The US Congress will review a bill on lend-lease to supply Ukraine with arms and ammunition for countering so-called “Russian aggression.” The author of the bill, Republican Congressman Michael Burgess, believes that financial aid is no longer sufficient. Burgess thinks that Ukraine should be helped in its quest “for peace and democracy.” He believes that financial aid is no longer enough. [...] If the bill is adopted, Ukraine may hope to receive anti-tank and air defense weapons, ammunition, assault and sniper rifles, small arms, grenade launchers, submachine guns, fire control systems, bulletproof vests and vehicles.

Bodies of Palestinian civilians massacred in Deir Yassin
village, killed by the Israeli terrorist organization Haganah.

At least four Israelis and two Palestinians have been killed in an attack on a synagogue in West al-Quds (Jerusalem) amid escalating tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories. ● Early on Tuesday, two Palestinian men, reportedly armed with axes and handguns, entered the synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood of West al-Quds, killing at least four Israelis and injuring several others including two police officers. The assailants were fatally shot by Israeli forces. The area has now been cordoned off and the assault is being investigated. Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad hailed the attack, saying it was a response to the recent hanging of Hassan Yousef Rammouni, a young Palestinian bus driver, by Israeli settlers. Rammouni, 32, was driving back home from work on November 16 when he was abducted and then hanged by Israelis in his bus in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood of East al-Quds.

Gilad Atzmon ■ Har Nof in Jerusalem Is Deir Yassin and it is Remembered || The attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem today took place in Har Nof, a Jewish neighborhood built over the ruins of Deir Yassin, a Palestinian village whose inhabitants were wiped out on April 9, 1948. The Deir Yassin Massacre delivered a clear message to the Palestinian people. The Jewish militias were driven by genocidal inclinations and the Arabs better run for their lives. However, it seems as if the Palestinian collective memory is alive and kicking - it may be possible that the Deir Yassin Massacre was commemorated today.

Antiwar.com: Israel Orders Palestinian Families Out of Homes for Revenge Demolitions
Al-Manar TV: Shooting Attack in Occupied Jerusalem Synagogue Kills Four Israelis
RT.com: Jerusalem synagogue attack: At least 4 killed, several injured
Gilad Atzmon ■ It Is Not 3rd Intifada, It Is The End Game

State of Emergency Declared in Missouri for Grand Jury’s Decision on Ferguson. ● Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Monday, allowing him to activate the Missouri National Guard in preparation for a grand jury decision on whether to indict a white police officer for shooting to death an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, three months ago. The declaration was certain to add to mounting tension here as people awaited the grand jury’s decision, which officials have said is expected in mid- to late November. Many here have said they expect the grand jury to decide against indicting the Ferguson officer, Darren Wilson, and they anticipate a show of anger and protest afterward. Some protesters said that calling up the Guard before a grand jury decision was a premature, antagonistic move that presumed that demonstrations would be violent. Mr. Nixon called up the Guard in August during demonstrations that sometimes grew violent. Although the Guard’s role was limited to protecting a police command post, its presence drew vehement criticism from demonstrators, who said it was further indication of a military-style approach by the law enforcement authorities.

VOX: 11 things you should know about the Michael Brown shooting

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger spoke about global threats, the secession of Crimea and Ukraine's NATO accession. ● Mr. Kissinger said that there currently is an urgent need for a new world order, but its coming into being will be long and complicated. "There are no universally accepted rules," said Mr. Kissinger in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel. "There is the Chinese view, the Islamic view, the Western view and, to some extent, the Russian view. And they really are not always compatible." ● Speaking of Crimea’s accession to Russia, he noted that this is a special case, as Ukraine and Russia were one country for a long time. In his view, the West must recognize its mistakes. "Europe and America did not understand the impact of these events, starting with the negotiations about Ukraine's economic relations with the European Union and culminating in the demonstrations in Kiev," said Mr. Kissinger. "All these, and their impact, should have been the subject of a dialogue with Russia." ● He is sure that Ukraine has always had a special significance for Russia. Failure to understand this was fatal, and the Ukrainian authorities can forget about the Crimean peninsula. "Nobody in the West has offered a concrete program to restore Crimea," said Mr. Kissinger. "Nobody is willing to fight over eastern Ukraine." In his opinion, introducing anti-Russian sanctions was a mistake. ● "We have to remember that Russia is an important part of the international system, and therefore useful in solving all sorts of other crises, for example in the agreement on nuclear proliferation with Iran or over Syria," Mr. Kissinger said. "This has to have preference over a tactical escalation in a specific case." He added that Ukraine should not hope to become a member of NATO in the foreseeable future, as the alliance will never vote unanimously for the accession of Ukraine. (en.ukraina.ru)[H/T: Paul Craig Roberts]

Robert Parry ■ When Henry Kissinger Makes Sense

● Western media reports of the summit are an embarrassing travesty
● Far from isolated, Putin was embraced by the great majority of heads of state
● Idea that he left early, upset over criticism is total, complete, sheer, bloody rot - a new low for western media who alleged this in chorus
● EU leaders tried to browbeat Putin - Putin told them to take a few laps in the Brisbane river, and explained to them yet again, correctly, that it is he, in fact, who holds the strong cards in Ukraine, and that the EU had better get its act together
● As before, the EU has no idea what to do about the Ukraine mess
● The clinically obtuse Mr. Obama managed to insult China


Scientists will have to find alternative explanations for a huge population collapse in Europe at the end of the Bronze Age as researchers prove definitively that climate change – commonly assumed to be responsible – could not have been the culprit. ● Archaeologists and environmental scientists from the University of Bradford, University of Leeds, University College Cork, Ireland (UCC), and Queen’s University Belfast have shown that the changes in climate that scientists believed to coincide with the fall in population in fact occurred at least two generations later. Their results, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that human activity starts to decline after 900BC, and falls rapidly after 800BC, indicating a population collapse. But the climate records show that colder, wetter conditions didn’t occur until around two generations later.