Wednesday, December 14, 2022

12/14 Links Pt1: IDF Reveals Rocket Sites next to Gazan Schools; UN rapporteur said ‘Jewish lobby’ controls US, compared Israelis to Nazi; Iran kicked out of UN Women's Commission in 29-8 vote

From Ian:

IDF Reveals New Terrorist Rocket Launch Sites next to Gazan Schools
Hamas exposed: This is how the Hamas terrorist organization uses schools and education to promote its terrorist agenda. Additional instances of Hamas deliberately using children as human shields are now being exposed. Here are a number of instances that showcase how Hamas endangers the civilians of Gaza.

This exposure comes approximately two weeks after UNRWA reported that the ground of one of its schools had collapsed. The collapse was caused by the construction of a Hamas terrorist tunnel.

Hamas Rocket Launch Site Stationed Adjacent to the Mo'ath Bin Jabal School
Hamas stationed a rocket launch site adjacent to the Mo'ath Bin Jabal school in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. Near the school, which is used by UNRWA as a shelter during emergencies, is a Hamas rocket launch site. Prior to Operation Guardian of the Walls, the school’s principal, Mehammed Abu Oun, maintained contact with an operative in the Hamas rocket array, Jalal Abu Aoun, who it appears enabled this shooting.

The cynical exploitation of schools proves once again that the terrorist organization consciously chooses to endanger Gazan civilians and use them as 'human shields' in benefit of their terrorist agendas.

Hamas Rocket Launch Site Stationed Adjacent to the Khalil Al Nobani School
Hamas stationed a rocket launch site near the Khalil Al Nobani school in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

The school is a completely innocent public building that was intended to provide a secure environment for the children in the Gaza Strip, but in reality, Hamas used it to launch rockets.

Rocket Launch Sites Stationed Adjacent to the Al-Furqan School
Terrorist organizations stationed rocket launch sites near the Al-Furqan elementary school located in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Terrorist organizations launched rockets from the sites near the school throughout Operations Guardian of the Walls and Breaking Dawn, thereby endangering the lives of the students and residents of the Gaza Strip.

Over 1,000 innocent students attend these schools that Hamas uses for terrorist activities. Hamas purposefully puts both civilians and pupils in danger by using them as human shields.

Hamas is only interested in its own terrorist agenda, and students in Gaza constantly find themselves in danger from being used as human shields.


Israel: impunity for UN officials speaking of the Jewish Lobby must end
Israel called on the United Nations to end its impunity for UN officials who use the antisemitic phrase the Jewish Lobby.

"The lack of accountability and impunity for comments made by UN officials only works to legitimize antisemitism and endangers the Jewish people," it said.

Israel's mission to the UN in Geneva spoke out after an Israeli English website The Times of Israel reported that "UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967" Francesca Albanese had used the phrase the Jewish Lobby.

Albanese is tasked with reporting on alleged Israeli human rights abuses to the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. Other reports of the use of the antisemitic phrase

Earlier this year, The Jerusalem Post reported Miloon Kothari, one of three members of the UNHRC's Commission of Inquiry on Israel, had said in a public interview that social media was largely controlled by the “Jewish lobby.” He later retracted that statement due to its antisemitic connotations.

Albanese's comment "that surfaced today are yet another stain on the credibility of this body and yet another example of the impunity that exists today regarding antisemitism and antisemitic comments made by UN officials."

It referenced a Facebook post she wrote in 2014, prior to entering the post of special UN rapporteur in which she wrote that, "America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish Lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust remain on the sidelines..”
UN rapporteur said ‘Jewish lobby’ controls US, compared Israelis to Nazis
The individual tasked by the United Nations Human Rights Council with probing alleged Israeli violations against the Palestinians had previously said that the “Jewish lobby” controls the United States and compared Israelis to Nazis, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.

Francesca Albanese, the UNHRC’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, made the comment in 2014 during the 50-day conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.

“America and Europe, one of them subjugated by the Jewish lobby, and the other by the sense of guilt about the Holocaust, remain on the sidelines and continue to condemn the oppressed—the Palestinians—who defend themselves with the only means they have (deranged missiles), instead of making Israel face its international law responsibilities,” Albanese wrote on Facebook at the time.

TOI also found that Albanese had sympathized with terror organizations, dismissed Israel’s security concerns and accused the Jewish state of potential war crimes.

Last month, Albanese spoke at a conference in Gaza attended by senior members of the U.S.- and E.U.-designated terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

In her speech, translated into Arabic in real time, Albanese told the crowd: “You have a right to resist this [Israeli] occupation.”


Iran kicked out of UN Women's Commission in 29-8 vote
Iran was ousted from the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women on Wednesday evening in a vote of 29-8.

Some 16 countries abstained from the vote. The eight countries to vote against the decision were Bolivia, China, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Russia and Zimbabwe.

The decision comes as Iranians continue to protest against the Islamic Republic throughout Iran for a 12th week. The protests were sparked after the killing of Mahsa Amini by Tehran "morality police" in September but has since expanded to cover more issues than just hijab, with many protesters calling for regime change.

One of the central slogans of the ongoing protests is "women, life, freedom."

An Iranian representative to the United Nations stated that the Islamic Republic "categorically rejects" the decision, calling the claims of women's rights abuses against Iran "baseless and fabricated."

The representative claimed that the US was "undermining" the principles of the UN charter and attacking the core principles of democracy.

"Our efforts to promote and protect women's rights are driven by our rich culture and well established constitution and is based on our cultural and ethical values. Just a cursory look at the advancement of Iranian women and girls and their status in various fields...can lead you to perceive Iran - away from prejudice - as a progressive society that takes into consideration their needs and listen to the voices of its women and girls eagerly."


The Extremists the Biden Administration Does Not See
If [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben-Gvir are "extremists" – at least in the eyes of the Americans – then under what category do Faraj and Al-Sheikh fall, as well as many other Palestinian officials who were previously involved in terrorism?

These US officials expressing concern over the rise of the far-right parties in Israel... do not seem to have any problem at all with the growing incitement and continuing terrorist attacks by Palestinians against Israel. Those onslaughts against Israelis, carried out in both the West Bank and inside Israel, include shootings, stabbings, car-rammings and the hurling of rocks and firebombs.

The US officials ignore that Hamas, the Palestinian terror group whose charter openly calls for the obliteration of Israel, remains more popular than ever among Palestinians.

The students who voted for Hamas are saying that they do not recognize Israel's right to exist; do not believe in any peace process with Israel and, like Hamas, are totally opposed to the two-state solution that the Biden administration has been advocating day and night.

Like Hamas, the students believe only in a solution that would see Israel replaced by an Iranian-backed terror state controlled by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This scenario does not seem to bother the Biden administration in the slightest.

To see what real extremism looks like, those voicing concern over the return of the right wing to power in Israel only need to catch a glimpse of what is happening under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are full of armed terrorists and gunmen who are openly stating their intention to kill Jews.

Some even say that it was precisely actions of the Palestinian terrorists that spurred this "extremist" group in Israel to win the election in the first place.


Netanyahu's new government must affirm 2-state support -EU Parliament
The incoming Israeli government must affirm its support for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the European Union's parliament said in a wide-ranging resolution it approved in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

The parliament said that "the next Israeli government should make a clear commitment in favor of the two-state solution."

European Union parliamentarians affirmed that they gave their "unwavering support for a negotiated two-state solution on the basis of the 1967-lines."

This includes, the resolution stated, "two sovereign democratic states living side by side in peace and guaranteed security, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states and in full respect of International law."

The resolution was approved as incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forming a coalition that does not support a two-state resolution to the conflict.

Yair Lapid affirmed Israel's support for a two-state resolution
Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid affirmed Israel's support for a two-state resolution to the conflict when he addressed the opening session of the 77th United Nations General Assembly in September.

Although his vision of two states was not based on the pre-1967 lines, the statement itself was enough to help reduce diplomatic tension between Israel and the EU with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu in 2009 affirmed his support for a two-state resolution to the conflict, also not based on the pre-1967 lines and with the understanding that the future Palestinian state in question would be a demilitarized one. He also threw his support behind former US President Donald Trump's two-state plan.


Israel said set to show UN envoy proof most slain Palestinian minors had terror ties
Israel reportedly intends to present a visiting senior UN official with what it says is proof that most of the Palestinian minors killed by Israeli troops had been involved with terror groups and were engaged in military or quasi-military activity.

Virginia Gamba, UN special representative for children and armed conflict, is currently on a visit to Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, during which she will visit senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, for her annual report of harm to children in the conflict.

Unnamed diplomatic sources cited by Channel 13 news and the Kan public broadcaster on Monday said that officials will present Gamba with information on the “cynical use of kids by Palestinians, especially by terror groups: From recruiting children and teenagers as combatants to weapons training, summer camps, indoctrination, and using UNRWA schools as shelters for terrorists.”

“Regarding the Palestinian casualties, Israel will present data indicating that most teenagers were operatives of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, or engaged in military activity or military-linked activity,” a source told Channel 13.

“Additionally, Israel expects Gamba to examine the Palestinians’ use of teenagers as part of terror activities,” the source said.
PMW: Mass murderer as classmate: Palestinian kids exposed daily to Dalal Mughrabi who led murder of 37 – among them 12 children
Like a silent classmate, mass murderer Dalal Mughrabi – who led the murder of 37 Israelis, among them 12 children – looks down at Palestinian kids participating in a course.

One of the walls in the room serves as a memorial displaying numerous pictures of Mughrabi, the female Palestinian terrorist who led the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, known as the 1978 Coastal Road massacre, in which she and other Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway, murdering 37 civilians, 12 of them children, and wounding over 70.

This memorial appeared in pictures posted on Facebook by Fatah’s Lion Cubs and Flowers children's movement, which highlighted a course for children held by the movement in the classroom under Mughrabi’s watchful eyes.

Such glorification of mass murderer Mughrabi is completely in line with PA policy, which, as Palestinian Media Watch has exposed, teaches Palestinians to view the terrorist murderer as their role model.

It also is in line with Fatah’s policy of brainwashing children to grow up to be terrorists. PMW exposed this policy in a recent report “Teaching Terror to Tots” on Fatah’s Waed magazine for children ages 6-15, a magazine which is published by Fatah’s same Lion Cubs and Flowers children’s movement that held the course under the gaze of terrorist Mughrabi.


PM pledges UK support to Israel in key UN vote
Rishi Sunak has announced that the UK will vote against a "divisive" Palestinian bid for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel's occupation at the United Nations.

In speech to the Conservative Friends of Israel's annual business lunch, the prime minister confirmed the UK's intention to vote to block the move, saying that he will "oppose any actions which stand to harm the peace process and the two-state solution".

Mr Sunak also announced that he will be visiting Israel next year in its 75th anniversary year, calling it "a landmark year after so many years of struggle – but also success."

Addressing a packed crowd that included the Chief Rabbi, Israel's UK Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, MPs, and many more dignitaries, the prime minister hailed the UK's relationship with Israel that has "never been closer".

He praised his predecessors Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss - who were all in attendance at the lunch - for their "principled commitment to ending the bias against Israel in international fora", and pledged to continue that stance.

To that end, Mr Sunak told the attendees: "And I will therefore oppose any actions which stand to harm the peace process and the two-state solution, and that will include the upcoming vote at the UN General Assembly relating to the ICJ where I can confirm that the United Kingdom will join with our allies in voting against this divisive action."

The United Nations General Assembly is due to hold a vote on whether to ask the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

The resolution, which was approved by a UN committee in early November, asks that the ICJ "urgently" weigh in on Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory", which it said were violating Palestinians' right to self-determination.


Czech president requests to move embassy to Jerusalem
Czech President Miloš Zeman requested on Monday to move his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the coming months.

Zeman has asked Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala to approve the move before his term ends next March but could face opposition from the EU.

The president even suggested he and Fiala would visit Israel for the grand opening.

In an interview with Rádio Jornal in the Czech Republic, Zeman said that he assumed that this time, the Czech government would approve his request for the transfer of the embassy after the previous prime minister opposed the move.

According to estimations, Zeman's statement was intended to put pressure on the Czech government because he considers the embassy a legacy he seeks to leave behind.

Prime Minister Fiala had previously signed as a member of parliament in the Czech opposition a petition calling for the transfer of the embassy.

However, Fiala faced several obstacles: The process is not supported by the Czech coalition, and the dependence of Prague on the European Union - in terms of policy against Russia, its ongoing energy crisis, and other issues - means a great deal of difficulty in carrying putting such a move to effect, contrary to popular opinion in the European Union.
Can the World Cup lead to upgraded Morocco-Israel peace?
The remarkable achievements of the Moroccan national team in the FIFA World Cup 2022 and its qualifying to the semifinals have put the country of the Maghreb in the headlines. Overnight the team has become the undisputed representative of the Arab world in its battle for the coveted trophy; disappointment at the Moroccan players' identifying with the Palestinians did not taint the joy felt by the team's fans.

Only two years have passed since ties between the two countries have been restored, but it seems as if these were never severed in the first place. In regard to the ongoing struggle for world order and the crises raging through world economies, Israel and Morocco can offer solutions that will help in dealing with current challenges. These solutions may bring the relative advantage of each country to light, as well as the partnership between them. Today, more than ever, the time is right for another step up in the ties that have developed between Jerusalem and Rabat.

The historic agreement, mediated by the Trump administration, was part of the Abraham Accords. As part of the Accords, Morocco became the fourth Arab country to establish ties with the State of Israel within several months. The triple declaration changed the map beyond recognition and created a new era between the two countries. Two decades earlier, in 2000, Morocco severed its ties with Israel following the Second Intifada. And surely, the strong ties remain an integral part of the heritage of the two nations.

A Small Community, A Long Tradition
The history of the Jewish people in Morocco is deep; spanning more than a thousand years. It is believed that Jews first arrived in Morocco after the destruction of the Second Temple. Over many centuries, Morocco welcomed and accepted many Jewish scholars from Spain and its surroundings, and it itself became a stronghold of Jewish life, despite religious persecutions and severe hardships that befell the Jews. The city of Essaouira even set a precedent in the Muslim world, when it became the only city with a Jewish majority.

Throughout the generations, Jews immigrated from Morocco to Israel. Immigrants from Morocco took part in the 19th-century revival of the Jewish settlement and in the development of many cities, including Jaffa, Haifa, Tiberias, and Jerusalem. In the first decades after the establishment of the State of Israel, the majority of Moroccan Jews immigrated to Israel, while a small Jewish community remained in Morocco. Most Moroccan Jews live in Casablanca, with a small minority in Marrakesh. The community is strict about maintaining community customs. With the encouragement of the King of Morocco, projects were initiated for the comprehensive renovation of Jewish cemeteries and neighborhoods in the Jewish quarter where Jews lived.

With the renewal of ties, following the Abraham Accords, direct flights operate between Tel Aviv, Casablanca, and Marrakesh. Morocco has become a popular tourist destination for Israelis. Many agreements were signed between government ministries, academic institutions, companies and organizations in both countries. The sense of collaboration and satisfaction with the renewal of ties does not characterize only the leadership echelon – but is clearly evident on Moroccan streets and in the general attitude towards Israelis.


French court convicts 8 over 2016 Nice terror ramming that killed 86
A French court on Tuesday ordered prison terms for eight suspects charged in the harrowing 2016 terror attack in Nice, where a suspected Islamist attacker plowed his truck into a crowd celebrating the July 14 national holiday.

Two men were given the most severe sentences of 18 years behind bars for helping Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian resident, prepare an attack that killed 86 people and injured over 450 in a four-minute rampage on a seaside embankment in the southern city before being shot dead by police.

Judges determined that Mohamed Ghraieb and Chokri Chafroud must have known about the attacker’s turn to Islamist radicalism and his potential to carry out a terror attack, based on records of phone calls and text messages among the three in the days ahead of the massacre.

Ghraieb, a 47-year-old from the same Tunisian town as Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, and Chafroud, a 43-year-old Tunisian, are also accused of helping to rent the delivery truck.

They denied the charges.
Turkey says it captured 44 linked to Mossad who spied on Palestinians
Istanbul police and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) detained 44 people on suspicion of leaking information about Palestinians living in Turkey to Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the investigators, the alleged suspects provided Mossad with surveillance data on Palestinians and their NGOs based in Turkey. Seven of the suspects have reportedly been arrested. A search for another 13 individuals is underway.

The operation was launched earlier this week following an investigation of several consulting companies in Istanbul, which allegedly provided investigation services using their contacts with Mossad.

Among those detained are members of a private investigators' association and a university professor. The interrogated suspects reportedly confirmed that they were paid to give Mossad information that was used to launch online campaigns against Palestinian expats in Turkey.

The Daily Sabah, a Turkish outlet, reported that "Turkish authorities have been investigating Istanbul-based 'consulting companies,' which offered private investigation services for their customers for a while via their contacts with the Israeli agency. Mossad paid suspects to run surveillance on Palestinians and their nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Türkiye, according to investigators. An operation was launched earlier this week against the suspects. Interrogated suspects' statements revealed that their work helped Mossad to launch online defamation campaigns and threats against Palestinians."
Turkey detains 44 suspects allegedly working for Mossad


Israel struck Iranian arms convoy along Syrian-Iraqi border - IDF chief
Israel struck a convoy of trucks carrying Iranian weapons along the Syrian-Iraqi border last month, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi confirmed on Wednesday.

Without specifying the exact timing, it appeared clear that he was referring to an attack within Syria, next to the Iraqi border, which the Wall Street Journal and various other media outlets attributed to Israel in early November, but which Israel did not take responsibility for at the time.

According to reports at the time, the caravan was moving Iranian weapons, likely including powerful missiles, from Iraq to Syria and around a dozen Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members and other Iranian-associated forces were killed.

Speaking at a conference at Reichman University, Kohavi said that the IDF had "perfect intelligence" to hit "Truck Number 8" out of a 25 truck caravan, because it knew that this truck was the one containing Iranian weapons.

Describing the operation, Kohavi said the IDF needed to send the air force to the correct location and that the IAF aircraft “needed to evade surface to air missiles. Don’t make any mistake – there are operations where they fire between 30-40 surface to air missiles,” sometimes even reaching 70 missiles.

Israel’s air force needed to “attack, to actually hit [their targets] and to return [without being shot down by the surface to air missiles.] During some of the attacks, they also need to avoid killing people who should not be killed. These are very advanced capabilities,” he said.


Interactive map aims to show incidents of West Bank violence amid IDF operations
With the security situation in the West Bank deteriorating in recent months and frequent clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians, a Washington-based think tank is aiming to provide a full picture of the events with a new visual tool.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) on Wednesday launched an interactive map that tracks individual incidents in the West Bank and Israel since March, when the Israel Defense Forces began a major crackdown following a series of terror attacks.

The site, say its authors, will record and provide accurate, unbiased information about the IDF’s operations, ensuing clashes and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

“Our goal is to show the uptick in violent militant activity in the West Bank, and that it’s not just isolated to Jenin and Nablus, but a lot of areas in the West Bank, and you can see how extensive the violence is,” Joe Truzman, an FDD research analyst focused on Palestinian terror groups, who is responsible for the map’s data, told The Times of Israel.

Truzman said the think tank picked the beginning of the IDF’s operation as a starting point for its recording activity, though violence in the West Bank constantly ebbs and flows.

The IDF launched its anti-terror offensive, mostly focused on the northern West Bank, in the spring to deal with a series of Palestinian attacks that have left 31 people dead since the start of the year.


The Israel Guys: 16-Year-Old Palestinian Girl Tragically Killed in IDF Battle with Terrorists
When the IDF went into Jenin on a counter-terror operation, a 16 year old Palestinian girl was unfortunately killed. The media immediately blamed Israel and the US called for accountability. According to a new poll, the majority of Palestinians Arabs in Judea and Samaria are fed up with the Palestinian Authority.


2022 among the deadliest years in recent memory for Israelis and Palestinians
With a series of deadly terror attacks and near-nightly clashes between the Israeli military and Palestinian gunmen as the army has ramped up operations in the West Bank, 2022 is shaping up to be the deadliest year for both Israelis and Palestinians in years.

According to data from the Shin Bet security agency, 27 Israeli civilians and foreigners were killed in terror attacks committed by Palestinian or Arab Israeli terrorists in Israel or the West Bank so far this year.

Another three soldiers were killed in attacks directed against troops, and one police commando was killed during clashes with Palestinian gunmen in a West Bank operation.

In 2015, 29 people were killed in Palestinian attacks during a string of knifing, shooting, and ramming incidents, most of them civilians. In 2014, 93 people were killed, mostly soldiers amid a war in the Gaza Strip.

The majority of this year’s fatalities occurred in attacks in the Tel Aviv area and nearby cities (12) and in the West Bank (9).

In addition, four people were killed in an attack in the southern city of Beersheba, four were killed in separate attacks in Jerusalem, and two were killed in an attack in the northern city of Hadera.

According to Shin Bet data, more than 129 people have been wounded in attacks this year.
Palestinian man charged with stabbing Israeli man to death
Military prosecutors on Monday night filed an indictment against Younis Hilan, a Palestinian man who allegedly stabbed and killed an Israeli man in a West Bank village in October.

The victim, 63-year-old Shalom Sofer, was stabbed on October 25 as he exited a store in al-Funduq, a Palestinian village near Kedumim. He was hospitalized in serious condition and later released home, where he died around two weeks later.

Hilan was arrested several hours after the stabbing following a manhunt in the area of the attack.

The Israel Defense Forces said Hilan was charged with intentionally causing the death of Sofer — the military court’s equivalent of murder — and other security offenses.

He was to remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings, the IDF said.

Sofer’s family was updated on the developments, it added.

Tensions have soared in the West Bank recently as the IDF has pressed on with an anti-terror offensive to deal with a series of Palestinian attacks that have left 31 people dead since the start of the year.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Jordan, PA launch initiative to prevent status quo change on Temple Mount
Jordan and the Palestinian Authority have begun taking measures to stave off any attempt by the incoming right-wing government in Israel to change the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (Temple Mount).

The two parties earlier this week launched an initiative to encourage a large number of Muslims to converge on the site every day to attend sessions for reciting the Koran.

The initiative aims to send a message to the Israeli government that Jordan and the Palestinians are determined to thwart any attempt to divide the holy site in time and space between Muslims and Jews.

The initiative, in addition, aims to reaffirm Jordan’s role as custodian of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

Following the rise of the far-Right parties in the last election, Jordanian and Palestinian officials expressed concern that a new coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would seek to divide the compound in time and space between Muslim and Jewish worshippers.
“The Zionist narrative” is invented “stories, nonsense, and tales” – Palestinian university lecturer
Official PA TV host: “Falsifying the facts, erasing the landmarks, and attempting to create baseless stories have constituted and still constitute a prominent path for inventing a Zionist narrative regarding the connection to Palestine…”

Modern history lecturer at Al-Quds Open University Nu’man Amr: “The Zionist narrative is an attempt to invent stories, nonsense, and tales. The Zionist movement needs to achieve legitimacy in the region and to market itself as having a connection to the place, time, and people in Palestine. The Zionist movement drew internal legitimacy from all these stories and marketed them abroad to achieve international and regional support, so as to turn the ‘foreigner’ into a ‘native person,’ and the ‘native’ into a ‘foreigner.’” [Official PA TV, Debunking the Zionist Narrative, Nov. 15, 2022]


Poll: 72% of Palestinians support terror groups like Lions’ Den
Seventy-two percent of the Palestinian public supports the activities of terrorist groups such as Lions’ Den, according to the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR).

The poll found that 79% oppose the surrender of armed group members and their weapons to the Palestinian Authority to receive protection from Israeli assassination.

Indeed, 87% said the P.A. had no right to arrest members of these armed groups, either to stop them from carrying out attacks against Israelis or to protect them from Israeli retaliation.

A majority, 59%, expected armed groups to expand and spread to other areas in Judea and Samaria. Fifteen percent said Israel would succeed in arresting or killing their members and 14% expected the P.A. to contain or co-opt the groups.

The poll also found that if presidential elections were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would defeat P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas (54% to 36%). The results mirror those of three months ago, which showed Haniyeh beating Abbas 53% to 38%.




Hamas leader threatens Israel over ‘plans’ for Temple Mount
The political leader of the Hamas terrorist group, Ismail Haniyeh, threatened retaliation on Tuesday to any changes to the status quo at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

The esplanade is the holiest place for Jews as the site of the Biblical temples, while the al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits atop the mount, is the third-holiest place for Muslims, who believe that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven from there.

“We will absolutely not permit the implementation of Zionist plans at the al-Aqsa Mosque or in Jerusalem more broadly,” Haniyeh said in an address commemorating Hamas’s 35th anniversary.

“The sword of Jerusalem has not and will not be sheathed,” he said.

Hamas supporters refer to its latest major flareup with Israel in May 2021 as the “Sword of Jerusalem Battle.” The terror group claims that the rockets it fired during that conflict were retaliation for Israeli security forces entering the al-Aqsa Mosque after Palestinians threw stones and other objects at them.


Hamas publishes photos it claims are of Hadar Goldin’s rifle
Hamas published a photo of the Tavor rifle it claimed belonged to IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held captive in Gaza for eight years, on Wednesday.

The publication of the photo comes as the terrorist group marks 35 years since it was launched.

Goldin was kidnapped during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 in an ambush by Hamas terrorists. St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul's body was also kidnapped in a separate attack during the 2014 operation. Hamas is also holding civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed captive in Gaza.

Tzur Goldin, Hadar Goldin's brother, responded to the photo on Wednesday afternoon, tweeting "The IDF spokesman has the time to be interviewed by the media but not to talk to my family that just went through an attack by Hamas? So far no one has contacted us."

Sinwar says Hamas, Israel holding 'secret negotiations' on prisoner swap
The leader of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, stated during a ceremony on Wednesday that Hamas has been holding “secret negotiations” with Israel concerning the captives its holding in Gaza.

The terrorist movement is demanding the release of all prisoners rearrested after being released in the Shalit deal and all female, minor, sick and elderly prisoners, as well any bodies being held by Israel, according to Sinwar.

“We will give the occupation a limited time to complete this deal, otherwise we will close the file of the four soldiers forever, and we will find another way to liberate our prisoners, God willing,” said Sinwar. Mengistu and al-Sayed are both civilians, but Hamas refers to them as soldiers.


MEMRI: Deputy Sheikh Of Al-Azhar: Homosexuality Is Same As Terrorism; Both Threaten Social Stability
On October 30, 2022, the Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism held its second "Listening and Speaking" conference. According to the observatory's director-general, Reham Salamah, the conference dealt with ways to persuade young people to endorse the wasatiyya (middle-road) approach of Al-Azahar, and reject various extremist notions to which they are exposed.[1] It focused on four major issues: the notion of freedom; dialogue and its impact on the struggle against extremism; homosexuality, and women's status.

The deputy sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Muhammad Al-Dhawini, spoke extensively on the issue of homosexuality, likening it to terror, since both are forms of corruption that threaten society, he said. Calling to judge behaviors like homosexuality according to the laws of the shari'a, and not regard it as a matter of freedom or democracy, he urged the religious institutions to fight this "moral perversion" that causes young people to renounce the values and moral precepts of Islam."

The conference's closing statement, which listed a number of conclusions and recommendations, stated for example that homosexuality often stems from psychological problems and that young people must be shielded from content that "promotes" it.

It should be noted that Al-Azhar has addressed the issue of homosexuality in the past, calling it an "abomination" that the West tries to impose on other societies.[2]

This reports reviews some of the statements made by Al-Dhawini at the conference and the recommendations of the conference in this context.
Palestinians say Arab support at World Cup proves their cause is not ‘buried’
Morocco’s support for the Palestinians during the Atlas Lions’ historic World Cup run shows the cause has not been “buried,” Palestinian Football Association chief Jibril Rajoub said Wednesday.

Like several other Arab nations, Morocco has agreed to full diplomatic ties with Israel — but this has not stopped its players from making their loyalties clear regarding the decades-old conflict.

They unfurled a Palestinian flag on the pitch after their stunning December 6 upset victory against Spain, and also after beating Canada during the group stage.

Moroccan players have also made pro-Palestinian social media posts during the tournament.

Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and in East Jerusalem have — like much of the Middle East — embraced Morocco, the first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semifinal.

Ramallah sporting goods store owner Saeed al-Ramahi said enthusiasm for the Moroccan team seemed unquenchable, with all of their jerseys sold out.

“If I had 300,000 shirts, I would have sold them all in the last two days,” he told AFP.

That is despite Morocco joining the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in establishing full diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020 under deals brokered by then-US president Donald Trump.
Blowing the Whistle on FIFA’s Systemic Antisemitism
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar has arguably become the most controversial to date, raising widespread indignation over myriad issues concerning its host, including Qatar’s decision to ban beer from stadiums and its mistreatment of the press, the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers, 6,500 of whom have died since Qatar was awarded the Cup.

Many issues have been spotlighted, but another has gone unaddressed: FIFA’s refusal to handle its own systemic antisemitism. Since this World Cup’s festivities began, Qatar and FIFA’s proxies have made their intent to exclude Jews very clear. FIFA’s silence has been deafening.

First, a FIFA website designed to sell World Cup tickets and accommodations sought to make easily identifiable Jewish guests feel unwelcome. To book tickets, fans had to book through an intermediary page according to their country of residence. Israel—where nearly half of all Jews live—was initially omitted, replaced with “Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Silence from FIFA.

Reports then emerged that Qatar had banned Jewish guests attending the World Cup from public prayer and reneged on a promise to offer cooked kosher food at games, despite the demand for it, given that 10,000 to 20,000 Israelis were expected at the Cup. Again, silence from FIFA.

On four occasions, high profile experts on antisemitism wrote to FIFA, asking that two antisemitism advisers be permitted to attend and monitor the tournament. The proposal could have been implemented for free. These advisers and their insights certainly could have been valuable at an event hosted by a country that has given nearly $2 billion to Hamas, which aspires to commit genocide against the Jews. FIFA ignored the letters.
Deep diveHow the son of ‘Hitler’s architect’ helped bring the World Cup to Qatar
It is perhaps apt that the man who helped bring the World Cup to Qatar — one of the most controversial sporting events since the Berlin Olympics of 1936 — was the son of “Hitler’s favorite architect.”

It is not, however, a comparison that the now-deceased Albert Speer Jr. would have welcomed.

Speer, one of Germany’s most successful postwar urban planners and architects, spent much of his life attempting to escape the long and dark shadow of his father’s role in Hitler’s court and the Third Reich’s war machine.

“I have tried my whole life to separate myself from my father, to distance myself,” he told Süddeutsche Zeitung in 2010. “I can’t help it,” he said on another occasion when asked about his notorious name and family. “It is as it is.”

But there was a peculiar paradox at the heart of Speer’s life. His eco-friendly architecture — which he insisted must have a “human dimension” — consciously rejected the megalomaniacal, overbearing monumentalism of his Nazi father’s work. Speer Jr. nonetheless frequently put himself at the service of brutal, autocratic regimes, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and China.

As The New Yorker magazine tartly put it in a detailed exploration of his “complicated architecture” five years ago: “His sense of moral rectitude has not kept him from working with authoritarian governments.”

Speer, who died in 2017 at the age of 83, cannot have been unaware of this paradox. Having devised the “masterplan” with which the Qataris convinced FIFA to allow it to stage the World Cup, he later bridled at being associated with the mounting human toll of his grand desert design and stopped speaking to the press.

In all, it is suspected that hundreds of migrant workers may have died working on a project which has also been dogged by concerns about Qatar’s abysmal human rights record, allegations of rampant corruption, and the staggering environmental cost of staging a soccer tournament in “a sweltering petrostate” with the highest per capita carbon emissions in the world.
Fearing Assassination, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas Leadership Flee Qatar for Duration of Mondial
The Hamas command has been in Doha, the capital of Qatar, since the terrorist leaders left Syria in 2010, at the start of the civil war there. But on Tuesday night, Kan 11 reported, citing sources in Gaza, that the most senior Hamas officials, from the leader Ismail Haniyeh on down, left Qatar at the start of the 2022 World Cup and will return to Doha only after the end of the tournament.

According to the same sources, Hamas realized that during the month of the World Cup, Qatar would open its doors to all the countries of the world, and this would allow intelligence organizations to operate freely in the country, including assassination teams from you know where.

Therefore, a dramatic decision was made by Hamas to evacuate all its senior officials from Qatar during the month of the tournament. Since then, they have been moving around the world, and relocated, among other places, to Algeria and Turkey.

Ismail Haniyeh and the rest of the gang are expected to return only after Qatar closes its doors again and becomes a much safer place for Arab terrorists.

Haniyeh, 60, replace Khaled Mashal as Chief of Hamas’s Political Bureau on May 6, 2017. In 2014, the IDF bombed his headquarters in Gaza.

In February 2020, Haniyeh met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The US State Department condemned the meeting, stating: “President Erdogan’s continued outreach to this terrorist organization only serves to isolate Turkey from the international community, harms the interests of the Palestinian people, and undercuts global efforts to prevent terrorist attacks launched from Gaza.”

Haniyeh is married and has 13 children.


Atlantic Council Parts Ways With Prominent Iran Apologist
After more than a decade providing a platform for some of D.C.'s most notorious Iranian regime apologists, the Atlantic Council is disbanding its longtime Iran program in the face of mounting protests against the hardline government in Tehran.

The think tank announced this month that it is ending its Future of Iran Initiative, which advocated for closer ties between the United States and the clerical Iranian government, and parting ways with initiative director Barbara Slavin, who used her academic perch to host pro-Iran lobbyists and publish flattering commentary about regime officials.

In its place, the Atlantic Council is launching a new program called the Iran Strategy Project that includes regime critics and Iranian human rights advocates, including Alliance for Rights of All Minorities's Marjan Keypour, who has vocally supported the uprisings in Iran. The council has also added more conservative voices to its board, including Frances Townsend, who served as a homeland security adviser to former president George W. Bush, as well as Stuart Levey, a former Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence who helped implement a range of tough sanctions on the Iranian regime. The appointment of these voices is likely to take the Atlantic Council in a different direction, one at odds with Slavin's longstanding efforts to foster close U.S. ties with Iran's clerical leadership.

The news signals that the women's rights protests erupting across Iran prompted the Atlantic Council to revisit its programming after years of leading the charge to normalize U.S. relations with the regime. Slavin's Future of Iran project served as a key cog in the Obama administration's self-described pro-Iran "echo chamber," which flooded the media with positive propaganda in the lead-up to the 2015 nuclear deal. Slavin also publicly feuded with anti-regime activists and was pictured in 2017 giving the middle finger to pro-democracy protesters during a demonstration in Washington, D.C. The dissolution of Slavin's pro-regime program drew applause from Iranian regime critics, who said the Atlantic Council must turn the page on its past work as the Iranian protest movement threatens to topple the hardline regime.
Iran Sentences Belgian Aid Worker to 28 Years in Prison
Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been sentenced to 28 years in prison in Iran for a "fabricated series of crimes", Belgium's Justice Minister said on Wednesday, adding the government was doing everything possible to secure his release.

Vandencasteele had been sentenced as retribution for a jail sentence Belgium imposed on an Iranian diplomat last year, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said in the Belgian parliament.

"This is a compatriot who was innocently arrested in February and has been held under inhumane conditions since," he said.

Belgium has repeatedly said there are no grounds for the detention of 41-year-old Vandencasteele.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

"It's a disgrace and a tragedy for Olivier and his family," family spokesman Olivier Van Steirtegem told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. "He is innocent and the victim of a larger, shady international game."

Last week the Belgian constitutional court suspended an agreement between Iran and Belgium that would have made it possible to swap prisoners between the two countries. But Van Quickenborne said the agreement would legally still be relevant for Vandencasteele.
World union ‘shocked’ as Iranian soccer player may face death penalty over protests
The world union of professional soccer players FIFPRO said it was “shocked and sickened” by the risk of Iranian soccer player Amir Nasr-Azadani being sentenced to death in connection with protests which have shaken the country for three months.

Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an “armed riot” in which three security agents were killed on September 16, Isfahan’s judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said, quoted Sunday by Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Jafari said the 26-year-old had been accused of “rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh” — or “enmity against God” — a capital crime in the Islamic Republic.

“FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women’s rights and basic freedom in his country,” the union wrote on its Twitter page late Monday.

“We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment.”

The alarm comes after a global outcry following the execution by Iran in the past days of two young men arrested over the protests.


Iran: Scores of executions feared as 23-year-old hanged

Fury as Iranian Chess Grandmaster Pulls Out of Match Against Israeli Opponent
A rising star of Israeli chess has won a key match at a tournament in Barcelona after his Iranian opponent threw the game rather than play against a citizen of the Jewish state.

21-year-old Netanel Levi was awarded the match on Monday after just one move following the refusal of Amin Tabatabaei, a 21-year-old Iranian grandmaster, to compete against him.

Tabatabaei did not issue a statement explaining his decision, but observers at the Sunway Chess Festival in Barcelona told local media outlets that he was concerned about possible reprisals from the ruling regime once he returned to Iran. The Islamic Republic’s official policy rejects Israel’s right to exist and bans Iranian athletes from competitions that feature Israelis.

Tabatabaei is a professional who is currently on contract with FC Bayern Munich, the famed soccer team that fields a side in Germany’s professional chess league. After news of his decision not to play Levi became public, Paul Meyer-Dunker — the president of the Berlin Chess Association — angrily demanded that the International Chess Federation (known by its French acronym FIDE) take action to prevent boycotts of Israelis.

“How long are you going to tolerate this?” Meyer-Dunker asked in a tweet. “Will this hatred of our Israeli colleagues and the oppression of our Iranian colleagues ever have any consequences for the Chess Federation of Iran?”
Caroline Glick Show: The Women’s Revolution in Iran
In the new “Caroline Glick Show,” Caroline Glick discussed the role of women in leading the revolution in Iran with freedom activist Banafsheh Zand.

Zand explains the unique role that women have had in Iranian society going back to the time of Queen Esther. “Iran is a matriarchal society,” she says.








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