From the Independent
Why is there such an explosion of violence across the Middle East? Here’s an alternative view…
By Robert Fisk
Why such an epic explosion of violence? It feels strange to ask these questions of Dr Bouthaina Shaaban, one of President Bashar al-Assad’s close advisers and former translator to his father, Hafez. Her office is spotless, flowers on the table, her female secretary preparing a morning round-up of the world’s press on the Middle East, the coffee hot and sweet. At one point, when she spoke of the destruction in Syria and the mass attacks on the region’s Arab armies, it was difficult to believe that this was Damascus and that a few hundred miles to the east Isis have been cutting the throats of their hostages. Indeed, Shaaban finds it difficult even to define what Isis really is.
Not so with America and the war in Syria. “Right from the beginning of this crisis, I never truly felt that the issue was about President Assad,” she says. “It was about the weakening and destruction of Syria. There has been so much destruction – of hospitals, schools, factories, government institutions, you name it. I think the Americans take their battles against leaders and presidents – but only as a pretext to destroy countries. Saddam was not the real target –it was Iraq. And it’s the same for Libya now – America told everyone it was about Gaddafi. The real issue is about weakening the Arab armies, whoever they are. When the Americans invaded Iraq, what was the first thing they did? They dissolved the Iraqi army.”
From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Eight Palestinians reported injured in Jerusalem-area clashes
(JTA) — At least eight Palestinians were reportedly wounded in clashes with Israeli police that occurred shortly after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged all parties to practice restraint in Jerusalem.
The clashes included the firing of flare guns by Palestinian men at police guarding the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem on Friday, the news site news.walla.co.il reported on Friday. Police responded by firing crown dispersal means at the Palestinians, who fled the scene.
In another incident, eight Palestinians were injured during clashes following Friday prayers near the Qalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem, the Ma’an news agency reported. One of the wounded sustained serious injuries, according to The Jerusalem Post.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Court strips Dieudonne of damages for cancellation of anti-Semitic show
(JTA) — A French appeals court nullified a lower tribunal’s award of damages to the comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala for the cancellation of his show for its anti-Semitic content.
The Court of Appeals of Poitiers in western France handed down the ruling last week, Le Figaroreported.
The court excused an event management firm from the coastal municipality of La Rochelle from paying Dieudonne a little over $50,000 in damages that the municipality’s Tribunal of Commerce had awarded Dieudonne in 2012.
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From PressTV
Israel to shut Gaza crossings indefinitely
While the Gaza Strip is in dire need of reconstruction, Israel is to indefinitely shut down border crossings to the besieged coastal sliver, Press TV reports.
The Tel Aviv regime is to impose the restriction on the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings on Sunday until further notice, citing the alleged firing on Friday of a projectile from the Gaza Strip towards Eshkol Regional Council.
“Overnight a rocket or mortar launched from Gaza struck southern Israel. No damage or injuries reported,” Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said on Twitter.
Upon the closure, only very critical humanitarian cases will be allowed in the enclave.
The Rafah border crossing, the only terminal linking Gaza to the outside world which bypasses Israel, also remains closed.
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From PressTV
Gazans facing tough time due to cold weather
Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip are facing a tough time as winter is approaching, Press TV reports.
This winter, the suffering of the Gazans will be much worse as many of their homes were totally or partially destroyed in the recent Israeli offensive.
There is no home to keep the displaced Palestinians warm as Israel prevents construction materials reaching Gaza for repair works.
“We can’t tolerate this situation anymore. Our life has become very tough as we lost our home and we are currently based in a shop,” a Palestinian told Press TV.
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From PressTV
Qaeda-tied militants beat rivals in NW Syria
Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front militants have fought away rivals in northwestern Syria after fierce confrontation.
On Saturday, the Qaeda-linked militants captured several villages in Idlib Province, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The UK-based group said, “After clashes of five days between al-Nusra” and other militant groups, “including the Syria Revolutionary Front, al-Nusra was able to control most villages in Jabel al-Zawya,” referring to a provincial region.
In doing so, the al-Nusra was supported by fellow militants from the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group. The latter group has been trying since mid-September to control the mostly-Kurdish town of Kobani in northern Syria.
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From PressTV
ISIL under attack from two fronts in Iraq
Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army have made advances in their offensive against ISIL Takfiri terrorists, Press TV reports.
On Saturday, Kurdish troops launched a major offensive near the northern city of Sinjar which was seized by Takfiri militants.
“The army have made tremendous advances… ISIL is in retreat and they are leaving their posts one after another,” said Saad Mutalibi of the State of Law Coalition to the Press TV correspondent in Baghdad.
In August, the ISIL seized Sinjar, near the Syrian border, from the Peshmerga, and forced an exodus of its mostly Izadi Kurdish inhabitants.
From PressTV
Argentina warns US against slandering Buenos Aires over debts
Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner has warned the United States against the serious consequences of what she called US officials’ slandering Buenos Aires over its debts.
In a harsh five-page letter on Friday, the Argentina president criticized US President Barack Obama’s choice of hire for a high-level advisory position in his administration.
“Could this be a case of namesakes?” Fernandez asks her American counterpart, referring to Nancy Soderberg, a politician who Obama appointed as head of a board at the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB), while also holding co-chair position at the American Task Force Argentina (ATFA), the most prominent well-funded lobby group in opposition to Argentina’s debt refinancing efforts.
According to the letter, the ATFA, which has spent millions of dollars lobbying against Argentina, is “an entity specifically created to attack and slander the Argentine Republic and its President.”
From PressTV
Hamas to fight Israel over al-Aqsa Mosque: Haniyeh
Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has vowed to fight Israel over the regime’s latest move to close the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to Palestinian worshippers.
Haniyeh, who took part in a mass protest in Gaza on the Day of Rage on Friday, said the resistance movement would not allow the Israeli regime to do as it likes on the compound.
He warned that the temporary closure of the al-Aqsa Mosque was part of an Israeli plan to destroy the holy site.
“The Israeli enemy is entering a very dangerous phase in carrying out its tasks towards the sacred mosque,” the Palestinian leader said.
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From PressTV
Yemenis protest Israeli aggressions against Palestinians
In Yemen, thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against the Israeli regime’s ongoing aggression against Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The Yemeni people staged protest rallies in the city of Sa’ada, the capital of the northwestern Sa’ada Governorate, as well the the southwestern city of Dhamar.
The demonstrators slammed Tel Aviv’s recent restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshippers into the al-Aqsa Mosque in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
On Thursday, the al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint holy site in Islam, was closed to Palestinians for nearly a day after right-wing Israeli activist Yehuda Glick was shot and wounded by gunmen on a motorcycle in East al-Quds.
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