6/30 Links: Toameh The Truth About Abbas, 22 Mil Call for Morsi To Go

From Ian:

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Khaled Abu Toameh: What the U.S. Does Not Want to Know About Abbas

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pursues his efforts to revive the peace process in the Middle East, Palestinian officials in the West Bank are complaining that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is keeping them in the dark and refusing to brief them about his plans.
For these officials, Abbas's autocracy has turned the Palestinian Authority into a one-man show called Mahmoud Abbas.
President Abbas has become the president of everything related to the Palestinians and the Palestinian cause, complained Sufyan Abu Zayda, a senior representative of Abbas's Fatah faction. He is the head of the PLO, President of Palestine, President of the Palestinian Authority, head of Fatah, and commander of the Palestinian Authority security forces.
Moreover, in the absence of a functioning Palestinian parliament, Abbas has taken it upon himself to issue his own laws.

MK: McDonalds Franchise Owner 'Defeatist Leftist'

MK Miri Regev (Likud) attacked fast food chain McDonalds' Israel franchise owner, Omri Padan, for his decision to boycott the city of Ariel because it is located on what he sees as “occupied territory.”
"Mr. Padan established Peace Now,” she said on Channel 10 Saturday night. “He is a leftist, he is a defeatist, he cannot make such a hypocritical and ugly decision.”

Danon: ‘Many Arrests’ in Bethlehem Counter-Terror Ops

Terrorists have frequently attacked worshipers at the holy site – the burial place of the Biblical matriarch Rachel – located just minutes from Jerusalem. In some recent attacks terrorists have used makeshift grenades.
Danon revealed that new troops have been sent to the region to help prevent such attacks. A broad-based operation in the area has succeeded in reducing the frequency of terror assaults, he said.

American Jew killed in Egypt 'deeply cared about Middle East'

A young Egyptian by the name of Said Moslem recounted leaving Pochter, his friend, at the protest moments before he was stabbed.
"The reports suggesting that Andrew was involved in the protest are nothing but distorted lies," Moslem said. "He was merely standing and watching and taking notes for his school research. He was not involved in any way. He was murdered in cold blood."
According to Moslem, Pochter was even more careful than most at the protests, due to his Jewish background.

A replay of Mubarak’s twilight, this time with Morsi?

When the social protests first erupted in January 2011, the common belief was that the army would stand by president Mubarak and defend his regime. That was a mistaken assessment, and Tantawi’s decision not to intervene paved the way for the completion of the revolution. Now, it’s clear that the army does not stand behind Morsi, and is mainly concerned with protecting its own interests.
One year after his inauguration, the position of Egypt’s first elected president is thus as precarious as was Mubarak’s shortly before he fell, if not worse. The public on one hand, and the defense minister on the other, will determine, and fairly soon, whether Morsi’s fate will be any different.

22 Million Call for Morsi's Ouster, Egypt Prepares for Protests

As Egypt prepares for a “million man protest” against President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday, the opposition Tamarod said that more than 22 million people have signed a petition demanding Morsi’s departure and a snap election.

MEMRI Clerics Express Joy over Murder of Four Shiites in Egypt


Turkey: As order is restored, fears of a witch hunt surface

As calm returns to the streets, the government’s focus has shifted to identifying the initiators of the protests. According to the Turkish daily Radikal, more than 5,000 people have been detained in connection to the demonstrations, with 85 of them awaiting trial.
Government officials have accused a number of artists, journalists and members of the business community of being part of a conspiracy to topple the government.

Police clash with protesters in Ankara, Istanbul

Thousands of protesters returned to Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday, demanding justice for a demonstrator slain by police fire during demonstrations that have swept Turkey this month. Police later forced the protesters out of the square, pushing them back using their shields.
In the capital, Ankara, police fired tear gas and pressurized water to break up a similar protest by a group of about 200 people, the Dogan news agency reported.

As U.S. Mulls Increasing Assistance, Evidence Emerges that Lebanese Army Fought Alongside Hezbollah

Reporters on the ground spoke with Hezbollah fighters as well as eyewitnesses who confirmed the party’s combat role in Sidon. MP Bahia Hariri explained that Hezbollah occupied a hill facing her house. More information emerged on Wednesday in a report from Al-Mustaqbal’s correspondent in the city, which provided a detailed picture of Hezbollah’s deployment during the fighting. Published death notices of Hezbollah fighters killed in action in Sidon round up the body of evidence.

Daphne Anson: Anti-Israel, Pro-Iran Placards At South African Anti-Obama Demo (video)

Lebanese Canadian Bank to Pay $102 Million in Hizballah Laundering Case

Lebanese financial institutions tied to Hizballah wired over $300 million from Lebanon into the United States to buy and ship used cars to West Africa as part of a money laundering scheme, the complaint alleged. Profits from the car sales and narcotics were then funneled back to Lebanon through money laundering channels controlled by Hizballah, including LCB and two Lebanese exchange houses – the Hassan Ayash Exchange Company and Ellissa Holding – as well as their subsidiaries and affiliates. The lawsuit sought $480 million in civil money laundering penalties from the Lebanese financial entities.

Newly Appointed Greek Minister of Health Raises Jewish Concerns

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday expressed concern over the appointment of Adonis Georgiadis as Greece’s newly appointed Minister of Health, due to a history of troubling remarks about Jews and his public promotion of an anti-Semitic book.
According to reports, Mr. Georgiadis has said in the past that “all major banks belong to the Jews” and that “the Jewish Lobby” would determine the fate of Greece’s foreign debt.
He has also extensively promoted the anti-Semitic diatribe, "The Jews, the whole truth" written by Konstantinos Plevris, a prominent author and self-proclaimed anti-Semite.

Polish prosecutor: Swastika a symbol of prosperity

Two legal decisions have caused outrage among Jewish organizations and anti-fascists in Poland.
In the first case, a district prosecutor in the northern city of Bialystok announced that he does not intend to open an investigation after swastikas were discovered painted on electrical transformers, despite complaints lodged by locals. The prosecutor explained his decision saying that in different parts of the world, for example in parts of Asia, the swastika is not necessarily associated with fascism or the Nazi movement.

British Entrepreneur Moves Company to Israel for 3 Months, Recounts ‘Only in Israel’ Moments

British entrepreneur Daniel Abrahams decided to move his Internet start-up, MyCurrencyTransfer.com, from London to Tel Aviv for three months in April, telling the blog Displaced Nation: “We want to be immersed in one of the most dynamic and successful startup hubs in the world.”
Now nearing the end of his stay, Abrahams writes in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper “The culture, attitude and general mindset in Tel Aviv is utterly unique and unlike anything I’ve come across anywhere in the world.”