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Memo to Trump: US won't escape Mideast wars until Israel ends oppression of Palestinians

Wall north of Bethlehem, from this site
Wall north of Bethlehem, from this site.
As Donald Trump heads out to the Middle East, the Israel supporters are in panic mode. They are confused by statements from the U.S. consulate saying that the western wall is not in Israel. They are afraid that Trump will put pressure on Israel over its neverending settlement project. They are concerned that Trump seemed to get along with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and that he has grand ambitions to make a deal between the two sides so he will have a legacy.

Sheldon Adelson is anguished/angry, CNN reports. While Israel advocate Martin Indyk says the mood is sour.
Israeli mood soured by Masada speech cancellation, 15 minutes at Yad Vashem, refusal to call Western Wall Israel's or move embassy to J'm.

Chess

Miko Peled: The 1967 Obsession, Trump and Trivia

Destruction of the 700 year old Mughrabi neighborhood was done immediately following the Israeli conquest of East Jerusalem to create the Western Wall plaza
Destruction of the 700 year old Mughrabi neighborhood was done immediately following the Israeli conquest of East Jerusalem to create the Western Wall plaza
I arrived in Jerusalem last night and as always during the weeks between mid-May and mid-June the media is full of romanticized memories. Within these weeks are the two most siginicfant dates in modern Palestinian history: May 1948 when Palestine was conquered and renamed Israel, and June, 1967 when the Israeli army completed the conquest of Palestine by taking East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. For Palestinians these dates bring back bitter memories, but for Israelis the memories are sweet - those were the days when we were young and brave and innocent. Vintage photos of soldiers at the newly conquered Western Wall, generals announcing "the Temple Mount is in our hands," and teary-eyed old Jews praying with devotion are everywhere. The horrors that make up the Palestinian memories, the piles of dead bodies, civilians panicking as they are forcibly exiled, children lost in the mayhem and ancient villages and communities bulldozed only to be rebuilt for Jews are rarely shown or discussed.

Palestinian refugees fleeing to Jordan across the wrecked Alenbi Bridge
Palestinian refugees fleeing to Jordan across the wrecked Alenbi Bridge
To add to all that, Donald Trump is expected to arrive in Jerusalem and this gives the press and the official state PR machine an even greater opportunity to deal with the two things they love best: smoke screens and trivia. Gaza? never even heard of it! Fifteen hundred innocent political prisoners on a hunger strike for over a month? Nobody cares! But check this out: apparently Trump will fly directly from Saudi Arabia to Tel-Aviv and this is the first direct flight between the two countries; the King David Hotel in Jerusalem is preparing for Trump's visit and a drone was spotted in the hotel parking lot! And the ongoing burning question, will the great deal maker be able to close the Israeli-Palestinian peace Deal? All smoke screens and trivia which are the staples of tabloids - a category into which most Israeli media outlets fit perfectly - though in their defense one must admit that there is no point in dealing with substance because Trump's visit will offer none.

Here are a few items that are sure not to be on Trump's agenda: Two million people in Gaza have no access to clean water, proper nutrition or medicine. They have been victims of devastating attacks for seven decades and before they can recover from one assault there is another one pending. The Israeli water authority allocates only 3% of the water to Palestinians even though they make up more than 50% of the overall population. More than 55% of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship live below the poverty line, and even though they rate one of the highest in the world in literacy, there is massive unemployment among Palestinians. Palestinians in the West Bank live under a brutal military regime governed by Israeli commanders who impose inhumane laws and prevent people from enjoying the basic most human rights. Seven thousand political prisoners sit in Israeli jails in violation of international law, over fifteen hundred of them on a hunger strike for over a month.

Star of David

US and Israel: 'An integrated political system'

Rashid Khalidi
Rashid Khalidi
Since the end of the Cold War, more than 25 years ago, the United States has undermined the prospects for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians argues Rashid Khalidi in his book Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. has Undermined Peace in the Middle East (2013). Dahlia Scheindlin interviewed him in New York this week for the Tel Aviv Review. Successive American administrations, says Khalidi, have been unable and unwilling to force Israel to make the concessions necessary to implement the peace proposal on the table: a two state solution.

Menachem Begin laid down the template for Israeli resistance during the Camp David negotiations with Egypt, says Khalidi. He figured out that the formula for not being forced to make concessions is to defer action forever. The '79 peace treaty with Egypt permitted Israel to continue settlement in the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli Sovereignty over the West Bank was not touched.

Snakes in Suits

Trump escalating Syrian proxy war

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis welcomes Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman to the Pentagon
© DoD photo by Sgt. Amber I. SmithDefense Secretary Jim Mattis welcomes Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman to the Pentagon, March 16, 2017.
Back in February, it was quietly reported that the CIA had discontinued its support program to rebels in Syria. A month later, a knowledgeable source from the region disclosed to me that the Trump administration and the Saudi defense minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had agreed during their meetings in mid-March for the Gulf states to re-open supply channels to their rebel proxies.

This was done, the source said, to keep the Syrian government's army and its allied Russian air force occupied so that the U.S. and its Kurdish allies could continue dividing northern Syria, establishing a zone-of-influence throughout the lands they recapture from the Islamic State.

Concurrent with this was a similar effort in the southeast, where U.S. and Jordanian backed forces have been battling ISIS while attempting to establish control over the border with Iraq. The strategy was to use the fight against ISIS as a pretext for establishing a de-facto occupation of Syrian territory, where in the Kurdish-held regions the U.S. has already established multiple military bases and airfields.


Comment: Appears to be an effort to create "safe zones": US attack on Syrian forces: Asserting 'safe zones'


Snakes in Suits

N. Korea to US: 'Roll back hostile policy' to give dialogue a chance

red brick wall
© StratforUS and NK up against a wall?
US should "roll back" its hostile policy against North Korea before any dialogue between the two countries can be launched, North Korea's deputy UN envoy said. "As everybody knows, the Americans have gestured [toward] dialogue," Deputy UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong told reporters Friday, as cited by Reuters. "But what is important is not words, but actions."

Any dialogue between the two countries, however, would be impossible unless the US ceased its "hostile policy," the envoy said. "The rolling back of the hostile policy towards DPRK is the prerequisite for solving all the problems in the Korean Peninsula," he said. "Therefore, the urgent issue to be settled on the Korean Peninsula is to put a definite end to the US hostile policy towards DPRK, the root cause of all problems."

The ambassador praised the latest successful North Korean missile launch, stating that the country would not give in to US pressure. "The US should mind that the DPRK nuclear strike capability will be strengthened and developed at a rapidly high speed as long as the US insists on its anti-DPRK policy, nasty nuclear threats and blackmail, sanctions and pressure," the envoy said, as cited by AP.

The missile launch was unanimously condemned by the UN Security Council as a violation in defiance of UN sanctions. The UNSC vowed to take new measures against North Korea, which might include additional sanctions.

Comment: War is expensive. Talk is cheap...but so worth every penny!

See also: Off leash: Nikki Haley threatens other countries with sanctions regarding North Korea: 'You're with us or against us'


Attention

Mattis claims N. Korea military solution would be "tragic on unbelievable scale"

Gen Mattis
© Press TVUS Secretary of Defence James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis
With the media narrative once again focused squarely on Trump and the "Russian connection", something which will unlikely change over the next week absent "fireworks" elsewhere, the story of potential military intervention in South Korea has understandably dropped from the front pages. Although with a second US aircraft carrier now en route to the Korean Peninsula, and with Trump desperate for another "big bang" distraction, is it shortsighted to underestimate the potential of another geopolitical hotspot emerging in the next few days.

While the answer is unknown, on Friday afternoon Defense Secretary Jim Mattis reminded the American public just how high the potential stakes are when he said that any military solution to the North Korea crisis would be "tragic on an unbelievable scale" and that Washington was working internationally to find a diplomatic solution.

Comment: Does anyone else find it disconcerting that global hot spots are traded around as distractions when some issue or other needs to be buried?


Chess

House bill requires US to monitor European criticism of Israel

usa jewish guy capitol
© hassanbleibel.comThe Chokehold
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill that would add greater detail to State Department reporting on anti-Semitism in Europe.

The Combating European Anti-Semitism Act of 2017 passed Wednesday requires the State Department to report to Congress on security challenges to European Jewish communities and to the police forces where they live, and on efforts in Europe to educate against anti-Semitism. The bill, which must be approved by the Senate and then signed by the president, also encourages European nations to adopt a uniform definition of anti-Semitism.

The State Department currently must report to Congress on the level of threats against Jews in European countries. "This bill would require the U.S. government — and encourage our global partners — to continue to take a hard look at anti-Semitism in Europe, provide a thorough assessment of trends, and outline what the United States and our partners are doing to meet this challenge," said a statement from the Bipartisan Taskforce for Combating Anti-Semitism.

Comment: Maybe, just maybe, Europe should take care of Europe and whatever antisemitism stigmatism it might have. How does the US Congress cross the pond to deal with verbal harassment, personal and community security or have any input to European Jewish daily life? And, the US Govt is going to partner with European law enforcement agencies and civil society groups? Consider: it is out of any US jurisdiction and a misuse of US tax dollars and time spent by Congress. This is a master manipulation of social issues and a grand play by Israel to turn antisemitism into a global 'Israel-centric' definition in order to silence support for Palestinians and anything else it doesn't want. Who is in command of the world?

For essential background information (it is jaw-dropping) on the new Israel-centric definition they are promoting see: International campaign is criminalizing criticism of Israel as 'antisemitism'

Also take a look at:
H.R.672 - Combating European Anti-Semitism Act of 2017


Dollars

HML Kevin McCarthy in 2016: 'I think Putin pays Trump,' Post fans smoke where there is no fire

Kevin McCarthy
© AOL.comKevin McCarthy's amusement at the 'reveal.'
A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"There's two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump," McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy's assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.


Before the conversation, McCarthy and Ryan had emerged from separate talks at the Capitol with Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladi­mir Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions.

News had just broken the day before in The Washington Post that Russian government hackers had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee, prompting McCarthy to shift the conversation from Russian meddling in Europe to events closer to home.

Some of the lawmakers laughed at McCarthy's comment. Then McCarthy quickly added: "Swear to God." Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: "No leaks. . . . This is how we know we're a real family here." The remarks remained secret for nearly a year.


Comment: The Post takes any excuse, even a joking conversation, to double down on the theme of nefarious (but fictitious) Russian involvement and the compromise of the Trump administration.

From Thomson Reuters:
McCarthy fired back at the report on Twitter on Wednesday, saying, "This was an attempt at humor gone wrong."

A spokesman for Ryan said the remarks were meant as humor and had been taken out of context.

"This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians," Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said.

Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher on Wednesday told reporters that McCarthy's quip was a joke. "The trouble is, when you ever try to be funny, it is really taken seriously by a third party, and that's what's happened here," he said.



X

Lavrov refutes claims he discussed Comey's dismissal with Trump

TrumpLavrov
© RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has refuted the claims that he had ostensibly discussed the dismissal of the former FBI director Comey with US President Donald Trump during the minister's meeting with the US President on May 10.

Earlier this week, mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post, New York Times published articles claiming that Trump had told Lavrov that firing Comey ameliorated "great pressure."

"We did not touch on that topic at all," Lavrov told reporters on Saturday.

According to the mainstream media, while speaking with Lavrov, Trump reportedly said: "I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off... I'm not under investigation." Presumably, the pressure was lifted because Trump had just fired the "crazy" Comey, whom he allegedly went as far as describing as a "real nut job."

The media outlets that had claimed that the issue was raised during the meeting failed to provide any proof.

On May 9, Trump fired Comey following "clear recommendations" from both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Later, Trump said that he had made the decision himself.

Comment: How the US political world now works. Vigilance in discernment.


Sherlock

How the Pakistani journalist Masood Anwar exposed the CIA's most secretive operation

The CIA’s rendition of suspected Al Qaeda supporters involved kidnapping and torture and no trials
© TRT WorldThe CIA’s rendition of suspected Al Qaeda supporters involved kidnapping and torture and no trials
Masood Anwar's story triggered a global search for the plane that blew the lid off the notorious "extraordinary rendition" programme. It all started with the registration number of a private jet that had whisked away a terrorism suspect from Karachi.

The First Clue

It was the start of just another day for Masood Anwar, a seasoned Pakistani journalist, on an October morning in 2001. He was supposed to meet a bureaucrat at the headquarters of the country's civil aviation regulator in the port city of Karachi, a routine affair for a beat reporter, which typically includes more discussions about politics than airlines over cups of tea.

The offices of Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority are located near the city's airport, overlooking the runway and the apron where the aircraft are parked.

On his way, Anwar ran into an old acquaintance who took him aside and, in a whispering voice, related an incident that marked the beginning of a tale that would ultimately span over a dozen countries, involve kidnappings, illegal extradition and torture - all coordinated by the US Central Intelligence Agency.

"'There were men in masks. A jet was parked in an obscure corner of the terminal. They took a hooded man onboard in the early hours. Someone videotaped the entire thing. No one was allowed near the site,'" Anwar recalls being told by the man, who spoke without taking a breath.

Along with a journalist friend, Tariq Abul Hasan, he began making calls to try and find out more. Soon enough, scattered pieces of information came together to shape a storyline: