Abandoning Israel, Pacifying Islamist Jihad

"We cannot allow the continued use of food as a political tool... Over 50,000 people have died as a result of the aggression caused against the Palestinians and the Gazan people in Palestine. Using food as a political tool is simply unacceptable."

"We need to continue to work towards a ceasefire. We need to ensure that we have a two-state solution, and Canada will continue to maintain that position."

Liberal Cabinet Minister, Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand takes part in the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall when she took over the position from Mélanie Joly. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

"Israel is [the] only country in the world that could be attacked on seven fronts and described as being the aggressor."

"Were doing everything we can to fight a terrorist organization and we're not going to fight it in a non-aggressive way."

Lt.Col. Nadav Shoshani

If, when Foreign Affairs Minister Anand made that statement to news reporters in a casual scrum, it seemed slightly off-kilter in a new-old government with a new mandate under a new prime minister, yet it took a week before there was any indication from Canada's new prime minister, Mark Carney that she was not speaking off the cuff on her own, but rather expressing this new government's position on Israel. Her predecessor famously/infamously made reference with respect to her own expressed antipathy to Israel that she had her constituents in mind; little did the Canadian public realize that the Trudeau government's betrayal of its longtime ally Israel ran through the Liberal caucus, with the same cabinet MPs reintroduced in the 'new' cabinet.

 

The latest statement of Canada's new foreign minister is to reveal that Prime Minister Mark Carney had spoken to Israeli President Isaac Herzog to 'discuss the  urgent need' for Hamas to release the remaining 58 hostages (23 of whom are believed to be still alive), 'lay down its weapons and have no role in Gaza'. A ceasefire, 'a two-state solution' and resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza was also discussed, she revealed. And then came the second part of Anita Anand's statement where she ascribed 'aggression' to Israel, imputing its starvation of Gazans as a weapon of war, clearing up the mystery of her boss's silence.

 

When Canada, Britain and France issued a joint statement in condemnation of Israel's military operations expansion in Gaza with their threat of concrete action, including potential sanctions against Israel. "We will not stand by while the Netanyahu government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response", they warned. No word of Hamas operatives warehousing looted humanitarian aid meant for the Palestinian civilian population. No word of continued rockets hurled by Hamas into Israel.

No word of the need for Qatar to 'influence' Hams to return all the Israeli  hostages, dead and alive without further delay. 

"Israel must halt settlements which are illegal and undermine the viability of a Palestinian state and the security of both Israelis and Palestinians."

"We will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions." 

Palestinians break through the Israel-Gaza border fence on October 7, 2023, as terrorists  infiltrated areas of southern Israel. Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Reuters

When Hamas led an attack on southern Israel with the planned intention to carry out mass rape, to mutilate helpless women, children and elderly, to ransack and loot and burn agrarian towns and massacre their residents along with foreign farm workers, then after a death toll of 1,200, gather 250 helpless hostages; children, entire families, the elderly, male and female Israeli soldiers to be used as bargaining chips in future negotiations for the release of terrorists from Israeli prisons, Israel pledged to finally destroy the terrorist groups that had been attacking the Jewish state for decades.

 

Lt.-Col. Shoshani begged to differ with the leaders of France, the U.K. and Canada, reminding them that Hamas began the conflict with its ongoing violent belligerence capped off by its sadistic savagery on full display on October 7, 2023. And Hamas could, at any point since then, easily have brought an end to the conflict by laying down their arms, releasing the hostages, and surrendering their control of the Gaza Strip to a civilian administration. Instead it chose to use Gaza's civilian population as  shields and tragic puppets in death for their public relations campaign demonizing Israel as 'genocidal'.

 

France, Britain and Canada, with their intake of large numbers of Palestinians and other Muslims sympathetic to the publicity and strident claims of victimhood of Palestinians against the 'aggressor' Israel, which had never initiated conflict with Palestinians, and only ever responded to the never-ending acts of lethal violence in self-defense, have succumbed to the pressure of sufficient numbers of Islamists within their own societies to oppose Israel in hopes of appeasing their own Islamist hordes, in that classic move of 'feeding the crocodiles' among them. 

Western democracies choosing to take the statistics bruited by the Gaza Health Authority as believable, over the attestations of reality emanating from Israeli authorities. Choosing to ignore the reality that over the lifetime of the Jewish state, negotiations with Palestinian leaders over recognition of a Palestinian state went nowhere because while Israel gave concessions to achieve an agreement, none were ever given by the Palestinians. Their 'want' was the disappearance of Israel and the entire region dedicated to a Palestinian state. They never, ever desired a two-state solution. That was the goal of the West.

 

Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee their homes after the Israeli military issued orders for evacuation from eastern Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

The Atrocity-Loving ISIL 'Beatles' Execution Cell

"Time is of the essence. Further delay is no longer possible [if the two men are to be scheduled for trial in the United States]. Further delay is an injustice to the families of the victims."                                                                                           "On behalf of the US Department of Justice, I am writing to provide an assurance that if the United Kingdom grants our mutual legal assistance request, the United States will not seek the death penalty in any prosecutions it might bring against Alexanda Kotey or El Shafee Elsheikh, and if imposed, the death penalty will not be carried out."                                                                                                           U.S. Attorney General William Barr

El Shafee el-Sheikh (L) and Alexanda Kotey (R) in photos provided by the SDF in February 2018

 

 

 

 

They were part of the Islamic State execution cell, gaining horrified notoriety in the cold-blooded murders of U.S. and British journalists and activists they captured and video-taped in a campaign of terrorism to gain a reputation as fearless and indomitable warriors of Islamofascism, creating a fearsome reputation for themselves in the process, while at the same time using the propaganda of jihad and beheading of helpless prisoners to gain the fascinated support of Islamist jihadis in the West who flocked to Syria to join ISIL.

Now, the United States is persuading the British government that should they transfer evidence in aid of the U.S. prosecution for the two suspects' involvement in the executions of American, British and other foreign hostages in Syria, the U.S. is prepared to forego the death penalty once their trial has concluded. Reasonably enough, evidence is required to hold justifiable yet reasonable trials. Evidence difficult to obtain given geographic distances and a closed terrorist society when the challenge to prosecutors and intelligence agencies is to procure evidence of a quality to stand up in a court of law.

The alternative is to just hand over ISIL members captured and imprisoned by the Kurdish forces, to the Iraqi government. There, trials may take place but their substance in justice can be questioned; they are not too queasy to impose death sentences in the absence of hard evidence that meticulous prosecutors in the Western world are adamant must be obtained not to produce a sham trial, but to find guilt or innocence based on acceptable proofs. Handed over to Iraq, the two would be certain to be summarily executed.

El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, two parts of a four-part cell of ISIL members implicated in the beheadings of hostages, and whose verbal intonations led their captives to call them "the Beatles", in recognition of their British accents, were scheduled to receive the death penalty as a result of being placed on trial in the United States, which had taken the two men off the hands of their Kurdish captors, glad to be rid of them from the stable of thousands of ISIL members apprehended and held in Kurdish controlled camps.

The case against the two has been held up in recognition of litigation where Elsheikh's mother has sued in Britain to prevent evidence sharing, inclusive of voice analysis which ties the men to the hostages, and details relating to their journey from Britain to Syria. In response to the U.S. administration's grudging agreement not to impose the death penalty, however, a Home Office spokesperson responded: "Legal proceedings are ongoing before the Supreme Court and we are prevented by a court order from transferring the evidence to the U.S. at this time".

Alexanda Kotey (left) Elshafee Elsheikh, at a SDF location in Northern Syria

The beheading on camera of U.S. journalist James Foley in 2014, initiated a series of brutal executions, some of them beheadings, crucifixions, immersive cage drownings, death by explosives, and other imaginative cruelties that transfixed the international community with each release of a fresh new video of yet another atrocious act of inhumanity. That initial video with James Foley kneeling in an orange jumpsuit caused his family huge anguish, even as incredulity at the raw barbarism ignited public outrage.

The masked executioner whose blade severed the victims' heads from their bodies spoke with a British accent and was identified early in 2015 as Mohammed Emwazi; soon to be named "Jihadi John", himself killed in a drone strike that same fall. The four Londoners, according to former hostages who survived their ordeals, subjected them to repeated beatings, waterboarding and mock executions. The fourth member of the quartet, Aine David was convicted in Turkey in 2017 to serve a 7-year prison sentence.

"I am very grateful to hear that the attorney general  has reached out to the Home Secretary. This feels like a gift from God and our son Jim, who was brutally murdered six years ago today", said Diane Foley, journalist James Foley's mother. Britain had stripped Elsheikh and Kotey of their citizenship with the conviction that undergoing a trial in the United States for terrorism would reflect the best approach. Then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid agreed in 2018 to share evidence gathered by the British.

Which inspired Elsheikh's mother to sue for the purpose of halting the transfer of evidence to the U.S. The families of the murdered hostages have placed the U.S. government under relentless pressure to mount a prosecution, seeking some form of justice and closure on the horrible deaths of their loved ones. Both men claim not to have known that the hostages they themselves tortured would be murdered until the beheading of Mr. Foley on camera. "At the time there wasn't much anyone could do about it", said Kotey.

 A Kurdish security officer, right, escorts Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh, center, allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed “The Beatles,” at a security center in Kobani, Syria, Friday, March 30, 2018. “The Beatles” terror cell is believed to have captured, tortured and killed hostages including American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

He Served His Nation Well and Truly

John Hemingway, DFC, Battle of Britain Pilot. YouTube/Zampano Productions

"During the war, all my closest friends were killed and my memories and thoughts about them I have always regarded as a private affair. But being the last of the Battle of Britain veterans has made me think of those times 80 years ago."
"I was lucky to survive the war, and good health has kept me going."
"Fate was not democratic. New pilots with just a few hours in Hurricanes did not have the instincts of us more experienced pilots and were very vulnerable in combat. For that reason, many did not last long."
"The Hurricanes could take a lot of punishment. You could be shot up on one sortie and your ground crew could patch up the damage and get you back in the air that same day."
John 'Paddy' Allman Hemingway, Dublin

This is a man, born in 1919, now recognized as the very last of the almost 3,000 airmen involved in the Battle of Britain. These were the airmen that Sir Winston Churchill spoke admiringly of and with gratitude as "The Few", whose courage in the face of extreme danger helped Britain to change the course of World War Two. May marked the 80th anniversary of V-E Day, when 101-year-old air gunner Terry Clark died, leaving John Hemingway the sole remaining survivor of that aerial battle.

Throughout his wartime career as an airman at the age of 20, protecting Britain against the Luftwaffe, he was shot down no fewer than four times (twice in a two-week period during the Battle of Britain). He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of his outstanding courage and service to his nation. He was granted a short service commission with the Royal Air Force in 1938, completing his fighter pilot training in December of that year, posted to 85 Squadron at RAF Debden, to fly Hurricanes.

His Hurricane, L1979, hit by flak over Maastricht, he made a forced-landing

He was posted to France with his squadron following the outbreak of war, tasked with patrolling the English Channel, protecting maritime shipping from attacks. By the May that followed, German forces began storming through Europe, where fierce fighting ensued. Fighter Pilot Hemingway shot down his first Heinkel He 111 bomber on May 10, during one of four sorties he flew that day. A day later he was himself shot down over Belgium. In the trail of a caravan of Belgian refugees he made his way back to British lines.

Eventually, 85 Squadron returned to England with three remaining Hurricanes in flight shape, with 11 pilots killed or missing, and six wounded. Back in Britain, the squadron reformed under command of Peter Townsend. Luftwaffe aircraft launched attacks on shipping convoys off England's southeast coat on July 10, commencing the Battle of Britain. Fighter Pilot Hemingway's instructions were to focus on disabling bomber squadrons, and ignore German fighters.

Above: members of 85 Squadron

L to R: Hemingway, P/O GL Howitt, F/O JE Marshall, S/ldr. PW Townsend (kneeling with dog Kim) and F/O WF Carnaby leaning on propeller scoreboard).

His memory of being behind the controls of a Hurricane -- with its reputation of having scored the highest number of RAF victories during the Battle of Britain -- his fighter pilot instincts resurface from his inner consciousness. He recalls carrying 14 seconds' worth of ammunition, firing in precise bursts for the infliction of maximum damage to his targets.

The g-forces he endured as he manoeuvred the aircraft during dog fights were so extreme he would black out, on occasion. He recalls flying in shirt sleeves, to enable himself to move freely. Through habit he would always take care to check the cockpit hood to make certain it could be readily hauled back if the need to bail out arose. Should it stick, he said, a pilot would be burned alive when the plane was struck.

Mr Hemingway, a fighter pilot in 85 Squadron

By August. the Squadron's tactics were to fly at bomber squadrons directly head on. Pilot Hemingway was again shot down, over the Thames Estuary. In the knowledge that enemy aircraft targeted parachutes, he hesitated until he was in cloud at 2,400 metres and then deployed his parachute.

When September rolled around, 85
Squadron's heavy losses were such that Hemingway was but one of seven pilots still active. Many flight commanders and their deputies had been killed, and Peter Townsend was wounded, and in hospital.

Withdrawn from operational duties, those remaining were assigned to train new pilots. As a squadron leader in Italy in 1945, he was shot down. flying a Spitfire. Italian partisans disguised him in peasants' clothing which allowed him to escape back to British lines.

After the war, Mr. Hemingway remained with the RAF until 1959, when he retired as a Group Captain. As the sole remaining airman of the celebrated The Few, John Hemingway turns 101 years of age next week. A modest birthday celebration will be launched for that occasion.

John Hemingway, second from left, with the pilots of 85 Squadron

When There's a Will, There is the Jihad Way

"If you can’t make a bomb because family, friends or spies are watching or suspecting you, take a knife, molotov, sound bombs or a car at night and attack the tourists (crusaders), police and soldiers of taghut [tyranny], or western embassies in every country you are in this planet."
"[ISIS] can never die. [There is a] reward [awaiting those who wage jihad]."
"[I would] rather blow myself up [and would like to know] how to make bombs."
Sudesh Amman, 20, Convicted terrorist

"Much of his fascination with conducting an attack was focused on using a knife but reference was also made to committing acid attacks on mopeds."
“His fascination with dying in the name of terrorism was clear in a notepad we recovered from his home. Amman had scrawled his ‘life goals’ in the notepad and top of the list, above family activities, was dying a martyr and going to ‘Jannah’ — the afterlife."
Crown Prosecution Service 

"[I've come] to the end of patience [with the early release policy and lack of supervision of offenders like Amman]."
"I think the idea of automatic early release for people who obviously continue to pose a threat to the public has come to the end of its useful life."
"We do think it’s time to take action to ensure that people — irrespective of the law that we’re bringing in — people in the current stream do not qualify automatically for early release."
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson 

"We cannot have the situation, as we saw tragically in yesterday's case, where an offender - a known risk to innocent members of the public - is released early by automatic process of law without any oversight by the Parole Board."
"[New legislation would mean people convicted of terrorism offences will no longer be released automatically after they have served half of their sentence]."
"[Because we face] an unprecedented situation of severe gravity, [the legislation will also apply to serving prisoners],"
British Justice Secretary Robert Buckland

London’s Metropolitan Police said that the incident in the south London suburb of Streatham was terrorism-related. Photo: Hollie Adams/Getty Images

"He came out towards the end of January. He was under very strict licence terms. He was also under surveillance and that is what allowed the police to do their job so quickly. It meant that it could have been worse than it was had he not been under this surveillance."
"There were concerns about this individual when he was in prison - around things he was saying - but there were no powers available to any of the authorities to keep him behind bars."
"He had reached the automatic halfway point, halfway release point in his sentence and there was nothing that could be done to keep him locked behind bars.This is why there need to be changes brought forward because the public will look at this case and say: 'Why was this individual not kept not kept behind bars?' The PM shares that view."   Whitehall Sources

Yet another convicted terrorist out on early release, returning to what he knew best and longed to engage in, to hasten his martyrdom and ascent to Paradise as befits an Islamist jihadist. Britain prides itself on being a 'tolerant' society, and Britons pay the price for that 'tolerance'. Sudesh Amman, formerly convicted of terrorism, out on early release from prison, feeling free in that tolerant society to resume his dearly-held convictions and act on them. All of 20 years of age, deeply ensconced in the death-and-martyrdom syndrome of jihad.

Shot dead on Streatham High Road a day ago, but not before he stabbed two people, calling Allahu Akbar! as  he lunged. Wearing a pseudo suicide belt the while. All a week following release from prison after serving half of his three-year, four-month sentence for publishing graphic terrorist videos online and stockpiling bomb-making instructions and the current favourite of ISIL-approved tactics, knife attacks. . His early release did not go without concern on the part of Metropolitan Police which had placed him under direct police surveillance.


Followed by armed officers on foot reflecting a "proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation" according to Scotland Yard, the response to the knife attacks on two people perpetrated by the man was close to instant. He was closely watched as he entered a shop on Streatham High Road around two in the afternoon, and there he stole a knife. Exiting the shop with his prize, he attacked two people. According to the Metropolitan Police, the officers' response was within 60 seconds of the attack, when he was fatally shot.

One of the stabbed people was immediately treated for life-threatening injuries, while a woman sustained less serious wounds than the man whose injuries were critically severe. A third person was injured by broken glass, following a weapon being fired by an officer.

Video footage following the stabbing showed two men in civilian clothing, one wearing a hoodie, the other with a police baseball cap, pointing their guns at a body on the nearby pavement.

"The incident was quickly declared as a terrorist incident, and we believe it to be Islamist-related", declared deputy assistance commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, Lucy D'Orsi. Hard to see how they could have concluded otherwise, given the classical jihadi shout-out to Allah.

Amman had admitted to 13 terror related offences, which included the dissemination of terrorist material, and collecting instructions meant to be of use in planning terrorist attacks. "People just came running in, screaming and upset, shouting about a gun. We ran to the back of the shop and were locked in", explained Chris Wells, shopping in Streatham with his daughter when gunshots were heard outside. "We tried to leave to get away and I saw a man in a hoodie with a gun, which I now know was a plainclothes officer. And another officer shouting at us to get back inside because there was a bomb threat."








As for Sudesh Amman, it's hard to say who will miss him. Of course, his exploit will resonate as a successful terrorist attack, not a complete failure, since at least two people were badly injured and he did his best to make it two deaths, not merely injuries. His action and following notoriety will instill admiration in some, and no doubt incite additional wannabe jihadis to action. At his family home in London, he had left a combat knife, air gun and black flag. No parental concern? His girlfriend had received videos of beheadings from him. He had advised her to kill her "kuffar" parents. Beyond grim.

We'll Call You On One Ship and Raise You On Two

“This maritime security framework [patrol aircraft operating in international airspace monitoring the situation within the Strait of Hormuz] will enable nations to provide escort to their flagged vessels while taking advantage of the cooperation of participating nations for coordination and enhanced maritime domain awareness and surveillance."
U.S. Central Command

A UH-1Y Venom helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in the Strait of Hormuz, July 18, 2019. (US Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton Swanbeck/Released)

"Our first and most important responsibility is to make sure that we get a solution to the issue to do with the current ship, make sure other British-flagged ships are safe to operate in these waters and then look at the wider picture."
"We are going to be looking at a series of options …We will be speaking with our colleagues, our international allies, to see what can actually be done."
Tobias Ellwood, Ministry of Defense, Great Britain 

"[The seized tanker] risked maritime safety [in the Strait of Hormuz]."
“We are required by regulations to investigate the issue … the duration of the investigation depends on the level of cooperation by the involved parties."
"[All 23 crew members aboard the ship are] safe and in good health in Bandar Abbas port."
Allahmorad Afifipour, head, Ports and Maritime Organization, Hormozgan Province, Iran

This photo issued July 19, 2019 shows the British oil tanker Stena Impero, which is believed to have been captured by Iran. (Stena Bulk via AP)

The slick video posted by Iran was not by any means an impromptu filming of an unplanned incident. It was obviously a vital part of a coordinated reciprocal response to the detention of the Iranian supertanker in the Mediterranean around Gibraltar. This, for the suspicion that its circuitous route aroused as it appeared to be heading to a European Union-forbidden destination, at a port in Syria. As it does all nefariously sinister events it is seen to be engaging in, Tehran denied any such intention, demanding its ship be released immediately and warning of consequences to ensue.

Now it is Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who is warning of consequences: "We are not looking at military options. We are looking at a diplomatic way to resolve this situation. There will be serious consequences if we are not able to resolve it quickly"; 'it' being the release of the second British tanker apprehended by the Iranian Republican Guard Corps. The Mesdar had been intercepted by IRG speedboats almost simultaneously to the Stena Impero, but permitted release.

The Stena Impero is being held by Iran at its Bandar Abbas port, awaiting interrogation of the crew. Port officials claim the tanker had failed to respond to appeals from a fishing boat it had damaged in a marine collision, refusing to stop to offer assistance, representing a violation of maritime laws that Iran is utterly appalled at and will not stand for. Such are the conditions that 'consequences' require.
The ship owner, on the other hand, claims its ship was in international waters when it was "attacked by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter". 

The ensuing video represents a duly dramatic choreograph of small Guard boats surrounding the tanker moving through the strait, as a military helicopter hovers, several men in IRGC uniform and wearing black masks rappelling onto the ship. There were an estimated two cameras used in shooting the video; one from the vantage of a vessel and one from the helicopter, showing the fatigue-clad men preparing to slide down a rope onto the surrounded ship.

An Iranian patrol vessel had been radioed by British warship HMS Montrose in warning against boarding the Sena Impero, according to maritime security firm Dryad Global, through radio messages.

This image grab taken from a video provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard official website via SEPAH News on July 20, 2019, allegedly shows Revolutionary Guard Corps preparing to board the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz. - Iran ignored mounting European appeals on Saturday to release a British-flagged tanker as London denounced a "dangerous move" and summoned a senior diplomat of the Islamic republic.  (HO/AFP/Getty Images)

Five men were seen to descend to the deck of the Stena Impero while an off-camera voice shouts "God is Great!" When the U.S. failed to react after its drone was shot down close to the waterway a month earlier, it no doubt emboldened Tehran to continue its anti-sanctions acting-out manoeuvres. Iran's Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei right out boasted that the Stena Impero interdiction was "reciprocal action" for the Iranian tanker Grace 1's apprehension, going on to denounce the "illegitimate economic war" being waged on Iran.

There are reports that The RGC has raised an Iranian flag over the Sena Impero, another poke in Britain's sensitive eyeball. London now warns all British shipping away from the Strait of Hormuz where a fifth of the world's oil passes through the Persian Gulf. One British MP stood up in the House of Commons to fault his government for not having taken proactive preventive action knowing that Tehran was planning 'consequences'. When the U.S. offered 'assets' in defence of British shipping, the U.K. politely declined.

"Our action in the Persian Gulf is to uphold international rules", wrote Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking of the interception of the Iranian tanker as "piracy". Britain, he tweeted should "cease being an accessory" to American sanctions against Iran. The Gibraltar Supreme Court has granted the right to continue to detain the Grace 1 for another 30 days while investigating its destination in delivery of the oil it carries.

As for Britain, its UN mission has written to the Security Council with a copy to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in an appeal to its authority to issue a condemnation of Iran.

"The ship was exercising the lawful right of transit passage in an international strait as provided for under international law. International law requires that the right of transit passage shall not be impeded, and therefore the Iranian action constitutes illegal interference."
"Current tensions are extremely concerning, and our priority is to de-escalate. We do not seek confrontation with Iran. But it is unacceptable and highly escalatory to threaten shipping going about its legitimate business through internationally recognized transit corridors."

This image grab taken from a video provided by Iran's Revolutionary Guard official website via SEPAH News on July 20, 2019, allegedly shows Revolutionary Guard Corps boarding the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz.  (HO/AFP/Getty Images)

Getting On With It

"It is said that those who voted Leave were mainly driven by anxieties about immigration. I do not believe that is so. After meeting thousands of people in the course of the campaign, I can tell you that the number one issue was control -- a sense that British democracy was being undermined by the EU system, and that we should restore to the people that vital power: to kick out their rulers at elections, and to choose new ones."
"I believe that millions of people who voted Leave were also inspired by the belief that Britain is a great country, and that outside the job-destroying coils of EU bureaucracy we can survive and thrive as never before. I think that they are right in their analysis, and right in their choice. And yet we who agreed with this majority verdict must accept that it was not entirely overwhelming."
Boris Johnson, Conservative MP, former London mayor

"They are benefiting each day that goes by without it being clear what will happen next."
"They profit as long as it doesn't become clear that leaving the EU might have consequences."
Andreas Mauer, political science professor, University of Innsbruck, Austria

Britain's opposition Labour party plunged into turmoil Sunday and the prospect of Scottish independence drew closer, ahead of a showdown with EU leaders over the U.K.'s seismic vote to leave the bloc. (Odd Anderson/AFP/Getty Images)

British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose profound regret over the success of the Leave votes trumping the Remain votes by a not totally substantial margin has caused him to take the brunt of responsibility for his belief that in calling for the resolution to take place he would once and for all put an end to the machinations in his own party to exit the European Union, by stepping down from his office; at the same time as acknowledging the will of the people, feels there should be no hurry to make the exit final.

The Treaty of Lisbon, Article 50 allows Britain or any other country that chooses to take the once-unfathomable step of leaving to take their time. And so, David Cameron sees Britain doing just that and in the interim negotiating special terms for Britain. To enable it to protect its economy by allowing Britain special access to the EU market, emulating Norway. The sticking point, of course, is that the major points propelling the Leave vote was open borders and immigration, and Britain would still have to adhere to the Schengen rule to enable access to the wider EU market.

Another is that the reaction from the elite in the European Union is that quick work should be made of the separation. That since Britain has voted to leave the marriage, the injured party feels no compulsion to make Britain feel comfortable about its decision, and to exercise an avuncular attitude to assure it that it will not suffer any consequences for its ill-considered move. You want out, they're saying, so get out!

British youth are livid with rage over the vote they attribute largely to an elderly countryside vote. The Brexit decision will impact British youth far more than it will those who voted to leave. Their easy access to studying, working, travelling and even living in the rest of Europe will come to a clanking close. Three-quarters of Brits ages 18 to 24 voted to remain in the EU, as did close to two-thirds of the 24 to 34 cohort. Even so, while senior Brits made the effort to actually get out and vote, youth voted in far fewer numbers. In the annals of you get what you deserve, this is a gem.

 

A pro-European Union protester holds a sign near the Palace of Westminster in London on Friday, protesting Britain's decision to leave the European Union. (Marc-André Cossette/CBC)

Britain, at the moment, lacks someone at the helm of its steering mechanism for the ship of state. The Prime Minister will make no decisions, insisting that this is the work of his successor who may or may not take that helm by September. And if he does, it will likely be Boris Johnson who effectively steered the country toward voting to leave the EU. "Never has a revolution in Britain's position in the world been advocated with such carelessness", claimed The Guardian's Nick Cohen, accusing Mr. Johnson of contempt for the practical issues of the economy.

But there are other consequences that loom in the near future that will be far more troubling should they come to pass for Great Britain than merely exiting the EU as a member-state. Britain itself could be exited by Scotland and Northern Ireland, while Wales could remain with Britain even as Scotland and Northern Ireland choose to separate themselves from Britain to stay in the EU. Another referendum on Scotland leaving Britain, and on Northern Ireland reuniting with the Republic is being bruited about.

So is Britain on track to make history as the first and the only country in Europe to desert the EU? Doesn't look that way. France, it seems, is hugely more disparaging of the interfering nature of the EU than even the Brits. And there are many in Germany who are restive and prepared to see their country exit as well, despite the importance of Germany as a stabilizing factor in the politics and economy of the European alliance.

The world is still reeling from Brexit, but there are other iterations of potential national exits such as Departugal, Italeave, Czechout and others, named by economist Justin Wolfers in an attempt at injecting humour into an otherwise sober situation to quell the growing panic. A Pew Research Center poll indicated that sixty-one percent of French citizens view the EU in an unfavourable light, which represents a greater figure than those in Britain who voted to leave.

That same poll showed that a majority of Greeks and a plurality of Spaniards had similar misgivings about remaining within the European Union, preferring to return powers from Brussels to their own countries; and they're certainly not alone. "The majority of the people want the Nexit or at least a referendum about a possible Nexit", according to Geert Wilders, a Dutch leader. "Today is the beginning of the end of the European Union."

The Genie Escaped

"To be honest my understanding of the Middle East is a lot deeper today than it was when I was prime minister, quite frankly."
"For sure we underestimated profoundly the forces that were at work in the region and would take advantage of change once you topple the regime. That is the lesson. The lesson is not complicated. The lesson is simple. It is that when you remove a dictatorship out come these forces of destabilization whether it is al-Qaeda on the Sunni side or Iran on the Shia side."
"I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong. I also apologize for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime."
"Airstrikes are not going to defeat [ISIL]. It does not mean it has to be our forces all the time -- it could be that our forces are in support. But be in no doubt, if you want to defeat these people you are going to have to wage a proper ground war against them. The only question for us is whether we are prepared to."
Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Britain : UN Middle East Envoy

(Stefan Rousseau / PA via AP) Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepares to address a forum on Britain in the World in London.

History will always be re-written by those who find real events discouraging in retrospect. And so, the mantra that incorrect information had been received and relied upon on which to base the decision to invade Iraq was responsible for the invasion and for its long and far-reaching consequences is rather another in a long list of outright lies. Most people who were interested in the suspenseful period when President G.W. Bush was agitating for agreement internationally on a coalition led by the United States to invade Iraq and free it from its dictator recall the televised presentations by Colin Powell.

Colin Powell, the popular general who became part of the Republican administration because he was admired and trusted and even thought of as one time to be a potential future presidential candidate, was used and abused by the White House, as then-Secretary-of-State. He was their credible explainer of the situation, speaking of the Saddam administration carefully taking steps to keep its nuclear weapons from view, using special vehicles to take them from one part of the country to another so their presence would remain undetected.

But trust him, the man whom the White House manipulated; the weapons of mass destruction were there and they were threats to humanity and to the international community. There was a credible element there. It was fairly well known that Saddam Hussein was fascinated by weapons of attack, and contracted with inventors to create military field pieces capable of destroying at long distances, but most of this was nonsense, just as his attainment of nuclear weapons were, as justification of invasion.

It seems that G.W. Bush was critical of his father's decision as president during an earlier invasion to oust Iraq from Kuwait not to advance the international troops led by the United States and sanctioned by the United Nations right to the capital of Baghdad, at that time to take out Saddam Hussein; the elder Bush in his wisdom made the decision to leave Iraq intact under its Baathist tyrant. Perhaps he had a more well-rounded understanding of the violence-and-sectarian-prone demographics of the tribal Middle East than his son.

Perhaps his son was simply more arrogant in his ignorance and determined to do his father one better. Whereas France chose to stand down on this occasion, Great Britain became a champion of George W. Bush's vision as liberator of Iraq, only too happy to accept the premise that an invasion was inevitable because of the threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of an Iraqi butcher. The irony is that the country that Iraq engaged in a brutal killing war for years is now on the cusp of acquiring nuclear weapons and now that Sunnis no longer sit in Baghdad's power seat, Iraq and Iran are best friends.

But it is precisely because the minority Iraqi Sunnis, in Saddam's absence, no longer control Baghdad, that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, growing out of that disempowered Sunni demographic, threatening the entire Middle East and beyond with its medieval brand of butchery now poses an international threat. When the Iraqi Shiite majority felt entitled to turning the tables on the once-powerful Sunnis, the stage was set for a sectarian revenge that would have the repercussions that has bifurcated both Iraq and its neighbour Syria.

On the one hand there is the government, no longer in full authority of the entire geography that once made up a country, and on the other there are the divisions created by rebels, Islamist jihadis and the Kurds who represent the only significantly capable and effective fighting force capable of defending the country and its disparate minority ethnic and religious parts from the atrocities of Islamic State. To admit to a 'misunderstanding' leading to a decision with such far-reaching consequences is the very least of a mea culpa pointing out the malfeasance of ignorance paired with power.

Scottish Muslims push for independence ahead of vote

Most Scottish Muslims favor independence, with a major motivation being the ‘unlawful’ war in Iraq. (Photo courtesy: Twitter)

 

By Jenny McCall | Special to Al Arabiya News
Wednesday, 17 September 2014 

 

Millions in Scotland will take part on Thursday in a referendum on whether to remain part of the UK. Some 700 years after the war for a free Scotland, independence this time could be won by a simple vote.

Polls show that it is too close to call, but that most Scottish Muslims, as well as other ethnic minorities, are likely to vote yes. Out of almost 6 million people in Scotland, 1.4% are Muslim.
According to a poll by Asian radio station Awaz FM, 64% of Asians in Scotland, mostly Muslim, would vote for independence.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, a lawyer from Glasgow and national women’s officer for the pro-independence Scottish National Party, says Scotland needs to control its own foreign policy and immigration issues.

Policies imposed on Scotland by the UK government have caused a surge in popularity for far-right groups such as the UK Independence Party, she added.

“UKIP have managed to gain ground south of the border. We don’t want this in Scotland,” she said.

Scots Asians for Independence society. Picture courtesy of the Scots Asians for Independence Society

“We have a white paper called ‘Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland,’ and it outlines that people living legally in Scotland at the time of independence can remain.”

Ahmed-Sheikh says independence will lead to the closure of immigration detention centers such as Dungavel, located in Scotland.

“Scottish Muslims have a voice and it counts. For anyone still undecided, their vote should be yes,” she said.

Many Scottish Muslims say the UK government acted unlawfully in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ahmed-Sheikh said: “I speak to Muslims all the time across Scotland, and there is a strong feeling that being independent will allow us more control over foreign policy. No longer will we be led into ‘illegal wars’.”

Nighet Riaz, the main facilitator for the Scottish Asian independence campaign, said: “Voting yes in the referendum will allow Scotland to be a beacon of hope across the globe. We will be peace-makers, as it means we can control our foreign-policy decisions and won’t be led into conflict unnecessarily.”

Riaz says this is not about being anti-English, keeping the pound is a non-issue, and this is a natural evolution for Scotland.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh with Alex Salmond first Prime Minister of Scotland. Picture courtesy of Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh

“We have contributed to the UK, and yes we should keep the pound. There are other countries that use the dollar.”

With Scotland hosting the recent Commonwealth Games, the sense of nationalism displayed during the competition appears to have heightened the desire for independence.

Mohammed Shahzad, who lives in Scotland and represented Pakistan in the games, plans to vote yes.
Like most Scottish Muslims, he wants the country to be able to control its own resources and wealth.
“The vast majority of my Muslim friends here in Scotland will be voting yes in the referendum. We want an independent Scotland,” he said.

“This country is so friendly to other cultures and nationalities, and a lot more accepting of the Muslim community versus the rest of the UK.”

Shahzad believes that the first few years of independence will be tough. However, his real fear is a “negative backlash” if a majority vote to remain in the UK, because of “the fact that we are even thinking about independence.”

He said he did not feel threatened by Scottish nationalism during the Commonwealth Games. “I loved every minute of the competition, and the Scottish people wore their national colours. It was great to see.”

However, some Scottish Muslims see a potential dark side to nationalism.
“We need to stick with the UK... The world is moving in such a way that nationalism could mean racism,” said Yasar Yousafzai, a PHD student from Glasgow University, adding that Scotland is the most accepting place he has ever lived.

He said separation could also lead to funding cuts in academic research within universities.

Mohammed Shahzad competing in the Commonwealth games with athletes from the Scottish team. Picture courtesy of Mohammed Shazard

Dr Imran Ahmad, a clinical lecturer at Glasgow University, also says separation could lead to a decrease in university funding as well as healthcare resources.

“It’s not been explicitly said, but it has been implied that we get better funding for research being part of the UK,” he said.

However, Ahmad disagrees that nationalism could lead to racism. “I think Scotland is very open, there will not be an increase in segregation if we become independent.”

Last Update: Wednesday, 17 September 2014 KSA 15:41 - GMT 12:41