02/03 Links Pt1: New Chair Can’t Salvage UN Gaza Travesty; Captain Kangaroo Covers His Behind

From Ian:

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New Chair Can’t Salvage UN Gaza Travesty

It should be recalled that the UNHRC’s investigation of the 2008 war in Gaza—the Goldstone Commission—was a travesty that was focused almost entirely on delegitimizing Israeli self-defense while largely downplaying the actual war crimes committed by the Hamas rulers of Gaza. Ultimately Judge Richard Goldstone, the South African Jew who had been appointed to chair that commission, repudiated its findings. But that recantation came too late. The damage was already done. Whereas the UNHRC thought to put a more acceptable face on its Star Chamber investigation of Israel with Goldstone, naming Schabas showed it no longer thought it worth the bother to even put up a pretense of objectivity.
That’s why Schabas’s withdrawal changes nothing about the UNHRC’s prejudice or its methods. No one who is likely to be named to this post would be objective and anyone who was would quickly discover, as Goldstone eventually did, that the UNHRC’s staff has one objective with respect to Israel and it is not fairness or the truth.
But rather than focus solely on what is, in effect, a pro forma effort that will produce a raft of slanders and distortions no matter what evidence is presented to the panel, observers should be directing their attention to the UNHRC itself. Despite efforts to reform it, this agency remains one of the worst examples of UN bias against Israel and the Jews. Rather than helping to stem the rising tide of anti-Semitism around the world, the UNHRC is aiding and abetting it. Rather than wring its hands about the likelihood of an unfair attack on Israel about the Gaza war, the United States ought to be pulling out of the UNHRC and leading efforts to isolate it so as to prevent the world body from doing even more damage. But since the Obama administration is led by a president who is infatuated with the UN and often enraged by the temerity of Israel’s leaders to both defend their country and to urge others to speak out against threats to its security—such as the Iranian nuclear threat—don’t expect common sense or courage from Washington on the UNHRC.
In the meantime, decent persons both here and elsewhere should be denouncing the UNHRC’s latest attempt to smear Israel, no matter who is at its head.

UN Watch: Backstory: Schabas quit UN inquiry following growing pressure from colleagues

Why did William Schabas finally step down as chair of the UN inquiry on Gaza?
The latest revelation that he was paid by the PLO for legal advice in 2012 was the last straw, but the decision came in wake of a sustained campaign by UN Watch starting from the day of his appointment, which included videos of Schabas calling for the indictment of Israeli leaders, a formal UN Watch legal brief demanding his recusal that was submitted to the UN in an official filing, and UN Watch op-eds urging legal scholars to speak out against the absurd appointment of Schabas. Many did so.
Over the past several months of the campaign, some of the world’s most prominent international lawyers and human rights activists around the world—jurists well known to Schabas because he cites them as authorities in his works, or they are professional, faculty or law review colleagues—called for him to step down.

Hillel Neuer argues before U.N. plenary: "Schabas must step down"


NGO Monitor: Schabas Resignation: What Else Has Not Been Disclosed?

The revelation that Schabas previously did legal work for the PLO raises numerous questions, which should be publically and transparently addressed by the UNHRC.
- What other conflicts of interest did Schabas not disclose?
- What connections and consultancies did Schabas have with politicized NGOs such as Amnesty International and what role did these NGOs have in the UN “investigation”?
- How did the UN’s vetting process fail? According to news reports, Schabas “was not asked to detail his consultancy work when he was appointed.”
- If UN officials were previously aware of Schabas’ connections to the PLO, why was this information not disclosed earlier?
Journalists also have a responsibility to pursue these avenues of inquiry.
“Before there is further embarrassment, the Commission should disband immediately,” continued Prof. Steinberg. “From the beginning, the Commission’s mandate was part of the campaign to single out of Israel through the exploitation of human rights and international law. The Human Rights Council failed to learn the lessons from Judge Goldstone’s denunciation of his own pseudo-investigation in 2009.”

Captain Kangaroo Covers His Behind

So by now citing the $1300 fee, Schabas is conceding only the appearance of impropriety, and ignoring the mountain of additional evidence of an actual anti-Israel prejudice bordering on the shrill.
What does this say about the UN authority that appointed someone like Schabas to lead the commission? Did they choose him in spite of his well-known statements, or because of them. What does this say about the commission that Schabas has already led through the investigative process, which is only a few weeks away from its report, and the other commissioners and staff members of the commission who have served under his leadership so far without hint of a complaint that his association mars their own reputations?
And what are we to make of Schabas statement about not wanting this fee to “taint the findings”? How would this possibly taint any findings unless . . . the findings were anti-Israel. Schabas obviously knows something, which is something we have known all along. The entire process is illegitimate from the start. That Schabas thinks that he can cover his sorry behind by resigning now, and for the reasons he has stated, is a testament to how rotten a process it is.

After Schabas quits, Netanyahu says time to scrap UN Gaza probe

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday responded to the decision by Canadian jurist William Schabas to step down from the United Nations’ investigation into the recent Gaza war by saying that the report that he was working on should also be discarded.
The Schabas commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a body that Netanyahu said was an anti-Israel institution that has shown through its decision that there is no connection between it and human rights.
The commission has concluded collecting evidence, and is scheduled to present its conclusions to the UNHRC on March 23.
“This is the same body that only in 2014 passed more resolutions against Israel than against Iran, Syria and North Korea combined,” Netanyahu said. “Hamas, other terrorist organizations and the terror regimes around us are the ones who need to be investigated, and not Israel.”
Netanyahu said that Israel acted in accordance with international law during last summer’s conflict when it defended itself against rocket attacks from Gaza, while Hamas used civilians as human shields to fire on Israeli civilians.
“Israel will continue to defend itself against terror directed against it on all fronts,” he said.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman issued a statement saying that Schabas’ resignation will not change the conclusions of the report, which were biased against Israel from the very beginning by virtue of the fact that the report was initiated by the anti-Israel UNHRC.
However, he said, the resignation casts light on the people who made up the investigation commission, and their built-in biases.

Schabas takes parting shot at ‘masters of ridiculous statements' Netanyahu, Liberman

William Schabas, the jurist who resigned Monday as head of the UN Human Rights Council inquiry into the Gaza conflict because he was paid by the PLO in 2012 to pen a legal opinion on their behalf, lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman who applauded his resignation.
“He can spin it any way he wants,” Schabas told Channel 2 in response to Netanyahu's statement.
Schabas said that Netanyahu and Liberman were “masters of extravagant and ridiculous statements, and I guess they will keep doing that.” According to UN Watch, a UN watchdog organization, Schabas asked in 2009 why the ICC was "going after the president of Sudan for Darfur and not the president of Israel [Shimon Peres] for Gaza.”
Netanyahu responded earlier in the day to Schabas’ decision to step down by saying that the report that he was working on should also be discarded. Netanyahu said Schabas should never have been asked to chair the committee. Schabas once said Netanyahu would be his “favorite Person” to be taken to the International Criminal Court.

What Else Does V15/ One Voice Do?

Alongside these pro-Palestinian interests are other radical left-wingers, including The Ford Foundation ($1,018,150 since 2004); Nathan Cummings Foundation ($375,000 since 2003); Skoll Foundation ($150,000 since 2011); Walter and Elise Haas Fund ($145,000 since 2007); Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc. ($100,000 since 2012); and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation ($25,000 since 2004). These extremists have long funded dangerous anti-Israel organizations including The New Israel Fund.
One Voice International’s “Entertainment Council” includes Brad Pitt, Ed Norton, Jason Alexander & Danny Devito, yet the real head honcho is Joel Fields, whose hit-TV show The Americans premiered Season Two this week. He is listed on tax returns as a member of the Board of Directors.
OneVoice claims to be “an international grassroots movement that amplifies the voice of mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution.”
OneVoice plans to have hundreds of people going door-to-door throughout Israel to try and defeat Netanyahu, but the funds for that effort were funneled through One Voice’s NYC West 38thStreet by a hodge-podge of left-wing extremists, The State Department, and Palestinian-Americans.
As CEO of one of America’s largest public relations agencies, I am not surprised that Obama’s consultants are working for the liberals in Israel and interfering in a sovereign country's elections. That is how it works and Israelis should realize that.
Netanyahu is one damn tough Jew – and he’s facing an army of opponents whose interests are much different than those concerned with the prosperity and security of the Jewish State. (h/t Yoel)

Abbas' son is a senior adviser to OneVoice International

Yasser Mahmoud Abbas, the son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, is a senior adviser to U.S.-based activist group OneVoice International, which has an Israeli arm that has partnered with the Victory 15 campaign to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yasser Abbas is listed as a member of the Trustees Advisory Council on OneVoice's international website. According to OneVoice's description, the council "consists of energetic and dynamic leaders across diverse sectors who have shown a commitment to public service and can contribute expertise in an area necessary to advance the mission of OneVoice."
According to OneVoice, "Mahmoud Abbas' son is a member of the Advisory Council of OneVoice in the Palestinian Authority, which is working toward a diplomatic agreement and two states for two peoples. Just as Michi Ratzon, who ran in the Likud primaries, served on the Advisory Council in Israel, and David Azoulay, Avraham Michaeli, Yitzhak Vaknin and Yitzhak Cohen from Shas serve in the movement's lobby in Knesset, as do MK Elazar Stern, MK Rabbi Dov Lipman and many others. (h/t Yoel)

Bennett, Likud MKs to boycott NIF-financed Haaretz conference

Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett and Likud Knesset members on Monday canceled their participation in the Haaretz-sponsored Israel Democracy Conference, scheduled to take place in two weeks, because it is partly funded by the New Israel Fund.
Last week, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Likud MK Yariv Levin, told organizers that after discovering the NIF's involvement he would not attend the conference. On Monday, Levin's boycott was joined by fellow Likud MKs Tzachi Hanegbi, Zeev Elkin and Tzipi Hotovely. Bennett also announced on Monday that he would not attend the event.
A Likud statement said, "The Likud, as a national and ideological party, will not cooperate with bodies that incessantly work to tarnish Israel's image. The New Israel Fund finances dozens of radical leftist organizations, such as B'Tselem, Breaking the Silence, Adalah and Machsom Watch, and it is one of the central bodies responsible for the Goldstone report."

Bret Stephens: A Speech Netanyahu Must Give (originally WSJ)

Now Mr. Obama is vowing to veto the bipartisan Kirk-Menendez bill that would end the charade by imposing sanctions on Iran in the event Tehran doesn’t sign an acceptable nuclear deal by the summer—that is, after the third deadline for the interim agreement has expired. The president is also demanding that Democrats rally around him in his histrionic fit over the Netanyahu speech. This is from the same administration that, as Politico’s David Rogers reminds us, never bothered to consult Mr. Boehner on its invitation to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to address Congress in 2011.
This history is worth recalling because it underscores the unpleasant truth about America in the age of Obama. The president collects hard favors from allies and repays them with neglect and derision. He is eager to accommodate the political needs of authoritarian leaders like Iran’s Hasan Rouhani but has no use for the political needs of elected leaders like Mr. Netanyahu. He believes that it is for other statesmen to stake their political lives and risk their national future for the sake of a moral principle—at least as Mr. Obama defines that principle. As for him, the only thing sacred is his own political convenience.
This is the mentality of a peevish and callow potentate. Not the least of the reasons Mr. Netanyahu must not give in to pressure to cancel his speech is that he could expect to get nothing out of it from the administration, while humiliating Mr. Boehner in the bargain.
Mr. Netanyahu also needs to speak because Congress deserves an unvarnished account of the choice to which Mr. Obama proposes to put Israel: either accede to continued diplomacy with Iran, and therefore its de facto nuclearization; or strike Iran militarily in defiance of the U.S. and Mr. Obama’s concordat with Tehran. A congressional vote in favor of Kirk-Menendez would at least make good on Mr. Obama’s unmet promise not to use talks as “an excuse for inaction.”
Above all, Mr. Netanyahu needs to speak because Israel cannot expect indefinite support from the U.S. if it acts like a fretful and obedient client to a cavalier American patron. The margin of Israel’s security is measured not by anyone’s love but by the respect of friends and enemies alike. By giving this speech, Mr. Netanyahu is demanding that respect. Irritating the president is a small price to pay for doing so.

Rudy Giuliani: Netanyahu has right to speak on Iran

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a right to speak out about the Iranian nuclear threat in front of the US Congress.
“I deeply admire Prime Minister Netanyahu for speaking out on this issue, but he honestly has no choice,” Giuliani said Monday in Jerusalem. “If someone threatens to kill you, you simply don’t give them the gun to do it unless there’s something wrong with you.”
Giuliani, who is in Israel to address a business conference in Herzliya, said that Israel has strong support in the United States.
He added, “If there is going to be any agreement with Iran, then it must be based upon the fact that Iran not be allowed the possibility of obtaining a nuclear arsenal.”

Rudy Giuliani: If someone threatens to destroy you, you do not give him the weapon (starts 1:24 h/t Yoel)


Aaron David Miller: Why Bibi-Gate Is Bunk

This time, the argument from some American pundits goes, the Israelis have gone too far. This time, to paraphrase Howard Beale in Network, we’re really not going to take it anymore. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to address Congress without even informing the Obama administration is an act that’s just too brazen to be ignored. Such blatant intervention in American politics crosses a red line that requires a tough response.
Only it’s not gonna happen. Whether Netanyahu ultimately does come or not, the United States will continue to take it. And for reasons of politics, policy and shared values, Washington will continue to accord Israel tremendous leeway in this Administration and in the years ahead regardless of opposition to some of its policies. And here’s why.
First, the Middle East is melting down at a rate nobody could ever have predicted. And despite the risks this turbulence may pose to Israel’s own Israeli security interests, the Middle East muddle is good for the U.S.-Israeli relationship. The behavior of various Arab actors—ISIL, Assad, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, even Egypt—reinforces the value affinity that binds Israel and the United States and to a great extent puts them together in the same trench. When Islamic State terrorists are beheading Americans and Syria is murdering thousands of its own people with barrel bombs and chemical weapons, Israeli transgressions–settlement activity, occupation policies—pale by comparison. This was precisely the same dynamic that brought the two countries together in the wake of 9/11–both attacked by suicide terrorists. In essence these Arab actors become the most effective talking points arguing for very close U.S.-Israel ties.

US is the "enemy of nations," says Fatah Central Committee member

At a ceremony celebrating the founding of Fatah:
Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen:‎ "We are waging a fierce and ‎cruel battle, not just against the Israeli occupation, but against the leader of world imperialism, ‎the enemy of the nations - the United States of America, which sees the region through Israeli, ‎Zionist, racist and fascist eyes only.‎" [Official PA TV Live, Jan. 1, 2015‎]

Arab Reporter Lobbies State Dept. for ‘More Aid to PA and Gaza’

Said Arikat is the Washington, D.C.-based reporter for the Palestinian Arab Al-Quds newspaper. So what? Well, it matters because Arikat has found an amazing pulpit from which he ensures that the Palestinian Arab viewpoint of just about every major event is heard.
Arikat is thus able to have a grossly disproportionate impact on the huge media outlets who are represented in those press briefings, as well as on U.S. officials who staff and monitor them.
How does Arikat do that? He is part of the Washington press corps and a permanent, and extremely voluble fixture in the U.S. State Department daily press briefings.
From that perch, Arikat patiently, painstakingly, day in and day out articulates the Palestinian Authority’s agenda in the guise of questions about the Middle East conflict, shamelessly couched in advocate’s terms, not those of an objective journalist.
The State Department spokespeople typically respond to Arikat as if he were a lovable, goofy child, one they try to humor. But Arikat is ready with his agenda at each session, and he likes to make sure that the points that matter for his purposes are discussed over and over again, sometimes for days at a time. The State Department almost always obliges.

Pro-Arab Lobby Wants Facebook to Ban Ads for ‘Illegal Settlements’

The anti-Israel is using the left-wing oriented Avaaz web platform to petition Facebook to ban promotions for homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria based on the claim they are “illegal.”
A Facebook representative told The Washington Post it is “investigating” the claim.
Several promotions on Facebook are sponsored by the Israeli branch of the American real estate company RE/MAX.
“For Palestinians, seeing settlement ads is a reminder of the pain and humiliation they have to endure as a result of these war crimes,” Fadi Quran, Avaaz’s campaign director in the West Bank, said in a statement.
Facebook’s policy prohibits advertising of illegal activity.

Palestinians to change tack at ICC and ask court to investigate settlement building

The Palestinian Authority, which already asked the court to investigate the Gaza operation, took another approach on Monday, indicating that it will also ask the court to look into Israel’s settlement construction.
Israel Radio quoted Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki as saying in an interview in the Arab press that the PA intends to formally joining the ICC on April 1 and immediately ask the court to investigate Israel’s settlement policy.
According to the report, the reason the Palestinians are adapting this approach is that, while the investigation they asked the court to carry out regarding the events in Gaza will open them up to counterclaims of being responsible for war crimes, they feel the settlement issue is a “one way street.”
One Foreign Ministry official did not appear overly concerned by the Palestinian move, saying that Israel is studying the issue, but that this is a very slow process that could take years to play out. It could be months before the court decides to open an investigation, and then – if it even does so – even much longer to carry it out and then pursue the matter in court. As a result, he said, there is no sense of great urgency yet in Jerusalem about this threat.

Canada’s foreign minister, a friend of Israel, to step down

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird will be announcing his resignation from the Cabinet on Tuesday, a senior government official said.
The official who is close to the minister said late Monday that Baird simply felt it was the right time to move on after a successful career in both the Ontario provincial legislature and federal parliament. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak ahead of Tuesday’s announcement.
Baird, 45, is one of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s most trusted and loyal cabinet ministers. He previously served in Harper’s cabinet as house leader, environment minister, transport minister and treasury board president. He has a reputation for being partisan. He often escorted Harper’s wife, Laureen, to official events when Harper couldn’t attend.
A statement from Baird’s office said he planned to make an announcement in Parliament on Tuesday morning, but did not disclose any details.

ISIS Lawyer Arrested in Israel After Practicing Beheading on Sheep

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) has lifted a gag order and revealed that seven Arabs from northern Israel have been arrested and indicted for setting up an Islamic State (ISIS) terror cell.
The cell was based in the predominantly Arab city of Sakhnin in the Galilee and was headed by a lawyer, Adnan al a-Din of Nazareth.
The suspects were arrested in November and December.
Al a-Din was former public defender before being fired for pro-terror activity. He formed the ISIS-style group and declared himself as "Islamic State's chief of staff in Palestine."
The cell members allegedly met at a horse farm in the Galilee and trained to put together firebombs and other weapons and bought sheep to practice slaughter.

Islamic State Terror Group Makes Alliance With Anti-Israel Hackers to Increase Cyber Attacks

A number of Twit­ter accounts promoting the Islamic State terrorist group are col­lab­o­rat­ing with anti-Israel hack­ers in an effort to increase cyber attacks on behalf of the terror organization, the Anti-Defamation League reported on Thursday.
The Alazm Cen­ter Twit­ter account posted a message on Jan. 13 asking hack­ers to con­tact them. Since then, a group of anti-Israel hack­ers called “Ter­ror­ists Team for Elec­tronic Jihad” has claimed respon­si­bil­ity for sev­eral attacks against Israeli web­sites in the name of the Islamic State.
The hackers said they breached the web­site of a secu­rity con­trac­tor in Israel, a tour orga­nizer and other Israeli busi­nesses, according to ADL. Vis­i­tors are redirected to web­sites fea­tur­ing the name and flag of the Islamic State, along with the sig­na­ture of the hacking group.
“Ter­ror­ists Team for Elec­tronic Jihad” declared their allegiance to the Islamic State in a video posted on YouTube on Nov. 29, 2014, ADL noted. They also have a Face­book page and a Twit­ter account that include mes­sages in sup­port of Islamic State terrorists.

Waqf's New Weapon: Screaming Girls Young girls leap in front of Jewish worshipers, screaming 'allahu akbar,' 'the Jews are dogs.' Video shows Waqf man's lewd gestures.

The Temple Institute reported on its Facebook page Tuesday that the “Muslim supremacists who dominate the Temple Mount” have come up with a new weapon against Jewish visits to the Mount – in the form of young girls.
"Their latest gambit, paying men and women to inhabit the Temple Mount during the hours that it is open to Jews and follow the Jewish worshipers every where they go on the Temple Mount, screaming curses and allahu akbars at the top of their lungs, got a flat tire when the Israel police and security services shut down the organizations which were funneling the money from Hamas to the agitators,” explained the Institute.
"The newest Islamic projectile aimed at the heart of Jewish worshipers on the Temple Mount is little girls. Young, pre-pubescent girls can now be found aplenty on the Temple Mount. Because they are Muslim, young and female, the Israel police won't touch them. The young girls, following the instruction and encouragement of their elders, feel free to leap in front of Jewish worshipers, screaming in their high pitched voices 'allahu akbar,' 'the Jews are dogs,' and whatever else comes to their innocent minds, while at the same time jabbing their fingers in the faces of the Jewish worshipers.
“Sometimes the little angels get so wrapped up in their game of 'harass the Jews' that they even begin pushing the Jewish worshipers.

Everyone Thinks This Is A Real Selfie By A Palestinian Running From The Israeli Defence Force

Nafar is a member of Palestinian rap group DAM.
According to the band’s website, DAM is the first Palestinian hip hop crew, and began in the late 90s after being “struck by the uncanny resemblance of the reality of the streets in a Tupac video to the streets in their own neighborhood of Lyd.”
However, it’s not.
It appears that the three people in the photo are band members Tamer Nafar, Suhell Nafar and Mahmoud Jreri.
An associate of the band has confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the photo was staged, but did not want to be quoted on record as they’ve enjoyed watching the reaction the photo is generating online.

Jibril Rajoub: Israeli Leaders Are Like Nazis, Abbas Is on Their Hit List

In a February 2 interview with Russia Today TV Arabic channel, former PA security chief Jibril Rajoub, who is a member of the Fatah Central Committee, compared Israeli leaders to Nazis, and said that Mahmoud Abbas is on the hit list of the Israelis, whom he described as "the slayers of the prophets."

Iran Revolutionary Guards General Calls for Greater Foothold in West Bank and Gaza

A Iranian Revolutionary Guards general has called for Iran to increase its military power in the West Bank and Gaza.
“We must contain Israel… so that it never dares to speak about a missile attack on Iran, we must reinforce our power in the West Bank and Gaza,” said Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, who serves as the top advisor to the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ al-Quds Force, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported.
Masjedi added that Palestinians in the West Bank must end negotiations with Israel and increase armed resistance against Israel.
“The Palestine Liberation Organization must know that what brings them victory is not political negotiation but only resistance and (military) power, and this is what Hezbollah and Hamas have been doing,” he said.

Iran boasts of rocket aid to Palestinians, Hezbollah

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp’s missile division boasted on Monday that his country has provided short- and mid-range ballistic rocket technologies to its allies, including the Palestinians and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
IRGC aerospace force commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that information and skills to locally produce military rockets were also given to the governments of Syria and Iraq.
“The IRGC’s Aerospace Force has developed to a stage in the field of missile industries that it can mass-produce different types of short- and mid-range missiles,” Hajizadeh said, according to a report by the semi-official FARS news agency.
Israeli defense officials have often voiced concerns over the spread of mid-range missiles to Hezbollah and the Palestinians that put all of Israel within striking distance.

Hamas Supporters Demonstrate Against Egypt

Hundreds of Hamas supporters marched in Gaza on Monday to protest a ruling by an Egyptian court to declare the group’s “military wing” as a terrorist group, AFP reported.
Waving the green flag of the movement, which is the de facto power in the coastal enclave, the demonstrators chanted "Hamas is not terrorist" and "Hamas is our pride", the report said.
In a speech to the crowd, senior Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said that Saturday's ruling against the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades was "political" and meant to "conceal failure and the lack of security in Egypt at this time."
Saturday’s verdict followed a complaint from a lawyer accusing the Hamas armed wing of direct involvement in "terrorist operations" in the Sinai, which borders Gaza, a court official said.

Hamas claims Egypt fired at Gaza security outposts

Hamas accused Egypt’s army of firing at Palestinian security outposts in the Gaza Strip Tuesday, just days after Cairo declared the Islamist movement’s military wing a terrorist group.
Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry condemned “the Egyptian army for firing this morning directly at two positions along the southern Gaza border.”
“It was without justification, and there had been no incursion from the Palestinian side” of the tiny coastal strip, which borders Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
The statement, which did not refer to any casualties, called for an immediate investigation into the incident.
The claim comes at a time of high tension between Hamas and Cairo.

East Jerusalem mother of two joins Islamic State

Palestinian security forces have discovered that an Israeli Arab resident of East Jerusalem, a divorced mother of two, flew to Syria and joined the ranks of the Islamic State, senior Palestinian sources told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.
The Arab Israeli woman is currently in Raqqa, Syria, the city that is considered the terror group’s organizational hub in Iraq and Syria. Her children live in a village near Jerusalem.
The officials further said the PA has detained 15 Palestinians in the West Bank for links to the jihadist group, and said a senior IS-linked commander from the Sinai Peninsula, who is wanted by Egypt, is hiding out in the Gaza Strip.
The 15 suspects were arrested in recent months by the Palestinian security apparatus in the West Bank, the officials said. Several of them were held for identifying with the jihadist group ideologically, while others for concrete links to the Islamic State.

Analysis: Egypt and the new terror onslaught

After spectacular attacks mounted against police and army targets in Sinai by Islamic terrorist organization Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis left dozens of dead and wounded late on Thursday, there was an outpouring of support for the army, probably the most popular organization in Egypt.
“I am an Egyptian soldier” trended on social networks.
Nevertheless, some hard questions are being asked.
Why can’t the Egyptian army, arguably the strongest and largest Arab army in the Middle East, defeat a terrorist organization in an integral part of the country, the Sinai Peninsula? After all, the regime rushed huge reinforcements to the area, including helicopters, armored personnel carriers and other heavy equipment. The media in Egypt, which enjoys greater freedom than in the past, is vocal in its criticism of the president, who came from the ranks of the army and had pledged to eradicate terrorism.

Egyptian warplanes bomb Islamist terror bases in Sinai after deadly attacks

Following the attacks carried out by Islamists in the Sinai peninsula on Thursday in which twenty-seven people were killed, Egyptian army warplanes were bombing terrorist bases in the area on Saturday, Egyptian media reported.
Islamic State's Egypt wing claimed responsibility for the Thursday attacks in some of the worst anti-state violence in months, after commemorations around the anniversary of the 2011 uprising turned deadly this week.
The Egyptian army has also decided to deploy special forces to the northern Sinai in the wake of the Thursday attacks, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported on Saturday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was set to meet on Saturday with his national security council in order to review the new terror-fighting strategy in the lawless peninsula, according to the report.

Egypt-Jordan Gas Pipeline Blown Up (Again)

Egypt’s gas pipeline in the Sinai which delivers gas to Jordan (and used to deliver gas to Israel) was blown up again, for the 28th time.
It is believed that the pipeline in the Al-Arish area of northern Sinai was blown up by terrorists associated with one of the Islamic terrorist groups.
The terrorists planted the bombs underneath the pipe and blew it up from a distance.
Apparently due to the previous attacks, the pipeline was not in use, though it did have some gas stored in it.
Egypt has seen the number of terrorist bombings rise in the recent weeks.

Egypt Business Body Hails Decision to Import Israeli Natural Gas

Egypt’s leading business organization has praised Cairo’s plans to import natural gas from Israel, saying that doing so will “yield many benefits.”
In another sign of the burgeoning security and commercial ties between the two countries since Abdel Fattah el Sisi became president of Egypt in 2014, the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) said that that the deal with Israel would reduce import costs by relying on pipelines already installed by East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the company that had supervised Egyptian gas exports to Israel before they were halted following the 2011 uprising that led to a Muslim Brotherhood government.
The government’s decision to take “serious steps in considering natural gas imports from foreign companies that won exploration rights in Israeli fields will yield many benefits,” said Tamer Abu Bakr, head of the FEI’s energy committee.

Egyptian application notifies locals about bombs in their cities

An application notifying you about the location of potential bombs has made waves in Egypt's social media scene, the Egypt Indepedent quoted Al-Masry Al-Youm on Sunday as saying
"Beyolak" was launched in 2010 by 5 Egyptian tech upstarts as an application meant to warn commuters about bad traffic conditions, but rapidly became a tool used to spread the word on the presence of possible explosives since violence began escalating in recent months.
In one instance, the app was used to notify locals about a bomb found in a public transportation station in Alexandria, that a Metro Line was delayed because of a similar device and that trains en route from Cairo were stopped because of a suspicious object found in a tunnel.
“It seems bombs have become a daily routine to the extent that they have a special hashtag now,” tweeted one user.

Foreigners, Diplomats Warned to Leave Egypt or Be Targeted for Jihad

An Islamist organization sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood is warning all foreigners and diplomats to flee Egypt by the end of February or face becoming “a target by the Revolutionary Punishment Movement,” according to a recent warning posted online by a Brotherhood-affiliated site and read live on television by one of its broadcast organs.
The statement issues a threat to “all foreign nationals,” “all foreign companies,” and all “embassy foreigners, diplomats, and ambassadors,” ordering them to leave Egypt by the end of the month or face violent attacks, according to an independent translation of the Arabic statement.
Foreign travelers also are warned to “cancel their trips” and told “they are not welcome to Egypt during these difficult days.”
The warning comes just a week after Brotherhood leaders and allies were hosted for a meeting at the State Department, which drew fierce criticism from the Egyptian government.
It also follows a similar statement by the Brotherhood urging its supporters to prepare for a “long, uncompromising jihad” in Egypt.

Egypt releases Australian al-Jazeera reporter

Al-Jazeera English reporter Peter Greste left Egypt on Sunday on a flight to Cyprus after being released from prison, following an apparent approval of the Australian journalist’s deportation from the country’s president, officials said.
A Cairo airport official said Greste is on an EgyptAir flight to Larnaca, Cyprus, that took off shortly after 4:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Earlier, an Egyptian prison official and the nation’s official news agency said Greste was released after more than a year behind bars following a presidential “approval.”
Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohammed Fahmy and Egyptian Mohammed Baher were sentenced to at least seven years in prison on terrorism-related charges last year in a trial described as a sham by rights groups. There was no immediate word on the other two journalists.

Egypt’s El-Sisi Fights Terror and Seeks ‘Revolution’ in Islam

As the world continues to grapple with a new wave of Islamic extremism, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has emerged as an unlikely Middle East leader willing to confront terrorism both militarily and ideologically.
In a Jan 1. speech at Egypt’s historic Al-Azhar University, El-Sisi declared an ambitious plan for a “revolution” in Islam, in order to reform the faith that he believes has made the Muslim world a source of “destruction” that is “making enemies of the whole world.”
“So 1.6 billion people [in the Muslim world] will kill the entire world of 7 billion? That’s impossible… We need a religious revolution,” he said.
El-Sisi’s vision includes purging Islam of extremist intolerance and violence, elements that terror groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State use as recruitment tools.

Calls to Kill Pres. Al-Sisi and Egyptian Journalists on Turkey-Based Muslim Brotherhood TV Channels