Thursday, December 11, 2014
Eugene Kontorovich: 'Isolation' and the elections
European hostility to Israel, and sympathy for the Palestinians, has an internal logic and energy of its own. It will proceed at it is own face, largely indifferent to the internal details of Israeli political life. For example, even the great coup of the Left, the withdrawal from Gaza, has not changed the European view that Gaza remains occupied, and that Hamas should be a diplomatic partner.Anne Bayefsky: UN marks Human Rights Day by promoting violation of human rights
The Europeans have come to believe that Israel has stolen land that "belonged" to Palestinians, that Jews have no rights in these lands, and thus the thieves must return them independent of any guarantees of security, worship, or an end to the conflict. These are not conditions that any Israeli government can or will accept, and thus the diplomatic unpleasantness will continue. Indeed, even if Israel were to withdraw from territories, it would only be the beginning of another unpleasantness, with Israeli retaliation for attacks across the long new border becoming then new pretext for boycott movements and the like.
One can just hope that whoever wins the elections will ignore baseless threats and theories about isolation and keep only Israel's real interests in mind.
Hiding in plain sight at the UN is the reason for the lack of peace between Israelis and Arabs – and it has nothing to do with 1967 and “occupation.” For Palestinians and Arabs across the Middle East, Israel is one big settlement.Israel's Mission to the UN: UNbelievable
As Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour openly told his U.N. audience on November 24, 2014: “Our people are suffering immense and growing hardships, all stemming from the grave injustice done to them in Al-Nakba of 1948 and thereafter.”
The month of November saw six full days at U.N. headquarters dedicated to dehumanizing Israelis, led by speakers from UNRWA, the Palestinian Authority and Iran. Israel was guilty of “an onslaught,” “ethnic cleansing,” “an inhumane blockade,” “torture,” “massacring civilians with a vengeance,” “virulent racism,” “barbarism,” “a policy of terrorism,” “genocide,” “apartheid,” “savagery,” “terror rampages,” “horrific abuse,” “supporting Al Qaeda,” “heinous crimes,” “beating and torturing juveniles,” and “crimes against humanity.”
That was in addition, to repeating “Zionism is racism” and analogizing Israelis to Nazis. Lebanon, for instance, said: “From 1948 until today, many Palestinian young girls and boys are just as determined as Anne Frank to conquer their fear of the occupier…”
How many more stabbings, rapes, and killings of Jews around the globe will it take to end American tolerance for incitement to racial and religious intolerance at the United Nations?
Eleanor Roosevelt would have had an answer.
Israel should join the ICC to give the Palestinians a taste of their own medicine
There never was a State of Palestine in the past and Israel did not invade such a state in June 1967. Israel crossed a temporary ceasefire line and took control of a disputed territory that had been under Jordanian rule (not sovereignty) between 1949 and 1967. What the Palestinians are trying to do is to involve the ICC in a border dispute. But the ICC was established to determine the guilt of individuals, not the borders of nations (border disputes are to be referred to the International Court of Justice). The UN General Assembly decision from November 2012 to grant Palestine the status of non-member observer defined the question of borders as an “outstanding issue.” The UN itself does not define the former armistice line between Israel and Jordan as the border of the putative Palestinian state. Even William Schabas, the Canadian human rights expert who heads the UN investigation into Israel's role in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, takes the Golan Heights, but not the West Bank, as an example of territory that would fall within ICC jurisdiction were Israel to ratify the ICC treaty. This is because, as opposed to the West Bank, the Golan Heights used to be part of a recognized sovereign country (Syria).The Return of 'High Commissioner' Indyk Benyamin Korn
To quote Ibrahim Khraishi again: “People should know more before they talk emotionally about appealing to the ICC.” His government would be well advised to listen.
Martin Indyk also acts as if he knows what's best for the Jews. As President Obama’s special envoy, he declared in an August 2010 op-ed in the New York Times that Israel should "withdraw from at least 95 percent of the West Bank and accept a Palestinian capital in Arab East Jerusalem."U.S. Ambassador: America Not Giving Up on Israel Peace Talks
In one job or another, Indyk has spent the last two decades trying to bring this about. First as part of the State Department's Mideast team under Bill Clinton, then as ambassador to Israel (twice), and more recently as President Obama's envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Indyk has always pursued his goal of forcing Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians.
Indyk's passion for his imposed solution is so strong that he has at times even come close to justifying Palestinian violence against Israel. On May 2 of this year, an unnamed "senior U.S. official" told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot: “The Palestinians are tired of the status quo. They will get their state in the end – whether through violence or by turning to international organizations.” Three days later, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Indyk was the official who said it.
America will not give up on the prospect of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations during the final two years of President Barack Obama’s term, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said during a speech at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies on Tuesday.Will Sweden Soon Reverse Recognition of Palestine as a State?
“The main reason we remain committed to achieving a two-state solution is that we see no alternative that would achieve Israelis’ and Palestinians’ legitimate goals,” Shapiro said. He said the Obama administration is “committed to keeping that hope alive” despite the results of the recent midterm elections, in which Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate from the Democrats and increased their majority in the House of Representatives.
“Israelis follow American politics closely, whether during midterm or presidential elections,” Shapiro said. “Since our midterms last month, much ink has been spilled about what the results mean for the next two years. Here is a caution, lest anyone jump to conclusions: divided government, in which one party controls Congress and the other the Executive Branch, does not necessarily mean foreign policy gridlock.”
Last week, after having been in office for exactly two months and one day, Sweden's government collapsed. Apart from the Palestinians, hardly anyone will regret the fall of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's government. The only thing Löfven's cabinet will be remembered for is its slamming of Israel by recognizing the Palestinian state.French Senate Votes to Recognize 'Palestine'
Following last September's general elections, Mr. Löfven, a Social-Democrat, formed a minority government of the Social-Democrats and the Greens. Immediately after its formation, the Red-Green minority coalition recognized "Palestine."
During the past decades, the arrival of thousands of radical Islamic immigrants has led to a rise of anti-Semitism in Sweden. The immigrants, having acquired Swedish citizenship, are catered to by Sweden's leftist parties. Prominent Social-Democrats denounce Zionism as racism and declare that ISIS is being trained by the Mossad. Mr. Löfven's Green Minister for Urban Development has even advocated the "liberation of Jerusalem" from Israel.
Once it had recognized "Palestine" as a state, the Löfven government turned to the urgent matter of Sweden's 2015 budget. Unable to reach an agreement on the budget, the government collapsed and announced new general elections for next March. As many Swedes have grown sick and tired of a political elite giving in to Islamic demands, it is generally expected that the country's anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats [SD], will do very well in the next elections.
France's upper house of parliament on Thursday urged the government to recognize "the state of Palestine", following a similar and highly symbolic vote in the lower house.Denmark to Debate Recognition of 'Palestine', Says Lawmaker
The Senate resolution, calling for French recognition of" Palestine" and an "immediate restarting" of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, passed narrowly, with 153 votes in favor and 146 against.
The vote came as European countries seek to restart the stalled Middle East process and followed an unopposed motion in the Irish parliament to recognize "Palestine" - the fourth assembly in Europe to do so.
The Danish parliament will debate a motion calling for the recognition of “Palestine” as a state on Thursday, the Ma’an news agency reports.Irish vote urges recognition of Palestinian state
Danish MP Holger K. Nielsen, one of the main drivers behind the initiative in Denmark, told the news agency that the first reading will take place Thursday before a potential vote in the second reading, which could take place in early 2015.
The motion was introduced by the Red-Green Alliance, the Socialist People's Party, and Greenland's Inuit Ataqatigiit, three small left-wing parties.
It calls on the government to recognize “Palestine as a state within the 1967 borders”, according to Ma’an.
Lawmakers have passed a non-binding resolution urging Ireland to recognize Palestinian statehood, but the government says it would take that step only in coordination with European Union partners.Chemical arms official urges allies to pressure Israel into joining pact
Tuesday night’s unanimous vote in Ireland’s lower house of parliament followed lawmakers’ passage of similarly aspirational motions in Britain, Spain and France.
The motion calls for recognition of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders with an East Jerusalem capital “as a further positive contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
The Palestinian right to self-determination and a state, and Israeli security are both “unquestionable,” the resolution noted.
An official from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons called this week for Israel’s close allies to apply pressure on the country to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention and allow international monitors to verify compliance.Police Question Federman Over Stone Throwing Video, and Release Him
The official added that he knew of the existence and size of Israel’s chemical weapons stockpile, despite Jerusalem’s maintenance of strategic ambiguity on the matter.
Speaking from the Hague on condition of anonymity, the official said unnamed allies should be doing more to bring Israel under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits the production and use of chemical weapons.
“I think Israel should be under a little more pressure by its close allies in order to join the treaty,” the OPCW official told The Times of Israel in The Hague.
Police in Hebron brought in Noam Federman for questioning following the release of a video yesterday showing Federman throwing stones at Arab cars, according to his lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir.Supreme Court rejects MK Zoabi appeal against Knesset ban
Federman told police that the released video they saw was cut and edited by a leftwing organization, and it left out the events that preceded his response.
He said he had acted in self defense.
Police then viewed a full-length video of the events which in fact showed that the released video had been cut and edited, according to Ben-Gvir.
The full video showed that not only was Federman under a stoning attack, but so was an army vehicle and a bus.
The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by MK Hanin Zoabi Wednesday that sought to overturn a Knesset decision banning her from all parliamentary discussions for six months over provocative media statements.Abbas as Netanyahu’s campaign manager
“The penalty imposed is indeed unusually severe compared to penalties imposed in the past,” the five-judge panel wrote in its decision Wednesday. “However, given the circumstances of the matter, the petitioner’s harsh statements and their timing, and since a significant portion of the punishment falls on recess time, we did not see it fit to intervene in the broad discretion of the Ethics Committee.”
The Knesset’s Ethics Committee decided in July to sanction Zoabi for an interview given to Tel Aviv Radio on June 12, following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers south of Jerusalem.
If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to win the snap election he called for next March he will need the continued cooperation of his de-facto campaign manager, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. It is hard to find anyone who has done more to drive Israeli voters farther to the Right and to demoralize the Left. Abbas “seems to be doing everything he can to reelect [Netanyahu],” according to Prof. Steven Spiegel, speaking on a conference call organized by the dovish Israeli Policy Forum (IPF) to discuss the upcoming Israeli elections.PA halting security cooperation with Israel, top aide Erekat says
For added measure Netanyahu may try to bait US President Barack Obama into the fray. There have already been leaks – from the prime minister’s office? – that Obama is secretly plotting to prevent Netanyahu’s election to a fourth term. Obama may be dreaming, but he’s not that stupid. Not that it wouldn’t be poetic payback for Netanyahu’s meddling in the 2012 election when Netanyahu let his American supporters know that he’d prefer Republican Mitt Romney in the White House.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, himself a victim of strident attacks from Netanyahu’s circle, told the Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum this weekend that the administration will stay totally out of the Israeli election and “work with whatever government is elected, whatever its composition.”
The Palestinian Authority will freeze security cooperation with Israel in the wake of the death of a senior Palestinian official after a clash with Israeli troops, a top aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday.Abbas is 'Shooting Himself in the Foot' by Canceling Cooperation
Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator in languishing peace talks with Israel, said the PA would send out an official statement on halting cooperation in the coming hours and added that Ramallah would also push forward with a number of unilateral diplomatic initiatives.
“We see Israel as having complete responsibility for the murder of Ziad Abu Ein,” Erekat said.
Criticism has been directed squarely at PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for the move, which was taken on his orders.Khaled Abu Toameh: Profile: Who was Ziad Abu Ein?
"Abbas is the problem, not the solution," MK Orit Struk (Jewish Home) and MK Yariv Levin (Likud), Chairman of the Land of Israel Caucus in the Knesset, released in a joint statement Wednesday afternoon. "Whoever funded a terrorist by making him a minister, and then sends salaries to terrorists to confront [IDF] soldiers can only blame himself."
Both said that Abbas is conveniently forgetting that the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) is the sole protection Abbas has from Hamas. A major coup against Abbas was busted by Israel in August.
"If he wants to cut off the branch he sits on with his own hand, and be expelled from the PA as he was expelled from Gaza - Israel knows how to take its security into its own hands, without their dubious level of assistance."
Abu Ein previously spent several years in Israeli prison for his role in a 1979 terrorist attack in Tiberias. A group of youngsters were celebrating Lag Ba’omer in the city center when a bomb exploded in their midst. Two 16-year-olds – Boaz Lahav and David Lankri – were killed and 36 other youths wounded.Honest Reporting: Will the Media Report What Actually Killed a Palestinian Protester?
After the attack, he fled to the US. In 1981, he became the first Palestinian ever to be extradited from the US to Israel.
A year later, Abu Ein was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in the 1985 Jibril prisoner exchange deal. During the second intifada, Abu Ein was held in administrative detention.
Abu Ein was considered a prominent figure in Fatah’s young guard.
He was closely associated with jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life-terms in prison for his role in a series of terrorist attacks against Israelis at the beginning of the second intifada, which erupted in September 2000.
And while questions were asked as to how Abu Ein died, many media were only prepared to ask superficial questions while parroting this particular narrative. Initial reports threw up conflicting eyewitness accounts, which included Abu Ein dying as a result of breathing in teargas, hit in the chest by a rifle butt, hit in the chest by a teargas canister or throttled by an Israeli soldier.Soldier Row: What Footage Shows
To his credit, Sky News‘s Tom Rayner walked viewers through the available video footage of the incident clearly explaining what was known and what wasn’t.
But what of Abu Ein’s medical history? While some such as the AP bothered to mention that Abu Ein suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure according to family members, others such as CNN, the LA Times, Reuters, AFP and WSJ (link in The Australian via Google News), NPR, McClatchy News, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times and The Guardian all omitted Abu Ein’s prior health issues.
British Reporter: Palestinians Prevented Israeli Medic From Aiding PA Official and Convicted Terrorist Ziad Abu Ein
In a live report for the UK’s Sky News broadcaster, Middle East correspondent Tom Rayner reported that Ziad Abu Ein, a convicted terrorist who was appointed by the PA to organize campaigns against Jewish settlements in the West Bank, was lying on the ground “unconscious” after the clash – although separate footage shot by Kremlin broadcaster RT displayed Abu Ein conscious and sitting up after his altercation with the IDF officers.Palestinians, Israelis dispute results of PA official’s autopsy
“When he’s on the floor, an Israeli medic does come up to him, she tries to clear an area around him, but Palestinians pick him up and take him straight to a vehicle,” Rayner said, in footage viewed by The Algemeiner. The medic was “not able to deliver any first aid,” Rayner continued, and Abu Ein was “declared dead when he got to a hospital in Ramallah.”
As The Algemeiner reported today, Rayner had earlier said on Twitter that “When Abu Ein is unconscious on ground, Israel medic attempts to assist, asks crowd to make space, Palestinians rush him to a vehicle instead.” Rayner also reported that Abu Ein repeatedly asked the Israeli officer he clashed with for his name, calling him a “dog.”
An official Israeli Health Ministry statement disputed the claim, however, and said Ziad Abu Ein died from a heart attack brought on by stress during the confrontation.US, Britain call for swift probe into death of PA official
Hussein al-Sheikh, a former Palestinian minister, said Jordanian and Palestinian doctors conducting an autopsy on Abu Ein, 55, determined that he had been physically assaulted by an IDF soldier, and later died as a result, Reuters reported.
Sheikh said Abu Ein died after “being struck, inhaling tear gas and a delay in providing medical attention.”
However, Israeli officials disputed Sheikh’s account, saying the autopsy showed Abu Ein had a pre-existing heart condition and may have died after suffering pressure to his neck during the scuffle with the soldiers.
“[Abu Ein’s] death was caused by blockage of a coronary artery due to hemorrhaging beneath an arteriosclerotic plaque,” a health ministry statement read, further explaining that “the bleeding could have been induced by stress.”
The US and Britain joined in international calls for an investigation into the death of senior Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein following clashes with Israeli troops Wednesday.UN, EU urge swift probe into Palestinian official’s death
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was “deeply concerned” by the death of Abu Ein and called for the Israeli investigation into the incident to be “swift, fair and transparent.”
The UK’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was shocked by the death of the minister and called for a “swift and transparent” investigation, while appealing for calm.
Diplomats from the European Union and UN expressed dismay over the death of a senior Palestinian official after clashes with IDF troops and called on Israel to conduct an immediate investigation.PMW: PA and Fatah: Israel killed Ziad Abu Ein "intentionally" and "in cold blood"
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for an immediate, independent investigation into Ziad Abu Ein’s death, adding that reports of excessive use of force by Israeli forces were “extremely worrying.”
“This is a dramatic reminder for the entire international community of the deteriorating situation on the ground,” she said.
PA Chairman Abbas:PA Official Vows 'Revenge' against Israel for Abu Ein's Death
"President Mahmoud Abbas described the savage attack that led to his death as a Martyr... as a barbaric act that cannot be passed over in silence or accepted. His Excellency [Abbas] emphasized: ‘We will take all necessary measures after learning the results of the investigation of fighter Abu Ein’s Martyrdom-death.’ His Excellency condemned the continuation of the attacks on the Palestinian people by the Israeli government. The President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, has declared three days of mourning." [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), Dec. 10, 2014]
Fatah Central Committee member and Advisor to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Sultan Abu Al-Einein:
"Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein said that Israel had crossed all red lines with its abominable crime... Abu Al-Einein emphasized that the cold-blooded murder of Martyr Ziad Abu Ein would not be passed over in silence, and that Minister Abu Ein’s death as a Martyr would be a turning point for Fatah, which would not content itself with condolences for the death of Martyr Abu Ein, but would set fire to the ground - which Ziad Abu Ein redeemed with his blood - beneath the occupiers' feet." [Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein, Dec. 10, 2014]
Palestinian Authority (PA) "Foreign Minister" Riyad al-Maliki has vowed revenge against Israel Wednesday, after the death of former "minister" Ziad Abu Ein was incorrectly blamed on the IDF by Arabic-language media outlets.Erdogan: Palestinian minister's death is a despicable Israeli act
"Israel will pay for his death," Maliki stated.
Arab media claims Abu Ein died after being "beaten" by IDF soldiers, but footage from the event just hours ago proves that he remained untouched during his heart attack - and refused IDF assistance that could have been life-saving. Abu Ein previously held the post of PA Deputy Minister of Prisoners' Affairs.
As a result of the incident, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has chosen to cut security coordination with Israel, a move several MKs stated Wednesday will only harm the PA.
Abbas, in his official response, condemned "the brutal assault that led to the martyrdom" of Abu Ein, calling it "a barbaric act that cannot be tolerated or accepted."
"I am remorsefully condemning this despicable Israeli act," Erdogan said in an online statement, Anadolu news agency reported.Palestinians Forget To Accuse Israel Also Of Beheading Abu Ein (satire)
"This incident which took the life of Abu Ein is the latest example of Israel's stance to the Palestinian people, comprised of violence, occupation and destruction," the statement read.
"Turkey will continue to fight against Israel's anti-humanitarian and outrageous actions alongside the Muslim world and other members of the international community," he added.
Palestinian leaders are voicing regret that they left out beheading in the various conflicting descriptions of how Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian official yesterday.Pakistani terrorists doing charity in Gaza, report says
Ziab Abu Ein was taking part in a rock-throwing demonstration against Israel when a tear gas canister landed near him and he collapsed. An autopsy eventually revealed the cause of death a heart attack, but various Palestinian eyewitnesses described the fatality as resulting from a chokehold, beating, being struck by the canister, headbutting, or other direct acts by Israeli soldiers. Abu Ein had a chronic heart condition.
An official from President Mahmoud Abbas’s office apologized to Abu Ein’s family for neglecting to direct a full measure of libel at Israel for the death. “Every martyr deserves to have his death serve as the catalyst for uncompromising vitriol and accusations against Israel,” said Saeb Erekat. “In this case we unfortunately did not provide the full gamut of slanders, perhaps giving the impression that exploiting this death for propaganda was not done wholeheartedly, and we are sorry.”
The Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, accused of carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is now reportedly engaged in charity work in Gaza.Police: Ramle woman slain because she wanted to learn
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor has found evidence that the Pakistani group’s charity arms – Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) – are active in the Gaza Strip.
Tufail Ahmad, director of the South Asia Studies Project at MEMRI, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that “the move by Lashkar-e-Taiba to establish a footprint in Gaza seems to be part of a well-thought-out jihadist strategy from Pakistan.”
It also “validates the global jihadist ambitions of the Pakistani jihadist groups, especially Lashkar- e-Taiba and its charity arms,” he said.
A Ramle mother of six who was shot dead in October met her death because she wanted to study and advance professionally, police believe.Spending bill would allow US to resume military aid to Egypt
An unknown assailant opened fire at Buthaina Abu Ghanim while she was parked in her vehicle at the central Israeli city of Ramle. She died on the way to the hospital.
An investigation by Israel Police’s Central District found that the victim’s husband and ex-husband, both aged 35, conspired along with the ex-husband’s 29-year-old brother to murder her for her independence and educational aspirations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
A female eyewitness was crucial to the investigation, and she is currently under police protection to keep her from being assassinated as well.
Abu Ghanim was the ninth female member of her family to have been killed in the past 14 years, leading police to suspect that she had been executed in an honor killing.
A congressional bill that lays out the US government’s spending plan for the coming year would allow Washington to resume military aid to Egypt even if Cairo doesn’t comply with certification requirements that it first improve its human rights record.Egyptian Urologist and Egyptologist Wassim Al-Sissy: America Is Putty in the Hands of the Jews
The Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2015, which will keep the US government funded through September, includes within its $1.1 trillion budgeting some $1.3 billion for Egypt.
The bill reinstalls a waiver giving US Secretary of State John Kerry the right to provide military assistance to Egypt for reasons of “national security” even if the county hasn’t yet implemented key human rights requirements, news website al-Monitor reported.
Israel Still Doing U.S. Dirty Work in Syria
For years the U.S. has stood by and watched as the Russians have supplied arms to Assad to slaughter his own people. Even worse, as President Obama dithered about taking action to halt the killing of more than 200,000 persons, the crisis there worsened as, with the help of Iran and its Hezbollah terrorist auxiliaries, atrocities escalated and moderate alternatives to Assad were marginalized by radical groups including ISIS.IS reportedly tries to sell slain US hostage’s body for $1 million
The result is that by the time the U.S. belatedly recognized the necessity of acting against ISIS, there were few good options left for resisting Assad and his allies. More to the point, much as was the case when I wrote about Israeli strikes on Syria in both January and May of 2013, it is Israel that has been forced to step into the vacuum created by the administration’s feckless policies.
Like those strikes, this past weekend’s attacks were primarily directed by Israel’s own security imperatives. Allowing Russia to transfer arms to terrorists, whether serving as mercenaries fighting to preserve a regime that is allied with the Shi’a group’s Iranian masters or deployed near Israel’s northern border, Hezbollah presents a dramatic and potent threat to Israel. But by acting decisively to keep Hezbollah from acquiring even more dangerous weapons than the ones it already possesses, Israel is also helping to keep the situation in Syria from becoming even more unmanageable.
Foley’s was the first in a series of the grisly, publicized executions that shocked many in the West. British journalist John Cantile and an unnamed 26-year-old American woman remain in IS captivity.Iran Launches ‘We Love Fighting Israel’ Campaign
IS offered to provide a DNA sample and transfer Foley’s body to Turkey, BuzzFeed reported Wednesday, in a piece detailing exchanges with “middlemen with ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS),” using another name for the marauding group which has murdered and plundered its way to controlling large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria.
One of the “middlemen,” a Syrian rebel, told BuzzFeed he was approached by an IS commanders seeking to make the deal with the US government or with Foley’s family. The man, who reportedly managed hostage negotiations with the al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front, said the motivation was to provide closure for the family, “a humanity case”
The Iranian regime has launched a nationwide social media campaign called, “We Love Fighting Israel,” which encourages Iranian children, teens, and Internet users to photograph themselves alongside messages of hate for the Jewish state.Rouhani: Oil Price Drop is A 'Plot' Against Us
The movement has sprouted online in the last few days across social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms as a result of a recent call by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rallying the nation to take on Israel.
The campaign drew outrage from opponents of Iran’s hardline regime and calls for sites such as Instagram to shut it down for violating policies against hate speech.
Thousands of Iranians are reported to have already joined the electronic movement following comments by Khamenei’s outlining Iran’s goal of destroying the Jewish state.
“Our people love fighting against the Zionists and the Islamic Republic has proved this as well,” Khamenei was quoted as saying in a recent speech by the country’s state-run media. “By Allah’s Favor and Grace, we have passed through the barrier of denominational discord.”
“The oil price drop is a plot against the regional people and Muslims which merely benefits some other countries,” said Rouhani. The Muslim peoples will not forget the “stab in the back” rendered by Westerners, and will act in accordance.
Oil has dropped in price over the past several months, and now is trading at around $60 a barrel, prices not seen in nearly a decade. Economists say that the low prices are due to a glut of oil on the world market. OPEC countries in a meeting last week could not come to a decision on cutting production, and the United States recently became the world's second largest producer of oil.
Rouhani was having none of it. “The fall in crude price is not merely an economic issue. Rather, it is caused by a plot and political planning by certain countries,” he said.
