Thursday, November 04, 2021

11/04 Links Pt1: Palestinians Admit: Only Destroying Israel Will Bring Peace; Israel cannot allow terrorism financing under guise of humanitarian aid

From Ian:

Palestinians Admit: Only Destroying Israel Will Bring Peace
As Palestinian Media Watch has shown, every year the PA and its institutions mark November 2nd with a comprehensive diatribe against the Balfour Declaration.

This year, PA Chairman and President Mahmoud Abbas issued a new “presidential decree,” ordering that the “national flag” be flown at half-mast on all the PA governmental buildings, including embassies and representative offices abroad.

According to the official PA news agency Wafa, the aim of lowering the flag is to remind “the world in general and the United Kingdom in particular of the suffering of the Palestinian people and their rights to achieve independence, statehood and self-determination.” Last year, the PA courts held a trial against the UK government demanding that it be held accountable for the declaration and its consequences.

Unsurprisingly, the PA never mentions that prior to 1917, much of the Middle East and other regions were part of the Ottoman/Turkish Empire for 400 years. They never mention that an independent “State of Palestine” never existed. They similarly do not mention that the Balfour Declaration was not merely a British whim, but rather a decision adopted and ratified by the international community at the San Remo Conference in 1920.

The PA also never mentions that the Balfour Declaration was then adopted by the League of Nations in the 1922 Mandate for Palestine. At that time, “Palestine” included both Israel (including Judea and Samaria) and Jordan.

While pretending that Israel only has to withdraw to the 1967 borders to achieve peace, the reality is that every day, the PA further intensifies the anti-Israel propaganda and brainwashing of the Palestinian population. For the PA, only the cancellation of the Balfour Declaration and the undoing of its consequences — i.e. destroying Israel — will suffice.
JCPA: The Palestinian Authority: President Biden's Promises Are a Mirage
The PA is disappointed that the administration is delaying the reopening of the American consulate in Jerusalem and does not accept the claim that this requires the consent of the Israeli government. PA sources claim that according to the law and UN Resolution 181, Jerusalem is international territory and the status of its diplomatic missions has not changed. Therefore, reopening the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem only requires the political will of the Biden administration.

Regarding the renewal of U.S. civilian financial aid to the PA which was stopped by the Trump administration, it claims that its hands are tied because of the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits any financial support to the PA as long as it continues to pay monthly salaries to terrorists and their families.

U.S. sources claim that to unfreeze the “Taylor Force” restrictions, President Biden needs to persuade Congress and invoke a clause in the U.S. Constitution that states that foreign relations are under the president’s authority. This claim has been made throughout the last century with little success, since the Constitution gives Congress the power to approve or block appropriations.

Again, this is a sensitive political issue that could provoke great opposition from Israel and its supporters in the United States. According to PA officials, several members of Congress who met in July with the PA Chairman and Hussein al-Sheikh, the minister of civil affairs, demanded that the allowances to terrorists and their families be converted to a social benefit unrelated to the number of years the terrorists sat in Israeli prisons. The Members of Congress also urged the PA to stop all its activities against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is not interested in a diplomatic falling-out with the Biden administration. He knows that he cannot get anything better at the moment, so he is trying to bypass the administration by appealing to Russia to reinvigorate the Quartet to secure its political goals.

It is highly doubtful that his efforts will succeed, but he is trying to show that he is doing everything possible to break the impasse in the political process. The PA is in a severe financial crisis. There are insane price increases in the West Bank markets, popular anger is growing, and no Arab country is willing to come to the PA’s rescue financially. Mahmoud Abbas is urgently seeking an achievement.


'Israel cannot allow terrorism financing under guise of humanitarian aid'
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan responded on Monday to two letters sent by the Palestinian Authority to the UN protesting Defense Minister Benny Gantz's recent designation of six Palestinian organizations as terrorist entities.

Erdan pointed to the hypocrisy of UN members for not enforcing their own Security Council Resolution 2129 of 2013, which affirms the rights of member states to prosecute and penalize the financing, direct or indirect, of terror groups and their activities.

In a detailed letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Erdan outlined the reasons why those organizations were outlawed by Israel as, through money laundering and other tactics, they provided a lifeline for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Israel.

The PFLP, wrote Erdan, pioneered terrorist attacks in the 1960s and 1970s through armed airplane hijackings, and through the half-century continued to murder civilians, children, and students in bloody terrorist attacks and bombings.

After extensive investigations by Israeli authorities, the six organizations were found to have contributed to the PFLP by raising funds from foreign donors by disguising themselves as human rights and civil society organizations. These organizations also employed and provided consistent salaries to individuals who openly declared being PFLP operatives and allowed the PFLP to use its facilities as safe-havens.

Several of the operatives were found to have actively participated in plotting and executing attacks against Israeli civilians.
Khaled Abu Toameh: The Palestinian Authority Campaign Against Palestinian NGOs
The six Palestinian NGOs were classified by Israel as terrorist organizations because of their affiliation with the PLO's Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by both the United States and the European Union.

The PFLP, which has carried out many attacks against Israelis, including civilians, is one of 11 groups that form the PLO, headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Each group receives monthly allocations of up to $70,000 from the PLO's unofficial finance ministry.

Yet while Israel has come under attack for its move against the six NGOs, there is almost no mention that the Palestinian Authority (PA), which joined the bandwagon of anti-Israel criticism, has also been targeting Palestinian NGOs for quite some time.

[T]he PA has been targeting hundreds of Palestinian NGOs... as part of an effort to control them and take their funds. Unlike Israel, the PA is not targeting the NGOs because of their affiliation with terrorism. Many of the NGOs have been critical of the PA leadership: that is why Abbas wants to silence them.

Al-Haq, one of the six organizations labeled by Israel as a terrorist organization... pointed out that this was not the first time the PA leadership had targeted Palestinian NGOs.

When Al-Haq complained about the PA decree targeting Palestinian NGOs, the mainstream media in the West, as well as several human rights organizations self-righteously chose to look the other way.... The international community did not demand clarifications from the PA leadership about his "assault" on Palestinian NGOs.

Palestinian legal expert Majed al-Arouri.... said that more than 20,000 Palestinian employees would lose their jobs as a result of the restrictions imposed by the PA on the work of Palestinian NGOs and charitable organizations.

As far as many in the international community are concerned, it is fine if Abbas takes punitive measures against the PFLP, but it is outrageous if Israel does it.

Those who are ignoring Abbas's crackdown on the Palestinian NGOs are depriving the Palestinians of democracy and freedom of speech.

The international community's obsession with Israel... proves that it is more interested in condemning and delegitimizing Israel than improving the status of human rights and democracy under the PA.


Jonathan Tobin: The Point of a Case That Helped Start a War Is to Ensure Unending Conflict
Four Palestinian families, acting under pressure from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, have refused to accept an extraordinary offer from Israel's Supreme Court which would have protected them from eviction from homes they do not own and for which they have refused to pay rent in the Sheikh Jarrah section of Jerusalem.

The dispute has been dragging on in Israeli courts for decades. It only became a cause celebre after PA leader Mahmoud Abbas decided to go back on his promise to allow elections in the West Bank. As a way to divert Palestinian attention, he seized on the Sheikh Jarrah case. Hamas followed suit and one-upped Abbas with a massive rocket barrage in May to demonstrate that they were even more committed to fighting the Jews.

The facts of the case are straightforward. The neighborhood - also known as Shimon HaTzadik after the nearby tomb of "Simeon the Just" - was founded in 1890 by Jews who bought the land. Its Jewish residents lived there until they were forced out of their homes by Jordanian forces during the 1948 War of Independence.

The Palestinians are claiming "ethnic cleansing," which is ironic because the only reason Arabs are living in these homes is due to the fact that Jews themselves were ethnically cleansed from the neighborhood.

The goal of the forces manipulating the Palestinian families is not coexistence or peace, but an endless cycle of violence and war that must end in Israel's destruction. American Jews should not be fooled into thinking support for the squatters will advance the cause of peace.
Stricken From Media Record: Palestinian Authority, Hamas Pressured Sheikh Jarrah/Shimon HaTzadik Residents to Reject Israeli Supreme Court Compromise
The move likely violates agreements between Ramallah and Jerusalem, which Israeli officials have argued prevent the PA from engaging in political activities throughout the holy city. The same arrangement, Israel holds, specifically prohibits PA security forces from “engaging in threats [and] intimidation” of Jerusalemites.

Moreover, domestic laws passed by the Israeli parliament require the PA to obtain permission to conduct activities of a “political or governmental nature” in sovereign Israel.

Barely an hour after the Palestinian officials arrived, the families of Sheikh Jarrah issued a joint statement saying that they “stand firm” in their opposition to what they called the Surpreme Court’s “oppressive agreement.” The communiqué, shared on Twitter by Mohammed El-Kurd, described efforts to restore the property rights of the actual owners as a “crime” and declared that the compromise, if accepted, would amount to “ethnic cleansing perpetrated by a settler-colonial judiciary and its settlers.”

As confirmed by Al-Qastal, the seven families who initially agreed to formalize the settlement backtracked in the face of “popular and factional pressure.” While the families in question subsequently denied that they were coerced, there is ample evidence to the contrary.

While Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups were in May firing over 4,000 rockets towards Israeli civilian centers, HonestReporting noted reports about threats being made by the PA (see here and here).

“Until 1991, we were granted protected tenant status,” one Sheikh Jarrah resident reportedly said just prior to the conflict. “However, lawyers appointed with the intervention of the Orient House [Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters] and the Palestinian Authority pressured us not to pay rent because we would have recognized Jewish ownership. Since then, anyone who raised the need to return to the protected tenant option has been threatened by PA representatives.”

Furthermore, Hamas boss Ismail Haniyeh last week instructed the occupants during a phone call to refuse all offers by Israel’s highest court “as it [Israel] is an illegal entity on our land.” The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces — a coalition that includes Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian Islamic Jihad — in a letter to the families’ lawyers likewise demanded that the judiciary’s proposal be rejected.
South African Diplomat, PA Arabs, Clash with IDF Outside Jewish Settlement
Several senior activists in the PA’s resistance committees arrived on Wednesday outside the fence of the Jewish settlement of Nokdim south of Bethlehem in the northern Judean Mountains accompanied by Teddy Ceke, the head of the South African liaison office in Israel (South Africa withdrew its Ambassador to Israel indefinitely on May 14, 2018, and in April 2019 downgraded its mission in Ramat Gan to a liaison office), Channel 20 reported Wednesday night.

Ceke demanded that the Arab officials be allowed to accompany him inside the community of Nokdim, citing his diplomatic immunity. IDF forces that arrived at the scene demanded that the PA operatives leave the scene because their presence on the grounds posed a security risk to the community.

The Arabs refused to budge and the soldiers arrested Munter Amira, a known provocateur who confronted the soldiers.

Amira is the right hand of Walid Assaf, the PA Minister for the Fight against Fences and Settlements (it’s a thing), and was responsible for many violent incidents in Judea and Samaria in recent years. Only last month, Amira was involved in confrontations with IDF soldiers near the settlements of Rechelim and Eviatar, when on both occasions he took advantage of the protected olive harvest to reach the parameter fences.
J Street and ‘New York Times’ revise the English language
What do you do when the usual way of describing Middle East developments isn’t advancing your agenda fast enough? Well, if you’re J Street or The New York Times, you just revise the English language to suit your political purposes.

Israel announced last week that it has approved the construction of about 3,000 apartments and houses inside a small number of existing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

But building some apartments within those towns doesn’t sound too ominous. So, Patrick Kingsley, the Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times, came up with a new, nonsensical term that makes apartments sound much more menacing than they really are: “settlement units.”

“The Israeli government advanced plans on Wednesday to build more than 3,000 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank,” Kingsley began his lengthy article on Oct. 27.

“Settlement units” certainly doesn’t sound like “apartments within existing settlements.” If Kingsley wanted to convey the truth, he would have said “apartments within existing settlements.” He didn’t use the perfectly adequate terminology that the English language already provides because he wanted to convey a much more sinister image of Israel.

“Settlement units” sounds like brand-new settlements. My goodness, Israel is constructing 3,000 new settlements! Horrors! Sound the alarm! Call the United Nations!

“Settlement units” is a rhetorical trick and a rhetorical weapon. It’s a way of trying to make Israel look bad when the facts alone won’t accomplish that objective. It’s also a way of trying to energize Israel’s critics so they will immediately launch their own propaganda blasts.

And sure enough, the same day that the Times published Kingsley’s huge article about “settlement units,” J Street issued a press release denouncing Israel for its “plans to advance thousands of new settlement units throughout the West Bank.”
US Senate Confirms Thomas Nides as Ambassador to Israel
The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee for ambassador to Israel, making banking executive Thomas Nides the United States’ top envoy to its closest ally in the Middle East.

Nides, who is the managing director and vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, was confirmed by a voice vote in the Senate, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.

Nides has also held senior positions at other major banks and served as deputy secretary of state for management and resources from 2010 to 2013.

He is one of only a handful of Biden’s picks to be confirmed to ambassadorial posts as Republicans in the deeply divided US Senate have slowed many of his nominees for top positions.
Pro-BDS House Candidate Soundly Defeated in Florida Primary
A Democratic House candidate who backs the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement was soundly defeated in a special primary election on Tuesday, in a blow to opponents of the Jewish state.

Omari Hardy, a BDS supporter who also objects to U.S. funding for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, on Tuesday garnered just 5.9 percent of the vote in Florida's 20th Congressional District. The primary is likely to move to a recount between the two leading Democrats, Dale Holness and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who each received around 24 percent of the vote in the race to fill the seat vacated by the late Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Hardy's defeat is a loss for anti-Israel progressives who have been gaining influence within the Democratic Party and who in September successfully pushed Democratic House leaders to remove Iron Dome funding from a spending bill.

Hardy came out in support of BDS during his campaign, calling it "the only option Palestinians have to draw attention to their plight and to change the behavior of Israel's military and political leaders." He also said he would have opposed a bill to provide additional funding for Israel's Iron Dome.

His campaign received support from progressive organizations, anti-Israel activists, and even some mainstream Democrats. Former Democratic Florida representative Donna Shalala, who served as Health and Human Services secretary in the Clinton administration, in May donated $2,800 to Hardy's campaign through her Donna Democrats PAC, according to Federal Election Commission records. He was also endorsed by the Sun-Sentinel newspaper, although the paper later walked back some of its praise and criticized his positions on Israel.

Hardy was also endorsed by the Democratic Progressives Caucus of Florida. Emgage Action, a group that advocates for BDS, listed him as one of three candidates in the primary race that "we feel will be amazing champions for the Muslim Community of South Florida."

But Hardy's position on Israel also drew criticism from Democratic and Jewish groups during the primary, whose winner is expected to coast through the general election in the solidly blue district.
Wisconsin DSA Chapter Demands ‘Expulsion’ of US Rep. Jamaal Bowman Over Support for Aid to Israel
The Madison, Wisconsin chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) issued an open letter Monday calling for the expulsion of New York Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman from the movement, citing his support for funding Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and his praise of the late US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“On multiple occasions since his election, Representative Jamaal Bowman has used his office and public stature to work against the political positions of the Democratic Socialists of America and the principles of socialist internationalism,” said the letter, addressed to the DSA’s National Political Committee. “Representative Bowman’s recent actions and statements run completely counter to this role and are grounds for expulsion from DSA.”

Bowman is a member of New York’s Lower Hudson Valley DSA, as well as of the so-called “Squad” of progressive House Democrats.

In 2020, he captured the Democratic nomination for New York’s 16th District by beating veteran pro-Israel Congressman Eliot Engel. During his contest against Engel, Bowman emphasized his support for security for both Israelis and Palestinians, saying in a newspaper interview: “One stark contrast between myself and Congressman Engel is I’ve been critical of occupation, annexation and detaining Palestinian children – where Congressman Engel has not. And it doesn’t mean that, you know, I’m not pro-Israel.”

The Madison DSA letter chided Bowman for a July 28 vote approving $3.3 billion in US aid to Israel, which passed the House by a vote of 295-125.
Jordanian, Israeli Economic Ministers Sign Deal to Boost Exports to Palestinians
Israeli and Jordanian economy ministers signed an agreement on Wednesday in Amman to increase Jordanian exports to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel Minister of Economy Orna Barbivai and General Secretary of Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Al-Shamali met to discuss ways to augment economic ties between the two countries, announced Israel’s Ministry of Economy on Facebook.

Shamali said the agreement includes a list of Jordanian products that will get preferential access to the Palestinian market, reported Jordan News Agency-Petra.

The list includes 425 Jordanian products to be offered duty-free to the Palestinian territories. Another 329 products will also be exempt from customs if they meet Israeli technical requirements.

The deal was part of a water agreement signed in mid-October between Jerusalem and Amman, as well as a warming of ties. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met in July with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, at the King Hussein Bridge, where they announced new agreements on water and trade.

The trade deal increases Jordanian exports to Palestinian areas of the West Bank from $160 million to $700 million, but must first be agreed to and signed by the Palestinian Authority.
Israel’s Minister of Aliyah Tamano-Shata Asks PM to Fast-Track Evacuation of Ethiopian Jews as Civil War Escalates
Israel’s Minister of Aliyah Pnina Tamano-Shata sent an official letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asking him to expedite the immigration of Ethiopian Jews currently waiting to be brought to Israel, in light of the escalating civil war in the African country.

Israeli news site Walla reported Tuesday that Tamano-Shata said the prospective immigrants are located in Addis Ababa and Gondar, and are in serious danger due to the deteriorating security situation. The country’s military has lost several recent battles to Tigray rebels, who are threatening to storm the capital, and a state of emergency has been declared.

“The precarious security situation directly affects the members of the community waiting in Ethiopia, endangering their lives and demanding immediate government action to quickly bring them on aliya,” Tamano-Shata wrote.

The majority of the Jews waiting to be evacuated are members of the Falash Mura community, and already have family members in Israel.

She also said that Jews living in the northern Tigray region are suffering persecution due to their faith, and that chances are high that the security situation there will further deteriorate.

“Their families in Israel are finding it difficult to communicate with them and help them economically in this difficult hour of crisis,” she said. “Every day of waiting is likely to exact a high cost in lives from the Jewish community in Ethiopia.”


Israel Participates in Cyprus Oil Rig Drills Amid Turkey Tensions
Israel on Wednesday took part in annual drills off the southern coast of Cyprus to increase the security and safety of oil rigs and vessels amid continuing tensions with Turkey over competing claims to hydrocarbon reserves.

The United States, France, Italy, Britain and Egypt also participated in the “Nemesis” exercise in the waters around the port city of Larnaca.

The activities included search and rescue, medical evacuation, anti-pollution operations and a counter-terrorism simulation involving the liberation of an oil rig and support ship by Cypriot forces.

“We recognize that the utilization of our exclusive economic zone comes not only with benefits, but also with responsibilities and I would like to assure you that the Republic of Cyprus is committed to adhere to them,” Cypriot Defense Minister Charalambos Petrides said before the start of the exercise.

The internationally recognized government of Greek Cyprus is involved in an ongoing dispute with Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriots over economic rights to offshore gas deposits in the Mediterranean.

The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt recently participated in a trilateral summit in Athens where they condemned Turkey’s actions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Venezuela Hosts Palestinian Terrorist Cells
Last week, Israel Hayom reported that a Venezuelan hacker group by the name Team HDP broke into the country's Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence, gaining access to information on purported Hezbollah operatives living freely in the country under the protection of President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government.

Now, new details have emerged: According to the information stolen by Team HDP, Venezuela also hosts Palestinian terrorist cells involved in money laundering, drug dealing, and terrorist activity, among other crimes. It was also revealed that Cuba's foreign intelligence agency plays a central role in the matter.

One of the Palestinian cells, according to the information from Venezuela's Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence, allegedly belongs to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah faction. The cell reportedly consists of at least four men identified as "doctors," whose cover includes working for Venezuela's national social security agency in Merida state in the country's northwest. "Fawaz Snofar," "Mahmoud Khalaf," and "Muhammad Abu-Rah" are some of the names that appear on the list.

The report alleges that the Palestinian "doctor" cell is responsible for the deaths of several patients due to medical malpractice, possibly the result of their questionable medical bona fides. One of the names mentioned on the list, "Khaled Badawi," is said to be of Pakistani origin and allegedly belongs to several Palestinian terrorist groups. Under the guise of being a doctor, his name was connected to activity in Merida, "a region in which uranium, thorium and coltan mines currently operate."

An Israeli source told Israel Hayom's Arab Affairs correspondent Daniel Siryoti that one of the names on the list is indeed known to the Israeli security services after he was questioned in Israel for throwing rocks at IDF soldiers as a 16-year-old. "Consequently, he was expelled from the country and forbidden from returning until the age of 21," the source said.

As stated, the report also sheds light on the role of a spy agency the Israeli public is likely less familiar with – the Cuban Intelligence Directorate, commonly known as G2. Aside from Iran, Cuba is a key ally of the regime in Caracas.
MEMRI: Hamas Official Urges China to “Stay Away” from Israel: Relations Might Threaten China’s Interests Mousa Abu Marzouk, the Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, said in a video that was uploaded by the Asia Monitor YouTube channel on October 30, 2021 that China should “stay away” from Israel. Abu Marzouk was speaking at a conference about China and the Palestinian cause that was organized by the Istanbul-based Asia Middle East Forum, in which various Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organization participated. He said that relations between Israel and China might have short-term benefits but will eventually become a “source of concern and a threat” to China’s interests.

Abu Marzouk also said that Israel stands in “stark contrast” to everything China stands for and is “racially and existentially attached” to “colonial powers” that are hostile to the Chinese “awakening.” He added that the Palestinians share “unlimited interests” with China, and that the Palestinians are looking forward to strengthening their relations with the CCP. For more information about Mousa Abu Marzouk, see MEMRITV clips Nos. 9059, 9008, 8851, 5818, 4492, and 1043.

JCPA: Tension in the Fatah Camp: Russia Received Mahmoud Abbas’ Greatest Foe, Mohammed Dahlan
In a surprising development, Mohammed Dahlan, the opposition leader of the Palestinian “Democratic Reform Movement,” met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on November 2, 2021. Dahlan, a former Fatah official who now resides in the United Arab Emirates, is a bitter foe of the Palestinian Authority Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas. There are some in the PA who accuse Dahlan of facilitating the Abraham Accords.

In a statement released on the Dahlan website FatahVoice,2 the meeting focused on building a Palestinian national partnership. Dahlan told the Russians, “We are ready for reconciliation, and we have no demands and no conditions that go beyond the wishes of all patriots… Fatah continues to say that it is the vanguard and the supposed leader, and this is true historically, but today it is a broken vanguard.”

Another report by FatahVoice stated that the two delegations discussed the latest Palestinian developments and the possibilities of “inviting the International Quartet (the UN, the EU, the United States, and Russia) to reestablish its role and revive the peace process.”3

The two sides, the report continued, stressed the importance of achieving Palestinian reconciliation and mobilizing Arab and regional support as an essential step in “advancing the negotiations under the auspices of the International Quartet to reach a just agreement that will grant the Palestinian people their hopes and aspirations for an independent state.”
PMW: Palestinian women honored for role in terror – on national Palestinian Women’s Day
Speaking on occasion of national Palestinian Women’s Day last week, PA Minister of Women’s Affairs Amal Hamad highlighted “female Martyrs” and a mass murderer as proof that there is gender equality in Palestinian society.

Going back to the Arab Riots of 1929, the female minister first highlighted the fact that “the women were partners in the battle of resolve and defiance, and nine female Martyrs died.” Then Minister Hamad singled out mass murderer Dalal Mughrabi who led the killing of 37 Israeli civilians, among them 12 children, in 1978. As a third example, the minister mentioned the fact that “there are also female prisoners in the occupation’s prisons.” These examples served the minister as proof of gender equality in Palestinian society and that men and women are “going hand in hand”:
PA Minister of Women’s Affairs Amal Hamad: “The first women’s committee was on Oct. 26, 1929, in the shadow of the Al-Buraq Rebellion. The mighty rebellion (i.e., Hebron Massacre, 1929) in which great Martyrs died… The mighty rebellion in which the women were partners in the battle of resolve and defiance, and nine female Martyrs died… We don’t think that there is a difference [between the genders] in Palestinian society. Especially in the battle of the national struggle we emphasize going hand in hand. The proof of this is what I said… There were nine female Martyrs. We speak about Dalal Mughrabi and the Martyrs of the [Fatah] Central Committee. There is a long list and there are also female prisoners in the occupation’s prisons. Therefore, we are going hand in hand [with the men].”

[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Oct. 26, 2021]

Hamad also stressed Palestinian women’s “participation in defending the land with all forms and means” – a term used by PA leaders to include using all types of violence, including deadly terror ‎against Israeli civilians such as stabbings and shootings, as well as throwing rocks and Molotov Cocktails.:
Minister Hamad: “The celebrations of this national day will take place this year on the land of the village of Beita, and to be precise Jabal Sbeih (i.e., mountain in the West Bank where the Jewish outpost of Evyatar is located), in order to emphasize the popular resistance and the women’s participation in defending the land with all forms and means…”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 26, 2021]




MEMRI: Editor Of Arab Daily Calls To Establish International Force To Rescue Lebanon
In a November 2 article on the English-language Kuwaiti daily Arab Times, the daily's editor, Ahmed Al-Jarallah, states that Lebanon's problems do not stem from the presence of 19 different sects, each with its own religious laws and authorities. Rather, they stem from the fact that one faction – Hizbullah – has taken over the country with the ultimate goal of establishing the Islamic Republic of Lebanon, modeled on the Islamic Republic of Iran. To this end, he says, Hizbullah has turned Lebanon into a hotspot of terrorism, drug trafficking and sabotage. He concludes that, in light of this situation, the Arab states must form an international force to rescue Lebanon from this terrorist party; otherwise, this country will remain a threat to the security of the entire Arab world.

The following is his article.[1]
"The challenge in Lebanon is not the presence of 19 sects, each with a personal status law and religious reference. Rather, [Lebanon's] major challenge lies in the monopoly of a political faction over a sect and its quest to use this to dominate a highly sensitive country with fragile sectarian and political balances.

"This kind of dynamic quickly turns into militarization of sects [that are] linked to external religious references and have relations with fighting countries, which leads to [the] transfer of the problems of those countries to the Lebanese interior, and makes the conflict more complex.

"In 1975 when the balances were perturbed, the solution was supposed to come within the democratic system, but that did not happen. The Lebanese did not benefit from the experience of 1958 and the rehearsal they had of the civil war when the 'political Maronite' tried to align itself with Baghdad Pact, contrary to the desire of other political forces. In 1960s, the 'political Sunnis' also tried to align with the Pan-Arabism calls of Egypt’s Jamal Abdul-Nasser, and that was the beginning of the security skirmishes that ended in a civil war.

"At that time, the Arab countries did not stand by idly, fearing that the spark of war would reach them sooner or later, and therefore [that] a military intervention was necessary. This was the conclusion of the Riyadh Summit in 1976 which sent the “Arab Deterrence Forces”, the majority of which were from the Syrian army, grafted with symbolic Arabic formations.
American, Israeli flags burned as Iran marks 1979 takeover of US Embassy
Thousands of Iranians gathered on Tehran streets Thursday for the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US Embassy, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” and burning American and Israeli flags. The embassy takeover triggered a 444-day hostage crisis and break in diplomatic relations that continues to this day.

The government-organized commemoration, long a venue for voicing anti-Western sentiment, typically draws angry crowds each year. Last year, authorities canceled the event due to the still-raging coronavirus pandemic but on Thursday, state TV said that 800 cities across Iran staged demonstrations.

Gen. Hossein Salami, chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, denounced in a lengthy speech to the crowds what he described as American aggression in the region over the past decades, declaring that the “children of this nation will stand bravely against any power that wants to damage their interests.”

Long-simmering tensions between the United States and Iran have flared again in recent months after Iran’s election of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi, which brought hard-liners to power across every branch of government and stalled Tehran’s negotiations with world powers to revive its now-tattered 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran has ramped up nuclear escalations at the same time, enriching small quantities of uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels and interfering with international inspections of its nuclear sites.
'US can no longer defend Israel,' Revolutionary Guards chief says
Thousands of Iranians gathered on Tehran streets Thursday for the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US Embassy, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," and burning American and Israeli flags. The embassy takeover triggered a 444-day hostage crisis and a break in diplomatic relations that continues to this day.

The government-organized commemoration of the National Day of Fighting International Arrogance, long a venue for voicing anti-Western sentiment, typically draws angry crowds each year. Last year, authorities canceled the event due to the still-raging coronavirus pandemic but on Thursday, state TV said that 800 cities across Iran staged demonstrations.

Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, chief of the Revolutionary Guard, denounced in a lengthy speech to the crowds what he described as American aggression in the region over the past decades, declaring that the "children of this nation will stand bravely against any power that wants to damage their interests."

"On this day we mark the Iranian people's great victory over the United States," he said.

"The US is the global dictatorship manufacturing plant. The world suffers from the pain the US causes across 40 points around the world. The US defeat, as it transpired in Iran, was too difficult for the Americans to bear," Salami said.

"The American policy toward Iran has always been a failure," he claimed. "The Biden administration has not learned any lesson from it."

"The US is no longer able to defend Israel," he said.

Long-simmering tensions between the United States and Iran have flared again in recent months after Iran's election of President Ebrahim Raisi, which brought hard-liners to power across every branch of government and stalled Tehran's negotiations with world powers to revive its now-tattered 2015 nuclear deal.
Seth Frantzman: What was the point of Iran’s 'fake news' IRGC ship raid?
The IRGC, after bragging and inventing this story, has doubled down. Fars and Tasnim media are full of stories of how Iran is the “anchor” of security in the region and has outwitted the Americans. Iran’s media published cartoons of the tanker escaping US clutches. But it’s not clear the tanker escaped anything. It looks like Iran staged the raid on its own oil for no reason, except to pretend it was “capturing” it from the US. This was to cover up an Iranian failure of exporting oil. It kidnapped its own oil to make the failure seem less disgraceful.

But Iran’s media runs with the story. “Americans are accustomed to constantly losing to Iran: Major General Salami's account of the IRGC's confrontation with the United States in the Sea of ​​Oman,” says Fars News. Iran claims its oil exports are also increasing. Iran’s IRGC also publishes its own headlines, such as “Chief appreciation for the recent action of the IRGC: We will not allow the interests of the Iranian nation to be attacked.”

Basically, the story is that the IRGC wanted to show off. It didn’t have much to do, so it seems to have invented a story of great daring raids just to show video, that it had prepared to produce, like a propaganda film or staged incident. Meanwhile, Iran’s Fars News published an article about how US Naval personnel were stopped and detained in 2016. Iran also detained British sailors in 2007. This means that Iran is attempting to relive past incidents but apparently has not been able to lure the US into a similar scenario.

The overall lesson here is that Iran wants to create an incident. It is willing to use fast boats, helicopters and IRGC forces in a way that could lead to a real live-fire incident. It has harassed US ships in the past. Much of this is made for propaganda purposes, to create video that can be shown in Iran.

The IRGC is also trying to prove its worth to the regime. However, Iran’s leadership must know this story is either totally false or partially false and they will wonder what the IRGC is up to. The IRGC operates in a shadow world of lawlessness, conducting Iran’s foreign and military policy. However, even in the shadows it apparently needs to create fake news every once in a while to pretend it is doing “something.” It is also possible it is trying to lure the US into an incident, and this was just a test.
Iran’s Raisi Vows No Retreat in Nuclear Talks With Major Powers
Iran will not back down “in any way” in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday, a day after all sides announced the resumption of nuclear talks between Tehran and major powers on Nov 29.

Washington said it hoped the talks would see Iran willing to negotiate in good faith on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, while Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said the talks would cover the removal of “unlawful and inhumane sanctions”.

The negotiations that started in April have been on hold since the election of hardline cleric Raisi in June.

Raisi, under personal US sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said Iran seeks the “lifting of all US sanctions and neutralization of sanctions”, sounding an uncompromising tone ahead of the Vienna discussions.

“The negotiations we are considering are result-oriented ones. We will not leave the negotiating table … but we will not retreat from the interests of our nation in any way,” Iranian state TV quoted Raisi as saying.

Under the 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers, Tehran curbed its uranium enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear arms, in return for the lifting of US, UN and European Union sanctions.

But former US President Donald Trump quit the deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors that have crippled its economy, prompting Tehran to breach limits set by the pact on its nuclear work.


Republicans Warn Iran: Biden Nuclear Deal Will Be Trashed When GOP Retakes Power
Iran should consider any nuclear deal inked by the Biden administration as dead on arrival when Republicans retake control of Congress, the party's foreign policy leaders told the Washington Free Beacon.

President Joe Biden promised Iran this week that the United States will not pull out of any new nuclear agreement reached between the countries and that all sanctions relief granted as part of that deal will be permanent. Republican leaders, speaking to the Free Beacon, said they want to send Iran a direct message: Biden has no power to promise that sanctions will be lifted forever.

Biden, in a joint statement with Germany, France, and the United Kingdom issued this week during G20 meetings in Europe, pledged that the United States will remain in the nuclear deal permanently, as long as Tehran upholds its commitments under a revamped accord. European powers said they "welcome President Biden's clearly demonstrated commitment to return the U.S. to full compliance with the [nuclear deal] and to stay in full compliance." Biden and European leaders also committed to "provide sanctions lifting with long-lasting implications for Iran's economic growth."

Republican congressional leaders told the Free Beacon that the president has no legal authority to speak for Congress, which will not be bound by an executive agreement unilaterally reached between the administration and Iran. Sanctions, they added, are controlled by Congress, and Republicans will do all they can to ensure such crippling measures are put back in place. With Democrats enjoying a slim majority in both the House and Senate—and the Biden administration's popularity plunging ahead of the 2022 midterm elections—the Republican Party's focus on Iran could make the hardline government think twice about reentering an agreement that could be void within a year.

"The thugs in Tehran better be on watch: Any sanctions relief pledged by the Biden team is not a foregone conclusion," Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chair of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of Republicans in Congress, told the Free Beacon.
Are Jews in Iran Safe? Don’t Ask a Rabbi in Tehran
Last week, I was informed that Rabbi Yehuda Gerami, who has been called the chief rabbi of Tehran (yes, Tehran, the capital city of the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism) was visiting Los Angeles. Naturally, my knee-jerk reaction was to immediately secure an interview with Gerami. But soon enough, I talked myself out of it. Let me tell you why.

I’m not an American or European-born writer; I’m not Roger Cohen of The New York Times, who, over a decade ago, visited Iran and quoted Jewish residents who claimed they lived safely and happily (and lambasted Israel). I’m also not a travel blogger who acquiesces to wearing the mandatory headscarf (hijab) so she can visit the country and take selfies in a stunning mosque.

I’m an Iranian Jew; I was born in the 1980s, after the Islamic Revolution that turned Iran into a fanatic theocracy, unrecognizable to its own citizens (and the greater Middle East). As much as I’m invested in whether the Jews of Iran are safe today, I don’t need to ask others about Jewish life in Iran. I was Jewish life in Iran.

My mother handed me a mandatory headscarf and told me to do whatever my teachers instructed. So I did. I screamed “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!” in school. And my passport had the word “Jew” written on it.

When I contemplated interviewing Rabbi Gerami, I felt ambivalent. Here was a sphinx; a Jewish leader who lives in Tehran and is returning there soon. I had so many questions for him. The only problem? I knew that I couldn’t ask any of them.

You don’t ask a rabbi who is returning to Iran and to the regime to speak on-the-record about Iran and the regime. You don’t ask him about Israel. You don’t even ask him if the Jews of Iran are safe. That is, you don’t ask any of these questions if you want to know the whole truth.









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