Saturday, March 15, 2014
Egyptian who led 2011 terror attack near Eilat killed by own bomb
Egypt’s deadliest terrorist group said one of its founders, who led a 2011 terror attack in Israel, has been accidentally killed by a bomb.The bitter fruits of Bibi’s Bar-Ilan blunder
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has spearheaded a low-level insurgency against Egyptian soldiers and police, said Tawfiq Mohamed Fareej was killed last week when a car accident set off a bomb he was carrying.
The group, whose name means “Partisans of Jerusalem” in Arabic, has claimed some of the deadliest attacks on Egyptian security forces since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last July.
One of the group’s founders, Fareej was the “field commander” of an August 18, 2011 cross border terrorist raid into Israel that killed 8 Israelis, the group said in a statement on Friday.
During the half-decade since that fateful lapse at Bar- Ilan, Netanyahu has consented to a series of far-reaching, previously inconceivable concessions – conveying that once any issue, no matter how pernicious or perilous, is raised, Israel will eventually give way.Mondoweiss & the Far Right?
His dramatic about-face on Palestinian statehood was soon followed by his aforementioned, unprecedented, and largely futile decision to freeze construction in Judea-Samaria – which was unreciprocated by the Palestinians, and unappreciated by the US and the international community.
This was merely a harbinger of things to come.
Mondoweiss, the fanatically anti-Zionist website run by Jews, has many open and demonstrable links (unsurprisingly) with the extreme Left, especially with the Center for Economic Research and Social Change (CERSC), which publishes the International Socialist Review and sponsored the “Socialism 2012” conference.
Significantly, Mondoweiss now appears to be developing links with the extreme Right. A blog posted by Philip Weiss (co-editor of the site, for whom it is named) on 9 March this year, headed “Conservatives for Palestine” , gave an account of the “National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship”, which he attended and addressed.
The Conference was apparently wholly the work of extreme conservatives, ranging from neo-isolationists and old line “Foreign Office Arabists” to out-and-out ultra-right antisemites and Holocaust deniers.
Kerry’s Unprepared for the Palestinian “No”
Up until now Kerry’s effort has been portrayed as a noble endeavor made all the more heroic by the long odds that were stacked against it from the start. But if, as Kerry himself noted yesterday, distrust between the parties is greater than ever, it’s fair to ask how much of this is his fault. Though the framework he tried to craft was flawed, it was based on the notion that if there was to be an agreement it had to be one that would bring real peace. Yet what we are learning as the process unravels is that by focusing all the pressure on Israel the secretary has done nothing to bring the Palestinians closer to understanding that they must end the conflict. By speaking of violence and boycotts aimed at Israel after he fails, Kerry has made it certain that such things will happen but done nothing to avoid that outcome.Why is the U.S. taxpayer funding a ‘Christ at the Checkpoint’ sponsor?
As the moment of truth looms closer on Kerry’s effort, it is time for him to stop badgering the Israelis and to begin to come to grips with Palestinian rejectionism. Abbas has come to rely on the animus of the Obama administration for Netanyahu, but he must be informed that a fourth “no” will have consequences. If not, then Obama and Kerry will truly be complicit in the mayhem that will follow.
Christ at the Checkpoint, or CatC, is a conference sponsored by the Bethlehem Bible College and the Holy Land Trust. It was held in 2010 and 2012, and is now being held again, in Bethlehem (Judea, in the West Bank), in 2014. A great deal can be written about the anti-Israel affiliations of its sponsors and the participation of left-wing Western – and in particular, left-leaning evangelical – Christians; a sampling of the background can be found here, here, here, here, and here.David Cameron is a hypocrite and a liar
But a group called NGO Monitor has pointed out what I want to highlight, which is that the U.S. taxpayer is contributing to CatC, if perhaps indirectly, through grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The NED receives funding from Congress, and between 2006 and 2012, it made grants in excess of $230,000 to the Holy Land Trust.
For all the strong support that David Cameron expressed in his Knesset speech any leader has to be judged on actions not words. And Cameron's actions - he has led Britain's most anti-Israel government since Ted Heath in 1973 - are damning (and his words outside Israel, such as saying "Israel had turned Gaza into a prison camp" are not much better). Although it is true that bilateral trade has increased (mainly to Britain's advantage with sales to Israel far in excess of those from Israel) under Cameron we have seen:Tunisia says it welcomes Israelis, with papers
Norwegian Cruise Lines said the policy requiring pre-arranged visas was a new one and that the denial of entry to 20 Israeli passengers aboard its Jade ship was discriminatory.Islamic Jihad Leader: Israel Attack Coordinated With Hamas; Despite Truce, Threatens ‘Beyond’ Tel Aviv
It canceled stops in Tunisia until the country resolved the matter.
Karboul said the policy was always in place, and that she was attempting to reach out to officials of Norwegian Cruise Lines to explain what happened.
She said visitors from countries such as Israel that do not have a visa waiver agreement with Tunisia must arrange visas beforehand; she named Egypt and Brazil as other countries where citizens must arrange visas prior to arrival.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, one of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists, said this week’s barrage of 130 rockets launched at southern Israel was coordinated with Hamas, the ruling power in Gaza, and attacking “beyond” Tel Aviv, remains in their sights.Al-Qaeda-linked group claims border attack on IDF
In a statement on Thursday, Islamic Jihad’s Al Quds Brigade said the onslaught against Israel was in response to the Israel Defense Force’s targeting of three Al-Quds operatives on Tuesday, which, itself, was in response to Islamic Jihad mortars hitting Israel. On Tuesday, the IDF said an Israeli Air Force fighter jet responded to a mortar shell fired from Gaza by Islamic Jihad soldiers at IDF infantry and engineers, and confirmed the direct hit against the terrorists who launched the shelling.
In a rare interview, Shallah told Al-Monitor, in Tehran, that Islamic Jihad was contacted by Egypt, who offered to mediate to end the shelling, but Shellah denied a 2012 truce with Israel had been broken.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been fighting against Hezbollah and the Bashar Assad regime in Syria, with clashes and targeted bombings spilling over into Lebanon in recent months.Lebanon says its citizens have right to ‘resist Israel’
It was initially reported by Israeli media that the attack on the IDF jeep in the Har Dov area, near the Israeli-Lebanese border, was perpetrated by Hezbollah. The IDF fired on several targets across the border in retaliation, including tank fire at a Hezbollah position in the Lebanese village Kfar Kileh.
In a statement issued late Friday following an attack on IDF forces along the Lebanese border, Lebanon’s government asserted its citizens had the right to “resist Israeli occupation,” an apparent implied reference to Hezbollah terrorist forces.Gaza power plant shuts down for ‘lack of fuel’
According to Reuters, the government said it “affirms the right of Lebanese citizens to resist Israeli occupation and repel aggressions and recover occupied territory.”
Reuters reported that the statement reflected a compromise within the government: It effectively recognized the right of Hezbollah – an independent group outside of the official state military – to oppose Israel militarily, although it did so in an indirect manner.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and the Erez pedestrian crossing “until further security assessments,” after dozens of rockets were fired at Israel by Gaza terrorists on WednesdayJordanian who killed Israeli schoolgirls goes on hunger strike
In response the energy authority cut the power plant’s operation from 12 hours a day to six until the fuel ran out.
A Jordanian soldier serving a life sentence for murdering Israeli schoolgirls in 1997 is on a hunger strike to demand his release following the the killing of a Jordanian judge by Israeli soldiers, his son said Saturday.Arab Analysts: Egypt at Top of Agenda for Obama Saudi Arabia Trip
“My father started a hunger strike on Friday. He said he demands the government release him from jail after the Israelis killed Jordanian judge Raed Zeiter,” Ahmad Dakamseh’s son Seif told AFP.
“He is also refusing to take medicine for his high blood pressure and diabetes.”
The visit comes at a time of unprecedented public strain between Washington and its traditional Gulf allies, and earlier this week the Daily Beast revealed that relations between the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were in an unprecedented crisis. Gulf nations are known to be livid with the administration over its handling of Egyptian political turmoil, which they believe the White House has irresponsibly stoked without regard for the risks presented by populist Islamist movements.Iran says detects sabotage at nuclear facility
A senior Iranian official says authorities detected sabotage at the country’s heavy water reactor facility and neutralized it before any damage was done.WSJ: “Growing Consensus” Among Investors Regarding Opportunities for Pushing Into Iranian Markets
The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Asghar Zarean, a senior official in charge of nuclear security at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying Saturday that Iran’s intelligence agencies were instrumental in uncovering the plot. He didn’t provide further details.
Skeptics had predicted a gold rush-style downward spiral, in which nations and companies scrambled not to get left behind as Iranian markets were reopened to the world. The Obama administration and analysts linked to the administration had derided those scenarios are among other things “fanciful.” Recent months have seen empirical evidence pile up on the side of the critics. Evidence that the Obama administration misjudged the dynamics surrounding Iranian diplomacy are likely to fuel calls, already supported by lopsided majorities of Americans, for a stronger Congressional voice in determining the path of negotiations.West Brom sack Nicolas Anelka for 'gross misconduct'
West Brom are sacking Nicolas Anelka for gross misconduct after the striker announced he was quitting the club.French Comedian Dieudonné Builds Bridges…of Jew Hatred!
Anelka wrote on social media he was leaving with "immediate effect" after failing to reconcile differences with Albion over his 'quenelle' gesture.
The Frenchman, 35, was banned for five games and fined £80,000 by the Football Association for making the sign after scoring against West Ham in December.
The club is sacking him for his conduct that day and his social media outburst.
Dieudonné M’bala M’bala is a French stand-up comedian who has made a name for himself at the expense of the Jewish community and the Holocaust. He started to spew his anti-Semitic venom fifteen years ago and has continued to do so with more and more momentum. He has been sued multiple times and fined in excess of $100,000. Dieudonné is also credited for having invented the inverted Nazi salute known as the quenelle , that has been duplicated by people all over the world and on the Internet.L’Antisémite, Banned at Cannes
A quick perusal of the French press will suffice to determine that the man is not really taken seriously. Most often when a reference is made to him, the word comedian is in quotations. He has succeeded in making enemies in several European countries, where like in England and parts of France his show has been banned.
The film is utterly appalling from beginning to end. The humor is puerile and the filmmaking technique forthrightly crude. But the message is by no means unsophisticated or a reversion to older examples of anti-Semitic propaganda. While there has always been a strain of anti-Semitic jocularity in French comedy (starting with Voltaire, passing through the popular anti-Semitic songs of the Dreyfus era, the collaborationist references in Maurice Chevalier, as well as his imitators, in the 1940s, and culminating with the casual redneck chauvinism of the so-called franchouillards), this is something qualitatively different—and worth paying attention to. A medley of paranoia, narcissistic rage, and twisted self-exculpatory demagoguery, it is also the record of a gifted artist’s comprehensive descent into nihilism and madness.Holocaust denier makes French nationalist party list
The candidate, Pierre Panet, wrote in 2012 that he “shares the analysis of Roger Garaudy,” a convicted Holocaust denier. The L’Express daily reported on his candidacy Wednesday.UN official says circumcision protected by freedom of religion
The same year, he told the AFP news agency: “I haven’t changed. I always credit Robert Faurisson, but I refrain from elaborating these theses because it is forbidden by law.”
Faurisson was also convicted of denying the Holocaust. He claimed the gas chambers never existed.
A United Nations official gave a boost to the battle Jewish organizations are waging to protect the ancient ritual of circumcision, when he told the Human Rights Council it was a right that should be protected.Peres reveals his Jordan disguises
“Freedom of religion and belief in its application goes far beyond any pre-defined lists of classical religions,” Heiner Bielefeldt said in Geneva on Wednesday. “It protects human beings in their broad variety of convictions, and also conviction-based practices. So issues like male circumcision are part of that.”
Bielefeldt, who is the UNHRC’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion, made his brief comment on circumcision one day after he delivered a global report to the council on freedom of religion.
President Shimon Peres on Friday posted photos on Facebook of disguises he wore in the 1970s to travel undetected to Arab neighbor Jordan for secret negotiations.
Peres posted the photos to coincide with Purim, which features carnival costumes, fireworks and toy guns.
“Purim is a great time (to) dress up but not the only time,” Peres wrote.
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