Syria often reports violations of its airspace, which it frequently attributes to the Israeli Air Force. Tel Aviv occasionally admits to carrying out some of these air raids, claiming that it targets Iranian military forces allegedly stationed in the country, despite both Tehran and Damascus denying their presence.
Syrian air defences have intercepted Israeli missiles flying through the airspace above the city of Homs, Syria’s SANA news agency reported. The agency added that none of the missiles succeeded in reaching their targets as a result.
Damascus has not officially commented on SANA’s report.
Prior to the attack, Lebanon’s Sham FM reported that Israeli jets were spotted flying low above the country’s Kesrouan province, which lies on the way between the territory of Israel and the Syrian city of Homs. Alleged witnesses claim that the jets fired missiles while travelling through Lebanese airspace.
The Israeli Air Force has admitted on multiple occasions in the past that they have conducted air raids on Syrian territory, but claim to have targeted Iranian military forces allegedly present there. Tel Aviv alleges that these forces intend to attack Israel from the territory of the Arab Republic.
Damascus and Tehran both deny that Iranian troops are deployed there, with the Islamic Republic noting that it has only sent military advisers to the country. Both states have harshly condemned the Israeli actions as violations of Syrian sovereignty, calling on the international community to prevent further strikes.
Israeli forces on Thursday entered a Palestinian village in the northern Jordan Valley to confiscate materials designated to build a clinic to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Officials from the Israeli Civil Administration came to the village of Khirbet Ibziq with a military escort, bulldozer and two trucks equipped with cranes on Thursday morning to demolish community clinic and emergency housing, according to Israeli human rights monitor Btselem.
The group reported that Israeli officials seized poles and sheeting designated to form eight tents, two for a field clinic, two for a mosque, and four for emergency housing for people evacuated from their homes.
A power generator, as well as supplies of sand, cement and cinder blocks to be used for the floor of the tents, were also confiscated. Btselem said the villagers were building a first-aid community initiative to deal with the Covid-19 crisis which has paralyzed large parts of the southern West Bank.
There are 91 confirmed cases so far in the Palestinian territories, with one death reported on Wednesday.
The Jordan Valley covers an area of about 1.6 million dunams (1,600 km2) and constitutes around 30 percent of the total occupied West Bank. According to a previous government report, the Valley includes about 280,000 dunams of arable land, 50,000 of which are still used by Palestinians and 27,000 by illegal Jewish settlers.
The majority of the Jordan Valley is under full Israeli military control, despite being within the West Bank. Meanwhile, at least 44 percent of the total land in the Jordan Valley has been reappropriated by Israeli forces for military purposes and training exercises.
September 17, 2019 was a significant day in American economic history. On that day, the New York Federal Reserve began emergency cash infusions into the repurchasing (repo) market. This is the market banks use to make short-term loans to each other. The New York Fed acted after interest rates in the repo market rose to almost 10 percent, well above the Fed’s target rate.
The New York Fed claimed its intervention was a temporary measure, but it has not stopped pumping money into the repo market since September. Also, the Federal Reserve has been expanding its balance sheet since September. Investment advisor Michael Pento called the balance sheet expansion quantitative easing (QE) “on steroids.”
I mention these interventions to show that the Fed was taking extraordinary measures to prop up the economy months before anyone in China showed the first symptoms of coronavirus.
Now the Fed is using the historic stock market downturn and the (hopefully) temporary closure of businesses in the coronavirus panic to dramatically increase its interventions in the economy. Not only has the Fed increased the amount it is pumping into the repo market, it is purchasing unlimited amounts of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities. This was welcome news to Congress and the president, as it came as they were working on setting up trillions of dollars in spending in coronavirus aid/economic stimulus bills.
This month the Fed announced it would start purchasing municipal bonds, thus ensuring the state and local government debt bubble will keep growing for a few more months.
The Fed has also created three new loan facilities to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in credit to businesses. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has stated that the Fed will lend out as much as it takes to revive the economy.
The Fed is also reducing interest rates to zero. We likely already have negative real interest rates because of inflation. Negative real interest rates are a tax on savings and thus lead to a lack of private funds available for investment, giving the Fed another excuse to expand its lending activities.
The Fed’s actions may appear to mitigate some of the damage of the coronavirus panic. However, by flooding the economy with new money, expanding asset purchases, and facilitating Congress and the president’s spending sprees, the Fed is exacerbating America’s long-term economic problems.
The Federal Reserve is unlikely to end these emergency measures after the government declares it is safe to resume normal life. Consumers, businesses, and (especially) the federal government are so addicted to low interest rates, quantitative easing, and other Federal Reserve interventions that any effort by the Fed to allow rates to rise or to stop creating new money will cause a severe recession.
Eventually the Federal Reserve-created consumer, business, and government debt bubbles will explode, leading to a major crisis that will dwarf the current coronavirus shutdown. The silver lining is that this next crisis could finally demolish the Keynesian welfare-warfare state and the fiat money system.
The Federal Reserve’s unprecedented interventions in the marketplace make it more urgent than ever that Congress pass, and President Trump sign, the Audit the Fed bill. This would finally allow the American people to learn the truth about the Fed’s conduct of monetary policy. Audit the Fed is a step toward restoring health to our economic system by ending the fiat money pandemic that facilitates the welfare-warfare state and the unstable, debt-based economy.
BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:00 P.M.) – The Saudi-backed Islah militias are on the verge of losing another governorate in northern Yemen, as the Ansrallah forces steadily advance along the Jawf-Marib axis.
This advance on Monday puts the Ansrallah forces in position of taking control of the entire Al-Jawf Governorate for the first time in this war.
Making matters worse for the Saudi-backed troops, the Ansarallah forces are also at the doorsteps of Marib city, which, if lost, would mean the Islah militias have conceded another administrative capital in Yemen.
A Chinese envoy on Monday called for complete and immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures against Syria, noting that the sanctions will harm the vulnerable country’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We call for complete and immediate lifting of unilateral coercive measures,” Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, also president of the Security Council for the month of March, told the council’s video-teleconferencing meeting on the situation in Syria.Getting Rich with Bitcoin, Without Even Buying BitcoinDailywebAds by Revcontent
“We are seriously concerned about the negative impact of unilateral sanctions on countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic, especially for vulnerable countries like Syria,” he said. “Civilians and innocent people are suffering severely from those sanctions.”
China’s UN permanent representative Zhang Jun speaks at a Security Council meeting about Afghanistan at the UN Headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., March 10, 2020. /Reuters
Zhang said that China supports the call of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in this regard.
“Our position is explained in detail in the recent joint letter to the secretary-general, together with Russia, among others. We hope the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs joins the voice of the secretary-general and high commissioner for human rights in this regard,” said Zhang.
Speaking about the situation in Syria, Zhang said that ever since Russia and Turkey agreed on a ceasefire arrangement early this month, the security situation in northwestern Syria has significantly improved.
“We appreciate their diplomatic efforts and encourage relevant parties to continue implementing the ceasefire,” he said.
“It is our consistent position to support the political solution to the conflict in Syria. We appreciate the painstaking efforts of the special envoy (Geir Pedersen) and encourage him to continue facilitating dialogue between the Syrian parties, toward an inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process in line with Resolution 2254,” said Zhang.
لو خرج رؤساء الحكومات السابقون ببيان يحذّرون فيه رئيس الحكومة حسان دياب من القبول بإعلان حالة الطوارئ، طالما أن التحديات التي يواجهها لبنان مع فيروس كورونا مدنيّة، وتغطيها حالة التعبئة العامة بما في ذلك تقييد حرية النقل، من خلال حظر التجوّل، لأنهم يعتبرون في حالة الطوارئ تهميشاً لموقع رئاسة الحكومة وصلاحياتها، فيما تحتفظ رئاسة الجمهورية بصلاحية القائد الأعلى للقوات المسلحة، لصدّقناهم، لأنهم دأبوا على قياس الكثير من مواقفهم بقياس طائفي ومذهبي، يضع الأولوية لمعيار توازن الصلاحيات الرئاسية، سواء عندما كان الرؤساء السابقون فعليين أو عندما أصبحوا سابقين. ولو أعلنوا تأييدهم الرئيس دياب لتمسكه بحال التعبئة العامة ورفضه لحال الطوارئ لاستهجنا، لأنهم ما عوّدونا على موقف منصف لخصم سياسي في قلب الطائفة التي يحاولون احتكار تمثيلها، ودأبوا على رفض كل جديد قادم إلى نادي رؤساء الحكومة من كفاءات هذه الطائفة، بل إن بعضهم ومن باب الكيد نسي مسألة توازن الصلاحيات وراح يسرّب استغرابه لعدم إعلان حالة الطوارئ.
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اللافت في بيان رؤساء الحكومات السابقين أمس، هو تناوله قضية التعيينات، وتقصّد الحديث عنها بلغة العمومية، وهم ونحن والكل يعلم أن القضية هي التعيينات في مصرف لبنان. وهذا الملف يتخطى بطبيعته وموضوعه، ما حاول الرؤساء السابقون التركيز عليه، بتظهير مخاوفهم من مشروع السيطرة على الدولة. والمقصود هو تعيين بدائل لمن قاموا هم بتعيينهم، وهذا له توصيف واحد، الحفاظ على مفهوم المحاصصة الذي جرى في ظلال وجودهم في السلطة. وفي أحسن الأحوال الدفاع عن جماعات المحظيين بدعمهم، خشية خسارة صورة الزعامة التي تتغذّى من القدرة على توفير الحماية، علماً أن المطروح ليس استبدالاً قسرياً، كي يجري الحديث عن افتعال قضية، حتى لو كانت المناصب الإدارية المعنية خارج مصرف لبنان، فما يطلبونه ليس بقاء موظفين في مناصبهم، بل إعادة تعيين موظفين انتهت ولايتهم وفقاً للقانون، مرة ثانية، بدلاً من تعيين موظفين جدد.
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أما أن القضية في مصرف لبنان، فلها وجه آخر بالنسبة لموقفهم، وبالنسبة للحكم على موقف رئيس الحكومة. فاللبنانيون يُجمعون على تحميل السلطة النقدية التي يمثلها مصرف لبنان جزءاً كبيراً من مسؤولية الأزمة التي يعيشها لبنان، وسواء كان هذا الاعتقاد في مكانه أم لا، فهو يُلقي على الحكومة التي جاءت بخلفية مواجهة الأزمة، أن تأخذه بالاعتبار. والطبيعي طالما أن حاكم مصرف لبنان لا يزال ضمن ولايته القانونية، وأن نوابه وأعضاء لجنة الرقابة على المصارف ورئيسها ومفوّض الحكومة لدى مصرف لبنان، قد انتهت ولايتهم، أن تتجه أي حكومة لتشكيل هيئة قيادية في المصرف تقول للبنانيين إن التعيينات قد بُنيت على حساب المجيء بكفاءات تستطيع إقامة التوازن بوجه حجم نفوذ المصارف التي يشكو منها اللبنانيون في إدارتها لودائعهم وحجم استفادتها من سندات الخزينة والهندسات المالية التي قام بها مصرف لبنان. وهنا يكون المتوقع من الرؤساء السابقين للحكومات أن يطالبوا رئيس الحكومة، بتعيين كفاءات تعبر عن صرخة الشعب بوجه المصارف، إذا كانوا يريدون التعبير عن موقف شارع يغلي غضباً ويريدون احتواء غضبه.
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يبقى ثمّة تفسير وحيد لموقف رؤساء الحكومات السابقين، وهو مرتبط بمضمون التعيينات وخشية أصحاب المصارف من أن ينتج عنها توازن جديد في دور مصرف لبنان، وتفعيل المجلس المركزي الذي يضع السياسات ويتخذ القرارات، ما يجعل سياسة المصرف المركزي أقرب للتعبير عما يطالب به الناس من تقييد تحكم المصارف بودائعهم وأموالهم، ويصير مفهوماً موقف رؤساء الحكومات السابقين، الذين يشكل ثلاثة من أربعة بينهم رموزاً في القطاع المصرفي، ومن كبار أصحاب الأموال والثروات، والمستفيدين من سياسات مصرف لبنان، حتى أمكن القول ببساطة، إنهم صوت أصحاب المصارف، بثوب مذهبي للضغط على رئيس الحكومة.
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القلق من المحاصصة لا يشغلُ بال رؤساء الحكومات السابقين، بل يشغل بال الناس وبالنا، ولذلك سيراقب الجميع التعيينات، ويأملون أن يحكمها اختيار كفاءات تحقق التوازن المنشود في السياسات المالية والنقدية بصورة تقيّد هذا التوحش المصرفي، بحق لبنان واللبنانيين.
Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany’s Hesse state, has committed suicide apparently after becoming “deeply worried” over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said Sunday (29 March).
Schaefer, 54, was found dead near a railway track on Saturday. The Wiesbaden prosecution’s office said they believe he died by suicide.
“We are in shock, we are in disbelief and above all we are immensely sad,” Bouffier said in a recorded statement.
Hesse is home to Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt, where major lenders like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have their headquarters. The European Central Bank is also located in Frankfurt.
A visibly shaken Bouffier recalled that Schaefer, who was Hesse’s finance chief for 10 years, had been working “day and night” to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.
“Today we have to assume that he was deeply worried,” said Bouffier, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“It’s precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him,” he added.
Popular and well-respected, Schaefer had long been touted as a possible successor to Bouffier.
Like Bouffier, Schaefer belonged to Merkel’s centre-right CDU party.
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Note by the Saker: today I am posting an article written by a good and trusted friend of mine. That does *not* mean that I agree with the logic of his argument. For one thing, I am wholly incompetent to even have much of an opinion on this topic. The little I do think about what is taking place disagrees with the conclusions of my friend. But since I don’t want to impose my own limitations on you all, I am posting this in the hope that you will find this point of view of value. But, as for anything else posted on this blog, caveat emptor! Kind regards The Saker
Covid-19 Derangement Syndrome: A World Gone Mad
By Percy Carlton for the Saker Blog
The whole world has gone mad with what I call Covid-19 Derangement Syndrome (CDS). I define it as an acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in response to the Covid-19 Corona Virus pandemic. The infection is particularly prevalent among the media and the government officials of the world. Human beings fear what they do not understand and that fear causes them to behave in irrational and destructive ways. The current Covid-19 pandemic is a perfect example of that. I don’t need to describe the paranoia and economic destruction to you because you can see it with your own two eyes everywhere you look. Both the media and the world’s governments are fueling the panic – the media with their hysterical 24/7 coverage and the governments with their draconian police state actions.
I feel like the man in the following cartoon.
I am doomed to helplessly stand by and watch the entire world commit economic suicide for no good reason. At first glance this may seem like a shocking and callous statement but do not mistake this as support for the view that the government should stand back and let the private sector take care of the problem. I have no problem with a strong authoritarian central government response as long as it is reasonable and wise. The current government response is neither.
Do Nothing VS Shut Everything Down
The current debate about what governments should do seems to be limited to two options: Do nothing and let the virus run its course or use authoritarian methods to quarantine and restrict the movement of citizens within and across state and national borders. The former will result in many people unnecessarily dying and the latter will save lives but is already resulting in a catastrophic worldwide economic collapse with repercussions that will last for years. It is very narrow thinking to think that those are the only two options that exist. There is always another way. Wouldn’t it be great if we could find a solution to the COVID-19 virus problem that would save lives and not result in a worldwide economic Armageddon? Such a solution exists and I will lay it out for you in this article.
First let’s define the problem: A highly contagious virus is spreading around the globe and killing people. Governments should be responsible for protecting their citizens so they must take action. But what actions should they take? That is an important question that must be carefully answered, but only after much research and consideration of all options. If we act rashly and arrive at the wrong answer people will die and/or lives will be destroyed by a global economic depression.
Let’s set aside the fear and hysteria and calmly use the Scientific Method to solve our problem. But I must first make a digression about science.
Three Kinds of Science
Did you know there are three kinds of science? Most folks can’t tell the difference between them and are therefore easily misled. The first two are pseudoscience; the third is real science. There is a significant amount of overlap between the first two although they do have enough of the third mixed in to give them the appearance of credibility.
1) Agenda based science – This type is practiced by people with an agenda. They are blinded by their presuppositions and it results in them twisting, distorting, and sometimes outright lying about their studies, experiments, and data. The people that practice this kind of science are not necessarily evil. They just sincerely but blindly believe something that “just ain’t so.” They think they are helping the world but are instead causing it much harm.
2) Bought and paid for corporate science – This type is practiced by scientific mercenaries who shamelessly produce studies that support the goals of whoever is paying them. Many of these folks are downright evil in my opinion. Much of what passes as “science” these days is of this type.
3) Real science – This type of scientist seeks the truth regardless of what it is. If the scientist has a presupposition they will quickly abandon it if their research does not support it. They will tirelessly search for, support and proclaim the truth even if it results in them being ostracized by the scientific community or persecuted by the government.
The Scientific Method
Step One – Purpose – State the Problem
We have already defined our current problem as a virus that is killing people all over the world, but we have not stated our purpose and objectives. Our main purpose and objectives should be to minimize loss of life and damage to the world economy. These objectives are both very important and are not mutually exclusive regardless of what our governments seem to think.
Step Two – Research – Find Out About the Topic
I’m not going to spend much time discussing something you can easily research on the internet. There are plenty of articles in scientific journals and on science websites. Here is one example: How does the new coronavirus compare with the flu? I suggest you conduct your own independent research instead of getting your information from the hysterical media or an armchair doctor.
Although there are some important differences between the seasonal flu and Covid-19, there are enough similarities that I believe we can find a solution to the problem by applying general medical principles relating to viruses. The entire world did not shut down for the many local and worldwide viral outbreaks we have had in the past 20 years such as SARS, Ebola, Zika, MERS, H5N1 (bird) and H1N1 (swine). There was no need to shut it down for this one.
We all know about the infection and death rates that vary widely around the world but you may not know why. Italy is pointed to by the alarmists as justification for the police state shutdown of entire states and countries so let’s take a closer look at it.
The single largest factor that determines the mortality rate is the health of the person at the time they contract the virus. The symptoms are mild for the vast majority of healthy people that become infected. It is well established that the people with the greatest risk of death are those with a weakened or compromised immune system. The death rate increases exponentially with age precisely because of the decrease in immune function that accompanies the aging process. According to an Italian Government Study 99% of their Covid-19 fatalities were already sick and half were diagnosed with 3 or more diseases.
“The median age of the infected is 63 but most of those who die are older. The average age of those who’ve died from the virus in Italy is 79.5. As of March 17, 17 people under 50 had died from the disease. All of Italy’s victims under 40 have been males with serious existing medical conditions.”
“While data released Tuesday point to a slowdown in the increase of cases, with a 12.6% rise, a separate study shows Italy could be underestimating the real number of cases by testing only patients presenting symptoms.”
“According to the GIMBE Foundation, about 100,000 Italians have contracted the virus, daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported. That would bring back the country’s death rate closer to the global average of about 2%.”
A huge factor that affects transmission rates is cultural customs. Getting the locals to alter their cultural customs at funerals is one of the four practices that flattened the Ebola epidemic curve in West Africa in 2013-2016. Italy has an aging population that has a cultural tradition of cheek kissing. Is it a great mystery why their death rate is so high?
It is probable that the 2-3% global average of the death rate is wildly over inflated due a high false negative rate for the current tests. And what about the many thousands or maybe even millions of people who may have contracted the virus and were not tested because the symptoms were so mild? Several weeks ago a strange virus ran through my family and a number of my co-workers. We felt horrible for a few days but recovered quickly. My daughter got the worst symptoms but tested negative for the flu. How do we know that it was not Covid-19 or another corona virus? Some of the alarmists such as Imperial College London’s Neil Ferguson are now beginning to back off of their doom and gloom predictions. The phrase “Lies, damned lies and statistics” applies here. The infection rate and death percentage numbers are unreliable. The only statistic that is close to accurate is the number of deaths. Let’s focus our efforts on reducing that number.
Sun Tzu, Firefighters, Preppers, and Floridians
Let’s continue to gather information by getting some advice from Sun Tzu, firefighters, preppers, and Floridians. After that I will tie it all together for you so that it will make sense.
Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu famously said in The Art of War “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
The world’s governments are fighting a battle against an “enemy” (the Covid-19 virus) they do not understand. Neither do they understand “themselves,” which in this case I will consider to be the human body. This is a battle they will not win. They rushed into it blindly with little knowledge and preparation and the results so far are not pretty. The current battle should be over in a few months but the enemy will likely be back next year and/or the year after that. Will we know our enemy and know ourselves better before the next battle? I sincerely hope so.
But is treating the Covid-19 virus like an enemy that needs to be destroyed at all costs the right approach?
War on Covid-19
The USA has been at war in one form or another since its inception. There have been countless shooting wars but there has also been The War On Drugs, The War On Cancer, The War On Poverty, The War On Terrorism, The War On Global Warming, etc. Have any of these wars resulted in the eradication of the object on which the war was declared? No. All of these “wars” are foolish and misguided attempts at eradicating something that you cannot eradicate. They will always be with us. We have wasted untold trillions of dollars on these wars and have very little to show for it. The results of the current “War On Covid-19” will not be much different. We need to take a different approach and stop blindly declaring war on something we do not understand.
Trump and other politicians are using the language of war when speaking about their country’s efforts to “fight” Covid-19. That should make us very wary. When the USA declares war on anything we can expect several things to happen:
We will go deeper in debt
Vast amount of money will be wasted and given away to corrupt corporations
The US Constitution will be further trampled and more rights and freedoms will be taken away
The people will suffer
We will lose the war
Firefighters
I am a firefighter/paramedic for a large city in the State of Florida in the USA. Every time something bad happens firefighters are called to mitigate the situation. Heart attacks, Covid-19 patients, car wrecks, and hazardous material leaks/spills are among the situations we respond to, but for this example we will use fire. Firefighters do not treat fire as the enemy. We do not declare war on it and try to stamp out every single flame in our jurisdiction. We understand it to be a naturally occurring phenomenon that can be very destructive and deadly if it is allowed to grow out of control. We do not fear fire because we know it well and we know ourselves well. We do have a healthy respect for it because we frequently see the death and destruction it can cause. When the alarm sounds we calmly but aggressively go about mitigating the fire before it grows out of control and destroys both lives and property. We are well trained and well prepared with the best equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) money can buy. We have several different methods we can use to put out a fire but the simplest and most effective extinguishing agent is plain old cheap and abundant water. If a sufficient amount of water is applied to the fire in its earliest stages, it will be extinguished with minimal damage to the structure. But if we are called too late and the fire grows out of control before we arrive, the building may be completely destroyed.
Firefighters also educate the public on fire safety. We teach them how to prevent fires and what to do if they occur. I will return to this analogy later but for now the general lesson from firefighters is that the key to mitigating a potentially life and property destroying fire is knowledge, training and equipment. This allows us to apply the right extinguishing agent early enough and in sufficient quantities to put out the fire before the building burns down.
Preppers
I am an amateur prepper, not the “doomsday” type. Maybe it’s because I took the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” seriously or maybe it’s because I love the Biblical story of Joseph saving “the world” from starvation due to famine. In any case, this practice of being prepared has served my family well. When the mob of unprepared citizens began cleaning out the stores recently there was not much I had to run out and buy. (Although I was regrettably almost out of toilet paper.) I already had a freezer full of meat and even a box of N95 masks. Preppers spend time thinking about different scenarios that could happen and then prepare for them. Some do it out of fear but most do it because we know these things will happen to some degree at some point and we want to lessen the impact of these events on our family. We do not want to be dependent on the government to save us. We want to be in the position to help other people and not be a burden on them.
Floridians
Floridians are accustomed to preparing for hurricanes. It is an annual occurrence. We don’t panic because we know the enemy well and it is usually not as bad as it could be. We have an advantage over the folks who live in the Tornado Belt because we have plenty of advance notice that the storm is coming. Preparing for the Covid-19 virus to hit looked and felt like it does when we are preparing for a hurricane. We know it is coming but we do not know exactly when and where it will strike or how bad it will be. We all go out at the same time right before the storm and buy the supplies we need to weather the storm and get us through the aftermath. It always results in the store shelves being cleaned out of certain items. Our advice to you is to emulate our calm manner of preparation but do not emulate our practice of waiting until the last moment to obtain the supplies we need. The best approach is to stock up before storm season arrives.
Step 3 – Hypothesis – Predict the Outcome to the Problem
The doomsday outcomes predicted by the hysterical media and our clueless government officials are fatally flawed due to linear thinking. This is particularly prevalent in the West because the Western mind thinks in a linear manner – they act as if the trend in motion will continue on in the same direction indefinitely. The trend always changes. It is the Creator’s way. Cycles are the very foundation on which the universe was built. It is how energy moves. All viral outbreaks peak and then subside. This one will not be any different. Because the primary transmission route appears to be aerosolized droplets suspended in the air due to talking, coughing, and sneezing, the infection rate will drop dramatically as the air becomes warmer and moister. Airborne viruses love cool and dry air. Towards the end of the article I will be offering my predictions and proposed solutions.
Steps 4, 5, and 6
The world is in the midst of a huge quarantine experiment right now that we have rushed into without adequately stating our purpose and researching our options. In the aftermath we will be analyzing the results and coming to conclusions. Like the aftermath to any other crisis such as 911, most of the official government analysis will be propagandized and used to further their political agendas. We will be deluged with pseudoscience, lies, damned lies and statistics. Truth seekers must use real science to sift through the B.S. and find the truth just like we had to do with 911. Let us hope that the people of the world do not fall for the propaganda and “give up essential liberty to purchase a little safety.” One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” The government officials of the world know a lot that “just ain’t so.” Unfortunately that “knowledge” is what they base their decisions on.
The World in Turmoil
The world is in fear driven turmoil right now because of the following reasons:
Ignorance: Our leaders are completely ignorant about how the human body works and are relying on guidance from a conventional medical system that is rife with agenda and corporate driven pseudoscience.
Poor or non-existent planning and training: This is self evident and seems to apply to most countries.
Narrow thinking: The response is the same all over the world – mass quarantines, isolation, and shutting down of commerce and travel. No country seems to be taking a different approach.
Incompletely defining the problem: No government seems to be giving any serious consideration to how they can minimize the economic damage that their solution to the problem is causing. Yes, many governments are throwing vast amounts of money at the problem by creating debt based money but does that ever really work?
Treating the Covid-19 pandemic like a war that needs to be waged instead of a recurring problem that needs to be properly mitigated with the right tools and approaches for the job: The USA’s war on Covid-19 will be about as successful as the USA’s War on Cancer has been.
The Cure For Covid-19: Body’s immune system
The cure for Covid-19 already exists so there is no need to look to the pharmaceutical industry to save us. It is your body’s own immune system. Instead of destroying the world economy in knee-jerk reactionary style maybe the world’s governments should be finding ways to improve the health of their citizens. We have already established that this virus kills the elderly and the immune compromised and has mild effects on the healthy. We should be focusing on the death rate, not the infection rate. Many people get sick with a virus a few times a year and the world economy doesn’t shut down.
I could write an entire series of articles on ways you can improve your health and immune system to the point that the Covid-19 virus would be only a minor irritation to you but this is not the forum for that. But I will tell you about the closest thing we have to a “magic bullet” and how the Chinese are using it to mitigate the virus.
“Prevention and treatment of cytokine storm: It is recommended to use large doses of vitamin C and unfractionated heparin. Large doses of vitamin C are injected intravenously at a dose of 100 to 200 mg / kg per day. The duration of continuous use is to significantly improve the oxygenation index.”
China must be using it very extensively because in February they shipped 50 tons of it to Hubei Province, the capital city of which is Wuhan. No wonder turned things around so quickly at the epicenter of the outbreak.
Vitamin C: The Magic Bullet for Inflammation
Inflammation is the term we use to describe the body’s immune system response to injury or a foreign invader such as a virus or bad bacteria. It is at the root of all medical problems and diseases. When the immune system is overwhelmed, inflammation rages out of control. In the case of Covid-19 there is an overwhelming amount of inflammation in the lungs that leads to pneumonia, sepsis and death if the inflammatory fires are not quenched. This normally only happens in people with compromised immune systems. An optimally functioning immune system in a healthy person will easily mitigate the virus before it progresses to pneumonia. There are exceptions of course, but they are few.
We now return to my firefighter analogy. We can easily extinguish a fire if we arrive on scene while it is still in its incipient stage. A small booster line or even a 2.5 gallon fire extinguisher is all that is needed. If our response is delayed the fire will grow exponentially to the point that is not safe to enter the building. We then apply very large streams of water from the outside and do not enter the building until after the majority of the flames have been extinguished. The sooner we apply the water the less of it that is required to do the job. If we do not apply large streams of water in the late stages of a fire the building will be lost.
Vitamin C works the same way as water in our firefighter analogy. If enough oral vitamin C is taken at an early enough stage of an illness, the inflammation will be quenched and will never get to the exponential growth phase. The longer you wait to take it the more you will need to quench the inflammatory fire growing inside of you. The key to success is to take it at the first sign of symptoms. One you get to the exponential growth phase intravenous vitamin C is needed and it will be effective in a very large percentage of cases. If it is not applied, the result is death in a large percentage of cases.
Doctors in China and even the USA are using intravenous vitamin C on Covid-19 patients with great success. Doctors and researchers all over the world have known for decades about the incredible power of intravenous vitamin C to quench the raging fires of inflammation.
Sepsis is a condition that can be compared to the pneumonia that is killing the immune compromised elderly Covid-19 patients. They are both acute and massive inflammatory responses due to infection. An observational study published in The Lancet found that 100% of the early Covid-19 patients that died in Wuhan had sepsis. And not surprisingly most were older folks with health problems. Sepsis may be responsible for as many as 20% of deaths worldwide. It is one of the top killers of people that die in hospitals. One doctor in the USA has been using intravenous vitamin C in a treatment protocol that has reduced the death rate from sepsis by almost 5 fold – from 40% to 8.5%.
Is It Really That Simple?
Yes it is. “But Percy, then why aren’t governments around the world endorsing it and using it?” That is an almost irrelevant question. Does the scientific evidence and case studies prove it or not? I can give you a very conclusive answer for the USA. We have a corrupt and powerful pharmaceutical industry that exerts a massive amount of influence on our government. They use that power and influence to squash and suppress any medical treatment that cannot be patented and used to make obscene amounts of profit. Vitamin C cannot be patented so therefore it will not be widely used or studied. If it is not being used in your country then maybe your medical system has been corrupted or misled by the West. China is using it extensively, as well as a few renegade doctors in countries all over the world. If you look for them you will find them.
I do not subscribe to this view because I believe that claims that can be proved or disproved by science all require the same amount of evidence. What is extraordinary to one may be ordinary to another. A good example is 911. I do not consider it to be an extraordinary claim to say that two planes did not bring down three buildings on 9/11/2001, particularly Building 7. The laws of physics prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. But to the vast majority of the American public that is too fantastic of a claim to even warrant checking into. So if you summarily dismiss my claims without serious investigation it will be similar to someone refusing to watch the excellent documentary 911: Explosive Evidence- Experts Speak Out by Architects and Engineers For 911 Truth because it sounds too fantastic to be true. Here are some links to get you started if you would like to conduct your own research. I highly recommend that you do so.
I would be remiss if I did not touch upon the more bizarre aspects of this crisis. I will list a few. This is certainly not an exhaustive list and I have only linked to the things that are facts. No conspiracy theory links here.
Government officials in sunny Florida are closing parks, beaches and restricting other outdoor activities such as boating in spite of the fact that outdoors in the sunshine is the best place to be during a pandemic
Lots of conspiracy theories floating around such as insiders and elites selling stocks and bonds right before the crash, installing 5G cell towers at schools during the shutdown and allegations of bio warfare between the USA and China
I am attempting to apply Occam’s Razor to this crisis but I must admit that the longer this inexplicable and destructive behavior by governments goes on the more difficult it is for me to do so. Are all these things (and more) just amazing coincidences? I will let the reader decide.
Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste
When a “crisis” comes along, whether false flag or real, Western leaders always use it as an excuse to pass liberty destroying legislation that would be otherwise politically untenable. In the USA, 911 gave us the Patriot Act, TSA, DHS, etc. I fully expect the Covid-19 pandemic to bring us similar legislation such as the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act. Power grabs are being suggested and attempted all over the world. Here are a few headlines:
I could fill up a page with headlines such as these. It is a very disturbing trend.
Where We Go From Here
I see myself as a realist, not an optimist or a pessimist. My study of history, economics, and politics tells me that the future looks grim. Much of the world is suffering under corrupt and ignorant leaders who cannot possibly successfully lead us out of this mess, particularly in the Western world. The world’s interconnected and dollar dominated financial system is a house of cards that has been waiting on the right flap of a butterfly’s wings to set off a series of events that will cause it to come tumbling down. We are past the point of no return. An economic recession or depression will be ushered in by the response to the Covid-19 virus, not the Covid-19 virus itself. The government response to a crisis always sets up the next crisis. Capital flight to the dollar has already begun en mass. By next year or the year after there will be loan defaults that will set off a worldwide contagion that will make 2008 look like a walk in the park. The Eurozone will implode first. The Covid-19 corona virus will mutate and be back next year and/or the year after that. Lord help us if our leaders shut the world down again next year. China will survive and be the beneficiary of the West’s self destruction. They will suffer, but not nearly as much as the West. The USA dominated Anglo-Zionist Empire will be largely over within 20 years, maybe much sooner. The new financial capital of the world will be China.
Conclusion 1 – What Governments Should Do
After we are on the downside of the infection bell curve governments should begin planning for the next round of this. Instead of being reactive they should be proactive. The primary focus should be to educate their citizens on how to be healthy. Healthy people have little to worry about from Covid-19 or most any other virus. Healthy people do not clog the healthcare system; unhealthy people do. They should also educate their citizens on ways they can support their immune systems and encourage them to do so quickly in the incipient stages of an illness. This will drastically reduce the strain of sick people on overburdened healthcare systems. That leaves only the worst cases to deal with. For these they should follow China’s lead and develop a treatment protocol that incorporates intravenous vitamin C to quench the inflammatory fire in the lungs that leads to death.
The mass quarantines of entire cities, states, and countries must stop. It is not stopping the spread and it is destroying the world economy in the process. If they want to quarantine a population it should be the population with the greatest risk of death – the elderly.
None of this will happen of course. When their approach doesn’t work, Western leaders usually double down on it hoping for a different result. Hopefully there will be some renegade local governments that will defy the unconstitutional decrees of their central government – like what many state governments are doing to the federal government in the USA regarding cannabis laws.
Conclusion 2 – What You Can Do
Since I am not under any illusions that this article will be read and considered by any person in power anywhere on the planet, the advice that follows is the reason I wrote this article. There is little chance that any of our overlords will be cured of the Covid-19 Derangement Syndrome that infects them. But, dear reader, if you are living in fear and hiding in your house or apartment and are afraid of contracting the Covid-19 virus there is hope for you. The antidote for fear is knowledge, training and preparation.
I do not fear fire because I understand it and I am well trained and equipped to extinguish a fire at any stage of development. I always strive to extinguish the fire in its incipient stage before it grows out of control.
I do not fear any virus because I understand them and I understand how my body uses its immune system to defend me from them. If I begin to get sick I know many natural methods to ramp up my immune system’s ability to fight off any infection whether viral or bacterial.
If you are not healthy, begin taking steps to correct that now. This virus will be back, and when it does you want your immune system to be functioning at a high level. Take advantage of this “lockdown” time and gain some knowledge. Instead of watching the 24/7 news cycle repeated over and over again (which can rapidly lead to depression and a loss of hope) redeem the time and study how you can change your diet and lifestyle and get in excellent health. After the current madness subsides and the stores are restocked, begin stocking up on the supplies you will need for the next round of this. Become self sufficient and prepared for any emergency. Whatever you do, do not sit back and wait for the government or pharmaceutical industry to save you.
If you do these things you can join me as I watch in stunned amazement the next time the whole world panics due to a pandemic. You will also be in a position to guide and assist your loved ones and neighbors. An economic storm and additional pandemic storms are coming and like minded people around the world need to pull together and help each other when they hit.
Percy
Percy Carlton is a soon to be retired firefighter/paramedic in a large city in the State of Florida in the USA. He has relentlessly studied and pursued truth in the areas of health, economics and geopolitics for the past 10 years.
The Syrian Army and Iranian-backed militias deployed a new batch of reinforcements to the frontline in southern Idlib and western Aleppo. According to local sources, fresh troops reinforced by armoured vehicles and battle tanks were placed near Saraqib, Kafranbel, and Urma as-Sughra. These areas were the hottest points of the conflict between Syrian troops and Turkish-led forces during the previous round of escalations in Greater Idlib. Turkey and its proxies are also preparing for a new round of confrontations.
During the past week, at least four Turkish military convoys, with battle tanks and even MIM-23 Hawk medium-range air-defense systems, entered Idlib, allegedly to secure the ceasefire regime and contain the terrorist threat. How Turkish troops are planning to use air defense systems against al-Qaeda terrorists that do not have aircraft remains a mystery.
At the same time, sources close to Idlib militants announced that Ankara is forming five new units consisting of its own troops, members of the National Front for Liberation and the Syrian National Army. Both these militant groups are funded and trained by Turkey. The newly formed units will be led by Turkish officers and allegedly include 9,000 Syrian militants and a similar number of Turkish troops. Pro-Turkish sources speculate that this force will be tasked with securing the M4 highway in southern Idlib and clearing the area of radical groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. After this, a security zone will be established and joint Turkish-Russian patrols will be launched in the area as it was agreed to by Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The problem with this theory is that the Turkish-backed groups, which should supposedly be involved in this operation are allied with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other al-Qaeda-linked organizations. So, they will have little motivation to confront them shifting the burden of fighting to Turkish troops.
According to pro-government sources, the Turkish motivation is different. They note that Ankara is very unsatisfied with the performance of their proxies during the recent battle against the Syrian Army. So, it opted to make a new attempt to create elite units that should deliver a devastating blow to the brutal Assad regime that is cowardly resisting the occupation of Syrian territory by Turkey.
Turkish-backed forces also increased their activity in Syria’s northeast. On March 29, the 20th Division of the so-called Syrian National Army attacked positions of Kurdish militias near the village of Sayda. Pro-Turkish sources claimed that a truck equipped with a 23mm machine gun belonging to Kurdish forces was destroyed and that many fighters were killed. Turkish proxies still cherish radiant hopes to capture the nearby town of Ayn Issa thus seizing control of the crossroad of the M4 highway and the Tall Abyad-Raqqah road.
The US-led coalition continues evacuation of smaller bases and regrouping of its forces in Iraq. After the withdrawal of coalition troops from al-Qaim and al-Qayyarah, they left from the Kirkuk K1 base. Means and forces from these facilities will be redeployed to other US bases in the country, mainly Camp Taji. There are no signs of any kind of US troop withdrawal from the country despite the demands from the Baghdad government. To the contrary, the Pentagon recently announced that it was working to deploy Patriot air defense systems to protect US troops in Iraq from missile attacks.
أكد رئيس وفد صنعاء المفاوض محمد عبد السلام أنه «في ظل استمرار العدوان، من الطبيعي أن يكون هناك رد من هذا النوع». والمقصود العملية التي أعلن عنها المتحدث باسم القوات المسلحة اليمنية العميد يحيى سريع.
وأشار عبد السلام إلى أن «استمرار العدوان والحصار يعني استمرار العمليات بوجه العدوان»، لافتاً إلى أن «بيان التحالف يناسب دولة تعرّضت لعدوان لا لدولة تعتدي على اليمن لخمس سنوات».
ولفت إلى أن «دول العدوان شنت أمس أكثر من 60 غارة، واليوم 20 غارة، وإذا أرادوا إيقاف العمليات فليوقف العدوان ويفك الحصار».
واعتبر رئيس وفد صنعاء المفاوض أن بلاده «في موقف الدفاع أمام تحالف تقوده أميركا»، لافتاً إلى أن «الإعلان الصريح لوقف العدوان هو الحل». وأضاف «نحن نريد السلام من موقع الاستهداف والحصار، ومن مصلحتنا قبل الآخرين وقف العدوان».
وختم كلامه قائلاً «إن دعوة الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة (وقف إطلاق النار) مرحب بها، لكن بإصدار دول العدوان قراراً واضحاً بوقف العدوان، وأن يترك لليمنيين تقرير مصيرهم»، مؤكداً أن «المواقف المنحازة لقوى العدوان لن توقفهم عن الرد إلا بوقف العدوان وفك الحصار».
وكان المتحدث باسم التحالف العقيد تركي المالكي قال إنه «لم تسجّل أي خسائر في الأرواح حتى إصدار البيان»، مضيفاً أن «اعتراض الصاروخين تسبب في سقوط بعض الشظايا على بعض الأحياء السكنية في المدينتين»، وفق تعبيره.
فيما كشف المتحدث باسم القوات المسلحة اليمنية العميد يحيى سريع، أن «العملية التي نفذت في الداخل السعودي استهدفت أهدافاً حساسة»، معبراً أنها «أكبر عملية عسكرية نوعية استهدفت العمق السعودي».
وقال سريع في بيان له، أمس، إن «القوة الصاروخية للقوات المسلحة اليمنية قصفت أهدافاً اقتصادية وعسكرية في جيزان ونجران وعسير بالسعودية بعدد كبير من صواريخ بدر وطائرات قاصف k2».
كما أشار إلى أنه «تمّ قصف أهداف حساسة في العاصمة الرياض بصواريخ ذوالفقار، وعدد من طائرات صماد 3».
وتوجّه سريع إلى المملكة قائلاً: «نعد النظام السعودي بعمليات موجعة ومؤلمة إذا استمر في عدوانه وحصاره على اليمن».
المتحدث باسم القوات المسلحة أكد أنه «سيتم الكشف عن تفاصيل العملية العسكرية الواسعة والنوعية خلال الأيام المقبلة».
وأول أمس أقرّت قوات التحالف السعودي بأن «الدفاعات الجوية السعودية اعترضت صاروخين باليستيين في أجواء العاصمة الرياض، وفوق مدينة جازان».
وقال المتحدث باسم التحالف العقيد تركي المالكي، إنه «لم تسجّل أي خسائر في الأرواح حتى إصدار البيان»، مضيفاً أن «اعتراض الصاروخين تسبب في سقوط بعض الشظايا على بعض الأحياء السكنية في المدينتين»، وفق تعبيره.
During the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, the Western military alliance devastated the country’s civilian infrastructure. The long list of targets included 19 hospitals, 18 kindergartens, 176 cultural monuments and 44 bridges.
Several weeks into the military campaign, which was fiercely opposed by Russia and China, a total of five satellite-guided bombs, delivered by American B-2 bombers, slammed into the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
The attack on the symbol of Chinese sovereignty in the heart of the Balkans killed three Chinese nationals and wounded twenty others.
Washington and Brussels claimed the attack was a mistake. But NATO’s increasingly bloody push eastwards would have unintended consequences.
The Belt and Road Initiative vs. Western dictates
Just a few months after the bombing of Serbia, Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin was quietly pushed out of office and replaced by the relatively unknown Vladimir Putin.
When Putin won his first election in 2000, he is rumored to have had two inauguration ceremonies. One was held in full view of the global media and another unfolded in the Kremlin’s underground chambers.
There he was joined by a small group of Russian military officers and operatives from the country’s security apparatus. These men understood that it was only a matter of time before NATO bombs started falling on downtown Moscow, and the decision had been made to confront Western expansionism.
In the years that followed, China and Russia would join hands with Iran to suppress American influence though the creation of a Eurasian union made up of sovereign and independent nations.
This ambitious scheme reached Serbia in the form of Russian military hardware and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Beijing found a reliable partner in the government of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and in less than a decade, the Chinese poured billions of dollars in investments into the Balkan state.
The investments propped up critical industries in Serbia, including a copper mine, a steelmaker, and a thermal power plant. While safeguarding tens of thousands of jobs and driving much-needed growth, the Chinese were also building new bridges, roads, and ports.
Meanwhile, Vucic adopted an intelligent foreign policy – one made possible by the reemergence of a multipolar world. He reached out to both east and west and then took the best deal on the table. But the West had little to offer.
Most of the exchanges with Brussels consisted of dictates. No longer able to bomb embassies, the West demanded Belgrade introduce ‘political reforms’ and restrict Chinese investments.
Western political elites remained convinced that China and Russia have nothing to offer countries like Serbia that could rival joining ‘democratic’ Western alliances.
The coronavirus pandemic delivered yet another serious blow to this arrogant and abominable point of view.
Solidarity and fairytales
As coronavirus infections spiked dramatically across Europe earlier this month, Vucic declared that “European solidarity does not exist.”
“This was a fairytale on paper,” Vucic said as he announced a state of emergency in his country. “Today I sent a special letter to the only ones who can help, and that is China.”
He explained that he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping “not only as a dear friend, but as a brother” to provide Serbia desperately needed assistance after the EU imposed a ban on exports of medical equipment.
Once again, when time came for building bridges instead of destroying them, the great humanitarians of the West had nothing to offer. Meanwhile, Chinese gear and experts flooded Serbia virtually overnight.
Beijing’s assistance and strict measures imposed by the government early on helped Serbia stave off disaster.
But Serbia isn’t the only country receiving planeloads of supplies from the east. Chinese medical equipment is being sent to Iran, Iraq, and a number of European states including Italy where over 10,000 people have thus far perished due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Italy – the first EU state to embrace the Belt and Road Initiative in 2019 – turned to China after its plea for help from its European neighbors was refused.
Similar acts of solidarity came from the Russians and some Latin American states. The Cubans flew their doctors to Italy and were asked to return to Brazil where they were expelled in 2018 and labeled “Communist spies” by the right-wing government of Jair Bolsonaro.
Meanwhile, Western powerhouses are looking inwards. As they cling onto stocks depleted by years of healthcare cuts, the Trump administration was reportedly caught offering piles of money for ‘exclusive rights’ to a Covid-19 vaccine.
Imprisoned by their own twisted interpretations of human rights, many of these governments were slow to react. They hesitated in following the Chinese model and imposing drastic restrictions on freedom of movement. Instead they were worried about profits and how the stock markets would react.
And even as the U.S. becomes the new epicenter of this pandemic, President Donald Trump expressed his readiness to potentially risk millions of American lives by reopening the country in just a few weeks.
This brutal face of capitalism is also on full display for Washington’s adversaries, namely Iran and Venezuela, where unilateral sanctions are preventing the delivery of desperately needed medical supplies.
As such, Western governments and their policies are not only endangering individual nation states. At a time when a highly infectious disease is spreading at an unprecedented speed, these policies are threatening the entire global population.
De omnibus dubitandum est
Despite extensive global coverage of this pandemic, very little is actually known about Covid-19. We don’t know how dangerous the virus is or its concrete consequences. And we certainly don’t have tangible details about what caused the outbreak.
This leaves plenty of room for speculation, conspiracy theories, and even talk about aliens. Whatever the truth, biological warfare involving powerful political currents can never be ruled out.
In an op-ed published more than two years ago, Al-Ahed pointed to the existence of hundreds of American military biological laboratories across the Eurasian continent. The labs were being used by the Pentagon to gather intelligence on microorganisms – vital for the creation of highly effective biological weapons.
There is no doubt that the coronavirus transcends borders and religions and doesn’t discriminate between rich and poor. But that doesn’t mean that the virus isn’t helping further certain political agendas.
The coronavirus has done what “Israel’s” politicians have failed to do for over a year. It’s brought an end to the political deadlock with indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to form the next government.
By bringing the global economy to a screeching halt, Covid-19 has given birth to another Great Depression and paved the way for the collapse of certain governments.
Equally important is the fact that the virus has the potential to determine the outcome of every single election process in the Western world for some time to come, including the U.S. presidential race.
At times like these, it would be wise to remember the words of the late Danish philosopher Soren Aabye Kierkegaard who titled one of his books, De omnibus dubitandum est or “everything must be doubted”.
On the 27th of March 2015, the coalition countries started their barbaric aggression against the Yemeni people. The Saudi regime launched its declared war against Yemen with the participation of more than 17 Arab and foreign countries and with military and logistical support from US, Israeli Enemy, Britain and a number of Western countries.
A global war with all the meanings of word, it is best described for its brutality, hatred, bloodshed and destruction. Aerial bombing campaign targeted everything in Yemen, earth and man. The US-Sadudi aggression targeted cities, villages, mountains, sand and cemeteries, even the animals were not spared from the abundance of their hatred. News and international newspapers were dominated by images of a Yemeni victims targeted by coalition warplanes.
The coalition with its warplanes remained superior and dominating for a period of time, firstly due to the surprise, especially because the military establishment, suffered disintegration, partisan conflicts, and lack of loyalty within it. In addition to the fact that the war was in its infancy and that many countries were still pervasive in the war.
The Yemeni reaction was also confined to the self defense. The Yemeni Army did not start recovering and catching its breath until after it fully coalesced with the people’s committees, and they were united, unified, and merged under a coalition to face wide fronts. After the committees unified under their belief in the cause, justice and sincere national desire to defend the land, the capabilities of the Yemeni Army began to evolve with some military messages to the local and outside enemies.
Yemen sent several powerful messages to the coalition, the most important of which was the strike of coalition leaders in Marib in September 2015 and the Janjaweed leaders in Mukha in December of the same year, and other painful strikes.
With the coalition countries insisting in their aggression against the Yemeni people and committing crimes against women and children, the Martyr President Saleh al-Samad announced in 2018 a ballistic year, to inaugurate a year in which we witnessed the development of the Rocketry Force that began targeting into Saudi Arabia’s depth, and targeting military airports and helicopter stations in Asir, Najran and Jizan.
2019 was the year of the Air Force One, and the Yemeni military has managed to radically change the equation of war so that it launched joint offensive military operations, which were carried out by the missile force and the Air Force operating deep into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The most prominent attacks were the attack on Aramco in Rass Al-tanorah, in Abqaiq and Khurais. This attack almost brought Aramco out of service forever, had it not been for the initiative of the Supreme Political Council, which announced that he would stop targeting Saudi lands, on the condition that the kingdom stopped bombing Yemeni cities with airplanes, which was done at a good rate.
In 2020, it was declared the year of Air defense, and the armed forces revealed strong defense systems that they developed with Yemeni hands.
New York, (ST)_Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, called for lifting the illegitimate economic, coercive measures imposed on Syria and other states, particularly after the spread of Coronavirus in the world.
Al-Jaafari, speaking at a UN Security council session on the situation in Syria via video, said that the continuation of the economic sanctions stresses the hypocrisy adopted by some sides in dealing with the humanitarian situation in Syria and those states.
He thanked the People’s Republic of China, for presiding over the work of the Council in these difficult and exceptional circumstances, and for China’s efforts in assisting 89 member states affected by the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, in a true embodiment of the values and meanings of international cooperation, humanitarian feeling and impartial implementation of the responsibility of the Presidency of the Council in maintaining international peace and security under the provisions of the Charter.
Al-Jaafari expressed hope to jointly overcome the catastrophic repercussions of this pandemic. This pandemic has united our peoples away from the efforts of some governments to create a rift between them, and revealed the fragility of the international structures that have existed since the end of the Second World War, and their inability to serve humanity and mankind.
In this context, the Syrian delegation reiterated its strong condemnation of the unilateral economic coercive measures used by some governments of member states of this organization as a weapon in their sinful war against Syria, and on other member states, which prevent, among other things, the Syrians and their medical healthcare workers from obtaining their basic needs to prevent this pandemic and dealing with possible cases of infection, as well as preventing the provision of food needs and basic services to Syrians.
“Persistence of imposing these unjust coercive measures that violate international law, the Charter of the United Nations and human rights instruments, and not responding to our repeated requests to end them, the most recent of which is contained in the joint letter sent by the Permanent Representatives of eight countries: China, Cuba, DPRK, Nicaragua, Iran, Russia, Syria and Venezuela to His the Secretary-General on 25 March 2020, demonstrate once again, what we have always emphasized in terms of hypocrisy that some have adopted in dealing with the humanitarian situation in my country and other countries. In this regard, my delegation welcomes the prompt positive response of the Secretary-General to the initiative of the eight countries,” al-Jaafari said.
He added that Syria has received recently a number of high ranking officials of international organizations partnering with the Syrian government in humanitarian work, including Mrs. Henrietta Four, UNICEF Executive Director, and Mr. David Paisley, Executive Director of the World Food Program, Mr. Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The discussions with them were positive, and included stressing the pursuit of joint cooperation, in a manner consistent with the principles of non-politicized humanitarian action, and the willingness of the Syrian government to facilitate access to all parts of the country from within Syrian territory and through a mechanism that includes alongside the Syrian state both the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to ensure that aid reaches those who deserve it and that it does not reach terrorists.
“Syria has affirmed to its partners the necessity to compel the Turkish regime and its affiliated terrorist organizations to stop their crimes, and to enable the Syrian civilians detained by these terrorist organizations in some areas of Idleb to return to their homes in areas liberated from terrorism, and to provide immediate assistance to them from inside Syria, and support national efforts to normalize life once again,” al-Jaafari affirmed.
He went on to say that Syria stresses that it is unacceptable to allow the terrorism-sponsoring Turkish regime to take advantage of the suffering of the Syrian refugees and use them as a bargaining card to blackmail Europe and pressure European governments to support this regime militarily under the umbrella of NATO or to give it advantages and privileges of European Union countries. It is also unacceptable to tolerate the Turkish regime’s support for terrorism and to transfer publicly, without shame, terrorists from Idleb to Libya and to other countries, after it had transferred, several years ago, many terrorists from Libya to Syria.
“The Syrian delegation again draws the kind attention of the Security Council to the fact that the doors of Syria are wide open to receive Syrian refugees to return to their homeland, and that the Syrian state has created all conditions to ensure a dignified return to them,” al-Jaafari said.
He condemned the prevention by the American forces and their affiliated terrorist gangs, which occupy al-Tanf area in which the Rukban camp is located, of the return of displaced persons in the camp to their chosen areas of residence. The Syrian government reaffirms its full readiness to facilitate their return and rid them of the inhuman conditions in which they live, and the exploitation of American occupation forces and their tools, which claim that they are unwilling to return.
“The terrorist organizations supported by the Turkish regime still impose their control on some areas of Idleb Governorate,” al-Jaafari added.
He went on to say that on Monday, March 16th, 2020, those terrorist organizations, supported by the Turkish occupation forces, attacked the facilities of humanitarian NGOs in the cities of Idleb and Ariha in northwest Syria, looting and seizing their assets, and assaulting their volunteers.
“In my letter sent to your good self on March 24th, 2020, I conveyed to you that Erdogan’s regime and its terrorist proxies continue to use water as war weapon against civilians in Al-Hassaka city and surrounding congregations north-east Syria. It keeps cutting of the water from Allok station and its wells which prevents million Syrian civilians, the majority of which is children and women, from drinking water. This is a war crime especially in the time we are all trying to avoid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic,” al-Jaafari said.
He stressed that some member states and OCHA were dead silent in dealing with such information, while they broke all hell loose because of alleged rumors of Gaziantep office, which became a hub for terrorist organizations and their supporting countries with the sole aim of tarnishing the image of the Syrian government.
“In the phone call between the Syrian and the Russian presidents, on March 6th 2020, my government welcomed the achievements of the Russian leadership on March 5th, that adds to the efforts aiming to guarantee the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria expressed in the latest agreement. Furthermore, the agreement stressed the necessity of combating terrorism. The Syrian government has been fully committed to all ceasefire agreements that were concluded previously, and this also applies to the recent Moscow agreement concerning Idleb. Although we do not trust the Turkish part, that has not honored the two year- old Astana agreements, nor Sochi agreement that was concluded a year and a half ago before Moscow agreement, we are looking forward to the full and timely implementation of Moscow agreement by the Turkish regime’s terrorist groups, since it has guaranteed their commitment, the Syrian diplomat said.
He underlined that Pederson has just conveyed to the UN that the Syrian national delegation accepted the agenda to continue the work of the constitutional committee. “Thus, the other party no longer has any excuse to evade its responsibilities, especially that its empty maneuvers and futile attempts were behind the impediment of the constitutional committee work. We were also informed that during the last period, the Syrian national delegation has suggested many proposals for an agenda according to the rules of procedure, but they were all rejected without any explanation, which led to the disruption of the Committee’s third session, until now,” al-Jaafari concluded.
شكّل تلويح رئيس المجلس النيابي بتعليق المشاركة بالحكومة، من بوابة قضية عودة المغتربين، مدخلاً للتساؤلات التي يرغب بسماع أجوبة إيجابية عليها معارضو الحكومة، وخصوم مكوّناتها، بل معارضو الحكومة بسبب خصومتهم مع مكوّناتها، وهم يسألون، هل دنت ساعة إسقاط الحكومة على أيدي الذين شكلوها. ويسارعون للجواب بالإيجاب على السؤال، وهم فرحون بمواقف خصومهم، كأن الحكومة صارت هي خصمهم الفعلي، ولم يعد مصدر خصومتهم لها هو علاقتها بمكوناتها وداعميها، بل كأنهم بدوا مستعدين لمد يد التحالف لخصومهم تحت عنوان التعاون لإسقاط الحكومة، وجاء تلاقي مواقف الرئيس بري والأمين العام لحزب الله السيد حسن نصرالله، ورئيس التيار الوطني الحر الوزير السابق جبران باسيل، حول انتقاد الموقف الحكومي المتباطئ في البتّ بعودة المغتربين، ونداؤهم لها لاعتبار الأمر مهمة ملحة وراهنة، عدا كونها حقاً وطنياً ودستورياً للراغبين بالعودة، وواجباً وطنياً ودستورياً وأخلاقياً على الحكومة، ليطرح السؤال ذاته بقوة أكبر، حول مصير العلاقة بين الحكومة ومكوناتها، ويوحي بالكثير حول مستقبل الحكومة.
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كما كل مرة، يقع الكثيرون في فخ التسرّع بتحليل وتفسير موقف الرئيس بري، خصوصاً من بعض حلفائه الذين يعتبرون أن عنوان معركتهم هو مع ما يسمونه بالحريرية السياسية، فيطرحون الشكوك حول رغبته بعدم القطع معها، ويروّجون لسعيه لفتح أبواب العودة أمامها، ويشترك مع هؤلاء الذين سبقوا الرئيس بري بالتشارك مع الحريرية في تفاهمات لم يكن جزءاً منها، بل كان من معارضيها، لكن بعض هؤلاء الحلفاء ينطلقون اليوم من معادلة تحكم تفكيرهم، عنوانها أن الحكومة الجديدة لا تناسب الذين اعتادوا على حكومات المحاصصة. ومن الطبيعي برأيهم أن يلتقي هؤلاء ضمناً ولو مختلفين، على الامتعاض من هذا الوضع الجديد، ويجمعهم الحنين للعودة لصيغ حكومات ثلاثين عاماً مضت. ولذلك يتحدث هؤلاء عن حلف تحت الطاولة بين كلام الرئيس بري وكلام الوزير السابق سليمان فرنجية، وكلام النائب السابق وليد جنبلاط، ولا يرون في قضية المغتربين إلا عنواناً عابراً لقضية مستمرة، ستكبر أكثر.
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لو سلمنا بصحة الفرضية، فعلينا أن نطرح سؤالين، الأول هو كيف نفسر انضمام المكونات الكبرى للحكومة إلى موقف موحّد من قضية المغتربين، أي الرئيس بري والسيد نصرالله، والوزير باسيل، وإذا كان المشترك بين هذه القوى الداعمة للحكومة هو السعي للتخلص منها، فهذا لا يستدعي الكثير وهي لا تمتلك تغطية نيابية تحميها وتحفظ استمرارها بدونهم. وهذا يعني أن اللقاء على الموقف لا صلة له بإعادة النظر في مستقبل الحكومة. ويعني أيضاً أن لا صلة له بجمع الخصوم، فلا منطق يقول بتفاهم الوزيرين باسيل وفرنجية على نظرة موحّدة نحو الوضع الحكومي، أو بتفاهم حزب الله والنائب السابق وليد جنبلاط، والسؤال في حال العكس يصير، ما هي هذه القوة الجبارة التي تبقي الحكومة إذا كان كل هذا الجمع لا يريدها؟ أما السؤال الثاني فهو عن صدقية الفرضية المطروحة في التداول لإسقاط الحكومة ورئيسها، في ظل التوقيت الراهن، حيث أزمة كورونا في الصدارة، ومن خلفها أزمة الديون والتوقف عن السداد تجرجر ذيولها، ومن سيحمل عبء تشكيل حكومة جديدة، وبأي مقاربات، وخلال أي مهلة، وهل يوجد فعلاً بديل متاح واقعياً للتفكير بتغيير الحكومة، وكل الوقائع تشير بالعكس. وللذين يرغبون بالتحليل البوليسي، ويرون ظلال الرئيس سعد الحريري ظاهرة، يصير السؤال هل فعلاً هناك ما يمكن اعتباره قابلاً للتصديق في تفاهم يجمع حركة أمل وحزب الله والتيار الوطني الحر مع الرئيس الحريري؟
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كل شيء يقول إن ما يجري بين الحكومة ومكوناتها يرتبط بقضايا جدية وحقيقية، لكنها قطعاً ليست القضايا التي ينطلق البحث فيها لينتهي بقرار إسقاط الحكومة ورئيسها، وليست القضايا التي يجري تحريكها بصورة مفتعلة لخلق مناخ ينتهي بإسقاط الحكومة، بل العكس، هي قضايا كبرى وقائمة بذاتها على خلفية التمسك ببقاء الحكومة، والقناعة بأنها حكومة الضرورة التي لا بديل عنها، والتأقلم مع قواعد التشارك في إدارتها، وهي بلا شك قواعد جديدة، تتشكل بصورة رئيسية من نمط عمل وتفكير رئيسها، وأسلوبه في إدارة العمل الحكومي، والمعادلات التي تحكم تفكيره وقراراته، وهي غير معتادة، ولا تشبه القواعد التي تتحكم بالسياسيين، على اختلافهم وتعدد تحالفاتهم وخصوماتهم. فقد نجح الرئيس حسان دياب في مرحلة تشكيل الحكومة، مستقوياً بمزاج شعبي سلبي تجاه القوى السياسية التي كانت في الحكم، خصوصاً من شارك منها بمواقع صناعة القرار لسنوات طويلة ولدت في رحمها ظاهرتا الفساد وتغوّل المصارف، لينتزع حكومة تمثلت فيها القوى الداعمة لها بوزراء أقرب لمفهوم الاستقلال عنها، سواء كان هذا مردود هذا الاستقلال سلبياً ام إيجابياً، فهو ظاهر وغير قابل للإنكار، وتثبته وقائع العلاقة بين حركة أمل ووزير المالية غازي وزني في تجربة قرار عدم السداد للديون وفي مشروع الكابيتال كونترول، ومثلها علاقة وزير الخارجية ناصيف حتي بالتيار الوطني الحر في قضية عودة المغتربين، والتجاذب حول القضية تفجر على خلفية تصريح وزير الخارجية بأن لا شيء في قضيتهم قبل موعد 12 نيسان، ولاحقاً وبعد تشكيل الحكومة ونيلها الثقة وبدء ممارسة مهامها بدا أن ثمة منهجاً خاصاً برئيس الحكومة يعكس موقعه وتكوينه المغايرين، وقد ترجم رئيس الحكومة منهجه في العمل كممثل للتكنوقراط، وليس كممثل للغالبية النيابية التي جاءت به رئيساً للحكومة ومنحت الثقة لحكومته.
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يدرك الرئيس حسان دياب أن الانتفاضة التي هزت لبنان قبل شهور، كانت تعبيراً عن توق إصلاحيّ، لا ينسجم مع مخاطر الفوضى والعبثيّة التي أظهرت كثيراً من المجموعات القائدة للحراك الشعبي، ميلاً نحو المغامرة بسلوك طرق مؤدية إليها، ما أدى إلى تراجع زخم المشاركة الشعبية في الحراك قبل حضور أزمة كورونا، ويدرك أن هذا المزاج الشعبي لا يريد أيضاً رؤية مخاطر إجهاض الانتفاضة كرسالة احتجاج على نمط الأداء السابق وكتعبير عن دعوة عميقة للإصلاح، ويسعى لأن يكون المعبّر عن هذين التطلعين الشعبيين مستقوياً بهما، في تقديم أداء حكومي يحول دون الفوضى ولا يشكل امتداداً لأساليب العمل السابقة، ويتصرّف على قاعدة أنه وريث هذه الانتفاضة وضميرها السياسي، وأنه بالتوازي نقطة التقاطع بين هذا المزاج الشعبي والتركيبة السياسية التي تضمن عبر المؤسسات الدستورية إصلاحاً منشوداً سلمياً وسلساً وتحول دون فوضى مقلقة.
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يعتمد رئيس الحكومة منهجاً تجريبياً مدروساً في العمل، يقوم على طرح القضايا أمام فرق عمل متخصصة يترأسها الوزراء ويشارك فيها الخبراء، وهو متحرر في مقاربة النتائج من ثلاثة حسابات تحضر في مواقف القوى السياسية المشاركة في الحكومة، حساب المصلحة السياسية والحزبية، وحساب مصالح مباشرة لشريحة تشكل بنية محيطة ولصيقة بكل منها، وحساب موقف عقائدي أو مبدئي يقبل ويرفض الخيارات على أساسه. فهكذا تدرج في قضية الموقف من سداد الديون والامتناع، من حساب السيناريوات، سداد دفعة أولى، أو سداد الفوائد، أو لا سداد، وهكذا تدرج في التعامل مع مخاطر تفشي كورونا، من الاحتواء الهادئ إلى إقفال المدراس والجامعات، إلى إقفال الملاهي والمطاعم، وصولاً إلى التعبئة العامة وإقفال المطار والمعابر الحدودية، وانتهاء باستعمال كل تدابير تتيحها التعبئة العامة، وليس حالة الطوارئ التي تحفظ لرئيس الجمهورية دور القائد الأعلى للقوات المسلحة وتهمش رئيس الحكومة والحكومة، ورغم ذلك ينادي بها من يعتبرون أنفسهم مدافعين عن دور وصلاحيات رئاسة الحكومة، لاعتبارات مذهبيّة، بينما يرى تمسكه بهما لإعتبارت إصلاحيّة.
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في قضية الكابيتال كونترول، وفي قضية صندوق النقد الدولي، وتالياً في قضية عودة المغتربين، حمل رئيس الحكومة حسابات السيناريوات المفترضة، والمكاسب والمخاطر، ولم يحمل موقفاً مؤيداً أو رافضاً، بخلاف شركائه السياسيين في الحكومة، وكان التفاعل الساخن بينه وبين الشركاء، الذين تفرض طبيعتهم كأحزاب وقوى سياسية وشعبية، أن يتخذوا الموقف ثم يتعاملوا مع الوقائع، بينما هو يتعامل مع الوقائع في طريق طويل قبل الوصول للموقف. فأنتج هذا التفاعل الساخن رغم أضراره الجانبية، توازناً ألزم الشركاء بتحمل تبعات أو ملاقاته في منتصف الطريق، بينما ألزمه بتراجعات وتعديل في الموقف، لكن النظرة الحيادية والموضوعية ستقول إن ما نتج كان الأمثل والأفضل، وإنه غير معتاد في تاريخ الحكومات، والخطأ الكبير هو في قراءة الحاصل برابح وخاسر، بل برؤية القرار النهائي وما لحقه من تعديلات على مواقف الطرفين، نحو الأفضل، واعتباره اختباراً للتأقلم المتبادل بين رئيس الحكومة وشركائه، يستدعي من رئيس الحكومة الاكتفاء بنصف دراسة قبل القرار لإفساح المجال للنصف السياسي منه، وترك النصف الثاني من الدراسة لبلورة الخطة التنفيذية، بدلاً من اشتراط تحكم كامل الدراسة التقنية بالقرار وعزله المستحيل عن كل ما هو سياسي، ويستدعي من شركائه بدلاً من اتخاذ القرار وفقاً للاعتبار السياسي الخالص وترك الدراسة التقنية لبلورة الخطة لتنفيذه فقط، تقبل نصف الدراسة التقنية كشرط لبلورة القرار بمصالحة التقني والسياسي فيه، واعتماد نصف الدراسة التقنية الثاني كأساس في رسم الخطة التنفيذية.
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ربما سيحتاج الطرفان مزيداً من التمارين والاختبارات حتى تتبلور حالة التأقلم المنشودة بينهما، لكن الأكيد أن الحكومة باقية، وأن لا قرار لدى أحد بالمغامرة بفتح ملف رحيلها. والأكيد أن رئيس الحكومة نجح في إثبات استقلاله وإدخال الروح التقنية على العمل الحكومي والسياسي، وأن حلفاءه وشركاءه في الحكومة نجحوا في منحه فرصة دخول عالم السياسة والتأقلم مع حقيقة أن روما من فوق غير روما من تحت، والأكيد الأهم أن الذين ينتظرون تحوّل واحد من هذه التمارين إلى انفجار يطيح الحكومة ويفكك التحالف الذي جاء برئيسها ومنحها الثقة، سينتظرون طويلاً وطويلاً جداً، وستكون الخطة الاقتصادية والمالية للحكومة هي المولود الأهم، الذي آن له أن يبصر النور، لتشكل التعبير الأهم عن بلوغ التأقلم بين الفريقين مرحلة النضج.
Al Zabadani Hospital in Damascus, disinfected & designated isolation facility.
As COVID-19 ravages the ill-prepared western world with death, panic, and shortages of essential materials, the UN has been busy figuring out how to link Orwell and Goebbels for the purpose of recolonization of Syria.
During the recent period, a small battalion of NATO stenography journalism have engaged in a not insubstantial amount of rug chewing, outraged there was no corona outbreak in Syria. Some even went so far as to try to spread rumors, based on made-up sources.
A gaggle contingent even tried a slight besmirching of WHO’s EMRO, on and after 5 March when it reported on its website that Syria was COVID-19 free, and that rumors should halt. On 13 March, Syria announced that schools would be closed as a precautionary measure. On 17 March, the government disinfected public transit in Aleppo and disinfected the Damascus International Airport.
في الوقائع قال رئيس اللجنة الاولمبية الدولية الألماني توماس باخ معلقاً على تأجيل الألعاب الاولمبية التي كانت مقرّرة في طوكيو الشهر المقبل بسبب تفشي وباء الكورونا قال: «إنّ التداعيات المالية الناجمة عن التأجيل ليست الأولوية بل الأولوية هي حفظ الحياة».
ربما فيروس كورونا المعروف طبياً باسم «كوفيد 19» نبّه العالم إلى أنّ التطاحن والصراعات على الثروات ومراكمة الأموال ليست الأولوية، بعد أن ضرب هذا الوباء في آسيا وأفريقيا وأوروبا وأميركا وفرض الرعب في كلّ أصقاع المعمورة وأوقع عشرات الآلاف بين موتى ومصابين، وحوّل دولاً عريقة وغنية ومتفوّقة الى بؤر وباء كنيويورك وعدة ولايات، وفي اسبانيا وإيطاليا وفرنسا وبلجيكا، وعداد الوباء لا يتوقف، فأفلست الكثير من الشركات وهبطت الأسهم وتهاوت مؤسسات عملاقة وبورصات، ما يُنبئ بركود اقتصادي عالمي أصعب وأدهى من ركود 1908 و 1909، بينما الصين استطاعت ان تتصدّى للوباء وتوقفه على الأقلّ وأصبح رصيد الوباء صفراً، ناهيك عن تراكم الأرباح الصينية وتوجه العالم الثالث الاستهلاكي الى الصين التي يراها أكثر ملاءمة من الأميركيين الذين يسيطرون على العالم بالجزرة والعصا وسلاح الحصار، واتخذت طريق الحرير سبيلاً الى الشرق الاوسط وأفريقيا وربما أوروبا.
أوَليس مفاجئاً ان تنهزم الولايات المتحدة في غضون عشرة أيام وتُعلن نقصاً في المعدات والوسائل والأدوية لمجابهة الوباء، وأعلن ترامب انّ إدارته ستشتري مئة ألف جهاز تنفس اصطناعي، وانّ في الولايات المتحدة أكبر عدد من الإصابات المؤكدة في العالم وهي 112000 حالة و1700 حالة وفاة، وقال ترامب في الساعات الماضية إنه يرغب برؤية ولاية نيويورك في الحجر الصحي إذ تحتاج الولاية الى 30,000 جهاز تنفس اصطناعي والذي زاد سعره على 45 دولار للجهاز الواحد، الى جانب نفاذ المعدات الطبية والوقاية الشخصية من المستشفيات في مدينة نيويورك.
وقال لي طبيب لبناني عبر التلفون انّ الإدارة الأميركية تصادر أجهزة فحص الكورونا PCR من العيادات الخاصة وضخت الإدارة 2 ترليون دولار لتحفيز الاقتصاد المتعثر للشركات خاصة وهي عصب النظام… وللمرافق الاقتصادية والمحتاجين والفقراء، ما سيضاعف الدين الفيدرالي 80% من الناتج المحلي.
وبدا الرئيس الأميركي ترامب لا يدري ما يفعل ويقول الشيء وضدّه! وهو الذي فاخر قبل وصول الوباء بأنه لا يأبه له، وتجاهل تحذيرات تلقاها من مقرّبين ومستشارين وسفراء، وبالغ في إطلالاته التلفزيونية وادّعى اكتشاف لقاح فعّال، بينما واصل الفيروس عدوانيته ولا من يوقفه.
ولا نتحدث عن نظرية مؤامرة فيروس كورونا وهو غاز سارين تسرّب بالخطأ من قاعدة أميركية في افغانستان، ولا عن كتاب الأميركي دين كونتز الذي نشره عام 1981 وتحدث فيه عن تطوير فيروس للحدّ من عدد سكان العالم.
وقد تستطيع مؤسسات الأبحاث في الولايات المتحدة وهي الأعرق والأكفأ ان تتوصّل الى اللقاح الناجع ولكن بعد خراب البصرة وعلى النحو الذي نراه!
ويُلاحَظ انّ كوبا التي تحاصرها الولايات المتحدة منذ عدة قرون وهي القابعة في الخاصرة الأميركية استطاعت ان تحتوي الوباء وتجد له من العلاج ما يقتله، ولا نعرف إذا كان ترامب سيدّعي القول انّ بلاده هي التي توصلت الى العلاج!
والى جانب الخبط العشوائي للإدارة الأميركية يُصرّ الرئيس ترامب على تسمية كورونا بـ «الفيروس الصيني» ثم يشيد بعد يوم أو يومين بالجهود التي تبذلها الصين في مكافحة الوباء، وتمنى لو أخطرته الصين بالوباء قبل انتشاره، بينما قالها وزير خارجيته بومبيو: «أميركا تشعر بقلق عميق إزاء النظام الإيراني الذي يتستر على التفاصيل الحيوية للفيروس».
كذلك قال ترامب: الصين لا تتعاون معنا وتحجب معلومات حيوية تتعلق بالوباء، بينما أعلنت الدولة الروسية عن استعدادها لمساعدة أميركا على احتواء الوباء.
وفي لحظة وعي غاب عنها الغرور والغطرسة جرى الاتصال بين ترامب والرئيس الصيني، وأكد ترامب احترامه لسياسة الصين الواحدة. وكان هذا الاتصال الأول الذي أجراه ترامب منذ تنصيبه، وسبقه كتاب أرسله ترامب لنظيره الصيني، وفي مضمونه وغايته طلب المساعدة الصينية بعد هذا السقوط المريع للدولة الأعظم، وعجزها عن مواجهة هذا الوباء المجهول، ونفى ترامب أن يكون الوباء صينياً.
نخلص الى القول انّ هذا العدو الذي عجزت دول العالم عن قهره استطاع ان يهزم الدولة الأعظم ويجعلها تخسر 800 مليار دولار في أول أسبوع، بينما العالم كله ينظر الى الدولة الأقوى والأغنى والمهدّدة بضياع هيبة مسيطرة منذ الحرب العالمية الثانية، وربما تكشف الأرقام فداحة خسائرها، في حين انّ منافستها الصين التي هزمت الفيروس وعادت إلى حياتها الطبيعية بينما طائرات الشحن الضخمة لديها تقلع وتحط في مطارات الدول الصديقة حاملة المساعدات والأدوية والأبحاث والاختصاصيين، وهي أكثر مناعة لمراكمة علاقاتها مع دول حليفة وصديقة.
وكان اللافت في الساعات الماضية تزاحم الأميركيين على محلات بيع الأسلحة والذخائر لاقتنائها الى جانب الأدوية، فضلاً عن المعقمات لمواجهة انتشار الفيروس.
وفي سياق متصل عبرت سفينة حربية أميركية مضيق تايوان وسط خلافات بين بكين والولايات المتحدة على خلفية فيروس كورونا المستجد. كما أعلن أسطول المحيط الهادي الأميركي انّ مدمّرة الصواريخ الموجهة USS ماك كانبل قد عبرت المضيق في وقت سابق، ويشكل مضيق تايوان ممراً رئيسياً للقوات البحرية العالمية غير انّ الصين تعتبر تايون جزءاً من أراضيها وترى في ايّ عبور في المضيق خرقاً لسيادتها.
لا شك انّ العالم اليوم أمام تطور تاريخي ستظهر ملامحه في ضوء ما تسفر عنه المعركة المستعرة بين كورونا والدولة التي كانت الأكبر والتي لن تستطع هزيمته بمفردها وهي لم تصب الإنسان الأميركي فحسب بل منظومة الدولة الأولى باقتصادها وجيشها والأساطيل والحرس الوطني وبسمعتها حين انهزمت في اول اختبار مواجهة.
ولا شك انّ العالم في زمن كورونا لن يكون كما كان من قبل، في وقت تتجلى فيه أعراض التصدّع في الاتحاد الأوروبي على خلفية اتهامات ايطاليا لفرنسا وفرنسا لانكلترا واسبانيا للمنظمة الأوروبية…، بالأنانية وحجب المساعدة وحبّ الذات في أصعب الظروف.
Samidoun issued a call for a rally in New York City to commemorate the second anniversary of the Great Return March in Gaza, that has been transformed into a virtual event. (Photo: via Samidoun)
On March 3, 2020, Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Network issued a call for a rally in New York City to commemorate the second anniversary of the Great Return March in Gaza.
Plans were to hold the march in conjunction with the Palestine Writes Festival (March 27-29), but due to the Coronavirus the literary gathering has been postponed, and the march, like so many other events, has been transformed into a virtual event.
Two years ago, on March 30, 2018, Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip launched the Great March of Return in order to demand an end to Israel’s closure of the Gaza Strip and the right of return for millions of Palestinian ethnically cleansed from their homes.
Despite Israel’s ongoing use of live ammunition, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets, Palestinians continue to use every legitimate means possible—including armed resistance, general strikes, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns, and the Great Return March—in their struggle for national liberation.
This year, in the words of Tamara Nassar: “Palestinians face two enemies: occupation and pandemic.” As Nassar notes, their struggle against the virus entails the same precautions as the rest of the world, while, in addition, Israel “continues to demolish structures, conduct night raids, arbitrarily arrest children and routinely harass civilians.”
For example, palinfo.com reports that on March 27, 2020, Israeli occupation soldiers invaded several areas in the West Bank city of al-Khalil where they “deliberately spat” at Palestinian homes and cars. After their departure, Palestinian workers sterilized the places where the soldiers spat in order to reduce the chances of infection.
Moreover, while the West Bank and Jerusalem are quarantined, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights last week recorded that Israelis undertook 59 home raids and 51 arrests.
All of these atrocities and more are unique to the Occupation. Nevertheless, there is a larger framework that makes it possible to place the Palestinian struggle within a broader context. As stated in Samidoun’s decision to transform the various rallies in support of Gaza into virtual events:
“Protecting each other’s health at this critical time is essential to continuing the struggle against the forces of oppression and exploitation that deny people health care or price it with a profit motive.”
For many in the labor force, this is not an option. In countries under the rule of right-wing capitalist leaders, workers are being told that they have a choice between staying home without a paycheck, thus placing their families under economic hardship, or going to workplaces that put them at risk for serious infection with the virus.
For example, the lieutenant governor of Texas Dan Patrick suggested that older Americans would surely sacrifice themselves in return for guaranteeing their grandchildren’s economic future. He also advocated that the country should be opened up for business in weeks, not months as health professionals propose.
President Donald Trump’s call to open up the country for business by Easter echoed a similar prioritizing of business and mega-church religious leaders over the lives of workers and their families.
In Palestine, too, Akram Al-Waara reports that workers face a similar dilemma, though aggravated by realities of the Occupation. For those working in Israel, new restrictions related to the Coronavirus mean that they have a choice between sacrificing a “much-needed income,” or taking the chance of being apart from their families for months.
As the virus continued to extend across Israel and the West Bank, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennet, who had already closed the borders around Bethlehem, announced that only workers in “essential” fields—construction, healthcare, and agriculture—would be granted entry; everyone else would be quarantined at home.
“While the Israelis are staying inside their homes, they are putting us to work so that things don’t collapse,” Kareem, a Palestinian construction worker, told Middle East Eye, all “for the sake of saving their economy.” Though the situation is different within the context of the Occupation, the paradigm of profit over people is inevitable wherever there is a capitalist economy. In New Mexico, where I live, Indian reservations make up expendable labor pools, much like Palestinians are today.
In the preface to Simon Ortiz’s Fight Back: For the Sake of the People, For the Sake of the Land (1980), historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz explains that “Indians have a basis of unity with non-Indians,” and it is there, “in the fields and on the picket line, that they may see through the smokescreen of racism” to pinpoint the real cause of their oppression: capitalism.
She continues:
“For the Indian and non-Indian worker in the United States and most of the hemisphere, their exploited labor provides the profits for those who claim to own the land and the factories and have armies to back their claim.”
Dunbar-Ortiz’s analysis is more important today than ever as we see workers around the world faced with the choice of watching their families starve without a paycheck or bringing sickness home from their workplace.
As Italians called for a General Strike on March 25 under the slogan “Our lives are worth more than your profits,” and requests for a nationwide rent strike erupt in the U.S., it seems an excellent time for international solidarity among the working class, Indigenous, immigrants and all other oppressed groups of people.
Meanwhile, news sources such as NPR are using fears over the Coronavirus to air the following message: “Israelis and Palestinians now have a common enemy: the Coronavirus.”
Described by +972 Magazine as “ ‘colonization of the mind,’ whereby the oppressed subject comes to believe that the oppressor’s reality is the only ‘normal’ reality that must be subscribed to, and that the oppression is a fact of life that must be coped with,” “normalization” never sleeps. Neither does colonialist oppression, even during the height of the pandemic.
As Akram Al-Waara relates, Palestinian workers in Israel who are suspected to have the virus are “dumped…like trash” near the most convenient checkpoints. “This is the true face of the Israeli occupation,” Ibrahim Abu Safiya told Middle East Eye. “They kill us on a daily basis, so this isn’t any different for them.” No cooperation here over a “common enemy to battle,” as Daniel Estrin of NPR termed it, only the continuation of the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
In Israel, the United States, and around the world, exploited groups of people are expendable, thrown away when no longer serving the needs of the elite. As a community activist and scholar Oliver Baker wrote on Facebook, this is how “whiteness in capitalism works. It expects you to consent to give it your labor and enforce empire. But it cares nothing about your life. It’s time to betray it, or if not, you’ll be in the way of people trying to free themselves from these conditions, and you don’t want to be in the way of that right now.”
Nevertheless, the message of Land Day 2020 remains one of sumoud (steadfastness) and creativity, as Palestinians from Gaza to Bethlehem mobilize collectively to fight the virus.
“If we can overcome Coronavirus, we can overcome the occupation,” writes Suha Arraf, a sentiment echoed by Lucy Thaljiyeh, a city council member and feminist political activist: “The solidarity between people has returned, the solidarity we had during the First Intifada which somehow disappeared in the Second Intifada. We are together once again, trapped; we are taking care of each other.”
As support gathers around the world in the coming days for Land Day 2020, it seems fitting to end with the words of Palestinian American activist and scholar Steven Salaita:
“I find myself thinking about the Gaza Strip, Attica, Wounded Knee, the Warsaw Ghetto, not because our situation is analogous, and not because suffering must be exceptional to have meaning, but because they’re examples of incredible strength amid hardship and insecurity and therefore provide a radical vision of fortitude in which victims of power, not its beneficiaries, serve as inspiration for survival.”
– Benay Blend earned her doctorate in American Studies from the University of New Mexico. Her scholarly works include Douglas Vakoch and Sam Mickey, Eds. (2017), “’Neither Homeland Nor Exile are Words’: ‘Situated Knowledge’ in the Works of Palestinian and Native American Writers”. She contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
يبدو من الواضح أنّ إدارة الرئيس الأميركي دونالد ترامب لا توفر جهداً لأجل استغلال وباء كورونا في الداخل الأميركي وفي الخارج، بهدف أساسي وهو خدمة سياساتها الرأسمالية النيوليبرالية القائمة على الاستغلال والنهب والسيطرة، لمصلحة الشركات وكبار الأثرياء، على حساب حياة الناس وإنقاذ أرواحهم، الذي هو آخر ما يفكر فيه العقل الاستعماري للإدارة الأميركية… وفي هذه اللحظات التي يواجه فيها العالم أجمع حرب فايروس كورونا، وبدل ان يجري توظيف الجهود ودراسة سبل القضاء على هذا الوباء، تخصّص الإدارة الاستعمارية الوقت والجهد للبحث والتخطيط لشنّ الحرب ضدّ العراق، دولة وشعباً ومقاومة، لانه تجرّأ على اتخاذ قرار مطالبة الولايات المتحدة بسحب قواتها من العراق، على اثر ارتكبها جريمة اغتيال القائدين المقاومين الشهيدين قاسم سليماني وأبو مهدي المهندس، وذلك في محاولة يائسة لإرهاب العراقيين وفصائل المقاومة وإعادة إخضاع العراق للهيمنة الاستعمارية الأميركية..
لقد كشفت صحيفة «نيويورك ثايمز» الأميركية فحوى ما دار في اجتماع عُقد قبل أسبوع في البيت الأبيض برئاسة ترامب وحضور كبار القيادات السياسية والعسكرية والمستشارين، خصص لبحث في تنفيذ عملية عسكرية في العراق.. حيث ساد الانقسام بين فريقين…
فريق أول، يؤيد إرسال آلاف الجنود للقيام بعملية عسكرية واسعة تستهدف قيادات ومراكز وقواعد فصائل الحشد الشعبي، لا سيما كتائب حزب الله، ومن أبرز مويدي هذا الخيار، وزير الخارجية مايك بومبيو ومستشار الأمن القومي أوبراين…
وفريق ثان، ويضمّ وزير الدفاع والمسؤولين في البنتاغون، وقائد القوات المشتركة، يعارض مثل هذه العملية، ويحذر من خطورتها على القوات الأميركية، وانها ستكون دموية، وقد تعطي نتائج عكسية، وتقود إلى حرب مع إيران.. ويرى انّ مثل هذه العملية يتطلب إرسال المزيد من الجنود إلى العراق وتحويل الموارد من المهمة الأساسية وهي محاربة داعش، وتدريب القوات العراقية، وهو ما يتعارض مع الاتفاقية المعقودة مع الحكومة العراقية…
أولا، لماذا تصرّ واشنطن على رفض الاستجابة لطلب العراق بسحب قواتها منه؟ ولماذا تتمسك أميركا بالبقاء في العراق رغماً عن ارادة أغلبية أبناء العراق؟
الجواب واضح، وهو انّ العراق مهمّ جداً بالنسبة للهيمنة الاستعمارية الأميركية في المنطقة، للأسباب التالية..
السبب الأول، يحتوي على ثروة نفطية كبيرة.
السبب الثاني، يتميّز بموقع جفرافي هامّ، فهو مجاور لكلّ من سورية وإيران، وفي نفس الوقت مجاور لكلّ من السعودية والكويت والأردن، ويطلّ على الخليج..
السبب الثالث، عدد سكانه متوسط، يبلغ نحو ثلاثين مليون نسمة، ويحوز على كادرات وخبرات علمية…
انّ هذه الأسباب مجتمعة تجعل من العراق، في حال تحرّر بالكامل من وجود القوات الأميركية، وتخلص من كلّ رواسب الاحتلال، لا سيما دستور الحاكم الأميركي بول بريمر، وبالتالي امتلك استقلاله وحرية قراره، تجعل منه دولة قوية وطرفاً أساسياً في حلف المقاومة الذي يضمّ إيران وسورية والمقاومات العربية في لبنان واليمن وفلسطين، مما يشكل تهديداً كبيراً للسيطرة الاستعمارية في المنطقة..
ثانياً، هل أميركا في ظروف تسمح لها بالعودة الى الغرق في حرب جديدة في العراق..
الوقائع والمعطيات التالية تفيد..
1 –
تجربة غزو أميركا للعراق بين 2003 و2011، وكلفته الباهظة، مادياً وبشرياً، والتي أجبرت أميركا على الانسحاب، لا تزال حاضرة وبقوة، وأميركا لا تزال تعاني حتى اليوم من التداعيات والنتائج السلبية لذلك على الاقتصاد الأميركي، الذي دخل اليوم في حالة ركود نتيجة حرب كورونا..التي تحتاج إلى موارد كبيرة لمواجهتها..
2 –
العراق الذي هزم أميركا، هو اليوم في وضع مختلف عما كان عليه عشية الغزو الأميركي عام 2003.. العراق اليوم يمتلك مقاومة قوية ومتمرّسة ولديها قدرات وخبرات وجاهزة تفوق عشرات المرات ما كانت عليه بين أعوام 2003 و2011، وهي بعد أن خاضت حرب عصابات ضدّ الاحتلال الأميركي وأجبرته على الانسحاب عام 2011، خاضت حرباً لا تقلّ ضراوة ضدّ تنظيم داعش الإرهابي، ونجحت في إلحاق الهزيمة به وتحرير المناطق التي سيطر عليها… ولهذا فإنّ أميركا في حال شنّت حرباً جديدة ضدّ العراق، فإنها ستواجه مقاومة من نقطة متقدّمة قادرة على تكبيد القوات الأميركية خسائر جسيمة وتغرق أميركا في مستنقع من الاستنزاف يفوق حروبها السابقة، وهي غير قادرة على تحمّله…
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كما أنّ العراق اليوم ليس محاصراً دولياً، أو يتعرّض لعقوبات من مجلس الأمن.. وهو اليوم ليس معزولاً، بل يملك حلفاء أقوياء في حلف المقاومة الذي يحقق الانتصارات في مواجهة الإرهاب والاحتلال والاستعمار وأدواته، في حين انّ العالم اصبح منقسماً إلى محورين كبيرين، محور تقوده أميركا ويسعى إلى محاولة الحفاظ على هيمنته الأحادية المتداعية، ومحور تقوده روسيا والصين ويسعى إلى كسر هذه الهيمنة وبناء نظام دولي جديد يقوم على التعددية والتشاركية واحترام القوانين والمواثيق الدولية.. ولهذا فإنّ أميركا لا تحظى بأيّ غطاء او تأييد دولي لتبرير شنّ حرب جديدة، حتى من قبل حلفائها الذين سارعوا مؤخراً إلى سحب جنودهم من العراق..
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ترامب وعد الأميركيين بعدم شن حروب جديدة، وأعلن وما زال انّ الاقتصاد هو أولويته، وهو مقبل على انتخابات في الخريف المقبل، ويدرك جيداً انّ الرأي العام الأميركي باغلبيته لا يؤيد الحرب.. ولهذا أقدم ترامب على عقد صفقة مع حركة طالبان في أفغانستان تقضي بجدولة سحب القوات الأميركية، من هناك، ولوحظ انّ توقيت ذلك جاء عشية الانتخابات، للقول للأميركيين إنه قد نفذ وعده بإعادة الجنود الأميركيين إلى الديار.. وذلك بهدف زيادة شعبيته.. واليوم هو بأمسّ الحاجة إلى ترميم شعبيته المتراجعة على خلفية أدائه السيّئ في مواجهة وباء كورونا..
ثالثاً، أمام هذه المعطيات المذكورة آنفاً، انقسام داخل الإدارة، وعدم تأييد الأميركيين للحرب، واقتراب الانتخابات الرئاسية، وواقع العراق المختلف عن عام 2003، وكذلك الواقع الدولي المتغيّر، فإنّ المرجح ان تقدم واشنطن على اعتماد خطة تقوم على التالي..
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إعادة تموضع بقواتها في العراق، وهو ما بدأته، بحيث تخلي قواعد في مناطق لا تتمتع فيها بأيّ تأييد، لمصلحة تعزيز بقائها في قواعدها الموجودة في مناطق تعتقد انها توفر غطاء لها، مثل مناطق شمال العراق..
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العمل على تغذية التناقضات العراقية العراقية، من خلال دفع الأحزاب والقوى والأطراف الموالية لواشنطن لأجل الاعتراض على طلب البرلمان العراقي سحب القوات الأميركية، وكذلك الحؤول دون تشكيل حكومة جديدة تدعم قرار البرلمان، ومحاولة إثارة صراع طائفي ومذهبي وعرقي، والتحريض ضدّ إيران، وكتائب الحشد الشعبي..
لكن مثل هذه الخطة الأميركية سيكون مصيرها الفشل لسببين..
السبب الأول، انّ الشعب العراقي وفصائل المقاومة مصمّمون على خوض معركة التحرير الثاني للعراق من وجود القوات الأميركية.. لأنه من دون ذلك لن يتحقق الاستقلال الحقيقي للعراق، ولن ينعم العراقيون بالأمن والاستقرار، واستطراداً لن يستطيعوا إعادة بناء دولتهم الوطنية العراقية الخالية من رواسب الاحتلال وقانون بريمر الفتنوي، ولا استغلال ثروات العراق النفطية لإعادة بناء الاقتصاد وتحقيق التنمية والعدالة الاجتماعية..
السبب الثاني انّ الولايات المتحدة ليس بمقدورها تحمّل تبعات الانزلاق الى حرب جديدة أكثر كلفة من حربها السابقة..
لذلك عندما تستنفد واشنطن محاولة إطالة أمد بقاء قواتها، وتفشل في اللعب على التناقضات الداخلية، وتبدأ المقاومة في تصعيد عملياتها، بعد انقضاء المهلة المتاحة للقوات الأميركية لتنفيذ قرار انسحابها.. عندها سوف تختار الانسحاب باعتباره خيار لا مناصّ منه، وهي مجبرة عليه…
Israel is accelerating settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: File)
Newly-released statistics show a sharp rise in the building and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Quds Press reported on Sunday.
According to a report issued to mark Palestine Land Day today, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said that the number of Jewish settlements and outposts now stands at 448.
This one on the left is the 1947 partition plan of Palestine.
The one on the right is what is left of Palestine currently because of illegal Israeli settlements. Palestinians fully lost the North part btw and now they only have the red separated parts.
This includes 150 settlements approved by the Israeli government, 26 outposts that are regarded as extensions of approved settlements and 128 outposts that have been built without the approval of the government.
In the report, the PCBS pointed out that the number of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank was 671,007 by the end of 2018. Furthermore, last year, the Israeli occupation authorities approved 8,457 new settlement units and 13 new outposts.
In the same period, the Israeli authorities demolished 678 Palestinian facilities, including 251 residential buildings, and issued 556 orders for Palestinians to stop work on building new homes or renovating older premises.
Under international law, Jewish settlements constructed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories constitute a violation of international law and are considered illegal.
Throughout this election-season in the United States, there have been many indications that the stupid voters who chose Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in 2016 are doing it yet again and chose Joe Biden over Sanders, and thus they handed Trump the victory in 2016 and are repeating that in 2020. A new poll shows it clearly.
Just like happened in 2016 when Democratic Party voters who were predominantly Blacks and/or seniors swallowed the propaganda-line from the billionaire-controlled ‘news’-media against the electability of Sanders, those voters have done it yet again and thus are re-electing Trump by having passed over the only candidate who could have beaten him: Sanders. (A 22 June 2016 Bloomberg News report right after Hillary had won the nomination headlined “Nearly Half of Sanders Supporters Won’t Support Clinton”. Of course, that was being reported too late for the voters to be able to do anything about it; and this is how the billionaires work.)
Unlike Biden and Hillary, who have had broad support but tepid support, Sanders has had support which is not only passionate but is also broader than does Trump. A close reading of all of the polls, both in 2016 and in 2020, indicates that the passion-factor is crucial to electoral victory (bringing a candidate’s voters to the polls, or “turnout”) but hasn’t been receiving the attention it deserves in the billionaires’ ‘news’-media; and, therefore, the stupidest voters haven’t even noticed it, but went instead for what they had been deceived to think ‘the more-electable’ candidates: Hillary in 2016, and Biden in 2020.
strong enthusiasm for Biden among his supporters – at just 24% – is the lowest on record for a Democratic presidential candidate in 20 years of ABC/Post polls. More than twice as many of Trump’s supporters are highly enthusiastic about supporting him, 53%.
It’s even worse than it was for Clinton in 2016:
There’s déjà vu in these results: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton found herself in largely the same position four years ago. She, too, had a slim lead among Democrats for the nomination and ran essentially evenly with Trump among registered voters. And she lagged in enthusiasm, with a low of 32% very enthusiastic in September 2016. Biden is 8 points under that mark now.
Furthermore — and also confirming earlier polls —
Eighty-three percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning seniors prefer Biden over Sanders, up 63 points from February; two-thirds of blacks say the same, a 34-point increase.
Eighty percent of Sanders backers say they’ll vote for Biden against Trump; as noted, 15% say they’d back Trump. (This is familiar: Twenty percent of Sanders supporters said they’d vote for Trump in spring 2016.)
How bad was it in 2016? It definitely accounted for Hillary’s losing to Trump in the three crucial states: Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Although the early estimate that “Nearly Half of Sanders Supporters Won’t Support Clinton” turned out to have been an over-estimate, the final real figures still were quite substantial, and far more than accounted for Hillary’s losses in each one of those three crucial states. So: they’re doing it again. And maybe they’ll blame Russia, and blame Sanders, for it, like Hillary did in 2016. A con-job requires not just a deceiver but a believer. But to be conned repeatedly — that is plain stupid.
(The lying New York Times headlined misleadingly on 28 March 2017, “A 2016 Review: Turnout Wasn’t the Driver of Clinton’s Defeat”, and reported that, “it’s clear that large numbers of white, working-class voters shifted from the Democrats to Mr. Trump,” and hid the fact that, as McClatchy newspapers headlined on 1 May 2017, “Democrats say they now know exactly why Clinton lost” and that this reason was that “Obama-Trump voters, in fact, effectively accounted for more than two-thirds of the reason Clinton lost.” Those voters did “turn out,” but for Trump instead of for her — and, yet, the Times said it wasn’t a “Turnout” problem. Of course, they simply lied. This is how billionaire-controlled media deceive enough of the stupid in order to sway ‘elections’: they do it by misreporting the reality.)
The stupid never learn from prior experience, but only repeat prior experience. There is a difference between learning and repeating. Repeating can be done merely by memorizing, but learning requires real intelligence.
Those suckers chose the candidate they had been spoon-fed to misbelieve would have the higher likelihood of beating Trump — the propagandized lie (and it was a lie) being that Hillary (and now Biden) would be more electable than Sanders. This stupidity is the reason why Americans in the coming November 3rd election will be choosing between two candidates both of whom are — themselves — stupid, incompetent, and disastrous for everyone except perhaps their own billionaire sponsors, who had financed their campaigns.
The idiots want America to be run like a business, but the problem is that it already is. And to the stockholders in it (mainly the billionaires), their own benefits are vastly more important than the benefits to the public — the billionaires’ corporations’ employees and consumers — the taxpayers (other than themselves — if they even pay taxes, or at least taxes that are higher than the subsidies they receive from the government). Collectively, the billionaires get the government that they have bought, and everybody else gets the scraps that are left over. And this is how it happens.
What could turn things around for Biden? Over 100,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths could, even if Biden would have handled the crisis just as atrociously as Trump did. (Of course, Sanders wouldn’t have, but apparently he’s gone from the contest now.)
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 