The Big Middle Eastern Thread

[Azeem]

On 16/03/2022 at 02:39, Dr. Gonzo said:

Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering selling oil in Chinese RMB rather than the US Dollar.

And UAE has now met with Bashar Al-Assad after 11 years. Gulf states ditching on US is the most unlikely outcome of Russia-Ukraine so far. 

[Waylander]

India is also considering changing trade away from USD and using Rupees to Rubles.

I was listen to an Army Colonel and Pentagon adviser who is against this sanctioning of Russia and says this could cause massive economic problems in the US as it becomes an economic war of attrition.

He said the Brits pre WWI based their empire on working with groups in foreign countries and isolating the opposition and said the US took a different approach with threats and this might just be the turning point.

[Azeem]

Reports that Pakistan may join the Saudi coalition against Yemen after this joint statement from visit of new PM with MBS. This all gives legitimacy to Khan's claim that U.S was behind his ousting.

MBS is in a strong position, Erdogan is also fixing ties for economic relief like us and US UK need him to do something about oil prices. He'll get his terms

Apart from the moral argument of joining probably the worst blockade right now. Its detrimental in so many ways. 

[MUFC]

10 hours ago, Aladdin said:

Reports that Pakistan may join the Saudi coalition against Yemen after this joint statement from visit of new PM with MBS. This all gives legitimacy to Khan's claim that U.S was behind his ousting.

MBS is in a strong position, Erdogan is also fixing ties for economic relief like us and US UK need him to do something about oil prices. He'll get his terms

Apart from the moral argument of joining probably the worst blockade right now. Its detrimental in so many ways. 

Bunch of fucking haramis.

[Dr. Gonzo]

On 01/05/2022 at 11:33, Aladdin said:

Reports that Pakistan may join the Saudi coalition against Yemen after this joint statement from visit of new PM with MBS. This all gives legitimacy to Khan's claim that U.S was behind his ousting.

MBS is in a strong position, Erdogan is also fixing ties for economic relief like us and US UK need him to do something about oil prices. He'll get his terms

Apart from the moral argument of joining probably the worst blockade right now. Its detrimental in so many ways. 

I don't see why Pakistan would want to get involved in this conflict other than outside influence pressuring them into it. I don't even see why the US would want to put Pakistan in this sort of uncomfortable position.

Moral objections aside, it'll also enflame relations with Pakistan & Iran - which likely will lead Iran to turn more than a blind eye to Balochi separatist movements and possibly even encourage them in Pakistan to create more instability. And it seems weird for the US to want to degrade that relationship - because they use Pakistan as their official channel for most diplomatic discussions with Iran.

But really the moral objection is the biggest reason to object though because honestly... fuck the Houthis, they're also awful people. But the blockade and bombings of Yemen fit the UN definition of genocide - so it's an awful thing to have your country attach itself too (even though the Saudis and their coalition allies stand no chance of ever facing repercussions for their crimes... so there is that).

[Waylander]

The US is pressurising Pakistan as it it trying to prevent a run against the US$.

If the BRICS and other nations refuse to use the dollar for international trade the demand for the dollar falls this is believed to mean they will no longer be able to have such large forces abroad.

The vacuum internationally would probably allow China to step forward. 

This may happen anyway on a much longer time scale.

 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Taliban slaughtering Tajikis again.

Unsurprising, for all this talk of a "reformed" taliban... they're the same backwards animals they've always been. They just took a few months to try to appear like they weren't the same pieces of shit.

[Azeem]

Funeral of Al Jazeera Palestinian journalist Shireen Abdul Akleh, killed by a sniper shot earlier getting the usual treatment by Israeli security forces. 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

5 hours ago, Aladdin said:

Funeral of Al Jazeera Palestinian journalist Shireen Abdul Akleh, killed by a sniper shot earlier getting the usual treatment by Israeli security forces. 

 

They claimed she was caught in crossfire and want to "conduct an investigation" - but eyewitness accounts suggest that there were no Palestinian militants around and it appears she was sniped as she was hit between her helmet covering and her vest.

She's something of a journalistic legend though. Decades covering that conflict - she'd been shot before on live TV (in the leg) too.

Brave woman, disgusting death. Crazy how many journalists get killed by the IDF like this. But she was also a US citizen as well (and a Christian, weirdly) - so it's kind of weird in a sense there's a sort of muted reaction to her death coming from the US... but also not all that surprising because it's the Israel-Palestine conflict.

[Dr. Gonzo]

 

Gary Lineker tweeting this is pretty big imo, will get some eyes on this from people who probably would never have seen it or given a fuck

[Azeem]

8 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

They claimed she was caught in crossfire and want to "conduct an investigation" - but eyewitness accounts suggest that there were no Palestinian militants around and it appears she was sniped as she was hit between her helmet covering and her vest.

She's something of a journalistic legend though. Decades covering that conflict - she'd been shot before on live TV (in the leg) too.

Brave woman, disgusting death. Crazy how many journalists get killed by the IDF like this. But she was also a US citizen as well (and a Christian, weirdly) - so it's kind of weird in a sense there's a sort of muted reaction to her death coming from the US... but also not all that surprising because it's the Israel-Palestine conflict.

How is that weirdly? This region Levant is the birth place of Christianity. Muslim-Christian relations in Palestine, Jordan, Syria are a role model for everywhere. Discrimination against Christians by Israeli authorities usually goes unnoticed by the media bcz it doesn't have that religious spice to it.

This was a good read. 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/palestinian-orthodox-christians-struggle-two-colonialisms

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 hours ago, Aladdin said:

How is that weirdly? This region Levant is the birth place of Christianity. Muslim-Christian relations in Palestine, Jordan, Syria are a role model for everywhere. Discrimination against Christians by Israeli authorities usually goes unnoticed by the media bcz it doesn't have that religious spice to it.

This was a good read. 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/palestinian-orthodox-christians-struggle-two-colonialisms

I guess the plight of the Palestinian Christians is just something that isn’t often talked about in the west.

[RandoEFC+]

I don't know much about the intricacies of Israel and Palestine's dispute but I do know that support for Palestine is for some reason deemed to be a "left wing" thing in the UK and some sort of taboo.

[Azeem]

Part of removing Imran was also because of his refusal to normalize with Israel. I think there might be some big move in this regard in 3-5 years. I'm totally against it if its just for winning favors from US and Arab Sheikhs. It will be counterproductive drawing backlash back at home, trouble relations with Iran.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Israel's coalition has fallen apart - Knesset to disband & more elections coming soon. Could be Netanyahu's pathway back to power there, sadly.

[Dr. Gonzo]

On 29/05/2022 at 01:44, Aladdin said:

Part of removing Imran was also because of his refusal to normalize with Israel. I think there might be some big move in this regard in 3-5 years. I'm totally against it if its just for winning favors from US and Arab Sheikhs. It will be counterproductive drawing backlash back at home, trouble relations with Iran.

I wonder what would happen if a nation like Pakistan, Iran, or any of the many countries that doesn't recognise Israel changed their stance and said "okay we recognise Israel" but then added "as an apartheid state" - it seems that would be a halfway point between fully normalised relations and simply not recognising.

It'd certainly make the impasse with the Iran nuclear talks a bit more interesting. According to Iran, the US rejected a deal Iran proposed that kept the IRGC on the sanctions list (which we have been told for months now, has been a red line for Iran considering the way the IRGC is meshed with so much of every day life in Iran)... but this time was rejected because the US insisted Iran recognise Israel.

If that's true, I wonder what would happen if Iran said "we recognise Israel as an apartheid state." It's still a middle finger to Israel, but it's obviously a big step from suggesting they don't have the right to exist and that they are not recognised as a real country. And it sets a pathway for countries to actually have normalised relations should theoretically benefit everyone involved - particularly Palestinians and Israelis.

[Dr. Gonzo]

The footage of the protests in Iran is crazy. Good luck to all of those brave kids, I remember my uncle telling me about the aftermath of the 2009 protests - I hope things don't go so brutally for them.

The death toll from the response by the Basijis & IRGC keeps rising though - I think it's already higher than the "official" toll of 2009 (which I'm pretty sure really underrepresents how many kids they killed).

[Azeem]

Hopefully these protests don't go the Egypt way in terms of violence. 

[6666]

20 hours ago, Beelzebub said:

Hopefully these protests don't go the Egypt way in terms of violence. 

Unfortunately change is really hard to come by against violent, totalitarian governments without the use of violence in response. Not that it'd be a likely path of success for the protestors but the other option is for things to go back to normal with people being killed by the government meaning nothing. Fucked up situation.

Edited September 24, 2022 by 6666

[Dr. Gonzo]

23 hours ago, Beelzebub said:

Hopefully these protests don't go the Egypt way in terms of violence. 

I think it’s already pretty violent and if the protests keep going it’s only going to get worse in that regard.

[Azeem]

2 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think it’s already pretty violent and if the protests keep going it’s only going to get worse in that regard.

Yeah but Egypt was brutal, hundreds were killed by live fire in minutes.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Shit like this is why I don't really have any respect for Justin Trudeau. Talks a big talk, but then is happy for Canada to be a second home for the children of the people running an awful government that in one breathe he's condemning. Because he's happy for Canada to be taking in rich people, regardless of the source of their money being wealth stolen from another country.

[Tommy]

I like this. 

[Gunnersaurus]

@Dr. Gonzo What is your ethnicity? Were you born in England to Iranian parents?

[Dr. Gonzo]

17 hours ago, Gunnersaurus said:

@Dr. Gonzo What is your ethnicity? Were you born in England to Iranian parents?

I’m half English half Iranian