Headlines November 25, 2015

Headlines

• Institute confirms ‘Israel’ Nuclear weapons ‘Israel’ nuclear weapons

• Attacks on Muslims Increase in Europe

• Neocons call for division of Syria

Details

Institute confirms Israel Nuclear weapons ‘Israel’ nuclear weapons

A new report from the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) has estimated the size of ‘Israel’s’ nuclear weapons arsenal at 115 warheads, and notes that the nation is believed to have some 660kg of plutonium. The report also said Israel continues to occasionally buy advanced equipment for its nuclear weapons program from abroad. ‘Israel’ is one of nine states that currently possess nuclear weapons in some form. They are the only one of these nations that does not publicly comment on the existence of its arsenal, and they have no safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Israel’s arsenal has caused considerable problems for efforts to establish a “nuclear-free zone” in the Middle East, with the Obama Administration at one point voting in favor of a nuclear-free proposal for the region then immediately condemning the proposal, after realizing Israel is the only nation in the region with such weapons.

Attacks on Muslims Increase in Europe

Muslims living in Europe describe the week after the Paris attacks as unprecedented in recent history. A report to the UK Government’s working group on anti-Muslim hatred showed a spike in Islamophobic hate crime of more than 300%, in the week following the terrorist attacks in Paris. Most victims of the UK hate crimes were Muslim girls and women aged from 14 to 45 who wore hijab or niqab. The perpetrators were mainly white males aged from 15 to35. local news outlets reported several incidents of mosques, kebab restaurants and halal butcher shops being vandalized with hate messages. A tribute in Lille for the victims of the attacks was disrupted by demonstrators carrying a banner that read: “Expel the Islamists.” Reports continue to emerge of attacks, racism and abase across Europe, as right wing politicians take advantage of the climate to push their anti-immigration agenda

Neocons call for division of Syria

Former US government official Robert R Bolton, who served several republican administrations and an avid neocon who marketed the Iraq invasion, writing for the New York Times called for the splitting of Syria as a political solution. “Today’s reality is that Iraq and Syria as we have known them are gone. The Islamic State has carved out a new entity from the post-Ottoman Empire settlement, mobilizing Sunni opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the Iran-dominated government of Iraq... If, in this context, defeating the Islamic State means restoring to power Mr. Assad in Syria and Iran’s puppets in Iraq, that outcome is neither feasible nor desirable. Rather than striving to recreate the post-World War I map, Washington should recognize the new geopolitics. The best alternative to the Islamic State in northeastern Syria and western Iraq is a new, independent Sunni state,” said Bolton. Bolton continues: “This “Sunni-stan” has economic potential as an oil producer.” US officials have stated for some time that the Sykes-Picot borders were now outdated and threat further divisions were needed in the form of crating new nation states. Like the British and French before them, the US sees division within the region as the way to maintain its influence in the region.