Russia’s Greatest Weapon is not a Weapon

 December 03, 2021

by Dmitry Orlov, posted with permission of the author

An ultimately very healthy but in the meantime very unpleasant realization is gradually dawning in West—an insight that is simply shocking, that fundamentally alters their picture of the world: that the stronger becomes the hurricane of woke transformations that is raging there, the more attractive Russia becomes for hundreds of millions of Europeans and Americans. What is Russia’s most powerful weapon? Is it nuclear? Is it hypersonic (or “hydrosonic,” as per Trump)? Cybermagic, perhaps? No, Russia’s most powerful weapon is its values. And it grows stronger and more dangerous every day, in direct proportion to the intensifying fire of multiculturalism and political correctness that is raging in Europe and in America.

A recent article in The National Interest summarized various American authors who claim that the Kremlin is gradually developing its strategy of soft power and using it to successfully fight the West, splitting it and undermining it from within. What is the cause of their paranoid hysteria? Could it be that they have accidentally discovered who their true enemy is, and that it is… they themselves?

The simplest and most effective way to knock a geopolitical adversary out of the game is to impose on it a system of values ​​that will split its society and lead the most active part of its population to occupy public buildings, to erect barricades and to support a pretender to the throne that is immediately given support and recognition by the country’s enemies. This is how all color revolutions of the late 20th and the early 21st centuries have been done: broadcast some propaganda, recruit some activists, help them to organize, provide some clandestine financial support, and then at some point this human mass, confident in their strength and their righteousness, surges through the police barriers and goes on to create history by overthrowing some faux-democrat petty tyrant, clearing the path for the next faux-democrat petty tyrant to be installed, with the country growing weaker, poorer and more disordered with each iteration. The process starts with the conversion of some significant part of the target population to “universal human values” with secular proselytizing of the “one true democratic faith.”

To the extent that this could be called a game, the West had a huge head start in it. The tools for fighting the “evil empire” have been honed for half a century. In the course of fighting the Cold War, radio stations, foundations, newspapers and magazines, parties and communities, publishing houses and TV channels have been created. Virtually all of them were then repurposed from fighting against the USSR to fighting against Russia. Collapse of the USSR, it was foolishly thought, was but a first step toward destroying Russia and absconding with its crude oil, natural gas, metal ores, fertile farmland and other natural treasures. And then, just in time, new, internet-based forms of influence appeared, completely controlled from America. For a time, the combination of a huge head start and the newly weaponized internet technologies seemed overwhelming.

But then something miraculous took place.

For a long time the USSR struggled mightily to propagandize socialist ideas in the United States and in Western Europe—to no avail. In the US, from its inception as a quintessential pirate colony, centuries of being conditioned to think that good persons are good by virtue of having goodly quantities of bounty and loot in their coffers has rendered people immune to socialist values. Meanwhile, Europe—its western half after the defeat of Nazism and in its eastern after the demise of Soviet communism—have been reduced to American satrapies where American propaganda reigns supreme and ceaselessly paints Russia as backward, corrupt, despotic and generally evil. No amount of broadcasting by Russia Today and no amount of toil by Russian internet trolls would ever be able to reprogram the consciousness of a Western person. But then suddenly Russia was awarded the supreme prize, giving it attractiveness, charm and influence no one could have dreamed of.

What has suddenly transformed the situation was mass insanity into which the West has been plunged. This group madness has destroyed much of what is infinitely dear to a very significant, if not overwhelming, part of Western civilization. Those conditional “conservatives”—normal people who do not want to be forced to be ashamed of their skin color, heterosexuality, respect for religion, generally accepted morality, and so on, are now humiliated, discriminated against and persecuted by the newest crop of toxic lefties.

Here is a lovely quote from an article in the Daily Beast: “…The Kremlin intends to attract Western converts with… bigotry—turning Russia into the land of ultimate political incorrectness, the world’s anti-woke capital.” Never mind the spurious claim of Kremlin’s intent to make Russia attractive; that is akin to blaming a beauty pageant contestant for being beautiful. Never mind the spurious claim of bigotry when it comes to opposing the West’s gender dysphoria and other psychiatric symptoms; there is a perfectly valid counterclaim of a society-wide psychiatric disorder that has plenty of biological science to back it up. What’s important is that the world has flipped to its mirror image: no longer is the United States “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” Russia now is, in the eyes of the Americans themselves! No longer is it Ivan sighing enviously while dreaming of American blue jeans, Coca-Cola and rock-and-roll; it is John who is wildly jealous of the absence of black-on-white racism, dumbed-down high school curricula, laughable yet lethal accusations of sexual harassment and a rainbow of public toilets.

Russia itself could never have achieved such a high level of attractiveness merely by using its propaganda machinery (all one and a half TV channels of it). It arose by itself when traditional (i.e., white heterosexual Christian) Europeans and Americans began to compare the surrounding Bedlam with Russia’s naturalness and orderliness. And then there spontaneously arose in them a very simple feeling: to hell with past grievances; it is the future which we must make livable for ourselves and our children. In the past, Russia was an adversary, but that past ended thirty years ago, and in the present Russia is safe, secure and happier than ever while we are burning in Hell and have no idea what to do about it. But at least we have Russia to hold up as a positive example.

It must also be understood that there are no other candidates for this role. There is no LGBT insanity, sexual harassment mania or violent reverse racism in North Korea, or Iran, or Saudi Arabia, or China, but these examples are all far too exotic and come with toxic baggage of their own. What the persecuted white Western Christian conservative heterosexual male needs is a normal European country, full of white people, comfortable for living in, but without any of the things he hates. What other options are there? It is not a competition if there is just one contestant.

And thus we have come to the point where Russia—in all seriousness and without any irony or puffery whatsoever, really—has become the light of the world, a shining city set upon a hill, a beacon of hope, a bastion of righteousness and free spirit and the symbol of a truly free world. This is an almost magical transformation: it was able to win this exalted status outright without even playing the game. It did the barest minimum in standing its ground and in preventing a smallish faction of foreign-controlled traitors and fools from destroying their country. Theirs has remained a wholesome world of brave, masculine men, of attractive, feminine women and of their above-average, non-gender-confused children. In their world, rewards and privileges are based on merit, corrupt politicians and businessmen spend years in jail, and respect for traditional ethics and religious faith is mandatory. In their world, all of history is permanently theirs: none of it will ever be forgotten, falsified or erased—all thousand-plus years of it, including life under the Golden Horde, the serfdom, great victories of the Russian Empire, the revolutionary terror, collectivization, Stalin’s purges, the defeat of Nazism, the destruction of Western colonialism throughout Africa and Asia, the conquest of space, the national humiliation of Gorbachev’s and Yeltsin’s puppet regimes and Russia’s rebirth under Putin.

It is a world to which more and more people in the West want to escape to, leaving behind a landscape blighted by leftist vandalism and enforced repentance for the crime of being of a certain race or of daring to exhale carbon dioxide. They do not wish to subject themselves to the unholy inquisition which doles out punishments to those who remain unenthusiastic about and unsupportive of sexual perversity, gender dysphoria, the destruction of traditional families and the brainwashing of youth. Even if they cannot escape, they can take comfort in knowing that a more normal and less damaged alternative reality exists, and they can secretly sympathize with it.

What makes this transformation particularly remarkable is that ten years ago Russia’s soft power barely existed. At that time, a small but vocal opposition demonstrated in the center of Moscow, chanting “We need a different Russia.” But now hundreds of millions of French, Germans, Americans and others in the West are chanting what amounts to “We need a different West.” To the abject horror of their political elites they look to Russia—the country of extreme political incorrectness—with longing, delight and hope. These people are self-organizing into parties, uniting like-minded people in much greater numbers than the Communist International had ever been able to gather. In many countries they already exert a very significant influence on the political agenda. The more the pandemic of woke madness rages, the greater their influence will become. When this conflagration of mass insanity finally burns itself out, it is Russia that will have the civilizational seed stock with which to re-fertilize the devastated cultural landscape of the West.

In the meantime, this is already shaping up to be a Russian century. This level of soft power is something beyond anyone’s wildest dreams; it is is Putin’s judo mastery taken to the nth level. In judo, one directs one’s opponent’s own force against him; here, the opponent is directing his own power against himself while the judo master merely stands back and watches, nodding in approval. In every country that the liberals attempt to reformat to their liking, Russia automatically gains millions of fans, forcing any possible geopolitical confrontation with Russia to fade into the background before the neutralizing force of a great commonality of traditional values. Remaining passive and risking nothing, Russia has gained a myriad ways to turn the geopolitical situation to its advantage.

For a very long time the West had monopolized the dominant discourse, but now Russia has gained control of it. Needless to say, this does not go down well with those who have been accustomed to uncontested dominance. They react hysterically: by throwing around groundless accusations and insults, staging provocations, imposing toothless yet self-defeating sanctions… They will try anything that they think might help to defer the moment when they will be forced to admit the horrible truth: that they have checked themselves into an insane asylum in Hell and they can’t check out. Meanwhile, all Russia has to do is to wait patiently for the fires of Hell to consume them and to burn themselves out; because they always do. Their desperate thrashing about and threatening Armageddon is for Russia to ignore.

[Based loosely on a text by Aftershock’s SKonst published as «Страна крайней политической некорректности»: как Россия обрела «мягкую силу» во всём мире]

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

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Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestine(8 – 14 July 2021)

 15  July 2021

8 – 14  July 2021

• 13 Palestinians wounded, including 2 children and 1 female, in IOF excessive use of force in the West Bank
• Two IOF shootings reported at fishing boats and agricultural lands, northern Gaza Strip
• In 126 IOF incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem: 72 civilians arrested, including 3 children, a woman, and a journalist
• 45 Birzeit University students were arrested at an IOF military checkpoint in Ramallah, while returning from a visit to the demolition site of a Palestinian prisoner’s house
• Collective punishment policy: IOF demolished the house of a Palestinian man in Israeli prison
• Demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem:  residential building (4-floor) and sheep barn demolished by IOF, and two houses were self-demolished
• IOF Demolitions across the West Bank: 11 barracks, 5 used for residence and the others used for commercial purposes; demolition notice served against a graveyard; a health clinic confiscated
• Israeli settlers’ attacks in the West Bank: olive trees cut, civilians assaulted, and an electric grid damaged
• IOF established 50 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank and arrested 2 Palestinian civilians on said checkpoints

Summary                                                                                        

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to commit crimes and multi-layered violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties, including raids into Palestinian cities that are characterized with excessive use of force, assault, abuse and attacks on civilians, turning the West Bank into isolated blocks of land. Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian properties and land continued.. Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip enters its 15th year under closure, exacerbating the humanitarian hardships across the territory.

IOF shooting and violation of right to bodily integrity:

Thirteen Palestinians were wounded in IOF excessive use of force in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, including two children and a female: 6 were wounded, including 1 child, in IOF attacks on a peaceful protest in Sabeih Mount, Nablus; a shepherd was wounded -and arrested afterwards- in Nablus; 5, including 1 child and a female, were wounded during an IOF incursion into Jenin refugee camp. Another Palestinian sustained critical wounds in Silwan, occupied East Jerusalem. Dozens suffocated due to tear gas inhalation, fired by IOF in its attacks in the West Bank.

In the Gaza Strip, 1OF shooting was  reported against agricultural lands, and another incident was reported against fishing boats at sea, in northern Gaza Strip.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians: IOF carried out 126 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids of civilian houses and shootings, enticing fear among civilians, and attacking many of them. During this week’s incursions, 72 Palestinians were arrested, including 3 children, a woman, a photographer, and a journalist.

In another blatant violations, IOF arrested 45 Birzeit University students on Wednesday, 14 July 2021, after ambushing them with a temporary military checkpoint at the entrance to Turmus Ayya village in Ramallah, while returning from a solidarity visit to Palestinian prisoner, Montaser Shalabi, house -which IOF demolished on 08 July 2021 in practice of its collective punishment policy against Palestinians. Twelve students were later released, while the others remain in IOF custody to this moment.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians, including 1 child, while trying to cross the Gaza border fence in eastern Khan Younis. Two were later released, including the child.

Demolitions:

PCHR fieldworkers documented 10 violations:

Hebron: demolition notice served against a graveyard, health clinic confiscated in Yatta, two agricultural rooms destroyed and a wall in eastern Bani Naim.

Occupied East Jerusalem: 4-floor residential building destroyed in Shufat; 2 houses self-demolished in Jabel Mukaber and Silwan; sheep-barn barracks destroyed in Nabi Samuil.

Salfit: 5 commercial facilities (barracks) destroyed in Haris.

Qalqilya: cease-construction notice served against a house (under-construction) and two rooms were demolished in Azzun Atma.

Ramallah: 7 barracks (made with tin-plates) destroyed, including 5 used for residential purposes, 2 for cattle in al-Mughayer.

Settler-attacks: PCHR fieldworkers reported and documented 3 attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians and their properties:

Nablus: electric grid assaulted and 150 olive trees cut.

Hebron: Palestinian civilians and their lands assaulted in Yatta.

Collective punishment

As part of IOF collective punishment policy against Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks against IOF or settlers, on Thursday, 08 July 2021, IOF demolished of Montaser Ahmed ‘Ali al-Shalabi’s family house, Shalabi is a Palestinian from Ramallah imprisoned by Israel allegedly for killing a settler and wounding others in an attack earlier this year.

Israeli closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement:

The Israeli authorities continued to impose collective punishments against the people of the Gaza Strip by strictly tightening its closure on the Gaza Strip, which entered its 15^th year, without any indication for a solution in the future, depriving the Gaza population from enjoying their economic, social, and cultural rights. This week, IOF loosened its restrictions on the movement of goods and individuals, which were enforced since the May IOF military aggression on Gaza, expanding the fishing area from 9 to 12 nautical miles, and allowed the export of agricultural and fabric goods to Israel, and the import of some raw materials and medical supplies via Karm Abu Salem crossing. IOF also announced that journalists working for international media organizations and the Palestinian Ministry of media would be allowed travel via Beit Hanoun crossing, as well as all those with appointments with foreign embassies or have medical training abroad.

Meanwhile, IOF continued to divide the West Bank into separate cantons with key roads blocked by the Israeli occupation since the 2000 Second Intifada -still closed to this date- and with temporary and permanent checkpoints, where civilian movement is restricted, and they are subject to arrest, especially at al-Karama border crossing, alongside the Palestinian-Jordanian border.

Shooting and other Violations of the Right to Life and Bodily Integrity

• At approximately 13:00 on Friday, 09 July 2021, a group of Palestinians gathered in central of Beita village, southeast of Nablus, and then headed towards Sabeih Mount, south of the city, where IOF established “ Avitar“ settlement outpost few weeks ago, to protest against the establishment of the outpost there. The Palestinians gathered in the western side of the mount, set fire to tires on a road leading to the mount. IOF indiscriminately opened fire at the protestors and clashed them. During which, the protestors threw stones at IOF, who continued to fire live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and teargas canisters at the protestors. The clashes continued until 19:00 and resulted in the injury of 6 protestors, including a child. All of them were taken to Rafidia Hospital for treatment. During the clashes, IOF fired rubber bullets at an ambulance belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), breaking its windshield.

• Following the Friday prayer, IOF suppressed a peaceful protest organized against settlement in Hizma village, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem. As a result, dozens of Palestinians suffocated due to teargas inhalation. Afterwards, dozens of Hizma villagers gathered in al-Thaghra area, where they performed the Friday prayer and then headed towards barbed wires that separate al-Thaghra area from the main street, protesting at the establishment of a settlement road in the village lands. The protestors carried Palestinian flags and chanted slogans against settlement. During which, IOF deployed in the area, surrounded the protestors and fired rubber bullets and teargas canisters at them. As a result, dozens of protestors suffocated due to teargas inhalation. It should be noted that Israeli authorities built a settlement road on Hizma village lands, denying Palestinian citizens and shepherds access to their lands.

• At approximately 21:00 on Sunday, 11 July 2021, IOF moved into Bir Ayoub neighborhood in Silwan village, south of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. IOF deployed on the neighborhood streets, closed the main street, established several military checkpoints, searched Palestinians’ vehicles, checked their IDs, prevented them from entering the neighborhood, and forced them to pass through bypass roads. Afterwards, dozens of Palestinians gathered in the area, threw stones at IOF and their vehicles, and fired fireworks at them. IOF immediately assaulted the protestors, indiscriminately fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and teargas canisters at them and chased Palestinians who burned columns, where IOF’s surveillance cameras were fixed.

Accordingly, clashes erupted and continued until dawn hours. As a result, Harbi Nidal al-Rajbi (18) was shot with a live bullet in his back while getting out of his house and heading to perform ‘Isha paryer. Al-Rajbi was taken to al-Maqased Hospital in al-Tur neighborhood, east of the city, due to his serious health condition. Nidal’s father said to PCHR’s fieldworker that his son underwent to several surgeries, during which, doctors removed his kidney and part of his spleen. He added that the health condition of his son is still serious, and he receives treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Al-Rajbi pointed out that IOF raided al-Maqased Hospital looking for his son. Afterwards, the hospital administration intervened and told IOF that Harbi’s health condition is serious and he undergo to a serious surgery. It should be noted that al-Rajbi was arrested by IOF several times, last of which was 2 weeks ago as IOF raided his father shop in al-Bostan neighborhood and severely beat him along with his family members. It should be noted that Harbi suffers from diabetes.

• At approximately 04:00 on Monday, 12 July 2021, IOF moved into Jenin refugee camp, al-Jabriyat area and Abu Duhair Moubt, adjacent to the camp, west of Jenin, north of the West Bank, where they conducted arrest campaign. During which, a group of Palestinians gathered and confronted IOF vehicles. IOF responded with live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and teargas canisters. As a result, 5 Palestinians, including a child and a girl, were shot with live bullets. PCHR keeps the names of those wounded.

• At approximately 00:30 on Tuesday, 13 July 2021, IOF stationed along the Gaza’s border fence with Israel, north of Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip, opened sporadic fire at border area, but no casualties were reported.

• At approximately 22:15, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Waha Shore, northwest of Beit Lahia, and off al-Sodaniyia Shore, west of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, chased Palestinian gunboats sailing within 1-5 nautical miles, opened heavy fire around them and fired flare bombs in the sky, causing fear among the fishermen and forcing them to flee. No casualties were reported.

• At approximately 10:00 on Wednesday, 14 July 2021, IOF stationed in “Yitzhar“ settlement, which is established on Madama village’s lands in Nablus, opened fire at a Palestinian shepherd, who was breeding his sheep in al-Rasem area. As a result, the shepherd namely Ma’moun Ameen Fayiz Nassar (47), from Madama village, was shot with a live bullet in his foot and arrested later. Ma’moun received treatment at Beilinson Hospital in Israel. 

Incursions and arrests

Thursday, 08 July 2021:

• At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into Aroub refugee camp, north of Hebron. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (5) civilians, including a father with his son. The arrestees are: Dawoud Ahmed Banat (48), his son Ayoub (21), Ehsan Mohammed Tafish (30), Abdullah Mahmoud Tafish (35), and Hisham Rawhi Tafish (29).

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Shu’afat refugee camp, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Yousef Ahmed al-Hawas’s (23) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 01:40, IOF moved into Tell village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Emad Yousef Raihan’s (54) house, a former candidate on “Jerusalem is our destiny” electoral list of 2021 and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Hebron and stationed in Juneid area. They raided and searched Yehya Mohammed Qawasmah’s (39) house and arrested him.

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Abu Dis village, east of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Abdul-Salam Ayyad’s (49) house, a member of Abu Dis municipality, and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:10, IOF moved into Thinnaba village in Tulkarm. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Eman Khalil ‘Amarnah (52), and her son, Mohammed Belal ‘Amarnah (31).

• At approximately 03:05, IOF moved into Beita village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Rani Hashem Dweikat’s (23) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 11:00, IOF moved into Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Khaled Isma’el Abu Ghannam’s (46) house and arrested him. IOF left a summons to his son, Emad (16), to refer to the Israeli Intelligence Services.

• Around the same time, IOF arrested Ahmed Yousef Bader (31), an employee in the Palestinian customs police, from Abu Dis, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, while passing through a temporary military checkpoint established near “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement, east of the city.

• At approximately 14:00, IOF arrested Ibrahim Sami Mutair (29), from his shop near Qalandiya refugee camp, north of the occupied East Jerusalem.

• At approximately 15:30, IOF arrested Khaled al-Zeir (46), from Silwan, south of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, while present on al-Jesir street in Beit Hanina, north of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City.

• At approximately 21:00, a group of Mista’arvim, (Israeli Special Unit dressed like Palestinian civilians), sneaked into Birzeit, north of Ramallah, and stationed at the Old City’s crossroad. They stopped a gray vehicle and arrested the driver, Abdul Rahman Husain al-Jalies (35), and Fares Ahmed Zumra (33), while back home in Jalazone refugee camp, north of the city.

• IOF carried out (8) incursions in Jalamah and Beit Kad, northeast of Jenin; Deir Sharaf and Beit Iba, west of Nablus; Badhan, north of Nablus; Sarra, Awarta and Usarin, southeast of Nablus. No arrests were reported.

Friday, 09 July 2021:

• At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Sa’ir village, north of Hebron. They raided and searched 2 houses and arrested Nassar Eissa Jabarin (40), and his brother, Ayyoub (37).

• Around the same time, IOF moved into Hebron. They raided and searched Bassam Hamed Qufeisha’s (35) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Yatta, south of Hebron governorate and stationed in Ruq’a area. They raided and searched Isma’el Abdul Hadi Makhamera’s (42) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 07:00, IOF moved into Bab Huta neighborhood, one of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City’s neighborhoods. They raided and searched Sufian Omar al-‘Ajlouni’s (23) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 13:00, IOF arrested Naser Mohammed Nawaj’a (38), a field researcher at the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the oPt, from Susya village, south of Yatta, after stopping him while returning to the village. IOF released him later.

• At approximately 14:30, IOF arrested three civilians while present in the Aqsa Mosque’s yards in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, after finishing the Friday Prayers, and took them to one of the detention centers in the city. The arrestees are: Ahmed Yasine Kmail (28), from Qabatiya in Jenin governorate; Baker Awni Barri (26), from Immatain in Qalqilya governorate; and Yousef Shehada Khalil (26), from Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm governorate.

• At approximately 15:00, IOF arrested Sameer Mohammed Shahin (39), from Hebron, after stopping his vehicle on a temporary military checkpoint established at the entrance of Samu village, south of Hebron.

Saturday, 10 July 2021:

• At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into Hebron. They raided and searched Sameer Mohammed Shahin’s (39), house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Karkafe area in Bethlehem. They raided and searched Hamza Da’dara’s (24) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 17:00, IOF arrested (3) civilians including a child, while attempting to sneak through the border fence in Khan Yunis. The arrestees are: Qusai Hasan Abu Selmi (17), from Abasan al-Kabeera; Mohammed Ramadan al-Derdisi (20) and ‘Ahed Ahmed Abu Shehada (19), both from Bani Suheila. IOF released Selmi through Erez crossing on the next day morning, and kept al-Derdisi and Abu Shehada under arrest.

• IOF carried out (6) incursions in Kaubar and Kafr Malik in Ramallah; Beit Ummar, Bayt Kahil, Beit Mirsim and Hadab villages. No arrests were reported.

Sunday, 11 July 2021:

• At approximately 01:00, IOF moved into Ras al-Amud neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Mohammed al-Salaima (23) and Mohammed al-Tweity (21) and arrested them.

• At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into Silwan, south of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched Khaled Omar Rweidy’s (12) house and arrested him.

Monday, 12 July 2021:

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Idhna village, west of Hebron. They raided and searched Ahmed Abdul Rasoul Bashir’s (44) house, but no arrests were reported.

• At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Qabatia, southeast of Jenin. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Hussain Amin Samadi (35), and Adham Khaled Abu Aisha (18).

• At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Beita, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Issam Ghassan Hamayil’s (23) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 04:00, IOF moved into Jenin refugee camp, Jabriyat area and Jabal Abu Thhair adjacent to the refugee camp, west of Jenin. They raided and searched several houses and arrested Mo’tasem Omar Steity (37), from Jenin refugee camp, Omar Bayan Abed (28) and his brother, Osaid (20), from Jenin. Meanwhile, IOF opened fire at the protestors who protested against storming their village. As a result, 5 civilians; including a child and a girl, were injured. For more details check “Shooting and other Violations of the Right to Life and Bodily Integrity” in this report.

• At approximately 10:00, IOF summonsed Mazen al-Jabari, Director of the Arab Studies Society’s Youth Development Institute, from interrogation in al-Maskobiya police center in West Jerusalem.

• At approximately 14:00, IOF moved into Isawiya, northeast of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Ra’fat Tareq al-Isawiya’s (50) house and arrested him. It should be noted that Ra’fat was arrested on the same day of his daughter’s engagement party, and a day before releasing his brother, Medhat, who spent over than 27 years in the Israeli prisons.

• At approximately 15:00, IOF arrested Zeid Anwar Rabay’a (26), from Ubeidiya village, east of Bethlehem, while present near Bab al-Amud area in the occupied East Jerusalem. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

• IOF carried out (3) incursions in Hebron, Dura and ‘Aroub refugee camp in Hebron. No arrests were reported.

Tuesday, 13 July 2021:

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem. They raided and searched several houses, arrested (3) civilians and took them to unknown destinations. The arrestees are: Ahmed Khaled Taqatqa (22), Eyad Nader Taqatqa (20) and Mohammed Akram Taqatqa (26).

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Sur Baher village, south of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Mo’tasem Emad ‘Atwan (20) and Mousa Zeyad ‘Atwan (21), and arrested them.

• At approximately 02:15, IOF moved into al-Tabqa village, south of Dura, southwest of Hebron governorate. They raided and searched Hani Mohammed Amro’s (37) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 03:30, IOF moved into Aqraba village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched Hammam Waleed Bani Fadel’s (23) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 03:40, IOF moved into Hebron. They raided and searched Belal Saleem Salhab’s (35) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 07:00, IOF stationed at al-Container military checkpoint, east of Bethlehem, arrested Mahmoud Hasan Salah (32), while passing through the checkpoint. IOF took him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 18:00, IOF moved into Tur neighborhood, east of the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Ra’ed Hazem al-Sayyad (16) and Na’eem Ibrahim Abu al-Hawa (16) and arrested them.

• At approximately 23:00, IOF moved into Bidu village, northwest of the occupied East Jerusalem. they raided and searched Ayyoub Mohammed al-Khadour’s (29) house, arrested him and confiscated his vehicle.

• IOF carried out (2) incursions in Halhul and Surif villages in Hebron governorate. No arrests were reported.

Wednesday, 14 July 2021:

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into al-Ram village, north of the occupied East Jerusalem. They raided and searched Yazan Ahmed Shawabka’s (24) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Tulkarm. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (4) civilians, including a photojournalist. The arrestees are: the photojournalist Khaled Adnan al-Zebda (30), Hamada Abdullah Badawi (27), Ahmed Mohammed Owda (26), and his brother, Ra’d (28).

• At approximately 02:30, IOF moved into Beita village, southeast of Nablus. They raided and searched several houses and arrested (11) civilians, including a child and 2 siblings. The arrestees are: Adham Sameer al-Shorafa (24), Yousef Mohammed al-Shorafa (28), Hamad Taleb Ma’ali (23), Yousef ‘Ahed Hamayil (26), Rashed Hasan Qawariq (21) and his brother, Ramiz (20), Omar Dawoud Borhom (21), Bayan Abdul Jalil Borhom (21), Emad Faleh Dawoud (31), Qassam Zahi ‘Adili (17), and Na’eem Taleb Dweikat (22).

• At approximately 03:00, IOF moved into Teqoa, east of Bethlehem. They raided and searched Abdullah Adel al-‘Ammour’s (27) house and arrested him.

• At approximately 18:30, IOF raided Turmus Ayya village, northeastern Ramallah, and stationed near the village’s main entrance. IOF soldiers deployed in the agricultural fields near the village entrance and established a temporary military checkpoint. The soldiers stopped a Mercedes bus, property of al-Tamimi company- that carried Birzeit University students on their way back from a solidarity visit to Montasser Shalabi’s family, whose house was demolished b y IOF on 8 July 2021. Shalabi is imprisoned by Israeli allegedly for killing a settler and wounding 2 others in an attack at Zatara checkpoint in southern Nablus.

The soldiers arrested the entire group, 45 students, and took them along. At approximately 23:00, IOF released 12 students while the others remained in custody.

Note: A group of the arrestees’ names is available at PCHR.

• IOF carried out 2 incursions in Dura and Sa’ir villages in Hebron. No arrests were reported.

Settlement Expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem

Demolitions, Confiscations, and Notices

• At approximately 10:00 on Thursday, 08 July 2021, IOF backed by a military vehicle and accompanied with an Israeli Civil Administration vehicle moved into al-Deirat village, east of Yatta, south of Hebron.  The Israeli administration officer handed a notice (final decision) to demolish a cemetery, which the villagers are building in the area.  The cemetery includes a number of graves built of concrete, and on 18 April 2021, IOF handed the villagers a notice to stop the construction works and then confiscated 2 excavators in an agricultural land in the same village under the pretext of working in Area C.

• At the same time, IOF handed Nasser Abu Khudeir a notice to vacate his house as the Israeli municipality intends to demolish the 4-storey residential building he lives in in Shuafat neighborhood, north of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, within 14 days. The building houses 10 families of 55 individuals.

Abu Khudeir said that an Israeli intelligence officer called him to vacate his house as the municipality intends to carry out the demolition within 14 days.  Abu Khudeir said that the building was established by a number of civilians on a plot of land to the west of the Shuafat structural plan.  The plot of land is planned for construction but located in an unorganized zone.  Abu Khudeir added that the Israeli municipality stopped the construction at the time and imposed a high fine of more than USD 200,000, and in 2005, it issued a decision to demolish the residential building.  During the hearings, the demolition decision was replaced with a decision to close completely all the building’s outlets with bricks.  It should be noted that Ramat Shlomo settlement is only 200 meters away from the building that was established on lands confiscated from Shuafat neighborhood.  Abu Khudeir highlighted that the settlement’s setters raised the building issue at the Israeli municipality, followed up the case of its demolition and then sought for its closure.

‘Ezzatt Ghaith, one of the apartments’ owners in the building under the threat of demolition, said that the building houses 10 different Palestinian families, who prepared their apartments again after 2015 when the owners obtained the decision to lift the closure.  Ghaith added that all the apartments’ owners worked hard to get the building license and did all the necessary legal proceedings.  Thus, the Israeli municipality lately allowed them to submit a request to the Israeli Tabu in order to obtain a building license. The municipality also allowed them to add a floor and a half to the building.  Ghaith said that they were all surprised with the demolition decision as the licensing procedures were going perfectly fine, emphasizing that the Israeli municipality’s decision to demolish the building is part of its collective punishment policy as Naser Abu Khudeir who lives in the building is wanted by the Israeli municipality and intelligence.

• At approximately 10:00 on Monday, 12 July 2021, IOF backed by military vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers and a mounted-crane truck moved into Um Qussa area, east of Yatta city, south of Hebron. IOF deployed around a school and confiscated a tin-plate room (10 sqm) used a clinic, under the pretext of non-licensing.

• Around the same time, Israeli bulldozers demolished 5 barracks in western Haris village in Salfit, under the pretext of being in Area C. The barracks, which is located on the bypass road (Samaria), belong to Fadi Hasan Saleh Suliman. These tin-plate barracks used as a vegetable shop, an auto repair workshop, a workshop for selling aluminum, a blacksmith workshop, and a carpentry workshop. Fadi Suliman said that this is the fifth time that IOF demolished his barracks, and in each time, he rebuilt them. He added that IOF demolished the barracks over its contents, which caused heavy loses.

• At approximately 11:30, IOF backed by military vehicles and accompanied with Israeli Civil Administration officers and 2 diggers moved into Wadi al-Joz area, east of Bani Na’im village in eastern Hebron. IOF deployed in the area while the diggers demolished the following facilities:

1.  A 30-sqaure-meter agricultural room built of bricks and tin plates, a water well of 150 cubic metres, and a 100-meter-high cement wall belonging to Nader ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Mahmoud ‘Odah.

2.  A 100-meter-high concrete wall belonging to ‘Azzam ‘Abdul ‘Aziz ‘Odah.

3. A 30-sqaure-meter agricultural room built of bricks and tin plates, a 1.5- square-meter bathroom built of tin plates, and a 100-meter-high concrete wall belonging to ‘Abed al-Salam ‘Azzam al-Qimiri.

• On Monday, Jamal ‘Ajaj implemented the Israeli Municiplaity order and self-demolished his house in al-Sal’ah neighborhood in Jabel Mukaber village, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of non-licensing. ‘Ajaj said that his 4-story under-construction house ( 110 sqm) was built 3 months ago to live in it with his wife. The house was comprised of 3 rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. ‘Ajaj clarified that a month ago, the Israeli municipality delivered him an administrative demolition notice, and yesterday evening, he received a phone call from the Israeli police, which gave him 24 hours to implement the demolition or he will be fined NIS 100,000 if the  municipality crews will do so.

• At approximately 23:00, Mohammed Nassar al-Hussani implemented the Israeli municipality order and self-demolished his house in Wad Qaddoum neighborhood in Silwan village, south of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, under the pretext of non-licensing. Al-Hussani said that his 124-sqaure-meter house sheltered his family comprised of 7 persons, including 2 children, his father and mother, and his sister. He clarified that his house was built in 2013 and since that time, IOF file lawsuits against him in the Israeli courts and impose fines on him. In 2019, IOF imposed a fine of NIS 40,000 on him. He added that despite all attempts to licsene his house through lawyers and engineers, in January 2021, the Israeli court refused to delay the demolition and issued a decision to implement it. Al-Hussani pointed out that the Israeli police phoned him and told him to self-demolish his house or it will impose a fine of NIS 200,000 on him as a demolition costs. Accordingly, he vacated his house contents and rented a bulldozer to implement the demolition.

• At approximately 10:00 on Tuesday, 13 July 2021, IOF handed 3 civilians from Azun Atme village, south of Qalqilya, decisions; one to cease-construction of a house which is under-construction belonging to Mohammed Isma’el Younis, and the two others notices to demolish 2 agriculture rooms belonging to Mohammed Ibrahim Younis and Ahmed Abdul Fattah Younis.

• At approximately 07:00 on Wednesday, 14 July 2021, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles along with 2 vehicles belonging to the Israeli Construction and Organization Department in the (Civil Administration), a bulldozer, truck and a digger moved into Qaboun Complex area, east of Mughayir village, northeast of Ramallah. They demolished 7 barracks (2 used for cattle, and 5 for residence). Furthermore, IOF brought Israeli workers who confiscated 3 tents and a tractor. Following are the details of the damaged priorities:

Name	Family members	Children	Cattles	Confiscated facilities	notes
Atallah Hamed Hamed	8	3	50	· 2 (70 sqm) barracks·        (90 sqm) cattle tent·        Water tank·        6 cattle feeders·        Tractor	No prior notices received
Abdullah Jaber Hamed	7	4	70	·        (60 sqm) residence barrack·        (60 sqm) cattle barack	No prior notices received
Abdul Raheem Atallah al-Qabouni	12	5	90	·        2 (70 sqm) residential barracks·        (90 sqm)  cattle tent	No prior notices received
Abdullah Hassan al-Qabouni	10	3	–	·        (70 sqm) residential barrack·        (50 sqm) residential tent	No prior notices received

• At approximately 09 on Wednesday, 14 July 2021, Israeli bulldozers demolished a barrack for cattle belonging to Ibrahim Obaid, in al-Nabi Samuil village, northwest of the occupied East Jerusalem, and ordered to demolish 2 barracks under the pretext of non-licensing.

Ibrahim Obaid stated that he was surprised when IOF stormed the area and demolished his cattle barrack, noting that demolishing his (26 sqm) barrack will cause him many losses and troubles. It should be noted that IOF handed Mohammed Ayed and Za’al Abu Dahouk 2 notices to demolish their barracks.

Settler attacks on Palestinian civilians and their property

• On Sunday morning, 11 July 2021, a group of settlers from “Ahya” settlement established on Jalud village’s eastern lands, southeast of Nablus, assaulted the electricity network in Kherbet Sarah in the southeastern area of the village, damaged the network lines and cut the network’s poles.

• At approximately 10:00, a group of settlers of “Ma’on” settlement east of Yatta, south of Hebron governorate, threw stones at Palestinian shepherds while present in their pastures near the abovementioned settlement, and forced them to leave their lands. Meanwhile, IOF came and did not prevent the settlers from throwing stones and attacking the Palestinian shepherds.

• On Wednesday, 14 July 2021, a group of settlers launched from “Yitzhar” settlement established on lands southeast of Nablus, north of the West Bank, attacked Palestinian agricultural lands in Jabal Salman, eastern side of Burin village. As a result, the Israeli settlers cut 150 olive trees aged between 60-70 using hand and automatic saws and stones, belonging to Mohammed Mustafa Zebin, from Nablus.

Collective punishment:

As part of IOF collective punishment policy against Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks against IOF or settlers, on Thursday, 08 July 2021, IOF demolished the family house of a prisoner  from Ramallah at the Israeli prisons after accusing him of killing a settler and wounding others.

According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 00:00 on Thursday, IOF backed by dozens of military vehicles moved into Turmus Ayya village, northeast of Ramallah.  They stepped out of the military vehicles and deployed between houses, where 30 soldiers topped the roofs.  Meanwhile, large number of Israeli forces raided the family house of Montaser Ahmed ‘Ali al-Shalabi (44), who has been arrested since 06 June 2021 to carry out the demolition decision, which the family was informed of following IOF’s claims  that the prisoner killed a settler and wounded 2 others at Za’atarah checkpoint, south of Nablus.

IOF forced the neighbors of Shalabi’s house to vacate their houses.  Meanwhile, IOF surrounded another house belonging to the family of the prisoner’s wife, Sanaa’ Hamdi al-Shalabi, who said to PCHR’s fieldworker that she moved to her family house with her 3 children, Sarah, Mohammed and Ahmed, after she received a call from her lawyer on 30 June 2021 informing her of the decision to demolish the house.  After IOF surrounded her family house, she tried to get out and be near her house, but IOF prevented her.  Therefore, she went back to her family house and via the live video on Turmus Ayya page and from her family house window, she watched IOF surrounding her house in the eastern neighborhood near Turmus Ayya School and planting explosives in the walls.  At 06:15, they exploded the house from the inside but part of a floor was still there, so the soldiers again planted explosives in the land under the first floor.  At 08:30, the house was completely blown up and IOF withdrew from the village,

Closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement of persons and goods:

The Gaza Strip:

The Israeli authorities continued to impose collective punishments against the people of the Gaza Strip, including tightened restrictions on imports and exports, causing a serious deterioration in Palestinians’ enjoyment of their economic and cultural rights.

The Gaza Strip still suffers under the Israeli-imposed closure, which entered its 15^th year recently, with extreme restrictions on the movement of goods and individuals, exacerbating the continued deterioration of humanitarian conditions and causing catastrophic consequences on all aspects of life. For further information, please see PCHR State of the Border Crossing monthly update, and PCHR reports on the closure.

On Monday, 12 July 2021 IOF announced that it would be easing some its restrictions after a few days of calm, including expanding the fishing area from 9 to 12 nautical miles. Also according to the announcement, IOF would allow the import of fishing materials, raw material for production and manufacturing, from Israel to the Gaza Strip via Karm Abu Salem; export of agricultural produce and fabric will be allowed from Gaza to Israel. Additionally, there are facilitations on the movement of individuals via Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing, namely journalists, medical personnel, and certain humanitarian cases like couples who do not live in the same area will be allowed to travel to and from the Gaza Strip.

The West Bank:

In addition to 108 permanent checkpoints and closed roads, this week witnessed the establishment of 50 temporary checkpoints that restrict the movement of goods and individuals, where IOF searched Palestinians’ vehicles, checked their IDs and arrested 2 of them. IOF closed many roads with cement cubes, metal detector gates and sand berms and tightened their measures against individuals’ movement at military permanent checkpoints. IOF reinforced its restrictions on civilians’ freedom of movement at its permanent checkpoints in the West Bank and shut some checkpoints for several hours on multiple occasions.

Hereafter is PCHR documentation of restrictions on the freedom of movement and IOF-established temporary checkpoints across the West Bank this week:

Jerusalem:

• On Thursday, 08 July 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance to Biddu village, northwest of the city.
• On Friday, 09 July 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrance to Bir Ayoub neighborhood in Silwan village, south of occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City.
• On Tuesday, 13 July 2021, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the entrances to Wadi Helwa and ‘Ein al-Louz neighborhoods in Silwan village, at the entrance to al-Thawri neighborhood, and at the entrance to Hizma village, northeast of the city.
• On Wednesday, 14 July 2021, IOF closed Kalandia military checkpoint after carrying out a shooting attack by unknown person at the checkpoint. IOF chased the person and arrested him. The checkpoint was later opened. Also, IOF established a checkpoint at Biddu village’s tunnel, northwest of the city.

Bethlehem:

• On Thursday, 08 July 2021, IOF established 2checkpoints at the northern entrance to Tuqu village and at the entrance to Wadi Fukin village, west of the city.
• On Friday, 09 July 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern entrance to Tuqu village and at the northern entrance to Nahalin village, west of the city.
• On Saturday, 10 July 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the northern and western entrances to Tuqu village, and at the northern entrance to Nahalin village, west of the city.
• On Sunday, 11 July 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern and western entrances to Tuqu village.
• On Monday, 12 July 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern entrance to Tuqu village and near al-Nashash intersection, south of the city.
• On Tuesday, 13 July 2021, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the northern entrance to Tuqu village, at the western entrance to Beit Fajjar village, at the entrance to Wadi Fukin village, at the intersection of Fureidis village, east of the city.
• On Wednesday, 14 July 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern entrance to Tuqu village and at the western entrance to Husan village, west of the city.

Nablus:

• On Sunday, 11 July 2021, IOF established a checkpoint at the entrances to Beita village.
• On Tuesday, 13 July 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints between Urif and Asira al-Qibliya villages, and in al-Moraba’a area near the entrance to Tell village, southeast of Nablus.

Jenin:

• On Thursday, 08 July 2021, IOF established a checkpoint on Jenin-Hifa Street, west of Jenin.

Hebron:

• On Thursday, 08 July 2021, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the southern entrance to Hebron, and at the entrances to Idhna, Bani Na’im and as-Samu villages.
• On Friday, 09 July 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern entrance to Hebron and at the entrance to Beit Ummar village.
• On Saturday, 10 July 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Surif and as-Samu villages and on Wadi al-Joz road.
• On Sunday, 11 July 2021, IOF established 2 checkpoints at the northern entrance to Halhul City and at the western entrance to Hebron.
• On Monday, 12 July 2021, IOF established 4 checkpoints at at the entrances to Idhna, ad-Dhahiriya and as-Samu villages, and at the entrance to Fawwar refugee camp.
• On Wednesday, 14 July 2021, IOF established 3 checkpoints at the entrances to Khasa and Beit Awwa villages, and at the northern entrance to Yatta city.

Salfit:

• On Monday, 12 July 2021, IOF established 4 checkpoints at the entrances to Deir Istiya, Deir Ballut and Kafr ad-Dik villages, and at the entrance to Salfit.

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!

Top Rabbi: America is Collapsing, Israel must Step Up as new World Superpower

Rabbi Eliyahu

June 30, 2021

https://www.israel365news.com/164050/top-rabbi-america-is-collapsing-israel-must-step-up-as-new-world-superpower/

One of Israel’s most respected rabbis, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, has released a statement on the status of America as a waning world superpower and a message of hope for Israel to fill the void. Rabbi Eliyahu is the Chief Rabbi of Safed and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council

The big crisis that is currently happening in America

Regarding the outcome of the US elections, Rabbi Eliyahu explains that the schism is deeper than last week’s incident on Capitol Hill saying: “The big crisis that is currently happening in America didn’t start with the storming of Capitol Hill. It started with the Democratic party’s’ lack of confidence in Trump’s presidency expressed in fiery protests across the United States, and his being labeled in every possible derogatory manner.”

The rabbi added that the lack of Republican trust in America’s election process also contributes to the crisis.

“With tremendous sorrow we can recall this event as part of the process of the US descending from the stage of world history. It’s a sad moment, but it’s happening.”

Pharaoh fell too

Recalling the fall of ancient Egypt, the rabbi uses historic precedent to back up his claim saying: “This is not the first time a superpower fell because of a crisis of values and returns to being an ordinary country among other nations. That is what happened to Egypt and Rome in the old days. That is what happened to the Ottoman Empire approximately a century ago, all the way to the Russian Empire that collapsed 30 years ago, both of whom collapsed due to a failure of values that led to their demise as well as a decline in their great power as world leaders.”

Rabbi Eliyahu also recalled the collapse of France and Great Britain who were once “considered part of the four powers that rule the world,” He added that they collapsed just as Europe as a whole is collapsing because of values…or lack thereof.

Values of political correctness

“The values ​​of justice were replaced with those of political correctness. The family values have been replaced with those ​​of hedonism. The birthrate that fell below the red line caused European leaders to open the floodgates to mass Muslim migration that would fill the void, and Europe started to totally lose its character.”

Rabbi Eliyahu sees the developments unfolding as an opportunity for Israel to step up and take America’s place as the world superpower. He supports his proposition by calling Israel a world leader in family values saying: “We’ve been called upon to fill this vacuum. There are problems inside the State of Israel as well, but unlike Europe, Israel leads the world in the stability of family values. The average amount of children per Israeli woman is double the average of the Western world, and this is what propels Israel’s economy and creativity forward. Israel also leads the globe in the least amount of children from single mothers.”

Regarding a potential insurrection, Rabbi Eliyahu refers to the destruction of the second Temple as evidence that a similar situation cannot reoccur saying “As far as governmental stability is concerned, we are not similar in any way. There cannot be an antigovernmental revolution in Israel. With all the allegations we have regarding this and that corruption in the system of government, none of us have aspirations of a military revolt. We all recall the heavy price of the destruction of the 2nd Temple and it can’t be repeated.”

The rabbi also said that because Israel trails the western world in alcohol and drug consumption.

Not Pretentious, but Torah

Acknowledging that his proclamation could come across as condescending, the rabbi explains that it’s all part of God’s plan saying:  “Israel is stable and is called upon to take its place as a world leader in values. I realize that to many people this sounds very pretentious, but this is the template that G-d promised our forefather Abraham.”

And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you (Genesis 12:3)

Reflecting on the Jewish people who he says don’t recognize the opportunity, the Rabbi notes: “The only ones who do not see this is us, and the time has come for us to recall our destiny. We need to prepare for it so that we can fulfill it with all the necessary responsibilities and not make the mistakes that they made.”

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 ‘Cancel Culture’ phenomenon: kind of hate-hush all over the world

March 01, 2021

by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi for the Saker Blog

Who remembers the Herman’s Hermits and their 1967 song ‘There’s a Kind of Hush’? The hush the song speaks of is a hush of love, and it was a world of dreams in the sixties in the West, despite the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights protests in the USA and other global conflicts. The peace movements were strong and vibrant, and there was hope that the peace-loving youth will have their way and make a difference; because they genuinely believed in the slogan that ‘all you need is love’.

Alas, the love-hush seems now to be replaced with a hate-hush, and it is engulfing the world, particularly the West, with unprecedented anger and vile displays of demeanour, and this seems to be part of the ‘New Normal’ that some are pushing down our throats.

Not long ago, inspired by another song of the 1960’s, the article pondered where have all the flowers and peace movements gone. In such a short period since, discord and trouble has steeply risen to unprecedented levels, where we are witnessing now an ominous step forward into the abyss and a huge fall in the trajectory of humanity.

In comparison and as an example, when the Lebanese civil war erupted in 1975, it didn’t really come as a surprise to anyone as the specter of such calamity had always hung in the air and sat on the agendas of opposing political groups, as well as on the narrow minds of religious groups that held back unsettled sectarian scores for decades, even centuries.

In hindsight, it seems unfathomable as to how did the German people become so brainwashed and vulnerable to Nazi propaganda. They incrementally discarded all the humane values they had known before, replacing them with nationalist, exclusionist and supremacist values, eventually engaging, wittingly or unwittingly, in supporting or perpetrating injustices on minority groups including Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, the disabled, just to mention a few. Shockingly, when the civil war began in Lebanon, the Lebanese people actually saw a similar phenomenon happen right in front of their eyes. The world witnessed town turning against town, suburb against suburb, neighbour against neighbour, inflicting the most horrendous crimes of maiming, sniping, torturing and killing each other. The same happened again in Yugoslavia as it fell apart.

In more ways than one, latent hatred was expected to eventually manifest itself. If and when old sentiments are not dealt with and brought to closure, such an outcome of a build-up and explosion is to be expected.

But what we are witnessing today, in the West, is something quite different; a case where many people develop boiling, seething, foaming and frothing rage and hatred against others for no apparent reason or history at all.

In America at least, there are a number of actual issues that cause rage and dismay, such as unresolved racial tensions and injustices, perceptions of stolen elections, mishandling of the Corona Virus, the economy and so on. However, these issues are dealt with so vehemently, often with grave, unjust, illegal and disproportional measures, leaving many wondering if America is teetering on the brink of a civil war.

Most striking is the alarming phenomenon of other Western countries taking on board many of the divisive American-specific issues, all with the rage and social divisions that define America’s social status quo. People make ‘all or nothing’ stands and polarity on so many issues, reaching new frenetic levels each day. Even when a legitimate reason for anger exists, the expressions of these can be increasingly extreme and irrational and treated as a defining issue, one worthy of labelling, whether in America or elsewhere.

The authors observed that many people from all different sides of the political divide, within and outside the USA, when asked, are unable to rationally express the reason behind their extremely heated stands. Such a psychological situation can destroy the West; or what is left of it. Close friends, friends who have known and loved each other for decades accuse each other of the most heinous of ‘crimes’, attach labels to each other, just because they ask simple questions, trying to understand the rationale behind their feelings.

And feelings they are, because they are not well-conceived and fact-finding-based views, and their answers provided are merely emotionally based.

In the very near past, people and friends in particular, used to have deep political discussions with peers. They disagreed quite often, but such diverse views were discussed in a civil manner with the assumption that people had the right to have different views and opinions.

In the West today however, it seems that the ‘agree-to-disagree’ principle is no longer. The current rule is ‘you are either with me or against me’. Where have we heard this before? Instead of ‘me’ it was ‘us’?

Not only are we witnessing extreme and unwarranted actions between disagreeing individuals, we are also witnessing this on a collective level, one we often refer to as ‘thought-policing’. Its repercussions in recent times are rapidly morphing into what can only be described as torture ‘techniques’ such as the likes of ‘Cancel Culture’. This is exactly synonymous to the act of ‘banishment’ during the Spanish Inquisition days and the Witch-Hunt eras. Nothing much has changed, or perhaps things have gone full-circle.

In that time, ‘banishment’ meant that the banished ones lost their jobs, became socially isolated, prohibited from trading or buying goods, and quite often, this preceded being burnt alive at the stake. And, now it appears that ‘Cancel Culture’ means virtually the same thing. Whilst the victim may still be lucky enough to trade and buy commodities online, it still generally involves losing one’s job, stature, friends, memberships of associations, and facing humiliation and defamation among many other things. The only basic difference today is the absence of being put to death.

Prior to any banishment or ‘Cancel Culture’ being implemented, just like in the past where such people were branded as heretics, they are now given labels such as ‘denialists’ (disagreement with climate change theory), ‘anti-vaxxers’ (questioning the effectiveness and safety of COVID vaccines) and others. What is interesting here in all this madness, is that a person could be labelling another, only to end up themselves being labelled for something else. Someone who labels another as a ‘denialist’ may find him/herself branded as an ‘anti-vaxxer’.

What is most sinister perhaps is that, on one hand we see this violent, unexplainable, unwarranted irrational level of anger, but on the other hand, we see the West endorsing and accepting other irrational policies that can destroy it, but yet no one is batting an eyelid. Any keen observer can see that a whole myriad of changes have been imposed on the Western society, each of them alone can destroy the Western culture. Without much effort, we can see many such changes, but it suffices to mention the following:

1. Political correctness that has gone way too far and continues to erode personal freedom of expression.
2. The climate change debacle/hoax that elevated Greta to the level of becoming Time Magazine’s person of the year.
3. The destruction of Western family values.
4. The over-emphasis on LBGTI rights and all the changes imposed on the mainstream society, including such things as banning the use of words like mother and father.
5. The COVID-thing; lockdowns, conflicting information, the vaccines that we know little about, the presence of nefarious people of influence like Fauci and Gates in decision-making.
6. Confusing young school children with gender issues and almost encouraging them to become homosexual and/or transgender.
7. The silence of the public regarding the censorship regulations of Facebook and Twitter.
8. The silence of the public about the plans of the WEF’s ‘Great Reset”.
9. The growing acceptance of thought policing and compliance to the state and media.
10. The public indifference towards the groundless sanctions against Russia and their possible effect on global stability and peace.
11. The public lack of knowledge and indifference about the support of their governments to Neo-Nazis in Ukraine.
12. The West losing its industrial base under the watchful eyes of Western Governments.
13. The West suffering from a huge drop in number of students majoring in STEM subjects.
14. The West suffering from a growing lack of desire of young adults to have children and raise families.
15. Giving blanket and unconditional support to abortion, even in the absence of any medical, psychological and justifiable reasons, including late-term abortion, and considering it (ie abortion) as a human right.

When people in the West are asked, why do those who do not agree with the above or accept it say nothing? The response is invariably fear, fear of being targeted and being subjected to the ‘Cancel Culture’.

Coerced to endorse the revolution of anger and phantom ideology, Westerners, especially the youth, have been socially engineered to become the corner stones of ‘controlled opposition’, all the while, they seem to have been conditioned to ‘unsee’ the real issues that threaten their survival in the future.

Coming to the crunch question; with what appears as increasing irrationality and insanity all around, have people been recently, or maybe incrementally, subjected to systemic brainwashing that renders them into such a state of irrationality, anger, volatility and blindness? If that is the case, then how was this achieved?

This brings to mind the tactic of subliminal advertising, a technique developed as early as in the 1950’s in which a person is subjected unknowingly to an advertisement. It can be sound-based or visual. A visual one is based on techniques like inserting a single advertisement frame, say of a bag of popcorn, into a movie. Movies show motion by playing a series of still frames, around twenty per second. In a single frame it is not noticeable by the conscious mind, but is picked up by the subconscious, and in this example given, will create a stimulus to buy popcorn. There is much evidence of more sinister or politically motivated subliminal messages inserted into Hollywood movies. Legal questions arose around this technique.

From such a simple, unsophisticated technique, in the same decade, a secretive project on behaviour modification was undertaken named Project MKUltra, eventually becoming the subject of an American Senate Intelligence Hearing . Mind-control technology took off, reaching ever new heights (or lows?), not just enhancing business and socio-political agenda, but becoming a crucial component of warfare, even with special strategies for social media, to target the public and their perceptions, making them compliant or malleable and even activating them to the extent this discussion indicates. Intibah Kadi’s work on this is cited in the preceding link to an academic paper.

The question is where else, apart from media and social media, have such techniques been used? What kind of technology and to what extent and what ends has this been taken to? And has such systemic brainwashing that we suggest, been ramped up in these last few years when Trump was President of the USA? This is predicated on the suspicion of Trump acting at times as the ‘disruptor” of a particular set of the ‘establishment’, or ‘swamp’ as he named it, one that either rejected him or he alienated.

This also brings to mind an old movie in 1977 by the name of Telefon, a fiction based on a few people who on the surface appear to lead a normal life, but in reality, are a team of professional assassins designated to kill certain individuals upon receiving a vocal message they had been hypnotized to respond to like robots.

Have we actually reached such days of a ‘New Normal’ in terms of the evident, debased level of social discourse, labeling, shaming and damning? Ironically, ‘New Normal’ is a term we hear every day, courtesy of world leaders, various officials and, of course, from the head of the World Economic Forum. Or is it ironic? Will brainwashing and behaviour modification techniques go far beyond that of what we commonly understand and well into the realms of Artificial Intelligence and Electromagnetism? And in these new realms, what extent, if any, do these play a role in these shocking days of ‘Cancel Culture’, the suspension of critical thinking and general mob-rule behaviour permitted for some in the West in recent years?

But above all, did the Western mind deteriorate naturally as a result of attrition or did social engineering cause it to devolve in a manner that fires it up chasing red herrings all the while being totally blind to what really matters? Or has it been manipulated by a devious master plan that makes any science fiction movie look like a Batman Comic?

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

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