Showing posts sorted by relevance for query egypt explosives. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query egypt explosives. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, November 27, 2006

  • Monday, November 27, 2006
  • Elder of Ziyon
A British website named Palestine-info is associated with Hamas, so it is a good English resource to see exactly how they think when the wishful thinkers are saying otherwise.

On that site they have a handy-dandy almanac of important dates in Palestinian history. Since I am always willing to learn new things, I re-ordered the imporant dates to go by year rather than by month, so we can see all the important dates in Palestinian history, according to Hamas.

I was always wondering about that rich Palestinian Arab history that we hear has been there since time immemorial, so I expected that many gaps of Western knowledge of the history of the land would be filled by a news organization.

Once the almanac is sorted, here are the first entries:
8/12/636The Romans were defeated by the Muslims in Al Yarmouk Battle, so Palestine has been a part of the Islamic State since then.
7/15/1099The Crusaders occupied Jerusalem and killed more than 70,000 Muslims around Al Aqsa.
10/2/1187Saladin restored Jerusalem from the Crusaders.
9/6/1260The Mamlouks defeated Tattar in Ein Jalout Battle in north Palestine.
4/20/1779Napoleon called for the Jews all over the world to join his forces so they could enter Palestine easily.
2/7/1799The French expedition led by Napoleon was initiated in order to invade and occupy Palestine.
5/2/1799The end of the French expedition after Napoleon had failed to conquer Akka.
8/29/1897The first Zionist conference was held in Basl, Switzerland, presided by Haim Hertzl, who had chosen Palestine as a homeland for the Jews.
4/27/1909Sultan Abdel Hameed was dethroned by the Turkish Society members, which marked the end of the Islamic Caliphate because he prevented the Jews from entering Palestine in 1900.
5/16/1916Sicous-Picot agreement was signed by Britain and France to divide Palestine.
11/2/1917Britain issued the Balfour Promise to establish the Jewish State in Palestine.
12/9/1917The British General Allenby occupied Jerusalem.
1/7/1919The first Palestinian conference was held and Palestine was considered a part of Syria.

It seems a little sparse, perhaps, in the years before 636 and there are some pretty huge gaps between 636 and the Crusades, and from 1260 to Napoleon.

I also don't see any mention of famous Palestinian Arab poets, writers, artists or even warriors. Seems strange.

I'm also surprised - in 1919, Palestine was considered by Arabs to be a part of Syria? For a land with such supposed significance in Arab history? (See here for another example of Palestine being considered a part of Syria - in the 10th century.)

Anyway, the entire fictionalized history of the area is just too good not to share, so forgive me for this long post but if you want to see how thoroughly distanced the Palestinian Arabs are from the truth, this gives a very good indication. I highlighted some items of interest, like massacres disguised as "rebellions" but everyone will certainly find some gems here. I am sure that some other bloggers will have their own comments on this twisted look at history, both by what is highlighted as well as what is missing.


8/12/636
The Romans were defeated by the Muslims in Al Yarmouk Battle, so Palestine has been a part of the Islamic State since then.
10/2/1187
Saladin restored Jerusalem from the Crusaders.
7/15/1099
The Crusaders occupied Jerusalem and killed more than 70,000 Muslims around Al Aqsa.
9/6/1260
The Mamlouks defeated Tattar in Ein Jalout Battle in north Palestine.
4/20/1779
Napoleon called for the Jews all over the world to join his forces so they could enter Palestine easily.
2/7/1799
The French expedition led by Napoleon was initiated in order to invade and occupy Palestine.
5/2/1799
The end of the French expedition after Napoleon had failed to conquer Akka.
8/29/1897
The first Zionist conference was held in Basl, Switzerland, presided by Haim Hertzl, who had chosen Palestine as a homeland for the Jews.
4/27/1909
Sultan Abdel Hameed was dethroned by the Turkish Society members, which marked the end of the Islamic Caliphate because he prevented the Jews from entering Palestine in 1900.
5/16/1916
Sicous-Picot agreement was signed by Britain and France to divide Palestine.
11/2/1917
Britain issued the Balfour Promise to establish the Jewish State in Palestine.
12/9/1917
The British General Allenby occupied Jerusalem.
1/7/1919
The first Palestinian conference was held and Palestine was considered a part of Syria.
1/10/1919
The peace conference was held in Paris to lay out the new charts of the world after the First World War.
6/10/1919
King-Krine committee began its operations in Palestine to find out about the good intentions of the Arab States.
4/4/1920
The rebellion of Al Nabi Mousa or the rebellion of the Twenty broke out.
4/26/1920
San Remo conference was held to confirm the Balfour Promise for the Jews to establish their State.
7/1/1920
The British Mandate was started in Palestine by appointing Herbert Samuel as the first Supreme Deputy in Palestine.
10/20/1920
Herbert Samuel, the British supreme deputy in Palestine, began his efforts to encourage the Jews to buy more land and estates.
1/15/1921
The British ministry of settlements took over the authority in Palestine from the foreign affairs ministry.
5/1/1921
Jaffa rebellion broke out when the British supported the Jews against the Palestinians.
6/5/1921
The Palestinian conference was held in Jerusalem to send a delegation to London to explain the Palestinians' attitude toward the Balfour Promise.
7/6/1921
The UN approved the British Mandate in Palestine.
7/3/1922
The British government issued the second "White Book" to interpret the Balfour Promise and to assure the Arabs of their good intentions by their Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
7/24/1922
The UN approved the British Mandate in Palestine.
8/10/1922
The British government issued the Palestinian constitution preceded by a statement of the Balfour Promise.
8/14/1922
Herbert Samuel became the first British Supreme Deputy in Palestine.
9/29/1923
The British Mandate in Palestine went into effect.
8/2/1926
The British Minister of Settlements issued new Palestinian currency, and created a currency committee.
2/21/1927
The British minister of settlements announced that the Palestinian currency would replace the Egyptian.
8/16/1929
The rebellion of Al Buraq broke out.
9/13/1929
The British government appointed a committee presided by the chief judge Walter Shaw and three other members to investigate the reasons behind Al Buraq rebellion.
6/17/1930
Three heroes of Al Buraq rebellion were executed
10/31/1930
Another "White Book" was issued by the British minister of settlements, Lord Basfield, limiting the number of emigrant Jews to Palestine.
12/7/1931
The Islamic conference was opened in Al Aqsa to defend and protect the Holy Shrine in Jerusalem.
10/10/1933
The great Jerusalem demonstration broke out to protest the miserable conditions in Palestine.
10/27/1933
Mr. Mousa Kathem Al Husseini was shot down as a martyr in the great demonstration in Jaffa.
1/25/1935
The first conference of the Palestinian scholars was held and was presided by Al Haj Ameen Al Husseini.
11/19/1935
Sheikh Ezzul Deen Al Qassam was shot down as a martyr at Ya'bad woods.
4/15/1936
The great rebellion broke out throughout Palestine and ended in October.
7/7/1936
Bill British Committee recommended dividing Palestine into an Arab and Israeli State.
10/12/1936
The end of the great rebellion.
11/11/1936
A Royal British committee, "Bill committee", arrived in Palestine to investigate the reasons behind the great rebellion.
10/2/1937
The second great rebellion broke out and lasted till 1939.
11/28/1937
Sheikh Farhan Al Sa'ady was executed by the British when he was 80 years old and while he was fasting. He is the comrade of Sheikh Ezzul Deen Al Qassam.
1/4/1938
The British deputy in Palestine was notified by the minister of the settlements that the latter had sent a delegation to Palestine to consider the feasibility of the division resolution.
1/6/1938
A massacre was carried out by the Israeli forces in the village of Atteel where several women and children were killed, mosques were violated, and copies of the Holy Qur'an were torn up.
10/7/1938
An Arab-Islamic conference was held by an Egyptian committee in Cairo to condemn and decry the Balfour Promise.
2/7/1939
The Round Table Conference was held in London between some Arab delegations and a Jewish delegation.
3/27/1939
The leader of the Second Great Rebellion, Abderraheem Al Haj Mohammed was martyred, and the British soldiers saluted him even though he was dead.
5/17/1939
The British government issued the White Book in which they divided Palestine into three regions
7/1/1942
The British minister of settlements declared that the Jewish defense organizations are the same as the National Guard in Britain.
4/5/1945
The American president Roosevelt announced that the USA would not take any political procedures without referring to the Arab States, and the USA would not be against the Arabs in the Palestinian question.
8/30/1945
The American president Harry Truman asked for permission to allow hundreds of thousands to enter Palestine.
11/13/1945
An Anglo-American committee was formed to investigate the conditions of the Jews who were persecuted by the Nazis in Europe, and to find out about their socio-economic and political conditions in Palestine.
5/10/1946
The American secretary of state deputy Dean Etchison was sent to five Arab States to assure them that the USA would not take any decisions concerning the Anglo-American investigating committee without referring to both Arabs and Israelis.
5/28/1946
A conference was held by the Arab leaders in Anshasi, Egypt, to discuss the Palestinian question.
7/22/1946
King David Hotel in Jerusalem was blown up by the Argon gangsters result in the killing of 95 Arabs and Jews.
2/14/1947
The British government announced that the Palestinian question "cause" would be referred to the United Nations.
4/2/1947
The British government asked the Secretary General of the UN to include the Palestinian question in the agenda of the General Assembly meeting.
5/21/1947
A group of Al Hagana terrorists attacked a coffee shop at Faja near Btah Tekfa, killing a Palestinian and injuring 17 others; they also put explosives all over the area.
8/14/1947
The American president Harry Truman put forward his proposal to the British. The proposal was approved at the Zionist conference in Paris, and it granted the Jews the International Zone according to Bill Proposal, in addition to Al Naqab.
8/31/1947
The UN special committee completed its report about Palestine and presented it to the General Assembly of the UN.
9/10/1947
The first conference about Palestine was held and attended by Arab and British delegations except the Palestinians.
11/13/1947
The British representative at the UN declared that Britain would have to withdraw from Palestine by May.
11/29/1947
The UN voted on the division resolution of Palestine
12/18/1947
The Supreme Arab Board was formed at the conference held in Bloudan, Syria.
12/25/1947
The Holy War Troops (Al Jehad Al Muqades) were formed in Palestine presided by the leader Abdel Qader Al Husseini.
1/1/1948
Another massacre was committed by the Israeli forces in Safad.
1/25/1948
The arrival of the first troops of the Rescue Army led by Fawzy Al Qaweqjy.
3/3/1948
Haim Weisman was promised by the American president Harry Truman that the latter would help the Jews to establish their State with full recognition.
3/11/1948
Anthon David, a young Palestinian working as a driver for the American ambassador, bombed the Jewish Agency killing 36 and injuring hundreds.
3/19/1948
The UN Security Council approved an American proposal to abolish the division resolution.
4/9/1948
Deir Yassin massacre was committed by the terrorist Menachem Begin and his gangsters. More than 250 Palestinian were killed, mainly old people, women and children.
4/9/1948
The great leader Abdel Qader Al Hussien was martyred.
4/17/1948
The General Assembly of the UN agreed on the truce resolution between the Israelis and the Arabs after the 1948 war.
4/20/1948
The executive committee of the Zionist movement elected David Ben Gurion as president and defence director to replace the British.
4/23/1948
A conference was held in Amman by several Arab ministers and prime ministers to approve the participation of the Arab armies in the 1948 war or the Rescue War in Palestine.
5/9/1948
The Arabs adopted the truce treaty with the Israelis.
5/14/1948
The temporal state council of Israel declared the new Israeli State.
5/15/1948
The Arab armies, known as Rescue Army, entered Palestine.
5/15/1948
The USA recognized the new Israeli State.
5/18/1948
The USSR also recognized the new Israeli State.
6/11/1948
The first truce treaty was signed by the Arabs and the Israelis after the 1948 war, which was considered as recognition of the new Israeli State.
9/17/1948
The Zionist gangsters shot down the UN peace mediator, Count Folk Bernadot.
10/1/1948
Palestine was declared independent by the supreme Arab Board.
1/25/1949
David Ben Gurion became the first Prime Minister of Israel.
3/10/1949
The Israeli forces occupied the village of Um Al Rashrash (Elat) after they had occupied Al Naqab.
5/11/1949
Israel was accepted as a member of the United Nations.
5/12/1949
Lozan Protocol was signed by Israel and some Arab States such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
12/8/1949
The UN formed UNRWA to look after and employ the Palestinian refugees in the neighbouring countries.
12/16/1949
David Ben Gurion, the Israeli Prime Minister, declared Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel.
4/24/1950
The two Banks of the Jordan River were unified in one State in a conference held in Jericho.
9/1/1951
Sea navigation was prohibited through the Suez Canal.
10/14/1952
The Israeli forces committed a massacre in the village of Qebya west of Ramallah, and killed 42 people and destroyed 41 houses.
6/26/1953
The Israelis transferred the property of the absentees to the department of development and reckoned its price as a loan.
2/28/1955
The Israeli forces attacked the Gaza Strip and shot down 38 martyrs and injured countless others.
1/1/1956
Al Azhar Mosque issued a fatwa considering peace with the Israelis illegal and taboo.
3/14/1957
The Israeli forces completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip after the Triplex invasion against Egypt.
3/9/1959
The Arab League suggested a conference to recognize Palestine as a united entity and nation.
9/19/1963
Mr. Ahmed Al Shuqeiry was appointed as a Palestinian representative for the Arab League.
5/28/1964
The first National Palestinian Council was held in Jerusalem to establish the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
11/4/1966
The joint defense treaty was signed by Egypt and Syria against Israel.
11/13/1966
The Israeli forces attacked Al Samou', a village near Hebron, and killed 18 people, injured 54 people and destroyed 125 houses.
6/5/1967
The Israeli fighters raided ten Arab air bases in Egypt, as well as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
6/7/1967
The Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights.
6/27/1967
The Israeli Parliament decided to annex East Jerusalem and authorized the government to carry out this order.
6/28/1967
The Israeli minister of interior declared the annexation of some parts of Jerusalem to unify the whole city.
11/22/1967
The Security Council issued resolution No. 242 in which Israel was called upon to withdraw from the territories occupied in the June war of 1967.
11/29/1967
The UN delegate Yaring began his 15-round peace initiative to settle down the Arab-Israeli conflict.
3/21/1968
Al Karameh battle took place when both Jordanian and Palestinian forces repelled and defeated the Israeli forces incurring great losses.
3/8/1969
The Attrition War between Israel and Egypt began on the Suez Canal front.
4/9/1969
The end of UN Deputy Yaring's initiative. Hoever, he failed to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
8/21/1969
Al Aqsa Mosque was set on fire by the Australian tourist Michael Rohan, urged by the Israelis.
8/8/1970
The attrition war between Egypt and Israel was stopped.
9/19/1970
The conflict between the Palestinian forces and the Jordanian army broke out, known as Fitneh.
10/6/1973
Ramadan War broke out against Israel on the Syrian and Egyptian fronts.
10/17/1973
Oil was used as a weapon against the West by the Arabs in Kuwait by decreasing the production 5% monthly.
10/22/1973
The Security Council issued its resolution No. 338 to confirm a cease fire between the Arabs and the Israelis asking them to abide by resolution No. 242.
11/5/1973
The American Secretary of State Richard Nixon began his peace initiative to disengage the Syrian, Egyptian and Israeli forces after the Ramadan war.
11/27/1973
The PLO was recognized as the sole legal representative of the Palestinians at the Arab Summit Conference in Algeria.
12/21/1973
The peace conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland, by the Arabs and the Israelis, patronized by the USA and the USSR.
1/18/1974
The forces separation agreement was signed as a result of the Ramadan War.
5/6/1974
The Israeli forces began shelling the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
10/14/1974
The General Assembly adopted resolution No. 3210 inviting the PLO to take part in the debate.
10/28/1974
Al Rebat Summit Conference was held and the PLO was recognized as the legal representative for the Palestinians.
4/13/1975
The civil war began in Lebanon between the Christians and the Muslims.
5/22/1975
Yasser Arafat announced that he had not had any hostility toward Israel, and he is keen on establishing a democratic State for both Arabs and Israelis.
11/10/1975
The General Assembly of the UN adopted resolution No. 3379, which considers Zionism a racial movement.
2/8/1976
An Israeli court allowed the Jews to pray on the mountain of Al Haykal in the Holy Shrine of Jerusalem.
8/12/1976
The massacre of Tel Al Za'ater was committed by the Christian Militia in collaboration with the Israeli forces.
11/19/1977
The Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was the first Arab leader to enter Israel since it was founded.
9/18/1978
Camp David peace treaty was signed by the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin under the patronage of the USA president Jimmy Carter.
3/26/1979
The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed by President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in Washington, Camp David, under the patronage of the United States of America.
4/19/1979
The women of Keryat Arba'a occupied Beit Hadassa in Hebron to revive the Jewish quarters in the city.
9/16/1979
The Israeli government allowed the Jews to buy the Arab land and estates.
7/30/1980
The Israeli Parliament declared Jerusalem the unified capital of Israel.
9/22/1981
The Palestinian occupied territories were ruled by the Israeli civil laws.
11/1/1981
The application of civil management in the West Bank and Gaza Strip presided by Menachem Milson.
6/6/1982
The Israeli forces began attacking south Lebanon to destroy the infrastructure of the PLO installations.
8/6/1982
The Israeli forces entered west Beirut.
9/17/1982
Sabra and Shatilla massacre was carried out by the Israeli forces aided by the Christian militia.
2/7/1983
Kahan committee submitted a report on the massacre that took place at Sabra and Shatilla indicating that Sharon was responsible for it, so he resigned from the ministry of defense but he remained in the cabinet.
5/20/1985
The Israeli forces released 1,145 Palestinian captives for releasing three Israeli soldiers that had been confined by the members of the People's Front--the Headquarters, in Al Jaleel operation.
8/2/1985
The Israeli forces adopted the steel-fist policy against the Palestinian protests.
12/9/1987
The starting of the Palestinian Blessed Intifadah.
12/14/1987
The Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) was declared by issuing its first manifestation "statement" about the Intifadah.
1/21/1988
Issa'ac Rabin, the Israeli minister of defense, announced his policies of violence and beating against the Palestinian Intifadah.
2/2/1988
The Israeli forces closed the Palestinian schools and university.
4/10/1988
Several members of the Palestinian police in Gaza and the West Bank resigned.
4/16/1988
Mr. Khaleel Al Wazeer (Abu Jehad) was assassinated by the Israeli special force led by Yahoud Parak in Tunis.
7/31/1988
King Hussein of Jordan declared the legal disengagement between the two Banks after a 38-year consolidation.
8/18/1988
The Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS) was declared.
11/15/1988
The Palestinian State was declared by the National Palestinian Council held in Algeria. This State consists of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem is its capital. The declaration is an implicit recognition of the Israeli State comprising the rest of Palestine.
12/14/1988
The USA decided to take up a dialogue and debate with the PLO.
5/15/1989
The Israeli forces arrested Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, accusing him of establishing the Islamic resistance movement "HAMAS".
10/8/1990
More than 30 Muslims were shot down as martyrs and 115 were injured by the Israeli forces around Al Aqsa.
3/6/1991
The USA drew up a peace initiative to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
10/30/1991
Madrid peace conference was held by the Arabs and the Israelis, patronized by the USA and the USSR.
12/17/1992
Four hundred and fifteen members of HAMAS were deported by the Israeli forces to Marj Al Zuhour in South Lebanon.
9/13/1993
Oslo Principles Treaty was signed by the Israelis and the Palestinians.
11/24/1993
Mr. Emad Aqel, a prominent member of HAMAS, was shot down as a martyr in a confrontation with the Israeli forces.
2/24/1994
Israeli terrorist Goldstein massacred worshippers performing Friday dawn prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron with the help of Israeli police forces.
5/4/1994
Israel and the PLO signed in Cairo the Palestinian autonomy agreement in Gaza and Jericho.
5/18/1994
The first troops of the Palestinian police entered Gaza and Jericho.
5/23/1994
The first crime of murder committed by the Palestinian police forces against a Palestinian citizen.
7/1/1994
Yasser Arafat, the PLO chief, entered Gaza as president of the Palestinian Authority.
7/5/1994
The members of the Palestinian Authority took a legal oath in front of Yasser Arafat in Jericho.
8/14/1994
The Palestinian Authority forces arrested several Palestinians who opposed the peace process along with members of HAMAS.
10/26/1994
The peace treaty was signed by the Israelis and the Jordanians under the patronage of the American president Bill Clinton.
11/18/1994
The Palestinian police killed 12 Palestinians and wounded 200 in a protest after Friday's prayers in Gaza.
2/7/1995
The first State security court was established by Yasser Arafat, the chief of the Palestinian Authority.
4/2/1995
Kamal Khaleel, the leader of Ezzul Deen Al Qassam Brigades, was assassinated in Gaza.
4/11/1995
The Palestinian minister of justice, Freih Abu Madein, decided to disarm the Palestinians in order to weaken the Islamic resistance.
7/24/1995
The American authorities arrested Dr. Mousa Abu Marzook, the chief of the political wing of HAMAS, at JFK in New York, USA.
9/24/1995
Taba transitional treaty was signed by Yasser Arafat and Shamon Perez in Cairo about the execution of the National Authority in the occupied territories.
10/26/1995
Mr. Fathi Al Sheqaqy, the chief of the Islamic Jehad, was shot down as a martyr in Malta by the Israeli Intelligence agents.
11/4/1995
Mr. Ishha'ac Rabin, the Israeli ex-Prime Minister, was assassinated by the extremist Yegal Amir. This was the first politically-driven assassination in Israel.
1/6/1996
Engineer Yahya Ayyash, the leader of the martyr troops of Ezzul Deen Al Qassam Brigades, was assassinated, after a four-year chase, by Al Shabak agents. They detonated an explosive in his mobile phone.
3/12/1996
A conference was held in Sharm Al Sheikh to condemn all forms of terrorism, and considered the daring martyr operations against Israeli forces as terrorist acts. They also decided to chase and suppress the resistance movements all over Palestine.
4/24/1996
The National Palestinian Council was held in Gaza to abolish the items of the National Charter that are against Israel.
5/29/1996
Israeli Likud Party presided by Netanyahu took over authorities in Israel.
1/15/1997
A partial agreement was signed by both Israelis and the Palestinian Authority regarding the deployment of forces in Hebron after it had been divided between the two sides.
9/25/1997
Mr. Khaled Misha'al, the chief of the political wing of HAMAS, escaped an assassination attempt planned by the Israeli Intelligence agents in Amman.33 members supported it, 13 opposed, and 10 were neutral. An international committee was formed to take over the British authorities in Palestine.
10/1/1997
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was released by the Israeli forces.
10/6/1997
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin came back home after having been hospitalized in Amman.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

From Ian:

The Abraham Accords trumps the Oslo Accords
The signing of the Abraham Accords is an incredible achievement for the Trump administration. For the last three and a half years President Trump disregarded all conventional wisdom regarding the Middle East despite warnings from past presidents, State Department officials and diplomats around the world. Many thought that his new policies would end in death and destruction. How did he know what no one else did? How did he see peace when everyone else saw war? The answer lies with a concept called faith-based diplomacy.

President Trump looks at Israel from a biblical point of view. He understands how the base of his voters looks at Israel, and when Bible-believing Christians voted for him, they made it clear that they wanted him to improve relations with Israel. Trump changed the course of America’s policy toward Israel, drastically altering the trajectory set by past presidents. He used the fact that his base was behind him to implement major policy shifts. These shifts were not necessarily politically correct, but they were biblically correct.

Since former president Carter, the US’s Middle East policy had viewed Israel’s “occupation” as responsible for the absence of peace in the Middle East. The PLO’s aggression and refusal to either disavow terrorism or accept Israel’s right to exist were brushed aside. The Obama administration adopted the 1978 Hansell Memorandum, which condemned Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, as US official policy. This State Department document was based on an erroneous interpretation of the Fourth Geneva Convention from 1949 and had no basis in international law. But Obama’s acceptance of it enabled the UN Security Council to pass a resolution criminalizing Jewish communities beyond the 1949 armistice line.

The Trump administration recognized the false narrative, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the administration was replacing the Hansell memo with an accurate assessment of international law. “It is important that we speak the truth when the facts lead us to it. And that’s what we’ve done,” Pompeo announced in January 2020. President Trump’s policies expose the corrupted narrative of his predecessors’ policies toward Iran and Israel.

Trump ended the Obama doctrine on Israel. He stopped blaming Israel for the problems of the Middle East, and he started looking at how to strengthen the alliance between Israel and America. He refocused the story by seeing the situation as it is: that Israel is a small but flourishing democracy amid the hostile Middle East. This shift in perspective has allowed America and Israel to once again work together in harmony.
The EU’s Hypocrisy on Housing Demolitions in Israel
Entering the phrase “housing demolitions” in the EU’s official site yields a shocking result: 18 of the first documents to appear concern Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank. In other words, 80% of the EU’s reports on this worldwide phenomenon involve a population and an area less that one-tenth of 1% of the world’s population or landmass.

To fully absorb how warped this result is, one must recognize that housing demolitions and evictions are a global phenomenon that is sometimes carried out in accordance with deliberate policies to discriminate against minorities. A report by the EU itself, albeit from 2005, acknowledged widespread discrimination via housing demolitions and evictions within the Union against Gypsy, Roma, and Sinti populations in countries as varied as Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Portugal. These countries do not provide figures on the relative use of this tool between minority and majority groups.

Punitive or discriminatory housing demolition occurs around the world. India accuses Pakistan of the practice in Hindu areas in Pakistan’s Punjab, and Pakistan claims that India does the same to India’s Muslim citizens. Egypt has been criticized for evicting thousands of Bedouin to clear a path for housing projects for Egyptians outside Sinai in the peninsula. The Kurdish government has evicted Sunnis from Kurdish areas, and local newspapers in the US frequently report evictions and demolitions of the homes of minorities in the name of urban renewal. The list of countries that practice housing demolition is almost as long as the list of member states in the UN.

The difference is that one has to dig deep into the EU archives to find any mention of discriminatory housing demolition and evictions anywhere other than in Israel. The EU’s limelight focuses almost exclusively on the Jewish State.

Though the EU always claims it is impartial, a simple Google search demonstrates that this is a falsehood. The search produces long lists of links to pieces on housing demolitions in the West Bank or among the Negev Bedouin — pieces that are churned out by human rights groups supported either directly by the EU, by member states, or both. Thus, Google (and other new media) become tools with which the EU condemns Israel in a blatantly partial and unfair way.
Using the settlements to whitewash terrorism
Last Thursday, 24th September, the outgoing Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Palestine and MP for Aberavon, Stephen Kinnock, led a debate in the House of Commons on the issue of “annexation” vis a vis Israel.

Watching the debate, one could be forgiven for assuming that too many of the participants were simply unaware that there were two sides in this decades-old conflict and that the absence of its preferred resolution – i.e. a secure Israeli state alongside a peaceful and viable Palestinian state, is solely down to Israel and its settlements.

The UN is often referred to as the “theatre of the absurd” but last week’s Commons debate was worthy of that title too, thanks to Mr Kinnock and his allies. In Mr Kinnock’s world, the Israel-Palestinian conflict is all about the settlements and only about the settlements. The misrepresentation and obfuscation of facts, the obsessive focus and emphasis on just one of what in reality are many issues that define and contribute to this conflict from BOTH sides, as well as the disregard for historical and more recent international and legal treaties, was and remains a deeply troubling spectacle to have watched. It is simply beyond the bounds of this piece to touch upon all the issues, so its focus is on just some of what Mr Kinnock said, and didn’t say.

Mr Kinnock’s obsession with the settlements deserves some context here. It deserves mention and acknowledgement that the claims of illegality of Israel’s settlements in the disputed territories in Judea and Samaria / the West Bank are highly politicised and ignore previous internationally and legally ratified treaties such as the San Remo Convention and the League of Nations (LoN) Mandate for Palestine. The LoN Mandate for Palestine’s Article 6 testifies to the legality of Jewish settlement in Palestine and Article 80 of the United Nations’ Charter implicitly recognises the Mandate for Palestine, a Mandate which granted Jews the irrevocable right to settle in the area of Palestine, anywhere between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. These rights remain and no treaties, agreements or accords since have abrogated them. In fact, even the Oslo accords support construction by either side in areas of Judea and Samaria / the West Bank under their respective administrative control. That said, there are many Israelis, as well as Jews and non-Jewish supporters of Israel in the Diaspora, who are against the settlements and see them as an obstacle to peace. Being against the settlements does not make one anti-Israel. Not at all. Putting aside political charges and those historical treaties and agreements which refute such charges, the settlements ARE an issue in the conflict. But they are not the root cause of the conflict nor the biggest obstacle to peace as Mr Kinnock would like to have us believe. Not by far!

Monday, September 16, 2013

From Ian:

The Depravity of the Anti-Israeli Left
One is tempted to leave Ian Lustick’s Sunday op-ed “Two-State Illusion,” alone. Its stench is so overwhelming that one might expect it to harm Lustick’s cause without the need for commentary. But because Lustick is a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, one of our most prestigious universities, and because the New York Times has chosen to amplify his view, it is worth considering as a symptom of the depravity of the anti-Israeli left, as what passes for sober commentary in that crowd.
Two States and the Anti-Zionist Illusion
They also understand just how dishonest Lustick’s vision of a post-Zionist Middle East is. The professor claims Israel’s collapse will lead to an alliance between secular Palestinians and post-Zionist Jews (those Haaretz columnists) and others to build a secular democracy. He thinks the large percentage of Israelis whose families fled or were thrown out of Arab and Muslim countries (a refugee population that no one thinks to compensate for their losses) will come to think of themselves as Arabs. He also posits an alliance between anti-Zionist Haredim and Islamists. He claims Jews who want to live in the West Bank can be accommodated in the post-Zionist world. All this is nonsense.
Israeli Jews know the fate of non-Muslim minorities in the Arab and Muslim world. If Israel acknowledges that all Jews would be evacuated from a putative Palestinian state it is not because they agree with the Arab vision of a Judenrein entity but because even those on the left know the Jews there would last as long as the greenhouses left behind in Gaza in 2005. Those “Arab Jews” that Lustick thinks will be at home in the Greater Palestine he envisages know exactly what fate awaits them in a world where they are not protected by a Jewish army.
British Airways apologises over 'Palestinian Territories' marker over Israel on in-flight map
British Airways has apologised for displaying an in-flight map with the words “Palestinian Territories” covering part of Israel.
The image appears on flights between Heathrow and Israel and was brought to the airline’s attention by a Jewish passenger.
British Airways has contacted the manufacturer and requested that the reference be removed as soon as possible.
Jerusalem 'Sheshet HaYamim' Street in 'Palestine'?
While the representatives of Israel and the Palestinian Authority are negotiating intensely in order to draw the final borders, according to "Google Maps", it turns out that the map of Israel's permanent borders has already been plotted.
One user from Arutz Sheva was surprised to find the results on Google Maps for the Jerusalem street called "Sheshet HaYamim" (Six Day War) to be in "Palestine." The Jerusalem street, which is located near Ammunition Hill, was included in the liberated territories established during the Six Day War.
Below each mention of the street, including references as to the street intersections, the word "Palestine" appears prominently instead of Israel.
JPost Editorial: Israel and the Syria deal
It is too early to assess the implications for the Jewish state of an increasingly assertive Russia and a more hesitant US, particularly with regard to Iran.
Is the Russian-led agreement with the United States to do away with Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons good for the Jews?
Taken at face value, the deal appears to serve a major Israeli interest. Under the terms of the six-clause accord, Russia and the US will ensure that the tons of chemical weapons, meticulously gathered and stored by the late Syrian president Hafez Assad, will be located, dismantled and destroyed over the next eight months.
Ex-British army colonel to Post: Russian-US plan on Syria chemical weapons ‘not realistic’
Speaking to the Post by phone, Kemp, who also served in the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee and Cabinet Office Briefing Room, said: “I think it’s extremely difficult to do something like this during an active conflict, during a war. I think it’ll take a very large amount of time, with a significant amount of military protection, so that the inspectors can be as safe as they can be. That aspect will present huge challenges. Which country, first of all, will provide the scientists who will take these risks and the military forces to back them up? It’s a very dangerous situation.”
Kemp observed that there is a wide variety of factions in Syria, including regime forces and jihadists, meaning that it would be difficult to send weapons inspectors to the country.
“Secondly, to get verification in this kind of situation, I would say, is impossible,” he stated. “It would be very easy for President Assad to hide or remove out of the country significant quantities of chemical weapons.
‘Netanyahu backed Russian chemical arms deal in call to Kerry’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State John Kerry last week that he should try to reach a deal with Russia to confiscate Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal as an alternative to a threatened US strike on the Assad regime, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
According to the report, Kerry called Netanyahu on September 11 and the Israeli leader told him that he didn’t think that Russia was bluffing about its plan for Syria.
Kerry, in Israel, says Syria deal ‘sets a marker’ for Iran
In comments aimed at his hosts, Kerry said the deal, if successful, “will have set a marker for the standard of behavior with respect to Iran and with respect to North Korea and any rogue state, [or] group that tries to reach for these kind of weapons.”...
Netanyahu thanked Kerry for his efforts to purge Syria of chemical weapons and linked the agreement with Syria to the ongoing campaign to curb Iran’s controversial nuclear program.
“We have been closely following – and support – your ongoing efforts to rid Syria of its chemical weapons,” Netanyahu said. “The Syrian regime must be stripped of all its chemical weapons, and that would make our entire region a lot safer.
Obama Says Iran ‘Shouldn’t Draw a Lesson’ From U.S. Handling of Syria Chemical Weapons Crisis
U.S. President Barack Obama warned Sunday that his country’s hesitation in carrying out a military strike against Syria has no bearing on how it will address Iran’s push for nuclear weapons.
“My suspicion is that the Iranians recognize they shouldn’t draw a lesson that we haven’t struck– to think we won’t strike Iran. On the other hand, what is– what– they should draw from this lesson is that there is the potential of resolving these issues diplomatically,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview.
US-Russia deal a ‘victory,’ says Syrian minister
Syrian Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar was the first Syrian official to refer to the deal, telling Russian news agency Ria Novosti that “on the one hand, it helps Syria come out of the crisis and, on the other, it helps avoid the war against Syria by depriving those who wanted to launch it of arguments to do so.”
He said it was “a victory for Syria, achieved thanks to our Russian friends.”
Saudi Daily: 'Chemical Weapons Smuggled to Hezbollah'
President Bashar Al-Assad has smuggled part of his chemical weapons arsenal to Hezbollah in a bid to evade international inspection, the Saudi newspaper Al Watan reported Monday.
The report quoted Syrian National Coalition member Kamal al-Labwani as claiming that: "The Syrian regime has transferred some of its chemical weapons arsenal to its ally Hezbollah aboard trucks used to transport vegetables."
The article published Monday, also included a claim that the Assad regime had covertly moved significant parts of its chemical weapons aboard Russian ships docked along the Syrian coastline.
Taking down Hezbollah
The London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reports that the recommendations were made during a meeting of GCC interior ministers and their advisers in Riyadh yesterday. The recommendations are aimed at not only preventing any “terror-related activities, but also to shut down Hezbollah’s sources of financing.” The list is seen as a followup to a GCC proposal issued in July 2012 to address Hezbollah’s actions.
Most notably, tiny Bahrain has been the main GCC member to take serious action against Hezbollah’s interests in the country, partially due to Hezbollah’s support of Bahraini Shiite dissidents. Other nations have grown increasingly upset by Hezbollah’s participation in the Syrian civil war on the side of the government.
Roadside bomb in Sinai hurts nine police recruits
Suspected Islamic militants set off a roadside bomb in the Sinai Peninsula as a bus full of police conscripts was driving by, wounding nine of them, Egyptian security officials said.
Monday’s ambush on the road outside the town of Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip, came amid a major counterinsurgency operation by Egypt’s military in the lawless desert region.
Egypt Continues Crackdown on Sinai Militants Near Gaza Border, Finds Anti-Aircraft Missiles and Motorized Paragliders
The army has destroyed 152 smuggling tunnels running from the Sinai into Gaza since June 30, he added.
On Saturday the Egyptian army discovered explosives under a border guard post in Rafah and later found a detonator 800 meters away, Reuters quoted Ali as saying.
Ali also said that during its recent operations the army seized weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles and motorized paragliders, which indicated an effort to develop new methods of attack.
Egyptian Government Defends Al Jazeera Ban
Sherif Shawki told the Wall Street Journal that Al Jazeera Egypt had "violated the law" by operating without the necessary permits. Despite not having the correct permits, the channel had been broadcasting in Egypt since the 2011 popular uprising which ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Under Mubarak's regime Al Jazeera had been forbidden from broadcasting in Egypt. But the Qatari channel found a friend in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which rose to power in the aftermath of Mubarak's overthrow. Qatar is the leading sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood movement worldwide, and a key supporter of the administration of the Brotherhood's successful presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi.
MEMRI: Editor of Al-Ahram: US Plans Russia Revolution, Supports Iran's Nukes, Provoked Pearl Harbor Attack


Increasingly sectarian protests rock Turkey
The latest street unrest shows the grievances that prompted tens of thousands to protest Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government in June have not faded. And his government has been hurt by those protests — for instance, losing the chance last week to host the 2020 Summer Olympics partly due to Turkey’s damaged international image.
But this round of demonstrations was sparked far from Istanbul and in a very different way — the death of 22-year-old Ahmet Atakan, who died under disputed circumstances following a protest Monday in the southern city of Antakya.

Monday, February 03, 2020

  • Monday, February 03, 2020
  • Elder of Ziyon
Egyptian security forces announced the discovery of a smuggling tunnel from Gaza to the heart of Egyptian Rafah.

The tunnel was about 3 kilometers long.

Egyptian security sources said, "The tunnel is intended for infiltration of terrorist elements from the Gaza Strip to plant improvised explosive devices on the Egyptian side and to support terrorist elements supporting the ISIS organization in Sinai and transport weapons and explosives."

Egypt says it seized ammunition and explosives inside the tunnel.

Egypt has claimed that Gaza elements, almost certainly with Hamas' knowledge, are supporting ISIS attacks in the Sinai. Hamas strenuously denies any involvement, and it would be a fairly stupid thing for Hamas to do. So it is hard to know how much to believe the Egyptians, although if they recovered weapons in the tunnel, it it better to destroy it no matter whether they were being smuggled into Gaza or out of Gaza.




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Friday, November 11, 2011

  • Friday, November 11, 2011
  • Elder of Ziyon
Egypt's Rose el-Youssef newspaper is reporting that Egyptian security sources are linking the latest gas pipeline bomb to a fugitive Egyptian businessman who had strong ties with Israel before the Egyptian revolution.

Hussein Salem is co-owner of the East Mediterranean Gas Company and was a close friend of Mubarak. He helped broker the agreement to sell gas to Israel and is not a popular person in Egypt because of that. He is being tried in abstentia for siphoning off billions in the deal. He is currently being held in Spain.

Nevertheless, Egyptian security sources have spun a theory where Salem instructed his people to sabotage the gas line so he can sue Egypt and recover the millions of dollars he loses for not being able to send gas to Israel. Salem's Israeli business partner, Yossi Meiman, is said to be involved in the scheme where the sophisticated explosives came from Israel, presumably smuggled over the border by Israeli Bedouin.

Hamas confirms this theory, telling Egyptian security officials that they do not have the type of explosives that were used in the bombing, and saying it must have come from Israel.

Well, there you have it!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

  • Sunday, September 26, 2010
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ma'an:
Egyptian security forces seized a cache of explosives in the Sinai Pensinsula on Sunday, security sources said.

...[O]fficers uncovered a weapons depot containing half a ton of TNT explosives and anti-aircraft shells. The ammunition was packaged in bags ready to be smuggled through underground tunnels into Gaza, sources said.
Given the number of caches Egypt has found, how many do you think they miss?

Saturday, September 09, 2017

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The fascists of the left
So-called “progressive” Jews think that the major threat to the Jews and humanity in general comes from a few thousand neo-Nazis and white supremacists, while all who organise against them are by definition on the same side as the Jewish people, anti-racism and civilised values.
Really?
As William Jacobson reports here, the antifa are joining up with Israel-haters to defame Zionists as Nazis and Israel as a “white supremacist” country. This despite the fact that some three quarters of Israeli citizens are not of Caucasian origin; more than half of Israeli Jews are not of Caucasian origin either since their families fled to Israel from Arab countries where Jews had lived for thousands of years but from where they were ethnically cleansed after 1948.
According to the SJP, “There is no room for fascists, white supremacists, or Zionists at UIUC.”
The antifa and SJC are thus helping further incite bigotry, intimidation and thuggery against Jewish students on campus.
Antifa+Students for Justice for Palestine = antifascistneo-fascist alliance.
David Collier: When ‘progressives’ excuse Nazi ideology: The case of Bella Caledonia
Just over a month ago, my report into hard-core antisemitism in the SPSC was published. Following its release, condemnation of the SPSC crossed the political divide, and was swift. Given what was uncovered, it seemed an obvious and natural response. Nobody wanted to be seen protecting hard-core Nazi ideology.
After all, what had been uncovered was indefensible. It was shown that almost every time SPSC activists ran a stall or held a demonstration, 40-50% of those present had previously shared material that circulated in far-right white supremacy websites. At one demonstration alone, ten of the attendees had shared material on their social media pages denying the Holocaust.
Consider this for a moment. Imagine a stall run by a right wing party. Then imagine that 40-50% of those people running it, shared *EXACTLY* the same material as the SPSC activists. How would civil rights campaigners view such a group? What excuses would be considered acceptable? As I said, indefensible.
What also spoke volumes was the relative silence from the SPSC. Little in the way of apology, regret and introspection. The SPSC shrugged their shoulders, denied all responsibility, and chose to respond by calling me names. Their silent reaction spoke volumes.
Douglas Murray: Political intolerance is again becoming normal in Europe
Four years ago, I pointed out here that today’s anti-fascists appeared to be getting rather fascistic. The occasion for that observation then was a group of ‘anti-fascists’ surrounding a man in Scotland and screaming at him to go back to where he came from. For some reason that action was deemed ‘anti-fascist’ rather than ‘fascist’ because the target was Nigel Farage and the mob proclaimed themselves to be ‘anti-fascists.’ To which one might add that North Korea is officially titled ‘The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’.
Anyway, I pointed out back in 2013 that the left appeared to be priming itself to extend their definitions of ‘fascism’ because they hope to be able to win a political battle and recognise that attacking everyone they disagree with as ‘fascist’ might bring some short-term political gain. Though, as I also warned at the time, one long-term effect of all this might be that the public decides that if everybody is a fascist then nobody is. A conclusion that could have its own unpleasant consequences.
I rake up this piece of not very ancient history because of events in Holland. I was in the country last month and whilst there did a couple of interviews with the Dutch media. In one of them (whose publication seems to have been inexplicably delayed), I mentioned how struck I was that the head of the Forum for Democracy party, Thierry Baudet, appeared to be receiving what one might call the ‘Pim Fortuyn treatment’ from the country’s media. Readers will remember that as the libertarian Marxist Fortuyn was transforming the political landscape of his country, fifteen years ago, the Dutch political and media class decided to throw everything they had at preventing him from reaching power. They called him a racist and a fascist and a Nazi and the new Hitler and all that sort of thing and eventually a left-wing environmentalist decided Fortuyn must be all these things, and who wouldn’t kill Hitler if they could travel back in a time machine? So Volkert van der Graaf got a gun and shot Fortuyn repeatedly in the head, spending just over a decade in prison for this murder. He was released in 2014 and today, still only in his forties, apparently lives a happy life in the centre of the country whose future he changed so completely.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

From Ian:

Virus death toll rises to 208 but new infections appear to slow
Four people succumbed to the coronavirus late Monday and early Tuesday, bringing the Israeli death toll to 208, the Health Ministry said, as the country prepared to reopen schools and more businesses in the next few days.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 15,589, with 123 new cases over the previous 24 hours. The tally was nearly double the 68 new cases seen in the 24 hours before that, but still showed a steep drop-off from last week, which had seen more than 200 cases daily.

However, the improved figures were tempered by statistics released by the ministry showing that testing had dipped to below 10,000 samples a day, after reaching close to 14,000 daily tests a week earlier.

According to the ministry, 9,031 tests were performed on Saturday, 8,393 tests on Sunday — when fewer than 100 cases were confirmed for the first time in over a month — and Monday saw a slight uptick with 9,546 tests.

The Health Ministry said 117 people are hospitalized in serious condition and 94 are on ventilators, numbers that have also steadily declined in recent days.

So far, 7,375 people have recovered, according to Health Ministry numbers.
Israel health chief: If we’d not been tough, we could have wound up like Belgium
Israel’s Health Ministry director-general on Friday defended the country’s tough lockdown measures in the battle against COVID-19, saying if it hadn’t acted responsibly it could have found itself in a similar situation to Belgium.

Moshe Bar Siman-Tov was asked in a TV interview whether his own prediction in recent weeks, and that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that tens of thousands of Israelis could die from COVID-19, was exaggerated, when the current Israeli tally is below 200 fatalities and the restrictions are gradually being rolled back.

“We have a very simple check,” he said. “We were at a rate where the number of new patients was doubling every three days… There was a single day when the number of seriously ill patients rose by 50%.

“If that trend had continued, today we’d have over 600,000 people [sick], over 10,000 on ventilators, and many thousands who would have ended their lives.”

Pushed directly on whether that kind of concern has proven exaggerated, especially with Israel’s economy tanking and unemployment having soared from below 4% to over 26%, he replied: “I don’t think so… There are enough control groups — look at Belgium.” Belgium has a population slightly larger than Israel’s and a death toll approaching 7,000.

End all restrictions, they were unnecessary, Hebrew University researchers say
Israel should end all coronavirus restrictions and reopen the country to international travel, according to a Hebrew University research team that includes a prominent epidemiologist and two finance professors.

They crunched statistics from around the world and concluded in a newly published study that while lockdowns were necessary in London, New York and various other places, Israel didn’t need to confine people to houses or impose other strict rules.

Though researchers admitted that without those limitations, Israel’s death toll would have been higher, even significantly so, they believed it would have stayed within manageable rates, while protecting the economy from massive damage.

“The purpose of publishing this isn’t to criticize what was done,” Prof. David Gershon, an economist with the Jerusalem Business School at Hebrew University, told The Times of Israel. “It isn’t political, but it raises the question of why we are still in semi-lockdown. Why are we keeping the cemeteries closed on Memorial Day? It shows that there’s an overreaction.”

They assert that in retrospect Israel should have adopted a similar approach to the lockdown-free Sweden, despite the human cost. Sweden’s population is only slightly larger than Israel’s, but it has seen 11 times the number of COVID-19 deaths so far — 2,194 compared to 202.

While Sweden eschewed lockdowns and appealed for voluntary social distancing, Israel has implemented strict regulations, punishable by fines, to fight coronavirus. Israeli schools and universities were closed on March 12, soon followed by most workplaces, and most Israelis have been largely confined to their homes for weeks.

Restrictions are now being slowly eased, with many workplaces and stores reopening for business — under heavily restrictive conditions — and schools set to partially reopen next week.

But health officials have warned that a too-swift return to normal could see infection rates spike amid a second, potentially worse wave of the disease. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that a spike in cases is possible and could cause a return to lockdown.
Arab-Israeli Medic to Be Honored on Israel's 72nd Independence Day


Tuesday, July 28, 2020

From Ian:

Jonathan Tobin: Camp David 20 Years Later: The Oslo Delusion
The veteran terrorist walked away from an offer that gave him more or less everything Palestinian advocates said they wanted. Two months later, convinced of Barak’s weakness and thinking bloody attacks on Israel would produce even more such suicidal concessions, he launched a terror war of attrition known as the Second Intifada. That traumatic conflict, which took the lives of more than 1,000 Israelis and many more Palestinians, blew up any remaining support for Oslo. It set in place a broad consensus among Israelis — further reinforced by the disastrous results of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which led to a Hamas-run terrorist state in the Strip, as well as the refusals of Arafat’s successor Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate in good faith — that peace is out of reach in the foreseeable future.

As Miller now concedes, the summit didn’t have any of the elements that could lead to success, such as “strong leaders,” a “workable deal,” and “effective US mediation.” Barak’s desperation and the Clinton administration’s poor planning made things worse. Miller is also correct in pointing out that Clinton’s belief that trying and failing was better than not trying at all was horribly wrong. The consequences of his hubris were paid in the blood of those slaughtered in Arafat’s intifada.

Nevertheless, Miller still holds on to the delusion that more American pressure on the Jewish state, coupled with a set of parameters for a deal that would have given the Israelis no wriggle room on Jerusalem and other intractable issues, might have made a difference. He disdains the efforts of the Trump administration to advance peace, thinking its leaders are far too close to Israel. But although Kushner seems to have tried to avoid making the same mistakes as Clinton, he too doesn’t seem to fully understand why even his more realistic “Prosperity to Peace” vision had as little chance of achieving an agreement as the 2000 summit.

In an interview with Newsweek, Kushner exhibited some magical thinking of his own. Kushner believes that the key to peace is pushing the Arab states closer to Israel. Doing so is a good thing in and of itself, but like every other formula for a settlement, it failed because the Palestinians just aren’t interested.

The lessons of the Camp David Summit rest on understanding that better diplomacy, planning, and help from outside parties is never going to be enough. Until the Palestinians give up their vision of a world without a State of Israel — one that is now sadly shared by Jews like Peter Beinart, who think the failure to make peace means that the Zionist project should be discarded in favor of a dangerous utopian vision that will lead to far more bloodshed than any intifada — no peace process, no matter how skillfully conducted, will ever succeed.

Most Israelis understand this bitter truth and have adjusted their expectations accordingly. It is to be hoped that future American governments, including a putative one led by former Vice President Joe Biden, which will likely be staffed by Clinton and Obama administration veterans, will be capable of understanding that in the absence of a sea change in Palestinian political culture, further negotiations are simply a waste of everyone’s time.
Analysis of UAWC’s Response to the Dutch Funding Freeze over Terror Links
On July 20, 2020, the Dutch government announced that it was suspending funding to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) over links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). During a parliamentary debate, Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Development Minister Sigrid Kaag acknowledged that an internal government audit concluded that Dutch funds were used to pay the salaries of two UAWC employees who were also members of the PFLP terror organization and then arrested for murder.

According to NGO Monitor research, since 2013, the Netherlands has provided UAWC with approximately €20 million in grants.

In response to the Dutch announcement, UAWC issued a statement (July 22) attempting to deflect the serious allegations and misleadingly referring to “former employees” (the two were employed by UAWC at the time of the murder and their subsequent arrests). Reflecting the core emphasis on public relations and donor retention, the statement was published in English.

NGO Monitor has prepared the following detailed analysis of UAWC’s response:
Quote: For many years, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) has been attacked by the Israeli government and right-wing organization affiliated with it. Most of our projects are in “Area C” of the occupied West Bank, where we help vulnerable communities hold on to their land. The Israeli government has built illegal settlements in this area and wants to annex it. This is the key reason why we are attacked.

Analysis: UAWC opens (and closes) with a clearly political defense meant to appeal to European officials, emphasizing “’Area C’ of the occupied West Bank, where we help vulnerable communities hold on to their land,” and asserting that the “key reason” for being “attacked” is the Israeli government’s pursuit of annexation.

In reality, NGO Monitor’s research is the result of evidence linking UAWC to the PFLP terror group (see below). Since December 2019, UAWC’s links to the PFLP have taken on heightened importance, after Israeli authorities announced the arrest of two UAWC employees for murder. On August 23, 2019, Samer Arbid, UAWC’s accountant, commanded a PFLP terror cell that carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother. According to the indictment, Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device. Abdul Razeq Farraj, another UAWC employee, was also indicted for his involvement in the PFLP and the 2019 attack.
On Hezbollah, It’s Time to Call Nasrallah’s Bluff
From a position of unprecedented weakness and distress, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is back to his old gambling habits. Similar to the summer of 2006, he is now threatening to perpetrate a terrorist attack against Israel in response to the death of one of his operatives in Syria.

Then, Nasrallah’s failed gambit triggered an all-out war, which exacted a terrible price from Lebanon and mainly from the Shiite ethnic group he purports to represent. Nasrallah himself was forced to pay a heavy price: his personal freedom. The man has been shuttered in his bunker ever since, and doesn’t see the light of day.

Nasrallah, however, is shackled to his equations — because he fears Israel will interpret a failure to act as weakness, he feels obligated to retaliate and is willing to risk a head-on clash. He hopes, of course, that he’ll be able to control the flames by keeping casualties on the Israeli side to a minimum, allowing Israel to absorb the event and temper its own counter-response, as it has done in the past.

For this reason alone, Israel should not play into Nasrallah’s hands. Rather, it should nullify the equations he is seeking to dictate and present him with a clear red line.

During the Second Lebanon War, Israel was strung along by poor leadership that failed to bring the IDF’s massive military advantage to bear. Instead of bringing Hezbollah to its knees, Israel was needlessly drawn into a 33-day war of attrition.

And yet, the results of that war sent a clear and decisive message to Hezbollah — that Israel will no longer allow the terrorist group to violate its sovereignty and continue attacking it from Lebanese soil. The quiet that prevailed along the border with Lebanon was therefore an important achievement, and it’s a fact that Hezbollah, battered and deterred, recognized that preserving this quiet was just as much in its own interest.

Monday, March 02, 2015

From Ian:

Col. Richard Kemp: Netanyahu, Churchill and Congress
There are striking similarities between the objectives of Churchill's speech nearly 75 years ago and Netanyahu's today; both with no less purpose than to avert global conflagration. And, like Churchill's in the 1930s, Netanyahu's is the lone voice among world leaders today.
There is no doubt abut Iran's intent. It has been described as a nuclear Auschwitz. Israel is not the only target of Iranian violence. Iran has long been making good on its promises to mobilize Islamic forces against the US, as well as the UK and other American allies. Attacks directed and supported by Iran have killed an estimated 1,100 American troops in Iraq in recent years. Iran provided direct support to Al Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks.
Between 2010 and 2013, Iran either ordered or allowed at least three major terrorist plots against the US and Europe to be planned from its soil. Fortunately, all were foiled.
Iran's ballistic missile program, inexplicably outside the scope of current P5+1 negotiations, brings Europe into Iran's range, and future development will extend Tehran's reach to the US.
It is not yet too late to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons. In his 1941 speech to Congress, Churchill reminded the American people that five or six years previously it would have been easy to prevent Germany from rearming without bloodshed. But by then it was too late.
This vengeful and volatile regime must not in any circumstances be allowed to gain a nuclear weapons capability, whatever the P5+1 states might consider the short-term economic, political or strategic benefits to themselves of a deal with Tehran.
Jeffrey Goldberg: Danger Ahead for Obama on Iran
On Israel, here’s the promise Obama made that stays with me the most: “I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don’t bluff,” he said. “I also don’t, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli government recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.” He went on to say four words that have since become famous: “We’ve got Israel’s back.”
Netanyahu obviously believes that Obama doesn't have his, or Israel's, back. There will be no convincing Netanyahu that Obama is anything but a dangerous adversary. But if a consensus forms in high-level Israeli security circles (where there is a minimum of Obama-related hysterics) that the president has agreed to a weak deal, one that provides a glide path for Iran toward the nuclear threshold, then we will be able to say, fairly, that Obama's promises to Israel were not kept.  One of Netanyahu’s most strident critics, Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad intelligence agency, said recently, “A nuclear Iran is a reality that Israel won't be able to come to terms with.”
He went on to say, “Two issues in particular concern me with respect to the talks between the world powers and Iran: What happens if and when the Iranians violate the agreement, and what happens when the period of the agreement comes to an end and they decide to pursue nuclear weapons?”
In the coming weeks, President Obama must provide compelling answers to these questions. (h/t Serious Black)
Politico: Why We Need to Hear Netanyahu
2. Netanyahu’s speech is the act of a true and courageous friend. All of America’s traditional allies in the Middle East are deeply distrustful of Obama’s outreach to Iran. Allies in Europe and Asia are similarly fearful regarding what they consider to be flagging American resolve in the face of threats from Russia and China. Few allied leaders, however, will express their concerns to the president plainly — even in private — for fear of retribution. When they see the White House treating Netanyahu to a level of hostility usually reserved for adversaries, their trepidation only increases.
Even worse, Obama’s apparent reluctance to stand up to adversaries gives allies incentive to hedge. The case of France is instructive. As our colleague Benjamin Haddad recently argued, elements of the French elite are now saying that the French government would be foolish to take a hard line against Russia and Iran. If Washington is going to fold in the face of pressure from Moscow and Tehran, how can France alone hold the line?
5. The Israeli prime minister’s views are reasonable, if not judicious. His opinions about the proposed Iran deal are not idiosyncratic; they are not exclusively Israeli; nor are they extreme. American observers with substantial reputations and with no ax to grind have themselves begun to express similar doubts about the proposed deal. Citing Henry Kissinger and others, The Washington Post editorial board recently wrote that “a process that began with the goal of eliminating Iran’s potential to produce nuclear weapons has evolved into a plan to tolerate and temporarily restrict that capability.”
If the president follows through with such a plan without first subjecting its terms to a rigorous debate in Congress, he will be concluding an agreement that is entirely personal in nature. The legitimacy of such a deal would be hotly contested, rendering it inherently unstable, if not dangerous. By helping to force a more thorough examination of the matter, Netanyahu is therefore performing a service to us all. When a president turns a deaf ear to a good friend bearing an inconvenient message, he works against his own interests, whether he realizes it or not.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

From Ian:

Israel removes last significant ban on Gaza imports
An Israeli source told The Times of Israel that 350 trucks carrying building materials will now be allowed to enter the Hamas-controlled territory every week, an increase of 250 truck loads, in a bid “to increase employment and strengthen the private sector in the Gaza Strip.”
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the change in Israeli policy followed talks with the Palestinians “in cooperation with the international community,” and had “no connection” to the peace negotiations underway between the sides.
Palestinian Govt Endangered By Economic and Political Double-Bind
The IMF specifically called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to cut the wages, pensions, and benefits of public employees.
The recommendation risks trapping the PA in a double-bind, forced to choose between floating the West Bank economy or sustaining the Palestinian government’s political institutions.
Building and sustaining the economy will require, per the IMF report, cuts in employee compensation. But PA government employees are already going on strike – 95% of them walked out this weekend – over insufficient compensation. Further cuts could endanger the viability of the Palestinian government.
Jerusalem police arrest Islamic Movement leaders for allegedly disturbing the peace
Jerusalem policemen were attacked this morning near the Temple Mount in the old city, by Palestinian stone throwers.
Three men were arrested as a result, including the two Islamic Movement leaders, while two policemen were injured after being hit by rocks.
Arab Youths Carrying Molotov Cocktails Arrested at Tapuach Jct
Israeli Border Police have arrested two Arab men at the Tapuach junction after being alerted by suspicious-looking bags the pair were carrying.
The two men, aged 18 and 20, both residents of the Raas el Ayn refugee camp near Shechem, arrived at the checkpoint at the junction on Tuesday afternoon carrying plastic bags.
After border police stationed at the junction approached the two to check the contents of the bags they discovered four Molotov cocktails ready for use.
Terror attack thwarted in West Bank
A terror attack was prevented Wednesday when Israeli security forces in the West Bank caught a Palestinian youth carrying a pistol and knife.
The suspect was arrested by police and Givati soldiers at the Tapuah Junction in the northern West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. He tried reaching for an improvised knife hidden in his belt when security forces grabbed him.
UN Security Council faces reform calls following inaction on Syria
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ban said he also endorsed reforming the Security Council, and that "almost all member states are in agreement that the Security Council should be reformed, but how to reform, how to change, the member states have not been able to agree."
"Sadly, the international community has not been able to help the Syrian people enjoy security and peace for the last two-and-a-half years," Ban said.
"The Security Council should be united at this time. The findings [in the UN chemical weapons report] by Dr. Selltröm and his team were indisputable and overwhelming."
Ban did walk back remarks that he made over the weekend in which he accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of crimes against humanity, maintaining that he was not assigning blame for the chemical weapons attacks.
Lebanese MP Echoes Claims Hezbollah Received Chemical Arms
A claim made Monday by Syrian National Coalition member Kamal al-Labwani, that Syria has transferred chemical weapons to Hezbollah, was echoed Tuesday by another politician.
MP Khaled el Daher, a member of Lebanon's Al Mustakbal party, asked the United Nations to send international inspectors to Lebanon, to inspect Hezbollah's weapons stores. He claims that he has “well founded” information, according to which Hezbollah recently received chemical weapons from Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.
UN Envoy: Golan Fighting Could Draw Israel into Syrian War
The Associated Press quoted the envoy, Robert Serry, as having told the Security Council the fighting could "jeopardize the ceasefire" between Israel and Syria that has been in place since 1974, monitored by UN peacekeepers.
Serry said that during "heavy clashes" last Thursday between Syrian troops and the opposition, five artillery shells and one tank shell landed on the Israeli side of the truce line.
He noted that the Israelis did not retaliate.
Syrian defector: I was told to use chemical weapons
In an interview with Abu Dhabi newspaper The National, Brigadier General Zaher Saket, a commander in the military’s 5th division who defected from President Bashar Assad’s army in March, claimed he had been instructed to attack rebels with poison gas on numerous occasions.
“I am a witness and received orders three times to use chemical gas last year,” Saket said.
Syria Hands Russia 'Proof' of Rebel Chemical Weapons Use
A Russian official has claimed to have received evidence of the use of chemical weapons by Syrian rebels, and dismissed a UN report suggesting the Syrian regime used poison gas as unreliable.
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also slammed a UN report on an August 21 chemical weapons attack in the Syrian capital Damascus, which killed over 1,000 people, as "politicized and one-sided." The report - which concluded that Sarin gas had been used in the attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb - did not explicitly apportion blame for the attack, but western leaders claimed it was proof that the Assad regime was indeed behind the deadly attack.
China: 'UN Report on Syria Not Impartial'
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing that Beijing would have a “serious look” at the report, but did not say whether China thought that government forces were responsible when asked.
“The relevant investigation should be carried out by the U.N. investigation team on an impartial, professional and independent basis,” he said.
MEMRI: In Egypt, Public Campaign Against Obama, U.S.; Calls For Intensified Cooperation With Russia, China
The Egyptian pro-regime and -army press published articles notable in their vilification of President Obama himself – insulting his mother, calling him mentally deficient and his administration "the Adolf Obama Reich," and even going so far as to offer a prayer that he would die in agony. Many articles contended that Obama and his administration supported terror by virtue of their support for the MB; columnists also opposed U.S. intervention in Egypt's internal affairs, and, in response to American threats to cut off aid, argued that Egypt was better off without it.
Egypt Freezes Brotherhood's Assets, Arrests its Spokesman
Among those facing sanctions are Brotherhood general guide Mohammad Badie, his two deputies Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi, as well as Salafist leader Hazem Abu Ismail and preacher Safwat Higazy, reported AFP.
Since August, Egypt's authorities have rounded up dozens of senior leaders of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, including Badie, who was caught in a building in Cairo’s Nasr City district near Rabaa El-Adaweya.
Last week, authorities began investigating former President Mohammed Morsi’s family wealth and assets, reported Al Arabiya.
Analysis: Following US-Russian agreement, Iran will aim for a deal of its own
Meanwhile, Iran’s new nuclear energy chief has pledged increased cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency ahead of upcoming talks later this month.
Even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that he believes in “heroic flexibility,” according to a report by the Iranian Fars News Agency on Tuesday.
“I agree with the issue that I called ‘heroic flexibility’ some years ago, since this move is highly good and necessary on certain occasions, but with commitment to one main condition,” he said. Khamenei added, “A technical wrestler also shows flexibility for technical reasons sometimes, but he would never forget who his rival is and what his main goal is.”
So it seems “tactical flexibility” means to serve the strategic goal of achieving nuclear weapons
Iran Denies Willingness to Make Nuclear Concession, Nixes Possibility of “Fresh Proposal”
Even if Iran did close Fordo, the country’s stockpile of low- and medium-enriched uranium and the 18,000 centrifuges installed at another enrichment plant near Natanz would allow it to make highly enriched fuel for nuclear weapons, said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.
Yuval Steinitz – Israel’s Minister of Intelligence, International Relations, and Strategic Affairs – explained to Israeli Army Radio that “most of the centrifuges are not there; without Fordo they might be able to produce six, not seven, nuclear bombs.”
Iranian media is flatly denying the details of a Der Spiegel report published yesterday describing Iranian president Hassan Rouhani as ready to decommission the country’s uranium enrichment facility at Fordo in exchange for the West easing economic sanctions.
Startling Revelations From an Iranian Smuggling Case in Hamburg
I rarely attend trials, but this one is special. On July 24, 2013, the main hearing in the case of German businessman Rudolf M. and Iranian-Germans Gholamali K., Kianzad K., and Hamid Kh. opened at Hamburg’s Higher Regional Court. The defendants are charged with exporting 92 German-produced specialized valves for use in Iran’s Arak plutonium reactor and arranging the shipment of 856 nuclear-usable valves from India to Iran in 2010 and 2011.
The reasons why the UN Security Council has ordered Iran to halt the construction of the Arak reactor are compelling. If this nuclear plant comes online in 2014, as the Iranians anticipate, it could produce enough weapons-grade plutonium for two bombs a year. The smuggling of nuclear valves from Germany is therefore of exceptional significance and tops the latest UN list of reported alleged violations of the sanction regime against Iran.
Recently, an important detail of this smuggling operation was revealed on the German public television current affairs program, Fakt: “German officials clearly (knew) about this illegal trade since 2009 and did nothing about it for years.” How so? Did such an explosive shipment really take place before the very eyes of the German security services?
Human Rights Group Urges Facebook to Boycott Iranian Regime
The Israeli organization, which represents victims of terrorism in courtrooms around the world, sent a formal letter to Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, in an attempt to dissuade the multibillion dollar company from violating a U.S. law.
It was recently reported that 15 Iranian government ministers launched a new account on the popular social network even though Facebook is supposedly closed to the citizens of Iran. Ministers have made the new accounts by using proxy servers. The fact that Facebook is an American company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, makes it subject to U.S. laws.
Technical Glitch Momentarily Restores Social Media Access in Iran
A technical glitch briefly restored access to social media sites Twitter and Facebook Monday in Iran.
The social media sites have been blocked since 2009 after they were used to organize protests against the reigning regime.
Iranians reacted with cautious optimism when they realized the sites were accessible.
“If it is true, I think they have to register today in calendar as a day of Free Filtering,” user Abbas Farokhi told BBC Persian.
Thailand Jails Hezbollah Bomb Suspect
A 49 year-old Swedish national has been jailed over an alleged Hezbollah bomb plot in Thailand.
Atris Hussein was arrested in January after Israeli intelligence services tipped off their Thai counterparts over a planned terrorist attack during the New Year.
He was sentenced to four years for "illegal armament possession," but will only have to serve two years and eight months after the prosecution failed to convince judges of his connection to the Hezbollah terrorist group.
Instead, the conviction relates to Hussein's possession of 2,800 kilos (2.8 tons) of ammonium nitrate, which is used in the manufacturing of explosives, and the possession of which is banned in Thailand without a permit - which Hussein did not have.
Part Iran-Owned NYC 5th Avenue Office Tower Worth Up to $700 Million Cleared for Seizure by U.S. Government
A 36-story Manhattan office tower, partially-owned by a shell company controlled by Iran, has been cleared for forfeiture to the U.S. government by a federal judge, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. The building is expected to fetch between $500 million and $700 million, the New York Daily News said.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest made the forfeiture finding in a case first brought by the U.S. government in 2008, ruling that the building is subject to forfeiture because revenue from it was secretly funneled to a state-owned Iranian bank, in violation of a U.S. trade embargo.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

  • Wednesday, January 02, 2013
  • Anonymous
Guest post by Challah Hu Akbar, aka Challah & CHA

***

The following are excerpts from Israeli Intelligence and al-Qaeda by Shlomo Shpiro.
Analysis of all al-Qaeda cells arrested in Israel so far shows four common characteristics which made them vulnerable to Israeli intelligence detection and interception: their young age; the influence of Internet propaganda and their reliance on Internet communication; their financial and technical limitations; and their separation from mainstream secular Palestinian terror groups. Almost all members of the various cells were young men in their twenties, who had become increasingly religious, and were known as extremists within their communities. Most were very influenced by al-Qaeda’s online Internet propaganda and spent much time online, reading the preachings of radical clerics, and accumulating knowledge about bombmaking. But their enthusiasm for terrorism was not matched by technical or financial abilities. Most cells did not possess the financial means of acquiring arms or explosives on the black market, and thus expended much of their energies improvising weapons and primitive bombs. They received no support, whether money or weapons, from the secular Palestinian terror groups, which reject al-Qaeda’s ideology and the independence of its cells. These vulnerabilities gave the Israeli intelligence community powerful tools to use in preventing al-Qaeda attacks inside Israel. Through the use of human sources within Arab communities and extensive monitoring of Internet activities, some cells were discovered and their members arrested. Faced with Israeli intelligence successes, and unable to carry out effective attacks inside Israel, al-Qaeda operatives increasingly turned to launching cross-border attacks into Israel from the neighboring Arab states, where they enjoyed a wider operational freedom.
And
Three lessons can be learned from a decade of confrontation between Israeli intelligence and al-Qaeda, lessons which are applicable to many other countries as well. The first is the vulnerability of local al-Qaeda cells due to their reliance on the Internet and other forms of digital communication. Extensive intelligence monitoring of radical jihadist Websites and communications is a powerful tool in the counterterrorism arsenal against al-Qaeda. The second lesson is the crucial importance of ‘‘tactical’’ intelligence cooperation between countries, not only in sharing information but also in ensuring that such an exchange of information is rapid enough to be relevant. The al-Qaeda threats can be managed only by constant and effective intelligence exchange, which must be adapted to fit the changes in threat levels and types. Rapid information exchange enables the prevention of terror attacks, while slower exchange often brings only outdated information of little operational value. The third lesson is the growing danger of home-grown al-Qaeda cells, young people who are attracted by al-Qaeda’s online propaganda to such an extent that they form small, independent cells and are willing to commit terror attacks. While effective intelligence work can often intercept and prevent large attacks, preventing the formation of such small cells with little or no active footprint until they actually begin violent action is almost impossible. But, over time, increased Internet monitoring and human sources inside Muslim religious communities do provide effective, though imperfect, solutions to this threat.  
Political changes in Egypt and the ousting of the Mubarak regime in early 2011 resulted in a general weakening of the Egyptian government’s authority in the Sinai Peninsula. Bedouin tribes in this lawless region, already making millions of dollars from smuggling weapons across the border into Gaza, have now become arms suppliers of the whole region. In the Sinai, the black market in arms is expanding rapidly and the weapons offered for sale include not only assault rifles and ammunition but also heavy rockets, explosives, anti-tank weapons, mortars, and even ground-to-air missiles which disappeared from Libya during the anti-Gaddafi revolution. In July 2011, the former Head of the Shabak, Avi Dichter, warned that the Sinai had turned from a region of arms smuggling to a region of arms transfers, since the lack of any effective Egyptian police presence makes it unnecessary for the Bedouins to even bother hiding the shipments of heavy weapons being sold to any terror group with enough cash and a truck to carry them out. Israeli intelligence has been able to monitor some of the arms smuggled out of Libya and warn the Egyptians. In late August 2011, Egyptian border guards intercepted a large shipment of heavy weapons near the border with Libya, which may have included SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles. In the hands of an al-Qaeda cell, such missiles would create a severe threat to Israeli civilian and military aircraft flying over the entire region. This threat prompted the Israeli government to speed up the construction of a border fence with Egypt along the entire Israeli–Egyptian border. That border remains the most vulnerable region for future al-Qaeda attacks against Israel. How the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, and the uprising in Syria, will impact the presence and activities of al-Qaeda in the Middle East and on the level of support they gain within the populations of the region remains to be seen.

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