Wednesday, August 13, 2014
UN Audit Shows “Black Hole” in Supervision of Gaza Construction Prior to War
Fox News reported yesterday that an internal United Nations audit of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Gaza found that UNDP “allowed at least five non-staff contract employees to handle ‘core’ procurement processes that only staffers are supposed to handle, including those for ordering up ‘significant’ civil construction activities.”Senators want UNRWA investigated over 'troubling' Gaza role
The report notes a number of other irregularities that that the audit turned up, included charges for construction projects “at far less than … full value,” allowing the projects to avoid scrutiny, as well as failure to track receipts and expenditures properly.
"Taken together, the findings in the carefully manicured audit report — which was vetted by UNDP management at the affected office — point to a possible black hole in the supervision of civil construction, and perhaps other programs in Gaza and the other Palestinian territories for at least a year before the current explosion of terrorism."
The upshot of all of these irregularities, according to Fox, is that they lend “credibility to Israeli accusations that internationally-managed relief supplies to Gaza were diverted into construction of the elaborate and highly-engineered tunnels under the territory that were used by Hamas terrorists to launch and coordinate rocket attacks and incursions into Israel that dramatically escalated in March.”
Accusing UNRWA of maintaining active and extensive ties with Hamas— and of supporting its activities throughout the month-long war— Senate Foreign Relations Committee members Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote a letter this week to US Secretary of State John Kerry accusing the UN agency of bias and characterizing its role in the conflict as "troubling."Dershowitz Asks: Does Jimmy Carter's Support for Hamas Constitute a Criminal Offense?
UNRWA, an ostensibly neutral agency tasked with administering aid to Palestinian refugees throughout the region, adopted a political role in the heat of the conflict, during which at least four of its facilities were badly damaged and many of their inhabitants killed. During the deadliest days of the war, UNRWA officials went on record accusing the Israeli government of violating international humanitarian law.
UNRWA also publicly declared the discovery of three caches of rockets stored in Gaza schools during the July battle. The organization did not identify a responsible party for the crime, however, noting that the schools used as weapons depots were "mothballed" for the summer months.
While Jimmy Carter was busy accusing Israel of war crimes and encouraging greater international support for the terrorist group Hamas, a noted legal expert and civil rights advocate claims the former American president may have committed several criminal felonies that ban the provision of material support to terrorist organizations.David Horovitz: When the history of this war is written
Recently retired Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz told J.D. Hayworth at Newsmax TV that Carter’s recent article in London’s Guardian Newspaper, urging international recognition for Hamas, may have constituted recruitment for an organization classified as ‘terrorist’ under US law.
Dershowitz accused Jimmy Carter of being "an all-out supporter of Hamas," warning that if his advocacy turns into material support for the terrorist Hamas, Carter will be committing a felony.
"Jimmy Carter wants the United States and the European community to legitimize Hamas," said Dershowitz. “It's against the law in the United States, even if you're a former president, it's against the law to provide material support to a listed terrorist organization."
Dershowitz claims that Carter’s call for the recognition of Hamas as an equal with Israel “defies logic. But leave it to Jimmy Carter,” said Dershowitz to defy logic. “It's as if one would want to recognize and legitimate the Mafia or al-Qaida or the Taliban," he said.
It will not reflect well on Britain, journalism, and the struggle against anti-SemitismBritish government threatens Israel with arms halt
Britain abandoned Israel.
The principled initial position of Prime Minister David Cameron in support of Israel was gradually eroded to the point where, on August 12, the British ministry of trade announced that if Hamas attacked Israel again, it would halt some of its arms sales to Israel. No, you did not misread that. If the terrorist government of Gaza, sworn to destroy Israel, initiated new violence against Israel, Britain will stop selling Israel some of the arms it needs to keep its people safe.
It goes without saying that the UN mustered all of its skewed forums to harm Israel, and that most of the Arab world piled on energetically too — even those countries who know to their own bloody cost the sheer inhumanity of Islamist terrorist organizations. The hostility demonstrated elsewhere in the international arena was shocking, but not surprising either. But Britain, central to the revival of the Jewish homeland in the last century, took a step that, were it not for Israel’s own capabilities and other alliances, would begin the process of rendering Israel helpless in the face of those who seek to annihilate it. And that is beyond reprehensible. It is a moral failure of the first order. It should shame all those who played a part in producing such a move. And quite apart from the impact on Israel, it must profoundly trouble all those of us who love and appreciate Britain and who care for Britain’s future.
What’s most astonishing here is that the suspension is not conditioned on which party breaks a ceasefire. If Hamas starts firing rockets at Israel again, it seems, the UK’s position is that Israel should not respond, lest this lead to “a resumption of significant hostilities.”
Even as an outsider, I could see something like this coming from the moment the Tory-Lib Dem coalition came into office.
By contrast, and despite the well-publicized tensions between Obama and Netanyahu, military cooperation between the US and Israel remains strong, and continued military aid to Israel is one of the few matters on which most Democrats and Republicans in Congress, as well as Obama, agree.
UK Arms and the War on the Jews
The point of this British pressure is not just to hamper the Israel Defense Forces’ efforts to seek out and destroy Hamas missile launches or terror centers. The purpose of the gesture is to add to the growing campaign of international pressure that seeks to force Israel to make concessions to Hamas in order to prevent further fighting. Though Hamas has repeatedly turned down and broken ceasefires and the entire war was fought largely at the insistence of the Islamist group, the onus for ending this round of fighting is largely being placed on Israel.UK Threatens to Cut 12 Arms Export Licenses to Israel
But the proposed concessions, such as the freeing of terrorist prisoners or an end to the blockade of Gaza that makes it more difficult for the Islamists to gain new supplies of arms, rockets, and materials used to fortify the strip, are hardly neutral. If Israel is forced to give in, the result would be to further empower Hamas and to reward terrorism. That would only hasten the inevitable next round of fighting.
It should be understood that any embargo on Israel would not be matched by a ban on arms sales or funding for Hamas from its sponsors in Turkey and Qatar. Those concessions will also make it easier for Hamas to rearm and to import the materials it uses to both protect its arsenal, leaders and fighters (though not the people of Gaza) and to build new tunnels from which they hope to send terrorists to kill Jews.
It is worth noting that the European Union (EU), which the UK is a member of, includes Hamas on its list of terrorist organizations. That listing specifically includes both "Hamas" and "Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem," meaning that both the military and governmental branches of Hamas are recognized as terror groups by the EU, and consequently by the UK.Times of Israel Live Blog: Israel moves troops to border as truce winds down; 5 killed by leftover IDF missile in Gaza
Despite the fact that Operation Protective Edge is being fought to defend Israeli civilians from a terror war launched by Hamas, some in England apparently felt that Cable's threat to punish Israel didn't go far enough.
Andrew Smith of the Campaign Against Arms Trade called the threat "a very weak position" that "will be seen as a sign of political support for the Israeli government." He demanded a "full embargo on all arms sales to Israel as well as an end to all military-industrial collaboration with Israel."
Egypt waiting for answer from Palestinians on 72-hour extension; most ministers join Liberman’s call for boycott of UNHRC probe; Israel to investigate operationIsrael’s annihilation has begun, says PLO envoy to Tehran
“The US and the western countries have created a fake regime in Palestine to get rid of it and have supplied it with the most advanced weapons and are seeking to create an Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates,” Zawawi, whose organization dominates the Palestinian Authority headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted as saying by the Iranian semi-official news agency Fars on Tuesday.Gazans must get rid of Hamas
“Israel’s annihilation has begun and the new generation in Iran will certainly witness our victory over Israel,” he said during a gathering in Tehran in support of Gaza on Tuesday.
The Hamas representative in Iran, Khaled al-Kadoumi, said that the resistance must go on and that he hopes its weapons will become more advanced with the help of the Iranians.
“The only mechanism for liberating Palestine is resistance and we have no option other than supporting the resistance,” he said on Monday, according to Fars.
And still, as a Palestinian, I must admit: I am responsible for part of what has happened. We can no longer deny our responsibility for the death of our own people.Report: Israeli Intelligence Focused on Eliminating the Brains Behind Gaza Rocket Attacks
Most of the Palestinians were against the rocket fire on Israel. They realized that the rockets would not give us anything. They called on Hamas to stop firing, knowing that it had paved the way for the death of its own people.
We knew that Hamas was digging the tunnels which would to lead to our destruction. We knew that three people live on every square meter in Gaza.[actually ~1 person per 250 sq.m, 1 sq km = 1mil sq.m, not 1,000 - Ian] And Hamas knew that an attack on Israel would lead to mass death, but it's leaders are more interested in their own victories than in the lives of their victims.
Indeed, Hamas depends on death, which gives it power and allows it to raise funds and purchase weapons. Hamas has never been interested in liberating the Palestinian people from the occupation. And Israel will never be able to destroy the infrastructures it has built. Only we, the Palestinian people, can do that.
It was the Gazan residents' responsibility to rebel against the Hamas rule. We knew what they were doing to us, but we let ourselves off easy and allowed it to happen.
Will all this death finally teach us a lesson? I hope so. The lesson is that we must get rid of Hamas and completely demilitarize Gaza. And then open the crossings.
I'm saying this as a loyal Palestinian. I'm saying this because I am concerned about my people's future.
Israel’s intelligence services are going after Hamas and Islamic Jihad (IJ) rocket experts the same way they were rumored to have gone after Iran’s nuclear scientists in recent years, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported Tuesday, quoting foreign sources.Israel not taking Jordan, Egypt, and the Saudi’s belated criticism too seriously
According to the reports, the Shin Bet and IDF Military Intelligence are working to hit a small group of several dozen development engineers in the fields of rocket propellants, explosives, and aeronautics who learned and trained abroad, mainly in Iran and Syria.
The select group are behind Hamas’ and IJ’s expanding rocket arsenal.
Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia have come out belatedly against Israel’s attacks against Hamas in Gaza in response to rocket fire, as their antipathy to Hamas has been overshadowed, as of late, by anti-Israel rhetoric meant for the masses.IDF Blog: The Invisible Face of Hamas
As the war against Hamas began, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were uncharacteristically silent. The New York Times ran an article highlighting this point on July 30 titled, “Arab Leaders, Viewing Hamas as Worse Than Israel, Stay Silent.”
But as the war has dragged on and casualties have mounted, with pictures of dead children plastered across the Arab media, it became difficult for the leaders of this bloc of countries to stay silent as the masses seethed in anger.
Hamas hides its actions from the world by threatening journalists, pressuring civilians over social media, and disguising its fighters in civilian clothing.Spanish Journalist in Gaza: Hamas Launched Rockets From Press Hotel
Despite the large number of international journalists reporting from Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, images of Hamas terrorists have scarcely appeared in Western media outlets. This is primarily because Hamas threatens journalists who don’t tell the story the way Hamas wants it to be told.
In addition, Hamas terrorists are often difficult to identify because they wear civilian clothing. By doing so, Hamas terrorists are not only trying to avoid being targeted by the IDF, but the are also causing international organizations to incorrectly label the death of many terrorists as civilians. It should come as no surprise that Hamas has ordered Gaza’s social media users not to post images of terrorists online and to refer to all terrorists killed in IDF strikes as “innocent civilians.”
Freelance Spanish journalist Fernando Gutiérrez said on Twitter Hamas was launching rockets from the press hotel, in Gaza.Peres tells BBC: World must reinstall Abbas, Palestinian Authority as ruler in Gaza
In Spanish, Gutiérrez, who is writing for Melilla Hoy, tweeted, “On Saturday, 9th of August, Hamas launched a battery of rockets from the press hotel. What was their intent? To provoke Israel to kill us?#SaveGazaFromHamas.”
The journalist later said he recorded audio of the rockets being launched.
On Twitter, Gutiérrez told followers that he went to Gaza to see the facts for himself.
Former president Shimon Peres on Wednesday challenged the international community to forcefully express its opposition to Hamas’s presence in the Gaza Strip and to strip the Islamist group of its armaments.Amidror: Reoccupation of Gaza ‘only military way’ to stop rockets
“The world needs to decide whether it’s ready for a terrorist state in Gaza or not,” Peres said in an interview with BBC World.
“Reconciling with terrorism in Gaza will be a tragedy for the Middle East and the entire world. Israel wants peace and believes in negotiations while Hamas –both philosophically and practically – proves that it is opposed to peace, opposed to talks, and in favor of terrorism.”
If diplomatic efforts fail to secure a truce with Hamas, there may only be two military options for Israel – a long war of attrition where both sides fire at each other intermittently, or the bloody, painful reoccupation of the Gaza Strip.Fallen IDF soldiers in Operation Protective Edge
That was the assessment of Maj.-Gen. (res.) Ya’acov Amidror, former national security adviser to the prime minister and head of the National Security Council, who spoke to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“During the operation we had the tunnel problem and I believe we solved that, even if maybe not 100 percent. Now there are two options; one is to continue with the situation where we fire on them and they fire on us. A situation must be found for the people in the South but from the standpoint of Israel this is a situation we can stand.”
He added that such a war of attrition with a non-state actor like Hamas could work, because the longer it continued the Islamist group would become weaker, as it doesn’t have the ability to replenish its weapons like a state could.
To date, 64 soldiers have been killed in action during Operation Protective Edge.German newspaper publishes pictures of fallen IDF soldiers
The operation, which began on July 8, is ongoing at time of writing.
Germany's popular Bild newspaper on Tuesday published the photographs of the 64 Israel Defense Forces soldiers who were killed during Operation Protective Edge alongside an article titled "Israel fighting Hamas terror: Faces of the fallen."Humble hero
The article included the names and brief biographies of the soldiers as well as an interview with Omer Gottlieb, the older brother of fallen soldier Sgt. Matan Gottlieb.
Gottlieb told the newspaper his brother had enjoyed mountain climbing and had planned to travel the world.
"Do you know many older brothers who look up to their younger brothers?" he asked.
The article was written by reporter Anne-Christine Merholz, who described the soldiers as "64 sons, friends, husbands, who will never return to their families. They fell fighting Hamas in Gaza on behalf of their homeland."
On August 1, two members of his unit – Maj. Benaya Sarel, 26, from Kiryat Arba, commander of the brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion, and St.-Sgt. Liel Gidoni, 20, from Jerusalem – were killed in a Hamas ambush in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.Golani Troops Leave Gaza to Say Gomel Blessing at Kotel
Fearing that a third soldier, Lt. Hadar Goldin, had been abducted by Hamas gunmen who escaped through a terror tunnel, Lt. Eitan asked his company commander and then his battalion commander for permission, against standing orders, to enter the shaft and try to rescue his comrade. When they said no, Lt. Eitan appealed to a higher ranking officer, and got the green light from Givati Brigade commander Col. Ofer Winter via the deputy commander.
Winter ordered Lt. Eitan to throw a stun grenade into the tunnel before going in.
He ran into the tunnel without a helmet, vest or rifle and spent more than half an hour underground, with two of his soldiers behind him, searching for Goldin. They ran almost a kilometer in the claustrophobic structure, which had been dug some 20 meters underground and led to a maze of other tunnels, signposted in Arabic.
Soldiers of Golani's 51 Battalion arrived on Tuesday afternoon to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem to say the gomel blessing, a blessing recited after safely emerging from a situation of danger.Captain Fought 3 Weeks in Gaza with Bullet in Leg
The combat soldiers left the field of battle for the first time since Operation Protective Edge began over a month ago, and went directly to the Kotel where they were led in the prayer by their regiment commander Yisrael Friedler and the division rabbi.
The Golani Brigade has borne a heavy cost of the fighting in the Hamas terror enclave of Gaza, which has left a total of 67 Israeli soldiers and civilians dead.
Thirteen Golani warriors were killed on July 20 in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza; MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) blamed Israel's "misplaced pity" as being responsible for the deaths, since the IDF warned residents it would enter the area, giving Hamas ample time to prepare its lethal "welcome."
In a remarkable example of courage, a young IDF captain shocked doctors after it was found he had been fighting for three weeks in Gaza unaware that he had a bullet lodged in his leg.Bar Refaeli’s (Almost) Secret Visit With Wounded IDF Soldiers
The soldier, identified by Walla! only by the initial M., is a 26-year-old student from Jerusalem. He was injured on July 17, the first night of combat in Operation Protective Edge, when his paratrooper unit was given the order to advance on Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
However, it was not until the 72-hour ceasefire last Tuesday that M. was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, where medical crews were stunned as x-rays revealed he had been battling Hamas terrorists with a bullet in his leg the entire time.
Discreetly, without cameras or trailing a claque of intrusive reporters, Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli met with wounded IDF troops at Tel Hashomer Medical Center near Tel Aviv on Monday, Israel’s Walla News reportedHamas Terror Attack Foiled South of Hevron
It all started a few days ago, when one of the wounded warriors hung a note on the door of his ward, asking – in broken English – that the world-famous model stop by to cheer them up during their convalescence from wounds sustained during Operation Protective Edge.
“please, Bar Rafaeli come visite us! We need you :^)”, the soldiers wrote, from their ward at the center’s Sheba Hospital.
When the hospital staff posted the photo to Facebook, they added a note asking followers of their social networking page to share the post, in hopes that it would reach Refaeli.
Duvdevan Special forces arrested 12 terrorists overnight Tuesday/Wednesday in Judea and Samaria, with several arrests near Hevron.Tension mounts as clock ticks down on Gaza cease-fire
Among them, the IDF arrested a Hamas terrorist actively planning a terror attack against the IDF and Israeli civilians in Kafr Samoa, south of Hevron.
Four arrests were also made in Deir Ista, near Qalqilya; two in El Arub, near Bethlehem; Bayt El Pavar, south of Hevron; and two in Uja, north of Yeriho (Jericho).
All of the suspects were brought in for interrogation by security forces.
With the latest 72-hour cease-fire set to expire at midnight Wednesday, the only certainty about what will follow is uncertainty.Egypt presents new ceasefire proposal to Israel, Palestinians
According to Israeli officials, the ongoing cease-fire talks in Cairo have hit a stalemate, and Israel's political echelon is prepared for the possibility that fighting in Gaza will resume after the 72-hour cease-fire ends.
A cabinet meeting that had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was canceled. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did meet with heads of coalition parties on Tuesday to update them on developments in Cairo, or lack thereof.
"Hamas is negotiating like someone who has nothing to lose," a senior Israeli political official said Tuesday.
After more than 10 hours of talks on Tuesday, Palestinian officials told The Associated Press early Wednesday morning that Egypt’s new proposal calls for easing parts of the Israeli blockade of Gaza, bringing some relief to the territory. But it leaves the key areas of disagreement, including the Islamic militant group Hamas’ demand for a full lifting of the blockade and Israeli calls for Hamas to disarm, to later negotiations.Cairo Talks: Egypt Wants to Topple Hamas, Insert PA Forces at Gaza Crossing
If the sides accept the proposal it would have a significant impact on Palestinians in Gaza as it would improve the movement of individuals and merchandise to the West Bank. Gaza businesses have been hit hard by restrictions imposed on the territory by Israel and Egypt after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.
One of the Palestinian officials who spoke to AP said that according to the Egyptian proposal the blockade would be gradually lifted over time.
Indirect talks in Cairo between Israel and Hamas to end fighting in Gaza continued on Tuesday, with the government of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, taking a leading role in opposition to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood – backed group, Israel’s NRG News reported.Leaked Ceasefire Terms: Hamas Gives Up Airport and Seaport Demands, But Resists Demilitarization
“The Egyptians are talking about opening the Rafah crossing permanently, and are insisting on the presence of 1,000 Presidential Guard officers from Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces,” a Palestinian source involved in the talks revealed to NRG.
“This is part of a scheme that would combine the Palestinian security forces that would also control the crossings into Gaza. While more limited, in the end the total power of the PA forces would run to some 5,000 personnel,” the source said.
Israel, for its part, wants a demilitarized Strip, and an end of all hostilities, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Monday.
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth late on Monday published extensive details of what is reportedly an all-but-complete agreement – stipulating steps to be taken by Israel, Hamas, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) – aimed at bringing an end to the current round of fighting between Hamas and Jerusalem.Hamas Brags of Holding Israel 'At Gunpoint' in Talks
“Hamas cannot say that it agreed to demilitarization, but the important thing is that the issue was raised,” the source said. While Israel wanted rehabilitation in return for demilitarization in Gaza, it is will likely to have to make do with making life easier for the Gazans without Hamas giving any guarantees it will decommission its weapons.
It seems that during the talks in Cairo, the demilitarization requirement was shelved along with Hamas’ demands for a seaport and airport. Cabinet ministers have made it clear that a port will be built if Hamas agrees to extreme demilitarization.”
The Egyptians appear to be insisting that the border between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula will be overseen by PA forces subject to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. The Jerusalem Post noted that the concession would put PA forces in control of portions of Gaza for the first time since they were ousted from the territory in a bloody week-long 2007 battle.
In a newly translated interview, Hamas spokesperson Husam Badran declared that his terror organization is holding truce talks in Cairo with Israel being held "at gunpoint" to accept the group's demands.Hamas Clarifies Truce Would Only Be to Plan Next War
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated the interview from Al Jazeera, which is sponsored by Qatar, a key provider of Hamas funds. In it, Badran relates being asked in jail in 2002 by then-deputy head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) whether Hamas will ever negotiate with Israel.
"I said to him outright: If we ever negotiate with you, whether directly or indirectly, we will do so with our weapons in our hands. If we get what we want, so be it. If not, we will shoot you in the chest. What I said back then is how Hamas negotiates now," stated Badran.
Hamas's "military wing," the Al-Qassam Brigades, released a statement presenting its position on the ongoing talks in Egypt.State Comptroller to probe if Israel violated international law during Gaza operation
"The warriors in Gaza are waiting with Allah's help to renew the fighting, or to return to planning the next campaign. There's no escape. Either jihad or planning (for the next jihad)," declared the statement.
The remarks leave no doubts that even in the case of a truce, from Hamas's perspective the lull in fighting would only be an opportunity to rearm for the next terror war on the Jewish state. This facet is particularly concerning in light of reports of Israel agreeing to finance Hamas's officials in Gaza as part of an agreement.
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira announced Wednesday that he is opening a probe into the decision-making process at both the military and political levels during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.Liberman calls for spurning of UN human rights probe
Shapira said the decision to open the probe came as a result of claims that the State of Israel violated international law in Gaza and does not properly check that IDF activity is lawful.
In addition, Shapira said he would expand a probe that was opened into Israel's handling of the infiltration tunnel threat from Gaza to include other aspects of protecting the home front, including availability of bomb shelters and the effectiveness of the rocket alert siren system. Shapira's probe comes in addition to an investigation into the operation being carried out by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Wednesday that Israel should not cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council probe into the conflict in Gaza, and threatened the lives of top Hamas leaders if the terror group doesn’t return the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in the fighting.Happy cat gets to guard the cream
Speaking while on a tour of southern Israel, the hard-line minister decried the investigative panel to be led by Prof. William Schabas, and urged that Israel not participate in its activities to avoid giving it any form of approval.
“This committee, appointed by the Human Rights Council, is a symphony of hypocrisy,” he said. “Israel mustn’t cooperate with this committee. We have to deal with it, but not cooperate and give legitimacy to Israel-haters.”
There is no doubt George Clooney chose a smart woman to marry. The renowned actor's fiancee, Amal Alamuddin, a British lawyer of Lebanese-Druze descent who specializes in human rights law, rejected outright an invitation to partake in the United Nations Human Rights Council's investigative commission charged with examining possible human rights violations and war crimes allegations against Israel.Schabas on Netanyahu: Off With His Head!
In doing so, Alamuddin contradicted an earlier statement by UNHRC Chairwoman Navi Pillay, who said Alamuddin agreed to join the investigative panel. With her decision, Alamuddin proved her fundamental understanding of what is already clear to anyone who wants to see the truth, which is that the commission was established for one purpose only: to provide international legitimacy and gravitas for that most ancient of hatreds.
It has been clear for years to anyone involved in these matters that there is no connection between the group with the Orwellian name -- "The United Nations Human Rights Council" -- and actual human rights. The council is unified around a singular purpose, and that is hatred of Israel. This is the council's normative state, and is even anchored in its foundational documents. Every few years the council enjoys the opportunity to mark this hatred by creating an "investigative commission," which is entirely dedicated to pouring oil on the flames of Israel hate.
Prof. William Schabas, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry into Protective Edge, wants to see Netanyahu tried by the ICC. His reason? The Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead • Somehow, the fact that Netanyahu was in the opposition at the time doesn't bother him • This doesn't seem to be a slip of the tongue: Schabas has targeted Netanyahu in the past When legal pretentiousness and hypocrisy come together at the UN Human Rights CouncilUN’s Schabas digs deeper hole, won’t say if he’ll investigate Hamas or if it’s a terror group
This may go down as one of the all-time worst TV interviews by a UN figure. Asked by Israeli TV’s Channel 2 why he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his “favorite” to indict in the International Criminal Court — instead of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad or Hamas leader Khaled Mashal — Schabas explained that he merely “echoed” the Goldstone Report. Except that Netanyahu wasn’t in power then — and, in fact, isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Goldstone Report. Schabas fumbled for a defense, and miserably failed.In rambling TV interview, UN's William Schabas scores own goal
Prosor: Having Schabas lead UN Gaza probe akin to ISIS hosting religious tolerance event
In an interview with Army Radio, the Israeli envoy, Ron Prosor, expressed doubt regarding the legitimacy of the panel due to what is perceived by Jerusalem officials as a committee with a clear anti-Israel bias.PA 'Confident' UNHRC Committee Will Find Israel Guilty
“Forming an investigatory committee headed by Schabas is like inviting ISIS to organize religious tolerance week at the UN,” Prosor told Army Radio.
"There is no doubt, Israel cannot cooperate with a committee headed by this international law professor," the ambassador said. "It's pretty obvious that this panel is destined to fail. Primarily, its main purpose is to trip up Israel."
"When Schabas was asked by Channel 2 whether he'll investigate Hamas, he said he first needed to consult with his colleagues on the panel," Prosor said. "Perhaps we can arrange for him to speak with a phone buddy - [Syrian President] Bashar Assad."
Prosor, a former ambassador to London, also criticized calls for Britain to impose an arms embargo on Israel in response to Operation Protective Edge.
"Britain needs to reconsider these things before it boycotts the State of Israel," the ambassador said. "Every country would have stood up and defended its citizens. Even Great Britain can learn from small Israel on this matter instead of preaching morality."
Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Tuesday stated his certainty that a committee appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will find Israel guilty of "war crimes" in Operation Protective Edge.Former MK: Time to Expose the Lie that is UNRWA
"We have full confidence that this commission is going to do everything to demonstrate that Israel has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity in its attack on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," al-Maliki said during an official visit to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, reports AFP.
Former MK Dr. Einat Wilf said on Tuesday that it was time to expose the lie behind UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees.Saudi Paper: It’s Not the Arab-Israeli Conflict Any More
“UNRWA is advertised as the UN's humanitarian agency, the educational institutions of the neutral United Nations are mentioned, but in practice this is a Palestinian agency thinly covered by the United Nations, which is entirely dedicated to the perpetuation of the refugee problem,” Wilf, who served as an MK for the Labor and Atzmaut parties, told Arutz Sheva.
She called on the international community to stop funding UNRWA, saying, “The Palestinian tragedy is that, instead of dismantling the refugee camps and setting up regular neighborhoods, they are left as refugees with the hopes of returning to Israel.”
An op-ed published yesterday in the Saudi owned, London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat argued that the Middle East conflict once known as the “Arab-Israel” conflict has shifted so much that it needs to be recast as one between Israel along with moderate Arab regimes, on the one hand, and extremist regimes, terror groups and their backers, on the other. The “current conflict looks like an Israel/Hamas–Turkey–Iran–Qatar one, with the rest of the Arab world’s support existing only on Twitter and other social media forums.”Saudi FM Slams Israel, Pledges $500 Million to Gaza
On the heels of reports that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) promised funds to Hamas in order to procure the current 72-hour ceasefire, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal openly pledged $500 million to "rebuild" Gaza.DFLP Official: Hundreds of Israeli Soldiers Committed Suicide to Avoid Gaza War
Speaking at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, al-Faisal accused Israel of trying "to wipe off Palestinian existence," and blamed the world for supporting "Israel's savagery against the people of Gaza."
Calling for Arab unity at a time when internecine bloodbaths are raging throughout the Middle East, al-Faisal urged the Arab nations to stand together on "one line" to oppose Israel.
PA TV song calls for Israel to be replaced by a Palestinian state
PA TV is broadcasting a new song that calls on Gazans to sacrifice their lives fighting Israel, in order to create its country that will replace Israel from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. The visuals of the clip show continuous Palestinian violence, as well as scenes of funerals of many "Martyrs."PA TV song: Gazans will fight and sacrifice their lives to replace Israel with Palestine
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that PA TV and PA TV live, both official stations of the Palestinian Authority, broadcast many songs presenting a world without Israel and educate Palestinians to anticipate a future without Israel.
Hamas and PA Reportedly Refuse to Return Soldiers' Bodies
As truce talks head into their final day Wednesday ahead of the end of the ceasefire at midnight, reports reveal that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas delegation in Cairo is refusing to return the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge.Hezbollah official: New tunnels dug in Gaza every hour
Israel is refusing to any truce agreement that would not include the return of the bodies of Second Lt.Hadar Goldin and First Sgt. Oron Shaul, reports Channel 10 according to sources in the London-based Asharq Al-Aswat.
However, the PA and Hamas delegation is reportedly refusing to discuss the issue, demanding the release of terrorists jailed in Israel.
However, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Monday expressed his opposition to letting "terror pay," and specifically referenced the return of the bodies of Goldin and Shaul as being essential before the end of the operation.
"It's unthinkable that all Hamas members, including 20,000 of the terrorists in Hamas's military wing, will receive their salaries in an orderly fashion, through the Palestinian Authority or any other way, while the bodies of IDF soldiers still have not received a proper burial in Israel," remarked Liberman.
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said Tuesday that Israel's Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip was ineffective and barely put a dent in Hamas' tunnel infrastructure.Hamas Terror Song - with subtitles in English
Speaking on Hezbollah-run television station Al-Manar, Qassem said, "The Israeli prime minister was proud of destroying more than 30 tunnels, but in Gaza, there are more than 3,000 tunnels and a new tunnel is dug every hour."
He also addressed Palestinian criticism of Hezbollah for not getting involved in the conflict by firing rockets at northern Israel.
"Such an undertaking would work against the Palestinians, drawing international criticism and justifying Israel's continued aggression," he said.
Blank ‘Quran’ Volumes For Posing Amid Bombed Mosque Ruins A Big Seller (satire)
Hamas made heavy use of civilian facilities from which to launch rockets or store weapons, including mosques. The dual-purpose use of such buildings was both to forestall Israel attacks on apparent non-military targets, and the propaganda value of showcasing for foreign media the ostensible brutality of Israel when such attacks did occur. In order to increase the drama of each video or photograph, before the foreign press was allowed onto the scene a group of activists would place everyday objects in specific places among the ruins to augment the emotional impact. In the case of mosques, Qurans were strategically scattered among the ruins, but entrepreneur Fawzi Lajk saw both a problem and an opportunity in that technique.Schabas Commission Forced To Turn Away 400 Kangaroos (satire)
“It would be better not to subject actual Quran volumes to such degradation,” he explained. “So I started selling ‘Qurans’ with a recognizable cover but no words on the pages inside. People loved it. I couldn’t not-print them fast enough.”
The newly announced chairman of the UN Human Rights Council’s investigative commission into possible war crimes in the recent conflict in Gaza has informed reporters that, unfortunately, the commission’s limited allotment of available slots for members means that many aspiring marsupial participants in the kangaroo court have been turned away.
“We received many more applications from kangaroos with all the right qualifications than we have the space to accept,” said William Schabas. “While we would truly love to benefit from the membership in this kangaroo court of as many eminently qualified candidates as possible, practical constraints dictate that we limit the roster spots to less than a dozen.” As a result of the necessary restrictions, said Schabas, only three kangaroos have been accepted as members.
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