Islamic Societies Review MONTHLY -- July 2024

Islamic Societies Review MONTHLY -- July 2024

    Thursday, August 01, 2024   No comments

ISR MONTHLY is a bulletin updating readers about news stories and analyses of the month. 

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Media review: 'You criminal, you murderer': Residents berate Israeli official at site of deadly rocket attack in Occupied Golan Heights

     Sunday, July 28, 2024   No comments

As Israeli leaders try to use the deaths among the Druz community to widen its attacks on Hezbollah, Majdal Shams residents expel Smotrich...and refuse to...

Türkiye: Erdogan denounces Congress' reception of 'Hitler of our time'

     Friday, July 26, 2024   No comments

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the US Congress' hosting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Erdogan said on Friday during an introductory meeting on the...

Media review of Netanyahu's visit to the US: He may have expedited US declining support Israel's War instead of increasing it

     Thursday, July 25, 2024   No comments

Israeli political leaders may not have wanted to see so many protesters in the street and in congress, but that is what Netanyahu have achived...

Palestinian factions sign 'Beijing Declaration'; agree to form an "interim national reconciliation government"

     Tuesday, July 23, 2024   No comments

The Palestinian factions announced at the conclusion of meetings held in China their agreement to reach a "comprehensive national unity" that includes all forces within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and to form an interim national consensus government.

Tanzania's president dismisses two ministers as part of a constitutional amendment

     Monday, July 22, 2024   No comments

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has dismissed two senior ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle, acting presidential communications director Sharifa Nyanga has said.The dismissals of...

Israeli Minister says US Sanctions blow to State sovereignty

     Sunday, July 21, 2024   No comments

Historically, the US government has imposed sanctions on private citizens and government officials of other countries. Recently, with the continued attacks by Israeli settlers on...

The Racist History of Psychology

     Thursday, July 18, 2024   No comments

“The general wards were abysmal, and there were only five doctors, four of them foreigners, who were not licensed to practice in the United States,...

Syria's Assad: Ready to meet Erdogan if it serves Syria's interest

     Monday, July 15, 2024   No comments

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad confirmed on Monday that he is ready to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "if the meeting serves the country's...

Dehumanizing Opponents as an Instrument of Supremacism: "human animals"

     Monday, July 15, 2024   No comments

We have not forgotten the descriptions and expressions that Yoav Galant, the occupation's Minister of War, made at the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, when he said, "Israel is fighting human animals and is acting accordingly," until he returned, after more than nine months of the war of extermination that "Israel" is practicing in the Strip, to repeat the same descriptions about the resistance and its people. 

Muhammad Halsa, Writer and researcher; content of byline articles express the opinion of author(s).

Media Review: Washington Post | The Israeli army is "exhausted to the core" and the invasion of Lebanon is a trap for an endless war

     Monday, July 15, 2024   No comments

 The American newspaper "Washington Post" reported on Monday that the Israeli "army", exhausted by the war in the Gaza Strip, is now looking with caution at the war on the northern front with Hezbollah.

Imran Khan's party's presence in parliament gains strength months after the elections

     Friday, July 12, 2024   No comments

Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan is eligible for 23 additional seats in parliament, adding...

Why the US and West are losing the Rest?

     Thursday, July 11, 2024   No comments

Citing international law and invoking the claim of self-defense against occupation forces, US and the West stood by Ukraine providing it with military, political and...

Media Review: Finnish President's article in The Economist, "the era of Western dominance as we know it is over"

     Monday, July 08, 2024   No comments

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said that what we are witnessing today is in many ways equivalent to what happened in 1918, 1945 and 1989, and that the next few years will likely determine the world order, its balance and its dynamics for the rest of the century, or at least for decades to come.

Full destruction in the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in the eastern Gaza Strip

     Monday, July 08, 2024   No comments

 Aerial footage reveals the extent of the destruction in the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood in the eastern Gaza Strip after the latest Israeli ground attack....

Turkish President announces readiness to extend an invitation to President Assad

     Sunday, July 07, 2024   No comments

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Sunday that "once Bashar al-Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will respond appropriately."He continued...

Iran’s elections: Change brings new opportunities for Iran's new president--Masoud Pezeshkian

     Saturday, July 06, 2024   No comments

Foreground:Mere weeks after the tragic death of several Iranian officials including the president, Iran managed to elect a new president, while a caretaker government was...

Media review: Gaza War, Famine, Israeli troops documenting themselves committing war crimes, and the terrifying war between Hezbollah and Israel

     Friday, July 05, 2024   No comments

Despite the consequential events happening around the world, Gaza remains the central issue driving the news for the ninth month. Even in national elections in...

Can knowledge be IP'ed? Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft’s new AI division, seems to think No.

     Wednesday, July 03, 2024   No comments

IA is another turning point in history, and its main impact may not be the kind of information IA will generate, but access to knowledge;...

12 US officials who resigned denounce Biden's policy towards Gaza

     Tuesday, July 02, 2024   No comments

Twelve US government officials who resigned over the Biden administration’s stance on the war in Gaza have issued a joint statement denouncing Biden’s Gaza policy,...

 Media Review: The key to calm with Lebanon is in Gaza, and Israeli plans to divide the Strip

     Tuesday, July 02, 2024   No comments

International newspapers and news websites have highlighted Israeli plans to divide the Gaza Strip into separate security zones, the repercussions of an open war between...

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Media Review: The Impossible Defeat.. Why Did 2,700 Israeli Assassinations Fail to Make Israel Secure?

Media Review: The Impossible Defeat.. Why Did 2,700 Israeli Assassinations Fail to Make Israel Secure?

    Thursday, August 01, 2024   No comments

Israel often claims that it carries out assassinations to ensure Israel's security. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has carried out more assassinations than any other nation-state during the same time period. What has this strategy achieve and why? 

Many observers and experts in global affairs think that assassinations are not a strategy and should not be adopted instead of a national strategy that is necessary for nation-building. A national project cannot be dependent on one or a handful of leaders. If a state-actor relies on assassinations to secure itself, then it cements its status as a renegade entity while fostering the image of the people whose leaders it assassinates as people with legitimate claims. Israel's increased rate of assassination after achieving a stalemate at best with the Palestinians in this recent war erodes its image as a normal nation-state, which defeats the purpose: national security. Aljazeera TV provided some insight into the history and outcomes of Israel's assassinations. 

Media review: 'You criminal, you murderer': Residents berate Israeli official at site of deadly rocket attack in Occupied Golan Heights

Media review: 'You criminal, you murderer': Residents berate Israeli official at site of deadly rocket attack in Occupied Golan Heights

    Sunday, July 28, 2024   No comments

As Israeli leaders try to use the deaths among the Druz community to widen its attacks on Hezbollah, Majdal Shams residents expel Smotrich...and refuse to receive Netanyahu. News media reported that the families of those killed in occupied Golan Heights are refusing the meet with Israeli leaders and warn against more violence. Media outlets in the region provided wide coverage of this development which can trigger a regional war. Here is a summary of regional and global media reports on this matter.

The families of the victims of Majdal Shams refused to meet with the Prime Minister of the occupation, Benjamin Netanyahu, today, Sunday, according to Israeli media.

The Israeli Channel 13 reported that residents of the town of Majdal Shams "attacked members of the Israeli Likud party who participated in the funeral of the victims of the attack that the town was subjected to yesterday, Saturday."

The Israeli website "Walla" reported that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich faced protests upon his arrival in the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights to participate in the funeral of the victims.

The participants' protests against the Israeli minister's presence continued until he was expelled from the funeral.

The people of Majdal chanted slogans against Smotrich, saying: "Leave here.. We don't want you here, you murderer. You want to dance on the blood of our children."

Jumblatt commenting on the Majdal Shams incident: We are on the lookout for the occupation’s sedition alongside the resistance

Former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt stressed on Saturday the need to be aware of what the Israeli occupation is doing to ignite sedition, offering his sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs who died in the occupied Syrian Golan.

Jumblatt said that, in light of Hezbollah's statement denying the Islamic Resistance's involvement in what happened, everyone must be aware of what the enemy is doing to sow sedition, calling on everyone in Lebanon and the occupied Golan to beware of "any slippage or incitement in the context of the enemy's destructive project."

He pointed out that the occupation has been working for a long time to ignite sedition, fragment the region, and target its components, adding: "We have previously thwarted the Israeli project," but "it is rearing its head again, and we are on the lookout for it alongside the resistance and all the resistance fighters."

Jumblatt pointed out that the history and present of the occupation are full of massacres against civilians, adding that what is required is "not to expand the war, and an immediate cessation of aggression and shooting."

He stressed that targeting civilians is unacceptable and condemned, whether in occupied Palestine, the occupied Golan Heights, or in southern Lebanon.

This statement comes after the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah - categorically denied the allegations reported by several Israeli media outlets and various media platforms regarding the targeting of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

The incident that took place in the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights yesterday, Saturday, and resulted in the death of 12 people, sparked numerous international and regional reactions ranging from condemnation and calls for restraint to warnings of the expansion of the war in the region.

Despite Hezbollah's denial of responsibility for the incident and its statement that an Israeli interceptor missile fell on Majdal Shams and that it had informed the United Nations of this, Tel Aviv insisted on holding the party responsible and threatened it and Lebanon with "paying a heavy price."

The White House spokesman also accused Hezbollah of carrying out the attack, noting that Washington has been holding ongoing discussions with the Israelis and Lebanese since the incident occurred yesterday and is working on a diplomatic solution to stop the attacks on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had confirmed earlier today that the United States does not want the conflict to expand, saying "we are in dialogue with Israel" on the matter.

He added, "All indications point to the rocket that struck the Golan Heights being from Hezbollah," stressing his country's commitment to supporting Israel's right to defend its citizens against what he described as "terrorist attacks."

He also said that the ceasefire in Gaza would be an opportunity to achieve lasting calm along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon.

Avoiding escalation

France, in turn, announced its condemnation of the attack, and called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any military escalation.

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed - in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - that Paris is "fully committed to doing everything possible to avoid a new escalation in the region," according to the Elysee.

For his part, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the raid on the occupied Golan Heights, expressing his "deep concern" about the risk of further escalation.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also warned of the risk of opening a new war front with Lebanon following the Majdal Shams strike.

Iran warns

With the escalation of the Israeli threat and intimidation of the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the raids launched by the Israeli occupation army on the Bekaa and southern Lebanon yesterday evening and today at dawn, Iran warned Israel today, Sunday, against attacking Lebanon.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued by its spokesman Nasser Kanaani that Tehran "warns of unexpected repercussions of any new adventures by the Zionist entity towards Lebanon under the pretext of the Majdal Shams incident."

The statement added that "any foolish step by the Zionist entity could lead to the expansion of the scope of the crisis and war in the region."

The Iranian Foreign Ministry continued that Israel seeks, through presenting imaginary scenarios, to confuse public opinion regarding its crimes in Gaza, noting that the Lebanese Hezbollah denied responsibility for bombing the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan.

Netanyahu and Galant authorized to respond to Hezbollah after Majdal Shams incident

Hebrew sources reported that the Israeli security meeting to discuss the response to Hezbollah has ended, indicating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant have been authorized to make the decision to respond.

This meeting comes in the context of the incident in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights yesterday, Saturday, where 12 boys were killed in a missile attack that Hezbollah denied any connection to.

According to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, the security cabinet has determined the target that will be attacked in Lebanon, and said that estimates indicate that it will be limited but its impact will be strong.

Israeli Army Radio reported that security officials have confirmed to the political leadership that the plans in place can be implemented immediately.

It added that Israel is not interested in a comprehensive war with Hezbollah, but rather in dealing it a painful blow only.

Israeli Army Radio had previously said that the army had formulated several possible scenarios for an attack on Lebanon and presented them to the political leadership.

In the same context, the municipal councils of the Upper Galilee and Western Galilee advised residents to stay near shelters after the developments in Majdal Shams.