Thursday, February 08, 2018
Obama-era cash traced to Iran-backed terrorists
The U.S. government has traced some of the $1.7 billion released to Iran by the Obama administration to Iranian-backed terrorists in the two years since the cash was transferred.
According to knowledgeable sources, Iran has used the funds to pay its main proxy, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, along with the Quds Force, Iran’s main foreign intelligence and covert action arm and element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The U.S. money supplied to Iran as part of an arms settlement dating back to the 1970s also has been traced to Iran’s backing of Houthi rebels seeking to take power in Yemen. Iran has been supporting the Yemen rebels as part of a bid to encircle and eventually take control of Saudi Arabia.
The intelligence tracing the American funds to Iranian-backed terrorists is likely to further fuel President Trump’s effort to undo the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration’s main foreign policy initiative codified in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran nuclear deal is called.
Despite promises to reject the deal during the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump announced in January the U.S. would not pull out of the Iran nuclear accord for now. But the president criticized the transfer of money to Tehran and signaled that Washington is going after Iran’s funding of terrorism.
“The enormous financial windfall the Iranian regime received because of the deal — access to more than $100 billion, including $1.8 billion in cash — has not been used to better the lives of the Iranian people,” Mr. Trump said Jan. 12. “Instead, it has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders.”
PMW: Official PA daily admits 161 Palestinians did carry out stabbing attacks during Palestinian terror wave 2015-2016
An article in the official PA daily acknowledged that 161 Palestinians were killed while carrying out stabbing attacks during the Palestinian wave of terror in 2015-2016 during which 40 people were murdered by Palestinians and over 500 wounded.Caroline Glick: While Turkey Was Invading Syria, It Was Also Invading the Super Bowl
Palestinian Media Watch documented at the time that the PA falsely claimed that Israel "fabricated" the stabbing attacks, and "planted knives" next to the dead bodies of "innocent Palestinian victims" after having "executed" them in "cold blood."
One cartoon tweeted by Abbas' Fatah Movement in November 2015 visualized the PA libel showing an Israeli soldier dropping knives near the bodies of dead Palestinians: [Fatah Twitter account, Nov. 1, 2015]
The recent article in the official PA daily recognizes the fact that 161 Palestinians were killed while attacking Israelis with knives:
"The Al-Aqsa uprising in 2015 (i.e., Palestinian terror wave, 40 murdered) that broke out spontaneously against the Israeli occupation's insistence on interfering in the affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and continuing its Judaization. It continued for approximately one year, and during that year 250 [Palestinian] civilians died as Martyrs (Shahids), 161 of them while carrying out stabbing operations against the occupation's soldiers and its settlers."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 28, 2018]
Palestinian terror wave (2015-2016) - Palestinian violence and terror attacks against Israelis, including stabbings, shootings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and car rammings. It started in September 2015 and until and including July 2016, 40 people were murdered (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans, and 1 foreign worker from Eritrea) and over 500 wounded.
One of the stranger aspects of the Super Bowl LII broadcast on Sunday was the Turkish Airlines sign on the NBC Sports desk during the pre-game show.
NBC also ran a commercial for Turkish Airlines. Starring television celebrity surgeon Dr. Oz, the ad, like previous years’ Turkish Airlines Super Bowl ads, was an advertising work of art. It was brilliantly written and beautifully produced. It’s hard to imagine the average viewer would feel anything other than attracted to Turkey after watching it.
There is nothing wrong with a business or civic group advertising its message. But the uneasiness the ad caused many viewers was reasonable. Turkish Airlines is not a private business. The Turkish government owns a controlling 49.12 percent of the airline. And the Turkish government is not demonstrating affinity with America, let alone with American sports, these days.
To the contrary, although it’s a member of NATO, everywhere you look, Turkey is actively harming American interests.
For example, Turkey has led the diplomatic onslaught against America since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem on December 6.
Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan hosted a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in December to criticize the U.S. and was an outspoken advocate of the U.N. General Assembly’s resolution to condemn the American move.
And just last Tuesday, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) held an America-bashing conference in Istanbul.
As John Rossomando reported for the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) on Monday, the U.S. deported one of the speakers at the conference, Sami al-Arian, in 2015 after he served his prison term for funding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group.
Former @UNRefugeeAgency Mideast rep: "UNRWA is in essence a mindless distribution system. It should be replaced by micro-credit schemes or economic development projects aimed at fostering self-sufficiency." https://t.co/R2iukdtswy
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) February 8, 2018
'If the other side doesn't want peace, how can you have peace?'
Pakistani-Canadian human rights activist Raheel Raza spoke on Thursday about peace, anti-Semtism in Muslim countries, and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.U.S. Peace Envoy Blasts Abbas for Denying Jerusalem's Jewish Connection
Raza is a author, journalist, and public speaker, as well as a media consultant and anti-racism activist. She is also the author of Their Jihad, Not My Jihad: A Muslim Canadian Woman Speaks Out.
"I'm a practicing observer of Islam, and therefore I believe that the children of Abraham - the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims - need to learn to live together, they need to respect each other, and the rise of anti-Semitism in the Muslim world is something that really bothers me," Raza said. "I know that it is political, and not ideological."
"Don't think that we are taught in the Quran how to hate the Jews," she emphasized. "This is something that is very political and we must fight it on political grounds."
"We need to speak out and this needs to come from within the Muslim communities."
When asked about the Palestinian Authority's policy of paying salaries to terrorists, Raza said, "The problem is, that when you start having conversations, you can talk about these issues. But if the other side won't even recognize the right of Israel to exist, how can you have a conversation?"
American Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt on Thursday slammed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for failing to mention Judaism’s connection to Jerusalem in a speech this week.Abbas spokesman blames Friedman for crisis in US-Palestinian ties
Speaking at the Jerusalem Capital of Muslim Youth 2018 festival in Ramallah on Tuesday, Abbas repeatedly emphasized that Jerusalem was a city for Muslims and Christians, without mentioning any of the city’s extensive Jewish history.
“Pres. Abbas states about Jerusalem: ‘it is Arab, Muslim, and Christian.’ And makes no mention of any Jewish ties. Nothing peaceful or productive can come from statements like this,” Greenblatt said in a series of tweets.
“Lasting peace will not be achieved by denying Judaism’s thousands of years of ties to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews,” the US envoy added, recalling President Donald Trump’s recognition in December of the city as Israel’s capital.
American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is being blamed for the crisis in ties between the US and the Palestinians, according to Nabil Abu Rudeinah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman.Poll: Israelis Consider Trump Policies Pro-Israel, Obama Policies Pro-Palestinian
Since US President Donald Trump in early December recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and initiated the relocation of the American Embassy in Tel Aviv to the city, US-Palestinian relations have deteriorated significantly.
In the past two months, Palestinians have reportedly halted communications with the US president’s Middle East peace envoys and turned down a meeting with American Vice President Mike Pence.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has withheld part of a planned contribution to a UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees and threatened to cut all assistance to the Palestinian if they do not return to the negotiating table.
“The ambassador’s recommendations and advice, which do not aim to achieve a just peace on the basis of international legitimacy, is what led to this crisis in American-Palestinian relations,” Abu Rudeinah said in statement published on the official PA news site Wafa on Wednesday night.
The poll published by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University on Wednesday reveals that most Israelis consider the Middle East policies of US President Donald Trump to be pro-Israel, in sharp contrast to Israeli views on the policies of former US President Barack Obama.Trump thanks Guatemalan president for following US on Jerusalem embassy move
According the monthly Peace Index poll, approximately 70 percent of Israelis view the current US position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as pro-Israel, with only 4 percent identifying the policies of the current administration as pro-Palestinian.
When the same poll was taken back in May 2011, only 14 percent of respondents identified the Obama administration’s Middle East policy as pro-Israel, with 31 percent labeling Obama’s policies as pro-Palestinian.
US President Donald Trump thanks his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales for announcing he would move his country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
“President Trump thanked President Morales for supporting the United States and Israel, and for his announced decision to move the Guatemalan embassy to Jerusalem,” a White House readout says.
The two meet in Washington ahead of Trump’s appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast.
After Trump announced on December 6 the US would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy to the city, Morales said his country would follow the US and also move its embassy to Jerusalem.
The announced move was praised by Israel, with Prime Minister Netanyahu saying “God bless” Guatemala.
.@IsraeliPM: I'm now concluding a tour of IDF Northern Command that we held w/ the members of the Security Cabinet. I'm impressed by the major work the IDF is doing to defend our borders & our state. We want peace but are prepared for any scenario. I suggest that no one test us. pic.twitter.com/u98kSywFtY
— Embassy of Israel (@IsraelinUSA) February 6, 2018
Iran and Hizbullah Are Taking Israel's Threats Seriously
The Israeli intelligence community recently detected the emergence of serious strategic threats to Israel by Iran, Hizbullah, Syria, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. To prevent these threats from materializing, Israel's diplomatic and military system was enlisted for a concentrated diplomatic-PR effort to deter the threatening elements and use international leverages of influence against them (like Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example).US envoy relays Israeli de-escalation messages to Lebanon
There are still no Shiite militia fighters near the Golan Heights border, Hizbullah doesn't have a considerable number of precision-guided missiles yet, and there are no Iranian factories for improving the accuracy level of surface-to-surface missiles in Syria or Lebanon. There are, however, preparations and attempts by the Iranian Quds Force and Hizbullah to build such a factory in Lebanon, after a similar factory was destroyed in a bombing in Syria.
The Iranians believe Israel won't dare strike in Lebanon for fear Hizbullah will respond by firing missiles and lead to war. They believe there is mutual deterrence between Israel and Hizbullah, which allows them to fearlessly build the "missile accuracy improvement factories" in Lebanon.
Israel's political-security establishment, however, has conveyed to the Iranians and Hizbullah that their assessment is wrong: "We have red lines, and if precision missile factories are built in Lebanon, or if we detect Shiite militias in the Syrian Golan Heights, we'll act to remove the threat without any hesitations, even if this leads to an escalation and war. If there is an escalation, we'll act immediately, with full force."
A U.S. envoy has assured Lebanon that Israel does not seek an escalation between the countries following a surge in hostile rhetoric, Lebanese and Israeli officials said on Thursday.5 reasons why Israel is ready for war with Hezbollah in Lebanon
The neighbors have exchanged threats and condemnation over a border wall being constructed by Israel, a tender issued by Beirut for oil and gas exploration in disputed waters and arms flows to Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.
Lebanese and Israeli officials said David Satterfield, acting assistant U.S. secretary of state, was in Israel last week and in Lebanon this week on a mediation mission. U.S. officials confirmed his travels without detailing his agenda.
"He [Satterfield] held talks regarding the [border] wall with Israel and said there is no cause for concern, and there is no direction towards escalation," a senior Lebanese government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"He assured the Lebanese that Israel does not want escalation."
An Israeli official said Satterfield was "relaying messages" to Beirut about several matters of contention.
"Our position has always been that we do not want to see the situation inflamed," the official said, adding that at least two European countries were mediating, as well as the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a simple, straightforward message this week when he toured Israel’s border with Syria and Lebanon with top security officials.Russia livid over Israeli bill to recognize Ukrainian genocide
“Our face is turned toward peace, we are ready for any eventuality, and I don’t suggest anyone test us,” he said Tuesday in a video message he posted on Twitter, the sound of helicopter blades whirring in the background.
The mixed message signaled Israel’s ambivalence about taking on the terrorist group Hezbollah 12 years after Lebanon and Israel were left gutted by a summer war.
The 2006 war was costly for both sides: Hezbollah, the preeminent militia in Lebanon, lost political capital for inviting a devastating response to its provocations along Israel’s border. Israel’s military and political class at the time paid a price for not decisively winning a war that precipitated a mass internal movement of civilians southward.
Yet the sides are making increasingly belligerent noises. Here are five factors contributing to increasing tensions along the border.
Russia reacted seriously to yesterday's Knesset bill to recognize the Ukrainian genocide in the 1930's advanced by Druze MK Akram Hasson (Kulanu) and marking the Holodomor ("to kill by starvation"), the mass famine in Ukraine between 1932-3 in which millions were killed. The Russian Embassy reacted by saying the bill "sadly distorts history".Israeli PM Netanyahu Blocks Vote to Apply Sovereignty Throughout West Bank
Meanwhile, the Russians are applying additional pressure on the media. Yesterday, Russian Deputy Ambassador to Israel Leonid Frolov spoke with Galei Tzahal's Michael Hauser Tov. Frolov was asked whether this law intensifies sensitivities while security coordination between Jerusalem and Moscow regarding Iran and Syria is at its peak.
Frolov said: "This is not a good time to discuss such a proposal. This is a very important time for all the world and now, when Mr. Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital, Israel needs the support not only of the United States; Israel needs the support of many other countries, who think in a different way."
The Ukrainian wholesale murder in the 1930s perpetrated by Stalin is an upsetting issue for the Russians. According to Hasson's proposal, the State of Israel will officially recognize the Ukrainian genocide, and even hold a memorial day and ceremony on the subject.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blocked a vote in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on a bill which would gradually apply Israeli sovereignty to Jewish communities in the West Bank.Defense Ministry's bill proposes to divert terrorist salaries to terror-victims fund
The Judea and Samaria sovereignty bill, submitted by Knesset Member Yoav Kish (Likud) calls for “unrestricted construction and to extend Israeli law and sovereignty” throughout Israeli-controlled areas in the West Bank.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation is responsible for determining which proposals are adopted by the majority-ruling coalition. Bills supported by the committee are effectively guaranteed passage in parliament.
Netanyahu blocked the committee’s vote on the bill, instructing that a vote would only take place if the proposal was first coordinated with the US administration.
The Defense Ministry is proposing a bill to deduct sums paid to terrorists from tax monies collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in light of the Authority’s protocol of wiring monthly payments to convicted terrorists.Hamas: PA ‘lead’ helped IDF track terrorist behind rabbi’s killing
The money will be set aside in a special fund, set to have three uses: remuneration for victims of terror who were awarded damages in court, financing for a project that fights terrorism funding and to improve civil infrastructure such as roads and lighting, thus boosting security.
As was recently revealed by the Defense Ministry, payments by the Palestinian Authority to Palestinian prisoners, released prisoners, families of terrorists and those injured by Israel amounted to NIS 1.2 billion annually.
It can be said that these funds are a direct incentive for terrorists, as the average wage among West Bank Palestinians is NIS 2,000 while a terrorist who is a resident of Israel, married with three children and serving a life sentence can receive NIS 10,950 a month.
In 2017, the PA paid Palestinian prisoners and released prisoners more than NIS 550 million, and NIS 687 million to families of suicide bombers. These amount to 7 percent of the budget of the PA, which nevertheless maintains it does not engage in terrorism.
A terrorist sentenced to 3-5 years in prison, meanwhile, receives NIS 2,000 a month, while one who was sentenced to between 20-35 years receives NIS 10,000 a month for the rest of his life.
The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on Wednesday claimed that the Palestinian Authority provided the lead that helped Israel track down and kill Ahmed Jarrar, the terrorist suspected of heading the cell that killed Rabbi Raziel Shevach last month.Fatah warns Palestinians against attending IDF ceremony
Meanwhile, Hamas and other Palestinian groups renewed their demand for an end to security coordination between the PA and Israel.
Jarrar, a member of Hamas’s military wing, was killed in a shootout with the IDF on Tuesday in the village of Al Yamoun in the Jenin area.
A video posted on the Al Qassam website claimed that immediately after Shevach was shot dead on January 9 in the northern West Bank, Israel and the PA began working together to identify the perpetrators.
“The Palestinian Authority provided the lead to the enemy,” the video charged.
It said that after becoming aware of the PA’s collaboration with Israel, Jarrar began preparing himself for a “confrontation” with the IDF.
The Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction on Wednesday warned Palestinians against accepting an invitation to attend a ceremony for the incoming head of the IDF’s District Coordination and Liaison (DCL) center in the Ramallah area.Court upholds convictions of Israelis who murdered, burned Palestinian teen
The ceremony for Azhar Ghanem is scheduled to take place on Thursday at the offices of the Civil Administration, Israel’s military governing authority in the West Bank, near Ramallah.
Several Palestinians have been invited to attend the ceremony, according to a source in the Defense Ministry’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
COGAT is responsible for coordination and liaising with the Palestinian Authority in conjunction with the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Civil Administration is a civil-military body that is charged with implementing Israel’s civil policy in the West Bank. The Civil Administration has eight DCL centers throughout the West Bank.
A leaflet distributed by the Fatah leadership in Ramallah warned that any Palestinian “merchant” who accepts the invitation would be held accountable, both morally and nationally.
This was not the first time that Fatah had called for a boycott of such ceremonies.
The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed the convictions and sentences of the three murderers of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, rejecting their appeals.JPost Editorial: Does Israel have a moral obligation to prevent Gaza's collapse?
In May 2016, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Yosef Haim Ben David to life in prison plus 20 years for being the ringleader in the murder of the 16-year-old Arab from Shuafat in east Jerusalem on July 2, 2014.
In February 2016, the same court sentenced two minors who had already been convicted of assisting Ben David with the murder – one to life in prison and one to 21 years in prison.
Abu Khdeir was abducted, burned and brutally murdered on July 2, 2014 after being kidnapped by Ben David and the two minors.
News coverage of the slaying led to Arab riots throughout east Jerusalem and the rest of the country.
The defense ministry recognized Abu Khdeir as a victim of hostile action, granting his family identical compensation rights as the victims of Arab terrorism, such as victims of suicide bombings.
Ben David’s appeal had focused on trying to get the Supreme Court to accept an insanity plea which the lower court had rejected.
There are numerous indicators that the situation in the Gaza Strip has gone from bad to worse. And this has direct implications for Israel. The likelihood of another war with Hamas-controlled Gaza has increased; environmental dangers such as sewage and diseases have become more acute; and Israel’s moral obligation as a neighboring country with the ability to help has become more pressing.Thousands of Palestinians jam Gaza border, temporarily opened by Egypt
It is difficult to say which of the many crises facing Gazans is the most severe. But it seems that much of the problem stems from the lack of a steady supply of electricity. Sewage treatment plants cannot be operated and large-scale desalination is impossible. Over-pumping of aquifers has resulted in seepage of seawater into the groundwater.
Ahmed al-Yaqoubi, a hydrologist who is an adviser to the Palestinian Water Authority, told the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies last month that almost 90% of the drinking water in Gaza exceeds the maximum salinity standard of the World Health Organization.
Untreated sewage causes sickness and even deaths inside Gaza, and the backflow into the Mediterranean regularly pollutes the beaches of Ashkelon and Ashdod.
The lack of a reliable electricity supply means that hospitals are unable to provide adequate treatment and industry is crippled. This leads in turn to lower productivity, further deterioration of the economy, lower purchasing power, and fewer goods shipped into Gaza. Unemployment is estimated to be around 50%; the number of commercial trucks passing through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza has dropped from over 1,000 to about 350 per day.
It is widely recognized that Hamas, a party that has enjoyed wide popularity among Palestinians at least since 2006 when it won a plurality of the vote in the Palestinians’ last national elections, is to blame for the situation in Gaza.
Thousands of Palestinian travelers gathered at Gaza's border crossing with Egypt on Thursday hoping for a brief chance to leave after Cairo temporarily opened a frontier it largely keeps closed as it battles an Islamist insurgency on the other side.EXCLUSIVE - Palestinian Terror Groups Mull Plan to Storm Israeli Border with Protesters
Israel also maintains tight restrictions on its border with the Gaza Strip, meaning the 2 million Palestinians who live there are rarely able to leave the densely-populated enclave in which the Hamas Islamist movement is the dominant armed force.
In a wheelchair and helped by his wife and daughter, 74-year-old Awni An-Najar said at Rafah crossing that he sought to enter Egypt for treatment of his broken hip.
"Patients must be allowed to travel freely. I want to be able to walk again," he said.
Egypt tends to open the frontier temporarily a few times a year, usually with short notice and little explanation. The latest opening began on Wednesday with no advanced announcement at all.
Palestinian terrorist groups have been considering the possibility in recent days of organizing mass protests by Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip at the border with Israel to try to break into Israeli territory to demonstrate against the worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave, a senior official in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization told Breitbart Jerusalem.Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Establish 'Yasser Arafat' Military Base In Gaza, Announces: No One Will Take the Weapons Of Resistance From Us, Fatah is True To The Path Of Armed Struggle
According to the source, the leading jihadist groups active in Gaza – Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – have met to discuss this option and how to get the other factions involved.
The proposal seeks to bring large numbers to protest along the length of the border with Israel with the goal of trying to get over the security fence and put pressure on the Israeli authorities to ease the blockade of Gaza as well as force the Palestinian Authority to join the effort, as it also has a number of sanctions in place against the Hamas-controlled enclave. Israel provides daily humanitarian assistance to Gaza and supplies the Strip with most of its electricity.
The source noted that consultations are ongoing regarding any such protest and the correct time to carry it out, if at all, is still up in the air.
Hani Sawabteh, a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, refused to confirm that any specific plans are being made. However, Sawabteh told Breitbart Jerusalem, “It’s the right of the Palestinians to take all measures and use all options at their disposal to protest the humanitarian disaster that’s hurting the Gaza Strip. We are considering all steps and all actions in that direction.”
On December 2, 2017, a faction named after "the martyr Nidal Al-'Amoudi"[1] within the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced the establishment of "The Martyr Yasser Arafat Base, the first Fatah movement military base in the Gaza Strip." According to the announcement, the base is intended for the training of fighters for the continuation "of the armed struggle."[2]Hamas posters feature murdered Israelis alongside living politicians
This faction of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades views itself as part of the Fatah movement in Gaza; however, it does not accept Fatah's current leadership, headed by Mahmoud 'Abbas, and instead supports his political rival Muhammad Dahlan.[3] It is possible that the establishment of this military base was intended to strengthen the military might and status of Muhammad Dahlan's supporters in the Gaza Strip.
The faction's spokesman "Abu Muhammad" discussed the establishment of the base in statements to the Filastin newspaper, which is published in Gaza and identified with Hamas, and also during a telephone interview with the Gaza Alkofiya television channel, which is identified with Muhammad Dahlan's camp, and which is known for its opposition to 'Abbas. In his statements, Abu Muhammad stressed that "no one, whoever he may be, will be able to take the weapons from the resistance" and that "we must defeat the enemy [and drive him out] of our occupied lands, those that were occupied in 1948 and those in the West Bank."[4]
On the occasion of Fatah Day (the 53rd anniversary of Fatah's founding), which took place on December 31, 2017, the Nidal Al-'Amoudi faction released a video in which Abu Muhammad announced that the faction had trained fighters at the Yasser Arafat base for the campaign in Jerusalem.[5]
In a thinly veiled threat, Hamas hung posters on Wednesday featuring the photos of two recent victims of deadly terrorist attacks – Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal and Rabbi Raziel Shevach – alongside photos of living Israeli right-wing politicians and religious leaders.IsraellyCool: Hamas Running Scared
Both Ben-Gal and Shevach were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in Samaria within the span of a month.
The posters were seen in the Gaza Strip at a memorial service for Ahmed Jarrar, the Palestinian terrorist behind Shevach's murder. Jarrar was killed early Tuesday when Israeli troops raided his home. The service, billed as a martyr's memorial, was held by the Hamas military wing Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Despite the threatening message, the posters did not include a direct call to assassinate the individuals featured in it. The posters included images of Likud MK Yehuda Glick and former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin.
The poster appeared to serve as a general declaration of symbolic intent to murder more Israelis.
Those brave lions of Hamas seem to be soiling their pants right about now.IsraellyCool: WATCH: British Muslim Cleric: Palestinians Are Suffering Because Young Muslims Are Having Premarital Sex
“Timeout?”
Hamas has declared a state of alert across the blockaded Gaza Strip and decided to evacuate its resistance sites, a Hamas source said on Wednesday.
Speaking with Quds Press on condition of anonymity, a source from Hamas said the state of alert has come in response to the sweeping military maneuvers launched by the Israeli occupation army as of Sunday near Gaza’s borders.
According to the same source, Hamas took serious measures to protect its leadership and gave instructions to its political and military chiefs to change their locations and cease using mobile phones.
Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, also called on its members to evacuate drill camps and security centers in anticipation of abrupt aggressions by Israeli warplanes.
Once again, the Hamas-holes are leading from the front – in running for their lives.
Not that we did not already know they are cowards – you simply have to be when you target innocent men, women and children.
A British Muslim cleric has worked out why the palestinians are suffering.PreOccupiedTerritory: Abbas Calls For Non-Violent Stabbing, Shooting, And Vehicular Homicides (satire)
Clue: It is not because they have spent the best part of a century trying to murder Jews.
.
— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) February 7, 2018
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
.
British Islamic cleric claims Palestinians and Rohingyas are suffering because Muslims in UK are having premarital sex🐑 and are no longer 👀virgins 😱pic.twitter.com/6fbWqmn3Oo
Now that’s what I call the rooting cause of the conflict.
But now I am really confused. This seemingly endless supply of 72 virgins per “martyr” – where are they coming from? Apparently not the UK, I guess.
In the meantime, that cleric really reminds me of someone but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Oh wait..
The president of the Palestinian Authority appeared to accusations today that he and his administration incite violence against Israelis, issuing a call to his people to commit only non-violent terrorist acts.Yisrael Medad: Jordan Just Can't Stop the Incitement
Mahmoud Abbas addressed Palestinians in a televised speech also carried on official internet channels, and urged them to fight the Occupation with nonviolent methods such as nonviolent stabbings, nonviolent bombings, nonviolent car-rammings, nonviolent stonings, and nonviolent shootings, lest Israel continue to use Palestinian violence as a pretext not to make concessions.
“Every drop of blood spilled in defense of Palestine and in defense of our honor is sacred and glorious,” declared Abbas. “But we must spill that blood – our enemy’s or our own – with wisdom. From this point forth, our holy struggle calls only for nonviolent acts of aggression against the occupier and the settler. Resist, O heroes, by all means! Martyr yourselves for Palestine, taking as many perfidious Jews with you as possible! But nonviolently.”
The president also called on his Hamas and Islamic Jihad rivals to adhere to nonviolent murder, arson, and maiming attempts. “We share the noble goal of freeing our sacred land from the Zionist infidel usurper,” he proclaimed. “We diverge only in tactics, not in ultimate objectives. I therefore adjure you, my brethren in Resistance, when you fire rockets at Israeli towns, when you send fighters through tunnels to wreak murder and mayhem upon the enemy, do so nonviolently.”
Again, the official Jordanian News Agency Petra has published a report full of incitement language and this time, it has added an unforgivable claim.Bashar al-Assad Is Using Chemical Weapons Again. Will the U.S. Avert Its Gaze?
It has all the regular stuff - "extremists", "settlers", "storm" and "provocative".
But now, there is the lie of "the alleged 'Temple Mount':
Extremist settlers storm Al Aqsa compound Ramallah, Feb.7 (Petra) -- Groups of Israeli extremist settlers early Wednesday renewed its storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Haram Al Sharif in the occupied holy city of Jerusalem, a Palestinian source confirmed.
The General Director of the Islamic Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Affairs, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, told Petra’s reporter in Ramallah that today's raid by the Jewish settlers was carried through al-Magharebah Gate under heavy protection of Israeli special forces.
Extremist settlers provocatively toured the Al-Aqsa yards, and listened to explanations on the alleged "Temple mount", while Muslims worshippers placed in different parts of the mosque protesting against these provocations, Al-Khatib added.
For some time after the U.S. struck a Syrian airbase last April—in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons—Bashar al-Assad’s forces refrained from using poison gas. But in the past few weeks Damascus has fired chlorine gas-filled rockets at civilian neighborhoods at least six times. Noah Rothman asks if the Trump administration will once again enforce its red line:PreOccupiedTerritory: Country That Slaughters Natives Of Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Really Concerned About Palestinian Indigenous Rights (satire)
The Trump administration now faces a moment of truth. It could preserve the moral authority it purchased after declining merely to scold the Syrian regime for deploying weapons of mass destruction against civilians, or it could retreat into a defensive crouch and act like the Syrian regime’s de-facto defense counsel. That, to its everlasting shame, was the Obama administration’s approach to the use of chlorine munitions in Syria. . . .
Chlorine is a dual-use chemical that has industrial applications and, as such, is not subject to the same global prohibition that nerve agents like sarin and VX are. But the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons lists chlorine as a choking agent with potentially lethal battlefield applications. . . .
The last administration’s efforts to downplay the severity of chlorine attacks in Syria were grotesque. President Obama’s appeal to Russia as a source of relief for the people of Syria—a nation that now actively blocks the international community’s efforts to extend the mandate of chemical-weapons inspectors in Syria—was craven.
A Middle Eastern state engaged in multiple military conflicts in the region in which its forces or proxies have killed tens of thousands of indigenous residents of the area harbors serious concerns over the welfare and indigenous sovereignty of the Arabs of Palestine.
Iran, which controls militias in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 locals in a bid to secure the regime of tyrants such as Syrian President Basher al-Assad, expresses grave worry about the safety, security, and freedoms of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. The mullahs’ regime, which also oppresses non-Shiite Arabs within Iran, maintains a policy of making pronouncements on the importance of Palestinians determining their own fate.
In addition to the rhetorical support for Palestinian indigenous rights, the country whose fighters routinely violate the indigenous rights of others in the region provides material support to Palestinian groups working to oust the sovereign Jewish presence from the Middle East by exercising dictatorial control over Palestinians regardless of what Palestinians might think. While in a formal sense the Sunni Muslims of Hamas represent an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, a rival of Iran’s Shia movement, Iran has forged a patron relationship with totalitarian Hamas, which aims to impose its Islamist policies on all of Palestinian society, a testament to Iran’s profound concern for an indigenous people to exercise sovereignty.
