The Free

How US and Israel crushed Lebanon and are still Stopping aid and Sanctioning as Starvation spreads

16 Nov, 2022 15:37 @falasteen47 info> Home World News illustrations etc via thefreeonline

Efforts to stop Iran from spreading its influence are preventing any alleviation of Lebanon’s economic crisis

Why the US & Israel are preventing aid from reaching one of the poorest countries in the Middle East

Lebanese depositors storm banks amid historic economic…Protestors stage a sit-in outside an LGB Bank branch, which was held up by a depositor seeking access to his own savings, in Beirut, Lebanon on September 16, 2022.

Despite the recent signing of a historic maritime border agreement, tensions continue to remain high, with both Israel and the United States attempting to force Lebanon into compliance with their regional agenda.

Although Israeli and Lebanese leaders signed letters of intent earlier this month ending their long-standing maritime border dispute and averting a major escalation in their ongoing conflict, the two sides still remain technically at war.

Lebanon’s people line up in ‘queues of humiliation’ as their country .....A Syrian-flagged ship named the Laodicea that docked in the Lebanese port of Tripoli was detained by sanctions last Saturday, preventing desperately needed flour and barley from reaching people in the Middle East...Bread Queues in Beirut as starvatioin spreads

Beirut refuses to recognise the Israeli state, maintaining the stance that first the Palestine issue must be resolved, as Israel maintains control over the Shebaa Farms area which Lebanon claims to be its territory.

Last week, drone strikes were reported to have killed up to 25 people after targeting a fuel aid convoy that had just passed the Al-Qaim crossing into Syria from Iraq. There are conflicting reports on who actually carried out the attack, with both Israel and the United States accused of having been behind it.

Airstrikes on Syria-Iraq border leave at least 15 dead

The US military instantly distanced themselves from the incident, by denying they had carried out any strikes, whilst the Israeli government refused to comment and is now widely assumed to be culpable.

At age seven, I had to cover my hair. Now women in Iran are fighting for freedom

The killing of Mahsa Amini has galvanised a new generation to reject oppression – I hope that they achieve what we couldn’t

By Maryam Mazrooei | from Stigmatis Iran, 14 Nov. 2022 via thefreeonline

I held my first photo exhibition in late 2017, a few months after returning from Mosul, Iraq, where I had documented the operation to liberate the city from Islamic State.

From the first moments of the event, I felt gloomy as my family cast concerned looks at me while the press took pictures of my hair freely protruding from my scarf and clothes – a deliberate rebellion on my part against Iran’s conservative traditions and beliefs.

At least 326 killed in Iran protests, human rights group claims

I suddenly experienced a flashback to all the ways in which I had been oppressed as a woman during my life. When I turned six, they pulled me out of my games with the boys in the neighbourhood.

When I turned seven, they covered my head with the ugliest scarf in the world, which looked like a burlap sack, and sent me to school where, even though it was staffed solely by women, no one was allowed to remove the scarf.

Knowing my stubbornness, my mother tried to keep a scarf on my head by choosing a sky-blue one decorated with flowers and ribbons, something different from the black scarfs of others. I, however, found some release by ripping the scarf from under my chin, allowing me to breathe more freely.

Although I had the best marks at school, my disobedience towards the restrictive rules meant that I was never encouraged academically. Every day, I wished I had been born a boy.

When I turned nine, I was close to the age of puberty and it was time to observe religious obligations. I was taught that if a man saw my body, it was me who would be burned in hell, where I would be hung by each strand of hair that had been visible.

After weeks fearing being hung in hell, with my childish logic I found a solution in rebellion, reasoning that being hung from a bunch of hair would be less painful than from a strand. I ripped my scarf some more.

The more I matured and the more feminine I appeared, the heavier the burden of sins became. I started to hunch under this burden, to avoid the sin of seducing men with my growing breasts.

The final straw came when I was 14 and the authorities of the top-rated school that I was attending made me wear a chador, a big black cloth that covered my whole body except for my face.

It led to a long depression, one that lasted 10 years. With the help of a therapist, I finally found the most important cause was the chador, that big black shroud.

I decided to wear a loose hijab and prepared myself for the price I would have to pay. I would lose the financial and emotional support of my wealthy community, which only passively respected women’s rights.

I was aware of the consequences in a country where the hijab is legally obligatory and on every corner the morality police hunt women who don’t properly hide their female bodies, and arrest them using a snare pole.

I would have no chance of being hired officially and permanently. Even so, I decided to drop out of studying physics and restart my career as a freelance journalist and photographer.

That night at my exhibition, I was again reminded of the wounds that I had thought were healed, wounds shared by women in neighbouring countries whose photographs I had taken.

The deep wounds of the Yazidi and Iraqi women whose bodies became a battlefield and who were forced to become sex slaves, the women of Afghanistan who ran away to avoid being sold by their brothers and fathers to sex trafficking agents.

Women for sale in an ISIS market. 2015

My struggle against the norms of the Islamic republic meant that my passport was confiscated for years and I became a prisoner in my country and society – and in my female body.

Misión de la OTAN: España amplía despliegue de misiles en Turquía dirigidos contra Siria – Esp /Eng

by Rick Rozoff at Anti-bellum News from Hurriyet Noticias Nov 13 2022 translation thefreeonline

Anti-guerra .. Un diario de la amenaza de la OTAN para la paz mundial

España prorroga el despliegue de Patriot en Türkiye hasta junio de 2023

ver también..España busca ampliar la venta de buques de guerra a Turquía

España ha extendido el despliegue de su sistema de defensa aérea Patriot como parte de una misión de la OTAN en Türkiye hasta junio de 2023, anunció el Ministerio de Defensa turco en una declaración escrita el 13 de noviembre.

Según el comunicado, la decisión de la prórroga del despliegue Patriot y la permanencia del contingente militar español fue tomada por España. También informó que el ministro de Defensa, Hulusi Akar, llamó a su homóloga española, Margarita Robles, y le agradeció la extensión del despliegue Patriot. Akar también aplaudió a España por actuar en consonancia con el espíritu aliado.

España desplegará batería antiaérea de misiles en Turquía – La verdad …

Russia denies with proof striking Poland with missiles / claims Ukrainian False Flag to bring NATO to WAR

Moscow insists a reported explosion near the Ukrainian border is not related to its military operation.

Ukraine Weapons Tracker @UAWeapons So what crashed in the village of Przewodów, Poland? With the cooperation of @blueboy1969 we analyzed the available photos of fragments and came to a clear conclusion that they belong to the 48D6 motor of the 5V55-series missile of the S-300 AD system- a Ukrainian one.

Russia’s Mash Telegram channel has published a photo of what it said is a fragment from an S-300 defence system missile. This Soviet-era equipment is used by Ukraine.

Russia has not carried out any strikes against targets near the Polish-Ukrainian border, the defense ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday, following reports of a missile striking the village of Przewodow and killing two civilians.

Some Western media outlets and politicians have claimed that Russia is responsible for the incident. However, no evidence has been provided to support such assertions.

Stray Russian missiles feared to have landed in Poland theguardian.com›world…nov…russian-missiles…poland…..Russian missiles were feared to have crossed into Poland on Tuesday, in what would be the first time Nato territory has been struck … in an eastern Polish village, prompting the government in Warsaw to hold an emergency meeting .

**Missile fragments, photos of which were published by Polish media outlets on the scene, “have nothing to do with Russian weapons,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.**

Statements by the Polish media and officials about the alleged ‘Russian’ missiles falling in the area of the village of Przewodow are “a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation,” the Russian military added.

Russia Calls Report of Poland Missile Strike a ‘Provocation’ newsweek.com

Poland convened an emergency meeting of its national security council on Tuesday evening, after reports that at least two civilians were killed when one or more missiles struck the village in the Lublin region, just across the border with Ukraine.

While the AP reported that Russian missiles had crossed into Poland, citing an unnamed “senior US intelligence official,” the Pentagon declined to corroborate the claim.

“I can tell you that we don’t have any information at this time to corroborate those reports and are looking into this further,” Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters, when asked about the Przewodow incident.

Russian Missiles Cross into NATO Member Poland, Kill 2: Senior US …

Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller called on the media and the public “not to publish unconfirmed information.”

Officials from the Baltic states blamed Russia and claimed that Poland should invoke NATO’s Article 5 in retaliation. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky accused Russia of “terrorism” and said NATO needed to “act” against this “attack on collective security.”