RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21215/turkey-syria-jihadists

A former branch of Al Qaeda, in 2018, HTS [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] was officially designated a terrorist organization by the US government. HTS, which cooperates with the Turkish military and Turkish-backed groups in Syria, is committed to establishing an Islamist state across Syria, at least for a start.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Al-Jolani are now making all sorts of human-rightsy promises that they know the West likes to hear – just as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini did before he took over Iran, and as the Taliban did before they quickly demolished 20 years of US human rights progress in Afghanistan.

Just as Iran is the Shiite “head of the octopus” whose tentacles consist of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other assorted militias, so Erdogan is the Sunni “head of the octopus” in Syria. While everyone is busy staring at rival terrorist groups in Syria, it is crucial not to forget for a minute the country backing them: Turkey.

Erdogan’s dream has always been “the liberation of Jerusalem”…. A Sunni jihadi Syria provides a conveniently straight path to fulfill that long-term dream.

The Assad family’s rule of Syria, which lasted more than 50 years, collapsed on December 8. Jihadist forces took control of Damascus after President Bashar al-Assad escaped to a luxurious life in Moscow. Today, roughly half a million Christians and 2.5 million Kurds in Syria face a future of persecution and abuse at the hands of jihadist terrorists.

The offensive launched by the jihadists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, began on November 27. These terrorists, backed by Turkey, first captured Aleppo and a string of other towns and cities in a matter of days, before converging on Damascus.

Since 2017, HTS has been the dominant Islamist militia in Syria. A former branch of Al Qaeda, in 2018, HTS was officially designated a terrorist organization by the US government. The group’s name, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, means “Organization for the Liberation of the Levant,” meaning much of the Middle East, including Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. Since 2019, HTS, working with Turkey, has controlled northern Idlib through the so-called “Syrian Salvation Government” (SSG). Now, as Turkey and the HTS plan to “reshape Syria,” both Kurds and Christians find themselves under siege.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_M43-fAZm8

Dec 12, 2024 #RealSouthAfrica #UnityAndFaith #FNBStadium

At FNB Stadium, I stood before 100,000 members of the Zionist Christian Church on a national prayer day hosted by The Patrice Motsepe Foundation on Sunday, 1 December 2024. In my speech I shared core values of Judaism, Israel, and Jerusalem – values deeply rooted in Biblical truths – and witnessed an extraordinary response from the audience – a reminder that the people of South Africa stand for something far deeper than political narratives suggest. This day reaffirmed an essential truth: the South African people are not their government. While political leaders may send one message, the people of South Africa stand with us on the values we hold sacred. ✨ In this video, you’ll see: • The incredible unity of 100,000 South Africans embracing shared faith and values • A powerful example of how faith and hope transcend politics • A reminder that we have allies in the heart of South Africa 📌 Watch and experience the energy of that day for yourself. Share this moment of optimism and unity.

ttps://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21225/middle-east-definitions

After saving Syria from Assad, who will save it from the saviors?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going on a tour to persuade the Turks and their Jihadis to establish an “inclusive” government in Syria. But inclusivity now means Sunni Jihadis, backed by Turkey, repressing and killing everyone else. This will be a fundamental liberating change from the old order, in which Shiite Jihadis, backed by Iran, repressed and killed everyone else.

Turkey bombing and displacing Kurds in Syria is considered “inclusivity”, but Israel bombing Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon is termed “genocide”.

“Genocide” is another of those many words that have different meanings in the New Middle East Dictionary. Amnesty International has come under fire for changing the definition of “genocide” in order to be able to accuse Israel of it.

War becomes genocide. But only in the case of Israel. Meanwhile, actual genocidal efforts by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and by Turkey in Syria to target ethnic groups, are redefined as “liberation”.

Over 1 million tons of food have entered Gaza since October 7, 2023. That’s half a ton for every terrorist supporter. Half a ton of food for every man, woman and child is… “starvation.”

The Arab Spring redefined Islamist takeovers as “democracy movements”.

When Muslim Jihadis commit genocide, it becomes liberation. And when anyone fights back against them, it’s genocide.

Redefinition makes everything in the Middle East factually opposite, to make it morally opposite.

Even as Islamic Jihadists are taking over Syria, ethnically cleansing Kurds and terrorizing Christians, the media is hailing the new “inclusive” regime which “liberated” Syria.

The regime is indeed inclusive if you consider bearded men with assault rifles to be the measure of inclusivity. And terrorizing minorities to be the exciting new diversity.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21207/neutralize-iran-nuclear-threat

The regime’s primary goal is, first, to stay in power; second, to acquire nuclear weapons. No amount of diplomatic engagement will deter it from pursuing these objectives. Any agreement would merely buy more time for Iran to refine its nuclear technologies while easing international pressure. The regime’s strategy is to outlast all sanctions and inspections, while continuing its covert nuclear activities, repressing it citizens, and planning its future expansion.

The international community would do the world a favor by stopping Iran from reaching both goals. If not, there will be no chance of durable stability in the Middle East. It is as simple as that.

The idea of negotiating a “deal” to limit, control or “verify” Iran’s nuclear activities has proven to be both ineffective and dangerous…. Iran has repeatedly violated international agreements and deceived global watchdogs. It seems clear that any new deal would likely meet the same fate. Trusting such a regime to honor its commitments is like trusting the cat to guard the cream.

Only by neutralizing the entire Iranian threat will the world be able to work toward a future of stability, prosperity and peace.

The highest priority in addressing the upheavals in the Middle East is to eliminate — completely — Iran’s nuclear threat.

Iran is reportedly close to being a nuclear-armed state. Such a development would have catastrophic consequences for the region as well as for global stability. Acquiring nuclear weapons would embolden Iran’s regime, re-strengthen its proxies, and enable it to resume escalating its terror campaigns across the region.

Once Iran crosses the nuclear threshold, it will become virtually impossible to contain or neutralize its aggression – presumably the reason the regime is so eager to have nuclear weapons in the first place. The risk of retaliation by nuclear strikes would deter even the most powerful nations from military intervention. An Iran with nuclear weapons would fundamentally alter the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond.

https://jihadwatch.org/2024/12/syrias-new-prime-minister-makes-clear-no-reconciliation-with-iran?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syrias-new-prime-minister-makes-clear-no-reconciliation-with-iran

A rapprochement with Iran is very far from the thoughts of Syrians. Most of them recognize the vital support Iran gave to keep the mass-torturer and murderer Bashar Assad in power for nearly a quarter of a century. They will neither forget nor forgive. But there is always the possibility that some jihadist group in Syria will want, not in order to do Iran’s bidding but just because, as dutiful Muslims, they believe it their duty, to make war on the “Zionist entity.” It is this group that the IDF has to worry most about it. And since the Syrian military has dissolved into thin air, with many military sites left unguarded, the IDF knew that this was the time to remove the threat of those weapons from falling into the hands of a new, possibly hostile regime ensconced in Damascus, or from non-state actors inside Syria, by destroying as many of those weapons as possible.

Many Syrian refugees will want to return to their country. Some, however, will not want to go back, but must be forced to return, for they are an economic burden to the countries where they have been taken in. Turkey, for example, where three million Syrian refugees now live, is spending billions of dollars to maintain them. In Western Europe, countries have reacted to the overthrow of Assad by halting applications for asylum from Syria. The tyranny has ended, and the new regime promises to respect the rights of minorities, so why should people who want to leave Syria for economic reasons be allowed to claim refugee status? Furthermore, the millions of Syrians who are now in Western Europe — there are one million Syrians in Germany alone — need not be allowed to remain as “refugees,” a status to which they are no longer entitled. They should be repatriated at once. That would save those countries billions of dollars, and also reduce the Muslim presence in their lands that has proven to be so unsettling and dangerous.

When asked by that newspaper’s correspondent at Damascus about speculation that he is open to peace with Israel but not with Hezbollah, Russia, or Iran, Mr. Bashir declined to answer.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21209/iran-threatens-jordan

Iran appears determined to destabilize Jordan, and is thus trying to drag the kingdom into its regional maelstrom by manipulating Jordanian national and terrorist substate entities to do its bidding.

The Islamist threat to the stability of the Kingdom has greatly increased with the fall of its neighbor Syria into the hands of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni Islamist group committed to radicalizing the Levant, which includes Jordan.

Iran appears determined to destabilize Jordan, and is thus trying to drag the kingdom into its regional maelstrom by manipulating Jordanian national and terrorist substate entities to do its bidding. Pictured: A shipment of weapons smuggled into Israel from Jordan by a Bedouin Arab in December 2023, which was seized by the Israel Police. (Image source: Israel Police Spokesperson)

The Israeli Air Force (IAF), in a recent airstrike, destroyed three cross-border smuggling routes from Syria to Lebanon, which were being used by Iran to bring ship weapons to still-functioning Hezbollah terrorist cells. The Israeli strike took place just hours before a ceasefire took effect on November 26 between Israel and Hezbollah.

Iran’s special forces units, however, will no doubt continue their past efforts to smuggle arms through Jordan to Palestinian terrorist cells in Judea and Samaria (“the West Bank”). These smuggling operations will still enable terrorists there to kill Israelis and further entrench an atmosphere of fear among the hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens who live in Judea and Samaria.

In one publicized incident, Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, seized caches of Iranian weapons being smuggled transported across Jordan’s unguarded borders. The arms included anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, as well as Semtex and C-4 plastic explosives. The Shin Bet reported that the Special Operation Unit 4000 of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been tasked with that mission. The latest shipment of weapons bound for Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria, intercepted and seized by Israel on November 27, 2004, was initiated from an IRGC camp in Syria.

https://www.thefp.com/p/niall-ferguson-the-vibe-shift-goes-global-assad-putin-trump?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

I am a 60-year-old Scotsman with a penchant for red suspenders, oolong tea, and the novels of Walter Scott—so no one will ever accuse me of being an arbiter of cool. But to understand politics and even geopolitics you have to understand culture, which is sometimes—often—upstream of both. And to understand culture you have to understand, well, vibes.

Specifically, vibe shifts.

The pop culture commentator Sean Monahan identified three mini-epochs between 2003 and 2020: Hipster/Indie (ca. 2003–9), Post-Internet/Techno (ca. 2010–16), and Hypebeast/Woke (ca. 2016–20). Each was defined by a distinct aesthetic, and the vibe shift from one to the other was swift and palpable. As the pandemic receded, New York magazine’s Allison P. Davis predicted that another vibe shift had to be approaching. (And indeed, Monahan has dubbed the new epoch “Pilled/Scene.”)

I confess none of this meant much to me. I couldn’t tell a hypebeast from a hipster if my life depended on it.

But the term finally clicked—and acquired a powerful significance—when it was imported to the world of tech. In a clever Substack post in February, Santiago Pliego tried to sum up the change that had occurred from the epoch of woke—which began with the cancellation of James Damore by Google in 2017—to the unfiltered era of Elon Musk’s X.

“Fundamentally,” Pliego wrote, “the Vibe Shift is a return to—a championing of—Reality, a rejection of the bureaucratic, the cowardly, the guilt-driven; a return to greatness, courage, and joyous ambition.” To be precise:

The Vibe Shift is spurning the fake and therapeutic and reclaiming the authentic and concrete.

The Vibe Shift is a healthy suspicion of credentialism and a return to human judgment.

The Vibe Shift is living not by lies, and instead speaking the truth—whatever the cost.

The Vibe Shift is directly facing our tumultuous times, refusing to blackpill, and choosing to build instead.

The vibe shift hit American politics on the night of November 5. What no one foresaw was that it would almost immediately go global, too.

https://melaniephillips.substack.com/

The fall of Bashar Assad in Syria has prompted understandable elation at the departure of a tyrant responsible for the killing of some 600,000 of his citizens.

The revelations of his gruesome prison and torture chambers, and the evidence emerging of the hideous way that so many were treated, can only arouse horror, revulsion and pity.

The Assad regime was also a menace to Israel. The Syrian route was essential for transporting Iranian weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Tehran set up weapons production centres on Syrian soil.

Assad’s flight, however, does not mean that Syria has now emerged from darkness into light. Assad was deposed by Islamists. All are engaged in a jihadi holy war against Jews and the “infidel” west.

The main such grouping, Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), developed from Al Qaeda and is designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organisation. It is led by Ahmed al Shara, who also goes by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al Julani.

He has been posing as a moderate — trimming his beard, wearing westernised fatigues and declaring tolerance for all of Syria’s different faiths. He has also said: “Syria will not wage a new war with Israel.”

This should fool no one. Jihadi warriors who believe that they must purge the world of unbelievers don’t suddenly abandon this supposedly sacred task.

Al Shara is a fanatical Islamist. He served five years in various US detention facilities in Iraq, and Washington still has a $10 million bounty on his head.