Ahed Tamimi Comes Home to Great Joy but Also Reminders of Pain

Ahed Tamimi Comes Home to Great Joy but Also Reminders of Pain

Some eight months after Nariman and Ahed’s imprisonment, the Israeli authorities are unhappy with the status that the prisoners and the Tamimi family achieved as symbols of the Palestinian resistance.

by Miko Peled

NABI SALEH, PALESTINE  — “All Palestine’s Children are Ahed Tamimi,” Nariman Tamimi said in an interview after the much-publicized mother and daughter were released from an Israeli prison on July 29. Ahed Tamimi’s mother said this in response to the tremendous amount of coverage that her daughter’s arrest and subsequent release received. Nariman said that, unlike with the arrests of other Palestinian children, Ahed received so much support and attention from the West perhaps because “she looks like their children.” She also did not hide the fact that she thought there was an element of racism in the support for Ahed, who has a distinct “European” look — whereas there are so many thousands of stories just like hers, of children who face the occupation each day, and the world takes no interest in their stories.

The Israeli authorities are still feeling the sting from a video (here in its full version) of Ahed and her cousin kicking an Israeli army captain and another soldier, a sergeant major, off of their property. This video, which was posted online and went viral very quickly, shows Ahed clearly slapping the captain. In the debate that took place following the incident and continues to a large degree to take place in the Israeli media, Ahed and her family are described as “instigating,” “inciting,” and “provoking” while the soldiers were merely doing their job. The military prosecutor, in order to make the case for incitement, showed another, lesser-known video where Ahed speaks of the need for all Palestinians to participate in any form of resistance that suits them.

Israeli authorities interfere with celebrations

Now, some eight months later, the Israeli authorities are unhappy with the status that Nariman and her daughter achieved as symbols of the Palestinian resistance. In an effort to dampen the celebrations and confuse the press and supporters who were keen to greet Nariman and Ahed immediately upon their release, the exact location of their release kept changing. On July 28, the night prior to their release, my friend Bassem Tamimi — Nariman’s husband and Ahed’s father — told me that they would be released at the Tulkarm checkpoint at 6:30 a.m. on the following morning. I arrived in Palestine two days earlier and decided to spend the night in the town of Qalansawe, near Tulkarm. When I made it to the checkpoint that morning I got word that the prison authorities announced that they would release them at another checkpoint, closer to Ramallah, about half an hour drive south.

After about 25 minutes of driving south, Bassem called to tell me they changed the location again and that they would be released in Tulkarm after all. I turned around and by the time I reached the Tulkarm checkpoint, there were dozens of reporters, television cameras and even family members who drove up from the village of Nabi Saleh. “The prison authorities say they will be released at the checkpoint near Ramallah,” I was told as soon as I got out of the car.

A conversation ensued as to how many more times the authorities would change their minds, and whether or not Ahed and Nariman would actually be released at one of these locations — or perhaps because they want to avoid a crowd, the prison authorities would select a different, undisclosed location. In the meantime, soldiers were coming to tell the crowds, and particularly the reporters, to leave the area. It was already close to 8 a.m., the temperatures were rising, and the drive back was now much longer owing to morning rush-hour traffic. About two hours later it was revealed that Ahed and Nariman had been taken to their village, Nabi Saleh, and released there.

That was not the end of the story. As I approached Nabi Saleh I saw that the army had closed down the main road leading to the village and blocked the entrance. I knew of an alternate road to the village and tried it in hopes that the army did not think to close it, and fortunately they had not. Finally, by 11 a.m., along with a few friends I had made it to Nabi Saleh.

All is not well

It was a dreadfully hot day and I walked up from the Tamimi home to the village square and sat with many others under the square’s enormous mulberry tree. Sitting there were the very people who symbolize the reality of Nabi Saleh and indeed of Palestine. Eighteen-year-old Hassan Tamimi, assisted by his father, walked by and greeted people. Hassan had been released from prison only a month earlier. He had lost his eyesight while in an Israeli prison, owing to neglect by the prison authorities who did not administer crucial medication that Hassan required for a pre-existing medical condition.

Another boy I saw was Mohammad Tamimi who was shot in the head shortly before Nariman and Ahed were arrested. His life was spared thanks to the dedication of Palestinian doctors who operated on him for hours. It just so happened that I ran into Mohammad while visiting Nabi Saleh in October of 2017 — shortly after he was released from prison, where he had spent several months.

In the normalcy created by the occupation of Palestine, one might easily have forgotten that among the young jubilant Palestinians in Nabi Saleh that day almost everyone was at one point arrested, tortured and forced to spend time in an Israeli jail. Perhaps the most notable person absent, one who is among the thousands of Palestinians still sitting in an Israeli prison, is Wa’ed Tamimi, Nariman’s oldest son and Ahed’s older brother.

Bassem spent the final weeks leading up to Nariman and Ahed’s release fixing up the house and the yard. I spent some time with him there during those days, enjoying the wonderful air and view that Nabi Saleh offers and discussing the difficult reality that Palestinians face. The house and the yard, now ready, were quite a sight as mother and daughter entered their homes to the sounds of music blaring and a huge crowd of loving well-wishers and family members.

Top Photo | Ahed Tamimi stans between her father Bassam and mother Nariman during a press conference on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, July 29, 2018. Palestinian protest icon Ahed Tamimi and her mother Nariman returned home to a hero’s welcome in her West Bank village on Sunday after Israel released the 17-year-old from prison at the end of her eight-month sentence for slapping an Israeli soldier. Majdi Mohammed | AP

Miko Peled is an author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem. He is the author of “The General’s Son. Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” and “Injustice, the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.”

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Trade Deals & Lucrative Arms Contracts: Why The Saudi-Canada Spat Has Nothing to Do With Human Rights

Darko Lazar

The diplomatic feud between Canada and Saudi Arabia caught most officials, at least in Ottawa, completely off-guard.

A mere tweet by Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, condemning the arrest of Saudi women’s rights activists, prompted Riyadh to accuse the Canadians of “blatant interference in the Kingdom’s domestic affairs.”

In retaliation, the Saudis recalled their ambassador, froze new business and investment deals, cancelled flights to and from Toronto, halted imports of Canadian wheat, and brought back thousands of Saudi students, trainee doctors and patients.

The scope of the response left most Canadians perplexed. After all, Ottawa has routinely criticized Saudi Arabia’s human rights record in the past without much in the way of repercussions.

And so, Canada’s foreign ministry went into damage control and announced that it was “seeking greater clarity” with regard to Riyadh’s actions.

But the clarification appears to have come from Washington rather than the Saudis themselves as the US government declined to come to Canada’s defense.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the week, the State Department’s spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, put Canada and Saudi Arabia on an even keel, describing both as close allies. She then called on the two countries to resolve their differences – alone.

“We can’t do it for them,” Nauert remarked.

Moreover, when asked whether Washington would publicly decry the recent arrest of activists in Saudi Arabia, Nauert said she wasn’t “going to get into this”.

“Some of these issues we choose to discuss privately,” she stated, in what sounds a little bit too much like a direct swipe at Chrystia Freeland’s condemnation of Riyadh.

Trade wars

For Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nauert’s responses should serve as yet another reminder that his country is a major front in the global trade war initiated by the Trump administration.

For the first time in a generation, goods and services, accustomed to moving freely between Canada and the US, are now being taxed.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump fired the first shot when he imposed his steel and aluminum tariffs.

By July, both Canada and the US had levied billions of dollars in tariffs on each other’s goods.

One of the more vocal players in this affair also happens to be Chrystia Freeland, who famously stated last month that “we will not back down.”

This sentiment also extends to the ongoing negotiations between the two countries over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Trump, who makes no secret of the fact that he detests Trudeau, repeatedly showed his displeasure with the results of months of talks, as he explored ways to pressure Ottawa into making further concessions.

Weaponizing Bin Salman

Having cultivated a close relationship with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Trump and his son-in-law/advisor Jared Kushner have successfully utilized the recourses of the oil rich Kingdom in a number of arenas.

From the Israeli occupation of Palestine to Washington’s campaign against Iran and the billions in investments in the struggling American economy, Bin Salman has emerged as one of the Trump Administration’s most valuable assets.

While it is entirely possible that the young crown prince was offended by Freeland’s harmless Tweet, it is a lot more likely that her true crime and that of the Trudeau government is their refusal to “back down” in their trade war with Trump’s White House.

For Washington, the real value of the Saudi spat with the Canadians is its ability to jeopardize a USD 13 billion contract between Canada’s weapons manufacturer General Dynamics Corp and Riyadh.

The deal, which is still being finalized and involves the construction of light-armored vehicles for Saudi Arabia, was described as the largest advanced manufacturing export win in Canadian history.

Its 14-year follow-up support arrangement guarantees thousands of Canadian jobs. Scrapping it would undoubtedly place further strain on the Canadian economy and in turn Trudeau’s government.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir has already warned of “additional measures against Canada,” in what observers believe to be a direct reference to the very lucrative weapons contract.

The veiled threats have given way to a growing sense of panic in Ottawa where officials reportedly reached out to Britain to mediate in the diplomatic impasse.

Blatant contradictions

This week, a spokesperson for the US Central Command indicated that it was entirely possible his country played a role in a Saudi airstrike that killed 40 Yemeni children on Thursday.

“We may never know if the munition [used] was one that the US sold to them [the Saudis],” Josh Jacques was quoted as saying by the Vox website.

He also said that it is unclear if the US was involved in refueling planes for the attack on Yemen’s Saada province where the strike butchered a total of 51 civilians.

Of course, Jacques’ comments are not exactly earthshattering revelations. If anything, he is downplaying the true extent of American involvement in the Saudi-led military campaign against Yemen, which has martyred tens of thousands and is starving an entire population.

However, for Western arms manufacturers and governments alike, the carnage in Yemen is too lucrative an opportunity to pass up.

The US and the UK are at the forefront of arms exports to Riyadh and its allies.

But Saudi Arabia has also been ranked as a top destination for Canadian weapons shipments.

Between March 2015 and early 2018, the Canadian government approved more than USD 284 million in arms exports to countries bombing Yemen.

And just like their American counterparts, Canadian officials were unable to say whether their weapons were used in Yemen.

In spite of the blatant contradictions, Ottawa still boasted about donating USD 65 million to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people, in what was meant to be yet another demonstration of its commitment to human rights and liberal values.

Similarly, Chrystia Freeland’s latest Tweet criticizing Riyadh comes shortly after she buried a government report about the use of Canadian armored vehicles in last summer’s massacre of Shiite residents in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province.

This serves as another illustration that the row between Ottawa and Riyadh has nothing to do with anyone’s concerns about human rights.

The more likely culprits are trade agreements and the billions of dollars in lucrative arms contracts.

Source: Al-Ahed News

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Israel Air Strikes on Gaza: The UK Has Licensed Over £340 Million of Arms to Israel Since 2014 Bombing Campaign

Source

By CAAT – Campaign Against Arms Trade

Israeli military air strikes on Gaza  killed at least three people last night, including a pregnant woman and her 18 month old daughter.

This follows months of increased tensions and atrocities: including shootings at protests on the Gaza border in May 2018. Reports from health officials in Gaza say that Israeli forces have killed at least 154 Palestinians since March 30 when protests began.

Despite ongoing atrocities, and  the threat of full blown war, UK arms sales to Israel have continued unabated.

Since the ‘Operation Protective Edge’ military campaign, the UK has licensed  over £340 million worth of arms to Israel. Licences include components for drones, combat aircraft and helicopters. 2017 saw a £183 million licences for ‘technology for military radars.’

In 2014, there was a debate in government about UK arms sales to Israel, with Baroness Warsi resigning in opposition to the continued arms sales. A review by government at the time found  12 licences for arms which are likely to have been used in the 2014 war.

Previously, in 2010, the then Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Israeli equipment used in the attack on Gaza “almost certainly” contained UK-supplied components.

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:

“Last night’s bombing follows months of increased tensions and killings. It is another terrible reminder of the permanent threat of war that Palestinians are living under every day.If weapons continue to be sold then it is only a matter of time before they are used again. By continuing to arm Israeli forces the UK is sending a message of support for the decades of repression that have already been inflicted.The UK government should be using its influence to push for a peaceful and just solution, not promoting arms sales.”

Dozens Killed in Saudi-led Coalition Bombing of Bus in Yemen: UK Has Licensed £4.7 Billion of Arms to Saudi Forces Since War Began

The original source of this article is Campaign Against Arms Trade

Copyright © CAAT – Campaign Against Arms Trade, Campaign Against Arms Trade, 2018

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Meet Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales: Ex Porn Peddler Paid by ‘israel’ (apartheid state) to Spread Zionist Propaganda

Source

Empire Strikes Black | August 10, 2018

In the midst of the ongoing ‘Israeli’ government campaign against Jeremy Corbyn,⁽¹⁾ Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has entered the fray launching an inexplicable attack on the Labour leader. His tweet posted on the 9th of August 2018 lambastes Jeremy Corbyn for apparently failing to condemn Hamas rockets.

Wales tweets: 150 rockets fired at Israel by Hamas. @jeremycorbyn silent

To those well-versed on the history of Palestine this statement rightfully seems absurd and somewhat topsy-turvy. How can an occupied, brutalised and imprisoned people be castigated for merely defending themselves? While ‘Israel’ occupies land that does not belong to it – including Gaza which has no semblance of freedom with its borders and airspace locked down by the occupying regime which routinely commits bloody massacres with huge civilian death tolls – it absolutely must distort the facts in order to shape public opinion in its favour. ‘Israel’ committed and commits every day the causal acts of violence of ethnically cleansing Palestine and keeping the natives imprisoned, occupied and disenfranchised. The ‘Israel is acting in self-defence’ trope is then in fact the only form of rhetorical recourse that the Zionists can resort to in order to justify the historical and ongoing crimes against humanity committed every day in Palestine.

Jimmy Wales: Porn-Peddler-cum-Paid-Hasbara-Agent

In a revelation that will no-doubt raise eyebrows amongst Wikipedia users, in 1996 Jimmy Wales co-founded an online Internet portal called Bomis which sold porn and explicit material to users. The following, actually taken from the Wikipedia article for Bomis⁽²⁾ adds context:

Bomis became successful after focusing on X-rated media. “Bomis Babes” was devoted to erotic images; the “Bomis Babe Report” featured adult pictures. Bomis Premium, available for an additional fee, provided explicit material. “The Babe Engine” helped users find erotic content through a web search engine. The advertising director for Bomis noted that 99 percent of queries on the site were for nude women.

Even the New York Times reports that the creation of Wikipedia was financed by Wales’ earlier porn venture,⁽³⁾ whereby he would literally hand deliver cheques from Bomis porn revenues in order to keep Wikipedia’s servers running. On a perhaps related but definitely unsurprising note, the same New York Times article also reveals that via his wife, Jimmy Wales is very closely connected to Tony Blair⁽³⁾ who even attended their wedding.

Though peddling porn may not be illegal, at the very least it sheds light on the true character of this man. What heroic agent of free information exchange makes money from selling pornography?

Wales has close links to ‘Israel’ and was awarded $1 million ‘Israeli’ prize for his services

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales poses in a sleazy Bomis advertisement

15 Jimmy Wales told The Times of Israel ⁽⁴⁾ that he had visited ‘more than ten times’, suggesting links to the Zionist enclave. He even told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,⁽⁴⁾“I’m a strong supporter of Israel, so I don’t listen to those critics.” Laughably Wales cites ‘women’s rights’ as one of his reasons⁽⁴⁾ for his support of the illegitimate Zionist entity. This is a statement that rings as hollow as a drum considering this man made his money in an industry that degrades women and enslaves vulnerable girls.

Wales’ numerous visits to ‘Israel’ during this time period must be understood in the wider context of Zionist information warfare. In 2010 the UK Guardian reported that Zionist groups were establishing Wikipedia editing courses⁽⁵⁾ in order to sway Wikipedia entries in the Zionist regime’s favour. Additionally in 2012 The National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) launched a program⁽⁶⁾ to pay Israeli university students $2,000 to spread pro-‘Israel’ propaganda online for 5 hours per week.

Moreover, in the same year (2015) Mr. Wales was awarded $1 million by the ‘Israeli’ Dan David Foundation⁽⁷⁾ after being selected by the prize committee for spearheading what they referred to as ‘the information revolution’.

The Electronic Intifada reports that the ‘Israeli’ government itself has been implicated in running the information war against Jeremy Corbyn. As part of this campaign, the ‘Israeli’ government has used its Act.IL software application to issue a mission for social media users to post negative comments against Jeremy Corbyn⁽¹⁾ suggesting he is an ‘anti-Semite’.

Let’s bring things full circle. Not only is Jimmy Wales a man of highly questionable moral character. Wales has close links to the Zionist regime, having visited it numerous times during the very same time period that Zionist groups were running Wikipedia editing courses and the ‘Israeli’ government was literally paying people to spread Zionist propaganda online. Wales’ efforts have culminated in him being awarded $1m by an ‘Israeli’ charitable organisation for his efforts in the ‘information revolution’. And now, interestingly, Mr. Wales is taking part in the very same information warfare campaign against Jeremy Corbyn that the ‘Israeli’ government has itself launched.

What is most alarming here is not merely Wales’ questionable character – having peddled porn and sleaze to make money – but the alarming indications that he could in fact be a de facto paid agent of the Zionist regime.

Notes

(1) ‘Israel running campaign against Jeremy Corbyn’ – The Electronic Intifada, 7 August 2018.
(2) ‘Bomis’ Wikipedia.com entry as of 10 August 2018.
(3) ‘Jimmy Wales Is Not An Internet Billionaire’ – The New York Times, 27 June 2013.
(4) ‘Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales likes Israel but stays neutral’ – The Times of Israel, 19 May 2015.
(5) ‘Wikipedia editing courses launched by Zionist groups’ – The Guardian, 18 August 2010.
(6) ‘Israeli students to get $2,000 to spread state propaganda on Facebook’ – The Electronic Intifada, 4 January 2012.
(7) ‘Wiki founder wins $1m Israeli prize’ – The Times of Israel, 10 February 2015

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Israel celebrates 40 years of illegal settlement

Source

MEMO | August 10, 2018

Two thousand Israelis yesterday gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the illegal West Bank settlement of Shiloh, south of Nablus.

The celebration was attended by Israel’s Agriculture Minister, Uri Ariel, who is a member of the Religious-Zionist Jewish Home party. According to Arutz Sheva, the head of Israel’s “Binyamin Regional Council”, the group which oversees 42 of Israel’s illegal settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank, also attended. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a letter of congratulations to the illegal settlers, claiming historic links between the Bible and the modern-day occupied Palestinian territory.

Uri Ariel has a long history of pro-settlement activity, previously serving as head of Beit El council, an illegal Israeli settlement situated north east of Ramallah. Ariel was also previously secretary general of the Yesha council.

In July it emerged that Uri Ariel had previously approved plans to demolish Khan Al-Ahmar, the Palestinian Bedouin village that has been slated for demolition. The plans, which were made in the late 1970s, proposed a “Jewish corridor” of illegal settlements be built on some 100,000 to 120,000 dunams (25,000 to 30,000 acres) of Palestinian land, including the villages of Hizme, Anata, Al-Azariya and Abu Dis on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Demolishing these villages would make way for expanding two illegal settlements – Ma’ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim – situated on the Jerusalem-Jericho road.

Shiloh was one of the first locations targeted for illegal Israeli settlement as early as 1974 by Gush Emunim, the orthodox right-wing settlement movement that rose to prominence in the wake of the 1973 War. Gush Emunim was later succeeded by the Yesha council that Uri Ariel previously affiliated with. During the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, Shiloh was identified as an example of an area that should be returned to Palestinian control given the high density of Palestinians living in the area.

Illegal settlement in the West Bank has been pursued as a policy by the State of Israel since it occupied the territory in the 1967 Six Day War, along with the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem states that, as of the end of 2015, there were 127 Israeli government-sanctioned settlements in the West Bank (not including occupied East Jerusalem and Hebron). When combined with 100 non-recognised outposts and 15 Israeli neighbourhoods inside the Jerusalem Municipality, these settlements are inhabited by approximately half a million illegal settlers

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US Secretary of Defense James Mattis thinks America has “Moral Authority”, what a joke

Mattis: Putin Is Trying To “Undermine America’s Moral Authority”

By Caitlin Johnstone

At a graduation ceremony for the US Naval War College (barf), US Secretary of Defense James Mattis asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin “aims to diminish the appeal of the western democratic model and attempts to undermine America’s moral authority,” and that “his actions are designed not to challenge our arms at this point but to undercut and compromise our belief in our ideals.”

This would be the same James Mattis who’s been overseeing the war crimes committed by America’s armed forces during their illegal occupation of Syria. This would be the same United States of America that was born of the genocide of indigenous tribes and the labor of African slaves, which slaughtered millions in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq, Libya and Syria for no legitimate reason, which is partnered with Ukrainian Nazis,jihadist factions in Syria and Iranian terror cultists, which supports 73 percent of the world’s dictators, which interferes constantly in the electoral processes of other countries as a matter of policy, which stages coups around the world, which hasencircled the globe with military bases, whose FBI still targets black civil rights activists for persecution to this very day, which routinely enters into undeclared wars of aggression against noncompliant governments to advance plutocratic interests, which remains the only country ever to use nuclear weapons on human beings after doing socompletely needlessly in Japan, and which is functionally a corporatist oligarchy with no meaningful “democratic model” in place at all.

A casual glance at facts and history makes it instantly clear that the United States has no “moral authority” of any kind whatsoever, and is arguably the hub of the most pernicious and dangerous force ever assembled in human history. But the establishment Russia narrative really is that cartoonishly ridiculous: you really do have to believe that the US government is 100 percent pure good and the Russian government is 100 percent pure evil to prevent the whole narrative from falling to pieces. If you accept the idea that the exchange is anything close to 50/50, with Russia giving back more or less what it’s getting and simply protecting its own interests from the interests of geopolitical rivals, it no longer makes any sense to view Putin as a leader who poses a unique threat to the world. If you accept the idea that the west is actually being far more aggressive and antagonistic toward Russia than Russia is being toward the west, it gets even more laughable.

In order to believe that the US has anything resembling “moral authority” you have to shove your head so far into the sand you get lava burns, but that really is what is needed to keep western anti-Russia hysteria going. None of the things the Russian government has been accused of doing (let alone the very legitimate questions about whether or not they even did all of them) merit anything but an indifferent shrug when compared with the unforgivable evils that America’s unelected power establishment has been inflicting upon the world, so they need to weave a narrative about “moral authority” in order to give those accusations meaning and relevance. And, since the notion of America having moral authority is contradicted by all facts in evidence, that narrative is necessarily woven of threads of fantasy and denial.

Establishment anti-Russia hysteria is all narrative, no substance. It’s sustained by the talking heads of plutocrat-owned western media making the same unanimous assertions over and over again in authoritative, confident-sounding tones of voice without presenting any evidence or engaging with the reality of what Russia or its rivals are actually doing. The only reason American liberals believe that Putin is a dangerous boogieman who has taken over their government, but don’t believe for example that America is ruled by a baby-eating pedophile cabal, is because the Jake Tappers and Rachel Maddows have told them to believe one conspiracy theory and not the other. They could have employed the exact same strategy with any other wholly unsubstantiated conspiracy narrative and had just as much success.

In reality, Russia is nothing other than a rival power structure that the US-centralized empire wants to either collapse or absorb, but they can’t just come right out and tell the public that they’re dangerously escalating tensions with a nuclear superpower because westerners live in an invisible empire ruled by insatiably greedy plutocrats, so they make up nonsense about Putin being some kind of omnipotent supervillain who has infiltrated the highest levels of US government and is trying to take over the world.

Of equal interest to the Defense Secretary’s “moral authority” gibberish is his claim that Putin’s actions “are designed not to challenge our arms at this point but to undercut and compromise our belief in our ideals.”

I mean, like… what? So Russia isn’t challenging America militarily and isn’t taking any actions to attempt to, but it’s trying to, what, hurt America’s feelings? All this new cold war hysteria and nuclear brinkmanship has basically been America acting like a bitchy high school drama queen because Russia is saying mean things about it behind its back? How does a guy named “Mad Dog” get to be such a thin-skinned little snowflake?

I’m just playing. Actually, when Mattis says that the Russian government is trying to “undercut and compromise our belief in our ideals,” he is saying that Moscow is interrupting the lies that Americans are being told about their government by the plutocrat-owned media. As we’ve been discussing a lot recently, control of the narrative is absolutely essential for rulers to maintain their rule. When you hear establishment policy makers babbling about “Russian propaganda” and Putin’s attempts to “undercut and compromise our belief in our ideals,” all that they are saying is that the plutocrats who rule America need to be able to control the way Americans think and vote, and that the Russian government is making it a bit harder for them to do that.

More and more, the threads of the establishment narrative are ceasing to be unconsciously absorbed and are being increasingly consciously examined instead. This development has ultimately nothing to do with Russia and everything to do with our species moving out of its old relationship with mental narrative as it approaches evolve-or-die time in our challenging new world. I am greatly encouraged by what I am seeing.

Caitlin’s articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast, throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.

This article was originally published by “Medium“ –

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UK poll suggests Brits would now vote Remain, despite that the UK Govt. still seems determined to drive off the cliff

UK poll suggests Brits would now vote Remain

The EU and UK are facing a no-Brexit deal scenario (Photo: By Dave Kellam, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Nikolaj Nielsen

The majority of people in the UK would now vote to remain part of the European Union, according to a new poll.

A YouGov survey on Friday (10 August) suggests 53 percent of voters would choose to stay in the EU, if a referendum was held now, as opposed to 47 percent who would opt to leave.

Watch our reporter Eszter Zalan explain the reasons in this 30 seconds video.

The survey canvassed more than 10,000 people ahead of Britain’s uncertain departure from the Union next March.

The BBC further reports that 82 percent of young people from 18 to 24 years of age would vote remain should a second referendum be held, citing an average of polls conducted over the past three months.

This compares to the some two-thirds of those over 65 who would vote leave.

Meanwhile, talks between the EU and the UK have floundered over the past few months as internal political rifts in Britain appear to further expose tensions over the issue.

Earlier this week, police chiefs in the UK issued warnings of “substantial risk to public safety” by losing access to EU security databases.

The National Farmers’ Union had also warned a no-deal Brexit runs the risk of food shortages as the British pound dropped to a nine-month low against the euro.

Jersey model

The EU and UK have remained at loggerheads on how to proceed given their respective red lines.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, maintains there can be “no cherry-picking” when it comes to retaining UK access to the EU single market for goods.

But The Times, a British newspaper, citing unnamed sources, has reported that the EU may now be willing to make a big concession to appease UK demands.

According to The Times, European leaders may be ready to allow the UK to remain a part of the single market for goods while allowing Britain to opt out of the free movement of people.

The plan is expected to be presented next month at a summit of EU member states in Salzburg, Austria.

The reported proposal is based on the so-called ‘Jersey model’ where the UK would remain in the single market for goods.

“If May came with the Jersey model there would be a serious discussion among leaders for the first time,” a senior EU source, was quoted as saying in The Times.

The EU, in exchange, would then demand that UK’s prime minister Theresa May, adopt all future EU environmental and social protections.

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‘Martyrdom and Martyrdom’ & martyrdom: understanding Iran

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, August 10, 2018

Donald Trump has just sent a dirty message to the president of Turkey.

Why?

What is the objective behind Trump’s statement?

While Turkey is officially a member of NATO as well as a firm ally of the US, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been developing “friendly relations” with two of America’s staunchest enemies, namely Iran and Russia.

Sleeping with the enemy:  “Our relations are not good with Turkey” says Trump.

US-Turkey military cooperation (including US air force bases in Turkey) dates back to the Cold War. Today Turkey is now sleeping with both Iran and Russia. 

Trump’s response takes the form of both military threats and economic sanctions coupled with financial manipulation of foreign exchange markets directed against Turkey’s Lira.

And their  currency “slides rapidly downwards against our very strong dollar”, says Trump.

Turkey has developed an alliance of convenience with Iran. And Iran in turn is now supported by a powerful China-Russia block, which includes military cooperation, strategic pipelines as well extensive trade and investment agreements.

But there is more than meets the eye.

While the US and Israel have for many years contemplated military action (including the preemptive use of nuclear weapons) against Iran, this military agenda –which relied on a longstanding military-intelligence alliance between Israel and Turkey– is currently in jeopardy. And so is Ankara’s  bilateral military alliance with Washington.

Towards “NATO-Exit”? Shift in the Structure of Military Coalitions. Turkey’s Alliance with Russia, China and Iran?

The Israel-Turkey alliance which dates back to the Security and Secrecy Agreement (SSA) signed under Turkey’s  Tansu Çiller government in 1993-94 included:

…A 1993 Memorandum of Understanding led to the creation of (Israeli-Turkish) “joint committees” to handle so-called regional threats. Under the terms of the Memorandum, Turkey and Israel agreed “to cooperate in gathering intelligence on Syria, Iran, and Iraq and to meet regularly to share assessments pertaining to terrorism and these countries’ military capabilities.”

“Turkey agreed to allow IDF and Israeli security forces to gather electronic intelligence on Syria and Iran from Turkey. In exchange, Israel assisted in the equipping and training of Turkish forces in anti-terror warfare along the Syrian, Iraqi, and Iranian borders.” (see Michel Chossudovsky, 2004)

The SSA agreement was a carefully designed instrument of US foreign policy which set the stage for a firm and close Israel-Turkey relationship in military and intelligence cooperation, joint military exercises, weapons production and training.

Erdogan and Ariel Sharon (2004)

Already during the Clinton Administration, a triangular military alliance between the US, Israel and Turkey had unfolded. This “triple alliance”,  dominated by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, integrated and coordinated military command decisions between the three countries pertaining to the broader Middle East. It is based on the close military ties respectively of Israel and Turkey with the US, coupled with a strong bilateral military relationship between Tel Aviv and Ankara. ….

The triple alliance is also coupled with a 2005 NATO-Israeli military cooperation agreement which includes “many areas of common interest, such as the fight against terrorism and joint military exercises. These military cooperation ties with NATO are viewed by the Israeli military as a means to “enhance Israel’s deterrence capability regarding potential enemies threatening it, mainly Iran and Syria.” (See Michel Chossudovsky,“Triple Alliance”: The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon, August 6, 2006)

In 2006,  shortly before Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, the US and Turkey signed a “Shared Vision” (which committed Turkey to supporting Israel). The agreement was:

“characterized by strong bonds of friendship, alliance, mutual trust and unity of vision. We share the same set of values and ideals in our regional and global objectives: the promotion of peace, democracy, freedom and prosperity.”

The bilateral US-Israel and US-Turkey alliance coupled with the Israel-Turkey military and intelligence cooperation agreement as well as the Israel-NATO agreement (2003), constitute the foundations of the US-Israel-Turkey “Triple alliance” or what the Brookings Institute calls the US-Turkey- Israel Triangle.

This triangular structure of alliances is dead much to the detriment of Washington.

In turn,Turkey wants to acquire Russia’s S-400 air defense system at a cost of 2 billion dollars. In practice, this would mean that Turkey would opt  out of the integrated US-NATO air defense system (which also includes the participation of Israel). In practice this also means that Turkey has “unofficially” chosen NATO-Exit.

Image: Rouhani, Yeltsin-Erdogan

What is unfolding is the building of  a new Triple Entente between Turkey, Iran and Russia. 

At this stage, this Triple Entente goes beyond an “alliance of convenience”. It constitutes a major restructuring of both military and economic alliances.

Who Benefits from Trump’s Foreign Policy Statements? Short-Selling Major Currencies. Insider Trade?

On a related matter, the Trump administration is involved in acts of manipulation on foreign exchange markets with the full support of Wall Street.

What is the consequence of Trump’s statements?

Trigger the collapse of the Turkish Lira, which constitutes a de facto act of financial warfare directed against Turkey.

Those who had advanced knowledge of  Trump’s statements (“inside information”) are making multibillion dollar profits on the foreign exchange markets. (This is an issue for further investigation)

An earlier statement by Trump regarding sanctions directed Russia was conducive to a significant decline in the Russian Ruble.

The original source of this article is Global Research

Copyright© Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2018

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