Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
Asking the question; nothing but crickets:
Egypt, Jordan, I mean, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, all these countries that prepare–that talk about how much they care about the Palestinians, they could help right now. They could help the Palestinians escape. They could say okay, stop bombing and we will go in there and we will help Gaza, like, become a thriving society. They could do all sorts of things. They have money, by the way. Where are they?
Of course we already know the answer…
Second news item
No House speaker in sight yet :
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) dropped out of the race for the House speakership on Thursday after failing to secure enough votes…
“Our conference still has to come together and it’s not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas and I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a speaker and we need to open up the House again.”
Just how bad are things in the House? Brett Baier of Fox News tells us:
“I’ve talked to a lot of people up there, you know, private conversations on background,” Baier said. “A number of them told me crazy things, saying that probably Jesus of Nazareth could not get 217 votes right now.”
Thus, Republicans are turning to Democrats for help.
Third news item
The former leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, called for Muslims across the globe to head to the squares and streets this Friday and protest in support of Palestinians and for neighboring countries to join the battle against Israel.
In a recorded statement sent to Reuters, Meshaal is heard saying, “[We must] head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday.”
In his statement, he told Muslims the people and government officials in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan have a responsibility to support Palestinians, as the vast majority of Palestinian refugees call Jordan and Lebanon home.
“Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan…This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility…To all scholars who teach jihad… to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application (of theories),” Meshaal said.
Meshaal‘a comments are being taken seriously:
Local and federal law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are stepping up their patrols of Jewish houses of worship, Jewish-owned businesses and Israeli diplomatic buildings as calls for attacks on the Jewish community in the U.S. intensify online.
Fourth news item
Yes:
Belgium, where most frozen Russian central bank assets are held, expects to collect 2.3 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in taxes on the assets and use them to help reconstruct Ukraine, a spokesperson for Belgium’s prime minister said on October 11. The European Union and the Group of Seven (G7) have been discussing whether they could use the interest paid on more than 300 billion euros of frozen Russian public money to fund Ukraine. The European Commission said in July it would present a proposal on whether there was a legally sound way to use the funds once the G7 agreed.
Fifth news item
Good:
The United States and Qatar have agreed to block Iran’s access to $6 billion in funds recently transferred to the nation as part of a deal between Washington and Tehran that led to the release of five imprisoned Americans from Iran last month.
Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, told House Democrats on Thursday that Iran would no longer have access to the funds, according to a person familiar with the matter. The money was under close supervision and strict conditions that it be used only for humanitarian purposes.
The move comes amid harsh criticism, mainly from Republicans, that the Biden administration gave Iran access to a vast sum that freed up other funds for Tehran to provide support to Hamas before its attack on Israel over the weekend.
Sixth news item
Irate in the wake of a brutal assault by Hamas fighters that has pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden together, Donald Trump is lashing out with pointed criticism of Netanyahu and his government.
An adviser to Netanyahu said there had been no outreach by Trump in the wake of the attacks. Instead, Trump has leveled repeated broadsides at the leader of a close U.S. ally in remarks on the campaign trail as he seeks a return to the White House.
He’s pissed off because Bibi praised Biden and the Biden White House for being supportive,” said a former Trump adviser, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Seventh news item
Palestinians began a mass exodus from northern Gaza Friday after Israel’s military told some 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of the besieged territory, an unprecedented order ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group.
The U.N. warned that so many people fleeing en masse — almost half the Gaza population — would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the order. Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City, the biggest city, even as Israeli strikes hammered neighborhoods in southern Gaza.
This is tragic, no matter how you look at it. There will be collateral damage in great numbers. Maybe Hamas should release the hostages, stop using civilians, including children as shields, stop commandeering and destroying necessary Palestinian infrastructure for their own terroristic uses, and most importantly, stop trying to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
—Dana
