[APNEWS] Congo's government and Rwanda-backed rebels are meeting in the Gulf Arab state of 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... for much-anticipated talks in a renewed push for peace in the conflict-battered eastern Congo, where the Death Eaters have seized vast territory, officials said Thursday.
The decades-long conflict escalated in January, when the M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic eastern Congolese city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu in February. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and raised the fears of a wider regional war.
According to officials from both sides, the delegations from Congo's government and the M23 rebel group also met on Wednesday in Doha, Qatar's capital. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations.
The talks follow a recent Qatar-facilitated meeting between Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Doha and failed efforts by neighboring countries to get both parties to return to dialogue and recommit themselves to a peace deal they each accuse the other of violating.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2025 00:00 ||
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[11131 views]
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[IsraelTimes] Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk pens witness statement falsely asserting Oct. 7 onslaught was directed only at military; no immediate comment from government
Senior Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... official Moussa Abu Marzouk has submitted a lengthy witness statement to a British court, arguing that London should end its proscription of Hamas as a terror group.
The Paleostinian group claims to be "a Paleostinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Paleostine and confront the Zionist project," in a filing reported by the Drop Site News outlet.
Hamas openly seeks to destroy Israel, regularly attempts to kill Israeli civilians, and, on October 7, 2023, led an invasion by thousands of gunnies who systematically killed and kidnapped Israelis of all ages, including civilians at their homes and at a music festival, as well as British nationals.
In his statement, submitted on Wednesday, Abu Marzouk claimed the onslaught was solely directed at military targets, falsely asserting that the targeting of civilians that day was marginal or done mainly by non-Hamas members.
He accused Britannia of complicity in the Israeli "genocide" against Paleostinians by arming Israel, and claimed the group poses no threat to the United Kingdom.
Marzouk also stressed that "Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Paleostine, from the river to the sea" — a demand that necessitates the eradication of Israel.
A legal team from Riverway Law representing Hamas pro bono — since it would be illegal to receive money from the group — argued that since Britannia has a duty to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity, and since Hamas "is the only effective military force resisting — and seeking to end and prevent — the ongoing acts of genocide and crimes against humanity being committed by the Zionist State against the Paleostinians 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... ," it should drop Hamas from the terrorism list, Drop Site reported.
The lawyers also claimed that while Hamas’s actions fit the definition of "terrorism" in British law, so do those of the IDF, the Ukrainian army, and even the British military.
Hamas and other terror groups are still holding 59 of the hostages kidnapped on October 7. Hostage-taking is a crime against humanity under international conventions.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 50,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 gunnies inside Israel on October 7.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
The Home Office told The Guardian newspaper that it does not comment on proscribing cases.
Britannia’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel of the opposition Conservative party said: "Hamas is an evil Iranian-backed terrorist organization, which kidnaps, tortures and murders people, including British nationals," the Guardian reported.
"They pose an ongoing threat to our security and to the peace and stability of the Middle East and they have weapons and training facilities that put lives at risk and threaten our interests. They show no respect for human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , life and dignity and have oppressed people living in Gaza for too long."
In November 2021 the UK designated all of Hamas an "Islamist terrorist group," warning that its members and those who support the group could face stiff jail terms. The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, had been banned in Britannia since 2001 but the interior ministry extended the measures to its political entities as well.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] The demonstration to high school students and university students of the corpse of a participant in the attack on security forces killed in Achkhoy-Martan came into conflict with the norms of Islam and common sense; with such actions, the authorities are promoting cruelty and traumatizing the psyche of young people, human rights activists and a Caucasus expert pointed out.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", one security officer was killed and at least two were wounded as a result of an attack by a man armed with a knife on traffic police officers in Achkhoy-Martan. The minor attacker was killed by "return fire". His photo was distributed on April 9 by the Chechen state television and radio company "Grozny", and Telegram channels opposed to the Chechen authorities published video footage, which, as they claimed, showed the body of the killed participant in the attack lying on the ground. The body was brought for display to the public sector employees, students and high school students who were forcibly collected from the administration in the morning.
Ramzan Kadyrov announced on April 8 that the attacker had come to the republic for Eid al-Fitr from Moscow. Despite the fact that the man lived in another region, a controversial decision was made to expel his relatives from Chechnya and confiscate their property. Threats were also made to distant relatives of the attacker. A Chechen opposition Telegram channel reported that security forces had detained all of the attacker's relatives, including his underage cousins. The "Caucasian Knot" prepared a report on how Kadyrov has tightened collective responsibility in Chechnya.
The rally over the body of the murdered man in Achkhoy-Martan was commented on for the "Caucasian Knot" by the chairperson of the "Civil Accord" committee* Svetlana Gannushkina, the press secretary of the Assembly of Chechens in Europe Shamil Albakov, as well as a human rights activist who is well acquainted with the realities of Chechnya, and a Russian expert on the Caucasus, who wished to remain anonymous.
Such demonstrations by the authorities, like in Achkhoy-Martan, certainly do not evoke approval from the population; rather, they may have the opposite effect - an increase in protest sentiments, the human rights activist pointed out. "This act is savagery, medieval. The organizers of this show are completely sick in the head. This will not lead to anything good. This is a demonstration and propaganda of cruelty," he said.
"This is the savagery and cruelty that children are taught. Of course, this is trauma for children. And the bitterness will find an outlet. The authorities are taking a risk, but they hope that they will not be the target," said Svetlana Gannushkina.
The authorities ordered public sector employees and high school students to participate in a rally in the center of Achkhoy-Martan on the morning of April 9, where the body of a man killed in an attack on security forces was brought, eyewitnesses said.
At the rally, officials also stated that the criminal's family would be expelled from the republic, and the attacker's body would not be given to relatives for burial. Security forces and administration employees did not allow anyone to leave the rally, despite the fact that several women lost consciousness and children were shocked by what was happening - these and other unique testimonies from local residents were published in the "Caucasian Knot" article from 06.49 on April 10.
Neither Islamic law nor adats allow the display of the body of a dead person, even an enemy, the Caucasus expert pointed out. "The deceased is probably considered a Muslim after all. It is very bad, of course, to mock the body. Any person should be buried, even if there are hostile feelings towards him. But mocking a corpse - I do not know of such adats," he said.
There are no customs in Islam, as far as the Caucasus expert knows, when a ruler would declare punishment of the entire clan for the crime of one person. "Blood feud can only be declared by relatives of the murdered person. If we are talking about expulsion from the country or from the republic, then this is clearly not blood feud. Of course, the jamaat can expel the criminal. But, firstly, this is a custom that has not been practiced for a long time. Secondly, after all, it is the jamaat that decides, and not those people who have no relation to the jamaat," he explained.
Gathering people and putting a corpse on display is blasphemy and mockery of the population, Shamil Albakov is sure. "No adats or principles of the Islamic religion, no other principles, no legislation in the civilized world allows this. Even mockery of the corpses of enemies is condemned where there is a war," Albakov emphasized.
In his opinion, as a result of such actions by the authorities, the residents of Chechnya are unlikely to become even more intimidated, rather the opposite.
The population of Chechnya has simply been driven to despair and hatred.
"The population has already been driven to despair, to hatred and hostility. It can be seen in the eyes, in the reactions of these people, women who are crying, cursing everyone for what is happening. But the population today is also completely defenseless and completely deprived of any prospects for help or support from the outside," said Albakov.
Punishment of close and distant relatives of the perpetrator of a crime is not permitted by any laws or customs, he confirmed. "Taking away relatives, punishing them for the actions of a minor member of their family - according to all principles and laws, this is prohibited, unacceptable. But representatives of the authorities in Chechnya do this, they are proud of it, they boast that they resort to precisely such mocking methods to control the population of the Chechen Republic," Albakov complained.
At the same time, he stressed that he does not approve of attacks on security forces in Chechnya. "Of course, no one is calling for such actions. It is wrong to do this," he said.
#3
"Europe is lost! America must cease all contact with degenerate globalist sharia court of Xerxes and make nice (from safe intercontinental distance, of course) with Fortress Russia, Muslimenrein bastion of Orthodoxy, guardian of glorious Caucasian future!" [Kadyrov: "Your winnings, sir."]
But seriously, the demographics aren't looking great over there (in Russia proper) either.
[IsraelTimes] The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Iranian oil trading networks, including on a China-based crude oil storage terminal linked via a pipeline to an independent refinery, just days before direct talks between the US and Iran.
The US imposes sanctions on Guangsha Zhoushan Energy Group Co, Ltd, which it says operates a crude oil and petroleum products terminal on Huangzeshan Island in Zhoushan, China. The terminal knowingly engages with acquiring oil from Iran, and is directly connected through the Huangzeshan–Yushan Undersea Oil Pipeline to an independent refinery known as a “teapot” plant, the US State Department says.
“The United States remains focused on disrupting all elements of Iran’s oil exports, particularly those who seek to profit from this trade,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.
The terminal has acquired Iranian crude oil at least nine times between 2021 and 2025, including from US-sanctioned vessels, and has imported at least 13 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, it says.
China, the largest importer of Iranian oil, does not recognize US sanctions. China and Iran have built a trading system that uses mostly Chinese yuan and a network of middlemen, avoiding the dollar and exposure to US regulators.
The Chinese embassy in Washington does not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in response to a sanction on a teapot refinery last month, a spokesperson said: “China has always been firmly opposed to illegal and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdiction by the US.”
[IsraelTimes] While both the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats support the Jewish state, the future allies will need to find common ground on arms sales, UNRWA, an ICC warrant and more
German election winner Friedrich Merz sealed a deal Wednesday to form a new government bringing together his conservative Christian Democratic Union-led bloc and the center-left Social Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... , after accelerated negotiations reportedly driven by concerns over US trade tariffs and gaining far-right popularity.
The deal aims to spur economic growth, ramp up defense spending, take a tougher approach to migration and catch up on long-neglected modernization, but behind the agreement lie policy divisions between the factions that could impact the future of Germany’s relationship with Israel, including military exports and funding for the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees, UNRWA.
Before Merz can take the helm, the coalition deal needs approval in a ballot of the Social Democrats’ membership and by a convention on April 28 of Merz’s CDU, which ran in a joint bloc with the Christian Social Union party in Germany’s February 23 election.
That election marked a significant rightward shift for the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... ’s most populous country, with the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, coming in second place with over 20 percent of the vote. The results left Merz with little choice but to deal with the Social Democrats, or SPD. He ruled out an alliance with the AfD, citing its ties to right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and racism.
Recent polls showed the AfD gaining on CDU/CSU as talks dragged on, adding impetus for Merz to clinch an agreement quickly even if it meant papering over policy differences with SPD.
Both the CDU/CSU and SPD have traditionally maintained support for Israel, though the latter has been more critical of Israeli government policies.
"Historically, certain factions within the SPD have been more supportive of the Paleostinian cause and have taken a more critical stance toward Israel, particularly regarding its right-wing to far-right government," said Prof. Stephan Marschall, a senior political scientist at Heinrich Heine University. "On the other hand, [CDU/CSU] traditionally has aligned more closely with Israel’s security concerns."
Experts warn that recent trends could widen that wedge, exacerbating tensions between Jerusalem and Berlin.
"The fragile situation 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... , coupled with Israel’s ongoing settlement policy, could reinforce the SPD’s critical stance toward the Israeli government and its actions," he told The Times of Israel. "This perspective challenges Germany’s traditionally strong and largely unconditional support for Israel, prompting debates over whether Berlin should adopt a more nuanced approach."
GUNS AND BUTTER
During negotiations, which had initially been slated to wrap up sometime after Easter, one of the most contentious issues between the parties regarded proposed reforms to Germany’s military export policy toward Israel.
Currently, arms sales must be approved by the Federal Security Council, but CDU/CSU had sought to remove the hurdle as it pursues a relationship in which Israel’s security is a German "reason of state," a term used to denote Berlin’s special commitment to Israel in the wake of the Holocaust.
"Lifting export restrictions on arms deliveries to Israel for self-defense could have resulted in much stronger military support," Marschall said.
However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the SPD rejected the changes, insisting that military exports should remain subject to strict oversight, which some saw as a reflection of its reluctance to arm the Jewish state. In 2024, Merz accused Germany’s SPD-led government of halting arms exports to Israel.
Though former chancellor Olaf Scholz denied any such policy, government data showed that arms exports to Israel fell by half from 2023 to 2024 and the reported halt in weapons sales fueled unease regarding SPD’s leadership among many in Germany’s Jewish community.
"In terms of what we expected from Germany, there was quite a bit of disappointment, this included the UN votes, the secret embargo [on arms sales], and many other steps that disappointed people," said Jacob Horowitz, a former board member of the Jewish Student Union of Germany.
The coalition agreement sealed Wednesday omits any mention of reforms to defense exports, indicating that Federal Security Council oversight will remain in place.
However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... Jeremy Issacharoff, a former Israeli ambassador to Germany, signaled confidence that defense trade between the countries would remain strong.
"Agreements on major defense projects, such as the procurement of Arrow 3 from Israel and submarines from Germany, will likely continue," he said.
The sides had also sparred over funding for UNRWA, which provides humanitarian aid and other services to Paleostinian refugees in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... In 2023, Germany was the second largest donor to the agency behind the US, sending it over $200 million. In January 2024, Berlin joined others in suspending aid after Israel published evidence showing that several UNRWA employees had taken part in the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... attack, but restored the funding months later.
The SPD has supported continuing funding for UNRWA and even condemned Israel’s decision to pass laws attempting to curtail the agency’s activities in the West Bank and Gaza. But the CDU/CSU has raised concerns about keeping the spigot on, citing the UN agency’s alleged antisemitism and links to the Hamas terror group.
Wednesday’s agreement contains something of a compromise on the issue, conditioning future support on "comprehensive reforms," but leaving significant room for ambiguity on what those reforms may entail.
Marschall predicted that Germany’s support for UNRWA would likely remain unchanged under Merz.
"Germany had a strong commitment to multilateralism and the role of the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... , which suggested that, despite the discussion, support for UNRWA was unlikely to be fully withdrawn," he said.
TWO-STANCE DANCE
Issacharoff emphasized that both parties are committed to Israel’s security, in official positions repeatedly voiced by their leaders.
But he warned that ties could fray in response to actions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, should it pursue moves that undermine a two-state solution to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict, such as advocating for the annexation of Gaza or expanding Israeli authority in the West Bank
Such tensions, he noted, "could... create significant challenges for the new German chancellor."
The coalition agreement includes a commitment to continue pushing for Paleostinian statehood, which had been a central SPD demand.
"The viable perspective for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Paleostinians is a negotiated two-state solution," the text reads.
Responsibility for Germany’s foreign affairs will fall to the CDU; both candidates for foreign minister are considered to have strong pro-Israel records. SPD’s Boris Pistorius, also considered a strong friend of Israel, will stay on in his role as Germany’s defense chief.
The CDU’s hold on the Foreign Ministry will likely be viewed as good news for Netanyahu.
On February 24, a day after coming in first place in the election, Merz sparked controversy by inviting Netanyahu to Germany, publicly stating that the prime minister would not be arrested despite a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges related to the fighting in Gaza.
Following the invite, SPD leaders and other politicians accused Merz of disregarding international law, another point of contention in the coalition talks.
"Respect for international law is a key concern for all parties involved in the coalition talks and has been explicitly emphasized in the draft version of the coalition agreement—especially at a time when a major democratic global power such as the United States has questioned aspects of international law," Marschall said. "Regarding the Middle East, the central debate is about whether, and to what extent, the Israeli government is violating international law."
What remains to be seen is to what extent the coalition agreement will actually guide German policy toward Israel, especially on particularly sticky issues like settlements and the war in Gaza.
In these cases, compromise was reached by "softening the language in the final agreement while maintaining key buzzwords," said Marschall. "This allowed both sides to uphold their positions without jeopardizing the broader coalition negotiations."
Just what @TheNotoriousMMA was on about. The EU has told the Irish government they MUST continue to take in freeloading fake asylum seekers. The Angelus bell is being replaced with the Islamic call to prayer @Editorialzhttps://t.co/l0WSQlHnOh
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, approximately 38.6 million US Americans identified as being of Irish descent. While Ireland itself only has around 5.12 million people.
I'm sure the US Beer and Whiskey Corporations would support it?
AH!!!! But if Ireland were made the 51st state, the Old Leadership is Kaput. The 51st State would have to adhere to the 1965 civil rights act and etc...
An, it would be an opportunity to correct a 1000 years of misguided hate.
[IsraelTimes] Mark Carney asserts he did not hear the word ‘genocide’ and was ‘stating a fact in terms of the arms restrictions’ that Canada has imposed on Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday condemned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for appearing to support a protester’s claim that Israel is committing genocide 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... during its ongoing war against the Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... terror group.
"Instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, [Carney] attacks the one and only Jewish state," wrote Netanyahu on X, urging his Canadian counterpart to "backtrack [his] irresponsible statement!"
The post replied to a video showing Carney at a Tuesday night rally in Calgary, where he responded to a protester in the crowd who yelled, "Mr. Carney, there is a genocide happening in Paleostine," by pausing and saying: "Thank you...I’m aware. Which is why we have an arms embargo."
At a campaign stop in Calgary on Wednesday, Carney clarified his remarks, saying that he had not heard the word "genocide," and was only "stating a fact in terms of the arms restrictions," according to CBC.
He explained that during the noisy rally ahead of the April 28 election, "You hear snippets of what people say and I heard Gaza, and my point was I’m aware of the situation in Gaza."
Ottawa announced in March 2024 a stop to all future arms exports to Israel, in a motion that was part of a larger vote calling on the international community to work toward a two-state solution to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Paleostinians, in line with Canadian government policy.
In September, Canada suspended some 30 permits for arms shipments to Israel.
Carney, a former central banker and the new leader of the Liberal Party, was sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister in March. He replaced Justin Trudeau ...hereditary prime minister of the Great White North... , first elected as premier in 2015, who Jewish leaders heavily criticized for his stances on the Gaza war and handling of the surging antisemitism in Canada following the Hamas-led atrocities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
[FoxNews] Lt. Gen John D. Caine will be the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs who was not a four-star and the first to come out of retirement to fill the role
The Senate has voted to confirm the general who told President Donald Trump that ISIS could be eradicated "very quickly" with loosened rules of engagement during his first term to the role of chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
The vote came in the wee hours of Friday morning after Democrats rejected a GOP attempt to quickly confirm Caine on Thursday and get out of town.
The vote tally was 60 to 25, with 15 Democrats supporting the Trump nominee.
An Air Force F-16 pilot by background, Caine will be the first National Guard general to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Trump plucked him from retirement to reactivate and serve as his top military advisor after firing Gen. C.Q. Brown in February.
Brown had been behind a 2022 memo laying out diversity goals for the Air Force.
Caine will be the first Joint Chiefs chairman who was not a four-star and the first to come out of retirement to fill the role. He hasn’t been a combatant commander or service chief, meaning Trump had to grant him a waiver to serve in the role.
Caine acknowledged his unconventional nomination during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee: "In our family, we serve. When asked, we always say yes. Senators, I acknowledge that I'm an unconventional nominee. These are unconventional times."
Precisely so.
He worked as the associate director of military affairs for the CIA from 2021 to 2024 and founded a regional airline in Texas. He was a White House fellow at the Agriculture Department and a counterterrorism specialist on the White House’s Homeland Security Council.
Caine was among a group of military leaders who met with the president in December 2018 at the Al Asad airbase in Iraq. Trump was there to deliver a Christmas message and hear from commanders on the ground, and there Caine told Trump they could defeat ISIS quickly with a surge of resources and a lifting of restrictions on engagement.
We’re only hitting them from a temporary base in Syria,'" Trump said Caine told him. "'But if you gave us permission, we could hit them from the back, from the side, from all over – from the base that you’re right on, right now, sir. They won’t know what the hell hit them.'"
Trump had claimed Caine was wearing a red MAGA hat the first time he met him – a claim Caine repeatedly denied during the hearing.
"Sir, for 34 years, I've upheld my oath of office and my commitment to my commission, and I have never worn any political merchandise," Caine told Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.
Trump, when he picked Caine, praised him as "an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience."
Caine vowed his duty would be to advise the president on defense considerations without any political influence.
The role, he said, "starts with being a good example from the top and making sure that we are nonpartisan and apolitical and speaking the truth to power," Caine said.
Trump's first chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, has now become a top foe – the president recently stripped him of his security clearance and had his portrait taken down at the Pentagon.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
04/11/2025 04:55 ||
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[IsraelTimes] US president says Chabad-linked Yehuda Kaploun, who was a fundraiser and campaign surrogate for him, ‘will be the strongest Representative for Americans and Jews across the Globe’
Not an important role in general, even more so since most of President Trump’s appointments agree that Jew-hate is unacceptable.
#2
I think the Biden appointee for this was Deborah Lipstadt. She was a decent research academic but utterly incapable of understanding the dynamic of organized antisemitism that existed then and still exists in the USA (and even worse elsewhere).
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
04/11/2025 8:52 Comments ||
Top||
#3
You remember correctly, Lord Garth. Wikipedia But she was fighting against an administration who only liked a certain kind of Jew, and disliked Israel — so she got to make her noises, but not to be effective even were she the effective type. Generally speaking, it’s a figurehead post.
[People Magazine] A similar article popped up on the wife's iPad, while I was looking for the comics.
The Trump administration has entered the names of over 6,300 mostly Latino immigrants into the Social Security Administration's "Death Master File" database, rendering them ineligible for benefits
The latest move was created to "remove the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay, we will encourage them to self-deport," Elizabeth Huston, a White House spokeswoman, said
Oh, the horror!
The Social Security Administration has entered the names of over 6,300 mostly Latino immigrants into a database that tracks people who have died, according to The New York Times, The Washington Post and CBS News.
The Trump administration is targeting immigrants who have Social Security numbers but have lost their legal status in the U.S. — including those who entered under former President Joe Biden’s temporary work programs. This prevents those impacted from being able to receive Medicaid, Medicare, unemployment insurance, federal loans or other benefits. Alternate headline: Trump Moves to Prevent Illegal Aliens from Illegally Collecting Benefits Illegally Provided to Them by the Previous Administration.
Little wonder the Left and the Right can't converse. I hate the media.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/11/2025 10:19 ||
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[11132 views]
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#1
This move will destroy their incentive to retire to Belize on our dime.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/11/2025 12:59 Comments ||
Top||
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] An American billionaire who was sued by families of Hamas victims and accused of aiding the October 7 terror attack has stepped down from his role at Harvard.
Bashar Masri was sued in Washington DC by almost 200 families, who allege he allowed Hamas militants to construct elaborate tunnels underneath his developments in Gaza to 'store and launch its rockets at Israel.'
More that he is currently being sued for partnering with Hamas to build that infrastructure with USAID and other donated funds due to a hatred of Israel that has has burnt hot since he was a lad throwing stones at IDF soldiers in Nablus.
This infrastructure was crucial to carrying out their sick attack, which left 1,200 dead and sparked the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Masri, once named one of 'the world's greatest leaders' and known for his humanitarian efforts in Gaza, has denied the allegations and dismissed the lawsuit as baseless.
But on Thursday it was revealed he had stepped down from his role on the Dean's Council at the famed Ivy League institution amid the ongoing saga.
'Mr. Masri has resigned from the Dean's Council,' a spokesperson for the Kennedy School of Government told the New York Post.
'The lawsuit raises serious allegations that should be vetted and addressed through the legal process.'
Interesting that the speaker doesn’t bother to protest that Mr. Masri is innocent until proven guilty.
The Dean's Council 'comprises leaders from various sectors who believe in improving public policy and public leadership around the globe,' Harvard says.
[APNEWS] A federal judge is allowing the Trump administration to move forward with a requirement that everyone in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government, in a move that could have far-reaching repercussions for immigrants colonists across the country.
In a ruling Thursday, Judge Trevor Neil McFadden sided with the administration, which had argued that they were simply enforcing an already existing requirement for everyone in the country who wasn't an American citizen to register with the government.
The requirement goes into effect Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security announced Feb. 25 that it was mandating that all people in the United States illegally register with the federal government, and said those who didn't self-report could face fines or prosecution. Failure to register is considered a crime, and people will be required to carry registration documents with them or risk prison time and fines.
Registration will be mandatory for everyone 14 and older without legal status. People registering have to provide their fingerprints and address, and parents and guardians of anyone under age 14 must ensure they registered.
[DailyCaller] The Trump administration is revoking the parole of thousands of immigrants who they have found to have criminal records or to be on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center watchlist, a senior White House official told the Daily Caller.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has identified 6,300 individuals who were paroled into the United States since 2023, during the Biden administration, but are on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center or have a criminal record, a senior White House official shared with the Caller. The source was granted anonymity to discuss the details not yet announced. Every individual CBP identified is having their parole, which gives them benefits such as work authorization, stripped immediately, the official told the Caller.
“Among the 6.3k paroled aliens with criminal or terrorist records, 905 were collecting Medicaid (including 4 on the terrorist watch list). $276,000 was paid out,” the official shared with the Caller, adding that all had Social Security numbers. “41 were collecting Unemployment Insurance, receiving $42,000 in benefits. 22 received federal student loans totaling $280,000.”
Other immigrants granted parole under the Biden administration have also had their benefits stripped by the Trump White House. In March, termination notices started being delivered to hundreds of thousands of migrants who entered the United States through a fraud-ridden parole program launched by the Biden administration. The program, CHNV, was terminated by the Trump administration last month.
Under the initiative, half-a-million migrants were flown in from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela over the past several years.
[IsraelTimes] A Pakistani-born Canadian businessman accused of helping to orchestrate the 2008 attacks in Mumbai,
…ten terrorists rampaged through to the city and kept many hostage in various hotels and a Chabad House before killing 166, including the rabbi, his wife, and several of their children. The horror lasted nearly 60 hours before Mumbai police gunned down the bad guys. The lone surviving terrorist, Ajmal Kasab sang like a canary, was found guilty and subsequently hanged a few years later at a jail in Pune...
one of India’s deadliest, arrives in New Delhi after the US extradited him in the first such transfer in a terrorism case.
Tahawwur Rana,
Mr. Rana is accused by the Indian government of participating in the planning and execution of the Lashkar terrorist attacks in Mumbai by collaborating with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley, also known as "Daood Gilani," and others. He was convicted in 2011 of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba, which planned the Mumbai terror attack and for supporting a never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed (PTUI!) in 2005. Specifically, he was accused of allowing David Coleman Headley to open a branch of his Chicago-based immigration law business in Mumbai as a cover story and to travel as a representative of the company in Denmark…
64, a doctor-turned-businessman, is extradited in connection with the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 160 people, including 6 Israelis at the city’s Chabad center.
“The National Investigation Agency on Thursday successfully secured the extradition…after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring the key conspirator…to justice,” says NIA, India’s anti-terror agency.
He is accompanied back by Indian security agencies after his petitions challenging the extradition were rejected by the US Supreme Court.
Rana’s extradition is a “great success” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s diplomacy, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday.
“It is the responsibility of the Indian government to bring back all those who have abused the land and people of India,” he posted on X.
[APNEWS] U.S. President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... 's administration has reversed new cutoffs in emergency food aid to several nations but maintained them in Afghanistan and 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... , two of the world's poorest and most war-ravaged countries, according to the State Department and officials who spoke to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
It marks the latest round of abrupt cancellations of foreign aid contracts run through the U.S. Agency for International Development and equally sudden reversals. The whipsawing moves come as the Republican administration and Trump adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency dismantle USAID and dramatically reduce foreign assistance, asserting that the spending is wasteful and advances liberal causes.
The United States over the weekend sent notices terminating funding for U.N. World Food Program emergency programs in more than a dozen countries. Aid officials warned that the cuts could threaten the lives of millions of refugees and other vulnerable people, stressing the risks of further destabilizing regions ridden by conflicts.
The State Department confirmed Wednesday that it had reversed those cuts in Somalia, Syria, Leb ...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects.... , Jordan, Iraq and Ecuador. It said it would keep the cancellations for Afghanistan and Yemen but left the fate of food aid in six other unidentified nations unclear.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[IsraelTimes] Freed hostage Agam Berger describes observing the Passover holiday last year while being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and how keeping her Jewish faith helped her endure the hardships of captivity, in an op-ed published today for the Wall Street Journal.
“Even as Hamas tried to coerce me into converting to Islam — at times, forcing a hijab on my head — they couldn’t take away my soul,” writes Berger in the piece.
“Our faith and covenant with God, the story we remember on Passover, is more powerful than any cruel captor,” says Berger.
Berger, 20, says that throughout her 428 days in captivity, she chose to observe every Jewish fast that she could, refusing certain foods to keep kosher, and “chose not to light a fire on Shabbat to cook for my captors.”
“They stopped letting me cook altogether once they realized it was something I enjoyed,” she adds.
Berger writes that last Passover, she and fellow hostage Liri Albag, who was released with Berger, marked the holiday together “in a small room with no natural light.”
Berger says they tidied up the room and decorated with small scraps of paper, and that Liri surprised Berger by writing her “a makeshift Passover Haggadah, the text that recounts our ancestors’ journey out of slavery.”
The two women, along with Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy, were kidnapped from the IDF’s Nahal Oz military base on October 7, 2023, and released by the terror group in late January as part of a hostage-ceasefire deal that has since collapsed.
”While I will celebrate this holiday with my family, it won’t yet be full. There are 59 hostages still held in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. This is their second Passover in chains of iron. We can’t allow a third,” Berger continues.
“We are commanded to remember the Exodus every day. This demands that we continue our efforts to bring home our captive brothers, and to fight to ensure the atrocities of that autumn Sabbath never occur again,” she says.
[IsraelTimes] Internal communications released in lawsuit show newsroom was informed of freelancer’s work for pro-terror media in 2018, but continued to employ him
The News Agency that Dare Not be Named was told that a photographer it employed 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... was connected to Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... in 2018 and doubted his reliability, years before the news agency cut ties with the freelancer due to controversy about his work during the October 2023 invasion of Israel, according to documents released in a US lawsuit on Tuesday.
The AP has pushed back against the claims, calling the lawsuit "baseless," saying the correspondence between its staff was mischaracterized, and highlighting that the news agency stopped accepting the photographer’s work shortly into the war. The photographer, Hassan Eslaiah, was targeted and maimed in an Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... this week, with the IDF saying he was a Hamas member.
Eslaiah entered Israel during the October 7, 2023, massacre, photographing Gazooks, some of them armed, as they stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit communities that day. He also took a picture of Gazooks atop a burning tank next to the destroyed Gaza border fence. A video and photos from the scene showed him next to the tank, though no press credentials could be seen on him.
After the attack, pro-Israel advocates suggested that Eslaiah and other photographers working for the international media had had foreknowledge of the Hamas invasion, without providing evidence, causing huge controversy. An image also surfaced showing Eslaiah embracing the late Hamas terror chief Yahya Sinwar in 2020. The AP denied that the photographers knew about the attack ahead of time, but said it was cutting ties with Eslaiah in November 2023. Eslaiah’s pictures from October 7 were removed from the AP’s distribution feed, though other photographs remain.
In February 2024, a number of survivors of the Hamas attack and the families of victims sued the AP in a US federal court in Florida, accusing the agency of being complicit in the invasion by working with freelancers embedded with terrorists, including Eslaiah. They are being represented by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, which charged the AP with "funding and substantially supporting a terrorist organization" by purchasing images from the October 7 attack.
"AP has long been on notice of their freelancer’s Hamas connections, and chose to ignore those connections," the lawsuit said. "AP knew, or at the very least should have known, through simple due diligence, that the people they were paying were longstanding Hamas affiliates, propagandists, and full participants in the terrorist attack that they were also documenting." The lawsuit argued that Eslaiah’s connections to Hamas granted him access to photograph the invasion and other Hamas operations.
After the lawsuit was filed, AP called the case "baseless" and said that none of its freelancers had foreknowledge of the attack.
Filings in the lawsuit released on Tuesday showed that AP staff had been informed of Eslaiah’s Hamas ties in 2018, though, and worried about his reliability.
The two sides waged a legal battle over the release of the documents. Lawyers for the AP opposed their release, saying the materials were confidential, but a judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, allowing for the redacted documents’ public release this week.
In 2018, the pro-Israel media watchdog CAMERA questioned the AP about an article on the shooting of a boy in Gaza. The shooting was attributed to Israel, using Eslaiah’s reporting to corroborate the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry claims and describing Eslaiah as a "local journalist." CAMERA’s Israel director, Tamar Sternthal, asked the AP staff which outlets Eslaiah worked for, the emails showed.
"I don’t know. I’ll check. I was told he is independent and reliable and not Hamas," an AP staffer said in response. The AP email addresses in the documents were redacted.
Sternthal responded with information about Eslaiah, including a link to the Electronic Intifada website, saying that Eslaiah was a camera operator with the Hamas-affiliated Quds TV. CAMERA also reviewed Eslaiah’s social media and said that he openly identified with Hamas’s politics, praised terrorism, backed the murder of Israelis and made anti-Jewish statements.
"They have sent an entire file on the journalist we quoted, saying he is from Hamas media. Is this stuff accurate? I thought you said he is independent," one of the AP staffers said in the internal email chain.
"The most important thing to me is that our reporting is accurate. Hassan is a freelancer, he is active on several platforms and mostly quotes, shares or reposts stuff from different sources," another staffer said in response, indicating the AP was aware of Hassan’s posts.
"Frankly speaking, many local journalists here don’t pay attention to their language," they said.
"We shouldn’t describe someone from al-Quds as being an independent journalist," another staffer said, adding that the news agency should seek another corroboration for their report. "I just want to shut them up once and for all," they said of CAMERA.
"I still think we need to be careful. [Redacted] describes this guy as independent and reliable. I’m not sure he is either," another email said.
CAMERA previously said it had informed the AP about Eslaiah’s Hamas links, but the documents released this week were the first view of the newsroom’s internal response, including the fact that staff doubted Eslaiah’s reliability.
The documents released this week also showed a text message chain from December 2023, after the controversy over Eslaiah’s photographs of the October 7 attack. The messages, from a WhatsApp chat, show AP staff discussing Gaza freelancers. The names and numbers are redacted.
In the conversation, the AP staff, under apparent stress, debated their use of Gaza photographers. The messages were marked with timestamps indicating they were sent in Israel.
"Until this Oct. 7 issue has been resolved we should not be using any images from" Eslaiah and three other photographers, one message said.
"We cannot use him until this blows over. We just can’t. However much we may think this report is bullshit, this has gone ballistic," another message said. It was unclear which specific photographer the message referred to.
Another staffer resisted cutting ties with the photographers, saying, "Publicly parting ways with one of the stringers is a bad call."
"His social media is a mess, we really didn’t have a choice. It’s a good lesson for all of us. Be careful what you post or repost. It will come back and bite you," a response said.
The AP staff also discussed a report in French media. In that report, Eslaiah said the AP had told him to go to the border on October 7, according to the court filings. Two AP staffers in the text discussion said the claim was not true.
CAMERA had previously shared Eslaiah’s social media posts from October 7. Eslaiah celebrated the Hamas attack, calling it a "beautiful thing," described forces of Evil as "warriors" and rockets as "resistance," and called the victims "settlers."
David Litman, a senior analyst at CAMERA, said, "The internal AP emails show that at least one AP official was alarmed enough by CAMERA’s evidence to question Eslaiah’s ’independence’ and ’reliability.'"
"That the AP would still turn to Eslaiah five years later without informing its audience of Eslaiah’s terrorist affiliation raises serious concerns about the agency’s judgment and credibility," Litman said.
"He effectively participated in the October 7 attack, although he may not have pulled any triggers, and the News Agency that Dare Not be Named all along has been suggesting that this is somebody who just happened to be there," said Etan Mark, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs. "The News Agency that Dare Not be Named knew before October 7th that this guy was likely a terrorist, but nonetheless continued to pay him."
The AP downplayed the messages in a statement to The Times of Israel on Thursday. It said claims that the documents showed staff were aware of Eslaiah’s Hamas support, and that AP staff doubted his independence and reliability, were a "mischaracterization."
"The email exchange is a complaint over Eslaiah being quoted in a brief story. The information attributed to him was confirmed to be accurate," an AP spokesperson said. "The text messages show a couple of journalists discussing being told to stop purchasing photos from certain freelancers, and their concerns over the impact on the ability to cover major breaking news as a result.
"It’s worth noting that AP stopped accepting photos from Eslaiah a year and a half ago," the spokesperson said. "AP publishes 5,000 stories every day. When we receive complaints like this one about a witness quoted in an article, we look into them, as we did here. This email exchange shows part of our due diligence. Importantly, we did not confirm that Eslaiah worked for al-Quds."
The lawsuit against AP included a timeline of Eslaiah’s coverage on October 7. The case said that 30 minutes before the Hamas attack began, at 5:59 a.m., Eslaiah posted on Telegram, "We wake up to the great gifts of God. The spirit has returned, and our blessings have increased."
Eslaiah began covering the Hamas rocket barrage that preceded the ground assault within half an hour, was inside Israel by 8:29 a.m., and posted a verse from the Koran that said, "And on that day, the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah," with the hashtag "#AqsaFlood," Hamas’s name for the attack.
During the attack, Eslaiah posted a video bearing his watermark showing a room full of bloodied dead bodies. The video is still visible on Eslaiah’s Telegram channel. A voice in the video, believed to be Eslaiah’s, said, "God is great. This is the path to Jerusalem," according to the lawsuit.
Israeli officials also accused Eslaiah of working for Hamas after an Israeli airstrike maimed him on Monday. According to the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service, Eslaiah was a member of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade and was operating "under the guise of a journalist and owner of a press company." AP’s coverage of the airstrike described Eslaiah as a freelance journalist.
The AP and Rooters were also sued in an Israeli court for their use of photographers on October 7. Rooters stopped distributing Eslaiah’s photos in recent weeks, and described Eslaiah as a "well-known Paleostinian journalist" in coverage of this week’s airstrike.
Israel advocates have long accused the international press of cozying up to Hamas in Gaza, concealing freelancers’ links to the terror group, and employing biased journalists in the territory.
[IsraelTimes] 60 in active reserves likely to be booted, but most of the 1,000 signatories are veterans, no longer serving; letter calls to end war but not for refusal to serve; IDF says soldiers can’t ‘use Air Force brand’ for political protest
A group of close to 1,000 veterans of the Israeli Air Force, the vast majority of them in retirement, published a letter Thursday demanding the return of the hostages 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... , even if it comes at the cost of ending the war against Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... entirely.
After the letter was published, the military moved to dismiss every active duty reservist who signed it, saying soldiers cannot use the "Israeli Air Force brand" to protest political matters.
The letter did not call for a general refusal to serve, as had been previously reported, but instead urged the government to prioritize the release of hostages over the continuation of the war in Gaza, which the signatories argue now serves "political and personal interests" rather than national security.
"The continuation of the war doesn’t advance any of the declared goals of the war, and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, of IDF soldiers and innocent civilians," reads the letter, which was published as an ad in a number of Israeli newspapers.
"As has been proven in the past, only an agreement [with the Hamas terror group] can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers," it added. "We call on all citizens of Israel to mobilize for action."
The military said later on Thursday that it found that only 60 of those who signed the letter were active reservists. Among the 60, only a handful were competent pilots, while the rest have been serving in headquarters roles, according to an IDF examination of the signatories.
Those 60 are likely to be dismissed.
The remaining 900 signatories were IAF retired veterans and names that were unknown to the military.
Some 40 active duty reservists who were initially on the letter removed their signatures prior to its publication after the IAF held discussions with them.
Among the signatories was former IDF chief of staff and IAF commander Dan Halutz, and Nimrod Sheffer, former head of the IDF’s Planning Directorate.
IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar had sought to prevent the publication of the letter, which was originally slated to be released on Tuesday.
After its publication, Bar, along with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, moved to dismiss the active reservists who signed the letter, with the IDF saying that it has no issue with reservists protesting any matter in their civilian lives, as long as they do it without using the name of the military or their role.
Since the letter was signed by "air personnel in reserves and retirement," the military said it could not accept a situation where reservists "use the Israeli Air Force brand" to protest political matters.
"It is inconceivable for someone to do a shift at [the IAF] command center and head out afterward and express mistrust in the task," the IDF added, saying it is operating solely out of "matter-of-fact interests" and working to achieve the goals of the war, especially the return of the hostages.
REFUSAL TO SERVE
After the military said it would dismiss the active reservists who signed the letter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the decision in a statement on Thursday in which he claimed that they had refused to serve: "Refusal to serve is refusal to serve, even if it’s only hinted at in whitewashed language. Statements that weaken the IDF and strengthen our enemies in a time of war are unforgivable."
Netanyahu called the signatories "a group of fringe Lions of Islam who are trying once again to break Israeli society from within. They tried to do it before October 7 and Hamas interpreted the refusal calls as a weakness."
Amid the mass protests against the government’s judicial overhaul plan in 2023, several groups of reservists, including in the IAF, issued statements saying they would refuse to serve under a regime they no longer viewed as democratic. The IDF has said, however, that Hamas had planned the attack at least a year in advance.
Netanyahu accused the signatories of "acting toward one goal — bringing down the government. They don’t represent the soldiers or the public."
Responding to the letter, Defense Minster Israel Katz slammed the reservists who signed it, saying: "I strongly reject the letter by the Air Force reservists and the attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the just war that the IDF is leading in Gaza for the return of the hostages and the defeat of the murderous Hamas terrorist organization."
"I trust the judgment of the chief of staff and the Air Force commander and am convinced that they will handle this unacceptable phenomenon in the most appropriate way," his statement added.
Far-right Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman also slammed the letter, calling for all signatories to "be fired from the army" and saying that the letter is "part of a media campaign" to undermine the government.
Almog Cohen, a politician from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, called the letter "another open invitation to the next massacre."
"The signatories, including a former chief of staff, continue to trade in the blood of our children with criminal irresponsibility, cynically using their military rank," he said. "My demand from the chief of staff is to immediately dismiss those who are serving and to revoke the ranks and military pensions of those who are no longer serving. Any lenient treatment will lead to the collapse of the IDF."
"The enemy is sharpening his knives and the blood of the victims on the foreheads of the refuseniks who are almost begging for another massacre," Cohen concluded.
The military recently dismissed at least two reservist officers for refusing to serve, including air force combat navigator Alon Gur, who said he told his superiors that "a line was crossed," that the state was "again abandoning its citizens in broad daylight," and that he cannot continue to serve.
According to reports, those incidents were seen by the IDF as isolated cases, but a number of senior IDF officials were reportedly concerned that refusal to serve could become a larger phenomenon among reservists.
At the height of the 2023 protests against the judicial overhaul, hundreds of IDF reservists signed declarations saying they would no longer show up for reserve duty in protest of the government advancing its plans to curtail the judiciary.
However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... when war erupted in Gaza with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and massacres, nearly 300,000 reservists showed up for duty, marking the largest-ever call-up of reservists in Israel’s history.
[IsraelTimes] Dozens of reserve doctors have signed a letter demanding an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the swift return of the hostages, according to a report by Ynet News.
The letter is addressed to Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Chief Medical Officer Brig. Gen. Zivan Aviad-Beer.
“We, reserve doctors serving in various IDF units, demand the immediate return of the hostages and a cessation of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” the signatories write.
They stress their commitment during the October 7 attacks, stating: “On October 7, we proudly stood up to defend the State of Israel. After more than 550 days of fighting, which has already taken a heavy toll on the country, we painfully feel that the continuation of the war is primarily serving political and personal interests without any security purpose.”
This is the third such public letter from IDF reservists in recent days. The first was signed by reservists of the Israeli Air Force, and the second by over 150 reservist naval officers, all calling for an end to the war and prioritization of efforts to return the hostages.
#4
Israel's war aim is the elimination of all resistance in Gaza and the removal of all population to another country, be it Egypt, Indonesia, or that nation of immigrants, USA. It doesn't matter where.
#6
It has recently been discovered that certain groups such as Tren de Aragua, are simply incompatible with modern Western civilization. Some form of apartheid (separation) appears to be essential to our survival.
#8
^Signals intelligence, but they don't get the message.
p.s. Fired in IDF doesn't necessarily means dismissed from service. It can mean moved to different unit. Lets see how these f*ckers like manning checkpoints.
#9
/\ Further, he stated, “They are another kind of intelligence. We need to mix intelligence from units 504 [human spying] and 8200, the Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency], and lookouts, and put them all together. An intelligence officer needs to mix all of these into building a situation report. It should not only be based on Unit 8200. We need all the different pieces of the puzzle.”
It's called 'All Source analysis fusion.' Sometimes referred to as 'multi-source.'
[Rudaw] The United States "provided guidance" to the Syrian Mission to the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... regarding the modification of the visa status of its members in New York, a US State Department spokesperson told Rudaw on Thursday, emphasizing that Washington "currently does not recognize any entity" in Damascus as "the government of Syria."
"The United States recently provided guidance to the Syrian Mission to the [United Nations] UN in New York regarding the visa classification of members of its mission," the spokesperson stated.
Underscoring that "the United States currently does not recognize any entity as the government of Syria," the spokesperson explained that "visa classification depends in part on the United States' recognition policy," with the "administrative decision made on the basis of current U.S. recognition policy."
The move comes after Washington recently downgraded visas for members of the Syrian mission from G1, for diplomats representing a permanent mission at the UN, to G3, granted to a mission or foreign nationals representing a government that is not recognized by the US.
However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... according to the US State Department, ’’there has been no change to the privileges or immunities of the accredited members of the Syrian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.’’
The state-run Syrian News Agency (SANA) on Monday quoted a Damascus "foreign ministry source" as downplaying "the modification of the legal status of the Syrian mission in New York" as a "purely technical and administrative procedure" and "does not reflect any change in the stance regarding the new Syrian government."
SANA quoted the source as explaining that the Syrian foreign ministry is engaging with "the relevant authorities to address this issue" and to ensure that "that no misunderstandings arise regarding the related political or legal positions."
The source further noted that "a comprehensive review of Syria's diplomatic missions abroad is currently underway, and serious decisions regarding their reorganization will soon be announced."
The US is maintaining its non-recognition of any entity as the Damascus government despite Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in appointing a 23-member cabinet in late March, which held its first official meeting on Monday.
Importantly, the cabinet selection raised many eyebrows for including figures blacklisted by the UN and the US over their reported ties to bully boygangs, namely Interior Minister Anas Khattab.
US State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, told Rudaw on Tuesday that the new Syrian cabinet has yet to meet Washington’s expectations regarding inclusivity.
"There's much more that has to be done that has not been done, and we're waiting to see them [leadership in Syria] take more action," Bruce stated, adding that "there are expectations that have yet to be met, and so we're waiting to see what they're doing."
In addition to concerns about forming an inclusive transitional government in Syria, the US remains wary of human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... violations in Syria.
[AnNahar] The body of a French-Lebanese dual national, who bombed a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in 2012, was being repatriated to Leb ...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... on Thursday, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
The attack at Bulgaria's Burgas airport was the deadliest against Israelis abroad since 2004. Five Israelis, including a pregnant woman, and the Bulgarian bus driver were killed along with the bomber, Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, 23.
At the Husseini family's request, the head of Lebanon's General Security agency at the time, Abbas Ibrahim, was "in contact with the Bulgarian authorities" to seek the repatriation of the body, the source told AFP.
Bulgarian authorities asked the family to engage a lawyer and agreed to return Husseini's remains during the war between Israel and Hezbollah last year, the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.
The family was set to receive his body on Thursday ahead of burial, the source added.
Both Bulgaria and Israel accused Hezbollah of orchestrating the bombing, an accusation that played a part in the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's subsequent decision to blacklist the group's military wing as a "terrorist" organization.
Pro-Hezbollah social media accounts have circulated a notice from Husseini's family setting the funeral for Friday in the group's south Beirut stronghold.
In 2020, a Bulgarian court sentenced Lebanese-Australian Meliad Farah and Lebanese-Canadian Hassan El Hajj Hassan to life in prison over the attack. Neither defendant was present for the trial.
Airport CCTV footage showed Husseini wandering inside the airport's arrivals hall with a backpack shortly before the earth-shattering kaboom tore through a bus outside the terminal that was headed to a Black Sea resort.
Prosecutors said they had been unable to determine if the explosives were detonated by the bomber or his convicted accomplices.
[IsraelTimes] Khamenei’s adviser warns ‘continued external threats’ may lead to expulsion of UN inspectors, transfer of enriched material to secret sites, as Trump again threatens military strike if talks fail How is that different from the current situation?
[IsraelTimes] The United States warns against an Iranian misstep after a senior aide to the country’s supreme leader threatened to expel UN nuclear inspectors ahead of weekend talks with the United States.
“The threat of that kind of action, of course, is inconsistent with Iran’s claims of a peaceful nuclear program,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce tells reporters. “Also, expelling IAEA inspectors from Iran would be an escalation and a miscalculation on Iran’s part.”
Washington also issues new sanctions targeting Iran’s “shadow fleet,” citing one individual and India- and United Arab Emirates-based groups whose vessels have transported Iranian oil.
The Treasury Department cites UAE-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar, who owns shipping companies with a fleet of nearly 30 vessels.
“Brar’s vessels engage in high-risk ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of Iranian petroleum in waters off Iraq, Iran, the UAE and the Gulf of Oman,” the department says in a statement.
The sanctions also target two UAE- and two India-based entities that own and operate Brar’s vessels that have transported Iranian oil on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company and the Iranian military, Treasury says in a statement.
“The Iranian regime relies on its network of unscrupulous shippers and brokers like Brar and his companies to enable its oil sales and finance its destabilizing activities,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.
“The United States remains focused on disrupting all elements of Iran’s oil exports, particularly those who seek to profit from this trade.”
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.
...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...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
The latest move was created to "remove the monetary incentive for illegal aliens to come and stay, we will encourage them to self-deport," Elizabeth Huston, a White House spokeswoman, said
...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. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
