Wednesday, May 19, 2021

05/19 Links Pt1: Bassem Eid: Hamas, not Israel, is to blame for the latest bloodshed; The War You Aren’t Seeing: A Clear-Sighted View; Ami Horowitz: My interview with Hamas.

From Ian:

Amb. Dore Gold: Hamas is Acting as an Arm of Iranian Power
The Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005 was supposed to produce a more stable outcome and not four Israeli-Palestinian wars. The Israel Defense Forces pulled out of Gaza, together with the 9,000 Israeli civilians who lived there.

It is hard to find the basis of outstanding grievances that could justify Hamas launching salvo after salvo of rockets at Israeli population centers and devoting scarce resources to an endless war with the Jewish state. It makes sense then to look elsewhere for Hamas' motivation.

It was reported last week that Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas political bureau, spoke by phone with Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the man who replaced the notorious Gen. Qassem Suleimani. A senior Hamas official described a visit by a Hamas delegation to Tehran in 2006 with $22 million stuffed into suitcases, and claimed that Suleimani had agreed to transfer an even larger sum. In 2017, Ali Baraka, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, said, "Iran is the only country that supports the resistance with money and weapons."

The current Hamas offensive against Israel should be placed in a broader context of Iranian ambitions. An illuminating study published by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change this February asserted that "the premise that Iran would moderate its commitment to creating and sponsoring militias due to the thaw in U.S.-Iranian relations after the 2015 nuclear deal and sanctions relief for Tehran was false....The number of militias created by the IRGC surged after this period."

It is imperative that Israel defeat Hamas in this round of conflict. It is important that Iranian expansionism through Middle Eastern militias is halted.

Moreover, the mistake of the 2015 nuclear deal must not be repeated, with billions of dollars going to Iran, fueling the next wave of terrorism - including the terror of Hamas. Not only is the security of Israel at stake but the security of the wider Western alliance.
Bassem Eid: Hamas, not Israel, is to blame for the latest bloodshed
I was born in the Jordanian-occupied Old City in Jerusalem and lived in a UN refugee camp from 1966 until 1999. During the First Intifada, I worked for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and in 1996 I founded the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring group. With my background in Palestinian campaigning and as a resident of East Jerusalem today, you might assume that I am against Israel’s current military actions. But this could not be further from the truth. The blame for this month’s bloodshed lies solely at the feet of Hamas.

Those who wish to divert attention from Hamas’s war crimes would like to blame the latest conflict on a complicated legal dispute in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. But this was a private matter between Jews who have a property deed from the 1800s and the residents of four homes who have refused to pay rent. This cannot be framed as ‘ethnic cleansing’. It is little more than a landlord-tenant squabble. It should have been a matter for the local courts, but instead this small-time event wound up in an appeal at the supreme court, and hit the press. Hamas quickly saw an opportunity.

Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Fatah party, is at his weakest point in many years. He had just cancelled parliamentary elections because he knew he would lose. Hamas saw Sheikh Jarrah as an opportunity to show Palestinians in Jerusalem and elsewhere that they could ‘do something’ while Fatah could not. They spread lies and propaganda on social media, deliberately inciting violence among Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Hamas then ‘responded’ to the riots by firing rockets indiscriminately towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, guaranteeing an Israeli military response.

Hamas does not care where these missiles land: as many as one in seven, in fact, have been reported by the Israel Defence Forces to have crashed down within Gaza during this latest round of fighting, resulting in 20 casualties. They see a lopsided body count as a positive development, as it allows them to claim that Israel is the aggressive party in the conflict they started. This Islamist terror group is dangerous for our people: we cannot continue to be a conduit for their work.
Khaled Abu Toameh: How President Biden Emboldened Hamas, Islamic Jihad
Second, was the Biden administration's offer to resume negotiations with Iran to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, enabling Iran, in a few years, to have unlimited nuclear weapons -- while ignoring Iran's continual breaches of the deal. The administration also apparently ignored Iran's harassment of American naval vessels. In fact, as if the US is about to reward Iran for all that.

Earlier this year, the Gulf Cooperation Council expressed deep concern over the Houthi terrorist attacks on Saudi Arabia and called on Iran to stop its efforts to destabilize the security and stability of the Arab countries by supporting terrorist groups. This appeal, however, appears to have been ignored by the US and other Western powers.

"The Houthis and their Iranian backers think that the American move was the result of their military perseverance and a reflection of their superiority in the field. Moreover, the two sides (the Houthis and Iran) understood the measure as an indication of the new American administration's soft position towards them and bias against Saudi Arabia... Such messages enhance Houthis conviction that force is the key factor.... Revoking the Houthi designation without receiving anything in return raises the question about the efficiency of decision-making in this administration. In addition, revoking the designation of Houthis sends a message that Biden might return to Obama's hesitant and weak policy." — Emirates Policy Center (EPC) report, March 13, 2021.

Buoyed by the decision to resume the financial aid with no conditions attached, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are now convinced that the Biden administration's next move will be to rescind Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. That is why the Palestinians have chosen to call the current wave of attacks on Israel as the "Jerusalem Uprising."


The War You Aren’t Seeing: A Clear-Sighted View
There’s a war going on – but it’s not the one you think. This one is the real key to peace in the Middle East.

(Jerusalem, Israel) — Context matters. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the Middle East.

The recent massive exchange of rocketfire in Israel and Gaza was triggered by a dispute over four Palestinian homes in a Jerusalem neighborhood called Sheikh Jarrah. A bit of background: Jews had been living there for generations, but were all killed or exiled during the Jordanian invasion of 1948. The Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, dwelling there for generations themselves, always acknowledged that Jews came first, and the sides worked to find coexistence and compromise, despite shared loss and pain.

This is a not an insignificant detail. Yet it has gotten lost in most of the reportage of the recent deadly conflict.

However, just when a peaceful compromise seemed possible — one that would allow the original Jewish residents to be restored their ownership while also allowing the current Palestinian residents to remain — the Palestinian Authority government threatened the Palestinian families should they agree to a deal with Israel, which led to drawn out (but not yet complete) eviction proceedings.

Ever seeking opportunities to sow discord, the PA used the story as a catalyst to incite violent protests at the Muslim holy site, the “Al Aqsa” Mosque. Hundreds of rioters threw explosive devices and rocks. Israeli police responded with non-lethal crowd control to protect the holy sites and those innocent Muslims who just wanted to pray.

Total casualties: zero.

By then Hamas began firing rockets indiscriminately at Jerusalem in an apparent bid to appear relevant. (Facts matter: Hamas is an internationally recognized terror organization that rules over Palestinians in the Gaza strip, and the PA had recently cancelled elections in which Hamas was predicted to make gains.)

In an ironic reversal from the common narrative, it was actually the IDF and its Iron Dome missile shield that was protecting Al Aqsa, while the Iranian-funded Hamas was placing the Mosque in the line of fire, along with Jewish and Christian holy sites, not to mention the city’s diverse population. Missiles then rocked other cities across Israel, including Tel Aviv, most often in areas with no military targets whatsoever. The barrage began last Monday, May 10.
In Numbers: Israel’s Geography and the Impact of Hamas’ Rockets
Since May 10, over 3,700 rockets have been fired by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip at Israeli population centers, with some 500 falling short and landing inside the coastal enclave.

While the conflict has dominated the headlines for almost two weeks, it is seemingly no accident that virtually none of the reporting on Israel’s battle to protect its citizens from Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad has included basic facts related to the Jewish state’s minuscule size and how this impacts Jerusalem’s decision-making process.

This is why the Gaza rockets pose an imminent threat to Israel.

Israel is the Middle East’s New Jersey: The total area of the State of Israel is 22,145 square kilometers (8,630 sq. miles). The Jewish state is thus geographically insignificant in comparison to most other countries. Israel’s size is more comparable to New Jersey, the fifth smallest US state, or Belgium, one of Europe’s smaller countries.

Widest Point: Israel is some 420 km (261 miles) in length and about 115 km (71.5 miles) across at its widest point. In other words, the entire country can be traversed in about the same amount of time it takes to drive from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC to the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland: 49 minutes by car.

Narrowest Point: The Jewish state at its narrowest point shrinks down to just 15 km (9 miles). This is half the distance between Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, which are both located in London, UK.

Distance Between Gaza and Tel Aviv: Close to 200 rockets have been hurled from the Gaza Strip at Israel’s financial hub. Palestinian terrorists are separated from the approximately 440,000 people living in Tel Aviv by a mere 69.83 km (43.39 miles), the same distance from Toronto to the Niagara Falls.
Iron Dome Proves It Can Withstand Hamas Rocket Barrages
Israel's Iron Dome system, deployed since 2011 and built and maintained with $1.6 billion in U.S. funding, consists of a network of connected batteries and radars that fire at rockets that seem to be heading to populated areas and ignore those likely to fall into empty fields. In the current round of fighting, Hamas is firing scores of rockets simultaneously. Hamas "is trying to challenge the system. They thought that Iron Dome would stop functioning, but this didn't happen," said Danny Yatom, a former head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service.

The lopsided casualty toll isn't due to a lack of Hamas trying. Its rockets have been aimed relentlessly at Israeli population centers. "If it wasn't for the Iron Dome, all these rockets would have been falling on our heads and we would be counting our dead in the hundreds," said Moti Hetzroni, 77, of Ashkelon.

Iron Dome is managing to destroy 90% of the incoming volleys. The limited nature of Israeli casualties means that Prime Minister Netanyahu, so far at least, isn't facing public pressure to launch a ground invasion of Gaza.

"Everyone has been quietly impressed by the ability of Iron Dome to handle the sheer volume," said Michael Stephens, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. Iron Dome has the capacity to launch some 800 interceptors at a given time, making it hard for Hamas to overwhelm the system, said Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute in London.

In peacetime, the Iron Dome system usually utilizes two missiles at a time to intercept incoming rockets, but in the current high-intensity conflict Israel has shifted to using one interceptor per one rocket, an Israeli Air Force general said. Israel hasn't asked the U.S. for more Iron Dome interceptor missiles but has ordered Israel's own defense industry to increase production, he added.
Times-UK Editorial: Israel Has the Right to Secure the Safety of Its Citizens under Attack from Hamas
As in previous flare-ups with the Palestinians of Gaza, the propaganda war is being played out to Israel's disadvantage. While terror groups like Hamas can hide their weaponry in schools or office blocks, democratic states must expect scrutiny of their military operations. Critics of Israel argue that the power imbalance makes it into the aggressor. Yet any ceasefire must be properly enforced. It cannot be used by Hamas as a military breathing space allowing it to smuggle in new Iranian weaponry.

The Hamas charter of 1988 was a bloodthirsty document in which the group vowed to eliminate Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. Now it is armed to the teeth and showing itself ready to move closer to its declared goals. The fact is that Israel has the right and duty to secure the safety of its citizens.
Israel Advocacy Movement: Hamas rockets are not fireworks

Why Biden Wants a War in Israel
The Obama administration stocked its foreign policy team with Iran Firsters, while the Biden administration has gone even further with a roster of Hamas Firsters.

The Biden administration seeks to blame Israel for a conflict for which it provided a profit motive.

The fighting in Israel commenced after the Biden administration sent the signal that it was resuming its support for the terrorists. The violence is a prelude to the negotiations. And Biden’s people have already laid out their plans for getting Israel to pay off the terrorists. All the terrorists had to do was attack Israel and wait for Biden’s team to do their dirty work for them.

The Biden administration wanted a war in Israel. It needed to blame Israel for that war. And now it got everything it wanted. The next stage is the pressure campaign against Israel tying together domestic anti-Israel lobbies like J Street, and the radical Left like AOC and Warren, to pressure American Jewish organizations to drop their already weak support for the Jewish State. And then, having isolated Israel, they’ll move in for the kill with their big pitch for a terror state.

All of this is bad for Israel, but it’s also terrible for America.

Everything that the Biden administration’s team of terrorist sympathizers is doing to Israel, they also intend to do to America. If you think gas prices are bad now, wait until Iran really starts throwing its weight around. And while Biden’s people are insisting that the only real terrorist threat is domestic while dismantling our counterterrorism system, the Jihad will come.

Al Qaeda built up its networks into a massive international killing machine on Clinton’s watch, and ISIS grew into a state power while Obama was building up the Arab Spring. We don’t know what terrorist nightmares Biden will breed, but they are likely to be worse than either one.

Israelis are in bomb shelters now, but after a few years of Biden, Americans might be there too.
JCPA: Iran’s Supreme Leader: The Global Balance of Power Is Tilting toward “Palestine” and Muslims
Iran, Gaza, and Vienna

If Iran manages during the current talks in Vienna to remove from the JCPOA talks the issue of its adverse activity and subversion in the region and the issue of the ballistic missiles program, the Iranian regime will celebrate a significant achievement. At the moment, the Americans are calling for a “longer and stronger agreement, but it seems that in the end these issues are doomed to remain outside the renewed JCPOA.

Therefore, precisely against the background of the continued fighting in Gaza and Yemen, Iran’s role in supplying rockets and know-how for their production, and training Hamas, PIJ, and Houthi operatives in operating them, it is critical to insist on highlighting Iran’s involvement in regional conflicts and their devastating results in fueling and prolonging those conflicts.

If the United States returns to the nuclear deal under Iran’s dictates and removes an essential sanction – or all sanctions – Iran will take advantage of such a gesture. The Islamic Republic will inject additional resources into its subversive and terrorist activities in the region, in particular, and around the world (including along American borders), in general, in a renewed and well-funded attempt to reshape the Middle East while the United States is reducing its presence and interest in the region.

In this context, what is required in Vienna is a determined American and European position vis-à-vis Iran and insistence on raising the problematic Iranian conduct on issues of subversion, missiles, and human rights. It should be emphasized again that Iran, which operates mainly to achieve ideological goals, assisted the elements of the Axis of Resistance even during the harshest sanctions against it and domestic protest. Even if some of the sanctions were lifted, it would make it easier for Iran to export the revolution, despite steady domestic pressure.

For Iran, investing in the “Axis of Resistance” throughout the region is an important pillar of its national security strategy. Gen. Ali Asghar Emami, one of Quds Force commanders declared:
Through our presence in the Axis of Resistance, we have placed you (Israel) under siege… with our presence in the Resistance Axis, we can hit Israel with mortar shells. Whenever we want, whenever the leader wants and gives the order, we can easily plough the cities of the Zionist regime, (and since) the Zionist regime is the center of America, we have [America] under siege. Whenever we want to strangle America, to exert pressure on it, extract concessions from it, and get what we deserve, we can easily tighten our grip around the throat of the Zionist regime, because it is surrounded from all directions.4
JCPA: Hamas’ Mohammed Deif Tries to Surprise Israel with Booby-Trapped Suicide Drones
Hamas’ military wing began using unmanned aircraft filled with explosives to surprise Israel and secure military achievements.

So far, the IDF has thwarted all attempts to hit Israel with these suicide drones, but Hamas is trying to get its hands on the more sophisticated drones used with deadly efficiency by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Muhammad Deif, Hamas’ chief of staff, may be frustrated that he failed to surprise Israel at the beginning of the current campaign. His secret plan to infiltrate several dozen Hamas terrorists from the elite “Nokhba” force into Israel through invasion tunnels was discovered in advance by Israeli intelligence. The IDF bombed the tunnels, killed some of the terrorists, and others were trapped inside the collapsed tunnels.

Muhammad Deif then activated a squad of naval commandos to penetrate Israel by sea and launch an underwater drone. Israel also had advanced information about the planned operation; the IDF attacked the unit from the air and thwarted the operation.

The successful assassination by the IDF and Israel’s General Security Services early in the campaign of four senior officials from Muhammad Deif’s senior command, led by Bassem Issa, the commander of the northern Gaza Strip, and ten of their aides, while they held separate secret meetings in two houses in Gaza City and Khan Yunis, was a critical operational blow and a shock to morale.
'Option of seizing control of Gaza is always on the table,' PM tells diplomats
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that while Israel prefers to generate deterrence vis-à-vis the terrorist groups based in the Gaza Strip, a ground incursion that could topple Hamas' rule "is always on the table."

Dozens of rockets were fired at Israel's south and coastal plain overnight and on Wednesday morning, triggering sirens in Gaza border-adjacent communities as well as in the cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Beersheba, and sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis residents scrambling for shelter.

Several rockets fired from the Gaza Strip over Wednesday morning hit communities in the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries were reported in the attack. The IDF launched a massive airstrike on terrorist targets in Gaza in response also saying it plans to bomb another highrise known to house Hamas offices.

Briefing foreign diplomats on the efforts to end the fighting in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "We're not standing with a stopwatch. We are taking care of the operation's objectives."

Asked whether a ground incursion of the coastal enclave was being considered, the PM said that the option of seizing control of Gaza "is always on the table," if that's what it takes to achieve quiet.

He stressed that no timeframe was planned according to which the operation would end.
Why Israel Is Not Yet Ready for a Ceasefire with Hamas
Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer interviewed by Joe Scarborough
Speaking on "Morning Joe" on Tuesday, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer said: "About a week ago, Hamas launched this attack against us. When somebody comes over to you and clubs you, and then says 'we'd like a ceasefire,' you don't just listen to them and accept the ceasefire. The Israeli people want to make sure that this ceasefire will be a long-term pause in hostilities. We've had four rounds of violence with Hamas - in 2008-09, in 2012, in 2014, and now in 2021 - and we've had many salvoes of rockets fired at us in between, intermittently, during those periods."

"What the people of Israel want is that they want their government to exact such a high price from Hamas that Hamas regrets having started this in the first place - but even more important, will not engage in this type of violence for a very long time in the future."

"We're dealing with a terror organization that doesn't want to make peace with Israel...and we have to do what we have to do to defend our civilians. What would happen if half of Americans were in bomb shelters as missiles were flying into your cities? What do you think you would want your government to do? That's why the people of Israel are united in order to exact such a heavy price. Look, many Israelis want Israel to do more than it is doing now."
I24 Interview on pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire with Hamas
I explain that a country has an inherent right of self-defence - but Israel is the only country whose right to defend itself is put on a timer by the international community. The position of even Israel's allies is that it can defend itself from Hamas rockets, but only for a week.


Israel-Hamas Conflict: Panel Discussion with HonestReporting CEO Daniel Pomerantz & Dr. Michael Oren



Rockets from Lebanon target northern Israel, IDF responds with artillery fire
Several rockets have been fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel on Wednesday, Lebanese security officials said.

Air raid sirens in northern Israel were heard just as the rockets struck, with Israeli TV stations reporting two rockets had landed in the area, while two others were intercepted Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the rocket launch, and whether it had been approved by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist group approved the move.

Residents of the city of Shfaram, east of Haifa, said one rocket landed near the town.

The Lebanese officials said the latest rockets were launched from the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Qlayleh, adding that four fell inside Lebanese territory. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

No side has claimed responsibility for the rockets launched from Lebanon Wednesday, or earlier in the week.


The Caroline Glick Show: Episode 6 - Hamas, Israel and the Political War against the Jewish State
In Episode 6 of the Caroline Glick Mideast News Hour, Caroline summarized the latest military developments in the second week of Hamas's current war against Israel. In today's episode Caroline focused on the key role that political and information warfare play in the Arab/Iranian war against Israel. Her guest today was Dan Diker from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an expert in political warfare. The two discussed the role of political warfare in the West's relations with Israel in the context of the Democrat Party's increasingly hostile stance against Israel and in the context of the Abraham Accords and Israel's alliance with the Saudi-led Sunni Arab world.


Pompeo: Iran and Hamas Sense ‘Weakness’ In Biden Administration’s Middle East Policy
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran and Hamas sense "weakness" in the Biden administration’s approach to the Middle East, a perception that emboldened the terror group's aggression against Israel.

"These are ideologues who believe deeply in the extermination of the Jewish State," Pompeo said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Center for Security Policy. "When they think they have weakness in the United States, when they have a sense that the first thing out of the bag that’s going to get said isn't that Israel has every right to defend itself … this is not something that concerns them and they are likely to do just the kind of violence that you are seeing today."

Pompeo’s remarks come as the Biden administration struggles to formulate a decisive response to continued rocket attacks from Hamas directed at Israel. The attacks have left at least 10 Israelis dead and plunged the country into a state of emergency. Though the White House has called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict through "quiet" channels, Hamas has only intensified attacks on Israel. Monday marked the most violent day of the weeklong conflict, with more than 3,000 missiles fired from Gaza at Israel.

Pompeo said Palestinian officials rebuked every overture from the Trump administration to negotiate peace with Israel.

"The Palestinians had no interest in this whatsoever, it was no, no, no, to everything we proffered," Pompeo said of a peace agreement during the Trump administration. "They are benefiting from the corruption that takes place."
Psaki: Biden Working on ‘Quiet’ Resolution to Hamas Missile Attacks on Israel
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is working in a "quiet" fashion to end conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, even as thousands of missiles are lobbed at Israel from Gaza.

"Our focus and our strategy here is to work through quiet, intensive diplomacy," Psaki said on a Tuesday trip on Air Force One. "[President Biden has] been doing this long enough to know that the best way to end an international conflict is typically not to debate it in public."

Psaki did not mention what steps have been taken toward a resolution but said the Biden administration would like to see an end to the conflict as soon as possible. She did not dismiss the possibility of investigating Israel for war crimes.

On Monday, Biden announced his support for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. The announcement prompted former Trump administration officials and Republicans in Congress to push the White House to reaffirm Israel’s right to self-defense and reimpose crackdowns on Iran-backed terror groups.

Israeli Defense Forces are engaging in a limited counterattack to Hamas’s provocations, saying they have targeted military infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed jihadist organization. Hamas attacks have killed at least 10 people in Israel, including two children.
Ami Horowitz: My interview with Hamas. It gets crazy! I interview one of the leaders of Hamas. It was not a safe space!



Pakistani MP calls for use of nuclear weapons against Israel
Reactions across the Muslim world to Operation Guardian of the Walls in Gaza have varied between burning hatred to deafening silence, for example in Azerbaijan. In Pakistan, however, even the customary blind hatred toward Israel has reached new heights.

On Tuesday, Pakistani MP Maulana Chitrali said on camera that his country should launch a "jihad" (holy war) against Israel.

"This is the only option for Pakistan," Chitrali said.

He didn't stop there, though, and called on his country to use its nuclear weapons against the Jewish state.

"Did we make atomic bombs to show them in a museum? We don't need missiles, atomic bombs or a huge army if they can't be used to liberate Palestine and Kashmir," he said.

Chitrali's comments came after Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations Munir Akram on Sunday called on the UN Security Council to initiate steps to "hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity."


MEMRI: Al-Jazeera Network Documentary About The Hamas Missile Industry: Iran Sends Kornet, Fajr Missiles To Gaza; Hamas Produces Missiles From Unexploded Israeli Munitions And Shells From Wrecked WWI Ships – Archival
On September 13, 2020, Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) aired a documentary about the Hamas missile manufacturing industry. The reporter explained how Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades have been reclaiming unexploded Israeli munitions from 2014's Operation Protective Edge, metal water pipes left behind by Israel when it withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, and cannon shells from the wrecks of British warships that sank near Gaza during World War I. The documentary featured interviews with the commanders of the Al-Qassam Brigades' Military Production Units, Engineering Corps, Artillery Corps, and Frogmen Unit, who described the process of reclaiming these munitions and turning them into functional missiles.

The report also showed exclusive footage of this process, including footage of divers retrieving underwater shells, of metals being processed, of explosives being prepared, and of missiles being tested. Furthermore, the reporter and the interviewees explained that Iran has been shipping Kornet anti-tank missiles and Fajr missiles to Gaza by land and by sea. Abu Ibrahim, the Commander of the Military Productions Unit, said that Hamas has hundreds of warheads, dozens of tons of explosives and propellants, and enough metal water pipes to produce thousands of rockets.

"Various Types Of Weapons Have Arrived To Gaza From Iran... Other Countries, like Syria And Sudan, Have Also Played A Role In Arming The Resistance"

Narrator: "In this footage, which is being shown for the first time, members of the Al-Qassam Brigades can be seen reassembling the parts of a Fajr missile that arrived in a new shipment of long range Iranian missiles. The resistance in Gaza [received] them despite the tightening of the siege. In these exclusive images, Kornet anti-tank missiles can be seen."

Abu Ibrahim, Commander from the Military Production Unit of the Al-Qassam Brigades: "The weapons came to us, by land and by sea, from hundreds and thousands of kilometers away.

"Various types of weapons have arrived to Gaza from Iran. The resistance fighters in Gaza were in dire need of these weapons, such as the Kornet and Fajr missiles, and many other types of modern weapons, which are still very much in use on the battlefield.


Dem Leaders Thwart Leftist Attempt To Delay Military Assistance to Israel
Democratic leaders convinced their colleagues on Tuesday to drop an effort championed by the party’s left flank that would have delayed U.S. military assistance to Israel as the country battles Iranian-backed terrorist groups.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), the House’s second-highest-ranking Democrat, told reporters that after pressure from leadership, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), abandoned efforts to delay over $735 million in arms sales to Israel. The Jewish state has used such weaponry during the past two weeks to battle Hamas terrorists as they fire thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. Hoyer is one of the party’s most vocal pro-Israel voices.

Meeks’s bid was widely seen as part of a larger effort by Democratic leaders to placate far-left House members who continue to bash Israel and accuse the country of terrorism for conducting defensive operations. Chief among these anti-Israel voices are Reps. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), and Mark Pocan (D., Wis.). These lawmakers have called for aid to Israel be cut off and sanctions on the Jewish state for striking Palestinian terrorist groups. Omar and Tlaib, who have expressed increasing frustration with their party’s pro-Israel stalwarts, took to social media this week and last to blast the Biden administration and fellow Democrats for issuing statements in defense of Israel.

Meeks’s about-face is another sign of the Democratic Party’s growing divide on Israel, as anti-Israel advocates like Omar, an HFAC member, push for the historically bipartisan, pro-Israel Congress to adopt a hardline stance against the Jewish state, including withholding critical security aid. Republican congressional insiders worry that HFAC Democrats, as well as the party at large, are ditching their longstanding support for the U.S.-Israel relationship as pressure from anti-Israel voices mounts.

"For the chairman to even pay lip service to the anti-Israel members of his caucus is destructive to what we need from this committee right now, and threatens HFAC's bipartisan support of Israel," said one GOP congressional aide.
House Democrats Vote Against Hamas Sanctions
House Democrats overwhelmingly voted on Tuesday afternoon against applying sanctions on Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror group that has fired thousands of missiles at Israel during the past two weeks amid a deepening regional conflict.

In a 217-209 vote, Democrats rejected a bid by House Republicans to hold a vote on Hamas sanctions legislation authored by Rep. Brian Mast (R., Fla.). The bill was supported by every House Democrat in the last Congress, but stalled this time around when Democratic members refused to allow the bill to be considered by the legislative body. Republicans wanted to pass the legislation to further express support for Israel as it fights the terror group.

As the conflict in Israel continues into its second week, many Democratic lawmakers on the party’s left flank have publicly criticized the Jewish state, with some describing its defensive operations as terrorist acts. Progressive lawmakers such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D., N.Y.) have called for cutting U.S. military aid to Israel and sanctioning the country. They have not condemned Hamas’s strikes on the country or the terror group's use of civilian shields in the Gaza Strip.

"Hamas preaches the destruction of Israel and death to everything we hold dear in the United States. The recent attacks again show why we must cut off their financial support," Rep. Mast said. "But today House Democrats backtracked on their previous support for this bill, and in doing so sent a clear message to the world that they stand with Radical Islamic terrorists like Hamas instead of with our ally Israel."


Democrats Abandon Israel
Democrats in Congress have abandoned support for Israel, accusing the country of systemic oppression, as the Palestinian terror group Hamas launches attacks on Israel and tensions mount in the region.




PRITI PATEL: We’ll ensure hate mongers face the full force of the law
Like many people, I have been distressed to see the escalating violence and loss of life in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The UK Government has been clear that all sides must avoid civilian casualties, work to de-escalate the violence, and find a political pathway to peace.

Understandably, many have strong views on the conflict in the Middle East. But the appalling examples of antisemitism we saw in London over the weekend are never acceptable. This includes the reprehensible threats of rape against Jewish women that were bellowed out of a car window in St John’s Wood.

These incidents are rightly being investigated by the police and they have my full support in taking the toughest action against those responsible.

For the UK’s Jewish community to be subjected to horrific racism is completely unacceptable.

But I know this is not just about antisemites cynically using current events to justify and spew their hatred. According to Community Security Trust (CST) figures, there were 1,668 antisemitic incidents in 2020, despite the nation being under lockdown for much of the year. In addition to violent attacks, the daubing of offensive symbols on synagogues and the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, we are also seeing a deeply worrying rise in online antisemitism. Social media sites are awash with dangerous anti-Jewish tropes and conspiracy theories.

As Home Secretary, I take a strong stance against antisemitism and hate crime of all forms. No one should ever have to fear persecution simply for who they are.


Officer who shouted ‘Free Palestine’ while policing Gaza rally is under investigation
The Metropolitan Police Directorate of Professional Standards is investigating the case of a serving policewoman who was filmed shouting “Free Palestine” during last weekend’s Gaza demonstration and protest in central London.

The policewoman, whose badge number can clearly be seen in the film, is shown talking to a young Muslim woman, and then hugging her. She appears to tell the woman that she is from Iran, and that “If I wasn’t wearing this uniform…” Another demonstrator, out of shot, says: “You should be joining us!” As the woman walks away the policewoman raises one arm and shouts — to cheers from the crowd — “Free, free Palestine!”

When the film went viral, another police officer, Andrew Shaw, tweeted: “As a serving officer I’m appalled at my colleague’s lack of awareness of how her actions will be viewed”.

Initially, the Met commented: “We are reviewing this footage… We police hundreds of events and protests every year and officers must remain independent and impartial in carrying out their duties”.


Activist Group That Supports Terrorists Organized Anti-Israel Protests Across US
An activist organization that previously supported terrorism and another affiliated with a group that reportedly worked with terrorists organized dozens of anti-Israel protests in major U.S. cities over the weekend.

Samidoun, a group designated as a terror organization in Israel with active chapters in the U.S., advertised 80 demonstrations from Friday through Sunday, with 49 occurring in major cities across the U.S. on Saturday. The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), an anti-Israel group, organized a handful of the demonstrations.

“There are currently over 200 martyrs throughout Palestine and on the borders with Lebanon, and the entire land of Palestine is rising … confronting the most brutal violence of the colonizer with steadfastness, struggle, and a revolutionary promise of a liberated future,” Samidoun said.

Samidoun and the PYM helped organize “days of resistance” protests across the U.S. in August 2020 where some participants carried the flags of Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Both groups are designated as Foreign Terror Organizations by the State Department, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.
Cars draped in Palestinian flags ‘chased me down and rammed into me’
A mother has spoken of the terrifying moment her car was rammed by a vehicle draped with a Palestinian flag moments after leaving her home in Hendon.

The Jewish victim, who asked not to be named, was travelling to a friend’s home with her four-year-old strapped in at the back when the incident happened on Sunday afternoon. It’s understood he was wearing a bright blue kippah and she was playing Jewish music.

She said: “As I came to the top of the road I noticed two cars with huge Palestinian flags on their bonnet. I turned right and both cars started to chase me down the road and rammed into the back of my car.

“As I approached the light I put my foot on the accelerator and sped through a red light, trying to make my way through the traffic. I turned into my friend’s road, but the cars continued to chase me. Once again I found myself with my foot flat on the accelerator racing down the road to try and find somewhere safe.

“Thankfully I found a small ally where I parked my car behind a large truck. I called my friend to check the cars had gone and made my way to his home to calm down.” She urged the community not to feel intimidated amid rising hate incidents linked to the conflict between Hamas and Israel.


‘INTERNAL JEWISH SETTLEMENT’: NEW YORK TIMES VILIFIES JEWS LIVING IN MIXED ISRAELI CITIES
Desegregation For Arabs, But Not For Jews
It’s not that The New York Times consistently frowns upon desegregation within Israel. To the contrary, while it smears Jews living in mixed cities as usurpers, the paper has either completely ignored the movement of Jerusalem Arabs into Jewish neighborhoods, or depicted the integration in a positive light.

And, in covering a 2000 court ruling enabling an Arab couple to move into a community built for Jews in northern Israel, The Times did not depict the couple’s efforts to move there as a provocation. To the contrary, The Times hailed the court decision in their favor as “an important step toward equality for Israel’s one million Arab citizens,” and noted “the case raised basic questions about whether Israel could be both a Jewish and a democratic state, ideals enshrined in its declaration of independence.”

Beinart’s Call for Right of Return, Paper’s Hypocrisy
The paper’s double standard with regard to Jews and Arabs living together in Israel is encapsulated in Peter Beinart’s column last week in which he argued: “Palestinian Refugees Deserve to Return Home. Jews Should Understand.” In a piece that argues that Palestinians who left or were expelled in 1948, along with their millions of descendants, should be allowed to live in Israel, he hypocritically and simultaneously denounces Jewish efforts to recover property that they lost in 1948. While disabusing readers of the mistaken notion (according to him) that the influx of millions of Palestinians hostile to the Jewish state is “impractical,” he charges the Sheikh Jarrah real estate dispute involving just six Palestinian families with nothing less than setting the Middle East on fire, “draw[ing] Israelis and Palestinians into a conflict that appears to be spiraling toward yet another war.” Beinart’s bottom line is that flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians is not a problem, and is, in fact, quite desirable. But the presence of a few Jewish families in a predominantly Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem? That’s “combustible.”

The Limits of Integration: Jews Out
With the introduction of the new concept of “internal Jewish settlement,” The Times’ message is clear: It’s not only beyond the Green Line where a Jewish presence is illegitimate and an obstacle to peace. It is equally illegitimate and provocative for Jewish Israelis to move to mixed cities — Lod, Ramle, Acco, Haifa, Beersheba, Jerusalem, Jaffa — within Israel’s internationally recognized boundaries.
Israeli girl living in Gaza border community hits back at John Oliver
Renana, a 10-year-old girl from Kfar Azza - one of the Gaza border communities where rocket sirens have been ringing day and night for the past week and a half - recorded a response to talk show host John Oliver, who denounced Israel's operation in Gaza on his show earlier this week. Oliver gave his take on the show last Sunday regarding the recent escalation of violence between Israel and the Gaza terror groups who have launched over 3,700 rockets into Israeli territory since Monday of last week, claiming the fighting is imbalanced.

Within the most recent episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver emphasized the disproportionate nature of the casualty figures on both sides and accused Israel of war crimes - pointing to Israeli airstrikes carried out on apartment buildings, refugee camps and the building housing the offices of both the Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

"Destroying a civilian residence sure seems like a war crime," Oliver claimed. "Regardless if you send a courtesy heads up text," he added, alluding to the IDF's tactics of roof knocking and evacuating civilians from buildings before targeting these sites with airstrikes.

"Both sides are firing rockets, but one side has one of the most advanced militaries in the world," Oliver said. "Both sides are suffering heartbreaking casualties, but one side is suffering them exponentially... if you believe Israel’s actions are warranted and proportionate this week, you’re welcome to try and make that argument."
Michael Knowles: John Oliver's INSANE Solution for the Israel CONFLICT The outspoken “comedian” John Oliver went on an uninformed, biased rant about the Israel Palestine conflict during his show.

MSNBC's Hayes: Part of Me Thinks, 'Can We Get an Iron Dome for Gaza' So Children there 'Don't Have Death Rain Down Upon Them?'
On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” host Chris Hayes floated the possibility of an anti-missile defense system for Gaza financed by the United States like the Iron Dome in Israel so children in Gaza “don’t have death rain down upon them?”

Hayes said, “[T]he Iron Dome has worked quite well. Today, some got through, I think two…died as a result. But I look at those images [of the Iron Dome working] and I think, well, good, that’s good, I’m glad that those rockets are being intercepted. And I also, there’s some part of me that’s like, can we get an Iron Dome for Gaza? Can the American taxpayer foot the bill to protect innocent children in Gaza, where there’s two million people in one of the most densely populated parts of the world so that they don’t have death rain down upon them?”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) responded, “Not so long as Hamas is running Gaza. Hamas is an organization that seeks the eradication of Israel and organizes the armed rebellion against it. And I will just say clearly that, so long as Hamas is in charge, there’s going to be absolutely no security partnership between the United States and Gaza.”
AP Hires Anti-Israel Activist as News Associate
The Associated Press's latest hire is an anti-Israel activist who accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing," called the late Jewish donor Sheldon Adelson a "naked mole rat," and helped organize protests against Jewish students traveling to Israel on the Birthright program.

Emily Wilder, who previously worked for the Arizona Republic, announced on Twitter that she would join the AP this month as a news associate, according to a screenshot of her tweet posted by the Stanford College Republicans. Wilder has since set her Twitter account to private. It's unclear whether Wilder will cover the Middle East.

The hire could fuel concerns about the AP's objectivity amid revelations that the news outlet shared an office building with Hamas military intelligence in Gaza. The headquarters was demolished in a targeted Israeli airstrike on Saturday.

Before joining the AP, Wilder co-led the Students for Justice in Palestine group at Stanford University, where she hosted a 2019 speech by cartoonist Eli Valley, whose anti-Israel drawings often depict Nazi imagery and offensive caricatures of Jews. The speech drew national attention after Wilder's group papered over posters from a Republican student group with Valley cartoons that were criticized as "largely indistinguishable from classic Nazi Jew-hatred."

Wilder also helped lead a 2017 protest outside the Taglit-Birthright office in New York, calling for a boycott of the donor-funded program, which provides free and low-cost trips to Israel for young American Jews.

She announced on Facebook that the protest would take place during Birthright's "fundraising gala with far-right, pro-Trump, naked mole rat-looking billionaire Shel Adelson," according to a screenshot of the comment posted by Stanford College Republicans. Adelson, who passed away in January, donated $127 million to the Birthright program and was a major funder of other Jewish philanthropic causes.


Blinken: Israel Gave US More Info on Gaza Media Building Bombing
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday said that Israel provided Washington with more information on its bombing of a high-rise tower in Gaza City housing offices of the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other news outlets.

“We did seek further information from Israel on this question,” Blinken said at a joint briefing with Iceland’s foreign minister in Reykjavik. “It’s my understanding that we’ve received some further information through intelligence channels, and it’s not something I can comment on,” he said.

In addition to media organizations, the building housed residential apartments.

An Israeli airstrike on Saturday afternoon leveled the 12-story al-Jalaa tower with journalists and residents given an hour to exit the structure before the bombing.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement after the strike that the building “contained military assets belonging to the intelligence offices of the Hamas terror organization.”

The IDF added that Hamas hid behind the offices of the press outlets in the tower, “using them as human shields.”
BeastMode: Sen. Cotton: "Surely these intrepid reporters knew who their neighbors were."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) slammed the Associated Press on Monday for sharing office space with Hamas in a Gaza tower.


PreOccupiedTerritory: AP Journos Thought Hamas Rockets In Their Building Were Just Vases Or Something (satire)
Reporters and staff from news organizations whose headquarters in this embattled coastal territory collapsed after an Israeli airstrike Sunday explained that they had no idea the structure, parts of which they leased from a known Hamas operative, held war materiel, because all the rockets, explosives, and other weapons they routinely encountered there served a mere decorative function, and could not, how dare you suggest it, have presented a legitimate military target.

Associated Press and Al Jazeera personnel in Gaza continued to react Tuesday to the Israeli strike earlier this week that took down the high-rise building housing their headquarters, with the most frequent expression involving the disbelief that the benevolent Islamist militant terrorist group that exerted effective control over the building could have used it to store weapons or to house command facilities.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the gall to attack the media,” stated AP journalist Bligh Ndazabat, who, along with all his colleagues, heeded the IDF’s warning of the imminent strike and evacuated the building. “It’s hard for me to accept that the rockets we saw coming in and out of there were weapons of war. You’ll have a hard time convincing me Hamas would even do that with objects they reserve for killing innocents.” No journalists were injured as a result of the strike that leveled the building.

“Missiles look just like flowerpots,” explained bureau editor Dee Niall. “It’s an easy mistake to make. I don’t see why Israel is so upset about it. As if no one’s ever misidentified things before, such as confusing such totally, totally different things as anti-Zionism with antisemitism.”


Fact check: Children used as a propaganda tool in the Israel-Gaza crisis
After a major attack or natural catastrophe, people scramble to share images and videos on social media. Many often say they are photos of their loved ones, claiming they've gone missing or are mourning their death after the tragedy. In total, at least 63 Palestinian children have been killed according to the Palestinian health ministry. In Israel, two children were killed since the crisis escalated, according to Unicef.

However, it is also a scheme too often used by either attention seekers wanting clicks with the use of popular hashtags, or by people trying to spread false information about an event.

In the case of ongoing conflicts and wars like the Syrian civil war or the Kashmir conflict, as well as the Israel-Gaza crisis now, social media is often also flooded with such posts and tweets that turn out to be fake. Images of children, who are said to have been injured or killed during attacks, are often used to garner attention for one side.

Sometimes these images are from either a different time period or from a completely different place — and are used in a manipulative way to get more sympathy for a cause. In other instances, real photos are used within a false context to support a wrong theory. And there are even cases where authentic images and videos are shared claiming that they have been doctored, although it is not the case.
YouTube Blames COVID for Censorship of Pro-Israel Legal Scholar’s Video
YouTube is blaming the COVID pandemic and shoddy technology for its inconsistent censorship of a legal expert's defense of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

The Washington Free Beacon reported Monday that YouTube twice removed a clip of George Mason University law professor Eugene Kontorovich discussing the legal status of Israeli strikes in Gaza. The second time, YouTube informed Kontorovich that his clip violated the platform's "violent criminal organizations" policy, which YouTube typically invokes to take down terrorist hostage or recruitment videos.

But on Tuesday, YouTube told the Free Beacon that "automated systems" were to blame for how the video was handled. "As part of our response to COVID-19, we are temporarily relying more on technology to help with some of the work normally done by reviewers. In this case, automated systems removed content that did not violate our policies, and we worked to quickly reinstate it."

YouTube and Facebook, among other big tech platforms, say they are forced to rely on machine learning algorithms to deal with the flood of material on their platforms. But those systems often result in content being removed inappropriately. Occasionally, social media users will band together to flag posts as inappropriate in order to trick automatic moderating systems into removing legitimate content. It is unclear whether anyone reported Kontorovich's video to YouTube.

Kontorovich alleged that taking down the video for 24 hours during wartime was part of "a major campaign to portray" Israeli defense efforts "as illegal and in violation of the laws of war." In the clip, Kontorovich argued that Israeli strikes satisfied all international law requirements.


Facebook shuts down pro-Israel page with 77 million followers amid claims it had been targeted by radical Muslims posting hate speech
Facebook has shut down a pro-Israel page with over 75 million followers, amid the worst conflict in the Gaza strip in years.

The 'Jerusalem Prayer Team' page, which was established in 2002 and was the largest Christian Facebook page, was shut down by the platform on Friday.

Dr. Mike Evans, the page's founder, claimed that critics of the page posted 'more than a million' comments and then denied doing so, flagging their own posts as spam.

Speaking to the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Evans claimed there was 'an organized attempt by radical Islamic organizations to achieve this objective.'

'They posted over a million comments on our site, and then had the people contact Facebook saying that they never posted to the site. That was a complete scam and fraud. It was a very clever, deceptive plan by Islamic radicals.'

He also added that the posts had included anti-Semitic comments, such as photos and quotes by Adolf Hitler, which may have triggered Facebook's filters.

A spokesperson for the social media giant said: 'We removed Jerusalem Prayer Team's Facebook Page for violating our rules against spam and inauthentic behavior,' with the company also saying the case was 'complete'.
Israel Slams Beijing for Airing ‘Blatant Antisemitism’ on Chinese-State News Channel
The Israeli embassy in Beijing accused Chinese-state broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN) of “blatant antisemitism” on Wednesday after one of its presenters used a number of antisemitic conspiracy theories while delivering a report on US policy and its relationship to Israel.

According to Channel News Asia, presenter Zheng Junfeng said that “some people think that the pro-Israel policy of the United States is linked to the influence of wealthy Jews in the United States and the Jewish lobby on US foreign policymakers.”

Zheng continued: “Jews dominate the financial, media, and Internet industries” in the US.

Zheng then accused the United States — China’s main geopolitical rival — of using Israel as a “bridgehead” in the Middle East and as a proxy in its campaign to defeat pan-Arabism.

The comments aired on CGTN, which is the English-language arm of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, immediately drew outrage from Israel’s diplomatic mission in Beijing, which stated in a tweet that it was “appalled to see blatant antisemitism expressed in an official Chinese media outlet.”

“The claims expressed in the video are racist and dangerous, and should be avoided by any media outlet that respects itself,” the embassy said.


Indonesia: Man Arrested for 'Slaughter Palestinian Pigs' Tiktok Dance, Claims He Meant Israelis
Authorities in Indonesia arrested a man this week for “blaspheming” against Palestinians in a TikTok video, despite the man’s claim that he meant to disparage Israelis.

Police in the Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara said on Tuesday they had arrested a 23-year-old man identified by his first name only, Hilmiadi, for uploading footage of himself to the video app TikTok on May 15 in which he called for the “slaughter” of Palestinian “pigs.”

Hilmiadi has been charged with violations of Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) law.

“Article 27 of the ITE stipulates criminal punishment for a person found guilty of distributing, transmitting, and/or making electronic information containing libel accessible to the public,” according to the Jakarta Post. The ITE’s online defamation article carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a maximum fine of $57,515.

Indonesia’s ITE law “covers the dissemination of online content deemed blasphemous,” according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

“Article 156(a) of the [Indonesian] Criminal Code criminalizes the expression of ‘hostility, hatred or contempt against’ a religious group,” according to the Commission’s 2019 report.
MEMRI: Arab Israeli Journalist: We Must Stop The Deterioration Of Arab-Jewish Relations In The Country, Adopt A Strategy Of Building Bridges And Promoting Coexistence
Amid the violent clashes between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel throughout the country in the recent days, Dr. Saleh Nujeidat, a columnist for the website of the Arab-Israeli paper Kul Al-Arab and a member of the Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP), [1] published an article calling to urgently stop the deterioration of the relations between Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens, which, he said, harms both sectors. Since the interests of the two peoples are tightly interwoven, he said, there is need to improve their relations and adopt a strategy of bridge-building and coexistence, to ensure that both can live in equality, security and peace. Advising Israelis to lay emotions, populism and false slogans aside, Nujeidat urged them to face the challenges rationally, bravely and with an open mind, while considering their interests and the future of their children. The following is a translation of his article:[2] "The state of the relations between Arabs and Jews [inside Israel] is very worrying, and has now reached a dangerous phase. The extremism in Jewish society, and the extremist far-right [Israeli] government, which is hostile to the Arab citizens, disregarding their status as citizens and the harm done to their holy sites, have deepened the rift between these two peoples, Jewish and Arab. The policy of incitement, racist discrimination and iron-fist suppression of Arab protesters has only exacerbated the tension between them. In my assessment, if the relations between the two peoples remain [so strained], they will deteriorate further and further, and eventually will surely lead to deadly clashes between them. Those who will suffer from this will no doubt be the Arab and Jewish peoples [themselves]. "Therefore, there is no choice but to stop this deterioration of the relations and adopt a clear strategy – opposite from the policy of the extremist right-wing government – of building bridges [between the Arab] and Jewish societies, improving the relations [between them], promoting coexistence and adopting a wise and flexible policy of avoiding conflict. The interests of the two peoples are tightly interwoven, so there is no choice but to take initiative and improve the relations between them, so that everyone can enjoy equality, security, safety, peace and tranquility. We must act to attain complete equality between the Arab and Jewish citizens. "Finally, we must take a lesson from what is happening right in front of us, think rationally and consider the interests of our society and the future of our children. We must preserve our continuity while abandoning emotional thinking, false slogans and populism, and address the dangerous challenges facing our society with courage and an open mind, in light of the difficult circumstances the region is experiencing."









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