Sunday, May 27, 2018
PMW: Fatah: Israel worse than Nazis, wants to "crush" the Arab world, "steal its resources"
According to Fatah Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi, Israel's goal is to "break the dignity" of the Arab world, "crush" it, and "steal its resources." Israel will turn to this task after it is "done with" the Palestinians. To reach these objectives, Israel is using the US as a tool. Al-Qawasmi claimed Israel "rules over the American decision-making and the American Congress" and controls everything the US is doing in the region:Fatah spokesman: Israel is worse than Hitler, the Nazis, and fascism
Fatah Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi: "Israel is thinking about how to completely be done with the Palestinian people and the issue of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Church of the Sepulchre, in order to completely break the Arab dignity. Afterward, its aspiration will be to turn to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, and all of the Arab countries. Israel stands behind the American invasion of Iraq; Israel stands behind the American bombings in Syria. It wants the Arab countries to be crushed, and wants to steal their resources. It wants the Arab countries to be broken apart, poor, and involved in conflict with each other... It wants to completely unravel the Arab identity in order to guarantee its aspirations and realize its economic, military, and political superiority in the region... Whoever views Israel as a friend is completely mistaken. Israel wants to divide the Arab states and it does not exempt anyone. It rules over the American decision-making and over the American Congress. It is the one that is pushing and planning the need to invade all of the Arab and Islamic states for the American administration." [Official PA TV, April 15, 2018]
In another interview, Al-Qawasmi stated that Israel is worse than "Hitler, the Nazis, and fascism," but hides this "under the cloak of 'democracy'," claiming it is 'an oasis of democracy in the heart of the Arab dictatorships'":
Fatah Spokesman and Fatah Revolutionary Council member Osama Al-Qawasmi: "There is no regime in history - believe me, not Hitler, not the Nazis, not fascism - that has implemented what Israel is implementing against the Palestinians. It conceals these crimes - this Nazism and fascism, and this racist apartheid regime against the Palestinians - in the media under the cloak of ‘democracy,’ that it is ‘an oasis of democracy in the heart of the Arab dictatorships.’ It attempts to present itself in this way with the aid of the US." [Official PA TV Live, May 14, 2018]
Fatah spokesman repeats libel: Israel wants to “crush” the Arab world, “steal its resources”
Brendan O’Neill: The ugly trade in Palestinian pain
The Israel-Palestine conflict is unique among modern wars. No, not because Israel is an unnaturally wicked state, as its many critics across the West, and in the Middle East of course, would have us believe. And not because this conflict has been a long one. Or because it is a sometimes asymmetrical one, pitting a well-armed state against protesters armed with catapults and attitude. Many wars have been long and imbalanced.
No, this war is different because of who shapes it. Who impacts on it. Who contributes to it, usually unwittingly. This war is unique because very often its distant observers, those who watch and comment and hand-wring from afar, play a role in intensifying it and making it bloodier than it already is – without even realising they are doing so.
This should be the central lesson of the terrible events at the Gaza-Israel border last week: that much of what happens in the Israel-Palestine conflict is now largely a performance, a piece of bloody theatre, staged for the benefit of outsiders, especially for myopically anti-Israel Western activists and observers.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Hamas pushes Gaza’s people into harm’s way because it knows their suffering will strike a chord across the West. Because it knows images of their hardship will be shared widely, wept over, and held up as proof of the allegedly uniquely barbarous nature of the Jewish State. Hamas knows there is a hunger among the West’s so-called progressives for evidence of Palestinian pain, and by extension of Israeli evil, and it is more than willing to feed this hunger.
Richard Epstein: The Libertarian Podcast: Peace in the Middle East?
Previously Posted Article: The Israel-Palestine Standoff
A false hope
Reports out of the Gaza Strip just keep coming. News of the escalation along Israel's border and concerns Gaza's economy is on the brink of collapse have replaced reports a cease-fire with Hamas that would bring quiet to Israel's southern border and put an end not just the barrage of rockets but the waves of rioters running toward the fence and the firebomb kites sparking fires in fields in the Gaza periphery was near.LATs: For Hamas, the deadly protests against Israel are a welcome diversion
According to reports in the media, Hamas conveyed to Israel a few months ago its desire to engage in negotiations for a long-term "hudna" or temporary cessation of war. As part of the framework of this cease-fire, Israel and Egypt would end their blockade of the coastal enclave and allow the transfer of funds to rehabilitate the Gazan economy and Hamas would return the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers and two citizens being held captive by the terrorist group. We have further learned from these media reports that Israel, having refrained from responding to Hamas' overtures, is the one dragging its feet on the completion of the proposed deal.
The idea of a cease-fire is nothing new. In 2003, Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin offered a 10-year hudna in return for Israel's complete withdrawal to the 1967 borders. The establishment of a Palestinian state on the entirety of territory held by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War was not enough for the terrorist organization to recognize Israel's existence, let alone reach a peace deal with it.
The response from Israel has been harsh: at least 115 Palestinians killed and thousands more injured in eight weeks of protests along the Gaza Strip's eastern border.What An ICC ‘War Crimes’ Probe Could Mean For Israel
Many if not most of the dead were affiliated with Hamas, the armed Islamist movement that controls the squalid coastal enclave and has fought three wars against Israel over the past decade. One Israeli soldier has been injured; no Israeli has been killed.
And yet Hamas leaders seem enthusiastic about continuing a nominally nonviolent form of protest, one which has deflected attention from their governing failures and placed their conflict with Israel back on the international agenda.
In a sermon delivered after 59 people died from Israeli fire in a single day last week, the group's political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, acknowledged the pain of families who were bidding farewell to lost loved ones but said the blood of the martyrs was not shed in vain.
"Your children succeeded in reviving the Palestinian issue in the souls of individuals around the world," Haniyeh told them. "This blood will encourage us and make us more resilient."
Amid a push by the Palestinian Authority for an expedited investigation into alleged Israeli “war crimes,” the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague indicated that a preliminary examination opened in 2015 “will continue to follow its normal course.”Over 300 incendiary kites flown into Israel since April 13
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda issued the statement after meeting with PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, who called for an urgent probe into Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The PA claims against Israel cover a wide array of issues, ranging from this month’s deadly clashes along the Gaza border to the 2014 war with Hamas; from Israeli housing projects in the West Bank to the IDF’s practice of demolishing the homes of Palestinian terrorists.
It is debatable, however, whether the ICC has legal jurisdiction to conduct any such investigation given that Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, the court’s founding charter. For its part, the PA is not a full member of the United Nations, although the General Assembly in 2012 voted to upgrade its status to “non-member observer state.” Less than two years later the PA formally acceded to the ICC, and in June 2015 was able to convince the body to open a preliminary examination into Israel’s conduct.
“The PA has been trying to bring the subject of Israel into the International Criminal Court for a long time,” according to Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, formerly the head of the IDF’s Military Prosecution in the West Bank. But, he contended to The Media Line, the Palestinian accusations “have very little veracity” and are thus unlikely to result in the launch of a comprehensive investigation.
“These [Palestinian] claims tend to be mostly political, based on questionable facts that paint a very one-sided picture. If you’re looking at a potential legal battle in the ICC, I think the Palestinians would have much more to fear than the Israelis do,” Hirsch argued in reference to Hamas’ reported tactic of using civilians as “human shields” and the PA’s so-called “pay-for-slay” policy of providing salaries to those who commit terror attacks against Israelis.
“Also, the Palestinian Authority isn’t a state and therefore it’s questionable whether it should have been able to ascend to the [Rome] convention in the first place.” Still, he concluded, if an investigation were to materialize “Israel would take it very, very seriously,” especially if senior officials were targeted for prosecution.
On April 13, a new era of combat commenced as part of the ongoing conflict between Israel and residents of the Gaza Strip'. Several incendiary kites flown into Israel, under the auspices of the violent riots on the Gaza border fence, caused a fire in the kibbutz of Nahal Oz.Gaza Belt Farmers to Sue Hamas at ICC Over Terror Kite Fire Damage to Crops
Since then, the "aerial terror offensive" against the Gaza border communities has continued with greater vigor, including some 300 incendiary kites flown into Israel's territory, 100 fires and more than 3,000 acres of wheat destroyed, causing millions of shekels worth of damage to the farmers of the area.
The Eshkol and Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Councils' communities and farmlands under attack include Kissufim and Be'eri forests, Kibbutzim Nir Oz, Kerem Shalom, Sufa, Kfar Aza, Sa'ad, Mefalsim, Erez, and Gevim.
The Eshkol and Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Councils' communities and farmlands under attack include Kissufim and Be'eri forests, Kibbutzim Nir Oz, Kerem Shalom, Sufa, Kfar Aza, Sa'ad, Mefalsim, Erez, and Gevim.
The modus operandi has been the same in all the incidents causing fires: During the Gaza border riots, terrorists attached Molotov cocktails and other incendiary objects to kites and flew them into Israel.
Gaza Belt farmers declared Sunday that they will appeal to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to indict Gaza-based Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the head of the terrorist organization’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh for damages from terror kite terrorism flowm from Gaza the aim of setting Israeli fields on fire and causing physical and environmental damage.Islamic Jihad vows revenge after 3 terror group members said killed by IDF
“Join in Prosecuting Hamas in The Hague!” wrote the farmers in a petition demanding the prosecution of Hamas for war crimes in the ICC and calling on additional farmers and citizens to join the lawsuit.
“Hamas has organized riots along the Gaza border and urged its population to infiltrate into Israel. They have called on the public to attack Israelis in their homes, and threatened to kidnap and murder as many [Israelis] as possible. Youngsters in Gaza are being encouraged to carry out cross-border arson attacks against Israeli farmers using flaming kites. The twisted strategy centers on causing civilian casualties and generating condemnations of Israel. Hamas’s action violates international law and constitutes war crime,” the farmers wrote.
The farmers are seeking 100,000 signatures for the petition. Since launching it Sunday they have already acquired 10,000 signatories after having made the announcement a week after the Palestinian Authority declared its government would sue Israel at the International Criminal Court at The Hague following the death of more than 100 Gazans in violent disturbances along the border with Israel over the past several weeks.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group vowed Sunday to avenge the deaths of its members who were killed earlier in the day when Israel struck a post manned by the group in the Gaza Strip.BBC again amplifies Gaza claims from political activist medic
An Israeli tank fired at the Islamic Jihad position in response to an explosive device which had been planted along the Gaza border fence.
“We will not give up our duty to the blood of the martyrs shed by the occupation, and we know how to respond to this dangerous escalation,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, three people were killed in the Israeli strike, near the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. One was itiniaitlly listed as seriously injured but later died of his wounds
The Gazan health ministry identified those killed as Hussein al-Amour, 25, and Abdul Haleem al-Naqa, 28.
The Israel Defense Forces said the improvised explosive device, hidden inside a pair of bolt cutters, was placed along the security fence on Saturday.
In that BBC promoted blogpost Loubani wrote:BBC ignores removal of Gaza baby from casualty list
“Despite our efforts to clearly identify ourselves as first responders, several of our medical team were wounded by Israeli live fire. One paramedic, Musa Abuhassanin, was killed while attempting a victim rescue under fire. One hour before he was shot in the thorax and killed, Musa was one of my rescuers when I was shot by live ammunition.”
Loubani also provided photographs of the ‘paramedic’.
However, as pointed out at the ‘Israellycool’ blog, a photograph of Captain Musa Abuhassanin also appeared on a poster released by Hamas showing some of its members killed on May 14th.
The BBC’s report was published late on the evening of May 16th. The Hamas poster identifying the ‘paramedic’ as a member of the terror organisation’s internal security apparatus had been made public by the afternoon of the previous day.
Once again it would appear that the BBC did not exercise due diligence by carrying out adequate background research and fact checking before amplifying Tarek Loubani’s politically motivated claims.
BBC Watch contacted ‘BBC Breakfast’ with a request for on-air clarification of the fact that the cause of the baby’s death is as yet unclear but, beyond acknowledgement of receipt of the e-mail, has not received a reply.Turkish TV Shows Abundance Of Food And Supplies In Gaza
On May 25th it was reported that:
“Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said an 8-month-old girl has been taken off a list of Palestinians killed in border clashes with Israeli troops last week, while authorities await results of a pathologist’s report.
Layla al-Ghandour had originally been listed among the 60 Palestinians killed during massive border protests on the Gaza fence on May 14. The infant’s death intensified condemnation of Israel over the violence, though the health ministry has since signaled the child may not have been killed from tear gas inhalation but rather because of a pre-existing condition.”
The BBC’s newspaper of choice – the Guardian – reported that:
“Leila’s family has blamed the Israeli army for her death. The New York Times cited the family as saying the child suffered from patent ductus arteriosus, a congenital heart disease.
A copy of an initial hospital report seen by the Guardian said the infant had heart defects since birth and suffered a “severe stop in blood circulation and respiration”. It did not say if teargas inhalation had contributed to her death.”
However, as we see above, there is still plenty of BBC material available online which leads audiences to believe that Israel is responsible for the baby’s death and to date the BBC has failed to clarify to its audiences that the claim it widely promoted has been called into question.
Top Ten Gaza Solidarity Events this Week that you did not hear about (satire)
So this week, we learned that a certain group of credulous Lefty London Jews decided to hold Kaddish for theFulbright Scholars Visit Palestine’s New Museum of Human Sacrifice (satire)52 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad who tried to breach the fence and kill the Joozunarmed protesters killed by the Zionist Entity this week. But did you know that there were other Gaza Solidarity events this week? The Daily Freier found the ten most profound events and now is sharing them with you, our readers.
Quidditch for Gaza
Pimms & Tiny Sandwiches for Gaza
Improv for Gaza
Pub Quiz for Gaza
Yard Sale for Gaza
Charades for Gaza
Queers for Gaza (Oops! This actually happened!)
Curling for Gaza
Bunko for Gaza
Salsa for Gaza
With a crop of International Studies majors in the audience, Former Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, Ismail Haniyeh, announced the opening and dedication of a museum on human sacrifice. “For years I have campaigned on the principle that we as Palestinians are a people who value death, just like our enemies in Israel value life,” Mr. Haniyeh announced, standing in front of a museum adorn with a skull and crossbones. “This museum will redouble our people’s commitment to value death, by displaying the wonderful history of human sacrifice, from the pagans of pre-monotheism Canaan to the young martyrs who were sacrificed for the wars of Christendom and Islam,” he said, as three hunchbacked old men began boiling large mysterious pots of red liquid on the front lawn.Daniel Pipes: Nothing to fear from Trump's plan?
UCLA student Devon Harari said he supported the new museum and thinks it’ll help draw more people to the boycott-Israel movement known as BDS. “People need to understand that eliminating the Zionist state of Israel is more important than life itself.”
Jonathan S. Tobin, editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has nothing to worry about!" when it comes to U.S. President Donald Trump's expected peace plan, which will reportedly recognize "Palestine" with Jerusalem as its capital, even though such a plan normally "would be fiercely opposed by the Israeli Right and could potentially set off a coalition crisis."Mordechai Kedar: Hamas fears the Emirate Plan
Why this lack of concern? Because "Palestinians will reliably say 'no' to any peace deal," making it virtually certain that "Trump's peace plan will be dead on arrival." Tobin does not quote but implicitly evokes Abba Eban's aphorism that the Arabs "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
Even more strikingly, he argues that Trump's prospective plan "is not an Obama-style messianic quest for peace" but "a diplomatic diversion that can give some cover to Sunni Muslim states like the Saudis, Egypt and Jordan as they join with the United States to pursue their real priority: rolling back the gains Iran made under Obama."
In other words, Tobin argues, Trump's peace plan assumes Palestinian rejection and amounts to an American-Israeli pretense to ease Saudi and other Arab cooperation with the Jewish state.
The end of the Mahmoud Abbas period is fast approaching, giving rise to several weighty questions:U.S. Mulls Cutting Funds to UN Agencies, Chemical Weapons Convention Over Palestinian Membership
What will happen once he is gone? Will the leader who follows him manage to unite Hamas and the PLO? What will be his relationship to Israel? Will security coordination between Israel and the PA continue? And in general – what will happen to the PA? Will it become a state? If so, what will Hamas' standing be? What will be the borders of that entity? What will happen to Jerusalem? To the "refugees"? There are many more questions, just as important as these – and no one has the answers to any of them.
The Hamas website posted an article by one Khaider Almatzder recently, whose title was "After Abbas - Palestinian decentralization." The accepted Hebrew translation of the word decentralization is "bizur" a word signaling the granting of power and autonomy to the various branches of government, so that each branch is administrated almost entirely independently of the central government. For example, in the USA, each state possesses a large degree of autonomy and can decide on taxation, transportation, planning, education and more, while security and foreign affairs are the purview of the Federal government in Washington.
In the article, translated here from Arabic to English, the writer describes a post-Abbas decentralized Palestinian Arab reality. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
The United States is mulling cutting aid to two UN agencies and the chemical weapons convention after the Palestinians joined the organizations, a U.S official said Wednesday.Netanyahu: Israel taking action against arms manufacturing in Lebanon
Palestinians have non-member observer status at the UN that allows them to join international treaties and agencies. However, the U.S. bars funding for those agencies that accept “Palestine.”
“It has been the consistent position of the United States that efforts by the Palestinians to join international organizations are premature and counterproductive,” a U.S. official said.
“We will review the application of U.S. legislative restrictions related to Palestinian membership in certain UN agencies and organizations,” the official added.
The Palestinians joined the UN trade development organization UNCTAD, industrial development agency UNIDO and the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is upheld by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), ostensibly in a move to bolster its profile at the international body.
“On May 15, Palestine acceded to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Convention on the Prohibition, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons,” Nickolay Mladenov, the UN coordinator for the Middle East, told the Security Council.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was taking action against arms manufacturing in Lebanon and threatened continued fighting with Iran Sunday.Highlights from Dore Gold Interview on RT – May 24, 2018
Netanyahu’s stark threat against Lebanon came after Israeli officials have warned repeatedly that Iran may be trying to manufacture advanced missiles in Lebanon to be used against Israel by the Hezbollah terror group.
“We are working to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. At the same time we are working against the establishment of an Iranian military presence against us; to this end we are also operating against the transfer of deadly weapons from Syria to Lebanon or their manufacture in Lebanon. All of these weapons are for use against the State of Israel and it is our right – based on the right of self-defense – to prevent their manufacture or transfer.”
Netanyahu did not specify what action was being taken against the arms in Lebanon.
Israel has reportedly carried out dozens of airstrikes against targets in Syria, including Iranian military installations, but has mostly refrained from carrying out attacks in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is a major player in the country’s government.
Question: Some U.S. commentators suggest Trump wasted an opportunity to leverage Israel and the Palestinians by moving the embassy to Jerusalem.Tour guide murdered after helping kidnapped Israelis in Colombia
Dore Gold: Well, I think that’s a very narrow perspective on how diplomacy works. You know, we don’t have to pay for everything we do in negotiations and in international discourse. The fact of the matter is countries decide where their capital is. Russia at one point had its capital in St. Petersburg. Then it moved its capital to Moscow. We had a capital always in Jerusalem, and that’s a fact. Now, whether the United States puts its embassy in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem is a decision the United States can make. But as a matter of fact, Jerusalem is functioning already as a capital for many years. A new ambassador comes to Israel. Where does he present his credentials? In Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem? In Jerusalem. Where are all the offices of all the ministries located? In Jerusalem. It’s only a question of reality catching up rather than anything else.
Question: More on the issue of why Jerusalem should be Israel’s capital. According to same argument, many Russians trace their historic roots to Kiev, but Israel wouldn’t endorse Russia trying to take hold of that city.
Dore Gold: Well, you know, you have now a country called Ukraine, and it has a capital in Kiev. We’re not making recommendations that countries invade their neighbors and take over their capitals, so no. But Jerusalem has always been our capital, and the United Nations failed in trying to produce an international solution to Jerusalem back in 1947 and 1948. You might remember that in the first Arab-Israeli war we were invaded. Holy sites were destroyed. We had about 55 synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem that were either desecrated or were smashed, and we were in a very difficult situation then. Our entire Jewish community in the Old City, where we had had a majority since the mid-19th century, was ethnically cleansed. So who’s going to take care of Jerusalem? Us or Hamas? You have to make a decision, and it’s clear that we will protect the holy sites of all the great faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Following reports last week about two Israeli backpackers who had been abducted in the jungles of Colombia and later miraculously released, it emerged this week that the local tour guide who was with them, had been killed, apparently by the kidnappers.Jeremy Corbyn is dubbed ‘too stupid’ to tackle Labour Party anti-Semitism in leaked account of his meeting with Jewish leaders last month
According to Colombian police, the tour guide had been shot six times, and her body was discovered in the jungle not far from the abduction site. The suspects in her murder are separatists from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC – a terrorist group that had been active in Colombia for decades. Two years ago, the organization agreed to lay down arms but operatives have continued some underground activity.
On Saturday, May 19, Galel Yakov and Omer Yefet, on a cannabis tour led by guide Monica Blanco, visited a marijuana farm near Cali, Colombia, a fairly routine activity in the region. As they exited the farm, a FARC member took them into the jungle, where armed men were awaiting them. The group demanded $200,000 for their release.
Jeremy Corbyn was ‘too unemotional or too stupid’ to understand claims that he has failed to combat anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, it has been claimed.Report: Syrian rebels searched for IDF soldiers' bodies in Yarmouk camp
The Labour leader is described as ‘bored, uninterested and condescending’ in a leaked account of his meeting with Jewish leaders last month to discuss the issue.
It suggests he lacks the ‘emotional or intellectual ability’ to comprehend their demands for more action to tackle the problem.
By contrast, he sprang into life with a ‘convulsion’ when told that his support for a ‘two state solution’ in the rift between Israel and Palestine meant he was a ‘Zionist’.
The withering pen portrait of Mr Corbyn’s behaviour is contained in a leaked account of his meeting with the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BoD) and the Jewish Leadership Council at his Commons office four weeks ago.
The document was drawn up by a Jewish leader at the meeting, where Mr Corbyn was called on to take tougher measures to stamp out anti-Semitism in the Labour ranks.
At the time, Jewish representatives issued a statement saying they hoped he would show more ‘passion and enthusiasm’ in dealing with the issue. But the leaked account, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, shows their private view was more critical – and reveals clashes between Mr Corbyn and Jewish representatives.
Talal Naji, assistant secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, accused Syrian rebels of collaborating with Israel during an interview Saturday with Hezbollah’s al-Mayadeen news network. The PFLP is allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad.6 Palestinians arrested for waving Hamas flags at Temple Mount
According to Naji, after Assad’s forces overtook the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp from rebels associated with Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS, it was discovered that the rebels had dug out old graves with the intent of locating the bodies of three Israeli soldiers who went missing during the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub and are presumed dead: Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman.
The battle was between Israeli and Syrian forces during the first Lebanon war, and the bodies remained in the hands of the Syrian fighters. The battle took place when Israel tried to gain a foothold on the Beirut-Damascus highway before a cease-fire went into effect.
This is not the first time that Assad’s supporters have accused Syrian rebels of receiving support from Israel in an attempt to undermine their legitimacy. Pictures of Syrian rebels carrying medical supplies with Hebrew letters on them were published in the past, and The Wall Street Journal has even published an interview with Syrian rebels who admitted to having ties with Israel.
Israeli security forces arrested six Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem suspected of waving Hamas flags during Ramadan prayers at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, police said Sunday.'They screamed 'slaughter the Jew' and tried to hurl rocks'
According to police, the suspects — ages 26 to 41 — disturbed the public order when they called for support and solidarity with the Gaza-based terror group during Friday afternoon prayers.
During overnight raids, security forces seized flags and other materials connected to the incident on the Temple Mount, police said.
The suspects were questioned by police and scheduled to appear later in the day before a court.
Police said they would continue to ensure Muslims are able to pray respectably at the Jerusalem holy site during Ramadan, but will “respond to any incidents of disturbances or illegal protests.”
A Be’er Sheva magistrate court rejected the appeal of two residents of the southern Bedouin town of Rahat who were arrested on suspicion of attacking police during a riot on Friday.Israel starts building sea barrier to defend against Gaza attacks
The two suspects, Osama Abu Siyam and Yusuf al-'Abara, will remain in custody until Wednesday.
The two are suspected of threatening and assaulting police officers and endangering lives in the bus lane.
This incident began after police arrested a driver while checking licenses. While the police were taking the driver into custody, two passengers of the car and a number of locals attacked the officers.
A police representative at the hearing said, “The suspects attempted to throw rocks and yelled to ‘slaughter the Jew’. This incident would have ended differently if not for police intervention.”
Meanwhile, a police officer who was arrested for hitting a suspect was released today.
Work began Sunday on the construction of a fortified marine wall to prevent terror attacks from the Gaza Strip via the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.Palestinian Authority President Abbas hospital stay extended
The barrier, constructed in the area of Zikim beach, is designed to withstand the battering of the water and to be in use for many years, the ministry said.
Construction of the barrier, described by the ministry as an “impregnable breakwater,” is expected to be finished by the end of the year. The statement did not say how much the barrier will cost.
It will have three levels: one under the water, then a level of armor stone, known for its durability, and barbed wire along the top. The entire barrier will itself be protected with another wire security fence.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said the barrier would deny the Hamas terror group another strategic capability.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who officials said is being treated for a lung infection, will remain in hospital for an eighth day on Sunday.21, including Iranians, reported killed in IAF strike in Syria
The 82-year-old leader had been expected to be released from hospital in the West Bank on Sunday, but this was postponed, Abbas' office said in a text message to journalists.
Abbas, who is a heavy smoker, was admitted on May 20 for what doctors had initially said were medical tests following ear surgery. He was shown on Palestinian television last week walking along a hospital corridor and sitting in an armchair reading a newspaper.
A Palestinian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abbas was still undergoing treatment and would not be released on Sunday, adding that he has been holding meetings with international and Palestinian officials at his bedside.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa ran a statement which quoted Istishari Hospital's medical director, Said Sarahneh, as saying test results show an improvement in his health.
"President Mahmoud Abbas's condition is showing a continuous and speedy improvement," Sarahneh told Wafa.
Twenty one people were killed, including nine Iranians, in Thursday night’s attack on the Dabaa military airport in central Syria, Sky News reported on Saturday.Imaginary War Serving False Peace
The strike was reportedly aimed at Hezbollah members and militias supporting the Assad regime.
According to reports, six strong explosions, allegedly caused by missile strikes, were heard in the Homs region, near the Lebanese border. Syrian air-defense systems reportedly attempted to intercept the missiles.
The Syrian Al-Marsad human rights organization said that the missile attack was carried out by Israel.
On Friday, the Lebanese army announced that a day earlier, five Israeli Air Force planes circled above Lebanese territory for some 15 hours altogether. According to the report, most of the flights took place in the southern and northern regions of Lebanon, but one of the planes was mentioned to have circled above “all regions of the country.” No offensive action or operation was said to have been carried out by the aircraft.
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment.
The "nuclear deal" or JCPOA lacks a universally recognized version, coming in three different versions, two in Persian and one in English -- with significant differences between them. Next, it was negotiated between Iran and the so-called P5+1, a group with no legal status, no mission statement and no accountability to anyone. Thirdly, it was not signed by anyone, and no Cabinet and no legislature ever debated, let alone legally approved, it. Finally, both Iran and P5+1 have repeatedly violated key aspects of it.Iran can create highly enriched uranium ‘in 2-3 days’ — spokesman
The JCPOA fan club, which still includes former US President Barack Obama and his sidekick John Kerry, pretends that the only alternative to the fudge they market is an invasion of Iran by the United States.
Whether one likes Trump or not the fact is that when he says that the Emperor is naked he is telling the truth. It is quite possible he says that to vilify Obama. But that does not change the fact that the witches' brew that Obama cooked is laced with poison.
An Iranian nuclear energy official on Sunday repeated a warning from earlier this year that his country is able to create highly enriched uranium in “two to three days.”“Moderate” Iranian FM Zarif caught chanting “Death to US, UK, Israel”
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that officials should be prepared for a possible resumption of nuclear activities, which were suspended under the nuclear deal that Tehran signed with China, France, Russia, the UK, Germany, and US the European Union in 2015.
The Trump administration withdrew from the deal on May 8 and ordered that harsher sanctions be reinstated. It is demanding that Iran stop the enrichment of uranium and end its involvement in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Afghanistan in order to negotiate a new deal.
On Friday, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany met — at Iran’s request — to discuss how to move forward.
Speaking after that meeting, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “We are negotiating… to see if they can provide us with a package which can give Iran the benefits of sanctions lifting.”
He added that “practical solutions” were required to address Iran’s concerns over its oil exports, banking flows and foreign investments in the country.
Germany's Merkel calls on public to 'get to know' Jews of Germany
A new campaign, launched by Germany's Christian Democratic Union party, aims to tackle the recent uptick in anti-Semitic sentiments in Germany by encouraging the German public to visit Jewish institutions and meet with members of the local Jewish community.Illinois man in custody after swastikas found painted on gravestones
The initiative, dubbed "From Shabbat to Shabbat," began last Friday and will continue through the end of this week.
In a video posted to the party's official site ahead of the action week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who heads the CDU, invited Germans to visit synagogues and Jewish community centers across Germany and learn about Jewish culture and religion.
In the video, Merkel explained that the objective of the initiative was "to show our Jewish friends that the Christian Democrats will always oppose anti-Semitism absolutely."
She said anti-Semitism must be met with a clear response from authorities, the government and society in general.
Merkel clarified that the CDU's "commitment to Jewish life in Germany and our actions against anti-Semitism" extended far beyond the weeklong initiative. "It is a constant mission for the Christian Democratic party and for all of Germany," she said.
Authorities in southwestern Illinois said a suspect is in custody after swastikas were found spray-painted on several homes and dozens of grave markers at a nearby cemetery.The 77th anniversary of the Farhud
Edwardsville police announced on Facebook that a 34-year-old man was apprehended on Saturday. Additional information on the suspect was not immediately available.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported employees at Sunset Hill Cemetery in neighboring Glen Carbon found swastikas on 150 to 200 headstones. Cemetery grounds superintendent Mark Johnson said the vandalism was discovered Saturday morning.
Glen Carbon is roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis.
During Shavuot Iraqi Jews commemorate the 77th anniversary of the Farhud – the cruel and bloody riots that took place on Shavuot (June 1-2 in 1941) against the Jewish community of Iraq. In the riots, reminiscent of Kristallnacht in Germany (November 9-10,1938), 179 Jews were murdered, hundreds more were wounded and much Jewish property was looted.Prince Charles attends Israel's 70th birthday celebration in London
The memory of the riots remains fresh in the minds of Iraqi Jews in Israel and abroad. This year the commemoration ceremony for the victims will take place on June 12 in the Babylonian Jewish Center in Or Yehuda.
Similar attacks occurred against almost all the Jews living in Arab countries.
These Jews, who had lived in these countries for thousands of years, did not declare war on their hosts. They never fought against them, as the Arabs in mandatory Palestine fought against that Jews and afterward against the nascent Jewish State of Israel. The world has heard a great deal about the “Nakba,” the “catastrophe” of the Palestinian Arabs, but knows almost nothing about the wrongs committed against Jews in Arab countries. What happened in Iraq and the rest of the Arab countries was in effect an ethnic cleansing. Jews were forced to leave behind their personal and communal property, including schools, hospitals, ancient synagogues, cemeteries, and prophets’ graves. The Arab governments confiscated all Jewish property.
Taking place within a week of his son Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle, His Royal Highness Charles, the Prince of Wales, attended a lively concert on Thursday night that saw the British Jewish community raise a toast to Israel’s 70th birthday in London’s renowned Royal Albert Hall.IsraellyCool: Huge Pro-Israel Fashion Statement at Cannes Red Carpet
Hosted by the Jewish Leadership Council, United Jewish Israel Appeal, and Israel Bonds, the event was attended by a range of politicians and dignitaries, including British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Ambassador to the UK Mark Regev, UK Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey, and the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky.
Introducing the night, Louise Jacobs, the chairwoman of the United Jewish Israel Appeal, said: “As someone who’s visited Israel [at least] once or twice, I honestly remain astonished at [the] vibrancy and originality of its artistic community,” before introducing British MP David Lidington.
Lidington paid tribute to the British Jewish community as “one of the most dynamic and vibrant communities that make up the diverse mix that is our modern United Kingdom,” and celebrated Israel as “a thriving democracy and a prosperous economy where the values of freedom, tolerance and the rule of law lie at its heart.”
The night, titled “Platinum – Celebrating Israel at 70,” began with a dance routine performed by non-professional dancers ranging in age from eight to 80. This was followed by the arrival of Princes Charles, which was marked by the audience rising to its feet to sing the national anthems of Great Britain and Israel with help from Israeli soprano Olga Senderskya.
Monika Ekiert is a Polish & French actress.
She also seems to be a huge fan of Israel.
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