Today marks the end of Ramadan for Muslims worldwide. This month of purification is over. Islam however is not wholly saved.
In Syria the massacre is on-going for instance between rival factions that spend a lot of time fighting each other, too much in fact to insure victory over Bachar El-Assad. Still, they did make gains.
Saudi arabia made a striking proposal to Russia, suggesting a major arms deal ( 15 billion $ ) and an opening to sales of Russian gas to Europe unchallenged by the Gulf nations in exchange for relinquishing support to Assad in the UN Security Council.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/07/uk-syria-crisis-saudi-russia-idUKBRE9760OU20130807
The tentative will likely fail of course.
http://rt.com/news/bandar-putin-assad-saudi-188/
Not only is it not clear that this would be enough for Vladimir Putin but it also does nothing to get China to change its stance in the UN. At least the Russian Tartus naval base is not a problem having been transfered to Cyprus recently.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0627/Why-Russia-evacuated-its-naval-base-in-Syria
On the ground, after successes in the last few weeks, the regime suffered 2 blows. One was the fall of the Mennagh regional military base. The second reported today is an attack on Assad’s convoy as he was traveling to the Mosque for the end of Ramadan celebrations. The rebels think they hit their target; the regime denies it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2386728/Assads-convoy-attack-denied-Syrian-TV-shows-mosque-Eid-celebration.html
And yesterday, we learned that the fighting between Al-Qaeda and the Kurds that live in the Northern part of the country and control many oil wells escalated :
http://guardianlv.com/2013/08/450-kurds-including-120-children-killed-in-syria-precipitates-international-concern-video/
Which, as long as we just talked of them, allows us to shift to our second subject. After last weeks massive jailbreaks in Lybia, Iraq and Afghanistan mentioned here : https://dlofr.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/3901/, today saw attacks in Iraq and Pakistan on police.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/08/c_132611257.htm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jVEq_ccLOCFl_4zXRs-hEEP8TqEg?docId=CNG.c0b07c0fd43690568ae07ab83f87f608.371
How interesting! Let me repeat what I said in the Post linked to above and add to it : If you recruit in prison and attack the Police, your true face is clear : dear Al-Qaeda and assorted, you are petty criminals. Thank you for making the point easy and evident as it will help all discern between normal Muslims and your gang.
Again, as long as we just talked of it, Pakistan is under tension with India.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-23611246
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/08/us-india-pakistan-idUSBRE97707Y20130808
There was an attack on Indian troops that left 5 dead and 1 wounded. That kind of incident is rather recurrent if not normal as shown by the fact that the border between the 2 nations is called the LoC, Line of Contact. It has, after all, seen 60 years of constant bickering and 3 wars, the last of which in 1999? The whole dispute is over the Kashmir region that is actually split in two parts administered by the 2 countries.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/south_asia/03/kashmir_future/html/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_Wars
Meanwhile in Israel, another classic scenario is being played. Every time there were talks with the Palestinians, Israel has made moves to make matters worse. It is one of the most sickening aspects of its policy on the matter.
The normal set-up goes thus : as things seem to get better and negotiations are looming, Israel makes surprise moves or offers that apparently constitute openings or unexpected willingness.
Then comes sitting down to prepare for discussions.
Then comes public declarations to throw fuel on the fire and clear domination moves.
In the present case, the first step was the possibility of using the 1967 borders as a base for talks :
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/21/Peace-talks-are-vital-for-Israel-Netanyahu-says.html ( to which the Palestinian agreed to under pressure from local Arab states ) and the release of Palestinian prisoners as a gesture of goodwill.
The came the Washington diplomatic round headed by US Secretary of State John Kerry that is now scheduled to continue in Jerusalem on August 14th and later in Jericho.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.540566
But as the piece above reveals, the slap has already been served as Israel also announced an additional 800 settlement houses to have been cleared for construction.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/08/us-palestinians-israel-settlements-idUSBRE9770FM20130808
And on top of that move, you can find the war-mongering comment made by Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett to the effect that he had killed lots of Arabs in his life and that there is no problem with that!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/naftali-bennett-kill-arabs_n_3670767.html
This is a dirty habit. It reeks of domination and is reminiscent of psychological torture or the good cop, bad cop technique. It is also why I mentioned the need for the Strong, Israel, to be honest and ready to go further as per its position in this recent Post on the upcoming talks :
https://dlofr.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/peace-balks-again-a-different-israel-palestine-peace-plan/
I am now sadly inclined to think that I was right and that once again, the collective ego of Israel will render the outcome nil, as usual. Most people after all do not want to even go back to the 1967 borders. http://www.imemc.org/article/65921
So again, talks will start which will later be seen as a gesture of good will while in fact the moves were made to insure failure. As months go by, the interval will comfort the position of the occupier though and serve its long-time goal. If there is to be a next time, a later attempt at peace negotiations, the Strong will have become mightier and the Weak closer to extinction. Until there is no land left to be disputed and / or no one with whom to dispute it with? And if that was to happen, Israel would be culprit of genocide, of the disappearance of a People ( albeit by swindling more than by pure force ), something which I will state again to be, in view of the long suffering of the Jews at the hands of others, the ultimate shame that could possibly come to them. They may thus gain back the historic Nation that they so long dreamed of in exile but they will also have lost the respect of any honest person!
I am tempted to call Israel to this last chance to change its attitude but if my views are right, it would be utterly pointless as it knows full well that by hindering the process, it is ensuring that there will be another later? As we just saw, it is exactly banking on that?
Shame on you!
Hoping to be proven wrong, Tay.
Definitive Lapse of Reason 
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