Khaled Abu Toameh: Kerry's Peace Process Double Standards
But while the U.S. Administration has been quick in issuing a response to the Israeli minister's statements, it continues to ignore remarks and demonstrations against Kerry made by Palestinians and other Arabs.Kerry’s Moral Inversion on Terrorism
Palestinian officials representing various organizations, including the Palestinian Authority, have been denouncing Kerry almost on a daily basis over the past few weeks. But these condemnations do not seem to bother the State Department.
Among the officials who have been extremely critical of Kerry's role in the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is Yasser Abed Rabbo, the PLO's Secretary-General and one of the closest advisors to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Just last month, Abed Rabbo launched a scathing attack on Kerry, denouncing his latest proposals as unacceptable. "Kerry does not have the right to decide where our borders will be," the top PLO official said. "If the U.S. wants, it can give parts of California or Washington to Israel. Kerry's framework agreement is very dangerous."
Speaking yesterday at the Vatican, Secretary of State John Kerry let slip a comment so ludicrous that one has to wonder how much wider the gap between reality and Kerry’s worldview can yet grow. Following his meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, in which the two discussed the violence in Syria and prospects for Middle East peace, Kerry delivered a public statement in which he remarked, “And so we have a huge common interest in dealing with this issue of poverty, which in many cases is the root cause of terrorism or even the root cause of the disenfranchisement of millions of people on this planet.”Australia FM: Don’t call settlements illegal under international law
In making such a claim, America’s Secretary of State commits a terrible moral inversion, one in which the terrorists are cast as the victims, driven to such desperate acts by poverty, while the people they murder, particularly when Westerners, are really the ones who are guilty–guilty of having allowed the great injustice of poverty in the first place.
“I don’t want to prejudge the fundamental issues in the peace negotiations,” Bishop said. “The issue of settlements is absolutely and utterly fundamental to the negotiations that are under way and I think it’s appropriate that we give those negotiations every chance of succeeding.”
Asked whether she agrees or disagrees with the near-universal view that Israeli settlements anywhere beyond the 1967 lines are illegal under international law, she replied: “I would like to see which international law has declared them illegal.”
“Israel has to be ever vigilant against such tendencies on the part of the international community,” the minister said. While private organizations were free to boycott whomever they wanted, any Australian body that received state funding should be barred from calling for boycotts, she continued.
She also strongly condemned the global anti-Israel BDS movement: “It’s anti-Semitic. It identifies Israel out of all other nations as being worthy of a boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign? Hypocritical beyond belief.”
Netanyahu on Palestinian 'right of return': There is no room for maneuver
According to government officials, Netanyahu has said the Palestinian demand of a “so-called right of return” is “not right, not justified, and not legitimate.”Netanyahu: Jew Free Palestinian State Would Be Ethnic Cleansing
Netanyahu has said in meetings that an expectation that Israel has to deal with Arab refugees that were created by the war in 1948 that the Arabs started against Israel was preposterous, according to government officials.
If Palestinians want to return to a Palestinian state, they can go there, Netanyahu said.
One official, referring to Abbas’s speech on Saturday, said this was a reiteration of a “whole series of maximalist claims that everyone understands will make a negotiated peace impossible.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a ”Jew-free” Palestinian state, now being contemplated in peace talks, would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing, in a trailer for an hour-long interview with Canada’s CTV to be broadcast this week.Loss of the Jordan Valley equals loss of security
When the interviewer, CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme, said that 1 in 5 Israelis are Arab, Netanyahu responded, “Sure. We’re not asking them to change their religion, they have full civic rights. Now in the Palestinian state, the way its being contemplated, no Jew can live there, it has to be Jew free, ethnic cleansing. Well, what is that? There are Arabs who live here, but they can’t contemplate Jews living there.”
Without an Israeli grip on the Jordan Valley, Jordan would be exposed to a Palestinian takeover; in certain circumstances, guerrilla forces could enter Jordan to help bring down the king. Moreover, since Hamas today holds a majority of the Palestinian Authority, one can predict that following a coup in Jordan, the new government will be influenced by Hamas, perhaps by Iran – but certainly not by King Abdullah.Netanyahu meets with King Abdullah in Jordan
Thus I believe that King Abdullah, in his heart of hearts, prefers that Israel retain control over the Jordan Valley.
Some experts are resolved that the eastern front has “expired” forever. To which I say that recently, we have seen that the Middle East is the most fluid place in the world, geopolitically speaking. Al-Qaida forces are positioned in Iraq and Syria, as well as Iran. Indeed, Syria and Iraq may ultimately be dominated by either of these two entities. Should this happen, King Abdullah’s rule will be compromised, and Jordan may join the “axis” countries – Iran, Iraq and Syria.
According to a report Thursday on Army Radio, Netanyahu has been seeking to define a fourth bloc of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in the vicinity of Beit El, that Israel would retain in any future agreement with the Palestinians.Iron Dome downs five rockets headed for Ashkelon
The report, which cited an unnamed senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations, harked back to previous reports that the Israeli negotiating team has brought up the option of renting or purchasing land from the Palestinian Authority. The older reports did not specify which swaths of land Israel would seek to retain. (h/t Bob Knot)
In response to the late-night barrage, the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes on four sites in northern Gaza, including a hidden rocket launcher, a weapons storage site and a weapons manufacturing facility. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported direct hits on all targets.Shin Bet foils Palestinian plan to kidnap Israeli
“The IDF response was precise, swift and efficient in eliminating terror capabilities that only exist in order to terrorize, kill and maim Israelis,” read a statement by Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, who later linked to footage of Iron Dome intercepting the rockets:
The Shin Bet security service, in a joint operation with the Israel Prison Service, thwarted efforts by Palestinian prisoners held in Israel to coordinate the kidnapping of Israelis in the West Bank last month, the domestic security agency announced on Wednesday.Arab Youths Attack Rabbi Visiting his Murdered Son's Grave
In December, three prisoners planned to carry out a kidnapping with the assistance of the Holy Warriors Brigade, a Hamas affiliate based in the Gaza Strip. The attacks were thwarted in the preliminary planning stages, the Shin Bet said in a press release.
Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen, whose son Neria Cohen was murdered in the Mercaz HaRav attack in 2008, was violently attacked by Arab youths as he visited his son's grave on the Mount of Olives yesterday.Twitter Suspends Second Hamas Account; IDF Says Because of Terrorist Designation
"Yesterday I went with my wife and children to my son's gravesite," the Rabbi recounted, in an interview with Arutz Sheva. "At the end of the road on Mount of Olives, I saw a group of Arab youths - they immediately began throwing stones at our car."
Twitter suspended a second online social media account believed to be associated with terror group Hamas on Wednesday, taking its Al Qassam Brigades feed offline, after removing its primary account on Tuesday.Study warns of growing threat to Israel from Al-Qaeda
While Hamas blamed “Jewish-Christian incitation against the Qassam active account,” the Israel Defense Forces cited chapter and verse of the U.S. law, by which San Francisco-based Twitter must abide, that prohibits Hamas from using the service.
In all, al-Qaeda and jihadist groups have tallied more than 85 percent of the total suicide attacks worldwide, but in 2013 that figure rose to nearly 95%, the INSS study found.Feinstein: 'We Cannot Let Israel Determine When and Where the United States Goes to War'
Despite the relatively low number of suicide bombings compared to other tactics employed by terror groups, they resonate strongly thanks to both the number of lives they claim and their attack on public morale.
In the past year, terrorist groups launched 291 suicide attacks in 18 countries, killing around 3,100 people — a 25% rise in attacks compared to the year prior.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) triggered controversy with a fiery floor speech in the Senate on Tuesday night, accusing supporters of the bipartisan Kirk-Menendez bill on Iran sanctions of wanting "regime change" and declaring that "we cannot let Israel determine when and where the United States goes to war." The bill includes a provision offering support to Israel in the event of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran.Obama urges Jewish leaders not to back Iran sanctions
Feinstein chairs the Select Committee on Intelligence and is considered pro-Israel, but her remarks, which echo those of anti-Israel critics, have provoked outrage. The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) called on her to apologize, noting that the bill includes a proviso that: "Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed as a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of force against Iran." (h/t Jewess)
Two top Obama administration officials urged Jewish groups not to back new Iran sanctions, calling them “dangerous.”UCLA Prof Urges Those With ‘a Jewish Sounding Name’ to Lobby Against Iran Bill
The officials — from the White House national security team and the Treasury Department — spoke Wednesday with Jewish leaders in a call convened by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
UCLA professor of public policy Mark Kleiman took to his Washington Monthly blog on Wednesday to urge his readers “to yell at Senate Democrats who support the Iran sanctions bill,” which he characterized as a “lunatic piece of warmongering legislation.”Where's the Coverage? Iran's Supreme Leader Hates America
Kleiman, a frequent contributor to Washington Monthly, said Jewish voters hold the key to convincing Democrats to reverse their support of the bill.
“Please consider making your voice heard especially strongly if you’re Jewish, or have a Jewish-sounding name,” wrote Kleiman, author of the book Marijuana.
Today, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei called America an “arrogant power,” tweeting “Americans, Zionists and global arrogant powers are interested in neither the #Shia nor the #Sunni. 20/3/08”. The other day, he accused the U.S. and U.K. of fomenting ethnic hatred, “The British r specialists on creating sectarian conflicts among religious sects;they taught the Americans how 2 do so.”Special Lebanon tribunal trial opens against Hezbollah defendants for assassinating Rafik Hariri
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on Thursday opened the trial in absentia on Thursday against the Hezbollah defendants alleged to have assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and killed 21 others on February 14, 2005.Lebanon: Al Qaeda Group Vows to Continue Attacks on Iran, Israel
To date, the case has riled, divided and inflamed already hot disputes between Lebanon’s Sunni and Shi'ite population, with Sunnis demanding justice and Hezbollah claiming the case was pushed forward by Western countries trying to reduce and besmirch its name (even though the court was formed with Lebanon’s consent.)
A Lebanese group loyal to Al Qaeda vowed Tuesday to keep up its attacks against Iran, Hezbollah and Israel, less than a fortnight after the death of its leader, Majid al-Majid.Egypt voters overwhelmingly back constitution
The Saudi-born Majid, whose group claimed responsibility for a November attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut, died in the custody of Lebanese authorities, who said he was ill before his arrest.
Egyptians who voted in a referendum overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, official sources said, citing early results of a ballot that could set the stage for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president.Erdogan’s Russia Problem (and Vice-Versa)
About 90 percent of voters approved the constitution, the state news agency and a government official said.
While Erdogan’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch – Hamas, of Morsi in Egypt, and of al Qaeda fighters in Syria did not seem to upset the Obama Administration, it has made the Russians nervous. With good reason: The large Chechen community in Turkey that supports the separatist and Islamist terrorists in Russia’s Caucasus.
Indeed, Erdogan’s current crisis began with a 2011 Russian crack-down on a drug-money-laundering ring in this area, which laundered revenues from trading Afghan opium with the Taliban. The investigation also revealed illegal gold transactions in Russian banks, which the Chechens shared with their Turkish counterparts. This probe led to the December 17, 2013, arrests of the sons of a Turkish minister and 34 other suspects, and to mass demonstrations against the government.