Middle East

War Propaganda And The Fall Of Syria

December 14, 2024 Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Al-Qaeda, Israel, Middle East, Propaganda, Syria, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

The rapid fall of the Syrian Arab Republic government was both a shock and a catastrophe for that region and for the world. It was incomprehensible that the state which withstood a sustained attack since 2011 from the United States, Israel, Turkey and other NATO members, and gulf monarch states such as Saudi Arabia, would collapse so swiftly. The defeat was political, not military. There was surprisingly little actual fighting on the battlefield. Russia, Syria’s most powerful ally, is engaged in Ukraine, while Turkey, Syria’s nemesis, played a two-sided game of working with its NATO allies while claiming to be negotiating in good faith with Russia.

Inside Israel’s Opportunistic Invasion Of Syria

December 14, 2024 Mitchell Plitnick, Mondoweiss. Educate! Iran, Israel, Middle East, Syria, Wars and Militarism

Even as Bashar al-Assad was scrambling to get out of Syria, Israel was mobilizing its military to take advantage of the power vacuum that Assad’s ouster had created. After five decades of a low-level conflict between the two countries, Israel saw an opportunity to change the calculus, and it seized it. As of Wednesday, Israel had struck Syria nearly 500 times. Their goal with these attacks has been to essentially destroy Syria’s military capability, and they have already succeeded. Reports by Israeli media claim that well over 80% of Syria’s weaponry, ships, missiles, aircraft, and other military supplies have been damaged or destroyed.

How The West Rebranded Al-Qaeda’s Jolani As Syria’s ‘Woke’ New Leader

December 13, 2024 Alan MacLeod, MintPress News. Educate! Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Syria, Terrorist, US Imperialism

Corporate media is heralding the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the emergence of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani as the new leader of Syria, despite his deep ties to both al-Qaeda and ISIS. “How Syria’s ‘diversity-friendly’ jihadists plan on building a state,” runs the headline from an article in Britain’s Daily Telegraph that suggests that Jolani will construct a new Syria, respectful of minority rights. The same newspaper also labeled him a “moderate Jihadist.” The Washington Post described him as a pragmatic and charismatic leader, while CNN portrayed him as a “blazer-wearing revolutionary.”

From Damascus To Chaos: Assad’s Fall And Al-Qaeda’s Comeback

December 12, 2024 Mnar Adley, MintPress News. Resistance Report Al-Qaeda, Middle East, Regime Change, Syria, Wars and Militarism

There are some weeks when decades happen. In just a few days, the Syrian government has fallen, President Bashar al-Assad has fled to Moscow, and Al-Nusra founder Abu Mohammad al-Julani has taken power. How could all of this have happened so quickly? Only last year, it appeared that Assad was entrenching his position internationally, being invited back into the Arab League. Assad also moved away from Russia and Yemen and towards a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. Two guests, Kevork Almassian and Mohammad Marandi, will join the MintCast this week to discuss Syria’s collapse and what it means for the regional Axis of Resistance.

US Proxies In Syria Plead With Israel For Help

December 12, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. Educate! ISIS, Middle East, Syria, Terrorists, Wars and Militarism

Kurdish militants in northern Syria have been reaching out to Israel for “assistance” after their villages were stormed by extremist groups who were involved in the assault that resulted in the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, according to a 12 December report by Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom. “Senior Kurdish militia figures are turning to Israel for urgent help, in light of the seizure of territories from them by Islamist militias backed by Turkiye,” the report said. The daily added that the Israeli security establishment is deliberating on whether or not it should respond to these Kurdish requests for aid, highlighting there has been ongoing communication between Tel Aviv and the Kurds, which has increased since Assad’s government fell on 8 December.

The End Of Pluralism In The Middle East

December 11, 2024 Craig Murray, Consortium News. Educate! Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, Syria

A truly seismic change in the Middle East has occurred. At its heart is a devil’s bargain – Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the imposition of Salafism across the Eastern Arab world. This also spells the end for Lebanon and Syria’s Christian communities. Witness the tearing down of all Christmas decorations, the smashing of all alcohol and the forced imposition of the veil on women when the jihadists — who overthrew the government of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday — first took Aleppo a mere two weeks ago.

The Fall Of Assad And What It Means For The Middle East

December 10, 2024 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. Resistance Report Bashar al-Assad, Israel, Middle East, Syria, Wars and Militarism

The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, ending a 55-year dynasty begun by his father, dramatically shifts the pieces on the chessboard of the Middle East. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is armed and backed by Turkey and was once allied with Al Qaeda. It is sanctioned as a terrorist group. Turkey’s primary goal is to prevent an independent Kurdish state in northern Syria where Kurds have formed an autonomous enclave. But it may not only be Turkey that is behind the overthrow of Assad. It may also be Israel.

Israel’s Genocide Day 430: Progress Reported In Ceasefire Talks

December 10, 2024 Qassam Muaddi, Mondoweiss. Educate! Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Occupation, Palestine, Syria, Yemen

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel’s dissolution of its commitment to the 1974 forces disengagement agreement with Syria, which ended the 1973 war between the two countries. Netanyahu made his announcement in a televised statement from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights on Sunday. Netanyahu’s declarations came shortly after Israeli forces breached the de-militarized buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied and the Syrian-held territory in the Golan. Israeli forces invaded and took over several positions inside Syrian sovereign territory, including the summit of Mount Al-Sheikh, with no resistance according to Israeli reports.

Israel Unleashes Hell Across Syria With Over 250 Airstrikes

December 10, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. Educate! Israel, Middle East, Syria, Turkey, Wars and Militarism

Israeli jets have launched well over 250 airstrikes across dozens of locations in the north, east, west, and south of Syria as of 10 December, targeting all of the country's air defense systems, military bases, and overground military assets. Heavy airstrikes have destroyed weapons and ammo depots, factories, research facilities, and all military airfields and naval bases since extremist armed groups entered the capital, Damascus, and seized power on Sunday morning. Israeli media described the blitzkrieg as the “most intense” bombing of Syria since the October 1973 War. Channel 12 reported that "the air force is operating on a very broad scale across Syria to destroy the remnants of the Syrian Army."

Is The United States Headed For Another Middle East War?

December 1, 2024 Robert Inlakesh, MintPress News. Educate! Ansarallah, Marco Rubio, Middle East, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism, Yemen

Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has taken a hardline position against Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, advocating policies aimed at reigniting the conflict between Riyadh and Sana’a. Critics warn that his approach could risk dragging the United States into a direct confrontation, escalating tensions in an already volatile region. As vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Marco Rubio has carved out a reputation as a steadfast proponent of hardline policies, particularly against Yemen’s Ansar Allah-led government and its allies. Rubio, who has received over $1 million from pro-Israel donors, has consistently aligned himself with neoconservative hawks.

Trump II And The Middle East

November 30, 2024 As'ad AbuKhalil, Consortium News. Educate! Arab Countries, Donald Trump, Middle East, Trump Administration

It is too early to draw an outline of the Middle East policy of the incoming Trump administration. The cabinet and other senior positions are shaping up, while Democrats are doing their best to badger Arab-Americans for their vote against the Democratic Party. We can draw on a variety of factors to understand the general direction of Donald Trump’s Mideast policies. Will Jared Kushner play a role in the new administration? Trump viewed his son-in-law as an in-house Middle East expert not because of his academic credentials or his experience in the region, but purely because of his fanatical attachment to the Likud agenda.

Escalation Of Wars In Ukraine And The Mideast

November 25, 2024 Consortium News. Resistance Report Gaza, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, US Imperialism

Two wars, dragging humanity into despair and existential peril, have in the past week sunk to levels difficult to comprehend. The danger of a nuclear confrontation between Russia and the West over Ukraine has been theoretically with us for nearly three years, but last week it took on terrifyingly concrete form. And in the metastasizing wars in the Middle East, which carry their own more distant atomic threat, the genocidal rage of an unbalanced Israel spread deeper into Lebanon, while all-out war with Iran simmers; the ethnic cleansing of at least the North of Gaza is no longer denied in the Israeli press, and much of the world’s patience with the Zionist state ran out as its prime minister was indicted by an international criminal court never intended to pursue Western and allied leaders.

Arab And Muslim States Prepare For Trump 2.0

November 17, 2024 Mitchell Plitnick, Mondoweiss. Educate! Donald Trump, Middle East, Wars and Militarism, West Asia

Donald Trump’s electoral victory means that other states, particularly in the Middle East, have to prepare for a range of possibilities. At a summit in Riyadh earlier this week, the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) came together to discuss Israel’s genocide in Gaza, its violent incursion into Lebanon, and the threat of regional war in preparation for dealing with the incoming American administration. The meeting and recent events have showed the Saudis, Qataris, and the rest of the Arab and Muslim world are trying to consolidate their positions, to maximize their options and flexibility, as they prepare to try to stave off a regional war under conditions that are wholly unpredictable and unstable with Donald Trump.

Meet The US Soldiers And Bureaucrats Defecting Over Gaza

November 12, 2024 Chris Lombardi, Waging Nonviolence. Resist! Gaza, GI Resistance, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Resignations, US military

As the crisis in the Middle East rages on, a growing movement is confronting U.S. funding of Israel’s wars — including a perhaps-surprising number of those once charged with enforcing U.S. policies. Some are military veterans, while others worked for the State Department and other federal agencies. Such resistance is critical to any nonviolent revolution, says Erica Chenoweth, co-author of “Why Civil Resistance Works.” Chenoweth describes such “defections” as foundational to any hope of real change; dissent by the government’s enforcers — security forces, civilian bureaucrats — show cracks in a regime’s powers.

The Palestinian Struggle’s Necessary Realignment

November 8, 2024 Yara Hawari, Consortium News. Strategize! Genocide, Israel, Middle East, Palestine

Over the last year, Palestine has been irrevocably changed in ways that, for many of us, were once inconceivable. Since the beginning of the genocide, the Israeli regime has killed over 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza — an estimate provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health that includes over 6,000 unidentified bodies in the ministry’s possession and an additional 10,000 assumed to be still buried under the rubble. Devastatingly, some will never be retrieved. Meanwhile, a July article in The Lancet medical journal on the importance of accounting for Gaza’s fatalities argued that a conservative estimate of total deaths in conflict scenarios equated to “four indirect deaths per one direct death.”

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