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… Forget foreign policy for a moment. Uncle Sam is broke … This year, the annual deficit will hit $1 trillion. Within a decade, it will run $1.5 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office’s latest report reads like a horror movie script, forecasting more debt, rising interest rates, and skyrocketing interest payments. On top of that are rapidly rising entitlement outlays … This uncritical devotion explains the hysterical reaction to the report that Trump suggested the U.S. leave NATO. True, even when he does the right thing, he goes about it in the wrong way. Diplomacy by tweet leaves much to be desired. But the president still grasps the essentials … Reducing, even ending, America’s role in subsidizing Europe’s defense is in the interest of the United States.

World War II was immense. So many numbers boggle the mind. Every day from Sept. 1, 1939-Aug. 14, 1945, 27,000 people were killed. That’s nine 9/11s every day for six years. Nearly 14 million Americans served during the war, the U.S. manufactured 300,000 airplanes. Even narrowing the focus, the numbers still amaze. Three of every four German submariners died. The Soviets killed more of their own soldiers than total U.S. combat deaths … So it is with the number of Americans killed during aircrew training. The number of pilots and crew that died in training accidents in the U.S. during the war is ten times the number of American deaths on D-Day … The fact that 15,000 young men died in aircrew training in the U.S. is virtually unknown … Many more planes were lost due to pilot error or mechanical failure than were shot down by the enemy.

Valerie Protopapas (who writes under her maiden name V.P. Hughes) has given us a massive work on Confederate guerilla fighter, Colonel John Singleton Mosby (1833-1916). Her tome, which reaches over eight-hundred pages … For those who are not old enough to remember, Mosby was once a widely revered nineteenth century American hero, like Davy Crockett and Andrew Jackson. The “Gray Ghost” was featured in a popular TV series in the 1950s; and young Americans, like me, grew up properly recognizing in Mosby a noble and manly epic figure … That America is now dead, destroyed by antifascist vandals, PC administrators and would-be educators.

… While presidents have acted decisively, without congressional authorization and sometimes unconstitutionally, Congress has failed to defend, and even surrendered, its legitimate constitutional powers … Congress’s authority to “coin money” and “regulate the value thereof” was long ago transferred to the Federal Reserve. Congress’s power to declare war has been ignored by presidents since Truman. Authorizations for the use of military force have replaced declarations of war, with presidents deciding how broadly they may be interpreted … Whatever may be said of the autocrats, be it Trump, Putin or Xi Jinping, they are not talkers but doers. They act. And they may very well own the future.

The news, however defined, always contains a fair amount of pap. Since Donald Trump’s ascent to the presidency, however, the trivia quotient in the average American’s daily newsfeed has grown like so many toadstools in a compost heap, overshadowing or crowding out matters of real substance. We’re living in TrumpWorld, folks. Never in the history of journalism have so many reporters, editors, and pundits expended so much energy fixating on one particular target, while other larger prey frolic unmolested within sight … The overall impact on our democracy is problematic … In TrumpWorld, journalistic importance relates with relevance to the ongoing saga of Donald J. Trump. To members of the mainstream media (Fox News, of course, excepted), that saga centers on efforts to oust the president from office before he destroys the Republic or blows up the planet.

As the celebrations of the fortieth anniversary of the Iranian revolution comes to an end in Tehran, Secretary Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton are busy gathering an anti-Iran coalition in Warsaw to crush Iran’s clerical rulers once and for all. But there is nothing innovative about the Pompeo-Bolton plan. In fact, Washington has been down this path numerous times before and it has invariably led to failure— even when much of the world was on America’s side … Even at the apex of its power, the United States had failed to contain Iran — even when it had much of the international community on its side.

America’s 28th president led the nation to victory in World War I. He appears on many historians’ lists of the country’s best presidents, but a conversation is underway about taking that name off one of Washington’s most diverse high schools — Woodrow Wilson High in Northwest D.C. “Woodrow Wilson was a very committed segregationist, and we would certainly like to see the name changed to somebody or something that is more in line with the school’s ideals and the city’s values,” said Judith Ingram, parent of a 10th-grader and member of the ad hoc group The D.C. History and Justice Collective. Parents, students, Wilson graduates, historians and neighbors gathered in the school auditorium Tuesday night for a community forum devoted to the matter of considering the school’s name.

… Schools and other public structures that memorialize leaders of the Confederacy have gained intense attention and generated fierce arguments recently — Education Week has found 180 named after Confederates. But there’s another category of schools that raises similar issues about racial sensitivity while seldom attracting the same scrutiny: schools named after post-Civil War politicians who supported racial segregation up to and through the landmark progress for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. If debates about the wisdom of naming schools for Confederate leaders is an entry point for considering how schools should remember and commemorate history, then the schools named after men like Russell and Vardaman represent the reach and complexities of those discussions.

… Money in politics plays a role in the lopsided pro-Israeli policy that the United States has pursued for decades. The absurdity is that everyone in Congress already knows this … Even more absurd than over-hyping Russian influence on US elections while ignoring those of Israel, is the widespread condemnation of Iran for supposedly pursuing a nuclear weapon, while ignoring the history of Israel’s utter contempt for nuclear non-proliferation in defiance of the United States dating back to the Eisenhower administration. Israel has the bomb, scores of them, acquired secretly and mendaciously … In sum, beyond a doubt, Israel and its American supporters have assembled the most powerful lobby pursuing the interests of a foreign country in all American history.

… To almost anyone with experience in American electoral politics, Mearsheimer and Walt were stating the obvious: The near unanimity of politicians’ support for Israel resulted not from inborn Zionist sympathies, but rather organizing and influence — which in Washington invariably involves money … That story has been developing for years, but what happened in Washington this week was something we haven’t seen before. The imputation of anti-Semitism, an old and much-used tool, was suddenly revealed to be blunt. Critics of Israel have long understood that speaking too loudly would get them silenced and shunned. But Ilhan Omar is still standing. Let the arguing begin.

For the past several decades the centerpiece of US Middle Eastern policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering support for Israel and the related effort to spread ‘democracy’ throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardized not only US security but that of much of the rest of the world. This situation has no equal in American political history. Why has the US been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of another state? The thrust of US policy in the region derives almost entirely from domestic politics, and especially the activities of the ‘Israel Lobby’.

Pro-Israel lobbyists and donors spent more than $22 million on lobbying and campaign contributions during the 2018 election cycle. The same or similar Israel-aligned groups and donors have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent decades, and that money poured into American politics through a variety of channels, according to the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics … The data examined by the Guardian suggests that the pro-Israel lobby is highly active and spends heavily to influence US policy, though at levels far below those of many big business sectors … It’s also highly likely that there’s far more pro-Israel lobby money flowing into American politics than is tracked. Dark money nonprofits aren’t required to disclose their donors …

… This is the core truth of the Israel lobby. The American Jews feel guilty that they are not on the front lines … So they must do everything they can for the higher, fighting Jews of Israel. Raise money for Israel, buy off politicians, make sure that the U.S. government sticks by Israel through thick and thin and every massacre too … Now the old hocus-pocus isn’t working. Jews are dividing. There is a new bloc of Jews who will not accept the Book of Nietzsche arguments about Israel’s use of force. They don’t have Philip Roth’s memories of the Holocaust … The Jewish divide is the reason there is a debate. People defer to Jews on this issue, because they’ve been indoctrinated to think Jewish survival depends on Israel’s existence, and we are all Zionists …

As Israel and the Jewish-Zionist lobby in the US press for war against Iran, awareness is growing everywhere about the realities of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the harmful impact of Israel’s policies, and the crucial role of the Jewish lobby in setting US foreign policy. A bold statement by travel guru Rick Steves (“I’ve been duped”) about deceitful US media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and a stern warning by German author Günter Grass about the danger to world peace posed by Israel, are just two recent signs that attitudes are changing, even in countries that have been subjected to decades of relentless pro-Zionist propaganda.

“There’s one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace.” Those were the words of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawaii, appearing on CNN on January 12, as she threw her hat into the presidential ring … Yet these days, it remains to be seen how many Democrats count themselves as anti-war. Indeed, according to a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll, just 29 percent of Democrats support withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, while 50 percent oppose. As for Afghanistan, by a one-point plurality, Democrats count themselves as hawks. So what’s going on with the Democrats? Is dovish McGovernism dead? Part of the phenomenon, of course, is knee-jerk opposition to Trump … In the meantime, as the hawks have migrated to the Left, the doves have migrated to the Right.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the issue of Holocaust-era property restitution during his first official visit to Poland. Poland is the only country in the European Union that has not passed comprehensive national legislation to return, or provide compensation for, private property confiscated by the Nazis or nationalized by the communist regime. At a joint appearance Wednesday in Warsaw with the Polish minister of foreign affairs, Pompeo praised the U.S.-Poland relationship and the “indomitable Polish spirit.” He also saluted Polish Jewish partisan Frank Blaichman, who immigrated to the United States after World War II and became a prosperous real estate developer in New York.

Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam teamed up with a Holocaust denier and anti-Semitic ideologue to attack the Jewish religion and blame numerous ills of modern society on Jews, during the keynote event at the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviour’s Day conference in Chicago. Speaking before a crowd of several thousand at the United Center and an unknown number on a livestream, Farrakhan was preceded by Michael A. Hoffman II, who suggested that ancient Jewish texts are equivalent to teachings “from the church of satan.” … Farrakhan based much of his mischaracterization of Judaism on a distorted reading of the Talmud, an ancient compilation of legal and ethical debates among rabbis.

Prosecutors in the central German state of Thuringia are deliberating on whether to bring charges against several churches in the region that continue to use bells inscribed with Nazi insignia. The bells, which were installed in the lead up to and during the outbreak of the Second World War, feature a number of reminders of the Nazi regime including swastikas and Third Reich slogans. The unidentified concerned resident who brought the criminal complaint alleged that attempts had been made to contact the churches directly for some time to have the bells removed, but had been ignored. Erfurt’s Mittledeutscher Rundfunk reported that a criminal complaint was brought on Tuesday against Ilse Junkermann, the state bishop of the Evangelical Church in the region.

America’s global image plummeted following the election of President Donald Trump, amid widespread opposition to his administration’s policies and a widely shared lack of confidence in his leadership … A new 25-nation Pew Research Center survey finds that Trump’s international image remains poor … The poll also finds that international publics express significant concerns about America’s role in world affairs … One exception to this pattern is Israel … At 52%, Israelis are more likely than any other public surveyed to say the U.S. is doing more to address global problems than a few years ago. Israel also tops the list in terms of the share of the public (79%) saying that relations with the U.S. have improved in the past year.

Iran’s foreign minister on Sunday accused Israel of looking for war, and warned that its actions and those of the United States were increasing the chances of a clash in the region. Addressing the Munich Security Conference, Mohammad Javad Zarif, also criticised the U.S. administration after Vice President Mike Pence this week called on European powers to pull out of the nuclear deal with Iran. Zarif urged France, Germany and Britain to do more to save that accord. “Certainly, some people are looking for war … Israel,” Zarif said. “The risk (of war) is great. The risk will be even greater if you continue to turn a blind eye to severe violations of international law.” Accusing Israel of violating international law after bombing campaigns in Syria, Zarif criticised European powers for not calling out Israel and the United States for their behaviour in the region.

This week’s controversial tweets by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress, has put the spotlight on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC, founded in 1963 with a mission of promoting the U.S.-Israeli relationship, has long been seen as a significant player in Washington. The group also has won support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for years, with many political figures, including presidents and presidential candidates from both parties, flocking to its annual conference … In a subsequent tweet, Omar directly called out AIPAC, suggesting it was the lobbying group responsible for U.S. support of Israel. Democratic leaders just a day later were lambasting Omar over her tweets, accusing her of employing anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish people and money.

Members of a federal labor union visiting a Georgia Republican’s congressional office Monday said they discovered a 19th-century book on display that they considered “racially offensive.” The American Federation of Government Employees is asking Rep. Drew Ferguson for a formal, public apology after its members said they found the book “General Robert Edward Lee; Soldier, Citizen and Christian Patriot,” which presents Confederate ideology … In a statement provided to CNN Wednesday by his spokesman, Ferguson, the Republican chief deputy whip, said he was unaware the book was even in his office, and that it has since been removed.

Poland on Monday pulled out of a summit in Jerusalem, triggering the collapse of the entire meeting, after the acting Israeli foreign minister said that Poles “collaborated with the Nazis” and “sucked anti-Semitism with their mothers’ milk.” The developments mark a new low in a bitter conflict between Poland and Israel over how to remember and characterize Polish actions toward Jews during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been due to meet with the leaders of four Central European nations … Morawiecki cancelled Polish participation altogether after the comments made by Israel’s acting foreign minister, Israel Katz, which Morawiecki denounced as “racist” and “absolutely unacceptable.”

… The alleged increase in anti-Semitic incidents is largely fueled by how those incidents are defined. Israel and its friends have worked hard to broaden the parameters of the discussion, making any criticism of Israel or its activities either a hate crime or ipso facto an anti-Semitic incident. The U.S. State Department’s working definition of anti-Semitism includes “…the targeting of the state of Israel,” and it warns that anti-Semitism is a criminal offense. Recent legislation in Washington and also in Europe has criminalized hitherto legal and non-violent efforts to pressure Israel regarding its inhumanity vis-à-vis the Palestinians … All of the media exposure of so-called anti-Semitism has a political objective, whether intended or not, which is to insulate Israel itself from any criticism and to create for all Jews the status of perpetual victimhood …

An upsurge in anti-Semitism in France reached a climax this weekend with a torrent of hate speech directed at a distinguished philosopher during a march of yellow vest protesters, adding to questions about the radicalized fringes of the movement hidden within French society and troubling the nation. Paris judicial authorities opened an investigation Sunday into anti-Semitic remarks hurled at Alain Finkielkraut a day earlier as he accompanied his mother-in-law to her Left Bank home in Paris. The investigation is being conducted into “public insult based on origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion” after a band of men in the protest march raged at Finkielkraut. “Go back to Tel Aviv,” ”Zionist,” and “France is our land” were among the insults captured on video.

Alain Finkielkraut is a professor of philosophy at France’s elite Ecole Polytechnique who for years has been a darling of a certain section of the Parisian intelligentsia … “Ah, how sweet it is to be Jewish at the end of this 20th century! [he writes] We are no longer History’s accused, but its darlings. The spirit of the times loves, honors, and defends us, watches over our interests; it even needs our imprimatur. ” … Obviously, it is “sweet” to be Jewish in these final years of the century, but only a Jew has the right to say so. In effect, as Finkielkraut acknowledges, it is no longer possible to publish without the imprimatur of organized Jewry.

Anti-Semitism is rising sharply across Europe, experts have said, as France reported a 74 per cent increase in the number of offences against Jews last year and Germany said the number of violent anti-Semitic attacks had surged by more than 60 per cent. The figures confirm the results of three recent Europe-wide surveys showing Jewish people feel at greater risk, and are experiencing markedly more aggression, amid a generalised increase in racist hate speech and violence in a significantly coarser, more polarised political environment … The French president, Emmanuel Macron, denounced the trend as “unacceptable”, telling ministers that anti-Semitism in France was “a repudiation of the Republic and its values”. Petra Pau, an MP for Germany’s Die Linke party, said more and more people felt free to “deny the Holocaust and engage in anti-Semitic agitation”.

Warsaw, Poland is not a fun place to visit in darkest February, but that is where the US just staged an anti-Iranian jamboree of 60 client states that brought derision and scorn from Europeans and much of the Mideast. The point of this cynical exercise was to lay the diplomatic groundwork for an anti-Iranian coalition to act as a fig-leaf for an upcoming attack on Iran planned by President Donald Trump and his close ally, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu … It seems to many that the Israeli tail is again wagging the American dog … The Warsaw jamboree produced no evident results and left the US even more isolated than before … The later-day Crusaders around Trump don’t seem to care that they are damaging America’s reputation and making a mess of its foreign policy.

With a joint statement that did not even mention Iran, there is little doubt that the Trump administration’s anti-Iran Warsaw summit was an abject failure — at least when measured against the objective of creating an anti-Iran alliance. That, however, does not mean that the summit wasn’t useful to some of its key supporters. Above all, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands out as a clear winner of the failed summit … Netanyahu, in particular, scored five central victories in Warsaw … Increased US-Iran tensions also achieve another objective: it moves the US closer towards a military confrontation with Iran that for Netanyahu is the ultimate tool to shift the balance of power in the region in Israel’s favour. Netanyahu’s advocacy for a US-Iran war is neither new nor a secret.

An Israeli private spy company attempted to influence a local US election as part of a larger attempt to infiltrate American politics, according to a report from The New Yorker / … Psy-Group, a defunct private intelligence agency staffed with former Israeli spies, attempted to influence at least one local US election and other domestic affairs, according to a report from The New Yorker’s Adam Entous and Ronan Farrow. The company even courted President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and is now under investigation by the special counsel Robert Mueller, the report said … The company went on to use fake websites, online avatars, and staged in-person interactions as part of an effort to influence the results of local elections of change the perception of certain events in the US, at the behest of a series of private clients.

… An adviser there referred him to Psy-Group, an Israeli private intelligence company. Psy-Group’s slogan was “Shape Reality,” and its techniques included the use of elaborate false identities to manipulate its targets. Psy-Group was part of a new wave of private intelligence firms that recruited from the ranks of Israel’s secret services — self-described “private Mossads.” … In New York, Psy-Group mounted a campaign on behalf of wealthy Jewish-American donors to embarrass and intimidate activists on American college campuses who support a movement to put economic pressure on Israel because of its treatment of the Palestinians. Psy-Group’s larger ambition was to break into the U.S. election market.

After Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar made an obvious point about Jewish power influencing American foreign policies, she was forced, by that same Jewish power, to recant, thus confirming, to all those who can still think, the awful influence of Jewish power. Though Jewish power is quite out in the open, as in AIPAC and the existence of a racist state that’s sustained by terror and endless war, one can’t even say “Jewish power” without being immediately branded an anti-Semite, if not a Nazi … If not for Jewish power, questioning the Holocaust wouldn’t be a thought crime in 16 European countries … Outside the West, nationalism is embraced as natural and necessary, but in most white countries, it’s become increasingly equated with Fascism, and nowhere is this attitude more salient than in Germany.

The House voted unanimously on Wednesday to condemn anti-Semitism and “all attempts to delegitimize and deny Israel’s right to exist,” adopting language put forth by Republicans who have spent weeks trying to paint two freshman Democrats as anti-Semites and dozens of other Democrats as their enablers … The anti-Semitism resolution comes two days after Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the entire Democratic leadership condemned Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, and forced her to apologize for a Twitter post in which she insinuated that American support for Israel is fueled by money from donors and pressure from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group known as Aipac … The latest war of words over anti-Semitism on Capitol Hill is making some Jewish leaders increasingly uneasy.

Last week’s bipartisan Senate vote to rebuke President Trump for his decision to remove troops from Syria and Afghanistan unfortunately tells us a lot about what is wrong with Washington, DC. While the two parties loudly bicker about minor issues, when it comes to matters like endless wars overseas they enthusiastically join together. With few exceptions, Republicans and Democrats lined up to admonish the president for even suggesting that it’s time for US troops to come home from Afghanistan and Syria … The president bombs far-off lands and even sends troops to fight in and occupy foreign territory and Congress doesn’t say a word. But if a president dares seek to end a war suddenly the sleeping Congressional giant awakens!

A Hungarian government minister has accused a senior representative of British Jews of politically-motivated lying, telling her to “mind your own business” following a meeting in which she raised concerns about antisemitism. … The [Jewish] board also raised language used by the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in relation to the Hungarian-born Jewish philanthropist George Soros which, it said, “whether intentionally or not, represent[s] the oldest anti-semitic tropes and this has to stop”. Orbán attacked Soros at an election rally last year, saying: “We are fighting an enemy that is different from us. Not open, but hiding; not straightforward but crafty; not honest but base; not national but international; does not believe in working but speculates with money; does not have its own homeland but feels it owns the whole world.”

US Vice President Mike Pence visited the memorial site of Auschwitz on Friday along with the Polish president and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, viewing a train car, crematoriums and the hair of victims … The Pences held hands and the vice president adjusted a banner reading “From The People of the United States of America.” Kushner was among a second group that then approached the wall and wreaths … It also comes a day after Pence accused Britain, France, Germany and the European Union as a whole of trying to evade US sanctions on Iran, and called on the EU to join the Trump administration in withdrawing from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. In his speech, Pence said that “the Iranian regime openly advocates another Holocaust.”

Israel’s prime minister on Wednesday sent out a belligerent rallying cry to his Arab partners at a U.S.-backed Mideast conference, saying he planned to focus on the “common interest of war with Iran.” Netanyahu made the comments during an off-the-cuff interview with reporters on a Warsaw street, shortly after meeting Oman’s foreign minister. He has long used tough language against Iran. But an apparent open call for war goes beyond Netanyahu’s standard rhetoric … “What is important about this meeting — and this meeting is not in secret, because there are many of those — is that this is an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries, that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran,” he added.

… Now, because of a recent internal policy review on the effect of U.S. sanctions, Washington may be drifting closer to war … The Trump administration has concluded that its “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions has largely failed to meet any of the White House’s “goals” of forcing Iran to re-negotiate the 2015 nuclear agreement or alter its policies in the Middle East. While the sanctions have damaged Iran’s economy, the Iranians have proved to be far more nimble in dodging them than Washington allowed for … Russia, China, Turkey and India have also made it clear that they will not abide by the US trade sanctions, and the EU is setting up a plan to avoid using dollars … But as belligerent as Bolton and the Israeli government are toward Iran, would they initiate or join a war? Such a war would be unpopular in the United States.

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is under fierce attack from Chelsea Clinton and other Republican and Democratic establishment figures for voicing a fundamental truth: much of Congress is muzzled when it comes to Israel by the powerful lobby group AIPAC. On Sunday, journalist Glenn Greenwald highlighted a news story about how Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy wants to punish Omar, and fellow Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, for their criticisms of Israel … Any observer of Washington politics knows that this is no exaggeration when it comes to the power of pro-Israel money … The influence of Adelson’s cash on US foreign policy has been enormous, even if media refuse to talk about it.

A debate about the power in Washington of the pro-Israel lobby is underway, after Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., responded sharply to reports that Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was targeting both Omar and fellow Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan … The debate over the influence of pro-Israel groups could be informed by an investigation by Al Jazeera, in which an undercover reporter infiltrated the Israel Project, a Washington-based group, and secretly recorded conversations about political strategy and influence over a six-month period in 2016 … In it, leaders of the pro-Israel lobby speak openly about how they use money to influence the political process, in ways so blunt that if the comments were made by critics, they’d be charged with anti-Semitism.

… Jews wield immense power and influence in the United States. The “Jewish lobby” is a decisive factor in US support for Israel. Jewish-Zionist interests are not identical to American interests. In fact, they often conflict. As long as the “very powerful” Jewish lobby remains entrenched, there will be no end to the systematic Jewish distortion of current affairs and history, the Jewish-Zionist domination of the U.S. political system, Zionist oppression of Palestinians, the bloody conflict between Jews and non-Jews in the Middle East, and the Israeli threat to peace.

The destruction of the virtually undefended German city of Dresden by bombers of the Royal Air Force and U.S. Army Air Force, in mid-February 1945, remains one of the most controversial episodes of the Second World War … British military historian, Alexander McKee, has produced a new account of the Dresden bombing, based in part upon an examination of official records recently declassified, as well as interviews from survivors of the attack and Allied airmen who flew in the raids. McKee had doubts about the efficacy of area bombing when, as a soldier with the 1st Canadian Army, he witnessed the results of the Allied bombing of “friendly” French towns.

The British government has long denied that wartime air raids on German cities were intended to kill as many civilians as possible. In fact, the raids, led by Arthur Harris, were motivated largely by a desire to hit back and destroy indiscriminately / … “The aim of [Britain’s] Bomber Command should be unambiguously and publicly stated,” he [Harris] wrote in 1943. “That aim is the destruction of German cities, the killing of German workers and the disruption of civilised life throughout Germany.” He wanted the government to declare its commitment to “the creation of a refugee problem on an unprecedented scale”, and he expressed his contempt of the official eagerness “to downplay the obliteration of German cities and their inhabitants”.

A blogger who wrote and performed anti-Semitic songs mocking the Holocaust has had her conviction upheld. Alison Chabloz, 55, was found guilty last May of three charges relating to three self-penned songs at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. But she fought her conviction for posting “grossly offensive” material. Today, Judge Christopher Hehir, assisted by a lay magistrate, upheld the conviction. District judge John Zani had said he was satisfied the material was grossly offensive, and that Chabloz had intended to insult Jewish people … Adrian Davies, defending, previously told the district judge that his ruling would be a landmark one, setting a precedent on the exercise of free speech.

In his final days as the Israel Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot confirmed, on the record, that Israel had directly supported anti-Assad Syrian rebel factions in the Golan Heights by arming them. This revelation marks a direct break from Israel’s previous media policy on such matters. Until now, Israel has insisted it has only provided humanitarian aid to civilians (through field hospitals on the Golan Heights and in permanent healthcare facilities in northern Israel) … For years, Israel has religiously adhered to the official party line that the country’s policy was non-intervention, and this has now been exposed as a lie. Such a loss of public credibility may significantly inhibit its abilities to conduct influence operations in the future.

… What I did not know till I read the new book, Jimmy Carter, The White House Years, by his former top domestic policy adviser Stuart Eizenstat, is that Israeli settlements also bedeviled the Carter administration … Carter failed miserably in this aim, overwhelmed by a new force he had not accurately reckoned: American Jewish organizations … Eizenstat says that Carter believes that taking on Israel and its American lobby cost him his job. “From the New York primary [in March 1980] onward, I believe Carter was left with the view that New York Jews had not only defeated him in the primary but were also a factor in his loss in November,” Eizenstat writes. As Eizenstat states bluntly, Israel relies on the lobby as a sort of foreign ministry, a relationship “unique in the annals of diplomacy.” … Jordan went on to point out that Jews were financially very generous: “70 of the 125 members of the Democratic National Council were Jews who constituted more than 60 percent of the large donors to the Democratic Party.”

… The potential destruction of the Bill of Rights is only one aspect of the power that Israel has over American policymakers … In [Nancy] Pelosi’s case she is saying precisely that, that American patronage of Israel is a moral imperative, a commitment forever that must be sustained no matter what Israel does and even if the United States itself should fall into ruin … There is something completely dead at the heart of American politics which makes basic humanity unacceptable when confronted by a force for evil that has penetrated and manipulated both the national media and the governing political consensus. That is what Israel and its rabid band of supporters have done to the United States.

[ Text of address given in London, England, and, slightly modified, in Guadalajara, Mexico ] … As long as the power of what Desmond Tutu calls “the very powerful” Jewish lobby remains entrenched, there will be no end to the systematic Jewish distortion of history and current affairs, the Jewish-Zionist domination of the US political system and the American media, Zionist oppression of Palestinians, the bloody conflict between Jews and non-Jews in the Middle East, and the Israeli threat to peace. That’s why no task is more important or pressing than to identify, counter and break this power.

… We are living today in a historical crossroad. There are days that will define the future of our countries, giving us a choice between war and peace … I address these words to the people of the United States of America to warn of the gravity and danger that some sectors in the White House intend, that is, to invade Venezuela with unpredictable consequences for my country and for the entire American region … We Venezuelans are patriots. And we shall defend our homeland with all our soul. Today Venezuela is united in a single cry: We demand the cessation of the aggression that seeks to suffocate our economy and socially suffocate our people, as well as the cessation of the serious and dangerous threats of military intervention against Venezuela.

… In February 1945, American bombers reduced this treasure to crushed stone and embers; disembowelled her with high explosives and cremated her with incendiaries … It is with some regret that I here besmirch the nobility of our airmen, but, boys, you killed an appalling lot of women and children. The shelter I have described and innumerable others like it were filled with them. We had to exhume their bodies and carry them to mass funeral pyres in the parks, so I know … The “Get Tough America” policy, the spirit of revenge, the approbation of all destruction and killing, have earned us a name for obscene brutality.

… As the incendiaries fell, the phosphorus clung to the bodies of those below, turning them into human torches. The screaming of those who were being burned alive was added to the cries of those not yet hit. There was no need for flares to lead the second wave of bombers to their target, as the whole city had become a gigantic torch. It must have been visible to the pilots from a hundred miles away. Dresden had no defences, no anti-aircraft guns, no searchlights, nothing … The affair was a war crime at the highest level, a stain upon the name Englishman that only an apology made in full public view would suffice to obliterate.

Jewish and anti-racist groups voiced disgust after it emerged a prominent Holocaust denier was given a public platform in Birmingham … On Saturday, it was confirmed that 80-year-old Irving was appearing in the city centre, but times, venue and identity of those who offered the invitation remained hush-hush. Controversial author and historian Irving said his talk was about how the Allies needlessly dropped atomic bombs on Japan – and said critics who accused him of denying the Holocaust had got it wrong. “The problem is that what they call Holocaust is different to what I call Holocaust,” he told the Sunday Mercury. “They have never read my books.”

Elan Carr’s career until now has been equal parts prosecutor, policy wonk, politico and performance artist. That makes him perfect for his new job as the US State Department’s special envoy to monitor anti-Semitism, according to people most familiar with his appointment … The American Jewish Committee said it was “grateful” for the appointment, and also noted in its statement the intensive lobbying by the Jewish community and others to fill the congressionally mandated job. Jewish Democrats in the US House of Representatives welcomed the appointment … The Wiesenthal Center said Carr “brings to the Special Envoy position boundless energy and a keen legal eye.” B’nai B’rith International called the appointment “outstanding” …

A Cameroon government minister said that the Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves because they wielded all the economic power. The African nation’s government disavowed the comments made by Jean de Dieu Momo, the deputy justice minister, in a primetime interview on public television. Momo warned the opposition leader, Maurice Kamto, that he was leading the native Bamileke people to a fate similar to that of the Jews during the Holocaust, the French news service AFP reported. “In Germany, there was a very rich community who wielded all economic power,” he said. “They [the Jews] were so arrogant that the German people were frustrated. Then one day, a certain Hitler came to power and put them in the gas chambers.”

Hundreds of thousands of people across Iran took to the streets on Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the country’s Islamic Revolution. Speaking in the capital Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani told a huge crowd that Iran did not need to ask the world’s permission to develop missiles, and that it would continue to build up its military power despite U.S. sanctions … Rouhani spoke to the crowd in Tehran on Monday for 45 minutes. He lambasted what he called U.S. and Israeli efforts to “bring down” Iran through sanctions. “The presence of people in this celebration means that plots by the enemies… have been defused,” he said. “They will not achieve their ill-omened aims.” While the Iranian economy has without doubt felt the pressure of the ramped-up U.S. sanctions, Palmer says there are no signs yet that the regime is losing its grip.

Iranians will chant “Death to America” as long as Washington continues its hostile policies, but the slogan is directed at President Donald Trump and U.S. leaders, not the American nation, Iran’s supreme leader said on Friday. “As long as America continues its wickedness, the Iranian nation will not abandon ‘Death to America’,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a gathering of Iranian Air Force officers marking the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, according to his official website. Trump pulled out of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers last year and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, dealing a blow to the country’s economy.

Police opened an investigation Tuesday into an apparent hate crime targeting a Palestinian village in the southern West Bank. Residents of Tuwani, in the south Hebron Hills just west of the Israeli outpost of Havat Maon, woke up Tuesday to find 15 olive trees chopped down. Nearby, two boulders were spray-painted with the Hebrew phrases “Death to Arabs” and “Revenge.” … Last week, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released statistics ahead of the new year that showed a 69 percent increase in settler attacks on Palestinians in 2018 compared to 2017. OCHA recorded 265 incidents in which Israeli residents of the West Bank allegedly targeted Palestinians or their property. In total, 115 Palestinians were injured in those attacks and 7,900 trees and 540 vehicles were destroyed.

San Francisco has more drug addicts than it has students enrolled in its public high schools, the city Health Department’s latest estimates conclude. There are about 24,500 injection drug users in San Francisco — that’s about 8,500 more people than the nearly 16,000 students enrolled in San Francisco Unified School District’s 15 high schools and illustrates the scope of the problem on the city’s streets. It’s also an increase of about 2,000 serious drug users since 2012, the last time a study was done.

… Europe and the liberal tradition are coming apart at the seams. But not because, as they strongly imply, European politicians are pandering to the basest instincts of a mindless rabble – the ordinary people they have so little faith in. Rather, it is because a long experiment in liberalism has finally run its course. Liberalism has patently failed – and failed catastrophically … The loss of traditional social bonds – tribal, sectarian, geographic – has left people today more lonely, more isolated than was true of any previous human society … Meanwhile, the absolute prioritising of the individual has sanctioned a pathological self-absorption, a selfishness that has provided fertile ground not only for capitalism, materialism and consumerism but for the fusing of all of them into a turbo-charged neoliberalism.

The French thinker Bernard-Henri Lévy [BHL] has emerged as the poster boy for the defense of “Europe” against the advance of the nationalist-populist parties so dreaded by the establishment. Yet Lévy’s involvement is more likely than not to turn out as a boon to the nationalists. That’s because, in his long media-saturating career as a Parisian public philosophe, Lévy has been an important shaper of the attitudes that have brought France to its current unhappiness … Every French writer who’s ever extolled the French people became in BHL’s telling a predecessor to national socialism … Late in life, Levy developed a great attachment to Israel. He is now an apologist for whatever the Israeli government feels like inflicting on Palestinians, in Gaza or elsewhere.

The deadly famine in Iran, which was caused by the British presence in the country during World War I, is ignored by almost all recent history books. Dr. Mohammad Gholi Majd’s The Great Famine and Genocide in Persia 1917-1919 is perhaps the only book that extensively documents the genocide. According to the book, the widespread famine coupled with a disease epidemic killed around eight-ten million Iranian between 1917 and 1919, nearly half of the country’s population back then. Majd, who has a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University, writes in his book that after invading Iran at the beginning of 1916, the British used all means of transportation for war supplies to the front-lines.

US President Donald Trump strongly condemned anti-Semitism Tuesday night as he vowed to confront Iran and learn the lessons of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, during his 2019 State of the Union address. In the speech before a joint session of Congress, in which the president laid out his policy agenda for the next year and lambasted the special counsel’s investigation, Trump spent a fair portion of time on the subject of Jew-hatred … “We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed. With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs.” The need to take a strong stance against Tehran, the president implied, was evident in the attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue — believed to be deadliest act of anti-Semitic violence in American history.

The top US intelligence chief warned that Israel’s ongoing strikes against Iranian targets in Syria increase the threat of regional war. “We assess that Iran seeks to avoid a major armed conflict with Israel,” Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, told the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday. “However, Israeli strikes that result in Iranian casualties increase the likelihood of Iranian conventional retaliation against Israel.” … “Iran’s efforts to consolidate its influence in Syria and arm Hezbollah have prompted Israeli air strikes as recently as January 2019 against Iranian positions within Syria, and underscore our growing concern about the long-term trajectory of Iranian influence in the region and the risk that conflict will escalate,” Coats said.

The Palestinian Archbishop of Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Church, Atallah Hanna, said yesterday that “everything Palestinian in Jerusalem is targeted by the Israeli occupation”. During a meeting with a delegation from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders, MSF), Hanna explained the dangers threatening Palestinians’ existence and identity in the Holy City, Al-Wattan Voice reported. “Everything is in danger in Jerusalem,” Hanna said, adding: “The Islamic and Christian holy sites and endowments are targeted in order to change our city, hide its identity and marginalize our Arabic and Palestinian existence.”

The U.S. Senate approved in a 77-23 vote a bill that codifies $38 billion in defense assistance to Israel and which provides legal cover to states that target the boycott Israel movement. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., had stirred controversy because a number of Democratic senators said that while they oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] movement targeting Israel, they were also concerned that state laws aimed at BDS impinged on speech freedoms … Democrats supporting the anti-BDS component included Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y … The American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] praised the Senate for passing the bill and defended the anti-BDS component and urged the House to bass all the bill’s provisions.

Advocacy groups in Israel have criticized the increasing use of DNA tests to determine the ‘Jewishness’ of citizens, saying the practice disproportionately targets immigrants particularly those from the former Soviet Union. In order for couples to be officially recognized as married in the state of Israel, they must go through the Orthodox-controlled Chief Rabbinate’s office. From there, couples can be referred to the rabbinical courts if insufficient documentation or certification exists proving the mother of the bride or groom was married through the Rabbinate.

Defining “Jew” has never been simple. Is he someone who practices Judaism, the Jewish religion, or is he identified by his ancestry? While many Americans assume that Jews are essentially a religious group, Jews themselves take for granted that their community is much more ethnic-national than it is religious. Benjamin Netanyahu, who has served as Israel’s prime minister, frankly regards Jews as members of a racial group. Speaking to a gathering of nearly a thousand Jews in southern California, he said: “If Israel had not come into existence after World War II then I am certain the Jewish race wouldn’t have survived.”

The State Department announced on Wednesday that additional reparation payments would be made to victims of the Holocaust as part of its claims program covering in part Jewish people who were deported by France during World War II. “Within the next few days, all individuals whose claims were previously approved will receive a letter from the Department notifying them that they will receive an additional payment of 97 percent of their prior approved claim amount,” the State Department said. “This amount is based on the funds remaining for approved claims.” … “The Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, through its International Claims and Investment Disputes Office, has administered the Holocaust Deportation Claims Program since its inception.”

A bipartisan slate of House members introduced a bill that would grant money to Holocaust education in schools. The Never Again Education Act would establish the Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund in the US Treasury. The bill would combine appropriated funds and private donations. A release from the office of Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, one of the lead sponsors, said the bill would “finance grants to public and private middle and high schools to help teachers develop and improve Holocaust education programs.” The lead sponsor is Republican Elise Stafanik … Also present at the bill’s launch were representatives of Jewish advocacy groups and Israeli diplomats.

… The Trump administration is now fomenting a coup in Venezuela. They’ve publicly recognized an unelected opposition leader as president, discussed coup plans with Venezuela’s military, and sanctioned oil revenues the country needs to resolve its economic crisis. They’re even threatening to send U.S. troops. They’ll tell you this about restoring “democracy” and “human rights” in the South American country. But one look at the administration officials driving the putsch perishes the thought … Take Pompeo’s point man on Venezuela, the dreaded Elliott Abrams … Abrams was convicted of lying to Congress about U.S. support for Nicaragua’s brutal Contras, but that didn’t prevent him from serving in George W. Bush’s State Department — which backed not only the Iraq war but an earlier coup attempt in, you guessed it, Venezuela.

Members of Congress freeze, fumble and deliver bewildering answers to award-winning journalist Max Blumenthal as he asks Capitol Hill politicians what they think of the US government’s open support for Venezuela’s opposition. Many members have voiced concern about supposed meddling by Russia in American affairs. But what do they think about Washington openly getting behind the opposition in Venezuela? In this video, Blumenthal asked lawmakers just that. The politicians were visibly caught off guard by pretty simple and straightforward questions. Several lawmakers couldn’t provide a definitive answer to whether the US public support for opposition leader Juan Guaido could be considered ‘meddling’ in a foreign nation’s affairs.

Facebook and Twitter both announced on Thursday they had taken down hundreds of accounts believed to have been part of coordinated influence operations from Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Facebook removed 783 pages, groups and accounts that it said posed as local actors in countries across Europe, the Middle East and south Asia and shared content that was largely repurposed from Iranian state media. The accounts, some of which had been active since 2010, had garnered about two million followers on Facebook and more than 250,000 followers on Instagram. While Facebook demurred from ascribing a motive to the operation, researchers with … Separately, Twitter announced that it had deleted thousands of “malicious” accounts from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing Washington of “imperialism” in its efforts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Erdogan’s latest verbal salvo in support of his ally Maduro came amid growing U.S. pressure on Ankara to end support for the beleaguered Venezuelan leader. “Is Venezuela your instrument?” said Erdogan, chiding U.S. President Donald Trump in an address to his parliamentary deputies Tuesday … With both Washington and the European Union recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president, Erdogan’s strong backing of Maduro puts him on a collision course with his Western allies.

… The question raised this weekend, however, is even more divisive. Is America a good country, or has she, like Virginia, such a past of sins and crimes as to make her eternally ashamed and for which she should make eternal amends? Does America owe the world? … Should we conduct a purging of monuments to all of America’s “white racists,” as antifa and its allies are determined to do in Virginia? The Democratic Party may believe that by throwing Northam to the wolves it will satisfy these forces. It won’t. We are at the beginning of a Kulturkampf to purge America of all monuments and tributes to the white males who created, built and ruled the country, and once believed that they, their nation, their faith, and their civilization were superior to all others.

When Hikind appeared in blackface at a Jewish holiday party a few years ago, many people were offended, The New York Times reported. / We’ve successfully fought back a malicious campaign by an “Israel first” politician that for nearly three months shut down the Institute’s ability to handle credit card orders and donations. It’s taken time and effort, but on Dec. 11 [2013] we restored our credit card processing. Behind the shutdown is Dov Hikind, a member of the New York state legislature who has a well-documented record of support for bigotry and Zionist terrorism. Earlier this year he launched a campaign to shut down credit card processing by the IHR and several other organizations he calls “hate groups.”

File this one under “underreported stories of 2013.” A New York Democrat state assemblyman successfully lobbied to get Visa and Mastercard to withdraw credit card processing privileges from organizations he opposes … What Hikind has done is shameful, as is the reluctance of the press to cover it … One of the targeted organizations, the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), successfully fought to regain its credit card processing privileges … Publishing houses like the IHR, and historians like David Irving, are not just a boil on the ass of the First Amendment. They actually contribute something positive to the historiography of the Second World War.

Police in Germany are investigating after a Berlin auction house was prevented from selling three landscapes that were apparently signed by Hitler. Questions have been raised over the authenticity of paintings supposedly made by the Nazi dictator. As many as 30 artworks carrying prices up to tens of thousands of euros are under suspicion, The Times reported. The auction house in question, Weidler, has reportedly sold more than 100 paintings in the last five years carrying the designation “Hitler” … Since 1945, hundreds of artworks purportedly created by Hitler have been sold. Prior to the First World War, the future dictator was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He wrote in Mein Kampf, his autobiography, that while living in Vienna he had produced around two or three paintings a day. Many were watercolour replicas of postcards.

A Spanish priest whose church canceled a planned projection of an anti-Israel film blamed the cancellation on threats and how “dying Negroes are less important than the powerful Jews.” Pastor Javier Baeza’s comments about blacks in a newspaper interview on Friday were decried by the pro-Israel ACOM group as part of a “fundamentally anti-Semitic narrative,” … On Saturday, the controversial film, “Gaza, a look into the eyes of barbarism,” which critics say is one-sided and inaccurate, won the “Best Documentary” category of the Goyas, the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars … But “there were pressures from the Jewish community” to cancel the projection Friday of the film, he told El Pais, before proposing his conclusion about powerful Jews.

… Maintaining the U.S. status as “No. 1” in war and war preparations comes at a very high price … Consider education. The gold standard for evaluation seems to be the Program for International Student Assessment [PISA] of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which tests 15-year-old students every few years. The last test, which occurred in 2015 and involved 540,000 students in 72 nations and regions, found that U.S. students ranked 24th in reading, 25th in science, and 41st in mathematics … The U.S. healthcare system also fares poorly compared to that of other nations. A 2017 study of healthcare systems in eleven advanced industrial countries by the Commonwealth Fund found that the United States ranked at the very bottom of the list.

… Washington has a long history of interventions — military and otherwise — in Latin American politics. Since the advent of the Monroe Doctrine in the early 19th century, the United States has involved itself in the daily affairs of nations across the hemisphere, often on behalf of North American commercial interests or to support right-leaning forces against leftist leaders. That military involvement petered out after the end of the Cold War, although the U.S. has been accused of granting at least tacit backing to coups in Venezuela in 2002 and Honduras in 2009. The Trump’s administration leading role in recognizing Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela returns the U.S. to a more assertive role in Latin America than it has had for years. Some of the most notable U.S. interventions in Latin America: …

A veteran Los Angeles City Hall official is one of the latest victims of an epidemic of the infectious disease typhus that continues to worsen across LA County. For months, LA County public health officials have said typhus is mainly hitting the homeless population. But Deputy City Attorney Liz Greenwood, a veteran prosecutor, tells NBC4 she was diagnosed with typhus in November, after experiencing high fevers and excruciating headaches … Last year set a new record for the number of typhus cases — 124 in LA County for the year, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Typhus, a bacterial infection that is sometimes life threatening, is on the rise in Los Angeles and several other U.S. cities. Public health officials say homelessness is making the problem worse and that the disease, which is associated with poverty and poor sanitation, is making a comeback in the United States. Los Angeles County has seen 64 cases of typhus this year [as of Oct. 2018], compared with 53 at the same point last year and double the typical number, with a six-case cluster among the homeless in L.A. this year. Two cities in the county that have separate counts are also seeing higher numbers: Long Beach with 13 cases, up from five last year, and Pasadena with 20, a more than three-fold increase from 2017 … The disease seems to be spreading through the Southern United States.

Elliott Abrams, a controversial neoconservative figure who was entangled in the Iran-Contra affair, has been named as a Trump administration special envoy overseeing policy toward Venezuela, which has been rocked by a leadership crisis. Abrams’ appointment, announced Friday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is something of a surprise — President Donald Trump nixed his 2017 bid to be deputy secretary of State after learning that Abrams had criticized him. Abrams will now be one of several special envoys Pompeo has brought on board to tackle thorny issues. He takes on his role at an unusually volatile time in U.S.-Venezuelan relations … In 1991, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress about secret efforts to aid the rebels. President George H. W. Bush pardoned him the next year.

Last Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Elliott Abrams would once again be returning to government, this time as President Donald Trump’s special envoy to help “fully restore democracy and prosperity” to Venezuela. Abrams, 71, is best known for abetting dictators and genocide in Latin America and for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Ronald Reagan administration, as well as for his ardent support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and for green-lighting a failed coup in Venezuela while serving in the George W. Bush administration. He is as reviled by countless Latin Americans as he is revered among neocons who pine for a more muscular US role in the hemisphere and beyond.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that Germany was within its rights to convict British bishop Richard Williamson of Holocaust denial. Williamson, 78, sparked an outcry in 2009 by denying that the Nazis used gas chambers during the systematic murder of six million Jews during World War II. His lawyers tried to argue he should not had been convicted because the comment was made during a television interview broadcast in Sweden, where Holocaust denial is not illegal. But the interview was recorded in Germany, where it is a criminal offense to dispute the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis. Williamson was convicted of incitement to hatred and ordered to pay a 12,000-euro fine, which was reduced to 1,800 euros ($2,100) in 2013 after a series of legal challenges.

A survey released Wednesday found that a majority of adults in Canada are uninformed or misinformed about the Holocaust, and that six out of ten believe fewer people care about the Holocaust than used to. The poll, presented to the public ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, gauged the knowledge of 1,100 Canadians, asking questions such as how many Jews they thought died in the Holocaust and whether they recognized names such as Anne Frank or Elie Wiesel … While there were some disparities, the survey largely paralleled a similar study conducted in the United States and released last April which found gaps in both basic historical facts and detailed knowledge of the Holocaust. Millennials were also less likely than older respondents to possess even a rudimentary picture of the genocide.

The small skiing community of Park City went from “slalom” to “shalom” this week for the annual Sundance Film Festival, with many titles by or about Jewish people … The star of the show was the 90-year-old German-born sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Ryan White’s loving documentary highlights this woman’s remarkable vitality and groundbreaking career as a radio and television personality. It’s going to be a major success when it is released later this year.

Donald Trump’s domestic troubles, combined with the current makeup of his foreign policy team, provide a confluence of circumstances, perhaps a perfect storm, to pull the United States into a war with Iran … At the same time, Trump’s top foreign policy advisers have been gunning for war with Iran for years … Overall, Bolton and Pompeo’s hawkish rhetoric and anti-Iran activities have proliferated recently, particularly since Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign is failing to force Tehran to return to negotiations on Pompeo’s terms in order to avoid economic collapse and popular insurrection. Their increasingly aggressive stance, however, risks moving the two countries closer to a military confrontation … Misjudgments, bad or cooked intelligence, false flags — none of these should be discounted.

The Trump administration is closely eyeing efforts in Europe to set up an alternative money payment channel to ease doing business with Iran without running afoul of U.S. sanctions. The White House is putting the Europeans on notice, saying that if they try to do an end-run around U.S. sanctions on Iran, they will be subject to stiff fines and penalties. Unfazed, the European Union is marching forward with the plan, which, if implemented, could further strain trans-Atlantic relations … Getting out ahead of a possible announcement, a senior administration official told The Associated Press on Friday that the U.S. will fully enforce its sanctions, and hold individuals and entities accountable for undermining them.

… While it’s not unusual for a president and the intel community to diverge on the gravity of threats, what is astonishing is that the intel leaders would declare a president to be flat-out wrong. Yet the confrontation is not unhealthy, for it reflects reality. On foreign policy, we are divided not only on means but ends … And the great question remains: Are U.S. troops necessary over there — to prevent terrorists from coming over here? Or are they over here — because we are over there?

Do we want to live in an America where credit card companies watch our buying habits and then block purchases for ideological reasons? Not long ago, the left side of the American electorate would have shouted “hell no” the loudest. Not anymore. Today, many on the left are cheering on, even pushing censorship in social media and more, as long as the suppression of ideas protects their political goals. They even want big business to restrict gun sales, as they don’t see firearms as tools of freedom … Meanwhile, we all need to let credit card companies, banks, and other financial institutions know we don’t want them playing politics with our free and lawful decisions to speak or to purchase legal products.

On Friday, The New York Times continued its long, predictable tradition of backing U.S. coups in Latin America by publishing an editorial praising Donald Trump’s attempt to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. This will be the tenth such coup the paper has backed since the creation of the CIA over 70 years ago. A survey of The New York Times archives shows the Times editorial board has supported ten out of twelve of 12 American-backed coups in Latin America, with two editorials — those involving the 1983 Grenada invasion and the 2009 Honduras coup — ranging from ambiguous to reluctant opposition.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on the people in the US to deter the Trump administration from putting boots on the ground in Venezuela, warning that any intervention would backfire leading to new Vietnam-like disaster. In his first direct message to the American people, the Venezuelan leader urged them to stop the US government from entangling the nation in a pointless and inherently doomed military adventure … The four-minute video, in Spanish with English subtitles, was posted on Maduro’s official Facebook page on Wednesday … Maduro accused the US media of waging a “brutal campaign of false images” to support the Trump administration’s interference in Venezuela.

In Norwegian textbooks, Europeans are systematically portrayed as abusers, imperialists, and exploiters. By contrast, non-whites are ascribed the role of victims, signalling an anti-Western bias, a new study has claimed. “Something to do with European supremacy”, a new study by Bergen University student Kristoffer Tyssøy Høisæther, has uncovered double standards in the way history is being presented in Norwegian textbooks used today in elementary and high schools … To quantify this finding, the author listed 25 instances of massacres, mass killings and genocides depicted in history books, all of which were carried out by Europeans. By contrast, Muslims and Jews are exclusively given the role of victim.

… Muhammad was the most popular name among male children in Oslo in 2018, for the eleventh year in a row, according to statistics released on Wednesday by the Norwegian Statistics Department. The name, with its many variations, surpassed Oscar, Aksel and Jacob as it maintained its lead. Mohammad has been the most popular name in Oslo since 2008, reflecting a strong and growing Muslim community in the large city. In 2017, 8.7 percent of Oslo’s population identified as Muslims, with their largest communities originating from ethnic Pakistanis, Somalis, Iraqis and Moroccans … Out of Oslo’s 624,000 residents, almost 190,000 are immigrants or born to immigrant parents, making up nearly 31 percent of the city’s population.

The U.S. has slipped out of the top 20 countries perceived to have the least corruption, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the watchdog group Transparency International. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 finds the U.S. in 22nd place, with a score of 71, right behind France and ahead of the United Arab Emirates. Countries are evaluated on a 100-point scale, based on the trust that experts and business leaders have in public institutions. A higher score means people believe the government is less corrupt. Denmark and New Zealand held the top-ranked spots on the list; Syria and Somalia were on the bottom. Last year, the U.S. was ranked 16th.

US President Donald branded his own intelligence services “naive” on Iran and in need of schooling in a deepening and unusually public row Wednesday. The Twitter broadside was a riposte to the more sober but equally emphatic rejection by the intelligence community Tuesday of many of Trump’s foreign policy claims. Insisting that Iran’s nuclear program remains dangerous, Trump said his intelligence advisors — who believe Tehran is largely abiding by an international commitment to shelve nuclear weapons ambitions — should be more realistic. “The Intelligence people seem to be extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran. They are wrong!” Trump tweeted. “Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!”

The top US intelligence official has warned Israel of the consequences of keeping up its military strikes on Syrian soil, saying the attacks could eventually trigger a response from Iran, which has its military advisors based in the Arab state. Speaking at a hearing of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington on Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that Israel’s continued aerial assaults against Syria would increase the risk of Iran’s retaliation. “We assess that Iran seeks to avoid a major armed conflict with Israel,” Coats said. “However, Israeli strikes that result in Iranian casualties increase the likelihood of Iranian conventional retaliation against Israel.”

… Malcolm X was absolutely right about our finding solutions to our own problems. The most devastating problems black people face today have absolutely nothing to do with our history of slavery and discrimination. Chief among them is the breakdown of the black family … As late as 1950, female-headed households constituted only 18 percent of the black population. Today it’s close to 70 percent … The high crime rates in so many black communities impose huge personal costs and have turned once-thriving communities into economic wastelands. The Ku Klux Klan couldn’t sabotage chances for black academic excellence more effectively than the public school system in most cities. Politics and white liberals will not solve these and other problems. As Malcolm X said, “our problems will never be solved by the white man.”

… No one should be surprised by media bias in favor of Israel given the dominance of Jewish owners and editors in the major media … Shaping the favorable perception of Israel has also involved the efforts of Zionist-dominated Hollywood movies and television to portray Jewish heroism while also at the same time ignoring the Zionist terrorism directed against both the indigenous Palestinian population and the British Mandate authorities prior to Israel’s statehood. The movie Exodus shaped many Americans’ perceptions of what had occurred in the Middle East, while the steady stream of films related to the so-called holocaust, which ignore the many problems with that standard narrative, perpetuate Jewish suffering and victimhood.

… The hostility and prejudice against Arabs and Muslims engendered by Hollywood and US television infects not only tens of millions of Americans, but also hundreds of millions of credulous viewers worldwide. Such noxious propaganda over a period of decades inevitably has grave long-term consequences. This flood of ethnic-religious poison understandably produces deep resentment among hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims around the globe — creating a vast and growing reservoir of resentment and rage that one day will almost certainly erupt with terrible fury.

The United Nations secretary-general has warned that anti-Semitism is on the rise, and hatred of Jews is getting worse across the world. Antonio Guterres made the comments on January 28 at the world body’s annual ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Guterres said that anti-Semitic incidents in the United States increased by 57 percent in 2017, and he said a European Union monitoring agency reported last year that 28 percent of Jews experienced some form of harassment just for being Jewish. Guterres also warned about attempts to rewrite the history of the Holocaust …