Thursday, May 28, 2015
PMW: PA sports: Prohibiting peace building and glorifying terror
This week, the Palestinian Authority is asking FIFA to suspend Israel's participation in FIFA sports activities. It is ironic that the PA is making such an aggressive request, when in fact it is the PA and Fatah who routinely disrespect the basic values of international sportsmanship, and the spirit upon which Olympic sports are founded.International community must hold Hamas accountable, says Col. Kemp
The Palestinian Authority's abuse of sports is a concrete example of how the PA chooses to further entrench the conflict rather than work to resolve it. The Palestinian Authority uses sports to send the message that murdering Israeli civilians is honorable and heroic, that all of Israel is "Palestine," and that peace building or "normalization" with Israel is prohibited and even criminal.
Jibril Rajoub, Head of the PA Olympic Committee, has organized and is promoting the request to FIFA. He is also one of the driving forces behind this abuse of sports and continues to promote terror himself. Even the terrorists responsible for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympics in 1972 continue to be glorified by the PA and Fatah.
PMW documentation clearly shows the irony of the PA's request. If any sports association should be suspended from FIFA for fundamental violations of the spirit of sports, it is the Palestinian Authority.
“The laws of armed conflict require them [Hamas] to evacuate civilians if they are using an area as a military position,” explained Col. Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, on a recent trip to Israel.Israelis Try Realism; Obama and the Palestinians Don’t Like It.
As the governing power in Gaza, Hamas is responsible for actions emanating from its territory.
“Hamas is not blamed for using human shields. [According to the laws of war] they are not allowed to coerce civilians to come to where an attack might take place or where weapons are stored,” Kemp said.
Last summer’s war exposed Hamas operating from within civilian environments, firing rockets next to buildings and mingling with the civilian population in Gaza. The rocket fired Tuesday was similarly fired from an area proximate to civilians.
Kemp, who gave testimony to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s probe into 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, asserts that it is time for Israel to work with Western governments to apply pressure on the Palestinians in regards to Gaza.
“They must not finance UN schools that demonize Israel, not finance the tunnels [Hamas builds], not finance people who bring in weapons,” he said.
The problem with much of Israeli diplomacy during the last 20 years has not been due to a lack of effort given to promoting the peace process. Rather, Israel’s diplomats have often been so heavily invested in the notion of peace that they failed to treat the conflict as one in which both sides, and not just the Palestinians, had rights. This has been a particular problem for Likud governments, which has often handed the foreign ministry over to coalition allies or saddled with leaders like Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu’s former partner and now rival who was clearly unsuited to the task and wound up doing little to change the culture of the ministry.
Contrary to the criticisms of left-wing politicians quoted in the New York Times who want Netanyahu to surround himself with people who agree with Obama about the Middle East, the prime minister did well to name a sober thinker like Gold who doesn’t try to imagine the Middle East as he’d like it to be but instead sees it as it really is.
Instead of cravenly bowing to U.S. dictates, Netanyahu wants his diplomats to stand up for its country and to speak truth to an American government whose view of the region is distorted by their fantasies about both the Palestinians and their new Iranian negotiating partners. Israel must continue to thread the needle between the need to be open to the possibility of peace, however unlikely, and avoiding being sucked down the rabbit hole into talks that are set up to fail and for which it will always be blamed for the failure no matter what the Palestinians do. Rather than seeking to demonize Gold, Netanyahu’s critics should give him credit for seeking to align his country’s diplomatic corps with a strategy based in the reality of Palestinian intransigence. In the long run, truth is always a better foundation for foreign policy than fiction.
FIFAil: Israeli press has a field day
FIFA, soccer’s governing body, is being rocked by a mass corruption scandal involving top officials and executives and threatening to inflict a long-lasting stain on the world of competitive sports at large. At the same time, the Palestinian Football Association, seemingly unfazed by the uber-crisis plaguing FIFA, has been mustering up all its might in order to forward a motion to expel Israel from the body, with a vote on the matter scheduled for Friday.The power of Zionists over FIFA
Israel’s two most read papers lead, unsurprisingly, with the developing soccer story, though each stresses a different aspect of the affair. “The concern: Qatar will pay for a vote against Israel,” Yedioth Ahronoth’s headline reads, perhaps attempting to link the motion against Israel with the alleged instances of widespread misconduct among FIFA officials. The daily goes on to explain that while Israeli officials do not assess that the Palestinians will succeed in passing the proposal, “one cannot count on integrity during the vote.”
Meanwhile, Israel Hayom in its front page hardly touches upon the possible implications of the FIFA scandal on the Israel vote, only dryly stating that the poll may be delayed. “The game is rigged,” the popular daily’s headline aptly announces. Writer Boaz Bismuth notes that the Americans have “caught FIFA in an offside,” thus supplying readers with the necessary soccer-term joke that they had no doubt been aching for.
Geoff Lee of the Palestine Solidarity Committee explains it all to you at the Stopper website:Indicted former FIFA official blamed ‘Zionism’ for undoing in 2011
"FIFA vote to kick Israel out of world football conveniently blocked by US intervention"
Displaying a remarkable non-understanding of international law, Lee writes that the US government “ordered” the Swiss authorities to arrest and extradite six FIFA officials to block the organization from expelling Israel from world football competition.
Never mind corruption, exploitation of foreign workers and stuff like that. It was all about the power of Israel over the US administration. (Well, at least it’s a change from the “Obama is throwing Israel under the bus” meme at the other extreme.)
After FIFA handed Qatar’s Bin Hammam a lifetime ban from the soccer governing body for his role in the affair, Warner lashed out at the soccer body for what he said were various shortcomings, and vowed to bring down FIFA head Sepp Blatter.FIFA corruption scandal may prove fortuitous for Israel
“I will talk about the racism that is within FIFA. I will talk about the levels of religious discrimination which I sought to correct. I will talk about the Zionism, which probably is the most important reason why this acrid attack on Bin Hammam and me was mounted,” Warner wrote at the time in a 1,400 word letter to the Trinidad Guardian.
Warner’s arrest Wednesday came hours after US prosecutors claimed he accepted bribes during host selections for the 1998 and 2010 World Cups in France and South Africa.
The charge that the choice of those countries was tainted by corruption was just a fraction of the allegations aimed at some of football’s most influential decision-makers.
Warner, 72, protested his innocence on Facebook, but later surrendered to authorities and appeared in a Port of Spain court before a judge who set his bail at $394,000, according to local media.
In a bombshell operation, a Swiss law enforcement team showed up at the Zurich hotel hosting the annual gathering of the international soccer organization — and arrested nine senior officials.Europeans won’t boycott FIFA meeting, boosting Israel
The arrests come after decades of corruption allegations aimed at FIFA. The arrested officials face charges of taking money in exchange for World Cup hosting bids, as well taking bribes in exchange for media and marketing rights for major international tournaments.
The allegations are damning, but frankly, they couldn’t have come at a better time for Israel. Until Wednesday, much of the coverage of the FIFA Congress surrounded whether delegates would vote to suspend Israel from world soccer.
The Palestinian Football Association is introducing the motion to suspend Israel, accusing it of unjustly restricting Palestinian soccer players’ freedom of movement and claiming that Israel’s West Bank settlement teams violate FIFA rules. Israeli officials have called the effort blatantly political and said that the Palestinians’ complaints all concern Israel’s security forces — not Israel’s soccer teams.
Europe’s soccer federation will not boycott meeting of world soccer body FIFA’s congress and presidential election in Zurich on Friday, Dutch federation president Michael van Praag said following a meeting of the European governing body.Honest Reporting: New York Times Deserves a Red Card
“There will be no UEFA boycott because there are also (apart from the presidential election) important issues to be decided like the Israel/Palestine question,” said van Praag on Thursday.
UEFA had said earlier in the day that it was considering boycotting the FIFA meeting, as anger grows over a massive bribery scandal that has rocked the organization. UEFA’s absence from the meeting could have hurt Israel’s chances to defeat a Palestinian bid to have it suspended in a vote.
With the arrest in Switzerland of senior officials from world soccer’s governing body FIFA, the corruption scandal now seems to have taken the spotlight from the Palestinian bid to have Israel and its national team suspended from the organization.Rajoub Lobbies Ministry Of Magic To Expel Israel From Quidditch Games (satire)
Here comes the New York Times to the rescue lest its readers forget about the Palestinian campaign. Just in time to give the Palestinian propaganda effort a shot in the arm, Palestinian soccer player Iyad Abu Gharqoud gets op-ed space to give Israel a kicking.
According to him:
Today, our players are frequently arrested and detained. Last year, two of our most talented young players were shot and wounded by Israeli forces at a checkpoint. The border police reported that the young men were about to throw a bomb; in fact, they were on their way home from training at our national stadium in the West Bank. According to The Nation, they were both shot in the feet, sustaining injuries that have ended their soccer careers.
Israel has also tried to block players from other countries from entering Palestine to play against us. And during last year’s Gaza conflict, Israeli jets bombed our soccer fields and recreational areas. Israel’s policies have succeeded in making the beautiful game ugly.
While Gharqoud references The Nation as the supposedly credible source for the story of the two players “shot in the feet,” the facts were comprehensively debunked by Elder of Ziyon last year as yet another piece of anti-Israel propaganda.
As for the charge that Israeli jets bombed soccer fields and recreational areas, it is hardly surprising considering Hamas terrorists have fired rockets into Israel from precisely those locations as this IDF graphic from the 2012 conflict illustrates.
Fresh from efforts to have FIFA members vote to exclude Israel from international football competition, Palestinian Minister of Sport has continued to use his office to create pressure on Israel in the sports world, this time attempting to convince authorities to ban Israel from Quidditch competitions.Sen. Graham vows he’d bid to halt funding for UN over Palestine state resolution
Rajoub has lobbied FIFA delegates intensively over the last several months in an effort to have Israel barred from FIFA events on grounds of violating Palestinian players’ rights. Israel denies any such policy, and accuses Rajoub and the Palestinian Authority of turning the sport into a political tool. Not content to restrict the isolation campaign to the Muggle world’s most popular sport, the minister has now met with several high-ranking Ministry of Magic officials to argue for Israel’s exclusion from the broom-mounted pastime of the wizarding community.
Israel has never fared well in international Quidditch play, but the move would carry immense political and diplomatic significance. Israeli sports officials have remained silent on the matter so far, but newly appointed Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev may no longer be able to publicly ignore the threat.
Until now, say analysts, refusing to give the Palestinian Quidditch boycott campaign any public attention has been the preferred approach, as it was assumed that reacting to it too soon would paint Israel as feeling threatened, and encourage further boycott campaigns of the same nature. However, the official silence failed to discourage Rajoub, who, through connections with his friend Lucius Malfoy, has the ear of several important Ministry of Magic figures.
A senior United States lawmaker and presidential hopeful on Wednesday threatened a “violent pushback” against any country that would support a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for Palestinian statehood. He also warned that a possible UN report likening alleged crimes against children by Israel and Boko Haram was an “outrage that would not go unanswered.”Former US peace negotiator: Obama’s errors have distanced peace
Speaking in Jerusalem, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also said he would work to suspend US funding to the UN in retaliation for such a resolution, and vowed there would be bipartisan opposition in Congress against UN action of this kind.
France has repeatedly announced its intention to propose a Security Council resolution that calls for the rapid creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital. It is expected to present such a resolution in the coming days.
“If there’s an effort by any nation to have the Security Council define the terms of the peace process, there will be a violent backlash from the United States Congress in a bipartisan fashion,” Graham told reporters at a press conference.
US President Barack Obama has made errors in his efforts to advance a diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians that have prevented an agreement from being reached, Clinton administration peace negotiator Dennis Ross said Tuesday.EU Calls for Peace Talks to Resume Immediately
Speaking to the Jerusalem-based English talk radio network VoiceofIsrael.com, Ross gave Obama credit for advancing Israel’s security but said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would be more sensitive to both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He echoed Clinton’s criticism of Obama’s approach on settlements.
“Insisting on a complete freeze, including natural growth, established an objective that no Israeli government had carried out,” Ross said. “Creating a standard that couldn’t be achieved gave the Palestinians an excuse to sit back and do nothing and say, Until you deliver that, there is nothing for us to do. That put us on the wrong path. I think it was a mistake, and it made it very difficult to do very much on the peace process.”
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called Wednesday on Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to resume peace negotiations, saying the situation on the ground was "not sustainable," according to AFP.Top French diplomat to visit region to jumpstart peace talks
Mogherini issued the remarks after eyewitnesses said the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out four strikes on terror targets in Gaza on
Wednesday, hours after terrorists launched five rockets at civilians in the Jewish state.
"We see the situation on the ground as not sustainable and (it is) an illusion to think the status quo is an option," Mogherini said at the opening of an annual meeting in Brussels of the donor coordination group for the Palestinian Arabs.
"As we have seen (in the) last hours on Gaza there is no status quo at all. If we don't have positive steps, we will have negative steps," said Mogherini, who last week travelled to the region to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA leaders.
France’s chief diplomat Laurent Fabius announced Thursday that he would return to Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian territories before the end of June in order to try pushing French proposals for the relaunch of peace negotiations.Tony Blair Stepping Down from Middle East 'Peace Quartet'
“France has made proposals and are going to continue [to do so]. I will go back by the end of the month [June],” Fabius said in a statement on France Inter Radio.
“I will be explaining with the leaders of the countries and territories that we want to resume negotiations between the two parties but that these negotiations would be defined by an international framework.”
Paris is trying to push a draft UN resolution which would revive the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that have been frozen since the failure of a US-mediated effort last spring, setting a timetable for an agreement.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday resigned as envoy of the Middle East Quartet diplomatic group after eight years in the job, his office said.Analysis: Forgotten facts and distorted history of the Mideast
"Tony Blair has tendered his resignation in a letter to (UN Secretary General) Ban Ki-moon," a spokeswoman for Blair told AFP.
Sources said Blair would officially step down next month.
The former prime minister will continue to work with "the US, the EU and others, without any formal role" to support efforts to bring about a two-state solution and will "remain active on the issues and in the region," a source said.
Reports emerged in March that he was set to leave due to unease in Washington and Europe over his poor relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA), although those claims were dismissed as "incorrect" by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
The Middle East is teetering on the brink. Iraq and Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen are fast disintegrating. Egypt is facing unprecedented unrest. What would be the fate of a small and weak new country? A country moreover that would be looking to expand eastwards to Jordan while nourishing the hope to somehow defeat Israel? Hamas and Islamic State, for their part, would do their utmost to take over the new country, throwing more fuel into the fire. Paradoxically, it would then force Israel to intervene... And what about Gaza? Will it still be preparing for another deadly onslaught on Israel?Barak: Israel should seriously consider unilateral disengagement from Palestinians
This does not mean a solution can not be found if the Palestinian leadership would acknowledge once and for all the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. But they steadfastly refuse to do so while busily promoting, with no little success, their own brand of distorted history denying the Jewish people any right to the Land of Israel. Israelis were so convinced that no one would believe such falsehoods that they were slow to react. And we now are facing a world where Palestinian leaders can talk of Jesus the Palestinian and a reputable newspaper such as France’s Le Monde can devote a full page to the “celebration of the first Christmas in liberated Bethlehem” when Israel granted autonomy to the Palestinian territories.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows how dangerous the creation of a Palestinian state today is but he has to take into account the relentless pressure of the UN, EU and US. He knows that only with an unrealistic agreement between Jordan and the Palestinians can a solution be found, with the tacit support of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Yet the West, which is so quick to condemn Netanyahu, needs to do some soul searching.
Instead of relentlessly pressuring Israel and Israel alone, it should exert is considerable influence on the other side as well. Historical and well-documented facts must be brought to the negotiating table. Israel has said many times that it would be ready to make painful compromises in order to achieve a just and lasting peace. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are busy demonizing the Jewish state, believing the West will do for them what their fellow Arabs failed to do in five successive wars.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that Israel should consider unilateral moves to disengage from the Palestinians in the event that efforts to relaunch negotiations with PA President Mahmoud Abbas should fail.Jordan Valley Council Head: Don't Say 'Settlement Bloc'
Speaking in an interview with Army Radio on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Barak said that such an effort to speak with Abbas must be made.
"I know Abu Mazen (Abbas) and his successors, and I say that we need to try to solve this with them, and if not - to seriously consider the unilateral steps required to create an irrevocable situation of disengagement from the Palestinians."
Barak said that such a plan would entail, "Marking a border inside of Israel that includes, of course, the settlement blocs and all of the neighborhoods in Jerusalem, as well as the military presence on the Jordan River in which we have had a Jewish majority for generations, which will answer our security concerns. And alongside this an independent Palestinian state will be established."
The term “settlement bloc” should be banned, at least in right-wing circles, according to David Elhiyani, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council.Hamas’ Haniyeh Boasts: A Million Israelis Were Sent Into Shock by Random Rocket
“I told my friends in the Likud that this terms fosters the delegitimization of communities in Judea and Samaria and in the Jordan Valley which are outside the borders of these designated areas,” he said.
“Elon Moreh, a town that was established by the government of Israel like all the other ones in Judea and Samaria, is outside a 'bloc.' Does this make it any less legitimate?”
Elhiyani was speaking to Arutz Sheva in the wake of reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was ready to revive the idea of the settlement blocs as a basis for a deal with the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh boasted on Wednesday that “a million Israelis went into shock” over the latest rocket attack by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip.IDF Deploys Mortar Shell Alert System Along Southern Border
Haniyeh’s comment came after the Israeli Air Force struck multiple targets in Gaza in response to the rocket that exploded near the town of Gan Yavne in southern Israel.
The Hamas leader claimed Israel’s threats of retaliation did not frighten the Palestinian people, and that the calculus of deterrence weighed against Israel, rather than Hamas.
Haniyeh made his comments during a welcoming ceremony for fellow Hamas leaders Mousa Abu Marzouk, who resides in Egypt, and Imad Al-Amali, who was recently reported to be living in Turkey.
The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday the deployment of a tactical radar system in southern Israel, designed to warn residents of incoming mortar attacks from the Gaza Strip.Justice minister renews bid to lock up rock throwers for 20 years
The system has so far been installed in several communities along the Israel-Gaza border, and the IDF believes the installation will be completed by September. The decision to deploy the system followed IDF assessments suggesting the next conflict with Gaza-based terrorist groups will see them targeting border-adjacent communities with short-range projectiles.
The IDF believes the terrorist groups operating in Gaza understand that while the Iron Dome missile defense system can intercept 90 percent of the projectiles fired at populated areas in Israel, it has struggled to neutralize mortar shells, which have a range of up to 1 kilometer (six-tenths of a mile).
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked reintroduced a draft law Thursday that would extend the maximum sentence for stone throwers in Israel to 20 years and also alleviate the burden on the state to prove “intent to harm” during prosecution.IsraellyCool: Terror-ble Palestinian Kindergarten Plays
The legislation is the first major move by the new justice minister, seeking to put a measure back on track that was okayed by the cabinet last year but failed to become law.
Currently, convicted stone throwers generally receive only up to two years’ jail time.
That gap, explained a written draft from Shaked’s office, demonstrated a need for new legislative action because current sentences do not properly reflect the actual severity of the crime.
A couple of days ago I posted about the Palestinian Islamic Jihad themed Kindergarten play in Gaza, thinking it was a unique display of sickening indoctrination.Hamas blasts 'unfair' Amnesty report alleging war crimes in Gaza
I was wrong.
The following video was posted on a Palestinian group‘s Facebook page, soon thereafter saved and reuploaded by the user “Arabist” before it was deleted by the source. “Arabist” writes:
A bit of “optimism”
A video taken today in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem: The final minutes of a kindergarten play before the summer break. In the scene, a Palestinian child is pointing at a different kid in exchange for receiving money from an IDF soldier. After the soldier shoots and kills one of the kids, the others recite Islamic and nationalistic texts, as well as text against collaborators who betray Palestine out of greed. At the end of the clip, the children raise pictures of senior Palestinin prisoners like Abbas a-Sayyid, planner of the “Park Hotel” Passover massacre, and Marwan Barghouti, leader of al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades sentenced to 5 life terms.
The Hamas Interior Ministry condemned the report, which was released for publication early Wednesday. “The report was based on sensationalism and exaggeration of a few incidents that took place under unusual circumstances during the Israeli aggression,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Eyad al-Bazm. “This is an unprofessional report.”Hamas Changes Relationship Status with Amnesty International to “It’s Complicated” (satire)
Al-Bazm said that Hamas is prepared to cooperate with local and international human rights organizations wishing to investigate the situation in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas representative Mohamed Faraj al-Ghul also blasted the Amnesty report, which accused his movement of carrying out summary executions of “collaborators” during last year’s war.
Al-Ghul described the report as “unlawful and biased in favor of Israeli occupation.”
He claimed that the report was “lacking in transparency and objectivity,” adding that it was also full of distortions because it “blames the victims, who are the Palestinian people.”
Reacting to Amnesty International’s release of a report this past March indicating that the Gaza terror organization actually killed more Palestinians civilians than Israeli civilians (clearly illustrated in the image above) during the 2014 conflict, a shocked and disappointed Hamas has change its relationship status with the human rights monitor to “it’s complicated.”JCPA: Tension between Iran and Islamic Jihad in Gaza
A bewildered and visibly distraught Hamas commented “For years we’ve felt that we could really count on Amnesty. Whether we were blowing up busses or children’s birthday parties, torturing dissidents or using aid money to build terror tunnels, Amnesty International always had our back. They’d always explain why it was Israel’s fault. I mean we’ve been killing Palestinians for years. Amnesty always just, you know, looked the other way.” After several sobs, Hamas explained, “now all of sudden Amnesty cares about facts! Everyone knows that facts are a Zionist invention! I ask you, where’s the loyalty? I guess at least we’ll always have the BBC.”
On the bright side, sources reveal that Hamas’s new relationship status has encouraged other potential suitors. Human Rights Watch has posted “thinking of you” with a sexy winking emoji on Hamas’s Facebook page. Meanwhile, The Israeli Daily (TID) learned that The Carter Center has sent Hamas ten copies of their favorite book – The Protocols of The Elders of Zion – along with an encouraging poster of a kitten hanging onto a tree limb. Some sources report that the kitten is dressed in a suicide vest.
Iran is pursuing a policy of “money talks,” and having failed to dictate its position on Syria and Yemen to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, it has been sanctioning them by withholding funds essential to their activity.Hamas Songwriter Scores Gig As Bar Mitzva DJ (satire)
On May 19 the east Jerusalem newspaper Al-Quds reported that the leader of Islamic Jihad had recently visited Tehran several times in an attempt to resolve the crisis, and that Hizbullah had tried to mediate – but to no avail because Islamic Jihad wants to maintain a neutral stance toward the Yemeni crisis.
The halting of Iran’s financial assistance, if it continues over time, could severely hamstring the organization. Whereas Hamas has other sources of income, such as the taxes it levies in Gaza, Islamic Jihad is completely dependent on Iranian money for its existence.
Iran is possibly punishing the organization to teach it a lesson. In the long term, Iran needs Islamic Jihad; it cannot allow itself to lose a military force that directly threatens Israel and is subservient to Iran’s will.
Al-Julsun is nervous as the first of the three engagements approaches next Thursday. “Obviously I’m going to open with one of the two familiar numbers they already know, but I’m on edge because they’ve never heard my other stuff,” he confessed. He plans to use at least two other songs that did not make it through Hamas’s editorial vetting process.Saudi Arabia sanctions alleged Hezbollah leaders
The first of which uses photographs of dead children from the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts to warn Israel not to mess with Hamas. It was nixed by Al-Julsun’s superiors because they were reserving those images for an extensive social media campaign in which those children’s images would be portrayed as having occurred under Israeli bombardment.
Al-Julsun’s other offering was planned with an accompanying animation sequence involving cars that run down Israelis, but the animators were killed by a Hamas rocket that landed short.
Three songs are obviously not sufficient to keep a party going for several hours, so Al-Julsun plans to make heavy use of older tunes with which audience might not be familiar. “I just discovered a whole trove of relatively obscure neo-Nazi bands from the seventies and eighties, with a great sound,” he gushed. “Can’t wait to share that with my audience as well. We apparently appreciate the same kinds of things.”
Still, Al-Julsun is unsure how well he will perform. “I might just bomb,” he said. “But that I’m used to.”
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced sanctions against two alleged leaders of Lebanon’s powerful Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, including one it accused of “interfering” in Yemen.
Tensions between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Shiite Iran have risen since late March when a Riyadh-led coalition began bombing Iran-backed Houthi Shiite rebels in neighboring Yemen.
Iran provides military aid and support to Hezbollah, which backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad while Riyadh supports Sunni-led rebels in Syria.
Iran denies arming Yemen’s Houthis.
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the two individuals sanctioned by the kingdom were “responsible for activities ranging from supporting the Assad regime in Syria, including by sending fighters, paying sums of money to different factions in Yemen and to military leaders responsible for terrorist attacks in the Middle East.”
