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| A sailor on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier sent this image home to momma. They are on 'Hormuz alert' at sea with little resupply happening. I wonder how the toilets are working? They say the mail from home (with cookies) is also running late. Trump don't give a shit about these sailors. To Trump they are all 'losers'. The piece of something on the left is either worn out shoe leather or the lying tongues of Washington's Epstein class. Ugly! |
Mohammad Marandi, a professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran, shares his views on the latest developments in the Middle East as a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect at midnight local time on April 17.
Marandi explains the role of the Strait of Hormuz in talks between Iran and the US as well as the intervention by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron over the critical shipping lane for the global economy.
The perception of a tropical “paradise” in perfect balance between Catholic faith and Dionysian spirit that does not quite align with Zionist manipulations is misleading.
The role of the Zionist lobby in the U.S. is so notorious that it has practically become contemporary folklore. Some European authors also emphasize the great influence that the Zionist lobby enjoys, primarily in France, and secondarily in the United Kingdom and Germany. Nowadays, there is also increasing talk of its influence over Argentina, especially in the context of the Andinia Plan.
But Brazil is almost always left out of this equation. To some extent, it is as if the image of a tropical “paradise” in perfect balance between Catholic faith and Dionysian spirit does not quite align with Zionist manipulations. But this perception is misleading.
In the past, we have commented on the overwhelming neo-Pentecostal growth in Brazil. Today, they make up approximately 30% of the Brazilian population, and with their theological specificities, they bring with them an obsession with the State of Israel. Moreover, there are plenty of theses claiming that neo-Pentecostal penetration in Latin America was a successful operation orchestrated by the CIA to subvert hegemonic Catholic spirituality and pave the way for Zionism.
In parallel, however, the Brazilian Jewish community itself has gradually built a modestly influential lobby, well-connected in politics, the media, and the judiciary, though far less aggressive than the Zionist lobby in other countries.
The test to verify, however, the degree of Zionist influence in Brazil and how much neo-Pentecostal expansion will serve to guarantee Zionist designs is unfolding now.
After the Gaza War, in which the State of Israel clearly attempted to carry out a Palestinian genocide, Israel’s reputation was completely shattered. All the credit accumulated because of the Holocaust was entirely exhausted by the scenes of mass extermination of innocent women and children. The lies and hypocrisy were so great that many people even began to question more easily whether Israel might have been behind 9/11 and the Kennedy assassination.
In recent years, Israel’s influence schemes became famous, including paying virtual activists to make pro-Israel comments in online discussions. This has been given the name “Hasbara.” It is nothing other than propaganda.
We could say, therefore, that Gaza made decades of “Hasbara” disappear.
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Naturally, however, Israel could not give up such an important asset. As much as Israel seems to disdain international opinion, this opinion plays an important role in pressuring governments to maintain friendly relations with Israel despite its atrocities.
Hence, it was predictable since the Gaza ceasefire that Israel would seek to react; but since it is impossible to regain the goodwill of world public opinion, the Zionist lobby would simply set out to try to censor anti-Zionist opinions, without worrying about winning over that public opinion.
Recently, we came across something that proves this.
At the end of March 2026, a bill (PL 1424/26) was introduced in Brazil aimed at criminalizing antisemitism. Antisemitism is already a crime in Brazil, as a form of racism, but it is not defined, so the interpretation of what constitutes antisemitism is left to the judge.
The bill in question, however, aims to define antisemitism according to the definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Among the various conduct categorized as antisemitism, the IHRA includes, nonetheless, advocating for the end of the State of Israel as a specifically Jewish state. In other words, even advocating for the transformation of the State of Israel into a free, open Palestinian state where Jews can live is considered antisemitism.
This bill is authored by Tábata Amaral, a federal deputy for the PSB, and it received a total of 44 signatures upon its introduction, from federal deputies belonging to the governing Workers’ Party (PT), the Bolsonarist opposition PL, and various centrist parties.
But where did this bill come from, and who is behind it?
Starting with the purported author of the bill, Deputy Tabata Amaral — known for promoting every globalist agenda in Brazil — belongs to that category of “prodigy students” who are awarded scholarships to Western universities, in her case Harvard. Her stay there was funded mainly by the Lemann Foundation, created by Swiss-Brazilian billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann.
Lemann, one of the richest men in Brazil, is a friend of George Soros and recently hired the Rothschild Bank to represent him before his creditors in the bankruptcy case of “Americanas,” a company he owns. But unlike Soros, who has a different focus, Lemann in his “philanthropic” activities has the more specific goal of renewing the Brazilian political class. Deputy Tabata Amaral is an example of what Lemann intends.
[This is a strategy impacting the entire world as the US brings 'bright' international students to the Ivy League schools and then after successful indoctrination sends them back to their country of origin and move them into key government circles. UK schools like Oxford are also key training grounds. Many of the leaders throughout the EU have been similarly groomed to become high-level corporate globalist agents. They push endless war, cutbacks in social spending, education, etc. They are pirates.]
Furthermore, in the last elections, Amaral’s campaigns received funding from various figures in the Brazilian financial market — such as bankers Armínio Fraga and Cândido Bracher — and from the Zionist lobby — such as speculators Marcos Lederman and Luís Stuhlberger. Lederman, Stuhlberger, and Bracher, along with other oligarchs who fund Tabata Amaral’s electoral campaigns, such as Nizan Guanaes and Elie Horn, are figures who frequently appear at events and initiatives promoted by CONIB (the Israeli Confederation of Brazil), the Brazil-Israel Institute, and FIERJ (the Jewish Federation of Rio de Janeiro), important institutions of the Brazilian Zionist lobby.
And as for the bill itself, who convinced Tabata Amaral to promote it?
According to exclusive information from sources in Brasília, the bill was drafted within the NGO Stand With Us Brazil, a Zionist institution with extensive and notorious links to the Mossad, chaired by André Lajst, with Argentine Bruno Bimbi as its strategy and policy manager. Bimbi is said to have been the main architect of the bill and went door to door in Congress to pressure parliamentarians into putting their signatures on it.
Bimbi is a notorious activist for LGBT causes and was one of the main organizers of the pressure campaign for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Argentina and Brazil. Now, however, his focus is more on Zionist activism.
To show that this is a broad-spectrum coordinated initiative, aimed at involving the right, left, and center simultaneously with this bill, the Lula government itself, through its Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, will hold an event on “antisemitism” this April, coordinated by Clara Ant.
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| (Jerusalém – Israel, 01/04/2019) Presidente da República, Jair Bolsonaro, e o Primeiro-Ministro de Israel, Senhor Benjamin Netanyahu, durante visita ao Muro das Lamentações. Foto: Alan Santos/PR |
The event will put on its agenda the definition of antisemitism, relying precisely on the same International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance that defines criticism of the State of Israel as a possible expression of antisemitism. Among the speakers at the event will also be the presidents of the aforementioned CONIB, Claudio and Fernando Lottenberg.
And who is Clara Ant, the event coordinator? Born in Bolivia but raised in Israel, she has been Lula’s right-hand woman since the 1970s and was one of the founders of the CUT, the main trade union institution of the Workers’ Party. Ant is also a constant presence at CONIB events.
Another link between the PT and the Zionist lobby is Senator Jaques Wagner, who in his youth was an activist in the Labor Zionist movement Habonim Dror, where he received his intellectual formation. Both as governor and as senator, Wagner — who was one of those who signed in support of Tabata Amaral’s bill — worked specifically to bring Brazil and Israel closer, especially in the areas of security and intelligence, even serving as rapporteur for an agreement that ceded confidential Brazilian intelligence information to the Mossad.
It does not seem likely that, at the present moment, given all the controversy the case has generated, this bill will be approved in Brazil. Nevertheless, the case serves to exemplify the tentacular and multifaceted character of the Zionist lobby’s activities in Brazil.
~ Raphael Machado is a Publisher, geopolitical and political analyst, writer specialized in Latin American affairs.
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| US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth shakes hands with Indonesia's Director General of Defence Strategy Major General Agus Widodo at the Pentagon on Monday as Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (right) looks on. Photo: AFP |
In Indonesia, leaked plan for US military overflights triggers sovereignty row
Internal warnings reveal a government split over risks that blanket access for US warplanes could drag Indonesia into foreign conflicts
A leaked plan to grant the US military sweeping overflight access to Indonesia's airspace has triggered a domestic backlash over concerns that Jakarta is "colluding with the aggressor" amid Washington's war on Iran.
Analysts say the defence document, first reported by New Delhi-based newspaper the Sunday Guardian, raises concerns that President Prabowo Subianto may be trading away Indonesia's strategic independence.
The proposal, which reportedly emerged following a meeting in February between Prabowo and US President Donald Trump, is said to grant American military aircraft "blanket" overflight access to the Southeast Asian nation's airspace for contingency operations, crisis response and joint exercises.
Indonesia's defence ministry on Monday acknowledged the existence of the plan but said it had not been finalised, describing it as a draft "letter of intent" still undergoing review. It further stressed that the government maintained full control of Indonesian airspace.
On Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said Indonesia had no policy granting unrestricted access to its airspace to any foreign party, and that the US proposal remained under internal consideration. She said any form of cooperation with Washington would remain subject to Indonesia's national mechanisms and procedures.
Behind the scenes, divisions have emerged. According to a Reuters report on Wednesday, Indonesia's foreign ministry sent a letter marked urgent and confidential to the defence ministry in early April warning that granting blanket overflight rights risked entangling Jakarta in foreign conflicts.
Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin flew to Washington to meet his US counterpart Pete Hegseth later in April and sign a "major defence cooperation partnership" aimed at bolstering regional security through military modernisation, increased interoperability and expanded joint exercises.
Both developments suggest that former military general Prabowo is "increasingly comfortable" pursuing closer defence ties with the US, according to Abdul Rahman Yaacob, a research fellow at the Rabdan Security and Defence Institute think tank in the United Arab Emirates.
Indonesian airspace itself could become contested, effectively drawing the country into a conflict it seeks to avoid Abdul Rahman Yaacob confirmed.
At the operational level, overflight access would allow US aircraft to slash transit times from bases in Australia or the Indian Ocean "to key theatres such as the Philippines and South Korea", he said.
But Rahman warned that granting such access could expose Indonesia to "retaliation or escalation".
"Indonesian airspace itself could become contested, effectively drawing the country into a conflict it seeks to avoid," he said.
"Early signs of domestic backlash, particularly in online discourse, suggest sensitivity to any perceived erosion of strategic autonomy or non-alignment."
Perception problems
Any agreement granting the US military broad overflight rights "has the potential to create a misleading impression in the eyes of China", said Febry Triantama, an assistant professor of international relations at Paramadina University in Indonesia.
Not only could such a move prove costly if conflict were to erupt in the South China Sea, it is also unclear what Indonesia actually stands to gain, according to Febry.
While the advantages to Washington were obvious, he said the benefits to Jakarta were "not visible and raise questions" - especially as Indonesia is not a formal US ally.
Febry also raised the possibility that the overflight access might be linked to trade negotiations: under Trump, several countries leveraged defence commitments and military procurement to secure better tariff terms with Washington.
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| Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (left) at US President Donald Trump's inaugural 'Board of Piss'. |
Indonesia itself agreed in February to a 19 per cent US tariff on most of its goods - down from a threatened 32 per cent, but far higher than the near-zero rates it previously enjoyed.
Days later, the effective rate dropped even lower following a US Supreme Court ruling that struck down Trump's "reciprocal" tariff regime, at least temporarily.
Alfin Febrian Basundoro, a lecturer in international relations at Airlangga University in Surabaya, said the controversy risked criticism that Prabowo was "becoming increasingly accommodating" of Trump.
He pointed to public resentment over Indonesia's muted response to the US-Israel war on Iran and Prabowo's participation in the recently convened "Board of Peace" that many in Indonesia see as one of "Trump's political tools".
Taken together, these moves could "further fuel public sentiment that the Indonesian president is colluding with the aggressor", Alfin said.
'No 1 violator'
The US military has a long track record of disregarding Indonesia's airspace sovereignty.
Admiral Yudo Margono, then chief of the Southeast Asian nation's armed forces, told parliament in 2023 that the US had "always been the No 1 violator of Indonesian airspace", with 11 unauthorised flights recorded in the first half of that year alone.
Between January 2024 and April 2025, US military aircraft reportedly conducted surveillance operations over the South China Sea on 18 occasions in violation of Indonesia's territorial waters and airspace.
Critics argue that formalising such access, rather than curbing violations, would reward bad behaviour and normalise what should remain a sovereignty red line.
Foreign military aircraft are currently required to obtain permits from Indonesia's foreign ministry and military headquarters.
The US would require "significant freedom" for its military assets should conflict erupt in the Taiwan Strait, Alfin said, almost certainly involving Indonesian airspace.
30,000 people recently gathered in Tokyo to defend Japan's Peace Constitution.
The US, Japan and other regional forces are coming together for the Philippines-hosted Salaknib (Shield), Cope Thunder and Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) exercises, as the First Island Chain enters a new phase of military coordination.
With record troop numbers and expanded multi-domain drills, these exercises are meant to strengthen interoperability, while reinforcing a growing “missile arc” strategy aimed at deterring China.
The historic deployment of Japanese troops to the Philippines for the first time since World War II also marks a significant shift in regional security dynamics.
How will this evolving network of alliances affect Beijing’s strategic calculus? And could Taiwan join in the future?
In this episode, we examine the scale and significance of these exercises and what they mean for the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific balance of power.
Influencing this bloody conflict, Tel Aviv could help claw it back — if it wanted to.
It’s long been clear that the road to peace in Sudan runs through Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — America’s three closest Arab allies. But last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reminded Sudanese that he has a stake in their country too.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in September, Netanyahu caused a stir among Sudanese when he held up two maps, ‘The Curse’ and ‘The Blessing.’ The first had Israel’s sworn enemies — Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and the Houthis in Yemen—marked in black. The second had its friends in green — among them Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Sudan.
Shortly after that, Israeli journalist Jonathan Lis wrote that Israel was floating a possible deal to end the fighting in Gaza, in which senior Hamas leaders would go into exile in Sudan. Hamas denied it — Yahya Sinwar would rather die in Gaza than flee to safety. Thee Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, denied it too. But the fact that Sudan is on Israel’s radar serves brings into focus how Sudan’s war is entangled in the Middle East’s higher-profile conflicts.
In 2020, as part of a deal in which the Trump Administration removed Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, Sudan agreed to join the Abraham Accords. General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, head of Sudan’s sovereignty council and de facto head of state, met with Netanyahu in Kampala, Uganda. The breakthrough meeting was hosted by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, but it was brokered by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed, known as MBZ. Sudan then froze Hamas assets in Sudan.
In the last days of the Trump administration, al-Burhan signed the declarative section of the Abraham Accord, in the presence of then U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin. Plans for a formal signing with Israel moved slowly, with a timetable reportedly agreed only in February 2023, when Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited Khartoum.
Al-Burhan’s deputy at the time, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, known as "Hemedti" also had close ties with Israel. He developed close relations with the UAE, renting out his Rapid Support Force (RSF) units to fight as mercenaries in Yemen, whereby he also established strong links with Israel’s Mossad.
When war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, pitting the two generals against each other, Israel was in contact with both men. The Foreign Ministry leaned towards al-Burhan and the SAF, Mossad towards the RSF.
Israel’s Arab friends also backed different sides in the war. Egypt supports the SAF, in line with its tradition of backing Khartoum’s military establishment. The UAE provides extensive support to the RSF, even while the private Bank of Khartoum, which is majority owned by UAE financiers, is the main financial conduit for SAF. Saudi Arabia leans towards SAF, worried by the UAE’s destabilizing role in the Red Sea, which it considers its own backyard.
During 18 months of fighting, a succession of mediation initiatives by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt and African leaders have come to nothing. One reason for this is that each time al-Burhan agrees to meet Hemedti, or to send a delegation to do so, the leader of Sudan’s powerful Islamists, Ali Karti, vetoes the move. Washington has put Karti under sanctions for “actively obstructing efforts to reach a ceasefire.” Karti now lives in Doha.
The Sudanese Islamists have longstanding ties to Hamas, which was a member of the Khartoum-based Popular Arab and Islamic Congress from the early 1990s, where it established offices, businesses, and training camps. Hamas sourced weapons from Sudan, provoking Israeli airstrikes. Active cooperation cooled in 2014, under pressure from Saudi Arabia.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia, despite their long-standing aversion to the Muslim Brothers, have come to believe that the Sudanese Islamists can be managed and no longer pose a threat beyond their own borders. (Egypt’s recent tripartite pact with Eritrea and Somalia also embraces the Damul Jadid group, a branch of the Muslim Brothers in Somalia.) Cairo and Riyadh have been ready to see money and weapons flow to SAF from Qatar, Turkey and even Iran. But Abu Dhabi remains hostile to Islamists, so far unpersuaded by Egypt’s argument that if it can live with the Muslim Brothers next door, the Emirates should be able to do so too.
It's long been clear that a deal in Arab capitals is a prerequisite for ending the fighting in Sudan. The question is how to get there. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has no visible interest in engaging at the high level that is needed. Initially, he put State Department Africa bureau officials in charge of the file, who are ignored by the Arab powerbrokers. While the current special envoy, Tom Perrellio, in theory reports to Blinken, in practice he doesn’t have the top-level backing needed.
When MBZ met with President Joe Biden last month, and affirmed a ”dynamic strategic partnership,” the Joint Statement included boilerplate words on Sudan’s war and humanitarian crisis.
Israel could change the equation. Even preliminary exploration of a plan to relocate Hamas to Sudan would need Israel to chart a path to a deal between al-Burhan and Hemedti. In turn, that will need a change in the military and financial equation—a credible show of force by SAF and its Egyptian backers, along with Emirati leverage on the RSF.
Whatever interests Abu Dhabi may have in Sudan, its stakes with Israel are far higher, and it has both carrots and sticks to pressure Hemedti.
The Hamas-to-Sudan story may be a straw in the wind. Even if it becomes a real prospect, Netanyahu or Hamas’s new leaders could pull out at any moment. Sudan’s generals are no pawns: they are experts at manipulating foreign patrons. But the chatter reaffirms how the fate of Sudan lies in the realpolitik of the Middle East, in the hands of states that see Sudan and its people as tokens in their power games.
~ Alex de Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation, Research Professor at the Fletcher School of Global Affairs, Tufts University, and Professorial Fellow at the London School of Economics. His latest book is New Pandemics, Old Politics: 200 years of the war on disease and its alternatives (Polity 2021).
In an interview on India Today, former Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of Defense, Colonel Douglas MacGregor, discussed President Donald Trump's threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.
MacGregor warned that enforcing a naval blockade against Iran is highly dangerous and difficult to implement, stating, "Right at the moment, I think many of Donald Trump's policies are, frankly, suicidal."
He highlighted Iran's military capabilities, noting that their unmanned systems and missiles could easily target US naval vessels.
MacGregor emphasized the global economic consequences of a blockade, including rising inflation and oil prices affecting countries like India, Japan, and European nations.
He cautioned that continuing this strategy could lead to a broader conflict, adding, "If he tries to stop traffic from going in, eventually, he's going to end up at war with someone somewhere."
MacGregor urged the US administration to negotiate an end to the conflict and recognize the shift towards a multipolar world.
Iran-US War: Iran has released another AI‑generated Lego‑style animation mocking US President Donald Trump and using satirical imagery as part of a broader digital propaganda campaign during the ongoing Iran‑US‑Israel conflict.
The viral video, created by pro‑Iran media creators, uses animation and meme culture to ridicule Trump and shape the narrative online, highlighting how modern information warfare is evolving.
Iranian embassies and affiliated groups have amplified similar content across social media platforms as part of an aggressive narrative push.
