What to make of Trump administration's deal with Saudia Arabia?

Donald Trump made a deal with Saudi Arabia to build nuclear power stations, but not to do uranium enrichment, and has a demand they recognize Israel too:

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Saudi Arabia will not enrich uranium under the landmark nuclear deal signed with the U.S. this week.

Trump said the nuclear agreement is subject to Riyadh establishing diplomatic relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords.

“There will be no enrichment of material!” the president said in a Truth Social post. The deal “is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” he said.

Well I certainly hope not. Even so, based on how Saudi Arabia still upholds Islam and doesn't allow other religions to function there, are they reliable when it comes to working on nuclear technology? If they move away from Islam, they could be more trustworthy in that regard, but for now, no.

As I am aware, they did thankfully stop forcing women to wear abayas, but even so, when they stick with the Religion of Peace as they have to date, that's why they still have a long way to go, even if they do recognize Israel's validity.

The LGBT/palestinian war on reality

Therapist Daniel Winston writes about the similarities between the transsexual ideology movement and the fabrication of an Arab/Islamic state called "palestine", the latter word which was coined by the Roman empire and put to use by anti-Israelists in over 50 years for delegitimazation purposes:

One of the defining absurdities of the modern West is not that human beings imagine things. Human beings have always imagined tribes, roles, myths, masks, costumes, and symbolic identities. The deeper absurdity is that entire political and moral systems are now expected to reorganize reality around subjective feeling and declaration.

If enough of the “right" kind of people assert something loudly enough, emotionally enough, and long enough, the claim is no longer treated as a claim. It becomes an identity. Then it becomes sacred. Then questioning it becomes “violence."

This is the twisted age of imagined identity.

The pattern is visible in the most radical corners of transgenderism. Human gender is not assigned by mood, costume, declaration, or bureaucratic intimidation. In ordinary human development, XX chromosomes are associated with female development and XY chromosomes with male development, with the Y chromosome and SRY region typically directing male development. Yes, differences of gender development exist. Medicine recognizes chromosomal and anatomical variations. But those conditions prove that biology is real, not that sex is an inner feeling detached from the body.

The existence of medical exceptions does not abolish the biological categories by which the exceptions are understood. This is not an attack on people who suffer from gender dysphoria. Serious people can recognize real distress without cruelty or mockery. But compassion for suffering is not the same as surrendering reality to the tyranny of personal or group fantasy.

Yet the new doctrine demands more than kindness. It demands metaphysical obedience. A man becomes a woman because he says so. A woman becomes a man because she feels so. Some now float identities so untethered from biological reality that the self becomes an act of private invention, while the rest of society is commanded to applaud.

This same civilizational pattern helps explain another modern invention: the myth of an ancient “Palestinian Arab people."

Arabs lived in the Land of Israel. Families, clans, villages, Muslims, Christians, and others lived there. That is not the issue. The issue is whether there existed, before the modern war against Zionism, a distinct ancient Palestinian Arab nation with its own sovereign history, language, kings, institutions, literature, currency, religion, or national consciousness.

There did not.

Even Arab and pro-Arab sources repeatedly said so both before and after the mythology hardened into international theology.

-In 1919, the General Syrian Congress told the King-Crane Commission that there should be “no separation" of “the southern part of Syria, known as Palestine," from Syria.

-In 1946, Lebanese-American historian Philip Hitti testified that there was “no such thing as Palestine in history."

-In 1977, senior PLO official Zuhair Mohsen told the Dutch newspaper Trouw that “the Palestinian people does not exist" and that a separate Palestinian identity was maintained “for political reasons."

-More recently, Hamas official Fathi Hammad acknowledged that many 'Palestinian' Arabs trace their origins to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

These are not “Zionist extremists" denying Arab humanity. They are Arab and pro-Arab voices acknowledging what history shows: “Palestinian" was long a geographic and political label before it was retrofitted into an imaginary ancient nationality. The books Phantom Nation by Shai ben Tekoa and From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters document this reality exceptionally well.

Under the British Mandate, Jews were called Palestinians and Arabs most expressly were not. The Jerusalem Post was originally the Palestine Post. The Palestine Symphony Orchestra was Jewish. “Palestine" was a place-name used by foreign rulers, not the name of an ancient Arab nation. The term itself was imposed by Rome after the Bar Kokhba revolt as part of an effort to erase Judea from the map using the name of the Jews ancient enemies, the Philistines, to further the humiliation of the conquered Jews.

Read it all, and see how disgraceful it is that this warping of reality continues, right down to how LGBT practitioners are perfectly willing to ally themselves with the Religion of Peace, because for both antisemitism trumps all.

Tucker Carlson continues his downward spiral

The disgraced former Fox News writer continues his kowtowing to Islam, this time in Saudi Arabia:

In Saudi Arabia Wednesday for the Real Estate Future Forum, disgraced former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said, "I'm, for whatever it's worth, a pretty fervent Christian, and I feel completely comfortable here in the seat of Islam… and just saying that is a threat somehow to some people, who are propagandists and liars."

Well, who exactly is the propagandist and liar here? It is no surprise that Tucker Carlson feels "completely comfortable here in the seat of Islam." He is a welcome and lauded guest of the state, and his presence there is useful for the Saudi monarchy. They aren't going to give him any trouble for being a Christian, and even if they were, Carlson is not there as a missionary or preacher. He didn't proselytize, and no one expected him to do so. If he had done so, it would have been quite quickly made clear to him that such behavior was not what the Saudis invited him for, and that he should stop it forthwith or would be just as quickly shown the door.

Carlson also appears to be trying to generalize from his own experience, as if every Christian who ever ventured into Saudi Arabia were an internationally renowned VIP who could expect to receive nothing but the most deferential treatment from the Saudi government. The reality, of course, is quite different. Virtually all of the Christians in Saudi Arabia are foreign workers from countries such as the Philippines or India. They know very well that when they come to Saudi Arabia, they are expected to leave their religion at the door. There are no churches. Public worship is forbidden to them. If the Christians gather in someone's private home and conduct their own worship services, they could end up being the recipients of a police raid. If they speak to any Muslim about Christianity, they could be arrested and imprisoned or deported. Even having a Bible or a cross could get them arrested and imprisoned or deported. Christians in Saudi Arabia don't have the privilege of being Tucker Carlson and are well aware of how precarious their situation is while they are there.

Even now, when women aren't forced to wear niqabs in Saudi Arabia, there's still obviously many things still going wrong, and forbidding anybody religious freedom, if that's still in effect there, is very disturbing. No doubt, even Hinduists, Buddhists and Shintoists are forbidden to practice their faiths there. And, lest we forget, even Judaists quite likely aren't allowed to practice theirs. That they may be allowed to enter the country now is beside the point.

Carlson's kowtowing is a very bad omen, and he's continuing to let down everybody by opening his big mouth for worthless reasons. And if Saudi Arabia's still restricting freedom of faith, then prince Mohammed bin Salman's definitely not improving on something.

Trump taking serious risk of betraying Iranian public

Robert Spencer is let down that POTUS Donald Trump backed away from taking serious military action against Iran's totalitarians so far:

The Iranian people trusted him. They kept protesting, even as the inhuman guardians of the Islamic Republic mowed them down in ever-increasing numbers, as many as 20,000. They renamed streets after him. They knew that he would send the help he promised. They knew he would help them see the end of the bloodthirsty and demonic regime that has murdered so very many Iranians since 1979. They knew they finally had someone who heard their cries. Someone they could count on.

Yet by Wednesday afternoon, something had changed. Trump said: “We have been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, it’s stopped, it is stopping. And, uh, there’s no plan for executions, or ex— an execution, or executions. So I’ve been told that on good authority, we’ll find out about it.”

There was no reason to believe this, and it was unclear whether or not Trump himself believed it. The Islamic Republic is built on terror and preserves itself through terror, for as an Islamic government, it follows the Qur’an’s guidance for how to deal with its opponents: “strike terror in the enemies of Allah” (8:60). The Islamic Republic will keep killing protesters as long as there is an Islamic Republic. [...]

Unless this is a strategic feint, as many have claimed, and the promised attack is still in the works, apparently the Islamic Republic will continue as well, hiding its murders behind closed doors instead of parading them before the world. Trump’s promise of help has so far proven hollow. His encouragement of the protesters only ended up getting 20,000 of them killed.

Even worse, there are reports that Trump called off an attack at the last minute at the behest of Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, three Sunni states that have long counted the Shi’ite Islamic Republic of Iran as an enemy, but whose solicitude for the well-being of the United States should not be taken for granted.

Although it may be strategic, of course it's not good if Trump's hesitating. If the 2nd world war had been literally handled this way, it would never have been won.

Now, recent reports note that Texas senator Ted Cruz supports military action as a last resort, and the USA military does seem to be making preparations for war, as they no doubt realize they can't just back away now. Even so, issuing statements that don't get followed through as quickly as assumed is not a good idea, and only damages morale.

The obstacle in Gaza is Islamic jihadism

Ben Weingarten brings up the serious issue the Trump administration appears to be ignoring:

The Trump administration’s “Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict” aims to consolidate these gains — securing and stabilizing the region through Israeli and Arab burden-sharing — consistent with Trump’s broader Middle East approach. But the president’s ultimate ambitions could be threatened by the many challenges inherent to the conflict.

The first and perhaps seminal point of the plan is that “Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.” Subsequently, the plan speaks to an end to the war, the surging of aid, demilitarization, governance plans, economic development, and security considerations — suggesting that all of these factors will prevent Gaza from once again becoming a terror enclave.

But the blueprint is largely silent on the animating ideology that made Gaza a jihadi haven in the first place. As President Trump noted in his press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealing the pact, the current war’s origins can be found in the Palestinian Arabs’ election of Hamas to rule Gaza after the Jewish state had turned the strip over to them. Hamas’ aims and means were of course well-known to the Gazans, who chose to be represented by the Muslim Brotherhood arm, promising genocidal Jew-hatred and jihadism rooted in Islamic supremacist ideology.

Despite the fact Hamas’ rule led to two decades of violence, repression, corruption, and ultimately Gaza’s destruction during the war that Hamas provoked, there is little to suggest the population that put the jihadis into power and that in large part collaborated with them on and after Oct. 7 has suddenly recanted its views. Opinion polls conducted among Palestinian Arabs since have shown overwhelming support for the barbaric attack and violence to achieve geopolitical goals generally, a preference for Hamas’ leaders over alternatives, and opposition to disarming Hamas and expelling its leaders to stop the war.

The Gaza plan is silent on how it would address this problem, suggesting a belief that changes in material conditions, new political leadership, and the disarming of jihadists will suffice. President Trump may simply be presenting a choice to the Palestinian Arab population and those who will be governing it: Between peace and prosperity rooted in rational self-interest, or perpetual war rooted in religious fanaticism and the imperative to conquer, dominate, and make all infidels submit. The latter position’s historical prevalence could threaten the president’s best-laid plans.

Well see, this is precisely why adherents to the Religion of Peace don't belong in such regions, period. The same "community" of Muslims also celebrated 9-11 a quarter century ago, and we're literally supposed to overlook that? To do so is hugely ill-advised and dangerous. Read the whole item to see why what's being managed now is not going to ensure peace in the region at all.

All that aside, it should be noted that Trump's opposition to Israel fully annexing Judea/Samaria is offensive and embarrassingly bad:

President Trump has warned Israel it could lose all U.S. support if it moves forward on efforts to annex territory in the West Bank, as the Israeli government advances legislation aiming to formalize its sovereignty over settlements in the region.

Trump, in an interview with Time magazine conducted Oct. 15 and published Thursday, said he could cut off U.S. assistance to Israel if it moves forward with annexation.

“Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened,” he said.

“It won’t happen. It won’t happen. It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can’t do that now,” the president continued. “We’ve had great Arab support. It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. It will not happen.”

Echoing Trump’s warning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before he traveled to Israel that annexation would threaten the U.S.-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was put in place earlier this month.

Seriously, this is very disturbing, and no more appropriate than if a Democrat politician made the same statements. And let's not forget Trump's administration granted validity to Ahmed al-Sharaa as a despot in Syria, and removed him from the list of wanted terrorists. What's horrific about this is that it assumes that what's wrong for a Democrat-led administration to do is literally okay for a Republican-led administration to do. Seriously, is that acceptable? It should also be noted that, if Saudi Arabia, even now, hinges a peace treaty upon establishment of a palestinian state, that too is reprehensible and demeaning to Israel, so I'm not bothered that Bezalel Smotrich had something to say about it:

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Thursday that he wouldn’t agree to a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia if it meant the establishment of a Palestinian state, disparagingly saying the Saudis could “keep riding camels.”

“If Saudi Arabia tells us ‘normalization in exchange for a Palestinian state,’ friends — no thank you. Keep riding camels in the desert in Saudi Arabia, and we will continue to develop with the economy, society and state and the great things that we know how to do,” Smotrich said, speaking at a conference called “Halacha in the Technological Era” organized by the Zomet Institute and the Makor Rishon newspaper.

Smotrich was denounced by several opposition leaders, who accused him of ignorance and causing harm, said he did not represent Israel, and demanded he apologize.

The far-right Religious Zionism party leader apologized a few hours later, with a caveat: “My comment about Saudi Arabia was absolutely inappropriate, and I apologize for the insult it caused,” he said. At the same time, he added, “I expect from the Saudis not to do us harm and not to deny our heritage, our tradition and the rights of the Jewish people to its historic homelands in Judea and Samaria, and to establish true peace with us.” [...]

Riyadh has long insisted that it will only normalize ties with Israel if Jerusalem agrees to establish a time-bound, irreversible pathway to a future Palestinian state — a condition Smotrich and other members of Netanyahu’s right-wing government vehemently oppose.

Saudi Arabia immediately denounced the Knesset’s Wednesday vote in favor of the annexation bills, saying they were aimed at “legitimizing Israeli sovereignty over illegal colonial settlement.”

Well if this is how the Saudi government's going to go about, that's exactly why an annexation needs to be done. They're taking a position that denies Israel's history, and delcares it illegal for Israelis to live in said areas. In other words, they're saying that making a peace treaty with Israel hinges entirely upon their demands, not ours. And Trump's okay with that? I'm sorry, this is very disturbing. The following is also extremely disturbing:

US President Donald Trump will “f**k” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli leader jeopardizes the Gaza ceasefire deal, a US official said, according to a Channel 12 report.

Correspondent Barak Ravid, speaking in Hebrew on the network, says that a US official told him, “Netanyahu is walking a fine line with President Trump. If he keeps going, he’ll f**k up the Gaza deal. And if he f**ks up the deal, Donald Trump will f**k him.”

“In English, it sounds even cruder,” news anchor Yonit Levi noted at the end of Ravid’s report.

If even half of this is factual, that's vulgar and inappropriate, no matter what the political standings of the government official who said it, and it doesn't reflect well on the conduct of the Trump administration. Disagreement is one thing, but profanity is another. And even if envoy Steve Witkoff didn't make the same mistakes, that he would demand Israel's government release dangerous jihadists in exchange for hostages, as Weingarten also discusses in his op-ed, is equally troubling and sad.

Here's Fiamma Nierenstein's commentary on the subject.

Update: Daniel Greenfield warned a short time ago that what the Trump administration may be planning would suggest we've learned nothing from Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's bad for national interests to allow jihadists to run Syria

Daniel Greenfield makes a vital point that the Trump administration's doing deals with Syria's current, much worse totalitarians than Bashar Assad, does a terrible disservice to the USA's interests:

In March, the Trump administration laid out conditions for ending sanctions on Syria.

The new Islamic terrorist regime led by a former Al Qaeda terrorist that had taken over Syria was warned to “exclude foreign terrorist fighters from any official roles”, difficult to imagine considering that the country was being run by domestic and foreign terrorists, “and ensure the security and freedoms of Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities”. Especially Christians.

“Any adjustment to U.S. policy towards Syria’s interim authorities will be contingent on all of those steps being taken,” the terrorist regime was warned.

This position was reaffirmed by the Trump administration in April at the UN Security Council.

Syria’s Jihadi government not only refused to expel its foreign Jihadi allies, but gave members of Al Qaeda and ISIS linked terrorists ranks in its new ‘military’. Syria not only harbors terrorist networks from as far away as China and Albania, but also Muslim terrorists from Western nations like Omar Diaby, listed by the United States as linked to Al Qaeda, who was “responsible for recruiting 80% of the French-speaking jihadists who went to Syria or Iraq” and who are at high risk of carrying out terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States.

With Al-Qaeda and ISIS Jihadis in control of Syria, the country’s Christians live in fear.

The new terrorist regime was supposed to protect Syria’s Christians as a precondition to dropping sanctions. And while Al-Jolani has made all sorts of assurances, Islamic terrorists remain in control of some Christian property seized during the war (many other churches were destroyed) and Christians have been warned to become Muslims or face the consequences.

Leaflets bearing the message “death to the pork eaters” and other threats against Christians continue to circulate. Selective curfews were imposed on Christians who defended themselves against Muslim violence and they were disarmed in at least one community.

See, this is horrifying, and that the Trump administration would give a pass on these atrocities only makes things worse, and betrayes tons of innocent and defenseless non-Muslims, who're not getting a chance to speak in front of the USA Congress on these issues. Marco Rubio isn't making things better by going along with this:

Rubio also argued in the Senate that sanctions needed to be dropped because Syria was weeks or months “away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up.” Why this would be any worse than the current state of affairs in which Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists run the country was not made clear.

“We want to help that government succeed, because the alternative is full-scale civil war and chaos, which would, of course, destabilize the entire region,” he argued.

Do we really want terrorists to succeed in ruling Syria? Is that in our national interest?

Why is keeping Syria united under Turkish, Al Qaeda and ISIS rule preferable to letting the various ethnic and religious groups forced at gunpoint to pretend they’re part of one country get their independence? Syria’s Christians would be more likely to benefit from independence than rule by an Islamic terrorist coalition with a history of committing atrocities against Christians.

Correct, and what Trump/Rubio are doing now is a serious betrayal of Christian communities in Syria and anywhere else in the middle east where they're still living. Somebody needs to gather a delegation of Christians to speak in Wash. D.C about this issue. This is going to end very badly so long as they keep on with this. If they really want to prevent horrors, they should help the Christian communities form an independent region, or even to come under Israeli sovereignty.

John Daniel Davidson's wrong about how the USA should deal with middle eastern issues

One of The Federalist's leading editors, John Daniel Davidson, has written a very sloppy and concerning take on Donald Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia, one that sounds like he doesn't think the USA should promote and demand civilized values in the middle east:

Not only did Trump lambast neocon “nation-building” in the region, he more or less vowed never to pursue the kinds of neocon misadventures that spilt American blood and treasure over the past 25 years in the insane pursuit of creating western liberal democracies in the Middle East.

In stark and unmistakable terms, the president reminded the world of the abject failure of decades of neocon and liberal interventionist U.S. foreign policy under both Democrat and Republican leadership. He specifically called out the trillions of U.S. tax dollars wasted in a totally unsuccessful attempt to turn Iraq and Afghanistan into western-style democracies as part of the global war on terror.

“In the end, the so-called ‘nation-builders’ wrecked far more nations than they built — and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves,” Trump said. “The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neocons, or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad.”

Ahem. If we take Afghanistan as an example, they didn't even try to do that, and most importantly, refused to wean the country off of the Islamic religion. How does Mr. Davidson expect there to be any long range peace and quiet if there's a dominant ideology that leads to a boomerang effect, where years later, they can, much like a "sleeper agent", go right back to old and dirty tricks?

In other words, Trump’s vision of American foreign policy isn’t driven by a zeal to remake the world into some version of a liberal western democracy. In Riyadh, he was saying that Saudi Arabia and the other Arab states can just be Islamic monarchies, and as long as they present no threat to American interests, and as long as they promote peace and stability, then we can do business with them.

Well, this is telling something. So it's okay if Islam continues to govern such countries - and additionally chilling, if it ends up dominating Europe and the USA - so long as it supposedly doesn't affect the USA? Also, what's this about a "liberal" western democracy? Why not a conservative western democracy? This has got to be another chilling flaw in Mr. Davidson's argument. Something only somebody who doesn't value foreign lives as much as local ones could possibly write. He later says, very insultingly:

Critics will simply repeat platitudes like we fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here, or that a world of liberal democracies is in the American interest. Maybe that’s true in theory, but in practice it amounts to a carte blanche to intervene anywhere in the world for any reason. What’s more, no one seriously believes that America has the ability or competence to plant stable democracies in Africa or Asia — or anywhere, for that matter. The reason for this is simple: stable democracies cannot be planted by any outside power, no matter how rich and powerful. They have to grow organically and domestically from the people themselves. We can applaud emergent democracies, we can do business with them, but there is precious little we can do to guarantee them, much less build them in the first place.

And not every nation has to be a democracy. The great lie of the Bush-era war on terror was that all people yearn for freedom and democracy. No they don’t. Some yearn much more for justice, or righteousness, or simply revenge. Some will be hereditary monarchies, or Islamic caliphates, or any number of other things. That’s fine. We shouldn’t be troubled by our differences with other nations, so long as they don’t threaten us. The idea that we could turn Afghanistan into a modern democratic state was perhaps the greatest delusion of the past quarter-century. As Trump said on Tuesday, “I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be very profound.”

Ahem. Maybe democracy isn't what every nation need be, but should any nation be a spot where barbarism, misogyny and racism can reign? Absolutely not. And it's unacceptable that any country have totalitarians savaging their own subjects. Similar points can be made about communism. Davidson's argument is defeatist in that it additionally refuses to recognize that indoctrination to evil is another grave wrong that can't go unopposed. And it goes without saying that said indoctrination is what's led to "honor murders" by Islamofascists. And it's insulting to Americans' intellects to say the USA doesn't have the ability to establish sturdy democracies on continents like Africa and Asia. By that logic, they didn't have what it took to tame Germany and Japan either.

And Adam Johnston isn't doing much better with his claim the USA shouldn't go to war with Iran, which has some strange descriptions of certain commentary figures:

Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is under fire from neocons after she recently testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee “that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not authorized [restarting] the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.”

This caused neoconservative media personality Mark Levin and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley to push back on Gabbard, both sharing an op-ed from former John Bolton Chief of Staff Fred Fleitz, who called the intelligence reports referenced by Gabbard “stupid intelligence.”

I can't currently recall Levin ever being described before as a "neocon". Is this some kind of absurd propaganda to undermine those who believe force is the only true way to defeat savage evil? And are the lives of innocent women in Iran persecuted for not dressing in abayas worthless? Well that's what Johnston runs the gauntlet of implying, and that's no improvement over Davidson's approach. Maybe the war in Iraq was unnecessary, but that's only if you fail to get rid of the Islamist indoctrination that since became more prevalent there. Same can be said about Iran. Are we to assume Johnston and Davidson also believe Lebanon should remain in the clutches of the Islamists too?

Yet under the growing influence of the more nationalist and non-interventionist America First movement, this longstanding alliance is beginning to fracture. A new generation of right-wing leaders — figures who are notably more realist and restraint-oriented, and less reflexively pro-Israel, such as Vice President J.D. Vance, Elbridge Colby, and influential media figures like Tucker Carlson — are questioning endless American interventionism in the Middle East and whether U.S. interests are always best served by unconditional support for Israel.

Wow, with this kind of mentality, we'd never have won WW2, let alone WW1. Interesting Carlson comes up in discussion here, because he's regrettably proven negative to Israel, and that's not good. Also, what's so wrong with being "hawkish"? Does that mean that when a left-winger is "dovish" that's a great thing? Forget it, these propagandists have gone too far, and the Federalist's just proven a most embarrassingly bad publication with this embarrassment.

Now in more news related to Trump's recent Saudi Arabia conference, Christine Williams has addressed the issue, and points to serious info on what crimes al-Sharaa's organization has done:

A MEMRI article entitled, “Qatar Continues To Finance Terror With U.S. Consent: Will Fund Syria’s New Regime, Led By HTS Terror Organization, Just As It Funded Hamas,” examined the terrorist history of Syrian leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who reverted to his original name Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, to create a false impression that he had changed, even though he remains dedicated to the jihadist cause, ie. to establish the Sharia.

Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) “was established in 2012 by Al-Sharaa (then known as Al-Joulani) at the behest of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who would soon become the founder of ISIS. In 2013 the group became the official branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria after Al-Joulani broke with Al-Baghdadi and swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri.”

Al-Sharaa’s followers have slaughtered Christians, Alawites and Druze since toppling Al-Assad.

The MEMRI article also exposes the modus operandi of Qatar, “the world’s greatest financer of extremist Islamist elements such as the Muslims Brotherhood and jihadi terror organizations.”

[...] The fall of the al-Assad Syrian regime was bad news for its staunch ally, Iran, which was good news to America and Israel. But like the mujahideen of Afghanistan, Al-Sharaa is no friend to America and Israel, and neither is Qatar. In December, Qatar “rushed to position itself as a pivotal player in shaping Syria’s future” after the fall of al-Assad. Qatar was hand in hand with “its closest regional partner,” Turkey, which was responsible for facilitating and backing al-Sharaa before and after al-Assad’s fall.

Now al-Sharaa is making significant inroads, as his leadership is legitimized by Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Qatar (and Turkey), with new US support to boot.

Seriously, it's very sad and regrettable it's come to this, because not only does it not help Israel, it also does not help any innocent Druze, Kurds and Yazidis in the area. Williams does note though:

One thing for certain is that Trump inherited Joe Biden’s complete betrayal of American interests, both domestically and abroad. Biden left open borders, poured billions into the coffers of Iran, left billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art military equipment in Afghanistan for free use by the Taliban, and virtually factored America out of the equation of any global influence. Biden left Trump to contend with a nuclear threshold Iran and a turbulent Middle East that saw America under the declining Biden as nothing more than a joke.

It’s also no secret that Qatar has been buying out American campuses, where pro-Hamas, intimidating protests proliferated, with little to no intervention by the campus administration.

The picture looks grim. But one needs to remember that Trump, not Biden, cracked down on campus antisemitism, which was disguised as “free speech” when it was really a promotion of jihad terror against Israel and Jews.

Yes, but that doesn't mean Trump should allow jihadism to gain footholds even abroad. As some conservatives may realize, the day will come when right-wingers will have no choice but to do battle overseas if that's what it takes to ensure future generations of decent folk everywhere will have a future. Let's also consider that Iran may not be the only Islamic regime with nuclear research in store.

Of course, the cautionary tale of the mujahideen in Afghanistan should be remembered. However, considering Trump’s past policies of protecting American borders from the worst criminals and jihadists, as well as his reinstatement of the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries of concern, it makes little sense to assume without further evidence that he would betray America to the jihadist cause. Let’s hope there is a method (and long-term results) to the madness — as appears to be the case even at this point. In the meantime, expect the inevitable media circus as America continues to emerge from disastrous, nightmarish Democrat rule.

Certainly it's important to protect USA borders, and to back Israel, but that doesn't mean we should turn our backs on any innocent souls in Islamic regimes who should be liberated from the Religion of Peace's tyranny. And even communist regimes are a bad omen. Mainly because of how they're more than perfectly willing to do business with the Religion of Peace, and maybe even sell out their countries to Islam in the end. Interestingly enough, Trump's deal with al-Sharaa in Syria doesn't seem to have met any opposition or complaints from the Democrats. Surely that's not telling something?

Then, here's some more observations about Trump's gamble on Syria:

“Obviously, it is a bit of a gamble,” Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, told the DCNF. “If you take a look at historical cases in which an entity has been on a terrorist list and then has transitioned towards becoming more acceptable as they become a political party or take over a country, whether it’s the [African National Congress], the [Irish Republican Army], or the [Palestinian Liberation Organization], it’s nevertheless been a process with specific demands and time in order to make sure that this is not just a temporary change of heart.”

What it really is, is taqqiya (deception). And vehement refusal by the PLO to abandon Islam only worsens the matter.

Al-Sharaa has attempted to distance himself from his jihadist past, but HTS still retains the salafist jihadist interpretation of Islam that al-Qaeda espouses, with the latter viewing HTS as traitorous.

Point: if we take the case of Egypt's past autocrat Anwar Sadat as an example, there are jihadists who won't accept that he pulled an act of deception of his own on Israel, and that's how Sadat was slain a few years after the Camp David accords. So it's no surprise if al-Qaeda doesn't accept al-Sharaa's own acts of deception regardless of his intentions. Either way, both al Qaeda and al-Sharaa are bad news, and nobody should have to make a choice between either.

More important information comes from Dr. Yehuda Balanga:

Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (al-Julani). It appears Trump chose to ignore the fact that until that meeting, al-Sharaa had been a wanted terrorist in the eyes of the Americans. Overnight, he became wanted in Washington under very different circumstances. "A young and attractive guy," Trump said of al-Sharaa. "A tough guy with a strong background. A very strong background. A fighter." Notably, the American president failed to mention that this "fighter" he praised led a Sunni Islamist-jihadist organization that persecuted and killed men, women, and children during the Syrian civil war solely because of their religious beliefs or political affiliations. [...]

To date, no Islamist movement that seized power has ever abandoned its ideology. Quite the contrary - every past success has emboldened a wider Islamist surge. This was true in Iran after the 1979 revolution, and again after the Arab Spring, when Islamist movements, many tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, rose to power in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and now Syria. Given al-Sharaa's past in al-Qaida and Islamic State, a shift in worldview seems unlikely.

See, this is exactly what may be overlooked in this whole concerning development. Do MAGA supporters and America Firsters intend to let this go without public comment?

Anyway, after discovering what the above writers/editors for the Federalist were using for apologia, I decided I'd had enough, and the time had come to remove them from my side menu. Even the Daily Caller so far hasn't written anything that foolish, which is amazing considering Carlson was one of their co-founders. The Federalist had turned out some very tasteless, disturbing and divisive op-eds before, and these latest are only compounding a very embarrassingly bad situation. We could decidedly do without their shoddy "opinions".

Trump has sadly made a serious mistake when it comes to dealing with Syria's new jihadist autocrat

Many no doubt were disturbed when Emmanuel Macron met with Ahmed al-Sharaa recently. But now, Donald Trump has caused more damage to the ability to deal properly with Islamic terrorism in Syria - and anti-Christian persecution occurring there - as he was willing to meet with al-Sharaa and even lift sanctions against Syria:

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the jihadist terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), praised President Donald Trump in an address on Wednesday for taking the “courageous and historic” step of lifting sanctions on his country.

Sharaa delivered a speech to the Syrian people following an in-person meeting with President Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where President Trump concluded the first of three stops in a Middle East tour on Wednesday. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who first met Sharaa shortly after HTS toppled the half-century-old Assad family regime in Damascus, arranged and presided over the meeting.

The event was the first time in 25 years an American president had met a Syrian head of state.

President Trump announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria on Tuesday before the meeting. He reinforced his commitment to the decision in remarks to reporters following his meeting with Sharaa, who he called “pretty amazing.”

Syria is currently on the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and the subject of extensive, onerous sanctions. All stem from the behavior of former dictator Bashar Assad, who allied himself closely with Iran and its entire terrorist proxy network and, throughout over a decade of civil war, committed a host of atrocities against his own people. HTS, the al-Qaeda offshoot Sharaa led under the alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, overthrew the Assad regime in December, sending the dictator fleeing to his patrons in Moscow.

As one of several factions actively combatting the Assad regime, HTS made a longstanding enemy of Iran and the Shiite terrorist axis and did not participate in the Assad regime’s crimes – though it engaged in its own atrocities, particularly against groups that Assad did not persecute, such as Christians and Alawite Shiites. HTS massacres of Alawites have been documented to have occurred as recently as this March; Sharaa has attempted to distance himself from the violence.

Seriously, this causes terrible damage to the cause of Christians who fell victim to horrific crimes of jihadists in the area, and the whole notion al-Sharaa had nothing to do with it is naive. It's regrettable Trump is doing this, no matter what for.

A similar concern could be raised about whether Trump intends to meet with Vladimir Putin:

President Donald Trump said Friday that he would like to set up a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin “as soon” as possible.

Trump made the comments in Abu Dhabi as he prepared to return home to the United States at the end of his Middle East tour. He had previously floated a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin in Turkey, but the Russian president refused to attend.

“They all said Putin was going and Zelensky was going. And I said, If I don’t go, I guarantee Putin is not going, and he didn’t go,” Trump said. “And I understand that, but we’re going to get it we’re going to get it done. We’ve got to get it done. Five thousand young people are being killed every single week on average, and we’re going to get it done.”

While Ukrainian and Russian officials are meeting in Turkey on Friday, Trump said he believed he would have to meet with Putin to make real progress toward ending the war.

And this meeting between Putin and Zelensky is being conducted in equally bad territory, Turkey? Well that's got to be telling too in its own way. No matter how one looks at this, what's regrettable here is the whole notion Putin cannot be brought down in any way, even though he's the one who began all this, not to mention that he still acts as an autocrat. And meeting in Turkey is not improving the situation either.

Trump's idea for Gaza could have potential

President Donald Trump's said he'd like to take charge of rebuilding Gaza as a more inhabitable place for everyone:

Several pro-Israel experts who focus on the Middle East believe President Donald Trump’s plan for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip will be challenging, yet beneficial.

During a Tuesday press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump announced his plans to relocate all Gazans out of the area and to rebuild the strip into a U.S.-owned-development zone, sparking varied reactions.

Jonathan Schanzer, the Senior Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Americans would not be embraced in Gaza without the help of Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“A plan that would include the Saudis and Emiratis would be more welcome by the rest of the region, but there is no Arab participation,” he said. “So, Trump has now forced their hands. Now we wait to see the Arab reaction.”

He added that the main challenge would be removing Gazans from the war-torn strip, which Trump has described as a “demolition site.”

“This would be better handled by the Arab states, but they have failed to propose a feasible plan,” Schanzer said. “Trump has forced their hand.”

Ran Bar-Yoshafat, an attorney and public diplomacy expert who has served in the Israeli Defence Forces reserve in Gaza after October 7, is a fan of Trump’s idea.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Bar-Yoshafat said. “Trump is saying what everyone is thinking. Better for them, better for us.”

Netanyahu says the idea is worth considering. And provided the future will ensure Jews can live/work in Gaza again, that's what'll make it work for real. Also, moving Muslims out of Gaza can serve as an example of what other countries having trouble with Islam can do.

Update: Robert Spencer says:

As for American administration of Gaza, it could work as a temporary measure, but only if leftist nation-builders are kept far away from the project and the whole area is approached in a manner that has not been attempted before: not to teach the natives who hate the West and democracy to love both but to free the area of jihadis and then build a new life with those who remain.

That's an important point. Here's more from David Friedman.

Muslim gulf states buy real estate near the District of Columbia

While most conservatives' attention may have been focused upon China's buying of real estate in the USA, it would seem little attention's been given to how Islamic countries like Qatar and the UAE have been doing the same:

Arab Gulf states have quietly and sometimes secretly purchased at least $282 million worth of real estate in Washington’s most elite neighborhood.

Situated high atop the banks of the Potomac River and overlooking the nation’s capital, Virginia’s “Gold Coast” has long been the home of America’s ruling class. Today, it’s home to a number of high-profile Washingtonians, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose home on Arlington’s tony Chain Bridge Road has been swarmed by an encampment of anti-Israel protesters since Hamas’s October 7th invasion of Israel.

But since 2019, a mysterious entity called 600 CBR LLC has been buying up property in the area, building up a compound that sold for three times as much as Jeff Bezos’ $23 million D.C. mansion. Though the buyers behind 600 CBR are unknown, the real estate blog UrbanTurf reported in 2022 that “the buyer is from the United Arab Emirates and that settlement documents confirm this.”

The embassy of the United Arab Emirates owns extensive property just down the block from the 600 CBR compound, and the compound’s primary residence is directly across the street from Blinken’s $5 million home. Since October 7th, anti-Israel protesters have been living in the narrow strip between the road and the LLC’s property, with their tents, signs, and buckets of fake blood just inches from its fence.

It is unclear whether the various Arab nations who own the properties are involved in the protests outside Blinken’s home, which The Daily Wire reported likely violate several state and local laws. The UAE embassy did not answer questions from The Daily Wire about whether UAE royals are behind the purchase, nor their stance on the protest outside Blinken’s home.

[...] The Embassy of the State of Qatar’s nearby compound is assessed to be worth $20 million. The oil-rich nation has just 300,000 citizens—half the size of the District of Columbia—but recently counted 2 million residents. The vast majority of its residents are foreign laborers working in conditions sometimes described as “modern slavery.”

Qatar has been in the international spotlight since Hamas’s invasion of Israel. The terrorist group’s leaders operate out of Qatar, and the nation’s representative to the Arab parliament said “There can be no peace or negotiations with the Zionist entity.” Qatar has also enmeshed itself into D.C.’s culture by becoming part-owner of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards.

This news certainly does make clear the whole notion the UAE and Saudi Arabia have improved, morally or otherwise, is still far from being so. The question now is whether anything can be done to reverse the situation. This is disturbing and can't be taken lightly. Even in Europe, there's only so much of this that can't be overlooked.

Saudi Arabia removing antisemitic teachings from educational textbooks

It looks like some progress and improvement's been made in how Saudi Arabia approaches the subject of Israel/Jews, although there's still serious shortcomings:

A study of Saudi school textbooks has found increased progress on the kingdom’s portrayal of Israel and Zionism, in continuation of a positive trend that has emerged in recent years.

Textbooks for the 2023-2024 school year no longer teach that Zionism is a “racist” European movement, and no longer deny the historical Jewish presence in the region, according to the study, published last week by the nonprofit IMPACT-se, which monitors educational curricula in Middle Eastern and North African countries.

“It’s a small step that shows a change of narrative towards Israel, and showcases more tolerance and openness,” said Nimrod Goren, who heads Mitvim – The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, to The Times of Israel.

Unfortunately, there's still a ways to go, as the following makes clear:

Designations of Israel as an “enemy state” have been expunged, but references to the “Israeli occupation” can still be found, and the curriculum still underscores Saudi Arabia’s commitment to the Palestinian cause.

The name “Israel” still does not appear on maps, but the name “Palestine,” which previously covered the entirety of Israeli territory, has now been removed, the report highlights.

Well that's definitely something they have to improve upon, and there's also something in the following to ponder:

The study on Saudi textbooks found that antisemitism has been practically eradicated from the kingdom’s curriculum. In past years, Saudi students had been exposed to egregious examples of hate and incitement in textbooks, the report noted. “Examples which have since been removed included the characterization of Jews as treacherous individuals, and Qur’anic verses teaching that Jews turned into monkeys.”

Problematic content promoting violent jihad and martyrdom has also been removed in recent years, the report noted. Instead, a nonviolent interpretation of jihad is promoted as an individual struggle for personal betterment as opposed to armed struggle against non-Muslims.

It sounds here like they're using a PC view of the word "jihad" that was employed over a decade ago in an attempt to pretend it doesn't mean "holy/religious war". Sorry, but that's no more acceptable than when apologists in the west use it. If anything, it's a form of taqqiya (deception), and here, Saudi students are being indoctrinated with it.

So while these first steps in expunging antisemitism from Saudi publications is the right way to go, they still have much more to accomplish, and if they won't abandon the Religion of Peace, nothing will be improved upon.

Biden must let Israel finish the job in Gaza

And no doubt, Lebanon next. Meir Ben Shabbat observes:

The statements coming out of the White House in which it claimed the US was not calling for a ceasefire in Gaza at this point could not undo the harsh impression left by Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Israel. So too was the attempt to put the normalization talks with Saudi Arabia back on the agenda.

The Biden administration understands full well the importance of achieving a resounding victory over Hamas in Gaza. It would like Israel to get it done quickly. However, it has been asking many things from Israel – and by doing so it has only prolonged the path to victory and has been imposing a burden on Israeli shoulders.

Washington has been pressuring Israel to scale back the fighting, significantly increase the scope of humanitarian aid (knowing that most of it reaches Hamas), and launch a process with the UN(!) that will allow the return of the residents of northern Gaza to their homes. All this only exacerbates the operational challenges facing our forces. It also provides a backwind for Hamas by having its leaders hope that they will be able to drag Israel into a war of attrition that will end in an "arrangement."

What's more – the administration's demands also make it harder to secure the release of the captives by alleviating the pressure on Hamas and allowing it to harden its stance.

One cannot sweep under the rug Hamas' tunnels by wishing them away with "regional integration." Likewise, its many arms and the large military force that remains in the area will not simply disappear. The damage Israel has inflicted on Hamas so far is painful but not fatal. After the events of October 7, this cannot suffice.

Even if it takes a long time to achieve the goals – there should be no compromise on that. Even those who struggle to define Gaza as a "Hamas state" understand that as long as there is a strong, organized, and armed core of the terrorist organization there – it will be the central power broker and everything will call the shots.

Jerusalem will have to continue maneuvering between the desire to maintain Biden's support and assistance (for which it deserves appreciation) while heeding the demands it has put forth, which constrain Israel.

Recalling Blinken made a very disgusting statement, saying Israel, "doesn't have the credit" several weeks ago, that's why the administration would do well to stop any interfering steps they've been making. It's just plain unacceptable, and hurts the USA as much as Israel.

Update: also of note, Jake Smith reports that a former member of Donald Trump's staff says Biden's reponsible for enabling Islamic terror groups that're now attcking the USA and its allies.

Poll finds a considerable number of younger Americans take favorable view of Osama bin Laden

A most chilling poll reveals how deep the corruption and leftist indoctrination have become regarding today's younger generation of USA residents (via Breitbart):

One in five young Americans has a positive view of 9/11 mastermind and Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, according to disturbing results of a DailyMail.com poll.

The alarming survey also found three in 10 Gen Z voters believe the views of the anti-Semitic terrorist leader who slaughtered thousands of innocent people were a ‘force for good'.

Family members of 9/11 victims said the findings are 'horrifying' and proof of a startling trend suggesting some in the younger generation are growing sympathetic to terrorists.

Another DailyMail.com poll in October found one in 10 voters under the age of 30 had a positive view of Hamas, despite the group's murderous attack on Israel that killed more than 1,300 men, women and children.

Bin Laden orchestrated the 2001 hijackings that killed 2,977 people and injured thousands at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. He was also behind multiple plots that have slain countless others around the world.

The relatives of the Americans he murdered 22 years ago fear his diabolical actions are quickly being forgotten.

They have urged schools to do more to teach children about the perpetrators and for the U.S. to come clean about Saudi Arabia's involvement in the attacks.

This is utterly repulsive, and the worst part is how the parents of the younger generations polled clearly failed to raise them properly. Clearly, it's even worse than the news about TikTok warned.

Terry Strada told DailyMail.com the results are ‘horrifying’ and are a ‘disturbing’ sign that terrorism is being ‘normalized’.

Her husband Tom, a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, was in the North Tower on the 104th floor on 9/11.

Their final conversation was when he called her after the second plane hit.

In the 22 years since, she has been fighting to find justice for her husband's murder and for the families of the victims as the National Chair of 9/11 Families United.

‘What is wrong with our youth?’ she added. ‘How do they not realize the horrors of terrorism?’

‘This is a dangerous and slippery slope to go down’.

Strada blames the results on the U.S. school system not adequately teaching the truth about 9/11 and those who were responsible.

The heroism of first responders is covered in lessons, but not the role of terrorists or the involvement of any state actors.

She has led the effort to pressure the U.S. government to reveal any ties Saudi Arabia had to the attacks, while they have swept them under the rug.

The results of this poll, she says, will leave a terrible legacy for the children of 9/11 victims who could still be seeking answers as the ‘vile’ attacks slip from the national consciousness.

Brett Eagleson, who was 15 when his father perished in the South Tower, said the poll results show young minds are being 'perverted' by the U.S. government's 'feckless inability' to hold responsible parties to account.

He has also spent years fighting for justice for the families torn apart on that fateful day and demanded the U.S. be more transparent about Saudi involvement.

DailyMail.com: 'We have never been told the full story or truth about what happened to us on 9/11.

'So it’s no wonder why today’s youth and adolescents have taken such extremist views supporting the evil that visited us that day. We have a two-decades-long government cover up to blame for this.

'The time is past for a full accounting of the Saudi Government role in 9/11 as well the intelligence failures of the US government.

'The minds of this country’s youth are being perverted by our government's feckless inability to be honest with itself and hold the rightful parties accountable, so we actually have a situation where a significant number of young people are praising the murder and death of our neighbors.'

Education as we know it has become alarmingly awful, and now we're seeing the results. There can be no doubt this news is very upsetting for 911 Families, who were already hit hard enough, and it's also part of the mentality that led to support for the Hamas' bloodbath on October 7. Many of these younger generations also likely have no gratitude to Israel for developing what till now is the only 911 Memorial monument in Israel.

The Hezbollah in Lebanon is just as dangerous as Hamas

Rick Moran reminds everyone that Hezbollah's bound to willing and ready to attack Israel, just like the Hamas did this weekend:

The Hamas invasion of Israel is the most significant military action against the Jewish state ever carried out by a terrorist group. The planning for this attack must have begun months ago in Tehran where the bulk of the funds used to arm and train fighters for the attack originated.

Anyone who refers to Hamas as “freedom fighters” should have their head examined. The terrorists kidnapped dozens of civilians — infants, old people, women — and are holding them somewhere in Gaza. As the IDF looks to turn back the terrorists who have invaded seven different areas in the South of Israel, they must contend with the eventuality of a Hezbollah attack in the North.

Already, Israel has exchanged artillery fire with Hezbollah, and the terrorist’s masters in Tehran have given fulsome praise to Hamas for the attack.

Might Hezbollah join Hamas and hit Israel in the North while the IDF is occupied in the South?

Sarit Zehavi, the founder of the Alma Center, which is a research center in Israel dedicated to understanding their national security situation, told the Washington Examiner that there’s a chance Hezbollah could soon attack Israel with the country’s attention focused on the south.

“It’s just a matter of decision for Hezbollah, whether it wants to join in or not. I believe this decision was not made yet, and that’s why we’re not there yet, but maybe we’re not that far from this place,” she said.“Here in Israel, we are preparing for the scenario of war also from the north because we understand it was within the interest of Iran and Hezbollah to escalate the Israeli-Lebanese border. We see what is happening in the south as a part of a bigger plan to attack Israel and weaken the state of Israel from multiple fronts, and I guess this is what the Iranians now are trying to create.”

Iran’s motives are clear. They want to disrupt the movement toward peace between Israel and their Arab neighbors, begun by Donald Trump. Tehran sees peace — quite rightly — as a massive loss of influence for Iran.

Obviously, they want to destroy chances of peace with Saudi Arabia (though lest we forget, even today, the House of Saud can still be very shady), along with quite possibly other such countries. But that's still nothing compared to the hostage crisis caused by the kidnappings of Israelis by Hamas that's now causing a serious issue. We must hope that won't deter the government from taking serious ground action in Gaza.

Update: Melanie Phillips addressed the crisis, and she makes some vital points:

How could this possibly have happened? Clearly, there has been a massive Israeli intelligence failure. It’s hard not to see a connection with the enormous anti-government protests over the past nine months, which saw Israelis trying to undermine the economy and even refusing to do army reservists’ duty.

Such a paralysing internal battle may have taken official eyes off the security ball. What’s undeniable is that the ferocity and length of these internal convulsions sent a signal that Israel was weakened. Many Israelis have been wondering over these past difficult months just when Israel’s mortal enemies would seize this opportunity to take advantage of this weakness. Now we have the dreadful answer.

And this barbarism has been paid for by the US and EU. What did they think all the money they were channelling into Gaza for “humanitarian” purposes would actually be used for? Now we have the answer.

What did the Biden administration think would be the result of appeasing, grovelling to and funding Iran, the paymasters of Hamas and Hezbollah? Now it has its answer.

America, the EU and Britain have consistently undermined Israel’s attempt to defend itself against attack. For the past century, the west has incentivised exterminatory Palestinian Arab terror against Israel by rewarding it with the promise of statehood — which the Palestinians always made plain they wanted only as a staging post towards Israel’s destruction — and punishing Israel for objecting to this existential threat.

The whole notion army reservists would refuse service over petty issues like judicial reform certainly damaged morale, and from a local perspective, also has to shoulder blame. Why, those would-be reservists should be fired by the army and not welcome to serve ever again, if that's their way of thinking.

Update 2: more news on the issue of kidnap victims.

Update 3: here's information on how the IDF smashed targets in Gaza. There's extra information here too.

Update 4: here's also a posting on X from the IDF:

A short while ago, IAF fighter jets struck a compound belonging to the head of the intelligence department in the Hamas terrorist organization.

The IAF is currently continuing to strike terror targets in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/uSHsXGFNzz

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) October 8, 2023

And more on Daily Caller.

Biden bunch makes normalization of Israeli-Saudi ties impossible

It says in this article:

Any progress on normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia currently hinges on defense guarantees, which the latter is seeking from the United States, said a senior Israeli official traveling with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation to Cyprus.

The senior official, deeply involved in the diplomatic process, estimated there are another “four to five” non-resolved issues upon which the negotiations turn, but they are “not as complicated.”

American and Palestinian delegations are traveling to the Gulf state this week to continue talks that would include a US-brokered normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a prospect deeply desired by Netanyahu.

The official assessed that Israeli concessions to the Palestinians were not the chief Saudi focus, with the Saudi-US defense pact the kingdom’s main concern.

While declining to elaborate on potential concessions, the senior official added that Netanyahu, who spent the past two days in Cyprus for trilateral talks with his Cypriot and Greek counterparts, felt confidant he would be able to rally his hardline coalition behind him. The coalition, including Netanyahu’s far-right partners and lawmakers in his Likud party, overwhelmingly oppose a Palestinian state and are committed to extending Jewish sovereignty over the West Bank.

As Andrea Widburg points out:

In other words, Saudi Arabia doesn’t care about the Palestinians. However, the U.S. government, as a condition of the normalization talks, is trying to force Israel to get on board with a two-state solution while pulling out of Judea and Samaria.

Regarding Judea and Samaria, an archeology dig has discovered a 4,000-year-old Israelite settlement in that region. It is a reminder that, with the Canaanites and Philistines having vanished several millennia ago, Jews are the indigenous people of the Holy Land. It’s also a reminder that Judea and Samaria are the heartland of the Jews’ indigenous state.

As for the two-state solution, Israel cannot recognize on her borders a sovereign state that has as its stated goal her destruction. Nor can Jerusalem function as a divided city. The last time that Arab Muslims had control over Jerusalem, they banned Jews from accessing their Holy sites and destroyed anything they could get away with destroying.

In other words, while Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are talking about ways to protect Saudi Arabia, the Biden administration is saying that, as a condition of entering into the agreement, Israel must destroy her national security. That hardly seems fair.

Yet this is tragically the path the Democrats have advocated for a long time, regardless of what the Hamas and PLO say and encourage against Israel. And this is exactly why Israel shouldn't rely on the USA for mediating. It only makes normalization of connections impossible.

Saudi forces murdered hundreds of Ethiopian refugees, and Taliban murdered Afghans who sided with the USA

Christine Williams reports chilling news that Saudi Arabia's still not ready to be considered a country worth doing peace treaties with, based on sadistic violence their military committed against actual refugees in Yemen:

Globalist leaders swung open their countries’ doors to multitudes of economic Muslim migrants, causing violent crime to surge, adding strain to their economies and threatening their national security. Suicidal immigration policies have also led to a rise in antisemitism. Muslim countries, however, while infamous for screaming “Islamophobia” to keep infidels in line and prevent them from scrutinizing or insulting Islam, have been silent about a method employed by Saudi Arabia to stop genuine refugees from Ethiopia from entering the country. The Saudis are shooting them, “at close range and firing explosive weapons at groups.” Take note: this violence isn’t coming from al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the like, but from Saudi Arabia, now exposed for looking a good deal more like Iran than many suspect in this era of its ‘modernizing’ crown prince.

“Saudi security forces have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the country’s border with Yemen.” And this isn’t new:

Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers have been tortured, injured or killed by Saudi Arabian border guards at the Yemen-Saudi border. At least hundreds have been killed trying to make this crossing between March 2022 and June 2023.

A 14-year-old girl describes her bone-chilling experience:

We were fired on repeatedly. I saw people killed in a way I have never imagined. I saw 30 killed people on the spot. I pushed myself under a rock and slept there. I could feel people sleeping around me. I realized what I thought were people sleeping around me were actually dead bodies. I woke up and I was alone.

And yet, only Israel is considered a problem, as Williams reminds everyone. This is truly abominable, and if prince bin Salman's okay with this, then there's something to despise him for.

And since we're on the subject of brutal regimes, new reports reveal the Taliban murdered and tortured Afghan army personnel who'd sided with the USA:

The Taliban has killed hundreds of Afghan former military, security and government officials since the U.S.-backed government fell to the insurgents two years ago, the United Nations said in a report released Tuesday.

Taliban leader Amir al-Mu’minin verbally granted amnesty to Afghans who aided the U.S. and allied militaries in their 20-year war to stamp out Islamist insurgents, but instead have retaliated against former Army and security personnel, the investigation found. At least 200 were arbitrarily killed and hundreds more subjected to torture, disappearances and imprisonment outside of legal proceedings between Aug. 15, 2021 and June 30, 2023, the U.N.’s humanitarian arm in Afghanistan said.

A “climate of fear” exists among former government officials and members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) wrote in the report.

Though no government abroad's recognized the Taliban as legitimate, that still doesn't excuse their lack of opposition, something even the UN's failed to do. "Diplomacy" has only resulted in failure.

Leftist judge lets Saudi national who stole NJ school bus off the hook

Robert Spencer points to a disturbing case in New Jersey involving a Saudi Arabian national that's not really surprising for years now:

Who saw this coming? Bader Alzahrani, a Saudi national who stole a New Jersey school bus and wrote about jihad and “blood, destruction, Allah,” has been found incompetent to stand trial. And that makes total sense, right? After all, it isn’t as if he were someone who was actually dangerous, such as a MAGA hat-wearing Trump supporter. So why should the poor dear be put through the trauma of an actual trial?

Lehigh Valley Live reported Thursday that Alzahrani “is facing charges from incidents in January, including receipt of a stolen vehicle transportation of a stolen vehicle in federal court, and motor vehicle theft, burglary, theft of moveable property, criminal damage and criminal trespass in New Jersey court.” However, federal Judge Michael Hammer (wait, shouldn’t that be Judge Michael Gavel?) said, “based on a psychiatric report sealed by the court, Alzahrani has a mental disease or defect that makes him unable to understand the court proceedings and properly participate in his defense.”

This is perfectly reasonable once one understands that Judge Mike Hammer is part of an establishment that does not acknowledge the existence of Islamic jihad. The Obama administration removed all mention of Islam and jihad from counterterror training back in 2010, and since then it has become settled dogma among the political elites that “Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism,” as Hillary Clinton so memorably put it in November 2015. When confronted with an actual Islamic jihad terrorist, these fantasists claim he is mentally ill. Anyone who thinks God has told them he will reward them for killing people must be crazy, right?

Alzahrani does appear to be a committed jihadi. According to the criminal complaint against him, he not only stole the bus but apparently broke into an unoccupied residential home across the street from the parking lot where the bus was stolen. A backpack was found in that home, containing Alzahrani’s Saudi passport and a number of “other items that appeared to belong to Alzahrani.” Among these items were journals that contained entries in both English and Arabic. The entries were hair-raising.

Notice the oddity of how Muslims who commit violent crimes are otherwise let off the hook by claiming they're just "mentally ill", whereas LGBT ideology, by sharp contrast, is not to be considered anything of the sort. Quite a bizarre paradox there alright. Now, the Saudi criminal may have been sent back to his own country without any serious jail sentence, while there's bound to be many more like him still lurking around the USA who're bound to do much worse than he did. All because of what Obama started, and now Biden's continuing.

Normalized ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia may be more likely

There's reports now that Israel could normalize relations with Saudi Arabia:

Earlier this month, a diplomatic source revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had engaged in two phone conversations with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) within a span of a few weeks. This comes after a clandestine meeting in November 2020, when Netanyahu, accompanied by Yossi Cohen, the former head of Mossad, held talks with MBS in Nayom, Saudi Arabia. The meeting was also in the presence of then-United States secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.

Earlier this month, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that achieving a complete normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is their primary objective, as it aligns with the national security interests of the US.

This statement stands out as a relatively uncommon remark from the Biden administration, which has not extensively addressed this matter thus far. Furthermore, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post earlier this month, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen expressed the belief that normalization with Saudi Arabia is not a matter of “if” but rather “when.”

Be that as it may, Biden's bunch decidedly cannot be relied upon to serve as a mediator in this affair. After all that practically occurred during the Clinton administration at Israel's expense, what good could come of Biden having any involvement? None. Any negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia would be best managed without the USA's involvement.

Biden and company want to dictate religious prayer at Western Wall

While there's obviously a lot that needs to be done regarding different denominations of Judaism wanting to pray at the Western Wall, Joe Biden and his terrible staff are the least qualified to have any involvement in Israel's affairs, including the following:

The Biden administration is dictating religious policy to Israel over the delicate question of mixed-gender prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Judaism.

U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain, who happens to be Muslim, tweeted on behalf of the administration Sunday that the U.S. supports the implementation of an expansion of the space for egalitarian — i.e. mixed — prayer at the Wall.

Anybody adhering to the Religion of Peace is obviously not a good choice for commenting on this whole issue. Besides:

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents Congress, and the government more generally, from making religious laws and policies, but the Biden administration appears to believe that it has the power to express a view on internal religious debates in a foreign country.

However, there is no comparable White House policy on egalitarian prayer at Muslim holy sites or the religious sites of other faiths, in Israel or elsewhere.

So, like I said, this is exactly why what Biden's bunch is doing now is severely atrocious, and perpetuates damage to Israel. And, to make matters worse (also via Breitbart):

A senior delegation representing Palestinian terror group Hamas was set to visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to multiple Arabic media reports, representing a major development as Israel’s hopes of forging official ties with Riyadh appear to dwindle further.

For many years, Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Hamas has been cold and tense, and the kingdom even arrested many people with ties to the jihadist group, which rules the Gaza Strip and openly seeks Israel’s destruction.

But following its landmark rapprochement with Iran, Riyadh appeared set to host a high-level delegation including Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, his deputy Saleh al-Arouri, and the head of the group abroad, Khaled Mashaal, according to various Palestinian and Arabic-language media outlets, including Jordan’s Al Ghad and the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Clearly, Saudi Arabia still has a long way to go before it's qualified for being at peace with Israel.

What the Democrats' ice-cold relationship with Israel is really about

Shoshana Bryen explains the hostility Joe Biden and the Democrats have in regards to Israel, and it's not really about the need for judicial reform:

It was never about Israel’s judiciary.

How can you tell? First, because the Biden administration — and left-wing Democrats in general — are arguing FOR a position in Israel they are arguing AGAINST in the United States.

Having contemplated stacking the U.S. Supreme Court to dilute the power of Republican appointed justices, they find themselves promoting an Israeli Supreme Court with no constraints. Israel has no constitution against which a court can measure laws passed by the Knesset, and no requirement that cases present a legal concern.

Regarding the Democrat desire to pack SCOTUS, of course that's appalling, though don't be surprised, based on where things are going with the petty indictment of Donald Trump, if the Democrats would want to change the way SCOTUS operates, and make it more like Israel's setup instead.

The Biden administration centers precisely on those two issues. Israel’s center-right-to-right is not an acceptable partner. Not to mention that the return of Netanyahu is the return of Mephistopheles.

This works out oddly in the Israeli context because the unacceptability of a Palestinian state in the current context, and the unremitting threat posed by Iran in its terrorist, conventional and nuclear modes are the two things the current and the prior governments of Israel agree upon.

Regarding Iran, there is simply no daylight. On the Palestinians, focusing on the Abraham Accords was a way to make progress in the region while waiting to see whether the Palestinians could become a partner. And an alliance with Sunni Arab states in the Abraham Accords provided some balance and stability against Iran.

Read it all, and see how unserious Biden's bunch is about anything. And their mindset's one that also extends back into the USA, as exemplified by the way Democrat-run cities are turning into horror stories when it comes to violent crime, as in NYC. When leftist politicians cause trouble for another country, chances are they'll soon apply those troubles back in their home country proper.