Thursday, 14 October 2021

سهيل عبود وطارق البيطار يشعلان الشارع وسط غليان طائفي: انفجار يهدّد الحكومة وخراب يهدد البلاد

 الخميس 14 تشرين الأول 2021

ابراهيم الأمين

لا يبدو أن هناك عاقلاً يمكنه التحكم بأفعال المحقّق العدلي طارق البيطار. الرجل فقد عقله، ويتصرف وكأن وحياً نزل عليه للقيام بما يخلّص البلاد، ويتصرف بلامبالاة مطلقة، ليس إزاء الآراء المنتقدة لسلوكه القضائي فحسب، بل وأيضاً تجاه القضاء نفسه، ويبدي ثقة عمياء بأن أحداً من القضاة لن يجرؤ على المسّ بموقعه.

أكثر من ذلك، يراهن البيطار ندماءه، من إعلاميين وناشطي جمعيات، على أن ما من أحد في لبنان قادر على تنحيته أو إجباره على التنحي، وأنه سيستمر في استدعاء كل من يعتقد أنه يجب أن يخضع له، بما في ذلك أرفع السياسيين… فكيف إذا ما حظي بمباركة ممثل الإله البطريرك الماروني بشارة الراعي، وضمانة المرشح الفرنسي لرئاسة الجمهورية رئيس مجلس القضاء الأعلى سهيل عبود، وحصانة في لبنان وخارجه توفّرها له دول عدة من أميركا إلى فرنسا وبريطانيا.


(هيثم الموسوي)

المشكلة أن البيطار ليس وحده في هذا المسار غير العقلاني في إدارة ملف قد يقود البلاد ليس إلى تعطيل الحكومة، وإنما إلى حرب أهلية حقيقية. بل معه فريق يضم قضاة كباراً – بينهم من يجلس في مجلس القضاء الأعلى – ممن يلهجون بـ«حصانة القضاء»، وهم الذين يدينون للسلطة السياسية في وصولهم إلى مناصبهم. كما أن إلى جانبه كل الفريق السياسي المعارض للمقاومة، من أحزاب وشخصيات و«صيصان سفارات» منتشرين على شكل فطريات تسمي نفسها «المجتمع المدني». ومعه، أيضاً، فريق إعلامي تديره السفارات الأميركية والفرنسية والإماراتية والسعودية. وهاجس هؤلاء جميعاً هو السير في تحقيق قضائي غامض وإجراءات ملتبسة تهدف إلى واحد من أمرين:

إما القبول بوجهة البيطار التي تستهدف، عملياً، فريقاً سياسياً بعينه.
أو تجهيل الحقيقة وترك اللبنانيين رهينة حرب الإشاعات التي يريد الأميركيون وفريقهم في لبنان استثمارها في الانتخابات النيابية المقبلة.

يحصل ذلك، وسط سجال يراد أن يكون له بعده الطائفي. إذ تسود البلد مناخات تريد اعتبار المشكلة القائمة اليوم بين مسيحيين ومسلمين. ولا يقتصر الأمر على الشعارات والمواقف، بل يشمل ترهيب الجسم القضائي والسياسي والأمني، بما في ذلك إثارة مناخات طائفية بقصد إحراج قوى حليفة للمقاومة، ولا سيما التيار الوطني الحر وتيار المردة.

من جانب الثنائي الشيعي، كان قرار الطلب من الحكومة بت الأمر قبل بحث أي عنوان آخر، مدخلاً لنقاش يستهدف وقف التسييس، لا التدخل في تعيين قضاة أو تنحيتهم. حتى أن الرئيس نبيه بري أبلغ وزير العدل هنري خوري، أمس، أن المخرج المطلوب هو توفير ضمانة بأن يحترم المحقق العدلي الدستور والقوانين لا أن يتجاوزها، سائلاً إياه: «كيف يعقل إدارة ملف بهذه الحساسية، من دون أن تكون هناك هيئة قادرة على مساءلة هذا القاضي، في وقت يتجاوز أبسط القواعد الدستورية ويفرض نفسه فوق سلطة المجلس النيابي؟».

وقد زار وزير العدل أمس بري ورئيس الحكومة نجيب ميقاتي، ساعياً باسم الرئيس ميشال عون إلى إيجاد مخرج يضمن وضع ضوابط توقف مخالفات البيطار، وتحول دون تعطيل الحكومة، خصوصاً بعدما قرّر وزراء تحالف حزب الله – أمل – المردة تعليق مشاركتهم في جلسات الحكومة في حال رفضت البت بالأمر. فيما جرت على الهامش اتصالات لمعالجة مسألة شكلية تتصل بامتعاض رئيس الجمهورية من طريقة تحدث وزير الثقافة محمد مرتضى في جلسة أول من أمس، وهو أمر تمت معالجته مع استمرار تفويض الثنائي الشيعي لمرتضى التحدث باسمه في أي جلسة للحكومة تعقد لمعالجة الملف.

الفريق المتضرر من أداء البيطار مستعد للذهاب إلى أبعد الحدود ولن يقف عند خاطر أحد


المؤشرات السياسية توحي بمناخات سلبية، لكن أحداً لا يتحدث عن أبواب موصدة، لأن عدم معالجة المشكلة سيتسبّب ليس فقط بتعليق عمل الحكومة بل في تعطيلها، ما ينعكس سلباً على البلد كله، لأن عدم قدرة الحكومة على معالجة ملف متفجّر وحساس، يعني أنها لن تكون قادرة على حسم أي ملف. ويدرك رئيس الحكومة أن الاعتراض سيطيح أي توافق على قضايا شديدة الحساسية هي موضع نقاش الآن، من مشروع استجرار الغاز المصري والسؤال عما يثبت أنه ليس إسرائيلياً، إلى ملف المشكلة المالية ومصير رياض سلامة وضرورة تصفية المصارف المتسببة بسرقة ودائع الناس ومحاكمة المسؤولين عنهم، إلى ملف ترسيم الحدود البحرية الذي تريد الولايات المتحدة علاجاً سريعاً له، وصولاً إلى الملف الأكثر حساسية المتعلق بالاتفاق على التفاوض مع صندوق النقد الدولي الذي لن يمر من دون اتفاق، ولو اقتضى الأمر هزة شعبية كبيرة جداً في البلاد، مع رفض مسبق لكل أفكار ميقاتي حول رفع الضرائب وتقليص القطاع العام وإعادة فتح ملف الخصخصة وحتى التفكير في استخدام الذهب أو تسييله لسداد الدين الخارجي قبل الداخلي…
الفريق المتضرر من أداء البيطار مستعد للذهاب إلى أبعد الحدود، ولن يقف عند خاطر أحد هذه المرة. هذه هي الأجواء التي تسود ليس قياداته فقط، بل قواعده التي تعيش تعبئة غير مسبوقة. وكل المناقشات أمس انتهت إلى الاتفاق على عدم القيام بتحرك يتسبب بذعر كبير، والاقتصار على تحرك «رمزي» و«أولي» أمام قصر العدل، بمشاركة بضعة آلاف من الطلاب والنقابيين، يتقدمهم حقوقيون سيدلون بتصريحات ذات طابع قانوني يفنّد مخالفات المحقق العدلي.
في الجهة المقابلة، ووسط مخاوف من حصول مواجهات على الأرض، وبعدما تدارست قوى الفريق الآخر الأمر، وبسبب خشية المجموعات المدنية من عدم قدرتها على توفير حشد مناسب، وحصول انقسام بين أهالي الضحايا، ورفض كثيرين الدعوات إلى حراك شعبي تتزعمه القوات اللبنانية التي عملت وحداتها الحزبية على إطلاق النفير في الأشرفية وفرن الشباك وعين الرمانة… أتت «التعليمات» بالتراجع والعمل على بديل بالدعوة إلى إضراب عام، باعتبار أن تحركاً من هذا النوع قد يجد تجاوباً ولا يقود إلى مواجهة قد تأخذ البلاد إلى تطورات «ليست في حسابات السفارات»، على حد تعبير مسؤول أمني بارز أبدى خشيته من عدم قدرة القوى الأمنية والعسكرية على ضبط الأمر في حال التصعيد على خلفيات طائفية، وذلك بعدما بدأت مجموعات تابعة للقوات اللبنانية عمليات تعبئة في عدد من المناطق وحركة رفع للصلبان في مناطق عدة في بيروت وتوزيع رسائل صوتية تدعو إلى الاستعداد للمواجهة. علماً أن نائب القوات عماد واكيم نفى لاحقاً أي تحرك لعناصر القوات اللبنانية في الأشرفية.
في سياق الاتصالات، يبدو أن الأمر يحتاج إلى نقاش جدي مع الرئيسين عون وميقاتي، خصوصاً أن الأخير أظهر تفهماً لإيجاد مخرج في جلسة أول من أمس. ونُقل عنه تلقيه اتصالات «خارجية» تحذره من مغبة «الوقوع تحت ضغط حزب الله واستفزاز مشاعر الناس»، فيما سادت الأوساط الحزبية القريبة من الرئيس عون مناخات تدعو إلى التنبه من أن الأخذ بمطالب الفريق المتضرر قد تنعكس سلباً على قواعد التيار في خضم التحضير للانتخابات النيابية المقبلة.

تعليمات لداعمي البيطار بعدم الذهاب إلى مواجهة قد تأخذ البلاد إلى تطورات «ليست في حسابات السفارات»


الرئيس عون استقبل موفدين شرحوا له حقيقة موقف الثنائي الشيعي، وقيل له صراحة إن حزب الله وحركة أمل ليسا في صدد إحراجه أو الضغط عليه أو على رئيس الحكومة. لكن الأمر لا يتعلق بحسابات موضعية، بل بموقف حاسم من قضية قد تقود البلاد إلى انفجار يطيح الحكومة ويعطّل ما تبقّى من ولاية العهد بصورة نهائية، ويترك الشارع لحالات شعبوية ستصيبه قبل غيره.

وسمع الرئيس عون والنائب جبران باسيل أنه لا يمكن الامتناع عن القيام بخطوة تعالج الأزمة بحجة عدم المساس بالقضاء، كما أنه لا يمكن التعامل مع هذا الملف بازدواجية، فيكون عون هو رئيس جلسة مجلس الدفاع الأعلى الذي يمنع ملاحقة اللواء طوني صليبا، بينما يدعو باسيل إلى رفع الحصانات عن الآخرين من وزراء ونواب.

رئيس الجمهورية الذي لا يريد أن تذهب البلاد إلى مواجهة مدمرة، ويعرف جيداً حقيقة الموقف الحاسم لحزب الله على الأقل، بادر إلى ورشة اتصالات، بدأت بالاتفاق مع الرئيس ميقاتي على تأجيل جلسة أمس، والطلب إلى وزير العدل زيارة مرجعيات لمناقشتها في المخارج الممكنة، والبحث في طريقة التعامل مع مجلس القضاء الأعلى، وخصوصاً رئيسه الذي صار الجميع يتعامل معه أخيراً على أنه بوجهين: يقول للوزير شيئاً، ويقول للقاضي البيطار شيئاً آخر. ووصل الأمر بجهة سياسية مسيحية بارزة إلى مصارحة عبود بأنه قد يكون مسؤولاً عن التجييش الطائفي وحتى عن عملية ترهيب للقضاة، وسأله زواره: «ما هي الأسباب التي تجعلك تختار قضاة من طائفة معينة لتولي دراسة طلبت الرد أو كف يد المحقق العدلي، وأنت تعلم أنهم عرضة لضغط على خلفية طائفية؟». علماً أن عبود نفسه كان لجأ مرات عدة إلى البطريرك الماروني لبحث الأمر نفسه، ناهيك عن أنه ينسق خطواته مع جهات غير لبنانية يعرف مسبقاً أن لديها برنامجاً يقتصر على بند واحد: ضرب المقاومة!

عملياً، تدخل البلاد اليوم مرحلة جديدة من المواجهة السياسية على خلفية ملف تفجير مرفأ بيروت. ويبدو أن بين القوى السياسية والشخصيات المعنية بالملف من لم يفهم جيداً واقع الأمور في البلاد اليوم، ومن ضمنها القوى التي تحرص على الظهور بمظهر «الحياد»، كالحزب التقدمي الاشتراكي الذي يمضي رئيسه وليد جنبلاط إجازة في الخارج. إذ إنه أعطى الضوء الأخضر لنواب في كتلته باستخدام الملف للهجوم على الرئيس عون وحزب الله في سياق التعبئة الانتخابية. واللافت، هنا، أن جنبلاط يتجاوز للمرة الأولى حليفه الرئيس بري الذي سيكون أبرز المتضررين من كل هذا الملف.


المفتي والبطريرك والتحقيقات


وعد البطريرك الماروني بشارة الراعي وفداً من دار الفتوى، ضمّ الشيخ خلدون عريمط والباحث محمد السماك وآخرين بأن يعرض وجهة نظر المجلس الشرعي الإسلامي من ملف التحقيقات في مرفأ بيروت على مجلس المطارنة في أقرب فرصة من أجل العمل لمنع تفاقم الخلافات السياسية التي تأخذ طابعاً طائفياً.

وكان المفتي عبد اللطيف دريان قد أوفد الى الراعي من يشرح له خطورة ما يجري في ملف التحقيقات، ويسلّمه نسخة عن موقف المجلس الشرعي. ويجري الحديث عن موقف متوقع لدار الإفتاء متابعة لقرار المجلس الشرعي، وخصوصاً بعدما برزت مواقف خجولة للقيادات السياسية التي تدور في فلك الدار، وبعدما ران الصمت على موقف الرئيس سعد الحريري ونادي رؤساء الحكومات الذين يبدو أنهم يراعون متطلبات التعبئة الخاصة بالانتخابات، علماً بأن هناك احتقاناً في بعض أوساط دار الفتوى من أداء بكركي، وخصوصاً بعدما تبيّن أن إدارة الدار كانت قد طلبت من المشرفين على احتفال 4 آب الماضي التنسيق لحضور ديني مشترك، وأن لا يقتصر الأمر على قدّاس حتى لا يبدو وكأن الجريمة تستهدف طائفة دون أخرى. إلا أن الدار لم تتلقّ أي جواب من دوائر بكركي.


مجلس النواب: تحرك لاستعادة الصلاحية

وجّهت الأمانة العامة لمجلس النواب كتاباً الى وزارة الداخلية والبلديات، أشارت فيه إلى أنه «لما كان المجلس النيابي قد أبلغ النيابة العامة التمييزية بواسطة وزارة العدل ولأكثر من مرة موقفه من ملاحقة الرؤساء والوزراء يعود الى المجلس النيابي والمجلس الأعلى لمحاكمة الرؤساء والوزراء وفقاً للمواد ٧٠ – ٧١ و٨٠ من الدستور، ولما كان المجلس قد باشر السير بالإجراءات اللازمة في ما يتعلق بجريمة انفجار مرفأ بيروت، ولما كان هذا الأمر لا يعود اختصاصه للقضاء العدلي، وبالتالي فإن أي إجراء من قبله يتعلق بأحد الرؤساء والوزراء والنواب يعتبر تجاوزاً لصلاحيته».

وبحسب المعلومات، فإن «مجلس النواب بصدد التحضير لجلسة مستقلة يكون ملف المرفأ البند الوحيد على جدول أعمالها، على أن يعاد طرح كتاب المحقق العدلي السابق فادي صوان، باعتباره كتاباً قائماً».

وكان صوان قد طالب المجلس باتخاذ ما يراه مناسباً بشأن مسؤولية وزراء عن إهمال «ما» ساهم في وقوع انفجار المرفأ. ورأى صوان يومها في رسالته، أنه بعد أشهر من حصول التفجير، لم يقُم البرلمان بأي دور. وقال إنه بناءً على التحقيقات التي أُجريت، «ربما تكون هناك شبهة إهمال» من قبل مسؤولين ووزراء تعاقبوا على وزارات المالية والأشغال والعدل، وأن على مجلس النواب «القيام بما يراه مناسباً وفق مادتين من الدستور». الأولى هي المادة 70 التي تنص على أن «لمجلس النواب أن يتهم رئيس مجلس الوزراء والوزراء بارتكابهم الخيانة العظمى أو بإخلالهم بالواجبات المترتبة عليهم، ولا يجوز أن يصدر قرار الاتهام إلا بغالبية الثلثين من مجموع أعضاء المجلس»، والثانية المادة 71 التي تنص على أن «اﻟوزﯾر اﻟﻣﺗﮭم يُحاكم أﻣﺎم اﻟﻣﺟﻟس اﻷﻋﻟﯽ لمحاكمة الرؤساء والوزراء».

لكن مصادر متابعة لاحظت أن خطوة المجلس النيابي قد تحافظ على فكرة الاستنسابية في حال قررت حصر الدعوى بالأسماء الذين ادّعى القاضي البيطار عليهم، وبالتالي صار واجباً على رئيس المجلس إيجاد المخرج الذي يجعل الادّعاء أو المحاكمة تشمل كل مسؤول تعاقب على المواقع الرئيسية المعنيّة بالملف، من رؤساء للجمهورية والحكومة وجميع وزراء الوصاية المختصين من دون استثناء.


دياب عاد الى بيروت


عاد الرئيس حسان دياب إلى بيروت مساء أمس بعد زيارة عائلية للولايات المتحدة استمرت نحو شهر. ومعلوم أن هناك مذكرتي إحضار أصدرهما في حقه المحقق العدلي القاضي طارق البيطار، وقد دان الأمين العام لحزب الله السيد حسن نصرالله في كلمته الأخيرة استقواء البيطار على رئيس الحكومة السابق.


مخارج للنقاش والبيطار على موقفه


بحسب المعنيّين، فإنّ المخارج التي جرى التداول بها حتى مساء أمس لم تتجاوز فكرة التوافق على آليّة لا تحقق هدف وقف الاستنسابية، ما استدعى مزيداً من البحث وتأجيل جلسة الحكومة أمس. وكان الجميع يترقّب قرار رئيس محكمة التمييز القاضي ناجي عيد بشأن الدعوى الجديدة لرد القاضي البيطار. إلا أنه لم ينجح في عقد جلسته أمس لعدم توفر النصاب بسبب غياب العضو رنا عويدات التي يعتقد أنها ستعلن اليوم تنحّيها عن القضية. وسط أجواء توحي بأن عيد، بضغط من رئيس مجلس القضاء الأعلى سهيل عبود (المرشح الفرنسي لرئاسة الجمهورية)، يستعد لإصدار قرار برد طلب المدعى عليهم.

ومعلوم أن هناك ثلاث دعاوى مقدمة ضد البيطار أمام محكمة التمييز، ارتياب مشروع ودفوع شكلية وطلبات رد. ولذا يجب أن يكون هناك قضاة قادرون على اتخاذ موقف جريء، بدل التهرب من المسؤولية بحجة عدم الصلاحية. وفي هذا الإطار، علمت «الأخبار» أن الوزير علي حسن خليل الذي صدرت في حقه مذكرة توقيف غيابية قد يتقدم في اليومين المقبلين بطلب أمام الهيئة العامة لمحكمة التمييز لتحديد الجهة القضائية التي لها صلاحية البتّ بالدعاوى المقدّمة ضد البيطار.

الى ذلك، طُرح على وزير العدل هنري خوري الطلب الى مجلس القضاء إعادة النظر في تكليف القاضي البيطار وتسمية خليفة له، أو تقديم ضمانات لاحترام الآليات القانونية والدستورية لمنع التورط في أي استثمار سياسي للملف. ومع ضعف الثقة برغبة عبود القيام بذلك، طرح مخرج آخر قد يكون صعب التحقيق، وهو مبادرة مجلس الوزراء الى استرداد الملف من أصله من المجلس العدلي وإحالته الى محاكم أخرى تحترم أصول المحاكمات والاختصاصات.


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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Fighting Injustice: A Common Cause for Ireland, Scotland and Palestine

 October 13, 2021

Fighting Injustice: A Common Cause for Ireland, Scotland and Palestine

By Mohammad Sleem

Beirut – In Glasgow, during the football matches between the Rangers and Celtic, the famous derby of the Scottish football league, Celtic fans do not hesitate to show every act of solidarity possible with Palestine. Images of fans waving the Palestinian flag and wearing the kufiyah over their shoulders circulate social media platforms, in an act which has been a tradition in Scotland for decades.

On October 9, the ‘Israeli’ football team represnting the Zionist entity played against the Scottish national team for the World Cup qualifications. The match took place in Scotland. The Palestinian flag and kufiyah dominated the seats in the stadium. The event was a great chance to display activities in and outside the stadium to express empathy with the Palestinian Cause. Fans shouted slogans and held banners calling for the boycott of the “Israeli” entity, with “don’t play ball with the ‘Israeli’ apartheid” written on banners.

As the game started, jeering and booing were heard out loud whenever any of the “Israeli” players touched the ball. A winning goal at the last minutes made the scenario even better for the Scottish fans, who celebrate loudly in the face of the “Israeli” fans.

Fighting injustice and calling for independence, are the main common factors bringing the Scots and Palestinians together, as Scotland has been previously colonialized. In addition to the aforementioned, the Palestinian Cause has a popular and political support led by the Scottish National Party, which sees Palestine as a repetition of its experience of independence, following numerous demands for secession from the United Kingdom.

“We want Palestinians to know that we are thinking about them”, that’s how Scots comment on their pro-Palestine activities.

The Scottish people and the Palestinians share a common cause: injustice; both nations have faced suppression and oppression and they share the same values and retell the stories of their sufferings and the experiences they went through.

In a related notion, the Irish also support Palestine since they consider the Palestinian Cause a reflection of their own experience as they have resisted the British occupation for the right to self-determination.

With this being said, we understand the reason behind the empathy of the Scots and the Celtic with Palestine. The Celtic football club founder was an immigrant from Ireland who settled in Glasgow and came up with the idea of founding a football club.

The spokesperson of Celtic expresses the Scottish club’s solidarity with the Palestinian immigrants saying, “They are always welcome in their home”, since we are immigrants and we feel the situation they are in.

Besides, Ireland’s parliament has issued a law to consider all the “Israeli” annexation of Palestinian lands “illegal”. Later on, Irish deputies passed the law and it became official.

The Irish and Scottish are highly knowledgeable when it comes to the Palestinian Case. Not only this, but several activities had also been held in solidarity with oppressed people in different countries such as Africa, to condemn suppression, oppression and ethnic cleansing.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

The Golden Age of America

 October 10, 2021

The Golden Age of America

By Walt Garlington for the Saker Blog

Mr Paul Gottfried gives us a standard line about the need to return to the Golden Age of the American republic at the end of a short book review he penned:

Since Janowski leaves his heuristic queries open, this reviewer feels free to note that the egalitarian democracy he so graphically describes represents a falling away from something much better. It is a denaturing of the constitutional republic upholding federalism and ordered liberty that marked America’s earlier phase. The United States was not always the quasi-tyranny it is now becoming. It started with a well-conceived political order, one that some Americans wish to return to.

But is this still really a tenable ideal and goal? What did the former English colonies gain from independence in 1776? Is it not the truth that the colonies lost nearly everything a traditional people would consider worth living for and exchanged it for never-ending political feuds and money-grabbing after that fateful year?

There is hardly anything of cultural value to speak of in the United States today. What lover of beauty 500 years from now will have any desire to watch Saturday Night Live or play Grand Theft Auto or own a Ford F-150 pickup truck? But the usual farming village or small city of artisans in Christian Europe was filled with cultural treasures, however externally poor those people may appear to modern eyes. Their life revolved firstly around the parish church: the Divine Liturgy – the union of Heaven with earth, morning and evening prayers, the feasts and fasts of the Church calendar, the holy days dedicated to our Lord and His Most Pure Mother, the patron saint of the parish church, the patron saint of each person in the parish, baptisms, etc.

Then there was the life of each family, whose members included those who lived long ago by virtue of their graves in the parish churchyard and by virtue of remembering those same members and others often in prayers for the departed. The family home was also a major part of the family itself, more often than not being the same place in which their forebears had lived for many generations, with the furniture, tools, etc., also being handed down from many years before. Entertainment too was handed down from many old hands: ballads and folk songs, communal dances and games, and so on.

Related to family life was the vocation of each person, for the children usually followed in the profession of one of their close kinsmen. And the members of these professions themselves often formed communities of their own, each with its own traditions.

For this peaceful and stable way of life, the English colonies in North America substituted something truly atrocious. They called it ‘liberty’, but it is nothing of the sort. It was an unleashing of the passions, which is slavery of the lowest and most degraded form, and manifests itself in the constant re-creation of the methods of production and the grasping after money and material goods. This kind of life undermines the well-being of society, breaks all the traditional bonds between people – within families and outside them, dissipates the societal virtues accumulated by the previous generations, and causes anxiety to abound. What occupation should I pursue? What college should I go to? Where should I live afterwards? Where can I go to make the most money? Such questions were largely unknown to our ancestors.

Compounding these problems, we now have a never-ending political drama that further erodes the influence of the Church, families, and other healthy traditions. In order to protect the ‘liberty’ we won through independence from Great Britain, we placed ourselves within an unending cycle of political elections and battles. There is hardly ever any rest from it. ‘The price of liberty is eternal vigilance’, we are taught here in the exceptional nation. Vicious, lengthy campaigns are waged to gain elected offices, and no sooner are these watchmen of our freedoms chosen than we turn our jealous Argus-eyes upon them to make sure they don’t encroach upon anything that is ours.

Politics in the old countries, and in the colonies before 1776, was much less volatile and imposed itself much less in daily life. Most officials held their positions by heredity, meaning little jostling and wrangling to obtain them. Likewise, many modern government functions were handled by kin-groups or churches: education of children, care for the poor, sick, and elderly, etc. When there was interaction with the government, it was usually not with a nameless bureaucrat but with the count or lord who lived in the village manor and whom they knew well – a man with whom the villagers received Holy Communion, who supplied their festivals with foodstuffs, in whose fields they worked at harvest-time.

The federalism and order liberty of the American constitutional republic hailed by Mr Gottfried above were merely the vestiges of a healthy pre-Modern Christian society. As the States began to fulfil the telos of their new republican creation, however, those forms faded away. Now we have no true communities, whether villages or cities, only atomized urban apartments and rural suburbs. Here we have no Christian life to speak of, but we may squeeze in a church service at the mega-church beside the interstate on Christmas Eve to keep Grandmother from nagging us. Here we have few family connections, save those that are mediated by social media, and which are further cheapened by our desire for views and likes of our posts related to family life.

This view can be confirmed by looking at the South, where old European attitudes lasted the longest in the US. In Dixie there were hereditary government offices (de facto rather than de jure); political elections were not all-consuming affairs (turnout was often very low at elections); ancestors were remembered; the Church calendar still played some role in determining the rhythm of life; families remained rooted in a particular place and home for generations. Some of this still holds true today, in a very weakened form.

New England has shown the opposite tendency. She has from the beginning been in a constant state of ferment, developing new religions, new industries, new political theories.

Some Southerners (this author included) are sometimes tempted to throw all the fault for the decay of old settled ways in the States entirely on New England, but that is dishonest, for the South also found ways to undermine them on her own: by repealing primogeniture laws, by disestablishing Christianity as the official religion of the Southern States, by extending the franchise to more and more people, by outlawing nobility.

The abnormality of post-1776 America is also reflected in the fact that Christian monasteries, one of the foundation stones for spreading and strengthening the Christian faith in the old countries of Asia, Africa, and Europe, are few in number in all regions. The vocation of total dedication to God has found shallow soil in the US, as Metropolitan Kallistos Ware says in his little book The Orthodox Church, because we are all of us – New England, South, Great Plains, and the rest – so preoccupied with improving our material condition that vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are anathema to most. Only in a handful of the Spanish and French Roman Catholic communities that were later absorbed by the expanding American union were some scattered monasteries to be found, and the number of monasteries has been bolstered in recent years largely by the influx of immigrants from Orthodox and Roman Catholic countries.

From today’s vantage point, the days of the young American republic do look pleasant. But it is a deception, like a mirage in the desert. As soon as we look more closely at them, we see that the hollowness of present-day American life began with the separation from Great Britain in 1776, which was a separation from the whole stream of traditional Christian life and its replacement with the new idols of an all-engrossing political life (which is everywhere present and fills all things, to use the words the Orthodox Church uses in a prayer to the Holy Ghost) and economic upheaval and progress without end.

Thus, to good men like Mr Gottfried who pine for the by-gone days of the early American republic, we say, They are right to look to the past for a model of how to live, but they must go back further, before the federal constitution of 1787, and before the separation from Europe in 1776, and before even the Renaissance, when the Orthodox Church and family and neighbor were the sources of life, the only sources of a life that is worth living. Unless the peoples of the States rediscover those springs, life will continue to be parched and barren, and no paper constitution will be able to make it verdant and fruitful again.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Has the first domino already fallen and if so, when? (UPDATED!)

 October 10, 2021

Has the first domino already fallen and if so, when? (UPDATED!)

A few years back, I wrote a column I entitled “Kosovo will be liberated” in which I wrote the following: “Kosovo will be the very first place in Europe where the pendulum of history will reverse its current course. ”  It now looks like I might have been wrong. But by how much?  Check out this headline today:

Bosnian Serbs to ‘withdraw consent’ for joint military, taxes and courts, citing ‘violence’ by international overseer“.  Please do read the full article since I won’t simply repeat it all here.

The big question is this: will the US/NATO/EU grip on the Republika Srpska slip before it slips from Kosovo?

I don’t know, but I definitely think that this is a possibility.  If so, I got the location wrong, but the principle right.  Two points here:

  • There are also very serious tensions around Kosovo right now, so don’t rule anything out yet!
  • There is no equivalent of Camp Bondsteel in the Republika Srpska or anywhere else in Bosnia

But that is not even crucial.  What is crucial is this: does anybody still think that the US/NATO/EU still have what it would take to re-attack, re-invade or even re-strike the Serbs in Bosnia or Serbia (I include Kosovo under “Serbia” simply because Kosovo is the heart of Serbia, always was, and always will be, no matter what empires want)?

Seriously, after the humiliation inflicted by the Iranians on CENTCOM or the truly galactic (and oh SO revealing!) massive faceplant in Afghanistan?

On paper, yes, absolutely.

But in reality, no, I really don’t think so.

Besides, the Serbs now have very good options, including what I call the “salami option”: cutting thin pieces off a big salami slowly but repeatedly and inexorably.  Like right how: so the Bosnian Serbs “withdrew consent” from an agreement with their occupiers.  So what? Big deal!  I mean, sure, they are bad bad bad bad bad bad Serbs, and the US/NATO/EU gang still hates them, but nobody is going to go to war over just that, right?

So what will the US/NATO/EU do about it?  Probably apply all sort of pressures (threats, bribes, etc.) on specific Serbian politicians, which will result in one of two outcomes:

  • the Bosnian Serbs will withdraw their withdrawal
  • or they won’t

In the first case, all the Serbs need to do is wait, and cut off a tiny piece of salami elsewhere, say in Kosovo.  Just a little one, and see what the US/NATO/EU will do about it.  After that, rinse and repeat, as many times as needed until the bastards at the US/NATO/EU run out of energy, both figuratively or even maybe literally (see below).

In the second case, the Bosnian Serbs need to wait some time, just so everything cools down a little, and cut off another thin piece of the imperialist salami.

Oh, and did I mention that South Stream pipeline will go through Serbia and the Republika Srpska (see also here)?  As for the EU, it ain’t exactly “swimming in energy” nowadays (thanks to its idiotic subservience to Uncle Shmuel and Greta Thunberg!).

My point is not that the Republika Srpska or Kosovo will be liberated soon, or even that the EU cannot bypass either entity with other pipelines.

Remember that in early years of the Cold War when the US was justifying its genocidal policies in Southeast Asia under the infamous “Domino Theory“?  At the time all that this really meant was that the US would oppose the decolonization of the planet everywhere and anywhere.  It was only a pretext, not the real motive or reason for US actions.

But today, I submit that this process has not only begun, but has been under way for some time already.

Where did it begin?  A good answer could be to mention Hezbollah whopping of the Israelis in 2006 Lebanon.  But that was easy to hide (the two clueless clowns who initiated the Israeli invasion of Lebanon both called it a “victory” and the media-brainwashed public it mostly bought it or did not really care as they “knew” that they were “invincible” and, besides, the US and Israeli plebes had their bread and games).

“It” also happened elsewhere.  But what is that “it”?

I call it the “fall of the domino of fear” and that “it” happens every time when any country or nation which was oppressed by US imperialism begins to lose its fear from the “only world hyperpower”.  The same loss of fear which the Lebanese showed in their “Divine Victory” in 2006 is also shown by the Afghans today.  It has also been shown by Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution!   But the subsequent propaganda deluge concealed this reality from the West.

But the faceplant Kabul became the first such domino which could NOT be hidden from the public view.

And, just for the record, the Bosnian Serbs also showed that lack of fear during the US/NATO/EU aggression on the Serbian nation, but they were back-stabbed by politicians in Belgrade, as were the Kosovo Serbs later.  That was long before Hezbollah in 2006 and, at that time, the Islamic world was very effectively conned by the Anglos – the same Anglos which then turned against the Islamic world after the 9/11 false flag.

True, in the early 90s the Empire had the means to crush the Serbs or the Iraqis (which also displayed that same lack of fear on one hand, but also the same corruption as the Serbian politicians on the other).

But that was in distant 1991.  Three decades ago. We now live in a radically different world.

What about the so-called “Bosniaks” or “Kosovars”?  Well, like all “invented nations”, they will only exist as long as Uncle Shmuel has the power to artificially keep them alive.  So even IF, big IF, the US/NATO/EU still can bring the Serbs to heel today, how long do you expect that ability to remain true and for how long will such inventions such as “Bosnia” or “Kosovo” remain viable?

And what about the equally artificial entity known as “Israel” (which is now much more feared by US politicians and officials than anywhere else in the Middle-East!)?  How long do you expect this obscene, officially racist and genocidal entity to survive?

Okay, maybe for a few more years, that is possible.  But keep in mind that with each passing year, less and less oppressed nations still fear the (basically already dead) AngloZionist Empire.

My advice to the “Bosniaks”, “Kosovars” and “Israelis” would be this: get the hell out here BEFORE you see a repeat of Kabul in Sarajevo, Pristina or Tel-Aviv!  Oh, I know, they won’t heed my advice, but since the same causes have the same effects, I fully expect to see similar “take-offs” from these and ALL THE OTHER totally artificial entities created by the British and/or AngloZionist empires in the past.

As for the folks in Europe, they better get their act together, but they won’t: while they blame Russia for everything and everything (including for selling them gas AND not selling them enough of it!), their suicidal immigration policy and “multiculturalism” of the EU elites will destroy the little left from the 1000 year old European civilization.  They did it to themselves.

As they say in the US “please pass me the pop-corn”!

Andrei

UPDATE: since we are talking a lot about the Serbs, Serbia and history, I want to draw your attention, especially my Muslim readers, to the section I have recently added on the bottom right of the main page:

There you will find A LOT of very interesting info, not necessarily to agree with it, but at least to compare and contrast with the usual (dis-)information found in the West!


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Amazon, Google Employees: Crimes against Palestinians to Get ’Deadlier’ After Tech Giants Contract with ’Israel

 October 13, 2021

Amazon, Google Employees: Crimes against Palestinians to Get ’Deadlier’ After Tech Giants Contract with ’Israel

By Staff, Agencies

Over 1,600 employees at tech giants Amazon and Google have urged their employers to pull out of a contract under which they will sell “dangerous technology” to the Zionist entity and its military and cut all ties with the regime over its atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Initially, more than 90 workers at Google and more than 300 at Amazon anonymously signed an open letter published by the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday, demanding the termination of Project Nimbus, which will provide cloud services for the Tel Aviv regime.

“The technology our companies have contracted to build will make the systematic discrimination and displacement carried out by the ‘Israeli’ military and government even crueler and deadlier for Palestinians,” the employees said in the letter.

“We condemn Amazon and Google’s decision to sign the Project Nimbus contract with the ‘Israeli’ military and government, and ask them to reject this contract and future contracts that will harm our users,” they said.

They underlined the need for the two companies to stop contracting with any militarized organization in the US and beyond.

Project Nimbus is a $1.2bn contract awarded last April to Google and Amazon, which succeeded in beating out bids from Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM, to provide cloud services for the ‘Israeli’ occupation regime and its military.

There are fears that the technology would allow for further illegal surveillance of Palestinians and facilitate the expansion of the Zionist regime’s illegal settlements across the occupied territories.

“This contract was signed the same week that the ‘Israeli’ military attacked Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 250 people, including more than 60 children,” said the “employees of conscience,” referring to the ‘Israeli’ regime’s latest war on Gaza which occurred in May and lasted for 11 consecutive days.

“We cannot look the other way, as the products we build are used to deny Palestinians their basic rights, force Palestinians out of their homes and attack Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, actions that have prompted war crime investigations by the international criminal court.”

In another opinion piece posted hours later on NBC, two workers at the tech giants updated the number of signatories, saying that nearly 1,000 anonymous signatories at Amazon and more than 600 at Google have joined the campaign.

“Since we have no ability to guarantee that the technology we build won’t be used to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians, cutting the contracts entirely is the only ethical option left for our companies,” Gabriel Schubiner, software engineer and researcher at Google, and Bathool Syed, content strategist at Amazon, wrote in the article.

The two employees said they agree with the two companies’ stated commitment to ethics, but also pointed to their hypocrisy. “We want to work for companies that do more than pay lip service to ethical business practices,” they noted.

“Instead, our companies signed contracts that they knew would be highly controversial, yet relinquishes their ability to enforce their own publicly stated principles while attempting to deny workers our say in how our labor is used.”


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Hezbollah MP Blasts US Politicizing of Beirut Port Blast Investigations, Says Aim is To Hide the Truth

 October 13, 2021

Hezbollah MP Blasts US Politicizing of Beirut Port Blast Investigations, Says Aim is To Hide the Truth

By Staff

Lebanese Member of Parliament from the Loyalty to Resistance bloc, Hassan Fadlallah, lambasted the US intervention in the issue of Beirut Port Blast, labelling it as intimidation.

The Hezbollah MP added that the US State Department’s rejection of claims about politicizing the judiciary aims to avert the return of investigations to their track, and to ban the Lebanese officials from getting those investigations out of the circle of politicization.

“This American stance reflects part of the direct American intervention in the investigation to change its right track and keep it inside the circle of American politicization to settle account with the Resistance,” Fadlallah warned.

The Hezbollah MP further cautioned that Lebanon is in front of a new US violation of its sovereignty and the exposure of the level of intervention to control and dominate the investigations.

He also made clear that the goal is to impose dictations to undermine justice and hide the truth in favor of this American politicization, which targets Lebanese people classes to which the US administration is hostile.

“The US administration is trying to belittle such classes through every possible mean, including the blockade, sanctions, and defamation,” Fadlallah concluded.


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Wednesday, 13 October 2021

Yemeni Resistance Makes Rapid Advances in Marib, Inflicts Heavy Losses Upon Saudi Mercenaries

October 12, 2021


Marib Liberation ‘A Milestone’ In Battle to Expel Occupiers, Free Oil Wealth - Ansarullah

By Staff, Agencies

A senior member of the political bureau of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement said the liberation of the strategic central province of Marib will mark an important “milestone” in the battle to expel the occupiers and retake the country’s energy resources seized by the Saudi-led military coalition and its allied militants.

“The liberation of Marib will have significant impacts on [efforts to] expel occupation forces and return oil wealth” to the country, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Beirut-based al-Mayadeen television news network on Tuesday night.

Al-Bukhaiti said the Saudi-led coalition of aggressors runs a key command center in Marib, which is tasked with directing the operations against the Yemeni armed forces and “that is why the liberation of the rest of Marib constitutes a major objective for Yemen and will mark a milestone and the start of a new phase” in the Yemeni army’s liberation struggles.

He added that Yemeni army troops and fighters from Popular Committees will soon mount a major operation against Saudi-led coalition forces and their mercenaries.

Al-Bukhaiti said the Saudi-led coalition’s air power will not last long, and the Yemeni armed forces continue to strengthen their military capabilities.

“We tell those involved in the fighting with the coalition that we do not want to target them,” said al-Bukhaiti, apparently addressing the militants serving the Saudi-led coalition on the battle ground. Besides foreign mercenaries, many Yemeni militants loyal to the former Riyadh-friendly government Sanaa have been serving the Saudi-led campaign.

The balance of power is tilting in favor of Yemen and the country will enter a new phase once enemy forces are defeated, he said.

“The Sanaa initiative is still on the table” Bukhaiti said, calling on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to “quickly seize the opportunity and embrace peace.”

“Yemen’s goals are defensive at present, but the objectives of the battles may change as time passes,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yehya Saree, said in a press conference that Yemeni armed forces had made significant territorial gains in Marib Province, seizing control over large swaths of territory from Saudi-backed mercenaries.

Saree said the latest military operation dubbed Fajr al-Intisaar [Dawn of Victory], which came in the wake of a series of attacks by Saudi-backed aggressors in recent days, was launched after the success of the previous operation dubbed al-Bass al-Shadid to liberate Marib strategic province from the grip of Saudi-sponsored Takfiris.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah resistance movement.

The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.

Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees, however, have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.

Yemeni Resistance Makes Rapid Advances in Marib, Inflicts Heavy Losses Upon Saudi Mercenaries


 October 12, 2021

Yemeni Resistance Makes Rapid Advances in Marib, Inflicts Heavy Losses Upon Saudi Mercenaries

By Staff, Agencies

The Yemeni Armed Forces and allied popular committees have made significant territorial gains in the strategic Marib province, seizing control over large swaths of territory from the Saudi-backed mercenaries.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesman, Brigadier General Yehya Saree revealed details of the military operation dubbed ‘Fajr Al-Intisaar’ [Dawn of Victory], which came in the wake of a series of attacks by Saudi-backed aggressors in recent days.

The official said the latest military operation was launched after the success of the previous operation to liberate the strategic province from the Saudi-backed mercenaries.

“With the participation of various military units, the Mujahideen began to carry out the plan that necessitated the attack on the enemy from several sides, before the main sides branched out into several other sub-sides,” Saree posted on his Twitter later.

“Every mercenary, agent, traitor can save his life and leave his position as our forces advance, our forces will allow him to escape and leave even if he is carrying his personal weapon,” he added.

Saree also noted that the Yemeni army in the latest offensive had liberated an area spanning 600 sq km from the enemy forces, and that it was inching closer to the provincial capital, 75 miles east of the capital Sanaa.

The forces loyal to Yemen’s national salvation government in the early hours of Tuesday made inroads into several areas in the city of al-Juba, while continuing advances toward the cities of al-Jadid, al-Rawda and other adjoining areas in the oil-rich Marib province.

The fresh offensive launched by the Yemeni government forces inflicted heavy casualties and collateral damage on the Saudi-backed camp, which includes the al-Qaeda fighters, reports said.

In al-Abdiyah, Yemeni government forces took control of the areas of Kharafan and al-Hijla, while pushing back the demoralized enemy forces after killing their top-rung leaders.

In a humanitarian gesture, the government forces also announced that the wounded mercenaries besieged in al-Abdiyah would be allowed to leave the area to receive medical treatment in Sanaa.

“Any mercenary who leaves the battlefield will be given a chance to survive,” Saree told reporters, stressing that strict instructions were given to government forces not to kill the wounded.

The spokesman also noted that the operations to fully liberate areas currently under enemy control in the central Yemeni province will continue, hailing the resilience shown by people in the face of draconian sanctions and a crippling blockade.

“Freedom is possible only by rejecting foreign occupying forces and cleansing our land from the filth of the aggressors and their allies,” Saree remarked, adding that the Saudi-led coalition forces had carried out 948 airstrikes, targeting civilian homes and roads, during the latest operation.

The “most notable” result of the operation, Saree stressed, was the liberation of the geographical area in the previous operation dubbed “Al Bass Al Shadeed,” looking down upon Marib city, and shooting down 6 US-made spy fighter planes and 11 spy planes.

He said the shooting down of enemy planes “created fear in the ranks of aggressors”, preventing more strikes.

Giving further details about the operation, the military spokesman said the missile unit had carried out 68 offensives, targeting enemy bases, barracks and headquarters, out of which 49 offensives were carried out in the occupied territories of Yemen and 19 deep inside the Saudi territory.

The offensive from the Yemeni government forces came after relentless attacks in recent days by the Saudi-backed aggressors in the province, which damaged residential properties and farms and rendered hundreds of people homeless.

Ever since some regions in the strategic province of Marib, which sits at a crossroads between the southern and northern regions, were liberated by the Yemeni forces recently, Saudi Arabia and its allies have significantly stepped up their military aggression.

The six-year foreign-imposed war has killed tens of thousands of people in Yemen, according to global relief agencies.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF describes the war as “a living hell” for children, with 1.8 million under-fives suffering severe malnutrition.

While Saudi-led allies have lost much of the territory they had occupied following the 2015 invasion, Yemeni armed forces and the allied popular committees have grown in strength.

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