Real Reporting Appeal 176


Our new mini-documentary from the Middle East shows again the kind of reporting that no Western media either can or will do.

We hope to visit Damascus where Western media is giving entirely sycophantic and false coverage to the new HTS regime, praising the return of Pringles to the shops while ignoring massacres.

But we are completely out of funding. I have made an overall loss now in five figures on our work in the Middle East since October.

There has been not one mainstream journalist here showing the truth of Israeli bombing and occupation in Lebanon. There are some excellent local journalists but we have a far greater reach in the West, with some of our individual videos getting millions of views there.

The days when the MSM would employ honest foreign correspondents like Robert Fisk are sadly long gone. The likes of the BBC and the CNN cover Lebanon and Syria through an exclusively Zionist lens from Tel Aviv.

I hope to pave the way for citizen activism journalism that does not merely analyse from afar, but reports from the ground, even and perhaps especially in difficult or dangerous locations. If it goes well I entertain the dream of establishing a permanent centre here, employing local staff, which could then host star visiting “new media” journalists for extended periods.

Unfortunately to date I have not been able to make a voluntary donation and subscription funding model work, even for the low-cost guerilla-filming approach Niels and I have been adopting. That may be because the model is not possible, or just reflect my own limits of reach and my lack of fundraising ability.

It is certain that there has been extreme social media suppression of our output, but we have still gained a wide audience. I am therefore making an attempt to appeal for support for what I believe to be not just worthwhile but vital work, as historic changes unfold in the Middle East.

I do not back away from the avowed aim of defeating Imperialism and the Greater Israel project, with the weapons of truth and light.

But if this appeal does not work quickly, we will be forced to give up and return to Europe.

Unless you are so wealthy it does not matter to you, I would much prefer you not to give again if you already have supported. We really need to widen the number of financial supporters, and perhaps instead you can recommend to others.

I absolutely do not want anybody to give anything if it causes them the least financial hardship.

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I am very grateful indeed for all assistance.

 


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176 thoughts on “Real Reporting Appeal

1 2 3
  • Brianfujisan

    Be careful Craig.They might take you .. I’m out of funding too at the Moment but keep my subcripion going Please Take care

  • Anthony

    Another very authoritative report, clearly spelling out the absurdity of a 5,000-staff “embassy” in such a tiny country. What is the approved explanation for it? Has the respectable media even asked them for one?

      • Sergey

        No, it’s not a palace. It’s one of Empire’s strategies for changing the geopolitical orientation of a country. They used the same approach—a giant embassy in a small country—in Armenia: 2,000 staff in a 2.8-million country. It’s a full-scale invasion, with media, cultural, academic and government strata of the targeted society gradually infiltrated, resulting in the change of government and the change of the country’s course. Lebanese population is 5.3 million, so they adjusted to 5,000 staff.

  • Brian Red

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/24867004.israeli-prison-service-aiming-halt-displays-joy-released/

    “THE ISRAELI Prison Service has said it will be taking measures to prevent any “public displays of joy” when prisoners are released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. ”

    From war on terror to war on joy?

    Racist supremacists really don’t like their victims expressing basic humanity. I’m told Doris Lessing made this point in a Rhodesian context.

    Watch out for western MSM portraying any kind of jubilation among Palestinians released from occupation jails, or among their family members, as signifying “Ha ha – evil grin – we’ve got the better of you, and we’re just as evil as ever”.

    If you think that’s an exaggeration of the message, click here:

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-starmer-early-release-prison-young-dizz-b2670501.html

    Meanwhile – never forget – ~2 million people are homeless in Gaza because of terrorist attacks. That’s three times as many as were made homeless by Zionist terror attacks in the Nakba of 1948-49.

    Meanwhile the Jews who are released are likely to be all portrayed as innocent victims, even those who are soldiers.

  • Jack

    Splendid report Craig, captivating and informative. The interviewed lebanese in the video speak of american influence as an obvious fact but how did this influence come to be? Who is really pulling the strings? Is it the saudis that acting like a proxy for the americans or perhaps acting as proxy for the lebanese? Do the lebanese have any say on any critical matter?
    Imagine if Lebanon wanted to build this gigantic embassy in the US. They would of course get a total rejection in return!

    This is of course nothing but a spy hub, a gated community complex, a luxury mini-american-state in the middle of – I assume a very poor suburb – of Lebanon.

    It is very strange how these nations become retrograde and more dependent on the colonial powers of the west and not less as one would have assumed. Who in Lebanon benefit from this enroachment and subserviance to the americans? What do they get in return?

    • Stevie Boy

      Look on the bright side, all the filth is concentrated in one pit.
      One hypersonic missile and the CIA will have 5,000 vacancies available.

  • Richard Childers

    Craig & Company,

    It seems to me the best use of your money would be by making brief sorties to Lebanon to recruit and manage relationships with a small team of professional journalists whom each manage a small network of other journalists whom collect information, photographs and interviews and upload it to a central resource where it is archived, backed up, protected, analyzed, and published in exchange for money and recognition.

    This would be more cost-effective than trying to cover the news yourself. You ask the questions and direct your team to get answers. You collate their reports, boil it down and publish in an attempt to influence public policy. You minimize your own physical exposure to those brief sorties to Lebanon, maybe explore video chats.

    Give some thought to public key encryption – and also the legal risks, if any. Perhaps some of your investment goes into a physically secure office space for people to work out of. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology runs a public PGP key server, see https://pgp.mit.edu/ for more information.

    You can still do interviews remotely and report on a weekly basis, just, you spend differently and maybe generate greater quantities and hopefully qualities of information.

    My $0.02,

    ~richard

    • Cavery

      I agree it has to be more cost effective. Currently, over £21,000 has been donated and Craig says he has made a loss of a five figure sum, minimum of £10000, that means he is burning through about 10k plus per month.

      • Stevie Boy

        So, already the Israelis have broken the ceasefire, blaming a stupid technicality. Not even day one and the killing continues. As suspected a western supported PR farce.

      • Townsman

        I’m afraid you have no idea about how much it costs to run a reporting operation, especially in a country with damaged infrastructure like Lebanon. I’m amazed he is doing it for less than £50k/month. Any alternative would cost much more.

        • Brian Red

          So it seems to be being done at about one-fifth of the cost you thought it would be “amazing” to go below.
          Perhaps in such circumstances it’s unwise to tell someone they have no idea of how much it costs.

  • Pyewacket

    Craig, I experienced similar incredulity at the incredible size of a US Embassy when on holiday in Malta a few years ago. The building is about six storeys high and according to our tour guide, also extends to a considerable depth below ground, excavated into the Limestone bedrock. It’s surrounded by impenetrable fencing, topped with Razor wire, replete with abundant CCTV/surveillance equipment, which made one wonder, as to what level of security threat the Americans anticipate from the placid Maltese. Its location is at the highest point of the Island within an Environmentally Sensitive Area, as such, no other building developments would be permitted nearby. We were also told that during construction, which was done in phases, different labour/tradesmen crews were brought in and then replaced upon completion when a new phase began. I queried its size with our Tour Guide and she said it had been an issue of concern in Malta, and that the majority of other Country’s Embassies on the Island made do with a house in Valetta. Our discovery of this establishment was in fact, quite accidental. We were on a Coach Tour of the Island that coincided with a huge programme of Highways improvements, and as such, our Coach’s route and itinerary kept being diverted by road works, to which, our Guide reassuringly informed us, wasn’t a problem, as our Driver knew another route. So, eventually, we ended up going along a very narrow Lane, barely wide enough to take the Coach. Suddenly, we were stopped, yet again, only this time by a uniformed Security Guard, who was telling our Driver, apparently, that he couldn’t come this way, and our Driver was equally telling the Guard that he had no alternative and certainly couldn’t reverse, nor turn round. We were, as you may have guessed, outside the US Embassy, and much to the Guard’s consternation everyone was taking pictures. I did ask our Guide just how many American tourists visit Malta to justify such a humongous building and that’s when she told us all about the issues I’ve mentioned above. Fact is, they hardly get any – which suggests its real purpose is not to deal with lost Passports or the repatriation of the sick and injured.

    • Stevie Boy

      American embassies are essentially spy hubs, listening posts and coordination centres for secret ops. Dealing with the public is a sideline. It’s also my impression that a lot/most USA business people travelling overseas have some involvement with the security forces. This is a symptom of the USAs attitude that the rest of the world are It’s enemy.

    • Pyewacket

      Further, just to add in light of Craig’s mentioning a listening posts on high ground in Cyprus. There appears to be a line of these that bisect the entire Mediterranean Sea if we include the Rock of Gibraltar at the extreme Western end, continuing through Malta, then Cyprus and culminating at Beirut, the 5 eyes have the whole of MENA covered.

    • Brian Red

      ” a considerable depth below ground, excavated into the Limestone bedrock.”
      That sounds like a nuclear shelter.

      Interesting that it was built this century, well after the end of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact, and well before the Russia-Ukraine war.

      • Brian Red

        I don’t think doing stuff deep underground is necessary for protection against electronic warfare.
        Maybe someone here knows?

        • Stevie Boy

          Faraday Cage will do for protection against RF interception, holes in the ground are usually for protection against Nukes – has to be deep though.

    • A - Lister

      There’s a very large one (for the country) in Kampala with similar deep construction for underground protection/space. It’s also within walking distance of Kabalagala, the party-party/red light hotspot.

  • Brian Red

    I do not back away from the avowed aim of defeating Imperialism

    Sounds great. Let’s talk about US imperialism and what it’s doing right now. In several countries, suborned creeps are falling in line with Make “America” Great Again, the US rebrand fronted by the failed casino owner and Chabad-connected violent criminal, Donald Trump.

    It’s even worse than when creeps gave the impression they couldn’t go outside their houses without being bombarded with the horror of Hillary’s emails or Hunter’s laptop.

    Examples include Denmark, Greenland, and Britain (Keir Starmer, Liz Truss, Nigel Farage).
    I will piss myself laughing if the USA submits an Article 13 letter to NATO later this week, announcing intent to withdraw.

    Of course this doesn’t make the US regime isolationist in the slightest. It’s the opposite.

    Soon the countries are likely to include Scotland. The money will be there for a few creeps in politics and media to say that Scotland should become a US state. Or “let’s give it some consideration”. Or “it would be better than being in the current union with the dirty rotten Westminsters”. “All things are in flux – let’s be heroes who think outside the box – oh and is my cheque in the post?”

    Can someone remind me of the Lovecraftian quote about remembering what the evil ones do with those who follow them?

    I’m told the enhanced armed roundup of immigrants in the USA looks set to begin tomorrow. Polls in the US are showing large support in the population for deporting all “undocumented migrants”, i.e. illegal immigrants, of whom there are about 11 million.

    Posting video clips to the machine known as “the internet” may not be the way forward for the opposition.

    • joel

      Yours sincerely,

      A fervent supporter of the Genocide Democrats after 15 months of the worst crimes of my lifetime. (Please forget you heard anything about it).

      • Brian Red

        The utility to the ruling class of mass “forgetting” is that it facilitates mass ignoring of what’s going on now.

        The culture has become so schizo that saying “don’t forget” can serve the same purpose.

  • Truthseeker

    You cannot claim you support independent reporting and then say you have “the avowed aim of defeating Imperialism and the Greater Israel project”. Try taking your funding appeal to Tehran.

  • Brian Red

    One thing that seems likely, given how the ceasefire agreement is being reported – “Trump’s new envoy made clear to Netanyahu who’s the boss” – is that the Kushners, Adelman, and Chabad with Trump as their puppet are looking beyond Netanyahu to whichever figure they’re going to replace him with. Which could well happen quite soon.

    The story has been draped in the idea of “we told Netanyahu he could shove his Sabbath” (regardless of the fact that Netanyahu doesn’t actually keep kosher) – or in other words it’s come with a dollop of the notion that “the Israeli regime is overly religious”. This suggests that the figure they’ll replace Netanyahu with has a profile that’s more religious not less.

    Which is not to say this is necessarily the way it will be. It’s always realpolitik, and every political brand is for sale, without exception. But it would be wisest in this context to suppose that how they’re presenting it all is probably the opposite of how it is.

    • Stevie Boy

      Biden has Hunter and Trump has Kushner. Trump is the new ‘big guy’. The song remains the same, corruption.
      “Affinity Partners, the Saudi-funded hedge firm of President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, received approval from Israeli regulators to double its stake in Phoenix Financial Ltd., which funds the construction of illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.”
      https://thecradle.co/articles/kushners-saudi-backed-fund-doubles-stake-in-firm-financing-illegal-west-bank-settlements

      • Jack

        Yes, Trump’s motivation seems to be:
        *Get rid of hostages to level whole of Gaza more freely
        *Pivot towards Iran
        *Re-ignite his Arbraham/Israel/arab-normalization accord

        Haaretz: How Long Will ‘The Trump Effect’ Last in the Middle East?
        Donald Trump’s dreams of Israel-Saudi normalization, an expanded Abraham Accords and the Nobel Peace Prize are less a glide path and more a minefield, with Israel’s conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran just three of the problems awaiting him

        https://archive.is/gTE2e

        There will be more of the same (Biden) I am afraid but lets see how the Democrats will react now, will they tag along when it is Trump that support the racist genocide in Gaza or will they finally come to their senses? It is up to them.

        • Stevie Boy

          Once all the Palestinians are dead, the Saudis will have no objections to closer ties with Israel. It’s the public genocide that is embarrassing for them.

  • Brianfujisan

    Truth tellers are Rare

    And we so need Wee Heroes

    Like Our Craig Murray

    Here is a great (in My humble opinion) with Abby and Roger –

    Empire Files: Roger Waters & Abby Martin: Voices of Reason in a Time of Genocide (27 Nov 2024) – YouTube, 45m 38s
    Legendary artist Roger Waters talks to Abby Martin about Trump’s landslide victory and what to expect in his administration, reflects on the year of genocide in Gaza, excoriates Radiohead for their stance on Palestine, and urges to seek out the rare voices of reason that exist to counteract the prevailing insanity.

  • Brian Sides

    A few years after 9/11 I was trying to bring my step daughter from the Philippine’s to the UK and I needed to visit the British Embassy that is locate off a main road in wealth area of Makati. When entering there was a large American GI in military camouflage holding a MI6 what looked like attack dogs plus the Philippine guards all armed. (in the Philippines you will find armed guards in small shops)
    we were not allowed to take bags in and this caused a problem. But when we left we did so by the rear exit this was maned by one uninterested guard. But to my great surprise the exit lead directly into a pancake shop. So the next time I first had breakfast in the pancake shop and entered via the exit. But on my next visit as I entered the pancake shop I found there was no one there. When I looked in the embassy the guard was not there or anyone else. I could see the lift doors were open with mops and buckets. So they had left everything open for the cleaners. I guess they were not expecting any terrorists that day.

  • Jack

    The Biden admin trying to polish their horrid legacy by pretending that they were always against what Israel do/did in Gaza:
    “US President Biden says he urged Israeli Premier Netanyahu to avoid carpet-bombing Gaza”
    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/us-president-biden-says-he-urged-israeli-premier-netanyahu-to-avoid-carpet-bombing-gaza/3453437
    Yeah right, 15 months where Biden gave Israel carte-blanche to do whatever they wanted still Biden have the gall to claim he tried to stop the very same carnage by Israel? A carnage made possible not only by political support but by actual american physical missiles, bullets.

    Or take this nasty statement by Blinken pretending that he stood against the dehumanization of palestinians while in reality he was one of the reasons, with his total support for Israel, that the dehumanization was kept alive, normalized and developed into a genocide under his helm with him doing nothing about to stop it:
    Blinken: “In Israel, there is almost no reporting on the conditions in Gaza and what people there endure every day. This dehumanization is one of the greatest tragedies of the conflict.”
    https://x.com/ElBaradei/status/1879242397420494936
    Besides it is also a lie by Blinken. Israelis know full well what is going on in Gaza. They enjoy it, they cheer it. This is who they are

    As israeli journalist Gideon Levy said the other day.
    “Its not only about the killing, its about being proud of the killing, its about being proud of the destruction. No shame, nothing. Israel is very proud… look at Gaaza, look at the destruction, Israel is proud about it, & this is very troubling”
    https://x.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1880880951691292674

  • Brian Red

    Ben Gvir has resigned from the occupation cabinet. Smotrich hasn’t.

    “You’re the finance minister. What made you decide to stay in your job, Mr Smotrich?”

    It really hurts Ben Gvir to see Arab families rejoice in places in the West Bank when family members have been released from occupation prisons. What a monster.

    “When you see … the dancing in Gaza, the celebrations in villages in Judea and Samaria – you understand which side surrendered in this deal,” Ben Gvir said in a statement on Thursday.”

    There are probably very few Arab families living in Gaza who haven’t had someone killed or wounded in this conflict.

    • U Watt

      “There are probably very few Arab families living in Gaza who haven’t had someone killed or wounded in this conflict.”

      It’s a prison camp containing mostly children. A certain political party in the United States sent an endless supply of 2,000lb bombs in order to shred the children and babies trapped in Gaza. How do you regard that political party, Brian?

  • Madison

    We’re now just a few hours away from the major event of our lifetimes.
    The return of the Donald, better known as Trump 2.0. For the first time in many years, the foremost Western leader will share goals with BRICS.
    The first of which is obviously the collapse of the EU, the only plausible contender to the imperialism of either the USA, Russia or China.
    In case of doubt, please realize that in America, people may disagree on social issues like abortion or immigration, but they overwhelmingly agree on seeing overseas countries as a painful nuisance. If a Democrat President was able to fund Israel’s genocidal ‘war’ in Gaza, it was only possible thanks to a Republican House.
    At the end of the day, Trump and Putin and Xi Jinping share a lot. And Elon advocates for free speech, but mostly for far-right conservatives.
    Soon, the moment of truth. To reverse it, our donations may not be good enough…

    • Brian Red

      Does General Milley’s pre-emptive pardon from Biden cover him for all possible crimes he might be alleged to have committed? Or is there wriggle room? E.g. if it appears he may have stolen something from a shop in 2015, will he be immune from prosecution? I am just wondering whether Trump will find a way to have him prosecuted. Or is it crystal clear legally that that wouldn’t be lawful?

      Edited to add an interesting fact: the world’s second largest shipping registry is in Panama. Until recently when they were overtaken by Liberia, they had the world’s largest. Might be awkward globally if something happened to Panama-owned computers, for example if Panama were at war against the United States. I wonder whether any countries friendly towards Panama might say hey guys, we won’t let you be taken over by the USA. As China for example told North Korea.

      • Madison

        As you well know, it won’t be necessary. Money is the most powerful of all missiles.
        The Panama canal, and Greenland can be conquered without firing a single bullet.
        When it comes to Canada, it may take some extra time, but will eventually surrender to the business traction.

    • Brian Red

      If the BBC weren’t a government-owned pack of c***s, they’d be making the point that hey, protesting outside our building is not the same as terrorising synagogue attenders, and you can come and protest outside our building any time you like.

      It seems everyone in authority or public service in Britain has to help the Zionist genocidalists with their PR – whether we’re talking about the police before the demo, the BBC, or the police after the demo.

    • Tom74

      But it’s very risky from the mainstream media because I am sure there is a growing number of people like me who, because of the appalling, shameless lies and bias about Israel (but also, actually, on other big recent issues like Ukraine, Brexit and covid), no longer even believe the media’s bread-and-butter reporting either. Even propaganda has to seem credible to the masses. The Israeli PR that the British media have been peddling today on the hostage releases must be a new low for journalistic standards. And, needless to say, our ‘free and fearless newspapers’ aren’t letting anyone except their chosen politicians and vetted pundits have their say. Just as one example, it’s open-season on Trump BTL in the Guardian today but no one is ever allowed to criticise Netanyahu or Zelenskiiy.

    • Madison

      Agreed. But I also wonder if it’s ’normal’ for an incoming US president to be so closely surrounded by the 3 richest persons in the world (Elon, Bezos and Zuckerberg) while swearing to defend the American people. The giilionnaires club obviously supports war and genocide if it means profit. CNN has dropped the mask, and was commenting today “These moguls run and control information around the world.” Straight from the horse’s mouth…
      The new motto in America must be “woo the people”. And it works!

      • MR MARK CUTTS

        Madison

        Ah – but now we are talking about the God of Gods.

        The God of Money and the making thereof.

        All other Gods are false Gods.

        Perhaps instead of Trump a Golden Calf could be the President.

        Makes sense in The Hall of Money Worship.

        Fancy Jesus coming along and ruining things later.

        A lot of pious nonsense going on which I’m sure Trump doesn’t give a crap about.

        His base does but he doesn’t I think.

        I suppose for the Greek Scholars on here that Musk et al maybe more of a similar metaphor.

        Who though is Zeus?

        • Brian Red

          Thought experiment: if Elon Musk did today’s Nazi style salutes in Germany, would he have been arrested? (The Nazi salute is banned in Germany, so whether or not a person’s arm movement was a Nazi salute is a legal question. It isn’t just a topic for a thread on the internet.)

          The context was of him hailing victory, quite literally, so those who think you’ve gotta be nuts to call it a deliberate Nazi (or fascist) salute are deluding themselves. Or else they don’t know what “Hail victory” is in German.

          What does Musk mean by “safe cities”? I get it that this is in contradistinction to “sanctuary cities”. So he means safe for whites. But does he only mean immigrant-frei or does he mean subject to total surveillance? Maybe there’s not much of a difference?

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joV-9FFoA3Q

          • MR MARK CUTTS

            Brian Red

            I think it was meant to be a Roman Salute but Musk being an idiot he sort of Geekily fumbled it.

            Instead of ‘ All Hail The Chief!’ ( Hail Caesar!) it came out:

            ‘ Heil Hitler! ‘

            Footballers do that when they score ( beat their chests) it shows the crowd fealty.

            Thirty games later ( after much loyal shirt kissing – another fealty gesture) they are off on a new contract at Spurs.

            The problem with the Yanks is their culture is Comic Book Culture and Movies – the real world rarely intervenes and of course they ( the US) always save the world – again and again.

            So – maybe Musk/Zuckerberg/Bezos and maybe Donald think that they are a version of The Fantastic Four and can change the World for the good of all ( meaning for the good of the US).

            The trouble is is that reality is very exacting and will smash your dreams and hopes and crazy illusions out of the sky.

            The MAGA people are in for utter dis-appointment as Trump will let them down and they will end up looking for the next Messiahs – that is the fate of a declining Western World.

            I am not saying that the BRICS will be the ultimate panacea ( it is a big experiment afterall) but as I once read on the Guardian Comments Board in 2017 vis; Jeremy Corbyn:

            ‘ Surely he can’t be any worse! ‘

            Yes – ditto the BRICs experiment.

          • Brian Red

            “I think it was meant to be a Roman Salute but Musk being an idiot he sort of Geekily fumbled it.”

            ?? @ Mark – Can you explain what you mean by that? The German Nazi salute was taken from the fascist salute as used in Italy, where Mussolini introduced the Roman salute partly because he was into ancient Rome (“fasces” etc.) but mostly because he was a germophobe and couldn’t stand shaking hands.

            The context was one in which Musk was hailing victory – saying what a great victory it was, how he was enjoying it so much, how it was so important for human civilisation, etc.

            Kind of weird that he was standing behind the seal of the president of the USA. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone other than the actual president of the USA make a speech behind the USA presidential seal before.

            The way he claps his hand to his chest and then throws out his right arm – that was a fascist or Nazi salute, all right. He was also pretty obviously out of his head on drugs.

            Musk is no idiot and shouldn’t be given the benefit of the doubt. His speech was quite coherent even if abhorrent – the reference to “safe cities” for example.

            He has responded by saying that people shouldn’t say “everyone is Hitler”. But there aren’t many people in the world who have hailed a political victory in front of an admiring crowd chanting their name, and then given a Nazi or fascist salute. Oh and after expressing support for his pals Tommy Robinson, the AFD, Meloni, etc. Nobody is saying “everyone” is anything.

          • Brian Red

            People say Musk is a bit of an introvert, which he probably is. But so what? So am I. It’s not accurate to say he’s socially inept, which is what some have said. The skills he has got certainly seem to have got him quite a long way in present society. “Inept” people tend to fail at stuff. Musk is educated too, and not conceivably somebody who is so ignorant as not to know what a fascist or Nazi salute is.

            The way his persona is functioning on stage is similar to how Trump’s is. Weird but true.

  • Brian Red

    Here is a disgusting Zionist article on the release of Hamas-held occupation captives, essentially concentrating on how apparently terrible it is that Hamas officials can dare to act as if they were one party to the deal, rather than ceasing to breathe:

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-forces-parting-gift-bags-on-freed-hostages-as-mementos-of-hellish-captivity/

    I admire the resistance in Gaza and abhor the existence of the ethnic supremacist regime, but as a human being I welcome the freeing of those women, I hope they have been treated well, and I hope they have a good time celebrating with their families.

    But Zionists seem as if they want to have no humanity whatsoever. It’s as if there is no “as a human being” type of consideration for them, as if they simply don’t know what it means – as if it’s a disgrace to the universe that Arab families rejoice when family members come home from prison, or even when resistance members show some dignity when releasing prisoners. The Zionists want to be “God” to the people they’ve dispossessed, not fellow human beings.

    • Terence Callachan

      The weirdos that are Israelis show just how screwed up they are in their comments in that times of israel report i have been to israel they really are weird unworldly with no humanity not friendly , they are self centered .

      • Greg Park

        There is definitely something otherworldly about them. I remember years ago when the Israeli Chelsea football coach Avram Grant was found to have been consorting with young prostitutes his wife was raging – not at him but at the media, saying the poor man has been under pressure! They just view the world through a different lens to other people.

    • MR MARK CUTTS

      Brian Red

      I’ve replied to your reply here.

      Musk is clever at making money and getting gullible fools to give him upfront Venture capital cash to
      fund his hope and their hopes.

      As far as I know he has invented nothing and trades on the inventiveness of other genuinely clever people
      ( Bill Gates appears to be same and Bezos perfected the art of Internationalising the Grattan Catalogue) ,

      All ‘ clever ‘ yes – but that is through perfected or enhancing already existing things.

      Like an IQ Test is not a measure of ‘Intelligence ‘ and as an example if I was stuck in the Outback with Musk or
      an Aboriginie I’d follow the instructions of the Aboriginie man whilst Musk consults his genius mind and dies of thirst.

      Fair enough an Aborigine doesn’t know much about cars but circumstances dictate Intelligence.

      I would be surprised that away from being about 18 Musk knows how to change a sparkplug or even a plug in the wall.

      And like many of his cohort he knows very little about history ( more than Trump – which isn’t difficult) and will have viewed
      history through movies and possible Ben Hur stuck in his mind.

      Can’t be UP Pompei with Frankie Howerd as he would never understand that in a month of Sundays.

      To be fair to him, he may have got that weird salute from Star Wars via Darth Vader and his evil chums.

      He’s got it from somewhere but not actual history.

      Definitely not his Local Library.

  • Harry Law

    A full Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon is most unlikely to happen by the date of 26th of January. They still occupy 60 towns and villages, vacating only two of them and leaving them in ruins. It will be interesting to watch what Hezbollah do since they have threatened to act if the Israelis do not leave. I suspect the Israeli order for more 2000lb bombs from the US, are a reminder to the Lebanese not to cause trouble. https://news.antiwar.com/2025/01/19/massive-israeli-destruction-continues-in-southern-lebanon-as-ceasefire-enters-final-week/

    • Brian Red

      Have they withdrawn any forces from Lebanon during the first 55 of the agreed 60 days?

      That said, the Lebanese Armed Forces with UNIFIL support have moved to positions in the south, but they and the occupiers who are continuing their destructive actions against buildings and agriculture don’t seem to be getting in each other’s way.

      “The IDF has been replying to very few of the Mission’s requests for deconfliction”.

      https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/01/1159156

    • Stevie Boy

      The original excuse for the invasion of Lebanon was to provide a security buffer to enable displaced ‘settlers’ in Northern Israel to move back to their stolen Palestinian properties. Following that logic there is no way Israel will withdraw from Lebanon. The next step is settler expansion into Lebanon. Greater Israel.

  • Greg Park

    It could hardly be clearer that Lebanon is under colonial rule if the salaries of its army are borne by US taxpayers. Those dungeons under the new complex are surely intended for anti-colonial national resistance fighters.

  • Republicofscotland

    Romanian 2.0 here we come.

    “The German parliament may begin discussing a motion calling for a ban on the right-wing Alternative for Germany party next week, Die Zeit has reported, citing the cross-party group of MPs behind the move. The lawmakers insist that the AfD’s agenda runs counter to the German constitution and poses a threat to the country’s democratic order.

    The party, which was established in 2013, is currently polling around 20%, ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) at 16%, but behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on 31%.”

  • Greg Park

    In other news, sheepdog Bernie Sanders votes to confirm genocidal neo-con Marco Rubio as Blinken’s successor.
    99-0 vote in the Senate. Masks fully off.

  • Jack

    While a recent survey proved that some ~95% of saudis reject normalzation with Israel the saudi regime seems to push on towards a deal with Israel.
    Trump believes Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel
    ‘I think Saudi Arabia will end up being in the Abraham accords,’ newly sworn-in US president tells reporters at Oval Office

    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/trump-believes-saudi-arabia-to-normalize-ties-with-israel-/3456765

    The so called Abraham-accords have been nothing but a slow israel/US coup that have been going on, behind the scenes, for a couple of years now with the result of in effect pacifcy the arab world. Unbeliavable that the arabs keep appeasing, keep being a pushover for Israel/US and even backtrack on their own 2 decade long promise that normalization with Israel could only come after a palestinian statehood is recognized.
    “2002 Arab Peace Initiative”
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Peace_Initiative

    • Harry Law

      How easy would it be for the United States to put the screws on its vassal Saudi Arabia? They have already accused OPEC of being involved in a cartel. Cartels are illegal in the United States. They are regulated by antitrust laws, including the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits contracts, combinations, or conspiracies that unreasonably restrain trade. Then they could threaten to seize any number of Saudi financial assets, be they bonds, real estate etc. What could SA do about it, hell the US have just confiscated/stolen 300 billion dollars of Russia’s foreign reserves and they have more nuclear weapons than the US. They could threaten to send in their camel corps.

  • Brian Red

    If it goes well I entertain the dream of establishing a permanent centre here, employing local staff, which could then host star visiting “new media” journalists for extended periods.

    But the global ruling class are shutting “new media” down next week. At least as far as unauthorised elements, assumed subversive, are concerned.
    Just kidding.
    It’ll be the week after.

    Sorry but get real. There’s no more Democracy Wall.

  • Stevie Boy

    Starmer denying the governments role in extremist attacks in the UK and using them to further clamp down on freedoms for the people.
    “Starmer warned the country that there is a “new threat” of terrorism in the UK this morning. It comes after Axel Rudakubana admitted murdering three little girls in Southport”. [The authorities were very aware of the threat]
    “If the law needs to change to recognise this new and dangerous threat, then we will change it. And quickly. And we will also review our entire counter-extremist system, to make sure we have what we need to defeat it” [Social media, freedom of speech, freedom to protest will be impacted]
    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/keir-starmer-warns-uk-faces-a-new-terrorism-threat-after-southport-killings_uk_678f6386e4b0d1b4d17108bd
    *apologies for the lefty source 🙂

    • Bramble

      I’m confused. So were Jamie Bulger’s killers, the Yorkshire Ripper, Harold Shipman and the Wests terrorists, not murderers?

      • MR MARK CUTTS

        Bramble

        The enormous hypocrisy here is breathtaking ( and I am in no way dismissing the terrible crime committed) and is that
        the same moralists ( Starmer and the MSM) are saying that the three kids murdered was a terrible
        crime – who on earth would say it wasn’t? – but, he and MPs’ and the MSM are extremely sanguine at
        the crimes of aiding and abetting Israel in its bombing and killing of children in Gaza and elsewhere.

        That is stratospheric hyprocrisy.

        Nobody smiles in the MSM even ironically, at Starmer’s statements.

    • GratedApe

      I was reviewing articles recently that concluded that internationally there is a real problem of individuals with developmental disorders (‘autism’ specifically, fwiw) getting obsessed with violent ideologies (including christian supremacy). In the UK many had been referred to Prevent but it was usually thought to be just a superficial obsession, partly aesthetic: flags, symbols.

      (Elon Musk’s recent Roman/Nazi salutes are now coming to mind but I’ve no idea what he intends by it politically?)

      I suppose with Axel there was a more personal link to violence via his RPF Tutsi parents. I remember Craig did a brilliant post about Rwanda regarding the attempts by the Tories to send asylum seekers there. From the opposite direction, found an article “Chemouni, B., & Mugiraneza, A. (2019). Ideology and interests in the Rwandan patriotic front: Singing the struggle

      “Whereas the Hutu extremists systematically degraded and dehumanized the RPF, and the Tutsi viewed as their natural supporters, such violent imagery is absent from RPF songs. A distinction is made between Habyarimana and his entourage and the wider (and de facto mainly Hutu) population.” …

      “The external world here bears the blame for the fate of Rwanda. Colonizers divided Rwandans as they banned Rwanda’s culture and tradition, the ‘eternal lights’ of unity and democracy according to Song C. This argument is extended over time, to characterize the current situation, and over space, to the whole African continent. The whites are also blamed for the fate of Rwandan refugees. Song L even identifies a ‘whites’ plan’ to keep the refugees out of the country.”

      • GratedApe

        p.s. a confusing paragraph in a Guardian article:

        “Reports differ about Rudakubana’s paternal grandfather, Dr Rudakubana, who some say was a high-ranking official in the administration of President Juvénal Habyarimana, the Hutu president whose death in 1994 when his plane was shot out of the sky triggered the genocide. Others insist that Dr Rudakubana was one of the founder members of the RPF.”

          • GratedApe

            https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2023.2261285#d1e465 Memories of violence in the Rwandan diaspora: intergenerational transmission and conflict transportation (2022)

            “The collected empirical data demonstrates that:

            (1) genocide memories are central in second-generation Rwandan’s identities, sometimes leading to a maintenance of internal diasporic cleavages;

            (2) the transmission of these memories structures the diasporans’ everyday lives and practices, thereby contributing to “conflict transportation” processes; and

            (3) at the same time, these memories are also reframed, reassessed and rearticulated in relation to the context in Belgium, leading to “conflict autonomisation” processes.

            Let’s explore these three points in turn”

    • Stevie Boy

      1.4 billion people in China, roughly the same in India. Go global, publish on rednote in mandarin, etc. Big market, big money. Though maybe those in the south aren’t interested in our messes.

  • M.J.

    Here’s one guess as to what the place is for.
    An international centre for illegal imprisonment, torture and murder, especially for Muslim victims given the region. America has been outsourcing its dirty work for a generation, and in this way it can return the favour for friendly regimes and store the know-how. All activity in there will be classified, and thanks to the connection to the Mediterranean, all ashes can be flushed down the drain.
    Further, it can be combined with an embassy and village for regular diplomatic staff as well as retreat centre for interrogators seeking relief from their demanding work of torture and murder, just as, at the beachfront retreat for IDF within Gaza, soldiers can enjoy hot showers, breakfast buffets, cold drinks and forget about the carnage they are doing for a while, as they down a nice cold Maccabee beer. They can even be offered counselling if the carnage gets to them.
    Just as Israel offers nice seafronts, green suburbs and pine forests fenced off from a nightmare regime with prisons where people are treated as inmates were in Nazi concentration camps (just as the paradisical “whites only” areas of apartheid South Africa were a world apart from the cells of John Vorster Square security HQ with its slippery showers), so here the embassy might offer a welcome home away from home for US citizens, as well as formal or lavish embassy functions like banquets, all internally separated by steel doors and barriers from the detention centre.
    Make sense?

    • M.J.

      Here’s one way to test my theory: does the place show signs of design for the disposal of bodies of murder victims? Any small but serviceable crematorium with a chimney, or facilities for the chemical disposal of corpses? Burying victims would require an area set apart for a common grave, as Romans might dispose of corpses following crucifixion, perhaps concealed.in this case.

    • M.J.

      I just remembered the School of the Americas, set up for teaching South American dictators the methods of repression. It may be that this is a college of repression for the Middle East and nearby regions like Asia or Africa, teaching methods rather than actually using them – though “practical work” could overlap with activities of current importance, and so the physical connection with the Mediterranean could still come in useful. Again, the latter theory could be tested by the presence of physical structures that would be evidence of crimes against humanity occurring on the premises, particularly if sealed off from other areas. I imagine that only US citizens would be allowed into the mini-America on part of the compound, and only military officers with authorisations could pass through the barrier to the other areas.

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