The Power of Suggestion? (And NO scratching!)

"The two systems are constantly in communication."

"[The] brain is involved in the individual's survival, and the immune system is involved in survival, and that's what they do."

"So of course they talk to each other." 

Jonathan Kipnis, professor of pathology and immunology, Washington University, St.Louis 

 

"[In other words, the findings suggest that] what we think matters."

"It was striking to see the consistency of the effect and the fact that it was displayed across the vast majority of participants."

"What was particularly striking was that directing attention toward the inflamed area changed not only what participants experienced, but the inflammatory response itself."

"This raises the possibility that our subjective experience of what is happening in the body is not only a passive process but may be actively contributing to how physiological responses are regulated."

"I’ve studied humans for more than 20 years, and this was the most striking effect I’ve ever seen."

"Our cognitive processes can shape how the body regulates itself. Feeling pain does contribute to the healing process."

"People are aware of the placebo effect, when someone is given a sham drug, and they think it’s real and they get better."

Liron Rozenkrantz, principal investigator, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Ban-Ilan University, Israel  

A view of Bar-Ilan University’s Azrieli Faculty of Medicine. Credit: Courtesy of Bar-Ilan University.

 

Published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, a study out of Israel suggests that attention to injuries in/on the body may align the brain with the immune system to work together to diminish the effects of inflammation. Inflammation is the most common cause of alerting the immune system to the presence of of injury, infection or an irritant. Ignoring a pain or an itch, according to this new study, may worsen the inflammation in some situations. 

 

Deliberately toughing it out in the hope that it will disappear appears not to be the solution; rather awareness of and mindful attention to the injury appears to prompt brain and immune system to work in tandem toward relief. The study found that when people attempted to distract themselves from an itch, the inflammation -- measured by redness and skin swelling -- grew larger and lasted longer than a focus on it would achieve in alleviating both symptoms.

 

In the scientific world of human biology growing evidence has surfaced that the brain and the immune system, assumed to be separate and distinct from one another, have in fact an intimate relationship. Links have been made between dysfunctional immune activity and inflammation with a number of psychiatric and neurological disorders which include schizophrenia, depression, long COVID and dementia. 

 

Illustrative: A man suffers shoulder pain (BitsAndSplits; iStock via Getty Images)

 

Professor Rozenkrantz, the main author of the study and her colleagues, focused on 57 study participants by deliberately causing inflammation on their forearms, similar to the results seen with "a bad mosquito bite" by pricking their skin with a drop of histamine, a chemical used by immune cells that triggers an inflammatory response. Researchers instructed their subject participants to focus fixedly at a screen, distract themselves with a cognitive task appearing on the screen, or alternately focus attention internally on the sensations felt at the inflamed site (without touching or looking at the site).

 

Directing attention to the inflamed skin sensations, both the swelling and redness diminished. In contrast, when the same study participants distracted themselves, more inflammation with swelling and redness of a 50 percent increase were experienced by 90 percent of the participants. The inflammation recovered faster when paid attention to. When 20 minutes had elapsed, close to 90 percent of those involved who paid attention saw their swelling stabilize or diminish. With the distracted test, 46 percent only, saw improved inflammation.

 

The message seemed clear, that additional input from the brain was likely to have aided the immune system in improved regulation of the inflammatory response. "It was striking to see the consistency of the effect and the fact that it was displayed across the vast majority of participants", explained Dr. Rozenkrantz. While the mechanisms involved are not fully understood, at least two ways exist that the brain regulates inflammation. The inflamed sensations themselves appeared to have a role. Researchers in a followup experiment covered people's skin with lidocaine a local anesthetic, following the administering of Histamine. 

 

The dulled sensations enabled study participants to pay attention to the inflammation with a lesser reward in dulled response forthcoming. A smaller effect on the itch resulted even when paying attention to the inflammation with dulled sensation, in comparison with the experiment absent numbing cream. People experienced greater heart rate variability, a widely used proxy for increased parasympathetic activation when attention was paid to the inflammation. 

 

Additionally, there was a  diminished "fight-or-flight" stress response and more "rest-and-digest" resulting with attention paid to the inflamed site. Activity from the vagus nerve which connects the brain to essential organs connecting  to 200,000 nerve fibres running on either side of  the neck, reduces inflammation when stimulated.  

"By thinking about, 'This inflammation is hurting me', you're actually ramping up the input of the inflammation to the nervous system, which in turn may be ramping up the output to turn it off."

"It's a very reasonable hypothesis now. that the stimulation of the vagus nerve somehow contributes to the decreased inflammation in the skin of the arm [in this experiment]."

Kevin Tracey, president, CEO, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research  

Illustrative: A woman having shoulder and neck pain (kieferpix; iStock via Getty Images)

 

"We tend to think of the immune system, injury, or inflammation resolution as something that can take care of itself without any involvement of any high cognitive function. But what happens if the mind focuses on the pain? Does directing the brain toward the injury actually impact its healing? That’s never been studied in humans before." 

"Within less than 20 seconds, you already see the response. It’s sort of like the skin has been stung by something. There’s a bump in the middle, and a flare-up or redness all around it."

"[The inflammation lasts about 20 to 30 minutes, and then it resolves quickly]."

"We simply told them to pay attention to sensations arising from the inflamed site. If attention draws away from it, then bring your attention back. We did the same thing when they were distracted, explaining that if their attention wandered, to return to what was happening on the screen." 

Liron Rozenkrantz, principal investigator, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine

 

A Nation Disunited in Divisive Dysfunction

"[H]alf of registered voters say the economy and health care are extremely important to their vote, and 47 percent say the same thing about Iran."

"Roughly four in ten rate income and wealth distribution (44 percent), gas prices (42 percent), immigration (40 percent) and abortion (38 percent) as extremely important." 

Gallup poll

 

"The ongoing development of the Democratic Party as a party not of labour but of socioeconomic elites, and the ongoing development of the Republican Party as a party not of business but of working class social conservatives represents a major, perhaps the major American political development of the 21st century."

Eitan Hersh, Tufts University, Sarang Shah, University of California-Berkley 

"I think we're going to do great -- but if we didn't win, I veto everything."

"I'll be vetoing, vetoing. And then they'll come along and we'll probably make some deals along the way."

"[Democrats are] extreme and dangerous radicals [who will] steal your wealth [and let in migrants to] ransack, rape and plunder." 

U.S. President Donald J. Trump 

Democratic and Republican observers review ballots during midterm elections at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Fairburn, Georgia, US, November 3, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su

 

Polls in the United States indicate that Democrats are poised to seize the House of Representatives and if that were not enough, they're within reach of he Senate, with today's vote representing President Trump's waking nightmare. A record 54 million Americans chose to cast their ballots early. A number of citizens so anxious to have their say that it surely bodes ill for the current administration in the White House. 

 

A truly divided nation, caught between an incumbent whose impulsive decision-making has made life an suspense of mercurial decision-making, an economic straitjacket, as opposed to a competing aspirant to the White House whose previous administration was no beacon of light before being ousted and is now flirting with deep-left socialism brought to the fore by the Democratic Socialists of America, arguably the Democrats' latest flirtation with a system of governance foreign to the U.S.

 

This midterm election is the most tense of any in living memory; the U.S. two-party-rule of Republican and Democrat where each now sits firmly on the fulcrum of extremism, worrying to an electorate in the middle, in a fierce battle for dominion. Neither party is exceptionally a firm choice by Americans, their loyalties have been burdened by the fundamentalist hardening of attitudes on either side. The situation is one of distaste for both parties, a desire to rid the White House of the current office holder whose abuse of office has aroused fed-up anger, while at the same time knowing the alternative is likely no improvement.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump, pictured in Washington, D.C. The U.S. midterms happen on Tuesday, Nov. 3, when all 435 members of the House and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election. As well, there will be state-level elections. The U.S. midterms are seen as a referendum on Trump's leadership and will determine who takes control of Congress.Photograph courtesy of the White House/Daniel Torok

 

For the past several decades U.S. elections have been based on a kind of musical chair performance, where an incumbent government has grown stale long before its administrative time has elapsed, leading voters to welcome the alternate party, an exchange that has become predictably routine as neither party has been willing to embrace the moderation of inclusive governance in preference to fiercely promoting their ideological positions as immutable, the scaffold on which their administration bases all their legislative decision-making.

 

The only enthusiasm most of the voting public displays now is to vote to rid themselves of the current office holders and hold their collective breath in the hope that the opposite player will hold off for a tolerable period from promoting and acting on decisions that echo those they replaced in reverse-mode: party-first, national interests trundling along behind. Sending the Republicans a stout message that the governing style of an egocentric, mercurial, personal-profit-oriented president is not to be repeated by either party.  

 

The mild socialism that the Democratic party has developed has devolved from its moderate view of a regulated capitalist economy, with the state involving itself in welfare issues and supporting tolerant social mores is now represented at the common level with underemployed urban socialists finding dissatisfaction with their opportunities and unmet aspirations, whose resentments have found solace in the uptake of discovering the source of world conflict and economic downturns through antisemitism.

 

Still from video   Global News

 

"[T]oo many Democrats are noticeably and shamefully silent with antisemitism comes from the far left", observed Democratic New Jersey member of Congress Josh Gottheimer. In the same token a rise of bigotry has arisen on the far-right membership-flank of the Republicans, deplored by GOP Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Republicans have also embraced a steep level of trade protectionism, a favourite whipping-target of their president who initiated a wholesale tariff war on enemies and allies alike as soon as he resumed office.

 

Can getting out the vote on this critical shape-shifting dual-role, intermittently exchanged style of government drive a new, more internally and globally appreciated direction for a nation whose wealth and power have monumental international influence, and repair both the internal hostility engendered by the parties' divisions and derision-propelled opponent-status, and the confusion abroad caused by a president who has spoken of foreign allies and global democratic institutions in the most derogatory of terms? 

 

Still from video   Global News

 

Russia's Insatiable Territorial Appetite

"Look, reducing fuel prices is a very legitimate and necessary policy goal. The president has a number of positive initiatives in that regard."

"However, I don’t think lifting sanctions on Russia and buying diesel fuel from Russia and fueling their war machine, which yesterday just had another massive ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, killing women and children, knocking out their energy grid, so the Ukrainians will freeze, so my hope would be they kind of change their mind, beef up the other initiatives they have, turn that tanker around and go in a different direction."

"He was never going to stop with Ukraine. That’s why we’ve got to stop him in Ukraine."

Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro

 

"[The agreement came after Presidents Trump and Putin had a] highly successful discussion."

"Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel."

"Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!"

"Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority."

U.S. President Donald Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, gestures speaking to U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff during their meeting at the Konstantin Palace in Strelnya, outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Kristina Solovyova, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

 

"The first oil tanker has sailed off to customers, and regular supplies will continue", announced Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, this first shipment amounts to 40,000 tons of diesel, an insignificant amount that will hardly make a difference in the United States where it is destined for. A pact with the devil that the U.S. president dresses up as a rescue from critical fuel shortages globally resulting from both Russia's war on Ukraine and the U.S.-Israel war on Iran with the Strait of Hormuz thrown in for good measure.

 

The 'agreement' with a territory-hungry predator whose absent conscience has no empathy for the fact that his 'special military operation' has been the death of over a million Russian servicemen, even before enumerating the lost civilian and military lives in Ukraine. A move to placate the grievances of Americans who are grappling with a higher cost of living, yet one whose practical results will be negligible, while disgracing the United States with its president's casual abrogation of its own sanctions, in the process throwing an economic lifeline to Moscow.

 

According to Marine intelligence firm Kpler, the diesel-loaded tanker was signalling a destination of New York, with an arrival of November 7, distinguished as the first such diesel delivery from Russia to the U.S. in over three years. The sudden reversal of U.S. policy sanctions on Russia meant to address the high fuel prices, with a beady eye on the U.S. midterm elections, the results of which will not be long in the coming. That 40,00 ton shipment equals 300,000 barrels, representing a mere 7 percent of the four million barrels of diesel the American economy uses daily. 

 

Malta-flagged tanker Agioi Fanendes   Yahoo Finance

 

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, almost speechless with disbelief ("a weak decision by strong partners") at the arrangement the mercurial president has made with his country's lethal nemesis, has also been warned by Mr. Trump that he expects the Ukrainian counteroffensive to re-adjust its military goals, no longer to aim its missiles or drones at any diesel fuel refineries in Russia. The decision made to jettison Ukraine once again in favour of Russia's imperialist aims, according to industry experts is unlikely to make much difference to the high pump prices.

 

Ukrainian long-range drone strikes for one thing, on Russian oil refineries have produced their planned-for impact from the perspective of Ukraine's offensive. Ukraine, which pleads with its European allies to tighten their Moscow sanctions to deny revenue, in view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has made its impact there, but with this new and unexpected turn of events, its once-major supporter has turned the equation inside-out and upside-down, taking into account the various issues that Trump, sympathetic to Putin, has forced on Ukraine's president.

 

Mere weeks earlier than this reversal, the U.S. president had signed into law a wide-ranging sanctions package imposing up to100 percent tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas. Since the U.S. now represents the ultimate top importer at the pinnacle of the issue, that law has been nullified, flicked off with a casual motion of disregard by the American lawmaker himself. Failing the unconditional support of the U.S., President Zelenskyy looks beyond this setback to the potential of another round of peace talks: "We need diplomacy to move forward", he stated hopefully.  

 

A driver operates the diesel pump at a truck stop in Dunnigan, California, U.S., September 28, 2026. REUTERS/Fred Greaves

 

Russia continues to test Ukraine's allies, entering their airspaces in sovereignty challenges, 'accidentally' misjudging drone trajectories, launching cyber attacks. Moldovan police responded to a local resident who discovered a drone in his village in Tenesti District some 100 metres from a home. Moldovan President Maia Sandu declared a Russian embassy staff member persona non grata, in the wake of a Russian drone violating its airspace, crashing nearby residential homes. 

"Russia's war keeps putting Moldovan lives at risk. Today, a Russian Geran attack drone violated our airspace and fell near family homes and an energy facility."

"We condemn this latest dangerous act. In response, we have declared a Russian embassy staff member persona non grata."

Moldovan President Maia Sandu   

Firefighters are reflected in the broken glass after a Russian missile attack in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

 

 

Targeting Ukraine's Railway Infrastructure

"[The attacks ​are] very cruel [and] deliberate when everyone expects de-escalation steps."

"[Ukraine had intelligence] about ⁠preparations by the Russians of new ballistic missile strikes. We need the means ‌to take out all this Russian evil. We are expecting relevant decisions."

"A horrific Russian attack on Dnipro train station. The Russians used a drone to attack a platform where a regular commuter train and a regular passenger train were standing."

"How many such terrorist attacks has Russia carried out on our people after lifting sanctions on some Russian oligarchs and energy companies instead of de-escalating."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

 

"It was hell. The train stopped at night somewhere in central Ukraine. I don’t even know the name of the town. Half asleep, I just heard the conductor say ‘evacuation’. We took only our personal belongings and valuables with us. It was raining outside. Thank you to the conductors for handing out blankets."

"That’s how we held out for two hours. While kamikaze drones were buzzing overhead, we crawled under a goods wagon. The last carriage in the train was full of children. They were being taken back from hospital. They were crying in their sleep. I thought I’d ended up in some sort of horror film. But no, this is our life."

Ukrainian journalist Tetiana Zaiets 

Boryspil, in the Kyiv region. Trains were evacuated and travellers stranded during Russia’s days-long air assault on Kyiv

 

"The enemy has chosen our passenger services as a target", commented Oleg Golovashchenko, head, state operator passenger company, Ukrainian Railways. Drone attacks have forced Ukraine to institute a safety process, now routine, of evacuating trains when danger of a drone attack seems imminent. Passenger trains are typically paused for as long as it takes for the danger to pass. Passengers are escorted off the trains to ensure they will not become trapped in any that are struck by explosives.

 

These massive and increasingly frequent attacks on trains, train stations and railway infrastructure have made any kind of journey potentially dangerous undertakings. Mass transit use in Ukraine is an absolute necessity for any number of reasons, from short trips to and from a place of employment, to longer business trips between cities, and trips for family reunification, brief or prolonged. There are no longer trips taken casually with the impulse for a trouble-free, pleasant outing.  

 

Emergency employees work at a railway station hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Thursday. (Reuters)

 

Ukraine's skies have for years been closed to passenger flights; the only planes are those of the Ukrainian military or those of the Russian military's 'special military operation' in the beleaguered country's airspace. Train travel is the only option in a country where suddenly missiles and drones erupt on missions of destruction of civilian infrastructure, not excluding schools, hospitals, shopping centers, apartment blocks. There are no international rules of warfare protecting civilian enclaves that Moscow respects.

 

Reliance on trains in Ukraine has become a mainstay of travel, from short trips to lengthy travel plans. Through 2026 alone, Russian aerial attacks targeting rail lines have resulted in damage to 4,856 railway facilities, among which are 380 locomotives out of commission and 146 carriages destroyed, according to Ukrainian Railways. At least 50 railway personnel have lost their lives. Those attacks have made it compulsory that when attacks appear imminent, trains must pause and passengers evacuated.

 

Daily, there are one hundred to two hundred evacuations, resulting in widespread delays lasting hour after hour across the country. Some 30 kilometres from the Russian border, trains chugging to and from the north-eastern terminus stop frequently in response to attack threats on the Kharkiv-Kyiv route, Ukraine's largest, most populous cities. 

 

A Ukrainian railway carriage that was attacked by a Russian drone on Jan. 27, 2026, is displayed at the Kyiv central train station on Feb. 23, 2026. | Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

 

Departing Kharkiv overnight, passengers making sleep preparations are given warning their rest could be rudely interrupted through the necessity of an emergency evacuation. "We brought them aboard the train, we must get them to their destination alive", explains 50-year-old train attendant Mykola Kryvenko. Mere  hours into the journey the night-time silence in the carriage is disturbed when the sound of hurried footsteps break out and there are compartment door knocks. "Evacuation, evacuation", the rudely awakened passengers hear the train attendant's call. The sounds of nearby Russian drones clear drowsy heads.

 

The platform swiftly fills with people intently aware of sounds in the sky. Attendants urge passengers to place some distance between themselves and the emptied carriages, as the sounds of approaching drones increase in volume. Suddenly the sky is lit with explosions in the near distance, and passengers pick up a running pace to separate from the train while others quietly edge further and then further again from direct proximity to the stilled train. 

 

Refugees arriving in Lviv on evacuation trains from Kharkiv and Kryvy Rih make their way through the train station. Photograph: Jelle Krings

 

 Once the sounds of explosions fade and danger seems to have passed, the passengers soon re-embark when the crew announces an all-clear, and the journey continues. But Ukraine's winter is approaching and uppermost in mind is the fear that this winter will be harsh and train travel will become even more fraught with danger. Should potential disruptions take place to electricity, water and heating resulting from Russian attacks on energy infrastructure intensify, the near future is one of anxious apprehension.

Frequent train pauses and the evacuations that accompany them will become all the more difficult with the onset of freezing temperatures, snowfall and deadly interruptions. Plans are underway at Ukrainian Railways to allow passengers to remain on board paused trains at preventative stops. Golovashcenko, head of the passenger company, adds that blankets and heating pads will be on hand with the new preparations to ensure that people keep warm in harsh winter conditions  

 

Pixabay.com via Defence24

 

 

Xi's Campaign to Eliminate Rivals

Chinese Communist Party confirms expulsion of 33 officials   NHK World News

 

"[The Central Committee], with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core [has eliminated serious hidden dangers within the Party, the state and the military."

"[The Party had been guided by the sense of mission that] we would rather offend thousands [ejected from the CCP] than let down 1.4 billion people [the unwitting population]."

Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) 

 

Security personnel gather by Jingxi Hotel as China’s Communist Party leaders open the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee behind closed doors in Beijing, China, October 26, 2026. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

When China's President Xi Jinping first attained to his supreme post, he pledged to root out corruption in the Chinese Communist Party. This became a first priority and meetings of the Central Committee where such announcements of names and dismissals have been periodically revealed have become a routine part of the president's administrative processes. Woe betide any of the powerful politicians and military men whose influence and power has aroused the suspicion of a president whose word is law and whose wary eye can linger on any from whom a whisper of potential challenge can be envisaged.

 

"Serious hidden dangers" lurk within the Communist Party and the Chinese military and any that are detected must, above all, be eradicated. Authorities confirmed having carried out the expulsion of a record number of officials, previously in good standing at the elite level of government and the military. In a decade's time, President Xi has put into motion a grinding series of identified 'threats' to China through suspicious activities on the part of dozens of members of the powerful Central Committee and top military officers. In the process, thousands have been eliminated.

 

Thursday saw a four-day plenum of the Central Committee complete their work confirming that 33 additional dignitaries had been ejected. Included among them former Politburo member Zhang Youxia, whose successful military career had allowed him to rise to the very top, as China's highest-ranking general. The plenum's consensus was to adopt a decision on "advancing full and rigorous governance of the party", reducing corruption among cadres included, according to state news agency Xinhua. 

 

Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia arrives for a group photo session before the opening ceremony of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao, Shandong province, China April 22, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo

 

Beijing-watchers in analyzing these events interpret them as President Xi maneuvering events to pave the way for extending his leadership administrative rule in the second half of 2027, at a Party Congress. Supporters of the process claim that the purge of corrupt politicians and military advances clean governance. Zhang Youxia, at the time the highest-ranking general, had been removed previously in the wake of a months-long graft investigation. His expulsion from the party was confirmed on Thursday. 

 

Another former top Xinjiang official -- Ma Xingrui -- whose removal was also confirmed, had been removed from all his posts previously, over corruption allegations, with the inclusion of nepotism, bribery and paying for sex. According to the CCDI's Zhang Fuahi, discipline inspections and supervisory arms of the government had, since 2012, seen 7.9 million people punished for similar identified criminal activity.

 

Zhang Shengmin, who spearheaded the anti-graft campaign within the military, serving as President Xi's No.2 in the Central Military Commission, was promoted this week to the Politburo, the CCP's elite decision-making body. He will doubtless enjoy the privileges, prestige and respect that come with that position -- until his time comes when charges of graft and corruption come his way, and he is removed as another potential risk to the presidency. 

 

A meeting communique called for the adoption of "a holistic approach" combining severe punishment, targeted remedies and effective prevention to carry the fight against corruption"through to the end." President Xi emphasized political loyalty and heightened supervision of officials. Ten alternate Central Committee members were elevated to full membership, thus eliminating some of the vacancies of previous removals.

 

Police officers guard in Tiananmen Square as China’s Communist Party leaders open the fifth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee behind closed doors, in Beijing, China, October 26, 2026. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

"[Efforts to weed out corruption will be] deepened, [particularly in sectors] characterized by the concentration of power, large amounts of funds and rich resource."

"We will prioritize the investigation of issues where political and economic problems are intertwined, collision between government and business, and the infiltration of capital into the political sphere."

"We will thoroughly investigate new forms of corruption and hidden corruption, and routinely address misconduct and corruption affecting the public at the grassroots level."

Zhang Fuhai, deputy secretary, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection 

Desperate Migrants, Desperately Unwilling Havens

"The Taliban have real leverage, and the European Union is quite powerless."

"European countries are under so much pressure that they are ready to do almost any deal to remove criminal refugees."

Conrad Schetter, director, Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies, Germany 

 

"The question is if it is indeed safe to return anyone to Afghanistan under the Taliban rule."

"No-one should be deported to Afghanistan given the dire human rights and living situation there."

"This is a fundamental principle of international refugee law, the non-refoulement principle."

Law professor Lena Riemer, Central European University, Vienna

 

"This was a historic visit as first time ever that delegation from Islamic Emirate visited the EU and held talks with member states in Brussels."

"[They spoke about] restarting broad-range consular services for Afghans in EU zone, including need for trust-building measures, consular presence and dignified return process."

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson, Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs  

Kabul airport after the Taliban takeover of power in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, credit: Belga

 

"Any engagement with the Taliban needs to prioritize protecting human rights and accountability — not deporting people to danger there."

"EU countries are undermining their credibility by condemning Taliban abuses and pursuing accountability on one hand, while cooperating with the Taliban to forcibly return Afghans on the other."

Fereshta Abbasi, researcher, Human Rights Watch 

 

"Belgium cannot confer legitimacy on a regime accused of serious human rights violations."

"Making a meeting possible in the framework of our host-state policy does not amount to recognition, does not amount to legitimacy, and does not constitute an invitation by the Belgian government [but it is prepared to comply with EU requests for visas for Afghans]."

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot  

Germany leads European push to expand Afghan deportations through Taliban deals / CC: VOA

 

Europe's governments, in condemnation of the Taliban restrictions on women and girls have long shunned the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Under pressure, with the migration epidemic flooding the continent, those same governments have been deporting refugees back to Afghanistan, in the process negotiating with the Taliban government. Over 20 European officials met in Brussels with five Taliban representatives in late June to discuss deportations.

 

According to three participants in the talks, the European side made no mention of human rights abuses. The focus was strictly on an agreement to be reached with Afghanistan accepting the return of their nationals. One of the major sources of migrants -- leaving Afghanistan for refuge in Europe -- the talks were meant to be viewed as technical, limited to expulsions, but have led to condemnation by human rights groups warning that the deportations risk the lives of those forced to return to their country of origin.

 

"The European Union cannot credibly condemn the Taliban's systematic repression while engaging with them to deport Afghans into the very abuses they claim to oppose", charged Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. Russia remains the sole country in the world that formally recognizes the Taliban as a legitimate government. 

 

From the Taliban's perspective the view is that engaging positively on deportation represents an opening to advance acceptance of their rule as a recognized reality. Taliban officials have been permitted by Germany to operate in the Afghan diplomatic missions in Berlin and Bonn, a de facto recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate government. To do likewise is being considered by France. Greece, Austria, Poland and Norway are among representatives from 15 other European countries who have met the Taliban delegation in Brussels. 

 

For their part, the impoverished Taliban have requested wider access to Afghan missions from European governments, along with financial support to manage the reintegration of expelled Afghans. Broader economic assistance -- a red line for European governments which have limited their assistance to humanitarian aid -- is also among their quid pro quo expectations. European governments view development assistance as literally financing the Taliban government, which could be of benefit to officials under international sanctions.

 

450,000 Afghans have been expelled from Pakistan since 1 November 2022. OCHA/Sayed Habib Bidell

 

 Germany has pledged to aggressively deport migrants with criminal records, and has been leading the movement of expelling Afghan migrants. German officials in late 2025 struck  an agreement with the Taliban government to permit direct deportations of unauthorized Afghan migrants, rather than routing returnees through third countries.

 

A pact that "creates a reliable basis for direct and permanent deportations to Afghanistan", stated Alexander Dobrindt, German interior minister. More latterly, federal officials have embarked on a plan to speedily deport Afghan migrant men without criminal records, while women remain shielded from the effort. Close to 95 percent of Afghan women who applied for German asylum were granted protection, the first half of 2026. 

 

Pascal Confavreux, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, informed a news briefing that the purpose of the discussions was to "facilitate the removal of Afghan nationals who are in the country illegally and who pose a national security risk". Along with Britain keeping tabs on developments in the EU, several other European countries are considering direct agreements with the Taliban. 

 

The Taliban ambassador to Qatar, Suhail Shaheeen, informed European diplomats they should provide economic assistance to Afghanistan. Should they not, he warned, numbers of migrating Afghans reaching Europe is bound to increase. "If there is unemployment and an economic crisis in Afghanistan, Afghans will go like a flood to Europe".    

"Criminals must leave our country."

"That is one of the reasons why deportations to Afghanistan are a regular and reliable part of our migration policy."

"Our course is clear: control, consistency, and a state governed by the rule of law that enforces its decisions."

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt   

The German Interior Ministry said 303 Afghan men had been deported since the start of the current legislative term | File Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa/picture alliance

 

 

 

Hello!! I'd Like You To Debase Yourself

"Hello!!"

"I'd like to come try the food but I'm mindful where I spent my money these days."

"I saw your restaurant on the boycott list but I wanted to confirm with you what your views are about the genocide in Palestine [as the boycott lists might be misinformed]."

"Look forward to hearing back."

"Thank you!" 

Enquiry on Instagram by prospective diner

 

"Are we serving politics with a side of pancakes now?"

"There's a boycott list that's been going around since October 7. I don't think I can do anything about it. I think no matter what you do, people will assume a lot of things about you and your policies and your politics."

"I've been very adamant about not discussing politics, I definitely don't want that to define us. I just thought it was interesting that we were receiving that line of questioning, and I was fairly certain that other fellow restaurateurs were not receiving the same line of questioning."

"I don't hide the fact that I'm Jewish, right? I don't think I should have to. Absolutely not. No. But I also don't think I need to discuss foreign policy in order to conduct business in Montreal, Quebec."

"We all just want to make great food, feed our families, go home."

Raegan Steinberg, chief, restaurateur, Montrealer 

Is this normal? Is this the new normal?, Chef Raegan Steinberg asks in a social media post. nationalpost.com 

 

A fourth generation Canadian, Raegan Steinberg was inspired by her father whose influence on her future profession led to her pursuing culinary training at the Art Institute of Vancouver, on her professional journey to becoming an acclaimed chef. When she returned to Montreal, she began her adventures in creative cuisine by taking employment at the well-known Joe Beef establishment. 

 

After receiving that enquiry through Instagram recently, she gave thought to why she was being queried in such a manner, and how she should proceed. Those thoughts prompted her to reach out to others in the profession in the city. She spoke in turn with a number of fellow Montreal restaurateurs and chefs, the majority of whom hadn't been tasked to respond to such questions as a preliminary to hosting a potential client who prior to committing themselves to a meal demanded to be informed of their possible relationship with Israel.

 

"Jewish restaurants were definitely a higher percentage of the few people that I spoke to", she explained in an interview, "but I think that some Jewish restaurants are more targeted than others". Possibly as a result of those that are targeted being known for their popularity reflecting the quality of their menu choices and expert food preparation. Ms. Steinberg is referred to as "a top chef" by Tastet, a Canadian restaurant guide.

 

fplmtl  Filipinos for Palestinian Liberation

 

🫒🇵🇸 Before you go out to eat in Montreal, make sure the owner doesn’t support a military regime responsible for the genocide of tens of thousands of Palestinians 😵‍💫 Many of these restaurants also claim to serve “Israeli” food and wine.

 

She is, as well, the operator of three popular restaurants in the Montreal area: Arthurs Nosh Bar in Saint-Henri, Dirty Greens and Arthurs Nosh Bar at Le Cathcart, as well as Romies located in Old Montreal.  Perhaps being associated with those well-known and successful  enterprises might lead those who look to punish entrepreneurs whose expert skills make them public figure of note in their professions, should they be rash enough to risk all by publicly stating an allegiance to Israel.

 

She and her partner opened Back of House Catering as a preliminary to opening their first Arthurs Nosh Bar in 2015 which became a Montreal brunch staple on Notre-Dame Street West. The restaurant named after her father as a tribute to him, offering Jewish cuisine seen through a Moroccan gustatory lens. 

 

That successful venture was followed by Dirty Greens at Le Cathcart where gourmet salads are featured. Raegan and partner Alexandre Cohen opened Romies in 2024, a contemporary American bistro, That was followed by Arthur's Dinette in the NDG neighbourhood in 2026.  Well and truly established. Truly successful ventures by food-adventurous and food-knowledgeable professionals whose services to the public rewarded them amply.

 

Chef Raegan Steinberg filming an Instagram reel in one of her Montreal restaurants. Photo by Instagram

 

"I don’t think there’s like a negative stain on us or anything like that."

"We’re very happy, you know. I just think it’s important for people to know what goes on behind the scenes sometimes."

Chef Raegan Steinberg  

While nothing could quite prepare them and other Jewish-owned businesses from the malevolently ignorant harassment and poisonous charges of 'genocide' that accompany Jews in Canada living out their lives in the years since Palestinian terrorists launched a horrific maelstrom of mass rape, savage murder and hostage-taking of Israeli children, teens, elderly, foreign farm workers and members of the IDF, kept in inhumane conditions in Gaza, tormented by their captors while awaiting eventual release from captivity. 

 

Arthurs Nosh Bar, Tripadvisor