BRITISH DEVIOUSNESS

T J COLES —BoJo is unlike other leading Tory politicians. Where their racism is implicit (such as then-Home Secretary Theresa May’s Go Home vans targeted at “illegal” immigrants (read: a dog-whistle against all immigrants)), BoJo is explicitly racist: Africans are “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”; women in burqas look like “bank robbers” and “letterboxes”; Muslim women have to go to university “to find men to marry”; the cultural influence of China is “nil,” and so on.

KENNETH SURIN—Israeli conduct falls short of standards expected of democratic nations– e.g. using military snipers to murder and wound with impunity medical personnel and journalists in Gaza, all clearly identified by their clothing. There are aspects of Israeli policy and practice with tangible similarities to the Nazis– arbitrary confiscation and demolition of Palestinian dwellings, the use of attack dogs to bite and corral non-violent demonstrators, the repeated use of collective punishments, starvation as a weapon of occupation, the deliberate destruction of agricultural crops, the use of snipers to target unarmed civilians, and so forth.

FINIAN CUNNINGHAM—On international politics, such as the NATO-backed covert war for regime change in Syria, or the deplorable incitement of tensions by Washington and London towards Iran, Russian news media have provided a critical source of reporting and analysis. Often that alternative perspective has allowed Western public to hold their governments and derelict media to account. The fable of “the emperor with no clothes” comes to mind.

ALISON TAHMIZIAN MEUSE—The raid itself – videotaped and published by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps – shows Balaclava-wearing commandos descending on the British tanker by helicopter. The seizure appeared designed to replicate Britain’s impounding of an Iranian tanker earlier this month. Asked on Monday what the United States would do to help retrieve the vessel of its ally, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to wash his hands of the incident.

MoA—The people who planned these provocation do not understand how Iran acts and reacts. Its military forces are obviously under orders not to react to provocations as such could allow the John Boltons of this world to escalate towards a war. Iran will react to these provocations and especially the British seizure of its tanker. But, as we noted in an earlier piece, its responses to such incidents are nearly always asymmetrical and come at an unexpected place and time.