11/07 Links Pt1: Palestinians' Car Intifada and Obama's Peace Process; 2nd death from rail attack

From Ian:

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Second death from Jerusalem light rail attack as hurt teen succumbs to wounds

A 17-year-old who was critically injured in a terror attack at the Jerusalem light rail this week succumbed to his wounds on Friday, raising the death toll from the attack to two, Hadassah University Medical Center said.
Shalom Aharon Baadani will be laid to rest Friday at Jerusalem's Givat Shaul cemetery.
A second Israeli was still in serious condition, the hospital added. (h/t Bob Knot)

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians' "Car Intifada" and Obama's Peace Process

Even worse, Palestinian activists are busy organizing online campaigns urging and encouraging Palestinians to launch terror attacks on Israelis. It is hard to see how Abbas can return to the negotiating table while many Palestinians, at his behest, are busy thinking about how to kill more Israelis.
The Obama Administration would do well to understand that it is a waste of time to talk about any peace process when Palestinian leaders and activists are openly glorifying those who use their vehicles to kill Israelis.
The Obama Administration is talking about reviving the peace process while Abbas is telling his people that Jews are "desecrating" the holy sites in Jerusalem and praising an assassin as a "hero" and "martyr."
It is not enough for Kerry to listen to what Abbas or Erekat are telling him in English. Instead, Kerry and Obama must also start listening to what Palestinian leaders and activists are telling their people in Arabic.
Moreover, it would also be a good idea for Obama and Kerry to go online and view the most recent Palestinian campaigns that encourage and applaud terror attacks on Israelis. Perhaps then they will understand that as long as the incitement continues, there is no chance — zero — for the success of any peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

Caroline Glick: Terror decentral

Since UNRWA schools operating in Jerusalem engage in anti-Semitic indoctrination, Jerusalem municipal authorities must give them the choice of using Israeli textbooks or shutting down. If Israel wishes to assert its sovereignty, UNRWA schools would be a good place to start. Beyond that, preachers in mosques who incite murder and call for the destruction of Israel should be arrested.
As for the PA’s communications networks, all of the radio and television signals operating in the PA come from the Israeli electromagnetic spectrum. It is time to shut them down. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Wednesday, Abbas is directly inciting the murderous attacks on Jerusalem through the PA media organs. The way to protect Jerusalem is to remove him and his Hamas partners from the airwaves.
There has been a lot of talk over the years about providing positive and negative incentives to convince the Palestinians not to engage in terrorism.
But now is not the time for incentives. The population mobilized through incitement has become too fanatical to engage with reason.
The terrorists who take the wheel and run over pedestrians know that they will more than likely never come home. And they don’t care.
They certainly don’t care that Israel will destroy their homes. And they also certainly won’t be impressed by discounted mortgages if they integrate into Israeli society.
In the long term, it is imperative that Israel provide incentives to both the Jerusalem Arabs and the Palestinians to integrate peacefully with Israeli society. But before the government can seriously engage in this task, it needs to destroy the triggers of this terrorist onslaught. It is not enough to complain about Palestinian indoctrination and incitement. It is time for Israel to end them.

Palestinian leadership incites more terror. Should Fatah be declared a terrorist organisation?

Amid growing calls in Israel and beyond for Fatah, the leading faction inside the Palestine Liberation Organisation, to be declared internationally as a terrorist group, new evidience has emerged of Fatah, lead by "moderate" Palestinian leader Mahmpud Abbas, inciting the murder of Israelis in Jerusalem.
This comes during ongoing tension over the rights of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, one of Judaism's holiest sites. Palestinians reject that right and a man was murdered earlier this week when he and several others were deliberately run over by terrorists. Another car attack killed a woman and her baby daughter in October.
On Thursday, watchdog group Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) revealed that the Fatah leadership was inciting more such attacks on social media.

What’s Behind the Run Over Intifada?

The point about the current violence is that nothing the Israelis are doing—whether it is Jews moving into parts of Jerusalem where Arabs want no part of them or even walking around the Temple Mount—that would prevent the restarting of peace negotiations or even a two-state solution should the Palestinians ever change their minds and decide to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders are drawn.
The tone of despair of Palestinian society that we are told is at the heart of the disturbances is, as the meaning of the word intifada indicates, a desire for a “shaking off.” But, as they have demonstrated consistently since the time of the mufti, what they want to shake off is not the supposedly oppressive rule of Israel (which, as even Rudoren notes, allows a Palestinian prosperity that makes many of them reluctant to contemplate another destructive and pointless war), but the presence of the Jews altogether and intolerance for their presence. Once again a new generation of Palestinians are taking up gasoline bombs and even using cars as weapons in order to kill or injure Jews to further that same futile aim and in the name of this ancient hatred. Though outlets like the Times promote the notion that the violence is caused by Jewish actions, the new intifada if it happens will be very much like every other episode in the Palestinians’ hundred years war against Zionism. Those that wish them well should urge them to try to shake off this rejectionist mindset lest they waste another century in pointless conflict.

Michael Lumish: Suicide Crash Dummies for Allah

Palestinian-Arab Jihadis are, after all, connoisseurs of murder and death and they love selling the glamour of it to young western secular blonde college students in keffiyahs willing to give up their lives in the service of Arab hatred toward Jews.
They constantly tell us that they love death like we love pizza (or sabich) and they never cease proving that assertion to be true.
I have full confidence that our friends in places like Daily Kos or the Huffington Post or the Guardian - not to mention the EU, the UN, and the Obama White House - will get the warm-fuzzies when they see these images.
They can know that when they side with Palestinian-Arabs against the Palestinian-Jews that that is what they are siding with; that those are the images that the Palestinian Authority is putting out to their people, including their children, so that those children can grow up murderously hostile to your own children who they will accuse of any and all atrocities before they try to run them down, blow them up, or chop their heads off.
Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority - the people that Barack Obama assures us are the moderates - are now literally encouraging Arab and Muslim suicide-crash-dummies to run down Jews in the streets of Jerusalem. They killed a Jewish-American baby at one of the light rail stations in Jerusalem just the other day and the murderer was hailed as a heroic martyr, a shaheed in the service of Allah... which, needless to say, bothers the US Department of State not in the least.

PMW: Abbas' advisors denounce violence but praise murderous terrorists

As Palestinians continue to carry out terror attacks in Jerusalem and Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas' Fatah movement encourages Palestinians to keep doing so, two of Abbas' advisors are sending contradictory messages to the Palestinian public. One denounces violence while the other praises murder.
Yesterday, Abbas' advisor Nimer Hammad stated to official PA TV that Abbas "is making sure" that Palestinians are not "drawn into a cycle of violence and counter-violence." However, on the same day, his other advisor, Sultan Abu Al-Einein, on his Facebook page, encouraged more violence by praising the terrorist murderers who carried out the recent attacks.
Calling them "heroic Martyrs," Al-Einein mentioned by name the terrorist who attempted to murder Rabbi Glick last week, and two terrorists who carried out attacks by ramming their cars into Israeli pedestrians, killing a three-month-old baby and two adults and injuring dozens. Al-Einein praised "the illustrious and blessed children" who are "saturating the land of the homeland with their pure blood and igniting the flames of rage." He justified the recent terror attacks by presenting them as a "response to the occupation's actions, to its arrogance, and its defilement of the Al-Aqsa Mosque":

Repulsive Anti-Semitism from the Arab media

More repugnant anti-Semitic imagery from the Arab media, as they incite hatred and violence against Jews in an effort to start a third "intifada"

The signature terrorism of Mahmoud Abbas

It is true that as PA head Abbas has not been implicated in directly ordering or paying for terror activities. Nevertheless, when Abbas took over from Arafat the PA media, schools, mosques and other institutions continued their never-ending campaign of incitement to terror.
And Abbas’ personal commitment to murderous ‘resistance’ is made manifest by his public praise of terrorist ‘martyrs’.
Abbas is often quoted ‘opposing violence’. This is not a correct characterization of his position, which is that an out-and-out war with Israel like the Second Intifada would be counterproductive. But he clearly supports informal asymmetric warfare which is much more difficult for Israel to respond to.
Rock and firebomb throwing and arson, and now vehicular assaults are all included in “popular operations,” which can be — and are — encouraged and praised by the PA and Abbas himself, while they deny responsibility. Nevertheless, they are inciting for murder and the meaning of their words is quite clear to Palestinian ‘activists’.
Don’t be fooled. This is the signature terrorism of Mahmoud Abbas.

Hundreds clash with IDF forces in 'Day of Rage'

Palestinians seemed to be adhering to leadership calls to hold a so-called 'Day of Rage' against Israel on Friday, as hundreds of West Bank residents staged protests and clashed with Israeli security forces.
Violence erupted at the flashpoint Kalandia checkpoint, located between Jerusalem and Ramallah, as some 400 Palestinians threw stones and firebombs at IDF troops.
The army opened fire at the crowd in response, a spokeswoman said, but did not confirm a hit.
In the Shuafat refugee camp, a funeral was held for 38-year-old Ibrahim al-Aqari, the east Jerusalem resident who killed two people and injured a dozen more in a terrorist attack that rattled Jerusalem this week.
Bright-green Hamas flags were carried through the terrorist's impoverished hometown, as residents threw stones and Molotov cocktails at security forces following the ceremony.

Report: Netanyahu Orders Demolition of Terrorists' Homes

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered officials to demolish the homes of Arab terrorists residing in Jerusalem who carried out attacks on Israelis, an official told AFP on Friday.
"Last night, at a consultation with security officials a number of possible measures to restore calm in Jerusalem were discussed," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"Among those discussed was the sealing or demolition of terrorists' homes, this was approved," the official said, adding that implementation of the plan required formal Justice Ministry approval.
The report does not specify which terrorists' homes are due to be demolished.

Druze Village Mourns the Loss of Jerusalem Terror Attack Victim

Thousands of mourners surrounded the home of Israeli Border Police Superintendent Jadan Assad on Wednesday after a Palestinian terrorist rammed a car into a group of pedestrians at a light rail station in Jerusalem, killing him and wounding 13 others.
Assad, 38, was from the Druze village of Beit Jann. He is survived by his pregnant wife and their 3-year-old son.“He was so close with his son and was eagerly awaiting the birth of his next son,” his brother Yahi said, Israel Hayom reported. “When I saw him in the morning with his wife and son at our parents’ house he was so happy, and promised to come home again on the weekend.”
“He saw his job in the Border Police as a mission for his country,” said another family member.

Jerusalem March for Yehuda Glick: 'We Own Israel'

Hundreds of nationalist activists held a march on Thursday night under the title "Our Jerusalem," leaving from in front of Begin Heritage Center where Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick was shot last Wednesday, all the way to the gates of the Temple Mount.
Near the Mughrabi Gate, the lone entrance to the Temple Mount allowed for non-Muslims, the march was to conclude with a prayer rally for the recovery of Glick and other recent terror attack victims. However, police prevented the entrance to the Western Wall compound, and so the marchers prayed just outside of it.
Former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, head of the Otzma Yehudit movement associated with his Otzma Leyisrael party that just missed out in the last elections, said at the event "we are asking for the most basic thing, the right of return."
"They say we are making a provocation," continued Ben-Ari. "Who is provoking? The thief who breaks into a house or the owner of the home who wants to go home? What did our grandfathers pray for? For pubs in Tel Aviv? For the promenade in Haifa? What did they sit and cry over? Over the desolate Temple Mount."

Britain, Germany Condemn Terrorist Attacks

Britain on Thursday condemned the two terrorist attacks that took place in Israel a day earlier.
In a statement, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond condemned the attacks, which he called “appalling”, adding, “My thoughts are with everyone affected.”
At the same time, Hammond also said he is “deeply concerned” by the tensions in the region
“Every Israeli and Palestinian has a right to live in peace and security. It is therefore vital that all those with influence now work together to restore calm,” he said.

Palestinians trying to change status quo in Jerusalem, PM says

Speaking ahead of a meeting in Jerusalem with the European Union’s new policy chief Federica Mogherini, Netanyahu said Israel was committed “to maintaining the status quo” in the Temple Mount for all faiths, and accused Muslim leaders of conducting a “campaign of vilification and slander that presents Israel as seeking to undermine the mosque” and to change access policies there, which he stressed was “absolutely” not on the table.
In fact, he charged, it was the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood that were attempting to change the status quo in which Jews are allowed to visit the compound but not pray there.
“We’ve watched with growing concern the fact that Islamist parties including the Muslim Brotherhood, including Hamas, including (PA President Mahmoud Abbas), have joined in a campaign of inflammation, calling for any action, including violent action, to stop Jews from exercising their right to merely enter the Mount,” Netanyahu said. “This is an arrangement that has been there for many decades, since the Six Day War.

Erdogan calls Israel’s methods on Temple Mount ‘barbaric’

In a press conference before departing for Turkmenistan, Erdogan, a perpetual critic of Israel and avowed supporter of Hamas, added that “Israel is preparing the ground for the failure of interreligious and interethnic dialogue around the world.
“Israel has already been isolated in the Middle East, but if such actions continue, Israel will also become marginalized at the world level,” he continued. “The occupation of al-Aqsa is not only a concern of Palestinians or Arabs, but of the whole Muslim world.”
Erdogan told Anadolu that “Israel’s barbaric behavior will leave it alone in the world.”

Egypt Threatens Israel with 'Regional Deterioration'

Senior Egyptian officials both from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government and the army have contacted their Israeli counterparts in the last two days, threatening that the tensions over the Temple Mount may cause "regional deterioration."
The covert communication, which was revealed to the Hebrew-language site Walla!, included a warning regarding Jordan's move to pull its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday, after Arab rioters attacked police on the Mount - the holiest site in Judaism - and forced them to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque after barricading themselves inside and launching a hail of fireworks and rocks.
The Egyptian sources reportedly said Jordan isn't the only country that is "upset" by the tensions at the site, and that the entire Arab world is united in opposing Israel's enforcement of order on the Mount, which is under the de facto control of the Jordanian waqf (Islamic trust).

Half of Arabs Say Jerusalem Clashes Mean War

The poll was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) in Beit Sahour, just to the east of Bethlehem in Judea, which is registered under the Palestinian Authority (PA). A random sample of 1,000 Arab respondents were polled, 61.5% in Judea and Samaria, and 38.5% in Gaza.
The office of the Palestinian president released a statement saying that ‘opening of separate gates for the Jews to enter the premises of the Holy al-Aqsa Mosque would be considered as a unilateral measure that would torpedo any opportunity for reinstating the peace process. Do you agree to this statement or not?”, (85.6%) said “Yes, I agree”, (4.1%) “No, I don’t agree”
One of the key findings of the study was that when asked whether they expect a a "new violent confrontation with Israel" in the near future in light of the daily clashes in Jerusalem, 50% answered "yes," and 22% said they didn't know, leaving those opposing the prognosis at a mere 28%.
Likewise, a full 74.1% said they miss former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, whose ten year memorial is next week. Palestinian Media Watch has noted PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's calls for the current violence in Jerusalem mirror Arafat's call for the 2000 Second Intifada.

Jerusalem: Shalit Deal Terrorist Arrested for Stirring Up Riots

During the night, dozens of Arabs gathered at the entrance to the capital in Sur Baher, and began to throw rocks and shoot fireworks canisters at police forces and Border Police officers.
Security forces used riot dispersal measures, but to no avail; they later apprehended one individual fleeing the scene - a masked man who appeared to have been leading the unruly crowd - as well as two others.
The man, about 40, was revealed to be a Sur Baher resident and convicted terrorist who had been released as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, and is now under investigation for violating the terms of his release.
He will attend a remand hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court and a separate hearing later Friday with the Israeli Prison Service.

PreOccupied Territory: Concrete Blocks At Jerusalem Stations – Unacceptable ‘Facts On The Ground’ By US Secretary of State John Kerry (satire)

This administration has gone to great lengths to encourage Israel and the Palestinians to reach negotiated settlement, since the absence of such a final agreement feeds the desperation and radicalism so prevalent in the Middle East, indeed, around the world, that we have seen in recent weeks and months. The danger of measures such as the concrete blocks is that it deprives the Palestinians of the prospect of making a real impact through their efforts to build a state, and without hope of fulfilling its dreams, no people can be expected to conduct negotiations.
We urge Israel to remove the concrete blocks at once. Such a confidence-building measure will not only demonstrate that Israel is serious about meeting Palestinian national aspirations; it will also diminish some of the diplomatic opprobrium that the country has garnered over other construction in Jerusalem. The fruits of the removal can then serve as a springboard for a return to negotiations.
The president and I harbor no illusions regarding the difficulty of removing existing construction, but Israel has done it before, and as a result opened a new era in direct exchanges of materiel with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Let us not spoil the future by sticking to the familiar patterns. Peace requires courage. We encourage you to demonstrate the courage of not establishing such facts on the ground.

US military aid commander: The moment Israel notifies us, we will be there to help

Lt.-Gen. Darryl Roberson, commander of the JDF-I (Joint Defense Force-Israel), took command several months ago and arrived in Israel in recent days to meet counterparts in the Israel Air Force’s Active Defense Division (air defenses).
The JDF-I is primarily tasked with assisting in air defense missions, and would operate platforms such as Patriot surface-to-air missiles to help intercept incoming threats.
“We have a deep, uncompromising commitment to the security of the State of Israel, a commitment that is based on the special relationship between our countries.
The moment the State of Israel notifies us that it is in need of our assistance, we will come to help in defending it,” Roberson said on Wednesday, according to the IAF.

Ya'alon Outlaws Jerusalem 'Charity' Over Assistance to Hamas

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Thursday outlawed the "Jerusalem for Development" charity as "a legal front for Hamas activities in east Jerusalem", his office was quoted by AFP as having said.
The charity belongs to the radical northern branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, the leader of which, Sheikh Raed Salah, has a long history of violence and incitement.
He was jailed for five months in 2010 for spitting at an Israeli police officer; last year, he labeled Israeli leaders “terrorists” and “enemies of Allah” in a speech to Muslims in Be’er Sheva.
Recently, he was given a suspended eight month sentence in March for incitement regarding the Temple Mount. A senior police officer on Sunday accused the Islamic Movement of being behind much of the latest unrest in the Temple Mount as well.

Border Patrol Officers Resuscitate Electrocuted Arab Boy in Hebron

Yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon Border Guard police officers on routine patrol in the Hebron casbah (inner marketplace) spotted a Palestinian Authority Arab boy lying unconscious on the floor.
A police officer and a paramedic team quickly ran to the boy while reporting the incident and calling for additional medical help.
Early examination of the boy showed he was not breathing and had no pulse. The Border Guard officers began to resuscitate him by performing CPR, while removing obstacles in his mouth that had caused him to suffocate.
The Border Guards continued their lifesaving efforts for several minutes until the arrival of a Red Crescent medical team. The boy was then brought to the hospital. (h/t Bob Knot)

Gaza rocket lands in Strip after sirens sound in southern Israel

A rocket launched from Gaza on Friday morning failed to cross into Israeli territory and landed in the Strip, an army spokeswoman said.
The launch set off sirens in the Eshkol Regional Council – the same region where a rocket hit last week, violating an August-26 cease-fire for the second time.
Israel and Hamas reached a deal three months ago to end seven weeks of fighting, a truce which has largely held.
On November 1st and September 16th shells fired from Gaza hit Israel near the southern border, causing no injuries or damage and prompting no Israeli retaliation.

Palestinian students arrive in Venezuela on 'Arafat' scholarships

One hundred Palestinian students, recipients of fully funded "Yasser Arafat" scholarships from the Venezuelan government, arrived at Venezuela's Maiquetia International Airport on Thursday. The students will study medicine at the Dr. Salvador Allende Latin American School of Medicine.
Venezuelans and local Palestinians came out to greet the students, waving Palestinian flags.
Venezuela's Presidential Advisory Vice Minister, Cesar Trompiz, applauded the scholarship program, saying the country had broken the "imperialist" blockade on Gaza.
"We have been able to bring [the Palestinian students] and we have broken the imperialist blockade on Gaza. The students have left Gaza to come to Venezuela to study, and American imperialism and Zionist imperialism could not prevent it," said Trompiz. (h/t MtTB)

Fatah, Hamas blame each other for blasts targeting homes of Fatah officials

On Friday, around 15 small explosions targeted the homes and vehicles of Fatah officials in Gaza, causing minor damage but no injuries, witnesses and members of Fatah said.
The explosions came days ahead of the 10th anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian president and Fatah leader. One of the targets hit was a stage where Arafat's commemoration is scheduled to be held on Nov. 11.
Fatah and Hamas blamed each other for the blasts, while a letter left at one site claimed responsibility by Islamic State, a claim dismissed by Gaza officials.
"We will not allow the return of internal conflicts, chaos and anarchy to the Gaza Strip," said Eyad Al-Bozom, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, run by officials loyal to Hamas.
"The security services will pursue anyone who had any connection to these criminal acts until they are brought to justice." (h/t Bob Knot)

PA premier cancels Gaza visit after blasts hit Fatah property

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah cancelled a visit to the Gaza Strip planned for Saturday after a wave of bombings hit Fatah property in the territory, government spokesman Ihab Bseiso said.
Hamdallah had been due to meet in Gaza with the European Union’s new foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.
But early on Friday, at least 10 explosions hit houses and cars belonging to members of the Fatah movement of PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the explosions occurred at a time of rising tensions with the rival Hamas movement.

Iran general said to mastermind Iraq ground war

When Islamic State militants retreated from the embattled town of Jurf al-Sakher last week, the Iraqi military was quick to flaunt a rare victory against the extremist group, with state television showing tanks and Humvees parading through the town and soldiers touring government buildings that had been occupied by the militants since August.
However, photos soon emerged on independent Iraqi news websites revealing a more discrete presence — the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani — whose name has become synonymous with the handful of victories attributed to Iraqi ground forces. Local commanders said Lebanon’s powerful Shiite Hezbollah group was also on the front lines.
Shiite militias have played a key role in driving the Islamic State group out of the so-called Baghdad Belt of Sunni villages ringing the capital. But the sectarian militias have long been implicated in brutality against the country’s Sunnis, and while they have benefited from US-led airstrikes, their advance could undermine efforts to knit the troubled country together.

Pentagon: Iran Giving ‘Lethal Aid to the Taliban’ to Fight U.S.

Iran continues to provide “calibrated lethal aide to the Taliban” in Afghanistan to help the group conduct attacks on U.S. and Western security forces operating in the country, according to a new report published by the Pentagon.
Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been supplying various arms to the Taliban as part of Tehran’s mission of eradicating Western forces and preventing the United States from safely establishing permanent bases in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon’s 2014 “Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan” report, which was published in October.
The arms are being provided by Iran as a supplement to a $1 billion aid program aimed at keeping the Afghan government firmly in Tehran’s corner, according to the report.

UN Issues Scathing Report on Human Rights Abuses in Iran

Regarding torture, the UN document cites “continuing reports regarding the use of psychological and physical torture to solicit confessions indicate the widespread and systematic use of such practices."
"Of the 24 Iranian refugees in Turkey who provided testimony for the present report, 20 reported torture and ill-treatment and 16 psychological abuse, such as prolonged solitary confinement, mock executions and the threat of rape, along with physical abuse, including severe beatings, use of suspension and pressure positions, electroshock and burnings," it added.
Obama was recently revealed by American and Arab officials to be growing closer to Iran and its terror proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, and also has reportedly been raising the centrifuge ceiling in an Iran deal, apparently as part of an eager desire to seal a deal.

Iran Forcing Gays and Lesbians into Gender Reassignment Surgery

The Iranian government-- which punishes homosexuality by death-- accepts the existence of transgendered individuals. The Ayatollah's fatwa allowing gender reassignment surgery has led to immense pressure-- and sometimes full enforcement-- on cisgender homosexual men and women to undergo these dangerous surgeries.
In an extensive BBC report, a number of Iranian gays and lesbians currently living in exile tell tales of public pressure to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Many, the report notes, begin feeling outside pressure to change their gender as early as age 16-- when the idea of having a medical procedure fix all social problems may seem especially appealing.
"I was under so much pressure that I wanted to change my gender as soon as possible," says Donya, a lesbian who fled to Turkey to avoid the surgery. She underwent hormone therapy and said she felt better with herself, but after extensive research, found that the surgery was not for her. "I got to know myself better... I accepted that I was a lesbian and I was happy with that," she tells BBC.
Twenty-one-year-old Soheil, who also fled to Turkey, struggled with the same problem, accepting that he was a man and had no inclinations towards a transgender identity despite being gay. Nonetheless, his family pressured him: "You need to either have your gender changed or we will kill you and will not let you live in this family." Given that gender reassignment surgery is not officially a government policy for how to handle gay and lesbian cases, much of the pressure comes from family members.

Own a dog in Iran? That will be 74 lashes

For people around the world, owning a dog comes as a rite of passage. However in Iran, lawmakers are trying to pass a new bill that would harshly punish anyone who buys, sells or walks a dog in public with either a fine ranging from 10 to 100 million rials (NIS 142 to NIS 14,177) or 74 lashes, according to a report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
According to an English translation of the bill, proposed by 32 members of Iran's parliament, a law like this would chastise “[a]nyone who takes a pet like a monkey or a dog in public and damages the Islamic culture or the health and tranquility of the people - particularly children and women."
In addition to physical or monetary discipline, the pets would be taken away and put in a zoo or what is described as "a desert," with the owner footing the bill for the animal's transfer.
The proposed legislation seemed to say that punishment will only be given to those who continue to break the law after receiving a warning from police, though details of what type of warning police would give was not described.