Archive for May 14, 2024

A primer on Palestinian groups

Posted: May 14, 2024 by chrisharper in Uncategorized

By Christopher Harper

Many pro-Palestinian demonstrators know little about the history of the Middle East. Here is a basic primer on the conflict between Israel and Palestinians:

Q. What was the Balfour Declaration and its importance in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians?

A. The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War. It announced its support for establishing a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, then an Ottoman region. The declaration was in a letter from the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community in Great Britain and Ireland.

Q.  What is the Palestinian definition of the “occupied territories”?

A. The Occupied Territories, which include the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, are subject to the jurisdiction of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the division of responsibilities overlapping in much of the territory

Q. What are the main points of United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338?

A. United Nations Security Council Resolutions were passed (respectively) in the aftermaths of the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars.

Resolution 242 (reaffirmed in 338) was designed to provide the framework for peace negotiations based on a “land-for-peace” formula and has become the foundation of all subsequent negotiations and peace treaties in the region.

The resolutions called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces “from territories of recent conflict,” an Arab “termination of all claims or states of belligerency,” and a recognition of the State of Israel and its “right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” The resolution also called for “achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem.”

Q. What does the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” mean?

A. Hamas supports the elimination of Israel.

Q. What is the relationship between Hamas and Iran?

A. Iran provides financial and military support for Hamas.

Q. What is the role of religion in Hamas?

A. Hamas considers itself a movement based on Islam, which is the dominant religion among the Palestinians.

Q. Why did Hamas oppose the role of the Palestinian Authority?

A. Hamas viewed the Palestinian Authority leaders as those who spent most of their lives outside of Israel, while Hamas leaders had fought from inside the country. In late 2017, the Palestinian Authority tried to pressure Hamas into reconciliation by cutting payments for fuel, electricity, and government salaries. However, a preliminary deal between the PA and Hamas failed over disputes about public finance and Hamas’ refusal to demilitarize. In March 2018, an assassination attempt on Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, which the PA blamed on Hamas, doomed prospects for compromise.

Q. Why have Jordan and Egypt refused to allow a Palestinian state within their borders?

A. Both countries consider such a state to be a security threat.

My Trump Running Mate List, Choice One: Ron DeSantis

Posted: May 14, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024, elections, politics
Tags: , ,

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post that were pure wild speculation but as I’ve been thinking about who Trump will choose as his running mate I thought I’d put one together.

This list will consist of three “A” list choices along with one dark horse. I will cover one each day.

In choosing a running mate there is one constitutional consideration and one non-constitutional consideration that have to be made in doing so.

  1. Can’t be from the same state I’m going to be slightly loose with this because “can’t be from the same state” can mean either:
    • Not born in the same state OR
    • Not living in the same state at the time of the election
  2. Must be hated by the left almost if not more than him because if he was to take a “deep state” running mate or a person like Nikki Haley he might as well, as I’ve noted before hang a target on his back with the words “assassinate me” in bright luminescent paint.

For the purpose of this pieces I’m going to assume the former as the choice and all of my choices are going to confirm with the 2nd choice.

Choice 1: Ron DeSantis Governor of Florida

If there was ever a person who would be the natural choice for a Trump Ticket this time around it’s the governor of Florida:

Ron DeSantis is the governor of the single most successful state in the country. He has successfully resisted every single one of the Biden administration’s attempts to curtail said success.

  • He is part of the highly successful move to export illegal aliens to blue cities and states
  • He has cracked down on the “death to jews” protestors when they have violated law
  • He has (and this is huge) cracked down on cheating by the left in elections to the point where his state which was once a swing state is now as solidly red as they come.
  • He has crippled the DEI industry and taken on woke corporations like Disney and won.

There are also two considerations that would appeal specifically to Trump.

  1. He is likely the only person more feared by the left then Trump himself, in fact Trump recognized this and leveraged this fear to get himself back on social media platforms for the purpose of attacking him during and even before the primaries.
  2. Unlike Nikki Haley DeSantis recognized the situation on the ground early and pulled out of the primary race after Iowa and endorsed Trump recognizing that the voters had decided on Trump and accepting their choice.

He also has one other quality that Trump likes in people. Trump is a doer, he all about getting things done. DeSantis is the same, from handling natural disasters to getting people from Florida out of Israel who were stranded there at the start of the war he has ignored the naysayers and focused on what he could do rather than what others said couldn’t be done.

And while I think this election is all about Trump so a running mate doesn’t add a lot to a ticket a vet who has won the Bronze Star certainly doesn’t hurt.

Bottom line he has all of the positive characteristics of Trump from being a doer to being unafraid of the left with absolutely none of the baggage, furthermore he is not only hated and feared by the left as much if not more than Trump which is the best insurance against assassination but because he is so hated by the left Trump by picking him would be able to stick another finger in the eye of said left by having him as a successor.

I suspect President Trump would find that rather sweet.

The only real question is can he pass constitutional muster? (born vs living in). It goes without saying that if he’s chosen the left will go to court on that basis. If there is any doubt or if Trump wants to avoid one more court battle he can always move to choice #2 who we will cover tomorrow