6/13 Links Part 1: Fatah Thugs, PA Honors Terrorists and Gazan Farmers want to Trade with Israel

From Ian:

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Khaled Abu Toameh: The Palestinian Authority's Reign of Terror

Then, Fatah thugs recruited by the Palestinian Authority attacked dozens of Palestinian protesters who had set up tents in the center of Ramallah. The protesters were beaten and their tents set on fire as Palestinian Authority policemen stood on the side and refused to interfere.
By resorting to this policy of terror and intimidation against its critics and political opponents, the Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank is once again showing that it is not much different from other Arab dictatorships. It is these measures that have driven many Palestinians away from the Palestinian Authority and straight into the open arms of Hamas and other extremist groups.

PM to Palestinians: Stop squabbling, start talking

Netanyahu said, “My goal is to see a historic compromise that ends the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians once and for all.”
“This will entail a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, with ironclad security arrangements for Israel – recognition, security, demilitarization,” Netanyahu said.
“I believe that these are the elements for peace. I don’t pose them as preconditions for negotiations. I look forward to enter those negotiations without preconditions without delay. I am ready for such a peace. I hope the Palestinians are ready too,” he said.

Media Comment: The self-perception of ‘Haaretz’

Haaretz is not so much a newspaper as an ideological tract. Its professional shortcomings, such as its publisher’s narrow focus and the clique-like character of the editorial staff, have turned Haaretz into an organ injurious to free, open and pluralistic thinking.
Gideon Levy trumpets his non- Zionism. Amira Haas was quoted saying to The New Yorker “my tribe is leftists, not liberal Zionists.” Regular columnist and Israel Prize laureate Prof. Ze’ev Sternhell in 2001 wrote in Haaretz’s pages “There is no doubt about the legitimacy of [Palestinian] armed resisitance”.

Harriet Sherwood visits town of Nabi Selah – forgets to mention the little monster it spawned

You may recall that the town of Nabi Selah (and Sherwood’s protagonist, Bassem Tamimi) was featured in a New York Times magazine cover story by Ben Ehrenreich, which romanticized the culture of terrorism in Bassem’s ‘little village’, and whitewashed the crime of its most famous resident, a woman named Ahlam Tamimi – whom, per Ehrenreich, is still much-loved in the town.
As Arnold and Frimet Roth explained in-depth recently, in response to Ehrenreich’s story, Tamimi (released in 2011 during the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange) is the Palestinian who escorted a suicide bomber to a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem in 2001 – a massacre which left fifteen people dead, including the Roth’s' daughter Malki who was only fifteen years old at the time

Palestinian indicted of murdering settler

Salam Zagal of Tulkarem was indicted in a military court Wednesday for the murder of Evyatar Borowsky on April 30. According to the charges, Zagal set out to kill a Jewish settler, and Borowsky was the unlucky target.

Abbas won't dismiss official who praised killer of settler

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not adhere to the request of several US congressmen to reprimand a Fatah official who praised the killer of an Israeli settler in the West Bank, Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported on Wednesday.
The congressmen urged Abbas to dismiss the official, Sultan Abu al-Einein from the government after saying "We salute the heroic fighter, the self-sacrificing Salam Al-Zaghal [the killer of Israeli settler Evyatar Borovsky]."

PA honors 3 terrorists serving 166 life sentences

Last month, Palestinian Authority Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Karake chose to honor terrorist Abdallah Barghouti, who is serving 67 life sentences and is responsible for the death of 66 Israelis in suicide terror attacks. Together with a delegation including District Governor of Ramallah, Laila Ghannam, he paid a "solidarity visit" to Barghouti's family.

Hamas to execute 2 Palestinians linked with Israel

Hamas intends to execute two Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who were recently convicted of “collaborating” with Israel.
A Hamas official said that the two men, who were not identified, would be executed by hanging by the end of this month, probably next week.
Egypt

Egyptian Minister Reveals Hamas Aided Brotherhood Prison Break

Now, judicial sources claim that former Egyptian Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy testified that Hamas cooperated with the Muslim Brotherhood to conduct prison breaks during the outbreak of the uprising. A source said that Wagdy testified before the Appellate Court of Ismailia, asserting that Egyptian intelligence “monitored communications between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas concerning participation in the Friday of Rage (the fourth day of the uprising and the storming of the prisons.”

Children recruited by regime and rebels in Syria, says UN study

The Assad regime and the Syrian rebels have recruited boys and girls under the age of 18 to their ranks, a new UN study has found.
They are used mostly as “suicide bombers or human shields,” in combat and support roles.
The report also details the regime’s abuse of boys it suspects are linked to opposition groups.

Lebanon Warns Syria after Gunship Attack

Lebanon's army warned it will hit back against any new attacks from Syria after a helicopter gunship struck an eastern town on Wednesday, ratcheting up tensions ahead of US-British talks on the conflict.

Syrian Civil War an ‘Iranian Fight’ Says Think Tank Chief

The head of a think tank in Dubai says Syria’s civil war has become a fight for Iran’s survival and rulership in the Middle East.
Mustafa Alani, director of security and defense at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Council, explained in a report published by The Washington Post on Wednesday that the Syrian government’s chief backer, Iran, is the most responsible for its survival in the savage civil war that began in March 2011.

Iran’s deep-rooted terror networks pose ‘real risk’

There are “clear signs” that terrorist networks first established by Iran in several South American countries in the 1980s and 1990s are still in place, and there are indications that Iran has similar networks in Europe, the Argentinian prosecutor who investigated the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires told The Times of Israel.
In a telephone interview a week after he issued a 500-page report on the bombing and Iran’s wider terrorist infiltration of South America, Alberto Nisman said that Tehran had established its terror networks for the strategic long term, ready to be used “whenever it needs them.

Google: Iran Broke Into Thousands of Gmail Accounts

Most of the victims were Iranians, or user Farsi in their accounts, a Google official said, indicating that the data theft involved may be connected to domestic Iranian issues – perhaps the local Iranian elections, set for Friday. The data theft began some three weeks ago, Google said.

Mossad head, in Ankara, reveals Iran’s anti-Turkish activity

Pardo gave Fidan information, from the Mossad and other Israeli intelligence hierarchies, concerning anti-Turkish activity by Syria and Iran, Israeli sources said later Wednesday. This included intelligence on Iranian Revolutionary Guards activity inside Turkey, the sources said, noting that Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this week charged that foreign elements were involved in the Taksim Square protests in Istanbul.

Egypt, Pakistan deny importing Israeli arms

Also on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Ministry released a statement stating, “Israel denies selling any military equipment to Pakistan,” and that Israel plans to contact the British office in charge of export permits to seek an explanation for the information that was published.
The statement then went into damage control mode, trying to keep Pakistan’s bitter enemy, India, from thinking that the report is true. “Israel’s strategic relationship with India, the strongest [most populous] democracy in the world, which like Israel is dealing with terrorist threats and is a key anchor in international relations,” said the statement.

Gaza farmers: Exports to Israel could improve ties

An opportunity to once again export fruits and vegetables to the Israeli market could be game-changing not only to Gazan farmers but also to the larger relationship between the Gazan people and their Israeli neighbors, farmers from the territory told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
“We want to sell in Israel,” said Mahmoud Ikhlain, chairman of the Beit Lahiya Cooperative.
“The market in Israel is a good market. All the time, we and Israel are in contact.”
“We are neighbors,” Ikhlain added.