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The Omar Affair The socialism of fools takes Washington By Michael Walzer (March 2019)

https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts

“Long ago, August Bebel gave a name to left-wing anti-Semitism: “the socialism of fools.” Now the fools are in Congress.”

There are two parts to the Omar affair, and despite the furor and all the statements and counterstatements, and the tweets and countertweets, not enough has been said about either. I will deal with them in this order: first, Rep. Omar’s lies and, second, the fearfulness of her critics

1) I don’t think that Rep. Omar is a liar; she is just repeating other people’s lies. It’s possible that she believes them or, maybe, she thinks they are half-true and politically useful (and she has proven that they are politically useful). In any case, her claims are false. AIPAC, aka the Zionist lobby—actually the right-wing Zionist lobby; there are others on the left—does not control American policy in the Middle East. The organization can make a lot of noise; it has influence in Congress—though less than its leaders tell its donors—and the influence comes from the money it spends. I am sure that there are politicians in the House and Senate who never fail to answer AIPAC’s phone calls and who speak passionately about Israel when they are asked to do so. But that’s about all they do, for Congress has very little impact on what America does in the Middle East or anywhere else. Putting Omar on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is probably a good idea; she will learn how little the committee has to do with foreign affairs.

American foreign policy is made in the White House. That may be constitutionally wrong, but it’s been true for a long time. When the people elect a president who agrees with AIPAC, the organization looks very powerful. And when the people elect a president who disagrees with AIPAC, the organization is powerless. I don’t remember how AIPAC responded to Carter’s Middle East policy or to Clinton’s. In neither case was AIPAC influential, not when Israel withdrew from the Sinai and not when Rabin and Arafat shook hands on the White House lawn; its leaders were probably not consulted. But its lack of influence was most clear in the Obama years, when it disapproved of almost everything Obama did in the Middle East, from the Cairo speech to the treaty with Iran, and could do nothing to change his policies

There are indeed Zionist lobbies at work in Washington. They advocate different policies, and sometimes one or another of them gets its way, but not because of its power or its money. It finds people in office who share its ideological commitments, or it doesn’t.

The Kurds, Trump, & Forgotten Zionist History By Moshe Phillips

https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/the-kurds-trump-forgotten-zionist-history/2019/10/20/

Various media outlets criticized President Trump last week for one of his defenses of his decision to remove 50 American troops who were assisting Kurdish fighters in Syria. “They didn’t help us in the Second World War,” Trump said regarding the Kurds. “They didn’t help us with Normandy, as an example.”

To rebut Trump’s argument, CNN quoted Michael Rubin from the American Enterprise Institute: “World War II was a war among states and the Kurds weren’t a state,” he said. It also quoted Henri Barkey, a Middle East expert from the Council on Foreign Relations, who said, “Just like many other people who did not have a state, [the Kurds] could not have helped the United States.”

In fact, though, both in World War I and World War II, stateless Zionist Jews lobbied and organized in the U.S., UK, Canada, Palestine, and elsewhere to form independent fighting units to fight against Germany and the Ottomans in WWI and against the Axis powers in WWII.

In WWI, first the Zion Mule Corps (650 Jewish soldiers, served at Gallipoli) and then later the Jewish Legion (5,000 Jewish solders) fought under British army command; in WWII, the Jewish Brigade (30,000 Jewish soldiers) was part of the British army.

The men agitating for and leading the Jewish soldiers in WWI and WWII were some of the most colorful and amazing individuals of the Zionist movement. That Barkey and Rubin could be expert sources for CNN and not be highly familiar with their stories is rather surprising.

The WWI Jewish fighters were led by British officer John Henry Patterson. Patterson was the most famous African lion hunter in British history. His story is told in the 1996 Val Kilmer/Michael Douglas film “The Ghost and the Darkness.” Patterson was played by Kilmer, and the movie is based on a book by Patterson. Two other books written by Patterson detail his work with Jewish soldiers and were titled With the Zionists in Gallipoli and With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign.

Trump Lifts Sanctions On Turkey, Announces Permanent Cease-Fire In Syria Posted By Tim Hains

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/10/23/watch_live_president_trump_gives_statement_on_syria.html

President Donald Trump declared a “big success” in Syria and announced he is lifting all sanctions against Turkey during a statement from the White House on Wednesday.

“Let someone else fight over this long blood-stained sand,” the president said. “We were supposed to be there for 30 days. That was almost 10 years ago. So we’re there for 30 days, and now we’re leaving. It’s supposed to be a very quick hit, and let’s get out and it was a quick hit except they stayed for almost 10 years.”

Canada Vote Forces Trudeau to Join With Rival to Govern Liberal Party, short of majority, has options on the left to form minority government By Paul Vieira and Kim Mackrael

https://www.wsj.com/articles/canada-vote-forces-trudeau-to-join-with-rival-to-govern-11571754991

OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, fresh off an election win Monday night that left him with a weakened mandate, must quickly turn his focus to finding common ground among rivals to maintain his grip on power.

Mr. Trudeau’s Liberal Party emerged short of a majority of seats in the Canadian Parliament, and his share of the popular vote fell to 33% from a 40% showing in 2015. The result partly reflected the hits Mr. Trudeau took from recent scandals—allegations that he and his aides interfered in a criminal prosecution, and images of the Canadian leader wearing blackface—that damaged his reputation as a champion of clean governance and diversity.

The task of managing a minority government should be made slightly easier by the distribution of votes. Results as of Tuesday morning showed the Liberals won or were leading in 157 seats, or 13 seats short of a majority. That means Mr. Trudeau would need the support of just one other party to get legislation passed.

Terrorists Call for Killing Jews — from UN HQ in Gaza by Bassam Tawil

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15003/call-for-killing-jews-un-gaza

What is clear — and disturbing — is that the UN officials in the Gaza Strip choose to remain silent when the Palestinian leaders came to their offices to incite their people to step up their terrorist attacks.

The silence of the UN officials speaks volumes about their attitude toward anti-Israel incitement and blood libels against Jews, all of which have become an integral part of both the UN’s and the Palestinians’ culture.

To Palestinians, all of Israel is one big settlement that needs to be displaced.

Perhaps it is time to call out the UN for the racism it not only embodies but also perpetuates. Perhaps it is time for all nations, especially the United States which shoulders so much of the UN’s bill, finally to pay only for what they want and to get what they pay for.

Leaders of several Palestinian factions are again calling for stepping up terrorist attacks against Jews. The difference is that this time, the calls were made during a sit-down strike held by Palestinians outside the offices of the United Nations in the Gaza Strip.

The leaders of the Palestinian factions chose to issue their calls for killing Jews in front of the UN offices in the Gaza Strip. It is as if they are asking the UN to approve their continual terrorist attacks against Israel.

What is clear — and disturbing — is that the UN officials in the Gaza Strip choose to remain silent when the Palestinian leaders came to their offices to incite their people to step up their terrorist attacks.

The sit-down strike was organized by the “Jerusalem Department” of Hamas, the terrorist group that has been ruling the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007. The purpose of the sit-down strike was, according to Hamas, to protest visits by Jews to the Temple Mount, or Haram Al-Sharif — a site in Jerusalem sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

Turkey, Russia agree to create ‘terror-free safe zone’ in Syria By Mark Moore

https://nypost.com/2019/10/22/turkey-russia-agree-to-create-terror-free-safe-zone-in-syria/

Turkey and Russia agreed Tuesday to create a “terror-free safe zone” in northern Syria and launch joint patrols in a deal reached hours before a five-day cease-fire was about to expire, according to a report citing a senior Turkish official.

The announcement came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“We had a very productive meeting with our Russian counterparts today,” an official said, Reuters reported. “We reached an excellent agreement. We agreed to establish a terror-free safe zone.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that the two leaders agreed to have Russian military police and Syrian border guards deploy on the Syrian side of the Turkey border beginning Wednesday.

Over the next six days, they would remove the Kurdish fighters and their weapons from northern Syria.

After the Kurds are removed, Turkey and Russia, which has been backing the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, would launch joint patrols along a six-mile strip of the border.

Turkey would also continue to control a 20-mile-deep swath of northern Syria that runs roughly 75 miles between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain.

British Parliament finally approves Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill – but moments later votes down three-day timetable

https://www.foxnews.com/world/british-parliament-finally-approves-boris-johnsons-brexit-bill-but-moments-later-votes-down-three-day-timetable

The United Kingdom’s divorce from the European Union passed one major hurdle Tuesday when Parliament lawmakers approved Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill but hit a roadblock moments later when a three-day timetable was voted down.

The House of Commons passed the Withdrawal Agreement Bill by a 30-point majority, with the ayes getting 329 votes, over 299 by the Noes, sending the bill on for further scrutiny and possible amendments. Then lawmakers quickly voted down Johnson’s a three-day timetable, attempting to fast-track the bill through, by a 14-point margin.

The vote likely made it impossible for Johnson to fulfill his vow to take Britain out of the EU by the Oct. 31 deadline.

After the second vote, opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said that lawmakers “refused to be bounced” into considering the withdrawal bill in just two days.

He urged the prime minister to “work with us … to agree [on] a reasonable timetable.”

Why Hamas Supports Erdogan’s War by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15049/hamas-support-erdogan-syria

If, according to Hamas, Turkey has the right to protect its border, why does Israel not have the same right?

Hamas’s support for Erdogan’s war on the Kurds seems to be in the context of its attempt to persuade the Turkish authorities to allow its members to continue using Turkey as a base for masterminding terrorist attacks against Israel.

As Hamas said in its statement, it is opposed to the “US and Israeli presence in the region.” Hamas seems to be happy that the US abandoned the Kurds and left northern Syria. Hamas does not want the US to play any political or military role in the region….

It now remains to be seen how Erdogan will reward Hamas for supporting his war on the Kurds. Hamas, meanwhile, is holding its breath, hoping that Turkey will embrace the group and facilitate its fight against Israel.

Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated terror group ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007, is the only Palestinian party that has come out in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s war on the Kurds in Syria.

A statement issued by Hamas on October 14 said that the terror group “understands Turkey’s right to protect its border, defend itself and remove threats harmful to its national security against the tampering of the Zionist Mossad in the region, as part of [Israel’s] effort to undermine Arab and Islamic national security.”

Hamas also praised Erdogan for his “support for the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people” and expressed opposition to “the Zionist and US presence in the region.”

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, voiced support for Turkey. “The Israeli media campaign against Turkey is rude and unacceptable. Israel will remain the enemy and Turkey will remain in the hearts of Muslims,” he wrote on Twitter.

Another Hamas leader, Izzar al-Risheq, said that his group is “confident that President Erdogan has no ambitions in Syria and he only wants to preserve the security of his country.” The Muslims, he added, need to “end their conflicts so they would have the time to confront the big challenge imposed by the presence of the Zionist enemy.”

Turkey’s New ‘Bashibazouks’: The Free Syrian Army by Burak Bekdil

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15048/turkey-free-syrian-army

“In the outskirts of Aleppo, the FSA [Free Syrian Army] has implemented a Sharia law enforcement police force that is a replica of the Wahhabi police in Saudi Arabia — forcing ordinary citizens to abide by the Sharia code…” — HuffPost, December 31, 2012.

Trained and funded by Turkey since 2016 and with a reputation for violence and looting, the fighters of the Syrian National Army (SNA, formerly the Free Syrian Army) resemble very much the Ottoman bashibazouks.

“Elizabeth Tsurkov, a fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute who has interviewed dozens of the fighters and said they appear to be driven by a desire for power and money rather than by any specific ideology… ‘Hatred of Kurds, a sense of Arab chauvinism, complete intolerance for any dissent, and just a desire to make a profit is what’s driving most of the abuses.'” — Associated Press, October 15, 2019.

During Turkey’s most recent, ongoing, military incursion into Syria, launched on October 9, SNA militias captured a major highway that runs across northern Syria. According to Associated Press, “The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the Turkey-backed fighters shot and killed six civilians along the road, including Hevreen Khalaf, a woman who led a Kurdish political party.”

Bashibazouks (“corrupted heads” in Turkish) first appeared in the Ottoman army at the end of the 18th century and fought in Egypt against Napoleon’s army. These irregular mercenary soldiers, often made up of homeless beggars and thugs, were notorious for their lack of discipline, plundering and brutality. During the Crimean War (1853-1856) the allied generals made futile attempts to discipline them. The bashibazouks’ excesses during the Russian-Ottoman war of 1877-78 finally forced the Istanbul government to abandon using them.

More than two centuries after their Ottoman ancestors had used bashibazouks, the Turks found their Arab reincarnation in Syria.

Argentina Designates Hezbollah a Terror Group by Luis Petri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15029/argentina-designates-hezbollah

Editor’s note: Argentina made history this year as the first Latin American country to designate Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization. This is an important step forward for the region and Argentina is poised to become a leader and role model with their registry (RePET) acting as a roadmap for other Latin American countries seeking to make the same designation of Hezbollah. Less than one month after Argentina, on August 9, 2019, Paraguay designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, as well, giving the region and U.S. allies in Latin America more momentum than ever in the fight against terrorism.

This past July… President Macri published Argentina’s first public registry (RePET) of those tied to terrorism. He made a clear commitment to the fight against international terrorism. The public registry is a historical landmark containing over 1,000 entries of individuals and entities tied to terrorism in Argentina, including Hezbollah.

The registry will function under the Ministry of Justice, but the Ministry of Security and our Financial Intelligence Unit or UIF-AR will have the power to designate terror groups by requesting to freeze the assets of known terrorist actors. This whole-of-government approach ensures that the country can use a variety of tools when targeting terrorists.

Previously, the only people in Argentina labeled as terrorists were those considered terrorists by the U.N. Security Council. This [new] registry works to target all terrorist organizations in the international arena, as well as persons or entities under investigation in Argentina.

The following is an edited and translated transcript of a speech given by Argentine Congressman Luis Petri on July 25, 2019 at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. during an event hosted by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the AMIA attack in Argentina. This speech has been slightly modified and reorganized for clarity by the editors, with the approval from Congressman Petri.

There is a before and after when you consider the effects of September 11th in the world. But in Argentina, this “before and after” began a lot earlier. In 1992, the Embassy of Israel was bombed [in Buenos Aires], followed two years later [on July 18, 1994] by one of the worst terrorist attacks in Argentina against the AMIA Jewish community center, and causing 85 casualties and wounded many more.