[AlAhram] The US had no role in the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... 's killing of the criminal mastermind of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems... suicide kaboom at Kabul airport during the US pullout in 2021, the White House said Wednesday.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/27/2023 00:00 ||
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Well, they did get the Israel-developed resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, and a few small oil wells, but the rest of it is the hidden homes of smugglers snd jihadis — some prize Egypt negotiated after losing the Yom Kippur War, including the encirclement of Egypt’s Third Army and Ariel Sharon’s group driving within 40 miles of Cairo while Israeli tanks got to 10 miles of Damascus.
[AlAhram] In a televised speech to commemorate the 41st anniversary of Sinai Liberation Day on Tuesday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt is now waging a "battle for the development of Sinai" following its liberation from occupation and terrorism.
Development is a good thing, and long overdue...
"The 25th of April will remain a remarkable day each year in the history of our nation, representing a result we are proud of for the glorious October War, the grinding of the peace processor, and the long diplomatic journey, embodying the will of a people who refused to live in defeat," the Egyptian President said.
"On this day, we extend our sincere respect and admiration, on behalf of Egypt and its people, to the heroic President Mohammed Anwar El-Sadat, the leader of war and peace, who made the toughest decisions in the most critical times and in the darkest days," El-Sisi said as he paid tribute to the late president.
The late president El-Sadat gave the order to attack on 6 October 1973 to liberate Sinai from Israeli occupation. He then embarked in 1977 on a peace initiative to end the decades-old wars between Egypt and Israel that led to the signing of the historic Camp David Peace Accords between the two countries in 1979.
Sinai Liberation Day is an annual holiday that marks the anniversary of the final withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, as per the peace accords.
And Egypt has accepted lotsa money since to continue not going to war against Israel. They do this kind of thing instead.
El-Sisi also spoke of the difficulties posed by the war on terrorism in Sinai over the past decade.
"Extremists from all over flocked to [Sinai], seeking to separate it from the homeland by spreading terror and fear, thinking that they could terrorise the Egyptian army and police."
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... they ignored "the fact that this great army and brave coppers are fierce fighters who fear no death in the way of God and the homeland," he said, adding that the Egyptian people stood behind the Egyptian army and police in those years.
The Egyptian president said that the sacrifices and heroism made by the Armed Forces and civilian police during the war on terrorism will be talked about with pride and dignity for generations to come.
"We will continue to work towards enhancing and protecting [Sinai]. We have embarked on a battle for the development of Sinai that requires enormous efforts, sincerity of intention and patience in work," El-Sisi said in his speech.
The aim of the Egyptian state in Sinai is now to provide a new reality that befits the sacrifices of Egyptians from Sinai and every corner of the country.
These comments come on the heel of El-Sisi’s visit last month to Ismailia, where he said the defeat of terrorism in Sinai has paved the way for the reconstruction of the peninsula.
Earlier Tuesday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi laid wreathes on the tombs of the unknown soldier and the late President Mohammed Anwar El-Sadat at the Unknown Soldier Memorial in Cairo's Nasr City.
He was accompanied by Minister of Defence and Military Production General Mohammed Zaki and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Osama Askar.
[AlAhram] Ambassador Osama Abdel-Khalek, the Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... , proposed three concrete measures to achieve calm and end the cycle of violence in the occupied Paleostinian territories.
Ambassador Abdel-Khalek’s proposal came during an open debate session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the Middle East on Tuesday.
His proposed measures include 1) the implementation of the understandings reached in recent meetings between the Israeli and Arab sides in Aqaba and Sharm El-Sheikh, 2) respect for Jordan's guardianship over Jerusalem's Moslem and Christian holy sites and 3) the provision of international protection for the Paleostinian people.
Number three is a no-go. Number two would be more compelling if Jordan were even slightly respectful of Israel’s guardianship of Jerusalem as a whole, not to mention the rest of Israel. Number one requires compliance from the Palestinians as well as Israel — but it doesn’t sound like Egypt is going to seriously push there.
In February, the meeting in Aqaba, Jordan, which was attended exclusively by high-ranking security officials, released a joint communiqué in which they reaffirmed the need to de-escalate the situation and prevent further violence and to recognise the importance of upholding the historic status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem inclusive of the Hashemite custodianship of them
The communiqué added that Israel and the Paleostinian Authority were committed to immediately working to end unilateral measures for a period of three to six months.
It also included an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for four months and to stop the authorisation of any new outposts for six months.
And what did the Palestinian Authority commit to?
In March, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the Paleostinian Authority and Israeli government reaffirmed commitment to work on ending unilateral measures for a period of three to six months, a joint statement shared by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said.
Abdel-Khalek said the escalation of tensions in the occupied Paleostinian territories over the past few weeks was a result of Israeli violations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
These violations included illegal expansion of Israeli settlement activities in the occupied territories, home demolitions, raids into Paleostinian cities and the killing of unarmed Paleostinians including children at the hand of the occupation forces and settlers, he noted.
The settlers also restricted access to both Moslem and Christian places of worship in violation of International Law, UN resolutions and the Jordanian Kingdom’s guardianship, Abdel-Khalek said.
Most alarmingly, Israeli forces as well as settlers have killed 98 civilians in the West Bank including children since the beginning of this year and arrested many more,' he noted.
...mostly while said Palestinian civilians were attacking Israelis.
There must be accountability for the violent mostly peaceful actions committed against Paleostinians, Abdel-Khalek further asserted.
The situation remains tense despite efforts by Egypt and Jordan as well as the United States’ over the last few months to reach an agreement that would achieve calm and end unilateral measures, Abdel-Khalek said.
Continuing Israeli violations of the current status in Jerusalem’s holy sites and Jordanian guardianship of these sites have exacerbated tensions, he stressed.
Don’t let’s forget that the Jordanian Wafq Waqf officials have been allowing Muslim Brotherhood in Israel (the so-called “Northern Branch”) hard boys to fort up in the Al Aqsa Mosque with stones and bricks and weapons with which they planned to attack any Israelis that dared venture into the Temple Mount as permitted by treaty, or to rain missiles down upon the Jews praying at the Wailing Wall in the terrace below.
It will be fruitful in the short-term to lift the Israeli blockade on the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip as well as provide support to the UNRWA, Abdel-Khalek said.
In the medium-term, he added, the root causes of the conflict must be addressed along with a revival of peace negotiations between the two sides of the conflict through the re-activation of Quartet on the Middle East.
The root cause of the conflict being that many Palestinians and other Arabs refuse to accept the right of Jewish Israel to rule over them.
In conclusion, Abdel-Khalek reaffirmed Egypt’s support of the rights of the Paleostinian people to illusory sovereignty and self-determination on the border of 1967 with East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
East Jerusalem was made an irrevocable part of Israel following the 1967 reconquest. So the Palestinians have no right there for Egypt to support.
#2
The Gaza Strip is so bad even the Egyptians won't act as peace keepers.
Hamas won't honor any agreement anyway.
Posted by: Cleared Cookies Lost Nic ||
04/27/2023 10:23 Comments ||
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#3
Makes Portland look like Paradise ... at least in the past. It is just amazing how fast the rot can set in, and once there it just has to be cut out and completely done away with.
#4
Makes Portland look like Paradise ... at least in the past. It is just amazing how fast the rot can set in, and once there it just has to be cut out and completely done away with.
[Garowe] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... Council today decided to add two individuals and one group affiliated with ISIS and operating mainly in the Cabo Delgado region in Mozambique to the list of those subject to restrictive measures against ISIS (Da'esh) and al-Qaeda and persons, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with them.
These measures target ISIS-Mozambique
...more formally Islamic State Mozambique Province and even more fully since 2018 as Islamic State Central Africa Province-Mozambique (ISCAP), whence they moved in 2015 from the Congo, where they had called themselves Ansar al-Sunna (supporters of the tradition), more formally as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamah (ASWJ, adepts of the prophetic tradition). Originally led by Abu Yasir Hassan of Tanzania (also known as Yaseer Hassan and Abu Qasim), who moved between Mocimboa da Praia and the Congo until his death possibly in 2015. Al Shabaab-Mozambique funds itself through heroin, contraband, ivory, raiding, and selling the local girls into slavery...
as well as Abu Yasir Hassan
...does that mean he’s not actually seven years a-mouldering in the grave?
and Bonomade Machude Omar,
ISIS-Mozambique/Al Shabaab-ISIS’s senior military commander, which is indeed a kind of key leader, especially if one is sure he’s not already dead...
who hold key leadership roles in the group. The sanctioned group and individuals are responsible for terrorist attacks and serious human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... abuses.
Their activities contribute to the expansion of the terrorist threat in Mozambique and pose a serious threat to the EU and to regional and international stability.
With these new listings, a total of 15 persons are now subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze, and five groups to an asset freeze. In addition, EU persons and operators are forbidden from making funds or economic resources available to the listed persons and groups.
Today's decision reconfirms the EU's resolve in countering the continued terrorist threat posed by al-Qaeda, ISIS/Da'esh, and their regional affiliates.
The EU remains committed to taking decisive action against those who continue to threaten international peace and security by planning, financing, and committing terrorist attacks, and by spreading their deadly terrorist propaganda around the world.
Alongside the targeted sanctions, the EU deploys a wide variety of initiatives as part of an integrated approach — encompassing humanitarian, development, peacebuilding, and security actions — to address the armed violence in Cabo Delgado. Under this approach, the EU has been supporting displaced people fleeing violence and providing food and basic goods to local populations suffering as a result of the grave humanitarian situation.
The EU has also put in place multidimensional security support consisting of the deployment of an EU military training mission (EUTM Mozambique) and the delivery of non-lethal equipment through the European Peace Facility, and an EU counter-terrorism expert assisting in the police and law-enforcement sector in Mozambique. In addition, the EU supports regional and bilateral security efforts in Cabo Delgado.
[IsraelTimes] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... says a prisoner exchange with Belgium was "finalized," hinting at the release of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, which Brussels swiftly denied.
Vandecasteele, 42, was sentenced in January to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes for "espionage," Tehran’s judiciary said at the time, after a trial his family and Belgian authorities dubbed "unfair."
"The agreement on the transfer of convicts between Iran and Belgium has been concluded and finalized, and the documents have been transferred," judiciary front man Massoud Setayeshi says on Wednesday during his weekly presser.
In a potential swap, Brussels would release Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, sentenced in Belgium to 20 years in prison over a plot to blow up an Iranian opposition event in 2018 outside Gay Paree.
"The other party had applied, we also applied [for the transfer], and God willing, this action will take place," Setayeshi says without elaborating.
A Belgian government official tells AFP shortly after the Iranian announcement that "we deny the information suggesting the possible release of Olivier Vandecasteele," arrested in Tehran in February 2022.
Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne denies the Iranian front man’s remarks and says in a tweet Tehran was seeking to "sow confusion" in a "very delicate" case.
Vandecasteele’s family recently reported "serious health issues" that put his life at risk, regretting he was held in solitary confinement without access to medical treatment.
The Belgian government has declined to comment on whether Iran had officially requested Assadi’s transfer.
A prisoner exchange treaty between Iran and Belgium allowing a potential swap entered into force on April 18.
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04/27/2023 05:07 ||
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[DW] Some 15.3 million people in Germany, just under one in five nationwide, immigrated there at some point in their lives, according to new government statistics for 2022. Almost 5 million more were born to migrant parents.
Roughly 20.2 million people in Germany in 2022 either moved to the country themselves or were born to two people who moved there, according to figures published by the Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, on Thursday.
That's a 6.3% rise on the 2021 figure and represents 24.3% of the total population of around 83.2 million.
Of those, 15.3 million, or 18.4% of the population, moved to Germany from abroad themselves at some point in their own lifetimes.
The high average levels of migration in recent years were also apparent in the statistics.
Just over 6 million people had migrated to Germany in the last decade on record, between 2013 and 2022.
Increased migration from conflict zones like Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan in 2022 meant that the amount of people who migrated themselves was rising faster, up 7.3% on the past year, than the number of children born to migrant parents, up 4% on 2021, Destatis said.
'IMMIGRATION STORIES' AND 'MIGRATION BACKGROUNDS'
Destatis counted another 4.9 million, roughly 6%, whose parents both migrated to Germany.
And it noted that another 3.9 million had one parent who was a migrant though it said it was not counting them as having a full "immigration story," rather a "one-sided" one.
You might have seen or heard slightly higher figures for migrant population size in Germany in the past. That's because Destatis was tracking what it describes as people with an Einwanderungsgeschichte, an "immigration history," but it also regularly reports on people in Germany with a Migrationshintergrund, a "migration background."
The statistics are separate yet the data also overlaps considerably. The difference is that to classify as having a "migration background," one or more parents not having been born a German citizen suffices.
Some 23.8 million people in Germany, or 28.7% of the population, fit that definition, Destatis said on Thursday, a slight increase on their last tally.
Germany has long been known for a comparatively open migration policy, partly the result of decades of low birth rates and a large labor market. The government is currently working on a new policy designed to better attract skilled labor from outside the EU.
WHERE ARE THE ARRIVALS FROM AND WHY DID THEY MIGRATE?
Destatis noted that people who had moved to Germany in the last ten years were on average younger than the average native citizen, with an average age of 29.9 versus 47.0 across the population.
Among them, 27.9% said the moved because they were fleeing or seeking asylum, 24.2% said they were looking for work, and 23.8% said they were moving to join their families. Another 8.2% said they migrated to pursue academic opportunities.
There was near gender parity among the 15.3 million in Germany who had migrated in the last decade; 47% were women and 53% men.
The most common countries of origin were civil war-stricken Syria (16%), followed by Romania (7%) and Poland (6%), with Ukraine next at 5%. Destatis noted that the unexpected increase in arrivals from Ukraine in 2022 was probably not yet adequately represented in the data.
[OneIndia] To get more leads and his possible international connection a team of the Intelligence Bureau grilled radical Sikh preacher, Amritpal Singh at the high-security Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam.
Sources tell OneIndia that the questioning went on for several hours, but so far nothing much has come out of the interrogation. Another round of interrogation will take place today. Due to the fact that Amritpal Singh has possible international links, the Research and Analysis Wing too will join the probe. Other central agencies along with the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Police too will question Singh, the source cited above said.
What the agencies are trying to find out is how Singh was planted into Punjab by Pakistain's ISI. Intelligence Bureau reports clearly suggest that he is a stooge of the ISI and appeared out of nowhere following the death of Deep Sidhu who had founded the Waris Punjab De, which Singh now heads.
Singh was arrested earlier this week following a four week chase.
The case is also important in the event of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the gangster-terror nexus case. An IB official said that it is important to prove the international links to this case. The ISI has operated very smartly in this case and used gangsters who have taken refuge abroad to run the show in Punjab. If one looks at the RPG attack case, it was clear that it was planned by gangsters in Canada. They had used local gangsters to carry out the attack in Punjab, the official further added.
Meanwhile Amritpal has been kept in solitary confinement away from his aides. His food is being served to him by the jail staff, while his health is being monitored regularly.
A 16-member team of the Punjab Police will stay over at Assam for more days as there is more interrogation to be done. The Punjab Police is focused on Singh's links to pro-Khalistan elements. Amritpal prior to his arrest had been openly propagating for a separate Khalistan state. His supporters have turned violent mostly peaceful on many occasions. The last straw for him was when his followers attacked the Ajnala cop shoppe, demanding the release of one of their aides. The crackdown by the police began following that incident.
A NIA Court has issued non-bailable warrants against 23 Lions of Islam of Kishtwar district who have been operating from Pakistain.
They had joined different terrorist organizations and then crossed to Pakistain from where they started operating to revive terrorism in Chenab valley, as per the sources.
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... the security agencies and civil administration has taken a tough stance, and has constituted different teams to identify properties of 23 terrorists. These properties will be attached.
"The CIO-DySP PC Kishtwar has sought the indulgence of this court for issuance of non-bailable warrants against the accused persons....," reads an order copy.
It further says that: "Inter-alia on the ground that their names have been surfaced during the course of investigation in FIR number 90 of 2022 at Police Station Chatroo under section 13/18/39 UA (P) Act, 1967, 120B/121-A IPC, 1860, presently working as operatives of HM/(HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on civilization. )/LeT/HUI outfits and involved in anti-national activities from across the border into Indian Territory for carryout out terrorist attack."
Since the involvement of all the persons has surfaced in the FIR Number 90 of 2022 at Police Station Chatroo, the presence of all the accused persons during the course of investigation and during the trial also is mandatory, the order quoting the police report reads further.
Therefore, the non-bailable warrants were issued against the 23 Lions of Islam and sent to SSP Kishtwar and SHO Chatroo for execution and compliance.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again... SSP Kishtwar, Khalil Poswal said that: "36 individuals after joining terrorism had crossed to Pakistain, and accordingly, FIRs were registered against them in Kishtwar. Earlier, we had taken non-bailable warrants against 13 people involved in terrorism and now, we have taken non-bailable warrants against 23 Lions of Islam operating from Pakistain."
After taking their non-bailable warrants, the SSP said that: "We want to arrest them. As they are in Pakistain, we have issued a red-corner notice. We have also initiated a process to involve an inter-poll to execute the warrants against these 23 terrorists."
"There is an international law by involving an inter-poll that Pakistain will be compelled to produce the 23 Lions of Islam as they were supposed to do so and if not, Pakistain will get exposed before the world (for its duplicity)," he said.
He further said that the administration has constituted different teams to identify the properties of these 23 terrorists, while the properties of 13 other Lions of Islam have already been identified. After the identification of the properties belonging to terrorists, they will be seized by the police.
[Rudaw] After paying nearly $100,000 in ransoms to free 10 family members, Khaled Taalou, a member of Iraq's Yazidi minority, is still working to free other missing relatives kidnapped by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems... group fighters.
Despite his efforts, five more relatives, along with thousands of other Yazidis, remain missing after being kidnapped by the jihadists.
Continued on Page 49
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[IsraelTimes] Police raid of al-Aqsa on holy month’s second week nearly sparked regional conflict; Israeli conduct — pushed by US, UAE and Jordan — helped calm hostility, but concern remains
The Biden administration has expressed its satisfaction to Israel over the latter’s handling of security tensions during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, an Israeli and a US official told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
The appreciation was conveyed during several conversations Biden officials have held with their Israeli counterparts over the past week, the senior Israeli official said.
The message represented a rare nod of approval from the US to the four-month-old, hardline government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose efforts to overhaul the judiciary and expand Israel’s presence in the West Bank have led to an intense rebuke from US President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing... himself as well as the summoning of Israel’s ambassador in Washington for a private dress-down.
A senior US official said the Netanyahu government’s conduct had the Biden administration particularly apprehensive as Ramadan approached, given that the holy month in and of itself adds an extra layer of tensions between Israelis and Paleostinians and that 2023 once again featured a confluence of Jewish, Moslem and Christian holidays that further complicated matters.
Thursday brought a close to a relatively calm Ramadan, save for the spike in violence in early April due to intense festivities between Israeli police and Paleostinians inside Jerusalem’s flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.
Israel says its security forces were left with no choice but to raid the mosque before dawn on April 5 after several hundred Paleostinians barricaded themselves inside with weapons and explosives that they planned to use to target Israeli police and civilians.
But footage of police brutally beating the Paleostinians, some already apprehended, sparked massive uproar and served as a rallying call for Israel’s adversaries across the region.
In the hours and days that followed, dozens of projectiles were fired at Israel from Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , Syria and Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... . The barrage of 34 rockets from Lebanon was the largest since 2006.
Several other terror attacks targeting Israelis also occurred that week, including a shooting in the West Bank that took the lives of a mother and her two daughters as well as a suspected car-ramming in Tel Aviv that killed an Italian tourist.
On 10 April, a 15-year-old Paleostinian was shot and killed by the IDF during an arrest operation near Jericho. While eyewitnesses said the boy was a bystander, the Israeli army insisted that its troops returned fire after being shot at.
As the casualty count climbed, the Biden administration — along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan — intensified their engagement with Israeli officials, privately urging them to exercise restraint, a senior Middle Eastern diplomat told The Times of Israel.
Particular emphasis was placed on preventing scenes similar to the ones from the April 5 raid of the al-Aqsa Mosque, the diplomat said.
On the morning of April 9, a similar dynamic began to unfold, with police saying that a large group of Paleostinians had barricaded themselves inside. However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... Israel said forces ultimately decided against entering the mosque upon receiving intelligence that those inside were not planning to instigate festivities.
The senior Middle East diplomat laughed at the Israeli explanation and said the police decision to stand down had actually been the result of marathon phone calls by Biden officials, including on the day of the nearly repeated clash.
Two days later, Netanyahu announced that non-Moslems would be barred from entering the Temple Mount for the remainder of Ramadan.
While the decision was in line with longstanding Israeli policy, the days leading up to the announcement saw increased speculation that Netanyahu might change course amid pressure from his far-right coalition partners.
On this issue as well, Biden officials held regular calls with their Israeli counterparts, urging them to stay the course of previous governments.
Israel also advanced a series of small measures aimed at financially boosting the cash-strapped Paleostinian Authority, a senior National Security Council official told The Times of Israel last week.
"Things could’ve been a lot worse and we got pretty close to a regional war," said a second US official who highlighted the "dangerous confluence" of Paleostinian youth at the Temple Mount and terror groups looking to instigate and exploit tensions there along with some members of Netanyahu’s coalition who have shown a willingness to further escalate hostilities.
While the Biden administration has indicated growing concern over Netanyahu’s ability to reign in his hardline political partners, his conduct over the past several weeks "proved that he can calm things down when he wants to," the second US official told The Times of Israel.
The prime minister’s handling of the last several weeks could well create the momentum necessary for the reconvening of the Negev Forum, which has been dormant since January amid growing regional dissatisfaction with the Israeli government.
No date has been set for the second-ever ministerial gathering of the Negev Forum but initial talks on the matter have resumed, the Israeli official said.
The senior Middle East diplomat speculated that Israel holding another regional summit with the Paleostinian Authority, the US, Egypt and Jordan would expedite the scheduling of the next Negev Forum confab.
Netanyahu’s government has already participated in two such gatherings in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt where the sides committed to temporarily refrain from unilateral measures opposed by the other side. They had also committed to reconvening for a third time in April, but the two US and Israeli officials acknowledged that this would be unlikely by the end of the month given that a date has not yet been set.
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... there apparently remains a limit to Netanyahu’s ability to steer the direction of his government as it pertains to the Paleostinians:
Earlier this week, the government submitted an opinion to the High Court of Justice in which it expressed its intention to raze the Paleostinian hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar while indicating that it would not do so in the foreseeable future.
The Israel Hayom daily revealed that an initial draft of the opinion included the government’s commitment to refrain from harming the "Sharm process" where the sides agreed to "pursue confidence-building measures, enhance mutual trust, create political horizon, and address outstanding issues through direct dialogue."
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... references to the Israeli-Paleostinian regional summits were removed from the final version of the government’s High Court opinion following pressure from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Their influence on Netanyahu’s decisions will likely impact how the premier decides to handle next month’s Jerusalem Day flag march of religious nationalists. The US in the last several years has pushed Israel to change the traditional route of the rally in order to avoid the Damascus Gate and the Moslem Quarter of the Old City, which is widely seen as a provocation, given that bully boy participants have used their time there in recent years to chant racist slogans against Arabs and Paleostinians.
But Smotrich and Ben Gvir have been among the most prominent participants of the flag march and will likely insist that Netanyahu maintain the traditional route. The senior US official acknowledged that this issue is already on the Biden administration’s radar.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... substantive talks regarding a long-coveted White House visit for Netanyahu have yet to take place, the Israeli official said, speculating that the US is still seeking more clarity regarding the future of the government’s judicial overhaul effort before moving forward.
Netanyahu agreed to pause the legislative blitz to radically curb the High Court of Justice’s power last month in order to allow for compromise negotiations with the opposition. Those talks have been held several times at President Isaac Herzog’s residence in recent weeks, but they have yet to reach a breakthrough and the coalition may well decide to move forward with parts of the overhaul next month or in June.
Biden’s Tuesday announcement that he’ll be seeking re-election will likely further complicate efforts to schedule a Netanyahu visit to the US, with domestic political considerations playing an even larger role in foreign policy decisions as November 2024 approaches.
The White House and the Prime Minister’s Office declined requests for comment on this story.
[AlAhram] Paleostinian Presidency Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned on Wednesday that Israel is "playing with fire" following its attacks on Bab al-Rahma prayer area, an integral part of al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel is dragging the region into violence, escalation, and instability by insisting on the policy of collective punishment, killing, and attacks on al-Aqsa Mosque, reported Paleostinian News Agency WAFA.
Abu Rudeineh said that "extremist settlers' storming of al-Aqsa Mosque and raising the occupation flag in its courtyards as well as the storming of the occupation police into Bab al-Rahma chapel and damaging its electricity power grids confirm that the bad boy Israeli government is looking for ways to escalate the situation.
He added that Israel "is responsible for these dangerous policies seeking to destroy any regional or international effort to provide stability and prevent the deterioration of the situation."
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... bad boy Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stormed on Wednesday the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Paleostinian city of al-Khalil (Hebron) , WAFA reported.
Ben Gvir's tour "comes within a series of continuous incursions of the occupation and its settlers into the 'Haram' since yesterday, Tuesday, as the settlers performed Talmudic dances inside it," to celebrate their so-called Israeli Independence Day, WAFA said.
The Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs in the Paleostinian Authority Hatem al-Bakri denounced Ben Gvir's "break-in" into the Ibrahimi Mosque, considering it a "flagrant violation of the holy places and places of worship."
Al-Bakri said, "the occupation forces, by exchanging roles with the settlers, allowed them to raise the Israeli flag and candlesticks and launch firecrackers and fireworks on the roof of the Ibrahimi Mosque and in its outer squares."
He added that this "falls within the framework of imposing complete Israeli domination over the Ibrahimi Mosque and its surroundings with the aim of turning it into a Jewish synagogue."
Ah, but collecting is a cat to be belled of a different colour.
[IsraelTimes] Amid rising tensions between foes, descision blames former presidents Bush and Obama, CIA, Treasury and others for having ’central role’ in directing terrorist attacks in country
An Iranian court issued a $312.9 million judgement against the United States over a 2017 Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems... -claimed attack on Tehran, authorities said Wednesday, the latest judicial action between the nations amid their decadeslong enmity.
Continued on Page 49
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Sentence confirmed, timing to be carried out for maximum effect.
[Rudaw] Iran’s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence ...the barbaric practice of sentencing a murderer to be punished for as long as his/her/its victim is dead... for a German national accused of heading a pro-monarchist group responsible for a deadly bombing in Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... in 2008.
Jamshid Sharmahd is a German journalist of Iranian descent who was kidnapped from Dubai in July 2020 by agents of the ministry of intelligence and was taken to Iran after being accused of being involved in a 2008 bombing in Shiraz which killed 14 people.
He was sentenced to death in February, with his supporters calling on Germany to save the journalist, as they claimed his innocence.
"According to the latest reports, the sentence of the person in question [Sharmahd] has been confirmed in the Supreme Court," Iran’s judiciary's spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi told news hounds during a presser on Wednesday.
Setayeshi added that legal measures will be taken against the journalist once the court decides to do so.
Germany in February said that it was expelling two Iranian diplomats, asking them to leave the country immediately, in reaction to the Islamic republic’s sentencing of Sharmahd, which Berlin referred to as a "massive violation of the rights of a German national."
Iran responded the following week by expelling two German diplomats, declaring them personae non grata.
There are a number of dual and foreign nationals being held in Iranian prisons on charges of spying for foreign governments with rights groups accusing Tehran of using them as bargaining chips to gain concessions from world powers.
Concessions, ransom... all sorts of possibilities when the party of the first part is venal and the party of the second part is sentimental and/or lacking Marines and gunboats.
Iranian-British dual national Alireza Akbari was executed by Iran in January on charges of spying for the United Kingdom’s intelligence agency and threatening the Islamic republic’s internal and external security.
The execution rate in Iran increased by over 50 percent in 2022, with the regime carrying out the death sentence against at least 500 people during that year, compared to 2021’s 330, according to a UN report from February.
The country executed at least 94 people in January and February. Nearly a third of them were minorities, according to research from Amnesia Amnesty International and Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, an Iranian human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... monitor.
[ENGLISH.ALMANAR.LB] The Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has arrived in the Omani capital of Muscat, leading a delegation of high-ranking political officials.
The visit was made at the invitation of Oman’s Foreign Minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi. The purpose of the visit is to hold talks with officials from Oman to discuss bilateral relations as well as major international and regional issues.
This is not the first time that Amir-Abdollahian has visited Oman. He was in the country in December to discuss various regional and international issues, including the crises in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... , Afghanistan, and Ukraine. During that visit, he described the trip as an opportunity to examine mutual affairs between the two countries and to address issues that require a faster resolution.
In addition to his visit to Oman, the Iranian Foreign Minister is also scheduled to visit Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... to meet with senior Lebanese officials. During his two-day visit to Lebanon, he will hold talks with officials including Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri ...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians... , Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
Overall, the visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister to Oman and Lebanon demonstrates Iran’s commitment to engaging with its neighbors and addressing important regional and international issues through diplomatic channels.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2023 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...46th president of the U.S. 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
