Friday, 30 January 2015

Nasrallah: The Rules of Engagement with Israel Are Over

A Hezbollah supporter with the words "time for retribution" written on her hand attends a memorial ceremony to honor six Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria by an Israeli airstrike, during which Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah made a televised speech. Al-Akhbar/Marwan Tahtah

Published Friday, January 30, 2015

“Don’t try us,” Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah told Israel in a televised speech Friday broadcast during a memorial ceremony to honor the six Hezbollah fighters and the Iranian general killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria earlier this month.

On January 18, an Israeli helicopter airstrike on the Syrian city of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed six fighters of Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah, including a commander, Mohammed Abu Issa, and the son of assassinated senior commander Imad Mughniyeh, as well as Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Mohammed Ali Allahdadi.

Hezbollah has been fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad in Syria against rebels in the nearly four-year Syrian conflict.

According to Nasrallah, who spoke for an hour and a half, Israel had “planned, calculated and took a premeditated decision to assassinate” the fighters, saying that the motive behind the attack was crystal clear.

Hezbollah’s chief said that while Israel isn’t worried about thousands of armed militants from the al-Nusra Front — al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria — near territories it occupies, the Zionist state “was scared on January 18 of six unarmed Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian in civilian vehicles.”

Observers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) confirmed in a report published in December documenting cooperation and coordination between the Israeli army and militant groups in Syria.

The UNDOF report said that observers witnessed several meetings between rebel leaders and Israeli army forces between December 2013 and March 2014, in addition to witnessing the transportation of injured militants to Israeli hospitals following confrontations between the militants and the Syrian army near the occupied Golan border.

Nasrallah said that those killed in the Quneitra attack showed a “fusion of Lebanese-Iranian blood on Syrian soil, and reflects the unity of the cause and the unity of the fate of the countries in the axis of resistance.”

“When the blood of Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians and Iranians unites, we will enter an era of triumph,” he added.

The deaths of Allahdadi and Issa revealed that commanders were present on the ground alongside fighters, Nasrallah said, adding that Jihad Mughniyeh’s death showed how entire families and not just individual members were joining the resistance.

Nasrallah extended his condolences to the families of the Hezbollah fighters as well as the families of the eight Lebanese soldiers who were killed last week in clashes with al-Nusra Front militants in the area of Tallet al-Hamra near Ras Baalbek on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Nasrallah’s remarks came two days after Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack against an Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) convoy in Israeli-occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms that left a number of Israeli soldiers dead.

According to Israeli figures, two soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded, although Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar news channel said the toll was much higher.

“They killed us in broad daylight, we kill them in broad daylight … they struck two of our vehicles, we targeted two of their vehicles.” — Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader

“They killed us in broad daylight, we kill them in broad daylight … they struck two of our vehicles, we targeted two of their vehicles,” Nasrallah said, likening the Quneitra strike to the one by Hezbollah in Shebaa.

“The only difference is that we announced that Israel struck our fighters in Quneitra half an hour after the attack, whereas the Israelis didn’t,” Nasrallah continued, adding that the number of casualties on the Israeli side was “debatable.”

The Shebaa Farms area is a mountainous, narrow sliver of land rich in water resources measuring 25 square kilometers (10 square miles). It has been illegally occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war, although Lebanon has never ceased to call for its restitution.

Israel occupied most of southern Lebanon for 22 years until 2000 and the two countries are still technically at war.

“The Israelis can’t kill our people and then go to sleep … their farmers can’t stay in their fields and their soldiers can’t stroll up and down the border as if they merely killed mosquitoes,” Nasrallah said, asserting that the Zionist state would pay a price for all of its criminal actions even if that meant going to war with Israel.

“We don’t want war but we are not afraid of going to war,” Nasrallah assured. “I think the Shebaa attack was a clear message … Israel was humiliated on Wednesday.”

Nasrallah said Hezbollah would retaliate against any future Israeli attacks on its members “whenever, however and wherever,” adding that the Hezbollah “no longer cares about the rules of engagement anymore.”

“Don’t try us,” Nasrallah defiantly said to Israel.

Since the January 18 airstrike, troops and civilians in northern Israeli-occupied territories of Palestine and the occupied Golan Heights have been on heightened alert and Israel has deployed an Iron Dome rocket interceptor unit near the Syrian border.

“Israelis have been on edge ever since they targeted our fighters in Quneitra,” Nasrallah stated.

Following Wednesday’s attack, Israeli forces hit several Lebanese villages along the border, killing a 36-year-old UN peacekeeper.

Israeli warplanes routinely violate Lebanon’s airspace and have launched several attacks against Syrian targets in recent months, some reportedly carried out from over Lebanon.

On Thursday, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA), said Israeli fighter jets penetrated deep into Lebanese airspace, startling residents as the jets flew over the capital Beirut. Israeli jets were also seen flying over southern Lebanese towns.

Nasrallah said Israel has violated Lebanese’ sovereignty and the 1701 UN resolution “thousands of times” and “on daily basis.”

Moreover, Nasrallah slammed the Arab League as “nonexistent” when it came to fighting Israel and supporting Palestinians, saying the 22-member league has served Israel more than the Palestinians. He gave the 51-day Israeli summer assault on Gaza that left 2,300 Palestinians dead as an example of the Arab League’s failure.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said Wednesday's attack was the "most severe" Israel had faced since 2006, when its war with Hezbollah killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and some 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

(Al-Akhbar)

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Sayyed Nasrallah Announces New Era with ’Israel’: No Rules of Engagement, Ready for Any War

Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered Friday a speech in which he delivered a strong message to the Zionist entity.

Sayyed Nasrallah spoke during a ceremony held by Hizbullah in Sayyed Shuhada Complex, in Dahiyeh [Beirut's Southern Suburb], to pay tribute to the great Quneitera martyrs.

Thanks to Resistance People, LA

At the beginning of his speech, His Eminence welcomed and thanked the Resistance people for their participation in the Martyrs' commemoration.

On this level, Sayyed Nasrallah thanked the Lebanese people, the Resistance's supporters and all those who stood by the resistance, took part in the martyrs' funeral and expressed their sympathy and support for any decision taken by the resistance.

"They stood with their known covenant and steadfastness so that we must tell them every hour, ‘O you the most honorable and purest people."

"I would like to condole our masters, the families of martyrs, as their beloved sons were elevated to Divine high grades away from this false life."

In parallel, he saluted the families of the martyrs and thanked all those who offered their condolences to the Resistance.

"I salute the supporters of the Resistance, who stood by us the moment the Quneitra strike took place."

"My thanks to all who shared with us the solace and expressed support, whether directly or through letters, or any other way from Lebanon to Palestine to Syria, Iraq, Jordan and throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds and to all those who celebrated the Resistance operation in the Shebaa Farms," he added.

Moreover, the Resistance Leader dedicated his special thanks to the Resistance, men who were up to the responsibility of the Quneitra criminal attack.

Sayyed Nasrallah also commented on the recent terrorist attack that hit the Lebanese Army in Ras Baalbek by saying:

"It is our duty, as we commemorate the resistance's martyrs, to stand in respect in front of the Lebanese Army's martyrs in Ras Baalbek, who fell while defending Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in the face of the terrorist groups that prove every day that they are dedicated to the "Israeli" scheme.."

Unity of Blood to Face "Israel"

Moving to the "Israeli" attack in Syrian Quneitera, His Eminence hailed and saluted the Resistance martyrs.

"The Quneitra martyrs represent a number of the Resistance's generations."

To the martyrs, Sayyed Nasrallah said:

"We congratulate you for being blessed to fall as martyrs. We pray that Al-Mighty God grants us the same honor."

According to Sayyed Nasrallah:

"The mix of Lebanese and Iranian blood on Syrian soil in Quneitra represent the unity of our battle and destiny. This is the secret of the resistance, and this reflects the affiliation of the whole school of Jihad and the families of martyr."

"When the governments , and political currents entered divisions among our nation, we entered the era of defeats. However, when the blood was united, we entered the era of victories," his Eminence mentioned.

"Since 1948, our region has been suffering from a cancerous growth called the Zionist entity," he reiterated, noting that "in recent years, "Israel" has resorted to the same arrogant practices it had adopted decades ago."

Sayyed Nasrallah recalled that

"Israel" carried out a bloody aggression against Gaza and it has violated the most basic of Palestinian rights.

"In Syria, he explained that "Israel" has been backing the extremist groups and shelling regime positions under various excuses. In Lebanon, it does not recognize resolution 1701 and has committed thousands of violations against the country's sovereignty."

Sayyed Nasrallah continued:

""Israel" believes that it can threaten all armies and governments in the region whenever it pleases and without being deterred. It is benefiting from the divisions in the region and the complete absence of the stances of the Arab countries, especially the so-called Arab League."

Slamming the Arab inaction, Hizbullah Secretary General said:

"There is no such thing as an Arab League or an independent Arab stance when it comes to "Israel". Arab positions and arms are available when it comes to Yemen, Iraq, and Syria."

Quneitra Assassination

"Given this reality in the region, the Quneitra airstrike took place on January 18," Sayyed Nasrallah revealed some aspects of the "Israeli" attack. "An "Israeli" helicopter targeted two civilian vehicles transporting our seven Mujahedeen brothers in the area. Our brothers in Quneitra were martyred in a clear assassination, in a decision taken by the Zionist entity. Some reports mentioned that the head of the opposition in the Zionist entity was informed of the critical decision."

On this level, Sayyed Nasrallah said:

""Israel" has not yet claimed the responsibility for the assassination believing that Hizbullah is weak and would hide the news of airstrike and martyrs."

However, according to His Eminence,

""Israel" was surprised that Hizbullah announced the name of its martyrs within a short time of the strike..We are here in front of a clear and public assassination, similar to that targeted our teacher, Martyr Sayyed Abbas al-Mousawi, his wife and his child, and there is not a coincidence or a mistake in such an operation."

Al-Nusra, "Israel's" Ally

He further rejected all "Israeli" claims that the Resistance men lost their road or were preparing for an operation.

"Thousands of al-Nusra Front members are present along the border with the Zionist entity in the occupied Golan Heights. Neither Netanyahu nor Yaalon are concerned by the presence of al-Nusra on the Zionist entity's border."

""Israel", however, felt threatened by six Hizbullah members and an Iranian general passing in civilian cars, without missiles, through Quneitra," he highlighted.

Sayyed Nasrallah also uncovered that

"Our martyrs were at a point located 6 km from the border as two thousand al-Nusra militants separated between our martyrs and the "Israeli"."

"The Takfiri armed groups, especially those in the Golan Heights, are a natural ally of the "Israeli" army, even if they raised the Islamic flag."

"The facts say that there is an "Israeli" decision to target this group, we do not know when the decision was made, at the highest levels in the enemy's entity and was waiting for the hour for implementation, and that was on Sunday."

To all those who criticized the Resistance, the Resistance Leader vowed:

"We can't and won't forget "Israel". We can't and won't forget the Palestinian people."

Sayyed Nasrallah further said:

"After the assassination, "Israel" sought to make Hizbullah get confused, embarrassed and suffer the loss."

Moreover, His Eminence shed light that "in the assassination there exists a painful side and an emotional humanitarian dimension. Yes, we suffer, mourn, and cry and on one of the days I cried like any other father, away from media."

"Israel" on One foot

"On the day of assassination, "Israel" immediately anticipated a Hizbullah retaliation to the Quneitra assassination and therefore took all precautions."

"We did not hesitate in making the decision that "Israel" should be punished for its crime in Quneitra even if it meant going to an all-out war," he revealed, pointing out that the Resistance immediately began planning its retaliation.

According to Hizbullah Secretary General,

"The first achievements of these martyrs is that from Sunday until Wednesday afraid "Israel" stood on a leg and half."

"We had no hesitation in taking the decision that "Israel" should be punished for its crime in Qunietra. We prepared ourselves for the worst case scenario when we took the decision of response."

His Eminence clarified that

"the resistance carried out its Shebaa operation in broad daylight in spite of the fact that "Israel" was at its highest level of preparation."

Emphasizing some aspects of the victory reached by the Heroic Resistance operation, Sayyed Nasrallah mentioned:

"In the result, they assassinated us in broad daylight at around 11:30 and we killed them in broad daylight, 11:25 to 11:45 The "Israelis" targeted 2 cars, we targeted more than two cars. They attacked us by missiles and we did the same. They were killed and we fell as martyrs. "Israel" did not claim responsibility for the Quneitra attack, but Hizbullah announced the responsibility for the Shebaa operation soon after it took place."

To the enemy, Sayyed Nasrallah sent a clear and strong message,

"You tried us. Don't test us."

"I salute the heroic Resistance men, who carried out the Shebaa Farms operation."

Moving to the "Israeli" front, Sayyed Nasrallah said:

""Israel" discovered that its leadership's assessment of the situation on the ground was idiotic.The "Israeli" people discovered that their leadership put them on the brink of war, jeopardizing their economy and security."

To "Israel": You Tried, Don't Test

""Israel" must understand very well that this resistance is not and won't be deterred, but it is wise."

To the Zionist entity, His Eminence's message was direct:

"The resistance no longer cares about rules of engagement and we do not recognize them in confronting the enemy. We have the right to confront the enemy at any time, place, or manner."

Sayyed Nasrallah also mentioned:

"Wednesday was the most important message to "Israel" that do not mistake the calculations. I'm not talking about psychological warfare, but the mere truth, which we expressed in the battlefield."

"We have learned that "Israel" wants to swallow the Shebaa Farms operation and he contented himself with what was done, but we understand that "Israel" wants to escape from the military confrontation and go after the men responsible for Wednesday's operation. Accordingly, we used to distinguish between the assassination and military confrontation. We used to respond to any military action. From now on, if any cadre or member of Hizbullah is assassinated, then we will blame it on "Israel" and reserve the right to respond to it whenever and however we choose," he said.

His Eminence also assured:

"The "Israeli" army is unable to face the resistance and this what was proven in the field. This is "Israel", which we had defeated in 2006 and in Gaza."

"As we had already said, "Israel" is weaker than the spider's web and will not be other than this," he said, and noted that "the Resistance in Lebanon is in its full readiness and presence."

Sayyed Nasrallah concluded:

"Since 1982, we continued to say that the resistance is the answer and that the martyrs are the source of victory."

Source: al-Ahed news

الطريق الى القدس

تعليق على كلمة السيد نصر الله في الاحتفال بشهداء القنيطرة | الوليد سكرية

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The Threads of the Game - The Strategic Messages of Hizbullah’s Operation

Sami Kleib, al-Akhbar

29-01-2015 | 12:39

In form, quality, and timing, Hizbullah proved again that it knows when and how to respond. We are before a successful operation that took place in broad daylight. We are before a complicated operation taking place only a very short time after the "Israeli" aggression on Quneitra.

What are the messages sent then?

First: Hizbullah wants to remind "Israel" anew that the time of unreciprocated aggressions had gone to no return a long time ago. Perhaps "Israel" hasn't grasped this concept in the previous times. Perhaps Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was smiling as he was watching the "Israeli" Army gathering its killed and wounded men while fleeing the zero zone yesterday.

Second: Hizbullah wants to stress the balance of terror: Every operation is to be retaliated with a similar or even a fiercer operation. That's what Sayyed Nasrallah said; that's what he did.

Third: Hizbullah wishes to assert a very important strategic point: Hizbullah's participation in the battle in Syria did not weaken it. On the contrary, it made it stronger in ammunitions, men, and rockets. Perhaps "Israel" did not come to understand that the two fronts are separated: the Syrian front and the front at the borders.

Fourth: Hizbullah wants to say that the readiness of the resistance is faster and more efficient than what "Israel" believes. The details of the operation that took place were finalized during the days that followed Quneitra aggression; however, no doubt an operation of this kind is the fruit of a long term observation and preparations. That means that the operation always have readymade plots to hit wherever it wants. It only has to choose the timing.

Fifth: This might be a new point; perhaps it is the most important in the issue. The operation proved the inseparability of the Syrian and the Lebanese fronts at the time being. It even proved the inseparability of a front that extends from Palestine to Lebanon to Syria until it reaches Iran. The response was not a revenge to the martyrs of Hizbullah in Quneitra; it was also a revenge for the Iranian general and some officers and soldiers in the Syrian Army. This is precisely was "Israel" must view with much caution at the meantime. Iran is at its borderline.

Sixth: The triumphant operation comes on the eve of the "Israeli" elections. The Resistance wants to say that it has become influential even in the internal "Israeli" politics by now. No doubt, Hizbullah does not differentiate between one "Israeli" prime minister and another. They are all alike in their aggression against Lebanon and Syria. They only differ in the level of their villainess and bloodiness. Still it is important that this operation takes place amid an internal electoral battle that might lead to the fall down of Netanyahu.

Seventh: The operation is an answer to those claiming that Hizbullah will not answer any aggression because it takes pain not to influence the Iranian-western nuclear negotiations. This swift response that is programmed with precision may give the Iranian negotiator a more powerful card as the entire world would throng towards Tehran to partake in calming it down.

Eighth: Such unbeaten operations tells "Israel" that Syria is a red line, and that going far in supporting the armed men and in transcending limits will not remain unanswered. It rather warns against changing the balance at the borders. It also devaluates all the announced and unannounced armistices. It is presumed that cooperation took place on the Syrian-"Israeli" front in preparation for an "Israeli" response.

Ninth: The operation followed a Palestinian show of solidarity: Hamas, Jihad, and the other Palestinian factions showed solidarity with Hizbullah, Iran, and Syria in the wake of the "Israeli" aggression in Quneitra. Such an operation brings back "Hizbullah" to the framework of the most important struggle in the region - meaning the Arab-"Israeli" struggle. Such moral reestablishment attracts sympathy from the Sunni base in Palestine and other Arab states and raises the morale of the peoples that has been low and disjointed for many years by now.

Tenth: Hizbullah wants to say to the Lebanese interior that the struggle with "Israel" is separated from the other atmospheres, and that Hizbullah decides when and how to a open a front even if it breaches Resolution 1701 which the Lebanese take as a pretext to withdraw the arms of the party. This will indeed put Hizbullah in face of new voices that will rise against it in the Lebanese interior saying that Hizbullah is causing the ruin of Lebanon as what was said in 2006. However, it seems that Hizbullah is disinterested in that.

Surely, Hizbullah today feels more than any time in the four tough years of the Syrian war that it has become regionally, internationally, and locally more able to take action. Fighting terrorism on the international and regional level and being positioned in the circle of the targets of terrorism and anti-terrorists too made it a difficult number in the upcoming equation. No doubt also that the enhanced status at the Syrian Front to the interest of the current Syrian leadership and its allies partakes in creating a better environment for Hizbullah's operations. When the party's Deputy SG Sheikh Naim Qassem talked about breaking the equation of the Grand Middle East, the message was crystal clear.

The most prominent strategic question now is: What will Netanyahu do? If he retaliates again he will be exposing the region to developments with undetermined results; if he remained silent, he will lose the elections and withdraw with humiliation as his predecessors did in 2006.

He might strike back to hit two birds with one stone in an attempt to shuffle the cards in the region and to cripple the Iranian-western agreement that haunts him. In such a strike back he will indeed depend on international, Arab, and (perhaps) Lebanese reactions that consider that Hizbullah breached the truce and Resolution 1701. Here lies the real danger especially that he feels somehow free from the US pressure due to the tense ties. Netanyahu has threatened more than once to work on his own should the west move onwards in inking an agreement with Iran.

It goes without saying that the Resistance is ready for everything as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said. So which will win over the other? Will Netanyahu be curbed internally and on the international level, or will the rules of the game at the borders from Lebanon to Syria be changed?

The situation in the region makes both directions possible.

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Abiding We ‘Give, Give and Give’ And They Still Don’t Like Us.

January 28, 2015 / Gilad Atzmon

By Gilad Atzmon

I'm thinking of quitting Britain over 'very, very depressing' recent rise in anti-Semitic attacks, says Jewish actress Maureen Lipman

· Maureen Lipman said she is considering leaving the UK over anti-Semitism
· The 71-year-old actress said she is concerned by the increasing attacks
· She told LBC she is considering a move to either New York or Israel

Mrs. Lipman, 71, said the Jewish community in Britain ‘give, give and give’ and described the recent rise in anti-Semitic attacks as ‘very, very depressing’.

I am puzzled by Lipman and other British Jews who express similar views. Jews settled in this country in the late 19th century. But it seems that more than a century or about 4 generations have not been sufficient for British Jews to feel themselves an integral part of this country. They give up on this kingdom quite easily. Lipman is threatening to leave us and 58% of British Jews do not see future in Britain.

The actress told LBC Radio:

“When the economy dries up they turn on the usual suspect the Jew… and when the going gets tough the Jews get packing.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y5qzBOPMZg

Lipman is slightly wrong here. At least this time, the economy in Britain is actually improving as anti-Semitism is reportedly rising Lipman said

“One school of thought says it’s because of Israeli policy in the Middle East, it isn’t. There’s been anti-Semitism for 4,000 years.”

I guess that Lipman may be correct here; it isn’t just Israeli or Zionist crimes that lead to the rise of opposition to Jews. A recent poll initiated by the Jewish Community suggests that around half of the Brits acknowledged Jewish domination in media, finance and politics. According to the poll, many Brits are really unhappy with the dominance of the Holocaust. When they, for instance, visit The Imperial War Museum, they may be distressed to find that around two-thirds of the building has been devoted to a permanent Holocaust exhibition.

Recently the Jewish actress vowed not to vote Labour. She complained that Mr. Miliband’s support for a motion recognising the state of Palestine ‘sucks’ at a time of rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

Lipman was probably afraid that someone would mistake her for a Jihadi martyr. She said,

“there are 245,000 Jews in the country. What’s to fear? We don’t fly planes into buildings, we generally keep on the right side of the law.”

Lipman basically said,

‘unlike the Muslims, we, the Jews, are good law abiding citizens.’

Lipman is factually correct, Jews do not fly airplanes into buildings: but the Jewish State, which she openly identifies with, flies lethal drones decorated with Jewish symbols and drops bombs on the most densely populated place on this planet.

The Daily Mail believes that Mrs. Lipman’s comments add to the growing clamour of voices calling for protection of Jews and an end to anti-Semitic attacks. I am afraid that paper is wrong. Some of Lipman’s statements above are outrageous and could only provoke more harm to Jews.

If Jews want to calm the situation down, and I hope they do, they must consider the situation from a larger perspective. Rather than once again blaming the 'Goyim,' Jews must look in the mirror and find out what is it in Jewish culture and ideology that makes the situation so unstable for the Jews.

If Jews want to look into this issue and prefer to save time and energy, the best place to start is by reading The Wandering Who. I have spent ten years of my life looking into the topic and I have a lot of answers to offer.

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God Promised Antisemitism to the Zionists

January 28, 2015 / Gilad Atzmon

Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: The following is an interesting article by Aaron Dover, a British Jewish peace activist. It offers a critical point of view on Holocaust politics and the primacy of Jewish suffering.

http://www.thezionion.com/

My personal reflections on the Campaign Against Antisemitism survey, by Aaron Dover

In order to say what some might consider the un sayable I first need to deconstruct some mythical terms so let me just wade into some taboo territory as though I don’t even see the no-entry signs.

What is anti-Semitism?

“Antisemitism” is a word and a political construct. It has been loaded with meaning and importance like no other word in the English language. This is no exaggeration, it is not meant as hyperbole, if you want evidence of this you need look no further than the UK National Curriculum. I had a look at the core curriculum for secondary school History, and have quoted a section of it below.

- challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day
In addition to studying the Holocaust, this could include:
Examples (non-statutory)
women’s suffrage
the First World War and the Peace Settlement
the inter-war years: the Great Depression and the rise of dictators
the Second World War and the wartime leadership of Winston Churchill
the creation of the welfare state
Indian independence and end of Empire
social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society
Britain’s place in the world since 1945

Now take a look closely at it. It does not say that the Holocaust is a mandatory subject, but it is implied, which is interesting in itself; the optional subjects follow and are clearly marked as such. The Holocaust is the only mandatory subject in this area. Not just any holocaust; there are so many to choose from by now; with new ones happening frequently; this is the Holocaust and is a proper noun with a capital.

The most important things being said here are those that are unsaid. What is unsaid? The Holocaust is the important holocaust i.e. the Jewish one. The Holocaust is exceptional. Not just important; nobody is here to argue with that; but exceptional. The other ideas suggested are important, and many, many ideas that would never appear on that list at all are also very important. The Holocaust is unique, and all students must know about it, and laws in place that criminalise Holocaust denial ensure not just that the topic is covered, but that it will be covered with the broadly accepted narrative. Every child educated in UK schools will be told about the Holocaust and they will be told the same things you were told.

Other holocausts might match it in terms of any particular respect; the brutality of the methods; the nature of the target population; the body count; the ideals of the perpetrators; their propaganda; their moral failings; and so on. But irrespective of any of those things, the proper noun Holocaust retains an exceptional an unique position in the prevailing historical narrative of all Western society.

As a result, a fully-educated Brit will certainly know that Hitler ran the Nazi party in Germany, unless he skipped class a great deal and his parents and friends never mentioned it, but may well be unaware that the British royal family are of German origin.

One of the implications of this is that every child in the UK will learn about Jew-hatred, termed anti-Semitism. No child will be left behind on this subject. They may not hear about other racial prejudices, other holocausts, they may not know how they got what remains of a welfare state around them, but they will know about anti-Semitism and Holocaust. This then becomes the common currency in discussions as the high water mark of evil throughout history, and this is the explanation for the existence of Godwin’s law (or Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies).

The reason people reach for Nazi analogies so frequently is a result of it being this global common currency of an ultimate evil narrative. People wouldn’t write articles in the global press saying “so-and-so is behaving like Ceaucescu” the way they say so-and-so is behaving like Hitler. They know they would lose the majority of their readers on that remark, because no matter how nasty Ceaucescu is, he is just not as famous. Obviously there are countless other examples. This is quite simply because everyone knows about Hitler, and – crucially – everybody knows that everybody knows about Hitler. It’s a given. The Nazis are the one-stop-shop for evilness yardsticks.

The Nazi Holocaust of the Jews (and other victims of that same holocaust) therefore enjoys the same educational status as, say, basic maths. In the same way you expect people to be able to do a bit of arithmetic, you can be confident that they have covered these educational subjects. They will know that 6×7=42 and also that the Jews have always suffered persecution throughout their history and were brutally slaughtered at the hands of a maniacal German tyrant who we stopped. They will not necessarily have heard of Zionism, nor have any awareness of the Nakba in Palestine that followed the war. Nor, for that matter, will they necessarily have any knowledge of any holocaust in Armenia for example.

So it follows that you can go and do a survey of people’s views about attitude towards Jews, and that isn’t weird to anyone, because of the Holocaust. They will know the various tropes and stereotypes assoicated with antisemitism, if they were listening in class, the hook noses, the greed, the blood libels and so on. Therefore if you ask someone in a survey or focus group do you think people perceive Jews to be more interested in money than other people? What will happen is that they will recognise that this view is a view that was held by antisemites, such as the Nazis. You will also know that these tropes have persisted over the ages, because you were taught that. These are ideas about Jews that wax and wane across time and society but never vanish; that is what we are taught. So to enquire as to whether these tropes that you may have first heard about during Holocaust lessons are present today and to be asked if you agree with them is a fair question, if we accept the previous fact.

Hitler was a maniac. But he was not a maniac for his antisemitic views, because these were things he found already lying around him in German society to repurpose to his ends. The antisemitism was there, it is there now, it is here, it is all around us, always, like a field. The field is stronger and weaker in places, but nowhere in space and time is it absent.

A survey therefore is simply a way to measure the field strength at a specific location and time. The questions will reflect the set of tropes that we understand to comprise antisemitism. We don’t ask, in a survey; what do you think about Jews? Open questions are not suited to surveys. So instead we must create a survey based on a set of preconceptions of how to measure the antisemitism field. We ask people about their own feelings in respect of the attitudes we suspect they may hold. This method is fundamentally flawed if we seek an objective answer, because the questions are leading.

If I ask; do you think Jews are more interested in money than most people? I might also ask; do you think Jews are more interested in motorsports than most people? But I do not ask the latter. Of course, you can only ask a limited number of questions so you have to stay focused; and that means discarding anything which could be used as a control for any other questions you are asking. What if we asked that second question and 99% of people responded positively? Thinking “bloody Jews, all into bloody motorsports” would not be the kind of antisemitism we are probing for. It does not fit our preconceived opinion-fingerprint of an antisemite. That’s not to say a dedicated Hasbarist wouldn’t try to make capital of such a statement, but it isn’t one of the statements that sets off a buzzer.

What are these tropes? The stereotyped view of a Jew by an antisemite, we learn, is made up from a number of parts. The hook nose. The evil, the clasped hands, the leering girn, the rubbing of hands in glee at either massive financial gain or the death of Christian babies. That’s your antisemitic stereotype. There’s plenty more to it than that, it extends from this to encompass more. The blood libels, the Jew hungry for the blood of Christians; that’s a blood libel.
What do each of these tropes provide to the ever-eager antisemite hunters? A wealth of opportunity for allegations.

What is antisemitism? Antisemitism poses a very real and very present danger in the UK and Europe, and around the world. On that I will agree with CAAS and their ilk. That is by now one of the most politically powerful ilks in human history. That ilk has made it on the one hand compulsory to learn the Holocaust; but on the other hand has made it criminal to deny or belittle the Holocaust. It has achieved this dual success in many of the developed nations.

Antisemitism is a danger not to the purported victims of said antisemitism, but to the actual victims; those accused of it. Everyone lives in the antisemitism minefield. It is not neccesary for me to spell out the consequences for anyone who falls foul of the various bodies of antisemite-hunters that span the globe. Socially, professionally, step on an antsemitism mine, and you’re toast. You could be anyone; you can be the President of the United States, you are in the same minefield. You can even be a Jew, in which case the antisemite-hunter reaches into the bag for a self-hater label instead, it’s not a great substitute but it’s all they’ve got to work with. I’m not going to go into the self-hating Jew mythology here, there are more worthwhile subjects to address.

How do we fight antisemitism? In terms of containing antisemitic sentiment, we gag people and ban things from being said, and we keep everyone in fear of stepping on an antisemitism mine by making examples of public figures on a frequent basis. If people keep seeing careers destroyed by a misplaced remark on Gaza or similar, others will not become too emboldened, even if they harbour such antisemitic thoughts, to vocalise them.

To fight antisemitism, do we also stop the large scale killing of Jews by a monstrous machine of fascist brutality? No. Why? Because we did that decades ago.

How do we fight Islamophobia? In terms of containing Islamophobic sentiment, not very well at all, that’s how. We could try to restrain the media from trying to link individual incidents to all Muslims, through their overt and covert propaganda. But we don’t.

To fight islamophobia, do we stop the large scale killing of Muslims by a monstrous machine of fascist brutality? No. Why? Because we are the machine. The Western killing machine has run on a fuel of islamophobic sentiment for over a century.

But the media are focused more on the rise of antisemitism, or a perception of a rise. A survey of this kind signals simply by the fact that it is done, let alone the results, that antisemitism is something we should fear. The minefield is something we should fear.

But the fear of antisemitism is unrelated to incidents of antisemitism. The fear-to-incident ratio has never been higher; the perception of antisemitism and fear of that antisemitism has been boosted as hard as possible by the scaremongers of CAAS. They don’t even care if their survey methodology is a joke. If they send out their survey so literally anyone can fill it in and question 1 is “are you Jewish” and question 2 is “are you British” and you fill it in from any web browser… and take the answers in good faith… allowing literally anyone to contribute to the results… well then you cannot be taking the methodology very seriously. But CAAS doesn’t need to, because they know with their network they can churn out the intended results infographic and get the whole world media singing their song. It’s a song of victimhood that’s had so many re-heatings and re-releases that even Bob Geldof would blush.

It’s a song about the poor Jews feeling scared. Not being actually murdered or gassed or blown to pieces but worrying that they might at some point. Whereas the Muslims victimhood song doesn’t even chart, when they are being massacred day in day out by our stormtroopers and hired guns.

The world is tired of the Jewish victimhood song, and tired of this victimhood being used as a weapon, as a means to bully people into observing Zionist taboos.

Antisemitism is a terrorist weapon. It is used to terrify the world into observing Zionist taboos through fear of losing social standing, being labeled a racist, being fired, exiled, diminished, hounded. This terror is being escalated by CAAS and all the other antisemite-hunters.

I’m Jewish; It takes Jewish privilege to be able to say this. It should not. But to actually question the dogma around antisemitism itself, is one of the ultimate taboos. It’s at the very foundations of the Zionist enterprise.

I don’t think there is any special exceptional Jew-hatred, a special antisemitism field existing all around us throughout time. People are really very pissed off with Israel though.

That’s why the public perception of antisemitism has to be cranked up now, because the gagging needs to be cranked up, because people are waking up smelling the bullshit and calling out Israel for its actions. Now that is the kind of antisemitism emergency that calls for a total propaganda war. Expect more assaults on free speech, the mines in the minefield are going to be increasingly sensitive. Expect increased casualties of public figures. Expect people to become more reticent about saying stuff; expect media and social media to clamp down on any anti-Israel sentiment.

Because otherwise, you know at this rate, we European Jews will all going to the gas soon. Yawn.

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!

Syria: An Israeli Hand into the Southern Front?

Syrian rebels have recently attempted to cut-off the Beirut-Damascus highway but have been repelled by the Syrian army. Al-Akhbar

By: Hassan Illeik, Firas Choufi

Published Friday, January 30, 2015

The latest battles on the southern front in Syria fall within the context of the escalation with Israel in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and southern Lebanon. Although coordination between Israel and armed opposition groups preceded the attack in Quneitra, the surge in fighters along the Daraa, Quneitra and Zabadani fronts suggests, according to some, a clear Israeli message — namely, that they are able to engage on more than one front.

“The Israeli role has overshadowed the role of the Jordanian intelligence in Daraa, where Jordan had the biggest influence, because the disagreement among Jordan’s security and military agencies over their involvement in the war against Syria"

Even before the latest snowstorm, most Syrian fronts were relatively calm compared to the situation in recent weeks and months, from Aleppo and Idlib in the north to Daraa and Quneitra in the south, including the Hama, Homs and Damascus countrysides. The only exceptions were ISIS’s battles with Kurdish forces in Kobane (Ain al-Arab), and with the Syrian army in Deir Ezzor.

In the past few days, however, there has been an escalation on most fronts. Liwaa al-Islam commander Zahran Alloush stole the headlines with his rocket attacks civilians in Damascus, but significant operations were taking place elsewhere. In Aleppo, opposition fighters launched an attack on the al-Ashrafieh neighborhood to preoccupy the Syrian forces, which are getting ready to expand the area under its control on the northwestern side of the city. The army is trying to close the ring around neighborhoods controlled by al-Nusra Front and its allies, and to break al-Nusra’s two-year-old siege of the towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa in Aleppo’s northern countryside.

A new frontline in Zabadani

The most important escalation, though, was reserved for southern Syria’s Daraa and Quneitra fronts, in conjunction with movement along a new front, namely Zabadani and its southwestern side. Last Thursday night, groups from al-Nusra Front — some of them coming from south Qalamoun, others from Serghaya hills and western Zabadani — moved towards the towns of Yabous and Kfar Yabous, north of the Damascus-Beirut international road, activating sleeper cells in the two towns. Al-Nusra’s activity in this area has serious implications because of the possibility of blocking the Beirut-Damascus international road, which is adjacent to the two towns. This has military consequences for Lebanon’s central Bekaa area, where al-Nusra and ISIS claim to have a support base among Syrian refugees. Furthermore, controlling the two towns and expanding towards the south of the international road opens the door to linking Qalamoun with the Damascus southwestern countryside, all the way to Jabal al-Sheikh (Mount Hermon) and Quneitra. The Syrian army moved quickly to expel the fighters from the two towns and was able to reestablish control. It also pursued fighters in the hills of Zabadani and Serghaya, thus expanding the safe zone north of the Beirut-Damascus road.

The Daraa and Quneitra fronts

The second front is in Daraa. Al-Nusra Front, along with the Islamic factions of Harakat al-Muthana and Ahrar al-Sham, mobilized a large number of fighters over the past week from around Houran. There is also a new faction called al-Failaq al-Awal led by defected colonel Ziad al-Hariri. They managed last Sunday to seize control of the Brigade 82 base, east of the city of Sheikh Miskin, located west of the Damascus-Daraa international highway.

Al-Failaq al-Awal, according to Israeli websites, is the product of Israeli-Jordanian intelligence and military cooperation to build a unified opposition force in southern Syria. According to senior Syrian security sources, the operations room in Amman — which includes Arab and Western intelligence officers, in addition to officers from the Israeli military intelligence directorate known as AMAN — “has been working for about three months to create al-Failaq al-Awal, every 20 days graduating fighters from training camps in Saudi Arabia and the city of Zarqa in Jordan.” According to these sources, as soon as a new al-Failaq al-Awal unit (40 members) graduates, it gets “US-made 125 mm rocket launchers from Jordan in addition to Land Cruisers, four (DShK) Dushhka machine guns, two SPG-9 guns, mortars and two bases for Tao rockets with 10 shells.”

Information from prominent Syrian security forces, as well as sources in the field on the southern front, concur that “the these three fronts are connected to each other.”

After the storm, the Syrian army observed “the entry — through Tal Shihab border crossing with Jordan — of more than 450 fighters who had trained in the Jordanian and Saudi camps, including Libyans, Moroccans, Jordanians and Syrians.” The sources say: “The Israeli role has overshadowed the role of the Jordanian intelligence in Daraa, where Jordan had the biggest influence, because the disagreement among Jordan’s security and military agencies over their involvement in the war against Syria is turning the south into an area of utter chaos.”

The purpose of the attack on Brigade 82 — according to sources in the field on the southern front — is not only to control the military base but also to “control the Damascus-Daraa road.” According to security sources, however, the army “absorbed the shock of losing the base, withdrew with the least possible losses and worked hard to establish new positions in the neighboring towns of Qirfa and Nimr and on the eastern side of Sheikh Miskin, west of the highway, in order to protect it.”

Failaq al-Awal fighters and groups allied with it attacked Syrian army positions in al-Dalli, al-Fuqaia and Tal Muhajabi in Daraa’s western countryside. Meanwhile, north of Sheikh Miskin, al-Nusra Front, Harakat al-Muthana and Ahrar al-Sham launched an attack on army positions in al-Sehailyieh and the power station. Security sources confirmed however, that: “there has been no breach of this line which is the line of defense for the city of al-Sanamayn and the line separating Daraa from southern Damascus.” The sources stressed: “The army was able to contain the attack but the danger persists due to the insistence of the operations room managing the fighters and the Israeli direction.” The sources confirmed: “A large number of fighters were ambushed by the army which pretended to leave the position leading to dozens of dead and wounded.”

The third front is on al-Salam Highway, i.e., the Damascus-Quneitra international road. After a series of attempts in the last few weeks to attack the town of Saasaa, its checkpoint and the nearby Mazare Hasno, and threaten Qatana, the fighters tried to control the highway across from Khan al-Shih, launching an attack from the surrounding farms with rockets and mortar shells, and attempting to establish a position near the highway.” Sources, however, said army checkpoints foiled the fighters’ attempts. Al-Akhbar learned that the army reinforced its positions overlooking the highway all along the way and set up additional checkpoints from Saasaa all the way to the cities of al-Bath and Khan Arnaba northeast of Quneitra.

Al-Nusra Front and Israel

Information from prominent Syrian security forces, as well as sources in the field on the southern front, concur that “the these three fronts are connected to each other.” The sources indicate that “the fighters’ recent activities were the result of operations orders issued by the Jordanian operations room, in coordination with Israel, to manage the armed groups’ operations in southern Syria.” The sources confirm that al-Nusra too is subject to the commands of this operations room, stressing that operations along the three fronts were linked to developments in Quneitra even before the Israeli attack on the Lebanese resistance’s convoy. After the progress achieved by al-Nusra and its allies on more than one front in the southern province, and their control of a number of army positions and bases in the past month, the army and the forces accompanying it took measures to halt this progress while they prepare to take back what they lost. This is critical given the strategic position of the area adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights whose control by the armed opposition forces could represent a possible threat to the Beirut-Damascus road and to the capital’s southern suburbs. The sources believe that “the fighters’ activities aim at keeping the army and its allies busy after the Israeli attack and the insistence of the resistance on retaliating against the Israeli army.”

Therefore, the resistance axis sees al-Nusra Front and its allies in south Syria as one of Israel’s tools, which the Zionists use to send a message that “the army’s back side will also be in danger if the Golan front is opened.” The sources point to the Israeli air raid on Tal al-Shahem, and the Brigade 90 leadership in Quneitra on Wednesday morning — which it claimed was in retaliation for the rockets launched on the occupied Golan Heights the day before (Tuesday) — to support their view. Tal al-Shahem, in addition to the hills of al-Shaar, al-Kroum and al-Bazaq play a pivotal role in defending the cities of al-Bath and Khan Arnaba against attacks by al-Nusra and Harakat al-Muthana from Jibata al-Khashab and the villages of al-Humaidieh, al-Hurriyah and Ophamia which are adjacent to the border with the occupied Golan Heights. The opinion in the liberated part of the Golan Heights is that the Israeli air raid on Tal al-Shahem was a message that any operation against the Israeli occupation forces in the Golan will be met by Israeli air force shelling to “pave the way” for the fighters in southern Syria.

The road to Sweida is safe

The Suwaida ambush was an unpleasant surprise for al-Nusra Front and its allies in al-Lajat area located west of the Sweida-Damascus highway in Daraa’s western countryside. An infantry convoy from al-Nusra Front fell was ambushed last Friday with highly explosive IEDs in the Biyarat al-Hamam area, on the outskirts of the town of Baraq, adjacent to the highway and near Khalkhala military airport. The ambush led to the death of most members of the group estimated by sources in the field to be 50 fighters. In addition, the nearby air force intelligence checkpoint arrested two fighters who had survived the ambush. The Israeli media showed a lot of interest in the ambush after Al-Manar TV aired a report about it. Israeli military analysts wondered about the kind of explosives used and their severe destructive ability. Fighters from al-Lajat and Basr al-Harir tried several times to block the highway without any success and tried to use the road as a passage from al-Lajat and Daraa to al-Asfar area in the desert. In light of the increased skirmishes between ISIS and Jaish al-Islam in the Bir al-Qasab area on the eastern side of the highway, the Syrian army is trying to help the residents of the surrounding villages develop their abilities to protect the road and defend their villages.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.

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