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Netherlands to Join EU Push to Blacklist IRGC as New Report Reveals Iranian Weapons Smuggling to Houthis
Iranians carry a model of a missile during a celebration following an IRGC attack on Israel, in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
The Netherlands will join Germany’s initiative to push the European Union to declare Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
The revelation came as the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released a new report detailing how the IRGC has been smuggling weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, a US-designated terrorist group that has been disrupting global trade with its attacks on shipping in the busy Red Sea corridor.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp “announced that the Netherlands will join the initiative to promote a decision in the EU to declare the IRGC a terrorist organization,” Katz tweeted on Wednesday. “We will continue to join hands in our fight against terror.”
Katz included a photo of the two diplomats meeting at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Washington, DC this week.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, right, met with his Dutch counterpart at the NATO summit. The Netherlands agreed to support Germany’s proposal to blacklist the IRGC. Photo: Screenshot
The foreign ministers also discussed “the situation in Gaza, the West Bank, Hezbollah, and Iran,” according to Veldkamp.
Last week, the EU reportedly accepted Germany’s request to consider labeling the IRGC a terrorist organization.
Denmark, Sweden, and the Czech Republic also agreed to support Germany’s initiative to blacklist the IRGC, according to reports.
Consequences of the EU designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization could include the freezing of its financial assets, criminal prosecutions for ranking members, travel bans, and bans on arms shipments across EU countries.
By blacklisting the IRGC, the EU would join a growing list of nations who view the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Last month, Canada announced that it would list the IRGC as a terrorist group.
“Listing the IRGC builds on the government of Canada’s broader efforts to ensure that there is no impunity for Iran’s unlawful actions and its support of terrorism,” Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement.
In 2019, the Trump administration in the US designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization, highlighting the Iranian regime’s use of the IRGC to “engage in terrorist activities since its inception 40 years ago.”
The US designation “recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft,” then-US President Donald Trump said in a statement at the time. “The IRGC is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.”
The US government further detailed the IRGC’s activities across the Middle East on Wednesday, when the DIA released a new report highlighting how the IRGC has been “smuggling weapons and weapons components to the Houthis.”
The report noted that the Houthis used IRGC-supplied ballistic and cruise missiles to conduct over a hundred land attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and within Yemen, as well as dozens of attacks on merchant shipping.
Since 2015, there have been over 20 successful interdictions against Iranian smuggling operations by coalition partners including the US, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and France.
According to the DIA’s report, coalition partners seized hundreds of illicit arms and material including rocket engines used in missiles, guidance systems, light arms, explosives, cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and anti-tank missiles. The report documented how the Houthis have deployed these types of Iranian-produced arms in strikes against merchant shipping and US allies.
An aerial view of the Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze following a Houthi missile attack at sea, March 6, 2024, in this handout photo. Photo: DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS
Recently, the Houthis launched their longest-range attack to date against a Liberian-flagged ship transiting the Bab el-Mandeb strait near the Arabian Sea. Although none of ship’s crew were injured and the ship itself was unharmed, the attack highlighted the increasing capabilities of the Iranian-supported Houthi rebels.
The US and Britain returned the Houthi militia to a list of terrorist groups this year as its attacks on vessels in and around the Red Sea, a key trade route, disrupted global shipping, raising the cost of shipping and insurance and having a major economic impact. Shipping firms have been forced in many cases to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa to avoid passing near Yemen.
The rebel Houthi movement — whose slogan is “death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam” — has also claimed responsibility for attempted drone and missile strikes targeting Israel.
Since Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, which launched the ongoing war in Gaza, Houthi terrorists in Yemen have routinely launched ballistic missiles towards Israel’s southern city of Eilat. Each missile attack was quickly intercepted by Israel using its air defense systems.
In May, Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said the terrorist group will target all ships heading to Israeli ports, even if they do not pass through the Red Sea
In January, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the Houthi attacks on Israel and regional shipping. “We hope, God willing, these efforts, acts of resistance, and activities will continue until victory,” he said, adding that the Houthis “have truly done a great job.”
Beyond Israeli targets, the Houthis have threatened and in some cases actually attacked US and British ships, leading the two Western allies to launch retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The post Netherlands to Join EU Push to Blacklist IRGC as New Report Reveals Iranian Weapons Smuggling to Houthis first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Again Warns Hamas to Free Gaza Hostages ‘Soon’ Following Previous Threats
US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC, US on Nov. 13, 2024. Photo: ALLISON ROBBERT/Pool via REUTERS
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, US President-elect Donald Trump again called for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, issuing another veiled threat to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas ahead of his return to the White House.
A press gaggle peppered Trump with questions outside of his annual New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. One reporter asked Trump about his previous comments that Hamas will have “hell to pay” if a ceasefire and hostage-release between the terrorist group and Israel is not successfully brokered before his inauguration.
“We’re going to see what happens,” Trump said. “I’ll put it this way: They better let the hostages come back soon.”
On Oct. 7 of last year, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages to Gaza during their invasion of southern Israel. During the onslaught, 45 Americans were killed and 12 were abducted.
About 100 hostages, both dead and alive, remain in Gaza, including seven Americans. Three of them — Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Edan Alexander — are thought to still be alive. Three others — Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai, and Judi Weinstein Haggai — are believed to be murdered by the terrorist group, with their bodies still in the Palestinian enclave. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed last month that Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and his body was taken by terrorists into Gaza. Neutra was initially presumed to be among the living captives.
The Biden administration, in which 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris currently serves as vice president, has faced criticism from both sides of the political aisle for being unable to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of hostage negotiations spiked when American-Israel hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered by Hamas terrorists in late summer right before IDF soldiers could rescue him.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to take aggressive action to secure the return of the remaining hostages. Last month, he vowed that Hamas will have “hell to pay” if the terrorist group does not release those still held captive in the Gaza Strip.
“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!” Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social. “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity.”
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” he added.
Trump reiterated the threat days later.
The post Trump Again Warns Hamas to Free Gaza Hostages ‘Soon’ Following Previous Threats first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Anti-Zionist Student Government President Convicted of Misconduct, Removed from Office at U of Michigan
University of Michigan PhD student, center, carries a sign that says ‘Free Speech! Free Palestine!’ at U-M’s Diag in Ann Arbor on April 4, 2024. Photo: Junfu Huan via Reuters Connect
The Central Student Government (CSG) of the University of Michigan has removed from office president Alifa Chowdhury — the controversial leader of the Anti-Zionist “Shut It Down” (SID) party who led a failed and unpopular effort to freeze funding for student clubs until school officials enacted a boycott of Israel — following her conviction on an impeachment charge.
Chowdhury faced three charges in total: incitement to violence, defamation, and dereliction of duty, the last of which she was found guilty on Dec. 23, according to a statement issued by the Central Student Judiciary (CSJ). Her vice president, Elias Atkinson, was convicted of the same offense.
“Today’s decision means that President Chowdhury and Vice President Atkinsonare removed from office with immediate effect, and that they are barred from holding CSG office in the future,” CSJ said, noting that its ruling marked the first ever expulsion of a CSG president. “It is not lost on us that today marks the culmination of the first impeachment proceeding in the Central Student Government’s history. Neither are we blind to the major political clashes — both within the Assembly and between the legislative and executive branches … But our decision today, and this court’s role, is beyond politics.”
It continued, “Impeachment is a constitutional process, an important element of CSG’s system of checks and balances. Although the Assembly’ role in triggering the impeachment process is essentially political, it is this court’s unflagging duty to resolve any impeachment process neutrally and impartially once the starter pistol has gone off. This court must be a steady ship in a sea tossed by raucous political winds.”
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Chowdhury’s anti-Zionist zealotry led her to allegedly commit several disqualifying acts which blighted her office and shocked her CSG representatives. In the articles of impeachment filed by Rep. Margaret Peterman, the now-former president was described as having “gravely endangered” students — for example, by participating in a protest of CSG which led to threats and an assault by spitting — as well as the “integrity of the democratic system.” She also failed to perform key functions of the presidency, including submitting reports, preparing committee members for their roles, and convening meetings with CSG’s executive council — a pattern of neglect which led to her conviction for dereliction of duty.
The takeover of CSG by Chowdhury’s party, SID, in March led to a historically dysfunctional administration, prompting the involvement of school officials at key moments when its brinksmanship threatened to derail core functions of the university. In August, the administration resolved to fund student clubs over Chowdhury and SID’s objections, effectively stripping the new government of the power of the purse. Explaining the intervention to The Algemeiner at the time, university spokesperson Colleen Mastony said it was prompted by Chowdhury’s “senior” colleagues in the CSG Assembly.
Founded in the months after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, SID allegedly committed multiple election code infractions to amass its unprecedented power. According to The Michigan Daily, students banded together to contest its election victory, citing multiple instances in which its members campaigned in proscribed areas and violated other rules regulating the use of posters and email communications. SID ultimately overcame the challenge following a controversial hearing which the student government, breaking precedent, conducted in secret.
After assuming power, Chowdury defunded the school’s 1,700 student clubs by vetoing the summer term budget, which had been “unanimously” supported by the CSG Assembly, and vowed to block any spending bill that would fund them in the fall term. The measure was, in SID’s view, strategic. It argued during the campaign that crippling university operations would inexorably lead to a boycott of Israel, a notion the university dispelled when it appropriated the funds anyway.
“CSG merely serves as an extension of an institution that has perpetuated systems of oppression by maintaining the current status quo of neocolonial capitalism,” the party said in a manifesto issued in March. “Every dollar coming out of this university is blood money. Student government cannot operate as usual as we witness the systematic murder of Palestinians. Student life cannot continue as normal when our tuition and labor are being used to fund a genocide.”
Those ideals manifested in the misconduct which have now disqualified Chowdhury and her vice president from ever holding a CSG position again.
“Today’s ruling is compelled by the All-Campus Constitution and the evidence,” the Central Student Judiciary said in explaining the convictions. “Our conclusions are a result of dozens of pages of briefing, the various evidentiary exhibits, and all the testimony and argument we heard over the course of a twenty two and a half hour hearing. Whatever political consequences might flow from our decision, we can only do our jobs.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Anti-Zionist Student Government President Convicted of Misconduct, Removed from Office at U of Michigan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Flag Burned Outside Stadium in Spain Before Hapoel Tel Aviv Basketball Game
An Israeli flag being burned outside the Gran Canaria Arena located in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain, ahead of a basketball game with Hapoel Tel Aviv. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Anti-Israel demonstrators set fire to an Israeli flag outside a sports arena in Spain’s Canary Islands, leading up to a basketball game featuring the Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv that is set to take place at the arena on Thursday.
Activists from the pro-Palestinian group Canarias Insumisa set the Israeli flag on fire outside the Gran Canaria Arena in Las Palmas, the local news outlet Canraia Ahora reported on Tuesday. The move was in protest of Israel’s military actions during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and also in objection to the EuroCup basketball game taking place on Thursday at the Gran Canaria Arena between Hapoel Tel Aviv and the local team Gran Canaria.
The pro-Palestinian group claimed that the upcoming basketball game whitewashes the “genocide” that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people. The group also falsely accused Israel of murdering “47,000 girls, boys, women and men in one year” during its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza who orchestrated the deadly terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Canrais Ahora called on local fans not to attend the basketball game on Thursday, claiming that Israeli fans of Hapoel Tel Aviv may try to provoke them. The group described Hapoel Tel Aviv fans as “aggressive Nazi-Zionist hooligan fanatics who will try to provoke, create conflicts and attack the followers of the Canarian team,” according to the news outlet Canraia Ahora. The group also criticized the owner of Gran Canaria, claiming he had the chance to prevent the local Spanish team from competing against Hapoel Tel Aviv, but refused to do so.
The flag burning took place almost two months after fans of the Israeli soccer team Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv were attacked in Amsterdam on Nov. 7 and into the early hours of Nov. 8. Five men behind the premeditated and coordinated attack were sentenced in Dutch court late last month to community service and up to six months in jail.
The post Israeli Flag Burned Outside Stadium in Spain Before Hapoel Tel Aviv Basketball Game first appeared on Algemeiner.com.