Interventions of Charles III to promote Britain’s warmongering role in the world

The coronation of Charles III continued the tradition of a military procession with 6,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators escorting the King and Queen and hundreds of military from 35 Commonwealth countries, including a contingent from Canada.[1] British warships and army bases across the country fired their guns in salute to the King, and later military aircraft performed a flypast over Buckingham Palace. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in a government press release announced that “we can be enormously proud of the professionalism and precision of our Armed Forces as they honour His Majesty, their new Commander-in-Chief.” Admiral Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, said the military side of the coronation “reflects centuries of tradition, but is indicative of the integral role the armed forces play in modern Britain.”

Millions of Yemenis hold mass rallies condemning continued war and siege

by Emad Almarshahi

(March 7 ) – Millions of Yemenis in the capital Sana’a and other provinces staged mass rallies to denounce the oil blockade and aggression against Yemen.

The Illegitimate State of Israel (I): Zionist Terrorism and Crimes in Palestine – 1939-1945

A series published on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Al Nabka, May 15, 2023

Complied and edited with an introduction by Tony Seed based on the Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem authored by the late Issa Nakhleh

The Illegitimate State of Israel, Part I – 1939-1945 

The Illegitimate State of Israel Part II – 1946 (forthcoming)

The Illegitimate State of Israel, Part III – 1947 (forthcoming)

The Illegitimate State of Israel, Part IV – 1948 (forthcoming)

The Conspiracy to Expel and the Expulsion of Palestinian Arabs, Part V – 1948 (forthcoming)

Introduction

(Updated May 23, 2021) – On May 14, 1948, the Zionist state of Israel was established by unilateral declaration in defiance of the United Nations and international law on the basis of 33 massacres, terrorism and the dispossession and mass expulsion of the indigenous Palestinian people from their land by the foreign-armed Zionist state and its militias with the backing of the great powers, the United States in the first place, as well as Canada. Some 750,000 Palestinians were forced to flee. Palestinians were forced from their lands and homes due to military attacks by Zionist forces, supported by the British and U.S. governments. The Israeli Zionist forces attacked 774 cities and villages, and occupied 80 per cent of the Palestinian soil after killing nearly 15,000 Muslim and Christian civilians.

Of this population, approximately one-third were forced to migrate to the West Bank, another third to the Gaza Strip, and the remainder to neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, registered as refugees with the United Nations and forcibly denied the right of return.

Another 350,000 were dispossessed in 1967 following the Six-Day War during which Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights. The number of Palestinians in the Diaspora now numbers over 5 million people. “We must do everything to ensure they [the Palestinians] never do return … The old will die and the young will forget,” said David Ben-Gurion, the founder of Israel, in 1949. But the young ha, both those born in Palestine and those born in Canada, have not forgotten.

For the information of readers, we are serializing in five instalments chapters from the Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem (1999), a 1,000-page work in two volumes by the late Issa Nakhleh*, a distinguished lawyer and statesman, which provide detailed information on the years 1939-1948, as to the nature and methods of the illegitimate Zionist conquest of Palestine of May 15, 1948. These are not otherwise available on the Internet. Much of the information is derived directly from British Colonial files in London. To proceed directly to this exhaustive work, scroll down the page.

The US of A(rms)

The United States dominates the global arms trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the Middle East | WILLIAM D. HARTUNG

Infrastructure of US bases in the Middle East | David Vine

The United States has the dubious distinction of being the world’s leading arms dealer. It dominates the global trade in a historic fashion and nowhere is that domination more complete than in the endlessly war-torn Middle East. There, believe it or not, the U.S. controls nearly half the arms market. From Yemen to Libya to Egypt, sales by this country and its allies are playing a significant role in fuelling some of the world’s most devastating conflicts. But Donald Trump, even before he was felled by Covid-19 and sent to Walter Reed Medical Center, could not have cared less, as long as he thought such trafficking in the tools of death and destruction would help his political prospects.

The ominous jihadis war: From Tripoli to Tripoli

GHASSAN KADI on a potentially huge situation brewing in Libya that barely makes the news

The ‘War on Syria’ is far from being over, and it will continue until all foreign forces illegally present on Syrian soil retreat; either willingly, or defeated.

And even though the American presence in Syria has no clear and realistic political purpose other than wreaking havoc and making it hard for Russia to help reach a decisive victory, in a twist of fate, the focus of the Russo-American conflict in the region may soon move away from Syria.

The global arms trade

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

Worldwide total military spending amounts to some $1.69 trillion per year. Of this, about $375 billion goes to buying arms.

The volume of international transfers of major arms in the period 2014-18 was 7.8 per cent higher than in 2009-13 and 23 per cent higher than in 2004-2008, according to data on arms transfers published in March by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

How Syria won the revolution – the Jihadi factor

By GHASSAN and INTIBAH KADI*

The “War on Syria” has had many unintended twists and turns that were unforeseeable at the time it began. The plotters had no reason to believe they were going to lose, and the defenders had no option other than doing all they could and risk and sacrifice all that was dear and precious.

However, as frontlines are now being redrawn in Syria in preparation for the final showdown, a recapitulation of the events of the last eight years reveals that Syria did in fact end up having a revolution, but the group that embarked on the initial alleged revolution, the Free Syria Army (FSA) is nowhere to be seen.

War on Syria: CIA program supplied money, weaponry and training to terrorist forces

Introduction

Timber Sycamore was a classified weapons supply and training program run by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supported by various Arab intelligence services, most notably that of Saudi Arabia. The program is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. It is further evidence that the United States and/or any of its collaborators and accessories including the Canadian government, with its proxy support, training and arms programs in Kurdistan, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia, are guilty of crimes against humanity through aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic, a sovereign country. The use of proxy mercenary armies camouflaged by a fictitious “civil war,” according to the Obama Doctrine, masks the identities of their sponsors. It cannot hide them however, nor their aggression, from the light of day nor the reaches of international law.

No harbour for war: Spanish activists organize to kick out Saudi death ship loading weapons for Yemen war

The port of Santander in Cantabria, Spain, where the Saudi ship loading weapons for the Yemeni war is docked | Frobles, Wikimedia Commons

The Bahri Hofuf was kicked out of the port of Bilbao, then sneaked into Santander

(April 1) – In the first days of March, a Saudi cargo ship docked in the Spanish port of Santander to load weapons with Yemen as its final destination. Anti-war activists are trying to expel it from the harbour.

Criminal silence of Global Affairs Canada on Israeli massacre

Picket against occupation of Palestine at Israeli consulate in Montreal on Land Day, March 30, 2018.

Global Affairs Canada, whose minister Chrystia Freeland is busily lecturing Russia on the necessity of a “rules based order” in connection with the alleged poisoning of two individuals in Salisbury, England and – co-ordinated by NATO – expelling its diplomats en masse, is maintaining an eery silence on the premeditated Israeli massacre of the Palestinians, 30,000 of whom were demonstrating for the Right of Return, committed by Israel on March 30.

Saudi Arabia: The second Saud dynasty

During the evening of November 3, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) launched his “Night of the Long Knives” – a virtual coup d’état. It included the house arrest of 11 princes and four ministers and scores of other former government lackeys in political, security, and business spheres, not to overlook the freezing of up to 1,700 bank accounts worth $800 billion. This coup has serious regional and international implications.The next day, a missile headed toward Riyadh from Yemen, which the Saudis quickly called an act of war. The visiting prime minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, was placed under house arrest and forced to resign in a letter reportedly dictated by his hosts blaming Iran and the resistance organization Hezbollah for threatening the security of Lebanon; the Saudis called on expatriates to evacuate. In parallel, Israel launched new air strikes against Syria and the Trump regime escalated its offensive against Iran;  the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley later in the week called for sanctions against Tehran, citing Saudi “evidence”. Iran has dismissed the claims as baseless, pointing to the Saudi air, sea and land blockade on Yemen as preventing any such weapons supply.

Trump’s task is to reverse the ‘roll out’ of Iran by challenging the JCPOA

By MAHDI DARIUS NAZEMROAYA 

Washington’s plan for regime change in Damascus has failed. Albeit it has not gone the way that the US and Israel have desired, it can be said using the geopolitical language of Israeli and US planners and strategists that Syria has been “rolled back.” This does not mean Syria will stay in this “rolled-back” state statically.

In Iraq, the federal government has come out victorious and pushed back the so-called “Islamic State” and demands have started for a withdrawal of US forces. In the Levant, the Palestinians have managed to form a national unity government that will change the equation of talks between the Palestinians and Israel whereas Hezbollah and its political partners in Lebanon are stronger than ever. While in Yemen, the Houthis or Ansarallah have been able to repel the Saudis.

The US and its allies are the ones in the bigger geopolitical picture that are being “rolled back” steadily. In this context, Washington is now turning to the strategic depth of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, the Houthi, and the Palestinians. That strategic depth is the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Lebanon: The fall and the fall of Hariri

This week Daniel Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel, wrote in the Haaretz newspaper that the Saudis were meddling yet again in Lebanese politics, forcing Hezbullah into greater political prominence, to provide the pretext for Israel to renew its confrontation with the Lebanese militia and thereby stoke a new war between Israel and Lebanon and Syria.

In his words: “Israel and Saudi Arabia are fully aligned in this regional struggle, and the Saudis cannot help but be impressed by Israel’s increasing assertiveness to strike at Iranian threats in Syria … When the moment of truth arrives, Israel’s allies, with the United States in the lead, should give it full backing.”

Politics in Lebanon itself is complex, largely due to the confessional system inherited from French colonialism. Ghassan Kadi gives a brief background on Saad Hariri and offers some thoughts on the reasons behind Hariri’s sudden resignation. With events in the region proceeding at a dizzying pace, and especially the news of arrests in Saudi Arabia, which happened after Ghassan wrote this article, some of the thoughts expressed may merely represent a snapshot in time as the landscape keeps changing, but essentially his article analyzes Saudi Arabia’s attempts to regain control over Lebanon. – TS

CIA’s Bin Laden forgery is a psyop: three articles

By TONY SEED

In the context of the offensive of the Trump regime against Iran and for domination of West Asia (Middle East), the CIA released on November 1 a “never-before-seen 19-page document,” as well as a 228-page “journal” ostensibly written by Osama Bin Laden as all U.S. and Canadian media (as directed by the U.S. government) are promoting.

The looming war between the Bani Saud

Saudi Arabia – a mother of terrorism

The ambitious bid of Bin Salman of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia, prime customer of Canadian-produced armaments, to consolidate power in his own hands | ZAFAR BANGASH*

There are clear signs of deep divisions among the members of Bani Saud that point to serious trouble in the days ahead. Largely the result of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s grab for unlimited (unaccountable) power and the disastrous policies he has pursued unilaterally, there is great unease among other members of the ruling family that may explode into open warfare.

While the demented King Salman appears largely oblivious to what is going on around him, his son, the arrogant and erratic Bin Salman (BS) continues to make policy blunders that other family members fear would spell doom for the clan. Former Crown Prince and Interior Minister Muhammad bin Nayif was unceremoniously dismissed from both posts last June and is now reported to be under house arrest. The move was engineered by Bin Salman to pave the way for his own accession to the throne.

Selling the Canada-Ukraine-Saudi arms deal

By TONY SEED

Demonstration against 2016 CANSEC arms show in Ottawa

(Aug. 2) – On August 1, the state broadcaster invited the Ukrainian ambassador  to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, to grace its Power & Politics program and celebrate the coming into force of a free trade agreement between the two countries. Five minutes of bashing Russia as the justification for military intervention – Canadian Forces training of Ukrainian troops, now at some 4,200 – followed. Finally, CBC host Terry Milewski asked this diplomat* to explain how the free trade agreement will “affect the lives of our viewers.” 

Background on Canada-Ukraine defence agreement: A ‘rich, mutually beneficial’ arms trade

Exposé: “It could scarcely be clearer. On top of laying the groundwork for increased arming of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Canada-Ukraine Defence Cooperation Agreement constitutes another means to expand arms sales from Canada to the Saudi Arabia dictatorship for war and aggression in the Middle East using Ukraine as a transit, as well as to potentially increase the share of the global arms trade by Pratt & Whitney, Esterline GMC Electronics and other private arms monopolies” | Investigation by TONY SEED

Merchants of Death – Lithograph by Mabel Dwight

(May 20, Revised August 25, 2017) – One of the main features of the Defence Agreement between Canada and Ukraine signed on April 3, 2017 are neo-liberal arrangements regarding arms production and the global arms trade. These arrangements are taking place within the conditions of intensified inter-imperialist rivalry to monopolize the global arms trade and the expansion of the theatre of operations of the U.S.-NATO bloc not only in Eastern Europe but also in the Middle East.

US Press Secretary falsely accuses Iran of attacking US Navy vessel, an act of war

As well as articles on U.S. sanctions announced today (Feb. 3), as the Trump regime raises Cain about one missile test. Remember Iran has not attacked a single country for hundreds of years. Nor have there ever been any Iranian terrorists. And before you say Hezbollah, in South Lebanon. I say: freedom fighters protecting themselves against Israel’s constant illegal invasions into Lebanon.

By Zaid Jilani and Alex Emmons, The Intercept

(Feb. 2) – White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer asserted at Thursday’s press briefing that Iran had attacked a U.S. naval vessel, as part of his argument defending the administration’s bellicose announcement that Iran is “on notice.”

The Balfour Declaration and the creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Soldiers in the Arab Army during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918, carrying the Arab Flag of the Arab Revolt and pictured in the Arabian Desert.

By Nu’man Abd al-Wahid*

The covert alliance between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Zionist entity of Israel should be no surprise to any student of British imperialism. The problem is the study of British imperialism has very few students. Indeed, one can peruse any undergraduate or post-graduate university prospectus and rarely find a module in a Politics degree on the British Empire let alone a dedicated degree or Masters degree. Of course if the European led imperialist carnage in the four years between 1914 – 1918 tickles your cerebral cells then it’s not too difficult to find an appropriate institution to teach this subject, but if you would like to delve into how and why the British Empire waged war on mankind for almost four hundred years you’re practically on your own in this endeavour. One must admit, that from the British establishment’s perspective, this is a remarkable achievement.

The Daesh Chronicles: The definition challenge

The war against ISIS | GHASSAN KADI* argues against self-serving dogma substituting as analysis, and for the renovation of Islam

Islam, real Islam, is a religion of piety, wisdom and peace, and Muslims, real Muslims are not terrorists. Even though all terrorists that have been caught involved in terrorism are “Muslims”, this does not give a blanket description of all Muslims as beings terrorists.

Saudi arms deal: The foreign minister must resign!

No to the arms sales to Saudi Arabia! No to the “new doctrine” called “responsible conviction!”

(April 13) – The Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada condemns Canada’s sale of arms to Saudi Arabia for which this government signed export permits on April 8. No matter what the pretext, these arms sales are unacceptable. By no stretch of the imagination can Saudi Arabia be considered a peaceful or a democratic country as the ministry and Trudeau government claim. Nor can Canada’s mission in the Middle East be considered a peaceful one. This is simply not true.

The example of the arms deal to Saudi Arabia was given by the Foreign Minister in a speech at the University of Ottawa on March 29, to vindicate the new government doctrine called “responsible conviction.” On that occasion, the Minister created the impression that the arms sale was a done deal by the previous Harper government. He said it would not be right for Canada to go back on its signature due to harmful consequences. He repeated that Canada’s aim is to bring stability to the region and advanced various other pragmatic excuses to justify aggression and war.

Now it turns out that Dion signed the papers himself on April 8. He has to be held to account for trying to mislead Canadians on this matter since the beginning of January and again on March 29.

The Arab Spring: US black ops and subversion

Book review of Ahmed Bensaada, Arabesque$: Enquête sur le rôle des États-Unis dans les révoltes arabes (Investigation into the US Role in the Arab Uprisings) by Dr. Stuart Jeanne Bramhall

‘Responsible conviction’ – Dion announces new foreign affairs doctrine

Trudeau government moves to criminalize the right to conscience

(April 9) – Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion spoke at an international conference at the University of Ottawa on March 29, entitled “Canada in Global Affairs, New Challenges, New Ways.”[1] Dion continued the practice of prior governments of making important announcements about Canada’s foreign policy in an offhand manner. Dion used a speech to a university audience to announce a new foreign affairs doctrine for Canada he calls “responsible conviction.” Dion says “responsible conviction” will be the “guiding principle” the government will follow in implementing foreign policy.

Syria’s President Assad vows to recapture whole country

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad pledged that the army will retake the whole country from terrorists

However, in an interview with AFP released on Friday, February 12, Assad said the process could “take a long time,” stressing that the eventual goal of the government is to liberate the whole country from the control of the terrorists.

Boston Globe: The media is misleading the public on Syria

The role of the monopoly media to disinform

Finally, an American journalist blasts the US media coverage of Syria. “Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.” STEPHEN KINZER* details features of how the monopoly media falsifies and negates the reality of the forces in combat in Syria, prettifies terrorists as “moderates” and “freedom fighters,” and portrays a war on Syria as a religious, sectarian or “civil war.”

The ‘cold war’ over Syria… will remain cold

“. . . it is the Syrian scorched ground that decides its destiny. . .”

Introduction by Ghassan Kadi*: This is an article that has been translated from Arabic by Intibah and Ghassan Kadi. It was published on Assafir (a Lebanese daily) on February 15 by SAMI KOLEIB. He is a renowned pro-Resistance Lebanese journalist. He has made great analyses over the last few years and Intibah and I had the pleasure of translating some of his work. In this article, he is articulating his views about the outcome of the huffing and puffing of Turkey and Saudi Arabia in regard to their threats of launching ground military operations in Syria. A highly recommended read.

By Sami Koleib | Translated by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi

(February 15) – For the Russia Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev to say that the world is entering a cold war is to declare the status quo… and confirming what’s already confirmed. But to say it from Munich? This is the same place from which President Vladimir Putin began to stand up against Washington in his famous speech nearly eight years ago. And for Medvedev to mention the Russian Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 to stop an American invasion is only a reminder of the new red lines for any land invasion perpetrated by the enemies of the Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in Syria’s north, and specifically to any Saudi-Turkish gamble with a NATO cover. The cold war is realistically under way; what’s new in it this time is that it is the Syrian scorched ground that decides its destiny… and it seems that various contacts made in the last few hours have focused on putting the situation under control and priorotizing on fighting terrorism.

Coming to a head in Syria

By GHASSAN KADI*
What started as a “War On Syria”, allowed to grow and fester unabated, fueled and sponsored by eighty three nations spearheaded by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel and NATO and all pro-NATO nations, is undoubtedly coming to a head.

Geneva III seems dead in the water, just like Geneva I and II were. This time however, Syria and its allies are calling the shots, and they are playing the cat-and-mouse game, and why not? After all, the ball is in their court and it wasn’t easy coming. It’s the spoil of blood and sacrifice.

Syrians express solidarity with Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayyad

Damascus, SANA (7 December) – To express solidarity with Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayyad and to condemn the death penalty issued against him by Saudi authorities, a crowd of Syrian intellectuals, artists and local figures participated in a protest that the Culture Ministry called for on Monday outside the UN office in Damascus. 

The love affair between ISIS and the Turkish JDP (AKP) government: the evidence

Two articles by TONY SEED and Sendika.Org News

The menace of ISIS grew in the Middle East with the overt and covert help of the ruling JDP (Justice Development Party) government in Turkey, a member of the US NATO military bloc and host of the current meeting of the G20 states, being held under the high ideals of the “war against terrorism”, and such members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Once again these facts have been wiped from the terrible story of the violent attacks in Paris.

Word. Interview with President Assad of Syria

Bashar al-Assad speaking during an interview in Damascus broadcast by Khabar TV

Question 1: In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful. Mr. President, thank you very much for accepting the invitation of the Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran to give this interview. Thank you very much.

There are many issues which need to be raised; and in this interview, I’ll raise a number of them. I hope that I’ll get candid and transparent answers from your Excellency. For about five years now, Syria has been suffering from a war waged by armed terrorist groups that inflicted tremendous damage on the Syrian people. According to available statistics, these damages are estimated at more than USD 200 billion to the infrastructure, about 250,000 casualties and about six to seven million displaced Syrian individuals. All this was the result of Western states’ insistence on overthrowing the Syrian regime. They haven’t succeeded in doing so. Now we can see a change in positions regarding the situation in Syria. The states which used to call for overthrowing the regime have started to declare that they accept President Assad’s participation in an interim government. What’s your reading of this change in positions, and why has it happened?