mintpressnews--2020-11-06--Media Silence Marks Ongoing OPCW Cover-Up of Syria Chemical Weapons Scandal

This should be a global scandal , ” said journalist Aaron Maté on the suppression of evidence from experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW ) in order to push for war in Syria .
“ This is the U.S. government bombing Syria based on allegations that were later found by the investigating team to be false .
But then once that team came back to write their report they were pressured by the U.S. government and had their evidence censored.
” Unfortunately , it has not become a global scandal .
With very few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refused to report on the fact that the respected Nobel Peace Prize-winning body appears to be suppressing its own experts ’ findings on Syria to suit Washington ’ s agenda .
There has been no mention of the continuing scandal in The New York Times , Washington Post , CNN , CNBC , or MSNBC .
Even alternative media like Democracy Now !
Have made only fleeting reference to it .
“ Since that censorship there has been a complete media censorship by everybody…all the major networks .
Even adversarial progressive networks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ notable case of omission , however , was Newsweek .
Journalist Tared Haddad attempted to cover the story but was continually rebuffed by higher-ups who squashed his reporting .
Haddad ended up very publicly quitting , rather than allow the scandal to be brushed under the carpet .
“ It is certainly not a lack of facts or evidence that is stopping mainstream media from reporting the issue , ” Piers Robinson , co-director of the Organization for Propaganda Studies told MintPress , but “ covering it would force mainstream media outlets to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UK , and French governments as well as the OPCW itself.
” Thus , readers would be forgiven for not knowing the details of what happened .
In April 2018 , dozens of people were found dead in a suspected chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma .
The United States government and its allies immediately blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and responded with rounds of airstrikes , bombing targets around the country .
Support for the action was bi-partisan and enjoyed widespread media approval .
In fact , a survey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that not one of the top 100 U.S. newspapers by circulation opposed the Trump administration ’ s response .
A team from the OPCW was sent to Douma to investigate the incident .
Its report gave some credence to Washington ’ s accusations .
While far from conclusive , it did suggest that it was “ likely ” that there was indeed some form of chemical weapons used , possibly an air attack that involved dropping chlorine canisters on the city .
Although the OPCW refused to speculate on who was responsible , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Syrian government forces , the most equipped for such an attack , were to blame .
The report was seized upon by the Trump administration and the media ( often the last time the organization has been mentioned in their pages ) as justification for U.S. actions .
However , its credibility was quickly undermined by the leaking of internal memos from experts on the ground who claimed that their opinions had been censored and that in their estimation , the canisters were likely placed at the site of the incident , suggesting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senior OPCW officials reportedly ordered the removal of “ all traces ” of dissenting opinion from the published document , however .
The organization ’ s first president , Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani , expressed his grave concerns over the news , fearing the OPCW , which was founded in 1997 to represent all 193 of its member states , had become a tool of the U.S. government .
The scandal continued to grow throughout 2020 as OPCW experts came forward to give testimony as to how their findings had been completely manipulated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one-sided , incorrect view of events in order to further an agenda .
Things reached a fever pitch last month , however , when Bustani was invited to speak at the United Nations Security Council about his concerns but was blocked by the United States and its allies on the basis that he was not in a position to provide expert details about chemical weapons or the attack .
“ What has happened now is yet more sad proof that Western delegations fear the uncomfortable truth , ” said Russia ’ s ambassador @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Russian delegation subsequently read out Bustani ’ s testimony .
In doing so , it was accused of undermining the legitimacy of the tribunal .
Bustani claimed the truth was being deliberately “ hidden behind an impenetrable wall of silence and opacity , making any meaningful dialogue impossible.
” “ The censoring of a respected former head of the OPCW is the latest in a sad string of attempts to keep the public wildly misinformed about what really took place in Douma in 2018 , ” Haddad told MintPress , This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run afoul of the U.S. government .
In 2002 , he was unlawfully removed from his position as director-general of the OPCW after contradicting U.S. claims over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq .
The Bush administration under Secretary of State John Bolton threatened to kill his family if he did not resign ; “ You have 24 hours to leave the organization , and if you don ’ t comply with this decision by Washington , we have ways to retaliate against you .
We know where your kids live , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used the Douma attack as justification for increasing sanctions on Syria , a country where at least 83 % of people live below the poverty line , according to the UN .
Over 13 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance .
This summer , the World Food Program also warned of a potential widespread famine inside the country .
Sanctions have made the importation of foods and medicine profoundly difficult , further immiserating a society already devastated from nine years of brutal civil war , in which virtually every world and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ultimately , it is the Syrian people who are caught in the crossfire .
“ The bottom line ” from this story , Robinson stated , is that , “ clearly the U.S. and its allies do not want transparency and open debate about the OPCW Douma investigation , and one can only conclude that this is the case because they know full well that their claims can not be substantiated .
Smears and censorship are the only tactics they have left.
” Feature photo | Headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Hague , Netherlands .
Peter Dejong | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

This should be a global scandal,” said journalist Aaron Maté on the suppression of evidence from experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in order to push for war in Syria. “This is the U.S. government bombing Syria based on allegations that were later found by the investigating team to be false. But then once that team came back to write their report they were pressured by the U.S. government and had their evidence censored.”
Unfortunately, it has not become a global scandal. With very few exceptions, media across the spectrum have refused to report on the fact that the respected Nobel Peace Prize-winning body appears to be suppressing its own experts’ findings on Syria to suit Washington’s agenda. There has been no mention of the continuing scandal in The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CNBC, or MSNBC. Even alternative media like Democracy Now! Have made only fleeting reference to it. “Since that censorship there has been a complete media censorship by everybody…all the major networks. Even adversarial progressive networks,” Maté added.
Perhaps the most notable case of omission, however, was Newsweek. Journalist Tared Haddad attempted to cover the story but was continually rebuffed by higher-ups who squashed his reporting. Haddad ended up very publicly quitting, rather than allow the scandal to be brushed under the carpet.
“It is certainly not a lack of facts or evidence that is stopping mainstream media from reporting the issue,” Piers Robinson, co-director of the Organization for Propaganda Studies told MintPress, but “covering it would force mainstream media outlets to ask challenging questions of the U.S., UK, and French governments as well as the OPCW itself.” Thus, readers would be forgiven for not knowing the details of what happened.
The birth of a cover-up
In April 2018, dozens of people were found dead in a suspected chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma. The United States government and its allies immediately blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and responded with rounds of airstrikes, bombing targets around the country. Support for the action was bi-partisan and enjoyed widespread media approval. In fact, a survey by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting found that not one of the top 100 U.S. newspapers by circulation opposed the Trump administration’s response.
A team from the OPCW was sent to Douma to investigate the incident. Its report gave some credence to Washington’s accusations. While far from conclusive, it did suggest that it was “likely” that there was indeed some form of chemical weapons used, possibly an air attack that involved dropping chlorine canisters on the city. Although the OPCW refused to speculate on who was responsible, the suggestion of an aerial strike indicated Syrian government forces, the most equipped for such an attack, were to blame.
The report was seized upon by the Trump administration and the media (often the last time the organization has been mentioned in their pages) as justification for U.S. actions. However, its credibility was quickly undermined by the leaking of internal memos from experts on the ground who claimed that their opinions had been censored and that in their estimation, the canisters were likely placed at the site of the incident, suggesting an inside job from American-allied forces.
Senior OPCW officials reportedly ordered the removal of “all traces” of dissenting opinion from the published document, however. The organization’s first president, Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani, expressed his grave concerns over the news, fearing the OPCW, which was founded in 1997 to represent all 193 of its member states, had become a tool of the U.S. government.
The scandal continued to grow throughout 2020 as OPCW experts came forward to give testimony as to how their findings had been completely manipulated or ignored in order to present a one-sided, incorrect view of events in order to further an agenda.
Things reached a fever pitch last month, however, when Bustani was invited to speak at the United Nations Security Council about his concerns but was blocked by the United States and its allies on the basis that he was not in a position to provide expert details about chemical weapons or the attack. “What has happened now is yet more sad proof that Western delegations fear the uncomfortable truth,” said Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia. The Russian delegation subsequently read out Bustani’s testimony. In doing so, it was accused of undermining the legitimacy of the tribunal.
An impenetrable wall of silence
Bustani claimed the truth was being deliberately “hidden behind an impenetrable wall of silence and opacity, making any meaningful dialogue impossible.”
Regardless of whether or not there is substance to the concerns raised about the OPCW’s behaviour in the Douma investigation, hearing what your own inspectors have to say would be an important first step in mending the Organisation’s damaged reputation. The dissenting inspectors are not claiming to be right, but they do want to be given a fair hearing. As one Director General to another, I respectfully request that you grant them this opportunity,” he concluded.
“The censoring of a respected former head of the OPCW is the latest in a sad string of attempts to keep the public wildly misinformed about what really took place in Douma in 2018,” Haddad told MintPress,
Although much of what took place has now been established beyond all doubt, the OPCW’s frankly childish approach to addressing this incident shows how politicized this body has become, severely undermining its impartiality and credibility going forward. These are developments that should be deeply concerning to everyone, especially given that the real perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks are now that much more likely to go unpunished.”
This is not the first time that Bustani has run afoul of the U.S. government. In 2002, he was unlawfully removed from his position as director-general of the OPCW after contradicting U.S. claims over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Bush administration under Secretary of State John Bolton threatened to kill his family if he did not resign; “You have 24 hours to leave the organization, and if you don’t comply with this decision by Washington, we have ways to retaliate against you. We know where your kids live,” Bolton told him.
The U.S. has used the Douma attack as justification for increasing sanctions on Syria, a country where at least 83%of people live below the poverty line, according to the UN. Over 13 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. This summer, the World Food Program also warned of a potential widespread famine inside the country. Sanctions have made the importation of foods and medicine profoundly difficult, further immiserating a society already devastated from nine years of brutal civil war, in which virtually every world and regional power has fueled the fighting. Ultimately, it is the Syrian people who are caught in the crossfire.
“The bottom line” from this story, Robinson stated, is that, “clearly the U.S. and its allies do not want transparency and open debate about the OPCW Douma investigation, and one can only conclude that this is the case because they know full well that their claims cannot be substantiated. Smears and censorship are the only tactics they have left.”
Feature photo | Headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, in The Hague, Netherlands. Peter Dejong | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-11-09--In Blow to Online Privacy EU Seizes on Vienna Attack to Enact Long-Desired Ban on Encryption

The European Union is rushing through new legislation to get rid of end to end digital encryption .
This would mean the end of privacy for users of popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal .
A European Council draft resolution on encryption quietly published on Friday afternoon lays out the EU ’ s Orwellian position in detail .
“ The European Union fully supports the development , implementation and use of strong encryption , ” it states , “ Encryption is a necessary means of protecting fundamental rights and the digital security of governments , industry and society.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insists that “ At the same time , the European Union needs to ensure the ability of competent authorities ” to “ exercise their lawful powers , both online and offline.
” These “ competent authorities ” ( a phrase occurring throughout the document ) refer to law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities .
“ Protecting the privacy and security of communications through encryption and at the same time upholding the possibility for competent authorities in the area of security and criminal justice to lawfully access relevant data for legitimate , clearly defined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrorism , including in the digital world , are extremely important , ” it concludes .
Thus , the EU ’ s position is that its citizens should be able to hide their data from criminals , but not from the government or its various spying agencies .
The official justification for these new laws , Austrian public service broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk reports , is the Vienna terrorist attack of November 2 , which left five people dead and 23 injured .
However , it notes , the EU has long dreamed of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its population .
In June , for instance , European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johannson gave a speech outlining what must be done to win the fight against child trafficking and abuse .
“ We must also deal with encryption .
Military grade encryption that ’ s easy to use but impossible to break makes paedophiles invisible and hides evidence of their crimes from police , ” she insisted .
“ It ’ s our obligation to protect children .
We must do what is necessary , ” she added .
Civil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not impressed by the various arguments put forward by the EU in order to justify the end of end to end encryption , calling it a “ drastically invasive step.
” WhatsApp , a subsidiary of Facebook , has over 2 billion users around the world and is particularly popular with Europeans .
In terms of user penetration , the top five countries for WhatsApp are all in Europe , with over 85 percent of Dutch smartphone owners using the service .
Commonly thought to be the most secure messaging app , Signal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does not reveal how many users it has , its app has been downloaded more than 10 million times by Android users alone .
Launched in 2014 , Signal is an open source app specifically created with journalists , NGO workers , and other professions who share sensitive data in mind .
And while Facebook and WhatsApp have a history of cooperating with governments around the world , Signal has so far resisted attempts to co-opt or neutralize its software , notably rejecting the Australian government ’ s demands to install a spying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rundfunk alleges that the campaign against encryption is being led by France and President Emmanuel Macron in particular ; “ The ground for this has been prepared since 2015 in a whole series of campaigns , ” emanating from Paris , it writes .
This week , Macron will discuss “ further steps against terrorism ” with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz .
While the EU represents just 27 nations and around 450 million people , decisions the body makes have a profound effect on the rest of the world .
Indeed , Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear , claiming that , “ the EU will leverage its tools and regulatory powers to help shape global rules and standards.
” Thus , regulations enforced on tech companies will likely become the standard in many other parts of the world , if not globally .
Last Monday , a lone gunman wearing a fake explosive belt opened fire in the historic center of Vienna , killing four others before police shot him dead .
Authorities stated that the perpetrator , 20-year-old Kujtim Fejzullai , was an ISIS sympathizer .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been used to justify increasing surveillance laws .
Just six weeks after the September 11 attacks , the U.S. government rushed through the PATRIOT Act , a piece of legislation that drastically increased the state ’ s ability to spy on its own citizens , even allowing for indefinite detention of non-U.S. citizens .
The act has been continually condemned by rights groups such as the ACLU and Amnesty International .
Likewise , the 7/7 bombings in London led to unprecedented levels of government surveillance in the United Kingdom .
While the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of government pressure on tech companies , the reality is that it is already difficult to ascertain where one ends and the other begins .
Facebook , already partners with the Atlantic Council , a NATO cutout organization funded by governments and defense contractors , to help curate its users ’ news feeds .
A senior Twitter executive was found last year to be an undercover British Army officer specializing in online psychological operations .
Meanwhile , last week Zoom appointed former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to its board of directors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also huge defense contractors themselves .
While it is likely impossible to ever end terrorism or child trafficking , it is certainly possible to end user privacy online .
This latest law would likely do little of the former and a great deal of the latter .
Feature photo | A man looks at his cellphone as he walks on the street in downtown Madrid .
Francisco Seco | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

The European Union is rushing through new legislation to get rid of end to end digital encryption. This would mean the end of privacy for users of popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal.
A European Council draft resolution on encryption quietly published on Friday afternoon lays out the EU’s Orwellian position in detail. “The European Union fully supports the development, implementation and use of strong encryption,” it states, “Encryption is a necessary means of protecting fundamental rights and the digital security of governments, industry and society.” Yet in the very next sentence it insists that “At the same time, the European Union needs to ensure the ability of competent authorities” to “exercise their lawful powers, both online and offline.” These “competent authorities” (a phrase occurring throughout the document) refer to law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities.
“Protecting the privacy and security of communications through encryption and at the same time upholding the possibility for competent authorities in the area of security and criminal justice to lawfully access relevant data for legitimate, clearly defined purposes infighting serious and/or organized crimes and terrorism, including in the digital world, are extremely important,” it concludes. Thus, the EU’s position is that its citizens should be able to hide their data from criminals, but not from the government or its various spying agencies.
The official justification for these new laws, Austrian public service broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk reports, is the Vienna terrorist attack of November 2, which left five people dead and 23 injured. However, it notes, the EU has long dreamed of pushing through legislation which lets it surveil its population. In June, for instance, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johannson gave a speech outlining what must be done to win the fight against child trafficking and abuse. “We must also deal with encryption. Military grade encryption that’s easy to use but impossible to break makes paedophiles invisible and hides evidence of their crimes from police,” she insisted. “It’s our obligation to protect children. We must do what is necessary,” she added.
Civil rights group the Electronic Freedom Foundation is not impressed by the various arguments put forward by the EU in order to justify the end of end to end encryption, calling it a “drastically invasive step.”
We are in the first stages of a long anti-encryption march by the upper echelons of the EU, headed directly toward Europeans’ digital front-doors. It’s the same direction as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States have been moving for some time. If Europe wants to keep its status as a jurisdiction that treasures privacy, it will need to fight for it,” they wrote last month.
WhatsApp, a subsidiary of Facebook, has over 2 billion users around the world and is particularly popular with Europeans. In terms of user penetration, the top five countries for WhatsApp are all in Europe, with over 85 percent of Dutch smartphone owners using the service. Commonly thought to be the most secure messaging app, Signal is also extremely popular. While it does not reveal how many users it has, its app has been downloaded more than 10 million times by Android users alone. Launched in 2014, Signal is an open source app specifically created with journalists, NGO workers, and other professions who share sensitive data in mind. And while Facebook and WhatsApp have a history of cooperating with governments around the world, Signal has so far resisted attempts to co-opt or neutralize its software, notably rejecting the Australian government’s demands to install a spying “backdoor” for it.
Österreichischer Rundfunk alleges that the campaign against encryption is being led by France and President Emmanuel Macron in particular; “The ground for this has been prepared since 2015 in a whole series of campaigns,” emanating from Paris, it writes. This week, Macron will discuss “further steps against terrorism” with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
While the EU represents just 27 nations and around 450 million people, decisions the body makes have a profound effect on the rest of the world. Indeed, Friday’s European Council document makes this clear, claiming that, “the EU will leverage its tools and regulatory powers to help shape global rules and standards.” Thus, regulations enforced on tech companies will likely become the standard in many other parts of the world, if not globally.
Last Monday, a lone gunman wearing a fake explosive belt opened fire in the historic center of Vienna, killing four others before police shot him dead. Authorities stated that the perpetrator, 20-year-old Kujtim Fejzullai, was an ISIS sympathizer. This is not the first time that terrorist incidents have been used to justify increasing surveillance laws. Just six weeks after the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government rushed through the PATRIOT Act, a piece of legislation that drastically increased the state’s ability to spy on its own citizens, even allowing for indefinite detention of non-U.S. citizens. The act has been continually condemned by rights groups such as the ACLU and Amnesty International. Likewise, the 7/7 bombings in London led to unprecedented levels of government surveillance in the United Kingdom.
While the latest European laws would increase the level of government pressure on tech companies, the reality is that it is already difficult to ascertain where one ends and the other begins. Facebook, already partners with the Atlantic Council, a NATO cutout organization funded by governments and defense contractors, to help curate its users’ news feeds. A senior Twitter executive was found last year to be an undercover British Army officer specializing in online psychological operations. Meanwhile, last week Zoom appointed former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to its board of directors. Other communications giants like Microsoft are also huge defense contractors themselves.
While it is likely impossible to ever end terrorism or child trafficking, it is certainly possible to end user privacy online. This latest law would likely do little of the former and a great deal of the latter.
Feature photo | A man looks at his cellphone as he walks on the street in downtown Madrid. Francisco Seco | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-11-11--Yes, Biden and Harris Are Self-Declared Zionists, But a Glimmer of Hope Remains

As the U.S. and the world wait with anticipation for the Biden administration to take office , people with progressive agendas are feeling optimistic .
Teams working on immigration , health care , and the environment , to name just a few , are already at work preparing to move the United States in a new direction .
The one progressive issue where there is little optimism though is Palestine .
This is mostly because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are both self-declared Zionists and because there is a history of total U.S. support for Israel .
But even though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moving out of the White House presents a sense of a new beginning and should be used as an opportunity to change the paradigm on Palestine .
It can easily be demonstrated that Israel is a dangerous , even reckless state and that continued support for it only promises instability .
Israel is an apartheid state that is already on the verge of collapse .
With over two million men women and children locked up in the uninhabitable Gaza Strip , hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Naqab living @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crime on the rise , and political instability growing , Israel is likely to become even more dangerous than it is today .
Furthermore , the Netanyahu government is tightly connected to Trump .
In fact , one could argue that Trump ’ s entire foreign policy regarding the Middle East and Iran were dictated by Netanyahu .
Israel will , of course , vehemently oppose any reversal of the actions taken by the Trump-Kushner-Freedman trio .
One may safely assume that Zionist organizations and agents in the U.S. are already hard at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that no such reversal takes place .
Still , Joe Biden will have to show that he stands by some , if not all , of the foreign policy agreements that were reached during the Obama years and later abandoned by Donald Trump .
He will likely have to do this even if it means Israel will be displeased .
First and foremost would be a return to the Iran nuclear deal , also known as The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action .
The agreement with Iran was central to the Obama legacy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreement pleased Israel to no end .
A return to the agreement will cause friction between Biden and Israel but since the entire spectrum of Israeli politicians – the one exception being the Joint Arab List – made no secret of their support for Trump , one would hope that some political payback is forthcoming .
Biden ’ s foreign policy team will also have to deal with the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel and the consequent moving of the U.S. embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights .
Both were gifts to the Netanyahu government , both were diplomatic blunders that aided Netanyahu , and both will be difficult to reverse .
There are a few things that the Biden team will be able to reverse , though not without serious objections from Israel .
These include a return to funding UNRWA , the UN agency charged with caring for over five million Palestinian refugees .
Those refugees languish in camps throughout Palestine and the surrounding countries because Israel violently expelled them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then banned them from returning .
Trump stopped funding for UNRWA in order to satisfy his Zionist-laden foreign policy team .
The reopening of the Palestinian mission in Washington D.C. is another act Israel will not like but one might expect will happen under the Biden administration .
It was on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Oslo Accords that the Trump administration closed down the mission and did so in a manner that could not be less diplomatic , practically throwing out the head of mission , Dr. Husam Zumlot .
Needless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see that there was no longer Palestinian representation in the U.S. capital .
Even if a new Biden administration ended up reversing Trump ’ s implementation of the above-mentioned policies , it would only mean that things had returned to where they were before , which was total support for Israel with a symbolic hint that some small measure of regard is given to the rights of Palestinians .
Progress will only come when it is made clear in Washington that no one can claim to support democracy and human rights while supporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the U.S. House of Representatives and with it the understanding that Zionist foreign policy , which dominates U.S. foreign policy , is flawed .
Furthermore , there is a growing understanding that supporting human rights includes supporting Palestinian rights .
People are growing weary of the U.S. arming and financing Zionist ambitions , and it is not hard to see that Israel does not violate international law and human rights , but rather Israel is itself a violation of international law and human rights .
Every day that Palestinian refugees languish in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as international law and the basic human rights of over five million people .
The fact that the homes , land , and property of these refugees were stolen by Israel after they were forced to flee by armed Zionist terror squads – that is an ongoing violation of international law .
Each day that Palestinians in Gaza remain locked up in the world ’ s largest open-air prison is a violation of international law and the human rights of the over two million people who live in the Gaza Strip @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the many examples that demonstrate why no one can be progressive while supporting Israel .
Israel has armed itself with the weapon of “ anti-semitism ” and it is wielding it with great mastery .
The use of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism and its acceptance by countless governments and non-governmental organizations has created a shield that protects Israel from criticism .
This shield also holds prisoner any organization that has adopted the definition .
Having adopted the definition prevents the possibility of ever expressing legitimate criticism of Israel without being accused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this definition has been adopted across the board , even the United States Department of State has adopted it .
Still , when the facts are laid out clearly , even the weaponization of anti-semitism can not protect Israel .
There is a change in the air in the United States and although the Biden-Harris duo has declared themselves Zionists , there is an opportunity to push forward an aggressive pro-Palestine , pro-justice agenda .
A long time ago it seemed that U.S. support for a country by the name of South Vietnam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by that name once ) was unwavering and would never end .
There was also a racist , apartheid regime that ruled over most of Southern Africa , and the U.S. government as well as American corporations fought hard against any attempts to boycott and bring it down .
Yet , South Vietnam fell , as did the apartheid regime in South Africa .
Biden and Harris may be supporters of Zionism today , but that can change .
It is the duty of those who care for Palestine to make their voices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to organize better and push as hard as possible .
Millions of lives are at stake .
Feature photo | Joe Biden , projected on screens , is applauded by the audience as he addresses the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee ( AIPAC ) 2013 Policy Conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington , March 4 , 2013 .
Susan Walsh | AP Miko Peled is an author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem .
He is the author of “ The General ’ s Son .
Journey of an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Injustice , the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five .
”

As the U.S. and the world wait with anticipation for the Biden administration to take office, people with progressive agendas are feeling optimistic. Teams working on immigration, health care, and the environment, to name just a few, are already at work preparing to move the United States in a new direction.
The one progressive issue where there is little optimism though is Palestine. This is mostly because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are both self-declared Zionists and because there is a history of total U.S. support for Israel. But even though most American politicians are Zionists, Trump moving out of the White House presents a sense of a new beginning and should be used as an opportunity to change the paradigm on Palestine.
It can easily be demonstrated that Israel is a dangerous, even reckless state and that continued support for it only promises instability. Israel is an apartheid state that is already on the verge of collapse. With over two million men women and children locked up in the uninhabitable Gaza Strip, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Naqab living without access to water or electricity, crime on the rise, and political instability growing, Israel is likely to become even more dangerous than it is today.
Furthermore, the Netanyahu government is tightly connected to Trump. In fact, one could argue that Trump’s entire foreign policy regarding the Middle East and Iran were dictated by Netanyahu.
Reversing the Zionist agenda
Israel will, of course, vehemently oppose any reversal of the actions taken by the Trump-Kushner-Freedman trio. One may safely assume that Zionist organizations and agents in the U.S. are already hard at work with the Biden people to assure that no such reversal takes place.
Still, Joe Biden will have to show that he stands by some, if not all, of the foreign policy agreements that were reached during the Obama years and later abandoned by Donald Trump. He will likely have to do this even if it means Israel will be displeased. First and foremost would be a return to the Iran nuclear deal, also known as The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The agreement with Iran was central to the Obama legacy, and Trump dropping out of the agreement pleased Israel to no end. A return to the agreement will cause friction between Biden and Israel but since the entire spectrum of Israeli politicians – the one exception being the Joint Arab List – made no secret of their support for Trump, one would hope that some political payback is forthcoming.
Biden’s foreign policy team will also have to deal with the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel and the consequent moving of the U.S. embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, as well as the U.S. recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights. Both were gifts to the Netanyahu government, both were diplomatic blunders that aided Netanyahu, and both will be difficult to reverse.
There are a few things that the Biden team will be able to reverse, though not without serious objections from Israel. These include a return to funding UNRWA, the UN agency charged with caring for over five million Palestinian refugees. Those refugees languish in camps throughout Palestine and the surrounding countries because Israel violently expelled them, stole their land and property, and then banned them from returning. Trump stopped funding for UNRWA in order to satisfy his Zionist-laden foreign policy team.
The reopening of the Palestinian mission in Washington D.C. is another act Israel will not like but one might expect will happen under the Biden administration. It was on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Oslo Accords that the Trump administration closed down the mission and did so in a manner that could not be less diplomatic, practically throwing out the head of mission, Dr. Husam Zumlot. Needless to say, Zionists were thrilled to see that there was no longer Palestinian representation in the U.S. capital.
Even if a new Biden administration ended up reversing Trump’s implementation of the above-mentioned policies, it would only mean that things had returned to where they were before, which was total support for Israel with a symbolic hint that some small measure of regard is given to the rights of Palestinians. Progress will only come when it is made clear in Washington that no one can claim to support democracy and human rights while supporting Israel.
Support in congress
Support for Palestine is growing in the U.S. House of Representatives and with it the understanding that Zionist foreign policy, which dominates U.S. foreign policy, is flawed. Furthermore, there is a growing understanding that supporting human rights includes supporting Palestinian rights.
People are growing weary of the U.S. arming and financing Zionist ambitions, and it is not hard to see that Israel does not violate international law and human rights, but rather Israel is itself a violation of international law and human rights. Every day that Palestinian refugees languish in camps is a violation of human decency as well as international law and the basic human rights of over five million people. The fact that the homes, land, and property of these refugees were stolen by Israel after they were forced to flee by armed Zionist terror squads – that is an ongoing violation of international law.
Each day that Palestinians in Gaza remain locked up in the world’s largest open-air prison is a violation of international law and the human rights of the over two million people who live in the Gaza Strip. These are just a small sample of the many examples that demonstrate why no one can be progressive while supporting Israel.
Moving past Anti-Semitism
Israel has armed itself with the weapon of “anti-semitism” and it is wielding it with great mastery. The use of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism and its acceptance by countless governments and non-governmental organizations has created a shield that protects Israel from criticism.
This shield also holds prisoner any organization that has adopted the definition. Having adopted the definition prevents the possibility of ever expressing legitimate criticism of Israel without being accused of anti-semitism. In the U.S., this definition has been adopted across the board, even the United States Department of State has adopted it.
Still, when the facts are laid out clearly, even the weaponization of anti-semitism cannot protect Israel. There is a change in the air in the United States and although the Biden-Harris duo has declared themselves Zionists, there is an opportunity to push forward an aggressive pro-Palestine, pro-justice agenda.
A long time ago it seemed that U.S. support for a country by the name of South Vietnam (yes, there was a country by that name once) was unwavering and would never end. There was also a racist, apartheid regime that ruled over most of Southern Africa, and the U.S. government as well as American corporations fought hard against any attempts to boycott and bring it down. Yet, South Vietnam fell, as did the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Biden and Harris may be supporters of Zionism today, but that can change. It is the duty of those who care for Palestine to make their voices heard now louder than ever before, to organize better and push as hard as possible. Millions of lives are at stake.
Feature photo | Joe Biden, projected on screens, is applauded by the audience as he addresses the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2013 Policy Conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, March 4, 2013. Susan Walsh | AP
Miko Peled is an author and human rights activist born in Jerusalem. He is the author of “The General’s Son. Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” and “Injustice, the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.”


mintpressnews--2020-11-11--QAnon Legal Battle Against YouTube Could Transform Free Speech Online

The welding of American politics with social media may be the defining moment of a sea change that is taking place at the very top echelons of power in the United States and the world .
In the run-up to the 2020 U.S. elections , Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube all revealed their inescapable ties to the establishment when they launched an information warfare campaign against their own users and content creators in a bid to shape perceptions and control national discourse on the government ’ s behalf .
As the most contentious election in living memory drags on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the massive purge of profiles and content deemed politically dangerous carried out by the most popular social media platforms just over two weeks before Election Day , went practically unnoticed by everyone other than those who were actually de-platformed and their followers .
In mid-October , Google-owned YouTube and other social media giants purged the accounts of the most popular QAnon channels , spurring a class-action lawsuit against the video streaming platform filed in the Northern District of California later that month .
A total of eight QAnon YouTube stars and seven more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Google and its subsidiary YouTube on October 26 , alleging a violation of their constitutional right to free speech and of the companies ’ own terms of service ( TOS ) agreements .
Among those named in the complaint are Polly St. George , who despite being fairly new on the scene has accumulated a considerable following and Dave Hayes , a.k.a Preying Medic , who is one of QAnon ’ s more popular “ Q drops ” interpreter , deciphering the supposedly coded messages for the masses of Q followers .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a change on the bench , the trial came to a quick conclusion on November 3 , when the judge dismissed the complaint on the grounds that they were unlikely “ to succeed with claims that YouTube violated its terms of service.
” Given how the trial unfolded and other notable details surrounding the case , it is more than likely that the QAnon cohort suing YouTube was looking for a quick and unfavorable result in the district court in order to pursue its constitutional argument in a higher court on appeal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funded over decades by a network of conservative billionaires , like Charles Koch , to change the laws in favor of their business enterprises at the expense of the common interest .
Despite the extensive arguments made in the complaint over free speech and of YouTube ’ s infringement on First Amendment rights , the filing only sought an emergency injunction to compel the company to reinstate the deleted channels and content .
Their true intentions , however , became manifest when the plaintiffs divorced their constitutional arguments from the current legal action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a different basis and allow the QAnon stars to pursue these “ at a later time.
” Classified as a civil rights case , the lawsuit centers around the timing of YouTube ’ s QAnon channel purge , which followed a resolution condemning QAnon specifically and called for the FBI and all federal law enforcement agencies to “ focus on preventing ” the proliferation of “ fringe political conspiracy theories ” such as QAnon .
H.R .
1154 was passed by the House Judiciary and Intelligence committee on October 2 .
Several days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ networks began removing QAnon-related content from their platforms .
As far as the plaintiffs in the case are concerned , this constitutes “ state action ” by YouTube , which capitulated to “ government coercion to terminate ” their accounts and , therefore , a violation of their constitutional right to free speech .
The plaintiffs further argue that YouTube breached its own TOS agreement when it suspended their accounts without cause and failed to provide a reason in accordance with their TOS .
It was upon these secondary allegations that the judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of QAnon stars the emergency restraining order to have their channels reinstated .
“ Upon reviewing YouTube ’ s TOS agreement in totality , the court agrees with [ Google ] , ” Judge Beth L. Freeman wrote in her decision , which couldn ’ t have come as a surprise to the prosecution given Freeman ’ s penchant for siding with Big Tech .
Nevertheless , Freeman , who had the case reassigned to her by the plaintiff ’ s own request , left the main thrust of the lawsuit intact and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ action .
The Rise of the Uniparty Denver Riggleman is one of five co-sponsors of House Bill 1154 , and one of the most outspoken in the media about QAnon , expressing his low opinion of the phenomenon on corporate news outlets on many occasions .
“ I might as well piss everyone off , ” Riggleman told NBC ’ s Chuck Todd .
“ The fact that we ’ re trying to appeal to them is ridiculous .
I guess I scratch my head , as a former intelligence officer , Chuck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” The former intelligence officer should not be surprised that he just lost his congressional seat to another Republican whose views more closely align with the momentum far-right positions have gained throughout a sizable portion of the country ’ s population .
Public offices from Utah to North Carolina are being filled with politicians who either sympathize with , or pay lip service to , QAnon followers .
In the wake of his recent defeat , Riggleman says he might run for governor of Virginia but claims to be unsure whether that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an independent .
The ousted congressman believes QAnon will destroy the two-party system and muses about the emergence of a new centrist “ third ” party .
The former representative might be correct about his prediction , but with a few exceptions .
That new , centrist party is already here as the Donald Trump effect brings the worst of the neoliberal Democrats and neoconservative Republicans together under the still uncertified Biden administration in which people like Mitt Romney and are floated as serious contenders for a cabinet position in a Democratic White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill sponsored by Riggleman and four others that underlies the free speech case brought against YouTube range from plotting an armed raid to blocking traffic and making accusations against a political figure – namely Joe Biden .
Based on these incidents , and a strong emphasis on the anti-Semitic undercurrents of the QAnon quasi-ideology , the resolution goes on to condemn QAnon , but also “ all other groups and ideologies , from the far left to the far right , ” and singles out QAnon to be probed by the American intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , assistance , or online amplification ” of its message .
There is an outside chance that the plaintiffs don ’ t pursue their cause in a different court .
But , the re-assignment of the judge in this case at the plaintiff ’ s request strikes as a prelude to just that .
Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi , who was originally assigned to the case seemed like a perfect choice for the prosecution .
A Trump-appointed Magistrate judge who had shown a soft spot for White supremacists when she released a Sonoma @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organization on bail in an ongoing murder trial .
Her replacement , an Obama appointee , made quick work of the initial complaint by stripping the case of any challenge to Google ’ s corporate right to ban , remove , or de-platform any user they wish .
All that remains is a constitutional argument with no teeth , which the plaintiffs are very likely to chase all the way to the Supreme Court if they can .
Their lawyer , M. Cris Armenta from Armenta & Sol , PC , knows a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high publicity social media trials .
She is one of the lawyers representing hundreds of Hollywood actresses in the first class-action lawsuits brought against Harvey Weinstein and the launching pad of the # MeToo hashtag social media movement , as well as plaintiffs in the Innocence of Muslims film case against Google in 2015 .

The welding of American politics with social media may be the defining moment of a sea change that is taking place at the very top echelons of power in the United States and the world. In the run-up to the 2020 U.S. elections, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube all revealed their inescapable ties to the establishment when they launched an information warfare campaign against their own users and content creators in a bid to shape perceptions and control national discourse on the government’s behalf.
As the most contentious election in living memory drags on days after the vote, itself, the massive purge of profiles and content deemed politically dangerous carried out by the most popular social media platforms just over two weeks before Election Day, went practically unnoticed by everyone other than those who were actually de-platformed and their followers.
In mid-October, Google-owned YouTube and other social media giants purged the accounts of the most popular QAnon channels, spurring a class-action lawsuit against the video streaming platform filed in the Northern District of California later that month.
The case
A total of eight QAnon YouTube stars and seven more unnamed plaintiffs brought a first amendment suit against Google and its subsidiary YouTube on October 26, alleging a violation of their constitutional right to free speech and of the companies’ own terms of service (TOS) agreements. Among those named in the complaint are Polly St. George, who despite being fairly new on the scene has accumulated a considerable following and Dave Hayes, a.k.a Preying Medic, who is one of QAnon’s more popular “Q drops” interpreter, deciphering the supposedly coded messages for the masses of Q followers.
After a curious request by the plaintiffs for a change on the bench, the trial came to a quick conclusion on November 3, when the judge dismissed the complaint on the grounds that they were unlikely “to succeed with claims that YouTube violated its terms of service.”
Given how the trial unfolded and other notable details surrounding the case, it is more than likely that the QAnon cohort suing YouTube was looking for a quick and unfavorable result in the district court in order to pursue its constitutional argument in a higher court on appeal; a tactic developed by legal teams funded over decades by a network of conservative billionaires, like Charles Koch, to change the laws in favor of their business enterprises at the expense of the common interest.
Despite the extensive arguments made in the complaint over free speech and of YouTube’s infringement on First Amendment rights, the filing only sought an emergency injunction to compel the company to reinstate the deleted channels and content. Their true intentions, however, became manifest when the plaintiffs divorced their constitutional arguments from the current legal action, prompting the judge to rule on a different basis and allow the QAnon stars to pursue these “at a later time.”
The bill
Classified as a civil rights case, the lawsuit centers around the timing of YouTube’s QAnon channel purge, which followed a resolution condemning QAnon specifically and called for the FBI and all federal law enforcement agencies to “focus on preventing” the proliferation of “fringe political conspiracy theories” such as QAnon.
H.R. 1154 was passed by the House Judiciary and Intelligence committee on October 2. Several days later, all the major social media networks began removing QAnon-related content from their platforms. As far as the plaintiffs in the case are concerned, this constitutes “state action” by YouTube, which capitulated to “government coercion to terminate” their accounts and, therefore, a violation of their constitutional right to free speech.
The plaintiffs further argue that YouTube breached its own TOS agreement when it suspended their accounts without cause and failed to provide a reason in accordance with their TOS. It was upon these secondary allegations that the judge based her decision to deny the group of QAnon stars the emergency restraining order to have their channels reinstated.
“Upon reviewing YouTube’s TOS agreement in totality, the court agrees with [Google],” Judge Beth L. Freeman wrote in her decision, which couldn’t have come as a surprise to the prosecution given Freeman’s penchant for siding with Big Tech. Nevertheless, Freeman, who had the case reassigned to her by the plaintiff’s own request, left the main thrust of the lawsuit intact and the door wide open for a new action.
The Rise of the Uniparty
Denver Riggleman is one of five co-sponsors of House Bill 1154, and one of the most outspoken in the media about QAnon, expressing his low opinion of the phenomenon on corporate news outlets on many occasions. “I might as well piss everyone off,” Riggleman told NBC’s Chuck Todd. “The fact that we’re trying to appeal to them is ridiculous. I guess I scratch my head, as a former intelligence officer, Chuck — is what are we doing here?”
The former intelligence officer should not be surprised that he just lost his congressional seat to another Republican whose views more closely align with the momentum far-right positions have gained throughout a sizable portion of the country’s population. Public offices from Utah to North Carolina are being filled with politicians who either sympathize with, or pay lip service to, QAnon followers.
In the wake of his recent defeat, Riggleman says he might run for governor of Virginia but claims to be unsure whether that will be as a Republican or as an independent. The ousted congressman believes QAnon will destroy the two-party system and muses about the emergence of a new centrist “third” party.
The former representative might be correct about his prediction, but with a few exceptions. That new, centrist party is already here as the Donald Trump effect brings the worst of the neoliberal Democrats and neoconservative Republicans together under the still uncertified Biden administration in which people like Mitt Romney and are floated as serious contenders for a cabinet position in a Democratic White House.
#ThemToo
The examples cited in the bill sponsored by Riggleman and four others that underlies the free speech case brought against YouTube range from plotting an armed raid to blocking traffic and making accusations against a political figure – namely Joe Biden.
Based on these incidents, and a strong emphasis on the anti-Semitic undercurrents of the QAnon quasi-ideology, the resolution goes on to condemn QAnon, but also “all other groups and ideologies, from the far left to the far right,” and singles out QAnon to be probed by the American intelligence community to identify “any foreign support, assistance, or online amplification” of its message.
There is an outside chance that the plaintiffs don’t pursue their cause in a different court. But, the re-assignment of the judge in this case at the plaintiff’s request strikes as a prelude to just that.
Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi, who was originally assigned to the case seemed like a perfect choice for the prosecution. A Trump-appointed Magistrate judge who had shown a soft spot for White supremacists when she released a Sonoma chapter president of the Hells Angels criminal organization on bail in an ongoing murder trial.
Her replacement, an Obama appointee, made quick work of the initial complaint by stripping the case of any challenge to Google’s corporate right to ban, remove, or de-platform any user they wish. All that remains is a constitutional argument with no teeth, which the plaintiffs are very likely to chase all the way to the Supreme Court if they can.
Their lawyer, M. Cris Armenta from Armenta & Sol, PC, knows a thing or two about high profile, high publicity social media trials. She is one of the lawyers representing hundreds of Hollywood actresses in the first class-action lawsuits brought against Harvey Weinstein and the launching pad of the #MeToo hashtag social media movement, as well as plaintiffs in the Innocence of Muslims film case against Google in 2015.
Feature photo | A Trump supporter holds a QAnon sign during a rally in Rochester, Minnesota, October 30, 2020. Carlos Barria | Reuters
Raul Diego is a MintPress News Staff Writer, independent photojournalist, researcher, writer and documentary filmmaker.


mintpressnews--2020-11-14--A Hero’s Welcome: Inside Evo Morales’ Triumphant Return Tour

The return of Evo Morales to Bolivia on Monday , November 9 , one day after President Luis Arce ’ s inauguration , marked the formal end of last year ’ s U.S.-backed coup .
What does his return mean for Bolivia , and for the world ?
Is he just a former president who the media will turn to periodically for comment ?
Is he yesterday ’ s news to his party ?
The answers to those questions remain unclear , but what is clear is that his three-day return tour was a statement that he intends to provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and abroad .
Corporate media , both national and international , have been promoting a narrative that Morales is somehow in conflict with the incoming government of Luis Arce .
A recent piece in the New York Times stated , “ Mr .
Morales return now risks undermining Mr. Arce ’ s efforts to bring the nation together to overcome the crisis , ” ’ and Reuters classified Arce as being “ in Evo ’ s Shadow.
” Of course , Bolivia ’ s coup government knew that Evo Morales would strengthen , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They understood that he was , and is , the leader of Bolivia ’ s powerful social movements .
They knew they had to keep him out of the country , so they piled on more than 20 criminal charges and a warrant for his immediate arrest if he ever set foot on Bolivian soil .
The charges included terrorism , sedition , genocide , and more .
Morales was forced to escape to Mexico after the coup , he then moved to Argentina where he was also given asylum .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coup regime , through its own hubris , took them to Interpol in an effort to force Morales ’ adopted country to hand him over .
Of course , Interpol rejected the two attempts to place a ‘ red alert ’ on Morales , as they considered the charges against him to be political and without any legal basis .
Thrown out by international bodies , the legal persecution against Morales also collapsed at home .
Just after the October 18 election results handed a victory to MAS , the power of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ courts immediately evaporated , and his arrest warrant was lifted just days after the election .
The stage was now set for his return to Bolivia .
The 9th of November was a carnival fit for a king .
He crossed the border on foot , from the Argentinian town of La Quiaca to the Bolivian town of Villazon with tens of thousands of supporters ready to receive him .
As one of the many reporters there , I was naive enough to believe that the crowds would be kept at bay by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who were the designated security , but I quickly lost my good position as the masses of assembled supporters immediately overwhelmed the burly men who were supposed to form a protective ring around Evo .
Looking to the future Our cameras jolted about as we were dangerously squashed by the sheer weight of those trying to touch him or at least take a photo .
His victory parade went from the border to the town ’ s central plaza , about five blocks from the bridge through which he entered .
When asking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to them , the answers were not describing a loved , but has-been figure , most spoke in the future tense .
Juan , a miner from Potosi , said , “ We have to receive him and make sure he gets here ok , because he ’ s our leader , at both the national and international level .
I want to salute [ President ] Arce and [ VP ] Choquehuanca , but our true indisputable leader is Evo Morales Ayma and he always will be.
” A union activist from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rally and told me that “ Evo is a Latin American leader and he ’ ll be the key for building a unified continent that ’ s strong , sovereign and for the people , for workers .
That ’ s why we ’ re here , this concerns us too .
Morales ’ first speech in Bolivia , delivered at the plaza in Villazon , struck a similar tone , discussing the future rather than reminiscing about past glory .
“ We have to keep working , our task now is to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change , because the right doesn ’ t sleep and the empire is always looking at our natural resources , but we use our experience to go forward even stronger.
” So how does he plan to go about doing that ?
Morales is not just another private citizen .
He has now assumed his role as the President of the 6 Federations of the Tropico , the powerful Chapare region rural workers union that he led throughout the 1990s and from which he founded the MAS .
He ’ s also still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Movement Towards Socialism .
He ’ s not the leader of the state , but he is the political leader of the ruling party .
Following the Villazon rally , Morales and his comrades , and those of us covering the tour , jumped into our vehicles and sped away for what was the beginning of a long and physically taxing three-day road trip .
Gone were the days of Evo being shipped around in a helicopter .
After more than eight hours of driving through the freezing Potosi highlands , we got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Atocha , making only a brief stop before getting back in the car for another hour to the town of Uyuni , arriving at 11:30 pm .
Considering the rally was supposed to take place at 6 pm , and that temperatures had now dropped to 7 degrees celsius , I assumed that the event had been called off or that everyone would have gone home .
I was wrong .
Thousands were densely packed , filling the entire square .
We got to know the grueling schedule that has long been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time as president and before , he ’ s been famous for working from 4 am to midnight , without taking weekends off .
That night , we all got to bed at 3 am and had to be up and ready before 7 am for his morning press conference , during which he addressed the issue of the country ’ s lithium reserves , referencing Elon Musk ’ s Twitter outburst regarding his participation in the coup .
Morales stated clearly : He then explained that just last week he had meetings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ draw up a binational plan to process the natural resource .
Of course , he isn ’ t a government official so he can not sign off on any agreement , but his participation in such meetings is evidence of his relationship to the new MAS government , assisting where possible , but with the newly elected executive firmly in control .
That approach is in accordance with what Luis Arce laid out in an interview with the BBC when he stated that “ Evo Morales is very welcome to help us , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll be in government.
” Those in the media desperately searching for an example of Morales overshadowing the new government , or of Morales being left out in the cold , are still seeking evidence of it .
Meanwhile , Evo continues his work on what was always his stated goal , to help Luis Arce , and to strengthen the MAS from his position as a social movement leader and president of the party .
The rest of the caravan was equally taxing , driving the whole day through Potosi to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Oruro , where he visited his childhood home constructed of dried mud and a straw roof .
Orinoca , though , is not his only home .
As a child , his family left the village , driven out by the extreme poverty that most rural Bolivians faced during the twentieth century .
They finally settled in the Chapare region , where Morales became the leader of the coca-growers union during the struggle against the presence of USAID and the DEA in the region .
After a very short rally in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overnight without stopping to his Evo ’ s political home , the Chapare , also known as the Tropico of Cochabamba .
Arriving at 5 am the next day , Morales rested for just two hours before heading out at 7 am for meetings with local senators and mayors .
What came after was the giant closing rally in Chimore Airport , the airbase in the Chapare region where Morales left for Mexico last year .
More than half a million people filled the landing strip where he delivered a blistering speech laying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now settled , with no more huge rallies nor travel by car .
Evo has set up base in the town of Lauca Ñ in the offices of the 6 Federations of the Tropico and home to their union ’ s media outlet , Radio Kawsachun Coca .
The large crowds are no longer gathering , but the real political work has begun .
Every hour has been filled with private meetings with every local leader of the MAS from each region of the country .
Though , just as important , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been receiving delegations from the indigenous movement in Ecuador , as well as the principal worker ’ s unions of Argentina , where they put the call out for a Latin America wide congress of social movements , with the purpose of creating a new international indigenous organization and launching projects for regional integration on the basis of ‘ plurinationalism ’ and anti-capitalism .
After launching the call for the international congress , Leonidas Iza , a leader of Ecuador ’ s indigenous CONAIE organization , said of Evo ‘ ’ We feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not just recognized in Bolivia , but in all the continent.
” It ’ s clear that Morales has a future as a political leader in Latin America .
Freed from the bureaucratic trappings of power , he can guide social movements at a national and international level , using the experiences he ’ s accumulated successfully leading social struggles to power , and helping defeat a coup after just one year .
Those achievements alone make him an obvious figurehead for a project of unification of the Latin American left in particular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ replicate such success could do worse than to turn to him as a figure that can orientate and provide leadership to those who need it .
Feature photo | Former Bolivian President Evo Morales attends a rally to welcome him to Chimore , Bolivia , Nov. 11 , 2020 , from where he flew into exile one year ago .
Juan Karita | AP Oliver Vargas is a British-Bolivian journalist covering the ongoing coup in Bolivia for MintPress News .
His writing has appeared in teleSUR , Redfish and The Grayzone among others @

The return of Evo Morales to Bolivia on Monday, November 9, one day after President Luis Arce’s inauguration, marked the formal end of last year’s U.S.-backed coup. What does his return mean for Bolivia, and for the world? Is he just a former president who the media will turn to periodically for comment? Is he yesterday’s news to his party? The answers to those questions remain unclear, but what is clear is that his three-day return tour was a statement that he intends to provide strong leadership for social movements in Bolivia and abroad.
Corporate media, both national and international, have been promoting a narrative that Morales is somehow in conflict with the incoming government of Luis Arce. A recent piece in the New York Times stated, “Mr. Morales return now risks undermining Mr. Arce’s efforts to bring the nation together to overcome the crisis,”’ and Reuters classified Arce as being “in Evo’s Shadow.”
Of course, Bolivia’s coup government knew that Evo Morales would strengthen, not weaken, any future MAS government. They understood that he was, and is, the leader of Bolivia’s powerful social movements. They knew they had to keep him out of the country, so they piled on more than 20 criminal charges and a warrant for his immediate arrest if he ever set foot on Bolivian soil. The charges included terrorism, sedition, genocide, and more.
Morales was forced to escape to Mexico after the coup, he then moved to Argentina where he was also given asylum. The absurdity of the charges was proven when the coup regime, through its own hubris, took them to Interpol in an effort to force Morales’ adopted country to hand him over. Of course, Interpol rejected the two attempts to place a ‘red alert’ on Morales, as they considered the charges against him to be political and without any legal basis.
Thrown out by international bodies, the legal persecution against Morales also collapsed at home. Just after the October 18 election results handed a victory to MAS, the power of the regime to pressure Bolivia’s courts immediately evaporated, and his arrest warrant was lifted just days after the election.
The stage was now set for his return to Bolivia. The 9th of November was a carnival fit for a king. He crossed the border on foot, from the Argentinian town of La Quiaca to the Bolivian town of Villazon with tens of thousands of supporters ready to receive him. As one of the many reporters there, I was naive enough to believe that the crowds would be kept at bay by the union activists from the Chapare region who were the designated security, but I quickly lost my good position as the masses of assembled supporters immediately overwhelmed the burly men who were supposed to form a protective ring around Evo.
Looking to the future
Our cameras jolted about as we were dangerously squashed by the sheer weight of those trying to touch him or at least take a photo. His victory parade went from the border to the town’s central plaza, about five blocks from the bridge through which he entered.
When asking those at the rally what Morales meant to them, the answers were not describing a loved, but has-been figure, most spoke in the future tense. Juan, a miner from Potosi, said, “We have to receive him and make sure he gets here ok, because he’s our leader, at both the national and international level. I want to salute [President] Arce and [VP] Choquehuanca, but our true indisputable leader is Evo Morales Ayma and he always will be.”
A union activist from Argentina crossed the border for the Villazon rally and told me that “Evo is a Latin American leader and he’ll be the key for building a unified continent that’s strong, sovereign and for the people, for workers. That’s why we’re here, this concerns us too.
Morales’ first speech in Bolivia, delivered at the plaza in Villazon, struck a similar tone, discussing the future rather than reminiscing about past glory. “We have to keep working, our task now is to protect President Arce and our process of change, because the right doesn’t sleep and the empire is always looking at our natural resources, but we use our experience to go forward even stronger.”
BREAKING: Evo Morales has crossed over the Quiaca-Villazón international border, marking his return and the social movements' victory over the 12 month coup. pic.twitter.com/leIi8pPHrW — Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) November 9, 2020
So how does he plan to go about doing that? Morales is not just another private citizen. He has now assumed his role as the President of the 6 Federations of the Tropico, the powerful Chapare region rural workers union that he led throughout the 1990s and from which he founded the MAS. He’s also still the president of the MAS, the Movement Towards Socialism. He’s not the leader of the state, but he is the political leader of the ruling party.
A hero’s welcome
Following the Villazon rally, Morales and his comrades, and those of us covering the tour, jumped into our vehicles and sped away for what was the beginning of a long and physically taxing three-day road trip. Gone were the days of Evo being shipped around in a helicopter. After more than eight hours of driving through the freezing Potosi highlands, we got to the rally in the mining town of Atocha, making only a brief stop before getting back in the car for another hour to the town of Uyuni, arriving at 11:30 pm. Considering the rally was supposed to take place at 6 pm, and that temperatures had now dropped to 7 degrees celsius, I assumed that the event had been called off or that everyone would have gone home. I was wrong. Thousands were densely packed, filling the entire square.
Huge crowd for Evo Morales in the town of Uyuni at 11.30pm, 7 degrees celsius. This is where Bolivia's lithium reserves are, the people here have been fighting off the coup regimes attempts to privatize their natural resources. pic.twitter.com/cuzivibu9y — Ollie Vargas (@OVargas52) November 10, 2020
We got to know the grueling schedule that has long been the norm for Evo. Throughout his time as president and before, he’s been famous for working from 4 am to midnight, without taking weekends off. That night, we all got to bed at 3 am and had to be up and ready before 7 am for his morning press conference, during which he addressed the issue of the country’s lithium reserves, referencing Elon Musk’s Twitter outburst regarding his participation in the coup. Morales stated clearly:
The coup was for lithium, imperialism doesn’t want us to develop value-added products within Bolivia, they want the transnational corporations to take it all.”
He then explained that just last week he had meetings with Argentina’s Science Minister to draw up a binational plan to process the natural resource. Of course, he isn’t a government official so he cannot sign off on any agreement, but his participation in such meetings is evidence of his relationship to the new MAS government, assisting where possible, but with the newly elected executive firmly in control. That approach is in accordance with what Luis Arce laid out in an interview with the BBC when he stated that “Evo Morales is very welcome to help us, but it doesn’t mean he’ll be in government.”
Those in the media desperately searching for an example of Morales overshadowing the new government, or of Morales being left out in the cold, are still seeking evidence of it. Meanwhile, Evo continues his work on what was always his stated goal, to help Luis Arce, and to strengthen the MAS from his position as a social movement leader and president of the party.
The rest of the caravan was equally taxing, driving the whole day through Potosi to Evo’s home village of Orinoca in Oruro, where he visited his childhood home constructed of dried mud and a straw roof. Orinoca, though, is not his only home.
Evo Morales went to his hometown in Oruro yesterday and danced with his people. Due to poverty, his family then migrated to the Trópico of Cochabamba where he became a union leader. He's now back in the Trópico for a huge rally later today in his political home. pic.twitter.com/tgo4e4jVOP — Ollie Vargas (@OVargas52) November 11, 2020
As a child, his family left the village, driven out by the extreme poverty that most rural Bolivians faced during the twentieth century. They finally settled in the Chapare region, where Morales became the leader of the coca-growers union during the struggle against the presence of USAID and the DEA in the region.
After a very short rally in the nearby city of Oruro, we drove overnight without stopping to his Evo’s political home, the Chapare, also known as the Tropico of Cochabamba. Arriving at 5 am the next day, Morales rested for just two hours before heading out at 7 am for meetings with local senators and mayors.
Giant rally in the Trópico of Cochabamba to welcome home Evo Morales. One year in exile, but now back as leader of Bolivia's social movements. pic.twitter.com/1uKqOm2rR6 — Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) November 11, 2020
What came after was the giant closing rally in Chimore Airport, the airbase in the Chapare region where Morales left for Mexico last year. More than half a million people filled the landing strip where he delivered a blistering speech laying out his politics:
We are anti-imperialist, that’s not up for debate. But sisters and brothers, listen to me closely, it’s not about being ‘populist’ or ‘progressive’ or ‘in solidarity.’ If you’re not anti-imperialist then you’re not revolutionary. Get that in your head brothers and sisters.’’
What does Evo’s future hold?
The dust has now settled, with no more huge rallies nor travel by car. Evo has set up base in the town of Lauca Ñ in the offices of the 6 Federations of the Tropico and home to their union’s media outlet, Radio Kawsachun Coca.
The large crowds are no longer gathering, but the real political work has begun. Every hour has been filled with private meetings with every local leader of the MAS from each region of the country. Though, just as important, has been the international work.
Morales has been receiving delegations from the indigenous movement in Ecuador, as well as the principal worker’s unions of Argentina, where they put the call out for a Latin America wide congress of social movements, with the purpose of creating a new international indigenous organization and launching projects for regional integration on the basis of ‘plurinationalism’ and anti-capitalism. After launching the call for the international congress, Leonidas Iza, a leader of Ecuador’s indigenous CONAIE organization, said of Evo ‘’We feel represented by him, he’s not just recognized in Bolivia, but in all the continent.”
It’s clear that Morales has a future as a political leader in Latin America. Freed from the bureaucratic trappings of power, he can guide social movements at a national and international level, using the experiences he’s accumulated successfully leading social struggles to power, and helping defeat a coup after just one year. Those achievements alone make him an obvious figurehead for a project of unification of the Latin American left in particular. Those around the world looking to replicate such success could do worse than to turn to him as a figure that can orientate and provide leadership to those who need it.
Feature photo | Former Bolivian President Evo Morales attends a rally to welcome him to Chimore, Bolivia, Nov. 11, 2020, from where he flew into exile one year ago. Juan Karita | AP
Oliver Vargas is a British-Bolivian journalist covering the ongoing coup in Bolivia for MintPress News. His writing has appeared in teleSUR, Redfish and The Grayzone among others.


mintpressnews--2020-11-13--Biden Signals a Desire To End the Yemen War. Here’s Why Yemenis Aren’t Buying It

As news broke that Joe Biden almost certainly won the U.S. presidential election , some Americans became hopeful that the new administration could hearken in an era of calm in the Middle East .
In Yemen , however , that sentiment was not shared .
Most Yemenis have little hope that the new White House will end the blockade and the devastating war in their country , which is now nearing the end of its sixth year .
Nor are they hopeful that the announcement that U.S. support for the Saudi military intervention in Yemen could end during Biden ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after he is sworn into office on January 20 , 2021 .
Ibrahim Abdulkareem , who lost his 11-month-old daughter , Zainab when a Saudi warplane dropped an American-made bomb on his home in Sana ` a in 2015 , told MintPress that Biden ’ s statement is not good news to him , ” I am not optimistic that Biden will stop supplying Bin Salman with bombs like the ones that killed my daughter , ” he said .
Like Ibrahim , Yemeni civilians are losing their loved ones , homes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Saudi Coalition in droves , and there is little hope that president-elect Biden will end support , including the supply of weapons and military equipment , to Saudi Arabia and the UAE .
In fact , officials in both Sana ’ a and Aden – the respective seats of power for the opposing sides in Yemen ’ s war – see little chance that Biden will take action to end the conflict given the current geopolitical reality in the Middle East .
That reality includes the fever of normalization with Israel sweeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dhabi are no exception .
Closely related is the ongoing obsession from concurrent U.S. administrations with trying to contain so-called “ Iranian influence ” in the Middle East and linking the war in Yemen with that effort .
Yemeni politicians have called on Biden to change how the White House views the conflict and to stop treating it as a proxy war with Iran over influence .
Unfortunately , it has been reduced down to that binary argument , with U.S. officials on both sides of the aisle blaming the entire affair on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are an Iranian proxy , and framing the entire conflict in an Iran-centric geopolitical context – and not the true context of foreign aggression and a battle to control the strategic areas and some of the region ’ s most lucrative untapped oil and gas reserves .
Most Yemenis view American support for the Saudi-led coalition not only as fueling the fighting but also view the American government as a party to serious war crimes in their country , directly at fault for the devastating humanitarian crisis they now face .
Yemen is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to catastrophe as it faces a devastating famine within a few short months according to a recent report by the UN issued on Wednesday .
That famine , in large part , stems not only from the Saud-led war and blockade , but from drastic cuts to humanitarian food and aid programs implemented by President Trump .
Since March 2015 , when the war began , rather than halting weapons sales or pressuring Saudi Arabia diplomatically , the White House instead opted to ignore calls from the international community to address the suffering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been given carte blanche to carry out the most brazen and egregious violations of international law and collective murder in modern history without so much as a scolding from the United States .
The Saudi-led war has killed more than 100,000 people since January 2016 , according to a report by the Armed Conflict and Location Event Data Project ( ACLED ) .
That figure does not include those who have died in the humanitarian disasters sparked by the conflict , particularly famine and the thousands of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the United States , that have been dropped on hospitals , schools , markets , mosques , farms , factories , bridges , and power and water treatment plants .
If Biden is serious about reaching a diplomatic end to the war , he has a real chance to add ending one of the twenty-first century ’ s most violent conflicts to his presidential legacy .
Yemen is thirsty for peace .
Both the resistance forces led by Ansar Allah and the Saudi-backed militant groups ’ that oppose them have signaled a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sentiment , of course , not readily reflected by the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE .
Those governments , however , do face increasingly dwindling support among the same forces in Yemen that allegedly invited them to intervene in their country under the auspices of returning ousted president Abdul Mansour Hadi to power .
Now , even among the coalition ’ s staunchest allies , Saudi Arabia ’ s actions are increasingly seen as little more than an effort to balkanize the nation into regions and factions that can more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Ansar Allah ) , the most stalwart of forces opposed to a foreign presence in Yemen , an attitude of reconciliation pervades .
Throughout the conflict , the group has proven its propensity for diplomatic rapprochement and a desire to work within the structures of international mediators to negotiate an end to the war .
According to high-ranking officials in Sana ’ a , preparations for negotiations are being made in case the Biden administration is serious about ending the war .
However , the group ’ s leadership is taking Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ salt .
A wait and see approach persists among decision-makers in Sana ’ a , and rumors are flying that Biden may work with Yemen ’ s Brotherhood , a Saudi Arabia ally .
Trump ’ s own legacy in the Middle East is another factor that Biden will have to maneuver if he wishes to untangle the complex quagmire that is Yemen .
The Trump administration recently notified Congress that it approved the sale of more than $ 23bn in advanced weapons systems , including F-35 fighter jets and armed drones , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s most prominent partner in its war on Yemen .
The Houthis have played down the announcement , saying that consent is one thing , but delivery is another entirely and if the Biden administration does go through with the sale , they will consider it a crime against Yemen .
High-ranking Houthi officials told MintPress that while they do not expect the president-elect to recognize their right to sovereignty , they are hopeful that the situation in Yemen will be re-assessed by the incoming administration and that the Houthis will no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or their allies in the region , and there is some evidence to substantiate that idea .
Every Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been retaliatory , not preemptive , in nature .
Even the attack on the Saudi Aramco facility on September 14 , 2019 , came in response to ongoing Saudi Coalition military maneuvers inside Yemen .
Prior to the 2015 Saudi-led Coalition war on their country , the Houthis did not show animus towards the Kingdom , nor a desire to target it militarily .
Furthermore , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same kind of jihadist ideology that drives groups like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS , groups that the Kingdom has used to try to undermine Houthi power , making the Houthis a natural ally to any force working to contain those organizations .
Saudi Arabia launched its war on Yemen in March of 2015 under the leadership of Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman .
Salman claimed his objective in launching the war was to roll back the Houthis and reinstate ousted former Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi , who fled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests during the Arab Spring .
From the moment the highly unpopular war began , Saudi officials have worked hard to frame it as a necessary step in liberating the Arab country from Iran , repeating the still unfounded claim that the Houthis are an Iranian proxy .
Continued pressure on Yemen will inevitably force the Houthis to lean more heavily into their relationships with Iran , Russia , and China , all perceived enemies of the United States , as they indeed have done under the Trump presidency .
Iran ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sana ’ a last month , and prior to that , the Houthis sent an ambassador to Tehran .
Syria and Qatar are expected to follow and reopen their embassies in Sana ’ a according to Houthi officials , and if the staggering human cost of the war is not enough , that should give Biden an incentive not to allow the protracted conflict to carry on..
Feature photo | U.S. Vice President Joe Biden , left , offers his condolences on the death of the late Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saud Al-Faisal on his arrival to Riyadh airbase in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , Oct. 27 , 2011 .
Hassan Ammar | AP Ahmed AbdulKareem is a Yemeni journalist .
He covers the war in Yemen for MintPress News as well as local Yemeni media .

As news broke that Joe Biden almost certainly won the U.S. presidential election, some Americans became hopeful that the new administration could hearken in an era of calm in the Middle East. In Yemen, however, that sentiment was not shared.
Most Yemenis have little hope that the new White House will end the blockade and the devastating war in their country, which is now nearing the end of its sixth year. Nor are they hopeful that the announcement that U.S. support for the Saudi military intervention in Yemen could end during Biden’s presidential term will materialize into action after he is sworn into office on January 20, 2021.
Ibrahim Abdulkareem, who lost his 11-month-old daughter, Zainab when a Saudi warplane dropped an American-made bomb on his home in Sana`a in 2015, told MintPress that Biden’s statement is not good news to him, ”I am not optimistic that Biden will stop supplying Bin Salman with bombs like the ones that killed my daughter,” he said. Like Ibrahim, Yemeni civilians are losing their loved ones, homes, and infrastructure to American weapons supplied to the Saudi Coalition in droves, and there is little hope that president-elect Biden will end support, including the supply of weapons and military equipment, to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Iranian boogeyman
In fact, officials in both Sana’a and Aden – the respective seats of power for the opposing sides in Yemen’s war – see little chance that Biden will take action to end the conflict given the current geopolitical reality in the Middle East. That reality includes the fever of normalization with Israel sweeping across Arab governments, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are no exception. Closely related is the ongoing obsession from concurrent U.S. administrations with trying to contain so-called “Iranian influence” in the Middle East and linking the war in Yemen with that effort.
Yemeni politicians have called on Biden to change how the White House views the conflict and to stop treating it as a proxy war with Iran over influence. Unfortunately, it has been reduced down to that binary argument, with U.S. officials on both sides of the aisle blaming the entire affair on Iran, reductively claiming that the Houthis are an Iranian proxy, and framing the entire conflict in an Iran-centric geopolitical context – and not the true context of foreign aggression and a battle to control the strategic areas and some of the region’s most lucrative untapped oil and gas reserves.
American support
Most Yemenis view American support for the Saudi-led coalition not only as fueling the fighting but also view the American government as a party to serious war crimes in their country, directly at fault for the devastating humanitarian crisis they now face. Yemen is on the verge of yet another countdown to catastrophe as it faces a devastating famine within a few short months according to a recent report by the UN issued on Wednesday. That famine, in large part, stems not only from the Saud-led war and blockade, but from drastic cuts to humanitarian food and aid programs implemented by President Trump.
Since March 2015, when the war began, rather than halting weapons sales or pressuring Saudi Arabia diplomatically, the White House instead opted to ignore calls from the international community to address the suffering of Yemeni civilians. Worse yet, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been given carte blanche to carry out the most brazen and egregious violations of international law and collective murder in modern history without so much as a scolding from the United States.
The Saudi-led war has killed more than 100,000 people since January 2016, according to a report by the Armed Conflict and Location Event Data Project (ACLED). That figure does not include those who have died in the humanitarian disasters sparked by the conflict, particularly famine and the thousands of tons of weapons, most often supplied by the United States, that have been dropped on hospitals, schools, markets, mosques, farms, factories, bridges, and power and water treatment plants.
Thirsty for peace
If Biden is serious about reaching a diplomatic end to the war, he has a real chance to add ending one of the twenty-first century’s most violent conflicts to his presidential legacy. Yemen is thirsty for peace. Both the resistance forces led by Ansar Allah and the Saudi-backed militant groups’ that oppose them have signaled a desire to reach a political settlement, a sentiment, of course, not readily reflected by the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Those governments, however, do face increasingly dwindling support among the same forces in Yemen that allegedly invited them to intervene in their country under the auspices of returning ousted president Abdul Mansour Hadi to power. Now, even among the coalition’s staunchest allies, Saudi Arabia’s actions are increasingly seen as little more than an effort to balkanize the nation into regions and factions that can more easily be managed.
Among the Houthis (Ansar Allah), the most stalwart of forces opposed to a foreign presence in Yemen, an attitude of reconciliation pervades. Throughout the conflict, the group has proven its propensity for diplomatic rapprochement and a desire to work within the structures of international mediators to negotiate an end to the war. According to high-ranking officials in Sana’a, preparations for negotiations are being made in case the Biden administration is serious about ending the war.
However, the group’s leadership is taking Biden’s statement with a grain of salt. A wait and see approach persists among decision-makers in Sana’a, and rumors are flying that Biden may work with Yemen’s Brotherhood, a Saudi Arabia ally.
Untangling the quagmire
Trump’s own legacy in the Middle East is another factor that Biden will have to maneuver if he wishes to untangle the complex quagmire that is Yemen. The Trump administration recently notified Congress that it approved the sale of more than $23bn in advanced weapons systems, including F-35 fighter jets and armed drones, to the UAE, Saudi Arabia’s most prominent partner in its war on Yemen. The Houthis have played down the announcement, saying that consent is one thing, but delivery is another entirely and if the Biden administration does go through with the sale, they will consider it a crime against Yemen.
High-ranking Houthi officials told MintPress that while they do not expect the president-elect to recognize their right to sovereignty, they are hopeful that the situation in Yemen will be re-assessed by the incoming administration and that the Houthis will no longer be seen as a threat to Washington or their allies in the region, and there is some evidence to substantiate that idea.
Every Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been retaliatory, not preemptive, in nature. Even the attack on the Saudi Aramco facility on September 14, 2019, came in response to ongoing Saudi Coalition military maneuvers inside Yemen. Prior to the 2015 Saudi-led Coalition war on their country, the Houthis did not show animus towards the Kingdom, nor a desire to target it militarily. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia a major exporter of the same kind of jihadist ideology that drives groups like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS, groups that the Kingdom has used to try to undermine Houthi power, making the Houthis a natural ally to any force working to contain those organizations.
Saudi Arabia launched its war on Yemen in March of 2015 under the leadership of Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman. Salman claimed his objective in launching the war was to roll back the Houthis and reinstate ousted former Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who fled the country to Saudi Arabia following popular protests during the Arab Spring. From the moment the highly unpopular war began, Saudi officials have worked hard to frame it as a necessary step in liberating the Arab country from Iran, repeating the still unfounded claim that the Houthis are an Iranian proxy.
Continued pressure on Yemen will inevitably force the Houthis to lean more heavily into their relationships with Iran, Russia, and China, all perceived enemies of the United States, as they indeed have done under the Trump presidency. Iran’s newly appointed ambassador to Yemen arrived in Sana’a last month, and prior to that, the Houthis sent an ambassador to Tehran. Syria and Qatar are expected to follow and reopen their embassies in Sana’a according to Houthi officials, and if the staggering human cost of the war is not enough, that should give Biden an incentive not to allow the protracted conflict to carry on..
Feature photo | U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, offers his condolences on the death of the late Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to Saudi Foreign minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal on his arrival to Riyadh airbase in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 27, 2011. Hassan Ammar | AP
Ahmed AbdulKareem is a Yemeni journalist. He covers the war in Yemen for MintPress News as well as local Yemeni media.