Tuesday, June 13, 2023

06/13 Links Pt1: Yet another UN farce; UNRWA strike is an opportunity to shut it down for good; Palestinians Build A Mosque, Destroying An Ancient Jewish Fortress In Samaria

From Ian:

Jpost Editorial: Yet another UN farce
The UN Commission of Inquiry is not only continuing its track record of anti-Israel bias – it is surpassing it and dragging the bias to new lows.

“The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel,” to give it its full title – or UN COI as it is known in brief – was approved and funded by the UN General Assembly in December 2021. Its establishment came following the 11-day war the previous May that started when Hamas in Gaza launched rockets at Jerusalem and much of the rest of Israel.

The COI is an unprecedented, open-ended war crimes probe against Israel. Since no such open-ended investigation has ever been instigated against any other UN member, nobody should have been under any illusion that the reports would be fair or unbiased.

The UN's biased panel members
The composition of the three-member panel should have indeed dispelled any remaining thoughts that the UN might approach Israel and the Palestinians with an open mind. All three members – former UN high commissioner for human rights and current COI Chair Navi Pillay, Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari – were all well-known for their anti-Israel stances. The results were a foregone conclusion.

The commission’s mandate allows it to investigate any alleged Israeli human rights violations in sovereign Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. According to the draft of its latest report, released on June 8, even that scope is not enough. As Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices, noted in an opinion article in this paper on Monday, the report contains an unprecedented attack on Israel and its defenders, “including private individuals and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) ‘worldwide.’"

“The move is a dramatic attempt to extend the global reach of a highly controversial venture initiated by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021, at the behest of Islamic states, without any Western support,” Bayefsky wrote.

While the 78-page report is too long to summarize here in detail, highlights include: “In March 2023, a Knesset lobby for the fight against antisemitism and delegitimization was announced by Likud members of the Knesset, with a focus on combating the ‘undermining’ of Israel by foreign countries that finance human rights and civil society organizations.”

In other words, the COI finds Israel guilty of – among its other “crimes” – daring to tackle delegitimization and antisemitism.
UNRWA strike is an opportunity to shut it down for good
The international community should be allowed to continue aiding Palestinians through means other than UNRWA, whose gradual closure will clearly convey the message that the State of Israel is here to stay and that it is time to negotiate with Israel rather than delegitimize it.

The process should begin with the education system of UNRWA in the West Bank. Instead of Palestinian children attending UNRWA schools and teachers receiving salaries from the agency, they will be redirected to schools under the Palestinian Authority.

The buildings will remain the same, the classrooms will be the same, and the teachers will be the same. The practical impact on the lives of Palestinians will be minimal. This situation will greatly facilitate the support of the defense establishment since the risk of social and security instability will be minimal.

Israel will demand that donor countries transfer the proportional portion of their donations allocated to the education system to the Palestinian Authority instead of UNRWA. Most donor countries have no problem doing so. The exception is the United States, which, due to the Taylor Force Act, does not transfer funds directly to the Palestinian Authority.

However, alternative solutions can be found through other aid agencies operating in the West Bank, such as USAID or UNICEF. In the future, suitable solutions can be found for each specific region in the Middle East where UNRWA operates, based on its specific needs and the given situation: Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

It can be assumed that the Palestinians will oppose such moves, and it will force them to explicitly state that they see a direct link between the existence of the agency and the fulfillment of their demand for return. Such a course of action will put them in a compromising position since they have managed to blame the continuation of the conflict solely on the Israeli side.

A gradual closure of UNRWA will focus attention on the fact that the struggle between us and the Palestinians revolves around the very existence of the State of Israel and not withdrawal from territories. Such understanding will hinder the political struggle in the international arena and lead to greater consensus within Israeli society, which is divided regarding its responsibility for the continuation of the conflict.

In the long run, the closure of the agency may trigger voices in Palestinian society that challenge the myth of return and start considering peaceful relations with the State of Israel instead of persisting in their current stance.
Palestinians Build A Mosque, Destroying An Ancient Jewish Fortress In Samaria
Over the weekend, the Palestinian Authority buried the ancient Hasmonean fortress "Tel Aroma" under thousands of tons of dirt and destroyed much evidence of the existence of the historic Jewish site.

Massive construction work was carried out by the Palestinian Authority last Saturday in the Hasmonean fortress of Tel Aroma, as part of which thousands of tons of dirt were poured on the slopes of the ancient Hasmonean fortress. Following the report of the destruction, the archeology department of Judea and Samaria worked to stop the construction, but during the afternoon tractors resumed and continued the destruction.

The dirt spillway almost completely blocks two ancient water reservoirs that were uncovered, which were used by the Hasmoneans. These piles of dirt are added to the previous destruction of the mound in the area which has been going on for several years and includes the shaving of the top of the mound, a massive theft of antiquities, and the construction of the "Mosque of the Martyrs" on the site.

Tel Aroma is an archaeological park identified with the biblical site of Aroma, which was the ruling city of Abimelech, topped by a Hasmonean fortress with an impressive water system that functioned as a ruling city during the Hasmonean kingdom and a fortress to protect its northern border. The site is located in Area B according to the Oslo Accords, at the top of a prominent hill, about 850 meters above sea level, on a ridge north of the Samaria’s main highway and the village of Akbara, and south of the Gideonim ridge near the settlement of Itamar.

Under the auspices of the Jewish Sabbath when Israeli antiquities protection & enforcement employees are off, trucks, and excavators dug near the "Mosque of the Martyrs" and removed thousands of tons of dirt that were spilled on top of the mound. The dirt covered the Herodian wall on the site and blocked at least two ancient water reservoirs, which are among the largest found in Israel from this period.

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Council, said that "This is shameful". According to him, "The Hasmonean fortress, one of the most important found, is being systematically vandalized. Part of the attempts of the pathetic 'Palestinian Authority.' I call on the government to make Tel Aroma a strategic destination for conservation before it's too late."




‘We Have to Resist’ A conversation with Natan Sharansky about Russia and Ukraine, repression and freedom
Of one thing, Sharansky is sure: Trying to appease Putin would be foolhardy. If you feed him parts of Ukraine, or parts of Poland, or a Baltic state or two, he will not be sated. He will merely take this as proof that “his strategy or tactics are working,” says Sharansky. The dictator will forge ahead. “So the only way to stop a dictator is to resist. The Western world, finally, is united in its understanding that Putin is a big threat. And we have to resist.”

When Putin declared that Ukraine is not a nation, Sharansky says, he awakened and fortified the Ukrainians’ sense of nation. “They have found their place at the center of history. They have proven that they’re ready to fight for their national identity and for their freedom. And that they are ready to die for these things.”

Furthermore, “they are bringing back to the word ‘nationalism’ its positive meaning.” Sharansky has argued for years that Israel can be both a Jewish and a democratic state. In 2008, he published a book titled “Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy.” The word “nationalism” is hotly controversial in Israel, for understandable reasons.

“By their struggle,” says Sharansky, “the Ukrainians are showing what a good nationalism is. At the same time, Russia demonstrates the worst of nationalism” — the nationalist card played by “a cruel dictator in order to strengthen his grip on the people.”

A final word. “Ukraine is lucky to have a great leader,” says Sharansky. He is talking, of course, about the president, Volodymyr Zelensky. “It is almost an irony of history that this leader is a proud Jew, who connects himself to Jewish culture and to Israel, and who at the same time is an unbelievably strong Ukrainian patriot.” He sets “a great example for the world.”

So does Sharansky, always has.


France says it uncovered major Russian disinformation effort; Israel said targeted
France on Tuesday said it had uncovered a major Russian disinformation campaign, with false news items hostile to Ukraine made to look like they were published by prominent French news media.

The campaign also appears to have targeted Israeli and Jewish media.

Western states have been acutely concerned about an intensification of Russian-led disinformation campaigns, as Moscow seeks to influence public opinion across the world over its invasion of Ukraine.

“France condemns these actions unworthy of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.

“The French authorities are working closely with their partners to defeat the hybrid warfare led by Russia,” she added.

France has for several years sounded the alarm over alleged Russian disinformation campaigns in areas of Francophone Africa, particularly those where the Russian mercenary group Wagner has been active.

The campaign was carried about by “Russian actors,” with “state entities or entities affiliated to the Russian state,” then working to amplify its impact, according to Colonna.

“This campaign is based in particular on the creation of fake web pages impersonating national media and government sites as well as the creation of false accounts on social networks,” she said.


The Zionists cooperated with Hitler to advance their state, says Palestinian journalist on PA TV
Palestinian journalist from Jordan Muhammad Al-Burini: “I want to note a very important point regarding the fabricated Holocaust, truly fabricated. I visited the site [of the death camps] and I saw a documentary film, showing that Hitler and the Zionist movement cooperated to spread claims, and while people were indeed killed and burned there, this was meant to justify the Zionist movement’s long-range goal: To establish their state in Palestine [and] to get-”

Official PA TV host: “Sympathy.”

Muhammad Al-Burini: “The sympathy of the European peoples.”
[Official PA TV, Talk of the Hour, June 8, 2023]


Barak urges civil revolt as anti-reform protests lose steam
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a leading voice against the Netanyahu government’s judicial reform program, urged demonstrators to revolt in a speech in Haifa on Saturday.

Barak told protesters to engage in “civil disobedience, or in more precise language, nonviolent civil disobedience.”

(During a Sept. 6 interview with Channel 12, Barak detailed what he meant, referring to blocking roads—an act already engaged in by protesters—strikes, refusal to pay taxes and boycotts.)

“The script for civil disobedience was written by Mahatma Gandhi, who drove the British Empire from India, by Martin Luther King, who led the struggle for civil rights for blacks, by the young people of the United States, who pulled it out of Vietnam, and by those who removed [Slobodan] Milošević from his dictator’s chair in Serbia,” Barak told the protesters.

“I am calling upon the citizens of Israel to prepare for the call to act, and when the call comes, to answer it,” he said.

It was necessary to ratchet up the protests because while “the coup d’état was stopped at the 90th minute,” the judicial reformists hadn’t yet “thrown up their hands,” Barak said.
Israel’s Diaspora minister calls J Street ‘hostile’ after group tweets negatively about him
Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Diaspora minister who has antagonized some liberal segments of American Jewry, called J Street “hostile” to Israel after it retweeted a photo of the minister from New York City’s Celebrate Israel Parade.

Chikli was photographed at the June 4 parade making what appeared to many to be an obscene gesture toward a group protesting the Israeli government. He and his staff said he was gesturing to the protesters to smile and did not intend to make the obscene gesture.

Either way, the picture, taken last week by Forward reporter Jacob Kornbluh, has become fodder for Chikli’s critics, who have circulated it widely online as evidence of his disdain for protesters who oppose Israel’s government and its efforts to weaken the judiciary. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, tweeted the photo and wrote, “This government never ceases to embarrass us internationally.” And J Street shared a tweet by UnXeptable, a protest movement led by expatriate Israelis, that included the photo of Chikli below the word “SHAME,” which is a frequent chant at Israeli antigovernment protests.

Chikli, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, has pushed back. Speaking Monday evening on Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, Chikli responded to the viral photo by attacking organizations and individuals that had shared it on social media, saying that it was “fake news.”

J Street is a liberal Jewish Middle East lobbying group that calls itself “pro-Israel and pro-peace” and has become a target for pro-Israel conservatives in the United States and Israel. The anchors challenged Chikli, saying that J Street is an “important” group in the Diaspora and asking why he didn’t explain to J Street that the photo was misconstrued. (Chikli did reply to Lapid’s tweet with his explanation, writing that on the occasion of Israel’s 75th birthday, “we’re allowed to celebrate and be happy.”)

“It’s not an important organization, it’s hostile,” he said in his Kan appearance, citing J Street’s advocacy for the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which Israeli governments have reviled. “It’s a hostile organization that harms the interests of the state of Israel.”


Why Has Oman Not Normalized Relations with Israel?
The path for Omani normalization with Israel, which would greatly benefit them, is one of the small steps to lay the groundwork for further cooperation and diplomatic initiatives. The path to ruffle the least feathers is for Oman to champion trilateral projects between Oman, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel on issues that transcend politics, like water-related issues. Oman has a research center on desalination, while Israel is the world’s desalination expert.

A common complaint of the Palestinians is that they don’t have sufficient water resources for the future. This could be a way to help Palestinians on the ground and allow Oman to host Israelis and Palestinians to talk face-to-face with one another.

An additional option is for Oman to be actively involved in the Negev Forum of Arab nations and Israel, putting forward projects at the conference that would benefit them and could be financed by the United States and the more prosperous Gulf nations. The latter don’t trust the Palestinians as fiduciary stewards of their philanthropy. If Oman is more directly involved in monitoring the money, those nations may feel more confident that their resources don’t end up in the Palestinian kleptocracy.

The Omanis, Israelis, and the rest of the Gulf states know that trust is needed before friendship and normalization begin. This is where Washington’s assistance in shepherding new relationships is required. Unlike other Gulf nations, the Omanis practice a version of Islam that is neither Shiite nor Sunni but Ibadi, a moderate sect that holds freedom of religion dear.

A combined U.S.-Saudi initiative to cover Omani cooperation with Israel is in the interests of all the nations involved, as well as the Palestinian people. But that will take political capital to happen. Perhaps, if America cannot convince Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman to normalize relations with Israel at this time, involving the Omanis could be an intermediary step—Washington could provide economic incentives and security guarantees to alleviate Omani worries. This would be in America’s and its Gulf allies’ interests, as anything that stabilizes the region is a benefit for all.


"Sderot Residents Yell ‘Go Back to Tel Aviv’ at Anarchists Who Crashed Economic Committee Meeting"
Dozens of anarchist protesters burst into the hall where the Sderot Economic Committee meeting was held Tuesday morning, lay down on the floor, and chanted during the speech of Economy Minister Nir Barkat. Police removed the demonstrators in a little over five minutes, after it became clear they were there to destroy, not debate.

The anarchists’ breaking and entering followed their loud demonstration in the square outside the conference hall, which started early Tuesday morning. They crashed the meeting and interrupted Barkat’s speech, seconds after he started.

Many local residents shouted at them to “go back to Tel Aviv.”

The Sderot Economic Conference is the first of its kind, produced by the Sderot municipality in cooperation with the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce and Ma’of. Tits goals are to position Sderot and the surrounding area as a significant regional economic center that has been developing for the past decade and is a national force; as well as to establish access to government projects for local industrialists, business owners, and entrepreneurs. The conference is attended by hundreds of industrialists, business owners, high-tech companies, and entrepreneurs who take part in various panels.

Sderot residents shared with the anarchists their admiration that they are able to drop whatever they do for a living to travel down south to ruin other people’s plans.

Barkat chose not to respond to the provocations, but Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi took the podium and reprimanded the invaders.
Five Israelis, including four soldiers, wounded in West Bank terror shooting
Five Israelis, including four soldiers, were wounded in a shooting attack near Mevo Dotan in the northern West Bank on Tuesday afternoon, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit confirmed.

The terrorists fired from a moving car at a 33-year-old resident of West Bank, moderately wounding him, before driving further down the road and shooting at a military vehicle and wounding four IDF soldiers, who are in light-to-moderate condition.

The wounded man managed to drive to the Reihan Crossing and received initial treatment there before being transferred to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center for further treatment.

The four wounded soldiers were also treated at the scene before one of them was transported to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in a helicopter in moderate condition. The other three lightly injured soldiers were evacuated to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan stated after the attack, "This difficult incident, with many casualties, took place at an intersection adjacent to the intersection where Meir Tamari was murdered about two weeks ago."

"We have been begging for years and certainly after the attack, we begged, we cried out to stop abandoning us, to close the Hermesh checkpoint, to close the Mevo Dotan checkpoint," added Dagan. "Whoever made the unfortunate decision to re-open the checkpoint at the entrance to Hermesh after the end of the seven days abandoned the lives of our residents."
IDF maps Dee terrorist’s home for demolition
Israeli forces on early Tuesday mapped for possible demolition the Nablus home of one of the Hamas terrorists who murdered three members of the Dee family.

Muad Masri carried out the attack on April 7 in the Jordan Valley along with his accomplice, Hassan Katnani. Lucy Dee, 48, and her daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were killed in the shooting on the Route 57 highway near the Hamra Junction.

The terrorists were killed by Israeli forces on May 4 in an exchange of fire after troops surrounded their hideout in Nablus’s Kasbah (Old City). Ibrahim Hura, identified by the IDF as a collaborator with the Hamas terrorists, was also killed in the raid, the military said.

Troops measured the Masri’s home in the Rafidiya neighborhood of Nablus (biblical Shechem), which is the first step to prepare for the destruction of the home in an effort to deter terrorism.

During the mapping operation, armed men threw stones and explosives at the soldiers and fired shots at them, with the forces responding with live fire, the army said.
The Israel Guys: NO ONE Has Condemned This ARAB MK For His Hate Speech
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the US secretary of state Antony Blinken that no “deal” with Iran will stop Israel from defending herself. An Arab Member of Knesset told a Jewish youth in Jerusalem that he wished the young man would be murdered. . .Which international bodies, Human Rights organizations or world leaders were outraged by this clear hate speech? Yes, no one. And the Israeli Youth Soccer team got 3rd place in the World Cup U20.


Jerusalem court: PA must compensate Israeli tour guides for 2nd Intifada losses
A Jerusalem court ruled on Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority must compensate dozens of Israeli tour guides for financial damage incurred during the Second Intifada.

The tour guides’ lawsuit claimed their livelihoods suffered during the Palestinian terror campaign and held the PA responsible.

The Second Intifada, a time of numerous Palestinian terror attacks, Israeli military operations and mass unrest, lasted between September 2000 and 2005, during which time it was supported by the PA, then led by Yasser Arafat.

The plaintiffs — 59 tour guides represented by the Shurat HaDin law center— said terror attacks and threats of violence caused a severe blow to the tourism industry at the time.

The lawsuit was filed around 20 years ago, at the height of the intifada.

The compensation for the plaintiffs amounted to a total of NIS 5.5 million ($1.5 million).

In a partial ruling on the case in 2019, Judge Moshe Drori held the PA responsible for terror attacks and the resulting economic damage to the Israeli tourism industry.

“The Palestinian Authority had several aims — not just to kill Jews and Israelis, but also to damage Israel’s economy, including tourism, to put pressure on the Israeli government to submit to Palestinian demands,” Drori said, according to Kan news.

A representative for the PA argued that tourism at the time declined for a number of reasons, including a global economic downturn and the September 11 terror attacks in the US.

The judge rejected this argument, and ruled that the PA was responsible for 95.4% of the reduction to guides’ income between October 2000 and May 2002.
Officer dismissed as IDF blames deadly Egypt border attack on easily opened gate
A senior officer will be removed from his position and several others will be formally censured for their part in the circumstances that enabled a deadly border attack by an Egyptian gunman earlier this month that claimed the lives of three soldiers.

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that an investigation had found a number of contributing factors to the attack: an easily opened small emergency gate on the border barrier was unknown to troops stationed in the area; an over-prioritization of drug smuggling incidents; and excessively lengthy guard shifts.

The investigation, carried out by Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano and the commander of the 80th Division, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, was presented to IDF chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Tuesday.

The investigation was also presented to the families of Staff Sgt. Ori Yitzhak Iluz, 20, Staff Sgt. Ohad Dahan, 20, and Sgt. Lia Ben Nun, 19, troops of the Bardelas and Caracal battalions who were killed by the renegade Egyptian policeman in the attack and subsequent clashes on June 3 in which the assailant was killed.

The Bardelas and Caracal mixed-gender light infantry battalions are part of the IDF’s Border Defense Corps, and geographically subordinate to the Paran Territorial Brigade, which is part of the 80th “Edom” Territorial Division in the Southern Command.

The IDF said that Cohen, the commander of the 80th Division, will be formally reprimanded for his “overall responsibility for the event, including the lack of control over the implementation of the procedures.”
MEMRI: Palestinian Authority, Fatah Glorify Egyptian Border Guard Muhammad Salah Who Killed Three Israeli Soldiers
The June 3, 2023 shooting of three Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Egypt border, perpetrated by Egyptian border guard Muhammad Salah, elicited many reactions in the Arab world,[1] including in the Palestinian Authority (PA), that praised the shooter and his action. The PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida stated in an editorial that the attack proved that the peace and normalization agreements with Israel have not caused the Arab masses to forget their hatred for this country. Social media accounts belonging to and affiliated with Fatah, the ruling party in the PA, likewise posted many messages glorifying the attack and its perpetrator. Moreover, Fatah's branch in Nablus set up a mourning tent for the shooter and called on the public to visit it in order to honor "the hero Muhammad Salah" and "express congratulations on his martyrdom." A mourning tent was also set up in Jenin district.

This report presents some of the reactions published by Fatah and the PA extolling the Egyptian border guard and his killing of the soldiers.

PA Daily: The Peace Agreement With Israel Has Not Eliminated The Egyptians' Hatred For It
The June 7, 2023 editorial of the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida stated that the shooting was proof that the Egyptian people still hate the Israeli enemy, even 45 years after the signing of the peace agreement between the two countries. It said: "We will not address the [conflicting] accounts of the operation carried out by the Egyptian border guard Muhammad Salah Ibrahim, in which three soldiers of the Israeli occupation army were shot with an AK-47. The fact that the Egyptian people are clearly saluting this operation and the man who performed it – that is the real story, which Israel must carefully heed. Israel must realize that, ultimately, dirty political tricks and arrangements cannot erase the human conscience and morality or the feelings of hostility and hatred for the enemy whose aggressive and bloody behavior has burdened [the Egyptians'] conscience and memory.

"Forty-five years after the Camp David [Accords between Israel and Egypt], the reality is zero normalization [with Israel] on the Egyptian street. Israel is still perceived on the Egyptian street as an occupation state, [which] persists in its arrogance and its aggressive policy, especially towards [the Egyptians'] brothers in Palestine. Israel must understand, in this context, that Palestine is [enshrined] in the Egyptian conscience… [Only] when it recognizes this as an indisputable truth will it be able to clearly perceive its situation, namely, that it will not be able to live in this region in peace, quiet and security until it takes off the mantle of war and aggression and purges its mind of racist fascism and of the delusion that it can perpetuate its occupation in Palestine and cement its complete control over the Arab east.

"Yes, Israel must take careful note [of the fact that] the Egyptian public is saluting the operation carried out by the border guard Muhammad Salah. He seems to have merged with [the figure of international Egyptian football star] Mo Salah, in terms of their [shared] name and also metaphorically, in the sense that [the border guard] scored three bitter and painful goals against Israel [by killing the three soldiers]!!"[2]


MEMRI: President Of Egypt's Soccer Club: I Will Build A Monument For Egyptian Who Killed 3 Israeli Soldiers
Mortada Mansour, an Egyptian politician who also serves as the president of the Zamalek SC soccer club, said in a video posted to the Klaket YouTube account on June 7, 2023 that he will build a monument for the "martyr" Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian policeman who recently killed three Israeli soldiers on the border between Egypt and Israel. Mansour also said that if he could, he would kill Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he added that the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel is only between "a state and a gang..."




The Guardian: China’s Palestinian moment is about global standing rather than peace
The Palestinian Authority president’s imminent state visit to China is believed even by senior Palestinian officials to be aimed at bolstering Beijing’s credentials on the world stage, rather than a serious attempt to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Mahmoud Abbas’s four-day visit, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, has been described by Chinese state media as aimed at facilitating new talks predicated on a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict. It also comes on the heels of Beijing’s recent success in brokering a detente between the Middle East’s two major religious and geopolitical poles, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

But Palestinian and Israeli sources told the Guardian that Abbas’ high-profile trip was more about burnishing the standing of China’s president, Xi Jinping, as a global statesman, and diplomatic breakthroughs are not expected.

The last direct peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials, brokered by Washington, were held in 2014. Since then, the massive growth of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has rendered a two-state solution all but impossible. Israeli politics has also continued a steady march rightwards, and Abbas’s corrupt and repressive Palestinian Authority (PA) now has little legitimacy either at home or abroad.

Yet, in December, on the sidelines of a summit between China and Arab nations held in Saudi Arabia, Xi met Abbas and publicly pledged to “work for an early, just and durable solution to the Palestinian issue”. The message was reiterated in April, when Chinese state media reported that the country’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, had told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts by phone that Beijing was willing to aid peace negotiations.


Lebanese newspaper reports Palestinian president's health deteriorating
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's health has deteriorated to such an extent that he may no longer be able to carry out his duties, a report said on Saturday. Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reported that: According to Fatah sources, due to Abbas's medical condition, doctors came to the presidential palace to perform examinations instead of at the hospital, after receiving Beijing's offer to arbitrate negotiations with Israel, the president of the Palestinian Authority planned to travel to China this week.

Also a senior Fatah official said that the Central Committee leaders began planning the succession of Mahmoud Abbas after checking the medical reports on the condition of the 88 years old Abbas, who is currently in his 19th year in office, in a term that was originally supposed to last only four years, Abbas has resisted holding elections and has not nominated a successor For almost two decades.

According to the report on Fatah, some West Bank officials are inclined to support Marwan Barghouti as Abbas' replacement. Barghouti is a longtime Fatah militant who was found guilty and imprisoned for murder by an Israeli court. The Central Committee's leadership, however, rejects this strategy. They believe Israel will not let Barghouti's release and that other candidates are better deserving of the position, Al Akhbar reported.

According to the sources, Majid Faraj, the chief of the Palestinian general intelligence service, is favored by Fatah to succeed Abbas. Faraj shares the same ideology as the current leadership, which unequivocally opposes violent resistance. In response, Israeli officials are worried about the possibility of the collapse of the Palestinian Authority in the event that Abbas passes away, which might cause turmoil in the West Bank and open the door for Hamas to seize power.
PMW: Who is “the DNA of all Palestinian nationalists”?
At a Fatah rally honoring imprisoned terrorist Marwan Barghouti on the anniversary of his arrest, Fatah played a recording of a speech by Barghouti, in which he urged to continue terror. Bargouti is serving 5 life sentences for planning 3 shooting attacks in which 5 people were murdered.

In the speech, Barghouti highlighted several arch-terrorists and murderers, including Hamas terror organization founder Ahmed Yassin, Hamas co-founder Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi, Fatah co-founder Abu Jihad who planned attacks in which 125 were murdered, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa, and Hamas bomb maker Yahya Ayyash.

When broadcasting the speech being played at the event, official PA TV chose to show photos of the terrorists and terrorist murderers: Recording of terrorist Marwan Barghouti: “The people of Izz A-Din Al-Qassam (i.e., Muslim terror leader in the British Mandate period) and Abd Al-Qader Al-Husseini (i.e., Arab commander in the 1948 war), the people of [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat, [Hamas founder] Ahmed Yassin, [Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine] Abu Ali Mustafa, [Islamic Jihad founder] Fathi Shaqaqi, Omar Al-Qassem (i.e., terrorist, led murder of 2), and ‘Abu Jihad’ Khalil Al-Wazir (i.e., terrorist, responsible for murder of 125), the people of Martyrs Raed Al-Karmi (i.e., terrorist, responsible for murder of 9) and Thabet Thabet (i.e., co-founder of Fatah terror faction), [Marwan] Zalum (i.e., terrorist, responsible for numerous terror attacks) … [co-founder of Hamas Abd Al-Aziz] Al-Rantisi… and [Yahya] Ayyash (i.e., Hamas bomb maker “the engineer”)… I am speaking to you to renew the covenant [with the homeland] and with the mighty Martyrs and heroic prisoners, and [to renew] the continuation of the path to release and liberation, the path of freedom and esteem, the path of honor and heroism.”

[Official PA TV, May 8, 2023]

Among the speakers at the event honoring terrorist Barghouti was top PA/Fatah official Jibril Rajoub, who praised Barghouti as “the DNA of all the Palestinian nationalists.” Rajoub also placed Barghouti in “an equilateral triangle” with two murderers – Karim and Maher Younes – who kidnapped and murdered Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg in 1980: Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “Marwan [Barghouti] was and will remain a symbol for the Palestinian national action and identity. The symbols of Marwan and Marwan’s school are the DNA of all the Palestinian nationalists… There are two people who together with Marwan are an equilateral triangle. Welcome with me Karim Younes and Maher Younes.”

[Official PA TV, May 8, 2023]




Al Qaeda-affiliated officials help lead Taliban government, UN report finds
A specialized United Nations team assessed that at least three key leaders in the Taliban's ruling government are “affiliated” or “associated” with the al Qaeda terrorist group in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, which protected al Qaeda before and after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, rapidly took over Afghanistan amid a disastrous U.S. withdrawal in August 2021.

The U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said in its June report that “two provincial governors of the Taliban de facto administration,” Qari Ehsanullah Baryal and Hafiz Muhammad Agha Hakeem, “are affiliated with al-Qaeda.” The team added that “another Talib associated with al-Qaeda,” Tajmir Jawad, is the "Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Intelligence.”

The confirmation of al Qaeda-affiliated leaders in the Taliban government comes after President Joe Biden wrongly claimed that al Qaeda was “gone” from Afghanistan a few days after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Hakeem had been the governor of Nuristan province but was named the governor of Panjshir province in May. Baryal was named the governor of Kabul province by the Taliban in November 2021 and later went on to become the governor of Kapisa province. Jawad was named the deputy chief of the Taliban’s intelligence services in September 2021.

The U.N. noted the U.S. military has assessed that Jawad was the former head of the “Kabul Network” — described as “a mixture of al-Qaeda and Taliban that directed suicide assaults against the United States and other coalition targets.”

The FBI also describes Sirajuddin Haqqani, a Taliban deputy prime minister and the leader of the Taliban government’s powerful interior ministry, as “a senior leader of the Haqqani network” who “maintains close ties to the Taliban and al Qaeda.”

The U.N. said that Sirajuddin’s ministry “continued its distribution of Afghan passports and tazkiras (national identity cards) to al-Qaeda members with advisory roles in main Afghan cities.”


Foreign secretary to investigate UK-Iran drone project after JC revelations
The foreign secretary has pledged to investigate after the JC revealed that scientists at British universities have helped Iran develop technology that can be used in its drone programme.

Speaking in parliament during Foreign Secretary's question time, James Cleverly confirmed that the government was looking into reports of staff at 11 British universities producing at least 16 studies with potential Iranian military applications.

Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, asked the foreign secretary what steps the government was taking to ensure that Iran could not become a country with nuclear weapons.

He said: "The foreign secretary will be aware that the regime is boasting that their hypersonic missiles can hit Tel Aviv in 400 seconds.

"The JCPOA restrictions end in October, and there are suggestions that British universities have been involved in research, leading to drones that are attacking Ukrainian training positions from Russia."

Responding, Cleverly confirmed that the government was "looking into" the universities connection and added: "We continue to stand firm on our commitment that Iran cannot become a nuclear weapons state and we will ensure that as sunset clauses within the JCPOA arrive, that we take evolved measures to ensure that is the case."

Last week, Senior MPs and peers expressed deep concern over the JC report, with a government spokesperson saying Britain would “not accept collaborations which compromise our national security”.
FDD: U.S. Permits Iraq to Release Billions to Iran
The Biden administration has authorized the transfer of $2.76 billion from Iraq to Iran, Reuters reported on June 10. The news comes within days of emerging reports that Washington hopes to trade Iranian funds trapped in foreign accounts for a halt to further nuclear escalation by Tehran. While the United States has issued sanctions waivers to allow Iraq to import electricity from Iran in the past, U.S. sanctions have prevented Tehran from repatriating funds paid into escrow in Baghdad.

Expert Analysis
“There’s enough evidence on the surface to suspect the release of Iraqi funds to Iran is tied in some way to the U.S.-Iran indirect nuclear talks brokered by the Omanis. There doesn’t have to be a formal deal in place for the administration to negotiate an agreement as defined in U.S. law. A sanctions relief waiver tied to a request to halt higher levels of enrichment would constitute willful evasion of mandatory congressional review.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle must be vigilant in ensuring that the Biden administration does not circumvent their oversight as the White House continues to try to enter an Iran nuclear agreement. Both the House and Senate must leverage all available legislative tools at their disposal to force the administration to be transparent with respect to its Iran policy, which has not been the case.”— Matt Zweig, Senior Director of Policy for FDD Action

Bypassing Congress in A Deal Without a Deal
The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) prohibits the president from issuing statutory sanctions relief for Iran in connection with any broadly defined “agreement” related to Iran’s nuclear program in which the U.S. “commits or otherwise agrees to take action, regardless of the form it takes, whether a political commitment or otherwise, and regardless of whether it is legally binding or not.” Open questions thus remain as to whether Iraq’s provision of sanctions relief to Iran — as enabled by the Biden administration — triggers the statutory requirement to submit any agreement to Congress pursuant to INARA.
Unwritten Agreement, New Mode Of Iran-US Deal, Says Politician
A former senior Iranian lawmaker says Tehran and Washington have agreed to a non-written deal giving Iran some sanctions relief but capping its nuclear program.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the former head of the Iranian Parliament's Foreign Policy and national Security Committee who often commentates on nuclear-related issues, claimed that Tehran and Washington are willing to agree to an “unwritten deal”.

“This means that the American side will no longer enforce the ‘maximum pressure’ policy [of the Trump administration], close its eyes to some of Iran's energy deals, and [allow] the release of Iran's frozen funds in return for Iran refraining from expanding its nuclear program more than the current level,” he told Khabar Online in Tehran.

Falahatpisheh also said a return to the JCPOA is no longer desired by either of the sides because both know that it can no longer be revived.

A return to the 2015 deal, he said, will force Tehran to give up much of the advancements it has made in its nuclear program at a very high cost, that is, giving up its new and more advanced centrifuges and a stockpile of 60-percent enriched uranium, banned under the JCPOA.

Also, the pressure of public opinion in the US has made a return to the deal impossible for the Biden administration, he argued.

Falahatpisheh also said the US may agree to Iran selling one million barrels of oil per day.

Referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s implicit endorsement of some kind of agreement, the moderate conservative former lawmaker told Khabar Online that Khamenei’s stance was “close to the views of moderates such as Mohammad-Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister who was the lead Iranian person in the 2015 deal.
Seth Frantzman: Iran’s Raisi visits Venezuela: Here's what to watch out for
Trade is one feature of the Venezuela-Iran relationship. This includes energy deals and also potential defense deals.

Iran has sought more markets for its drones. It already supplies drones to Russia. Venezuela may not need missiles or other technology from Iran and Iran may not have much more to offer, but every client for the drone program matters.

Recent reports in the Wall Street Journal say Iran has sought Chinese technology for the drones and also a report in the Jewish Chronicle showed it had also sought to exploit universities in the UK.

It's also known that Iranian proxies have a role in South America. Hezbollah in particular has sought to recruit and infiltrate the region.

In Venezuela, Iran also seeks to sign various new deals relating to “communications and information technology, energy, insurance, maritime transport, higher education, agriculture, medicine and medicine, cultural exchanges, as well as the development of mineral cooperation…oil, defense and support of the armed forces, healthcare and culture,” Iran’s Fars News said.

It is less clear what Iran’s leader will do in Cuba or Nicaragua, however, the same issues of trade and influence peddling are important to focus on. Iran may also be seeking to expand its sphere of influence to include Brazil or other countries. Considering how important this region is to the US and also Israel, any new initiative by Iran is an important and concerning trend.

In addition in regard to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some countries such as Brazil have not always agreed with the wider Western consensus, meaning Iran may be able to try to make inroads there.




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