History tends to repeat itself in endless film loops dripping blood.
On May 23, 2024, the Israeli Foreign Minister sent a chilling message to the political leaders of Ireland, Norway, and Spain in response to their proposed recognition of a Palestinian state, although in reality there is no such state.
According to the Israelis, such recognition will have serious consequences beyond the pulling of their ambassadors from the capitals of countries that follow in recognizing a non-existent state. When surrounding Muslim states refuse to acknowledge Palestinian rights to sovereignty, why would any European nation do that?
They answer is that they are afraid. Very afraid.
Commenting on King Fahad of Saudi Arabia Click here to view the video
The Islamic State (ISIS) and the reconquest of al-Andalus
The checkered history of Islam in the Iberian Peninsula (contemporary Spain and Portugal) from 711 to 1492 CE offers a chilling template for geopolitical forces at work today. As Arab-inspired jihad culture spreads like wildfire throughout the Muslim world, a flood of economic migrants and refugees whose religious beliefs, political goals, and personal aspirations exemplify all the worst features of the Quran and Sharia is establishing a foothold in European Union countries, the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, the Americas.
The Late Medieval purge – call it a “backlash” – that returned the Iberian Peninsula to Christian control led to Spain’s establishment as a functional democracy only as late as 1975. Is the pendulum about to swing back the other way? According to ISIS and other militarized Islamic entities, it is.
Curiously, Spain with its 2.6 percent Muslim population is not at the apex of today’s collision of cultures although it incorporates the continental European point of land closest geographically to Muslim-dominated North Africa. Tarifa in Andalusia is only 33 kilometers from Tangier. Spain’s complex religious, cultural, and racial history seems to mitigate against the increasingly violent clash of Muslim values with those of France, Germany, Britain, and the rest of continental Europe, but how long this fragile tolerance will persist – call it détente, or whatever – only a soothsayer can predict.
One might say that Spain has already paid its dues.
The Umayyad Caliphate extended from Portugal to Iran (Persia). Note that this period map (750 CE) does not include Turkey and the Ottoman Empire whose armies, by the mid 1600s, were besieging the city of Vienna.
Contemporary ISIS-issued aspirations for conquest as of year 2020. (Source). See also the Islamic State World-side Activity Map
A bit of history
The northernmost Spanish Kingdom of Asturias was the only region on the Iberian Peninsula to remain unconquered by the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE), the second Caliphate after the death of the prophet Mohammed in 632 CE. Asturia’s relative independence was predicated on its king undertaking to deliver 100 white-skinned, blue-eyed female sex slaves annually to the Muslim invaders besieging his borders.
The chronicler, Rodrigo Jiminez de Rada (b. 1170), Archbishop of Toledo and contemporary of the Emirate of Granada (the last Muslim kingdom to fall to the so-called “Reyes Catolicos”), describes the tribute in his “Historia de Rubus Hispanie.”
“Moreover, Mauregatus (King of Asturias, reigned 783-89)), in order to retain the goodwill of the Arabs, against the law of God, gathered many maidens together, noble and free born, as well as plebeian, and allowed them to be defiled by the Arabs, wherefore, hateful to God and Man, after reigning for five years, he ended his crooked life and was entombed in Pravia.”
Let’s do the math. One hundred maidens times the six years of Mauregatus’ reign equals 600 maidens. Life was apparently quite cheap and maidens plentiful in medieval Iberia.
So much for a policy of appeasement.
The 13th century chronicler Lucas de Tul (d. 1249), Bishop of Tuy (Leon), continues the story in his Chonicon Mundi of 1236:
“When Ramiro took the throne, the Saracens sent word demanding that he give them an annual payment of fifty noble maidens so that they might couple with them in marriage, and fifty low-born maidens who might be a source of comfort for them (i.e. sex slaves), just as King Mauregatus had done before.”
The Slave Market by Otto Pliny, circa 1910
What makes any contemporary move to recognize a non-existent Palestinian state reprehensible to many of the older generation is the relatively recent history of Muslim involvement in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). On Generalissimo Francisco Franco's orders, the German Luftwaffe ferried some 70,000 Muslim mercenaries across the Straits of Gibraltar then ordered them to rape and pillage at will.
The Spanish, and especially Andalusian, gene pool not only owes its racial characteristics to the previous 700 years of Muslim rule, now relegated to the dustbin of history alongside the Phoenicians, Tartessians, Romans, and Visigoths, but to the more recent contribution of tens of thousands of Moroccan rapists and murderers whose massive violation of innocent women and girls is still within living memory.
Both the Falangist (Fascist) vanguard as well as rearguard troops routinely raped and murdered women in cemeteries, hospitals, farmhouses, schools, roadsides, wherever they found them; neither were convents, a ready source of virgins, exempt from their depredations. In accordance with their officers’ instructions and the exhortations of the Quran, these hired killers contributed a generous share of mayhem and misery to modern Spanish history.
"We spared nothing and no one. We uprooted everything and killed everyone we encountered. We chanted an Islamic prayer to praise the Prophet Mohammed before launching raids. Horrified Spaniards attempted to flee as soon as they heard the words of our prayer…Moroccan soldiers were poor, ignorant, and simple-minded.” – Slimane Betmaki (age 98) reflecting on the terror he inflicted on Spanish villagers.
While Spain has not suffered the enormous influx of Muslim migrants experienced by other European Union countries and the UK, at least not on the same scale – some 1.2 million Muslims (600,000 of whom are Moroccans) out of a national population of 49 million currently reside in Spain – the country’s uneasy relationship with Islam is never far from anyone’s mind.
Grandparents still recount stories of the terror.
Motivated by fear
The 2005 Madrid Atocha train bombings that killed 193 persons and injured over 2,050 constituted the Islamist response to Spain's having joined the American-led assault on the Middle East.
In August of 2017, a white rental van jumped the curb and raced along the median walkway, swerving back and forth on a lethal juggernaut that targeted terrified tourists along Barcelona's iconic boulevard "La Rambla." Thirteen people were killed and scores injured in the attack for which ISIS immediately claimed responsibility.
Soon after the Barcelona massacre, five jihadis were killed by Spanish police in Cambrils, only 75 miles to the southwest, after they drove into a crowd of pedestrians, injuring seven. The attackers wore explosive belts which police believe where inteded to be detonated during the La Rambla attack but failed for lack of coordination. Simultaneous with these attacks, ISIS issued a map showing all of newly conquered Spain and Portugal, which historically had been under Islam for some 700 years during the Middle Ages, as the new Caliphate.
ISIS has declared that it will someday reconquer Cordoba, Granada, and Barcelona and re-establish the al-Andalus Caliphate in the Iberian Peninsula.
Islamic architecture in Cordoba, Andalusia
Threats of further Islamic terror is only one reason that Spain is rushing to recognize a non-existent Palestinian state.
The other reason is that Spanish President Pedro Sánches has a dirty little secret.
Astride the flying horse
A company domiciled in the Jewish State— the only really functional democracy in the Middle East and a de facto theocracy that excels in information technology and arms production — has come out with some innovative spyware called "Pegasus" dedicated to the blackmailing of politicians (or anyone). And who is its recent target?
That’s right. Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister and President of Spain.
And who’s the culprit? NSO Group, but more on that later.
I’m going to cite Wikipedia extensively in this essay because here’s what appears on my screen whenever I try to access info the NSO Group website:
President Sánchez, and by extension the Spanish people, are being blackmailed, not by the Israeli creators and distributors of the Pegasis spy software, but by NSO Group's clients.
To give this assertion some context, remember that the old Spanish King Juan Carlos has absconded to Saudi Arabia (that Saudi Arabia) to dodge corruption charges in the Spanish courts, having handed off the crown to his son, Felipe. The government has since spent mega-euros to polish Felipe’s image so as to dodge a plebiscite that would do away with the monarchy entirely. Many Spaniards would say “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” One can hardly blame them.
Juan Carlos was groomed by Franco to perpetuate the principles, values, and stranglehold on the economy enjoyed by stakeholders in the dictatorship although the Generalisimo must surely be rolling over in his grave in the Valley of the Fallen at the perfidy of his own protegé. Now that a younger generation of Spaniards wants to curtail corruption, an Israeli cyber arms company has come out with the perfect weapon (naturally, for a price) to ensure that it persists: Pegasus.
NSO Group released its first iteration of the spyware in 2011, stating that its mission was to "assist authorized governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime.”
Like Harris Corporation's “Stingray,” a suitcase-size fake cellphone tower that allows police to intercept all cellular traffic within a given area, NSO Group contracts encourages its customers to use its products only for criminal and national security investigations; however, purchasers must also sign an enforceable nondisclosure Agreement (NDA) that disallows the owners/operators of the technology to disclose the purchase. This Catch-22 has caused police to operate entirely outside the law while judges routinely throw out cases where critical evidence was gleaned via Stingrays and spy software. How that serves the cause of justice is anyone's guess.
Pegasus software operates by jailbreaking a mobile phone after being downloaded from a malicious website. My own anti-spyware says that NSOgroup.com is a malicious website. It refuses to let me go there, thank you very much.
Spyware and other malware often comes embedded in legitimate videos. Your smartphone downloads the infected video or disguised file to view it after which the malware hijacks the iOS or operating system. It can also be embedded in a seemingly harmelss text message. Pegasus then begins collecting wifi passwords along with everything stored in the host device, opening up the user to blackmail.
The United Arab Emirates has been using this spyware since 2013 and it debuted in Panama under the government of Ricardo Martinelli from 2012–14.
Two months after the murder and dismemberment of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi human rights activist, in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, a Canadian resident, filed suit in Israel against NSO Group, accusing the firm of providing the Saudi government with the surveillance software to spy on him and his friends, including Khashoggi.
In December 2020, an Al Jazeera investigative show The Hidden is More Immense covered Pegasus and its penetration into the phones of media professionals and activists; and its use by Israel to eavesdrop on both opponents and allies. (Source)
Should we be worried?
We should be very worried.
Pegasus can run arbitrary code to extract contacts, call logs, messages, photos, web browsing history, and settings, and gathers information from apps such as iMessage, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Skype. Some of Pegasus’s features are “zero click” meaning that the user doesn’t need to click on anything or launch any apps to actuate the spyware. Once aboard, it’s always up and running.
Of course, the common response to doomsayers like this writer is: “Why should I worry? I have nothing to hide.” Perhaps that was the attitude of President Sánchez before his security operatives discovered Pegasus on his mobile phone.
Okay, so imagine a malware infection that records a video of you watching a performance on PornHub — or worse, child pornography — while masturbating. You might even be starring in your own porn video with whomever, never suspecting that you’re being watched. It then emails the file to everyone on your contacts list.
If you're not a politician or high-earning content creater, then this is unlikely to happen but don’t breathe easy just yet.
Before that career-damaging email goes out, you will receive an extortion letter with instructions to deposit X dollars or Bitcoins into account XYZ. The spymaster has control of your email box and knows exactly what you’re doing at any given moment. He/she may also be watching you via the camera in your phone. So, don’t take it to the bank or into the bathroom with you.
Pegasus is the version of spyware designed to target iPhones. The Android version is called Chrysaor.
Pegasus hides itself as far as is possible and self-destructs in an attempt to eliminate evidence if unable to communicate with its command-and-control server for more than 60 days, or if on the wrong device. Pegasus also can self-destruct on command. If it is not possible to compromise a target device by simpler means, Pegasus can be installed by setting up a wireless transceiver near a target device, or by gaining physical access to the device. (Source)
Whatsapp has admitted that Pegasus and Chrysaor spyware can be installed on a target device by simply answering a telephone call via its software, despite claiming that all Whatsapp communications are encrypted and therefore safe. Nobody is safe.
Find-My-Phone on steroids
The spymaster can use Pegasus to monitor the location and movement of the mobile phone’s user. Ever wonder how Mossad knows that such-and-such Palestinian terrorist or Hamas leader is in his car waiting for a traffic light change at such-and-such intersection before fire rains down from the sky?
Or how a U.S. drone knew that Ayman al-Zawahiri was lounging on his balcony in Kabul and ripe for assassination?
Image via Google search
NSO Group’s Pegasus Anonymizing Transmission Network (PATN) encompasses up to 500 domain names (and up to three randomized subdomains and URL paths), DNS servers, and other network infrastructure in each attack.
Essentially, it is as if someone is quietly listening to all your conversations and has been for years. The worst part is that you may never even find out that your phone has been infected by the Pegasus Spyware unless your device is scanned at a digital security lab! (Source)
Why should Pedro Sánchez be worried if you’re not?
Pegasus and Chrysaor have been used by a large number of both democratic and totalitarian governments such as that of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to target their political opponents, these actions resulting in arrests, blackmail, kidnappings, and assassinations.
Regarding the Russian assault on Ukraine, Israel previously withheld sale of the product to the Ukraine government due to its history of corruption (as if none of its other customers were corrupt) and the fact of Ukraine’s rather unsavoury participation in the Holocaust. Israel would like to maintain neutral, if not friendly, relations with Russia but this may have changed since the Russian invasion. International power politics is complex and sometimes contradictory. The armaments market itself is volatile (not a pun).
In the context of Ukraine, given its involvement in the Holocaust, it’s easy to se why Israelis would be eager to supply everything from armaments to spyware to both sides: goyim killing goyim. A win-win for everyone.
Did NSO Group provide the means for an “unknown” group to assassinate the daughter of Putin’s war guru, Alexander Dugin, on August 22, 2022? Apparently, the car was in motion when the bomb detonated, suggesting that the “find-my-phone” feature was used to stalk the victim then the explosion detonated by the spyware operator. The almost-perfect crime. Nothing remained of poor Darya’s mobile phone.
It’s enough to give anybody a heart attack. Even Pedro Sánchez.
Pegasus and the price of natural gas
The Spanish government was forced to reveal that the phones of both Prime Minister Sanchez as well as Defense Minister Margarita Robles had been infected by Pegasus spyware with 2.7 GB of data extracted from the PM and 9MB from the DM. A very inspiring porn video can occupy much less than 2.7 GB.
National secrets? Don’t keep them on your mobile phone, please!
The operators of the spyware are thought to be the Moroccan government or its agents. Spain has long been locked in a tug of war with Morocco on the one side and Algeria on the other, a fragile and unstable situation. It needs Algerian natural gas to shield it from the negative impact of a diminished Russian gas supply while receiving little from Morocco except the occasional terrorist attack. The culprits in the 2005 Madrid Atocha train bombings were Moroccans.
To make matters worse, Spain itself struggles to maintain a hold on its North African holdings of Melilla and Ceuta which it considers a part of Spain itself (like the Canary and Baleares Islands). Morocco has long been pressuring Spain to return these enclaves to its control much like Spain wants control of British-held Gibraltar. It pressures Spain by turning a blind eye to thousands of migrants entering Europe via Melilla and Ceuta, a complacent Morocco on one side, an angry Europe on the other. Any relaxing of diplomatic tensions and the inexplicable shift of Spanish support toward Morocco is highly suspect. Somebody is being blackmailed.
After the hacking of Sánchez’s and Robles’ phones via Pegasus was discovered, Sanchez’s opposition to the Moroccan plan for the Western Sahara suddenly melted away.
Sánchez’s caving in to Moroccan demands poses a serious threat to his country’s relationship with Algeria which supplies Spain with natural gas, much of which it turns around and resells to Morocco. Spain is, in every sense, entirely free of dependence on Russian oil and gas. It's natural gas comes from Algeria, petroleum products from Nigeria and Mexico. Seventy percent of Spain's electricity is produced via solar and wind farms. Nonetheless, the price of fuel at the pump is the same as countries that wholly depend on Russian gas and oil.
Coincidental with the discovery of Pegasus on Sanchez’s mobile phone was the imposition of a natural gas surcharge on every Spaniard’s electrical bill. That’s right, Spaniards are paying for natural gas they don’t receive.
Where there is no natural gas piping into their homes and no gas appliances, Spaniards are nonetheless forced to pay 80 euros ($80 USD) per 60-day billing period for natural gas they don’t receive. “Endesa” (electrical utility company) responded to a consumer outcry with double-speak straight out of George Orwell’s “1984”. The only truth is that the Sánchez government enacted the surcharge, which has no termination date, at the same time it was discovered that his mobile phone had been hacked.
Reading between the lines, Morocco is blackmailing Spain to keep the resale price of gas low and the Sánchez government is passing on the cost to its own constitutents. In effect, Pegasus has allowed 35 million Spaniards to be held hostage by a foreign government.
Mind you, this is merely speculation; nonetheless, all the signposts point in the same direction. One thing is certain. Spaniards will never be able to throw off the yoke of corruption while 80 euros is a lot of money for many struggling families.
Journalists and bloggers should be worried
A zero-click Pegasus attack was launched against two London-based reporters and 36 Al-Jazeera journalists.
Canada’s watchdog “Citizen Lab” reports a litany of infections suspiciously linked to attempts at sabotage and assassination, breaches of criminal law, violations of common law and international rights by Pegasus operators, including the phone of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Has the current British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who has taken an extremely pre-Muslim stance vis-a-vis the recent social unrest and anti-immigration riots in his country, had his mobile phone scanned by MI5 for malicious software?
When Pegasus software was discovered on the phones of nine U.S. government diplomatic service employees, NSO Group was blacklisted by the U.S. government. Nothing like closing the barn door after the horse has run out.
How can anyone stay safe? That's a very difficult question.
One can place a piece of opaque tape over their selfie camera lense. I do that.
One can subscribe to the top anti-spyware and anti-malware software as well as use a VPN. I do that too.
But hey, the people who develop spyware are just as sophisticated and dedicated to purpose as the anti-spyware sector that can only update its products after a new threat has been detected, by which time a shitload of damage has already occurred. Despite whatever your anti-spyware provider is claiming, Pegasus and Chrysaor are practically impossible to protect against.
This cyber arms warfare targeting businesses, banks, public services, political parties, national leaders, and private individuals is so well crafted that we hardly know we’re under attack, except — like Pedro Sánchez — after the sh*t hits the fan (I love that phrase). And just imagine how much money NSO Group is raking in while sowing discord and chaos in the world. While Israel rages war against Hamas in Gaza, it's private sector is aiding other countries and Islamist agents in blackmailing world leaders.
In my view, the reasons why Ireland, Norway, and now Spain are moving to recognize a non-existent Palestinian state is that their citizens will pay in blood should they refuse. Plus, they are terrified that their own excursions into unsavoury social media (you know what that is) may be shared with their personal contacts.
If anyone finds out how to avoid this open manhole, then please leave your advice in the comments section of this essay. Thanks.
I’ll pass on the information to Pedro.
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