MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : I discuss: The U.S. Is Going Backward at the United Nations | Opinion –  Nikki Haley 

WHO just elected Syria—a regime that weaponizes chemicals against women and children—to its leadership.

Yet, Joe Biden is silent. His refusal to stand up for our principles, with our friends, and against our enemies is dangerous.

I discuss: The U.S. Is Going Backward at the United Nations | Opinion – Nikki Haley , Former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
On 6/30/21 at 7:30 AM EDT

Will the United States hold the United Nations to its highest ideals, and serve our national interests? Things aren’t looking good. The UN’s health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), just elected Syria to its executive board, despite that regime’s use of chemical weapons against women and children. The UN Human Rights Council is preparing for a new round of ridiculous anti-Israel “investigations.” Yet as dictators, murderers and thieves continue to use the UN for their own evil ends, the U.S. under the Biden administration seems content to go along for the ride. A different approach is needed—fast.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : ROT CHINA GREIFT GEZIELT NACH DEUTSCHLAND – DA HELFEN KEINE REGENBOGEN-FAHNEN

Schwierige Zusammenarbeit : Wie China die Wissenschaft für seine Politik nutzt

  • Von Anna Schiller FAZ – 30.06.2021-14:34 – Einflussversuche der Regierung auf Universitäten und Forschungsinstitute in Deutschland häufen sich. Es geht auch um den Export der eigenen Zensurstandards.

Als in Budapest jüngst mehrere Tausend Demonstranten auf die Straße gingen, um gegen den Bau eines Außencampus der chinesischen Fudan-Universität zu protestieren, geriet Ungarns Präsident Orbán in Erklärungsnot. Nach einem Bericht des ungarischen Investigativportals Direkt36 soll der Bau bei einem Staatsbesuch des chinesischen Außenministers Wang Yi mit ranghohen Vertretern der ungarischen Regierung besprochen worden sein. Tamás Matura, Leiter des Central and Eastern European Centre for Asian Studies, sieht den Bau kritisch: „Das Jahresbudget ist höher als die Gesamtausgaben aller ungarischen Universitäten zusammen, daher kann Fudan die besten Studenten und Professoren aus der gesamten Region abwerben.“

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MESOPOTAMI NEWS REPORT : Reports on Turkey-Qatar military training accords questioned by Erdogan critics

A military education agreement between Turkey and Qatar drew backlash from opposition members in Ankara after local media reporting misrepresented its content, though rumors persist.

Diego Cupolo  AL MONITOR –  June 29, 2021 – ISTANBUL — The deepening cooperation between strategic allies Turkey and Qatar has long drawn scrutiny from opposition parties in Ankara, and an accord published in the nation’s Official Gazette on June 24 stirred fresh controversy after its contents were misrepresented in local media reports.

Titled the Turkey-Qatar Military Health Education and Cooperation Protocol, the agreement establishes opportunities for both Turkish and Qatari military students to pursue diplomas from university programs involving dentistry, pharmaceutical and other health-related studies.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS BACKGROUNER :ISRAEL’S GRAY ZONE: IRAN IN SYRIA

Featuring James F. Jeffrey, Assaf Orion, and Oula Alrifai  – Decision Points, Season 3 Ep. 3 – June 29, 2021 – LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE

Since 2015, Iranian forces have increasingly entrenched themselves in Syria as part of a broader effort to bolster the rule of Bashar al-Assad. As this effort began to unfold, Israel feared reenacting the cautionary tale of Hezbollah in Lebanon, where indecision over rooting out the Tehran-backed terrorist group proved to be a decision in itself. To avoid a situation in which Iranian or proxy forces are positioned along the entirety of Israel’s northern border, the IDF has been walking a tightrope in Syria, taking direct action against major security threats while trying to avoid a full-scale war. Can this gray zone strategy succeed in pushing Iran out of Syria or not?

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Kurdistan’s Weekly Brief, June 29, 2021  – A weekly brief of events occurred in the Kurdistan regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

  1. Iran

Thousands of workers at petroleum refineries and power plants across Iran went on strike last Tuesday to protest poor working conditions and the delayed payment of salaries. The massive strike began when 700 workers were fired from the Shahr-e Rey refinery in southern Tehran Province. Iranian authorities arrested several strike organizers but failed to prevent additional workers and unions from joining the strike, including at least 100 workers and activists from Sanandaj (Sena). The Cooperation Center for Iranian Kurdistan’s Political Parties (CCIKP) threw its support behind the strike, describing it as an attempt to secure “legitimate rights” and calling for other domestic and international organizations to back the “workers’ struggle.”

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : EIN HERR AUS BRAUNLAND IN ROT CHINA

Erinnerung an Otto Braun : Maos deutscher Sündenbock

  • Von Friederike Böge, Peking FAZ –  30.06.2021-06:16  – Die Kommunistische Partei Chinas feiert am Donnerstag 100 Jahre ihres Bestehens. An Otto Braun wird wieder nicht erinnert. Dabei war er weit mehr als nur Militärberater.

Im Spätsommer 1939 wurde Otto Braun kurz vor Sonnenaufgang in seiner Wohnhöhle im zentralchinesischen Yan’an von einem Boten geweckt. Dieser überbrachte eine handschriftliche Notiz aus dem Zentralkomitee der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas: „Komm sofort zum Flughafen, du fliegst nach Moskau.“ Drei Jahre lang hatte der deutsche Militärberater und Agent des sowjetischen Militärgeheimdienstes immer wieder um seine Rückberufung gebeten. Doch weil er aus Moskau nie eine Antwort bekam, hatte er sich darauf eingestellt, womöglich für immer in China bleiben zu müssen.

Braun hatte eine chinesische Sängerin geheiratet und verspätet damit begonnen, ordentlich Chinesisch zu lernen. Doch dann ging auf einmal alles ganz schnell. Der Mann aus dem bayerischen Ismaning verabschiedete sich von seiner Frau Li Lijian, die er nie wiedersehen würde. Er stieg auf sein Pony und ritt zum Flughafen. Dort hatte sich die Führung der Partei versammelt. „Sogar Mao Tse-tung wünschte mir eine gute Reise“, schrieb Otto Braun später in seinen Memoiren. „Ohne ein Wort des Dankes oder der Anerkennung.“

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS Auf­ge­deckt: Das deut­sche Netz­werk der Hisbollah

Till SchmidtAnalyse  22. Jun 2021   ZENTRUM LIBERALE MODERNE

Die von vielen west­li­chen Staaten als Ter­ror­or­ga­ni­sa­tion aner­kannte His­bol­lah war in Deutsch­land öffent­lich haupt­säch­lich bei anti­se­mi­ti­schen Demons­tra­tio­nen sicht­bar. Till Schmidt zeigt, wie ihr Netz­werk in Ver­bände reicht, mit denen Bun­des­län­der Staats­ver­träge unterhalten.

Jah­re­lang glichen sich die Bilder: Zum Ende des Ramadan demons­trierte eine schau­rige Allianz von isla­mis­ti­schen Anti­se­mi­ten in Berlin für die Zer­stö­rung Israels. Auf den „Al-Quds“-Aufmärschen wurden nicht nur Fahnen der Isla­mi­schen Repu­blik Iran und der paläs­ti­nen­si­schen Natio­nal­be­we­gung, sondern regel­mä­ßig auch die der His­bol­lah gezeigt. Darauf zu sehen ist eine sich aus dem „A“ von „Allah“ austre­ckende Faust, die ein Maschi­nen­ge­wehr hält. Daneben lehnt ein Koran, ein Globus ver­weist auf den Anspruch der liba­ne­si­schen Ter­ror­or­ga­ni­sa­tion, auch welt­weit zu operieren.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS IDEAS : The Iran Nuclear Deal Isn’t the Problem. Iran Is.

If and when a return to the agreement is reached, the Biden administration will also need to counter Iran’s escalating efforts in the Middle East.  – By James Jeffrey and Dennis Ross – THE ATLANTIC

About the authors: James Jeffrey is the Chair of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center, and a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Iraq. Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute.

Ebrahim Raisi’s election as president of Iran came as no surprise. All those who might have been a threat to him were disqualified. He was the choice of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and small wonder: Few people better embody the ideology of the Islamic Republic. He will not open Iran up to the outside world, and will certainly not look to accommodate the United States in any way. As for Iran’s behavior in the Middle East, he has made clear that it is “not negotiable.”

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : DIE LETZTEN TAGE DER PKK – Aldar Xelîl: Eine Besatzung Südkurdistans würde Rojava ersticken

Der PYD-Politiker Aldar Xelîl erklärt, dass die türkischen Angriffe auf Südkurdistan eine existenzielle Bedrohung für Nord- und Ostsyrien darstellen und eine Besatzung Südkurdistans auch Rojava ersticken wird.

  • MUSTAFA ÇOBAN  QAMIŞLO  Dienstag, 29 Jun 2021, 13:56 ANHA AGENCY

Seit dem 23. April versucht die türkische Armee mit aller Gewalt, Teile Südkurdistans zu besetzen. Während die mit der Türkei kollaborierende südkurdische PDK immer wieder behauptet, die Operation richte sich gegen die Guerilla, zeigt das Vorgehen der türkischen Armee, dass es um eine dauerhafte Besatzung der Region durch die Türkei geht. Bei erfolgreicher Besatzung droht eine Annexion von Südkurdistan. Aldar Xelîl, Vorstandsmitglied der nordsyrischen Partei der Demokratischen Einheit (PYD) bewertet im ANF-Interview die türkische Invasion und die Kollaboration der PDK aus der Perspektive von Rojava .

Im Kern steht das Invasionsprojekt“

Warum hat die PDK während der türkischen Angriffe Truppen in die südkurdischen Medya-Verteidigungsgebiete verlegt und was würde ein Verlust von Südkurdistan für die Kurden  und Rojava bedeuten?

Bei den aktuellen Angriffen auf Südkurdistan handelt es sich um eine Invasion. Erdoğan will auch Südkurdistan besetzen. Dieser Plan ist offensichtlich. Es geht darum, noch vor dem Ende des Jahres 2023 Südkurdistan und Nord- und Ostsyrien vollständig zu besetzen. Dass dies bisher noch nicht geschehen ist, liegt allein am Widerstand. Hätten wir uns nicht verteidigt, wäre Erdoğan jetzt bereits in Mossul und Kerkûk angekommen. Ein Grund, warum Südkurdistan bisher erhalten geblieben ist, ist der Widerstand in Rojava, ein weiterer ist der Widerstand der Guerilla in den Bergen Kurdistans und aktuell vor allem in Avaşîn, Zap und Metîna. Bei diesem Kampf geht es auch um den Schutz der Errungenschaften von Südkurdistan.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS INTEL BY MEIR AMIT CENTER / ISRAEL – ISIS spokesman releases an audiotape calling on the operatives to intensify their attacks, lashing out against Iran, Turkey and the leaders of the Arab states, and expressing support for the Palestinians but not for Hamas

Published: 29/06/2021

Overview
  • On June 21, 2021, ISIS’s Al-Furqan Media Foundation released an audiotape of ISIS Spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qurashi. The tape, which lasts about 38 minutes, is entitled “You are the sublime ones if you believe.”It mainly contains words of encouragement to ISIS’s fighters around the world, calls on them to intensify their activity and asks them to choose more substantial targets for their attacks (Telegram, June 22, 2021).
  • On the audiotape, Qurashi addresses each and every province of ISIS. He turns to the province operatives and mentions their activity, revealing knowledge on what goes on in each of the provinces. Judging on the basis of the events he mentions, it seems that his speech was recorded recently, since he mentions events and incidents from the past two weeks, such as ISIS operatives’ attack in Libya against Haftar’s forces and the killing of Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s leader in Nigeria. He also refers to Operation Guardian of the Walls in the Gaza Strip (May 10-21, 2021) and the incidents in Jerusalem.
  • Since his appointment in October 2019, Abu Hamza al-Qurashi has not spoken in public very often. This is merely his fourth audiotape. It is the third audiotape in which he addresses the Palestinian issue, an issue which has hardly ever been addressed by ISIS’s spokesmen. It should be noted that Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi, ISIS’s leader, has never issued any audiotape since his appointment and has kept a low media profile.
  • The previous audiotape was disseminated on October 18, 2020, with the normalization agreements between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel in the background. In that audiotape, among other things, he called for attacking Western citizens in Saudi Arabia, which was perceived as the broker of the normalization agreements, and hit Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure, for example, by setting fire to oil pipes and plants. In the audiotape that preceded it, released on January 27, 2020, he called on Muslims around the world to thwart President Trump’s Deal of the Century. In that audiotape, he called on ISIS operatives in the Sinai Peninsula and Syria to attack Israeli communities and use Israel’s territory as a proving ground for ISIS’s weapons and rockets. He also called on Muslims in Palestine and throughout the world to spearhead the campaign to foil the Deal of the Century.[1]
  • It is possible that Al-Qurashi is interested in the Palestinian issue more than its predecessors, and yet, from the current audiotape, it is evident that his main interests lie with Iraq and Syria, and the threat posed to ISIS by Iran and its proxies. On the Palestinian issue, ISIS settles with calling on the residents to return to religion and embrace jihad, while criticizing Hamas, which it perceives as an Iranian proxy.
Appendix
Main points made by Al-Qurashi
  • The tape begins with Abu Hamza al-Qurashi praising ISIS’s operatives for their determination to adopt the path of jihad, noting that Allah promises them victory. Addressing the West (the “Crusaders”), he says that the Islamic State continues to exist in spite of them. He also calls on ISIS’s operatives, with an emphasis on Iraq and Syria, to work to break down the prison walls and liberate its imprisoned operatives. In addition, he calls on them to target judges and lawyers working against ISIS operatives. Addressing the imprisoned ISIS operatives, he stresses that liberating them is imperative according to Sharia. He also calls on ISIS operatives throughout the world not to succumb to persecution by the “infidels” and carry on in the path of jihad and the faith in Allah.
  • He then congratulates ISIS operatives on their activity in various provinces: Iraq, Syria, Sinai, Khorasan (Afghanistan), Somalia, Libya, Pakistan and India, and especially stresses the activity in Iraq. Following are his comments on each province:
    • The West and Central Africa provinces:Abu Hamza al-Qurashi praises their activity and informs them that ISIS’s leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi, is calling on them to continue on their path. He praises them for the defeat of the “extremist group” (alluding to the killing of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau by ISIS operatives) and the fact that Boko Haram operatives have joined ISIS, and calls on them to continue on this path and adhere to the faith in Allah and jihad against their enemies. He also calls on Muslims in these provinces to join and support ISIS’s jihad fighters.
    • Iraq:He emphasizes ISIS’s activity in Iraq and threatens the Iraqi government and the forces supporting it (the Popular Mobilization and Tribal Mobilization forces), saying that they will suffer a severe blow at the hands of ISIS.
    • Syria: He praises ISIS operatives in Syria, who have succeeded to wear down the Syrian army (al-Nussairi, i.e., the Alawite) and the Russian and Iranian forces supporting it, to the extent that its soldiers do not dare to move around without the escort of fighter jets or tanks. He also praises ISIS operatives for their fighting against the “infidels” and the local militias. He calls on the operatives to continue attacking the clerics and tribal leaders loyal to the Syrian regime and also the Kurdish forces.
    • Sinai Province:He praises the operatives of ISIS’s’ Sinai Province for wearing down the Egyptian army and for their steadfastness, since, as he claims, “the Army of Egypt’s Pharaoh” is no better than the “army of the objectors” [a derogatory name for the Shiites] in Iraq. He calls on ISIS operatives in Sinai to expand their activity to the cities and kill officers and intelligence operatives. He notes that they must display patience since this is an ongoing process that cannot yield immediate results.
    • Afghanistan:He calls on ISIS operatives to attack “objectors” [meaning mainly the Hazara, the Shiite minority in Afghanistan] and Taliban operatives, noting that they must choose to act against bigger and more significant targets, such as leaders heading the “tyrannical cabinet” and government officials.
    • Libya:He congratulates ISIS’s operatives in Libya on their latest operation (the suicide bombing attack at a roadblock set up by General Haftar’s fighters about two weeks ago) and expresses the hope that this attack will be the “first spark” that will lead to the expansion of ISIS’s activity in Libya.
    • The Palestinians and the recent campaign in the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem: He criticizes the Arab and Islamic leaders who did not help the Palestinians in the latest round of fighting in Gaza (Operation Guardian of the Walls) and during the clashes in Jerusalem. He calls Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi the Pharaoh of Egypt, and Abdullah the King of Jordan the Jordanian dictator, claiming that they serve as a line of defense for Israel against the jihad fighters. He also criticizes the policy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (“the Antichrist”) on the Palestinian issue, noting that when ISIS ruled the city of Aleppo, the Turks were quick to attack the region with their fighter jets. He adds that the “infidels” (the Arab regimes, led by Egypt, Jordan and Syria) delayed the advance of ISIS’s’ forces in their fight against the Jews, and constituted an obstacle on the way to Palestine, only to defend the Jews from the soldiers of the caliphate.He calls on the residents of Palestine to wake up, noting that the truth is not achieved through peace, but rather through “jihad and bloodshed.”
    • Hamas: ISIS’s spokesman Al-Qurashi criticizes Hamas for its ties with Iran and calls members of Hamas “the brothers of the devil.”He notes that only yesterday, Hamas members criticized normalization between the Gulf countries and Israel, and today, with the utmost impudence, they create normalization with Iran of the Magi (i.e., of the Zoroastrian religion). Addressing the Palestinians, he says that a Hamas victory should not be expected. He tells them not to be mistaken when it comes to Hamas’s rockets, since they were launched not in response to the suffering of the Palestinians or in order to liberate them from oppression, but rather in response to a call by “their Iranian masters.”
    • Iran: He ends by calling on all Muslims to carry out jihad and fight against Iran’s proxies.

 

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