Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Abbas Will Not Condemn Terror Attacks
Secretary of State Kerry's "peace process" actually put Israelis and Palestinians on a new collision course.As Israelis Are Murdered in Palestinian Terror Attacks, Psaki Urges ‘All Sides’ to Show ‘Restraint’ (VIDEO)
Not a single Palestinian Authority official has denounced the wave of terror attacks on Israel. They, too, are afraid of being condemned by their people for denouncing "heroic operations" such as ramming a car into a three-month old infant.
Kerry and other Western leaders do not want to understand that Abbas is not authorized to make any concessions for peace with Israel. For Abbas, it is more convenient to be criticized by the U.S. and Israel than to be denounced by his own people. Ignoring these facts, Kerry tried to pressure Abbas into making concessions that would have turned the Palestinian Authority president into a "traitor" in the eyes of his people. Abbas knows that the people he has radicalized would turn against him if he dared to speak out against the killing of Jews.
Matt Lee: All right, I’m just going to assume that, correct me if I’m wrong but when you say all parties must show restraint, you’re talking about the, who are you talking about?Daily Press Briefing: November 10, 2014 (starts 29:16)
Jen Psaki: Well, we’re talking about the Israelis, the Palestinians, any who are uh, involved in these uh, eh, tension-raising, rhetoric-raising incidents.
Matt Lee: Okay, but I mean, if you’re standing at a bus stop or something and someone runs a car into you or comes up and stabs you, I don’t know how to, I mean, those people aren’t, don’t need to exercise restraint, do they?
Jen Psaki: Well, Matt, I think I’m referring to the fact that we know that there have been, there’s been rising tensions in the region that has led to some of these incidents, I think we are all aware of that (laughs).
Matt Lee: In terms of the restraint and the rhetoric.
Jen Psaki: Um hmm?
Matt Lee: Are you seeing any, I mean, uh, last week you were pretty down on both sides or you were up, you were pleased with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s calls, uh, and uh the stuff that he did with the Jordanians about getting the tensions around the Temple Mount down, but you weren’t particularly happy with President Abbas, is that, is that changed?
Jen Psaki: Well, I think they also said last week, I was speaking to one incident of Prime Minister Netanyahu, obviously there have been a range of issues and events that have led to the rising tensions in the region, that both sides need to do more to [unintelligible].
Israel's faulty calculus
In response to Palestinian unilateralism, Israel must also assert full sovereignty over any areas in Judea and Samaria deemed necessary to maintain its security. Palestinians living in any annexed lands should likewise be given a path to citizenship and the option to relocate.
If a further entrenchment of the IDF is temporarily necessary, then forces should be deployed in requisite numbers.
Finally, Israel must consider cutting ties entirely with the PA, allowing it to collapse like the house of cards it is. The country can, and will, deal with whatever comes afterwards as long as its borders are secure and a military presence exists in close proximity to any cities under continued Palestinian control.
The alternative to asserting Jewish rights is worse – and in plain view: an endless cycle of violence waged by sworn enemies under the guise of a phony peace process. There is no white dove fluttering its wings at the end of the peace tunnel, which is nothing less than another underground conduit for more terrorism from the likes of Fatah and Hamas.
Pandering to murderers is not why Jews fought and died for the establishment of Israel. The goal was never the creation of a banana republic devoid of direction or intestinal fortitude; one which, unless it gets its act together – and soon – might no longer be worth fighting for at all.
Obama, Abbas, and ‘Contaminating’ Jews
That ought to give both Israel and the West some leverage in moderating his language even if it has never been enough to cause him to be willing to defy Palestinian public opinion and negotiate a peace deal that would recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders would be drawn.‘I have half a broken heart,’ says twin brother of slain soldier at funeral
That is why the silence of the West about Abbas is so frustrating for Israel. For months, the Obama administration has been lauding the PA head as a courageous man of peace while badmouthing Netanyahu as an obstacle to it in both on and off the record statements. Thus it is no surprise that Abbas believes he has virtual carte blanche from his donors and political sponsors to go as far as he wants when it comes to inciting violence.
The problem here is that while the White House and State Department can often be relied upon to issue statements urging both sides to show restraint and condemning violence of all kinds, they generally have no problem being specific when it comes to Israel and Netanyahu. But even if we leave aside the unfair nature of most of the criticisms of the Israeli, they find it difficult, if not impossible to turn the same critical gaze at Abbas.
Joined by Almog’s comrades from the air force, Shiloni’s family recalled a brother and son who was always taking care of the rest of the family, and others. His twin brother, Sahar, eulogized his brother, speaking of his pain at being separated from Almog.IDF Blog: Palestinian Incitement on the Rise: 6 Killed in Less than a Month
“I had a whole heart, but now I have half a broken heart,” he said. “I love you, my brother.”
Sahar recounted his brother’s caring and generous nature and recalled an incident three weeks earlier when Almog brought a lone soldier to the family home for the weekend.
“It was so typical of you that you would bring a solitary person who has nothing to do, who has nowhere to be or where to eat and you brought him to our home,” he said. “Why? Because you are the most caring person in the world. You cared for all of us, but you didn’t take care of yourself.”
Almog’s girlfriend Noy said the couple planned to marry in the coming months.
The latest wave of terrorism is sweeping the streets of Israel from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Hamas has been ever present during the rapid increase in violence over the last three weeks that has resulted in the death of six individuals.Netanyahu accuses Abbas of fueling tensions, spreading lies
The terrorist group Hamas has played a vital role in inciting violence against Israeli citizens, especially amongst the Palestinian population.
Following a three-hour security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, the prime minister detailed a series of new measures Israel will take to check the wave of violence that has spread from East Jerusalem and the West Bank to Arab Israeli cities.Who Is Worse – Arafat or Abbas?
“We are in the midst of a campaign of incitement and terrorism directed against the State of Israel and its citizens,” Netanyahu said. “This campaign has continued since the foundation of the state and even before then. We have defeated terrorism until today and we will defeat it this time as well.”
Netanyahu said Israel would deploy increased numbers of security personnel across the country, push for the demolition of terrorists’ homes, and adopt harsher measures against rioters, including fining the parents of children who throw stones.
“We will take a firm hand against those who throw stones, Molotov cocktails, and of course fireworks,” Netanyahu said. “We will outlaw organizations that are fomenting the situation in Jerusalem.”
Arafat was a terrorist when terrorism was appreciated by the world so long as it only killed Jews in Israel. He got away with wearing a pistol on his hip while talking about peace. He managed to turn the Nobel Peace prize into a mockery of truth.Liberman: Abbas inciting worse than Hamas
Arafat set the stage for Abbas to put on a suit and tie, travel around the world to build up support for a “peace plan” that was a con game to set up Israel for destruction as a Jewish state.
The Bush and Obama administrations lived their illusions, and the Olmert administration went along for the ride so long as our corrupt prime minster could quietly pocket bribe money and drive the Israeli government to the depths of Sodom.
They left Abbas free to preach peace in English while preaching violence in Arabic.
Lieberman tore the mask off Abbas’ face for the international media and the intellectually bankrupt lefties whose hallucinations blind them from reality.
So who really is worse, Arafat or Abbas?
Would you rather die at the hands of ISIS or AL Qaeda?
Liberman said Abbas should not be considered a peace partner, and Israel should refrain from negotiating with the Palestinians until a new leader is elected.Riots in Jerusalem: It’s Never Been About Borders
“He is overseeing a state terror campaign and his incitement is more dangerous and inflammatory than that of Hamas,” Liberman told Israel Radio.
According to Liberman, Abbas has no legitimacy from the Palestinian constitution and Israel should resume negotiations only once a Palestinian leader is democratically elected.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, his Hamas coalition partners, and the criminals wreaking havoc on some of the most sacred sites to Judaism and Islam may want to note that while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of ethnically cleansing the Temple Mount, he is bound by the force of Israeli law to do just the opposite.Poll: 40% of Jewish Israelis Want Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount
Specifically, the Basic Law guarantees protections “from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings towards those places.”
The fact that the United Nations passed Resolution 478 declaring that the Basic Law pertaining to Jerusalem is null and void is itself null and void: an amendment to the Jerusalem Basic Law in 2000 prohibits the transfer of authority to a foreign body, for example an international regime.
To those who take seriously the letter and intent of laws passed by freely elected parliaments, the status of Jerusalem is no more ambiguous than that of a once-divided Berlin.
The arguments now being made by these hooligans’ staunchest defenders around the world are based on moral and political claims, not legal certainties.
Almost 40% of the Jewish population in Israel believes in changing government policy surrounding Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount - even at the cost of bloodshed, according to a survey by the "Peace Index" published Monday by the Guttman Center at the Israel Democracy Institute and the Evens Program for Solution Conflict Resolution at Tel Aviv University.Humanity Lost: Jewish Victims of Terror and the New York Times
Despite this, 56% of respondents still believe in restricting Jews from praying on the Mount to "prevent friction with the Muslim world."
In the same vein, nearly half (47%) support the ruling of the majority of hareidi and national-religious rabbus that Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is forbidden, but about a quarter (26%) support the ruling of those rabbis who permit Jews to pray on the Temple Mount today.
Defenders of the Times might try to argue that unlike the students in the 1995 story, Lemkus wasn’t American. But then neither was her Palestinian murderer, and the Times makes sure to humanize him. It’s actually worse than that, though. In today’s story by Jodi Rudoren on a Palestinian man killed by the IDF when he aimed a gun at soldiers, Rudoren reflects back on Lemkus and tells us she was a “female settler,” just to put a thumb on the scales against her. (There is also the passive voice; the lede says “Israeli forces fatally shot” the Palestinian while yesterday’s Palestinian attacks “left an Israeli soldier and a female settler dead.”) When Lemkus is mentioned again in the story, she is again referred to as the “female settler.”Honest Reporting: Who is Killing Israelis? Knives, Cars, or Terrorists?
The Times isn’t even humanizing American victims of Palestinian terror anymore either. The American-born rabbi Yehuda Glick was shot last month in an attempted assassination by a Palestinian in Jerusalem. Glick is a nonviolent proponent of equal rights for Jews at their holy site, the Temple Mount, on which Muslims have full prayer rights but Jews don’t.
Hamas Celebrates “Palestinian Knives Day”
The Palestinian media called the terror attacks on Monday “Palestinian Knives Day.” Mohammed Al-Sheikh wrote on the Al-Risala website, which is affiliated with Hamas:Turkish PM terms it 'divine duty to protect' al-Aqsa
Through sticking his knife in the waist of the Zionist entity, the Palestinian fighter is sending a message to the whole world, according to which when he is rebelling no one can stop him. All soldiers in the world cannot stop him when he fights for the protection of the Holy Places. Using a knife, he tore apart the illusion of Israeli occupation, that it assuaged the resistance in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Hamas said in a statement following the terror attacks:
The attacks come as a form of rebellion against the current Palestinian state in the West Bank and Jerusalem. These attacks should inspire all the Palestinian youth a will do everything they can to protect our people, our land and our holy places.
Islamic Jihad movement also welcomed the attacks:
These are actions of heroes. We welcome this escalation of the intifada of our people.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Turkey holds most sacred the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem just as Kaaba in Mecca, describing the protection of the both holy sites a "divine duty."Intense Protests at Hebrew University over Incitement
Davutoglu's remarks came as Al-Aqsa complex that represents the world's third holiest site for Muslims was stormed Wednesday by a group of a number of Jewish settlers and Israeli security forces, who stepped in the mosque with their boots on, knocked around Palestinians protesting their presence and threw around the Qurans.
"Even if a tiny piece of stone was taken from Al-Aqsa, it will be replaced, rebuilt and revived by our hands," he told the inauguration ceremony of a new metro line in Istanbul on Sunday.
Davutoglu said "we are the servants of the soil of Quds," using the Arabic name of Jerusalem, pledging to protect the holy city and Al-Aqsa -- the first direction of praying for Muslim worshippers -- against any attempt to destroy them.
Arab students protested outside Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) on Tuesday, in a demonstration of support and solidarity with the terrorists who carried out several rock-throwing attacks near the Mount Scopus campus, which is near Shuafat.Arab rioting likely to die down soon, police officials say
The demonstration was held under tight security and included calls for "the liberation of Palestine" and against police and security forces.
"They were shouting that the terrorists are martyrs, victims of police brutality," one student told Arutz Sheva. "The Arab parties' student organizations were deliberately attempting to intensify the atmosphere on campus."
Hundreds of Jewish Israelis staged a counter-protest, including the Jewish Home party student organization, who called to stop the silence in the face of incitement and manifestations of terrorism on campus.
"Jewish blood is not worthless," concluded Chairman of the Chamber of Israelis at the Hebrew University, Sapir Cohen. "We will not tolerate demonstrations and incitement to violence against security forces."
Security officials said Tuesday overnight they believed Arab rioting in Israel and the West Bank would end soon, despite days of unremitting violence and terror attacks — explaining that despite their intensity, the protests remained relatively contained and were not receiving sweeping popular support on the Arab street.Yehuda Glick Calls Knesset Speaker, Finally Breathing on His Own
“The assessment is that the riots will end soon,” senior police officials told Channel 2 News. “If we can restrain [the situation on] the Temple Mount we will be able to slowly, gradually restrain the other elements in the country.”
A military official told Ynet News the Palestinian public “is still indifferent and uninvolved in the escalation and is not coming out in great numbers to protest and create unrest, as was the case at the beginning of the Second Intifada.”
Security officials said they were satisfied with security cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. Despite the fiery rhetoric coming out of Ramallah, they said, coordination on the ground was strong and Palestinian police were efficient in controlling crowds and keeping demonstrations from sweeping through the West Bank. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said earlier Tuesday that the PA was coordinating with Israeli forces on the ground, though he accused PA chief Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence.
Glick has slowly been recovering from the attack, which initially left him in critical condition and on life support, and on Monday he began communicating with his family and friends again through writing.Report Confirms IDF Tunnel Operations were Bennett's Initiative
"You are the first I want to share my joy with," Edelstein stated. "I spoke with Yehuda Glick a second ago - he has been breathing on his own for two hours."
"Yehuda Glick said he wanted to talk to me and tell me that he wanted to call me quickly," Edelstein told his fellow MKs.
Glick told Edelstein,"I know you fight for the right to speak, and for the last few days I have been fighting to breathe - so now I'm breathing alone and I want to share that with you."
Channel 2's main investigative news program, Uvda, has vindicated Economics Minister and Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett, who has claimed that the operation the IDF launched against Hamas's terror tunnels was largely a product of his insistence.German MEP: EU aid could fund Hamas terror tunnels
Uvda's report determines that it was Bennett who repeatedly raised the subject of the tunnels at cabinet sessions in the summer, while Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon tried to avoid launching an operation against the tunnels.
"If there is anything that a person who is familiar with the protocols of the cabinet sessions can see," reported Uvda's editor and anchorwoman Ilana Dayan, "it is that Minister Naftali Bennett demands, again and again, to launch an operation against the tunnels, and he hears an answer that more or less repeats itself, from Defense Minister Yaalon: the tunnel threat is one we can live with, it need not be defined as a target, at least not in this round of fighting.”
The funding the EU pledged to help rebuild Gaza could directly contribute to terrorism without proper oversight on aid money, German Member of European Parliament Arne Gericke said Tuesday.UN chief sets up probe into Gaza school shellings
Gericke, of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, sounded the alarm at a hearing in the European Parliament on nongovernmental organizations supported by the EU that back terrorism, which was organized by European Friends of Israel.
The MEP said EU payment controls were “light years behind where they should be.”
“Proper checks and balances must be put into place. As thing stand, we cannot be sure that EU funds are not being used for terror tunnels and weapons. It would sicken most [European] taxpayers to know that the EU itself could be directly contributing to the tragic cycle of violence,” he stated.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday appointed a five-member panel to investigate Israeli attacks on UN shelters during the Gaza war and the discovery of Hamas weapons at UN sites.Five months on, no answers on how rockets got into Gaza schools
Ban announced plans to set up a probe during his visit to Gaza last month after describing the three Israeli shellings of UN-run schools as a “moral outrage.”
Israel maintained that Palestinian Hamas militants were using the schools to store weapons but denied that it had deliberately targeted the schools, which were being used as shelters by Palestinians during the 50-day war.
While other UN institutions have rolled out commissions of inquiry into Operation Protective Edge, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, has yet to launch the promised probe to examine the circumstances of three separate instances in which rockets having been placed in schools it operates.Fearing rockets from north, IDF deploys Iron Dome near Haifa
How these weapons got into the schools and what happened to them afterwards remains somewhat unclear. UNRWA says it returned the rockets to “the local authorities,” which Israeli officials charge means they found their way back to Hamas and might have been fired at Israeli civilians.
Amid a wave of violence in the West Bank and Israel, the IDF on Tuesday deployed an Iron Dome missile defense battery in northern Israel as a precaution against possible rocket fire from Lebanon or Syria.JPost Editorial: Tibi's enticement
Iron Dome units were positioned near the northern city of Haifa, home to Israel’s largest port and home base for its navy. The army told Channel 2 that the missile defense battery was being deployed based on security assessments, but gave no specific information regarding the development.
The deployment of the anti-missile battery came shortly after a senior defense official told the press that there could be “symbolic” rocket fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip in solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said earlier that the defense establishment is preparing for a possible escalation of clashes.
Not only does Tibi do so with undisguised relish, but he and many of his fellow Israeli-Arab politicians compete fiercely with each other for the title of most abusive and abrasive. That distinction is worth political gold in Israel’s ominously radicalized Arab sector where it becomes a prime vote-getting asset.Knesset Humor Committee Proposes Listening To Voters (satire)
The terrifying consequences of rabble-rousing were evident on Sunday when Netanya resident Moshe German left Taiba after visiting a friend and headed back home. He was waylaid on the road by more than 20 ruffians who inquired if he was a Jew. When it emerged that he was, he was beaten and stoned. His car was set on fire while he was still in it. Had a local Taiba man not taken on the role of Good Samaritan and pulled him out, he might have been lynched.
Taiba is where Tibi resides and the incident occurred not too far from Tibi’s home. Yet no murmur of denunciation could be heard of the infliction of grievous bodily harm after the Jewishness of the victim had been previously ascertained. Tibi doesn’t call this racist.
Moreover, what happened to German is hardly unique. Back during the October 2000 riots we had already seen mobs going through the papers of drivers they ambushed and then beating them up if they were Jewish.
A bill originating with the Knesset Humor Committee to take the electorate’s wishes into consideration while legislating passed its initial vote Tuesday to raucous laughter.Yasser Arafat 'found Jesus' before death, claim (not satire)
The Make Obligatory the Consideration by Knesset Electees of Represented Yearnings (MOCKERY) Act would make it an enforceable legal requirement of legislators to put the stated wishes and demands of their constituents ahead of personal or partisan agendas. In contrast to other pieces of legislation, the success of a Humor Committee bill is measured in the percentage of delegates it can cause to laugh, and its content is not legally binding.
The bill, sponsored by MK Ahmad Tibi, who also chairs the committee, succeeded in causing more than half the ninety legislators present to double over as they guffawed, wheezed, and snorted to the point that tears began streaming down their faces. Two Members of Knesset were forced to leave the chamber so they could breathe, and Speaker Yuli Edelstein had to call a recess to allow the plenum to regain composure.
Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian leader, may have become a Christian before his death 10 years ago, it has been claimed.Terror Victims' Organization: Prosecute Barghouti
RT Kendall, a prominent Christian writer and speaker, said he struck up an unlikely friendship with Mr Arafat and prayed with him several times.
In an interview with Premier Christianity magazine, published in the UK, Dr Kendall said Mr Arafat had wept while watching Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which depicts the crucifixion, and that they had spoken about how to become a Christian.
He said that while he could not be certain that Arafat was "saved", he believes he may have become a Christian.
"It wouldn’t surprise me to see him in heaven," he said.
The Almagor terror victims’ organization on Tuesday called on Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to take legal and administrative measures against arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, following his letter in which he called for “armed resistance” against Israel.PA Threatens to Sue Individual Israelis at Int'l Court
In the letter to mark 10 years since the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Barghouti said that "choosing global and armed resistance" was being "faithful to Arafat's legacy, to his ideas and his principles for which tens of thousands died as martyrs."
"It is imperative to reconsider our choice of resistance as a way of defeating the occupier," he wrote.
Responding to the letter, Almagor said that after being sentenced to six life sentences for murdering Israelis in terrorist attacks, Israel must make clear that Barghouti is not immune from further punishment and the imposition of additional penalties.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership is threatening to take individual Israelis to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.Israeli Officials: Abbas Will Not Enter Gaza for Fear of Hamas
Speaking on Tuesday to the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the PA’s envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, declared that the PA would take this action if it fails in passing its UN resolution calling for a deadline for Israel to “end the occupation”.
Mansour told the newspaper that the PA intends to submit the resolution, which will call on Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria by 2016, before the end of November.
He added that the PA is determined to submit the resolution to the UN Security Council, even if the United States will veto it. He also noted that the Palestinians are holding talks with representatives of the European countries in an attempt to obtain the highest possible number of votes.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas does not want to take responsibility of the Gaza Strip, because he is afraid of entering into a conflict against Hamas, accuse senior Israeli officials.Hamas Second-Richest Terror Group Worldwide
One of the officials told Walla! News Monday that "Abu Mazen is afraid to take responsibility for Gaza. The international community's great hope that Fatah will come in and take charge after Operation Protective Edge will not be realized in the meantime."
The main reason for Abbas' inaction in Gaza, Israel explains, is the understanding that he does not have the ability to impose his authority on Hamas.
At the end of Operation Protective Edge, the Palestinian Authority (PA) stated its ambition to gradually return its authority to the Gaza Strip. PA Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah, even came to visit Gaza for the first time since 2007.
However, Israel stated that apart from the symbolic visit, the balance of power Gaza has not changed.
According to Forbes, ISIS tops the list with a $2 billion annual income and is the world's richest terrorist organization - and the richest in the history of modern terrorism.Israel Lets Gaza Fishermen Export to West Bank
Experts estimate that ISIS currently controls 60% of oil reserves in Syria, and was able to take by force or negotiate with the seven major oil and gas reserves in Iraq, including the country's largest oil refinery. ISIS ultimately sells tens of thousands of barrels of oil on the black market daily, and the fossil fuel is a huge cash cow for the organization. The oil is sold at 40% to 75% less than the market price, yet the organization manages to pocket every day an estimated three million dollars for the sales.
Hamas is the second-richest terror organization, Forbes said, with about $1 billion being funneled to the terror group annually.
The Israeli government allowed Gaza fishermen to export their catch to Palestinians in the West Bank for the first time in seven years.Hamas co-founder dies in Gaza Strip
Israel eased the export restrictions it imposed on Gaza since Hamas was elected to the government of the area in 2007 by allowing a shipment of more than 730 kilograms.
Mohammed Taha, one of the founding members of the Hamas movement, died overnight Tuesday, medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported.Iran’s human rights record ‘worse under Rouhani’
Taha, 77, died at a hospital in Deir al-Balah after suffering heart complications at his home in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, reports said. His cause of death was not immediately clear.
A Twitter account affiliated with Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed Taha’s death, saying the group’s 77-year-old founder died after a “long illness.”
Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi said Tuesday that Iran’s human rights situation has not improved despite President Hassan Rouhani’s promises of change. She urged the UN General Assembly to approve a resolution criticizing the country’s abuses.Edwin Black: It's Not The Centrifuges-It's The Warhead
In an interview with the Associated Press, Ebadi said Iran’s rights record remains as bad as it was under hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — and in some cases, it is worse.
She said the difference is that Ahmadinejad supported severe limitations on human rights while Rouhani has vowed to ease restrictions on freedom of expression and eliminate discrimination against women and minorities.
But Rouhani “can’t do much” amid stiff resistance from hard-liners in the government, Ebadi said.
However, as the world ponders Iran’s dash to enrich more kilograms of uranium, the underlying concern is not so much about the enrichment process itself, but the end product: a nuclear warhead. Iran has been developing its warhead for some sixteen years. That design is nearly perfected.Iranian Official: Iran’s Nuclear Capability Irreversible
Compare the process to gunpowder. To use gunpowder, you need load it into a cartridge, load the cartridge and a bullet into a rifle, and then find a marksman. Iran has nearly mastered all those steps — but in nuclear terms.
Four technological achievements are key to completing Tehran’s nuclear weapon:
1) accretion of enough nuclear materials, highly enriched to weapons-grade or 90 percent; 2) machining that material into metal for a spheroid warhead so it can fit into a missile nosecone; 3) developing a trigger mechanism to initiate the atomic explosion at a precise moment during missile reentry; and, of course, 4) a reliable delivery system.
A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator told a German news source that Iran’s nuclear capabilities cannot be reversed.Obama’s Dangerous Race for an Iran Deal
Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, who serves as deputy foreign minister for Euro-American affairs, told Der Spiegel that the Islamic Republic of Iran is moving forward and any issues that were under discussion back in 2005 could no longer be discussed.
The Iranian official noted that Iran possesses about 20,000 centrifuges, and half of them are being used to produce nuclear material. He also pointed out that from Iran’s perspective the Americans simply refuse to acknowledge Iran’s nuclear achievements.
The end of the talks in Oman without an accord is likely not a sign that the deadline won’t be met. The Iranians are past masters of the art of wearing down their Western interlocutors. A year ago, the Iranians’ tough tactics resulted in Secretary of State John Kerry’s decision to sign onto a deal that tacitly endorsed the Islamist regime’s “right” to enrich uranium and keep their nuclear infrastructure. Now they are similarly hammering Kerry in sessions where he continues to demand that Tehran accept what President Obama referred to yesterday as “verifiable lock-tight assurances that they can’t develop a nuclear weapon.” But since Iran has no intention of giving such assurances, they believe Kerry will, as he has before, decide that Western demands are just too difficult to achieve and accept far less in order to produce a deal.Dem Think Tank Secret Email: ‘All Hands On Deck’ to Sell Iran Deal to Public
But while the deadlines were originally sold to the U.S. public as evidence that the administration was serious about stopping Iran, the potential for a cutoff in the talks seems to be affecting Obama and Kerry far more than it is the Iranians. With sanctions already having been loosened and Europeans clamoring for an end to all restrictions on doing business with the regime, Tehran seems unmoved by the prospect of an end to the negotiations. By contrast, the administration seems genuinely fearful that November 24 will pass without diplomatic success.
The Truman National Security Project, a nonprofit think tank with ties to the administration, is assembling a “crack team of writers” to flood national and local media outlets with articles supporting the White House’s efforts before the details of a final nuclear deal have even emerged, according to internal emails sent by the organization to its listserv.U.S. Veterans Sue Big Banks for Facilitating Iranian Terrorism
“Our community absolutely must step up and not cede the public narrative to neocon hawks that would send our country to war just to screw the president,” Graham F. West, Truman’s writing and communications associate, wrote in a recent email to the organization’s listserv.
The statement comes from an organization that has long billed itself as an independent voice for “strong, smart, and principled solutions to the global challenges Americans now face,” according to Truman’s mission statement.
More than 80 wounded U.S. combat veterans and their families have filed suit against several of the world’s largest banks, which they accuse of facilitating financial transfers on behalf of Iran that directly led to the killing and wounding of U.S. troops in Iraq, according to court documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.IRGC Navy Commander Ali Fadavi: We Have the Americans in a Throttlehold in the Persian Gulf
The suit filed early Monday accuses multiple banks of “committing acts of international terrorism” by helping Iran fund and arm Iraqi terrorists who have killed scores of U.S. troops, according to the complaint.
More than 200 plaintiffs have signed onto the suit, which targets some of the largest international banks, including: HSBC Bank USA, Barclays, London’s Standard Chartered Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse, and London-based Bank Saderat.
The veterans argue that the banks helped Iran illegally move “billions of dollars” to terrorist entities that later targeted U.S. troops in attacks.
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