LUKASHENKO'S REVENGE (Best served cold)

Last summer Ukraine's security service SBU tried to play dirty trick on Lukashenko. Russian volunteers, who had fought on the Novorossiyan side in the Ukrainian civil war were made a fake job offer, "security" work on Syrian oil fields. The Wagnerites (as private military contractors are called in Russia) were to gather in Minsk. A Turkish airways flight would then take them to Syria.

SBU's secret plan was to intercept the Turkish plane while in Ukrainian airspace, force it to land and arrest the "terrorists". Something went wrong. Plan B was to claim the mercenaries had been sent by Russia and Putin to stage a coup against Lukashenko. The Belarusians in fact believed this lie for a week.

Moon of Alabama reported on the events here:

The 'Russian Coup' Plot In Belarus Was Faked By Ukraine

Also remember, that the plane of Bolivian president Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria in July 2013, after France, Spain, Portugal and Italy had closed their airspace on American orders.

Now read this:

'Hijacked': President uses fighter jet to force Ryanair flight to land in Belarus - Sidney Morning Herald

Moscow: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday personally ordered a fighter jet to intercept a Ryanair flight carrying a young opposition blogger, forcing it to redirect and land in Belarus.

The Boeing aircraft, flying from the Greek capital Athens to Vilnius, had almost reached Lithuania when it changed direction and was escorted to the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

On arrival, police detained activist Roman Protasevich, 26, who had been on a wanted list after last year's mass street protests in the wake of an election in which Lukashenko claimed a landslide but disputed victory.

While the incident unfolded yesterday I amused myself with reading the know-nothing responses from several European prime minister and officials.

The President of Lithuania:

The President of the Nordic Council of Ministers:

The Prime Minister of Greece:

The incident is totally NOT unprecedented.

In 1954 Israel forced a Syrian passenger plane to land to gain hostages which it hoped to exchange for captured Israeli soldiers.

France behaved similarly.

In 2010 the U.S. wanted to arrest a man who was on a flight from France to Mexico. On U.S. instigation the plane was diverted to Canada where the man was arrested and later transferred to the U.S.

In 2012 Turkey forced down a Syrian passenger plane flying from Moscow to Damascus to search it for weapons. None were found.

In 2013 U.S. allies shut down their airspace for a flight carrying the Bolivian President Evo Morales from Moscow. The plane had to divert to Austria where the authorities insisted on searching the plane for the "fugitive" Edward Snowden before letting it fly again. Snowden was not on board.

In 2016 the Ukraine sent military jets to force a plane flying from Kiev to Minsk to return to Kiev. The authorities were looking for a certain passenger on board who was later found to have be the wrong man.

As Petri Krohn notes above the Ukraine in 2020 had planned to abduct Russian mercenaries on a flight from Minsk to Turkey by forcing the plane to land in Kiev. The plot failed.

Barfingcat 'investigator' Christo Grozev also marveled the similarity:

Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times notes that the 'west' can hardly complain about yesterday's incident when I behaves in even more egregious ways:

That thought raises the unfortunate precedent set by the US through its policies of drone strikes and "extraordinary renditions", during its "war on terror". The Americans can point out that this kind of treatment was reserved for those who used or planned actual violence against the US or its allies. But, to invert the old saying, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. Belarus had placed Protasevich on a terrorist watchlist.

Nobody reasonable should accept the Belarusian (or Chinese or Russian) equation of peaceful dissent with terrorism. But America has encouraged the idea that powerful countries can reach out beyond their borders and grab people.

Belarus did not even reach beyond its borders but acted fully within its rights under international law.

Roman Protasevich is, like his partner the Atlantic Council fellow Franak Viačorka, a U.S. trained and financed regime operator who tried to violently overthrow the government of Belarus to then install a neoliberal U.S. client regime:

When the color revolution in Belarus failed we wrote about the Viačorka/Protasevich run Telegram channel Nexta which directed the protests in Minsk:

Nexta is led by anti-Lukashenko pro-Western 'activists' in Poland. The editor in chief is one Roman Protasevich. He was perviously a journalist for the Polish-Lithuanian-funded Euroradio, as well as for the CIA's Radio Liberty. Nexta was founded by Stepan Putila who earlier worked for the Polish-Belarusian channel Belsat which is based in Warsaw and is funded by the Polish Foreign Ministry. Both currently live in Warsaw.

As these media produce fresh videos 24 by 7 and do many online post there must be a sizeable staff behind Nexta, in Poland as well as on the ground in Belarus. This is certainly not a cheep operation and it certainly has nation state backing. Obama's deputy national security advisor left little doubt about who is behind this game.

(There is more about Nexta in this open thread.)

Protasevich is by the way no heart bleeding liberal. Ivan Katchanowski of the University of Ottawa notes that his political leanings are quite dubious:

Google searches show no references in Western media to past service in neo-Nazi-led Azov battalion in Ukraine of Belarusian opposition blogger, who was arrested by Belarus KGB after it diverted Irish Ryanair passenger plane that was flying over Belarus

Ukrainian media reports that Protasevich served in the press-service of the neo-Nazi-led Azov battalion in Ukraine during the war in Donbas: "... украинскую страницу в биографии Протасевича: белорус одно время работал в пресс-службе «Азова»."

Promoting fascists in the Ukraine, working for U.S. government regime change media, collaborating with various secret services in east Europe and directing a color revolution attempt in Belarus from abroad should be enough reason for Belarus to put the man into jail. Protasevich clearly worked against the interest of his country.

The 'west' is of course furious that one of its regime change operators has been taken down in a way it similar uses. It will try to think up some sanctions or other measures it can impose on Belarus. But the only effect such pressure has is to push Belarus further into the Union State with Russia. It was the Union State that saved Belarus and will do so again.

Measures like the one below are counterproductive to their real aim and only hurt people who are not involved in the game:

© Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images.jpgGaza City after Israeli airstrike Monday, May 17, 2021

Sunday's airstrikes hit a busy downtown street of residential buildings and storefronts over the course of five minutes just after midnight. The Gaza Health Ministry said 16 women and 10 children were among those killed, with more than 50 people wounded. The main coastal road west of Gaza City, security compounds and open spaces were among the targets hit and damaged a line feeding electricity from the only power plant to large parts of southern Gaza City. It was was the deadliest single attack.

Israeli military claimed only 60 rockets had been fired at Israeli cities from Gaza a decrease from 120-200 the previous nights. Recent Israeli airstrikes destroyed 15 kilometres of militant tunnels and the homes of nine alleged Hamas commanders, though they were unlikely to be home at the time due to going underground when the fighting began.

Blinken, while delivering remarks in Copenhagen, said he has asked Israel for evidence to bolster its claim that Hamas was operating in the building, according to the AP. He said that he personally has "not seen any information provided."

Netanyahu, in a Sunday interview, told host John Dickerson on CBS's Face the Nation that an intelligence office for Hamas, that plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli civilians, was housed in that building "so it is a perfectly legitimate target."

The IDF released footage showing the destruction of an "unmanned diver vessel" in the northern Gaza Strip, with the footage said to be filmed Monday.

Israel claims: It has neutralized more than 130 terrorists in the last week, while Palestinian militant groups had fired more than 3,150 missiles at Israel, killing 10. IDF said that Hussam Abu Harbeed, Islamic Jihad's northern division commander of 15 years, had been killed in an airstrike. The tweet was accompanied by a video of the attack on Abu Harbeed's compound:

Blinken announced on Monday the Biden administration was working "intensely," in a "behind the scenes" effort to restore peace to the region. "We are ready to lend support if the parties... seek a ceasefire," as the Biden administration is pressing ahead with a massive arms sale to Israel.

The bulk of the shipment consists of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS) kits. These kits bolt onto ordinary 'dumb' bombs, transforming them into precision-guided munitions. Lawmakers have 20 days to object. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin): "US aid should not be funding" Israel's military activities.

© Reuters/Ibraheem Abu MustafaIsraeli air strike in Gaza City May 17, 2021

Erdogan told the Pope that:

"all of humanity should be united against" Israel and should punish it for its "savagery. Palestinians will continue to be subjected to a massacre unless the international community punishes Israel... with sanctions."

Pope Francis described the mounting death toll as:

"terrible and unacceptable." "In these days, violent armed clashes between the Gaza Strip and Israel have taken over, and risk degenerating into a spiral of death and destruction."

Tehran reiterated its support for Palestine:

"The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the new round of brutal aggression by the Zionist regime against the defenseless people of Palestine and the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the martyrdom of dozens of civilians, including women and children, and the destruction of many residential buildings."

© Said Khatib/AFP/Sputnik/Press Service of the Russian Foreign MinistryRussian FM Sergey Lavrov • Israeli airstrike on Rafah, Gaza Strip

"We condemn the strikes that are being launched from the Gaza Strip to residential areas [in Israel']. We also, of course, condemn the completely unacceptable strikes on civilian targets in the Palestinian territories.

"Now, everything depends on the negotiability of the parties and their goodwill. We will do everything to help them find agreements to calm down the present, extremely dangerous, hot phase of the conflict and to start direct negotiations as soon as possible."

The owner of the building was left with rubble.

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