Tuesday, July 12, 2016
PMW: “In defiance” of PMW, PA TV again honors stabber of Kay Wilson and killer of Kristine Luken
Last week, Palestinian Media Watch exposed that a Palestinian Authority TV program named Giants of Endurance had honored the terrorist who brutally stabbed Kay Wilson and murdered Kristine Luken in a forest near Jerusalem. PMW’s story was reported in the international media, including Fox News and the Daily Mail in Britain.PA TV “in defiance” of PMW honors stabber of Kay Wilson and Kristine Luken’s murderer again
This week, PA TV decided to honor four additional terrorists, four brothers who in total are serving 18 life sentences in Israeli prisons. But before interviewing the mother of the four terrorists, the PA TV host condemned last week’s PMW report - which exposed their terror glorification - as “incitement,” and then sent “greetings” and “all our respect” to the terrorist murderer “in defiance of the occupation.” In this case, the term “occupation” seems to be PA TV’s euphemism for PMW who exposed the story:
Official PA TV host: "A few days ago there was a campaign of incitement by several of the occupation’s websites (i.e., reference to PMW report) against our program because we visit the prisoners’ mothers. The latest was the mother of prisoner Kifah Ghneimat from Hebron (i.e., stabbed Kristine Luken to death and critically wounded Kay Wilson) to whom we send our greetings and all our respect, in defiance of the occupation..." [Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, July 7, 2016]
Following its condemnation of PMW, PA TV then interviewed the mother of four brothers, all terrorists, who between them are serving 18 life sentences in prison. After interviewing the mother, PA TV honored these terrorist murderers as well, saying:
“...each one in his own right. We are proud of them, and we are proud of every Palestinian fighter.”
Caroline Glick: The first Iran war
The war Israel fought in the summer of 2006 against Hezbollah was not the same as the war Israel fought against the PLO in 1982. The war of 2006 was not a Lebanese war. It was an Iranian war.IDF Blog: Weapons, drugs, and global terror: Hezbollah as an international threat
After the war, reservists who served under the incompetent leadership of Halutz and his colleagues began marching on Jerusalem demanding that he resign, along with then prime minister Ehud Olmert and then defense minister Amir Peretz.
Rather than reconcile with its own incompetence, the General Staff, the political leadership and the media insisted the reason the war was not a success was because line units were not properly trained or outfitted for battle. There was something to that. So people went along with it.
In no time flat, the deficits were filled.
But the larger problem went deliberately unaddressed.
And today we still suffer from it. Today as then, our military leadership refuses to acknowledge the nature of the enemy, and is more concerned about images than victory.
Today, IDF forces are told to ignore the enemy and fight for the images.
Sgt. Elor Azaria is on trial for manslaughter for killing a terrorist not because what he did was necessarily wrong.
Indeed, the prosecution’s entire case has fallen apart in the past week.
Azaria is standing trial because B’tselem videoed the event.
He brought the wrong image.
Iran won the war in 2006, as Israel agreed to treat its Hezbollah proxy as a legitimate fighting force and failed to dislodge its Hamas proxy from Gaza. A year later, Hamas threw Fatah out of Gaza. And in 2008, Hezbollah took over the Lebanese government.
For Israel to emerge victorious from the present fight against the Palestinians, we need a military leadership that is willing to fight to win, and recognize that images of victories are only important when they document actual victories.
For an organization established in 1985, Hezbollah has had quite the storied history. In their three decades, they’ve not only undermined the government and military of their native Lebanon, they’ve destabilized the entire Middle East – and that’s not all. With the help of their patron, Iran, and their ally, Syria, it has amassed an arsenal larger than that of most nation-states. Hezbollah has gained footholds all over the world. This Shiite militia from Southern Lebanon has grown into a sizable international threat.
Destabilizing the Middle East
As Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah trains, funds, and fights alongside armies and militias that promote Iran’s interests and ideologies. This means exacerbating conflicts throughout the Middle East and exporting chaos far beyond their borders. Alongside Iran’s Quds Force, Hezbollah has been gaining experience and weapons in Syria’s ongoing, bloody civil war.
Kata’ib Hezbollah, or “Hezbollah Brigades,” is Hezbollah’s Iraq-based counterpart. With funding, weapons, and training from Hezbollah and the Iranian Quds Force, they began fighting for Iranian interests in Iraq in 2003. They rose to prominence – or infamy – in 2007, with attacks on American forces, and are designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US. Like Hezbollah proper, they’re also fighting alongside the regime in Syria.
IsraellyCool: Palestinian Professor Who Led Auschwitz Trip Caught Justifying Terror
Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi is a palestinian professor, who became well known a few years ago when he took students from the palestinian territories to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau.Contentious UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem shelved
In addition to being denounced as a traitor and collaborator with Israel, Daoudi had his car torched. But to many Israelis and decent people, he was seen as a hero.
So it comes as a huge disappointment to discover that Mr Daoudi is not all he’s cracked up to be.
Following the brutal murder of 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel, Muslim Zionist Noor Dahri posted the following:
A 13-year-old girl is murdered and this man put forward as an advocate of peace, non-violence, tolerance and understanding justifies it on the grounds of “occupation.”
And in case you think this is a one-off misunderstanding, this is what he posted not long after the terror attack.
And here he is exalting Arafat and Hitler’s buddy the Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini.
The myth that Palestinian leader, “the Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini (1897-1974), was an ally of Hitler who pushed for the annihilation of Jewish people in Europe” is so often repeated that even those who fabricated it stated to believe it.
The Grand Mufti as well as the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be remembered as nationalist Palestinians who wanted for their people what Jewish national leaders wanted for their people – liberty and statehood.
The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat who received a Nobel Peace Award along with Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin did not start any of the two “intifadas,” a name that the West gave for young people rebelling against occupation and yearning for freedom.
The UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) delayed Tuesday a controversial vote on a draft resolution that would challenge Jewish historical ties to the Old City of Jerusalem.Analysis: Automatic voting against Israel at UNESCO? Not anymore
The vote was postponed minutes before the proceedings began when the Palestinian and Jordanian delegations, which had proposed the resolution, could not secure enough votes to ensure its passage. It is unclear if and when they will propose the resolution again.
Israel has put pressure on UN members to reject the vote, including in a letter Monday by Foreign Ministry chief Dore Gold, and vocal complaints from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a previous UNESCO vote on Jerusalem in April.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon told The Times of Israel that the Jewish state’s diplomats had worked hard to reach attain this outcome.
“Israel is constantly working, both directly and through friendly countries, to prevent the resolution’s proposal, as well as to ensure a majority is not reached,” he said.
Israel was caught flatfooted in April when UNESCO’s 58-member executive board adopted a resolution with language that essentially expunged any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount.UNESCO to deny Jewish ties to Jerusalem — Hillel Neuer on i24 News
Israel’s embassies and consulates abroad were not mobilized to defeat the proposal, angry letters were not sent to the members of the executive committee, and friendly countries were not contacted to press other nations to vote down a resolution that simply falsified history.
Not this time though. April’s vote was a wake-up call, and as the 21 members of UNESCO’s World Heritage committee convening in Istanbul on Tuesday consider yet another resolution erasing any Jewish connection to Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry this time is waging a full-court press to block the move.
This includes a letter by Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold to the 16 countries on the committee with whom Israel has relations; diplomatic lobbying efforts in their capitals; and mobilizing friendly countries outside the body – such as France, Germany and Britain – to enlist them to pressure the body not to pass such a resolution.
France shocked Jerusalem in April when it voted for the UNESCO Jerusalem resolution, but it has since apologized. This regret is now being translated into efforts not to let the same mistake happen again.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said time and time again during his trip to Africa last week that one of his strategic goals is to break the automatic anti-Israel majority at international forums that in the past could be counted on to vote reflexively against Israel.
South African twins accused of plot to bomb US embassy, Jewish sites
Two sets of South African siblings appeared in court Monday on accusations that include plotting to blow up the US Embassy and various Jewish institutions in South Africa.Families of Paris attack victims hit out at government as intelligence services criticised in parliamentary report
The four were allegedly planning to fly to Syria, where they were due to undergo training by a terror organization, police spokesman Hangwane Mulaudzi said. They had been under surveillance for nearly a year.
“The allegation is that after the training, they would come back to South Africa,” Mulaudzi said, adding that security officials hoped there would be more arrests.
Twin brothers Brandon-Lee Thulsie and Tony-Lee Thulsie were charged with conspiring to blow up the US Embassy in Pretoria and various Jewish targets. Mulaudzi said the twins were arrested in Johannesburg on Saturday.
A provisional charge sheet says the brothers may have links to the Islamic State extremist group.
Families of the Paris attack victims said on Saturday they were furious at the government’s “indecent” rejection of a call for a shake-up of French intelligence after an inquiry identified multiple failings.Toronto mosque’s online guide: Chopping off thieves’ hands will decrease crime rate
An association of victims’ relatives said they were “astonished” by the “refusal to acknowledge the existence of failings in the intelligence services” that were highlighted by a parliamentary committee.
The committee, which spent five months assessing the failure to prevent the Charlie Hebdo and November attacks that killed a total of 147 people last year, recommended that a single, US-style counter-terrorism agency should be created.
It concluded that there was an “overall failure” of French intelligence as all the attackers were known to the authorities, but the six different intelligence agencies operating in France had failed to coordinate with each other.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government make a clear distinction between the Islamic State (a.k.a IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh and Caliphate) and the “true peaceful Islam.”Some Muslim parents would NOT report their children if they travelled to Syria to join ISIS because they don't trust the police, claims new study
Trudeau repeatedly argued that “Islam is not incompatible with the Western secular democracy, a free place like Canada,” emphasizing that “we need to make sure that we’re working with communities like the Muslim community for example to demonstrate that Islam is not incompatible with free and open Western societies.”
Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated (July 3, 2016) that “Islam [is] a religion of peace that fosters the respect and promotion of human life.”
Statements made by leading Canadian Imams and publications issued/ distributed by Canadian Muslim organizations challenge the premise of Trudeau and the Liberal government.
Salaheddin mosque, located at 741 Kennedy Road in Scarborough, Ontario, provides an online guide to Islam, explaining the tenants of Islamic faith and providing a glimpse on the Islamic Law with its practical implications.
The authors, Daniel Masters and Dr. Zakir Naik, believe that the implementation of the Islamic Law (Sharia) in America will have a positive effect on the society, bring justice and decrease the crime rate. They support the chopping off thieves’ hands as a deterrence for criminals, polygamy, early marriage and banning alcohol.
Some parents of British Muslims would not tell the authorities if their children fled to join ISIS, a study has discovered.Analysis: What is Netanyahu prepared to give to become part of the Sunni Bloc?
Parents would keep quiet because of fears their child would be arrested on their return or stripped of UK citizenship, academics found in a survey of 20 mothers and fathers.
Some are frightened their homes will be raided and their other sons and daughters taken in for questioning if they speak up. Some parents claimed that it was not their responsibility.
More than 800 young British Muslims have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with ISIS jihadists who have carried out beheadings, massacres and rapes.
The study of 20 parents by academics at Birmingham City University adds fresh weight to mounting concerns that large numbers of Muslim families are turning a blind eye when their children are radicalised.
It follows a poll in April which found two in three would not tell police if they knew that someone was involved in supporting terrorism in Syria – equating to around 2million of the nearly 3million British Muslims.
What does Netanyahu offer the Sunni world?Family of slain Israeli teen holds Temple Mount memorial
So, after two years of covert contacts, the visit brings to the surface the relations between Israel and Egypt, which have mainly been carried out under the radar. And because there are no free lunches, it is understood that Egypt expects to be compensated by Israel.
The hoped-for compensation in Cairo is Israel's tacit agreement to advance diplomatic steps with the Palestinian Authority. This is what Shoukry emphasized in his comments following his meeting with Netanyahu. The visit, in this respect, is a continuation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's May speech in which he raised the idea that came to be known as "the Egyptian initiative to hold a regional peace conference."
To what degree Netanyahu will be prepared to answer Egypt's call is another question. He knows well that the Palestinian issue is not a top priority in Egypt's diplomatic and security agenda. However, he is also aware of Egypt's sensitivity in everything connected to its status in the Arab world.
If the prime minister is genuinely interested in putting Israel in what he calls "the Sunni bloc" - Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait (which has lately spoken openly about making peace with Israel), Jordan and Morocco - which would put an iron wall before the "Shi'ite Bloc" that Iran is trying to build in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon (Hezbollah), he must also be prepared to give something in return.
The family of 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel, who was killed in a terror attack on June 30, held a memorial ceremony Tuesday morning at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.Man seriously wounded in terror attack released from hospital
Police permitted the family members and dozens of friends and supporters to enter the Temple Mount in small groups. However, in accordance with the regulations at the site, they were forbidden to pray, and Knesset members — including Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, a family member; and Yehuda Glick — were not permitted entry. Ariel and Glick, along with hundreds of supporters, waited at the Western Wall plaza, where they were later joined by the Ariel family after their Temple Mount visit.
The family of the slain teen had expressed a wish to rename the gate through which they would enter to the Temple Mount in her honor. The assembled group symbolically declared that the Mughrabi Gate, used by non-Muslims to enter the Mount, had been renamed Hallel Gate.
During the visit, four people were detained by police officers for violating the rules of the site, presumably by praying. The four detainees were released a short while later, police said.
Shuki Gilboa, the man who was seriously wounded in the terror attack in which Hallel-Yaffa Ariel was murdered, was released from Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital today (Monday).PA under pressure over ‘martyr’ stipends it pays to terrorists’ families
Dr. Adir Cohen, a mouth surgery expert who treated Gilboa, told media that "Shuki sustained gunshot wounds in his facial area and was evacuated while fully conscious to the emergency room, where he was examined by specialists.
"The entry wound was identified in the right part of his head in the back, with the exit wound near his right eye socket. His eye sustained permanent damage. In addition, he had shattered facial bones, extensive lacerations, and other injuries to his chest and legs.
The Doctor said that after Gilboa's condition had stabilized and several days of observation in the Intensive Care Unit, he was transferred to the mouth and jaw surgical ward. "His recovery is going well, he's feeling good, and of course he will continue to be monitored by the ward's devoted medical staff."
The family of a Palestinian high school dropout who killed a 13-year-old Jewish settler girl in her sleep last month before being shot dead is now eligible for $350 a month from a Palestinian fund for “martyrs.”IsraellyCool: Two Heinous Acts; Two Very Different Parents
Israel argues that such stipends for families of Palestinians killed or wounded in the conflict promote violence by rewarding attacks, and has stepped up a campaign against the fund after a series of killings of West Bank settlers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the payments “an incentive for murder,” and a government spokesman said that starting next month, Israel would deduct those sums from monthly transfers of taxes and customs it collects on behalf of the Palestinians.
Palestinians scoff at the idea that money, along with alleged anti-Israel incitement, is a key motive for a nearly year-long rash of stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks on Israelis. They say attackers are driven by despair over the chokehold of half a century of Israeli occupation or a desire to avenge others killed by Israeli troops or armed civilians.
“I don’t think anyone is willing to sacrifice his life for money. And for us as a family, all the money in the world won’t replace my son,” said Nasser Tarayreh, a well-to-do merchant from the West Bank town of Bani Naim whose 17-year-old son Mohammed killed a sleeping Israeli girl in the Kiryat Arba settlement on June 30.
The elder Tarayreh said that rather than profiting from the attack, as Israel claims, the family will pay dearly. It has received a notice ordering the demolition of its two-story villa. Such demolitions of family homes are standard Israeli retribution for attacks.
The past week has been a difficult one in the US, as anyone following the news knows. The events have been hard to watch. I’ve read a lot of the commentary on it and have seen little that provides any emotional resolution for what has occurred.Shin Bet chief: Hamas working 'nonstop’ to destabilize West Bank
But I’m not here to justify or condemn the police, and I’m not here to take a position on Black Lives Matter — plenty of people with more expertise (and also with less) than I have are already doing those things. Whatever you think about those issues, it’s not reasonably debatable that the Dallas shooter who killed five police officers committed a horrific act. Here is his father, interviewed by The Blaze: “I love my son with all my heart; I hate what he did.”
He is clearly profoundly sad over the loss of his son, but he is also profoundly sad about the actions his son took that caused harm to others. That is the type of reaction that one would expect in this tragic situation.
Those who are trying to draw a parallel between the anti-racism movement in the US and the anti-Israel movement among Palestinian Arabs should take note of the difference:
That is the mother of the teenager who murdered 13-year old Hallel Yaffa Ariel while she slept in her bed, in her home, near the Jewish holy city of Hebron. She calls her son a hero. She says he made her proud. That sounds nothing like the American father above. It’s more like the opposite.
Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Nadav Argaman made his inaugural appearance before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday, to discuss the wave of terrorism.Hamas Opens “Jerusalem Intifada” Summer Camps for 50,000 Kids
October 2015 marked a dramatic surge in terrorist attacks, but there has been an overall increase in such incidents in the West Bank since 2012, Argaman explained.
Since the escalation began on October 1, 2015, he said, there have been over 300 attacks and attempted significant attacks, not including cases in which Molotov cocktails were thrown. Among the 300 were 180 stabbing attacks, over 90 shootings and 30 vehicular attacks. The Shin Bet and security forces were able to stop 240 attacks in that time.
In the first five months of 2016, they prevented 11 suicide bombings, 10 kidnappings and over 60 attempted shootings, most of which were planned by Hamas.
“Hamas makes nonstop attempts to undermine stability in the West Bank,” Argaman stated.
Still, Argaman said that most of the attacks in the current wave are by individuals acting for “personal motives,” with only a small amount perpetrated by terrorist organizations.
Hamas has opened three-week-long training camps in Gaza for over 50,000 elementary, middle, and high school students, the Gaza-based terror organization said in a press release Sunday.French FM said set to meet Hezbollah officials in Lebanon
Hamas official Ismail Radwan explained that the theme of the camps is the “Jerusalem Intifada,” and that the goal is “to raise a generation of Palestinians who love the resistance and the liberation of Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” The camp also includes scouting and religious educational programming.
Hamas has long encouraged Palestinian children to see themselves as soldiers against Israel, often dressing them in military uniforms and teaching them how to shoot firearms. In May, Palestinian kindergarten students in the Gaza Strip wore military fatigues and brandished toy machine guns to simulate the capture of an Israeli soldier as part of a school play.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will reportedly meet with a political delegation of Hezbollah, whose military wing has been designated a terror group by the European Union, in Lebanon on Tuesday.Elliott Abrams: Iran cheats on nuclear deal
The Lebanese news site al-Joumhouria quoted “well-informed” sources who said the delegation would include lawmaker Ali Fayyad, from Hezbollah’s political party Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, as well as the head of Hezbollah’s international relations, Ammar al-Musawi.
Ayrault arrived in Lebanon Tuesday for a two-day trip in order to help the country move past the political paralysis that has prevented the election of a new Lebanese president since 2014.
Hezbollah has a strong presence in Lebanon’s parliament. The group is also openly committed to destroying Israel, and its armed wing has an estimated 100,000-plus rockets and missiles aimed at the Jewish state.
So Iran isn't only being more aggressive since the signing of the JCPOA -- in Iraq and Syria, for example, or in cyber attacks on the United States -- but is also cheating on the deal. And what is the reaction from the Obama administration, and other cheerleaders for the JCPOA? Nothing.There's A Clear Reason Forces In Iran Are Trying To 'Torpedo' The Nuclear Deal
John Kerry famously said, "Iran deserves the benefits of the agreement they struck." They do not deserve to be allowed to cheat. Kerry said in April when asked if Iran would "stick to the key terms of this deal for the next 20 years" that "I have faith and confidence that we will know exactly what they're doing during that period of time. And if they decide to try to cheat, we will know it, and there are plenty of options available to us. That I have complete faith and confidence in."
That's nice. But now we know they are cheating, and the option the administration appears to have chosen is silence: just ignore the problem. When asked about the German intel report and the Institute for Science and International Security report, the State Department spokesman replied, "We have absolutely no indication that Iran has procured any materials in violation of the JCPOA."
Needless to say this kind of response will only encourage Iran to cheat more, secure in the knowledge that Obama administration officials will not call them out on it, nor choose any serious one of the "plenty of options" it says it has. This means that Iran's breakout time will diminish, and the danger to its neighbors and to the United States will grow and grow.
German Foreign Minister Martin Schaefer claimed Friday that there are “forces” within Iran that are actively trying to put an end to the nuclear agreement in an apparent attempt to sever the new-found relationship between the Islamic Republic and the west.How Would Iran Use Its Boeings?
“There are forces within Iran for which the policies of the country’s president and foreign minister are a thorn in the eye,” Schaefer told Reuters. “They may be trying, one way or another, to undermine or torpedo the nuclear deal and the normalization of relations between us and Iran. We are watching this closely.”
Schaefer’s statements come in response to the release of several German intelligence reports that say Iran has actively attempted to acquire nuclear weapons technology, contrary to its obligations per last year’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal).
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence service, released an annual report stating that Iran engaged in “clandestine” efforts to acquire nuclear technology and equipment from German companies throughout 2015.
A bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives voted to block Boeing’s proposed $25 billion sale of 100 aircraft to Iran. While the administration says the deal is necessary to allow Iran to benefit economically from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), opponents point out that some aircraft parts are fungible, and so Iran could pirate parts from the Boeings to support other aircraft. The matter is far from finished. The issue will be discussed in conference between the House and Senate, and then go to the president, who would veto anything about which Iran might complain. And Iran won’t hesitate to complain that the U.S. Congress is getting in the way of business and that this constitutes a violation of the JCPOA. The international community shouldn’t take this seriously given that Iran cancelled an order of American cars on the orders of the Supreme Leader. Consistency matters and Iran established a precedent in the aftermath of the JCPOA by boycotting American goods that can’t be used for the military.UN: Iran Missile Tests "Not Consistent" with Nuclear Deal
The fear in Congress and among many analysts is, of course, that Iran might simply use the Boeings for nefarious purposes, such as delivering supplies to terrorists or personnel to support insurgencies, such as those in which Iran is involved in Yemen or Syria. Because the Obama administration’s promise that Boeing would conduct due diligence, at a minimum, Boeing should be held culpable if any of its planes are used to support terror.
Worry that Iran might use the Boeings to facilitate terrorism is not farfetched. Anything greater than a decade is ancient history in Washington, but it might be useful to remember Iran’s efforts to break the arms embargo in Bosnia back in the early and mid-1990s.
Iran's ballistic missile launches "are not consistent with the constructive spirit" of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, but it is up to the United Nations Security Council to decide if they violated a resolution, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said in a confidential report seen by Reuters on Thursday.Ex-Saudi intel chief: Iran is using Hamas to destabilize region
Ban's reluctance to state whether the March missile launches flouted the council resolution, which was adopted a year ago as part of the deal to curb Iran's nuclear work, further weakens the case for new sanctions that hinged on the interpretation of ambiguous language in the resolution.
Most U.N. sanctions on Iran were lifted in January when the U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran fulfilled commitments under its nuclear deal with Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States. But Iran is still subject to a U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions.
Under the U.N. resolution, Iran is "called upon" to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years. Critics of the deal have said the language does not make it obligatory.
Hamas condemned former Saudi Intelligence Chief Turki al-Faisal’s statements made in Paris Saturday at the Free Iran conference, a gathering of anti-Iranian regime dissidents. Faisal accused Iran of destabilizing the region and “spreading chaos” through its support for militant organizations including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).Former Saudi Intel Chief Declares Support for Regime Change in Iran at MEK Rally in Paris
In a statement published Sunday on its official website, Hamas expressed its criticism.
“Hamas condemns the statement of the The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies Chairman Turki al-Faisal, in which he belittled and made accusations against Hamas and the Palestinian resistance. We in Hamas reject these baseless and false defamations. One who observes these issues closely knows that Hamas is a Palestinian resistance movement against the Zionist occupation in the land of Palestine and has an agenda in the interest of its people and issue,” the statement said.
PIJ similarly denounced Faisal’s remarks in a statement to Amad News, a Palestinian news outlet. “We in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemn these statements and emphasize that they are false accusations that only serve the Zionist agenda that seeks to liquidate the Palestinian issue and conquer all Arab and Islamic capitals,” the statement said.
Saturday marked the first time in over 30 years that a leading figure from the Sunni Arab world publicly declared its support for the exiled, France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an anti-Iranian regime opposition movement otherwise known as MEK (Mujahedin-e-Khalq).American Jewish leaders appear on Islamic State hit list
“We support you, we are with you,” Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a member of the Saudi Arabian royal family said to the crowd that gathered at the Le Bourget convention center for the “Free Iran” rally. “We stand by your side to help you reach your goals,” he said.
Prior to Prince al-Faisal’s public support for the NCRI’s mission on Saturday, it was MEK leader and Massoud Rajavi who had turned to creating an alliance with his country’s enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, in the 1980s to help the opposition movement in its attempts to topple the Iranian regime. Many Iranians saw him as having betrayed Iran during the time. Some have even compared him with Edward Snowden. Others, still, have seen beyond the group’s past errors and cling to the hope for a free Iran as being a potential catalyst for supporting the NCRI’s current aims.
“Maryam Rajavi, your aim to rid your people of the cancer that is Khomeini is an historic epic and, like the Shahnameh, it will remain inscribed the annals of History,” Prince al-Faisal said, referring to the president-elect of the NCRI who had addressed the sea of an estimated 106,000 supporters earlier in the afternoon.
US Department of Homeland Security officials briefed Jewish leaders on the inclusion of American Jews in an Islamic State “kill list.”
Some 200 Jewish leaders joined the conference call on Friday organized by the Secure Community Network, the security arm of the national Jewish community, in the wake of the July 3 release of the Islamic State list that included members of synagogues and churches among 1,700 individuals. The names of the synagogue members were pulled from the synagogue websites, among other sources, according to SCN.
The SITE group, which tracks terrorist activity, spotted the list.
“The lists appear to be directed toward ‘lone wolf’ ISIL supporters who may be inspired to carry out attacks,” SCN said in a statement, using one of the acronyms for the terrorist group. “However, there have been no reported incidents to date in which an ISIL-inspired individual has carried out an attack on any individual appearing on these lists.”
The lists are released through online forums. Host websites often remove the lists soon after they appear, but they often crop up again.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
