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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

03/30 Links Pt1: Douglas Murray: "Excuses" for Terrorists; BHL: Israel Upholds Democratic Values While in State of Emergency

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: "Excuses" for Terrorists
Even so, in the eyes of many Europeans, Israel is seen to have done something for which suicide bombers are thought to be an understandable response. Whether said or unsaid, this is the rationale that makes terror against Israel a lesser offense than terror everywhere else.
Well, what a shock the rest of the world will one day have to undergo. Because if you allow an "excuse" for one false narrative of Islamic extremists, you will then have to allow it for the others. You will, for example, have to accept the word of ISIS that Belgium is a "crusader" nation, deserving to be attacked because it is involved in a "crusade" against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). You will have to accept that for standing up to the Islamic extremists in Mali and Syria, these Islamic extremists have the right to attack the people of Belgium, France, Sierra Leone, Canada, the United States and Australia.
You will have to accept that Europeans can be killed for publishing a cartoon, simply because a foreign terrorist group says so, and then accept that the cartoonists brought it themselves.
The enemies of Israel and the enemies of the rest of the civilized world have some minor differences, but there is far more that they have in common. They are both driven not only by the same jihadist ideologies but by the insistence that their political and religious view of the world is relevant not just for them, but needs to be implemented against all of the rest of us.
It may take a while to realize it, but we are all in the same boat. It also may take a while until European cities reach for the blue and white bulbs; but if we start to question where those bulbs went, we might get closer not only to understanding Israel's predicament, but to understanding the predicament that is also now our own.
Moments before King David gets Arrested…



Bernard-Henri Lévy on Global Terrorism: Europe Has Not Taken Advantage of the ‘Laboratory’ That Israel Provides for Upholding Democratic Values While in State of Emergency
“Jews are, of course, a main target of the radical Islamists, but not the only ones,” world renowned French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.
During a talk titled “The European Union and Totalitarianism,” hosted by the Gatestone Institute, a New York-based think tank specializing in strategy and defense, BHL, as he is known in France, was responding to a question about Monday’s Sky News report about advanced Islamic State plans to attack Jewish children in Turkey, on the heels of a series of ISIS-perpetrated bombings and other murders that have rocked Europe and Africa in the past week alone. The two other targets of global jihad he pointed to were Christians, who are being slaughtered across the Middle East, and what he called “enlightened decency,” a term he elaborated on by saying that it is “not by chance that [the radical Islamists] have been attacking cities, such as Paris, Brussels and Istanbul.”
Referring to this as “metrocide,” BHL said, “All fascist movements hate cities, because they symbolize and embody civilization,” and “Islamofascists” are no different in this respect.
Going through a list of what he called “stupid and disgusting excuses” made by the West for the global terror wave (i.e. that terrorism is rooted in misery, poverty and despair; that terrorism is an act of revenge or retaliation for Western aggression; and that it is a response to Western military, political and cultural imperialism), BHL asserted that “Islamofascism has not been studied and analyzed as it should have been.”
He also argued that Europe has not taken advantage of the “laboratory” that Israel both constitutes and provides for how a country can be in a state of emergency where terrorism is concerned and at the same time uphold democratic values.
Israel Uncensored: Special Guest Caroline Glick – Obama Can Still Do More Damage to Israel [audio]
On today’s “Israel Uncensored with Josh Hasten” Jerusalem Post Senior Contributing Editor and renowned author Caroline Glick says that while US President Barak Obama only has under 10 months left in office, his policies towards Israel still have the potential to do damage. Glick also discusses the current wave of Jihadist violence offering her advice on what Israel needs to do to quell it. Glick opens the interview discussing the latest from Hebron where an IDF soldier faces charges after killing an injured terrorist he felt was still a threat.
The Mottle Wolfe Show: Not Right
People are still divided about the killing of a disarmed terrorist. The soldier has been officially charged. Now is the time for moral clarity. Also is Bernie Sanders a viable candidate for President?
IsraellyCool: So… What ARE The Rules of Engagement?
Having viewed on social media a wide range of opinions regarding recent incidents, particularly the shooting of the terrorist in Hebron on Purim, I have become aware that there are several gross misunderstandings regarding the Israeli Rules of Engagement (RoE) that govern the circumstances in which firearms and lethal force can be used by armed citizens and Law Enforcement Personnel. In this discussion, I will explain the rationale behind the RoE, and then I will detail the RoE themselves. Then there are extensive notes (marked by numbers in superscript) that are important for a full understanding of the subject.
I want to emphasize that I am not expressing an opinion on any case that is currently under legal review, and about which all the facts have not been finally determined. It is meant solely to clarify the RoE, since there are many misunderstandings about their details and rationale.
For the record, I used to be an operative in the Yamam anti-terrorist unit of the Border Guard, and for seven years after that I was a Shabak-trained security guard in the Airports Authority. I have been a volunteer commissioned officer in the Border Guard for more than ten years now, giving regular briefings on RoE. Further, I used to be a civilian shooting instructor. I was for several years a member of the International Wound Ballistics Association. I am not a lawyer (although I have published peer-reviewed work on the legal aspects of weapons), but I can reasonably claim to have a better-than-average knowledge of the RoE, including relevant field experience.
IDF chief to soldiers: We'll back those who err, but not those who violate our ethics
In light of the incident in which an IDF soldier shot a subdued terrorist last Tuesday, Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot published a statement to all soldiers in the military.
Eisenkot highlighted the importance of the IDF's role in its mission to ensure peace for Israeli citizens, both in the battlefield and on the homefront as well.
The chief of Staff stated that he and the commanders of the IDF will stand behind the actions of all soldiers carrying out the mission to defend Israel. However, he also highlighted that the military institution will bring to justice any soldier who acts outside the guidelines of the IDF's ethical code.
"Israel's fate depends on two things: it's strength and its righteousness," the chief of Staff said, quoting David Ben Gurion. In order to uphold this, he continued, Israel must place an emphasis on the military's code of ethics, a charter that safeguards the moral principles of the IDF.
Senator seeks probe into claims of Israeli ‘extrajudicial killings’
Vermont [Dem] Sen. Patrick Leahy and 10 House members have asked US Secretary of State John Kerry to investigate alleged Israeli human rights abuses and to determine whether they are reason enough to cut military aid, according to a Wednesday report.
The request was made in a letter sent to Kerry on February 17 and which was published by Politico.
Leahy and his fellow signatories asked the president to look into claims of “gross violations of human rights” by Israel and Egypt, citing examples of alleged extrajudicial killings by both countries.
On Israel, the letter asks Kerry to investigate “what may be extrajudicial killings,” citing claims by Amnesty International and other human rights groups relating to the deaths of Fadi Aloun, Sa’ad al-Atrash, Hadeel Hashlamoun and Mutaw Awisat.
Fred Maroun: The IDF soldier who killed an unarmed Palestinian terrorist deserves our support
A Hebron soldier is accused of needlessly killing a Palestinian terrorist on March 24, 2016, and the IDF is investigating. Without pre-judging the results of the investigation, I believe that the soldier deserves our support.
The usual anti-Zionist zealots have jumped on this incident to make their usual wholesale claims against Israel. No surprise there. Unfortunately, however, many Zionists have also already decided and publicly declared that the soldier is guilty and an embarrassment to Israel. Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, and the IDF itself condemned the soldier within hours of the incident.
I understand their haste although I do not agree with it. Israel is constantly under verbal assault. The IDF is constantly maligned while the behavior of armies that do not have the high ethical standards of the IDF is largely ignored. Zionists are afraid that this soldier’s actions will be used in the relentless campaign against Israel, so they hope that by reacting quickly, they will soften the blow.
Police tactics, intelligence-sharing tip scales in Jerusalem’s war on terror
More than 3,500 police officers working in lockstep around the clock have helped turn the tide in the capital’s once seemingly insurmountable six-month long wave of terrorist attacks over the past few weeks, a senior police official said on Tuesday.
With the last major attack in Jerusalem having taken place on March 9 outside the Old City, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the relative lull in violence is attributable to hyper-vigilance, preemptive tactics and extensive intelligence coordination.
“Of course, the strategy is having police units at the right place at the right time, so we have mapped out the different areas where terror attacks could or have taken place,” said Rosenfeld during an interview with The Jerusalem Post.
“Multiple units are carrying out security measures in those areas – constantly guarding and patrolling them by car, motorcycle and foot, with undercover officers on site at all times.”
Palestinian film claiming Israel digging under al-Aksa threatens to inflame tensions
A new Palestinian propaganda video that made rounds this week on the Internet claims that Israel has been excavating a network of tunnels underneath the western part of the Temple Mount complex, allegedly in order to "Judaize" the compound and build the third Temple.
The 17-minute long documentary, titled "Underneath al-Aksa," was released on Monday by the Islamic Movement in Israel.
The Palestinian thesis that prevails in the documentary claims that "al-Aksa is in danger" and that concern has stoked the recent wave of Palestinian violence against Israelis that erupted in October.
The propaganda video, purporting to present hard evidence of the existence of an Israeli network of passageways underneath the holy al-Aksa Mosque, has the potential to pour oil on the flames and incite more Palestinian violence.
PA school names basketball game after murderer

Palestinian Authority school hosts basketball game for high school girls named after terrorist who led killing of 37
“The Dalal Mughrabi Cup”
Retaining the Palestinian Authority's policy of glorifying murderers of Israeli civilians, a Palestinian Authority school this month hosted a basketball game named after Dalal Mughrabi who led the worst terror attack in Israel's history, in which 37 civilians were killed, among them 12 children.
"The Dalal Mughrabi Cup" took place in the Al-Awael School for Girls. This school is under the PA Ministry of Education and listed on the website of the ministry's Directorate of Education - Ramallah-El-Bireh. The terror glorifying game was held "under the auspices" of the head of this same education directorate, Bassam Erekat. [Al-Quds, March 23, 2016]
The Dalal Mughrabi Cup was co-organized by a Palestinian NGO, the Al-Razi Cultural and Social Association. This NGO is a member of the Networks program under the Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF), which aims at promoting “intercultural dialogue across the Euro-Mediterranean region,” and “build trust and improve mutual understanding.” ALF is “an inter-governmental institution” established under EUROMED, an organization consisting of the 28 EU member states and 15 Southern Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern countries. [Website of the Anna Lindh Foundation, accessed March 29, 2016]
MEMRI: Self-Criticism In The Arab World Following Brussels Attacks: Muslim Justification Of The Attacks Is Unacceptable; We Must Recognize That Most Terrorism Is Carried Out By Muslims
Following the March 22, 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks that killed 35 and wounded over 300 others the Arab press featured numerous articles accusing the West and various opponents in the region of supporting terrorism. However, several notable articles expressed self-criticism, laying the responsibility for the creation of suicide bombers and for horrific terror attacks on the prevailing cultures and perceptions in the Muslim and Arab countries of origin. They harshly criticized the Muslims for not standing up against terrorism or doing enough to eliminate it and for justifying or even praising the attacks while disregarding any Muslim responsibility for terrorism.
Following are excerpts from these articles:
Al-Hayat Editor: We Have Failed, We Flee Our Countries And The World Attempts To Flee The Wave Of Suicide Bombers Produced By Our Culture
In an article titled "We Have Failed Indeed," the editor of the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, Ghassan Charbel, attacked the Arabs and Muslims for sowing destruction and fear in the very same European countries that had agreed to take them in after they had fled their failed countries. Charbel argued that the Arabs and Muslims had not managed to build states and citizens that could integrate into the modern world, and that they must recognize their failure and start from scratch. He wrote: "Are we [the Arabs and Muslims] simply part of this world, or are we perhaps an explosive charge implanted in [this world's] entrails? Are we a normal neighborhood in the global village, or are we maybe a neighborhood of suicide bombers in [that village]? Are these massacres that move [from place to place] aimed at annexing the Arab and Muslim communities in the West to the lexicon of slaughter and suicide? Are we part of the world's present and future, or are we a dark tempest that seeks to send [the world] back to the caves that it abandoned when it chose the path of progress and human dignity?
Rivlin thanks Turkish Jews for helping wounded Israelis
President Reuven Rivlin of Israel offered assistance to the Jewish community of Turkey in the aftermath of the Istanbul terror attack that killed three Israelis and amid reports of planned Islamic State attacks on Jewish targets.
On Tuesday, Rivlin spoke by telephone with İshak İbrahimzadeh, president of the Jewish community of Turkey, the president’s office said in a statement. The president expressed his gratitude to Ibrahimzadeh for his community’s assistance to the injured in the March 19 attack and the families of those killed. The attack may have targeted an Israeli tour group.
“Thank you for your care; you reminded us that ‘all Jews are brothers,’” Rivlin said.
Along with the three Israelis, one Iranian national died in the Istanbul attack.
Rivlin also expressed concern for the Jews of Turkey in the wake of a Sky News report Monday evening that Islamic State terrorists are planning an “imminent” attack on Jewish kindergartens, schools and youth centers in the country.
US orders diplomatic, military families out of south Turkey
The State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel Tuesday to leave posts in southern Turkey due to “increased threats from terrorist groups” in the country.
The two agencies said dependents of American staffers at the U.S. consulate in Adana, the Incirlik air base and two other locations must leave. The so-called “ordered departure” notice means the relocation costs will be covered by the government.
In a statement, the military’s European Command said the step “allows for the deliberate, safe return of family members from these areas due to continued security concerns in the region.” (h/t Alexi)
Man in Arabic dress ranting about ‘Jews and Palestine’ pretends he has been knocked over after removing Israeli flag from Brussels memorial
This is the shocking moment an man in Arabic dress tried to remove an Israel flag from a Brussels memorial before pretending to collapse.
A video taken at the scene shows a huge crowd gathered around the tributes for victims of the terrorist bombings last week in Place de la Bourse in Brussels.
But the peace is shattered as an elderly man in a white cap starts shouting on the sidelines, apparently screaming about Jews and Palestine.
'Everyone together!' a Belgian man can be heard shouting in defiance near the person filming.
This enrages the angry man further and he strides into the middle of the memorial. People point in horror and cries of, 'Scandalous!' can be heard.
But the man stands his ground and seems to be revving his body up as he bends his knees and brings his arm together.
A local man tries to take the [Israel] flag that the elderly man had grabbed, but the latter responds by collapsing on the ground, as though he's been struck [pallywood].
But the local, far from concerned, uses the man's prone state to take back the flag - to the cheers of the masses.
Several policeman emerge on the scene, prompting the elderly man to scramble to his feet.
'Shameful! Shameful!' people shout and boo as he picks his way across the tributes on the ground.
Report: FBI Alerted Dutch Police About Brussels Suicide Bombers Days Before Attacks
The FBI warned Dutch authorities of the two brothers identified as the suicide bombers in the Brussels terrorist attacks nearly a week prior to the deadly blasts, Reuters reported.
Dutch Interior Minister Ard van der Steur confirmed Tuesday that FBI officials notified Dutch police on March 16 that brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui were being “sought by Belgian authorities.”
Van der Steur, responding in a letter to questions from Dutch members of parliament, wrote that on March 17 Dutch authorities shared the information with their Belgian counterparts.
Five days later, the brothers, along with accomplices, detonated bombs at Brussels Airport and the Maelbeek subway station, killing at least 35 people and wounding roughly 300 others.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the March 22 attacks, which left at least four Americans dead.
The FBI informed Dutch officials that Belgian authorities wanted Ibrahim for “his criminal background,” while his brother Khalid was being pursued for “terrorism, extremism, and recruitment,” according to van der Steur.
The Belgian federal police denied that Dutch authorities consulted with them about the El Bakraoui brothers in the days leading up to the attacks.
Laptop found near terror suspects’ hideout held images of Belgian PM’s home
An official linked to the investigation of the Brussels terror attacks said Wednesday that a laptop found near the hideout of the suspects in the March 22 airport bombing contained images of the prime minister’s official residence and office.
The official, who asked not to be identified because the investigation was ongoing, said that at the moment there were “absolutely no” specific indications that Prime Minister Charles Michel was under threat from the attackers.
He said the computer “was full of stuff” of many locations and information garnered from the Internet.
The prime minister’s office has long been under special security review which been increased since the November 13 attacks in Paris.
EXPOSE: Belgium accepted Islamization for electoral reasons
Nicknamed "Moustache" for his mustache, married to a Muslim Tunisian woman, Philippe Moureaux, even before becoming mayor of Molenbeek, had always boasted of defending the rights of immigrants. He included, for the first time in the history of Belgium, Muslim representatives in municipal and regional lists. This scion of the Belgian policy has been the mayor of Molenbeek for so long that the strategic suburb has come to be embodied in Isis' plans.
His pro-Arab sympathies date back to the war in Algeria, when Moureaux defended the representatives of the Algerian National Liberation Front, also secretly hiding them in the heights of Lustin, in the Namur region.
Merry Hermanus, activist of the Socialist Party in Brussels for decades, also has accused Moureaux: "Without the immigrant populations, the Socialist Party would have been reduced to eight percent of the electorate in Brussels. We have become prisoners." A few days ago, Moureux published his book, "The Truth About Molenbeek". He wrote it after the massacres of November 13, in Paris, when the political class began to question his leadership of the Brussels ghetto. In the volume, Moureaux refers to "my Muslim brothers," writes that one of the engines of jihadism is our "Islamophobia" and punishes "a society that treats immigrants like the Jews before the war".
Belgium Vice PM Acknowledges That Jihadi Street Celebrations Erupted Following Brussels Bombings
In the days following terrorist attacks in Brussels, street celebrations broke out in several places in Belgium, the county’s vice prime minister said.
Jan Jambon made the statement about the March 22 bombings, which killed 35 people, on Wednesday during a symposium titled “Terrorism, Israel and International Law” and organized by the Dutch anti-racism and pro-Israel lobby group CIDI, or the Center of Information and Documentation on Israel, in The Hague.
Jambon, a rightist politician, made the remark while acknowledging Belgium has a jihadism problem. One of Europe’s smallest countries, Belgium is the continent’s biggest per capita source of jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq, CNN reported. In February, Jambon revealed Belgium’s intelligence services have flagged 451 citizens as jihadists.
State Comptroller: Only 30% of illegal West Bank construction demolished
The IDF has failed to tackle the widespread phenomenon of illegal West Bank construction, having demolished only 30% of such structures over a 19-year period, the State Comptroller said in a report it issued on Monday.
Between the years 1997-2013, according to the report, the Civil Administration found 20,086 instances of illegal construction in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli civil and military control.
Of those illegal structures, 13,481 were built by Palestinians and 6,605 by Israelis.
In the ensuing 19 years, the Civil Administration razed only 5,620 of those buildings, 3,813 of which belonged to Palestinians and 1,807 to Israelis, the report stated.
It further found that between the years 2008 and 2013, the pace of illegal construction increased, while the number of demolitions decreased.
IsraellyCool: Illegal Building Reuters Won’t Report
To go with this piece of propaganda put out as news, is one sad photo of a demolished shack.
Instead of a 6,000 word essay on how grossly one-sided, fall-off-the balance-beam, unfair and biased this building article is, I respond with six photos Reuters does not share.

On the right side of the “separation wall” are massive building sites with Arab only properties. On the left, all those small, low black and white things popping up daily on open land are Bedouin encampments.
You ask why now?
Illegal outposts are springing up daily and this Arab expansion is being sanctioned by the EU and UN. After years in court, some of the illegal Arab construction is being taken down. To add insult to injury, Reuters’ offensive building piece adds, “Israeli army says.”
Arabs are grabbing land on both sides of the fence. Reuters can plainly see it from the main road. Reuters, EU and UN are aiding in this discrimination and land theft. (h/t Bob Knot)


Israeli Arabs set for general strike, protests on 40th annual Land Day
The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee said Israeli Arabs will protest and hold a general strike on the 40th annual Land Day on Wednesday.
The protests, to take place in various Arab localities across the country, would be against government house demolitions and the threat of the evacuation of unrecognized illegal Beduin settlements in the Negev.
The main event will be held in the northern town of Arrabe at 4 p.m., with events also taking place earlier in neighboring Sakhnin, Deir Hanna, and Kafr Kana. A separate protest is scheduled to take place at the unrecognized Beduin village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev at 4 p.m.
Land Day is held March 30 every year to commemorate the deaths, in the 1976 riots, of six Galilee Arabs over a government decision to confiscate land.
Claim: Israeli Aircraft Struck Islamic State Targets in Egypt’s Sinai
A news agency known for its close ties to the Islamic State claimed that Israeli aircraft on Tuesday struck outposts of Wilayat Sinai, the IS’s branch in the Egyptian Sinai.
With no documentary evidence to back up its claim, the Amaq News Agency reported that seven “Israeli drones, war-planes and helicopters” bombed targets in the IS-heavy north-eastern Sinai.
Contacted by Brietbart Jerusalem, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment, explaining it is the IDF’s general policy to refrain from commenting on reports of operations outside the boundaries of Israel and the Gaza Strip.
IS has kept mum on the alleged incident, the agency added, and the number of casualties remains unclear.
Amaq reported in the past that Israeli aircraft previously entered Sinai on reconnaissance missions and have struck IS outposts.
Police investigate possible fraud in second Duma fire
The fire that broke out at the home of Duma village resident Ibrahim Dawabsheh a week and a half ago appears to have started from inside the house, Judea and Samaria police and fire authorities reported on Tuesday.
The report also said that in contrast to the claims made by Dawabsheh, a relative and neighbor of the Dawabsheh family who were murdered in an arson attack in their home nine months ago, no Molotov cocktail had been thrown at his house.
After the fire, Ibrahim Dawabsheh claimed he had seen two masked figures, who he said were settlers, throwing a Molotov cocktail at his house. Residents of Duma are saying the arson was an attempt to prevent Dawabsheh from testifying at the trial of Amiram Ben Uliel, who is accused of murdering the Dawabsheh family. Eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents, Riham and Saad, were killed by a firebomb hurled into their home by suspected Jewish extremists. Ali's 4-year-old brother, Ahmad, was seriously injured.
Immediately after the police were notified of the fire, investigators from the Judea and Samaria District Police and the Shin Bet security agency were sent to the village and began collecting evidence. An arson investigator from the Judea and Samaria Fire and Rescue services also launched an investigation.
Where’s the Coverage? Palestinian Official Admits ‘Torture Happens’
FDD analyst Rumley noted that “ahead of a Palestinian teacher strike in February [2016], the PA arrested and held nearly two dozen teachers.” As CAMERA reported at the time (“Journalist: Striking Palestinian Teachers Show PA Corruption,” March 9), the PA’s security crackdown and illegal detentions were to “hinder or prevent” rallies protesting corruption. Rumley also pointed out that “during last year’s student council race at Birzeit University …the PA had arrested and beaten” several students affiliated with rival Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group that rules the Gaza Strip.
Yet, major U.S. news media have shown little interest in reporting allegations of PA torture—or admissions by the authority’s prime minister that those claims are not without merit. A Lexis-Nexis search of U.S. print news media, including USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and The New York Times, among others, showed no mention of Hamdallah’s acknowledgement that PA torture occurs.
Rumley noted that “Palestinians have little recourse in confronting the PA’s abuses” that indicate “the room for dissent in the West Bank is shrinking, and those who challenge the system continue to pay a painful price.” That price likely will continue to be paid as long as news media outlets fail to report human rights violations by the PA.
Khaled Abu Toameh: 'Palestinian Authority officers plucked out beard of cleric who denounced PA'
Palestinian Authority security officers ripped out the beard of a Muslim preacher from a village near Hebron after he delivered a sermon denouncing the PA, according to Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation), a radical Islamist group which seeks to re-establish the “Islamic Caliphate.”
The group said that Sheikh Yunis Raba’a, from Dahiryah in the Hebron Hills area, was arrested Friday by officers of the PA’s Preventive Security Force after he criticized the PA for agreeing to hand over to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) a monastery in Hebron.
The dispute dates back a century to the 1917 Russian Revolution. The Russian Orthodox Church split into the Communist Red Church in Moscow and the exiled White Church in New York.
Hamas military wing’s Twitter account shut down
The Twitter account of Hamas’s military wing was shut down without warning Monday night, according to a statement from the Gaza-based terror group.
The manager of the account said in a statement posted to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades’ website that “Twitter closed the page following pressure by Zionist groups.”
At the time of its closing, according to the account’s manager, the account had over 140,000 followers and reached 5 million tweet impressions in recent months.
Twitter also shut down the English-language Twitter account of the Qassam Brigades earlier in March, according to the group’s statement.
It wasn’t the first time that Twitter accounts associated with Hamas’s military wing have been shut down by the social media site.
Feds Give $270K Grant To Islamic Charity With Alleged Ties To Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood
The Obama administration recently gave a $270,000 grant to an Islamic charity that has been banned by Israel and the United Arab Emirates because of alleged financial ties to the terrorist group Hamas and to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In 2014, Israel and United Arab Emirates banned IRW, which is headquartered in Birmingham, England, from operating within its borders alleging that the group supports and funds Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood’s military arm in Palestine.
Israeli defense minister Moshe Yaalon alleged in July 2014 that IRW’s chapters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were being run by members of Hamas.
“The IRW is one of the sources of Hamas’s funding and a means for raising funds from various countries in the world,” Israeli defense minister Moshe Yaalon said in a July 2014 statement. “We do not intend to allow it to function and abet terrorist activity against Israel.”
Iranian leader says missiles more important than talks
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that his country needs its controversial missile program in order to negotiate from a position of strength and that those who oppose rocket development are treasonous.
The comments came as Western powers called on the UN to take action against Iran over recent tests of ballistic missiles, noting they threatened Israel.
Khamenei, who supported talks with the West over its nuclear program, said negotiations could not replace military might in Tehran’s international relations.
“That they say the future of the world is one of negotiation and not one of missiles, if that is said out of ignorance, well it is ignorance, but if it’s said knowingly, it is treason,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Not fearing Obama’s ‘snap back’, Iran openly develops Nuclear Missile Delivery Capability
Remember the famous ‘snapping back’ of sanctions that President Obama promised last year if Iran were to violate the Nuclear Agreement? The New York Times had hailed the ‘snap back’ as a diplomatic masterstroke, writing “snapback mechanism [to reimpose sanctions on Iran] is one of the most unusual parts of the deal. In the event that Iran is perceived as violating it, the agreement allows the full raft of penalties to resume automatically.”
Well guess what, Iran continues to violate the Nuclear Deal and President Obama’s ‘full raft’ is nowhere to be seen. Obama Administration has instead responded reluctantly to Islamic Republic of Iran’s repeated testing of ballistic missiles capable to carrying nuclear warheads by blacklisting a handful of Iranian companies.
The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted on two Iranian companies involved in the country’s missile programme. Despite the Nuclear Deal reached last year, Iran continues to develop of Nuclear Missiles Delivery Capabilities. The development of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear payload is a clear violation of the Deal that ended Tehran Regime’s political isolation and removed trade sanctions.
Iran has embarked on an ambitious military build-up, never before seen in the history of the Middle East, financed by about $150 billion Tehran is set to receive as part of the Obama-Kerry Nuclear Deal. This build-up dwarfs the military budget of Israel, a country Iranian Regime continues to threaten with annihilation.
US and allies: Iran missile tests were 'in defiance of' UN resolution
By launching nuclear-capable missiles Iran has defied a United Nations Security Council resolution that endorsed last year's historic nuclear deal, the United States and its European allies said in a joint letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Iran's recent ballistic tests involved missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" council resolution 2231, adopted last July, said the joint US, British, French, German letter to Spain's UN Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
The letter said the missiles used in the recent launches were "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons." It also asked that the Security Council discuss "appropriate responses" to Tehran's failure to comply with its obligations and urged Ban to report back on Iranian missile work inconsistent with 2231.
Spain has been assigned the task of coordinating council discussions on resolution 2231.
PreOccupiedTerritory: N Korea Bitter Iran Gets More Rewards For Violating Nuke Deal (satire)
Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, March 30 – Leaders of the rogue North Korean state expressed jealousy and resentment today that Iran’s violations of its agreements with the West over the country’s nuclear weapons program had only produced better treatment from those powers, whereas North Korea’s refusal to adhere to the terms of its own nuclear deal from the 1990’s has not brought it any closer to sanctions relief.
A spokesman for dictator Kim Jong-un voiced the sentiments at a press conference in the North Korean capital for a select group of journalists, where he said that the West’s different treatment of Iran and North Korea constitutes yet another display of American arrogance that called for retribution.
“We will destroy your cities and lay waste to your landscape,” warned Don-Tuch Ma-Junk. “You show unbridled hypocrisy by not easing our path to a ballistic nuclear missile arsenal the way you have done for the Islamic Republic of Iran. We were forced to develop our technology underground. But for Iran, not only do you clear their path toward nuclear weapons within a few years, you remove their economic sanctions, give them a hundred billions of dollars, and fail to check them when they increase their power across the region. We, meanwhile, starve. The double standard glares.”


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