Thursday, January 01, 2015
JPost Editorial: Palestinian interests
Most important, the Jewish state was led by an honest, selfless political leadership with a vision of the Jewish people living in freedom as a sovereign, self-sufficient people in its historical homeland. Thanks to a combination of meticulous planning and ambitious goals and against tremendous odds, Israel has become an amazing success story. Few, if any, other nations born into the 20th century as a third-world countries have risen to be on par with the most developed Western nations as Israel has, with one of the world’s most innovative economies and most vibrant democracies that protects freedom of the press, gay rights, religious rights and women’s rights.J Street laments failure of Palestinian UN bid
Those countries in the UN Security Council that voted in favor of the Palestinian motion – France and Luxembourg particularly – should ask themselves if they want to bring into being a corrupt Palestinian state in which basic human rights are trampled and the institutions capable of protecting them are nonexistent.
Palestinians have received hundreds of billions of dollars in aid, which, if used properly, could have laid the foundation for a stable, free Palestinian state-in-the-making that would have broken with the direction taken by the 21 existing Arab states.
Perhaps it is still not too late. But by pushing for the creation of yet another failed Arab state that would become an existential threat to a thriving, successful liberal democracy – the only in the Middle East – France, Luxembourg and the other countries that voted in favor of Tuesday’s proposal (such as those luminaries of human rights China and Russia) are not just working against the interests of Israel, they are working against the interests of the Palestinian people.
The US liberal Jewish group J Street said Wednesday that the failure of an attempt to pass a UN Security Council resolution aimed at establishing a timetable for a Palestinian state lay with the international community and the US for not drafting a text with broader appeal.Netanyahu: The Palestinians have more to fear from the ICC than Israel
In Tuesday’s vote the Palestinians were unable to muster the support of nine out of the 15 Security Council members, with eight voting in favor, two opposing and five abstaining.
“It was the failure of the United States and the international community to take a positive step toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict diplomatically by crafting a resolution that could have gained broad international consensus,” J Street said in a statement.
The group stressed that it had not taken a stance on the validity of the draft in the form in which it was submitted but noted “alternative drafts did a better job of balancing Israeli and Palestinian concerns, particularly around security.”
Netanyahu, in his initial reaction to the move, said the Palestinian Authority, which is in a unity government with Hamas, should be more concerned about the ICC than Israel. Netanyahu said that Israel would respond – though he did not give any indication of how it would do so – and would defend the soldiers of the IDF, which he called “the most moral soldiers in the world.”'Abbas Only Able to Go to ICC as a Defendant'
By contrast, Netanyahu said Hamas was an avowed terrorist organization that – like Islamic State – commits war crimes. “We will rebuff this additional effort to impose a diktat on us, just as we rebuffed Palestinian efforts in the UN Security Council,” he said.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman was more blunt in his response, saying that even a “deaf, blind and mute judge” knows that the Palestinians are responsible for the “indiscriminate murder of men, women, children and babies for the last 100 years.”
Abbas can sign onto all the treaties he wants to, Liberman said in a Facebook post, “the only ones committing war crimes in this conflict are the Palestinians themselves.”
Ministers and MKs have strongly condemned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's application to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) Wednesday, with many remarking that it is the Palestinian Arabs, not the Israelis, who are liable to be found guilty of war crimes.
"Abbas, a leading inciter of terror and a long-time Holocaust denier, would only be able to come to the ICC as a defendant," Jewish Home Chairman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett stated. "Someone with terrorism spread on his head should not come out into the sunshine."
Tekuma Chairman and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) added, "it's time to dispel the Palestinian lie and to declare - loud and clear - that the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel."
"Judea and Samaria are not occupied territories, and it is Israel's right and duty to continue building there and in Jerusalem," Ariel continued. "Freezing construction only encourages Arab greed, while building, on the other hand, proves that we have returned to our country to stay."
Israeli Businessman Behind PA UN Bid Rejection
Businessman Hezi Bezalel has been working in the past few weeks behind the scenes to ensure that the draft resolution would fail to gain crucial support, Arutz Sheva has learned Wednesday.Israel summons French envoy over Palestine UN vote
Bezalel operates primarily abroad, mostly in Africa, and has a special relationship with the leaders of those countries. Bezalel currently serves as honorary consul of Rwanda in Israel.
This is not the first time that Bezalel has worked for the State of Israel in the UN and in African countries. In recent years, he has quietly helped defend Israel from foreign interests looking to harm the Jewish state.
Foreign Ministry officials refused to comment on the report but noted after being questioned by Arutz Sheva that "we thank all those who acted here, especially regarding the Israeli delegation to the United Nations."
The Prime Minister's Office refused to detail the activities of Hezi Bezalel in the political arena but said that Netanyahu held yesterday talks with the presidents of Rwanda and Nigeria, where he reportedly asked for help in thwarting Palestinian attempts to embarrass Israel in the international arena.
The Foreign Ministry summoned France’s ambassador to Israel, Patrick Maisonnave, for “clarifications” Wednesday over his country’s vote in favor of a UN Security Council resolution that aimed to establish a timetable for a full Israeli pullout from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.Yes, an Israeli victory
A meeting between the Foreign Ministry’s deputy director-general for Western Europe, Aviv Shir-On, and Maisonnave is set to take place Friday, Haaretz reported.
Despite objections to the wording of the resolution and a failed attempt to bring forth a much more moderate version of the measure, France backed the resolution because of an “urgent need to act,” Francois Delattre, France’s permanent representative to the UN, told the council on Tuesday.
He expressed disappointment that efforts to negotiate a text that could win consensus failed: “Our efforts must not stop here. It is our responsibility to try again, before it’s too late.”
Abbas, it seems, has cast himself as someone who is not really interested in compromise. In other words, like Arafat, he doesn't really want statehood, because independence means compromise. He would much rather go down in history as a hero who withstood pressure than to sign off on a compromise that would produce a state. But of course, this is not the end. Having failed at the U.N., Abbas quickly moved on and signed the Rome Statute so that he can take the fight against Israel to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. The Palestinians should keep in mind, though, that those who take people to court could one day discover that they too are on trial.The United Nations Dissents
In fact, the drama of past few weeks, which culminated in the Israeli victory in the United Nations, only proves (for the umpteenth time) that the Palestinians never really wanted to move forward in the talks. They never really wanted to see a major breakthrough in their supposed quest for statehood. The path they chose was the path of provocation and victimhood. What's unfortunate about this ordeal is the French culinary choice. It appears that the chef decided to prepare a meal that catered to the Chadian, Russian, and Chinese palates, not to the American, Australian or British (the U.K. abstained). We have come to expect more from French cuisine.
The Palestinians could have their state this year without any United Nations Resolutions. Israel’s leadership have declared “two nations – two states”. In doing so Israel’s leadership have recognized the right of Palestinian independence. Now all that the Palestinian leadership has to do is recognize the right of Jewish independence. However the Palestinian leadership refuse to recognize and state the irrevocable right of Israel to be defined and declared as the Jewish national home. They also refuse to accept the borders of Palestine that they themselves call for.US ‘strongly opposes’ Palestinian bid to join ICC
Of the territory conquered during the Six Day War of 1967 Israel wishes to hold onto about 5% for security concerns. In return for keeping this 5% Israel is willing to give 5% of other arable land. Israel has already pulled troops and settlers out of all of the Gaza Strip in 2005. There is no occupation of Gaza yet the Hamas governance continues to attack Israel from there calling for the cities of Tel-Aviv and Haifa to be included in a Palestinian State. These cities are not in the 1967 borders. Israel has already granted local governance to all Palestinian cities as part of the Oslo Process twenty years ago yet the Palestinian Authority is not even capable of gathering taxes, due to its incompetence and corruption. Large amounts of funding for the Palestinian people gathered internationally remain in French bank accounts in the name of Yasser Arafat.
The United States said Wednesday that it “strongly opposes” a request signed by the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court, fearing it will further delay peace talks with Israel.Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas moves to join International Criminal Court
US State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez warned it would be “counter-productive and do nothing to further the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a sovereign and independent state.”
“It will badly damage the atmosphere with the very people with whom they ultimately need to make peace,” Vasquez said in a statement.
The move deals a major blow to the already dim hopes of reviving peace talks that collapsed in April.PA Delays Delivery of Signed Treaties to UN
And it could end up backfiring, opening some Palestinians to prosecution over the actions of Hamas, which the United States and Israel have designated a terrorist group. In the past, ICC prosecutors have made clear that they will investigate all allegations of misdeeds in a dispute, not just those of one side. That means Palestinians could be called to answer for Hamas’s rocket attacks on Israeli population centers and the group’s use of civilians as human shields.
Netanyahu made that point shortly after Abbas’s announcement, saying it was the Palestinian Authority — not Israel — that had reason to fear the court.
Congress also could take action in response. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said funding for Palestinians would be cut if they initiate an investigation of Israel.
The end-of-the-year announcement came late in the day at a specially convened meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas said his government would seek to join about 20 international treaties, including the framework that set up the International Criminal Court.
The signing of the Rome Statute in itself does not have any legal effect until ratified by the Palestinian Authority, which could delay it indefinitely.
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) UN observer mission has delayed the delivery to the United Nations of a batch of newly signed treaties, Reuters reported Wednesday night, citing a diplomat at the mission.Palestinian Membership of International Criminal Court Would be Dangerous ‘Game-Changer’ for Israel, Legal Expert Says
The delivery of the documents was originally planned for Wednesday but has been postponed until the end of the week.
The diplomat, a legal adviser at the Palestinian mission, offered no explanation for the delay until Friday.
The mission had earlier announced that the PA observer, Riyad Mansour, would present the treaty instruments to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office at 4:45 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas signed a request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as applications to join 20 other international conventions.
Palestinian membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC) would be a “game-changer” with profoundly negative consequences for the State of Israel, a senior Israeli lawyer has warned.NGO Monitor: Palestinian ICC Move Follows Intense NGO Lobbying
“If the Palestinians file war crimes charges against Israel, Israel will lose because the court is biased,” Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Director of Shurat HaDin – the Israel Law Center, told The Algemeiner.
Following yesterday’s failed vote on Palestinian statehood at the UN Security Council, the Palestinian focus has now shifted to joining international treaties and organizations, foremost among them the ICC. A 2009 bid to sign up to the court’s Rome Statute was unsuccessful, as “Palestine” was at the time only an “observer entity” at the United Nations. However, with “Palestine’s” upgrade in 2012 to “non-member observer state,” membership of the ICC is now a serious possibility.
The decision by the Palestinian Authority to sign the Rome Statute, a step towards joining the International Criminal Court (ICC), follows more than a decade of intense lobbying and propaganda campaigns by NGOs (non-governmental organizations). These groups promote legal warfare, or “lawfare,” against Israel, according to Jerusalem-based research institute NGO Monitor.Everything you wanted to know about the ICC
Detailed research by NGO Monitor documents the role of NGO superpowers such as Amnesty International and and Human Rights Watch, as well as European-funded NGOs Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Al Haq, Diakonia, and FIDH, in lobbying for such a move.
“Attempting to litigate the highly charged Arab-Israeli conflict in the ICC could spell the end of the court, and the NGOs and their European funders will be responsible,” said Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor Legal Advisor. “While the Palestinian leadership and the NGOs may get some short-lived propaganda victories in their political war, they may soon find they got more than they bargained for.”
Professor Gerald Steinberg, president of Israeli watchdog NGO Monitor, told The Algemeiner that, in his estimation, it was more likely that the Palestinians would concentrate on Article 49. Steinberg noted that it was the Arab states who had pushed for the inclusion of Article 49 in the Rome Statute, which was one factor behind Israel’s decision not to sign up to the ICC, despite its sympathy for the basic principles underlying the court.
“This is the next stage of the Durban strategy,” Steinberg said, referring to the campaign launched by NGOs at the UN”s notorious “anti-racism” conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, to isolate Israel in a manner similar to the former apartheid regime in South Africa. Steinberg also highlighted the financing by European governments of NGOs committed to portraying Israeli settlements as violations of Article 49.
The world is a different and harsher place for Israel after the Palestinians signed the Rome Statute which probably grants them membership to the International Criminal Court. But the Palestinians still have many hoops to jump through before Israelis (and not Israel as the ICC only deals with individuals) will be seen in the dock at the Hague.Report: Hamas Praises PA ICC Bid
Hamas has praised Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's application to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a "step in the right direction."From the Holocaust to Darfur, War Criminals Never Face Justice
"This step needs to be part of a general policy and a joint national program," Hamas said in a statement, according to the Gaza-based Daily Sabah.
Hamas also called for the various Palestinian Arab terror groups to meet and devise a plan for halting all bilateral negotiations and security coordination with Israel on a permanent basis - as well as lifting the "Israeli blockade" on Gaza, reconstruction, and solving domestic issues between Hamas and rival Fatah.
Hamas's embrace of the ICC bid oddly contrasts with its utter rejection of the PA's UN draft resolution to boot Israel out of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, which it said in multiple statements did not 'represent the Palestinian people.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which five years ago indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for organizing the genocide in Darfur, recently suspended further action on Darfur because of the failure of the United States and other countries to help bring Bashir to justice.PreOccupied Territory: Woodrow Wilson Urges Palestinians To Join League Of Nations (satire)
Ironically, the ICC’s announcement came just before the 70th anniversary of a long-forgotten double-cross by the Roosevelt administration of its own ambassador to the Allied commission on Nazi war crimes.
Bashir was indicted in 2009 for sponsoring the Arab militias that have slaughtered an estimated 400,000 members of non-Arab tribes in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. He became the first sitting president to be charged with war crimes.
But when it came to actually arresting Bashir, neither the U.S. nor any other country has stepped up. It’s not that the U.S. is incapable of capturing fugitive terrorists and tyrants: recall how American commandos intercepted the murderers of American tourist Leon Klinghoffer, and how they brought Panama’s Manuel Noriega to justice.
While Wilson and his confidantes express optimism over Palestinian membership in the League, analysts remain skeptical of both Abbas’s willingness to accept the organization’s terms and the body’s ability to serve Palestinian interests. The latter point may be academic, given the raft of organizations Abbas has begun to join, such as agreements governing biodiversity and many other issues of seemingly marginal importance to the conflict with Israel. However, in the aggregate, say experts, the memberships reflect international standing that the Palestinians can the leverage to extract concessions from Israel, and in that sense joining the League of Nations can certainly offer the same.Students urge UN chief to condemn Samaria firebombing
But it remains uncertain that Abbas will want to join the League, given that the same organization specifically endorsed the British Mandate over the territory of Palestine in 1922 for the explicit purpose of establishing a national home for the Jewish people. Abbas and his allies have fiercely opposed acceptance of any Jewish state. “I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect the leader of an organization dedicated to the removal of Jewish sovereignty from its neighborhood to endorse the League of Nations mandate’s terms,” says International Relations Institute researcher Anna Kronistt.
Other analysts disagree. “The truth is there isn’t a single agreement the PLO ever made that it hasn’t violated,” says Rhea Liticzek of the Mideast Research Center. “So whether or not signing the necessary treaties obligates them to uphold its terms is a completely academic question.”
Students at Amit Lehava girls' school in Kedumim wrote a petition to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asking him to condemn the attackers who threw a Molotov cocktail at 11-year-old Ayala Shapira and her father as they were driving in Samaria, causing the young girl massive burns.Court Bars Tearing Down Terrorist’s Home because He Failed to Kill Glick
The petition, signed by about 1,000 students, reads, "Ignoring [this incident] is the same thing as silently supporting [it]."
Shapira is still hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Sheba Medical Center after last week's attack. She is in an induced coma as doctors continue to treat severe burns all over her body.
Hannah Elster, one of the students leading the initiative, said, "We decided that we could not be silent and we had to make our demand for our right to live -- even in Samaria -- heard."
The Israeli Supreme Court has accepted a petition by a human rights group arguing that the home of the Jerusalem Arab who nearly assassinated Yehuda Glick should not be demolished.Arab with Knife Arrested Near the Cave of the Patriarchs
Regarding the terrorists from the Har Nof massacre, the justices rejected the appeal against Israel’s destroying the homes of the terrorists.
The court also ruled that the home of a tractor terrorist can be destroyed.
Glick was almost killed but made a miraculous recovery and stood on his own today for the first time since he was shot four times in the chest two months ago.
Border Police officers on Wednesday evening arrested a suspected terrorist who came to the Cave of the Patriarchs, near Hevron, carrying a large knife.IDF Arrests 2 Terrorists and Confiscates Grenades in Jenin
The suspect, a 40-year-old Arab resident of Hevron, arrived at a checkpoint and aroused the suspicions of the officers, who searched his body and found inside the pocket of his coat a large knife with a blade more than 15 centimeters long.
The suspect was arrested and taken in for questioning. Police did not rule out terrorism as motive, but said all possible motives are being investigated and that the suspect was believed to be under the influence of drugs.
Police pointed out that Wednesday evening’s incident is not the first time that a knife-wielding Arab was caught by Border Guard officers at the same spot.
Israeli soldiers arrested two terrorists in Jenin overnight and confiscated a cache of weapons, including, two rifles, a revolver, grenades, bullets and bullet cartridges.IsraellyCool: Exclusive: The Photos That Are Causing Palestinian Heads To Explode
Elsewhere, the IDF arrested eight other suspected terrorists.
Jenin, like other cities, is under control by the Palestinian Authority, which is committed by the Oslo Accords, to weed out terrorists.
Figuratively speaking of course.Growing Jordan Valley Crocodile Threat Worries Israelis, Palestinians
The photos in question are of a Muslim Magavnik (Israeli border policeman) deep in prayer, which of course does not fit in with the bogus claims of apartheid.
That post is from the news agency of the Balata refugee camp, posted with the comment in Arabic that translates to “I don’t know how to respond.”
A commenter here opines he could be a spy, although it is not clear for whom he supposedly spies (us or them?)
And the same photos have been posted on a number of different palestinian Facebook groups.
Of course, anyone really familiar with Israel will not be surprised by these photos at all. We understand there are Muslims proudly serving in the IDF and border police, as well as there being religious freedom for all.
The usually sleepy Jordan Valley is waking up to a real B-movie nightmare as some 1,000 crocodiles are slowly overrunning a closed-down local farm, frightening neighboring Israelis and Palestinians alike, Israel’s NRG News reported on Wednesday.BBC interview with Hamas official – for Farsi speakers only
And, they breed. Fast, according to Regional Council head, David Elhyani.
“We’re in an absurd situation whereby we are stuck with the fact that more than a thousand crocodiles each year lay about 600 eggs,” Elhyani noted in frustration.
In the 1990s, the council was presented with several crocodiles as a gift. Since then the population has grown explosively. While a female can bring upwards of 35 hatchlings into the world, in nature most die or are killed. In this case, however, thanks to favorable living conditions and a protected status, most of them survive.
It is therefore all the more remarkable to find that an interview with Hamas official Mahmoud al Zahar by Siavash Ardalan which was broadcast on BBC Persian television on December 30th (BBC Persian website version here) has not yet appeared on the corporation’s English language platforms.Davutoglu and Mashaal: A Marriage Made in Heaven
In that interview al Zahar spoke, inter alia, of Hamas’ relationship with Iran, stating that the strategic relationship between that country and the terrorist organization is based on the fact that:
“…more than anything else we believe in the concept of an Islamic Ummah including all nationalities and different branches of the Muslim Ummah from east to west.”
In his speech, Davutoglu accused Israel of "attempts to reduce the Islamic character of Jerusalem," and repeated that Turkey and Palestine have a common stance (against Israel). He also declared a new mission for Turkey: the self-declared guardian of Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.PA TV to kids: All of "occupied Palestine" will "return to us"
"Turkey will do whatever needs to be done to protect Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque," he said. More thundering applause, more Palestinian flags waving and more "Down with Israels."
Whenever there is a visiting foreign dignitary, a head of state or a prime minister, Davutoglu would usually meet with his guest bilaterally for an hour or two. In Konya, his tête-à-tête with Mashaal lasted for four and a half hours -- a span not surprising, given the lucrative engagement with "all things Palestinian." Playing the champion of the "Palestinian cause" has traditionally been a smart vote-catcher in the Turkish lands, especially in Konya.
Thirty-four years ago, the people of Konya had to take to the streets to shout "Death to the Jew," wave Palestinian flags and chant all possible Quranic slogans -- and clash with the military for doing it. Today, they enjoy the Islamist ritual at the regional congress of the country's ruling party, with "a son of their city" running the show from the seat of the prime minister.
Thirty-four years ago, their hearts and minds were united with their Palestinian brothers, but a public "Jerusalem meeting" could earn them a jail sentence. Today, failing to stand by the "Palestinian cause" could earn someone a jail sentence, if not a good public beating. Sadly, this is how democracy has evolved in Turkey.
PA TV host: "I'm happy with Linda because she wears a map of Palestine, dear children, which includes all of Palestine - occupied Palestine - that will return to us one day. Thank you, Linda dear, I love you very much." [Official PA TV, Dec. 19, 2014]
