RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/497497-saudi-tv-series-speaks-volumes-about-regional-dynamics

During the holy month of Ramadan, now underway, when TV viewership among Muslims traditionally skyrockets, Saudi Arabia’s MBC network is airing a series about Jewish families in a fictional Arab country in the late 1940s – a series that speaks volumes about what’s changing, and what isn’t, across the region.

In the series “Umm Haroun,” which means “mother of Aaron,” Jews, Christians, and Muslims live easily with one another. Jews, for instance, express “mazel tov” (congratulations in Hebrew) to a Muslim man upon his engagement, while families of all three religions cook together before the Jewish Sabbath. Viewers even witness the romantic relationship of a Jewish woman and Muslim man.

Nor is this the only positive depiction of Jews to air on MBC, the Arab world’s largest private broadcaster. Along with “Umm Haroun,” the network is airing “Exit 7,” a comedy in which, in one episode, two characters debate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and one of them professes that he’d be happy to do business with the Jewish state.

Not surprisingly, “Umm Haroun” has stoked controversy across the region. That Saudi Arabia’s monarchy, to which MBC must be sensitive, is letting the series air reflects the potential for hugely consequential changes in Saudi-Israeli relations. That, at the same time, Palestinian officials are criticizing Riyadh in outraged terms reflects the futility of ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-abduction-of-western-freedom/

How Silvia Romano, recently released from Al-Shabab captivity, is serving as a vehicle for importing jihadist ideology to Europe.

Silvia Romano, the Italian NGO volunteer who spent 18 months in captivity in Somalia, landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport on Sunday, dressed from head to toe in full Islamic garb. The fact that the 25-year-old woman—who was abducted in November 2018 by Al-Shabab terrorists in Kenya, where she was working on behalf of the Italian charity, Africa Milele, at a local orphanage—returned home in a hijab is cause for alarm, not an expression of freedom of religion.

The radical Islamist world in which the kidnapped Italian girl was indoctrinated during her captivity is antithetical to the Western values on which she was raised. Its mantra boils down to placing death on a higher plane than life, and in subjugating women, non-Muslims and “apostates.”

“I have converted to Islam of my own free will,” Romano said upon disembarking her plane from Mogadishu.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16002/turkey-leftovers-of-the-sword

“Leftover of the sword” (kılıç artığı in Turkish) is a commonly used insult in Turkey that often refers to the survivors of the Christian massacres that mainly targeted Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire and its successor, Turkey.

The use of “leftovers of the sword,” therefore, does not represent a denial of massacres or genocides. On the contrary, it declares the pride of the perpetrators. It means: “Yes, we slaughtered Christians and other non-Muslims because they deserved it!”

During a coronavirus briefing on May 4, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used a most derogatory phrase “the leftovers of the sword”.

“We do not allow terrorist leftovers of the sword in our country,” he said, “to attempt to carry out [terrorist] activities. Their number has decreased a lot but they still exist.”

“Leftover of the sword” (kılıç artığı in Turkish) is a commonly used insult in Turkey that often refers to the survivors of the Christian massacres that mainly targeted Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire and its successor, Turkey.

As the head of state, Erdoğan using the phrase publicly is alarming on many levels. The phrase not only insults the victims and the survivors of the massacres but also endangers the safety of Turkey’s dwindling Christian community, who are often exposed to pressures that include physical attacks.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/05/understanding_victor_orbns

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is one of the most controversial national leaders in the Western world.  Just over a month ago, his majority Fidesz (Hungarian Civic Alliance) Party pushed through the “unlimited” emergency powers by a two-thirds majority of Parliament on March 30.

Orbán has been harshly criticized by the European Union for his firm stance in keeping (predominantly Muslim) refugees from entering Hungary ever since he closed the borders to them in 2015.  Consequently, Orbán has been accused by the international community of being an Islamophobe, especially after he said: “Islam has never been part of Europe, it came to us.  We in Hungary decide what we want or don’t want. We don’t want that.” 

What Orbán’s critics failed to mention is that Hungary, a country of just under 10 million, was ruled for over a century by the oppressive Islamic Turks and was always on the front line during the many centuries of hostility between Christian Europe and the Muslim Ottoman Empire invaders.  The Hungarian Prime Minster has thus far been able to keep his country safe from Islamic terrorism compared to the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which took in large flows of illegal immigrants.

Yet the focus is Orbán’s emergency powers, now that Hungary is reopening after its lockdown. They entail the suspension of certain Parliamentary Acts, referendums and by-elections, giving Orbán the authority to rule by decree — something France’s Emmanuel Macron is doing unrelated to the coronavirus.  The Act also calls for penal measures to be taken against anyone who “in front of a large audience, [willingly and deliberately] states or disseminates any untrue fact or any misrepresented true fact that is capable of hindering or preventing the efficiency of protection” against the coronavirus.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/china-has-increased-military-pressure-on-taiwan-during-pandemic-congressional-report-claims/

China has been increasing military pressure on Taiwan during the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a board made up of congressional Republicans and Democrats, warned in a report that China is engaging in aggressive military maneuvers directed towards Taiwan, Foreign Policy reported Tuesday. Chinese planes have been buzzing the median line of the Taiwan Strait separating the two countries, as well as circling the borders of Taiwan, over the course of the outbreak.

At the same time, China’s has continued to expand its presence in the South China Sea, the world’s busiest maritime trade route. The U.S. has conducted freedom of navigation operations in the area in April, with Defense Secretary Mark Esper telling reporters, “to send a clear message to Beijing that [the United States] will continue to protect freedom of navigation and commerce.”

While Taiwan considers itself an independent country, China claims the island nation as an extension of its territory, and bars international agencies including the World Health Organization from accepting Taiwan as a member state. On Monday the WHO announced it could not invite Taiwan to the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly because of “divergent views among member states.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16013/european-lockdown-illegal-immigrants

While Europe is experiencing an economic shock without precedent, and tens of millions of Europeans have lost their livelihoods, migrants in Europe illegally are being showered with free housing and healthcare.

The actual number of illegal immigrants in France is unknown but was estimated to be between 300,000 and 400,000 in 2017, according to the Pew Research Center. Considering the waves of mass migration since then, the number is probably well above a half-million.

Britain has up to 1.2 million illegal immigrants, a quarter of all those that have unlawfully entered Europe, according to the Pew Research Center…. The UK’s leniency appears to have sparked another wave of illegal immigration. Since the coronavirus lockdown began on March 23, nearly 900 people have illegally crossed the English Channel from France, according to Migration Watch UK.

“There is great discontent among the [German] population because everyone who arrives here immediately has many or even higher rights and rights to benefits or medical care than someone who has worked here for their entire life.” — Interior Minister of Saarland, Klaus Bouillon (CDU), interview with Die Welt.

“Muslim countries currently have 300 million males under the age of 15. This is not a forecast, but already a reality. Scientists like Gunnar Heinsohn assume that a maximum of 100 million can obtain a position in the society of their home country. The remaining 200 million will try to emigrate or otherwise fight for their place.” — Anabel Schunke, political commentator, German blog Die Achse des Guten

European governments are using the coronavirus pandemic to grant mass amnesties to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. While Europe is experiencing an economic shock without precedent, and tens of millions of Europeans have lost their livelihoods, migrants in Europe illegally are being showered with free housing and healthcare.

In Italy, where public debt is forecast to reach 160% of GDP this year, the left-wing coalition government has announced a plan to grant amnesty to at least 600,000 migrants in the country illegally. They would receive residency permits, initially valid for six months, that could be renewed in perpetuity.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16004/turkish-justice-mobsters-dissidents

When drafting the bill, Erdoğan and his MPs were surgically precise not to let one single political prisoner walk free.

About 50,000 inmates who were excluded from the bill, as terror convicts and suspects would not be eligible for amnesty.

You forgive the mafia… You don’t forgive journalists that write the truth. You don’t forgive those that want peace.” — Turan Aydoğan, opposition lawmaker.

Under Erdoğan’s 18 years in power, the free-fall of this professed NATO ally back toward the authoritarian East looks sadly irrevocable.

Aleaddin Çakıcı is a well-known Turkish mafia figure. But his militant far-right past makes him a shadier figure in Turkey’s domestic and international political scenes, not just in the criminal underworld. In the 1970s he was a leading fighter in Turkey’s near civil war between ultra-left and -right fractions. His first arrest came shortly after the military coup d’état in 1980: He was tried on charges of murdering 41 leftists.

According to leaked reports, Çakıcı was used as a hitman in the 1980s and 1990s by Turkish intelligence. His targets were leftists and pro-Kurdish groups. Turkish intelligence also tasked him with carrying out operations in foreign countries, including Greece and Lebanon, targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).

In 2018 Devlet Bahçeli, a far-right politician and a staunch supporter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, described Çakıcı as “brave and fearless” and as someone “who was in love with [his] homeland and ideals.” Bahçeli had said that Çakıcı was in prison on multiple sentences for murder, armed attack, money laundering, and leading an illegal armed group. Among other such escapades, he had contracted out the murder of his ex-wife, who in 1995 was shot dead in front of their son.

Çakıcı’s is certainly not the résumé of an ideal, law-abiding, peaceful citizen. But last month, at age 67, he walked free from the prison in which he had been kept. How could this ruthless crime machine walk out of prison, jump into a chauffeur-driven car and be escorted to a holiday resort accompanied by a big convoy and hundreds of “devotees” who gave him a hero’s welcome? How, especially in a country where a simple joke on social media can earn an otherwise honest citizen several months in jail?

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/05/iran-begins-retreating-syria-ari-lieberman/

Things are looking bleak for the Islamic republic these days. Iran is currently facing its worst economic crisis since the 1979 revolution. Money wasted on endless proxy wars and crippling sanctions instituted by the Trump administration have taken a heavy toll on Iran’s economy. The value of Iran’s currency, the rial, continues to plummet. On the black market, one dollar fetches 156,000 rials rendering the currency virtually worthless. Iran’s attempt to rename its currency and slash some zeros off that lopsided exchange rate will do nothing to stem the problem of hyperinflation and unemployment in the Islamic Republic.

The Chinese coronavirus has also taken its toll. Government health officials reported 109,000 confirmed cases with 6,685 deaths. That official number is almost certainly a lie and the figure for those infected and succumbing to the disease is far greater. In addition, at least 700 Iranians have died from drinking toxic methanol alcohol in the convoluted belief that this would prevent them from getting infected.

Iran’s crumbling economy and the devastating effects of the coronavirus have adversely impacted Iranian overseas terrorist funding and operations. Nowhere is this positive trend more evident than in Syria, where Iranian Quds Force operatives and allied militiamen have been taking a beating at the hands of Israel.

The combination of repeated Israeli airstrikes and domestic shortcomings has convinced the Iranian regime to begin evacuating its bases in Syria and withdraw from the war-torn country. In the last two weeks alone, the Israeli Air Force has launched seven strikes in Syria targeting Iranian emplacements.

On May 5, Israel launched two strikes, one targeting an Iranian base in the Deir Ezzor region near the town of Mayadin and the other on an Iran-linked arms and munitions depot east of Aleppo, adjacent to Syrian defense research centers. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 15 Iranians and Iran-linked militants were killed in the strike near Mayadin. There were no reports of casualties in the arms depot strike but according to reports, the warehouse stored munitions destined for Hezbollah, the terrorist entity that controls Lebanon.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/coronavirus-media-huawei-to-host-cnn-van-jones-for-panel-on-covid-misinformation/
“Van Jones was Obama’s ” Green Tzar” for a very brief period. He resigned after Republicans revealed his sordid  history: In 1994, Mr. Jones was one of the founders of STORM, a Marxist-Leninist group whose hero was Chinese Communist dictator Mao Tse Tung. In 2004 he  signed a petition demanding an investigation of whether the Bush administration had been behind the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. ” rsk
Chinese telecom giant Huawei, currently facing charges of fraud, intellectual property theft, and racketeering, is featuring CNN host Van Jones on a panel to discuss the rise of coronavirus “misinformation” days before its temporary license to do business in the U.S. expires.

Huawei’s webinar, set to be hosted along with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) on May 13, “will explore how journalists and leaders across industries can come together to fight against a unified enemy: COVID-19,” according to its registration page. Jones will be joined by musician will.i.am, consultant Dr. Ebony Hilton, and journalist Roland Martin. The CCP has claimed in recent weeks that it is a “victim” of disinformation surrounding the origins of the pandemic, despite a detailed timeline showing its failures to address the initial outbreak in Wuhan.

Huawei, which has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, has come under increasing scrutiny for its stealing of trade secrets from American competitors. The Department of Justice said in February that the firm has conducted a “decades-long” operation to “misappropriate intellectual property” from U.S. technology firms, while Trump administration claimed that Huawei has secretly accessed American cell phone data for over a decade.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/world-health-organization-says-it-cannot-invite-taiwan-to-annual-summit-after-china-says-participation-would-s

The World Health Organization said it could not invite Taiwan to an upcoming international health summit, despite pleas from the U.S. and its allies, due to “divergent views,” after China said it “deplores and opposes” efforts to include Taipei in the gathering.

WHO principal legal officer Steven Solomon explained to reporters on Monday that the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom could not invite Taiwan — which is not a member of the WHO — to participate in the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) if members of the international body disagreed.

“To put it crisply, director-generals only extend invitations when it’s clear that member states support doing so, that director-generals have a mandate, a basis to do so,” Solomon explained. “Today however, the situation is not the same. Instead of clear support, there are divergent views among member states and no basis there for — no mandate — for the DG to extend an invitation.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Tedros should include Taiwan in the upcoming WHA meeting, saying “he has the power to do, and as his predecessors have done on multiple occasions.” The proposal was supported by New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and Germany, but China disparaged the claim, saying that those supporting it “severely violate the one-China principle.”