Kerry Foils Jordan Arab Initiative for Palestinian Statehood @UN | 30 Dec 2014 |
Early phase Biden administration and a Palace Revolt inside Jordan with conspirators from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Israel ...
Attempted coup d'état in Jordan coordinated by Emirates, Israel and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin-Salman (MBS) in April 2021 ... Joe Biden saved King Abdullah II.
Covered fully by me as the covert acts happened and major news corporations neglected to comprehend the path to disaster foe Palestinians, Israelis and Arabs alike. American diplomacy by coercion and harsh sanctions ... bullying tactics won't cut peaceful coexistence as the Jewish State experienced after 75 years of devastation, resistance and protest.
Covered this fully as the news items broke at the time ...
Opinion: Inside the palace intrigue in Jordan and a thwarted `deal of the century' | WaPo - 11 June 2021 |
President Donald Trump had a dizzying dream for a diplomatic "deal of the century" for Arab-Israeli peace that would unite his allies Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
It never happened, in large part because Jordan's King Abdullah II would not bend to pressure and make concessions on the status of Jerusalem and other issues affecting the Palestinians. His resistance came at a price: Abdullah's kingdom has been shaken by tremors over the past several years, encouraged by the squeeze from top political leaders in the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah's troubles erupted into public view in early April, when the king's security forces detained three prominent Jordanians he suspected of plotting to destabilize his regime: Prince Hamzah, the former crown prince groomed by his American-born mother for the throne; Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a relative of the king and a powerful tribal leader; and Bassem Awadallah, a former Jordanian minister who had become a confidant of the Saudi crown prince, who's often known by his initials, MBS.
Alarmed by the senseless destruction of Palestinian lives in Gaza, I'm having a difficult time to find any logic in the year long genocide in Gaza. The western world is paralyzed, as is the international Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Trying to put all parts of the puzzle together ...
The most vocal criticism comes from Erdogan in Türkiye and the leaders in the Islamic Republic of Iran ... plus the alliance of resistance from Yemen to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Mainly Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims of the Muslim. Brotherhood. The latter are banned in the Gulf countries except in Qatar.
Inside the Biden administration's thinking for 2024 | Atlantic Council - 6 Jan 2024 |
Administration officials, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, break down the issues into roughly five categories. What makes managing the coming year so complex is that none of these issues can be easily separated from the other--and none can be neglected without paying a heavy price. Here's my understanding of how administration officials are thinking about these challenges.
[One cannot undo decades of misrepresentation and policy failures and expecting this can be easily corrected in a single year.]
1. Russia and Ukraine
In the view of these officials, Ukraine needs to regain battlefield momentum in the third year of Russia's full-scale war against it by better sustaining and focusing its military resources on the south, the Black Sea, and Crimea. Officials I spoke with believe that Ukraine is unlikely to win its war in 2024, so in the meantime it must avoid losing while making some real gains. Above all, it must transform the Moscow-held Crimean Peninsula from a Russian strategic asset into a vulnerability.
2. China and East Asia
According to Biden administration officials, the United States must try to further stabilize its relationship with China, following gains made over the past year, while continuing to build stronger ties with all US regional partners. One senior official referred to the effort as "holding serve." [???]
3. Israel, Gaza, and the wider Middle East
At a minimum, Washington must avoid an escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict that would more deeply draw in the United States or Iran--and that itself won't be easy, as shown by the tensions in the Red Sea this week, which included the US Navy sinking the vessels of Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Tehran deploying a warship to the area. But beyond that minimum, Biden administration officials want to return Israel and Saudi Arabia to the normalization path that was abandoned after Hamas's October 7 terrorist attacks.
To achieve this outcome, Israel would need to accept a formula for a future Palestinian state [is unacceptable to Israel and in contradiction to the goal of Zionism] that would defuse the current crisis. For Israel to accept that, it would have to realize that its long-term sustainability as a state depends as much on reaching lasting peace and normalization with its moderate Arab neighbors as it does on eradicating Hamas.
4. The technology race
The Biden administration is confident that the United States can win the artificial-intelligence race (given dramatic advances in 2023) in a manner that protects US jobs and values, while working with global partners to establish common regulatory standards for the technology. Where Biden administration officials remain more worried, and thus will apply greater efforts in 2024, is in addressing what they consider China's lead in clean technologies, ranging from electric vehicles to solar energy to advanced batteries--and control of the critical minerals to keep it all going. US officials believe that the country has made progress in addressing this gap through the Inflation Reduction Act and other measures, but that the United States remains far from closing it.
5. Electoral challenges
There is hardly a conversation Biden administration officials have with their international partners that doesn't include some sort of handicapping of the 2024 US elections and the impact they will have on a full range of global issues. Adversaries such as Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to wait out 2024 in the hope that US support for Ukraine will continue to flag.
Many European countries worry about a Trump victory, given his skepticism about NATO and criticisms of European partners more generally. Most countries' diplomats will find themselves jockeying to meet with whoever might be most influential in a Republican administration while maintaining the closest ties possible to the Biden crowd.
The well-being and human rights of Palestinians seem to be totally forgotten. The ugly rhetoric in the Western capitols and corporate media playing a key role.
Israel has been handed a gift card to do as it pleases (Hasbara: in defense of Israel).
HRH the Crown Prince Receives King of Jordan | SPA |
HRH the Crown Prince conveyed the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to King Abdullah II, who in turn conveyed his greetings to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
The Crown Prince and the king reviewed the brotherly relations between their countries and ways to enhance cooperation in various fields. They also discussed issues concerning the Arab and Islamic worlds, as well as developments in the Middle East, particularly matters related to regional security and stability, including efforts to achieve ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and de-escalate tension in the region.
The Crown Prince and King Abdullah reaffirmed their full support for the brothers in Palestine and Lebanon, and stressed the need to provide uninterrupted humanitarian aid to alleviate their suffering.
Attending the meeting from the Saudi side were Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State and Cabinet Member Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of National Guard Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah (accompanying minister), Minister of State and National Security Adviser Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, Minister of Transport and Logistics Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, President of General Intelligence Khalid bin Ali Al-Humaidan, and Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairi.
On the Jordanian side, the meeting was attended by Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi, Director of the King's Office Eng. Alaa Batayneh, Director of the Crown Prince's Office Dr. Zaid Baqaeen, and Jordan's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Haitham Abu Alfou.
Jordan scrambles to affirm its custodianship of al-Aqsa mosque | The Guardian - 26 Nov 2020 |
Biden Seeks Partner for Restart New Palestine
After Gaza destruction, Washington pushes "Palestine" and Al Aqsa guardianship to Saudi Arabia ...
Biden's bomb sales to Israel are an obstacle to peace
US Vice President Joe Biden with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem during a 2010 visit. (Source: AFP/Getty Images)
From my diary at the time ... building more settlements as VP Joe Biden arrives in Israel ...
As Biden Visits, Israel Unveils Plan for New Settlements | LA Times - 9 Mar 2010 |
The bull$hitter as VP running Obama foreign policy .. "I'm a Zionist"
Biden, who had come to try to smooth relations with a longtime ally and promote new peace talks, denounced Israel's plans to build 1,600 housing units in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem as a threat to the search for peace.
"I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," Biden said, calling it "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now."
"We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them," Biden said.
The sharp turn of events abruptly changed the tenor of the trip in its second day, coming just hours after the vice president proclaimed his love for Israel and declared enduring U.S. support.
Biden's visit followed a year of tension brought on by Israel's defiance of the Obama administration's admonitions on precisely the same issue: housing settlements in disputed areas.
❇️❇️
Israel, Saudi, UAE team up in anti-Qatar lobbying move | Al Jazeera - 10 June 2017 |
US legislation threatening Qatar for Hamas support is tied to donations from UAE, Saudi, and Israel lobbyists.
US legislation threatening to sanction Qatar for its support of "Palestinian terror" was sponsored by 10 legislators who received more than $1m over the last 18 months from lobbyists and groups linked to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The bill was introduced to the US House of Representatives on May 25, but the text wasn't available until Friday morning, hours after Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt put 59 people and 12 institutions linked to Qatar on a "terror list".
In 2020 the Trump years and Abraham Accords w Israel ... w/o ention of Palestinians ... did not work out well as Joe Biden continued on this I'll-fated path of Israel arrogance. Policy over people.
Bringing Saudi Arabia into Abraham Accords a strategic goal for US, Israel | JNS - 1 Feb 2022 |
Riyadh's economic, political and military capabilities mean that its entry into a normalization agreement with Israel would be a regional game-changer.
After Israel Killed Hamas Leader, D.C. Pushes to Hand Palestine to Saudi Arabia | The Intercept |
Just beneath the surface of Blumenthal's remarks is a widely discussed mega-deal that would effectively create a U.S.-Gulf regime neo-colony in Gaza, commit the U.S. to going to war for Saudi Arabia, and plunge us deeper into a new cold war with China.
Lawmakers are aiming to link these far-reaching policies to the reconstruction of Gaza to make the deal more difficult to oppose.
The pact would be imposed on the Palestinian people.
Members of Congress have been blunt about their vision for the future of Palestine and the region.
"An independent sovereign nation called `Palestine' with security guarantees for Israel to make sure there's no future October 7ths," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a recent interview. "It will be more like an emirate than it will be a democracy. MBS and MBZ at the UAE will come in and rebuild Gaza ... create an enclave in the Palestine" -- referring to Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Future ...
Latest from Ronen Bergman interview @CNN ...
End game will by IDF military rule all of Gaza and ANNEXATION by the Jewish State of Israel at the behest of new Jewish settlements.
Stigmatisation as settler colonialism: designating humanitarian and civic society organisations in Palestine as security threats
Since Hamas's 7th October attacks on southern Israel, the Palestinian population living in the Gaza Strip has been subjected to an unprecedented level of destruction that has decimated every aspect of Palestinian life. The ongoing Israeli military invasion has been considered a `plausible case of genocide', and the humanitarian catastrophe has been compounded by major restrictions on access to humanitarian aid.
Accusations of supporting `terror' have been levied against UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) more than 5 million Palestine refugees are scattered throughout the Middle East. UNRWA is the major provider of humanitarian services in Gaza, leading to an initial suspension of donor support to the organisation by many western governments.
In this article, we consider the Israeli government's tactics used to delegitimise those involved in providing humanitarian and lifesaving support for the Palestinian population, concluding that the construction and dissemination of narratives that depict them as being `terroristic' or having `terrorist' connections is a sophisticated additional layer of the settler colonial logic of elimination and erasure.
