Melanie Phillips: Reframing the Middle East narrative my ten-point guide
I wrote a couple of weeks ago that those trying to defend Israel in the court of public opinion needed a strategic rethink.Iran Admits To Facilitating 9/11 Terror Attacks
Defending Israel against the calumnies being thrown at it is to concede defeat from the start by engaging upon ground defined by its enemies. Instead, Israel’s defenders need to go onto the front foot. They need to do to its enemies what is done to Israel: to paint them as extreme, unconscionable and a mortal threat to life and liberty. But with one key difference: that whereas Israel’s enemies do this through lies, bigotry and irrationality, its defenders should do it through truth, morality and reason.
They should do it by repeated use of high-level speeches, press conferences, videos and other platforms to take the attack to the enemy: proactively and aggressively to destroy the premises on which they base their attacks by redefining who is truly victim and victimiser in the Middle East; reclaiming the language from those who have hijacked it and inverted its meaning in order to twist the western mind; and proactively and aggressively to attack named governments and politicians, media, intellectuals and others for supporting the “Palestinians”’ unconscionable agenda, using their own values to hold their feet to the fire.
Here’s my handy, cut-out-and-keep ten-point guide to the essential messages that need to be got across by proactive, aggressive and repeatedly reinforced initiatives in order to reframe the narrative.
- Support indigenous people. The Jews are the indigenous people of Israel. While many others have lived there over the centuries, the Jews are the only people – as a people – for whom it was ever their national kingdom, and the only people still around today who had their homeland there taken away from them by force.
- Stop Arab colonialism. Historically, Arabs and Muslims were colonial invaders who occupied the land of Israel by force. The “Palestinians” are Arab colonialists who aim once again to occupy the land and wipe out the indigenous inhabitants, the Jewish people, from their own homeland.
- End the lie of Palestinian identity. There never was a Palestinian people. Palestine was the insulting name given to Judea by the Romans. The Arabs living there at the time of the Balfour Declaration identified themselves mainly as southern Syrians or else just as Arabs. Palestinian identity was invented solely to rewrite history and destroy the Jewish claim to the land of Israel. Anyone who supports the Palestinian cause is therefore an accessory to the destruction of Israel and the Jewish right of national self-determination.
- Denounce anti-Zionism as anti-Judaism. The Jews are a nation. Many fail to realise that because they think Judaism is merely a religion. The essence of Judaism, however, is the religious obligations of the Jewish nation within the land of Israel which is sanctified to that purpose. Denying the Jewish nation its own land is therefore a direct assault on Judaism itself.
Iranian officials, in a first, have admitted to facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. by secretly aiding the free travel of al Qaeda operatives who eventually went on to fly commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City, according to new remarks from a senior Iranian official.'Hamas failed twice'
Mohammad-Javad Larijani, an international affairs assistant in the Iran's judiciary, disclosed in Farsi-language remarks broadcast on Iran's state-controlled television that Iranian intelligence officials secretly helped provide the al Qaeda attackers with passage and gave them refuge in the Islamic Republic, according to an English translation published by Al Arabiya.
"Our government agreed not to stamp the passports of some of them because they were on transit flights for two hours, and they were resuming their flights without having their passports stamped. However their movements were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence," Larijani was quoted as saying.
The remarks represent the first time senior Iranian officials have publicly admitted to aiding al Qaeda and playing a direct role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks.
The U.S. government has long accused Iran of playing a role in the attacks and even fined the Islamic Republic billions as a result. The U.S. 9/11 Commission assembled to investigate the attacks concluded that Iran played a role in facilitating the al Qaeda terrorists. (h/t jzaik)
Kamil Abu-Rukun, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said on Friday that Hamas had failed in its attempts to enflame the Gaza border area.
"Hamas failed twice - once because it invested money in terror instead of taking care of the needs of the population and again because the Gazans did not join the march,” he said.
"The time has come to say it: Hamas failed in everything related to the so-called 'March of Return.' In recent months, Hamas leaders have promised a mass crossing of the border fence, but this has not happened,” added Abu-Rukun.
Earlier on Friday, Abu-Rukun addressed Gaza residents directly via the Arabic-language page of COGAT, noting that the Hamas terror organization is exploiting and endangering them by encouraging them to take part in the violent border riots.
"The Hamas terrorist organization leads the march and sends you towards the border fence, thus endangering your lives, while its leaders are in a safe place following the events from a distance. Gaza residents - think for yourselves and do not blindly follow a leadership that takes advantage of you!” he wrote.
Suspect said to confess to rape, killing of German Jewish teen Susanna Feldman
A failed Iraqi asylum seeker suspected of raping and murdering a teenage girl in Germany before fleeing has confessed to the crime and was sent back to Germany, Iraqi police and media reports said Friday.Does Mueller have an Israel problem?
Ali Bashar, 20, who is believed to have strangled the Jewish 14-year-old Susanna Maria Feldman after sexually assaulting her, was arrested by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq on Friday.
“During interrogation following his arrest, the young man originally from Kurdistan confessed to killing the German girl,” said Tariq Ahmad, police chief for the Dohuk province of Iraqi Kurdistan.
“He said that the two of them were friends but that they had a dispute, and that he killed her when the girl threatened to call the police,” Ahmad said.
A sign is placed among flowers at a makeshift memorial at the site where 14-year-old Susanna Maria Feldman was allegedly raped and murdered by an Iraqi asylum seeker in Wiesbaden, Germany, on June 8, 2018. (AFP/dpa/Boris Roessler)
Despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty between Iraq and Germany, he was put on a Lufthansa flight to Germany from the Kurdish regional capital Arbil, German media reports said.
According to The Conservative Review's Jordan Schachtel, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has exhibited a "disturbing pattern" of suspicion directed against Israel over the years – which continues to this day.How Russiagate Became Israelgate
"The special counsel has become obsessed with the state of Israel," wrote Schachtel. "The former FBI director is deeply suspicious, to the point of total paranoia, that there is a grand conspiracy involving the Trump campaign and transition officials as potential agents for the Israelis".
The analysis points to the Daily Caller's report, which alleged that Mueller coerced Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos to plead guilty to lesser charges, by threatening that him with prosecution as an Israeli spy. However, it says, there isn't really much public evidence to suggest that Papadopoulos has any meaningful ties to Israel.
The article lists previous cases in which Mueller's bias on Israel allegedly made itself apparent:
Mueller charged Gen. Michael Flynn with misleading the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador about a UN anti-Israel resolution in December of 2016. "Although the mainstream media and the Left accused him of breaching protocol, a transition team reaching out to world powers prior to entering office is not illegal or unusual. In fact, it’s a standard, smart practice," notes Schachtel. Meanwhile, "evidence has emerged that Flynn did not in fact mislead the FBI about his conversations."
According to reports, Mueller also scrutinized efforts made by Jared Kushner to combat the anti-Israel UN resolution during the presidential transition period. "Just as Gen. Flynn had every right to defend Israel, so did Kushner," according to the Consevative Review. "Yet Mueller’s team seemingly carried on for months with a dedicated effort to examining Kushner’s Israeli ties."
Hints of a Jewish conspiracy that was part of or behind the Trump-Russia collusion theory have long circulated among the conspiracy-mongers and in the press. In his November 14, 2017 testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson said that the Jewish diaspora “appears to be a very interesting route for the Russians.” The Steele dossier, which was marketed by Simpson’s company, elaborates on that claim. The FSB, claims one of Steele’s ostensible sources, was approaching “U.S. citizens of Russian (Jewish) origin on business trips to Russia” as potential foreign agents.Democratic Support for Israel’s Right to Self Defense Far From Guaranteed in Congressional Battle
In April 2017, Politico picked up on the theme with a story about the alleged ties between Trump, Putin, Jared Kushner, and a “happy-go-lucky Jewish group” called Chabad, “the most sprawling Jewish institution in the world.” Tablet reported that Fusion GPS was believed to be the source for the Politico story. The ostensible Trump-Putin-Chabad link appeared in the press again, including on the BBC, with the arrest of Michael Cohen, and was also quickly disproved.
That the collusion spotlight has now focused more intensely on Israel and the Jews in a story that’s ostensibly about Russia and Donald Trump makes a weird kind of sense. As a conspiracy theory becomes larger, incorporates more actors and institutions, points to more events, more connections, it shows more gaps in its logic. As the conspiracy theorists struggle to explain or reconcile contradictions in their accounts, the pull towards the deus ex machina of all conspiracy theories—the powerful, wealthy, rootless, cosmopolitan wanderers of the earth—only gets stronger.
Seen this way, shifting the spotlight in Russiagate to Israel and the Jews would seem to portend a weakening of the collusion narrative. It’s difficult to imagine that many of the prominent figures on the left and the Never Trump right who have seen the Russiagate conspiracy as a useful instrument to weaken or corral Trump will be eager to push a narrative about clandestine Jewish control of American politics. Perhaps Russiagate believers will break into two separate camps, Trump-Russia and Trump-Israel. In the meantime, there’s not much for the rest of us to do but watch.
In the wake of new congressional resolution to support Israel's right to self defense amid a massive and unending wave of Palestinian violence stoked by Hamas, Democratic support for the Jewish state's defense remains in question, according to a top lawmaker pushing the new pro-Israel measure.Twitchy: FINALLY! Virulent anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan loses his blue check
The bipartisan resolution, recently introduced by Reps. Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D., N.J.), would put Congress firmly on Israel's side as it takes defensive measure to protect its citizens from a wave of violence sponsored by the terrorist group Hamas, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
While such a measure would have gained broad bipartisan support in years past, a growing anti-Israel wave in the Democratic Party is making support for the latest measure controversial, according to Zeldin, who spoke about this growing trend in an interview with Free Beacon.
Democratic support for Israel has become increasingly polarized in recent years due to attempts by party leaders to appease a growing segment of Democratic activists who view the Jewish state as an international pariah and oppose the historically ironclad U.S-Israel alliance.
The new resolution seeks to put Congress firmly on Israel's side as it battles Hamas militants who have been violently protesting along the country's border with the Gaza Strip for more than a month now.
It’s about damn time, Twitter.Noura Erakat Rewrites Hamas and Rebrands “Return”
Louis Farrakhan has finally lost his blue check verification badge:
Here’s the tweet on the “Satanic Jew” that probably pushed Twitter to act:
Twitter had been under fire for not taking away the blue check when Farrakhan posted the clip:
There was a time when those who wanted to demographically engineer an end to the Jewish state didn’t speak as smoothly as Noura Erakat does today.Palestinians Attack Israeli Forces With Guns and Grenades as Gaza Border Riots Continue
Back then, when Arab leaders demanded a so-called “right of return” to Israel for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, their words were jarring, but at least candid and compact. Egyptian president Gamal Nasser, for example, approvingly told a Swiss interviewer in 1961, “If the Arabs return to Israel, Israel will cease to exist.”
A decade earlier, the Egyptian foreign minister was equally succinct in explaining the point of Arab calls for an influx of Palestinian refugees to the Jewish state: “To put it quite clearly, the intention is the extermination of Israel.”
At a 1957 Conference of Refugees in Syria, the participants formally resolved that any talk of ending the conflict without “ensuring the refugees’ right to annihilate Israel” would be regarded as treason.
This view about the utility of Palestinian refugees was so unexceptional that a 1966 article in Commentary declared about the topic, “It is pointless to multiply quotations from Arab statesmen — Iraqi, Saudi Arabian, or Syrian — since none pretends to any other purpose.”
That was then. And while we can still occasionally find forthright quotes translated from Arabic — for example, the 2004 reminder by senior Palestinian official Sakher Habash that, “To us, the refugees issue is the winning card which means the end of the Israeli state” — today, and in English, such straight talk about the “right of return” has mostly been supplanted with more alluring language.
Violent riots continued on the Gaza border on Friday, with Israel saying terrorists attacked its forces with guns and grenades. Four Palestinians were killed in the ensuing clashes.
Organizers linked the protests to the annual “Quds Day” events in Iran, which like the Hamas terror group that rules the Gaza Strip, preaches Israel’s destruction and was incensed by the US recognition in December of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
“There is no such state called Israel that could have a capital called Jerusalem,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
He stated that the Gaza demonstrations, launched on March 30, would continue until Palestinians achieve their demand for a right of return to ancestral lands lost to Israel in its 1948 War of Independence. This would flood Israel with millions of refugees, effectively turning it into an Arab state.
Israel, with US support, has described the protests as a ploy by Hamas to breach its border in order to kill and kidnap Israelis, and says its use of lethal force has been necessary to prevent that. At least 124 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army fire, medics say. The majority have been identified as members of terror groups by the Meir Amit Intelligence Center.
On Friday the IDF said in a statement that it had repelled around 10,000 Palestinians who converged on five points of the border. Some of them threw rocks and burned tires. Simultaneously, the Tel Aviv gay pride parade drew over 250,000 people.
Approximately 10,000 Palestinians are rioting in five locations along the Gaza Strip security fence. Over the last few hours, terrorists launched dozens of kites and balloons with explosive devices attached to them over the fence. The objects exploded in the air pic.twitter.com/gDGPEre3MM— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) June 8, 2018
Israeli aircraft fires ‘warning shot’ at Gazans making incendiary balloons
An Israeli aircraft on Saturday for the first time attacked a group of three Gazans preparing a store of balloons that Palestinians have been using to send incendiary devices over the border during Gaza protests, the army said.
No injuries were reported in the strike near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. The IDF said the aircraft fired “a warning shot.”
“We view the use of incendiary balloons and kites very seriously and will continue to act to prevent their use,” the army said.
The report came as Palestinians continued to send flaming kites into Israel, including one that was apparently carrying an explosive device, Israel Radio reported.
The device was safely detonated by sappers and police warned the public not to approach the kites or balloons.
In addition, a number of explosive devices and a grenade have been hurled and tires have been set on fire at the riot locations next to the security fence pic.twitter.com/0Lqc7oJB8y— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) June 8, 2018
Danon: Israel won't compromise on its security
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, warned the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary General of Hamas’ intentions to further inflame tensions in the region on Friday.Palestinians turn to UN General Assembly to condemn Israel over Gaza deaths
“Over the past two months, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad – supported and funded by Iran – have launched over a hundred missile and mortar attacks against Israeli civilian population centers while continuing to instigate violent provocations along the security fence separating Gaza from Israel,” Danon wrote.
“Hamas has also used kite bombs to ignite over 250 fires in Israeli territory. These arson attacks have torched over 2,000 acres of Israeli agricultural fields and have already caused over $1.4 million in damages,” he continued.
“Israel will not compromise on its security needs and will take all necessary steps in protection of our citizens and our sovereignty,” Danon declared. “The deterioration of the economic situation in the Gaza Strip is solely the responsibility of Hamas as it continues to divert the funds intended to aid the population and exploit it for its terrorist operations.”
“Despite the reluctance of the Council to do so last Friday, I once again urge you to clearly and unequivocally condemn Hamas’ dangerous actions. In the interest of restoring calm to our region and preventing further violence, it is essential that you hold the terrorist organization accountable,” he concluded.
The Palestinians and their supporters asked the UN General Assembly on Friday to hold an emergency meeting to adopt a resolution that would deplore Israel’s “excessive use of force,” particularly in Gaza, and seek recommendations to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians.Hamas-Led Violent Riots Continue; Message on Kites Threatens to “Slaughter” Jews
The move follows the US veto of a Kuwait-sponsored resolution in the Security Council on June 1 which United States Ambassador Nikki Haley called “grossly one-sided” for deploring the use of force by Israel while not mentioning Hamas which rules Gaza.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters Friday that the Kuwaiti resolution was “extremely balanced,” and he said almost the same text will be put to a vote in the General Assembly.
There are no vetoes in the 193-member world body, but while Security Council resolutions are legally binding, General Assembly resolutions are not.
An estimated 10,000 Gazans rioted at five different locations on the border with Israel, as of 5 PM on Friday, The Times of Israel reported. Though the violence was reported to be “low-level,” prior to the riots, kites carrying a threat to “slaughter” Jews appeared on social media.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed that 386 people had been injured; mostly from inhaling tear gas.
Though the IDF mostly used tear gas to control the crowd, in one case it fired on rioters attempting to breach the border fence. The infiltrators abandoned their effort.
According to Arabic media reports, the IDF used drones to set a pile of tires on fire earlier in the day, so they would be unavailable to obscure potential infiltrators later in the day.
Earlier in the day, pictures circulated on social media of kites being prepared for the riots bearing notes with the message, “Sons of the Judaism. Leave our land or we will slaughter you.” (h/t Yenta Press)
Message from the ever-loving peace protesters in Gaza attached to flaming kites:— The Mossad (@TheMossadIL) June 8, 2018
"Sons of Jews
Leave our land
Otherwise we will butcher you#Incitement"
Yes. They hashtagged "incitement". pic.twitter.com/ksfU4JsgSq
Iran distributes cash to families of Gaza protesters
Families of Gaza Arabs killed during border riots received $500 each from Iran, Israel's Reshet Bet reported.Marching for Terrorism in London? No Problem
According to the report, the money was distributed by Hamas at a Ramadan "break fast" meal held Thursday night in honor of the "martyrs'" families.
Approximately 112 rioters have been killed since the riots began on March 30. Of those, over sixty were killed while protesting the US Embassy's move to Jerusalem on May 14, at least 50 of whom were Hamas terrorists.
Last week, a 22-year-old female medic was killed during the riots. Initial reports claimed she was innocent and unfairly targeted by Israel, but later investigations showed she was at the scene in order to serve as a "human shield" for the terrorists, and had thrown a grenade at IDF soldiers.
Iran, which funds both Hamas and Hezbollah, has not made a secret of the fact that it seeks to destroy Israel.
On Sunday June 10 in London, the yearly so-called Al Quds Day march -- Al Quds is the Arabic name for both Jerusalem and for the day, invented by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran's 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shah -- will take place. The march is, basically, a call for the destruction of Israel, sometimes also Jews in general. Many other cities, among them Toronto, Berlin and Tehran, will also be "celebrating" the day.Rouhani: Israel can never feel safe
Last year in London, around 1000 people waved countless Hezbollah flags, in honor of Iran's proxy terrorist organization, while chanting slogans such as "Zionists/ISIS are the same, only difference is the name" and "From the river to the sea - Palestine will be free". They also carried banners that said, "We are all Hezbollah," (what a comforting thought for the British).
The leader of last year's London Al Quds rally, Nazim Ali – director of the "Islamic Human Rights Commission", which organizes the annual march – called for the annihilation of Israel and accused British Jews -- falsely -- of being behind the 2017 fire in London's Grenfell Towers apartment complex. "This demonstration calls on justice for Grenfell. Some of the biggest supporters of the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder of the people in Grenfell". He also made it known to the crowd that he thought the UK should effectively become free of Jews: "We are fed up of the Zionists. We are fed up of their rabbis. We are fed up of their synagogues. We are fed up of their supporters."
"It's just an opinion," a female police officer said.
ranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday said that Israel “can never feel safe” because it is “oppressing the Palestinian nation”.Hizballah has not been proscribed, so this is what to expect at the pro-Hizballah parade on Sunday, and this is what you and we can do
Rouhani made the comments in a conversation with reporters before leaving for China to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
“Israel can never feel that it is located in a secure place,” he said, according to the Iranian Tasnim news agency.
“Israel should be aware that it is always the occupier of the homeland of others and will remain always a tyrant,” added Rouhani, who said that “the great nation of Palestine” will never give up its right of abode.
The Iranian president pointed to the Friday demonstrations marking Al-Quds Day and said that high turnout for these anti-Israeli rallies proves the solidarity of the Iranian nation and other Muslims with Palestinians.
Al-Quds Day is an annual event created by Iran's first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khomenei. During Al-Quds Day, rallies are held around the world and are used to incite against Israelis and Jews.
Pro-Hizballah parade'PLO office in the United States exists in violation of the law'
On Sunday, the annual pro-Hizballah “Al Quds Day” parade will take place. It was started by Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran in 1979 and in London it is organised by a charity calling itself the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
In past years, those marching on the parade, have carried the flag of Hizballah, the Iranian-sponsored terrorist organisation which has perpetrated attacks on Jews from Buenos Aires to Burgas, and which has even been blamed for two bombings on London. There are usually many children on the parade, draped in the flag of Hizballah which depicts a fist brandishing an assault rifle, over the image of a bloodied dagger.
In the past, the march has been associated with antisemitic invective, for example CAA is currently privately prosecuting the leader of the march last year, Nazim Ali, whom we have charged over alleged statements including: “Some of the biggest corporations who are supporting the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder of the people in Grenfell, in those towers in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party…It is the Zionists who give money to the Tory Party to kill people in high-rise blocks.”
This year, the parade itself is likely to be more inflammatory because it:
- Is being held at a time of heightened tensions and direct military engagement between Iran, Hizballah and Israel;
- Will be addressed by highly-inflammatory speakers, including the disgraced Reverend Dr Stephen Sizer, who claimed that Israel was behind 9/11, and Mick Napier, who has led numerous disorderly demonstrations in his native Scotland and has a conviction for aggravated trespass at an anti-Israel demonstration; and
- Will start outside the Saudi Arabian embassy instead of the US embassy, which is where it was held in the past, giving rise to the possibility of a clash between the pro-Hizballah Shia marchers and the pro-Saudi Sunni community.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) have penned a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) office in the United States.Photo With New York Times Israel Article Suggests Reporter Got It Wrong
In the letter, they urge the Administration to begin taking the necessary steps and instituting the necessary legal action to close the PLO office, citing the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987.
“Thirty years ago, Congress found, as part of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, enacted as part of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (Public Law 100-204), that the PLO and its affiliates were terrorist organizations threatening the United States. Congress therefore prohibited the PLO, among other things, from establishing or maintaining an office anywhere in the United States. Decades of PLO actions have confirmed the wisdom of that conclusion,” the Members wrote.
“Congress has sought an explanation from the Administration as to the legal basis for permitting the PLO to maintain its office in the United States despite a clear statutory command to the contrary,” they added.
Here’s a case of flawed reporting on the Israeli-Arab conflict from, of all cases, the sports section of the New York Times.Arab MKs skip vote on recognizing gay marriage
“Argentina-Israel Soccer Game Canceled Over Playing In Jerusalem,” is the headline over the dispatch from Buenos Aires by Daniel Politi.
It reports, in part, “President Trump this spring moved the United States Embassy there from Tel Aviv and recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, angering Palestinians who hope to see the eastern part of the city become the capital of a future Palestinian state.”
My print edition of the Times illustrated the article with a Getty Images photograph of a sign in Hebron. The sign included a picture of the star Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi with the words, “Warning. You are about to enter an occupied land! Stand up for human rights! Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.”
The sign in the photo doesn’t say “eastern Jerusalem.” It just says “Jerusalem,” suggesting that to the degree Palestinians are indeed “angry” about this, it isn’t merely because of their own hopes for the eastern part of the city, but because they want to deny Israel sovereignty over any of the city.
Members of the Knesset's Joint Arab List boycotted a Knesset vote which would allow same-sex "couples" to register as married.Danon: 'Israel will not sit idly when facing new and old threats'
When asked by Army Radio why his party did not attend the vote, which was pushed by the leftist opposition parties, MK Jamal Zahalka (Joint Arab List) said, "There are those who are ideologically opposed to this, especially in the Islamic Movement, and therefore they did not vote."
"This topic is absolutely not on my agenda.
"Anyone who takes this path today - in Israel and in other places around the world - the issue came up during long years of fighting and activities. It's not something that was done in a day. In our society, this issue is still in diapers."
Zahalka also said that "there are several issues" which he does "not want to explain in depth...due to societal sensitivity."
Israel reportedly complained to the UN Security Council that terror group Hezbollah is violating Security Council Resolution 1701, Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria reports on Saturday.Israel says Hamas working with Hezbollah to train ‘thousands’ in Lebanon
Israel claims that Hezbollah is working alongside the Palestinian terror group Hamas to build rocket launching capacities and missile production centers in South-East Lebanon after Hamas was unable to hit Israel with rockets from the Gaza Strip.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman warned of such developments in January, saying that “We will not allow [a situation where] on the one hand Hamas talks about the humanitarian crisis [in Gaza] and on the other hand it will try to carry out terrorist attacks from the West Bank or to build terrorist infrastructures in southern Lebanon.”
Israel argues that these attempts are violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the Second Lebanese War of 2006.
"The cooperation between Hezbollah and Hamas crosses borders," said Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. "The ramifications of the Hamas terror regime in Gaza extend to Lebanon where they are strengthening their relations with Hezbollah with the approval and support of Iran."
"Israel does not intend to sit idly when facing new and old threats and will do whatever is necessary to protect its citizens," Danon stated.
Israel has appealed to the United Nations to intervene in southern Lebanon, saying that the Palestinian terror group Hamas is working with Hezbollah to establish missile factories and camps to train thousands of fighters there.University of Sydney Student Newspaper Features Suicide Bomber With AK-47 Who Killed Israeli, Lebanese Troops
The issue was first reported Saturday by a Lebanese daily, quoting UN sources. It was later confirmed by the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, which said the issue has been regularly raised at the UN.
According to the Al Joumhouria report, Israel sent a letter in recent weeks to the UN Security Council and General Assembly containing intelligence on the terror groups’ efforts to set up missile factories in Lebanon for Hamas, as well as training facilities overseen by senior Hezbollah members for “thousands of Palestinian fighters.”
In the letter, Israel charged that the cooperation between the Iran-backed organizations was a “blatant violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War between the Israeli military and Hezbollah and mandated the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon, such as Hezbollah.
Israel requested the UN intervene to stop the cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the report.
A University of Sydney student newspaper drew controversy after it featured a female suicide bomber who killed Israeli and Christian Lebanese forces on the cover of a recent edition.IsraellyCool: Israel Haters Trying to Exploit Death of Celebrity Chef Anthony Bourdain
Hamida Mustafa al-Tahir, a Syrian member of the Arab Ba’ath Party, detonated a car fitted with 660 pounds of explosives at a post used by Israeli intelligence agents and Southern Lebanon Army troops in Lebanon in 1985. At least 20 people were killed or wounded in the attack, according to local sources cited by the New York Times, while some Arab-language outlets indicated that more than 50 people died.
The 2018 cover of the Women’s edition of Honi Soit showed al-Tahir — who previously expressed her desire to “explode among my enemies and the enemies of God” — aiming an AK-47 assault rifle while wearing fatigues adorned with a Palestinian flag patch. It was published two weeks ago and produced by the “Wom*n’s Collective” of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), the school’s undergraduate student association.
An editorial in the paper called al-Tahir “a Lebanese martyr of the institution of Israeli colonisation,” while an article in the same edition on Israel’s recent victory in Eurovision claimed it was “not even a real country,” Australian Jewish News reported.
An earlier Honi Soit edition published on April 16, which was put together by the SRC Queer Action Collective, featured an image of a firebomb with the text, “the fight isn’t over yet, queer anger is queer power.” The titles of several articles inside the issue — including “Queers for Palestine” — were also included.
Jewish celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain has taken his own life at the age of 61. And the Israel-hating crowd have one thing on their mind – exploiting his death for propaganda purposes.Tracey Breaks the News - Corbyn Labour Live
This is just a sample of what I am seeing on social media:
They truly are shameless.
German music festival demands band Young Fathers reject BDS
The music and arts festival Ruhrtriennale on Thursday called on the Scottish band Young Fathers to withdraw its support for the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting the Jewish state ahead of the band's slated appearance in August.German rappers criticized for anti-Semitic lyrics visit Auschwitz
The Ruhrtriennale wrote in a Facebook post that it "expressly distances itself from the 'Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions' campaign (BDS) and its direct or indirect goals. We approached the Young Fathers, in order to also receive an unambiguous disassociation from every form of antisemitism and racism."
If Young Fathers refuses to reject BDS, it is unclear if the Ruhrtriennale, which is located Ruhr region in West Germany, will disinvite the band. Young Fathers pulled out of the 2017 Berlin-based Pop-Kultur festival because the Israeli embassy sponsored an artist from Israel with a 500 euro donation.
The international Ruhrtriennale festival will take place in the city of Bochum. According to Ruhrtriennale website, "Music, dance, theatre, performance and fine arts in the former industrial buildings of the Ruhr Area: that’s the Ruhrtriennale. The venues of the Ruhrtriennale are the region’s outstanding industrial monuments, transformed each year into spectacular sites for impressive arts productions."
Two German rappers who created an uproar with their anti-Semitic lyrics visited the Auschwitz memorial.‘Bride of Belsen’ Holocaust survivor who treated Anne Frank dies aged 95
Kollegah and Farid Bang made a private visit Thursday to the former concentration camp in Poland on an invitation from the International Auschwitz Committee.
The organization’s vice president, Christoph Heubner, who accompanied them on the trip, told the German news media that the visit was a way of making amends to Holocaust survivors, “and it is also a gesture towards their young fans, showing that hatred, contempt for humanity and anti-Semitism have no place in art.”
The musicians did not speak to the media immediately after their visit.
Heubner said they placed a wreath at Block 11 at the memorial and also met young Germans and Poles who volunteer there.
Gena Turgel, a Holocaust survivor who helped care for Anne Frank, has died at age 95.101-year-old Jewish British World War II vet honored by Queen
Turgel was also known as the “Bride of Belsen” for wearing a dress made from a British army parachute on the day of her marriage to a soldier who took part in the liberation of Nazi death camps.
“Gena dedicated her life to sharing her testimony to hundreds of thousands in schools across the country,” Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Education Trust, told the Guardian. “Her story was difficult to hear and difficult for her to tell, but no one who heard her speak will ever forget. A shining light has gone out today and will never be replaced.”
Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of Great Britain, said Turgel was “one of the most remarkable Holocaust survivors I had the privilege to know,” according to the Guardian. “She was a blessing and inspiration to our community. Her work to educate generations about the horrors of the Holocaust was as powerful as it was tireless. Throughout her life, she lit countless candles in the human heart and helped bring much light to the world.”
A 101-year-old Jewish British veteran of World War II received an honor from the Queen for his services to education.Kate Upton poses in Israel for Maxim's Hot 100 cover shoot
Mordaunt Cohen received the MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire, June 1. Cohen told the Jewish Chronicle he was “deeply humbled” to have been recognized for the years he spent teaching young people about the war and his experiences.
Born in Sunderland, he joined the British Army after hearing about the plight of the Jews in Nazi Germany.
He served in the jungles of Burma, now Myanmar, with the 251 West African Heavy Anti-Aircraft Unit, commanding Nigerian volunteers.
After the war he became chairman of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen, through which he worked to ensure the memory of the thousands of Jewish soldiers who served in the British Army was not forgotten.
Kate Upton will be featured on the cover of Maxim's upcoming issue.
Kate Upton will be gracing the cover of Maxim magazine this month.
The 26-year-old model and actress earned the top spot in this year's "Hot 100," an annual list of some of the best-looking starlets in Hollywood and elsewhere.
For her cover shoot, Upton traveled to Israel to snap a few photos at the beach.