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Monday, September 13, 2021

09/13 Links Pt1: Can the UN Finally Cease Its Relentless Anti-Israel Bias?; The withdrawal from Gaza: a failed concession for peace; Dutch Government to Call on PA to End Support for Antisemitic Riots

From Ian:

Can the UN Finally Cease Its Relentless Anti-Israel Bias?
few years ago, after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had just passed its usual litany of anti-Israel resolutions, an exasperated UN translator accidentally told the world the truth. Thinking only her colleagues could hear her speaking into the microphone, she caused laughter but no embarrassment among the diplomats as she exposed their farce: "When you have...like a total of 10 resolutions on Israel and Palestine, that's a bit much, no?"

Hundreds of parliamentarians from both sides of the Atlantic agree that this is way too much. In an unprecedented initiative, spearheaded by the Transatlantic Friends of Israel, 312 cross-party lawmakers from the European Parliament and national legislatures from EU member states, the U.K., Switzerland, Norway, the U.S., Canada and Israel have urged EU member states and fellow democracies to end the systematic discrimination against Israel at the UN.

"Within the context of rising global antisemitism, the relentless, disproportionate and ritualistic condemnation of the world's only Jewish state at the UN is particularly dangerous and must finally end. Israel deserves attention and scrutiny, as does every other nation. But it also merits equal treatment—nothing more, nothing less," the declaration reads in part.

Last year, for example, the UN General Assembly adopted 17 one-sided resolutions against Israel and only six against any of the other 192 member states for human rights violations. As the 76th session of the UN General Assembly opens tomorrow, it is set to establish a similarly shameful record.

A particularly outrageous spectacle—the 20th anniversary summit of the UN's so-called 2001 World Conference Against Racism—will take place on September 22. We write "so-called" because the original conference held in Durban, South Africa perverted its agenda from fighting hatred to advocating hatred against Jews. Israel was singled out and libeled as an illegitimate racist apartheid state, setting the agenda for the next two decades of anti-Israel bigotry. Jewish conference participants were physically threatened and had to hide their kippahs. "Anti-racist" activists screamed, "you don't belong to the human race" and held placards that read, "Hitler Should Have Finished the Job."

Showing moral clarity, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. announced they would stay away from this odious affair. But as of the time of this writing, 17 EU member states are still on track to attend the celebration of what was an antisemitic hate fest, with speeches scheduled from the UNGA president, the UN secretary general, and the UN high commissioner for human rights.




Americans and Jews are Fighting World War III
America too has a mission in the world – to defend the good and fight evil. Our victory over Nazism was part of that. In the second half of the 20th century, we fought communism in Korea, Vietnam and throughout Europe and Central America. Under Reagan, Bush (occasionally) and Trump, we fought Islamism. (Biden is determined to sign articles of surrender.) Like Nazism, fundamentalist Islam has marked the Jews for extermination. After the defeat of the Third Reich, the conflict shifted from Europe to the Middle East, and then went global after the Cold War. The World Trade Center should have been a wake-up call for America. For most in the West, the phone is still ringing. Tragically, very few Americans and Jews even grasp the idea of a mission. Americans are too caught up in the concept of a world ruled by international trade and international relations,and doing perpetual penance for imaginary sins of the past. Jews want the world to forgive them for being different, while complaining about the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism, which they refuse to relate to the rise of Islam. In that encounter at Kaufering Lager IV came a moment of clarity. The prisoners understood why they were being murdered -- “Juden, Juden.” (The world has always hated the messenger.) The Americans of Easy Company understood why they fought. Then amnesia set in. Now, 20 years after 9/11, we’ve saddled ourselves with a president who staged the most disastrous retreat imaginable from Afghanistan and thinks our enemies are a virus and a natural phenomenon (climate change). And many Jews can’t figure out why the percentage of Americans who have negative feelings about them is declining while anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise. Islam, anyone?


The withdrawal from Gaza: a failed concession for peace
As an aside, it should be noted that American Jewish donors had purchased more than 3,000 greenhouses from the Israeli communities for US$14 million and transferred ownership of them to the Palestinian Authority, with the intention that they could be used to shore up the Gazan economy. However, within a few short hours of the departure of the Israelis, the greenhouses had been ransacked and destroyed by Palestinian mobs who looted every item of value – even the plastic sheeting.

Within two years, Gaza was engulfed in a short but bloody civil war in which Hamas militants systematically butchered every one of their Palestinian “brothers” that they could find who were members of the rival Fatah faction. This handed Hamas total control of the territory and complete freedom to launch attacks on Israel, which it has totally exploited over the last decade and a half.

Since then, Hamas and other Gazan terrorist groups have launched thousands of missile attacks on Israel, resulting in dozens of deaths and almost 2,000 injuries.In the years following Israel’s withdrawal, there was a sharp increase in attacks with nearly 2400 attacks in 2008. This increase was only halted in late 2008/early 2009 by Operation Cast Lead. The trend is that there is a period of one or two quiet years following a decisive Israeli response, only for the militants to gradually up the ante again.

Meanwhile, in southern Israeli towns such as Sderot, there is always – at best – an uneasy calm. Residents speak of jumping at the smallest noise. Parents report children still wetting their beds or being too scared to sleep alone. Estimates of the levels of PTSD in children run from 40% to 75%. Every night as parents in southern Israel put their children to bed, there is always that fear that tonight might be the night when the Gazan militants try to rain down more hell on their communities. Once again, Israelis have cause to wonder if their lives and those of their families are more peaceful under this “land for peace” paradigm.

What of Judea and Samaria?
So, what of Judea and Samaria (also referred to as the West Bank) that Israel captured from Jordan in 1967? Would leaving the territories guarantee greater peace and security for Israel? Let’s leave aside the fact that in 2000 and again in 2008, the Israelis offered over 90% of the area with territorial compensation, only for the Palestinians to reject the offers on both occasions. Based on the examples cited above with regard to Lebanon and Gaza, there is very little reason to expect that such a concession would bring more peace and security for Israelis.

Support for Hamas is growing in Judea-Samaria and there is ample evidence that the militant group would be capable of seizing control of the Palestinian Authority-administered territories either through elections or by a short, brutal war such as the one that won them control of Gaza in 2007. Even more significantly, there is a lot of high ground that is ideally positioned for any militants who would like to rain down missiles on Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Netanya, Rishon LeTzion and various other urban centres in Israel’s densely populated central belt.

Sixteen years ago today, Israel ended its presence in Gaza. The result has been far greater insecurity and fear for the small number of towns and villages in the sparsely populated southern districts of the country. At this point in time, Israelis simply cannot afford to take the same risk with millions of their citizens living a mere missile-strike away from the hills of Judea and Samaria.
There's no answer for the Gaza problem - analysis
Lapid’s two-step plan, which he said “would create stability on both sides of the border,” is full of concepts that are by no means new and is not an official government policy. But “we can’t accept this reality,” Lapid said. “The State of Israel has a duty to tell its citizens we have turned every stone in an attempt to deal with the Gazan issue.” Though Israel’s military has understood that the issue of Gaza cannot be ignored, it’s as if it has given up winning the fight and has resorted to carrying out retaliatory strikes instead of being on the offensive. And it is Israel’s southern communities that suffer the most from this decision. Why should they live with almost daily rocket fire at a time when the country is not at war? Why should parents have to rush their children to bomb shelters or have them sleep in them so that they don’t need to wake them up? Lapid understands the IDF has apparently given up on winning – for now. There needs to be another way, or else residents of the South will continue to be held hostage in a situation that can deteriorate into another war at any moment.
Bennett Meets Egypt’s President Sisi in First Egypt Visit by an Israeli PM Since 2011
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday for talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, a seaside town in the Sinai Peninsula.

The visit marks the first time an Israeli prime minister has traveled to Egypt in more than ten years.

Their discussion was to focus on “efforts to relaunch the peace process” between Israelis and Palestinians, according to a press release from presidential spokesman Bassam Radi.

The meeting comes hours after the reopening of the Taba crossing point between Israel and Sinai with no limit on the number of entry permits.

Israel has also reduced its security advisory for travelers to the country for the first time in years, a decision taken after Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel visited Israel for high-level talks on the Gaza Strip.

The visit comes following talks held earlier this month in Cairo with the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, where discussions focused on relaunching the peace process in the Middle East.

The parties also touched on ways to strengthen the ceasefire that ended last May’s conflict between Israel and Hamas.
EgyptAir to launch direct Tel Aviv-Cairo flights next month
EgyptAir, the national airline of Egypt, is slated to operate direct flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv from early next month, The Times of Israel has learned.

Once flights start after the Sukkot holiday, there are expected to be four direct commercial flights a week between Ben Gurion International Airport and Cairo.

Currently, the only flights between Israel and Cairo are operated by Air Sinai, a subsidiary of EgyptAir, which operates the flights in unmarked planes without the Egyptian flag. The Air Sinai flights between Tel Aviv and Cairo have operated continuously since the 1980s in order to fulfill the terms of the 1979 peace deal between Israel and Egypt, but were kept discreet amid lingering hostilities between the nations.

Once flights are relaunched by EgyptAir, they will be operated by the airline’s fully marked aircraft.

Also on Monday, Israel lifted the travel restrictions on citizens visiting the Sinai Peninsula just days ahead of Sukkot, a popular period for the travel destination.

After months of restrictions due to COVID-19, Israeli government limits on the number of Israelis allowed to travel to Sinai have been lifted.
Daniel Pipes: Germany's Jewish leadership vs. Israel
It gets worse. The Central Council of Jews, notes Chaim Noll, a German-Israeli author, "is a unique institution that does not exist in other countries and also is unknown in Judaism. It is one of the state institutions financed by the federal government, it administers the country's Jews. … That Jews are subject to the government's wishes is the specific tragedy of the Jews in Germany; in other countries, Jewish communities are autonomous."

As for substance, JAfD accurately argues that "the AfD has done more to protect Jewish life than any other party in the German Bundestag." Specifically, it successfully initiated a ban on Hezbollah and the BDS movement, and it is working to defund UNRWA and abolish labeling requirements for Jewish products from the West Bank.

I personally witnessed this when sitting in the Bundestag on March 14, 2019, as a vote was taken urging the German government to vote favorably for Israel in the United Nations. AfD's members voted 89 percent in favor of this motion, about 350 times more so than the ¼ of 1 percent of the ruling parties who joined them.

This spat illustrates a deep truth about Europe's sad Jewish leaders: beholden to the Establishment, they sacrifice most of their Zionist inclinations to stay in its good graces. (For more detail on this pattern, see my article Europe's Jews vs. Israel.) So avidly do they bow before the government, they even convinced Israel's current ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, to broach diplomatic protocol, openly attack the AfD and defend Germany's anti-Israel parties.

In the end, however, Europe's supine Jewish leadership will find itself isolated from its own constituents and opposed by the people and government of Israel, all of whom will eventually recognize their true friends in German politics. The AfD is far from perfect but it does best fit that description.
Im Tirtzu: Daniel Pipes Discusses the Need for Israeli Victory with Lital Shemesh
Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum, was interviewed by Channel 20 reporter Lital Shemesh as part of a special broadcast titled "Talking Israeli Victory."


Dore Gold: Today, Saudi Arabia is Part of the Solution
We are now commemorating 20 years since the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. The vast majority of the terrorists who flew hijacked aircraft into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were from Saudi Arabia. At the time, Wahhabi charities, representing an extreme form of Islam, were moving enormous sums of funding from Saudi Arabia to organizations around the world.

I wrote a New York Times bestseller, Hatred's Kingdom, which presented evidence from captured documents on how Hamas was one of the recipients of this funding, as it conducted suicide bombings in major Israeli cities.

Fast forward to 2021. How much Saudi money is now going to Hamas? Zero. In fact, Saudi Arabia is not giving a dime to any of the terrorist organizations. Today, the main countries funding Hamas are the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar.

Back in 2001, the Muslim World League, headquartered in the Saudi Kingdom, was spreading the ideology that supported a new wave of global terror. Yet today, the same Muslim World League has issued the Charter of Mecca in 2019 based on interreligious tolerance rather than jihad. A year later its secretary-general took a delegation to Auschwitz.

Since Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) became crown prince in 2017, important reforms have reshaped key elements of Saudi Arabia. In 2020, he curbed the powers of the religious police who were harassing Saudi citizens and foreigners.

The way forward is for like-minded Saudis and Israelis to draw together. We need to create a consensus for the security of our nations to meet the challenge from Iran and its proxies, which seek to re-establish Persian power in the framework of a renewed Safavid Empire.


Will Turkey ditch Muslim Brotherhood to mend ties with Egypt and UAE?
While it’s still unclear how far Turkey will go in dimming its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, it is obviously interested in increasing Saudi and Emirati investment in its economy.

Not only the Turkish, but also the Saudi, Emirati, and Egyptian economies have shrunk since the beginning of the pandemic, and all are looking for ways to speed the recovery. Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding recently announced that it was seeking investment opportunities in Turkey in sectors including health care, industrial and food processing, and Erdoğan said he was expecting “serious Emirati investment” soon.

For now, it seems that while all sides are ready for gradual de-escalation in order to benefit economically, but that just as in the case with Qatar, the wariness will remain when the ties will grow warmer. The central issues of dispute, Turkey’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as its military presence in Libya and Syria, will still prove hard to resolve.

At the same time, the rapprochement might also affect the future of the Hellenic alliance and the slow development of the East Med natural pipeline designed to deliver natural gas to Europe.

During the last few months, Turkey has signaled that it is also interested in mending ties with Israel, especially in the sphere of energy. The gaps between Ankara and Jerusalem are still significant, and it remains to be seen whether the current geopolitical developments will also incorporate Turkey-Israel relations in the future.
What Should the World Expect of Gifting Afghanistan to Fundamentalists?
The Taliban, by trying to introduce themselves as "moderate," also appear to be playing "good cop, bad cop" regarding Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K), presumably to get international support and recognition. The West should be skeptical. As long as the Taliban and other terror groups, whether Shi'ite or Sunni, have not changed ideologically, they will remain a significant threat to the US and the Free World.

Although the Taliban pledged to protect future US economic interests on Afghan soil by vowing that it would not allow other groups to form and organize terrorist attacks against the US and its allies, this promise will probably last only as long as the US keeps complying with the Taliban's blackmail demands regarding the US hostages and co-workers Biden abandoned.

The newly formed government consists of acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has a $10 million bounty on his head , is on the FBI's Most Wanted List, and whose family are longtime supporters of al-Qaeda; and four of the senior commanders are terrorists whom former President Barack Obama released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for US Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl.

Reports have also begun questioning if Biden's surrender of Afghanistan with not a trace of resistance – including the great Bagram airbase and nearly as much military aid as the US has provided to Israel since 1948 -- might have been deliberate in view of China's "investment" of $1.5 billion in Biden's son, Hunter, when Biden was vice-president, as well as for possible future returns.

A few key questions remain unanswered: Has America, in seeking coordination with a terror group against which it fought for years, ended its own supremacy? Is America about to cap the horror by officially recognizing a state run by known terrorists, armed to the teeth with America's finest military equipment, and who seem to have every intention of establishing a terrorist state?

Another question is the geostrategic factor, if any, of the West's position in the future of Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Free World?

So far, the main losers in Afghanistan disaster, apart from the US and the Free World, are the people of Afghanistan, especially those who helped the US and found themselves betrayed, and the women who for 20 years, thanks to the US and its allies, had for the first time known freedom.
News Outlets Turn Blind Eye as Taliban, Lebanon Confirm Antisemitic Foreign Policies
Media Complicit in Antisemitism Cover-Up?
Recent data lend credence to the notion that media are reacting to a recent upsurge in the manifestation of antisemitism in international relations “with a shrug.”

An HonestReporting analysis found that in the two-week period from August 31-September 13, “Taliban” appeared in approximately 660,000 news reports and broadcasts. By contrast, “Taliban” and “Israel” were mentioned in articles or segments only 12,000 times. When the term “relations” was added to the big data search, the number plummeted to 844.

HonestReporting also found that the term “Lebanese government” appeared about 14,000 times in reports and broadcasts during the same period. However, these stories only included “Israel” some 3,000 times. And when the term “relations” was included, the number once again dropped dramatically to only 285.

Israel Reaches Out, Lebanon Lashes Out, Media Tune Out
The findings regarding Lebanon are especially egregious given that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently said that Jerusalem was prepared to offer help to the beleaguered nation on the verge of economic collapse.

“The crisis in Lebanon is devastating. The State of Israel calls on the international community to aid Lebanon. We are also willing to provide assistance,” Gantz was quoted as saying.

Accordingly, the Lebanese government is choosing to shun Israel instead of accepting what could amount to life-saving humanitarian aid for its suffering population.

Such irrationality is one of the defining characteristics of both ancient and modern forms of antisemitism.

All the while, the media are for the most part turning a blind eye to an evil emanating loudly and clearly from Kabul and Beirut.
UN hosts high-level fundraiser seeking $606 million for Afghanistan
The United Nations is hosting a high-level donors conference on Monday to drum up emergency funds for Afghanistan after last month’s Taliban takeover of the country that stunned the world.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was leading the world body’s call for more than $600 million for the rest of this year in a “flash appeal” for Afghans after their country’s government was toppled by the Taliban and US and NATO forces exited the 20-year war in a chaotic departure.

There are concerns that instability and upended humanitarian efforts, compounded by an ongoing drought, could further endanger lives and plunge Afghanistan toward famine.

The conference will put to the test some Western governments and other big traditional UN donors who want to help everyday Afghans without handing a public relations victory or cash to the Taliban, who ousted the internationally-backed government in a lightning sweep.

The UN says “recent developments” have increased the vulnerability of Afghans who have already been facing decades of deprivation and violence. A severe drought is jeopardizing the upcoming harvest, and hunger has been rising. The UN’s World Food Program is to be a major beneficiary of any funds collected during Monday’s conference.

Along with its partners, the UN is seeking $606 million for the rest of the year to help 11 million people.


Australian ultra-Orthodox rabbis request authorized prayer services for Yom Kippur
Leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community in Melbourne, Australia, have written to the premiere of the Australian state of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, asking him to authorize socially distanced prayer services for the upcoming Yom Kippur holiday amid the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in the state.

Over Rosh Hashanah, several dozen members of the ultra-Orthodox community violated the lockdown and prayed in a synagogue, in an incident which the police were alerted to and led to widespread media coverage and condemnation, including from the mainstream Australian Jewish community. Victoria has been in a COVID-19 lockdown since August 21 and the stringent restrictions on movement and assembly are set to continue over Yom Kippur, which falls on Wednesday night and Thursday.

In their letter to Andrews on Monday, nine rabbis heading different institutions in the Melbourne ultra-Orthodox community said that the community members had a high rate of vaccination, pointed out the great sanctity of the Yom Kippur holiday and noted that, unlike other religious groups, they could not conduct services remotely by digital means.

Although they were aware that Andrews has consulted with Jewish organizations outside of the ultra-Orthodox community, such as the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, the rabbis said these groups did not properly represent the ultra-Orthodox community.
Coronavirus infection rate drops to lowest level in a month
A total of 7,686 new cases of the coronavirus were diagnosed across Israel Sunday, according to data provided by the Health Ministry Monday morning, down from 10,183 new cases reported a day earlier.

The percentage of tests returning positive dropped from 6.57% Saturday to 5.24% Sunday, marking the lowest level recorded since August 13. The figures marked a significant decrease from the soaring numbers recorded over the weekend, in both the positive rate and the case numbers.

Saturday's count of 10,183 new cases had left many concerned about rising infection rates, despite the accessibility of booster vaccines. Israel removed age limitations on the third doses, making them available to all ages. Researchers have predicted a drop in severe cases with the implementation of health regulations and further circulation of COVID shots.

Experts have anticipated a decline in cases with Israel's third vaccine rollout, and the numbers seem to indicate a trend along that line.
Caught on Hot Mic, Israeli Health Minister Says ‘Green Pass’ Not Based on Epidemiology
Imposing “green pass” rules on certain venues is needed only to pressure members of the public to get vaccinated, and not for medical reasons, Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said on Sunday, ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Horowitz was caught on a hot mic telling this to Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who was also unaware that the conversation was being taped and would be broadcast on Channel 12 News.

In response to Shaked’s suggestion that the “green pass” could be removed as a requirement for outdoor seating at restaurants, Horowitz said: “For swimming pools, too, not just in restaurants.”

“Epidemiologically, it’s true,” said Horowitz, adding, “The thing is, I’m telling you, our problem is people who don’t get vaccinated. We need [to influence] them a bit; otherwise, we won’t get out of this [pandemic situation].”

Currently, he said, “there is a kind of universality to the ‘green pass’ system, other than at malls, where I think it should be imposed, [because] now it’s clear that it applies nowhere.”

Horowitz went on to explain that the only way for there to be no exceptions—since people wonder why if it’s ok not to have a pass for pools “then why for water parks, outdoor facilities and sports?”—is to have the regulations be uniformly enforced.

On the one hand, he added, “we don’t want to do things that have no medical justification. But I’m telling you that we have a problem. The ‘green pass’ isn’t even being enforced; certainly not in the Arab sector, where it doesn’t exist at all. And I’m seeing the effect on the hospitals.”
Two Moderately Wounded in Stabbing Attack at Jerusalem Central Bus Station
Two people were moderately wounded in a stabbing attack on Jaffa Street outside the Jerusalem Central Bus Station on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for Magen David Adom (MDA) said.

An Israel Border Police officer shot and neutralized the attacker at the scene of the incident, according to Israel Police. The suspected terrorist was examined by a police sapper before receiving medical treatment.

Both victims of the attack were in their 20s and are in stable condition, the MDA spokesperson said. Reports indicated that the two victims are Haredi.

The pair were transported to the trauma unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, the hospital announced.

“We arrived at the scene and there was a big commotion,” senior MDA medic Shlomi Pinchas said.

“The two wounded were lying unconscious and suffering from stab wounds. We provided them with advanced medical care in the field, which included bandages, stopping bleeding and medication, and we quickly evacuated them to the hospital in a moderate condition,” Pinchas continued.

Israel Police Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turjeman told reporters at the scene that the assailant is believed to a be a 17-year-old from the Hebron area.


Israel is Experiencing a Cluster of Attacks, Lone-Wolf Terrorism — the latest

Rocket Launched From Gaza Intercepted, Third Consecutive Night of Fire
For a third consecutive day, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, Sunday evening.

The artillery fire was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, the Israeli military said. No direct casualties or damage from the rocket was reported.

A man and his young son suffered light injuries while running to shelter during the siren in Sderot, the Times of Israel (ToI) reported.

Cross border fire occurred Saturday and Friday night, as tensions rose between Israel and Gazan militants, following the escape of several Palestinian prisoners last week.

Four of the six escapees were recaptured over the weekend, prompting Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad — the organization to which five of the prisoners belong — to escalate tensions.

Israel follows a policy of holding Hamas responsible for any fire from the Gaza Strip, irrespective of which organization conducted it.


Fugitives Begged for Ride from Arab Town to West Bank, But Were Denied
After breaking out of the maximum-security Gilboa prison early on Monday, September 6, the six escaped Palestinian security prisoners headed on foot for the nearby Arab town of Na’ura, some 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the jail, where they begged several residents to drive them to the city of Jenin in the West Bank, but were refused, Hebrew media reported Sunday.

Citing details leaked from the Shin Bet interrogation of the four escapees who have been recaptured, particularly from notorious terror commander Zakaria Zubeidi, the reports detailed the fugitives’ first actions in the first hours after the escape.

After being rebuffed by local residents, the six spent less than an hour in a local mosque where they showered and changed clothes before heading out of the town. Israeli investigators had initially believed they spent the night there.

Police captured two of the fugitives in Nazareth on Friday night. Hours later, two others — including Zubeidi — were apprehended in the nearby town of Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam. In both cases, Arab Israelis who encountered the fugitives reported the suspicious sightings to authorities, aiding in their capture.

The reports highlighted the residents’ refusal to take Zubeidi and his accomplices to the West Bank, as yet another example of Arab citizens rejecting being complicit in the escape, and also of the intentions of the escapees to try and reach the West Bank.
Honest Reporting: Exclusive Prompts Dutch Government to Call on Palestinian Authority to End Support for Antisemitic Riots
Residents of the Palestinian West Bank town of Beita, located south of Nablus, on Thursday set fire to an effigy of a stereotypical Orthodox Jew. The incident was far from the first antisemitic act perpetrated by these “popular resistance units.” Over the past four weeks, Palestinian rioters on at least three occasions set ablaze makeshift wooden swastikas embedded within a Jewish Star of David.

They also burned a model of an Israeli village in consonance with their stated goal to “burn you [Israelis] alive.”

Our exclusive research has revealed that the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) and its ruling Fatah faction are actively backing Beita’s extremists. In fact, a senior Palestinian official praised them just hours after they had set alight the first swastika. Two days later, Fatah’s legislative body held a meeting in Beita to “support the popular resistance.”

Nevertheless, nations that support Ramallah diplomatically and financially have remained silent.

There has been a near-total media blackout.

But thanks to HonestReporting’s work and social media campaign, European politicians and governments are taking action to counter the PA’s encouragement of Nazi-like antisemitism.

Following the publication of our investigative article, Dutch lawmaker Raymond de Roon on August 22 submitted written questions in parliament that demanded to know whether Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag would denounce the PA’s backing for the Jew-hatred espoused by Beita residents.
Ideological Fatigue among West Bank Palestinians
Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai, completing his tenure as head of IDF Central Command, told Israel Hayom in an interview: "The Palestinian Authority is in a deep ideological crisis. Their core argument that any diplomatic agreement in the Middle East must pass through Ramallah has been eroded by the Abraham Accords. Its domestic legitimacy vis-a-vis the Palestinian public also no longer leans on ideology, but on daily functionality....Fatah is divided and plagued by internal rivalries; Hamas, on the other hand, has built up a top-level organizational and political infrastructure, which it aims to use in the future as the basis for a military infrastructure."

"In Judea and Samaria, there is fatigue with ideological struggles. People want to live, especially the 1.2 million young people in the West Bank who are in no hurry to die a martyr's death for either Hamas or Fatah's ideologies."

The standard of living in Judea and Samaria is reasonable, he explains. "Go into any mall in Ramallah or Nablus and you will see for yourself. In Jenin, you can't find a table at a cafe. In Rawabi, prices are like those in Kfar Saba. People have a life. You can travel from Jenin to Hebron and not see one roadblock along the way....When the average Palestinian sees what is happening in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Gaza, they don't really want to be there."
MEMRI: Fatah Official: Israeli Merchants Harvest Organs from Bodies of Palestinian 'Martyrs'
Nashat Al-Wahidi, the spokesman for Fatah’s Commission for Martyrs, Prisoners and Wounded, said that Israeli merchants harvest the organs of “martyred” Palestinians who are buried in Israel and transplant them in Israeli soldiers and “settlers.” He made his remarks in a public address that aired on Palestine TV on August 31, 2021. Al-Wahidi said that Palestinian “martyrs,” whose bodies are held by Israel, are buried in shallow graves and are exposed to the elements, and that Israeli merchants steal their bodies and skeletons, in order to sell them to Israeli medical schools for research.

The MEMRI Lantos Project exposes anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in the Middle East region and Middle Eastern communities in the West with the aim of supporting legislation and educating media and the general public.




Abbas Resigns as PA President, Will Relocate to International Space Station (satire)
Mahmoud Abbas shocked the world early Monday morning by announcing his intention to step down as Palestinian Authority President in six weeks’ time and join the International Space Station (ISS) habitable artificial satellite.

“My prostate’s the size of a melon. Zero gravity will help with the swelling,” the Palestinian statesman said after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution on ending the Israeli occupation earlier in the week.

While other crew members are conducting experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology, Abbas plans to “close my eyes and imagine that I’m floating weightless in the Dead Sea, a body of water currently occupied by a certain genocidal regime.”

At nearly 86 years old, the Palestinian leader’s age was a key factor in his decision to leave Ramallah for the tranquility of low Earth orbit. “I’m tired of the grind, son. I can’t even doze off in the middle of an emergency meeting anymore without people freaking out, thinking that I’m dead. Saeb Erekat [Chief PLO Negotiator with Israel] once even gave me sloppy mouth-to-mouth…tasted like stale salmon. Thankfully he hasn’t been around much lately.”
IAEA ‘saves’ Iran nuke negotiations? - analysis
Stability is restored. And the Iranian nuclear threat is back to the pattern of long, dragged out but hopeful negotiations to a deal.

That was the message the IAEA and Tehran each wanted to deliver on Sunday, each for their own purposes.

An emergency trip by IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi to the Islamic Republic once again saved the day from an imminent nuclear crisis, or, it is hoped, that the West will be hypnotized by that message back into complacency.

What did the IAEA’s new deal really achieve with Iran?

Grossi is widely respected by Israeli intelligence officials as one of the more serious international officials to deal with the nuclear issue.

So it was almost painful watching him do intellectual backflips trying to present a success, while admitting that he achieved none of his deeper goals.

Iran wanted to avoid a public condemnation by the IAEA Board of Governors, and a negative referral to the UN Security Council regarding its nuclear weapons program.

But as former IDF intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi Farkash pointed out at a conference on Sunday, Tehran nearly always has better long-term vision and strategy than its rivals.







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