alanjjohnstone
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From Jonathan Cook again
a [2015] survey found that 56 per cent of British Jews believed “anti-Semitism in Britain has some echoes of the 1930s”.
Remember this survey was before Corbyn had been elected Labour leader and before the furore about a supposed antisemitism crisis in the party had moved into full gear…
… the Israeli Haaretz newspaper found the views of most fellow Jews in the UK preposterous:
If the majority of British Jews and the authors of the CAA [Campaign Against Antisemitism] report actually believe that, then it’s hard to take anything they say about contemporary anti-Semitism in their home country seriously. If they honestly think that the situation in Britain today echoes the 1930s when Jews were still banned from a wide variety of clubs and associations, when a popular fascist party, supported by members of the nobility and popular newspapers, were marching in support of Hitler, when large parts of the British establishment were appeasing Nazi Germany and the government was resolutely opposed to allowing Jewish refugees of Nazism in to Britain, finally relenting in 1938 to allow 10,000 children to arrive — but not their parents who were to die in the Holocaust (that shameful aspect of the Kindertransport that is seldom mentioned) — and when the situation of Jews in other European countries at the time was so much worse, then not only are they woefully ignorant of recent Jewish history but have little concept of what real anti-Semitism is beyond the type they see online.
A report that will be seized upon by the anti-vaxxers and anti-mandate protesters
Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, a slew of automated decision-making (ADM) systems were adopted in haste and with almost no transparency, no adequate safeguards, and insufficient democratic debate, according to AlgorithmWatch
The United Arab Emirates is cutting its working week to four-and-a-half days and moving its weekend from Friday-Saturday to Saturday-Sunday.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/07/uae-cuts-working-week-and-shifts-weekend-back-a-day
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/6/us-announces-diplomatic-boycott-of-2022-beijing-olympics
US will not send diplomats to upcoming Winter Games over China’s rights abuses
“No invitation has been extended to US politicians whatsoever, so this ‘diplomatic boycott’ simply comes out of nowhere,” China’s embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu
UK red tape and a government minister’s incompetence
USA has said it would send reinforcements to Nato’s eastern flank in response to a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I could have equally posted this on the Chinese Tensions thread.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/japans-military-among-worlds-strongest-040942135.html
Japan is ranked fifth globally in overall military power after the United States, Russia, China and India, and its defense budget ranked sixth in the 2021 ranking of 140 countries.
Japan has more than 900 warplanes, 48 destroyers, including eight Aegis missile-combating systems, and 20 submarines. That exceeds Britain, Germany and Italy. Japan is also buying 147 F-35s, including 42 F-35Bs, making it the largest user of American stealth fighters outside of the United States, where 353 are to be deployed.
Because of a relative decline of America’s global influence, Japan has expanded military partnerships and joint exercises beyond its alliance with the United States, including with Australia, Canada, Britain, France and other European countries, as well as in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Japan also cooperates with NATO.
Always a good read, Jonathan Cook on Starmer’s pro-Israeli government stance
How Starmer’s Labour reversed 40 years of progress on Israel and Palestine
Surprisingly, Cook commends Tony Blair in his article for meeting with Hamas and the IRA
Kshama Sawant faces a recall election on Tuesday the 7th having upset business interests who have heavily financed in the recall campaign.
Recall Campaign Against Socialist Kshama Sawant Is Backed by Billionaires
Australian Sky TV presenter embarrassed into making an apology for blaming South Sudanese immigrants for Covid-19 outbreak with a series of lies.
Nobody surprised by the guilty verdict
Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to four years
Other charges to follow and other sentences to be added
I read a while back that the US had supplied Israel with non-nuclear earthquake bombs purposefully designed to destroy installations deep underground.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged world powers to take a hard line against Iran in negotiations aimed at reviving an international nuclear deal.
“Iran must begin to pay a price for its violations.”
Israeli spy chief David Barnea headed to Washington late on Saturday for a previously unannounced trip and Defence Minister Benny Gantz will leave on Wednesday for meetings with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was in London and Paris last week to discuss the talks with Israel’s European allies.
U.S. intelligence officials determined that Russian planning is underway for a possible military offensive that could begin as soon as early 2022.
The new intelligence finding estimates that the Russians are planning to deploy an estimated 175,000 troops and almost half of them are already deployed. The plans call for the movement of 100 Russian battalion tactical groups along with armor, artillery and equipment.
Putin would seek binding guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine during the call with Biden.
But Biden sought to head off the demand. “I don’t accept anyone’s red line,” Biden said.
