AMAR'E Opinion. Tradition. STOUDEMIRE CHINA'S ON NOT TALKS AMBITIONS BEING A TORAH IN THE MIDEAST VICTIM STUDY A2. A10. A11. THE algemeiner JOURNAL $1.00 - PRINTED IN NEW YORK FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2018 | 29 AV 5778 VOL. XLVI NO. 2367 Trump Reimposes Hamas Vows ‘Dire Consequences’ US Sanctions Lifted for Israel, Amid After Nuclear Deal Latest Flare-Up BY BENJAMIN KERSTEIN Hamas threatened “dire consequences” for Israel following an IDF retaliatory strike against a Hamas position on Tuesday. An IDF tank destroyed a Hamas watchtower after shots were fi red at Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border. Two Palestinians were reportedly killed in the strike. According to Israel’s Channel Two, following the incident, Hamas issued a statement saying, “Th ere will be US President Donald Trump signs an executive order reimposing a number of economic sanctions on Iran, Aug. 6, 2018. Photo: White House. Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip as it seen from the Israeli side of the border, May 29, 2018. Photo: Yonatan Sindel / Flash90. BY BARNEY BREEN as the JCPOA — “horrible” and accessible funds it received under “one-sided,” Trump said in a state- the JCPOA to build nuclear- dire consequences, the occupation should not sleep quietly -PORTNOY ment that it “failed to achieve the capable missiles, fund terrorism, — the resistance cannot allow the occupation to attack our President Donald Trump fundamental objective of blocking and fuel confl ict across the Middle positions without paying a price.” signed an executive order on all paths to an Iranian nuclear East and beyond.” Th e two terrorists killed were identifi ed as Ahmed Monday reimposing a number of bomb, and it threw a lifeline of Th e sanctions being Marjan and Abed al-Hafez al-Silawi, both snipers in Hamas’ US economic sanctions on Iran cash to a murderous dictator- reinstituted are related to Iran’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. At their funeral, the mourners that had been lifted as a result of ship that has continued to spread automotive sector, its trade in chanted, “We swear their blood will not be spilled in vain.” the July 2015 nuclear agreement bloodshed, violence, and chaos.” gold and precious metals, and its Th e Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the the Tehran regime reached with “Since the deal was reached, currency, the rial — the value of incident was “expected to destroy Egypt and the UN’s eff orts six world powers. Iran’s aggression has only which has plunged in the months to achieve a long-term ceasefi re” between Israel and Hamas. Calling the deal — also known increased,” he added. “Th e regime since Trump announced the US has used the windfall of newly Continued on Page A3 Jeremy ShabbatCalendar Parshat RE'EH Times for New York City, Friday Candle Lighting Shabbat Begins: 7:42pm | Shabbat Ends: 8:43pm פרשת ראה Corbyn the Zionist P.O.B. 250746, Brooklyn, NY 11225-3203 Tel: (718) 771.0400 | Fax: (718) 771.0308 page A8 Email: [email protected] www.algemeiner.com © Copyright 2018 Th e Algemeiner Journal - All Rights Reserved. A2 | FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2018 Opinion. China’s Dangerous Ambitions in the Middle East barracks, bunkers, hangars, underground fuel The South China Sea and the broader Houthi rebels and a Saudi-backed coalition. and water storage facilities, and an airstrip Indo-Pacific, however, are only the beginning Finally, in what would be perhaps Beijing’s JOEL SONKIN long enough to support most military aircraft. of China’s global ambitions. Indeed, Beijing most audacious move yet, it was reported NEW YORK The militarization of these islands has been busy actively pursuing its much- this past week that the Chinese ambassador reached a tipping point last May, when China discussed “Belt and Road” initiative to invest to Syria offered his country’s assistance to the was reported to have installed anti-ship cruise infrastructure linking China by both land and regime of Bashar al-Assad. The ambassador missiles and surface-to-air missile systems sea to markets in Asia and Europe. said that China is willing to participate “in some The Trump administration’s National capable of hitting US naval forces that As part of these efforts, Chinese Presi- way alongside the Syrian army,” as it looks to Security Strategy, released in December 2017, frequently conduct freedom-of-navigation dent Xi Jinping made a visit in July to the finish off the Sunni opposition. identified China and Russia as America’s operations in these waters. United Arab Emirates to sign a host of finan- To be sure, the seven-year conflict in greatest global competitors. The document Defense Secretary James Mattis cial and trade agreements. With the UAE Syria has presented plenty of problems — at asserted that it is these two “revisionist powers” expressed alarm over the deployment of the being both a major energy exporter and a hub both the strategic and humanitarian levels who seek to “challenge American power” and advanced missile systems by claiming that “the for international trade, the Arab Gulf state is — for the US and its allies. The situation was “shape a world antithetical to US values.” placement of these systems is tied directly to the gateway for about 60% of China’s exports made drastically more difficult when the US In its discussion of China, the strategy military use for the purposes of intimidation to the Middle East. The region is a key factor in allowed one of its fiercest competitors, Russia, document zeroed in on Beijing’s ultimate goal and coercion.” The US Pacific Command chief, China’s efforts to revive the ancient overland to intervene on behalf of the Assad regime. of displacing the United States in the Indo- Admiral Philip Davidson, echoed this senti- Silk Road trade route and create a new sea But the potential entrance of America’s other Pacific region and declaring East Asia its own ment by asserting that “China is now capable of equivalent. The UAE sits close to both routes. ostensible global competitor into the Syrian sphere of influence. The key flashpoint for this controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios Just across the Arabian Peninsula, in arena is hard to fathom. competition has been the South China Sea, short of war with the United States.” what would be a key component of China’s While the Russian intervention did deal a where Beijing has taken what were once small Although China was able to build up the sea route, Beijing established in 2017 its devastating blow to American interests in the “maritime features” known as the Spratly islands quite quickly in 2014-2015, the United first overseas military base in Djibouti. This region, it’s hardly the first time that Moscow Islands and created over 2,000 acres of land — States did have options available to halt Beijing’s small African country sits at one of the most and the West have squared off in great power or artificial islands — just off the coasts of the advance in the South China Sea. Today, however, important maritime locations in the world: competition in the Middle East. A Chinese Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam. the US has little choice but to accept the threat the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the key chokepoint presence in the region, on the other hand, is With an estimated one-third of global as it is and try to contain it, because rolling back connecting Asia and Europe. Ships bound for largely unprecedented, and would bring the shipping passing through these waters, control China’s militarization of the islands without the Europe pass through the narrow waterway US and its Mideast allies into uncharted waters. of the South China Sea is a determining factor in use of force is, at this point, not feasible. between Djibouti and the southern tip of With the evident consequences of who controls world trade. For the past 70 years, For the United States, this will mean Yemen into the Red Sea and continue through American complacency in the South China it has been the US Navy that ensured the free modernizing its air forces and missile the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean. Sea quickly unfolding, it is not too soon for the flow of commerce throughout the Indo-Pacific. defenses, and replenishing US Navy resources In short, Djibouti is poised to serve as Trump administration to vigorously pursue After making dubious claims on the in East Asia, thus bringing more US forces into a launch pad for China to project its power a policy of preventing China from gaining a disputed islands — to the chagrin of almost closer proximity with their Chinese counter- between Europe and Asia, i.e. the Middle East foothold in the Middle East. every one of its neighbors — China used its parts. While the chances of conflict remain and North Africa. As a side note, it is not a coinci- Joel Sonkin lives in New York City and muscle to assert control over the area and low, the potential for a confrontation is dence that the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait has been writes about US foreign policy in the Middle gradually militarize the islands by building certainly higher than it was just five years ago. a focal point for the war in Yemen between the East. Follow him on Twitter @JoelSonkin. Media Bias Against Israel — Where to Begin? casting the stories themselves. The editors and into “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” the the headline writers back home, far removed mode, lamely saying that he was not aware of it.