RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17138/arabs-biden-obama

The Biden administration, some Arab writers have said, “has adopted a policy of “antagonizing allies while appeasing enemies.”

[Syrian journalist Abduljalil] Alsaeid said he believed that former Obama administration officials, who are now part of the Biden administration, are intentionally trying to damage US-Saudi relations.

“The Obama wing inside the ruling Democratic Party accepts the Iranian regime and turns a blind eye to Iran’s terrorism in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.” — Abduljalil Alsaeid, Syrian journalist, Al-Ain, March 2, 2021.

“President Biden has the right to talk about America’s democratic values, but why have these values ​​not been expanded to hold Hezbollah accountable for the recent killing of [anti-Hezbollah Lebanese publisher] Loqman Slim or the slaughter of thousands of thousands of Syrians by pro-Iranian groups?” — Abduljalil Alsaeid, Al-Ain, March 2, 2021.

The Biden administration was “rewarding Iranian despotism while punishing Saudi Arabia.” — Emad El Din Adeeb, a prominent Egyptian businessman and famous political television show host, elsharkonline com, March 3, 2021.

The Biden administration was dealing harshly with Riyadh “because of one crime, the killing of Khashoggi, while rehabilitating Tehran, which has carried out a million crimes worse than Khashoggi’s crime.” — Emad El Din Adeeb, al-ain.com, March 3, 2021.

Adeeb pointed out that Iran was continuing with its human rights violations while Saudi Arabia has in recent years embarked on large-scale reforms.

According to al-Sawafi, the release of the report on the slain Saudi journalist was a sign that the Biden administration “stands against the aspirations of the Saudi and Gulf people in achieving reform and stability.

“Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was right when he asserted that the Iranian regime understands only the language of force.” — Zuhair Al-Harthi, Saudi columnist and political activist, Al-Arabiya, February 27, 2021.

The last three years of the Obama presidency were “catastrophic in every sense of this word,” al-Harthi said. “Will Biden fall into the same trap? Washington’s standing declined during the Obama presidency. Will Biden repeat Obama’s fatal mistakes? The US dealings at the time with regional issues were a source of ridicule, as Washington delivered Iraq and Afghanistan on a golden platter to Iran and supported the Muslim Brotherhood.” — Zuhair Al-Harthi, Al-Arabiya, February 27, 2021.

Prominent Arab political analysts and commentators are dumbfounded that the Biden administration has chosen to appease Iran and Islamists instead of working with Washington’s traditional and long-time allies in the Arab world.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nine-killed-in-myanmar-as-regime-seeks-to-crush-anticoup-protests-11614775439

At least 38 people were killed as Myanmar’s new military rulers, who overthrew its democratically elected government Feb. 1, continued to unleash a lethal campaign to suppress protests that have swept the country for nearly a month.

The death toll, announced by the United Nations, makes Wednesday the deadliest day since the takeover.

Security forces opened fire at protesters in numerous cities, according to demonstrators and medics responding to the violence. A 19-year-old woman, wearing a T-shirt that read, “Everything will be ok,” was fatally shot in the head. Men were struck by bullets in their eyes and chests as they ran, and police assaulted medics.

Protesters had been more cautious since a crackdown on Sunday, when police killed at least 18 people. Security forces who had only occasionally shot live rounds before that day have since used gunfire frequently, according to civil-society groups, protesters and medics.

Protesters have poured into the streets for 26 straight days demanding that the coup, which ended a decadelong transition to democracy, be reversed. Demonstrations at times drawing tens of thousands have taken place, with crowds mobilizing in towns and cities across the country. The large-scale participation has underscored the broad rejection of the military, which governed Myanmar for half a century before the democratic shift began.

The killings on Sunday and Wednesday indicate that the generals are turning to the same approach used during decades of army dictatorship to crush dissent: bloodshed, mass arrests and nightly raids to strike terror. Commander in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, who is now in control, has shown no willingness to compromise or respond to the widespread international condemnation of the military regime’s actions. He has said authorities are acting with restraint.

On Wednesday, six people were killed in the country’s largest city, Yangon, according to a doctor at the North Okkalapa General Hospital. Others died in the central cities of Mandalay, Monywa and Myingyan, according to rescue organizations helping the injured in those places.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17126/international-criminal-court-violations

At present… the ICC renders itself irrelevant by adjudicating “national jurisdictions” perfectly capable of doing so while refusing to adjudicate or indict the world’s worst violators of human rights.

The ICC has already provided its critics with plenty of ammunition to question the Court’s legitimacy as a consequence of additional violations of its founding statute. Neither Israel nor the United States ratified the Rome Statute (the ICC’s founding treaty). The Court therefore has no jurisdiction whatsoever over the state actions of either country.

State parties dissatisfied with the ICC’s dismal record should be encouraged to discontinue financial support for the Court or to withdraw altogether from the Hague-based institution.

Meanwhile, at least four Gulf Arab states and other Muslim-majority countries appear far more concerned, with good reason, about Iran’s drive for regional supremacy, while welcoming warming relations with Israel, which will prove a most loyal friend.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), by straying far from its original purpose, has perjured itself. The ICC was established in 1998 to bring justice to victims of systematic atrocity in countries unable to do so. In its own words, “The core mandate of the ICC is to act as a court of last resort with the capacity to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national jurisdictions for any reason are unable or unwilling to do so.”

At present, however, the ICC renders itself irrelevant by adjudicating “national jurisdictions” perfectly capable of doing so, while refusing to adjudicate or indict the world’s worst violators of human rights.

The Court’s February 5 decision authorizing the investigation of unfounded allegations of a pattern of human rights violations supposedly committed by Israel Defense Force (IDF) personnel underscores the ICC’s corrupted political nature.

First, the ICC has violated its founding statute by accepting into its docket a complaint against a sovereign state (Israel) by a non-state entity (Palestinian plaintiffs), twisting international law to try to alchemize “Palestine” into a state by pointing to its observer status in some UN bodies. Close but no cigar. The Court, by trying to legitimize the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) illegal briefs, therefore only confirms the views of its critics that it merely serves as an instrument of the Palestinian Arab propaganda war against Israel.

The Court further underscores these violations by treating Hamas as a legal equivalent of Israel in the terrorist group’s charges against the IDF in the 2014 Gaza War.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17131/europe-covid-passports

Tourism-dependent countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Spain, are urging other EU states to adopt Covid passports, which would be modeled on the “green passport” system implemented by Israel.

“We know that in Israel they’ve made statements about anybody who tries to forge [a certificate] will face criminal proceedings and possibly be imprisoned. So, they really think that this is a risk that could happen.” — Professor Carsten Maple, cyber security expert, Alan Turing Institute.

“In consultation with other EU member states, we are in favor of a digital green passport, similar to the one in #Israel. This should offer the possibility to prove on the mobile phone that one has been tested, vaccinated or recovered. Our goal: to avoid a permanent lockdown & finally to enable freedom to travel within the EU as well as to visit events or restaurants.” — Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Greece is pressing the EU to move quickly…. But would these certificates only be required for international travel or could they be needed for getting a job, attending a football match, or buying some milk? — Professor Melinda Mills, lead author of the Royal Society report on Covid passports.

“Yet making freedom conditional on facing the needle… takes us perilously close to the concept of compulsory vaccination… hardly likely to reassure anyone whose fear of the vaccine is bound up with a fear of an authoritarian state.” — Gaby Hinsliff, columnist, Guardian.

European leaders are considering a proposal to introduce a common EU-wide Coronavirus vaccination passport. The so-called Covid passports would permit those who have been vaccinated to travel freely within the European Union without the need for quarantining and testing.

The leaders of several European countries heavily dependent on tourism are pushing for Covid passports to be implemented with immediate effect. Others say that it is far too early to consider such a move, especially because the EU’s Coronavirus vaccine rollout has been dogged by delays and questions about the efficacy of certain vaccines, particularly in light of the virus’s new mutant strains.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17112/china-crushing-hong-kong

The national security law not only carries sentences of up to life in prison, it also gives China jurisdiction to prosecute in mainland China violations of the law that took place in Hong Kong. It is now doing just that with 12 Hong Kong activists who attempted to flee to Taiwan by boat in August and were arrested at sea, ostensibly for crossing the border illegally. Extraordinarily, the national security law also applies to alleged violations committed by anyone, anywhere in the world.

In November, China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee passed legislation allowing Hong Kong’s government to oust elected politicians deemed insufficiently patriotic…. Preparing to participate in an election is now an act of subversion in Hong Kong.

Censorship is already widespread. The crackdown is evidently meant to spread even more fear to dissuade any protests and encourage self-censorship. In July… books by pro-democracy figures were removed from public libraries in Hong Kong for “review”….

Plans are underway to make buyers of prepaid SIM cards provide their real name and proof of identity, with false information punishable by 10 to 14 years in prison. It will give the police authority to demand personal data from service providers with or without a court warrant. It will make it impossible for activists to plan any anti-government activity without becoming known to the authorities.

The UK has said it will accept up to five million Hongkongers. Soon, however, even the ability to flee the country may become circumscribed. A new government proposal aims to give “apparently unfettered power” to Hong Kong immigration authorities to stop people, whether Hong Kong residents or not, from leaving the city….

The CCP is determined to crush Hong Kong and so far, it has been able to do so at practically no cost to China internationally.

The EU totally ignored human rights concerns it claims to profess. Several Western governments have condemned China’s actions with words, but so far, only the US has imposed sanctions on officials responsible for the crackdowns. It is important that these sanctions not be lifted.

Since China adopted its National Security Law in June 2020, Hong Kong’s government, under Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and China have sought to extinguish all opposition to Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and to eradicate Hong Kong’s core values. These include free speech, a free market economy, freedom of assembly and freedom of religious belief. Those rights were guaranteed in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, a UN-registered treaty. China voiced its contempt for that treaty as early as 2017. It said that it was a mere “historical document” without any significance.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/03/what_nicolas_sarkozys_conviction_means_for_us.html

A Paris court  has just found former French president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and sentenced him to three years in prison, two of which have been suspended. The presiding judge said Sarkozy, who served from 2007-2012, used his position to peddle influence and violate state secrecy for political gain. Interestingly, the key evidence against the former president dates back to tapped telephone calls in 2014.

I am in no position to say whether this is an example of the rule of law being applied to the high and mighty or instead a selective prosecution and some form of political payback. I will note that Sarkozy is still influential among French conservatives and that his conviction hurts them. Also, he’s been out of office for eight years. 

My point in bringing this French matter up is not the Sarkozy’s conviction per se but what it might portend for the U.S. The hive’s vendetta against Donald Trump has been far from satisfied with the installment of Joe Biden as president. Trump is still extremely popular with the Republican base. And as his CPAC speech shows, the Orange Man is not going anywhere. Instead, Trump casts his shadow over the political dialogue in the country like no one else can. As such, he is a continuing threat to the globalists and the deep state. 

The groups that make up the hive fear and hate Trump with equal intensity. With Sarkozy’s conviction, they are dreaming of what might be possible in the U.S. They will reason among themselves that precedent has been broken in an advanced western country with the conviction and sentencing of a former head of state. What better way to take Trump off the board than to do something similar here? And to repeat, Sarkozy has been out of office for over eight years and the main evidence against him goes back to 2014. Yet still they went after him.