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Tuesday, June 09, 2020

06/09 Links Pt1: Dershowitz: Exploiting the Floyd protests to demonize Israel; Joshua Washington: The Palestinian appropriation of black pain

From Ian:
Alan Dershowitz: Exploiting the Floyd protests to demonize Israel
Historically, the Jews have always been caught between the black of Fascism and the red of Communism. This was true in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Europe, and there is a danger that it could now manifest itself during this time of extremism, when bigots on both sides are prepared to scapegoat the Jews and their nation state.

Those of us who are both Jewish and Liberal – who support Israel and oppose unjustified police violence – must be willing to participate and encourage legitimate protests against police violence, such as that caught on video in the Floyd case. We must stand up and be heard in condemnation of such violations – but we must stand up and be heard against those who would exploit tragedies to foment violence against Jews and the nation state of the Jewish people.

We should not generalize: the vast majority of protesters are focused on the injustices of police misconduct. But we cannot ignore those – even if they are relatively few in number – who would turn these protests into bigoted attacks against Israel. Bigotry unanswered grows in size and intensity.

Silence is not an option in the face of any injustice. Black lives matter greatly; so do Palestinian lives; so do Jewish and Israeli lives. We must not be afraid of being criticized for condemning bigotry on all sides. As the great sage Hillel put it 2000 years ago, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I?” He ended his statement with a call to action: “And if not now, when?”

Now is the time to protest the injustice against George Floyd and other African American men and women who have been unjustly targeted by overzealous – and often racist – police. But now is also the time to speak out against those who would hijack this tragic history to manifest the oldest continuing prejudice known to mankind, namely antisemitism.

Joshua Washington: The Palestinian appropriation of black pain
What adds insult to injury is that BLM does seek allyship from the Jewish community, so long as they are diametrically opposed to the Jewish state. Jewish people should not be expected to check their Zionism at the door in order to join arms with BLM. Jews should not be expected to do that, no more than a Kenyan should be expected to denounce Kenya, or a Brazilian be expected to denounce South America. Can black Americans even imagine joining a Filipino justice movement only to be asked to voice our denunciation of the civil rights movement in order to join? No. We would not. Imagine a justice movement for black South Africans that, despite having good people on the ground who may be unaware of the movement’s national positions, posited that slavery was voluntary, and that West Africans got on ships because they were excited to come to America and be worked to death. There is no scenario where a black American, upon finding this out, would be a part of such movement. It is mind boggling to fathom why anyone would expect anyone else to do the same.

I appreciate my Jewish brothers and sisters seeking to make inroads in the black community, as they have been making these attempts for decades, but regarding the issue of Black Lives Matter, whether the black members are aware or not, there needs to be a conversation about their national official position on Israel. Not only Israel, and not only BLM, but in any movement, it is simply a good principle to find out what the movement is about beyond the facade before committing to it. I personally have issues with many of the official M4BL stances. The vast majority of our values do not align, and so for me to join them would be for no other reason than they’re the loudest and everyone is doing it. Those are bad reasons, and the Jewish community should not fall into that trap. We have seen what happened to Jewish members of SNCC when SNCC decided to shift their stance on Israel and Jews. It would not be wise to join a movement with antisemitism already as its bedrock.

The image is just one recent examples of Palestinians continuing to equate our struggles. Another image easily found on the internet is a painting of recently murdered George Floyd in a keffiyeh with a Palestinian flag behind him, depicting him as a Palestinian martyr. This is wrong on many accounts, as our struggle could not be any more different.

One of the biggest differences is terrorism. The Palestinian Authority encourages and incentivizes Palestinians to kill Jews. Palestinians who successfully kill Jews are awarded with a monthly stipend from the PA. Palestinians who commit suicide while killing Jews have a monthly stipend sent to their families. Palestinian children are trained to kill Jews by any means, including suicide bombing, and they are taught this through terrorist traning camps and Hamas TV shows. Streets are named after Palestinians who commit suicide bombings if they kill enough Jews. As heightened as the black community has ever been, never have we as a people resorted to killing white people everywhere just because they are white. Never have we encouraged the death of our own children for our cause. Never have we ever produced television shows to teach our children how to kill white people. What the Palestinian Authority is engaged in is not a struggle against oppression; it is pure and simple Jew hatred, and Palestinian leaders will do anything they can to legitimize it including exploiting black pain to do so.

We as black Americans need to realize these attempts to deceive us. We need to stop allowing people who have no real interest in our well-being to tell us how to behave toward our Jewish cousins. Blacks and Jews have much more history that binds us than we could ever have with the likes of the PLO, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or Mahmoud Abbas. I will concede, however, that we do share a common struggle with the Palestinian people, and that is the struggle of many manipulative leaders who claim to be our saviors.

But that is a conversation for another time…
StandWithUs: Zionism & The Civil Rights Movement
What is the connection between Zionism and the civil rights movement? Join us as we chat with Joshua Washington, the director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI), who will discuss his role in the Zionist space, unearthing how Zionism and black civil rights walked hand in hand. As a composition graduate of the University of Pacific’s Conservatory of Music, Washington will also talk about how his music and advocacy help to amplify Zionism in a unique and innovative way.




Jewish history won't forgive those who foil sovereignty bid
The media outlets that broadcast depression and desperation are constantly trying to incite more criticism of the people in charge, even by giving a platform to delusional experts. The media behaves as if the heads of the health care system were right-wing voters who made decisions based on their political leanings, or as if the directors of the Finance Ministry's Budgets Department were radical capitalists, deaf to the distress that coronavirus has caused families and individuals.

It's shame that much of the criticism being voiced is because of petty, populist political considerations. The needs of the people are many and there isn't enough to go around. A great deal of thought is needed to find the proper balance while distributing limited resources, as well as the proper balance between public health and the economy. Thus far, Israel has done wonderfully well and is the envy of the world when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

It's also very important that MKs, especially from the Likud, who are disappointed at not having been appointed to ministerial positions refrain from harming the public's faith in the government's decisions. There are better ways to criticize and contribute. There is no need to use the media. Anyone who thinks that criticizing the government's decisions from inside the coalition will help him or her get a leg up in the future does not understand how right-wing voters think.

The biggest challenge of all is sovereignty. I do not use the term "annexation," because no one can annex what already belongs to him. This Saturday, we will read the Torah portion Shelach, in which Moses sends spies to the Land of Israel who see a bountiful land but still report back with a message of despair. As a result, "the people wept that night." Their punishment was 2,000 years of weeping, until the state of Israel was established.

Now we have a historic opportunity to declare sovereignty over parts of our homeland in Judea and Samaria. We must not weep, we need to take advantage of this opportunity. To do that, we need unity. Jewish history will not forgive anyone who let a bird in the hand go because they wanted the two in the bush.
Mark Regev responds to 40 prominent Jews’ appeal against annexation
In a brief overview he reaches back into Israeli history as far back as the Six Day War of 1967. He writes: “Yitzchak Rabin, who led Israel to victory in the Six Day War and as Prime Minister signed the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, firmly believed that any sustainable peace would have to be built on robust security arrangements”.

Significantly, Mr Regev refers to Prime Minister Rabin’s final speech to the Knesset, just one month before his assassination in November 1995. In this speech, Mr Regev points out, Mr Rabin “outlined his vision of a final status peace which he said would demand Israeli control over the Jordan Valley ‘in the broadest meaning of that term’”.

Israel’s “friends in the international community”, Mr Regev reminds the letter writers, “have long understood secure borders to be a cornerstone of any durable peace”. He adds: “Writing to Prime Minister Sharon in 2004 in support of Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza, President Bush recognised that any negotiated solution must account for ‘realities on the ground, including already existing Israeli population centres’, and that a policy of ‘full and complete return’ to pre-1967 lines would be ‘unrealistic’. I know many friends of Israel here in the United Kingdom share that view.”

Crucially, Mr Regev concludes his response by telling the letter signatories that President Trump’s most recent peace plan took such concerns into account and had been received well by most Arab states.

He adds: “In moving forward, Israel’s new unity government will remain cognisant of our steadily improving relations across the Arab and Muslim world, and our critically important partnership with Jordan. We will continue to engage with Washington about how best to seize the historic opportunities inherent in the American initiative, which offers the hope of a more peaceful and secure future. It is high time for the Palestinians to come to the table and constructively do the same”.
Report: White House Will Not Back West Bank Annexation Without Israeli Government Consensus
The White House will not back annexation of parts of the West Bank without a consensus in the Israeli government, particularly between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

According to a report published Tuesday by Israel’s Channel 13, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman attended a meeting with the three men on Sunday in order to urge them to reach an understanding on the issue, that would then be brought to the Trump administration for approval.

At the moment, no such consensus exists, with Netanyahu — head of the right-wing Likud party — pushing to annex the maximum amount of territory possible, and Gantz and Ashkenazi — No. 1 and No. 2 in the centrist Blue and White party — seeking the opposite.

Gantz has said publicly that, while he approved annexing some parts of the West Bank, especially the strategic Jordan Valley, he wanted it done only in coordination with Israel’s Arab neighbors and the US. The former is extremely unlikely to take place.
'Only Israel can decide to delay sovereignty bid,' US official says
A top official in US President Donald Trump's administration said Monday that the US will not hold back Israel's plan to announce sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and settlements in Judea and Samaria, as it was a decision to be made "[only] by Israeli leaders."

Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr made the comment at a conference for Diaspora Jewry hosted by the weekly Makor Rishon newspaper.

"One thing may delay applying sovereignty, and that is a decision by Israel's leaders," Carr told Makor Rishon.

"We made it clear, [that] when to annex, how to do it, and how much, is a decision of the prime minister and his partner [Defense Minister] Benny Gantz. They need to make a decision, we said we're willing to recognize the State of Israel's sovereignty in those territories," he added.
Full annexation would cost Israel $15 billion per year, study says
Unilaterally annexing all of the West Bank would cost the state a hefty NIS 52 billion ($15b.) per year, according to research commissioned by the nongovernmental group Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS).

The study published by the movement of retired Israeli senior security officials, prepared by five leading economists, evaluated the likely impact of several annexation scenarios on Israel’s economy.

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to push through with the annexation of up to 30% of the West Bank on July 1, implementing part of US President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”

Should Israel ultimately or gradually opt to annex the entire West Bank, including 2.6 million Palestinian citizens currently under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, the move would cost the government an additional NIS 67b. ($19.5b.) on an annual basis – including expenditures on health, education, national insurance and security.

After offsetting approximately NIS 15b. ($4.35b.) in revenues, primarily from taxation and national insurance contributions, annexation would cost a total of NIS 52b. ($15b.) per year – amounting to 12.8% of the government’s 2018 budget.

An alternative scenario, in which Israel annexes Area C alone and the remainder of the West Bank remains under military control, would add NIS 8.4b. ($2.44b.) to government expenditures every year.

“Once the annexation process has commenced, even if only partially, it can finish in full annexation – even if that takes time,” former Finance Ministry director-general and CIS research critic David Brodt told The Jerusalem Post.

“It can happen slowly, and it is a gradual process of internal and international pressure while granting civil and economic rights,” Brodt said. “Like the example of east Jerusalem, it costs money.”
If the PA Doesn’t Want to Disband After West Bank Move, What Options Does It Have?
Israel’s reported intention to apply sovereignty over some territories in Judea and Samaria is provoking a storm in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Jordan, and to a lesser extent in other Arab states. The question before us is what might happen on the Palestinian side if Israel does indeed take the step to annex or apply sovereignty over parts of the West Bank.

The PA has already announced the cessation of security coordination with Israel. However, my discussions with Palestinian sources indicates that coordination continues in alternative ways, and IDF forces continue to operate in PA territories with the knowledge of Palestinian security forces. As long as Jordan’s border crossings are in Israel’s hands, the PA cannot detach itself from security coordination with Israel. Without such cooperation, the PA’s leaders will not be able to cross over to Jordan, and that would sever their ties with the Arab world.

Is the implied threat to renew terrorism realistic? No.

Arafat launched the Second Intifada when he had logistical support in Jordan and beyond — in Syria, Sudan, and Iran. Today’s Jordan is not Jordan from back then, and Jordanian security forces are now blocking Palestinian terrorist activity from being launched from their territory.

The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, with ties to the royal palace, is also opposed to “Hamasification” within Jordan, and is careful not to arm itself or allow any branch to follow Hamas’ footsteps. Large arsenals can be found in the refugee camps and cities of the West Bank, such as Yaabed, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nablus, but these are weapons provided to supporters of dissident Mohammed Dahlan and are reserved for the expected violent power struggle after Abbas leaves the scene. So far, the violence against the IDF has been mostly throwing stones; these firearms are being saved — at least for now — for internal conflicts.

Fatah’s Tanzim militia, which is a criminal organization in nationalist camouflage, is better off maintaining the status quo because it is good for business. They do not want to challenge the IDF or cause Abbas to intervene. Therefore, they do not provoke the IDF, nor do they challenge Abbas, as long as the Palestinian security forces maintain their distance from the refugee camps.
Palestinian official warns Abbas willing 'to let PA collapse' to foil Israel's sovereignty bid
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans to run his administration to the ground to prevent Israeli from pursuing its plan to apply sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, a senior Palestinian official told The New York Times on Monday.

According to the report, Abbas plans to slash the wages of tens of thousands of functionaries and police officers, as well as the $105 million in monthly aid it sends to the Gaza Strip.

In addition, any Israeli citizens or Arab residents of Jerusalem arrested in the West Bank will be tried in Palestinian courts instead of being handed over to the Israel Police, the report noted.

These provocative steps seek to prevent Israel from pushing ahead with the controversial annexation move. The sovereignty move has been endorsed by the Trump administration as part of its "deal of the century" but has met fierce objection from the Palestinians.

The European Union and United Nations have warned Israel against making any unilateral moves, saying annexation would doom the already moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

According to Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian official in charge of relations with Israel and one of Abbas' closest advisers, the Palestinian leader wants to effectively force Israel to shoulder full responsibility, "as a military occupier," for the two million Palestinians living in the West Bank.

"We are not nihilists, or fools, and we don't want chaos," Sheikh told NYT. "We are pragmatic," he added. "We don't want things to reach a point of no return. Annexation means no return in the relationship with Israel."
Palestinian PM: We will declare state on 1967 lines if Israel annexes W. Bank
If Israel annexes part of the West Bank on July 1, the Palestinian Authority will declare a Palestinian state based on the armistice lines from before the 1967 Six Day War and call on the international community to recognize it, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh warned on Tuesday.

Speaking to members of the foreign press from the prime minister’s office in Ramallah, he also said that he would expect the international front to impose sanctions on Israel if such a move was made.

“We are facing the moment of truth: nowhere on earth can we live with this annexation,” he threatened. “If Israel goes to annexation, it is a different day for us... Annexation is an existential threat to our future.”

There are four pillars of a Palestinian state: Gaza, Jerusalem, Areas A, B and C of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, Shtayyeh said. Therefore, “annexation is the erosion of a future Palestinian state,” he said, “and the world has to choose between international law and annexation. I am sure the international community will choose international law.”

He described annexation as having a number of dimensions, and efforts to combat the move as broken down into two phases.

The first dimension of annexation was taken on April 20, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz signed an agreement that states the country has a right to annex West Bank land. The agreement was based on support by the United States and its “Deal of the Century” peace plan, which US President Donald Trump rolled out at the end of January and allows for Israel to annex some 30% of the West Bank.

“When they were sworn into the Knesset, they announced they were going to annex, and at the first cabinet meeting they announced they were going to annex the Jordan Valley, specifically,” he recalled.


ICC Prosecutor: Israel war crimes probe can go on despite Oslo Accords
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has told the ICC’s Pretrial Chamber that a war crimes probe against Israelis can proceed despite the continued application of the Oslo Accords.

Israel and its allies have claimed that the Oslo Accords prevent the PA from seeking ICC involvement in a potential criminal issue and from seeking statehood absent a deal between the parties. Bensouda’s decision on Monday was a rejection of Israel’s legal argument.

Bensouda further expressed concern about the impact of annexation on the combustible Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said that any annexation by Israel of any part of the West Bank would not have legal validity.

The ICC chief prosecutor’s statement came in response to a May 27 request from the ICC Pretrial Chamber to clarify the status of the Oslo Accords and their impact on a war crimes probe against Israel.

The ICC asked the Palestinian Authority to declare whether the Oslo Accords are still legally binding. The request came after PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared on May 19 that the PA no longer viewed itself as bound by the Oslo Accords due to Israel’s intention to annex parts of the West Bank.

Responding to this question, the PA said that Abbas’s May 19 declaration was not part of the legal record of the war crimes case regarding Israel.
Joe Truzman: Analysis: Palestinian factions warn Israel against West Bank annexation
Palestinian militant groups have said they will respond if the Israeli government goes through with a pledge to annex parts of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley.

The consequence of annexation could spell trouble on several fronts for Israel. The international community has largely rebuked Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statements of annexation and have warned of possible sanctions against Israel in the event it follows through. Furthermore, militant groups in Gaza and the West Bank could resume wide-scale operations in response to the unilateral move.

On May 20, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced “The Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones.”

Many Palestinian militant groups lauded Abbas’ announcement including Fatah-affiliated Fursan al Fatah. Shortly after Abbas’ announcement, the group published a statement warning Israel not to proceed with the planned annexation of the West Bank.

“We affirm the option of armed struggle is a priority for us to confront this critical development in the history of our Palestinian cause. We warn the Israeli enemy not to harm our sanctities and the capabilities of our people, and if he does that, we will follow him with ravages that make him bite the fingers of remorse,” the Fursan al Fatah statement read.

Although, militant groups loyal to Fatah such as al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Fursan al Fatah have the potential to cause significant problems in the West Bank, the main concern of Israel’s security services are likely the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Both groups are primarily based in Gaza but have active political and military wings in the West Bank. They also have the capability to launch terror operations such as shootings, car-ramming attacks, stabbings, and a plethora of other attacks, including the use of explosives.
EU hypocrites take territory while blasting Israeli annexation
The member states of the European Union – both individually and collectively via the Quartet – are in a tizzy and hypocritically warning Israel against annexation, even as those same countries continue to occupy numerous territories that they have annexed.

Let's start with the French. France recently urged the European Union to take punitive measures against Israel if it annexes anything.

That's right, France – which has been ruling the 890-square mile Reunion Island, off the southeast coast of Africa, for more than 300 years. As well as ruling the 144-square mile Mayotte Island for nearly 200 years. The area of the Gush Etzion communities is all of 45 square miles.

France, which has been occupying the five so-called "Scattered Islands" in defiance of a 1979 UN resolution demanding they be surrendered to Madagascar.

France, which in 1955 announced that the thousands of miles of what it calls "French Southern and Antarctic Lands" would henceforth be considered official French Overseas Territory. By what right, exactly?

And France, the Grand Annexer, lectures Israel on annexation? How do you say chutzpah in French?
PreOccupiedTerritory: Joint List Angered At Israeli Decision To Exert Sovereignty Over Israel (satire)
Lawmakers from the alliance of several mostly-Arab political parties in Israel’s parliament voiced outrage today at the government’s announced intention to continue exercising its laws and governance instead of dismantling the mechanisms of Jewish independence and returning Jews to the mercy of whoever else rules the place.

Legislators from the Joint List, joined by a handful of colleagues from the nominally-Zionist Meretz party, expressed their ongoing anger Tuesday as Israel prepared for the eventuality of not relinquishing its territory to entities that have sworn to drive the Jews into the Mediterranean, and possibly to extend that sovereignty to other areas in the ancestral Jewish homeland where Jews live.

“This is unconscionable,” declared MK Ahmad Tibi. “It violates everything my constituency values. And by ‘constituency’ I mean the vocal, sometimes-violent minority of Arab voters and their terrorism-supporting allies all over the region. The peace-loving, coexistence-pursuing, integration-favoring Arab citizens of Israel can go stuff it. They get too-easily distracted by unimportant details such as the fact that they enjoy more rights and better security under Jewish sovereignty than anyone ever living under Arab or Muslim rule. As if that even matters when there’s the shame of the Nakba to expiate.”

“Forget the Jordan Valley,” warned MK Hiba Yazbak. “No one cared about the Jordan Valley when Jordan occupied the area. That isn’t even the issue. The issue isn’t what Israel took control of in 1967, but in 1948. The continuing application of Israeli law to areas taken in 1948 is outrageous, a clear violation of international law.” Ms. Yazbak declined to specify what statute, convention, protocol, or other document setting forth international law formed the basis of her statement, insisting instead that any notion or interpretation of existing principles that undermines Jewish sovereignty is “international law” enough for her.
Morning Star publishes article linking George Floyd killing to Israel
The Morning Star newspaper has published an article attempting to link Israel with the killing of the black American George Floyd.

In a report published on June 1st by the Communist Party of Great Britain’s news outlet, it was alleged that "officers from the US police force responsible for the killing of George Floyd received training in restraint techniques and anti-terror tactics from Israeli law-enforcement officers".

The unsubstantiated allegation was based on a claim that "100 Minnesota police officers attended a 2012 conference hosted by the Israeli consulate in Chicago, the second time such an event had been held".

But there is no evidence whatsoever that US police were taught tactics such as those which led to the death of Mr Floyd, which was captured on video by an onlooker.

Neither is there any evidence that any of the officers involved in the incident in which Mr Floyd was killed attended the conference.

The Morning Star rely instead on a speculative quote from Neta Golan, the co-founder of International Solidarity Movement (ISM). He says: “When I saw the picture of killer cop Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd by leaning in on his neck with his knee as he cried for help and other cops watched, I remembered noticing when many Israeli soldiers began using this technique of leaning in on our chest and necks when we were protesting in the West Bank sometime in 2006.’’

The article has been condemned in America – even by a Jewish organisation not normally known for its criticism of those who attack Israel.










State seeks life in prison for Israeli murderer of Palestinian couple and child
State prosecutors asked the Lod District Court on Tuesday to hand down three life sentences and 40 additional years behind bars to the perpetrator of the 2015 terrorist firebombing of a Palestinian home that resulted in the deaths of three family members sleeping inside.

The request was made during the sentencing hearing for Amiram Ben-Uliel, a 26-year-old religious extremist from an outpost outside the Shiloh settlement in the central West Bank. The father of one was convicted last month on three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of arson, but acquitted on the charge of membership in a terror organization.

On July 12, the court will hand down its sentence for Ben-Uliel, who hurled the firebomb into the Dawabsha home in the central West Bank village of Duma that burned to death 18-month-old Ali and his parents, Riham and Saad, and seriously injured four-year-old Ahmad.

Ahmad’s grandfather Hussein and uncle Nasr, who have been caring for him since the incident, testified at Tuesday’s hearing regarding the attack’s impact on their family.

Hussein characterized as “torture” the year following the firebombing, half of which he spent in the hospital where Ahmad was recovering from severe burns.
Los Angeles Times Fabricates Findings of Investigation Into Killing of Autistic Palestinian
It’s unclear whom Times correspondent Shashank Bengali was actually quoting regarding alleged suspicions based on the fact that Halak “was wearing gloves” – perhaps Salem Barahmeh, director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, who weighs in on the case further down in the article – but certainly the direct quote, which significantly appears within the journalistically sacred quotation marks, is not drawn from any “official investigation,” contrary to the article’s claim

CAMERA yesterday contacted editors to request correction of the unfounded claim about the official investigation. Unfortunately, the paper’s recent track record on correcting has not been promising. Editors have yet to correct a May 13 article with the straightforward factual error that then outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has been Minister of Health. He has not. As CAMERA wrote to editors at the time, in addition to serving as Defense Minister, Bennett previously served as Minister of Education, Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Minister of Economy, and Minister of Religious Services. He has never served as health minister.

In addition, editors failed to correct the inaccurate claim in the same article that the “new Israeli government will have to tackle possible annexation of West Bank lands “by July 1.” (Emphasis added.) In fact, the coalition agreement permits advancement of legislation to advance the application of sovereignty in areas of the West Bank not before July 1.
PA Tax Money to Go to Palestinians Tortured for Working with Israel
Israel has confiscated some 2.5 million shekels ($724,000) of the tax money it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to be paid to three Palestinians who were subjected to torture after the PA accused them of working with Israel.

The three recipients are part of a group of 52 Palestinians who sued the PA in the Jerusalem District Court for damages after PA authorities arrested them on charges of "collaborating" with Israel. All were tortured.

In November 2018, the Supreme Court rejected a PA appeal against the district court ruling in favor of the plaintiffs and ruled that the PA would compensate each plaintiff to the tune of 450 shekels ($130) per day they were in detention, even before a total amount of punitive damages for the violence to which they were subjected was decided.

However, the PA refused to pay out the court-ordered compensation, and Israel froze its assets in an attempt to force Ramallah to pay the final sum of 14 million shekels ($4 million) to the 52 victims.

The decision to take some of the money out of the tax income Israel collects for the PA marks the first time that Israel has taken such a step to enforce a court ruling.
PMW: PA incites terror: “This great people fights with daggers, knives and cannon shells”
The PA is actively inciting the Palestinian street to violence and terror against Israel in numerous ways. One method is by broadcasting a constant stream of music videos and fillers that demonize Israel, encourage violence, and justify terror. Israel and the Jews are said to be threatening Islam, its holy sites, and Palestinian and Muslim “honor.”

“This great people fights with daggers, knives and cannon shells”
One song broadcast on the PA-controlled PA TV Live describes the Palestinians as “the great people” that “fights with daggers and rocks, with knives and cannon shells” against “Allah’s enemy”:
Lyrics: “Your face is Arab and will not change, and your eyes are Palestinian.
The revolution will never change its fighting identity.
You are the source of water, you are the torch
– an olive branch and a rifle…
This is the great people, it fights with daggers and rocks,
With knives and cannon shells, with a poem and a song.
The more Allah’s enemy acts tyrannically,
O Jerusalem, you will remain Arab”

[Official PA TV Live, May 30, 2020]

As Palestinian Media Watch reported yesterday, the PA has broadcast similar songs calling for the murder of Jews in suicide bombings and stabbings to “restore honor.”

“Allah is stronger and greater than the Children of Zion”
Another song also describes the conflict as Allah's battle against the Jews – “the -Children of Zion.” This song, “Where are the millions,” is famous for being used to motivate Palestinians to take to the streets and wage “intifada,” i.e., engage in violence and terror against Israelis:






After Germany Banned Hizbullah Activities, Now It's the EU's Turn
Hizbullah is spreading violence and terror across the whole world and has been exploiting Germany as a safe haven. Our security authorities have been keeping a close eye on the organization for some time. In 2008, Germany banned the Hizbullah TV channel Al Manar for broadcasting hate propaganda and anti-Israel content, intended to radicalize Muslims in Germany. The German Bundestag last December called on the federal government to ban the activities of Hizbullah, which the government announced on April 30, 2020.

At present, the Netherlands and the UK also classify Hizbullah as a terrorist organization, and we can expect further EU states to follow suit. In addition, the distinction between its political and military wings may well be abolished at the European level. The writer is a member of the committee for Homeland Security in the German Bundestag.
Iran prepares to confront Israel in Syria via Hezbollah - report
Iran may be preparing for conflict with Israel in Syria and no longer will accept Israeli airstrikes on its warehouses without a response, a report over the weekend suggested. Veteran journalist Elijah Magnier wrote on the website Medium about whether the “great Middle Eastern war will begin in the Levant” and cited Syria as a potential flashpoint.

Magnier’s report is interesting because he asserts that according to “private” sources, Iran is evacuating “sites of the gatherings of its advisers, not for withdrawal or for redeployment, but to find bases within the Syrian Army barracks. Hezbollah has taken over the vacated Iranian buildings. Russia has been informed of the change so that the information would reach Israel.”

In mid-May, reports emerged that Iran might be withdrawing some of its forces from Syria, estimated at some 1,000 IRGC personnel. But analysts and US officials rejected this assessment at the time.

The June 6 piece by Magnier provides another view as to what may be happening: “Iran no longer wants to accept Israeli strikes on its warehouses without any response.”

An airstrike killed nine Iranian-backed forces in Syria, Radio Farda reported over the weekend. This report also said there were explosions near Masyaf, a Syrian-regime and Iranian facility that has been hit by airstrikes in the past. That airstrike may have taken place on June 4.

Another airstrike, blamed on Israel, was reported overnight on June 7 in the morning. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some eight warheads fired by “unidentified drones” hit an area near Deir Ezzor. The targets were Afghan and Iraqi Shi’ite militias at the “Meizileh base,” reports said.

Iran has been moving its advisers, which Magnier say number a few hundred, to Syrian-regime bases. This would protect them ostensibly because airstrikes would be less likely to hit them there. If there were airstrikes, then the Syrian regime would respond, and this “would most likely drag the US into the battle to support its ally Israel and have an impact on the forthcoming elections,” Magnier wrote.
Trump Admin Sanctions Iranian Shipping Company Tied to WMD Program
The Trump administration on Monday reimposed sanctions on Iran's shipping industry due to its efforts to import ballistic missile technology and other equipment used as part of Tehran's weapons of mass destruction program.

The State Department announced that sanctions will be slapped on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and a subsidiary corporation based in China, which has helped Iran skirt sanctions in the past. The sanctions on the entities were lifted for the past six months to help Iran import medical goods needed to aid its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Now that this generous delay has come to an end, those in the commercial and maritime industries doing business with Iran must use carriers or shipping methods other than IRISL" or risk facing "exposure to U.S. WMD sanctions," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Iran's shipping sector is key to its import of illicit missile technology and other nuclear proliferation-sensitive technologies tied to the country's atomic weapons program.

"Despite Iran's claims that it will never develop nuclear weapons and associated delivery systems, the Iranian regime has continued to pursue and procure proliferation-sensitive items in violation" of United Nations accords barring such activity, Pompeo said.
EU rejects any US attempt to invoke Iran nuclear deal to impose arms embargo
The European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday that since the United States has already withdrawn from an international agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, it can’t now use its former membership in the pact to try to impose a permanent arms embargo on the Islamic Republic.

The accord, which Iran signed with the US, Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia in 2015, has been unraveling since US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out in 2018 and reinstated sanctions designed to cripple Tehran under what the US called a “maximum pressure” campaign.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said Friday that Iran had accumulated enriched uranium at nearly eight times the limit under the nuclear deal, and has for months blocked inspections at sites where nuclear activity may have taken place.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft have said that extending a permanent UN backed arms embargo against Iran is now a top priority for Washington.

But speaking to reporters Tuesday after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell insisted that since the US has pulled out of the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, it can no longer claim to have a role in it.

“The United States has withdrawn from the JCPOA, and now they cannot claim that they are still part of the JCPOA in order to deal with this issue from the JCPOA agreement. They withdraw. It’s clear. They withdraw,” Borrell said.
How Qassem Soleimani's Killing Diminished Iran's Middle East Hegemony
Six months ago, a U.S. missile brought to an end the 23-year military career of the Middle East's most dangerous man: Qassem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) expeditionary arm.

The Quds network of proxies has assassinated foreign politicians, laid siege to cities, and fomented chaos across the Middle East.

Dr. Nima Mina, Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, noted that Soleimani's successor, Esmail Qaani, "doesn't have Soleimani's ability to bring together people and to attract new recruits."

Qaani may be experienced in managing Afghanistan and Pakistan, but "he's not an expert in the critical areas west of Iran where the Quds Force is engaged: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Qaani doesn't even speak Arabic."

By monitoring social media, Mina said, it has become clear that "among young members of the Basij (IRGC militia) in Syria, the mood is very low; they're pessimistic."

In Iraq, two attempts to install an Iran-friendly prime minister ended with failure, mass protests and Iranian consulates going up in flames.

Iraq now has a U.S.-friendly prime minister - a man rumored to have provided the U.S. with intelligence that led to the killing of Soleimani.

Iran to execute man accused of providing intel on Soleimani to US, Israel


Iran executes ‘high number’ of gays, says German intelligence









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