. administration will give Israel a green light to unilaterally seize areas earmarked for annexation, which it has long desired.
Needless to say, this is not the way peace proposals are supposed to work.
Watch live: Trump delivers remarks with Netanyahu on Mideast peace plan
The press conference is slated for noon. Watch the live video above.
Trump’s Mideast Plan Is Seen Mainly as an Election Lift for Netanyahu
“I think we’re going to make a deal,” he said in 2017. “It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand.”
“As with any successful negotiation,” Mr. Trump continued, “both sides will have to make compromises. You know that, right?” he added, turning to his guest.
Mr. Netanyahu grinned. “Both sides,” he replied.
CPI Rejects Any Imperialistic Steps by US Violating International Law
The CPI observed that “The true ‘Deal of the Century’ is a prime minister accused of corruption and a president under an impeachment trial attempting to save each other through a dangerous political maneuver that will set military rule over the Palestinian people in the occupied territories for generations.” The CPI reiterated its consistent and well-known position that “Only recognition of a Palestinian state, its people and its borders, and the end of the occupation is a long-overdue international obligation and a positive step towards peace. All states must now formally recognize a sustainable Palestinian state being established contiguous with the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, demanding the end of the settlements policy and a just resolution of the Palestinian refugee question.”
The Zionist Left Has Paved the Way to the Rise of the Extreme Right
“The disappearance of Labor and Meretz would mean the elimination of the only alternative on the left side of the political map,” writes my contemporary Uzi Baram (“Don’t be so quick to toss out the Zionist left,” Haaretz, January 20). And I ask him: Where were you and your friends during all those years when your camp held power in the country and paved the way for the extreme right that holds power today? They are only continuing the path you began, and doing so openly and also openly saying: “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands; and moreover all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of us.” But you did and you lied, you did and you deceived.
Gantz Niftily Averts White House Hazing but Trump Plan Still on Course to Rescue Netanyahu
Deal of the century offers Israelis annexation right now and Palestinians a Bantustan in the far future
Annexation for Dummies: Making Sense of Netanyahu and Gantz’s Declarations
“The moment Israel carries out annexation it destroys this alibi and admits it does not think the final status needs to be determined by negotiations, and that Israeli control of the Palestinian population is not temporary,” says Sfard. “It destroys its only defense against the claim it is establishing an apartheid regime.”
It is no coincidence that the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Fatou Bensouda, mentioned Netanyahu’s intentions for the Jordan Valley when she determined that, as far as the objectives of international criminal law are concerned, the authority of the ICC should be recognized. These statements, she said, “reflect concerns of a potential de jure annexation.”
Lieberman: Netanyahu Heads to Washington to ‚Flee‘ Immunity Discussions
The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman, who according to recent polls could once again be kingmaker and decide the leader of which political bloc would secure the backing of enough lawmakers to become prime minister after Israel’s March 2 election, added that „Instead of driving two-and-a-half kilometers to the Knesset, he [Netanyahu] prefers to fly 9,500 kilometers to Washington.“
Bashing the premier, Lieberman said: „It’s clear that Netanyahu worked very hard to escape [the immunity discussions], and it would be best if he kisses his immunity goodbye before he brings peace to the Middle East.“
Pence: Netanyahu, Gantz Accepted Invitation to White House to Discuss Mideast Peace Plan
Israeli officials say that the plan would promise the application of Israeli sovereignty to all existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, in addition to annexing the Jordan Valley
Reports: Trump’s plan stipulates all West Bank territories to remain under Israel’s security control
Plan offers demilitarized Palestinian state; borders controlled by Israel under overall Israeli sovereignty
With Trump’s Peace Plan, the Plot to Save Netanyahu Enters Next Phase
Let’s imagine the next scenario: A unity government has been set up in Israel along the lines of President Rivlin’s proposal – which specifies a rotation of the premiership between Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz. Donald Trump lays the “deal of the century” on the table. Netanyahu would say this is no time to change a prime minister. This is a historic, one-time opportunity Israel is getting a de facto green light for annexation from the United States.
Gantz Vows to Annex Jordan Valley, ‚Hopes Trump Releases Peace Plan Soon‘
Up until recently, Kahol Lavan leader opposed publication of peace plan during campaign, calling it ‚outright intervention‘ in Israeli election
Lawmakers push back at Pentagon’s possible Africa drawdown
“A decrease in our investment now may result in the need for the United States to reinvest at many more times the cost down the road,” Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and ranking member Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) wrote in letter to Esper last week.
Joint Soviet-Nazi military parade in Poland. The history of Russian aggression.
The Battle of Brest-Litovsk took place between 14 and 17 September 1939. After three days of heavy fights for the stronghold in the town of Brześć, the Germans captured the fortress and the Poles withdrew. According to the terms of the 1939 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact the territory around Brest as well as 52% of the then Poland was assigned to the Soviet Union. The Soviet 29th tank brigade under Brigadier Semyon Krivoshein reached the area of Brześć on September 21st and took over the fortress from the Wehrmacht. During that event a joint German-Soviet parade was held in the town, after which the German forces left the area. The XIX motorized Corps of Wehrmacht and the 29th Tank Brigade of the Red Army participated in the parade.
German-Soviet Military Parade in Brest-Litovsk
The German-Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk was an official ceremony held by the troops of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on September 22, 1939, during the invasion of Poland in the city of Brest-Litovsk.
It marked the withdrawal of German troops to the demarcation line secretly agreed to in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and the handover of the city and its fortress to the Soviet Red Army.
The ICC decision on Israel would make Himmler proud
SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler, architect and director of the Holocaust, would be proud of the latest move by Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Intent on the total elimination of the Jewish race, Himmler supported Amin al-Huseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, in his plans to eradicate the Jews in Palestine.
Now Bensouda and the ICC have joined the international campaign aimed at eliminating the Jewish state, led by al-Huseini’s successors.