New Events

International

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Why Are Green Activists Suddenly Outraged at the Billions Wasted Paying Wind Farms to Switch Off Whe... Tue Sep 23, 2025 07:00 | Ben Pile
Suddenly, green activists have started getting outraged at the billions wasted paying wind farms to switch off when it's too windy. The hypocrisy and chutzpah beggars belief, says Ben Pile.
The post Why Are Green Activists Suddenly Outraged at the Billions Wasted Paying Wind Farms to Switch Off When it’s Too Windy? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Tue Sep 23, 2025 01:12 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Hamas Executes ?Israeli Collaborators? in Streets of Gaza Mon Sep 22, 2025 19:30 | Will Jones
Hamas?has executed three Palestinians accused of "collaborating" with Israel on the streets of Gaza, just hours after the UK, Australia and Canada announced their?recognition of a Palestinian state.
The post Hamas Executes “Israeli Collaborators” in Streets of Gaza appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Covid Response Was Not a Mistake ? It Was Just Wrong Mon Sep 22, 2025 17:35 | Dr David Bell
The Covid response was not an error, and it was not the result of rushing to counter an unknown pathogen. It was a lot of people, mostly professionals, systematically doing what they knew was wrong, says Dr David Bell.
The post The Covid Response Was Not a Mistake ? It Was Just Wrong appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link School Accused of ?Brainwashing? Children After 14 Year-Olds Told to Read Book ?Blaming Them for The... Mon Sep 22, 2025 15:11 | Will Jones
A parent has accused a secondary school of "brainwashing" after?he learned that 14 year-old pupils were told to read a book that "blames them for their white skin" ? and his daughter was forced to read it out loud.
The post School Accused of “Brainwashing” Children After 14 Year-Olds Told to Read Book “Blaming Them for Their White Skin” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Syrian bombing: Netanyahu attempts to provoke new confrontation

category international | anti-war / imperialism | other press author Thursday May 09, 2013 13:48author by Barry O'Sullivan Report this post to the editors

What was the the reasoning behind the Israeli attacks on Syria?Was this agreed with Obama or did Netanyahu exceed his remit. Full text at link.

Over the weekend of May 4-5 Israel launched air raids against targets in Syria. Yassamine Mather and Moshé Machover, two members of the Hands Off the People of Iran steering committee, discuss the issues raised by this latest development

YM: The two Israeli air raids into Syrian territory have to be looked at in the context of the current Syrian civil war and realignment of regional powers. However, there is an Iranian dimension to all this. According to some Iranian military strategists, “Syria is the 35th province [of Iran] and a strategic province for us. If the enemy attacks us and wants to appropriate either Syria or Khuzestan [in southern Iran], the priority is that we keep Syria.”1

According to ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s most senior foreign policy adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, “Syria has a very basic and key role in the region of promoting firm policies of resistance … for this reason an attack on Syria would be considered an attack on Iran and Iran’s allies.”2

Until May 4-5, there could have been no doubt that, in the event of a military attack by US or Israeli forces, Iran’s first line of defence would be a retaliation against Israel using Hezbollah, who in turn would rely on Syrian military support. The Israeli bombings have clearly changed the situation and weakened Iran’s position considerably. What do you think? Am I right or is this a very Iran-centric analysis?
Moshe Machover
Moshe Machover

MM: You can regard these air raids as a narrow intervention in the Syria civil war, but this is not the way to understand their wider significance. If you look at it only in this way, it appears very paradoxical. If it was aimed at helping the forces opposed to president Bashar al-Assad, there was no logic to it.

First of all, it compromises the Syrian opposition, which is very heterogeneous. Some elements are genuine popular forces, others are supported from the outside by Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and indirectly by the US. Those sponsors don’t mind collaborating with Israel, but the forces on the ground, even the forces supported by Qatar, the Islamists, are not happy being in a common front with Israel. In this respect, it gives Assad a means to denigrate the opposition and he has taken it. So this is not the context in which to understand the logic of these attacks.

I think that context is a wider regional one. Israel is doing everything it possibly can to widen the confrontation and there are several reasons for this. A couple of weeks ago there was a hoo-ha about weapons of mass destruction, specifically poison gas. The Israeli intelligence agency alleged that poison gas had been used, knowing that president Barack Obama had said this was a “red line” for intervention. Clearly the intention was to draw Obama into a more direct intervention in Syria: in other words, to widen the confrontation. ...

Related Link: http://www.hopi-ireland.org/c/syrian-bombing-netanyahu-attempts-provoke-new-confrontation
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy