by Oui
Mon Oct 30th, 2023 at 03:59:17 PM EST
Arrogance of a fascist led Israeli government trampling on human rights for decades. Recently at the annual United Nations General Assembly.
Stop Apartheid, end the occupation of Palestinian land.
From the Sea to the Jordan River ... and beyond!
Israel-Saudi Normalization: the Fix is In | Tikun Olam |
Saudi Arabia sells out Palestine in order to get US nuclear reactor and defense pact
Israel has gotten its cherished visa-free gift and the US has gotten nothing in return.
The next gift to Israel appears to be a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, which will also offer the Saudis a nuclear reactor and a mutual defense pact. As with the visa waiver approval, Israel will give but a few trinkets in exchange. It has promised the Saudis unspecified relief for the Palestinians, which is far short of what the Saudis themselves have demanded in the past: an independent Palestinian state. Now, the Saudis are perfectly willing to give up the Palestinians for their 30 pieces of silver.
The US has sought Israeli approval for the most nettlesome part of the deal as far as Israel is concerned: the nuclear reactor. It is aware that a "civilian" nuclear reactor can fairly easily be turned into a military reactor, enriching enough uranium to produce a nuclear weapon. No promise by the Saudis or undertaking by the US that this reactor will be restricted to civilian use, is credible.
Netanyahu confidant, Ron Dermer traveled to Washington last August to hear from Biden officials about their plans. He averred that Israel might accept a Saudi reactor. An astonishing about-face for a country which has bombed three different Middle Eastern countries pursing a nuclear program (Iraq, Syria, and Iran).
[...]
There has been talk of Israel "handing over" more territory to Palestinian control. Which is laughable because those areas which are supposed to now be under its control, aren't. Israeli forces invade it at will. They disarm or kill Palestinian security forces who dare to interfere. The invades villages in the dead of night, trash homes, arrest and kill teenagers. In other words, Israeli commitments mean nothing. They aren't enforceable and there is no recourse when they are violated.
When Palestinians are relegated to an afterthought in this process, what impact does the US think it will have on them? Likely, Biden officials will wash their hands of it and make it Israel's "problem." All of this is a recipe for even more despair than there already is. More armed resistance. More blood flowing in Israel and Palestinian streets. More dead children.
I disagreed and said so ...
Oui says on October 3, 2023 at 12:26 AM
Normalization would mean joining the Abraham Accords, I do not see this happening within 24 months.
KSA sees itself not only as guardian of the most holy shrines, but also the Islamic canter of all 1.5 bn Muslims. I watch the development in other majority Islamic states like Indonesia (HSR BRI deal), Pakistan, Kazakhstan, ... and Maldives. These nations are turning towards China.
The rapprochement between KSA and Iran is not a done deal, but is the balance how King Salman (yes ultimate decision maker) views Israel and agreement with Netanyahu.
Saudi Arabia opinion Arab News:
What Netanyahu got wrong in his UN speech by Osama Al-Sharif
The New Middle East? Globalization, Peace and the 'Double Movement`
Abstract
The `rise and fall' of the New Middle East (NME) cannot be separated from wider global developments and must therefore be studied in relation to them, in both their ideational and material aspects. The ideological background of the NME has drawn upon the ideology of globalization and shares its underlying tenets of rationality, professionalism and virtues of market economy. In the early 1990s a discourse of globalization was set in motion, highlighting economic and technological development that supposedly rendered territory and territorial disputes marginal or irrelevant. The NME, supported by Israel's business, political and academic elites, advocated liberal economics and peace as a solution to the region's problems. But Israeli elites have failed to turn the idea of the NME to a hegemonic concept, as this attempted liberal hegemony invoked a Polanyian 'double movement' that undermined the peace process. The scenario of the NME and the trade-off between territorial integrity and promised regional prosperity not only met fierce ideological rejection, but perhaps more importantly, failed to persuade the many more sceptics. Limited in its appeal and lacking sufficient legitimacy, the peace process was exposed to derailment by extremists, locking the region into cycles of violence.
Introduction
While the New Middle East outlined a peace process based on mutual gains, in reality the actual peace process between Israel and the Palestinians was a typical bargaining process, often zero-sum in nature, in which each side attempted to secure its interests. But in the background, and underlying the attempted public appeal of the process, loomed the prospect of an NME, supposedly a promise for a better future, overriding the mundane obstacles for peace. For a brief period, shortly after the conclusion of the Oslo Accords, the NME seemed to shift from dream to reality. Businessmen and politicians traveled across the Middle East discussing regional projects and promoting joint ventures. Multinational corporations invested or expressed their intention to invest and optimism abounded.
The story of Ziad Agbariah quoted above may very well be symbolic of both sides of the `before and after' coin: the short spring of the NME and its fall. In the era of promise, a relatively well-to-do Palestinian family from Ramallah could go out to McDonalds in Tel Aviv, experiencing, even if to a limited extent, the world of globalization and consumption of the product most associated with it. For Israeli families of the same status the benefits of globalization were more tangible and a part of their everyday experience. The era of optimism, however, was short-lived. The promise of the NME was shattered by a return to violence, the derailment of the peace process and the public('s) loss of faith.
The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, an Israeli think tank, published a paper titled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm"
Labour Keir Starmer Fails Humanity, Loses Voters
As the boomerang hit Starmer in the back of his head. Killing the Left by ousting pro-Palestinain voices at the urging of Israel lobby groups in the UK, leaves the Labour leader bloody naked.
Labour losing voters over Gaza matters - whether it hurts electorally or not | The Guardian - Opinion |
Cathy had voted Labour all her life. Then she heard an LBC interview with Keir Starmer. In it, he was asked if it was "appropriate" that Israel should besiege Gaza, cutting off power and water. "I think Israel does have that right," Starmer replied. Cathy immediately resigned from the party, which she joined three years ago when Starmer was elected leader. "This has been the last straw," she tells me. Previous straws, she says, include a raft of policies that Labour had watered down, and Tory policies that Labour would not repeal. But Labour's position on the siege of Gaza has killed off the little faith she had left.
With that one interview and his response to its fallout, Starmer has demonstrated to some Labour voters not just his failure to engage with how strongly they feel, but a wider, more perilous vulnerability in his political project: a heartless intransigence that threatens to exhaust the goodwill so far extended to him.
Patience is running out, even among high-profile Labour figures. Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham and Anas Sarwar have all broken ranks with the Labour leadership and called for a ceasefire. As Israeli forces step up ground operations in Gaza and the humanitarian situation grows even more desperate, on the cards is not just a Labour party revolt but a voter boycott.
The consistency in the position of several Labour voters I spoke to over the past few days is striking. The main assertion: they will not be voting for this Labour party. The reason: the party crossed a line by effectively endorsing Israel's killing and besieging of civilians. The language of a final reckoning came up a lot: "a red line", "a line in the sand", "the straw that broke the camel's back", a "mask has slipped". And the anger is by no means sectarian. "It's easier to frame it as a Muslim issue," says Calum, a member who has left the party. "It's not a Muslim issue. It's a human one."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan defies Labour line Keir Starmer with call for Gaza cease-fire
Mayor of London breaks ranks with Labour leadership to criticise Israel, deepening division within the party over the war in Gaza
Two senior Labour figures on Friday urged a cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas -- putting them directly at odds with the party's leader, Keir Starmer.
London mayor Sadiq Khan -- one of the opposition party's most prominent figures -- and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar both broke ranks amid mounting pressure on Starmer to go beyond his current call for humanitarian "pauses" to the fighting.
"The terrible situation in Gaza now looks set to deteriorate even further," Khan said in a video posted on X Friday.
"I join the international community in calling for a cease-fire," he said. "It will stop the killing and would allow vital aid supplies to reach those who need it in Gaza, but it will also allowed the international community more time to prevent a protracted conflict in the region and further devastating loss of life."
Starmer 'gravely misrepresented' meeting, say Muslim leaders in Wales
The South Wales Islamic Centre apologized for 'hurt and confusion' caused by hosting Labour leader in light of his comments over Israel-Hamas conflict
Keir Starmer has been accused of having "gravely misrepresented" a meeting with Muslim leaders in Wales, amid anger among some in Labour over his remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Labour's damage limitation response did little but entrench this view of an untrustworthy, cynical leadership. It took Starmer days to address his LBC comments, and then, bizarrely, he claimed that he never said them at all. Then there was his visit to a mosque and Islamic centre in south Wales, a sanitation exercise that backfired epically. On social media, Starmer posted images of smiling congregants, saying he had "repeated our calls for hostages to be released, more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, for water and power to be switched back on, and a renewed focus on the two-state solution". A statement issued by South Wales Islamic Centre via the Muslim Council of Wales rejected Starmer's version of how the meeting went, stressing that his "social media post and images gravely misrepresented our congregants and the nature of the visit".
250 Muslim Labour councillors pile pressure on Starmer to demand Gaza ceasefire | ITV - Open Democracy |
A letter from the Labour Muslim Network reads: "As Labour councillors elected to serve our constituents, the message we have been hearing repeatedly over the past 2 weeks is simple, people just want an end to the bloodshed and the loss of innocent life.
"Therefore, as Labour Party councillors, as members, and as members of the Muslim community we urge the Labour Party to urgently adopt a position of calling for an immediate ceasefire."
An early day motion calling for the government to "use its influence to help protect civilians, to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law and to guarantee civilians have access to critical life-saving humanitarian support" has been backed by 95 MPs, including 39 from Labour. Imran Hussain, a shadow levelling up minister, today became the first Labour frontbencher to sign the motion.
UK Labour Party crisis intensifies over Starmer's support for Israeli war crimes | WSWS |
Work in progress ... more to come
