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Thursday, December 01, 2022

12/01 Links Pt1: UN to mark ‘Nakba Day’ - Israel’s establishment as catastrophe; UNGA call for Israeli-Palestinian peace parley in Moscow; 75 years since UN partition vote: A self-inflicted Palestinian tragedy

From Ian:

UN to mark ‘Nakba Day’ - Israel’s establishment as catastrophe
The UN General Assembly voted Wednesday afternoon in favor of holding a commemorative event in honor of the 75th “Nakba Day,” the Palestinian name for Israel’s establishment, which translates to “catastrophe.”

The vote was 90-30, with 47 abstentions. The United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom were among those who opposed the move. Most of the European Union also rejected the motion, save for Cyprus which supported the measure.

Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan tweeted that the UN in "passing such an extreme and baseless resolution, the UN is only helping to perpetuate the conflict."

In a UN General Assembly plenum debate prior to the vote, Erdan called for the UN to “stop ignoring the Jewish Nakba,” referring to the 750,000 Jews expelled from Arab and Muslim countries in the aftermath of Israel’s establishment.

“What would you say if the international community celebrated the establishment of your country as a disaster? What a disgrace,” Erdan said.

Erdan showed the General Assembly a front page of The New York Times from May 16, 1948, with a top headline stating: "Jews in grave danger in all Moslem lands."




UN passes resolution calling Israel's founding a 'catastrophe'
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution to mark Nakba Day, recognizing the Palestinian version of events that depicts the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948 as a "catastrophe".




UNGA call for Israeli-Palestinian peace parley in Moscow
The United Nations General Assembly called for an International conference in Moscow to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine which has turned it into an international pariah.

The call was included in a broad-based text called the "peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine" which was approved 154-9, with ten abstentions.

Even Ukraine voted in favor of the resolution.

Overall, the 15-point resolution called for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks based on the pre-1967 borders with east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state and an end to Israeli settlement activity.

Item number three in the text called for 'the timely convening of an international conference in Moscow as envisioned by the Security Council in is resolution 1850 (2008) for the advancement and acceleration of the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement." 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (credit: REUTERS) 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (credit: REUTERS) Who was in opposition?

The revolution was part of an annual group of more than a dozen pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli texts, which the UNGA approves every year.

The UNGA passed five of those texts on Wednesday afternoon. The countries that opposed this specific text were: Canada, Hungary, Israel, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and the United States.

Australia, which has historically voted again the text, chose this year to slightly downgrade its support for Israel at the UN and abstained.

The Australian representative at the meeting said that the shift did not signify a lack of support for Israel.

"Australia shifted from 'no' to 'abstain' on the resolution .. because we believe in a just and enduring two-state solution negotiated between parties," she said.


Mark Regev: 75 years since UN partition vote: A self-inflicted Palestinian tragedy
Unlike the Jews, who heatedly debated the pros and cons of partition, the Palestinian leadership did not entertain public doubts. Its united opposition to the UNSCOP plan was consistent with a longstanding, hardline approach. A decade before the 1947 vote, the Palestinians turned down the British government’s Peel Commission partition plan that awarded the Arab side some 75% of the territory – the Jews having to suffice with a mini-state along the coastal plain and part of the Galilee.

It was not just a Jewish state, regardless of its size and borders, that was abhorrent to the Palestinians. They rejected both the UNSCOP majority report favoring partition, backed by eight of the committee’s eleven members, as well as it’s minority proposal, supported by three members, which called for a federal unitary Palestine in which the Jews would enjoy an autonomous status. Apparently, any arrangement that protected the Jews’ national rights was deemed repugnant.

As threatened by Arab UN representatives, the passing of UNSCOP’s partition proposal led to an immediate escalation of Palestinian violence against the Jews. And in May 1948, when the British Mandate ended and Israel was established, the surrounding Arab countries invaded in support of their Palestinian brethren.

THE BOTTOM line: Upon suffering diplomatic defeat in the General Assembly, the Arab world chose to overturn the UN’s determination through the force of arms. The ensuing bloodshed and displacement stemmed directly from that decision.

Despite its significance, the UN partition plan did not create the Jews’ right to their ancestral homeland – this, in the words of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, is “the natural right of the Jewish people to be... like all other nations, in their own sovereign state.” But, as with the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, the UN’s 1947 resolution offered critical international recognition of that innate right.

This upcoming May, the Palestinians will not be joining the Israelis in celebrating the 75-year existence of the Jewish state. Instead, they will mourn their Nakba (catastrophe). But perhaps they should recall, at a historic inflection point – as the Union Jack was lowered and the colonial power departed – when the opportunity for sovereignty was within reach, which side embraced partition, and which side rejected it.

It is easy for Palestinians to blame their statelessness and dispossession on the Zionists. This ubiquitous, knee-jerk response avoids confronting difficult questions about their own leadership’s all-or-nothing culpability in their national tragedy, while being emblematic of an enduring, self-defeating, maximalist nationalism.

Ultimately, had the Palestinian position been more pragmatic and moderate, they too could have been celebrating a diamond jubilee Independence Day alongside Israel.
The price of supporting terror: UNHRC official to be barred from entering Israel
Israel is considering blocking entry to a United Nations Human Rights Council representative who is planning on visiting the country in the coming days.

According to a report by Ynet, Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese, whose official title is "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967," is guilty of making several anti-Israel remarks, including a few new ones which we're addressed to Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials who participated in a conference in Gaza last week.

In her address to the conference, which was organized by a body that is closely related to Hamas, and was attended by high-ranking Hamas and Jihad officials, Albanese remarked "You have the right to resist this occupation".

In her speech, the rapporteur also hinted at her opposition to the two-state solution, stating: "The West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza are what's left of historic Palestine. This statement is not new, but it will help the international community feel uncomfortable with the two-state solution."

Albanese has a history of anti-Israel remarks, in the summer she told an Italian newspaper that "Israel says that resistance is equatable to terror, but occupation calls for violence and creates violence. The Palestinians have no way to resist other than violence." She has also compared the Nakba to the Holocaust and has referred to Israel as apartheid.

A few days ago Albanese tweeted that she intended on visiting Israel for the first time since being appointed to her post and claimed that Israel did not deny her entry. But as mentioned Israel is considering denying her entry due to her anti-Israel remarks.


Jonathan S. Tobin: Veteran U.S. Peace-Processors Seek to Thwart Israeli Democracy
Veteran U.S. State Department peace-processors Aaron David Miller and Daniel Kurtzer penned an op-ed in the Washington Post this week calling on the Biden administration to intervene in Israel's domestic debates, place limits on aid to it, and prevent Israel's new government from following the allegedly "malign" policies on which it was elected.

While acknowledging that neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas want to make peace, the authors continue to cling to the myth that what the Palestinians seek is an independent state alongside Israel, and that America must force Israel to pretend that this is still true. They are ready to blame Palestinian terrorism and rejection of peace on the assertion of Jewish rights and the defense of Israel's security, rather than on the fact that both the Fatah kleptocrats in Ramallah and the Hamas Islamists in Gaza refuse to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its boundaries are drawn.

Their position effectively legitimizes Arab terrorism against Jews and antisemitism at the UN by branding Israeli actions that might protect its interests and security as the behavior of a rogue state. They aren't defending democracy, peace or the U.S.-Israel alliance. Their objective is to thwart the verdict of Israeli democracy and promote instability and violence by reverting to Oslo fantasies.
Take That, Mr. President: UAE Ambassador Invites Ben Gvir to his Independence Day Party
Turns out, different Arabs have radically different views of the next National Security Minister, MK Itamar Ben Gvir. On the one hand, there’s the Lions’ Den terrorist group, which went on Telegram to blame him for the killing of five Arabs over the past day and to declare a day of rage in response. Ben Gvir told 103FM Thursday morning that he was delighted to see what an impact he had – killing five terrorists by just, well, being there.

And then this was this report from Kan News reporter Michael Shemesh: the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Israel invited Ben Gvir to a festive event in Tel Aviv in honor of UAE’s 51st Day of Independence tonight (Thursday). Ben Gvir was invited along with Knesset members, ministers, and many other dignitaries.

Ben Gvir was invited by the UAE embassy in the past, but this time he received the invitation from the ambassador himself, His Excellency Mohamed Mahmoud Fateh Ali Abdulla Al Khaja, and he plans to attend. Who wouldn’t?

The invite is in direct contrast to the unfortunate hot-mic comment by President Isaac Herzog, who told Shas representatives “the whole world was afraid of him,” meaning Ben Gvir.

It also is a shot back at the bad advice by former diplomats Dan Kurtzer and Aaron David Miller, who called upon the Biden Administration to get the Abraham Accord partners to fall in line with leftwing agenda against Israel.
Antony Blinken to Keynote J Street Conference in Washington
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be the keynote speaker at leftwing J Street’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., the organization announced on Wednesday.

Blinken is slated to speak on Sunday at the event, which runs from Dec. 3-5.

The conference will feature “leading activists, policymakers and political leaders discussing the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and the liberal Jewish community’s struggle to confront extremism and promote democratic values—in both the US and Israel,” according to the statement released by J Street.

“We are deeply honored and excited that Secretary Blinken will be addressing this year’s J Street conference,” said the group’s president and founder Jeremy Ben-Ami. “At a critical time for Israelis and Palestinians and for the future of liberal democracy in the region and around the world, our movement is looking forward to hearing about these challenges from our nation’s top diplomat,” he added.

Hady Amr, who was recently appointed the State Department’s special representative for Palestinian affairs, said on Wednesday that the Biden administration remains committed to the two-state solution and that there was still a possibility of reopening the shuttered Jerusalem consulate to the Palestinian Authority.

“It’s a real honor to serve as the U.S. government’s first [special] representative to the Palestinian people and leadership. The creation of this role is unprecedented and elevates Palestinian issues and our engagement on it,” Amr, previously the deputy assistant secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian affairs, told reporters.
Pro-Israel Democrats Welcome New House Democratic Minority Leader
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) sent shockwaves through the political world with their announcements on Thursday that they will step down from Democratic leadership next year. But pro-Israel Democrats, who praised the two longtime Democratic leaders’ record on Israel and Jewish issues, said that the community is in safe hands with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as Pelosi’s anticipated successor.

Pelosi’s announcement cements the 52-year-old Jeffries, currently the Democratic Caucus chair, as the likely next Democratic minority leader. Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA) is expected to become Jeffries’ No. 2 as minority whip, and Caucus Vice Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) is likely to become caucus chair. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), currently the third-ranking House Democrat, aims to stay in leadership as assistant Democratic leader, becoming the fourth-ranking Democrat.

“The Democratic Party and the pro-Israel camp needs someone just like Hakeem to lead us into the future. In fact, I would say, if the pro-Israel community wanted to create a Democratic leader for the future, we would create Hakeem Jeffries,” former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) told Jewish Insider. “Hakeem is not just interested in these issues, he’s devoted to them. He’s respectful of the American Jewish community. He identifies with it. And he’s just a really nice guy on top of it.”

Jeffries’ Brooklyn and Queens district includes a sizable Jewish community, including a large population of Russian-speaking Jews, and has touted the importance of the relationship between the Black and Jewish communities. Jeffries would be the first Black party leader in congressional history.

Former Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), who served as the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee when Jeffries was first elected in 2013, said that Jeffries is “completely consistent” with Pelosi and Hoyer on U.S.-Israel relations. Israel told JI in a 2020 interview that he was “immediately impressed” with Jeffries’ knowledge of the U.S.-Israel relationship even before he began his candidacy.

“He came to Congress as a voice of pro-Israel activism. And he served with the same voice and he has an ability to organize coalitions across a very diverse spectrum that will support U.S.-Israeli relations,” Israel said on Thursday. “So his continued leadership, assuming that the caucus comes to agreement on his candidacy, is a very positive and heartening step in the right direction for U.S.-Israeli relations.”
Guardian 1st Black congressional leader is on 'wrong side of history'
Earlier this month, we posted about an article by the Guardian’s Chris McGreal which attacked AIPAC for opposing a Democrat (Lee Summers) who was set to become Pennsylvania’s first Black female member of Congress:
More than 240 Jewish American voters in Pittsburgh have signed a letter denouncing the US’s largest pro-Israel group [AIPAC] for backing extremist Republican election candidates while spending millions of dollars to oppose a Democrat [Lee Summers] who would be Pennsylvania’s first Black female member of Congress.

Despite opposition from pro-Israel groups, Summers won the election.

Yesterday, he published an article at the Guardian (“Hakeem Jeffries’ likely elevation set to please US pro-Israel groups”, Nov. 29) attacking AIPAC for supporting a Democratic Congressman (Hakeem Jeffries) who, if he wins the race for House Minority Leader today, will be the first Black person to lead a major political party in Congress.

Hakeem Jeffries might be about to make history but some critics fear that on one issue, at least, he will be on the wrong side of it. The progressive New York congressman widely expected to lead the Democrats in the US House of Representatives will be the first person of color to head either party in the chamber.

The reason for McGreal’s selective support for increased racial minority representation in the House of Representatives is clear: Summers is an opponent of Israel, whilst Jeffries is a strong supporter of the Jewish state – thus placing Jeffries, who represents New York’s 8th Congressional district (encompassing parts of Brooklyn and Queens), on “the wrong side” of history.
In Tel Aviv, UAE’s largest free trade zone moves to attract Israeli entrepreneurs
In an indication of the potential the UAE sees in its relationship with Israel, the leader of the Emirates’ largest free trade zone made his pitch to hundreds of Israeli entrepreneurs in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, seeking to cast Dubai Multi Commodities Centre as a welcoming home for Israeli businesses.

“Israel is both a major stakeholder for DMCC and one of our key target markets,” said CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem in an address at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

“These ties are going from strength to strength as our two countries become more intertwined through new projects and initiatives,” he said.

There are currently 78 Israeli companies operating in the DMCC. The free trade zone offers a range of advantages, including no corporate tax, access to the Gulf market and Asia, minimal bureaucracy, and cheap manpower from India.

Israeli companies in the DMCC can operate as a local entity and do business with countries that do not recognize Israel, said Sanjeev Dutta, executive director of commodities and financial services at DMCC.

Dubai’s free zones have separate legal systems and commercial laws from the rest of the country.

Bin Sulayem, 44, told The Times of Israel that he sees Israel as a strategic partner, especially in the fields of IT security and water conservation.
Terrorist Who Murdered Druze Boy Eliminated, IDF Expects Retaliation from Gaza for Killing Islamic Jihad Leaders in Jenin
The IDF overnight Thursday eliminated two senior members of the Islamic Jihad in Wadi Burqin, 5 km west of Jenin, wounded at least 10, and arrested three. Israel’s security apparatus is concerned about an escalation as a result, and even shootings from Gaza, based on threats from the Jihad and Hamas.

In addition, WAFA reported that Israeli forces re-arrested a former security prisoner and ransacked his family home in Kobar, north of the city of Ramallah. Meanwhile, heavily armed Israeli police rounded two others from Jerusalem – one from Issawiyeh and the other from Kfar HaShiloach.

The Wadi Burqin operation took a total of an hour. A little before 2:00 AM Thursday, a Mista’arvim (undercover) force of the Duvdevan unit entered the village along with a force of Sayeret Haruv of the Kfir brigade. Initially, the Duvdevan force entered the home of Islamic Jihad terrorist Wassem Faiz who led shooting attacks in Samaria and planned a car bomb detonation. Faiz was arrested without resistance, but then the forces encountered massive and accurate fire from local gunmen.

It is suspected that Faiz was behind the planning of a car bomb attack in the Mevo Dotan area a week and a half ago. The car exploded before the scheduled time and was extinguished by PA firefighters. Gas cylinders were later discovered in the car, only one of which exploded.
Concerns of rocket fire after Islamic Jihad commander killed near Jenin
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander and another Palestinian terrorist were killed in armed clashes between the IDF and Palestinians in Burqin, near Jenin, early Thursday morning.

Armed clashes broke out when Israeli forces entered the city overnight to conduct arrests. Three Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist activities were arrested during the raid and three M-16 firearms were confiscated, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement confirmed that the commander of their Jenin Brigade, Muhammad Ayman al-Saadi, as well as another terrorist named Naeem Jamal Zubaidi, were killed in the clashes. Another Palestinian was injured in the clashes as well.

The IDF noted that Saadi was responsible for a series of shooting attacks against Israeli forces, as well as arming terrorists, at the direction of the Islamic Jihad. Zubaidi was also involved in shooting attacks against Israelis.

Palestinian factions in the city declared a strike and a "general mobilization" after the clashes. Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Tariq Ezz El Din warned that "The massacre committed by Israel against our people and our resistance fighters in the Jenin camp at dawn today will not go unnoticed, and this criminal occupier will pay the price for his heinous crime."

Israeli forces also operated in Dura and Dayr Samet, arresting four suspects and confiscating a handgun. Two additional suspects were arrested in Bayt Furik and Abu Shukhaydam.

The defense establishment is concerned that factions in the Gaza Strip could fire rockets toward Israel in light of the recent deaths, according to KAN news.
The Israel Guys: 20-YEAR-OLD Female IDF Soldier Critically Injured in Car Ramming
In a ramming attack on highway 60 yesterday, an IDF soldier was seriously injured. The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is threatening to assassinate Itamar Ben-Gvir. There was a breakthrough in the negotiations between the Likud and Religious Zionist parties. And a man miraculously survived the bus bombing last week by simply carrying a book of Psalms.


Seth Frantzman: How Israel is preparing the next generation of cyber soldiers
Israel’s new cyber defense training school is set inside a high-tech park in the southern city of Beersheba. Opened in August, the modern campus is part of the J6 and Cyber Defense Directorate, and it’s part of a broader move by the Israel Defense Forces to shift units south.

Defense News spoke with three senior officers at the training center to discuss their goals and how cyberspace is changing how Israel’s military functions. Capt. Noa Givner, who leads the school’s department of data science, has served with the IDF for seven years; Maj. Noam Bright, head of the department of computer science, has served for 12 years; and Maj. I, chief of the department of cybersecurity, has served for 10 years. (The full name of Maj. I was not provided for security reasons.)

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

What is the school’s purpose?

Maj. Noam Bright: We are here in the school of data science of the J6 directorate, of the C4i [command, control communications and computers/cyber and intelligence] forces. What we are doing is taking 18 year old and making them special technology experts. What we do the best is training them in all the high-tech fields — from data center management to cloud-centered training to programming and being the best software engineers.

Our graduates go to all the technological units across the army — from the Air Force to the Navy and the Ground Forces — and here in the school we train more than 1,500 students a year. We don’t focus on pre-knowledge, but on the way they think. There are exams to get into the school; if they think well, we take them to our school and we are responsible to train them well, and our graduates become entrepreneurs and end up in startups.

We moved here three months ago from Ramat Gan [in central Israel]. What we are doing here is not just changing the base and location but creating an ecosystem to empower this region and the children here to come to our school and have access to technological fields.

Capt. Noa Givner: They teach Python [a programming language], and we give them tools so they can train here and get a profession in high-tech fields and serve in technological units. There is also a program that trains soldiers on the spectrum [or those with autism].

Maj. I: Our goal is to provide opportunities to many social groups in Israel, not just in the Negev but also to promote women and others in society, and give them the opportunity to empower themselves in the army and outside of the service.
Military court convicts Palestinian of murdering Israeli man in 2015 terror attack
A military court on Thursday convicted a Palestinian terrorist over a deadly attack in the West Bank in 2015. Maad Hamed was part of a Hamas cell that killed Malachy Rosenfeld, 25, in a drive-by shooting.

Hamed was convicted of intentionally causing the death of Rosenfeld. The charge is equivalent to murder in the West Bank military court system. He was additionally convicted of attempted murder and several other security offenses, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

He faces a potential life sentence.

The indictment said Hamed established a terror cell on behalf of Hamas “with the aim of carrying out attacks against Israeli targets, and planned, together with other members of the unit, to carry out a shooting attack.”

It added that he had shot at the vehicle with the other cell members, killing Rosenfeld.

The IDF said that Hamed was also charged with a separate shooting attack that caused no injuries during the same month. No ruling has been issued yet on this charge.

Hamed’s sentencing trial is slated to begin on January 4.

Hamed was arrested by the Palestinian Authority in July 2015, not long after the attack, and remained in PA custody until April this year, when he escaped, according to the Shin Bet security agency.

He was arrested by Israeli security forces on April 13 in the West Bank town of Silwad, considered a Hamas stronghold.

Hamed had been previously convicted and jailed for a year over his connection to a 2012 shooting attack. And in 2014, he was in administrative detention for several months over his affiliation with the terror group.


UNRWA condemns ‘man-made cavity’ found under Gaza school
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency on Wednesday condemned the presence of a “man-made cavity” found beneath a school in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The agency said in a statement that after “recently” identifying the cavity, it had protested strongly to the relevant authorities in Gaza to “express outrage and condemnation.” The structure, UNRWA continued, “is a serious violation of the agency’s neutrality and a breach of international law. Moreover, it exposes children and agency staff to significant security and safety risks.”

The U.N. agency, which tends to some 5 million descendants of Arabs displaced in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, added that it had sealed the “cavity.”

UNRWA did not disclose the exact nature of the discovery.

Hamas has long been known to build and store terrorist infrastructure in, around and under schools, hospitals, mosques and other civilian infrastructure in Gaza, to shield its assets from Israeli strikes and from which to launch missile attacks against Israeli population centers.
PMW: “The awakening of American Jews”: The rampant PA Antisemitism
As the international community attempts to combat global Antisemitism, the Palestinian Authority is again showing why its population has become the most antisemitic in the world.. In the eyes of the PA, Jews – not Israelis and not just Zionists, but Jews – have taken control and have a strangle hold on American institutions and decision-making. In the eyes of the PA, it was hatred of the Jews and the desire to “get rid of them” that pushed Great Britain to issue the 1917 Balfour Declaration and pave the way for the creation of the State of Israel.

These expressions are just a few examples of the rampant PA Antisemitism regularly exposed by Palestinian Media Watch.

The now widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of Antisemitism includes “Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective - such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.”

Presenting the PA’s position, Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, who is a regular columnist for official PA daily and also former advisor on national affairs to former PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and, left no room for misinterpretation or doubt.

In his article titled “The awakening of American Jews,” Al-Ghoul used all the traditional antisemitic tropes about Jews controlling American institutions, Jews controlling Western capitalism and world government, Jews joining forces with white racists, and the Zionist lobby taking $38 billion “by force from the American taxpayer”:


Missouri Islamic Scholar: Disney Propagates Homosexuality – Even Superman Is Gay Now!
In a Friday sermon at the Islamic Society of Greater Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri, local Islamic scholar Abdullah Bayazid said that corporations such as Disney and Zoom are propagating homosexuality, deviancy, and transgenderism. He said that even Superman is a “sodomite” today, and this is all part of a conspiracy to decrease the world’s population since homosexuals do not have children. He also said that Islamic law stipulates that homosexuals must be killed and are cursed by Allah. The sermon was posted to Bayazid’s YouTube channel on June 25, 2022.


U.S. Ambassador Under Fire for Wearing Hijab at Lebanon’s Request
The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon is facing criticism within the State Department for wearing a hijab earlier this month during meetings with pro-Hezbollah officials at a time when Iranian protesters are rallying against such draconian religious displays.

Dorothy Shea, who has served as the top U.S. diplomat in Lebanon since 2020, was recently pictured in regional media outlets meeting with Lebanon’s Higher Shiite Islamic Council, a religious body that experts view as allied with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror group that wages outsized political influence in Lebanon. One senior diplomatic source told the Washington Free Beacon the gesture undermines U.S. efforts to support Iranian protesters who are rallying in the streets against such draconian religious displays.

The images upset some officials in the State Department’s diplomatic corps who view Shea’s decision to wear a head covering as tone-deaf and offensive at a time when Iranians are protesting against a theocratic regime that recently murdered a 22-year-old woman for not properly wearing her hijab. Iranian-American groups and outside experts also expressed shock over the images of Shea in a headscarf.

"This has raised some eyebrows here and is just a bad look all around," one senior State Department official, who spoke on background discussing internal matters, told the Free Beacon. "There are literally thousands of brave women in Iran risking their lives in protest of the hijab and all it represents. What message does this send to them in this unspoken, yet highly symbolic act of submission by a U.S. ambassador who takes on the very appearance of the oppressors?"

"I understand that as diplomats we are supposed to be sensitive to the culture in which we work," the source added, "but sometimes, events take priority."

While the State Department has been clear in its support for the Iranian protesters, it has come under fire for not taking concrete action to aid their efforts. Lawmakers and outside groups are pushing for U.S.-Iran envoy Robert Malley to be fired, given his role as the administration’s public face of diplomacy with Iran’s hardline regime. Malley and other State Department officials also have stopped short of saying that the protesters want regime change, with spokesman Ned Price telling reporters late last month that "it's not for us to interpret what the people of Iran are asking for." This statement came as protesters chanted, "Death to the dictator."

A State Department spokesman declined to comment on the images or provide the Free Beacon with information about Shea’s meetings. One senior Republican congressional source who works with State Department officials said this hesitance to address the issue indicates administration officials are embarrassed by Shea’s display.
An Exile Returns to Syria
My trip home to Syria to see friends and family showed me that the country I knew has gone forever. As we entered the city of Latakia, the darkness in the city was shocking. On a good day, Latakia has only four hours of electricity. There was almost no traffic. There is so little fuel that people don't go anywhere unless they really have to.

Due to electricity shortages, noisy generators are always filling the air with the smell of diesel. At night, you cannot walk around without a light. The streets are incredibly dirty and damaged. Cholera is a growing worry for everyone. Everything is aggressively rationed; not just electricity and water, but fuel, cooking gas, diesel, rice, sugar and even bread.

Strangely, most men carried handbags. Due to the currency collapse, it is necessary to carry large amounts of cash, which can't be done with pockets alone. Syria was never a rich country, but neither was it in poverty as dire as this. Now, the streets are full of malnourished children digging in garbage containers. According to the UN, more than 90% of people live under the poverty line, and at least 60% are food insecure. The destitution contrasts painfully with the SUVs complete with tinted windows which roam the streets, filled with pro-Assad thugs.

I don't remember female waitresses in Latakia, yet now most of the people working in restaurants, cafes and shops are women, even in the most conservative areas. I did not meet one woman who did not work. "Where are the young men?" I asked my friends. "They are dead, in the army or they left like I should have done," one replied.

The Alawites - the religious minority community from which the Assad family hails - are among the angriest at the Syrian government. A friend explained, "If you go to their villages, there are no men. They all died fighting for him [Assad] and what did they get in return? They live in extreme poverty." The majority of Alawites who did not benefit directly from the regime had no option but to fight for Assad. Otherwise, they had to face the Islamists who committed massacres, slaughtering everyone in the Alawite areas they managed to reach.
Israel confronted ‘Hezbollah 2’ in Syria, but what’s its end goal? - analysis
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi said this week that Israel prevented the formation of a “Hezbollah 2” in Syria.

For many years, Israel has been seeking to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria, dating back to when the Syrian civil war began in earnest in 2012. This has led to tensions with Israel, especially when Hezbollah sent forces to Syria and when those forces ended up closer to the Golan in 2018.

Now, several years later, Israel is continuing to face Iranian threats in Syria as well as in the wider region. How did this come about and what might the prevention of Hezbollah 2 mean for Israel?

Iran has been an ally of the Syrian regime already before the civil war broke out. Iran also backed Hezbollah for many decades before. Since the 2006 Lebanon War, tensions between Hezbollah and Israel were kept to a relative minimum.

This is not because Hezbollah is less threatening. In fact, Hezbollah has grown quite a bit since 2006, increasing its missile arsenal and its drones and precision-guided missile stocks. It has also flown drones into Israeli airspace and threatened gas platforms located off the Lebanese coast. After the recently signed maritime deal, Hezbollah claimed it got what it wanted from it.

Iran, meanwhile, increased its role in Syria. When Russia intervened in Syria in 2015, the US also began supporting anti-ISIS forces in the form of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Eventually, the US also established a garrison at Tanf in Syria, an isolated forlorn outpost near the Jordan-Syria-Iraq border. This was supposed to help some Syrian opposition fighters.

Recent reports have emerged of a Syrian rebel group that killed an ISIS commander in Dara’a in southern Syria. It’s not clear if those groups are linked to Tanf or other Free Syrian Army elements. What matters is that this happened in southern Syria – where Hezbollah is present.
Islamic State names new leader after Quraishi blew himself up when surrounded -sources
The Islamic State (IS) militant group has appointed a previously unknown figure as its head after its leader blew himself up in October while being besieged by former anti-government rebels in southern Syria, those involved in the clash told Reuters.

IS selected Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi as its new leader, a spokesman for the group said in a recording. He did not offer further details on the new leader.

It was both the first time IS's top leader was killed in an operation that did not involve the US-led coalition, and the first time an IS leader was killed in southern Syria, rather than the north.

Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi was killed in an operation carried out in Deraa, the southern province where Syria's uprising first kicked off in 2011, according to those involved in the fighting as well as the US military.

Deraa returned to Syrian army control in 2018 following Russian-brokered reconciliation deals that saw rebels hand over heavy weapons and be incorporated into pro-government units.

Quraishi and his aides had been discovered hiding out in a house in the town of Jasem, according to former rebels involved in the clash, relatives of others who died in the fighting, and residents.

"The leader and a companion blew themselves up with suicide belts after our fighters succeeded in storming their hideout," said Salem al Horani, a resident and former rebel who helped besiege the three houses where the IS cell was discovered.

Local sources said Quraishi was among dozens of IS fighters who came to southern Syria earlier this year from other hideouts in the sparsely populated Syrian desert, where they had taken shelter after losing their last enclave in Syria in 2019.
Report: U.S. Will Support Israeli Attack on Iran Nuclear Project
The U.S. will support an Israeli attack to destroy the Iranian nuclear project, Israeli defense officials say.

American decision-makers realize that Iran threatens world peace, the sources told Yediot Aharonot.

Makor Rishon journalist Noam Amir reported that Israel has completed over 50% of the preparations for a strike in Iran.

Some senior defense officials noted that Tehran's military partnership with Russia in Ukraine creates a window of opportunity to strike with the quiet support of the U.S. and Europe.

Tehran is only 10-14 days away from enriching uranium to 90% weapons-grade, ex-IDF intelligence chief Amir Hayman told Israel Hayom.
Rise in Iranian Assassination, Kidnapping Plots Alarms Western Officials
The Iranian government has stepped up its efforts to kidnap and kill government officials, activists and journalists around the world, including in the U.S., according to government documents and interviews with 15 officials in Washington, Europe and the Middle East. Tehran has targeted former senior U.S. government officials; dissidents who have fled the country for the U.S., Britain, Canada, Turkey and Europe; media organizations critical of the regime; and Jewish civilians or those with links to Israel.

Iran's intelligence and security services rely largely on proxies to carry out their plans, offering hundreds of thousands of dollars to jewel thieves, drug dealers and other criminals in murder-for-hire schemes. Officials say Iran's persistence makes it likely to eventually carry out the killing of a high-profile dissident, journalist or Western government figure, which could spark direct confrontation with Tehran. The tempo of the plots has dramatically increased in the past two years.

Just since last year, Western security and law enforcement agencies said they have disrupted an attempt to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton in Washington and to kidnap Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad in New York City; multiple attempts to kill British nationals and others living in the UK; an operation to murder French journalist Bernard-Henri Levy in Paris; attempts to kill Israeli business people in Cyprus; and a plan to use assassins recruited in a prison in Dubai to kill Israeli business people in Colombia.


Iran said suspected of attacks on German synagogues, threat to local Jewish leader
German authorities believe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is behind a string of recent attacks on synagogues, according to a local report Thursday.

The Tagesschau news website, citing an investigation led by the attorney general of the North Rhine-Westphalia state, said investigators also believe the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, is in increased danger of being targeted by the Iranian cell accused of committing the other attacks.

The attacks included shots fired at a synagogue in Essen, the firebombing of a synagogue in Bochum and an attempted arson at a synagogue in Dortmund, all in mid-November.

The report named a German-Iranian suspect referred to as Ramin Y., saying he fled to Iran last year.

German security officials believe the suspect, who is wanted on an international arrest warrant for “a murder in the rocker milieu,” has operational command over IRGC attack plots in Germany, the report said.

“We’re talking about state terrorism here,” it quoted an investigator as saying.

No further details were given in the report on the suspected threat against Schuster.




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