ISRAEL HITS IRAN

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRzrj17Dn8s)

Well, now we know the answer to the question of how Israel planned to respond to Iran’s recent attack. Explosions were reported early on Friday near the northwestern Iranian city of Isfahan, in what several major outlets reported, citing US officials and local sources, as an apparent Israeli strike.

The blasts come just days after Iran launched its first-ever direct attacks on Israel, launching hundreds of missiles and drones, almost all of which were shot down by Israeli and US missile defenses. That salvo was itself seen as a response to Israel’s strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus early this month.

Syria and Iraq reported blasts as well. Blasts possibly related to the strikes on Iran were also reported around the same time at sites in Iraq and Syria. Both countries are home to sizable Iranian proxy forces and intelligence units.

So much for the Passover head fake. Earlier on Thursday, US officials had suggested anonymously that Israel would wait until after the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins Monday, to retaliate.

Was this an escalation by Israel? “On the surface, it appears rather limited,” said Gregory Brew, lead Iran analyst at Eurasia Group, “beyond the symbolic significance of Israel hitting Iranian territory.”

Iran isn’t blaming Israel. Tehran is claiming to have shot down several drones in the Isfahan area but is downplaying the significance of the incident and hasn’t blamed Israel — instead pointing the finger at “infiltrators.” Iran has not indicated any plans for retaliation, in a potential sign that it doesn’t want to escalate the situation.

“It’s early,” Brew noted, “but the official regime line may be that this is not an action that requires immediate and public retaliation.”

That’s good news even in a bad situation, he says. “It would suggest that the Israeli effort to hit back without triggering further escalation has been successful.”  (Gzero Signal, 4/19/2024)

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ISLAMIC ATTITUDES IN THE UK

Poll shows British Muslims want Islam as the national religion and an Islamic political party.  1 in 3 Muslims living in the UK want Islam to be declared the national religion and for everyone to live under the brutal system of Sharia law which calls for beheadings and amputations. 

Among younger Muslims 18-24, 1 in 5 believed that making Islam “our national religion” was “very desirable,” and a total of 43% supported redefining the UK as an Islamic state.  Only 16% opposed it.

This younger group who are the future of Muslims in the UK was also the one most likely to sympathize with Islamic terrorists.

1 in 4 British Muslim men expressed a positive view of Jihad. 46% of British Muslims sympathized with Hamas as did 58% of younger British Muslims. None effectively sympathize with Israel. Previously 1 in 4 Muslims had sympathized with the 7/7 suicide bombers in London.

52% of Muslims supported a ‘blasphemy’ ban on Mohammed cartoons. This Sharia ‘blasphemy code’ had already been used to justify violence and Islamic terrorist attacks against artists and magazines. Including the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris by heavily armed Muslim terrorists.

A previous poll reported by The Telegraph in 2015 showed that 1 in 4 Muslims supported the Hebdo attacks. 

Setting up conflicts with feminists and LGBTQ activists, 1 in 5 Muslims wanted to legalize polygamy and 1 in 4 wanted to ban homosexuality. While a majority of Muslim colonists would not commit to the move, both measures had similar levels of opposition and support.    (Jihad Watch, 4/16/2024)

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THE BRUSSELS GANGSTER STATE

A conference of the National Conservatives brought European conservatives together in Brussels, the capital of the European Union.  Delegates included Nigel Farage, the famous Brit and friend of Donald Trump, who led the Brexit campaign; Suella Braverman, a leading Tory politician who is very controversial on immigration;  Victor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, whose conviction is that Hungary belongs to Hungarians and has taken a hard line on immigration; and other Europeans who support the same causes.

From Melanie Phillips, in attendance at the conference:  ‘Bowing to left-wing protests, a Socialist Party Brussels mayor, Philippe Close – who last year invited Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani, a member of Iran’s tyrannical Islamist regime, for an official visit –  pressured the NatCons’ venue, Concert Noble, to cancel the event. Concert Noble, a high-end event space, duly caved.

Undaunted, the conference organizers secured a second venue at the Sofitel hotel. Late on Monday, Sofitel also cancelled after a second Brussels mayor, Vincent de Wolf, applied the thumbscrews. Sofitel duly sought police help to eject the conference organizers from its premises hours before the conference was due to start.

The conference organizers went to court to seek an injunction against Sofitel. The judge threw that out. Hundreds of people were arriving in Brussels for a conference that had nowhere to meet. 

With remarkable persistence and determination, the organizers located a third conference venue, a nightclub called Claridge. They worked most of Monday night setting up from scratch all the equipment, food and other supplies necessary for a two-day conference. By the time the conference registration opened at 8 am on Tuesday morning, it was all up and running — a formidable achievement.  This was, however, far from the end of the story.

For yet another Socialist Party Brussels mayor, Emir Kir, issued an order to shut down the conference. His reasons were “that [NatCon’s] vision is not only ethically conservative (e.g. hostility to the legalisation of abortion, same-sex unions, etc.) but also focused on the defense of “national sovereignty”, which implies, amongst other things, a “Eurosceptic” attitude…”

He also said that some of the speakers “are reputed to be traditionalists” and that the conference must be banned “to avoid foreseeable attacks on public order and peace”.

After his order was issued, three police officers turned up at the back of the hall demanding a shutdown with “immediate effect” on the grounds that the opinions of Farage, Braverman, and other speakers could lead to public disorder. When the TV cameras swiveled round to film the police, however, they beat a retreat outside, doubtless aware that being seen to shut down prominent European politicians wouldn’t be a good look. 

Next, on came Suella Braverman who spoke about the need for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights. She added:  “The thought police instructed by the mayor of Brussels saw fit to try and undermine and denigrate what is free speech and free debate. What really concerns me is that, only last year, the mayor of Brussels was happy to host the mayor of Tehran. And yet he seems to be pretty offended by democratically elected politicians, people from all over the European continent, who are giving voice to millions of people talking about things like securing our borders.”

Other supposedly terrifying topics discussed by the speakers were EU overreach, farmers’ protests, the failing birthrate and the pressures of mass immigration.

Another speaker, German Cardinal Ludwig Müller, was visibly shocked by the police blocking the entrance to the Claridge when he arrived. “This is like Nazi Germany,” he said.  “They are like the SA.”

What was originally a small conference of no great interest to anyone beyond a few thousand political nerds was now creating waves across the world. Country after country voiced shock and outrage about the way it had been treated. Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called the attempt to shut down the conference “extremely disturbing.” The events at the Claridge were trending on Twitter. It was publicity for National Conservatism beyond its supporters’ wildest dreams.   (Melanie Phillips, 4/17/2024)  

Attempts to shut down conservatism in Europe and attempts to silence Donald Trump in the US through the courts, may backfire.   Even people who do not support conservatives may find all this disturbing.

Also, it may backfire:  when conservatives are in power, they may use the same tactics to throttle the left.

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THE NEXT HOUSING DISASTER

“Think about the places vulnerable to climate change, and you might picture rice paddies in Bangladesh or low-lying islands in the Pacific. But another, more surprising answer ought to be your own house.  About a tenth of the world’s residential property by value is under threat from global warming – including many houses that are nowhere near the coast.  From tornadoes battering midwestern American suburbs to tennis-ball-size hailstones smashing the roofs of Italian villas, the severe weather brought about by greenhouse gas emissions is shaking the foundations of the world’s most important asset class.

The potential costs stem from policies designed to reduce the emissions of houses as well as from climate-related damage.  They are enormous.  By one estimate, climate change and the fight against it could wipe out 9% of the value of the world’s housing by 2050 – which amounts to $25 trillion, not much less than America’s annual GDP.    It is a huge bill hanging over people’s lives and the global financial system.   And it looks destined to trigger an almighty fight over who should pay up.”   (The Economist, 4/13/2024)

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POSSIBLE UKRAINE DEFEAT

Ahead of the meeting of G7 foreign ministers, beginning today on the island of Capri, there are frank warnings of a Ukrainian defeat on the battlefield. Alarm is being voiced both in Ukraine and in Western capitals. Kiev is “at great risk” of losing the war in the course of this year, declared a high-ranking British military officer at the weekend.

Senior Ukrainian officers had previously warned that the Russian armed forces could soon be able to smash open sections of the front. A Russian advance into large parts of eastern and even central Ukraine is no longer ruled out. Experts criticise the way Western accounts have “talked up the situation in Ukraine from the outset.” The Ukrainian officers complain in particular that the impact of new Western weaponry is frequently overestimated – often based on a traditional bullishness and self-certainty. It is now clear, for example, that the Russian military has learnt how to eliminate Storm Shadow or SCALP cruise missiles, targeting them with a high hit rate. The G7 foreign ministers are now looking at options for preventing a collapse of the Ukrainian front. Foreign Minister Baerbock is proposing a worldwide “mapping of all Patriot systems” to secure faster supplies from third countries.  (German Foreign Policy, 4/19/2024)

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BRIEFLY

“The British Angle” – “Brits should give up alcohol if it offends Muslim immigrants.”  (4/19/2024 YouTube).

One hundred years ago, British troops were trying to keep Muslims and Jews apart; in India the problem was Hindus and Muslims.   Now, one hundred years later, they are trying to keep them apart at home.  Decades of reckless immigration laws have left many ethnic groups fighting each other.

Also on YouTube:  “They all Betrayed us,” with pictures of Rishi Sunak, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Theresa May and David Cameron, all prime ministers for over 25 years, except for Liz Truss who was only in office for 49 days and could not do too much damage.   There have been calls for trials and imprisonment.

A London Jew was watching a pro-Palestinian march in the capital city, until the police forced him to move, with the threat of arrest.  He was told “Your presence is aggravating the situation.”  It seems as if the police have been told to keep Jews and Muslims apart.