Free Republic

Part 2 of the discussion of current events in the middle east and how it fits with long-term goals of various countries, ethnic groups and religious factions. Too many topics covered to easily summarize. The video is 1 hour long and went by very quickly when I watched it last night.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said Jerusalem must be a city for Israelis and Palestinians, and anything else will harm Israel’s identity and security. “The United States continues to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as the President also said in his visit, Jerusalem is central to the national visions of both Palestinians and Israelis and must be a city for all of its people. Anything that takes us away from two states is detrimental to Israel’s long-term security and its long-term identity,” Blinken said during an address at the the left-wing J Street’s national conference in Washington....

In 2014, the world learned about my hometown, Kobane, and my people, the Syrian Kurds, when we dealt the Islamic State its first major defeat in partnership with the United States and the Global Coalition. The alliances we forged there led to the end of the ISIS caliphate in 2019.Today, Kobane is again under threat — and all the gains of those partnerships are also in danger.This time, the threat comes not from Islamic State terror, but from a U.S. ally and a member of NATO. For more than a week, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has...

Israel’s amb. to UN launches first exhibit showing Jewish expulsion from Iran, Arab countriesBy Halwy Cohen, The Jerusalem Post, November 30, 2022.https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-7236831947-1948 - Forced transfer or mass escape?Ha’aretz claims that 800,000 Arabs were expelled from the country by the Jews during the War of Independence. The purpose of this lie is to hide the shameful truth: the great majority were not deported but fled on their own initiativeHanan Amior, Presspectiva, 29.11.22https://presspectiva-org-il.translate.goog/1947-1948-%d7%98%d7%a8%d7%a0%d7%a1%d7%a4%d7%a8-%d7%9b%d7%a4%d7%95%d7%99-%d7%90%d7%95-%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%97%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%aa/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=enThe fate of the Jews in Arab countriesConrad Myrland, Miff.no, June 28, 2022.https://miff.no/jodenes-skjebne-i-arabiske-landhttps://miff-no.translate.goog/jodenes-skjebne-i-arabiske-land?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=enFrom Hitler to Putin: Palestinian habit of always backing ‘wrong side’Opinion: In 1940s, then-Palestinian leader Mufti Hajj Amim...

The Israel Air Force this week will hold one of its largest drills in years with the United States Air Force simulating offensive strikes against Iran’s nuclear program. This is the mission that no one really wants to have to carry out, an actual long-range strike on Iran’s nuclear program and facilities built for them by Russia over the last decade and an half. But at some point, either Israel and perhaps America are going to go after Iran, or Iran is actually going to build a nuclear weapon or weapons with which to fire against Israel. Either way, and...

Critics erupt after Whoopi Goldberg questions whether Hamas, Taliban are terrorists. Critics erupt after Whoopi Goldberg questions whether Hamas, Taliban are terrorists After a co-host on The View called the two groups out as terrorists, Goldberg said, “Depends on who you talk to.” Israel, Canada, the EU, Japan, Australia and the UK – besides the U.S. – have all designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Critics leaped onto social media to slam Goldberg’s equivocation. Andrew Ghalili, a foreign policy analyst for the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) tweeted, “???? One host on The View says that Hamas...

The Biden administration has determined that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, should be granted immunity in a case brought against him by the fiancée of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whom the administration has said was murdered at the prince’s direction. A court filing was made by Justice Department lawyers at the request of the State Department because bin Salman was recently made the Saudi prime minister and as a result, qualifies for immunity as a foreign head of government, the request said. It was filed late Thursday night, just before the court’s deadline for the Justice Department...

Attacks of this kind place coalition forces and the civilian population at risk and undermine the hard-earned stability and security of Syria and the region, CENTCOM spokesman Colonel Joe Buccino said WASHINGTON, November 26./TASS/. US-led coalition forces came under attack at a US-controlled base in Al Hasakah province, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. "Two rockets targeted coalition forces at the US patrol base in al-Shaddadi, Syria today at approximately 10:31 p.m. local time in Syria,: the statement reads. According to the document, "the attack resulted in no injuries or damage to the base or coalition...

This video analyzes some of the current conflicts in the middle east today, especially Syria and Iran attacking the Kurds in Iraq. Many people may be surprised because much of this is not being covered by the news media. The video is 43 minutes and I think it is worth the time to watch. For those interested, the link to the youtube channel for all of these geopolitical analysis videos is below. Youtube channel for George W McMillan III (GWM3) Analysis w/ Matt Bracken

Iran’s government has embarked on an armed strategy of divide, crush and conquer to end nationwide protests against clerical rule in the Islamic Republic. The primary target is the Kurdish minority population, which has been protesting for more than two months. The government, dominated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has dispatched an aggressive and ill-disciplined militia known as the Basij to assault Kurdish towns and villages in western Iran. For the past eight days, thousands of Basij, transported by armored vehicles and firing heavy automatic weapons, have moved into the western border zone largely populated by Kurds. The Kurds have...

A statement by the UN Human Rights Office claimed “All information we have gathered … is consistent with the finding that the shots that killed Abu Akleh and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed...

The Azerbaijani parliament on Friday announced its historic decision to open an embassy in Israel. The embassy will be located in Tel Aviv, and will be the first embassy in Israel of a country with a Shi’ite majority and a Shi’ite government. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: "I welcome the decision by the National Assembly of Azerbaijan to open an embassy in Israel. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world. The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of the relationship between our countries."...

The Biden administration told a U.S. court that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s status as a sitting head of government shields him from a civil lawsuit brought by the fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi, a former royal insider who criticized Prince Mohammed’s policies in Washington Post columns, was killed in 2018 and his body dismembered by Saudi agents during a visit to the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate where he was seeking papers needed to marry Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish citizen. In a filing Thursday, the State Department said “common law principles of immunity” informed its determination...

Outgoing PM at swearing-in of the 25th Knesset: "IDF soldiers will not be investigated by FBI or any foreign body or country' Prime Minister Yair Lapid slammed the US Administration's decision to launch an FBI investigation into the death of AL Jazeera Shireen Abu Aqleh during the swearing-in ceremony for the 25th Knesset Tuesday. "The IDF is a moral and ethical army. IDF soldiers and their commanders defend the State of Israel. The IDF thoroughly investigates any irregular event and is committed to the values and laws of democracy," Lapid said. "Our soldiers will not be investigated by the FBI...

JERUSALEM (AP) — After nearly four years of political deadlock and five elections, Israel swore in the most right-wing parliament in its history on Tuesday. Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is working to cobble together a far-right and religious governing coalition in the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset. The surging popularity of a right-wing alliance once on the fringes of Israeli society helped propel Netanyahu’s political comeback even as he stands trial on corruption charges. The 25th Knesset was sworn into office with trumpets and choral music just hours after a Palestinian assailant went on a deadly rampage in an Israeli-controlled industrial...

The US and Russian spy chiefs held a rare face-to-face meeting in Ankara Monday on Moscow's nuclear threats in Ukraine and Americans held prisoner by the Kremlin, the White House said. In what appeared to be the highest-level direct talks between officials of the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman confirmed the meeting, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said it came as "an initiative of the American side," according to Russian media. Peskov declined to...

Move represents about-face by US, which had said it wouldn't open its own probe into death of reporter who Israel says was likely shot by IDF in error; Gantz: We won't cooperate The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is launching an investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, apparently by an Israeli soldier, officials said Monday, with Israel immediately rejecting cooperation with the probe. US officials updated their Israeli counterparts earlier this month about the decision, an official familiar with the matter tokld The Times Of Israel on Monday, confirming a Channel 14 news report....

TPS) Sources in the Islamic Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, told TPS on Monday that marriage contracts will now be processed at the Al Aqsa Mosque rather than in a Sharia Court office in eastern Jerusalem. The aim is to strengthen the Muslim presence on the Temple Mount by bringing Palestinian residents to the mosque. It was also learned that there has been a significant increase in the number of Muslim delegations visiting the Jerusalem holy site after visits dropped during the coronavirus pandemic. Waqf officials estimate that 700 Muslims from Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa visit...

This is the point in the story when we should probably summon Dr. McCoy to say, ‘he’s dead, Jim.’ The “he” in question would be the Iran nuclear deal, known around the White House as the JCPOA. The secretive, four-party talks that have been going on for well over a year never really came close to producing a functional deal, though most of us never heard any of the details. But now, at least according to one Trump administration official who was privy to the process, the entire thing is shut down with “no path forward.” The culprit is supposedly...

A least four people were killed and 38 others injured when an explosion hit Istanbul's popular pedestrian Istiklal Avenue on Sunday, Istanbul Gov. Ali Yerlikaya confirmed on social media...