All posts by Algora Blog

Rabbi Elhannan Beck: The problem Here is Not Religion, it’s Occupation

Rabbi Elhannan Beck: I am a seventh generation Palestinian. My mother used to tell me that she remembers us living with our Palestinian neighbors in a great relationship. We used to babysit each other’s children. On Jewish holidays, they would bring the children to the Muslim neighbors. On Muslim holidays the kids would go to the Jewish neighbors. We had no problems. ( note: you’re describing present-day Russia)

 The problem here is not religion, it’s occupation. The killing. Taking the land from the people. That’s the problem. Palestinians don’t hate Jews. They hate the occupiers. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Jew, a Frenchman, an Englishman. It doesn’t matter. They will also hate the Japanese who will come to the holy land and invade it. And the same thing will happen here in England if someone comes and takes it. The Zionists say, “Do you see anti-Semitism?”. It’s not true. And we need to draw attention to it. The problem is not religion, it’s occupation.

This is Israeli Genocide

   

GRIEF STRICKEN, SMALL GIRL paces through Gaza hospital, clothes still in tatters and covered in dust, in search of family, not yet comprehending they’re all dead from Israeli airstrikes (first video).

Coming to terms with the horrible news, she is awash in mournful horror as she verbalizes heartbroken confusion as how Gaza could be hated and bombed so mercilessly (00:23, second video).

Are We in a Countdown to All-Out Nuclear War?

by Gilbert Doctorow via Gilbert Doctorow

The mood of panelists and presenter on this past Sunday’s Evening with Vladimir Solovyov talk show was deeply pessimistic and the reason had nothing whatever to do with Russia’s situation in its war with Ukraine. On the contrary, feelings about the war were entirely upbeat. The recently published interview in The Economist by Ukrainian commander in chief General Zaluzhny confirmed to the world public the dire prospects facing the Ukrainian army that Russians had been saying among themselves for some time. Indeed, even in Western media it is now estimated that the Ukrainians have lost 10 to 12 soldiers killed or severely maimed on the field of battle to one Russian casualty. The Ukrainians are said to have lost more than 400,000 soldiers and officers. And concurrently, both financial and military aid from the United States and its European allies is becoming problematic.

The pessimistic mood on the show had other, more general considerations that should give us pause as well. As one panelist remarked, global politics today very much resemble the period that preceded the outbreak of World War I. There are nasty wars here and there. There are peace conferences which lead to nothing. There are powers, meaning the United States, which in the recent words of Joe Biden, exult in being the most mighty on this earth, able to fight on multiple fronts. All of this led Vladimir Solovyov to sum up what comes next: a nuclear war is now inevitable. he said.

Of course, the vicious Israeli rampage in Gaza was a contributing factor to this gloom. All arguments from morality or ‘universal values’ have been stripped away. We are left with might makes right being practiced by those who believe they are untouchable.

If you pay attention, you see that the West, and Europe in particular, is staging one provocation against Russia after another with complete indifference to where this may lead.

One month ago, Latvia was threatening to close the Baltic to Russian ships as punishment for the possible Russian involvement in damage to the Balticonnector pipeline. That scandal quickly dispelled when the Finns announced that the likely cause was the anchor of a passing Chinese merchant vessel which detached during a storm.

However, now a similar threat has been issued by the European Commission as it has directed Denmark to inspect and possibly arrest oil tankers carrying Russian oil passing through Danish territorial waters on their way to the Atlantic for deliveries worldwide. The inspections will be to see if the vessels have proper European insurance coverage or not and the pretext for arrest will be that the vessels pose an environmental hazard. All of this is in answer to the findings of the Financial Times that nearly all Russian oil exported by sea is now being sold at well above the $60 ceiling mandated by Europe thanks to a shadow fleet that Russia assembled in the past year. October oil was sold for $80. which was just $10 below Brent.

One wonders whether anyone in Brussels or in Copenhagen stopped to think what response the Russians may make to any threats to stop their oil shipments by force on the seas. Russia is not some far away Iran without the wherewithal to react in these waters. No, the Russian Baltic naval fleet is very powerful, not to mention their available air power and ship destroying missiles fired from several thousand kilometers away. And the Danes? Wikipedia tells us their entire navy consists of 3,400 personnel, “16 ships, 28 vessels and 30 boats.” I assume that is in descending order of size and might. How many days or more likely how many hours would they hold out against the Russians? And what comes next?

The Finns, for their part, are also busy poking the bear. Yesterday they announced the closing of border crossings with Russia, claiming that Moscow is sending illegal undocumented migrants from Third World countries to them just as Belarus had allegedly been doing a year ago at their border with Poland.

Having crossed that border six or eight times in the last couple of years by bus, I know full well that the Russian bus operators were very strict in demanding that the paperwork of all passengers be fully in conformity with the relevant regulations on both sides of the border. Nearly all of these passengers have necessarily been dual nationals since tourists with only Russian passports are not admitted into Finland.

In response to the Finnish action, the two main bus lines carrying passengers between St Petersburg and Helsinki, EcoLines and Lux, have just announced termination of their services effective 18 November. This means that the only practical way for Europeans to get to Russia will be by flying via Istanbul or Dubai. This will double or triple the cost of a visit and take people to people exchanges back to the worst times of the Cold War. Only this war is more likely to be Hot.

American Forces Attack in Syria in “Self Defense” – What?


American Forces in Syria attacked local militia in “Self Defense” – What? And that is being said with a straight face by all pundits in the US and it’s vassals. 

Such abominable claim is never challenged by the prestitute media in the mainstream and most of the alternative media. Only rare voices of sanity bring this false claim to the public scrutiny.

Details Emerge on Israeli Iron Dome Vulnerabilities

via Mehr News

TEHRAN, Nov. 15 (MNA) – Forty days into the Al-Aqsa Storm operation, new details have emerged about a significant blow dealt by Hamas to the Zionist regime, specifically targeting the Iron Dome defense system.

The details underscore the scale of the Palestinian resistance movement’s assault from the beginning, shedding light on the impact on the Iron Dome defense system.

Israel’s vital short-range air defense system, the Iron Dome, designed to counter rockets and drones from resistance groups, has vulnerabilities that were effectively exploited by the resistance on October 7 during rocket operations.

Despite its distinctive qualities, this pricey defense system does have some vulnerabilities, and these were effectively capitalized on by resistance groups, particularly on October 7, during their rocket operations.

The Israeli regime possesses 10 Iron Dome batteries, each equipped with 3 launchers. Firing 20 ground-to-air missiles per launcher, totaling 600 missiles, the system faces challenges tracking simultaneous rocket launches due to the time needed for reloading.

In the initial 20 minutes of the Al-Aqsa Storm operation on October 7, Palestinian groups launched over 5,000 rockets into occupied territories, successfully bypassing the Iron Dome’s defensive shield.

Contrastingly, the radar system in the Iron Dome automatically identifies, tracks, and detects the characteristics of incoming hostile rockets (although the decision to fire is ultimately made by human operators). Since day one, and even prior to that, resistance groups have been involved in hacking into some of these systems. Even after several days of the conflict, certain Iron Dome systems continue to experience issues with missile launches.

Lately, there have been multiple releases of images showing significant deviations of Tamir missiles and the resulting ground impact causing damage. This problem stems from recent cyberattacks by resistance forces against the system.

Adding to these incidents, there’s another event from October 7 that, now more than a month later, new information has come to light about – the killing of certain operators within the Iron Dome system.

Each Iron Dome system is equipped with a protection unit to ensure the safety of operators and the system itself. During the October 7 attack, some teams from resistance groups specifically targeted these systems. In another operation, they encountered personnel within the systems, resulting in casualties and the capture of others.

Sohr Saoodiyan, the unit commander, Benjamin Gabriel Yuna, and Nati Kutsero, the launcher operator, all three from the 947th Battalion, are confirmed casualties of this attack.

Interestingly, moments after the start of the resistance groups’ attacks, there were no warnings indicating readiness given by the Israeli army to any of the Iron Dome units. The operating forces were taken by surprise by the attacks by the Palestinian fighters.

Three officers, reloading missiles after completing launches, were killed around 10:30 in the morning, confirmed three days later.

Information about the Iron Dome, including news and related details, is classified in the Israeli army. It is likely that casualties from Iron Dome units are higher than officially reported.

MNA/TSN

Xi’ s Visit to the US

– Excuse me, would you like to buy a little bit of bonds from us? We’re just funding two wars right now and we need a little liquidity. You don’t have to worry about them getting cheaper, we’re turning everything back and forth with the help of our military.

Janet Julius is faced with a situation where she has $8 trillion in debt with a 12 month maturity that needs to be rolled over and refinanced at new, higher rates.

Ah, yes…. And another thing. The new deficit is between $2 trillion and $3 trillion. And so all of this needs new buyers.

It’s just where are you going to physically get that amount of money?  No one has that kind of free money.

@trejeris

UN: Israel CAN’T claim the right of self-defense

ISRAEL DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF – UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese explains why in video above. 

Albanese clarifies Article 51 of UN Charter (right to wage war) that Israel invoked (00:18) and shows that it does not apply to the occupier so that Israel has no legitimate claim to “self-defense” when waging war against an occupied population.

(01:37) Israel CAN’T claim the right of self-defense against a threat emanating from territory it occupies, kept under belligerent occupation – Albanese.

The Collapse of Israel and the United States

by Thierry Meyssan via Voltairenet

For the first time, the world is witnessing a crime against humanity live on television. The United States and Israel, who have long since joined forces, will both be held responsible for the mass massacres in Gaza. Everywhere except Europe, Washington’s allies are withdrawing their ambassadors from Tel Aviv. Tomorrow, they will do the same in Washington. Everything is happening as it did when the USSR broke up, and it will end the same way: the American Empire’s very existence is threatened. The process that has just begun cannot be stopped.

The United States and Israel are perceived as a single entity. They will have to answer for their crimes together.

While our eyes are riveted on the massacres of civilians in Israel and Gaza, we fail to perceive the internal divisions in Israel and the USA, or the considerable change this drama is provoking in the world. For the first time in history, civilians are being massacred live on television.

Everywhere – except in Europe – Jews and Arabs unite to cry out their grief and call for peace.
People everywhere realize that this genocide would not be possible if the United States did not supply bombs to the Israeli army in real time.

States everywhere are recalling their ambassadors to Tel Aviv and wondering whether they should recall those they sent to Washington.

It goes without saying that the United States only reluctantly agreed to this spectacle, but they didn’t just allow it, they made it possible with subsidies and weapons. They are afraid of losing their Power after their defeat in Syria, their defeat in Ukraine and perhaps soon their defeat in Palestine. Indeed, if the Empire’s armies are no longer frightening, who will continue to transact in dollars instead of their own currency? And in that eventuality, how will Washington make others pay for what it spends, how will the U.S. maintain its standard of living?

But what happens at the end of this story? That the Middle East revolts, or that Israel crushes Hamas at the cost of thousands of lives?

We’ll remember that President Joe Biden first warned Israel to abandon its plan to move the Palestinian people to Egypt or, failing that, to eradicate them from the face of the earth, and Tel Aviv didn’t obey him.

The “Jewish supremacists” are behaving today as they did in 1948.

When the United Nations voted to create two federated states in Palestine, one Hebrew and one Arab, the armed forces self-proclaimed the Hebrew state before its borders had been fixed. The “Jewish supremacists” immediately expelled millions of Palestinians from their homes (the “Nakhba”) and assassinated the UN special representative who had come to create a Palestinian state. The seven Arab armies (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and North Yemen) that tried to oppose them were quickly swept aside.

Today, they are no more obedient to their protectors and massacre again, without realizing that this time the world is watching and no one will come to their rescue. At a time when the Shiites accept the principle of a Hebrew state, their madness is jeopardizing the very existence of that state.

We remember how the Soviet Union collapsed. The state was unable to protect its own population during a catastrophic accident. 4,000 Soviets died at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986), saving their fellow citizens. The survivors wondered why, 69 years after the October Revolution, they continued to accept an authoritarian regime. Mikhail Gorbachev, First Secretary of the CPSU, wrote that it was only when he saw this disaster that he realized his regime was under threat.

Then came the December riots in Kazakhstan, independence demonstrations in the Baltic states and Armenia. Gorbachev amended the Constitution to remove the Party’s old guard. But his reforms were not enough to stop the fire spreading to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldavia, Ukraine and Belarus. The uprising of the East German Young Communists against the Brezhnev doctrine led to the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989). The crumbling of power in Moscow led to the cessation of aid to allies, including Cuba (1990). Finally came the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the break-up of the Union (1991). In just over 5 years, an Empire that everyone thought would last forever has collapsed in on itself.

This inevitable process has just begun for the “American Empire”. The question is not how far Benjamin Netanyahu’s “revisionist Zionists” will go, but how far the US imperialists will support them. At what point will Washington decide it has more to lose by allowing Palestinian civilians to be massacred than by correcting Israel’s leaders?

The same problem faces him in Ukraine. The military counter-offensive by Volodymyr Zelensky’s government has failed. Russia is no longer seeking to destroy Ukrainian weapons, which are immediately replaced by weapons donated by Washington, but to kill those who wield them. The Russian armies are behaving like a gigantic crushing machine, slowly and inexorably killing all Ukrainian soldiers who approach the Russian defense lines. Kiev can no longer mobilize fighters, and its soldiers refuse to obey orders that condemn them to certain death. Its officers have no choice but to shoot the pacifists.

Many US, Ukrainian and Israeli leaders are already talking about replacing the Ukrainian “integral nationalist” coalition with the “Jewish supremacist” coalition, but the wartime period does not lend itself to this. But it will have to be done.

President Joe Biden has to replace his Ukrainian puppet and his barbaric Israeli allies, just as First Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had to replace his insensitive representative in Khazakhstan, paving the way for widespread challenges to corrupt leaders. Once Zelensky and Netanyahu have been dismissed, everyone will know that it is possible to get the head of a Washington representative, and everyone will know that they must flee before they are sacrificed.

This process is not only inevitable, it’s inexorable. President Joe Biden can only do what he can to slow it down, to make it last, not to stop it.

The peoples and leaders of the West must now take the initiative to get out of this predicament, without waiting to be abandoned, as Cuba did at the cost of the privations of its “special period”. This is a matter of urgency: the last to react will have to foot the bill for everyone else. Many states from the “rest of the world” are already fleeing. They are queuing up to join the BRICS or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Even more than Russia, which had to break away from the Baltic States, the United States must prepare for domestic uprisings. When the US is no longer able to impose the dollar on international trade, and its standard of living collapses, the poorer regions will refuse to obey, while the richer ones will become independent, starting with the republics of Texas and California (the only ones legally able to do so, according to the Treaties) [1]. The break-up of the USA is likely to result in civil war.

The disappearance of the USA will lead to the disappearance of NATO and the European Union. Germany, France and the U.K. will find themselves faced with their old rivalries, having failed to respond when the time was right.

Within a few years, Israel and the “American Empire” will disappear. Those who fight against the direction of history will provoke wars and unnecessary deaths in their numbers.

Translation
Roger Lagassé

“If Russia Unites with Iran & the Arabs – End of America!”

Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky made this prediction in 1999:

“If Russia unites with Iran & the Arabs – it will be the end of America!”

Iran Calls for ‘Immediate Halt’ to Gaza War, Says ‘No Chance’ for Israel ’s Victory

via Press TV

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) meets with Martin Griffiths, head of UN humanitarian operations, in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday.

Iran’s foreign minister has called for an immediate halt to Israel’s bloody aggression against the Gaza Strip, stressing that the occupying regime has “no chance” to win the war.

In a meeting with Martin Griffiths, head of UN humanitarian operations, in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that the Israeli assaults on the Palestinian people in Gaza only increase the costs for Washington as Tel Aviv’s ally.

“Unfortunately, the scope of the Zionist regime’s attacks on Gaza is expanding, and it is necessary to take immediate and effective measures to stop them,” he said.

“There is no chance for the Zionist regime to win the war and it will only increase the costs for the US government as the biggest supporter of the Zionist regime that is responsible for the continuation of the aggression. As a result, it is necessary to focus efforts on a ceasefire and an immediate halt to the war.”

Iran foreign minister also said, “Unfortunately, the US sends all kinds of weapons, including phosphorous and prohibited weapons, to Tel Aviv on a daily basis from Cyprus or directly through its bases throughout the region, and these bombs are dropped on the oppressed Palestinians in Gaza.”

The top Iranian diplomat added that the amount of humanitarian aid sent to Gaza is very small, contrary to what the Americans claim.

He called for strong and urgent management on the part of the United Nations to open the Rafah border crossing for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The UN, he added, can count on the Islamic Republic’s capacity to achieve peace and security in the region.

Referring to his meetings in Doha with Qatari and Hamas officials, Amir-Abdollahian said that the Palestinian resistance movement is ready to act regarding the captives being held by Hamas since the October 7 operation.

“If the Israeli regime stops the genocide in Gaza, resistance groups will also stop counterattacks,” he noted.

The UN humanitarian chief, for his part, expressed his satisfaction with the meeting and expounded on the UN humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

He also underlined the need to find a solution to the issue of Israeli captives and provide basic needs, especially fuel, to the Gazans.

Griffiths further voiced concerns about the terrible condition inside Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, which is a tragedy amid Israel’s military raid.

Raid on al-Shifa: Israeli forces fire at civilians inside hospital as Hamas calls US complicit

The general director of hospitals in the Gaza Strip says Israeli troops have fired at people inside the al-Shifa hospital.

He appreciated Iran’s efforts to prevent the spread of the war and stressed the need for more efforts to stop the war and end the current alarming situation in Gaza.

Israel waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity.

Since the start of the war, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 11,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 29,000 others.

It has also imposed a “complete siege” on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.