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Green Light

Pompeo greenlights Israeli annexation of Palestine's West Bank


Daily Sabah
Wed, 24 Jun 2020 06:01 UTC
Pompeo
© AFPUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated Wednesday that Israel had the U.S. green light to annex Palestinian land, amid wide criticism of the Jewish state's plans. Pompeo told reporters:
"Decisions about Israelis extending sovereignty to those places are decisions for the Israelis to make. We are talking to all of the countries in the region about how it is we can manage this process for our end-state objective.

"I regret only that the Palestinian Authority has refused to participate in that. I remain hopeful that in the coming weeks, we can begin to make real progress towards achieving that."
He was speaking moments after the United Nations and the Arab League, during a U.N. Security Council session, joined in calling for Israel to abandon its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Arab states, notably US ally Jordan, have voiced alarm at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's indication that he will move ahead as soon as next week to annex much of the occupied West Bank, saying that it would kill prospects for peace.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Hamas to Israel: Annexation is 'a declaration of war on Palestinian people'

Khaled abu Toameh
The Jerusalem Post
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 17:44 UTC
Hamas
© ReutersHamas members in Gaza
Condemning the Israeli plan as a "criminal" project, Abu Obeida said, if Israel will follow through on the annexation, it would be "a declaration of war on our Palestinian people."

Israel's plan to extend its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank would be considered a "declaration of war" on the Palestinians, and it will regret the move, Izzadin al-Qassam, the so-called "military" wing of Hamas, said Thursday. The Israeli plan is the "biggest theft of Palestinian land in decades," Izzadin al-Qassam spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement. The "project of the resistance was to remove the occupation from all the lands of historic Palestine," he said.

Condemning the plan as a "criminal" project, Abu Obeida said:
"We won't talk much, and we won't make more statements. We say in words that are limited and clear and which the occupation and those who stand behind it need to understand very well: The resistance considers this decision a declaration of war on our Palestinian people. The resistance, in this war, will be the loyal and trustworthy guard in defending our people and their land and holy shrines."
Abu Obeida said his group would make Israel "regret bitterly" its decision to apply its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank.
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Stop

Japan scraps deployment of its Aegis Ashore missile defense system


Kyodo News
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 14:54 UTC
Taro Kono
© Reuters/Issei KatoJapan's Defence Minister Taro Kono
Japan has ditched plans to deploy an Aegis Ashore land-based missile interception system as a shield against high-tech projectiles such as those launched by North Korea, Defense Minister Taro Kono said Thursday.

"After deliberations at the NSC, we have come to the decision to cancel the deployment in Yamaguchi and Akita prefectures," Kono told a panel of ruling party lawmakers, referring to Wednesday's closed-door meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The decision followed Kono's abrupt announcement on June 15 that it had halted the process of deploying two U.S.-made batteries of the missile system, citing technical problems and increasing costs amid strong local opposition.

At a meeting of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, part of which was open to the media, Kono also said the Defense Ministry found it difficult to pick alternate sites.

Comment: See also:

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Footprints

Sisi claims Egypt has a legitimate right to intervene in Libya

Mahmoud Mourad
Reuters
Sat, 20 Jun 2020 06:19 UTC
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
© ReutersAbdel Fattah al-Sisi
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday said his country has a legitimate right to intervene in neighbouring Libya and ordered his army to be ready to carry out any mission outside the country, if necessary.

Sisi's comments came amid high tensions over regional rival Turkey's intervention in Libya. He also warned forces loyal to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli not to cross the current frontline with Khalifa Haftar's eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA).

Turkey's support for the GNA has reversed a 14-month assault on Tripoli by forces loyal to Haftar, which are backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

"Any direct intervention from the Egyptian state has now acquired international legitimacy," Sisi told an audience after inspecting military units at an air base near the border with Libya.

He said Egypt has the right to defend itself after receiving "direct threats" from "terrorist militias and mercenaries" supported by foreign countries, in an apparent reference to some armed groups loyal to the GNA and supported by Turkey. The main aims of any intervention would include protecting Egypt's 1,200-km (746-mile) western border, helping achieve a ceasefire, and restoring stability and peace in Libya, he said.
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Star of David

Bought and paid for: Majority of GOP House members sign letter supporting annexation

Michael Arria
Mondoweiss
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 17:26 UTC
netanyahu mccarthy
NETANYAHU MEETS WITH REPUBLICAN LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY IN AUGUST 2019. MCCARTHY SAID HE “REAFFIRMED THAT THE U.S. HAS NO GREATER FRIEND THAN ISRAEL.”
A majority of House Republicans have signed a letter supporting the Israeli government's proposed annexation plan. This week, the Trump administration's Middle East team will hold a series of meetings to determine how to proceed on the matter.

The letter, which was signed by 116 of 198 GOP House members, praises Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" plan and condemns Palestinian leadership for rejecting it. The letter asserts that the administration's plan was "based on the critical premise that Israel should never be forced to compromise its security."


Comment: But Palestine should, apparently.


The letter also addresses Democratic concerns about annexation. In recent weeks, a letter has circulated on the opposite side of the aisle, opposing annexation. The Republican letter takes aim at Democrats who have warned that annexation could potentially damage the U.S. relationship with Israel. "We are aware of and deeply concerned by threats being expressed by some to retaliate against Israel as it makes decisions to ensure defensible borders," it reads, "It is shortsighted to threaten relations with Israel, a longtime friend and critical ally that shares our democratic values."


Comment: "To ensure defensible borders" = to appropriate land on which Israeli colonists have been illegally squatting for decades. Democrats and Republicans are both idiots when it comes to Israel. Israel is not an ally; that "sh***y little country" has caused untold damage to the United States (among countless other countries), and yet both sides of the aisle rush to bend the knee and gush with support for the gang of psychopaths leading Israel.

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Eye 2

Grasping at straws: New US indictment of Assange accuses WikiLeaks founder of 'conspiring with Anonymous' hackers... in FBI sting op?


RT
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 17:06 UTC
free assange banner
© REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File PhotoA supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange posts a sign on the Woolwich Crown Court fence in London.
A superseding US indictment of Julian Assange broadens the charges against the WikiLeaks founder by accusing him of conspiring with a hacker affiliated with the groups Anonymous and LulzSec - who turned out to be an FBI informant.

The US Department of Justice revealed the new indictment on Wednesday, intended to "broaden the scope of the conspiracy" Assange was accused of in May 2019, shortly after he was hauled out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London and imprisoned by UK authorities.

Assange was originally charged for conspiring with US Army analyst Chelsea Manning to hack a US Department of Defense computer to obtain classified information in 2010.

Comment: The panic in the halls of US "intelligence" is palpable, as support for Julian Assange builds around the world. Even Australia's 60 Minutes has aired a sympathetic piece on his persecution.



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Sheriff

Interior Secretary mobilize hundreds of National Guard troops to protect DC monuments amid protests

Ronn Blitzer
Fox News
Wed, 24 Jun 2020 16:42 UTC
ingraham angle David Bernhardt protect monuments washington
© Fox News
Hundreds of troops with the Washington, D.C., National Guard have mobilized to protect monuments in the nation's capital, a Pentagon spokesperson has confirmed.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt requested the action earlier this week, as protesters target statues and other historical markers during ongoing demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's police custody death in Minneapolis at the end of May.

The Pentagon confirmed that roughly 400 D.C. Guard members have been activated and are on standby.

"Since their activation, none of the National Guard members have been dispatched to actual monument locations to provide assistance to the NPP," Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Christian Mitchell said in a statement. "They remain on standby at the DC Armory at this time. They will support U.S. Park Police at key monuments to prevent any defacing or destruction."

Comment:

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Eye 2

Bolton pushes discredited Russiagate: Repeats the Browder-Magnitsky hoax

Lucy Komisar
The Komisar Scoop
Sun, 21 Jun 2020 16:13 UTC
bolton Putin
John Bolton enjoys a photo op with his favorite villain. From the book.
Hardly a surprise, but John Bolton buys into the Browder-Magnitsky hoax promoted by convicted tax fraudster William Browder.

The place where it happens in The Room Where it Happened is the July 2018 Helsinki meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Here Bolton is shaking hands with "the villain." Well, it was a photo op.

The U.S. Justice Department had just indicted agents of the GRU, the foreign military-intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. It charged them with hacking into the Democratic National Committee computers and releasing the information to influence the 2016 election. The emails showed how the DNC, which was supposed to be neutral, helped Hillary Clinton against Bernie Sanders in the primary.

It is relevant that the U.S. intelligence assessment written in January 2017 said in effect "we have no proof." See the very last page, Annex B. That's called burying the lede. No matter. The Justice Department dropped the case, folded, when the Russians contested it and demanded discovery! Actual proof!

Comment:

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Star of David

Apparent Bowman victory over Engel is a devastating blow to AIPAC's influence in Washington

Josh Ruebner
Mondoweiss
Wed, 24 Jun 2020 17:55 UTC
Jamaal Bowman democrat
© Twitter/@JamaalBowmanNYJamaal Bowman at his campaign launch event, June 2019
In August 2014, I helped organize and moderated a gut-wrenching panel on Capitol Hill during Israel's ferocious Operation Protective Edge, its 50-day spree of war crimes unleashed against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The panel featured searing testimony from Tariq Abukhdeir, the Florida teen who had been viciously beaten by Israeli border police while handcuffed the previous month after his cousin Mohammed had been savagely murdered by Israeli extremists, and author Laila El-Haddad, who had received the horrific news that very day that the Israeli military killed eight members of her family.

C-SPAN covered the event live, a move so disconcerting to Israel's supporters on Capitol Hill that the network was forced to temporarily cut away from the panel to cover a rambling, impromptu paean to Israel delivered by Sen. Barbara Boxer to a largely empty chamber.

The room was so packed to capacity with Members of Congress, Hill staff, media, and the general public (former Rep. Keith Ellison, currently Minnesota's Attorney General prosecuting the case against the police officers who killed George Floyd, took an unassuming seat on the floor) that we decided to run another panel immediately afterward to accommodate the crush of people who could not get in.
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Vader

Strzok notes reveal Obama and Biden had direct hand in ordering Flynn investigation

Chuck Ross
Daily Caller
Wed, 24 Jun 2020 21:38 UTC
biden
Michael Flynn's lawyers on Wednesday released a handwritten memo that former FBI official Peter Strzok purportedly took during a White House meeting in early January 2017, which Flynn's attorneys argue shows that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden directed an investigation into the former Trump national security adviser.

The Justice Department revealed the existence of the notes in a court filing Tuesday. Michael R. Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. said that Strzok, who served as deputy chief of counterintelligence, likely took the notes between Jan. 3 and Jan. 5, 2017.

On Jan. 5, 2017, then-FBI Director James Comey met at the White House with Obama, Biden, then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and then-National Security Adviser Susan Rice. The officials discussed Flynn during that meeting, according to an email that Rice wrote to herself more than two weeks later.

President Donald Trump and his supporters have recently suggested that Obama and Biden were more involved in the FBI's investigation against Flynn and the Trump campaign than previously known. Trump coined the term "Obamagate," and accused his predecessor of directing "the biggest political crime in American history."
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