The Tablet reports: The Trump White House is handing over key foreign-policy positions to Obama administration re-treads who handled the very same portfolios under the previous president. Trump’s foreign policy is starting to look like Obama Lite—the exact same policies, implemented by the exact same people…
Stephen Sniegoski reports in Unz Review: Trump’s appointees indicate his efforts for peace with Russia have ended, while bellicosity against Iran has continued. While while mainstream media anathematizes almost everything else Trump proposes, it sees little wrong with his Iran policy – even though it is counter to US interests and ignores history…
Journalist Hafsa Kara-Mustapha attended an international conference on Palestine in the Iranian capital Tehran last week. She argues that despite all the demonization against Iran , the country stands out from all others as a supporter of the Palestinian cause. This article was originally published by 5Pillars…
The former Constitution Party presidential candidate writes that “Netanyahu is one of the most corrupt political leaders on the planet” and one of the most heavily financed. Netanyahu’s plummet in popularity at home is one of the reasons “why he is pressuring Trump to ratchet up a war against Iran and why he is mobilizing accelerated (illegal) Israeli settlements on private land owned by Palestinian people… War and military conflict has always been a favored tactic of embattled politicians to increase their popularity and deflect negativity…”
The Trump administration is shaping its policy toward Israel and a potential peace settlement with the Palestinians in ways that may seem surprising for a president who had appeared to offer the government in Jerusalem a blank check on the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and other issues.”
Trump’s evolving settlement policy appears more lenient toward Israel than the Obama administration’s, but not as lenient as sought by many of Israel’s strongest backers. There may be more continuity with past policy on Israel and on Iran than many foreign policy analysts had expected.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called in his budget for passing laws cutting off businesses from Texas pension plans that adhere to Israel boycotts and broadening laws banning state investments in Iran. He traveled to Israel on a jet supplied by pro-Israel megadonor Sheldon Adelson. Adelson has said he regretted serving in US Army, would have preferred being in Israeli army…
Israel issued a sweeping displacement order for the entire region south of Litani River as it escalated its bombing campaign across Lebanon.
A group led by top Hollywood executives and linked to the Israeli government is trying to smear a film about a little girl killed by Israeli forces.
Since the early 2000s, the gradual normalisation of state-sponsored assassination has lessened the stigma attached to the practice… Norms do not disappear simply because they are violated. They erode when violations become routine, when justificatory standards decline, and when adverse reactions diminish…
The neocons’ official doctrine is to push for more of the same, in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Ukraine, et.al. and lend full support to the current Israeli government’s policy against Iran