Very interesting! Morocco still has a significant Jewish presence. Proclamation on Recognizing The Sovereignty Of The Kingdom Of Morocco Over The Western Sahara ALL NEWS NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim that, the United States recognizes that the entire Western Sahara territory is part of the Kingdom of Morocco. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this DONALD J. TRUMP So, an autonomous state under the sovereign control of Morocco? Could this be the template for a "Palestinian" state? Also, as of note, this will greatly annoy Algeria. I thought that Canada had pulled back on training the Chinese military when pressured by the USA. Our Crime Minister actually has been training Chinese military. This is absolutely disgusting. I could not be more ashamed and embarrassed about my country. :negative: The Vatican’s nativity scene is disturbing, to say the least. :wacko: Arthur, absolutely and totally disgusting. After reading the article, I would agree with Dr. Lev, causes a mockery! What a shameful display toted as art from the Vatican, not that I’m Catholic, but it speaks to the level they have stooped too — very sad, but not unexpected. :wacko: :scratch: Yeah. I wouldn't want to stand before the Creator and King of the Universe and having to admit to have created the toilet paper roll jesus. This is definitely blasphemous. I am sure most Catholics would say the same. at least its a dog sniffing people and not people sniffing people https://www.studyfinds.org/dogs-detect-covid-by-sniffing-armpits/ :popcorn Oman and Indonesia are next ... December 13, 2020 - Fair Use - :popcorn Amir Tsarfati @BeholdIsrael Report: Kuwait and Oman are next to normalize relations with Israel. Vice President Pence will arrive in the Middle East on January 13th, to advance a deal with Saudi Arabia. - Fair Use - Wow ... even the reclusive kingdom of Bhutan just establish diplomatic ties with Israel and they are not part of the peace accords. This is really getting interesting! :popcorn :popcorn :popcorn Israel normalizes ties with Bhutan By LAHAV HARKOV Dec 13, 2020 “I want to thank the Kingdom of Bhutan and praise the decision to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel,” Ashkenazi said. Israel established full diplomatic relations with Bhutan for the first time on Saturday night. Ambassador to India Ron Malka and his Bhutanese counterpart Vetsop Namgyel signed the final agreement normalizing ties on Saturday night. The countries’ foreign ministries held secret talks over the past year towards the goal of forging official ties, which included delegations between the two capitals Jerusalem and Thimphu. The effort to make relations between the two countries was not connected to the Abraham Accords, in which four Arab countries – United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – normalized ties with Israel in as many months, with American mediation. In fact, Bhutan does not even have official diplomatic relations with the US. Bhutan is a Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas, bordering on India and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has gone to great lengths to keep itself isolated from the rest of the world in order to avoid outside influences and to preserve its culture and natural resources. The country limits tourism, especially from outside South Asia. The landlocked country has formal diplomatic relations with only 53 other countries – a list that does not include the US, UK, France or Russia – and has embassies in only seven of them. Neither does the country have ties with China, having closed its border to the country on its north after China’s 1959 invasion of Tibet. Malka said in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post that the ceremony marking official diplomatic relations between Israel and Bhutan was “exciting... modest, but very special.” The ambassador said that in recent years, Bhutanese governments have reached out to Israel. “They have been impressed by Israel’s abilities for many years, and their prime minister wanted relations,” he said. “We advise them on topics that are important to them like water management, agriculture and technology... education and professional training as well. They’re very interested in the topic of medicine.” Bhutan’s government “thinks of Israel as a leading country in technology and innovation that can help them progress and use more advanced technology and train their youth.” Another area in which Thimphu has sought Jerusalem’s advice is in building a national service program for its youth. As for tourism, the country that limits the number of outsiders who can enter will now likely be more open to Israelis, Malka said, though no precise numbers have been discussed. “They let very few people visit, even though it is very attractive, because they want to preserve its history and its nature and environment,” Malka said. “It was very hard before, but now Israelis will be more accepted – and they will want to develop [Israeli] tourism.” Malka has visited Bhutan twice and said that it is “a very special place that is different from anywhere else. They really preserved their culture and their natural resources. There is not even one traffic light; it is very natural.” It is still unclear if Israel will open an embassy in Thimphu; Malka may become the non-resident ambassador to Bhutan, just as he is to Sri Lanka in addition to residing in Delhi, from which Thimphu is a two-hour flight. Foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Foreign Minister of Bhutan Tandy Dorji spoke on the phone last weekend. “I want to thank the Kingdom of Bhutan and praise the decision to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel,” Ashkenazi said. “I invite my friend Foreign Minister Dorji to visit Israel to promote cooperation between the countries. I hope that in the next year we will host the King of Bhutan for his first official visit [to Israel].” Ashkenazi also thanked Malka and the embassy staff for working to strengthen Israel’s ties to Bhutan and for bringing them to fruition. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the new relations and called it “another fruit of the peace agreements,” adding that Israel is in touch with more countries that want to establish ties with the Jewish state. In 2017, Gilad Cohen, the head of Israel’s Asia-Pacific division, became the most senior Israeli official to visit Bhutan. During his trip, he met the country’s prime minister. Bhutan, which is about twice as large as Israel but only has 800,000 residents, is thought to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world, allowing television and the Internet only in 1999. It uniquely measures its quality of life by “Gross National Happiness” instead of gross domestic product (GDP) – in fact, the World Happiness Report was a joint initiative of the Bhutanese prime minister and the UN secretary-general in 2011. The Bhutanese are thought to be among the happiest people in the world, and the happiest in Asia, but they are also among the world’s poorest. Its main export is hydroelectric energy, to India. Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy, holding its first general election, in 2008. Before that, it was an absolute monarchy. Its king’s official title is Dragon King. - Fair Use - Israel snuggling up to the Dragon King, eh? He'll be making a visit to Israel soon? Coincidence is not a kosher word. JewBus are very popular. (Jewish Buddhists) I have know a few. Supposedly you can be Jewish and Buddhist but it is impossible to be Jewish and Christian. Well, or so they tell me. :wacko:
Here is the official statement:
FOREIGN POLICY
Issued on: December 10, 2020
The United States affirms, as stated by previous Administrations, its support for Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory. Therefore, as of today, the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory and reaffirms its support for Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory. The United States believes that an independent Sahrawi State is not a realistic option for resolving the conflict and that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution. We urge the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Morocco’s autonomy plan as the only framework to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution. To facilitate progress toward this aim, the United States will encourage economic and social development with Morocco, including in the Western Sahara territory, and to that end will open a consulate in the Western Sahara territory, in Dakhla, to promote economic and business opportunities for the region.
fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
12:40 PM · Dec 13, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
Jerusalem Post
Hundreds of Bhutanese citizens have participated in agricultural training programs through MASHAV, Israel’s development agency. Israel briefly had a non-resident ambassador to Bhutan in 2010. Mark Sofer, was ambassador to the Republic of India and non-resident ambassador to Sri Lanka at the time.
That metric emphasizes sustainable development, environmental conservation, preservation of culture and good governance, as well as mental and physical health, among other values.
