According to the Financial Times, Western support for Israel’s assault on Gaza “has undone months of work to paint Moscow as a global pariah for breaching international law”. As one “senior diplomat” noted in reference to the Global South, “Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.”
The most obvious example of Western hypocrisy involves the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Last October, she denounced Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure as “war crimes” and “acts of pure terror”. Fast forward one year and she has made no such criticisms of Israel’s “complete siege” of Gaza, instead proclaiming that the “EU stands with Israel”. (Her remarks are plastered all over the Arab press.)
Quoting the Financial Times again:
Just four weeks before the Hamas assault on Israel, leaders from the US, EU and western allies attended the G20 summit in New Delhi and asked developing nations to condemn Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians … Since last Sunday, many of those officials told the Financial Times they have had the same argument read back at them.
But the similarities between the Israel/Palestine and Russia/Ukraine conflicts go well beyond the issue of attacks on civilian infrastructure. In both cases, a military power is occupying territory in violation of international law based on historical claims and perceived threats to the security of its people.
It scarcely needs to be said that Russia’s occupation and subsequent annexation of parts of four Ukrainian oblasts is in violation of international law. Indeed, this is something that Western officials have been stating over and over again for months.
Yet Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, its occupation of East Jerusalem, and its annexation of the Golan Heights are also in violation of international law. Indeed, the illegal annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981, which is recognised by only one country (the U.S.), is directly analogous to Russia’s illegal annexation of the four Ukrainian oblasts last September.
Even Israel’s European allies consider the country to be violating international law. In May 2021, a joint statement by the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. described West Bank settlements as “illegal”, urging Israel to “cease its policy of settlement expansion across the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.
The two countries have offered justifications for their ongoing violations of international law which, as noted above, are remarkably similar. Both claim they are protecting their people in what was historically their land.
Interestingly, the similarities don’t end there. For the time being, neither conflict can be resolved through peaceful means due (in large part) to the strategic importance of a certain piece of territory. In Israel’s case, it’s the West Bank. In Russia’s case, it’s the land bridge to Crimea.
Putting historical considerations aside, Israel is not going to give up the West Bank. Why? The reason is obvious when you look at a map. If Israel gave up the West Bank, most of its major population centres (which are dotted along the coast) would be extremely difficult to defend. There would be almost no strategic depth for countering an attack from the East.
And it’s the same for Russia, which is not going to give up the land bridge. If it did, Crimea would be extremely difficult to defend. Much of the peninsula would be in range of artillery and the only supply routes would be via sea, air or the precarious Kerch bridge – which has already been severely damaged twice.
The only condition under which either country might be willing to give up the relevant piece of land is if it had security guarantees concerning its core strategic interests (Israel’s coastal plain and Crimea, respectively). Since such guarantees are not on the horizon, territory will only change hands in the event of either country’s military defeat.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
If there’s any justice or such thing as an unrigged election in the U.S Trump will cruise into the White House, it’s surely a foregone conclusion, because if this ultimate DEI hire is who he’s now going up against then it’ll be a cake walk. The woman showed us all not just how insufferable she is, but her proven ineptitude as VP doesn’t exactly give even the most hardcore Leftards a whole lot of confidence. Also, this isn’t exactly going to be winning her any votes either;
”A reminder of why DEI Kamala polled at only 3% before dropping out in her previous Presidential campaign.
“Kamala Harris put over 1500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana.
“She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so.
“She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the State of California.
“And she fought to keep a cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.”
https://x.com/BillboardChris/status/1815142351154667579
The gap between the Don and Kamala is so wide that there is no credible way to cheat a win. Not that it will stop the Dems trying, but The Don should have enough, especially with Musk and others funding a legal presence in every counting location.
Unless they find an excuse to cancel the election. Something like a major war, Scamdemic ll or the inevitable financial crash.
When Kameltoe appears in public she’s either pissed or High on wacky baccy.
Or Colombian Marching Powder.
https://x.com/leokearse/status/1815288158478639429?s=48
This clip of Harris is even better than the above embedded. All 22 seconds of it. Seriously
When a candidate seeking election makes your skin crawl with embarrassment for them when they speak, they’re probably not the best person for the job… watching this my shin is crawling the equivalent of the Sandakan Death March.
“Labour goes to war on nail bars in fight against illegal immigration”
…and Turkish barbers, Labour. Turkish barbers…
One in three. And, regardless of the techniques used to identify untruthful answers, I believe this number is higher – anecdotally, I would say more like one in two. And this brings me to the debate about free speech and democratic ‘jokes’ in which the ‘joke’ is that they wished Trump had been killed. They’re not jokes. Anyone that thinks they are have seriously underestimated the unhinged hatred the left have for Trump and for the right-of-centre beliefs Trump voices. Trump is a figurehead for a set of beliefs that many people hold; in other words their hatred and wish for his death is also hatred and wish for death of millions of others.
If Trump had been killed the ‘jokers’ would show no embarrassment, no remorse, no regret. Quite the opposite – they would be genuinely pleased and celebrate. So, should these comments be seen as crass jokes or should they be seen as incitement? In a world where we have no common moral playlist which guides commonsense, we have to differentiate between reasonable free speech and unreasonable free speech. Incitement to assassinate a president doesn’t seem that reasonable to me. And, I’m afraid, we’re not going to win this culture war by always playing nicely; the left fight dirty, very dirty, it’s well past time we also smashed some bottles.
I suppose in the day, You would have probably found similar numbers of Labour voters feeling the same way about Margaret Thatcher. Certainly there was a palpable sense of indifference to the Brighton bombing. It seems to be the way that if you have a political ideology that everyone must ascribe to, in all its details, anyone who sharply goes against it will be viewed as an enemy to be destroyed.
I’m reminded of the celebrations of her death…
Coming from the Notts coal mining area I realise the people hated Thatcher personally for what she did to the miners, not democracy itself!
The Dematwats hate democracy, If it doesn’t allow them to win, they would argee to any apponent being ‘removed’ by any means nessasary.
I think that’s a critically important distinction.
You’re playing into their hands if you think bottle-smashing is a good idea. As you observe, Trump represents real, decent people. We should be very careful not to descend into the madness of the left but call it out and laugh at them. Ordinary people still mesmerised by their nonsense ideology don’t want civil war and will wake up eventually.
And where has playing nicely got us? Playing into their hands is exactly what we’ve been doing for the last decade or two. Whilst we still insist on fighting under the Queensbury Rules, they’re biting ears and gouging eyes. And this has been the case for so long that we’re at the cliff edge of complete and total defeat with no ladder to climb back. Every actions needs an appropriate reaction, and that reaction has to be considered within the context of circumstances and environment of the action. It’s not where I want to be, believe me, but I’ve become 100% certain that appealing to their sense of decency will never work; for the simple reason that they have a polar opposite belief of what decency is. By stubbornly sticking to our sense of right and wrong, and doing nothing else to combat the hysteria, we empower these people and allow them to grow.
I always want to fight fairly, but if someone wants to fight a different way then I’m happy to oblige. After being imprisoned with socialist chains, I’m not going to look my kids in the eye and say ‘Pity. Well, I was always polite”.
Civil war would suit the Davos Deviants admirably.
Many of Trump’s opponents accuse him of being a threat to democracy, yet democracy thrived throughout his previous presidency.
The real threat to true democracy has come through the actions of Biden’s administration, especially with green and DEI legislation and the failure to control the southern border
Also, use of censorship, propaganda and the power of the state (FBI, CIA, DOJ) to intimidate political opponents and their supporters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-wont-accept-ultimatum-type-invitations-second-ukraine-peace-2024-07-18/
‘They prepared for the ‘deal of the century’ for quite a long time, but it did not end in anything, and under Biden, on the contrary, a colossal historical tragedy happened’
Maria Zakharova
What’s really going on?
Trump’s plan for Ukraine is simple.
Freeze the conflict with an immediate ceasefire.
Haggle about how much of Eastern Ukraine Russia keeps.
Haggle over Ukraine/Georgia neutrality
His levers?
On Russia: Massive support for Ukraine particularly air power, air defence and de-restricted use of long range weapon systems, build up of Ukrainian defence industry.
On Ukraine: Withdrawal of U.S. financial and military support.
On Europe: U.S. withdrawal of all land forces from Europe.
So, essentially, Minsk 3 with bells on.
Three problems:
A frozen conflict requires a buffer zone patrolled by peacekeeping forces. The buffer zone will be one thousand kilometres in length. The green line in Cyprus is 180 km in length and requires two brigades to police it. Five divisions, essentially, two army corps will be required, forward located to police a Ukraine/Russia buffer zone. Where will that Army come from? Russia will not accept a NATO Army on its border. Ukraine will insist on at least one division from the United Kingdom, which does not possess such a deployable formation.
Ukraine may accept the loss of Crimea, packaged as some kind of ‘special status free zone’, but Atesh local resistance is active and unlikely to cease activity in such a scenario, pushing for Crimean nationhood; likewise the rest of Eastern Ukraine. Russian (Army) ‘little green men’ are likely to once more deploy.
The Minsk agreements resulted in a second Russian invasion.
The reality is that the Ukraine situation cannot finish as Black or White. It has to end as some shade of grey. Enough lives have been lost trying to draw lines on the map. It has to stop…
It had stopped 1994-2014.
Minsk 1 and 2 were shades of grey, resulting in a further invasion in 2022.
Any endgame will, realistically, require a policed buffer zone in order for Ukraine to have any confidence in a new settlement..
Who will police it?
Serious question.
There wasn’t an invasion in 2014, although there was a coup, initiated and supported by the USA.
What resulted in a “further” invasion in 2022 was 2 things – shelling and persecution of ethnic Russians living in eastern Ukraine for 7-8 years in massive contravention of the Minsk Accords; and continuing insistence by the USA that Ukraine would join NATO, contrary to Russia’s legitimate security concerns.
‘“In order to block and disarm 20,000 well-armed [Ukrainian soldiers], you need a specific set of personnel. And not just in numbers, but with skill. We needed specialists who know how to do it,” Putin said in the documentary.
“That’s why I gave orders to the Defense Ministry — why hide it? — to deploy special forces of the GRU (military intelligence) as well as marines and commandos there under the guise of reinforcing security for our military facilities in Crimea,”
Putin, March 2015
‘Strelkov was quoted as saying. However, by early August, Russian servicemen supposedly on “vacation” from the army had begun to arrive, he said.
According to Strelkov, the assault on the Black Sea town of Mariupol in September, which prompted concerns in Ukraine and the West that Russia has entered the conflict on a large scale, was conducted mostly by the Russian military “vacationers.”
This war has thus become a testing ground for the Kremlin in creating new tools of population management. It is developing a new type of biopolitical imperialism to manage the crisis in social reproduction.
‘And, if you believe the forecasts and the estimates are based on actual work, the real work of people who understand this, who have devoted their whole lives to this, in 15 years, there may be 22 million fewer Russians. I ask you to think about this figure: a seventh of the country’s population. If the current trend continues, the nation’s survival will be in jeopardy’ (Putin 2000)
As a result, the Kremlin accumulates cheap labor power, appropriating Ukrainian state investment in the birth, care, and education of its former citizens; their reproductive labor; and even their personal relations that allow them to survive in Russia without state support. This — together with the appropriation of companies and the devastation of territories now to be redeveloped — is a typical process of imperialist accumulation by dispossession.
Failure by the West and Ukraine to honour the last Minsk agreement and Kiev agression against Donbas resulted in Russia inervening to protect Donbas residents.
The fourth problem is that Russia has little incentive to freeze anything, unless of course you believe Western disinformation.
“English schools to phase out ‘cruel’ behaviour rules as Labour plans major education changes”
First of all, the ‘consequences’ systems run by many schools with increasing isolation from school life for wrong-doers clearly doesn’t work. It especially doesn’t work for boys. Boys and girls respond differently to different punishments. Sitting quietly for 30 minutes personal reflection, isn’t going to do the trick.
Secondly, and I’ve noticed this with all leftie thinking, why do all their proposals appear to hurt the majority in favouring often tiny minorities. If you have a disruptive child in class, why wouldn’t you want them kicked out so the 29 who want to learn and behave can do so.
Which brings us to…why are we still trying to force all kids down academic routes, when they could be electricians, plumbers and cooks. A lot of bad behaviour is down to boredom. Teach them to read and write, then gather the bright ones together to polish as fine gemstones. The rest, teach them something practical they can enjoy and earn a living doing.
Watching the programme about Daley Thompson it struck me how he said his school for difficult children did sports every single day. And that’s what disruptive children need. Use up energy, channel it into a competitive discipline or teamwork. Schools should do more sports…if their playing field hasn’t been built on.
“Third of Democrats wish Donald Trump had been killed”
So they agree with Putins answer to democracy then?
I thought the Dematwats were the protectors of democracy?
“Moderna was more deadly than Pfizer”
That’s like saying strychnine is more deadly than arsenic! F@#k all of them!
Damned with faint praise.
I don’t like Harris – she just seems to be one of life’s idiots to me – but am I the only one that doesn’t think this is as comical as it’s being made out to be? I mean, it’s not exactly cryptic – by understanding the past, I see the potential for a better future. Maybe I’m missing something?
How long before the female agent “shielding” Trump accuses him of groping her?
Is it me or were the women in the detail chosen for the thickness of their torso..?
And short legs.
“Police hunt for ‘hate crime’ suspect after Pride flags vandalised”
Meanwhile in other news, England burns with riots in Leeds and London , police responded strongly by leaving the areas quickly!
Spot on Dinger.
Personally I find Pride flags grotesque and insulting.
“Trump Is now certain to win…”. Has Jake Wallis Simons done well at betting on the horses then?