RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15043/turkey-kurdish-obsession

The end of First World War left the Kurds in an even worse situation than before. President Woodrow Wilson’s promise of “self-determination” was soon forgotten, leaving behind the dream of independence on the Kurdish side and the fear of Kurdish secession in the Ottoman camp as reconstituted as the Turkish Republic under Mustafa Kemal pasha (Ataturk).

In much of history, at least until recently, systems sustained by ultra-nationalist and/or nativist ideologies have always seen “otherness” as a threat rather than an opportunity of cultural and social enrichment.

In other words, one can commit genocide as long as one makes a speech in favor of Palestine and attends a Shi’ite chest-beating ceremony.

A classical dictum cited by Clausewitz, the father of war studies as an academic discipline, tells us that starting a war is often easy while ending it is always difficult. Does that dictum apply to the war that Turkey has started against the Kurds by invading Syria? Right now, the answer is that no one knows. What is certain, however, is that the best outcome that Turkey might expect, is to be extricated from that hornet’s nest with a minimum of damage.

While the war could be blamed on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s autocratic style of decision-making, the deeper roots of the conflict must be sought in Turkey’s centuries-old Kurdish obsession.

That obsession was present, albeit in embryonic form, even during the Ottoman era, when the Sultan-Caliphs harbored suspicions about their Kurdish subjects on ethnic and religious grounds. Even when drawn into military service, Ottoman Kurds could not, or would not, be assimilated into the dominant Ottoman-Turkish identity. Subscribing to a variety of religious beliefs and traditions, including Alawism, Zoroastrianism, Yazidism and a panoply of Sufi orders stretching from the Balkans to Central Asia, the Kurds would not fit into the official Islamic identity of the empire.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/when-the-dust-settles-in-syria/

The United States has left the Middle East numerous times under several American presidents. But it has consistently returned—for better or worse.

 To speak about Kurds has suddenly become a cry in favor of human rights and self-determination by the Western press, and rightly so: The assault they are suffering is lethal and may become genocidal. More frightening is that it is being perpetrated by the Turks, who are already stained by the Armenian genocide and are led by a leader who considers himself an almighty sultan. And it’s really odd that Europe is only now discovering who he really is.

How can this be? Didn’t Europe know that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during these last 16 years in power has been possessed by a vicious fundamentalist Islamic and imperialist dream, who has repeatedly displayed unprecedented arrogance (he has closed newspapers and thrown more than 150,000 dissidents in prison) and expressed extreme ideas that have systematically dismantled the precious Kemalist heritage that once made Turkey the hope of a bridge between the Islamic world and the West? Didn’t it see that he inundated the world with slogans and anti-Semitic standpoints corroborated by his friendship with Hamas, who supported former Egypt President Mohammad Morsi as leader of the Muslim Brotherhood—a man he praised being himself the greatest Muslim Brotherhood politician in office? Is it coincidence that Erdoğan allowed the passage from his country of thousands of Islamic fundamentalists in possession of whatever passport to boost ISIS, which many claim he supported through trade and furnished with weapons?

https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/rashida-tlaibs-hypocritical-stance/

The Democratic congresswoman, who claims to be a champion of human rights, supports Armenian aggression, occupation, and ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan.

First-term US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) supports occupation and ethnic cleansing.

Having a clear problem with Jews and the Jewish state, Tlaib often blames Israel for “occupying Palestine” and holds it responsible for the Palestinian refugee issue, which she regards as an example of “ethnic cleansing.”

Yet, she makes a U-turn when it comes to Armenia’s illegal military occupation and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region. She unabashedly supports this internationally condemned occupation, in opposition to 28 years of bipartisan US policy and four binding UN Security Council resolutions.

According to an October 8, 2019 article published by the Los Angeles-based Armenian newspaper Asbarez, the Armenian National Committee of Michigan recently met with Tlaib to discuss issues important to the American-Armenian community of Michigan and committed to co-sponsor two House resolutions aimed at improving relations between the US and Armenia.

The impression is that Tlaib has become a political prisoner the Michigan Armenian lobby that in all likelihood has been greasing her political career, helped her to gain a congressional seat.

http://daphneanson.blogspot.com/2019/10/a-doctor-down-under-on-virus-of.html

Declares  Dr David Adler, chairman of the (politically incorrect, and all the better for that) Australian Jewish Association (AJA):

“It’s the world’s oldest bigotry and it’s on the rise again. Antisemitism is associated with the darkest chapters of human history when humanity abandons civilised moral codes. Societies and ideologies which embrace it typically suffer a major decline if not complete destruction. Examples span the latter years of the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition, the suppression and pogroms of the old USSR, to the Nazi implemented Holocaust of the second world war….
Antisemitism in some ways has the characteristics of a virus which morphs. During the Inquisition it was hatred of the Jewish religion with forced conversions by torture. Under the USSR it was Jewish culture such as circumcision or teaching Torah which was banned. The Nazis took a racial approach with the objective to eliminate the Jewish race. In more recent years, it is hatred of the world’s only Jewish state, Israel, which has become the principal focus for antisemites. Yes, anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

And to combat this virulent virus in all its strains, clearly identified by Dr Adler in his diagnosis here, a strong antidote is required:

“All these components need to be vigorously called out and condemned. The most widely accepted definition of antisemitism is that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which includes working examples of what is unacceptable. Australia became a full member on 4 June 2019. At a minimum, all federal and state bodies, including schools and universities, should formally adopt the working definition of the IHRA. The Australian Jewish Association will be proposing that leadership commence with the federal parliament and we are asking the government to pass a resolution to that effect. While this does not solve antisemitism, it would be a powerful signal that Australia stands united against antisemitism”.

Meanwhile, AJA director Michael Burd secured an exclusive and special interview/discussion with that supreme realist and staunch friend of Israel Colonel Richard Kemp.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/19/separatist-chaos-streets-barcelona-protesters-lose-faith-divided/

On yet another night of smouldering barricades, billowing smoke and whistling projectiles on the streets of Barcelona, Elisenda Lluch couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her younger comrades turning to violence.

“I’m done preaching pacifism,” the 57-year-old told the Sunday Telegraph after attending a massive march in the city center, only a few hours before the city descended into chaos once again.

“We’ve been peaceful for years, and the verdict was 100 years in prison altogether,” said Ms Lluch, in reference to the long-awaited Spanish Supreme Court verdict that sealed the fate of nine Catalan leaders on Monday.

Since then, growing pockets of protests have turned to levels of violence not sees since the independence went mainstream more than a decade ago. Exasperated, demonstrators have lost faith in politicians – and politicians have lost control of the streets.

Chants of ‘fascists’ aimed at the Socialist government echo between alleyways and housing blocks. What little hope they held following the ill-fated 2017 referendum, when the more hardline conservatives were in power in Madrid, has all but vanished.

But it’s not just national politics that is losing touch with the younger people.

Regional politics too is struggling to offer the alternatives needed to pull demonstrators back from violence, with splits emerging and backroom infighting among the separatist Catalan governing coalition.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/19/crime-britains-affluent-areas-soaring-faster-rate-anywhere-else/

Crime in Britain’s most affluent areas is soaring at a faster rate than anywhere else in the country, a Telegraph analysis of official data has revealed.

Robbery, theft and drug offences in the wealthiest districts of England and Wales are outstripping the national average by up to four times, as criminal gangs deliberately target rural and suburban communities.

A detailed analysis of Home Office crime figures, broken down by neighbourhoods and household incomes, found a startling rise in certain offences in the least deprived areas over the last two years.

While theft has increased nationally by four per cent since 2018, in the top ten per cent of the country’s richest areas the figure is 16 per cent.

Similarly, drug offences in the least deprived communities are up 16 per cent, compared with 12 per cent across the rest of the country.

Robbery rose by more than a quarter in the wealthiest areas, compared with 11 per cent elsewhere.

The analysis also suggests that violent crime, robbery and theft are also increasing at a faster rate in rural communities than in urban areas.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15040/angela-merkel-zionism-prize

German Interior Ministry statistics claim that 90% of the anti-Semitic hate crimes reported in Germany in 2018 were committed by “far right” persons. The EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), however, found that only 13% of the attacks were attributed to those with a “right-wing political view.”

Germany provides millions of euros annually to organizations that promote anti-Israel BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) and “lawfare” campaigns, anti-Zionism, antisemitism, and violence, according to NGO Monitor.

“Why is Merkel being awarded the Theodor Herzl Award? Because her representative at the United Nations abstains in anti-Israel resolutions — and thereby de facto supports them? The same official who equates Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians with Israel’s demolition of the homes of Palestinian terrorists? For not relocating the German embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as the United States did, and also warning other countries against taking such a step? For all this, she gets the Theodor Herzl Award?” — Henryk Broder, German Political Commentator, Die Achse des Guten.

“And that is just the beginning. There is a great possibility that thanks to today’s politics Germany will become Judenrein [free of Jews]. Wir schaffen das (We can do it).” — Dr. Rafael Korenzecher, Publisher, Jüdische Rundschau.

A decision by the World Jewish Congress (WJC) to honor German Chancellor Angela Merkel with its prestigious Theodor Herzl Award for Zionism has sparked anger and bewilderment among Jewish leaders in the United States and Europe.

The WJC, founded in August 1936 in Geneva, Switzerland, to confront the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi persecution of Jews in Europe, bestows its annual award to individuals who act to promote the goals of the late Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionist movement, “for the creation of a safer and more tolerant world for Jews.”

Critics say that Merkel, because her domestic and foreign policies have in recent years made the world less safe for Jews, is uniquely undeserving of the award. These policies include:

German government failure to combat rising anti-Semitism. A total of 1,799 anti-Semitic hate crimes — five per day, on average — were reported in Germany during 2018, according to the German Interior Ministry. This represents a 40% increase over 2013, when 1,275 such crimes were recorded. The actual number of anti-Semitic hate crimes in Germany is likely much higher. A survey produced by the Vienna-based European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found that 80% of Jews who said they were a victim of anti-Semitism did not report the crimes. Almost half of Jews living in Germany said they do not feel safe in the country and were considering emigrating, according to the FRA.