Monday, September 04, 2017
Melanie Phillips: The true Colonialist Settlers in the Land of Israel
At the core of the leftist onslaught against Israel lies the belief that it is a “settler”, colonialist enterprise through which the Jews, with no historical claim to the land, turfed out the indigenous Palestinians whose home it had been since antiquity. In fact, the precise opposite is true: the “Palestinians” are the true settlers and colonialists while the Jews are the only extant indigenous people and the only people for whom the land of Israel was ever their national kingdom.Kim is 'Begging for War' Haley seeks toughest UN sanctions, says 'enough is enough' on N. Korea
I wrote here recently about a JCPA paper, Who Are the Palestinians, in which Pinchas Inbari ridiculed the absurd claim made by some of them that they are the descendants of the Canaanites, whom Joshua conquered in the Bible when the Jews entered the land that became Israel.
Now a paper by Alex Joffe for the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies expands upon Inbari’s review to provide a magisterial demolition of this ludicrous attempt to write the Jews out of their own history.
“The idea of Jews as “settler-colonialists” , Joffe writes, “is easily disproved. “A wealth of evidence demonstrates that Jews are the indigenous population of the Southern Levant; historical and now genetic documentation places Jews there over 2,000 years ago, and there is indisputable evidence of continual residence of Jews in the region. Data showing the cultural and genetic continuity of local and global Jewish communities is equally ample. The evidence was so copious and so incontrovertible, even to historians of antiquity and writers of religious texts, some of whom were Judeophobes, that disconnecting Jews from the Southern Levant was simply not conceived of. Jews are the indigenous population.
“… Inbari’s review, along with many additional sources of information he did not address, demonstrates that modern Palestinians are, in fact, derived from two primary streams: converts from indigenous pre-modern Jews and Christians who submitted to Islam, and Arab tribes originating across the Middle East who migrated to the Southern Levant between late antiquity and the 1940s. The best documented episodes were the Islamic conquests of the 7th century and its aftermath, and the periods of the late Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Monday called on the body's Security Council to impose the strongest possible sanctions against North Korea, in response to the rogue nation’s most recent nuclear test, saying “the time for half measures … is over.”Iranians at the Gates
Haley spoke at U.N. headquarters in New York, after North Korea claimed to have conducted an underground test overnight Saturday on a hydrogen bomb.
It was the country’s sixth such test, following five previous ones on a nuclear weapon and recent launches of inter-continental missiles to land such warheads on foreign soil.
“We cannot kick this can down the road any longer,” Haley said at the special U.N. meeting convened on the matter. "The time for half measures by the Security Council is over.”
Her statements follow President Trump on Sunday condemning the test in the strongest terms.
Unless something changes, Israel is sprinting headlong into another violent confrontation along its northern border, this time against either Iranian troops or Iranian backed fighters with missiles made to order from Tehran.
The disappearance of the Islamic State from wide swaths of Syria, together with the superpowers’ lack of interest (or desire) in removing Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, are paving the way for an Iranian takeover of the territories until recently held by the jihadist group.
At the same time, massive numbers of Hezbollah troops loyal to Iran have entrenched themselves in southern Lebanon, whether in visible lookout points or “environmental protection” posts, according to Israeli military officials.
Israel won’t abide by this. The presence of Shi’ite forces on the border, be they Hezbollah or other Iran-backed militias, together with Iran’s efforts to bring in game-changing weapons, signal that the era of calm that Israel has enjoyed since the summer of 2006 is coming to an end.
On Saturday, Iran’s new defense minister said the country was prioritizing boosting the country’s missile program and export weapons to shore up neighboring allies.
JPost Editorial: N. Korea and Iran
The situation playing out now with North Korea is a nightmare scenario of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.MEMRI: Iran: Only Some External Pipelines of Arak Reactor Were Filled with Cement, Its Core Was Not
It offers a partial preview of the sorts of dangers the world would face if Iran ever obtained nuclear weapon capability. And it vindicates the use of preemptive military strikes to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of autocratic regimes, like the one that was launched – according to foreign news sources – by Israel a decade ago, on September 6, 2007.
On Sunday, North Korea, a country run by a madman, conducted its biggest nuclear test to date, setting off an explosion that Pyongyang said was caused by the detonation of an advanced hydrogen bomb. The tremor that resulted was said to be 10 times more powerful than the tremor picked up after the last test a year ago. Since 2006 North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests.
US President Donald Trump immediate reaction was registered, as is his custom, on his personal Twitter account.
“North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.”
And, in a more strident message, Trump wrote: “South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!” French President Emmanuel Macron urged the UN Security Council to react quickly and decisively.
“The international community must treat this new provocation with the utmost firmness, in order to bring North Korea to come back unconditionally to the path of dialogue and to proceed to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of its nuclear and ballistic program,” he said.
China, Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency also weighed in.
In an August 22, 2017 interview on IRINN TV, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization Of Iran (AEOI) and a member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, reiterated the threats made by President Rohani on August 3, 2017 regarding Iran's ability to quickly revive its nuclear program at the point it was left prior to the JCPOA. He said that Iran will be able to start enriching uranium to 20% in the Fordo facility within only five days, and that it can also reactivate the old reactor in Arak, because cement was poured not into its core but only into a few external pipelines that are easily replaced. He also voiced vague threats about making structural changes to the AEOI that would enable it to function in ways that would "surprise" the West.Report: Iran Issued Warnings to US Spy Aircraft Twice in Last Six Months
The following is a translation of his statements in the interview:
Under The JCPOA, We Have Maintained The Fordo Facility So We Would Be Able To Start Enriching Uranium To 20% Within Five Days
"In a recent open-door Majlis session, President [Rohani] warned America about violating the JCPOA and about [Iran's] restarting its nuclear program. This was no hollow or baseless warning, but was based on data available to the president. The president and other regime elements receive information on the activity of the AEOI, [for] we are required to report to and update the officials on the necessary [levels of] readiness, so that if they want to take a decision [on this] they will know what the situation is. Rohani's statement was based on the readiness that has been reached.
"[We] regard the maintaining of the Fordo facilities as a point of strength in the JCPOA, whereas they [the U.S. and EU3] did not even want the Fordo [facility to] exist and said we had to shut it down. [Newspaper and television] reporters are supposed to visit the various areas of this [Fordo] facility. If you have archive photos [of it], you can see how much the facility has changed and what activities are taking place, especially in the field of stable isotopes and in the various labs. We maintained Fordo in the JCPOA so that if we want, we can start enriching [uranium] to 20% within five days."
Iran's Arabic language TV station al-Alam is reporting that the country's air defense base sent two warnings in the last six months to U.S. spy aircraft that approached Iranian airspace.IDF holds largest exercise in 20 years to prepare for imminent Hezbollah threat
The TV's website quoted the country's chief of air defense, Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaili, as saying Iran warned a U2 reconnaissance aircraft on March 21. He did not mention the location.
He also said the country's air defense warned an American drone on Aug. 26.
Gen. Esmaili says: "We do not allow such rabid aircrafts to enter our territory and if necessary, will not hesitate to destroy them."
Amid rising tensions on Israel’s northern border, the IDF will be launching Monday evening its largest drill in close to 20 years, with tens of thousands of soldiers from all branches of the army simulating a war with Hezbollah.PreOccupiedTerritory: Man Who Lives In Bunker Calls Israel Scared Of Missiles (satire)
The drill is unique and unprecedented in scope, the army has affirmed, and it will enable forces to maintain a high level of readiness in an ever-changing region.
According to military assessments, while it is unlikely that Hezbollah attack Israel in the near future, the northern border remains the most explosive and both sides have warned that the next conflict between the two would be devastating.
The IDF is preparing itself for a different kind of war on the northern front. According to the military, while the drill itself is set to focus only on the border with Lebanon, a potential future altercation would not be contained only in the part of the border and would spread to the entirety of the northern border.
While the primary threat posed by Hezbollah remains its missile arsenal, the IDF believes that the next war will see the terror group trying to bring the fight into the home front by infiltrating into Israeli communities to inflict significant civilian and military casualties.
The two-week long drill will focus on countering the increased capabilities of Hezbollah and is expected to include simulations of evacuating communities which sit on the border with Lebanon.
The leader of an Iran-backed militia that fought a war with Israel in 2006, who spends most of his time underground and surrounded by heavy security amid assassination concerns, mocked Israel today as scared of the missiles his organization might fire at them in any future war.Unmasking the UN
Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, repeated to supporters today his message that the “Zionist entity” to the south must be trembling in fear at the punishment the group could deploy against it in any potential conflict, making sure not to stay outside for more than a few minutes at a time, or to spend too much time in any single location lest Israeli forces or agents kill or capture him.
“The Zionist cowards soil themselves in fright at our military prowess,” boasted Nasrallah, who hides behind multiple layers of security and keeps his schedule secret to prevent attempts on his life. “We will invade the enemy’s territory in the next war, and not simply fire our fearsome arsenal in his direction.”
The 2006 war, though devastating for Lebanon, left Hezbollah intact, a result that the group and Nasrallah have touted as victory. “We are the only Arabs to defeat the Zionists in their conquest of our lands,” he noted, referring both to the 2006 conflict and Israel’s decision in 2000 to withdraw all its forces from the “security zone” it created in the 1980’s in south Lebanon to combat Hezbollah activity. During and since that war, Nasrallah has maintained security practices that resemble a man on the run or in hiding, the perfect situation from which to taunt Israel for being afraid.
What should be realistic expectations from the U.N. against the backdrop of the recent visit to Israel by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres?David Singer: United Nations and Trump should heed 1989 Balfour Declaration
On Dec. 22, 2011, the U.N. General Assembly held a moment of silence in honor of deceased North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, a leading violator of human rights, promoter of narcoterrorism, manufacturer of chemical weapons of mass destruction, who threatened the globe with a nuclear option.
This episode highlighted the accurate meaning of "UN" as defined in dictionaries: a negative prefix, expressing absence, lack, deficiency and adversity.
UNdemocratic. According to the 2017 Freedom House report, "Of the 195 U.N. member states assessed, 87 (45%) were rated Free."
UNscrupulous and UNspeakable. The 2017 membership of the U.N. Human Rights Council -- elected with a mandate "to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights" -- includes systematic, grave violators of human rights such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Cuba, Burundi, Eritrea, Bangladesh and China.
UNsavory and UNwilling to defy rogue regimes. On May 19, 2017, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley criticized the World Intellectual Property Organization, a Geneva-based U.N. agency, for facilitating an international patent application requested by North Korea for the production of chemical sodium cyanide, used in making nerve gas: "The thought of placing cyanide in the hands of the North Koreans, considering their record on human rights, political prisoners and assassinations, is not only dangerous but defies common sense."
A lot of bloodshed, pain and suffering sustained by both Jews and Arabs over the last 28 years could have been avoided had the United Nations heeded the 1989 Balfour Declaration presented by the 4th Lord Balfour at the 4th international conference of the Jordan is Palestine Committee held in Jerusalem in November 1989.Israel Must Treat Russian Promises on Syria ‘With Caution’ and Ready Itself to ‘Use Force Wisely’ to Thwart Iran’s Bid to Establish Permanent Presence There, Analysts Say
The 1989 Declaration stated:
“The world should be fully aware of what was British Palestine; the misleading propaganda issued from oil-wealthy Arab states must be countered; Palestine has already been divided into two countries – Jewish Israel and Arab Jordan; the present governments of Israel and Jordan should be fully supported and upheld; and a third state as suggested by the PLO would upset the political and economic situation in the whole area”
The demand by the PLO to establish that third state – in addition to Jordan and Israel – in the territory comprised in the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine – remains unrealised in 2017.
President Trump at this point of time still seems wedded to this proposed three state solution – eventually formulated by President Bush in his 2003 Roadmap – and endorsed by the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
Israel must treat Russia’s promises vis-a-vis Syria “with caution” and also bolster its preparations to “use force wisely and with a low signature” against Iranian assets in its war-torn neighbor to the northeast, an analysis published by the Institute for National Security Studies on Sunday said.'Foreign entities give millions to groups aiding infiltrators in Israel'
The brief — authored for the Tel Aviv University-affiliated think tank by Zvi Magen, Udi Dekel and Sima Shine — delved into Israel’s efforts — highlighted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi – to make clear its concerns about Iran’s efforts to establish a permanent presence in Syria, as world powers continue to try to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict that has raged in the country for the past six and a half years.
“Israel’s struggle against Iran’s growing influence in Syria will be determined by the ability of both Iran and Israel to exercise effective levers of influence on Russia,” the analysis noted. “Russia for its part will try to maneuver between Israeli demands and the need for cooperation with Iran, partly by making conflicting promises to each side.”
Between 2012 and 2017, European governments and U.N. agencies gave a total of $13 million in aid to Israeli organizations helping illegal aliens, a new report by the right-wing organization Im Tirtzu revealed Sunday.Macedonia emerges as new ally, promises to help Israel stabilize region
As Europe deals with the worst wave of immigration ever known to the continent, EU-affiliated institutes rank first with the most aid given to these organizations, which over the past four years came to $4.7 million, followed by U.N.-affiliated institutions, which donated $2.8 million, the report said.
Germany donated the largest sum for a European country with $1.9 million, followed by Norway ($1.3 million), Sweden ($600,000), Switzerland ($490,000), England ($260,000) and the Netherlands ($120,000).
Foundations whose affiliation is split between Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands donated $580,000, while the U.S. gave $180,000 and Thailand donated $26,000. As such, the report reveals that since 2008, the left-wing New Israel Fund also funded organizations supporting illegal migrants to the tune of $12.5 million.
Im Tirtzu's reports investigated various petitions filed with the High Court of Justice by the Israeli aid groups, discovering clear efforts to circumvent the various solutions suggested by authorities, thereby hurting both the population of migrants who are in Israel illegally as well as residents of the neighborhoods in south Tel Aviv, who are struggling to deal with the phenomenon.
Macedonia stands with Israel in its fight against extremism and on behalf of world peace, the country's prime minister Zoran Zaev told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday.Israel, Lithuania, to work together on security
“We are very happy that we are here in Israel. We’re hoping that our cooperation will be mainly on two levels. The first level is cooperation for security and for world peace,” said Zaev.
Israel is one of the prime minister's first foreign trips since he took office at the end of May. During his tenure he hopes that his small Balkan country of 2 million people will become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
If he is successful in that effort, Zaev said, his country will support Israel from within the organization.
“The threat of radicalism and extremism is really present here in this region against Israel but also against my small country Macedonia and the whole region of the western part of the Balkans,” Zaev said.
"We have cooperated on the level of security and the level of defense until now, and I know that we will increase this cooperation because it is in the interest of [both countries],” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday met with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Antanas Linkevičius.Israel, Switzerland sign accords for greater financial services cooperation
In addition to his position as Prime Minister, Netanyahu also serves as Israel's Foreign Minister at present.
"Israel and Lithuania have had a relationship for many years," Netanyahu said. "We welcome you, my friend, and we welcome your entourage. I hope we will be able to discuss the ways in which we can strengthen our friendship."
Responding to Netanyahu, Linkevičius said, "We regularly schedule trips for officials of all ranks. Our President visited recently, and you have warm regards from my government. All of these meetings show that we are expanding our partnership in every area."
"My entourage is varied, and includes businesspeople, community leaders, security personnel, and others. Our security cooperation is expanding. As you said, we have a long history of cooperation connecting our countries."
Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and the Head of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) of the Swiss Confederation, Ueli Maurer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Tel Aviv on Monday to deepen cooperation in the financial services industry.Arson intifada in Israel's north
As part of the agreement, Israel and Switzerland will work together on a wide range of issues, the ministry said in a statement. The two countries will continue their regular financial dialogue; increase regulatory and supervisory cooperation; boost cooperation in the field of financial innovation to create an environment conducive to creativity, and strengthen the cooperation between institutions and organizations that formulate international standards in the field of financial services.
An additional accord, also signed on Monday, aims to provide companies operating in the field of financial technologies (fintech) with a framework that outlines regulatory requirements, thus reducing uncertainty and cutting back on time to market, the statement said. The accord was signed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and the director of Capital Markets at the ministry, Dorit Salinger, and the chairman of the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) Shmuel Hauser.
“The Swiss economy is one of the strongest in the world, and the great interest they are showing in the Israeli economy and in the high-tech industry and our fintech testify to Israel’s strength in these fields,” Kahlon said.
Megiddo Regional Council Head Itzik Holavsky recently requested Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) aid the Council in constructing firefighting stations, Israel's Channel 20 reported.PreOccupiedTerritory: Zoabi: Arrests Of Palestinian Stabbers ‘Stifling Their Freedom Of Expression’ (satire)
The additional firefighting stations were suggested by Israel's Fire and Rescue Services, after several incidences of arson terror occurred over the past few weeks.
On August 20, fires raged throughout the Regional Council lands, and firefighters discovered eight different fires, from Kibbutz Megiddo to Kibbutz Hazore'a.
According to Holavsky, "at some of the sites, we discovered piles of tires, waiting to be set on fire and burned."
One fire also "threatened Kibbutz Ein Hashofet; we managed to stop it just as it got to the edge of the kibbutz."
As a result, the Megiddo Council called on security agencies and firefighters to hold an emergency meeting. The firefighters suggested adding additional firefighting stations in various heavily forested areas
A firebrand Arab-Israeli parliamentarian has waded into controversy again, remarking Sunday that when Israeli security forces arrest Palestinians for attempting or planning attacks on Israelis, those arrests constitute a stifling of Palestinian freedom of expression and must stop.Terrorist dies a month after being shot
Haneen Zoabi of the Balad Party – a member of the Joint List alliance in the Knesset’s Opposition – stoked her customary ethnic tensions this morning in a radio interview by decrying the actions of Israeli military, law enforcement, and intelligence activity aimed at preventing or containing Palestinian stabbing, automotive, bombing, or shooting attacks on Israelis violated Palestinian freedom of expression, under which they must not be prevented from expressing their displeasure with Israeli existence in any way they see fit.
On a call-in program, MK Zoabi lashed out at Israeli police, Shabak, and IDF for monitoring social media to identify Palestinians who expressed intention to commit violence against Israelis, and arresting those Palestinians, as well as shooting or otherwise neutralizing Palestinians during or immediately after such an attack. “The criminal Zionists have no right to stifle freedom of expression,” she insisted. “This applies whether that expression involves stabbing children, running down commuters, slaughtering Jews at prayer, shooting policemen, or showing solidarity with terrorist groups by attempting to run a blockade of a coastal territory governed by one such terrorist group.”
“Israel claims to uphold liberal democratic principles,” she continued. “Yet somehow, this principle seems to have skipped their minds. Perhaps somebody should remind them what freedom of expression entails, maybe by firing rockets at them from the Gaza Strip, or digging attack tunnels into their communities.”
An Arab terrorist has died from his wounds after being shot last month during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp near Bethlehem, a Palestinian Authority official said.Palestinian terror group lashes out at 'Post' exposés, Israeli parties
Raed al-Salhi, 21, was shot in the raid as Israeli soldiers sought to arrest him at the Dheisheh refugee camp in early August, said Issa Qaraqe, head of prisoners' affairs for the Palestinian Authority.
Qaraqe alleged he was shot by five bullets at close range. Salhi died Sunday at the Israeli hospital where he was being treated.
The IDF said Salhi was wanted for taking part in "violent riots" and on suspicion of involvement in activities for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States and European Union.
"When (Israeli) troops arrived at his house, a chase ensued. Forces carried out routine procedure for apprehending a suspect, and shot toward Salhi," it said, adding the incident occurred on August 9.
The US and EU designated Palestinian terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) issued an angry, rambling statement on Saturday denouncing Israeli media, Knesset members, and German members of parliament for urging Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration to outlaw PFLP and Hezbollah in the federal republic.Holiday Photos From Fatah’s Facebook Page Refer To Tel Aviv As ‘Occupied’
The PFLP's response appears to be in connection with a series of late August Jerusalem Post articles on the organization joining forces with the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) in a campaign to secure entry into the Bundestag for the September 24 federal election. The PFLP statement referenced Israeli media in its statement on its website, saying the Israeli press is "working overtime in an attempt to spread falsehoods and fear on an international level" about the PFLP.
The group has launched scores of terror attacks against Israelis, resulting in large numbers of deaths.
PFLP said, "Political parties in Israel are attacking the Palestinian and Arab community in Germany and attempting to spread fear in the community, and are attacking German progressive forces, particularly the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany, under the auspices of a complete deception and a big lie..."
Several Yesh Atid lawmakers, along with MKs from Likud, Zionist Union, and Kulanu, and six of their German MP counterparts from various parties in the Bundestag, sent a pressing letter in early August to German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière urging him to ban the Lebanese organization Hezbollah and the PFLP because they are terrorist entities. Hezbollah has 950 active operatives in Germany, according to the country's most recent 2016 national intelligence report.
As Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha, or the Sacrifice Feast, the Fatah movement led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has posted holiday pictures showing PA officials visiting the graves of terrorists and depicting Tel Aviv as “occupied” Palestinian territory.PreOccupiedTerritory: Is It Blame-Jews-For-Cutting-Down-My-Olive-Trees Season Yet? By Dibbah Zeitoun (satire)
Along with the photos of prayer and the slaughtering of calves as part of the holiday tradition, the movement posted pictures of Abbas placing a bouquet of flowers at the grave of his predecessor, late Palestinian terrorist and PLO leader Yasser Arafat.
The Palestinian Authority governor of Ramallah, Laila Ghannam, can also be seen in the photos visiting the families of “martyrs” – including Palestinians who carried out terrorist attacks against Israelis – in cemeteries on the first day of the holiday and blessing them.
Photos from the Fatah Facebook page indicate that the movement, or at least the moderators of its Facebook page, still consider the city of Tel Aviv to be territory “occupied” by Israel. In two posts on the page, Muslims can be seen reciting the Eid al-Adha prayers in Jaffa, which is part of the Tel Aviv municipality.
As a caption to the photo, moderators wrote, “Holiday prayers today in occupied Jaffa.”
In another post, Muslims were shown slaughtering a calf for the holiday under the caption, “Slaughtering of the victims today in the occupied city of Jaffa.”
In agriculture, we live our lives by the seasons. The rhythms of the climate guide us in what activities to pursue: when to irrigate, when to sow, when to plow, what to harvest, and when to cut down our own trees because we want to do something else with the land and then say it was Jewish settlers who did it because that way we can get payment from the Palestinian Authority as victims, and perhaps also get a measure of fame when NGOs and human rights activists come to hear our story and take our pictures. But it’s been a long summer – is it blame-Jews-for-cutting-down-our-olive-trees season yet?Islamic State tried to recruit undercover BBC reporter — report
Last year we missed the season – the harvest took longer than we expected and our hired help wasn’t available anymore to go trunk by trunk with a chainsaw at an acceptable rate. We watched as some of our neighbors in the valley to the north attracted media attention and sympathetic treatment from the likes of Rabbis for Human Rights and Molad, not to mention a hefty sum from Fatah for helping cement the image of Israelis as violent vandals. I bet they also had a nice insurance policy on those trees, probably with a lucrative settler vandalism clause. Lucky bastards.
This year, though, we plan to make a killing, so to speak, by the same method – of course that requires the preparatory work of insurance, completing the harvest, clearing the orchard of anything that might get in the way, and getting down to the business of cutting down our trees and blaming Jews for it. We have a whole schedule set, but it’s going to be tight – a delay of even a day or two means we might miss the opportunity to underwrite a shift to some other use of the land by framing Jews.
The Islamic State group reportedly attempted to recruit an undercover BBC journalist to carry out a terror attack at London Bridge similar to a recent combined car-ramming and stabbing attack claimed by the terror group at the historic site.Germany Finds That Turkey Has Turned Hostage Taking Into An Industry
In a BBC report to be aired Monday evening, a journalist for the British broadcaster described his experience communicating with an IS operative on an encrypted messaging service during a period of several weeks in July 2016, during which the terrorist implored him to carry out an attack at London Bridge.
“He was trying to persuade me into carrying out an attack and he also gave me the option of either doing it alone or along with a team,” said the journalist, whose identity was not disclosed.
The journalist also said the same IS recruiter told him in December 2016 to watch tutorials on the dark web produced by the terror group.
“One of them showed how to use a vehicle to kill people,” the reporter said. “The other showed how to use knives and homemade bombs for maximum impact.”
“Finally there was a description of how to create a fake suicide vest and how it can be used to stop the police from attacking you if you are standing next to civilians,” he added.
German relations with Turkey have been at levels which could only be described as dismal or worse for a while now. Don’t expect that to improve very much in the coming weeks now that the number of German citizens “detained” by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rose to one dozen this week. Two more Germans were taken prisoner and charged with the usual bogus claims of supporting a terrorist organization and trying to overthrow the government.There Can Be No Democracy in the Arab World under Present Circumstances
Chancellor Angela Merkel is reportedly pondering issuing a travel advisory for German citizens thinking of visiting Turkey. The only question we should probably have is… what took you so long?
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday said Germany should react decisively to Ankara’s detention of two further German citizens, amid growing calls for Berlin to issue a formal travel warning for Germans heading to Turkey.
Twelve German citizens are now in Turkish detention on political charges, four of them holding dual citizenship. Among these is German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who will have been in detention 200 days on Friday.
Under the circumstances, Merkel said she did not think it was appropriate to carry out further discussions with Ankara about its participation in a European Union customs union.
The head of the German Greens party described Erdogan as a “hostage-taker” rather than a president and even Merkel’s own party leaders are calling for more forceful action. It’s bad enough that Erdogan is locking up his own people by the tens of thousands, but he’s also seizing citizens of nations which are supposedly his allies.
Syrian poet Adonis said that under the present circumstances, there can be no democratic regimes in the Arab world. Asking how come there are no important scientific institutes and universities in the Arab world and why the Islamic nation does not have a single intellectual who interprets Islam innovatively, Adonis said the Muslims have an internal problem with their heritage and that Israel is “a fundamental part of the picture.” A people becomes extinct “when it no longer has a creative presence that contributes to the building of the world,” he said in the interview, which aired on Al-Arabiya on August 11.
