The Irish government has said that the global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement represents a “legitimate” means of protest “intended to pressure Israel into ending the occupation.” This is another blow to the Israeli campaign to criminalize Palestine solidarity activism, following an announcement by the Netherlands last week supporting its people’s right to join the BDS movement against Israel.
Having pledged to end the wars of his predecessor, President Obama came into office almost eight years ago as an anti-war candidate but instead has now been at war longer than any other American president. Mr. Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, has made endless promises of "bring the troops home" or "no boots on the ground" but will have a longer tour of duty as a wartime president than Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon or his hero Abraham Lincoln.
A senior Iranian official has said that the ceasefire in Syria had been imposed in order to save foreign-backed militants from a total defeat. According to Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the truce, which was brokered by the US and Russia and went into effect across Syria on February 27, actually helped the terrorist groups recover from their losses.
Bomb attacks in the north and northeast of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Monday, have killed at least 24 people and injured dozens more. ISIS claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings as Iraqi forces entered Falluja, the latest phase in the week-long operation to capture the terrorists’ stronghold near the Iraqi capital. The Iraqi army, supported by Iranian-backed Shia militia, began the operation to recapture Falluja on May 23rd by tightening its siege around the city, 30 miles west of Baghdad, and has now started a direct assault.
John Hudson reports that the Obama administration is finally blocking the transfer of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia: