Israel News | Israel Hayom - www.israelhayom.com [Unofficial]The Gulf states have moved on, leaving Israel behind
Ghadeer Abou-SalehPogroms against #Alawites in #Syria have erupted again in recent days, and I again hold #Trump and the Arab #Gulf states accountable for their role in empowering a #salafi regime from the middle ages to rule the country against the wishes of many Syrians.
"Recent days and weeks have seen the proponents of this genocidal rhetoric produce a range of striking ideas. These include campaigns calling for the boycott and isolation of Alawites; posts linking the crimes of Amjad Youssef, the butcher of Tadamon, to his “Alawite genes”; the labelling of Alawites as “heretics” and celebration of the revival of Ibn Taymiyya’s fatwa to kill them; calls to expel them from cities, and to rebrand their neighbourhoods in Homs and Damascus as “settlements.”"
https://aljumhuriya.net/en/2026/06/04/an-openly-declared-massacre/
NewsWeather maker forecast to become Tropical Storm Arthur
Rainy weather is expected to remain a big part of the forecast across Northwest Florida and Southwest Alabama for the next several days as a very moist tropical
https://weartv.com/news/local/weather-maker-forecast-to-become-tropical-storm-arthur
#TopNews #News #TheNationalHurricaneCenter #Gulf #PotentialTropicalCycloneOne
View: Hormuz will never really be open again
The global energy trade will never be the same.
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/16/2026/hormuz-will-never-really-be-open-again
Forecast comes into better focus as tropical system will soon emerge into Gulf
In brief: We expect widespread showers and thunderstorms today, particularly south of I-10, where flash flooding is possible. Our current thinking is that a tropical disturbance expected to track a…
Strait of Hormuz reopening won't end shipping risks
A proposed US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is raising hopes for global shipping and oil markets. But naval mines, high insurance costs and geopolitical risks mean disruption could persist for months.
https://www.dw.com/en/us-iran-war-deal-why-strait-of-hormuz-risks-wont-fade-fast/a-77553214
Athena Masson, PhDModerate (50%) chance for development this week. Moisture moving into the Gulf could form into a system. Land interaction combined with moderate upper level wind shear will give this system a challenge though. Parts of the western #Gulf Coast can anticipate some rain at least.#wx
The Strait of Hormuz is finally reopening, but energy flows may not get back to normal until next year | Fortune
"Our working assumption is that ~80% of energy flows will resume by the end of Q3 but a return to 'normal' could stretch into 2027."
https://fortune.com/2026/06/15/when-will-gas-prices-come-down-strait-hormuz-reopening-2027/
Amnesty in Salisbury & South WiltshireUnderstanding the Hypocrisy in UK’s Gulf Policies
Brilliant speaker at the Festival of Humanism
June 2026
Dr David Wearing gave a brilliant speech to the Festival in Bournemouth on the role of the UK in the Gulf. He set his observations in an historical context and provided a cogent analysis of the way we, and other countries in the West, have supported the despotic regimes in Gulf. The recent trade deal was celebrated by the government with no apparent concern for the welfare and rights of its people.
He anchored his talk in the attitudes of Britain’s governing class making the distinction between ‘we’ meaning them and ‘we’ meaning the population at large. Some of the latter are not comfortable with how our governments have joyfully provided arms and succour to these regimes despite their appalling human rights record.
He pointed out the arrant hypocrisy of government ministers and others in the governing class, talking about ‘British power standing for free trade, the rule of law and democracy’, polar opposites of what is happening in the Gulf. We have consistently supported illiberal regimes and quoted a speech made by Tony Blair at the time of the Iraq war.
The 2011 Arab Spring saw uprisings in many North African and Arab states. They were gradually extinguished often by brutal means. He pointed out that the security forces were often trained by the West including the UK.
Oil
The history is basically about oil and its discovery in what was then Persia. Britain set up a series of protectorates around the Arabian peninsular with the primary objective of securing the safe supply of this valuable resource. As the rest of the world gradually moved towards more liberal regimes, the Gulf monarchies were supported first by the British and gradually by America as it became the power in the region.
One of his main points was how closely tied we are to these states. People are aware for example, of investment in football clubs like Newcastle and Manchester City. They are less aware of how much we need their money to fund our deficit. We are aware of the arms sales but less aware of the ‘soft’ exports of accountancy, legal and other services. The economies are closely tied with a high degree of inter-dependence.
He noted that we would find it difficult to support our arms industry without the sales to the Gulf states. Our low investment in defence (defense) is subject to political attention at the moment with the resignation of the Defence Secretary last week.
Self-deception
His main theme is the degree to which we tell ourselves stories. Britain was deeply implicated in the Yemen war with our people and the RAF closely involved in supporting Saudi forces in their bombing campaign. He spoke disparagingly about the head of the Army who talked about the ‘rules based international order maintaining peace and prosperity’. An almost baffling lack of awareness.
It was closely linked to a nineteenth century colonial mindset where we viewed the Middle East as populated by backward peoples in contrast with the civilised and advanced West. Rather forgets the contributions to optics, astronomy, medicine and mathematics from that region (the invention of algebra for example, and the words for the angles of a triangle are Arabic in origin). This thinking by the governing elite makes it easy to carry on supporting Israel with arms sales and ignoring the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
He touched briefly on the actual links between their monarchs are ours with visits by members of the Royal Family to the region and their visits here.
A fascinating talk which made explicit the ‘double think’ in our dealings with the region and where the ordinary voter is excluded from the debate. Money and arms sales dominate the thinking helped by a colonial mindset. Concern for the lives of political opponents, human rights activists and journalists, who are frequently arrested and held for years; the huge use of the death penalty, and the lack of rights of women does not seem to trouble our political leaders. Much play is made of Sir Keir Starmer’s (prime minster at the time of writing) background as a human rights lawyer, yet there is no sign of this, no sign at all, in his speeches on Gulf related matters.
His book AngloArabia – Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain (Polity Press) is available.
Recent posts:
- Understanding the Hypocrisy in UK’s Gulf Policies
- Group minutes: June
- Immigration a hot potato again
- Latest death penalty report
- UK Human Rights Report: key issues in June 2026
How the Strait of Hormuz reopening could unfold if the U.S.-Iran deal is implemented
Tanker traffic through Hormuz could quickly increase but it is unclear whether transits will approach prewar levels, according to Kpler.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/15/oil-tanker-strait-hormuz-traffic-us-iran-deal.html
