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The pro-Israel lobby is on the decline; let's help it on its way

Asa Winstanley
Middle East Monitor
Sat, 30 Nov 2019 09:02 UTC
israeli protest
© Hasan Esen/Anadolu AgencyA small group holding Israeli flags were holding a counter protest as hundreds of protesters gather in front of the Israeli Embassy in central London in solidarity with Palestinian people in London, United Kingdom on 30 March 2019
A lot has been written about the pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian lobby over the years. Many take the view that the US and Britain have their foreign policy dictated to them by Israel and its influential lobby groups in the West.

I don't intend to revisit the whole debate over the lobby in this column, but I've written before about how I consider this to be an inaccurate view, born of an essentially conservative worldview. It is a view that starts with the assumption that American and British foreign policies are essentially benign, and that the pro-Israel lobby has somehow corrupted them.

On the other hand, there are those on the left who hold to the equally mistaken view that to even use the term "pro-Israel lobby" is a conspiracy theory or (even more outrageously) anti-Semitic. This is, quite plainly, nonsense.

Many countries have powerful, well-funded and impressively connected lobbies working to promote their interests in Western capitals. Israel is no different in that regard. The pro-Israel lobby obviously exists, is well-funded, and has a significant impact on British political life.

Comment: While it may be that it is on the decline, it still maintains a strong hold in the US. See also:

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Attention

Behind the drama at the NATO summit

James Corbett
Corbett Report
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 02:12 UTC
NATO Drama
© Corbett Report
Unlike a lot of other North Atlantic Treaty Organization summits, you might actually have seen some mainstream news coverage of the group's 70th anniversary meeting that just wrapped up in London this week. But if you did see such coverage, it was probably limited to discussing the theatrics and fireworks surrounding the event rather than the meat and potatoes of the discussion itself and what it pretends for the future of global geopolitics.

It's not hard to understand why this happens. The tabloid fodder of leaders insulting other leaders (both on and off mic) is both easier to understand and more entertaining than serious discussion of weighty geopolitical matters. But, as I recently pointed out on #PropagandaWatch, the most important information is often hidden under a cloak of bureaucracy and legalese.

So today let's explore what really happened at this week's NATO summit, and what it can tell us about the elitists' plans for their long-coveted New World Order.
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Arrow Up

Russia-Ukraine fallout won't threaten security of EU gas supply - study

Tsvetana Paraskova
Oil Price
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 16:30 UTC
gas supply russia
Even if Russia and Ukraine were to fail to reach an agreement on the natural gas transit through Ukraine onto Europe, the security of gas supply in the European Union (EU) will not be materially threatened, the Institute of Energy Economics (EWI) at the University of Cologne said in a study on Wednesday.

The current ten-year gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires on December 31, 2019. The parties need to reach a new agreement by that date to set the terms of deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine's territory.

Russia has been building pipelines to Europe and Turkey that bypass Ukraine — TurkStream and Nord Stream 2. Ukraine, for its part, is a key transit country for Russian gas westwards to Europe and relies on the gas transit fees.

Comment: See also:

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Bizarro Earth

Video shows Israel's Iron Dome intercepting 2 rockets, IDF claims 'fired from Gaza at civilians' - UPDATE: Bibi hints at Gaza ground operation


Sputnik
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 22:07 UTC
gaza israel
© Twitter / @guyelster
On 29 November, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that a rocket was fired from Gaza "at Israeli civilians", noting that it was the fourth launch that week. Following the attack, the IDF conducted a retaliatory air strike against a Hamas military post in Gaza.

Air-raid sirens were activated in the Gaza Strip and Sderot on Saturday, according to the Israel Defence Forces. The IDF said that three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel, noting that two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defence System.

​Twitter users shared videos allegedly showing the moment when the Iron Dome intercepted the rockets.

Comment: More details from Sputnik:
The IDF said that, in responding to the launch of the rockets from the Gaza Strip, its fighter jets, along with attack helicopters, "struck a number of Hamas terror targets in Gaza".

According to the IDF, among the targets were "warehouses, offices and security posts" claimed to belong to Hamas.

"A military position of the naval force of the Hamas terror organization in the northern Gaza Strip has been destroyed", the IDF statement added.

The IDF stated that Hamas "is responsible for what is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip and it will have consequences for actions against Israeli citizens".
See also: UPDATE 08/12/2019: Sputnik reports Netanyahu is contemplating a Gaza invasion:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered preparations for a possible military operation against Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip after rockets had been fired at Israel on 7 December.

"On the issue of Gaza, I would like to clarify - there will be no arrangement [with Hamas] if the firing continues. On the contrary, the terrorists in Gaza will yet feel blows from our arm. What they absorbed three weeks ago in Operation Black Belt, in which we targeted the leader of Islamic Jihad and dozens of militants from the organisation, was just for starters", Netanyahu said during a meeting of his cabinet.


Translation: the operation where we murdered a man and his wife in their bed with a house-destroying missile, and then committed another murder with an illegal strike on a sovereign country.

Israel hits home of Islamic Jihad official in Damascus, killing his son, after bombing home of top Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza


The Israeli prime minister added that he had instructed the defence minister and the Israel Defenсe Forces to make necessary preparations.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli armed forces attacked Hamas' targets in retaliation for three rockets launched late on the same day.

For decades, the Palestinians have sought recognition of their independent state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli government has refused to recognize the Palestinian Authority as an independent political and diplomatic entity and continues to build settlements in the occupied areas, despite objections from the United Nations.


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Hardhat

Putin and the 'Biden Memorial Pipeline'

F. William Engdahl
New Eastern Outlook
Sat, 07 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Xi/Putin
© Free Press KashmirChinese President Xi Jinping • Russian President Vladimir Putin
In early 2014 Washington staged a blatant coup d'etat in Ukraine breaking the historic relationship with Russia and setting the stage for the subsequent NATO demonization of Russia. The one in charge for the Obama Administration of the Ukraine coup was then-Vice President Joe Biden. Today a bizarre Democrat impeachment attempt aimed at President Donald Trump has curiously enough put the spotlight on the dubious role that Joe Biden played in Ukraine affairs in 2014 and after. That Biden-steered coup had the unintended effect of causing a 180 degree geopolitical pivot of Moscow from West to East. The opening of a massive new gas pipeline now is only one of those unintended consequences.

On December 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the official opening of the Power of Siberia natural gas pipeline to Asia, servicing the growing China gas market. It met the planned deadline punctually, to the month. This marked the first Russian pipeline gas deliveries to China. In a videolink with China President Xi Jinping, Putin remarked, "This step is bringing Russian-Chinese strategic cooperation in energy to a whole new level." Xi called it "a milestone project for the bilateral energy cooperation."
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Attention

Pelosi's love, everyone's tragedy

Tom Luongo
Gold Goats 'n Guns
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Pelosi
© UnknownSpeaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi is a bitch. And in saying that I'm actually being sexist against female dogs, since every one of them I've ever met is a higher quality individual than Pelosi.

So, my apologies to dogs everywhere.

Just when you thought this power-mad harpy couldn't sink any lower she responds to a simple question from a reporter with the kind of lame, stuttering virtue-signaling that has become her signature move, to attack when confronted with the truth.

This screed is a masterclass in diversion and doublespeak. Her self-righteous anger is a dead giveaway that she was lying about her motivations for proceeding with this impeachment while scolding the CSPAN reporter who asked the question like he was an impudent child.

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Arrow Down

Russian DM Shoigu: Relations with NATO are 'degrading every day'


RFE/RL
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 14:24 UTC
Shoigu
© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASSRussian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has suggested that relations between Moscow and NATO are "not just halted but...degrading every day," citing a falloff that began "about five years ago."

Shoigu was responding to a question about Moscow's currently rocky relations with the transatlantic military alliance on Rossiya 1's weekend show on December 8.

"About five years ago, we had rather active cooperation in Brussels. We had our representative there," Shoigu said. "[Today] our partners are pulling out of more and more agreements, clearly along with the Americans. And the security space is getting increasingly narrow."

Neither the TASS nor the Interfax report that quoted Shoigu made any mention of Russia's 2014 illegal annexation of Ukraine, which sparked tough Western sanctions and many blame for the decline in the relationship.


Comment: Crimea was not illegally annexed. It was a Crimean population decision by vote.


Comment: See also:

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Rocket

N. Korea conducted a 'very important test' at a 'closed' missile site - a warning to the US?

Mark Moore
New York Post
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 08:46 UTC
Kim and Group
© KCNA/ReutersNorth Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and advisors
North Korea conducted a "very important test" at a long-range missile launch site that the reclusive regime had promised to close as part of nuclear weapons talks with the United States, state media reported on Sunday.

The development comes as Pyongyang has warned it would seek a "new path" with the stalled denuclearization talks if the US fails to make major concessions by the end of the year, according to KCNA, the Korean Central News Agency.

The test occurred Saturday at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground and will have an "important effect on changing the strategic position of (North Korea) once again in the near future," a spokesman for the North's Academy of National Defense Science said in a statement carried by KCNA.

North Korean President Kim Jong-un agreed to dismantle the Sohae facility during talks with President Trump in Singapore last year, but reports in March said it was being restored.

North Korea didn't elaborate on what the test included.

Comment: RT, 8/12/2019: Trump's response
President Donald Trump has insisted that the US will stick to its goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.



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Whistle

A bit overcharged? Defense contractor Navistar faked billing to the Pentagon bilking US gov of $1.28B


RT
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 20:46 UTC
MRAP vehicles
© Reuters/Lucas JacksonAmerican soldiers walk past a line of MRAP vehicles in Iraq, 2011.
A defense contractor overcharged the Pentagon by more than $1.2 billion for thousands of armored vehicles, a whistleblower's complaint alleges. The company also threatened employees who refused to go along with the grift.

With Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks responsible for more than six in ten deaths of US personnel in Iraq and four in ten deaths in Afghanistan in 2007, the Pentagon solicited designs for a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle to replace its thin-skinned Humvees. The military hoped the vehicles' thickened armor and explosion-deflecting v-shaped hulls would save lives on the battlefield.

Navistar Defense, one of the companies contracted to build the new MRAPs, saw green and decided to milk the government for as much cash as possible, according to a complaint filed by a company whistleblower in 2013 and unsealed this week after the US government intervened in the case.

The whistleblower, Navistar's former contract director Duquoin Burgess, claims that the company overcharged the government by $1.28 billion for the vehicles and parts. The Department of Justice is now seeking to recover three times that amount in damages from the contractor.

Comment: Oversight on spending, taking charge of costs and suppliers, bidding on contracts and simple accountability are ridiculously absent when it comes to Pentagon spending sprees. How wonderful the American public keeps picking up these tabs - the high cost of military appearance in times of no national threat.

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Star of David

US activists report Microsoft is 'taking Israeli occupation to a new level'

Azad Essa
Middle East Eye
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 15:00 UTC
Palestinians ckpoint
© AFPPalestinian women wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem on 24 June 2016.
Israeli firm funded by US tech giant collects biometric data at checkpoints and helps the government track the movement of Palestinians.

Anger and frustration is growing towards Microsoft for failing to put an end to its funding of an Israeli tech firm found to be conducting secret surveillance of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Microsoft has been under fire since an NBC News investigation in October found that Israeli start-up AnyVision was not only collecting biometric data of Palestinians at checkpoints but also using facial recognition software to help the Israeli government conduct surveillance on Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace, M Power Change and SumOfUs said that Microsoft's continued investment in the Israeli firm contradicted its own policies on facial recognition. The trio have demanded that Microsoft #DropAnyVision immediately.
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