[ZERO] The Pentagon is deploying a Stryker Brigade Combat Team and a General Support Aviation Battalion to the southwestern border, accelerating efforts to fulfill President Trump's directive to bolster military support in securing the U.S. – Mexico border. The units, equipped with wheeled vehicle and air capabilities, are set to reinforce border operations in the coming weeks, Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell announced over the weekend.
Each SBCT is a mechanized infantry force of approximately 4,400 soldiers, and the Army's nine SBCTs — seven active-duty and two National Guard — are known for their rapid deployment and versatility. Built around the Stryker vehicle — an eight-wheeled armored platform — the brigade balances mobility, protection and firepower. Capable of transport via C-130 Hercules aircraft within 96 hours, the Stryker excels in operations requiring swift response.
Complementing this, the GSAB, with roughly 650 troops, brings aviation muscle — UH-60 Black Hawks for command and medical evacuation, and CH-47 Chinooks for heavy lift — enhancing operational reach and support.
The Stryker's design — lighter than tanks, yet more robust than light infantry — makes it ideal for the border's vast terrain, while the aviation battalion's air traffic control and lift capacity ensure seamless coordination.
"These forces will arrive in the coming weeks, and their deployment underscores the department's unwavering dedication to working alongside the Department of Homeland Security to secure our southern border and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the United States under President Trump's leadership," Parnell said in a statement today.
This deployment marks the latest wave of active-duty troops sent to the border since Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. Following his declaration to "seal the border" and combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking, initial deployments included 1,600 Marines and soldiers by late January, joining 2,500 reservists already mobilized.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, addressing the mission's scope on his first official day in late January, emphasized adaptability. "Whatever is needed at the border will be provided," he said, signaling a robust commitment to the president's homeland defense priority.
#7
The Stryker vehicles will provide, mobile, small-arms protected ISR platforms for massively enhanced surveillance capabilities beyond existing CBP sources. They also ensure high-speed back-up to CBP units as they retake Cartel controlled US border areas and as a profound psychological statement about our nation's renewed commitment to the sovereignty of our national borders!
[IsraelTimes] Draft proposal mum on how to disarm the terror group, contains no financial pledges to rebuild Gaza, and doesn’t give central role to PA, which seeks to lead Strip’s reconstruction
Egypt has drawn up a plan for 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 a rusty iron fist by Hamas with 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... that would sideline Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... and replace it with interim bodies controlled by Arab, Moslem and Western states, according to a draft seen by Rooters, as Arab countries scramble to counter US President Donald Trump ...Oh, noze! Not him!... ’s proposal to take over the devastated Strip and oust its residents.
Egypt’s vision, which is due to be presented at an Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... summit on Tuesday, does not specify whether the proposal would be implemented before or after any permanent deal to end the war in Gaza.
The proposal also does not detail a central role for the West Bank-based Paleostinian Authority, which has sought to lead Gaza’s reconstruction. Nor does the draft proposal say how Hamas would be pushed aside, how the Strip would be rebuilt, or who would pay to rebuild it.
A preamble outlining the objectives of Egypt’s plan said there would be "no major international funding for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Gaza if Hamas remains the dominant and armed political element on the ground controlling local governance."
Egypt, Jordan and Gulf Arab states have for almost a month been scrambling to formulate a diplomatic offensive to counter Trump’s plan, which has sparked outrage in Arab and Moslem countries. A number of ideas have been proposed, with Egypt’s considered the frontrunner.
The plan firmly rejects the US proposal for mass displacement of Paleostinians from Gaza, which Arab states, such as Egypt and Jordan, see as a security threat.
The draft proposal was shared with Rooters by an official involved in Gaza negotiations who wished to remain anonymous because the draft has not yet been made public. Rooters was unable to determine whether Arab leaders would support the draft proposal.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri ...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest... told Rooters that the group knows of no such proposal by Egypt.
"The day after in Gaza must only be decided by the Paleostinians," he said. "Hamas rejects any attempt to impose projects or any form of non-Paleostinian administration, or the presence of any foreign forces on the land of the Gaza Strip."
Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, whose support for any plan is seen as vital to ensure that any reconstruction will not be undone.
The premier has applauded Trump’s plan to take over Gaza, announced at a joint presser of the two leaders in the White House early February.
Netanyahu had previously ruled out any post-war role in Gaza for Hamas or the PA, which Israel has long accused of inciting terrorism. Until Trump’s plan, however, he had failed to publicly enunciate who he would see govern the Strip after the war there.
STABILIZATION FORCE
Egypt’s proposal makes no mention of elections in Gaza, and does not say what would happen if Hamas refuses to disarm or step aside from politics.
Under the proposal, a Governance Assistance Mission would replace the Hamas-run government in Gaza for an unspecified interim period and would be responsible for humanitarian aid and for kick-starting reconstruction of the enclave, which has been devastated by the war.
The plan does not specify who would run the governance mission. It said it would "draw on the expertise of Paleostinians in Gaza and elsewhere to help Gaza recover as quickly as possible."
The proposal envisions an International Stabilization Force, drawn primarily from Arab states, taking over policing in the Strip from Hamas, with the eventual formation of a new local police force.
Both security and governance bodies would be "arranged, guided and supervised" by a steering board. The draft said the board would comprise representatives from Britannia, the United States, the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and its member states, key Arab countries, and members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
The steering board would coordinate with a Civil Society Advisory Board, consisting of academics, NGO leaders and other notable figures. States on the steering board could establish a fund to support the interim governing body and arrange donor conferences to seek contributions for a longer-term reconstruction and development plan for Gaza.
The proposal contains no specific pledges to finance Gaza’s reconstruction, which would cost over $53 billion, according to a United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... estimate last month. Two sources have told Rooters that Gulf and Arab states would need to commit at least $20 billion in the initial phase of reconstruction.
Oil- and gas-producing Gulf Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... , Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... , and the United Arab Emirates, could be vital sources of funding from the region.
The three countries’ foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Egypt’s plan, or to questions about their willingness to commit funds to rebuild Gaza.
RECONSTRUCTION BILL
Egypt has sought to establish an interim, independent committee of Paleostinian technocrats to help administer Gaza, as much of the international community maintains that the unpopular PA must undergo significant reforms before it can return to the Strip.
Speaking to The Times of Israel last month, a top aide to PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> said any committee should answer to Ramallah. Echoing the aide’s comments, a Paleostinian official told Rooters that, like the West Bank, Gaza falls under the PA’s jurisdiction and must be run by Paleostinians.
"We agreed with the Egyptians on a committee made of Paleostinian experts that will help the Paleostinian Authority in running the Gaza Strip for six months. The committee is made of Paleostinian experts and coordinates with the PA, and doesn’t answer to non-Paleostinian bodies," said the official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Hamas has reportedly indicated that it would be willing to hand over the reins in Gaza to the PA after the war there ends.
The terror group ousted the PA from the Strip in a civil war in 2007. Supported by Iran, Hamas has built an extensive terror apparatus based around a vast network of tunnels, much of which Israel has destroyed in the current war in Gaza.
The war was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led gunnies stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
A January 19 ceasefire and hostage deal brought a temporary end to the fighting, but the agreement’s first phase expired on Saturday with little sign of progress toward the second phase. Egypt was one of the deal’s mediators.
#1
The most important thing to remember about Arabs is that they think they're the smartest people on Earth and can fool anyone. That's why their pseudo-civilization is heading for a crash.
Once again triggering the rumour that His Most Christian Majesty, King Charles III secretly converted to Islam some time ago.
[GEO.TV] A charity held the first-ever open iftar inside Windsor Castle's State Apartments in the castle's 1,000-year history.
St George's Hall, world renowned for hosting state banquets, welcomed over 360 guests of all backgrounds to mark the first open iftar event of 2025 organised by the Ramadan Tent Project in collaboration with Royal Collection Trust, the charity that welcomes visitors to the official royal residences.
It is the first event of its kind to mark the Moslem holy month of Ramadan inside the State Apartments at the world's largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, and the first iftar gathering held in the Hall, which was constructed in the 14th century during the reign of King Edward III.
Open iftar has so far brought together over one million people across the UK and saw some of Britannia's most well-known venues open their doors to visitors from all faiths and none, to foster community, inclusivity and cultural exchange during Ramadan.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2025 02:45 ||
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#1
"Contestants, your final Jihad Jeopardy clue for today is... 'Community, inclusivity, and cultural exchange.' [muezzin vamps] King Charles, you're up first. Let's see your answer. 'What are things that the Holy Koran does not proscribe burying alive when found inconvenient?' That's correct! And what did you wager? One crown. Looks like you'll be moving on to the semifinal round!"
#2
We knew Charles would go here. Did he play dress up?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/04/2025 18:09 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Well, a shroud BBQ Cover over Camilla might please all sides
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/04/2025 18:15 Comments ||
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#4
IIRC, Charles said he wanted to be known as the Defender of ALL Faiths, rather than just the Defender of (Catholic) Faith.
Of course, I'll be willing to bet he doesn't mean defender of Judaism.
#7
Heh. Did a little time in an Anglican school way back when. Heckuva lot more Catholic, in the good ways, than most of today's Catholicism. Wonderful place, it seemed to us, notwithstanding the ugly abuse situation that was, as I learned years later, gearing up around the time we left. Sigh.
Abdullah Öcalan, the founder of the PKK, has urged his party to lay down arms and end the decades-long Kurdish conflict in #Turkey. The #PKK responded and declared a unilateral ceasefire, marking a potential turning point in the struggle. #Kurdshttps://t.co/qKQfoVYtrS
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) March 4, 2025
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2025 2025-03-04 03:15 ||
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[FoxNews] In response to the killing of an elderly South Texas rancher and U.S. citizen by a suspected cartel explosive, the Trump administration is promising to continue being "ruthlessly aggressive" in responding to cartel threats to Americans.
After 74-year-old U.S. citizen Antonio Céspedes Saldierna was killed in the blast, National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes told Fox News Digital that the administration will be relentless in working to fully secure the border.
He said that President Donald Trump’s recent designation of eight cartels – including MS-13, Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua and several Mexican cartels – as foreign terrorist organizations, "makes clear his intention to treat violent cartel members exactly as they should be treated – as terrorists."
Hughes did not offer any specifics on whether the administration is considering a military response to the suspected cartel killing but noted that the "administration has proven to be ruthlessly aggressive in pursuing criminal gangs that threaten our homeland."
He said that "President Trump will stop at nothing to secure our border, protect our communities, and dismantle terrorist organizations."
As reported by local outlet KRGV-TV on Tuesday, Saldierna was driving in his truck about two hours south of the border in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas when he drove over an IED which exploded, taking his life.
His death comes after weeks of growing concerns among border leaders about an increase in cartel violence and activity just south of the U.S. border.
On Jan. 27, U.S. Border Patrol agents took fire from cartel members near Fronton, Texas.
[GEO.TV] The eradication of polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set. Currently the disease is only found in Pakistain and Afghanistain... as a global health threat may be delayed unless US funding cuts — potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over several years — are reversed, a senior World Health Organisation ...Kind of like the Center for Disease Control only run by the UN, with about the results you'd expectt...> (WHO) official has warned. "Give us money!"
The WHO works with groups such as UNICEF and the Gates Foundation to end polio. The planned withdrawal of the United States from WHO has impacted efforts, including stopping collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last week, UNICEF's polio grant was terminated as the State Department cut 90% of USAID's grants worldwide to align aid with President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... 's "America First" policy.
In total, the partnership is missing $133 million from the US that was expected this year, said Hamid Jafari, director of the polio eradication programme for the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region.
The area includes two countries where a wild form of polio is spreading: Afghanistan and Pakistain.
''If the funding shortfall continues, it may potentially delay eradication, it may lead to more children getting paralysed,'' he said, adding that the longer it took to end polio, the more expensive it would be.
He said the partners were working out ways to cope with the funding shortage, which will largely impact personnel and surveillance, but hoped the US would return to funding the fight against polio.
''We are looking at other funding sources [...] to sustain both the priority staff and priority activities,'' he said.
He said vaccination campaigns in both Afghanistan and Pakistain would be protected.
UNICEF did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation reiterated that no foundation could fill the gap left by the US Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... gave $500 million to polio eradication last week.
The partnership already faces a $2.4 billion shortfall to 2029, as it accepted last year that it would take longer, and cost more, to eradicate the disease than hoped.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2025 02:51 ||
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#1
US The UN, WHO, Islamic nations refusals, Open-Border Liberals, USAID-Corruption and Terrorism actions may have set polio eradication back, says WHO as shown by the facts.
#5
According to the once-useful World Health Organization: Of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999 and wild poliovirus type 3 was eradicated in 2020. As at 2022, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Surely the WHO can manage two punk-ass countries without our help.
#7
With the migrating populations, especially of Afghans driven out by the Taliban, wild polio is being reintroduced all along the migration route, separate from situation like the big polio vaccination drive in Gaza that was necessary because they cheaped out on the vaccine, infecting the entire vaccine-age cohort with vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2. They discovered that when polio was found in the sewage after the second part of the first round.
🇮🇱 🇺🇸 U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Elise Stefanik:
"Hear me clearly right here and now. The antisemites at the United Nations better buckle up because I'm coming, believe me. We'll no longer fund terrorism, antisemitism, and anti-Israel hate."pic.twitter.com/xgaFBObrpv
[IsraelTimes] Israel "strongly rejects" an upcoming conference in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... on international humanitarian law in the Middle East, the Foreign Ministry says.
"The planned conference is part of the legal warfare against Israel," the Foreign Ministry states in a blurb, saying that "Israel will not lend its hand to this agenda-driven initiative."
The upcoming conference of the states who have ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which governs the protection of civilians during war and occupation, is set to take place in Geneva on Friday.
The parties at the convention "have convened only three times in the past — all of them in relation to Israel — rendering this event inherently political and a blatant politicization of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law," says the Foreign Ministry.
According to Swiss public broadcaster SWI swissinfo, the convention will be held at the ambassadorial level and a declaration is expected to be adopted.
"Some states will push for the declaration to condemn the illegal occupation of the Paleostinian territories," but won’t go beyond a declaration passed by the convention in 2014, Vincent Chetail, professor of international law at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, tells the news outlet.
The convention comes at a delicate stage in Israel-Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... ceasefire negotiations, after Israel paused the entry of all trucks carrying aid into 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 a rusty iron fist by Hamas with 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... as a response to Hamas’s refusal of what Israel called a US-proposed offer to extend the first phase of the ceasefire that ended on Saturday.
The UN General Assembly mandated Switzerland to convene the parties in September. In the past, the conference has convened in response to concerns about Israeli policies in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, with discussions often focused on the legal status of occupied territories and alleged violations of international law.
[IsraelTimes] In submission to International Court of Justice, Israel details ‘connection of UNRWA employees’ to October 7 atrocities, terror activity, in defense of legislation banning agency
Israel has filed a written submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in which it has detailed what it says are the connections of employees of the UNRWA Paleostinian aid agency to Hamas ..always the voice of sweet reason... and terror activity, including testimony from a freed Israeli hostage that she was held by the terror organization in an UNRWA facility in 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 a rusty iron fist by Hamas with 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.
In December last year, the ICJ took up a request by the UN General Assembly to issue an advisory opinion on Israeli legislation banning the operations of UNRWA in Israel, and prohibiting state agencies from having any contact with the controversial agency, making its operations in Gaza and the West Bank more difficult.
Israel’s law was challenged in the UN General Assembly by Norway, which claims that it violates international law and what it said were Israel’s obligations to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the civilian population of Gaza, in which UNRWA had played an important role.
On Friday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry (MFA) filed a document to the court opposing what it said was a "distorted process" whose outcome was "predetermined," and which the MFA said disregarded the involvement of UNRWA staff in the events of Hamas’s October 7 invasion and massacre.
"The process ignores the atrocities of October 7 and the shameful involvement of UNRWA employees in the October 7 massacre and terrorist activities," said the MFA.
"This is a fundamentally flawed process in which, through the automatic political majority against Israel at the UN, the institutions of international law are used for making political decisions," the ministry added.
The MFA said that the submission filed to the ICJ "exposes the deliberate bias" in the request for an advisory opinion, as well as "the links of UNRWA employees to Hamas activities, the deep involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activities, the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist activities, and the numerous violations of the neutrality to which UN institutions are committed."
The Kan public broadcaster reported that the document, which has not been made public, also included testimony from one of the freed Israeli hostages about being held in an UNRWA facility.
In January, Emily Damari, who was held hostage by Hamas for 15 months and has British citizenship, told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that she was held at UNRWA facilities in Gaza during her time in captivity.
Damari also told Starmer that while she was held at an UNRWA facility, she was only given an out-of-date bottle of iodine to treat the gunshot wounds she sustained to her leg and her left hand during her abduction on October 7, 2023.
In response, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini described the allegations as "deeply disturbing and shocking." He said that UNRWA had been forced to vacate its installations in the north of Gaza Strip on October 13, 2023, and had not had control over them since that date, adding that the same had happened in other UNRWA facilities in different locations in the territory.
Israel passed its legislation after a series of revelations and Israeli allegations about the connection of some of UNRWA staff to the events of October 7 and to terrorist activity more broadly.
Israel has alleged that dozens of UNRWA officials and staffers directly participated in, and assisted, the October 7 atrocities, and has provided evidence against several of these employees.
UNRWA itself confirmed that Muhammad Abu Attawi, a commander in Hamas’s Nukhba force killed by the IDF in Gaza, who is documented as having murdered civilians in the notorious bomb shelter attack near Re’im on October 7, was a staffer.
Israel has alleged that some 12 percent percent of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions.
In February, IDF troops found a subterranean data center — complete with an electrical room, industrial battery power banks and living quarters for Hamas gunnies operating the computer servers — underneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City. The data center was hooked up to the electricity supply in the UNRWA facility above.
Israel has also long-accused UNRWA of fomenting hatred of Israel and Jews, and of inciting violence against them, alleging that 10 percent of senior educators belong to Hamas and Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... . Numerous reports have been issued regarding the extremism and incitement found in UNRWA’s educational curriculum.
#1
What happened is that IDF relied on deterrence. And deterrence was eroded by a year + of leftist protests over the fact that People of Israel dared to elect a prime minister that western "elites" disapprove of.
[GEOTV] Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... on Monday of consequences it "cannot imagine" if the Paleostinian Islamist movement does not release the hostages held in 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 a rusty iron fist by Hamas with 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... "I tell Hamas: If you do not release our hostages, there will be consequences that you cannot imagine," Netanyahu said during a speech at the Israeli parliament, as negotiations for the Gaza ceasefire's continuation have stalled.
[IsraelTimes] Channel 12 reports Israeli officials expect to return to fighting in Gaza in some 10 days if no agreements are reached with Hamas.
The report ties the date both to the new IDF chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, entering his post in the coming days, and an expected visit next week by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2025 03:02 ||
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#1
Hamas has little to lose.
It is the Palestinians will bear the blunt.
Because general bravado, pride and saving face will kick in for Hamas leaders.
I expect Hamas will let the deadline pass and further down the road use the media to point the finger at Israel.
Then it might claim it is doing it for the Palestinian people and not because it was getting its ass kicked again.
[GEO.TV] The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has expressed ''deep concern over Israel's decision to block aid into the Gaza Strip'', reported Al Jazeera.
''International Humanitarian Law (IHL) prohibits the denial of humanitarian aid to an entire population,'' the PRCS said in a statement, also calling on all states that are signatories to the laws to ensure they are respected by Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/04/2025 02:57 ||
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#1
Says an organization that allows its marked vehicles to carry military personnel and equipment.
[Jpost] The Knesset passed a bill early Tuesday morning that will de facto enable the coalition to appoint the next ombudsman of the judiciary.
Known as the "judicial watchdog," the ombudsman is responsible for hearing complaints against all judges with statutory powers, including criminal courts, transportation courts, and family courts, and judges in religious courts and can initiate disciplinary proceedings against them. The problem with courts is not that most judges are leftards. It's that lawyers think that their collection of semi randomly accumulated laws/precedents are a complete system pertaining to every possible occurrence. Now all Israel needs is death penalty for terrorists, and we're ready to go.
Posted by: Grom the Affective ||
03/04/2025 01:22 ||
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Trust but verify: Could it be that the Anti-Defamation League is seriously backing away from generalized lefty nastiness in a rededication to its original Jewish purpose? Or is this a short term thing they feel they must do to maintain credibility before reverting?
[IsraelTimes] Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt lays out the organization’s pivot in strategy since October 7, 2023, at the ADL’s annual summit in New York City.
Greenblatt tells an audience of hundreds at the “Never is Now” conference that since the Hamas invasion of Israel, Jewish Americans have experienced a fear that had been forgotten for generations. Jews have changed vacation plans, taken down mezuzahs and reconsidered college choices due to discrimination, he says.
“In the face of this very real fear, we must do better. We cannot keep doing the same thing,” Greenblatt says.
Greenblatt says the ADL has shifted its focus in five ways, including by leaning more on data.
“Condemnation is not enough because when there is no moral shame, you just can’t scold someone into action, but data doesn’t lie. Data is what drives change,” he says, pointing to examples like the ADL’s campus report card on antisemitism.
Second, the ADL is making more use of lawsuits, filing more legal actions in the past 12 months than in the first 112 years of the organization’s existence, Greenblatt says.
Third, the group is using its Center for Antisemitism Research to “interrupt antisemitism before it happens.” The center is using focus groups, surveys and randomized control trials to improve the efficacy of ADL activities, such as social media and curriculum.
Fourth, the ADL is “punching back” in the finance world against the boycott movement against Israel, with a Jewish exchange-traded fund launched last week.
Lastly, the organization is taking action on the ground, such as pressuring officials in Amsterdam to respond after riots against Israelis late last year.
“I know there is hope, and while we’re inspired by this hope, I’ll also acknowledge that hope is not a strategy,” Greenblatt says.
The annual ADL summit is taking place today and tomorrow at the Javits Center in Manhattan. Prominent speakers include the parents of American-Israel Omer Neutra, a hostage killed by Hamas whose body is being held in Gaza, and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.
[Breitbart] Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif resigned on Sunday evening, strongly implying in his resignation letter that he was forced out by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni and other theocratic hardliners.
Zarif, 65, was Iran’s foreign minister from 2013 to 2021 and served as Iran’s lead negotiator for the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal was signed by President Barack Obama, but President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, citing Iranian cheating and support for terrorism.
Zarif was seen as a leader in the "moderate" or "reformist" wing of Iranian politics. Along with Hassan Rouhani, who was president of Iran when the JCPOA was negotiated, Zarif endorsed "moderate" candidate Masoud Pezeshkian in the June 2024 special election to replace hardline President Ebrahim Raisi after he died in a helicopter crash.
Terms like "moderate" and "reformist" are highly relative in Iranian politics, particularly since Western media constantly abuse such language to paint leaders like Zarif and Rouhani as preferable to the "hardliners."
Pezeshkian won an upset victory to become a moderate and reformist president, for example, but he has not been much help when it comes to halting Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and he proved quite bloodthirsty when it came to using Iran’s terrorist proxies to shed innocent blood on behalf of Hamas in the Gaza war and was willing to directly attack Israel with missiles twice after Hamas started the war on October 7, 2023.
Zarif was rewarded for supporting Pezeshkian with a plum perch as vice president. He was actually Vice President for Strategic Affairs, one of several vice presidential positions in the Iranian government, although Zarif campaigned alongside Pezeshkian in a manner similar to U.S. running mates.
Zarif became a major target for hardliners in Iran’s endless factional struggles for power. He actually resigned once before, only two weeks after he took office, during a power struggle over the composition of Pezeshkian’s cabinet. Pezeshkian refused to accept his resignation and Zarif was back at his desk by the end of the month.
Pezeshkian did not immediately accept Zarif’s second resignation on Monday, although his office confirmed receiving the letter of resignation.
Zarif’s opponents have hounded him with invocations of a law that ostensibly forbids Iranians from holding public office if they, or their children, hold dual citizenship. Zarif’s children were born in the United States when he was part of Iran’s mission to the United Nations, so they are naturalized American citizens who hold U.S. passports.
Zarif wrote a testy social media post on Sunday night in which he complained about facing "the most ridiculous insults, slanders, and threats against my family in the past six months," a period he described as "the most bitter" in his forty years of government service.
Zarif said he would resign on the advice of Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, the chief justice of Iran, who told him to "return to the university" to "avoid further pressure on the government." Zarif has worked as a university professor and guest lecturer during most of the time he was not a government official.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kirill Semenov
[REGNUM] The Israeli leadership would like to use the Syrian Druze as its “fifth column” in Syria, but so far the bet on this ethno-confessional minority has not paid off.
Despite the provocative statements of the Israeli leadership, the Syrian Druze continue to claim that their "qibla" (i.e. point of attraction) is Damascus, and they intend to remain Syrians, although tensions in relations with the transitional government continue to mount.
On Saturday, following an incident in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, in which two militants from local Druze groups killed an employee of the Syrian government's Public Security Service (PSS - police), the town was blocked by government forces.
Israel decided to intervene in the situation, presenting itself as a "defender of the Druze." The Minister of Defense of the Jewish state, Israel Katz, then said that he had instructed the military to prepare for a march on Jaramana and to support the Druze if Syrian troops began to clear the suburbs.
"We will not allow the radical Islamic regime in Syria to harm the Druze. If the regime harms the Druze, we will strike at it," Katz said.
The head of the military department also assured that he “commits to our Druze brothers in Israel” to do everything possible to prevent harm from being caused to “their Druze brothers in Syria,” and intends to take all necessary steps to ensure their safety.
"DAVID'S CORRIDOR"
Israel is trying to take advantage of the unstable situation in Syria to finally destroy the country, which in the future could pose a threat to the Jewish state.
The events of October 7, 2023 have changed Israel greatly, primarily in its assessment of its own security and measures to ensure it. And now, perhaps, maintaining chaos in neighboring countries instead of stability seems to be the best option for Tel Aviv to mitigate any future challenges.
The Israeli leadership was not interested in the fall of the Assad regime, believing that this would lead to dangerous turbulence at the borders. Now it is doing everything to ensure that the new Syrian authorities are unable to stabilize the situation, and even wants Syria as a state to cease to exist in principle, disintegrating into several entities hostile to each other.
Of course, in such a scenario, individual “splashes” of these conflicts may also affect Israel, but these will definitely not be waves like the “Al-Aqsa flood,” and it will be much easier to counteract them.
Israel speaks about these plans openly and without embarrassment.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has publicly voiced the Netanyahu government's preference for a fragmented Syria. In a speech at the EU-Israel summit, Saar called for the country to be divided into separate autonomous states along perceived ethnic and religious lines. This, he said, is important to protect the country's minorities, who are under threat from the new government.
The plan to dismember Syria has already received the unofficial name “David’s Corridor” in Israel.
It proposes, at the first stage, the creation of a security zone in southern Syria in the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra bordering Israel. The Druze in the neighboring province of Suwayda, where they constitute the majority, would be able to rely on this zone. This would create a continuous strip of Israeli control in southern Syria, and the Druze would become a local support for Israel, just as the Lebanese Christians - the Maronites - once did in the puppet state of southern Lebanon before 2000.
The reality of the launch of the first stage of the scenario is indicated by the ultimatum demands voiced by the Netanyahu government regarding the withdrawal of all armed forces of the new Syrian government from the southern regions of Syria.
In the second stage, the "David Corridor" is planned to be extended through the desert areas along the border with Iraq, relying on the American base at At-Tanf. This security belt should be provided by Arab tribes that were part of the pro-American "Free Syrian Army" based at At-Tanf, and be extended to the territories controlled by the Kurdish formations of the "Syrian Democratic Forces" in northeastern Syria.
Thus, Israel will be cut off from Iraq with its numerous Shiite pro-Iranian groups by a continuous strip of forces allied to it and the US, and the “Islamist” government in Damascus will be isolated.
For this purpose, the Alawites in the provinces of Tartus and Latakia, according to this plan, must also separate from Syria, forming their own quasi-state.
In connection with this, there have already been rumors in the Western press that Israel would like Russian bases to remain in Syria, and is negotiating this not only with Russia itself, but also with the United States.
Obviously, this is a hint that the Russian side should become the curator of the “Alawite state,” while the United States will continue to look after the Kurdish state, and Israel will look after the Druze state, connected by the “David Corridor.”
But the aim of these information provocations is also to present Russia as an accomplice in the division of Syria and to spoil the background of Moscow’s relations with Damascus, as well as with other Arab states, as well as Turkey.
However, the large number of publications in support of the separation of the Alawites from the Syrian state in the Russian-language segment of various social networks adds credibility to this rumor.
DRUZE BETWEEN THE HAMMER OF TEL AVIV AND THE ANVIL OF DAMASCUS
Israel's far-reaching plans have met a serious obstacle in the form of the Syrian Druze themselves.
The Druze of the southern provinces and the forces of Jaramana quickly rejected any external assistance, reaffirming the unity and indivisibility of Syria. Later, demonstrations under Syrian flags were held in Druze areas against the statements of Netanyahu and Katz.
As Alain Saab, a Russian researcher of the Druze community with Druze roots, told Regnum news agency, it is noteworthy that it was the Druze groups and influential political figures from the As-Suwayda region that acted as mediators in resolving the conflict between the population of Jaramana and the Public Security Service (PSS) of the transitional government.
In particular, a significant role was played by Laith al-Balous, an influential Druze political figure and leader of the Forces of the Sheikhs of Dignity (Rijal al-Karama) group, who became a de facto mediator between Damascus and Jaramane.
Thus, according to the expert, constant contacts between the Druze leaders and the GSS helped to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and escalation: now there is silence in the Jaramana area, the GSS units have fully entered the center of the area and set up checkpoints, and local forces and Damascus are taking further steps to resolve the conflict.
In turn, the leader of the Druze in Lebanon, Walid Jumblatt, who also has great influence among the Druze communities in Syria and Israel, said on Sunday that he would soon visit Syria to meet with its interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and help ease tensions in the Druze community in that country and help resolve all disputes between it and Damascus.
"Free Syrians must be careful of Israeli plots," he told a news conference on Sunday, accusing Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu of creating sectarian division and chaos in Syria.
On the other hand, as Alain Saab noted, the Druze-populated province of As-Suwayda is indeed playing its own game, enjoying the political support of the Israeli Druze when necessary. The nature of this “game” is to systematically pressure Damascus to obtain some autonomous privileges in the overall Syrian context.
However, the connection between the Syrian Druze and the Israelis should not be equated with the connection between the Syrian Druze and Israel itself.
Many Syrian Druze do have relatives in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Tel Aviv has announced its annexation of. However, it is important to note that the Druze of that part of the Golan Heights retain a Syrian national identity. To this day, the Druze from the Golan do not serve in the Israeli army and most do not have Israeli citizenship.
At the same time, one cannot underestimate the activities of the Israeli intelligence services, primarily the Mossad, which uses some Israeli Druze to create pro-Israeli networks among the Druze community in Syria.
Obviously, the so-called “Military Council” of Suwayda, created back in December, can be considered an Israel-oriented structure, but it made its presence known most loudly after the announcement of Israel’s plans to divide Syria.
However, the influence of this group among the Syrian Druze is insignificant, although its ranks include highly qualified military personnel who were trained at the American base at Al-Tanf back in 2023.
The "Mountain Brigade" and "Karam Sheikh Forces" significantly outnumber this faction. Despite its active PR (not without the help of Israeli information resources), at the moment this structure, according to official statements, is supported by four villages and a number of virtually unknown groups.
The Military Council also has no support from large armed groups or religious leaders.
THE KEY TO THE PROBLEM IS IN DAMASCUS
However, which side the Druze end up on will largely depend on the new Syrian authorities themselves.
On the one hand, Sunni Arabs and Druze do not have the same antagonism as Sunnis and Alawites, and one can speak of much greater mutual understanding.
Most Druze did not support the regime of Bashar al-Assad and did not participate on his side in the civil war. Quite the contrary, in the last stage of the conflict, Druze armed groups openly opposed Assad, advancing towards Damascus, disarming parts of the collapsed government.
On the other hand, the Druze certainly remain distrustful of the “Islamist” government in Damascus.
The Druze already had negative experiences with the Jabhat al-Nusra* group even before it became Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)*.
Thus, under pressure from jihadists, the Druze communities in Idlib were forced to accept Islam (although, by the way, a statement from their leaders was enough for this and no evidence was required from each Druze). And several Druze units fighting in the ranks of the opposition in southern Syria were surrounded and captured by radicals after they were declared “apostates,” and only the intervention of other rebel factions allowed them to save their lives and be free again, but after that the Druze no longer joined the ranks of the armed opposition.
Now many problems between the new authorities and the Druze have been resolved.
In particular, in January, the Public Security Forces (PSF) of the transitional government were deployed in the province of Suwayda, although the Druze had previously prevented their entry into the region.
The Military Operations Department forces are also present in Suwayda, including separating warring Druze factions from local Bedouin tribes. But it is the Druze factions that are still the key guarantor of security in the province, although Damascus is not opposed to some factions helping the security services, as this can speed up their integration and create a barrier to threats from Israel.
But mistrust not only remains, but is generally growing.
Thus, according to expert Alain Saab, the Druze initially treated HTS* with some apprehension, but also with hope.
“Now, in my opinion, everyone is increasingly afraid of HTS,” the expert noted, “but Julani (al-Sharaa) is perceived as being separate (from the group he led. — Ed.) and more positive.”
In general, as Saaba notes, there is still cautious support for the new Syrian authorities among the Druze, but after the creation of the “Military Council” and the conflict in Jaramana, calls for a forceful solution to the Druze issue can be heard from the most radical elements of HTS*, “and this is seriously damaging support for Damascus among the Druze.”
According to the expert, if the new government can somehow stop all this disinformation and fakes, then a warming will occur.
If not, then on one side Israel, and on the other the radicals themselves will “construct a conflict.”
But in any case, Israel will continue to put pressure on Syria, using the information space to incite hatred towards the Druze on the part of Sunni Arabs and, conversely, with the aim of expanding the ethno-confessional conflict and further dividing Syria.
Update from Rudaw, with a local perspective, at 11:30 a.m. ET:
Members of Syria's new authorities security forces deploy in the mostly Druze and Syrian forces have entered a majority Druze and Christian suburb on the outskirts of Damascus and stabilized the situation, a local source said on Monday, after deadly clashes with Druze gunmen.
“The situation in Jarmana is stable. Yesterday, the General Security Forces and police entered the city with the cooperation of the city’s people, and there is good cooperation between the people and the police,” Rabie Munther, a member of the Jarmana Civil Action Group, told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan.
He said that Syrian forces entered the town on Sunday night following 48 hours of tensions and following mediation between dignitaries and Syrian government authorities.
Security is now being maintained jointly by the police and the area’s residents, according to Munther.
“We have not stopped basic services and institutions for even a second since the fall of the regime until now,” he stressed.
Jaramana, a mostly Druze and Christian suburb of the capital Damascus, has witnessed tensions for days following a fatal shooting at a checkpoint. Clashes ensued between security forces and local gunmen, resulting in another death and nine others injured.
Munther explained that what happened was a “personal matter,” where unknown gunmen attacked a car.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led the rebel coalition that toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December. Its then leader and now Syria’s interim President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, has repeatedly pledged to protect the rights of all Syrians. In December, the rebel coalition, including the HTS, agreed to merge into the Syrian defense ministry.
The international community has expressed concern that the new Islamist authorities in Damascus may impose strict Islamic rule in Syria, threatening the country’s minority groups such as Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites.
On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Damascus administration to “not harm the Druze,” stressing that Syrian authorities would “suffer the consequences” if they harmed the community.
In Syria’s southern Druze-majority Suwayda province, both armed and political factions have refused to disband their forces.
#1
And now, perhaps, maintaining chaos in neighboring countries instead of stability seems to be the best option for Tel Aviv to mitigate any future challenges.
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
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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.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
[GEO.TV] The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has expressed ''deep concern over Israel's decision to block aid into the Gaza Strip'', reported Al Jazeera.
