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Wednesday, October 13, 2021

10/13 Links Pt1: Remembering the Barbaric Ramallah Lynch; Cherokee tribe recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's 'eternal undivided capital'; IsraAID Helped Evacuate 165 Refugees From Afghanistan in ‘Spy Novel’ Operation

From Ian:

Remembering the Barbaric Ramallah Lynch
The media love a powerful, symbolic image, but exactly twenty years to the day after the brutal, barbaric lynching of two Israeli reserve soldiers, this one isn’t being republished.

This is the important story the media failed to retell today.

On 12 October 2000, two Israeli reserve soldiers dressed in civilian clothes, Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz were headed towards their unit’s assembly point in a town near Jerusalem. The pair were unfamiliar with the local road system, took a wrong turn and ended up in Ramallah.

Although previously Palestinian Authority policemen had sent wayward Israelis back, this time the two reservists were detained by Palestinian Authority policemen and taken to a local police station.

The incident coincided with a nearby funeral service for a Palestinian youth who had been killed in clashes with Israeli forces two days earlier. The funeral was attended by thousands, and soon afterwards, as rumors spread that Israeli undercover agents were in the building, an angry crowd of over 1,000 Palestinians gathered outside the station calling for the death of the Israelis.

While there are indications that at first police attempted to protect the soldiers, before long the enraged rioters managed to overcome the police and storm the building. It later emerged that Palestinian Authority policemen actually took part in the horrific assault.

What followed can only be described as a savage, barbaric lynching. The crazed mob beat and stabbed the Israelis, tore the men limb from limb and gouged out their eyes. During the attack, Mr Avrahami’s wife Hani called him on his mobile phone. Instead of being greeted as usual, an unfamiliar strange voice answered the phone : “I just killed your husband.”

As all this was happening, one man came to the window and, much to the delight of the delirious crowd below, triumphantly held up his blood-soaked hands for all to see.

The crowd stood below, waving fists and cheering. The body of one of the soldiers was then thrown out of the window. The baying crowd rushed to attack, beating and stamping the lifeless body in a frenzy. The body of the other soldier was set on fire. One of the soldiers was later seen upside down, dangling from a rope.
EU, Germany Launch Program to ‘Maintain Palestinian Identity’ of Jerusalem Through Tourism
The European Union (UN) and Germany launched on Tuesday the “East Jerusalem Tourism Development Programme” and inaugurated the Tourism Development Hub in eastern Jerusalem, with an objective of “maintaining the Palestinian identity of the city.”

The German Development Cooperation is implementing this new program in partnership with “the different components of the Palestinian tourism sector” in eastern Jerusalem, the Office of the European Union Representative stated.

The East Jerusalem Tourism Development Programme aims at “maintaining the Palestinian identity of the city and supporting the tourism sector in East Jerusalem, against the backdrop of a worrying trend of increasing hardship for Palestinian life and economic activity in this part of the city.”

The program “supports a revitalized and vibrant tourism sector that provides great opportunities for Palestine’s private sector, foster economic development and protect the Palestinian culture and heritage in East Jerusalem.”

The EU did not detail in its statements what “Palestinian culture, heritage and identity” it was relating to.

EU representative to the Palestinian Authority Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff claimed that Arabs in Jerusalem face “daily political, economic, and social challenges. Tourism has always been one of the main income-generating activities in the city and helped maintaining the Palestinian presence and identity of the city.”


MEMRI: Lebanese Journalist: Hizbullah Continues To Turn Lebanon Into A 'Narco State,' Now Using West Africa As A Transit Hub For Its Illegal Drug Trade
In an October 9, 2021 article in the English-language Saudi daily Arab News, Lebanese media figure Baria Alamuddin writes that Hizbullah continues its globe-spanning drug trafficking activities, now using West African countries as major transit states for its drug shipments. She notes that Hizbullah and Syria, both sponsored by Iran, continue to bolster their status as the world's major source of the amphetamine-based drug Captagon. However, since Saudi Arabia banned the import of Lebanese produce earlier this year, Hizbullah has had to divert its Captagon shipments through transit countries to obscure the country of origin. West Africa has become a preferred option, especially counties with large Lebanese communities, such as Cote d’Ivoire, where Lebanese control a large part of the economy, as well as Togo and Congo.

Alamuddin notes further that Hezbollah's illegal operations in West Africa -- including money laundering, weapons proliferation, drug trafficking and other organized crime -- are estimated to net the organization at least $1 billion a year. Warning that Hezbollah's illegal activities may come to dominate Lebanon’s entire economy, transforming it into a narco state, she calls on the international community to fight Hizbullah's globalized network for criminality and terrorism.

The following is her article:
"Following The Collapse Of The Lebanese And Syrian Economies, Assad Family Mafiosi And Hezbollah Set About Remodeling Their Nations As Narco States"

"When Saudi Arabia banned the import of Lebanese produce in April because these shipments were being abused to smuggle narcotics into the Kingdom, Hezbollah found itself with a problem.

"Following the collapse of the Lebanese and Syrian economies, Assad family mafiosi and Hezbollah set about remodeling their nations as narco states — world production centers for the amphetamine-based drug Captagon, a favorite among partygoers and terrorist groups. Syria’s Captagon trade is estimated to be worth over a billion dollars a year.

"Captagon production had become established in areas such as Homs and Aleppo, but given Syria’s extreme dysfunction, many major factories have been reconsolidating themselves along the Lebanon-Syria border, particularly in Hezbollah strongholds such as Qusair and the Bekaa Valley. Lebanon’s former Justice Minister and security chief, Ashraf Rifi, describes a “partnership between Hezbollah and the Syrian side in terms of manufacturing and smuggling” Captagon. This is in addition to Syria and Lebanon becoming favored routes for heroin, crystal meth and hashish.


Alabama Cherokee tribe recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's 'eternal undivided capital'
The Northeast Alabama Cherokee held a ceremony on Sept. 25 in Guntersville, Ala., to establish a relationship with Israel. There, the tribe presented a resolution, unanimously passed by the Tribal Council, recognizing the "sovereign Jewish nation" of Israel, with Jerusalem as its "eternal undivided capital."

"We vow our full support in the pursuit of the peace of Jerusalem and the Nation of Israel by whichever means may be necessary," it said.

The event, centered around a potluck lunch, included expressions of solidarity with the Jewish community and comparisons to the experiences of native tribes in North America.

Chief Larry Smith began his remarks by noting that "if there is a people that can understand how the Jews feel, it's the Cherokee," which received an "Amen" from the audience.

"We have chosen to identify with a people as a people," he added.

Seth Penn, the deputy representative of the Red Wind Tribal District, said "the nation of Israel has a lot in common with the Cherokee people – they have been removed from their homeland, came back and have to fight for their homeland."

"Some historians even argue we can find our DNA roots in Israel," he said. "I'm not saying that's true."

Smith echoed that, saying "are we the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel? Debatable."

But "there are so many of our ceremonies, so many of our celebrations that coincide with Jewish traditions and the Jewish holidays," he added.
The story behind Iraq's first pro-Israel conference
It was as remarkable as it was unexpected. More than 300 Iraqis, both Sunnis and Shiites, gathered at a conference in a hotel ballroom on Sept. 24 in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil to demand their country join the Abraham Accords and forge ties with the Jewish state.

Still more surprising, the participants weren't Kurds, as might be expected, given that the conference took place in the capital of Kurdistan and Kurds have a long history of cooperation with Israel. Instead, the participants came from six Iraqi governorates: Baghdad, Mosul, Al-Anbar, Salahuddin, Diyala, and Babel.

"They arrived in a fleet of 60 cars over 12 hours before the conference," Joseph Braude, founder and president of the Center for Peace Communications, the US-based group that organized the conference, told JNS.

While expressing his gratitude to the Kurdistan Regional Government for providing logistical and security support, he said the conference was about the parts of Iraq that haven't engaged with Jews and Israel, "where cultural change is most urgently needed now."

If the conference surprised many, the reaction to it did not – arrest warrants, death threats, and wanted posters the size of buildings targeting participants.

Few who listened to the conference speeches (some of which are available on YouTube with English subtitles) could doubt the courage of those who took part.

The best-known of the speakers, Sheikh Wisam Al-Hardan, who led the "Sons of Iraq Awakening" movement, the Sunni tribal fight against ISIS and Al-Qaeda, demanded "full diplomatic relations with the State of Israel."


Sudanese justice minister meets with Israeli officials in UAE
Sudanese Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari met on Wednesday with two senior Israeli government officials while visiting the United Arab Emirates.

Israel and Sudan agreed to work towards normalizing ties last October as part of the Abraham Accords. But unlike other Arab states that forged open diplomatic relations with Israel last year — the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain — little public process has been made in the normalization process with Sudan since the dramatic announcement.

Abdulbari met Wednesday in Dubai with Israel’s Regional Affairs Minister Issawi Frej of Meretz, where the pair discussed binational projects and the promotion of stronger ties.

According to Frej’s office, Abdulbari said Sudan and Israel should work together on joint educational and cultural projects to strengthen ties between the two states. During the meeting, Abdulbari suggested establishing an exchange program.

“I believe in the power of education and cultural ties, so I think we must communicate at the cultural and educational level before promoting economic projects,” Abdulbari said.

Abdulbari added that last year’s Abraham Accords were a “correct and necessary step” toward regional peace. “At first a small group accepts the change, then more and more groups join in,” said Abdulbari, according to Frej’s office.
Qatar Rules Out Normalizing Relations With Israel
Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Wednesday ruled out an Abraham Accords-style normalization of relations with Israel as long as “there is no prospect of ending the occupation.”

The minister made the remarks on the second day of the Global Security Forum held in the Qatari capital, Doha.

“We should not focus on economic normalization and forget the (Israeli) occupation of Arab lands,” the Gulf state’s top diplomat said.

Al Thani dismissed the Abraham Accords signed last year between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with the later additions of Morocco and Sudan.

“We do not see any prospects for the peace process, and therefore we believe that the Abraham Agreement cannot contribute to resolving the crisis,” the minister said.

Al Thani said that the economic measures that Israel is taking to improve the lives of Palestinians solves only a small part of the problem.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has indicated that it wants to expand the Abraham Accords to include other Arab countries, but it appears with the minister’s comments that Qatar is not on the list.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Palestinians Prefer To Work In Israel
The fact that a large number of Palestinians are desperate to work in Israel is a sign of the failure of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to improve the living conditions of their people despite the massive sums of money they receive from various sources, including the United States, European Union and United Nations.

Instead of holding Hamas responsible for what he called the "tragedy" in the Gaza Strip, al-Amsi and other Palestinians choose to blame Israel.

This view is in keeping with the longstanding habit of the Palestinian leadership to evade their responsibility for thievery and non-governance by blaming Israel for everything.

Many Palestinians and Arabs, however, are no longer buying this nonsense and know exactly who is trying to help and who has not done a thing to end their suffering.

"Thousands of Palestinians, including those with [academic] degrees, are fighting for a job in Israel. I guarantee you that if Israel announced that it wants workers from Algeria, they would cross the Sahara [Desert] on foot to work in Israel to escape the hell they are living in at home." — Hoda Jannat, Syrian journalist and political analyst, Twitter, October 7, 2021.

As has now become embarrassingly clear for all to see, Israel has become the only hope for the hungry workers in the Gaza Strip -- who have been abandoned not only by their leaders, but by the rest of their Arab brothers as well.
Haaretz Gets Lost On E-1 Construction, Contiguity
Contradicting its own previous coverage as well as the actual geography, Haaretz erroneously reported last week that construction in the area known as E-1, between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim to the east, would divide the West Bank in two. The Oct. 4 article, “Israel Holds Hearing on E1 Construction Plan Without Palestinian Objectors” errs: “Criticism of the E1 plans stems from the fact that construction in the area will cut off the north of the West Bank from the south, hindering the creation of a future Palestinian state.” (Emphasis added.)

While critics maintain that E1 construction would cut off the north of the West Bank from the south, a look at the map (at left) demonstrates that the claim is inaccurate, and hardly a fact. As CAMERA’s Ricki Hollander and Gilead Ini detailed in 2012, those who charge that Israeli building west of Ma’aleh Adumim severs north-south contiguity disregard the fact that the northern and southern parts of the West Bank are connected by land east of Ma’aleh Adumim that is at its narrowest point about 15 km wide (about the same width as the narrowest point from the Mediterranean to the Green Line).

Indeed, in a December 2012 correction, The New York Times clarified the identical issue:
An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to the effect of planned Israeli development in the area known as E1 on access to the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and on the West Bank. Such development would limit access to Ramallah and Bethlehem to only narrow corridors far from the Old City and downtown Jerusalem. It would also create a large block of Israeli settlements in the center of the West Bank; it would not divide the West Bank in two.

Because of an editing error, the article referred incompletely to the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state. Critics see E1 as a threat to the meaningful contiguity of such a state state because it would leave some Palestinian areas connected to one another by roads with few exits or by circuitous routes; the proposed development would not, technically, make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.

Haaretz itself had covered The New York Times’ correction when it appeared (Chaim Levinson, “NYT Retracts Claims That E-1 Construction Plans Would Divide West Bank,”
Media Repeat False Claim of “Illegal” Israeli Presence in Golan Heights
Just over 54 years ago, Syria joined an Arab-coalition comprised primarily of Egypt and Jordan in the Six Day War against Israel, launching artillery attacks against targets in the Galilee.

While false reports abounded of a crushing Egyptian victory against Israel, and the imminent destruction of the 19-year-old Jewish State, Israel defended itself, and in the process, secured new land at the expense of its aggressors, including the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza, Judea & Samaria, and the Golan Heights.

Though much of the land was given – Sinai in the 1979 peace agreement to Egypt – and in the 2005 disengagement which saw Israel give Gaza to the Palestinians, today, the Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria after the country attacked Israel, unprovoked, remains in Israeli hands.

Today, 1,200 of the 1,800 square kilometres of the Golan Heights are in Israeli control, and the rest are under Syrian control, and about 27,000 Israelis now make their home in the region. But it is more than just a bucolic and rural part of northern Israel teeming with wineries; due to its elevation and the region’s topography, it also serves as an important defense against any future potential of Syrian aggression against Israel.

In 1981, Israel’s government passed the Golan Heights Law, where it applied its sovereignty over the area, but despite that de facto annexation, in the half century since the Golan changed hands, Israel has offered to return the strategic plateau to Syrian control in exchange for a peace deal, but nothing ever came of that offer.

And despite frequent Syrian rhetoric to ‘liberate’ the Golan Heights, the Assad regime in Damascus has shown little interest in retaking the region.

But just this past week, the Golan Heights was in the news again, with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announcing that Israel would seek to solidify Israeli control, and increase the population there to 100,000.
Daily Mirror corrects historical error regarding the Yom Kippur War
The Oct. 7th print edition of the Daily Mirror included, in their daily segment ‘This Day in History”, a decidedly ahistorical account of the Yom Kippur War in the context of the anniversary of Anwar Sadat’s assassination:
We complained to editors under the terms of the Accuracy Clause, noting that Egypt of course wasn’t victorious over Israel in the war, and that the parade itself where Sadat was shot narrowly commemorates the army’s successful crossing into the Sinai on the war’s first day.

Our complaint was upheld, and the following print correction published today.
Palestinian Authority steps up crackdown on activists, rivals in West Bank
The Palestinian Authority is continuing its crackdown on political activists and rivals in the West Bank, notwithstanding protests by Palestinian and international human rights organizations, Palestinians said on Wednesday.

The clampdown, which has targeted dozens of Palestinians over the past few weeks, is emboldening Hamas, the PA’s main rivals, and threatening to undermine security and stability in the West Bank, according to the Palestinians.

Hamas sources said the crackdown was one of the fruits of the ongoing security coordination between the PA and Israel.

“Many of those arrested over the past few weeks are former prisoners who were held by Israel,” the sources said. “They are arrested by the Palestinian Security Services after being released from Israeli prison. Some are rearrested by Israel after they are freed by the Palestinian forces. This proves that the security coordination is as strong as ever.’

The PA security measures increased after the Israel-Hamas war in May and the killing of anti-corruption activist Nizar Banat a month later. Banat, 44, was beaten to death by Palestinian security officers who arrested him in Hebron. Fourteen officers who participated in the arrest of Banat are currently facing trial before a Palestinian military court in Ramallah.
PMW: Abbas consoles families of terrorist “heroes,” proud of “the Martyrs of Palestine”
Intent on assuring that Palestinians know he continues to support terrorists, PA Chairman Abbas made some propaganda phone calls to parents of recently killed terrorist “Martyrs” and had them broadcast to the entire Palestinian public on official PA TV News.

Following the death of two terrorists – one a stabber, the second an Islamic Jihad shooter – Abbas called to console their fathers. Abbas expressed his pride in the dead terrorists, calling them “heroes” and “Martyrs of Palestine,” thereby stressing the PA’s ideology that death for “Palestine” is honorable and heroic.

Abbas’ condolence call to father of Israa Khzaimiah – a 30-year-old female terrorist who attempted to stab Israeli security officers near Jerusalem’s Old City on Sept. 30, 2021. The officers shot and killed her in self-defense:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “Allah will increase your reward over our Martyr [Israa Khzaimiah], the Palestinian people’s Martyr… Allah will let her dwell in Paradise, and certainly her place is in Paradise because she is a Martyr of Palestine and Jerusalem.”

Father of terrorist Israa Khzaimiah: “Thank you Mister President. You are considerate and good-hearted, and you are our father.”

Abbas: “This is my duty and even more than that. I always bow to our male and female heroes.”

[Official PA TV News, Oct. 3, 2021]

Abbas also made a condolence call to father of Alaa Zayoud, a 22-year-old terrorist and Islamic Jihad member who shot at Israeli soldiers during a violent riot at the village of Burqin near Jenin on Sept. 30, 2021. The soldiers shot and killed him in self-defense:


PA official: Palestinian NGOs were cover for PLO activities before and during 1st Intifada

PA TV prisoner program brags that the Israeli “security system can be brought down by a spoon”

Israel “will pass… Jerusalem will be liberated, return to Islam… The evil will pass,” says PA Mufti



Seth Frantzman: Iran’s real threat, nuclear diplomacy revealed in Jerusalem - analysis
GIVEN ALL this information, it is worth concluding that the Iranian threat to the region is mostly embodied by its support for proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Tehran has a nuclear program and it uses enrichment to try to get concessions from the West.

The recent death of A. Q. Khan, the Pakistani scientist who became a key figure in not only Pakistan’s nuclear program but also trafficked in nuclear technology, may be a lesson for Iran. Whereas Iran’s Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a nuclear physicist and scientist, was assassinated, Mr. Khan survived to old age.

But what did the bomb actually bring Pakistan? It didn’t bring Pakistan wealth or power. Iran may see the failure of Pakistan to get much for its bomb as a reason never to fully develop one. North Korea, for instance, has nuclear abilities but doesn’t get much. Like Iran, North Korea also uses weapons to try to blackmail its neighboring enemy South Korea.

Iran may be happy to be on the brink of a nuclear weapon forever. This enables it to continue spinning centrifuges and inch closer and closer to one, while its real power rests in its militias and its export of technology to groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Hashd al-Shaabi.

The comments by Israeli leaders such as Gantz and Bennett, as well as former officials like Cohen, show that Iran’s program has threatening aspects and also has setbacks. They also reveal that there is agreement about the threat of Iran’s proxies – and that this is where Israel’s concerns are focused.
Mike Pompeo: Israel might need to attack Iran due to US 'appeasement'
An Israeli last-resort military action against Iran is a risk of American appeasement and emboldens the Islamic Republic, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said Tuesday at the Jerusalem Post Conference.

Military action is “not in the best interests of anyone,” he told Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz.

Pompeo defended the Trump administration’s decision to leave the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iranian nuclear deal, in 2018, saying the policies it adopted had made the world safer from the Iranian regime.

“We denied them resources, and we denied them the ability to build out a Gulf-threatening culpability,” he said. “The strike on [former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander] Qasem Soleimani demonstrated our willingness to defend American interests around the world. The work we were engaged in would have prevented Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”

In a speech to the UN General Assembly in September, US President Joe Biden said the US was seeking a return to the JCPOA.

“The current administration wants to re-enter the deal, longer, better, stronger? Well, I want it longer, I want it better, and I want it much, much stronger,” Pompeo said.

Had the Trump administration stayed in office for another year or two, the cooperation between it and Israel would have been able to prevent Iranian nuclear advancements, he said.

“We were never going to let Iran get a nuclear weapon on our watch,” he added.
Nearly Half of the Taliban Government’s Leaders Are Designated Terrorists
Nearly half of the Taliban government's leaders are on the United Nations' terrorist blacklist, a fact that hasn’t slowed U.S. efforts to engage in diplomacy with the anti-western regime.

At least 14 of the 33 ministers the Taliban announced as senior leaders in its newly formed government are designated as terrorists under the U.N. Security Council's 1988 Sanctions Committee. This designation includes Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund and his two top deputies, Mullah Baradar Akhund and Mawlavi Hanafi.

The Taliban's defense minister, foreign minister, and deputy foreign minister also are designated terrorists. And Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister, remains on the FBI's most wanted list, with a $10 million bounty for his role in a 2008 terrorist attack in Kabul that killed six people, including an American citizen.

Even with these outstanding terror designations on the Taliban and its top leaders, the Biden administration and other Western countries are holding direct negotiations with the group that are aimed at providing war-torn Afghanistan with aid dollars. The United States held a series of talks with "senior Taliban representatives" during the weekend, meetings that the State Department described as "candid and professional." These powwows indicate the United States' willingness to legitimize the Taliban's rule since the terrorist group retook the country amid a hurried American withdrawal, according to national security experts.

"If past is precedent, Biden's team is more likely to reclassify whom they consider terrorists in order to justify their policy going forward," said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official who specialized in Middle Eastern affairs and terrorist organizations. "To recognize that they are empowering terrorism might force the hard sort of introspection in which no one from Biden on down is prepared to engage. It's the triumph of arrogance over rationality, and it's going to get Americans killed."
Israeli-Canadian, IsraAID Helped Evacuate 165 Refugees From Afghanistan in ‘Spy Novel’ Operation
Sylvan Adams, co-owner of the Israeli national cycling team, revealed new details Tuesday of a mission that helped Afghan women cyclists and others to escape Taliban rule in an operation likened to a “spy novel.”

“We are about the only group that’s able to move people around in Afghanistan and get them out,” Adams said during a conference Tuesday held by the Jerusalem Post. “Of course, the Afghan National Women’s team was terrified. They were in a situation in a country like Afghanistan, where you could be killed for riding your bicycle.”

The Israeli-Canadian Adams owns Israel Start-Up Nation, the Jewish nation’s first professional cycling team that competes in international tournaments, and said he was approached for the initiative on the basis of past humanitarian projects.

For the mission, the philanthropist teamed up with IsraAID, as the Israeli non-governmental humanitarian aid agency had operatives on the ground. Together they devised a plan to help the women cyclists and others flee from Afghanistan. Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the cycling’s world governing body, was also part of the evacuation operation.

Adams recounted that the cycling team was taken to a land crossing of an unnamed neighboring country, where he knew somebody who was close to the president and could lend influence.

“It was crazy — like something you would read in a spy novel. To get them out at one point they had the guns of the Taliban at the border, trained at their heads. It was a very scary moment,” Adams said. “We got that call to the president of the neighboring country, and they were let in. They are now in the United Arab Emirates.”







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