Syria

How much truth is there in Germany’s decision not to supply weapons to Israel?

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Original article by Leon Wystrychowski republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Photo: X

Pressure on Germany is mounting from multiple fronts: the resilience of Gaza’s people and fighters, the global solidarity movement, and even Nicaragua’s lawsuit against the German government.

Exactly 22 months after the start of the genocide against the people of Gaza, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on August 8 that Germany would “no longer approve any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip” – at least for now.

But many left-wing, pro-Palestinian, and peace activists in Germany remain skeptical.

What weapons are we talking about?

It quickly became clear this was not a blanket halt to German arms shipments to Israel. Weapons intended for military operations in the illegally occupied West Bank, southern Lebanon, and Syria are unaffected. So are arms for aggression against neighboring Arab states, Yemen, and Iran.

Ammunition and air-defense technology are also exempt. While officially labeled “defensive”, these systems are used to intercept rockets and drones from the resistance in Gaza, Iran, Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, and, until late last year, Hezbollah in Lebanon. So in fact they serve not just defense but also to sustain Israel’s broader policy of aggression and genocide.

The ban likely doesn’t apply to equipment for Israel’s navy either – despite its central role in enforcing the illegal blockade of Gaza’s coast. According to a 2024 study by the research group Forensis, German-built ships have also shelled Gaza from the sea. In a move that appeared to underscore this, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems announced on August 8, that it had just secured an export license for more warships and another submarine for Israel. Between 1999 and 2016, Germany delivered five nuclear-capable submarines to the Israeli government.

Arms supplier under pressure

Despite the justified criticism and inconsistency in Germany’s announcement, this partial suspension marks a significant political shift. Immediately after the Gaza genocide began, Germany quickly became Israel’s second-largest arms supplier, behind only the United States. Recently, one-third of Israel’s weapons imports came from Germany – earning the German arms sector hundreds of billions of euros in less than two years.

Merz, a staunch pro-Zionist known for hardline conservative views, open racism, and unabashed neoliberalism, previously sat on the supervisory board of BlackRock and represents the right wing of Germany’s main conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). His decision drew angry reactions not only from the Netanyahu government, Zionist lobby organizations, and the right-wing press in Germany, but also from high-ranking politicians in his own party.

All that shows the mounting pressure Merz and the German government face. That pressure comes from multiple fronts: the resilience of Gaza’s people and fighters, the global solidarity movement – including in Germany – and international actions such as Nicaragua’s lawsuit against the German government.

Leon Wystrychowski is a former member of the Palästina Solidarität Duisburg (Palestine Solidarity Duisburg, PSDU).

Original article by Leon Wystrychowski republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
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53% of Europe and Mediterranean Basin Impacted by Drought in Mid-May: Report

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https://www.ecowatch.com/drought-europe-mediterranean-2025.html

…

From May 11 to 20, 42 percent of soils in Europe and the Mediterranean basin lacked moisture and were at a warning level, while five percent were at an alert level, indicating vegetation was not growing normally.

Countries in northern, central and eastern Europe were at high alert levels.

Roughly 19 percent of territory in Ukraine was on alert, with other countries in concerning circumstances, including nine percent of Hungary and Slovakia, 10 percent of Poland and 17 percent of lands in Belarus.

The alert level for some territories and countries was as high as 20 percent, including the Palestinian territories, Cyprus and Syria.

Several countries were experiencing drought conditions in mid-May without being at an alert level, including 98 percent of the United Kingdom. According to the UK’s Met Office, the country had its driest spring in over 50 years, as well as its warmest spring ever recorded.

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Continues at https://www.ecowatch.com/drought-europe-mediterranean-2025.html

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UK fighter jets conduct joint exercise with US, Israeli aircraft – likely target Iran

RAF fighter jets have taken part in joint bombing exercises over western Asia with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and F-15 and F-35 fighters of the Israeli air force, believed to be preparation for attacks on Iran.

The 4 March exercise – the third in two weeks – involved giant US B-52H ‘Stratofortress’ bombers that took off from Fairford RAF base in England and conducted the exercise in CENTCOM’s ‘area of responsibility’, which comprises the ‘Middle East’ and parts of southern Asia.

The latest exercise follows a live-weapon drop on 20 February that the US military said involved B-52s conducting “multiple missions over the Arabian Peninsula and Red Sea”. With typically Orwellian language, the Pentagon said that these missions ‘promote security and stability’ in the region. In the past twelve months the US has used the B-52s, along with B-1 and B-2 bombers, to bomb Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

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Memo to the UK Labour Party.

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Image of Fascists Mussolini and Hitler
Fascists Mussolini and Hitler salute the Labour Party

I suggest that I should be regarded as a skilled and capable adversary to the UK Labour Party. I have a long history of opposing the Labour Party and while I am younger than Blair in one or two important ways I am the elder. I believe and sincerely hope that I have damaged the UK Labour Party under Keir SStarmer’s leadership. The UK Labour Party has a huge parliamentary majority from the July 2024 election only because Reform split the Conservative vote. Starmer & Co are now hugely unpopular. I have no doubt contributed to that unpopularity but I am only one part of a groundswell of opinion. In this new year I hope that others will join me to reaffirming our opposition and redoubling our efforts to damage the Labour Party enemy.

The problem is that the UK Labour Party under Keir Starmer is complicit in, is aiding and abetting and is facilitating Zionist genocide in Gaza and the West Bank and colonialist expansion in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

Palestinians are not to be treated as sub-human and denied human rights – the right to life and liberty, to be free from collective punishment and forced relocation – just as second world war Jews should not have been treated as untermensch and were denied these exact same rights. The same crimes that the Nazi Fascists committed are now committed by Zionist Neo-Fascists, supported and facilitated by the UK Labour Party.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE
UK Foreign Minister David Lammy confirms that UK government and military are active participants in Israel’s genocides and that the F-35 parts that they suspended from supplying to Israel are instead simply diverted via the United States. He says see https://youtu.be/QILgUHrdWRE

Continue ReadingMemo to the UK Labour Party.

“Is killing over 40,000 women and children victory?” Ayatollah Khamenei asks

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Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting on December 22. Photo: Khamenei.ir

The leader also emphasized that Iran does not have proxy forces in the region, but that its allies fight because of their belief in resisting oppression.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei asserted on Sunday, December 22 that no matter the temporary setbacks, the resistance will defeat the imperialist and Zionist forces in the region and that their claims of victory against the resistance are premature and hollow.

Khamenei was addressing hundreds of people during a religious ceremony in Tehran. He also refuted Western allegations that the resistance forces in the region fighting against imperialism and Zionist occupation, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Ansar Allah, and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, were in any way “proxies” of Iran. He emphasized that the forces part of the Axis of Resistance are driven by their faith and commitment to fight against oppression. He claimed that it is “the power of faith” which has “brought the faithful and honorable men to the resistance field” in Yemen, Lebanon and in Palestine. None of these groups are “acting on our behalf” Khamenei underlined. He also added that the Islamic Republic does not have proxies anywhere and neither does it need any such mechanism to act when needed, Iranian media reported.

Talking about the capture of power in Syria by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Israel’s invasion inside the country as temporary Khamenei said he was confident that it cannot be termed as “victory” for the zionist regime as claimed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following HTS’ control of Syrian state power on December 8, Israeli forces have advanced beyond the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, in violation of prior agreements. Netanyahu has also claimed that the victory of HTS against president Bashar al-Assad, was made possible because of the Israeli efforts. Israel has asserted its forces would remain inside Syria for as long as required.

Khamenei expressed hope that “God willing, soon in Syria,” young men will follow the examples of Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine and fight against oppression and the crimes imposed by the Zionist regime.” He reiterated his country’s resolve to “remove this regime [Zionist regime] from the region.”

“I predict that a powerful and honorable group will rise in Syria as well. A young Syrian has nothing to lose – his university is unsafe, his school is unsafe, his home is unsafe, his street is unsafe, his entire life is unsafe. What is he supposed to do?” Khamenei said.

Steadfast resistance against occupation

Khamenei called for “steadfast resistance” against the forces of occupation and dominance who are making the region unstable for their own narrow interests.

Khamenei noted that the US approach to the region is to control the regimes for its strategy to control the resources. It works against the interest of the people by either installing despotic regimes who align with its own interests or simply destabilizes a country by fomenting chaos and unrest in case it fails to install a favorable regime there. He gave the example of Syria where the US “resorted to unrest and created disorder.”

Khamenei warned against the repeated US attempts to create unrest in Iran as well. He however, expressed that all such attempts would be dealt with strongly by the Iranian state and such endeavors will never succeed.

Khamenei dismissed the claims made by Israel in terms of wars in Gaza and Lebanon. “Is killing over 40,000 women and children victory?” he asked. Even with this horrifying death toll from the last 14 months, the Zionist regime has not been able to defeat Hamas or other Palestinian resistance groups, he claimed. He reiterated that none of the original objectives proclaimed by Israel at the time of the beginning of the war in October 2023 have been achieved in Gaza or Lebanon.

“Have you destroyed Hamas or freed your captives in Gaza? Despite martyring a great leader like Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, have you managed to eliminate Hezbollah in Lebanon?” Khamenei asked.

Original article by Abdul Rahman republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue Reading“Is killing over 40,000 women and children victory?” Ayatollah Khamenei asks