Thursday, October 15, 2015
Ben-Dror Yemini: Between Ankara and Jerusalem: A festival of incitement and blood
It doesn’t matter if we are talking about ISIS leader Abū Bakr al-Baghdādi, Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal and Ismail Haniyeh, or Islamic Movement leader Raed Salah. Wherever they are, their preaching of incitement leads to a festival of blood. It's not that someone has really changed something in the Holy Basin. But Salah the instigator, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, has succeeded in spreading the plot and fanning the flames. A huge achievement.Andrew Bolt: Pilger’s sick conspiracy theory
The most important conclusion is that the instigators must be silenced. The fact that Salah continues to spread his venom clarifies that sometimes, only sometimes, defensive democracy fails, and the instigators turn freedom of expression into a tool for harming democracy, reconciliation, a chance for peace.
Reckless incitement which leads to bloodshed is not part of the freedom of expression. If Salah is not silenced, what happened on Saturday in Ankara will happen in Tel Aviv. Salah must be silenced under the law. And if there is a problem, the law should be changed. It should have been done years ago. There was no need to wait, because it was clear that it would happen.
And we should remember another common denominator of every place in which the Islamist instigators succeed in igniting an outburst: The victims, at the end of the day, are mostly Muslims. So I would like to say to my good friends in the neighboring religion: Don’t get too enthusiastic. Calm down. Snap out of your illusions, Jews will be hurt, but you will be hurt much more, and that's not a cause for celebration.
Syria is a dictatorship that has used poison gas against its people.Terror Supporter Donated £5,000 to Corbyn’s Leadership Campaign
Iran is a fascist theocracy which sponsors terrorism and threatens to wipe Israel from the map.
Russia is a thugocracy that has invaded Ukraine, stolen the Crimea and shot down a passenger jet.
But for John Pilger, none of that is enough to explain why sensible democrats of the West might be critics of those regimes:
To the rulers of the world in Washington and Europe, Syria’s true crime is not the oppressive nature of its government but its independence from American and Israeli power — just as Iran’s true crime is its independence, and Russia’s true crime is its independence, and China’s true crime is its independence. In an American-owned world, independence is intolerable.The idea that the US and the emasculated Europe are “rulers of the world” is risible. The suggestion that the issue here is “Israeli power” is sinister. The assertion that opposing dictatorships, theoocracies and communist oligarchies is just a ploy to keep the world “American-owned” is paranoid.
Pilger’s world view is one that would sell our freedoms to autocrats and thugs. Yet he’s a sage of the Left.
Jeremy Corbyn accepted a £5,000 donation from a man who claimed Palestinians have a “moral right” to terrorism. Prof. Ted Honderich, who donated the money to Corbyn’s leadership campaign last month, wrote in a 2011 letter to the Guardian:
“Palestinians have a moral right to their terrorism within historic Palestine against neo-Zionism”
Honderich went on to describe Palestinian terrorism as “based on true humanity“:
“Terrorism, as in this case, can as exactly be self-defence, a freedom struggle, martyrdom, the conclusion of an argument based on true humanity”
In an interview with Iranian state television channel Press TV, Honderich is quoted as repeating his comments:
“What is happening in Palestine, what is being done by neo-Zionism is such that it gives Palestinians, I happen to believe this and it’s gotten me into trouble, a moral right to their terrorism against neo-Zionism within all of historic Palestine.”
In 2002 Honderich wrote a book called “After the Terror“, which was withdrawn from sale in Germany after Holocaust Centre director Micha Brumlik alleged it was anti-Semitic.
De Blasio Major Supporter Calling Arab Stone Throwing Courageous
Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab-American Association of New York, who enjoys close ties to the de Blasio administration, was engaged in a Twitter war this week, with Queens City Councilman Rory Lancman, over a photo Sarsour posted of an Arab child throwing a rock at Israeli soldiers, with the caption “the definition of courage,” the NY Post reported.GOP candidates defend Israel at Iowa City forum
Sarsour, who campaigned for Mayor de Blasio (according to the Post, Mayor de Blasio’s office has repeatedly featured Sarsour in press releases supporting his education program), and whose group receives $164 thousand annually from the NY City Council, and is a senior strategist for the Campaign to Take on Hate. She co-founded Muslims for Ferguson to “build solidarity amongst American Muslim communities and encourage work against police brutality.” She is also the co-founder of the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. She has received the “Champion of Change” award from the White House, the New York City Council’s Shirley Chisholm Women of Distinction Award and the inaugural American Muslim of the Year honor from the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Councilman Lancman, who is Jewish, responded to Sarsour’s Sunday tweet, tweeting: “No, the definition of barbarism.”
Sarsour shot back: “City elected official attacking a constituent on foreign policy issue when they weren’t asked. Welcome to the NYC Council,” the ultimate dish out—don’t dish in attitude, eventually followed by: “The Zionist trolls are out to play. You will never silence me.”
Three Republican presidential candidates affirmed their support for Israel at an event in Iowa City on Tuesday night.NY Assemblyman on Solidarity Mission to Israel
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke at the Jerusalem Call event, which was attended by more than 100 people.
Jerusalem Call is a subset of the Israel Allies Foundation, which describes itself as a group that works with Congress and governments around the world to generate political support for Israel based on Judeo-Christian values.
Candidates took the opportunity to denounce the nuclear deal with Iran, tout their experience and relate personal stories about their faith at the event, held at Grace Fellowship Church in Iowa City.
The Israel Allies Foundation described the Jerusalem Call as "a call to engagement, a call to advocacy, a call to stand with God's promises to the Jewish people, the Land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem."
New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) flew to Israel on Wednesday to show support for the Jewish state against an ongoing wave of deadly Arab terror.MEMRI: Social Media As A Platform For Palestinian Incitement – Praise For Stabbing Attackers, Threats Of Further Attacks
As part of the four-day solidarity mission, Hikind and a group of New Yorkers will tour Jerusalem, pay respects to families of terror victims and survivors of terror attacks, and visit thousands of New Yorkers studying abroad in Israel.
“I am horrified and sickened by the barbaric and vicious terrorist attacks in Israel over the past few weeks,” Hikind said before taking off.
“By being physically present and walking the streets of Jerusalem, my message is to give strength and support for fellow Jews and the people of Israel during this difficult time.
On the backdrop of the recent wave of Palestinian terrorism in Israel, several hashtags were launched on social media in Arabic, such as "The Intifada Has Started," "The Third Intifada," "The Jerusalem Intifada," "The Knife Intifada," "Poison the Knife before You Stab," and "Slaughtering the Jews." These hashtags serve as platforms for virulent incitement against Jews and calls to harm them. Many Twitter accounts using these hashtags expressed joy at the attacks, called the perpetrators "heroes," threatened more attacks soon, and encouraged others to carry out similar stabbings.Social Media As A Platform For Palestinian Incitement – Part II: Video Tutorials, Tips For Achieving More 'Effective' Attacks
The following is a sampling of posts under the aforementioned hashtags since early October 2015.
Honest Reporting PodCast: Audio: Defending Our Lives – No Apologies
Yarden Frankl on the Mottle Wolfe Show discusses the role the media has played in the current wave of terrorism in Israel. Media stories giving credibility to the ridiculous charge that there is no Jewish connection to the Temple Mount encourage the hatred behind the terrorism. When the media blame Israel for using disproportionate force, we will not apologize for defending ourselves and our families.Palestinian rioter gets unchallenged BBC platform for promotion of dangerous libel
Knell then allows an unidentified masked man to promote a highly inflammatory, dangerous and completely fabricated libel – along with other blatant falsehoods – with none of the above-mentioned “labeling” to inform viewers (not least those in the Middle East) that the claims are entirely baseless.Deja Vu All Over Again at The New York Times
Voiceover: “It’s because of the invasion of our Al Aqsa Mosque and disrespecting the Palestinian holy sites. This is a red line and we won’t allow it. All our lives we’ve been dealing with Israeli occupation as a political struggle. But now, they’re fighting our religion. There is pressure on people’s lives, on our economy already. This wall [the anti-terrorist fence – Ed.] is a symbol of racism. There are also incursions of our city every day. Arrests, people being taken to prison and martyrs. This all puts pressure on the Palestinian man. Until now, this is not a full uprising. But, God willing, it will be soon.” [emphasis added]
Knell then asks:
“Is anyone from the political leadership telling you to go out on the streets?”
Masked man voiceover: “In my opinion politics doesn’t interfere in what we are doing. All incidents – whether they are stabbings or shootings – are personal decisions; not decisions by politicians. What you see on Facebook, sometimes it pushes young Palestinians forwards and shows us what’s happening in all of Palestine. When people post things they are not trying to order people what to do.”
Failing to inform audiences of the very relevant issue of the daily incitement coming from assorted Palestinian sources and factions including Hamas, Fatah and the highest ranks of the Palestinian Authority, Knell also manages to erase the second Intifada and Mahmoud Abbas’ recent UN speech telling Palestinians that they are no longer bound by existing agreements from the picture presented to BBC viewers.
New York Times “coverage” of Palestinian assaults and Israeli victims has been characterized by evasiveness over who did what to whom. Readers were informed (October 6) that a 21-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli police. Only twelve paragraphs later did the Times report that he was shot after he stabbed a 15-year-old Jewish boy. One of the reporters, Diaa Hadid, happened to work at Electronic Intifada before joining the Times. It aims at “combating the pro-Israeli, pro-American spin” that it believes to exist “in mainstream media accounts.” No pretense of objectivity there. The Times article noted that the dead Palestinian was “the second of four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces” in a week. But it did not indicate that three of the four were committing violent acts, including murder, when they were killed. Nor that Hadid, some years ago, was a self-described “front-line” protester at an Israeli checkpoint.UK Media Watch prompts Telegraph and Times of London revisions over Temple Mount
Assessing causes for the collapse of peace following the famous Rabin-Arafat handshake on the White House lawn in 1993, Times editors recently (Oct.1) enumerated “suicide bombs and other acts of terrorism” (Palestinian) and “unceasing expansion of settlements” (Israeli) as the causes. As it happened (outside Times editorial memory), Palestinian terrorists claimed 566 Israeli lives between 2001-4; no Palestinians were killed by an expanding settlement.
One week later (Oct.9), in a blatant denial of (Jewish) history in Jerusalem, Times reporter Rick Gladstone questioned whether the two ancient Jewish temples ever were located on the Temple Mount. The claim is “integral to Jewish history and to Israel’s disputed assertions of sovereignty over all of Jerusalem.” Yet abundant historical and archeological evidence, cited in his article, “support the narrative that the Dome of the Rock was built on or close to the place where the Jewish temples once stood.” And in one sentence, more revealing than he cares to explore, he notes that the Muslim Waqf, guardian of the Temple Mount, “has never permitted invasive archeological work that could possible yield proof of either temple.” Instead, some years ago it sponsored excavations beneath the Mount to effectively destroy remaining evidence of Jewish history on the site, which Israeli sifting of the debris has confirmed.
So the Times continues to print all the news that fits its enduring discomfort with the Jewish state. No wonder I was reminded of Yogi Berra’s whimsical – but wise – adage.
Yesterday we posted about serious omissions by both the Times of London and The Telegraph regarding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.Revealed: Facebook Posts of Foreign Journalist Covering Israel Show Extreme Bias
Both news sites, in articles about the ongoing Palestinian violence, noted tensions at the Temple Mount / al-Aqsa Mosque Compound and explained that the site is the third holiest in Islam, while neglecting to add that it is the holiest site in Judaism.
We complained to editors of both publications, which resulted in revisions to both misleading passages.
UK Media Watch has reviewed a series Facebook status updates by The Telegraph’s Middle East correspondent Robert Tait, which reveal a radical worldview more in line with the agitprop of Electronic Intifada bloggers than a journalist for a serious British newspaper.Israeli Law Group to Sue Facebook for 'Promoting Terror'
Here are a few examples of status updates from the Jerusalem-based journalist, some of which seem to suggest that he accepts the radical anti-Israel caricature of an immutably racist Jewish state drifting towards fascism.
In the below post, Tait curiously uses the German phrase “Auslaender raus!” (“foreigners out”) – possibly meant to evoke the anti-foreigner (and anti-Muslim) rhetoric of German extremists – in the context of posting an article about the firebombing of a migrant’s apartment in Jerusalem.
He also approvingly posted a Haaretz article by Zeev Sternthal during last summer’s Gaza war, arguing that Israel was moving towards fascism. Sternthal is an extreme-left academic who argued, during the Second Intifada, that Palestinians have the right to commit acts of violence against settlers.
Among the features of the latest wave of terror against Israel is the ongoing incitement by Arabs on social networks, centered on Facebook.Facebook Removes ‘Stab Israelis’ Page Following Article in Hebrew Press
The social media site contains many pages that are authored by terrorists and their supporters, providing a support network for those who undertake attacks against Israel.
In addition, there are many pages that contain practical ideas and suggestions on how to carry out attacks, including the most effective methods of stabbing and how to prepare bombs from household materials.
That makes Facebook an accessory to terror, according to the Israel Law Center (Shurat Hadin) organization, which is planning to sue Facebook for supporting terror in a US court, it announced Thursday.
The lawsuit will be a class-action suit, allowing families, friends, and other significant others of terror victims to make claims.
Among the evidence Shurat Hadin plans to present is a statement on the Facebook page of the terrorist who killed Aharaon Banita-Bennett and Rabbi Nechemia Lavie in Jerusalem last week.
Facebook refused to remove a page calling for the stabbing of Israelis, claiming the page was compliant with its community standards, until an Israeli newspaper called the social network out on the decision.Paper mistakes phone company for terrorist’s hometown
The page titled “Stab Israelis” was opened in the wake of the current wave of Palestinian terror attacks taking place in Israel and called for “a campaign to support the Palestinian people including the stabbing of Israelis,” according to the website of the Hebrew daily, Yediot Aharonot.
Although Israeli social media users complained that the page was inciting violence, Facebook initially refused to remove the page, deciding that it does not violate its guidelines. Only after Yediot Aharonot published an article about Facebook’s refusal, the social network ultimately removed the page.
Alaa Abu Jamal, an East Jerusalem resident, killed one man and wounded another on Tuesday when he rammed his car into a crowd in Jerusalem. He then stepped out of the crashed vehicle and attempted to stab the wounded with a machete before being shot dead by a security guard.Why Kerry Keeps Blaming Israel
Abu Jamal was later revealed to have been an employee of Israeli phone and internet company Bezeq. The killer’s employment by an Israeli company was mentioned in many news stories and was picked up by Liberation.
However, the French paper mistook the terrorist’s place of work for his place of residence, a town it named “Bezek.” An intrepid newsman went so far as to draw up a map of Bezek’s location, electing to place it just west of Jerusalem.
The mistake was reportedly fixed some time after publication. (h/t Yenta Press)
Nor is the obsession with settlements a credible excuse for the failure of the talks. Though Kerry speaks as if new towns are being built on expropriated Palestinian land, the “massive increase” merely consists of new homes built in existing settlements. Moreover, almost all of the new housing is in places that even the administration understands would wind up inside Israel in the event of a peace deal. Building there won’t affect the outcome one bit.PreOccupiedTerritory: Israelis, Palestinians, Can’t Believe Kerry At It Again (satire)
But calling out the Palestinians for their lies about Jerusalem and intolerance would force the U.S. to come face to face with the real reason why Abbas has never found the will to sign a peace deal even when everything he supposedly wants was handed to him on a silver platter. What the new intifada shows us is the same thing that the last one indicated, if anyone in Washington was really listening. If the Palestinians wanted a two-state solution, they could have had one a long time ago since the Israelis have been ready to do such a deal for the last generation. Instead, they have stuck to their refusal because their identity is still inextricably tied to a century-long war on Zionism that refuses to accept Israel on any terms.
This intolerance is rooted in a belief that a war on Jewish infidels is a religious obligation. Any talk about settlements and borders is irrelevant to that cause.
Yet instead of facing reality, Obama and Kerry continue to prefer their fantasy world in which enough pressure on Israel is the real problem in the Middle East. Their hatred of Netanyahu is still greater than any revulsion over the spilling of Jewish blood. But what they don’t understand is that America’s non-judgmental attitude toward Palestinian terror is only encouraging Abbas to keep inciting it. Which means that, along with Abbas, a lot of the blame for the current bloodshed belongs to Obama and Kerry. The only cycle here is one of American denial of the truth. Until the world starts calling out the Palestinians for their atrocities and ceases blaming the Israeli victims, the pattern will continue.
With US Secretary of State John Kerry announcing yet another trip to the Mideast, trying once again to restart a moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process, officials on both sides could not suppress their disbelief at the secretary’s apparent cluelessness over the intractability of the generations-old conflict.Poll finds nearly half Israelis feel two-state solution is dead
Kerry said he plans to take a trip in the near future to meet with both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, to attempt to calm the current violence and persuade them both to return to the negotiating table. Abbas has previously declared he will not negotiate unless the parties agree at the outset that the 1967 lines form the basis of those discussions. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel insists that negotiations take place with no preconditions. Neither side has budged in years despite multiple sustained efforts by outside parties to bridge the gaps, prompting observers on either side of the Green Line to question Kerry’s grip on reality.
“I think each side has made it abundantly clear that they are not interested in really negotiating,” said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. “The fact is, once this issue of the starting point is settled, that pretty much dictates the entire outcome – so what’s the point?” he explained. Erekat wondered what Kerry thinks he can accomplish when neither party finds any of its options palatable, making inaction the most likely and least wasteful course.
The idea of solving the Israeli- Palestinian conflict with two states for two peoples is dead, a majority of Arab citizens and close to a majority of Jews in Israel believe, according to the monthly Peace Index poll released on Wednesday by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University.Indian President praises economic, scientific cooperation in Knesset speech
When asked whether they agreed with the statement that the two-state solution is dead, 57.1 percent of Arabs and 46.1% of Jews agreed, 35.1% of Arabs and 50% of Jews disagreed, and 7.7% of Arabs and 3.9% of Jews said they did not know or declined to answer.
Among the public as a whole, 61.5% said they did not believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to the two-state solution was genuine, 26.3% thought it was, and 12.3% declined to answer or said they did not know.
When asked what solution could best ensure Israel’s future, 64% of Arabs and 46.3% of Jews said dividing the land and establishing an independent Palestinian state. Twenty-two percent of Arabs and 36.3% of Jews said annexing the territories and establishing one state under Israeli rule on all of the land.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the economic and technological ties between the countries in their addresses to the Knesset on Wednesday.Indian president finds voice against terrorism
Mukherjee said that India and Israel are “modern nations but ancient civilizations,” and both modern countries are “united in democracy” and were founded after a struggle against British rule.
“Our leaders adopted different methods, but were inspired by the same human values and ideals. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Mahatma Gandhi is the only world leader whose picture is hung in David Ben-Gurion’s desert home,” he said. “We admire the will and resolve you have shown in building your nation under difficult circumstances.”
The Indian president said his nation “always appreciated Israeli innovations in the field of agriculture, the kibbutz system and the remarkable achievements of your scientists and engineers,” saying drip irrigation is widely used, and the country is looking to develop efficient technologies for water management and cleaning rivers.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, who spent 24-hours earlier this week in Ramallah and the Palestinian Authority without once publicly condemning terrorism, finally did so on Wednesday morning prior to his speech to the Knesset.President Pranab Mukherjee rushed out from Al Kuds University amid protests by Palestinian students
During a ceremonial reception with President Reuven Rivlin, Mukherjee said that he was “distressed at the recent violence.”
Mukherjee, the first Indian president ever to visit Israel, said that his country “condemns all forms of terrorism. We have always advocated a peaceful resolution of all disputes.”
Mukherjee, who is scheduled to have a working lunch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday before leaving the country, said he will “seek the assessment of the Israeli leadership about the recent developments in this region which have caused concern all over the world and have direct implications for India.”
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday was rushed out from Al Kuds University due to the ongoing protests by angry Palestinian students against India's growing friendship with Israel.Growing India-Israel Ties Provoke Protests by Palestinians
When the President was about to end his acceptance speech, the security apparatus appeared visibly worried. Both the President and the accompanying delegation were rushed out of the venue as soon as he completed his speech. The President did not wait for the proposed signing of the MoU between higher education institutions of the two countries.
As the President stepped out, he saw half a dozen placard wielding students seeking president to "listen to our voice". When Mukherjee's car left main gates of the university, hundreds of students marched up to the main auditorium questioning, what they called, India's growing proximity with Israel.
If President Mukherjee was trying to placate the Arab public opinion with his sympathetic statements, it did not work. According to Arab media, hundreds of angry Palestinian protesters occupied the campus on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 during Mikherjee’s brief visit to Al Quds University, Ramallah.State indicts alleged Rosh Hashanah killers of Alexander Levlovitz for manslaughter
President Mukherjee, a 79 year-old veteran politician of India’s Congress Party, took office three years ago, with support of his party’s considerable strength in Upper- and Lower Houses of Indian Parliament. Since then the left-leaning Congress Party has been virtually wiped out of India’s political scene. Congress Party historically supported Yasser Arafat’s PLO and a segment in the party still holds on to the outdated allegiances from the Cold War era.
Regardless of the Indian President’s differing opinion on the ‘Israeli-Arab conflict’, there is great support at home for Prime Minister Modi’s pro-Israel foreign policy. Besides the political support for Israel from Hindu-right within Prime Minister Modi’s own BJP-led alliance, there is wide-based support and admiration for Israel amongst the country’s youth, who see Israel as a land of start-ups and cutting-edge innovation.
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office on Thursday filed indictments with the Jerusalem District Court against five residents of Sur Bahir for the killing of Alexander Levlovitz and the wounding of his daughters on the eve of Rosh Hashanah.Henkin Murderers' Homes Set for Demolition
Abd Du’iyat, 19, Muhammad Abu Chaf, 18, Alulid Atrash, 18 and two minors aged 17, whose names are under gag order, were charged with a combination of manslaughter, serious bodily harm, endangering lives on a roadway, disturbing police under aggravated circumstances, incitement and constructing a weapon.
Some of the defendants were also charged with throwing Molotov cocktails at security forces during rioting in 2014.
No murder charge was included.
Levlovitz, 64, lost control of his vehicle on Rosh Hashanah eve after it was struck by rocks thrown by the defendants on Asher Viner Street in the Armon Hanetziv neighborhood in the capital, adjacent to the Arab neighborhood of Sur Bahir, upon driving home from dinner, said the indictment.
The families of the murderers of Naama and Eitam Henkin were informed on Thursday that their home is to be demolished in the coming days.Samantha Power: Iranian Missile Launch Violated UN Security Council Resolutions
The terrorists include: Raeb Ahmad Muhammad Alivi, 37, terror cell leader, who also recruited other terrorists, instructed them to implement attacks and provided them with weapons; Yahya Muhammad Nayif Abdallah Haj Hamed, 24, who arried out the shooting in this attack and other attacks; Samir Zahir Ibrahim Kusa, 33, took part in the three attacks as a driver; Karam Lutfi Fathi Razek, 23, fired during the attack with a pistol but was accidentally shot by another Hamas terrorist during the attack; and Zir Ziad Jamil Amar, 31, who ensured that the roads were clear to carry out the attack.
The terrorists' families have the opportunity to appeal the ruling. However, officials said that they intend to complete the adjudication process as quickly as possible, in order to carry out the measure as soon as they can.
In several instances, residents of homes that were slated for demolition were able to postpone the edict for years.
Security forces destroyed the homes of two terrorists last week, following an emergency Cabinet meeting in which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanded legal leeway to enforce measures against terrorist murderers.
Iran’s test-firing of ballistic missiles on Sunday likely violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said today.Airlines Stop Flying Over Iran Over Missile Concerns
Politico reported more:
“If the facts are as we believe them to be, it would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Samantha Power said, speaking at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit in Washington.
The State Department also said that it would bring the matter up at the Security Council. …
Power went on to say that one of the “really important features” of the existing nuclear agreement with Iran will be “enforcement of the resolutions and standards” that are already in place.
White House Spokesman Josh Earnest also indicated Tuesday that Iran’s ballistic missile test violated Security Council resolutions.
Cathay Pacific said Wednesday it had suspended flights over Iran and the Caspian Sea after an aviation safety body issued a warning about Russian missiles being fired at Syria, while some European airlines have also taken measures.Under Russian Cover, Iran Sends Troops to Syria
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) took action to avoid a repeat of the tragedy involving Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine last year, killing all 298 people on board.
Dutch investigators concluded in their final report released Tuesday that the Boeing 777 was brought down by a Russian-made BUK missile.
Russia is intensifying its air campaign against insurgents in Syria and last week also launched a salvo of cruise missiles from its warships in the Caspian. At least one missile has missed its target and hit Iran.
A Syrian official and activist who spoke on condition of anonymity reported that about 1,500 Iranian fighters began arriving in Syria about two weeks ago when the Russian air strikes began, and more are arriving in recent days. Additional Hezbollah fighters have also been arriving. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed on Wednesday that Iranian troops are arriving in Syria.CUBA JUMPS IN: Top general, soldiers in Syria to aid Assad, Russia
Russia claims that it is trying to stop the Islamic State terror group in Syria, but this is being disputed by Syrian rebels and Western officials, who say the air strikes are taking place in parts of the country where the Islamic State has little presence. The arrival of additional Iranian and Hezbollah fighters seems to show that Russia’s main goal is to protect Assad’s regime.
“Sending more troops from Hezbollah, and Iran only increases the shelf life of the Syrian regime, which is destined to end,” said Maj. Jamil Saleh, the leader of the CIA-backed Free Syrian Army faction Tajammu Alezzah, according to the Associated Press. “It will only add more destruction and displacement.”
Cuban military operatives reportedly have been spotted in Syria, where sources believe they are advising President Bashar al-Assad’s soldiers and may be preparing to man Russian-made tanks to aid Damascus in fighting rebel forces backed by the U.S.Pentagon Assures Ammo Airdropped to Syrian Rebels Won't End Up in Enemy Hands
Gen. Leopoldo Cintra Frias, head of Cuba's Armed Forces, recently visited Syria to lead a group of Cuban military personnel joining forces with Russia in their support of Assad, according to information received by the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies.
On Wednesday, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that Cuban paramilitary and special forces units are on the ground in Syria, citing evidence from intelligence reports. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Cuban troops may have been training in Russia and may have arrived in Syria on Russian planes.
The U.S. official described Cuban's involved in Syria as similar to the "Cuba-Angola arrangement" -- a reference to Cuban troops operating on behalf of the Soviets in several central African countries in the 1970's. Cuba also sent troops to Syria in 1973 to support them in the Yom Kippur War against Israel and deployed officers to observe Israeli military tactics.
The official could not confirm whether Cuba's top general is in Syria, or if Cuban forces are manning Russian tanks provided to Assad by Russia. (h/t MtTB)
The U.S. Department of Defense has revamped its effort to assist so-called moderate Syrian rebels on the ground, shifting its focus away from training to providing them with weapons and other equipment to fight the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).Russia Today Airs Bizarre Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory About Hillary Clinton
Pentagon officials have confirmed that only the leaders of the units that will receive the U.S. taxpayer-funded military equipment will be vetted.
U.S.-supplied weapons are expected to be channeled through vetted commanders to thousands of Syrian fighters.
The Obama administration kick-started its new program by airdropping a reported 50 tons of small arms ammunition and grenades to rebels in northern Syria.
“Coalition forces conducted an airdrop Sunday in northern Syria to resupply local counter-ISIL ground forces as they conduct operations against ISIL,” Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told Breitbart News.
RT, or Russia Today, the overseas propaganda network of Vladimir Putin, is not known for its fealty to reality or basic standards of journalism. As The New Republic and Tablet contributor Michael Moynihan has documented, whether it’s attempting to obscure the mass murder of Syrian civilians by Russian ally Bashar al-Assad, featuring conspiracy theorists as experts, claiming 9/11 was an inside job, suggesting the Rothschilds were behind the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, or refusing to cover anti-gay violence in Russia, RT uses slick production values to sell Kremlin misinformation.US says anti-Semitism a growing problem in Europe
But on Tuesday, it aired a segment on Hillary Clinton called “Obvi-Illuminati,” that was unhinged even by RT’s exceedingly low standards. In it, anchor Lori Harfenist claimed that Clinton was the “Illuminati candidate,” and proved it by pointing to the logo of a technology company working with her campaign, which vaguely resembles the mythical group’s symbol.
Harfenist then threw in some anti-Semitism for good measure, noting that the alleged Illuminati tech outlet’s parent company has a Hebrew name. “Not only do they have an Illuminati logo,” she intoned, “they also have backers who speak Hebrew.” Because of course any self-respecting global conspiracy to undo democracy and repress the masses must be Jewish.
Europe is having trouble grappling with an upswing in anti-Semitism, much of it tied to criticism of Israeli policy, an annual US report on religious freedom found Wednesday, while also sparing few words in expressing concern over issues of religious freedom in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.Europe’s feeble fight against anti-Semitism
Warning that non-state actors — rather than countries — have become the “principal persecutors and preventers of religious tolerance and practice,” Secretary of State John Kerry unveiled Wednesday the State Department’s annual report on the state of religious tolerance worldwide.
Kerry presented the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom together with Ambassador At Large for Religious Freedom David Saperstein at the State Department, where both warned of the implications of the rise of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram.
The scope of the report, however, was worldwide, with Saperstein expressing specific concern that “in Europe, many governments are struggling to cope with the aftermath of terror attacks such as those in France, Belgium and Denmark, along with increased anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim actions and sentiments.”
Earlier this month, the Fundamental Rights Agency – an official European body – published a review of anti-Semitism in Europe over the period 2004-2014. Perhaps the most significant observation on studying the document is that no data was supplied by several member countries, and that the quality of data collected differs greatly from country to country.US e-health giant teams with BGU to foster database start-ups
Many Jews do not even think it worthwhile to report anti-Semitic incidents to the police. When data for problems which were known 10 years ago is allowed to remain insufficient, not much more is required to prove that the EU does not make serious efforts to fight anti-Semitism. The establishment of a solid database is an essential first step for the development of a broad plan to fight anti-Semitism.
The FRA report mentions the main perpetrators of anti-Semitic incidents in the following order: “neo-Nazis, sympathizers of the far right and far left, Muslim fundamentalists and the younger generation, including school children. There are also incidents of public anti-Semitic discourse on university campuses.”
The order of the perpetrators as presented by the FRA is suspect.
Those familiar with European anti-Semitism know that on an overall European basis Muslims should be placed at the top of the list. The murders of Jews because they were Jews in the current century in France, Belgium and Denmark have all been perpetrated by Muslims.
AllScripts Healthcare, one of the world’s biggest e-health record technology firms, has partnered with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Center for Digital Innovation (CDI)? to create the CDI-Allscripts Lab.IsraellyCool: Jenna Jameson, Defender Of Israel
Located in Beersheba, the lab will, its sponsors hope, become Israel’s center for research and development of apps for electronic health records, networking, collaboration, information-sharing, and compliance.
Tech developed at the lab will be based on Allscripts Open APIs, a platform that allows developers to integrate apps and programs with electronic health record databases, integrating the manifold languages and programming technologies that have been used over the years and enabling each to understand the other. The apps developed by entrepreneurs and start-ups at the CDI-Allscripts Lab will be fast-tracked to the US market, providing, the institution said, an opportunity for start-ups to acquire customers they would most likely have not otherwise had the opportunity to reach.
You may recall I previously posted about ex porn star and actress Jenna Jameson developing a love of Judaism and Israel as she goes through the process of converting to Judaism.WATCH: Cyprus refugees reach Palestine
Jenna has not tired in her defense of Israel and the Jewish people, as we undergo this current onslaught of terror. On social media, she stands as one of only a few celebrities outspoken in defending Israel and condemning palestinian terror.
My hats off to Jenna for standing up to the Israel haters and antisemites. She has a huge following, so she is able to really influence hearts and minds to see the truth.
In this July 1948 newsreel, Jewish refugees from British detention camps on Cyprus arrive in Haifa.
On screen, women and children are checked by British inspectors before boarding the Pan-York in Famagusta, Cyprus.
“Now these people are off to the promised land,” announces the British narrator, who evidently sympathizes with the former British Mandate. “A short voyage and a happy one, I should imagine, and all the passengers looking forward with high hopes to their future.”
Many, though, are not yet “off to the promised land.” The ship holds mostly women and children, for men of military age were still not allowed to leave Cyprus, according to the narrator.
“True, the country of their choice was still virtually a battleground, but it was Palestine,” he concludes, as passengers crowd down the gangplank and step onto Israeli soil for the first time. “And that’s where they’d been wanting to go during many months of waiting.”
Soldiers' Tales: Two Palestinian Jewish Soldiers in the Ottoman Army during the First World War
Soldiers’ Tales: Two Palestinian Jewish Soldiers in the Ottoman Army During the First World War , was originally written in Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, and then translated into Hebrew. Abramson edited and annotated the unpolished wartime diaries of two Sephardic Jews from Jerusalem who were conscripted into labor units of the Ottoman Fourth Army during World War I to bring their story to the attention of scholars. The diarists are eloquently literate, quoting or alluding metaphorically to Scriptural texts (Job was especially relevant), and honest about their flaws and failings, and their despair.
Middle class and religiously observant, Yehuda Amon and Haim Nahmias were transported far from home to Western Anatolia and thrust into inhumane conditions that became their daily reality for two or three years – the chaos, corruption and cruelty of the Ottoman military. Their reminiscences, based on notes made at the time and recopied, reconstructed and expanded postwar (also embroidered and with some literary license taken in spots), are relentless catalogs of misery: of filthy, lice-ridden, overcrowded barracks akin to prison camps (with much the same agenda, preventing escapes), of being worked to exhaustion and beyond, of constant, senseless, humiliating and brutal beatings and lashings by Turkish officers and NCOs (Amon refers to one commander as “the Lord of the Lashes”), of being extorted for what little money they had or robbed of possessions outright, of being subjected to perpetual hunger and thirst (when there was food, it was often contaminated; in one memorable anecdote, Nahmias relates how a dog sniffed and walked away from their bread), and of pointless marching and maneuvers, heavily-laden and clothed in tatters, without shelter in extreme heat and cold, and long transports in rail cars “crammed like sardines in a barrel.” Yet despite it all, the two men clearly kept their spirits; “Apart from this we didn’t have anything to complain about,” writes Amon with characteristic Jewish irony.
Additionally, as Jews they faced other, unique hardships: their beards were shaved off, they had to work on the Sabbath and eat non-kosher food, even leavened bread during Passover. Still, they were resilient, and attempted to adhere to rituals and prayers, and observe holy days and festivals to preserve a semblance of identity. Despite hunger, when they could, they shunned meat and only ate vegetables. In the midst of their ordeals (“as long as the Babylonian and Egyptian exile”), they were able to record their experiences, and so retain some dignity as they waited for their deliverance and return to Jerusalem. (h/t MtTB)
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