Israel and Saudis: Best of Friends?

Israel and Saudis: Best of Friends?

By Stephen Lendman
Global Research, November 17, 2017

They’re strange bedfellows, allies of convenience against a common adversary – Iran for its sovereign independence and opposition to their hegemonic ambitions.

In an unprecedented interview with London-based, Saudi-owned Elaph.com, IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot said Israel is willing to share intelligence with Riyadh.

He claimed with Trump as US president,

“there is an opportunity for a new international alliance in the region and a major strategic plan to stop the Iranian threat.”

“We are ready to exchange experiences with moderate Arab countries and exchange intelligence to confront Iran.”

Riyadh and Tel Aviv share “many common interests,” he added, calling Tehran the region’s “biggest threat.”

Eisenkot lied claiming Tehran aims “to control the Middle East by means of two Shiite crescents. The first from Iran through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon, and the second from Bahrain through to Yemen until the Red Sea.”

“This is what must be prevented in the region. In this matter, there is complete agreement between us and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has never been our enemy. It has not fought us nor have we fought it.”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8aETK5pQR4&t=792s

Israel admits to a working relationship with Saudi Arabia

Israel admits to a working relationship with Saudi Arabia
It turns out that something can bring two adversaries together: Iran

JEREMY BINCKES 11.17.2017•2:55 PM

The political situation in the Middle East is now, officially, a lot more complex than initially thought.
Israel is openly admitting that the country has been working with Saudi Arabia in military matters. The two countries, which don't have diplomatic ties, have found that there's a common adversary to deal with: Iran.

Israel's military chief told a Saudi newspaper that Israelis and Saudis were in agreement that Iran was the "largest threat to the region," per the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The news isn't surprising to anyone who has closely followed Middle East politics. Israel and Saudi Arabia both have a common enemy in Iran. Israel has claimed that Iran causes an existential threat to its existence — Iran has funded the anti-Israel group Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization — while Saudi Arabia has been fighting a proxy war with Iran in Yemen, which until recently, has had American consent.

For two countries that have had a long history of tensions between them, notice of an alliance, no matter how small, represents a big step. As NBC noted, there's significant risk of blowback, especially for Saudi Arabia, which has claimed to be the standard-bearer for a strain of Islam that has spread through the world:

An Israeli-Saudi alliance would also be vastly unpopular on the Arab street given the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

"An alliance with Israel will definitely hurt the Saudis and their allies," said Hassan Hassan, an author and Middle East expert with the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington. "It makes sense for them on the geopolitical level but not internally or on the social level."

"The paradox is that Saudi Arabia and others want to counter Iran through an alliance with Israel, but failing to stand up to Iran and then align with Israel is ticking all the boxes of a bad policy" . . .

The stakes are much higher for Saudi Arabia than Israel. The Saudis remain reluctant to publicly acknowledge or accept that relations are, indeed, improving. It's unlikely that any relationship will be formalized in the absence of Palestinian statehood — a condition the Saudis have demanded for years. But under the table, both sides agree that the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

Indian farmers bury themselves to protest land acquisition deal

Indian farmers bury themselves to protest land acquisition deal
Nita Bhalla

READNEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Scores of farmers in western India have buried themselves neck-deep in the ground or are sitting in trenches to protest against what they say is meager financial compensation from authorities keen to build housing on their land.

More than 50 farmers - men and women - from the desert state of Rajasthan began their protest two days ago, claiming local authorities had forcibly acquired their land at rates dating back to 2010 and called for increased compensation.

Television pictures from Nindar village, about 15 km (10 miles) from the fort city of Jaipur, showed about a dozen men standing in narrow pits dug up to their necks, and scores of women sitting in trenches as crowds gathered round.

“We are here to demand (a) better rate for our land. What the government is offering us is not enough. The cost of land is much higher than it was before,” an elderly farmer, wearing a colorful turban and standing in a narrow pit, told the NDTV news channel on Wednesday.

Officials from the Jaipur Development Authority, which has acquired the land to build a housing project as part of the expansion of the popular tourist city, were not immediately available to comment on the protest.

The villagers have been holding demonstrations for better compensation since mid-September, but there has been no response from the government, they said.

This is not the first time farmers have staged dramatic protests to draw attention to their plight.

In March, drought-hit and debt-ridden farmers from the southern state of Tamil Nadu traveled to New Delhi in a protest where they displayed the skulls of fellow farmers believed to have committed suicide, and placed live rats in their mouths.

Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla, Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit news.trust.org Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Waiting for India’s response: Pakistan on J&K dialogue

Waiting for India’s response: Pakistan on J&K dialogue

Pakistan last week announced that the wife of Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a military court, can meet him “purely on humanitarian grounds.”

Islamabad, Publish Date: Nov 16 2017 11:47PM | Updated Date: Nov 16 2017 11:47PM


Pakistan on Thursday said it has offered to resume a dialogue with India on Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and other pending issues and was awaiting a response from New Delhi.

Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said that it was also awaiting India’s reply on Pakistan’s offer to allow alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to meet his wife.

Pakistan last week announced that the wife of Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a military court, can meet him “purely on humanitarian grounds.”

The spokesman expressed concern over recent cruise missile tests conducted by India, complaining that Pakistan should have been informed prior to the tests.

He termed the tests a potential threat to peace in the region.

The spokesman said there was no response from India on Pakistan’s Lt Col. (retd) Habib Zahir, who went missing in Nepal earlier this year.

Habib went missing from Lumbini, a Nepalese town near the Indian border, on April 6 soon after arriving in Nepal. (IANS)

Zimbabwe crisis

The rivalry between First Lady Grace Mugabe talks to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa led to a military intervention in Zimbabwe [Reuters]

Zimbabwe crisis

Veterans of the war of independence are highly influential in the army and the ruling party.

Mugabe has regularly removed veterans from posts in Zanu-PF in recent years, replacing them with officials who did not fight in the war.

Who are the key players in the Zimbabwe crisis?

15 Nov 2017

Robert Mugabe 

Robert Mugabe was born on February 21, 1924, in what was then known as Rhodesia but is now called Zimbabwe.

The former school teacher, with seven university degrees, first came to prominence after waging a bloody guerrilla war against white colonial rulers, who jailed him for 10 years over a "subversive speech" he made in 1964.

Soon after his release from jail in 1974, he caused a seismic shift in Rhodesian politics, riding a wave of popular outrage against the colonial establishment.

He fought in Rhodesia's war for independence and became prime minister in 1980 of the newly independent country born from that conflict.

The new state was renamed Zimbabwe and Mugabe later assumed the presidency in 1987.

He married his current wife and Zimbabwe's First Lady, Grace Mugabe, in 1996.

Since then, he has won a series of controversial elections marred by accusations of vote rigging, most significantly the 2008 vote, which he allegedly lost to now-Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, sparking political violence that human rights groups say claimed over 200 lives.

While his supporters say he speaks for the poor; his critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian.

Mugabe's rule has so far culminated in a massive economic crisis in Zimbabwe, once one of Africa's richest countries.

Grace Mugabe

Born in 1965 in South Africa, Grace Mugabe has been the first lady of Zimbabwe since she married President Robert Mugabe in 1996.

She is 41 years younger than her husband and was known for her expensive shopping habits and charity work before taking an active role in the country’s ruling party, Zanu-PF, in which she leads the women’s division.

Her extravagant lifestyle has been a source of discomfort in Zimbabwe where many face severe economic hardship.

Grace Mugabe is said to be working to succeed Mugabe and her main rival to the presidency, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was sacked by her husband in November 2017, leading to the military intervention.

She recently sued Zimbabwean newspaper, The Standard, after it published Wikileaks cables, which claimed she took huge kickbacks from diamond mines in Zimbabwe.

The University of Zimbabwe awarded her a doctoral degree in Sociology in 2014, two months after she started the course, sparking outrage among academics in the country.

He fought in the country’s war of independence and was arrested in 1965, subsequently spending the next ten years in prison.

After he was freed, he was deported to Zambia, where he studied and practiced law, in addition to serving as Zanu-PF's secretary in Lusaka.

He became the special assistant to Mugabe in 1977, heading both the military and civil divisions of the party.

After independence, Mnangagwa became the first minister for national security and held various positions during his political career, ending up as vice president in 2013.

As a veteran of the war of independence and a powerful figure in Zanu-PF, he was seen as a possible successor to Mugabe.

Mnangagwa was removed from government by Mugabe in November 2017 for allegedly plotting against the incumbent leader and later fled to South Africa.

The vice president commanded the support of the army and veterans of the war of independence.

On November 15, the army took over the headquarters of the state broadcaster ZBC and blocked access to government offices, but denied a coup was underway.

ZNA was formed after independence in 1980, through the integration of the former Rhodesian army, Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, Zimbabwe African People's Union and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army. The latter three fought the war of independence against the government in the seventies.

The army's mission statement is "to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests of Zimbabwe and to contribute to international peace and security".

The Zimbabwean government claimed in 2007 that it foiled an alleged coup involving hundreds of soldiers and high-ranking officers.

Independence war veterans

Veterans of the war of independence are highly influential in the army and the ruling party.

Mugabe has regularly removed veterans from posts in Zanu-PF in recent years, replacing them with officials who did not fight in the war.

As a result, relations with the president the veterans soured and many vowed to form a front in opposition to Mugabe, backing Mnangagwa In the power struggle between the vice-president and Grace Mugabe within Zanu-PF.

Before November's takeover, some army generals publicly said that they will not allow someone who did not fight in the independence war to rule the country after Mugabe, seemingly a reference to Grace Mugabe.

Right after the military intervention, Chris Mutsvangwa, the head of the war veterans' group Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), issued a statement, praising the army for "a bloodless correction of gross abuse of power".

The statement said the army will return Zimbabwe to "genuine democracy".

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Most UK supermarkets falling short in fight against antibiotics crisis

Overuse of antibiotics on farms is major cause of growing resistance in humans, as campaigners name Lidl as worst performer

Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent

Tuesday 14 November 2017

Most of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains are falling short on measures to reduce the use of antibiotics in the production of the meat and animal products they sell, campaigners have warned, with potentially harmful impacts on human health.

Lidl performed worst of the nine supermarket chains examined by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, a pressure group made up of several NGOs.

Lidl had no publicly available policy on the use of antibiotics in its farm supply chain, leaving consumers in the dark and with no publicly available evidence of any effort to curb the overuse of antibiotics of concern.

The supermarket told the Guardian it had been working on a policy, which would soon be published. The policy it sent to the Guardian is four sentences long and “encourages producers to optimise welfare, health, hygiene, husbandry and biosecurity” of their animals, using antibiotics “as little as possible and as much as necessary”, without containing any specifics on how this can be achieved or measured.

Is it time for an antibiotic-free label on our food?

The overuse of antibiotics on farms is a major cause of the growing resistance in humans that is giving rise to superbugs, bacteria impervious to all but the strongest medicines and which pose a huge and growing threat to human health.

The UK’s chief medical officer has repeatedly warned that growing resistance to antibiotics could render even routine operations highly dangerous in a few years.

The best-performing supermarket was Waitrose, which not only has a clearly articulated policy on antibiotics in its supply chain, but also a strategy for reducing antibiotic use and a commitment to publishing the results, showing the amount of antibiotics used on the farms from which it is supplied.

The supermarket also bans the routine use of antibiotics on its farms, and the use of some of the strongest antibiotics, which the World Health Organisation has urged should be reserved for the use of human patients, not farm animals.

Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco were ranked next, while second from bottom were Asda and Aldi, which had publicly available policies on antibiotic use but few stringent measures associated with them, with the Co-op group also falling short on measures such as banning the strong antibiotic colistin and publishing data on antibiotic use.

Suzi Shingler, campaign manager at the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, said: “These findings show some supermarkets are finally starting to take the issue of antibiotic resistance more seriously. This is very welcome and has undoubtedly contributed to the recent reductions in use.

“Unfortunately, our survey also shows that some supermarkets have much more to do, and others have yet to take any significant action.”

All of the supermarkets in the report were contacted by the Guardian for comment. Some referred the Guardian to the British Retail Consortium, which represents major retailers. Andrew Opie, director of food policy at the trade body, said in a statement: “Retailers are aware of the challenges in relation to continued use of antimicrobials in the supply chain and advocate that medicines are used responsibly.

“This prevents unnecessary use while protecting against any negative effects on animal welfare. It is important that any decisions are supported by robust scientific justification. Significant reductions have already been achieved in UK food and farming and retailers are working collaboratively with industry partners to make sustained improvements.”

In addition, Asda said it would soon update its antibiotics policy.

Waitrose said: “Waitrose recognises the potential risks to human healthcare of the overuse of antibiotics in livestock supply chains. Within the Waitrose supply chain, all antibiotics are used carefully, under strict protocols and only in controlled circumstances; entirely healthy animals are not routinely given antibiotics, they are only used for treating ill animals or for those with pre-existing conditions.

“We maintain some antibiotics are important medicines to hold in the animal health armoury but must be used sparingly and only as a last resort.”

The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics advises some basic measures to reduce antibiotic use on farms. These include leaving piglets with their mothers for a few weeks longer after birth, which drastically reduces the need for antibiotics to halt the diarrhoea associated with early weaning.

Fast-growing chickens, usually sent to slaughter only a month or five weeks from birth, can be replaced with slower-growing kinds less likely to fall prey to illness. Lower-stocking densities among indoor chickens also reduce antibiotic use substantially.

Among dairy cows, those raised indoors tend to suffer more from conditions such as mastitis, which requires antibiotic use. The Guardian recently found a large increase in the number of megafarms in the UK, where hundreds or thousands of animals are kept in large sheds, which has concerned antibiotics and animal welfare campaigners.

Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the Alliance, said: “Much greater cuts in use are urgently needed if we are to preserve our remaining antibiotics. Intensive livestock farmers have much to learn from the practices of more extensive farming systems, which often have minimal antibiotic use.

“Moving to later weaning of piglets, using slower-growing chickens, lowering stocking densities of animals kept indoors and keeping cattle on pasture are all essential and achievable measures which can lower antibiotic use.”