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Wednesday, August 07, 2019

08/07 Links Pt1: Palestinian who saved Jewish kids after terror attack gets Israeli residency; Swastika Flag on Gaza Border Reveals Hamas’ True Intention — the Annihilation of the Jewish State

From Ian:
Palestinian who saved Jewish kids after terror attack gets Israeli residency
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Tuesday awarded Israeli residency to a Palestinian man who saved the children of a West Bank rabbi in the aftermath of the deadly terror attack in which the father was killed.

Rabbi Miki Mark was murdered in a July 1, 2016, shooting. His wife, Chava, was seriously injured, and their two teenage children were also hurt. The Palestinian rescuer and his wife, residents of the Hebron area, helped the surviving members of the Mark family escape their overturned vehicle and administered first aid until first responders arrived at the scene.

The Palestinian man, who has not been named, received a temporary visa to live and work in Israel after receiving death threats in his hometown near the West Bank city of Hebron.

However, the visa was not renewed in August 2018 and for the last year he was unable to work, becoming homeless and living in limbo in Israel.

After his plight was revealed recently in a Channel 12 report, and following a campaign by several Israelis, including settler leaders, he was awarded Israeli residency on Tuesday, along with his wife and son.

While presenting him his identity documents, Deri praised him for his “selfless, noble” actions and said he would now be able to begin a new life in Israel.
Israel: Swastika Flag on Gaza Border Reveals Hamas’ True Intention — the Annihilation of the Jewish State
Israel continued on Tuesday to call out Hamas for the placing last Friday on the Gaza border fence of a Nazi swastika flag by Palestinian demonstrators.

“When #Hamas-led rioters in #Gaza raise the #Nazi flag, they expose their true intention — to annihilate the Jewish State. But Hamas will never have its way,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry tweeted.

On Monday, it was reported that Hamas had instructed rioters to not use the swastika “so that the Israeli occupation cannot take advantage of it.”

Elad Strohmayer — spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC — tweeted on Tuesday, “Hey #Hamas, I get your concern about your PR but banning Nazi symbols just won’t do it. As long as you call for the destruction of the Jewish State, using swastikas is simply you being honest. It’s not the swastika that makes us think you want to kill all Jews, it’s your charter.”

David Singer: Jordan Jew-hatred Risks Trump, Israel and United Nations Ire
Jordanian Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Minister Abdul Nasser Abu al-Basl – who oversees holy sites in Jordan and Jerusalem – reportedly accused Israelis of illegally entering Aaron’s Tomb and decided that Jordan would close it to all tourists with the exception of those who receive prior government approval.

Abu Basl also told Al Mamlaka TV, a state-funded channel, that he decided to close the tomb following “Israeli violations” at the site and “the performance of rituals without the knowledge of the ministry.”

Jews and Arabs – Moslem and Christian – need to respect each other’s religious places of pilgrimage and not claim exclusivity of any site they may each have a religious connection with.

Jordan’s reprehensible action threatens the release of Trump’s deal of the century and Jordan’s possible participation in negotiations with Israel to successfully bring it to fruition. Trump’s displeasure could see financial and security consequences for Jordan. Possible retaliatory action by Israel on Jordan’s Islamic-sites custodianship in Jerusalem could also follow.

Cooling the situation by allowing Jews to freely access Mount Hor is urgently required.
Jordan should hang its head in shame.



JCPA: The Palestinian Authority Seeks to Erase the Oslo Accords
With these decisions, the PA is trying to unilaterally take over parts of the West Bank and establish facts on the ground – not through negotiations and in blatant violation of the Oslo Accords.

Abbas’ new policy of economic disengagement from Israel and boosting of economic ties with Arab states is intended to pressure Israel and to signal to it and the United States that the PA, despite their opposition, is on the way to establishing an independent state.

Last month Prime Minister Shtayyeh visited Jordan and Iraq and signed a series of economic agreements in the fields of trade, health, energy, and natural resources. The PA has also stopped sending patients to Israeli hospitals for treatment; it aims to stop adding to these hospitals’ revenues.

Shtayyeh is also planning to visit Egypt shortly and sign economic agreements there.

The PA seems to be starting a gradual process of disengagement from Israel without, for now, detracting from the security coordination, and is trying to build economic cooperation with Arab states in place of Israel.

In addition, the crisis of the tax revenues that Israel collects for the PA each month still has not been resolved. The PA is trying to force Israel to stop deducting the money that the PA transfers to the families of terrorists and shahids.

Israel must not fall asleep at the wheel; it needs, already at this stage, to warn the PA publicly that unilaterally ignoring the division of the West Bank into three areas as stipulated by the Oslo Accords is a grave infringement and will lead to harsh Israeli reactions in the field as well as sanctions on the PA and its senior figures. The PA must not be allowed to establish facts on the ground that will affect the final status of the West Bank.
UN: Construction in Judea and Samaria 'must cease immediately'
The United Nations has called on Israel to back down after it advanced the construction of more than 2,300 housing units for Judea and Samaria communities.

“The expansion of settlements has no legal effect and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,” United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement Wednesday. “By advancing the effective annexation of the West Bank, it undermines the chances for establishing a Palestinian state based on relevant UN resolutions, as part of a negotiated two-state solution.”

Israeli construction “must cease immediately and completely,” he demanded.

The plan has also drawn criticism from the European Union and Great Britain, both of which accused Jerusalem of violating international law and the rights of "the Palestinians."

The approvals come a week after the Security Cabinet gave rare approval to more than 700 Palestinian Arab homes in Area C, the part of Judea and Samaria under Israeli military and civilian control, but said it also would approve 6,000 homes in Jewish communities. It is not clear if this week’s approvals are part of that figure.
EU slams West Bank settler building, IDF advances plans for 2,304 homes
The European Union called on Israel to halt West Bank settlement activity after the Higher Planing Council for Judea and Samaria on Monday and Tuesday advanced plans for 2,304 new settler homes.

"All settlement activity is illegal under international law. It erodes the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace.

“The EU expects the Israeli authorities to fully meet their obligations as an occupying power under International Humanitarian Law, and to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, of designating land for exclusive Israeli use, and of denying Palestinian development," the EU said.

Out of those, plans for 1,466 units were deposited, which means they are in the initial stages of discussion, and 838 were validated, which means they were given final approvals, the left-wing NGO Peace Now reported.

Seventy percent of the units, according to the left-wing NGO, are for settlements considered to be isolated, located outside the route of the security barrier.

At one time Israel and the US had made a distinction between isolated settlements and settlement blocs. Isolated settlements were believed to be vulnerable to withdrawal in any future final-status agreement with the Palestinians. Israel in the past held that settlements blocs would be part of its final sovereign borders.






The Forgotten Al-Qaeda Victims of the American Embassy Bombings
When Americans talk about terrorism, they seem to bifurcate time as being either “pre-” or “post- September 11,” using the most infamous of many attacks as the chronological starting point of foreign terrorism against the United States. Many other horrific events tend to be overlooked.

The case in point: this Wednesday, August 7, marks the 21st anniversary of Al-Qaeda’s twin bombings of the American Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed 12 Americans and hundreds of Kenyans and Tanzanians. Two of the American diplomats killed in the bombing had served in Israel, one of America’s greatest allies, prior to serving in Kenya. Julian Bartley, whose son Jay, was also killed in the attack, worked at the U.S. Mission in Tel Aviv. The other victim was my mother, Prabhi Guptara Kavaler, who worked at the old U.S. Consulate in east Jerusalem with my father, Howard Kavaler. Israel deeply impacted both our families. My mom tried unsuccessfully for years to get me to call her “Ima.”

The morning of August 7, 1998, started out like every other morning since my family moved to Kenya two weeks prior. I woke up, poured myself a bowl of Golden Crisp cereal with powdered milk, the norm in Nairobi where the cost of regular milk was exorbitant and could also make you sick. I picked up my book, The Red Badge of Courage, and began to read, looking forward to the fact that it was Friday and my parents would be around more for the weekend. We had lived in Nairobi before, when I was three-years old. I was lonely and my friend Karin, my closest friend whom I met on our previous tour, was out of town. I called my mother to update her on the status of my work. My mother, who we would now describe as a “tiger mom” was from India. School was starting the following week and she wanted me ready, so she assigned me math problems to do every day. When I called Mom, she told me she couldn’t speak right now and that she would call me back in five minutes. That was the last time I spoke with her.
Israel's Security Foils a Hamas Terror Plan on Jerusalem
The IDF and Israel's internal security services foiled a Hamas terror cell's plot to kidnap, shoot and stab civilians in Jerusalem. How do these terror cells operate? Our Daniel Tsemach reports.




Two Arabs arrested in connection with 7-year-old rape
Two Qibiya residents were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the seven-year-old rape case that made headlines last June. Qibiya is directly north of Modi'in and is situated in Binyamin.

These are the first detainees since the indictment against Mahmoud Katusa at the end of June. It is as yet unclear whether the suspicion against the two is that they committed the rape, nor has the nature of the evidence against them been made public.

As part of the earlier investigation, Mahmoud Katusa who worked in the educational institution where the girl studied was arrested.

The suspicions against him were based on information obtained during the investigation, but after he was indicted, the evidence gathered was found to be unsound.
Tel Aviv residents wake up to Arafat, Haniyeh streets
Residents of Tel Aviv found Wednesday morning that right-wing activists had renamed streets throughout the city, with previously familiar boulevards now sporting terrorism-related monikers.

Two streets were renamed after late Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and hastily erected signs designated thoroughfares as “Sderot Runs to Bomb Shelters Street” and “Dolphinarium Street,” named for the Tel Aviv club where a suicide bomber killed 21 people in 2001.

There were also “Death Penalty for Terrorists” and “Incendiary Balloons” streets.

The guerrilla marketing campaign was the brainchild of the Israel Victory Project, an initiative launched by the Middle East Forum, a conservative American think tank that aims to promote “an Israeli victory and a Palestinian defeat” in the Arab-Israeli conflict.


In a statement quoted by right-wing news site Israel National News, the group called on Israelis “to move from a policy of conciliatoriness and weakness to a policy of victory and deterrence.

“This approach learns from history that conflicts end only when one of the sides is defeated and surrenders. Similarly, the conflict with the Palestinians and their supporters will only end after the Palestinians recognize the defeat and failure of the violent war. Without Israeli victory, there will be no end to the conflict.”
Brazilian Politician Praises Jerusalem Stabbing, Refers to Saud Clan as "Mordechai" Clan
Brazilian politician Professor Jamal Harfoush uploaded several videos to his YouTube channel in which he discussed his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In a May 15, 2019 video, Professor Harfoush said that the Nakbah and the establishment of Israel would not have been possible if not for the "homosexual Freemason collaborator" Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, for the Egyptian Expeditionary Forces which he said later evolved into the military junta that runs Egypt, or for the collaboration of the Saud clan – which he referred to as the "Mordechai" clan - with Britain. Professor Harfoush said that Palestine is Islamic Arab land and that the Jihad against the occupation will be passed down to future generations until the land is liberated. In a different video he uploaded on June 1, 2019, Professor Harfoush praised the June 2017 Damascus Gate stabbing that took the life of an Israeli policewoman, saying that the crimes of the Zionist occupation will continue to be met with resistance. In a June 15, 2019 video, Professor Harfoush added that the Palestinians must make more sacrifices until they can establish an independent Palestinian state, and he said: "Let the powerful Palestinian fighting rifle be aimed at the chests of our enemies [and] their collaborators, thus foiling their conspiracies." For a similar video from Professor Harfoush, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 7078.


Hizballah’s Special-Operations Units Are on the Rise, and Could Deploy against the U.S. and Israel
As Iran continues to provoke the United States and its allies—sabotaging oil tankers, shooting down an American drone—it’s important to remember another kind of threat the Islamic Republic has in its arsenal if unchecked: its ally Hizballah, and, specifically, the Lebanese militia’s special-operations cells, which could be sent to attack not only Israel but the United States itself. “Hizballah is clear that if it comes to an American war with Iran, it wants in on the fight,” writes the analyst Matthew Levitt.

[This] is where Hizballah’s external operations apparatus, the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) or Unit 910, comes into play. Over the past several years, Hizballah IJO activities have been on the rise. The uptick began in 2008 as a means of avenging the assassination of Hizballah arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, and later continued as a factor in Iran’s shadow war with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Hizballah’s last successful attack targeted Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria, in 2012. But a long list of other plots has since been foiled around the world in places as far afield as Bolivia, Cyprus, Peru, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Hizballah pre-operational surveillance occurred in Canada, Panama, the U.S., and elsewhere.

A recent case involving a Hizballah operative named Ali Kourani, who was arrested by the FBI, illustrates how Iran might order such attacks:

During one of Kourani’s meetings with the FBI, an interviewing agent recalled, Kourani sat back in his chair, squared his shoulders and stated, “I am a member of 910, also known as Islamic Jihad or the Black Ops of Hizballah. The unit is Iranian-controlled.” Within Hizballah, the unit reports directly to Nasrallah, according to Kourani, but Iran oversees the unit’s operations.

Kourani went on to describe himself to the FBI as being part of a “sleeper cell,” and explained, “There would be certain scenarios that would require action or conduct by those who belonged to the cell.” Kourani said that in the event that the United States and Iran went to war, the U.S. sleeper cell would expect to be called upon to act. And if the United States were to take certain unnamed actions targeting Hizballah, [its chief Hassan] Nasrallah himself, or Iranian interests, Kourani added, “in those scenarios the sleeper cell would also be triggered into action.”
WSJ (link to google news): After Scandal at UN Agency for Palestinians, PA Should Take Over UNRWA's Functions
A corruption scandal involving sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation against whistleblowers and lots of business-class travel has gripped the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). The scandal provides a unique opportunity to phase out the billion-dollar UN bureaucracy.

One lesson that funders must learn concerns the danger of devoting an international organization to a single population. UNRWA was effectively taken over by Palestinians decades ago. UNRWA's 30,000 employees could join the Palestinian Authority, which would take over its health, education and welfare responsibilities like the state it claims to be.

UNRWA's expensive international cadre, including lobbyists in Washington and Geneva, should be disbanded. And Palestinian residents of Arab states - all of whom are considered refugees by UNRWA - should become citizens of those states, as they are in Jordan, or of the Palestinian Authority. If Palestinians truly desire a state, they should join the call for UNRWA's abolition
PA Security Forces Receiving Only Half Their Monthly Pay
Israel has detected a decline in the motivation of PA security forces to foil terror attacks against Israel. An Israeli security official attributes this to two factors: One is the fact that the Palestinian forces have been getting only half their monthly pay. The other is the public climate reminiscent of the Second Intifada (2000-2005), when Palestinian security forces did not want to be perceived as serving the "Zionist enemy."

According to the Israeli source, Abbas thought his refusal to accept any tax money from Israel - after Israel deducted about 10% to equal the sums the PA pays to terrorists and their families - would generate international pressure on Israel. However, such pressure was not forthcoming and the PA found itself in a deep economic crisis. Abbas is reluctant to admit any mistakes and criticism against him is widespread.
Gaza terrorists renew arson balloon attacks on southern Israel
A fire that broke out on Wednesday in the Gaza-adjacent Simhoni forest was the result of an arson balloon flown over the Gaza border fence, an arson investigator from the Ashkelon Fire and Rescue Service determined Wednesday afternoon.

The incident marked the first fire in the area to be caused by an arson balloon from Gaza after a respite of about a month from attacks of this kind.

Last month, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi met with heads of local authorities near Gaza. During the meeting, Kochavi said that the IDF was using every tool at its disposal to put a stop to arson terrorism from the Gaza Strip. Kochavi also briefed the local authority heads on the situation in Gaza, as well as provided an overview of the terrorist organizations which are active there.
MEMRI: Syrian Opposition Website Reveals Precise Locations Of Iranian-Backed Shi'ite Militia Bases In Deir Al-Zour
On July 30, 2019, the Syrian opposition website Ein Al-Porat published a report on its Facebook page detailing the locations of the Shi'ite militias supported by Iran in the Al-Mayadin and Deir Al-Zour region in eastern Syria. The report indicates the locations of the bases and storehouses of these forces and provides details about the weapons in their possession, as well as aerial photographs. According to the report, active in the area are Fatemiyoun militia forces, comprised of Shi'ites of Afghan origin, members of the Iraqi Al-Nujaba movement, and Hizbullah-Lebanon – all of which are U.S.-designated terror organizations. Also stationed in the area are forces of the Baqir Brigade, a Syrian militia loyal to Iran, which in the past has declared its intention to confront the American forces in Syria.[1] The report also reveals that there are anti-aircraft missiles, shoulder-fired missiles, and guided missiles in the region as well. Some of the missiles are aimed at the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are stationed on the opposite bank of the Euphrates River.

On July 2, 2019, the site published a similar report, specifying the locations of Iraqi and Lebanese Shi'ite militias supported by Iran in the Al-Bukamal area on the Syria-Iraq border.[2] These areas are of strategic importance to Iran due to their proximity to the border with Iraq, and because control over them will help Iran to realize its goal to achieve territorial contiguity from its domain up to the Mediterranean Sea and because of the presence there of American forces, which support the Kurdish forces in the area.[3]
Israel Assists the West Against Iran and ISIS
The news that Israel is involved in the U.S.-led naval mission to protect vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf against Iranian aggression cannot be separated from the overall campaign Israel has been waging against the Islamic Republic in recent years.

This campaign began in the previous decade in an effort to quash Iran's nuclear aspirations and has evolved to include preventing the regime from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, and curtailing the quantity and quality of weapons it funnels to militias in the Middle East, especially to Hizbullah.

As a result, Israel is now the world's number one expert on the Iranian issue. Its operations encompass a host of covert and low-intensity military and intelligence efforts to prevent enemy states and terrorist organizations from becoming stronger and thwart their offensive activity.

The overt part of this struggle includes countless operations and strikes on Iranian assets. In 2018, then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot spoke of over 1,000 operations and strikes on Iranian assets.

In fact, Israel's intelligence-gathering superiority in the region is so great that it has been used for surveillance on ISIS in Syria. In operations against the jihadi terrorist group, the acting force may have been Western, but the intelligence from which they were working was Israeli.

It is important to remember that Israel is not taking the lead when it comes to the fight against Iran's ambitions in the Persian Gulf or its nuclear aspi
Israel Assisting U.S.-Led Naval Mission in Strait of Hormuz
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel was involved in a US-led naval mission to provide maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran recently seized merchant ships.

Speaking at a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Katz said Israel was assisting the mission with intelligence and other unspecified fields, the Ynet news reported.

He said the mission was in Israel’s strategic interest of countering Iran and boost ties with Gulf countries.

According to the Israeli news site, Katz told the committee that he instructed his ministry to work to include Israel in the mission after a recent visit to Abu Dhabi. The foreign minister was said to have discussed this at the time with an unnamed senior Emirati official, with whom he discussed the “Iranian threat.”

Katz also reportedly praised Britain’s announcement Monday that it would join the mission, making it the only country so far to officially do so.

The report did not specify whether Katz said Israel would send naval vessels to take part in the US-led mission. A report from the Kan public broadcaster last month said that Israel was not expected to send ships, but would provide intelligence.


MEMRI: Iraqi TV Host Mahdi Jassem Reads Text By Syrian Poet: For 1,400 Years We Have Been Cursing The Jews And Christians, But We Are The Ones Left Without Unity
In a July 21, 2019 show on ANB TV (Iraq), Iraqi TV host Mahdi Jassem read a text from the late Syrian poet Muhammad Al-Maghut. The text was highly critical of Islam and Islamic scholars, and it questioned why Muslims are still expected to behave in the exact same way the progenitors of Islam behaved 1,400 years ago. Jassem read: "After 1,400 years of cursing the Jews and the Christians, [Muslims] are the ones left with no unity [and] it is only Muslim women who have been enslaved... Oh nation in slumber, the people you curse [have gone to] the Moon [and] split the atom... Meanwhile, for you, the only thing on the rise is your genitalia." The text continued to criticize Muslims for studying outlandish things such as sexual Jihad, incest, breastfeeding of grown men, having "farewell sex" with one's deceased wife, and how to properly have sex with animals. The text went on: "Don't our minds have the right to be influenced by the knowledge, science, and technology that surround us? Must our minds be held captive after 1,400 years?"

"After 1,400 Years Of Falsification, We Are Expected To Believe Everything That Was Passed Down To Us"

Mahdi Jassem: "1,400 years ago, people used to live in the deserts, sleep in tents, and light their nights by burning oil and wood. All they knew was how to herd cattle, go on raids, and capture slaves in war. They fought, warred, battled, and got married. 1,400 years ago, they left us stories, biographies, hadiths, and texts that they said were sacred, just like those who preceded them had said. 1,400 years later, we are expected to think like them, to wear what they wore, to lead the same lives they led, to fight one another like they did, and to get married the same way they did. After 1,400 years of falsification, we are expected to believe everything that was passed down to us."
[...]
"We Have Been Praying For The Destruction Of Their Countries, And We Are The Ones Left With No Countries"

"After 1,400 years of cursing the Jews and the Christians in our prayers and of calling upon [Allah] to disperse them, we are the ones left with no unity whatsoever.


Scandal Erupts in Turkey Over Video of Summer Campers Calling for Death of Jews
Members of what appears to be an extremist Muslim sect in Turkey were caught on video calling for the death of Jews, causing a scandal in the majority-Muslim nation.

According to The Jewish Chronicle, the video went viral on Twitter last week and shows a group of girls at what appears to be a summer camp. A woman shouts yehudiye, “To the Jew,” to which the girls reply, “Death!”

The entire group then shouts, “Palestine will be set free!”


It is not certain, but it is believed that the video shows members of the Aczmendi, a very extreme Muslim sect in Turkey that seeks a sharia-ruled state, rejects secularism and advocates for the ethnic cleansing of Israel in favor of an Arab state. It believes Turkey should undertake the conquest of Israel to accomplish this.

Turkish MP Garo Paylan denounced the video and called it child abuse and a hate crime. He pledged to bring criminal charges against the camp counselor and the organization behind it.

“Hate speech opens the path to hate crimes,” he said.

The left-wing newspaper Cumhuriyet called the video a “scandal.” (h/t IsaacStorm)

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