Thursday, September 10, 2015
Netanyahu: ‘Tyrant’ Khamenei is wrong, Israel is here to stay
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed comments by the Iranian supreme leader that Israel will have ceased to exist in 25 years, vowing the Jewish state is here to stay. The prime minister said remarks by the “tyrant” supreme leader left no “room for illusion” for supporters of the nuclear deal.House Republicans will move to stop Iran deal vote clock
“Khamenei is not giving supporters of the agreement any room for illusion. He has made it clear that the US is the Great Satan and that Iran intends to destroy the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said after landing in London for talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron. “This will not happen. Israel is a strong country and it will become even stronger.”
The prime minister said the international community must band together to fight Iran’s “terrorism and aggression.
“However, the conclusion that arises from the remarks of the tyrant in Tehran is that all responsible countries must cooperate in order to stop Iran’s terrorism and aggression which, to my regret, will only increase as a result of the agreement,” said Netanyahu.
House Republicans have agreed on a new strategy to stop the clock on Congress' review period for the Iran nuclear deal.Anti-Semitism in London, absolutely shameful
Instead of proceeding with a resolution disapproving of the deal— certain to pass the House but facing procedural hurdles in the Senate— the GOP will now try to prevent implementation of the deal on legal grounds.
On Friday, September 11, the caucus will express a 'sense of the House' resolution asserting that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action— the formal name for the agreement— was not fully submitted to Congress by the Obama administration back in July. If accurate, this would stop the clock, as Congress' review period only begins once all documents related to the deal have been submitted.
"The House is going to make it very clear that without the [International Atomic Energy Agency] disclosures, the clock hasn't started," Rep. Peter Roskam, Republican from Illinois, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday evening, referring to agreements tangential to the JCPOA between the UN nuclear watchdog agency and Tehran.
Speaker of the House John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, has agreed to the plan, Roskam said.
With this new strategy, Roksam said, "the president is denied the ability to say that he's fully complied under the law."
It is 09/09/2015. In the Middle East, millions are oppressed by their own leaders, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and untold numbers are still making their escape. Today the democratically elected leader of the only nation in the Middle East that provides freedom and protection for all its citizens came to visit the UK, and in London, at the very heart of the British democratic system, there was a protest. This protest was not about Syria, nor Iraq, it was not about ISIS, Libya, Yemen or Iran. It was a protest that waved the flags of Hizbullah and Hamas, the flags of proscribed terrorist organisations; this was a protest against the democratic State of Israel.
The people behind this protest are from groups like the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) and the ludicrously named ‘Stop the War coalition’, the backbone of BDS in the UK; these are the activists, the hard core; these are the ones handing out leaflets, trying to persuade others to join, disseminating disinformation on campus and whipping up the hatred against Israel. And they come to London with Hizbullah and Hamas flags in their hand. When the mask slips, it is important to memorise what you saw behind it.
If anyone is in any doubt, it is worth viewing some of the footage taken from the protest.
Pro-Palestinian Activist Calls for Second Holocaust
Pro-Israel campaigners are no strangers to anti-Semitic abuse, particularly when countering anti-Israel rallies like the one which took place Wednesday in central London, as anti-Zionists protested a visit to the UK by Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu.
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters called for Netanyahu to be arrested and the Jewish state destroyed, with several flying the flag of the Shia Islamist Hezbollah - a proscribed terrorist group in the UK.
But this time, some of the abuse was particularly open, with one woman caught on camera openly calling for the genocide of all "six million Jews" in Israel.
Anti-hate campaigners have appealed for help in identifying the woman.
Apart from that incident, several scuffles developed between the sides, and an anti-Israel demonstrator was arrested for hurling anti-Semitic abuse.
IsraellyCool: Antisemite Of The Day: Pamela Hardyment
She’s the woman who appears in the video I posted yesterday, calling for the genocide of Israel’s Jews and denying the Holocaust.Anti-Israel Protester Tells Jews: 'You Only Understand Money'
Her name is Pamela Hardyment, and she has a history of antisemitism as a simple Google search will reveal.
In her LinkedIn profile, she describes herself as ” Creative. Writer. Poet. Facilitator,” and is currently the Arts Editor at The Palestine Telegraph. She is also a member of the National Union of Journalists.
Interestingly enough, she spent 1977-1985 as Editor for Jay Landesman Publishers. This obituary for Landesman refers to her as “his devoted amanuensis” (which is a fancy word for secretary). And why is this so interesting?
Landesman was born in St Louis, Missouri, the son of an immigrant Jewish artist from Berlin and a mother who ran an antique gallery
In other words, this Holocaust denying antisemite used to be a devoted employee of a Jew whose parents escaped the Holocaust! And there is no indication Landesman himself became anti-Israel or self-hating in any way to influence Hardyment. (Here’s another interesting factoid: Journalist Julie Burchill, who is very pro-Jewish and pro-Israel, used to be Jay Landeman’s daughter-in-law).
More evidence is emerging of the shocking levels of anti-Semitism exhibited by pro-Palestinian demonstrators at yesterday's protest against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit to London.
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters were calling for Netanyahu's arrest, and were met by a smaller pro-Israel counter demonstration, which also consisted of several hundred.
In one incident, a man is seen proudly responding to accusations by Israel supporters that he "hates Jews" by openly evoking anti-Semitic stereotypes, taunting Jewish activists by waving coins, jeering and shouting "you only understand money!"
The man was arrested by police soon after for suspected hate crime offenses.
The PSC stage another hatred rally in London
The PSC won’t give a damn about any of this. Don’t believe any weasel words. What you see above is the PSC in action on a normal day.No BBC coverage of antisemitism at event organised by its most promoted NGO
Why should it care anyway – its leaders have made the pilgrimage to Hamas in Gaza and are themselves inveterate haters. Here Sarah Colborne and Hugh Lanning meet Haniyeh in the company of key Hamas UK operatives. Oh joy, aren’t we all so happy!
Moreover, all of this has long been just fine by Labour. Many of its MPs are keen to work with the PSC, including inviting it to Parliament.
No prizes for guessing that one of the most enthusiastic of all is PSC patron Jeremy Corbyn.
An anti-Israel demonstration which took place in the heart of London on September 9th, ostensibly to protest a two-day visit to the UK by the Israeli prime minister, received no coverage on the BBC News website on the day that it took place.Netanyahu to British Jews: Don't Apologize
That editorial decision is all the more interesting when one considers that the Palestine Solidarity Campaign – which organised the protest – and some of its supporting groups are not infrequently promoted on BBC platforms.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign was in fact the non-Israeli NGO most promoted in BBC Israel-related content during 2014. Only recently BBC audiences saw coverage of another event organised, among others, by the PSC, the Stop the War Coalition and Friends of Al Aqsa. FoAA’s Ismail Patel has appeared on various BBC programmes, as have the spokesperson for ‘War on Want’ and representatives of FOSIS.
It would therefore have been relevant for audiences to be made aware of the fact that an event organised by groups to which the BBC frequently gives a platform was marked by hate speech, antisemitism and support for terrorism.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening met in London with leaders of the British Jewish community, urging them to stand up to attempts to boycott and delegitimize Israel.The Culmination of Obama’s Indulgent Foreign Policy
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and community leaders welcomed Netanyahu and his wife, Sarah, and presented them with the difficulties and challenges they face as they fight the attempts to delegitimize the Jewish state.
Among those present was Hannah Brady, President of the British Union of Jewish Students (UJS). Brady described how the Jewish students, in collaboration with other organizations, have been fighting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, noting that BDS has a presence in only about 5% of the campuses in the UK.
Netanyahu responded by saying, “You must attack back. Do not apologize. This is an important fight for public opinion, and should be done with determination while sounding a clear voice that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, and at the forefront of the fight against extremist Islam.”
Two years ago tomorrow, President Barack Obama delivered a rare address to the American people in prime time. It had been over one year since he had drawn his “red line” for action in Syria, and the last month of headlines were dominated by the news that it was being flagrantly and systematically violated. Chemical weapons were being deliberately dropped on civilians and rebel targets in Syria; the horrible images that emerged from that scene of death and the terrible precedent that was being set finally compelled Obama to action. His administration spent the preceding weeks feebly drumming up support both at home and abroad for intervention, but it was clear that there was no appetite for another war – even one as noble as that which Bashar al-Assad invited. Rather than make the case for American leadership that night, President Barack Obama took an off-ramp. He opted for a way out of his obligation to enforce international norms and his own self-imposed imperatives. It was a shortsighted approach to a crisis, and only serviced Obama’s own narrow, parochial political interests. Today, the fruits of that ill-conceived policy are more grave than anyone could have imagined.Iran sends hundreds of fighters to back Assad in Syria, says Israel
On the night of September 10, 2013, President Obama spent the majority of his address to the American public making a prosecutorial case in favor of the need for intervention against Assad’s criminal regime. Then, veering bizarrely off course, the president informed the nation that Moscow had generously provided him with a way to avoid making good on this commitment to American military action.
“In part because of the credible threat of U.S. military action, as well as constructive talks that I had with President Putin, the Russian government has indicated a willingness to join with the international community in pushing Assad to give up his chemical weapons,” the president insisted. “It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad’s strongest allies.”
It was a fateful decision. Vladimir Putin’s interest in preserving his client in Damascus, and Russia’s access to its last post-Soviet port on the Mediterranean at Tartus, was entirely strategic. Assad never fully surrendered his chemical weapons stockpile, as United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power confessed last October. The Syrian civil war raged on and spawning the creation of the Islamic State, which would spill over the border into Iraq and spread across the region only a handful of months later.
Iran has deployed hundreds of fighters in Syria, unprecedentedly deepening its involvement on behalf of President Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war, Israeli security officials said Thursday.Concerned Iranians: Open Letter on the 'Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action'
The officials, who briefed Israeli reporters, said several hundred fighters from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps have taken up positions around the western Syrian village of Zabadani, north of Damascus, in the last few days. The high ground in that area, close to the Lebanon border, overlooks the Damascus-Beirut highway, and potentially controls large parts of Lebanon. Were Islamic State forces and other opponents of Assad to hold control there, they would also potentially be able to target Alawite forces loyal to Assad concentrated along the Syrian coast, Channel 2 reported.
The move is seen by Israel as a dramatic escalation of Iranian involvement in the Syrian civil war, the sources said. Iran has previously sent military advisers to help Assad, and the Iran-armed Lebanese Hezbollah militia has been fighting alongside Assad and sustaining significant losses.
Israel does not intend to intervene at this stage, Channel 2 said, but would do so if it saw a direct threat, and if weaponry were transferred from Syria to Hezbollah in south Lebanon.
Several Western media reports have said Iran sent troops to Syria on other occasions in the past three years. In May 2014, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps appeared to admit the presence of Iranian soldiers in Syria.
ConclusionDemocratic Congressman Announces Opposition to Iran Deal with 23-Page Analysis
The alternative to JCPOA is not war – it is support for the establishment of a secular and democratic rule in Iran. It is investing in the will of a nation tired of living under a religious tyranny as demonstrated during summer of 2009, after the disputed presidential elections and before it was brutally beaten into silence. It is thinking strategically and long term. For Iranians the road to democracy, respect for the rule of law, justice and human rights is full of obstacles not least because of deals with the regime such as JCPOA with its bountiful rewards. A secular and democratic Iran will prosper, benefit its people and will be an effective positive ally in regional peace and security.
Can the Islamic regime with its feuding factions, military ambitions of the Sepah Pasdaran and history of deceit and lying to its own people and the international community be trusted? Due to the deceitful, untrustworthy and adventurous nature of the Islamic regime, as Iranians working towards a better future for Iran, our unequivocal and expressed concern remains that even with the implementation of JCPOA the threat of war, military action and sanctions will not been removed. To reiterate, we do not believe that the JCPOA will realise the desired objectives either for the Iranian people or the global community.
During the US hostage crisis President Carter made the mistake of negotiating with the government. Thirty seven years later let us not make the same mistake.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D – Calif.), an Air Force veteran and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran today in a detailed 23-page press release.Former European Leaders: Congress Should “Say No” To Bad Nuclear Deal With Iran
Lieu stated that his opposition to the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), comes from one of his “guiding principles” of avoiding war. “I have concluded the JCPOA increases the chances of more regional conflict and US entanglement in the Middle East in the short term, and a lengthy, difficult and more deadly war with Iran in the long term ” Lieu stated. He then laid out how he expects the terms of the JCPOA to play out over the next 15 years.
Lieu’s analysis led him to conclude that there would be “existential consequences to the US if Iran simply followed the JCPOA for fifteen years. If Iran were to cheat, then the potential existential threat to America would occur sooner.”
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning former First Minister of Northern Ireland and the former Prime Minister of Spain called on Congress to reject the nuclear deal with Iran in an op-ed published Tuesday in The Hill.New App Lets Users Demand Halt to Iranian Funding With One Click
David Trimble and Jose Maria Aznar argued that the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), merely postpones Iran’s nuclear ambitions without curtailing Iran’s “malignant activities.”
Trimble and Aznar observed that the JCPOA seems to “rely on the naïve believe that the Iranian regime will moderate after sanctions are lifted.” But in the 1990s, when Europe increased commercial ties with Tehran, the Iranian regime used their newfound wealth “to fund terrorism, an illicit nuclear program and violent repression at home.”
A new mobile app from the Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center allows users to reach out to members of the U.S. Congress via Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter with a single click in order to demand that American lawmakers halt the flow of up to $150 billion in sanctions relief to Iran through the nuclear deal.Legal Insurrection: Protesting the Iran Nuclear Deal
The smartphone initiative is part of an online campaign launched by Shurat HaDin that has already garnered half a million views on Facebook and YouTube. The campaign is based on a video clip in which terrorists ask the American public to approve the nuclear deal so that Iran can receive the windfall of unfrozen funds to support the execution of terrorist attacks.
Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the head of Shurat HaDin, said that “every citizen of Israel, the United States, and the countries of the free world should open the app and demand that the senators not transfer the promised billions to Iran.”
Today I attended the much-anticipated Cruz-Trump Iran deal protest on Capitol Hill. It was a scorcher—97 degrees when I finally surrendered to an air conditioned cab—but the rally boasted an impressive turnout.At anti-Iran deal rally, Cruz targets Republican leadership
The crowd, for the most part, was focused on protesting not only the specific Iranian nuclear deal, but the path down which Obama’s foreign policy has taken us. 100% of the attendees I talked to see the deal as one more foolish, stupid, naive move by the Obama Administration. For most, opposition was apolitical; I spoke to many people who were grateful for the protest votes of Chuck Schumer and other Democrats, even if those announcements came too little and too late to give the White House pause.
These signs were floating around everywhere, and for the most part sum up the mood in the crowd:
JoAnn Abbott, an organizer of the 2009 tax day tea party rally in Washington, DC, came to today’s rally because, as she put it, “I have grandchildren I want to see grow up.”
Gathered outside the steps of the Capitol under a blazing sun, a coalition of right-wing organizations gathered to oppose the Iran deal, but while the rhetoric against President Barack Obama blazed as hot as the sun, speakers and audience members spared little vitriol for the Republican leaders in Congress.Breitbart’s Joel Pollak at Stop Iran Rally: ‘We the People Say No’
Three Republican presidential candidates — Senator Ted Cruz, mogul Donald Trump and former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore — all took the stage to condemn the nuclear agreement, but speakers also accused the Republican leadership of tacitly giving in to the administration.
Hundreds of attendees displayed a wide assortment of signs, including one that read “Boehner McConnell — Repugnicant Traitors.” Others wore Revolutionary War garb, carrying the yellow “Don’t tread on me” banner, which has come to symbolize the Tea Party movement; and another carried a shofar, which he trumpeted in support of the speakers.Cruz greeted the audience in his shirtsleeves to loud applause, telling them that they were facing “a lawless president.”Cruz warned businesses that “if this president behaves illegally and says you can hand this money over to Iran — that does not exempt you from having to uphold the law.” US banks, he said, would be subject to “billions of dollars in civil liabilities and litigation” if they facilitate trade with Iran under what Cruz described as an illegitimate agreement.
Breitbart News Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak delivered a powerful speech on Wednesday at the Tea Party-sponsored Stop Iran Rally in the nation’s capitol, imploring and encouraging the American people to remain valiant in their opposition to President Barack Obama’s flawed nuclear deal with Iran.Anne Bayefsky: Stop the Iran Deal Rally, Capitol Hill
“Happy Jewish New Year to the Tea Party” Pollak said after he blew the shofar (ram’s horn), signifying the start of Rosh Hashanah, which will be celebrated by Jewish people all over the world starting this weekend. Pollak joined Donald Trump, Sen. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sarah Palin, Mark R. Levin, Glenn Beck, and many other powerful political figures who are rising up against the troublesome deal.
IAEA to Consult Iran over Nuclear Deal 'Ambiguities'
The accord is aimed at ending a 13-year standoff by making it extremely difficult for Iran to develop nuclear weapons, an aim strenuously denied by Tehran.Amb. Shapiro: Iran Deal Shows US Learned Lessons of 9/11
But separately, the IAEA also wants to probe allegations that at least until 2003, Iran's nuclear program had "possible military dimensions" - in other words, that it conducted research into making a nuclear weapon.
To this end, Iran and the agency agreed to a "road map" - also on July 14 - with the aim of the IAEA being to complete all meetings and visits in its investigation by October 15 and to issue a final report by December 15.
Iran provided the IAEA with a dossier of information on August 15 that included "explanations in writing, and related documents," according to the agency.
Neither Tehran nor the IAEA have given any more details on the information provided, other than agency chief Yukiya Amano saying it was a "substantive volume" of material.
An IAEA spokesman told AFP on Wednesday that the agency has conducted a "rigorous and thorough review of the information" provided by Iran.
To gain perspective on the attacks, Arutz Sheva spoke with US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro at a special memorial ceremony in Beit Zayit (outside of Jerusalem) on Thursday.The Iran Deal: A Turning Point in American-Jewish Support for Israel?
"I think the agreement with Iran will actually help us pursue the lesson of 9/11," Shapiro insisted. "The agreement with Iran will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."
"That's the most dangerous threat, and once we remove that threat from the table, that allows us to fight even harder, and to counter other Iranian threats - the support for terrorist organizations, the provision of weapons to Hezbollah [...] the threats against Israel," he continued, adding that the deal provides a "safer environment" to achieve those goals.
Despite tensions between the US and Israel following the deal, Shapiro also maintained that the Washington-Jerusalem relationship is "stronger than ever."
As The New York Observer reported, Senator Cory Booker is hosting an “emergency summit” this week with wealthy Jews who back him – this, after Booker decided to support President Obama’s deal with Iran.Report: Saudi Arabia Planning New Canal to Bypass Iran-Controlled Strait of Hormuz
Rather than shunning and shaming Booker, many of his supporters will rationalize why Jews should stand with him. The same thing happened with Congressman Jerry Nadler.
The reality is that Israel is alone in the world.
The state of Israel – across the political spectrum – appealed to American Jews to help fight the Iran deal. And the American-Jewish community failed it miserably.
I reckon this is a turning point, much like when the Oslo Accords were debated and then signed. Twenty years later, the Oslo Accords. which led to much death and destruction, are seen as a horrible failure. The Israeli peace camp is in complete disarray, and the Right has been in power for a very long time.
A mere 70 years after the end of the Holocaust, American Jewry rejected the appeal for help from the Jewish state. What a sad state of affairs. A liberal American-Jewish community has abandoned Israel. AIPAC and the Israel lobby have been weakened irreconcilably.
Saudi Arabia is planning to build a canal in Yemen to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report in Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency on Wednesday.Saudi General and Adviser to King Salman: I am Committed to Peace With Israel, and We Need Netanyahu
According to Sa’ad Ibn Omar, head of the Arab Studies Center in Riyadh, “Studies are underway on the construction of a waterway which starts from a part of Saudi Arabia’s water border in the Khour al-Adid area between the UAE and Qatar and stretches 950 km to the Arabian Sea.”
Omar said the purpose of the waterway, to be named the Salman Canal (after the king), is to enable the UAE and Kuwait to bypass the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz when exporting their oil to other countries.
Anwar Ashki, one of the new Saudi king’s closest advisers, is the director of the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies in Jeddah. He is the man through whom Saudi Arabia and Israel are currently conducting talks.Terror cell behind Duma attack 'goes way beyond Price Tag activists'
Ashki said that peace between Israelis and Palestinians has failed until now, because no plans were made to implement peace. This, he said, is a reason for the failure of Saudi Arabia’s own 2002 peace proposal.
He also voiced positive views of Netanyahu, saying the Israeli leader is the key to establishing peace.
“We need Mr. Netanyahu, because he is a strong man, and he is a logical man. We need him to announce and accept a peace proposal.”
In contrast, Ashki expressed concern over Iran and its regional expansionism.
“Iran, thinking about the revival of the Persian Empire, are [sic] out to expand to Iraq and Syria until they reach to the Mediterranean, from which point they’ll set their sights onto Egypt and Europe. This is just a dream. Their methods for realizing their goals is destabilizing the area, and they can’t control all the havoc they have wreaked in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon etc,” he said.
A Jewish terrorist cell that carried out the deadly arson attack on a Palestinian home in the village of Duma in August is a significantly bigger threat than 'Price Tag' far right activists, and is not connected to hilltop youths that routinely spray paint hate messages, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Thursday, in the most revealing remarks made by an official representative on the matter.Defense minister denies Israel knows who killed the Dawabshas
"Their aim is to cause a flare up in the security situation on the ground," Ya'alon told reporters during a meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. "We decided that administrative attention and banning orders [restricting access to the West Bank] are the steps we need to take, so that there will be no more terrorist attacks," he added.
A media ban is in place prohibiting the publication of specific details from the investigation into the firebombing.
Conceding that administrative arrests are "draconian," Ya'alon said the security establishment had little choice in the matter as its top priority is preventing further loss of life and a deterioration in the security situation.
"We believe we know who carried out the attacks," Ya'alon said.
On Thursday morning, Ya’alon was quoted as saying that security forces knew the identities of the attackers, but had refrained from charging them for fear of exposing intelligence sources.Three Firebombs at Jewish Home in Southern Jerusalem
The widely reported remarks were allegedly made during a meeting with young members of the Likud party ahead of the upcoming Jewish High Holidays.
During Ya’alon’s later briefing with reporters he dismissed the remarks attributed to him, asserting that the exact identities of the perpetrators were not yet known. However, he added, “we have some general ideas of who carried out the attacks.
“That’s why we’ve carried out administrative detentions and signed restraining orders — to prevent more incidents,” Ya’alon said.
The ongoing Arab terror war against Jews took the form of three firebombs that were thrown at Liora Goldman's home in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of south-eastern Jerusalem, before dawn on Thursday.Vanunu, ex-nuclear whistleblower, arrested for giving TV interview
Goldman took Arutz Sheva on a tour of her home, at Meir Nakar Street. Homes along the street have been hit by dozens of firebombs in recent weeks – at least 24 in the past month alone, she said – thrown by residents of the adjoining Arab neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber.
"Leave this home? No way, no chance,” she said. “This is my home and my homeland and I am not moving from here,” she said. “It's true that the firebombs and rocks are being thrown at us to make us flee. But they need to learn to live with us in coexistence.”
"What happened last night was attempted murder,” she said. “I mean, they are not trying to help us paint our walls black... they are trying to kill us. It is an unacceptable situation, for there to be terror in the center of Jerusalem, and for soldiers to be guarding us. Where is the government? Where is the Minister for Internal Security? Where is the police? No one cares about us.”
Mordechai Vanunu, the former nuclear technician at Dimona who served an 18-year prison sentence for revealing information about Israel's clandestine atomic program in 1986, was arrested early Thursday for allegedly violating the terms of his release during his interview last week with Channel 2 news.Expert: Interaction with Israel has moderated Jerusalem Arabs
Later Thursday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court released Vanunu to house arrest for seven days with a complete blackout order on speaking to the press, while the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and police investigate whether he illegally discussed aspects of the atomic program in his conversations with Channel 2.
Despite the court order, he emerged from the hearing telling the press outside the courtroom that he charged State Attorney Shai Nitzan with “abusing him.”
Also, on Thursday Channel 2 filed a motion with the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court seeking to cancel the court’s earlier order for Channel 2 to hand over all of its material related to the interview, including footage which was not aired.
Arab residents of Jerusalem are significantly more conciliatory to Israel than their counterparts in the West Bank and Gaza, a recent poll has found, leading its author to conclude that interaction with Israeli society has a dramatic moderating effect.U.S. Hits Hamas Officials, Company with Sanctions
The poll’s findings continue a trend of positivity toward Israel among Jerusalem Palestinians observed in two previous polls conducted by the Washington Institute in 2010 and 2011, and cited by Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat as proof of the need to keep Jerusalem united under Israeli sovereignty.But it is not only on practical issues, such as citizenship, where Jerusalem Arabs diverged from their West Bank and Gaza counterparts. Indeed, the poll found significant differences between the two groups on softer issues pertaining to recognition of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, a long-time demand of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
David Pollock, a Kaufman Fellow at the Washington Institute who constructed the poll, said the findings were all the more dramatic given the uptick in violence between Jews and Arabs in the city last summer, and the construction of the security barrier, physically separating an estimated 80,000 Palestinians from the rest of Jerusalem.“Jerusalem Palestinians have learned to understand the reality and even the legitimacy of Israel,” Pollock said during a presentation of his data at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies on Tuesday. “These people have day to day contact with Israel and Israelis and derive some benefit from that and not just trouble,” he said.“Working together, over time, tends to produce more moderate attitudes,” Pollock added.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned four Hamas officials and financiers and a Saudi Arabia-based company controlled by one of them for providing financial support to the Palestinian militant group.Hamas Chief Holds Press Conference At Four Seasons Hotel
Among those named by the Treasury Department were Salih al-Aruri, a Hamas political bureau member who it said was responsible for Hamas money transfers, and Mahir Salah, a Hamas financier based in Saudi Arabia and dual British and Jordanian citizen who Treasury said leads the Hamas Finance Committee in Saudi Arabia.
Also named were Abu Ubaydah Khayri Hafiz al-Agha, a Saudi Arabian citizen, and Mohammed Reda Mohammed Anwar Awad, an Egyptian national.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned Asyaf International Holding Group for Trading and Investment, a Saudi Arabia-based company that it said is managed by al-Agha and used to finance Hamas.
The Four Seasons hotel chain has come under fire for hosting a press conference this week in Doha, Qatar, by a top Hamas official who called for armed resistance “in all its forms” against Israel, according to a copy of the invitation for the event and video of the press conference.Qatar to Build Gas Pipeline to Gaza
Khaled Meshaal, a senior Hamas leader who is designated by the United States as a terrorist, rallied against Israel during remarks at the Four Seasons in Doha, raising questions about whether the prominent hotel chain could be in violation of U.S. laws barring material support to terrorist groups.
Izat Arashaq, a Senior Hamas official, publicized the event earlier this week on Twitter, sending out an invitation to the event in Arabic.
The tweet included “an invitation to attend and to cover the press conference of the brother Khaled Meshaal , vice president of the politburo for the Islamic Resistance movement (Hamas),” according to an independent translation.
The notice touts the event as being held in a ballroom at “the Four Seasons Hotel, Doha.”
A long-rumored gas pipline to Gaza got a go-ahead Thursday, as Qatar's Chairman of the Committee to Rehabilitate Gaza, Mohammed al-Amadi, said that a deal to build the pipeline to bring gas from Mediterranean fields to Gaza had been finalized. The plan is awaiting Israel's approval. Israel has not opposed the discussions between Qatar and the Palestinian Authority.In Egypt, Muslim Soldiers Slaughtering Their Fellow Christian Platoon Mates
The project was first announced last June when Hamas deputy politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh said that Israel had agreed to providing a gas pipeline to Gaza's power plant, which has been shut down on numerous occasions. Haniyeh said at the time that Israel had agreed to an arrangement by which it will provide gas to the local power plant, with several methods of moving the gas to Gaza being considered.
The gas will come from two areas in the Mediterranean the PA has claimed as belonging to it, due to its location in what it claims as Gaza's territorial water. The gas is being drawn out of its underground depository via two wells, which were developed in 1999 with the approval of Israel.
On August 23, a Coptic Christian soldier was killed in his army unit in Egypt. Baha Saeed Karam, 22, was found with four bullet wounds at the headquarters of his battalion in Marsa Matruh. Although transferred to a hospital in Alexandria, he was pronounced dead upon arrival.Qaeda Leader: ISIS is 'Illegitimate' - But we Might Work with It
According to Baha’s brother Cyril, the Coptic soldier had recently told him that he had gotten into arguments with other Muslim soldiers in his unit, and that one had threatened him with death.
Baha is certainly not the first Coptic Christian serving in his country’s military to be killed over religion.
Only two months earlier, on June 24, Bahaa Gamal Mikhail Silvanus, a 23-year-old conscript, was found sitting dead in a chair with two bullet wounds in his chest and a gun at his feet. Relatives who later saw the body said he also had wounds atop his head, as if he had been bludgeoned with an object.
The military’s official position was that the Copt committed suicide — despite the fact that suicides are rarely able to shoot themselves twice, or first hit themselves atop the head with blunt objects. (h/t MtTB)
The leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, Ayman al-Zawahiri, on Wednesday said that rival group Islamic State (ISIS) and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi are “illegitimate”, but also said his followers would join them in fighting the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria if possible.Al Qaeda Magazine Encourages Attacks Against Kochs, Bill Gates, Buffett
Speaking in an audiotape on the internet and quoted by the Reuters news agency, Zawahiri said, "We don't recognize this caliphate."
It was not clear when the recording was made but references to events suggest it was made at least eight months ago.
ISIS has declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria under its control and sought to expand its power in the Middle East.
Despite rivalries between the two Islamist organizations, Zawahiri suggested there was still room for cooperation when it came to combating the West.
The Al Qaeda magazine, Inspire, is urging "lone wolf" attacks on high profile economic leaders in the U.S., including "Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett."PreOccupiedTerritory: In Concession, Imam Rules Dead Westerners Need Not Accept Islam (satire)
The list in Inspire magazine also included industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, internet entrepreneur Larry Ellison, and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. A prominent economist was also on the list but asked that his name be withheld. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was named, though not Janet Yellen, who succeeded him.
The article includes a photo illustration that shows "blood-spattered pictures of several of the leaders next to a dripping gun. Its stated goal is to derail the 'revival of the America Economy.'"
The article says the "economic personalities" and "wealthy entrepreneurs" can get off the list by withdrawing their money from U.S. banks, investing their wealth outside American soil, and denouncing support for Israel.
NBC's counter-terrorism analyst, Evan Kohlmann of Flashpoint Intelligence says the content of the magazine is "aspirational."
A leading religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world issued a landmark ruling today in which he exempted already-deceased non-Muslims from conversion, reversing centuries of hard-line Islamic thought.
Imam Ayam Ighor of Cairo’s Al-Zombi Mosque, a noted scholar of Islamic jurisprudence, promulgated a fatwa this afternoon (Thursday) to the effect that even if a dead person was never properly converted to Islam, there is no obligation on the community or individuals to correct the situation. He said he was moved to issue the fatwa because of a rise in inquiries as to the attitude Muslims should take in their ever-expanding demographic conquest, since that expansion carries with it encounters with the graves of many thousands of non-believers.
In such cases, ruled Ighor, the Muslim is exempt from actively disturbing the remains of the infidel, since there is no way to determine whether a deceased person has actually accepted Allah’s oneness, His supremacy, and Muhammad as the final and authentic transmitter of His will. However, especially in the case of Jewish graves, a thorough effort must be made to damage, deface, or otherwise vandalize them.
“The exemption of deceased infidels from direct subjugation and submission to conversion at the point of the sword must not be construed as a condonement of that infidelity,” wrote Ighor. “Therefore the servant of Allah is bidden to make known the divine displeasure that anyone had the gall not to be a Muslim at the time of death, via the destruction, blemishing, or derogatory marking of the infidel’s resting place.” He acknowledged that in certain areas of ongoing demographic conquest such as Europe, relatively few Jewish graves remain that are not already defaced or destroyed.
