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Tag: Middle East

Netanyahu Has A Twitter Meltdown Over Iran Nuclear Deal

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

As Washington and Iran celebrated a nuclear deal that many see as a historic step forward for relations between both countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to social media to repeat what’s becoming an increasingly tired refrain: that peace with Iran spells impending doom for Israel and will lead to widespread suffering in the Middle East.

On Tuesday, world leaders reached an agreement that brings an end to lengthy negotiations with Iran over its controversial nuclear program. The deal seeks to limit Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear bomb for at least the next 15 years while still allowing the country to continue low-level enrichment necessary for nuclear power generation. To uphold the agreement, international inspectors would have increased, but not unlimited, access to Iranian nuclear facilities. In return, Iranians can look forward to a gradual easing of sanctions that have had a brutal effect on their economy.

While Iranians celebrated the deal, Netanyahu took it as an opportunity to repeat a militaristic message that’s been Israel’s main talking point since before the prime minister’s controversial speech to Congress.

False Feminism: Hillary Clinton And Her Financial Backers Are No Friends To Women

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton wants to make history as the first female president of the United States. But just as the election of the first black president hasn’t left black people better off eight years later, can the world’s women really count on Clinton’s support?

Voters understandably look to Clinton to support women’s rights in the U.S. at a time when many feel these rights are under attack, and she’s been happy to deliver feminist-friendly rhetoric. In April, she offered a rousing pro-woman speech at the Women in the World conference in April.

Yet a study of Clinton’s record paints a different picture. Donors from Saudi Arabia gave millions to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit operated by Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, despite Saudi Arabia’s appalling record on women’s rights. In return for their financial support, Hillary Clinton helped Saudi Arabia obtain billions in military equipment from the U.S.

US Government Releases Bin Laden Docs But Won’t Release His Porn

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The U.S. government on Wednesday released a trove of documents taken from Osama bin Laden, the slain leader of al-Qaida. The documents provide new insight into the inner workings of the terrorist movement, but a purported collection of pornographic materials is being kept in the dark.

The cache contains over 100 documents that U.S. intelligence agencies said were found during the raid on Pakistan that killed bin Laden in 2011. The documents were vetted by multiple agencies prior to their release and represent only a portion of the total documents recovered, which are still under review.

A spokesman for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Guardian that the documents were released because of “increasing public demand,” and denied any link between the release and a recent controversial report by renowned independent journalist Seymour Hersh that questions the official narrative of bin Laden’s capture and killing.

Media Blame Lone Gaza Rocket While Ignoring Israel’s History Of Breaking Ceasefires

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Israel launched new airstrikes against Gaza on Tuesday, claiming the action was in retaliation for a lone rocket fired earlier that day. The media views each such exchange in isolation, yet the Israeli government engages in deliberate provocations and ceasefire violations on a nearly daily basis against Gaza.

Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza last summer killed over 2,000 people, mostly civilians, and left another 300,000 homeless. Active and open conflict ended with the signing of a ceasefire on Aug. 26. Then, this week Israel retaliated to a single rocket fired from Gaza by bombing several targets in Gaza it said represented military infrastructure. There were no reported casualties.

The mainstream media was quick to offer Israel’s side of the conflict. “These strikes are a direct response to Hamas and the aggression against Israeli civilians originating from the Gaza Strip,” Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement.

But, as with most such rocket attacks, there were no injuries in Israel. In what Palestinians living in Gaza call self-defense against Israel’s inhumane siege of the Gaza Strip, homemade rockets directed at Israel are a response to Israel blocking humanitarian aid, medical supplies, food, or human rights monitors and journalists documenting Israel’s alleged war crimes against the impoverished region through the siege. And this latest rocket cannot be separated from months of provocative behavior by Israeli forces.

Saudi Arabia’s Imprisoned Princesses Call For Revolution

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Though they are the daughters of royalty, even princesses cannot escape the plight of women in Saudi Arabia. Despite the United States frequently citing abuses of women’s rights to justify its military incursions, Saudi Arabia remains a key U.S. ally in the region, and one of the world’s most notorious women’s rights abusers. Once hailed for their bravery in speaking out through social media, the whereabouts of these princesses seem to be unknown.

Hala, Jawaher, Maha and Sahar, born to the late Saudi King Abdullah and his ex-wife, Alanoud Al-Fayez, spent over a decade in varying degrees of captivity, according to their mother. According to Al-Fayez, the princesses were imprisoned for their modern upbringing and outspoken views on the rights of women.

Sahar and Jawaher, both held in the same royal compound, made headlines last year for speaking out via social media, even after the House of Saud punished them by restricting their access to food and water. The pair gave several video interviews to the media, and each maintained a Twitter account. Sahar even pledged support for condemned political prisoner Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr in an openly revolutionary media statement last April. Their mother also maintained two Twitter accounts, one for herself and another, @FreeThe4, to raise awareness of her daughters’ imprisonment.

How Seymour Hersh Became One Of Today’s Greatest, Most Controversial Journalists

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

At 78 years old, Seymour Hersh remains one of the most important, controversial, and even cutting-edge voices in journalism. His newest report, which criticizes the official narrative of the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, is just one revelation in a long history of undermining government propaganda through investigative reporting.

In the bin Laden report, published this month in the London Review of Books, Hersh accuses the United States of collaborating with Pakistan to orchestrate bin Laden’s capture and then covering up the real story with a tale of all-American heroism. Hersh’s account makes it clear that bin Laden was a pawn the Pakistani government traded to the U.S. in return for military aid, and the terrorist leader’s capture an almost theatrical event carefully managed by both governments for maximum positive publicity.

The White House previously maintained that the mission was carried out using only U.S. intelligence and troops, as mythologized in the Oscar-winning film “Zero Dark Thirty.” The Obama administration strongly denies the claims of collaboration, but already the mainstream media is confirming part of Hersh’s story.