Paseo | Ghost village | A chink in the wall | The last southern battle in Syria | Beating an informer, Santiago, 1988

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 Paseo, Cemetery, Quito, Ecuador: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 12 April 2018

The centuries of dead in their rows and tiers of quiet boxes
adorned with the sombre historical memory flowers and wreaths
under threatening mountain clouds, between light showers

are waiting politely until dusk for the relatives to pass by

before beginning again to wail and lament this gravity 
this weight of contained interior life this reserve it's their sense
of decorum so superior to our own though they are our own
do they think we are coming to join them no they gave up hope long ago
o altitudo sing those lowest among them those closest to the ground

Gen. Cem. Santiago, Chile, 1995 | Thieves have begun to decapitate angels in the cemetery to sell the heads in flea markets and antique shops.: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 2 June 2014

Lastarria, Santiago, 2018: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 2 January 2018

General Prats and his wife murdered by Pinochet, Santiago, Chile: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 20 September 2006

Grave, La Plata, Argentina, 1989: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 14 January 2015

Penal Castro Castro, Lima, Peru, 1992, Scan 131210-0001: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 14 January 2015

Dusk, La Paz, Bolivia, 1992 (?): photo by Marcelo Montecino, 4 June 2018

Cerca de Andacollo, Chile, 1993, +7: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 17 July 2015

The kiss, Kensington, 2015: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 17 February 2015

Silversmith, Santiago, Chile, 1988: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 25 May 2016

Caballero, Santiago, 2016: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 25 May 2016

a chink in the wall

  

epa editor's choice 24 July 2018:  Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz (R) and Chief Rabbi David Lau (C) inspect the site where a massive ancient stone dislodged from the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, into the southern prayer area in the Old City of Jerusalem, 23 July 2018. According to media reports, the 100 kg stone block fell a few meters from a woman who was praying at the time. No one was injured. #WesternWall #MasiveStone #Jerusalem #epaphotos  Photo epa-efe / Abir Sultan: image via epaphotos @epaphotos, 24 July 2018

Pro-Palestinian groups and other civil society organisations demonstrate in Durban on June 2, 2018 to protest against the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces in Gaza.: photo by AFP, 2 June 2018

Israel’s Nation-State Law is ‘Apartheid Resurrected’: Dr Haidar Eid, Middle East Eye, 21 July 2018

I am a naturalised South African of Palestinian origin. I spent five to six years in the Republic of South Africa, starting from 1997, three years after the first multi-racial elections which ultimately led to the appointment of Nelson Mandela as the first black president of the country.

Those were turbulent years with the spectre of apartheid still looming after ruling for 46 years, leaving scars that the people of South Africa, in their various races, still have to deal with.

Inhumane apartheid system

What concerns me here is the fact that not a single country in the world in the late 1980s wanted to have anything to do with the inhumane apartheid system, not even recognising the so-called “independent homelands” given as a bribe to some native Africans by the apartheid regime.

It is noteworthy that the international community considers the crime of apartheid as the second gravest crime against humanity after genocide.

This is why I am, as a Palestinian descendent of refugees from the ethnically cleansed village of Zarnouqa, entitled to my internationally sanctioned right of return. I also take issue with the promotion of the two-state solution to be considered the solution “that fulfils the national aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians”.

  

As a resident of Gaza, I’m in constant shock that there are politicians who still believe there are two equal sides to what they call the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. Did these same politicians believe during the 1970s and 80s that there were two equal parties in South Africa, white and black, with equal claim to the land?

Unlike the new post-apartheid South Africa, in the state of Israel all human beings are not equal. Israel now defines itself as a “Jewish state”. And since almost 22 percent of the citizens of Israel are Palestinians, they are excluded from being citizens of that state. (There are a further four million Palestinians living under direct military occupation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank).

Israel is not a state for all its citizens. It is a state for “the Jewish People”, most of whom have no birthright connection to it. So one can be a citizen of any country in the world yet, as a Jew, enjoy full rights in Israel, rights that apartheid Israel denies to us Palestinians, the indigenous people of this land. They also refer to us as “Israeli Arabs”, “Jerusalem residents”, “Arabs of the territories”.

Institutionalised inferiority

To add insult to injury, there is no Israeli nationality. Instead, there is a “Jewish nationality” much like there was a “white nationality” in apartheid South Africa. So, if one is born to Palestinian parents living in Israel, you too would be denied the rights of “Jewish nationality” and be forced to submit to institutionalised inferiority or choose to resist it, which is the natural reaction of any decent human being, like the choice made by Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

Relatives of Palestinian protester Abdul Kareem Radwan mourn over his body during his funeral in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on 20 July 2018: photo by AFP, 20 July 2018

The same racist laws that used to forbid black property ownership in white areas in apartheid South Africa are in force in apartheid Israel. Indigenous Palestinian citizens of Israel are not only prohibited from living on land owned by “Jewish institutions”, but are also not allowed to reside in any areas designated “Jewish” either.

I, myself, have a legal title to my parents’ land in Israel but have no “legal” right to it because my parents’ property, like that of millions of other Palestinians’, was taken away from us and given to Jewish owners.

And now, after approving the “new” nation-state law, we seem to be heading to the inevitable. i.e. a confrontation with Jewish supremacy in its ugliest form(s). In Oslo, 1993, the Palestinian leadership had the illusion that it would be able to establish a bantustan that the world would recognise as the State of Palestine.

At the time, the proposal was an acceptance of the programme of the Zionist “left” endorsed by the US. Now, we are being asked to accept the programme of the Zionist far-right government of Israel endorsed by the right-wing government of the US and given a new title, “Deal of the Century”.

This is the context within which the new-old Jewish nation-state law can be understood: it is the rebirth of apartheid.

You can read it all over the news. Historic moment. This hasn’t happened in more than 300 years! A piece of the #westernwall  fell off at 5:30am this morning. At 7pm last night, Jonathan and the bat mitzvah and her bff were praying at the exact same location. Heck of some #prayers: image via Stephanie Arnold @StephArnold37, 23 July 2018 

Untitled [London]: photo by Jure Maticic, 23 July 2018

Untitled [London]: photo by Jure Maticic, 23 July 2018

Untitled [London]: photo by Jure Maticic, 23 July 2018

XYMPHORA, Tuesday, 24 July 2018: There for the taking

"Violent Coup Fails in Nicaragua, U.S. Continues Regime Change Efforts" (Zeese).  People around the world are woke, and as much as they may have justifiable concerns, can now see that the Soros alternative - see Ukraine or Syria for a hint - is much, much, much worse than any conceivable worst-case future within the confines of legitimate political structures.  In contrast, the counter-constitutional color revolution going on in the United States has not failed, as the Americans, not yet fully woke, lack an antidote for their own poison.

You might hope that failure of the Democrats in the upcoming midterms would send a clear message, but the Democrats won't hear it.  Americans face an unprecedented situation where the alternative party has essentially given up on electoral success in order to fully enjoy the proceeds of the 'donor' model.  It is not uncommon for left or far left parties to run in elections with no hope of success, to send a message or attempt to subtly influence the terms of the debate.  Communists run decade after decade with much less than 1% of the vote.  It is amazing when a political party that is supposed to win about half the time decides that it no longer wants to win if it would affect the volume of graft it might receive.

To reiterate, the 'donor' model is the dominance in political campaign financing by Khazar billionaires.  The mechanics is to funnel most of the money through Khazar owned (((media))) outlets, regarded by the (((experts))) as a necessary part of winning American elections, despite the fact that the Trump campaign went a long way to disproving it.  There is so much money sloshing around, billions and billions (but with little or no net cost to the Khazars, who recover most of it back in ((( media))) profits), that a considerable amount falls to the small army of political back room operators and (((media))) 'experts' and pundits, not to mention various identity politics 'activists', who control what political parties do.

The Khazars are all 'one issue guys', which means the 'donors' to both parties expect complete fealty to the building of Greater Israel across the Middle East, and the consequent necessity for the US to fight constant Wars For The Jews, regardless of the cost, financially, morally, and psychically, to Americans.  This is no big problem for Republicans, who are supposed to be out fighting wars (well, it is now a bit of a problem, as we see with the never-Trumpers who continue to whine about Trump's forays into isolationism), and are supposed to be looking after the interests of billionaires, and also receive considerable money from gentile billionaires who have traditional class interests, but causes a big contradiction within the Democrats, who are predominantly funded by Khazar billionaires while obviously, and consequently, warmongering and aggressively failing to look out for working class people.  It is a particular problem now, with Putin's success in stabilizing Syria and pushing back Yinon, thus causing the 'donors' to be in a frenzy for scheming for WWIII for the regime change that would put Putin in his place.  The contradictions in the Democratic party are papered over almost entirely with various forms of identity politics, even as the increasingly bizarre avenues this leads down is causing the average voter to recoil (and who have noticed that identity politics is offered not in addition to concrete material benefits to average Americans, but in lieu of).  The fall-back position is Russiagate, which of course is loved by the 'donors' pushing for WWIII, but it is so palpably ridiculous - not to mention obscenely hypocritical, given constant American meddling, and worse, in elections all over the world, including Russia's - that it is not enough to support the dying Democrat brand, and in fact has started to backfire.

As the phony outrage over Trump's 'treason' ratchets up, and Americans slowly see the enormity of the Barry/IC attempted coup, Trump's polling also ratchets up, particularly with Republicans who are now motivated to vote to block the increasingly crazy-looking and actually treasonous Democrats.  Trump sees this and wants Putin to show up in Washington just before the midterms, in a kind of bizarre campaign rally.  Still, that 'donor' graft is so tempting to Democrat back rooms that it not worth giving it up to win an election, even one that is there for the taking. 

Untitled: photo by Túlio Cerquize, 23 July 2018

Endangered

A migrant woman intercepted aboard a toy dinghy in the Strait of Gibraltar is seen on a rescue boat after arriving at the port of Tarifa, Spain Photo @JonNazca: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018
 
 

President Donald Trump is reflected in a window at a showcase of American-made products at the White House Photo @ReutersBarria: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Detained Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo plays with his daughter as he is escorted by police at Insein court in Yangon, Myanmar. Photo Ann Wang: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Melted aluminium from cars is seen on the ground after a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece  Photo Costas Ballas: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Locals are evacuated as a wildfire approaches the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece Photo Alkis Konstantinidis: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Wildfires sweeping through a Greek resort town killed at least 60 people, officials said, including families with children found clasped in a last embrace as they tried to flee the flames: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 



Wildfires sweeping through a Greek resort town killed at least 60 people, officials said, including families with children found clasped in a last embrace as they tried to flee the flames: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018  


A woman reacts as she tries to find her dog, following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece Photo Costas Baltas: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Hundreds of people are missing after a hydropower dam under construction in southern Laos collapsed, causing flash flooding that swept away homes, state media reported on Tuesday:: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018

Ghost Village

For more than 30 years, Juan Martin Colomer and his wife Sinforosa Sancho have lived alone in a village in Spain's eastern highlands that once had more than 200 inhabitants Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

For more than 30 years, Juan Martin Colomer and his wife Sinforosa Sancho have lived alone in a village in Spain's eastern highlands that once had more than 200 inhabitants Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

For more than 30 years, Juan Martin Colomer and his wife Sinforosa Sancho have lived alone in a village in Spain's eastern highlands that once had more than 200 inhabitants Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Residents began abandoning these rural towns and villages to seek work in cities when the civil war ended in 1939, leaving behind an area twice the size of Belgium that is set to become the least populated in the European Union Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018

Residents began abandoning these rural towns and villages to seek work in cities when the civil war ended in 1939, leaving behind an area twice the size of Belgium that is set to become the least populated in the European Union Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018

Residents began abandoning these rural towns and villages to seek work in cities when the civil war ended in 1939, leaving behind an area twice the size of Belgium that is set to become the least populated in the European Union Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Juan Martin and Sinforosa's son Vicente was the last child to live there, and he had to go to school in a nearby village after the local teacher left and his school closed. 'If there are no children, there is no life,' said Juan Martin, 84  Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018

Juan Martin and Sinforosa's son Vicente was the last child to live there, and he had to go to school in a nearby village after the local teacher left and his school closed. 'If there are no children, there is no life,' said Juan Martin, 84  Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018 

Juan Martin and Sinforosa's son Vicente was the last child to live there, and he had to go to school in a nearby village after the local teacher left and his school closed. 'If there are no children, there is no life,' said Juan Martin, 84  Photo Susana Vera: image via Reuters Pictures @reuterspictures, 24 July 2018  

I Scream You Scream Everybody Scream

Duchess Camilla really likes ice cream: image via Getty Images @GettyImages, 24 July 2018



ALERT: Be on the look-out mental patient who escaped from the mental hospital. #HillaryClinton=last seen in her mental patient, hospital gown including shoes with no laces. BEWARE= intel= dangerous killer with HUGE body count: image via Herd4CACenate26 @voteherd, 23 July 2018

The last southern battle in Syria

The last southern battle in Syria: finish off ISIS and then on, towards Idlib: Elijah J. Magnier: Middle East Politics, 24 July 2018

Southern Syria is surrendering to the forces of the Syrian army: deals have been concluded between the Syrian government and the militants, including jihadists belonging to Jabhat al-Nusra (aka Hayat Tahrir al-Sham). The main deal, supervised by the Russian forces, allows whoever is willing to go to the northern city of Idlib, which is becoming the largest gathering of jihadists, to join the caravan and board the green buses, carrying their personal light weapons.

The Syrian army is facing a real logistic challenge, its forces did not expect the fall of the southern front so quickly. Therefore, the military command is asking militants and jihadists to stay in their villages until their turn comes to be evacuated or to be reconciled with the authorities.

The aim is also to prevent ISIS, occupying the enclave in al-Yarmouk Basin, from expanding its control over nearby abandoned villages where jihadists were based and are today unwilling to fight.

The only pocket remaining is the one of “Jaish Khaled bin al-Waleed”, ISIS-Huran, where the Syrian army and its allies have initiated an attack after surrounding the area from all sides, with the exception of the west flank bordering the 1974 line with Israel.

Although there is no time allocated to end the ISIS pocket, military commanders believe it might take less than two months to end ISIS’s control completely. That is also linked to the following battle expected in the north of Syria after the month of September, where preparations are ongoing for the biggest, last battle in Syria.

Russia is already preparing for its share in rural Lattakia and the high ground surrounding Jisr al-Shoughour and the Lattakia province under the control of Jabhat al-Nusra. The reason why the Russians are determined to liberate the area is mainly due to repetitive armed drone attacks against its main military base and airport in Hmaymeem, also the centre of coordination with Moscow.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia that the Astana deal will be in jeopardy if ever the de-confliction zone in Idlib is attacked. Turkey, Russia and Iran deployed 12 observation points along the de-confliction zone in rural Idlib to prevent ground attacks from Jihadists.

However, sources close to the Syrian President said “Bashar al-Assad will not abide by any deal with Turkey or the US that allows these two countries to occupy Syrian territory, even if Russia signed the deal”.

Assad and his allies – Iran and Hezbollah – believe they are capable of liberating the city of Idlib since most of Syria is now liberated. Therefore, Assad insists on liberating the occupied north and has asked his allies to be prepared to send more forces for the next operational stage.

Sources on the ground said “Hezbollah will be present with large forces to participate in the elimination of al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters and jihadists based in the north of Syria”.

Russia and Damascus have agreed to open safe corridors for all civilians willing to leave Idlib into the secured area under the Syrian army control or to reconcile with the government of Damascus as was the case for tens of thousands of militants all over Syria. The number of inhabitants of the city of Idlib is estimated to be around two million (1.5 before the war), including internally displaced refugees.

Russia wouldn’t mind seeing the Syrian army recover Idlib to protect eastern Aleppo and its rural area that is still under jihadist control. President Erdogan may show a lot of anger when the liberation of Idlib begins, due to his close ties with the militants and jihadists. However, all proxies have become a burden on their backers as the Syrian war is evolving.

Turkey would be happy to control the Kurdish area to prevent the Kurds from having their mini-state. The Kurds, the biggest losers in this war, have earned the animosity of both Erdogan and Assad due to their implicit approval of the partition of Syria and for allowing the US to use them as shield in north-east Syria.

The US forces occupy al-Hasaka and part of Deir-ezzour province. They have established military bases and airports and allowed Israel, according to sources in the area, to use the US military facilities to attack Syria and Iraq (Hashd al-Shaabi).

The battle of Idlib is not going to be a walkover since it is the last significant battle in Syria. Al-Qaeda and other jihadists and the thousands of foreign fighters are not expected to surrender. Russia vows to eliminate al-Qaeda unless Turkey finishes them off. It is most unlikely that President Erdogan will start a war against al-Qaeda, he who has supported them for years and allowed the jihadists to occupy Idlib years back. Nevertheless, it is a time for ending the war in Syria, and Turkey is no longer willing to keep these jihadists under its wing.

It is the last battle this year. The Syrian army shall not attack the US occupation forces face to face but will support local resistance if ever these forces don’t pull out. Once the battle of Idlib is over, Syria can begin “the mother and father of all battles”, reconciliation and reconstruction. The world has failed to change the Syrian regime and the US’s plan for a new Middle East is over. There is no meaning for any occupation forces to remain in the Levant and it is time for Syrians to lick their wounds - and start all over again.

 826: photo by Sotiris Lamprou, 24 July 2018

 826: photo by Sotiris Lamprou, 24 July 2018

826: photo by Sotiris Lamprou, 24 July 2018

Beating an informer (death squad dumping ground)

Pinochet, Chile, 1986: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 29 January 2005

  

Police Repression, Santiago, 1983: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 30 January 2005

Have you Forgotten me? Santiago, Chile, 1988: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 30 January 2005

Beating an informer, Santiago, Chile, 1988: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 25 October 2014

La Victoria celebration, Santiago, Chile, 1989: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 25 October 2014

Carabineros, Santiago, Chile: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 30 January 2005

Washington, DC, 1995 Scan 121-012-0119: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 12 October 2012

El Playón, death squad dumping ground, El Salvador, 1982: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 16 December 2017

Melancolia en las Familias, Santiago 1988: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 25 October 2014

Pinochet and Other Junta Members, Valparaiso, 1988: photo by Marcelo Montecino, 15 March 2017