21st Nov 2022

Kurdish Exiles Funded and Trained by Israel Are Orchestrating Unrest in Iran

BEIRUT (AP) —A bomb rocked a bustling avenue in the heart of Istanbul, killing six people and wounding over 80 others. Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as well as Syrian Kurdish groups affiliated with it. The Kurdish militants groups have, however, denied involvement.

Ankara and Washington both consider the PKK a terror group, but disagree on the status of the Syrian Kurdish groups, which have been allied with the U.S. in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria.

In neighboring Iraq, the U.S. Consulate General in Erbil said it is monitoring “credible open-source reports” of potential Turkish military action in northern Syria and northern Iraq in the coming days.

The Kurdish-led authority in northeast Syria said that if Turkey attacks, then fighters in the area would have “the right to resist and defend our areas in a major way that will take the region into a long war.”

We are seeing significant military ops in Kurdish areas in both northern Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan by both Turkey a NATO military and Iran. This will not be a one time affair but will escalate. The Kurdistan North Iraq authority is in a dire political quagmire. They can not afford to anger either one but they can not sit back and watch missiles near Irbil International airport. The most credible position to watch is that of the Federal government in Baghdad which contrary to the war battered Syrian military, Iraq fields squadrons of F-16s with pilots trained in AZ. and US provides top air defense systems jointly controlled with the US central command. 

Turkey is attacking the terrorists who planted bombs in civilian areas, yet lots of people are not going to like it but those same people will never say a thing about Israeli attacks on Syrian civilians.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -The Turkish defence ministry said it carried out air strikes on outlawed Kurdish militant bases in northern Syria and northern Iraq, which it said were used to carry out attacks on Turkey.

The strikes targeted bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey says is a wing of the PKK, the ministry added in a statement.

Turkey said it plans to pursue targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against the PKK militants in Iraq, following a deadly bomb in Istanbul.

The government has blamed Kurdish militants for the blast on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13 that killed six people and injured more than 80. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast on the busy pedestrian avenue, and the PKK and SDF have denied involvement.

Turkey has conducted three incursions so far into northern Syria against the YPG militia. President Tayyip Erdogan has previously said Turkey could conduct another operation against the YPG.

DUBAI (Reuters) -Protests raged on at Iranian universities and in some cities as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the country's "enemies" may try to mobilize workers after failing to topple the Islamic government in more than two months of unrest.

One of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical leaders in decades, the protests have been gaining steam, frustrating authorities who have blamed Iran's foreign enemies and their agents for orchestrating the disturbances.

"Until this hour, thank God, the enemies have been defeated. But the enemies have a new trick every day, and with today's defeat, they may target different classes such as workers and women," state television quoted Khamenei as saying.

The wave of unrest erupted in September after Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the country's morality police after she was arrested for wearing clothes deemed "inappropriate".

Protests also reached smaller communities. In Murmuri, a southwestern town of 3,500 residents, the local governor told IRNA about 150 protesters set fire to government buildings, banks and a post office before security forces re-established order.

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran accused its-arch enemy Israel and Western intelligence services of plotting to start a civil war in the Islamic Republic, now gripped by some of the biggest anti-government protests since the 1979 revolution.

"Various security services, Israel and some Western politicians who have made plans for civil war, destruction and the disintegration of Iran should know that Iran is not Libya or Sudan," Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted.

Elsewhere, gunmen riding a motorcycle shot several members of the security forces in the central city of Isfahan, killing two people and injuring eight, according to state television.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which state TV blamed on "rioters".

SULIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) — Dara Qureshi scrolls through the contacts on his phone, each name an alias for activists across the border in neighboring Iran, where protests have been raging for weeks.

Qureshi, a member of one of many Iranian Kurdish opposition parties exiled in Iraq, responds to one of them, “Brwa,” who asks how to access Starlink, a satellite constellation operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, after the business magnate promised to allow Iranians affected by state-imposed internet restrictions to use it.

“What is your advice, comrade?” writes the unknown activist. Qureshi makes inquiries, knowing there are only a few precious minutes before the internet will cut out for the person on the other side.

The support that Kurdish exiles like Qureshi have given to protesters in Iran have fueled allegations by Iranian authorities that the protests, which have spread to over 40 cities, were entirely organized and buttressed by foreign elements.

This week, Iran sharply stepped up its military operations against Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, launching three sets of drone and missile attacks targeting their party bases in northern Iraq, killing at least nine. The strikes drew condemnation from Iraqi officials and the international community. Iran’s ambassador to Iraq was later summoned by the Foreign Ministry.

Iran also has cracked down on others, announcing that it has arrested nine foreigners over the demonstrations.

“It’s true the political parties here issued a call for protests said Rosaline Kamangir, 32, an Iranian women’s rights activist and a Kurd who is regularly in touch with female protesters inside Iran.

The opposition groups jointly issued calls for a general strike and protests in the western Kurdish region of Iran.

The Kurdish majority areas are home to a decades-old separatist movement that precedes the 1979 Islamic revolution, and in past decades it has morphed into a low-level guerrilla insurgency that trades fire with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Banned inside Iran, the main parties based in Iraq are the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran; Komala, which has Marxist leanings; and the Kurdistan Free Life Party, or PJAK.

Her mother and brother are both protesting, she said. The last time she saw them was when they crossed the border illegally to see her some months back.

Like most party members she keeps two phones, one for daily use in Iraq and another, to speak to relatives and party affiliates back home.

Because of the danger in crossing the border from Iraq, the opposition parties’ presence and activities inside Iran have always been limited. Social media is used to encourage supporters to take part in protests and conduct general strikes, said Kawser Fattahi, 33, a member of Komala.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel is assisting Syrian Kurds battered by a month-old Turkish incursion, seeing them as a counterweight to Iranian influence and advocating for them in talks with the United States, the deputy Israeli foreign minister said.

In a rare public dissent with U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered humanitarian aid to the “gallant Kurdish people” on Oct. 10, saying they faced possible “ethnic cleansing” by Turkey and its Syrian allies.

Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, told parliament that the offer had been taken up.

“Israel has received many requests for assistance, mainly in the diplomatic and humanitarian realm,” she said. “We identify with the deep distress of the Kurds, and we are assisting them through a range of channels.”

Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, regarding the minority ethnic group — whose indigenous population is split between Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran - as a buffer against shared adversaries.

“The possible collapse of the Kurdish hold in north Syria is a negative and dangerous scenario as far as Israel is concerned. It is absolutely clear that such an event would bring about a bolstering of negative elements in the area, headed by Iran.”

TheJerusalemPost: For decades, Israel was the only country that provided support and training for the Kurds in Iraq. As a result, Israel has a strong and special relation with the Kurds (mostly with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP), which extends to recent times when the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) undertook a referendum to become independent from the central Iraqi government. At that unique time, Israel was the only country that supported Kurdish independence and advocated for it.

The relations between Kurdistan (especially the KDP) and Israel dates back to the mid-1960s, when Israel saw the Kurds as a strong ally that supported them and could be relied upon to weaken the former Iraqi regime. 

Kurdish-Israeli relations are longstanding, deep and strategic, and even stronger than the Kurds’ relationship with the United States and European countries. The presence of Israel in Kurdistan is not new. Throughout the 1960s and ‘70’s, Israel secretly backed a Kurdish insurgency against Iraq as part of its Middle East geopolitical strategy to forge alliances with non-Arabs. 

This was not the first time that Netanyahu showed his support for the Kurdish people. In his 2014 policy speech, he supported the creation of an independent Kurdish state when he stated, “The Kurdish people are a people who struggle. They have proven their political commitment and political moderation, and they deserve their political independence.”

Having strong relations with the Kurds is also an asset for Israel, as it will provide Israel with more power in the region. One former Israeli intelligence officer told The New Yorker that “by aligning with the Kurds, Israel gains eyes and ears in Iran, Iraq and Syria.” According to the Financial Times, at one point, Israel imported up to three-quarters of its oil from Iraqi Kurdistan, which provided a crucial source of funds for the region as it fought militants of the Islamic State. Israeli companies have also reportedly invested in energy, development and communications projects in Iraqi Kurdistan, in addition to providing security training and purchasing oil. 

According to recent reports, there are between 400-730 Jewish families living in the Kurdistan region. On October 18, 2015, the KRG named Sherzad Omar Mamasani, a Kurdish Jew, as the Jewish representative for the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.

Some reports claimed that around 200,000 Jewish Kurds were going to be repatriated to Iraqi Kurdistan if the referendum ended successfully and a Kurdish state was formed. In the words of Yeni Safak, a Turkish daily newspaper, Massoud Barzani, “who received support only from Israel during the referendum process, planned to strengthen his hand... with the help of Kurds of Jewish origin who have prominent positions in Israel.”

LobeLog: Throughout the 2000s, Israel militarily supported Kurdish forces, including training in Syria and Iraq. Around the same time, it sold 170 M60T tanks, worth $688 million, to Turkey, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfers Database.

How can we explain this Israeli support for the Kurdish people in both practice and rhetoric, while it simultaneously arms one of the main forces oppressing Kurdish people? The answer is rather simple: Israeli governments have supported the Kurdish people when it has been convenient, and backed their oppressors when that better served Israel’s political and economic interests. At times — during most of the 2000s, for example — Israel did both at the same time.

If supporting the Kurdish authorities in Iraq serves Israel’s interest of weakening Syrian and Iranian influence in the region, great. If Israel can profit off selling Turkey drones, including Heron drones used in a Turkish invasion of Kurdish northern Iraq in 2008, great.

Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked clearly stated her support for the Kurds, saying: “We must openly call for the establishment of a Kurdish state that separates Iran from Turkey, one which will be friendly towards Israel.” Why support a Kurdish state? So that it will be a friendly ally to Israel between Iran and Turkey. This call for independence for an occupied people is extremely ironic coming from Israel, which denies the right of self-determination to millions of Palestinians that it controls under occupation.

This should serve as a reminder that Israel’s position on the Kurds is not motivated by morality, but self-interest. As long as Israel continues to occupy millions of Palestinians, it cannot fight for the liberation of other nations and claim that it’s driven by the desire to “do the right thing.”

Israelis 'using Kurds to build power base'

TheGuardian: Israeli military and intelligence operatives are active in Kurdish areas of Iran, Syria and Iraq, providing training for commando units and running covert operations that could further destabilize the entire region, according to a report in the New Yorker magazine.

The article was written by Seymour Hersh, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who exposed the abuse scandal in Abu Ghraib. It is sourced primarily to unnamed former and current intelligence officials in Israel, the United States and Turkey.

Israel's aims, according to Hersh, are to build up the Kurdish military strength in order to offset the strength of the Shia militias and to create a base in Iran from which they can spy on Iran's suspected nuclear-making facilities.

"Israel has always supported the Kurds in a Machiavellian way - a balance against Saddam," one former Israeli intelligence officer told the New Yorker. "It's Realpolitik. By aligning with the Kurds Israel gains eyes and ears in Iran, Iraq and Syria. The critical question is 'What will the behaviour of Iran be if there is an independent Kurdistan with close ties to Israel? Iran does not want an Israeli land-based aircraft carrier on its border."

Intel Brief, an intelligence newsletter produced by former CIA chiefs, noted early this month that the Israeli actions are placing increasing stress on their relationship with Turkey, which was already strained over the war. "The Turks are increasingly concerned by the expanding Israeli presence in Kurdistan and alleged encouragement of Kurdish ambitions to create an independent state."

In the autumn the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak told the US vice president, Dick Cheney, that America had lost in Iraq. Israel "had learned that there's no way to win an occupation," he told Mr Cheney, and the only issue was "choosing the size of your humiliation".

One Turkish official told Mr Hersh that Kurdish independence would be calamitous for the region. "The lesson of Yugoslavia is that when you give one country independence everybody will want it. Kirkuk will be the Sarajevo of Iraq. If something happens there, it will be impossible to contain the crisis."

President Joe Biden signed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act that included $260 million for the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga. Two months ago, the White House signaled its intention to continue its financial support for the Kurdish militia.

The Little-known History of Israel and the Kurds

Providence:  More than 200,000 to 300,000 Jews of Kurdish origin exist today and mostly reside in Israel. Many Kurdish Jews were among the first Jews to make the return to Israel in the 1890s.

There are even ancient Jewish-Kurdish legends that claim the Kurds are descendants of the Jews from the time of King Solomon. The story claims Solomon sent his servants to retrieve 500 beautiful women from Europe, but when the servants returned, Solomon had passed. His servants are said to have reproduced with the women who gave birth to the Kurdish nation. Recent research has also found that Jews and Kurds share more genetic connections than Jews and Arabs.

Ties between Israel and the Kurds first started in the 1960s when the Kurds helped smuggle the remaining Jews out of Iraq after decades of rising anti-Semitism, which included Pogroms, public executions, and discriminatory laws. Kurdish leaders directly played a role in smuggling Jews out, according to Zvi Zamir, the former head of the Mossad. According to Yossi Alpher in his Periphery: Israel’s Search for Middle East Allies, Zamir once recounted the story of a Jewish woman meeting Kurdish leader Mulla Mustafa Barzani on her journey out of the region. The woman attempted to give Barzani a necklace of appreciation to which he instead directed her to give it to the Prime Minister of Israel. In the same interaction, Barzani said, “[Israel] is the state of the Jews. There is no other country to which we Kurds owe so much.”

Meanwhile, the Kurds were receiving humanitarian assistance from Israel. After hearing of severe poverty the Kurdish people were facing, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, then Foreign Minister, allocated the Kurds $100,000 in 1963.

Soon after, the humanitarian aid expanded into military assistance for training, arms, and ammunition, and eventually anti-aircraft weaponry. In 1980, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin admitted that the Israelis assisted the Kurds during their uprising against the Iraqis between 1965-1975.

15,000 protesters have not been sentenced to death in Iran, despite viral posts

The US is trying it's hardest with fake propaganda. It aint working.

By Maria Ramirez Uribe, PolitiFact.com

"Iran sentences 15,000 protesters to death — as a ‘hard lesson’ for all rebels," read an Instagram post that showed a photo of a woman holding an Iranian flag. The post was shared multiple times including by celebrities including Peter Frampton, Viola Davis and Sophie Turner. It even reached Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who took to Twitter to denounce the Iranian government over the development.

Posts by Davis, Turner and Trudeau have since been removed. A Canadian government spokesperson told CNN Trudeau’s tweet had been deleted because it "was informed by initial reporting that was incomplete and lacked necessary context."But posts like these were flagged as part of Instagram’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.

They appeared to have conflated three pieces of news. One, that an Iranian court sentenced a protester to death because of charges of setting a government building on fire. Two, that the United Nations reported that as many as 14,000 protesters have been arrested in Iran over six weeks. And three, that most of Iran’s parliament has called on the judiciary to act decisively against the arrested protesters.

'Disinformation at the highest level': Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed for tweeting, then deleting, false Iran news

So far, one protester has been sentenced to death in Iran — not 15,000.

Newsweek: Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has accused Turkey of indirectly funding the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). Speaking to reporters in Athens, Yaalon said that Turkey had bought oil from the Islamist extremists, allowing the group to fund its operations, though he implied that the practice has now stopped. "[ISIS] enjoyed Turkish money for oil for a very, very long period of time," Yaalon added.

This from a PM that ordered Canadian protesters be trampled by horses, beaten, taken miles from their vehicles (no phones) and left in below freezing temps, their bank accounts and credit cards seized, including Veterans, all for peacefully protesting. Many losing everything including their freedom. Trudeau needs to clean his own closet before cleaning others. Besides he lies constantly and spreads disinformation on a daily basis, this is nothing new for him!

Not the same thing. when Trudeau and Biden kidnaps, beats, and lies to their own people they do it to spread freedom, promote democracy, and defend liberty. when Iran and China do it, it's to oppress their people, erode liberty, and trample human rights. Learn the difference!

Western double standards, hypocrites In the United States, that's no big deal. We're used to public officials spreading lies and conspiracy theories.

The Iranian government knows that the west is trying to do a regime change war any day now. They simply won’t allow it. NATO nations are trying to find a new source for oil at others expense.

I feel for the citizens of Iran, but the west are trying to destroy their nation like they did to Iraq and Afghanistan.

I have been to Iran. I am Jewish. My mom and I obeyed the country's rules, and had a great time. Tasted weird food and went to the mountains and spoke with a lot of college students. They had some positives and some negatives about Iran. One thing I was very surprised to learn, there are very few apartments in Iran. Most people own their homes. Like 90%+, something astonishing, because in Iran there is no concept of interest. If you borrow $10, you pay back $10.

It was an eye opening experience.

This shows the true color of the West on Iran: misinformation and deceive, specially from mouth of a democratic leader. And, some of the uneducated misinformed followers listened, got emotional, and got killed as result. Crime against humanities has many ways, and this is one of them. Peace upon us. 

CBSNews: Dozens of people attended the funeral of 9-year-old Kian Pirfalak in the city of Izeh. Video posted online shows Pirfalak's mother telling people at the ceremony that her son was shot by security forces. Iranian officials say Pirfalak was killed in a "terrorist" attack.

"It's up to Turkey, the Turkish government, the Turkish leadership, to decide whether they want to be part of any kind of cooperation to fight terrorism," Reuters quoted Yaalon as saying. "This is not the case so far." He further alleged that Turkey had allowed jihadists to immigrate and emigrate to and from Syria and Iraq, which Turkey borders.

To bolster its expected denial of Israel's claims, Turkey is likely to point to its cooperation in the fight against ISIS. On August 29, 2015, Ankara joined the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against ISIS, having previously provided the U.S. with an airbase in Turkey.

Relations between Turkey and Israel are at a low point after Ankara this month demanded compensation for the deaths of 10 Turkish activists in 2010. They were killed by the Israeli navy as they tried to sail an aid ship through Israel's blockade of Gaza. READ MORE: Plan to Attack Israel

Do yourself a favor. Think for yourself. Be your own person. Question everything. Stand for principle. Champion individual liberty and self-ownership where you can. Develop a strong moral code. Be kind to others. Do no harm, unless that harm is warranted. Pretty obvious stuff...but people who hold these things in their hearts seem to be disappearing from the earth at an accelerated rate. Stay safe, my friends. Thanks for being here.

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