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Tuesday, March 09, 2021

03/09 Links Pt1: Trump Administration's West Bank and Gaza Labeling Helped Affirm Reality; Dershowitz: ICC's Israel decision is self-inflicted lethal wound on court; Squelching the PLO incentive to murder

From Ian:

David Milstein: Trump Administration's West Bank and Gaza Labeling Helped Affirm Reality
Two weeks ago, six far-left groups sent an inaccurate and deceitful letter to the Biden administration that urged the reversal of the Trump administration's labeling requirements for goods exported from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza Strip into the United States. Their effort is not surprising, given their long record of vilifying and delegitimizing Israel and their support for the discriminatory Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. But there is absolutely no legitimate basis to reverse the Trump administration's decision, which is consistent with long-standing U.S. policy and practice, as well as prior agreements and the reality on the ground.

The Trump administration's Notice issued on December 23, 2020 requires goods produced where Israel continues to exercise relevant authorities and administrative control under the Oslo Accords and Hebron Protocol in Area C and H2 of the West Bank be labeled as "Product of Israel" or similar markings. Goods produced where the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to have civilian oversight in Areas A and B, along with H1 of the West Bank, must be labeled as "West Bank" or similar markings. Goods from the Gaza Strip have to be marked as "Gaza Strip" or similar markings. It is no longer permitted for goods from any of these geographic areas to be labeled as "West Bank and Gaza" or similar markings.

The central argument in the groups' letter is that the Trump administration's decision "marks a significant change from longstanding U.S. Customs guidance maintained under both Democratic and Republican administrations, which prohibits products from anywhere in the West Bank—whether from settlements or Palestinian areas—from being labeled as made in Israel." Their letter further states that "[t]he pre-Trump guidance was first promulgated in 1995 following the Oslo Accords." Both these claims are untrue. Indeed, these groups conveniently excluded from their letter the 1995 Notice text described prior to the Oslo Accords: "Customs required that the word 'Israel' must appear in the marking designation" for all goods exported from the West Bank or Gaza Strip.

The 1995 Notice changed the labeling requirements only after the Oslo Accords. Goods from the West Bank or Gaza Strip had to be marked as "West Bank," "Gaza" or "Gaza Strip," and could no longer use the word "Israel" or similar markings. The 1997 Notice then stated that the West Bank and Gaza should be considered one territory, thus permitting the label "West Bank and Gaza" or similar markings. Both the 1995 and 1997 Notices were reaffirmed by the Obama administration in 2016.

But there were three main problems with the 1995 and 1997 Notices.
CAMERA Op-Ed In POLITICO, Peace Processors Offer Bad Advice
Writing in POLITICO Magazine, Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky proclaim that “elections have consequences” and herald that new U.S. President Joe Biden “will end the Trump sugar high for Israel and Saudi Arabia.”

Both Miller and Sokolsky have decades of public service to their credit, serving in Republican and Democratic administrations alike. Their years of service should be commended. But both, regrettably, have failed to learn either from their experience or from recent events.

First, Miller and Sokolsky assert that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have the “two biggest egos” in the Middle East. While certainly subjective—and prime ministers and princes are not usually known for their humility—this claim omits the dictatorship in Tehran, where both the power and likeness of Iran’s self-styled “Supreme Leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are omnipresent.

It is unsurprising that the two analysts omitted Khamenei. The rest of their op-ed reveals an inability to recognize the strategic challenges that confront the United States in the Middle East.

Iran is the main threat plaguing the U.S. in the region. Long listed as a chief state sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic has, in recent years alone, plotted to blow up a restaurant in Washington D.C., murdered U.S. servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan, planned attacks at major U.S. airports and power grids, and sheltered and supplied both Al-Qaeda and Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the progenitor of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Tehran has also acted as arguably the greatest imperialist power in the world, with its proxies seizing power in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and, to a different extent, Syria.
Jonathan Tobin: Will Biden’s moves bring the Saudis closer to Israel?
What can the Saudis and other Arab states do to protect their interests in the face of America abandoning them?

As some sources told JNS, the breach with the Americans could draw the Saudis and other Arab states closer to Israel. Indeed, a desire to make things right with the Americans might impel Riyadh to break down and recognize Israel itself, rather than persist with the current status in which the two countries are actively allied but do so without formal recognition.

It’s far from clear that’s the most likely outcome.

As much as MBS and the Saudis value their relationship with Israel and regard it now as essential to their security, there is a big difference between them and the other Arab countries. The Saudi royal family sees its legitimacy as rooted in its status as the guardian of Islamic holy places in Mecca and Medina. Recognizing the Jewish state makes sense from a realpolitik perspective, but not from a religious one since such a move would render the Saudis even more vulnerable to attacks from Islamist critics.

There’s also the possibility that Washington won’t merely punish the Saudis but actively pressure them and the other Gulf states to make their peace with Iran. Indeed, muscling them into bowing to American demands may be a much higher priority for the administration than strong-arming Israel into making concessions to a Palestinian Authority that even Washington’s most ardent two-state solution advocates know won’t make peace.

While it’s hard to imagine such a turn of events right now, stranger things have happened in the history of the Middle East.

Downgrading relations with the Saudis might bring them even closer to Israel and further solidify an Israel-Arab alliance against Iran that could be powerful enough to deter Iranian aggression and transcend Washington’s feckless efforts to appease Tehran.

But if the Biden administration, despite its claims of support for the Abraham Accords, decides that it wants to actively trash them so as to assist its agenda of making nice with Iran or try to bring the dead-in-the-water peace process with the Palestinians back to life, it’s not inconceivable that they could wind up sabotaging the greatest advance towards Middle East peace in decades.

Seen from that perspective, Biden’s swipe at the Saudis isn’t so much a blow struck for human rights as possibly a devastating defeat for the cause of genuine peace between Jews and Arabs.
Saudi Shocker Temple Mount is Jewish, Muslims Should Pray Toward Mecca
Saudi Twitter users have recently been pushing a new line of thought that plays up the importance of Muslims praying towards the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, while downplaying the importance of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Israel National News(INN) reported Sunday.

The controversial campaign appears to be designed to push the message emphasizing the importance of the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina as the holy places of Islam, and to eliminate the importance of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount for Muslims, thereby decreasing any Islamic authority the Palestinians have over the site.

One of the messages reportedly comes from well-known Saudi cartoonist Fahd al-Jabiri, who tweeted that “the direction of the prayers of the Jews is not important to us, what is important to us is only our homeland.”

Another English-language tweet is by a Moroccan user named Ibtissam Zegiga whose profile says he studies Hebrew and wants peace, and calls on “dear brothers and sisters” to join in the movement.

“This recent Saudi twitter movement believes that there is no importance of the temple mount to Muslims, and the waiting for the [Jewish] third temple. A new era, one of peace.”

According to the report, the Saudi campaign is in response to the Palestinian insults online and chants against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia heard at at demonstrations at the Temple Mount after prayers on Fridays. The Saudis have quietly supported the recent Abraham Accords the established peace between four Arab countries and Israel, and that has infuriated the Palestinians.

The reaction of the Saudis is to emphasize that the Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem is simply a mosque like all mosques, but the direction of prayer for all Muslims no matter where they are on the planet is only towards to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

One tweet from the account Saudi Arabia In Numbers said Muslims were not religiously obligated to help the Palestinians by fighting for Jerusalem, where the Palestinians constantly emphasize that the Al Aqsa mosque is the “third holiest site in Islam.”


Israeli Embassy Co-Hosts Women’s Day Event, Noting Benefits of Abraham Accords
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, the Israeli embassy co-hosted an event with the embassies of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco to discuss the essential role women are playing in the Abraham Accords.

“International Women’s Day is not just a day for celebrating, it is also a day for reflecting on the role women play in our societies,” said Gilad Erdan, Israeli ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, in opening remarks. “The accords have transformed the region in so many ways. They are the source for new cooperation in business, culture and academia, and are a shining example of coexistence and religious tolerance.”

“This new inspiring peace has also highlighted the essential role of women in both achieving peace and actualizing it,” he said. “The involvement of women in forging these agreements and in building new partnerships between our governments, and perhaps even more importantly, between our people, is instrumental to their success.”

The event, which was moderated by Lynn Roche, director of press and public diplomacy for the US State Department, included Moroccan Ambassador to the United States Lalla Joumala; Shaima Gargash, deputy chief of mission at the UAE embassy in Washington; Yousif Ahmed, acting deputy chief of mission at the Bahrain embassy in Washington; Rose Sager, trade representative at the Bahrain embassy; and Tammy Ben Haim, minister for public diplomacy at the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Speaking to the panel, Joumala said International Women’s Day not only highlights the positive, but also the “persistent challenges we continue to face around the world in achieving gender parity. This past year, in particular, the effect of the devastating pandemic has further exacerbated the disparities among marginalized groups within all our societies, including women.”

On the other hand, referring to the accords, she said “thankfully, 2020 also ended in a note of great hope especially in our region.”


Grassley Grills Biden Nominee Samantha Power Over Push to Lift Sanctions on Group Tied to Terror
The Biden administration’s nomination of Samantha Power to head the United States Agency for International Development is facing congressional scrutiny amid allegations the former Obama administration’s United Nations ambassador personally lobbied to remove a terror-designated group from the U.S. sanctions list.

A series of redacted emails obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) as part of an investigation into a nonprofit group that granted U.S. taxpayer funds to the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), a terror-tied charity sanctioned by the American government, allegedly show that Power was "involved in efforts to delist ISRA from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list" during her time as the U.N. ambassador, according to a letter Grassley sent last month after Power was nominated for the USAID job.

Delisting ISRA would pave the way for it to again receive U.S. taxpayer dollars from USAID and other government agencies. It also would serve as a sign to the international donor community that it can resume sending ISRA money, despite outstanding concerns it is still working with designated terror organizations, as cited by the U.S government in its original designation.

Grassley demanded that Power provide him with further information about the 2015 emails regarding ISRA’s status and explain "why you would take an interest in advocating on behalf of a foreign sanctioned entity." The senator asked for this information by March 4, but Power has yet to respond, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Alan Dershowitz: ICC's Israel decision is self-inflicted lethal wound on court
This brings us to yet another reason why the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel. The Rome Treaty provides for a concept called complementarity.

This important principle of international law denies the ICC jurisdiction over acts committed by any nation which has a legal system that deals with allegations of criminal misconduct under the rule of law. Israel’s judicial system is highly regarded among objective jurists and scholars. Israel’s Supreme Court is one of the best in the world. It repeatedly holds individual Israeli soldiers accountable for any violations of the law of war or international law in general. Accordingly, under the Rome Treaty, the ICC has no jurisdiction to second guess the decisions of the Israeli judiciary. Nor does it have jurisdiction to condemn Israel’s settlement policy. Regardless of whether that policy is wise or unwise, the issue is a political one to be resolved by negotiation rather than judicial fiat.

So it is the ICC that is acting lawlessly. It has placed itself above the law and the very treaty that created it.

Not surprisingly, Hamas announced that it is thrilled with the decision of the ICC to investigate both Israel and Hamas, because the decision puts that undemocratic terrorist group on the same plane as a democratic nation governed by rule of law. Interestingly the ICC will not be investigating the crimes of the Palestinian Authority, which is the entity which actually claims statehood. The PA has adopted a “pay for slay” policy under which terrorism against innocent Israeli civilians by Palestinians is rewarded with payment to the terrorist’s family. The US, along with many other nations, strongly opposes this pay for slay policy, but the ICC has apparently not included it within the scope of its investigation.

There was hope that perhaps someday the US might sign on to the Rome Treaty and join the ICC. That hope is now gone. After investigating Israel’s self-defense actions in Gaza, the ICC’s next target might well be the military actions of American military service men and women in Afghanistan, as well as in other places where we have engaged in military operations. No American administration will agree to allow a court so obviously biased against Western democracies to have jurisdiction over the brave young men and women who fight in our military.

So good riddance to the ICC as a potential mechanism for preventing and punishing genocide. By ignoring actual genocides in Syria and massive war crimes in many other parts of the world, and focusing instead on a democracy that is trying to defend itself against terrorists who have called for its destruction, the ICC prosecutor has destroyed the credibility of her court.
Mohammad Shtayyeh, BDS, and the Antisemitic Circle of the ICC
As we’ve unfortunately seen, the truth was the latter. While Syria’s Bashar al-Assad barrel bombed and chlorine gassed civilians, and the Chinese regime locked millions away in modern day concentration camps, the ICC has instead been used to investigate Jews for having the audacity to want to live in their ancient homeland.

And now we see the sad story come full circle. On March 1, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, on Palestinian Authority TV, expressed his indignation at the Jewish state having a “monopoly on pain” due to having been “tormented by the Nazis.”

In a classic antisemitic twist of attempting to obscenely compare Israel (for all its faults) to the Nazis, Shtayyeh argued that the “Palestinians live in the diaspora,” which was a “painful reality of the Palestinians,” so they had to shatter “the monopoly on pain that Israel purported to have” by taking Israel to the ICC.

But they won’t just go after Israel, you see. Even those trying to do business with Jews in Judea and Samaria must be punished. According to Shtayyeh:
If Israel is indicted, all the parties involved in the Israeli actions against the Palestinians will also be indicted. That means we can also take the American companies and organizations that support Israel to court.

In other words, they intend to turn the ICC into the latest BDS organization. Just like in Nazi Germany, Jewish boycotts will be enforced, if Shtayyeh has his way.

And so here lies the hopes and dreams for justice. A story that began with a boycott of Jews is now ending with a boycott of Jews.
The Palestinians Are in for a Hague Hangover
Despite the rejoicing in Ramallah over the International Criminal Court’s decision to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes, in actuality, the decision and those preceding it have neither advanced nor will advance the Palestinians even an inch closer to realizing their ambitions. Nor will they improve the lives of the Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria and Gaza by even one iota.

As a reminder, as early as 2004, the ICC ruled that the security barrier Israel built to protect its citizens against a deadly wave of terror was illegal and asked that it be torn down. Then, too, the Palestinians cheered—but Israel ignored the decision and continued building the barrier.

Past failures notwithstanding, the Palestinians continue to pin their hopes on international bodies where they have an automatic majority courtesy of countries for which justice, human rights, liberty and democracy are tenuous concepts at best. This Palestinian tactic is established and familiar. After failing in their efforts to break Israel’s will with violence and terror, they now hope that cultural and economic boycotts, alongside decisions by UN organizations, will force Israel to its knees. Beyond all this, the Palestinians also hope that when the moment of truth arrives, the US administration will turn on Israel, as the Obama administration did in its last days in the White House.

However, the Palestinians are destined for disappointment. Perhaps ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda represents the kind of anti-Israel sentiment espoused by the European left—but she does not represent the spirit of the times. Not in Africa, from where she hails, nor in the Middle East. The spirit of the times, in fact, produced the Abraham Accords, whereby several leading Arab countries have declared that peace is the Arabs’ only path forward, not the “armed struggle” the Palestinians continue to follow blindly.
Time for Israel to take the gloves off with the ICC
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the International Criminal Court's decision to open a war-crimes investigation against Israel by calling the decision "undiluted anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy." He made the same claim after the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber on Feb. 5 invented a "State of Palestine" and set its "borders" based on the 1949 armistice lines.

Netanyahu is of course entirely correct. The ICC was meant to be an independent, permanent court that would serve as a forum of last resort for punishing the worst of war criminals. In reality, when it comes to Israel, the ICC, similar to the United Nations, has allowed itself to be hijacked and manipulated by Ramallah and Gaza, to be used as a weapon to persecute the Jews.

For the past six years, since "Palestine" joined the ICC, the Israeli legal and diplomatic establishments have tried to engage, directly and indirectly, with the court to avert its anti-Semitic decisions. These efforts have failed.

In this war, words, reason, facts and legal arguments, whatever their merit, have limited value. Quiet diplomacy has failed. Now is the time for real action.

Considering the new ICC aggression, here are four real actions Israel must adopt.

Expel UN personnel: The body most responsible for perpetuating the fallacy that a "State of Palestine" exists is the United Nations. The UN representatives in Israel spend all their waking hours supporting the Palestinian claims to statehood. They run working groups comprising Israel-hating NGOs – many of which have close ties to internationally designated terror groups – that invent alternate realities and churn out report after report accusing Israel of a plethora of offenses.

Since the UN and its representatives are responsible for the vile anti-Semitism reflected by the ICC prosecutor, Israel's first step must be to expel all UN personnel from Israel. The intention to adopt this course of action should have been declared months ago and should have been implemented the moment the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber decided to invent "Palestine."


PA: ICC prosecutor asked PA to keep investigation launch "secret”
Official PA TV host: “Going back to the recent decision of [ICC] General Prosecutor [Fatou Bensouda], have you made contact with her? …

PA Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki: Yes, we are in constant contact with her… and her office from the first moment when we set foot in the ICC in 2014… [We’re in touch] directly or indirectly, through the visits we are making, through the contact via our delegation at The Hague, or through the periodical reports we are submitting to the general prosecutor’s office. We made contact before the announcement [of the ICC investigation], and we were informed a number of hours before the announcement that there will be an announcement. We knew about this, but they asked us to keep it secret… We are currently seriously considering visiting The Hague and meeting with the general prosecutor to discuss the following steps. What can be expected from her? … What is required of us? What do they expect from the government of the State of Palestine in this matter, and when can we expect the arrival of the ICC’s first delegations for preparations ahead of beginning the investigation? …

Official PA TV host: “But there has been no contact with you from the general prosecutor’s office after this decision?”

Riyad Al-Malki: “There was, there was. Yes, contact has been made between us and the general prosecutor’s office regarding the request for a meeting...

Host: “Is this visit expected to be soon?”

Riyad Al-Malki: “It depends first of all on the steps taken in Holland against the [Coronavirus] epidemic... Maybe the meeting will be possible next week. Maybe it will be the following week or later.


Israeli Defense Minister Surreptitiously Reveals Hezbollah Locations in Lebanon
During a recent interview on Fox News, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz conspicuously revealed some of Hezbollah military sites inside Lebanon as a message to the militant group.

Israeli officials revealing declassified material about Hezbollah to the public isn’t unprecedented, however, the manner in which it was revealed last week was somewhat peculiar.

In the interview, Gantz was asked about a range of topics including how many missiles Hezbollah had in its possession. Gantz replied ‘hundreds of thousands,’ and proceeded to show the interviewer a map of Lebanon that was digitally blurred by the Israeli Military Censor from the viewer. Gantz remarked the map showed the locations of Hezbollah ground forces, missiles, headquarters and launching sites.

Additionally, Gantz elaborated by saying ‘everything is aimed at civilian targets and everything is being conducted from civilian infrastructure.’

Initially, the digital blurring seemed to cover the entire map, but when Gantz handed it over to the interviewer, a small portion of northern Lebanon was not blurred. This was not an oversight by the Israeli Military Censor.

By analyzing frames of the interview, the unblurred image of the map shows northern Lebanon marked by black dots that are presumably locations of Hezbollah sites in northern Lebanon. The disclosure of sensitive locations was done to convey a message to Hezbollah that Israel was aware of the locations of its military infrastructure.

As FDD’s Long War Journal has extensively reported in recent months, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in an exchange of warnings of conflict if either side were to breach the status quo. [See FDD’s Long War Journal, Analysis: Hezbollah renews threats in publication, fails to make an impression.]

The disclosure of sensitive intelligence about Hezbollah military sites embedded within the civilian population of Lebanon is part of a strategy by Israel to publicize Hezbollah’s military efforts so if conflict were to break out, Israel would be justified in protecting itself from attacks if they emanated from populated locations.
Russia said to give Israel item that may have belonged to executed spy Eli Cohen
An object believed to have belonged to legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen was recently transferred to Israel after being found in Syria, according to a television report Tuesday that claimed a “dramatic development” was made in the search for the executed agent.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed to the i24NEWS channel that searches were underway for Cohen’s body, but would not comment on the belonging thought to have been Cohen’s.

“That is correct, but that’s all I can say,” Netanyahu said in a clip from the interview, referring to the searches.

His office later denied the news about Cohen’s item, calling it, “false,” though he did not reject that detail when interviewed by the network.

Quoting an unnamed Syrian government source, the Israeli network said the item could be a document or an article of Cohen’s clothing and that it was handed over to Israel by Russia, which is searching for the spy’s body in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.

The item is being examined for further evidence, the report added, without elaborating.
Netanyahu Confirms to i24NEWS Search for Remains of Eli Cohen Underway



Squelching the PLO incentive to murder
Five years ago, our agency examined legal documents of the Palestinian Authority and discovered an unprecedented PA law which legislates that anyone who murders a Jew is going to get an automatic salary for the rest of his life and a salary for his family for pepetuity.

This is the first time in history that an entity has declared – as a matter of policy- that anyone who murders a Jew will be entitled to a salary.

Shortly before his death, I asked Prof. Robert Wistrich, leading expert on antisemitism and on Nazi Germany, if there was a precedent for such an award offered for anyone who would murder a Jew.

The answer was no.

What the Palestine Liberation Organization (P.L.O) has done by way of the Palestinian Authority (P.A.), now funded and recognized by 75 nations, is thus without precedent.

The Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs published this document.

The PA does not hesitate to update the murder reward policy.

No less a personage than the late PLO peace negotiator Saeb Erekat became an advocate of the “pay for slay policy.

No one doubts the accuracy of this report.

Yet people think that a peace process is in progress.

The time has come to launch a new era where the PLO pays a price – a price in its public image and a price in criminal jurisprudence, for daring to enact a law which creates an incentive for murder, putting a fee on the head of every Jew- No matter no matter where the Jew lives, no matter what age is of that Jew.
PMW: Fatah: “Greatest heroic slaughter” was murder of 3 Israeli civilians in the Mothers’ Bus attack
On March 7, 1988, Palestinian terrorists from the Fatah Movement hijacked a bus transporting Israeli workers to the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona. The terrorists murdered 3 passengers in the attack known as the Mothers' Bus attack because many of the passengers were working mothers. One of the murder victims was Victor Ram, a 39-year-old widowed father of three. The terrorists executed him first to show they were serious about killing hostages if Israel didn’t meet their demands for the release of all PLO prisoners from the Israeli jails. The terrorists also murdered Miriam Ben-Yair, 46, a mother of four, and Rina Shiratzky, 31, a mother of two, before being killed by Israeli soldiers who charged the bus.

After 33 years, for Abbas’ Fatah this is still cause for celebration. Fatah bragged about the attack and lauded it as “the greatest heroic slaughter,” referring to the murderers as “heroes” who “watered the Negev Desert with their blood”:
Posted text: “Thirty-three years since the heroic Dimona operation that was led and planned by commander Khalil Al-Wazir ‘Abu Jihad’. On March 7, 1988, a squad of self-sacrificing fighters planned to water the silent Negev Desert with its blood, with the blood of these three heroes: Martyr fighter Muhammad Al-Khanafi, Martyr fighter Muhammad Al-Husseini [Issa], and Martyr fighter Abdallah Kallab. These three heroes decided to break into the [Israeli] nuclear reactor in Dimona following precise planning and preparation by the leadership of the Palestinian revolution. They succeeded in recording the greatest heroic slaughter, which even the biggest states in the world would not have been brave [enough] to carry out or think [of doing].
#Dimona
The [Fatah] Commission of Information and Culture”
[Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, March 7, 2021]


Hamas Goes Through Election Motions as It Awaits Possible West Bank Chaos
The two Palestinian rival governing movements, Fatah and Hamas, are preparing for elections in the coming months, and while it remains unclear whether they will really go ahead, Hamas is awaiting possible chaos in the West Bank, which it could exploit to boost its presence there.

Elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council are scheduled for May 22, elections for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency are due to be held on July 31, and elections for the PLO’s National Council are scheduled for August 31.

Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, the last time elections were held. A year later, the terror organization staged a violent coup in the Gaza Strip, overthrowing the Fatah movement and ejecting the Fatah-ruled PA. Since then, Hamas has turned Gaza into a dense rocket base, pointing and firing thousands of projectiles at Israeli cities. It has prioritized building a terror army that routinely threatens the security of Israelis over helping its own people, and is now attempting to avert an economic collapse through Qatari financial assistance to Gaza.

But Hamas has never given up on its ambition to consolidate its rule in the West Bank. PA President Mahmoud Abbas is keenly aware that dangerous “surprises” can occur if the scheduled elections go ahead, according to Col. (res.) Moshe Elad, one of the founders of the security coordination between the IDF and the PA.

Abbas is going through the motions of preparing for elections in order to market himself as a bona fide democratic ruler to the new Biden administration, Elad, a lecturer at the Western Galilee College in northern Israel, told the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
Hamas shell company in Turkey had funneled Quds Force funds to Qassam Brigades for years
A Turkish company set up by Hamas operatives to funnel funds from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Hezbollah to the Qassam Brigades dissolved itself after it was designated by the US Treasury as a sponsor of terrorism, a Nordic Monitor investigation has found out.

Redin Danışmanlık İç Ve Dış Ticaret Limited Şirketi, a consulting and foreign trade firm identified as Redin Exchange by the US, was sanctioned by the US Treasury on September 10, 2019 for transferring money to Hamas for terrorist acts. The company’s owners rushed to liquidate after the designation and decided to dissolve it 10 days later at a board meeting.

The decision was notarized on September 30, and the official petition to dissolve the company was approved by authorities on October 4, 2020.

Redin’s trade registry filing when it was established in 2014 as a front company:

According to the US government, the firm has “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, HAMAS.” Some examples of this backing include a transfer of $10 million in March 2019 to Hamas’s operational arm, the Izz-Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, also involving Treasury-designated financial facilitator Muhammad Sarur.

Redin’s footprints were seen throughout 2017 on several occasions while transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas, according to the Treasury release. In July 2018 Redin Exchange paved the way for the delivery of $4 million, which Iran’s Quds Force sent to Hamas. Redin was also responsible for sending $2 million from the Quds Force to Hezbollah and Hamas in May 2018. In July 2017 the company was the intermediary for a transfer of $5.5 million from a senior Hamas leader to Hamas finance chief Zaher Jabarin, who is based in Turkey and was one of the persons added to the list.
In dramatic result, Hamas Gaza chief Sinwar said defeated in internal election
Hamas’s Gaza governor Yahya Sinwar was said Tuesday to have lost the internal Hamas elections to one of his opponents, Nizar Awadullah, according to Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV.

No official confirmation was immediately made by the Hamas terror group. The Palestinian movement’s internal elections are normally conducted in utter secrecy over a period of months.

Al-Mayadeen reported that Sinwar lost to Awadullah by seven votes. The Hamas Shura Council, a quasi-legislative body within the terror group, casts ballots to determine who will sit in the group’s senior spots.

Palestinian reports from Gaza, however, indicated that three rounds of internal voting by senior Hamas members had failed to see any candidate win a majority of votes. A final vote was said to be delayed to a later date, according to the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency.

Sinwar, a long-time terror chief who spent decades in Israeli jails, had been marked by many as an ambitious Hamas official with his eye on the terror group’s top spot — currently occupied by political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Known by his Israeli interrogators as “the Butcher from Khan Younis” due to his enthusiastic execution of Palestinians alleged to have collaborated with Israel, Sinwar was released from Israeli jail during the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.


Egypt's Education Ministry to teach Judaism in schools for first time ever
In an unprecedented move, the Egyptian parliament recently commended the Ministry of Education on approving a new school subject: religious values ​​and verses that have the same meaning in the three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Al-Monitor reported.

The decision will allow Egyptian students to study verses from the Jewish religion for the first time ever.

“The Ministry of Education’s approval of the subject of religious values ​​shared between the divine religions expresses the state’s keenness to spread the values ​​of tolerance and fraternity,” declared Kamal Amer, head of parliamentary defense and the National Security Committee in the Egyptian Parliament.

The three religions “include common values ​​that students must study to be able to confront the extremist and takfirist [apostasy defying] ideas that backward groups are working on to spread in society,” Amer continued.

“President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is keen to teach youth the values ​​of respect for others, tolerance and rejection of fanaticism and extremism," he said. "This is why the Ministry of Education decided to teach the subject of common values ​​in schools.”

On February 14, the ministry approved the parliament’s proposal on the subject of common values ​​between all the Abrahamic religions and the principles of tolerance, citizenship and coexistence.
Hezbollah – money donations – their origin and purpose – Qana village as an example
It is impossible to ignore the recent large number of publications of “heroic” statements and Hezbollah announcements regarding extensive donations and assistance it provides to the Shi’ite population in Lebanon in general and in the areas of The Beqaa and southern Lebanon in particular. In these publications, there are detailed tables of these donations intended for the purchasing of, among other things, flour, meat, and medicines.

After Hezbollah announced the donation of 600 million Lebanese pounds intended for the financing of the electricity supply from Syria to the residents of the village of a-Tefil in the Beqaa, and after the donation of diesel fuel to some 20,000 families in the Baka region, a local Hezbollah operative posted a detailed diagram on his Facebook page showing the amount and types of financial donations donated by Hezbollah in 2020 to his home town, Qana, in south Lebanon, a sum estimated at 2 billion Lebanese pounds.

Other publications which preceded the above publications regard Hezbollah’s first Zone (المنطقة الأولى), which includes the provinces of Tyre, Bint Jbeil, and Marjayoun. In this zone, the estimated amount of donations in 2020 stood at twenty-two billion one hundred thirty million Lebanese pounds. This money was donated towards, health, education, and social services.

In the face of this overt advertising campaign, which is run under the slogan “سنخدمكم باشفار عيوننا” (“We will serve you with our clear eyes”), many doubt the accuracy of the published numbers, and consider them too inflated. Nevertheless, from the data we have located and are presenting here on, we can learn about the purpose of the donations in their civilian aspect.

The funds that Hezbollah distributes as donations to Lebanon’s Shi’ite population come from four main sources: Hezbollah’s budget is largely funded by Iran, Hezbollah’s illegal economic activity, donations collected among Shi’ite communities around the world (especially Europe, Australia and South America), and donations collected from the Shi’ite population in Lebanon.
Middle East expert fears trainwreck in region if Iran emboldened
An Iranian-backed war against Israel involving Hezbollah in Lebanon on one end, and a Saudi peace deal on the other, could be in the air, according to author Joel Rosenberg, who has spoken with leaders in the region.

"I write about worst case scenarios,” said Joel Rosenberg.

The author of political thrillers has also become a witness to history in the region in recent years, meeting monarchs and political leaders as the Abraham Accords took shape. As such his political thrillers, the fourth of which has just been released, can be a window into what might happen in the region, gleaned from real life scenarios.

“One of themes of my novels is this: To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it. I’m not trying to predict a Third Lebanon War is going to happen, much less in 2021. I don’t want it to happen at all.

"But a novel can act like a war game, it can take people into threats and dangers that they may not be thinking about and help them imagine what could happen if American leaders are blindsided by threats they don’t see coming,” he says.

The last time I saw Rosenberg was in Dubai during the brief window when thousands were traveling daily from Tel Aviv to Dubai.
Bill to demand new Iran deal be submitted to Congress as a treaty
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Kentucky) introduced a bill last week seeking to withhold any funds to the State Department or the executive branch for purposes of renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action until it is first submitted to the Senate as a treaty, triggering the advice, consent and oversight that come with such a move.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Barr said the new legislation was not a symbolic move but rather a substantive way to increase the ability of Congress to review the agreement.

“It’s not symbolism,” he said. “It’s intended to be a very substantive legislative proposal, and I’m going to be asking a question related to it to Secretary [Antony] Blinken and the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week.” Barr is a member of the committee.

“The intent is not just to earn Republican support, but also hopefully bipartisan support,” he added. “I anticipate a number of Republicans cosponsoring this, and I will be sharing it with my Democratic colleagues to see if we can get their support as well.”

Barr said he was aware there may be greater reluctance on the part of Democrats because President Joe Biden is a Democrat, and they may view this as constraining the president’s flexibility.
Iranian tanker spilled oil in Israeli waters, leading journal confirms
An Iranian tanker deliberately spilled oil into Israel’s economic waters, said Lloyd’s List, a leading international shipping journal, confirming much of Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel’s description of the events leading up to last month’s oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea.

Gamliel called the oil spill “eco-terrorism,” accusing Iran of intentionally polluting the Mediterranean to harm Israel.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence vessel-tracking data confirmed last week that a tanker called Emerald was responsible for the spill, while it was carrying 90,000 tons of crude oil from Iran to Syria.

Emerald is owned by Emerald Marine Ltd. in the Marshall Islands. Its owner is “anonymous, untraceable,” the report said, and it is the company’s only ship.

The ship was insured by the UAE-based Islamic P&I club, which Lloyd’s List said “is solely used by Iranian ship owners that cannot find cover elsewhere.”

As the Environmental Protection Ministry had previously stated, Lloyd’s List said the tanker’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) was turned off when it sailed through the Gulf and the Red Sea, turned on while passing through the Suez Canal, and turned again as it neared Israel on February 1.


Understanding Iran’s Vast Media Network in Arab Countries
Designating Iranian-linked media outlets can limit their activities, but a more holistic strategy is needed if Washington hopes to effectively counter the regime’s regional propaganda machine.

Last October, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated five Iranian entities for obtaining American voter registration data in order to influence U.S. elections and incite unrest. According to former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe, Iranian operatives sent threatening emails to Democratic voters while posing as members of the pro-Trump white nationalist group the Proud Boys. One of the entities behind this disinformation campaign was the Islamic Radio and Television Union (IRTVU), which supports and in many cases created the bulk of the television channels and other media outlets run by Iran’s proxies abroad—a mission in line with the union’s status as the main propaganda arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).

Indeed, the foreign activities of IRTVU and related entities merited U.S. government attention long before this designation, and for much broader reasons than election interference. Tehran’s media strategy in the Middle East is an integral part of its effort to justify and advance its regional expansionism project among a widespread audience. Countering this strategy will require more than just designating individual entities, even ones as extensive as IRTVU.

The Axis of Resistance Media Network
Established in 2007, IRTVU falls under the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, a department chaired by one of the few cabinet ministers who must receive approval from the Supreme Leader in order to take the job. Tasked with disseminating an anti-American and anti-Israeli narrative in the Middle East, the organization functions as an umbrella for “axis of resistance” media outlets throughout the region. IRTVU provides these outlets with financial, technological, and organizational support, helps train their personnel, and devises a unified strategy for them to follow.

Tehran has sought to directly influence public opinion abroad since well before IRTVU was formed. Working closely with the IRGC-QF, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting World Service launched news channels in several languages, including al-Alam satellite television in Arabic. But IRIB’s efforts were eclipsed by the media strategies of other nations, particularly Qatar and Saudi Arabia, spurring the regime to establish IRTVU in response.
UK-Australian jailed by Iran as spy for Israel describes ‘psychological torture’
A British-Australian academic imprisoned by Iran on false charges of spying for Israel said in a television interview broadcast Tuesday that she endured “psychological torture” during her more than two years behind bars.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, 33, who is married to a dual Russian-Israeli national, returned to Australia in December after serving 804 days of a 10-year sentence. She was freed in exchange for the release of three Iranians who were held in Thailand.

“It’s an extreme solitary confinement room designed to break you. It’s psychological torture. You go completely insane. It is so damaging. I would say I felt physical pain from the psychological trauma I had in that room. It’s a 2-meter by 2-meter box,” Moore-Gilbert told Sky News.

“There were a few times in that early period that I felt broken. I felt if I had to endure another day of this, you know, if I could I’d just kill myself. But of course, I never tried and I never took that step,” she added.

The discovery that Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a Melbourne University lecturer on Middle Eastern studies, had an Israeli husband led to Iranian authorities stopping her at Tehran’s airport as she prepared to leave the country in 2018 after attending an academic conference. Authorities sentenced her to 10 years in prison for espionage for Israel and sent her to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. She vehemently denied the charges and maintained her innocence.

Iran attempted to lure her husband to Tehran, the Australian Herald Sun reported in February.



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