ISIS TODAY AND TOMORROW

By Daniel Mabsout

The thugs of ISIS are being thrown out of al Mosul  the capital  of their caliphate.  Their new capital is Deir Ezzur in Syria  after being  defeated- as expected - and evacuated  from al Raqqa where the US marines have landed by hundreds together with SDF Kurdish forces  . ISIS will have the whole desert  between Tadmur and Homs and down to al Qunaitra to confront the  Syrian Army  and maybe other Arab forces , not to exclude israel that might share in fighting ISIS near al Qunaitra along Arab armies coming from Jordan , Egypt and KSA . 

How long this game will last we don't know , but  ISIS  will still last some time in this place ,  and will still be used by the world powers to promote their destructive agenda. And if ISIS is totally overcome in Syria , this does not mean the end of ISIS .  the World Order did not create ISIS in order  to finish it,  it created it on the contrary to use it and improve it like one improves any useful effective weapon  that proved its validity on the ground . 

Thus, the world powers are experimenting with ISIS and they are the ones who came  up with the idea of moderate opposition,  and moderate opposition is the future of ISIS  . Experts say that ISIS will remain in  the form of dormant cells everywhere in the Arab and Muslim world. This means that ISIS will stay but in a different form . It will become integrated and  part of the society while  keeping its ideas and ideals . ISIS in its new dress will spread and will become part of the rule and of the society to continue its role of undermining societies from within.  

All this has been carefully engineered   by the master minds of the world administration ,  and is being carefully implemented in Astana and Geneva whereby the rule and the terrorist thugs will meet half way  to come up with a compromise of some sort with the world sponsored terror . ISIS is  already present in all factions without exception . It is present in the FSA and in other factions that the rule is accommodating and fighting at 

the same time. 

 From this compromise and accommodation and integration a hybrid will be born with a mixed identity . This new identity will grow  on the remains of the old identity  which are the Arab and Muslim identity . These identities are threatening to the world powers and should be replaced. An Islam that is pacifying with israel will be born , like the Islam of Erdogan . And an Arab identity that forsakes Palestine and will not see in israel an enemy .

Saudi Monarchy A Client State of US Foreign Policy: American Analyst

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An American political analyst said both the Riyadh regime and Washington should be held accountable for the ongoing war crimes against Yemenis, noting that the US is backing the raids on the impoverished Arab country because the kingdom is a “client state of US foreign policy". “Stepping away from the local political details, one finds a rational objective in US foreign policy in Yemen. The US doesn’t care who runs the country as long as the local boss answers phone calls from Washington with, “Yes sir!” The US is supporting the Saudi attacks on Yemen because the Saudi dictatorship/monarchy is a client state of US foreign policy,” Dr. Mark Mason from California told the Tasnim News Agency on the anniversary of a Saudi-led aggression against Yemen that began on March 26, 2015. Dr. Mason offers analyses of United States domestic and foreign policies for the international news media. He was trained as a biological anthropologist educated at the University of California, Berkeley. Mason has appeared on Al-Etejah TV, Russia Today, Voice of Russia radio, as well as on Life News Russia, AcTVism Munich News, Nuestra Tele Noticias NTN24 Colombia, The Real News Network, and Radio 786 Capetown, South Africa, and KQED Forum in San Francisco, California.

Following is the full text of the interview: Tasnim: The Saudi-led coalition has been launching deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement for two years in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. Some 11,000 Yemenis, including thousands of women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign. Why has the international community remained passive in the face of the ongoing Saudi crimes? Mason: That depends on how one defines the international community. In the US and Europe, which are most familiar to me, public attention is largely controlled by corporate and state mass media. People cannot be concerned about events unknown to them. Here in the US, the media has given little attention to Saudi and US war crimes in Yemen, little attention to the illegalities, and less still, attention to the human suffering in Yemen. US media focuses on questions of military effectiveness and Presidential decision-making, not on the obvious questions of morality and international law. Thus, US media trivializes distant human suffering. In the US media, there are two kinds of people: 1) People, and 2) Unpeople. Yemeni people are dehumanized Unpeople and therefore their suffering at the hands of illegal Saudi and US military violence is trivialized. Americans know nothing about Middle East conflicts and thus cannot respond appropriately. As for the “international community” in terms of the lack of UN action, and the lack of words and action from other states in the Middle East, this political condition indicates two factors related to US imperialism. The silence of some states in the Middle East has been bought by US money. For example, the US gives Egypt $1.3 billion in military aid each year and an additional $250 million in economic assistance this year alone. Money buys silence. Another factor in global silence regarding US military crimes is that state political leaders are quite capable of understanding what happens to countries that disobey orders from Washington. The lessons of the illegal US invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and a long list of other violent interventions are clear: the US government does not tolerate local autonomous rule. Independent politics and action are not allowed. The USA does not honor state sovereignty. That’s the definition of empire. That’s the context for abuses of US-backed Saudi state power. That’s the context for war crimes and other human rights abuses in Yemen. Tasnim: Certain Western countries are continuously claiming that they are champions of human rights. However, it seems that they are pursuing double standard policies on Saudi Arabia's atrocities. On March 10, 2017, the administration of US President Donald Trump approved the resumption of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia which critics have linked to Riyadh’s killing of civilians in Yemen. The $1.15 billion deal was previously blocked by former President Barack Obama after Saudi warplanes targeted a funeral hall in Yemen killing scores of civilians, provoking international outcry. How do you see the role of the US in the regime’s aggression against the impoverished Arab country? Mason: Two important questions: US human rights and US role in Yemen. Permit me to begin with some facts. The [P]GCC ([Persian]Gulf Cooperation Council), and particularly Saudi Arabia, remains the top customer for weaponry produced by US corporations. The [P]GCC purchased $33 billion in arms from the US during a one-year period, 2015-2016. The US is the world’s top arms dealer far ahead of all others. Arms sales is a capitalist business. Arms sales has nothing to do with human rights or defense. Arms sales are about profits for corporations such as Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and General Dynamics. The arms-sales block emplaced by President Obama in December 2016, was partial and expected to be temporary, effective only long enough to allow public outrage to vanish. Thus, the US is in the business of selling arms. It does not care about human rights anywhere. The US does not care about American domestic human rights. Why should it care about what happens to the people of Yemen? The government of the USA is not a human rights organization; It’s a marketing department for US arms manufacturers. Zero corporate profits in peace mean peace is bad for business. Whatever is bad for business is bad for the American Empire. The success of American government administrations is measured, not in human rights defended, but in corporate dollar profits. Now we can consider the direct US war crimes against Yemen, and the US role in supporting the illegal invasion of Yemen by Saudi Arabia. The US intends to control Middle East oil due to the concentration of this energy resource in this region. The US cares about oil, not people, and the US is clear in acting globally to suppress state sovereignty. As for Yemen, wherever the US goes it creates human suffering and chaos. Since the ejection of long-time dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, control of the Yemen government has been shifting due to civil war conflicts among local warlords, Saleh supporters, Houthi tribal groups, and small al-Qaeda enclaves. It’s a huge mess for US foreign policy because US foreign policy is a mess. Saudi Arabia supports al-Qaeda. The US claims, falsely, to be fighting ‘Islamic terrorism’, which it is not doing. The principle goal of the US in Yemen is to install anyone, any dictator, who will take orders from Washington. Saudi Arabia has been attacking Yemen in an effort to block Houthis from seizing state control. As in Syria, the US supports anyone and any group that will take up arms against any political force that claims independence from US control. Thus, the US is against everyone, including the people, in Yemen. The allegiance of putative President Hadi to either Saleh or Saudi Arabia is questionable. The US does not want Saleh, or the Houthis because they won’t take orders from Washington or Saudi Arabia. Concomitantly, the US is facing opposition to al-Qaeda. The Houthis create intense fear in US administrations because they would be friendly toward Iran. “Friends with Iran” means the US cannot give orders to Yemeni peasants. Stepping away from the local political details, one finds a rational objective in US foreign policy in Yemen. The US doesn’t care who runs the country as long as the local boss answers phone calls from Washington with, “Yes sir!” The US is supporting the Saudi attacks on Yemen because the Saudi dictatorship/monarchy is a client state of US foreign policy.

Tasnim: Since the start of its war on Yemen, the Saudi regime has failed to reach its objectives. In 2015, the kingdom had a record budget deficit of almost $100 billion, prompting it to rein in public spending in a bid to save money. Why is the regime continuing its heinous attacks on the Arab country despite its failures and cash-strapped economy? Mason: The Saudis are destroying their own economy because the Saudi ruling elites are told what to do by the US government, to no limit, not even self-destruction. There are two kinds of countries in this world: 1) those that are obedient to US power, and 2) those few who have the military power to say “no” to Washington. Unfortunately, the US has no idea what a friend is. The US has imperial subjects, and anyone else is boxed as an enemy. There is a method to this madness. The insane plan is for Saudi Arabia to continue glutting the world oil market, driving down the price of oil, and thus driving the Saudi oil business into negative cash flow— zero or worse profits— for the purpose of driving Russian, Venezuelan, and Iranian economies which are heavily dependent on oil exports, into collapse. The purpose for collapsing these economies is to create political chaos. Out of political chaos, the US intends to seize political control of Russia, Venezuela, and Iran. No doubt, the US government has promised the House of Saud a fine reward for destroying the economy of Saudi Arabia. All this is sheer madness as there is no way oil prices can ever go up again because the world economy, the entire world economy, the entire capitalist system of banking and commerce would collapse. Perhaps global climate chaos (also created primarily by the US) due to the combustion of oil will crash the planet first. It’s all an insane plan that could only have been cooked up in Washington. Meanwhile, the Yemeni people ask only to return to farming and fishing.

West True Perpetrator of Yemen Genocide: Pundit

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An American political commentator said the West is using the Riyadh regime as a tool to advance its political agenda, stressing that certain Western countries, which claim to be champions of human rights, are in actual fact the perpetrators of the ongoing genocide in Yemen. West True Perpetrator of Yemen Genocide: Pundit

“What is undeniable is the fact that those who ‘promote human rights’ are the perpetrators of the most heinous crimes, including the Genocide in Yemen. To deny their complicity is to deny humanity,” Soraya Sepahpour Ulrich,an independent researcher and author from Irvine, California, told the Tasnim News Agency ahead of the March 26 anniversary of the start of Saudi Arabia’s aggression against Yemen. She added, “Today, while Saudi Arabia is being armed and directed to massacre fellow Moslems, it remains deaf to the chant ‘death to Saudis’ coming from the four corners of the ‘international community’. In spite of killing and dying for the political agenda of the US and its allies, the Saudis continue to be despised, hated – set apart. They will not be protected. They are dispensable”. Sepahpour Ulrich has a Master’s in Public Diplomacy from USC Annenberg for Communication. She is an independent researcher and writer with a focus on US foreign policy. Her articles and writings on Iran’s nuclear program, the Middle East developments and the US foreign policy have been published by several print and online publications. Following is the full text of the interview. Tasnim: The Saudi-led coalition has been launching deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement for two years. According to the UN, the Saudi military campaign has claimed the lives of more than 11,000 Yemenis and left 40,000 others wounded. Local Yemeni sources have already put the death toll from the Saudi war at over 12,000, including many women and children. As you know the international community has remained passive in the face of the ongoing Saudi crimes. What is your take on this? Why do you think this issue, the war on Yemen, has been less received by Western media? Ulrich: I tend to think of the “international community’ as the US and its allies and differentiate between the term ‘international community’ and global community. The indifference toward the plight of the Yemenis is owed to several factors one of which is the media. There are 6 corporations that own and dominate the media. It is important to note that what was once known as the military-industrial complex has become the ‘military-industrial-media complex’. Media magnates and people on the boards of large media-related corporations have close links with the military industry and Washington’s foreign policy. This industry not only informs the public but frames issues. This complex fails to inform the public of the plight of the Yemenis. Since the internet has managed to curb the monopoly of the media industry (alternate news sites and social networking), from time to time, the media industry is forced to acknowledge the horrors of Yemen, but it frames it in such a way so as to change the narrative. For example, it falsely presents the conflict as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Through repeated lies, the ‘international community’ has been indoctrinated to see Iran as an aggressive country and the Yemenis resisting the invasion of the Saudi-led war as the assailants, putting the blame on the victims. In addition to the blame game, the international community is being distracted with news on its domestic front. The best example of this are the refugees in Europe and the pending elections there, and in the United States, it is the Donald Trump presidency that occupies the airwaves and censors all other news. But censorship, framing, and propaganda do not mean that the governments in these countries (international community) are not aware. They are fully complicit either through their actions or inaction. Tasnim: Certain Western countries are continuously claiming that they are champions of human rights. However, it seems that they are pursuing double standard policies on Saudi Arabia's atrocities. On March 10, 2017, the administration of US President Donald Trump approved the resumption of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia which critics have linked to Riyadh’s killing of civilians in Yemen. What is your take on this? Ulrich: Human rights is simply another tool in the arsenal of these nations used to justify their policies. (War on terror being another useful tool of theirs). Consider this and dwell on the irony of it: When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in1948 (UN General Assembly), there were less than 60 UN members while dozens of countries were colonies. How could this be considered ‘rights’? Certainly, it is not universal or ideal else there would not have been a need for subsequent declarations such The American Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man (Bogota, 1948), the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (known as the European Convention for Human Rights - Strasbourg,1950), African Charter on Human Rights (Nairobi, 1981), the Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights (Paris, 1981) , the Arab Charter on Human Rights (1994), the European Center on Fundamental Rights (2000), and so on. What is undeniable is the fact that those who ‘promote human rights’ are the perpetrators of the most heinous crimes, including the Genocide in Yemen. To deny their complicity is to deny humanity. Tasnim: Since the start of its war on Yemen, the Saudi regime and its regional allies have failed to reach their objectives. Why are they continuing their heinous attacks on the Arab country despite their failures? How do you see the role of other regional Arab states in the ongoing war against the Arab country? Ulrich: It is important to recognize that Saudi Arabia is not solely responsible nor is it the country that is independently fueling and promoting this conflict. One country often ignored is the UAE. As the world turns its anger and hatred towards the Saudis (with help from Western media which points their fingers at the Saudis for their actions in Yemen), UAE is kept above the fray. Whereas in fact, the UAE is home to Erik Prince, the founder of notorious Blackwater. It is training a UAE-led militia force and UAE’s complicity in the crimes deserve to be discussed separately. Suffice it to say that as the Saudis fall from grace, the UAE continues to climb (in America’s plots and those of her allies). The Saudis, on the other hand, are being used by the West and sadly for them (and their victims), they continue to play the role of gladiators. As Cicero acknowledged of the Roman gladiatoria muner thattheir sponsorship was a political imperative. Even though the Roman gladiators were adulated, they were segregated and despised. The Saudis share the same fate. It is worthwhile remembering that in 2012 it was revealed that a course for US militaryofficers had been suggesting that Mecca and Medina be obliterated without regard for civilian deaths, and it even suggested "Saudi Arabia threatened with starvation ... Islam reduced to cult status". As President Donald Trump wrote in his book Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again.: "Then look at Saudi Arabia. It is the world's biggest funder of terrorism. Saudi Arabia funnels our petro dollars—our very own money—to fund the terrorists that seek to destroy our people, while the Saudis rely on us to protect them!" Today, while Saudi Arabia is being armed and directed to massacre fellow Moslems, it remains deaf to the chant ‘death to Saudis’ coming from the four corners of the ‘international community’. In spite of killing and dying for the political agenda of the US and its allies, the Saudis continue to be despised, hated – set apart. They will not be protected. They are dispensable.

THOUGHTS ON MUBARAK , MORSI AND THE ARAB SPRING

Mubarak is free now and has been released from the hospital where he was detained for three years on the ground of corruption, while he was absolved from the crime of giving orders to shoot at the demonstrators during the Arab spring. Mubarak has thus served his term and has returned to his home in Masr al Jadida to start a new life which he will begin by performing Hajj as he expressed. This is to say that the Arab Spring did not bring a new life to Egypt , there was no rebirth even if Mubarak was removed . The World Order had already chosen the successor of` Mubarak after a period of` transition made possible by the presidency of Morsi who was but the bridge over which the real successor of`Mubarak was to cross. The truth is that it would not be befitting to have a military take over after Mubarak . The so called Revolution would not have looked good to replace a despot by a military, so, there was need for a transitional period that president Morsi had to fill . Neither Morsi , nor the Muslim Brothers understood what the World Order was up to . They thought hey had been chosen for candidacy because they were suitable , they did not think they were being drawn to a trap and were being set up in order to finish them because they represented a possibility of independence and autonomy for Egypt that the other parties did not represent . There is no need to say that Morsi was not allowed to rule because this is the truth . Because, from the beginning, he was prevented from taking decisions and carrying them on , so he had to take draconian measures like expand his prerogatives and powers which caused the Egyptians to rally against him accusing him of all sort of` transgressions and violations . The truth is that he was just trying to be the president of Egypt which is why he was elected. But the World Order had decided otherwise . And like what happened in Algeria and Somalia before, where the Muslim Brothers or the Islamic parties were just brought to power in order to be removed , the same goes for the Egyptian rule whereby the`Muslim Brothers were brought to power in order to be removed in their turn. The decision had been taken long ago that Egypt will go through change in name only , and that Mubarak will be toppled only because the country could not afford his decision to install his son - Jamal - after him, and that this installing was liable to cause a real uprising that the world powers wanted to avoid at any price . This is why the Egyptian Spring was created; a false flag revolution in every respect, that ended up in a military coup arranged by the predators in favor of which they had succeeded in rallying millions of Egyptians . A strange thing to have millions of people call for a military rule which is not usually so appealing . But this has been carefully engineered by the masterminds of the foreign embassies and the NGOs ; and the Egyptian society is one of the most exposed and infiltrated societies world wide, and we have seen millions signing petitions and protesting and calling for change, ending up in bringing to rule a third rate officer who was chief of Intelligence during Mubarak's rule! This much for the Egyptian Spring. Nothing has changed really, and now, Egypt would have to wait for more than ten years to witness anything that is close to a Revolution. The Arab Spring is nothing but Operation Abortion which is the real description of what happened. This is to say that Morsi had tried his best to please the World Order by taking position against the Syrian rule and against Iran thinking that this will work in his favor , but it did not. He even corresponded with the israeli officials thinking that this will speak in his favor. He thought that he will be treated like Erdogan and promoted like him by the world powers, forgetting that Erdogan is not only a fake Muslim Brother but a real NATO asset , and forgetting that the Muslim Brothers of Egypt are strongly linked to HAMAS, and that the World Order hoped that by removing the first, he will be able to remove the second , and that the goal was to expose the Muslim Brothers and finish them in Egypt and Palestine. Now, Mubarak is not only free but he is still ruling, if not through his son Jamal like he wished and desired , he is ruling through field Marshall Abdel Fattah al Sisi, his Chief of Intelligence , a military affiliate to israel and to the World Order, brought to power by millions of Egyptians according to the World Order scheme . Mubarak is free , and has been released after 3 years of detention he spent at the hospital. But Morsi has been sentenced to life term . The World Order will never forgive a close association with an armed Resistance that is threatening to israel. - Daniel Mabsout

Sex Slavery Is Part of Home Service in Saudi Arabia, Says Rescued Indian Woman

BY AHT STAFF

*Image: Noorjahan shows injuries she sustained after her Saudi employer tortured her. Courtesy of the Times of India

A year ago, 38-year-old Noorjahan Akbar Husen used to work at a beauty parlour in Saudi Arabia. 

She was brutally tortured by her employer as she was forced to work for a 'home service', which was a constant source of humiliation and physical harm.

Home service is a byword for the flesh trade in Dammam in Saudi Arabia where she had endured subjugation for several years. Noorjahan's dream of having a better life vanished into thin air when she learnt in Saudi Arabia having sex ('home service') with the master is part of her job.

She was told by Indian and Filipino women staying with her that the 'home service' she was supposed to do included sexual favours. It was only her marital status and repeated excuses of ill health that kept her from being sexually exploited.

"In March 2016, a girl from India's Hyderabad tried to cut her wrist to kill herself after repeated atrocities," recalled Noorjahan. "Humiliation was part of the job as we were treated like animals. I was beaten or dragged by the hair for making even a small protest."

Noorjahan, who came back home last October, is one many victims trafficked to Saudi Arabia for the flourishing flesh trade. Two other girls from Hyderabad, who were rescued along with Noorjahan, refused to divulge their pain. She said she still has bruise marks on her forehead and elbow as souvenirs of those days.

"I used to see a lot of Hyderabadi girls being brought there. They are shocked when they are forced to go for 'home service'. Inevitably they tortured until they give in," she said, quoting TOI.

According to Noorjahan, rampant torture and enforcement triggered several commitments of suicides by jumping from first and second floor of the building. 

"I was beaten up. My employer would pull my hair and bang my head to the wall. I resisted going for 'home service', but not all do. I have noticed that many Hyderabadi girls get trapped in Saudi," Noorjahan told TOI over phone from Ahmedabad.

She and her husband were hoaxed by an agent in Mumbai who assured to provide employment in Riyadh, however, all the promises were in vain. She was isolated from her husband right after landing at the airport.

"When I resisted to going for 'home service', she (employer) took us to the police station and got cases booked against us saying that we are trying to show Saudi Arabia in bad light," the 38-year-old said, quoting TOI.

After being rescued from a heinous trap, Noorjahan does want other girls to fall prey of trafficking.

Saudi Arabia has always been under pressure for women's rights and abuses against them. Last year British Newspaper, the Sun published an article unveiled how sex slaves captured by ISIS terrorists are being sold at sickening auctions in Saudi Arabia.

*(Sources: The Times of India/ India Times/ ZeeNews.)

 Saudi Arabia

Moral Failure at the United Nations

BY LAWRENCE DAVIDSON

Part I - Moral Failure

On 15 March 2017 the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) published a report on Israeli practices and policies toward the Palestinians. Using international law as its comparative criterion, the report came to a “definitive conclusion” that “Israel is guilty of Apartheid practices.” The term Apartheid was not used in the report merely in a “pejorative” way. It was used as a descriptor of fact based on the evidence and the accepted legal meaning of the term.

Such was the immediate uproar from the United States and Israel that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a moment of moral failure, ordered the report’s withdrawal. The head of ESCWA, the Jordanian diplomat Rima Khalaf, decided that she could not, in good conscience, do so and so tendered her resigation.

Part II - Reportage

The initial New York Times coverage of the incident paid little attention to the accuracy of the report, an approach which, if pursued, would have at least educated the Times’ readers as to the real conditions of Palestinians under Israeli domination. Instead it called the report, and those involved in producing it, into question. For instance, the NYT told us that “the report provoked outrage from Israel and the United States.” The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, was quoted as declaring that, “when someone issues a false and defamatory report in the name of the U.N. it is appropriate that the person resign.” At no point in the NYT story was it noted that Ms Haley’s charge that the report was false, was itself false. Other coverage by the NYT improved only slightly.

The NYT did pay attention to the fact that, among the authors of the report, was former U.N. human rights investigator Richard Falk. Falk served six years as U.N. Spacial Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories. According to the NYT, his presence had to “gall[ed] many Israeli supporters who regard him as an anti-Semite.” There is something troubling about a newspaper that claims to represent the epitome of professional journalism reporting such slurs without properly evaluating them. Richard Falk, who is Jewish, has an impeccable record of both academic achievement and public service. His reputation for honesty and dedication to the cause of human rights exemplifies the best practice of Jewish values. Thus, he has every right to say that “I have been smeared in this effort to discredit the report” - a study which “tries its best to look at the evidence and analyze the applicable law in a professional manner.”

Part III - Israel’s Behavior

The NYT did pay attention to the fact that, among the authors of the report, was former U.N. human rights investigator Richard Falk. Falk served six years as U.N. Spacial Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories. According to the NYT, his presence had to “gall[ed] many Israeli supporters who regard him as an anti-Semite.” There is something troubling about a newspaper that claims to represent the epitome of professional journalism reporting such slurs without properly evaluating them. Richard Falk, who is Jewish, has an impeccable record of both academic achievement and public service. His reputation for honesty and dedication to the cause of human rights exemplifies the best practice of Jewish values. Thus, he has every right to say that “I have been smeared in this effort to discredit the report” - a study which “tries its best to look at the evidence and analyze the applicable law in a professional manner.”

An objective consideration of Israel’s behavior makes it hard to escape the brutal reality of its officially condoned practices.

On 17 March 2017, at the same time as the forced withdrawal of the ESCWA report, the U.S. State Department released a report on “grave violations against Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation.” This was part of the department’s annual “country reports on human rights practices.” Among the problems cited were Israel’s practice of unlawful detention, coerced confessions and excessive use of force, including torture and killings.

Usually these annual human rights reports are made public by the Secretary of State. This year Rex Tillerson, who presently holds the office, was nowhere in sight. And, of course, President Trump failed to issue any of his characteristic tweets in reference to the Israel’s barbaric behavior.

Earlier, on 8 February 2017, it was reported that “Israel has banned anesthesia gas from entering the Gaza Strip.” There is a current backlog of some 200 patients in Gaza requiring surgical care, and some will die due to Israel’s ban. 

A week later, on 14 February 2017, it was reported that Israeli officials were blackmailing Palestinian patients seeking permission to enter Israel for necessary medical treatment. A 17-year-old Gazan boy who suffered from congenital heart disease and needed a heart valve replacement “was explicitly told that in order to [leave the Gaza Strip and] have his operation, he would have to cooperate with the security forces and spy for Israel.” He refused and subsequently died. This is not a new or unusual tactic for the Israelis. 

Part IV - Blackmail All Around

The moral failure at the U.N., represented by the withdrawal of the ESCWA report, is the result of Secretary General Guterres’s decision to acquiesce in a denial of reality - the reality of Israel’s practice of Apartheid. 

On the other hand, it probably also stems from Guterres’s acceptance of the reality of U.S. financial leverage along with the apparent threat to bankrupt the United Nations. This is, of course, a form of blackmail. Significantly, U.S. use of its financial clout at the U.N. mimics the same practice by the Zionist lobby in the halls of Congress. 

Obviously the United Nations, to say nothing of U.S. politicians, needs alternate sources of income. My wife Janet once suggested that the UN be awarded the right to exploit and profit from all undersea resources. Not a bad idea. Likewise, U.S. politicians should agree to, or be forced to rely upon, government-based campaign funding rather than be pressed into putting themselves up for sale. 

However, such changes do not appear imminent. As it stands now, reality in Palestine is what the Americans and Israelis say it is because politicians and international leaders literally can’t afford to challenge their corrupted views.

 United Nations

LAWRENCE DAVIDSON

Lawrence Davidson is a retired professor of history from West Chester University in West Chester PA. His academic research focused on the history of American foreign relations with the Middle East. He taught courses in Middle East history, the history of science and modern European intellectual history.

Sunni Sheikh: Arabs will fight Israel if it’s a Shia entity

Sunni Imam of Al-Quds Mosque in Sidon (Lebanon), Sheikh Maher Hammoud, has claimed that “if you want Arabs to fight Israel, tell them Israel converted to Shi’ism”.

Sheikh Hammoud, who is considered a “moderate Sunni”, in an interview with Lebanese news website Al-Akhbar last year said: “We cannot underestimate the influence of Saudi and Wahhabi thought. Whether we like it or not, the Saudis control many of the Islamist movements, and many more seek its acceptance. The Salafi approach to dealing with religious texts is extremely superficial. They believe that the sect to which most Iranians belong is flawed, and therefore reject everything the country does.”

Sheikh Hammoud believes in the unity among Muslims of all denominations to fight western imperialism and their regional collaborators. In one of his sermons he said: “Americans are dividing the nation to serve Israel.”

Sheikh Hammoud has criticized Lebanese Islamic resistance Hizbullah in the past especially resistance’s involvement in Syria. But, he believes that the armed resistance is the only way to stop Israel re-occupying Lebanon.

“Hizbollah knows well the results of this battle. However between a catastrophe and catastrophes or between the bad and the worse Hizbollah chose the bad,” said Hammoud.

Sheikh Hammoud doesn’t fully agree with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s policies, but he is against foreign interference in Syria. He blames Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood failure on its leaders for not following the teachings of party’s founder Imam Hassan al-Banna.

Sheikh Hammoud also claims that Israel was behind the assassination Rafik Hariri because the Zionist entity benefitted the most from the tragedy.

Sheikh Hammoud has praised the Islamic republic, saying it did much for the nation. “The behavior of the Iranian indicates that they have a project which can’t see less than Palestine an aim for it. They consider all the obstacles and the difficulties easy in order to reach their goal.” Read more here.

Sheikh Hammoud  doesn’t deny the fact that all the Muslim nation-states that have diplomatic relations with the Zionist entity, or submitted to US-Israel domination, like Jordan,Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Morocco, etc., are ruled by Sunni elites. Until the fall of Saddam Hussein, Shia-majority Iraq was also ruled by Sunni minority under Ottoman empire and the British occupation. Currently, the Jewish media is projecting British spy Ms Gertrude Bell as the woman who invented modern Iraq. Bell, a niece of British ambassador to Persia (Iran) lived in Tehran and Jerusalem. She learned both Persian and Arabic and translated Persian poetry. She committed suicide in 1926.

On July 10, the world saw the power of Zionist Mafia during the United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss Israel’s latest war on Gaza. Both the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and Israeli ambassador Prosor blamed Hamas for starting the war.

LAST CALL

To those who do not want to admit the truth that Syria is under attack by the world order and by NATO and by the allies of Israel, the same way Libya was attacked and the same way Iraq was invaded , the same way Palestine was usurped by the Zionist Jews after being colonized by Great Britain.

To those who insist on seeing in this blood bath conducted by armed thugs a revolution. 

To those who think that these are protests of some peaceful opposition or an attempt at ending the rule of a tyrant.

 

To those who think that USA and NATO and Hillary Clinton are well wishers of humanity and seek to bring liberation to the Syrians or to any people.

To those who think that the prince of Qatar is a revolutionary , or that revolution will be led by Saudi Arabia. 

To those who believe that the killers are Muslims or have anything to do with religion or with Islam., 

to those who think that ending the rule of Assad will bring freedom and democracy to Syria, 

to those who think that Israel has nothing to do with the present events, 

to those who think that the armed thugs are religiously committed.

To those who think that these thugs are free lancers and revolutionaries. 

To those who think that Israel is not behind all this. 

To all those we say: You are wrong and very wrong and your vision is blurred and your mind confused, it is your responsibility to see clearly and discriminate and open your eyes and heart and get over your bias and your prejudices and your fanaticism and overcome your sectarian blindness and your ignorance and start seeing for yourself and discovering for yourself, you are about to share in committing or catering to the ugliest crimes under the pretext of supporting the people or promoting the revolution, you are about to wage for a new civil war and a religious and sectarian war, you have already -by your misunderstanding or bias or misjudgment -caused thousands of people to be displaced and chased out of their houses and towns and villages ,you have cause thousands of refugees to flee their country and live in exile, you have caused hundreds to be killed and slaughtered in the most ugly way among them: women, children and elderly, you have partaken in disrupting the lives of many, you have caused instability and contributed in threatening lives and livelihood and deprive people of their right to live peacefully and happily, you have introduced arms and armed thugs with the purpose of killing randomly and destroying places and localities, you have shared in issuing lies and transmitting falsities and spreading misinformation. all over the place. 

You are about to cause another Palestinian plight and another Arab misery equal to the one created in 1948 ,you are about to partition your nation and bring in the occupier and give up on your dignity and that of the people. 

YOU have done all this and about to do more …

- Daniel Mabsout

The destruction of Mecca

The Middle East’s largest building project has effaced 1,400 years of Islamic history

AS THE governor of Mecca, Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud has been able to compensate for earlier failings. He came to his role in 2007 from Asir province, where his plans to erect modern tower blocks in the city of Abha were largely unfulfilled. He successfully erased Abha’s quaint old town, with its beehive houses made of wattle, only to replace them with squat breeze-block bungalows. Not a high-rise was to be seen.

Now, on top of what was Mecca’s old city of lattice balconies and riwaq arches, the prince has overseen the Middle East’s largest development project. Skyscrapers soar above Islam’s holiest place, dwarfing the granite Kaaba far below. Diggers flatten hills that were once dotted with the homes of the Prophet’s wives, companions and first caliphs. 

Motorways radiate out from the vast new shrine. Local magnates are as keen to build as the government. Jabal Omar Development, a consortium of old Meccan families, is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to erect two 50-floor towers on the site of the third caliph’s house. Such is the pace that for a time the holy city’s logo was a bulldozer.

Demolition, say officials, is the inevitable price of expansion. In 1950, before it all began, 50,000 pilgrims perambulated round the Kaaba, the heart of the haj ritual. Last year, 7.5m did so. Within three years, the authorities are planning to double that huge number. 

“There’s no other solution,” says Anas Serafi, an architect and member of the board of Jabal Omar Development. “How else could we absorb millions of pilgrims?” Casualties are a regrettable by-product: in September 2015, the world’s largest mobile crane toppled on the Grand Mosque, killing 107 pilgrims. But two weeks later more than 2,000 pilgrims were killed in a stampede, highlighting the dangers of a lack of space.

As Mecca’s custodian, King Salman bin Abdel Aziz sees both his prestige and his pocket benefit from the increasing traffic. Under the government’s transformation plan, revenue from pilgrimages will grow to compete with those from oil. Billions are being spent on railways, parking for 18,000 buses to transport pilgrims and hotels for them to stay in, heavy with gilded chandeliers. The McDonald’s golden arches gleam outside the gates of the Grand Mosque.

So thorough is the erasure that some suspect the Saudi royals are determined to finish a task begun in the 18th century, when from Arabia’s unruly hinterland the Al Saud and allied Bedouin tribes rose up against the Ottomans. Declaring a jihad, they pitted their puritanical strain of Islam, eponymously known as Wahhabism, first against the Empire’s multi-religious rule and then, after its collapse in the first world war, against the peninsula’s other Islamic rites. As part of the campaign of territorial and spiritual unification, called tawhid, they conquered Mecca in 1924.

Critics call this Islamic Maoism. Out went the city’s heterogeneous mix of Maliki, Shafii and Zaydi rites; in came homogenisation under the Wahhabi creed. Alongside the black and white dress they forced on women and men respectively, the new tribal rulers reshaped the urban environment, stripping away the past. They replaced the four pulpits at the foot of the Kaaba, one for each of Sunni Islam’s schools, with a single one, exclusively for Wahhabi preachers. They cleansed the faith of saint-worship, demolishing shrines venerated by Shia and traditional Sunnis alike. Of the city’s scores of holy sites, only the Kaaba survives.

Now that so much is gone, some Meccans are having second thoughts. “We’ve turned our past dating back to Abrahamic times into a petrol station,” grumbles a local. Mr Serafi, the developer, is designing a virtual heritage trail. Maps trace routes through the non-existent old town, highlighting the homes of the first caliphs. His brother has used the profits to create Jeddah’s finest art gallery nearby.

Might the government, under the deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, support an element of restoration? The transformation plan he unveiled last year highlights the kingdom’s tourism potential, and promises billions for heritage projects. In a recent interview, his information minister, Adel Al Toraifi, lambasted “radicals and terrorists” bent on cultural demolition. “Beautiful people and regions filled with culture, music, dances and tradition were all destroyed by political Islam,” he said. Replacing the Kaaba’s lost pulpits might be a good place to start.