Friday, March 08, 2019
Dr. Martin Sherman: “Palestine” - Time to say “No!”
Ladies and gentlemen, when the Palestinians say "two states" they do not mean what we mean—Maj-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin , October 2018.
Failed in past, unfeasible in present, dangerous in future
Echoing precisely what two-state opponents have been insisting on for decades, he pronounced categorically: “There is no-one to agree with, there is nothing to agree on—and the implementation [of any two-state initiative] is dangerous”.
But then, astonishingly, rather than arrive at the rational conclusion that the pursuit of the two-state objective be abandoned and alternative approaches be explored—he did precisely the opposite!
He urged that Israel should undertake a policy, set out in the INSS “plan”, that assumes that there is—or rather that there might be—someone to agree with, and something to agree on—at some unspecified future date and as a result of some unspecified process that would somehow overcome his previously stipulated obstacles of “Palestinian divisiveness, political weakness and ideological extremism.”
Yadlin’s patently perverse and paradoxical position on the two-state doctrine—or rather dogma—underscores precisely why it must be renounced—unequivocally and irrevocably.
Indeed, its deadly detriments are so glaringly apparent that it is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile calls for a Palestinian state with genuine concern for the well-being of the Jewish nation-state.
The dinosaurs and the Palestinian state
You still hear serious people talking out loud about the two-state solution as a reasonable – even inevitable – possibility to the conflict between us and the Arabs of the region: dividing the good land and establishing an Arab state on the hills of Judea and Samaria, which could wind up connecting to the Hamas state in the Gaza Strip to the west and the state of Jordan to the east.Arab Religiosity and Support for the Palestinians
Exactly 100 years have passed since the division of the land was first suggested in the 1919 Faisal–Weizmann Agreement, after World War I. Eighteen years later, in 1937, the Peel Commission (convened to investigate the bloody events of 1936) proposed dividing the land, and a decade later, on Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. voted in favor of the partition plan. The Arabs refused, and their response was war.
The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded before the "occupation" of the 1967 Six-Day War. Its goal was to "liberate all the land from the Zionists." Our country was then quite small in size, and still the organization's terrorists wanted it. The goal hasn't changed; it has sometimes been disguised to delude naïve, liberal, self-righteous Jews in the West.
The Oslo Accords came into being after the PLO was on the mat after backing Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein during the First Persian Gulf War. The Palestinians supported any murderous dictator who served their purposes. In Oslo, the government under then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin put the dying organization on artificial life support and brought tens of thousands of terrorists whom we had armed into western Israel to force the division of the country and fulfill their dream of peace. If the Jews don't acknowledge their right to their own land and revive their sworn enemies from the ashes, we can expect nothing more from Europe or the U.S. That is how the organization of terrorists became the official, respectable representative of the supposed forthcoming Palestinian state.
Palestinians—as well as Arab leaders and opponents of Israel in the U.S. and Europe—have often claimed that the Palestinian fate is a central concern, if not the central concern, of Arabs everywhere. Examining data from Google in various Arab countries, Hillel Frisch notes that the frequency of searches for such topics as “Palestinian resistance” decreases sharply the farther one goes from Gaza and the West Bank. Non-Palestinian Arabs, by contrast, are far and away more likely to search for “al-Aqsa mosque” than for information about the Palestinian resistance, and Palestinians’ own interest in al-Aqsa is similarly high. To Frisch, all of this makes clear that religion, far more than nationalism, motivates Arab attitudes regarding Israel:
[These data] underscore the importance of the religious dimension in the Arabic-speaking world, both within and without the Palestinian arena, in the Arab-Palestinian conflict. This is hardly new. Islam was a major if not dominant theme in the most tumultuous periods of strife between Jews and Arabs in the Holy Land. In April 1920, attacks against Jews began during the religious Nabi Musa pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The 1921 riots began in Jaffa to protest the participation of immodestly clad Jewish women in the May Day demonstrations in Jaffa.
Seven years later, in 1928, Haj Amin al-Husseini coined the phrase “al-Aqsa in danger” in a pan-Islamic campaign against the Zionist movement that led to the most murderous onslaught against Jews to date in August 1929. This term has since been adopted by both Hamas and the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, which was banned by Israel in 2015.
During the second intifada, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah tried in vain to name the conflict the “independence intifada” in its struggle against a rising Hamas, which wanted to color the conflict with Israel in religious terms. Today, it is universally referred to in Arabic as the “al-Aqsa intifada,” even in Fatah and PA discourse. The same religious zeal regarding the Palestinian cause can be found in the Arab world.
PodCast: Podcast: Eugene Kontorovich on the Legalities and Controversies of Anti-BDS Law
The Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019 was the first piece of Senate legislation taken up in the 116th Congress. It tackles a wide range of foreign-policy issues, many of them uncontroversial. But not all of them. One part of the bill that has generated especially heated debate deals with the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction (BDS) the state of Israel. The act affirms that the anti-BDS laws currently on the books of 26 states are consistent with federal policy and, despite what critics contend, do not violate free speech. (The state-level laws do not ban companies from boycotting Israel; they do prevent the states themselves from contracting with companies that discriminate against Israeli businesses.)Ngo-Monitor (PodCast): Episode 16: Military Justice in the West Bank
The new federal bill has passed the Senate with bipartisan support, but it has yet to pass the House of Representatives, and it continues to draw opposition from groups that claim anti-BDS laws are constitutionally suspect. In this week’s podcast, Professor Eugene Kontorovich joins Jonathan Silver to discuss the complex legal landscape of BDS legislation. Kontorovich, a constitutional expert who played a key role in drafting some state-level anti-BDS laws, guides us through the relevant laws at both the federal and state level and clarifies exactly how they work. In the process, and by means of well-thought-out comparisons with past efforts to boycott apartheid South Africa and to combat discrimination against the LGBT community, Kontorovich demonstrates that anti-BDS laws are not only legal but also just.
The IDF's former Director of the Military Prosecution in the West Bank, Lt. Col (res.) Maurice Hirsch, walks us through the Israeli military justice system, explaining how Palestinian prisoners are treated, what legal frameworks apply, and how Israel balances the principles of due process with security needs.JEXODUS: Jewish Millennials Launch A ‘Liberation Movement’ From The Democratic Party
Host: NGO Monitor Director of Research Yona Schiffmiller
Guest: IDF’s former Director of the Military Prosecution in the West Bank, Lt. Col (res.) Maurice Hirsch
For decades, the Democratic Party has often taken the Jewish-American vote for granted. In no presidential election since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 has the Democratic Party failed to win a plurality of the Jewish vote. Even the infamously anti-Israel Jimmy Carter won a 45% plurality share of the Jewish vote in 1980, outdoing Ronald Reagan's 39% of the Jewish vote. In 2016, 71% of Jews pulled the lever for Hillary Clinton. While the minority of American Jews who identify as Orthodox routinely favor the Republican Party at the ballot box, non-Orthodox Jews tend to overwhelmingly support Democrats.Arutz Sheva Interview: 'Time for a Jewish Exodus from the Democratic party'
Now, a new, Millennial-centric group — "Jexodus" — seeks to reverse this longstanding trend.
Per a press release from Jexodus's soft launch at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. last Friday, here is how the group self-describes:
We are proud Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics. We reject the hypocrisy, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism of the rising far-left. Progressives, Democrats, and far too many old-school Jewish organizations take our support for granted. After all, we’re Jewish, and Jews vote for Democrats.
Until today.
We are determined and we are unafraid to speak for ourselves. As combatants and veterans of the campus wars, we know the threat progressivism poses to Jews. We’ve had front row seats witnessing anti-Semites hide behind the thin veil of anti-Zionism. We know the BDS movement harbors deep hatred not only for Israel, but for Jews. We’re done standing with supposed Jewish leaders and allegedly supportive Democrats who rationalize, mainstream, and promote our enemies. We’d rather spend forty years wandering in the desert than belong to a party that welcomes Jew-haters like Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Arutz Sheva spoke with Elizabeth Pipko, a 23-year-old Jewish figure skater-turned-model, who recently launched the ‘’JEXODUS’ movement, calling for a "mass Jewish exodus from the Democratic party".Greenblatt urges outside parties to back US peace plan, not undermine it
For nearly a century, American Jews have been one of the most reliable voting blocs for the Democratic party. At the national level, Democratic presidential nominees have won the Jewish vote – typically by wide margins – in every single election since 1924. In 2016, Jewish voters backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a margin of 71% to 25%.
Numerous Republican candidates over the years have looked to capitalize on the growing support within the GOP for Israel to win over Jewish voters. Yet no Republican presidential hopeful has managed to win even a third of the Jewish vote over the past 30 years.
But could the Democratic lock on the Jewish vote be about to finally crack?
Ilhan Omar and the Democratic Jewish Conundrum
This week, House Democrats were drawn into an internecine fight over their party’s response to a string of anti-Semitic controversies sparked by Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s criticism of Israel supporters and allegations Jewish groups had bought off lawmakers to support Israel.
Her suggestions that supporters of Israel were guilty of ‘dual loyalties’ or allegiance to a foreign power were decried as anti-Semitic by Republicans and even some Democrats.
Yet a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, which had been drawn up by Democratic lawmakers in response to Omar’s comments, failed to censure Omar, and on Wednesday was rewritten on to remove the specific condemnation of anti-Semitism, leading to a broad rejection of bigotry.
Allegations that Omar peddled in anti-Semitism – drawing the rebuke of the Anti-Defamation League – and the Democratic party’s challenges in addressing the scandal have placed some Jewish supporters of the party in a quandary.
The straw that broke the camel’s back?
This is not the first time the Jewish-Democratic relationship has been tested.
During the Obama administration, some Jewish Democrats expressed concern over the president’s handling of the relationship with Israel.
The best thing everyone except for the Israelis and Palestinians can do when the Trump administration reveals its peace plan is to be supportive, Trump’s chief negotiator said. And nothing else.PMW: After PMW exposed demonization of US Envoy Greenblatt as “mongoloid,” PA daily “clarifies” its op-ed policy
“It really is up to the Israelis and the Palestinians; they’re the ones who will have to live with the consequences of the plan,” Jason Greenblatt told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview Tuesday in his office near the White House.
Greenblatt said he hopes that people on the outside “will focus on the good, and see the possibilities of a brighter future. And if the two sides are willing to engage, they will be the ones to work through the tough issues.”
His plea came at the end of an interview, underscoring its importance. In the past, parties not directly involved in the conflict have frustrated and even scuttled delicate negotiations, often with Jerusalem as the sticking point.
Greenblatt confirmed that the plan would not see the light of day before the Israeli elections on April 9, but would not set a deadline for how much longer afterward it would come out.
This week, Palestinian Media Watch exposed an op-ed in the official Palestinian Authority daily, in which the author called US President Trump’s Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, a “mongoloid,” “retarded,” and acting as if he has Down Syndrome. The op-ed drew immediate widespread condemnation, both from political figures as well as organizations focused on rights of people with disabilities.Palestinian negotiator calls for boycott of new US embassy unit
This made the official PA daily print a press release it called a “clarification,” which was in fact more a justification.
Reactions to PMW’s story on the op-ed were immediate and outraged. US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said he was “disgusted, - not for Jason (he’s got broad shoulders) - but by this utter disregard for the value of every human life.”
US Congressman Ted Deutch (Dem.) stated that “It is an outrageously offensive attack to level on anyone, anywhere.”
AIPAC also voiced criticism: “This is an outrageous personal attack on a distinguished U.S. official and an insult to basic human dignity.”
Greenblatt himself responded, saying: “The comments of Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul are disgusting & demonstrate a complete disregard for the dignity of every human life. Terms like “mongoloid” & ‘retarded” have no place in a civilized world. Persons with Downs Syndrome deserve our utmost respect & love. Shame on you Omar!”
The Palestinian leadership on Thursday urged the international community to boycott the newly created US embassy unit that will handle relations with Palestinians.Abbas expected to tap longtime Fatah ally as next PM, officials say
Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat issued a statement calling upon the diplomatic community “not to engage in any kind of formal relationship or collaboration” with the new Palestinian affairs unit, which will take over the responsibilities of the shuttered US consulate in Jerusalem.
The United States officially closed the Jerusalem consulate on Monday in the latest decision from the Trump administration to infuriate the Palestinians, who view the closure as a “downgrade” and “new assault” on the prospect of a US-brokered solution to the conflict.
For decades, the consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians. Now, that outreach will be handled by a Palestinian affairs unit, under the command of the embassy.
The symbolic shift hands authority over US diplomatic channels with the West Bank and Gaza Strip to US Ambassador David Friedman, a longtime supporter and fundraiser for the West Bank settler movement and fierce critic of the Palestinian leadership.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to appoint his longtime ally Mohammad Shtayyeh as prime minister in the next few days after receiving the backing by his Fatah party, senior officials said Thursday.
Analysts view bringing in Shtayyeh to replace outgoing prime minister Rami Hamdallah as part of Abbas’s efforts to further isolate his political rivals Hamas, who run the Gaza Strip.
The central committee of Fatah backed Shtayyeh to take over the post during a meeting earlier this week, the senior officials said on condition of anonymity.
The recommendation is not binding on Abbas, but he is expected to back the decision, the officials said.
Shtayyeh, born in 1958, is a long-term Abbas ally and member of the Fatah central committee.
It is no exaggeration to say that the international community's #1 on-the-ground apologist for Hamas terrorism & genocidal antisemitism has been Chris Gunness of UNRWA.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) March 7, 2019
His leaving doesn't fix a thing with the malign UNRWA, but it's a day every true humanitarian ought to cheer. https://t.co/sMEGqWPTvE
#FakeNewsAlert: The UN Human Rights Council did NOT rebuke Saudi Arabia. The council does not vote until March 21-22. Rather, during a debate, a number of countries—including at least 20 that are mere observers—delivered a joint speech. That's it. https://t.co/r2moNPGFIU
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) March 7, 2019
Kudos to @washingtonpost for 2 quick corrections.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) March 7, 2019
The point is that the UN Human Rights Council has yet to adopt a single resolution on Saudi Arabia's gross abuses of human rights.
No resolutions, no commission of inquiry, no urgent session.
Instead, Saudi Arabia is a member. https://t.co/4UTugR61Xi
Radical Islamic Terrorism Accounts for 91 Percent of European Terror Victims
The newly released Black and White Book of Terrorism in Europe has revealed radical Islamic terrorists have accounted for 91 percent of the total terror victims since the year 2000.French jihadist convicted for deadly terror attack at Brussels Jewish museum
The book is an initiative of Spanish MEP Maité Pagazaurtundua, president of the Foundation for Victims of Terrorism, listing the 753 people killed in terror attacks in the European Union between 2000 and 2018, Le Figaro reports.
The report also examines European victims of terror globally, revealing that a further 1,115 people including tourists and military personnel had also been victims of terrorism during the same period.
In total, 91 percent of the victims were killed by radical Islamic extremists, 20 percent of whom were murdered by suicide bombers.
Political terror casualties have been far lower, with far-left extremists and far-right extremists each murdering 13 people.
Far-left extremism has been on the rise in several European countries in recent years, with the German domestic intelligence agency BfV warning that violent far-left extremist numbers rose from 7,100 to 9,000 between 2012 and 2017.
The number of far-left extremist crimes also grew by a massive 88 percent during the same period.
Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche was found guilty Thursday of the terrorist murders of four people at Brussels’ Jewish museum. Prosecutors say the attack was the first carried out in Europe by a jihadist returning from fighting in Syria.A criminal since childhood, Belgium Jewish museum killer was radicalized in jail
Nemmouche, 33, sporting a trimmed beard and wearing a navy blue sweater, showed no emotion and stared into space as the verdict was delivered.
He now faces a life sentence for the anti-Semitic attack in the Belgian capital on May 24, 2014, following his return from Syria’s battlefields.
Sentencing could be as early as Friday.
The 12 jurors, accompanied by the presiding judge and two other magistrates, had deliberated for more than two days in secret at a Brussels hotel before returning their verdict.
Nemmouche was found to have killed the four victims in cold blood in less than 90 seconds, but he denied the accusation telling the court he had been “tricked.”
Mehdi Nemmouche has been convicted of carrying out Europe’s first terror attack by an Islamist fighter returning from the war in Syria.Blue and White drops 5 seats, voters unfazed by A-G's report
But his journey from a French foster home to a Brussels court began not in a Middle Eastern desert but in a run-down industrial town.
On Thursday, after a two-month trial in the Belgian capital, 12 jurors found the 33-year-old guilty of the four murdered in an anti-Semitic attack during a shooting spree at Belgium’s Jewish Museum on May 24, 2014.
He faces life in prison and is expected to be sentenced on Friday.
Nemmouche, an athletic-looking man with a trimmed beard, told the court in his final testimony this week that he had been “tricked.”
He seemed to refer to arguments made by his lawyers that he was not to blame for the murders and had been caught up in some kind of plot targeting the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
Separately, he is also accused of acting as the jailer of four French journalists taken hostage by jihadists in Aleppo in 2013.
Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit's report last Thursday on the counts for which he plans to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pending a hearing, appears to have little effect on Likud voters, the newest Israel Hayom-i24NEWS poll shows.Syria vows to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights
According to the poll, if the Knesset election were held today, the Likud would win 26 seats, three fewer than last week's poll. But the center-left Blue and White list saw a bigger drop and was projected to win 33 seats – five fewer than the findings from last week's poll.
Overall, the blocs remained mostly the same. The poll predicted 62 combined seats for the right-wing and haredi parties, compared to a total of 58 seats for the left-wing bloc.
The poll also indicated that the larger parties were losing steam and votes to smaller parties. The New Right, the Union of Right-Wing Parties (Habayit Hayehudi, National Union, and Otzma Yehudit) and United Torah Judaism parties were projected to win eight seats each.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party, Shas, and Zehut under far-right activist Moshe Feiglin were each predicted to win four seats.
For the second week in a row, the Israel Hayom-i24NEWS poll predicted that Yisrael Beytenu would fail to pass the minimum electoral threshold. Not only would former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party fail to make it into the next Knesset, it would crash and burn – winning the support of a mere 1% of respondents.
Syria vowed to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights in an official warning given to head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization [UNTSO) Kristin Lund by Syrian deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, World Israel News reported on Thursday.Iran’s Militias in Iraq Threaten Israel
The warning might be a Syrian attempt to prevent official US recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan.
Blue and White party politicians Gabi Ashkenazi, Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz and Moshe Ya'alon visited the Golan Heights on Monday and vowed never to give it up.
"We will increase the numbers of residents in the Golan, sending a resounding message to all - we will never relinquish the Golan Heights," Gantz said.
"We will enlist the support of the US and the international community to promote Israel's interests on our northern border," he added.
"We have a historical right to it and it is a strategic asset," Lapid said, "we will never give up the Golan Heights. It is ours and it will stay ours."
Kristin Lund is the first woman to command a U.N. force.
Following the defeat of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Tehran began organizing and arming Iraqi Shiite militias to fight the U.S. and its allies and to undermine the newly emergent government. These forces went on to play a key role in the fight against Islamic State (IS) and, to a lesser extent, against rebel forces in Syria. In collaboration with other Iranian proxies, they have secured control over both sides of an important border area between the two countries—operating, as always, under the direction of the Islamic Republic. It is likely, according to Lazar Berman and Jonathan Spyer, that the militias will next be used against Israel:BBC News coverage of terrorism in Israel – February 2019
[Israel’s] next war in the north may well be a long slog in which its advantages in firepower and numbers only come into play after the IDF wears down and begins to break apart Hizballah’s rocket array and ground forces. . . . But when Hizballah enjoys an Iranian-controlled corridor through which thousands of combat veterans from the Shiite militias can flow, Hizballah fighters will be in a position to withstand much more. . . . So long as they believe that help is potentially on the way, they will likely keep firing. . . .
Israel’s ground forces—in terms of actual combat soldiers—are smaller than many realize, even with the reserves activated. Israel will need significant ground forces if it intends to capture the territory from which Hizballah rockets are launched at Israel. . . . This overstretched ground force will be under even more stress when thousands of Shiite militiamen are thrown into the fight.
Of course, the Shiite militias have never faced an enemy like the IDF in open warfare. Any attempt to rely on ground maneuver as they did successfully in Iraq [against IS] will turn into target practice for Israeli air and armored forces. They will be fighting a highly advanced, highly capable military that is able to target them rapidly with massive firepower. . . . Still, if the Shiite militias learn from Hizballah, and use pre-prepared defenses and tunnels to ambush advancing IDF ground troops, and remain largely underground or in urban areas, they will make Israel’s already daunting challenge in Lebanon even more difficult.
The Israel Security Agency’s report on terror attacks (Hebrew) during February 2019 shows that throughout the month a total of 162 incidents took place: 89 in Judea & Samaria, eight in Jerusalem and 65 in the Gaza Strip sector.
In Judea & Samaria and Jerusalem the agency recorded 80 attacks with petrol bombs, eleven attacks using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one stabbing attack, two attacks using grenades and one attack using a gas cylinder placed inside a burning tyre.
Incidents recorded in the Gaza Strip sector included 27 attacks with petrol bombs, 22 pipe bomb attacks, 7 attacks using IEDs, four shooting attacks (including one by a sniper), one grenade attack and four attacks using improvised grenades as well as two rocket launches and one mortar attack.
Throughout February one person was murdered and two were wounded in terror attacks.
There are reports of an increase in the power of explosives used by militants belonging to the various border units in #Gaza. Here we see "I love you" balloons launched towards #Israel tied to an RPG warhead with a fuse. pic.twitter.com/Q93No2W2Sb
— Joe Truzman (@Jtruzmah) March 8, 2019
Tensions remain over ‘Gate of Mercy’ in Jerusalem, but no clashes reported
Hundreds of police were deployed around the Old City on Friday as thousands gathered for Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque. The prayers came amid heightened tensions over Muslim prayers inside the Gate of Mercy and calls by Islamic leaders to protest on the Temple Mount.Palestinian protestors clash with IDF forces along security force
On February 22, Muslim worshipers entered the Gate of Mercy area, a previously closed zone on the Temple Mount, and Israel arrested a senior Islamic Waqf authority official on February 24 in response. Jordan has complained about the incidents. King Abdullah of Jordan is heading to Washington Sunday for meetings and, judging by attempts not to inflame the tensions, neither he nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want escalation in Jerusalem. Nevertheless Friday in the Old City felt tense.
On Friday, the worshipers gathered by the thousands around noon time. Israeli police deployed mounted units at Damascus Gate and riot police were on hand, including the elite Yasam special police, to confront any riots. After prayers ended the large crowds of male and female worshipers clogged the alleys of the Old City and the historic Via Dolorosa. Tourists and the Arab crowds pressed against each other, going in opposite directions. Israeli police looked on.
Thousands of Palestinians clashed with IDF forces on Friday afternoon during what they call 'March of Return,' IDF forces were assaulted with rocks and over 50 explosive devices.2 unarmed Gazans nabbed after infiltrating into Israel, sparking panic
15 attempts to breach the security fence were spotted. Roghly 8,000 Palestinians clashed with IDF forces in five different locations across the Gaza Strip Security Fence.
42 Palestinians were injured from IDF sniper fire, including 15 children and two women, Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The Ministry added that Mohammed abu Jazar, a paramedic working near Khan Yunis, was hit in the face with a 'gas bomb.' Three other paramedicas were also injured by tear gas the Ministry said.
Two reporters were also injured, the Ministry released on social media.
Two unarmed Palestinians infiltrated into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip on Friday afternoon, prompting a large-scale call-up of security personnel in the area before the pair were eventually arrested.PMW: PA TV uses International Women’s Day to glorify female terrorists
The border breach came amid a period of heightened tensions in the region of the coastal enclave as Israel and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group exchanged fire as well as verbal threats.
Also on Friday afternoon thousands of Palestinians rioted at several sites along the Gaza border, throwing rocks and improvised explosives at Israeli soldiers on the other side of the security fence. The Israeli troops responded to the estimated 8,000 with tear gas and, in some cases, live fire, the military said.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported that as of 4:30 p.m., 10 Palestinians had been injured by Israeli fire.
The two Gazans who broke through the security fence in the northern Strip evaded capture for approximately half an hour, forcing the Israel Defense Forces to bring additional troops to the area and local communities to go on high alert and call up their volunteer security forces.
To mark International Women's Day, PA TV broadcast an interview with the Director of the Palestinian Women's Union in Gaza, Amal Hamad.Lebanon warns against using Israeli pipeline in disputed waters
Instead of discussing the achievements of Palestinian women or the inequality that they suffer in Palestinian society, Hamad chose to highlight that Palestinian women have played an important role in violence and terror, what she calls the "Palestinian national struggle".
"We have had female Martyrs, wounded, and prisoners... The women were the first to take part in the battle. That is why we also have female Martyrs - Shadia Abu Ghazaleh (i.e., terrorist, prepared bombs for terror attacks), Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children), Wafa Idris (i.e., first female suicide bomber, murdered 1), Ayyat Al-Akhras (i.e., youngest female suicide bomber, murdered 2), Darin Abu Aisheh (i.e., female suicide bomber, wounded 3)..."
Indeed, the female Palestinian murderers do enjoy a special position in Palestinian society. Terrorists Shadia Abu Ghazaleh and Dalal Mughrabi both have PA schools named after them. All the terrorist murderers she mentioned are the focus of constant attention and glorification.
Focusing the attention on the Palestinian female murderers obviously deflects attention from the real problems faced by Palestinian women. One female PA TV reporter instructed the viewers "who use beatings and violence to solve their marital problems" to "carefully read" and "obey" the Quran's "religious rules for beatings":
Lebanon on Thursday warned its Mediterranean neighbors that a planned EastMed gas pipeline from Israel to the European Union must not be allowed to violate its maritime borders.
Beirut has an unresolved maritime border dispute with Israel – which it regards as an enemy country – over a sea area of about 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) extending along the edge of three of Lebanon's southern energy blocks.
Israel is hoping to enlist several European countries in the construction of a 2,000-kilometer (1,200-mile) pipeline linking vast eastern Mediterranean gas resources to Europe through Cyprus, Greece and Italy at a cost of $7 billion.
Lebanon's foreign minister, Gebran Bassil, said he had written to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Cyprus, Greece and Italy to request that the pipeline does not infringe on Lebanon's rights within what it claims as its exclusive economic zone.
In a copy of the letter sent to Greece's foreign ministry seen by Reuters, Bassil said Lebanon would not allow its sovereignty to be breached, "especially when it comes to any eventual attempt from Israel to encroach on Lebanon's sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ."
#TBT: Pakistani Actress Veena Malik Defies Mullah Accusing Her of Immoral Behavior on an Indian Reality TV Show, and States: Mullahs Are Raping Children in Mosques – See More At MEMRI Women’s Studies Initiative: https://t.co/4mveLUc7T7 #IWD2019 pic.twitter.com/obYwxKOAKE
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) March 7, 2019
#TBT: Saudi Women's Rights Activist Wajiha Al-Huweidar Drives Her Car, Calling upon Authorities to Allow Women to Drive (March 8, 2008) – See More At MEMRI Women’s Studies Initiative: https://t.co/rhmOXYyt4t #IWD2019 pic.twitter.com/09Cx8wokN8
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) March 7, 2019
Iran: Child Executions, Amputations, Floggings
Europe ravenously throw sanctions on a country that has been home to Jews for more than three thousand years, yet tries to find ways to keep on doing business with a country such as Iran that is not only trying to establish its hegemony throughout the Middle East, but is also the serial violator of just about every human right imaginable. The only conclusion one can come to is that Europe would evidently still like to kill the Jews and is happy to support those wishing to kill them.
"In February [2018], Canadian Iranian academic and environmental activist Kavous Seyyed Emami died in Evin prison following his arbitrary arrest two weeks earlier. Authorities claimed he committed suicide and refused to release his body unless his family agreed to an immediate burial without an independent autopsy." — Amnesty International.
The list of unspeakable human rights violations committed by Iran's regime is lengthy; however, by far the most disturbing seems the cruelty enacted against children.
Now is the time for the EU to halt its appeasement policy with a regime that does not hesitate to flog people -- publicly, as a message to others -- torture any citizen they choose to target, enact cruel punishments such as amputation without a fair trial, and execute children just starting their lives. These are acts that should be condemned -- not condoned through the pursuit of appeasement policies, moral depravity and raw greed.
Former Iranian Official Amir Mousavi: The U.S. Is Finished, Has Become a Rogue State; Egyptian-American Researcher Magdi Khalil: Iran Is Under Siege, "Resistance Axis" Is Destroying Arab Countries pic.twitter.com/d5uPM9FnAK
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) March 8, 2019
This is how @Nike decided to portray Maryam Mirzakhani who was the first woman to win the Fields Medal. She never wore the hijab once she had left the country that enforced it. You should be ashamed of yourselves. pic.twitter.com/KKvpzhiY3B
— Amir Sariaslan (@AmirSariaslan) March 7, 2019
Today, we celebrate the women of the IDF 👑#InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/kki0z8iPUq
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 8, 2019
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