RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19077/germany-infrastructure-china

On October 26, Germany’s government decided to let the Chinese state-owned enterprise COSCO Shipping Ports, which has links to China’s People’s Liberation Army, buy a stake in the Port of Hamburg.

The port of Hamburg is Germany’s largest port and the second-largest port in Europe, making it part of Europe’s most critical infrastructure.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry had also reportedly warned that an investment by COSCO “disproportionately expands China’s strategic influence on German and European transport infrastructure as well as Germany’s dependence on China… while China itself does not allow Germany to participate in Chinese ports. In this respect, the acquisition of the container terminal does not only have an economic, but especially a geopolitical aspect.” — dw.com. October 26, 2022.

The Foreign Ministry clearly fears that in a time of crisis between the countries, China’s investment in the port would allow it “to possibly instrumentalize part of Germany’s – and therefore Europe’s – critical infrastructure.”

“Cosco already owns stakes in Europe’s two largest ports at Rotterdam and Antwerp….” — Politico, October 20, 2022.

“COSCO’s status as an important backbone SOE [state-owned enterprise] means that it’s uniquely beholden to the CCP in a way that other SOEs aren’t… COSCO’s organisational structure includes paramilitary capabilities that can be mobilised by the Chinese regime to defeat threats to the CCP’s interests. One such capability is the company’s in-house militia…” — Report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“[S]ome naval analysts to refer to COSCO as the fifth arm of the PLAN [People Liberation Army Navy]” — Naval War College Review, Winter 2019.

“Against the advice of his ministers, the chancellor apparently wants to increase dependence on China. This sell-out of German infrastructure would be a mistake. German ports do not belong in Chinese hands, especially since Europeans can’t take a stake in ports in China.” — Jens Spahn, Christian Democratic Union party, Twitter, October 20, 2022.

Out of 95 ports, 22 are in Europe, 20 in the Middle East and North Africa, 18 in the Americas, 18 in South and Southeast Asia, and nine in sub-Saharan Africa. Just three Chinese companies, among them COSCO Shipping Ports, account for the operations of 81% of those ports.

In Greece, COSCO has completely taken over Piraeus, Greece’s largest port.

Scholz, regardless of the hard lessons that Germany has had to learn with regard to German dependence on Russian gas, has a state visit to China coming up in early November with a German business delegation; letting the COSCO deal fall through would not look good while trying to attract lucrative business deals. China is a key trading partner for Germany: In 2021, it was Germany’s top trading partner for the sixth consecutive year.

“It is in their [Communist Chinese Party’s] interest that we are divided. It’s in our interest that we are united.” — Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Axios, October 21, 2022.

“We’ve been naive because we considered… that Europe was an open supermarket.” The EU, needs to establish a framework on what it considers “sensitive points.” — French President Emmanuel Macron, The Telegraph, October 21, 2022.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18969/china-uyghurs-un

The recent United Nations Human Rights Council vote — rejecting the West’s proposal to debate China’s possible “crimes against humanity” in its treatment of its Muslim minority in Xinjiang — covered up Beijing’s gruesome treatment of its Uyghur Population. This vote, saving face for the Chinese Communist Party at its recently concluded 20th National Congress, shields the Chinese regime’s true nature and indicates its increasing influence in international affairs.

Most significant for the United States were the abstentions cast by several of the largest Latin American members of the UNHRC, which were part of a pattern reflecting the waning of US diplomatic clout in the Western Hemisphere. The tally also underscores China’s rising influence in the region, which campaigned hard opposing the resolution. Only Honduras and Paraguay voted with the West.

In response to increased international criticism, Chen Quanguo, the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Xinjiang, claimed that the re-education centers had closed because the students had graduated. Although satellite imagery indicates that Chen was technically correct in saying that some “re-education centers” have been closed, subsequent reporting by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute determined that the overall number of detention facilities and prisons has markedly increased and that the security gulag system in Xinjiang has not been phased out.

The [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights] report painted a darker picture of what actually goes on inside Xinjiang’s VETCs. Interviews of dozens of former VETC inmates reveal that the camps are lined with external and internal fencing, and armed guards stationed on watchtowers with orders to shoot to kill anyone attempting to escape. Former prisoners relate that there are no home visits, and prisoners receive no knowledge of the length of their enforced detention.

The CCP abolished the right to family privacy, by forcibly quartering ethnic Han Communist agents inside the homes of Xinjiang’s Muslim citizens. The regime calls this invasive policy “Becoming Family.” These “visitors,” often quartered in Muslim homes for a month at a time, report on family religious practices or signs of political dissidence.

China’s Communist regime still insists that its overall policy in Xinjiang is designed to improve security, lift indigenous peoples out of poverty and improve their quality of life by encouraging lifestyle changes such as family planning practices, learning new skills, and moving into urban environments.

President Xi justifies CCP policies in Xinjiang by the necessity to combat the “Three Evils” of terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism. Subduing Xinjiang also facilitates Communist China’s broad economic plans to increase its influence in Central Asia while using the region as a thoroughfare to implement Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative projects in Africa, the Near East and Europe.

The recent United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) vote — rejecting the West’s proposal to debate China’s possible “crimes against humanity” in its treatment of its Muslim minority in Xinjiang — covered up Beijing’s gruesome treatment of its Uyghur Population. This vote, saving face for the Chinese Communist Party at its recently concluded 20th National Congress, shields the Chinese regime’s true nature and indicates its increasing influence in international affairs.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-holocaust-is-not-your-metaphor/

This is what happens when the Holocaust becomes universalized, a free-floating metaphor and finally woke kitsch.

A production of Romeo and Juliet for non-binary performers, with Juliet reimagined as a persecuted Jew and Romeo as a member of the Hitler Youth, has become embroiled in a row over its failure to include Jewish people in a casting call.

The London-based Icarus Theatre Collective is staging a version of Shakespeare’s play set in Nazi Germany. The company advertised for “non-binary artists, and/or those of global majority, black or Asian heritage” to join the cast.

The call did not include any request for Jewish performers to join the cast of the production, set in the Third Reich, and the company has publicly apologised for the omission.

Yes, that’s the problem there.

This production, which has now been canceled, comes on the heels of things like the various Anne Frank revisions, including the Latino/ICE one. The underlying problem though is the use of the Holocaust and Hitler as a metaphor for everything bad.

The Holocaust is not a lens. It’s certainly not a lens for whatever woke nonsense is trying to appropriate Jewish history to make claims about the “rise of fascism” today.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/11/in_iran_stonings_and_beatings_create_a_necropolis_for_the_living.html

In 2007, a very disturbing video was smuggled out of the Islamic Republic in Iran, recording the stoning of a number of Iranians.

Watching the video is extremely upsetting.

The disturbing video begins with a lashing of one person. After that, Hojjatoleslam Ali Razini, who was the head of Tehran’s judiciary at the time, announced the verdict for the accused men on the amplifier. They were brought to the center of an arena like lambs to the slaughter, surrounded by a baying crowd of fanatics, who had scavenged rocks to use as weapons, and drooled like bloodthirsty wolves for their first kill. The condemned men were covered in white shrouds, as men with spades dug and filled their death pits around them.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19026/erdogan-sleepless-nights

Yöneylem’s poll also found that 63% of respondents say Turkey is being “badly governed,” and 58.7% say that they “would never vote for Erdoğan.” Only 33.3% of the respondents said they would vote for Erdoğan while 55.6% said they would vote for the opposition candidate.

The numbers predict an easy win for the opposition and a historical defeat for Erdoğan. Clearly, 2023 will be the first election since 2022 in which Erdoğan is not the clear favorite. But a smooth, democratic transfer of power is unlikely.

Six opposition parties, CHP, IYI and four small groupings with different ideologies, have come together to pick a joint presidential candidate against Erdoğan. The most likely candidate will be CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, a social democrat…

In this complex picture, Turkey’s Kurdish minority, representing 11%-13% of the national electorate, will probably be the kingmaker. Erdoğan’s ultra-nationalist (and anti-Kurdish) policies have distanced Kurdish voters from his AKP, although Islamist Kurds still have a tendency to vote for him.

A new spiral of terror attacks may make Turks feel they must unite behind their president. Billions of dollars flowing unofficially into the Turkish economy, from friendly countries like Qatar and Russia, may make starving Turks feel like they will soon be better off.

Alternatively, Erdoğan could be tempted to manipulate the election result.

What happens if Erdoğan loses the presidential election by a narrow margin, and the AKP and MHP lose their parliamentary majority — a total end of the Erdoğan era, in other words? A near civil war.

Erdoğan’s violent loyalists will blame the defeat on a foreign plot, accusing the CIA, the Mossad, you name it.

In every post-June 2023 scenario, Turkey just looks like a slow-sinking ship.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s Islamist president, has been invincible since he burst on the political scene three decades ago. In 1994, he was elected mayor of Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city. In 2002, he was elected prime minister and, in 2014, president of Turkey. Since 2002, he has not lost a single parliamentary, municipal or presidential election. The dream story, however, may be over in June 2023 when Turks will vote in twin presidential and parliamentary elections.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-murder-of-political-prisoners-in-tehran/

There is growing international concern at recent developments in Iran and in particular at the increasingly vicious tactics employed by the theocratic regime in its bid to crush nationwide protests. Media reports state that there have been more than 200 deaths so far as the uprising enters its fifth week. However, information provided by resistance units of the main opposition Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) inside Iran indicate that more than 400 people have been killed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the paramilitary Basij have used batons, steel rods, tear gas, shotguns and live ammunition to kill and maim mostly young protesters, many of whom are women and young girls. More than 20,000 people have been arrested. The insurrection has now spread to 193 cities and involves all 31 provinces in Iran.

The latest outrage took place at the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. Following widespread protests from political prisoners inside Evin, a fire was reported in the prison on the evening of October 15th. Spokesmen for the regime claimed an “accidental” fire had begun in a sewing room and according to state-run media reports, four prisoners died of smoke inhalation. They later revised that figure to eight. In fact, it now appears that the death toll was much higher and there is mounting evidence that the entire incident was pre-planned by the regime in order that they could mount a lethal assault on the protesting political prisoners. Witnesses said that up to sixty prisoners, mostly from Ward 7, were killed by prison guards and by the IRGC, Basij and Special Police Force (NOPO).

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19066/palestinians-attacks-christians

“Did you see ever a Christian attacked a Mosk [sic] in Christian majority towns in Middle East? Off course No. This shows difference of culture, faith, respect & recognition we hold” — Shadi Khalloul, prominent Christian rights advocate, Twitter, October 29, 2022.

As in previous instances, the Palestinian Authority has failed to take real measures to punish those who attack Christians or Christian holy sites in the Bethlehem area.

The attacks by Muslims on Christians are often ignored by the international community and media, who seem to speak out only when they can find a way to blame Israel.

Another disturbing situation is that the leaders of the Christian community in the West Bank are reluctant to hold the Palestinian Authority and their Muslim neighbors responsible for the attacks. They are afraid of retribution and prefer to toe the official line of holding Israel solely responsible for the misery of the Christian minority.

Sadly, it is safe to assume that the plight of the Palestinian Christians will only intensify in light of the silence of the international community and the all-too-justified fear of retaliation burdening their own leaders.

A series of violent incidents in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, and the nearby towns of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, have left Christians worried about their safety and future under the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Many Christians living in these communities are complaining that the Palestinian Authority is not doing enough to punish those who attack churches and Christian-owned businesses. The perpetrators are Muslims who make up the majority of the population in the Bethlehem area.

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/papal-bull-shame-vatican-dealings-china-joseph-zen/?utm_source=Spectator+World+

This week Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the ninety-year-old retired bishop of Hong Kong, went on trial in Kowloon Magistrates Court as a punishment for supporting pro-democracy demonstrators during the mass protests in Hong Kong. He was arrested in May and, along with four other trustees of a humanitarian relief fund, charged with failing to register the organization properly.

The chances that he will be acquitted are slim, to put it mildly. This is Beijing’s way of confirming that Hong Kong is now a police state. Even a frail and saintly cleric who walks with the aid of a stick is not safe to endorse democracy. No one is.

When Zen was arrested, Lord Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, pointed out that it coincided with the appointment of the former policeman John Lee as chief executive of its “puppet regime.” “Lee is not just any old cop,” said Patten. “He got the job because he supervised the brutal 2019 crackdown on demonstrations in Hong Kong after two million residents protested against the city government’s plan to allow the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China.” Lee reached so eagerly for the tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets that Patten imagined that he would have “willingly suppressed the young demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989.”

https://dailycaller.com/2022/10/28/opinion-is-it-realistic-to-ask-israel-to-meddle-in-the-ukraine-russia-war-bryen/

Israel is walking a fine line between the defense of its people and territory, and its support of Ukraine’s defense against Russia. Ukrainian demands coupled with a just-short-of-antisemitic trope are not going to change the situation for Israel – but may make it more difficult for Jerusalem to continue to be helpful.

Much is being made by Ukrainian officials of Israel’s refusal to supply offensive weapons or the Iron Dome air defense system to Kyiv. Much. The latest version has Israel causing the Russia-Iran military relationship. “This alliance of theirs would simply not have happened if [Israeli] politicians had made only one decision at the time — the decision we asked for,” said Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview to an Israeli outlet. The Israeli government’s decision “was seemingly adopted a long time ago — in 2014, when Russia began its aggression against Ukraine. The decision ‘not to annoy’ the Kremlin, not to help Ukraine for real.”

In an earlier interview Zelensky said he was “in shock” at Israel’s failure to give Kyiv anti-missile systems to help counter Russian attacks. And Ukrainian ambassador to Israel Yevgeny Korniychuk said, “I want the Israeli government to move away from its comfort zone and get back to reality.” (RELATED: BRYEN: Will A Key US Deal Make Lebanon’s Problems Even Worse?)

While Israel’s “comfort zone” is a matter of Israeli discretion, concrete threats to Israel’s security posed by Iran — and mitigated to some extent by deconfliction with Russia — are a matter of fact. As is the length, breadth and depth of Russia Iran military cooperation.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/iranian-drones-in-ukraine-project-tehrans-power-beyond-mideast-testing-u-s-europe-11666880851

Wave of Russian attacks highlights how sanctions failed to stop Tehran from building a drone army that can arm proxies and friendly governments.

Russia’s expanding use of Iranian drones in Ukraine poses an increasing threat for the U.S. and its European allies as Tehran attempts to project military power beyond the Middle East.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian officials say, Russia has launched more than 300 Iranian drones that have targeted military units, power plants and civilian buildings in the capital, Kyiv. The Ukrainian military said it has shot down more than 70% of the drones, but Ukrainian officials are asking the U.S. and NATO allies for more help to counter the threat. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has vowed to rush hundreds of drone jammers to Ukraine as part of a deepening effort to shore up Ukraine’s air defenses.

The wave of attacks has made Iran Moscow’s most important military ally in its faltering campaign in Ukraine and highlighted how Tehran has created one of the world’s most successful drone fleets despite years of Western sanctions.

“Drones have become the spearhead of Iranian power projection globally,” said Dr. James Rogers, an associate professor of war studies at the University of Southern Denmark. “Iran has one of the oldest and, arguably, one of the most efficient drone programs in the world.”

While the international community focused for years on trying to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, Tehran methodically built an army of drones that reached across the Middle East. Iran and its proxies have been accused of carrying out attacks on everything from U.S. forces in Syria and commercial ships in the Arabian Sea to Israeli cities and Saudi Arabia’s oil industry.