Monday, November 08, 2021

11/08 Links Pt1: David Singer: The UN and EU semantic war in Judea and Samaria backfires; Mossad Thwarts Iranian Attacks Against Israelis in Africa

From Ian:

David Singer: The UN and EU semantic war in Judea and Samaria backfires
Travel tour operators cannot escape identifying ancient Jewish sites in Judea and Samaria – even as they use this false and misleading UN and EU language designed to bury their existence:

Tripadvisor describes Kalia Kibbutz, with its lovely Israeli resort, camping site and beach as being: “Adjacent to the Caves of Qumran Kalia 90666 Palestinian Territories”

The Dead Sea Scrolls were initially discovered in the Caves of Qumran in 1947. The Scrolls comprise more than 800 mostly Hebrew documents written on animal skin and papyrus, that shed light on the histories of Judaism and Christianity. Among the texts are parts of every book of the Hebrew Bible — the Old Testament—except the book of Esther. The Scrolls also contain the earliest version of the Ten Commandments.

Most, experts say, were written between 200 B.C. and the period prior to the failed Jewish revolt to gain political and religious independence from Rome that lasted from A.D. 66 to 70.

Tripadvisor fails to disclose that Kalia Kibbutz was established in the 1930’s but was destroyed by Transjordan in 1948 when it invaded and conquered Western Palestine. Residents of Kalia and nearby Kibbutz Beit HaArava – established in 1939 - fled by boat on 20 May 1948.

The area remained unpopulated save for a Jordanian military camp until lost by Jordan to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. Kalia was re-established and resettled by Jews in 1972 - Beit HaArava similarly in 1996.

The UN and EU use of language denying Jews have any proprietary rights in Judea and Samaria is pointedly racist.

UN engagement in such reprehensible conduct in blatant violation of its own Charter explains why the UN has failed to end the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict. Palestinian Arab insistence on providing false information to airlines and others about "Palestinian territories" or the non-existent "State of Palestine" when referring to Israeli-populated land explains the rest.


JPost Editorial: Israel must stand strong against reopening of US consulate
The consulate issue is being tied to another thorny question: construction over the Green Line. Here, too, the Biden administration is opposed to building plans, while some parties in the Bennett government want to proceed with major West Bank settlement projects.

There is a broad consensus within Israel that reopening the consulate in Jerusalem is not only unnecessary but harmful. A consulate in Jerusalem would in fact undermine the pursuit of peace by giving the Palestinians a false hope that one day they will have control over the city. Reopening the consulate, particularly now that the US Embassy is located in Jerusalem, would in effect bring Israel’s sovereignty in its own capital into question, and possibly encourage other countries to follow suit. Instead of opening embassies to Israel in Jerusalem, there could be a move to open consulates and trade representations for the Palestinians in the Israeli capital.

The Bennett-Lapid coalition is eager to repair ties with the Democrats after the Trump and Netanyahu eras, but both the prime minister and the alternate prime minister need to stand firm on Israel’s interest. Reopening the consulate for the Palestinians in Jerusalem does direct harm to Israel’s interests, and would not help a future peace process. To gain a consulate in western Jerusalem in return for nothing but intransigence will not encourage the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table in good faith.

Israel must continue to stand strong in its opposition to reopening the US consulate in Jerusalem. As for construction over the Green Line: it is time the government itself decides what it wants, where its red lines lie, rather than letting it be determined by outside forces.


PMW: “We will give our children’s blood” to undo Balfour Declaration, says Fatah official in Gaza
Senior Fatah official in Khan Yunis Faisal Fayyad: “We demand that the international community and the free people of the world stand with us to restore our rights in this usurped land. It was stolen in 1917 in the cursed Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration), and also in the May 15, 1948 Nakba (i.e., “the catastrophe,” the establishment of Israel). We all emphasize that we are still defending this stolen land, and that we will give our blood and the blood of our children and our families for the sake of Allah and the homeland.”

[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Nov. 3, 2021]

The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate “responsible for putting into effect the declaration,” which led to the UN vote in favor of partitioning Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in 1947. In response, Britain ended its mandate on May 15, 1948, and the Palestinian Jews, who accepted the Partition Plan, declared the independent State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and together with 7 Arab states attacked Israel, in what is now known as Israel’s War of Independence.


Despite crackdown, Iraqi Jewish activists cautiously optimistic after Erbil conference
After arrest warrants were issued and public death threats were made against many of the 300 Iraqi Muslim leaders calling for their government to make peace with Israel at a conference held in late September in Iraq's Kurdistan region, Jewish activists of Iraqi origin are voicing support for those in Iraq who seek peace with Israel.

"It is depressing that the conference participants have been bullied in this way," said Lyn Julius, a Jewish activist of Iraqi descent and co-founder of Harif, an association of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa based in the United Kingdom. "They were very brave to have taken part in the first place but may have underestimated the risks they were taking."

The conference, which was held in the city of Erbil, drew widespread condemnation from officials in Iraq's government, who called it an "illegal meeting." According to the Iraq News Agency, some Iraqi authorities also announced that they would arrest all 300 participants once they had been identified.

Likewise, an arrest warrant was issued for Wisam al-Hardan, leader of the "Sons of Iraq Awakening" movement, who had demanded that Iraq join the Abraham Accords and, at the conference, also encouraged establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel. Following widespread public condemnation in Iraq, al-Hardan later issued a recorded apology and withdrew his support for the event.

Moreover, arrest warrants were issued against other conference speakers, including former Iraqi politician Mithal Al-Alusi, and a senior Iraqi Culture Ministry official named Sahar al-Tai. Later, Al-Alusi, who has long called for peace between Iraq and Israel, claimed not to have attended the conference at all. Additionally, several other conference participants also backtracked from their earlier pro-peace statements.

Iraq has officially been at war with Israel since Israel's establishment in 1948, and the country's decades-old laws call for the immediate arrest and imprisonment of anyone dealing with Israelis or having any ties to Israel.

After 1948, members of Iraq's Jewish community, which once numbered 150,000-strong, were stripped of their citizenship, had their assets confiscated by the government and were forcibly expelled from the country. The majority of Iraqi Jews resettled in Israel, though some immigrated to Europe and North America. Today, experts estimate that only a handful of Jews still live in Iraq.
Diplomat Refutes UK University Claim that Christians Are at Risk in Israel
A report by the University of Birmingham claiming that Christians in Israel are at “grave risk”, has been challenged by an Israeli diplomat.

Ohad Zemet, spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in the UK, said:
“While Christians and other minority groups are persecuted across the Middle East, Israel is the only country in the region where the Christian population is growing.”

He added: “The Christian community is an integral part of the Israeli society and its members serve in senior positions in both the private and public sectors. No research can overlook those facts and the regional context.”

The report, titled ‘Defeating Minority Exclusion and Unlocking Potential: Christianity in the Holy Land’, claimed that Christians, who make up two per cent of Israel’s population, suffered “discriminatory policies” by Israeli public services, alleging an “educational culture that encourages Jewish children to treat Christians with ‘contempt’,” and adding that “such habits have not been adequately been policed by the criminal justice system”.

Rabbi Fishel Cohen, Birmingham University’s chaplain, said he was “disappointed at the disproportionate focus on Israel” in the report.

Report co-author Professor Francis Davis, of Birmingham University’s Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, said: “Christianity in the Holy Land is globally and diplomatically significant because of its position at the heart of the region, but its economic, social and civic value for the people of the Holy Land have been massively underestimated.

“This contribution is disproportionate to the size of Christian communities, yet they are at grave risk — from war, inter-religious and ethnic conflict, constraints on international investment, and fears of economic and legal constraint provoked by migration.”

The Jewish State is generally seen as a sanctuary for Christians, compared to other countries in the Middle East.
Colombian President Iván Duque Kicks Off State Visit to Israel
Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed President of Colombia Iván Duque to Israel on Monday with an official ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

Duque and Herzog reviewed an Israeli Navy honor guard before sitting down for a working meeting, according to an official statement. The two leaders discussed opportunities for bilateral collaboration on environmental technologies, green energy and sustainability.

Duque is being accompanied on his state visit by a delegation of senior Colombian cabinet members, including the ministers of defense, agriculture, health, commerce, industry and tourism and environment.

At a press conference after the meeting, Herzog praised the free-trade agreement between the two countries, which he said “marked a welcome high-point” in bilateral relations, and also thanked the Colombian leader for his country’s support in international forums.

Herzog also welcomed the inauguration of the Colombian trade and innovation office in Jerusalem, noting that it was “the first of its kind outside Colombia.”

“I must say that I greatly appreciate your stand in international organizations, standing by Israel’s side in the whole international arena. This is the measure of true friendship,” said Herzog.

The Israeli leader noted that Colombia had recently joined the IAEA Board of Governors, and expressed the hope that the position would allow it to “advance a meaningful diplomatic battle” against Iran’s nuclear program.
Report: Morocco interested in Israel's Iron Dome
Morocco is interested in purchasing Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system to "better ensure defense of the sand wall in the Sahara, but also of civil and military zones of a sensitive nature," according to a report in Moroccan digital news outlet Le Desk.

The North African country normalized relations with Israel as part of last year's US-brokered Abraham Accords. In exchange, the US recognized Morocco's claims over Western Sahara.

Recently, Morocco has been involved in a dispute with its neighbor Algeria, which severed diplomatic ties in August. Algeria backs the Polisario Front independence movement in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Last week, Algeria accused Morocco of killing three Algerian civilians in Polisario-held territory of Western Sahara.

Speaking on Saturday, Morocco's King Mohamed VI said that sovereignty over Western Sahara is "not negotiable."
Report: NSO spyware used to hack Palestinian rights activists
ecurity researchers disclosed Monday that spyware developed by the NSO Group was detected on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists, some of whom are affiliated with NGOs that Israel designated as terrorist groups last week.

The revelation marks the first known instance of Palestinian activists being targeted by the now-notorious Pegasus spyware, the use of which against journalists, rights activists and political dissidents from Mexico to Saudi Arabia has been documented since 2015.

A successful Pegasus infection surreptitiously gives intruders access to everything a person stores and does on their phone, including real-time communications.

It's not clear who placed the NSO spyware on the activists' phones, said the researcher who first detected it, Mohammed al-Maskati of the nonprofit Frontline Defenders.

Shortly after the first two intrusions were identified in mid-October, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared six Palestinian civil society groups to be terrorist organizations.

Ireland-based Frontline Defenders and at least two of the individuals hacked said they consider Israel "the main suspect" and believe the designation may have been timed to try to distract from the hacks' discovery, though they have provided no evidence to substantiate those assertions.

The forensic findings, independently confirmed by security researchers from Amnesty International and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab in a joint technical report, come as NSO Group faces growing condemnation over the abuse of its spyware and Israel takes heat for lax oversight of its digital surveillance industry.
Irish Embassy tweets, then deletes, anger at 2010 Mossad operation
Ireland distrusts Israel because its passports were used in a 2010 Mossad operation, the Irish Embassy in Israel tweeted late Sunday night.

The embassy’s official Twitter account responded to a tweet by someone named Teresa, who in turn was responding to a Jerusalem Post article reporting that Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Israel had not shown him proof that six Palestinian NGOs banned by Israel deserve their terrorist designation.

Teresa argued that Ireland should believe Israel, because the countries have diplomatic ties, and suspend donations to those organizations. Shortly after midnight, the Irish twitter account @EmbassyTLV said in response that they do not consider a Shin Bet report, indictments of the groups’ members or media reports to be evidence.

The tweet was deleted several hours later.

“Diplomatic relations might count for something, but if they have been abused to forge our passports for use in assassinations, it might be understandable that trust could be affected,” the Irish Embassy stated.

The passport forging referred to the 2010 Mossad killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a hotel room in Dubai. Ten years later, the United Arab Emirates established diplomatic relations with Israel, despite its anger at the attack in its territory, and France, Germany, the UK and Australia, the other countries whose passports Mossad agents used, have excellent relations with Israel.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Country That Kept Lights On To Help German Bombers Find London Upset That Israel Objects To Funding Terrorists (satire)
Dublin, November 17 – An island state to the west of Britain whose government maintained neutrality toward the Third Reich, and whose people facilitated Luftwaffe navigation toward blacked-out British cities by keeping theirs illuminated, voiced its disapproval this week that the Jewish State has designated violent groups that the aforementioned island state bankrolls as terrorist organizations.

Irish government officials and diplomats expressed dismay and skepticism at Israel’s decision to outlaw six Palestinian NGOs linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a murderous group that has claimed responsibility for assassinations, hijackings, bombings, and other violence targeting Jews and Israeli interests. Despite the moral imperative of opposing Nazi Germany, and despite the relative German inability to cause substantial damage to Irish interests, the WWII-era government of the Irish Republic elected not to choose sides in the fight against a genocidal regime, opting instead to hamper British and Allied logistics by refusing to allow its territory to be used in that fight, and, in its longstanding animosity toward Britain, kept the capital and other areas lit up at night to assist German bomber navigators in orienting themselves and thus more accurately reaching cities and facilities in Britain to bombard with explosives.

Israel provided evidence over the last several weeks to governments that provide funding to the six organizations, to the effect that those groups perform human rights works only as a cover for their violent activities. The most salient recent example involved the murder of an Israeli seventeen-year-old by an employee of one of the organizations who also boasted membership in the PFLP. Such evidence has so far failed to sway the leadership of a country that happily allowed German spies to attempt entry to Britain from its territory, and in which popular support for terrorism persists. The Irish Republican Army, and its successor terr0rist group the Provisional IRA, long maintained ties to, trained with, and provided support for, Palestinian terrorist groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Chinese Public Opinion and the Palestinian Question
Until the adoption of the UN resolution on the partition of Palestine in 1947, at the urging of the major powers, Palestinians were a people ruled by others, never having established their own independent state. The Arab states' collective boycott and rejection of Resolution 181 pushed the Palestinians even further away from establishing an independent state.

Israel will never give up eastern Jerusalem, and no Israeli decision-maker will ever order a withdrawal from the West Bank's Jewish communities. The fact remains that one of the world's most widely influential books - the Bible - makes their case. How can a Zionist ignore the Bible's account of the Jews and their forefathers and deny the connection between the Jewish people and the land?

Furthermore, Israel is a state that was established under international law and in accordance with UN resolutions, and Israel's presence in the West Bank is the result of wars that the Arab states waged against it; most of the territories were won from previous occupiers, namely Jordan and Egypt. The plight of the Palestinians today is clearly not the fault of Israel alone.

The writer is a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University. (Asia Times-Hong Kong)
Mark Regev: What was achieved when Naftali Bennett met Vladimir Putin?
Naftali Bennett’s October summit with Vladimir Putin ran overtime. Its unscheduled five-hour duration meant that the prime minister could not return to Israel before Shabbat, and was stuck in Sochi until Saturday night. Yet Bennett’s time with the Russian president at the Black Sea resort was well spent, among the more consequential meetings the prime minister has had since assuming office in June.

At the most fundamental level, Bennett needed to maintain Israel’s freedom of action in Syria. Since the outbreak of the civil war a decade ago, and the ensuing growth of Iran’s presence, the IDF has repeatedly targeted Iranian positions and those of its proxy Hezbollah. Tehran’s pretext for involvement was to bolster its ally Bashar Assad, but its goals were much larger; to expand its sphere of influence, and ultimately to transform Ba’athist Syria into an Iranian satellite, a forward position from which to threaten the “Zionist regime.”

Israel decided not to merely observe the growing Iranian buildup, but to adopt a policy of active preemption. The logic of the Israeli strategy mirrored that of the United States in the much-studied 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when President John Kennedy declared that the mere positioning of Soviet missiles in the Western Hemisphere was an unacceptable provocation, irrespective of a decision on their actual use. From Jerusalem’s perspective, the Iranians’ deployment so far from their homeland, and so close to ours, was in itself illegitimate, necessitating a robust Israeli response.

But in September 2015 a new factor arose: the Kremlin took a decision to intervene directly in Syria with its own forces in support of Assad. The Iranians and Russians were now fighting on the same side of the civil war, coordinating their military efforts. In these circumstances, it could no longer be a forgone conclusion that Israel would still be able to continue striking against Iranian positions without incurring the wrath of Tehran’s superpower partner.

Then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu understood that Russia’s upgraded role in Syria was a game-changer. Prudently, he took the seemingly uncharacteristic decision not to join the United States and other NATO countries in publicly criticizing the Kremlin’s decision. Instead, Netanyahu expeditiously flew to Moscow for a face-to-face meeting with Putin, where he successfully reached a series of understandings that safeguarded Israel’s freedom of action.
Report: Mossad Thwarts Iranian Attacks Against Israelis in Africa
srael’s Mossad intelligence agency has thwarted a series of planned Iranian attacks against Israelis in Africa, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

Following the receipt of “accurate intelligence” from “western intelligence sources,” the security forces of Tanzania, Ghana and Senegal arrested five suspects, according to Channel 12.

The five, all holders of African passports, had been recruited by Iran’s Quds Force, the branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that handles overseas operations, and sent to Lebanon to receive special training for the mission.

From Lebanon the suspects returned to Africa using religious studies as cover, but with the true goal of identifying potential targets. The highest-priority targets were Israeli tourists in Tanzania and businessmen in Ghana and Senegal, according to Channel 12.

The suspects are currently being questioned by security forces.

Tehran has denied the allegations, calling them “baseless, promoted only by the malicious media of the Zionist regime,” according to the report.


Iron Dome shoots down Hamas drone flown out to sea
The Iron Dome missile defense system shot down a Hamas drone that was flown out to sea from the Gaza Strip on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The interception appeared to be the second time that the Iron Dome has shot down an enemy unmanned aerial vehicle following upgrades to the air defense system, which was initially designed only to counter short-range rockets.

According to the IDF, the device “was monitored throughout the entire incident” by the air force’s ground control.

The Iron Dome was first used operationally to intercept a Hamas drone in May, during an 11-day conflict with Palestinian terror groups in the Strip, known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls. During the conflict, the system also mistakenly shot down an Israeli drone.

The launching of the drone from Gaza came as Hamas fired a number of rockets out to sea, apparently as part of efforts to test its capabilities. Israel typically does not interfere when Hamas conducts test launches; however, it does generally shoot down any drones that are flown out of the Strip.


PMW demands Italy rescind ‘Star of Italy’ award granted to PA terror supporter
Italian President Sergio Mattarella awarded the “Star of Italy” to Palestinian terror supporter Sabri Saidam

Did the Italian president know that former PA minister of education Saidam has praised murderers of hundreds of Israeli civilians when he awarded him the “Order of the Star of Italy”?

As soon as he received the award, Sabri Saidam dedicated it to imprisoned and dead terrorists: “I dedicate this worthy prize… to the Martyrs of Palestine… the Martyrs who are living above ground and the Martyrs who are under the ground”

PMW is calling on President Mattarella to rescind the order, which Saidam dishonored the moment he received it, and which continues to be dishonored if it remains in the hands of this terror supporter

The former PA minister of education has a history of glorifying terrorist murderers

Saidam promoted naming a square after terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi who led killing of 37

Former minister promoted the PA’s antisemitic narrative, posting a PA TV video that explained the Balfour Declaration as the solution to the fact that Europe “was sick of the behavior of the Jews at the time, and therefore it planned to get rid of them”

Ironically, Saidam received the award “in appreciation of his role in the education sector,” just a few months after an EU report condemned the PA schoolbooks written when he was minister of education
Tension in the Fatah Camp: The End of the Abbas Era?
In a surprising development, Mohammed Dahlan, the leader of the Palestinian “Democratic Reform Movement,” met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Nov. 2, 2021. Dahlan, a former Fatah official who now resides in the United Arab Emirates, is a bitter foe of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, and there are some in the PA who accuse Dahlan of facilitating the Abraham Accords.

In a statement released on the Dahlan website Fatah Voice, 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 Fatah Voice stated that the two delegations discussed the latest Palestinian developments and the possibilities of “inviting the International Quartet [the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia] to reestablish its role and revive the peace process.”

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.”
Yasser Arafat’s nephew: PA ‘tearing up’ legacy institution
Palestinians believe that Abbas decided to call off the elections mainly because of the split in Fatah, especially the alliance between Kidwa and Barghouti, the jailed Fatah leader serving five life terms in prison for his role in a series of terrorist attacks during the Second Intifada two decades ago.

Public opinion polls published by various institutions over the past few years have shown that Barghouti is the Palestinians’ favored candidate to replace Abbas as president of the PA.

Kidwa joined Fatah in 1969 and subsequently joined its Central Committee. He previously served as the PLO’s representative to the United Nations and as PA foreign minister.

In his statement, Kidwa said: “As we approach the commemoration of the 17th anniversary of the martyrdom of the founding leader, the spirit of Abu Ammar (Arafat’s nom de guerre) appears to us full of sadness and sorrow for the state of affairs in the Palestinian arena in general and in his institution in particular.”

Kidwa accused the PA leadership of insisting on “tearing up” the foundation by seizing control of it and firing most of the workers.

“Unfortunately, the Yasser Arafat Foundation, which was built legally, no longer exists,” Kidwa charged. “What exists now is an idiotic sign attached to the Mukata [Abbas’s presidential compound]. In the end, it seems that the aim of all this is to undermine Yasser Arafat’s biography and diminish his legacy.”


MEMRI: Iraqi Writer: Al-Jazeera 25th Anniversary Not An Achievement To Be Celebrated But A Source Of Shame
Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Qatari Al-Jazeera media network, Iraqi journalist 'Ali Al-Sarraf wrote an article in which he harshly criticizes the network and its founder, Qatar's former emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Aal Thani, the father of the present emir, Tamim bin Hamad Aal Thani. The article, published in the London-based Emirati daily Al-Arab, claims that Al-Jazeera was established as a tool for realizing Sheikh Hamad's plan to topple the Arab countries and turn the region into an theater of war and struggle. It adds that Al-Jazeera, which has become a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood, is not a news platform but a provocative platform aimed at creating chaos, in the service of the Qatari plan of sowing destruction in the region. The peoples of the region, it says, are still counting the victims of the futile wars fanned by Al-Jazeera, and therefore its anniversary should not be celebrated but forgotten.

The following are translated excerpts from Al-Sarraf's article:[1]
"What does one do when one has experienced a painful, hurtful and violent incident one cannot overcome? Allah has given one the ability to forget. That is the best thing to do in the case of the Al-Jazeera channel, whose establishment 25 years ago was [recently] celebrated by the previous Qatari emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Aal Thani. Celebrating the anniversary [of the channel's founding], he presented it as a miracle of liberation and as a platform for sacrifice and for martyrs, and defended it as a media project that meets [difficult] challenges.

"On the face of it, Al-Jazeera is indeed a media project, but it is also a political project. Describing it as a new platform just takes advantage of people's inattention. For those burned by its fire, [Sheikh Hamad's statements] do nothing but open up their wounds and pour some more salt on them.

"One of the wounds is that Sheikh Hamad wanted Al-Jazeera to be the face of his special plan to tear the countries of the region to pieces and turn them into hotspots of civil war and tribal, religious and political struggles of every kind. When this shameful plan was exposed, he was compelled to give up the throne. But Al-Jazeera never stopped its actions, and its plan remained unchanged.

"Al-Jazeera has fulfilled its purpose of serving as a tool for tearing [countries apart] and sowing destruction and chaos, and that is what encouraged Sheikh Hamad to return from the world of shame and celebrate the goals achieved.
Iran Wants US Assurances It Will Never Abandon Nuclear Deal If Revived
Iran said on Monday that the United States should provide guarantees that it will not abandon again Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, if talks to revive the agreement succeed.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States, which stalled in June after the election of hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, are set to resume on Nov. 29 in Vienna to find ways to reinstate the deal. Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord three years ago and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

Echoing Iran’s official stance, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Washington must lift all sanctions imposed on Tehran in a verifiable process and “recognise its fault in ditching the pact.”

Khatibzadeh said Ali Bagheri-Kani, who is Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, will travel this week as Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs to the capitals of three European parties to the nuclear pact.
Report: Iranian newspaper banned for linking Supreme Leader to poverty
Iran's judicial authorities reportedly banned a newspaper Monday for publishing a front-page graphic that appeared to show Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's hand drawing the poverty line in the Islamic Republic amid widespread anger over the nation's cratering economy.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency said Iran's media supervisory body shut down the daily newspaper Kelid after it published a front-page article titled "Millions of Iranians Living under Poverty Line" on Saturday.

Under the headline, the graphic shows a person's left hand holding a pen and drawing a red line across the page as silhouettes of people underneath are reaching up to the line.

The graphic resembled an earlier image of Khamenei writing on a piece of paper with his left hand, a prominent ring on one of his fingers. His right has been paralyzed since a 1981 bombing.

The Young Journalists Club, a group associated with state television, earlier reported that censors were examining the newspaper after the publication. The state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged Kelid had been shut down, without explaining the reason for the decision.

Kelid could not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Their website has been taken offline.
MEMRI: Iranian Majles Member Mahmoud Ahmadi-Bighash Blasts Raisi’s Government for Nepotism, Incompetence
In a speech that was delivered at the Majles on November 2, 2021, Iranian Majles member Mahmoud Ahmadi-Bighash blasted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his newly instated government, claiming that it has shown no signs of fixing Iran’s problems. He said that the Raisi government suffers from nepotism like the Rouhani government before it, and he said that the Iranian presidency and government are riddled with incompetence. Ahmadi-Bighash said that the government is showing “excessive indifference” towards regional and international issues and that this does not serve the country. Mahmoud Ahmadi-Bighash posted his speech to his Instagram account.


Iran sentences gay couple to death for adultery
Iran’s supreme court has upheld death sentences for adultery against a 27-year-old and his 33-year-old lover after the man’s father-in-law denied them clemency, a reformist newspaper reported Saturday.

The man’s wife, who presented police with video evidence of her husband’s infidelity early this year, had asked the courts to spare the pair the death penalty, the Shargh daily said.

But her father demanded that the death sentence be imposed and the court found in his favor, the paper added.

Iranian law provides that if a victim’s family forgives the accused in a capital crime, the convict can be either pardoned or given a jail sentence.

Under the interpretation of Islamic sharia law in force since Iran’s 1979 revolution, adultery is punishable by stoning.

But Tehran changed the law in 2013 to allow judges to order an alternative method of execution, usually hanging.









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