Thursday, June 08, 2017
Evelyn Gordon: 50 Years of Palestinian Rejection
In other words, there’s one very simple reason why Israel still controls the West Bank: The Palestinians have consistently refused repeated offers to give it to them.
But there’s an important supporting reason as well: Palestinians feel they can get away with serial rejectionism because the world always responds by blaming Israel, as the Obama Administration did.
Addressing the Senate in April 2014, for instance, Kerry famously declared that Israel’s announcement of new construction in Jerusalem had caused the talks to go “poof,” carefully neglecting to mention that by this point, the talks were dead anyway since Abbas had already rejected the administration’s best offer. The excuses administration officials gave Tibon were equally ridiculous. Abbas, they said, was “disappointed” that Netanyahu had delayed releasing some two dozen Palestinian prisoners—as if that were ample grounds for rejecting an offer of statehood. They also said Abbas wasn’t sure Obama could “deliver” Netanyahu. But Netanyahu said yes to the February proposal without being sure Obama could deliver Abbas – which it turns out he couldn’t; why was it unreasonable to expect Abbas to go out on a similar limb?
The problem isn’t just Palestinian rejectionism. It’s that the rest of the world actually encourages this rejectionism by ensuring that the diplomatic price is always paid by Israel, and never the Palestinians themselves. The Palestinians have quite reasonably concluded that they can play this game ad infinitum, until the world eventually pressures Israel to accept even those Palestinian demands that would entail committing national suicide, like the “right of return.”
If the Palestinians actually wanted peace, they’d do a deal regardless of how the rest of the world behaved. If the world behaved differently, the Palestinians might eventually conclude that a deal was in their interests. But as long as neither of these two conditions is met, there’s every reason to think that in another 50 years, we’ll be reading more hand-wringing articles about why Israel still controls the West Bank.
PMW: Abbas appointment of murderer to Fatah Central Committee means salaries to terrorists will not stop
Despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority is being pressured by the international community to stop glorifying murderers and stop paying salaries to terrorists, Abbas and the Fatah Movement recently appointed imprisoned murderer Karim Younes as member of Fatah's Central Committee, as documented by Palestinian Media Watch.PMW: Fatah spokesman presents Protocols of the Elders of Zion as authentic document
Now Fatah official Jamal Muhaisen has explained that the appointment is in fact a message to all those pressuring the PA, and who call for a stop of the terrorist salaries:
"The value of the decision lies in the fact that it was made at a time when pressures are being applied to [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas to stop the prisoners and Martyrs' salaries (rawatib). The selection of the most veteran prisoner in the prisons [Karim Younes] as a member of the [Fatah] Central Committee is a message to them that they should not think that one day the prisoners or Martyrs' salaries will be stopped."
[Falestinona, the website of Fatah's Information and Culture Commission in Lebanon, May 31, 2017]
Muhaisen, who is also a member of Fatah's Central Committee, justified the salaries, calling the imprisoned terrorists "our pride and the knights of the Palestinian people," and reiterated the Palestinians' claim that international bodies have affirmed the Palestinians' right to use "all means" in the fight against Israel. A term Palestinians interpret to permit the use of violence and terror:
"This is because the decisions of the international bodies permit the Palestinian people and every people in the world to fight with all means (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence) against the occupation, and our prisoners and Martyrs are our pride and the knights of the Palestinian people, and not terrorists."
In an interview on official Palestinian Authority TV, a Fatah spokesman cited the Antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as an authentic source followed by Israel. Fatah spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi stated that The Protocols instructs "the Zionists" to create extreme Islamic religious streams in order to cause internal disputes among the Arabs. This would keep the Arab regimes occupied and prevent them from dealing with important issues like "arming [themselves] against the enemy":Fatah presents The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as authentic Jewish document
Fatah Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi: "The second protocol of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion says: Extremist [Islamic] religious streams must be created, as a complete contrast to the ruling regime [in Arab countries], regardless of which regime it is - be it national, Arab, secular, communist, or Marxist - so that the priorities of these regimes will change in a manner that fits the Zionists. Instead of dealing with health, education, society, and arming [themselves] against the enemy - they will be dealing with internal disputes."
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, April 16, 2017]
Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that Palestinians present The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as an authentic document. In fact, The Protocols is an antisemitic forgery prepared by the Russian secret police describing how Jews allegedly plan to subjugate the world under Jewish rule. It was published in Russia in 1903 and translated into multiple languages. In 1921, The Protocols was conclusively exposed as a false document.
Douglas Murray on Tucker Carlson - Terror in Europe
Tom Holland: After five centuries, religious war has returned to Britain
And yet, for all that, it is clear that the legacy of Islamic supremacism, deriving as it does from both the Quran and sayings of Mohammed, still has a potent and seductive appeal. Indeed, there is a sense in which it may be precisely the integration into Islam of the Western notion of human rights that is helping to fuel its recrudescence. After all, if — as Muslims believe — their religion is the last and ultimate of God’s revelations, then any dimunition of its purity, any dilution of its traditions, can all too easily be portrayed as a lethal threat to the entire future of humanity. Isis, who have pointedly reintroduced both the jizya and slavery, are merely the most extreme of those factions within Islam who insist that Muslims, far from compromising with the values of the West, should instead seek to destroy them utterly.The Spectator Podcast: The jihadi next door
We are witnessing a civil war within Islam and the three men who brought carnage to Borough Market last Saturday did not see themselves as murderers, but rather as warriors. They imagined that they had been divinely summoned — just as Mohammed had been — to the overthrow of kufr: unbelief.
No laws, no increase in police numbers, no boost to the powers of the security services can adequately patrol such ideas. Only by directly confronting these beliefs do we have even the faintest prospect of diminishing their potency. To do that, though, will first require acknowledging what Isis and their cohorts in the West actually embody: a strain of Islam that has its roots deep in the past, and which, as our most careful analyst of Isis, Shiraz Maher, has put it, ‘believes in progression through regression’. To dismiss it, as Theresa May did, as ‘a perversion of Islam’ is not merely to close our eyes to the nature of the threat that it presents to Britain’s future as a free society; it actively risks making it worse.
So as we begin the inevitable discussion about what to do next, the first step ought to be a fairly basic one: recognise the problem.
On this week’s episode, we discuss the relationship between Islam and violence, question why Brexit hasn’t been a factor in this election, and ask you to embrace the darkness.UK’s Largest Annual Pro-Israel Event Postponed as Organizers Cite Security Concerns Due to Terror Attacks
First up: in this week’s cover story, Tom Holland considers why Theresa May was wrong to dismiss the London Bridge terror attack as ‘a perversion of Islam’ rather than interrogating its roots in the history of the religion. He joined the podcast along with Christopher de Bellaigue, author of The Islamic Enlightenment.
The UK’s largest annual pro-Israel event has been postponed, with organizers citing security concerns following several Islamist terror attacks in the country in recent weeks.Melanie Phillips: What must be done to stop terror in Londonistan
Christians United for Israel said in a statement that it was a “difficult decision” to push off the program, titled “A Night to Honour Israel,” which was scheduled for late June at a London venue.
“Islamic extremists have called for the specific targeting of Christians and Jews during the month of Ramadan, during which our event was set to take place,” wrote Pastor John Hagee, CUFI’s founder, and Des Starritt, executive director of the group’s UK chapter.
“Although no specific threat has been received, we have been advised that our event could be a target,” they wrote. “It is with wisdom and not fear that the leadership takes this responsibility for the protection of those that would attend.”
Some 1,000 tickets had already been sold to the program bringing Christian and Jewish Zionists together. A full refund has been offered,
Eight people were killed and 50 were injured in a June 3 car-ramming and stabbing attack carried out on London Bridge and the nearby Borough Market. This followed last month’s suicide bombing during an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena, in which 22 were killed and 119 injured.
The message should be that British Muslims are welcome citizens but on the same basis as everyone else: that they subscribe to the binding nature of foundational British laws and values. If not, they will be treated as subversives.The Islamist Elephant in the Room
Subversion is the attempt to undermine and overthrow our free society. But the very concept of subversion has become identified with a suppression of free speech. The website of MI5 states:
“During much of the 20th century, subversion was a major concern for MI5. This threat diminished sharply following the end of the Cold War. We no longer undertake counter-subversion work, and would only resume doing so if our monitoring of emerging threats suggested an increase in the subversive threat”.
But the Islamic jihad aims to overthrow and conquer western society through both violence and cultural takeover. The Muslim Brotherhood has a stated programme of infiltrating western institutions to achieve that end. I’d say that represented a pretty major increase in the subversive threat, wouldn’t you? Isn’t it time the government banned the Muslim Brotherhood from Britain? Isn’t it time MI5 woke up from its politically-correct torpor to bring counter-subversion back from exile?
As I’ve said, though, any such measures will be opposed with inevitable claims that they will “cause social division” or “destroy British values”. Such protests are already being made.
Jihadi terrorists, however, are not trying to divide us, destroy our values or stop the general election. They are trying to kill us and conquer us.
If it is to defend itself, a liberal society may need to adopt illiberal measures. If we don’t do so now, we’ll be forced to eventually. The only question is how many will have to die before that happens.
Great Britain’s Labor Party Has a Jewish Problem, and It’s Not Going Away
In the fall of 2015, the parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn assumed leadership of the Labor party, thus delivering it into the hands of the far left. Corbyn’s rise—with all that it might mean depending on the results of tomorrow’s parliamentary election—has been accompanied by the increasing frequency of anti-Semitic outbursts by Labor politicians and officials. James Kirchick comments:UK Labour Leader Corbyn Attended Rally With Islamists Shouting “Gas, Gas Tel Aviv”
The overripe anti-Semitic rot within Labor party smells worse than ever thanks to Corbyn, who, in addition to being a sympathizer of the Irish Republican Army and practically every anti-Western political tendency, spent more than 30 years on the backbenches consorting with a wide variety of Jew-haters. There was his well-known reference to Hamas and Hizballah as “friends”; his sharing a stage with Dyab Abou Jajah, the Lebanese man who called 9/11 “sweet revenge” and said Europe had made “the cult of the Holocaust and Jew-worshiping its alternative religion”; [and] his inviting the Israel Arab hate preacher Raed Salah to parliament. . . . Just recently, . . . it emerged that, less than a year before assuming the party leadership, Corbyn attended a ceremony in Tunisia where he laid a wreath on the grave of a PLO terrorist involved in the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes. . . . .
All this is necessary context for a recent survey that found 40 percent of Britons to be concerned about anti-Semitism on the right, but only 36 percent about anti-Semitism on the left. When the former is negligible and the latter is rampant, what explains the disparity?
One possibility is that Britons are simply unaware of the facts just enumerated and default to a conception that automatically correlates anti-Semitism with the political right. But this is hard to believe, considering the massive press coverage the various Labor anti-Semitism scandals have received in the less than two years that Jeremy Corbyn has been leader, and the absence of similar outrages on the right.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party and its candidate for prime minister in the general election that takes place Thursday, addressed a rally at which members of a proscribed Islamist group chanted “Gas, gas, Tel Aviv,” the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.100 TIMES JEREMY CORBYN SIDED WITH TERRORISTS
Corbyn attended a highly controversial anti-Israel rally at Trafalgar Square in May 2002 that included members of radical Islamist groups al-Muhajiroun and Hezbollah. According to reports, some of the 300 men of al-Muhajiroun were dressed as mock suicide bombers and held placards reading “Palestine is Muslim.” They chanted “Scud, scud, Israel” and “Gas, gas Tel Aviv,” along with their vocal support for al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.
Al-Muhajiroun is a banned terrorist organization, which was led by high-profile Salafi militant Omar Bakri Muhammad and Anjem Choudary, a notorious British hate preacher and Islamic State recruiter, at the center of an international network of Islamic extremists. Their members have been linked to the 7/7 London bombings, the beheading of British soldier Lee Rigby, and the recent terrorist attack at London Bridge and Borough Market.
Corbyn’s spokesperson did not deny that he addressed the rally but rejected responsibility for its attendees, “Jeremy addressed a broad-based rally in support of Palestinian rights,” he told British radio.
Attended ‘Meet the Resistance’ event with Hezbollah MP Hussein El Haj.Corbyn Post 9/11
Attended event with Haifa Zangana, who praised Palestinian “mujahideen”.
Defended the infamous anti-Semitic Hamas supporter Stephen Sizer.
Attended event with pro-Hamas and Hezbollah group Naturei Karta.
Backed Holocaust denying anti-Zionist extremist Paul Eisen.
Photographed with Abdul Raoof Al Shayeb, later jailed for terror offences.
Mocked “anti-terror hysteria” while opposing powers for security services.
Named on speakers list for conference with Hamas sympathiser Ismail Patel.
Criticised drone strike that killed Jihadi John.
Said the 7/7 bombers had been denied “hope and opportunity”.
Said 9/11 was “manipulated” to make it look like bin Laden was responsible.
Failed to unequivocally condemn the 9/11 attacks.
Called Columbian terror group M-19 “comrades”.
Blamed beheading of Alan Henning on Britain.
Gave speech in support of Gaddafi regime.
Signed EDM spinning for Slobodan Milosevic.
Blamed Tunisia terror attack on “austerity”.
Voted against banning support for the IRA.
Voted against the Prevention of Terrorism Act three times during the Troubles.
Voted against emergency counter-terror laws after 9/11.
Voted against stricter punishments for being a member of a terror group.
Voted against criminalising the encouragement of terrorism.
Voted against banning al-Qaeda.
Voted against outlawing the glorification of terror.
Voted against control orders.
Voted against increased funding for the security services to combat terrorism.
A mere two months after 9/11 Jeremy Corbyn attended an anti War rally in Trafalgar Sq.Neo-Nazi Website Endorses UK Socialist Leader Jeremy Corbyn Because He’s ‘Seriously Anti-Jew’
Note the sign of Osama bin Laden’s face and words “Make no mistake this is a war against Islam”
It appears that as soon as eight days after the 9/11 attacks, while the dead were still being collected and the total casualties being tallied Jeremy Corbyn was speaking at anti War meetings.
A white nationalist neo-Nazi website has officially endorsed UK’s socialist Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in today’s British general election because of his anti-Semitic credentials.Muslims demand tax-funded 'safe spaces' to incite with impunity
The Daily Stormer, which is up-front about its fascist aspirations, “is designed to serve as a hardcore front for the conversion of masses into a pro-White, Antisemitic ideology” and has a section titled “Jewish Problem”.
On Wednesday, its editor Andrew Anglin posted an official endorsement for Jeremy Corbyn, listing several reasons, but mostly because the Labour leader is “seriously Anti-Jew”:
Apparently some people think I’m engaged in some kind of childish prank in telling Brits to vote for Jeremy Corbyn.
I’m not. I am actually, literally endorsing him, and encouraging all of my readers to go tick the box and get everyone they know to do the same. (h/t Alexi)
A Muslim group in Australia is demanding taxpayer funds be diverted from anti-terrorism programs to create a “safe space” for angry young Muslims to express “inflammatory” comments that they otherwise wouldn’t be allowed to say in public.Meet The Would-Be Terrorist Who Wanted To Bomb A Synagogue In Support Of ISIS
The Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) said such forums enabled young people's opinions to be "respectfully and intelligently debated and challenged", and wants money for federal counter-terrorism and anti-extremism programs be diverted, “to create refuges where 'emotionally overloaded' youths can voice inflammatory comments,” reports Yahoo7 News.
The safe space is needed because if such remarks were made publicly, they would be seen as “inflammatory,” according to the proposal.
But State Premier Daniel Andrews said he was "very troubled" by the idea of a space where people "could be radical".
Meet 41-year-old James Medina, the Florida man accused of plotting to bomb a synagogue and Jewish school. According to the FBI, Medina supported ISIS and felt that it was incumbent upon him to go to war with America’s Jews.Congress Joins Netanyahu in Celebrating 50 Years of a Free Jerusalem
Ultimately, Medina’s jihad was foiled by undercover federal agents who had been in contact with him over the bombing plot. “The FBI says Medina plotted with an undercover informant to bomb the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center in April 2016 during Passover,” reports Miami’s Sun Sentinel. “Medina was arrested after the informant provided him with a real-looking fake bomb.”
The fact that Medina chose Passover, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the liberation of the ancient Israelites from Egypt, as the period to carry out his attack indicates that he wanted to kill as many congregated Jews as possible. But like their ancestors in Egypt, the Jews of Aventura were saved from the wrath of nefarious forces, thanks to good policing by the FBI.
Medina originally pled “not guilty to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and to damage religious property,” according to the Sun Sentinel. However, he recently accepted a plea agreement with authorities. “A federal judge on Tuesday set a June 26 change-of-plea hearing for 41-year-old James Medina,” notes the Sun Sentinel.
The United States Congress held a special commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, with a live television link to a similar ceremony at the Israeli Knesset.Prominent US Jewish Group Expresses Support for Bill to Cut off American Funding of Palestinian Authority Over Terror Payments
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer were the featured guests in Washington, DC, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein, and U.S. Ambassador David Friedman attended the Knesset ceremony.
There were also live video links with audiences in all 50 U.S. states, where supporters of Israel had gathered to watch, and to participate in, the commemoration. Various state capitols also participated in the event.
“Americans have come together to celebrate Jerusalem, the eternal shining city on a hill,” Dermer said in his opening remarks.
Jerusalem had been divided after Jordanian forces occupied the eastern part of the city, including the Old City, during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. The Jordanians expelled Jews from the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, and destroyed it.
In the Six-Day War in 1967, Jordan joined Egypt and Syria against Israel. Israel responded to Jordanian shelling by opening an offensive in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), and attacking Jordanian forces in Jerusalem.
A prominent US Jewish group expressed its backing on Tuesday of a bill that would cut off American funding of the Palestinian Authority if it continues to pay monetary rewards to terrorists and their families.Plans for first new settlement in 25 years approved
In its statement of support for the Taylor Force Act — which was introduced in February by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado but has made no legislative progress since — the World Jewish Congress (WJC), which is led by Ronald Lauder, said, “The fact that the Palestinian Authority (PA) compensates terrorists and their families with monetary rewards for acts of violence and bloodshed cannot be tolerated by the United States, and should not be tolerated by any other member of the international community. Glorifying terrorists amongst Palestinian society by celebrating them, naming streets after them and paying them dashes any hopes for peace and only makes sure that the hatred and violence will continue. The United States must stop aid to the Palestinians so as not to support their continuing policy of terror.”
Rabbi Joel H. Meyers — chair of the WJC’s American Section — said the legislation would “condition US foreign assistance to the PA on its public condemnation of terrorism, its taking credible steps to investigate, punish and end acts of terror, and its terminating of payments to terrorists and their families.”
“Combating terrorism is not a partisan issue,” Meyers continued. “We hope all the senators and representatives will support and pass the Taylor Force Act.”
Plans to begin work on the first Israeli West Bank settlement in 25 years cleared the final planning hurdle Wednesday, along with a program to build 2,000 housing units throughout the West Bank.Befuddled Hamas mistakes film set for new settlement
The green light came following the intervention of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, the Ynet news site reported.
The plans, approved by the Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee, include 102 housing units for Amichai, which will be located near the settlements of Shiloh and Eli, north of Ramallah.
Amichai is a new settlement to be built for residents of the illegal Amona outpost, which was evacuated in February in line with court orders because it was built on private Palestinian land.
It will be the first settlement to be constructed since the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo peace accords signed in the 1990’s.
A children’s entertainer filming a lighthearted movie for young kids sparked the ire of the Hamas terror group on Wednesday when tents used in the filming were mistaken for a new West Bank outpost.Abbas said ready to drop settlement freeze precondition for talks
Jerusalem-based Yuval Hamebulbal, or “Yuval the Befuddled,” the stage name of 44-year-old entertainer Yuval Shemtov, had set up a small collection of colorful tents amid the brush and trees of a rocky hillside in the northern West Bank near the settlement of Ariel.
“The settlers are establishing a new concentration of settlements in the Salfit area,” Hamas tweeted in alarm on Wednesday, according to a Hebrew translation by Channel 2.
The appearance of the tents set Palestinian social media aflame with speculation that settlers had established a new outpost in the area between the settlement of Ariel and the Palestinian city of Salfit.
But a Channel 2 reporter who was sent to the site discovered temporary tents set up for the filming of scenes for the upcoming children’s movie “Yuval, Hero in the Clouds.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is prepared to drop his demand for a West Bank settlement freeze as a precondition for restarting peace talks with Israel in order to give Washington “a chance” at reaching a deal, a senior aide told Bloomberg news in a report published Thursday.Nikki Haley says ‘it was a blessing’ to visit Western Wall
Mohammad Mustafa, Abbas’s senior economic adviser and former deputy prime minister, said Palestinian leaders were also willing to back away from efforts to have Israeli officials prosecuted on war crimes charges and ease off pressure to secure international condemnation of the Jewish state at the United Nations.
Halting Israeli settlement building in the West Bank has been a longstanding demand of Abbas, ever since former US president Barack Obama urged the move as a trust-building measure ahead of planned talks in 2010. The Israeli government froze settlements for 10 months outside Jerusalem that year, but talks were not renewed.
Mustafa said the change in policy was meant to give US President Donald Trump an opportunity to secure a peace deal, a goal the American leader has said he is determined to achieve as part of improving ties between Israel and the Sunni Arab world.
“We have not made the settlements an upfront issue this time,” said Mustafa, who is considered a close confidant of Abbas. “We think it’s better for all of us right now to focus on giving this new administration a chance to deliver.”
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Wednesday, and was greeted by throngs who expressed their gratitude to her at the Jewish holy site.
Fifty years to the day after Israeli paratroopers took control of the Western Wall in 1967’s Six Day War, an emotional Haley stood in silence with her hands on the stones in the women’s section at the 2,000-year-old wall.
The trip to the Jerusalem holy site was billed as a private visit, much like that of US President Donald Trump last month, in order not to be seen as the US tacitly acknowledging Israel’s sovereignty over the Old City.
After the war Israel annexed the eastern side of the city in a move not recognized by most of the international community, which holds that Jerusalem’s final status needs to be resolved in talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch and Western Wall Heritage Foundation director Mordechai Eliav met Haley and explained the history and meaning of the site. Although a special section had been cordoned off for the envoy to pray alone, she went to stand with the other people in the crowded women’s section and spent a few minutes touching the wall. As she left she was surrounded by a large group of people who called out thanks to her for standing up for Israel.
Haley told those around her how moved she was by the reception she received in Israel, but said she was simply telling the truth in defending Israel at the UN.
Nikki Haley tours terror tunnels in southern Israel
Does hailing Haley do an injustice to Samantha Power?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin heaped praise on US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday for defending Israel, with Rivlin saying Israel is no longer alone in the UN.Israeli President Meets With Christian Supporters of Jewish State From Around the World
That statement implied that for the last few years Israel was alone at the UN, a notion with which former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power might take umbrage.
When asked by The Jerusalem Post if it was fair to say that the US did not defend Israel in the UN under the Obama administration, Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, who is accompanying Haley on her visit, said that Haley has brought a very different tone on Israel to the world body.
Furthermore, he said, the Obama administration’s defense of Israel at the UN was overshadowed by Washington’s enabling of the passage of the harshly anti-settlement Security Council Resolution 2334 in the waning days of president Barack Obama’s term in office.
“We had American support in the UN in the past, but the style is different,” Danon said.
“In the past, it was quiet; now, it is public; and that is important because many things in the UN have to do with atmospherics. Now things are being done very openly.”
And regarding instances when the Obama administration did come to Israel’s aid in the UN, Danon said: “It is impossible to forget the miserable resolution [Resolution 2334], which has caused the other things to be forgotten. Their support for 2334 overshadowed all their other activity at the UN.”
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met with leaders from more than 200 Christian communities around the world as part of a delegation arranged by the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast movement to mark the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification.Ethiopian PM visits Israel to strengthen ties between countries
“The city of Jerusalem, which was once a divided city, is the same city where Jews and Arabs, religious and secular people, find the space to live together, to meet and get to know each other, to build a shared Jerusalem, together,” Rivlin told the Christian leaders.
“Jerusalem for me, is a microcosm of our ability, to live together, Jews, Muslims, Christians. Jerusalem is holy to everyone of faith. And Israel is proud to stand by the right of everyone to worship God as they believe,” he said.
Yisrael Beiteinu MK Robert Ilatov, chairman of the Christian Allies Caucus, urged the Christian leaders to “pray for peace in Jerusalem.”
“You are here, to show your support for Israel, your love for Jerusalem and your friendship with the Jewish people. We appreciate this very much,” he said.
Swedish politician Lar Adaktusson, a member of the European Parliament, said it was important to address the roots of anti-Israel bias — especially in Europe.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn concluded a state visit to Israel on Wednesday evening, after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem a day earlier.IDF document labels Irgun, Lehi as 'terrorist organizations'
Netanyahu welcomed Desalegn in a ceremony in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The two prime ministers and their spouses dined together that evening at the Prime Minister's Residence.
"Welcome, on behalf of the people of Israel and the government of Israel," Netanyahu said in the ceremony, "I welcome you to Jerusalem."
"Since my visit [last July] to Ethiopia," Netanyahu said, "we've increased our economic cooperation, and I look forward to deepening that today, particularly in water. This is an area that Prime Minister Desalegn knows particularly well -- he is a great engineer of water and he understands the full potential of what can be done with it. In agriculture as well, in heath, security, in all these areas and many others. Israel is a world leader in these fields and we hope that by working together we can solve some pressing problems, and just provide a better future for both our peoples."
Israel and Ethiopia "face a common challenge," Netanyahu said.
Official IDF documents from the Education and Youth Corps accused pre-state Jewish freedom fighters of terrorism, labelling their efforts “terrorist activities,” Arutz Sheva has learned.ISIS Attacked near Northeastern Israeli Border
Instruction manuals from the army’s Education and Youth Corps, which is charged with providing educational material for officers and newly inducted soldiers, accuse the underground organizations Irgun Tzvai Leumi (National Military Organization) and Lohamei Herut Israel (Freedom Fighters of Israel) – better known as the Irgun and Lehi – of terrorism during their fight against the British mandate’s limit on Jewish immigration to Israel in the 1940s, when Jews were being slaughtered in Europe and had no where to go.
Along with the Haganah, the Irgun and Lehi were two of the three pre-state militias which operated in Israel prior to the Declaration of Independence in 1948.
Founded by David Raziel and Avraham “Yair” Stern, the Irgun and Lehi were later commanded by future Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir. All three groups played a central role in the establishment of the State of Israel.
Yet according to official army educational materials obtained by Arutz Sheva, both groups are disparaged as terrorist organizations.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Tuesday, "unidentified" aircraft attacked ISIS forces at the Syrian-Jordanian-Israeli border.IDF shuts down weapons workshop in West Bank
According to the report, it is not clear whether these planes belong to the international coalition against ISIS.
The attacks were directed against the ISIS branch in the Golan, the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, and at least 12 members of the organization were killed and many were injured. In addition, it was claimed that the focus of the attacks was the village of al-Jamala and areas close to it in the Yarmouk basin.
There has been no confirmation so far for the reports— not from the international coalition against ISIS, not from Jordan, and not from the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army.
Israel's name was also raised as someone who might be responsible for the attack. If it turns out that this is an attack by the international coalition, then this is a precedent, since to date, as far as is known, those who attacked the Da'ash branch in the Golan were Israel and Jordan.
Israeli security forces entered the West Bank town of Beit Fajjar overnight Wednesday to shut down a weapons manufacturing workshop.Arab Israeli brothers charged in Hamas plot to murder Israeli officer
IDF forces confiscated a lathe from the facility, which was believed to be involved in producing makeshift firearms that could be delivered to terror groups.
Also overnight, seven Palestinians, including one Hamas operative, suspected of involvement in terror groups or participating in violent protests were arrested in other operations across the West Bank, the Walla news website reported.
Four Arab Israelis were charged Thursday with serious offenses connected to an alleged plan to assassinate an Israeli army officer in revenge for the shooting death in Gaza in March of Mazen Faqha, a Hamas terror chief. Three further suspects are in custody.Hamas leader killed in 'accidental' Gaza explosion
Faqha was jailed for life for orchestrating a 2002 suicide bombing that killed nine people, but was released along with more than 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was held by Hamas for five years. In Gaza, he oversaw efforts to recruit cells to carry out terror attacks from the West Bank against Israeli targets. He was killed on March 24 by unknown gunmen.
In May, Hamas executed three men it accused of the assassination and of collaborating with Israel.
The alleged revenge plot came to light after security services detained seven residents of the central Israeli town of Jaljulia, near Kfar Saba, on suspicion of dealing illegally in weapons.
A prominent leader of Hamas' Izzadin Kassam brigade was killed Wednesday in an "accidental" explosion in southern Gaza, according to PA news outlet Ma'an.House Unanimously Passes Resolution Condemning Attack by Turkish Personnel on Protesters in D.C.
The explosion occurred at a Hamas post near Rafah, injuring three other militants, according to the Palestinian news agency.
Hamas described Ibrahim Hussein Abu al-Naja as a prominent leader and said the source of the explosion was not clear.
This is not the first time militants have been killed in mysterious Gaza Strip explosions, with Ma'an reporting that numerous Hamas "resistance posts" have been destroyed over the past few years.
The House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday night condemning the attack by Turkish personnel on protesters in Washington, D.C., last month.Iran Parliamentarians Chant ‘Death to America’ After Islamic State Attacks Tehran
The resolution came in response to an attack on peaceful protesters gathered outside the Turkish ambassador's residence on May 16. Though the Turkish government, which refused to answer repeated questions from the Washington Free Beacon, released a statement that said the protesters instigated the violence, video shows supporters of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan initiated the violence, and members of his security detail physically beat the protesters.
The resolution condemned the Turkish personnel for acting "in an unprofessional and brutal manner" during the May 16 incident. It called for any Turkish personnel involved in the attack to be either charged and prosecuted or removed from the United States and barred from reentering.
"It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the rights to peacefully assemble and freely express one's views are essential to the fabric of American democracy," the resolution said. "The Turkish security forces acted in an unprofessional and brutal manner, reflecting poorly on President Erdogan and the Government of Turkey; any Turkish security officials who directed, oversaw, or participated in efforts by Turkish security forces to illegally suppress peaceful protests on May 16, 2017, should be charged and prosecuted under United States law."
It also called on the Secret Service and State Department to review their processes in order to avoid any future attacks from Turkish personnel on American soil.
Iranian parliamentarians appeared to blame the United States and Saudi Arabia for the deadly twin Ramadan terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic State early Wednesday morning in Tehran, which claimed 12 lives and injured at least 42 others.Hezbollah condemns Iran terror attack as death toll rises to 16
A combination of Islamic State suicide bombers and gunmen stormed Iran’s parliament and an iconic shrine dedicated to the late founder of the Islamic Republic and father of the 1979 revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the attacks were a cowardly act and reportedly downplayed the tragedies as a “minor issue.” He said, “Iran is an active and effective pillar in the fight against terrorists, and they want to damage it.” After he finished speaking, his fellow parliamentarians stood up and began shouting, “Death to America,” while pumping their fists in their air.
The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah Thursday condemned the twin terror attacks in Tehran the day before, describing them as part of an “international, destructive plan” backed by various regional governments.Crazy Bernie: We Must Not Sanction Terror-Sponsoring Iran Because It Was Just Hit By Terrorists
Hezbollah is seen as an Iranian proxy in Syria and Lebanon and has aligned itself with Tehran amid mounting regional tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
Authorities raised the death toll in the two Islamic State-claimed attacks on Iran’s parliament and the tomb of its revolutionary leader to 16.
State television reported the increase, citing Ahmad Shojaei, the head of the country’s forensic center.
Shojaei told state TV that “three of the victims are women.” He did not elaborate.
Former Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders declared on Wednesday that the U.S. must not call for sanctions against Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, because terrorists just carried out an attack on their soil. Meanwhile, on Wednesday Iran's revolutionary guard blamed both the United States and Saudi Arabia for the dual attacks.Trump Condemns Iran Terrorist Attacks, Warns State Sponsors of Terror ‘Risk Falling Victim to It’
Sanders made the statement from the Senate floor and proudly tweeted out his rationale for his "serious concerns" about our sanctions against Iran, which he said he feared would hurt the terrible Iran deal pushed through by President Obama. "On a day when Iran has been attacked by ISIS now is not the time to go forward with legislation calling for sanctions against Iran," tweeted Sanders, along with a video of his statement on the Senate floor. While Sanders stressed that he did not agree with sanctioning terror-sponsoring Iran, he underscored that he "strongly" supported sanctioning Russia for having "actively worked to influence our 2016 presidential election" — by which of course he means they allegedly helped Trump humiliate Hillary.
President Trump Wednesday condemned dual terrorist attacks in Iran but warned that state sponsors of terrorism "risk falling victim to the evil they promote."
After remaining unusually silent about the kind of terrorism attack that he usually takes to Twitter to condemn, Trump issued a statement late in the afternoon.
"We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times," he said in the two-sentence statement.
But he suggested Iran shared in the blame: "We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote."
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