Monday, April 16, 2018
Caroline Glick: Germany Abets a New World War
Of course, the U.S. itself views with alarm Iran’s threats against Israel specifically and its nuclear weapons program generally. Not only is a nuclear-backed threat to commit genocide a serious one, a nuclear-armed Iran could easily instigate a new world war.
Alarmingly, in the midst of Germany’s malign efforts to protect Iran and Hezbollah from sanction while permitting them to operate throughout Europe, for the past seven months, the U.S. has been without an ambassador in Germany. Democrats in the Senate are blocking the confirmationof seasoned Republican diplomat Richard Grenell.
While the White House waits for the Senate to permit the U.S. to be represented by an ambassador, the Germans have broken a deal with the U.S. and Israel to permit Israel to run for a rotating UN Security Council seat unopposed. Germany shocked both Israel and the US by opting to run against the Jewish state in the June election. The move ensures, once again, that the Jewish state will be denied representation at the Security Council.
It bears noting that Germany’s central role in empowering Iran and Hezbollah undermines the central rationale of Germany’s postwar governance. For 70 years, the Federal Republic of Germany has insisted it learned the lessons of its past aggression and crimes against humanity.
After fomenting two world wars and carrying out the most egregious genocide in human history, the Germans insist they abjure aggression and take seriously their “special responsibility” to protect the Jewish state. But Germany’s treatment of Iran and Hezbollah on the one hand, and its treatment of Israel on the other hand, indicate that whatever lessons the Germans may have learned, they missed the two most important ones.
First: If you wish to prevent a world war, you shouldn’t empower forces that seek to initiate one.
And second: If you are committed to preventing evildoers from enacting another Holocaust, you shouldn’t enable evildoers committed to annihilating the Jewish state from acquiring the means to do so.
Peter Lerner: The Gaza border – Israel’s White Cliffs of Dover
The Palestinians of Gaza are three weeks into a six-week campaign, the #GazaReturnMarch, that is expected to build up to May 15, or Nakba Day, the day Palestinians mark the establishment of the State of Israel, and their dispersal, chosen or forced, throughout the region.UNRWA, the EU and the map
The main motif of the campaign is the right to march to the lands lost 70 years ago, and as one journalist said, the mixture of participants in the events so far include disenchanted, unemployed young men that wouldn’t know what to do if they crossed the fence but also Hamas’ armed wing, Izzadin Kassam terrorists, that want to attack the IDF along the border fence.
The underlying message, missed by most of the media coverage so far, is the wish to trample the border and extinguish hope for a two-state solution. Beyond the immediate security consequences, this is a main reason for concern, exemplified by one image of a Nazi swastika pitched up alongside the Palestinian flag.
There have been many images of the wounded and killed, and of rocks being hurled, as well as some firebombs and shooting.
Every life lost is a tragedy, and while the IDF went to extensive lengths to convey the message of the dangers of storming the fence, the IDF used live ammunition as a last resort, in a controlled manner to limit casualties, and specifically targeting the lower extremities of violent rioters. Hundreds of people storming into the Israeli communities adjacent to the fence would have most definitely been more lethal. Nevertheless, the deaths must be investigated, and lessons will be learned. This past weekend we experienced less violence on the border fence, which explains the reduction in casualties.
The reality in Gaza today is one of despair, a desperation that is a result of the bad decisions Hamas’ leaders have made. This is one reason for people coming to protest. But for almost 11 years now Hamas has ruled Gaza with an iron fist. That iron fist was chosen by the Palestinian people – but they chose the Islamists over the corrupt Fatah. Since 2007’s violent coup by Hamas, there have been wars, rockets, tunnels and death. Too many deaths.
The visit of the European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) schools in the Beddawi camp in Lebanon on 27 March was an important and welcomed visit by UNRWA. The EU is now the biggest donor to the UN contributing EUR 82 million to the 2018 UNRWA budget.
But events surrounding the visit also reveal UNRWA’s and the EU’s incapability to deal with extremism in the camp.
Ahead of the commissioners visit to the Beddawi camp, UNRWA decided to polish the facade of its camp. The Palestinian news site Al-Quds News reports that UNRWA had told the inhabitants of the camp:
1. That they had to remove from schools UNRWA flags carrying ”slogans” against the official UNRWA policies.
2. Visible maps of the Palestinian one state solution in which Israel is erased and replaced by an Arab Palestine had to be removed also.
The removal of one such in the Kawkab-Battouf School for Girls caused a lot of angry feelings among the Palestinian Arabs. Terror organizations like Hamas complained and spoke in Palestinian media of the humiliation among those who had to remove the maps, claiming that the decision violates the so called right of refugees to their identity.
The EU commissioner came, gave some speeches and left.
PMW: Former PA Minister of Prisoners admits: Fewer than 5 Palestinian prisoners are POWs
Refuting a fundamental PA public claim that Palestinian terrorist prisoners are internationally recognized "Prisoners of War," former PA Minister of Prisoners admits in court, during cross-examination by the head of PMW's legal division, that 'fewer than five' meet international criteria to be defined as POWs
Although the PA glorifies terrorists on a daily basis, PA "Prisoners Day" is a special occasion to honor terrorists and murderers of Israelis
PA law states that no peace can ever be reached with Israel without the release of all the terrorist prisoners
1. PA's Prisoners Day
As Israel is set to mark Israeli Memorial Day, mourning the victims of terrorism as well as the IDF soldiers killed in battle, the PA will be celebrating and honoring the Palestinian terrorists who murdered the Israeli victims. One of the most important dates in the Palestinian Authority calendar is April 17 - known as "Palestinian Prisoners Day" - the day the PA designates to give special honor to terrorists who have been arrested by Israel. The choice of this date is significant. On Jan. 1, 1970, PLO terrorists infiltrated Israel from Lebanon and kidnapped a 58 year old Israeli, Shmuel Rosenwasser. According to Palestinian sources, four years later on April 17, 1974, Israel agreed to a prisoner exchange and released an imprisoned PLO terrorist named Mohammed Hijazi, in return for the release of the hostage Rosenwasser. Hoping for that release to be a precedent for all its terrorists, the PA celebrates "Palestinian Prisoners Day" every April 17.
2. Mahmoud Abbas argues that since PA leaders themselves "gave the orders" to the terrorists, the prisoners are actually POWs
One of the central claims made by the PA is that all Palestinian prisoners, even those who sent suicide bombers to blow up civilians on buses and in cafés, and to murder children and infants, should not be categorized as terrorists but rather as Prisoners of War (POW), the unique status enjoyed by captured soldiers of an enemy army. This is a critical PA argument, as it is used by the PA as justification both to demand the terrorists be released as well as the PA policy of paying salaries to imprisoned terrorists.
Hamas is building terror tunnels under Israeli civilian communities and attempting to make every Israeli family’s nightmare come true pic.twitter.com/9K94xslxTb
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) April 15, 2018
BBC still prevaricating on purpose of Hamas tunnels
The BBC avoided giving readers a clear and accurate description in its own words of the purpose of cross-border tunnels constructed by terror factions in the Gaza Strip:
“A military spokesman said it had been dug since the 2014 Gaza war, when Israel destroyed more than 30 tunnels which it said were meant for attacks.”
Readers were not informed that during the summer 2014 conflict Hamas used cross border tunnels to infiltrate Israeli territory on four separate occasions in the space of twelve days.
The BBC’s reporting on the topic of tunnels at the time included twenty-three seconds from Lyse Doucet and a sixty-six second ‘backgrounder’ which made copious use of the ‘Israel says’ formula.
“It [Israel] has stated the tunnels pose a threat of terrorist attacks against the Israeli population.”
“Israel says tunnels like this are being used by militants to infiltrate its territory”.
Corbyn is patron of PSC group who fly Assad chemical murderer’s flag today In Manchester. Shameful. pic.twitter.com/XOnZ2aQf3D
— Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Kᴇᴍᴘ (@COLRICHARDKEMP) April 15, 2018
Bus companies driving Hamas supporters to fence will be punished
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj.-Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai wrote on his Arabic-language Facebook page this evening that after warning he will also deliver, so that transportation companies aiding Gaza Hamas marches will be punished.JPost Editorial: PALESTINIANS AND SYRIA
"We sent warnings and notices to owners of Gaza's transport companies in which they were requested not to help transport Hamas operatives and violent rioters to the Gaza border fence," Major General Mordechai said.
"Therefore," he added, "as we warned, sanctions will be imposed on company owners named herein, and they and their families will receive no special privileges and any contact with Israel will be cancelled."
A few weeks ago Maj. Gen. Mordechai was interviewed by the Arab Al-Hura network and said that more than 20 bus company managers were warned not to cooperate with Hamas members.
"We contacted more than 20 bus company managers who Hamas paid to encourage people who don't want to leave their house to take part in these violent demonstrations. We warned them that anyone who uses buses to bring violent demonstrators will have steps taken against him personally and against the company he owns," said the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
What is striking about the Palestinian split over Syria, however, is the paucity of debate. One is forced to choose between bad and worse. Odeh seems compelled to take the side of a ruthless, autocratic regime that does not hesitate to deploy chemical weapons, starve entire populations and use barrel bombs indiscriminately against civilians. He justified this, apparently, as part of a larger battle against so-called Western – particularly American – imperialism. Men like Odeh are willing to condemn coalition air strikes over Syria (even if they are not aimed at toppling the regime), but are willing to ignore Russia’s bombing campaign against Syrian civilians.US to hit Russia with new sanctions for aiding Syria’s Assad
Unfortunately, the same paucity of thinking characterizes domestic Palestinian politics. The vast majority of Palestinians support either the extremist Islamist Hamas hat has utterly failed to govern the Gaza Strip since its violent takeover in 2007, or Fatah, a kleptocratic regime that stifles basic human rights.
And in Israel, Arab citizens consistently vote for politicians with extreme views such as Odeh or Haneen Zoabi. A survey by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted in mid-March found that if parliamentary elections were held with the participation of all factions, 31% would vote for Hamas, 36% would vote for Fatah and 9% would vote for all other third parties combined.
Calls to ban Odeh from the Knesset for his comments on Assad are preposterous. Israel’s democracy protects free speech. However, it is unfortunate that in the name of solidarity with anti-American forces, Odeh feels compelled to defend a murderous war criminal. What’s more troubling is that the leader of Israel’s third-largest list in the Knesset, who ostensibly represents the interests of Israel’s Arab population, is unable to articulate a more nuanced position – whether it be on the Syrian civil war or striking a modus vivendi for peaceful coexistence with the Jewish state.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has indicated new economic sanctions will be announced Monday against Russia for enabling the government of Syrian leader Bashar Assad to continue using chemical weapons.IDF official confirms Israel struck Iranian base in Syria
The ambassador said Russia has blocked six attempts by the UN Security Council to make it easier to investigate the use of chemical weapons.
“Everyone is going to feel it at this point,” Haley said, warning of consequences for Assad’s foreign allies.
“The international community will not allow chemical weapons to come back into our everyday life,” she said in an interview aired Sunday on US media. “The fact he was making this more normal and that Russia was covering this up, all that has got to stop.”
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said a US-led missile attack on Syria’s chemical weapons program was “perfectly carried out.”
An Israeli defense official confirmed that it was the Israeli Air Force that struck the T4 air base in Homs, Syria, last week, the New York Times reported Monday.JCPA: Assad is More Dangerous than ISIS
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying, "It was the first time we attacked live Iranian targets, both facilities and people."
Israel has refrained from making any official statement on the strike, which is believed to have dealt a serious blow to Iran's drone deployment in Syria.
Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran, immediately accused Israel of carrying out the raid, in which seven Iranian Quds Force members were killed, including the commander of the drone unit, Col. Mehdi Dehghan.
Iran was outraged by the strike and, unlike its traditional downplaying of previous indirect incidents, openly acknowledged its losses and vowed to take revenge.
"The crimes will not remain unanswered," Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said during a visit to Syria.
President Trump understands the Iranian peril all too well. However, he also needs to take into account the danger that Assad poses to the stability and security of the region.Holocaust Survivor: Trump Would Have Bombed the Concentration Camps
ISIS has been defeated in Syria and Iraq. The “Islamic Caliphate” that it established has collapsed, but Syria under Assad’s leadership has become strengthened by the civil war that has been raging for the past seven years.
President Trump must not repeat the mistakes of President Obama. He did refer to President Assad as an “animal,” but the United States needs to adopt a firm line regarding anything related to the current Syrian regime.
Israel is a faithful ally of the United States. A complete U.S. withdrawal from Syria leaves Israel isolated when dealing with the Iranian-Syrian danger.
It can only be hoped that recent events in Syria will lead to American reevaluation of U.S. policy toward Bashar Assad’s regime. Syria under Assad’s leadership has become a regional threat because it has opened its doors to Iran so that it can establish a military presence within its territory.
There is concern by some in Israel’s leadership that the U.S. administration may consider the attack on the chemical weapon installations in Syria as the farewell act of U.S. military involvement in Syria. This would be bad for Israel, which from now on will need to deal on its own with the Iranian threats emanating from Syrian territory.
A Holocaust survivor told the March of the Living memorial ceremony on Thursday that if President Donald Trump had been in charge during the Second World War, he would have destroyed the concentration camps.Syrian Chemical Attack Survivor To President Trump: 'I Want To Buy You A Beer'
Mosberg, 92, participated in the march, which marked the three kilometers from the gates of Auschwitz to the death camp at Birkenau. At the end, he was among the dignitaries who shared the stage with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Dressed in his concentration camp uniform, Mosberg declared:
If the State of Israel had existed 75 years ago, and President Donald Trump had been the president at that time, President of the United States, they would [have] bomb[ed] the gas chambers, and crematorium, and the rail tracks leading to it, and the German Holocaust, and the German extermination camp in Poland, on Polish ground, would never happen.
His words came just one day before President Trump ordered a “precision” strike against Syrian targets to punish Bashar al-Assad’s regime for using chemical weapons.
A source confirmed to Breitbart News that Mosberg later repeated his claim about President Trump to a gathering of UN ambassadors who had participated in the march.
Kassem Eid survived a chemical attack in Syria in 2013, and in the wake of Friday night’s missile strike, he’d like nothing more than to buy President Donald Trump a beer.
Eid told CNN’s Ana Cabrera that the president’s action once again proved he has “a big heart.”
I just want to tell Mr. Trump directly: I’m a Syrian refugee who survived chemical weapons attacks, who lived under two years of siege and bombardment by the government. I would love to, like, buy you a beer, and just sit in front of you and tell you how bad it is in Syria.
Eid implored the president to “listen to his heart,” not just his generals, and compared Trump’s response in Syria to Obama’s inaction. “You proved once again, yesterday, that you have a big heart. At least a lot more bigger than Obama because you actually tried to do something. We need real, long-term commitment to bring peace to Syria.”
“Trump, I’ll buy you a beer” -- Kassem Eid, a survivor of 2013 chemical weapons attack in Syria following missile strikes by U.S., U.K. and France.https://t.co/Ufb1JCvk66
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) April 14, 2018
David Singer: Trump pressure pushes Jordan to choose Israel or PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) – refusing to bow to pressure by President Trump to cease payments to terrorists and their families, currently exceeding US$400 million annually – is looming as a potential threat to end 96 years of unbroken Hashemite rule in Jordan.
PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - addressing the ninth annual Islamic Beit al-Maqdes International Conference in Ramallah last week – has sent a veiled message of the PLO’s intention to challenge Jordan’s ruling Hashemite family if PLO demands for a State in the 'West Bank' with Jerusalem as its capital are not met.
Jordan comprised almost 77% of Palestine between 1920 and 1946 until granted independence by Great Britain and being renamed The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. It was subsequently being renamed Jordan in 1950 following then Transjordan’s illegal annexation of Judea and Samaria in 1948 (redesignated the 'West Bank') when the fledgling and beleagured state of Israel could not defend it.
This semantic sleight of hand could never change the historic and demographic reality that Jordan formed part of the territory comprised in the 1922 Mandate for Palestine – Jordan’s Crown Prince Hassan declaring in the Foreign Affairs Review in 1982:
“the Jordanians and Palestinians are now one people, and no political loyalty, however strong, will separate them permanently.”
Abbas told the Ramallah Conference:
“In Palestine and Jordan, we are one people in two states and we will never accept an alternative homeland.”
Abbas's statement mirrored PLO founder Yasser Arafat’s in Der Spiegel in 1986:
“Jordanians and Palestinians are indeed one people. No one can divide us. We have the same fate.”
Barghouti tells Abbas: Stand firm, Trump and his peace plan will soon be gone
Jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti on Sunday told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to stand firm in his rejection of US President Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-announced peace plan, saying that Trump would be soon be gone.
In a message released from his prison cell to his supporters on the 16th anniversary of his arrest by the IDF, Barghouti voiced his full support for Abbas’s rejection of the “conspiracy of the century,” a reference to Trump’s “deal of the century” peace plan, which has still not been made public.
Barghouti, who is in prison serving five life sentences for his role in deadly terror attacks on Israelis in the Second Intifada, is hugely popular among the Palestinians and is seen as a possible successor to Abbas.
Barghouti said he also supported Abbas in the face of “international, regional and Israeli pressure.”
Abbas has repeatedly dismissed the long-promised plan as a “conspiracy aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause and national rights.” It comes amid growing Palestinian anger following a decision by Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Clashes erupt between loyalists of Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammad Dahlan at Al Aqsa University in Gaza. https://t.co/7Zmhi51ptL
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) April 16, 2018
Saudi king slams Trump for transferring US embassy to Jerusalem
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday opened an Arab League summit by criticizing US President Donald Trump’s decision to transfer the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.EU warns viability of Palestine is being ‘constantly eroded’
“We reiterate our rejection of the US decision on Jerusalem,” the king said in a speech in Dhahran in eastern Saudi Arabia.
“East Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories,” he added.
Salman also announced on a $150 million donation for the maintenance of Islamic heritage in East Jerusalem.
“Saudi Arabia announces $150 million grant to support the administration of Jerusalem’s Islamic property,” the king told the Arab League meeting.
Two weeks ago, Salman reaffirmed his nation’s support for the Palestinians in a conversation with Trump, Saudi state media said, a day after his son and heir apparent said Israel has a “right” to a homeland.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations, but behind the scenes their ties appear to have improved in recent years in the face of what they see as a common Iranian threat.
Speaking at Sunday’s summit, Salman also blasted Iran’s “blatant interference” in regional affairs.
“We renew our strong condemnation of Iran’s terrorist acts in the Arab region and reject its blatant interference in the affairs of Arab countries,” the king said.
The prospects for the creation of a Palestinian state are “being constantly eroded,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned on Sunday, vowing that the EU would never cease its support for a two-state solution that would see East Jerusalem became the capital of Palestine.U.S. envoy Greenblatt slams Palestinian counterpart's 'empty rhetoric'
At the Arab League’s annual summit in Dahran, Saudi Arabia, she also vowed to work toward “preserving the unique status of our common Holy City, Jerusalem.”
“The situation on the ground is getting worse and worse. Tensions are high on the border between Israel and Gaza,” Mogherini said. “The viability of a State of Palestine — including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem — is being constantly eroded.”
Together with its partners in the so-called Middle East Quartet — the United Nations, the United States and Russia — the EU will never “never stop working for a negotiated two-state solution,” she went on.
“As Europeans and Arabs we share in particular an interest in preserving the unique status of our common Holy City, Jerusalem. And you know, you can always count on us Europeans to reiterate our belief that the only viable solution is the two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine,” she said.
The EU, and so far all of its 26 member states, have rejected the US administration’s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
US special Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt fired back after Palestinian official Saeb Erekat circulated a letter to foreign diplomats stationed in Ramallah, accusing the American diplomat of being a mouthpiece for Israel.New Israeli ambassador arrives in Jordan, ending diplomatic crisis
“Saeb Erakat’s personal attack on me is a symptom of the difficulties in the path to peace. Saeb knows there’s no truth to his accusation. This outburst, like all his recent outbursts, is merely intended as a distraction from the important work that lies ahead,” Greenblatt said in a tweet on Friday, a day after the letter was circulated to foreign diplomats in the seat of government of the Palestinian Authority.
A second tweet read: “But this empty, self-indulgent rhetoric won’t stop us from trying. Saeb: It’s time to time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Or, you can continue to run in circles, and get pretty much nowhere! Shabbat Shalom/Salam!”
In his letter dated April 12, Erekat said that Greenblatt has “assumed the role of spokesperson of the Israeli Authorities.” Haaretz first reported on the letter.
Israel's new ambassador to Jordan arrived in Amman to take up his post on Monday morning, ending the months-long spat between the two countries over last year's lethal embassy shooting, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Israel Police Award Civilian Who Prevented Terror Attack
The appointment of Amir Weissbrod, former head of the Middle East Bureau of the Foreign Ministry's Center for Political Research, in place of former Israeli Ambassador to Jordan Einat Schlein ends one of the tensest periods between Israel and Jordan since the two signed a peace treaty in 1994.
Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon says Weissbrod arrived in the capital, Amman, on Monday morning.
The dispute began last summer when a security guard at the Israeli Embassy in Amman shot and killed two Jordanians, alleging one attacked him with a screwdriver. Jordan was infuriated when the Israeli guard and Israel's then-ambassador were given a hero's welcome by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon their arrival back in Israel.
An Israeli civilian who shot a terrorist attempting to stab Jews was awarded a certificate of appreciation by the Israeli Police Department on Sunday.Palestinian indicted for car-ramming attack that killed 2 IDF soldiers
Ofek Kaufman, a professional dog-trainer from the town of Alon in Samaria, was driving with his wife and 5-month-old son last Sunday when he noticed an ultra-Orthodox man running towards his car, being chased by someone with a screwdriver. Kaufman said he recognized it as a terror attack in process, exited his car and gave chase with his personal sidearm.
Kaufman ran about 500 feet after the attacker, firing a warning shot into the air when the terrorist ignored his shouts to stop.
When the attacker, a 31-year-old Arab from Shechem, spun around and began running towards Kaufman, Kaufman opened fire. The terrorist was taken in serious condition to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, but later died of his wounds.
Brig. Gen. Moshe Barkat, Israel Police’s Judea and Samaria District commander, was on hand to present the certificate, praising Kaufman for defending the lives of innocent people.
The Israeli military on Monday indicted a Palestinian man who rammed his car into a group of IDF soldiers last month, killing two.Palestinian convicted of manslaughter in Israeli farmer’s death
Ala Qabha, 26, was charged with two counts of “intentionally causing death” — the equivalent of murder under military law — and two counts of attempting to intentionally cause death.
Qabha rammed his car into the group of soldiers on March 16 outside a military post in the northern West Bank, near the Mevo Dotan settlement, killing Sgt. Netanel Kahalani, and Capt. Ziv Daos and seriously injuring two others. The army later designated the car-ramming a terror attack.
The following day, the Shin Bet security agency said Qabha had confessed to carrying out the attack. It said Qabha had initially claimed the incident was an accident, but later changed his story and said it was deliberate and that he intended to murder soldiers.
The security agency said that it appeared he had acted alone, and possibly spontaneously.
Footage from the scene showed Qabha driving past the soldiers, then making a U-turn and accelerating into them.
A Palestinian man was convicted Monday of manslaughter over the killing of an Israeli farmer in 2015, after a court downgraded the original charge of murder. The victim’s family has claimed his death was a terror attack but Israeli authorities say it was a botched robbery.Saudi writer laments forgotten Jewish exodus
The Lod District Court handed its ruling on Alaa Dar Asi, 23, from the West Bank village of Beit Lakiya, one of two cousins indicted in the death of 70-year-old David Bar-Kapara in his vineyard near Pedaya in central Israel, the Walla news site reported.
The court will rule on the second defendant, Mujahad Dar Asi, at a later date.
The two suspects were arrested a day after the attack on Bar-Kapara by the Shin Bet security agency and police. The two were in Israel illegally at the time of the attack.
According to Hebrew media reports, the suspects targeted Bar-Kapara for his money. Mujahad had worked for the farmer, but left the position some two months before the attack. On the morning of June 24, 2015, they confronted Bar-Kapara on his property and demanded he hand over money, under the assumption that the vineyard owner was carrying large amounts of cash.
When Bar-Kapara was found not to have any money on him, the two men beat him up, leaving him badly hurt. Other agricultural workers who witnessed the attack alerted the police and called an ambulance. Bar-Kapara was pronounced dead several hours later in a nearby hospital.
Surprise, surprise. An article about the forgotten plight of Jews driven from the Arab world has appeared in the Saudi Gazette, of all places. But do not get too excited yet: Hussein Shobokshi's sympathy does not extend to Israel, despite the Saudi government's recent favourable noises.PreOccupiedTerritory: Muslims Not Taking Setbacks As Warnings Allah Intended (satire)
The Jews were part of pure Arab societies and the region was their home. They were forcibly driven out as a result of persistent harassment, questioning their loyalty. If the sustained pressure did not yield the desired result, their property was nationalized. They were subjected to systematic target often being accused of betrayal and disloyalty despite the fact that they were proponents of the arts, economy and civilization in the country in which they lived.
I recall a “famous” incident that happened to me (and was written about by the famous American writer David Ignatius in The Washington Post) when my daughter was preparing for a major surgery to remove a malignant tumor in the United States. I was in Jeddah attending Friday prayers. I objected to imam during an interval over the supplication on the Jews and Christians, telling him that the doctor who will perform the operation for my daughter was a Jewish surgeon. I also told him why to curse people who did not hurt me. Later on I began to find out situations of Jews in the Arab world. There is Serge Berdugo, who was Moroccan minister of tourism from 1993 to 1996, and who told me that the Jews in Morocco have full citizenship rights, and there is a famous dealer of electronics, the owner of the shop famous near Bab Al Bahrain, who told me about the respect of Bahrain for the rights of the Jews in it.
The Supreme Being voiced frustration today at some of His followers’ tendency to accept successes and conquests as evidence of divine sanction for their pursuits, but attributing failures or shortcomings to other factors such as infidel perfidy.
Allah told several ministering angels over the weekend that He will not tolerate the inconsistency much longer among followers of Muhammad, who appear to have defined the religion’s initial success in spreading across the world through warfare as the default state of affairs, thus relegating any reversals in that trend to the category of evil opposition to God’s will.
“It is not a source of pleasure to Me, to put it mildly,” stated the Lord. “The absolutism that characterizes the dominant strains of Islam will not end well.”
In relationships with mankind modeled in other faiths, Allah noted, the temporal success of an endeavor did not perforce indicate His endorsement. “I allowed corrupt empires to flourish for hundreds of years at a time, and no one would claim that the Neo-Babylonians or the Seleucids were paragons of virtue,” He recalled. “They rose and fell, and the wise among them warned of the excesses or corruption that would ultimately bring their downfall.”
