Thursday, October 01, 2015
Mordechai Kedar: It's Jihad, Stupid
Abbas' UN speech is part of a master plan and it's name is Jihad. The doctrine of Islamic Jihad mandates the inclusion of an element of deceit, and Mahmoud Abbas is a master of deception.Obama brushed off Reid's plea on Palestinian state
Shimon Peres, Yossi Beilin, Alon Liel and the other hallucinatory figures tried to convince us that there is a difference between the bad Jihadists of Hamas and the "charming", "pleasant' PLO ones, those true lovers of peace and tranquility, those whose arch-Jihadist leader Yasser Arafat was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Even Abbas' incendiary UN speech will not change their minds.
Theirs was an unfounded and utterly delusionary point of view, but it cost the lives of over 1500 very real Israelis, because the only difference between Hamas and the PLO is that Hamas declares openly that it is a Jihad fighter organization, while some PLO members hide the fact that they are as well. Some of them – those in the el-Aksa Brigades - don't bother to hide it and their president, Mahmoud Abbas, finances them. Those of us who are battle-weary attempt to kosher the Jihadist PLO vermin just as they attempted to gloss over Haj Amin al Husseini's part in the Holocaust of European Jewry.
Let's wake up and tell the truth – to ourselves and to the world. Only the truth can help us understand reality and deal with it properly. The truth is that we are a Jihad target for Hamas and the PLO, each one using its own methods of trying to dissemble and pull the wool over our eyes, and if we fall – thanks in part to the European money pouring into the arteries of the PA Jihad – Europe will be the next objective of that very same Jihad, which is already in the midst of exporting itself to Europe by means of massive Muslim immigration to the aging and deteriorating continent.
This is a Jihad. Our enemies, no matter what else they are, are all Jihad fighters. We have to adapt our way of talking about this situation and deal with it accordingly. The faster we do so the better it will be for us and the world.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on two different occasions this year went to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough seeking a public commitment from President Barack Obama that he would veto any U.N. resolution calling for an independent Palestinian state.JPost Editorial: The Russia-Iran link
Both times, Obama did nothing.
The requests from Reid came as he was trying to line up Democratic support for the Iran nuclear agreement. If Obama explicitly sided with Israel against the possible U.N. resolution, Reid’s thinking went, it would give nervous Democrats cover to back the Iran deal, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vocally protested.
The repeated requests by Reid and Obama’s unwillingness to make a statement on the issue — confirmed by White House officials and Senate aides — highlights how wide the gulf between the Obama administration and Israeli government has become. It unfolded in the context of a personal relationship between Obama and Netanyahu that’s become highly toxic, poisoning U.S.-Israeli relations more widely.
The issue gained new significance Wednesday as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared that his government was no longer bound by any agreements with Israel, including the Oslo peace accords and other settlements related to a possible two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The fact that Iran is finally off the American/Western nuclear hook and is flushed with cash made this unabashed partnership with Moscow possible. Russia, let’s not forget, is Iran’s primary weapons purveyor and builder of its nuclear facilities. It made sure that Iran would be treated indulgently during the recent nuclear negotiations.
In all, Iran is emboldened as never before and Putin is heartened by Obama’s phlegmatic response. One superpower – America – appears in retreat, whereas a reawakening Russia regains prominence.
The itineraries of a significant number of Middle Eastern leaders include Moscow – Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu is only one. Also traveling to Moscow are potentates from such unlikely ally countries as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Morocco, Jordan, and of course Egypt, which was unaccountably jilted by Obama.
Putin even plans a visit to Riyadh. All this speaks volumes.
The danger to Israel isn’t only that Iran can now openly become a key player in Syria, but that aggression will be indirectly funded by the resources the US has consented to release and by the vast business opportunities it steers to Tehran. Those funds, combined with unimpeded Russian ambition will thus not only help ensure Assad’s survival, but will also allow the further arming of Hezbollah and Hamas.
Netanyahu’s conversation with Putin last week dealt not only with military coordination regarding Russia’s actions in Syria, but also with Israel’s warning that it cannot allow a massively reinforced Hezbollah menace on its doorstep in Lebanon.
Netanyahu poised to 'attack Abbas' lies' in UN speech
Speaking with Israeli reporters on Wednesday, the prime minister revealed little of what the content of the speech will be. The main topics are expected to be recent developments in Syria and the nuclear deal that world powers and Iran reached in July.Abbas ‘does not seek a peace settlement,’ Netanyahu charges
"In Syria, Iran is being presented as part of the solution, when in fact it itself is the problem," Netanyahu said on Wednesday. "Iran's support for [Syrian President Bashar] Assad is enormous. There would be no Assad regime today without Iran. The Iranian commander in Syria is Ghasem Soleimani [the head of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force] and his deputy is Hassan Nasrallah [the leader of Hezbollah]. They are working to keep Assad in power. Recently, they have been reinforced by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. The problem in the Middle East now is Iran's massive onslaught in the region.
"In my U.N. speech, I will put these things on the table. In the speeches I've heard so far at the U.N., there has been no real reference to two issues: Iran's massive aggression in the Middle East and its increasing aggressiveness toward Israel."
An official close to Netanyahu said on Wednesday, "The prime minister will deliver a resolute speech in which he will attack the campaign of incitement and lies being conducted by [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas. He will also attack international hypocrisy and clarify what Israel's policies are regarding the aftermath of the Iran nuclear deal and the developing situation in Syria."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini Wednesday evening in New York to discuss the stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.Quartet urges regional outreach to spur peace talks
At the meeting, Netanyahu “expressed his unhappiness with the European Union’s trend to mark products from [West Bank] settlements,” a Prime Minister’s Office statement said early Thursday.
“The prime minister said and explained that this development symbolizes for many Israelis dark days in Europe and is poorly received in domestic Israeli public opinion,” the statement added.
Although the meeting was not included on Netanyahu’s public schedule, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the meeting shortly before the sit-down started and said that it was planned in advance.
Representatives of the Middle East Quartet signaled Wednesday evening that they would step up their efforts to facilitate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a day in which discussion of the longstanding dispute took center stage at the United Nations.UN Middle East Quartet “deeply concerned” over Temple Mount violence
Following a Wednesday afternoon meeting at UN Headquarters, members of the Quartet issued a lengthy statement in which they stressed the importance of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and a regional framework for working toward a comprehensive two-state solution.
In the statement, the Quartet said that envoys “will engage directly with the parties in order to explore concrete actions both sides can take to demonstrate their genuine commitment to pursuing a two-state solution, including encouraging efforts to agree on significant steps, consistent with prior agreements that benefit Israelis and Palestinians.”
Representatives of the United Nations Middle East Quartet expresses their “deep concern” on Wednesday over the recent violence on Temple Mount in Jerusalem.Will Obama Call Abbas’s UN Bluff?
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry and European Union Representative Federica Mogherini called upon all parties to “exercise restraint, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve unchanged the status quo at the holy sites in both word and practice.”
The Quartet members, involved in mediating the Israeli Palestinian conflict reiterated its commitment to “achieving a two-state outcome that meets Israeli security needs and Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty, ends the occupation that began in 1967, and resolves all permanent status issues in order to end the conflict.”
Of course, Abbas’s obituary for Oslo is 15 years too late. The accords collapsed in 2000 when then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and President Bill Clinton offered Arafat an independent state in almost all of the West Bank, a share of Jerusalem, and Gaza. Arafat turned them down and launched a terrorist war of attrition known as the second intifada. He turned down another such deal in 2001, and Abbas fled the negotiating table in 2008 when Ehud Olmert made an even more generous offer in 2008. In 2014, Abbas blew up another round of negotiations when he trashed Oslo again by seeking to go around the U.S.-led talks by asking the UN to recognize Palestinian independence.Mahmoud Abbas – You Are Not That Important
So there’s nothing actually new here except for the incendiary nature of Abbas’s rhetoric. Nor did Abbas mention that fact that his Fatah Party hasn’t governed part of the putative Palestinian state in eight years. Israel withdrew completely from Gaza in 2005 as part of Ariel Sharon’s disastrous peace experiment. Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007 and has since used it as a terrorist launching pad for rocket and cross-border attacks. Those wondering what an independent Palestinian state would look like in practice need only ponder the reality of Gaza which operates as such a sovereign entity in all but name, albeit under the rule of an Islamist terror group backed by Iran. If the Palestinian goal was just statehood, they could have had it a long time ago. Instead, they have stuck to their refusal to recognizing the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders are drawn because to do so would mean ending a conflict they intend to continue so long as Israel exists.
Nor do the other alleged Israeli outrages detailed in Abbas’ speech amount to a reason for the international community to grant Abbas’s wishes.
Contrary to his assertions, Israel has not altered the status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. To the contrary, it is the Palestinians who are seeking to exclude Jewish visitors to the holiest site in Judaism. Abbas has cynically sought to exploit this issue in order to whip up Palestinian resentment of Jews as part of his failing effort to compete with Hamas. Though he is doomed to always fall short in a contest based on which group is more hostile to Israel, he has nonetheless not hesitated to endorse terrorism and to encourage the upsurge in small-scale attacks on Jews in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The Holocaust-denier who runs the confederacy of terrorists known as the PA (Palestinian Authority) tried a new trick. He is scrapping his end of the Oslo Accords -- as if anybody around here really gives a damn. But he needs the attention, poor guy.Palestinians raise flag at UN's New York headquarters for first time
Whatever works to get him a headline – he’s in.
He came to America just when football season is getting heated and Americans are in the mood for not much else – maybe the baseball playoffs.
So nobody really cared why he came here and the only headline he got was at The New York Times, naturally.
Nobody else gave him the coverage he craves.
Nobody cares, Mahmoud.
Hundreds of UN officials and members of international delegations gathered on Wednesday afternoon to witness the raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations Headquarters for the first time in history.ADL: Abbas Speech a 'Blatant Repudiation of Peace'
“This is a day of pride for Palestinians around the world,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the ceremony. “It is a day of hope.”
The flag was raised moments after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s controversial speech to the General Assembly, in which he declared that the PA was no longer bound by the Oslo Accords with Israel.
People in the cheering crowd held their cellphones as high as possible to catch a picture of Abbas, Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft.
Wednesday’s ceremony was the result of a vote held at the UN earlier this month, in which 119 states voted in favor of raising the flag and only 8, including Israel and the United States, voted against it.
In his statement, Jonathan A. Greenblatt accused Abbas of a "speech rife with outright lies and incitement about shared holy sites in Jerusalem, historical half-truths on the conflict, and a pro forma litany of grievances and accusations."Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas’s empty bombshell
"Abbas dramatically announced the end of negotiations, reconciliation and peace with Israel, while, at the same time demanding international action to bring about Palestinian statehood," Greenblatt charged.
"Long on complaints, short on practical steps, Abbas once again showed the international community that the Palestinians remain rooted to a strategy of symbolism, obfuscation and excuses which will do little to bring benefits to average Palestinians or bring closer their goal of statehood."
"How sad for the Palestinian people that their leadership has spent decades engaged in a strategy so damaging to their legitimate aspirations," Greenblatt added.
Calling on the international community, Greenblatt demanded that instead of "applauding fiery speeches" they must "clearly convey" to Abbas and other Palestinian leaders that "denial of the Jewish connection to the holy sites in Jerusalem is anti-Semitic and must stop."
In his speech, Abbas did not abandon the peace process with Israel, as some have mistakenly argued.Mahmoud Abbas Has a Nightmare Vision
He did not dissolve the Palestinian Authority and “return the keys” to Israel. He did not even go as far as suspending security coordination with Israel – without which the Palestinian Authority would not be able to survive in the West Bank.
In short, Abbas did not close all doors with Israel. He put the pistol on the table instead of firing it. His message to Israel and the rest of the world: Next time I won’t hesitate to use the pistol if I don’t get everything I want.
For now, it’s clear that Abbas’s speech is not going to change anything on the ground. Abbas is going nowhere, and so is the Palestinian Authority.
Apart from the harmless bombshell, Abbas’s speech did not include anything new. In fact, this was the same charge sheet he and his senior aides have been bringing forward against Israel for the past few years.
His fiery anti-Israel rhetoric, especially concerning the holy sites in Jerusalem and settler violence, are mostly intended for internal consumption. The charges he made against Israel are designed to appease his critics and other Palestinians who are skeptical of his intentions and policies.
Without the PA as a go-between the Palestinians and the Israeli military, Abbas reasons, the world will be reminded of the stark brutality of Israel’s “occupation,” as well as its universal rejection by the Palestinians. His strategy is to undermine Israel through legal means—joining international treaties and organizations, charging Israel with war crimes at the International Criminal Court—and “peaceful” protest. Like Arafat in 1974, Abbas wants us to believe that he is extending the olive branch, not pointing the gun.PA Leaders Demand Abbas 'Follow Through' and Dump Oslo
The problem is that Abbas has little control over how events pan out. Many Palestinians resent him and his corrupt, nepotistic rule, while quite a few openly detest him. As Abbas weakens in the West Bank, Hamas—with whom he fought a bitter civil war in Gaza in 2007—becomes strengthened. And that’s not to mention the terrorist groups in the wider region, like Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, who are salivating at the prospect of the West Bank turning into Afghanistan. Nor can we ignore the machinations of the Iranian regime, which now exercises supreme control in Syria and Iraq.
Ironically, the first victims of a collapse along these lines would be Abbas and his regime, as well as the growing Palestinian middle class in Ramallah and its environs. They may not like Israel’s presence, but how many Palestinians in Jenin, say, would swap places with their brethren in Syria currently facing Assad’s barrel bombs? By reneging on his agreements with Israel, Abbas has brought this regional nightmare one step closer to the territory whose interests he claims to represent.
In the final analysis, there is no olive branch here, just a gun. And this time, it’s loaded.
However, top PA officials were almost unanimous in their enthusiasm for Abbas's comments with numerous PA officials reportedly having contacted Abbas, demanding to know how he plans to actualize his threat.IsraellyCool: Abbas’ Non “Bombshell” And Rudoren’s “Oslo Accords For Dummies”
An editorial in the Al-Quds newspaper Thursday said that Abbas's speech was “historic,” and now he had to follow through on it. Other PA newspapers also ran “man in the street” articles, demanding action as a follow-up to the comments.
Abbas did not specify in his UN speech how he plans to “disengage” from Israel. According to Israeli officials, Abbas is dependent on numerous forms of Israeli assistance, not the least of which is protecting him from Hamas.
Israel Radio noted that although Abbas's speech got top billing in PA media, it was virtually ignored in many of the major newspapers in the Arab world, including the London-based publications Al-Hayat and Al-Sharq al-Awsat, both considered reliable vehicles to gauge the opinion of the wealthy and dominant Arab and Gulf governments.
Jodi Rudoren’s short, simple analysis of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s non-bombshell at the UN on Wednesday could have been called “Oslo Accords for Dummies” – as that’s what anyone who relies on her analysis at this point would have to be.Abbas UN Speech Shows Peace Process a 'Sucker's Game' for Israel
At first glance the piece seems to strive for neutrality, explaining that “each side has frequently accused the other of violations [of the accords] over the years.” True to the Times’s pattern, though, the lies here are lies of omission. Pretty glaring omissions.
The first such omission is that the so-called peace process that she says was laid out in the Oslo accords did, in fact, lead to an offer to the Palestinian Arabs of statehood in all of Gaza and over 90% of the West Bank, with a division of Jerusalem, in 2000 at Camp David. This offer was rejected by Arafat, who intentionally started the second intifada in response. Jonathan Tobin correctly pointed out it was that, and not Abbas’s speech today, that was really the end of Oslo.
Mahmoud Abbas's incendiary speech at the UN Wednesday night has been attacked as incitement by some Israeli officials, and derided as "more empty threats" by others.Deputy FM: Palestinians need attitude adjustment before cash
But one international legal expert says it's more an illustration of the way in which Israel has allowed itself to be taken for a ride in successive rounds of negotiations and one-sided deals with the Palestinians.
During the speech Abbas dropped his much-hyped "bombshell" announcement: that the Palestinian Authority no longer considers itself bound by the 1994 Oslo Accords, and would henceforth pursue its claims unilaterally via all possible avenues.
"It shows the suckers game of peace process for Israel," said Professor Eugene Kontorovich.
"From Oslo, the Palestinians got their own government, territory under their control, a place at the UN, legitimacy - and then unilaterally cancelled all their obligations without giving Israel anything," he noted.
Indeed, it was only due to the Oslo Accords that Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was taken off the international terrorist blacklist and recognized as a legitimate political entity.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told a United Nations donor conference that economic efforts aimed at Mideast peace were useless without the Palestinians changing their attitudes toward Israel.Incitement is a weapon
Hotovely also used the high-level forum to accuse Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of hypocritically exploiting recent violent clashes on the Temple Mount to tar Israel, when he himself is guilty of incitement.
“The conflict will be resolved when the basic values of the Palestinian Authority change,” Hotovely said at the annual donor-pledging conference, when nations commit to funding UN projects. “As long as Palestinian children dream of becoming engineers ‘to blow up Jews,’ none of these economic efforts will achieve their goal.”
The deputy foreign minister was in New York to take part in the UN General Assembly meeting and met with US Secretary of State John Kerry, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, European Union foreign ministers and ministers from Jordan and Norway, her office said.
“The world is witnessing a broad expansion of radical Islam. Israel has always reflected in its approach a commitment to international law alongside an unwavering campaign against terror,” Hotovely added.
The recent unrest in Jerusalem is characterized by the enormous number of minors acting alongside adults. The parents of those youngsters don't have to make any effort to persuade them to throw rocks and Molotov cocktails at Jews, Jewish cars, or Jewish homes. From the time they are in nursery school, Palestinian children learn to hate Jews and aspire to eliminate them and their state.IDF Blog: A Raging Hotbed of Terror on the Sinai Border
Here is an excerpt from one of the songs taught in Palestinian Authority kindergartens: "You [Jews] are destined for humiliation and suffering. Sons of Zion, you are the worst creatures, barbaric monkeys, pathetic pigs. ... Jerusalem will vomit you up because you are impure and it is pure; it is clean and you are dirty. ... I'm not afraid of your barbarism as long as my heart is my Quran and my city, as long as I hold weapons and rocks in my hand."
PA schools are often named after despicable murderers. No fewer than three schools are named after Dalal Mughrabi, the Fatah terrorist who took part in the 1978 attack on an Israeli bus that killed 38 Israeli civilians, including 12 children, and left 71 wounded. And now Palestinian newspapers are praising the "brave" Palestinian children and running cartoons showing parents supporting their children who throw rocks. It need not be said that Israel has been erased from the maps used in PA textbooks.
Since 2011, the Sinai Peninsula has transformed into a hotbed for terrorist organizations such as the Wilayat Sina (Province of Sinai), who have pledged their allegiance to ISIS. Inevitably, these groups may one day turn their attention to Israel’s southern border.Lebanese army claims it found Israeli spying device
Since the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, there has been an unprecedented growth in terror groups operating from the Sinai. These insurgencies have taken advantage of the chaotic situation that ensued in the area, which led to waves of violence that has spilled over into Israel’s southern border.
In response to the rejuvenation of terrorist activity from the Sinai Peninsula and the many infiltrations in 2011, the IDF initiated the “Hourglass Project”, and in 2013, completed the construction of a large fence that stretches throughout the Israeli border with the Egyptian Sinai. The fence is equipped with 24-hour surveillance cameras and is patrolled by multiple forces, including the Carcal Battalion, which has secured the border with Egypt for the past 10 years.
This hasn’t stopped a few terrorist groups from expanding and establishing their headquarters in the Sinai Peninsula, where they operate today.
Soldiers from the Lebanese Armed Forces claimed Wednesday to have found a rock concealing an Israeli spying device in the south of the country.Islamic State gains ground near Golan as moderate rebels wither
The army said it found the device in the town of Bani Hayyan, around four kilometers from the border with Israel.
According to a report in al-Manar, a Hezbollah-affiliated website, the device included a camera and four batteries.
In a short video clip released by the Lebanese Army, a shiny surface appearing to be the lens of a camera can be seen through an opening in what appears to be an artificial rock made out of fiberglass.
As Russian airstrikes on Wednesday and Thursday targeted rebel groups in central and northern Syria, many of them reportedly unaffiliated with the Islamic State, Islamist groups in the south are growing stronger, with IS fighters now operating openly near the border with Israel, an opposition spokesman said on Thursday.Seven Israeli Arabs indicted for creating ISIS cell to attack Israel
Speaking to The Times of Israel from Jordan, where he serves from within the joint Western-Arab command center in Amman known as MOC, the spokesman of Free Syrian Army units active in the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra said that an estimated 500-700 Islamic State fighters are currently active in the towns of Jamlah and Ash-Shajarah, adjacent to the Israeli border in the southern Golan Heights.
Further east, moderate forces are attempting to push back IS fighters trying to occupy al-Lajjah, an area north of the town of Basr al-Harir.
Western training for moderate rebel fighters in Jordan has not taken place in five months, he added, and no ammunition or weaponry has reached the Free Syrian Army on the southern front in three months.
From prison, Ahmad allegedly assisted the trio in purchasing the illegal weapons they had planned to use to carry out their attacks.Border policewoman hailed as hero after subduing Arab rioter
The terror cell had planned to carry out a shooting attack on a military base in the nearby Migdal Haemek area, the Shin Bet said. To prepare for the attack, Sharif, Mahajna and Jazalah made several trips to the base to collect information on patrols and security cameras.
The three Arab-Israelis also planned on throwing Molotov cocktails on police stations and vehicles in Migdal Haemek and Nazareth; to this end, they also cased out the area in preparation for the attack.
And finally, the Shin Bet claimed, they planned on firebombing stores in the area that sell alcohol, as consuming alcohol is forbidden under Muslim law.
Israeli border policewoman Second Sgt. Karen Feldman, 20, subdued an Arab resident of east Jerusalem on Wednesday after he attacked a security guard in Jerusalem's Old City with tear gas.Six-month-old baby lightly wounded by stones near Tekoa in West Bank
She acted immediately upon seeing the attacker and was even able to thwart attempts made by others nearby to free him from her grasp.
"I am not scared," she said. "It's the ones who are breaking the law who should be afraid of us."
Feldman recalled the incident, saying, "I saw the young man spraying tear gas at the security guard and trying to escape with the help of the locals. We started to chase him and managed to stop him.
An infant was lightly hurt when her family car was hit by rock-throwers in the West Bank on Thursday driving home from a family outing.Arabs Commemorate Intifada-Inspired Rioting With School Strike
Judea and Samaria police said the family was driving next to Tekoa when they were attacked, and that the family – a mother, her 6-months-old infant, and two other children aged 3 and 6 – managed to make their way to a nearby IDF post, where soldiers launched a search for the assailants.
A couple hours later the Judea and Samaria police said that they had arrested a suspect in the attack – a 15-year-old who they said confessed to the crime. Police said the youth was walking home from school with friends when they decided to head out to a nearby road and throw rocks at Israeli cars. They added that there are other suspects that they are still looking for.
Two cars were attacked by the rock-throwers, causing damage to both and leaving the mother with a light injury to one of her legs.
While Jewish children have off from school this week because of the Sukkot holiday, students in the Arab sector are supposed to be in class.Palestinian Arrested as He Tries to Stab Soldier
However, children in Sakhnin did not show up for their studies on Thursday – in commemoration of the deaths of 13 Israeli Arabs during the second intifada.
In 2000, as Arabs in Judea and Samaria went on an unprecedented terror campaign against Israelis, residents of Sakhnin and other Arab towns and villages in northern Israel took to the streets to protest efforts by Israeli security forces to put down the riots and keep Israelis safe.
Residents blocked highways and threw stones at Israeli drivers, forcing the closure of major highways in northern Israel. Police attempted to restore order, and found themselves the victims of rock-throwing and firebomb attacks.
In response, police fired at rioters, killing 13 of them. One Israeli civilian, Bachor Jann, from Rishon LeZion, was killed when Arab rioters threw a boulder at his vehicle near the Arab village of Jisr az-Zarqa. Rioting also spilled into Jewish neighborhoods in Upper Nazareth, Petach Tikvah, and Bat Yam.
A Palestinian Arab on Wednesday night tried to stab an IDF soldier who was stationed at a checkpoint near the Shomron community of Einav.Israeli Emergency Responders Attacked By the Very Palestinians They Try to Help
The Arab was detained by the soldiers as he arrived at the checkpoint, when he pulled a knife and tried to stab one of them.
The fighters were able to neutralize the attacker and he was injured. After treatment at the scene he was taken for further questioning.
The soldier was lightly injured.
The incident comes hours after two IDF troops were struck by rocks and wounded at Beit Ummar, near Hevron.
One officer was in moderate condition and the second’s condition is unknown. Both were taken to a Jerusalem hospital.
This past year, Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority and ambulance service Magen David Adom have often been attacked by Palestinian terrorists when responding to incidents in Judea-Samaria, Jerusalem and other areas.Turkey court slaps secrecy order on ‘arms to Syria’ trial
Ironically, these incidents occur while Israeli emergency services are in the process of aiding Palestinians.
Just last week, on September 21, an Israeli firefighter’s support vehicle was attacked by rock-throwers on Route 443 near Jerusalem. The attack caused extensive damage, and the firefighter had to be rescued.
On Saturday night, September 19, four squads of Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority were called in to extinguish a large-scale fire on the outskirts of Jerusalem, near the Palestinian village of Anata. While battling the flames, the firefighters were attacked by local Palestinian men, who threw Molotov cocktails at them — which exacerbated the fire and increased the risk to firefighters.
Four former senior Turkish prosecutors and an ex-military commander went on trial Thursday over the interception last year of an alleged consignment of arms bound for Syria, with the court immediately imposing a secrecy order on the hugely controversial case.MEMRI: The Islamic State's Frantic Response To The Wave Of Refugees Fleeing Syria
The case goes to the heart of claims — repeated on occasion by the West but denied by Turkey — that Ankara has worked far too closely with Islamist rebels in the hope of ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The five, who were arrested earlier this year, are charged with seeking to overthrow the government and revealing state security information. They could face life in prison if found guilty.
The trial opened at a criminal court within Turkey’s Supreme Court in Ankara under heavy security, with the judge immediately imposing the secrecy order, the official Anatolia news agency reported.
In response to the refugee crisis involving the migration to Europe of hundreds of thousands of people from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries, the Islamic State (ISIS) has launched a large-scale media campaign urging Muslims not to seek refuge in the West but rather to come to the territories under its control. As part of the campaign, ISIS has released 13 videos and has published numerous articles and pamphlets; additionally, its activists have flooded social media with this message, including with a Twitter campaign under the hashtag "Refugees – to where?"Japan Pledges More Money for Migrant Crisis than Saudi Arabia
The massive scale of the media output on this issue shows that ISIS sees the Syrian wave of migration to Europe as an acute challenge. ISIS leaders see this challenge is twofold: It undermines ISIS propaganda that promotes ISIS as a burgeoning state to which Muslims are flocking, and it constitutes an actual demographic problem.
ISIS's migration campaign has revolved largely around a negative message, namely condemnation of those who choose to flee to the West and an assertion that migration to Europe and the West will only bring the refugees further misfortune. Moreover, ISIS and its supporters stress all Muslims' obligation to perform hijra (migration) to the Islamic State, and the view that Muslims who live elsewhere are neglecting their religious duties.
In his remarks before the U.N. General Assembly, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a large increase in aid money for Middle Eastern refugees, but notably declined to allow migrants to resettle in Japan.Saudis win UNHRC contest over Yemen resolution
The New York Times describes Abe’s offer as $810 million for “assistance to refugees and internally displaced people in Syria and Iraq this year, about triple the amount from last year.” Japan is said to be the second-largest donor to the United Nations refugee relief agency, behind the United States.
Additionally, he said Japan would provide $750 million “to help build peace and fully ensure this peace across the Middle East and Africa” through infrastructure and development projects, such as water delivery systems in Iraq.
This would be substantially more than the $700 million in humanitarian aid Saudi Arabia claims to provide for those refugees. The Saudis have also been criticized for refusing to allow Syrian refugees to resettle on their land, packing them off to Europe instead. The standard Saudi response is to assert that they allow some 100,000 Syrians to reside in the Kingdom temporarily but more-or-less indefinitely with work and residency permits.
Saudi Arabia has managed to block a Dutch-led draft resolution at the UN Human Rights Council that would have dispatched the UN rights office to investigate possible war crimes by the Saudis, Iran-backed Houthis and others, in the conflict in Yemen.'Secret Deal' On Vote Trading Secured UK And Saudi Arabia's UN Human Rights Council Places
Instead, Saudi Arabia has sponsored its own softball resolution which classifies the entire war — with more than 2,300 killed — as a matter of “technical cooperation.”
“For those asking why it matters when Saudi Arabia wins a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, or when the misogynistic monarchy is chosen to head one of the council’s key committees, now we know,” said Hillel Neuer, UN Watch executive director. “The fundamentalist regime has just used its power on the UN council to give itself a free pass, and the people of Yemen will continue paying the price.”
Leaked diplomatic cables show Britain and Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s worst human rights violators, brokered a secret vote-trading deal to ensure both countries were elected to the the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UNHRC).UN Watch: Secret Cables Exposed: Did UK Backs Saudis for UN Rights Council?
Saudi foreign ministry files were passed to Wikileaks in June, reports The Guardian. They referred to talks conducted with diplomats representing David Cameron’s British government ahead of the November 2013 vote in New York.
The documents have now been been translated by the monitoring organisation UN Watch – a Geneva-based non-governmental human rights organisation that scrutinises the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter – and newspaper the The Australian.
The classified cables showed Britain initiated the talks by asking Saudi Arabia for support ahead of the UNHRC elections. In the end both Britain and Saudi Arabia were elected to the 47 member state body.
One of the cables, referring to the elections, read: “The ministry might find it an opportunity to exchange support with the United Kingdom, where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would support the candidacy of the United Kingdom to the membership of the council for the period 2014-2015 in exchange for the support of the United Kingdom to the candidacy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
.jpg)
