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Iran’s Mullahs Can Never Change, Never Be ‘Friends’ by Majid Rafizadeh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21466/iran-mullahs-never-change

The Islamic Republic of Iran is not a normal state, or even a conventional dictatorship. It is an ideological entity that derives its very identity from opposition to the United States, Israel and the West.

From the moment the Islamic Republic was born out of the 1979 revolution, its core identity was forged in opposition to the United States and Israel. These were not just foreign policy stances but central tenets of the regime’s existence. The regime refers to the United States as the “Great Satan” and Israel as the “Little Satan,” righteously positioning itself as the force of divine justice against these supposed embodiments of evil.

For the Iranian mullahs, hostility toward America and Israel is not just rhetoric; it is the fundamental pillar of their legitimacy. If the regime were to abandon its enmity toward the U.S. and Israel, it would lose the entire justification upon which it has built its power.

Every negotiation with Iran has followed the same pattern: the Iranian regime makes promises, secures financial and political gains, and then, once it has strengthened its position, resumes its belligerent actions.

The Islamic Republic views nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantor of its survival… Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has explicitly stated that Gaddafi’s fate proves why Iran should never surrender its nuclear weapons.

As with North Korea, negotiations may temporarily slow Iran’s nuclear weapons development; they can never stop it. The regime will agree to talks only when it needs to buy time — whether to rebuild its economy under the cover of diplomacy, to lull the West into complacency, or to wait out an unfavorable political climate, such as a Trump. Always, the regime’s goal remains the same: acquiring nuclear weapons to solidify its regional dominance and deter any attempt to remove the regime from power.

Regrettably, the only way to neutralize the Iranian threat is through strength. The regime in Tehran understands only force. Until the West recognizes this reality, it will continue to be bamboozled while the Iranian regime buys time to advance its ambitions unchecked.

The Syrian Blood on Obama’s Hands Augusto Zimmermann

https://quadrant.org.au/news-opinions/middle-east/the-syrian-blood-on-obamas-hands/

Syria is presently controlled by al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Christians and other religious minorities are being massacred in Syria by the same Islamist group that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad three months ago. More than 1000 people have been killed since last Thursday. The killings have targeted Alawites, Christians and other minorities in Syria’s coastal regions.[1]

On December 8, 2024, the Assad regime in Syria collapsed during a major offensive by Sunni Islamist militants. The Assad family, members of the minority Alawite sect, ruled Syria for over half a century. The capture of Damascus, the capital, in December marked the end of Assad’s rule. Bashar al-Assad fled the capital aboard a plane to Russia, where he joined his family, already in exile, and was granted asylum by the Kremlin.

This was the end of a long campaign by the West to overthrow the Assad regime which culminated in HTS delivering the coup de grace.

In 2011, the US and European Union called for President Assad to resign following the crackdown on Arab Spring protesters during the events that led to  Syria’s civil war. By 2022, around 580,000 people were dead, of whom at least 306,000 were non-combatants. On November 15, 2023, France issued an arrest warrant for Assad for the use of chemical weapons against civilians. Assad dsnied the allegations and accused his accusers, notably the US, of attempting to effect regime change.

The Arab Spring, just to refresh memory, were anti-government protests and army uprisings — promoted by the Obama administration, it should be noted — that in the early 2010s spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Over that period the US did much more than any religious extremist group ‘to permanently enshrine Sharia as the constitutional law of the land throughout the Muslim world.’[2] In Egypt, for example, the Arab Spring empowered Muslim extremists to initiate a bloody persecution that drove hundreds of thousands of Christian Copts to flee the nation. Egyptian political scholar Samuel Tadros writes: ‘The Copts can only wonder today whether, after 2,000 years, the time has come for them to pack their belongings and leave, as Egypt looks less hospitable to them than ever’.[3]

Greenland elections produce upset as party favoring gradual independence from Denmark wins

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenland-elections-upset-denmark-independence/

Nuuk, Greenland — The center-right Demokraatit Party won the most votes in Greenland’s parliamentary elections, a surprise result as the territory went to the polls in the shadow of President Trump’s stated goal of taking control of the island one way or another .

Both Demokraatit – the Democrats – and the second place party, Naleraq – “Point of Orientation” – favor independence from Denmark but differ on the pace of change.

Four of the five main parties in the race sought independence, but disagreed on when and how.

Naleraq is the most aggressively pro-independence, while Demokraatit favors a more moderate pace of change.

Demokraatit’s upset victory over parties that have governed the territory for years indicates that many in Greenland care just as much about health care, education, cultural heritage and other social policies.

“I think this is a historic result in Greenland’s political history,” Demokraatit party leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen said at the election party after the results.

The memory-holing of a pogrom The Jew hunt in Amsterdam last November was even worse than we thought. Brendan O’Neill

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/03/10/the-memory-holing-of-a-pogrom/

They called their rampage a ‘Jew hunt’. They incited each other to violence, saying ‘[we] may never get this chance [again] to beat up some fucking Jews’. They called for a city-wide ‘rage’ against ‘cancer Jews’ and ‘cancer Zionists’. They damned the Jews as a ‘cowardly’ people. They shared information about the arrival of a ‘train full of Jews’ and said everyone should be there to greet it, because ‘we have to make those cancer Jews feel what they did to our brothers’. The train could be late, one of them joked, because it might be a ‘special train’ laid on by Hitler, ‘with gas for [the Jews]’.

Where were these racist obscenities uttered? Where was this violent hunt for Jews carried out? Germany in 1938, perhaps? No, it was in Amsterdam, last year. This was the jodenjacht of November 2024 when visiting Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv were ‘hunted’ by mobs of mostly Arab men in the streets of Amsterdam. More details about this pogrom emerged during the latest court cases last week, and they heap yet further shame on the pogrom deniers of the Western left who insisted these were just street clashes, not a Jew hunt.

Five more of Amsterdam’s alleged Jew hunters found themselves in the dock last week. One – Mounir M, aged 32 – is charged with being an administrator of the WhatsApp group in which the violence was incited and organised. Originally called ‘Free Palstine’ (sic), the group later changed its name to ‘Buurthuis 2’ (Dutch for ‘Community Centre 2’). Racial animus and open calls for violence swirled through this ominous chat. Drive your car ‘into those people’, one participant said. ‘Hit them hard’, said another. There must be ‘at least one death’, dreamed one messenger. There were also tips for how to incite the Maccabi fans. Shout ‘Free Palestine’ at them, the mob was advised.

Mounir M is said to have helped oversee this group that seethed with Jew hate. As the Dutch daily paper Het Parool reported, last week’s court proceedings ‘left little to the imagination: participants in the group… incited each other to hunt down Jews’. The court heard that the group was full of ‘insulting words about Jews’, alongside calls for action. There were ‘quips’ too, like the one about Hitler’s special train, with gas in it. Mounir M is accused of responding in the most chilling way to a message about the hotel in which Maccabi fans had taken refuge from the blows of the Jew hunters. ‘Get rid of it’, he allegedly wrote.

Another suspect in the current trial – Mahmoud A, a Palestinian asylum seeker – faces a more serious charge: attempted manslaughter. A video clip allegedly shows him kicking a Maccabi supporter in the head four times as he was lying on the ground. The three other suspects face charges of ‘providing information to commit violence’, trivialising and condoning the Holocaust, and using a belt to whip an elderly visiting Israeli. The Dutch paper De Telegraaf said at the end of last week that this latest ‘Trial of the Jew hunters’ has ‘severely shocked’ the people of the Netherlands. It is horrifying, it said, that an event of such a ‘clearly anti-Semitic character’ could take place in modern-day Amsterdam.

Tommy Robinson’s Ramadan While Muslims party at Windsor Castle, a heroic critic of Islam is locked away at Belmarsh prison. by Bruce Bawer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/tommy-robinsons-ramadan/

It’s the holiday season again in Britain. The West End of London is bright with lights. Children with lanterns paraded around Leicester Square. At Windsor Castle, more than 360 guests gathered in St. George’s Hall for a celebratory meal sponsored by King Charles III.

Never in the history of Britain has there been such a big, public, official commemoration of the beginning of Ramadan.

On social media, the Royal Family issued a statement: “Wishing all Muslims in the UK, the Commonwealth and around the world a blessed and peaceful Ramadan.”

London’s Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, also commented on the start of Ramadan: “London was the first city in the Western world to host a Ramadan Lights display. It’s a powerful symbol of who we are as Londoners.”

Just days later came Ash Wednesday – the start of the Christian season of Lent. As the musician and social commentator Winston Marshall noted, the Royal Family had nothing to say on social media about Lent – even though King Charles is head of the Church of England.

As it happens, Mayor Khan did put out a statement at the beginning of Lent. But oops, this one, too, was about Muslims: “London owes a great debt to Muslims! They have made our community a better, brighter and more prosperous place!”

On March 5, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales came out with what could easily be interpreted as a Ramadan gift for the Muslim community. A new set of guidelines, scheduled to take effect in April, recommended that when just-convicted criminals are evaluated for sentencing, judges should exhibit an extra measure of mercy toward those belonging to “an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community.”

In other words, as the Shadow Justice Secretary, Robert Jenrick, complained in the House of Commons, members of minority groups would be less likely to be given a term in prison than other offenders. “Why is the Justice Secretary enshrining this double standard, this two-tier approach to sentencing?” asked Jenrick.

Tulsi Gabbard Warned About What Was Happening in Syria In fact, anyone could have seen it coming, except the willfully ignorant. by Robert Spencer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/tulsi-gabbard-warned-about-what-was-happening-in-syria/

During her Senate confirmation hearing, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said this about the situation in Syria at the time: “I have no love for Assad or any dictator. I just hate al-Qaeda. I hate that our leaders cozy up to Islamist extremists, calling them ‘rebels,’ as Jake Sullivan said to Hillary Clinton, ‘al Qaeda is on our side in Syria.’ Syria is now controlled by al-Qaeda offshoot HTS, led by an Islamist jihadist who danced in the streets on 9/11, and who was responsible for the killing of many American soldiers.”

At this point, it is abundantly clear that Gabbard was right, and Sullivan was wrong. Al-Qaeda is not on our side in Syria, and the toppling of the Assad regime has not brought “democracy” or peace to the country. Instead, as Greek City Times reported Saturday, “hundreds of Christians, including Greek Orthodox, and Alawites have been killed after clashes broke out on Thursday in the Latakia and Tartous regions on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, according to a human rights monitoring group.”

This was likely an understatement of what was really happening: “The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Friday that more than 225 people have been killed since Thursday. However, this is believed to be a gross underreporting, with activists on the ground, such as Coast Youth Forum, believing the death toll could be as high as 1,800, mostly Alawites, but also Christians.”

And so Fox News reported, also on Saturday, that Gabbard’s “warning of a terrorist takeover in Syria looks to be coming true amid reports that al Qaeda-linked terror forces aligned with Syria’s interim new president—a former al Qaeda terrorist—are being accused of massacring Alawites as well as members of the country’s dwindling Christian community.”

The Statesman Among Us by Nils A. Haug

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21457/the-statesman-among-us

The concept of Zionism has received adverse publicity in the press of late, especially thanks to slogans by supposedly pro-Palestinian activists in the West vilifying Jews. These supposedly pro-Palestinian activists are actually just antisemites; they have never proposed a thing that would make Palestinian lives better. Anyhow these activists call Jews “Zionists” to avoid having themselves labelled as Jew-haters.

Due to a fundamental clash of irreconcilable ethical religious principles – that of Torah versus Islamic Sharia – it appears that only Israel’s overwhelming military strength, command of technology and will to protect its country from tyranny can deter the nation’s Islamist enemies.

While combating a hostile local media that support what Netanyahu terms the “deep state”, health issues, personal slights, legal charges — many seemingly politically fabricated in the midst of an existential war by antagonistic state jurists determined to assert their control over elected politicians — Netanyahu presses on, not only on a mission to save Israel from fundamentalist terrorism, but ultimately, by extension, the West itself.

There does not appear to be anyone else in Israel who could have done a better job against the almost inestimable odds than those Netanyahu has been forced to overcome since October 7, 2023.

The words describing the crucial role of Queen Esther of ancient Persia apply equally to Israel’s statesman, Netanyahu: “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Great statesmen are generally recognized as such only after dire events faced by the nation have settled, and his strategy is seen to have succeeded. Once the threat to the nation has passed and fresh democratic elections eventually arrive, the statesman is often replaced as leader and a new prime minister or president is appointed to lead the nation into a better future – a future created through the efforts, wisdom and courage of his predecessor. This is what transpired with that great British leader, Winston Churchill.

In an effort to avoid the increasing likelihood of war in Europe in 1938, the UK’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, travelled to Munich to negotiate with Adolf Hitler. When Chamberlain returned, victoriously displaying a document signed by both Hitler and himself purporting to resolve the geopolitical issues at stake, hopes were high that the UK could avoid involvement in yet another horrific war so soon after the “Great War” twenty years earlier. Chamberlain proudly, waving the document, declared that the signed paper would guarantee “peace for our time.”

No, Conservatives Did Not Win the German Elections American conservatives need to discern propaganda from reality. by Karina Rollins

https://www.frontpagemag.com/no-conservatives-did-not-win-the-german-elections/

American media—very much including conservative outlets—are reporting that Germany’s “conservative” party won the recent parliamentary elections.

Not quite. The winning party, with 28.5 percent of the vote, is the CDU—which stands for Christian Democratic Union—and is called the “conservative” option in Germany. But there is no longer anything Christian, nor conservative, about the CDU.

There is nothing conservative about free speech restrictions, which current CDU leader Friedrich Merz supports, rebuking U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s criticism of them.

Nor is there anything conservative about a party that allows the destruction and inhumanity of an invasion. It was a CDU chancellor, Angela Merkel, who in September 2015 opened the country’s borders, allowing in a million third world migrants, mostly young Muslim men, in less than four months.

Millions more have flooded the country since then, and the result has been an unmitigated catastrophe of daily rapes, assaults, and knife attacks, as well as Islamic terror attacks in ever shorter intervals. Jews are once again attacked on German streets—this time, not by Germans. No-go zones are firmly entrenched. All this in a country that was one of the safest countries in the world. All this with virtually zero opposition from CDU politicians, who looked the other way.

Iran Rushing to Build Nuclear Bomb: West, Act NOW by Majid Rafizadeh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21458/nuclear-iran-act-now

Iran has also been installing more advanced centrifuges, increasing its capacity to enrich uranium faster than ever.

The Iranian regime appears to believe that nuclear weapons will give it leverage to silence opposition at home and deter any foreign intervention that could threaten its rule.

A nuclear-armed Iran poses an existential threat not only to the “Little Satan,” Israel, and the “Great Satan,” the US, but to all the oil-rich Gulf countries in the Middle East.

The task is not just about protecting Israel, Europe and the US; it is about preventing…. the mother of all arms-races throughout the Middle East.

The least the West can do is help to prevent one of the most dangerous regimes on Earth from obtaining weapons of mass destruction – before it proceeds to a nuclear breakout.

Iran is moving at an alarming speed to develop nuclear weapons and advancing its uranium enrichment at an unprecedented rate. The latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) provides a chilling confirmation of Iran’s intentions.

According to the IAEA, Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity — just a short step away from weapons-grade material — has increased by 92.5 kilograms since November. This brings its total stockpile of highly enriched uranium to approximately 275 kilograms, an amount sufficient to produce at least six nuclear bombs if further enriched to 90%. Iran has also been installing more advanced centrifuges, increasing its capacity to enrich uranium faster than ever.

Europe Must Fully Cooperate with Trump’s Ukraine Peace Efforts Trump pressures Zelensky for peace in Ukraine as Europe pushes its own plan, risking a split in negotiations. By Fred Fleitz

https://amgreatness.com/2025/03/07/europe-must-fully-cooperate-with-trumps-ukraine-peace-efforts/

Although a ceasefire to stop the killing in Ukraine appeared closer this week after Ukrainian President Zelensky sent President Trump a letter promising to cooperate with his peace efforts, European states are floating several unhelpful proposals that could hurt the peace process.

Zelensky was supposed to sign a deal at the White House last Friday, giving the U.S. access to his country’s rare earth mineral deposits. However, Zelensky’s insistence on first resolving other issues and his rude behavior during an Oval Office meeting with President Trump and Vice President Vance caused him to be booted from the White House and his relationship with Trump to break down.

This relationship breakdown led President Trump to say for the second time in a week that if Zelensky continued to resist his efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, he might walk away from the conflict. Tensions grew further when Zelensky said on March 3 that the end of the war with Russia was “very, very far away,” a comment that irritated Trump because it appeared to be a jab at his peace efforts. Also on March 3, President Trump paused U.S. military aid to Ukraine to pressure Zelensky to support his peace efforts.

Tensions between Zelensky and Trump appeared to improve by March 4 after the Ukrainian leader sent a conciliatory letter to Trump in which he agreed to work under President Trump’s leadership and “come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer.” Zelensky said he was prepared to agree to “a truce in the sky—ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy, and other civilian infrastructure—and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.”

Zelensky also said Ukraine was prepared to sign a deal giving the US preferential access to Ukraine’s natural resources and minerals at “any time and in any convenient format.”

During his address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, President Trump expressed his appreciation for Zelensky’s letter. U.S. and Ukrainian officials said the next day that discussions were underway on the date and location of a new round of formal U.S.-Ukraine negotiations.

Europe’s positions on stopping the fighting in Ukraine have been inconsistent and somewhat unhelpful. In meetings at the White House with President Trump last week, French President Macron and UK Prime Minister Stamer dropped their previous constant criticism of Trump’s Ukraine peace efforts and said they were prepared to support these efforts.