mintpressnews--2020-11-30--A “Fringe Member” of the Jewish Community: How Hasbara Trolls Reacted to My Campus Appearance

As another year closes and Palestine remains as far from liberation as ever , it would be wise to admit , once again , that there is no clear , unified strategy to defeat Zionism and liberate Palestine .
One place where some change can perhaps be made , however , is in relation to the Zionist organizations around the world whose sole purpose is to disrupt pro-Palestinian activism .
Peaceful activism for Palestinian rights on college campuses and elsewhere has long been targeted heavily by nationalist groups like Hasbara Fellowships , Hillel , and others who present Israel as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and haven for Jewish people while feeding into islamophobic and anti-Arab sentiments .
We see this in the continued attempts to brand Muslim and Arab students as inherently “ violent ” or supporting terrorism .
Students who support Israel are presented as fearful of attacks and vulnerable while in fact , those who highlight Palestinian rights face harassment and defamation campaigns that follow them for the rest of their academic and professional careers .
Most , if not all , speakers who are invited to speak on campus on the issue of Palestine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Zionist groups who campaign to silence the Palestinian voice .
Granted , some experience this more and some less , but the Zionist reach seems to have no boundaries and they are more vigilant and hateful than ever before .
This is true everywhere , but perhaps nowhere more than on university campuses .
As an event is planned , and sometimes immediately after an event , Zionist organizations express their displeasure to university authorities in an attempt to either cancel an event altogether or , if the event had already taken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ urge authorities to reprimand the organizers for allowing what they refer to as an “ anti-semitic ” voice to be heard on campus .
The time has come to change this dynamic .
Rather than wait for the attacks by Zionist groups and then explain and apologize , those who stand for justice in Palestine would do well to expose Zionist groups and the hateful racism which they represent .
Zionist groups represent a racist , supremacist , and violent ideology .
They defend a state that is engaged in the worst type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet they feel that they are in a position to question the motives of organizers , speakers , and activists who call for justice and tolerance .
Hillel , for example , writes on its website , that “ Israel is at the heart of Hillel ’ s work.
” They fully admit that their goal is “ to inspire every Jewish college student to develop a meaningful and enduring relationship to Israel.
” They want every Jewish student to have a “ meaningful ” relationship with Israel , which has from its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and imposed a violent racist regime in Palestine .
Hillel further says that “ Engaged and educated students can become committed Jewish adults who are passionate supporters of Israel.
” One has to wonder what kind of hate-filled indoctrination must be used in order to cultivate “ passionate ” support for an apartheid state .
My most recent experience was with a Candian Zionist organization called Hasbara Fellowships .
On their website , Hasbara Fellowships write , “ We envision North American college campuses to be a place where Zionists feel empowered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fear or exclusion.
” How is one empowered to celebrate a state that keeps millions of people under its control , deprived of water and food , and determines who has access to medical care based on whether or not they are Jewish ?
As for the misleading use of the name “ Jewish State , ” the majority of Jewish people around the world choose not to live in Israel .
The majority of the population governed by the State of Israel are not Jewish , but Palestinian Muslims and Christians who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
How then is Israel a “ Jewish ” state ?
Furthermore , this so-called Jewish State has been denounced by Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis and secular Jews alike for over 100 years .
Zionism never represented Jews or Jewish identity , or for that matter , Jewish self-determination .
Hasbara Fellowships further states that it is , “ a leading pro-Israel campus activism organization.
” On the face of it , to some readers , this may seem benign , but to anyone familiar with the history of the Middle East , and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indeed sinister .
“ Pro-Israel ” means pro-violence and pro-apartheid .
It means being pro a regime which has taken Palestine , and like wildfire , destroyed everything in its path .
Zionism embraces ( and various Zionist groups promote ) a racist , supremacist ideology that has brought death , homelessness , and destruction to millions of Palestinians .
And yet , it is the wonderful , selfless work being done by student groups like PSC and SPHR in Canada , SJP , and SUPER in the United States , that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world , students toil day in and day out to get the truth regarding Palestine out into the open .
Yet , the Zionist organizations which promote hatred , racism , and violence are being given the ear of university administrations and the intentions of the Palestine solidarity student groups are brought into question .
In their demands to reprimand the organizers of a recent event in which I participated , albeit remotely , Hasbara Fellowships called me a “ fringe member ” of the Jewish community .
Never mind that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which gave me an invaluable intimate insight , it undermines the opinions of countless Jews around the world who similarly do not subscribe to a nationalist ideology .
These Jewish groups range from the large-scale ultraorthodox Hassidic communities ( a great many of whom are the descendants of Holocaust survivors ) who put religious observance before nationalism and flat-out reject the State of Israel , to the many secular Jews who have a long tradition of peaceful activism resisting military rule .
Quite often inspired by their own experiences of oppression , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities stand up for the human rights of others .
Nationalist groups such as Hillel and Hasbara Fellowships do not speak for these Jewish people , as they demand to feel “ empowered ” to spew hate and racism .
The state of Israel became rich as a result of the pillaging and looting of Palestinian property , both private and collective .
This theft took place after countless Palestinians were forcibly exiled from their homes and their land .
The Israeli economy is strong and Israel is not a state that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any aid for that matter .
It is , however , in need of a great deal of public relations , and that is where these groups come in .
Israel peddles weapons and sells to the darkest dictatorships around the world , and Israel ’ s arms industry profits are in the billions .
Historically , Israel supported Apartheid in South Africa , Mobuto in the Congo , Idi Amin in Uganda , the Shah of Iran , the genocidal attacks against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka , and military dictators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administrators have decided to bow their heads to racist , hate-filled Zionist groups rather than support the courageous students who stand for justice and freedom from bigotry everywhere .
One hopes that the administrations of universities around the world will not let these attempts at defamation leveled by Israeli nationalist groups deter them from protecting freedom of speech and peaceful human rights advocacy at their universities .
However , rather than wait for others to do the right thing , we who support the causes of justice and liberation in Palestine need to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move from defense to offense , and clearly , there is a lot of material to work with .
Feature photo | Israeli peace activist and author Miko Peled speaks at the 2014 FOSNA conference .
Photo | graceandsalaam | Flickr 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 .
”

As another year closes and Palestine remains as far from liberation as ever, it would be wise to admit, once again, that there is no clear, unified strategy to defeat Zionism and liberate Palestine. One place where some change can perhaps be made, however, is in relation to the Zionist organizations around the world whose sole purpose is to disrupt pro-Palestinian activism.
Peaceful activism for Palestinian rights on college campuses and elsewhere has long been targeted heavily by nationalist groups like Hasbara Fellowships, Hillel, and others who present Israel as a fun, wonder-filled beacon of democracy and haven for Jewish people while feeding into islamophobic and anti-Arab sentiments.
We see this in the continued attempts to brand Muslim and Arab students as inherently “violent” or supporting terrorism. Students who support Israel are presented as fearful of attacks and vulnerable while in fact, those who highlight Palestinian rights face harassment and defamation campaigns that follow them for the rest of their academic and professional careers.
Most, if not all, speakers who are invited to speak on campus on the issue of Palestine have experienced the hateful, vicious attacks by Zionist groups who campaign to silence the Palestinian voice. Granted, some experience this more and some less, but the Zionist reach seems to have no boundaries and they are more vigilant and hateful than ever before.
This is true everywhere, but perhaps nowhere more than on university campuses. As an event is planned, and sometimes immediately after an event, Zionist organizations express their displeasure to university authorities in an attempt to either cancel an event altogether or, if the event had already taken place, to demand an apology or urge authorities to reprimand the organizers for allowing what they refer to as an “anti-semitic” voice to be heard on campus.
The time has come to change this dynamic. Rather than wait for the attacks by Zionist groups and then explain and apologize, those who stand for justice in Palestine would do well to expose Zionist groups and the hateful racism which they represent.
Hasbara
Zionist groups represent a racist, supremacist, and violent ideology. They defend a state that is engaged in the worst type of violence against the Palestinian people, yet they feel that they are in a position to question the motives of organizers, speakers, and activists who call for justice and tolerance.
Hillel, for example, writes on its website, that “Israel is at the heart of Hillel’s work.” They fully admit that their goal is “to inspire every Jewish college student to develop a meaningful and enduring relationship to Israel.” They want every Jewish student to have a “meaningful” relationship with Israel, which has from its very inception destroyed, stolen, killed, and imposed a violent racist regime in Palestine.
Hillel further says that “Engaged and educated students can become committed Jewish adults who are passionate supporters of Israel.” One has to wonder what kind of hate-filled indoctrination must be used in order to cultivate “passionate” support for an apartheid state.
My most recent experience was with a Candian Zionist organization called Hasbara Fellowships. On their website, Hasbara Fellowships write, “We envision North American college campuses to be a place where Zionists feel empowered to openly celebrate the Jewish State without fear or exclusion.” How is one empowered to celebrate a state that keeps millions of people under its control, deprived of water and food, and determines who has access to medical care based on whether or not they are Jewish?
As for the misleading use of the name “Jewish State,” the majority of Jewish people around the world choose not to live in Israel. The majority of the population governed by the State of Israel are not Jewish, but Palestinian Muslims and Christians who are subjected to systemic racism and violence. How then is Israel a “Jewish” state?
Furthermore, this so-called Jewish State has been denounced by Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis and secular Jews alike for over 100 years. Zionism never represented Jews or Jewish identity, or for that matter, Jewish self-determination.
Hasbara Fellowships further states that it is, “a leading pro-Israel campus activism organization.” On the face of it, to some readers, this may seem benign, but to anyone familiar with the history of the Middle East, and that of Palestine in particular, this is indeed sinister. “Pro-Israel” means pro-violence and pro-apartheid. It means being pro a regime which has taken Palestine, and like wildfire, destroyed everything in its path.
Zionism embraces (and various Zionist groups promote) a racist, supremacist ideology that has brought death, homelessness, and destruction to millions of Palestinians. And yet, it is the wonderful, selfless work being done by student groups like PSC and SPHR in Canada, SJP, and SUPER in the United States, that is being attacked and defamed.
All around the world, students toil day in and day out to get the truth regarding Palestine out into the open. Yet, the Zionist organizations which promote hatred, racism, and violence are being given the ear of university administrations and the intentions of the Palestine solidarity student groups are brought into question.
Set the record straight
In their demands to reprimand the organizers of a recent event in which I participated, albeit remotely, Hasbara Fellowships called me a “fringe member” of the Jewish community. Never mind that this ignores my upbringing in Israeli society, which gave me an invaluable intimate insight, it undermines the opinions of countless Jews around the world who similarly do not subscribe to a nationalist ideology.
These Jewish groups range from the large-scale ultraorthodox Hassidic communities (a great many of whom are the descendants of Holocaust survivors) who put religious observance before nationalism and flat-out reject the State of Israel, to the many secular Jews who have a long tradition of peaceful activism resisting oppressive regimes. Quite often inspired by their own experiences of oppression, these Jewish groups, individuals, and communities stand up for the human rights of others. Nationalist groups such as Hillel and Hasbara Fellowships do not speak for these Jewish people, as they demand to feel “empowered” to spew hate and racism.
The state of Israel became rich as a result of the pillaging and looting of Palestinian property, both private and collective. This theft took place after countless Palestinians were forcibly exiled from their homes and their land. The Israeli economy is strong and Israel is not a state that is in need of foreign aid, or any aid for that matter. It is, however, in need of a great deal of public relations, and that is where these groups come in.
Israel peddles weapons and sells to the darkest dictatorships around the world, and Israel’s arms industry profits are in the billions. Historically, Israel supported Apartheid in South Africa, Mobuto in the Congo, Idi Amin in Uganda, the Shah of Iran, the genocidal attacks against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, and military dictators in Latin America.
Still, university administrators have decided to bow their heads to racist, hate-filled Zionist groups rather than support the courageous students who stand for justice and freedom from bigotry everywhere. One hopes that the administrations of universities around the world will not let these attempts at defamation leveled by Israeli nationalist groups deter them from protecting freedom of speech and peaceful human rights advocacy at their universities.
However, rather than wait for others to do the right thing, we who support the causes of justice and liberation in Palestine need to act. We would do well to move from defense to offense, and clearly, there is a lot of material to work with.
Feature photo | Israeli peace activist and author Miko Peled speaks at the 2014 FOSNA conference. Photo | graceandsalaam | Flickr
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--2020-11-30--Yemen: Trump is Showering Saudi Arabia with Last-Minute Gifts

SANA ’ A -YEMEN — While the administration of Donald Trump readies its exit from the White House and the Middle East , Saudi Arabia ’ s use of American diplomatic cover and weapons alike has taken on a fevered pace as the Kingdom deepens the tragedy it has afflicted upon Yemen , where millions of forgotten people are struggling against a cold winter , starvation , epidemics , and the worst blockade in the modern era .
Since November 3 , 2020 , when the fifty-ninth quadrennial presidential election began followed by the widespread controversy , lawsuits , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kingdom has waged a scorched-earth campaign against the Yemeni districts of Marib and Al-Jawf , as well as border areas in Sana ’ a , Sadaa , Hajjah , Amran , and Hodeida .
On Friday , Saudi warplanes struck populated neighborhoods in Sana ’ a with at least 20 airstrikes One person was killed and dozens were injured and a number of purebred Arabian horses were killed in strikes that hit a military college near Suq Al-Rwada .
Seven airstrikes hit government buildings located near water pumps .
Thousands of tons of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States , were also dropped on multiple directorates across the provinces of Sadaa , Marib , and al-Jawf as well as districts and provinces across the country .
The unjustified escalation , which came on the back of a brief period of hope that briefly preceded the U.S. pre-election , was not only a last-minute gift to Saudi Arabia from the Trump administration before he leaves the White House in January , but also served to prevent the advance of the Yemeni army supported by Ansar Allah ( Houthis ) and tribal fighters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On the Yemen-Saudi border , an intense Saudi bombing campaign aims to force the remaining residents in the area to flee .
Saudi Arabia seeks to establish buffer zones on the border inside Yemeni territory in anticipation of any developments made by the incoming U.S. administration after Riyadh failed to achieve that goal through indirect negotiations with Sana ’ a , sources told MintPress .
In retaliation for Saudi escalation , the Yemeni army , and Ansar Allah targeted Saudi Arabia ’ s vital oil sector , striking an oil facility in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jeddah .
The facility was targeted by the high precision Quds-2 winged missile , a new generation of locally-made winged missiles that recently entered service after successful tests .
In the wake attack , videos circulated on social media show a column of smoke rising from burning flames at the facility as sirens of emergency vehicles can be heard in the background .
The move just days before news was leaked that the British government secretly sent British soldiers to protect Saudi oil facilities in the wake of a similar attack in 2009 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hosted a virtual summit of G20 nations .
The spokesman for Yemen ’ s Armed Forces , Brigadier General Yahya Saree , said in a statement in the wake of the attack that the Saudi oil facility was targeted in response to ongoing Saudi military operations and blockade .
He warned foreign companies operating in Saudi Arabia “ to avoid vital installations ” which could be involved in ongoing operations .
The strike was meant to send a signal to both Saudi Arabia and Israel , according to officials in Sana ’ a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , located more than 390 miles from Yemen ’ s border , underscores Yemen ’ s increasing ability to hit targets deeper inside Saudi Arabia with cruise and ballistic missiles , as well as drones .
A high-ranking source in Sana ’ a told MintPress that “ the consequences of any insane recklessness by Saudi Arabia , Israel , or the current U.S. administration in the lost time of Trump ’ s term will be dire to Riyadh , Tel Aviv , and the interests of their allies in the region.
” When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ An explosion took place as a result of a terrorist attack by a projectile , causing a fire in a fuel tank at the petroleum products distribution terminal in the north of Jeddah , ” the Saudi energy ministry said in a statement .
On Tuesday , Abdullah al-Ghamdi , the manager of the North Jeddah Bulk Plant , told reporters during a tour of the facility that one of the 13 tanks used for diesel oil , gasoline , and jet fuel at the facility had been damaged and was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attack had been “ similar to what happened at Khurais and Abqaiq.
” As the kingdom ’ s policy since 2015 , when its war began , Saudi Arabia sold the attack to the world as targeting international interests .
The Kingdom went further and accused Ansar Allah of attacking an oil tanker in the Red Sea .
A Maltese-flagged oil tanker managed by Greece was damaged due to an explosion near Shuqaiq in southwestern Saudi Arabia but Ansar Allah has not yet claimed responsibility for the incident .
Prior to that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it had removed and destroyed five naval mines in the southern Red Sea .
On Sunday , 15 Saudi troops , including officers , were killed or injured in another retaliatory attack , this one marketing the Saudi-led coalition ’ s Tadawain Camp in Ma ’ rib , 20 kilometers east Sana ’ a , according to Brigadier Yahya Saree , the spokesman of the Yemeni Army .
Saree said in a statement on Sunday that missile forces hit the Joint Operations Room of a coalition camp in Marib , killing eight Saudi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Yemeni forces are observing enemy movements , and will target them wherever they are .
In the wake of Saree ’ s announcement , Saudi state media announced that Saudi troops were killed in battle with no mention of where or when they were killed .
For his part , Muhammad Abd al-Salam , a spokesman for Ansar Allah , said that Saudi wailing following every painful retaliation is what is required .
He added , “ the international community has to pressure Saudi Arabia to stop the aggression and [ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to voice their suffering too.
” Yemen suffers from the world ’ s worst humanitarian sparked by five years of Saudi bombing and blockade .
The humanitarian crisis has worsened this year as international donations have dried up and the Trump administration has suspended aid to the north of Yemen where most of the country ’ s population lives .
The U.N .
The Secretary-General warned last week that Yemen faces the worst famine in decades , saying that the country is in imminent danger and that without immediate action , millions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration gets ready to depart the White House , the Saudi-led Coalition is scrambling to get the last-moment boon by pushing the U.S. to designate Yemen ’ s most powerful resistance force , Ansar Allah , as a terrorist organization in a move that would not harm the “ Houthis , ” but would punish millions of innocent Yemenis already suffering from widespread malnutrition , starvation , and disease .
ِ According to media reports , the Trump administration is preparing to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization before leaving office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been a disgrace for the past five years , drawing ire on U.S. soil and from abroad , and few Yemenis were surprised that the Trump administration would enact such a policy on its way out the door after having already suspended aid to 80 % of the population residing in the north of the country .
Designating Ansar Allah as a terrorist organization will make an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis even worse and impede the work of the many NGOs providing lifesaving assistance in the country .
Almost certainly , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of food , medical supplies , and other items necessary to combat both COVID-19 and famine , according to international organizations .
“ The lives of millions of vulnerable children in Yemen are already at risk—this policy will only deepen their suffering by further restricting humanitarian access to vulnerable communities .
Recent evidence continues to point to a worsening malnutrition crisis for children , ” said Janti Soeripto , the president and CEO of Save the Children .
“ Even if a humanitarian exemption is permitted , this designation will likely make reaching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also heighten security risks for our staff and hinder the fragile peace process.
” The designation will not only make it more difficult to reach a negotiated settlement to end the war but will put the whole region , particularly in the Red Sea , on the edge .
For their part , Ansar Allah will not remain idle by while , as a number of Ansar Allah decision-makers told MintPress , “ they see their relatives dying of starvation at a time when others , those who made the country to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blessed with oil and freedom of navigation at sea.
” That message , it seems , was delivered to Jeddah on the back of Ansar Allah ’ s newly minted Quds-2 .
Feature photo | A Saudi man holds the daily Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper fronted by a picture of President Donald Trump , at a coffee shop in Jiddah , Saudi Arabia , Jan. 29 , 2020 .
Amr Nabil | AP Ahmed AbdulKareem is a Yemeni journalist .
He covers the war in Yemen for MintPress News as well as local Yemeni @ @

SANA’A -YEMEN — While the administration of Donald Trump readies its exit from the White House and the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s use of American diplomatic cover and weapons alike has taken on a fevered pace as the Kingdom deepens the tragedy it has afflicted upon Yemen, where millions of forgotten people are struggling against a cold winter, starvation, epidemics, and the worst blockade in the modern era.
Since November 3, 2020, when the fifty-ninth quadrennial presidential election began followed by the widespread controversy, lawsuits, and recounts across several states, the oil-riched Kingdom has waged a scorched-earth campaign against the Yemeni districts of Marib and Al-Jawf, as well as border areas in Sana’a, Sadaa, Hajjah, Amran, and Hodeida.
On Friday, Saudi warplanes struck populated neighborhoods in Sana’a with at least 20 airstrikes One person was killed and dozens were injured and a number of purebred Arabian horses were killed in strikes that hit a military college near Suq Al-Rwada. Seven airstrikes hit government buildings located near water pumps.
Thousands of tons of western weapons, particularly from the United States, were also dropped on multiple directorates across the provinces of Sadaa, Marib, and al-Jawf as well as districts and provinces across the country.
The unjustified escalation, which came on the back of a brief period of hope that briefly preceded the U.S. pre-election, was not only a last-minute gift to Saudi Arabia from the Trump administration before he leaves the White House in January, but also served to prevent the advance of the Yemeni army supported by Ansar Allah (Houthis) and tribal fighters in the oil-rich province of Marib.
On the Yemen-Saudi border, an intense Saudi bombing campaign aims to force the remaining residents in the area to flee. Saudi Arabia seeks to establish buffer zones on the border inside Yemeni territory in anticipation of any developments made by the incoming U.S. administration after Riyadh failed to achieve that goal through indirect negotiations with Sana’a, sources told MintPress.
Yemen strikes back
In retaliation for Saudi escalation, the Yemeni army, and Ansar Allah targeted Saudi Arabia’s vital oil sector, striking an oil facility in the Kingdom’s Red Sea city of Jeddah. The facility was targeted by the high precision Quds-2 winged missile, a new generation of locally-made winged missiles that recently entered service after successful tests. In the wake attack, videos circulated on social media show a column of smoke rising from burning flames at the facility as sirens of emergency vehicles can be heard in the background.
Video: Social media footage of the aftermath of an alleged Quds-2 cruise missile attack by Houthi rebels in Yemen targeting an Aramco facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/mzLRwG1PfM — Evan Kohlmann (@IntelTweet) November 23, 2020
The move just days before news was leaked that the British government secretly sent British soldiers to protect Saudi oil facilities in the wake of a similar attack in 2009 and occurred the day after the kingdom hosted a virtual summit of G20 nations.
The spokesman for Yemen’s Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a statement in the wake of the attack that the Saudi oil facility was targeted in response to ongoing Saudi military operations and blockade. He warned foreign companies operating in Saudi Arabia “to avoid vital installations” which could be involved in ongoing operations.
The strike was meant to send a signal to both Saudi Arabia and Israel, according to officials in Sana’a. The strike against the Aramco facility, located more than 390 miles from Yemen’s border, underscores Yemen’s increasing ability to hit targets deeper inside Saudi Arabia with cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones. A high-ranking source in Sana’a told MintPress that “the consequences of any insane recklessness by Saudi Arabia, Israel, or the current U.S. administration in the lost time of Trump’s term will be dire to Riyadh, Tel Aviv, and the interests of their allies in the region.” When pressed, he gave no additional details.
“An explosion took place as a result of a terrorist attack by a projectile, causing a fire in a fuel tank at the petroleum products distribution terminal in the north of Jeddah,” the Saudi energy ministry said in a statement. On Tuesday, Abdullah al-Ghamdi, the manager of the North Jeddah Bulk Plant, told reporters during a tour of the facility that one of the 13 tanks used for diesel oil, gasoline, and jet fuel at the facility had been damaged and was out of service, adding “ the attack had been “similar to what happened at Khurais and Abqaiq.”
With super duper technical technology (zoom 500%) you can see the penetration mark I spoke of in the first tweet. Slightly reminiscent of the impacts seen at the Arqaiq last year. pic.twitter.com/cYRyynD0cl — Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) November 23, 2020
As the kingdom’s policy since 2015, when its war began, Saudi Arabia sold the attack to the world as targeting international interests. The Kingdom went further and accused Ansar Allah of attacking an oil tanker in the Red Sea. A Maltese-flagged oil tanker managed by Greece was damaged due to an explosion near Shuqaiq in southwestern Saudi Arabia but Ansar Allah has not yet claimed responsibility for the incident. Prior to that, the Saudi-led coalition claimed on Tuesday that it had removed and destroyed five naval mines in the southern Red Sea.
On Sunday, 15 Saudi troops, including officers, were killed or injured in another retaliatory attack, this one marketing the Saudi-led coalition’s Tadawain Camp in Ma’rib, 20 kilometers east Sana’a, according to Brigadier Yahya Saree, the spokesman of the Yemeni Army. Saree said in a statement on Sunday that missile forces hit the Joint Operations Room of a coalition camp in Marib, killing eight Saudi troops and injuring seven. He added that Yemeni forces are observing enemy movements, and will target them wherever they are. In the wake of Saree’s announcement, Saudi state media announced that Saudi troops were killed in battle with no mention of where or when they were killed.
For his part, Muhammad Abd al-Salam, a spokesman for Ansar Allah, said that Saudi wailing following every painful retaliation is what is required. He added, “the international community has to pressure Saudi Arabia to stop the aggression and [the] blockade because the Yemeni people deserve to voice their suffering too.”
Yemen suffers from the world’s worst humanitarian sparked by five years of Saudi bombing and blockade. The humanitarian crisis has worsened this year as international donations have dried up and the Trump administration has suspended aid to the north of Yemen where most of the country’s population lives. The U.N. The Secretary-General warned last week that Yemen faces the worst famine in decades, saying that the country is in imminent danger and that without immediate action, millions of lives may be lost.
Trump’s parting gift
As the Trump administration gets ready to depart the White House, the Saudi-led Coalition is scrambling to get the last-moment boon by pushing the U.S. to designate Yemen’s most powerful resistance force, Ansar Allah, as a terrorist organization in a move that would not harm the “Houthis,” but would punish millions of innocent Yemenis already suffering from widespread malnutrition, starvation, and disease. ِ
According to media reports, the Trump administration is preparing to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization before leaving office in January. U.S. policy in Yemen has been a disgrace for the past five years, drawing ire on U.S. soil and from abroad, and few Yemenis were surprised that the Trump administration would enact such a policy on its way out the door after having already suspended aid to 80% of the population residing in the north of the country.
Designating Ansar Allah as a terrorist organization will make an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis even worse and impede the work of the many NGOs providing lifesaving assistance in the country. Almost certainly, the unexpected designation would prevent the critical delivery of food, medical supplies, and other items necessary to combat both COVID-19 and famine, according to international organizations.
“The lives of millions of vulnerable children in Yemen are already at risk—this policy will only deepen their suffering by further restricting humanitarian access to vulnerable communities. Recent evidence continues to point to a worsening malnutrition crisis for children,” said Janti Soeripto, the president and CEO of Save the Children. “Even if a humanitarian exemption is permitted, this designation will likely make reaching children and families more difficult and could also heighten security risks for our staff and hinder the fragile peace process.”
The designation will not only make it more difficult to reach a negotiated settlement to end the war but will put the whole region, particularly in the Red Sea, on the edge. For their part, Ansar Allah will not remain idle by while, as a number of Ansar Allah decision-makers told MintPress, “they see their relatives dying of starvation at a time when others, those who made the country to the worst place on the earth, are blessed with oil and freedom of navigation at sea.” That message, it seems, was delivered to Jeddah on the back of Ansar Allah’s newly minted Quds-2.
Feature photo | A Saudi man holds the daily Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper fronted by a picture of President Donald Trump, at a coffee shop in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 29, 2020. Amr Nabil | AP
Ahmed AbdulKareem is a Yemeni journalist. He covers the war in Yemen for MintPress News as well as local Yemeni media.


mintpressnews--2020-12-03--Podcast: The Assassination of a Nuclear Scientist and the War against Iran’s COVID-19 Vaccine

Welcome to MintCast — an interview series featuring dissenting voices the establishment would rather silence– I ’ m your host Mnar Muhawesh Adley .
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh , one of Iran ’ s most senior nuclear scientists , was assassinated in his car last week on the outskirts of Tehran .
State sources in the Islamic Republic are claiming he was killed with a remote-controlled machine gun .
While no party has taken responsibility , the Iranian government has already pointed the finger at a number of suspects , chiefly Israel , the United States , and the People ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the MEK ) a Washington-funded organization with the goal of overthrowing the Iranian government .
Yet no party has claimed responsibility for the attack .
At Fakhrizadeh ’ s funeral , Defense Minister Amir Hatami vowed that no crime as great as this would go unpunished and that the killing would not hinder Iran ’ s nuclear program .
Joining us today to discuss the assassination , its geopolitical context , and consequences , and what it means going forward for the U.S. and Iran , is Seyed Mohammad Marandi , an Iranian-American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran and a frequent guest on a wide range of news and political channels .
Dr. Marandi argues that not only was this assassination an act of war , but a direct attack against Iran ’ s COVID-19 vaccine program .
Fakhrezadeh was not only Iran ’ s top nuclear scientist , he was also leading the research program for the Islamic Republic ’ s COVID vaccine .
Because of crippling U.S. sanctions , Iran has been barred from importing masks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country in its fight against the virus .
COVID-19 , Marandi argues , has been weaponized against Iran ’ s nearly 90 million citizens to destabilize the country to a degree that no other sanctions could have accomplished .
Both the US and Israel have a history of interfering in Iranian affairs .
Ten months ago , Donald Trump personally gave the order to assassinate Iranian military leader and statesman , Qassem Soleimani while he was in Iraq for regional peace talks .
Trump has also increased and expanded existing sanctions against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States out of Obama ’ s nuclear deal with Iran .
With only weeks until Joe Biden is set to take up office in the White House , analysts are predicting that the assassination of Fakhrezadeh put the nail in the coffin for any worthwhile agreement between the two nations .
Fakhrizadeh ’ s death may have shocked Iranians , but it is unlikely to have surprised them , as his killing is the latest in a long line of political assassinations of high-ranking atomic scientists , at least five of whom have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some of them , like Masoud Ali Mohammadi and Majid Shahriar – both killed in separate car bombings in 2010- were Fakhrizadeh ’ s peers and coworkers .
This program is 100 percent listener supported !
You can join the hundreds of financial sponsors who make this show possible by becoming a member on our Patreon page .
Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes , Spotify and SoundCloud .
Please leave us a review and share this segment .
Mnar Muhawesh is founder , CEO and editor in chief of MintPress News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on responsible journalism , sexism , neoconservativism within the media and journalism start-ups .

Welcome to MintCast — an interview series featuring dissenting voices the establishment would rather silence– I’m your host Mnar Muhawesh Adley.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, one of Iran’s most senior nuclear scientists, was assassinated in his car last week on the outskirts of Tehran. State sources in the Islamic Republic are claiming he was killed with a remote-controlled machine gun.
While no party has taken responsibility, the Iranian government has already pointed the finger at a number of suspects, chiefly Israel, the United States, and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (commonly known as the MEK) a Washington-funded organization with the goal of overthrowing the Iranian government. Yet no party has claimed responsibility for the attack. At Fakhrizadeh’s funeral, Defense Minister Amir Hatami vowed that no crime as great as this would go unpunished and that the killing would not hinder Iran’s nuclear program.
Joining us today to discuss the assassination, its geopolitical context, and consequences, and what it means going forward for the U.S. and Iran, is Seyed Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian-American academic and political analyst. Seyed is a Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran and a frequent guest on a wide range of news and political channels.
Dr. Marandi argues that not only was this assassination an act of war, but a direct attack against Iran’s COVID-19 vaccine program. Fakhrezadeh was not only Iran’s top nuclear scientist, he was also leading the research program for the Islamic Republic’s COVID vaccine. Because of crippling U.S. sanctions, Iran has been barred from importing masks, ventilators, and medical supplies to support the country in its fight against the virus.
COVID-19, Marandi argues, has been weaponized against Iran’s nearly 90 million citizens to destabilize the country to a degree that no other sanctions could have accomplished.
Both the US and Israel have a history of interfering in Iranian affairs. Ten months ago, Donald Trump personally gave the order to assassinate Iranian military leader and statesman, Qassem Soleimani while he was in Iraq for regional peace talks. Trump has also increased and expanded existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic and pulled the United States out of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.
With only weeks until Joe Biden is set to take up office in the White House, analysts are predicting that the assassination of Fakhrezadeh put the nail in the coffin for any worthwhile agreement between the two nations.
Fakhrizadeh’s death may have shocked Iranians, but it is unlikely to have surprised them, as his killing is the latest in a long line of political assassinations of high-ranking atomic scientists, at least five of whom have been murdered in the previous ten years. Some of them, like Masoud Ali Mohammadi and Majid Shahriar – both killed in separate car bombings in 2010- were Fakhrizadeh’s peers and coworkers.
This program is 100 percent listener supported! You can join the hundreds of financial sponsors who make this show possible by becoming a member on our Patreon page.
Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify and SoundCloud. Please leave us a review and share this segment.
Mnar Muhawesh is founder, CEO and editor in chief of MintPress News, and is also a regular speaker on responsible journalism, sexism, neoconservativism within the media and journalism start-ups.


mintpressnews--2020-12-03--From Myth to Reality: Zionist Archeologists Are Using the Bible to Rewrite History

One of the many gems that exist in the city of London is a unique bookstore by the name of Jarndyce Booksellers .
Jarndyce specializes in first editions , rare books , and wonderful collectors ’ editions of the complete works of Shakespeare , Dickens , and countless others .
Also displayed in the store are enormous antique illustrated copies of the Bible .
These mammoth books are beautifully adorned with illustrations that bring Biblical characters and stories to life .
I remember sitting as a child , leafing through an old , illustrated copy of a Bible that was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collection .
It too had wonderful illustrations , and I would sit there and look at the pictures of the great men and women , and experience the great moments that are described in the Bible .
The angel who stopped Abraham as he was about to sacrifice his son ; Moses coming down from Mount Sinai ; the young David slaying the giant Goliath , and so many more .
They all came alive in front of my very eyes and it was as clear to me as a child as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that those stories describe real historic events .
These lovely renditions were intended to create the impression that the Bible tells stories that are historically true .
They lead readers and even those who do not read but hear the stories and look at the illustrations , to believe that these were real people and real events that took place .
It is easy enough to point to an ancient city in Palestine , say Bethlehem or Jerusalem or some corner of the desert near Bi ’ r Saba , and claim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there .
This literal reading of the Bible , and particularly of the Old Testament , has given and continues to give Zionism enormous impetus .
Zionists rely on millions of people across the world who have been misled to believe that there is historical truth to the Bible , who think that today ’ s Israel is the true and rightful successor of Biblical Israel and who allow Zionists to claim the Bible as their actual history book .
The Greeks and the Nordic people replaced their ancient indigenous mythologies with Christianity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their cultural history .
In India , ancient mythology is very much alive and ancient gods are still worshiped in temples throughout the country , yet that is never confused with India ’ s actual history .
Vishnu is never confused with Ashoka or Buddha with Akbar .
Each has its respective place within the rich Indian culture .
Neither the people of Greece , the Nordic people , or even those who practice various faiths in India regard their mythology as history .
You will not find Greek archeologists digging to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are no signs that the Nordic people are searching for the ancient city where Odin and Thor resided , and even in India , where the ancient gods are very much part of life , there is no expectation that the city of Shiva will be dug up by archeologists .
This is because the separation between myth and religion and history is clear , except in the case of Zionism .
Zionists , both Christian and Jewish , firmly hold to their demand that the Bible is history .
Archeologists working in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up Palestine for two centuries , often ignoring or even destroying valuable artifacts that do not serve their purpose .
This is because Zionist archeologists are motivated not by scientific curiosity , but by a political agenda .
They ignore the wealth of history and archeology that exist in Palestine and search for proof of their own theories .
The need to validate Zionist claims that connect current day Israel with the ancient Hebrews and the glorified mythology as it is presented in parts of the Old Testament often comes at the expense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In fact , is not uncommon to see invaluable historical sites destroyed by design at the hands of Zionist institutions .
The Mamilla Cemetery is one such example .
It is an ancient Muslim burial ground and holy site in the center of Jerusalem believed to date back to the seventh century .
Numerous saints of the Sufi faith and thousands of officials , scholars , notables , and Jerusalem families have been buried in the cemetery over the past 1,000 years .
Companions of the Prophet Muhammad were said to be buried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of West Jerusalem , the cemetery has fallen into disrepair , with ancient tombstones destroyed and desecrated .
Over the last decade , a significant portion of the cemetery has been razed and human remains have been desecrated so that the Simon Wiesenthal Center can build a facility , shamelessly called the Museum of Tolerance .
Since 2010 , the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Campaign to Preserve Mamilla Cemetery have worked to halt the construction of the new facility and preserve what remains of the ancient site .
To this end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UN bodies , including UNESCO , to protect the sacred site .
The “ Museum of Tolerance , ” as it is called , has resulted in the disinterment of hundreds of graves , and the whereabouts of the countless human remains that have been disposed of are unknown .
Recognized as one of the most prominent Muslim cemeteries in the world , where seventy thousand warriors of Saladin ’ s armies are interred , is now all but gone .
Bab al-Rahmeh is yet another famous Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque near the Umayyad palaces in the south .
The Israeli government is in the process of confiscating parts of the cemetery to implement a settlement project .
Plans include creating , “ paths of biblical gardens , ” once again erasing historical sites in order to build monuments to commemorate a history that never was .
Another classic example of the destruction of real history for the sake of mythology is the opening of the so-called “ Temple ’ s Baptism station ” on the historic land @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City of Jerusalem .
The Temple in question is the Jewish Temple and the Umayyad palaces on which it is to be built date back nearly 1,400 years , built in the early stage of the Islamic period , and used to house the Islamic Caliphs and institutions that managed the affairs of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque .
Zionist authorities have not only destroyed precious historical sites in search of mythical ones , they have also allowed invaluable historical sites to fall into disrepair .
There are countless such sites throughout Palestine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Al-Umar in Tabariya , which now stands alone , in ruins , a solitary witness to the glorious Arab past of the city .
Daher al-Umar was a Palestinian leader who ruled most of Palestine and shaped its history throughout the entire 18th century .
Not only has his memory been erased , but the monuments that carry his name and still exist now lay in ruins .
The mythology of the Old Testament was turned into history through a successful attempt to make the stories and the figures in these stories , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into actual historical events and figures .
At the same time , the real history of Palestine , a glorious history of culture and religion , politics , commerce , and unmatched art and architecture , has all but been lost so that Zionists can claim that they are the true successors of Joshua and King David .
There is no harm in enjoying the wonderful illustrations that adorn the Bible , the likes of which one finds at Jarndyce Bookseller .
In fact , I intend to continue to visit that store @ @ @ @ @ @ @ renditions of Old and the New Testament stories .
However , we must be careful not to confuse those stories and the illustrations with the actual history of Palestine .
Author ’ s note | Readers in search of an accurate history of Palestine can check out Nur Maslaha ’ s book , “ Palestine , A Four Thousand Year History.
” Feature photo | An Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist walks through what Israeli authorities say is a 2,000-year-old drainage tunnel leading to Jerusalem ’ s Old City .
Dan Balilty | AP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 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 .
”

One of the many gems that exist in the city of London is a unique bookstore by the name of Jarndyce Booksellers. Jarndyce specializes in first editions, rare books, and wonderful collectors’ editions of the complete works of Shakespeare, Dickens, and countless others. Also displayed in the store are enormous antique illustrated copies of the Bible. These mammoth books are beautifully adorned with illustrations that bring Biblical characters and stories to life.
I remember sitting as a child, leafing through an old, illustrated copy of a Bible that was part of my father’s book collection. It too had wonderful illustrations, and I would sit there and look at the pictures of the great men and women, and experience the great moments that are described in the Bible. The angel who stopped Abraham as he was about to sacrifice his son; Moses coming down from Mount Sinai; the young David slaying the giant Goliath, and so many more. They all came alive in front of my very eyes and it was as clear to me as a child as it is today and to so many others, that those stories describe real historic events.
These lovely renditions were intended to create the impression that the Bible tells stories that are historically true. They lead readers and even those who do not read but hear the stories and look at the illustrations, to believe that these were real people and real events that took place.
It is easy enough to point to an ancient city in Palestine, say Bethlehem or Jerusalem or some corner of the desert near Bi’r Saba, and claim that a particular Biblical event took place there. This literal reading of the Bible, and particularly of the Old Testament, has given and continues to give Zionism enormous impetus.
Zionists rely on millions of people across the world who have been misled to believe that there is historical truth to the Bible, who think that today’s Israel is the true and rightful successor of Biblical Israel and who allow Zionists to claim the Bible as their actual history book.
Mythology religion and history
The Greeks and the Nordic people replaced their ancient indigenous mythologies with Christianity, retaining their mythology as a part of their cultural history. In India, ancient mythology is very much alive and ancient gods are still worshiped in temples throughout the country, yet that is never confused with India’s actual history. Vishnu is never confused with Ashoka or Buddha with Akbar. Each has its respective place within the rich Indian culture.
Neither the people of Greece, the Nordic people, or even those who practice various faiths in India regard their mythology as history. You will not find Greek archeologists digging to find the home of Zeus. There are no signs that the Nordic people are searching for the ancient city where Odin and Thor resided, and even in India, where the ancient gods are very much part of life, there is no expectation that the city of Shiva will be dug up by archeologists.
This is because the separation between myth and religion and history is clear, except in the case of Zionism. Zionists, both Christian and Jewish, firmly hold to their demand that the Bible is history. Archeologists working in the name of Zionists have been digging up Palestine for two centuries, often ignoring or even destroying valuable artifacts that do not serve their purpose.
This is because Zionist archeologists are motivated not by scientific curiosity, but by a political agenda. They ignore the wealth of history and archeology that exist in Palestine and search for proof of their own theories.
Destruction of monuments
The need to validate Zionist claims that connect current day Israel with the ancient Hebrews and the glorified mythology as it is presented in parts of the Old Testament often comes at the expense of important historical sites and monuments. In fact, is not uncommon to see invaluable historical sites destroyed by design at the hands of Zionist institutions.
The Mamilla Cemetery is one such example. It is an ancient Muslim burial ground and holy site in the center of Jerusalem believed to date back to the seventh century. Numerous saints of the Sufi faith and thousands of officials, scholars, notables, and Jerusalem families have been buried in the cemetery over the past 1,000 years.
Companions of the Prophet Muhammad were said to be buried there, but since the Zionist conquest of West Jerusalem, the cemetery has fallen into disrepair, with ancient tombstones destroyed and desecrated. Over the last decade, a significant portion of the cemetery has been razed and human remains have been desecrated so that the Simon Wiesenthal Center can build a facility, shamelessly called the Museum of Tolerance.
Since 2010, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Campaign to Preserve Mamilla Cemetery have worked to halt the construction of the new facility and preserve what remains of the ancient site. To this end, petitions have been filed with various UN bodies, including UNESCO, to protect the sacred site.
The “Museum of Tolerance,” as it is called, has resulted in the disinterment of hundreds of graves, and the whereabouts of the countless human remains that have been disposed of are unknown. Recognized as one of the most prominent Muslim cemeteries in the world, where seventy thousand warriors of Saladin’s armies are interred, is now all but gone.
Bab al-Rahmeh is yet another famous Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem. It extends from Lions Gate to the end of the wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque near the Umayyad palaces in the south. The Israeli government is in the process of confiscating parts of the cemetery to implement a settlement project. Plans include creating, “paths of biblical gardens,” once again erasing historical sites in order to build monuments to commemorate a history that never was.
Another classic example of the destruction of real history for the sake of mythology is the opening of the so-called “Temple’s Baptism station” on the historic land of the Umayyad palaces in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Temple in question is the Jewish Temple and the Umayyad palaces on which it is to be built date back nearly 1,400 years, built in the early stage of the Islamic period, and used to house the Islamic Caliphs and institutions that managed the affairs of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Monuments in disrepair
Zionist authorities have not only destroyed precious historical sites in search of mythical ones, they have also allowed invaluable historical sites to fall into disrepair. There are countless such sites throughout Palestine, such as the mosque of Dhaher Al-Umar in Tabariya, which now stands alone, in ruins, a solitary witness to the glorious Arab past of the city.
Daher al-Umar was a Palestinian leader who ruled most of Palestine and shaped its history throughout the entire 18th century. Not only has his memory been erased, but the monuments that carry his name and still exist now lay in ruins.
The mythology of the Old Testament was turned into history through a successful attempt to make the stories and the figures in these stories, mythical as they may have been, into actual historical events and figures. At the same time, the real history of Palestine, a glorious history of culture and religion, politics, commerce, and unmatched art and architecture, has all but been lost so that Zionists can claim that they are the true successors of Joshua and King David.
There is no harm in enjoying the wonderful illustrations that adorn the Bible, the likes of which one finds at Jarndyce Bookseller. In fact, I intend to continue to visit that store whenever I can and enjoy those wonderful renditions of Old and the New Testament stories. However, we must be careful not to confuse those stories and the illustrations with the actual history of Palestine.
Author’s note | Readers in search of an accurate history of Palestine can check out Nur Maslaha’s book, “Palestine, A Four Thousand Year History.”
Feature photo | An Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist walks through what Israeli authorities say is a 2,000-year-old drainage tunnel leading to Jerusalem’s Old City. Dan Balilty | 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--2020-12-04--With Rent Freezes About to Expire, Mnuchin Lobbies for More Wall Street Bailouts

Many prophetic scenes depicted in a series of Mayan codices written in the early days of the Spanish colony , and translated and compiled in El Libro de los Libros del Chilam Balam , describe a world foreign to its original authors .
But , one which was barreling down on them and their civilization even as the Mayan high priests recorded their visions for each stop on their cyclical calendar system .
The metaphors they leaned on to describe these new Western values and systems were accurate , despite having nothing comparable in their own cosmology or parallels in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the most striking prophecies , the interpreting shaman warns of the days of “ the golden club , ” subtly alluding to the new paradigm of wealth and commercial imperatives being imposed on their world .
Over six centuries later , the golden club era has become an epoch .
The United States holds the biggest gold stick of them all and today , the descendants of the Maya and other ancestral victims of its inexorable advance find themselves at a potential tipping point , which may finally bring this historical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ natural end .
With human labor being swapped out for robots and algorithms in our modern-day world , the empire of commerce built over the last five centuries is quickly reaching complete self-sufficiency and discarding any excess human component .
This includes the banking and financial sectors , which in some ways , is far ahead of the game .
Money or wealth no longer exclusively requires human labor to generate .
The art of creating money out of nothing has been perfected by the financial sector , which has innumerable tools at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a blink of an eye .
An illusion that is kept alive only because they have a limitless pool of taxpayer money to hedge their often risky bets .
The United States Treasury Department keeps a stash of that taxpayer money and uses it for currency speculation .
The massive profits from the secret market activities can be used for things like funding foreign governments and many other applications at the discretion of the presiding administration .
This slush fund was the central funding vehicle for the multiple economic relief facilities enacted in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Federal Reserve on behalf of the U.S. Treasury Department .
The spigot from the money machine was opened briefly for the general public through the emergency legislation .
But , Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is getting ready to cut it off even as he opens it even further for Wall Street .
By January 2021 , renters in America will owe $ 34 billion to their landlords , according to global investment bank and advisory firm , Stout .
More than half of the eviction moratoriums enacted to avoid an upsurge in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including a federal moratorium that expired in July .
Rent and landlord relief programs across the country take up the lion ’ s share of CARES Act funding allocations , with states like Virginia having already spent over 38 % of the money reserved for renters by early November .
As the money runs out and the December 31 CARES Act cutoff date approaches , states are fumbling to keep enough cash in their coffers to stem the tidal wave evictions that are at the doorstep and leaking through profusely .
Cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported by The Virginian-Pilot , are happening nationwide and show how landlords are getting around moratorium rules and successfully evicting tenants over technicalities and dubious legal maneuvers .
It was only through the efforts of a staunch group of friends and housing advocates , that Johnson was able to avoid ending up on the streets with his brother .
With their help , the Johnson brothers convinced a judge to vacate a previous order awarding possession of the property to a management company and managed to extend their stay of execution a paltry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in the rapacious economic climate that characterizes the American real estate market , three months rent free can feel like a gift from the gods .
The gods , in this scenario , is the Department of the Treasury and its current head , Steve Mnuchin , who has formally asked that all but four credit facility programs created by the department to disburse CARES Act funds return any unused monies by the end of 2020 so they can be integrated into the regular federal pipeline , including the $ 429 billion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was deliberately misleading about where that money actually goes since it lays bare a massive slush fund called the exchange stabilization fund ( ESF ) at the heart of these enormous giveaways to the biggest , richest , and most ruthless banks .
Of the total 13 facilities created by Treasury , Secretary Mnuchin had asked to spare only those which pertain to financial institutions like Citigroup and a handful of usual suspects .
In a formal letter to Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell in late November , Mnuchin instructed the Fed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Street beyond December , while drawing the curtain down on the remaining facilities and preening about programs like the Main Street Lending Program and their supposed “ success ” in abating an economic downturn during the pandemic .
Mnuchin ’ s declaration of victory is at odds with the reality of people like Dana Imus , who lost her job as a forklift operator in March and hasn ’ t been able to get a job since .
Her landlord simply refused to recognize the federal eviction moratorium issued by the CDC in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country as property owners circumvent the laws through intimidation and legislative loopholes to force tenants out .
Tawanda Mormon from Cleveland , Ohio , was thrust into a couch-surfing lifestyle when the 46-year old was hospitalized in August and fell behind on her $ 500-dollar rent .
Despite the CDC moratorium , Mormon was evicted in October and has been staying with friends and family .
In Missouri and North Carolina , judges refused to abide by the CDC ’ s notice and landlords across the nation have been fighting the order in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to put people out of their homes that the CDC ’ s order only applies to nonpayment of rent , which allows landlords to bring an eviction case on virtually any other grounds , such as excessive noise or trash .
In addition , the CDC made the process more onerous for tenants seeking to avail themselves of moratorium protections by giving landlords the “ right to challenge the veracity ” of their claims .
Mnuchin ’ s request that four credit facilities for the financial sector be spared the December 31 deadline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the relief programs for small businesses and regular Americans included in the CARES Act , feels like politics as an incoming Biden administration is set to use the coming housing crisis a springboard for sweeping legislative action as potentially millions of people start to fall through the cracks come January .
Meanwhile , big banks continue to receive their billion-dollar stipends from Uncle Sam without interruption .
Two of the four programs Mnuchin wanted off the chopping block are zombies from the 2008 financial collapse .
The Primary Dealer Credit Facility ( PDCF @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and back then extended $ 8.95 trillion in secret , below-market-rate loans to three trading houses , constituting two-thirds of the original program ’ s total disbursements and The Commercial Paper Funding Facility ( CPFF ) , which makes the Fed the buyer of last resort for loans in the broader economy , thereby providing liquidity in short term funding markets like small business loans .
The Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility ( MMFL ) , directed at hedge funds and non-bank financial entities , and the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ borrower default , round out the rest .
Financial data for these programs are kept secret by the Fed with the exception of the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility .
According to Mnuchin ’ s letter , two programs whose data is verboten use “ core ” EFS funding .
In other words , the money comes from a slush fund operated by the Fed on behalf of the Treasury Department and is where the aforementioned $ 429 billion Mnuchin is disingenuously requesting “ back ” from the Fed actually is .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fed keeps the money flowing on Wall Street year-round .
In September of 2019 , the Fed moved $ 9 trillion cumulatively into Wall Street ’ s trading houses via repo loans , whose recipients are hidden from the public by Fed policy on its open market operations , which fund the loans .
By using the ESF to fund the federal relief facilities contained in the CARES Act , the Treasury avails itself of the Fed ’ s secrecy policy on open market operations , which don ’ t have to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facility is terminated at the earliest , as stipulated in section 1103 of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010 .
Requesting an extension for the four Wall Street-geared facilities until March 2021 also extends the time it will take for such records to see the light of day .
According to Wall Street on Parade , it is likely that once disclosed , the financial data for these secret market operations will include the names of long-standing beneficiaries of government largesse .
The point of the game is to prop up America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been going full throttle since the 2008 financial crisis when these types of facilities were created to prevent the country ’ s biggest financial firms from going into a liquidity crisis as they scour the globe for more markets to squeeze .
Mnuchin ’ s letter came two weeks after Democratic senators delivered a message of their own to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury , in which they called for two facilities in the CARES Act meant for the regular citizen– specifically the Main Street Lending Program ( MSLP ) and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – to be kept on and reformed .
Signed by Senators Chuck Schumer , Elizabeth Warren , Mark Warner , and Sherrod Brown , the letter makes a case for the expansion of these financial assistance programs citing statistics , which reflect the permanent closure of thousands of small businesses and declining revenue across the service economy .
The reality of crashing GDP numbers amid the pandemic tells the story , which includes a 41 % decrease in the number of self-employed Black business owners between February and April and a litany of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ impacts on minorities and women ” caused by the pandemic and related restrictions .
The senators shed light on some of the major problems regarding these facilities and how they are set up to bypass the most economically vulnerable populations by requiring applicants to meet an income threshold that leaves out the vast majority of working-class Americans .
In addition , they point to the billions of dollars left unused in the relief effort , which Mnuchin wants to keep in the ESF .
Fed Chairman Powell is quoted in the letter acknowledging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ businesses ] ” rather “ than a lot of minority businesses.
” The senators called for reforms that would change this by lowering the application threshold from $ 100,000 to $ 50,000 and expanding eligibility criteria to open the funds to more than the paltry 250 businesses currently eligible for the MSLP facility .
The fact that Mnuchin ignored the informed pleas of the Democratic senators is immediately chalked up to partisan politics .
But , a gesture of goodwill by the outgoing administration does not help cement the division both parties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interests that ultimately control them .
A Biden administration will most certainly pounce on the morsels left behind by the outgoing Trump show to generate support for sweeping changes to the social contract as defined and imposed by the government through emergency response measures .
A desperate population facing evictions , food shortages , and falling income opportunities will find it difficult to resist any offers of federal help that come their way .
It is , however , more important than ever as Americans are sheep herded into a “ dark winter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open .
Diane Yentel , president of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition , is sure that a Biden administration will have a historic opportunity to expand government assistance programs in the very first days of his presidency , like the $ 100 billion emergency fund proposed by advocates to cover renters , landlords , and homeless people .
The question is whether there will be real justice behind any new programs or legislation brought forward to deal with a crisis that has been looming for a while .
The Maya prophets saw the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rulers and the temporary nature of their enterprises , built up only to steal and cheat .
Those of the “ two-day banks ” and “ rats ” figure prominently in their descriptions of the world they saw unfolding before them .
Their advice was patience .
The days of the golden club are numbered and will disappear soon enough when the next series of ‘ katuns ’ rolls around .
Feature photo | Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell fist bumps Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin after a House Financial Services Committee hearing on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2020 .
Jim Lo Scalzo | Pool via AP

Many prophetic scenes depicted in a series of Mayan codices written in the early days of the Spanish colony, and translated and compiled in El Libro de los Libros del Chilam Balam, describe a world foreign to its original authors. But, one which was barreling down on them and their civilization even as the Mayan high priests recorded their visions for each stop on their cyclical calendar system.
The metaphors they leaned on to describe these new Western values and systems were accurate, despite having nothing comparable in their own cosmology or parallels in their relationship with the earth. In one of the most striking prophecies, the interpreting shaman warns of the days of “the golden club,” subtly alluding to the new paradigm of wealth and commercial imperatives being imposed on their world.
Over six centuries later, the golden club era has become an epoch. The United States holds the biggest gold stick of them all and today, the descendants of the Maya and other ancestral victims of its inexorable advance find themselves at a potential tipping point, which may finally bring this historical aberration we now call capitalism to its natural end.
With human labor being swapped out for robots and algorithms in our modern-day world, the empire of commerce built over the last five centuries is quickly reaching complete self-sufficiency and discarding any excess human component. This includes the banking and financial sectors, which in some ways, is far ahead of the game.
Money or wealth no longer exclusively requires human labor to generate. The art of creating money out of nothing has been perfected by the financial sector, which has innumerable tools at its disposal to produce enormous wealth in a blink of an eye. An illusion that is kept alive only because they have a limitless pool of taxpayer money to hedge their often risky bets.
The United States Treasury Department keeps a stash of that taxpayer money and uses it for currency speculation. The massive profits from the secret market activities can be used for things like funding foreign governments and many other applications at the discretion of the presiding administration. This slush fund was the central funding vehicle for the multiple economic relief facilities enacted in the CARES Act and is operated by the Federal Reserve on behalf of the U.S. Treasury Department.
The spigot from the money machine was opened briefly for the general public through the emergency legislation. But, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is getting ready to cut it off even as he opens it even further for Wall Street.
The homeless armies
By January 2021, renters in America will owe $34 billion to their landlords, according to global investment bank and advisory firm, Stout. More than half of the eviction moratoriums enacted to avoid an upsurge in homelessness during Covid lockdowns have been rescinded, including a federal moratorium that expired in July.
Rent and landlord relief programs across the country take up the lion’s share of CARES Act funding allocations, with states like Virginia having already spent over 38% of the money reserved for renters by early November. As the money runs out and the December 31 CARES Act cutoff date approaches, states are fumbling to keep enough cash in their coffers to stem the tidal wave evictions that are at the doorstep and leaking through profusely.
Cases like that of Ricky Johnson, as reported by The Virginian-Pilot, are happening nationwide and show how landlords are getting around moratorium rules and successfully evicting tenants over technicalities and dubious legal maneuvers. It was only through the efforts of a staunch group of friends and housing advocates, that Johnson was able to avoid ending up on the streets with his brother.
With their help, the Johnson brothers convinced a judge to vacate a previous order awarding possession of the property to a management company and managed to extend their stay of execution a paltry few weeks into next year. But, in the rapacious economic climate that characterizes the American real estate market, three months rent free can feel like a gift from the gods.
The gods, in this scenario, is the Department of the Treasury and its current head, Steve Mnuchin, who has formally asked that all but four credit facility programs created by the department to disburse CARES Act funds return any unused monies by the end of 2020 so they can be integrated into the regular federal pipeline, including the $429 billion supposedly leftover from CARES Act. Mnuchin was deliberately misleading about where that money actually goes since it lays bare a massive slush fund called the exchange stabilization fund (ESF) at the heart of these enormous giveaways to the biggest, richest, and most ruthless banks.
Of the total 13 facilities created by Treasury, Secretary Mnuchin had asked to spare only those which pertain to financial institutions like Citigroup and a handful of usual suspects. In a formal letter to Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell in late November, Mnuchin instructed the Fed to extend four programs directed at helping Wall Street beyond December, while drawing the curtain down on the remaining facilities and preening about programs like the Main Street Lending Program and their supposed “success” in abating an economic downturn during the pandemic.
Mnuchin’s declaration of victory is at odds with the reality of people like Dana Imus, who lost her job as a forklift operator in March and hasn’t been able to get a job since. Her landlord simply refused to recognize the federal eviction moratorium issued by the CDC in October. Similar problems occur throughout the country as property owners circumvent the laws through intimidation and legislative loopholes to force tenants out.
Tawanda Mormon from Cleveland, Ohio, was thrust into a couch-surfing lifestyle when the 46-year old was hospitalized in August and fell behind on her $500-dollar rent. Despite the CDC moratorium, Mormon was evicted in October and has been staying with friends and family. In Missouri and North Carolina, judges refused to abide by the CDC’s notice and landlords across the nation have been fighting the order in court.
Among the loopholes being used to put people out of their homes that the CDC’s order only applies to nonpayment of rent, which allows landlords to bring an eviction case on virtually any other grounds, such as excessive noise or trash. In addition, the CDC made the process more onerous for tenants seeking to avail themselves of moratorium protections by giving landlords the “right to challenge the veracity” of their claims.
Where’s the ball?
Mnuchin’s request that four credit facilities for the financial sector be spared the December 31 deadline, while pulling the cord on all the relief programs for small businesses and regular Americans included in the CARES Act, feels like politics as an incoming Biden administration is set to use the coming housing crisis a springboard for sweeping legislative action as potentially millions of people start to fall through the cracks come January.
Meanwhile, big banks continue to receive their billion-dollar stipends from Uncle Sam without interruption. Two of the four programs Mnuchin wanted off the chopping block are zombies from the 2008 financial collapse.
The Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF), which targets large banking institutions and back then extended $8.95 trillion in secret, below-market-rate loans to three trading houses, constituting two-thirds of the original program’s total disbursements and The Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), which makes the Fed the buyer of last resort for loans in the broader economy, thereby providing liquidity in short term funding markets like small business loans. The Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMFL), directed at hedge funds and non-bank financial entities, and the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility, which protects PPP loan originators from borrower default, round out the rest.
Financial data for these programs are kept secret by the Fed with the exception of the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility. According to Mnuchin’s letter, two programs whose data is verboten use “core” EFS funding. In other words, the money comes from a slush fund operated by the Fed on behalf of the Treasury Department and is where the aforementioned $429 billion Mnuchin is disingenuously requesting “back” from the Fed actually is.
The shell game between the Treasury and the Fed keeps the money flowing on Wall Street year-round. In September of 2019, the Fed moved $9 trillion cumulatively into Wall Street’s trading houses via repo loans, whose recipients are hidden from the public by Fed policy on its open market operations, which fund the loans.
By using the ESF to fund the federal relief facilities contained in the CARES Act, the Treasury avails itself of the Fed’s secrecy policy on open market operations, which don’t have to be made public until one year after the facility is terminated at the earliest, as stipulated in section 1103 of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010.
Requesting an extension for the four Wall Street-geared facilities until March 2021 also extends the time it will take for such records to see the light of day. According to Wall Street on Parade, it is likely that once disclosed, the financial data for these secret market operations will include the names of long-standing beneficiaries of government largesse.
The point of the game is to prop up America’s predatory financial sector, which has been going full throttle since the 2008 financial crisis when these types of facilities were created to prevent the country’s biggest financial firms from going into a liquidity crisis as they scour the globe for more markets to squeeze.
Politicking
Mnuchin’s letter came two weeks after Democratic senators delivered a message of their own to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, in which they called for two facilities in the CARES Act meant for the regular citizen– specifically the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) and the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF) – to be kept on and reformed.
Signed by Senators Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Mark Warner, and Sherrod Brown, the letter makes a case for the expansion of these financial assistance programs citing statistics, which reflect the permanent closure of thousands of small businesses and declining revenue across the service economy.
The reality of crashing GDP numbers amid the pandemic tells the story, which includes a 41% decrease in the number of self-employed Black business owners between February and April and a litany of cases that show the “disproportionate economic impacts on minorities and women” caused by the pandemic and related restrictions.
The senators shed light on some of the major problems regarding these facilities and how they are set up to bypass the most economically vulnerable populations by requiring applicants to meet an income threshold that leaves out the vast majority of working-class Americans. In addition, they point to the billions of dollars left unused in the relief effort, which Mnuchin wants to keep in the ESF.
Fed Chairman Powell is quoted in the letter acknowledging that the MSLP currently targets “larger [businesses]” rather “than a lot of minority businesses.” The senators called for reforms that would change this by lowering the application threshold from $100,000 to $50,000 and expanding eligibility criteria to open the funds to more than the paltry 250 businesses currently eligible for the MSLP facility.
The fact that Mnuchin ignored the informed pleas of the Democratic senators is immediately chalked up to partisan politics. But, a gesture of goodwill by the outgoing administration does not help cement the division both parties exploit to achieve the aims of the interests that ultimately control them. A Biden administration will most certainly pounce on the morsels left behind by the outgoing Trump show to generate support for sweeping changes to the social contract as defined and imposed by the government through emergency response measures.
End of the katún
A desperate population facing evictions, food shortages, and falling income opportunities will find it difficult to resist any offers of federal help that come their way. It is, however, more important than ever as Americans are sheep herded into a “dark winter,” that they keep their eyes open.
Diane Yentel, president of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, is sure that a Biden administration will have a historic opportunity to expand government assistance programs in the very first days of his presidency, like the $100 billion emergency fund proposed by advocates to cover renters, landlords, and homeless people. The question is whether there will be real justice behind any new programs or legislation brought forward to deal with a crisis that has been looming for a while.
The Maya prophets saw the unscrupulous nature of their new Western European rulers and the temporary nature of their enterprises, built up only to steal and cheat. Those of the “two-day banks” and “rats” figure prominently in their descriptions of the world they saw unfolding before them. Their advice was patience. The days of the golden club are numbered and will disappear soon enough when the next series of ‘katuns’ rolls around.
Feature photo | Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell fist bumps Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin after a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 2, 2020. Jim Lo Scalzo | Pool via AP
Raul Diego is a MintPress News Staff Writer, independent photojournalist, researcher, writer and documentary filmmaker.


mintpressnews--2020-12-07--Corporate Media Silence Deafening as Former Clinton Aide Confirms Ties to Jeffrey Epstein

A top Clinton insider has revealed that the former president visited the Caribbean home of notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein .
In a long interview last week with Vanity Fair , longtime aide to Bill Clinton , Doug Band , noted that , contrary to the official line , his boss did indeed spend time on Little Saint James , the private island that the billionaire pedophile used as a base to traffick and rape women and children .
Neither Band nor his interviewer appeared to realize the gravity of what he was revealing , the subject being touched upon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wide-ranging 7,000-word conversation in which he noted that in January 2003 , Clinton flew on Epstein ’ s notorious “ Lolita Express ” private jet to the island .
Band appeared to bring the incident up only as a way of distancing himself from the disgraced pedophile , who died under mysterious circumstances in a Manhattan prison in July last year .
Band insisted that he knew nothing of Epstein ’ s misdeeds , but “ got enough bad vibes that he advised Clinton to end the relationship , ” refusing to travel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employer .
Flight logs show Clinton made around two dozen trips on the infamous airplane .
Band is certainly a source in the know .
For years he served as Clinton ’ s most trusted aide and confidant , traveling by his side and arranging his appointments for him .
The former president famously did not carry even a cellphone , meaning that everyone from journalists to even Hillary and Chelsea Clinton would have had to go through Band to speak to him .
Band ’ s testimony adds weight to others who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the island .
Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre previously stated that Clinton “ strolled into ” Epstein ’ s private villa with “ two lovely girls ” in his arms .
“ There was no modesty between any of them , ” she said .
“ I remember asking Jeffrey what ’ s Bill Clinton doing here , ” Giuffre said in an interview earlier this year , “ and he laughed it off and said ‘ well he owes me a favor.
’ ” Epstein ’ s former IT and maintenance contractor also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the island , an assertion that Clinton has denied .
The former president was also photographed receiving a massage from Epstein victim Chauntae Davies while at an airport , on route via the Lolita Express .
While the press might be forgiven for focussing more on the pandemic and the election , the virtual silence from corporate media has been deafening .
The bombshell that Clinton ’ s closest confidant — whom friends describe as being like a “ son ” to him — has been totally ignored by the New York Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ MSNBC , CBS News , and CNN , with no relevant results appearing in searches on their websites .
ABC News , which for three years sat on information that could have resulted in an arrest , also did not cover the story .
It was therefore left to more Republican-aligned , anti-Democrat media to play it up , the news appearing in conservative outlets like the Daily Wire , Fox News , and the New York Post .
Unfortunately , this reinforces a partisan understanding of the Epstein case .
Earlier this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year of Epstein coverage on MSNBC and Fox News found intensely partisan coverage of the predator ’ s ties to Presidents Trump and Clinton .
While MSNBC stressed his connections to the Republicans and downplayed his links to their preferred president , Fox News did the opposite , overwhelmingly focusing on the Clinton connections while failing to inform viewers about his relationship with the sitting president .
Clinton has a long history of accusations of sexual misconduct against him .
Arkansas nursing home administrator Juanita Broaddrick claimed that he raped her in 1978 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state .
Paula Jones accused Clinton of sexual assault and exposing himself to her in 1991 , while Kathleen Willey accused Clinton of groping her without her consent in 1993 .
On the last charge , he reportedly proclaimed his innocence by arguing that Wiley ’ s breasts were not big enough for him to be interested .
He was also infamously impeached for lying about his affair with 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky .
Trump , meanwhile , also has his own history of sexual misconduct , the Wikipedia page on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Epstein was a convicted sex offender who was accused by dozens of women of trafficking , rape , or sexual assault , his crimes also involving a host of wealthy and well-connected individuals .
His own enormous wealth appears to have come from his suspicious connection to Victoria ’ s Secret tycoon Leslie Wexner .
For years , his links to the most influential figures and organizations seem to have kept him from justice , and , after his death , put the spotlight on them .
Over the years , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the rich and powerful all over the world , which included business magnates , heads of state , university professors , and some of the nation ’ s top journalists .
Perhaps this explains why so few in the media are willing to touch the latest twist in this neverending story .
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 : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

A top Clinton insider has revealed that the former president visited the Caribbean home of notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. In a long interview last week with Vanity Fair, longtime aide to Bill Clinton, Doug Band, noted that, contrary to the official line, his boss did indeed spend time on Little Saint James, the private island that the billionaire pedophile used as a base to traffick and rape women and children.
Neither Band nor his interviewer appeared to realize the gravity of what he was revealing, the subject being touched upon only briefly towards the end of a wide-ranging 7,000-word conversation in which he noted that in January 2003, Clinton flew on Epstein’s notorious “Lolita Express” private jet to the island. Band appeared to bring the incident up only as a way of distancing himself from the disgraced pedophile, who died under mysterious circumstances in a Manhattan prison in July last year. Band insisted that he knew nothing of Epstein’s misdeeds, but “got enough bad vibes that he advised Clinton to end the relationship,” refusing to travel aboard Epstein’s jet with his employer. Flight logs show Clinton made around two dozen trips on the infamous airplane.
Band is certainly a source in the know. For years he served as Clinton’s most trusted aide and confidant, traveling by his side and arranging his appointments for him. The former president famously did not carry even a cellphone, meaning that everyone from journalists to even Hillary and Chelsea Clinton would have had to go through Band to speak to him.
Band’s testimony adds weight to others who have already said they saw him on the island. Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre previously stated that Clinton “strolled into” Epstein’s private villa with “two lovely girls” in his arms. “There was no modesty between any of them,” she said. “I remember asking Jeffrey what’s Bill Clinton doing here,” Giuffre said in an interview earlier this year, “and he laughed it off and said ‘well he owes me a favor.’” Epstein’s former IT and maintenance contractor also said he saw the former president on the island, an assertion that Clinton has denied. The former president was also photographed receiving a massage from Epstein victim Chauntae Davies while at an airport, on route via the Lolita Express.
While the press might be forgiven for focussing more on the pandemic and the election, the virtual silence from corporate media has been deafening. The bombshell that Clinton’s closest confidant — whom friends describe as being like a “son” to him — has been totally ignored by the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, MSNBC, CBS News, and CNN, with no relevant results appearing in searches on their websites. ABC News, which for three years sat on information that could have resulted in an arrest, also did not cover the story.
It was therefore left to more Republican-aligned, anti-Democrat media to play it up, the news appearing in conservative outlets like the Daily Wire, Fox News, and the New York Post. Unfortunately, this reinforces a partisan understanding of the Epstein case. Earlier this year, a MintPress study of one year of Epstein coverage on MSNBC and Fox News found intensely partisan coverage of the predator’s ties to Presidents Trump and Clinton. While MSNBC stressed his connections to the Republicans and downplayed his links to their preferred president, Fox News did the opposite, overwhelmingly focusing on the Clinton connections while failing to inform viewers about his relationship with the sitting president.
Clinton has a long history of accusations of sexual misconduct against him. Arkansas nursing home administrator Juanita Broaddrick claimed that he raped her in 1978 while he was Attorney General of the state. Paula Jones accused Clinton of sexual assault and exposing himself to her in 1991, while Kathleen Willey accused Clinton of groping her without her consent in 1993. On the last charge, he reportedly proclaimed his innocence by arguing that Wiley’s breasts were not big enough for him to be interested. He was also infamously impeached for lying about his affair with 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Trump, meanwhile, also has his own history of sexual misconduct, the Wikipedia page on the subject is nearly 10,000 words long.
Epstein was a convicted sex offender who was accused by dozens of women of trafficking, rape, or sexual assault, his crimes also involving a host of wealthy and well-connected individuals. His own enormous wealth appears to have come from his suspicious connection to Victoria’s Secret tycoon Leslie Wexner. For years, his links to the most influential figures and organizations seem to have kept him from justice, and, after his death, put the spotlight on them. Over the years, he built up a vast portfolio of connections to the rich and powerful all over the world, which included business magnates, heads of state, university professors, and some of the nation’s top journalists. Perhaps this explains why so few in the media are willing to touch the latest twist in this neverending story.
Feature photo | An undated photo shows Jeffrey Epstein, left, with Bill Clinton
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.