Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Ya'alon criticized for reportedly calling Kerry 'obsessive, messianic'
The office of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday would neither confirm nor deny comments attributed to him calling US Secretary of State John Kerry “obsessive” and “messianic.”Abbas defiant in speech of '3 noes'
“Abu Mazen lives and dies by our sword,” Ya’alon is quoted as saying by Yedioth. “Once we leave Judea and Samaria, he is finished. In effect, during these past months, there haven’t been negotiations with the Palestinians, but with the Americans.”
In a speech reminiscent of the 1967 Khartoum Resolution, in which the Arab League stated what is now known as the "three noes" -- no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it -- Abbas further stated that the Jordan Valley was an integral part of a Palestinian state.Jeopardizing Deal, Palestinians to Approach UN for Statehood
Abbas made these statements despite the fact that the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations are at a sensitive stage.
The PLO leadership on Monday night announced that it is in the process of putting together a plan for the Palestinian Authority to join international organizations under UN direction, as well as sign international conventions, Israel Radio reports.
The plan is being devised by the PLO political committee, on instructions from PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
When the current peace negotiations began, some seven months ago, the Palestinians committed to delay approaching international organizations for recognition, in return for the release of 104 terrorists from Israeli jails.
That one worked out nicely.
Abbas hardens his stance on Palestinian ‘right of return’
The traditional Palestinian position on the “right of return” follows the language of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which stipulates a “just and agreed upon solution based on UN resolution 194.” This formula was used by Abbas in his speech at the UN last September, as well as at his speech at the World Economic Forum in Jordan last June. But in his speech Saturday, Abbas made no reference to the international decisions pertaining to the matter.Arab Foreign Ministers Affirm Rejection of Israel as Jewish State
“Let me put it simply: the right of return is a personal decision. What does this mean? That neither the PA, nor the state, nor the PLO, nor Abu-Mazen [Abbas], nor any Palestinian or Arab leader has the right to deprive someone from his right to return,” he said.
Nine Arab foreign ministers told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris on Sunday that they would not accept Israel as a Jewish state, a move they made in support of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s statement on Saturday that he would also refuse such recognition for Israel. Abbas also said that Palestinians would reject any peace deal that does not make eastern Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state.Top Israeli Military Official: Hamas’s West Bank Terror Campaign Being Directed via Turkey
“We won’t recognize and accept the Jewishness of Israel. We have many excuses and reasons that prevent us from doing so,” Abbas said. Furthermore, Abbas declared that Palestinians “don’t love death, but we welcome martyrdom if it happens,” and “will march to Jerusalem in the millions, as free people and heroes,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel Hayom Friday published an interview with Israeli General Tamir Yadai, the commander of the Israeli military’s West Bank forces, in which the general confirms that Hamas’s terror attempts have increased in tempo and that the group’s campaign is being “directed from Gaza via Turkey.”Another Pallywood Moment
Look at it. Really look at it. Its completely fabricated. Look at the soldier on the right. Fuzzy. Underexposed to the point of ghostly. Its a completely different exposure than the other parts of the photo. Look at the limbs that end randomly. Look at the disjointed background.IDF Halts PA Prime Minister's Convoy; Soldiers 'Assaulted'
This ridiculous photoshop has been in constant use since 2008.
IDF forces stopped a convoy Tuesday that included Palestinian Authority (PA) “Prime Minister,” Razi Hamdallah, after the convoy's vehicles drove recklessly on Highway 60. The incident, north of Ofra and Ramallah, involved some violence and ended in mutual recriminations, with the PA demanding an apology and the IDF refusing to give one. No one is known to have been hurt.Far-Left Rabbis For Human Rights 'Fabricated Attack'
Last December, a similar incident occurred as former PA "Prime Minister" Ahmed Qureia was arrested by police outside of Maaleh Adumim near Jerusalem. Qureia's Mercedes car was racing at 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph) on a road with an 80 kph (50mph) maximum speed limit.
After a car chase police were required to block the road, and then wait 2 hours as Qureia and other passengers refused to open the car's windows or doors.
The far-left group Rabbis for Human Rights, accused in the past of inciting Arab violence and recently of distributing anti-Semitic materials, was exposed Monday for falsely reporting cut down olive tree branches at the Arab village of Jaloud in Samaria, right next to the Jewish town of Esh Kodesh.Rival Fatah Terrorists Exchange Fire Just Outside Jerusalem
An IDF patrol that arrived on the scene detained several Israeli youths who were in the area and fled towards the community of Shvut Rachel.
However, upon checking the scene, the IDF found there were no signs on the olive trees of being cut down, and consequently the Israelis were released. The far-left group has previously used olive harvests to stir up controversy and disputes.
Members of Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, have reportedly raided Arab villages in "Area C", just north-west of Jerusalem, opening fire with automatic rifles. The clashes are reportedly part of internal power struggles within the partyNGO condemns detention of photographers by Palestinian security forces
A Palestinian civil rights monitor condemned Palestinian security forces for allegedly detaining photographers and deleting video footage off their cameras during recent protests in Ramallah.Arrest Sweeps May Complicate Palestinian Reconciliation Effort
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) said that the actions violate "freedom of opinion and expression," and demanded authorities "enable journalists to exercise their professional duty freely," in a statement released on Sunday.
Efforts to achieve reconciliation between the two largest Palestinian factions, which had been accelerating in recent days, may again be at risk of faltering. Hamas had made a series of goodwill gestures toward its Fatah rivals in recent days, and Fatah officials had announced that they would be traveling to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for reconciliation talks. Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces in the Fatah-controlled West Bank subsequently arrested scores of Hamas members in the Fatah-controlled West Bank, causing Hamas to cancel planned celebrations in the area.Hamas: 'Israel Has Eight Years Left'
Fathi Hamad, Hamas's Interior Minister, claimed in a speech honoring the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead that "Palestine" would replace the Jewish State by 2022.Hamas Terrorists Showcase 'Bravery' - by Playing Chicken
Hamad noted in his speech that the Palestinian Arabs, according to Islamic prophecies, will enter the Al Aqsa Mosque "in jubilation and victory like they entered it the first time". He said that Israel has failed in previous wars waged against the Palestinians, while the Palestinians are progressing nationally towards the stage where they are capable of conquering Jerusalem.
A military exercise of Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military branch, was among the ongoing ceremonies and events. Video from the exercise shows a "test of courage" as terrorists "played chicken" with an oncoming military truck, ducking underneath it at the last moment:
After dispensing with Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt trains its sights on Hamas
After crushing the Muslim Brotherhood at home, Egypt's military rulers plan to undermine the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the neighboring Gaza Strip, senior Egyptian security officials told Reuters.John Bolton: President Obama’s Policies Are a Disaster in Iran
The aim, which the officials say could take years to pull off, includes working with Hamas's political rivals Fatah and supporting popular anti-Hamas activities in Gaza, four security and diplomatic officials said.
Barack Obama’s inexplicable and increasingly dangerous tilt toward Iran is getting harder to hide. Whether his administration is consciously shifting policy or simply making ad hoc, unrelated (even incoherent) decisions is unclear. But the cumulative effect is indisputable — a declining America in the Middle East inevitably means a stronger Iran, portending grave risks for Washington and its appalled friends and allies.IAEA gains more Iran access, but not enough for bomb probe
The U.N. nuclear watchdog's increased access in Iran to monitor a landmark agreement with world powers still falls short of what it says it needs to investigate suspicions that Tehran may have worked on designing an atomic bomb.Iran FM Zarif Honors American-Murdering Hezbollah Terrorist, “Signals Insincerity” Behind Tehran’s Latest Moves
It is also a far cry from the wide-ranging inspection powers the International Atomic Energy Agency had in Iraq in the 1990s to help unearth and dismantle Saddam Hussein's clandestine nuclear program after the first Gulf war.
Reuters this evening published photos taken earlier today showing “Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif… lay[ing] a wreath at the grave of assassinated Hezbollah military commander” Imad Mughniyeh, a terrorist who was killed in 2008 after having spent literally decades killing Americans and others on behalf of his paymasters in Tehran.Britain to Help Destroy Syria's Chemical Weapons
Celebrating a mass-murdering terrorist is a bad choice for any Foreign Minister, but the decision by Tehran’s top diplomat to so brazenly honor a terrorist like Mughniyeh, who killed hundreds of Americans, within hours of inking an agreement with the US and members of the P5+1 sends a very negative, and unmistakeable signal about Iran’s true intentions.
Britain said on Monday it planned to give the United States specialist equipment and training to help it destroy Syria's chemical weapons arsenal more quickly, reports Reuters.In Damascus, starvation claims Palestinian refugees
British Defense Minister Philip Hammond said in a written statement to parliament on Monday his country planned to gift equipment to the United States worth around 2.5 million pounds that would allow the chemicals to be processed at a higher rate.
Camp residents said 48 Palestinians died in recent weeks after Syrian security forces laid siege to the camp in the last eight months. They died of starvation or because they couldn’t obtain medical aid.
On Monday, a six-truck supply convoy bearing enough food to feed 10,000 people was supposed to enter the camp with permission from the Syrian authorities. When it neared Yarmouk, gunmen opened fire on it and it was forced to turn back.
