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Friday, July 02, 2021

07/02 Links Pt1: The Case against 'Occupied Palestinian Territory'; The EU should stop proposing peace summits and promote the Abraham Accords; Israel needs to stop neglecting wartime media front

From Ian:

The Case against 'Occupied Palestinian Territory'
The Presidents of the European Union and South Africa made the common claim: Israel occupies Palestinian territory. They sought to stop the ‘wrongful’ labelling, ‘Product of Israel’ and substitute it with, ‘Made in a settlement in the ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ (OPT)

Martin Schulz, ex President of the EU, warned Israel that Europe will have its way.

"There is enormous pressure, also in the European Parliament, to label products because a lot of my colleagues consider the settlements illegal. They think the rule should be that products coming from regions with an illegal status couldn’t have normal access to the European market."

Advocate for Israel
My Lord, the court will hear evidence that the real estate given the name, ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory’ (OPT) is not real. There are two hard reasons for that:
(1) War records turn up nothing to support the name.
(2) Law and statutes turn up nothing to support it.

Evidence will be led that OPT reflects a political policy or aspiration. There really is no Palestinian territory to be occupied.

Evidence will be led that the move to debar Israeli products made in the ‘OPT’ has everything to do with lobby groups and politics but nothing to do with informing and protecting the customer. To the contrary, the label would trick unwary customers. It would also cast suspicion on any product labelled thus, and be used as a backdoor trade boycott of Israel.

To begin, certain facts of history are too real to dispute. In the 1948 War Egypt took the Gaza Strip, and Jordan took Judea and Samaria, the so-named “West Bank.” Egypt did not claim sovereignty in Gaza, but in 1950 Jordan annexed Judea and Samaria. The annexation was not recognized by the international community, other than Pakistan and the UK. Even the Arab countries objected to what Jordan did. They threatened to kick it out of the Arab League.

After the Six Day War in June 1967 the territories,which were earmarked for the national home of the Jewish people by the (binding) Mandate Charter of San Remo of 1920, finally came under Israeli control. So much for the foundation facts.

With My Lord’s permission I call my first witness. Professor Judge Stephen M Schwebel was elected to the ICC in January 1981. He was subsequently re-elected twice, serving as president of the court from 1997–2000:

"A state [Israel] acting in lawful exercise of its right of self-defense may seize and occupy foreign territory as long as such seizure and occupation are necessary to its self-defence. Where the prior holder of territory had seized that territory unlawfully [Jordan], the state which subsequently takes that territory in the lawful exercise of self-defence has, against that prior holder, a better title. As between Israel, acting defensively in 1948 and 1967, on the one hand, and her Arab neighbours, acting aggressively, in 1948 and 1967, on the other, Israel has the better title in the territory… including the whole of Jerusalem, than do Jordan and Egypt.

"You hear that, Mr Presidents. Israel has more right than Jordan to be occupying the 'West Bank' and more right than Egypt to be occupying Gaza. Or had more right: today not one Jew blights the landscape of Gaza."
Free Palestine? A lesson in sloganeering
The “Free” in “Free Palestine” is not only a verb, but also an adjective. Nothing – at least nothing of lasting, true value in this world – means much if it comes free. You have to work long and hard for the things you hold dear and truly want to accomplish in life; if you are handed them on a silver platter they are no more than hollow shells that will invariably crumble. Palestinians hold their hands out to any and every benefactor, portraying themselves as hapless, helpless victims who cannot stand on their own two feet. And gullible marks, to be sure, are everywhere for the taking; billions of free, unrestricted dollars pour annually into Palestinian coffers from individuals, institutions and governments around the world, freeing the Palestinians to concentrate on screaming for justice, blame everyone else for their troubles and foment acts of terror.

Guess what? We Jews had a much tougher task ahead of us when we established this country. A third of our people had been murdered, we were constantly under attack by our neighbors, and few nations were willing to gamble that we would survive. Poverty was rampant and living conditions primitive. But there were swamps to be drained, fields to be cleared of rocks and then cultivated, roads to be built, and children to be educated, and so we stopped complaining and started working. And we built – from the ground up – a magnificent country that is the envy of the Middle East, if not the entire world. Ironically, we are the role model that you Palestinians should be emulating, not demonizing. “Free” was not in our vocabulary, nor should it be in yours; more often than not, you get what you pay for when the item is free.

But I also accept that the “Free” in your slogan is equally a verb; you just are misdirecting it. Palestine indeed should be freed, but not from Jews or Israel. You should be freed from your tyrannical, self-serving despotic “leaders” who cynically keep you in endless captivity. They pen you up in squalid refugee camps so that they can display you to the world as victims, rather than allow you to live in decent housing. They bombard your brains into believing that violence and bloodshed are your only paths to freedom and dignity. They send you out on terrorist missions and convince you that the only way to succeed is by hurting others, rather than helping yourselves. They keep you captive in a psychological prison where life is denigrated and death is glorified. They exalt the shahid rather than the doctor, scientist, teacher or responsible parent you could and should become.

Your only hope is to break free of these malicious masters, to exercise your free choice and seek a course of peace and compromise rather than eternal war and hatred. But it won’t come easy, and it certainly would help you to have a powerful slogan, one that will energize your cause and direct your energy.

I recommend you borrow one of our favorites, known as the “Golden Rule” of Judaism: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow human being.”
IDF Soldier Who Was First Into Entebbe Airport in Legendary July 4, 1976 Operation Speaks
An Israeli special forces veteran who was first into the Entebbe airport terminal during the IDF’s now-legendary 1976 hostage rescue operation spoke about his experience on Thursday and reflected on the death of Yonatan Netanyahu — the operation’s commander and brother of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Entebbe operation took place on July 4, 1976 after Palestinian and German terrorists hijacked an Air France jet and held 105 Israelis hostage at the Ugandan airport terminal.

Rather than give in to the terrorists’ demands, Israel’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit quickly planned and executed a daring operation that would see Israeli soldiers fly several large transport planes into hostile airspace, land at Entebbe, storm the terminal, kill the terrorists, and free the hostages.

Only one Israeli soldier — Yonatan Netanyahu — died in the operation, though several others were severely wounded. In addition, three hostages were killed. Following the operation, “Yoni” became a national hero.

As the anniversary of the operation approached, Walla reported that Amir Ofer, a former soldier in Sayeret Matkal, recounted how he was the first to burst into the terminal where the hostages were being held.

“I found myself inside,” he said. “I was 22 years old. Let’s say that during the flight (to Entebbe) there was a lot of time to think, to be tense, and perhaps even to be afraid.”

In the battle, however, “you start to run; you’re not thinking any more, you’re not afraid anymore.”

“It was a large hall,” Ofer said of the terminal, and one wall was made of glass, so it “was possible to see from outside what was happening inside.”

The terrorists almost immediately realized what was happening and opened fire.


Caroline Glick: Bennett and the Religious Zionist elite
The biggest media story of the week in Israel was the fall of the town of Evyatar in Samaria.

Evyatar is located between three Palestinian villages and two Israeli villages. It was originally settled in 2013, following the murder nearby of Evyatar Borovsky, only to be destroyed by the IDF. It was settled again in May by 50 families in response to the murder of Yehuda Guetta.

Two weeks ago, Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a new eviction order. The police and army brought in reinforcements to carry out the order. Activists from all over Judea and Samaria and countrywide began streaming to Evyatar to support its residents. The countdown to the showdown began.

On Monday, the sides announced they reached a deal. The showdown was off. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his sidekick Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked mediated a deal between Gantz and Evyatar residents with the support of Samaria Regional Council leader Yossi Dagan and other communal leaders including settlement legend Daniella Weiss. The deal called for the bulk of the residents to evacuate, for the yeshiva at the site to continue to operate and for the teachers and students to remain living in the town.

The settler leaders and religious Zionist media – along with Bennett and Shaked – declared victory. Here was proof that even though he formed a government dominated by the Left-Arab bloc, Bennett was still a man of the right and he was even getting the radical left and Islamists to agree to establish a new community in Samaria.

Not so fast, Gantz said. Gantz rejected the deal. The final deal reached only involved one operative clause. The residents agreed to evacuate by Friday. Gantz gave a list of conditional agreements that all lead to one conclusion. The residents were had. Evyatar may rise again at some future date. But it probably won't. And yet, the residents, major religious Zionist figures, political and communal leaders all accepted the deal and praised Bennett and Shaked for their leadership and support.

The details of the deal – actual evacuation in exchange for vague promises of future agreements to reestablish the yeshiva pending various levels of regulatory approval – make clear that the purpose of the exercise wasn't to pave the way for the establishment of a new Jewish community in Judea and Samaria. It was to avoid political embarrassment for Bennett and Shaked and for the religious Zionist elite that share their hatred for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and support their decision to ditch the right-wing bloc comprised of Likud, the ultra-Orthodox and the more ideologically rigid elements of the religious Zionist community and form a government with the Left, the radical Left and the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Islamist party.
The Caroline Glick Show: Episode 12: Israel's New Government brings Hamas into the Tent
In Episode 12 of the Caroline Glick Mideast News Hour with Gadi Taub, Caroline and Gadi discuss Israel new government's role in mediating between Hamas and the Biden administration.The analyzed the implications of the new government's inability to sustain Israel's immigration and citizenship laws, and its relationship to the international left's campaign against the nation state.Caroline and Gadi ended with a shout-out to Ilhan Omar whose anti-Semitism is so profound, she's even managing to force some American Jewish leaders to stand up for themselves.


Evyatar, the window into the new government.
Right now, there is a proposal that would save Evyatar from evacuation and destruction and turn it into a hesder yeshiva. However elegant a solution this offers to an extrication from the nightmarish and Gush Katif-reminiscent prospect of watching soldiers throw Jewish families out of their homes, it seems like only a Band-Aid.

Band-Aids can save the day, but they are not the stuff of durable, resilient governments. Resilient governments require principles and priorities.

The new government, which refers to itself as the government of change, must answer the question: a change to what? There is change for change’s sake, meaning the replacement of the prime minister, and there is change for a new and different vision.

It is to be expected that such a diverse and potentially unwieldy coalition needs to find its sea legs. But it also needs to stand for something besides its own continuity.

In the meantime, there are many, including the leading Zionist NGOs in Israel, taking the position that there are important policy considerations this new government needs to address.

Illegal Palestinian construction and the consequential diminishment of the Jewish footprint in Area C is one of the major policy concerns of Zionist groups. There will be a strong interest by NGOs to assure that this and other issues are being addressed and not swept under the rug in the name of avoiding controversy.

If the goal was to avoid controversy, there would have never been a State of Israel. This government needs to stand for something. Evyatar provides the opportunity for the new government to affirm a commitment to Judaea and Samaria, to assert its Zionist values, and despite its fragility, to establish priorities, including red lines, for the citizenry to see and understand.

The new government is already at a crossroads of its own creation. It will either show itself to be adept, inclusive, yet wholly committed to the Zionist vision, or it will reveal itself to be a whole that is less than the sum of its parts.
Settlers vacate illegal Evyatar outpost as deal to keep it intact takes effect
Israeli settlers vacated the illegal Evyatar outpost on Friday afternoon, abiding by an unprecedented agreement struck with the government that will allow for the wildcat hilltop town to remain intact and under permanent supervision of the IDF, despite its unauthorized construction two months ago.

Before leaving, the dozens of families living there erected a 13-meter-high iron Star of David facing the nearby Palestinian village of Beita with the phrase “We will return” inscribed next to it.

“We’re already thinking about the next step. In stage two, we will establish a proper community. We are leaving today in a very organized fashion in order to easily unload everything back here as soon as possible,” resident Hadar Bar-Chai told the Kipa news site.

“We moved to Evyatar from the north and every moment here was lovely. This was a significant step for the people of Israel. We gained so much from every day here and it gives us the strength to return one day,” she added.

According to the agreement signed with the government on Wednesday, the settlers were to evacuate the outpost by 4 p.m. Friday. Evyatar’s dozens of makeshift homes will remain intact and the IDF will turn the site into a military outpost.

In the meantime, the government has pledged to carry out a survey of the land in order to determine its status. While the Palestinians in neighboring villages of Beita, Kablan and Yitma say the land historically belonged to them, they have been barred access for decades over what the IDF says are security reasons. The land went uncultivated, opening it up for confiscation by the state for public use, based on West Bank property laws. Until now, no survey has been completed by Israel to make that determination and the Evyatar settlers chose not to wait for that step before moving in.
Palestinians clash with soldiers outside West Bank outpost on eve of evacuation
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered outside the illegal Evyatar outpost in the West Bank late Thursday, throwing rocks and firebombs and shooting fireworks at IDF troops at the scene, the army said.

The violent protest came on the eve of a partial evacuation of the wildcat settlement set for Friday under an agreement reached between the government and the settlers.

IDF troops responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported it treated 61 people, including six hit by rubber bullets. The rest suffered from tear gas inhalation.

The protest came on the final night that civilians will remain at the contested site.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz reached an agreement whereby the settlers will evacuate Evyatar by 4 p.m. Friday, but the state will work to legalize control of the land and establish a yeshiva at the site at a later date.

After the residents leave the hilltop site, the local council will have an additional week to empty and lock its buildings and structures.

In the meantime, the Israel Defense Forces will establish an “immediate round-the-clock presence” at the outpost.

The Defense Ministry will carry out a survey of the land to establish which parts can be declared state land and which parts are considered to be private Palestinian property.
The EU should stop proposing peace summits and promote the Abraham Accords
The E.U. now knows that not all Arab countries oppose peace with Israel, and that the Palestinian veto and attempts at criminalizing the Jewish state haven’t stopped them from pursuing it. The Abraham Accords are evidence.

If the Palestinians ever come to understand that friendship with Israel—based on peace for peace and tolerance for tolerance—is both possible and advantageous for anyone who truly seeks it, perhaps their racist hunger for destruction will subside.

Peace can be a goal that bears actual fruit—such as advancement in all realms of health, agriculture and water technology—not empty words. Indeed, it can provide hope for a better future for all the children of the region.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, as well as Egypt and Jordan, are living proof of this. They came to understand that Jews belong to this ancient land where they were born and to which they have returned, after centuries of suffering, with the aim of self-determination in a flourishing democracy.

If Europe really wants to involve the Palestinians in a peace process, it should invite them to Brussels within the framework of the Abraham Accords. It could ask them to follow the example of the above Arab States—the very countries that it embraced until it began kowtowing to Iran—and shun their contempt for the falsely dubbed “supremacist invader,” Israel.

To do this, however, it needs to be honest with itself about P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas. It must realize that he’s not a potential partner for peace, but rather a dictator who murders his rivals—one who canceled the Palestinian elections slated for May in order to retain his useless and harmful 17-year grip on power, and keep his hands on all the European money given to the P.A., with which he lines his pockets and funds his “pay for slay” program.

The peace-summit paradigm has got to be rethought. All an umpteenth conference will achieve is to dash any hope for peace that the Palestinian people might have, but are not able voice in the earshot of their leaders.


Abu Dhabi ruler went out of his way to ensure kosher food for Lapid delegation
When religious members of the Israeli delegation accompanying Foreign Minister Yair Lapid went to lunch in their Abu Dhabi hotel on Tuesday, they expected the same type of fare they usually receive at similar events.

It often consists of meals wrapped in plastic packaging that are far less appetizing than what their secular colleagues are enjoying.

But during Lapid’s historic two-day visit to the UAE, there was an extensive buffet of kosher salads, fish, chicken, meat, and desserts, all provided by an unlikely source — Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, Mohamed bin Zayed, also known as MBZ.

According to UAE Rabbi Levi Duchman, the UAE’s Armed Forces Officers Club reached out to him at the direction of the Crown Prince’s office. They told the US-born Chabad rabbi that there was an Israeli delegation coming and they needed to prepare kosher food for it.

Duchman sent one of his mashgichim, or kashrut supervisors, to open the kitchen in the military club and to supervise the preparation of the food.

“This was 100% UAE who wanted to make sure that if there’s people that keep kosher on the trip, they should have the best standard of kosher food,” Duchman told The Times of Israel.

Most of the kosher food was locally sourced. The chickens were ritually slaughtered by Duchman’s brother Mendel, a shochet in the inland Emirati city Al-Ain.
Scott Morrison promises to visit Israel
[Australian] PRIME Minister Scott Morrison made a pledge to visit Israel during a congratulatory phone call with his Israeli counterpart Naftali Bennett last Thursday.

Following their chat, the newly installed Israeli Prime Minister tweeted, “I had a good conversation this morning with a great friend of Israel, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who called to congratulate me on taking office and wished me success.

“I invited him to visit Israel and he responded in the affirmative.

“We agreed that we would focus on cooperation in the high-tech field and consider entering into negotiations on a free trade agreement between the countries. We will continue to strengthen Israel’s status in the world.”

Morrison, who also held phone discussions with the leaders of Fiji and Indonesia late last week, said of the conversations, “Great to discuss shared interests and challenges as we respond to the pandemic and strengthen our ties. Australia will always be a steadfast partner.”

Asked by The AJN when a trip to Israel might happen, an Australian government spokesperson said, “The Prime Minister looks forward to visiting Israel at a mutually convenient time.”
InterviewMerkel’s likely successor: Every young person should visit Auschwitz
As a child of the Cold War in West Germany, Armin Laschet remembers when then-US president Ronald Reagan came to Berlin in 1987, stood at the barrier separating East from West, and said, “Tear down this wall!”

“For many West Germans, that was a utopia that didn’t seem realistic, but which fulfilled itself in the end,” said Laschet, who is seeking to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in the country’s September 26 election.

The 60-year-old governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, is still grateful that in his youth the Americans were reliable guarantors of peace and stability against the Soviet Union.

“They were always there for us, they secured the freedom of Berlin,” Laschet said in an interview this week with The Associated Press at his office in the western city of Duesseldorf.

For Laschet, close US relations are of utmost importance as Merkel steps down after nearly 16 years in power. He hopes to advance progress on global challenges with the help of a new US leader, President Joe Biden.

Recent polls give the Union bloc a 7-10 percentage-point lead over the environmentalist Greens, making Laschet a front-runner to become the leader of Germany, with Europe’s biggest economy. The bloc is made up of his Christian Democratic Union party and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union party.
Poland’s latest assault on the legacy of the Holocaust
In the sweep of history, 76 years is a blip on the screen, a relatively brief stretch of time too short to excuse a willful and utter disregard for the past.

It is precisely this basic truth that makes Poland’s latest assault on the legacy of the Holocaust so thoroughly contemptible.

Last week, the lower house of the Polish parliament, known as the Sejm, passed a bill that would effectively erase any claims to property restitution connected with the murder of six million Jews.

On the surface, the legislation appears rather banal, as it makes no explicit mention of Jews or the genocide committed against them, much of which took place on Polish soil.

Instead, using the dry and uninspired language preferred by many legislatures around the world, the law would apply a 30-year statute of limitations to claims on property that was confiscated from its original owners by the post-war Communist regime.

An uninformed observer could be forgiven for thinking the law merely aims to impose a reasonable time limit or cap of some sort to bring closure to the issue.

But couching the law in humdrum legalese does not conceal its sinister intent, which is to entrench the massive theft of Jewish-owned property that was carried out in Poland.

In effect, the bill would allow those who stole Jewish property from Holocaust victims to rest easily in the knowledge that they and their heirs can enjoy the fruits of their looting.

As Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich noted, “This is clearly a flawed law” that should be corrected.


Poles leave chunks of brick outside Israel’s Warsaw embassy in protest
Members of an ultranationalist youth movement in Poland left tons of building debris outside the Israeli Embassy in Warsaw to protest Israel’s criticism of legislation that would limit restitution.

Members of the All-Polish Youth group left large chunks of brick walls on Wednesday with a sign reading “this is your property,” the Polska Times news site reported.

According to the site, the protesters were arguing that claims for restitution by Jews whose real estate and other possessions were confiscated after World War II pertain to places that largely had been destroyed during World War II and thus are worthless.

The action follows the passing last week of a bill in the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, that sets a 30-year limit on appealing administrative decisions. If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, the law would make the bulk of post-Holocaust confiscations of property incontestable in Polish courts.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, an outspoken critic of Poland, condemned the bill.

“This is a direct and painful attack on the rights of Holocaust survivors and their descendants,” he wrote Thursday on Twitter. “This is not the first time that the Poles are trying to turn a blind eye to what was done in Poland during the Holocaust.”


Daniel Jadue, Communist Party Frontrunner in Chile’s Presidential Election, Unmoved by Parliamentary Resolution Denouncing Him as ‘Antisemitic’
The Communist Party frontrunner in the current polling for November’s presidential elections in Chile, Daniel Jadue, has been denounced in a parliamentary resolution on antisemitism, as details emerged of a high-school year book entry that appeared to celebrate his antisemitic convictions as a teenager.

The motion censuring Jadue — the 54-year-old grandson of Palestinian immigrants to Chile — was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, with 79 votes in favor and 47 against. Introduced by members of the conservative Independent Democratic Union (UDI), the resolution specifically called on “the candidate for the presidency, Mr. Daniel Jadue, to publicly and categorically refute the statements made in the biographical sketch in his school yearbook, which classify him as antisemitic.”

A yellowing copy of the 1983 year book containing Jadue’s entry was published on Twitter last week by Prof. Gabriel Zaliasnik, a former head of the 20,000-strong Chilean Jewish community.

“His own classmates defined him as an ‘antisemite,'” Zaliasnik remarked.

Written in a humorous and affectionate style by Jadue’s fellow students, the year book entry noted his desire to “cleanse the city of Jews,” and suggested that a suitable gift would be “a Jew for to him to use as target practice.”

Jadue was defiant following the Chamber of Deputies resolution excoriating him, declaring on Twitter: “A country in the midst of a health and economic crisis, hundreds of deaths a day, families can’t make ends meet, but right-wing deputies vote for me to explain what others wrote [about me], in a school yearbook, 35 years ago! Get serious!” He did not discuss, much less apologize for, the antisemitic content of the entry.

Separately, the Chilean news outlet Infinita posted a video of Jadue commenting on the controversy on Wednesday evening. Wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, a relaxed-looking Jadue claimed that the text in the yearbook had been written by a “schools inspector,” and that he had been offended by it at the time.
‘They Teach You to Hate’: Iranian Athletes Share Traumatizing Experiences of Being Forced to Forfeit Matches With Israeli Opponents
Samaneh Beyrami Baher of Iran carries the national flag at Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Feb. 9, 2018.

Iranian athletes who fled their home country and now live in exile have shared with CNN Sport details of their personal experiences with being forced to throw matches in order to avoid competing against Israeli opponents.

Judoka Vahid Sarlak, 40, was first told to lose a match at the age of 17 at the 1998 World Junior Championships. In a report published Thursday, he said he was too young to think much of it at the time — but that when ordered to do the same at the 2005 World Championships in Cairo, “it was the most difficult moment of my life,” he recalled. “I was just crying and asking why? Why should I lose? I remember my coach slapped me and told me: ‘You know that you have to go and lose the match.'”

Competing in the 60kg category and on his way to win a bronze medal, Sarlak was to face an opponent from Azerbaijan, followed by Israel’s Gal Yekutiel. He said his coach told him, “Your next opponent will be an Israeli, and we are not permitted to be in a match with Israelis.” After Sarlak’s forfeit was announced, his coach escorted him out of the arena and back to their hotel, not giving him the chance to watch the rest of the competition.

“I broke all the windows in my room,” Sarlak remembered. “It was the worst day of my life. A hole opened inside of me and that hole is still open. The dream of having that medal has remained with me. I will never forgive them.” He added, “Even now, when I see my Azeri opponent, he tells me, ‘Your medal is on display at my house. Your medal is on my neck now. You didn’t want it and I won it.’ This will never be erased from my mind.”

Sarlak told CNN Sport that even saying the name Israel is not accepted in Iran. He explained, “We all know that, but the intensity of this problem is more obvious with athletes because we face situations with Israel. Ordinary people may not have to deal with it, [but] this problem is a flashpoint for athletes that will never go away.”

He added, “Every Iranian has a passport. On the first page, it is written that you can travel to any country you would like to go — except ‘the occupied Palestine.'”
Israel needs to stop neglecting wartime media front - opinion
In addition, we should not fool ourselves into believing that the appointment of a media professional alone is enough to fix the situation. The IDF is just one player in a larger public diplomacy campaign to ensure Israel preserves legitimacy to carry out military operations. There are others – in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry - who are no less responsible for this situation.

A media professional does not exempt the government from considering the wider diplomatic consequences of its decisions and how they will directly impact IDF operations, Israel’s legitimate right to act as well as Israel’s image as a peace-seeking democracy.

And that is exactly the point: It is time Israel recognizes that the media front is no less important than the battlefield in Gaza or the home front at which Hamas missiles are fired.

The media front impacts the IDF’s ability to continue its operations no less than when a rocket strikes a home in Ashkelon or Sderot. One is dependent on the other. If there are a high number of casualties from rocket attacks, the operation will escalate; and if there is no international legitimacy due to poor media management, the operation will be shortened.

This is why Israel cannot accept a situation in which the IDF and the government continue to neglect the foreign media.

It is easy to say – as many hasbara (public diplomacy) activists do – that the foreign media is biased and even antisemitic. But this is nonsense. This is a claim Israel can only potentially make after it gives its best effort, allocates the right resources and appoints the right people to manage the media front during wartime. Until now, none of this has been done.

A country that respects itself would not act like this. It would invest the necessary resources and appoint the right people to do the right jobs. It would have someone around the table who could warn of the repercussions from bombing an AP bureau just one day after deceiving the media. It would understand the necessity of taking that into consideration.

Media management is a profession, and that is how it needs to be looked at within the military and the government. It is no secret that Israel faces additional conflicts looming on the horizon. The media neglect needs to stop now.
Israel bombs Hamas weapons factory in Gaza in response to arson balloons
Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas weapons factory in the Gaza Strip early Friday in response to a wave of arson balloon attacks launched at Israel from the coastal enclave the day before, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The army said the site was used by the terror organization to develop and build weapons.

“The strike was carried out in response to the arson balloon attacks on Israeli territory. The IDF will respond with determination against all terror attempts from the Gaza Strip,” the army said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The incendiary balloons launched from Gaza Thursday sparked four fires near Israeli towns along the southern border, breaking more than two weeks of quiet since the last wave of arson attacks.

Most of the fires were small and not dangerous, according to the Fire and Rescue Services, which said that its respondents quickly managed to gain control of the blazes in the Eshkol Regional Council before significant damage was caused.

In June, arson balloons launched by Hamas operatives caused some 20 fires in Israeli communities in the Gaza periphery. IDF planes struck a wide range of Hamas military targets throughout the Strip, responding to the attacks in less than a day.


IDF raids home of terrorist who stabbed soldier, met with violence
Israeli Border Police and Lion of the Valley Battalion officers raided on Thursday night the home of the terrorist who stabbed an IDF soldier and stole her weapons a few hours earlier in the Jordan Valley.

The home is in the Palestinian town of Tubas, near Nablus. The man has since been apprehended by security forces.

When they entered Tubas, the security forces were met with violence, including long-range fire, Molotov cocktails and stones throwing.

The security forces responded by using riot dispersal methods.

A few locals were injured in the clashes, and two IDF vehicles and a Border Police vehicle sustained damages.


MEMRI: Palestinian Journalists, Politicians Lambaste Palestinian Authority For Death Of Political Dissident At Hands Of Security Apparatuses: This Misconduct Reflects Profound Problems Requiring Comprehensive Reform
The June 24, 2021 death of Nizar Banat, a longtime and well-known critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA), a few hours after his arrest by the PA's security apparatuses in Hebron, sparked widespread protest among the Palestinian public and intensified the criticism against the PA, headed by President Mahmoud 'Abbas, especially against the violence employed by its security apparatuses and its suppression of free speech and other democratic freedoms. Banat's family held the PA leadership responsible for his death, and stressed that the official statement, which claimed that he had died in hospital after "his health deteriorated," is false and that he died after being brutally beaten by the security apparatuses during his arrest.[1] The PA hastened to announce that it had formed a committee, headed by the justice minister, to investigate Banat's death.[2] However, Banat's family clarified that it rejected the committee and would not accept its findings, since the authorities themselves were involved in the incident, and demanded to form an international investigative committee.[3]

Banat's death, and the PA's handling of the incident, drew widespread condemnation from elements across the Palestinian political spectrum and from Palestinian and international human rights organizations. Palestinian human rights organizations refused to take part in the government-appointed investigative committee and announced that they had formed a committee of their own to look into the affair.[4] The incident also provoked heated mass demonstrations in West Bank cities, at which calls were heard to overthrow the PA and President 'Abbas. The protests were violently suppressed by the PA security forces and plainclothes policemen, who beat up not only protesters but also journalists who were reporting on the events.[5] Fatah organized counter-demonstrations in support of President 'Abbas, and its activists helped the security forces to break up the anti-government protests.[6]

Palestinian opposition factions, especially Hamas, were quick to exploit the events to further their political agenda and fan the flames of protests against the PA, with the aim of toppling it. Hamas issued a statement blaming the PA for Banat's death and calling it a predetermined crime which joins the PA's many other crimes and its suppression of the people's freedoms.[7] Hamas leaders urged the masses to join the protests against the PA;[8] similar statements were issued also by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other factions.[9]

In light of the mass protests over Banat's death, which embarrassed the PA, and the attempts of Hamas and others to exploit the affair to their advantage, PA and Fatah officials began presenting the protests as unrest led by Hamas and nothing more. Although the protests are massive and involve not only Hamas members, PA and Fatah spokespeople claimed they were organized by "dubious elements," "traitors" and "mercenaries" with "foreign agendas" trying to stage another coup like the one in 2007.[10]

In fact, the large scope of the protests reflects the rage and frustration of the Palestinian public. Banat's death was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back, and caused an outburst of the rage that has long been building due to many aspects of the PA's conduct, including 'Abbas's decision in late April to indefinitely postpone the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council.[11]

Articles published by Palestinian journalists, politicians and intellectuals following Banat's death indeed claimed that the conduct of the PA and its apparatuses in this affair reflect a long series of problems and illnesses that afflict the PA, manifested in poor management, corruption, suppression of freedoms and lack of democracy. They called on the PA and its leadership to enact reforms before it becomes too late.


After Guns Go Quiet, Hamas Works with Hezbollah and Iran to Learn Lessons for Next War
While Hamas is more ideologically affiliated with the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood axis, operationally, it also is a member of the Iranian-led Shiite axis, Kuperwasser explained. Iran is a chief source of funding, training, and weapons-building know-how for Hamas’ military wing, and Hezbollah has cooperated with Hamas on multiple projects, such as building rocket factories and training camps.

Fortunately, it is Israel that has proven so far to be the better student of past conflicts, said Kuperwasser. From the time of the 51-day, 2014 conflict with Hamas to now, Israel has remained ahead of its enemies in Gaza — Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad — in terms of preventing surprises and planning capabilities.

“It’s true that Hamas developed capabilities that were supposed to deal with the capabilities that Israel developed,” said Kuperwasser, citing its launching of heavy rocket barrages designed to overwhelm Israel’s improved Iron Dome batteries, the launching of a guided torpedo towards Israel’s offshore gas rigs, and the development of drones. Israel had operational answers to all of these attacks, however, he said.

Iron Dome was able to take out 90 percent of the rockets it targeted during the latest conflict, reflecting the significant upgrades that gave it the ability to deal with large salvos.

In addition, anti-tank guided missiles arrived in Gaza with the help of elements “tied to Iran,” said Kuperwasser. Hamas fired one such missile at an IDF jeep during the conflict, killing an IDF soldier and injuring two others, one seriously.

Hamas was also aware that its attack tunnels were becoming much more problematic as an offensive tool, due to Israel’s underground anti-tunnel wall, which was completed in March.

“They understood their own vulnerability, due to the combat in 2014, when many hundreds of terrorists were killed, leading Hamas to construct the “metro” [a network of underground combat tunnels within Gaza]. This was supposed to defend them,” said Kuperwasser. But Israel was able to map out sections of the ‘Metro’ and destroy 100 kilometers of the underground network.

It is fair to assume that at this time, senior members of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran are seeking to produce fresh lessons from the May conflict, he added.

The IDF has to monitor this process as best as it can, to stay ahead, according to the analyst.
Western Silence as Gaza Summer Camps Train Future Terrorists
The media and academia, devoted to an all-encompassing narrative of Israeli oppression, ignore that, according to MEMRI, Hamas and PIJ recruited more than 10,000 boys for this year's camp through their websites and social media and at mosques and central locations across Gaza.

They ignore that the terrorist groups labeled this year's camps "Sword of Jerusalem," which is what Hamas called its conflict this spring with Israel.

They ignore that, at camp, Hamas and PIJ teach boys how to use knives and guns (sometimes with live ammunition), how to engage in hand-to-hand combat and how to fight in tunnels like the ones that the terrorist groups dig to infiltrate Israel.

They ignore that, each summer, Hamas and PIJ officials welcome recruits at the opening of camp, attend their graduation at the end, and deliver speeches at both.

They ignore videos showing that campers wear Hamas military uniforms and "practice shooting anti-tank missiles at an Israeli bus and tank, infiltrating an [Israel Defense Forces] outpost and liberating the Al-Aqsa Mosque, among other simulated military training activities."

The camp, as PIJ's Khader Habib explained at a news conference, is designed "to prepare a generation of resistance [fighters] raised to liberate and take back the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Israeli occupation and to remove the alien corn [i.e. Israel] that has taken over Palestine."

The fact that Gaza is run by terrorists who seek Israel's destruction, have incited war with Israel four times since 2008, have launched thousands of rockets into Israel and have encouraged Gazans to throw Molotov cocktails, burn tires, breach the border and attack Israelis undercuts the all-encompassing narrative of Israeli oppression.

Perhaps that's why you don't hear much about summer camps that train the next generation of Palestinians to attack Israelis.
Hamas defends its military summer camps for children and teenagers
A recent publication by Palestinian Islamic Jihad showed youth training how to abduct an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier. Additionally, the publication showed Palestinians who appear to be as young as ten years old, despite the group’s recruitment poster stating it was accepting teenagers between the ages of fourteen and seventeen.

FDD’s Long War Journal has tracked the use of child militants by Palestinian groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Mujahideen Brigades.

Other groups, such as Hezbollah, have established a youth movement over three decades ago called the Imam al-Mahdi Scouts who train children how to use weapons and indoctrinate them into the group’s ideology.

Additionally, Ansarallah – commonly known as the Houthis – has been documented using children in their conflict against the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

It appears Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are not worried about a public backlash, particularly from Western countries, for training children as young as ten. The Hamas press conference was done in English, which is rare, and likely targeted a Western audience. It is possible Hamas had some concern about their image abroad, and aimed to explain why they were giving children and teenagers military training.

Despite what Hamas or any other Palestinian group states, the camps are not an investment in the future of Gaza’s youth or a Palestinian state, but one of preservation of the militant group’s power, and the build up of military strength to continue waging jihad against Israel.
Jonathan Tobin: Biden’s promise on Iranian nukes is worthless
The weak agreement Obama (with the enthusiastic support of supposedly pro-Israel figures like Biden and the rest of the current president’s foreign policy team) reached with Iran had many flaws, including ignoring Iran’s terrorism and building of illegal missiles.

But the worst was its time frame. The deal which went into effect in 2015 was loaded with sunset clauses that the Iranians insisted upon. These provisions caused all of the restrictions on its nuclear program to expire within 10 to 15 years. Obama convinced most Democrats, including many who claimed to be strong supporters of Israel, that kicking the can down the road in this fashion was the best deal that could be made. They, along with Obama’s dupes in the media, accurately labeled an “echo chamber” by his aide Ben Rhodes, also bought into the idea that the only choices America faced were appeasement or war.

Six years later, the clock is ticking and the West needs to face up to the fact that by the end of the decade the Iran deal will expire and the Israel-hating theocrats that run it will have a legal path to a nuclear weapon. That’s something that former President Donald Trump understood when he withdrew from the deal and embarked on an effort to force Iran to renegotiate a pact that would permanently foreclose the nuclear option as well as halt its support for terrorism and missile building. In doing so, he debunked Obama’s false choice with a successful policy of sanctions that put “maximum pressure” on Iran that crippled its economy but avoided war.

Biden and Blinken have acknowledged this problem. They say they will reinstate the nuclear agreement first and then cajole Iran into negotiating and signing a new deal that will do exactly what Trump sought to do while preventing Tehran from engaging in any nuclear shenanigans in the meantime.

But the Israeli officials who are both kissing up to the Democratic administration, while also quietly lobbying them to change course, know that plan is a mission impossible.

Simply put, the inducements, including the lifting of sanctions, that the U.S. is offering Iran to get them back into the deal means it is giving up all of the leverage over the regime it inherited from Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign. Once the 2015 pact is reinstated and Iran is able to reap the financial rewards involved in the lifting of sanctions, Biden will have no way to force the ayatollahs to reverse their pledge never to renegotiate its terms.

That will mean that, Iran’s consistent cheating on the agreement notwithstanding, Biden will be able to fulfill his promise about them not getting a nuclear weapon on his watch even if he runs and then wins re-election and serves until January 2029. It will be the American president who is elected in November 2028 who will be faced with a nuclear Iran on his or her watch.

That’s why all the fine promises being made this week about Israel’s security being sacrosanct, and nothing horrible happening while Biden and Blinken have anything to say about it, are as worthless as Obama’s claim that his signature foreign policy achievement would allow Iran a path to “get right with the world.” It is the president’s bad policies that matter, not his friendly words. Unless Biden changes course on Iran, Israeli efforts to ingratiate those Democrats who still care about their security will be a fool’s errand.
State Department Backs Iranian Protesters as Biden Admin Emboldens Hardline Regime
The State Department also called Raisi's election a sham: "Iranians were denied their right to choose their own leaders in a free and fair electoral process," the spokesman said.

The comments come as Iranian dissidents and regional observers try to gauge how much support the Biden administration is willing to offer the protesters. The Obama administration came under intense criticism for staying out of a 2009 protest movement in Iran, known as the Green Revolution, that many viewed as an opportunity to topple the hardline regime. While Obama's advisers urged him to back the dissidents, the former president overruled them as part of a bid to placate the regime in the lead-up to the 2015 nuclear deal.

The situation Biden is facing is in many ways a repeat, as well as an early test for his administration as it seeks to reenter the nuclear accord while avoiding the perception that it is abandoning Iran's dissident community. Outgoing Iranian president Hassan Rouhani promised a conciliatory approach to this week's demonstrations, in which energy sector workers at some 60 facilities walked off the job. As Raisi prepares to enter office, it is unclear if he will adopt a similar stance or move to crack down on the workers.

According to the State Department, Raisi's election will not interfere with the Biden administration's diplomacy with Iran in Vienna, where the parties are reportedly getting close to cementing a deal. "From our point of view, [the election] does not affect our determination to try to reach a deal or the pace at which we will go about pursuing it," a senior State Department official told reporters last week.

Alireza Nader, an Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Biden administration's diplomacy will strengthen Raisi's hand as he takes control of the country.

"Unfortunately," Nader said, "the Biden administration may rejoin the [nuclear deal] and provide tens of billions of dollars to Raisi the mass murderer to violently crack down on the population, including the strikers."


US Adds Turkey to List of Countries Implicated in Use of Child Soldiers
The United States on Thursday added Turkey to a list of countries that are implicated in the use of child soldiers over the past year, placing a NATO ally for the first time in such a list, in a move that is likely to further complicate the already fraught ties between Ankara and Washington.

The US State Department determined in its 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) that Turkey was providing “tangible support” to the Sultan Murad division in Syria, a faction of Syrian opposition that Ankara has long, supported and a group that Washington said recruited and used child soldiers.

There was no immediate reaction from Turkey on the move.

In a briefing call with reporters, a senior State Department official also made a reference to the use of child soldiers in Libya, saying Washington was hoping to work with Ankara on the issue to address it.

“With respect to Turkey in particular … this is the first time a NATO member has been listed in the child soldier prevention act list,” the State Department official said. “As a respected regional leader and member of NATO, Turkey has the opportunity to address this issue — the recruitment and use of child soldiers in Syria and Libya,” she said.

Turkey has carried out three cross-border operations in Syria against the so-called Islamic State, as well as US-backed Kurdish militia and has frequently used factions of armed Syrian fighters on top of its own forces.







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