On Sunday, we'll have presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey. Erdogan has been using state funds for his propaganda, opposition got minimal air time on TV and radio as Erdogan has a tight grip on media and AKP will for sure steal votes if necessary for them to win. I have no hope but maybe we'll get lucky and they will f*ck up? Wish us luck.
I've heard things are a bit more interesting this time around? That Erdogan needs 50% of the vote for the increased authorities he granted himself to come into effect? And IYI and other parties seem to have more of a chance, maybe, this time?
I'm leaning towards "whoever counts the votes picks the winner" here, so...
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Also, I believe this is a "majority required, top two runoff" situation, where if all of the candidates other than Edrogan combined are over 50%, then there's a runoff in July.
Basically, at this point I'm kinda expecting the runoff to happen and the one opposition to "commit suicide" before the runoff election.
I've heard things are a bit more interesting this time around? That Erdogan needs 50% of the vote for the increased authorities he granted himself to come into effect? And IYI and other parties seem to have more of a chance, maybe, this time?
If we were to have free and fair elections, we might have had a higher chance. Unfortunately I worked as a volunteer at the polls for the past 5 elections and the irregularities I have seen and submitted for review all subsequently got rejected by the elections board as all its members are also appointed by Erdogan's government.
Also, I believe this is a "majority required, top two runoff" situation, where if all of the candidates other than Edrogan combined are over 50%, then there's a runoff in July.
Basically, at this point I'm kinda expecting the runoff to happen and the one opposition to "commit suicide" before the runoff election.
Highly dependent on whether pro-Kurdish HDP, whose leader is in jail due to Erdogan's political agenda, can pass the 10% threshold to take seats in the parliament. I am not Kurding but that is pretty much why I am voting for HDP (among other reasons).
i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language
Highly dependent on whether pro-Kurdish HDP, whose leader is in jail due to Erdogan's political agenda, can pass the 10% threshold to take seats in the parliament. I am not Kurding but that is pretty much why I am voting for HDP (among other reasons).
Yeah, Swedish media on site doing interviews is reporting a lot of tactical voting for that purpose.
A Turkish friend of mine whose family has always voted CHP was recently telling me that she was considering HDP for similar reasons. I have a hard time feeling optimistic about the vote but I'd love to be surprised by an opposition victory.
In relation to that Syrian government assault in the south I mentioned, the US has reportedly told the southern rebels that it should not expect US intervention on their side in this battle.
A copy of a message sent by Washington to heads of Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups, which was seen by Reuters, said the U.S. government wanted to make clear that “you should not base your decisions on the assumption or expectation of a military intervention by us”.
...
The U.S. message also told the rebels it was left to them alone to decide how to face the Syrian army’s military campaign based on what they saw was best for themselves and their people.
...
The United States has supported the moderate mainstream [good lord, Reuters, "moderate mainstream?"] FSA faction with millions of dollars worth of arms and paid monthly salaries to thousands of rebels in the course of the seven-year war under a military aid program run by the Central Intelligence Agency.
The rebels also claim that Russia has launched air strikes in support of the government assault, which had not been reported previously.
And SDF control of Raqqa, previously ISIS's main stronghold in Syria, isn't going over well with everyone. They've imposed a temporary curfew and travel restrictions on the city, SDF says it's due to ISIS infiltrators but some local Arabs allege that it has more to do with factional politics.
Two residents said the city has seen in recent weeks growing tensions between the majority Arab residents and SDF forces dominated by Kurdish personnel that spilled into sporadic protests last month. The protests, quelled by force, called for the SDF’s eviction from the city.
...
They said many of its over 100,000 residents are angered by a policy of obligatory military conscription of youths and resentful of perceived discriminatory practices against the majority Arab population by senior Kurdish officials who effectively run the city.
...
Another resident in touch with local officials said the security operation aimed at arresting the leader of a disaffected Arab rebel group Thwar al Raqqa, affiliated with the SDF. A previous attempt last month to arrest him provoked violent demonstrations by his supporters.
Thuwar al-Raqqa was an important Arab ally of the YPG in the war against ISIS, so it's disappointing to witness their falling out.
It sounds a great deal like other cases of SDF rule (for lack of a better way to put it) over non-Kurdish territories (not even specifically Arab, but also other Syrian minorities) over the course of civil war: resentment at heavy handed outsider leadership. Not that there's an easy alternative, but it doesn't mean detractors are automatically illegitimate in their complaints.
I feel like an Erdogan win is a foregone conclusion, but forcing a runoff at least would be a nice shot across the bow for him, though how he reacts to that could be scary.
It is probably more or less legit in a vote count sense.
The problem of course is that we're coming up on 2 years of State of Emergency and that all media channels are pro-Erdogan, and that the government has a tendency to jail critical journalists for insulting the state or helping terrorists etcet.
Amnesty called it a 'Under a cloud of suppression and fear'
It is probably more or less legit in a vote count sense.
The problem of course is that we're coming up on 2 years of State of Emergency and that all media channels are pro-Erdogan, and that the government has a tendency to jail critical journalists for insulting the state or helping terrorists etcet.
Amnesty called it a 'Under a cloud of suppression and fear'
That is all the rage among would be dictators like Maduro these days instead of going with getting 99% of the vote.
It is probably more or less legit in a vote count sense.
The problem of course is that we're coming up on 2 years of State of Emergency and that all media channels are pro-Erdogan, and that the government has a tendency to jail critical journalists for insulting the state or helping terrorists etcet.
Amnesty called it a 'Under a cloud of suppression and fear'
That is all the rage among would be dictators like Maduro these days instead of going with getting 99% of the vote.
Why bother eliminating the opposition when they're powerless and their existence simply validates your power?
}
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
Looks like its going well? He is really optimistic about the peace process.
Jephery on
}
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
It is probably more or less legit in a vote count sense.
The problem of course is that we're coming up on 2 years of State of Emergency and that all media channels are pro-Erdogan, and that the government has a tendency to jail critical journalists for insulting the state or helping terrorists etcet.
Amnesty called it a 'Under a cloud of suppression and fear'
That is all the rage among would be dictators like Maduro these days instead of going with getting 99% of the vote.
Why bother eliminating the opposition when they're powerless and their existence simply validates your power?
The book "How Democracies Die" talks about this. A lot. The basic shape of the end of liberal democracies these days is via the ballot box and projects the image that this is totally still a democracy while rigging the system in their favour and then slowly rolling over all the norms and rules of the system to implement autocracy-in-all-but-name but with all the trappings of a democracy.
India's oil ministry has asked refiners to prepare for a "drastic reduction or zero" of imports of Iranian oil starting in November, two industry sources said, the first sign that New Delhi is responding to a push by the United States to cut trade ties with Iran, Reuters news agency reports.
India has said it does not recognise unilateral restrictions imposed by the US, and instead follows UN sanctions. But the industry sources said India, the largest buyer of Iranian oil after China, will be forced to take action to protect its exposure to the US financial system.
India's oil ministry held a meeting with refiners on Thursday, urging them to scout for alternatives to Iranian oil, the sources said.
I'm unsure whether this is politically motivated or solely economic on the part of the Indian government. But this represents one of my main fears about the US treaty violation and the new sanctions on Iran - the US's economic power is so great that nations or corporations which otherwise preferred trade with Iran will nonetheless be compelled to obey. French energy company Total pulling out of plans to develop Iranian natural gas fields is another example - in that case Iran made a point of saying that they will lease the field to China instead as they had threatened to do if Total withdrew.
(Slate, among others, did interesting pieces comparing the event to the shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in the Ukrainian Civil War years back--MH17 narrowly wedged out Iran Air 665, 298 to 290 casualties, but that's not really a Middle Eastern topic technically.)
Turkey is apparently about to end its state of emergency, which has been in place since the coup attempt in 2016.
But before those powers are gone, they must be put to good use!
Turkish authorities have ordered the dismissal of more than 18,500 state employees over alleged links to "terrorist" organisations, according to an emergency decree published in the country's official legal database.
The Official Gazette said on Sunday that 18,632 people had been sacked as part of a crackdown following a failed military coup two years ago, including 8,998 police officers, 3,077 army soldiers, 1,949 air force personnel and 1,126 from the naval forces.
Some 1,052 civil servants and 199 academics were also among those dismissed, and at least three newspapers, a television channel and 12 associations were shut down.
Israel's army struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after 31 rockets were fired from the Strip overnight, the military said. No injuries were reported, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
IDF spokesman Ronen Manelis said it was the biggest daylight attack since the 2014 military operation, Protective Edge, with 40 Hamas targets struck, including the headquarters of the Hamas battalion in Beit Lahia.
Israel has also been tightening its blockade of Gaza:
Israel said its measure was in response to incendiary kites and balloons that have been sent over the fence by demonstrators in Gaza and scorched Israeli agricultural lands.
The Palestinian Crossings Authority was instructed that only items deemed "humanitarian" by Israeli authorities will be allowed to enter Gaza including food, hygiene and medical supplies, fuel, animal feed and livestock.
The entry of all other items, such as construction materials, furniture, wood, electronics, fabric, clothing, blankets and generators have been banned.
Apparently big protests have been going on in southern Iraq for 5+ days. I only heard about it yesterday when protestors stormed an airport(!) in Najaf. Some oil companies have moved their foreign employees to safer areas, and I read that Kuwait mobilized soldiers and firefighters in case the protesters came over the border. Pretty serious stuff! The protestors seem to be demanding jobs and services. But since the election just happened, and with all the wrangling to form a government, I'm not sure why they're doing this now. https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/07/iraq-basra-oilfield-protests.html
hmm yes Israel blankets, clothing, and any ability to construct shelter aren't really necessary for life it's true
oh and on the plus side you're making it harder for people in Gaza to report on the shit you you do!
It's uplifting* to see that the Attritionist theory of how to run a ghetto is alive and well in the israeli government.
*irony.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
The Iraqi protests only seem to be spreading, I'm really surprised this hasn't been picked up by western media yet. We're like a week in, soldiers are on the streets, a few people are dead, and its silence.
The Iraqi protests only seem to be spreading, I'm really surprised this hasn't been picked up by western media yet. We're like a week in, soldiers are on the streets, a few people are dead, and its silence.
Probably a good thing its not on the news. Trump won't find out about it if its not on the news (we know that is what he spends most of his "executive time" doing) and throw a potential bomb into the situation.
Jephery on
}
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
Israel is in the throes of political upheaval as the country’s ruling party seeks to pass legislation that could allow for Jewish-only communities, which critics have condemned as the end of a democratic state.
For the past half-decade, politicians have been wrangling over the details of the bill that holds constitution-like status and that Benjamin Netanyahu wants passed this month.
The proposed legislation would allow the state to “authorise a community composed of people having the same faith and nationality to maintain the exclusive character of that community”.
In its current state, the draft would also permit Jewish religious law to be implemented in certain cases and remove Arabic as an official language.
***
“In the Israeli democracy, we will continue to protect the rights of both the individual and the group, this is guaranteed. But the majority have rights too, and the majority rules,” the Israeli prime minister said this week.
A vote on the bill is expected next week, although a final draft has yet to be agreed on. The legislation has been compared to South African apartheid by Israeli parliamentarians, and several thousand Israelis protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Would it really be the end of a democratic state and not just a state finally admitting it is an apartheid state?
Both Israel’s attorney general and president, who holds a symbolic role, also opposed details of the bill. The president, Reuven Rivlin, said it would harm the Jewish people worldwide and “even be used as a weapon by our enemies”. The segregation clause, he said, could also allow towns that exclude Jews of Middle Eastern origin – who have been historically sidelined – or homosexuals.
Legislator Miki Zohar, from the prime minister’s Likud party, said: “Unfortunately, President Rivlin has lost it” and had “forgotten his DNA”.
At this point I'd be happy if this kind of thing gave cover for a theoretical democratic U.S. president to start pulling back military aid from the country. Albeit that is a pipe dream in more way than one.
Israel is in the throes of political upheaval as the country’s ruling party seeks to pass legislation that could allow for Jewish-only communities, which critics have condemned as the end of a democratic state.
For the past half-decade, politicians have been wrangling over the details of the bill that holds constitution-like status and that Benjamin Netanyahu wants passed this month.
The proposed legislation would allow the state to “authorise a community composed of people having the same faith and nationality to maintain the exclusive character of that community”.
In its current state, the draft would also permit Jewish religious law to be implemented in certain cases and remove Arabic as an official language.
***
“In the Israeli democracy, we will continue to protect the rights of both the individual and the group, this is guaranteed. But the majority have rights too, and the majority rules,” the Israeli prime minister said this week.
A vote on the bill is expected next week, although a final draft has yet to be agreed on. The legislation has been compared to South African apartheid by Israeli parliamentarians, and several thousand Israelis protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
what an inane statement "but the majority have rights too". No they dont, every individual has the same rights. The majority doesnt get some rights and the minority others. You cant project rights which exlude the individual in favour of the majority. If this passes its the final blow to any notion that Isreal is a democracy, however strained that idea already is
Gah, history repeats itself in the most hideous ways.
The Iraqi protests only seem to be spreading, I'm really surprised this hasn't been picked up by western media yet. We're like a week in, soldiers are on the streets, a few people are dead, and its silence.
We have a long-established policy of "For the love of God, pretend everything is in okay in Iraq, because what we've dramatically described as genocide elsewhere is happening right the fuck there," going back several years.
The Iraqi protests only seem to be spreading, I'm really surprised this hasn't been picked up by western media yet. We're like a week in, soldiers are on the streets, a few people are dead, and its silence.
Saw this post on Twitter which is a nice summary of grievances. Poster's translation:
Water. I am demanding water. What does the world see? It’s a shame that I am demanding water in 2018 and I have oil that feeds the world
Can't argue with that guy.
In other news, the US has altered its public position on peace talks with the Taliban.
The United States is ready to join direct negotiations with the Taliban in an effort to end the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan, a senior US commander [General John Nicholson] said.
Previously, the US argued that only the government in Kabul had the legitimacy to negotiate with the Taliban, while the Taliban argued that only direct negotiations with the US would be fruitful. The change in policy seems like a rational one to me, as the US and Taliban are both primary parties in the conflict.
In November 2016, Michael Semple and I spent a week conducting interviews with seven senior Taliban figures. Our subjects included two former deputy ministers, a former provincial governor, and two former senior military commanders. What we discovered surprised us. We had expected Taliban confidence to have been boosted by recent battlefield success. Instead, those we interviewed reported widespread disillusion within the movement, with the state of Taliban leadership, and with a seemingly endless war. Multiple interviewees told us that many Taliban members feel that the war lost direction and purpose after the withdrawal of foreign combat forces. The Taliban’s current leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, is widely seen as ineffective and lacking the moral authority of the group’s founder, Mullah Omar. This is undermining the ideological cornerstone of the Taliban, namely obedience to the emir. Several factions are vying for power within the movement, most notably the Ishaqzai-dominated Mansour network based in northern Helmand (led by Mullah Rahim, the Taliban governor of Helmand). Thus, while the Taliban maintains strong vertical ties with rural communities, which have supported the group’s battlefield gains since 2014, the horizontal network holding the insurgency together is weakening.
Sending more U.S. troops into Afghanistan and pushing them out into the field is likely to provide some short-term gains. Importantly, the presence of a Marine battalion in Helmand helps prevent the provincial capital from falling to the Taliban. Yet this marginal increase in combat-force levels will not break the strategic stalemate in Afghanistan when massive U.S. military power failed to do so in 2010. Rather, sending in more troops and conducting more airstrikes may well make the Taliban stronger. Meanwhile, destroying drug processing and production facilities will hurt not only the Taliban but also anybody involved in opium farming, which is just about every farmer in Helmand. It stands to once again drive them into the arms of the insurgents. And just as before, public patience is likely to wear thin at apparent U.S. military carelessness and mounting civilian casualties. In the end, ramping up the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan risks reenergizing the Taliban’s sense of purpose and uniting a movement that may be beginning to unravel. If the United States is not careful, it could end up bombing its way to defeat in Afghanistan.
Basicly it's now the law in Israel that the minister of education has the right to ban certain groups from giving lectures at israeli schools, they're not even trying to hide that they're going to use that law to silence critics of the occupation such as Breaking the Silence, a group that collects and publishes testimonies from israeli veterans about what the military does on the westbank and in the gaza conflict.
I can only congratulate Israel for taking this bold step towards becoming a fully fledged fascist state.*
*sarcasm
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
Critics of the law, which passed with 43 votes in favor and 24 against in the 120-seat Knesset, said it was a blow to core democratic values like free speech and part of the Israeli government’s effort to delegitimize rights groups and NGOs.
I'm pretty sure that 47 plus 24 is well less than 120, so way to phone it in guys.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
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IlpalaJust this guy, y'knowTexasRegistered Userregular
Yea, what the fuck, how does a bill like that pass with barely even a quorum of members voting?
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I'm leaning towards "whoever counts the votes picks the winner" here, so...
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-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Basically, at this point I'm kinda expecting the runoff to happen and the one opposition to "commit suicide" before the runoff election.
If we were to have free and fair elections, we might have had a higher chance. Unfortunately I worked as a volunteer at the polls for the past 5 elections and the irregularities I have seen and submitted for review all subsequently got rejected by the elections board as all its members are also appointed by Erdogan's government.
Pretty much....
Highly dependent on whether pro-Kurdish HDP, whose leader is in jail due to Erdogan's political agenda, can pass the 10% threshold to take seats in the parliament. I am not Kurding but that is pretty much why I am voting for HDP (among other reasons).
Yeah, Swedish media on site doing interviews is reporting a lot of tactical voting for that purpose.
In relation to that Syrian government assault in the south I mentioned, the US has reportedly told the southern rebels that it should not expect US intervention on their side in this battle.
The rebels also claim that Russia has launched air strikes in support of the government assault, which had not been reported previously.
And SDF control of Raqqa, previously ISIS's main stronghold in Syria, isn't going over well with everyone. They've imposed a temporary curfew and travel restrictions on the city, SDF says it's due to ISIS infiltrators but some local Arabs allege that it has more to do with factional politics.
Thuwar al-Raqqa was an important Arab ally of the YPG in the war against ISIS, so it's disappointing to witness their falling out.
HDP may just past the 10% threshold to be in parliament.
Voter turnout 87%.
These are not yet official results, so this could change. AJE is covering it live if anyone is really keen.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/turkey-elections-2018-latest-updates-180624043825055.html
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Well lets see what the official results are first.
The problem of course is that we're coming up on 2 years of State of Emergency and that all media channels are pro-Erdogan, and that the government has a tendency to jail critical journalists for insulting the state or helping terrorists etcet.
Amnesty called it a 'Under a cloud of suppression and fear'
That is all the rage among would be dictators like Maduro these days instead of going with getting 99% of the vote.
Swedish media had articles with video showing people supposedly stuffing ballots full of votes.
Why bother eliminating the opposition when they're powerless and their existence simply validates your power?
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/opinion/ashraf-ghani-afghanistan-president-peace-talks-taliban-.html
Looks like its going well? He is really optimistic about the peace process.
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
The book "How Democracies Die" talks about this. A lot. The basic shape of the end of liberal democracies these days is via the ballot box and projects the image that this is totally still a democracy while rigging the system in their favour and then slowly rolling over all the norms and rules of the system to implement autocracy-in-all-but-name but with all the trappings of a democracy.
I'm unsure whether this is politically motivated or solely economic on the part of the Indian government. But this represents one of my main fears about the US treaty violation and the new sanctions on Iran - the US's economic power is so great that nations or corporations which otherwise preferred trade with Iran will nonetheless be compelled to obey. French energy company Total pulling out of plans to develop Iranian natural gas fields is another example - in that case Iran made a point of saying that they will lease the field to China instead as they had threatened to do if Total withdrew.
(Slate, among others, did interesting pieces comparing the event to the shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in the Ukrainian Civil War years back--MH17 narrowly wedged out Iran Air 665, 298 to 290 casualties, but that's not really a Middle Eastern topic technically.)
But before those powers are gone, they must be put to good use!
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/turkey-sacks-18500-state-employees-alleged-terrorism-links-180708065111639.html
Israel launches numerous strikes in Gaza: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/gaza-rocket-israeli-army-renews-strikes-on-hamas-targets-after-overnight-flare-up-1.6270173
Israel has also been tightening its blockade of Gaza: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/penalty-gaza-merchants-suffer-trade-crossing-shuts-180713124155794.html
Apparently big protests have been going on in southern Iraq for 5+ days. I only heard about it yesterday when protestors stormed an airport(!) in Najaf. Some oil companies have moved their foreign employees to safer areas, and I read that Kuwait mobilized soldiers and firefighters in case the protesters came over the border. Pretty serious stuff! The protestors seem to be demanding jobs and services. But since the election just happened, and with all the wrangling to form a government, I'm not sure why they're doing this now.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/07/iraq-basra-oilfield-protests.html
oh and on the plus side you're making it harder for people in Gaza to report on the shit you you do!
It's uplifting* to see that the Attritionist theory of how to run a ghetto is alive and well in the israeli government.
*irony.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/iraq-protests-rage-poor-public-services-unemployment-180714065815048.html
Probably a good thing its not on the news. Trump won't find out about it if its not on the news (we know that is what he spends most of his "executive time" doing) and throw a potential bomb into the situation.
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
It's a cycle, nobody cares because it's not in the news. You can't care about something if you don't know what's going on.
In other Middle Eastern news Israel is doing this.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/15/israel-turmoil-bill-allowing-jews-arabs-segregated?CMP=fb_gu
Yeah, they are racist.
Yeah, I'm like ... not surprised by this and kinda just whatever about it. Maybe if they start really showing their cards something might happen.
what an inane statement "but the majority have rights too". No they dont, every individual has the same rights. The majority doesnt get some rights and the minority others. You cant project rights which exlude the individual in favour of the majority. If this passes its the final blow to any notion that Isreal is a democracy, however strained that idea already is
Gah, history repeats itself in the most hideous ways.
We have a long-established policy of "For the love of God, pretend everything is in okay in Iraq, because what we've dramatically described as genocide elsewhere is happening right the fuck there," going back several years.
Get ready for another round of this probably.
Can't argue with that guy.
In other news, the US has altered its public position on peace talks with the Taliban.
Previously, the US argued that only the government in Kabul had the legitimacy to negotiate with the Taliban, while the Taliban argued that only direct negotiations with the US would be fruitful. The change in policy seems like a rational one to me, as the US and Taliban are both primary parties in the conflict.
Israeli lawmakers vote to ban some left-wing groups from schools
Basicly it's now the law in Israel that the minister of education has the right to ban certain groups from giving lectures at israeli schools, they're not even trying to hide that they're going to use that law to silence critics of the occupation such as Breaking the Silence, a group that collects and publishes testimonies from israeli veterans about what the military does on the westbank and in the gaza conflict.
I can only congratulate Israel for taking this bold step towards becoming a fully fledged fascist state.*
*sarcasm
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
I'm pretty sure that 47 plus 24 is well less than 120, so way to phone it in guys.
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