Middle East

UNESCO grants Palestinians full membership: The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (unesco) accepted the Palestinians as a full member state on Monday, the first UN affiliate body to do so. Two thirds of the members of the UN cultural and scientific agency voted in favor of Palestinian membership—107 members in favor, 14 against, and 52 abstentions. The unesco acceptance is a great diplomatic victory for the Palestinians. They hope to build on this victory by seeking membership of other UN agencies. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requested full membership in the UN on September 23, and a Security Council vote is tentatively scheduled for November 11. Such moves serve to further isolate Israel, though the United States has promised to use its veto power in the Security Council and has cut funding to unesco. “Seeking—and now gaining—admittance to various UN agencies is the first step in a wider diplomatic campaign by the PA to secure a UN Security Council vote on Palestinian statehood,” writes the Eurasia Review. “In fact, it appears to be a deliberate tactic to isolate those countries opposed to the statehood bid—chiefly, the U.S. and Israel” (November 3). These unilateral moves by the Palestinians are largely symbolic but may have far-reaching implications on the ground by triggering further violence.

Egypt threatens Israel over Gaza: Israel has authorized its military to take all necessary action to stop the ongoing rocket attacks launched from Gaza, an Israeli military official said Tuesday, though no official statement was made. Tensions have risen once again since Gaza terrorists hit Israel with a barrage of rockets late last week and Israel responded with air strikes. Egypt stepped in to try to mediate a truce. The official line is that Israel is refraining from a major attack on Gaza due to these efforts. However, it seems Egypt has privately issued a serious threat to Israel over taking any military action in Gaza. Courcy’s Intelligence Service reported November 3 that according to Palestinian sources, “prominent Egyptian security commanders” have warned Israel that Cairo would not permit a wide-scale military operation in Gaza because the Egyptian position has completely changed since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted. “Egypt is not threatening a direct military response, but it has said that the military would not be able (or willing) to prevent thousands of Egyptian youths marching towards the Israeli border,” JKC de Courcy writes. Already, it appears the Islamist-leaning post-Mubarak Egypt is taking away Israel’s ability to act to defend itself.

Egyptian sheikhs issue fatwas ahead of elections: There has been an increase in Islamist activism in Egypt ahead of staggered parliamentary elections beginning November 28, according to the bbc Monitoring Service. Prominent clerics have issued fatwas against voting for supporters of the former regime, or for liberals, secular or Christian candidates. Salafist preacher Sheikh Mahmud Amir, head of “The Group of the Supporters of the Muhammad Sunna,” pronounced: “Voting for these people is religiously prohibited. Whoever does this will be committing a major sin and should expiate for it.” He also prohibited votes for any Muslim candidate who doesn’t call for the implementation of sharia law. Last month, the secretary general of the Higher Committee for the Islamic Call at Al-Azhar issued a fatwa against voting against any member of the former ruling party. A Muslim Brotherhood leader at an election event said that supporting the Brotherhood was “getting close to God in the service of the Egyptian people.” These sheikhs are gaining large followings in Egypt. “They have tens of thousands of followers,” writes JKC de Courcy, “and their supporters tend to put complete trust in their sayings” (November 3). Watch for Egypt to turn radical.

Al Qaeda flag flying over Benghazi courthouse: The Mail Online reports that al Qaeda’s flag was hoisted on Tuesday over the birthplace of Libya’s revolution as the nato operation officially ended. The flag was seen flying, along with the Libyan national flag, over the courthouse in Benghazi, where the country’s new rulers are already imposing sharia law. The courthouse is where rebel leaders established their provisional government. Libya’s interim prime minister has said that sharia would be the “basic source” of legislation and that the country’s future parliament would have an “Islamist tint.”

Taliban suicide attack in Kabul: A Taliban car bomb attack in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, last Saturday killed 17 people, including 12 Americans and a Canadian. A convoy of coalition forces was hit in what was the deadliest strike against the U.S.-led coalition in Kabul since the beginning of the war. The same day, two other Taliban attacks occurred: Three Australian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed in a gun attack by a man wearing the Afghan Army uniform; and a teenage girl carried out a suicide attack that wounded several people at a National Directorate of Security building. On Thursday, a further suicide bomb attack targeted the entrance to a compound housing nato contractors in western Afghanistan. Two private security guards were killed in the attack. The attacks come as U.S. and other nato forces prepare to withdraw from the country and hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces.

Europe

Greece causes euro pandemonium: Leaders from around the world gathered this week to once again try to solve Europe’s financial crisis. Leaders of the G-20 nations met in Cannes, France, as Europe struggled to get its act together. Greece announced that it would hold a referendum on the conditions of the latest bailout package. France and Germany insisted that if Greece voted against the package, it would have to leave the euro. “Does Greece want to remain part of the eurozone or not?” German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked. “That is the question the Greek people must now answer.” Greece Prime Minister George Papandreou later announced that Greece wouldn’t hold a referendum after all. The dust it yet to settle, but it is clear that Greece is in trouble. It needs more money to stay in the eurozone, but its people are fed up with handing over their sovereignty. As this story continues to unfold, remember what Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote early this year: “Germany will use this crisis to force Europe to unite more tightly. In the process, some eurozone countries will be forced out of the union. When that happens, the pundits will say European unification is dead, that the European Union has failed. Don’t listen to them!”

Greece sacks top brass: Greece’s minister of defense sacked and replaced the entire upper echelon of the country’s defense services November 1. Athens News reported that “the personnel changes took many members of the government and of the armed forces by surprise ….” The sackings included the chiefs of the Greek National Defense General Staff, the Greek Army General Staff, the Greek Air Force and the Greek Navy General Staff. It was a complete rout of the entire chiefs of staff of the whole of Greece’s defense establishment. Was this clearing out a senior officer cadre not sufficiently attuned to EU motives in Greece? What were these defense establishment heads up to? Were they planning rebellion against the Greek government, perhaps a military takeover akin to the coup of the colonels of Greek history? It all smells fishy, coming at a time of increasing social disruption in Greece because of resistance to austerity measures forced upon the Greeks.

Asia

The world’s most aggressive spies: The U.S. government says China is the “most active and persistent” perpetrator of economic spying on the planet and that Russia is not far behind. The U.S. intelligence report published on Thursday said Chinese and Russian intelligence agents spy brazenly to obtain American technology and economic data. The report concluded that China and Russia are the world’s “most aggressive collectors” of America’s economic information and technology. U.S. officials say that the two Asian giants carry out most of their spying in cyberspace, where large amounts of data can be stolen in mere seconds. The espionage campaigns have intensified exponentially in this era of extraordinary reliance on communication technology. “Cyber has become the great game-changer,” a senior intelligence agent said. “Our research and development is under attack.” The report pointed out that such spying presents the U.S. with a number of national security threats, including the possibility that stolen military technology will be given to hostile nations like Iran or North Korea. These espionage attacks present a sobering danger to the U.S., and they will intensify in the months and years ahead.

China ignores UN sanctions, sells missiles to Iran: Despite United Nations sanctions against Iran, Beijing is providing advanced missiles and other weaponry to Tehran, according to a report by the congressional U.S.-China Commission. “China continues to provide Iran with what could be considered advanced conventional weapons,” says the report, details of which were published Thursday by the Washington Times. The analysis says China sold $312 million worth of arms to Iran after Congress passed the Iran Freedom Support Act in 2006, which permits the U.S. to sanction companies that sell advanced weapons to Iran. The report also points out that since 2008 when Russia began reducing weapons sales to Iran, China has become the largest weapons dealer for Iran’s military. The weapons transfers consist primarily of sales of China’s anti-ship cruise missiles, including the C-802 model, which Beijing promised Washington it would not sell to Iran. Last year, China also built a missile factory in Iran to produce Nasr-1 anti-ship cruise missiles. The report says it is possible that “these transactions violate the Iran Freedom Support Act, or the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010, which both use the ambiguous term ‘advanced conventional weapons.’” In spite of China’s claims of behaving like a responsible major power, it consistently and increasingly places its national interests ahead of global stability.

Latin America

Brazil reaches out to Cuba: Latin American giant Brazil wants to help Cuba update its economic model and increase exports to its mainland neighbors. The Cuban foreign trade and investment minister, Rodrigo Malmierca, emphasized on Wednesday that Brazil and Cuba are promoting joint projects in the areas of health care, education, computers and agriculture and livestock. “During 2012 we’re going to continue deepening and broadening our economic and trade relations toward new strategic objectives, placing emphasis on those that allow Cuba to increase its exports to Brazil and to other countries,” Malmierca emphasized. Expect the Communist-ruled island to forge strong ties with the rest of Latin America in the near future as it returns to its Roman Catholic roots.

Anglo-America

Fifteen percent of Americans now on food stamps: The number of food stamp recipients in American has risen to 45.8 million, according to the Department of Agriculture. This means nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population relied on food stamps in August, an 8.1 percent increase over last year. Food stamp rolls have exploded since the current economic downturn began in late 2007. Even after the recession officially “ended” in June 2009, families continued to tap into food assistance as unemployment remained high. As America’s debt level spirals out of control and government agencies struggle to keep up with their financial obligations, 45.8 million people living off government assistance presents a real risk leading to violent civil unrest.

Historic storm slams East Coast: A massive storm battered America’s East Coast last weekend, dumping record snowfall and shuttering schools and businesses in a half-dozen states. The storm caused enormous damage, including widespread power outages, damage to homes and infrastructure, and at least 15 deaths. The storm caught the region by surprise as historically major snowstorms like this are rarely if ever seen before Thanksgiving. This week’s blizzard comes in the wake of historic droughts, floods and tornados in America.

The U.S. Treasury reported this week that federal government debt increased by $203,368,715,583.63 in October. That’s an increase of about $650 per person for every man, woman and child living in the United States—in a single month. October is the first month of the federal fiscal year. If this trend continues, with federal debt increasing by about $200 billion per month for the next 11 months, the national debt will skyrocket about $2.4 trillion in the upcoming year.

Tensions rise in Londonistan: Last Friday, a British member of Parliament was threatened during a meeting in a London mosque, forcing him to abandon the event. The incident adds to a mountain of evidence that Islamist aggression in Britain is intensifying. mp Mike Freer was holding a constituency surgery at the North Finchley mosque when a dozen Islamists from the Muslims Against Crusades group stormed the building. Freer, a homosexual man and a member of Conservative Friends of Israel, later said one of the activists called him a “Jewish homosexual pig.” He abandoned the meeting and hid in a locked section of the facility. The strife started after Muslims Against Crusades posted messages on their website urging supporters to target Freer. The website also referenced mp Stephen Timms, who was stabbed by a Muslim woman in East London last year as he held a constituency meeting. The website said the attack on Timms should act as a “piercing reminder” to political figures that “their presence is no longer welcome in any Muslim area.” The online message also stated that “as a member of the Conservative Party,” Freer “has the blood of thousands of Muslims on his hands”; it also targeted him because of his decision earlier this year to demand that Palestinian extremist Sheikh Raed Salah be banned from visiting Britain. As in most such incidents, no arrests were made. The list of such incidents is growing: Islamists in London are becoming more aggressive.

Britain’s “feral” youths: Forty-nine percent of British adults think children are starting to behave like animals. Around 47 percent said youths were angry, violent and abusive. Forty-four percent said youths were becoming feral. The study of 2,000 adults was commissioned by the children’s charity Barnardos and carried out by icm research. The study confirms a trend the Trumpet has long been watching: Out-of-control youths are cowing the rest of society.