Tag Archives: Palestine

When it rains, it pours

That was the very first thought I had when I was confronted with the opinion piece in the Middle East Monitor (at https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241129-saudi-arabia-abandons-pursuit-of-us-defence-treaty-over-israel-stalemate/) where we see ‘Saudi Arabia abandons pursuit of US defence treaty over Israel stalemate’. I have said it before and I will say it again. The US needs to stop their stop gap resolution of “We can do this, if we can have….” That is a setting that is past tense. America needs to open all valves to get any revenue out of Saudi Arabia (and other nations there). Now that we see “Saudi Arabia is now pushing for a more modest military cooperation agreement, two Saudi and four Western officials told Reuters” the US needs to stop its appeasement trajectory. On the plus side China is pretty happy with that flawed approach from America. There is every chance that China will open the flood gates and let Saudi Arabia go nuts on the Chengdu J-20. 

Is this a given? Nope, but for others to see Saudi Arabia embracing the J-20 is the first sign that America is about to lose several contracts. Not all (it fits with the modest military cooperation agreement setting) I predicted a loss of 40% towards the US defense contracts and so far there are indications that 30 billion left American shores for Europe and China (unverified numbers). But the first stage has been reached. And the setting changes if this does happen. The American loans are set to a 90%-95% fulfilment of contracts and there are larger consideration that America will at best get 60%-65% restated for America. And it gets worse for the US, Saudi Arabia has stated to grow its national defense settings and if China makes that happen all whilst Antony Blinken remains in the appeasement setting, the losses will get worse. I speculate a lot worse, but I don’t have access to anything reliable for the numbers in that game. As such, I need to add the ‘speculation’ label as I haven’t been connected to defence parties for 42 years. 

We are also given “Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has again made recognition of Israel conditional on it taking concrete steps to create a Palestinian State” I understand that setting, but I personally belief that this should be done after the eradication of Hamas. Saudi Arabia has been under attack through Iranian proxies for too long and as such the three terrorist organisations Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi their eradication becomes a near essential. You want to doubt this? That’s fair but the essential setting becomes that Iran wants to stop the achievements of Neom (including Sindalah, the Line, Trojena, Oxagon and Magna). At some point One of these three parties will be added to the work roster of them and they will introduce small flaws, flaws that might not be noticed now, but in a year or two when things start to go wrong, the costs will enormous. An Iran will be quiet for a larger share of the table that is how it starts and Saudi Arabia is too far ahead now. If we want to protect the achievements of Saudi Arabia eradicating Hamas, Houthi and Hezbollah forces becomes the larger setting. All those weakhearted lefties will argue that these people are really sorry and should be forgiven. I say hell with that and eradicate them all. Or have you all forgotten how Saudi Arabia was on the verge of setting the larger stage to include Israel? Some will say that Hamas was brilliant and I say that this is the final straw setting the stage of eradication for these three puppets of Iran. And Iran knows that Israel is about to settle the attacks on the territory of Israel and that would escalate things even further. Now that will happen in two stages. In the first the attacks that Hezbollah will vie for and the threats from Iran takes it even further. The danger here is that Iran could ‘press’ Houthi forces further and that would force the hand of Saudi Arabia. In that stage China could proceed by handing Saudi Arabia a support setting of the Chengdu J-20 as well as the primary delivery of the speculated Xi’an H-20. I reckon that it is not completed yet, but they could hand 3 of these puppies to Saudi Arabia so that the Saudi Airforce could strike against the Houthi Forces. (I did say could, not will). Consider that these two planes would be readily sought by other Arabian nations (including Egypt, Jordan and Iraq) this is largely speculative, but it allows China to take more and more slices from American defence industries. And as this happens Iran needs to hide, because these choices would reduce the Houthi forces to next to nothing and at that point Iranian actions would fall flat and at that point Israel has options and Hamas should have none left. 

As such the Saudi war hammer will carve slices of Yemen to rubble. In all this there are two sides that matter. The first is that the west ignored that stages that China prepared for and now we see that Saudi Arabia has selected for “a more modest military cooperation agreement” with America, as scheduled the door opens for China to get more of towards America assigned spending. As I personally would speculate is that Saudi Arabia is now in a good place to negotiate and as Blinken seemingly trusted on “We can do this, if we can have….” We see that America endangered its position for defence spending. I believe that I am correct, but there are signs that it is based on a opinion piece. Not on reported facts.

What people need to realise is that this all started on October 7th 2023 when Hamas struck the Nova music festival massacre, overall 1,139 people were killed and 250 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. That started this mess but the media is extremely willing to avoid certain matters. And now we see a larger setting Saudi Arabia is (as I personally see it) ready to find a new defence partner and spend billions with that new partner. 

So when some will call this a mild rain, consider that thought because those billions would have paid for the loans which could now fall short of payment for the next few years.

As such appeasement becomes deadening. America made a massive booboo as I see it. Have a fun day.

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The edge of darker creativity

There is a dark corner. It is not a unique setting, it is in everyone. The problem comes when any person gets their creativity and taps into that darkness. Is everyone on board? You see, I just tapped into this and what I created scared me to near death. When we see the news, we see that there is an armistice in Lebanon. Reuters reported a mere 12 hours ago: “A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah held on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the U.S. and France as people in both countries began returning to homes in the border area shattered by 14 months of fighting.” Sounds lovely doesn’t it? Well, in under an hour all these ‘Lebanese citizens’ came out in droves waving Hezbollah flags. As such I wonder how long this seize fire will hold. Some Hezbollah idiot will think that it is a good idea to send a missile into Israel, to gain fame with others. And Israel will go berserk and strike out. That is what realism tells me. We do not know what will happen. The minds of terrorists tend to go where most are fearful. And there is a second sight. Someone has to appease the will of Iran and someone will.

As such I came up with the Bullet Plus, as you can see it seems like a simple bullet, It is however not intended to shoot someone. In the bullet is a small canister, as the bullet impacts, the canister will break and the fluid will be released. You can have any kind of fluids there. There is Sarin, Novichok (Ask the Russian GRU for details on that one), there are also diseases like pulmonary diseases. Not directly fatal (like Novichok) but now we get an area issue. You see, pulmonary poisons will affect people in an area and hospitals will pick up on these. The result of a stray bullet. Consider shooting Sarin into an Hamas building, suddenly we start getting a range of intel we never had before (Mossad didn’t have it either). Sarin is too deadly, Novichok is an option and others are options too. You see, we might know 1-2 Hamas agents, but the 5-9 support staff remain unknown. Now they come out of the woodworks. We could use something like Caesium chloride, it is highly toxic and it cannot spread from person to person. Direct interaction is needed. For this you need to look at the Goiânia accident in Brazil (1987). You see, all these terrorists and their sympathisers might scream ‘innocent, innocent’ but at some point even Saudi Arabia will need to deal with them. They need to simply because Iran will make them act in some way against Saudi Arabia. It is not a case of ‘if’ it is merely a when. And for those thinking this is an Israel issue, consider the border wall of Gaza with Egypt.

The H3 terrorists will need to be dealt with at some point. Hamas is a certainty, Hezbollah is becoming more and more needed and when these fall away Houthi actions are most likely to become zero.

Feel free to disagree with me but in all this consider that this started on 7 October 2023 with Hamas attacking a pop concert. And in all that time how many refugees were ‘allowed’ into Egypt? I will let you count the articles that have been published on this it will be less then usual. It is so much easier for the media to go anti semitic on us all. Emotional flames score more digital dollars then simple truths. That is the truth of the media. Anyhow, I decided to let the dark corner of my creativity speak and I came up with this. Perhaps DARPA had this already, perhaps they did not. I already scored 5 wins over DARPA, so my ego is just fine. If my HOPplusOne solution works I have 6 wins over DARPA. There is only so much my ego needs, for the rest I merely think of other solutions. In this, I still love the idea that I designed a solution to meltdown nuclear reactors based on a snow-globe. You probably never thought that this ‘device’ had instrumental options did you?

Anyway, we all hope that the seize fire holds, but I am not holding my breath. No matter how you slice it, 66% of damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip account for 163,778 structures in total. Consider how many Hamas people are ‘suddenly’ awarded a nice place to live and in this and the BBC gave us last week “Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said Hamas’s office no longer had a function because Qatar had suspended its mediation efforts on a Gaza ceasefire deal, although he stressed that it was not permanently closed. The Palestinian official told the BBC the Hamas negotiators had adjusted their presence in the region and were keeping their locations secret to avoid embarrassing host countries.” So why isn’t it permanently closed? I reckon that Qatar is feeling the anger from other islamic nations and Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, a former dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza has issued a Fatwa against the October 7th attack. That is a bitter pill to swallow for Hamas. As such Hamas needs a different setting and remaining underground (optionally somewhere in Qatar) makes sense, because there are very little hiding places in Gaza left. When you add it all up my solution has a few things going for it. The largest issue is that it is becoming important to see how the claws of Hamas reach out and optionally the same goes for Hezbollah and Houthi. The nice part is that if this plan comes to fruition Iran will have to desert these three players because the impact of undeniable evidence would haunt Iran to the largest extent and the only thing going for these three players is that Iran under Qasem Soleimani was much better arranged then now. Now we see more and more issues out in the open and soon there is no denying what happens and the other players hurt by Iran will strike back at that point. How they strike back? That remains to be seen, but at that point Iran will lose whatever friends it thought it had in the first place. That is merely my point of view. 

Have a great creative day, possibly a lot less dark than the one I am having now.

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Its not just bread

We all relish bread. It is not always clearly on the front of our brains. But the one thing that keeps hunger at bay in every day of life is a piece of bread. The Khaleej Times gives us (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/mena/uae-helps-gaza-bakeries-make-bread-again-amid-hunger-crisis) ‘UAE helps Gaza bakeries make bread again amid hunger crisis’ that the UAE has made clear moves to deal with this. 

Oh, and as far as I can see pretty much none of the others have done so. Can anyone show me clear evidence that the UNRWA has done the same to any degree? I do not see any of this information. Perhaps over the last 74 years that they were in some kind of office in Palestine whilst this oversight happened? The UNRWA gives us “Provide direct relief and works programmes for Palestinian refugees”, as such is bread not an essential initial need? Now we see “The UAE has started an initiative to help Gaza make bread again amid critical shortage due to the ongoing war. Countless of Palestinians have been surviving on bread as food supplies run out — but even bread is not always easy to find. Chaotic scenes have been unfolding at bakeries as crowds of hungry Gazan, young and old, scramble for a loaf.” As well as “As part of the drive, essential production supplies — including flour and other materials — have been provided so that bakeries could open again amid a worsening hunger crisis triggered by border closures and restrictions on food aid.

It beckons the thought, did the UNRWA get anything done? No matter how ‘political’ the UN has become. The fact that the United Arab Emirates clearly shows the world that the UNRWA as well as the UN itself has become nothing less than a joke. We are given (in other media) “The UN system’s total revenue grew to US$ 74.3 billion in 2022 – an increase of US$ 8.4 billion, or 12.8%, compared to 2021. One of the entities with the highest absolute revenue growth is the World Food Programme (WFP)” an increase of $8.4 billion (not all WFP) is shown and how much went to the UNRWA? It is the Khaleej Times that gives us (see above) “As part of the drive, essential production supplies — including flour and other materials — have been provided” as such I wonder what that Russian Tool (António Guterres) is doing. He was ‘elected’ into office in 2017. As such he’s had plenty of time to seemingly do something. 

Only one day earlier we saw ‘UAE dispatches 12 trucks with urgent relief for 30,000 Palestinians’ with the underlying “So far, the country has provided more than 40,000 tonnes of urgent aid and it will continue its work to ensure the “immediate, safe, unhindered, and sustainable delivery of aid on a wide scale, through all possible means”” with that we see a first clear sign of evidence that the United Nations has a lot of explaining to do. 12 trucks is a clear start of doing just that. Whilst the United Nations is ‘discussing’ how to best go about it, the teams of Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi is getting it done. I believe that the west, which is so stellar about the United Nations might reconsider who they think needs to be heading this disaster loaded organisation. 

That is my overly simplistic sense of this setting.

Have a great Monday.

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Kettle, pot and colouring

Yup, that is the setting for today. I saw the news yesterday or the day before and it angered me. The article (at https://cpj.org/2024/10/saudi-arabia-sentences-cartoonist-mohammed-al-ghamdi-to-23-years/) from the CPJ (committee to protect journalists) is as misguided as it is hypocritical. In the first instance I do not know Mohammed al-Ghamdi, I never saw his cartoons or red anything from him. As far as I am concerned as long as the CPJ does not hold its western journalists and editors up to any kind of standard, it needs to shut up. Yesterday I touched on the Politico article regarding Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud and it opened up some issues for me. There is more, the media neglects the interesting ‘good’ Saudi Arabia does and trivialises the harm that Saudi Arabia gets from Houthi terrorists. As such I say that the CPJ needs to shut up.

We are given that “a Saudi cartoonist for the Qatar-based Lusail newspaper, who was sentenced on an undisclosed date in 2024 to 23 years in prison on charges that his cartoons were sympathetic to Qatar and insulted the Saudi government” Saudi Arabia has laws, they might not be the laws the west heralds, but this is a Saudi event. I might not agree, but if I am in Saudi Arabia I would have to adhere to Saudi Laws and there is the chance that my articles fall in bad waters with Saudi Arabia. I do not know as I am not privy to those laws. As far as I know I never known and intentionally insulted anyone in the Saudi government (I might be wrong in this).

Countries have laws, the west (Commonwealth and Europe) for the most on the issue of freedom of speech and as such I tend to use that freedom of speech, yet in that instance I try to maintain a civil tongue. And when Charlie Hedbo was killed, I also supported France, I stood at a vigil in Sydney. I was not aware to the stage that drove someone to kill Charlie Hedbo, but I was in agreement that we had to protest this because Charlie Hedbo was not anti-Muslim. He drew on several occasions images that would have offended the church (the Vatican), as such he was equally ‘diplomatic’ on all faiths. 

Yet this is not about Charlie Hedbo, this is about the double standard the CPJ uses and until they hold western media to a serious level of account, they need to put up or shut up. 

This is pretty much it. I did not check some of the claims made and I am not saying these claims weren’t true. We get “It is time to break this longstanding pattern of imprisoning journalists. Saudi authorities must release al-Ghamdi and drop all charges against him” and I am not opposing this, but I find it interesting that numbers and reasons for imprisonment aren’t given. It this is about less then 5 journalists, it seems a trivial matter (compared to Turkey and a few other places). And lets not forget these Saudi Laws are all documented and as such these ‘journalists’ (optionally a mere one cartoonist) might have decided to leave the country, was that done? 

The CPJ gives us that 50 Journalists were killed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 2024. So, where is the stink on these 50 journalists? Oh, and why is it “Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory” and why do we not see the segregation between “West Bank and the Gaza Strip” and “Israel”? It was a simple setting, but the CPJ seems to use a simplistic brush for that. And between 2018 and 2024 we see merely one seemingly killed and I raised plenty of articles between 2018 and 2024 shedding doubt on that setting. Another article gives us that 10 people were imprisoned all whilst the 2023 numbers have a top 10 (Saudi Arabia wasn’t there) and the top is China with 44 imprisoned, Russia with 22, Iran with 17, and Turkey with 13 imprisoned. Yet in all of these cases, we see an absence of reasons and there is the issue. The (western) press has in the last 10 years lost pretty much all credibility, as such a reason for imprisonment is required. I have an issue with the CPJ because a population with less credibility than a drug pusher in a school yard has several issues and I do not think the CPJ is in a position to demand any kind of charge drop until the status quo of journalists is re-established with a level of credibility that most of us find acceptable. The chase for digital dollars in the last decade pretty much diminished their right for a ‘protected’ status. 

People might not like my view on the matter, but that is my preview on the matter. Perhaps the CPJ would like to rewrite the article in something more palatable?

Have a great Saturday.

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The first stage in a setting

This is the first of two, the second is of a much lighter sense, as such I am leaving this for desert. The first one (this one) is heavy and will offend a whole lot of people. I have stated this opinion before, but that stage got back in my mind after I saw this article (at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-crown-prince-personally-doesnt-care-palestine-issue) where we are given ‘Saudi crown prince said he personally ‘doesn’t care’ about Palestinian issue’, it sounds nice. We are then given “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he does not personally care about what he referred to as the “Palestinian issue”, according to a report in The Atlantic.” I do Care and as the foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia (Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud) tells us “Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat on Thursday announced the launch of a new initiative to establish a Palestinian state and garner support for the implementation of a two-state solution after decades of international efforts failed, leading the region to the brink of an all-out war”, which several sources told us including Al-Arabiya (at https://english.alarabiya.net/News/saudi-arabia/2024/09/27/saudi-arabia-announces-new-global-coalition-to-establish-palestinian-state).

My view is that I have nothing against the establishment of Palestine, but it does urgently require the eradication of Hamas. Hamas is a hate only party and sooner or later they will abide by the ‘requests’ of Iran and hit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran wants to be at the head of the table, or they will ensure that no one will sit there and destabilisation continues. That time has passed and Iran still depends on Houthi and Hamas to bring their point across in the most violent way possible. Now that Hezbollah has been carved into pieces by Israel, Houthi terrorists will think twice on continuing on a path where they ‘assist’ Iran in any way possible. And sooner or later (probably sooner) Iran will find a way for Palestinians or Yemeni’s to find a low paying jobs just to throw wherever they are (in the KSA or UAE) to foul things up. In simple ways that will demand long term repairs or even reconstructing parts that were already done and soon (either Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates) will through ‘anonymous’ sources to get a larger seat for Iran at the table. This is not speculation, it is presumption based on the actions of Iran over the last 20 years. And as such The eradication of Hamas is a given need. When they fall away Iran has merely Yemen to fall back onto and that stops Iran (for now) in its tracks. As Yemen (read Houthi terrorists) sees what damage Israel did to Hezbollah and Hamas next, they will choose a non-violent path, especially when Iran stops taking their calls. 

I believe that there are options especially as Iran loses the two terrorist allies they have. I don’t think it will be the end of it, but I believe that stability in the middle east is essential to a better world and too many power players think that destabilisation is key to their wealth. That needs to stop. I know that it is merely my view and many will state that I am wrong, but as I see it, there are too many people having blind faith in Iran turning a page to a better future, all whilst this path has been walked by administrations for 3 decades. It is time to call it quits. We need solutions there and they need to be made by the right people. Oh, and for those that think that this isn’t essential. Remember that Hamas on 7 October 2023 initiated a sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part of the attack, 364 individuals, mostly civilians, were killed and many more wounded at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open-air music festival during the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret near kibbutz Re’im and they took 40 people hostage. As far as we know from those 40 hostages, 14 of the hostages are still being held captive. That has been the focal point for Israel. And the setting that we see with the ‘proclaimed’ 40,000 deaths and it was clear months ago that Israel stated ‘Let our people go’ that is what Hamas pushed for and now that Hezbollah has lost pretty much the complete top of their structure (pager by pager) Iran is worried and so should Hamas be. I get that Saudi Arabia wants to stand by Muslims and that is something a lot of people understand, but it does require the eradication of Hamas. Hamas did this to themselves on October 7th 2023. Saudi Arabia (as well as the UAE) need to focus on stability for the middle east and in this case I count Egypt as a middle eastern player. Egypt will be important to Saudi Arabia down the line with 5G advancements as well as the fact that 111 million Egyptians are a great goal for the Saudi Broadcasting Authority, they could largely increase their visibility, moreover, it would allow Egypt to broadcast to Muslims in Spain, France, Italy and Greece. And from there, optionally to more nations in Europe. But that is merely my insight lacking view on the matter. OK, it has a personal view. As more islamic people get connected to streaming TV and streaming solutions, my script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ might actually be released at some point (my ego tends to seek solutions too).

It is almost Monday now. So have a great day and you will hopefully enjoy this Sunday.

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A land in fear

That happens, countries like people can be in fear. The stand of a country is usually set by the speakers of that land. That is what I personally believe and behold, we get the Arab News giving us (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2572458/middle-east) with the headline ‘Iraq’s top Shiite cleric calls for end to Israeli ‘aggression’ on Lebanon’, which is fun, because at present the larger collection of western nations are trying to figure out how it was done. I think that the NSA had a direct line to DARPA and I reckon they figured it out. The DGSE, ASIO, MI6 and BND were pretty much in the dark (until they received a call that is). So as we are given “Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam’s highest authority in Iraq, appealed Monday for “every possible effort” to end Israeli “aggression” against Lebanon, where it is targeting the Shiite Hezbollah movement.” With the missing paragraph “On 8 October 2023, Hezbollah started firing guided rockets and artillery shells at Israeli positions in the occupied Shebaa Farms, which it said was in solidarity with Palestinians following the Hamas attack on Israel that took place a day earlier.” They have been attacking for the larger part of 26 weeks and now we get Iraqi clerics about the Israeli “aggression” on Lebanon? I think certain people are getting afraid. Allegedly Israel completed an attack against Hezbollah laid waste against the communications of Hezbollah. And no one really knows why. It happened under the noses of everyone and everyone missed it. 

So when we get to “Sistani called for “the exercise of every possible effort” to end this “barbaric aggression and to protect the Lebanese people.”” How about ending rocket launches on Israel? This has been going on and on (and on) and now people wonder what kind of creativity comes next. I am still in favour of my new solution to ment down the nuclear reactors of Iran and Russia. Then there is my stealth system that could end the use of harbours in several places. These are merely two solutions that are out in the open and I reckon that Iraq feels safe from my second system as they really do not have any naval bases, but for Iran and Russia it is a different matter. 

So when we get to “Sistani called for “the exercise of every possible effort” to end tensions” I wonder when he called Hezbollah to tone it down, but I feel fairly certain that this didn’t happen and in the mean time Hezbollah and the enemies of Israel will face a next wave of their creativity. As such we see Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam’s highest authority in Iraq speak his mind and subsequently his fear to Arab News. Yes, this has every chance of escalating in the near future. 

Why does this happen?
My issue isn’t Iraq, it is Iran and I reckon that they wanted someone else to speak their Shiite state of mind. I thinks it is too hypocritical (even) for Iran to ship weapons to Hezbollah whilst asking (read: demanding) for Israel to sit back and await the impact of the weapons. And in this it amounts to the fact that everyone (and I mean everyone) didn’t see coming what Israel had up its sleeve. I reckon that plenty of terrorist providers are shaking in their boots. They idea that pagers explode makes the entire communication realm they rely on, a little shaken. But that is merely my point of view. And the fact that they now optionally rely on foreign clerics on the one sided message is a much larger problem as I see it. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is merely the first but I doubt he s alone in this. If this is an Iranian move (as I speculate) there is every chance that Shiite clerics have an increasing problem in the nearby future. This is not a given, but other countries would possibly be taking a firmer stance on Shiite clerics. Am I right? I honestly do not know, but there are definitely markers that could imply this. 

It is a worry and a larger upcoming stage towards destabilisation. A setting Iran likes (Russia too), the rest of the country is not on board with this and I speculate that the Sunni clerics are not happy either. They have enough of an issue in foreign nations to get the Islamic message across, I doubt they want this, but that is merely my non-Islamic point of view.

Lets try to enjoy the day before we consider the hassles of tomorrow.

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The unspoken call

There was a call in Reuters last week. I had seen it, however I was dealing with the intelligence I was able to lay my hands on. It seems like a simple exercise but it is not. The article (at https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-experts-urge-all-countries-recognise-palestinian-statehood-2024-06-03/) gives us ‘UN experts urge all countries to recognise Palestinian statehood’, it seems so simple. Yet it is more complex than you think. You see that setting might be acceptable AFTER Hamas has been eradicated and the west knows this. You see Hamas is a one trick pony, it resorts to violence only ad at present it does so through Iranian guidance. If Palestinian statehood is awarded whilst Hamas is still in charge, all bet are off. The west knows this and they don’t like the centrepiece of Arabian stability. There is Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). That one trick pony (Hamas) will come with its new rule. A bigger seat at the Arabian table. When they do not get it Saudi Projects will suffer. The Line, Oxagon, Trojena, Sindalah, Red Sea International Airport, Mukaab, Qiddiya and a few more will subtly be suffering set backs, optional outright sabotage. That would cost Saudi Arabia billions. In addition UAE locations like Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be hit. It will not be some case of speculation, Iran does not like the path Arabia is on. It does not allow any path where they are an inferior setting. And they now have their claws in Hamas and Houthi forces. 

As such Hamas needs to be eradicated. It is simplest if Israel does it. It could do with the win and Saudi hands will remain clean. When Saudi Arabia and the UAE are forced to act the result will be destabilisation for years to come. All what Saudi Arabia had achieved will be for naught. The UAE will likely get a hit on tourism and travel, but there too the impact will be felt. The west likes this. They are trying to rally against China and the Arabian players are part of Brics now, catering options for China. All options are largely lost to the west. So they are now calling to include Palestine into everything. A call that is too rash for words. 

We can think all we can on Palestine, but they let Hamas in and did not do anything about Hamas for 2 decades. Hamas is under their buildings, part of their infrastructure and they have grown the next generation of Palestines to be terrorists too. The west did little to nothing, they figured that Israel would deal with that problem. Now that Israel is, the anti semitic rhetoric is taking global proportions. And the media was quiet for too long on the 120 hostages and they trivialised matters. So now that the gloves come off there will be another setting. If Israel succeeds in eradicating Hamas, statehood for Palestine could follow, yet with a few clauses. Any new Hamas interference will result in economic sanctions. In support of this other economic means will be required. Also Egypt will have to show it hands and allow Palestinians through. You know, I do not think this will happen. Egypt had identified the threat that Hamas and Palestine sets. Why do you think that they put a wall there? No one is questioning that part. It is all about Israel. 

If Israel does not succeed and statehood is awarded to Palestine, Saudi and UAE intelligence will have to beef up operations. Saudi will have a lot more riding on this and whilst there are upsides for Saudi Arabia, the risks are a lot higher. In the mean time Hamas leadership is still comfortable in Qatar and Iran has lines out to them. I wonder what will come to a close first. Israeli patience, of Saudi patience after statehood is awarded. 

In the end part of this is speculation, but the premise is sound and when Iran flexes its financial muscles towards Palestine, Saudi interests in Saudi Arabia will come under pressure, and it will resolved by giving a bigger seat to Hamas, the Iranian tool. A setting that we must avoid, the west especially. The west might no longer be a global strong power, but when chaos hit the Arabian peninsula, only the greed driven parties will see it as a plus point. The rest will suffer the consequences. And in this the media will shrug it off saying they merely reported on it. But the media will be every bit as guilty as anyone else. Even more so as they decided to not inform the public and filter events to what their stakeholders share holders and advertisers required. But the media will not report on that. I wonder why. 

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Exit towards destabilisation

That is the setting that we see coming a mile away, or at least I am and that is how I see it. Today I am given ‘China condemns US veto of call for immediate ceasefire at UN’ (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68355436) and I have a problem with this. You see, the problem with the article is that we see “China has sharply criticised the US for vetoing a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.” Yet, the issue is more complex. There can not now, or will there ever be peace as long as Hamas exists. Hamas will never stop. Its commanders are safely in Qatar, a nation that has given Hamas almost $2,000,000,000 in financial support. Then there is Iran and they both are vying for destabilisation in the Arabian peninsula. It is a very personal view, but I believe that is the game that is being played with Hamas as puppets, right next to the Houthi forces. The problem is that we are given disinformation from nearly every side and that is hampering insight and optional progress. 

As I see it the two powers in the Middle East are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This is not what either Qatar or Iran like. They want a much bigger seat at the table and as such there is an essential need to rely on Hamas and Houthi forces and in this Iran seems the only actor, but I am not convinced. There is no clear intelligence what Qatar is doing beside sheltering the top of Hamas, which is as far as I can tell not a crime, not even in the Arabian peninsula nations. As I stated a personal view is that it is much better that Israel deals with Hamas. You see when BRICS evolves and the table setting is clear Iran will not be happy. They want more and they will push Hamas (and others) to get a larger seat at the table of plenty and Hamas being the one trick pony they are will strike out at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia first striking their projects. Lets be clear, I have no intelligence available that this will happen, but knowing what I do know. A one trick pony will resort to what it knows and for Hamas this is violence, and violence alone. At that point the KSA will either strike back in full or they will have to concede. Do you think that the KSA will concede against a terrorist organisation? It would be all the information that the Houthis would require to attack again and again, and Iran would show its clean hands stating “We had no hand in this” all whilst supplying weapons to both. 

This is the stage of destabilisation that China needs and that is at this point the wrong stance to have. As such my message to China’s UN ambassador Zhang Jun who gives us “Only by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza can we prevent the fires of hell from engulfing the entire region” is “take Hamas out of the region and talks can begin”. You see the stage of Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry is the larger problem. Anything Hamas run is tainted and that needs to stop. We can cry all we want for the Palestinians, yet Hamas is part of the problem and it started on October 7th 2023. Too many are ducking that part and have been since day one of the IDF assaults. That is before we consider the larger stage that we are given that the UNRWA is accused of directly supporting Hamas. The Washington Post gave us an image of a Hamas data centre UNDER the UNRWA building. The problem is that all sides are engaged with disinformation. I cannot deny that there are voices that Israel is doing the same that Palestine are doing in that regard. Israel has had well over a week to publish all evidence via all newspapers, they did not do that, that must be considered as well. 

My largest fear is that Hamas is pushed to attack any of the KSA projects and that will start new stages of destabilisation, not to say what they will do given a chance to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I believe that the risk is too high for any Arabian peninsula nation. In all this Hamas must go, preferably today and permanently. 

I truly believe that this is the only way that there is a future for the Palestinians and to remain with a stable middle east. The problem is that I am stating this based on information available to me and there could be issues with that. Yet there is no denying that Hamas is a problem for everyone and the sooner all others realise this, the better we all will be.

Enjoy the week. I might be away for a few days.

 

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Media is done for

This is what I have been saying all along. Whoring for digital dollars comes at a price. Now, if it was only me no one would care. Yet at this point the stage is altering for the media. The Khaleej Times (at https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/gaza-crisis-has-become-global-media-war-uae-minister) gives us ‘Gaza crisis has become global media war: UAE minister’ with the byline “Al Gergawi called out the double standards and political agendas hindering true resolution of the Palestinian cause” It is a little less complex than that. You see media is exploiting anything they can to gain the digital dollar. Clicks are everything and as more and more media is aiming for that goal there is no place for political agenda’s other than the local ones protecting the media through their political connections (at home). This is what I regard to be the stakeholders game. As such this article touches me as it covers what I have been saying all along. 

So is it more correct?
That remains a danger. To seek out those who hold your view is what many do, but it is a dangerous path. If their (or your) setting is showing a flaw or is only partially correct, the premise becomes a dangerous one. You must always be able and willing to go back to the drawing board to verify and to double check whatever you believe in. It is essential that you can be critical of your own ideas. Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs also gives us “This war was not only between the Palestinians and Israel. We also witnessed a global diplomatic war, international polarisation, and a global media war. Today, war is not won on the battlefield but rather in the media field, as he who has the strongest narrative shall become the winner.” In this I would like to add that it is not merely ‘the strongest narrative’, it is who employs the better and better connected stakeholders. They can win you the narrative war. It is not unlike the stakeholders on Capitol Hill. At some point the media figured out that these people could wage their media war FOR them and get kudos points that way. The winner then gets benefits and is more likely to gain the iterative advantage over digital dollars through clicks. The flammable populist voices are merely one side of this. To see this you need to be able to see how digital dollars are gained. How clicks are obtained. At present that is flaming for Gaza, but make no mistake, the moment that this changes to Israel all the narratives will alter accordingly and the media will have no issues with changing the voice. They will hide behind ‘The people are voicing this’. 

Gergawi in continuation gives us ““In 2004, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum gave a speech at this very forum about the need for finding a just solution for the Palestinian case based on international law,” he recalled. “Today, 20 years later, the case is still the most pressing issue in the region and the world.”” As such when we see that the digital click war has been raging on since 2015 the stage alters slightly but does not changes. The stakeholders of then are the same stakeholders of now, their game merely changed. They now have media moguls in their pockets as well. So who was stalling in those first 10 years? 

And this gets the added ““All the states that ask for this solution, I want to ask you, what did you do in the last 10 years to have this solution,” he asked of them. “Almost nothing. Since 2014, there has been no communication to solve the issue. If you were silent for ten years, why would you come back to the two-state solution? Just to prove to the world you are doing something?”” That is the question. I personally believe that there was a second war going on. The one I mentioned, but these same stakeholders were serving more than two masters. You see there is one part that remains unmentioned. I have made mention of this a few times before. I was not outspoken about this as I cannot prove it. There is no purpose served by howling against the storm. It tends to be pointless, it is never heard and it deflates your own energy levels. It is my personal view that the third war brewing under all this is (a speculated view) war served by Strasbourg and Washington DC. They need destabilisation of the middle east. Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran were the three points of pressure that the west required. The moment the Middle East realises that they are better off without the west, that is the moment fear strikes in the hearts of power players in Strasbourg and Washington DC. In all this the actions of inactions regarding Palestine start making sense. There is a clear need. America (and EU) require cheap oil. If they cannot get that, their economies implode. Their commodity needs are fuelling a transient and mobile workforce and without that these two places will have a whole new range of internal problems. 

The problem is how do you prove that? That is less easy to answer. The press is no longer impartial, they are partial to their digital dollars and will take whatever they can at all our expenses. By seeing several sources you get a slightly better view, but it is a filtered view and places like the ICIJ are a joke. They too rely on the media and clicks to be seen, so the story is adjusted accordingly.

And there is no solution, not until you get a real verifiable and reliable source, as such the press and media are no longer one. It has become a populist game for digital clicks.

On a sidenote
This is a little awkward, you see my offensive against Washington DC is taking a turn as this article and a few others made me see a new option. The match between Blogger (me) and DARPA is at present 4-0. I speculatively just saw a new way to find hundreds if not thousands of terrorists. Making the score 5-0 for yours truly and that is a personal goal worth winning for. It might never get me a dime, but to knock (at some point) on haven’s door stating that I made DARPA my bitch and defeated them five over nil is very tempting for the ego, lets be clear about that. In the end that match was my ego having a great time. The problem is that this new approach needs the NSA to wake up. They are the source of interest when it comes to layer one (hardware) issues and if I am correct that setting should be pushed through iOS and Android making them one of the few parties who could solve this. The article opened a door. There is a side I do not completely agree with even if what they say was true. It links to a few other parts that are not mentioned here and that got me thinking. What if we see both sides of that coin? Now, when it is on its back, one side remains invisible, but what happens when that coin falls on a mirror? If will not reveal that side either, but what if a mirror is a reflection of itself? That got me thinking on the sides that do not speak, to focus on the side that can speak and that gave me the idea. If my thought is correct you get more than an image, you get a timeline of total events and with that GEOINT becomes the power core of that setting. A transient force still requires deployment which is part of that solution. My mind remains racing towards that goal (my fifth goal over DARPA). I know it is selfish in nature and even more so when it is not bout money but about the ego. At times we need to feed that monster. The best thing anyone can do is feed it when it serves the best purpose and not to overfeed that monster. I get that, but feed it now and the voice of ego dies down enough, leave it alone and its voice will drown all other voices and that is the lesson the media never learned. They went from Cash is King to ‘Cash is king in the empire of clicks and clickers’ it was nothing more than self defeating short sightedness. 

It’s Saturday for me, Vancouver is still 12 hours away from the weekend. Enjoy yours.

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Who wrote what for whom?

That was the very first question in my mind when I read the article in the Foreign Policy called ‘How Saudi Arabia Could Use Its Leverage in Gaza’ (at https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/12/18/saudi-arabia-israel-gaza-mbs-leverage/) there are a few settings I had an issue with, so let’s go.

The first part is seen with “While some observers may be surprised by Hamas’s heinous Oct. 7 attacks and the eruption of a major war, others had long dreaded such an outbreak of violence. Due to the desperate desire of both Israel and the United States to see a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia, the unresolved and simmering Palestinian issue was largely ignored.” Is that so? Several governments as well as the United Nations have been eager to ignore the events of October 7th. The United Nations took that vicious cowardly attack from all considerations, others merely painted over that event like it was an undesired breakfast. It was what set rage in the hearts of Israel. The word Hamas is mentioned in this brief twice, one you saw above. So that is the second setting in all this. We can understand and to some degree agree with “Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan is leading a diplomatic committee mandated by the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to tour various international capitals and argue for an immediate cease-fire.” As an observer I understand that Saudi actions is driven by the need to protect Muslim lives, nothing wrong with that. Yet the biggest problem in all this remains Hamas, and as one source told me “until someone stops Hamas effing around, there is no stopping the IDF” a very valid argument from the other side and as I see it the largest issue is right there. Hamas must be stopped. They opened the door with 1,413+ kills, 8,745+ wounded and 248+ captured or abducted. The IDF hit back and in Gaza we are told the damage is 19,453+ killed, 52,286+ wounded and 7,000+ missing. The problem here is that Hamas is hiding in-between the civilians giving us a one sided reported issue. We see too little reporting on events like “the video, which has been replayed by dozens of news outlets, seems to confirm what Israel has long claimed that Hamas uses innocent Palestinians as barricades by installing their headquarters and arsenals beneath schools, hospitals and other public institutions in a vast complex of subterranean tunnels.” The Washington Post did not keep silent and for reference, the dozen news outlets should alert you. For reference, in America alone there are 204 counties in the United States with no news outlets. There are 1,562 counties with only one and a global total of ‘dozens’ mentions of that event? This should and needs to be a wake up call, especially when we collect the number of European news outlets as well, ‘dozens’ is an outrage and that is also part of the equation.

So now we get to “The Saudis are also using an overlooked diplomatic tool: silence. Their outright refusal of any political discussion before a cease-fire is also generating pressure by disallowing Israel a clear political horizon after the campaign. As the Saudi foreign minister said last month: “What future is there to talk about when Gaza is being destroyed.”” Here we can agree or disagree, but silence is a valid tool and Saudi Arabia is doing what it feels to be best for Muslim lives, no one can deny that, what does matters is that the west is equally in silence by gives no explanation on why it does so and ignoring the October 7th events does not happen. For reference Al Jazeera covered the October 7 events, many news outlets trivialised those events.

So when we are given “It does not want to allow itself to be politicised for Israeli political ends. In other words, the Saudi ruling elites want to avoid being “spun.”” I can accept and get behind that, because in any war there are at least two sides and they both want to spin to accentuate THEIR view. I can get behind that train of thought of not getting spun. 

Then we get to an actual truth that matters “Israel will never match the financial capacity of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Its economy is struggling, and according to a recent report by the Bank of Israel, it is losing $600 million a week during this campaign. The Israeli central bank has also suggested that the war costs from 2023 to 2025 will amount to some $53 billion.” What is equally missing is that America as well as the EU neither have these funds. One source (allegedly Vanity Fair ;0) has stated that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has spend well over $53B during dinner in the past, as such the KSA has the funds. 

As we add the one reality that should have been number one from the get go “Nowadays, nothing in Saudi Arabia is spent unless it is deemed to be serving the kingdom’s interest; “Saudi Arabia first” is the principle that Saudi’s foreign policy is based on.” I personally believe that this is the only stance that should matter to the KSA and that is the setting. Then we get to the real meat. The statement “The truth is that Saudi Arabia has always had a leading role in this conflict, but it preferred a leading-from-behind approach. This approach allowed it to use its diplomatic and symbolic weight without being on the political front line and potentially risking its strategic interests. The Saudi ruling elites came to the conclusion that they had mustered a great deal of political effort for a fruitless process and thus have never injected themselves into the intricacies of the Palestinian-Israeli final status negotiations.” Is a real deal. You see Americans want to talk about everything and produce nothing, members of the KSA merely want to achieve what is best for the KSA and according to Islam is best to Muslims, that is what is here and that is why the case of Hamas is a tough one. You see Hamas is all Muslim, it merely works towards selfish reasons and the events we see in Gaza shows that. The one truth no one is entertaining is how much better Palestinians are better off without Hamas. One example is Tawhid al-Jihad, so where was Hamas when these new players were unfolding all over the West Bank around 10 years ago?

As I personally see it there are several players and most of them serve self interests. In this KSA is perhaps the only one who does not. And as I see it all parties ned to realise that Hamas is the one selfish voice in there. The events regarding al-Shifa should be taken as clear evidence in this. With only a few exceptions nearly all civilised nations have agreed that Hospitals and schools are not to be considered military outlets, especially with all the civilians in place.  A reality too many news outlets are ignoring.

The article in Foreign Policy ends with “Before Riyadh steps up and shows greater assertiveness on this issue, the Saudi ruling elites need to see a clear political horizon and an improved structure to the peace process. At that point, they might use their considerable financial leverage to shape the outcome.” You see, my issue here is that this sounds like American policies on the Middle East, so who was the source? An American political player, a stakeholder, or something else? In my (oversimplified) view, the stance most governments needs to take is that the one self-serving player here is Hamas, they are the actual danger and the actual threat. This all started as Saudi relations with Israel were normalising and I personally believe that the message on wrecking that came from Qatar, It is either Ismail Haniyeh directly or someone in his office that pushed those buttons. But that is merely my view and what do I know? 

What matters is that one could argue that Hamas is openly acting against the needs for Saudi stabilising matters in the middle east, Israel was a first step and there is seemingly not much left of that now is there?

Enjoy today, I am now 65 minutes from Midweek.

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