Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas to Kerry: Please Beg Me More!
Abbas is convinced that it is only a matter of time before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry rushes back to the region in yet anther desperate effort to "salvage the peace process."How Many Palestinians Would Endorse a Jewish State?
In recent weeks, according to Palestinian officials, Kerry has literally been "begging" Abbas to agree to an extension of the peace talks after the end of April.
Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership have concluded that the Obama Administration is prepared to do almost anything to show some kind of "victory" in the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinian demands therefore have continued to increase almost every day.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) has just released a new poll, conducted March 20-22 in the West Bank and Gaza, in which one of the polling questions raised this issue:
There is a proposal that after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the settlement of all issues in dispute, including the refugees and Jerusalem issues, there will be mutual recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people and Palestine as the state of the Palestinian people. Do you agree or disagree to this proposal?” [Emphasis added].The percentage of Palestinians that “certainly agreed” was 3 percent. A total of 58.5 percent disagreed.
In other words–just as Israel’s Ron Dermer asserted at AIPAC five years ago–the Palestinian refusal to recognize a Jewish state does not involve the refugees. The poll assumed “all issues in dispute” were settled, including the refugees. But even with no other issue remaining on the hypothetical table, a lopsided majority of Palestinians rejected a Jewish state. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
Israel said to be considering sanctions against Palestinians
Israel says the Palestinians’ application on Tuesday to adhere to 15 international treaties violated the undertakings they gave when the peace talks resumed last July.'Return The 78 Freed Terrorists To Jail'
The Palestinians counter that the treaty move was a response to Israel’s failure to release a fourth and final batch of veteran Arab prisoners which they say reneged on its own undertakings.
Haaretz said the options under consideration included withholding tax revenues levied by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
Israel briefly imposed the same financially crippling measure in December 2012 to punish the Palestinians’ successful drive for observer state status at the United Nations, over strong opposition internally and from Washington.
Lieut. Col. (res.) Meir Indor, chairman of the Almagor organization that aids families of terror victims, and a leader of the protest movement, praised the success of the struggle. He further called for the 78 terrorists who had already been released to be returned to jail.Israel mulled voiding citizenship, deporting Israeli Arab terrorists
"We receive the government's announcement with satisfaction but also concern," Indor told Arutz Sheva. "Together with the joy on the success of the struggle, I call on the government to do what is demanded and gather all 78 Palestinians that were released, and return them to jail."
Indor added that "the Palestinians didn't stand by their conditions, and there is no reason to pay them with murderers with blood on their hands."
The deal, which did not go forward, would have seen 12 Israeli Arab prisoners released.Analysis: Palestinians may face 2012 cut-off at ICC
The decision on the details of the arrangement was to have been made in a special ministerial vote, which ultimately was not held.
The idea to revoke the prisoners' Israeli citizenship and to deport them was considered by those close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a way to encourage more ministers to vote in favor of the deal. They believed the suggestion would allow Habayit Hayehudi head Naftali Bennett to vote against the deal without leaving the coalition.
According to John Whitbeck, an international lawyer who works with the Palestinians, Bensouda said that any Palestinian allegations could go back retroactively to November 29, 2012, at the earliest, but not to the birth of the court in 2002.Amnesty International welcomes Palestinian unilateral moves, calls on PA to join ICC
This is despite arguments that the ICC’s rules would allow the Palestinians or any other state to bring charges going back to 2002, even if they did not join the ICC until later.
Israeli politicians, including chief negotiator Tzipi Livni, criticized the moves by Abbas as unhelpful to peace talks, but Amnesty International welcomed the moves.Israel strikes Gaza targets after rocket attack
"Amnesty International believes the move should spur the Palestinian Authority into bolstering its commitment to upholding the rights of all people within areas under its control. This will mean, among other actions, conducting independent and effective investigations into all alleged violations by Palestinian Authority security forces, and prosecuting those responsible in fair trials when there is sufficient evidence," the group said in a statement.
The Israeli air force struck five militant targets in the Gaza Strip Thursday night, after three rockets were fired into Israel from the Palestinian coastal territory earlier in the evening.Study: Possible To Mention Gaza Rocket Fire Not In Context Of IDF Retaliation (satire)
The IDF confirmed it had attacked four targets in the northern Strip and one in its center, saying it had confirmed hitting them all.
Palestinian officials said several Hamas outposts were hit, Israel Radio reported. There was no word on casualties.
A new analysis of data suggests that it is possible for a reporter to mention that Palestinians have fired rockets at Israeli communities without first reporting that Israel has hit the Gaza Strip with subsequent airstrikes.Israel tightens cyber security following hack threats
Scientists at the Blaine Institute of Analytical Studies (BIAS) looked at media reports of IDF operations against militants in the Gaza Strip over the last several years and determined that it might not be strictly necessary to mention Israeli action first when that action did not occur first. The finding goes against the widespread practice in journalism of finding only Israeli strikes newsworthy, with the Palestinian terrorism that precipitated them included in the story as an afterthought, if at all.
Ahead of an anticipated large-scale cyber attack on April 7, government offices heightened preparedness Thursday, blocking emails from abroad through Tuesday and advising employees to abstain from opening emails for five days, Walla reported.Terrorists send coded messages to terrorist prisoners through PA TV
The decision to take extra measures followed a security appraisal of the cyber threat by pro-Palestinian hacktivists, in an operation dubbed OpIsrael 7 April 2014.
This is the second year that the anti-Israel hacker group known as Anonymous has organized the day-long hacking spree.
Official PA TV has a number of weekly programs intended for and about the Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Palestinian Media Watch publicized part of such a PA TV program in November 2013 in which a terrorist notified his brother in prison that he was planning to kidnap an Israeli to use as a hostage to negotiate his brother's release. The terrorist later did kidnap and murder an Israeli, intending to use the body as a bargaining chip, but was caught before he completed his plan. When the killer was interrogated by Israeli police he confessed having sent the message to his brother through PA TV.
PMW is now releasing an additional video in which a released prisoner openly sends a message to other prisoners:
Military Drills in Gaza via Media Town
Its not about kids throwing rocks. Thats a myth.
The reality is quite different. The Gaza military forces are armed and trained by Iran.
The following is footage of a military graduation ceremony in the Gaza Strip
Congressmen seek tougher sanctions on Hezbollah
The Hezbollah International Financial Prevention Act, announced Thursday, would target and sanction banks that do business with Hezbollah or its affiliates and force tougher policies against the organization’s television network Al-Manar. It would also seek to label the group as a narcotics trafficking organization and as a transnational criminal organization – designations which would enable further legal actions against its operations.Israel to Go ‘Deep Into Lebanon’ in Future Hezbollah Clash
The act is being advanced by four members of the House Foreign Affairs panel on the Middle East: Representatives Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and ranking member Eliot Engel, (D-N.Y.) as well as committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif). (h/t Alexi)
Nasrallah’s stated aversion to a clash with Israel is deceptive, and stems from his organization’s deep involvement in Syria’s civil war on behalf of dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime. It also is an attempt to placate a concerned Lebanese public.Egypt Is on the Brink of Chaos. Here’s Why It Should Matter to Washington.
In reality, Hezbollah, despite its intervention in Syria and resulting challenges at home (which include retaliatory bombings by al-Qeida-affiliated groups), continues to prepare for war with Israel on a daily basis.
It is building up an arsenal of surface-to-surface rockets and missiles that has surpassed 100,000 projectiles, according to Israeli intelligence estimates.
The paradox is that Egypt, with a rapidly growing population of 83 million, is actually shrinking in some vital ways. Its influence and significance on the world stage have dwindled to such an extent that not just the Israelis next door but even some European states fear that in the years to come Egypt’s most relevant export will simply be terrorism. What was thousands of years ago one of the cradles of civilization and in modern times the most influential of Arab states is significant now for only two reasons: the Suez Canal and the peace treaty with Israel.Mr. President, Time to Act in Syria
The former remains important to the United States and other world powers, but it’s no longer vital. Maritime routes allowing ships to circumvent the Suez are costly and time-consuming, but the newly proposed Israeli land rail line connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea offers a very real challenge to the Suez—especially since rampant terrorist operations against ships crossing the canal are threatening to make the Egyptian waterway un-navigable and to render Egypt’s role in world commerce redundant. In February, Cairo sentenced 26 men to death for plotting attacks on the Suez; it’s hard to imagine that they’ll be the last.
For better or for worse President Obama has not acted decisively with Western allies in an effort to end the horrific civil war in Syria. The tragic loss of nearly 150,000 Syrians, nine million internally displaced persons and refugees, and the massive destruction would still pale in comparison to the near-complete devastation of the nation if nothing is done soon.The Choices for Syria's Christians
Recent events in Ukraine and the Middle East provide Obama perhaps the last chance to contain and eventually end the conflict. The President must first save Syria from a ruthless tyrant who has demonstrated no qualms about destroying the whole nation only to maintain his reign. Acting now would also restore America’s credibility and send a clear message to friends and foes alike that the U.S. will no longer sit idle in the face of this unspeakable calamity.
If the Syrian government does collapse, safe alternatives for Syria's Christian minority are extremely limited. They could either flee the country or migrate to a possible smaller Alawite-ruled Syrian entity. If Syria's civil war continues, it is even more likely that the country's Christian minority will join the hundreds of thousands of their brethren, mostly Iraqi Christians, who have also abandoned their homeland. This migration is likely to be the safest alternative despite Vatican appeals for the region's Christians to remain in their home countries. If Assad falls, how can Christians have any future in Syria when radical Sunni groups kill their fellow Muslim Shi'as and even moderate Sunni rebel soldiers as well? It is historical irony indeed when it appears the only safe place for a Christian in the Mideast is Israel, a country in large part populated by Jews who themselves were forced to flee Islamic intolerance in the same lands from which Christians now feel impelled to flee.The Israeli volunteers helping Syria’s traumatized refugees
There are more than 300,000 Syrians living in Mafraq today, both inside and outside the camps, says the director of this Jordanian NGO. Like all of the Jordanians interviewed for this story, he asked that his name not be used for fear that his association with Israel could be used against him. For over a year now, he has been at the forefront of an Israeli-Jordanian partnership, spearheaded by his NGO and the Israeli humanitarian aid group IsraAid. Thanks to a global network of Jewish donors, IsraAid volunteers have been making regular treks across the border and over the pothole-ridden Jordanian roads to his office in Mafraq, where they deliver funds and oversee the distribution of fat purple bags stuffed with dry goods, hygiene products and baby supplies.Amid Charges of Vote Tampering, Turkish Opposition Releases Photo Evidence
But canned goods and laundry detergent are just a stopgap. The refugees, whom the NGO director says will likely never return to Syria, are desperate for mental health care as well as food and toiletries. There is trauma and PTSD in the camps. There is fear, night terrors, children with invisible but permanent scars. So every two weeks, IsraAid has been running a course out of this office on the basics of trauma counseling, a program that will culminate in a the creation of emergency hotline that refugees can call when it all gets too much to bear.
An official from Turkey’s main opposition party on Tuesday showed journalists a photograph of a top figure from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) standing next to a police chief and an election official as votes were counted in Antalya during the country’s March 30 local elections, the latest in a series of alleged irregularities that have generated protests throughout the country.Turkey lifts controversial Twitter ban
Devrim Kök, the head of the CHP’s Antalya provincial office, shared the photograph with journalists at the Antalya courthouse, after both his party and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) filed official complaints regarding the controversial vote counting in Antalya.
“Is it ethical that there is a minister here? We can’t crack the secret of a minister who comes to the courthouse and stands over the votes during counting,” Kök said, adding that “the CHP has lost the election on the table after winning it in the ballot box.”
Telecoms authority TIB removed court orders enforcing the Twitter ban from its website, and one of its officials confirmed to AFP that “there has been work to lift the ban on Twitter,” without giving details.Kerry Praises Non-Existant Iranian ‘Fatwa’ Against Nuclear Weapons, Watchdog Says
The Hurriyet daily said TIB now had to inform Internet service providers of its decision, and that full access to the social media site was expected to be restored in the coming hours.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised a nonexistent fatwa by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on banning nuclear weapons.Not-so-revolutionary Rouhani
In a recent interview with Voice of America, Kerry said, “I show a lot of respect for this fatwa as it is a religious message and is highly respected by people.” According to MEMRI, however, the fatwa “has never been seen” and “in fact does not exist.”
It is easy to see why everyone views Rouhani’s new administration as a genuine turn of the page. Compared to his predecessor, Rouhani comes across as soft-spoken, sophisticated and elegant. His ministerial appointees all have impressive pedigrees — PhDs from US universities, a good command of English and stylish suits.Yemen Blasts Iran for Supporting Rebels, Destabilizing Region
Yet behind the veil of this new-found bonhomie, his line-up of ministerial appointments and government companies’ management is filled with loyal servants of the Islamic Revolution who toppled the Shah in their twenties, helped build the Islamic Republic in their thirties, ran government companies and held ministerial positions in their forties, took a break in their fifties when Ahmadinejad ran the country, and are now back, mostly in those same positions, in their sixties.
Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Monday blasted Iran for seeking to destabilize the country “through its support” for a range of separatists and rebels, a repeat of accusations that he has consistently and explicitly been leveling against Tehran for quite literally years.
“Unfortunately, Iranian interference still exists, whether through its support for the Hirak separatists or some religious groups in northern Yemen,” Hadi told Al Hayat, apparently referring to the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi rebels who are trying to capture more territory in the northern part of the country.
“We asked our Iranian brothers to revise their wrong policies towards Yemen, but our demands have not borne fruit. We have no desire to escalate (the situation) with Tehran but at the same time we hope it will lift its hand off Yemen,” he said.