Month: December 2017

In what “would be the country’s longest period of emergency rule since the 1970s era of strongman Ferdinand Marcos[, t]he militarization had displaced thousands of the indigenous Lumad people and some had been killed”: U.N. Says ‘Massive’ Rights Abuses in Southern Philippines Could Intensify Under Martial Law (Reuters) After Aboutaleb said that his struggle to…

In purchasing Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi , is Abu Dhabi following Muhammad’s precedent of safeguarding a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ or engaging in conspicuous consumption with a hint of idolatry? What Would a Muslim Want With a Portrait of Christ? (Newsweek) When the Palestinians killed wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, it launched two movies and an…

Despite the Trump-Haley threats, “128 countries backed the resolution, … nine voted against and 35 abstained. Twenty-one countries did not cast a vote” … Defying Trump, over 120 Countries at U.N. Condemn Jerusalem Decision (Reuters) … with Arab states, knowing that the funds they get are bribes to benefit Israel, not taking the threats seriously…

Can something good come out Trump’s Jerusalem blunder? If he cuts off foreign aid to everyone who disagrees with him it will save American taxpayers a fortune, free up our allies from the obligation to kow-tow to American dictates and cue Muslims to rise up against the puppet dictatorships that oppress them: Trump Threatens to…

“The United States was further isolated on Monday” by vetoing the 14-1 Security Council vote. “Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinians would seek a rare emergency special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Trump’s decision”: U.S. Vetoes U.N. Call for Withdrawal of Trump Jerusalem Decision (Reuters) Concerned that discriminatory use of the…

The U.S. hopes its allegations of evidence that Iran assisted Houtis to defend themselves from Saudi aggression will divert attention from its disastrous Syrian intervention, that “arms secretly sent to rebel factions fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad in his long civil war” … The U.S. Bought Weapons for Syrian Rebels — and Some Wound Up in…

“The Justice Department is trying to push away legal challenges to his detention by claiming that nobody … outside the feds knows who he is, therefore nobody could claim to represent him in court. That the government itself is the reason why we don’t know his identity is just the icing on the cake”: A…

“With his declaration, the Christmas lights turned off. The Christmas music has quieted. The Christmas tree in Nativity Square in Bethlehem has gone dark. The Christmas spirit has been drowned out with the mourning of our stolen capital — a Palestinian Christian”: The President Who Stole Christmas (Wallwritings) Since Trump’s announcement that he would move…

Trump’s Jerusalem declaration is a declaration of “war against 1.5 billion Muslims (and) hundreds of millions of Christians,” crosses a “red line,”  prompts a “call for another intifada,” could provoke Iranian-backed militias “to target American forces,” and yet “will change nothing on the ground” … Trump Ticks the Box on Another Campaign Promise at the Expense…

“The Saudi-led coalition had hoped that Saleh’s break with the Houthis would be a turning point, isolating the rebels” but instead he has been killed as a traitor with a brutality recalling the murder of Qaddafi: Yemen’s Ex-president Killed by Rebels, Destroying Houthi Alliance (Christian Science Monitor) “If Washington recognises Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it…