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—— 蓝图杂志的新闻 —— The news service of BLUEPRINT magazine, an international journal of culture, science and politics. BLUEPRINT magazine is mainly published in English and Chinese. Some additional articles are published in Arabic, German, French and Spanish. Editor: Wolfgang Wiesner "Ulysses" © 2005-2026
Sunday, November 01, 2026
Friday, October 30, 2026
Israel - Negotiations to End the Stalemate
Last Update: October 31
In the coming weeks, Netanyahu and Eisenkot are expected to work to gather the parliamentary support needed to reach the 61-seat threshold. But Netanyahu, who rules out partnership with Arab members of parliament, seems to have no choice but to try to persuade members of the opposition to defect from their parties and join his camp.
As for Eisenkot, he pledged to form a coalition “Zionist” government, but left the door open to an alliance with the “Ra'am” party, which won eight seats. However, the party's support alone will not be enough to secure a majority, as Eisenkot will still need five additional seats, making him dependent on the possibility of MPs from Netanyahu's camp defecting.
The opposition source indicated that Eisenkot might accept external support from the Ra'am party (*), but he is unlikely to accept similar support from the Joint List, explaining that large sectors of Israelis view “Ra'am” as a more pragmatic party, and less focused on establishing a Palestinian state compared to Joint List.
Another option being discussed is the formation of a broad national unity government between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, perhaps mediated by US President Donald Trump, who may be able to put pressure on both sides to reach an agreement.
Political stalemate complicates Netanyahu and Eisenkot's options. [تواصل الإخبارية in Syria, Oct. 31]
(*) = Ra'am or United Arab List (ألقائمة العربية الموحدة) already participated in Israeli government formation.
|
Turkish broadcaster TRT, October 30: Netanyahu calls any coalition with the Arabs a shameful and disgraceful idea while accusing Arabs of having stolen election, thus imitating Donald Trump. Pan-Arabic TV station الغد in Egypt, October 30: Sudden change in Eisenkot's position regarding a possible Arab participation in the government. Arabs become part of the calculation.  |
In the coming weeks, Netanyahu and Eisenkot are expected to work to gather the parliamentary support needed to reach the 61-seat threshold. But Netanyahu, who rules out partnership with Arab members of parliament, seems to have no choice but to try to persuade members of the opposition to defect from their parties and join his camp.
As for Eisenkot, he pledged to form a coalition “Zionist” government, but left the door open to an alliance with the “Ra'am” party, which won eight seats. However, the party's support alone will not be enough to secure a majority, as Eisenkot will still need five additional seats, making him dependent on the possibility of MPs from Netanyahu's camp defecting.
The opposition source indicated that Eisenkot might accept external support from the Ra'am party (*), but he is unlikely to accept similar support from the Joint List, explaining that large sectors of Israelis view “Ra'am” as a more pragmatic party, and less focused on establishing a Palestinian state compared to Joint List.
Another option being discussed is the formation of a broad national unity government between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, perhaps mediated by US President Donald Trump, who may be able to put pressure on both sides to reach an agreement.
Political stalemate complicates Netanyahu and Eisenkot's options. [تواصل الإخبارية in Syria, Oct. 31]
(*) = Ra'am or United Arab List (ألقائمة العربية الموحدة) already participated in Israeli government formation.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Israel - Pictures from a General Election
|
Times of India Report, October 28: Netanyahu might not be able to form a coalition government. |
Arabic paper Al-Hurra on October 26, 2026 :
The picture was extracted from the X-account of Benjamin Netanyahu
and is allegedly showing the skyline of Tel Aviv under nuclear attack.
Below: Different screenshots from the X-account of Benjamin Netanyahu
showing reader comments as they happened to appear in this position.
Please Note:
External opinion expressed on Netanyahu's X-account doesn't necessarily correspond with
any personal opinion of 'Ulysses'. In other words: " Don't blame me for global opinion ! "
Monday, October 26, 2026
German Car Manufacturer AUDI - Subject to Criticism
VW subsidiary AUDI lets Trump announce the construction of a US plant during
election campaign. Appearance of AUDI CEO violates company’s own guidelines.
According to media reports, the appearance of AUDI's CEO Döllner at an election campaign
event for US President Trump violates the car manufacturer’s internal guidelines.
At the event, Döllner announced the construction of a new AUDI plant in the United States.
The SPD (*) has voiced criticism.
[Deutschlandfunk, German National Radio on October 26]
SPD = Germany's Social Democratic Party, important coalition partner of the actual federal government.
And Germany's mighty labor union 'IG Metall' already warned that AUDI plannings are no yet decided.
AUDI becomes a pawn in the US election campaign
Trump promises the US a new AUDI plant – though a final decision is still pending.
AUDI itself speaks of "planning" and "intending" – the supervisory board has yet to grant its approval
[IG Metall News on October 25]
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Increasing Shipping Costs - Asian & European
Refineries Prefer Shorter Transport Routes
The fallout from the Iran-linked war has hit the efficiency of oil tanker voyages around the world, causing a sharp decline in available fleet capacity and a historic jump in freight rates, completely erasing the economic viability of transporting crude oil from the US Gulf Coast to Asian markets.
The cost of shipping crude oil from the US Gulf Coast to China earlier this month reached $80 million per trip, which is ten times the usual rates that stabilized for years before the outbreak of war.
Standard shipping costs
Although shipping prices have fallen slightly from their peak in early October, they are still hovering this week around $60 million per giant tanker heading from the United States to Asia. This high cost prompted Asian refineries to refrain from ordering US crude for deliveries next November.
According to informed traders who spoke to Bloomberg “”, Asian refineries' orders for US crude fell this month by about 50% compared to September, settling at about 25 million barrels allocated for November deliveries. If orders remain at this low level until the end of the current trading cycle, Asia could receive its lowest US oil volume in seven years in November.
..........
Global pricing distortions
Randy Hawkins, Vice President of International Crude Oil Supply and Trade at Valero Energy «Valeiro Energy», said during the company's results announcement conference this week that shipping prices have become the most prominent event in the market, explaining that “The cost of transporting a barrel of oil via a giant tanker from the US Gulf Coast to Asia currently ranges between $30 and $35 per barrel, compared to the 2025 average, which was only about $5”.
Hawkins added that this boom is causing severe disruptions in global oil pricing, as refinery owners seek geographically close barrels, while distant sellers are forced to lower their prices and offer discounts to compensate for high shipping costs. As a result, buyers in Asia turned to Middle Eastern oil on a port delivery basis to reduce costs, while European refineries preferred nearby supplies within the continent.
Price differential map
This intense demand for European and Middle Eastern oil led to a record rise in premiums for some crudes, as the premium for dated Brent crude «Dated Brent) reached an unprecedented level of $20 per barrel above the standard Brent price last week. Norway's medium-acid crude «Johan Sverdrup» premium also jumped to $24 above Brent, according to «Wood MacKenzie» data.
In contrast, US and African crudes faced a collapse in their premiums and widening discount margins to cover shipping costs for long-haul flights to Asia, as West African crudes plunged to unprecedented discounts, some reaching $20 per barrel.
In the US market, the premium for West Texas Intermediate crude oil in the Midland Center «east of Houston» (MEH) fell to only 25 cents per barrel above the standard crude, after it exceeded $3 in early September, according to data «Link Data Services». The Gulf of Mexico's acidic average crude premium «March» also fell to $6, compared to about $17.50 a barrel at the end of March.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Trump Midterms - Balance Sheet of a Bankrupt President
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Trump's oil price fake
US crude export fell under President Biden by 40%, most probably due to a decrease in demand by foreign partners. This is logically leading to a decrease of the crude price. Even though reasons for a lower consumption are mainly positioned abroad, an additional impact of erratic & invasive US politics under the following Trump administration can be expected.
As global crude prices are usually moving around 100 $ per barrel, it is not surprising that such prices had been slightly higher under the predictable rule of Obama and Biden, but didn't pose a problem for US consumers while overall economy was running more quietly without Trump.
From there, any decrease of crude oil prices cannot be
necessarily related to the 'genius' of US president Trump.
As geopolitics still matter, it is quite clear that all kinds of erupting military conflicts and other 'political disturbances' like trade wars are leaving their imprint on the history of crude price development. From time to time, oil extracting countries, united in the OPEC organisation, have to intervene by cutting their production quotes in order to stabilize the global crude oil price:
 |
Last week now, Trump declared his will to partly abandon sanctions on Russia, allowing Putin to sell giant amounts of diesel fuel on the global market. This happened only shortly after urging European nations to melt down part of their strategic reserves, and which was seen as kind of blackmail by US partners in the EU. This was obviously intended to ease fuel prices for his voters in rural areas of the USA that had already been badly treated by some Chinese retaliatory tariffs on certain agricultural products. Only days before Trump's Midterm Elections, it finally became clear that Trump is forced to abandon sanctions much earlier agreed between the USA & their European partners. It is as if he finally recognized the total failure of his own unpredictable way of managing the complex problems of his country. So Trump's political bankruptcy is as well a moral one. As to the wealth his questionable helpers aquired for him during his presidency, he won't be able to enjoy it as an incompetent inventor of facts showing first signs of premature dementia. |
China's lever on US soybean export
Soybeans are one of US biggest agricultural exports, and China is the most important buyer. The US exported $16.5 billion worth of soybeans last year, making soybeans the second-largest agricultural export after corn, according to the US Department of Agriculture. China buys more soybeans than every other country because it has limited arable land.
That dependence has made soybeans vulnerable to swings in US-China trade policy. In the years before the first Trump trade war in 2018, the American Soybean Association estimated 28% of all US soybean production was shipped to China. When Beijing then imposed a 25% retaliatory tariff on US soybeans in 2018, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated farmers absorbed $9.4 billion in soybean losses, costing Iowa $1.2 billion and Illinois $1.3 billion.
That helps explain why Trump focused on soybeans in his dealmaking with Beijing. In November, he struck a deal with Xi under which China committed to buying at least 25 million metric tons of soybeans in 2026, 2027, and 2028. After he met Xi in May, the first time a US president visited China since 2017, the White House announced China agreed to buy at least $17 billion in agricultural products on top of those prior soybean commitments.
But China has options ...
For all of soybeans’ importance to American farmers, China has another supplier: Brazil, a member of the China led commercial alliance of nations BRICS.
Brazil had already overtaken the US as China’s largest soybean supplier over a decade ago, but recent trade tensions have widened the gap. USDA said 71% of China’s soybean imports came from Brazil, and its agricultural attaché in Beijing reported last year that Brazil’s share had continued to grow “at the expense of the United States” which was helped by cheaper prices.
So China left the door half-closed. [Fortune, September 28, 2026]
Saturday, October 03, 2026
Germany - Internal Tensions in a Changing World
Today, October 3, Germany celebrates another Anniversary of its Reunification.
What is different this time: A right-wing party recently won two regional elections, in one case only shortly missing absolute majority, in another case kicking out of parliament their most decided competitor.
What is distinguishing voters from political leaders in the times of basic changes, that is a different perception of reality. Such, common people tend to listen to the allegedly stronger leadership of a populist party rather than follow a more realistic approach to emerging problems based on common sense.
=> German History Site (German / English) <=
What is different this time: A right-wing party recently won two regional elections, in one case only shortly missing absolute majority, in another case kicking out of parliament their most decided competitor.
What is distinguishing voters from political leaders in the times of basic changes, that is a different perception of reality. Such, common people tend to listen to the allegedly stronger leadership of a populist party rather than follow a more realistic approach to emerging problems based on common sense.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Bermuda Triangle Yemen برمودا يمن
Yemen ... Triangle of Terror اليمن ... مثلث الرعب
في مثلث برمودا اليمني, تختفي السفن والطائرات. و تُنفذ عمليات خاصة يمنية باستخدام صواريخ كروز و طائرات مسيرة, ما يُجبر حاملات الطائرات على التراجع إلى البحر الأحمر
In Yemen's Bermuda Triangle, ships and aircraft vanish. Yemeni special operations, using cruise missiles and drones, force aircraft carriers to retreat to the Red Sea.
Sunday, September 20, 2026
US Cost of War Against Iran
According to a report by US paper Capitol Hill on the 15th local time, quoted by Chinanews on Sept. 16, the US Department of Defense told US Congress on August 13 that the cost of the war on Iran has now climbed to more than $42 billion, which is higher than the latest public estimate by the Department of Defense. The cost increased by $4.5 billion since July 2026.
Some US experts believe that the actual figure is much higher. Linda J. Bilmes, a senior lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, said at the time that the cost of the war was about $100 billion.
Increasing cost might be, at least, partly due to recent Iranian missile and drone attacks on US bases in the Middle East where expensive assets of the US Air Force had been targeted.
قال القناة العربية إرم نيوز في أبو ظبي: طائرة أميركية بوينغ سينتري
متضررة بشدة في قاعدة الأمير سلطان بالسعودية. ايضا كان هجوم على
بوهيرنغ و عريفجان بالكويت. قدر خسائير المعدات 3.7 مليارات دولار
A video from Abu Dhabi based Erem TV is showing a severely damaged 'Boeing E-35 Sentinel' at Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia, probably a total loss, the cost of replacement being $3 billion. Additional damage of buildings and vehicles is being reported from two other US bases in Kuwait, Camp Boehring and Arifjan. The estimated equipment loss is at approximately $3.7 billion.
Friday, September 11, 2026
In Memoriam September 11
Continuously updated until September 14
The above joke is based on the fact that Arabic nouns in the singular form not only possess at least one plural form but a dual form as well, for things coming in pairs. That's why the dual of 'student' [spoken: Talib] becomes [Taliban] or 'two students' which is the same expression the Taliban of Afghanistan are using to name themselves. Such, this joke is mocking the Americans who didn't recognize that their enemies in Muslimic countries were far more numerous than they imagined.
After September 11, 2001, the Afghan Taliban were accused of hiding Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the disastrous attack. As a consequence, they were "Bombed into Stone Age" on behalf of US President Bush. No wonder they are actually practising some kind of "Stone Age Islam".
This Turkish video by TRT tells us about the disastrous wars on
Afghanistan & Iraq following the 9/11 attacks, and which helped
to create the Islamic State (Daesh or ISIS) out of the remnants
of Al-Qaeda. Their consequences raised a huge wave of human
displacement in Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria, leaving these nations
in a state of unstability.
And here is another suspect in the September 11 case, rarely mentioned together with the sufficiently known terrorists who staged the September 11 attacks: Omar Al-Bayoumi, a Saudi agent with direct contact to some of the terrorists, a direct connection with the Saudi government, and special knowledge of aircraft navigation. Despite his personal background, he was never charged in the frame of FBI investigations. The following video was presented yesterday, September 9, by MONITOR, a special format on the 1st public TV channel of Germany:
If you watch this video directly on YouTube,you
can listen to the auto-dubbed English comment.
Editor's Note:
You might remember the September 11 documentary 'Fahrenheit 9/11' by US activst Michael Moore. I watched the film myself, and I still memember the scene, when it was mentioned that all air traffic was immediately halted that day after the impact of three passenger planes on the WTC twin towers and the Pentagon, emphasizing that only a few Saudi dignitaries, allegedly members of the bin Laden family, were allowed to leave the country in a hurry [background music: "We have to get out of that place"].
=> Mysterious Death of Bin Laden Relatives (2015) <=
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004): A highly controversial critique of the George W. Bush administration, the September 11 attacks, and the subsequent Iraq War. It won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and remains the highest-grossing documentary of all time.
...................................................
What is happening elsewhere at the same time:
يا لحسن الحظ أن الأمريكيين يشتبهون في
|
 Ayman al-Zawahiri (l), defunct leadership of Al-Qaeda organisation. |
The above joke is based on the fact that Arabic nouns in the singular form not only possess at least one plural form but a dual form as well, for things coming in pairs. That's why the dual of 'student' [spoken: Talib] becomes [Taliban] or 'two students' which is the same expression the Taliban of Afghanistan are using to name themselves. Such, this joke is mocking the Americans who didn't recognize that their enemies in Muslimic countries were far more numerous than they imagined.
After September 11, 2001, the Afghan Taliban were accused of hiding Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the disastrous attack. As a consequence, they were "Bombed into Stone Age" on behalf of US President Bush. No wonder they are actually practising some kind of "Stone Age Islam".
Afghanistan & Iraq following the 9/11 attacks, and which helped
to create the Islamic State (Daesh or ISIS) out of the remnants
of Al-Qaeda. Their consequences raised a huge wave of human
displacement in Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria, leaving these nations
in a state of unstability.
And here is another suspect in the September 11 case, rarely mentioned together with the sufficiently known terrorists who staged the September 11 attacks: Omar Al-Bayoumi, a Saudi agent with direct contact to some of the terrorists, a direct connection with the Saudi government, and special knowledge of aircraft navigation. Despite his personal background, he was never charged in the frame of FBI investigations. The following video was presented yesterday, September 9, by MONITOR, a special format on the 1st public TV channel of Germany:
can listen to the auto-dubbed English comment.
Editor's Note:
You might remember the September 11 documentary 'Fahrenheit 9/11' by US activst Michael Moore. I watched the film myself, and I still memember the scene, when it was mentioned that all air traffic was immediately halted that day after the impact of three passenger planes on the WTC twin towers and the Pentagon, emphasizing that only a few Saudi dignitaries, allegedly members of the bin Laden family, were allowed to leave the country in a hurry [background music: "We have to get out of that place"].
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004): A highly controversial critique of the George W. Bush administration, the September 11 attacks, and the subsequent Iraq War. It won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and remains the highest-grossing documentary of all time.
What is happening elsewhere at the same time:
Wednesday, September 09, 2026
Oct 7 Attack - Netanyahu Ignored Early Warnings
Update added on September 10
Did he plan to provoke the October 7 attack of Hamas on Israeli
citizens deliberately to have an excuse for the Gaza Genocide ?
...............................................
Edwin Samuel Montagu (6 February 1879 – 15 November 1924) was a British Liberal politician who served as Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922. Montagu was a "radical" Liberal and the third practising Jew (after Sir Herbert Samuel and Sir Rufus Isaacs) to serve in the British cabinet.
 a live interview with former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert on a neglected warning of PM Netanyahu from UAE, prior to the October 7 attacks of Hamas. |
advised his lawyers to sue HAARETZ for their report on the October 7 attack.  |
Netanyahu caught hushing up the mistakes he made ...
Did he plan to provoke the October 7 attack of Hamas on Israeli
citizens deliberately to have an excuse for the Gaza Genocide ?
Edwin Samuel Montagu (6 February 1879 – 15 November 1924) was a British Liberal politician who served as Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922. Montagu was a "radical" Liberal and the third practising Jew (after Sir Herbert Samuel and Sir Rufus Isaacs) to serve in the British cabinet.
Sunday, September 06, 2026
Slave Trade in Medieval Germany
These days, Otto the Great, originally Otto of Saxony, since 962 AD Holy Roman Emperor of German Nationality, found his final resting-place in Magdeburg Cathedral, Eastern Germany. Reason enough to focus on a forgotten chapter of German history: The slave trade crossing wide parts of medieval Europe and which was impossible to realize without imperial protection.
related PDF file: 1.7 MB, 5 pages, free download
A related article is available
below in its German version:
Die Europäischen Juden - Eine Spurensuche
Replica of the 'Magdeburger Reiter', an equestrian monument
seen as a portrait of Otto the Great (Magdeburg, original 1240)
Sunday, August 30, 2026
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Gaza - Militias and Mercenaries - Protected by IDF
Last Update on 1st September
=> Gaza - Militias and Mercenaries - Protected by IDF <=
.........................
Related Subject:
The Israeli military has told [Israel's] Supreme Court that residents displaced from the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps will not be permitted to return at this stage, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The newspaper said the army intends to maintain a military presence in the northern West Bank camps in order to preserve what it describes as operational and security control, and has not provided a timetable for residents to return.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from the three camps since the start of large-scale Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank. Palestinian residents and aid organisations have described the evacuations as abrupt and highly disruptive, leaving many families dependent on limited humanitarian assistance.
According to Haaretz, Israeli forces have also carried out extensive demolition and engineering works inside the camps, including widening roads and creating new routes intended to facilitate the movement of military vehicles.
The Israeli military has said such changes are necessary to improve access for security operations and prevent armed groups from rebuilding infrastructure inside densely populated camp areas.
Palestinian officials and rights organisations argue that the destruction and prolonged displacement are fundamentally altering the camps and could prevent residents from returning to their homes.
Human Rights Watch has previously accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with forced displacement and destruction in the northern West Bank. Israel rejects such characterisations and maintains that its operations are directed against Palestinian armed groups and are necessary for security reasons.
[Middle East Monitor on August 27]
[شبكة قدس الإخبارية, independent Palestinian news center on August 26]
.........................
Related Subject:
Hanan Ashrawi (*1946), who quoted the above X-post, is a Palestinian politician, activist and scholar. Ashrawi started her career as a scientist at Birzeit University in 1990. She became a member of the PLO's Leadership Committee, serving as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation during the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. In 1996, she was appointed Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Palestinian Authority under Yassir Arafat. She became an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from where she resigned in 2020.
Count Folke Bernadotte (1895 - 1948) was a Swedish diplomat and nobleman who served as the Vice-President of the Swedish Red Cross during World War II. He became the face of international humanitarianism in the final, desperate months of the conflict, negotiating directly with Heinrich Himmler for the release of prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. His work was a solitary race against time to save the last remnants of the Holocaust.
In the chaos of early 1945, Bernadotte successfully negotiated with the collapsing Nazi regime for the release of prisoners. This mission, known as the White Buses operation, rescued approximately 15,000 people, including thousands of Jewish men and women who were among the last survivors of camps like Ravensbrück and Neuengamme.
According to sources quoted, the absolute numbers might differ as for the total of people rescued or the amount of Jews among them. Nevertheless, the whole operation ended as an extraordinary success.
Editor's Note:
And there should have been even more. I remember a TV documentation I watched in my youth and which was about some other Swedish diplomat, not Count Bernadotte, at the embassy in Berlin who should have tried to save refugees from Nazi persecution with 'illegally provided' German passports in 1945, only weeks before the end of the 'Reich'. While the heavily bombed Swedish embassy had already been transferred to Hamburg, there was still an 'emergency bureau', left in a bunker on the abandoned embassy compound. That diplomat later allegedly tried to contact a commander of the Soviet 'Red Army' whose troops were just approaching Berlin. After his attempt to cross the military front at a rather quiet place, he should have disappeared without a trace. - I am sure that this wasn't just 'great cinema' about some mysteries of World War II but a pictorial record of what had really happened. Yet, I haven't heard the same story, still present in my memory, again at any time later.
Maybe Hanan Ashrawi, born into a Palestinian family in 1946, might have heard from her parents about the Jewish refugees that came to Palestine during the war. Those were probably much different from other Jews, followers of a Zionist doctrine, who simultaneously or later invaded Palestine, pressing for the foundation of Israel as a 'State of the Jews' in 1948.
=> Gaza - Militias and Mercenaries - Protected by IDF <=
Related Subject:
Displaced Palestinians Not Allowed to Return Home
The Israeli military has told [Israel's] Supreme Court that residents displaced from the Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps will not be permitted to return at this stage, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The newspaper said the army intends to maintain a military presence in the northern West Bank camps in order to preserve what it describes as operational and security control, and has not provided a timetable for residents to return.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from the three camps since the start of large-scale Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank. Palestinian residents and aid organisations have described the evacuations as abrupt and highly disruptive, leaving many families dependent on limited humanitarian assistance.
According to Haaretz, Israeli forces have also carried out extensive demolition and engineering works inside the camps, including widening roads and creating new routes intended to facilitate the movement of military vehicles.
The Israeli military has said such changes are necessary to improve access for security operations and prevent armed groups from rebuilding infrastructure inside densely populated camp areas.
Palestinian officials and rights organisations argue that the destruction and prolonged displacement are fundamentally altering the camps and could prevent residents from returning to their homes.
Human Rights Watch has previously accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with forced displacement and destruction in the northern West Bank. Israel rejects such characterisations and maintains that its operations are directed against Palestinian armed groups and are necessary for security reasons.
[Middle East Monitor on August 27]
[شبكة قدس الإخبارية, independent Palestinian news center on August 26]
Related Subject:
History of Palestine
Hanan Ashrawi (*1946), who quoted the above X-post, is a Palestinian politician, activist and scholar. Ashrawi started her career as a scientist at Birzeit University in 1990. She became a member of the PLO's Leadership Committee, serving as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation during the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. In 1996, she was appointed Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Palestinian Authority under Yassir Arafat. She became an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from where she resigned in 2020.
Count Folke Bernadotte (1895 - 1948) was a Swedish diplomat and nobleman who served as the Vice-President of the Swedish Red Cross during World War II. He became the face of international humanitarianism in the final, desperate months of the conflict, negotiating directly with Heinrich Himmler for the release of prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. His work was a solitary race against time to save the last remnants of the Holocaust.
In the chaos of early 1945, Bernadotte successfully negotiated with the collapsing Nazi regime for the release of prisoners. This mission, known as the White Buses operation, rescued approximately 15,000 people, including thousands of Jewish men and women who were among the last survivors of camps like Ravensbrück and Neuengamme.
According to sources quoted, the absolute numbers might differ as for the total of people rescued or the amount of Jews among them. Nevertheless, the whole operation ended as an extraordinary success.
Editor's Note:
And there should have been even more. I remember a TV documentation I watched in my youth and which was about some other Swedish diplomat, not Count Bernadotte, at the embassy in Berlin who should have tried to save refugees from Nazi persecution with 'illegally provided' German passports in 1945, only weeks before the end of the 'Reich'. While the heavily bombed Swedish embassy had already been transferred to Hamburg, there was still an 'emergency bureau', left in a bunker on the abandoned embassy compound. That diplomat later allegedly tried to contact a commander of the Soviet 'Red Army' whose troops were just approaching Berlin. After his attempt to cross the military front at a rather quiet place, he should have disappeared without a trace. - I am sure that this wasn't just 'great cinema' about some mysteries of World War II but a pictorial record of what had really happened. Yet, I haven't heard the same story, still present in my memory, again at any time later.
Maybe Hanan Ashrawi, born into a Palestinian family in 1946, might have heard from her parents about the Jewish refugees that came to Palestine during the war. Those were probably much different from other Jews, followers of a Zionist doctrine, who simultaneously or later invaded Palestine, pressing for the foundation of Israel as a 'State of the Jews' in 1948.
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