Sunday, August 10, 2014
Dennis Ross: Hamas could have chosen peace. Instead, it made Gaza suffer.
The Israelis will certainly resist an outcome that offers Hamas any gains. Having destroyed the tunnels that could penetrate Israel, the Israelis have pulled out of Gaza and were willing to extend the 72-hour truce that ended Friday. Hamas was not willing to do so. If Israel hopes to build broader international pressure on the group to stop firing, the Israel Defense Forces will need to avoid targets such as U.N. schools and hospitals. Of course, that is easier said than done, given that Hamas often fires rockets from or near such sites.Exclusive: New Details Surface in Hamas Murder of IDF Soldier Hadar Goldin (update)
At some point, Hamas will stop firing rockets — if for no other reason than its arsenal is depleted. For the people of Gaza, however, the price has been staggering. But Hamas’s leaders have never been concerned about that. For them, Palestinians’ pain and suffering are tools to exploit, not conditions to end.
When relative calm returns, there will understandably be a push for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas now even less able politically to tackle the core issues , a permanent agreement between the two sides is not in the cards. U.S. diplomacy, therefore, needs to be guided by several considerations and achievable aims. (h/t Alexi)
The officer explained how, after the suicide bombing that killed Lt. Goldin, a second kidnapping team of Hamas terrorists grabbed parts of his body and ran back into the tunnel from which the terrorists emerged. The tunnel led back into a mosque. From the mosque, they escaped in a clearly marked UNRWA ambulance. The terrorists then made contact with high-ranking Hamas officials hiding in the Islamic University.UPDATE: People I trust are telling me that this story does not add up to the known facts about the attack. There have been a lot of rumors going around as fact to try to make up for Israeli censorship and this story very well may be an example of that.
As a result Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas, announced in Cairo that Hamas had kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Israeli intelligence intercepted a conversation between the kidnappers and the Hamas officials at the Islamic University and thus got all the particulars regarding the hiding place of the kidnappers. Within minutes, the IAF attacked both the kidnappers' location and the Islamic University.
In the midst of this attack, a second force of IDF soldiers--which had gone into a mosque looking for weapons, explosives, and rockets-- encountered a female suicide bomber who was about to detonate the belt she wore, which would have resulted in the deaths of the soldiers. One of the soldiers instinctively recited the opening words of the holiest Jewish prayer “Shema Yisrael”. The female suicide bomber hesitated and began trembling, giving the soldiers a chance to grab her and disable the device.
The soldiers then took her prisoner and turned her over to a counter-intelligence unit. Their investigation uncovered that the female suicide bomber’s mother was a Jew who had married a Palestinian in Israel and, after the wedding, was smuggled against her will into Gaza. There she lived a life filled with abuse and humiliation, and was basically a captive. In addition to the female suicide bomber, there were two smaller children as well. An armored force went in and rescued the two small children.
Hillary Clinton Criticizes Obama Foreign Policy, Slams ‘Unfair’ World Response to Gaza War
Much of my conversation with Clinton focused on the Gaza war. She offered a vociferous defense of Israel, and of its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well. This is noteworthy because, as secretary of state, she spent a lot of time yelling at Netanyahu on the administration's behalf over Israel’s West Bank settlement policy. Now, she is leaving no daylight at all between the Israelis and herself.Doctors for terrorism
“I think Israel did what it had to do to respond to the rockets,” she told me. “Israel has a right to defend itself. The steps Hamas has taken to embed rockets and command-and-control facilities and tunnel entrances in civilian areas, this makes a response by Israel difficult.”
I asked her if she believed that Israel had done enough to prevent the deaths of children and other innocent people.
“[J]ust as we try to do in the United States and be as careful as possible in going after targets to avoid civilians,” mistakes are made, she said. “We’ve made them. I don’t know a nation, no matter what its values are—and I think that democratic nations have demonstrably better values in a conflict position—that hasn’t made errors, but ultimately the responsibility rests with Hamas.”(h/t Bob Knot)
The one-sided campaign waged by Physicians for Human Rights Israel is also supported by several European governments as well as the New Israel Fund.
It is possible to diminish the influence of these bodies by exposing their misuse of medical ethics and holding the Norwegian, British and other bodies who fund them to account. This is not a simple process, but it has been proven effective in the long-term.
The Lancet medical journal is a financial body, therefore, the most effective (and certainly the most complicated) strategy would be to cancel subscriptions and to pull advertising in protest of the misuse of medical ethics. Those who use their professional status and prestige to promote anti-Semitism and support terrorism are dishonoring the Hippocratic oath they took, vowing to "never do harm."
Times of Israel Live Blog: Israel agrees to 72-hour ceasefire with Hamas to begin at midnight
The Times of Israel is liveblogging events as they unfold through Sunday, August 10, the 34th day of Operation Protective Edge. The IDF continued its air campaign against Hamas and other terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as terrorists fired dozens of rockets at Israeli communities. Israel said it would not negotiate with Hamas at the indirect talks in Cairo unless or until the rockets stop.The rocket that spelled the end of the two-state solution?
If a single rocket fired from Gaza could bring Israel’s international air traffic to near standstill, it was argued, how could Israel ever hand over control of the West Bank to the Palestinians? After all, it was reasoned, the future Palestine’s western border would be much closer to Ben Gurion than Gaza, and given the West Bank’s mountainous topography, it would be simple for terrorists to rain rocket fire on the airport. This argument was made mostly, but not only, by observers leaning to the right.When ignorance becomes an agenda
Senior members of the government are among those who endorse it, contending that Ben Gurion’s near-shutdown strengthens their concerns over Palestinian sovereignty in the West Bank. Other observers, including some with bona fide security credentials, argue that in today’s day and age, the only way to really ensure Israel’s safety is through diplomacy.
“Hamas has delivered a powerful message to the world,” Dani Dayan, the chief foreign envoy of the settlers’ umbrella Yesha Council, said the day after the missile landed in Yehud. “With one rocket from Gaza they closed down our airport. With an independent state overlooking three quarters of Israel’s population, they could close down the entire country.” The incident had sealed the “fate of Palestinian statehood,” he declared joyfully.
Much has been written over the course of Operation Protective Edge about how we are seen in the world, and more than a bit of attention has focused on entertainment celebrities. It seems that in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world influenced by movers and shakers who belong to the Jewish faith, anti-Semitism has reached new heights. Coverage of the operation and the ongoing conflict has been characterized by the empty trend of expressing support for the Palestinian underdog.Security Cabinet to Weigh Defining Gaza as 'Enemy Territory'
This can be seen among the young stars like Rihanna, who has tweeted simplistic declarations of support. Just as during the World Cup she swore her allegiance to Holland and then to Brazil the next day and then to Germany, she is tweeting "Free Palestine" moments before deleting it. The singer Selena Gomez, with the same nonchalance she uses to tell her millions of followers about the amazing new skinny jeans she just bought -- called upon them to "pray for Gaza."
Every peep from these celebs reverberates enormously, especially from those who are far from familiar with the details of the conflict and who don't exactly know where the Middle East is on the map. Ignorance has become a frightening tool to spread a hollow agenda.
According to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, the ministers will seek to define Gaza as enemy territory - a move which would see Israel stripped of responsibility for damage to civilian areas and casualties.Watch: IDF Airstrike Eliminates Three Hamas Terrorists
Similar calls have been made to declare the Operation a full-fledged "war," which would see greater budgetary allotment for the self-defense mission and see Israelis compensated for their losses.
Meanwhile, the security cabinet will discuss the security situation in the south and nationwide, as well as two proposals - one to establish a funding and assistance program for veterans of Protective Edge, and one to launch a special rebuilding project for Gaza belt communities under heavy fire.
The video starts by showing the three terrorists being liquidating in a strike on a car they were driving in southern Gaza, followed by a strike on an Islamic Jihad military headquarters also located in the south of the Hamas enclave.
The clip then shows a warning strike employed in a technique called "knocking on the roof," which aims to clear citizens away from a terror target marked for destruction. Hamas has ordered civilians to remain in such sites to act as "human shields," in a bid to inflate casualty counts and deter IDF strikes.
A strike on a weapons storage site in central Gaza is then shown, featuring a massive explosion due to the munitions housed inside the building, followed by a strike on a Hamas missile launch site in the north of Gaza.
The strikes came ahead of a Security Cabinet meeting on Sunday, in which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared that the operation will continue, and ministers called on Israel to break Hamas's military power.
IDF Targets Terror Activity in Gaza
Rocket Attack Forces Closure of Israel-Gaza Border Crossing
TV Report Shows Islamic Jihad Missile-Launching Pads in Gaza Tunnels
Israel Ceases, Hamas Fires
Analysis Of Gazan Casualties In Operation Protective Edge: As Of August 6th
Following the previous three analyses we featured on here – which predated those of any of the mainstream media - here is the latest analysis based again on the Gaza Health Ministry based list on Al Jazeera .UN Not Rushing to Correct Gaza Casualty Tally
As with the other lists, this one had many duplicates, which our reader who performed the analysis identified. Although, by his own admission, there may be more he missed.
Our reader also noticed something else striking: this list as of now has been dramatically changed. Names, spelling, and so on are different from the previous lists. Barely anything is consistent, and the fact that no one has reported on this is disturbing. You cannot during the war present one list and then after major confrontations present a new one. Which one was accurate? Why were there these changes?
United Nations (UN) representative Matias Bank on Saturday said his organization is not hurrying to address the numerous analyses disproving the Palestinian Arab tally of casualties in Gaza. The figures have been used as a focal point for worldwide hatred against Israel.Israel may need to retake parts of Gaza, ex-security adviser says
"Because we have to deal with multiple casualties in a short time, we focused on the first tally of the total number," Bank said, reports Yedioth Aharonoth. "We have not yet dealt with a detailed analysis of the data."
Bank insisted, however, that the UN is "taking measures" to distinguish between terrorist and civilian casualties.
"In collecting the initial data, we compared the various reports, not only from the media and human rights organizations, but also, for example, IDF reports with the names of terrorists," he insisted.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is too weak to regain control over Gaza, leaving Israel with the option of either recapturing part of the Strip or learning to live with a low-level war of attrition, a former Israeli national security adviser said on Sunday.We will hunt down Hamas terror chief Deif, vows Lapid
Speaking to journalists at the Jerusalem Press Club, Maj. General (res.) Yaakov Amidror, who served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top security adviser until November 2013, said that given the ongoing rocket and mortar fire from Gaza into Israel and the seeming deadlock in negotiations on a ceasefire in Cairo, the Israeli cabinet will need to decide “within days” whether to reoccupy parts of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, that were transferred to Palestinian control as part of the Oslo peace process 20 years ago.
“The reoccupation of Gaza is on the table now more than ever before,” Amidror said, adding that public opinion in Israel is also ripe for a protracted land operation to restore complete quiet in Israel, the high cost in life both in Gaza and Israel not withstanding.
Just as the United States hunted down al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, so Israel will track down the heads of Hamas’s militant wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Finance Minister Yair Lapid vowed.Terrorist Apprehended Outside of Samaria Town
In a statement given Saturday afternoon, Lapid said, “To [Muhammad] Deif and his gang, I want to say clearly: just as the United States did not rest until it found [Osama] Bin Laden and eliminated him, we will find you and bring you to justice for what you have done to the children of Israel and of Gaza.”
Deif heads the Qassam Brigades, and is believed to be overseeing Hamas military strategy in the conflict against Israel.
At first, the terrorist began throwing rocks at the community, just outside the security fence. The incident was reported to security personnel immediately.Israel 'Offers 25 Terrorists in Exchange for Soldiers' Bodies'
"A patrolman spotted him," Dana stated. "He still continued to throw rocks." The patrolman drew his weapon and ordered the terrorist, as well as other rock-throwers, to stop. When the terrorist tried to escape the police and could not, he approached the patrolman.
"The patrolman identified that there was something under his shirt," Dana continued. "He asked [the terrorist] to roll up his shirt and reveal it. The patrolman realized it was a pistol in the terrorists's belt, and instructed him to drop the gun."
A source in the Palestinian delegation to Cairo said that Israel offered to hand over 25 terrorists that it arrested during Operation Protective Edge and 18 bodies of terrorists who were killed, in exchange for the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and First Sgt. Oron Shaul hy”d.ZAKA asks to go into Gaza for soldiers’ bodies; United Hatzalah treats volunteers for trauma
According to report in Al Masry Al-Youm, Israel demanded that the bodies of its soldiers be returned as a condition for the negotiations to proceed. The report was not confirmed by any official Israeli sources.
Egyptian mediators met a Palestinian delegation again Friday evening and were waiting to hear back from the Israelis after the Jewish Shabbat ended at sundown Saturday.
Acting US Middle East peace envoy Frank Lowenstein, who has been in Cairo for some days, "is still trying to help the parties get a permanent ceasefire", a US embassy official said.
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, the hassidic chairman and founder of the rescue and recovery organization ZAKA, is willing to go into Gaza to recover the bodies of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Second Lt. Hadar Goldin, who went missing in action in Gaza. He wrote on Sunday to Robert Serry, the special UN coordinator for the Middle East, that if given proper protection, either he and his Jewish colleagues or Palestinians who volunteer in ZAKA would try to identify the body parts and bring them to a Jewish burial.Snubbed in Cairo, Hamas opts for attrition
Meshi-Zahav, formerly of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect, noted to Serry that his organization has received UN recognition as an organization that recovers bodies in Israel and in disaster areas around the world. “Given our decades of experience as a UN-recognized international humanitarian volunteer organization in recovering human remains of disaster victims, we turn to you, as the UN representative in the Middle East, to help facilitate the return of the soldiers' body parts,” he wrote.
Hamas leaders have spent the weekend in Cairo warning that they will leave the ceasefire talks if Israel doesn’t accept their demands. Over and over we’ve heard them saying, “Watch out,” but there’s no sign that the threats are working.Egypt Reportedly Trying to Give Abbas Power in Gaza
Israel’s delegation is not in Cairo and it’s hard to see why it would be. For now the rocket attacks from Gaza are continuing and Israel has said that it won’t negotiate under fire. Hamas’s demands are far, far from the Israeli position — which speaks of a certain easing of restrictions at the border crossings, but certainly no establishment of a Gaza seaport or airport unless the Strip is demilitarized.
While issuing threats since it ended the truce on Friday morning, Hamas has also, through its actions, been indicating that it is not seeking a dramatic re-escalation of the conflict. Its fire on Israel has been relatively limited. That is to say, fewer rockets than at the height of the fighting, and with the salvos concentrated on the Gaza envelope. Only once, on Friday, was there fire on Beersheba. Also, it’s not actually Hamas that is firing. Hamas is allowing Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees to fire but isn’t actually participating itself.
The source, who spoke to Walla! on condition of anonymity, said Egypt's goal in the negotiations is to strengthen Abbas's position, and to negate the honor and esteem Hamas is likely to gain in the Arab world as a result of confronting Israel directly and holding out in an extended conflict.Hamas Reveals Enmity to Egypt, Arab League
The agreement Egypt is advancing according to the source would demand that Hamas and other Palestinian movements "recognize being in the second row, whereas Abu Mazen (Abbas - ed.), being as he is supported by Egypt, is the general Palestinian leader who will lead the reconstruction of Gaza."
The source, Mustafa Sawaf, is considered a close confidant of the Hamas leadership. He advised the Palestinian negotiation team in Cairo, which is comprised of Hamas and Palestinian Authority (PA) members, to go home immediately.Hamas said to obtain cash for salaries in Gaza
Sawaf recommend the team not to agree to Egyptian involvement, defining the Egyptian intermediary as "the basic delaying source preventing an agreement."
An alternate intermediary should be sought out, wrote Sawaf on his Facebook page, recommending a third-party that would bring to fruition the Hamas demands, and open the Erez and Rafah Crossings to Israel and the Sinai.
Sawaf likewise advised the Arab League Secretary-General Nabil El-Araby not to make a solidarity visit to Gaza accompanied by a delegation of Arab foreign ministers.
"El-Araby will not be received warmly, and Gaza residents will hit him and his delegation," threatened Sawaf.
Hamas has managed to inject millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to pay the salaries of thousands of workers, a Gaza-based news agency reported on Sunday, after two months in which no such payments were made.Gaza battle shifts to beauty aisle
According to the Palestinian Sawa news, salaries were given to all members of Hamas’s military wing, and the salaries of government officials in the Strip were expected to be paid as well. It is unclear how Hamas managed to transfer the money into the Strip or whether the move was intended to quell unrest in the Palestinian enclave, thus paving the way for a ceasefire.
Cosmetics firm Garnier created a big social media stink last week after donating care packages to female Israel Defense Forces soldiers fighting in Operation Protective Edge.A lone soldier makes aliya
With “take care” as its motto, Garnier’s gifts included soap and deodorant and were distributed by Israel advocacy nonprofit StandWithUs.
Now the L’Oreal-owned hair and skin care beauty company is coming under attack by Israel critics and the Garnier Facebook page is littered with heated comments by supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, even on posts unrelated to this controversy.
On Thursday afternoon, four days before her aliya flight was set to take off from New York City, Roni Rosen, 22, from Tenafly, NJ, was shopping for sunglasses and extra makeup at a New Jersey mall. In Israel, she said, makeup is far more expensive.American Aliyah: Joining Judaism and Israel Under Fire
Rosen was 18 when she decided to make aliya and join the IDF. Through college at Brandeis University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry, and despite her parents’ belief that this was a passing fad, Rosen planned for the day that she’d make a home in Israel – and on Monday, that dream finally becomes a reality.
The rest of her immediate family – her father, mother, and brother – were all born in Israel. But though Rosen also has Israeli citizenship, she’s never lived there, and for years she’s yearned for the experience.
For Malachi and Tanya Avital Ben-Yehuda of Riverdale, New York, terrorist rockets peppering southern Israel were inconsequential compared to their firm dedication to the Jewish faith and homeland.ISIS Flags Flown in Israeli-Arab Cities
The Ben-Yehuda's, an African-American couple who converted to Judaism four years ago, made aliyah (immigration) to Israel on July 21, even as counter-terror Operation Protective Edge continued and terror rocket attacks raged.
Not only did they immigrate - they arrived at an absorption center in Be'er Sheva in the south where rockets have been falling frequently, and they plan to move to Ashkelon which has been a main target of Hamas. Arutz Sheva joined the couple on their aliyah flight.
As the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) continues its bloody conquest of Iraq and Syria and begins invading Lebanon, all in the name of establishing a global Sunni Muslim caliphate system, signs of support for the extremist are being seen among Israel's Arab citizens.Wounded IDF Officer Awakens From Coma, Wants to Finish Gaza Mission
Channel 10 exposed on Sunday that in recent months black ISIS flags have been commonly seen in Arab-Israeli towns in northern and coastal Israel, notably in the cities of Nazareth and Akko.
The flags have been seen flying among both Muslim and Christian Arab citizens of Israel, an ironic move given that ISIS in Iraq has emptied cities of their Christian populations by issuing them an ultimatum either to convert to Islam, pay non-Muslim jhizya taxes - or die.
In response to the widespread photos of ISIS flags flying in Nazareth, Ali Salem, mayor of the city, claimed "there are no things like that in Nazareth, and whoever sends (photos) is a deceiver and liar."
IDF Engineering Corps officer 2 Lt. (res) Aviv, was badly wounded last week in a clash with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, according to an Israeli media report.Palestinian sources: Teens’ killing planned, funded by Hamas
Three of his soldiers were killed in that firefight, and doctors at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba placed Aviv under an induced coma in order to stabilize his condition.
Maj. Benaya Sarel, 26, from Kiryat Arba, 2 Lt. Hadar Goldin, 23, from Kfar Saba, and St.-Sgt. Liel Gidoni, 20, from Jerusalem were killed when a Hamas suicide bomber emerged from a tunnel near Rafah and blew himself up – wounding Aviv.
The brother of a Palestinian man arrested as the ringleader of a terror cell that kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teens in June, suspected of funding the attack, has fostered deep Hamas ties since being deported to Gaza, Palestinian security sources said.Video of UNRWA Camps Showing Children Calling for Jihad Attracts Renewed Attention
Mahmoud Ali Kawasme was one of the Palestinian inmates deported to Gaza in the 2011 prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit.
He is suspected of funding and planning the June 12 West Bank attack in which Israeli students Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Fraenkel were abducted and killed near Hebron.
His ties to the attack and to Hamas will likely further implicate the terror group in the killings. Israel has alleged Hamas involvement, though Hamas’s leadership has denied any connection to the scheme.
A video of summer camps run by UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, is making the rounds on pro-Israel social media networks again with footage that shows Palestinian children as young as 6 calling for “Jihad against the Jews.”An Indian Shopkeeper In London
“The resistance in Gaza is not enough,” says one camper in UNRWA’s school in Balata. “We need to unite and fight together.”
The Lawfare Project, which promoted the video, that was produced by the Center for Near East Policy Research, headed by David Bedein, makes the claim that US and Europe-sponsored UNWRA is abusing children with brainwashing methods that include games aimed at teaching the values of war and the Arab “right of return” to Israeli cities. It portrays children writing names on kites of the Israeli cities that they will one day recapture as theirs.
He takes me aside and his first words to me are “did you see NDTV?” meaning the rocket firing report. I told him I was one of the first in Israel to see and share that report!Gaza Rocket Launched During Interview
Then he says “Those Hamas: they’re really bad terrorists. Just like the ones we had in Mumbai – you know, the ones who also killed the Jews”.
Yes, I definitely do remember the terrorists who massacred people in Mumbai including the Chabad Rabbi and his family.
He really gets it. I asked him about NDTV – New Delhi TV and he told me he watches it all the time. He says it was started by an Indian ex-pat who he knows distantly from this part of London.
So the UK is not quite finished, but support will come from people who don’t watch or trust the BBC as their main source of news.
A Gazan man interviewed on Canada’s CBC News, complains to the journalist about big, bad Israel and the trauma his children are undergoing.Gaza rocket fired during CBC interview
Notice how the man hardly flinched as the rocket was fired, and then continued to lambaste Israel for killing the children, seemingly oblivious to the fact that rockets like these being fired from among them are the cause of the children’s deaths (hat tip: Harvey). (h/t Bob Knot)
PA Foreign Minister: We'll Take Israel to ICC for War Crimes
Maliki, who attended the inauguration on Thursday of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, said “before coming here, I was in the Hague. And I asked the ICC to start an official investigation, to see if what Israel has done in the past 33 days reaches the level of war crimes.”Palestinian Leader Mudar Zahran: Hamas is killing my people (h/t Alexi)
Al-Maliki said last week that he inquired about the legal procedures necessary for the PA to join the ICC and sign the Rome Statute in order to take action against possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
He noted that the PA should now qualify for ICC membership due to its status as a UN non-member observer state.
PA officials realize, however, that joining the ICC is a calculated risk because it would give Israel a forum to pursue war crimes charges against the PA as well and particularly against Hamas.
Jordan Blames Israel for Deaths in Gaza Operation
Abdullah's remarks came in an interview published by the independent Al-Ghad newspaper, as the death toll from Israeli air strikes on Gaza in response to rocket terror rose and efforts to secure a ceasefire remained elusive.Fidel Castro Signs Pro-Palestinian Manifesto
The Jordanian king called the month-long Gaza conflict "the bloodiest and most devastating in terms of casualties," and blamed Israel for the bloodshed.
"First and foremost, Israel is responsible for the aggression in the (Gaza) Strip," said Abdullah, ignoring Hamas's firing over 3,500 rockets on Israeli civilians.
Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has signed an international manifesto "supporting Palestine," demanding that Israel respect UN resolutions and withdraw from "Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem."Fatah brags it killed 11,000 Israelis
Castro, who will be 88 next week, added his signature to those of intellectuals and politicians to the document "In Defense of Palestine," the official Cuban Granma newspaper said Saturday.
Several other famous anti-Israel activists, including Bolivian President Evo Morales, Argentine artist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Cuban dancer Alicia Alonso and American writer Alice Walker, were also among the signatories.
Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah is challenging those who try to minimize its leadership role in the Palestinian conflict with Israel. To show its prominence it did not choose to cite any actions seeking peace but only actions of violence and terror, even claiming fictitiously that its attacks have killed 11,000 Israelis. One of the actions it bragged about was being the "first Palestinian faction to reach the [Israeli] nuclear reactor," which is actually reference to a bus hijacking and murder of three Israeli civilians on their way to work at the nuclear plant.Hamas Spokesman Calls to Carry Out Terror Attacks in Israel and the West Bank
Top Hamas Official Osama Hamdan: 486 Children Killed in Gaza, 4,500 Born Instead
Iranian General: Hamas Proved Superior to Israel
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' deputy commander, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, said Saturday night that since the ceasefire plan proposed by Egypt is “biased,” the best possible option for the Palestinians at present is continued resistance and war against Israel. He added that Hamas enjoys hidden war equipment and capabilities which will be used in later stages of the war.Hamas Versus Israel: Moral Clarity Awards
"The plan proposed by Egypt meets the Zionist regime's interests and is not acceptable as it seeks to disarm the resistance, but we know that the damage inflicted on the Palestinians by a ceasefire is more than the damage of war," Salami said in a live interview with Iran's state-run TV on Saturday night, reported Iran's Fars news agency.
Salami said Israel has been defeated in close-range and street fighting against Hamas and other Palestinian groups, and that “the Zionist army cannot move on the ground.”
"Their fighter jets can just bomb the Palestinians, and these bombardments are responded to with the resistance's missile attacks," he explained.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a hero to many for his consistent support of Israel and the Jewish people, who stood by Israel’s side throughout the conflict with Hamas.Elliott Abrams: Yasser Arafat International Airport
Here’s a quintessential Harper comment: “Canada is unequivocally behind Israel. We support its right to defend itself, by itself, against these terror attacks, and urge Hamas to immediately cease their indiscriminate attacks on innocent Israeli civilians. Canada reiterates its call for the Palestinian government to disarm Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups operating in Gaza, including the Iranian proxy, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, another staunch friend of Israel, who said: “We recognize Israel’s right to self-defense, and we deplore the firing of rockets, the constant firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel.” No moral ambiguity or evasiveness from the Australian leader, but rather the straightforward we-say-it-as-we-see-it approach we’ve come to expect from Down Under.
To those unfamiliar with the term, "Yasser Arafat International Airport" must seem like the punch line to some joke about international terrorism.Gaza’s morning after
Yet it existed in Gaza, briefly, and then-President Bill and Hillary Clinton visited there in 1998 to stand next to Arafat and cut the ribbon opening the facility. These were the years when President Clinton viewed Arafat as the key to peace, and invited him to the White House 13 times -- more than any other foreign visitor. The airport was destroyed by Israel in 2001 as part of the reaction to the intifada that Arafat launched after he refused Israel's offer and rebuffed Clinton's efforts at Camp David.
One of the most dangerous, and most absurd, Hamas demands now is that this airport be reopened. I well recall the Palestinian Authority's requests to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2005 that this airport be put back in service. Forget it, she told the Palestinian leadership: Countries such as the United States, Switzerland, and the U.K. have great problems maintaining airport security. No one is going to trust you to maintain security at an international airport.
This front has three sections: diplomacy, law and media. In all these, Israel will have two overarching aims: Firstly, rid Hamas of its image as a national liberator and present it instead as a fundamentalist oppressor, part of a belt that stretches from Nigeria’s Boko Haram through Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraq’s Islamic State, and Iran’s ayatollahs to Afghanistan’s Taliban and China’s Uighurs. While most of these are at odds with the majority of the rest, all of them share an Islamism that is anathema to the rest of the world, from the US and Europe to China, India and Africa.Obama in NY Times Interview: Pro Zoabi, Anti-Netanyahu
Secondly, Israel will have to shift the debate from “what have you done” to “what could be done?” With Iranian training, Israel’s enemies have reshaped the battlefield in ways that international law and Western military doctrines do not address.
The updating of war laws may therefore emerge from the recent fighting as an Israeli goal, as will military solutions for isolating weapons planted among civilians.
The efficiency with which Israel will fight on this front remains to be seen, but the broader diplomatic picture will eventually become clear in any event. Yes, the guns of Summer ’14 have set forth some tremors in Israel’s foreign relations, but when the dust settles two fundamentals will loom: the non-Muslim world faces a scourge called Islamism, and the West faces a ploy called asymmetrical warfare, which should be renamed “unfair fighting.”
As understanding of these grim facts spreads, the effort to present Israel as part of the problem will give way to its acceptance as part of the solution.
Obama told Friedman, ““if [Netanyahu] doesn’t feel some internal pressure, then it’s hard to see him being able to make some very difficult compromises, including taking on the settler movement. That’s a tough thing to do.”Obama Diagnosed With Inability To Endorse Israel Self-Defense Without “But” (satire)
Mr. Obama: Netanyahu faces pressure from the people of Israel, but it is pressure to stop attacks. He’s a moderate – but even the more-left wing forces in his government, Yair Lapid, for example, just called for targeted assassinations of Hamas leaders – as America killed Osama Bin Laden.
The people of Israel want, demand and deserve quiet. Netanyahu is being pressured to crush terror.
The reality is that Netanyahu is very unlikely to be succeeded by someone to the left of him – and much more likely to be succeeded by someone from the right. Netanyahu, in fact, is largely unpopular among the rank and file of the Likud’s powerful central committee – as they too are more right-wing than Netanyahu.
And in his government? Whether it’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, or others, Netanyahu is under pressure is not to compromise or even negotiate with terrorists. Who would dare revive talk of a two-state solution which puts Ben Gurion airport 8 kilometers away from a probable Hamas takeover in the "West Bank" - America, who shut it down?
For the last month the President has been unable to speak about Israel’s justified response to rocket fire and tunnel infiltration from the Gaza Strip without calling on the country to exercise “restraint” or “do more to prevent civilian casualties,” regardless of Israel’s already-unprecedented measures to minimize harm to noncombatants. On other occasions he has given validity to Hamas demands, ignoring the fact that those demands are geared toward perpetuating the organization’s ability to continue attacking Israeli civilians. Concerned with this recurring symptom, presidential doctors performed an MRI (Moral Relativism Indicator) scan, a test that confirmed a diagnosis of MEH (Moral Equivalency-Hypocrisy).MKs Fighting Over Who Gets To Slap Zoabi On Wrist (satire)
MEH disproportionately strikes college-educated adults in the western hemisphere, but is especially prevalent in the echelons of government and media, fields with a documented likelihood six time higher than the general population of being affected by a condition called Academia, which almost invariably precedes a MEH diagnosis, though the exact pathological cause has yet to be determined. Academia presents as a tendency to select or manufacture facts to suit a narrowly defined worldview but that claims to represent openness and tolerance.
Member of Knesset Hanin Zoabi is scheduled to face a Knesset panel that will determine her future in the legislative body after she was recorded making comments that could be construed as incitement for Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians, and her fellow MKs are vying for the privilege of meting out the parliament’s meaningless disciplinary measures against her.‘Gold Rush’ star’s pro-Israel tweet helps him ‘thin out’ anti-Semites and haters from his ‘Twitter crowd’
The Jewish Home and Yisrael Beiteinu delegations held a mostly orderly lottery to determine which of the interested candidates would administer the wrist-slap to the Balad Party legislator accused of endorsing the kidnapping and murder of Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, a little over a month ago. Zoabi also faces charges over an alleged assault of a police officer at a rally, but her fellow MKs agree that charge is almost a requirement for membership in the legislature and is unlikely to affect her treatment there. Other delegations, however, engaged in violent exchanges over who gets to slap Zoabi.
Todd Hoffman stars on the hit Discovery Channel series “Gold Rush.” After he told his Twitter followers that he supports Israel and doesn’t want to see “anti-Israeli stuff” in his mentions, he got a taste of the anti-Semitic idiocy and ugliness that often greets pro-Israel tweets:David Draiman: Why I Support Israel
Before the world is swayed further into madness, before the stage is set for a new Holocaust, I implore each and every one of you, Jew and non-Jew, to make your voices heard, and do what you can to spread this, and your own personal messages of truth.‘Badass’ David Draiman unloads on liberal media for fueling ‘a wave of anti-Semitism’
People have been trying to exterminate the Jewish people for thousands of years (The Inquisition, The Crusades, The Persian and Ottoman Empire, The Holocaust, etc., now Hamas). You wont. The Nation of Israel lives and the Jewish people will endure, with or without your blessing.
NEVER AGAIN
I can now at the very least look my son in the eyes when he is old enough to understand and tell him…I tried.
I wish to thank the United States of America for all the support they have shown Israel through the years.
I pray that a true and lasting peace finally comes one day.
In July, Disturbed and Device vocalist David Draiman told “the mainstream media, anti-Semites, propagandists, and attackers of Israel” he’d “had about enough of your bullsh*t.” In a scorching rant, Draiman ripped the media again for fueling a stomach-turning “wave of anti-Semitism.”Hiroshima, Dresden, and…. Gaza City????
We have seen some over-the-top coverage of the conflict in Gaza. We have seen inaccurate and biased coverage as Israel attempts to defend itself from a continuing onslaught of rocket fire and attempted terrorist infiltrations.Global AgendaLeft-Wing British Paper Runs Ad Condemning Hamas Human Shields
But if there was an award for hyperbole and gross inaccuracy, my vote would be for Mr. Sam Kiley, the Foreign Affairs Editor with Sky News. In The Battle to Win the War and Keep the Peace, he writes:
The firebombing of Dresden and the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki targeted women and children, the innocent, their homes, parks and pets – on purpose.Wait. Did he just compare the strikes on Gaza with the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan and the firebombing of Dresden,Germany???
The Allies intended to break the will of the Axis powers utterly.
And that is the intent of the Israelis in Gaza.
This is not The Onion, this is Sky News. This is from the Foreign Affairs Editor.
Britain's left-wing Guardian newspaper is to run a controversial advertisement condemning Hamas's use of human shields as "child sacrifice" - the same ad that was rejected by another British paper, The Times.Big Three Networks Avoid Calling ISIS 'Terrorists;' Label Them 'Rebels' and 'Militants'
The ad, co-written by Nobel Prize-winner and holocaust-survivor Eli Wiesel and US Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, is entitled "Jews Rejected Human Sacrifice 3,500 Years Ago, Now It's Hamas' Turn", and calls on "true Muslims", as well as world leaders, to condemn what it brands as Hamas’ use of "child sacrifices". It is sponsored by Rabbi Boteach's This World: The Values Network organization.
"In my own lifetime, I have seen Jewish children thrown into the fire," Wiesel writes in the ad. "And now I have seen Muslim children used as human shields, in both cases, by worshippers of death cults indistinguishable from that of the Molochites.
The Big Three networks steered clear of labeling the Islamist group ISIS "terrorists" on their evening newscasts on Friday. Instead, ABC's World News and CBS Evening News labeled the genocidal radicals "militants." NBC Nightly News used the more benign "rebels" in their coverage of the group's latest attacks on the Kurdish part of Iraq.How to Fight the Anti-Israel Propaganda
The closest that a journalist at ABC, CBS, or NBC got to using the "terrorist" label was Scott Pelley's teaser at the very top of CBS Evening News: (h/t MtTB)
When I started IsraelShield, I had one goal in mind; fight anti-Israel propaganda. Over the past several years, I have had more than a few debates with pro Palestine or anti Israel people and the truth is, I have NEVER lost a debate or turned to foul language or lost my temper. See, when you have the truth, you don’t need vulgarity.Joe Hyams at NY Rally: We Won’t Apologize For Not Bleeding More
To make it easier for those who are actually looking for the truth or those who would like to defend Israel, here are two of the most commonly used propaganda and lies against Israel.
TWEET THIS:
There are more Arab doctors, lawyers, teachers & parliament members in Israel then there are JEWS is all Islamic regimes combined!
Speaking at a pro-Israel rally in front of CNN’s studio in New York on Thursday, Joe said he was tired of the insidious double standard and media duplicity. “I won’t apologize to the international media that we didn’t bleed enough,” he said.Israeli Actors Protest Scottish Festival Ban
He also rejected the notion that there were two sides to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, both of which deserve equal treatment in the media.
“To say that there is offers legitimacy to Hamas, a terrorist organization,” Joe said. “We are not asking the international media to wake up and sing ‘Hatikvah’ tomorrow. We are just asking them to be great journalists.”
Israeli actors on Saturday responded to a discriminatory cancellation of their show at Scotland's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, performing a silent version of their hour-long play while confronted by around 200 anti-Israel protesters.Hezbollah & Iran Flags, Netanyahu Effigies, and Cameron's Head on a Stick: London's Latest Anti-Israel Protest
The Israeli acting troupe, named Incubator Theater, held an entirely silent version of their "hip-hop opera" which normally features rap at Bristo Square in Edinburgh, not far from Reid Hall where they scheduled to perform, reports The Scotsman.
They were faced by a rowdy crowd of roughly 200 anti-Israel activists who booed and chanted during the show. The activists arrived at the Bristo Square fresh off a 2,000 person protest against Israel just two hours prior in Edinburgh's city center.
Today's anti-Israel protests in London reportedly attracted around 150,000 according to organisers, making the rally the largest since Israel's war against the terrorist group Hamas began over a month ago.Twitchy: ‘Farewell, Western Civilization': London overtaken by pro-Gaza demonstrators [photos]
The Independent newspaper quotes London's Metropolitan Police in saying that the march from the BBC's studios on Regent Street to Hyde Park "was entirely peaceful and no arrests were made".
But photos obtained exclusively by Breitbart London show a dark side of the protests that mainstream media organisations refuse to report.
The United Kingdom’s largest-ever pro-Palestine protest was scheduled to kick off at noon London time, and demonstrators turned out to flood the streets with flags and signs.REPORT: Gaza Activist Arrested After Nazi Salute in Front of Pro-Israel Group In Manchester
A man who was protesting at the pro-Palestinian rally in Manchester has reportedly stood in front of pro-Israel protesters in the city centre and performed the Nazi salute.Influential Labour Activist Quits Party, Slams Miliband over Gaza Statements
The news comes from Manchester Evening News journalist Jennifer Williams's Twitter feed. Williams attended the Manchester rally today, which passed largely without incident.
Williams tweeted: "Someone at Israeli protest on king st just walked past abs did Nazi salute". This was followed by: "He was taken away by cops".
A Labour Party supporter of over 20 years and former director of the influential Labour Friends of Israel group has sensationally resigned from Ed Miliband's party this week, citing his response to the ongoing Gaza crisis, as well as other factors.Steven Salaita petition organizer wants to “uproot” Israel
Kate Bearman, who has also praised Prime Minister David Cameron's response, wrote in the Jewish Chronicle this week:
"I've been a supporter of the Labour Party for 20 years but my support is over.
I feel I don't recognise the party of principle and serious government that I knocked on doors and delivered leaflets for. It has let me down.
I feel Ed Miliband's and Douglas Alexander's rush to a condemnation of Israel's ground incursion into Gaza gave me no choice but to say goodbye to the party I have always voted and campaigned for."
Note the last line. This is a BDS-motivated petition, not a petition for academic freedom for all. As I have pointed out recently, those who now invoke academic freedom to defend Salaita are among the worst destroyers of academic freedom through the academic boycott passed by the American Studies Association (with Salaita’s help) and some smaller groups.'F*** off Jew!' What I was told when I photographed a 'jihadist' flag flying in LONDON
As of this writing, the Petition has over 11,000 signatures. Most appear real, although there is some trolling in there. It’s hard to tell how many are faculty or students.
Merriman, who also is known as Rima Najjar (Merriman), is a BDS activist who calls for the destruction of Israel, and argues that Zionism is a disease.
Her Twitter feed was first brought to my attention by a tweet this morning from Professor Jonathan Marks of Ursinus College, who also frequently writes for Commentary Magazine and Minding the Campus.
I WAS told this morning by a community activist in east London to be kind in this article to the Bengali Muslim youths who threatened violence last night…and who told me to “F*** off Jew, you’re not welcome here.”Former Apple exec steers Israeli startups
So let me state her well-meaning view that they’re “good boys” and that they’ve been raising much money for the victims of the terrible violence in Gaza.
My wife, a Bengali Muslim herself, disagrees.
She thinks they’re a “disgrace”, both to their families and to their shared community.
My wife is always right.
When former Apple executive Eric Sirkin sailed from Silicon Valley to Silicon Wadi – figuratively speaking, though he does have a skipper’s license – he harbored a dream of building a multinational company in Israel.Israeli scientists demonstrate world’s first photonic router
Four years later that dream has yet to be realized, but Sirkin has made smaller waves in Israeli business waters through the and Tel Aviv Angel Group and the new Maverick Group early-stage venture fund.
He retains a hand on the rudder of the Angel Group’s remaining portfolio startups. Some were bought out, including LabPixies, Google’s first Israeli acquisition. Among the handful of others are the Tomigo social recruiting platform and the Neomatix tire-pressure monitor, featured previously on ISRAEL21c.
Weizmann Institute scientists have demonstrated for the first time a photonic router – a quantum device based on a single atom that enables routing of single photons by single photons. This achievement, as reported in Science magazine, is another step toward overcoming the difficulties in building quantum computers.South Korea interested in Iron Dome, Rafael head says
At the core of the device is an atom that can switch between two states. The state is set just by sending a single particle of light – or photon – from the right or the left via an optical fiber. The atom, in response, then reflects or transmits the next incoming photon accordingly.
Yedidia Yaari, CEO of Iron Dome manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., told Israel’s Army Radio that the system’s high success rate had piqued foreign interest, Reuters reported.Israel Investor Confidence Seen in Too-Strong Shekel
Referring to South Korea, Ya’ari said, “It is very worried not only about rockets, but other things as well … You can certainly include them in the club of interested countries,” Ya’ari said, adding that Rafael officials had recently visited Seoul.
Yaari did not indicate how close a deal with South Korea is.
Iron Dome has yet to be sold to foreign countries, though reports have indicated a number of interested parties, including Singapore.
For perhaps the best sign of how it’s been business as usual in Israeli markets since the fighting broke out in Gaza, look no further than the shekel.
It has proven so resilient, hovering near a three-year high even as emerging-market currencies plunged 1.8 percent on average over the past month, that Israeli central bankers intervened in the foreign-exchange market on Aug. 7, buying dollars to weaken it by the most in 11 months.
The story has been much the same in other Israeli assets, with both stocks and bonds gaining. The TA-25 index advanced 0.9 percent in the past month at the close in Tel Aviv, dodging a slump in global equities that’s driven down the MSCI World Index 2.5 percent. While fighting resumed last week after the collapse of a three-day truce, the month-long conflict is doing little to hurt investor confidence in Israel, said Michael Shaoul, chief executive officer at Marketfield Asset Management LLC in New York.
“You’ve had many decades of turbulence in that part of the world, and no clear correlation between turbulence and equity-market performance,” Shaoul, who oversees $20 billion in assets, said by phone from New York. “There’s no clear evidence that markets really care about this stuff.”
