Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Gordon G. Chang • February 16, 2022 at 5:00 am
Xi Jinping, China's mighty-looking leader, has an "enormous array of domestic enemies." — Gregory Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association and editor-in-chief of Defense & Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, to Gatestone Institute, February 2022. Xi created that opposition. After becoming China's ruler at the end of 2012, he grabbed power from everyone else and then jailed tens of thousands of opponents in purges, which he styled as "anti-corruption" campaigns. Beijing is panicking, adding nearly a trillion dollars in total new credit last month, a record increase.... When the so-called "hidden debt" is included, total debt in the country amounts to somewhere in the vicinity of 350% of gross domestic product. Not surprisingly, Chinese companies are now defaulting. The debt crisis is so serious it can bring down China's economy—and the country's financial and political systems with it. In the most recent hint of distress, "Fang Zhou and China"... wrote a 42,000-character essay titled "An Objective Evaluation of Xi Jinping." The anti-Xi screed, posted on January 19 on the China-sponsored 6park site, appears to be the work of several members of the Communist Party's Shanghai Gang faction, headed by former leader Jiang Zemin. Jiang's faction has been continually sniping at Xi and now is leading the charge against him. Xi's problems, unfortunately, can become our problems. He has, for various internal political reasons, a low threshold of risk and many reasons to pick on some other country to deflect elite criticism and popular discontent. The Communist Party of China has always believed its struggle with the United States is existential—in May 2019 the official People's Daily declared a "people's war" on America—but the hostility has become far more evident in the past year. Virulent anti-Americanism suggests Xi Jinping is establishing a justification to strike America. The Chinese regime often uses its media to first warn and then signal its actions. America has now been warned.
Xi Jinping, China's mighty-looking leader, created his opposition. After becoming ruler at the end of 2012, he grabbed power from everyone else and then jailed tens of thousands of opponents in purges, which he styled as "anti-corruption" campaigns. Xi's problems, unfortunately, can become our problems. Virulent anti-Americanism suggests Xi is establishing a justification to strike America. Pictured: Xi at the Great Hall of the People on May 28, 2020 in Beijing. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
When truckers took over Canada's capital, Ottawa, and shut down border entry points to America, some called it a "nationwide insurrection." Mass demonstrations have occurred across the democratic world. People have had enough of two years of mandates and other disease-control measures. Not so in the world's most populous state, which maintains the world's strictest COVID-19 controls. There are no known popular protests in the People's Republic of China against anti-coronavirus efforts. Yet China is not stable, and Xi Jinping is facing his "End of Days," as a recent essay by opposition figures (see below) puts it. The revolt is not in society at large but at the top of the Communist Party. As Gregory Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association, told Gatestone, Xi Jinping, China's mighty-looking leader, has an "enormous array of domestic enemies."
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by Soeren Kern • February 15, 2022 at 5:00 am
Biden's decision — reportedly coordinated with Turkey but reached without consulting Israel, Greece or Cyprus, the main countries involved in the project — undercuts three of the strongest American allies in the Mediterranean region. EastMed's cancellation — variously described as a "disastrous decision," a "strategic mistake" and an act of "appeasement" of Erdoğan — represents a major geopolitical victory for the Turkish strongman. The EastMed pipeline has been in the works for more than a decade. The Israel-Greece-Cyprus project — joined by Bulgaria, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia — has long been seen as a way to diversify natural gas supplies to Europe. The Turkish government has always insisted that Israeli gas can only be sold to Europe through Turkey. "The Americans do not want the pipeline because Ankara might 'get angry.'" — Theofrastos Andreopoulos, defense analyst, defensenet.gr. "If Erdogan perceives the non-paper as some form of appeasement by Washington, he will simply double down on his gunboat diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean and play the role of spoiler in the region." — Richard Goldberg, a member of the U.S. National Security Council during the Trump administration. Is the Biden administration truly concerned about climate change, or does it want to prevent Israel from becoming a strategically important supplier of natural gas to Europe? "The reversal on the EastMed pipeline becomes only more hypocritical and offensive given the fact that President Biden continues to clear the path towards completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline." — U.S. Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "This is a disastrous decision that imperils European security and opens the door for further Russian energy hegemony in European gas markets. It should be reversed." — Ariel Cohen, veteran energy analyst, The Hill. "Turkey is not looking to participate in Eastern Mediterranean initiatives, it wants to dominate them. Ankara's goal is not one of cooperation but of regional primacy if not hegemony." — Endy Zemenides, Executive Director, Hellenic American Leadership Council.
The Biden administration has abruptly withdrawn American support for the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline, a project aimed at shipping natural gas from Israel to European markets. The White House appears to have caved to pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has vociferously opposed the underwater pipeline because it would bypass Turkey. Many European leaders have argued that this decision will effectively give Moscow a stranglehold over European gas supplies and open the continent to Russian blackmail. Pictured: Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiadis (left), Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (center) and then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands in Athens on January 2, 2020, ahead of signing the pipeline agreement. (Photo by Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration has abruptly withdrawn American support for the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) pipeline, a project aimed at shipping natural gas from Israel to European markets. The White House said the project was antithetical to its "climate goals." In reaching its decision, which effectively kills EastMed, the White House appears to have caved to pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has vociferously opposed the underwater pipeline because it would bypass Turkey. Biden's decision — reportedly coordinated with Turkey but reached without consulting Israel, Greece or Cyprus, the main countries involved in the project — undercuts three of the strongest American allies in the Mediterranean region.
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by Lawrence Kadish • February 14, 2022 at 11:30 am
"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free." From "God Bless America" by Irving Berlin, 1918, updated 1938. (Pictured: Irving Berlin performs for a CBS Radio show, circa 1935. (Photo by FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
While the storm clouds gather far across the sea
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free
Let us all be grateful that we are far from there
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
The words of Irving Berlin who wrote "God Bless America" in 1918 and then revised it in 1938 as Europe stood once more on the abyss of war still speak to us today as Russia positions tens of thousands of troops on the Ukraine border. The Russian trigger could be pulled "at any time" according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The crisis begs the question: Is Biden in the same mold as Lincoln. Or Wilson. Or Roosevelt?
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by Judith Bergman • February 14, 2022 at 5:00 am
In response to the mounting tension with Russia, Sweden has been boosting its military preparedness and has sent soldiers and heavy military equipment to its largest island, Gotland, strategically located in the Baltic Sea, just 330 kilometers from Kaliningrad, the headquarters of Russia's Baltic Fleet... Sweden has been observing a deteriorating security environment in recent years with repeated Russian incursions into Swedish airspace and territorial waters. Unlike Sweden, Finland, which shares a long land border with Russia, never stopped investing in its defense capabilities. It recently ordered 64 F-35 fighters, at a value of $9.5 billion, to replace its existing and ageing combat jets. According to Finland's former Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, Finland "can mobilize a reserve of 280,000 trained soldiers, which no other country in Europe can do." In a meeting with Sweden and Finland on January 24 about the worsening security situation in Europe, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg invited the two countries to join NATO, stressing that each country has the right to choose its own military alliances. Denmark is deploying four air force fighter jets to the Baltic states and a Danish Navy frigate will most likely be patrolling the Baltic Sea, as a contribution to NATO's patrolling in the region. This is "a very clear signal to Russia," Danish Defense Minister Trine Bramsen said.
In response to the mounting tension with Russia, Sweden has been boosting its military preparedness and has sent soldiers and heavy military equipment to its largest island, Gotland, strategically located in the Baltic Sea, just 330 kilometers from Kaliningrad, the headquarters of Russia's Baltic Fleet. Pictured: Swedish Soldiers patrol in Visby harbor, in Gotland on January 13, 2022. (Photo by Karl Melander/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia's military buildup on the borders of Ukraine and its sweeping ultimatums to NATO on halting further expansion and rolling back its engagement on NATO's eastern flank is also causing tension in northern Europe. Russia has threatened that if Finland and Sweden -- which are not members of NATO but enjoy close ties with the transatlantic organization -- join the alliance, it "would have serious military and political consequences that would require an adequate response from the Russian side."
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by Raymond Ibrahim • February 13, 2022 at 5:00 am
"When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they tried to appear moderate—but there's no sign that Christianity will be anything other than a death sentence." — World Watch List-2022. "The persecution of Christians in India has intensified, as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the country of their presence and influence. The extremists disregard Indian Christians and other religious minorities as true Indians, and think the country should be purified of non-Hindus....." — World Watch List-2022. "The COVID-19 pandemic has offered a new weapon to persecutors. In some areas, Christians have been deliberately overlooked in the local distribution of government aid and have even been accused of spreading the virus." — World Watch List-2022. In Qatar, "Violence against Christians rose sharply ...." — World Watch List-2022. In Bangladesh (#29), local authorities told Muslim converts to Christianity who, like their Muslim counterparts, sought governmental aid, "to return to Islam or receive nothing." In the Central African Republic, which was "hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic ... Christians were denied government aid and told to convert to Islam if they wanted to eat." Another notable trend concerns the growing number of internally or externally displaced people — 84 million: "a significant number [of whom] are Christians fleeing religious persecution." [A]t least a quarter, though arguably much more, of all hate crimes registered in Europe in 2020 were anti-Christian — representing a 70% increase compared to 2019. [I]t is telling that the European nations suffering the most also happen to have Europe's largest Muslim populations — namely, Germany (where anti-Christian hate crimes have more than doubled since 2019) and France (where two churches are reportedly attacked every single day, some, as in the Muslim world, with human feces). In short, the persecution of Christians, which was already horrific, has increased by nearly 70% over the last five years, with no signs of abating. How long will it be before this seemingly irreversible trend metastasizes into those nations currently celebrated for their religious freedom?
The year 2021 "saw the worst persecution of Christians in history" — with an average of 16 Christians murdered for their faith every day. The persecution of Christians, which was already horrific, has increased by nearly 70% over the last five years, with no signs of abating. (Image source: iStock)
The year 2021 "saw the worst persecution of Christians in history" — with an average of 16 Christians murdered for their faith every day. That observation comes from the World Watch List-2022 (WWL-2022), recently published by the international humanitarian organization, Open Doors. The report each year ranks the top 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted for their faith. The WWL uses data from field workers and external experts to quantify and analyze persecution worldwide. According to the WWL-2022, covering October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021: "over 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith—a rise of 20 million from last year. The number represents one in seven Christians worldwide. This year records the highest levels of persecution since the first list was published 29 years ago..."
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by Amir Taheri • February 13, 2022 at 4:00 am
More importantly, perhaps, does Putin's Beijing pirouette represent a radical shift of Russia attitude towards China -- something that could lead to the emergence of what Thomas Fichy and Jean-Marie Holzinger in their 2013 book, called "A New Mongol Empire" led by China with Russia as its bridgehead to Europe and Iran as its Trojan horse in the Middle East. The other day in Moscow, he [Putin] told French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia is "concerned about European security" when it is Russia that has assembled a war machine with 120,000 men poised for invading Ukraine. He also told Macron that Europe needs a framework for ensuring its security. But such a framework already exists in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Russia is a founding member, and not to mention the Helsinki Accords. Putin's other claim, that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a potential threat to Russia, is equally hard to sustain. NATO did nothing when Putin invaded and snatched territory from Georgia and Ukraine, and when he militarily intervened in Syria to obtain an aero-naval base on the Mediterranean. Three other points: First, Russia already has a partnership accord with NATO that, if used effectively, could iron out all discord through consultation and compromise. Next, NATO members account for almost 70% of all direct-foreign investment in the Russian economy and provide 80% of the market for Russian energy exports. Last year, Russia was the largest exporter of crude oil to the United States. Finally, the bulk of Russia's foreign currency reserves are lodged in banks and financial instructions located in NATO countries. Whatever the case, the most prudent thing to do is not to dance to his tune....
The other day in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that Russia is "concerned about European security" when it is Russia that has assembled a war machine with 120,000 men poised for invading Ukraine. Pictured: Putin (R) and Macron attend a joint press conference in Moscow, on February 8, 2022. (Photo by Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
In his lightning trip to Beijing on February 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a "Strategic Partnership" treaty with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The event coincided with the 20th anniversary of another "Strategic Partnership" deal that he had signed in 2002, with then US President George W Bush. So, did the Beijing signature represent a reversal of course in Russian foreign policy that, since Russia's admission into the G7 club (later G8), had been focused on forging closer ties with the United States? Putin's recent behavior, notably his efforts to portray the United States as a barrier to Russia's global ambitions, may indicate such a development. More significantly, what may be seen as Putin's Ostpolitik comes at a time that China is flexing its muscles against the United States in a good chunk of the Asia-Pacific region. Finally, Putin may see Xi's saber-ratting over Taiwan as echoing what he himself is doing over Ukraine.
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by Judith Bergman • February 12, 2022 at 5:00 am
"It isn't hate to speak the truth." — J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, Twitter, June 6, 2020. "An entire generation are puzzled by the idea that anyone has the right to say things they don't agree with...for most people, true free speech has ceased to exist.... On some issues, such as the transgender controversy, it is virtually impossible to say anything without attracting the attention of the Thought Police." — Peter Hitchens, author and journalist, Daily Mail, December 11, 2021. "Among millions, the idea that you can defend someone's right to say something you disagree with is now puzzling. They have no idea why anyone would do that. For them, the debate is over, they have won, and those who oppose them are stupid and wrong." — Peter Hitchens, Daily Mail, December 11, 2021. "They also view my doubts about the theory of man-made global warming as 'denial' of a fact which they regard as proven. To them, this is little short of sabotage of efforts to combat this peril." — Peter Hitchens, Daily Mail, December 11, 2021. "All of them believed that they owned the truth, that they were profoundly good and that those who got in their way were therefore evil as well as wrong." — Peter Hitchens, Daily Mail, December 11, 2021.
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, found herself denounced as transphobic. She received not just a storm of social media abuse, but death threats, for saying that biological sex is real and that biological males should not be allowed into women's spaces simply by declaring themselves to be women. Pictured: Rowling accepts the "Ripple of Hope Award" from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, on December 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights)
Freedom of speech is doing extremely poorly in the UK, according to a recent YouGov poll. When Britons were asked what should be the priority, 43% said protecting people from offensive or hateful speech should be the priority, while only 38% said the focus should be on protecting free speech. Generally, men and conservative voters were more concerned about protecting free speech, while women, younger people and Labour voters were more concerned about blocking offensive or hateful speech. The poll also showed that self-censorship is thriving: 57% of those polled said they have "found themselves stopping themselves from expressing their political or social views for fear of judgement or negative responses from others." According to the poll:
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by Pete Hoekstra • February 11, 2022 at 5:00 am
Despite multiple attacks on Abu Dhabi, which include an air base that hosts American military personnel, the current American administration seems unwilling to designate the Houthis as the terrorist organization it is. At the same time, however, it wants to put constraints on the use of weapons the U.S. might sell to the United Arab Emirates, whose civilian population has been targeted by the Houthis... For Yemen, this is no longer acceptable. While the Biden administration has made clear its desire to restart nuclear talks with Iran, why not try doing it from a position of strength, for instance deterrence? One of the pillars of strength would be presenting a united front against Iran, with our Gulf allies and Israel at its core. Iran recognizes and responds to strength. It also recognizes weakness and responds by taking advantage of it. It is vitally important the Biden administration stabilize relationships with key U.S. allies in the Middle East before Iran and Russia destabilize them, or it will justly receive the blame for the chaos that will ensue. The Middle East is one area where the U.S. is a dominant power-influencer, and we must make clear to our friends that we will stand by them and to our enemies that they are endangering only themselves. We are seeing our adversaries exploiting perceived U.S. weakness and lack of resolve in other parts of the world. We cannot let that happen in the Middle East. We must have a long-term, strategic plan that does not rely on hope but instead on determination and strength. Let us go all-in: anything less will be perceived as not being in at all.
The Middle East is one area where the U.S. is a dominant power-influencer, and we must make clear to our friends that we will stand by them and to our enemies that they are endangering only themselves. Pictured: U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph T. Guastella Jr. (left) speaks with Chief Master Sgt. Shawn L. Drinkard at Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, on January 15, 2020. (USAF photo by Tech. Sgt. Kat Justen)
It is time for the Biden administration to come to terms with the challenging situation in Yemen. It seems that the administration is trying to pick a middle ground, but the Houthis' ongoing terrorist attacks and the massive scale of the humanitarian crisis rules out staying the course of strategic compromise. Despite multiple attacks on Abu Dhabi, which include an air base that hosts American military personnel, the current administration seems unwilling to designate the Houthis as the terrorist organization it is. At the same time, however, it wants to put constraints on the use of weapons the U.S. might sell to the United Arab Emirates, whose civilian population has been targeted by the Houthis. As so often happens when you fail to identify a clear direction, the status quo is maintained. For Yemen, this is no longer acceptable.
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 10, 2022 at 5:00 am
Where is the outcry from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations? When an Arab country subjects Palestinians to actual apartheid measures, the international community is too busy lying about Israel's alleged abuses to take notice. "It is estimated that 65% of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live under the poverty line." — UNRWA, October 2017. Palestinians in Lebanon have long been prevented from practicing such professions as medicine and law, given that only the Lebanese could join professional syndicates. Thirty-nine professions remain prohibited to Palestinians in the following fields: healthcare (general medicine, dentistry, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy) transport and fishing, services and daycare, engineering, law, tourism, and accounting. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are at risk of food insecurity, electricity blackouts, increased health problems and complications amid the shortages of medicine and health-care interventions. — UNRWA, January 2022. "My husband works as a driver and earns less than two dollars a day. We mainly eat vegetables and beans because that's all we can afford. Meat and chicken have become a dream; we can't buy them because prices have increased so sharply. We no longer eat three meals a day, and sometimes I send my kids to bed without dinner." — Rihab Maajel, a 50-year-old Palestinian from Shabriha in southern Lebanon, UNRWA, January 2022. "I fear that I may freeze to death this winter. I cannot afford to buy gas for heating." — Nawal Kayed, 66, Palestinian in Lebanon, UNRWA, 2022. The group also noted that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who want to receive medical treatment in a Lebanese hospital have to wait for weeks to obtain a permit. — palhrw.org, January 20, 2022. When Palestinians in Lebanon cannot feed their children this winter, chalk it up to the world's unjust lethal obsession with Israel.
Five thousand homes belonging to Palestinians in Lebanon are at risk of collapsing and are in dire need of renovation, according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. These are the kind of reports that Amnesty International and many human rights organizations around the world apparently choose to ignore because Israel is not involved. Pictured: Jerry-rigged electrical connections between apartment buildings in UNRWA's Borj al-Branjeh refugee camp for Palestinians in Beirut, Lebanon. (Photo by Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)
Five thousand homes belonging to Palestinians in Lebanon are at risk of collapsing and are in dire need of renovation, according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. These are the kind of reports that Amnesty International and many human rights organizations around the world apparently choose to ignore because Israel is not involved. The report was published on the 25th anniversary of the Lebanese authorities' decision prohibiting the entry of construction and repair materials into Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon without a permit. The decision was issued by the Lebanese government in 1997, and the order for its implementation was referred to the Ministry of Defense because the army is responsible for granting construction permits to the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
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by Lawrence A. Franklin • February 10, 2022 at 4:00 am
The widespread violent unrest in Kazakhstan and subsequent arrival of mostly Russian troops who helped restore order last month exposed a further contest of rivals for power there between its ostensibly friendly neighbors, Russia and China. One also might wonder if Russia was taking advantage of the crisis of the large Russian troop presence deployed along the Ukrainian border to divert the West's attention from Putin's objective of also eventually reabsorbing Kazakhstan into the Kremlin's orbit. Russian troops already occupy portions of several former Soviet republics, including Georgia, the Ukraine, and Moldova -- "uninvited." Russia also deploys elements of the former 201st Motorized Rifle Division on its base in Tajikistan, another former Soviet republic. Kazakhstan is home to 15% of the world's supply of uranium -- necessary for nuclear weaponry as well as nuclear power plants, and is the world's largest producer of uranium.
The widespread violent unrest in Kazakhstan and subsequent arrival of mostly Russian troops who helped restore order last month exposed a further contest of rivals for power there between its ostensibly friendly neighbors, Russia and China. Pictured: Kazakh soldiers patrol on a street in Almaty on January 10, 2022. (Photo by Alexandr Bogdanov/AFP via Getty Images)
What can one believe about the recent events in Kazakhstan? According to the autocratic post-Soviet regime in Kazakhstan, peaceful protests by Kazakh citizens purportedly demonstrating against steep fuel price hikes implemented on New Year's Day were transformed into violent riots by foreign-trained terrorists. There is no indication, however, from the many thousands of arrested protestors that any of them were foreigners. While the fuel price hike was the immediate cause of people taking to the streets of Kazakhstan's major cities, there also appears to be deep-seated anger over the wealth disparity between elites of the former Communist regime and the rest of the populace. By way of response, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jobart Tokayev, in an apparent attempt to reduce anti-regime anger, fired his cabinet and canceled the fuel price hike.
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by Majid Rafizadeh • February 9, 2022 at 5:00 am
In 2021, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed two alarming amendments to Articles 499 and 500 of its Penal Code, making it easier for the authorities to crack down on religious minorities. The amendments impose prison sentences and fines on whoever insults "divine religions or Islamic schools of thought recognized under the Constitutions with the intent to cause violence or tensions in the society," as well on whoever conducts "any deviant educational or proselytizing activity that contradicts or interferes with the sacred law of Islam." Persecution of Christians in Iran has especially been on the rise. While Iranian leaders celebrate and publicize those who convert to Islam, those who convert to Christianity are severely punished. Another religious minority that faces persecution in Iran is the Baha'i faith... [Others] include Zoroastrians, Sufi Muslims, Sunni Muslims and Yarsanis. Meanwhile, the European powers are not only failing to hold the Iranian regime accountable, they are busy appeasing the ruling mullahs of Iran and doing business with them. Since the Biden administration lifted the "maximum pressure" imposed by the previous administration, the ruling mullahs have only escalated their persecution of religious minorities. Instead of incessantly lecturing the world on human rights, the EU and the Biden administration would sound more credible if they would stop appeasing the human rights catastrophe that Iran's regime has become, and hold the ruling mullahs accountable.
Persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Iran has especially been on the rise. In 2021, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed two alarming amendments to Articles 499 and 500 of its Penal Code, making it easier for the authorities to crack down on religious minorities. Pictured: Raisi delivers a speech in Tehran, on January 3, 2022. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
While turning a blind eye to the Iranian regime's increasing persecution of religious minorities, the Biden administration and the European Union are focusing only on lifting the sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The move will help to revive the disastrous nuclear deal that will empower the ruling mullahs to race toward nuclear weapons breakout; strengthen Iran's internal militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and expand the country's proxy militias abroad: the Houthis in Yemen, and the designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That does not even include any plans Iran might have to expand its operations, which threaten America, in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
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by Khaled Abu Toameh • February 8, 2022 at 5:00 am
In August alone, the PA security forces committed 287 violations against Palestinians, including arbitrary arrests of a physicist, activists, lawyers and others. Ten detainees went on hunger strike in PA prison and the health condition of two others deteriorated as a result of torture. The report analyzed 250 arrest cases between January 2018 and June 2021, and noted: "Not a single case went without one or more instances of violation of procedures related to arrest, detention and fair trial guaranteed by the Palestinian Criminal Procedures Law and the Palestinian Basic Law of 2003." — Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, 2021. Under the current circumstances, the Biden administration is stating that it wants to facilitate Abbas' creation of another Arab dictatorship that suppresses public freedoms and sanctions torture and intimidation. The ICSPR and ARIJ reports show that the Palestinian dictatorship entity already exists and is actively arresting, torturing, and killing its critics. What else do Blinken and the rest of the international community need to hear before they stop trying to empower such abusive governance and instead heed the voices of these Palestinians?
After Palestinian Authority (PA) security officers murdered Palestinian anti-corruption activist Nizar Banat in June 2021, dozens of Palestinians took to the streets to protest the crime. In response, PA security officers beat and arrested many of the demonstrators, including journalists and human rights activists. Pictured: Plain-clothed PA security officers beat a man in Ramallah on June 26, 2021, during a demonstration to protest the murder of Banat. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
While international "human rights" organizations such as Amnesty International make false and baseless claims against Israel, most continue intentionally and systematically to ignore the human rights violations committed by the Palestinian Authority (PA). A report published on January 29 by the Palestinian NGO International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR), which seeks to raise awareness of human rights among Palestinians, revealed that the year 2021 witnessed severe setbacks in the exercise of public rights and freedoms under the PA in the West Bank.
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by Pete Hoekstra • February 7, 2022 at 5:00 am
The Russian threat... was very clear -- that Russia would then be able to shut off its gas to Europe in the middle of winter [by means of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline], if it chose to, as a form of blackmail, at which point the US might then be expected to save Europe from its own deal.... The warnings to Europe went unheeded. How should the U.S. respond? The U.S. needs to continue to speak clearly and firmly. NATO is the most important military alliance that the U.S. has. We need it to be strong and effective. The only path forward is for all of the members to recommit themselves to investing in NATO's future. Combined with a commitment to our shared political and economic values, NATO will remain a force for the good: to protect the Free World from predators. It is still not too late for the U.S. to reverse its catastrophic decision and stop the opening of the Nord Stream 2. This project [Nord Stream 2] poses a direct threat to the security and stability of Ukraine. It removes any motivation for Russia to engage good faith negotiations in regards to Ukraine -- negotiations which would contribute to political stability in Ukraine and in the region. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Russia continues to threaten its neighbors and attempts to destabilize Western governments in multiple additional ways. Nord Stream 2 would give Putin a new tool to continue these nefarious actions. Russia has already used energy as a lever to achieve its foreign policy objectives. In 2009, Russia cut off energy supplies to Europe. With Nord Stream 2 in place it would have an even more powerful "economic tool" to threaten European economies, and even their national security. Nord Stream is a commercial project with major geo-political overtones.
The Russian threat... was very clear -- that Russia would then be able to shut off its gas to Europe in the middle of winter [by means of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline], if it chose to, as a form of blackmail, at which point the US might then be expected to save Europe from its own deal.... Pictured: The Nord Stream 2 landfall facility in Lubmin, Germany, on September 7, 2020. (Photo by Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)
This week, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Foreign Minister Wobke Hoekstra (no relation) met with Ukrainian leaders in Kiev. The visit was intended to signal Dutch support to the government of Ukraine in the face of Russian build-up provocations on its border. As with other European national security moves, the meeting may be too little too late.
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by Giulio Meotti • February 6, 2022 at 5:00 am
"If every time we are shocked, we were to pronounce death sentences, what would become of us? What kind of society would we live in?" — Mila to a tribunal, L'Union, June 21, 2021. "We resist because, otherwise, they will have won". — Mila's mother, testifying in court, bfmtv.com, June 21, 2021. One morning... Val learned that Al Qaeda had issued a death sentence on him. The poster showed his photograph, stained in blood. Social media are filled with ways to kill her -- bullets, explosives, crushing her head, slitting her throat or setting her on fire. These threats and attempts to intimidate prove the danger presented by those committed to... creating a new society by force and terror: If you criticize me, I will kill you -- behead you or slit your throat. Fear works. No one wants to see their name on an internet hit list, or falsely be called racist. Journalists studiously look the other way and are nowhere to be found. In April, the country will vote. The next day, it will be possible to tell what direction the country -- and with it, Europe -- will take. Will it submit -- or not?
The threats and attempts to intimidate prove the danger presented by those committed to creating a new society by force and terror: If you criticize me, I will kill you -- behead you or slit your throat. Fear works. No one wants to see their name on an internet hit list, or falsely be called racist. Journalists studiously look the other way and are nowhere to be found. (Images source: iStock)
"What else do you need to wake up and understand that we have to defend ourselves?", asked the late Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci. We should be worried about Europe. It is the cradle of European culture, especially France. Henry James, in The Ambassadors, writes about France as the epitome of civilization, as the "eldest daughter of the Church". Now, however, France's churches are being burned, demolished and abandoned, and its adherents sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. France's Jews, "the canaries in the coalmine", are being physically attacked and leaving their country. Since 2000, more than 60,000 have fled. In the face of this massive assault on freedom and culture, an army of "useful idiots" is siding with the enemies of civilization. Professor Robert Redeker was forced into hiding after criticizing radical Islam and now has to be protected by police.
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by Amir Taheri • February 6, 2022 at 4:00 am
Seen from China and Russia, the nuclear issue is an effective means of preventing Iran from returning to its historic pro-West path. An isolated Iran has helped Russia to capture a good chunk of its oil market while preventing it from using its immense resources of natural gas, probably the largest in the world, to help Europe shake its dependence on Russia. Both Russia and China have been careful to show Iran its place, as low as possible by normal standards. China has excluded Iran from its grandiose "One Belt-One World" project while Russia, as seen in the recent humiliation that Russian President Vladimir Putin inflicted on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow, has shown that it treats the regime in Tehran as a vassal and not an equal partner. Obama went further than any of his predecessors to help the mullahs live another day. He invented a "fatwa", presumably by "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei to declare building and using a nuclear arsenal is "forbidden" (haram) in Islamic shariah, forgetting that Pakistan, an Islamic republic with a population twice that of Iran, has been a nuclear-armed nation for decades. Unable to pass his scheme through the US Congress, Obama also invented the P5+1 scheme that keeps issues related to Iran out of the normal framework of international law. To emphasize his keenness on helping the mullahs at a crucial time, he even arranged for $1.7 billion to be smuggled to Tehran in cash via Cyprus, straight into the hands of Gen. Qassem Soleimani's Quds Force.
Seen from China and Russia, the nuclear issue is an effective means of preventing Iran from returning to its historic pro-West path. Russia, as seen in the recent humiliation that Russian President Vladimir Putin inflicted on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Moscow, has shown that it treats the regime in Tehran as a vassal and not an equal partner. Pictured: Putin speaks with Raisi in Moscow on January 19, 2022. (Photo by Pavel Bednyakov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Ever since the roadshow known as "nuclear talks with Iran" started almost 15 years ago, we have witnessed an event unique in diplomatic annals. On the surface the whole process is designed to deal with something simple: Iran should comply with the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), of which it was one of the founders. In exchange the "international community" would recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium, a right that is already granted under NPT and does not need further endorsement by "the international community". And, yet, the rigmarole has produced seven unanimously passed resolutions by the United Nations Security Council and over 1,500 sanctions imposed on Iran. Why is that? One answer is that certain elements in Iran and in the so-called "international community" need to keep this pot boiling for ideological reasons. Seen from the West, Iran is a black sheep in the region.
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