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Abbas says Jews' role in banking and usury got them massacred - apologizes

Adam Rasgon
Jerusalem Post
Tue, 01 May 2018 18:46 UTC
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
© Eduardo Munoz / Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Jews in Europe were massacred for centuries because of their "social role related to usury and banks," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday.

Abbas made the statement in a speech at the beginning of a meeting of the Palestinian National Council, a top PLO body that is convening in Ramallah this week to elect members to two other PLO institutions.

The comments marked the second time in several months that the 83-year-old Palestinian leader spoke about his take on Jewish and Zionist history. In a speech in January at a meeting of the PLO Central Council, Abbas discussed his perspective on Jewish and Zionist history, arguing Israel is a "colonial project with no relationship to Judaism."

His comments in January were met with a highly critical response and accusations of antisemitism by Israeli government officials and Jewish organizations and overshadowed other remarks he made about coexistence and nonviolence.

Abbas's remarks on Monday appear to reflect that the PA president has become less concerned with the ramifications of making comments that Israel and much of the international community likely reject.

"From the 11th century until the Holocaust that took place in Germany, the Jews - who moved to Western and Eastern Europe - were subjected to a massacre every 10 to 15 years. But why did this happen?" Abbas said on Monday, before interjecting, "The Jewish issue that was widespread in all European countries... was not because of their religion, but rather their social role related to usury and banks."

Comment: Theodor Herzl wrote in The Jewish State (p. 91):
"When we sink, we become a revolutionary proletariat, the subordinate officers of all revolutionary parties; and at the same time, when we rise, there rises also our terrible power of the purse."
herzel jews finance
Abbas has since apologized for his remark:
"If people were offended by my statement, especially people of the Jewish faith, I apologize to them. I would like to assure everyone that it was not my intention to do so, and to reiterate my full respect for the Jewish faith, as well as other monotheistic faiths," Abbas said on Friday.

He went on to "reiterate our long-held condemnation of the Holocaust as the most heinous crime in history, and express our sympathy with its victims... Likewise, we condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms, and confirm our commitment to the two-state solution, and to live side by side in peace and security."

The gesture was rejected by Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who responded by calling Abbas a "wretched Holocaust denier."


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Briefcase

Latest reshuffle of White House legal team signals more combative approach

Chris Megerian
Liberty Headlines
Thu, 03 May 2018 18:13 UTC
ty cobb trump

Ty Cobb (L) President Donald Trump (R)
With Cobb's departure, "the number of people who think the president should talk to Mueller has gotten to zero"...

Another senior member of President Donald Trump's legal team is stepping down, the latest high-level turmoil as the White House grapples with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's efforts to interview the president - and to subpoena him if necessary.

The shake-up Wednesday was seen as another sign that Trump is seeking a more combative approach to the Russia investigation, which has clouded his presidency from the start and led to criminal charges against several former aides so far.
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Red Flag

Proposed bipartisan bill could give any president the power to place US citizens in military detention forever

Jon Schwarz
The Intercept
Tue, 01 May 2018 14:29 UTC
guantanamo
© Alaa Faqir / Reuters
One of the most outrageous acts of Barack Obama's presidency was his failure to veto the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012.

The fiscal year 2012 NDAA included provisions that appeared to both codify and expand a power the executive branch had previously claimed to possess - namely, the power to hold individuals, including U.S. citizens, in military detention indefinitely - based on the Authorization to Use Military Force passed by Congress three days after 9/11.

The New York Times warned that the bill could "give future presidents the authority to throw American citizens into prison for life without charges or a trial." Not surprisingly, Obama's decision generated enormous outcry across the political spectrum, from Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, on the right to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the left.

However, the NDAA did provide some weak restraints on the executive branch's ability to use this power. In theory, the NDAA's provisions only apply to someone involved with the 9/11 attacks or who "substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces."

But now, incredibly enough, a bipartisan group of six lawmakers, led by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., is proposing a new AUMF that would greatly expand who the president can place in indefinite military detention, all in the name of restricting presidential power. If the Corker-Kaine bill becomes law as currently written, any president, including Donald Trump, could plausibly claim extraordinarily broad power to order the military to imprison any U.S. citizen, captured in America or not, and hold them without charges essentially forever.

Comment: See also: Senators launch a resolution limiting presidential war powers after Trump's Syria strikes

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Attention

Big help! Giuliani effectively says Trump (while President) paid Cohen a $420K slush fund to handle 'things of a personal nature'

Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Wall Street on Parade
Thu, 03 May 2018 00:00 UTC
Rudy Giuliani
© Fox News
Rudy Giuliani on Fox and Friends
What Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and Donald Trump's latest legal fixer did last night was to effectively tell Trump's mortal enemy, the Washington Post, that Trump paid his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, a $420,000 slush fund last year to clean up dirt on the President. Cohen is the target of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Cohen's home, office, hotel room and safety deposit box were raided by the FBI on April 9.

In an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News last evening, and then later with the Washington Post, Giuliani buried both himself and the President deeper into a web of half truths or outright lies while managing to taint the legal work he does at his law firm, Greenberg Traurig, a corporate law behemoth with 2,000 lawyers in 38 offices on three continents.

By the end of the evening one thing was clear - Giuliani had concocted such a shifting, nebulous alibi for Trump that it didn't even hold up to a few hours of media scrutiny let alone a future interview with a Federal prosecutor.

Comment: See also:

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Magic Hat

Down the rabbit hole: Blaming Iran for 9/11

Kristen Breitweiser
Huffington Post
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 15:43 UTC
9-11 11 septiembre
© Reuters
A firefighter works in rescue operations after the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Largely unreported and unknown to almost everyone is the recent push to re-establish an Iranian role in the 9/11 attacks. To be more specific, some in Washington are currently trying to allege that Iran played a larger role in the 9/11 attacks than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Why this assertion about Iran- that has been lying fallow for years-is so recently being resurrected raises questions, bears scrutiny, and begs an examination.

Prior to delving into the Iranian revelations, some background is needed to best understand the rather inorganic evolution of this Iranian evidence. As many know, the 9/11 Families have spent the past 16 years trying to hold the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks accountable for the mass murder of our loved ones. First, we fought for the 9/11 Commission so that we might have an independent investigation into the attacks, learn lessons, fix problems, and hold those in government accountable for their failures that contributed to the vast devastation of that horrific day. Next, as an expressly granted right given to us by Congress in the creation of the 2001 Airline Stabilization Act (more commonly known as the 9/11 Victims' Compensation Fund), we attempted to hold all the co-conspirators of the 9/11 attacks accountable in a federal court of law. Notably, to the 9/11 Families the definition of "co-conspirators" was always a "both-and" situation, not the more exclusionary "either-or" scenario. In other words, we wanted any and all of those who played a hand (however large or small) in the murder of our loved ones held accountable.

Trying to hold co-conspirators of the 9/11 attacks accountable in federal court is not as easy as the public might think. First, the U.S. government plays a large role with a strong hand in determining who can be qualified as a "co-conspirator." Notably, this decision historically hinges upon who is "in favor" or "out of favor" with the U.S. government. It can also depend on the foreign and domestic policy agendas of the U.S. government. (Ironically enough, both of these things-domestic and foreign policy agendas -are what created the 9/11 attacks in the first place but that is a much larger topic in need of a tome not a blog.)

Comment: See: Delusional New York Judge orders Iran to pay billions to families of 9/11 victims

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Propaganda

Mainstream media uses disinformation to accuse Russia of spreading disinformation


Moon of Alabama
Sat, 05 May 2018 15:35 UTC
media manipulation disinformation propaganda
© Garzon
The Grauniad is slipping deeper into the disinformation business: Revealed: UK's push to strengthen anti-Russia alliance is the headline of a page one piece which reveals exactly nothing. There is no secret lifted and no one was discomforted by a questioning journalist.

Like other such pieces it uses disinformation to accuse Russia of spreading such.

The main 'revelation' is stenographed from a British government official. Some quotes from the usual anti-Russian propagandists were added. Dubious or false 'western' government claims are held up as truth. That Russia does not endorse them is proof for Russian mischievousness and its 'disinformation'.
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Info

Trump's flawed Pakistan policy versus Imran Khan's road show

Seth Ferris
New Eastern Outlook
Fri, 04 May 2018 13:52 UTC
Imran Khan
Pakistan is still in the grip of not knowing who to cheer on: Trump or their own Imran Kahn. Pakistanis still don't quite know whether to take the cricket player seriously, but now they are taking the time to listen to him. Hopefully they will also ask why he has emerged as a political force, and what this tells us about the Western attitude towards their country.

Khan likes to paint himself as Donald Trump's worst enemy. With so many Pakistanis resident in the West, and particularly the UK and Commonwealth countries, he is not going to be anti-Western if he wants an audience. But he has found a way of preying on the Pakistani mentality of feeling part of the West, but above it.

According to Khan, the US is trying to blame Pakistan for its own failures in Afghanistan. This is undoubtedly true, but it is not as simple as that. The US is good at playing two ends against the middle and playing off one neighbor against another, as in the case of its flawed India and Pakistan policy, likely doomed from the start.
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Info

North Korea: Dancing the tango on the brink of war

Iqbal Alimohamed
Oriental Review
Thu, 03 May 2018 13:25 UTC
A US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile
© AP
A US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile is fired during the combined military exercise between the United States and South Korea against North Korea, July 5, 2017..
Much of the world today is on tenterhooks awaiting the outcome of the US-North Korea Summit on denuclearization of North Korea. Both US President Trump and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un are idiosyncratic, whimsical and conceited and it will be interesting, if not hilarious, to watch (pardon my hypocrisy) how they will tango, without stepping on each other and hurting their big toes, bigger egos and, putting at risk the once-in-a-lifetime chance of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

History is replete with instances of attempts and failures to achieve Nuclear Disarmament. When the US, Russia and other states realized during the Cold War, of the extreme dangers inherent in nuclear weaponry, a series of disarmament and non-proliferation treaties were agreed upon after years of negotiations. Among the more notable are the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) of 1968, with its three main pillars: nonproliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology, SALT I (1972), SALT II (1979), START I (1991), START II (1993) and New START Treaty (2012).
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Star of David

Israel withdraws bid for UN Security Council seat


RT
Sat, 05 May 2018 13:03 UTC
Danny Danon with US's Nikki Haley
© Brendan McDermid / Reuters
Seeing little support amid international criticism over its violent crackdown on Palestinian protesters, Israel has announced it will not be seeking a rotating two-year non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

"After consulting with our partners, including our good friends, the State of Israel has decided to postpone its candidacy for a seat on the Security Council," the Israeli delegation to the UN said.

At the same time, the diplomatic mission stressed that the country will remain "active" in the United Nations to exercise the country's rights in the decision-making processes of the world body. "This includes the Security Council as well as an emphasis on areas related to development and innovation," the statement added.
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Info

Trump to ask Israel to withdraw from 4 east Jerusalem neighborhoods in exchange for more military support

Yanir Cozin & Maaric Hashavua
The Jerusalem Post
Fri, 04 May 2018 12:54 UTC
Jerusalem
The Trump administration will ask Israel to withdraw from four Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, which will likely become the capital of a future Palestinian state, US officials told Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman during his visit to Washington last week.

The transfer of control over the neighborhoods - Jebl Mukabar, Isawiya, Shuafat and Abu Dis - was presented to Liberman as just one piece of the larger peace plan the administration has been working on over the last year. Israel, the officials indicated, would be expected to accept the plan once it is presented despite the potentially painful concessions.

News of the demand come less than two weeks before the US Embassy officially moves to Jerusalem on May 14.

The full plan is expected to be unveiled shortly after the embassy moves.

Comment: Israel's war on Iran has begun - What will Russia do about it?

Also, how much more military funding and support can the US give Israel? Trump's budget cuts State Dept, keeps foreign aid of $3.1billion to Israel, silent on other countries . As stated in the article:
Foreign aid to Israel was previously set under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), an agreement signed by former President George W. Bush in 2007. That funding, which represents a 10-year commitment, is set to increase in 2019 after former President Barack Obama signed an MOU that will set funding to Israel at $3.8 billion...

... Trump originally wanted to slash as much as 37 percent of the funding for the State Department, according to the New York Times. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was given discretion in choosing where to make the cuts, with the exception of Israel, which the White House told him to leave unchanged.


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