Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

In visit to Tel Aviv, Milei affirms support to Israel and declares Marx was “satanic”

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Article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Argentine President Javier Milei and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Netanyahu / X

On his third trip to Israel, Milei signed security agreements, sang, and gave speeches accusing Marx of being satanic. Taken together, his activities in West Asia amount to more than just an official visit.

Argentine President Javier Milei made a three-day visit to Israel to mark Independence Day. During his trip, Israeli President Isaac Herzog awarded Milei in Jerusalem with the highest honor his country bestows on a civilian: the Presidential Medal of Honor.

“Your message crossed borders and resonated across generations: a message of morality, of humanity, of aligning one’s moral compass, of recognizing the depth of pain, and of offering comfort,” Herzog told Milei.

Such an “honor” comes as no surprise. Milei has not only publicly expressed his support for Israel in its regional and global conflicts, but has likely become Israel’s most important Western ally after the United States.

The Isaac Agreements

During his recent visit, Milei signed the so-called “Isaac Agreements” alongside his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, which outline a set of bilateral commitments in the areas of security (including intelligence cooperation), diplomacy, trade, culture, and even education.

The multidimensional agreement also includes a section on technological cooperation, which covers collaboration on artificial intelligence, model development, and the training of specialists. A common stance was also agreed upon for international forums, as well as the promotion of a neoliberal policy of economic openness.

According to Milei, the Isaac Agreements, inspired by the Abraham Agreements (signed in 2020 by Israel and several Arab countries), seek to “unite efforts in the fight against terrorism, anti-Semitism, and drug trafficking, with an open invitation to all nations that share these values and wish to join.”

During his visit, Milei also demonstrated his support for Tel Aviv amid the war against Iran by designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force as terrorist organizations. These measures come on top of those already taken, such as his expulsion on April 2 of Iran’s top diplomat, Mohsen Soltani Tehrani, from Argentina.

In addition, Milei has promised to open a direct air route between the two nations, which, he said, he hopes will promote closer relations between them: “Starting in November, the first-ever direct air route between Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv will begin operating, and our nations will be closer than ever, deepening an unbreakable bond between two countries that were there for one another when fate demanded it.”

From singer to speaker

Milei also drew attention at the official ceremony marking Israel’s 78th Independence Day when, in front of the nation’s top officials, he sang Nino Bravo’s song “Libre” alongside several other artists.

In addition, Milei lit one of the 12 torches representing the 12 tribes of Israel. There, Milei reaffirmed his intention to move the Argentine embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something Argentine diplomacy has historically resisted, despite Israel’s requests.

While asserting that “Argentina and Israel are not only partners, but friendly nations,” Milei, in a clearly theological and mystical tone, stated that the Maccabees taught him the importance of God’s favor: “From them we learned that victory on the battlefield does not come from the number of soldiers, but from the forces that come from heaven,” the president stated, adding categorically: “Light always triumphs over darkness.” This quote has been interpreted as a reference to the current war in which Israel is engaged.

It appears that the Argentine president’s newfound interest in religious matters continued during his trip. Bar-Ilan University awarded him an honorary doctorate. In his keynote address, Milei went so far as to claim that Marxism is a “satanic theory” opposed to “Judeo-Christian values”. Amid applause, Milei claimed that Marx was a “Satanist”, a statement that has been strongly criticized by scholars worldwide, who have emphasized that Marx was an atheist, meaning that Milei’s claims (as someone who served as a professor before entering politics) lack any historical or intellectual rigor.

Finally, Milei visited the Western Wall, where he prayed before heading to Ben Gurion Airport to return to Argentina. Taken as a whole, Milei’s activities in Israel demonstrate not only a clear alignment with Israel’s foreign policy but also an attempt to ideologically justify, in every possible way he can (whether by singing or giving lectures), the supremacy of the geopolitical sector behind which he has positioned the Argentine executive branch.

This political spirit was likely expressed most clearly by the Argentine president himself:

“We will not be able to coexist with certain cultures,” a statement that has sparked controversial reactions in his country over what right-wing libertarian Javier Milei actually meant.

Article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

dizzy: Mad Neo-Liberal chainsawist Argentine President Javier ” Israel’s most important Western ally after the United States” Milei meets Benjamin Netanyahu -> Donald Trump ‘reviews’ UK claim to the Falkland Islands.

Continue ReadingIn visit to Tel Aviv, Milei affirms support to Israel and declares Marx was “satanic”

‘A Declaration of War’: Israel Accused of Bombing Iranian Consulate in Syria

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Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of strikes which hit a building next to the Iranian Embassy in Syria’s capital Damascus, on April 1, 2024.
 (Photo: Maher al Mounes/AFP via Getty Images)

One observer said Israel is “trying to provoke a war with Iran to get the U.S. directly involved.”

Iranian and Syrian officials on Monday accused Israel of bombing Iran’s consulate in Damascus, an attack one expert called a “war-abetting escalation” that U.S. President Joe Biden “claimed he was preventing” in the Middle East.

Seven people including Iranian diplomats and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) senior commander Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi were killed in the airstrike, which according to the BBC occurred at approximately 5:00 pm local time and flattened the multistory building adjacent to the Iranian Embassy in the Syrian capital’s Mezzeh district.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian described the strike as “a violation of all international obligations and conventions.” Faisal Mekdad, his Syrian counterpart, condemned what he called a “heinous terrorist attack.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1774841744036597877

Israeli officials declined to comment on the attack. Israel has increased airstrikes targeting IRGC and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants inside Syria since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks. Israeli strikes against Hezbollah have also killed hundreds of militants and civilians in Lebanon.

Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, called the consulate attack a “significant escalation in tensions.”

“This attack is viewed by some in Iran as a declaration of war by Israel against Iran,” Azizi wrote on social media. “It represents a shift from previous engagements, directly hitting Iranian soil represented by its consulate in Syria—as opposed to targeting IRGC officers in Syrian sites.”

“In earlier stages, Israel would refrain from targeting IRGC officers—only proxies and arms shipments,” he continued. “Since the Gaza war, a shift was already there to target high-ranking Iranian commanders. Some sources claim the attack was a response to an assault on an Israeli ship last night at the port of Eilat, attributed to Iraqi militias. This suggests another new rule of engagement by Israel: direct retaliation against Iran for any attacks by its proxies.”

Azizi added that the strike “is also seen as a message to both Iran and [President Bashar] al-Assad’s regime in Syria: Israel’s capability and willingness to escalate its response to the presence of Iranian forces in Syria.”

Numerous experts including Azizi wondered whether Israel informed the United States ahead of the attack. A White House spokesperson said that Biden is aware of reports attributing the strike to Israel and that his “team is looking into it.”

Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft said on social media that “this is the exact type of conduct that usually prompts the U.S. to label a country a pariah or rogue state.”

“The U.S. accuses such states of seeking to destroy the ‘rules-based order,'” Parsi noted. “But so far, Biden has acquiesced to Israel’s conduct in this area as well as all other aspects of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza.”

Parsi accused Israel of “seeking to either destroy these norms or create a new normal in which it—much like the U.S.—will be untouchable above these laws and norms.”

He also called the Damascus strike “the kind of war-abetting escalation Biden claimed he was preventing.”

The U.S. has also bombed Syria—as well as Yemen, Iraq, and Somalia—since October 7.

Palestinian Policy Network fellow Tariq Kenney-Shawa said: “What the Biden administration means by ‘taking every measure to avoid regional escalation’ is that they’re making sure only Israel is allowed to escalate. Deploying aircraft carriers, airstrikes in Yemen/Syria/Iraq, all of that is to make sure Israel can provoke but no one can respond.”

While Parsi wondered if Israel attacked Iran’s consulate—its sovereign territory—to elicit a response to justify a larger war, Antiwar.com editor Dave DeCamp went further, accusing Israel of “trying to provoke a war with Iran to get the U.S. directly involved.”

Iranian journalist Mona Hojat Ansari wrote for the Tehran Times that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “believes that by plunging the region into a maelstrom of chaos and entangling the United States in another pointless war in West Asia that would drain American resources, it may find a chance to survive as an apartheid establishment.”

“The attack on Iran’s consulate should particularly raise a red flag for Washington,” she added, “as it demonstrates Israel’s readiness to ignite the entire region, even if it means that the U.S. and all its traditional allies in the region would suffer devastating consequences.”

Original article by BRETT WILKINS republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue Reading‘A Declaration of War’: Israel Accused of Bombing Iranian Consulate in Syria