Why recognizing Ahmed al-Sharaa as legitimate is bad

Amine Ayoub wrote about why the Trump administration's continued recognition of Islamists like Ahmed al-Sharaa is bad news:

The recent declaration by President Donald Trump indicating a willingness to remove Syria from the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism marks a perilous pivot in American foreign policy. Coupled with optimistic projections regarding an Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Washington appears to be rushing toward a premature stabilization narrative in the Levant. At the center of this strategy is Ahmed al-Sharaa, the interim Syrian president who assumed power following the dramatic collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Sharaa's sudden elevation from an international terrorist to a prospective diplomatic partner is not a triumph of moderate reform. Instead, it represents the most sophisticated mutation of Salafi-jihadist ideology observed in the modern era, posing a severe long-term threat to Western security and regional minorities.

The Illusion of Transformation

To understand the danger of the current U.S. trajectory,we must examine the meticulous career of Sharaa, previously known by his battlefield moniker, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Sharaa is a veteran of the global jihadist movement who gained operational experience fighting American forces alongside al-Qaeda in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Following his subsequent incarceration at Camp Bucca, he spearheaded the creation of Jabhat al-Nusra, which operated as al-Qaeda’s official Syrian franchise.

Under his command, the group executed horrific suicide operations, systematically targeted religious minorities, and enforced an uncompromising version of Islamic law. His subsequent break with al-Qaeda and the creation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, were widely interpreted by Middle East experts as tactical maneuvers rather than genuine ideological transformations.

The institutionalization of HTS under Sharaa demonstrates how modern radical groups adapt their vocabulary for Western consumption without abandoning their core Islamist objectives.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, so read the rest. What the Trump administration's doing, continuing to give al-Sharaa legitimacy, is a very bad example, and when the Democrats don't raise any objections to the administration's dealings with al-Sharaa, you know something's wrong.

Israel's Knesset approves use of death penalty for jihadists

After many years of failure to take more serious measures for punishing murderous crimes, the Israeli Knesset has finally approved a law enabling the death penalty for jihadists:

The Knesset plenum finally approved this evening (Monday), in second and third reading, the bill allowing for the death penalty for terrorists.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted in favor of the law, along with MKs from the Yisrael Beyteinu faction. On the other hand, MK Benny Gantz, along with members of the Degel Hatorah faction, chose to vote against it. Noam Chairman MK Avi Maoz was not present.

During the preliminary discussion, the chairman of the National Security Committee, MK Zvika Fogel, presented the law as an essential tool in the current war. "The State of Israel is facing unparalleled evil and hatred," said Fogel.

"Our enemies do not seek a border, a compromise or a shared future, but to destroy, harm, sow fear here and undermine our very existence here," continued Fogel. "Faced with such a reality, our responsibility is clear - to protect the citizens of Israel. Not with words or hopes, but with deeds. This law is not a law of revenge or rage, but of the responsibility of a state towards its citizens, of leadership towards human life."

I do find it disturbing though perhaps unshocking that some members of a Haredi party like Degel HaTorah wouldn't vote for this bill. And if Maoz didn't either, is that also concerning?

Some European governments unshockingly condemned this bill passage, but the USA's thankfully refrained:

The United States refrained from condemning the Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill, which was approved in the Knesset on Monday.

“The United States respects Israel’s sovereign right to determine its own laws and penalties for individuals convicted of terrorism," said a State Department spokesperson in a statement.

“We trust that any such measures will be carried out with a fair trial and respect for all applicable fair trial guarantees and protections," the spokesperson added. [...]

Last week, the European Union (EU) criticized the Israeli government for advancing the bill, saying it “is deeply concerning" and adding that the EU “opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances."

In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry noted that the EU is intervening in a sovereign country’s legislative process.

“Israel, as a sovereign state, legislates its own laws. Unbelievably, the European Union is intervening in the midst of a sovereign state’s legislative process," the ministry said.

“Israel is facing murderous and brutal terrorism on a scale unmatched anywhere in the world. Palestinian terrorism is fueled by payments from the Palestinian Authority, as well as by abductions that lead to shortened prison terms for terrorists," it continued.

The statement noted that “Israeli law already permits capital punishment, and under the proposed new law, discretion over its application will remain with the courts."

“EU double standards: as always, the EU obsessively singles out Israel - we haven’t seen a tweet like this when it comes to capital punishment in the United States, Japan, India, Egypt, or other countries," the Foreign Ministry concluded.

But sooner or later, the EU will turn against, say, Armenia if they take similar measures for combatting terrorism. That aside, what the EU is doing is exactly what's led to the horror stories in Europe when it comes to Islamic jihadism. Sooner or later, any European country or movement that understands reality will have to consider parting ways with the EU if that's what it takes to making it possible to improve the situation.

A positive message by Marco Rubio

The USA secretary of state delivered an important message while attending a conference in Germany:

“We want allies who are proud of their culture … and able to defend it,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a meeting of European politicians, generals, media, and influencers in Germany on Valentine’s Day.

Rubio’s eloquent speech got a standing ovation from the Europeans because it was a strong, diplomatic rebuke of the reckless European left-wing parties that dominate European politics. The left-wing parties hate the European citizen-led nations and are deliberately dissolving them in an acidic sea of resentful migrants, civic chaos, welfare spending, and low-tech poverty.

Rubio urged Europe’s elites to adopt a low-migration, high-tech policy that protects citizens’ valuable culture, promotes productivity and innovation, and expands wealth-creating trade with developing countries in Asia and Africa.

His speech matched Trump’s January speech to Davos leaders and Vice President JD Vance’s November comments to a TV interviewer.

For now, Europe has to prove they can deport the Islamist invaders, if they ever want to one day improve the situation. And we have to hope the USA will be willing to aid the native populations on all relevant issues.

Why all these Mamdanis keep getting spawned in the USA

Liel Liebovitz looks at how a serious defeat was suffered in east coast elections in the USA, what with Zohran Mamdani now NYC's first Muslim mayor, and how such awful politicians end up elected. And something to consider is that Republicans are blowing it badly, which only serves to draw attention away from these pressing topics:

On one side stand figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who promise a return to classical conservatism: a muscular foreign policy, aggressive free-market economics, and an unrelenting fight against the progressive chaos that took root in America under Barack Obama and Joe Biden. On the other side are candidates like Vice President J.D. Vance, pulling the party in a very different direction.

A troubling example of that direction came just last week. Vance spoke at a Turning Point USA event, the conservative movement founded by his late friend Charlie Kirk, who was murdered earlier this year by a left-wing gunman. A student in the audience asked Vance: "I'm a Christian," he said, "and I don't understand why we support Israel, a Jewish state that doesn't seem to share our values."

Vance could have easily explained the importance of the US-Israel strategic alliance. He could have emphasized the obvious point that, in a war between a Jewish democracy and an Islamist terrorist organization, there should be no question where America stands. Instead, Vance mumbled something about Trump and how Israel doesn't tell him what to do, then veered into theology: "The reality is that Jews don't believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah," said Vance, a Catholic convert baptized in 2019. "My approach has always been that if we have disagreements, we should discuss them publicly."

Imagine for a moment a serious presidential candidate declaring that Americans should publicly debate whether Catholic politicians can be trusted to represent voters rather than follow the pope's orders from Rome. Or whether Hindus, who don't believe in one God, should be allowed to run for office. Such questions sound absurd, and rightly so. The separation of church and state is a bedrock principle of the American constitution. So what made the vice president, one of the GOP's highest-ranking figures, think that the right response to a political question was to turn it into a religious one?

The answer, in short, is Tucker Carlson.

The popular television host was ousted from Fox News in 2023 under complex circumstances. He launched his own podcast and wasted no time steering it in a new ideological direction. In February 2024 he traveled to Moscow for a warm interview with Vladimir Putin, who claimed, among other things, that Poland was to blame for the Nazi invasion in World War II and that Volodymyr Zelensky was the villain in his war with Ukraine. Carlson then toured Moscow's subway and shops, telling his audience that such order and cleanliness couldn't be found in any American city.

Some raised eyebrows, lavish praise for Russia and propaganda that demeaned the US hardly sound conservative. But Carlson was just getting started. Months before the presidential election, he hosted online influencer Darryl Cooper, who told viewers that Hitler was the real victim of World War II and that Winston Churchill refused to compromise with the "peace-loving" German chancellor only because a small group of people—no need to specify who, but they control the banks and the media—pressured him.

Last month, Carlson invited an even viler guest: Nick Fuentes, a social-media personality who has repeatedly expressed admiration for Hitler and Stalin.

What drove the supposedly conservative pundit to such extremes? The reasons are many, but the overall direction is clear: Carlson, and now Vance after him, understand that to capture the imagination of young and apathetic voters, one must sound extreme and exciting.

What's told about Vance is certainly galling, because his complaint about Jews not believing in Jesus was entirely uncalled for. It would be wrong to complain that far eastern countries like India and Japan don't believe in one god, so why is Vance dampening the impact as he is? What matters is whether even non-monotheists can be vigilant and realists. Doesn't that matter to Vance any more than anybody else?

It's also troubling that the movement founded by Kirk, a pro-Israel guy who was tragically murdered, appears to be hosting somebody with "values" that are anathema to what Kirk stood for. Is Turning Point USA deteriorating? Who knows? But Vance is certainly not setting a good example here, and if he keeps this up, it will only make things worse, and take away attention from the next Mamdanis who're planning their run for office in the USA. Division on the right is one of the problems that led to where we are now.

UN delegate who committed rape denial served with lawsuit

Francesca Albanese, the UN delegate who denied the sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has been given a lawsuit in South Africa:

At the conclusion of another speech attacking Israel, Francesca Albanese - the UN Special Rapporteur on the so-called "Occupied Palestinian Territories" - was confronted with legal documents enabling a lawsuit against her, following her denial of the sexual terror attacks carried out by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

The incident, which caused significant embarrassment for Albanese, was discussed in an interview with Attorney Hillel Neuer, Director of UN Watch, who has compiled extensive evidence regarding her conduct.

"She is a very dangerous woman - not only to Israel but to the world," said Neuer. "Her UN mandate, established in 1993, is to investigate only Israel’s alleged violations. When Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or the Palestinian Authority commit atrocities, they are ignored - only Israel is targeted."

Neuer explained that Albanese was appointed in 2022 precisely because of her record of anti-Israel activism. "She’s not a lawyer but a jurist. She worked for two years at UNRWA - an agency taken over by Hamas in Gaza - where she engaged in anti-Israel propaganda. Later, she wrote several books attacking Israel. In 2014 she posted that the US government is controlled by the ‘Jewish lobby,’ a blatantly antisemitic statement reminiscent of the 1930s."

According to Neuer, UN Watch exposed videos of Albanese accusing Israel of genocide even before her appointment. "The UN knew exactly what it was getting - and she continues to accuse Israel of genocide and fabricated crimes," he said.

"Someone in her position should act as a serious academic investigator, following an ethical code. Instead, every Hamas falsehood is spread by her on social media as if it were an official UN statement. On October 7, her first response on Twitter was that Hamas’ actions shouldn’t be condemned, claiming they were a ‘reaction’ to Israeli oppression."

"Since then, she has denied the rapes and other atrocities committed by Hamas. In effect, she serves as Hamas’s spokesperson at the UN," said Neuer. He noted that Albanese continues to lecture at leading US universities, invited by their administrations. Her conduct has drawn condemnation from Germany, Canada, and France, though, as Neuer put it, "In today’s climate it’s difficult to stop the flood of antisemitism, often disguised as anti-Zionism."

Neuer revealed that Albanese was due to present a special report to the UN but is barred from entering the United States following a UN Watch campaign urging sanctions. Senator Marco Rubio announced measures including a travel ban, financial restrictions, and credit limitations.

The latest incident occurred in South Africa, where Albanese addressed a Nelson Mandela Foundation conference. Two months earlier, the group Christians and Jews United for Israel filed a lawsuit against her in a federal court in Colorado, after she published a report accusing Israel of genocide and listing companies tied to Israel as accomplices. The group claimed the report defamed them by portraying them as war criminals.

Neuer said that Albanese’s legal immunity expired at the end of her initial three-year term. “UN rules allow an automatic extension unless complaints are filed. In her case, we submitted several, including one from Israel’s ambassador in Geneva and objections from Argentina, the US, and the Netherlands.”

He added that the UN official handling the issue referred the complaints to a sympathetic internal committee. “The Colorado court has not yet heard the case but has already ruled that Albanese no longer enjoys immunity - which allowed the lawsuit to proceed.”

“At the South Africa conference,” Neuer recounted, “as she stepped off the stage, a local legal representative tried to hand her the lawsuit papers, as required under US law. Her bodyguards tried to block it, and it remains unclear whether the documents reached her. Still, South African media reported the story prominently, calling it ‘a major embarrassment’ for the guest speaker at the Nelson Mandela conference.”

It remains to be seen whether Francesca Albanese has officially received the court documents, or if the plaintiffs will need another opportunity to serve them personally.

As reported here, a Christian movement is among the plaintiffs, since Albanese attacked them for their support for Israel:

As Breitbart News has reported, the groups, Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and Christians for Israel USA, are suing Albanese for defamation for accusing them of complicity in so-called “genocide.”

Albanese is a radically pro-Palestinian and antisemitic UN official who is subject to U.S. sanctions. The Nelson Mandela Foundation came in for criticism for hosting an official whose mission is in conflict to Mandela’s message of reconciliation.

Nevertheless, the Foundation’s event drew a large audience, which was celebrated as a triumph — until lawyers for the American Christian groups showed up with papers ordering her to defend a U.S. civil suit.

The South African government had, in fact, given permission for the American lawyers to serve Albanese with court papers, though it later apologized and said that the permission had been granted in error.

It's actually miraculous they made it possible to serve the papers, considering the downhill trajectory the country's taken under their presidential incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa. Hopefully, this'll damage Albanese's undeserved career, and hopefully, she'll have to pay compensation to the plaintiffs.

Anti-Israel monsters see nothing wrong with Hamas murdering Gazan subjects

In the past few days, it was unsurprisingly reported that the Hamas was executing accused collaborators with Israel:

Hamas carried out mass public executions in Gaza on Monday, gruesome video shows — as the bloodthirsty terror group desperately seeks to maintain control over the Palestinian enclave and punish those it deems “collaborators with Israel.”

The barbaric reprisal came just hours after President Trump declared the “end of an age of terror and death” and signed a document enshrining his 20-point peace plan.

The graphic footage shows eight badly beaten, blindfolded men kneeling in the street before each is shot dead by Hamas gunmen in front of a cheering crowd.

The terror group said, without providing evidence, that the killings targeted “criminals and collaborators with Israel,” the BBC reported.

Obviously, this is as repulsive as can be, and makes clear what kind of Islamist-influenced mindset the crowd of spectators in Gaza go by too. And what kind of monsters support this in the USA?

The national body of Students for Justice in Palestine backed Hamas’s grisly public executions of fellow Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, posting “Death to the Occupation, Death to Collaborators” on Instagram.

The call for executions followed the murder of “journalist” Saleh Al-Jafarawi, known to critics as “Mr. FAFO” because he would post complaints about Israeli counterattacks after posting happily about Hamas attacks. [...]

President Donald Trump condemned the executions on Thursday, saying they were not allowed under the ceasefire deal:

It sounds like the alleged journalist was considered a sacrificial lamb to be thrown under the bus, no matter what he said about Israel. The SJP does not belong in the USA or any other civilized country at all, and should all be exiled.

Making matters worse, the Hamas attacked IDF soldiers, in an example of how they have every intention of violating the pseudo-cease fire:

The Israeli military conducted strikes against Hamas in Gaza after accusing the terrorist organization of repeatedly violating its ceasefire agreement on Sunday.

An Israeli military official confirmed the strikes to Fox News on Sunday, pointing to attacks by Hamas since Friday. The IDF later confirmed that it was taking actions in Gaza.

"Earlier today, terrorists fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire toward IDF troops operating to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the Rafah area, in southern Gaza, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement," the IDF said in a statement.

"In response, the IDF has begun striking in the area to eliminate the threat and dismantle tunnel shafts and military structures used for terrorist activity," it continued. [...]

According to Reuters, Hamas executed at least 33 people in recent days in what officials described as a campaign to "show strength" after the ceasefire. Israeli sources say most of those killed belonged to families accused of collaborating with Israel or supporting rival militias.

The U.S. Department of State warned on Saturday that Hamas may break the peace agreement with a "planned attack" on Palestinian civilians.

"This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts," the department said in a statement on social media. "The guarantors demand Hamas uphold its obligations under the ceasefire terms."

What did anyone expect here? When they're not attacking Israelis, they're attacking their own. The Islamic belief system is not against that. And anti-Israeli movements around the globe see nothing wrong with this self-barbarism any more than the Hamas' attacks on IDF troops.

Update: also vital to consider is that the Hamas also murdered non-Jews 2 years ago, and now, the body of a Thai national was returned:

Military representatives on Sunday morning notified the families of slain hostages Ronen Engel, 54, and Thai national Sonthaya Oakkharasri, 30, that their bodies had been returned to Israel by Hamas the night prior and identified by forensic experts. With their return, the bodies of 16 slain hostages are still held in Gaza.

On October 7, 2023, Engel was killed by Hamas in Kibbutz Nir Oz and his remains were taken captive, while his wife, Karina, and their daughters, Mika and Yuval, were abducted alive. The following month, his wife and children were freed from Gaza under a ceasefire deal.

Oakkharasri, an agricultural worker, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on the morning of October 7, and his body was abducted to Gaza, according to the IDF. His death was officially confirmed by the military in May 2024.

Caskets with Engel’s and Oakkharasri’s remains were collected by the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday night and then transferred to the Israel Defense Forces.

The caskets were inspected by the army, then draped in Israeli flags and honored in a brief ceremony led by a military rabbi before being taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv, where forensic experts worked to identify the remains and determine the cause of death.

It's equally abominable how the anti-Israel activists are also racist, based on how they've even justified the graphic murders of non-Jews.

Syria needs to be broken up

Jason Shvili makes a case for dividing up Syria, though there's 2 parts that need to be taken issue with:

Syria doesn't work. It never worked, and it never will work. It needs to be partitioned. Its major ethnic and religious groups – Alawite Muslims, Christians, Sunni Arabs, Druze, and Kurds – deserve self-determination. They should have the right to go their separate ways. The alternative is more bloodshed. Yet, the US is stubbornly and ridiculously trying to maintain Syria's territorial integrity following a decades-long civil war.

Ahem. Islamists are unqualified for "self-determination", because they don't support democratic values, and the koran certainly doesn't support civility. It should be noted that Sunni is an Islamic sect, so why include them? It'd be better to include the Yazidis, if any live in Syria. And while any and all attacks al-Sharaa's forces have committed against other Muslim communities in Syria is obviously bad too, that still doesn't excuse what the Religion of Peace is built upon.

Hence, President Trump has embraced Syria's new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, an Islamist terrorist, who, until December last year, had a $10 million bounty on his head. Al-Sharaa has promised that under his rule, "The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country." But his actions and those of his regime say otherwise. In March of this year, forces linked to Al-Sharaa's regime ruthlessly massacred over 1,000 Alawite Muslims in the Syrian coastal region of Latakia. A few months later, in July, Bedouin tribesmen and other forces loyal to Al-Sharaa brutally murdered hundreds of Druze in Syria's Sweida province. And just recently, Alawite Muslims were forced from their homes in Damascus.

Despite these atrocities, however, all of Syria's minorities have expressed their willingness to remain part of the country. All they ask is that they have some autonomy to govern their own communities and not be subject to tyranny at the hands of Syria's Sunni Arab majority. But Al-Sharaa refuses to discuss any possibility of regional autonomy for Syria's minority communities, and insists on a unitary Syrian state. So does the Trump Administration, whose special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, declared that there must be "One nation, one people, one army, one Syria." Why does the US ridiculously insist on maintaining the territorial integrity of a country that should never have been created in the first place?

That's the sad case we have now, that Trump's 2nd administration is making the horrible error of recognizing a Muslim despot as a leader for the entire area, not a Christian/Druze/Kurd. And it definitely doesn't reflect well on the USA's track record when it comes to persecuted Christians either. Is it any wonder Betty Mahmoody and her daughter were thrown under the bus by those who could've spoken out in their defense?

Fortunately, all of these groups are geographically concentrated – the Alawites in Latakia, the Kurds in Rojava (north and northeastern Syria), the Druze in Sweida, the Christians in Wadi Al-Nasara (Valley of the Christians), and the Sunni Arabs in the rest of present-day Syria. Thus, creating borders for these new states should not be too difficult.

What will be difficult, however, is ensuring the viability of the newly-independent states. Latakia, Wadi Al-Nasara and Sweida have few natural resources, and the latter two have small populations. Rojava has significant natural resources and a sizeable population, but is landlocked and faces a powerful enemy in Turkey, which detests the idea of any part of Kurdistan obtaining independence. Wadi Al-Nasara and Sweida are also landlocked, as will the new Sunni Arab state be. All of these new states will need help from abroad to secure their independence. [...]

Israel will surely help the Druze of Sweida maintain their security and develop their economy. It has already taken action against Al-Sharaa's forces to protect the Druze from further atrocities. It would also be advantageous for the Jewish state to secure new allies by aiding the new states of Wadi Al-Nasara, Latakia, and particularly Rojava, as Israel and the Kurds have a long history of friendship.

Depending how things can be done, it is possible to develop these areas into agricultural regions, and that's a great way to build up an economy. In which case, let's hope Israel can avail in farming development as well.

There's more challenging reasons to oppose Hamas overlording Gaza

USA secretary of state Marco Rubio makes a primary point that Hamas cannot be in control of Gaza, but there's shortcomings, as could surely be expected:

Hamas must end its control over Gaza for America to even consider the idea of a Palestinian state, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday morning.

“In order for that aspiration to even be credible, it has to be realistic. We can’t have a Palestinian state that’s governed by Hamas or by some terrorist organization whose stated purpose for existence is the destruction of the Jewish state. That would never work,” Rubio said.

“Until Gaza is governed by people that are not interested in destroying Israel. Until there are no security threats emanating against Israel from Gaza, forget about statehood. You’re not going to have peace,” Rubio added.

Can we be clear about something? All this blabber about a "palestinian state" has got to end, and the Islamic world must be told it cannot continue, mainly because it's just long been a shoddy excuse for creating a segregated society. The Religion of Peace is what should be in discussion, and how it cannot continue as a "teaching tool", because it's only indoctrination to evil. It's sad how nobody encourages integration for society, and why certain ideologies must be abandoned for that to be possible, and prove beyond a reasonable doubt a certain side is serious. Would Mr. Rubio be willing to stress those points for a change?

Mahmoud Khalil will be deported

A federal judge has thankfully upheld deportation for the repulsive Muslim anti-Israel activist Khalil, to either of 2 locations:

A federal judge ordered Wednesday that immigrant Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist behind some of the radical protests at Columbia University, be deported — either to Algeria, or to his native Syria.

Khalil was arrested in early March by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Trump administration sought to have him deported, despite the fact that he had become a legal permanent resident (though not yet a U.S. citizen).

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the arrest: “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

President Donald Trump had campaigned on a promise to deport foreign activists who had participated in the antisemitic “encampments” that sprung up across universities campuses in the late spring of 2024.

Whichever country he goes to, he can live in the poverty he deserves for all we care. Such an utterly repellent excuse for a "student" if that's what he's to be called, and he doesn't belong on university campuses in any sane country. And we should hope the Trump administration will also revive exile laws as well, so that domestic traitors can be banished from the USA for any offensive behavior they commit. That's another something needs to be worked on for safety's sake.

State Department wisely bans PLO leaders from entering the USA

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has suitably banned the PLO's dictator from entering the USA to attend the UN, all for the sake of "statehood" people like Abbas don't deserve:

The Trump administration is barring Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and other PA officials from entering the United States ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, where several countries are preparing to recognize a Palestinian state.

According to documents obtained by The Daily Wire, the State Department will suspend visas for all members of the delegation for at least 180 days and revoke visas issued prior to July 31 due to violations of U.S. law and national security interests.

The move comes as Australia, Canada, France, and Malta plan to recognize Palestinian statehood during the UNGA, where Arab media report that Abbas planned to issue a constitutional declaration outlining the state’s borders and foundations.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau approved the move after determining the PA and PLO were in violation of U.S. law, according to the documents, by “unilaterally declaring Palestinian statehood; glorifying violence; promoting antisemitism; and providing material support to terrorists” through its “pay for slay” program.

They're doing the right thing, though there's said to be some minor PLO officials who'll still be able to enter. All PLO operatives should be shut out, and not allowed to enter the USA ever again.

USA imposes sanctions on PLO members

The USA government's finally taken proper steps in dealing with the PLO, imposing much needed sanctions on the demonic entity that was just as responsible for murders of non-Jewish victims as victims who were of Jewish background (Hat tip: Jihad Watch):

The United States will impose sanctions on several members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the State Department said on Thursday.

The State Department announced it had reported to Congress that neither the PLO nor the PA complied with their commitments under the PLO Commitments Compliance Act of 1989 and the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002.

The offenses listed included “taking actions to internationalize its conflict with Israel” through the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, as well as supporting and glorifying violence, particularly in textbooks, and the pay-to-slay program.

The move prevents those targeted from receiving visas to travel to the United States, the statement said. “It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace.”

The State Department did not confirm which individuals would be sanctioned.

This comes after the USA government set sanctions on Iran-linked sources, along with the UN delegate Francesca Albanese, and it's about time. For a long time, the PLO was given diplomatic immunity they didn't deserve, and this can be a vital step in shutting them down altogether, as they should be.

Update: here's more commentary from Hugh Fitzgerald on the subject.

Israel's enemies don't even know where a palestinian state is

USA secretary of state Marco Rubio made an interesting note about the leaders in countries like the UK, France and Canada, who want to recognize a palestinian state at Israel's expense, and the USA's:

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the recent moves by the governments of Canada, France, and the United Kingdom to recognize a Palestinian state, stating that those who seek to recognize such a state “can’t even tell you where this Palestinian state is" or who would rule it.

“They can’t tell you who will govern it," Rubio told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade yesterday. "It’s counterproductive," he said of the recognition of Palestine, adding that such recognition is "counterproductive."

“First of all, none of these countries has the ability to create a Palestinian state. There can be no Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to it,” he said.

He added: “At the end of the day, the Hamas side is the Palestinian statehood side.”

Rubio noted that the recognitions harm America's efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage deal. “If Hamas refuses to agree to a ceasefire, it guarantees a Palestinian state will be recognized by all these countries in September."

“At the end of the day, Hamas is sitting there saying: We’re winning the PR war. We’ve got all these countries lining up on our side of this argument. We’ve got leverage now. We shouldn’t agree to anything. We should keep this thing going," he said.

[...] He criticized the international media for pushing fake narratives of Israeli evil while ignoring the continued plight of the hostages who are still held captive in Gaza. “You watch the programming of things like the BBC - 95 percent of their coverage is about how evil, in their narrative, Israel is. Very little coverage paid to the hostages, the families. You know what the cameras don’t capture? The suffering of 20 people living in tunnels right now, taken hostage by Hamas for almost, for a long time. No one’s covering that. No one’s talking about that.”

Again, this makes for an interesting point as to how anti-Israeli movements operate. They go by the laughable position of just wanting to do something for the sake of Israel's most babaric enemies, all to cripple Israel, and simultaneously, they even turn their backs on their own publics and endanger them as well.

That said, it's a terrible shame even Rubio had to go be part of the initial attempt to form a faustian pact with Syria's new dictator, Ahmed al-Sharaa, because in doing so, that was only granting legitimacy to another tyrant, and that undermines the USA's credibility in dealing with the issue of Islamic terrorism. There's surely a valid argument that can be made that, when the USA allows a terrorist in a different country to gain validity, that too can undermine Israel's efforts to free hostages.

Update: Donald Trump's warned Canada's Carney that if he doesn't stop this, Trump will impose more tarrifs:

If Canada does not make a deal with the U.S. by Friday, Trump is set to impose a 35% tariff on all Canadian goods that are not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

It should be done now. Carney's just the latest embarrassment of a premier after Justin Trudeau.

Keir Starmer's hostility to Israel comes to the fore

Britain's prime minister, who refuses to admit he's facilitating Islamic sharia in the UK, has threatened to follow Emmanuel Macron's "recognition of a palestinian state":

Britain will recognize a Palestinian State by September if the situation in Gaza does not improve by then, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced today (Tuesday).

He stated that the recognition would take place at the UN General Assembly "unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a Two State Solution."

Starmer's ultimatum to Israel follows a similar announcement from French President Emmanuel Macron last week.

This really isn't surprising that somebody whose MO is communist would be willing to do this. Starmer's already proving a failure on the Islamic invasion into the UK, and when he pulls stunts like this, it only confirms what he really thinks of his own country too, much like what Macron clearly thinks of France.

Here's more about this atrocity, and what Starmer's saying has raised concerns:

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, responded to Starmer’s announcement, pointing out that Israel has agreed several times to ceasefires which are typically rejected by Hamas.

“Israel has already agreed many times to a ceasefire,” Danon said. “No virtual recognition and no UN decision will change the basic fact that there are those who fight extremist forces, and there are those who bow their heads and ignore them.”

He added that Israel will do “everything necessary to bring home the hostages and defeat Hamas.” [...]

President Donald Trump reportedly told reporters on Tuesday that Starmer did not discuss recognizing a Palestinian state during their meeting on Monday. Trump added that putting pressure on Israel right now rewards Hamas, according to Axios’s Barak Ravid.

It also rewards the PLO, lest we forget. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce has also condemned the UN conference Starmer's alluding to. And we have to hope that this'll all help get Macron and Starmer to back off their repellent positions. Better still will be if they resign from politics.

British rappers banned from USA after inciting against IDF

The Bob Vylan rap band in Britain led incitement against the Israeli army, and it resulted in having their visas revoked by the USA state department:

The State Department announced Monday that it revoked visas for a British rap group after it called for the death of Israeli soldiers onstage over the weekend.

Members of the Bob Vylan band no longer can travel to the U.S. “in light of their hateful tirade … including leading the crowd in death chants” at a Saturday music festival in the U.K., Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in a Monday X post. The State Department’s action aligns with the Trump administration’s policy of renewed scrutiny of foreigners’ visas over alleged hostility toward American values or national security.

“Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Landau said. [...]

The band’s frontman, Pascal Robinson-Foster, led an audience in anti-Israel chants such as “death, death to the IDF” — referring to the Israel Defense Forces — at the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England on Saturday, the BBC reported.

The group’s performance sparked widespread backlash, and the festival said it was “appalled” in a Sunday statement.

It's stunning how only so many people in the entertainment industry won't keep their mouths shut and go miles out of their way to glamorize repulsive acts. But now, the band in the long run might've wound up doing the opposite of what they hoped for - to be exiled from a civilized country based on what they said.

USA State Dept. takes up a positive cause in Europe

State Department officials are taking a special trip in Europe to defend free speech rights of its citizens:

A group of senior State Department officials will head to France and Ireland this week to push both countries to respect citizens’ rights, The Daily Wire has learned.

The trip is part of a State Department effort to fight “egregious examples of democratic backsliding” and “violations of basic natural rights” in Europe, a senior State Department official shared with The Daily Wire. The initiative, launched by the department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is especially focused on defending freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy.

The countries in question “claim to be bastions of democracy,” the senior State Department official explained, “they’re so-called liberal democracies that preach inclusivity and tolerance and progress, and the reality on the ground just simply shows that isn’t the case.”

In France, the State Department delegation will meet with government officials to discuss the recent arrest of French politician Marine Le Pen. In Ireland, their discussion will focus on concerns that a new European Union law could be used to censor free speech.

Under President Donald Trump, the State Department is working to push American allies to respect the rights of their citizens and the rights of American citizens. Foggy Bottom sees trips like this as opportunities to battle the global political apparatus that has been weaponized against both European and American people, an apparatus that wants to silence individuals who stand up for traditional values like faith, freedom, and family.

Vice president J.D Vance already expressed concerns over these issues. He should also remind Israel's left the time's come to stop anything similar. For now, this is by far the best thing I've read about what projects the State Department's worked on, and a firm message must be sent to Europe to stop suppressing opposition to Islam, among other pressing subjects.

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.

Jordan's king agrees to take in Gazans

It looks like Donald Trump's efforts to get a country like Jordan to take in Gazans is beginning to bear fruit:

King Abdullah II of Jordan visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, where the Jordanian king agreed to accept refugees into his country.

The meeting comes after Trump made repeated demands for Jordan and Egypt to take in refugees, despite both countries declining. Trump and Abdullah met to discuss issues including Trump’s Gaza proposal, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ISIS and al-Qaeda, and economic cooperation.

The king and crown prince of Jordan arrived at the White House around noon Tuesday afternoon, where they both attended a bilateral meeting and lunch with the president. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended the meeting — the first official encounter between the King of Jordan and the President of the United States since Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire. [...]

King Abdullah said he is open to coming up with solutions that serve the interests of all parties.

“I think the point is how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody. Obviously, we have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, and especially my people of Jordan.”

Abdullah offered to take 2,000 sick children from the Gaza Strip almost immediately.

Trump called the gesture “beautiful.”

“We really appreciate it,” Trump said. “It’s music to my ears.”

King Abdullah said he wants to wait for the Egyptians to present their plan on how to address the challenges in Gaza.

Trump said he believes there is a 99% chance he will work something out with Egypt. The president previously threatened to withhold aid to the two countries unless a deal could be made, but backed down during the meeting, stating “I do think we’re above that.”

So far, Egypt's premier, Al-Sisi, has been balking at cooperating. But hopefully, that too will be worked out, and Egypt should by all means start accepting Muslims in Gaza into their country. And if aid needs to be withheld to make clear what they should do, then perhaps that's the best thing to do.

The evil history of Iran's now deceased overlord Raisi

Daniel Greenfield gives some history of the now deceased Ebrahim Raisi, whose helicopter crashed and burned on a mountain a short while ago:

Thirty-five years after taking part in the massacre of thousands, President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter went down over a mountain. Inside the chopper was the body of the man viewed as the likely future Supreme Leader of Iran along with his Foreign Minister and various other officials of the Islamic terrorist regime.

The Iranian people celebrated the death of the man known as the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ with fireworks and dances. Many of those celebrating were the women whom he had tormented for so long.

President Raisi was said to have harbored a special hatred for women and he has been held responsible for everything from prison rapes to the torture of pregnant women. The cleric and former prosecutor had overseen the brutal suppression of human rights protests against the Islamic regime as part of a record of his crimes against humanity going back to the 1980s.

The Islamic Revolution in Iran had brought many monsters to power. Raisi among them. One of the Islamic student radicals who turned a nation with freedom and civil rights into a ruthless Islamic theocracy, Raisi also represented the last generation of the revolution. Still in his early sixties, it was expected that he would usher in the next era of the Islamic Revolution.

But within weeks of Iran’s likely arrival at a nuclear threshold, Raisi went down in a Bell helicopter that the United States had exported to Iran back in the era of the Shah. Iran had spent billions on nukes, ballistic missiles and drones but neglected to invest in developing its own civilian aircraft. While the price of putting guns ahead of butter is usually paid by civilians, it was the ‘Butcher of Iran’ and his entourage, including Iran’s Foreign Minister, who paid the price for their murderous obsession with nuclear weapons with their lives.

Raisi deserved what he got in the end. With all that told, this is exactly why it's terrible Joe Biden's staff sent condolences to this horrific man, Raisi's murder of USA citizens notwithstanding:

Iran’s murder of Sgt. William Rivers, Spc. Kennedy Sanders, and Spc. Breonna Moffett, three black servicemembers from Georgia, earlier this year was only the latest killing of Americans by the Islamic terrorist regime in Tehran in addition to the dozens already killed on Oct 7.

Iran had not only connived to murder an estimated one thousand American soldiers on the battlefield, but its assassins and agents had plotted to kill members of the Trump administration.

Last year, even the Biden administration was forced to sanction Iranian IRGC terror officials plotting assassinations in D.C. In March, it was reported that the FBI was hunting for an Iranian spy targeting former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other Trump administration officials.

But after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, his foreign minister and an IRGC general died when their chopper crashed on a mountainside, the Biden administration joined Putin, China’s Xi, the UN, Hamas, and other international villains in a global orgy of mourning for a monster.

The State Department, whose own personnel were being targeted for murder, declared that “the United States expresses its official condolences for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, and other members of their delegation”.

When the UN shamefully held a moment of silence to honor the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ who had been responsible for the massacres of thousands of Iranians, Deputy UN Ambassador Robert Wood stood alongside other tyrants in mourning a tyrant with American blood on his hands.

“We pray for the Iranian people who mourn the death of their president,” the Senate chaplain shamefully intoned.

Raisi’s motto, like that of the regime he represented, was “Death to America.” And yet the Biden administration expressed its sympathy for the death of a man who wanted to destroy America.

It's an utter embarrassment and does severe damage to the war against Islamic terrorism.

Iran's "president" may have perished in plane crash

News has come out that the so-called president of Iran and his foreign minister were in a plane crash in the mountains after returning from a visit to Azerbaijan. And:

6:00 p.m.: Western sources say that they now estimate that President Raisi did not survive the crash. A US State Department spokesperson told CBS News that the US is "closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister. We have no further comment at this time."

Well let's hope he didn't, nor his foreign minister. It tells quite a bit that they were going to Azerbaijan, a country that attacked Armenia, and as noted here:

Earlier Sunday, the Abu Ali Express news blog reported on the meeting between Raisi and Aliyev, saying that it had been “disturbing” from Israel’s point of view, because Azerbaijan has been friendly with Israel until now.

But the Azeri hostility to Armenia ruins everything, as does the former country's adherence to Islam. Israel's governments long made a horrible mistake maintaining relations with a country that's now let the mask slip, but luckily, it looks like it all came back and bit Iran's autocrats in the butt now. A country that was supplying Hamas and Hezbollah with funding has now hopefully been crippled.

Update: more reports state there were no signs of life found at the site of the crash (Hat tip: Breitbart):

Iran’s state television says there is “no sign” of life among passengers of the helicopter which was carrying President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials.

“Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet,” state TV reports.

An Iranian official tells Reuters: “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash… unfortunately, all passengers are feared dead.”

Oh well. These were a bunch of antisemites and misogynists riding that aircraft, who wasted tons of money bankrolling Hamas and oppressing women. They won't be a loss.

Biden and company backtrack on Netzach Yehudah battalion

It looks like for now, fraud-in-chief Joe Biden and his staff have backed off their intent to impose sanctions against the IDF's Netzach Yehudah faction:

The Biden Administration has backtracked and will not impose sanctions on the IDF's Netzach Yehuda Battalion, ABC News reported this morning (Friday).

According to the report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson explaining that the decision was made in light of Israel's commitment to addressing concerns over human rights violations by the IDF in Judea and Samaria.

According to Blinken, the administration's concerns over alleged human rights violations by the Netzach Yehuda Battalion "will not delay the delivery of any U.S. assistance and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress."

On Wednesday, Ynet reported that Israeli officials believed that the US would not follow through on its announcement of its intention to impose sanctions on the Netzach Yehuda Battalion. According to that report, the administration was pressured to reverse its decision from all sides of the political spectrum.

Secretary Blinken said on Monday that there would not be an announcement regarding sanctions against the IDF’s Netzach Yehuda Battalion, but told reporters they should “stay tuned.”

Yesterday (Thursday), US Senator Marco Rubio warned that the decision to impose sanctions on the IDF battalion "helps Israel's enemies. I oppose plans by the Biden Administration to impose sanctions on the commanders and troops of the Netzah Yehuda battalion," Rubio said.

While this is fortunate, we should still be wary of more badness to come, and it doesn't solve the antisemitic university crisis either, to name but one example. And there are tragically plenty more that will be very hard to deal with.