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Turkey: The Abandoned Iraqi and Syrian Christian Asylum Seekers by Uzay Bulut

By on April 21st, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19550/turkey-iraqi-syrian-christian-refugees

Iraqi and Syrian Christian asylum seekers, stuck in Turkey for years, suffer from countless problems such as their children’s lack of education, severe poverty, lack of religious liberty, lack of work permits, restricted freedom of movement, the hostility of some Muslims against their faith, and rejections of their asylum applications by Western governments.

“Although the European Union says the full amount has been allocated and more than 4 billion euros have been disbursed, the Turkish government has taken issue with the pace and manner of the payments, which have gone to refugee-serving organizations rather than government accounts.” — Migration Policy Institute, April 8, 2021.

Even though Syrian and Iraqi Christian asylum seekers in Turkey face harassment, poverty and discrimination, the asylum applications of many Iraqi and Syrian Christians are rejected by Australia, Canada, the US and other Western countries. Why?

Around 22,000 Iraqi and Syrian Christian asylum seekers currently live in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. They have been exposed to genocide, terrorism, war crimes and crimes against humanity in their home countries. Where are the Western governments?

So, what has happened to the 6 billion euros given by the EU to Turkey so that Turkey would help refugees more? If such a huge amount of money has been granted to Turkey to provide more for refugees, why are so many refugees and asylum seekers still suffering under horrible conditions in the country? And who are these organizations referred to as “refugee-serving”? Have they taken the money, embezzled it, spent it, and it wasn’t enough? The international community, including the EU, urgently needs more transparency regarding how the money has been spent and how many refugees and asylum seekers have benefited from it.

Why not issue non-refugee visas? Especially as, according to figures reportedly released by the Biden Administration, 5.5 million illegal migrants have crossed the Mexican border into the US as well as “more than 414 million lethal doses” of fentanyl just in 2022.

Currently, asylum seekers need humanitarian visas to be resettled in the West. But many Christian asylum seekers are educated or have skills, so they would be qualified to receive work permits to reside in Western countries. They hope to safely migrate for work, using their skills to provide for their families and live dignified lives.

Where are the UN, international women’s organizations, the International Rescue Committee and children’s rights organizations? These asylum seekers are facing extinction in their homelands, suffering in places such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and hoping someday to find safety in the West.

The Christians of Iraq and Syria have for decades suffered from persecution and instability caused by oppression by the Ba’ath regimes, the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the outbreak of Sunni-Shiite fighting in 2006, al-Qaeda terrorism, the 2014 genocide by ISIS, ongoing Turkish airstrikes on Iraq and Syria, and in many cases, pressures and harassment at the hands of their Muslim neighbors. All this persecution has forced many of them to leave their home countries and seek asylum elsewhere.

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Iran’s Mullahs Use Ramadan to Crush Dissent Tyrants in a panic.

By on April 20th, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/irans-mullahs-use-ramadan-to-crush-dissent/

With international condemnation at their brutal crackdown on protesters during the nationwide uprising that has now continued for seven months, it might have been imagined that Iran’s mullahs would have learned some lessons in moderation. The killing last September, of the young Kurdish girl, Mahsa Amini, by the morality police, for not wearing her hijab properly, was an outrage that has led to a denunciation by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. The shoot-to-kill strategy that has killed more than 750 protesters, and the arrest of over 30,000, has triggered an unprecedented outcry from the civilized world. But, deaf to all demonstrations, the theocratic regime has continued on its repressive path.

Now, during the Nowruz (Persian New Year) holidays and the holy month of Ramadan, the police are demanding even greater powers to crush dissent. Hassan Karami, the commander of the regime’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) Special Units, has called for the number of security police to be doubled to confront the ongoing nationwide insurrection. Karami was sanctioned by the EU in April 2021 for his role in the savage response to mass protests that took place in November 2019, when more than 1,500, mostly young protesters, were killed. He has coordinated the use of lethal force for crowd control and the suppression of protests during the current uprising. His LEF Special Units have also been responsible for serious human rights abuse against prisoners detained during the disturbances. Karamihas boasted that confronting the protests would be part of the agenda of his LEF Special Units during the Nowruz holidays and Ramadan. He described the uprising as “extreme sedition” and told the state-run Mehr news agency that his units were covering the unrest and possible movement of enemies in at least 400 cities and regions and that this required a doubling of police numbers.

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Has the NATO Turning Point Stopped Turning? “No nation can be trusted farther than it is bound by its interests.” by Bruce Thornton

By on April 19th, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/has-the-nato-turning-point-stopped-turning/

Remember last year when the NATO nations had a road-to-Damascus moment? It seemed that Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine had awakened the West from its “new world order” dogmatic slumbers, with scenes of death and devastation from a past we thought we had exorcised with the end of the Cold War.

In response to Russia’s attack, last year the air was filled with pledges of military support for Ukraine and blustering denunciations of Putin. Skimpy defense budgets and “postmodern” foreign policy idealism were over. Columnist Michael Barone announced “a vast and historic transformation in Europe . . . that will continue reverberating, no matter what happens in Ukraine.” And according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “February 24 marks a turning point in the history of our continent.”

Lately the “turning point” seems to have stopped turning, as the conflict in Ukraine heads for a long, bloody slog, with no resolution in sight. What many thought would be a triumphal confirmation of the “rules-based international order” has instead seen the return of the repressed foreign policy realism dominated by national self-interest.

French president Emmanuel Macron, for example, besieged by riots and protests over a proposal to raise the retirement age, recently visited China’s autocrat Xi Jinping, in a failed attempt to distance Xi from Putin, though he successfully secured a contract worth billions of Euros. He also called for Europe to have “strategic autonomy” from the U.S. regarding China’s threats to Taiwan, and to avoid the “great risk” that Europe “gets caught up in crises that are not ours” and ends up “taking our cue from the U.S. agenda.”

The diplomatic confusion and bluster about Europe’s need for “strategic autonomy” raised questions about NATO “unity.” It seems calm with China is more important than upholding the “rules-based international order.” In that case, as Senator Marco Rubio said, if Europe doesn’t “‘pick sides’ between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, then maybe we shouldn’t be picking sides either [on Ukraine].”

A more significant blow to the renewed martial vigor of NATO was the Pentagon documents allegedly leaked by a recently arrested intelligence operative serving with the Massachusetts Air National Guard. If the intelligence is accurate, our public confidence that Ukraine can stop Russia and recover some of its occupied territory is shaky. That “explains the urgency with which Kyiv has been lobbying the U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to speed up deliveries of Western-made air-defense systems and to provide Ukraine with Western-made jet fighters, such as F-16s,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

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Biden Is Emboldening China to Invade Taiwan by Gordon G. Chang

By on April 18th, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19581/china-taiwan-invasion-biden

Given the right American policies, China’s regime can be deterred.

For decades, the United States has tried to manage the situation across the Taiwan Strait by not angering Beijing.

White House and administration officials, both anonymously and on the record, contradicted the president [that the U.S. would send troops if there was an attack] on all four occasions. The Chinese certainly do not see firmness in the Biden administration but disarray.

This disarray has almost certainly emboldened Beijing to act even more aggressively.

So, what must Biden do at this late date to reestablish deterrence?

Washington should offer to recognize Taipei as the legitimate government of “Taiwan” if it wants America to do so, offer a mutual defense treaty to Taipei, on an emergency basis begin moving weapons and supplies to the island, and base troops there as a tripwire.

Many will say these steps—similar ones on the Korean peninsula have worked—are risky.

Three decades of misguided Taiwan and China policies have left Washington with no risk-free options…. [T]he most risky and dangerous option is to continue with policies that created this situation in the first place.

Beijing’s long delay in reporting Ladakh [India] casualties suggests the Communist Party would be hesitant to fight to take Taiwan. China, in short, can be deterred by the prospect of massive casualties—or maybe even just a few of them.

Ultimately, the Biden administration, to establish deterrence, must possess the forces in the field to inflict casualties on China. “[T]he United States has no choice but to initiate a crash program to rebuild a regional/tactical nuclear deterrent, from nuclear artillery shells to short-, medium-, and intermediate-range nuclear-tipped missiles,” Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center told Gatestone.

In the Cold War in Europe, America deterred a militarily superior Soviet Union with its announced willingness to use nuclear weapons, and Ronald Reagan’s deployment of the nuclear-tipped Pershing II missile held back an aggressive Moscow. Biden, however, has made it clear that he abhors nukes.

Biden, therefore, better come up with a plan quick.

The Eastern Theater Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army just declared it is now “ready to fight.” Biden, on the other hand, does not appear ready to reestablish deterrence in an era of Chinese aggression and belligerence.

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‘Remove Your Church’: The Persecution of Christians, March 2023 by Raymond Ibrahim

By on April 16th, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19583/persecution-of-christians-march

“You should remove your church, because we cannot watch our members turning to Christianity and keep quiet.” — Sheikh Shafi Mukama “ordering the father and son to leave [their church] in 2022, while other from the mob kept watch outside,” morningstarnews.org, March 22, 2023, Uganda.

“Requirements for obtaining permission to build houses of worship in Indonesia are onerous and hamper the establishment of such buildings for Christians and other faiths…. [T]hey are often met with delays or lack of response from officials. Well-organized radical Muslims secretly mobilize outside people to intimidate and pressure members of minority faiths.” — morningstarnews.org, March 24, 2023, Indonesia.

“According to the UN, ongoing insecurity in eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo] has displaced 300,000 from their homes in February alone.” — opendoors.ph, March 22, 2023, Democratic Republic of Congo.

“It is a massacre like…killing animals.” — A key church minister, persecution.org, International Christian Concern March 20, 2023, Democratic Republic of Congo.

“For leaving Islam to accept Christ,” say a Mar. 19 report, “a young mother… was chained in her home, subjected to electrical shocks at a psychiatric hospital and has lost her children.” …. [H]er problems began, chiefly from her Muslim husband, who “tried to force her to renounce her faith by chaining her legs and tightening the chains…. [H]er parents and siblings are all Muslims [a local source said], who believe she is suffering mental illness for believing in Christ.” — morningstarnews, March 19, 2023, Sudan.

“[S]ince the start of the war, the Christian population has reportedly diminished by more than 80 per cent, from an estimated 1.5 million to 250,000… More than 350 churches have been destroyed in attacks carried out by terrorists during this period…. On the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war, therefore, I want to raise awareness about the country’s Christians, in the hope that the international community acts to prevent their tragedy from continuing before it is too late.” — Report by Natasha Dado, thenationalnews.com, April 16, 2023.

“The rampant trafficking of Coptic women and girls is a direct violation of their most basic rights…. The crimes committed against these women must be urgently addressed by the Egyptian government, ending impunity for kidnappers, their accomplices, and police who refuse to perform their duties…. The large majority of these women are never reunited with their families or friends because police response in Egypt is dismissive and corrupt. There are countless families who report that police have either been complicit in the kidnapping or at the very least bribed into silence.” — copticsolidarity.org, March 16, 2023 and September 10, 2020, Egypt.

“For Christians in the Middle East, the Christmas season is not ‘the most beautiful time of the year’ as in the popular Andy Williams song. On the contrary, after two millennia of Christian presence, the Middle East is slowly but surely being cleansed of Christians…. It is striking that the Western powers, which have a majority Christian population, are not concerned at all by such a disaster.” — Matija Šerić, “Christians In The Middle East: A Persecuted And Forgotten People,” eurasiareview.com, April 15,2023.

“The only country in the region with a growing Christian community is Israel, where the Christian population grew by 1.4% in 2020…. Christians in Israel benefit from the only functioning democracy in the Middle East… According to the Israel Bureau of Statistics from December 2021, 84% of Christians surveyed said they were satisfied with life in Israel.” — Matija Šerić, “Christians In The Middle East: A Persecuted And Forgotten People.”

The report further makes clear that Christians suffer, not just from “terrorists,” but Muslim state and society: “The legal political and social order in many Arab countries is a source of discrimination….[T]he system is hostile towards all non-Muslims, especially Christians. Christians are often not second or third but tenth class citizens, they suffer discrimination in the educational system, in the workplace, the community tries to ostracize them.” — Matija Šerić, “Christians In The Middle East: A Persecuted And Forgotten People.”

The following are among the murders and abuses inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of March 2023:

Muslim Attacks on Churches

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China Trashing the Global Environment: ‘There Is No Fish in the Waters’ by Robert Williams

By on April 15th, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19554/china-trashing-environment

“Risks to marine habitats are most prominent in Caribbean island nations, such as the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, as well as coastal waters across Africa, most notably along Western and Central African coastlines. In the Bahamas, Angola and Mozambique, more than 2,000 km2 of marine habitats face high impact risks.” — bu.edu, December 6, 2022

“Across Angola, Fiji, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, more than 50,000 square kilometers of marine habitats are “facing low but non-negligible risks from nearby projects.” — bu.edu, December 6, 2022

Ports built or financed by the Chinese, the study found, pose the greatest risks to marine habitats; the risks remain high even up to 30 kilometers from the port.

China’s overseas infrastructure projects are not the only ones ruining marine habitats. China’s enormous fishing fleet is simultaneously contributing not only to the severe devastation of marine ecosystems but also to the destruction of the livelihoods of local fishermen.

Chinese fishing boats are destroying the livelihoods of West African fishing communities on the West African coast. Due to illegal Chinese fishing, they could be losing more than $2 billion each year.

In Ghana… illegal fishing boats use Ghanaian flags, but, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation, 90% of those boats belong to Chinese owners.

“There is no fish in the waters. We used to catch up to 90 trays of sardinella fish a day and now we barely get five trays a day.” — Dembo Touray, fisherman Bakau, Gambia’s largest fishing community, aa.com.tr, 2020.

Even though, in 2019, Communist Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that the BRI would become “green and sustainable,” he did not say when.

“China says it will follow environmental guidelines, but history has shown these protections are nonexistent.” — William Laurance, distinguished research professor of the Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, The Guardian, September 20, 2021

Additionally, China already mines 70% of all rare earth materials, a situation that has made the world virtually dependent on it. The future of the African continent’s environment, in short, looks anything but sustainable.

China’s overseas infrastructure projects present high-impact risks to the environment, a new study has found.

The report — conducted by researchers from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, the University of Queensland, the University of California Santa Barbara, and Colorado State University — focused on the risks to coastal and marine ecological systems posed by 114 of China’s overseas development projects between the years 2008-2019. According to the document, those 114 projects represent only 20% of all Chinese development finance projects in that time period, meaning that the results of the study are probably just the tip of the iceberg.

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Climate Change Alarmism Is a Lie that Must Stop by Drieu Godefridi

By on April 14th, 2023

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19580/climate-change-alarmism

With China opening an average of two new coal-fired power plants a week and India apparently more determined than ever to continue its development curve, as is the entire non-Western world, global CO2 emissions will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. There is not yet any available, inexpensive alternative to fossil fuels.

This increase in global CO2 emissions would be inevitable even if the West persists in its efforts to reduce emissions: Western reductions are — and will continue to be — more than offset by the increase in emissions in the rest of the world.

“Setting an example” to regimes and countries around the world that often hate the West simply enables those countries to grow stronger, while the countries setting the example weaken themselves by committing themselves to severe economic disadvantage — while having virtually no net effect on the climate…. Meanwhile, as they grow, they would doubtless be extremely happy to see the West hobbling itself.

The climate knows neither Europe nor Asia. Nothing that Europe and the West accomplish in this field has the slightest meaning if reduction of emissions is not global.

In its fifth and latest (full) report, the IPCC estimates that a 3° warming — twice the Paris Agreement target — would reduce global economic growth by 3%. Three per cent a year? No, 3% by the year 2100. This amount represents a reduction in global economic growth of 0.04% a year, a number that is barely measurable statistically. That is in the IPCC’s pessimistic scenario. In the more optimistic scenarios, the economic impact of warming will be virtually non-existent.

[A]ccording to the data of the IPCC itself, the economic growth and well-being in Europe and the United States are more threatened by extremist and delusional environmental policies than by global warming.

“The EU and its Member States have focused on climate policy, mobilizing enormous financial and human resources, thereby reducing the resources necessary for the development of its industry and weakening the security of energy supply.” — Jean-Pierre Schaeken Willemaers, Thomas More Institute, president of the Energy, Climate and Environment Cluster, science-climat-energie.be, February 22, 2023.

Future generations will judge us harshly for allowing extremist environmental activism to enfeeble us in the West, while a hostile East – China, Russia, North Korea and Iran — continue to advance their industrial and military capabilities. Instead of trying to fight CO2 emissions, we would do better to invest in researching ways to make reliable supplies of energy both cleaner and less expensive so that everyone — by choice — will rush to use them.

Global emissions and the accumulated stock of CO2 in the atmosphere will, unfortunately, not be decreasing any time soon, but that is no reason to let the global standing of the West decrease instead.

Since 1992 and the Earth Summit in Rio, the West has been living under the spell of a “climate emergency” that is repeatedly renewed but never happened. Since then, the West – and only the West — has set itself the main goal of reducing CO2 emissions (and other greenhouse gases, implied in the rest of this article).

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Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei Signals Regime Split A dictator in a state of panic. by Struan Stevenson

By on April 12th, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/irans-ayatollah-khamenei-signals-regime-split/

Has the ongoing insurrection in Iran, now into its seventh month, exposed glaring splits in the theocratic regime? In his Nowruz (Persian New Year) address to the nation, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the elderly and increasingly delusional Supreme Leader, insisted that the main priority of the theocratic regime was to fight inflation. Unveiling his concept of ‘The Year of Curbing Inflation,’ he indirectly acknowledged that his country is bankrupt, but failed to offer any way of resolving the perilous state of the Iranian economy. His mumbled remarks may have disappointed his hard-line followers, who prefer to hear pledges to “wipe Israel off the map” or cries of “death to America,” and have little appetite for economic reforms. But splits and divisions amongst the mullahs are now the trademarks of this failing fascist regime.

The Iranian economy is in plummeting decline. Spiralling inflation, currently at 43.4 percent, and a collapsing currency, have combined with tough western sanctions to bring the country to a virtual standstill.  Food prices in particular have suffered massive spikes over the past year, including a 125 percent increase for meat, 250 percent for onions, 82 percent for eggs, and 78 percent for rice.The active Iranian workforce is 26 million, of whom at least 10 million were jobless even before the Covid pandemic. Youth unemployment is at a staggering 40 percent. At least 60% of the population are living in poverty, unable to meet their essential daily needs.

Combined with the mullah’s own venal corruption and regional warmongering, it is little wonder that the country with the world’s second largest gas reserves and fourth largest crude oil reserves is now facing economic meltdown. Iran, despite its once rich, civilized and open culture, has become an international pariah, its religious fascist regime condemned for human rights abuse and the export of terror, while its 85 million beleaguered citizens struggle to feed their families.

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The Opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tel Aviv The profound significance. by Rachel Avraham

By on April 11th, 2023

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-opening-of-the-azerbaijani-embassy-in-tel-aviv/

With the grand opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tel Aviv, a new reality is being fostered in the Middle East and this new reality is a great asset to the West. Lev Spivak, who heads Aziz, an Azerbaijani Israeli cultural organization in Israel, stated in an exclusive interview, “I think it is good that they opened the embassy. We waited for many years for this to happen. It will also influence political relations. It will open many more doors for cooperation.” Camilia Ioffe, a famous Israeli Azerbaijani opera singer, concurred: “What happened is historic. This is good for both states. There will be exchanges between the peoples for various things.”

The grand opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tel Aviv definitely assists the West’s struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is because it helps to form a strategic alliance between Turkey, Israel and Azerbaijan, who can stand together united against the mullahs in Tehran. With the assistance of this strategic alliance, South Azerbaijanis can be empowered to secede from Iran together with all of the other ethnic minorities in the country, which includes Balochs, Kurds, Turkmen, Ahwaz, Lors, etc. In the end, this strategic alliance can empower Iran’s ethnic minorities to divide up Iran into a series of little countries, while giving whatever sliver is left to the heir of the Pahlavi dynasty, who is presently in exile via popular mass protests assisted with external support. This then will forever put an end to the masses of Iran chanting “death to America” and “death to Israel.”

Today, America’s position towards Tehran is much closer to Israel’s position. A nuclear deal is presently off the table and tensions between America and Iran are at an all-time high, after the International Court of Justice ruled that it has no jurisdiction over the $1.75bn in frozen assets from Iran’s central bank held in a Citibank account in New York, even as they ordered the US to compensate Iranian companies who had their assets frozen. The United States argued last year that the case should be dismissed because Iran had “unclean hands” and the asset seizures were a result of it sponsoring “terrorism,” stressing that the money was being given in compensation to the victims of the 1983 bombing in Lebanon and other terror attacks linked to Iran.

Given that the opening of the new Azerbaijani Embassy in Tel Aviv helps to strengthen a regional axis against Iran, the Iranians are outraged by it. Since the grand opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy, it has been reported in the media that Iran is up in arms, after Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen called for a “united front against Iran” and Baku was silent about it. This comes after an Iranian was found to be responsible for attempting to assassinate an Azerbaijani MP, the Azerbaijanis detained 40 people suspected of spying for Iran and the Azerbaijanis closed down their embassy in Tehran, after it was targeted in a brutal terror attack, which killed a security guard. At the moment, relations between Baku and Tehran are quite tense, with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev outspokenly supporting the right of South Azerbaijanis to be educated in their mother tongue in the wake of violent protests against the Ayatollahs regime, of which many Azerbaijanis support.

Former Israel Consul General to Turkey Eli Shaked added in an exclusive interview regarding the new Azerbaijani Embassy in Tel Aviv: “This is a strategic cooperation between two countries that share a common threat coming from Tehran. Even though Azerbaijan is a Shia country, nevertheless, they feel that Iran is challenging them with its religious fanaticism. They are not interested in having such a radical religious influence on their population. From the Israeli point of view, Azerbaijan is a big and important country in the area bordering Iran. So, it is a common interest by the two countries to have good relations and cooperation, not only military but also strategic. Let us hope for the best. It is a crazy world and a crazy Middle East.”

Prominent French historian Dr. Maxime Gauin noted however that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel does not only revolve around Iran: “One of the challenges of Azerbaijan in the liberated territories is to improve agriculture and to export as soon as possible. Israel has hi-tech agriculture, but limited space. So there is a beginning of a deal that Israel will provide the technology and Azerbaijan will provide the goods. This is a long term strategy that will continue even if the mullahs collapse. Another issue is that Azerbaijan played a key role in the reconciliation between Turkey and Israel. This can serve as an important triangle for the national security of the two countries.”

Spivak noted that the new Azerbaijani Embassy in Tel Aviv will also open up the door for further cooperation between the two countries in the field of higher education: “Previously, Ambassador Mukhtar Mammadov was the chief of staff in the ministry of education. This can be very helpful for the exchange of students. Azerbaijanis can come to study in Israel and Israelis can come to study in Azerbaijan. There can also be cooperation between the universities initiated.” Ioffe also noted that there can be more cultural cooperation: “I think that there will be more opportunities not only in the musical arena, but also for actors, opera, ballet, etc. The first ballet was written in Azerbaijan, so Azerbaijan has much to offer related to this.”

Naturally, having a Shia majority country open up an embassy in Tel Aviv and establishing normal relations with the Jewish state sends a positive message to the entire region, stressing the importance of continuing the Abraham Accords and having additional countries make peace with Israel. This will greatly assist the Jewish state as it hopes to expand the Abraham Accords to include Indonesia, Somalia, Niger and Mauritania. And by expanding the list of countries seeking peace in the Middle East, the United States will benefit from a more secure atmosphere in the region, especially as this helps to reduce Iranian influence in the wake of the Iranian-Saudi reconciliation agreement.

Rachel Avraham is the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and an Israel-based journalist. She is also the author of “Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media.”

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Could the partition of India and Pakistan repeat itself in U.K. and Scotland? By Rajan Laad

By on April 10th, 2023

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/04/could_the_partition_of_india_and_pakistan_repeat_itself_in_uk_and_scotland.html

When India was liberated from British rule more than 75 years ago, the territory was divided, or partitioned, into India and the new state of Pakistan; East Pakistan later became Bangladesh.

The British oversaw the partition along with the newly appointed Indian and Pakistani leaders in their respective newly formed nations.

British civil servant Sir Cyril Radcliffe drew up the borders between India and Pakistan, in 1947, dividing the sub-continent very roughly into:

a central and southern part, where Hindus had the majority
two parts in the north-west and north-east that mostly  Muslim population

But Hindus and Muslims were scattered throughout British India.

Hence, after the declaration of the partition, more than 15 million people traveled, often hundreds of miles, to cross the new frontiers to their respective nations. It has been called the largest exodus in human history.

Almost 75 years later, history may be repeating itself.

Last October, the United Kingdom swore in Rishi Sunak as their new prime minister. Sunak’s parents are Indian Hindus who migrated to the U.K. from East Africa. Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980. His father was a doctor, his mother was a pharmacist. He went to the boarding school Winchester College, then studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford, and business at Stanford University in the U.S.

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