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Monday, September 11, 2017

09/11 Links Pt1: PA Governor lauds Martyrs’ perfumed blood; PA Arrests Peace Activist For Hosting MK Glick

From Ian:

PMW: PA Governor lauds Martyrs’ perfumed blood
District Governor of Ramallah Laila Ghannam has declared that the PA will stay faithful to the “path” of the “Martyrs.” During a visit to the “monument in memory of the Martyrs” on the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha together with representatives of the PA Security Forces, she glorified the Palestinian “Martyrs” - the majority of whom are terrorists killed during their attacks against Israelis - for “perfuming the ground with the scent of their blood,” which was “spilled for the epic of struggle whose title is Palestine”:
“She... emphasized that our Martyrs will always remain in our hearts and souls, and we will all remain loyal to their path until we are liberated from the occupation and realize everything for which they died as Martyrs... who are perfuming the ground with the scent of their blood that was spilled for the epic of struggle whose title is Palestine.”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, Sept. 1, 2017]
A few days earlier, while Ghannam was seeing families of “Martyrs” off to Mecca, she “asked that Allah have mercy on the souls of their sons who have saturated the land of Palestine with the fragrance of their blood...” and “mentioned the virtues of the Martyrs who gave their blood for the homeland." [Donia Al-Watan, independent Palestinian news agency, Aug. 27, 2017]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that Ghannam is an avid supporter of terrorist murderers. On the morning after murderer Muhannad Halabi killed 2 Israelis in the Old City of Jerusalem in October 2015, and terrorist Fadi Alloun stabbed and wounded another Israeli - and both terrorists were killed by Israeli soldiers during their attacks - Ghannam posted the following praise for them as “Martyrs” on Facebook:
“Palestine’s morning
A morning fragranced by the blood of the Martyrs (Shahids)
The morning of wounded Jerusalem
Have a morning of pride and honor.”

[Facebook, "Friends of Dr. Laila Ghannam," Oct. 4, 2015]
Palestinian Authority Arrests Peace Activist For Hosting Israeli MK
Mohamed Jabir is a former member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization. He used to decorate his home in Hebron with photographs of Osama bin-Laden, and, at one point, considered becoming a suicide bomber. He had a change of heart, realized the evil of violence against innocents, and became a prominent peace activists. Yehuda Glick is an Israeli member of Knesset with the Likud party. He is an active promoter of the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, and is a survivor of an assassination attempt by Jabir’s former terror group. He is also a firm believer in peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews, and when the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha rolled in, Glick traveled to Hebron to pay his friend Jabir a visit.
The two men sat on the couch, enjoyed some fruit and sweet pastries and the company of Jabir’s sweet children. Later that day, Glick posted a few photos of the afternoon on his Facebook account. “Inshallah,” he wrote, “may we all live here in peace. Happy holiday.”
To anyone truly interested in peace, the post should’ve been a cause for celebration: Here are two men, a Jew and a Muslim, putting aside their differences, enjoying each other’s company, and suggesting that there’s hope yet for something like a normal life for Israelis and Palestinians who believe in peace and reconciliation. The Palestinian Authority, however, had other ideas: As soon as the photos were made public, it dispatched its secret police to Jabir’s home and arrested him.
Sadly, Abbas’s goons weren’t the only ones persecuting Jabir for having coffee with a Jew. The Palestinian’s family, too, was quick to denounce him, issuing a statement saying that they no longer considered Jabir their relative and that his actions were “a betrayal of the homeland.”
Palestinian Family Disowns Son, Calls Him ‘Cancer’ for Meeting with Israeli Lawmaker
A Palestinian family from Hebron has announced in Palestinian media that it has cut ties with one of its sons who insisted on meeting with Israelis, with the last straw being his meeting with Likud Knesset member Yehuda Glick.
The Jaber family from Hebron announced that it was cutting ties with their son, Muhammad, and that it was unconnected to Muhammad’s actions after photos were circulated online showing their son hosting Glick in his home during Eid ad-Adha, which ended last week. The photos were originally posted on Glick’s Twitter account.
Muhammad’s brother said in a conversation with the Al Quds network that he and his brothers were cutting ties with their sibling and that they were innocent of the “normalization meetings he used to hold, but we didn’t announce it publicly out of consideration of our sick mother. But after hosting Glick in his home, we announce that Muhammad is not our brother and we’re free of him.”
According to the brother, “Muhammad persisted for years in meeting with Israelis despite opposition from the family who considered these meetings as a betrayal of their homeland. The entire family gave up on him and all the family members will say this. Muhammad hosts Israelis every day and the last one was Yehuda Glick, who invades the al-Aqsa Mosque every day and is hostile to the Palestinians. We reject these meetings and we refuse to shake our brother’s hand because whoever has done this is a traitor.”



Richard Landes: Palestinian Victory on the Temple Mount
Talk to journalists about discussing the background of the status quo, which has shifted decisively towards absolute Muslim control of the Esplanade, and they can rattle off for you a long list of Israeli efforts to change the status quo, Yehuda Glick, Temple Mount Faithful… Remind them of the construction job the Muslims conducted around 2000, and the response is: “Oh, but that’s history,” as if the Waqf doesn’t consider that a tremendous victory in the effort to overthrow the status quo, which they savor every day.
Look in vain in the WMSNM for articles documenting the long-term strategy of the Waqf to regain exclusive sovereignty over a site Israel granted her as a good-will gesture in 1967. After all, before 1967, the site held little interest for the Muslims.
In the early years after 1967, infidels could go in the mosques when there was no prayer; and the Esplanade was open to the public. Now the Waqf has declared the entire site sacred. They tightly control access, keeping infidels, especially Jews, out, and by Israelis trying to control weapons from getting smuggled in. That hardly seems like a healthy situation, at least not to anyone hoping for a two-state solution of democracies living side-by-side.
Can a journalist tell the story so it looks like Israel’s fault? Easily: it’s about Palestinian anger. And it so pleases the Palestinians to tell it that way. Why not? On the contrary, there are many “good” reasons not to tell it any other way. Few journalists seem eager to cross the Palestinians.
The dilemma this incident presents to Israel is a paradigmatic one.
Says the Caliphater: I’m invading; don’t resist. If you resist, I’ll go crazy with violence, so go quietly. Da’wa phase or Jihad phase? Your choice.
This dynamic is obviously a burning issue in the “holy” land, where Palestinians constantly push for further concessions, where suicide bombing first got its sanctified start, and the threat of another explosion always hangs in the air. But infidels around the world need to understand that this is also how Caliphaters plan to defeat the rest of the Western world. And given their astonishing success on Western campuses, they have good reason to believe it will work.
We face it now; we face it later. The longer we wait, the worse the payment for all involved.
How do we face it now? Begin by acknowledging what we face, and keeping our eye on the ball. (It would obviously help here if our journalists were a bit more aware and courageous.) Stop fantasizing that if we’re nice enough and accommodating enough, they’ll calm down. All else – strategies and tactics – is negotiable. Submission is not.
Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin (NYTs): How to Understand Israel's Strike on Syria
The Israeli attack on a military site in Syria that produces advanced missiles represents a major step in the right direction for Israel's policy toward Syria. While Israel has previously targeted weapons shipments en route to Hizbullah, now Israel is broadening the scope of its action to prevent its key adversaries from producing or acquiring advanced weaponry in the first place.
This is essentially an extension of the doctrine pioneered by Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1981, which insisted that Israel carry out preemptive strikes to stop its enemies from constructing nuclear-enrichment plants as well as production facilities for advanced conventional weapons.
Israel's message to Washington and Moscow is that if the great powers fail to take its critical interests into account in Syria, Israel will act independently to protect itself.
Another message has to do with credibility. In a world where threats are cheap and plentiful, it is much more meaningful when a nation delivers on tough rhetoric. In this specific case, the complex that was attacked was funded mostly by Iran, utilizes Iranian technology, and produces advanced long-range missiles and chemical weapons. The strike shows that Israel is willing to take decisive action to prevent the development of long-term strategic threats.
The airstrike rebuts claims that the Israeli Air Force was negatively affected by the deployment of powerful Russian air defenses in Syria.
The facility that was hit produces chemical weapons, barrel bombs, and a variety of other weapons that the Assad regime has used to massacre innocents. Destroying it could save countless lives.
An attack on axis of evil’s ‘missile accuracy project’
Those who have been following statements made by senior Israeli defense officials in recent weeks weren’t surprised by the reports that emerged from Syria on Thursday morning.
The missile accuracy program pursued by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah tops the IDF’s list of priorities. Many resources have been invested in the effort to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah. The warnings have been issued again and again, the threats have been clear, but neither have deterred the other side from pressing on with the project in Syria and in Lebanon.
If Thursday’s strike was indeed carried out by the IDF, Israel has made it clear that it makes good on its threats. Credibility is a very important thing in the changing Middle East, and even more so against what is known as “the axis of evil.” Following the strike, the Iranians are now expected to speed up the project in Lebanon, after realizing Israel is refraining from attacking there due to unwritten understandings with Hezbollah that attacks are only carried out on Syrian soil.
Now’s the time for an important and sensitive test: Will Israel make good on its threats and risk launching a military conflict against Hezbollah, or will it refrain from doing so out of fear of escalation? And equally important, has the other side realized perhaps it shouldn’t even pursue its plans to build missile factories, given the seriousness of Israel’s intentions?
Thursday marked exactly 10 years and one day since the alleged Israeli attack on the Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007. The IDF has—according to foreign reports—struck on Syrian soil more than 100 times. So far, it has been attacking arms shipments. This time, it’s a totally different ball game: A state facility, which was built with Iranian aid in a bid to improve the accuracy of Hezbollah’s arsenal. The strike was carried out under greater regional difficulties than in 2007, in light of Russia’s involvement in Syria both on the diplomatic level and on the military level.
IsraellyCool: Mainstream Media Ignoring Syrians’ Changing Attitudes Towards Israel
Our work providing humanitarian medical care to Syrian civilians caught in the civil war is not going unnoticed or unrewarded, with those helped seeing Israel for what she truly is.
Dozens of Syrian civilians have written letters of gratitude to Israel and the IDF for establishing field hospitals on its northern border which provided, and continue to provide, medical care to numerous victims wounded in the country’s ongoing violent civil war.
One 27-year-old Syrian woman, identifiable as ‘G.’ made her way to the Israeli side of the border on the Golan Heights seeking medical care for her son who had been wounded in the fighting.
After the IDF treated her son, G. wrote a letter of appreciation to Israel lamenting the “tragic situation in Syria” and expressing her yearning for peace and the prevention of further bloodshed.
“Syria was the most beautiful country of all Arab countries. We thought that Israel was our enemy, but we realized that it’s good to us. I want to thank the hospitals in Israel and the Israeli army for all its help to the … Syrian children,” she wrote

As of the time of this post, not one mainstream media outlet is reporting this.
Heck, most people might not even know about our humanitarian work if it hadn’t been for Conan.
Arab League forms committee to foil Israeli bid for UNSC membership
The Arab League on Sunday agreed to a request from the Palestinian Authority to form a committee aimed at stymieing Israel’s bid to becoming a member of the United Nations Security Council, a Palestinian official said.
Israel has said it will vie for a seat on the 15-member panel for 2019-2020, the first time the Jewish state has tried to win a spot on the UN’s most powerful forum.
Elections for the 2019-2020 seats will be held in the summer of 2018.
Palestinian ambassador to Cairo Jamal al-Shobaki, who is also the representative for the PA in the Arab League, said that five Arab bodies would work together to foil Israel’s bid, according to the PA’s official new site Wafa.
They are: the Presidency of the Arab Summit, the Presidency of the Ministerial Council, the Palestinian Authority, the Secretary General of the Arab League and Egypt, which is currently the only Arab state member on the UNSC.
Shobaki made these comments on the sidelines of a closed session of the Arab League Council in Cairo.
Landmark Israel-Africa summit canceled following boycott threats
Next month’s Israel-Africa summit has been called off at the request of the president of Togo, where the event was set to take place, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Monday, following attempts by the Palestinians and several African countries to derail the gathering.
The landmark summit, which was meant to bring 54 countries on the continent to the Togolese capital of Lome on October 23-27, will be moved “to a date to be agreed upon between the two countries,” a statement from the Foreign Ministry said.
The website set up for the summit read simply “postponed.”
Togo’s President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe stressed that “significant preparations and complex planning was needed to ensure the important event’s success,” the statement said, adding that he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before making the decision.
Gnassingbe “praised and thanked the prime minister for his determination to strengthen relations,” between the two countries, according to the Foreign Ministry, which is headed by Netanyahu.
Latin America Visit Is ‘Crowning Moment’ of Netanyahu Foreign Policy, But Iranian Threat Still Looms Large, Expert Says
Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrival in Latin America for the historic first visit by a sitting Israeli Prime Minister represents “a crowning moment for his foreign policy strategy,” a leading expert on the region said on Monday.
“Many critics have been saying over the years that Israel is isolated, and Netanyahu has proven them wrong,” Emanuele Ottolenghi – a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) – told The Algemeiner.
“Israeli know-how, Israeli ingenuity, Israeli investment are bringing back Israel as a sought-after partner, especially in the emerging world of which Latin America is a part,” Ottolenghi said. “It’s working in Africa, it’s working in Asia – and particularly India, as we saw with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July – and it’s working in Latin America too.”
Netanyahu arrived in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on Monday for the opening leg of a ten day-long visit that also takes in Colombia and Mexico. While in Buenos Aires, Netanyahu will meet with Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, who flies in to see Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Ottolenghi observed that Netanyahu arrived on the inaugural flight of El Al ‘s new service between Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires. “The last time an El Al plane was in Argentina was in May 1960,” Ottolenghi said, when the architect of the Nazi Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, was smuggled to Israel by Mossad agents on board an El Al plane that was carrying an Israeli diplomatic delegation home.
Netanyahu’s itinerary in Buenos Aires includes paying tribute at the sites of two Hezbollah bombings in the Argentine capital that combined killed more than 100 people and wounded over 1,000: the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and the AMIA Jewish center in 1994.
Ahead of Netanyahu visit, signs in Argentina depict him as Hitler
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu headed toward Argentina overnight Monday, posters depicting him as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and declaring him wanted for genocide against the Palestinians appeared in the capital, Buenos Aires.
Local reports said the posters were put up by pro-Palestinian activists ahead of Netanyahu’s four-day visit to Latin America, beginning Monday in Argentina. It is the first visit by a serving Israeli prime minister to Latin America.
One poster showed Netanyahu with Hitler’s signature mustache and undercut, wearing a uniform reminiscent of the Nazi wartime SS units. The poster carried the Spanish slogan “Zionists out of Palestine, Netanyahu out.”
Another sign was designed to look like a wanted poster complete with head-on and side-view mugshots of Netanyahu. It declared the Israeli leader is “wanted for human rights crimes and genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Intelligence minister urges PM to lobby Trump for Iran deal do-over
Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should ask US President Donald Trump to change or cancel the Iran deal during an upcoming visit to New York, amid speculation that the White House plans to declare Iran non-compliant without dismantling the landmark pact.
During a speech at a counterterrorism conference, Katz also said Tehran is establishing itself in Syria with “bases, airports and tens of thousands” of fighters in Shiite militias, which threaten Israel.
The intelligence minister warned that “Iran is the new North Korea. We need to work against it today so that we don’t regret tomorrow what we should have done yesterday.”
Katz pilloried the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which he said “protects Iran’s ability to get nuclear capabilities in the future.”
He said Trump needs to adhere to the assurances he made, regarding Iran and the JCPOA.
“Iran needs to be forced to sign a new agreement, one that will never let it advance to nuclear weapons, as President Trump promised, and which will also include the issues of missiles and Iran’s support of terror,” he said.
UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Says Iran Is Following Rules of Nuclear Deal
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday Iran was abiding by the rules set out in a nuclear accord it signed with six world powers in 2015, after Washington suggested it was not adhering to the deal.
The State Department must notify Congress every 90 days of Iran’s compliance with the deal. The next deadline is October and U.S. President Donald Trump has said he thinks by then the United States will declare Iran non-compliant.
Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran had not broken any promises and was not receiving special treatment.
“The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the (deal) are being implemented,” he said in the text of a speech to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA’s 35-member Board of Governors.
Most sanctions on Iran were lifted 18 months ago under the deal and, despite overstepping a limit on its stocks of one chemical, it has adhered to the key limitations imposed on it.
Ted Cruz, Hotovely team up to take on UN agency
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) headed to Washington DC Monday morning for meetings with Trump administration officials and members of Congress, in part to promote the Foreign Ministry’s efforts to end the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the special status it has extended to generations of Arabs living across the Middle East.
While most refugees supported by the United Nations are aided through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), aid to Palestinian Arabs claiming refugee status has been administered by UNRWA.
Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA has permitted Arab refugees to transmit their status to their descendants, creating second, third, fourth, and even fifth-generation “refugees” who born and raised in Arab states including Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, yet categorized by the UN as “Palestinian refugees”. While the UNRWA counted some 750,000 Palestinian Arabs as refugees in 1949, the number has risen nearly sevenfold since, with over 5 million now claiming refugee status through UNRWA.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry and some members of Congress have called for an end to the perpetual refugee status accorded to Palestinian Arabs, pushing for UNRWA to be dissolved as an independent agency and incorporated into the larger UNHCR.
In June, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused UNRWA of complicity with the Hamas terror organization and called for the agency to be terminated.
Norway Gets Refund after Funding Center Named after Palestinian Terrorist
Members of Congress and Jewish leaders are urging the U.S. to follow in Norway’s footsteps, after Oslo secured the return of funds it gave to a Palestinian women’s center that was named in honor of a terrorist.
Earlier this year, Palestinian Media Watch and NGO Monitor revealed that the Norwegian government helped finance a Palestinian Authority (PA)-affiliated women’s center in the town of Burqa, which had been named after Dalal Mughrabi, the leader of a notorious terrorist attack in 1978.
In response, Norwegian officials said they would demand the return of the funds and the removal of the Norwegian flag from the banner in front of the center. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry this week for the first time confirmed it has received the refund. Spokesperson Gur Solberg told JNS.org, “The logo was removed immediately and the Norwegian support of $10,000 has been returned to the Norwegian Representative Office (NRO).” The NRO is Norway’s liaison to the PA.
Palestinian Media Watch Director Itamar Marcus called Norway’s action “a major breakthrough” that may signal “the beginning of a new European attitude towards the PA. For years, PMW has been showing European leaders what the PA was doing with their money to glorify terror and the Europeans tried to excuse it. I hope this is ending now.”
Olga Deutsch, director of NGO Monitor’s Europe Desk, praised the Norwegian government for “insisting that its funds be returned, and that its monies not be used to glorify a mass-murderer.” She said the incident “can serve to increase awareness among donors” of the danger of funds intended for humanitarian purposes being used to “promote extremism and radicalization.”
‘Jihad is needed’
Norwegian political figures are applauding their government’s move, and urging it to take action in a similar case that has just come to light.
Azerbaijani president pardons jailed Israeli blogger
Azerbaijan’s president pardoned on Monday an Israeli-Russian blogger who was jailed for traveling to a separatist-controlled region of the former Soviet republic.
Alexander Lapshin, who holds Russian, Ukrainian and Israeli citizenship, was detained in Belarus last year and extradited to Azerbaijan, where he was charged for his trip to Nagorno-Karabakh via Armenia several years ago. In July, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
The office of President Ilham Aliyev said that he had pardoned Lapshin, who had petitioned to be extradited to Israel.
Since a separatist war there ended in 1994, Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of forces that claim to be local ethnic Armenians, but that Azerbaijan alleges include troops from Armenia.
Zionist Union Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova wrote on her Facebook page that Lapshin will be set free in the coming days.
“About an hour ago I was moved to hear that the president of Azerbejan Ilham Aliyev signed a pardon for Alexander Lapshin, an Israeli blogger who was sentenced to three years in prison because he entered the Nagorno-Karabakh strip,” wrote Svetlova, who has been directly involved with efforts to help Lapshin and his family.
“I am so happy and delighted that he is once again a free man and can soon return to his family,” she continued. “This saga threatened the usually excellent ties between us and Azerbaijan and I thank the President Aliyev that he decided to pardon Lapshin and this ended this sad story.”
'Calm reality on Israel-Gaza border is fragile, deceptive'
Israel has foiled 200 terrorist attacks since the beginning of 2017, some 70 of them during July and August, Shin Bet security agency Director Nadav Argaman revealed Sunday.
Briefing government ministers on domestic security efforts, Argaman noted that since the July 14 murder of two Israeli policemen on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the number of terror alerts has tripled.
He attributed the rise in threats to "a growing motivation to carry out major terrorist attacks and the significant rise in aggressive rhetoric on social media calling for lone-wolf attacks."
Argaman further warned that the relative peace and quiet on the Israel-Gaza Strip border and across Judea and Samaria was deceptive.
"Hamas, under the direction of the movement's leadership in the Gaza Strip and abroad, continues to pursue efforts to promote terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria with aim of undermining stability in this arena, but it finds it difficult to realize them over Israel's counterterrorism efforts. Hamas has developed dozens of inter-regional routes over the past year with the sole purpose of having major attacks from Judea and Samaria target Israel's homefront," he said.
Chasing the killer of my child
An interview of Frimet Roth by the Israeli journalist Michal Ish Shalom originally appeared in the Hebrew weekly Mishpacha, August 24, 2017. An English translation, the work of Rochel Sylvetsky whose contribution we are pleased to acknowledge, was published today on the Israel National News website under the title "The non-extradition of our daughter's murderer". Our thanks go to Mishpacha for their permission to use their Hebrew article in this way. (The cross-post that follows has some minor editing changes and we have inserted hyperlinks.)
Malki Roth was murdered in what is called the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing 16 years ago.
Her parents hope that her terrorist murderer, against whom the US has issued an extradition request, will be brought to justice. The family hopes the US presses for extradition, is disappointed that Jordan does not honor its legal obligations to the US, and blames Netanyahu for not caring about families of terror victims.
Arnold and Frimet Roth, the parents of Malki Hy"D, murdered in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing attack 16 years ago, were carefully optimistic on the day after the Purim holiday this year.
A delegation from the US Department of Justice came to Jerusalem to inform them that the United States was about to make an announcement later that day: a request for extradition had been presented to the Jordanian government. Jordan, which signed an extradition treaty with the United States in 1995, was being requested to extradite Ahlam al-Tamimi, the terrorist who planned and executed the suicide bombing in which their daughter was murdered. Tamimi was being added that day to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list.
The Roths had initiated this process by meeting with US officials in Washington five years earlier – in February 2012. The Jordanians had been served with the extradition request months earlier, right before the High Holidays, and Interpol was involved. But now in mid-March 2017, the US were going to publicize the extradition request, leading the Roths to believe that justice was going to be done at last.
'He published a farewell video - then went to murder Jews'
The Central District Prosecutor's Office submitted an indictment against 21-year-old terrorist Alaa Abu-Sanav on Monday for planning to murder Israelis and illegally crossing into pre-1967 Israel.
Arabs who wish to cross into pre-1967 Israel from Judea and Samaria but do not have Israeli citizenship must apply for permits. The reason is usually in order to work, but since criminals and terrorists seeking to carry out attacks can try to join them, there is a need for permits so that each can be vetted and a record kept.
The terrorist uploaded to his Facebook page a video titled "May your morning be perfumed with the scene of shahids." In the video, the terrorist said his goodbyes to his family and friends, and praised previous martyrs. He also said he was "leaving to Israel to carry out an 'act' and may not return. Those close to the terrorist responded, "May God accept you[r sacrifice]."
The terrorist then sold his cellular phone for 400 shekels ($114) and paid a professional to smuggle him into pre-1967 Israel. He reached the city of Netanya at approximately 5:00 p.m. and walked around a few hours in search of an appropriate victim.
An alert Israel Police officer noticed the terrorist walking and asked him what his business was, but the terrorist did not respond, instead pulling out a green identity card. Suspecting that the Arab was an infiltrator, the officers arrested him.
A search of the suspect's body revealed a knife.
Jerusalem Arabs convicted in killing of Alexander Levlovich
Three residents of Jerusalem's Sur Baher neighborhood were convicted Monday for the death of Alexander Levlovich in September 2015.
The court found Abed Dweiyat guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to him 18 years in prison. Muhammad Abu Kaf and Elul Atrash were found guilty of aiding and abetting, and received nine years in jail each.
The three had killed Levlovich, 64, by hurling rocks at his car, as he passed through Pisgat Zeev on the way back from his festive Rosh Hashana meal. After being hit by the stones, the car swerved and hit a power pole before landing in a ditch.
Atrash's job was to act as a spotter for upcoming cars driven by Jews, while Dweiyat and Abu Kaf threw the rocks that killed Levlovich.
Levlovich's killing is seen as a harbinger for the 'knife intifada' that exploded soon afterwords.
Maya, Levlovich's daughter, praised the decision. "The terrorist's defense was incomprehensible. They claimed that the police put a stone in his car, and that Alexander was mentally ill. After two years of hearing this, it's good that Judge Rafi Carmel finally convicted them."
Top UN official to Jpost: Israel important in fighting terror
“The UN believes Israel is a very important partner… in the issue of counterterror,” UN Security Council Counter Terrorism Director Weixiong Chen told The Jerusalem Post Monday.
Chen made the comments to the Post on the sidelines of IDC Herzliya’s International Institute for Counter Terrorism conference.
The UN counter-terror official listed off four areas where “the UN recognizes Israeli contributions” in combating terror.
He mentioned an efficient general working relationship and “Israel’s strength in aviation security at airports” as two points where the UN and other countries could gain from Israel.
Further, he cited Israel’s excellence “in crisis management and in how to share intelligence effectively” as two other points.
“This is what the UN wants you to do more,” he said of directly assisting some countries and providing an example to countries which, politically, might not want to publicly be seen directly learning from Israel.
Chen said he understood that some Israelis were angry at the UN because of many resolutions passed against Israel.
Rhetorically he asked, “which UN are you referring to?”
Avoid Sinai and Turkey, Israeli holiday travelers told
Israeli authorities on Monday issued severe travel warnings urging Israeli travelers to avoid places where they would be prime targets for jihadist terrorists, including Turkey and much of the Middle East.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to travel overseas during the parade of Jewish holidays which starts with the Jewish new year on September 20 and ends with the Sukkot festival, from October 4 to 12, when most travelers head abroad.
The Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the Prime Minister’s Office, which issues the warnings ahead of most holiday seasons, noted that the list includes some of the most popular tourist destinations for Israelis, including the Sinai Peninsula and Turkey.
Warnings were also in effect for Jordan and the rest of Egypt.
In all those places, terror groups are known to be planning attacks in crowded areas, and may be looking to target areas where large groups of vacationing Israelis are likely to be found.
At least 18 Egyptian police killed in attack on Sinai convoy
Islamic State fighters ambushed a police convoy in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Monday, killing 18 police and wounding seven others in one of the deadliest attacks this year in the restive region bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Police and military officials said roadside bombs destroyed and set ablaze four armored vehicles and a fifth one carrying signal jamming equipment. The gunmen later opened fire with machine guns and commandeered a police pickup truck.
Among those killed were two police lieutenants. The wounded included a police brigadier general. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a brief item carried by its Aamaq news agency.
The attack took place about 30 kilometers (nearly 19 miles) west of el-Arish in northern Sinai, the epicenter of a long-running insurgency now led by an IS affiliate.
Palestinians' War on Art
What is particularly disturbing is that the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is backed and funded by the US and EU, is also playing an active role in the campaign against the festival and the Palestinian participants. It would be easier to understand if Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad were opposed to the festival, but the PA's opposition sends the unambiguous message to Palestinians from their leaders in Ramallah: it is Israel that is unacceptable, plain and simple.
Here is a festival that promotes nothing but culture and peace, and the PA, once again, is promoting precisely the opposite. Worldwide, music and culture are used to promote coexistence and peace between peoples. Yet, the Palestinians seem to approach art differently. Instead of embracing cultural events that strive to narrow the gap between people, the Palestinians consider art a mortal threat to their ideology and values.
If Palestinian and Israeli artists coming together in a festival is being labeled a crime and treacherous act by the Palestinian street and leadership, what is the hope that any Palestinian leader will ever be able to sign a peace agreement with Israel?
Jihadist: Son of Assassinated Gazan Terror Leader Killed by Coalition Airstrike in Syria
Ahmed al-Saedni, the son of Hisham al-Saedni, a senior Salafist jihadist in Gaza who died in an Israeli airstrike, was killed recently in an airstrike on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria by the international coalition led by the U.S., a senior jihadist figure in the Gaza Strip, Abou Baker al-Maqdesi, told Breitbart Jerusalem.
Fourteen-year-old Ahmed al Saedni is Hisham al-Saedni’s third son. He joined IS with his mother and two brothers in 2013 after successfully infiltrating the Sinai Peninsula from Gaza and traveling to Syria.
Ahmed isn’t the first son of al-Saedni to be killed in Syria as a result of an American coalition airstrike. His two brothers, including his older sibling, 18-year-old Waleed, were killed in an airstrike in Raqqa. The three arrived in the IS capital together with their mother who is herself a Salafist activist. Al-Maqdesi said that the fate of the mother remains unclear.
The father, Hisham, was a leader and among the first of the Salafist jihadists in the Gaza Strip associated with IS ideology. He founded the organization al-Tawhid al-Jihad after participating in the establishment of an organization with a similar name in Egypt and Jordan while he lived outside of Gaza for several years.
Palestinian activist jailed for anti-Abbas Facebook post released
A Palestinian activist who has run afoul of the Palestinian Authority was released from a Palestinian jail Sunday, a week after he was arrested for writing a Facebook post critical of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' crackdown on local press.
However, Issa Amro, who says he pursues a path of nonviolence against what he calls "discriminatory Israeli policies" in Hebron, now faces the rare predicament of criminal proceedings in both an Israeli military court and a Palestinian court.
Amro was arrested on Sept. 4 for writing a Facebook post criticizing the detention of a Palestinian journalist who was arrested for calling for President Mahmoud Abbas's resignation.
His attorney said Sunday that Amro was released on $1,400 bail after being held under a recent edict that allows the government to crack down on social media critics. Farid Atrash said it was "shameful" that his client was arrested for exercising his right of free expression.
"They want to silence me and silence every voice defending human rights, but they are wrong. I will continue defending human rights and struggling against occupation," he said following his release from jail on Sunday. He denied any wrongdoing.
In jail last week, Amro began a hunger strike to protest what he said was an unlawful detention, made without a warrant or due process.
Houston Hurricane Allahs Punishment - #Rohingya
Sheikh Kamal Khatib, Deputy Leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Slams Saudi King for Offering Aid to Houston "Oppressors" Instead of Rohingya People Islamic Movement in Israel deputy leader Sheikh Kamal Khatib said that the Houston "flood" was divine punishment, praying: "Allah, increase [Your punishment] of the oppressors." He slammed the Saudi monarch for offering humanitarian aid for the victims in Houston, asking: "Aren't you aware that Muslims who are closer to you geographically are drowning?" He was speaking in his weekly Friday sermon on September 8.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Saudi Discovers BVD Wife-Beaters Ineffective, Demands Refund (satire)
Confusion reigned today after a local husband sought to vent his displeasure at his wife through corporal punishment, only to discover that the product he had ordered on line for such a purpose, despite being called a “wife-beater,” failed to perform that task, and he was forced to administer his disciplinary measures manually. The man has submitted a complaint and asked for a refund from the vendor.
Asqin Foreet, 40, had bought a package of three wife-beaters from venerable manufacturer BVD, taking advantage of a special discount on shipping rates to his country from the US. Foreet, a father of sixteen through four women, sees frequent need to keep his wives obedient and servile, lest their misconduct or inadequacy as consorts or mothers bring shame upon the family. His choice of method has involved towels, belts, shoes, and other objects in addition to the palms and backs of his hands, but the effort necessary to discipline the women and their children occupied time the ARAMCO executive would rather devote to other pursuits. Chancing upon an ad for a package of wife-beaters for only three US dollars including shipping, Foreet jumped at the chance to automate his wife-beating in some way.
“I was excited, only to be disappointed,” he confessed. “I have already demanded this travesty, this deception, be remedied, and taken out my displeasure on the woman who caused this whole fiasco. Of course it would have been easier, not to mention unnecessary, if the product’s structure and function matched its name, but that, alas, is not the case.”
Observers note that Foreet could accept responsibility for the misunderstanding and undertake to exercise greater care in selecting products for purchase, but such a course of action would require violation of at least two taboos: it would require that he depart from a narrative of victimhood, in which someone else must always bear the shame of causing misfortune, and it would require that he find ways of expressing his pique that do not involve the physical assertion of superiority over other weaker and lesser beings.




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