Latest Analysis and Commentary
by Alan M. Dershowitz • June 15, 2023 at 5:00 am
There are disturbing suggestions that among the reasons lawyers are declining the case is because they fear legal and career reprisals. There is a nefarious group that calls itself The 65 Project that has as its goal to intimidate lawyers into not representing Trump or anyone associated with him. They have threatened to file bar charges against any such lawyers. I wrote an op-ed offering to defend pro bono any lawyers that The 65 Project goes after. So The 65 Project immediately went after me, and contrived a charge based on a case in which I was a constitutional consultant, but designed to send a message to potential Trump lawyers: If you defend Trump or anyone associated with him, we will target you and find something to charge you with. The lawyers to whom I spoke are fully aware of this threat -- and they are taking it seriously.... It may even be worse today.... Good lawyers... generally welcome challenges, especially in high-profile cases. This case is different: the threats to the lawyers are greater than at any time since McCarthyism. Nor is the comparison to McCarthyism a stretch. I recall during the 1950s how civil liberties lawyers, many of whom despised communism, were cancelled, and attacked if they dared to represent people accused of being communists. Our system of justice is based on the John Adams standard: he too was attacked for defending the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre, but his representation of these accused killers now serves as a symbol of the 6th Amendment right to counsel. That symbol has now been endangered.... Trump's lawyers have now alleged that one of the prosecutors has suggested to Stanley Woodward, the lawyer for Waltine Nauta, Trump's co-defendant, that his application for judgeship may be negatively affected if he persists in defending Nauta vigorously rather than encouraging him to cooperate against Trump. If that is true – and I have not seen the evidence to support it – then it represents a direct attack on the 6th Amendment. Whatever one may think of Trump or the charges against him, all Americans must stand united against efforts to intimidate lawyers and chill them from defending unpopular clients pursuant to the 6th Amendment. Bar associations must look into the threats and actions of The 65 Project and of prosecutors who try... to influence the representation of clients by threats to their careers or other means. Hard cases may make bad law but partisan cases endanger constitutional rights. We must do everything to assure that all defendants, including Donald Trump, get the zealous representation to which the Constitution entitled all Americans.
There are disturbing suggestions that among the reasons lawyers are declining to represent Former President Donald Trump is because they fear legal and career reprisals. We must do everything to assure that all defendants, including Trump, get the zealous representation to which the Constitution entitled all Americans. Pictured: Trump delivers remarks June 13, 2023 in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump has now been arraigned and pleaded not guilty. He was represented by two lawyers, neither of whom he apparently wants to lead his defense at trial. He has been interviewing Florida lawyers, and several top ones have declined. I know, because I have spoken to them. There are disturbing suggestions that among the reasons lawyers are declining the case is because they fear legal and career reprisals.
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by Raymond Ibrahim • June 14, 2023 at 5:00 am
Last month, in France, a Muslim man told an underage girl with whom he had been chatting on Facebook, "I will burn you all. I will cut your throats. I will rape you and your mother because I have the right to do so." The girl's father, described as "devastated and angry," responded to the terror threats with which his family and he had been living, saying, "Islam is not what I have been hearing [it is]... Religion is peace, tolerance, respect... We have been living in fear for a year!" The ongoing narrative is that Islam means peace; what is not said is that this peace comes only after everyone enjoys the "peace" of being Muslim. Until then, what is often presented to hasten this result is the exact opposite: jihad, or violence in the service of Islam. Many Muslims, just want, of course, to live in quiet lives, have good jobs and enjoy the blessings of this life. Others however, such as Western converts to the "religion of peace" suddenly and inexplicably become terrorists. Such men routinely cite the same hadiths and verses from the Koran. Verses 4:3 and 4:24, for instance, permit Muslim men to have sexual relations with as many women as "their right hand possesses" — meaning as many women — all non-Muslim, of course — as they are able to take captive during a jihad. "In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted." [Emphasis added] —New York Times report. In Germany, some Muslim migrants act out their conviction that all "German women are there for sex." In the 2016 New Year's celebrations in Cologne, migrants ended up molesting a thousand women. In Britain, where a large Muslim minority has long existed, thousands of British girls in various regions have been by abused and gang-raped by "grooming gangs" made up largely of Muslims, who apparently deemed it their Islamic right. One rape victim said, "The men who did this to me have no remorse. They would tell me that what they were doing was OK in their culture." In a separate case, another Muslim convicted of rape told a British court that sharing non-Muslim girls for sex "was part of Somali culture" and "a religious requirement." [T]he subhuman treatment and sexual degradation of non-Muslim women and children by Muslim men who deem it their "right" is apparently another "exoticism" the West is apparently expected to embrace at the altar of multiculturalism.
In Britain, where a large Muslim minority has long existed, thousands of British girls in various regions have been by abused and gang-raped by "grooming gangs" made up largely of Muslims, who apparently deemed it their Islamic right. Pictured: The English town of Rotherham (population ca. 265,000), where at least 1,400 children were sexually abused by a gang of mostly Muslim men of Pakistani descent. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Last month, in France, a Muslim man told an underage girl with whom he had been chatting on Facebook, "I will burn you all. I will cut your throats. I will rape you and your mother because I have the right to do so." When she refused to marry him, he defaulted to even more severe threats against her and her family -- at one point texting, "Soon we will cut your throats and play football with your heads." The communication was accompanied by a video showing the scene of a beheading. Based on the name given in the French report, Fabio Califano, who was subsequently arrested, appears to have been a convert to Islam. The girl's father, described as "devastated and angry," responded to the terror threats with which his family and he had been living, saying, "Islam is not what I have been hearing [it is]... Religion is peace, tolerance, respect... We have been living in fear for a year!"
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by Uzay Bulut • June 13, 2023 at 5:00 am
The history of the Islamization of indigenous non-Muslim populations of Kashmir is similar to that of the Middle East and North Africa: native non-Muslim peoples were first conquered by Islamic armies and then subjected to discrimination and persecution, which led to either death, conversion to Islam or departure/flight. Due to killings and forced conversions, there are no Hindus remaining in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, although it is still home to ancient Hindu sacred sites. The anti-Hindu violence culminated in 1989-1990 when Pakistan-sponsored insurgents carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign against the approximately 95% of the Hindus living in the Valley of Kashmir. Meanwhile, Pakistan remains a major sponsor of global terrorism. Jihad is a global threat targeting the entire international community. For the safety and stability of the region and beyond, it is crucial not to let jihad succeed. India's sovereignty over Kashmir and the international community's support for hosting international events, as well as tourism in Kashmir, are critical for the global fight against terrorism. It is also beneficial to the residents of Kashmir – particularly women, peaceful Muslims, indigenous Hindus and other non-Muslim minorities. Those countries that oppose Kashmir as part of India and attempt to dissuade international events such as the G20 conference to promote tourism are hardly advocating the establishment of a secular, pluralistic democracy in Kashmir. Their goal, rather, is to create an Islamist state in Kashmir where women, religious minorities, and moderate Muslims would be persecuted – just as in anyplace else taken over by Islamic theocracy. Such a state would also be a center of terrorism and instability in the wider region. The civilized world needs to support India's sovereignty in Kashmir against foreign interference from oppressive states -- such as China, Turkey and Pakistan.
A street in in Srinagar, in the Jammu and Kashmir region of India on May 23, 2023, during a G20 tourism meeting. (Photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP via Getty Images)
When India hosted a key G20 conference in Srinagar, the capital of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory of India, on May 22 and 23, even though the conference was reportedly attended by around 122 delegates, including 60 foreigners, it was boycotted by Pakistan as well as its longtime allies, China and Turkey. Pakistan called the meeting "illegal." Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, but it is claimed by Pakistan, which has violently targeted the region through terror groups. Hundreds of people therefore rallied in the Pakistan-occupied area of Kashmir to protest the meeting. Three G20 member countries (China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey) as well as two guest-countries invited by India (Egypt and Oman) were among those that did not send delegations. However, three Muslim countries did attend the meeting: Indonesia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bangladesh.
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by Lawrence Kadish • June 12, 2023 at 2:30 pm
Pictured: The Large Hadron Collider, where the Higgs boson was confirmed in 2012. The section pictured is located in Echenevex, France, on the border with Switzerland. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/AFP via Getty Images)
Few of us could master the curriculum when we were in school. Atoms, electrons, charged particles; it was a strange and alien world that few of us understood and even fewer could embrace much less master. Yet we live in a 21st Century world that has been defined by the fundamental discoveries revealed, controlled, and directed by the laws of physics. Far more than some distant and mysterious field of study, theoretical studies that began decades ago continue to yield results that few could have foreseen, touching people around the globe.
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by Bassam Tawil • June 12, 2023 at 5:00 am
The UN, ostensibly dedicated to protecting human rights, and has, in fact, devolved into hurling bogus, tabloid-style allegations as it joins other blood-libel false charges by considering the addition of Israel to its list of blacklisted entities in its 2023 Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) Report. The UN resolution draft bizarrely, with no evidence, "accuses Israel of recruiting three Palestinian minors as human shields and combatants," among other offenses.... One of the leaders, in the zeal unjustly to add Israel to the UN blacklist, is World Vision International. It circulated an open letter -- with 18 co-signatory NGOs -- addressed to UN Secretary General António Guterres, repeating the phony and libelous charges against Israel regarding child recruitment. In addition to this evangelical missionary organization's own anti-Israel history -- which features comparing Israel to Hitler's army and the involvement of one of its managers in funding Hamas -- World Vision International's list of co-signers features a "Who's Who" of anti-Israel organizations, including Human Rights Watch, authors of the notorious report accusing Israel of "apartheid" and "crimes against humanity". Importantly, Israel is recommended for blacklisting while Palestinian and Iranian armed groups are distinctly not. The Palestinian Authority (PA) disassociates itself, when it is convenient, from its armed wing, Fatah, and other terror groups while "unofficially" inciting them to violence and even genocide. This is the PA we are talking about -- dominated by the ruling Fatah faction headed by Mahmoud Abbas -- not Hamas or Islamic Jihad, "In response to threat that this posed to IDF forces, the IDF repeatedly conveyed warnings to the hospital staff, Palestinian officials, and international aid organizations, including the World Health Organization, requesting that they act in order to stop the hospital from being used for military purposes." — Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva, July 27, 2104. [T]he early childhood indoctrination to terrorism by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad is so well documented that it is beyond dispute. The same brainwashing administered by Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority is only slightly more discreet, but has consistently been presented as the supposedly "moderate" face of the Palestinian struggle, as if the organization concerns itself more with legal and diplomatic warfare. Unfortunately, Abbas's statements to his constituents on official PA television as opposed to the general English-speaking media -- leave a dramatically different impression: "We salute every drop of blood spilled for the sake of Jerusalem... shed for the sake of Allah, Allah willing. Every martyr will be placed in Paradise, and all the wounded will be rewarded by Allah." With the astronomical sum of pooled international donations that flood into Palestinian control every year through countless NGOs and humanitarian organizations, it is inconceivable that the poverty among so many Palestinians, especially in the refugee camps, is anything but a desired and designed effect: the result of, shall we say, "questionable" governance. The combination of intense early childhood indoctrination to hatred and terror with hopeless deprivation are a deliberate recipe for terrorism. Photos of these dead children fuel sympathy donations, funds flow in the billions, and Palestinian officials, their families, and their friends enjoy the high-life at the expense of their own people – all in the name of "the Palestinian cause" and the fight against Israel. The website of Defense of Children International – Palestine regularly features standard-looking photos of adolescents such as 17-year-old Mahmoud Majed al-Aydi and claim them as victims of Israeli aggression. Eventually, the not-so-innocent photos emerge of this same teen toting an automatic rifle. None of these supposed child-welfare organizations seriously takes Palestinian groups to task for terrorizing children in Israel, for rocket strikes on kindergartens. None of them gives aid to expand the availability of rocket shelters in Israeli playgrounds or barricades at bus stops to defend against car-rammings, or to offer trauma counseling to children terrorized across Israel by both rocket and terror attacks. The question needs to be asked: Is it actually "child welfare" that is at issue here, or is it the demonization of Israel, the only democratic country in the region, and one that actually respects human rights, thereby threatening the repressive dictatorships around it that is at the heart of the matter? "One cannot consider the cynical exploitation of Palestinian children by the Palestinian nationalist movement without recognizing that international NGOs that claim to act on the behalf of the welfare of children often encourage this exploitation by refusing to criticize this practice." — Ahron Shapiro, senior policy analyst, AIJAC, May 30, 2018. "Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of the NGO Defence of Children International-Palestine, which has been identified by NGO Monitor as having close ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.... and their responsibility to supervise children and prevent them from engaging in violent activity, must be addressed with the same vigour as allegations of mistreatment at the hands of Israelis." — Ahron Shapiro, AIJAC, May 30, 2018. Instead of waging Jihad (holy war) on Israel, the UN might start paying attention to the human rights violations and massive child abuse committed by Palestinian and Arab leaders against their own people as well as against Jews.
The United Nations has adopted the nasty habit of many Palestinians: throwing everything at Israel but the kitchen sink. The UN, ostensibly dedicated to protecting human rights, and has, in fact, devolved into hurling bogus, tabloid-style allegations as it joins other blood-libel false charges by considering the addition of Israel to its list of blacklisted entities. Pictured: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23, 2022. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)
The United Nations has adopted the nasty habit of many Palestinians: throwing everything at Israel but the kitchen sink. Accusations against Israel have ranged from fabricated claims not merely of "apartheid," but climate apartheid, water apartheid, violating women's rights (the only country accused of that in the midst of a sea of crushing Islamic fundamentalist regimes!), to kidnapping and murdering Palestinian children to harvest their organs. The UN, ostensibly dedicated to protecting human rights, and has, in fact, devolved into hurling bogus, tabloid-style allegations as it joins other blood-libel false charges by considering the addition of Israel to its list of blacklisted entities in its 2023 Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) Report.
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by J.B. Shurk • June 11, 2023 at 5:00 am
Has the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe finally been answered? In what appears to be a well-coordinated disclosure campaign, several knowledgeable "insiders" have recently made public statements claiming that "ET" is real and has been visiting Earth for decades. In mid-May, Stanford Medical Professor Garry Nolan caused a stir during an innovation and investment conference hosted by the SALT i-Connections leadership forum when he stated unequivocally that a small group of scientists have been reverse engineering alien technology for quite some time. One of the compelling things about the fifteen minute interview in which he discussed this revelation is how careful the host, Alex Klokus, is to frame Dr. Nolan's testimony with sober and logical questioning, as if to guard against potential accusations of quackery. In their well-sourced piece, journalists Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal detail the allegations of David Charles Grusch — a "former intelligence official turned whistleblower" — who has provided both Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General with "extensive classified information about deeply covert programs" in possession of "intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin." — thedebrief.org, "Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin," June 5, 2023. For his part, [Retired Army Colonel Karl E.] Nell wholly concurs with [David Charles Grusch — a "former intelligence official turned whistleblower] that for the "past eighty years" secret programs have "focused on reverse engineering technologies of unknown origin" and "that at least some of these technologies of unknown origin derive from non-human intelligence." He considers this conclusion "indisputable." It is also true that in filing his whistleblower complaint, Grusch has placed himself in legal jeopardy by formally attesting that his statements are made "under the penalties of perjury." People are bombarded with so much government-sanctioned propaganda and outright lies that they never know whether official statements are true. Outside institutions — including academia and the news media — have embraced so much "fake news" over the years that their reputations are in no better shape. The end result is that nobody in a position of authority is trusted or believed. The "bombshell of the millennium" explodes right outside Americans' doors, and the public largely shrugs because it accepted an ugly truth long ago: it is constantly being deceived. With all due respect to our extraterrestrial friends, perhaps that is the most important news story of our time.
Has the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe finally been answered? In what appears to be a well-coordinated disclosure campaign, several knowledgeable "insiders" have recently made public statements claiming that "ET" is real and has been visiting Earth for decades. Pictured: A warning sign is posted at the perimeter of the top-secret military installation at the Nevada Test and Training Range commonly known as Area 51 on July 22, 2019 near Rachel, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Has the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe finally been answered? In what appears to be a well-coordinated disclosure campaign, several knowledgeable "insiders" have recently made public statements claiming that "ET" is real and has been visiting Earth for decades. In mid-May, Stanford Medical Professor Garry Nolan caused a stir during an innovation and investment conference hosted by the SALT i-Connections leadership forum when he stated unequivocally that a small group of scientists have been reverse engineering alien technology for quite some time.
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by Amir Taheri • June 11, 2023 at 4:00 am
In the past two decades, that is to say since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad, a new discourse has developed in which post-Saddam Iraq is depicted as part of an empire being built by the Khomeinist regime in Tehran. [T]he Khomeinist empire-building scheme in Iraq has failed. To be sure, Iraq is now slated as Iran's principal trading partner. But this is largely due to exports of Iranian gas and electricity to Iraq, exports for which Iraq has failed to pay so far. Iraqi debts to Iran are estimated at between $17 and $22 billion. [Iraq's] Shiite community, assuming that such a label is accurate, is also divided with those remaining loyal to Tehran providing a dwindling minority. Iraq had signed oil exploration and production deals with more than 60 countries while the Islamic Republic is excluded. Last week, Baghdad signed a deal with Ankara for a gas pipeline to the Turkish port of Yumurtalik to supply Europe. Iraq may still be uncertain about what kind of future it wants. But one thing is certain: it doesn't want to be a fiefdom for the mullahs of Tehran.
Iraq may still be uncertain about what kind of future it wants. But one thing is certain: it doesn't want to be a fiefdom for the mullahs of Tehran. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian hold a joint press conference in Baghdad on February 22, 2023. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
In the past two decades, that is to say since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad, a new discourse has developed in which post-Saddam Iraq is depicted as part of an empire being built by the Khomeinist regime in Tehran. Tehran's surrogates in Beirut refer to this supposed empire as the "Resistance Front," while Iran's opponents label it a "Shiite Crescent" that also includes parts of Syria still under Bashar al-Assad's control. However, apart from Lebanon, which remains under relatively firm Iranian control, the idea that the Assad potion of Syria and Iraq as a whole are Iranian fiefdoms may be far-fetched. Since Lebanon is a minor player in the larger regional scene and Syria remains an "ungoverned territory" divided into five segments, it is only Iraq that is often featured as the big prize in the supposed Khomeinist empire.
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by Majid Rafizadeh • June 10, 2023 at 5:00 am
[J]ust a few days after the regime executed two young men, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare, for "blasphemy," Iran was rewarded by being appointed chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council 2023 Social Forum, as well as being handsomely compensated by the European Union. "Iran human rights role 'like granting Bin Laden a Nobel Peace Prize'." — The Telegraph. As if to underscore this triumph, right after the UN appointment, Iran's regime on May 19 proceeded to execute three more men -- Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi – for having participated in anti-regime protests. "[Iranian] Authorities Execute Over 60 People in Past 2 Weeks." — Human Rights Watch, May 12, 2023. "The Iranian authorities' dramatic escalation of executions in recent weeks is a serious violation of the right to life and should bring international condemnation... Since late April, the Iranian authorities have executed at least 60 people, including an Iranian-Swedish national on alleged terror-related charges. Many were executed after unfair trials or for charges, such as drug offenses as well and two executions for 'blasphemy,' that under international law should never result in the death penalty." — Human Rights Watch, May 12, 2023. So, Germany, which preaches about human rights and its "feminist foreign policy", has actually increased its business with Iran.... "We believe it is time to hold the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran to account for its crimes.... We urge your nations to stand with the Iranian people in their quest for change and to take decisive steps against the current regime. This includes blacklisting the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and holding regime officials accountable for their crimes against humanity." — Letter signed May 23, 2023 by former Vice President Mike Pence and 107 other former world leaders. Fox News; May 23, 2023. It is abhorrent and unacceptable that the EU and the UN keep propping up a regime that is a world leader in executions and violations of human rights -- and that will not hesitate to use its nuclear weapons capability as well as the threat of it.
Just days after Iran was rewarded by being appointed chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council 2023 Social Forum, the regime on May 19 executed three more men for having participated in anti-regime protests. Pictured: A public execution Mashhad, Iran on December 12, 2022. (Photo by Mizan News/AFP via Getty Images)
Not only have the Biden Administration, the EU, and the UN have been silent in the face of the Iranian regime's increasing human rights violations, but just a few days after the regime executed two young men, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare, for "blasphemy," Iran was rewarded by being appointed chair of the United Nations Human Rights Council 2023 Social Forum, as well as being handsomely compensated by the European Union. The grotesque move prompted The Telegraph to headline, "Iran human rights role 'like granting Bin Laden a Nobel Peace Prize.'" As if to underscore this triumph, right after the UN appointment, Iran's regime on May 19 proceeded to execute three more men -- Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi – for having participated in anti-regime protests. "The world should be enraged over #Iran's executions of #MajidKazemi, #SaeedYaghoubi & #SalehMirhashemi," the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee tweeted.
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by Raymond Ibrahim • June 9, 2023 at 5:00 am
Iran's Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "used the Islamic concept of 'Taqiyya' to describe the regime's decision to accept the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West. Taqiyya means the permissibility to deny or conceal one's real beliefs to secure a worthy goal." — iranintl.com, May 20, 2023. "Khamenei's emphasis on "expediency" as the third principle in foreign policy was particularly notable, as he urged flexibility "in necessary instances" and circumventing "tough barriers" to continue a set course." — iranintl.com, May 20, 2023 If it was not clear what "heroic flexibility" meant then, it probably should be clear by now. Reports consistently document that Iran has been cheating since day one. "[Khamenei] said that when a revolution hits a tough rock on its path, it need not break its head against it; the wisest course would be to try and go around it." — Amir Taheri, "Iran: Heroic Flexibility Returns," June 4, 2023. " [A]l- Taqiyya is with the tongue only, (not the heart)." — Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti in his book, "al-Durr al-Manthoor Fi al-Tafsir al- Ma'athoor," quoting Ibn Abbas. Taqiyya is actually all around us. Iran pretends that its nuclear program is just for peaceful purposes. Some Muslims pretend to convert to Christianity (past and present), or a Muslim gunman gains entrance into a church by feigning interest in Christian prayers. It should not be surprising, therefore, that Khamenei is relying on taqiyya once again. What is surprising is that the Biden Administration is falling for it – after being told it would be used – and allowing itself to be sucker-punched, or pretending to allow it. In 1994, PLO leader Yasser Arafat, after he signed the Oslo Accord with Israel, justified his actions by saying, "I see this agreement as being no more than the agreement signed between our Prophet Muhammad and the Quraysh in Mecca"— referring to a truce, the Treaty of Hudaibiyah, which Muhammad broke as soon as he had regained power and was able to attack. Similarly, Khamenei, by referring to taqiyya in Iran's agreement to a nuclear deal with the West, is signaling that Iran is only going along for "expediency" — until it finds itself in a position to realize its nuclear aspirations and renege. [I]s there a single authority representing the West at these international nuclear talks that knows — let alone cares about — any of this? Or is the fix already in?
Iran's Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "used the Islamic concept of 'Taqiyya' to describe the regime's decision to accept the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West. Taqiyya means the permissibility to deny or conceal one's real beliefs to secure a worthy goal." Pictured: Khamenei (R) speaks with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Ali Akbar Ahmadian (2nd L) in an undisclosed location, in an undated photo released on May 22, 2023. (Photo by khamenei.ir/AFP via Getty Images)
The Islamic doctrine of "taqiyya," dissimulation, permitting Muslims to deceive non-Muslims to advance the cause of Islam, is back in the news. In a speech delivered on May 20, 2023, Iran's Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a report, "set out to explain and clarify the principles and standards of 'a successful foreign policy' focusing on three keywords: Honor, wisdom, and expediency. "Khamenei... used the Islamic concept of 'Taqiyya' to describe the regime's decision to accept the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West. Taqiyya means the permissibility to deny or conceal one's real beliefs to secure a worthy goal...."
Khamenei's emphasis on "expediency" as the third principle in foreign policy was particularly notable, as he urged flexibility "in necessary instances" and circumventing "tough barriers" to continue a set course.
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by Naomi Linder Kahn • June 8, 2023 at 5:00 am
The results of the survey indicate that the Israeli public has far greater trust in the Knesset -- by dozens of percentage points -- than it does in Israel's judiciary, from the Supreme Court down to the legal advisors and counselors who answer to the Supreme Court. As almost always, the different answers are the result of differences built into the questions. The wording of the question posed in the Israel Democracy Institute survey referred to the "level of trust in the Knesset" while the "Direct Polls Trust Index" survey examined trust "in the members of the Knesset you elected." [T]he purposefully phrased IDI survey was crafted to justify weakening the powers of the legislative branch and granting excessive powers to the judicial branch. The way [the IDI's] question was worded regarding the public's trust in the Knesset ensured that the results would create the totally false impression that the public does not trust the members of the Knesset and favors the judges of the Supreme Court. The relevant question, which is more closely reflected in the wording of the Direct Polls survey, is the level of the public's trust in the members of the Knesset chosen by them, and the results show that an absolute majority of the public trusts its elected representatives -- a fact that points to an extremely healthy parliamentary democracy. These campaigns to undemocratically overturn the result of a free and fair election would surely have caught the eye of George Orwell -- especially as they were all conducted under the rallying cry of "protecting democracy."
The results of a recent survey indicate that the Israeli public has far greater trust in the Knesset -- by dozens of percentage points -- than it does in Israel's judiciary, from the Supreme Court down to the legal advisors and counselors who answer to the Supreme Court. Pictured: A voting booth at a polling station in Israel on election day November 1, 2022. (Photo by Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)
Both George Orwell and Mark Twain would have demanded that we take notice. The results of a recent "trust index" survey, conducted in Israel, revealed far more than just the dry numbers they report -- although of course they are important. Even more important are issues concerning public trust -- the very core of democracy. Against the backdrop of controversy surrounding reform of Israel's judicial system, the survey was conducted in early May 2023 by Direct Polls Ltd., an independent Israeli polling company, to examine the degree of public trust in Israel's state institutions -- the Knesset (parliament), the Supreme Court, the president, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The results of the survey indicate that the Israeli public has far greater trust in the Knesset -- by dozens of percentage points -- than it does in Israel's judiciary, from the Supreme Court down to the legal advisors and counselors who answer to the Supreme Court.
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by Mohshin Habib • June 7, 2023 at 5:00 am
India feels a giant demon breathing on her shoulder. The more China strengthens its military and economic power, the more threatened India feels. The main reason is China's aggressive actions along the China-India border. Tibet [in 1914] was an independent country that had every right to negotiate border agreements with any bordering countries. In 1950, China invaded and fully occupied Tibet. Since then, China has been claiming a right to Arunachal Pradesh and denying the Tibet-India agreement. Even though the McMahon Line is the clear boundary between the countries, the dispute between China and India increases as skirmishes flare up. Each time, the region and the world hold their breath. Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh was the site of one of the meetings in March. However, China did not participate in that meeting and also skipped the meeting held in Kashmir on May 22-24. Day by day, relations between the two world's most populous countries, both nuclear powers, continue to deteriorate, with no signs of peace talks in sight.
The more China strengthens its military and economic power, the more threatened India feels. The main reason is China's aggressive actions along the China-India border. Pictured: An Indian army convoy travels towards Leh through Zoji La, a high mountain pass bordering China on June 13, 2021 in Ladakh, India. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)
India feels a giant demon breathing on her shoulder. The more China strengthens its military and economic power, the more threatened India feels. The main reason is China's aggressive actions along the China-India border, known as the Line of Actual Control. India and China share a de facto border of 3,440 km in total -- containing rivers, lakes and snowcaps at high altitudes. On April 1, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs released an updated list of its preferred "standardized geographical names" for places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China. The new list of 11 places contains the names in Chinese and Tibetan characters, and in Pinyin (a Romanized system for standardizing forms of Mandarin Chinese).
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by Lawrence A. Franklin • June 6, 2023 at 5:00 am
Far more significant than scoring space spectaculars, however, is the question of which nation will achieve military dominance in the domain of near-earth space. Chinese international media deceitfully stresses the peaceful, cooperative, and scientific nature of its national space program. However, the ambitious nature of China's space program indicates that Beijing's primary objective is to dominate near earth space. China's PLA is openly preparing for war, particularly in areas where Beijing's territorial and maritime claims are illegal and hegemonic. The aggressive nature of China's space program is particularly obvious in its anti-satellite projects. The proximity of these Chinese anti-satellite vehicles clearly reveals the mission to degrade and/or blind collection and transmission of intelligence data by US systems. Another Chinese anti-satellite project features a satellite with a grappling hook, designed to capture US satellites as an immediate prelude to war. Beijing is planning to win a war in space as part of its reported overall objective of replacing the US as the dominant power on earth. One assessment estimates that fully 84% of China's space launches are military in nature -- indicating that the CCP may well be determined to emerge as the only remaining superpower. It will also most likely be in the dimension of space, as well as biowarfare, that mankind will get a tip-off that a major armed conflict is about to breakout between China and the United States. China at present not only has "killer satellites," but also reportedly: "Beijing also has rapidly developed an array of space warfare capabilities, including several types of ground-launched anti-satellite missiles capable of hitting satellites in different orbits; ground-based lasers that can blind or damage orbiting satellites; and small robotic satellites capable of maneuvering and grabbing orbiting satellites." China will most likely attempt to shut down US intelligence collection, "eyes and ears in the sky," prior to combat operations on earth. The United States, if an impending military clash seems unavoidable, may be forced to "preemptively retaliate" by disabling China's intelligence collection and data transmission space-based assets – if it can. "[I]f the U.S. military doesn't change course... we're going to lose fast" — Air Force Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, the deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, americanmilitarynews.com, March 11, 2021. It seems high time that the US increased its defense budget instead of cutting it, prepositioned arms in Taiwan for deterrence, and got serious about acknowledging the Chinese Communist Party, led by President Xi Jinping, not as a "competitor," but as an adversary, and an intractable one at that.
More significant than scoring space spectaculars is the question of which nation will achieve military dominance in the domain of near-earth space. The ambitious nature of China's space program indicates that Beijing's primary objective is to dominate near earth space. Pictured: A Long March 5B rocket, carrying China's Tianhe space station core module, lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province on April 29, 2021. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
The US-China "Space Race" is but one dimension of the ongoing Cold War between the two superpowers. The national space programs of both countries are comprehensive in scope, running across the entire scientific spectrum. Both America and China are focused on scoring space spectaculars to influence the world as to which superpower will inherit the future. Each rival is seeking to be the first to land a human on Mars. Far more significant than scoring space spectaculars, however, is the question of which nation will achieve military dominance in the domain of near-earth space. Chinese international media deceitfully stresses the peaceful, cooperative, and scientific nature of its national space program. However, the ambitious nature of China's space program indicates that Beijing's primary objective is to dominate near earth space.
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by Bassam Tawil • June 5, 2023 at 5:00 am
For the 87-year-old Abbas and his Fatah faction, the victory of the Hamas supporters was not only humiliating, but also a reminder that when it comes to dealing with Israel, many Palestinians prefer terrorism over diplomacy. The Hamas-affiliated students also condemned the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority for conducting security coordination with Israeli security forces in the West Bank. Any form of cooperation with Israel, they argued, is tantamount to treason. The underlying message the Hamas-affiliated lists sent to the thousands of students at the two campuses was: Vote for us because we explicitly and unreservedly uphold the armed struggle against Israel and promise to continue the Jihad (holy war) to murder Jews and replace Israel with a genocidal Islamist state, free of non-Muslims. It also would not be a particularly good idea to hold general elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip at a time when a majority of Palestinians are voicing support for an "armed intifada" (uprising) against Israel. Article 13 of the Hamas covenant urges Muslims to wage Jihad on Israel and reject any peace initiatives: "There is no solution for the Palestinian issue expect through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors." The victory of the Hamas-affiliated lists at the two Palestinian universities in the West Bank should serve as a warning not only to Mahmoud Abbas, but also to the international community, especially the Biden administration, whose representatives continue to promote the delusional and dangerous idea of a "two-state solution" between the Palestinians and Israel. The university students who voted for Hamas have endorsed Hamas's call for Jihad and terrorism against Israel. They have endorsed Hamas's argument that Israel has no right to exist. They have also endorsed the argument that no Palestinian or Arab leader is entitled to make any concessions to Israel. The officials in the Biden administration, European Union and United Nations who continue to talk about the need for a "two-state solution" are actually advocating the creation of another Hamas-led state, like ISIS, this time in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. A similar state already exists in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, used a launching pad to fire rockets into Israel. By voting for Hamas once again, Palestinians... are also sending a warning to Abbas and other Palestinian leaders not to make peace with Israel or work with it in any way, or else they will be treated as traitors -- further proof, as if it were needed, that the Palestinians have yet again chosen violence, terrorism and misery rather than a bright, promising future, a better economy, and prosperity for their young.
Hamas-affiliated lists won most of the seats in student council elections held last month at the two most important Palestinian universities in the West Bank: An-Najah University in Nablus and Birzeit University near Ramallah. The students affiliated with Hamas, whose charter openly calls for the elimination of Israel, boasted that their group continues to carry out terrorist attacks in which Jews have been killed or wounded. Pictured: Hamas supporters celebrate victory in the 2022 student council election at Birzeit University, on May 19, 2022. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinians have once again shown that their real heroes, sadly, are those who carry out terrorist attacks against Jews and seek the elimination of Israel. In May, elections for student councils were held at the two most important Palestinian universities in the West Bank: An-Najah University in Nablus and Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians. The two major student lists that ran in the elections are affiliated with Hamas, the terrorist organization controlling the Gaza Strip, and Fatah, the ruling faction headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.
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by CLAAS-UK • June 5, 2023 at 4:00 am
[Police constable Zahid Sohail] alleged that the boys were making fun of each other and were calling a puppy "Muhammad Ali." The families of both boys said they have no puppy. "'Muhammad Ali' is the brand name of the Naswar [tobacco] he takes. While both boys were talking about the brand, at the same time Zahid Sohail, a policeman, was passing by and heard them. Without knowing the facts, he started beating the children, saying they were committing blasphemy." — Samina Nadeem, the mother of Simon. [B]oth boys have been sent to jail, and nobody knows their fate.
On May 19, a judicial magistrate in Lahore, Pakistan sent two Christian teenagers, Simon Nadeem, 12, and Adil Baber, 18, to jail on judicial remand, after they were charged under Penal Code section 295-C (the blasphemy law). Pictured: Thousands of people at a rally in Karachi, Pakistan, demanding the execution of Asia Bibi, on November 21, 2018. Bibi, a Christian woman, spent 8 years on death row in Pakistan because of a false accusation of blasphemy, before being released and exiled. (Photo by Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)
On May 19, a judicial magistrate in Lahore, Pakistan sent two Christian teenagers, Simon Nadeem, 12, and Adil Baber, 18, to jail on judicial remand, after they were charged under Penal Code section 295-C (the blasphemy law). Both boys were arrested by the police and charged on May 18 after a complaint was made against them by police constable Zahid Sohail. Sohail said in his complaint that he was going to the mosque for prayers, when he saw the boys, Simon, son of Nadeem Nadu Masih, and Adil Baber, son of Baber Masih. He alleged that the boys were making fun of each other and were calling a puppy "Muhammad Ali." He also stated he has two eyewitnesses, Shabir Iqbal and another one, who can confirm his allegations. The families of both boys said they have no puppy. According to Pak Christian News:
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by Con Coughlin • June 4, 2023 at 5:00 am
[G]iven the unconscionable delays that have affected other commitments by the Biden administration to provide Kyiv with advanced weapons, concerns remain about whether the aircraft will actually arrive in time to make a material difference to Ukraine's war effort. Procrastination and equivocation have been the key watchwords of Biden's response to the Ukraine crisis, with the supposed leader of the free world seemingly incapable of making a decision about how best to provide the Ukrainians with the weaponry they require to defeat their Russian adversaries. Making the announcement at the recent G7 summit in Japan, US National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden "informed his G7 counterparts" of the decision during the summit, and that the US would also supervise training of Ukrainian pilots. At the same time, the administration moved swiftly to dampen expectations that the aircraft would be delivered anytime soon and that, when they did materialise, it was unlikely to make a significant difference to Ukraine's war efforts -- not exactly the ringing endorsement of support the Ukrainians were expecting. The US, while willing to provide training and support, had indicated it does not want to send American warplanes to Ukraine, mainly because of the Biden administration's aversion to upsetting Russian President Vladimir Putin. All of which suggests that, rather than providing a tangible uplift to Ukraine's war-fighting capabilities, Biden's announcement about sending F-16s to Kyiv could prove to be little more than an empty gesture, one that raises serious doubts about whether the Biden administration really has any genuine interest in Ukraine winning this bloody war.
Given the unconscionable delays that have affected other commitments by the Biden administration to provide Kyiv with advanced weapons, concerns remain about whether the aircraft will actually arrive in time to make a material difference to Ukraine's war effort. Pictured: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden meet during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima, Japan on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Brendan Smialowsky/AFP via Getty Images)
It has required a major U-turn on the part of President Joe Biden to finally give his approval for F-16 warplanes to be supplied to Ukraine. Even so, given the unconscionable delays that have affected other commitments by the Biden administration to provide Kyiv with advanced weapons, concerns remain about whether the aircraft will actually arrive in time to make a material difference to Ukraine's war effort. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his senior military advisors have been appealing to their Western allies for months to be given access to Western warplanes as they seek to inflict a decisive victory against their Russian foes.
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