News and Analysis (6/27/18)

The Supreme Court grants the President a privilege it denied the Colorado Civil Rights Division …

• Squaring the SCOTUS Decision on the Muslim Ban with the Masterpiece Cakes Decision Is a Disturbing Exercise (Minaret of Freedom Institute)

… yet travel ban is not only discriminatory (as noted by Justice Sonia Sotomayor), but ineffective since religion and national origin are not good predictors of who will commit the next terrorist attack …

• Trump Travel Ban Targeting Muslims Will Not Make America Safer (The Conversation)

… and an African-American opines that the Trump v. Hawaii decision will join Dred Scott and Korematsu in the annals of disgraceful decisions:

• Muslim Travel Ban? There Has Never Been an America Without Islam or Muslims (The Root)

“The simple fact is that we are not winning the war—and if you are not winning a war against an enemy fighting on his soil among his people, you are losing. In a protracted stalemate, insurgents are more likely to hang on as long as they have to. We can always go home. They are home”:

• In Afghanistan, We Persist in Futility: The Simple Fact is That the U.S. is not Winning the War (Reason)

The Palestinian leaders avoided Jared Kushner who visited the Middle East to gear up the unknown peace process “because President Donald Trump’s actions have made that politically impossible” …

• Donald Trump Policies are Hurting Palestinians and Middle East Peace Prospects (USA Today)

… and because has collaborated with the Saudi abandonment of their cause …

• Mohammed bin Salman Has Thrown the Palestinians Under the Bus (Foreign Policy)

… but the “Duke of Cambridge was clapped and cheered by Palestinians as he visited a refugee camp in Ramallah during an historic first visit by a member of the British royal family to the occupied West Bank”:

• You Have Not Been Forgotten,’ Prince William Tells Palestinians (Guardian)

“While China can indeed take some of the sanctions heat off Iran, it is neither able nor willing to be Tehran’s economic savior.”:

• Sorry, Iran, China Isn’t Going to Save You (Bloomberg)

U.S. issues an ultimatum to all the countries of the world to stop buying gas from Iran by November 2018 or face economic sanctions if they do not obey …

• U.S Increases Economic Pressure on Iran (NPR)

… but Japan is negotiating with the U.S. in hope of being an exception …

• Japan is Talking with the US to Try to Avoid Adverse Impacts from Iran Sanctions (Reuters/CNBC)

… and Turkey doesn’t care about U.S. threats:

• US Demand to Stop Oil Trade with Iran not Binding for Turkey: Minister (Daily News)

M. Abu Jafor