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Wed, 27 Oct 2021
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YouTube to determine what 'conspiracy' is and stop recommending these videos

YouTubeCensored
© barenakedislam.com
While the evolution of Google's YouTube from a free expression platform into something entirely different has been underway for a while, it just took another step in a very short-sighted and restrictive direction. NBC News reports:
YouTube has announced that it will no longer recommend videos that "come close to" violating its community guidelines, such as conspiracy or medically inaccurate videos...Chaslot said that YouTube's fix to its recommendations AI will have to include getting people to videos with truthful information and overhauling the current system it uses to recommend videos.
There's a lot to unpack here so let's get started. First, it appears YouTube has announced the creation of a new bucket when it comes to content uploaded to the site. It's no longer just videos consistent with company guidelines and those that aren't, but there's now a category for "conspiracy or medically inaccurate videos." This is a massive responsibility, which neither YouTube or anyone else seems fit to be judge and jury. In other words, YouTube is saying it's comfortable deciding what is "conspiracy" and what isn't. Which brings up a really important question.

Comment: The choke chain is tightening around our freedoms, choices, creativity - now to be left to a specifically programmed machine to decide and cull our options and preferences. Do we need gatekeepers? Mass surveillance? Mind control? How did we ever live this long without it.


Star of David

Israeli minister: Intra-Palestinian talks in Russia a 'participation mistake'

Yisrael Katz
© shutterstock
Minister of Transportation & Intelligence Yisrael Katz
Israeli Minister of Transportation and Intelligence Yisrael Katz has called the ongoing intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow, in which Hamas, a group Israel considers to be a terrorist organization, is participating, a mistake. Katz told journalists:
"The conference with the participation of Hamas is a mistake. Hamas is a radical Islamist terrorist organization that refuses any political settlement, despite the fact that Israel left the Gaza Strip, moving beyond the 'green line' [internationally recognized border]. Russia, a country that is fighting radical Islamist terror everywhere, is making a mistake by giving legitimacy to this organization."
The third intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow started on Monday and will last through Wednesday. The negotiating parties were received by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday. The summit is being held at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, the deputy chief of the Political Bureau of the Hamas, heads the movement's delegation at the Moscow talks, which is devoted to finding ways to overcome the ongoing intra-Palestinian split.

Comment: It counters what Israel is trying to achieve - divide and conquer.


Star of David

AIPAC: Fundraising campaign launched on the back of Ilhan Omar's 'anti-Semitic' tweets

AIPAC
© Guatemala Presidency/Handout via REUTERS
American Israel Public Affairs Committee AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington.
Pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC is apparently trying to cash in on the controversy caused by Ilhan Omar's tweets in which she slammed the overbearing power the Israeli lobby has on US lawmakers. But some say it's an ill-timed effort.

In a document, said to be a copy of the fundraising email that has circulated on social media, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) accused Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of perpetuating "old anti-Semitic stereotypes" by suggesting that Washington sides with Israel "only because of Jewish money."

"Aside from being offensive, divisive and ill-informed, the congresswoman's assentation are plain wrong," the letter reads.

AIPAC stated that it was proud that it enjoys support across the aisles and called on its members to help it bolster "bipartisan efforts in support of the shared values" with a donation of $25, $50, $100 or more, according to Haaretz.

Comment: See also:


Quenelle - Golden

Manufactured anti-Semitism: Vandal who painted 'Die Jew Rats' on synagogue is black, gay, former Democratic intern with Jewish foster parents

James Polite
© Facebook / Abraham Aali and Reuters / Andrew Kelly
Synagogue vandal James Polite seen alongside his former mentor, New York Democrat Christine Quinn.
In a bizarre twist, the man who spray painted anti-Semitic graffiti on a Brooklyn synagogue turned out to be "queer," black, former anti-hate-crime intern, James Polite: a 26-year-old with loving Jewish foster parents.

Less than a week after a gunman murdered 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue, anti-Semitic graffiti was found scrawled inside Union Temple in Brooklyn's predominantly Jewish Prospect Heights neighborhood. The graffiti read "Die Jew Rats" and "Hitler."

A Democratic political event scheduled at the synagogue on Thursday night was canceled, and police investigated the incident as a hate crime. After being caught on the synagogue's CCTV cameras, James Polite was arrested on Friday.

Far from being an archetypal tattooed skinhead, Polite is a black former Democratic intern who had his college education bankrolled by the New York Times' 'Neediest Cases Fund.'

Comment: Since Polite is not a white, male Trump supporter, this will be swept under the Leftist rug in no time.

Fake anti-semitism, in the form of staged acts, is actually quite common, and not just in the US. Paris was recently stunned to learn that a serial vandal spray-painting homes and cars with vile messages about Jews... turned out to be an elderly Jewish couple:

Serial complainer about anti-Semitic graffiti left on and near his home in Paris... caught daubing cars with anti-Semitic graffiti


Bad Guys

What are Russia and Turkey preparing for Syria? Upcoming Sochi meeting will see disagreements

peace syria conference
The 14th of February meeting in Sochi between the three Presidents (Russia, Turkey and Iran) is not expected to find solutions agreeable to all parties about the two main problem areas left in Syria: northeast Syria (Manbij to Qamishli/al-Hasaka), currently occupied by US forces, and Idlib city and its rural areas occupied by jihadist groups friendly to Turkey.

There are fundamentally different points of view. At the top of the agenda, the gathering is expected to have further discussions on a possible US withdrawal in the coming weeks - the month of April seems plausible - as announced by officials in Washington.

All parties are agreed, however, that US withdrawal is a priority and will be a relief to the Levant. Therefore, any step that help to reach this objective smoothly should be taken. Nevertheless, the main differences are triggered by the Russian desire and intention to conclude a "temporary deal" with Turkey over North-east Syria's status after the US withdrawal. These differences are related to the price Syria should pay to see US forces out of the country.

Sources among decision makers in Damascus said "Russia is trying to find an excuse for Turkey to move into north-east Syria, within a 'buffer zone' of 12,000 sq km out of the 42,000 sq km that represent the zone east of the Euphrates under US occupation, reviving the 1998 Adana agreement between Ankara and Damascus".

War Whore

Revolution is the new black: How Western money is funding overthrow-your-government classes

Yerevan
© RT Russian
Everyone at this gathering in Yerevan is young, hip and determined, and they're learning how to stage a revolution. RT Russian managed to get inside the protesters' camp, funded by US cash, and see what is being taught.

The CampСamp 2018 forum in Yerevan was sponsored by the Prague Civil Society Centre, an organization financed by the United States under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Section 254 of the Act allocated $250,000 for activities to "counter Russian influence" in 2018 and 2019. Capitol Hill lawmakers seem to believe that this "Russian influence" is a threat to all NATO's actual and potential members, including Georgia, Moldova, Kosovo, Serbia, and Ukraine.

The Yerevan gathering is proving that the State Department's money is doing its job all right. Protest-lobbying spin doctors have been putting the money to 'good use' dragging more and more people into their skillfully woven web.

And it's no coincidence Armenia was chosen to host the camp. After large-scale protests forced Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan to resign, protesters from all over the Commonwealth of Independent States started flocking to Yerevan for more inspiration.

Chess

US indicts former Air Force officer Monica Witt for helping Tehran, sanctions 9 Iranians, NGO

Monica Witt
© Reuters / Handout
Monica Witt, accused of spying for Iran
The US Treasury Department has slapped sanctions on nine Iranians, including members of an NGO accused of spying and members of an Iranian military unit. A former US Air Force officer has also been indicted for helping Iran.

Several of the sanctioned individuals are connected with the New Horizon organization. Billing itself as an "anti-imperialist, anti-Zionist" think tank, New Horizon organized conferences in Iran that cast a critical eye on US and Israeli policy worldwide and stoked accusations of anti-Semitism from Western critics.

Now the Treasury claims the conferences were also an intelligence gathering and recruiting ground for Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

An Iranian communications company was also sanctioned for allegedly planting malware on US intelligence agents' computers.

Gear

Proper geezer: Meet Tommy Robinson, Zionist cokehead

tommy robinson
Footage has surfaced of far-right activist Tommy Robinson bragging about "scoring" drugs anywhere in the world, including Islamic countries while "they're all praying," and labeling a taxi driver a "little P*ki who drives a car."

The former English Defence League leader, who has a number of criminal convictions, including cocaine possession, boasted that he has been able to acquire drugs in every city he has visited, in a video obtained by the Sun newspaper.

Robinson claims:
"No matter where I've gone in the world I score... I've gone to f***ing Qatar, to Doha, and scored gear on the sesh while they're all praying. Everywhere mate, every city I've gone to."

Quenelle

"The Lobby - USA": Watch the film the Israel lobby has tried to suppress - UPDATE: Parts 3 & 4 released

Israel Lobby Congress
The Electronic Intifada has obtained a complete copy of The Lobby - USA, a four-part undercover investigation by Al Jazeera into Israel's covert influence campaign in the United States.

It is today publishing the first two episodes. The Paris-based Orient XXI has published the same episodes with French subtitles.

The film was made by Al Jazeera during 2016 and was completed in October 2017.

But it was censored after Qatar, the gas-rich Gulf emirate that funds Al Jazeera, came under intense Israel lobby pressure not to air the film.

Comment: Parts 3 and 4 promise to be even more revealing.

Update: Al Jazeera has released Parts 3 & 3 of The Lobby - USA. Electronic Intifada has the details.
In the first two parts of the censored documentary The Lobby - USA, released by The Electronic Intifada this week, Al Jazeera's undercover reporter "Tony" charmed his way into pro-Israel circles.


He discovered a network of organizations acting as fronts for the Israeli state to spy on, disrupt and sabotage US supporters of Palestinian rights - especially BDS, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

In the final two parts of of the film, Tony gets a deeper look at Israel's covert influence campaigns during his internship for The Israel Project.

Watch parts three and four in the videos embedded above and below.


The Electronic Intifada is releasing the leaked film simultaneously with France's Orient XXI and Lebanon's Al-Akhbar, which have respectively subtitled the episodes in French and Arabic.

In part three, Al Jazeera interviews Bill Mullen, a professor of American Studies at Purdue University in Indiana, and a leading activist in the BDS movement.

As The Electronic Intifada reported in 2016, Mullen and his family found themselves targeted by an organized smear campaign, starting in March of that year.

Several anonymous websites sprang up, containing fabricated accounts of sexual harassment by Mullen, supposedly by a student.

In the film, Mullen describes the campaign as an attempt to destroy his marriage. His wife, also a professor, was sent a link to one of the sites.

The smear campaign seems to have been manufactured by Israel's agents in the US.

"These people will do anything"

"One of the [anonymous] accounts explains that in the process of supposedly putting my hand on her, I'd invited her to a Palestine organizational meeting. And I thought, you're sort of putting your cards on the table there," Mullen says, explaining how he came to realize that pro-Israel actors were behind the smears.

Mullen recounts how the anonymous websites also used the name of his daughter, which he says was the worst moment for him, when he realized "these people will do anything, they're capable of doing anything."

A Students for Justice in Palestine activist who Mullen worked with, speaks anonymously in an interview with Al Jazeera.

She too was targeted by an anonymous smear site, which falsely claimed she engaged in "partying, drinking" and "promiscuity." She recounts how this led to tension and upset at home, with her parents telling her to end her SJP involvement.

Smear tactics have been common features of "advocacy" for Israel for decades. Israel lobbyists know they cannot win open debate on the actual issues.

Such attempts to target and sabotage activists' personal lives represent an escalation in tactics in recent years, led by Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

These tactics are more reminiscent of Israeli intelligence services' actions against Palestinian resistance organizations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with the usage of blackmail, disinformation, rumors and sabotage.

This is not entirely surprising considering that the Ministry of Strategic Affairs is largely staffed by Israeli spies.

"It's psychological warfare"

In undercover footage seen in episode one, the Israel on Campus Coalition's Jacob Baime admitted to coordinating with the Israeli ministry.

He described his approach as "modeled on General Stanley McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq," explaining that they "copied a lot from that strategy that has been working really well for us, actually."

Although Baime seems confused about the country - the US general's "counterinsurgency" effort was focused on Afghanistan, not Iraq - McChrystal's strategy emphasizes "offensive information operations."

In episode three, Baime explains how his organization applies this against "the anti-Israel people" by putting "up some anonymous website" along with targeted Facebook ads.

Baime explains that as a result activists "either shut down or they spend time responding to it and investigating it, which is time they can't spend attacking Israel."

"It's psychological warfare, it drives them crazy," he claims.

He later states that the Israel on Campus Coalition has a budget of some $2 million for "research" for such smear campaigns alone.

As previously reported by The Electronic Intifada, episode three also names convicted tax evader, and multimillionaire Israel lobby financier Adam Milstein as the founder of secretive blacklisting site Canary Mission.

It also reveals the Foundation for Defense of Democracies as another agent of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

The foundation's Jonathan Schanzer admits in undercover footage that "anti-Semitism as a smear is not what is used to be."

"The foundation that AIPAC sat on is rotting"

Episode four reveals how Israel is working against the Black Lives Matter movement.

Israel's consul-general in Atlanta is seen in undercover footage complaining that "the major problem for Israel is with the young generation of the Black community."

The Israel Project's successful attempts to influence American mainstream media are also detailed, with former CNN journalist Jim Clancy describing it as "propaganda."

Also in episode four, Tony goes along for the ride with a comically unenthusiastic group of young, conservative think tank fellows, who are compelled by their bosses to join a protest against a Students for Justice in Palestine conference.

Max Blumenthal at the Grayzone Project previously released clips from these scenes, but all the footage can now be viewed on this page.

In the undercover footage, the fellows admit to Tony that what they are doing is "astroturfing" - a term for fake grassroots activism orchestrated or paid for by an interest group.

This feeds into the film's ultimate conclusion, in the words of Eric Gallagher, Tony's boss at The Israel Project.

Gallagher describes how the bipartisan consensus in support of Israel has seriously fractured in recent years, with polls consistently showing a slide in progressive and liberal support for Israel.

Gallagher admits that the fortunes of AIPAC, Washington's most powerful Israel lobby group, and his former employer, are not what they once were.

"The foundation that AIPAC sat on is rotting," he laments.

"There used to be actual widespread public support for Israel in the United States. So I don't think that AIPAC is going to remain as influential as it is."

He adds: "I don't think that AIPAC is the tip of the spear anymore, which is worrisome, because who is?"



Hearts

Joint Korean bid for 2032 Olympics is a sign of a successful peace process

Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in
While few people are thinking about the 2032 Olympic Games, possible host cities are already preparing to tender their bids to host the event. As South Korea has hosted two Olympic Games (Summer of 1988 and Winter of 2018), Seoul will tender a bid to host its second summer Games in the year 2032. However, the story does not end there.

During the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang and the Asia Games that same year held in Jakarta and Palembang, Korea sent a unified team which marched under the politically neutral flag of the entire Korean peninsula. Now, authorities in Seoul are suggesting that should South Korea win a bid to host the 2032 Games, it will be co-hosted with a DPRK (North Korean) city, ostensibly Pyongyang.

Even if Korea does not end up hosting the Games in 2032, the joint bid being pushed by Seoul is indicative of how Koreans envisage their medium term future. For all intents and purposes, the key elements of the current peace process, namely de-nuclearisation, will likely be completed by 2032 whilst if current trends continue, relations between Pyongyang and Seoul will continue to expand.

Therefore, more than just a goodwill gesture, South Korea's insistence that the DPRK be involved in its possible hosting of an Olympic Games is demonstrative of a pan-Korean confidence in the peace process as well as a sense of optimism regarding the future of a shared Korean destiny.