NORTHERN IRELAND

Greyhound racing is not a sport, says junior minister for sport

Minister of State for Sport Thomas Byrne and Minister for Culture Catherine Martin launched a major international sports events policy and strategy framework at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (PA)

By Gráinne Ní Aodha,

PAToday

Greyhound racing is “not a sport” and is not as popular as it used to be, junior minister Thomas Byrne has said.

The minister of state with responsibility for sport and physical education said that greyhound racing is “an industry” rather than a sport.

He added if its state funding were to be reduced, it should not be assumed that it would go to sports organisations.

The Government increased funding for horse and greyhound racing by 4.1 million euro in Budget 2025, bringing the total state funding for greyhound racing to 19.8 million euro.

It's an industry, effectively, and it's a traditional industry that, quite frankly, isn't as popular as it once was

Thomas Byrne

Asked whether that funding should instead go towards supporting Ireland’s athletes, Mr Byrne said “zero” funding was allocated by his department to greyhound racing.

“It’s not seen as a sport, it’s not under Sport Ireland, it’s not under our department,” Mr Byrne said.

“It’s within the Department of Agriculture and I think if that money were taken from greyhounds, I assume the Department of Agriculture would want to keep it.

“I don’t think it should be assumed that it automatically goes to sport. It’s not a sport. It’s not a sport under Sport Ireland, it’s not in competition with our sports.”

He added: “It’s an industry, effectively, and it’s a traditional industry that, quite frankly, isn’t as popular as it once was.”

Asked whether state funding for greyhound racing should be decreased, he said: “I want to prioritise the increasing of funding for sport.”

Mr Byrne said that Government funding for sports had “gone to another level”, doubling in less than 10 years.

“The funding for sport includes funding for high performance, funding for national governing bodies, facilities, major events, but there’s also other funding around the place that doesn’t get counted. So for example, Tallaght Stadium, that was funded by the Department of Housing.

“There are other examples of that around the country, local authorities fund a lot of local sporting projects.

“Our sporting budget in our department is at record levels, and we want that to increase even further. But there’s lots of other sources of funding for sport around the country that aren’t included in that. But we give nothing to greyhound racing, and it is not considered a sport.”

Mr Byrne was speaking at an event at the Aviva Stadium, alongside Culture and Sports Minister Catherine Martin, to launch a Ireland’s national strategy for hosting major international sporting events.

How Podcasts Have Changed the Game in the 2024 Election

By Luis Mendoza
October 17, 2024

US Senator Kamala Harris speaking with attendees at the 2019 Iowa Democratic Wing Ding at Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Credit: Gage Skidmore – CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

As the 2024 Presidential Election in the United States looms closer, both candidates are trying to win as many votes as possible in the remaining weeks.

This seems to be the reason why Kamala Harris is reportedly looking into appearing in one of the most popular podcasts in the world, Joe Rogan’s ‘The Joe Rogan Experience”.

According to a report by Reuters, the Vice President would be considering making an appearance on the podcast in an attempt to sway male voters to vote for her.

Podcast appearances were not usual for presidential candidates before this election, especially not those that are popular amongst younger audiences. During the 2020 election, both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris appeared in the Save America Pod, which was hosted by former President Barack Obama as part of their campaign efforts.

President Trump on the other hand saw the potential of collaborating with popular podcasts such as Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast, Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend”, and Adin Ross’s stream on Kick. It seems that podcast appearances are here to stay, and will likely continue to play a crucial role in future elections.

How Podcasts Changed the game in the 2024 US Presidential election
Podcasts hosted by influencers have become an internet juggernaut thanks to the surge of TikTok, Instagram reels, and YouTube shorts, mainly because of the nature of the content.

The way this type of content works is simple: An influencer, (or anyone really) records an entire podcast, and then the best clips are cut, and uploaded to these platforms generating millions of likes and reaching millions of mostly young people.


This also applies to streamers like Adin Ross, iShowSpeed, and Kai Cennant, who split their hours-long streams, and the best bits are uploaded to the platforms gaining millions of views and thousands of likes.

Trump was the first one to recognize podcast’s potential for his political goals

During the 2024 election, former President Donald Trump was the first to see the potential alternative media such as video podcasts and streams, which he has used as a new way to reach millions by making a single appearance.

Trump accomplished this by appearing in four of the most popular podcasts and streams among young men in the United States.

During the election, the former president appeared on Theo Von’s Podcast, Adin Ross’s stream, Logan Paul’s Podcast, and Lex Friedman’s podcast.

In them, he clearly understood these shows enabled them to be more authentic. For instance, during his appearance with Theo Von, who is a comedian from Louisiana, he went as far as to talk about how the comedian struggled with substance addiction, telling viewers he had “never had alcohol or drugs himself.”

The podcast currently sits at a staggering 13 million views on YouTube.

Former President Trump’s appearance in Adin Ross’ stream was somewhat more chaotic, as it featured the streamer gifting Trump a Rolex and a custom-painted Tesla Cybertruck which was a potential violation of federal campaign finance law.

This stream currently sits at 2.6 million views on YouTube and peaked at 500,000 viewers on the streaming platform, Kick.

However, the true reach of this podcast is not the full-time interview, instead, the political value for the candidates really is on the countless clips that reach millions of people.

Trump has clearly benefitted from this format as he is considered one of the most charismatic and entertaining political leaders in the world.

Kamala Harris was late to the Podcast revolution but might need podcasts to win the election

Unlike Donald Trump who went to these podcasts that are clearly targeted toward men, Vice President Harris opted to appear on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy”, which is the most popular podcast for women under 35 on Spotify.

In this podcast, Vice President Harris did a deep dive into policy, something that has been rare in this election but also aimed to have a more chilled-out look for audiences that are used to a show about sex and relationships.

Harris did not receive any extravagant gifts and did not have “locker room talk” like Trump did in his appearances, but still had fun as she constantly laughed at host Cooper’s comments. She did so while discussing serious topics like the housing crisis and women’s reproductive rights in the country, which has become a major talking point during this campaign.

But this was not the only major podcast Vice President Harris appeared in during the 2024 Presidential Election. Kamala Harris also appeared on “All The Smoke”,which is a basketball podcast with over 1 million subscribers on YouTube. This appearance currently sits at 595,000 views on YouTube and covers topics like mental health race issues, and history of protests in the United States.

Podcasts will continue to play a crucial role in American politics


The bottom line is that internet podcasts and streams have become almost like the new late-night TV shows, but only better in terms of reach and immediateness.

Historically, political figures, celebrities and sports stars alike used to appear on late-night TV shows and they served as a platform to increase their popularity.

Before announcing his candidacy for the 1976 Republican primary, Ronald Reagan appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

Still, the most popular late-night show at its peak could not ever reach the amount of engagement TikTok, Instagram reels and YouTube shorts have.

When Reagan appeared on the show, with luck, you could find it the next day in the newspaper (because it was late-night TV). Now, when Harris or Trump when on the platforms, the impact was immediate.

There might be many issues, with candidates using podcasts as a platform for future presidential elections in the United States, like many of the hosts simply not being prepared to oppose a presidential candidate with questions or the lack of challenging claims.

The reality is, however, that internet podcasts and streams are here to stay because they offer unrivaled reach and immediateness, and this will likely change the media landscape for the future U.S. presidential elections.

Moldova's election and referendum – what’s at stake?

Republic of Moldova / COMMENTARY
Amanda Paul
Date: 17/10/2024

Moldova will hold presidential elections and a referendum on EU membership on 20 October, marking the most significant votes since the country’s independence in 1991. The outcome will shape the country’s future, geostrategic direction. Recent polling suggests strong voter enthusiasm, and trust in the current President, Maia Sandu, and strong support for joining the EU. However, the outcome is far from certain, with a risk of Russian interference and disruption of the votes.

Moldova’s EU journey

For decades, Moldova has swung between pro-European and pro-Russian influences. However, in recent years, the EU and Chișinău have deepened relations. Moldova’s 2014 Association Agreement (AA) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU significantly strengthened relations while spurring crucial reform in the country. Moldova also secured visa liberalisation with the EU in the same year. While many Moldovans already have Romanian passports, this step has further strengthened ties at the societal level.

Yet, the fact that EU membership was never on the table left Moldova in a hostile geopolitical grey environment. Russia used its vast hybrid warfare toolbox and proxies to push back against the deepening of ties with the EU, including through disinformation campaigns, cyber-attacks, and illegal political financing.


Kremlin backed political parties, such as the now-banned party of oligarch Ihor Shor (it was declared unconstitutional by Moldova’s Constitutional Court), the Kremlin-allied breakaway republic of Transnistria, where Russia has a military base, and the Russian-speaking autonomous region of Gagauzia, have been important vessels spreading Russian propaganda and creating instability. Furthermore, shutting down Russian-backed parties frequently results in the creation of new ones.


The impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine


Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has had a profound impact on neighbour Moldova. Beyond the security crisis with multiple violations of its airspace by Russian missiles, with debris landing on its territory, Chișinău has also faced an energy crisis. Additionally, skyrocketing inflation has had a devasting impact on the already impoverished population. The war triggered an immediate shift in Moldova-Russia relations. Chișinău threw its support behind Kyiv and froze official ties with Russia. No meetings have taken place at a bilateral level or in regional groupings since. Furthermore, many politicians who were once friendly with the Kremlin, now want to avoid being labelled pro-Russian. The exception to his is Shor, who has been openly vote-buying.


The EU Response


Russia’s war of aggression was a huge wake-up call for EU leaders, who finally realised that their security is inextricably linked to that of their eastern neighbours, recognising the foolhardiness of leaving these states in a grey zone. After years of dormancy, enlargement returned to the EU’s agenda as a geopolitical imperative. When Ukraine submitted its application for EU membership on 28 February 2022, Moldova quickly followed. Accession negotiations were officially opened on 24 June 2004, following Chișinău meeting a set of priorities. Both the EU and a number of EU member states have been working in support of Moldova reducing its vulnerabilities to Russian interference, and have been shepherding a clear EU membership path. However, the results of the Presidential election or referendum risk delaying or even derailing Moldova’s EU journey.


Moldova’s date with destiny


The first round of the Presidential vote will take place on 20 October. If none of the 11 candidates win over 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff on 3 November. Incumbent President, Maia Sandu, who represents the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), currently has a significant lead in the polls with some 36.1% support. Moving ahead with EU membership is the cornerstone of her campaign and is particularly popular with the younger generation and the middle class.


Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor general, is her main challenger, polling around 10-11% and has also declared European integration a priority. While he also holds that relations with Russia should be pragmatic and mutually beneficial. Although he is a political newbie, this could make him a bigger challenge if Sandu runs off against him in a second round. Those unhappy with her leadership may consolidate around him. His vote base will include many of the older generation,people from rural areas and those who feel they have become poorer in recent times. This include A significant part of the Russian-speaking population.


Stoianoglo is backed by the pro-Russian Party of Socialists, whose leader, ex-president Igor Dodon, is the nation’s most popular opposition politician. It seems Dodon chose not to run to open the way for Stoianoglo. Sandu has publicly declared his candidature as a Kremlin plot to have thieves return to Moldova. Thus, the election will be a litmus test for assessing the level of Russian support in the country.


Implications of the result


A double victory for the country’s pro-western forces in the presidential election as well as the referendum would consolidate Moldova’s western trajectory and EU membership goal. However, much depends on the outcome of the constitutional referendum, which aims to enshrine EU membership as a strategic goal in the constitution. The vote is a test of the national will and commitment to a future in the EU.


Currently , the pro-European camp appears to be heading for victory, with polls indicating that around 53% of citizens intend to support the constitutional change. However, this does not include the potential vote of the approximately one million Moldovans living abroad as well as the some 300.000 citizens residing in Transnistria. In the past, there has been a low turnout of those residing in Transnistria as they need to travel to Moldova. However, there has been an unexpectedly high number of registrations from Russia, which has raised concerns over potential undue influence on these voters.


Russian interference


Russian interference is a major threat to both the integrity of the referendum and presidential elections. In June 2024 the UK, the US and Canada issued a statement flagging Russian efforts to undermine the elections. Moscow is throwing everything it has into this fight. Beyond the well-known and still impactful narrative that the EU will destroy Moldova’s traditional values, artificial intelligence, including deep fakes, is increasingly used by the Kremlin. One fake video in which Sandu was seen banning people from drinking a popular berry-infused tea due to EU regulations, caused a national outcry.


Still, Moldova has gained important experience countering Russian hybrid warfare and is much better equipped to push back, and so are Chișinău partners. The government recently blocked numerous Telegram channels and chatbots calling on voters to cast "no" ballots in the referendum. This includes Shors Telegram accounts. In addition, US tech giant Meta recently removed a network of group accounts from Facebook and Instagram targeting Russian-speakers in Moldova.


Steps to increase the country’s cyber and information security through the establishment of a robust cyber security infrastructure have also been taken. During the 2023 local Moldovan elections, there were large-scale cyber-attacks. Such incidents risk the election results being called into question.


Civil society organisations and independent media are also playing a crucial role in strengthening the country’s resilience, security and stability at national and local levels. Still, the recent European Parliament Resolution urging Russia to respect Moldova’s independence and cease political interference, underscores the magnitude of the challenges the country faces. The resolution highlights alleged “voter bribery, cyber operations and information warfare”, involving “a plethora of malicious actors, including the state-funded RT network.


A make-or-break moment


With the stakes so high, the upcoming elections and accompanying referendum were always going to be a battle for Moldova’s future. The results will either consolidate Chișinău’s EU membership path or keep Moldova in a grey zone. Either result will have major consequences not only for Moldova but also for the EU’s and regional security and stability.

Most of Moldovan territory was a part of the Principality of Moldavia from the 14th century until 1812, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Ottoman Empire (to which Moldavia was a vassal state) and became known as Bessarabia. In 1856, southern Bessarabia was returned to Moldavia, which three years later united with Wallachia to form Romania, but Russian rule was restored over the whole of the region in 1878. During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Bessarabia briefly became an autonomous state within the Russian Republic. In February 1918, it declared independence and then integrated into Romania later that year following a vote of its assembly. The decision was disputed by Soviet Russia, which in 1924 established, within the Ukrainian SSR, a so-called Moldavian autonomous republic on partially Moldovan-inhabited territories to the east of Bessarabia. In 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, leading to the creation of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian SSR).

No atrocity is enough for Keir Starmer’s government to condemn Israel

Keir Starmer's continued commitment to selling UK arms to Israel following the deadly attacks on Lebanon shows there is no red line, argues Daniel Lindley.

Perspectives
NEW ARAB
Daniel Lindley
16 Oct, 2024


In the UK, Keir Starmer’s Labour government have conducted themselves exactly how they behaved in opposition, following the US' line, writes Daniel Lindley. [GETTY]


Shortly after the end of World War One, the Zionist leaders Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion presented a map to the Paris Peace Conference laying out the borders they wanted for their Jewish State in Palestine. The northern borders were defined as “starting on the North at a point on the Mediterranean Sea in the vicinity south of Sidon and following the watersheds of the foothills of the Lebanon as far as Jisr El-Karaon thence to El-Bire…”. For those unfamiliar with the geography, this would place the borders of the Jewish State some 15-30 miles north of Israel’s current internationally recognised borders. It would also include most of the Litani River basis, the biggest source of water in the area. Indeed, the border proposals were based on the work of the Zionist botanist Aaron Aaronsohn, who insisted that control of the Litani River would fulfill the Jewish State’s need for irrigation water in the north.

Although they failed to convince the British and French to change the boundaries of Palestine to include the Litani River, securing these lands continued to be a long-term Zionist goal after the founding of the State of Israel. In 1978, Israel launched ‘Operation Litani’ where most of southern Lebanon up to the Litani River was placed under Israeli occupation until 2000, when Israel withdrew following a Lebanese resistance campaign led by Hezbollah. In 2006, Israel again invaded Lebanon, during which the Israeli Army bombed “open water channels and underground water diversion pipes”, “a pumping station”, “the Litani water reservoir, the Litani dam.”

Again in 2024, Israel has declared its goal is to force Hezbollah north of the Litani.

Israeli weapons of mass destruction are a real-life Frankenstein

Perspectives

Richard Silverstein

This retorts the refrains that Israel’s more recent invasions of Lebanon are caused by the presence of Hezbollah, when Israel has been invading and occupying parts of Lebanon long before that organisation even existed. The one constant in the last 100 years of this conflict is that southern Lebanon has the best water resource in the area and the Zionist movement/Israel want more water for their state.

Undermining international law

The complete impunity Israel has committed its genocidal rampage in Gaza has set the stage for even more atrocities in Lebanon. Netanyahu has explicitly threatened the “people of Lebanon” that if they don’t stop Hezbollah, they will face “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza,” making a mockery of any claims that Israel only harms civilians inadvertently.

At this point, whenever a US or British leader says they don’t want Israel to do something, it’s best to assume that Israel is about to do just that very thing. As was pointed out in a Politico article recently, contrary to its public statement, the Biden administration is very much on board with Israel’s terrorist campaigns. They see this as a “history-defining moment” that will “reshape the Middle East… for years to come.”

In the UK, Keir Starmer’s Labour government have conducted themselves exactly how they behaved in opposition, following the US' line. Last year Sky News political editor Beth Rigby bluntly described the situation as “task for Starmer is align to US” when it was pointed out that 76% of the British public support a ceasefire in Gaza. They fundamentally do not regard it as the UK’s role to even have a policy of its own, but to act as a loyal vassal.

From Gaza to Sudan local reporters are a voice to the voiceless

Unfiltered

Fatima el Issawi

We’ve reached a new paradigm where any kind of pretence to respect international law, norms or basic morality have been thrown entirely out the window when it comes to Israel. All that matters is an Israeli victory.

It barely seems believable now, but when Israel assassinated the then leader of Hamas Ahmed Yassin in 2004, it was condemned by then Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the Foreign Secretary referred to it as an ‘unlawful killing’. Particular outrage was aimed at the fact that the assassination had been carried out by a bombing which also killed several nearby civilians. There was still some sense that it wasn’t legitimate to excuse civilian deaths by just saying you were trying to kill an enemy in the area. In fact, in 2009 then Israeli Minister Moshe Yaalon cancelled a visit to the UK for fear he’d be arrested for ordering the killing of a Hamas leader by dropping a one-ton bomb in a densely populated area of Gaza, killing 14 other civilians.

Civilian deaths

Being outraged about that seems rather quaint these days, when Israel drops 80 tons of bombs that levelled an entire city block in Beirut just to assassinate one man. There’s been much speculation about the potential intelligence failure that caused Nasrallah’s assassination, however, accounts shared in the media seem unconvincing with little basis in fact, as why would Israeli officials be publicising their methods to the press?

Certainly, what has been considerably overlooked in the media, is the sheer escalation in the scale of civilian death Israel is now allowed to inflict due to Western governments not even pretending to care anymore.
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Israel has attempted to assassinate Nasrallah before, famously in 2006 he only narrowly escaped when Israel bombed his office. From the description of events, it seems likely that if Israel used 80 tons of bombs back then to destroy the entire area, they would have succeeded. The real difference is the removal of any limits on Israel by its American backers, despite Israel’s own leaders admitting their military couldn’t function without their material support.

After all the live-streamed atrocities of this past year - and a new UN report accusing Israel of ‘crime of extermination’ through deliberate destruction of Gaza’s health care system - Starmer stated this week that his government “will never stop selling weapons to Israel.” It doesn’t get much clearer than that. There is absolutely no line that Israel can cross, no atrocity it can commit, for it to become too much for this utterly immoral government.


Daniel Lindley is a trade union activist in the UK.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.

UK considering sanctions on Israeli ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir

The sanctions are in response to Smotrich’s comments that starving civilians in Gaza might be justified and Ben-Gvir’s remarks that violent settlers are heroes.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK is weighing sanctions on Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir [Jaimi Joy/Reuters]

Published On 16 Oct 2024

The United Kingdom is considering sanctioning Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over incendiary comments made about Palestinians.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that he was mulling the sanctions in response to Smotrich‘s comments that starving civilians in Gaza might be justified and Ben-Gvir’s remarks that perpetrators of settler violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were heroes.

The UK’s previous foreign secretary, David Cameron, had planned to sanction the Israeli officials before his then-governing Conservative Party lost an election in July, he revealed earlier this week.

“We are looking at that because they’re obviously abhorrent comments,” the prime minister said.

Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir said the threat of sanctions would not deter them from changing their positions.

“They don’t scare me and I will continue to act only according to Israel’s highest national interests,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement, while Smotrich said, “No threat will prevent me from doing the right and moral thing for the citizens of Israel.”

Starmer was speaking ahead of a meeting at the United Nations Security Council to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza called by the UK, France and Algeria.

Starmer’s government has been slighter tougher on the country than the previous Conservative administration, limiting some arms exports and sanctioning some Israeli settler organisations.

Both Ben Gvir and Smotrich are vocal supporters of Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, which is considered illegal under international law.

Starmer told lawmakers on Wednesday that “the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire”.

“Israel must take all possible steps to avoid civilian casualties, to allow aid into Gaza in much greater volumes and provide the UN humanitarian partners the ability to operate effectively,” Starmer said.

Earlier, the United States said the humanitarian situation must improve or Israel could face potential restrictions on US military aid.

Israel’s envoy to the UN said they will ensure aid reaches those who need it.

Starmer to right of Italian far right on Israel as Meloni blocks all arms

BySKWAWKBOX (SW)

16/10/2024

Italy’s total block on arms exports to Israel shames ‘Labour’ government

Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and the Starmer front bench are now to the right of Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and the fascist-adjacent Brothers of Italy party that she leads on Israel and it’s genocide in Gaza.

Meloni, who has spoken out before against Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian civilians, has announced her decision to ban all arms shipments to Israel.

Meanwhile, Labour made a token ban on a fraction of arms components that is designed to be bypassed because it still allows parts to be sent via other countries – and when challenged yesterday to say what action it will take to stop Israel bombing and burning innocent’s, a government minister Anneliese Dodds would only answer that the UK will keep monitoring the situation and Israel’s attacks.

Brothers of Italy is considered a descendant of Mussolini’s Italian fascists, but it is more interested in stopping mass murder than Starmer and his acolytes.

Israeli weapons of mass destruction are a real-life Frankenstein

Israel's dystopian weapons industry poses a threat to humanity, with the Hezbollah pager attacks setting a dangerous precedent, says Richard Silverstein.

Perspectives
NEW ARAB
Richard Silverstein
14 Oct, 2024



Like a spoiled child, whatever Israel wants, Israel gets,

 writes Richard Silverstein [photo credit: Getty Images]

Israel specialises in weapons of mass destruction.

In the 1990s, Israel pioneered the use of armed drones in warfare and was the first to use exploding cell phones in assassinations. Thirty years later, Israel was among the first to use satellite-operated, AI-guided, autonomous weapons, to assassinate an Iranian nuclear scientist.

Israel has also spearheaded various forms of mass surveillance, including facial recognition and social media data mining. It does so via search algorithms targeting keywords which psychologists and intelligence agents have identified as indicators of radical inclination or concrete plans.

More recently, Israeli agents established an elaborate plan to sabotage a shipment of electronic pagers purchased by Hezbollah.

Thousands of the devices were distributed to their members. When they received a text message generated by the Mossad, they all exploded within an hour of each other. The next day they did the same thing with cell phones. They killed 40 Lebanese including three children. Nearly 4,000 were severely injured, many blinded as a result of eye injuries, as they looked at the messages on the screen.

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Ravale Mohydin

Israel's brazen attack represents the first mass sabotage of everyday communication devices, used by much of the world. It sets an unimaginably dangerous precedent.

Imagine if, in the future, Israel or other states devise ways not just to hack, but to explode all communications devices of major companies such as Google or Apple in a specific country. The result could not only damage overall communications infrastructure but also cost the lives of massive numbers of users.

Israel also has mass cyberwarfare capabilities. It used some of them to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program and hack the communication devices of targeted Palestinians.

It has developed facial recognition technology, compiling databases to collect and analyse images of every Palestinian living in the West Bank.

In doing so, it can track their location, identifying who they meet, where, and when. The foremost military SIGINT entity among global armies, Unit 8200 intercepts every form of communication among Palestinians including email, telephone, texts and phone calls. They are used to recruit Shin Bet informants who spy on their families, neighbours and communities. Israeli intelligence uses such information to assassinate Palestinian resistance leaders.

While Israel gains a momentary advantage or degrades the capability of an enemy — these are tactics, not strategy. They attain a short-term gain instead of a long-term interest.

And to obtain even that small advantage, the costs keep rising. The weapons have to get more powerful, the risks increase, and the death count rises. Meanwhile, Israel grows uglier and more hated.

Israel also relies on old-fashioned military operations. In the past few days, it began what Biden national security officials have falsely labelled a “ground operation” or “limited incursion” into southern Lebanon.

Global media have followed suit. Some are calling it a “targeted operation”. The alleged military goal is the return of 70,000 northern Israeli residents to their homes.

In reality, the invasion will fail to achieve this objective. Despite absorbing blows, Hezbollah still retains 150,000 missiles, some among the most advanced in Iran’s arsenal. They are resisting the military assault on their country and will continue to do so, likely intensifying their resistance.

Israel's 'battle-tested' weapons industry

Israel field tests its weapons against enemies in Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. They provide proof of concept persuading armies, weapons engineers and intelligence agencies throughout the world to purchase them.

In turn, they impose precisely the same regime both inside and outside the country. This in turn fuels a lucrative weapons export market. Israel is ranked 10th in the world regarding the value of such products.

Its innovation in the development of such weapons systems is followed closely by the world’s weapons buyers. The former become products exported to failed states and repressive regimes like Myanmar, South Sudan, UAE, Philippines, etc. which use them to suppress dissent and settle scores with their enemies, just as Israeli does.

Whatever weapons Israel wants, but does not have it obtains from the US.

In the case of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, US-made F35 warplanes, carried US-made bunker-buster bombs, while there are unconfirmed reports of AWAC planes monitoring the assassination in real-time. All were instrumental in the murder plot.

All the while, the Biden administration uses plausible deniability to excuse it all by claiming Israel didn’t warn the US before it acted.

Either the Pentagon is lying to avoid outrage at its role, or it is telling the truth. The latter would indicate that the US is providing its most lethal munitions without any control or restraints.

This violates US law which calls for using exported weapons under international law. The Leahy Law requires the government to end weapons shipments to regimes found to have violated human rights.

The State Department, tasked with such oversight, has deliberately ignored the findings of multiple agencies that Israel was violating both standards, issuing its statement that Israel is not in violation.

Imagine during WWII, if instead of sending thousands of ships filled with food and weapons to Britain to resist the Nazis, the US decided it was in its interest to send an armada to support Hitler’s invasion of the island and the Holocaust. This is akin to what Biden has done, sending a carrier battle group to the region along with 50,000 troops.

Israel's mad march to war

Biden seems to think this threat will cow Iran from attacking Israel. Apparently, it hasn’t worked. After Israel sent its troops into Lebanon, Iran launched 200 missiles targeting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Though Iron Dome intercepted most of them, there are not yet reports concerning any that struck their targets.

Israel has vowed retaliation. We are now in a state of calibrated escalation. Iran could have fired salvos of thousands of missiles. Then Israel would have been justified in a massive response, provoking all-out war. Instead, it fired a smaller number knowing Israel would retaliate in kind.

Though neither side wants to be blamed for starting such a war, Netanyahu has numerous reasons to want one. He is doing everything in his power — from the assassinations of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif to the assassination of Nasrallah — to incite such a catastrophic conflict.

He needs these wars to distract from his unpopularity at home and to delay his corruption trial. He also seeks the distinction of being the only prime minister to launch direct attacks on Israel’s foremost regional enemy, Iran and its nuclear program. Netanyahu’s march toward mayhem continues unobstructed.

How can President Biden believe the US can play any role in such a process? We have no relations with Iran. We have refused to engage in talks with even Iran’s moderate leaders. We have proven instrumental in murdering the leader of its primary regional ally.
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Benjamin Ashraf

The Biden administration seems either oblivious or uncaring regarding the impact this will have on the country’s status in the Arab and Muslim world.

It is implicated in the genocide in Gaza, which some public health experts estimate to be over 300,000 dead from combat and related causes.

It is an accessory to the assassination of one of the most admired leaders in the Muslim world. There is nothing we would not do for Israel. Why would the Arab world not hate America? Even more than it hated this country before these events.

Returning to Israeli cyberwarfare, regulation of these weapons lags far behind their development and use on the battlefield. Neither the UN nor any country regulates their use, permitting Israel to wreak havoc without any restraint from global regulatory authorities. It can develop and manufacture ever more lethal weapons with neither ethical nor legal limits.

Further, international bodies established to prosecute war crimes such as the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice seem powerless to hold Israel accountable for the use of these weapons of mass mayhem. In the former case, its judges failed to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister and Defense Minister. Despite findings by the ICJ that Israel was committing genocide, it has no enforcement mechanism and Israel has ignored the findings.

The story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley mirrors the medieval Jewish golem myth. The latter recounted a pogrom in Prague in which the Jews were attacked by their Christian neighbours. The city’s rabbi created a huge creature out of clay to protect the Jews. He succeeded and the violence stopped. But in doing so the rabbi lost control of the protector of the Jews. He ran amok causing even more danger for them.

To end it, the rabbi destroyed him by turning him back into clay. Israel is a golem wreaking havoc in the Middle East and beyond. Unfortunately, there seems to be no one who can control it or turn it back into clay.

Richard Silverstein writes the Tikun Olam blog and is a freelance journalist specialising in exposing secrets of the Israeli national security state. He campaigns against opacity and the negative impact of Israeli military censorship.
Follow him on Twitter: @richards1052

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.

Syria Insight: Assad keeps his head down amid Gaza, Lebanon wars

Syria's Bashar Al-Assad faces a difficult tightrope walk as allies in the region, such as Hassan Nasrallah, are taken out by Israel in quick succession.

17 October, 2024

If silence is as telling as words then the responses from Arab leaders to Hassan Nasrallah’s death reveal much about the multipolarity of the MENA region and the late Hezbollah leader's place within it.

Three camps became apparent in the days following his demise. First 'the mourners' - including Hezbollah's ideological brethren in Iraq and Yemen - who eulogised Nasrallah's enigmatic life and martyrdom.

Then 'the mute' - resolutely anti-Hezbollah states such as the UAE and Bahrain - who avoided publicly condemning this figurehead of the so-called Axis of Resistance but refused to commemorate a staunch opponent of perceived Sunni Gulf hegemony.

Finally, there were 'the pragmatists' - notably Jordan, Egypt, and surprisingly Saudi Arabia - where there was no love lost for Nasrallah but who still recognised the dangerous new path Lebanon had been thrust down, likely to have grave reverberations for the future.

Such fissures were perhaps most pronounced in divided Syria, with opposition Idlib erupting into a festival of nocturnal joy - due to Hezbollah’s role in expelling many of the province's inhabitants from homes elsewhere in Syria - while in Damascus the atmosphere was more sombre with flags lowered to half-mast, music muffled, and three days of mourning shrouding the city.


Whether this was out of genuine respect for a formidable adversary of Israel or fears of the regime's ever-present intelligence services is impossible to discern, but equally perplexing was the absence of words from Bashar Al-Assad himself, who more than anyone owed a debt of gratitude to the fallen Lebanese commander.

From Friday evening until Sunday Assad remained silent.

Behind closed doors across Syria, tongues likely wagged about this unexplainable delay in condolences, after all, Hezbollah blood fell thick on this land to keep the president in his palace, which could have been perceived either as a petulant snub by Assad of his war-time allies or that he was stupefied into silence, fearing who might be next on Israel’s hit list.

This reflects a broader paradoxical assumption: Assad’s illusion of power hinges on both the Iranian militias that surround him and being a meek and compliant neighbour to Israel.

What will Israel's war on Gaza mean for Syria?

Analysis

Samuel Ramani

What happens if one component in this equation is removed? In this case, the former, as some analysts predict the demise of the Axis of Resistance as Israel reaps the lives of their seemingly imperishable leadership, including Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah (and his successor), and Iranian Quds Force deputy Abbas Nilforoushan.

Bente Scheller, author of 'The Wisdom of Syria’s Waiting Game' and head of the Middle East Division at the Heinrich Boell Foundation, believes possible long-standing tensions within the Axis of Resistance, dating back to the Syria war, are probably not helped by Assad's reticence during this crisis moment for the Iran-led alliance.

"Hezbollah was, absolutely, essential for Assad’s political survival, they were the best-organised militia that came in to help him with the ground offensive against the rebels during the Syria war," Scheller told The New Arab.

"From their side, I think Hezbollah were a little annoyed by the Syrian army because their fighters would go into battle and capture rebel towns, then Syrian soldiers would enter, loot and misbehave. For Assad, he would never have made it with his own troops - without Hezbollah he could not have achieved what he did."

This appears apparent in the country’s southwestern Quneitra province, where Israeli forces have reportedly encroached deeper into Syrian territory over the past week under the guise of the Sufa 53 road project.

The Assad regime has neither confronted the invasion party nor acknowledged any losses to Israel, instead diverting Syrian troops to the frontlines in Idlib province around 400km to the north, ready for a new offensive against the rebels.


Assad’s current opportunism and past reluctance to take back Syrian refugees from Lebanon, a key domestic issue for Hezbollah, will be a difficult pill for the party's supporters to swallow, as its fighters stand alone against an Israeli invasion force in southern Lebanon without a single shot being fired by the Syrian army in support.

"Hezbollah has done their duty for Assad and now he is safe enough to say 'they were useful then but we don’t need to reward them now'," Scheller added.

"In the past two weeks, Assad has clearly not raised his voice for Hezbollah or done anything to protect them, so I think they will be reconsidering what they did for him and why there has been absolutely no response whatsoever from Damascus."

Hezbollah's role in Syria's war was essential to the Assad regime's survival. [Getty/File]

Israel has used the window of opportunity to remind Assad of its omnipotence and his impotence, with a sharp rise in airstrikes on Iran-linked entities across Syria, the Syrian Network for Human Rights monitor has confirmed, increasingly in urban areas with mounting civilian casualties.

This ultimately underlines the regime’s inability to protect its own citizens from external attack, despite the vast sums spent on the military over the decade.

The decision of the regime to prioritise the military during the 'guns or butter' considerations of 2011 onwards likely contributed heavily to Syria's continued economic malaise, yet Syrian air defences appear unable or under orders not to engage Israeli aircraft entering Syria, while the army is in no position to challenge the Israeli invasion force in the occupied Golan Heights.

One unprecedented Israeli airstrike in Mezzeh, Damascus, on 8 October, happened just a short distance from the presidential palace, killing seven civilians including four children. As if to add insult to injury it appears the rockets were fired from Israeli-occupied Syrian land in the Golan.

Is a regional war between Israel and Iran inevitable?

Analysis

Giorgio Cafiero

This massacre and Israel’s assaults on Gaza and Lebanon triggered a small pro-regime rally in Damascus in solidarity with Hezbollah with calls for strikes on Tel Aviv. This is a request that Assad, of course, is unlikely to oblige - after all, unlike the rebels, Israel has an air force, GPS coordinates, and laser-guided missiles.

Despite enduring repeated Israeli blows in recent weeks, Hezbollah remains a somewhat effective fighting force, as Sunday’s drone strike on an Israeli military base demonstrated.

The Syrian regime, on the other hand, appears as vulnerable as ever, with Assad likely aware that any open defiance to Israeli belligerence will result in his own demise, said Karam Shaar, director of Karam Shaar Advisory Limited and a Syria researcher.

"He has to tow a very difficult line, balancing his relationship with the Iranians - which means giving them access to Syrian land and facilitating weapon shipments to Hezbollah - and knowing full well that an attack by Israel could come at any moment, if he helps the Iranians in any major way," Shaar told The New Arab.

"I genuinely think Bashar Al-Assad wakes up every morning touching his neck to check it's still attached to his shoulder, he is fully aware that these are incredibly difficult times for his regime."

While Assad has managed to successfully triangulate between Russia, Iran, and regional powers over the past decade, a failure to live up to promises to Arab states - such as ending the captagon trade or creating the conditions for the safe return of refugees - and strict US sanctions leave him untrusted and isolated.

Assad's illusion of power hinges on both the Iranian militias that surround him and being a meek and compliant neighbour to Israel. [Getty/File]

Yet despite the huge sacrifices and assistance Iran has made to keep Assad in power, he has worked hard to ensure the Syrian regime is not a pawn of Tehran, and as recent events have shown, he will likely maintain this distance from his allies.

"The Iranians have strong leverage over Assad, but it is not a master-slave relationship, he does have some wiggle room," said Shaar.

What could have more profound implications for Assad’s future is the US election, said Shaar. A Harris administration will likely be a continuation of Washington’s current Syria policy, based on the effectively defunct UN Resolution 2254, while the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January could see him join Benjamin Netanyahu in attempting to strangle Iran into submission.

"A Trump administration would be much more forceful than Biden's, however, I think it also means much more uncertainty due to his erratic behaviour," said Shaar.

"So if you ask me, under which administration things would get completely out of control and spill out into a regional conflict, I would have to say Trump’s."

This grim irony will not be lost on Syrians - after enduring 13 years of unhinged violence by the Assad regime and its allies with complete impunity, 'Syria' has become a textbook for how regional parties can deal with their opponents.

Starvation sieges, double tap strikes, the targeting of hospitals, and the mass torture of civilians were widespread across Syria from 2011 to today, and now appear to be an essential part of Israeli tactics in Gaza and Lebanon, too.


Israel faces little impulsion from the world to limit its actions and when it does, uses the same pretences as Assad - it's the ‘terrorists’ embedded within the civilian population who are to blame, so everywhere in Gaza is fair game.

Paul McLoughlin is a senior news editor at The New Arab.

How Harris and Trump are fighting for Michigan to the bitter end

Analysis: Michigan, which has in recent years been the most Democratic-leaning swing state, is now too close to call in the 2024 US presidential election.

Brooke Anderson
Washington, DC
17 October, 2024

Washington, DC - Last month, Donald Trump won the endorsement of Amer Ghalib, the Yemeni-born mayor of Hamtramck, the only US city with a Muslim-majority city council.

It was an unusual boost for the US Republican presidential candidate, who imposed a Muslim ban upon assuming office eight years ago and who continues to rail against immigrants in his campaign speeches.

Trump and Ghalib appeared to have engaged in an alliance of convenience. Though not ideologically aligned on the surface, the two men have shown support for book bans on LGBTQ+ content and other socially conservative issues.

Likely far more important for the Arab and Muslim communities in southeastern Michigan was, as Trump later stated, that “there were no wars" when he was president.
A sprint to the end in Michigan

Shortly after the endorsement, Trump appeared to ramp up his efforts in Michigan, opening a campaign office in Hamtramck and scheduling rallies in areas that have largely voted Democrat in the last couple of decades.

"It's both deceitful and really smart. They get the endorsements of some Muslim leaders because of their opposition to LGBTQ+ books in schools saying they're on the same page, and then they have their allied super PACs with almost daily mailings in Dearborn," James Zogby, a veteran pollster and president of the Arab American Institute tells The New Arab. "They're doing it to Muslims. It's a form of voter suppression."

Republican-backed PACs have been pouring millions of dollars into Michigan with ads targeting Arabs and Muslims, highlighting Harris's support for Israel, with the same PACs saying that Harris is hostile to Israel in targeted ads to Jews. Some of the ads that point to Harris's Jewish husband in a negative light have faced criticism for using antisemitic tropes.
Related

Will Kamala Harris win back Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan?
In-depth
Brooke Anderson

The Republicans' ramped-up campaigning in Michigan appears to be working. This month, multiple polls have shown that Trump has pulled ahead of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in Michigan, one of the largest of the swing states that will be critical for a presidential win.

Of all the swing states, Michigan is considered the most Democratic-leaning, with Joe Biden having won the state by more than 150,000 votes in 2020. However, with continued US military support for Israel's more than year-long war in Gaza, and with southeastern Michigan home to the largest community of Arabs and Muslims in the US, many voters in the state are turning away from Harris due to her role as vice president in the Biden administration.
Dearborn: A deeply wounded constituency

Alaa Ali, an urgent care physician in the Dearborn area, has lost more than a hundred family members to Israeli airstrikes in his native Gaza. Once an enthusiastic Biden supporter due to his promise to reverse Trump's Muslim ban, he has become a vocal opponent of the current administration, including Harris.

"To be honest, the community is fed up with the Harris campaign, and we feel like they're not doing anything to help," Ali tells TNA.

"Basically, they're hurting themselves by standing with the genocide. We feel that with Harris things could get worse because anytime the community tries to get reassurance, the campaign doesn't do anything. When we ask if there will be a change of policy, we don't get any answers."

On the other hand, when he has met with the Trump campaign, he says things are different.

There is vocal opposition to Harris from Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan over the Biden administration's military and political support for Israel's devastating war on Gaza, and now Lebanon. [Getty]

"Trump has said from day one that he's going to stop the war. How is he going to do it? Is it going to be through policy? I honestly don't know," Ali says. "I see the guy doesn't like war. He doesn't like conflict. I feel like there's a lot of potential. The community at large is against Harris."

So far, the various community groups where he holds leadership positions representing Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians, have not endorsed anyone, though he is adamant that if they do it would not be Harris.


"There has to be a lesson taught to the Democratic Party," he says. "They're committing genocide. This is something that can't be tolerated."

When asked what he thought of Trump's support for Israel's far-right government, with some of its leaders calling for the annexation of the West Bank and the re-occupation of Gaza, he responded that Gaza is already occupied.

Moreover, he says that when he talks to his family in Gaza and asks them what they think of the US presidential election, they blame the Biden administration for the prolonged war, which has killed 42,000 Palestinians.

"They think that if it weren't for them, the war would not have extended for this long," he says.

"They said if Trump comes in, either he'll nuke us and that's better than living this life, or he'll stop the war."
Reluctant support from a demoralised community

Amid vocal opposition to Biden and Harris from Arabs and Muslims in Michigan, there are also examples of groups that have voiced support for the Harris campaign.

In response to their mayor's endorsement of Trump, a member of the Hamtramck city council showed support for the Democratic candidate by holding an event, which was attended by other local elected officials.

A group called Muslim Women for Harris, which disbanded during the Democratic convention in August, later regrouped. They shared their decision to support Harris again with a carefully worded social media post noting their condemnation of US support for Israel's war in Gaza while also having serious concerns about a second Trump presidency.
Related

Biden's legacy of failure in the Middle East
Analysis
Dario Sabaghi

Another group called Arab Americans for Harris-Walz, some of whom were previously with the uncommitted movement, made their launch statement on social media noting that they understand many people's reluctance to support the Democratic ticket. They warned that a Trump presidency could be much worse. Their post drew many angry responses from fellow Arabs.

When the Muslim voting advocacy group Emgage announced their endorsement of Harris, they also did so with a carefully worded statement acknowledging their community's pain without the typical enthusiasm for an endorsement.

Michigan race too close to predict

With an uptick in Republican campaigning in Michigan combined with a demoralised Democratic base, it is difficult to predict who the state will pick in the presidential election.

"Of all the swing states, Michigan has been the most Democratic-leaning. We've been trying to choose a side for the toss-ups. We've been wanting to move Michigan to Harris, but the evidence isn't there yet," J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, tells TNA.

"In some polls, she's leading, in others Trump is leading. I'm a little surprised at this point as a forecaster that we haven't been able to designate Harris as a favourite. You could almost see starting October last year with Israel and Palestine that it would be a complicated state for the Democrats," he says.

"When it comes to Arab areas like Dearborn, I think the Harris campaign has made peace with the fact that they won't be able to carry them," he added.

Dearborn hasn't chosen a Republican since 2000, when they went for George W. Bush, possibly in part affected by the high turn-out among Arabs for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, the son of Lebanese immigrants.

With an uptick in Republican campaigning in Michigan combined with a demoralised Democratic base, it is difficult to predict who the state will pick in the presidential election. [Getty]

Some polls show Green Party candidate Jill Stein leading among Muslim voters, though it's unclear if she could be considered a "spoiler" for Harris given that many of her supporters would likely not have chosen one of the major party candidates.

Many Arabs and Muslims have said they will skip the top of the ballot and only vote in state and local elections on 5 November.

Richard Groper, a lecturer in political science at California State University in Los Angeles, told The New Arab that he is sceptical of recent polls showing Trump has taken the lead in Michigan and other swing states.

He wonders if there's an overreach in counting Trump voters, given the embarrassment many pollsters faced following Trump's 2016 win and the 2022 "red wave" that didn't materialise.

"I'm very sceptical of the polls right now. I cannot imagine they'd allow a third time with their reputations on the line with another undercount of the Trump voters. There's a lot at stake," he tells TNA. "That said, it's still close."

At this point, Zogby says it could be too late for Harris to sway Arab and Muslim voters. Instead, he suggests she make a public pitch, saying she'll meet with them and listen once she's in office.

Brooke Anderson is The New Arab's correspondent in Washington DC, covering US and international politics, business, and culture.
Follow her on Twitter: @Brookethenews