On Our Weekly "Virtual Route 66" This Week: On The Week That Was

 

It has been another challenging week in our World as Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel, Republicans in the US House of Representatives seek to elect a new Speaker, the Ukraine War rages on with no end in sight, Europe's Far Right seems to be in the ascendancy and economic challenges loom.

Our team pulled together a snippet of the week with notations courtesy of Breaking the Silence, the Financial Times, and France 24: 

McCarthy Out as Speaker

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R, CA-20) was ousted as House speaker yesterday after the House voted 216 to 210 on a resolution from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R, FL-1) to vacate the leadership role. McCarthy, who had been in the post for under nine months, becomes the first House speaker in US history to be removed from office.    Rep. Patrick McHenry (R, NC-10) is now the interim speaker, known as speaker pro tempore. McHenry was the first on a list of backup speakers McCarthy had submitted to the House clerk in January, as required by House rules. As speaker pro tempore, McHenry will oversee an election for the next speaker. House Republicans reportedly plan to hold a candidate forum next Tuesday and an election next Wednesday. McCarthy announced he won't run again.   Eight House Republicans joined 208 House Democrats in voting to oust McCarthy (see breakdown). House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D, NY-8) had urged House Democrats to support the measure as a bloc.   McCarthy became House speaker in January following 15 rounds of voting across four days, during which he agreed to a number of concessions, including lowering the threshold to force a vote to remove the speaker to one member.

Ukraine's air force expects a record number of Russian drone attacks on its soil this winter, its spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said on Sunday, as Kyiv prepares itself for a second winter of mass bombardment…

Israel Declares War on Hamas Following Deadly Surprise Invasion ‘Hamas wants to murder us all,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a public ... READ MORE

Global Economy Keir Starmer prepares a pivotal speech and US Republicans seek a Speaker Plus, concerns about US banking sector as results season kicks off and D-Day in Poland’s bitterly fought election campaign OCTOBER 8, 2023 by Jonathan Moules

Hamas's attack and the events unfolding since yesterday are unspeakable. We are heartbroken to watch terrified civilians besieged in their homes, innocent people murdered in cold blood on the streets, at parties, and at home. Dozens taken hostage and dragged into the Gaza Strip. Every one of us knows someone who has been tragically affected. We could go on and on about their cruel and criminal actions, or focus on how our Jewish-supremacist government brought us to this point. But as hard as it is, our job as former Israeli soldiers is to talk about what we were sent to do. Israel's security policy, for decades now, has been to “manage the conflict”. Successive Israeli governments insist on round after round of violence as if any of it will make a difference. They talk about “security”, “deterrence”, “changing the equation”. All of these are code words for bombing the Gaza Strip to a pulp, always justified as targeting terrorists, yet always with heavy civilian casualties. In between these rounds of violence we make life impossible for Gazans, and then act surprised when it all boils over. We talk about "normalization" with the UAE and now Saudi Arabia, while hoping the world will turn a blind eye to the open-air prison we built in our backyard. Apart from the unfathomable violation of human rights, we've created a massive security liability for our own citizens. The question Israelis are all asking is - where were the soldiers yesterday? Why was the IDF seemingly absent while hundreds of Israelis were slaughtered in their homes and on the streets? The unfortunate truth is that they were “preoccupied”. In the West Bank. We send soldiers to secure settler incursions into the Palestinian city of Nablus, to chase Palestinian children in Hebron, to protect settlers as they carry out pogroms. Settlers demand that Palestinian flags are removed from the streets of Huwara; soldiers are sent to do it. Our country decided - decades ago - that it's willing to forfeit the security of its citizens in our towns and cities, in favor of maintaining control over an occupied civilian population of millions, all for the sake of a settler-messianic agenda. The idea that we can "manage the conflict" without ever having to solve it is once again collapsing before our eyes. It held up until now because only few dared to challenge it. These heartbreaking events could change that. They must. For all of us between the river and the sea. Avner Gvaryahu, Director Breaking the Silence