To read this post please scroll down.

 

Readers!

 

It is now July, time once again to celebrate the start of this webpage in 2010 with my annual July fund-raising campaign.

 

This year I celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black. During that time I have done more than 33,000 posts, mostly covering the global space industry and the related planetary and astronomical science that comes from it. Along the way I have also felt compelled as a free American citizen to regularly post my thoughts on the politics and culture of the time, partly because I think it is important for free Americans to do so, and partly because those politics and that culture have a direct impact on the future of our civilization and its on-going efforts to explore and eventually colonize the solar system.

 

You can’t understand one without understanding the other.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent independent analysis you don’t find elsewhere. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn’t influenced by donations by established companies or political movements. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:

 

4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


Public meeting at White House between Israeli and Saudi, UAE, and Qatari officials

A public meeting today was held at the White House between Israeli and Saudi, UAE, and Qatari officials, aimed at addressing the humanitarian situation at the Gaza Strip.

The summit on Gaza, called by Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law and senior adviser on Middle East peace, as well as Jason Greenblatt, his special representative for international negotiations, marks an unprecedented moment for Israeli diplomacy, as their dialogue with officials from Arab states is publicly recognized for the first time. The Trump administration planned the meeting over the course of several weeks and released a list of attendees the morning of the summit, which also included officials from Egypt, Jordan, Canada and various European countries.

Palestinian Authority officials did not attend the meeting.

“We regret that the Palestinian Authority is not here with us today,” Greenblatt said in opening remarks to the conference. “This is not about politics. This is about the health, safety and happiness of the people of Gaza, and of all Palestinians, Israelis and Egyptians. …As you know, we are here today to consider ideas on how to address the humanitarian challenges in Gaza – a topic that has long been at the forefront of all of our minds,” Greenblatt continued. “It has certainly been on mine.”

Greenblatt and Kushner are putting final touches on a comprehensive peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of which the resolution of the Gaza crisis is an integral part. At the moment, White House officials are deciding how to rollout the plan within a matter of weeks or a few short months.[emphasis mine]

It increasingly appears that the U.S., Israel, and the Sunni Arab states are going to work out a peace deal that excludes the terrorist and Iran-supported Palestinian leadership. That plan might even require the removal of that leadership, which would only be beneficial to the people presently trapped under their rule.

One more note: This is the first such public meeting between Israel and many of these Arab countries since 1991. In a normal world, this meeting would thus garner major headlines in all the major news sources. It indicates a major change in the relations between these nations. The Sunni Arab nations are getting comfortable with Israel, and are more willing to work with it as a neighbor, in public.

Not in our childish news world today, however, which is more interested in reporting UFO stories and fake Russian/Trump collusion stories.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

5 comments

  • wodun

    Not in our childish news world today, however, which is more interested in reporting UFO stories and fake Russian/Trump collusion stories.

    So you are saying there is a sea change not a see change.

  • wodun: You made me think I had this idiom wrong, and when I couldn’t find references for it one way or the other, I decided to deleted the word “sea”. It isn’t needed anyway.

  • wodun

    Aww, I was just making a pun joke.

  • wodun: Heh. Well, I think you helped improve my writing, so don’t feel bad.

  • Cotour

    The difference between a Kingdom and a Democracy, read a very interesting interview with 83 day detained and released (After everything was straightened out and “confirmed”) Prince Al Waleed:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-03-20/alwaleed-reveals-secret-deal-struck-to-exit-ritz-after-83-days

    (I highlight some specific and revealing questions and answers, I love reading between the lines in this interview)

    Prince Al Waleed :” I’ll elaborate on that: It’s an ongoing process with the government.” Referring to his forced detainment and his adjustment to the new paradigm. Take a look at some of the pictures of the prince, he appears to be having some PTSD affects.

    Interviewer: “So you were not harmed or mistreated in any way?

    Prince Al waleed: “Not one iota.”

    Prince Al waleed: “All of these points were covered in the confirmed understanding, the agreement between me and the government.” The prince emphasizes that everything is confirmed and understood be tween him and his cousin the Crown prince. Very well understood.

    Interviewer: How would you describe your relationship with Prince Mohammed?

    Prince Waleed: It’s stronger. That’s shocking to many people, even to my people.

    Interviewer: You’ve forgiven him?

    Prince walled: I’ve forgotten and forgiven the whole process completely. It’s behind me.

    Prince Waleed on Crown Prince Salmons plans: Any person who does not support what Mohammed bin Salman is doing right now, I say, is a traitor.

    Interviewer: The crown prince is touring the West. He’s meeting President Trump at the White House, and he’s trying to attract capital to Saudi Arabia. Given your experience at the Ritz-Carlton, how good can you feel about presenting a common front with the government, the very same government that put you in the hotel?

    Waleed: I’m supportive of Saudi Arabia, supportive of my government, supportive of King Salman and Prince Mohammed bin Salman all the way. Before, during, and after detention.

    You get in line and you “confirm” all agreements. Very, very interesting.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *