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Thursday, July 07, 2022

07/07 Links Pt1: UNRWA Palestinian Textbooks Still Inciting Antisemitism and Jihadi Violence, Concludes New Report; Saudi Arabia Might Invite Israeli Official to Biden Visit

From Ian:

UNRWA Palestinian Textbooks Still Inciting Antisemitism and Jihadi Violence, Concludes New Report
Educational material for Palestinian students provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) promotes jihadi violence and incites antisemitism, according to a new report by Israeli education watchdog Impact-se.

Released on Thursday, the Review of 2022 UNRWA-Produced Study Materials in the Palestinian Territories found that the UNRWA curriculum describes Jews as “impure and inherently treacherous” and teaches that murdering Israelis leads to glory and martyrdom. The findings were made after UNRWA’s maintaining several times that its curricula was purged of antisemitism.

Examples included in Impact-se’s findings include a grammar lesson that uses the sentence, “The Palestinians sacrifice their blood to liberate Jerusalem,” and “Arabic Drill Cards” for 9th graders that say, “When the [Muslim] nation is negligent in protecting al-Aqsa, then the Jews will dare to defile it.” Neither does Israel appear on any maps.

Much of the material is “UNRWA branded,” Impact-se continued, but it cannot be accessed through its online education portal and is essentially hidden from public scrutiny.

“After a similar scandal last year, UNRWA promised that all offending material produced by them would be removed. It seems that UNRWA has interpreted this as removal from the website, where it can be scrutinized, rather than removed from actual classrooms,” Impact-se CEO Marcus Sheff said in a statement. “UNRWA was again made aware of our concerns just two months ago.”

He observed that the US “is currently financing UNRWA to the tune of $338 million annually, the majority of which goes to education. Sadly, it is clear that hate teaching in UNRWA schools is increasing rather than abating since US funding was restarted. Surely, the will can be found to enforce policy, given that red lines are being crossed so egregiously.”


Journalists Lap Up and Peddle Palestinian Propaganda as European Union Renews ‘Unconditional’ Aid to PA
On July 1, the European Union stated it would release a grant to Al-Haq, a Palestinian NGO with long-standing links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Even though the PFLP is designated a terrorist organization by the EU, the United States and Israel, Brussels’ decision barely made a ripple in the news cycle.

The announcement came just weeks after the European Commission decided to renew funding to the terror-supporting Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank.

As an HonestReporting analysis of leading European news outlets makes clear, rather than calling for transparency in the use of public funds, journalists are promoting a narrative that perpetuates misleading claims made by the authoritarian rulers in Ramallah.

As outlined in our April 12 article, the EU’s funding for the Palestinian Authority was held up for months while representatives from multiple European countries pushed to condition financial support on the PA making changes to the “problematic and hateful” books used in Palestinian schools. Part of the European aid goes towards the salaries of civil servants who create and teach the controversial curriculum.

Following the publication of a 194-page study by the independent Georg Eckert Institute one year ago, which concluded that PA textbooks contain “antisemitic narratives and glorification of violence,” the European Commission (EC) assured members of the European Parliament that urgent discussions were taking place between EU representatives and the PA Ministry of Education. This, to ensure that the Palestinian leadership would act to remove “questionable content” from books to be produced in 2021.

Olivér Várhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, reportedly demanded “clear process indicators” as to the PA’s commitment to ending incitement, which then triggered a drawn-out “consultative process” in Brussels, delaying the approval of the entire aid package. PA Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki subsequently called Várhelyi’s request “unacceptable” to Palestinians, since “…placing conditions on the funding embarrasses them internationally.”

Meanwhile, a report analyzing PA textbooks for the 2021-22 semester published in January this year by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) — a non-profit watchdog group that monitors educational resources for extremist materials — found that, in spite of Ramallah’s promises about curriculum reform and the ostensible implementation of “monitoring processes,” the original problems identified still persist.

Amongst other issues, IMPACT-se discovered that study materials present Jews as “devious, treacherous and hostile” people who control “global events through financial power.” Furthermore, students are taught that one of the “rules of jihad” is to die as a martyr while killing infidels, and that they should sacrifice themselves for their homeland and “redeem it with blood.”


West Asia Is Now a Geopolitical Reality
Dismantling Decades-Old Foreign Policy Taboos
In July 2021, I wrote a long essay for the Middle East Institute, arguing that a unique alliance could emerge between India, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. In my view, the Abraham Accords are a definitive geopolitical breakthrough that changed decades of Israeli and Gulf states’ foreign policy orthodoxy. The Abraham Accords also coincided with India’s rise as a player in West Asia. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, New Delhi deepened its political and strategic relations with the UAE and Israel, creating a wider “Indo-Abrahamic” regional bloc.

The Indo-Abrahamic bloc took on a more formal shape with Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosting the first U.S.-Israel-India-UAE foreign ministers summit last October. Washington’s objectives in this format are clear: 1) doing more with less in the Middle East, and 2) preventing Moscow and Beijing from filling the strategic and security vacuum that results from a potential U.S. departure from the region. The Indo-Abrahamic bloc fulfills these two strategic objectives for Washington. Tel Aviv, New Delhi, and Abu Dhabi are willing and capable partners who are investing in their military and security capabilities to avoid dependence on U.S. security commitments—something that Washington also doesn’t want.

Gulf capitals aren’t blind to the new consensus in Washington that the United States has overcommitted to the Middle East—mainly the Persian Gulf states—at the expense of Asia. By tying participation in the Indo-Abrahamic bloc to normalization with Israel, Washington has created a powerful impetus to drive countries like Saudi Arabia—which already has shared regional interests with Israel in containing Iran—to more quickly normalize relations and benefit from the emerging warm peace.

As Washington seeks to rebalance away from the region to the Indo-Pacific to contain China’s hegemonic ambitions, it needs a regional security architecture to fill the strategic vacuum. Washington’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific meant a complete overhaul of the mental map of the Middle East as a region, leading to the emergence of “West Asia” as a geopolitical construct. The inclusion of India in this security architecture for this new envisioned map is a strategic necessity, geographic reality, and historic tradition, which all make New Delhi a significant power in the Middle East as well as the Indo-Pacific.
Israel security officials had over 150 meetings in Abraham Accord states
Israeli defense officials have held some 150 meetings with their counterparts in the region since the signing of the Abraham Accords, Defense Minister Benny Gantz has revealed.

“Since the signing of the agreements, there have been about 150 meetings by defense personnel with their counterparts in regional countries, excluding Egypt and Jordan,” he said, adding that “we aim to continue to expand the American-led security work framework and a visit by (US President Joe) Biden in the Middle East will help with that.”

Biden's visit to the Middle East
Biden is set to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia next week amid speculation that the Sunni Kingdom might be in favor of establishing official ties with the Jewish state.

According to the defense establishment, Biden’s visit is an important trip that sends a strong message of support to Israel's enemies,

"Americans are increasing their attention in the Middle East,” Gantz said, adding that Israel’s move from EUCOM to CENTCOM last year “requires strategic attention that is culminating in a visit by Biden.

The visit, he said, “also sends a message to Iran and greatly strengthens Israel’s position that Biden is coming to the Middle East, in particular to Israel and Saudi Arabia.”

While Gantz has urged for even closer regional cooperation against Iran, including by a Middle East Air Defense system, the defense establishment believes that expectations about additional countries announcing ties with Jerusalem should be more realistic.
Report: Saudi Arabia Might Invite Israeli Official to Biden Visit
Saudi Arabia is considering a three-way meeting between Saudi, American, and Israeli officials during or after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Riyadh next week, according to a senior Saudi official.

A Bahraini diplomat and an Egyptian official later confirmed the report.

The Saudi official – a political advisor to Saudi Arabia’s regent Mohammed bin Salman – was cited by Ynet as saying that the possibility of such a meeting is being examined by Riyadh.

A scenario in which a senior Israeli figure like National Security Council head Eyal Hulata, director of Israel’s intelligence agency David Barnea, or Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz joins Biden’s team in the Gulf Arab state has reportedly been mentioned in US-Saudi talks.

The possibility is also being examined in Washington and Jerusalem, while the Biden administration has said it was working toward a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Salman recently expressed openness toward the Jewish state, highlighting the two countries’ shared regional and geopolitical interests. There is also speculation of a possible normalization of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Sources tell i24NEWS Israeli rep will likely attend Jeddah summit
In a sign that President Biden may try to broker relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, sources tell i24NEWS an Israeli presence at a summit in Jeddah is in the works.


US aims to close island transfer, Saudi normalization steps before Biden trip
The US is working to finalize the transfer of a pair of Red Sea islands from Egyptian to Saudi control in an agreement that would see Riyadh take a series of steps to normalize ties with Israel, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.

The normalization measures would include Saudi Arabia opening its airspace to Israeli flights to the Far East in addition to rolling out direct flights between Israel and Saudi Arabia for Muslim pilgrims, the Middle East diplomat said, confirming reporting in the Axios news site.

The US is seeking to finalize the agreement in time for Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, where he will participate in a summit with the leaders of nine Arab countries. The US National Security Council’s Middle East director Brett McGurk flew to Saudi Arabia this week in a last-ditch effort to close the deal in time, but it was unclear whether he would succeed or if the announcement would have to wait until after Biden’s trip, the Arab diplomat said.

Israel handed over control of the Tiran and Sanafir islands to Egypt as part of their 1979 peace agreement, but the sides agreed to demilitarize the islands and to allow the presence of a multinational observer force. Israel is now seeking similar assurances from Saudi Arabia in order to sign off on the deal, but Riyadh has been hesitant to put the commitment in writing, the diplomat said. The deal is also legally complex because the countries do not maintain official ties and therefore are working through conduits.

Biden will be in Saudi Arabia July 15-17 to attend a summit with nine other leaders of regional Arab states. He has said one of the goals for the trip is to expand Israel’s integration into the region.


Saudis honor Sheik who prayed at Auschwitz
Authorities in Saudi Arabia announced today that one of the most honored positions at the Hajj ceremonies, the "Arafat Day" sermon (this coming Friday), will be entrusted to Sheikh Dr. Muhammad al-Issa, who has been promoting a dialogue with Jewish rabbis in recent years.

Issa is a member of the Supreme Authority of the Sages of Halacha in Saudi Arabia and in recent years has served as Secretary General of the Islamic World Association, which promotes interfaith dialogues, and as part of his role even visited the Auschwitz extermination camp in January 2020 and prayed for Holocaust victims.
Israel Asks Saudis to Let Mecca Pilgrims Fly Direct From Tel Aviv
Israel’s regional cooperation minister said on Thursday that he had asked Saudi Arabia to admit direct flights from Tel Aviv for Muslim pilgrims, pointing to a possible new accommodation by Riyadh ahead of next week’s visit by US President Joe Biden.

Israeli officials have also been seeking expanded permission for their airlines to fly over Saudi soil to Asian destinations.

Saudi Arabia, Islam’s birthplace, does not recognize Israel and has said nothing of possible bilateral developments during Biden’s visit. Israel has also shied from drawing such links.

A person in Washington who was familiar with the matter said the new aviation deals sought by Israel could be announced around the time of Biden’s visit, but that details still needed to be worked out and may not be completed in time.

Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Freij said Israel has been working to bring what he deemed as “under the counter” contacts between the countries — based mostly on commercial interests and shared worries about Iran — more into the open.

“I want to see the day when I can depart from Ben-Gurion (airport near Tel Aviv) to Jeddah to fulfill my religious obligation” of pilgrimage to Mecca, said Freij, a member of Israel’s 18 percent Muslim minority.

“I took this matter up with Saudi Arabia and I really hope that day will come,” he told Israel’s Army Radio, without expanding on where or when such discussions took place.


Democracy Weakens Strong Economy, Most Arabs Agree, According to New Survey
Citizens of several Arab countries have lost confidence in the ability of democratic rule to deliver economic stability, according to a new survey published by a Middle East research network.

The Arab Barometer — a project housed at Princeton University — found that more than half of the respondents in the countries surveyed for its latest report agreed with the statement that “the economy is weak under a democratic system.”

In every country surveyed, more than half also said they either agreed or strongly agreed that they are more concerned about the effectiveness of their government’s policies than they are about the nature of the regime they live under. A full 79 percent of Iraqi respondents said their main consideration was on whether government policy worked, irrespective of how that government came to power.

The figure for respondents in the Palestinian territories regarding the same question was 62 percent, among the lower ranking results of the 11 countries — Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan and Kuwait, along with the Palestinian territories — that were surveyed.

The director of the Arab Barometer project remarked that the latest survey demonstrated “a growing realization that democracy is not a perfect form of government, and it won’t fix everything.”

“What we see across the region is people going hungry, people need bread, people are frustrated with the systems that they have,” Michael Robbins told the BBC.
Tom Gross: Boris quits: Britain may now have its first Kurdish, Muslim or Hindu PM
As Boris Johnson is forced to resign today as Britain’s prime minister, Tom Gross says that (perhaps surprisingly for a party sometimes accused of xenophobia) the Conservative party may well now choose the UK’s first Kurdish, Muslim or Hindu prime minister as Boris’s successor.




Gaza terrorist group instructed Bedouin youth to join IDF, gather intelligence
An Israeli citizen was recently arrested and indicted on serious security offenses alleging that he was recruited by a Gaza Strip-based terrorist group to gather intelligence on Israeli targets, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed Thursday.

Shahada Abu Alqian, 25, a resident of the southern Bedouin town of Hura, was arrested on May 30 following a joint Israel Police, Shin Bet and Military Police operation, which revealed that he had been recruited by Khataab Almujihadeen, a little-known terrorist group based in Gaza that is believed to have splintered from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades – Fatah's military wing.

According to available details, Abu Alqian carried out various tasks for the group, including gathering intelligence, photographing various locations in Israel, and stealing weapons in order to transfer them to terror operatives.

The suspect
The group then instructed him to enlist in the IDF to gather inside information on the IDF and promote terrorist activity. He was arrested a few days after he joined the military.

Bedouin and Arab Christians, like all Arab Israelis, are exempt from conscription but many choose to enlist in the IDF as a path to greater social integration.

The Shin Bet statement said that his motivation appeared to be ideological affiliation with Khataab Almujihadeen, as well as his desire to exact revenge over enforcement action taken by Israeli authorities against his family over construction violations.

"The Shin Bet security service and Israel Police take any involvement by Israeli citizens in terrorist attacks very seriously, and we will act to thwart any such actions and prosecute those who seek to undermine the Israeli public's safety to the full extent of the law," the law enforcement agencies said in a joint statement.
Israel and Gaza Explained
You‘ve heard about it. You’ve seen pictures and videos. But there's so much more to know... In Gaza, innocent people are suffering at the hands of Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization that was founded in 1987 and violently took control over Gaza in 2007. Ever since, it has terrorized its own people and terrorized Israelis by carrying out suicide bombings and shootings, firing rockets, launching drones and arson balloons at Israel and more. Hamas built an extensive underground terrorist tunnel network to transport weapons, hide terrorists, carry out attacks and infiltrate into Israel. The terrorist organization deliberately embeds its infrastructure in civilian areas, using innocent people in Gaza as human shields.

WATCH Lt. Col. Shefler share the facts about Hamas and Gaza.


Exposé: Canadian Army Helping PA Take Over Israel’s Section of Judea & Samaria
Last week, a Canadian Army General, together with a delegation of Canadian military personnel, visited an illegal structure built on state land belonging to the religious Jewish community of Maon in the southern Hebron hills, where he met with PA Arabs from the area, according to a report issued Thursday morning by the Regavim movement.

The Canadian delegation was also hosted by the Central Command Chief, General Yehuda Fox, meaning that its presence in the area is known to and sanctioned by IDF officials.

The building where the Canadian delegation met its PA counterpart had been erected in a few hours the night before, in Area C, which is under full Israeli civilian and security control according to the Oslo Agreements. The land where the meeting took place is a state land designated for agriculture and belonging to the nearby settlement of Maon. The site has recently become the center of friction between the Jewish residents who own the land and leftist anarchists and PA agents who are trying to take it over.

Even as the overnight construction was taking place, the Jewish residents alerted the army and the Civil Administration and demanded that they stop the work and demolish the building, as it is a blatant violation of the Oslo accords. According to the residents, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories has pledged to enforce the law in the area but so far this has not been done.

Shortly after the complaint to the Civil Administration, the Jewish residents documented the visit of the Canadian delegation, which included two uniformed military personnel. The same delegation was also documented during a visit to the Arab village of Surif, located 15 miles northwest of the city of Hebron near the settlement of Karmei Zur in Gush Etzion, and this week was discovered again holding a meeting with PA Arabs near the village of Kisan in eastern Gush Etzion, also in Area C.
The Israel Guys: They Can’t Hide Their HATE for ISRAEL
The PA handed over the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the US for their analysis this week. The US officially found that they could not determine who was responsible for killing Abu Akleh, and then decided that they would blame Israel. Even their official statement doesn't make sense (see source link below). It seems clear that America is pandering to the Palestinian Authority in preparation for Biden’s upcoming trip to the middle east.

In the meantime, the Texas GOP has officially adopted a platform that recognizes Israel’s sovereignty over Judea and Samaria as ordained by God in Genesis! And, they are 100% against the establishment of a Palestinian state in Israel’s biblical heartland.

Even amidst the craziness that is happening in America, there are still beacons of hope. Watch today’s video to be encouraged that there are still good things happening in the world.




Eyewitness: Palestinian refugees fled in 1948 due to stories of Jews “slaughtering women”

PA: Joseph’s Tomb is “registered” as an “Islamic waqf”

PA security forces gives “military training” to kids age 7 to fight “the sons of dogs”

Is Hamas planning to take over the West Bank?
Hamas is planning to stage a non-violent coup against the Palestinian Authority by taking control of universities, unions and other institutions in the West Bank, Tawfik Tirawi, former head of the PA General Intelligence Service, has warned.

The warning followed Hamas’s victory in the recent election for student council at Bir Zeit University, north of Ramallah, and in some professional unions.

It also followed claims that several Hamas members from the Ramallah area had planned to carry out attacks against key PA security and civilian installations.

According to some reports, the PA security forces seized large amounts of weapons and explosives in the town of Beitunia, southwest of Ramallah, that belonged to a Hamas cell.

Hamas has denied any connection to the weapons.

A senior Palestinian official told The Jerusalem Post that the PA has briefed Egypt and other Arab and foreign parties about Hamas’s alleged coup.
PMW: Official PA daily urges Palestinians “to advance the acts of struggle against the Zionist colonialists in all parts of Palestine”
A column in the official PA daily urged Palestinians to “contribute directly to raising the bar of popular resistance” – a term used by the PA to refer to violence and terror, among other things.

Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, a regular columnist for the paper, continued his incitement by calling to “advance the acts of struggle,” “liberate Palestine,” and bring about “the complete removal of Zionist colonialism”:
“All the factions of political activity and all the sectors of the [Palestinian] people must… contribute directly to raising the bar of popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) and strengthening the spirit of political partnership and partnership on the ground. This is in order to advance the acts of struggle against the Zionist colonialists in all parts of Palestine until its liberation and until the complete removal of Zionist colonialism from its land.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 28, 2022]

As Palestinian Media Watch has exposed, PA Chairman Abbas has himself categorized terror attacks and murders as “peaceful popular uprising.” After 14 Israelis had been murdered during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), Abbas said: "We want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is":
Abbas: “No one called for this uprising and no one asked for it. It stemmed from the hearts of the young... We said to everyone that we want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is. That’s what this is. However, the aggression of firing bullets has come from the Israelis.”

[Official PA TV, Nov. 16, 2015]

The use of the term “the complete removal of Zionist colonialism from [Palestine’s] land” is entirely in line with the PA and Fatah’s policies. PMW has documented numerous times that the PA’s true intent and political goal is to erase all of Israel and establish “Palestine from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea.”
Palestinian Lawyers Protest in Ramallah Against Legislation by Decree
Hundreds of Palestinian lawyers marched in Ramallah on Tuesday to protest against the continuing rule by decree in the Palestinian Authority.

"Our message to the president [Mahmoud Abbas] is that legislation by decree, which affects the rights and liberties of Palestinians, must stop," said Suheil Ashour, president of the Palestinian Bar Association.

The Palestinian elected law-making body for the West Bank and Gaza, the Legislative Council, has been inactive since 2007 following the political division between Fatah and Hamas. Since then, the law-making process in the Palestinian Authority is by presidential decree.
PMW: PA critic Nizar Banat’s suspected murderers sent on vacation by the PA
PA critic and activist Nizar Banat died in June last year after being violently beaten and arrested by PA Security Forces in Hebron. Palestinian Media Watch revealed that even while the PA promised a thorough investigation, at the same time it tried to buy off Banat’s family.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, during their ongoing trial in a PA military court, the PA granted PA Security Forces members suspected of murdering Banat a two-week vacation!

What is more, while the vacation was supposed to end on July 2, 2022, PMW has not found any evidence that the suspects have been returned to prison following their vacation.

In late June, the PA temporarily released a number of prisoners, among them the suspected murderers of Banat, under the excuse that the Coronavirus had begun to spread again in the PA prisons:
Independent Palestinian news agency Wattan host: “News items were published about the release of those accused of assassinating Nizar Banat, 14 people in the case of Nizar Banat’s assassination… A letter was published… [saying]: ‘Due to the spread of the Coronavirus epidemic in the Palestinian territories and following the statements made by the head of medical services on the rise in the number of those infected with the Coronavirus in the rehabilitation and training centers (i.e., PA prisons)… the head of the preventative medicine division of the northern districts (i.e., the West Bank) recommend[s] to close the rehabilitation and training center in Ramallah… out of a desire to protect our people from the epidemic… we have no opposition to granting the prisoners in this case a vacation until July 2, 2022, while providing guarantees for their health and carrying out medical checks on them and taking preventative measures.’”

[YouTube channel of Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, June 22, 2022]

The release of 45 prisoners “to protect the prisoners’ health” was confirmed by PA Security Forces Spokesperson Talal Dweikat:
MEMRI: Senior Hamas Officials: We Must Form Strategic Alliances With Supporters Of The Resistance And Open Up To Russia, China And Iran – In Light Of The Changing World Order, Shrinking Of American Hegemony
On June 19, 2022, a conference was held at Al-Umma University in Gaza under the title “Palestinian Sovereignty, the Strategic Variables and Future Paths.” The speakers at the conference included Hamas political bureau chief Isma’il Haniya, political bureau member Moussa Abu Marzouq and other officials. In their speeches they addressed the changes taking place in the world and the region, with focus on the war in Ukraine. They assessed that, after this war, America is likely to lose its global hegemony, resulting in a multipolar world order. In light of this, the Hamas officials stressed the importance of opening up to America’s rivals, Russia and China, and of forming strategic alliances with all forces that support the resistance, in order to attain the liberation of Palestine and the right of return. They predicted that the changes taking place in the international arena, and the emergence of a multipolar world order, will have a positive impact on the Arab and Muslim world, and especially on the Palestinian issue.

The following are translated excerpts from the speeches delivered by Haniya and Abu Marzouq at the conference.

Hamas Leader Isma’il Haniya: The World Will Become Multipolar, Putting An End To The Unipolar Era That Dictated International Policy; We Must Open Up To China, Russia, Iran, And All The Countries That Oppose The Israel-U.S. Policy

The following is the translation of the report on the official Hamas website about Ismail Haniya's speech at the conference:
"Hamas political bureau chief Isma’il Haniya called on strategists and decision makers to focus on several important variables, and to take them and their outcomes into consideration in order to build a future Palestinian strategic vision… He stated that 'the first variable on the Palestinian level is embodied in the results of the Sword of Jerusalem campaign [the May 2021 Israel-Hamas fighting], which was a high-quality move and a strategic turning point in the conflict with the Zionist enemy.' He added that these results were very clear, both in terms of the unity of the land and the people, and in terms of connecting the equation of the power represented by the resistance with the sanctity represented by Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque. He also noted that the [Palestinian] issue had regained its respected status, on the level of the [Islamic] ummah and in the world's attention, and that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa are once again the axis of the conflict with the enemy.

"The movement leader stated that the second variable is connected to the American withdrawal from the region in more than one arena, and in particular the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He added that 'there is no doubt that the American hegemonic power in the world is not as capable [as it once was] of imposing its military, defense, and political influence on different regions in the world, including on our Arab and Islamic region. Israel,’ he said, ‘had been exposed [in its weakness] in the Sword of Jerusalem campaign and there is [also] a decline in America’s [involvement], as part of its redeployment and the pivoting of its attention to new issues such as its rivalry with China and Russia and with the rising forces in the world. These are vitally important turning points with strategic impacts and ramifications. We must read them cautiously and carefully.'

"[Haniya] continued: 'The third and most important variable is the Russia-Ukraine war, which is [in fact, a war] between Russia and its camp and the West generally, led by the U.S.. This is the broadest and most significant war in the struggle between the world's camps since the end of WWII.' Stressing that 'after this war the world will no longer be the same,' he added: 'It will undoubtedly become a multipolar world, and the currently prevailing unipolar era in international and global policy will end. This will certainly be a very important change, and it will impact both our Arab and Islamic region and our [Palestinian] cause and our struggle with the occupation.’

"He pointed out that 'the fourth variable is... the normalization and Israel's attempts to infiltrate the region and to form military and security alliances with some Arab governments, in a way that apparently has gone beyond normalization to the integration of the [Zionist] entity into the region and the reorganization of the region.’


JCPA: Hizbullah Raises the Bar of the Conflict with Israel
Hizbullah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is raising the bar of the conflict with Israel. On July 2, 2022, Hizbullah launched three drones at Israel’s Karish gas rig in the eastern Mediterranean that were intercepted in Israel’s economic waters. Two days earlier, Hizbullah sent a drone that was intercepted in Lebanon’s territorial waters. In an official announcement, Hizbullah said the launch of the unarmed drones was meant to convey a message, and the message had been well understood in Israel.

Hizbullah did not specify what the message was. The editor of Al-Akhbar, Ibrahim Alamin, who is close to Nasrallah and known to echo his views, said Hizbullah’s message was no less than a warning to Israel to cease the current negotiations on demarcating the Karish field. Ibrahim Alamin claimed that even before the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon updated the Lebanese government on Israel’s response to Lebanon’s position, Hizbullah had been apprised by a Western source (France?) that Israel had rejected Lebanon’s stance and hence, Hizbullah chose to send a signal to Israel not to drag its feet and to accept the Lebanese proposal.

Until now, Hizbullah has avoided direct involvement in the negotiations on demarcating Lebanon’s territorial and economic borders, leaving the matter to the Lebanese government. Hizbullah stated that only after the Lebanese government determined its borders would Hizbullah defend Lebanese sovereignty.

It appears, then, that Hizbullah’s clear deviation from its traditional stance on this issue stemmed mainly from a desire to flaunt its power amid what it regards as the Lebanese government’s weakness on the Karish issue, as well as its readiness to risk raising the bar of the conflict with Israel. Nasrallah does not know what, if any, Israel’s response to his aggressive moves will be.
Gantz says Hezbollah drones launched at offshore gas field were ‘products of Iran’
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday said drones launched by the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group at an Israeli offshore gas field last week were Iranian.

On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces intercepted three Hezbollah drones heading for the Karish gas field. Hezbollah confirmed it launched the drones after previously threatening the field, which sits in a maritime area that both Lebanon and Israel claim as their own. In another incident last Wednesday, a drone launched by the terror group was downed over Lebanon’s waters.

After Saturday’s incident, parts of the drones were retrieved and taken for examination.

“Hezbollah used drones that were products of Iran during its action against the Karish gas field,” Gantz said in a Hebrew-language briefing to military reporters.

“It should be said that Hezbollah is acting on behalf of Iran, and its weapons are weapons made in Iran, whether they are manufactured there or the knowledge was acquired by [Hezbollah],” he added.
Dennis Ross: The U.S. Needs a Better Strategy to Deter Iran
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has a strong desire to put Iran's nuclear program back in the box and to avoid choosing from an unappealing list of options for preventing Tehran from enriching uranium to near weapons grade and shrinking its "breakout" time to close to zero.

Clearly, if there is no deal, or if Iran begins to ramp up its nuclear program as part of its negotiating strategy, the U.S. will need a better strategy for deterring Tehran. But even if the two sides reach an agreement, the Biden administration will need to improve its deterrence. Key provisions of the 2015 deal will "sunset" in 2030, leaving Iran without limits on the size of its nuclear infrastructure, the number or quality of its centrifuges, or the level of its enrichment.

To improve U.S. deterrence in the long run, the aim must be to restore Iran's fear of U.S. military action. Iran's leaders must know that by pressing ahead they will risk losing their entire nuclear infrastructure, which has taken them several decades to develop. Washington must put Iran on notice that it will respond with all appropriate means if it detects movement toward a nuclear weapon. Instead of saying "all options are on the table" - a statement that no one takes seriously - the Biden administration should say that if Iran moves toward a weapon, it will jeopardize its entire nuclear infrastructure.

To make its declaratory policy credible, the Biden administration should instruct the U.S. Central Command to conduct exercises to rehearse air-to-ground attacks on hardened targets. It should also run exercises in which it refuels Israeli aircraft. What it should not do is what it did in May: deny that it refueled Israeli aircraft during a joint exercise. Washington needs to stoke Iranian fears of an attack, not give the country's leaders reason to doubt it would ever act militarily against them.

Finally, the U.S. must be prepared to respond more forcefully to attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria. Bases where U.S. forces are stationed have been targeted more than 40 times, but the U.S. has responded in a highly calibrated way only twice. Washington's responses must be unexpected, and they must signal to Iranian leaders that the U.S. is willing to use force against them. The U.S. must make clear that it is no longer willing to tolerate these attacks.

Ironically, restoring Iran's fear of the U.S. may be the only way to avoid a war, limit Iranian threats in the region, and produce an acceptable diplomatic outcome on the character of the Iranian nuclear program.
MEMRI: Dean of Law and Political Science at Tehran University: Iran Needs Nuclear Talks to Lift Sanctions
Dr. Ebrahim Mottaghi, the dean of law and political science at Tehran University, said in a July 3, 2022 show on Channel 1 (Iran) that Iran “needs” the JCPOA negotiations in order to lift Western sanctions. He said that Iran’s oil-based economy is desperate for the sanctions to be removed because it would stop consumer price increases and stabilize the economy. Dr. Mottaghi elaborated that the U.S. also needs the JCPOA, because ignoring Iran’s “reality” might push Iran to a nuclear breakthrough.


UK denies deputy mission head was detained by IRGC
The UK Foreign Office denied claims by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday evening that the deputy head of the United Kingdom's mission in Iran, Giles Whitaker, and a number of other diplomats and academics were detained by the IRGC for allegedly spying and taking samples of soil from a "prohibited area" during a missile exercise.

These reports that our Deputy Ambassador is currently detained are very interesting," said UK Ambassador to Iran Simon Shercliff on Thursday morning. "He actually left Iran last December, at the end of his posting."

Video footage released by the IRGC claimed to show the deputy ambassador near a site where the IRGC was conducting missile exercises at the time. The deputy ambassador has since apologized and been expelled, according to the reports.

One of the suspects detained by the IRGC had entered the country as part of a scientific exchange with a university. The report claimed that one of the suspects was from the Nicolaus Copernicus University, adding that the university is "associated with the Zionist regime." The IRGC claimed that the suspect sampled soil in some areas.

The IRGC claimed that diplomats are often used to look for military sites and identify equipment and munitions. The report also claimed that the diplomats were being used in order to build a new case concerning the "military aspects of Iran's file in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

The UK Foreign Office denied the claims by the IRGC, telling Sky News that "reports of the arrest of a British diplomat in Iran are completely false."
In first, British Navy seizes advanced Iranian weapons en route to Yemen
A British Royal Navy vessel seized a sophisticated shipment of Iranian missiles in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year, officials said Thursday, pointing to the interdiction as proof of Tehran’s support for Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the embattled country.

The British government statement was striking in that it provided some of the strongest findings to date that Tehran is arming the Houthis against the Saudi-led military coalition with advanced weapons smuggled through the Persian Gulf.

The UK Embassy in the United Arab Emirates described the seizure of surface-to-air missiles and engines for land-attack cruise missiles as “the first time a British naval warship has interdicted a vessel carrying such sophisticated weapons from Iran.”

“The UK will continue to work in support of an enduring peace in Yemen and is committed to international maritime security so that commercial shipping can transit safely without threat of disruption,” said James Heappey, minister for the Armed Forces.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.
The Ayatollah's Model for the World
Ayatollah Ahmad Alam al-Hoda, one of the possible successors to Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, envisions the rise of Iran's "Islamic model" to lead the post-modern world. But what is the true picture of Iran under the Islamic Republic?

Iran accounts for 50% of all executions in the world although the country represents only 1.1% of the world population. More than 40% of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are in Iran.

Each year, an average of 150,000 highly-educated Iranians, among them 3,500 medical doctors, leave the country to join the 8 million (almost 10% of the population) already in exile. Flight of capital is estimated to be between $22 billion and $30 billion a year. According to official estimates, more than 1.5 million Iranians have purchased property in Turkey, while a further 1.2 million have invested in real estate in Georgia, Armenia and Serbia.

Iran's position on the global life expectancy chart has fallen to 49th place compared to 38th in 1977. Iran is also facing a downward demographic curve, with a significant number of young people unable to get married and raise families.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Iran Replaces Suspected Israeli Mole With Unsuspected Israeli Mole (satire)
A spate of security failures and breaches in sensitive areas of the Islamic Republic’s military-industrial apparatus that most officials and analysts attribute to Mossad operations has led the Ayatollah regime to conduct a shakeup of personnel responsible for that security to remove high-level figures who failed to detect or prevent those operations, or who, the regime fears, acted on behalf of the Mossad themselves. As a result, observers note, the mullahs have moved aside one official whose performance cast doubt on his loyalty, in favor of one of the myriad others who have already committed to helping the Jewish State, but Tehran does not know.

Iran relegated Hossein Taeb, the former head of its intelligence, counterintelligence, and domestic enforcement services, to a ceremonial role two weeks ago after numerous acts of sabotage on internal facilities and personnel related to the regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other malicious activities in the region. The ayatollahs fear that Israel has compromised the programs those agencies oversee, with the yet-unproven possibility that Mr. Taeb has himself, wittingly or unwittingly, enabled Israel to act with seeming impunity almost anywhere in Iran. Taeb’s replacement, General Mohammed Kazemi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, will take charge of the reorganization – but while the mullahs believe they have vetted Kazemi, he, too, serves Israeli interests.

“It’s not just Kazemi,” explained an analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “Israel’s penetration of Iran’s security apparatus is so thorough and comprehensive that whoever gets shuffled into new positions is just as likely, and perhaps more likely, than his predecessor, to be working for the Mossad. The more time passes, the more unstable things get, and the more openings Israel has to recruit. Even I might be Mossad. You can’t be sure.”




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