asher553 | Entries tagged with middle east

DONALD TRUMP ADDRESSES RALLY IN SARASOTA, FLORIDA.
https://rumble.com/vjcgm1-live-president-donald-j-trump-in-sarasota-fl.html
Video begins with remarks by Don Jr. Speech by Trump starts at 26:00.

BREITBART: ARMED SUSPECTS ARRESTED AFTER MASSACHUSETTS STANDOFF.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/07/03/11-armed-suspects-arrested-following-9-hour-standoff-on-mass-highway/
'Massachusetts State Police arrested 11 people on Saturday who allegedly claimed to be members of a group known as the “Rise of the Moors.” The arrests followed an hours-long standoff with the armed members on Interstate 95 near Wakefield, Massachusetts, after suspects reportedly said they don’t “recognize our laws.” ...'

JONATHAN SPYER: IRAN DIGS DEEPER IN SYRIA.
https://jonathanspyer.com/2021/07/03/iran-digs-deep-in-hollowed-out-syria/
'The current direction of events points to the prospect of a kind of ‘Lebanonization’ or ‘Iraqification’ (if that is a word) of Syria. That is, the emergence of a situation in which a weak government in name only exists and is accepted internationally. Beneath this flimsy structure, a powerful, independent Iranian political-military capacity will have freedom of action, control significant territory, and be able to use the nominal central government as a useful cloak for its activities. ...'

SARAH HOYT: READ IT AND BE BRAVE.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2021/07/03/read-it-and-be-brave/
'It is our duty, our obligation and our very great privilege to make sure that in the next decade, in the next century, in the next millennium, on Earth or in the far flung stars the words carry on, liberty carries on, and tyrants are powerless against them. ..'

COBB: ON MAGIC, RELIGION, TECHNOLOGY, AND SCIENCE
https://mdcbowen.substack.com/p/the-axis-of-magic
'This is the difference then between a proper religion and a religion as a front for ideology. A proper religion must account for the huge gap between God and man. Faith is thus transformed into an infinite stream of questions some answered by previous theology, some ever emergent or mysterious and unreachable. If a religion becomes mechanistic and loses the emergent properties requiring human creativity in a dynamic engagement with life then it is reduced to nothing more than a creed, a clubhouse, a tribe whose rituals are empty of spirit. When people notice this, they may blame God, the church, the clergy or themselves. Either way their heart is not in it. The discipline becomes hollow. So it is entirely reasonable for them to search elsewhere for the spirituality, the awakening, the fulfillment that is missing when the target of faith doesn’t move. ...'

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/820805.html

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/286509

'The American Jewish Committee (AJC), which for more than 25 years has advanced understanding and fostered cooperation between Arab states and the Jewish people, on Wednesday announced its plans to open an office in the United Arab Emirates.

The move comes in the wake of the historic announcement on August 13 by President Donald Trump, His Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that the UAE and Israel would establish full diplomatic relations.

"The establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel realizes a vision that AJC has helped to pursue for decades," said David Harris, AJC CEO. "By moving forward on our plans to open an office in the Emirates, AJC hopes to expand on our decades of bridge-building and create a wider network of stakeholders in the new relationships made possible on August 13."'

And ... you can eat kosher there.

https://twitter.com/IsraelArabic/status/1301077022270259200/photo/1

Crossposts: https://asher63.livejournal.com/788689.html

Friday! Weigh-in: 169.4.

New book I'm reading: 'Days of the Fall' by Jonathan Spyer. Reporting and analysis from Syria. (I got it on Kindle because the paper edition is kind of spendy for my budget.)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078849LFV/

Speyer is a British-born Israeli independent journalist. He regularly travels to places most of us wouldn't dream of going. I've never met him but I know him indirectly through Michael Totten. Spyer's previous book 'The Transforming Fire'

https://www.amazon.com/Transforming-Fire-Rise-Israel-Islamist-Conflict-ebook/dp/B0051NI3A0/

is excellent and I recommend it highly.

https://jonathanspyer.com/2017/05/09/assads-hollow-crown/

'The old city was tense, behind a veneer of strained normality. There were checkpoints every hundred meters or so. These were maintained not by the army, but by the National Defense Force (NDF), an Iranian-sponsored paramilitary force created to fill the gap presented by the Assad regime’s lack of loyal manpower. Young men mostly, with a sprinkling of older types and a very few girls. Supervised by Mukhabarat officers with pistols in their belts. They were suspicious of foreigners. There had already been a number of suicide attacks by members of the jihadi organizations in regime-controlled areas.

For the most part, though, the atmosphere of strained normality held. Undoubtedly, fear of the regime played its part in the exaggerated professions of loyalty and love for Bashar that one would hear. But there was also justified fear of the Islamist rebels, and what their advance would mean. And, of course, there was mainly fatigue, and the desire of people to live in their own private circle, and willingness to cope with any governing authority which appeared able to provide for that. The Syrian pound had plummeted in value since the start of the war – from 48 pounds to the US dollar in March 2011 to 625 to the dollar now. There were long queues each morning to buy subsidized bread at the state bakeries. The traffic was on the roads, the shops were open, pictures of the dictator and his family were everywhere. But all was far flimsier and more brittle than it initially appeared.

I should explain first of all how I came to be in Damascus. I have been writing about Syria now for over a decade. I have visited the country numerous times since the outbreak of its civil war in mid-2011. My visits, though, were always to the areas controlled by the Sunni Arab rebels or the Kurdish separatist forces. This was a notable gap in my coverage. I wanted to remedy it. ...'

Read the rest at the link.

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/647433.html

https://jonathanspyer.com/2016/11/11/1409/

Observe: there is in Syria today no less than five identifiable conflicts taking place.

These are: Turkish-backed Sunni Arab rebel and Islamist organizations against the Assad dictatorship, western backed SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces, dominated by the Kurdish YPG) against IS, Kurdish YPG against the Assad regime, the aforementioned Sunni rebels against IS and, lastly, the Sunni rebels against the SDF.

The problem for those seeking to cobble together a force to take Raqqa city and by so doing destroy the Islamic State, is that the two eligible forces to carry out this action are the mainly Kurdish SDF and the Turkish-backed, mainly Islamist Sunni rebels – but these forces are at war with one another.

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/605979.html

My current job allows me to listen to audio while I work, so I'm getting a lot of "reading" done in the form of audiobooks. My style nowadays is often to combine listening to the audiobook with reading the text either in print or on Kindle, so sometimes I'll listen to a few chapters at work and then come home and re-read them in print. Here's a run-down of some of the books I've been taking in lately; some of them I've finished, others are still in progress.

'Envoy' by Zalmay Khalilzad.
Born into a Sunni family in a Shi'a city in a Sunni country, he moved with his family to Kabul ("much more sophisticated than Mazar") when he was in 8th grade. Winning a slot in an AFS exchange program, he came to the United States as a teenager in the late 1960s. He returned to Kabul for university, then went on to complete his studies at the American University in Beirut, where he met Cheryl. The book takes us through Khalilzad's diplomatic career with the US Government, and his work in Iraq and in his native Afghanistan. It's both a personal and a professional memoir, reflecting on his family life and offering insights into the thinking of various officials and other decision-makers.

'ISIS Apocalypse' by William McCants;
'ISIS: The State of Terror' by Jessica Stern and J. M. Berger.
Two books detailing the rise, decline, and revival of the terrorist entity founded by Zarqawi. Stern and Berger's book builds on McCants' work, and adds a special focus on the role of social media in the world of terrorist organizations.

'The Iran Wars' by Jay Solomon.
Detailed account of the behind-the-scenes negotiations surrounding the Obama Administration's nuclear deal with Iran.

'Rebbe' by Joseph Telushkin.
An inspiring yet clear-eyed account of the life and teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson - better known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe - easily the most influential figure in late 20th-century orthodox Jewish life. Telushkin draws on interviews, diaries, and letters to paint a vivid picture of this visionary and driven leader.

'The Prime Ministers' by Yehuda Avner.
Personal memoir of the author's life, from his antisemitism-plagued youth in Manchester, England to his career in the service of four Israeli Prime Ministers - Eshkol, Meir, Rabin, and Begin. Avner himself appears in Telushkin's book, as he accompanied both Rabin and Begin on their visits to the Rebbe.

All of these are non-fiction books - it's just what I happen to be reading now, and admittedly some of the material is pretty grim. But I like learning about the nuances of power and human interactions from real-world events.

Crossposts: http://asher63.livejournal.com/603124.html

Book of Days: asher553

The unlived life is not worth examining.

Entries tagged with middle east

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Middle East: American Jewish Committee to open UAE office.

2019-11-22 Friday morning

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