04/22 Links Pt1: Remember the fallen; Independence Day: We have reason to rejoice

From Ian:

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Isi Leibler: Independence Day: We have reason to rejoice

Alas, the dream of peace with our neighbors remains just a dream. But we should exult in the realization that we are stronger today than in the past when we overcame far greater challenges and genuinely faced annihilation.
Opinion polls indicate that we rank among the happiest and most contented people in the world.
However, many young Israelis now take Jewish statehood for granted, never having undergone the chilling experience of European Jews in the 1930s as they desperately sought entry visas to countries to avoid the impending Shoah. Nor can they appreciate the devastating impact of living in an anti-Semitic environment where Jews are considered pariahs.
Today, on our 67th anniversary, we should give thanks to the Almighty for enabling us to be the blessed Jewish generation, privileged to live in freedom in our resurrected ancient homeland. We should continually remind ourselves that our success defies rationality and by any benchmark must be deemed miraculous.
Chag Sameach.

Col. Richard Kemp: Killing Americans and their Allies: Iran’s Continuing War against the U.S. and the West

Introduction
It appears that the recent framework agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1, led by the U.S. Administration, will result in a deal that would allow Iran to become a nuclear-armed state. In this context, it is worth recalling the true nature of the Islamic Republic, in particular its recent track-record of violence against the United States and its allies. Both authors of this study had responsibilities for UK national intelligence assessment and crisis management during the period when this violence reached its peak in Iraq.
Many have forgotten, or perhaps never realized, that Iranian military action, often working through proxies, usually using terrorist tactics, has led to the deaths of well over a thousand American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last decade and a half. Does it make sense to risk allowing a regime that, since its inception, has been conducting a war against the United States and its allies to become a nuclear power?
Anti-Americanism helped fuel the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. A violent anti-American doctrine that challenges any role for America in the Middle East, has been and remains the central focus of Iranian foreign policy. Since the revolution, Iran has waged and continues to wage war against the United States and its allies.

Amb. Prosor reads Israel's National Anthem at the UN Security Council

"Tomorrow, Israel will commemorate Yom Hazikaron and honor the 23,320 individuals who lost their lives to war and terror. We will remember the brave soldiers who died so that we can have our freedom and mourn the thousands of men, women, and children who were robbed of their lives simply because they were Israeli.
War has never been the choice of the State of Israel. Our choice is and always has been the path of peace. But when war and terror are forced upon us, we will not surrender and we will not back down. For nearly 2,000 years, the Jewish people were stateless and powerless in the face of hatred and indifference. Those days are no more.
On Thursday, Israel will celebrate Yom Haatzmaut, our 67th anniversary as a free and independent Jewish state. With great joy and with heads held high, we will celebrate the realization of the words in our national anthem, Hatikvah

Remember the fallen – and why we had to fight in Gaza

I approach this Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Remembrance Day, feeling inadequate and guilty. Our oldest son turned 18 on the eve of Remembrance Day. Our joy in him presents a particularly devastating contrast, especially this year, as the parents, grandparents and siblings of those killed this summer mourn 67 young heroes his age from the Gaza War, among the 116 soldiers and civilians killed this year. “They all look like kids from my high school,” our 14-year-old said this summer when seeing photographs honoring those killed. I try to identify with each of the new mourners intensely even as I know that I have (thankfully) no way of accessing such anguish, and, alas, no way of helping them cope with their infinite, unfathomable, loss.
The guilt is compounded because Palestinian terrorists have targeted us all. The terrorism victims who died literally paid the price for me, my friends, my loved ones, or a different stranger in the wrong place at the wrong time. The soldiers died so that I and my family may live.
On Sunday, Yediot Aharanot published some writings by a fallen soldier, detailing his goals as he became a sergeant. Daniel Pomerantz was one of the Golani soldiers killed in Shujaiyeh this summer. A real kid, not some superhero, he wanted to work on staying fit, getting stronger, cursing less. He would consider himself successful if “my soldiers will enjoy themselves as much as is possible in an army, if they will respect me, and if they will become good, disciplined soldiers, and the best fighters they can be.” And, he wrote, “I am willing to give my soldiers everything and anything,” using the Hebrew word “hakol.”

Is U.S. Israel's Ally "When It Matters"?

Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, says the U.S. will no longer automatically exercise its veto in the UN Security Council to protect Israel.
In testimony before the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Power specifically declined to rule out support for resolutions on Palestinian statehood or the "peace process." "We will look to see what will advance Israel's security and what will advance peace in the region... Our objective as an administration is what can we do to defuse tensions, what will it take to get those negotiations back on track."
When Committee members expressed skepticism, she replied, "We will continue to work extremely closely with Israel in New York. As you know well we have a record of standing when it matters with Israel."
When, exactly, does it matter? Who decides? Apparently not Israel.
Amb. Power's testimony may have completed the transition of the U.S. from Israel's ally in its quest for legitimacy and security in the historic homeland of the Jewish people, to an arbiter between Israel and those who seek to erase it. Amb. Power appears also to have completed the transition of Israel -- in the eyes of the U.S. government -- from the party whose legitimacy and permanence in the Middle East remains challenged by all but Egypt and Jordan, to the country that bears an obligation to "fix" the problems that animate its enemies.

WSJ Editor Tells Israel to Ignore World after Obama Betrayal

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and deputy-editor of the paper Bret Stephens argued on Monday that due to US President Barack Obama's irreversible actions, the US doesn't have Israel's back anymore - and Israel should learn to stand on its own.
In the opinion piece entitled "Israel Alone," Stephens reported that in his recent conversations with senior Israeli officials they have shown "a sense of incredulity. They can’t understand what’s become of U.S. foreign policy."
"They don't know how to square Barack Obama's promises with his policies," the journalist noted, presenting a brief survey of how Obama is allowing Iran to push towards nuclear proliferation and spread terror in the Middle East.
"In a word, the Israelis haven’t yet figured out that what America is isn’t what America was," wrote Stephens. "They need to start thinking about what comes next."

Exclusive: Former IAF Commander: Implications of Iran Deal Won’t Be Understood for Years

The former commander of the Israeli Air Force has warned that it will be one or two years before the full implications of a deal with Iran over its nuclear program are properly understood.
“If we don’t see a violation the day after any deal is agreed, that doesn’t mean the Iranians will keep their side of the bargain,” Maj. Gen. Eitan Ben Eliyahu told The Tower in an exclusive interview. “The most crucial time is one or two years after. Before then, the regime will be accepted in a friendly way by the international community. It will establish renewed economic relations with Europe, the U.S., Russia, China, and so on, and it needs one or two years to make sure that these relations will be solid.”
Before stepping down as IAF commander in 2000, Ben Eliyahu, whose father immigrated from Iran to Israel, enjoyed a long and distinguished military career that included service during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when he commanded a squadron of F-4 jets against the Soviet-backed Egyptian air force. Arguably the highlight of his career came in 1981, when he participated in the Israeli bombing of the Osirak nuclear reactor built, with French assistance, by Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.
Ben Eliyahu noted with irony that the Osirak operation was carried out by American-built F-16 jets that were initially intended for Iran, before the 1979 Islamist takeover led Washington to cancel the delivery and redirect the fighter planes to Israel. “We got the F-16s two years earlier than we’d expected, which changed our entire plan,” he said.

Dem Rep. Says Iranian ‘Death to America’ Chants Could Be Read in ‘a Couple of Ways’

‘Death to America” may seem to be a pretty clear message from an Iranian crowd and Ayatollah Khamenei, but Representative Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) says there are “a couple of ways” to interpret the chant.
Appearing on MSNBC this weekend, Schiff was asked about a recent parade in Iran, featuring new weapons driven on trucks that had signs reading “Death to Israel,” as well as chants of “Death to America.” The representative explained that Iranians are “actually quite pro-Western” despite the “bitterly anti-American” regime, and that the signs and chants were just to appease “a conservative audience” that opposes the U.S.
While he went on to note that the ayatollah said “Yes, of course, death to America” in response to the crowd’s chant, Schiff cautioned against taking that statement at face-value.

WSJ Editorial: Syria’s Chemical Weapons Use Raises Questions about Effectiveness of Iran Deal

The editorial concluded that the inability to enforce the chemical weapons agreement with Syria means that we can expect “more of the same after the same governments celebrate a nuclear deal with Iran.” Any decision to reimpose sanctions in the face of Iranian violations of a future nuclear deal would have to be approved by Russia.
The Journal‘s editorial comes on the heels of a report last Sunday night by Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes on the August 2013 chemical attack in Syria.
The rockets were types used by the Syrian army, and they were launched from land held by the dictatorship. U.S. intelligence believes the Syrian army used sarin in frustration after years of shelling and hunger failed to break the rebels.
With the threat of airstrikes, President Obama forced Assad to give up his chemical arsenal.
Pelley concluded his report by noting:
U.S. intelligence estimates 1,429 civilians were killed; 426 of them, children. Of course, Syria is dying too. Prosecution of this atrocity will have to wait for whatever civilization emerges from the ruin. But the dead will be waiting because a crime buried without justice is never laid to rest.

Obama: US could ‘penetrate’ Iran S-300 defense system

US President Barack Obama warned that the US could penetrate any air defense system Iran has, should a military option be needed, playing down concerns over Russia’s decision to supply advanced S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Tehran last week.
“Even if they’ve got some air defense systems, if we had to, we could penetrate them,” Obama told MSNBC late Tuesday.
The US president urged to keep things “in perspective,” noting that the US defense budget was “somewhere just a little under $600 billion. Theirs is a little over $17 billion.”
“This is a sale that’s been pending for six years,” Obama said. “It’s of concern, we object to it, particularly because right now we’re still negotiating [a nuclear agreement].”

Air Force Col. Says Russian S-300 Sale to Iran Represents ‘Fundamental Shift in Military Power for the Region’ (VIDEO)

Russia’s decision to go ahead with its shipment of the S-300 missile system to Iran could be an unprecedented game-changer in the region, U.S. Air Force commander and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Col. Clinton Hinote wrote on Monday.
The Russian system “represents a fundamental shift in military power for the region,” he said. “For over a decade, the United States and its allies have been able to take freedom of action in the Middle Eastern skies for granted.”
Combating a country equipped with the S-300 “requires an effort that is much larger, much riskier, and much more costly,” he said.
As S-300 systems proliferate in countries such as Iran and North Korea, the U.S. and the West will have to pour resources into countering the threat, said Hinote.

Chaos in Middle East could last for ‘at least a decade,’ expert tells ‘Post’

The breakdown of states throughout the Middle East since the outbreak of the Arab Spring has led the people in the region to fall back on primordial attachments, enhancing the power of sectarianism, tribalism, and Islamism, experts told The Jerusalem Post.
Various forces are seeking to fill the vacuum amidst the chaos, including a rising Shi’ite Iran and its allies, Sunni jihadist groups and Arab states.
The Iranian-Shi’ite battle being played out in the region has often been characterized by each side accusing the other of extremism or terrorism, but much of the underlying feud appears to be sectarian.
Shmuel Bar, a senior research fellow at the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Research at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, said we are witnessing the failure of the nation-state in the Middle East, and people are reverting back to families and tribes.
Asked if the Sunni-Shi’ite reference is the best way to describe what is occurring in the region, Bar responded that it is part of it, but it is also linked to two other frames of reference: the “retribalization” of the Middle East and the conflict between Iran and the Arabs.

$286m David’s Sling funding bill introduced in House of Representatives

Bipartisan legislation to continue funding for the joint US-Israel air defense system known as David’s Sling was introduced in the House of Representatives.
The bill introduced Tuesday by Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., would authorize $286 million for procurement, research and development for the midrange missile defense system, which is designed to take down missiles from more than 180 miles away.
David’s Sling supplements the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which protects Israel against short-range rocket attacks.
“It’s important for us to bring this system online so we can help our ally in Israel and grow our economic partnership, so we can better share innovative ideas and create 21st century jobs in both countries,” Kilmer said in a statement.
Bridenstine noted the “immediate and growing missile threat” facing Israel.

MEMRI: Cartoons In Arab Press Following Lausanne Statement On Iranian Nukes Reflect Anger, Disappointment Alongside Fear Of Iran

The joint statement by Iran and the superpowers following the round of nuclear talks in Lausanne, Switzerland on April 3, 2015 sparked widespread reactions in the Arab press, including in political cartoons. The vast majority of the cartoons expressed anger and disappointment with the statement and the nuclear horizons it opened to Iran, as well as fear of the consequences it would have for the power balance between Iran and Arab states, and of Iran's intentions and actions. The cartoons also express harsh criticism of President Obama for his Middle East policy and for getting close to the Iranian regime.

Administration Officials Spin the Huffington Post on Yemen

A feature of policymaking in the Age of Obama is this administration’s habitual, reflexive dishonesty with the American people. For yet another example, consider how the White House downplays Iran’s role in the fighting in Yemen, even as the U.S. Navy monitors an Iranian flotilla reportedly steaming to the assistance of Houthi rebels. Spokesmen for the Navy are falling over themselves to note that they are only there to track the activity, and that they have no authority to board the Iranian ships.
The Iran-backed Houthi insurgency is a problem for Obama’s nuclear deal with Tehran because it highlights how the Iranians are opposed to the interests of traditional U.S. partners in the region, like the now displaced government of Yemen and its allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It also clearly demonstrates how Iran’s actions harm U.S. counter-terror efforts that rely on these traditional partners. So what does the White House do? It starts pushing the line that the Houthis aren’t actually Iranian proxies after all.

Netanyahu: Our enemies need to know that they won't break us

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the Remembrance Day ceremony for fallen soldiers at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery on Wednesday, and said that Israel's celebration of Independence Day on Wednesday evening, comes thanks to Israel's soldiers who have sacrificed their lives.
Netanyahu said that the grief of losing a loved one to war was incomparable, telling his own story of how he had heard of his brother Yoni's death while he was a student in Boston in 1976. Netanyahu said that he then had to deliver the news to his parents, and it was as if his brother had died twice.
"Everyone who gets this bad new remembers it their whole life, me as well. How can you part from a child? How can you part from a brother?" Netanyahu asked. "As long as I breathe, I will remember the cries of my father and mother," he said.
"Those who have gone through this know that no single moment can equal the shock, pain and torment ... the wound never truly heals," he said.

'Facebook Generation? This is a Generation of Lions!'

The Commander of the IDF's Givati Brigade, Col. Ofer Winter, was asked in a Memorial Day interview if the “Facebook and Youtube generation” is up to the job of protecting Israel from its enemies. He replied that during the fighting in Gaza, he did not see a “Facebook generation”: “I saw a generation of commanders, of lions, of fighters. I gathered my soldiers at the end of the war and I told them – our badge depicts a fox but we have lions here.”
"Memorial Day reminds me of three things,” Winter said. “One – that I despise war. Two – that I love life, my family and the Nation of Israel. Three – responsibility. My responsibility as a commander, for all of those warriors I took to battle and did bring back. The responsibility I bear for years, as I think about what I could have done differently. The responsibility to prepare the brigade for war and prevent any threat, and lastly – my responsibility to do all that I can to bring my soldiers back home safely.”
The commander, a son of religious Zionism, stressed humility as a necessary quality of a commander or leader. “Humility does not just mean modesty or bashfulness,” he explained. “The Torah says of the ultimate leader, Moshe, 'and the man, Moshe, was the most modest of men.' Humility is the ability of the leader to put his self aside and focus on what he serves – that is, the Nation of Israel; and that is the mission.

In First Memorial Day Since Protective Edge, Israel Remembers Most Recent Fallen Soldier Heroes

Israel has begun the observance of its annual Memorial Day commemoration for its fallen soldiers, security personnel and victims of terror. For Israelis, last summer’s war in Gaza added the names of new soldiers to the list of its fallen heroes.
This Thursday, Guy Boyland was supposed to celebrate his 22nd birthday, most likely with his good friends from Kibbutz Ginosar, at a local pub, cheering the day over a round of beers. However, Boyland, who was a combat engineer, fell at the hands of Hamas terrorists last July, and his friends deeply feel the loss. “Since Guy was killed, it has been very quiet for us,” they said.
But his friends and family will still hold a commemoration for their hero. On July 16, 10 days before the anniversary of his death, they will be holding an extraordinary memorial service for him, called “Bringing back the noise.” The event is expected to be attended by a few thousand of the kibbutz residents, and will honor Guy with a “large and noisy celebration, in Guy’s spirit,” his cousin, Erez Ruso, told Israel’s Walla news.

Letter from the Chairwoman of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization

Memorial Day is a fixed ritual in an entire year of events – scandals, festivals, oversights, debates, disasters, accomplishments, successes, and victories. We, the bereaved families, swing back and forth between the desire to continue living in memory of our fallen loved ones, and the rest of the pain we experience, both personal and national.
Yet, it seems as if Memorial Day bursts out anew into our consciousness each year. On such a day, I know that once again, the heavy and awful price I have paid for our battle of survival will be remembered. This year as in every year, the spotlight will shine on our loved ones, who gave their lives for our independence, and we, too, will be remembered: the families who ask to remember, and continue their lives in the shadow of memories.
Again we will be discussed, and they will talk of how our lives split into two periods - before the bitter news and afterwards. Alongside statistics and numbers, with stories that sadden and ones that elevate our hearts, they will talk about us, the bereaved families.

Israel's wars as told through the headlines

As Israel remembers its fallen IDF soldiers and victims of terror on Remembrance Day, The Jerusalem Post takes a look back at the wars that marked the nation's history.
Before the 1948 War of Independence, there was much tension while the region was under British rule. This Arab-Jewish conflict came to a head with the Arab murder of 7 Jews on December 1, 1947. Six of the Jews were murdered while riding a bus bound for a Jerusalem and the seventh person was killed later that in Jerusalem. These events were highly significant in the Jewish-Arab conflict leading up to Independence.

Israel remembers its fallen from minority communities

The Jewish state’s defenders, commemorated on Memorial Day Wednesday, include many non-Jews. So in towns and villages throughout the country, it wasn’t only Jews who made the agonizing pilgrimage to the country’s military cemeteries to pay their respects to their loved ones.
Some 600 fallen soldiers and terror victims have hailed from the Arab, Druze, Bedouin and Circassian communities.
The Druze, a breakaway sect from Islam, are the only minority that has taken upon itself Israel’s mandatory draft and serves in large numbers alongside Jewish soldiers in some of the IDF’s most elite units. Hundreds of Bedouin Arabs from the Negev also serve, many saying that they see in military service an opportunity to advance personally and to strengthen their community’s reputation among Israelis.
Two Muslim Arab brothers, Milad and Muhammad Atrash, made news in 2013 when they both opted to serve in the IDF despite not being required to do so under Israeli law and despite the disapproval of their neighbors.

'From the IDF, You've Joined the Army of God in Heaven'

First Sergeant Moshe Maleko, 20, of Jerusalem, who was killed in Gaza on July 20, 2014, was the fourth of ten brothers and sisters. One of those sisters, Esther, wrote a letter to him for Memorial Day, which was published in Giluy Daat:
Moshe,
On countless moments I speak to you, feel you with me strongly, when I am happy and also when I am sad.
A strong thought guides me on my path – that the terrible thing was God's deed and I ask and believe that He will guide my path, as he guided you and your comrades when you fought bravely, with courage and dedication, and you provided covering fire for your commanders and comrades, under enemy fire.
I am sure that you would do it again and again for our nation and for our country. From the Israel Defense Force, you have joined the Army of God in heaven. As time goes by it becomes clearer, how much your light has touched the Nation of Israel, and circles of light form – the light of Moshe.

Aharon Hershler: First Victim of Arab Terror, Murdered in 1873

As Israel honors its fallen on Memorial Day, a look into the Defense Ministry's official list of terror victims reveals that the very first Jewish victim of Arab terrorism in Israel was Aharon Hershler, who was shot to death by terrorists in 1873.
Hershler was murdered on January 1, 1873, at the tender age of 23, and is buried at the Mount of Olives cemetery, which is said to be the oldest cemetery in the world to still be in use.
According to an account of his life provided by the official governmental site for terror victims, Hershler was a haredi yeshiva student who studied devotedly.
He was born in Hungary in 1850 to a prominent rabbi, Rabbi Yosef Shmuel Hershler, who served in the rabbinate of the city of Szabad. After immigrating to Israel, the rabbi was among the heads of the Ungarin Kolel, a Hungarian yeshiva in Jerusalem.
The Hershler family lived in Mishkenot Shananim, the first Jewish neighborhood built outside of the Old City walls.

Tough Memorial Day for Mother of Baby Terror Victim Adelle Biton

Earlier this year, four year-old Adelle Biton died after a long struggle with wounds from being struck directly in the head by a fist-sized rock thrown by Arab terrorists in March 2013 while riding in the family car outside Ariel in Samaria.
On Wednesday, Israel's Memorial Day for soldiers and terror attack victims, Adelle's mother Adva spoke about her ordeal to Arutz Sheva.
"This is not just any day for us; we're in emotional turmoil," Biton said. "We didn't want to join the bereaved families, but we are people who believe in G-d's decisions."
"Although we wanted to celebrate in gratitude when Adelle came back safe and sound, we received another reality - but we accept it with love," she continued.
Adva believes Adelle had a big heart.

Moving Tribute to Terror Victim Shalom Sherki

A moving video tribute has been released honoring 25-year-old Shalom Yohai Sherki, murdered last week when an Arab driver purposely ran over him and his fiance as they were walking in Jerusalem.
The tribute shows pictures of a young, playful, good-humored and religiously-committed Sherki, and includes a tearful eulogy from his funeral by his brother.
"Shalom! Shulem!" his brother cries, using his Shalom's nickname. "Our beloved brother - my beloved brother!"
"Everywhere you went you were loved... really loved, because of the light in your eyes and your contagious smile, but most of all, because, Shalom, because you loved. You love."
"I wanted so much for us to sing together at your wedding...! That song we loves so much..." he cried.
Shalom's fiance is still hospitalized with severe injuries after the attack.

Name of slain Palestinian teen to be removed from Israeli memorial after protests

Israel will remove the name of a slain Palestinian teen from a national monument to "Victims of Terrorism" in response to a request from his family, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.
The addition of sixteen-year-old Mohammed Abu Khudeir's name to the monument had prompted protests on both sides of the conflict, with a group representing families of slain Israelis also demanding his name be removed.
"Following a request by the family the name shall be removed," said Haim Fitussi, a spokesman for Israel's National Insurance Institute.
Controversy abounded Tuesday morning following the government’s announcement that slain east Jerusalem Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir’s name would be enshrined on Mount Herzl’s Victims of Acts of Terrorism Memorial, along with Jewish victims. (h/t Bob Knot)

IDF court says Palmer killer must pay terror victims’ family NIS 3.3m. in damages

A three-judge panel of the IDF’s Judea Military Court granted approximately NIS 3.3 million in punitive damages on Tuesday to the family of Asher and Yonatan Palmer, victims of a 2011 terror attack by Ali Saada and Waal al-Arjeh.
Despite the unanimous ruling to grant at least some symbolic damages to the family, though, the judges were split 2-1 about granting such a massive punitive compensatory damage award, with judges Amir Dahan and Steve Berman voting in favor and judge Ze’ev Afik voting for a lower amount.
The Palmer family’s lawyer, Adrian Agassi, called the decisions a “legal price tag” that could better deter future terrorism and possibly make it harder to release those sentenced in any future prisoner exchange deal.
Following an unprecedented December 2014 ruling in which a different three-judge Judea Military Court panel became the first to grant such a huge punitive damage award, the overall impact of this second ruling was to further solidify that trend.

Heavily armed jihadist 'planning attacks on churches' is arrested by French police after accidentally shooting himself

A heavily armed Algerian jihadi who was preparing to attack churches in Paris on the orders is in custody this morning after being implicated in the murder of a young woman.
The 24-year-old, named locally as Sid Ahmed Ghlam, had shot himself in the leg before his arrest by anti-terrorist officers in the 13th arrondissement in southern Paris on Sunday.
This afternoon the Paris prosecutor said police found Arabic documents mentioning ISIS and Al Qaeda at the IT student's home, as well as evidence on his computer that he was in contact with a man in Syria 'who clearly asked him to target a church.'
Sunday's arrest came just hours after the murder of Aurelie Chatelain, a 33-year-old mother and fitness instructor, who was riddled with bullets as she sat in her car in a car park in the Paris suburb of Villejuif. Investigators reportedly claim DNA evidence links Ghlam to her murder.

Terror Bombing in 'Montreal Area' Averted

Two 18-year-old Muslim students in Montreal were brought on trial on Monday for terrorism, with a prosecutor saying the two planned a bombing in the Montreal urban region.
The two, Sabrine Djaermane and El Mahdi Jamali, each have four terrorism charges leveled against them, including trying to leave Canada to join a terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity, committing an offense for a terrorist group, and using explosives.
Quebec's Crown prosecutor told the Canadian Global News that the two are suspected of having planned to conduct a bombing attack "in the Montreal area."
That assessment was somewhat complicated by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) statement, which said "the charges result from a short police investigation launched after information was received from the (Muslim - ed.) community."

Australian IS recruiter urges Muslim youths to ‘rise up and attack’ on home soil in new propaganda video

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Islamic State fighter has urged Muslim youths to launch attacks at home in an alarming new propaganda video.
Neil Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled Al Cambodi, may have been in contact with several teens arrested in last Saturday’s anti-terror raids which foiled a chilling Anzac Day terror plot.
“I send a message to my brothers, my beloved brothers in Islam in Australia,” Prakash says in the 12-minute video.
“Now is the time to rise, now is the time to wake up ... You must start attacking before they attack you.”
The propaganda video appears to be a new release from Islamic State but it is unclear whether it was filmed before or after last weekend’s events.

Saudis Renew Air Strikes After Iran-Backed Rebels Attack Yemeni Troops

In response to an attack by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia resumed air strikes today against the rebels in Yemen, CNN reported. The resumption of air strikes comes less than a day after Saudi Arabia announced that it was ending the air war against the Houthis and seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Yemen.
The strikes returned after rebel forces launched an attack on a government military brigade not under Houthi control, security sources in Taiz said. The brigade quickly fell to the rebels, they said.
It was unclear if the fighting represented a resumption of the operation or was a short-term resumption of hostilities.
After a month of air raids, Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, and Sudan, announced the end of Operation Decisive Storm yesterday, claiming that all goals of the operation had been obtained, including the destruction of the Houthis’ heavy weapons and ballistic missile stockpiles. The Saudis called the operation a victory and argued that threats against Saudi Arabia and its neighbors by the rebels have been removed.

Saudi Prince Rewards 100 Pilots With Bonus Bentleys For Bombing Yemen

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest men and a member of the Saudi royal family, vowed Tuesday to give a Bentley luxury car to 100 pilots who served in Saudi-led airstrikes against Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense announced that “Operation Resolute Storm” succeeded late Tuesday. The bombing campaign involved a coalition of Arab governments targeted Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen, known as the Houthis.
Though falling short of their declared goal, the restoration of deposed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, authorities said that they had “eliminated all threats” posed by the group.
In his Arabic-language tweet, Prince Alwaleed wrote, “I congratulate our leaders on the success of Operation Resolute Storm and the start of Operation Restoring Hope. To recognize the one hundred participating Saudi pilots, I am pleased to give them 100 Bentley automobiles.”