Israel has intensified its air strikes on Lebanon and in particular on Beirut, ahead of a visit on Tuesday or Wednesday by US envoy Hochstein, at which he will press Lebanon to accept a US/Israeli ceasefire plan.
This plan is touted as being based on UNSCR 1701, but in fact represents its abnegation.
You may have noted that neoliberal politicians and media pundits, who ignore and denigrate every other UN Resolution on the Middle East, are suddenly very enthusiastic about UNSCR 1701. This is because it mandates withdrawal of Hezbollah forces to the north of the river Litani.
But it also mandates, at operative paragraph 3, that the Government of Lebanon must have full sovereignty over Southern Lebanon and that only the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL might operate there.
3. Emphasizes the importance of the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680 (2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise its full sovereignty, so that there will be no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the Government of Lebanon;
The US/Israeli ceasefire proposal directly contradicts this, by giving Israel the right to invade Southern Lebanon with ground forces whenever Israel considers it necessary, and by giving Israel permanent military overflight rights.
The US/Israeli proposal is therefore incompatible with UNSCR 1701.
These are direct intrusions on the sovereignty emphasised by UNSCR 1701. They are of course terms no self-respecting nation could possibly accept.
In order to try to force Lebanon to accept these humiliating terms, Israel has substantially intensified its bombing campaign throughout Lebanon these last two days. Yesterday in Beirut alone there were nineteen waves of airstrikes, in addition to airstrikes in Tyre, Baalbek and throughout the South.
A new development in Beirut today was a definite move to bomb in Christian, as well as Muslim, areas. If you take one thing away from this article today, I want you to understand this.
The narrative portrayed in Western media, that Lebanese Christians support Israel and are egging on the destruction of the Shia community, is completely false. Only a very small and unrepresentative minority of Christians, related to the thankfully declined fascist movement, think in this way.
The large majority of Christians, including the major Christian political parties and politicians, are as horrified as the rest of the world by the genocide in Gaza and still more horrified by Israel’s genocidal attack on Lebanon.
I have spent the last three weeks living among the Christian communities here and I have found this same view, from wealthy businessmen, to students, to shopkeepers, to the families of very senior politicians.
I should acknowledge that I have met a couple of young men in a bar who were pro-Israel, but that really is it. It is also the case that, certainly in Beirut, the large majority of Sunni Muslims, including the large Syrian refugee population, are extremely horrified by the genocide mostly of their fellow Sunni Muslims in Gaza and the West Bank, and they are very anti-Zionist indeed.
I understand that in the far northern areas and along the Jordanian border there are pockets of Saudi-influenced Salafist anti-Shia sectarians who do support Israel against Hezbollah, but I am happy to say I have not come across them and it is not an important viewpoint in Beirut. These are the ISIS/Al-Nusra/Al-Qaeda/FSA crowd of CIA puppets.
Extreme fringes aside, the overwhelming majority of the people of Lebanon are no different to the majority of people the world over, horrified by the scale and depravity of the Israeli assaults.
In attacking Lebanon, far from reigniting civil war as they intended, Israel and the US have helped to forge a strengthened multicultural Lebanese identity.
Israel is simply unable to make meaningful progress on the ground against Hezbollah or to hold border villages for longer than a brief orgy of looting and destruction. In consequence we will see a repeat of the genocide in Gaza, with the great bulk of massacres carried out by bombs and long-range artillery.
Plainly the Gaza template is already being followed. Over 220 medics and paramedics have been killed in Lebanon – a deliberate massacre of healthcare providers that repeats Israeli actions in Gaza and testifies to genocidal intention.
Israel killed every single one of these civil defense workers in Baalbek, Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/GRzEqU6n9E
— sarah (@sahouraxo) November 15, 2024
The United States has a huge amount of influence within Lebanon. The economy is thoroughly dollarised; there are McDonalds, Dominos and Dunkin’ Donuts everywhere you go; there is a massive General Motors dealership, and indeed the Lebanese seem to have a higher propensity to buy US vehicles and other US-manufactured goods, than Americans themselves do.
The United States is building its second-largest Embassy complex in the world in Lebanon, a country of only 5 million people. Plainly that is not what is seems – why does Lebanon need a much bigger US Embassy than Germany or Japan or Russia?
It is due to US influence that the Lebanese army remains neutral as its own country is both bombed and invaded, which is a unique way for an army to behave. The bombs falling today on Lebanese children are not only US-manufactured, but the US has paid for those bombs and given them to the Israelis to kill Lebanese with.
Hochstein arrives here as his country carries out mass killing of civilians through its colonial settler proxy. The Lebanese should throw shoes at him en masse.
I hope and trust that the dignity of Lebanon is to be upheld by its politicians and outweighs personal corruption, and that a sharp answer is given to this vicious charlatan Hochstein pretending to talk peace.
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“The United States is building its second largest Embassy complex in the world in Lebanon, a country of only 5 million people. Plainly that is not what is seems – why does Lebanon need a much bigger US Embassy than Germany or Japan or Russia?”
There may be a clue in the fact that the largest US embassy in the world is in Iraq, in Baghdad’s “Green Zone”. That’ll presumably be the model.
“I should acknowledge that I have met a couple of young men in a bar who were pro-Israel, but that really is it.”
Probably crack members of the PA’s GIS checking you out 🙂 (Joke.)
Final observation: every country has some citizens who are willing to sign up with the USA, who respect that country’s shitty culture, who have family members or friends who are dual citizens already, maybe attending US “schools”, etc. etc. This is certainly true in Russia, China, Cuba, Vietnam, and Palestine. If there’s an exception, perhaps it’s North Korea. Generally these wretches include
1. Some among the filthy rich traditional (i.e. inherited wealth) bourgeoisie who have one foot inside the country and another outside it, whether in the USA itself or maybe in Germany, Switzerland, Britain, wherever, and who have long thought mostly in US dollars. There is a lot to be said for the utility of the term “comprador”.
2. Pimps, drug dealers, loansharks and other such scum, who sadly tend to come to the fore in wars. (And who should IMHO be introduced to walls.)
Yes. The UK is not immune from the fifth columnists, people who put the ‘rights’ of foreign powers ahead of the rights of the indigenous locals: Starmer, Patel, Sunak, Blair, etc. Until these types of people are rooted out and summarily dealt with there is no democracy.
Of course this is one of the motives for the ongoing campaign to destroy the very idea of the nation-state, and indeed of nationality. You can’t very well betray something that doesn’t exist.
Just a question, Craig. Yesterday I deactivated my Twitter/X account and signed up to BlueSky (at the suggestion of a pro Corbyn website) and have become aware that increasing numbers of my social media contacts are doing exactly the same or similar. Can I urge you to do the same or let us know why not and if/when you DO intend to do so? Cheers, pal, keep up the good work and stay safe.
Never heard of it although I was aware that there were a number of startups hoping to compete with X/Twitter. Why are you rounding up new customers do you have shares in this one?
Musk’s hellhole is infested with bots, trolls and crypto freaks, so hardly surprising people are migrating to a platform less hysterical and less suppressive of posts from people like Craig.
Consider the possibility that any “platform” that grows and becomes as successful as Twitter will involuntarily attract all those parasites and scum.
Luckily, President Trump and his dream team will soon reign again in Washington, and in a few days all these issues will be resolved. In just about… 60 days!
What a coincidence. This is precisely the proposed duration of the ceasefire. Only very gullible spectators can pay any attention to the terms of UNSCR 1701. “It’s only a piece of paper”, like a former dictator used to say.
‘“It’s only a piece of paper”, like a former dictator used to say’.
George W. Bush, right?
Hochstein, was born in Jerusalem, the child of American Jewish immigrants to Israel. He served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prior to moving to Washington.
.
This ‘US Envoy’ might be a little bit biased given his background.
Or am I being Anti-Semitic for suggesting such a thing ?
It’s hard to imagine how the US could have any “independence”. How would it work? The State Department receiving communications from Hochstein and treating them as though they came from the government of Israel? OK but then who’s going to do their diplomacy for them in contacts with Israel?
A similar point could be made about Britain’s relations with the Holy See when the British ambassador is a Roman Catholic, but then again he isn’t always, and Britain AFAIAA doesn’t supply weapons to the Holy See, nor does it allow a Holy See company to supply security software for its military and civil nuclear sites. Stuff between the well-past-its-sellby-date British regime and the Holy See is likely to be mostly performative anyway. But the US regime is assisting with genocide on Zionist orders.
I would put it differently: Israel is conducting genocide on US orders.
I had a good think about your response.
Which way around, indeed.
I decided to go through some reliable sources and found this ‘Times of Israel’ publication boasting about how many Jews were appointed by Biden.
Why is there a disproportionate representation in high-level key areas of a minority of the population in America?
I’ve read murmurings of similar things in Trump’s proposed government, but only time will tell if they’re true.
The opening comment and list from the Times of Israel article:
« All the Jews Biden has tapped for top roles in his new administration
From secretary of state to attorney general, a diverse cross-section of American Jewry is set to fill seats at the incoming president’s Cabinet table and elsewhere in government.
• Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State
• David Cohen, CIA Deputy Director
• Merrick Garland, Attorney General
• Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
• Ronald Klain, Chief of Staff
• Eric Lander, Office of Science and Technology Policy director
• Rachel Levine, deputy health secretary
• Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
• Anne Neuberger, National Security Agency cybersecurity director
• Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state
• Janet Yellen, Treasury secretary. »
I’m genuinely shocked.
Are things as you state? Is it really America telling Israel what it can/cant/should/shouldn’t do?
Or is it the other way around?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/all-the-jews-biden-has-tapped-for-top-roles-in-his-new-administration/
Why would being a nominal adherent to a religion make a difference? Government is secular, especially in its co-option of superstitious mumbo-jumbo-ists to provide fig-leaves of respectability. The US state has used zionists as a Brownshirt street gang to enforce compliance in the Congress and the corp-0-rat media for decades but this is not religious, obviously.
Because it’s not about religion, it’s about belonging to the untouchable club. If anyone decides to criticize their actions, the counterargument is always accusations of anti-Semitism.
People in this club are not obliged to adhere to a certain religion; the law of blood is in full effect there.
And now you have to compare with how many USA-loyal people there are in senior positions in the Israeli state – i.e. zero.
@Squeeth ?? “Why would being a nominal adherent to a religion make a difference”
@BCase didn’t mention religion.
The Jewish “God” is a personification of what is good for the tribe.
Religion is just one tool. Many don’t use it. They let others get on with it, while they themselves use some other tool.
Have you heard the saying that is current among Jews that “the Jews aren’t a religion – they are a people with a religion?”
There are non-Jewish cases of people being atheists but partaking in Christianity (and doubtless other religions too) because they think it’s good for social order, especially of a hierarchical kind.
Among Jews, lose the ultra-racist tribal loyalty and the willingness to do at least some “community work”, and you are seen as a traitor.
The idea that there is scope today for some kind of “Bundism” is just ridiculous. The best guys and gals rejected the identity even a century ago – at least whenever it wasn’t forced on them by anti-Semites, which is NOT the case today.
The idea of “Socialist Zionism” was always shite.
The mistake to make is to assume that this has ‘just’ happened. The Jewish take over of the USA Government has been in progress for a long time, in fact, even before 1948. And, because it was never stamped out decades ago, the take over is now highly organised and integrated within the government/establishment, such that the USA needs this symbiotic relationship to survive. Israel and the USA are one, they cannot be surgically separated, money, power, influence are the essential fluids that nourish the beast. In theory, the USA could stop Israel, in practice it never will. Outside influences are the only thing that will shrink this deadly growth to manageable proportions.
It’s a joint enterprise. Serves the purposes of both actors, like Zelensky in Ukraine.
As it happens I am rather with you on this. Capability, and conduct are highly persuasive. Yet the difficulty we have is identifying a concrete, evidenced, motive for the US to do this; and to explain – in the light of the rapid and essentially peicemeal developments after AAF/October 7th last year when the genocide plan was developed and direct US involvement. Speculation aside, that has not yet happened.
(It was in place in October – “The [Palestinian] people should be told that they have two choices; to stay and to starve, or to leave… I prefer to have these people be alive and survive but only by moving to Egypt. And if they don’t they will starve not because of the Israeli bombs but because there will be no water in Gaza. ” -Giora Eiland, October ’23, in Fathom Journal; Eiland was the presenter of The Generals Plan in April this year).
The genocide plan was developed well before 7 Oct. At latest, when the US decided it had to blow up Nordstream. Having the Gaza oil and gas was an essential part of the plan. Which meant that the Gaza population had to be either killed or displaced. Egypt refused displacement, which left killing as the only option.
Lysias
I can’t go along with this. You don’t need to genocide a people to get access to oil and gas. If indeed the US needed it. Nordstream products didn’t supply the US, nor the Gaza field. Nordstream supplied Germany + EU. Gaza is needed to supply Israel, which has a serious oil shortage.
@Mike – What is “AAF”?
Al-Aqua Flood
Brian, religion and nationality are not the same; Israel pretend that it is but that’s just another aspect of their crazy ways. Being jewish is not yer nationality.
A glance at Hochstein’s Wikipedia page reveals the extent to which his career has involved oil and gas. I believe Israel’s attack on Gaza was at the urging of the US, which covets the oil and gas offshore from Gaza. I have read that American oil and gas companies have been negotiating for contracts that would also give them access to Poland gas offshore from Lebanon.
Drill baby, drill – as the orange one said.
Not Poland. Oil and gas.
I wonder if his parents stayed in Israel.
“Or am I being Anti-Semitic for suggesting such a thing ?”
Unless you are actually a Jewish Zionist, you are very likely “anti-semitic” whatever you do or don’t. So make the most of it!
Well-written Craig.
Some people here want you to see sense and come home but it has just struck me that this is what you did when Salmond was at his show trial. Journalists did the Judas and you reported the truth. Oh and the weather’s still shite here.
Look here Mr Murray, you scare the hell out of me. Keep as safe as you can.
Looks like they’re feeling nearly ready for their war with China; the OK to start attritioning Russian targets with LR supported by US satellite targeting, the intervention of North Korea, the ongoing military build up in the South China sea, the Chinese beginning to pose a genuine military threat to Taiwan; all coming together. The Chinese seem to be saying you take down Iran we take down Taiwan. Mexican standoff with nukes.
If they can get away with destroying Iranian allies (Houti, Hezbollah and Hamas) without triggering the Big One, so much the better. That will help later. The appetite for risk is very high, especially as the Europeans seem to have been completely tamed. Envoys seem to be arriving carrying ultimatums – Starmer to meet Xi (first such meeting in six years), Hochstein to Lebanon. Are there others? G20 gives a lot of opportunities.
Trump’s election may mean that this is the high point, the best time to act. Trump’s supporters represent an isolationist movement, and Trump’s presidency is likely to be focussed internally and basically transactional, whereas the Hawks are fundamentally imperial and primarily ideological. Dumping a major war onto Trump as they leave the Oval Office would derail his domestic agenda.
Big fight in Washington to force the issue? The handover meeting with Biden and Trump must have been interesting; Trump was uncharacteristically reticent on its conclusion.
“The Chinese seem to be saying you take down Iran we take down Taiwan.”
I doubt it, although I’d agree that’s how superpower relations work. The war with Taiwan has already been won, without a shot having been fired since about 1958. (See Sun Tzu.)
But there may well be linkage between the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine. It may be a case of the Zionists telling any non-servants in the US regime (if they can find any), “Let us do what we want or else we’ll help our guy Zelensky explode a radiological or nuclear weapon in a truck in Moscow”…and then who knows, the US says “OK, boss”, but the Zionists do it anyway, because 1) no subservience is ever enough and 2) if the world economy’s going to crash anyway, and you can control the timing, you’ve got it made – and isn’t that what control over levers is for?
This is a f***ing horrible scenario, but who seriously would say it’s especially unlikely in say the next year or so?
(An echo here of Stalin, who backed the creation of the State of Israel, had a bit of change of mind – and then look what happened to him.)
A large proportion of the mafia bosses (“oligarchs”) in Russia are Jewish. But not all. Putin should have banned Chabad. Maybe it’s still not too late.
It’s a funny old world. Whether or not WW3 breaks out kinda depends on whether the FSB and SVR are able and willing to prevent it……..and my guess would be they probably aren’t able.
As was suggested today on Galloway’s MOATS show, Trump can probably avoid WW3 by announcing that he opposes Biden’s decision.
No, because there’s nothing to prevent.
This nonsense seems to be an attempt obfuscate the otherwise grim news out of Ukraine.
Plus NATO is in no sense prepared to fight WW3. They’ve had nearly three years and are less numerous or equipped to fight than 2022.
The Ukrainians are also being bled white and the Russian forces are if anything stronger.
Urban
As someone recently said “As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”
Meanwhile…
“Are we heading for World War Three – and is Britain’s military ready?” {Chatham House Jan 2024): SHAPPS SAID: we have moved ‘from a post-war world to a pre-war world’.
Nato could certainly be more ready than it is, but there is clear signalling that (this being the ultimatum) unless China and Russia dissolve their alliance and permit the US to ‘acquire’ Western Asia NOW, then war is coming. I doubt BTW China is that “ready” either.
Yes. The Russians are showing good sense by doing nothing and saying nothing. So some American rags run an unsourced story – it’s unworthy of serious people even to take notice.
If and when something happens – different story. The offenders have been warned. As Scott Ritter was saying earlier today, all the orders have been given and everyone knows what to do. There will be no decisions to make.
“Are we heading for World War Three – and is Britain’s military ready?”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Ready for a game of transvestite croquet – maybe.
No Mike, China will not nuke Taiwan if USA nuke Iran. China is still very close to Taiwan there are political parties that campaign for reunification there are many families with people in both China and Taiwan. China does not mind Taiwan being separate from China, but it will do what Russia is doing if Taiwan try to do what Ukraine tried to do which is allow USA to site its missiles on its land. The Ukraine border is just 400 miles from Moscow and Taipei is just 400 miles from Shanghai and 1000 miles from Beijing.
My guess is that USA wants to shore up Lebanon against its decreasing authority in Iraq and with a Syria that is rising phoenix like out of the ashes of American regime change attempts and of course supported by Russia. It has the menace of the Yemen Houthis to contend with in the other side and of course if it can provide an internal battering ram against Hezbollah then it will hope to extend that to Iran. It does n’t sound as if Lebanon is as torn as it used to be in the days of the civil war so trojan horse tactics are probably on the American cards.
Very slightly off topic but still about killing a million+ in a neighbouring country.
I only discovered yesterday that it was Benjamin Netanyahu that testified to Congess that Saddam / Iraq had WMDs.
We all know that there was never any WMDs.
I’m late to the party but would like to know more. Anyone..?
Check out the great book by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt from 2008:
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501
One will simply not understand US middle east foreign policy without understanding the immense lobbying efforts Israel and the american pro-israeli lobby organisation puts on the US (and also increasingly on the EU).
For example, Netanyahu have cried wolf about Iran, since the 90s:
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s Long History of Crying Wolf About Iran’s Nuclear Weapons”
The Israeli Prime Minister is expected to warn the U.S. Congress an Iranian bomb is imminent — just as he warned in 1992, 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2012.
https://theintercept.com/2015/03/02/brief-history-netanyahu-crying-wolf-iranian-nuclear-bomb/
” For example, Netanyahu have cried wolf about Iran, since the 90s:
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s Long History of Crying Wolf About Iran’s Nuclear Weapons”
The Israeli Prime Minister is expected to warn the U.S. Congress an Iranian bomb is imminent — just as he warned in 1992, 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2012.”
Wow. This is crazy. I’m guessing that this isn’t like the fairytale and people are going to continue to listen.
Thanks for the book suggestion. I’ll look into it.
‘The Israeli Prime Minister is expected to warn the U.S. Congress an Iranian bomb is imminent — just as he warned in 1992, 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2012.”’
Wait a minute – wasn’t that imminent global boiling? Oh, I see – much the same thing.
Here’s what the Economist is telling its readers:
“Why financial markets are so oddly calm”
Well that’s a good question.
“One thing nobody thinks of Donald Trump’s return to the White House is that it will herald four years of quiet, predictable government. Here, then, is a puzzle for readers interested in the more abstract bits of finance. Why was Mr Trump’s re-election greeted by resounding drops in volatility all across the world’s most important markets?” …
“Apply some maths worked out in the 1970s by Fischer Black and Myron Scholes, two economists, and you can work backwards, converting options prices into “implied volatility”. You now have the market’s collective judgment on how jumpy asset prices will be.” …
“ Investors, in other words, do not think Mr Trump’s presidency will be predictable. They think its unpredictability is unpriceable. ”
Or someone has bought vega or done something even more exotic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks_(finance)#Vega
…perhaps while those who aren’t at the very top but who nonetheless still control large amounts of money from the second division actually HAVE invested in decreasing volatility.
Most probably aren’t thinking about the next four years. They’re more likely to be thinking about the next ~4 weeks until the next “triple witching day” on 20 December 2024.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_witching_hour
Capitalism and in particular “economic crashes” are about nothing if they aren’t about the centralisation and concentration of capital. Ask Karl Marx, or Elon Musk with his “doge coin”. Of course some who are very rich lose money in crashes. (How my heart bleeds.) They get it taken from them by those who are extremely rich, or ultra-extremely rich.
Meanwhile the gold price is a lot higher than a year ago, even if it has fallen since Trump won the election. Could be that large holders expected Trump to win the election.
“the Lebanese army remains neutral as its own country is both bombed and invaded, which is a unique way for an army to behave”
Most European armies would remain similarly inactive if Israel-USA was attacking their country. Certainly the Germans, Dutch and French. I suspect the British Army too.
Leave the British Army out of it. Israel/USA conquered the UK 70 years ago.
Thanks for the update, especially on the sectarian issue.
Amos Hochstein. So twisted that the very same person that greenlighted Israel’s assault on Lebanon are now the same person set to make peace:
From september this year: “US officials quietly backed Israel’s military push against Hezbollah ”
Presidential adviser Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East, told top Israeli officials in recent weeks that the U.S. agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broad strategy to shift Israel’s military focus to the north against Hezbollah in order to convince the group to engage in diplomatic talks to end the conflict, the officials told POLITICO”.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/30/us-israel-military-hezbollah-00181797
The fact that lebanse leaders keep accepting these envoys/clowns into their country to talk about “peace” just proves how corrupt the leadership of Lebanon really is and how anti-resistance-like they really are. Why not give up your whole nation to Israel and live as slaves? Back in 2006 Norman Finkelstein was in Lebanon and talked about out this attitude that many of the lebanese, still, seems to have:
https://youtu.be/cAGVQF-Kys8?t=355
Besides, Amos Hochstein, a man born in Israel is the same guy that suppose to make peace between Israel and other parties? Evidently clear where his loyalty is at.
Finkelstein in that interview talked about the French resistance against the Nazis; he said less than 10% supported the resistance. Norman said people want to live, the Nazis are ruthless, if we kill one of them they will take revenge and kill hundreds of Frenchmen. (Just as the Zionists are doing now.) He concluded by saying, who do we respect today: the resistance, or the majority of French people who just got on with life and went along with the occupying army? This is a question of self-respect, to be answered by the individuals whose life is on the line.
Is it accurate that US officials haven’t said on the record that they’ve authorised the Kiev government to launch ATACMS missiles at territory in pre-2022 Russia, but they’ve only told Sulzberger’s rag the New York Times?
https://tass.com/world/1873845
If we don’t support people like Craig Murray, we’ll never know what’s really happening. The mainstream media routinely, and deliberately, lie to us.
For those of us who have a UK bank account (surely most readers?), the most cost-effective way to send him money is by direct bank transfer. Paypal skims off fees (which stay in the USA).
I’ve circulated the link to the report to friends and relations. Also my MP. I hope it goes viral. That will do good, if it helps to stop the carnage.
” ‘Hello my enemies’: Lebanese journalist on Israeli threats and his resolve to continue”:
^ I don’t doubt this guy is on the side of the angels, but…
“Mortada, who has gained a significant following on social media networks for his short videos that start with his signature greeting ‘Hello my enemies’, mourned his fallen colleagues”
*Slaps own head*
Best not to use your enemy’s currency when you’ve got a choice, sonny. All you’re doing is encouraging passivity, or pseudo-anger in some kind of videogame sense.
“Social media” my a***hole! What kind of screwhead wants a “following on social media”?
It’s as if the enemy is inviting you onto his lawn every afternoon to “make your point”, and you say “thank you, Sir” and you go and climb up on to the podium your enemy has provided, and you make your speech, forgetting that your enemy only acts in his own interests and when it’s possible to refuse to help him, you should refuse to help him. A hundred years ago, any idiot could have told you that.
This isn’t like bursting into a newsroom and seizing the mic, or even bursting onto the pulpit in Notre Dame (the action by Michel Mourre and friends being radical and original; the later reprise by Peter Tatchell being totally pathetic). It really isn’t.
Amos Hochstein’s Wikipedia page insists that he’s not an Israeli citizen – this despite acknowledging that he was born in Jerusalem and served in the IDF. His parents are immigrants to Israel and presumably enjoy citizenship there. No explanation is given for how he’s avoided Israeli citizenship, or why. By any reasonable measure, and given his own record as well as that of the administration he serves, he’s an Israeli emissary. On the other hand, the United States government has been pervaded by servants of Israel for decades, so why single out Hochstein? I just thought his case was particularly illustrative of conditions in Washington.
Conditions in Washington?
Under Donald Musk, things will be completely different. And obviously, the new envoys to the Middle East will be fully vetted for loyalty, unlike what was happening with Biden and Kama-la.
There may be a technicality involved. I read somewhere that there is not a single Israeli passport that says the holder’s nationality is “Israeli”. They all say “Jewish”. Jewish people are Israeli, and Israeli people are Jewish – according to the Israeli government.
Laguerre.
‘You don’t need to genocide a people to get access to oil and gas’
Definitely.
But if you want re-enforce your scariness in the Region you have to do something very scary. The outcome that the Israelis hope will happen is that doing this, means they will never be threatened ever again.
Now Iran (and Hezbollah) has made the threateners threatened themselves then hope is all it is.
The US and Israel go back a longish way and I view the whole arrangement between the two countries as a confluence of interest. At its base, Israel is paid to protect US (and other countries) oil supplies and to prevent the Oil rich compliant Arab States from being overthrown. Egypt and Jordan are in on the paid game too. Maybe the PA is in on the game as well and they may think that Hamas has ruined their stipend?
A lot of ‘games’ are being spoilt across the Globe and the US and other fellow Neo-liberal economic countries are trying to prevent their business as usual approach from being further undermined.
The main aim is China – a real existential threat now – never mind in the future. They know that they can’t stop the BRICS by fair means so they resort to unfair means. The current one being war.
The Neo-liberals don’t care how it’s done – where it’s done and to whom it is done – the idea being to stay in the lifestyle the rich and their representatives (the politicians) have become accustomed to. Hence Biden’s “Nothing will fundamentally change” outburst. Under Trump the same will happen – it’s just that Trump will hit the ordinary Joe in the US harder than President Joe did.
Michael Hudson said that: “Anyone who is against Neo-liberal economics will have to be killed ”
There are those killed by war and those killed with poverty and Melei in Argentina has set about that killer economic project and Trump is a fan of his. The punters who just voted for Trump are in for a nasty shock I think.
I was replying to Lysias, who insisted that the American dog is wagging the Israeli tail, and not the other way round. The US has absolutely no need to genocide people in order to maintain its position in the Middle East; Israel has decided on the genocide policy for its own poorly thought out reasons, nothing to do with the US. And the US goes along with it, because its politicians are paid off. All this is well known.
By the way, the Middle East crisis diverts the US from “pivoting to China”, as does Ukraine.. So the ME crisis is definitely against US interests, but they have to do what Israel wants, because the AIPAC person in each congressman’s office, as well as Mrs Adelson, is telling them what to do.
Laguerre
It has a lot do with the US.
As I said previously the main target is China and the BRICS grouping and it’s attracting a lot of other countries under their economic development and away from the West’s model of development under the auspices of The World bank – the IMF etc., etc.
Just because the US and their Neo-liberal economic supporting countries haven’t got round to having a go at China doesn’t mean that they won’t in the future.
I think China imports around 90% of it’s oil/gas from Iran. You wouldn’t need a degree to work out why Netanyahu is goading the US to destroy the country and a Diploma to think why the US shouldn’t destroy Iran. Destroy Iran – destroy China’s growth.
This is why the dog is allowing the tail to wag it: it agrees with the policy, but is not sure whether it can win against Iran.
Many commentators I listen to keep emphasising that the world has changed since the Cold War and post invasion of Iraq. They say that the US is way behind the Military curve in technology and tactics used in war 30 years ago are no longer of use now.
Of course Israel has ‘most-favoured nation’ status with the US. But the truth is if that the US (under Trump or Biden) thought that its interests were being undermined they would pull out of that game.
Yes, AIPAC is influential – but only amongst the politicians.
The politicians work for big capitalists, not the other way round; and if their interests are threatened monetarily and in terms of investment, the Israelis would be dropped like a hot brick.
So my view is based on the idea that all these proxy wars (and Israel is involved in one) are to put blocks in the way of the BRICs and specifically the leader of the BRICS – China. Beat the allies of China, and you beat China.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) the only way that the BRICS can be stopped is by war. And for the US, any type of war – hopefully, they think, wars where no US Military Personnel are killed – anything goes. And with Israel – anything does go.
Yes, it is true that China is now highly dependent on Iranian oil – I should have taken more account of that – but it should be pointed out that that is a recent development. And Israel focussing on Iran as the great horror is much older than that, as long indeed as Netanyahu has been in power, i.e. 20 years or more. There have been a number of crises, such as in 2012, where Iran supplying China with oil was never for a moment mentioned. It was all about hypothetical nuclear weapons. So I can’t go along with your newly developed idea.
Laguerre.
The reason why The West finds itself in the situation is in ais due to not reading the runes re: China’s rapid development.
The USA has a history with Iran going back to The Peacock Throne. The Ayatollah Khomeini was the US’s pick to replace the Shah of Iran as the Iranian Revolution was being led by young student leftists, not the type of leaders that they wanted so the Ayatollah Khomeini was politically much more acceptable. The problem was the Iranian Hostage Crisis under Carter and the failed rescue mission. There has always been crises and the US armed both sides in the Iran/Iraq war hoping that both sides would murder each other to a standstill the mop up the mess. Meanwhile a Netanyahu – less Israel urged it all on (no surprise there).
The fact remains that China relies heavily on Iranian oil/gas and tactically (if you were the US) break that energy connection and you damage or break China’s capacity to go forward.
There is no doubt in my mind at all that at the point of the US and Neo-liberal spear China is the target.
If you are old enough to remember Cowboy and Indian films the theory from the cowboys was that in a fight if you killed The Chief all the Indians would surrender. That is the US’s view.
No China – no BRICS – no threat to the established World Order.
Does that kill the Chief theory remind you of any particular country currently?
Anyone who sets out to destroy Iran will find themselves fighting Iran, China, and Russia – and maybe others. So what they have to ask themselves is: do I feel lucky?
Russia and Saudi Arabia supply nearly all China’s crude oil. China also buys 20%–25% of Russia’s LPG. Iran is not a main suppler to China.
Terence Callachan
True:
An estimated 15 percent of China’s oil imports comes from Iran, according to Andon Pavlov, senior refining and oil products analyst at Kpler, a firm in Vienna that specializes in tracking Iran’s oil shipments. Oct 4, 2024
But NATO is nearly at war with Russia – Saudi is pulled between the US and the BRICS and Brazil is also in The BRICS grouping.
Three of the four leading nations who supply China are in the BRICS or wanting to work in the BRICS grouping and Iran wants to join in that development as an alternative to the Dollar and The IMF – The World ban and sanctions and the stealing of Iranian and Venezuelan Oil Tankers and of course (like Russia) the stealing of money.
That for the Chinese is a lot to lose.
Why sanction Iran if they are no threat?
Or even why join in an invasion with Israel if they are no threat to US interests?
It only makes sense to do that to slowdown (at least) or destroy (at best) China and the BRICS countries development.
This Labour government really is up to its neck in genocide complicity.
“A fortnight after Labour won the election, a senior minister warned colleagues against a total ban on arms sales to Israel, court filings reveal.
Defence secretary John Healey wrote to his counterpart at the business department, Jonathan Reynolds, to stress that a full arms embargo against Tel Aviv “would undermine US confidence in the UK and NATO at a critical juncture in our collective history and set back relations.”
Concern centred on the F-35, Israel’s “most lethal” fighter jet, which has 15% of its supply chain in the UK.
Britain and America both operate their own fleets of the aircraft, with spare parts shared in a ‘global pool’.
Healey’s advice, sent on 18 July, was duly followed.
When Labour announced a partial arms embargo on Israel in September, foreign secretary David Lammy excluded spare parts for F-35s, provided they were shipped via another country.”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/labour-avoided-full-arms-embargo-on-israel-to-protect-special-relationship/
“Defence secretary John Healey wrote to his counterpart at the business department, Jonathan Reynolds, to stress that a full arms embargo against Tel Aviv “would undermine US confidence in the UK and NATO at a critical juncture in our collective history and set back relations.””
Translation: the Zionists said “I wouldn’t lay sanctions on Israel if I were you, boy, because we can turn the dial in Washington regarding the Russo-Ukrainian war in a direction you really won’t want, any f*cking time we want.”
Meanwhile, geopolitics fans, why is Starmer in China? No way is it to tell Xi off about something. That hasn’t happened for decades, regardless of British politicians and journos scribbling stuff about Blighty allowing the Chinese wallahs to “save face”, meet the British royal family just as they’ve always wanted, etc. Is Starmer going with a begging bowl?
It could be that he’s delivering a message “If Trump goes bananas with the nukes, or puts Hulk Hogan in charge of pushing the button or something, could you give us a call in London, because in that scenario we’d want to cooperate with Beijing, believe me.”
I think they are both in Rio at the G20 meeting but I haven’t seen any photos of them shaking hands.
A “global pool” for military equipment? Yeah right.
Perhaps we should call it the Pontius Pilate pool?
Brian Red
I read talk of ‘lending’ Ukraine weapons.
And I think Pakistan said it would ‘lend’ Iran some nuke warheads. You can have them – but don’t use them. We’ve not paid the US weapons company for them yet.
If it wasn’t so tragic you would have to laugh. PFI Weapons – now there’s one for the Blairites.
” We’ve not paid the US weapons company for them yet”.
Don’t sweat it. If they do get used, no one will ever have to pay for anything ever again.
Hochstein simply wants Hezbollah to surrender. The idea that Hez will abandon all the complex tunneling (and thousands of missiles hidden within) in southern Lebanon and retreat north of the Litani River is a pipe dream.
“As US influence over Lebanon deepens into overt guardianship – using aid, sanctions, and political pressure to dictate Beirut’s every step and utterance – Lebanon’s only choice to regain sovereignty is to forge new Eurasian alliances”, or remain an American vassal.
https://thecradle.co/articles/compromised-sovereignty-the-us-takeover-of-lebanon
“Hochstein simply wants Hezbollah to surrender”.
I would like to say what I want Hochstein to do, but this is a family site so I shan’t. It may not be topologically possible anyway.
The utter evil of Israel is beyond words. Now they have bombed a refugee centre in Beirut – the latest from Craig. So we know they have systematically targeted hospitals, schools and refugee centres, where people gather for shelter and aid, and have been doing so for a year now. What kind of monsters do this, with no shame, no conscience and such disregard for human life? The worst regimes in history struggle to compare this systematic, deliberate extinction of people, the great majority innocent civilians, defenceless, made homeless and struggling. Israel’s soldiers are cowardly, thuggish murderers who use an endless supply of US weapons from a safe distance to wipe out innocent people and all of their infrastructure and services, quite clinically and systematically. And our western ‘leaders’ look the other way and parrot the feeblest of propaganda from these sadists, and expect us to believe it. Sick, sick, sick.
Maybe Lebanon needs to establish some WhiteHelmets. They get lots of sympathetic coverage…
I have just seen the recent live stream from Judge Napolitano with Scott Ritter. In the last ten minutes they show an excerpt from a speech by Donald Trump (with a date of today, Monday 18th November) where he lambasts the Biden administration stating that we are at imminent risk of nuclear war and that this is the gravest threat. President-elect Trump states explicitly that Russia is not the greatest threat to the USA but it is in fact the US deep state actors who perpetuate forever war and who don’t put America first. I have tried to search this on Google
but cannot see it anywhere. Please try and see this. It almost took my breath away.[ Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezQ0aY-csFM ]
JohnnyOh45
I can’t believe that Trump has not said anything about Biden putting him on the spot so I’ll look at that.
Best Propaganda is lying by omission by the MSM.
As usual the truth will have to come out eventually as to what Trump’s view is.
When I saw reports of the bombing I was concerned for you. I know that they both bomb indiscriminately and target journalists. I can’t imagine it wouldn’t please them to do so.
Glad to see your post..
With all due respect to current victims of USUKIS violence, most of the CIA ‘s Islamists are also USUKIS victims, having been rounded up, renditioned and torture-chemical-brainwashed in USUKIS prisons.
I suspect that similar Nazi psychological torture is being inflicted on current inmates of Israeli prisons, as well as sadistic torture and organ harvesting.
Israel is a TERROR STATE. Free Free Palestine !
“why does Lebanon need a much bigger US Embassy than Germany or Japan or Russia?”
In Moscow the real estate is too pricey, but Germany and Japan don’t need large US embassies because these countries are occupied by the US.
So Hochstein has canceled his Beirut trip scheduled for tomorrow as the Biden administration is not happy with Lebanon position’s on UNSCR 1701. (Lebanon accepted everything except the total surrender clause demanded by Israelis, namely the zionists’ right to lawfully enter Lebanon whenever they feel like it).
A couple hours later, the Israeli war machine hits downtown Beirut, a civilian area. Craig reported bravely directly from the scene, with no western establishment journalists anywhere in sight.
https://x.com/CraigMurrayOrg/status/1858579512956494284
US complicity is clear, and it’s also clear that the Genocide Democrats will fully back Israeli demands for total surrender of Lebanon or … its destruction.
This is about the 79193rd time, during the past several decades, that there have been talks that might possibly have led to some kind of cooling off, or even a larger-scale agreement, but the talks have been wrecked by the Zionists going and bombing somewhere without warning, kidnapping or murdering their opponents, etc.
There’s only one language that they understand.
And no-one should say that this extreme hatred for outsiders isn’t connected with the religion. See for example the many uses of religious references in relation to obliterating the enemy, cleaning an area out, etc.
No agreement with them is worth anything. George Habash was totally right about Oslo.
Re the video statement by Trump that JohnnyOh referred to (in the video he linked to), I just did a search to see if it’s being reported by any of the MSM (I didn’t find anything at the moment) and, in the process, came across the following Guardian article, posted late last night (the 18th):
Trump allies attack Biden for allowing Ukraine to use US missiles inside Russia
President-elect’s surrogates accuse president of seeking to spark ‘world war three’ over decision to allow limited strikes
Allies of the president-elect, Donald Trump, have lashed out angrily at Joe Biden for his decision to permit Ukraine to use long-range US missiles to launch attacks inside Russia for the first time, in what the Kremlin has termed an “escalation” in the war.
Key Trump surrogates, including his son Donald Trump Jr, hardline congressional Republicans, and other backers have accused Biden of seeking to spark “world war three” before Trump’s presidential inauguration in January.
“The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives,” wrote Donald Trump Jr on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.
Richard Grenell, a former acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, who was seen as a potential candidate for secretary of state, wrote: “No one anticipated that Joe Biden would ESCALATE the war in Ukraine during the transition period. This is as if he is launching a whole new war. Everything has changed now – all previous calculations are null and void.”
But further on in the article it says this:
While Trump and his allies have broadly denounced increasing military support and financial aid for the Ukrainian government, analysts said it was unclear whether Trump would move immediately to repeal the decision regarding long-range missiles.
“On the first day they could announce, ‘We are suspending this authorization pending a review of Ukraine policy,’” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a thinktank based in Washington. “But that would engender a lot of criticism and revive all these stories about some deals with Putin.”
And a bit further on:
The White House decision may also prompt European allies with similar restrictions on the use of their long-range missiles in Ukraine to follow suit. The UK is expected to supply Storm Shadow missiles for use by Ukraine on targets inside Russia following the Biden decision with Keir Starmer, the prime minister, saying at the G20 summit that the UK needed to “double down” on its support for Ukraine.
Germany has maintained its position not to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, while the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had already said Paris was open to consider greenlighting the use of its missiles to strike on Russian soil.
Theresa Fallon, the director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels, said that there were mixed reactions among European military officials, with some worried about the potential for an escalation, while others were “happy … that Ukraine could now use the equipment without one hand tied behind their back any more….
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/18/trump-biden-ukraine-missiles-russia
NB: The Trump segment is towards the end of the video Johnny linked to, and WELL worth checking out (although towards the end of it he resorts to his usual piffle, unfortunately). Given what he said, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there’s ANOTHER assassination attempt on Trump before he takes office, and one that succeeds this time!
And Owen Jones posted the following vid on his youtube channel yesterday:
Amsterdam Mayor: I REGRET Claiming Pogrom And Not Denouncing Tel Aviv Thugs’ Violence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H_ozYgHpoM
(If, like me, you find OJ hard to follow sometimes because he’s so speedy, you can of course read the transcript)
Just this minute occurred to me to do a search to see how widely this is being reported in the British media, and it would appear that most of them are blanking it. But here are several outlets that DID cover it:
‘Amsterdam riots were not pogrom,’ mayor says, defending Muslim population
Femka Halsema accused the Israeli government and Dutch politicians of using the term ‘pogrom’ as propaganda to attack the Muslim community.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-829656
Amsterdam mayor says “pogrom” is being used as propaganda
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema has said she would not again use the word “pogrom” when talking about the violence surrounding the Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv football match earlier this month, saying the word was now being used as propaganda.
Halsema also told current affairs show Nieuwsuur on Sunday evening that she should have mentioned the trouble caused by Maccabi supporters before and after the Europa League game in the Dutch capital. It emerged later than 10 Maccabi fans were arrested on the evening of the match and several more are included on a police “wanted” list.
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/11/amsterdam-mayor-says-pogrom-is-being-used-as-propaganda/
Haaretz covered it, but most of the article is behind a paywall:
Amsterdam Mayor Regrets Calling Attack on Israeli Soccer Fans a Pogrom
Femke Halsema said the term became political propaganda after violence between Israeli soccer fans and pro-Palestinian protesters sparked heated debate.
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2024-11-18/ty-article/.premium/amsterdam-mayor-regrets-calling-attack-on-israeli-soccer-fans-a-pogrom/00000193-3fef-d824-afff-7fef332c0000
Thanks for this, worth knowing about. It means that the mayor of Amsterdam is not an uncritical consumer of Zionist propaganda in the way that EU leaders like Ursula Von der Leyen might be. Actually I find UVdL’s uncritical acceptance of Zionist propaganda disappointing. I thought she was brighter than that.
So 10 Zionist document-holders were arrested. My guess would be that none of them have been charged.
How many of their pro-Palestinian opponents have been charged?
We actually do not know if Biden authorized something, and we do not know what exactly Biden authorized (if he did), and we also do not know if Biden knows that he authorized something, and if he did, maybe Biden does not know what he authorized. We also do not know why some guy from EU but not Biden himself confirmed that Biden authorized something while Biden ran away from the questions into the jungle. We haven’t seen any documents and no official statement was read. While Putin’s totalitarian dictatorship is completely transparent and you can read online every executive order that Putin had signed, including the recent updates to the Russian Federation’s nuclear doctrine, the American superb true democracy is completely opaque. We still do not know why and how Joe Biden who claimed to be “200% ready for elections” was on the very next day replaced by his VP who never passed the primaries, we do not know what she spent $1B on, and we do not even know where the Hell is she now and who really is in charge.
Off topic, you’re lucky nobody noticed. Actually so was the comment you’re referring to…
Otherwise, what you’re saying is quite true, and rather funny!
So obvious what the UNSC 1701 will result in if implemented:
Back in july: Far-right minister Smotrich threatens war, re-occupation of south Lebanon amid escalation Hezbollah tensions
https://www.newarab.com/news/far-right-smotrich-threatens-re-occupation-south-lebanon
Video: Israeli soldier: Gaza and Lebanon are our lands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlDZCyEFNfE
Video: Israeli father reads a children’s book named “Alon and Lebanon” to his young son, where the characters say that Lebanon “belongs to Israel”.
https://www.instagram.com/trtworld/reel/DAugFmYR5hH/
If Hezbollah moves out, Israel moves in, that is something the terrible leadership of Lebanon should bring up in their “talks” with the US.
Thanks you for making this difficult journey and for reporting what you see.
“I should acknowledge that I have met a couple of young men in a bar who were pro-Israel, but that really is it”.
Remarkable that they should admit it. Surely like people in London expressing support for the Nazis during the Blitz?