Saturday 18 February 2017

Exactly who is it that is in ‘Denial’?

A somewhat biased film review
By Gilad Atzmon
In her book Denying the Holocaust (1993), Deborah Lipstadt confessed that it was David Irving’s considerable reputation as an historian that made him “one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial.” “Familiar with historical evidence,” she wrote, “he bends it until it conforms with his ideological leanings and political agenda.” Irving responded by claiming that Lipstadt’s words were libellous and filed a legal case against her and her publisher Penguin Books.
Was Irving brave or naïve in putting the Holocaust on trial? Probably both. Back in 1996, was Irving a hero or just grossly miscalculating in believing he stood a chance in taking on the Holocaust, still the most popular Jewish religion? Again, probably both.
The other day, I watched Mick Jackson’s ‘Denial’. The film tells the story of Irving’s 2000 defeat in court – a disaster he voluntarily brought upon himself and indeed, Irving has clearly made some mistakes in his life. Yet, in 2017 it is impossible to deny that, back in 2000, Irving was well ahead of most of us.
Watching the film in the aftermath of Brexit, the Trump victory and the surge of Right Wing consciousness in the West in general, it is clear that Irving, undoubtedly one of the greatest living biographer of Hitler, understood human nature better than the British judge, Lipstadt’s legal team, the BBC and probably the rest of us altogether.
Back in 2000, the Holocaust narrative was as solid as a rock. The Jews were perceived as the ultimate victims and their plight at the time of World War II was unquestionable.  No one dared ask how is it is possible that, three years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the newly-born Jewish state ethnically cleansed Palestine of its indigenous population? At the time of the trial, no one dared ask why is the Jewish past just a chain of holocausts – that is, no one except David Irving (and a few others).
At the time of the trial, I read an interview with David Irving that opened my eyes to the idea that history is a revisionist adventure, an attempt to narrate the past as we move along. I realised then that the past is subject to changes. It morphs along with humanity.
In that interview, Irving was quoted as‘ blaming the victims.’
“If I were a Jew,” he said, “I would ask myself why it always happens to us?”
At the time, I was a still Jew but I took up Irving’s challenge. I looked in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw so I decided to leave the tribe and I stopped being a Jew.
But Irving is no longer a lone voice. Two weeks ago, on Holocaust Memorial Day, it was actually the American president himself who managed to universalize the Holocaust by omitting to mention the Jews or their shoah. As we Westerns obliterate country after country with our immoral interventionism, the Holocaust is no longer a Jews-only domain and all the time more and more people grasp that it is actually Israel and its affiliated Jewish lobbies that are pushing us into more and more unnecessary global conflicts.
‘Denial’ was made to sustain a ‘progressive’ vision of the past. In this progressive but misguided universe, people ‘move forward’ but their past remains fixed, often sacred and always untouched. Nationalists, on the other hand, often see the past as a dynamic, vibrant reality. For them, nostalgia, is the way forward.
But some Jews are tormented by this nostalgia. They want their own past to be compartmentalized and sealed, otherwise, they are fearful that some people may decide to examine Jewish history in the light of Israeli crimes.
In the film, Irving is an old style British gent who sticks to his guns and refuses to change his narrative just to fit in with any notions of correctness. Irving states what he believes in and stands firmly behind it.
For Irving, one of the most damaging pieces of evidenced presented to the court was a little ditty he wrote to his daughter when she was just a few months old, and conceived by the court as the ultimate in crude misanthropy.

“I am a Baby Aryan,
Not Jewish or Sectarian.
I have no plans to marry-an
Ape or Rastafarian.”

On the day of the verdict, Irving visited the BBC Newsnight studio to be grilled by Jeremy Paxman who read the little ditty to Irving.
“What’s racist about that?” Irving wondered. “You are not being serious,” was Paxman’s  reply. Paxman, one of Britain’s best TV journalists, was, like the rest of us, trained to react to soundbites. “Aryan is a racial categorisation” he insisted.
Back in 2000, Paxman probably failed to see that,
if Jews are entitled to identify politically as a race, as a biology or as set of cultural symptoms then Whites, Muslims and everyone else must surely be entitled to do the same.
Back in 2000, Irving understood this potential Identitarian shift. Sixteen years later, Donald Trump and Nigel Farage translated this Identitarian shift into a victory. The Clintons, the Soros’ and the Deborah Lipstadts of this world are still struggling to make sense of it.
‘Denial’, is actually a film about righteousness, exceptionalism and victimhood.  It is about the condition of being consumed by self-love, that blind belief that justice is always on your side, that you are the eternal victim and the other, namely the ‘Goy’ is always the murderous aggressor.
But this type of ‘denial’ can be dealt with easily and here is just one example: The Jewish press in Britain  complains constantly that antisemitism is soaring. The more funds the British government dedicates to fighting antisemitsm, the more antisemitic incidents are recorded. I guess the time is ripe for Jews to listen to David Irving and ask themselves why?
If Jews want anti-Semitism to come to an end once and for all, all they need do is to self-reflect. However, my personal experience suggests that once you do that, you may stop being a Jew.
Note: It is worth mentioning that, since the 2000 trial, Irving is on record on numerous occasions as revising his views on the Holocaust and on the destruction of European Jews. Certainly, as he moves along, David Irving at least is able to revise the past.

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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

I have links to Russia!



 photo russlinks_zpspkcqfpof.jpg
One wonders: what exactly does it mean to have “links” to Russia? Does a phone conversation qualify? Maybe, simply watching an RT video will get you so labeled. I guess if you’re not getting your news principally from CNN or the Washington Post then surely you must be a brainwashed dupe–one deserving of pity and who is, of course, in dire need of reeducation. Or maybe even, in the deranged minds of Trump haters, simply listening to Tchaikovsky will get you branded a Russky sympathizer. If this is the case, then I plead guilty. I have Russian “links”!
Israel seems on its way to outlawing Wagner. Maybe we’ll ban Tchaikovsky here in America. At any rate, we seem to have entered a new McCarthy era here in the US. Or perhaps more precisely we might think of it as a reverse McCarthy era. This time the witch hunts are being waged by liberals; this time the smears and false accusations are devices  employed by the left rather than the political right.
***
Trump’s National Security Adviser Forced to Resign After Lying About Being a KGB Agent
We’ve really hit rock bottom, folks.
Links?
As NBC reports, Flynn “misled Vice President Mike Pence and other senior officials about his communications with Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States.”
This is what qualifies as having “links” to Russia? A telephone conversation? We thought that a major part of being in government was “talking with people”?
Oh, but this saga of espionage and intrigue just gets better.
Our friends at NBC News claim that Flynn was forced to resign after it was learned that “the Justice Department [had] informed the White House that it believed he could be subject to blackmail”.
That’s the opening line. If you have the patience to read ten more paragraphs, you learn this:
A senior intelligence official confirmed to NBC News last week that Flynn discussed the sanctions, which the Obama administration imposed to punish Russia for its campaign to interfere in the presidential election.
The intelligence official said there had been no finding inside the government that Flynn did anything illegal.
A senior official told NBC News on Monday night the president and his top advisers had been “agonizing” over what to do about Flynn for days. The official, who was involved in the discussions, says the situation became unsustainable — not because of any issue of being compromised by Russia — but because he had lied to the president and the vice president.
So Flynn did nothing illegal. There are no “links” with Russia. He just lied to the President about a telephone call. (He probably didn’t, actually, but was forced to “take a bullet for the team.” Because apparently the media and half of America will not tolerate telephone conversations with Russians. The horror!)
Thank God we caught this KGB sleeper agent before it was too late!
Who will be exposed next? Maxine Waters?
Mother Russia is waiting for you, Comrade Flynn! It’s time to come home.

The 1812 Overture was composed by Tchaikovsky to celebrate Russia’s victory over France in 1812. Let’s keep in mind it was Napoleon who invaded Russia, not the other way around. In Russia the war is referred to as “The Patriotic War of 1812.”
Napoleon hoped to compel Tsar Alexander I of Russia to cease trading with British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the United Kingdom to sue for peace.[10] The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia. Napoleon named the campaign the Second Polish War to gain favor with the Poles and provide a political pretext for his actions.[11]
The Grande Armée was a very large force, numbering 680,000 soldiers (including 300,000 of French departments). Through a series of long marches Napoleon pushed the army rapidly through Western Russia in an attempt to bring the Russian army to battle, winning a number of minor engagements and a major battle at Smolensk in August. Napoleon hoped the battle would mean an end of the march into Russia, but the Russian army slipped away from the engagement and continued to retreat into Russia, while leaving Smolensk to burn.[12] Plans Napoleon had made to quarter at Smolensk were abandoned, and he pressed his army on after the Russians.[13]
As the Russian army fell back, Cossacks were given the task of burning villages, towns and crops.[10] This was intended to deny the invaders the option of living off the land. These scorched-earth tactics greatly surprised and disturbed the French, as the willingness of the Russians to destroy their own territory and harm their own people was difficult for the French to comprehend.[14] The actions forced the French to rely on a supply system that was incapable of feeding the large army in the field. Starvation and privation compelled French soldiers to leave their camps at night in search of food. These men were frequently confronted by parties of Cossacks, who captured or killed them.
The Russian army retreated into Russia for almost three months. The continual retreat and the loss of lands to the French upset the Russian nobility. They pressured Alexander I to relieve the commander of the Russian army, Field Marshal Barclay. Alexander I complied, appointing an old veteran, Prince Mikhail Kutuzov, to take over command of the army. However, for two more weeks Kutuzov continued to retreat as his predecessor had done.
On 7 September, the French caught up with the Russian army which had dug itself in on hillsides before a small town called Borodino, seventy miles west of Moscow. The battle that followed was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 soldiers and resulting in 70,000 casualties. The French gained a tactical victory, but at the cost of 49 general officers and thousands of men. The Russian army was able to extricate itself and withdrew the following day, leaving the French without the decisive victory Napoleon sought.[15]
Napoleon entered Moscow a week later. In another turn of events the French found puzzling, there was no delegation to meet the Emperor. The Russians had evacuated the city, and the city’s governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered several strategic points in Moscow set ablaze.[16] Napoleon’s hopes had been set upon a victorious end to his campaign, but victory in the field did not yield him victory in the war. The loss of Moscow did not compel Alexander I to sue for peace, and both sides were aware that Napoleon’s position grew worse with each passing day. Napoleon stayed on in Moscow looking to negotiate a peace, his hopes fed in part by a disinformation campaign informing the Emperor of supposed discontent and fading morale in the Russian camp. After staying a month Napoleon moved his army out southwest toward Kaluga, where Kutuzov was encamped with the Russian army.
The French advance toward Kaluga was checked by a Russian corps. Napoleon tried once more to engage the Russian army for a decisive action at the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. Despite holding a superior position, the Russians retreated following a sharp engagement, confirming that the Russians would not commit themselves to a pitched battle.[17] His troops exhausted, with few rations, no winter clothing, and his remaining horses in poor condition, Napoleon was forced to retreat. He hoped to reach supplies at Smolensk and later at Vilnius. In the weeks that followed the Grande Armée starved and suffered from the onset of the Russian Winter. Lack of food and fodder for the horses, hypothermia from the bitter cold and persistent attacks upon isolated troops from Russian peasants and Cossacks led to great losses in men, and a general loss of discipline and cohesion in the army. When the remnants of Napoleon’s army crossed the Berezina River in November, only 27,000 effective soldiers remained; the Grand Armée had lost some 380,000 men dead and 100,000 captured.
One can’t help wondering if NATO troops may end up meeting the same fate.

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Venezuela – Washington’s Latest Defamation – To Bring NATO to South America?

February 17, 2017
The Trump Administration has just accused Venezuela’s newly appointed Vice-President, Tareck El Aissami, of being involved in drug trafficking, thereby dishing out the usual criminal spiel – illegal sanctions against a foreign dignitary with travel bans and asset seizures. This is Washington’s abject behavior at its best, as are so many others around the world of similar nature.
Therefore, let me say upfront: We can protest as much as we want. The Anglo-Zionist empire in Washington and its European vassals do not care one bit. To the contrary, the more hapless protests there are, the more they laugh to themselves – ‘Bingo! We did it again. – Case closed. And sanctions stay. New ones are invented at will, wherever and whenever it pleases the empire. Because nothing happens from the opponents – other than hot air.
Sanctions – economic sanctions, as most of them are, can only stand and ‘succeed’, as long as countries, who oppose Washington’s dictate remain bound into the western, dollar-based, fraudulent monetary scheme. The system is entirely privatized by a small Zionist-led elite. FED, Wall Street, Bank for International Settlement (BIS), are all private institutions, largely controlled by the Rothschild, Rockefeller, Morgan et al clans. They are also supported by the Breton Woods Organizations, IMF and World Bank, conveniently created under the Charter of the UN.
Few progressive economists understand how this debt-based pyramid scam is manipulating the entire western economic system. When in a just world, it should be just the contrary, the economy that shapes, designs and decides the functioning of the monetary system and policy.
Even Russia, with Atlantists still largely commanding the central bank and much of the financial system, isn’t fully detached from the dollar dominion – yet.
‘Renegades’ of the US-globalized Deep State must de-dollarize and migrate towards the eastern SCO-based economy (SCO = Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including Russia, China, most of Central Asia, Pakistan, Iran; – and India for good or for bad, is a contender), where the future is, where huge and honest prospects of future economic development are emerging, especially the Chinese initiated New Silk Road, or OBOR – One Belt-One Road – that foresees an infrastructure, industrial and technological boom, connecting Vladivostok with Lisbon and Shanghai with Hamburg – and everything in between. China’s President Xi Jinping has opened the door for everyone to join – no force, sheer invitation.
This also means breaking loose from the IMF’s and World Bank’s debt tentacles and the rest of the western monetary gangsters. It doesn’t happen overnight, but steps towards regaining sovereignty should be initiated rather sooner than later – to reduce, speak withstand and eliminate sanction imposed damages. For Russia, despite the Atlantists, sanctions were a blessing. They are the best that could have happened to our economy, Mr. Putin said. They pushed us to promote an economy of self-reliance, especially in agriculture and industrial development. In 2015, Russia was the world’s first wheat exporter.
—–
Back to drugs and fighting drug lords. The Plan Colombia which started in 2000 and has since cost about US$ 20 billion, was officially designed precisely to fight the drug mafia’s coca plantations and drug cartels. Yet, since the Plan begun, the surface of coca plantations has more than doubled in Colombia; and output efficiency today is almost three times what it was in 2000.
Washington’s fake accusations and outrageous slandering of Venezuela’s Vice President, Mr. Tareck El Aissami, are totally absurd. They are aiming in a first instance at further bad-mouthing Venezuela among the uneducated MSM-brainwashed international public. It’s ‘false news’ propaganda, attempting to pull Venezuela into the drug ‘war’ playing out between Colombia, Mexico and Peru – all fomented by Washington.
Up to his recent assignment as Vice-President, Mr. El Aissami was Interior Minister, successfully fighting drug mafias, covertly promoted by the DEA and the CIA. Clamping down on the new Vice-President might be a punishment for his unwavering fight against the US backed drug lords, while he was Interior Minister. In fact, during his ministerial tenure, Tareck Al Aissami, a man of full integrity, has hit hard the cartels of international drug dealers, capturing 102 drug lords, of whom 21 were extradited to the United States. To make things even more ridiculous, apparently Tareck Al Aissimi does not even hold a US visa neither has he any assets in the USA that could be frozen as claimed.
The bigger and larger scale agenda behind this latest defamation scheme maybe a monstrous attempt to bring NATO to South America. Yes, you read right – Pentagon’s European military branch, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They have absolutely nothing to do in Latin America, but as long as nobody screams murder and acts against it – the impunity of the empire is almost bottomless.
The little publicized fact is that President Manuel Santos of Colombia has recently invited NATO to come to Colombia to help him ‘fight organized crime’ – meaning, most likely a new FARC war, easily revived with a few false flags – as already happened recently (http://thesaker.is/colombia-inviting-nato-to-fight-organized-crime-a-menace-for-latin-america/ ).
This move has been under preparation since 2012 / 2013, right from the beginning of Peace Negotiations between the Santos Government and FARC. It started with a so-called ‘best practice technical assistance agreement’ between NATO and Colombia – extendable to real troops and armory movements into Colombia – meaning automatically NATO spreading all throughout Latin America. The Natoization of LATAM! – What a prospect!
Venezuela with Hugo Chavez was the only country protesting already during Colombia’s initial negotiations with Brussels / NATO. Today, except for Venezuela, I don’t know of any other Latin American country that shouted out in protest. Not that it mattered, as nothing matters to the exceptional nation. But it would help spread awareness about what Washington has in store as its latest oppressing atrocity for Latin America.
Might this be one of the chief purposes of this intimidating defamation launched against Venezuela and her Vice President, whose ethical integrity is proven beyond doubt?
Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, The 4th Media, TeleSUR, TruePublica, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.

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Trump does something right! Very good press conference today

Trump does something right! Very good press conference today
After a few rather disappointing days, Trump today seem to rebound.  He had a press conference which I would qualify as very successful. The best thing about this was that Trump FINALLY directly attacked the media, especially CNN.  Hopefully, this will be just the first step in an always possible counter-offensive.  Tomorrow he will be in Melbourne, FL, just south of were I live.  I will be watching that with interest.
Here is his press conference:


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Congresswoman Betty McCollum tells Netanyahu to end abuse of Palestinian children

Palestinian children protest to show solidarity with child prisoners in Israeli jails, Gaza city, January 2015.
Mohammed Asad APA images

A member of Congress said she had “a clear message” for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in Washington on Wednesday: he must respect the rights of Palestinian children.
As US President Donald Trump and the Israeli leader held a joint press conference at the White House, Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota challenged Israel’s systematic abuses of Palestinian children in a post on Facebook.
“Israel’s military detention system arrests, interrogates and prosecutes as many as 700 Palestinian children – as young as 11 years old – every year,” McCollum says. “Abuse is rampant and children often have no lawyer or parent present during detention and interrogation.”
“Israel must end the abusive military detention of Palestinian children,” she adds. “Israeli children, Palestinian children – all children – should be able to live free of systematic, state-sponsored human rights abuses! Respecting the human rights of children is the only path to peace and security in the Middle East.”
McCollum also took to Twitter to demand accountability from Netanyahu:
     Rep. Betty McCollum
✔ @BettyMcCollum04
As @netanyahu visits today, Israel must respect human rights & end abusive military detention of Palestinian children. 

Breaking silence

McCollum continues to break with the vast majority of US lawmakers who refuse to challenge Israeli policy.
In June 2015, the Democrat authored a letter, co-signed by 18 other members of Congress, demanding that the Obama adminstration push Israel to end its abuses of Palestinian children.
Two months later, the lawmaker called for sanctions on the Israeli Border Police unit responsible for killing Palestinian teenagers Nadim Nuwara and Muhammad Abu al-Thahir on 15 May 2014.
The boys were shot in cold blood at a Nakba Day protest – their killings caught on video – near the Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank village of Beitunia.
McCollum initiated another push in June 2016 urging Obama to appoint a special envoy to protect the rights of Palestinian children under Israeli occupation. Lawmakers who signed McCollum’s letter condemned Israel’s rampant use of administrative detention – incarceration without charge or trial – against Palestinian children in Israeli military jails.
Grassroots activists with the No Way to Treat a Child campaign – a joint initiative of Defense for Children International – Palestine and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) – have been working closely with lawmakers on the issue of Palestinian children in detention.
“Congresswoman McCollum’s leadership and integrity inspires us,” AFSC’s Jennifer Bing told The Electronic Intifada.
“Her voice is among a growing number of Congress members who are speaking up for the human rights of Palestinian children – children who face systematic oppression and denial of rights by the Israeli army,” Bing added.
Inspired by the No Way to Treat a Child campaign in the US, activists in Australia gathered the support of 49 members of Parliament last November on a letter calling for Israel to end its abuses of Palestinian children

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BHL, the Ukraine and the Russian bear (priceless!)


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Russia Now Runs the Peace Process to End Syria’s War (III)

Russia Now Runs the Peace Process to End Syria’s War (III)

ERIC ZUESSE | 17.02.2017 | WORLD

Russia Now Runs the Peace Process to End Syria’s War (III)

Part Three of Three Parts
(Part Two is here.)
AFTER RUSSIA TOOK OVER THE NEGOTIATIONS
The conclusion of the first round of post-U.S.-involvement Syrian peace talks took place in Astana Kazakhstan and ended on January 24th, and included, as governmental participants, Syria, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Neither the Sauds (who had selected and organized the delegation that supposedly represented ‘the rebels’ in the previous, America-led, talks) nor the United States government (which is the main international representative of the Sauds) participated. (However, America’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan was allowed to be one of the «observers»; America’s master, the Sauds, weren’t granted even this recognition.) The Syrian announcement noted that «Regarding the omission of the reference to Syria’s secularism in the statement, al-Jaafari [Syria’s Foreign Minister] said that this was upon the request of Turkey and the armed groups [these ones not having been selected by the Saud family, but by the four governmental participants], which is odd since the Turkish government claims that Turkey is secular, but when it comes to Syria, it stands against secularism».
Both the U.S. government and the Saudi government — and their respective allies — were totally excluded from any decision-making in the post-U.S. talks. Turkey had been a U.S.-Saudi ally (except against them on Kurdish independence) until the failed 15 July 2016 CIA-backed coup-attempt to replace Turkey’s President Erdogan by a U.S.-Gulen junta that would allow the U.S. aristocracy’s aim of creating a Kurdish nation so as to weaken Syria, Iraq, and Turkey and so allow even more Saudi dominance of the region. Russian intelligence had learned of the coup-plan in advance; and, hours before the coup started, Russian President Putin informed Erdogan that it was about to happen, which saved Erdogan’s life and his regime. This is why Turkey was now cooperating with Russia. (However, Turkey still hasn’t yet left NATO; so, Turkey is now the first and only nation that’s allied with both the U.S. and Russia, at least for the time being. Erdogan, after the coup, is «on the fence». Formerly, he had been pro-U.S., anti-Russia, reliably pro-NATO.)
There was a separate announcement, from Al Jazeera, on January 24th«Astana joint statement by Iran, Russia, Turkey: in Full». It said that the parties:
Reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian and democratic State, as confirmed by the UN Security Council;
Express their conviction that there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it can only be solved through a political process based on the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 2254 in its entirety; …
Reiterate their determination to fight jointly against ISIL/DAESH and Al-Nusra and to separate them from armed opposition groups; …
Support the willingness of the armed opposition groups to participate in the next round of negotiations to be held between the government and the opposition under the UN auspices in Geneva as of February 8, 2017
The resistance, by some religious Muslims, to the Russian delegation’s proposed new Constitution for Syria, which is even more secular than the existing one, caused the February 8th resumption-date in Geneva to be moved back to February 20th.
Here are some provisions of that proposed Russian draft:
* * *
Chapter 1. Basic Principles
Article 1
• The Syrian Republic is an independent sovereign state, based on the principle of the rule of the people by the people and for the people, the rule of law, equality of all before the law, social solidarity, respect for rights and freedoms and equality of rights and duties of all citizens regardless of any differences and privileges. …
Article 2
• The sole source of power in Syria shall be its multinational and multi faith people. … The People of Syria shall exercise their sovereignty in accordance with the Constitution directly by means of a referendum, and through their representatives elected on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage by free, secret and personal ballot. …
• No person carrying another nationality, in addition to the nationality of Syria, may occupy the position of a member of the People’s Assembly, a member of the Constituent Assembly, President of the Republic, Prime Minister, a deputy prime minister, a minister, or a member of the Supreme Constitutional Court. …
Article 3
The State shall respect all religions and religious organizations, and ensure the freedom to perform all the rituals that do not prejudice public order. Religious organizations shall be equal before the law. …
Article 5
• The political system of the state shall be based on the principle of political pluralism, and exercising power democratically by secret ballot. …
Article 6
• Ideological diversity shall be recognized in Syria. No ideology shall be proclaimed as State ideology or as obligatory. Public associations shall be equal before the law.
• The State shall ensure security and protect the rights and freedoms of national and religious minorities.
• The establishment and activities of political parties and other public associations whose goals and activities are aimed at the forcible changing of the basis of the constitutional order and at violating the integrity of the State, at undermining its security, at engaging in terrorism, at creating armed units, at instigating religious, social, racial, national, and tribal strife; and that are based on sectarian, regional, class, professional discrimination, or on discrimination by gender or origin, may not be undertaken. Such organizations may not be part of the social and political system in Syria. …
Article 7
• Laws and other legal acts, which are adopted in Syria, must not contradict the Constitution.
• Universally recognized principles and norms of international law as well as international agreements of Syria shall be an integral part of its legal system. …
• Syria shall maintain good neighborly relations with other countries based on cooperation, mutual security and other principles stipulated by international legal rules.
• Syria denounces war as an infringement on other countries’ sovereignty and a means to resolve international conflicts.
Article 10
• The army and other armed forces shall be under public oversight and shall defend Syria and its territorial integrity; they may not be used as an instrument of suppression of the people; they may not interfere in politics or participate in the transfer of power. …
Article 11
• In Syria the freedom of economic activity is guaranteed, and private, State, municipal and other forms of property shall be recognized. Property may not be used to infringe on human and civil rights and freedoms, public and State interests, and human dignity.
• Developing the economy on the basis of different forms of property is aimed at improving the people’s wellbeing. The State shall use market principles to bolster economic development, guarantee freedom of entrepreneurship and prevent monopolization and unfair competition in economic relations. …
• Natural resources shall be publicly owned. The law shall regulate how utilization rights for natural resources or concessions are granted. …
• No discrimination by gender, origin, language or faith shall be allowed. …
• The State shall provide women with all opportunities enabling them to effectively and fully contribute to the political, economic, social and cultural life, and the State shall work on removing the restrictions that prevent their development and participation in building society. …
Article 14
• Protection of the environment shall be the responsibility of the state and society and it shall be the duty of every citizen. …
• The National Bank of Syria is owned exclusively by the State. …
Article 18
• Everyone shall have the right to life, security and freedom and the State shall guarantee these rights. No right can be restricted or denied to a person unless otherwise provided by law and following the decision by the appropriate judicial authority.
• All persons shall be equal before the law without discrimination among them on grounds of gender, race, nationality, origin, color, religion, personal convictions, beliefs or views, and economic and social status. …
Article 20
• Everyone shall have the right freely to seek, receive, transmit, produce and disseminate information by any legal means. In accordance with the law the State ensures freedom of the press and mass media.
• Propaganda or agitation, which incites social, racial, national or religious hatred and hostility, and propaganda of social, racial, national, religious or linguistic supremacy, shall be prohibited. …
Article 22
• Everyone shall have the right to the inviolability of his (her) person, home, personal and family privacy.
• Collecting, keeping, using and disseminating information about the private life of a person shall not be permitted without his (her) consent.
• The State shall guarantee a person’s right to privacy of correspondence, of telephone conversations and of postal, telegraph and other communications. This right may be limited by law to prevent a crime or to uncover the truth when investigating a crime.
• Except when the law says otherwise or when following a court’s order, nobody may enter a home against the will of its occupants. …
Article 23
• Everyone shall have the right to work in conditions, which meet safety and hygiene requirements, and to receive remuneration for labor without any discrimination whatsoever. …
• The law shall regulate employer-employee relations based on economic principles and the norms of social justice.
• The State shall guarantee the right of its people to lawfully form labor associations and unions and to join them. …
Article 26
• Everyone shall be guaranteed social security payments for legal retirement age, in case of illness, disability, loss of breadwinner, incapacitation, unemployment, and in other cases specified by law. Minimum state pensions and social benefits shall be established by law. …
• Everyone has the right to health protection and medical care in state and municipal health institutions. …
• Everyone shall have the right to education. The State shall guarantee free secondary education. …
• Punishment shall be personal; no crime and no punishment except by a law.
• Anyone shall be considered innocent until his (her) guilt is proven and confirmed by a court sentence. …
• No one may be investigated or arrested, except under an order or decision issued by the competent judicial authority. …
• No one may be tortured or treated in a humiliating manner, and the law shall define the punishment for those who do so.
• Any person who is arrested must be informed of the reasons for his arrest and his rights, and may not be incarcerated except by an order of the competent judicial authority.
• Any person sentenced by a final ruling, who has carried out his sentence and the ruling proved wrong shall have the right to ask the state for compensation for the damage he suffered. …
Article 35
• Members of the People’s Assembly shall be elected by the public, secret, direct and equal vote. They shall represent the whole people of Syria. …
Article 49
• The President of the Republic is elected for the term of 7 years by citizens of Syria on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
• No person can hold the office of the President of the republic for more than two consecutive terms.
• The candidate who wins the election for the President of the Republic is the one who gets more than one half of votes of those who take part in the elections. If no candidate receives such majority, a rerun is carried out between the two candidates who receive the largest number of votes. …
Article 51
3) the candidacy application shall not be accepted unless the applicant has acquired the support of at least 35 members of the People’s Assembly and (or) the Constituent Assembly. No member of the Assemblies can support more than one candidate. …
Article 59
The President of the Republic might call for a referendum on important issues which affect the higher interests of the country. The result of the referendum shall be binding and come into force as of the date of its announcement by the President of the Republic. …
Article 82
The term in office of the current President of the Republic shall be 7 years from the swearing-in date. He has the right to run again for President of the Republic. The President’s term in office as stated in this Constitution shall apply to him as of the next presidential elections. …
* * *
The U.S. had demanded that the Syrian public be prohibited from being allowed to vote for Bashar al-Assad when elections for Syria’s Presidency will next be held. The U.S. government and its allies had held polls throughout Syria, all of which showed that Assad is by far the preferred person, among all Syrians, to lead the nation. The declaration in Astana commits Syria unqualifiedly to democracy, and also opposes the breaking-up of Syria into ethnic enclaves — Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish — which the U.S. regime (such as in a recent Rand Corporation commentary, but actually ever since at least 1957) had striven for (as the likeliest way to enable the American aristocracy’s allies, the royal families of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to pipeline their oil and gas through Syria into Europe, and so undercut Russia’s prices in the world’s largest oil-and-gas market — it’s economic war against Russia). (And its being a «Pipeline War» was confirmed in a 3 September 2016 news report from German Economic News, «Energy war over Syria: Fight only along future pipelines».)
Iran, though itself a theocratic-Shiite regime (after the 1953 fascist U.S.-British-installed regime was overthrown in 1979), has never objected to Assad’s secularism. Of course, Russia, a secular nation after having abandoned the Marxist faith in 1990, has no problem at all with a secular ally. Turkey under Erdogan did, however, have a problem with it, until the U.S. tried to overthrow him to help the Sauds and Thanis. But the increased secularism that’s in the Russian-proposed constitutional draft would be especially unacceptable to the jihadists who have been trying to overthrow Assad. Perhaps those jihadists — many if not most of whom have been imported into Syria by the U.S.-Saudi-Qatari alliance — will need to be either killed or expelled from Syria before any such document will be able to be seriously considered. Russia has there, in its proposed draft constitution for Syria, laid down the gauntlet to The West, to decide whose side The West is really on.
Is it on the Sauds’ side, or on Russia’s side?

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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SYRIAN ARMY KILLS OVER 74 RATS IN DER’AH; SAA LIBERATES OIL FIELDS; TERRORIST CANNIBALS EAT OTHER CANNIBALS IN SLAUGHTERFEST

Ziad Fadel
DER’AH:
 74 إرهابياً بين قتيل ومصاب في عمليات للجيش بدرعا وريفهاThe Syrian Army has put the kibosh on all the dreams of the Saudi/American/Jordanian/British terrorist supporters and enablers in Jordan.  The Southern Front has been exposed as a major strategic flop.  Even the terrorists, who are being supported by the U.S. despite claims that the Americans are fighting a war against them,  are losing men and materiel at a rate which is not sustainable any longer.  Efforts to recruit more terrorists among the thousands of refugees in the camps of Jordan have met with failure as Syrians are beginning to realize the trap into which they have fallen.  With Trump now plugging the inroads to the U.S., Syrian refugees have come to the unavoidable conclusion that their fate is in their country and under the leadership of one central government.  tO help these wretches along, the SAA has killed over 74 rodents during the last 72 hours.
For the last 4 days, without even a mention in the Zionist-controlled MSM, the Syrian Army has been battering the terrorists in Der’ah with an heretofore unseen ferocity.  It’s been now 8 months since the arrival of highly advanced artillery and rocket systems from both Russia and the Islamic Republic and the SAA has absorbed these new platforms with remarkable alacrity.

Der’ah City:  Using those new artillery and rocket systems, the SAA demolished the Nusra/Alqaeda presence in the Al-Manshiyya Quarter destroying one T-62 tank and killing all the crew aboard it.

Al-Furun Neighborhood:  Yesterday, the SAA artillery and missile units destroyed another tank incinerating the crew of rats in their seats.  Another pickup with 23mm cannons was also disabled.

Old Customs Building:  A mortar launch pad and its crew were liquidate when an SAA missile hit the bull’s eye.

Al-Nu’ayma:  An entire nest of rodents was annihilated 5 kms east of the City.  The terrorist rodents announced the deaths of these:
Maalik ‘Ali Abaazeed
Muhammad Raashid Abaazeed
Anas ‘Adnaan Kulayb  

Syrian Perspective obtained these names also:
Ghaalib Sa’eed Ansaari
Muhammad Mushaabik Farah
Zayn ‘Abdul-Ameer Fadhl
Badr Hassan Rahhaal
Ahmad Jaabir ‘Ali Al-Bardaan
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HOMS:
We are but a few miles from Palmyra.  The SAA is moving slowly and cautiously into the areas most prized by the ISIS vultures.  We have learned that the SAA has poured large numbers of troops into the Bayaaraat area allowing the army to liberate Al-Kilaabiyya Village and all its surrounding farms.   As of today, the ISIS terrorist vermin have not been able to squeeze one single drop of oil from any of the oil fields it once controlled.  If anything will break ISIS, it is going to be its imminent bankruptcy.  Turkey is no longer able to keep a lid on its purchase of oil from the fields of Syria.  Erdoghan is approaching this problem gingerly lest he alienate, once again, his newly acquired Russian partners.  With Saudi Arabia, a bankroller for terrorism, itself on the red side of the ledger, ISIS will begin losing members at a rate far greater than what exists today.
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IDLIB:  Ziad told you that Idlib would become a self-inflicted slaughterhouse for the terrorist rodents who have congregated there.  And, so, it is taking place now.  Yesterday, reports came in of rodents in Khaan Shaykhoon,  from the various factions of the FSA, such as Jabhat Tahreer Al-Shaam, being forced to kneel down for execution at the hands of Jund Al-Aqsaa.  According to Wael, in Latakia, many were beheaded in the classic style of ISIS using dull blades to sever the head from the rest of the carcass.   The mass executions were carried out in the presence of hundreds of horrified civilians who transmitted the events to the central government.  The speeches preceding each act of savagery indicated dissatisfaction with “moderate” terrorists participating in the Astana and Geneva peace talks.

In another event underlining the pure amorality of the United States and its Zionist allies, Jund Al-Aqsaa advertised its slaughter of over 100 so-called members of the FSA.
“5th Infantry Division:
Saddaam Abu Ayham Al-Hamad
Abu ‘Abdullah Al-Shaykh
Ihsaan Muhammad Al-Laban
Muhammad Al-Naasser
‘Abdul-Mun’im Al-Naasser
Moussaa Al-Saalih
Sulaymaan Al-‘Abdullah
Sulaymaan Al-Khashabi
Ibraaheem Mousaa Al-Ramadhaan
Muhammad ‘Abdul-Rahmaan Al-Jaassim
Muhammad Al-Ramadhaan
Na’eem Al-Subay’iy
Khaalid Al-Subay’iy
Khaalid Nooreddeen Al-Judoo’
Khaalid ‘Abdul-Razzaaq Judoo’
‘Aamer Al-Judoo’
‘Abdul-Razzaaq Saalim Al-Jalmood
Hussayn Shihaada Al-Raheel
‘Abdul-Qahhaar Al-‘Ubayd
‘Izzeddeen Anwar Al-Rahmoon
Taariq Mustafaa Al-Judoo’
Waleed Ziyaad ‘Abdul-‘Azeez
Muhammad Fadhl Al-Judoo’
Ridhaa Al-Darweesh
Mahmoud Al-Jaraad
Yaaseen Al-Jaraad
‘Abdul-‘Aleem Hassan Al-Thalji
‘Abdul-‘Aleem ‘Abdul-Kareem Al-Hassan
Muhammad ‘Abdullah Al-Hassan
Khaalid ‘Abdullah Al-‘Ubayd

And the list goes on and on.
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ASTANA AND GENEVA:  The list of “opposition activists” who attended the new conference at Astana II:
1.  Nassr Al-Hareeri  – Opposition Coalition
2.  Muhammad Sabraa – Independent
3.  Muhammad Al-Shamaali  – Turkmen Coalition
4.  Fu`aad ‘Ulayku  – Kurdish Coalition
5.  Alice Mufarrij – Coordination Committee and Islamist cross-dresser
6.  ‘Abdul-Majeed Hamw – Coordination Committee
7.  Nash`at Tu’ayma – Coordinating Committee
8.  ‘Abdul-Ahad Istayfu – Coalition
9.  Khaalid Mahaameed  – Cairo Platform
10. Basma Qudhmaani – Independent and CIA agent par excellence
11. ‘Alaa` ‘Arafaat – Moscow Platform

Military Delegates:
12.  Faatih Hassoon – Jabhat Tahreer Homs
13.  Bashshaar Al-Zu’bi – Southern Front
14.  Mu’tassim Shamir – Yitzhak Shamir’s grandson and member of Faylaq Al-Rahmaan, Southern Front
15.  Ahmad ‘Uthmaan – Liwaa` Al-Sultaan Muraad – Northern Front
16.  Ziyaad Al-Hareeri – Southern Front
17.  Haytham Rahma – Faylaq Al-Shaam, Northern Front
18.  Khaalid Al-Naabulusi – Southern Front 
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HAMA:  LATIF MOHAMAMMED SHOWS US NORMAL LIFE IN HAMA UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL, SOMETHING THE LYING MEDIA WILL NOT EVEN MENTION:

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From Waf, Pat and Latif, Syrian children finally smiling as the rodents are being exterminated.
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TARTOUS:
One Million barrels of oil have arrived in Syria at the port of Tartous.  The petrol will be crucial to the restructuring of Syria’s energy sector and provide citizens with much-needed fuel.  
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TURKEY:

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An American terrorist rat teaching his Syrian rodents the techniques of terrorism somewhere in Turkey.  (Thanks, Latif)
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NEWS AND COMMENT:
More about propaganda for those who are academically interested in programmatic lying:
More lying exposed by the wire:
Read this interesting article about a documentary from Bolivia: (From Pat Henningsen)
And the interview with the reporter who broke the story:
The plan to oust Assad exposed: (Sharmine sent this one)

Read more 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!