Good day to you all. Or is it?

by Jafar M Ramini 

Every time I watch anything to do with Israel on American TV, or listen to a radio report somewhere, or read an article in a newspaper or online, I am always confronted with the same slogan. “We must support our closest ally with whom we share values and a way of life. We must do our utmost to enable them to defend themselves against their many enemies who are vowed to destroy them. After all, they are the only democracy in the Middle East and our security is linked to theirs”.

This is the kind of wording that leads to many a proxy and unnecessary war fought on behalf of this so called vital ally, Israel, in the Middle East, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now in Yemen. This kind of unquestioning support of Israel continues in occupied Palestine despite the Palestinian Authority bending over backwards to accommodate their increasing demands. The Oslo Accord instead of being a ‘peace process’ was in fact a slow and overt process of entrenching the occupation, increasing the settlement buildings and oppressing even further the indigenous population. All this, despite Israel declaring itself a racist and apartheid state, keeping nearly two million Palestinians under lock and key in Gaza, Illegally might I add, for over eleven years while periodically invading Gaza and bombarding them at will.

Another war in the Middle East is very likely, very soon, if we the citizens of the world, especially in the west, don’t do whatever is in our power to stop it from happening. The war I am talking about is going to be against Iran. Why? Israel wants it because Iran is the only power in the Middle East that is perceived by Israel to be in the way of their expansionist ambitions and hegemony all over the Middle East. They have been demonising Iran, spreading lies about Iran and about its so-called belligerent intentions against the Apartheid State. All Israel has to do is cry ‘foul’ in Washington and all American politicians and generals alike jump to attention.

Two prominent American politicians, Mr John Bolton, Security Advisor to President Trump and Mr Mike Pompeo, Mr Trump’s Secretary of State, visited the Middle East in the last week, met with Mr Netanyahu and have both publicly pledged America’s ‘undying’ support for Israel and their firm intention to do whatever they can to stop the perceived Iranian aggression. The preparations for this imminent war are there for everyone to see.

Take a look at the mass movement of American naval vessels from the China Sea towards the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. There are reports that these ships number 63 so far. The American forces have shipped 60 of the latest, most advanced Patriot missiles to their base in Saudi Arabia. They moved a further 19 Patriot missiles to Kuwait, 10 to Bahrain and 23 to the UAE. All this machinery of war is weaponised, loaded and ready for action. American aircraft carriers have been stationed around Israel near to its border with Lebanon and two in the Sea of Oman, all armed with Patriot missiles. All of this in addition to reports that Israel has stationed eight Thad anti missile installations outside every city and four inside every city in Israel. The iron dome has been deployed and they have stationed Patriot missiles everywhere around the country.

Does this sound like the drums of war to you? It does to me and it carries with it all the horror and foreboding of outright war. As a Palestinian, whose people have suffered and are still suffering under a harsh regime of occupation, apartheid and oppression, I see no end in sight because of this unbridled and unfettered support.

Are the American people aware of what is in store for us all? I very much doubt it. Because the people who are supposedly there to serve them and protect them are actually in service to a foreign power.

Have a look at this.

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/01/10/americans-need-a-congress-that-represents-americans/

Jafar M Ramini is a Palestinian writer and political analyst, based in London, presently in Perth, Western Australia. He was born in Jenin in 1943 and was five years old when he and his family had to flee the terror of the Urgun and Stern gangs. Justice for the people of Palestine is a life-long commitment.

Saudi Arabia And Israel Are Best Buddies

by Dr Ludwig Watzal saudi-israel

That the Zionist and the Saudi regime are cooperating very closely and intensively is all over town. They have a common enemy: Iran. So, Israel doesn’t mind supporting the most radical, anti-democratic, fundamentalist, and repressive Islamic regime on the face of the earth. Besides that, both regimes are not that different. In the last decade under the Netanyahu reign, Israel has become so fundamentalist that one can hardly differentiate this government from the Iranian one, not to speak of the Saudi regime. Radical Jewish right-wing extremists infiltrating all ranks of the state, especially the military, and have hijacked the Netanyahu government through the Bennett’s Jewish Home party. Compared to Saudi Arabia, Iran is a fully fledged Muslim democracy with regular elections on all levels of society. The Saudis have no votes whatsoever and oppress not only its Sunni but especially its Shiite population. Western media do not report on the daily attacks against Saudi installations. The Saudi regime is going to execute 13 Shiites again in the coming days. Western protests: Nil. Israel, which is the self-proclaimed “only democracy in the Middle East,” can only fool their Western supports with this slogan. Israel has become a significant liability not only to the US but Western interests across the Middle East. The country is heavily involved in causing havoc in their neighborhood such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and Kurdistan. The latest indication of this close cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia is Israel’s intent to shut down Al-Jazeera, the Qatari news network that has been a nuisance to the ruling dictators in the Middle East. To silence this network has long been on the list of the US, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the other Arab dictatorships. At the height of the US attack and its atrocities in Iraq, George W. Bush contemplated openly on bombing Al-Jazeera. But in the case of Israel, it’s different. By closing down the Iraqi network, the Zionist Netanyahu-regime wants to do the Saudis a big favor because both countries still want to push the US into war with Iran. The way to this disastrous road would be the canceling of the Iranian nuclear deal that Obama and the other nations signed with Iran. Israel and the Saudis are strongly opposed to this agreement. Al-Jazeera’s political analyst Marwan Bishara stated recently: “Israel is taking its cues from Saudi dictators.” Perhaps US President Donald Trump is that stupid to walk into this Israeli-Saudi trap. The US has already paid a high price for its illegal attacks across the Middle East. Why should the American people take the bullet for these two rogue regimes? When Saudi Arabia and Israel want to attack Iran, the tens of thousands of their decadent princes should fight together with the Israeli army. So far, Saudi Arabia was unable to defeat a bunch of Houthi tribesmen in Yemen. To shut down Al-Jazeera in Israel is not that easy as in the Arab dictatorial regimes. In Israel, at least, a due process is still required. What a strange coincidence, the office of Al-Jazeera is in the same building that houses the Israeli government press office. To shut down Al-Jazeera in Israel would also close a window to the Muslim population that only the Qatari network can provide. Or does Netanyahu wants to detract from his legal and political difficulties that he is facing, and Al-Jazeera serve as the useful bogeyman? Dr. Ludwig Watzal works as a journalist and editor in Bonn , Germany . He runs the bilingual blog between the lines.http://between-the-lines-ludwig-watzal.blogspot.de/