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Monday, July 15, 2013

7/15 Links Part 1: Hamas Rockets Threaten Tel Aviv, Destabilizing Jordan, Ramadan Suspended for Jihad

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Islamists' Scheme To Destabilize Jordan
Like Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is undoubtedly hoping that Morsi's ouster will undermine his rivals in Hamas, Jordan's King Abdullah sees the newest revolution in Egypt as a blow to his political foes in the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamas and Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood indeed appear to have suffered a major setback as the result of the loss of their patrons in Egypt.
King Abdullah and his loyalists now apparently fear that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is currently working on a plan to stir unrest in Jordan in order to undermine, or possibly overthrow, the monarchy there in retaliation for the ouster of Morsi.
UN Watch: “No such thing as Islamic terrorism,” delegate tells UN confab on religious sensitivities
In a debate on the implementation of Paragraph 5 (e) of Resolution 16/18, Ambassador Ömür Orhun, the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the OSCE, regretted use of the term “Islamic terrorism” by the Western media following terrorist attacks like the 2005 London bombings. “There is no such thing as Islamic terrorism,” he said.
US Ambassador Kozak responded that terrorists are often labeled as such in Western countries precisely because this is what they term themselves. Most “Islamic terrorists” are self-proclaimed as such. To successfully disassociate Islam from terrorism, the OIC would need to address such issues.
Israel launches information war against Hezbollah
The website is the product of Israel’s new interactive media branch, a spin-off from the IDF Spokesman’s Unit. Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, the head of the new branch, says some 30 soldiers work there, and put out content in English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Spanish and Russian. Two of the soldiers, she says, are native Egyptians who moved to Israel about seven years ago. IDF – Hezbollah Site
Bennett: I would not free one murderer for the right to sit with Abbas
Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday responded to reports that Israel is considering releasing Palestinian security prisoners as a gesture to restart peace talks, saying that he would "not free one murderer in exchange for the right to sit with Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas]."
Israeli Arabs to Protest Approval of Bedouin Land Grab
The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab citizens of Israel has called for a general strike among Israeli Arabs on Monday, in protest over the approval of the law which legalizes pirate Bedouin settlement in the Negev.
The plan, which was proposed by former Minister Benny Begin just before the last elections, will add more Bedouin settlements to the list of those that will receive official recognition, and increase the amount of land that will be handed over to Bedouin as part of an agreement.
Hamas manufacturing rockets that threaten Tel Aviv
Speaking to a joint conference of the Defense Ministry and the Manufacturers Association of Israel, Gantz explained that the terror organization, which controls the Gaza Strip, is producing its own 200 millimeter caliber missiles, known as the M-75, which can strike to about 80 kilometers (50 miles).
Egypt: Govt Demolishes 805 Tunnels to Smuggle Fuel to Gaza
The Egyptian army targeted on Sunday a number of tunnels on the Rafah border in the Sinai Peninsula which were used to smuggle fuel to Gaza.
Army sources said that 80 percent of all tunnels have been demolished, amounting to about 805 tunnels.
Terrorists open fire on Israel from Sinai border
Two masked gunmen fired on Israeli soldiers from across the Egyptian border on Sunday evening.
No injuries were reported and the gunmen escaped into the Sinai desert in an all-terrain vehicle.
Barry Rubin: Egypt: Out of the Frying Pan into the Frying Pan
First, as Westerners continually misunderstand what might be called the power of power. People go with the winner. Whoever governs is popular until things just get beyond toleration, as happened in Iran and Syria. That process takes a long time to build up.
Second, the Muslim Brotherhood, it is hard to put this in polite Western terms, is either going to be craven or murderous. It remembers what happened in the 1950s—when the regime crushed it, sent its leaders to concentration camps, and hung some of them. The Brotherhood may snarl but it is frightened of the army.
Egypt Freezes Assets of 14 Top Islamists
The United States later joined Germany, calling on the Egyptian military and interim leaders to free Morsi for the first time since he was detained over a week ago.
The asset freeze announced Sunday is part of an investigation ordered by public prosecutor Hisham Barakat which affects nine Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the group’s general guide Mohamed Badie, and five Islamists from other groups including ex-militant faction Gamaa Islamiya, judicial sources told AFP.
Brotherhood chief suspends Ramadan fast for anti-coup ‘jihad’
The Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader ruled on Monday that protesters against the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi may break the fast of Ramadan, since they were in a “state of jihad” and would soon wage a battle for control of Egypt.
In a series of tweets, Mohammed Badie compared the struggle against the June 30 military coup, centered around a sit-in at Cairo’s Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque, to the Battle of Badr, a decisive battle waged between the Prophet Muhammad and his adversaries from the tribe of Quraish in the year 624.
UNHCR says over 604,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon
Lebanon has frequently called on the UN Security Council and International donors to help it shoulder the burden of hosting the Syrian refugees, who are expected to cross the threshold of one million by the end of the year.
UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a report last month that refugees in Lebanon have surpassed 25 percent of its own population and are inflicting a huge burden on the state and people of Lebanon.
Syria Denies Latakia Strike Occurred; Israeli TV Releases Satellite Footage of Site (VIDEO)
Qassem Saadeddine, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Council, told Reuters that the rebels’ intelligence network had identified missiles being stored in the depots which were hit. ”It was not the FSA that targeted this,” Saadeddine said. ”It is not an attack that was carried out by rebels. This attack was either by air raid or long-range missiles fired from boats in the Mediterranean.” Syrian rebels described hearing and seeing huge blasts, the ferocity of which was beyond the firepower available to the FSA.
Russia Today: Report: Turkey helped Israel target weapons in Syria
Russia Today reports that Israeli jets used Turkish military base to launch an airstrike on an arms depot in Latakia earlier this month to avoid entering Syrian airspace PM Netanyahu: I'm not in the habit of saying what we did or didn't do.