Thursday, May 14, 2015
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians' Anti-Peace Campaign
Palestinian activists on May 11 broke up a conference in east Jerusalem where Israelis and Palestinians met to discuss the two-state solution. The activists belong to the "anti-normalization" campaign, which aims to thwart meetings between Israelis and Palestinians.Matti Friedman: The Latest "Breaking the Silence" Report Isn't Journalism. It's Propaganda.
The conference at the Ambassador Hotel was organized by the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) think tank based in Jerusalem. It has been working towards a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Entitled, "Is The Two-State Solution Still Relevant?," the conference was supposed to include a discussion on the issue from the perspectives of the Palestinian side and the Israeli Left.
Organizers said the event was made possible by the support of the Government of the Netherlands.
The Israeli side was represented by Dr. Alon Liel, former Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ambassador to South Africa. The identity of the Palestinian representative was not announced before the discussion, apparently to avoid pressure from the "anti-normalization" activists.
Liel is an outspoken critic of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. Two years ago, he told The Times of Israel that he supports cultural boycotts of Israel, and that he himself started boycotting goods produced in the settlements to protest the lack of progress in the peace negotiations.
But all this did not stop the "anti-normalization" activists from disrupting his speech and forcing him to abandon the podium at the Ambassador Hotel.
In analyzing trends in the press I have found it most helpful to keep an eye on the mainstream and avoid extreme cases. So let’s look again at the Washington Post, a good U.S. paper, to see how a report of this kind becomes major international news.Michael Lumish: Pope Francis Recognizes anti-Semitic Genocidal Organizations
The Post receives a document about Israel’s conduct in the 2014 Gaza war that has been produced in English by a group of Israelis funded by European organizations and governments. The paper’s correspondent, recently arrived in Jerusalem from a posting in Mexico, takes at face value that this is an “Israeli” organization and also an organization of “veterans,” perhaps not grasping that, because Israel has a mandatory draft, the term is quite meaningless; most people can plausibly claim to be “veterans.”
The correspondent then selects some of the most egregious examples in the report, summarizes them, and presents them as representative not only of the report but of the entire Gaza operation. He takes the words of people whose identity is not known to him, who have been interviewed by people whose identity is similarly not known to him, the interviews edited and redacted in a process not known to him, and pastes them into his article. As a reporter, you wouldn’t be able to get away with publishing purely anonymous testimony that you have collected, but it is one of the peculiarities of Israel-related journalism that you are allowed to use anonymous material if it has been pre-packaged for you by a political NGO.
To European Jews: If you can go, you should go. Europe is hostile territory and things seem to be getting worse. There are only a few places on this planet where Jews, as a people, can live without significant hostility. These places, for the moment, include North America and Australia. They do not include Great Britain.
In the Middle East, of course, Obama and the West has given the signal to Arabs that it's Jew Killing Season.
They honestly think that 300 to 400 million Arabs have every right to go after 6 million Jews because they tell themselves that those Jews were mean to the "Palestinians."
To American Jews: Your faith in Barack Obama was misguided from the start, as was mine. One thing that differentiates you from your more thoughtful co-religionists is that some of us were not so ideologically blinkered as to fail to acknowledge that which is before our nose. Now that the Pope has turned on Israel we can expect American Catholic support for the Jewish people to erode, with the full passive-aggressive support of the American President until, hopefully, the next election.
To Israeli Jews: Declare the final borders of the State of Israel and defend yourself without apology.
Eliminate Hamas and point to their charter, which calls specifically for the genocide of the Jewish people on religious grounds.
Reaffirming Commitment to Peace with Palestinians, Netanyahu Announces Coalition Guidelines
The incoming Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally presented its government coalition guidelines, which explicitly reaffirmed its commitment to pursue a peace process with the Palestinians.PLO: No peace talks unless Israel commits to West Bank pullout
Agence France-Presse (AFP) translated the relevant text: “The government will advance the diplomatic process and strive to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians and all our neighbours, while maintaining Israel’s security, historical and national interests. If an agreement such as this is achieved, it will be sent for approval to the government and Knesset, and if necessary by law, to a referendum.”
AFP went on to note that “The rest of the government policy outline deals with issues such as reducing the cost of living, improving competition in the Israeli economy, boosting education and protecting the environment,” which are not significantly “different to those published by Netanyahu for his two previous governments, formed in 2009 and 2013.”
Speaking with the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Wasel Abu-Youssef emphasized that the Palestinian leadership would not compromise on the matter and would not agree to US mediation unless the aforementioned timeline were set, Israel Radio reported.‘Obama Trying to Topple Netanyahu’
He further asserted that Washington held a clear bias in favor of Israel and that the Palestinians were therefore wary of US involvement in peace negotiations between the two parties.
Abu-Youssef said the PLO’s decision came following the establishment of Israel’s new government, which the Palestinian official deemed to be far more likely to advance Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank than the last, according to Israel Radio. “The political horizon with the new settler government is completely shut,” Abu-Youssef concluded.
The Obama administration is trying to topple the new Netanyahu government after having failed to stop it from being elected, a senior government source told Reshet Bet (Voice of Israel) radio Thursday.French-Israeli Relationship Hits Snag over Palestinian Issue
The source also explained that Washington is pressing Israel to stop hunting down terrorists in “Area A” in Palestinian Authority cities where the Abbas regime is supposed to be in charge of security.
Keeping the IDF out of Area A would mean the end of keeping a lid in Hamas terrorist, a mission that Abbas’ security forces has not been able to accomplish for political, intelligence and military reasons.
A reign of terror in Palestinian Authority following an IDF “hands-off” policy, even against “ticking bombs.” would create conditions for a violent eruption, de-stabilizing the Abbas regime and setting the stage for a demand that Israel accept the Arab agenda or face an all-out war or an upfront Hamas terrorist regime based in Ramallah.
Particularly irking the Israelis, Haaretz reported Thursday, is French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius' attempt to revive a UN Security Council resolution bent on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a mandated and deadlined peace deal.Rubio: Palestinian statehood not currently possible
The draft would define the 1949 Armistice Lines as a reference point for peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel but allow room for exchanges of territory. It would also designate Jerusalem as capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state and call for a fair solution for Palestinian refugees, with some vague references to Israel as a Jewish state.
Israeli diplomats told the newspaper that the Foreign Ministry had received information suggesting France had already begun discussing the draft's language with the Palestinians, Arab states, and the Security Council.
No such consultations, they claim, have been had with Israel, nor has Israel received an outline of the resolution's main points.
Two Israeli diplomats told Haaretz that Foreign Ministry Director-General Nissim Ben-Shitrit protested the unfair treatment during last week's talks with the French delegation led by Foreign Ministry Secretary General Christian Masset.
US Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, said he would not pursue a two-state solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict right now.ICC threat of 'one-sided' Gaza war probe sparks outrage in Israel
“I don’t think the conditions exist for that today,” Rubio said Wednesday during a question-and-answer session hosted by PBS’s Charlie Rose at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “That’s the ideal outcome, but the conditions for a two-state solution at this moment do not exist.”
Rubio, a hawk on pro-Israel issues, blamed the Palestinian Authority, the official government of the Palestinians, for the current situation, as well as the lack of unity among the Palestinians. He also pointed out that the Palestinians had rejected two previous peace offers from Israel.
“I think the most we can hope for in the short term is that the Palestinians Authority will be able to provide a level of stability in that territory. And ultimately, the conditions will rise up with new leadership that will allow something like that to happen,” he said, according to Haaretz.
The official went on to say that "given this context, the prosecutor's office was mistaken in accepting the Palestinian claim and launching a preliminary investigation. We hope that the court will not allow its resources to be taken advantage of to deal with a claim that has no legal basis and is guided by cynical political motivations, and which, if addressed, will damage the court's credibility as well as the chances of establishing a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians.Vatican causes stir with treaty recognizing Palestine as a state
"It is shocking that the prosecutor of the ICC -- whose job it is to abide by the highest standards of professionalism, caution, independence and impartiality -- has chosen to deal with these issues in the media, and even said in the Associated Press article that she 'may perhaps be forced to just go with just one side of the story.' This casts doubt on the credibility of the process being undertaken at the prosecutor's office.
"Israel is a democratic country that respects the rule of law while being positioned on the frontline of the global war on terrorism."
Bensouda said she has already received information "from others regarding the preliminary examination," but refused to elaborate except to say that her office was also collecting information from confidential sources, identified groups and individuals and open sources.
The agreement, being finalized in Rome by a group called the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine, “deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine,” according to a joint statement posted on the Vatican’s Web site. Palestinians said the accord addresses such matters as properties, taxes and protocol at holy sites.Pope Francis and the Palestinians: The Vatican's recognition of a Palestinian state will have lamentable consequences
Social media and news reports — as well as some pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian voices — seized on the treaty to suggest that the Vatican had newly recognized the “State of Palestine,” although the Vatican had done so shortly after the United Nations granted Palestine “non-member observer status” in 2012.
News of the pending agreement triggered conflicting statements on its significance for the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it was “disappointed.”
To them, the birth of a secure Palestine at peace with its neighbor comes a distant second to extermination of the Jewish state.Vatican Recognition of ‘State of Palestine’ Riles Jewish Organizations
Against this backdrop, a unity government between the relatively moderate Fatah faction and the killers in Hamas is bidding for international sympathy with plans to isolate Israel and win recognition straight from the UN.
No tradeoffs. No land swaps. No security guarantees. No need to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Just the reward of statehood after decades of unrepentant violence.
More powerfully than ever, Palestinian leaders can use to their advantage the Pope’s empathy for the plight of 4 million residents of the territories without having to take actions that might lead to peace, and that’s unfortunate.
The American Jewish Committee said it “regrets the announcement” of the treaty, in which the Vatican refers to the “state of Palestine” rather than the Palestinian Liberation Organization, as it had in previous documents.Vatican Recognition of Palestine Won’t Bring Peace Closer
AJC Executive Director David Harris said the move was “counterproductive to all who seek true peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”
He said “peaceful coexistence … is best served, we believe, by encouraging a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, rather than unilateral gestures outside the framework of the negotiating table.”
Additionally, the Anti-Defamation League “expressed disappointment” at the Vatican’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, calling the step “premature.”
ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said the move would “bolster the Palestinian strategy of seeking statehood through international fora and not through recognition, reconciliation and negotiation with Israel.”
After all, if Abbas’s real goal been an independent Palestinian state, he could have had one in 2000, 2001 when his former boss Yasir Arafat rejected an Israeli offer of statehood including almost all of the West Bank, Gaza and a share of Jerusalem. Abbas rejected an even better offer in 2008 and then refused to negotiate seriously in 2013 and 2014 even after the Israelis had accepted an American framework whose goal was a two state solution.Obama Gives Syria a Pass on Chemical Weapons. Will He Stop Iran’s Nukes?
The Palestinian campaign to get recognition from the United Nations and other countries is motivated by a desire to avoid peace talks, not to make them more successful. The Palestinians want a state but not one that is prepared to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state alongside it, not matter where its borders are drawn. By telling the Palestinians, the Church recognizes his faux state; it is making it easier for Abbas to refuse to negotiate. To the extent that this recognition grants the Palestinians rights to all of the disputed 1967 territories, the Vatican and other European states that have done the same thing, is prejudging negotiations that should be conducted by the parties, not outsiders.
Just as important, the Church ignores the fact that an independent Palestinian state in all but name already exists in Gaza under the tyrannical rule of Hamas terrorists. Which “Palestine” is the Church recognizing? Hamasistan or Fatah’s corrupt kleptocracy that Abbas presides over? With Hamas growing more popular, the prospect of it gaining power in an independent West Bank makes an Israeli withdrawal a fantasy rather than a viable policy option.
While no one should question the pope’s good intentions, the Vatican move will only serve to make peace less likely and do nothing for Middle East Christians who are under unbearable pressure from Islamists, not Israel. In this case, being even-handed undermines the already dwindling hopes for a two state solution.
So what is Obama doing to enforce the chemical weapons accord? Bombing Damascus? Stepping up support for the Syrian resistance? He’s not even passing a stiffly worded resolution at the UN, where its friends from Moscow and Beijing protect the Assad regime.Saudis to warn Obama they will match Iran’s nuke buildup
Josh Rogin and Eli Lake of Bloomberg report that the administration was informed months ago by UN inspectors of their findings. Since then the White House has basically been sitting on the issue, no doubt for fear that any action would offend Assad’s patrons in Tehran and disrupt hopes of negotiating a nuclear deal. “The discovery set off a months-long debate inside the administration about how to respond. President Obama is said to have not yet decided,” Rogin and Lake write. “Meanwhile, a coalition of rebel groups on the ground has been attacking the area around the facility, raising the danger that the chemical weapons could fall into the hands of the rebels, many of whom are linked to Islamic extremists.”
If this is how the administration reacts to blatant violations of an arms control agreement by a weak regime such as Assad’s, just imagine how it would react to violations by the much stronger Iranian regime. Unfortunately Iran’s leaders can read the tea leaves as well as anyone else—and they know that they will get a pass, at least while Obama is still in office, no matter how much they cheat on a nuclear deal.
Saudi Arabian officials are warning that they will seek to match Iran’s nuclear arsenal, a US newspaper reported Thursday, as US President Barack Obama and leaders from six Gulf nations — including Riyadh — convened outside Washington to work through tensions sparked by the US bid for a nuclear deal with Tehran, a pursuit that has put regional partners on edge.House Leadership to Ban Lawmakers from Amending Key Iran Bill
Along with Saudi Arabia, smaller Arab countries also say they also plan to pursue a nuclear weapons program to offset Iran’s, portending a much-feared nuclear arms race in the Middle East, according to the New York Times.
“We can’t sit back and be nowhere as Iran is allowed to retain much of its capability and amass its research,” one Arab leader attending the Camp David summit told the New York Times.
House leadership will not permit lawmakers to offer amendments aimed at strengthening a key piece of legislation that would provide Congress with oversight over any nuclear deal the Obama administration strikes with Iran, according to Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.).Russia says no automatic sanctions snapback if Iran breaks deal
DeSantis had been planning to offer several amendments to the legislation aimed at forcing Iran to disclose all of its nuclear-related work and provide international inspectors with access to all military sites.
However, House leadership is planning to suspend normal rules and bring the bill to an immediate vote, preventing lawmakers such as DeSantis from altering the bill.
A Senate version of the legislation—which would provide Congress with the ability to cast an up-or-down vote on any Iran deal—overwhelmingly passed last week in a 98-1 vote. That version of the bill, authored by Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), was also brought to a vote without amendments, despite multiple efforts by leading senators.
The suspension of normal protocol in both legislative chambers has caused frustration among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and stoked tensions with Republican leadership.
A Russian official on Wednesday bluntly rejected claims that sanctions on Iran would be restored immediately should the Islamic Republic violate the terms of an agreement to curb its nuclear program, poking a hole in a central White House plank meant to soothe critics of the deal.Iran on Nuclear Inspections: “Depends What Meaning of Is Is”
Speaking to Bloomberg News, UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin stated that “there can be no automaticity, none whatsoever,” with regard to sanctions on Iran. He did not elaborate any further.
The Obama administration has stated that Russia agreed “in principle” on the need to reimpose sanctions if Iran fails to comply with the agreement, but the Russian government has never confirmed that it agrees with such a stance.
The US has repeatedly pointed to the ability to “snap back” sanctions should Iran violate the deal in a bid to allay fears by allies that Tehran could escape punishing sanctions without actually curbing its enrichment program.
Critics have expressed doubts whether the UN can automatically reimpose sanctions, or whether there will be the international will — specifically from Russia and China — to do so.
So, let’s get this straight: Obama and Kerry have celebrated Iran’s concessions and flexibility. They have celebrated Iran’s agreement to be guided by the Additional Protocol, an enhancement to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that was created in 1997 in order to fill loopholes that had allowed Saddam Hussein to develop a covert nuclear program all the while receiving clean bills of health by the IAEA. The vast majority of the world—and pretty much every state of concern (minus North Korea and Pakistan which are not NPT members)—has signed onto the Additional Protocol and accept its contents. Not so, Iran. First, they said they would only abide “voluntarily” to the Additional Protocol, which means they could walk away at any time. Now, the Iranian government is putting forward an interpretation that would effectively gut any remaining bite the inspections have by arguing that raising security concerns should be enough to avoid inspections. That reading is the nuclear equivalent of quibbling over what the meaning of “is” is in order to absolve oneself from a lie. Perhaps it’s time for Obama and Kerry simply to replace the Stars and Stripes with a white flag of surrender, because it is increasingly clear that their deal is nothing but capitulation and the verification mechanisms about which they bragged are little more than an illusion. Unprecedented verification, indeed.Iran Rejects IAEA Call for Inspecting Military Sites as Part of Nuclear Deal
An Iranian spokesman rejected calls made Wednesday by Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that Iran open up military sites for inspection, Iran’s semi-official news agency PressTV reported, saying that the demand was an inaccurate interpretation of the “additional protocol” of the nuclear deal made with Western powers.Czechs stopped potential nuclear tech purchase by Iran
“First of all, the Islamic Republic of Iran has neither approved nor implemented the Additional Protocol yet; secondly, no article of the protocol envisions a specific obligation regarding access to the the military sites of the signatories,” spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi told IRIB on Wednesday. …
Under the Additional Protocol, access to the sites demanded by the UN nuclear agency requires evidence and the IAEA must take into account the considerations of the signatories, including “security considerations,” Amano said.
The Czech Republic blocked an attempted purchase by Iran this year of a large shipment of sensitive technology usable for nuclear enrichment after false documentation raised suspicions, U.N. experts and Western sources said.Iran: We’ll Build Five More Underground Nuclear Plants
The incident could add to Western concerns about whether Iran can be trusted to adhere to a nuclear deal being negotiated with world powers under which it would curb sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.
The negotiators are trying to reach a deal by the end of June after hammering out a preliminary agreement on April 2, with Iran committing to reduce the number of centrifuges it operates and agreeing to other long-term nuclear limitations.
Some details of the attempted purchase were described in the latest annual report of an expert panel for the United Nations Security Council's Iran sanctions committee, which has been seen by Reuters.
The panel said that in January Iran attempted to buy compressors -- which have nuclear and non-nuclear applications -- made by the U.S.-owned company Howden CKD Compressors.
This brings us to the issue of who in Iran has committed themselves to resolving Iran’s nuclear program through negotiations. For a moment, let’s assume that Rouhani and Zarif are sincere (although there is ample evidence that they are not). Has the Supreme Leader really endorsed a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear deal as proponents of the talks have suggested? Take the issue of “heroic flexibility.” That doesn’t mean, as proponents of the deal have suggested, that Khamenei has thrown his weight behind the talks. His own advisors have explained that what Khamenei blessed was a change in tactics, not a change in policy. In other words, so long as Iran gets its nuclear capability, the Supreme Leader doesn’t care if it comes through subterfuge or if he holds his nose and has representatives talk to the Americans. How sad it is that Obama and Kerry have such faith in the Supreme Leader, when he refuses to meet American officials, and yet doesn’t hesitate to find time for Gambians, Belarusians, and Eritreans. What the White House and the news media have not realized, however, is that the term “Heroic Flexibility” also has religious connotations. It’s sad to see the State Department and the media—both bastions of multiculturalism—so myopic on issues of culture. Now, none of this even begins to touch the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that has said no to any deal from the very beginning.Iranian official says Saudi king 'traitor to Islam,' iterates support for Assad
So what to make of Larijani’s interview? His proximity to the Supreme Leader should concern anyone who does not have political blinders on. Whether because of personal ambition (in the case of some diplomats or Kerry’s destructive quest for a Nobel Peace Prize), ideological sympathy, or just naiveté, too many do. Simply put, it’s strange to see the White House and the State Department convince themselves that Khamenei is onboard with a substantive nuclear deal that will end Iran’s military nuclear program and illicit nuclear activities when so many statements that come from his office and his proxies suggest the opposite.
A senior Iranian official branded Saudi Arabia's King Salman a traitor to Islam on Thursday and equated the Gulf state's military assault on Iranian-allied fighters in Yemen with Israeli actions against Palestinians.Iran Threatens War over Saudi-Led Blockade in Yemen
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iran's national security and foreign policy committee, speaking in Damascus, also reiterated his country's support for the Syrian government, which is battling an insurgency backed by Saudi Arabia.
Shi'ite Islamist Iran has been a vital ally for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the four-year Syrian war, providing crucial military and economic support.
Syria is a focal point in a wider regional struggle between Tehran and Riyadh and which is also playing out in Yemen.
"We are here to announced anew that our support for Syria - government and nation - is solid and continuous, and we are proud of this support," Boroujerdi said, according to a report on the Syrian state news agency SANA.
The New York Times reported that “the head of the Red Crescent Society of Iran, Amir Mohsen Ziya’ee, said that ‘based on international regulations, no one can inspect a vessel that is moving in international waters carrying the flag of a country,’ according to Iran’s official Press TV.” Late last month, Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged ship in an international shipping lane, and did not release the ship until the ship’s operator agreed to settle a financial dispute with an Iranian company.Iranian Ships Fire Warning Shots at Singapore-Flagged Vessel in Gulf
Northwestern University law professor Eugene Kontorovich analyzed the legality of the Saudi blockade of Yemen for The Washington Post, writing that “if Riyadh and its allies are inclined to maintain the blockade, and intercept the Iranian relief ship, it has a strong legal basis.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy fired warning shots over Singapore-flagged cargo vessel in international waters in the Gulf on Thursday, prompting the cargo vessel to flee into United Arab Emirates’ territorial waters, a U.S. official told Reuters, saying the account was based on preliminary information.IRGC Deputy Commander Salami: "We Welcome War with the Americans"
The United Arab Emirates sent Coast Guard vessels toward the cargo ship and at some point the Iranian ships turned away, the official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was unaware of any U.S. Navy involvement.
In an Iranian TV interview, IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami threatened the Americans, saying: "We welcome war with the Americans." The U.S. aircraft carriers would be destroyed, its air bases in the region burned, and the skies set ablaze, he said. "We have built our strength for the purpose of long, extended wars... more than for the purpose of peace, compromise, and dialogue with them," said Salami. The interview aired on the Iran TV's Channel 1 on May 6, 2015.
Iranian General Jazayeri Warns the U.S., Saudi Arabia Not to Send Aid to the Region
In an Iranian TV interview, Iranian Deputy Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Masoud Jazayeri threatened the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, saying: "There is a limit to Iran's self-restraint." Sending humanitarian aid to the region would "spark a strong fire, which they will not be able to extinguish," he said. An excerpt from the full interview was posted on the Internet, and then aired by Al-Alam TV with Arabic subtitles on May 13, 2015. The full interview has not yet been broadcast.
Four hurt in suspected car-ramming terror attack
Four people were injured after a vehicle drove into a bus stop in the West Bank, in a possible terror attack Thursday afternoon.IDF: Hezbollah hiding 100,000 missiles that can hit north
The attack occurred outside the Alon Shvut settlement in the Etzon settlement bloc south of Jerusalem, at the site of a similar fatal attack in November.
The deputy head of the Etzion settlement bloc council Moshe Savil told Ynet news the driver came from the direction of nearby Kfar Etzion. “He crossed the highway and with great force struck a group of students who were waiting for the bus,” he said.
A suspect was arrested a short while later and was handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning. He is reported to be a Palestinian resident of Hebron.
One person was seriously injured, another moderately and two more lightly hurt in the incident, Israel Radio reported. All four were evacuated to a nearby Jerusalem hospital.
According to the official, Hezbollah has an estimated 100,000 short-range rockets capable of striking northern Israel, several thousand missiles that can reach Tel Aviv and central Israel and hundreds more that can strike the entire country.Israel says it foiled Palestinian terror attack in east Jerusalem
Most of the weapons have been transferred to Lebanon through war-torn Syria, coming from Hezbollah’s key allies, the Syrian government and Iran, he said.
The official showed reporters satellite photos of what Israeli intelligence believes are Hezbollah positions in dozens of Shiite villages in southern Lebanon.
The photos were marked with dozens of red icons, signaling what are believed to be missile launchers, arms depots, underground tunnels and command posts.
The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Jerusalem Police prevented a stabbing attack on a security guard at a sensitive Jewish enclave in east Jerusalem, according to a statement by the security agency on Thursday.Khaled Abu Toameh: 'We will return even if we have to wait another 67 years' says 'Nakba Day' protestor
The Shin Bet said that earlier this month they and the Jerusalem Police arrested three suspects, Muhammed Nasser Ahmed Abassi, 21, Murad Muhammed Uda Kustiro, 23, and a minor, on suspicion of plotting an attack on security guards stationed outside of Beit Ovadia, a Jewish building in the mainly Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan.
The Shin Bet said that Abassi confessed to having the minor carry out surveillance on the house ahead of a planned shooting attack. Abassi later decided that a stabbing attack had more potential to work, so he acquired a knife and axe and stashed them at his house and his grandfather’s house, the Shin Bet said.
He also admitted to making pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails which were used against Israeli police during recent rioting in East Jerusalem.
The major rally took place in Ramallah, where hundreds of Palestinians marched from the Mukata presidential compound to the center of the city, chanting slogans in favor of the “right of return” for refugees to their former homes inside Israel.CAMERA: What You Won’t Hear about “Nakba Day”
The rally was organized by the Palestinian Authority, whose representatives delivered speeches emphasizing the importance of the right of return and condemning Israel for its practices against Palestinians. Similar rallies took place in various parts of the Gaza Strip, where Hamas announced that “resistance” was the only means to achieve the right of return.
Many participants in the Ramallah march wore black T-shirts with the message, “1948, the return is a right and the will of the people.” Others carried keys as a symbol of the refugees returning to their homes.
A woman carrying a placard with the name of her former village, Bet Nabala, shouted, “We will return even if we have to wait another 67 years. If we don’t return, our children or grandchildren will return.
We educate our children that this [the West Bank] is not our homeland. Our real homeland is there, in Palestine. There is no Israel. This is the land of Palestine from where we were forcibly expelled.”
Friday, May 15, has been designated by Palestinian Arab leaders to mark this year's “Nakba Day,” the day they commemorate the “catastrophe” of the founding of Israel. There will be marches, rallies and demonstrations. And, there will be media coverage but it will likely not include some of the major elements in the Arab-Israeli conflict. For example...State Department Issues Naqba Day Alerts
1) Over 800,000 Jews either fled or were driven out of their homes in Arab countries during and after Israel's war for independence. This is roughly equivalent to or even greater than the number of Palestinian Arab refugees created by that war. Israel absorbed the Jews who immigrated there but the Palestinian refugees have been kept in camps for decades, used by Arab leaders as a cudgel to batter Israel. (For more information, please see CAMERA's Backgrounder on Refugees.)
2) There is no such thing as a Palestinian “right of return.” Those who claim there is such a right often cite as its basis United Nations Resolution 194, passed on December 11, 1948. This is a General Assembly resolution and therefore does not carry the weight of international law. Further, the Arab states voted against 194 precisely because it did not create a “right of return” and have violated it numerous times since its passage.
The United States Consulate General Jerusalem sent out an email today alerting US citizens of possible danger zones in Israel, due to expected Arab rioting for “Naqba Day”.Fatah official glorifies arch-terrorist who planned killings of 125
The U.S. Consulate advises U.S. citizens to exercise caution due to the possibility of demonstrations within Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza associated with “Nakba Day” on May 15 or on the days preceding that date. ?In the past, large demonstrations have taken place in connection with Nakba Day, some of which have become violent. Additionally, the upcoming religious holiday of the Isra & Miraj (May 16) and Jerusalem Day (May 17) may also see traffic congestion and road closures throughout Jerusalem.
Fatah Central Committee Member Abbas Zaki: "[Abu Jihad] was a substantial threat to Israel, starting with the Savoy operation (i.e., terror attack, Savoy hotel Tel Aviv, 11 killed) to the Dalal Mughrabi operation (i.e., bus hijacking, 37 killed). I am talking about the large-scale operations, the prominent ones and not the small ones: Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., bus hijacking 37 killed), Dimona (i.e., attack on bus, 3 killed) and the attempt to capture the [Israeli] Ministry of Defense. That is why this man, who it seems Allah created just to confront this enemy, dedicated his time to serious activity. Likewise, he had a talent for persuading young people to die as Martyrs and to always be prepared to sacrifice, give and be patient... Everyone should know that this region needs pioneers [on] the path of brother Abu Jihad." [Fatah-run Awdah TV, April 19, 2015]
PreOccupied Territory: Fatah, Hamas, Agree To Paper Over Differences With Better Paper (satire)
Among the factors complicating this treatment of the Fatah-Hamas rift was an intense quarrel between the parties over what kind of paper to use and how it should be procured. “Several of the bombings and beatings targeting Hamas or Fatah officials over the last year were when emotions were running high over the use of foil-backed wallpaper, versus the easier to hang, but nevertheless more durable, cloth-backed variety,” explained defense analyst Vertiga Trim. “Essentially, even once Fatah and Hamas agreed on the general approach to papering over their differences, the fundamental gaps between the two organizations’ outlooks colored every detail of their continuing interactions.”
Eventually, reported Abed Rabbo, a compromise settlement was drafted, under which both kinds of paper would be used. The Fatah and Hamas representatives each pledged to cover half the cost of the purchase and delivery. “We will have to see whether it works out, because our brothers in Hamas, unfortunately, do not have a reputation for keeping their word in this kind of agreement,” he warned.
Hamas delegate Fawzi Barhoum responded with a litany of Fatah offenses, and other reasons to suspect that adherence to the agreement would be violated by Mahmoud Abbas’s loyalists, not Hamas. “In all likelihood the delivery van carrying the wallpaper will be stopped by Fatah policemen and forced to dump the paper that Hamas ordered,” he said. “That is, if they even ‘remember’ to bribe the right customs officials to let the shipment though in the first place, those corrupt Fatah dogs.”
At press time, the opposing delegations were shooting at each other from opposite sides of the negotiating room.
