Tuesday, April 26, 2022

04/26 Links Pt1: Palestinian Authority Spends 33 Times More per capita on Terror Stipends than on Health Services; The San Remo Conference gave Arabs and Jews independence, the Arabs said no

From Ian:

PMW: Palestinian Authority Spends 33 Times More per capita on Terror Stipends than on Health Services
Analysis of the PA's expenditures in 2021 shows that, per capita, it spends 33 times more paying terror rewards than it spends on health services for the Palestinian population.

It spends 11 times more paying terror rewards than it spends on education of Palestinian children, and twice as much as it spends on benefits for needy Palestinians.

In 2021 the PA spent $193 million on terrorist prisoners and released terrorists and another $78 million, at least, on wounded terrorists and the families of dead terrorists.

These sums were paid to 5,000 prisoners, 12,000 released prisoners and 40,000 families of dead terrorists.
Palestinians fear UNRWA may take first steps to end refugee services
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency might allow other UN agencies to help service Palestinian refugees for the first time in its 73-year history, in a move that has angered the Palestinians who fear that it’s the first step in UNRWA’s dissolution.

UNRWA “bears a political title that embodies the international responsibility towards the Palestinian refugees and their plight,” a Palestine Liberation Organization official stated on Sunday.

“Preserving UNRWA means preserving the right of refugees to return [to their homes] and [receive] compensation in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, and maintaining UNRWA is an important stabilizing factor and a guaranteeing factor for a development process to achieve the sustainable development goals that must include Palestinian refugees.”

The “plot” against UNRWA will lead to instability in the entire region, claimed senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad official Ahmed al-Mudallal.

Right-wing politicians in both Israel and the United States have long said that UNRWA should be dissolved. They have argued that it creates a permanent growing class of Palestinian refugees that dooms any effort to resolve the conflict with Israel. In particular, they have advocated that Palestinian refugees be serviced by other local governments or other UN agencies including the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
David Singer: The San Remo Conference gave Arabs and Jews independence, the Arabs said no
The Jews were initially allotted all of Palestine at San Remo –117000km2 - the remaining 15% of these three liberated Turkish territories – within which the Jewish National Home was to be “reconstituted” after 3000 years.

However 78% of Palestine east of the Jordan River (Transjordan) was whittled away for Arab independence by the time the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine was promulgated in July 1922 - leaving Jewish self-determination to happen in just 3% of the territories dealt with at San Remo.

Transjordan (today called Jordan) became independent in 1946.

The British Government’s 1921 Interim Report on the Civil Administration of Palestine recorded that hardly 700,000 people were living in Palestine west of the Jordan River– 560000 of whom were Moslems, 77000 Christians and 76000 Jews:

“a population much less than that of the province of Gallilee alone in the time of Christ * (*See Sir George Adam Smith "Historical Geography of the Holy Land", Chap. 20.)”.

About 350000 non-Jews lived in what was then called Palestine east of the Jordan River:

The San Remo Conference unanimously agreed that the civil and religious rights of these existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine were not to be prejudiced by San Remo’s decisions and that the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country were also not to be affected – guarantees that were expressly included in the terms of the Mandate for Palestine.

The Arabs have never accepted that the decisions simultaneously made in relation to Mesopotamia Syria and Palestine at San Remo in 1920 were part of a plan that by 1922 offered:
- The Arabs: independence in 97% of the liberated Ottoman territories.
- The Jews: independence in the remaining 3%

The Jewish-Arab conflict will remain unresolved whilst the Arabs remain in their 102 years-old state of denial.


The Caroline Glick Show Ep48 – Ambassador David Friedman shows how Trump’s “Sledgehammer” brought peace
In this special week’s episode of the Middle East News Hour, Caroline Glick is joined by Ambassador David Friedman, President Trump’s extraordinary ambassador to Israel. They discussed Friedman’s recently released memoir of service, Sledgehammer where he set out how Trump’s courageous break with 75 years of failed U.S. Middle East policies, starting with his decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, brought peace to the Middle East. Glick and Friedman also took an in-depth look at the American Jewish community’s self-destructive ignorance, how Israel must seize the reins of leadership of the Jewish people, grow up and fulfill its destiny, and how we mustn’t let the truths Friedman and Trump uncovered be lost in the left’s haste to bury Trump’s legacy through appeasement of America’s enemies.


When will Israeli-Saudi ties go public? - opinion
All four Muslim states that have signed up to the Abraham Accords so far maintain their support for Palestinian aspirations, but they have decided that solving the intractable Israeli-Palestinian dispute should no longer be a prerequisite for normalizing relations with Israel. They will support efforts to reach an accord, but they prioritize developing a flourishing Middle East for the benefit of all its citizens.

Each of the four had particular reasons for joining the Accords. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is intent on countering the regional dominance sought by Iran and Turkey, but it is also developing commercial and hi-tech scientific links with Israel, increasing defense cooperation and obtaining weapon systems from Washington, such as the F-35 fifth-generation fighter jet.

Bahrain – its leaders Sunni, its population majority Shia – appreciates Israel’s strength in opposing not only Iran, but also the violent extremist groups supported by Iran in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. On joining the Accords, Sudan was removed from the State Department’s foreign terrorist organizations list (FTO), while Morocco gained US recognition of its claims over Western Sahara.

When Saudi Arabia weighs the pros and cons of normalizing its relationship with Israel or formally joining the Abraham Accords, Israel’s determination to counter Iran’s ambitions to dominate the Middle East would be a major consideration. MBS would also hope the move would help repair Saudi Arabia’s strained relations with Washington.

The murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 continues to reverberate in US political circles. Normalizing relations with Israel could change perceptions about Saudi Arabia in both main parties and help restore MBS’s status among the US elite.

So MBS has been careful to keep the normalization option open. Far from condemning its neighboring Gulf States, Saudi Arabia has signaled tacit support for the UAE and Bahrain.

It has allowed unprecedented access to Saudi airspace for Israeli commercial planes, and reports of high-level meetings between Saudi and Israeli representatives continue to appear in the media.

It was no doubt a source of regret that it could not participate along with the UAE and Bahrain in the Negev Summit on March 28.

The omens for Saudi Arabia and Israel soon formalizing what is already something close to a partnership seem good.
Iraqi Columnist: It's Time We Realized That Ties And Normalization With Israel Are Not Treason And That Iran Is The Real Enemy Of The Arabs
In his March 26, 2022 column in the London-based Emirati daily Al-Arab, 'Ali Al-Sarraf, an Iraqi journalist who resides in Britain, defended the move of the Arab states that have normalized their relations with Israel, and came out against those who accuse them of treason and of betraying the Palestinian cause. Al-Sarraf stated that the Arabs wasted decades sticking to a misguided position that rejects any ties with Israel, and that today even the Palestinians themselves recognize Israel and demand a state on the 1967 borders, alongside this country. He added that Iran, and not Israel, is the real enemy of the Arabs, and that, while Israel aspires to make peace with the Arabs, Iran wants only to sow destruction: it strives to export its Islamic revolution to the Arab world and is destabilizing the region with its militias and with murders and wars. Iran, Al-Sarraf stressed, has in fact committed more crimes towards them than any other enemy. He called on the Arabs to stop believing that any contact with Israel or with Jews is a crime or an act of treason, and to realize that dialogue with Israel can lead to understandings and interim solutions, whereas contact with Iran brings only harm.

The following are translated excerpts from his article:[1]
"'Normalization' is a term that has always had two implications. One is an automatic fear of every Israeli and even every Jew on the face of the earth, and the other is [the notion that] normalization involves treason, collaboration and similar criminal [actions]. The fear [associated with normalization] means that, if you have a Jewish neighbor and you greet him with 'good morning,' his answer of 'good morning' could mark you with the stain of normalization. This is the case even though there are Jews who have been more loyal to the Palestinian cause than some Palestinians…

"As for the accusation of treason [associated with normalization], it are based on the assumption that anyone who even meets with an Israeli, for any reason whatsoever, has relinquished the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people. Moreover, [any such meeting is regarded] as a sign of lack of self-confidence… as though every meeting of this kind [i.e., with an Israeli] means recognition of Israel and an expression of one's willingness to make concessions, even if one does not [actually] make them, because one harbors treasonous [inclinations] and a willingness to commit treason.

"For a long time, the Palestinian revolutionaries saw recognition of Israel as a reprehensible crime, but eventually they themselves recognized it. Furthermore, [the late Tunisian president] Habib Bourguiba was [called] traitor for urging the Palestinians to agree to a state on the 1967 borders,[2] but [now] this reprehensible crime has become an unattainable [Palestinian] dream.

"The explanations and justifications are many, of course, but they do not detract from the fact that the stance on normalization has been naïve, superficial and unnuanced…

"The August 1967 Khartoum summit of the three no's – no to peace, no to recognition and no to negotiations – was a response to the defeat [in the war with Israel that broke out] on June 5 that year. The circumstances did not leave room for anything but bombastic declarations, out of a desire to avoid any self-examination to figure out the reasons for the defeat. It was an act of evasion by people who had no means to redress their failure. This failure, which then continued for half a century, eventually led to peace, recognition and negotiations, as though fate wanted to teach these failing people a lesson for sticking [so long] to a miscalculation…

"We spent 20 years accusing Egypt of treason for signing the Camp David Accords, until we realized that 'there will be no war [against Israel] without Egypt, and no peace [with it] without Syria.'[3] [We also came to realize that Egypt's] late president Anwar Sadat was not a traitor, either against his people or against the Palestinian cause. When he went to Jerusalem in 1977 he wanted for the Palestinians what the PLO wants today. This is the same PLO that hurled every possible accusation of treason at [Sadat], just as the [other] revolutionaries did – until they realized the [true] meaning of the Iranian 'revolution.' Forty years of exporting the [Iranian] revolution, namely of waging wars, forming militias and destabilizing the region, radically changed the perception of who the [Arabs'] enemies and friends are, and who is and isn't worthy of normalizing relations with.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Biden Administration Ignores What the Palestinians Are Really Saying
Hamas "will remain committed to its charter until the goals of our people are achieved, including the liberation [of all Palestine]." — Hazem Qassem, Hamas spokesperson, palinfo.com, April 22, 2022.

The Biden administration's representatives who are talking about "the need for all parties to work for calm, especially in Jerusalem," appear to be overlooking that the latest tensions are, at best, only partially related to the city or the al-Aqsa Mosque.

For Hamas, the riots at the al-Aqsa Mosque are simply part of a long-term strategy to destroy all of Israel.

"The battle [with Israel] is open. What is happening at the mosque will shorten the life of the occupation until it is expelled from Palestine. We are still at the beginning of the battle." — Ismail Haniyeh, senior political leader of Hamas, panet.co.il, April 21, 2022.

So, while the Biden administration is reaffirming its commitment to a "two-state solution," which means establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel, Hamas and its supporters are openly expressing their intention to continue their jihad until they exterminate Israel.

Haniyeh remains more popular than Abbas and in a presidential election, would easily defeat him. The poll also showed that if parliamentary elections were held today, Hamas would defeat Abbas's faction, the Fatah.

The results of the polls clearly telegraph that any future Palestinian state will unquestionably be controlled by Hamas and used as a launching pad to continue the fight until Israel is obliterated.

The Palestinians, for their part, have been, as always, refreshingly clear about what they want -- and a mosque is not it.


Managing the Palestinian Conflict
Total calm on the Palestinian front is impossible. On the one hand, a comprehensive peace agreement according to a two-state solution is unfeasible. On the other, the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem can't accept the existing situation as permanent. This leaves us with two possible courses of action: either examining alternative solutions to the conflict and avoid obsessing over the only direction pursued since 1993 or "managing the conflict."

Managing the conflict requires Israel to understand the interests of the other actors. The leadership in Gaza understands that its rule is at risk if it fails to improve, by even a little bit, the state of infrastructure, employment, energy, and water resources. Israel's current policy, which both facilitates a controlled increase in the number of Gazan workers that enter the country and infrastructure projects, is the right move.

The silent majority of Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as the Palestinian security apparatus, can put up with Israeli military operations as long as they are relatively focused and as long as the number of fatalities stays low. Israel cannot give in to the rioters. But if the purpose is to "manage the conflict," the trick is to avoid actions whose cost far outweighs their benefits.


Israeli Security Forces Thwart Bomb Plot by Palestinian Islamic Jihad Terror Cell
Israel’s Shin Bet recently thwarted an attempt by a terror cell led by Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives to carry out attacks on Israeli targets, the security agency revealed Monday.

In a joint operation with the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet arrested seven Palestinians from the Jenin area of the West Bank. The suspects were allegedly recruited by Islamic Jihad militants via social media to make explosives shaped in the form of rockets, to use against Israeli farmers in the area. According to the investigation, members of the cell received instructions and training from Islamic Jihad operatives in the Gaza Strip.

“The Shin Bet and Israel’s security forces will continue to relentlessly chase Palestinian terrorist cells trying to assassinate us,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated Monday. “We will not lessen the pressure. Every terrorist should know that he has no day and no night — ultimately we will get our hands on him.”

One of the detainees, Yasmin Shaaban, from a village close to Jenin, is a mother of four who was previously imprisoned for involvement in the planning of a suicide attack, the security agency said. Shaaban, whose arrest played a key role in dismantling the terror cell, allegedly coordinated communication between Islamic Jihad operatives in the Gaza Strip and the members of the cell in the West Bank, and also helped in the transfer of funds, equipment, weapons and ammunition.

In recent years, terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip have been seeking to exploit Palestinians in the West Bank for attacks, according to the security service.
Israeli Artillery Attacks Site of Lebanon Rocket Launch
Israel’s military said early Monday that its artillery shelled the site of a rocket launched from Lebanon, which hit open land in Israel near the border.

The Israel Defense Forces said an explosion was reported shortly after midnight near the northern Kibbutz Metsuba, just miles from the border with Lebanon.

No alert sirens were triggered by the rocket, according to the military.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper said a rocket was shot from the area south of the city Tyre.

Exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanon since the 2006 Second Lebanon War with Hezbollah are rare. Last August, a rocket attack from Lebanon wounded several Israelis.

Attacks on Israel from Lebanon are generally perpetrated by Palestinian factions in the country, which holds a sizable Palestinian refugee population. Israel has seen a wave of violence in recent weeks, with Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, or Temple Mount, serving as a flash point for clashes that threaten to destabilize other areas, including Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip.
Disputed Hotel in Jerusalem's Old City Was in Jewish Hands for Nearly 100 Years
Written and living evidence of the history of Jerusalem's Old City provides evidence a contentious building located near the Jaffa Gate and known as the Petra Hotel was in Jewish hands until 1931.

The Jewish Ateret Cohanim association recently entered the facility after purchasing it from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate 20 years ago. Although the acquisition received all the necessary legal authorizations, Palestinian and ecclesiastical elements are now waging an international pressure campaign to prevent any Jewish presence at the site.

Historical research, however, shows that the hotel was owned by two Jewish families throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.

During the British Mandate, the hotel was a magnet for both Jewish and British leaders. In 1918, the cornerstone of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was laid there. Weddings were also held and the hotel was frequently visited by dignitaries who arrived in the city, including High Commissioner of Palestine Herbert Samuel, Israel's first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, and others.

The 1929 riots ultimately led the hotel's owner at the time, Yerachmiel Amdursky, to abandon the facility. Amdursky's granddaughter, Zippora Ansbacher, confirmed this to be the case in a conversation with Israel Hayom.

Ansbacher, whose husband Mordechai was a witness at the trial of Nazi official Adolf Eichmann and served as the first chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum has a number of items, such as plates bearing the hotel logo and a newspaper ad for the hotel, that his family had kept from what had been known as the Amdursky Hotel.

"Mother was born in a hotel in the Old City hotel – Room 13. She took me to see it. I know the hotel. It operated until 1929. There was terror everywhere and in Hebron, and then he [Yerachmiel] decided to leave the hotel.…. My father recited the Kiddush [blessing to sanctify the Shabbat]. The guests are seated at round tables. Suddenly, we hear 'Aleihum, aleihum [mob cry in Arabic] and a lot of noise. And people approached with sticks, batons."
Israel Captures 100 Smuggled Fragmentation Grenades from Lebanon Intended for Terror Attacks
Israel’s Northern District Police on Monday night thwarted a major weapons smuggling attempt on the Lebanese border when it seized a shipment of 100 fragmentation grenades and two pistols that were allegedly intended to carry out terrorist attacks.

During the evening, IDF observations identified suspicious movement near the border fence. A police force was rushed to the scene and a search yielded a duffle bag containing the weapons. Hezbollah is suspected of being involved in the transfer of weapons into Israeli territory. A military source noted that this was an unusual smuggling involving types of grenades not seen before in the area.

The Enhanced Tactical Multi-Purpose (ET-MP) grenade was designed in 2016 by engineers at the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center (CCDC-AC) at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey. announced in 2016. The electronically fused grenade can be operated in either fragmentation or blast mode, which is selected just before use.

Israel Police said that recent smuggling operations that were thwarted revealed evidence of Hezbollah’s involvement, using Israeli criminals to bring weapons into Israel. Police say Hezbollah is delivering the weapons while ensuring that at least some are reserved for terrorist activity, in an effort to create an infrastructure for terrorist attacks in the future.


HonestReporting: The Real 'Status Quo': Unrelenting Palestinian Terrorism Desecrates Jerusalem Holy Sites
During an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour accused him of creating "a lot of tension" by attempting to quell Palestinian violence at Jerusalem's holiest site.

To clarify, here's the real story.


BBC Jerusalem bureau reporting on Temple Mount riots
Previously we have looked at coverage of the violent rioting on Temple Mount early on the morning of April 15th in two BBC World Service radio programmes – ‘Newsday’ and ‘Newshour’:

Listeners to domestic BBC programming heard reports on the same topic from the BBC Jerusalem bureau’s Yolande Knell in Radio 4 news bulletins, one of which was aired in the April 15th edition of the ‘Today’ programme (from 2:04:28 here).

Notably, the editorial policy of ignoring the BBC News style guide’s instructions relating to Temple Mount were evident there too, along with the whitewashing of violent rioting as “a demonstration”.
Newsreader: “Israeli police have clashed with Palestinians at the holy site in East Jerusalem. Tensions are high in the city where Easter and Passover celebrations are coinciding with Ramadan. Officers say they entered al Aqsa Mosque to disperse a crowd throwing rocks. At least 90 people were injured. Reporting from Jerusalem, Yolande Knell.”

Knell: “Videos from inside the contested holy site show chaotic scenes. Israeli police say dozens of young Palestinians – some masked – began a demonstration, shooting fireworks into the air and throwing stones, including at Jewish worshippers by the Western Wall below. It says that officers waited until after the dawn prayer to enter the compound; the third holiest site for Muslims which is also known as Temple Mount, the holiest place for Jews. Footage shot on a mobile phone appears to show tear gas and smoke in a prayer hall of the mosque as the clashes continued. Such scenes raise fears of further violence, including a response by Hamas militants in Gaza. Last year they fired rockets towards Jerusalem following clashes at the mosque, setting off a devastating 11-day conflict.”

By the time the same topic was presented just five hours later in a news bulletin aired on BBC Radio 4’s ‘World at One’ (from 03:59 here), the attacks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall had disappeared from the story.


PMW: PMW demands arrest of PA TV imam for calling to exterminate the Jews
While Israeli Police are fighting continuous Palestinian Muslim violence in Jerusalem intended to prevent Jews from visiting or praying at the Temple Mount, a Palestinian imam led a prayer in a mosque that was broadcast on PA TV, calling for the extermination of Jews:
“Allah delight us with the extermination of the evil Jews”

In addition, he called for extermination of those he called “their hypocritical supporters who have evil and their hearts.”

Significantly, this imam presented the extermination of Jews in his Ramadan prayer in the Al-Ain Mosque in El-Bireh, near Ramallah, as something that will bring pleasure and “delight” to Palestinians.

Palestinian Media Watch has pointed out numerous times that the PA’s presenting the murder of Jews and Israelis as fulfillment of Islam is very potent incitement to murder. The Palestinian Muslim population is very religious and presenting the killing of Jews as something that Allah supports raises Palestinian murder of Israelis from a nationalistic act to an Islamic act of worship. Calling for this during the month of Ramadan is literally inviting murder.

PMW has notified the Israeli Police and hopes that it will act against this explicit incitement to murder.

PMW also called for the arrest of the head of PA TV, Khaled Sukkar, and the head of Palestinian Broadcast Corporation, Ahmad Assaf.
Prayer for Ramadan by Imam on PA TV: “Grant us victory over the infidels.. Allah, delight us with the conquest and liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Allah, make us among the first to enter, the conquerors, the worshippers, and those calling out ‘Allahu Akbar’ inside [the mosque] to You, Master of the Universe. Allah, delight us with the extermination of the evil Jews, O Master of the Universe, and [the extermination] of their hypocritical supporters who have evil in their hearts.”

[Official PA TV, April 17, 2022]
“Allah, delight us with the extermination of the evil Jews,” imam on PA TV

PMW: PA teaches kids to admire terrorist responsible for murder of 35, erects garden to honor terrorist prisoners
Under the auspices of Tulkarem District Governor Issam Abu Bakr and the Tulkarem Education Directorate – which is under the PA Ministry of Education – the PA inaugurated a garden at the Al-Adawiya High School for Girls in Tulkarem to celebrate and glorify terrorist murderers.

The garden will remind the young girls to honor and admire what the PA calls “the freedom tunnel prisoners” - 6 terrorist prisoners who temporarily escaped the Gilboa Prison in 2021. The 6 are imprisoned for planning and carrying out numerous terror attacks, including suicide bombings and shooting attacks. (See note below)

At the school event, students held posters with photos of terrorist prisoners, among them imprisoned terrorist Abbas Al-Sayid, who was responsible for the murder of 35. Abbas Al-Sayid planned two suicide bombings, one at a Passover dinner at the Park Hotel in Netanya, in which 30 were murdered on March 27, 2002, and another outside a shopping mall in Netanya, in which 5 were murdered on May 18, 2001. Al-Sayid is serving 35 life sentences for these crimes. On his garden event poster is written: “Abbas Al-Sayid – because you are free, support their freedom”:
The female students also hold posters of terrorist prisoners Samer Al-Atrash, who was involved in the murder of 7, and of Ahmad Sa’adat, head of the PFLP terror organization.
PMW: Abbas sent condolences to family of Tel Aviv terrorist who murdered 3
The terrorist who murdered 3 Israelis at a bar in Tel Aviv and another Palestinian who shot at Israeli forces were both “defending the land of Palestine and the people’s honor” according to the Fatah Movement, which added that their terror was “for the sake of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

This message was delivered by Jenin District Governor Akram Rajoub when he conveyed condolences on behalf of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to the families of the two terrorist “Martyrs”: murderer Ra’ad Hazem and shooter Ahmed Al-Sa’adi.

The governor added further praise for the terrorists and their attacks, stressing the PA’s call for Palestinians to die for Allah and “Palestine” as “Martyrs” in the fight against Israel by stating that “the Martyrs’ blood will continue to illuminate the path to liberation”:
“Jenin District Governor Akram Rajoub conveyed condolences over the deaths as Martyrs of Ra’ad Hazem (i.e., terrorist, murdered 3) and Ahmed Al-Sa’adi (i.e., terrorist, shot at Israeli security forces) at the Jenin refugee camp youth club, while leading a delegation that included the heads of the [PA] Security Forces.

Rajoub conveyed the condolences of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas over the deaths of the Martyrs of Jenin. He [the district governor] emphasized the role that the Martyrs fulfilled in the struggle, in their defense of the land of Palestine, and he added that they insisted on defending our people’s honor and [acted] for the sake of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while united under the flag of Palestine.

He [the district governor] said: ‘The Martyrs’ blood will continue to illuminate the path to liberation through our national unity, so that we will fight the settlers’ extremist government and its terrorist policy, which is targeting everything Palestinian.’”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 11, 2022]
MEMRI: Mother Of 'Martyred' Palestinian Islamic Jihad Terrorist Muhammad Jahjouh: I Will Be Happy If All My Children And Grandchildren Are Martyred For The Sake Of Allah
The mother of a "martyred" Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist named Muhammad Jahjouh said in an April 16, 2022 interview on Al-Quds Al-Youm TV (Islamic Jihad – Gaza) that she always prays for her entire family, including her grandchildren, to be martyred for the sake of Allah. She said that this would make her happy, that she is proud of her "martyred" son, and that she loves this "path." According do an online PIJ report, Jahjouh was killed in January 2009 after killing "two Israeli soldiers."

"I Always Pray... That When Deaths Comes For [Our Family], We Will Be Martyrs For The Sake Of Allah"

Mother of Muhammad Jahjouh: "[I told my eldest son:] I always pray that I, your father, brothers, daughters, and sons... That all of you become martyrs for the sake of Allah, that when death comes for us, we will all be martyrs for the sake of Allah.

"If All My Children And Grandchildren Are Martyred For The Sake Of Allah, It Will Make Me Happy"

"I am proud of Muhammad, obviously. Allah be praised, all my sons are religious. They are all good. By Allah, if all my children and grandchildren are martyred for the sake of Allah, it will make me happy.

"Allah be praised, I love this path. I feel that this is the road for salvation."


NJ man lived double life as 'sleeper agent' for Hezbollah unit: feds
A New Jersey software engineer lived a dark double life as a “sleeper agent” in an elite Hezbollah unit, scouting terror targets in New York City for the militant group, federal prosecutors charged at the start of his trial Monday.

Alexei Saab, 45, kept up appearances as a “normal” law-abiding US citizen — all while gathering intelligence on a number of Big Apple landmarks, tunnels and bridges, Assistant US Attorney Sam Adelsberg said in his opening statement.

“He posed as a regular guy,” Adelsberg said. “In reality, he was a sleeper agent for Hezbollah ready to strike.”

Saab was recruited by the terror organization as a college student in Lebanon and rose up the ranks, ultimately enlisting in the “external security organization,” or unit 910, the prosecutor alleged.

In the early 2000s, Hezbollah dispatched Saab and other “spies” to countries including the US — putting them in place to kill Americans if the US attacked Iran, the group’s main ally, he said.

New Jersey software engineer Alexei Saab allegedly lived a double life as a Hezbollah sleeper cell member.

“He was sent by Hezbollah to set up a sleeper cell right here in this city,” Adelsberg told jurors.

Between 2000 and 2005, the Morristown resident allegedly surveilled potential targets for Hezbollah — including the Brooklyn Bridge, the Midtown tunnel, the George Washington Bridge and even the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan where his trial is now taking place.

As part of his work for the unit, Saab determined if the locations had weaknesses or “soft spots” – and where near them a bomb would have to be planted to cause the most harm, Adelsberg alleged.
MEMRI: Former Iranian Majles Member Ali Motahari: When Iran Started Its Nuclear Program, Our Goal Was To Build A Bomb; We Failed To Keep It A Secret Before Conducting A Nuclear Test; Having A Nuclear Bomb For Deterrence Is Not A Bad Thing
Former Iranian Majles member Ali Motahari said in an April 24, 2022 interview on ISCA News (Iran) that when Iran began developing its nuclear program, the goal was to build a nuclear bomb. He said that there is no need to beat around the bush, and that the bomb would have been used as a "means of intimidation" in accordance with a Quranic verse about striking "fear in the hearts of the enemies of Allah."

He said that the nuclear bomb program would have been "a done deal" if Iran had kept it a secret until a nuclear test was conducted, like Pakistan did, and he explained that in such a case, Iran would have been "taken into consideration" by the world even more than it is today.

When asked if saying this publicly will negatively affect the ongoing JCPOA negotiations, Motahari answered: "Nobody notices what I am saying." He also said that he is speaking on his own behalf, and not in any official capacity. Later in the interview, Motahari said that some people rely on the Quranic verse about striking fear into the hearts of Allah's enemies to permit the construction of a nuclear bomb, but that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's current position is that it is forbidden to build a nuclear weapon.

"When We Began Our Nuclear Activity, Our Goal Was Indeed To Build A Bomb... As A Means Of Intimidation"

Ali Motahari: "When we began our nuclear activity, our goal was indeed to build a bomb. There is no need to beat around the bush."

Interviewer: "You are saying that the goal was to build a bomb?"

Motahari: "Yes. 100%."

Interviewer: "Whose goal was it? Certain individuals or the entire regime?"

Motahari: "The entire regime, or at least, the people who started this activity. The goal was indeed, to build a bomb..."


War Footing: Iran Parades New Missiles, Drones Amid Threats To Strike Israel
Iran last week unveiled a handful of new missile systems and advanced war drones amid escalating threats to attack Israel if the Jewish state makes "even a small mistake" in the region, according to reports in Iran's state-controlled press.

The country unveiled the missile systems during military parades held last week celebrating Iran's National Army Day. The hardline regime's air force, ground force, navy, and air defense forces all displayed new domestically produced weaponry designed to deter and intimidate Israel from launching operations on Tehran's contested nuclear program, which has expanded in the years since President Joe Biden began diplomacy aimed at securing a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The military event featured a line of armed drones, including an advanced "suicide drone" that Iranian military leaders said is produced to counter Israel's Harop drones, which can target enemies on the ground and self-destruct. The new drone "could be flown from both ground and offshore launchers," according to Iranian officials quoted in the state-run Tasnim News Agency.

Iran revealed the new military equipment on the same day its president, Ebrahim Raisi, issued threats to attack Israel. The warnings come as Israel considers its options in response to Iran's escalating nuclear program. Israel is believed to have launched several covert operations to sabotage Tehran's program during the past several years and could strike the country's nuclear infrastructure, especially if Iran's program reaches advanced stages of development on an atomic weapon.

"Not a small movement of the enemy is hidden before the sharp eyes of the Iranian Armed Forces," Raisi said, referring to Israel. "If they make the smallest mistake, our response will be given at the center of the Zionist regime and our Armed Forces won't let them relax."
New York Times Writer Charged as Iranian Agent Is in ‘Ongoing Plea Negotiations’
A frequent New York Times opinion writer facing federal criminal charges of being an unregistered foreign agent of the government of Iran said in a letter to the court that he is negotiating over a possible plea deal in the case.

Kaveh Afrasiabi, who pleaded not guilty in February 2021, sent an April 17 email to Judge Edward Korman, the judge who has been handling the case. The email says that “should the present ongoing plea negotiations fail and prove unproductive,” Afrasiabi would want to represent himself entirely in the case, dropping his “standby attorney,” Deirdre von Dornum.

“The association of my standby attorney with two high-profile terrorism cases might predispose the public toward certain (mis) interpretations regarding my case,” Afrasiabi wrote.

Von Dornum, a former clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, represented convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev in a death penalty appeal at the Supreme Court. Afrasiabi wrote to Korman that he read in the press “that Attorney Von Dornum is also representing the Brooklyn subway terrorism suspect.”

“While I fully respect the prerogatives of the public defenders office and the choices made for representation of such defendants, as a political scientist with extensive legal background I am also fully cognizant of the role of public perception and misperception and the relative cognitive associations whichm in this particular case, may well be contrary to my vested legal interests,” Afrasiabi wrote. “It is supremely unfair and unjust and certainly unAmerican to link my name, directly or indirectly, with terrorism suspects, which I am concerned might inadvertently happen in light of Attorney Von Dornum’s association with two high-profile terrorism cases.”
Iranian Olympic champion lambasts regime for policy on Israel
Iranian Olympic karateka Sajad Ganjzade has criticized Iran in an Instagram post for preventing its athletes from competing with Israeli opponents.

Ganjzadeh, who won an Olympic gold medal in the men's +75 kg event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, said the policy forced Iranian athletes to only attend competitions in which Israel does not participate.

"We cannot tolerate this anymore. Not competing is more difficult than competing," he wrote in a post that was deleted shortly after.

Ganjzadeh is not the first Iranian athlete to criticize the regime, which has a history of withdrawing its athletes from competitions if they are matched against Israelis.

In 2019, Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei defected to Mongolia after being ordered to forefeit to avoid facing an Israeli competitor.

Much to the chagrin of the Iranian regime, he even dedicated the silver medal he won at the Tokyo Olympics to Israel.




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