Justice for Kurds group Zionist cover

Justice for Kurds is a US-based nonprofit group created in 2017, professing to be a Franco-American initiative created to defend a loyal friend of the West, the Kurdish people.

The French element of the group is headed up by the famous pro-war agitator and self-regarding philosopher, Bernard Henry Levy, who is the president.

The American chairman is Dr Thomas S Kaplan, who is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and attached to Harvard University's Belfer Center, where he created the Recanati-Kaplan Intelligence Fellows program.

As is well known the Harvard Kennedy School, in which this program is based, is core to providing academic cover to US imperial ambitions. When one looks at the very long list of members of the advisory council, these interests are well evidenced.

• Kurdistan and the Zionists
  

  Kurdistan and the Zionists

  In this edition of Palestine Declassified, we’re going to examine a US-based organisation that was established to purportedly support the Kurdish people.

There are more than 10 ex-military or counterterrorism officials, including Lieutenant General Graeme Lamb, former director of the United Kingdom Special Forces, General Stanley A McChrystal, former commander of the United States Joint Special Operations Command, General David Petraeus, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Robert Richer, former Associate Deputy Director of Operations of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The connections with Western military and intelligence agencies are instructive, but the most revealing element of the Advisory Council is its exceptionally strong neoconservative and Zionist makeup including well-known Islamophobes .

• US smuggling stolen Syrian oil to northern Iraq
  

  New footage shows US smuggling stolen Syrian oil to northern Iraq

  Footage shows that US occupation forces smuggled a new batch of crude oil from the country’s northeastern province of Hasakah to their bases in northern Iraq last week.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Caroline Forrest, leading neocons Bill Kristol and Ann Appelbaum, directors of many Zionist lobby groups like the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Institute for National Security of America, American Jewish Committee, United Against Nuclear Iran, Foreign Policy Research Institute are some of the members.

The UK is well represented by hardline Zionists, including Mick Davis of the United Jewish Israel appeal, Jonathan Mendelsohn and Stuart Pollack, both longtime Israel lobbyists.

Of course, both Levy and Kaplan are well known Zionist extremists too, but there are further links including that in its 2021 annual report, it discloses that it gave 100,000 pounds to the Middle East Media and Research Institute, MEMRI, the Zionist media watchdog, run by a former colonel of the IDF.

Is this about justice for Kurds or Zionist foreign policy objectives?

• US forces smuggle stolen Syrian oil into bases in Iraq
  

  US forces smuggle stolen Syrian oil into bases in Iraq: Report

  The US military forces have reportedly smuggled a new consignment of stolen Syrian oil to American bases in Iraq.

Justice for Kurds has a seemingly unlikely ally in a radical left-wing group called Progressive International. It jointly delivered a letter to the EU institutions calling for the delisting of the Kurdish Workers' Party as a terrorist group.

The signatories included some of the world's leading leftists. It turns out, however, that despite having the same name and a very nearly identical web address, this Justice for Kurds is a different organization.

But what is Progressive International? It is the creation of the two other groups, the Democracy in Europe movement, DM 25 and the Sanders Institute.

The Sanders Institute is the organization set up by Vermont Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders. Much of the money donated to Sanders for the presidential race was diverted into the creation of the Sanders Institute.

Amongst those who donated to Sanders was the largest arms company in the US.

Progressive International has expertise in directing left-wing social movements, such as the Corbyn Movement in the UK.

James Schneider was director of communications for Corbyn and in the allegedly hard left group Momentum, he performs the same role at Progressive International.

• US smuggles Syrian oil, crops to bases in Iraq
  

  US smuggles new batch of Syrian oil, crops to bases in Iraq

  The US military has used tankers and trucks to smuggle crude oil and crops from Hasakah to bases in neighboring Iraq.

One key difference is that the US-French version promotes the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the KDP. By contrast, the open letter on the PKK shows a different orientation towards supporting the CIA-US operation to occupy parts of Syria and steal its oil reserves.

Progressive International, while being soft on Zionism is fully bought into the CIA operation in Rojava. The Zionist entity itself is ambivalent about the PKK and the Rojava operation.

In 2017 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Israel opposes the PKK and considers it a terrorist organization". This was interpreted as slapping down the former deputy IOF Chief of Staff, Yair Golan, who said that he did not consider the PKK a terror group.

However, in 2022 Mossad threatened Turkish intelligence that Israel was ready to cooperate with the PKK should Ankara continue its support for the Hamas military wing. This came after three Mossad agents were arrested in Turkey in 2022 for spying.

• 'Dismantled Israel-linked spy network aimed to target sensitive Iranian defense center'
  

  'Dismantled Israel-linked spy network aimed to target sensitive Iranian defense center'

  Iran’s intelligence ministry says an espionage team affiliated to the Israeli Mossad spy agency, which was recently busted, had plans to blow up a sensitive defense center in the country.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced that a sabotage team, detained by security forces, had planned to blow up a sensitive defense industry center in Isfahan. Those detained belonged to the Iranian Kurdish Marxist opposition group, Komala, who had been recruited by Mossad.

The Zionist entity is in two minds about Rojava and the PKK, but it is an enthusiastic supporter of any Kurdish faction which can pursue its interest in Turkey, Iraq, Syria or Iran.

Meanwhile, the PKK-aligned version of Justice for Kurds, and Progressive International are fully on board with the US-led operation in Syria.

• Why Iraqi Kurdistan is important for Iran
• 

  Why Iraqi Kurdistan is important for Iran

  President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region Nechirvan Barzani was in Tehran Monday, heading a high-level delegation to bolster relations and explore opportunities for cooperation.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir