Eugene Kontorovich: Putin’s Occupation Olympics
The international silence about the deepening occupation of Georgia seems even more like acceptance when contrasted with the diplomatic outrage the U.S. and EU express about what they regard as occupation elsewhere.Isi Leibler: Candidly speaking: Friends of Israel must speak up now
For example, the EU has recently taken the position that it would be illegal to do business with Israeli companies that operate in the West Bank. Of course, by this standard any participation in the Sochi Games — from corporate sponsors, to contributions and fees from national Olympic committees — would be forbidden. Making “ending occupation” the centerpiece of U.S.-EU foreign policy while playing the Occupation Olympics magnifies the extent of the West’s Caucasian capitulation.
Four years ago, former U.S. ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker wrote that “attending the 2014 Olympics … would make all of us complicit in cementing in practice Russia’s changing European borders by force, even if we reject those changes in principle.” Now, the cement has set — cement that was itself taken from Georgia.
But when a US secretary of state indirectly encourages Europeans and others to pressure Israel with sanctions unless it makes further concessions, friends of Israel must protest publicly or this could develop into a tsunami and we will be abandoned.Ed Royce: Anti-Israel Incitement Must End
Not surprisingly the traditionally outspoken ZOA immediately protested. But it was significant that ADL head Abe Foxman, hardly a hawk, sent Kerry an open letter bitterly criticizing his remarks, which he charged would be construed as “an incentive by Palestinians not to reach an agreement” and “as legitimizing boycott activity.” Israel’s supporters around the world should today unite and speak out.
The government and Diaspora leaders should initiate a Day of Global Solidarity with Israel in which Israelis, Americans and Israel supporters worldwide gather in Jerusalem to express their support for Israel’s commitment to peace, and condemn those seeking to force Israel to compromise on its basic security needs. We must demonstrate that a genuine peace can only be attained when both sides are committed to peace and treated fairly.
The scene has become a depressingly familiar one: while the United States works to advance peace negotiations in the Middle East, the Palestinian Authority’s state-controlled media and educational systems teach their citizens and, most troubling, children to hate Israel and its Jewish people.
It often seems more like the Palestinian Authority is preparing its people for war instead of preparing them for peace.
The PA’s state-sanctioned media and educational systems systematically deny the existence of a Jewish state, arguing that Israel’s existence is a direct threat to Palestinians; even asserting that the destruction of Israel is justified.
US condemns planned construction in East Jerusalem
The US State Department criticized on Wednesday the announcement that municipal planners had approved the construction of 558 new apartments in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.It’s Settled, It’s Only Illegal When Jews Do It
“Our position on Jerusalem is clear,” said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at a daily briefing. “We oppose any unilateral actions by either party that attempt to prejudge final status issues, including the status of Jerusalem.”
“We’ve called on both sides to take steps to create a positive atmosphere for the negotiations.”
The horror, Israel approved 558 homes in JerusalemIsrael said willing to give up 90% of West Bank
BBC’s sleight of pen doesn’t inform its readers that actually 603 permits were approved in east, north and south Jerusalem, as mayor Nir Barkat posted on his Facebook page:
You see, the missing 45 approved building permits are in Arab neighbourhoods. The resident of these neighbourhoods are, for the most part, entitled to an Israeli ID, can participate in local elections and run for council.
Yet the world is obsessed with just the Jewish residents who live in an area once occupied by Jordan.
Citing anonymous Israeli, Palestinian and American sources close to the negotiations, Walla News reported on Thursday that Israel is seeking to annex about 10 percent of the West Bank’s land area in a final deal. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are seeking to have Israel annex only around 3% of the West Bank, the report said.Kerry to Israeli critics: I’ve been ‘attacked before by people using real bullets’
Some 70-80% of Jewish West Bank settlements will be transferred to Israel whether Israel retains 10% or 3% of West Bank land, the report noted. According to a source on the American side, “it is clear” that Israel is “willing in principle to give up” control of 90% of the West Bank.
“Israel needs to understand we will always stand by its security needs,” he continued. “But no one should distort what we’re doing or saying because they’re opposed to the peace process or don’t like two states or whatever. And, you know, words — I have to tell you, my friend, I’ve been, quote, attacked before by people using real bullets, not words, and I am not going to be intimidated. I am not going to stand down with respect to President Obama’s commitment to trying to find peace in the Middle East.”J. William Kerry
Kerry famously served in the Vietnam War. As for Bennett, he served in Israel’s elite special forces unit, Sayeret Matkal. (h/t MtTB)
As tempers flare between Israel and America over Secretary of State Kerry, the thing to remember is that he came into public life courtesy of Senator J. William Fulbright. It was Fulbright who, as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, lured the young Mr. Kerry onto Capitol Hill. Fulbright chaired the hearing at which Mr. Kerry, then just back from his brief tour in Vietnam, accused his fellow GIs of committing war crimes in Vietnam in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan. That was the act that set Kerry up for his long climb.Israeli Widow Blasts ‘Insensitive’ Kerry Claim
Fulbright, who died in 1995, stood for three things in his time. Capitulation to the communists in Vietnam, segregation of the races, and, most relevantly here, hostility to the Jewish state. This element of the story is being ignored by President Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, who is the administration official defending Mr. Kerry from criticism in Israel. She calls personal attacks on Mr. Kerry being heard from Israel’s cabinet ministers “totally unfounded and unacceptable.”
Israeli victims of terrorism lashed out at Secretary of State John Kerry for his “insensitivity” after he inaccurately claimed “not one Israeli was killed by a Palestinian from the West Bank” in a recent speech.Telegraph posts 3 stories on settlers’ Kerry spoof, but ignores PA incitement
During a controversial speech over the weekend in Germany, Kerry threatened Israel with economic boycotts and claimed that the Jewish state is enjoying a respite from Palestinian terrorism.
“There’s a momentary prosperity, there’s a momentary peace,” Kerry said. “Last year, not one Israeli was killed by a Palestinian from the West Bank.”
However, this is untrue. At least five Israelis were murdered by West Bank Palestinians in 2013.
While one can reasonably find the video objectionable, it’s curious that Tait would frame one short (and relatively benign) YouTube clip as somehow injurious to peace efforts while, like most of this fellow British journalists, failing to devote serious coverage to genuine incitement to violence by high level Palestinian politicians.Antisemitic Remarks by Jordanian MPs during Debate of Kerry's Initiative
Indeed, just a few weeks ago, the Telegraph failed to even note a disturbing clip of PA President Abbas applauding a PA Minister of Religious Affairs after he called for jihad in Jerusalem.
MP Zakaria Al-Sheikh: In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah, the Prophet Muhammad said: "Judgment Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims will kill them.” In another version, it says: "You will fight the Jews – you to the east of the river and they to the west of it." One of the Prophet's companions asked him: Which river? He replied: The Jordan River.Zoabi thrown out of Knesset meeting for implied threat to Arab Christian IDF officer
Historical Palestine is the occupied Islamic, Arab, Palestinian land, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. It contains Islamic and Christian sites, and nobody has the right to relinquish a single inch of it.
The Palestinians are the original owners of Palestine, who lived on its land when they moved from the western Mediterranean Basin to its east, in 7000 BCE.
An Arab Christian IDF officer accused Arab MKs of racism during a heated Knesset committee meeting Wednesday, and Balad MK Haneen Zoabi was thrown out of the session for implying a threat to him.Shin Bet Chief: Rise in Palestinian Terror Due to Internal Strife, Not Stagnating Peace Talks
The exchange took place as the Knesset Labor, Health, and Welfare Committee was discussing a bill to give Christians separate representation on the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunity in Employment.
Providing government officials and cabinet ministers with an updated assessment of Israel’s security situation, Cohen said that over the last few years approximately 2,000 acts of terrorism have been committed across Judea and Samaria, characterized by gun fire and the hurling of Molotov Cocktails. According to the report, Cohen asserted that in many cases, the crimes have been perpetrated by minors.Report: Israel Reaching Out to Dahlan
Cohen conveyed that the violence seems to be increasing of late, telling the committee that in November of last year, 160 terrorist acts were committed in Judea and Samaria, and in December, 100 such crimes were perpetrated, Channel 10 said.
Cohen added that the Shin Bet has recently foiled several attempts by Palestinian Arabs to kidnap Jewish civilians and soldiers, according to the report.
A report Thursday said that Israel was carrying out secret talks with banished Fatah terrorist Mohammed Dahlan. According to a report in Maariv, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has dispatched a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office, Yitzchak Molcho, to meet with Dahlan in Dubai, where he absconded to in 2010 when he was thrown out of Ramallah.Israel Indicts Palestinian for Working with Al-Qaeda, Holding Biological Weapons
Dahlan, former security chief for the Palestinan Authority, has often been at odds with the PA leadership. He developed strong contacts in the CIA and with Israeli intelligence officials, and in 2001 upset then-PA and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat by calling for reforms.
A Palestinian has been indicted in an Israeli military court on suspicion of being an al-Qaeda operative who possessed biological weapons and planned to train others in their use. The indictment charges him with undergoing military training, contacting the enemy and conspiring to commit murder.East Jerusalem Terror Cell Planned to Use Mini Uzi Guns for Wedding Hall Shooting Attack
Samar al-Barak, from the West Bank town of Kalkilya studied microbiology in Pakistan and underwent military training in Afghanistan. He was recruited into al-Qaeda in 2001. In August 2010 he was arrested when he tried to return to the West Bank via the Jordanian border.
According to the indictment, which was made public on Wednesday, the four Arabs from the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, planned to dress as ultra-Orthodox Jews and enter Jerusalem’s Nof wedding hall in the Bayit Vagan neighborhood with their weapons concealed and then open fire.Jerusalem Hamas chiefs sentenced to prison
The suspects had met with a Palestinian arms dealer in the West Bank, who promised to sell them the Uzi submachine guns, and another man to help them raise money for the guns, the Times of Israel reported.
Three East Jerusalem residents were sentenced by a Jerusalem court on Thursday for affiliation with Hamas and for illegally transferring funds to a terror group.Hamas Redeploys Forces Along Border with Israel
According to the sentence, the three suspects — Ya’qub Abu Asab, Kifah Sarhan, and Ahmed Alian — were found guilty of operating as Hamas leaders in the capital, and of actions “in the areas of religion, education and welfare” intended “to bring the public closer to Hamas ideology and to advance its aims.” The court found that the three also visited the homes of deceased terrorists and met with security prisoners.
The Hamas government in Gaza has redeployed security forces along its borders with Israel to prevent rocket fire, the Ma’an news agency reported Tuesday.Pentagon Study Vindicates Israel on Iran Nukes
Islam Shahwan, an official from the Gaza Interior Ministry, said that the ministry's role is to "secure and fortify the home front and the agreements approved by resistance factions to realize our people's interests, security and stability."
The Defense Science Board "Assessment of Nuclear Monitoring and Verification Technologies" has concluded that American intelligence agencies are ill equipped to detect when foreign powers are developing nuclear weapons or ramping up their existing arsenals.Iran Nuke Chief: “Entire Nuclear Activity of Iran is Going On,” Iran Can Reverse Nuke Concessions in “A Few Hours”
The report contends that the detection abilities needed in cases like Iran — including finding “undeclared facilities and/or covert operations” — are “either inadequate, or more often, do not exist.”
The bigger concern may be that major nuclear programs were entirely missed by American officials: a North Korean-built reactor in Syria, when the Israelis alerted them and destroyed the facility in 2007. (h/t Bob Knot)
Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, recently gave a speech to PressTV in which he evaluated the effects of the recently implemented Joint Plan of Action (JPA) and the likely contours of a comprehensive nuclear agreement between the international community and the West.Republicans said set to push Iran bill to a vote
The wide-ranging discussion included evaluations of Iran’s uranium program and its plutonium program. It came after a wave of other controversial interviews – with among President Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and former top nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian – in which current and former top Iranian officials flatly ruled out dismantling parts of Iran’s uranium enrichment and plutonium production infrastructure. Whatever else might be said about Salehi’s comments, they were at a minimum on message:
The Daily Beast reported that Republican senators were planning on utilizing procedural tools on Thursday to pressure Reid into allowing the bipartisan Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act to be voted upon. The Obama administration has been adamant in its opposition to the legislation, which was initiated in December by Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ).Syria Misses Deadline to Hand Over All Critical Chemicals
The bill currently has 59 co-sponsors, hovering just below a veto-proof majority in the upper house. While 13 Democrats support the bill, a number have chosen to sit on the fence in a struggle that pits the administration against powerful lobbying groups such as AIPAC.
Syria on Wednesday missed a deadline to hand over all the toxic materials it declared to the world’s chemical weapons watchdog, putting the program several weeks behind schedule and jeopardizing a final June 30 deadline.Carney Gets Defensive When Asked About Syrian Chemical Weapons Deal Falling Apart
Under a deal reached in October between Russia and the United States, which helped avert a U.S.-led missile strike against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, Syria agreed to give up its entire stockpile of chemical weapons by February 5.
Russia said on Tuesday its ally Damascus would ship more chemicals soon, but Western diplomats said they saw no indications that further shipments were pending.
ABC reporter Jonathan Karl asked White House press secretary Jay Carney if the Obama administration was concerned that the Syria chemical weapons deal may be falling apart Wednesday in the White House press conference. Carney defensively interjected “absolutely not,” but added Syria’s main partner and sponsor of the chemical weapons deal Russia has “a great deal at stake” should the agreement fail:British PM: Destruction of Syria's Chemical Weapons Too Slow
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday expressed concern about the lack of progress in the operation to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons, the BBC reports.After Three Years, UN Secretary-General Issues His First Report on Children in Syrian War
Efforts to destroy Syria's chemical weapons are slowing and information is being withheld from those overseeing it, said Cameron, adding the UK would continue to apply pressure "on all parties" to make sure Syria's chemical weapons stocks were eliminated.
After 3 years of violence, for the first time the UN Secretary-General has reported to the Security Council on the horrendous violations of children's rights in Syria. Covering the period from 1 March 2011 to 15 November 2013, the report provides information on grave violations against children committed by Assad's forces and members of the opposition.Russia opposes humanitarian resolution on Syria
The UN report concludes that "suffering endured by Syrian children is unspeakable." Yet John Kerry and the State Department are spending more time and energy speaking about (and pressuring) democratic Israel than any other nation - as has the UN. What can Syria's children now expect? Another report next year.
Russia said Wednesday it opposes a new UN Security Council resolution on the humanitarian plight in Syria, an announcement that is likely to torpedo a Western and Arab-backed draft that would pressure the government and opposition to allow desperately needed aid into the country.Do ‘Syria,’ ‘Iraq’ and ‘Lebanon’ Still Exist?
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told a press briefing that “hard, pragmatic and purposeful work is necessary” to resolve specific humanitarian issues — not a council resolution which will almost certainly aim “to politicize the problem.”
For the West, as in the region itself, this has very serious implications. Dealing with it effectively will required an equally massive paradigm shift in strategic thinking on the Middle East, one that is capable of dispensing with previous illusions and admitting that sovereign borders once regarded as sacrosanct are swiftly becoming meaningless.
There are new borders taking shape, defined by sectarian divisions that the West ignores at its peril. Despite fantasies of withdrawing from the region, the security of global energy supplies and the maintenance of regional stability are still essential to Western interests. The West has as large a stake in the outcome of this sectarian conflict as the regional players involved. If it cannot adapt to the new Middle East that is swiftly taking shape, it will find itself on the losing side.