Al Mayadeen – November 15, 2024
Massive rallies held across Yemen in support of Palestine, Lebanon
Yemen is the venue of weekly protests held in solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon, denouncing the Israeli occupation's wars and pledging unwavering support for the Resistance.
Hundreds of thousands gathered in Saada province today in massive rallies across 29 squares under the slogan "With Gaza and Lebanon... On the Path of the Martyrs Until Victory."
The central rally took place in Mawlid al-Nabi Square, west of Saada City, while other rallies were held in various other squares.
The demonstrators raised Yemeni, Palestinian, and Lebanese flags, as well as flags of the Resistance groups and pictures of the martyred leaders. They condemned the "genocidal war and massacres by the Zionist entity against the people of Gaza," ongoing for the past 406 days, extending to the West Bank and Lebanon, with "American participation and unlimited European and Western support, amid Arab silence and indifference," as chanted by the rally participants.
The demonstrators praised the strikes by the Yemeni Armed Forces, saying they "inflicted painful blows on the United States and the Zionist enemy," and highlighted "the strikes on the American aircraft carriers in the seas and deep inside the Zionist enemy entity."
They also noted that the freedom fighters who are striking the enemy in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, along with the Yemeni crowds in various arenas "did not seek help from the West but raised the flag of freedom fighting (jihad) and fought against the forces of evil, relying on Allah."
The participants in the massive rallies reaffirmed their unwavering position and commitment to supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples, regardless of the escalation, dangers, or challenges.
18 rallies in the districts of Dhamar Governorate
Dhamar governorate also witnessed 18 large rallies in the center of Dhamar city and multiple districts.
During the rally, participants chanted slogans of "solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon," condemning "the crimes and arrogance of the Zionist entity" and "the shameful silence of Arab rulers and those normalizing relations with the enemy."
A statement issued by the rallies renewed the pledge of loyalty to the great martyrs, especially to martyr Sayyed Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi.
Massive rallies in 18 squares in Taiz
Similarly, Taiz Governorate witnessed 18 major rallies supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese people under the same slogan.
In these rallies, participants in the central areas of all districts raised Yemeni, Palestinian, and Lebanese flags, reiterating their support for the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples and for their continued struggle for the legitimate rights of both nations until victory is achieved.
The participants chanted slogans condemning the ongoing genocide and the extermination war committed by the Israeli occupation against civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, condemning the "international positions and the clear impotence of the international community," which they viewed as reflective of the “complicity with the enemy” and “aggravating the suffering of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.”
The hundreds of rallies in the capital Sanaa and 14 Yemeni provinces have been taking place every week for over a year in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples, reaffirming loyalty to the blood of the martyrs.
The statement emphasized that "the cries that some mocked have now struck giant American aircraft carriers and hit deep inside the Zionist enemy entity."
The rally statement stressed the need to "mobilize efforts to support the Palestinian cause and Lebanon," while warning of the "consequences of neglecting the issues of the nation" and the "duty of jihad, which calls on every believer to shoulder their responsibility in halting the conspiracies of the forces of hegemony and arrogance that threaten humanity as a whole."
Outraged over Gaza genocide, Iraqi protesters burn Israel, US and UK flags
Iraqi protesters have burned US, UK, and Israel flags during massive rallies after Friday prayers to denounce the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza and Lebanon.
Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad to protest against Israel and its Western allies over the Israeli campaign of death and destruction in West Asia
The protesters burned flags of the US, the UK and Israel during the demonstration. The footage showed the flags being torn apart and set on fire by demonstrators in Baghdad's Sadr City and the southern holy city of Najaf.
They also waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags and chanted anti-Israel slogans such as “No, no for Israel. Yes, yes for Islam.”
Attending the rally in the Iraqi capital, Hakim al-Zamili, a member of the Iraqi Parliament, strongly denounced the Israeli crimes against women and children.
"We have decided to speak against the Zionist and American crimes of killing children, women, and elderly people,” he said.
He censured the Arab governments' inaction on the regime’s continuous massacres and the targeting of civilians in the region.
“This ongoing killing which is taking place with silence from Arab, Islamic, and international communities towards these crimes that kill children, women, and elderly people.”
Similar protests were also held in Kufa, Kut, Khan Bani Saad in Diyala Governorate and Samawah, which is located midway between Baghdad and Basra.
The participants at the rallies slammed the US-led Western governments for being complicit in Israel’s criminal acts including genocide and war crimes.
The demonstrators also pledged to stand with Iraq’s prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who recently called on benefactors across the world to show solidarity with the Lebanese people and rush to their assistance with all available means.
The protesters also showed their support and solidarity with regional resistance groups which continued their operations against the Israeli regime and its Western allies over the past months
The Islamic Resistance has been engaged in hundreds of operations since last October when the Israeli regime began bringing the Gaza Strip under a genocidal war and ramped up its deadly aggression towards Lebanon.
The Iraqi resistance fighters have also stepped up their attacks on the United States military bases in Iraq and Syria as a means of protesting Washington's full-fledged political, military, intelligence, and diplomatic support for the regime amid the atrocities.
The brutal military onslaught has so far claimed the lives of more than 43,700 Palestinians, mostly women, children, and adolescents, and wounded another 103,258 people, while the aggression against Lebanon has killed about 3,400 people.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/11/15/737295/Iraq-Baghdad-Najaf-Palestine-Lebanon-Israel
Al Mayadeen – November 15, 2024
France grants release to Georges Abdallah after 40 years in prison
Over the years, leftist MPs and human rights organizations, such as the Human Rights League (LDH) and even the French intelligence chief, have called for his release.
A French court ordered on Friday the release of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese revolutionary imprisoned in France, who has been detained for 40 years.
The court ruled that Abdallah, who was first arrested in 1984 and convicted in 1987, would be freed on December 6, provided that he leave France.
It is worth noting that French "anti-terrorism" prosecutors announced they would appeal the decision.
"In (a) decision dated today, the court granted Georges Ibrahim Abdallah conditional release from December 6, subject to the condition that he leaves French territory and not appear there again," the prosecutors stated.
The longest-held prisoner in Europe
Abdallah, a former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has so far served 40 years in prison, which makes him the longest-held prisoner in Europe.
He founded the Marxist-Leninist Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), which claimed responsibility for four attacks in France during the 1980s.
The Lebanese revolutionary was accused of taking part in the assassination of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in 1982 and was sentenced on these accusations.
Abdallah never responded to the list of accusations and considered that the French judicial system was "despicably" taking the resistance action out of context.
At his trial for the alleged killing of the diplomats, Abdallah was handed a life sentence—significantly harsher than the 10 years sought by prosecutors. His lawyer, Jacques Verges, called the sentence a "declaration of war."
Now 73, Abdallah maintains that he is a "fighter" advocating for Palestinian rights, not a "criminal". This marks his 11th attempt at securing parole.
He became eligible for parole in 1999, but all previous applications were denied, except in 2013, when his release was conditioned on expulsion from France.
However, then-Interior Minister Manuel Valls refused to implement the order, keeping Abdallah in prison.
US interference in Abdallah's case
The United States has also consistently opposed Abdallah's release, while Lebanese authorities have repeatedly called for his freedom.
A Wikileaks document about former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's leaked emails revealed that between January 10-14, 2023, she sent an email to former French Minister of Foreign Laurent Fabius, saying that “although the French Government has no legal authority to overturn the Court of Appeal’s January 10 decision, we hope French officials might find another basis to challenge the decision’s legality."
Unlike previous rulings, the court’s latest decision does not require government authorization, Abdallah's lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset told AFP, describing the outcome as "a legal and a political victory."
Over the years, leftist MPs and human rights organizations, such as the Human Rights League (LDH) and even the French intelligence chief have been calling for his release.
Abdallah’s case has garnered significant support from leftist and communist circles in France. Last month, Annie Ernaux, the 2022 Nobel Prize laureate in literature, condemned that his prolonged detention "shamed France", in an article published by the communist newspaper L’Humanité.
Georges Abdallah: Prisoners mirror resistance of Palestinian people
The Lebanese revolutionary sent a message on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners' Day on April 20, affirming that celebrating this day aims above all to "confirm our duties toward the prisoners, loudly and clearly," as well as to "include their liberation in the general dynamic of our ongoing struggles."
At the time, Abdallah said that this day also aims to "encourage the lively revolutionary forces and their resisting vanguards to take all necessary measures to practically express our definite determination to liberate our comrades from the grips of their jailers."
He stressed that thousands of prisoners who have been imprisoned for many years, and some for several decades, "reflect today, more than ever, the resistance of the Palestinian people in its various forms" against the Israeli occupation.
Additionally, Abdallah emphasized that the current Israeli government, "more than any previous government, cannot but intensify repression and try to expand the destruction of everything Palestinian," especially anyone who joins the collective will of the Resistance.
He pointed out that the heroes of the revolutionary struggle, especially those who embodied the collective will of the Resistance (referring to the prisoners), are "the preferred targets of extermination policies that fascists from all spectra rush to implement, especially as the [ongoung] genocide makes it easy to do so."
In this context, Abdallah called on international movements in solidarity with the Palestinians to take this reality into account, explaining that we are "dealing with a genocide unfolding in front of everyone, not in the hidden corners of secret [detention] camps," which is being witnessed by hundreds of millions of people around the world for the first time in human history.
Al Mayadeen – November 15, 2024
Yemeni drones, missiles 'freak' US Navy over attacks on destroyers
The Yemeni Armed Forces drones and missiles continue to expose the vulnerabilities in the Navy’s surface fleet.
According to Brandon J. Weichert, a recent attack from the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) on US Navy destroyers underscored the vulnerabilities of the Navy's surface fleet.
In response to the ongoing US and British aggression against Yemen and in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) announced Tuesday two major military operations targeting US naval assets in the region, inflicting significant damage on American ships.
The first operation targeted the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. Using a combination of cruise missiles and drones, Yemeni forces struck the vessel while it was reportedly preparing for operations against Yemen. The statement said the operation thwarted an impending American aerial assault, achieving its objectives without interruption.
The second operation targeted two US destroyers in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles and drones, again claiming successful strikes against the vessels.
Weichert writes in National Interest Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante stated that what the YAF had accomplished with their missile and drone operations in the previous year was unparalleled.
He notes that Harrison Kass revealed that the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had a close call during its encounter with the YAF, coming dangerously close with a missile - only 200 meters.
Weichart recalls how shortly after, the Americans withdrew their visibly vulnerable aircraft carriers, fearing the destruction of these expensive and exposed ships. Instead, they turned to smaller surface warships like the mentioned destroyers.
The US Navy's surface fleet comes up against considerable hurdles from the relatively less sophisticated YAF, demonstrating gaps in dealing with anti-ship ballistic missiles—weaknesses that may be vital in a possible fight with China.
However, the broader issue, Weichart notes, is that the YAF demonstrated how to hinder US Navy force projection. America's more advanced adversaries, particularly China, are taking extensive notes and planning to use these methods on a bigger scale against the US Navy if a conflict between China and the United States breaks out.
US, UK were preparing for aggression
A high-ranking source speaking exclusively to Al Mayadeen confirmed that US and British military formations, including swarms and combat units, were launched toward Yemen on Monday but were successfully repelled by the Yemeni Army. The source noted that the advancing forces were forced to retreat following a decisive response from the Yemeni military.
The source further revealed to Al Mayadeen that the US and British forces had been preparing for a large-scale offensive against Yemen, but the operation was thwarted by a precise and strategic military action carried out by the Yemeni Army. The source emphasized that the operation, which was described as "highly accurate", had effectively disrupted the enemy's plans.
According to the source, the military operation was not only a defensive maneuver but also an intelligence-driven, highly targeted strike. The Yemeni forces, the source explained, had meticulously analyzed the battlefield, allowing them to anticipate the movements of the enemy and preemptively strike with precision.
The source stressed that the Yemeni Army's approach to operations is deeply rooted in thorough intelligence gathering and careful analysis of the operational theater. This enables the Yemeni forces to stay one step ahead of their adversaries, ensuring they remain prepared for any future threats.
Aggression on Yemen endures
Yemeni media outlets reported on Tuesday, before sunrise, that the American-British aggression warplanes launched three airstrikes on the al-Fazah area in the al-Tuhayta district, south of the Hodeidah governorate.
On Monday, the American-British coalition also launched an aggression on Yemen, launching a total of nine airstrikes on the Saada and Amran provinces.
Seven of the airstrikes heavily raided Amran's Bart and Sufyan junction, whereas two airstrikes targeted al-Rahba in the al-Safraa province, Saada governorate.
Yemeni military sources confirmed to Al Mayadeen that no military losses were recorded.
This follows the US-British coalition launching 10 airstrikes on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and Amran province. In detail, the coalition conducted three airstrikes Sunday dawn targeting the al-Hafa and al-Nahdayn areas in the south and east of the capital.
Larijani asserts Iran’s support for resistance, says conveyed Leader’s message to Lebanon
An advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei asserts that Iran continues to support the regional Front of Resistance under all circumstances.
Ali Larijani made the remarks to reporters in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday following a meeting with the country’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
In response to a question about whether the Islamic Republic had given up on its support for the resistance, Larijani said, “I suppose that you take joking remarks very seriously. Who has said these?”
“We support the resistance under all circumstances,” he added, noting that his underway trip to Lebanon was meant to convey this message.
“We consider it to be our responsibility to support the Lebanese people and their demands, and hope that the country’s conditions be ameliorated as soon as possible.”
The former parliament speaker further hoped that the people, who have been displaced amid incessant Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, would be able to return to their places of residence soon.
The Israeli regime has markedly ramped up its deadly attacks against Lebanon since last October, killing more than 3,360 people and damaging some 100,000 houses.
The Iranian official, however, expressed confidence in the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah’s capability to defend the country, saying, “Hezbollah is a stalwart movement. The Lebanese nation is a stalwart nation too.”
Larijani said both the movement and the Lebanese people were well aware of how they had to act in defense of the country in the face of the atrocities that were being perpetrated by the Israeli regime and its allies.
Leader’s message
The official also said he had conveyed a message from Ayatollah Khamenei to Berri, but did not provide any information on its contents.
Larijani commented on an announcement made by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati earlier in the day, in which he said Lebanon “prioritized” implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
Adopted to end the Israeli regime’s 2006 war on Lebanon, the resolution has trusted preservation of security in southern Lebanese areas with UN peacekeepers.
“We support whatever important issue that is accepted by the Lebanese authorities and resistance,” Larijani said.
The official was also asked whether Iran sought to “disrupt” an alleged truce proposal that was forwarded on Thursday by the US ambassador to Lebanon to Berri.
Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory operations in the face of the Israeli aggression, which has claimed thousands of lives in Lebanon.
“We are not after disrupting anything. We are after resolving issues. We are supportive of the Lebanese people under all circumstances,” Larijani said.
“Those who disrupt situations are [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his henchmen. You should be able to tell your friends and enemies apart.”
Larijani also met with President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus on Thursday.
The two sides underscored the need for putting an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and carnage in Lebanon.
Larijani also held a meeting with the leaders of Palestinian resistance groups in the Syrian capital and expressed the Islamic Republic’s staunch support.
