Russia's federal media regulator, Roskomnadzor, is warning mass media outlets that they can be blocked for spreading content created by outlawed "undesirable organizations."See also:
Roskomnadzor's announcement comes two days after the Russian government ordered Internet providers to block websites and social media accounts belonging to Open Russia, a political movement launched by former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
- On December 13, Open Russia revealed that Roskomnadzor has ordered Twitter to block its account. The U.S. microblogging service was given 24 hours to cut Russians' access to Open Russia's Twitter account.
- On December 12, the Russian government ordered Internet providers to start blocking various websites tied to Open Russia. Russian officials say the movement has been blacklisted as an "undesirable organization," but Open Russia's representatives say they've been confused with an organization based in Britain that has the same name.
- The Russian social network Odnoklassniki has already suspended Open Russia's account. At the time of this writing, the movement's pages on Facebook and Vkontakte were still working.
When it comes to America's present challenges-from Iran to North Korea, China to Russia, Syria to Ukraine-Mr. Cotton, a conservative Republican, is squarely on Team [Teddy] Roosevelt. "There is always a military option," he says. "That is the case everywhere in the world."There might technically be a "military option" in every case, but only madmen would always prefer that option over the alternatives. One of the many problems with Cotton's worldview is that he favors military action when none is needed and other responses would either be more effective or less costly or both. The only military intervention he can bring himself to criticize is the Libyan war, and then only because it gives him a chance to score points on Obama for not intervening more aggressively in Syria:
In Jordan, the lower house of parliament has decided unanimously to carry out a comprehensive review of the various agreements signed with Israel. Khalil Attiyeh, the deputy speaker of the Jordanian parliament, initiated the bill to review Jordan's agreements with Israel. He told Al-Monitor that the parliament had to act big. "When the issue is as big as Jerusalem, the reaction has to be at the same level."The OIC's full statement can be read here. Erdogan is this year's chairman for the OIC. During his speech, he went on the offensive, showing maps of regions illegally occupied by Israel, calling Israel a child-murderer and terrorist state, criticizing Israel's rogue nuclear weapons program... Iran's President Rouhani even extended an olive branch of sorts to Saudi Arabia, saying Iran "is willing to cooperate with ALL MUSLIM COUNTRIES over defending Al-Quds without any precondition." Now it just remains to be seen how united the OIC nations can remain.
The Jordanian parliamentary bill introduced by Attiyeh calls on the judiciary committee to review all agreements signed with Israel and "to list all violations to the agreements, providing suggestions about them in light of Israeli violations of international agreements."
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Leading Arab commentator Oraib al-Rantawi, writing in Jordan's Ad-Dustourpaper, said that in light of the popular anger in the entire region, Arab governments have only one choice: "To ride the wave and to be as quiet about actions as possible until the ominous month of December is over."
Rantawi hinted in the same article that after the wave passes, Arab leaders will return to the need for "realism" and will come back to the US mediator. Being "quiet" means that no major decisions should be made.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, widespread protests have made it impossible for Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's administration not to take a strong stand. On Dec. 9, Cairo hosted an emergency meeting of the Arab League, which all foreign ministers of Arab countries, including the feuding Gulf countries, attended.
The Arab League adopted a 16-point resolution rejecting the US decision and calling on all countries to recognize Palestine based on the June 4, 1967, borders. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari argued that the decision didn't go far enough, and called for even tougher diplomatic measures to be taken, a possible hint to the countries who have peace agreements with Israel.
By doing what he did, Trump compelled the OIC to respond by reaffirming many of its members' existing positions in recognizing East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, which implies the existence of a West Jerusalem that could potentially be the capital of Israel following its formal recognition by the Ummah after a peace settlement is eventually reached. This holds remarkable implications because it creates the conditions for moving the peace process forward, as all of the OIC's member states just agreed to acknowledge the pre-1967 division of Jerusalem prior to Israel's full and illegal occupation of its entirety.Trump injecting a little bit of that "Art of the Deal" chaos seems to have opened up a bunch of possibilities:
...Even in the unlikely possibility that this was part of a "master plan" by the US to restart the peace process, which it doesn't seem to have genuinely been in any case, it's certainly not unfolding as Washington may have wanted.
The OIC also declared in its joint statement that the US is no longer welcome to participate in negotiations over the two-state solution unless Trump reverses his decision, which isn't likely given his personal predisposition and disinclination to publicly appear as though he's backing down over anything, let alone a demand issued by a group of Muslim countries. That, however, opens up an historic window of opportunity for Russia to step in and take the role in leading this process instead, seeing as how it enjoys excellent relations with both Israel and the Ummah.
It also shouldn't be forgotten that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared in April of this year that it will recognize West Jerusalem as Israel's capital so long as East Jerusalem is made the capital of a future Palestinian state. Seeing as how the OIC implicitly agreed to this through its joint statement without directly saying as much, the door is now open for Russia to replace the lost American role in leading the two-state solution by "balancing" between both competing parties and helping to breathe new life into this stalled process.
Palestinian officials have expressed worry that Saudi Arabia is forgoing important Palestinian rights as it acts behind the scenes to advance a United States "grand bargain" over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that heavily favors Israeli interests.
Four Palestinian officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity on Friday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had communicated a proposal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that would give away the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of a future Palestinian state in return for conditions unfavorable to Palestinians, Reuters reported on Friday.
That proposal has reportedly been shaped by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and "senior adviser," who has developed a close relationship with Mohammed bin Salman.
The Palestinian officials expressed concern that the proposal is too much in line with Israeli interests and to the disadvantage of Palestinians, whose land Israel has occupied.
Comment: Further reading: