Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Obama Calls Terror Attack on Paris Jews ‘Random’ Shooting
President Barack Obama has called the terror attack on Jews in a kosher supermarket in Paris last month an act of random violence, rather than a terror attack or an antisemitic attack.‘If It Bleeds, It Leads’: Obama Says Media ‘Overstates’ Terror Threat
Obama’s remark appears in an interview with Matt Yglesias of Vox.com. The president calls the attackers “violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris.” He elides past the religion of the attackers or the victims in an attack that claimed four innocent lives.
Obama was responding to a sympathetic question by Yglesias about whether “the media sometimes overstates the level of alarm people should have about terrorism and this kind of chaos, as opposed to a longer-term problem of climate change and epidemic disease.” While stating that Americans were right to be concerned, Obama agreed that the media had overstated the problem of terror because of a general tendency towards sensational reporting: “If it bleeds, it leads, right?”
The White House came under unusually intense criticism when President Obama declined to attend a major anti-terror rally in Paris that followed the attack on the kosher supermarket and an earlier attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper. Obama’s remarks parallel those of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who infamously suggested the Benghazi terror attack may have happened when “guys outside for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans.”
Why Obama Thinks All Muslim Terror Attacks Are 'Random'
Randomly shoot “a bunch of folks” in a deli in Paris? No mention of anti-Semitism from the president here. By this measure, Nazis randomly broke the windows of a bunch of folks in delis in Germany right around 1938.‘There’s Nothing Random About the Threats Against Jewish Targets:’ US Jewish Leader Chides Obama Over Paris Terror Comments
But that’s the point: Were Obama to face up to the real problem of anti-Semitism globally, he would have to stop isolating Israel, given that global isolation of Israel is a manifestation of the same anti-Semitism that ended with the murders of Jews in a Paris deli. Were Obama to lump together the Jews and the victims of Charlie Hebdo, he could no longer plausibly claim that Israeli settlement policy spurs Islamic murder — as it turns out, the victims of Charlie Hebdo and those in the kosher supermarket had nothing to do with Israeli settlements. They have to do, instead, with radical Islam.
Instead, Obama prefers to see the murders as random, unforeseeable events.
Obama’s casual dismissal of anti-Semitic murder isn’t out of character. Obama often dismisses Islamic evil with a wave of the hand, a bothersome but random circumstance. Less than two weeks after the murder of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, in Benghazi, Libya, Obama described the terrorist attacks leading to their deaths as “bumps in the road”:
Cooper, who is currently in Paris for talks with French Jewish leaders and government officials, added: “We’re talking about an explosion of antisemitism on this continent, and a convergence of antisemitic hate with terrorism. As we know, many Jews left France last year, well before the January attacks. Here in France, people in authority, especially the leaders of the country, have their eyes wide open to the nature of this problem and the seriousness of the situation. There’s nothing ‘random’ about the threats against Jewish targets, which is why the government has put 10,000 troops on the ground to protect the Jewish community.”
One tweet reacting to Obama’s interview declared, “POTUS in interview calls terrorist shootings at Paris Jewish deli random. Mr. President, antisemitism isn’t random,” a sentiment that was widely shared in similar comments.
Obama also insinuated that the threats to security and freedom emanating from the Middle East had been exaggerated over the past decade. “You know, the strategy that was crafted in Washington didn’t always match up with the actual threats that were out there,” he claimed, in yet another swipe at the previous George W. Bush Administration.
Man Arrested After Attempting to Burn Israeli Flag at Site of Paris Kosher Supermarket Attack
A man was arrested after attempting to burn an Israeli flag at the site of last month’s Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket attack in Paris, Israel’s i24News reported on Monday.How the Muslim Brotherhood fits into a network of extremism
The 38-year-old man was stopped in the act, according to the JTA citing Le Parisien. He was known to police already for other cases of “wanton destruction.”
Islamist terrorist Amedy Coulibaly took 17 shoppers hostage at the kosher marketplace on Jan. 9 and killed four of them, all of whom were Jewish. Coulibaly was later shot dead by French security personnel who stormed the building.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site a few days after the terror attack and also marched in the front row of a mass rally against terrorism in Paris, which was attended by more than 40 world leaders.
The Government is preparing a major clampdown on organisations linked to the terror group Hamas after the long-awaited publication of its review into the Muslim Brotherhood.Edgar Davidson: Just in case you thought there might be some contradictions in what many Muslims believe ...
The review, by the former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sir John Jenkins, has been delayed for months amid disputes about how strongly it should say the Brotherhood is linked to terrorism.
It is expected to say that the Brotherhood, a multifaceted organisation, is not itself a terrorist group and should not be banned, a verdict most analysts agree with.
However, the report will dismiss claims by the Brotherhood that there is “no evidence” of links between it and terrorism. “There are clear links and Jenkins will trigger further action against some Brotherhood and Hamas-linked groups,” said one official source. Many of the groups have already been squeezed by removing their bank accounts.
Only a summary of the Jenkins report will be published. However, a separate investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has found a number of clear overlaps between the Brotherhood’s UK operations and those of organisations linked to Hamas, which is banned as a terrorist organisation throughout the Western world. In particular, it is striking how often they appear to share premises.
The phenomenum of Arabs saying one thing in English (as in "we are prepared to make peace with Israel") while saying something different in Arabic (as in "we will never rest until we slaughter the last Jew") has been long known (to people who take notice, although the Western Media does everything possible to cover this up). But after 9/11 a slighty different phenomenum has been prevalent among a broad swathe of the Muslim community (just listen to any radio phone-in). Not knowing whether to be embarrassed or proud of the terrorism that is carried out in the name of Islam many Muslims manage to hold completely contradictory views of the same thing. So, for example, while they laud Osama bin Laden as the great Sheikh who brought America to its knees on 9/11, they will tell you (if you mention Islamic terrorism) that 9/11 was actually a Mossad plot and that bin Laden was a Zionist agent (even while naming their children after him). And what is especially strange is that I have met Muslims who seem - genuinely - to believe both viewpoints without even being aware of the contradiction.David Singer: United Nations Security Council Abandons Humanity
So, in the spirit of previous posts I have produced a simple chart which clearly shows how rational many Muslims really are about politics
In a supposed show of unity by the world powers against Islamic State – the United Nations Security Council is reportedly preparing to adopt a legally binding resolution intended to choke the terrorist group’s ability to trade in oil, antiquities and hostages.Trust the dissidents, not the diplomats
As it pontificates on the terms of the Resolution – the Security Council completely ignores the Report of another United Nations organ – The Committee on the Rights of the Child – released on 4 February – which depressingly confirms the following litany of suffering visited on children, women and minorities in Iraq by Islamic State:
The Committee could only urge Iraq to take all necessary measures to rescue children under the control of Islamic State and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Islamic State fighters must be laughing their heads off at the thought.
Regrettably the Committee did not see fit to damn the Security Council for its continuing failure to authorise and institute military action by the world body against Islamic State under Chapter V11 of the United Nations Charter.
Recently leaders of the free world flocked to Saudi Arabia to meet with the new king , where they praised the country as a partner for peace and center of stability. But many dissidents disagreed. As Mansour Al-Hadj, a liberal activist who lived in Saudi Arabia for 20 years, said: “Saudi Arabia is not stable. Deep down, people are not happy. Sooner or later, the winds of change will come to Saudi Arabia. The regime will fall.”JPost Editorial: Lack of clarity
If history is any judge, the world should bet on the dissidents, not the diplomats.
On Jan. 25, 2011, just two weeks before the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her assessment “that the Egyptian government is stable.” That March, Clinton’s successor, John F. Kerry, praised “good-faith” measures taken by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and predicted that his regime would change for the better “as it embraces a legitimate relationship with the United States and the West.”
Clinton and Kerry were certainly not alone in assessing that these dictators were securely in power. Former Amnesty International USA executive director Larry Cox later said that “nobody that I know of predicted it, no experts, no pundits, no politicians saw the revolution coming.”
What stands behind the US president’s apparent willingness to reach a compromise with the Iranians that would allow them to become a threshold nuclear state? Why has the US refrained from standing in the way of Iranian expansionism? Perhaps Obama and others in his administration believe that a balance of power can be achieved in the region. In this ideal world, power would be shared among Sunni states that oppose the Muslim Brotherhood, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt; Sunni states that support it, like Turkey and Qatar; and non-Sunni states like Iran and Syria and now Yemen.Criticizing Netanyahu, Obama says 'united' world presenting Iran with nuclear deal
Under these conditions, the US would be freer to disengage from the region and concentrate more on domestic issues.
Perhaps there is also a belief that putting an end to the conflict between the US and Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons program will herald a gradual but steady process of moderation inside Iran. The Iranian middle class, so the thinking goes, is the most likely candidate to lead a movement for reform. But this can only happen once the economic sanctions, which have hurt those who do not enjoy close ties to the mullah regime, are removed and the middle class is allowed to thrive again.
Finally, perhaps the present US administration believes that, for the sake of creating a balance of power in the region and ending the conflict with the Islamic Republic, it is worthwhile for America to ignore the interests of allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, even if doing so results in a deterioration of relations.
If indeed these are the sorts of considerations that inform the Obama administration’s policy vis-à-vis Iran, the US president should say so. Articulating his vision of a Middle East in which Iran is afforded a central role would at the very least facilitate discussion, criticism and, ultimately, it is hoped, refutation. Unfortunately, the US president has chosen to operate secretively, knowing that a lack of clarity is a good defense against dissent.
US President Barack Obama says that gaps in talks with Iran over its nuclear program have been “sufficiently narrowed and sufficiently clarified” that world powers can now present the Islamic Republic with an agreement.Obama: Iran Won’t Pursue Nuclear Weapons Because It’s ‘Contrary to Their Faith’
“We are presenting to them a deal that allows them to have peaceful nuclear power but gives us the absolute assurance that is verifiable they are not producing a nuclear weapon,” Obama said.
“They have to make a decision.”
Obama said that a year’s worth of negotiations was “time well spent,” overcoming a “truth deficit” between Tehran and the West.
But after two extensions were announced throughout that year, the president joined US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif in rejecting prospects for further delays.
In a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday, President Obama said he believed a deal with Iran on nuclear weapons was possible because Supreme Leader Khamenei said it would be “contrary to their faith to obtain a nuclear weapon.”Obama Rips Bibi & Lies About Avoiding Foreign Leaders Near Election, During Press Conference W/Merkel
The issues now are sufficiently narrowed and sufficiently clarified where we’re at a point where they need to make a decision. We are presenting to them in a unified fashion, the P5+1 supported by a coalition of countries around the world are presenting to them a deal that allows them to have peaceful nuclear power but gives us the absolute assurance that is verifiable that they are not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
And if in fact what they claim is true, which is they have no aspiration to get a nuclear weapon, that in fact, according to their Supreme Leader, it would be contrary to their faith to obtain a nuclear weapon, if that is true, there should be the possibility of getting a deal. They should be able to get to yes. But we don’t know if that’s going to happen.
President Obama stood next to the German Chancellor and delivered a clear message to Benjamin Netanyahu: if the Israeli premier were a real friend like Angela Merkel he wouldn't have even asked to come to Washington D.C. so close to an election. But what the President didn't explain is if that is the rule of the administration, why did John Kerry and Joe Biden meet with Netanyahu's opposition over the weekend?Netanyahu’s Congressional Speech Follows in Rabin’s Footsteps
Asked by a German reporter if he was angry with Prime Minister Netanyahu for coming to speak to Congress, President Obama answered:
"With respect to Prime Minister Netanyahu, as I said before, I talk to him all the time. Our teams constantly coordinate. We have a practice of not meeting with leaders right before their elections, two weeks before their elections. As much as I love Angela, if she was two weeks away from an election, she probably would not have received an invitation to the White House. And I suspect she wouldn't have asked for one. So, you know, the -- so, you know, this is just -- some of this just has to do with how we do business."
Rabin had recently spent five years in Washington as Israel’s ambassador. He knew the American political system well enough to understand that those who found themselves at odds with the White House sometimes turned to Congress—especially if the president’s opponents enjoyed a majority there.German Reporter Asks ‘Nobel Laureate Obama’ for His ‘Red Line’ in Ukraine, Obama Dodges
In 1975, the Democrats held 61 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Rabin took his case to them. In just three weeks, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) persuaded 76 senators to sign a letter urging Ford to “stand firmly with Israel” and to be “responsive to Israel’s urgent military and economic needs.” Taking direct aim at the administration’s “reassessment,” the senators emphasized that “withholding military equipment from Israel would be dangerous, discouraging accommodation by Israel’s neighbors and encouraging a resort to force.” The letter also asserted that the U.S. should not seek any Israeli withdrawals without “meaningful steps toward peace by its Arab neighbors.”
Among the 76 signatories to the letter, 51 were Democrats and 25 were Republicans. It sent a strong message to the White House about the breadth of support for Israel on Capitol Hill. Naturally, Ford and Kissinger were furious. The president complained directly to Rabin that the letter was “very bad.” Ford assured Egypt’s leaders that “half of [the senators who signed] didn’t read it and a quarter didn’t understand the letter.”
The senators’ letters would have strengthened Rabin’s position in the negotiations, had he chosen to stand his ground. But Rabin, who had been prime minister for barely nine months, was not well prepared for the crisis. He had no experience dealing with an angry president or troubles in U.S.-Israel relations. Most of all, he was no match for Kissinger.
In a joint press conference Monday, President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel fielded questions from both the American and German press.EU said to be planning fresh sanctions against Israel
A German reporter asked President Obama what his red line was when it comes to arming the Ukrainian army. The reporter took a jab at the fact that Obama is a Nobel Prize recipient and asked how that would enable his actions.
The president quickly deferred the question to Merkel. Once he decided to answer the question, he decided not to make any reference to the question asked nor mention his Noble Prize.
The European Union is planning new sanctions against Israel that will be implemented if peace negotiations with Palestinians do not resume following the March elections, it was reported Tuesday.Bennett to EU envoys: Stop trying to make Israel ‘commit suicide’
The proposed plan would include “sanctions against companies that conduct business over the Green Line, support in the legal proceedings of Palestinians in the issue of settlements and also renewing the proposal to create a Palestinian state through the Security Council,” according to an Israeli official who met recently with European leaders in Brussels, the Hebrew-language Walla website reported.
Israeli officials said the proposals have buy-in from all countries in the EU, according to the report.
The EU has threatened sanctions against Israel for several years in an effort to prod forward the peace process with the Palestinians and discourage settlement expansion.
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett took European Union ambassadors and envoys to task on Monday, accusing their countries of using economic pressure to try to make Israel “commit suicide” instead of supporting the country in its struggle against a “river of terror.”When is an Illegal Settlement Legal?
Bennett addressed the diplomats, representing 26 out of the 28 European Union countries, at a closed-door meeting in Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. An audio recording of some of his comments was leaked to Army Radio and published Tuesday.
“To single out Israel, to twist our arms economically, in the hopes that we’ll commit suicide because financially we’ll get hit if we don’t — it’s immoral from my perspective,” Bennett was heard saying in the recording. “Instead of understanding… we’re the big dam in this big river of terror.”
Among those present were the ambassadors of Britain, Sweden, and Belgium, as well as representatives from the French embassy.
If law is law, and a settlement is a settlement, the serial violator of international law, it now turns out, is none other than the European Union. Last week journalist Jake Wallis Simons broke the story in the Daily Mail that the EU has funded unauthorized Palestinian construction on land under Israeli legal jurisdiction. More that 400 EU-funded homes (along with a school and mosque) have been built without permits in 17 illegal settlements on state land in a closed military zone. Inhabited by Bedouin nomads, a.k.a. “Palestinians,” they proudly display EU flags and stickers.Three arrested for facilitating fraudulent sales of Palestinian land to settlers
Why are they illegal? Because under the Oslo Accords (1993) Israel enjoys exclusive military and civilian authority over planning and construction within Area C of the West Bank, where the EU settlements have been built. As Tom Wilson pointed out in his Commentary blog, the EU and the Palestinian Authority both signed this agreement, which is binding under international law. The EU’s settlements, according to Northwestern University international legal expert Eugene Kontorovich, are “openly in violation of international law.” International lawyer Alan Baker, who participated in drafting the Oslo agreement, concurred.
The first EU response to the exposure of its illegal actions, from its Brussels spokeswoman, was denial. But an EU spokesman on the ground acknowledged (proudly) that it was a justified attempt to secure the territory for a Palestinian state. So it is, Wilson noted, that EU officials and European governments “use accusations of settlement building to lambaste Israel” for violations of international law – while they themselves violate international law.
The Serious and International Crime Unit on Monday arrested three Jerusalem residents in connection with the fraudulent sale of private Palestinian property in the West Bank.Western embassies pushing Arabs to vote, says Joint List’s counsel
Two of the suspects were remanded until later this week and a third suspect was released to house arrest. Their names have been withheld until charges are filed against them.
Police suspect that the three, two of whom are attorneys, falsified documents, including consent forms, in the sale of Palestinian property to organizations that deal with real estate in Judea and Samaria. At issue were transactions worth millions of shekels, primarily in the Binyamin region.
Suspicions about the three were raised in land sale cases that appeared before the High Court of Justice. The question of property ownership is often at the heart of many High Court cases involving unauthorized construction.
Officials in the American and European embassies in Israel are advising Arab leaders to encourage their community to participate more significantly in the upcoming national elections in order to hinder racist legislation in the next Knesset, a senior Arab human rights activist told The Times of Israel on Monday.U.S. Embassy Met With Group Trying to Influence Israeli Elections
Hassan Jabareen, founder and head of Arab civil rights group Adalah and legal counsel to controversial MK Hanin Zoabi and her party the Joint Arab List, said that Western diplomats serving in Israel are concerned about the future status of Israel’s Arab minority — 20 percent of the country — if a right-wing Knesset is elected on March 17.
“When [diplomats] in embassies in Israel speak to Arab public officials they always say that a higher voter turnout will increase our representation [in the Knesset], which could help block racist laws against us,” Jabareen told The Times of Israel. “You hear these things from any of the EU embassies, from the US [embassy], and from people you sit with from the Palestinian Authority.”
Top officials at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv met in late January with one of the main progressive groups working to tip the upcoming Israeli elections against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and helped facilitate the organization’s visit to the United States this week to learn political organizing techniques.J-Street petition against Netanyahu's Congress speech rallies 20,000 signatures
The State Department helped the nonprofit group Givat Haviva secure last-minute visas for a delegation of Arab-Israeli mayors, which is in the United States this week meeting with civic leaders and attending discussions on voter outreach and community organizing. The delegation arrived on Feb. 4 and is in Washington, D.C., through Wednesday.
Givat Haviva is part of a coalition of U.S.-funded progressive groups working to influence the Israeli elections, the Washington Free Beacon reported last week. The organization, which has chapters in both the United States and Israel, is leading an effort to increase voter turnout among Arab Israelis, who traditionally oppose right-leaning parties such as Netanyahu’s Likud.
Top American diplomats met with Givat Haviva and the Arab-Israeli mayors at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv on Jan. 29, where they discussed the plans for this week’s visit. U.S. officials at the meeting included the deputy mission chief, the CIA station chief, and the cultural attaché, according to an attendee.
J-Street has launched a petition aimed at raising opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress, scheduled to occur on March 3, two weeks ahead of elections in Israel.Suspected East Jerusalem terror network exposed
The petition, with some 20,000 signatures, according to The New York Times, is meant to show that while the prime minister may represent Israelis, "He certainly cannot claim any mandate to speak for Jews in the United States."
Netanyahu has previously declared that he is coming to Washington "not just as the prime minister of Israel but as a representative of the entire Jewish people."
With the petition, entitled "I'm a Jew. Bibi does NOT speak for me!", J-Street is hoping to show that not all Jews agree with the prime minister's policies regarding Iran and the relationship with the White House.
The Shin Bet and Jerusalem District Police uncovered a suspected terror cell composed of dozens of members, all of whom were allegedly involved in a series of attacks against security personnel and civilians in the capital, it was cleared for publication Monday.Analysis: Hamas attack tunnels remain the greatest threat to Israel
The cell members were said to be all Arab residents of Jerusalem and to have operated in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur. The suspects, mostly men in their teens and early 20s, allegedly hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at riot police and at homes of Jewish civilians in East Jerusalem.
On one occasion, according to the Shin Bet, a number of suspects threw a pipe bomb at a police vehicle.
The men all carried Israeli ID cards.
Hamas is still finding it difficult to smuggle weapons into Gaza, especially rockets, because of good Israeli intelligence and because of Egypt's contribution to weakening the organization. Egypt is demolishing houses between Sinai and the Strip to create a 1,000 meter buffer zone which could potentially be expanded to three kilometers from the border. Cairo sees Hamas as a group which must be combated due to its support of jihadist terror in Sinai.Uruguay ‘opens door’ for Israeli help on security
However, this doesn't prevent Hamas from making domestically-produced rockets. In the past six months, since the conclusion of the Gaza war, Hamas is believed to have made several hundred rockets, good for various ranges, of the types used during Operation Protective Edge. However it is not known at this point if Hamas has received technological help from Iran that could potentially improve the rockets' range and accuracy.
Hamas is also trying to divert building materials and cement to reconstructing the tunnels, even though soil conditions in the area allow for relatively easy and quick digging that makes it possible to build sturdy tunnels with a limited amount of cement. Wooden support posts generally suffice.
Therefore, Israel's biggest problem remains the tunnels. Hamas has begun digging them again with the understanding that they are a strategic tool which must be updated and improved, as well as doing everything possible to make it more difficult for Israel to detect and uncover them in the future.
Uruguay said it has opened the door to Israeli help on security following a suspected bombing attempt near Israel’s embassy in which Israel implicated Iran.New Canadian Defense Minister is a Friend to Israel
On January 8, Uruguayan police found and neutralized an improvised explosive device that had partially detonated outside the embassy in Montevideo.
Foreign Minister Luis Almagro stressed the need to better protect the Israeli embassy in the future. “I recently requested from the interior minister to order special security for the Israeli embassy, as well as for the Jewish community of Uruguay. We need to be prepared for any eventuality,” he told Uruguayan news outlets.
Ministers from Uruguay’s foreign and interior ministries said “immediate help was requested to prevent and protect the Embassy of Israel, its officers and the Jewish community in Uruguay. Also, a door was opened to Israeli cooperation on security. Both ministers allowed the visit of Israeli experts to deepen the investigation.”
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Monday a set of changes to different Canadian ministries at a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ontario.Abbas to meet Swedish PM after Stockholm's row with Israel
One of those changes is the appointment of Conservative party politician Jason Kenney as the Minister of National Defense.
Kenney, who has also served as the Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism since 2008, is known for his broad support of the Jewish state and the Jewish community of Canada.
During a visit to Israel in 2009, Kenney addressed the steps Canada had taken against organizations that support the boycott of Israel.
"We have de-funded organizations, most recently, like KAIROS who are taking a leadership role in the boycott [of Israel]. We're receiving a lot of criticism for these decisions … but we believe we have done these things for the right reasons, and we stand by these decisions."
The Palestinians will open an embassy in Stockholm on Tuesday night, cementing closer ties just months after Sweden became the first western European Union country to recognize Palestine as a state.Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas accuses PA of instigating unrest
Visiting Sweden for the first time since recognition in October, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on other countries to follow Sweden's lead.
"Your recognition...should push forward negotiations in the peace process," Abbas said.
Relations between Sweden and Israel have nose-dived since the initial announcement and Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom called off a visit to Israel in January. Israel temporarily recalled its ambassador.
Hamas on Monday accused the Palestinian Authority of planning to instigate unrest in the Gaza Strip.Sinai terrorists linked with ISIS decapitate 10 alleged Israeli spies
Kamel Abu Madi, a senior official with the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip, said that a number of suspects have been arrested in connection with the alleged scheme.
Abu Mdi said in an interview with a Hamas-affiliated online newspaper that his movement would announce more details about the “plot” at the “appropriate time.”
He also accused the PA of incitement and standing behind reports that the Islamic State terror group was operating inside the Gaza Strip.
He claimed that the PA security forces in the West Bank were behind a series of bombings that targeted Fatah and Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip in the past few weeks.
An Islamic-State-linked group beheaded 10 men accused of spying for Israel and Egypt in a gruesome video posted online, Egyptian media reported Tuesday.Egypt Security Forces Kill 2 Smugglers at Israel’s Southern Border
The video shows terrorists from Welayat Sinai [Supporters of Sinai], which was formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, decapitate the men, then dump their bodies on a road in northern Sinai.
Before the beheading, the accused were also made to confess on camera that they were collaborators with the Israeli Mossad and the Egyptian military.
The group said that the killing was a response to the Egyptian army's destruction of homes in the northern Sinai.
Egyptian security forces opened fire Tuesday morning and killed two cross-border smugglers who apparently tried to bring “illegal goods” into Israel, security sources said.Egyptian TV Host Ibrahim Issa: Nobody Dares to Admit That ISIS Crimes Are Based on Islamic Sources.
According to Channel 10, which quoted an IDF source, bags of illegal drugs were found near the scene where smugglers crossing the border from Egypt were met by a second set of smugglers on the Israeli side.
It is not clear which smugglers were hit by the Egyptian gunfire, nor have the identities of any of the smugglers been made clear.
IDF soldiers reportedly fired warning shots after hearing the gunfire near the border town of Nitzana, and are investigating reports of smugglers being wounded in the shootout with Egyptian security personnel.
In a recent TV show, Egyptian journalist and TV host Ibrahim Issa said that the barbaric crimes perpetrated by ISIS were indeed based on the Islamic sources but that the clerics were afraid to say so. "I would like to see a single Al-Azhar cleric in Egypt have the courage to admit that Abu Bakr burned a man alive," he said. This is a vicious circle of barbarity, because it is wrapped in religion, said Issa, whose statements aired on the Egyptian ON TV channel on February 3, 2015.
Jordan Moves 'Thousands' of Troops to Iraq Border: Jordanian Sources
Jordan has deployed "thousands" of troops at its border with Iraq as it ramps up a campaign against ISIS militants who set a pilot ablaze, two Jordanian government officials told NBC News on Tuesday.Assad: We get messages from US-led coalition battling IS
The troops were sent to prevent the infiltration of ISIS fighters into Jordan and as a show of force, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Jordan's King Abdullah last week threatened to make ISIS pay for the death of Muath al-Kasasbeh's after video of the military pilot's murder emerged. He vowed to wage a "harsh" war against ISIS "because this terrorist organization is not only fighting us, but also fighting Islam and its pure values."
Abdullah also pledged to hit ISIS militants "hard in the very center of their strongholds."
Syria’s President Bashar Assad said in comments published Tuesday that his government has been receiving general messages from the American military about airstrikes targeting the Islamic State group inside Syria but that there is no direct cooperation.US confirms American hostage held by Islamic State killed
In an interview with the BBC, Assad said the messages are conveyed through third parties, such as Iraq.
“Sometimes they convey message, general message, but there’s nothing tactical,” he said.
A US-led coalition that includes four Arab countries is conducting airstrikes in Syria as part of an international campaign against Islamic State extremists. They share the skies with Assad’s air force, which also targets the militants.
Syrian officials have maintained that they have not been consulted about the airstrikes since they started in September — only informed through third parties in the beginning.
Kayla Mueller, a 26-year-old American woman held by the Islamic State, has been confirmed dead, her parents and the Obama administration said Tuesday.Iran’s New U.N. Ambassador Urged ‘Resistance to Israel’
The White House said that Mueller’s family received a private message from her captors over the weekend. The information in the message was authenticated by the US intelligence community.
“We are heartbroken to share that we’ve received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life,” Carl and Marsha Mueller said in a statement. “Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice, and peace.”
Iran’s newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations is facing criticism for his anti-Israel views and past comments urging Muslims to “unite around resistance” to the Jewish state.IAEA Chief: Iran’s Unresponsiveness Preventing Deal from Addressing Scope of Weapons Program
Iranian diplomat Gholamali Khoshroo, a relative of President Hassan Rouhani, was appointed to the post in late January, after more than a year of controversy over Tehran’s previous pick, Hamid Abutalebi, whom the United States refused to grant a visa due to his connections to the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
Khoshroo, a diplomat who previously studied in New York City, has served in various positions in the Iranian foreign ministry and government, including most recently as its ambassador to Switzerland.
While touted by some as a more moderate choice for the post, Khoshroo has displayed much of the anti-Israel animus common among Iran’s leading politicians and diplomats, according to his past remarks.
Khoshroo, for instance, recently dubbed Israel as the “main problem” in the Middle East and urged Muslims to “unite around resistance” to it, according to comments reported in July 2013 by the Iranian press.
In an interview with Israel Radio, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Yukiya Amano said that no nuclear agreement will likely be reached between Iran and the P5+1 nations prior to the March deadline, The Times of Israel reported Saturday.PreOccupied Territory: Photos Capture Shape-Shifting Jews In Action, Framing Muslims (satire)
An agreement between Iran and the international community regarding the Islamic State’s nuclear program is unlikely to be signed before the March deadline for negotiations, chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano said Friday.
In an interview with Israel Radio, Amano added that the Islamic Republic had so far been unresponsive to a series of questions regarding its nuclear program and had failed to adequately address concerns over its alleged attempts to develop atomic weapons.
A series of rare images of Jews in the process of transforming into or back from Muslim-looking people through various forms of black magic has emerged, adding important details to the mysterious phenomenon of Jews using shape-shifting powers to perform heinous acts while making it look like Muslims have perpetrated them.
While many in the region and beyond already accept the established fact of Israel engineering the recent attacks in France, including yesterday’s shooting attempt in Marseilles, little information exists as to how the Zionists and their international Jewish cohorts actually executed the operation. Absent specific evidence, the theories regarding how the Jews pulled it off have been as diverse as thought in the Islamist world is not. But the new photographs capture the moments in which the Jewish black magic itself was performed, shedding light on the most compelling explanation for crimes that shame Muslims and Islam.
The images support a long-promulgated charge that barbaric attacks, ostensibly by Muslims, could only have been perpetrated by non-Muslims, since Islam is and always has been a religion of peace. The most obvious suspects in such behavior are Jews and Zionists, who, everybody knows, will sink to any depth to deprive Muslims and Islam of stability and legitimacy: airplane hijackings, bus bombings, mass rape, 9/11, and hundreds, if not thousands, of other “terrorist” attacks made to look as if Muslims performed them. The images, two of which have been obtained by PreOccupied Territory, demonstrate how some of the schemes are implemented.
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