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June 2025

Has Israel Given Oppressed Iranians a Chance to Seize Freedom? Catherine Salgado

https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/06/14/has-israel-given-oppressed-iranians-a-chance-to-seize-freedom-n4940798?state=

Has the nation of Israel given the Iranian people an opening to rise up against their brutal dictators? Is this the beginning of the end of the terror-sponsoring, mass murdering Islamic regime in Iran?

Such questions are speculation, and as such have no definite answer, but while much of the terrorist apparatus is still in place in Iran, the country just lost numerous top military leaders and a good deal of its major weapons and nuclear facilities. Depending on how this conflict goes in the next week or two, this might be a desperate opportunity for domestic rebellion as the Iranian regime is also pummeled from overseas.

It is an unfortunate fact that when the people of Iran periodically try to rise up against the Islamic dictators there, they garner little to no support from any other governments or powerful international entities, including the USA. When tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in protest of the vicious sharia “morality” police in 2022, where was the outpouring of international aid and support that was provided for the jihad-loving Gazans ever since Oct. 2023? It wasn’t provided for Iranians. Countless protestors were arrested, raped, tortured, and killed, as Americans and other Westerners looked the other way.

That is why Iranian dissidents have been the most loyal in praising Israel and condemning Hamas and the other terror proxies of the Iranian regime. They have experienced the horror of living under a genocidal Islamic dictatorship, and they not only want to break free themselves, they want Israel to be triumphant. Perhaps Israel is returning the favor.

Houman David Hemmati, a doctor who fled Iran for the USA when he was young, certainly sees this Israeli strike as a sign of hope for his fellow Iranians that Persia in its former greatness might rise again, that the oppressed people will see the demise of their oppressors. He posted on X:

I fled Iran as a child, carrying in my heart the memories of women beaten in the streets for daring to wear makeup, of girls whose only crime was letting a strand of hair escape their scarves, and of neighbors dragged off to prison for refusing to bend to the regime’s cruelty. Tonight, as I watched the news of Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, I felt a surge of hope: not for the destruction itself, but for the first glimmer of freedom for the people trapped under a government that gouges out women’s eyes for their clothes and tortures dissidents for daring to think differently. This regime has forced every schoolchild to chant “Death to America,” has backed the October 7 terror on Israel, has sent suicide drones against our troops at sea, and has spent decades sharpening its tools of oppression.

Ballymena may be a taste of things to come We can no longer ignore the simmering tensions in our midst. Tom Slater

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/06/13/ballymena-may-be-a-taste-of-things-to-come/

Another community in flames. Masonry and Molotov cocktails thrown at police. A leisure centre, believed to be housing migrants, set ablaze by a bigoted mob. Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before.

This week, Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland became the latest town within these troubled isles to be ripped apart by fear, loathing and rioting – sparked by an alleged crime committed by migrants.

On Monday, two 14-year-old Romanian Roma boys were charged with attempted oral rape of a teenage girl. The BBC could only bring itself to mention the boys’ background obliquely, noting they ‘confirmed their names and ages through a Romanian interpreter’.

This horrific crime appears to have snapped something, in another working-class community experiencing a heady mix of deindustrialisation, strained resources, crime, mass immigration and fraying social bonds.

A peaceful protest was hijacked by thugs. The town has burned for four nights now. Unrest is breaking out across Northern Ireland, too. The tone has been not just anti-migration, but also violently anti-migrant.

On Monday, rioters attacked the homes of the alleged perpetrators, but also those of other, entirely innocent Roma, who now reportedly make up half of Ballymena’s Clonavon Terrace. The flames soon spread further.

In a nearby village, the home of a Filipino man, totally unconnected to the alleged rape, was firebombed. Heartbreakingly, many of Ballymena’s Filipinos have since fled their homes, leaving signs on their doors saying ‘Filipino lives here’ to ward off the mob.

On Wednesday, rioters started fires and smashed in the windows of a leisure centre in Larne. Word had got out on social media that some of the migrants who moved out of Ballymena were sheltering there.

While this loyalist community has its own particularities – a history of sectarianism and demographic angst. These riots are clearly – chillingly – of a piece with what we’ve witnessed across the UK and Ireland in recent years.

We appear to be caught in an infernal loop. In Knowsley, Merseyside in February 2023, a young girl being propositioned by an asylum seeker sparked a riot outside a migrant hotel. In November that year, trams and cars were set on fire in Dublin after an Algerian national stabbed a woman and three kids outside a school.

In each case, an information vacuum left by the media and officialdom was filled with misinfo and rumour. No more so than after Axel Rudakubana’s barbaric murder of three girls in Southport, when far-right influencers pushed BS online about him being a small-boats migrant, fuelling attacks on mosques and hotels.

Narcosocialist Prime Minister Delivers Toast at Soros-Abedin Wedding How beautiful. by Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/narcosocialist-prime-minister-delivers-toast-at-soros-abedin-wedding/

Here’s how the New York Times described the scene of a billionaire brat getting married to a woman with more baggage than his father stole from Holocaust victims.

The Democratic establishment descended on the Hamptons this weekend for something of a political royal wedding that brought together the worlds of big-money politics and Clinton-era insiders.

Beyond the couple’s families, the guest list included Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton; former Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff; Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader; former Speaker Nancy Pelosi; celebrities like Nicky Hilton Rothschild; cultural figures like the Vogue editor Anna Wintour; longtime Clinton friends like the San Francisco power broker Susie Tompkins Buell; and foreign dignitaries like the prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama.

The weekend festivities included a smaller ceremony to honor both Ms. Abedin’s Muslim faith and Mr. Soros’s Jewish heritage.

As Maseratis, Porsches and other luxury cars glided down the road outside the wedding venue, some curious drivers slowed down before security officers quickly shooed them along.

The vocal group Boyz II Men performed at the wedding, according to two of the attendees, and speakers giving toasts included Mr. Soros’s brother Jonathan, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Wintour and Mr. Rama.

Why was the Albanian Prime Minister even there, let alone delivering a toast? The Soros clan pumped an estimated $130 million into Albania to prop up Rama’s regime. Rama, the head of the country’s Socialist movement, has been described as a ‘narco-socialist’ and Albania is considered to be awash in corruption.

So he fits in perfectly at a ‘royal wedding’ for an alliance of the Clinton-Ikhwan and Soros clans.

Do the Saudis Actually Oppose Israeli Strikes on Iran? Follow the Oil Forget what they say, watch what they pump. by Daniel Greenfield

https://www.frontpagemag.com/do-the-saudis-actually-oppose-israeli-strikes-on-iran-follow-the-oil/

Saudi Arabia officially put out a statement harshly critical of Israel’s air strikes on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

But what do the Saudis actually think? Follow the oil.

Israel’s sudden attack on Iran has threatened to disrupt oil supplies in the Middle East, placing the Opec+ cartel’s recent decision to increase crude production into the spotlight.

The Saudi Arabia-led producer group has surprised the oil market this year by fast-tracking the return of idled production even as crude prices fell. It has prompted speculation that the cartel was responding to White House pressure to boost output ahead of a confrontation with Iran.

If the Saudis really wanted to force a rapid end to the war, they would be doing what they have done in the past, which is cut production. And had they wanted to really pressure Trump ahead of a possible confrontation with Iran, they would have refused to boost production.

Oil production is still their best weapon. Boosting oil production provides a cushion ahead of a showdown with Iran.

That is not to say that the Saudis are America’s friend, let alone Israel’s friend, but they are happy enough with a scenario in which Iran’s capabilities get rolled back, without having to get directly involved or take any risks.

Forget what they say, watch what they pump.

Netanyahu Pulls Trigger on Iran Attack After 30-Year Wait Story by Ethan Bronner

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-30-years-of-hesitation-netanyahu-pulled-the-trigger/ar-AA1GFxwS

(Bloomberg) — Benjamin Netanyahu has said for three decades that the central threat to Israel’s existence is Iran’s nuclear program. At least twice over that period, he came within inches of carrying out an attack on it.

Now, at age 75, the Israeli premier has launched the biggest strike on Iran in his country’s history. It’s an operation of enormous risk and promise that will define the legacy of Israel’s longest-serving leader — and upend the Mideast.

In a speech to the nation Friday evening, Netanyahu said he ordered preparations for the assault back in November. But the audacious attack was the result of a confluence of factors dating back years.

Hamas’ deadly 2023 attack forced a rethinking of how Israel defends itself and allowed its military to decimate threats from Iranian proxies like Hezbollah. After years of efforts, Israeli intelligence had penetrated Iran so deeply it could strike its protected nuclear program from inside the country. A supportive US president and a hawkish circle in the Israeli leadership made it possible for Netanyahu, his own popularity tarnished, to make the move he’d avoided for so long.

A day after the first wave of attacks — hundreds of warplanes hit hundreds of sites 1700 km (1000 miles) away — it’s far too early to assess how this new war will develop and whether it will expand beyond Iran and Israel.

But initial reports have led Israeli commentators to argue that the operation is so far a success: a dozen top Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists killed, a major nuclear site badly damaged and Iran’s capacity to retaliate curbed. Late Friday, Israel said it had hit another nuclear installation, this time in Isfahan.

Shortly afterward, Iran launched missiles at Israel and residents were ordered to shelters. Authorities reported several people were injured by the attacks in the central part of the country. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed to “act forcefully” and avenge the Israeli strikes. That retaliation is expected both directly and indirectly, and Israel’s assault is due to last days or weeks. 

Since thousands of Iran-backed Hamas operatives broke into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and abducting 250, Israel has taken a much more aggressive approach to its borders, stationing its troops inside Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and relying less on opponents’ intent and focusing on their capabilities. 

Attacked on all sides as Iranian proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen joined in, Israelis felt they were in a battle for their survival — even if from afar many saw a powerful, nuclear-armed nation against small militias that couldn’t challenge it. 

Since then, Israel has carried out a brutal war in Gaza, destroying vast areas and killing some 55,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. It has taken out the missile arsenals of Hamas and Hezbollah and helped trigger the collapse of the Syrian regime. 

‘You, Infidel, Will Meet Allah’: Persecution of Christians, April 2025 by Raymond Ibrahim

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21686/persecution-of-christians-april

In the opening days of April, Muslim Fulani terrorists slaughtered more than 60 Christians in Plateau State, in what Plateau Gov. Caleb Mutfwang termed an ongoing “genocide.” According to a local source, “More than 1,000 Christians were displaced during the attacks, and 383 three houses were destroyed by these bandits.” — Morning Star News, April 8, 2025, Nigeria.

“Eyewitnesses said the attack lasted more than an hour, leaving 103 households destroyed and the entire village displaced. Frustration mounted as residents reported a delayed military response and accused security forces of bias, disarming local Christian youth but not Fulani attackers.” — Morning Star News, April 14, 2025, Nigeria.

On Good Friday, Apr. 18, a Muslim judge sentenced a Christian to death for “blasphemy”…. Among these critics was the Rev. Ghazala Shafique, a Karachi-based rights activist: “The court has convicted a Christian for allegedly carrying out the alleged blasphemous act, but what about those people who burned our churches and homes and are now roaming freely on bail? Why didn’t the police and prosecution investigate those cases with the same zeal that they have shown in Masih’s case?” — Morning Star News, April 22, 2025, Pakistan.

On Apr. 30, a Muslim judge sentenced Sabry Kamel, a 79-year-old Christian man to life in prison on the charge that he molested a five-year-old Muslim child at the school where the accused volunteered. He did so, critics allege, on very little evidence and merely to placate an angry Muslim mob that was growing outside the court house and calling for the instant execution of the elderly Christian…. Essam Mehanna, the complainant’s lawyer… stated: ‘The case was flimsy and would have collapsed were it not for the mob shouting outside the courthouse.’ Several legal experts and independent attorneys—both Copts and Muslims—who reviewed the case files expressed shock at what they described as a wholly unjustified ruling.” — Coptic Solidarity, April 30, 2025, Egypt.

The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of April 2025.

June 14: America on Parade—and on Edge June 14 brought flags, parades, protests, a fake senator scuffle, a political shooting, and Iran’s unraveling—all under the shadow of Trump’s birthday. By Roger Kimball

https://amgreatness.com/2025/06/15/june-14-america-on-parade-and-on-edge/

I write on June 14, a full-docket news day. You’ll have heard some of the news. For one thing, June 14 is Flag Day in the United States, an opportunity to rally ’round and ponder the significance of its history and iconography. After all, “the Stars and Stripes” is not merely a heraldic description: it is also a distillation or epitome of a sentiment, a world view, and a political achievement.

June 14 is also the birthday of Donald Trump, the President of the United States. Given his celebration of an “America First” MAGA political program, it seems more than coincidental that he should share his birthday with a national holiday called “Flag Day.”

Ditto the fact that June 14 was the date of Trump’s big military parade in Washington. The date was chosen to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the United States Army. Sclerotic legacy outlets like The Atlantic (“The Shame of Trump’s Parade”) and The New York Times are throwing one of their signature snits about the parade. It’s just like military displays in the Soviet Union and other authoritarian states, they say.

I take the opposite view. I think the parade is both a salutary celebration of the army and a condign expression of American national pride. As the commentator Irving Kristol put it in the 1990s, “There is nothing like a parade to elicit the proper respect for the military from the populace.” I agree.

Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, I note that June 14 was also the day on which some 2000 protests were scheduled to unfold across the nation. What were they protesting? The official title was “No Kings.” The protesters, you see, were claiming that Donald Trump was acting like a king by deploying the police power of the state to deport illegal aliens and to protect the immigration officials tasked with the job. Were the organizers harkening back to the origins of the Roman Republic in 509 BC when Brutus, avenging the death of Lucretia, declared that never again would Rome be ruled by a king? Maybe. It’s possible.

Probably not. In the event, the protests seem to have attracted a motley crew of aging boomers, paid professional protesters, disaffected academics, and confused teenagers. Several of the protests in Florida and elsewhere have been cancelled because of lack of interest.

But one clever observer, noting that the ex-Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, she of Anthony Weiner, and Alex Soros, spawn of George, were married today at a fancy mansion in the Hamptons, had the appropriate response to this shameless exhibition of our secular royalty: “No Kings.”