A British diplomatic source tells me that “President” al-Jolani aka al-Sharaa has assured the UK that Syria will “normalise relations” with Israel, recognise the State of Israel and exchange ambassadors, by the end of 2026. This is part of a deal in exchange for substantial Western financial support and the lifting of sanctions on Syria.
I asked whether the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Syria was part of the deal, and surprisingly this was not raised by either side. The UK regards it as a bilateral matter between Syria and Israel, and al-Jolani does not appear to prioritise Israeli withdrawal.
I was also told that the European Union’s External Action Service (EEAS) and Directorate General for International Partnerships has decided that al-Jolani’s Syrian cabinet of ministers does meet the promises he gave to the EU Pledging Conference in Brussels on 17 March, through “foreign minister” al-Shibani, to form an inclusive government, specifically including Alaouite and Christian communities and also female ministers.
The conference pledged 5.5 billion euros to Syria in grants and loans, half of it from the EU itself. The condition of an inclusive government was stressed by the EU in its public statements.
Subsequently on 27 March al-Jolani announced his “inclusive” cabinet of 24 ministers. There are 21 male Sunnis, including all the key posts – Finance, Interior, Defence, Foreign Affairs. There is just one woman, who is also the token Christian (and is Canadian). There are three minority representatives, all in minor ministries – one Christian, one Alaouite, one Druze. There is no Shia representation. One of the Sunni ministers is a Kurd.
I am sure when you look at this image, like the EU you immediately think “oh good, a diverse cabinet”.
That this is an “inclusive” government is a farce – only the most flimsy nod to tokenism detracts from the fact that it is a Sunni regime with strong theocratic leanings. It was German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who made the most public song and dance in Brussels about the need for an inclusive government, yet it is she as one of a triumvirate of women – along with EU Commission President von der Leyen and external affairs head Kaja Kallas – who has insisted that al-Jolani’s cabinet is acceptable.
Of course, al-Jolani’s pro-Israeli credentials trump every other consideration.
This has caused much disquiet among staff at the EU External Affairs Service and there is enormous discontent at the blatant pro-Israeli agenda of von der Leyen in particular. The playing down of massacres of minorities in Syria, on top of the genocide in Gaza, is causing real concern both in the EU and within the UK at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, my old department.
A final snippet from my source. Al-Jolani has the support of both MI6 and UK special forces within Syria. A key part of their role is to guard against any potential revolt by his own militants who fought their way through from Idlib.
Chechen, Uzbek and Uighur militants are very happy for now with the spoils of victory, but may not take kindly to the notion of recognising Israel.
To be clear, this next did not come from my diplomatic source. But I strongly suspect that the game is for al-Jolani and his pro-Zionist regime, installed with Western backing, to strengthen its paid forces until the time comes for a night of the long knives, where al-Jolani’s own most fanatical supporters will be eliminated. That however is merely my reading of his most practical next step. I do not see how he is to reconcile the roles of Islamic fundamentalist and US/Israeli puppet otherwise.
This game is not over yet.
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The enemies of Iran will be so happy. A hard rain is going to fall.
This kind of puppet government installation has been going on for centuries and is largely how colonialism and empire has operated. Israel, the UK and the US are merely reverting to a type we all had hoped, and were fooled into thinking, was consigned to history. Instead it has been resurrected, but now with even more malice, destruction and genocide – because of the massive disparity in wealth and arms technologies, of the type which of course Israel has made, more or less, its entire raison d’être, and which is slavishly emulated and envied by the puppet masters in the West. It is, broadly speaking, about the elimination of any opposition, either there or here, to the vast resources and land theft, in the pursuit of unlimited wealth and power for the minority, in a crumbling world. See the reference I posted on the last thread.
All left wing and anarchists use qubes os how to in detail: https://xmppomemoqubes.blogspot.com/2025/04/use-uleway-dumbphone-along-with-qubes.html
@Kes – The advice on that page sounds like total crap, like most advice that is available on “security”.
“First buy a Uleway G180 “dumbphone” and use instead of a smartphone – doesn’t come with wifi/internet will reduce attack surface. I also recommend putting a block on online transactions on your account to make harder to steal, and become physically strong, learn BJJ and other martial arts, and know your rights. This will help you “turn tables” on the intelligence services.”
“Second, install Qubes OS on your computer. WARNING: Qubes OS will delete any OS already on computer and files etc and will encrypt hard drive as a security measure with full disk encryption will a password of your choice. Qubes will be on a USB Stick and from there boot on USB will install Qubes OS on the hard drive of your computer. After this don’t need the USB!”
If you want to send secure messages, compose them offline and encrypt them using PGP, also offline. And USB sticks can be your friend if used sensibly, even if the USB stick was invented in Israel by a guy called Dov Moran.
Perhaps reminders would be useful too that
* Tor was developed by the US government
* Proton has Timothy Berners-Lee on its advisory board
* EFF has had close relations with Apple. (https://thebaffler.com/salvos/all-effd-up-levine)
Craig wrote: “But I strongly suspect that the game is for al Jolani and his pro-zionist regime, installed with western backing, to strengthen its paid forces until the time comes for a night of the long knives, where al Jolani’s own most fanatical supporters will be eliminated.”
Yes, that would fit the historical pattern. The Gulf Monarchies raise these fanatical warriors; some are inevitably produced by those states’ religious indoctrination. They are very useful for progressing towards victory but then become a liability, so they are massacred, one way or another. The memory of betrayal helps raise the next wave. Abhorrent.
The ‘liberal’ states’ method of indoctrination through ‘entertainment’ i.e. round the clock violence via commercial media is equally abhorrent. They don’t massacre the expended ones; they abandon them to homelessness, drug addiction and prison.
Someone did a scarily effective job on Syria last December, and it seems (no surprise) that the plan is to push further on, but I wonder whether they really have the resources.
Von der Leyen views herself as similar to Prince Henry the Navigator, Robert Clive, or the Stroganovs. I’m not saying she had anything to do with the job on Syria, but she sees herself as this great colonial figure – going back to when she was German defence minister.
Ursula von der Leyen (née Albrecht) got where she is because of her family connections.
She has them through her father (descended from cotton merchants and German business interests active in places that included Russia, and from slaveowners in the USA) and her husband (who is also descended from rag trade and production interests). See the Albrecht, Knoop, and Von der Leyen families.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_family
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Knoop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_der_Leyen_(family_from_Krefeld)
I’ve been watching her for a long while. She wants to be a combo of Disraeli and Kissinger.
Personally I think she’s going to f*ck up, big time.
UvdL is descended on her mother’s side from the Ladson family – a Confederate-era plantation clan who reputedly owned the largest slave labour force in their time in South Carolina – and through the Ladsons from Joseph Wragg who made his fortune in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
For a brief time in the 1970s when she had to go into hiding in Britain to escape the attentions of radical student groups in West Germany like the Baader-Meinhof gang, our Uschi chose the alias of Rose Ladson. Makes you wonder if she should have been kidnapped after all – her choice of alias tells you something about her character and worldview in which everything apparently should revolve around her.
Al Jolani will fall once Israel moves further into Syria. Won’t be too long and IDF will start another genocide blaming Palestinian refugees, and as always women and children first.
Israeli settler tours are already being organised.
“The conference pledged 5.5 million euros to Syria in grants and loans, half of it from the EU itself. The condition of an inclusive government was stressed by the EU in its public statements.”
Typo! They promised 2.5 billion euros for 2025-26.
5.5 million is peanuts.
The EU, and the rest, mandates degeneracy as part of its foreign aid packages imposed on strict religious societies to enable them to be undermined and defeated. At least Al Jolani still won’t shake the hands of the nazi diversity hires.
Thank you for an informative article.
Part of the reason for 7 October may have been the impending recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia, which the uprising effectively put a brake on. Stopping Syrian recognition of Israel might not be considered as important, because of the much poorer and weaker Al-Jolani regime. Iran would be another matter, however. If, in the future, Iranian recognition of Israel before apartheid ended were to be impending, that could be a casus belli for another “slave rebellion”. But who knows?
“Part of the reason for 7 October may have been the impending recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia, which the uprising effectively put a brake on.”
I don’t think there’s any evidence for the “impending recognition” then. And I’m not certain there is now. That is, outside of Israeli propaganda. The Israelis are desperate to have Saudi recognition, and are daily feeding stories about Saudi’s impending signature into the media. But it hasn’t happened. MbS might be open to it, but his population is firmly opposed. Many of them live just opposite to Palestine, can see what’s happening themselves, and no doubt they communicate their distaste to various princes of the royal family, who have the real influence on the crown prince. (recall that Saudi is totally different from the Gulf states in having a real national population, whose opinions have to be taken into account).
I put this question to ChatGPT:
What evidence is there of the impending recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia prior to October 7 2023 that might have been a casus belli for Hamas?
The response:
Before October 7, 2023, several developments indicated that Saudi Arabia might be moving toward normalizing relations with Israel, which could have contributed to the tension leading to Hamas’s actions. Here’s some of the key evidence:
1. U.S.-Saudi-Israel Diplomacy (2023)
– **Middle East Peace Process**: In 2023, the U.S. led intensive diplomatic efforts to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. In exchange for recognizing Israel, Saudi Arabia sought certain commitments from the U.S., including security guarantees, advanced military technology, and support for a civilian nuclear program. This was part of the broader effort to reshape the Middle East’s geopolitical landscape.
– **Official Statements**: Both U.S. and Israeli officials publicly discussed the prospect of Saudi Arabia recognizing Israel. U.S. President Joe Biden also hinted that Saudi recognition could be imminent, especially after years of warming ties between the two countries.
– **High-Level Meetings**: Senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, publicly expressed optimism about the Saudi-Israel rapprochement, with several behind-the-scenes meetings taking place between Israeli and Saudi diplomats.
2. Saudi Openings to Israel
– **Low-Level Diplomatic Engagement**: Saudi Arabia had already been engaging with Israel on security matters and through back-channel communications. The two countries shared common concerns over Iran’s growing influence in the region, which facilitated informal cooperation.
– **Saudi Government Statements**: Though officially rejecting normalization without Palestinian statehood, Saudi officials had become increasingly open to the idea of relations with Israel, especially in the context of shared regional security interests. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) had made statements in the past indicating the possibility of normalization if certain conditions were met, notably the creation of a Palestinian state.
3. Regional Developments
– **Abraham Accords**: The normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries (the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco) had shifted regional dynamics. Saudi Arabia had been careful not to openly join the Abraham Accords, but there were signs that it was moving in that direction. The normalization of relations between Israel and other Gulf states was seen as a precursor to Saudi Arabia’s eventual recognition.
– **Saudi Reactions to Iran**: The growing threat of Iranian influence and its proxy activities, particularly in Yemen and Iraq, played a role in shifting Saudi calculations. The Saudi-Israeli alignment on this issue had become more apparent, with both countries seeing each other as key partners in countering Iranian hegemony in the region.
4. Hamas and the Palestinian Issue
– **Hamas’s Concern with Arab-Israeli Relations**: For Hamas, the prospect of Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, recognizing Israel was a direct threat to its political agenda. Hamas has long presented itself as the guardian of Palestinian resistance and the primary force opposing any normalization with Israel. It perceives such deals as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause and an erosion of Arab solidarity on the Palestinian issue.
– **Statements from Hamas Leaders**: Prior to October 7, Hamas leaders made several statements denouncing normalization efforts. They warned that such moves would incite anger among the Palestinian people and could lead to violence. In the context of the Saudi-Israel talks, Hamas likely saw the potential recognition of Israel by the Saudi government as a provocation, potentially triggering a violent response to assert its relevance and commitment to the Palestinian cause.
5. Hamas’s Operational Plans
– **Preparedness for Violence**: In the months leading up to October 7, 2023, Hamas had reportedly been preparing for a large-scale military operation. The rising tensions over normalization, combined with a perception that the Palestinian cause was being sidelined by Arab states, could have been a motivating factor in Hamas’s decision to escalate violence.
– **Message of Resistance**: By launching an attack, Hamas could have been trying to send a powerful message to Arab governments that any rapprochement with Israel, especially without a resolution to the Palestinian issue, would lead to greater instability and violence.
In summary, the intensifying diplomatic efforts toward Saudi-Israeli normalization and the growing geopolitical shifts in the region, especially regarding Iran and the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, were key factors contributing to the heightened tensions. For Hamas, these developments represented a significant existential threat, likely fueling its decision to escalate its violent actions in an attempt to disrupt or derail any moves toward formal recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia.
Nice to see that Chat GPT only reads the US/Israeli narrative. Who’s it owned by? As I told you, Israel is desperate.
Asking AI for answers is a fools game, it’ll give you the answer you’re looking for, the consensus of fools. Remember: GIGO, Computer say no, 42 ! We’re well down the route towards ‘idiocracy’. Use your brain before it becomes redundant.
AI is not infallible, but nor is it useless. Here it is useful as a reminder of the type of information one can get on wiki. In using it, I was also illustrating that the ‘no evidence’ argument could be answered by detractors themselves – use other AI sources (or public libraries, if they are accessible) by all means.
MJ, i understand that another reason or contributing factor for the October 7th uprising was the deliberate provocation by Israhell in the preceeding months by allowing 800 ultra zionist settlers, bzcked by the IDF to occupy the Al Aqsa compound to prevent the worship by Muslim males below a specified Age. At first iirc it was < 50 y.o. later decreased to < 40. I addition too, the 800 Settlers increased to 1500. I too strongly believe this was deliberate and well planned in advance to deliver maximum effect, including the implementation of the "Hannibal Directive" whereby a majority of the Israeli dead were massacred by their own forces and their admitted forknowledge that it was about to kick off big time, ordering troops to step down znd deliberately ignoring numerous warning. They even moved the venue of a planned Rave nearer to the action to increase the value of their "Sympathy Card" of which the Zionists have a pack full and which they play at every available opportunity.
The reason for October 7th was May 14th, 1948.
thank you
The Zionists have many times restricted access to Al-Aqsa to older males only. But you are right that the trigger for the October 2023 camp breakout operation was Zionist provocation around Al-Aqsa.
Has there been any news about the red heifers recently?
This game is not over yet. Indeed. It is all going to hit a BRICS wall.
@Robert – What’s been keeping the rulers of Russia, China, India, Brazil from going for it with a BRICS currency? I wish they’d get their fingers out.
Great post Craig..Absolutely Heartbreaking what the Evil West is doing to Syria..And our other horrors..I hope we do comne up against a Brics Wall..
I seen a clip the other Day.. an IDF Bastard kickicked a young lady who had fall down..The Evil coward Kicked her in the head with his Full Force…Sickening..
And here – Max Blumenthal detail the Israeli control – and Bragging about of US –
https://thegrayzone.com/2025/04/09/aipac-access-trump-natsec-officials-leaked/
Techno-feudalism coming to the US, as detailed in the Project 2025 manifesto. The Israelification of the US, as an ethno-nationalist autocratic garrison state. Paranoid conspiracy or the way it is going? You decide:
https://medium.com/@aletheisthenes/part-3a-what-changed-my-mind-from-it-cant-happen-here-to-oh-shit-the-tldr-version-a78ef04e893f
https://keeptrack.substack.com/p/the-philosophy-behind-doge-curtis
Thanks for those links. Those are two well-written articles, but why oh why don’t they say more about the tech side of technofascism? I mean what the plan is for people’s lives, or at least the lives of people who are suffered to live. The judiciary or the legislature don’t really mean sheeyit. In practice they are both part of the executive already, unless one wants to engage in debate with supporters of the system on the basis of unspoken false assumptions. There is a saying that the law is whatever the rulers can get away with.
In that scenario they will be worker drones, like those in the Gulf States, or stateless non humans, like Palestinians. Untermensch, basically. Either way, it won’t matter to the overlords since they will be powerless, stateless and resourceless.
Technology will be used in a big way. Perhaps I am stating the obvious.
The British government has said that it plans to massify the use of smartwatches and smart rings. It’s pretty obvious where this leads. The question is what are we going to do about it.
And now Saudi Arabia is to repay Syria’s debt to the World Bank (Reuters). They report it would unlock approval for millions of dollars in grants.
Is this usual? If not then why are they doing it? What has been levied in exchange and why?
Nukes. Are on the table. Deals within deals.
Saudi was grumpy with Biden that they were only getting second class weaponry from the US and not all the latest technology.
Everything to play for
Even the crazies wouldn’t let another ME state have nukes. The only true democracy in the ME is the only one permitted that honour.
🙂 The one true democracy in the ME – established by people who according to Michael Fabricant are extremely good at settling in with local populations and integrating into their culture rather than trying to impose their own. According to him they believe in “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Perhaps the Saudis want to dump their US dollars before they’re worthless?
Syria economically is all about drugs.
Something i heard mentioned is that MbS has his Arm twisted up his back somewhat by virtue of the immense quantity of $$$ holdings and US Assets by virtue of the inception of the Petro-Dollar under Nixon following the cancellation of the agreement made at Bretton Woods whereby Dollars could be exchanged for physical Gold, leading to the “Exhorbitant Privilage”. Perhaps, having seen what has happened to Russia in the form of Sanctions and Asset freezes, and to others who have crossed Uncle Sam and AIPAC he realises he’s, as they say, between “a rock and a hard place,”. Comply or Die !
@Pyewacket. Are you saying the US rulers are threatening to crash the US dollar? (Which they may be.)
Saudi: sunni, oil. Simples.
The West, and its Gulf State dictatorship buddies love the proscribed terrorist outfit HTS – they love it even more that its cozying up to Israel – those so called ministers posing in that photo, closely resemble those of the EU leaders doing the same with their jackets-off as if to look tough.
I can only imagine – how many innocent Syrians these evil monsters have butchered in Syria, since they attacked Syria with the help of the West, Turkey and the Israel – for me Syria is now a Sunni ran terrorist staging post – that will attack the enemies of Israel; and the EU is now ran by vile evil monsters – who support this and the Neo-Nazi dictatorship regime in Ukraine – and the Zio-Monsters genocide in Gaza.
The EU got this for 5.5 million euros? I read somewhere, that southern Syria is earmarked for the Gaza Palestinians. The Israelis plan to deport them all forcibly to sourth Syria. Presumably the Israelis are not withdrawing from Syria because they will continuing ethnic cleansing and murdering the Palestinians in the name of eliminating Hamas.
Discontent among the personnel in the EU External Affairs and the UK Foreign Office – hope they mount a revolution soon!
As an aside, when Trudeau left his position of PM of Canada, he announced he is a committed zionist.
That would be a death march and similar to what Turkish forces did to the Armenians.
The Zionists are keeping everyone guessing.
Re. Canada, see the Bronfman family. The Zionists are at least as strong in Canada as they are in the US.
Rosemary, i see the elimination of Hamas to be of secondary importance, but still necessary to the total flattening and total depopulation of Gaza because it’s needed to fulfill the exploitation of the huge hydrocarbon resources, beneath the Sea, off the Palestinian Coast. To achieve this aim, and make to resulting Oil & Gas products available to the Market, a huge refinery needs to be built, complete with processing plants, storage tanks, harbourage facilities, pumping stations and miles and miles of pipeworks, including suitable residential developments for those who are to build and operate the vast project. The last thing they want is 2 million+ restless natives getting in the way, even if it is their land, and their Oil & Gas.
There is no f***ing way 2 million Palestinians are going to be moved from Gaza to Syria. A death march is possible though. Just saying that if 2 million are captured and started off on a forced march, it won’t be 2 million that arrive.
@Rosemary: no, not 5.5 million, that must be a typo in the blog post. The overall totals of the pledges from this conference were in the billions
—
[ Mod: Article now amended accordingly. Thanks. ]
We *really^ are dealing with the modern-day equivalent of the Nazis, and it’s getting progressively worse and worse:
Starmer told UK must repeal hate speech laws to protect LGBT+ people or lose Trump trade deal
‘Good chance’ of agreement, says JD Vance – but sources say his concerns over Britain’s hate speech laws ‘are still a red line’
David Maddox Political Editor
Wednesday 16 April 2025
Sir Keir Starmer must embrace Donald Trump’s agenda by repealing hate speech laws in order to get a trade deal over the line, sources close to JD Vance have told The Independent.
The warning came after the US vice-president suggested a UK-US agreement may be close, with the White House “working very hard” on it.
He told UnHerd: “I think there’s a good chance that, yes, we’ll come to a great agreement that’s in the best interest of both countries.”
But allies of Mr Vance say he is “obsessed by the fall of Western civilisation” – including his view that free speech is being eroded in Britain – and that he will demand the Labour government rolls back laws against hateful comments, including abuse targeting LGBT+ groups or other minorities, as a condition of any deal….
Labour has made it clear it is not prepared to go that far. A Downing Street source said the subject “is not a feature of the talks”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/trump-jd-vance-trade-deal-free-speech-b2733806.html
And then there’s Havard:
Why Trump is relishing his duel with Harvard and other elite schools
And when Trump portrays the esteemed academics of Cambridge, Massachusetts, as far-left activists pushing “woke” policies on race and gender, he’s not working in a vacuum. Millions of Americans agree with him. Polls show rising distrust of higher education institutions, especially among Republicans.
But Trump’s assault on the country’s top colleges goes beyond an issue that will excite his political base.
Administration heat on top universities is part of a broader effort to challenge centers of what it regards as liberal power, which also include the courts, the federal bureaucracy and the media. After remaking the Republican Party and the Supreme Court, Trump hopes to extend his populist ideology to higher education as a way to challenge belief systems that conflict with his MAGA creed and to shift the country hard to the right.
Trump is not only taking on top academics and what surveys show are their left-leaning faculties. His immigration crackdown has stirred a culture of fear on campuses: Some students have been taken off the streets by border agents, while hundreds more have had their visas canceled on the grounds that their views are damaging to American foreign policy interests.
That sense of repression threatens to stifle the atmosphere of open debate that animates a healthy university. And Trump’s threats to halt funding for top schools endangers the country’s world-leading scientific and medical research into killer diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.
And the initial piece is followed by another piece with the following headline:
White House demands go far beyond antisemitism complaints
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/16/politics/harvard-trump-columbia-elite-universities-funding/index.html
The antisemitism complaints which are bogus and fraudulent and massively exaggerated anyway.
Yes, the nazis are on the rise. The west will reap what it has sown. Keir, ich bin ein zionist, Starmer take note.
“There are a lot of parallels between the rise of the Waffen SS and the Ukrainian Nazi formation known as Azov.”
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/04/growth-of-ukraines-azov-units-follow-path-of-the-waffen-ss.html#more
And. “The era of Keir Starmer telling us women can have penises has come to an end. Well done to For Women Scotland!”
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/04/16/trans-women-are-not-legally-women-supreme-court-rules/
This trans stuff is so insane. such a psych job on the population. Note that no known schoolteachers, petty local council officials, medics, nurses, bank clerks, trade unions, what have you, have refused to help impose it. It has been pushed far beyond having to call a man who has stuck two tangerines up his t-shirt a “woman”. It has been pushed to the point where rapists who say they’re women have to be let into women’s prisons or changing rooms. That’s about as unfunny as anything could possibly be. Big thumbs-up to For Women Scotland, yes, but rather than this being Peak Trans and that being the end of it, the battle for the mind has been lost, largely without a fight in most of the population, and the next steps will be worse.
If you look at all these things coldly and clinically – if you need to ban something
then, what the banners are admitting is that they don’t have an argument politically
or otherwise against those arguments that are being banned.
If they did they would discuss and argue in the Public Arena.
From tariffs to Trans Genderism.
Gitmo seems to have made a return to US politics and it is symptomatic of a nation that appears
to have no confidence in its self.
It’s some American Citizens turn next as Foreign Policy usually is reflected at home.
It’s turning pretty ugly on both sides of The Pond.
Meanwhile Gaza/Palestine is not so much banned as ignored.
It has been relegated below Scunthorpe in the news.
But, slightly to play devil’s advocate, how many British people actually support these laws? I certainly don’t recall them coming before the electorate at an election. Be that as it may (and I can see the arguments either way in that particular debate), there is an issue with lack of freedom of speech in the UK. Just look at how a supposedly progressive newspaper like the Guardian blatantly censors views simply because those opinions don’t match their editorial stance. How can that be legal in a democracy that a mainstream newspaper decides what moderate opinions are fit to publish?
“How can that be legal in a democracy ?”. We don’t live in a democracy and we don’t have freedom of speech. And, it’s getting worse under Starmer.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2025/03/palantir-problem-nhs-andrew-marr
“How can that be legal in a democracy that a mainstream newspaper decides what moderate opinions are fit to publish?”
??? Did you think the media was a public service?
Pollute the world
With Genocide. Life
Contaminated.
Radiation
Sickness. Gaza, Nagasaki,
Hiroshima
Taste fruit. Try
Apples, oranges, lemons.
Ashes, ashes, ashes.
Volcano’s smoke,
Fertile slopes. Green
Stems rise through ash.
Ukraine has recognised the head choppers government. And the NATO chief bully Rutte says that the organisation stads with Zelenskis Ukraine.
Our western Fuhrers are aware that their game is up, hence the cease fires are being used to rearm Asov and Zio fascists.
NATO countries now want to establish arms manufacturing inside Ukraine and further escalate this madness, sadly.
What can we do? But revolt!
Not a problem. Mr Putin is happy to welcome the NATO running dogs into Ukraine, the meat grinder is ready and primed. Bring it on.
“What can we do? But revolt!”
I dunno which part of the world you are in, but in e.g. Britain it will have to be something else, because the subjective conditions for successful revolt aren’t about to appear in such a time of mass submission and disoriented nutcasery. The big thing to look at is the Covid period. Where was there resistance? Or we can ask where is there some kinda mass non-submissive practice. It’s a tough question. Maybe it comes down to asking where in the world do more than 10 people in every million understand the idea of telling the ruling class to shove mobile phone culture up their a*ses.
In Britain there will be little resistance to mass chipping. But in Gaza?
Talking of Gaza – with regard to the military control of populations, what’s happening in Jenin and in particular the Jenin refugee camp ought to be looked at as well as the dividing up of Gaza. There are some similarities. The Zionists have terrorised everyone out of the camp, and they are building big military roads through it (as the French state did in Paris after the Commune), and they also want to connect the camp more with the main city. Clearly they know what they’re doing – they have a model.
I have said this before but what’s happening to the Uighurs is also extremely relevant globally, especially in Kashgar.
Control by small geographic zone, with fast-response small police stations.
Hey, isn’t this what the internet is basically for?
Need to take a bird’s eye view here. That’s always great intellectually. Same goes for other things, such as advertising, parliamentary democracy, and consumerism.
Those who run and own the state increasingly don’t give a f*** what anyone thinks. Because fewer and fewer people actually CAN think. This is becoming clearer and clearer. There are similar developments everywhere – not just in the USA but in Britain too.
Can we bury the “democratic left” please. Thank it for its service. Then bye-bye.
No more parliamentary road. No more “real journalism”.
We need a fighting vanguard for the long term.
Syria, although a resistance state, it was a rather ineffectual one due to its fight against Israel/US sanctions and the catastrophic results of US instigated regime change in the well documented ‘Timber Sycamore’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_Sycamore
Ultimately Iran holds the key to the future of the middle east. Negotiations seem to be going well between Iran and the US over another JCPOA, in my opinion whilst Iran may agree to limit its uranium enrichment, any agreement will fail because Israel/US insist on Iran making themselves (as well as Hezbollah) defenseless by stopping its missile program and cutting ties with other members of the Axis of resistance, not going to happen. Israel’s machinations will surely come home to roost in the near future, one only has to look at what Netanyahu has done in the past 18 months to realize he is living on borrowed time, here is an example….
“Between 2012 and 2018 Netanyahu gave Qatar approval to transfer a cumulative sum of nearly one billion dollars to Gaza in the form of suitcases full of cash. And at least half of that is estimated to have reached Hamas, including its military wing.
According to the Jerusalem Post,
……in a private meeting with members of his Likud party on March 11, 2019, Netanyahu explained the reckless step as follows: The money transfer is part of the strategy to divide the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Anyone who opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state needs to support the transfer of the money from Qatar to Hamas. In that way, we will foil the establishment of a Palestinian state (as reported in former cabinet member Haim Ramon’s Hebrew-language book “Neged Haruach”, p. 417).
In an interview with the Ynet news website on May 5, 2019, Netanyahu associate Gershon Hacohen, a major general in reserves, said, “We need to tell the truth. Netanyahu’s strategy is to prevent the option of two states, so he is turning Hamas into his closest partner. Openly Hamas is an enemy. Covertly, it’s an ally.”
Indeed, earlier that spring Netanyahu himself was widely quoted as saying during the aforementioned meeting of Likud MKs that,
“Whoever opposes a Palestinian state must support delivery of funds to Gaza (cash in suitcases from Qatar) because maintaining separation between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
So Israel’s governing faction of religious extremists, militarists, messianic settlers and Eretz Yisrael ideologues have chosen, instead, to live in a Garrison State and to be periodically compelled to “mow the grass” in the Gaza outdoor prison. Yet if its rightwing governments want to operate a modern-day Sparta, they need to tap their own taxpayers first.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/david-stockman-why-houthis-arent-americas-problem
Another reason Israel will be in trouble in the near future is the growing revulsion of the rest of the world, I was impressed by this massive demonstration in Bangladesh the other day…
Video: 5 million Bangladeshis march to demand an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza – see video..
https://skwawkbox.org/2025/04/12/video-5-million-bangladeshis-march-to-demand-an-end-to-israels-genocide-in-gaza/
Was that on one demo?
What are the demands and on whom?
Craig, thank you for this. Many of us share your misgivings. A note for correction: the figure you give for financial pledges must be a typo for “billion”, not “million”. The figures I saw in the post-conf press releases were 5.8 billion for Syria + neighbours, 2.5 billion of which is from the EU (for 2025/26). I’ve not dug into the figures and it is not clear on what basis your figure is calculated. The Aga Khan alone has pledged €100 million (see: the.akdn).
[ Mod: Thank you for pointing this out, Wardat al-Sham. The article has now been amended accordingly. ]
How much of all of these pledges will be actually realised, however, remains to be seen. Likewise, exactly how (or to whom) it is to be allocated.
Well, yeah. The winner takes it all, as the saying goes. Iranian affiliated forces lost to the Sunni-Israeli-US affiliated forces. That’s what geopolitics is about. Morality and human rights… where to stick them, heh? Who cares. The winner took it all.
Including women in a government just to please someone? Eton boys haven’t been able to, so expecting Wahabbis to align with “Western values” feels like misunderstanding. They promote Wahabbism, not DEI.
Including ethnic minorities – who are obviously aligned with anti-Wahabbi forces – would lead to infighting; assuming minority politicians would at all agree to participate. Not including them will lead to “outfighting” – if this continues, the current government won’t survive 5 years before another internal war breaks out IMO. Good or bad?
Syrian territory? Yeah, Syria lost it. Germany lost Alzace, Lorraine, Pomerania, Silesia… vast, rich, populous regions. Golan Heights? Would you really want to pick a big fight over a tiny piece of desert? It’s gone, won’t ever be recovered, at least not in the next 10 years. No point of bringing it up all the time. Move on if you want to stay in power. German rulers bit the bullet in 1945 and moved on. Ukrainian ones will soon have to, too. The UK is also no stranger to losing territory. Golan Heights is not anyone’s motherland anymore.
MI6, etc., do support foreign powers who align with national interests here. That’s their job. Powerful rebellions hardly ever get financed indigenously by the way.
The Middle East, and the global crossroads for millennia, has always been a war zone. It’s not an end – borders will be redrawn there many more times.
Most of the borders in the ME were drawn by the western powers.
The entire Westphalian state model is a European one, as are “state borders” as boundaries of sovereignty. But – so what? Borders don’t change the sad fact that the entire Middle East has been at a constant war since the antiquity, with or without western powers. Just read history books.
No more than Europe, I would suggest. There were periods of relative peace during the Persian and babylonian empires, as well as during the ottoman empire. However, when you dig into the history books it becomes clear that peace is an illusion and war is a natural state. We compete for survival, so there are always winners and lovers, in our society that manifests as wars. IMO.
For giggles I can’t resist
“winners and lovers.”
Was that a typo or Freudian slip? 🤣
Yeah, Europe has had its share of ethnic and religious wars, too. But today, ethnic and religious identity seems much more pronounced, socially important and worth dying for over there in the Middle East than down here in Europe. We tend to look at wars as a result of politicians’ meddling – but in fact people too often are happy to attack “the others” – out of fear, out of envy, or out of a determination to defend own ethnic or religious identity. Politicians don’t create that – they only take advantage of the rifts that have existed there for hundreds of years.
That’s why I’ll keep opposing claims that the “West/America is the root cause of wars in the Middle East”. I’d respond: foreign powers just provide support to one or another side, but these are your own wars. The Shia-Sunni divide, militant Islamism, Judaism-Islam animosity, persecution of the Kurds and Palestinians – are of your own making; the West only uses them to own advantage.
A region with dozens if not hundreds of tribes that have centuries-long traditions of attacking each other won’t suddenly become peaceful if the world loses interest in it.
That’s the problem with exceptualism isn’t it ? Yeah, we might stir things up a bit but those stinking arabs can’t help themselves, it’s in their genes, cruelty, war, fighting if only they were more like us. I don’t buy it. The west is to blame for the chaos in the middle east over the last hundred years and it’s all to do with oil. And even if you’re right, I’d say look at a map, the UK and America have no reasons or rights to be anywhere near the ME. Leave them to their own devices and sort out the multitude of problems that exist in the west.
It’s hard to frame Zionism as part of the “West”. It was mostly a European movement, from Europe West, East, and Central, and also supported from North America.
But for all the “atheism” you gotta factor in that the Jewish religion asserts that there’s reincarnation. How TF “western” is that?
Trace the “West” back before say 1940 and where is it? Is Poland in it? Is Germany? Are France and Britain? We got Charlemagne or what? I always liked Fredy Perlman’s saying that ever since Charlemagne re-established the, ahem, “Roman empire”, everything in “the West” has been a lie.[*]
Maybe “the West” is a Christian (non-Orthodox, that is) concept?
Note
1) Okay, I’ve now checked the source, and what he actually says is
“From the day when a Church official names himself the Vicar of Christ and a Goth parades his puppet as Emperor of Rome to the day when the biggest empire of zeks in Leviathan’s entire His-story will speak of itself as The Free World, everything in the West is a lie.”
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/fredy-perlman-against-his-story-against-leviathan
@Stevie Boy, sure you can flagellate yourself. Poor natives, they have no agency whatsoever, it’s all us, their lords… Never mind they had armies and empires and fought wars long before the rest of the world crawled out of their caves. Sure it’s us, their superlords, who solely decide when these Middle Eastern tribes make war or peace, for it’s us who run their countries and politics… oh wait!
You haven’t seen ethnic hatred or ethnic loyalty until you’ve lived in that part of the world. A person’s ethnic background is, in common eyes, the key determinant of trustworthiness. Who in Turkey would want to have anything to do with Armenians? A Baloch, would you ever deal with a Punjabi? An Iranian, would you trust an Arab? A good Samaritan in Judaea, lol? Ethiopians calling themselves Jews?
Craig brings attention to the ethnic composition of the new Syrian government for a very good reason. And no, it’s not because of “the West”.
Kacper
The question for the Us and particularly Israel is whether they can get Iran to do an Iraq?
Iraq was persuades to dis-arm prior to invasion but, no way at all will Iran dis – arm based on the lessons learnt from Iraq and maybe Libya.
In fact Iran has armed itself well and now appears to have the backing of two Nuclear Powers.
Iraq never had that and the easy pushover of Syria may have hardened the Russia and Chinese potential response.
Yet – on the basis of the US’ s Proxy fighting ( as in no American is allowed to die) then Israel needs to think about what that actually means.
Iran can not attack/respond to the US Mainland directly but it has proven that it most certainly can attack Israel.
Not exactly with impunity due to Israeli Nukes.
The thing is sis that if Israel is in danger of no longer existing will the Armageddonists fire their Nukes into Iran and parts of The Middle East?
My question is would the US allow them to do that ( the pollution and devastation of the Saudi /Opec oilfields and the contamination ) and I’m not sure how these deadly Missiles would be guided without US satellites to guide them.
So , Donald has to think very carefully not just about Iran and its response but Israel’s too.
Big Potatoes as the Yanks say.
Interesting point: ‘no American is allowed to die’. The reality is that American’s, and many other nationalities, are dying in Ukraine and Israel. The MSM never publicise these deaths, would be interesting to know numbers and ranks.
@Mark, I really don’t know where to start…
No, Israel doesn’t want to destroy Iran (nor vice versa). Much like the US never even tried to destroy North Korea. Why getting rid of the key factor driving arms sales? Encouraging a slash to military budgets? Jeopardising cushy careers? Voiding the excuse for opening military bases near Chinese borders?
Then, Iran is not Iraq. You can’t drive it over with tanks. You can’t control the vast territory. Iraq was hard, Afghanistan next to impossible, Iran would be 10 times as hard. Military planners are not dumb.
I fail to understand your comments about nukes. No, nobody is going to use them, nukes have very limited military value on a modern battlefield – and a high political value when not used. That’s why nobody has used a single nuke in any of the wars of the last 80 years.
Also, I’m not sure what you mean by oil field contamination. Oil deposits are located underground, and Teheran to Riyadh is 1,100 miles. FYI, common W-76 US/UK tactical nukes have a radiation radius of well under a mile and a thermal radiation radius of around 2,5 miles. You might like to adjust your advice to the US president.
Well what could one say, the Arab leadership throughout the Arab world is just laughable, incompetence personified.
Israel attack Syria every week and that with western arms, still, it is Iran and Shiites that is the problem according to the new Syrian leadership!? Iran that actually helped Syria, Lebanon to defend itself against Israel!
And now ,when Iran is gone from Lebanon and Syria we see the result, the other day it was reported, surprise surprise, that Israel will keep occupy and keep annexing more chunks of Syria and Lebanon, still Syria nor the even more gullible leaders of Lebanon say nothing, do nothing, what a pusillanimity mentality!
“Israel says its troops will remain in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely
Defence minister says army ‘will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and [Israeli] communities’.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/16/israel-says-its-troops-will-remain-in-gaza-lebanon-and-syria-indefinitely
‘Trump: I wouldn’t say I waved off Israeli plan to attack Iran, but I’m not in rush to do it’
ToI
The talks were held so now they are ready to go….
Biden’s plan.
Everything is in place.
Iran is a huge and peaceful country.
Putin is thanking Hamas for releasing Russian Jewish prisoners.
Palestinians are doomed
“Putin is thanking Hamas for releasing Russian Jewish prisoners.”
What proportion of Israeli Jews hold other citizenships or the right to them? It could be three-quarters or more. “Israel” is a f***ing settler state in every sense of that phrase.