Nadene Goldfoot
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Egypt Rules in Size In Middle East
China and Israel These Days
Nadene Goldfoot
I was brought up in Ladds Addition, Portland, Oregon where many of my neighbors were Chinese. Ladd's Addition was an experiment of housing mixed nationalistic people together of a medium financial household. We had Greeks, Italians, Chinese, Jewish, many others who showed up at school smorgasbord dinners that were great. My son's best friend, David Louie lived across the street and I drove to college every day with a Chinese neighbor. My brother attended Hebrew school after public school-day while his Chinese friend attended Chinese school, too. Two doors away from me was my playmate, Joan Padrow, parents immigrants from Palestine/Israel.
We had good relations with our buddies, an important part of our own make-up is based on the development of our childhood. We got together and we each also had our own circle of close relatives to cherish. We were a family--based people. How is the world doing? I need not ask, I know. The question is, how are China and Israel getting along?
Approximately 9,000 to 12,000 residents of Chinese descent live within the Portland city limits. They represent a substantial segment of Portland’s Asian demographic, which makes up about 8.1% (over 52,000 people) of the city's total population.
Approximately 57,000+ Jewish people call the Greater Portland area home . Approximately 3,000 to 5,000 Orthodox Jews live in the Greater Portland area, According to the comprehensive 2022-23 Greater Portland Jewish Community Study, the wider metropolitan region—which spans into Southwest Washington—is home to roughly 56,600 individuals of Jewish descent , with some estimates reaching over 75,000 in the extended metro area.
Global Strategy: China generally seeks to avoid direct frontline involvement in Middle East conflicts, prioritizing its energy security, trade stability, and its "Belt and Road Initiative" . Beijing attempts to maintain a delicate balance—professing concern over the escalating violence and backing a two-state solution while continuing its massive trade operations. Hopefully, since October 7, 2023, they realize a 2-state solution no longer is on the table.
Political and Diplomatic Ties: Diplomatic relations have cooled significantly since the outbreak of the Gaza war and the regional conflict with Iran. Beijing has taken a stance aligned closely with the Global South, criticizing Israeli military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, and pushing for Palestinian statehood. China also maintains close strategic and economic partnerships with Iran, placing it at odds with Israeli security goals.
Trade and Economics: China remains Israel's largest trading partner in East Asia and its second-largest globally, with robust Chinese investments in Israeli infrastructure and technology sectors . Israeli companies continue to do significant business with Chinese firms, and there are high-profile commercial disputes, such as a major intellectual property claim against a Chinese EV giant.
The bilateral relationship between Israel and China is highly complex and strained due to the broader geopolitical landscape and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Of course, everyone is confounded by the Middle East today.
Saturday, July 4, 2026
Israel Dared To Recognize Armenian Genocide; Now On Turkey's Bad List
Nadene Goldfoot
Many scholars believe that the Biblical city of Haran was within the borders of current-day Turkey.
That means that Abraham and his grandson Jacob lived in Turkey, and that all four Matriarchs and eleven of the Twelve Tribes were born there! 
Today, you can say that Turkey and Israel have transitioned from once-strong regional partners to open rivals, with tensions escalating over Middle East influence, the war in Gaza, and the conflict in Syria . Although direct military conflict is actively constrained by U.S. pressure, both nations frequently exchange sharp diplomatic warnings and have recalled their respective ambassadors. While a formal trade embargo was announced, commercial ties persist through indirect trade and energy transit . The diplomatic relationship has deteriorated further with Turkey accusing Israel of regional destabilization and, more recently, Israel’s historic recognition of the Armenian genocide drawing fierce condemnation from Ankara. Israel had put off recognizing Armenia for just this reason not wanting to anger Turkey.
Anatolian women: DNA of women today: Anatolian Turks (Greek, Armenian, Arab, Syriac, Georgian, Hittite)
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during the opening ceremony of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, in Antalya, southern Turkey, April 17, 2026. (AP/Riza Ozel)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar accused his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, of incitement to genocide on Thursday after Fidan called Israel a “burden that humanity can no longer bear” and said it was a “problem” for the world. Fidan made the comments in a TV interview, in which he called for global sanctions on Israel. His comments followed Israel’s recognition this week of the 1915 Armenian genocide, which Ankara denies.
By Reuters: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Sometimes called the first genocide of the twentieth century, the Armenian genocide refers to the physical annihilation of Armenian Christian people living in the Ottoman Empire from spring 1915 through autumn 1916. There were approximately 1.5 million Armenians living in the multiethnic Ottoman Empire in 1915. At least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million died during the genocide, either in massacres and individual killings, or from systematic ill treatment, exposure, and starvation. Ottoman authorities, supported by auxiliary troops and at times by civilians, perpetrated most of the persecution and mass killing. The Ottoman government, controlled by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP; also called the Young Turks), aimed to solidify Muslim Turkish dominance in the regions of central and eastern Anatolia by eliminating the sizeable Armenian presence there.
Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, is a vast peninsula in West Asia that comprises the majority of modern Turkey . Bounded by the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean Sea, the region has served as a vital geographic and cultural bridge connecting the continents of Europe and Asia.
The victims of the Armenian genocide include people killed in local massacres that began in spring 1915; others who died during deportations, under conditions of starvation, dehydration, exposure, and disease; and Armenians who died in or en route to the desert regions of the southern Empire [today: northern and eastern Syria, northern Saudi Arabia, and Iraq]. In addition, tens of thousands of Armenian children were forcibly removed from their families and converted to Islam.
There have been established Jewish communities in what is now Turkey since antiquity, as attested to by the discovery of a 2000-year-old synagogue in Sardis. Throughout Byzantine rule (from the 4th to 14th centuries), the community was small, mostly consisting of Greek-speaking Romaniote Jews, and they suffered greatly from forced conversions to Christianity and other persecutions like the Armenians.
Resource:
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/7394378/jewish/11-Facts-About-the-Jews-of-Turkey.htm
Wikipedia
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-armenian-genocide-1915-16-overview
American Women In Syria, Outside USA, Beware
Nadene Goldfoot
Figure 1: Fighters from HTS train in Idlib Province, Syria.
Photo: OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS or the “Organization for the Liberation of the Levant”) traces its beginnings to the outset of the Syrian civil war and has remained a dangerous opposition force throughout the duration of the conflict. In May 2018, the group was added to the State Department’s existing designation of its predecessor, the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)
On this 4th of July I received a message from my Syrian friend of this:
Recent reports and viral videos from the city of Homs, Syria, highlight a severe incident involving an American tourist who was assaulted following a traffic collision . The footage documented the confrontation, with evidence showing a motor impact after her vehicle was hit .
Likewise,
An American female tourist was assaulted in the city of Homs, Syria, by a supporter of the Al-Julani terrorist regime in Damascus. This came from "Marwan A.E. a Druze from Sweida, the city whose people were subjected to sectarian massacres while defending themselves against jihadists | Dignity | Future | Pro Israel. "
I checked out New York City and found out this has happened many times there as well. The only thing is that when anything happens to a woman outside of her own habitat, it is hard on her medical needs; getting to a hospital, speaking the language, etc, problems you wouldn't have if it (G-d forbid) happens at home.
Syrian President Abu Mohammed al-Jolani's real name is Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (often spelled Ahmad al-Sharaa) . He used "Jolani" as a nom de guerre during his time leading the militant group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is the Sunni Islamist armed organization and political group that led the December 2024 uprising to topple the Assad regime, ending five decades of family rule . Formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, the group formally cut ties with al-Qaeda to rebrand itself as a localized, pragmatic governing force. " It's not working by taking his real name. He's still a terrorist at heart and is treating people with terrorist applications.
Julani is the terrorist name of their present President in Syria. Syria is made up of 4 different groups of people, the Druze being one of them. (Trump favors Julani because he's a winner over the others-he took the position-supposedly temporarily. Ever try to get a terrorist out of power? )
The incident has sparked a wide state of interaction across regional media and online networks . For official updates or to view local coverage of the ongoing police and public response to the situation, you can check the regional breaking news available via Instagram.
Historically, Homs has been at the center of severe humanitarian crises, including widespread reports of gender-based violence during the country's civil conflict and the 2012 artillery attack that claimed the life of American journalist Marie Colvin .
Marie Catherine Colvin (January 12, 1956 – February 22, 2012) was an American journalist who worked as a foreign affairs correspondent[ for the British newspaper The Sunday Times from 1985 until her death. She was one of the most prominent war correspondents of her generation, widely recognized for her extensive coverage on the frontlines of various conflicts across the globe. On February 22, 2012, while she was covering the siege of Homs alongside the French photojournalist Rémi Ochlik; the pair were killed in a targeted attack by Syrian government forces.
Homs, The current population of the Homs, Syria metropolitan area is estimated at approximately 1,632,000 people . For the city proper, modern demographic estimates range between 989,000 and 1.39 million residents. Homs was known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa, is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is 501 m above sea level and is located 162 km north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is also the central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast.
We do not think about how our news comes to us and the dangers that some journalists have had to live through. On this 4th of July we can thank them for helping out our government that way by collecting possible pertinent information for them.
Update: 10:55am: a powerful explosive device was detonated at a crowded cafe in central Damascus on July 2, 2026, killing at least nine people and injuring 20 others. The blast occurred in the Hejaz district, about 100 meters from the Palace of Justice . No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred in a highly secure area of the capital.
The U.S. government maintains a strict "Level 4: Do not travel" advisory for Syria, warning of the extreme dangers of armed conflict, terrorism, and hostage-taking.
Wikipedia
Women's media center
Friday, July 3, 2026
Let's Get Real About Iran's History With Nuclear Enriched Uranium
Nadene Goldfoot
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Iran’s nuclear program began in 1957 under the U.S. "Atoms for Peace" program, leading to the 1967 launch of the Tehran Research Reactor, initially fueled with highly enriched uranium . In 1957, the United States and Iran signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s "Atoms for Peace" program. This pact marked the official beginning of Iran's nuclear program , paving the way for the U.S. to supply Iran with nuclear research materials, technology, and a 5-megawatt reactor.
Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968 and established the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) in 1974 to pursue a full domestic fuel cycle. According to official U.S. assessments, Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in late 2003. This program's goal, according to U.S. officials and the IAEA, was to develop an implosion-style nuclear weapon for Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missile. A 2025 public U.S. intelligence assessment stated that "Iran is not building a nuclear weapon" and that the now-former Supreme Leader had "not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003." IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated on March 4, 2026, that the agency "never had information indicating that there was a structured systematic [Iranian] program to build or to construct a nuclear weapon."
Israel and the US did not agree on the condition of Iran's uranium and what they have in mind for it. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) make frequent, ongoing trips to Iran's nuclear facilities under its ongoing safeguards commitments, rather than a single visit. However, Iran has blocked inspectors from accessing specific facilities or withdrawn cooperation multiple times over decades of disputes.Post-2025 Military Strikes: Following the June 2025 war, Iran suspended overall cooperation with the IAEA . While it allowed inspectors to visit some unaffected facilities, it consistently blocked IAEA access to bombed installations like Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan . 
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Raffael Grossi speaks to the media on the opening day of his agency’s quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl Purchase Licensing Rights.Fordo: B-2 Spirit bombers dropped bunker-buster bombs, leaving significant craters and blocked tunnel entrances . Natanz & Isfahan: High-resolution imagery shows large craters and damaged overground structures and perimeter fences following the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
Prior to the 2025 War: The IAEA repeatedly condemned Iran for refusing to grant inspector access to undeclared sites suspected of covert nuclear activities, most notably in standoffs around 2020 and 2023.
The United States and Iran signed an interim 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) that explicitly requires Iran's nuclear activities and materials to be supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The deal paves the way for 60 days of talks to "down-blend" stockpiles of enriched uranium. This is for today.
TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) - The interim U.S.-Iran peace accord gives U.N. nuclear inspectors access to Iran, the watchdog's top official said on Friday, after Tehran indicated key sites would remain off-limits until a final deal with Washington was reached and sanctions lifted.
The United States and Israel conducted a series of joint strikes on Iranian nuclear and uranium enrichment facilities beginning in June 2025 and escalating in March 2026. 
The U.S. and Iran last week signed a memorandum of understanding paving the way for 60 days of talks to resolve thornier issues, including those related to Iran's nuclear programme. Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Wednesday there were no plans to grant access to inspectors. This must be the MoU. This is the position the world has to accept about uranium in Iran's hands today.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi speaks during a news conference at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan, on Wednesday.Kyodo News/via AP Iran says only after final deal is done can anyone inspect Iranian nuclear enrichment sites with his inspectors.
What America helped Iran to make is now being used against us and Israel as threats hanging over our heads.
Resource:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/sixty-years-of-atoms-for-peace-and-irans-nuclear-program/
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/24/g-s1-129770/iran-nuclear-inspection
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