Wednesday, June 21, 2023

06/21 Links Pt1: Glick: What’s behind the escalating Palestinian terror offensive; Biden’s Ties That Bind; Fatah: Murderers of 4 Israelis are “heroic Martyrs” and “men true to what they promised Allah”

From Ian:

Funerals held for victims of Eli terror attack
Hundreds of Israelis paid their last respects on Tuesday to Elisha Anteman and Harel Masoud, two victims of the day’s Palestinian terrorist attack near Eli in the Binyamin region of Samaria.

The funerals of Ofer Fairman of Eli and Nachman Shmuel Mordoff of Ahiya took place on Wednesday.

Anteman, 17, a 12th-grade student at a seminary in Eli, was buried in the town.

Masoud, 21, had just completed his military service. He was laid to rest in Moshav Yesodot, in the Nahal Sorek region.

Eulogizing her son Harel, Yael Masoud said, “Our beautiful Haralush [“little Harel”]. I can’t understand that you are not here with us. How can we talk about you in the past tense? You have only just been released from the army, from the most rigid framework, and you have only blossomed. Now that you have finally started to live, to fulfill your dream and to settle the land you loved—now she is taking you to the depths of her land.”

The 63-year-old Fairman was buried in Eli. Those who knew him said he was “a man above and beyond, full of light and goodness. A man who loves to help everyone, unimaginable.”

Mordoff, 17, was buried in Shiloh. He leaves behind parents and seven siblings. His family said at the funeral that Mordoff was “a smiling boy, energetic and loved by all his friends. He was always involved in the sacred, helping others, smiling and strengthening the weak.” Friends and family attend the funeral in Shiloh of Nachman Shmuel Mordoff, 17, June 21, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

The four Israelis were killed, and four others wounded, when two masked Palestinian terrorists arrived at a gas station near the community of Eli, in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem, and fired on diners at an eatery there. Morel Nikkel, a security guard from Eli, returned fire, killing one of the terrorists. The second was killed several hours later in a shootout with security forces in the city of Tubas.




Caroline Glick: What’s behind the escalating Palestinian terror offensive
The Biden administration is the fourth factor emboldening the Palestinians to attack Israel today. On Sunday, just before IDF forces were ambushed, the State Department issued a condemnation of Israel’s decision to permit Jews to build 4,000 new homes in Judea and Samaria and ease the approval of future building requests. State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller excoriated the decision as “an obstacle to peace.”

Following the massacre in Eli on Monday, U.S. Ambassador Tom Nides tweeted out a statement that indicated that for the Biden administration, there is no difference between the deliberate murder of Israeli civilians and the incidental death of Palestinians during a gunfight between Palestinian terrorists and IDF forces.

Nides wrote, “Deeply concerned about the civilian deaths and injuries that have occurred in the West Bank these past 48 hours, including that of minors. Praying for the families as they mourn the loss of loved ones, or tend to those injured.”

Nides posted an additional, unconditional condemnation of the massacre in Eli after he came under massive criticism and Israel’s Ambassador in Washington Mike Herzog wrote, “Any attempt of a so called ‘balanced’ condemnation is misguided and disrespectful to the memory of the victims.”

The administration’s open hostility towards Israel, and desire to blame Palestinian terrorism on Israel, along with its massive financial and military assistance to the P.A. despite the P.A.’s underwriting and sponsorship of terrorism and rejection of Israel’s right to exist, is a major backwind for Palestinian terrorism.

In blaming Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and IDF counterterror operations for Palestinian massacres of Israelis, the Biden administration is effectively embracing the mendacious Palestinian narrative. That narrative rests on four falsehoods:

First, that the Jewish people are not the descendants of Jews of biblical times.

Second, the Palestinians are the descendants of the Jebusites and Canaanites, who disappeared 3,000 years ago, and of the Philistines who disappeared 2,700 years ago.

Third, that Israel is a colonialist power which can only be permitted to exist by appeasing the Palestinians.

Finally, based on their fabricated Palestinian history and erasure of Jewish history, the Palestinians insist that rejecting the Jewish people’s right to freedom and self-determination in their homeland is not anti-Jewish.

On Tuesday evening, news reports indicated that the IDF is finally beginning to come around to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Cabinet’s view that the time has come to take off the kid gloves and carry out a major counterterror operation in northern Samaria. At least, the IDF is reportedly rethinking its position on roadblocks.

The coming days will tell whether the Netanyahu government and the IDF have decided to take serious action against the growing power and boldness of Palestinian terrorists, particularly in northern Samaria. But what is clear enough is that without major military action, the security situation in Judea and Samaria and countrywide will only grow more precarious.

Every successful assault and massacre increases the terrorists’ confidence and boldness. If Israel fails to act aggressively, the attacks will spread through Judea, Jerusalem and central Israel. Israeli Arabs, incited against Israel and awash with illegal weapons, are also liable to join the terrorist ranks.

Tuesday’s massacre needs to be a glaring warning. The time to act is upon us.
Nides appears to draw equivalence between Eli terror attack, IDF Jenin operation
Mere hours after Palestinian terrorists murdered four Israelis and injured four others, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides tweeted a statement.

“Deeply concerned about the civilian deaths and injuries that have occurred in the West Bank these past 48 hours, including that of minors,” he wrote. “Praying for the families as they mourn the loss of loved ones, or tend to those injured.”

On Monday, Israeli forces struck targets in Jenin after a deadly gun battle erupted during an IDF counter-terror raid in the city. Five Palestinian gunmen were killed, and seven Israeli soldiers were wounded.

“Unfortunate statement from Israel’s best friend and ally. It borders on moral equivalency!” tweeted Abraham Foxman, the former head of the Anti-Defamation League.

Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of the International Legal Forum, also responded on Twitter. “Mr. Ambassador, might you clarify your statement? Are you referring to today’s massacre of four Israelis, by Palestinian terrorists in Eli? Or that Israel was forced to defend its citizens from terrorists in Jenin yesterday?” he wrote. “I sincerely hope you are not implying moral equivalence.”

Rabbi Elchanan Poupko, who teaches at a New York Jewish day school, wrote that the ambassador’s statement was very poorly worded. “Palestinians massacred four Israelis and injured eight. Please don’t All-Lives-Matter it.”

“Are you equating Israeli terror victims to terrorists themselves who were killed?” added Aaron Goren, a CAMERA on Campus advisor.

“As a U.S. citizen, I am dismayed at the lumping together of terror victims and those killed in a terrorist firefight with the IDF days earlier,” another Twitter user posted. “Good to know not much has changed in the State Department.”

One thing did change. Nearly an hour after Nides posted the first tweet, he tweeted another statement. “I condemn in the strongest terms the senseless murder of four innocent Israelis today—my heart is with their grieving family members,” he wrote.


Micahael Doran: Biden’s Ties That Bind
Formulating a policy that looks, tastes, and feels like a pro-Israel orientation but that delivers Iran appeasement is no mean feat. To accomplish this illusion, Biden and his team are proceeding along four tracks simultaneously.

First, they express strong rhetorical support for Israel and its security. “There can be no doubt that we are walking the walk and not just talking the talk when we say that our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad,” said Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at a recent appearance.

Second, they sponsor joint planning and exercises between the American and Israeli militaries.

Third, now that Israel is a member of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the combatant command responsible for the Middle East, the United States is sponsoring greater coordination between Israel’s military and the militaries of other regional powers, working toward an integrated missile defense.

Fourth, Biden and his team are promoting normalization with Saudi Arabia.

None of these tracks—seen in isolation—is objectionable in any way. On the contrary, they belong, individually and collectively, in the category of “strongly advisable.” To an untrained eye, however, they create the impression, as consciously intended, that the administration is building a regional coalition, centered on Israel, designed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. In fact, Biden and his team are building a new regional order, centered on accommodating Iran. The purpose of the four policies enumerated above is to mislead and restrain Israel and its supporters. Let’s take them one by one.

When it comes to military deterrence, actions send the most important messages. A recent exchange between Sen. Tom Cotton and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a Senate hearing was instructive. Since Biden had taken office, the exchange revealed, Iran and Iran-backed militias attacked American forces 83 times. The United States retaliated on only four occasions. “What kind of signal do we think this sends to Iran?” Cotton asked. If the United States refuses to lift a finger to deter attacks on Americans, it will never take military action to protect Israelis.

To the pro-Israel community, the administration presents its full slate of joint military exercises as an expression of deep love and affection. In reality, it is a “bear hug” tactic designed to incapacitate Israel’s military from pursuing independent action, like a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Close cooperation between the two militaries allows the U.S. to monitor its partner more thoroughly and to penetrate and influence the officer corps, which, thanks to the turmoil in Israeli politics, is increasingly polarized, with some officers deeply disaffected from Netanyahu.

Integrated missile defense, also a bear hug tactic, will certainly deliver useful capabilities to Israel and to the Arab states who are also working with CENTCOM, but their value should not be exaggerated. They are purely defensive capabilities. According to General McKenzie, the former commander of CENTCOM, Iran now possesses “overmatch.” This assessment, based on military science that is not up for debate among serious national security professionals, means that Tehran and its proxies can send drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles in configurations that will overwhelm even the most sophisticated missile defense systems in the world. The United States and Israel cannot deter Iranian attacks or prevent a nuclear breakout with purely defensive measures.

As for normalization with Saudi Arabia, it will likely happen one day, possibly relatively soon, but not before November 2024. The Saudis have well-founded concerns about the commitment of the Biden administration to their security—concerns based on the proven reluctance of Washington to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to contain the ever-growing threat that its conventional military power poses. In return for normalizing relations with Israel, Riyadh has asked Washington for, among other things, security guarantees. Biden officials have demurred, precisely because doing so would require them to abandon their quest for a strategic accommodation with Tehran.

Of all Biden’s stratagems for misleading pro-Israel voters, advocating for normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia is the most delicious of all. The policy will not bear fruit, at least not in the short term. Washington will never give the Saudis what they are asking for, because, to repeat, doing so would sink the U.S. alignment with Tehran. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Netanyahu eagerly associates himself with Biden’s kabuki peace effort, thus fostering the impression of greater comity between him and the White House than truly exists. After all, no Israeli leader can publicly stand against either the U.S. or peace with Saudi Arabia. So Netanyahu is trapped.
U.S. sees Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a distorted lens
Is Palestinian takeover an obstacle to peace? Not according to the Americans. Is the hornet's nest in Jenin, created in the exact same way Hamas formed in Gaza following Israel’s disengagement, an obstacle to peace? Another no.

Only Israeli construction is an obstacle to peace. And that's the message trickling down from the U.S. administration: Plans aimed at excluding Jews aren’t racist or antisemitic. They’re the only safe path to peace.

In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, between the two national movements fighting for this land, there’s one constant pattern: wherever Jews try to build a life, Arabs try to sow death.

That’s precisely why Israelis danced after the UN vote on November 29, 1947, which decided to divide Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, and the Arabs opened fire because of it.

The late Prime Minister Golda Meir defined it well: "If the Arabs put down their weapons, there will be no more war. If Israel puts down its weapons, it will cease to be." The false presentation of equality between Palestinian casualties in the IDF’s operation in Jenin and Israeli casualties in a cruel terror attack indicates a deep lack of understanding of the conflict in Israel.

If this is the automatic response of the U.S. ambassador to Israel shortly after four Israelis were brutally murdered, it’s hard to imagine how much the U.S. government is truly immersed in the Israeli context of other, far more fate-determining issues, such as the Iranian nuclear program and the intended normalization with Saudi Arabia.
Morocco cancels plans to host Negev Forum
The Moroccan government has canceled plans to host the Negev Forum next month over recent Israeli announcements regarding the expansion of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed Rabat’s decision to the Times of Israel on Tuesday.

It would have been the second gathering of foreign ministers from Israel, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and the United States in the spirit of building upon the Abraham Accords normalization agreements. The inaugural event was held in southern Israel in March 2022, and since then three steering committee meetings have taken place—in June 2022 in Bahrain, a virtual meeting in October 2022 and in Abu Dhabi in January 2023.

“It is another sign in the deterioration of the Abraham Accords,” Professor Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told JNS.

The Morocco event was originally planned for March, but the North African country’s government postponed it four times before canceling it completely. The U.S. official said that a date had not been finalized but had been “pretty locked up” for mid-July.

According to the official, two announcements regarding Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria had derailed the summit.

On Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the approval of more than 4,500 new housing units for residents of Judea and Samaria. Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet passed a resolution handing Smotrich near-full control over planning approval for existing Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.


An intifada has erupted in Samaria
You can read the stories of Israelis who almost got killed in recent attacks while driving the roads of northern Samaria. They miraculously survived. Days after the article was published, another five Israeli survivors joined the statistics, and this week, several IDF troops experienced the same ordeal when their jeep was attacked during the Jenin operation. The question we asked in our story has not changed:

Four were murdered near Eli yesterday. What is the number of murdered Israelis that will make the political echelon act by launching a counterterrorism offensive in northern Samaria instead of continuing to put all of us at risk?

Defensive measures can only go so far. Iron Dome deals with projectiles; security barriers help seal borders; armored vehicles help when entering urban centers. But these are Band-Aid solutions that ignore the need for open-heart surgery. We have gotten used to defending ourselves but we are fooling ourselves into thinking that this could somehow solve things. Terrorists only get more sophisticated while we tell ourselves that we have managed to prevent terrorism. IEDs are getting more lethal and bigger, while we are just adding more steel grills to our jeeps.

“If it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck—then it’s a duck,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once famously said in a memorable speech. Well, if the IDF thinks an operation is warranted, if senior cabinet officials say so, and if the terrorists prove it, it’s time the quacking stops and a rooting out of terrorists and arms operation begins.
Israel's terror wave is becoming a tsunami
The focus should be on the northern West Bank, primarily around the cities of Nablus and Jenin, where significant damage needs to be done to terrorist infrastructure, while also conducting arrests and other intelligence-gathering moves that will allow for impactful results.

In the rest of the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority operated, the main emphasis should be on defensive operations along the main road, including checkpoints on the highways used by Palestinians and Israeli settlers.

The IDF should be prepared to put up random checkpoints and perhaps even close the entrances and exits of Palestinian villages from which terror attacks originated, but not in a complete manner – rather, on a targeted basis based on intelligence gathering.

This will still affect the economy and the way of life in these areas of the West Bank, but to a lesser extent than a full-blown military operation.

In the northern West Bank, the impact is unavoidable, but even there efforts should be made to operate in a focused manner that distinguishes between the population that supports terror and those who are completely uninvolved with it.

Experience has shown that a functioning economy, a way of life and a significant presence of Palestinian security mechanisms contribute to security more than any other means. The IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police need to focus on disrupting the production of explosives, finding illegal weapons, and apprehending potential terror suspects.

This mission is complex: forces must do so in a targeted manner and according to intelligence data, so that at its end – in a few weeks or days – they will be able to leave the area and put an end to the wave of terror attacks that we’ve seen since March 2022, which continue to become deadlier.


Can Israel stop wave of West Bank terrorism?
Yishai Fleisher, Yariv Oppenheimer, and Doron Avital discuss what can be does for Israel to get a handle on the continued wave of terrorism.


The Israel Guys: Israel Has Not Done This in 20 Years
Yesterday, the IDF entered the Palestinian hotbed city of Jenin to arrest two wanted terrorists. When they were on their way out of the city, their convoy was struck by an IED, and seven Israeli soldiers were wounded. The situation deteriorated so rapidly that the IDF had to call in airstrikes via attack helicopter to assist in extracting the wounded team - something that hasn’t happened in more than 20 years.

If you simply open your social media this morning however, you’ll find images of journalists hiding from supposed IDF sniper fire, and Palestinians in hospitals taking cover from supposed Israeli fire. One man even called for immediate sanctions on Israel for their brutality in constantly attacking the poor Palestinians.

We’re here to set the record straight.




Palestinian killed in unclear circumstances as settlers rampage in West Bank town
Hundreds of Israeli settlers tore through the Palestinian town of Turmus Ayya on Wednesday afternoon, setting homes, cars, and fields on fire and terrorizing residents shortly after Israeli victims of a Palestinian terror shooting in the West Bank were buried.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry said one Palestinian was killed and another 12 were wounded during the attack by settlers and clashes with Israeli troops. At least four were wounded by gunfire, including one listed in serious condition, the ministry said.

The slain man was named as 27-year-old Omar Qattin, who residents said was a father of two small children and worked as an electrician for the local municipality.

Police said an officer opened fire and hit at least one Palestinian who was suspected of shooting at security forces during clashes.

It was unclear if Qattin was the one who was shot by police, though Palestinian witnesses said the slain man was nowhere near Israeli forces when he was shot. It was also unclear who shot the other four Palestinians.


Arabic-speaking troops jailed by IDF for video of them joking about deadly Jenin raid
The military on Wednesday announced that five Arabic-speaking Israeli soldiers who filmed themselves joking about supporting Jenin and Palestinians in the wake of an IDF raid there, have been sentenced to up to a month in jail.

The Israel Defense Forces said four of the soldiers were sentenced to 30 days in the brig, while a fifth soldier received 21 days.

“The IDF condemns the comments made in the video,” the army said.

The video, which one of the soldiers posted to social media, shows a group of four men in IDF uniform laughing and speaking in Arabic, saying: “God supports Jenin,” “God supports Palestine” and “Israel can go to hell.”

The soldiers serve in the Logistics Corp and filmed the video while on a military base in the south.

After the video sparked outrage on Tuesday, the military’s spokesperson said the “soldiers’ behavior contravenes IDF values” and vowed they would be punished.

A lawyer for the soldiers told Army Radio that the video had been heavily edited.

“In most of the conversation the suspects came to the defense of the IDF soldiers. It is appropriate that the treatment be only disciplinary and not criminal,” the lawyer said.
Hezbollah penetrated Israel, set up post near IDF base
Lebanese terror group Hezbollah managed to infiltrate Israel and set up a terrorist outpost in the past few weeks, the Kan public broadcaster reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Hezbollah dispatched terrorists across the border who set up two tents near Har Dov. The position, located across from an Israeli military base, was manned by three to eight armed terrorists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly discussed the incursion during a briefing last week to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

The Israel Defense Forces said only that “the matter was known and being addressed by relevant parties,” reportedly UNIFIL, the U.N.’s peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

UNIFIL was established in 1978 to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon following a military incursion. After the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, UNIFIL’s mandate was expanded to monitor the cessation of hostilities.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly accused the force of failing to contain Hezbollah, which has militarized huge swaths of Lebanon in contravention of international law.

According to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 conflict, the terrorist group is forbidden from operating anywhere near the frontier.

In May, Israel’s Foreign Ministry revealed that the Iranian-backed group had over the past year constructed no fewer than 27 military posts along the Blue Line, the demarcation separating Israel and Lebanon.


AFP People Shot People Dead in the West Bank
Agence France Presse, one of the leading international wire services, reports today that people shot people in the West Bank.

Beyond that, the basics about the deadly terror attack yesterday in Eli, when Palestinian assailants gunned down four Israeli civilians, including two high school students, are rather fuzzy. Today’s story, “Four shot dead near West Bank settlement” (1:01 am GMT), neglects to identify the perpetrators (Palestinians) and the victims (Israelis). This most basic information is absent from the headline, which fails to explain who shot whom. The article’s first sentence also omits the most essential points. The article begins:
Four people were shot and killed Tuesday near a settlement in the West Bank, Israeli officials said, a day after an army raid in the territory left six Palestinians dead.

Who were the four people who were shot? Who shot them? While AFP’s opening paragraph fails to identify the perpetrators and victims in the Palestinian attack, it clearly reports that previously an Israeli army raid killed six Palestinians. Why the inconsistency?

Compare AFP’s evasive, uninformative headline to the Associated Press headline from three hours earlier which clearly states: “Palestinians fatally shoot 4 Israelis before being killed, spurring revenge attacks in West Bank” (June 20, 10:11 pm GMT).

Similarly, AP’s article opens with a straightforward account of perpetrator and victims: “Two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a restaurant and gas station . . . killing four Israelis.”

Reuters’ coverage is also straightforward, clearly identifying the Palestinian perpetrators and Israeli victims, starting with the headline (“Palestinian gunmen kill four Israelis in West Bank“). The first few words in Reuters story capture the key facts of the event “Palestinian gunmen shot dead four Israelis. . . “

In contrast, at no point does AFP identify the gunmen as Palestinian, and leaves only the most determined readers to ferret out that information 27 paragraphs into the story, with a quote from Hamas calling the attack a “response to the crimes of the (Israeli occupation.)” Buried deeper down in paragraph 28 is an Islamic Jihad comment in the same vein.


PMW: Fatah: Murderers of 4 Israelis are “heroic Martyrs” and “men true to what they promised Allah”
Yesterday, 2 Hamas terrorists opened fire at Israeli civilians at a gas station and a restaurant near the Jewish town of Eli in the West Bank, murdering 4 and wounding 4. An Israeli civilian at the scene shot and killed one of the terrorists, Muhannad Faleh Shehadeh, while the other, Khaled Mustafa Sabah, fled but was killed shortly after the attack when he tried to escape arrest by Israeli forces.

Soon after the attack, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Movement honored the murderers as “heroic martyrs” and “men true to what they promised Allah.” The murderers were glorified as “heroic Martyrdom-seekers” while the attack at the Jewish town of Eli was coined “the heroic ‘Eli colony’ operation”:
Text, top right: “In the name of All Merciful Allah – ‘Among the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his chance].’“ (Quran 23, Sura 33, Sahih International translation)
Palestinian National Liberation Movement Fatah
The Urif area that is standing resolute
Text under the terrorist murderers:
“The heroic fighting Martyrs
Khaled Mustafa Sabah - Muhannad Faleh Shehadeh
The two heroic Martyrdom-seekers,
sons of the village of Urif,
who carried out the heroic ‘Eli colony’ operation
Glory and eternity to the righteous Martyrs
- victory grows where it is watered with blood”

[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, June 20, 2023]

Text on image: “The heroic Martyr Muhannad Faleh Shehadeh” (left)
"The heroic Martyr Khaled Mustafa Sabah” (right)
Text between the terrorist murderers: “Men true to what they promised Allah” (i.e., Part of a famous Sura in the Quran about Martyrs, Quran 23, Sura 33, Sahih International translation, see below)
Text below the terrorist murderers: “They ascended [to Heaven] on 20/06/23 while carrying outaheroic shooting operationat the entrance to the Eli settlement north of Ramallah.”
Posted text: “The heroic Martyr Muhannad Faleh Shehadeh
The heroic Martyr Khaled Mustafa Sabah
The Al-Aqsa [Martyrs’] Brigades (i.e., Fatah’s military wing) – the Military Media [Department]”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, June 20, 2023]


Fatah also celebrated the murderous attack as if it were a festive holiday:
At the top (right) is a photo of one of the M16s used by the two terrorist murderers Muhannad Faleh Shehadeh and Khaled Mustafa Sabah, who shot and killed 4 Israelis at a gas station and restaurant outside the Jewish town of Eli near Ramallah.

The cartoon celebrates and “blesses” the murders by showing a copy of the rifle, creating the word “holiday,” (eid) followed by the word “blessed,” (mubarak) together forming the greeting “Eid Mubarak” - “Blessed holiday” in a reference to the upcoming Muslim holiday Eid Al-Adha. [Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, June 20, 2023]
I prefer my son “as a Martyr” rather than alive, says mother of dead terrorist
Official PA TV program Moons of Palestine, on terrorist Saleh Barghouti, who caused the death of an unborn baby in a shooting attack together with accomplices.

Mother of terrorist Saleh Barghouti: By Allah, if they would come now and tell me: "Do you want us to return Saleh to you alive or as a Martyr?," I would tell them: "As a Martyr.” [Official PA TV, Moons of Palestine, June 17, 2023]

Saleh Barghouti – Palestinian terrorist who, together with his brother Asem Barghouti and other terrorists, shot and wounded 7 Israelis - a pregnant woman, her husband, another man, and 4 teenagers - in a drive-by shooting attack next to Ofra, north of Jerusalem, on Dec. 9, 2018. The pregnant woman was severely wounded and doctors had to deliver her baby prematurely before operating on her. The baby, Amiad Yisrael Ish-Ran, died three days later. Saleh Barghouti was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers during an attempt to apprehend him, during which other terrorists from the attack were taken into custody.


Son and mother of terrorist murderer who killed Israeli father and baby: We’re “proud of him”
The program visits the house of terrorist prisoner Wael Al-Arja, who murdered an Israeli civilian and his infant son together with an accomplice by throwing rocks at their car.

Yamen Al-Arja, son of terrorist Wael Al-Arja: “I’m proud of you [dad]. You make me hold my head up high because of what you did in your life.” …

Mother of terrorist Wael Al-Arja: “I’m proud of him, because everywhere I go… everyone asks me about Wael. I say: ‘Wael is doing well.’”

[Official PA TV, Giants of Endurance, June 15, 2023]

Ali Sa’ada and Wael Al-Arja - Palestinian terrorists and members of a gang of stone-throwers who murdered Asher Palmer, 25, and his baby son Yonatan near the Israeli town of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank on Sept. 23, 2011. Al-Arja threw two stones at Palmer’s car from a vehicle driven by Sa’ada, hitting Yonatan in the head and causing Palmer to lose control of his vehicle, which ran into a gulley, murdering both of them instantly. Al-Arja is serving 2 life sentences and an additional 58 years. Sa'ada is serving 2 life sentences and an additional 50 years.


Mother of dead teen terrorist: “He asked for Martyrdom … Our son is a groom”
Official PA TV News on the death of terrorist Khalil Al-Anis, who participated in violent confrontations with Israeli soldiers.

Mother of terrorist Khalil Al-Anis: “He asked for Martyrdom and he achieved it, praise Allah.... Allah will grant us endurance in the disaster that befell us. It’s not a disaster, it’s a blessing for us. It’s a blessing and not [a cause for] consolation. Our son is a groom and a Martyr. Allah will bless us and bless him over his Martyrdom.” [Official PA TV News, June 15, 2023]

A Martyr's funeral is considered his wedding to the 72 Virgins in Paradise in Islam.

Khalil Al-Anis – 19-year-old Palestinian terrorist who participated in violent confrontations in which Palestinian terrorists shot and threw explosives at Israeli soldiers in Nablus on June 14, 2023. The soldiers returned fire in self-defense, killing Al-Anis. The soldiers were in Nablus to demolish the house of terrorist Osama Al-Tawil, who murdered Israeli soldier Ido Baruch together with an accomplice.


PA Ministry of Education official claims Israeli curricula “demand to kill the Arab Palestinian”
Director-General of the PA Ministry of Education’s Jerusalem Branch Dima Al-Samman: “The occupation is accusing our [PA] curricula of inciting – what about its [own] curricula? The truth is its curricula demand to kill the Arab Palestinian, and whoever kills the Palestinian Arab is reinstated and not accused.” [Official PA TV, Our Education is for the Confrontation with Them, June 7, 2023]




Is a shadowy American political agenda enabling a dark foe?
Iran does what it does best. It makes far-reaching demands of Biden without consequential commitments on its part. And Biden appears willing to reward such. Green-lighting “an arrangement with Iran” ultimately may subject America to unforeseen existential challenges. To which, President Biden may compromise his legacy; not so much for what he did, but for what he could have done, should have done to assure American democracy and its constitutional way of life; and even more for a lack of fortitude to face off an unswerving Iran.

Rather than launching legitimate negotiations, with a willingness to concede positions on pivotal war issues that include Iran’s: 1) perceived proxy based terrorism facilitated by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad etc.; 2) perceived human rights abuses; including hostage taking; 3) perceived destabilizing militia sponsorships located in Syria, Judea and Samaria and elsewhere; 4) sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missile development and testing; 5) strategically located missiles and drones stationed allegedly throughout Lebanon, as well as rockets and housed within Gaza; each presumably intended to eventually challenge its avowed enemy, Israel; facilitated by its launched satellite guidance abilities; and 6) its inhibiting of accurate monitoring via the International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear inspectors, accessing ‘all’ Iranian nuclear sites acknowledged, suspected; operational and those in overt/covert development.


President Biden appears to rush this shortcut. But why?

Still, it was and to a degree may yet be hoped that Biden, as well as the other Vienna conference nations that include France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the European Union and the US will come to their senses and assess before allowing Iran’s monetary demands; if;

1) Iran is more reliable now than it was in 2015?;

2) America can be safeguarded from adversarial use of the hundreds of billion dollars the U.S. will allow to flow to Iran from being used against America, or our ally Israel. At least it should come with enforceable restrictions of use oversight; and

3) Biden can be counted upon to keep his pivotal promise to Israel. “The United States will… never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon?” Talk is cheap and therefore to demand specifics as to how he would enforce such?
Sunak announces major probe into universities sharing drone research with Iran
The government has launched an inquiry into allegations that scientists and engineers at British universities have been helping the Iranian regime develop technology that could be used to upgrade its suicide drone programme.

The probe was announced in response to a JC investigation revealing that academics at more than a dozen UK universities, were working alongside their Iranian counterparts on drone research in an apparent breach of sanctions against the brutal regime.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, confirmed the launch of the probe at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. Government sources said the multi-departmental inquiry would involve officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign Office and science and technology experts.

With Iran’s suicide drones currently being deployed by Russia to bomb Ukraine, the JC revealed how UK academics were involved in research, some of it directly funded by the Iranian Government, to improve drone engines, boosting their altitude, speed and range.

Other UK researchers have been involved in jointly developing “game-changing” swarming drone technology that could allow hundreds of drones, aircraft, ships, missiles and underwater buoys to be operated simultaneously, using lasers.

Military experts said the advanced command-and-control system could enable Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — which runs its military drone programme — to launch “overwhelming” suicide swarm attacks on Israel or Western allies.




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