Thursday, September 15, 2022

09/15 Links Pt1: Glick: For Israel to be safe it must bury the Oslo delusion; PA Fails to Meet ‘Minimum’ US Transparency Requirements; Israeli kindness to children is a problem for Palestinians

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: For Israel to be safe it must bury the Oslo delusion
The Oslo peace process was based on the idea that, despite all evidence to the contrary, Arafat and his PLO had abandoned terrorism and were willing to live in peace with Israel. Israel agreed to import Arafat, his deputies and his terror armies to Gaza and parts of Judea and Samaria, and give them autonomous rule over the Palestinians. The idea, which had no basis in reality whatsoever, was that the PLO would fight terrorists on behalf of Israel. And if they failed to do so, it wouldn’t be because they were still the terrorists they had always been. It would be because Israel wasn’t giving them enough power.

None of this made a bit of sense at the time. And at no point in the intervening 29 years were these absurd notions borne out by events—quite the contrary. Reality has always reigned supreme. And due to reality, some 1,700 Israelis have been killed since 1993 by Palestinian terrorists. Moreover, 29 years after Israel first legitimized the PLO, Israel’s diplomatic standing is hanging by a thread. Not only did Arafat and Abbas never go to war against Hamas, from the outset Fatah and Hamas have cooperated in their joint war against the Jews, even as they compete for public support.

Palestinian terror groups like Hamas have been transformed from tactical challenges into strategic threats. Their missiles are capable of reaching nearly every point in Israel. And their influence over Israel’s Arab citizens has made the prospect of a fifth column in war a distinct threat that Israel is ill-prepared to contend with. In the countries most obsessed with preserving Oslo—including the U.S.—Jews are attacked in the streets for daring to support Israel.

But for 29 years and counting, Israel’s elites have refused to hear about it. As far as the political left, the IDF generals and their friends in the media are concerned, the problem was and remains the enemy within. Not Arab Israelis who support the annihilation of Israel, but Israelis who insist that reality is what matters, and that enemies have to be defeated, not stabilized and empowered, legitimized and enriched.

Today, 29 years after the Oslo delusion became the official policy of Israel’s elites, and as we bury its latest victim, we must bury the delusion with him. Israel will only begin the journey back to safety and strategic sanity after Oslo is abandoned.
Time to Rethink the Question of Palestine
The UN is poised to revisit the question of Palestine with renewed vigor. This invariably means flushing more money into UNRWA, a special agency devoted to keeping Palestinians in refugee camps in preparation for their conquest of Israel, and by upgrading the Palestinian status, recognizing them as a state despite virtual consensus that they in no way meet the legal definition.

In the 74 years since Israel's declaration of independence in 1948, Israel has continued to build, absorb millions of refugees from Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union, has forged peace with old belligerents like Egypt and Jordan and more recently, Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan. The Palestinian Arabs have, for the most part, remained unchanged, still viewing their struggle as one against European colonizers and not the ancient custodians of the land, and believing that if they resist long enough, the Jews will eventually go some place else.

It is time to deliver the hard truth that those who reject internationally brokered plans of partition, reject every offer of statehood put to them, and consistently use violence as a political device, do not set the terms. As long as the Palestinian leadership receives cost-free solidarity, currency and diplomatic recognition, a negotiated outcome is an impossibility.
Follow the Money: Media Absent as Palestinian Authority Fails to Meet ‘Minimum’ US Transparency Requirements
Ever since the establishment of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) under the 1990s Oslo Accords, international aid has accounted for a significant proportion of its budget. Even after the United States cut off assistance following the passing of anti-terror legislation in 2019, the PA continued to receive some $900 million in aid annually from other countries, with its total government expenditure estimated at $4.73 billion.

According to 2020 data published by the World Bank, development aid constitutes over one-tenth of the West Bank and Gaza’s entire gross national income. By comparison, in crisis-afflicted Lebanon, this number stands at only 5.7 percent.

Meanwhile, over the past 20 months, the Biden Administration has announced the restoration of $831 million in US funding to the Palestinians, further solidifying what some have called a “donor-based economy.”

When Washington declared its intention to resume assistance in April 2021, with additional aid pledged in July of this year, the media were all over the story. In fact, since the initial announcement, a sample of 18 major English-language news outlets produced almost 300 articles that mentioned the US aid plans. Headlines included ‘After bitter Trump years, Palestinians’ thank America’ again,’ ‘UN agency praises new US aid for Palestinians at ‘critical moment’,’ and ‘Editorial: Biden is right to resume aid to the Palestinians.’

Yet these same media organizations have entirely ignored a recent State Department report that seemingly once again casts serious doubt on the legality of President Biden’s renewed support for the Arab population of Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip.

On September 9, the State Department released its 2022 Fiscal Transparency Report to Congress, which evaluates whether governments around the world, as well as the Palestinian Authority, meet the minimum standards for financial transparency. Regarding Mahmoud Abbas’ autocratic PA regime, the document noted that:
During the review period, the Palestinian Authority made its enacted budget public, but not within a reasonable period of time, and the data was incomplete… The Palestinian Authority published monthly budget execution reports that provided a substantially full picture of its expenditures and revenue streams. The information in the reports was considered reliable and reasonably accurate. However, information on debt obligations was incomplete.”

The State Department also wrote that Ramallah’s supreme audit institution “lacked independence,” that its statements were not publicly available within a reasonable period, and that audits did not cover the entire annual budget. The PA did not make significant progress toward improving fiscal transparency in the past year, Washington concluded, calling again on Abbas to implement changes.


Queen Elizabeth II’s reign saw British leave Mideast with a mixed legacy
The long reign of Queen Elizabeth II saw large swaths of the world cast off London’s rule, but after her death, a handful of British-installed monarchies still endure in the Middle East.

They have survived decades of war and turmoil and are now seen as bastions of a certain kind of authoritarian stability. When popular uprisings erupted across the region a decade ago in what was known as the Arab Spring, sweeping away regimes with anti-colonial roots, hereditary rulers were largely unscathed.

The days of imperial pomp and gunships may be over, but the region’s emotional and financial ties to England run deep. Emirs, sultans and kings attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. Gulf Arab sovereign wealth has helped reshaped London’s skyline.

As the son of a British mother, Jordan’s King Abdullah II also has familial and cultural ties to Britain.

Jordan’s ruling Hashemites, who come from the Arabian Peninsula and claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad, launched the revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. They had hoped their wartime alliance with Britain would help secure an independent Arab state across much of the Middle East.

It didn’t work out that way.

Britain and France carved up the Ottoman Empire after the war, breaking promises and drawing often arbitrary borders that virtually guaranteed decades of conflict in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“There is no question that the two royal families have enjoyed very strong relations,” former Jordanian foreign minister Marwan Muasher said of the British royals and the Hashemites. “But the relationship has been marred by major issues and turbulent times.”
Two years on, what is the state of the Abraham Accords?
The scope of the Abraham Accords has also failed to bring in new members. Despite some softening in its position on bilateral relations, including in the area of defense cooperation and the opening of its airspace to Israeli aviation, Saudi Arabia has held firm in its commitment to the pre-existing Arab Peace Initiative (API). As Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, elaborated over the summer, the API posits that “peace comes at the end of the process, not at the beginning.” Even those Gulf states like Oman and Qatar that have long maintained nearly de jure relations with Israel have thus far declined to follow the UAE and Bahrain into formalizing their ties.

From an Israeli perspective, incremental improvements in its links to the Arab Gulf states may be sufficient. Despite their expressed adherence to the API, the Saudis have been willing to take slow, small-scale normalization measures before there is a full resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. As noted above, security cooperation in the Red Sea littoral is one area where the Saudis have demonstrated a willingness to work with Israel. And Saudi agreements permitting overflights of its airspace for Israeli civil aviation as well as accepting direct travel for Hajj pilgrims from Israel are additional indicators of a more relaxed Saudi position on cooperation with Israel. Israeli policymakers may also consider developing relations with Saudi Arabia outside of the Abraham Accords box.

Similarly, both Oman and Qatar have continued their long-standing practical engagement with Israel. Although Doha criticized the Abraham Accords and reiterated its support for the API, the Qatari government has maintained its under-the-radar “working relationship” with Israel. For its part, Oman has sustained warm, if quiet, relations with Israel for nearly 50 years, perhaps the oldest such relationship between Israel and a Gulf state. Today, it is most notably characterized by Israeli participation in the Muscat-based Middle East Desalination Research Center, the last of the Madrid Process initiatives still extant.

After two years, the participating governments continue to see the Abraham Accords positively as advancing their national interests; and normalization has opened the door to private-sector elements, especially in the UAE, that were well-positioned to take advantage of the resulting bilateral trade and commerce opportunities. But the Accords have yet to find a firm rooting in the attitudes of Arab populations. Except for Morocco, where recent Arab Barometer polling data found that only 11% of the population considers Israel a threat, Arab publics generally continue to view Israel in a negative light, based largely on the latter’s failure to resolve the Palestinian issue. This negative perspective undoubtedly makes decision-makers in other Arab capitals, especially Riyadh, reluctant to move forward on normalization. The risk, therefore, is that the absence of progress on the Palestinian front will ultimately lead to the Abraham Accords being perceived as another cold peace.


Two years after Abraham Accords, worrying trends emerge amid achievements
In Israel’s telling, the Abraham Accords have been an unqualified success since their signing exactly two years ago on the White House lawn.

Welcoming United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the President’s Residence on Thursday, President Isaac Herzog called the agreements “a paradigm change in the Middle East, of sounding new voices, of painting new horizons for our children and their future and a celebration of life and change.”

The accords, which normalized Israel’s ties to the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco, have certainly changed the Middle East, and there is no shortage of achievements to point at. Trade between the UAE and Israel is expected to reach more than $2 billion in 2022, well up from the $1.2 billion in bilateral trade last year.

Though the trade relationships are impressive, the emerging diplomatic ties and strategic dialogue are just as important. An Israeli attaché was appointed to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. Hundreds of thousands of Israeli tourists have visited Morocco and the UAE in the past two years, and Israeli leaders and ministers regularly fly to visit their new partners.

Despite all the accomplishments, not every aspect of the new relationships is progressing smoothly.

“There is an asymmetry in the Abraham Accords,” Moran Zaga, an expert on the Gulf region at Mitvim – The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, told The Times of Israel.

“People think that there is full normalization and that there is acceptance, but most of the Emirati, Bahraini and even Moroccan public still has a ways to go before they completely accept Israelis and Israel. We’re not there yet entirely.”
Donald Trump offered Israel's West Bank to Jordan's King Abdullah in 2018 - report
Former United States president Donald Trump offered complete control of the West Bank to Jordan in 2018, The Washington Post reported early Thursday morning.

Citing an excerpt from The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021, an upcoming book on the Trump administration by Peter Baker of the New York Times and Susan Glasser of the New Yorker, the report said the offer was made to King Abdullah in January 2018.

It was not mentioned whether Israel and then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had any knowledge of Trump's proposal.

In a conversation with an American friend, the Jordanian king said he "thought he was having a heart attack" when presented with the offer by the former US president. "I couldn't breathe. I was bent doubled-over," the king was quoted as saying in the book. Trump reportedly thought he "would be doing the Jordanian king a favor."
Herzog hosts event attended by top military officials from 18 nations
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday night hosted a reception at his official residence in Jerusalem for military leaders from 18 nations.

The attendees are in Israel to participate in an Israel Defense Forces conference on military innovation, according to a statement from Herzog’s office.

They include General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Michael Kurilla, commander of United States Central Command; the chiefs-of-staff of the militaries of Morocco, Greece, Cyprus, Poland and Czechia; and high-ranking generals from NATO, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and other nations.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi and Israel Defense Forces General Staff officers also attended the Wednesday night reception.

“There is a famous saying: ‘He who seeks peace must prepare for war,’” Herzog told the invitees. “In order to prepare for war, and therefore in order to seek peace and achieve it, we need the best armies possible. We really pray and hope there will be peace, and that is why we are so happy that we have neighbors from our region and Arab countries here.”


Lapid marks 2-year anniversary of Abraham Accords with UAE foreign minister in Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid met on Thursday with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is in the Jewish state to mark the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords.

The agreements, forged during the tenure of U.S. President Donald Trump, normalized relations between Jerusalem and a number of Arab countries.

Lapid and Sheikh Abdullah had a private discussion before holding an expanded meeting that was expected to focus on enhancing bilateral ties, as well as on Iran’s nuclear program.

“This is a historic visit of a regional leader that will advance the regional architecture we have been building this past year in the Middle East. This is a visit of a strategic partner that will strengthen economic and security ties between our countries. This is a visit of a close and dear friend, with whom I can talk about everything,” Lapid said during a joint press conference with Sheikh Abdullah.

“My friend, together, we are changing the face of the Middle East. We are changing it from war to peace, from terrorism to economic cooperation, from a discourse of violence and extremism to a dialogue of tolerance and cultural curiosity,” the Israeli premier continued.

“You may know that the Hebrew word shalom has two meanings—both hello and peace. So, I greet you with shalom, and I wish us all shalom: A blessing of peace,” said Lapid.


i24NEWS speaks to Israel's ambassador to Bahrain
Israel's Ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Na'eh joins host Jacob Eilon to talk about the relationship that has developed between Israel and Bahrain as the Abraham Accords reach their second anniversary


Young Israelis, Emiratis, Bahrainis, and Moroccans To Celebrate Anniversary of Abraham Accords
A coalition of young Israelis, Emiratis, Bahrainis, and Moroccans will together celebrate the second anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords as part of a joint initiative program taking place in Washington, DC.

The group of young leaders from all the Abraham Accords countries will participate in the Leaders of Tomorrow program from Sept. 13-20, which is being organized by the Tel Aviv-based ISRAEL-is organization and Mimouna Association of Morocco. The delegation is supported by Voices of Israel and hosted by the American Jewish Committee.

The group will meet officials from the White House, State Department, Congress, and Senate, and attend a bi-partisan roundtable discussion that will be held in Congress hosted by the Abraham Accords Caucus.

They will also meet representatives of the European Union, think tanks, academics, faith leaders, students, and philanthropists, each of whom will discuss how the Abraham Accords have changed their lives for the better.

“Leaders of Tomorrow is a great platform for connection and collaboration between young and talented professionals from our nations, throughout which we will discuss local, national, and global issues and come up with creative and innovative solutions,” said Majed Alseyabi of the UAE Youth Council. “As an Emirati, I’m part of the Abrahamic Accords, I believe that it’s my responsibility to build connections and culture to enhance a warm peace, based on tolerance, and co-existence.”
Abu Dhabi rabbinic wedding landmark event for Jewish life in Arab world
Rabbi Levi Duchman, Rabbi to the UAE, and Lea Hadad celebrated their wedding in the country’s capital city, Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday surrounded by 1,500 guests from around the world. Guests included Emirati royals, prominent rabbis, dignitaries and much of the country’s burgeoning Jewish community. The wedding is a landmark event marking a new era for Jewish life in the Arab World.

Hundreds of local Jews and Arabs, for whom this was the first Jewish wedding ever experienced, were in attendance. With people from across the Emirates and around the world, who speak Arabic, Hebrew, Yiddish, French and other languages, the proceedings were conducted in English, which is understood by the plurality of guests.

The wedding, the largest Jewish event in the Arabian Gulf in recent history, was held in Abu Dhabi’s Hilton Yas Island and catered by the hotel’s team of international chefs. Kosher certification was provided by EAKC (Emirates Agency for Kosher Certification), the sole government-certified kosher supervision agency, which was founded by the groom to make kosher food available in the Emirates.

Much of the supplies, from locally slaughtered kosher chickens to imported kosher wine, as well as a growing plethora of Jewish services, are all available locally through a constellation of Jewish institutions created by Rabbi Duchman with support from the government. Ahead of, and since, the signing of the Abraham Accords in the fall of 2020, the availability of Jewish amenities in the UAE has greatly enhanced.


Jewish, Muslim leaders at Kazakhstan interfaith conference



US must respond to religious discrimination at Jordan's border - opinion
We recently experienced an egregious, blatant and intentional violation of our religious freedom and flagrant antisemitism at the hands of a country that is ostensibly a friend of the US and a peace partner with Israel.

As Americans living in Israel, we are appealing to you, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt in your capacity as special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism (SEAS), and you Ambassador Thomas Nides as the representative of the US government in Israel, to please investigate the matter, raise your concerns with the highest level, and seek to abolish this policy and all other forms of discrimination.

We had crossed the Israel/Jordan border on foot at the Yitzhak Rabin Terminal/Wadi Araba Crossing between Eilat and Aqaba, and the experience was nothing less than degrading and outright antisemitic. We were heading to nearby Saudi Arabia for three days of research and a Saudi driver was waiting for us on the Jordanian side of the border.

Leaving Israel using our Israeli biometric passports was quick, efficient and uneventful. The Israeli personnel were bi- and trilingual, personable and professional. The contrast to what came next could not be starker. Entering Jordan on our US passports, we experienced blatant antisemitism.
Uniformed Canadian Soldiers, PA Police and Anarchists Active in Area C Conflict Zones
On Thursday afternoon, uniformed officers of the Canadian Armed Forces were spotted on a visit of support to Palestinian Arabs near the Maon Farm in the south Hebron area – at the site of last week’s violent clashes. Regavim: “Representatives of foreign armies roam through Area C at will; this is an extremely serious situation.”

Following the violent events last week in the South Hebron Hills region, in which an Israeli shepherd was critically wounded, this afternoon members of the Canadian military visited an area under full IDF military closure orders. The Canadian officers, accompanied by Palestinian Authority Police, Arabs and a group of anarchists, demanded entry to the Maon Farm.

Last month, another Canadian military delegation was spotted in Judea and Samaria, where they met with Palestinian Authority activists at a number of confrontation sites and illegal structures, in Har Hebron and eastern Gush Etzion.

The Regavim Movement provided background: “These officers are part of a delegation of military personnel to the Proteus Project, created during the Clinton Administration’s efforts to promote the ‘Road Map to Peace.’ Eight NATO member-states send military representatives to Project Proteus, whose mandate is ‘capacity building’ for the Palestinian Police; in other words, to train and empower law enforcement forces that are supposed to keep the peace in Areas A and B. The members of the Proteus Project have absolutely no mandate in Area C; nonetheless, recently they have been spotted all over the areas under Israeli jurisdiction – visits not coordinated with the IDF that constitute a gross violation of Israeli and international law.”

“The free-for-all in Area C is out of control,” says Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim. “High-ranking officers of the Canadian Armed Forces roaming around the territory, meeting with criminals and agitators, is not only a serious diplomatic problem, it is unprecedented, unacceptable – and outright dangerous. Over a month ago we alerted the Canadian Embassy in Israel, as well as our own Prime Minister and Defense Minister, to this situation, and demanded a thorough investigation to determine who is responsible. We continue to demand that the Canadian delegation be sent home immediately, and that the other delegations be put on notice that this impudent violation of Israel’s law and authority will not be tolerated. The silence on the part of our elected officials speaks louder than words: This is apparently the policy of the Ministry of Defense, another link in the domino-effect that has been set in motion over the past year to create a de facto Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria.”
"50,000 Jewish Visits: Record Numbers Visit Temple Mount in 5782"
Probably not since the Second Temple was standing has the Temple Mount seen so many Jewish visitors. Jewish worshippers visiting the Temple Mount set a new record this week when the number of Jewish visits to the holy site since the beginning of the Jewish year crossed the 50,000 marker.

This precedent number surpassed by a large margin all previous years, which stood at less than 30,000.

According to the count of the “Beyadenu – for the Temple Mount” organization, this number is a 95% increase from last year, when only 25,582 Jews visit the Temple Mount, and a 69% increase from the previous record of 29,420.

Tom Nisani, CEO of Beyadenu, said Thursday that “despite the restrictions, harassment, the limited five hours a day and only on weekdays limitation, despite it all – a record was broken this year in Jewish visit. The Jewish People are returning to the Temple Mount! The next goal is 100,000 visitors a year!”

Assaf Fried, of the Temple Mount Administration, said that “the dramatic record on the Temple Mount is a result of the great transformation that has taken place on the Temple Mount in the last seven years. The Temple Mount has transformed from a scene of struggles that remained in the margins, to a place of Torah and prayer.”
Hebron 1929: The Most Important Moment You Never Heard Of | History of Israel Explained | Unpacked
In the summer of 1929, the British-controlled region of Palestine saw growing fault lines between Arabs and Jews.

Tensions rose until they erupted one fateful day. In the city of Hebron a riot quickly turned into a gruesome massacre, and in a mere two hours, 67 Jews were murdered.

The Hebron Riots were the catalyst for the week of terror that followed. In total 133 Jews and 116 Arabs were killed and most peaceful Jewish-Arab coexistence came to an unfortunate end.


The Israel Guys: A SHEPHERD WAS ATTACKED by Palestinians in Judea
Terrorists open fire on Israeli engineers working outside of Jenin. An Israeli shepherd rd was seriously injured in Judea when he was attacked by Palestinian Arabs. Seventeen infiltrators were smuggled into Israel in a secret compartment under a bus traveling into central Israel.

The U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides called on Israel to support a two-state solution.


Fallen Israeli Officer Who Thwarted Attack Mourned By Hundreds: ‘A Huge Person, Activist for Justice’
More than a thousand mourners gathered on Wednesday evening to honor an Israeli officer killed in the line of duty Tuesday who was remembered for his strength, bravery, and — through his own words and actions — an enduring devotion to his country.

Maj. Bar Falah, 30, deputy commander of the Nahal brigade reconnaissance unit, was fatally shot in a clash with two Palestinian gunmen on Tuesday evening near Gilboa Crossing, north of Jenin in the West Bank.

“He was killed as he and his soldiers heroically confronted and neutralized the terrorists,” said Prime Minister Yair Lapid. “The operation in which he was killed thwarted a major terrorist attack and saved lives.”

One of the Palestinian gunmen, both of whom died in the firefight, was a member of the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence forces, according to the Israeli government. “This escalates things to another level,” said Lapid. “We will not hesitate to act in any place that the Palestinian Authority does not maintain order.”

In the hours following his death, a letter Falah wrote in 2019 to his troops on Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, was circulated on social networks and Hebrew-language media.

“On Memorial Day we learn that there is something greater than life itself,” Falah wrote. “There is something for which we are ready to sacrifice our lives — the State of Israel.”


PMW: Israeli kindness to children is a problem for Palestinians
As is well-known, the city of Hebron is often the center of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. Now a Palestinian kindergarten teacher has shed light on the nature of one of the “difficulties” faced by Palestinians in the city.

During an interview about Palestinian children in Hebron, a kindergarten teacher noted that one “difficulty” for the children is that “the settlers or Israelis sometimes call to them and give them a carton of chocolate milk or milk.” This is in addition to the children being afraid to cross a particularly busy street.

Why is Israeli kindness a problem?

Apparently because the kindergarten teacher and other adults want to maintain the PA libel that all Israelis are evil and only seek to harm Palestinian children. The kindergarten teacher clarified that they can’t take these gifts away from the kids “or throw it on the ground,” because the kids wouldn’t understand:
Kindergarten teacher: “Our difficulty with the children is that they are afraid to cross [the street] alone. We grab their hands and walk them safely to their homes. [Another] difficulty is that the settlers or Israelis sometimes call to them and give them a carton of chocolate milk or milk. We cannot take it from [the children] or throw it on the ground, because they do not understand the nature of the occupation. Therefore we gradually attempt to distance them from this.”

[Official PA TV News, Sept. 1, 2022]
Palestinian kindergarten teacher complains that “Israelis… give [our children] chocolate milk”

MEMRI: Last Will Of Palestinian Terrorist Who Belonged To Palestinian Authority Security Forces: Martyrdom Is The Highest Ideal; Continue The Jihad And Armed Struggle Against The Enemy
Palestinian terrorist Ahmad 'Abed, a member of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Preventive Security Force who was killed in Jenin on September 14, 2022, left a written last will and testament, in which he explained that he had decided to die as a martyr for the sake of Allah because this is the highest ideal and the best way to obtain Allah's favor and elevate Islam. He urged his family to rejoice in his martyrdom and his comrades to continue the armed struggle and the jihad against the enemy.

The following is a translation of his last will:[1]
"By the name of Allah, the Compassionate and Merciful,

"'O believers! What is the matter with you that when you are asked to march forth in the cause of Allah, you cling firmly to [your] land? Do you prefer the life of this world over the Hereafter? The enjoyment of this worldly life is insignificant compared to that of the Hereafter. If you do not march forth, He will afflict you with a painful torment and replace you with other people. You are not harming Him in the least. And Allah is Most Capable of everything.' (Quran9:38-39)…

"I write this last will in anticipation of my death as a martyr for the sake of Allah, for martyrdom is the best way to draw close to Allah, and no ideal can compare to it. By Allah, I have chosen this path in order to exalt and elevate tawhid [monotheism, i.e., Islam] in order to attain martyrdom for the sake of Allah, and so that our blood should count as [blood spilled] for the sake of this noble faith.

"My kindhearted mother, the soul of my being, please forgive me. Do not greive my departure, but rather be glad… for the pleasure of Allah the Almighty depends on your pleasure, and my wish [to attain the degree of martyr] will otherwise not be fulfilled. So endure with forbearance, and ask Allah to reward you by giving me my wish and accepting me [as a martyr] for His sake.

"My beloved father, forgive me. I know that you neglected no [duty] towards me, and by God, you were a good father and educator. My beloved father, do not be sad to receive the news of my martyrdom, but rather be glad. Hold your head high, for your son will have earned the advocacy of Allah's Messenger and his descendants.
Bassam Tawil: Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Terrorists
One thing is for sure. Abbas will not tell his audience at the UN that members of his ruling Fatah faction are running wild in the West Bank, where they are carrying out terrorist attacks against Palestinian activists and Palestinian journalists as well as Israelis on an almost daily basis.

Abu Jildeh and al-Nabulsi are among several Fatah terrorists killed or apprehended in recent weeks. These terrorists belong to the Palestinian faction that is often described by Westerners as a "moderate" group. The commander of these terrorists is none other than Mahmoud Abbas, who, in addition to his role as Palestinian Authority president, is also chairman of Fatah.

Abbas's terrorists, carrying various types of guns and explosive devices, are roaming the streets of the two cities and openly declaring their support for terrorism.

The terrorists are mostly associated with Fatah's armed group, Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Another Fatah-affiliated group that recently emerged on the streets of Nablus calls itself the Lion's Den.

The Fatah terrorists have carried out several attacks against both Palestinians and Israelis over the past few months. Many of the terrorists are also known to cooperate with the Iranian-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Islamist terror groups.

The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades even boasted of the terrorist attacks in a statement. The group also vowed to continue the terror attacks.

Abbas and the Fatah leadership continue to glorify the terrorists. Abbas, in addition, has refused to rein in or disarm the terrorists.

So far as Abbas and other Palestinian leaders are concerned, Palestinian lawyers, journalists and activists who seek freedom, as well as Jews. should just lie back and accept the daily terrorist attacks against them. Abbas cries "terrorism" only if Israel kills or captures a terrorist.

This is the same Abbas who will appear at the UN General Assembly soon to again play the role of victim and accuse Israel of "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing." Since he came to power in 2005, Abbas has made it a habit to lie to the UN and other international parties.
Fatah announces return to terror, takes responsibility for attacks by its Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades

Fatah glorifies terrorists, among them murderer of 5

“Massacres have happened to the Palestinian people that were worse than the Holocaust"

Bloomberg Editorial: It's Time for Plan B on Iran
Negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran have reached yet another impasse. Although the deal may not be dead just yet, the U.S. should act as though it is.

The IAEA estimates that Iran now has more than enough uranium enriched to 60% - a short step from weapons-grade - to build a nuclear weapon, and can add to that stockpile relatively quickly.

The proposed pact has not been lengthened or strengthened in any way: Key provisions begin to lapse in a couple of years. Nor would it address Iran's burgeoning missile and drone programs, or its support for violent proxies such as Hizbullah. Given that, the U.S. will arguably need to take many of the same actions to contain the Iranian threat whether the 2015 deal is resurrected or not.

Shifting to a Plan B now might help persuade Iran to back off its most unreasonable demands - and will put the U.S. in a better position to deal with the consequences if it doesn't. The U.S. should thus work harder to close sanctions loopholes that have allowed Iran to continue to sell millions of barrels of oil, primarily to China.

Deal or no deal, the challenge of confronting Iran's malign activities across the Middle East will remain. When challenged by Iranian proxies, the U.S. should hit back harder and faster. Most important, the U.S. should make sure Iran understands that its patience isn't infinite.

The White House should also support Israel's right to defend itself, including by speeding delivery of key systems such as refueling tankers for long-range air strikes, and should continue to conduct joint exercises to prepare for a conflict.


Seth Frantzman: Iran joining China-Russia SCO group is challenge to US world order
Iran signed a memorandum to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This important grouping of countries includes Russia, China, and a number of Central Asian states, and has grown in recent years as Turkey, Iran, India and many others have played a role.

This means that a new group of rising industrial powers is seeking to work together without the West. This takes the form of challenging the US-led world order and both Russia and China are clear that they want to upend the US role in the world. As such, Iran’s joining of the SCO is an important milestone. It is symbolic but it has real implications.

According to reports, Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian announced in a Twitter post that he signed the document for full membership in the organization on the eve of the SCO meeting in Uzbekistan. The SCO meeting takes place this week.

“Now we have entered a new stage of various economic, commercial, transit, energy, cooperation,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

Iran's wider regional role
Iran sees this as a new phase for its role in Central Asia and the wider region. This means it is part of Iran’s 25-year accord with China as well as the emerging and increasing Iran-Russia alliance.

Iran is transferring drones to Russia and Russia is using those drones against Ukraine. It is possible that Iran will receive defense technology from Russia.
Terror Trifecta: Media Mum as Russia Boosts Ties With Hamas, Iran
A delegation of Hamas officials, including terror chief Ismail Haniyeh, traveled to Moscow this week for high-level meetings with Russian government officials, politicians, and public figures. The summit — which Hamas said took place at the request of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — concluded on Wednesday, with the US-designated terror group hailing President Putin for his country’s “positions in support of the Palestinian people and their rights.”

Isolated from the West over its war of aggression against Ukraine, Moscow appears to be bolstering its ties with some of the worst terrorists, human rights violators, and war criminals around the globe. Yet, Lavrov’s invitation to Haniyeh failed to generate any coverage in the international press. As it becomes increasingly clear that Putin is forging a new Axis of Evil, it is imperative that the media provide news consumers with the proper context to understand these developments.

Here’s what you need to know about this week’s events and Hamas-Russia relations.

As reported by local Israeli media outlets (see here, here, and here), Haniyeh touched down in Moscow on September 10 to discuss “mutual ties” and “other issues relating to the situation in Palestine [sic].” In addition to the Qatar-based Hamas leader, the delegation included terror commander Saleh al-Arouri, as well as senior members of Hamas’ political bureau.

Amongst others, the group sat down with Foreign Minister Lavrov, his deputy Mikhail Bogdanov, members of parliament, and local Muslim and Christian religious leaders.

After Monday’s meeting, Lavrov’s office said that he had urged Hamas to reunite with the West Bank’s ruling Fatah party. For his part, Haniyeh presented Russia’s top diplomat with a letter of support addressed to Putin, while reportedly reaffirming the “importance of the strategic relationship between Hamas and Russia.”
Former Mubarak Regime Official: Israel Is Our Constant Cultural Enemy – Iran Should Not Be Our Enemy
Hussam Badrawi, a former Egyptian MP who served as a senior official in former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, said in a July 28, 2022 show on Sada Al-Balad TV (Egypt) that dictatorial regimes bring about more progress than democracies. He also argued that the 2011 revolution in Egypt was part of a Western plot against the Arab world that began with the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and he said that part of the plan is to pit Israel and the Arab world against Iran. In addition, he said that Egypt’s “constant cultural enemy” is Israel, and that it should not be replaced with Iran.


Congress Battles Biden Admin in Bid To Ban Iranian President From US Soil
Congress is moving to prevent Iran's president from entering the United States to attend U.N. proceedings but is facing resistance from the Biden administration, which says it is "obligated" to allow the hardline president into the country.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is circulating a bill that would bar all officials tied to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, including President Ebrahim Raisi, from obtaining the U.S. visa necessary to attend a meeting of the United Nations' General Assembly, which is taking place this month in New York City. The bill, an advance copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, is expected to be introduced Wednesday afternoon.

The Biden administration has been under intense pressure from Congress and activist groups to deny Raisi a U.S. visa, particularly due to Tehran's active plots to assassinate U.S. officials such as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser John Bolton. Cruz's bill would formalize efforts in Congress to pressure the administration into barring Raisi amid the assassination plots.

This pressure campaign has failed, however, with the Biden administration claiming it is "obligated" under U.S. law to allow Raisi into the United States. "As host nation of the U.N., the United States is generally obligated under the U.N. Headquarters Agreement to facilitate travel to the U.N. headquarters district by representatives of U.N. member states," a State Department spokesman told the Free Beacon. "We take our obligations under the U.N. Headquarters Agreement seriously."

Cruz's bill—dubbed the Strengthening Entry Visa Enforcement and Restrictions, or SEVER, Act of 2022—would alter the law to facilitate a visa ban on all Iranian officials sanctioned for their ties to Khamenei, the country's hardline leader. The bill is likely to attract bipartisan support in the wake of a letter that more than 50 lawmakers sent earlier this month to the White House. The lawmakers asked the president to "deny entry visas" to Raisi and his delegation. Raisi is already subject to sanctions under a 2019 Trump administration order that targeted the Iranian president for his role in approving the execution of children.
US said to mull sanctions on Iran-linked entities over Rushdie attack
The United States is reportedly considering placing sanctions on Iran-linked entities for encouraging violence against author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed and seriously injured in an attack last month.

No decision has been made yet on the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

US sources familiar with the issue told the outlet that the decision on a response to the Rushdie attack had to be made with consideration for the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and world powers.

According to the report, the sanctions under consideration include restricting access to global financial systems for those Iran-linked entities.

Unnamed US officials told the outlet that the entities bore responsibility due to their support for Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini whose 1989 edict — a fatwa — called for Rushdie’s death.

Without specifically saying that they were the entities under consideration for the sanctions, the report named the 15th Khordad Foundation and the semi-official Fars news agency as organizations that had pledged to contribute to the bounty on Rushdie’s head.

The two organizations refused the Journal’s request for comment.

The US Treasury and State departments also declined to comment, the report said.
The ‘Diplomatic Option’ Ignores Iran’s Crimes Against Children
As the international community continues to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran, world leaders must ask if the diplomatic option is viable when dealing with Iran’s ayatollahs, who have promoted — since 1979 — child martyrdom in their school curriculum and on the battlefield.

Brainwashing children into martyrdom is presented by the ayatollahs as an extension of the Shiite mythology surrounding the 680 AD Battle of Karbala, which was the “Big Bang” of the Sunni-Shiite conflict, and the role model for martyrdom. During the battle, Hussain ibn Ali, the third Shia Imam and the grandson of Mohammed, and his warriors — including children — were betrayed and massacred by the Sunni Caliph Yazid.

During the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, children were sent by Iran to be slaughtered on mine-sweeping missions.

According to the Geneva-based Refworld (an arm of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees), “[Iranian] child soldiers, some as young as nine, were used extensively during the Iran-Iraq war … They were given ‘keys to paradise’ and promised that they would go directly to heaven if they died as martyrs against the Iraqi enemy….”




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