Palestinian prime minister Mohamed Shtayyeh spoke at an investment conference he set up, with about 45 Jordanian potential investors in attendance. It was at the Fourth Economic Empowerment Conference in Hebron.
Usually, when speaking to foreign audiences, he emphasizes how difficult things are and how all of the Palestinian Authority problems are coming from Israel. He says how helpless they are and how they need more foreign aid because all of their money is being stolen by Israel. In other words, his usual message is one of pure victimhood and helplessness.
But to this audience, suddenly the Palestinian territories are a fertile ground for investment and a sure thing to make money.
"Despite the occupation and the challenges it poses, Palestine is full of promising investment opportunities in various commercial and industrial sectors, and it deserves a visit, solidarity and strengthening the steadfastness of its people, and it is an appropriate and feasible place for investment because it achieves a meaningful return for investors."
See? Things are great economically! It just depends on the audience!
The "moderate" PM then spoke about the supreme importance of "resistance." He continued, "For us, the government's strategy is based on several components, on top of which is strengthening the steadfastness of the resistance. This occupation cannot disappear unless it becomes costly, and when we succeed in the economy and promote it, the occupation becomes costly, and when the Arab countries embrace Palestine, the occupation becomes costly."
Just yesterday, the PA government rejected Israel's offer to help them out economically, if they would just reject funding terrorist families and stop inciting violence against Jews. That was not a good enough deal for the PA.
I wonder what the investors think about investing in a government that prefers antisemitism and terror to helping its own people.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
Jerusalem and Washington are advancing a secret plan to establish a continuous land bridge connecting the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, leading from the Persian Gulf straight to Israel's seaports. This is intended for the export of goods from the East to Europe through Israel, and later for tourist movement as well.
The land bridge will enable trucks to transport goods while significantly reducing transportation costs and time compared to the current situation.
According to a study conducted by the Foreign Ministry and the U.S. government, the time reduction is estimated to be from two to three days to several weeks, and saving up to 20% in shipping costs.
Currently, trucks leaving the United Arab Emirates reach the port of Haifa via the Allenby Bridge but face bureaucratic procedures, including driver changes, paperwork and lengthy waiting times. Another expensive option for shipping goods is via ships through the Suez Canal and then to European ports, which is also costly.
The idea is to enable the arrival of a single truck and driver from Dubai to the port of Haifa, for example, without changing drivers and trucks at border crossings between countries. The Israeli Foreign Ministry presented the plan to the U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein.
According to senior Israeli officials, the Americans were enthusiastic about the plan and began promoting it with the involved countries: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Sounds like a win-win-win. As long as proper security measures are in place, the idea of cutting shipping times from weeks to days between the Gulf and Europe will benefit everyone, and help solidify peace in the region.
So the usual haters are starting their campaign against it. And their major reason to oppose it is....classic antisemitism.
Rai al-Youm, a site run by known antisemite and terror supporter Abdel Bari Atwan, describes this plan as a nefarious plan for Jews to take over the economy of the Gulf. It headlines the story, "Israel's plan to control the wealth of the East."
Their illustration:
The article concludes that "It goes without saying that if the aforementioned plan succeeds, the entity will enjoy Arab money for free." The comments go on from there with various Jewish plots to take over the UAE and Bahrain.
It will be most enlightening to follow this plan. The economics and US enthusiasm may convince the Saudis to go along with it even without an official agreement between them and Israel. Assuming that they are on board, there is no reasonable objection to this plan except pure hate of Jews.
But if history is a guide, the "progressives" who are the bulk of modern antisemites in the West will work overtime to come up with reasons to oppose this plan that will sound reasonable to those who share their latent antisemitism. We will see objections based on "human rights" even though there is no human rights issue here. They will craft convoluted essays opposing it that will first be published in Al Jazeera, then sharpened and focused to be acceptable to The Nation, and then crafted further to be in the New York Times op-ed page.
But as the first knee-jerk reaction in Rai al-Youm shows, the real reason is hate of Jews, and the other excuses that follow will have only one purpose: to hide the nakedly antisemitic intent of that opposition.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
Jordanian media has consistently been among the most antisemitic in the Arab world.
Here are two examples from Ammon (Amman) News in the past couple of days.
The first is a pseudo-intellectual article titled "The power and arrogance of the Jews... A recommendation for direction and confrontation" by Dr. Dirar Mufdi Barakat. It starts off with:
What is Jewish hegemony and arrogance? According to the methodology "I shall be and others cannot be," strangeness of course, sterility of values, transcendence over the truth, and over all international norms, and blasphemy of the rights of the Palestinians, people, land and identity, without paying attention to international covenants and agreements and internationalism and organizations, both legal and humanitarian.
The second is a reaction to the Jenin anti-terror operation:
God Almighty says in the decisive revelation: "Neither the Jews nor the Christians will be satisfied with you until you follow their religion)." As usual, the descendants of monkeys and pigs carry out brutal attacks on the Palestinian people with all brutality, extremism and hatred. They do not know the difference between a civilian and a combatant. They kill children, the elderly and women without mercy. They do not have existential legitimacy in the outskirts of Jerusalem, and their criminal actions are not subject to any logic or any religion. How can someone who does not own the land kill the owners of this land?!
The ugliness of these acts is not strange, as they are planning for the Greater State of Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates....
Interestingly, the second article is the complete opposite of the first. The first portrays Jews as a super-intelligent super-villain that runs circles around the weak Arab world; the second says that the brave Palestinians are causing the Jews no end of panic as they cannot figure out how to counter their surprises.
The common denominator, as always, is hatred of Jews. No pretense of "Zionists" here - they are talking about Jews.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
Pilgrims stuck in the Jordanian city of pilgrims said that hundreds of pilgrims are still stuck on the Jordanian side since 3 am.
The pilgrims told Safa news agency on Sunday that hundreds are still stranded due to the departure of 140 buses from Saudi Arabia yesterday, which caused overcrowding and a major crisis in the Jordanian city of pilgrims.
They indicated that the reason for the crisis was the occupation's closure of the crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan due to the Saturday holiday for the occupation, and this coincided with the arrival of pilgrims' buses.
They pointed out that the occupation's procedures in the inspection and audit process cause obstacles and a slow entry process for pilgrims to the Palestinian territories.
Last year they falsely blamed Israel for delays in returning from Jordan during the summer. They lied then and they seem to be lying now.
The Israeli side is open on Saturdays from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM. It appears that the buses arrived to the Jordanian terminal in the middle of the night. I doubt that the Jordanian terminal was even open then.
At any rate, the Israeli side is certainly open today from 7:00 AM, and won't close until 10:30 PM, yet the photos of the crowds in Jordan are being published within the past couple of hours (I'm writing this at 7:30 PM Israel time.) So it certainly isn't the Israeli side that is causing the delays. (Reportedly, from Sunday through Thursday the Israeli side is now open 24 hours but the Israeli borders webpage does not reflect that.)
The Arabic Facebook page covering the crossing does not say a word about problems on the Israeli side, which is recognized by travelers as being far more professional than the Jordanian side.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
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Khaled Ibrahim writes an op-ed in the Lebanese, purportedly progressive Al Akhbar with his analysis of the future of Israel. But it is a side comment that is most interesting:
The Zionist entity goes against the logic of history and justice and stands in the way of the rights and aspirations of a major Arab nation from the ocean to the Gulf. It has no future in our Arab world...
While he then mentions the Palestinians as an afterthought, Ibrahim is honest about the real Arab problem with Israel: it stands in the way of a mythical, united, Arab nation from the Atlantic to the Gulf.
In other words, the Palestinian issue is, and always was, an excuse to oppose Israel, but never the reason.
The Arab world opposed Israel before anyone heard of the "Palestinian people," they opposed Israel before the "occupation." Their opposition to Israel was never about Palestinians, but they pretended to want to "defend" them even as both Trans-Jordan and Syria plotted to subsume Palestine as part of a "Greater Syria."
AP, October 19, 1947:
Manchester Guardian, February 14, 1947:
There was no interest in an Arab Palestine then, and there was no interest in creating such a country between 1948 and 1967. It was always opposition to a Jewish state, not support for a Palestinian state, that animated Israel's enemies - and that includes Palestinian leaders today, who have had 30 years to build a workable government but prefer a dysfunctional stub that prioritizes encouraging martyrdom over a good life for its citizens.
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Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
Arabic and particularly Palestinian media have been spreading a new fake story over the past couple of days, claiming that the Jordanian ambassador to the UN confronted Benjamin Netanyahu at the General Assembly with the "real" racist lyrics of Israel's national anthem, Hatikvah.
In a session of the United Nations General Assembly attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan's ambassador to the United Nations, Mahmoud al-Hamoud, asked:
"Why is the Israeli national anthem not taught to our children in Arab schools and in Muslim countries as a kind of culture? Certainly knowledge of something is better than ignorance of it?.... Until every Arab and Muslim determines who his enemy is and prepares to confront him!"
He continued, saying: "Let us learn about an accurate literal translation of the Israeli national anthem, which is played on occasions and holidays and when receiving presidents and ambassadors in the Zionist entity (including Arab ambassadors)."
He wondered: "Why are they pressuring us to change our educational curricula and amend the interpretation of some Quranic verses, and it has never been suggested that they change their official national anthem?"
Al-Hamoud continued, saying: "What does the "Israeli" national anthem say? And why did the Jews choose this anthem for the Zionist entity when it carries hateful religious slogans for a country that claims to be secular, civilized, and democratic!"
He explained that the real translation of the Israeli national anthem is:
As long as there is a Jewish soul in the heart!
She longs forward to the east
Our hope is not made yet!
A dream of a thousand years on our land
Land of Zion and Jerusalem
Let him who is our enemy tremble
Let all the inhabitants of Egypt and Canaan tremble.
Let the inhabitants of Babylon tremble.
Let fear and terror hang over their skies
- When we plant our spears in their chests!
And we see their blood spilled!
And their heads cut off!
- Then we will be God's chosen people wherever God wants!
Al-Hamoud concluded his speech by saying: "The question that must be asked.. Who are the original terrorists, the masters of beheadings: the Muslim extremists, or the Jews!?"
It turns out this fake Hatikvah translation is at least five years old, and has surfaced every once in a while in Arabic media. AFP and Al Hurra debunked it years ago, but its too good a rumor to check.
In fact, since many Palestinians know Hebrew quite well, the Palestinian newspapers that have published this fake translation almost certainly know they are lying.
Do you know whose anthem is filled with violent imagery? Why, the Palestinian national anthem, known as "Fida'i" - "Warrior!"
Warrior, warrior, warrior,
Oh my land, the land of the ancestors
Warrior, warrior, warrior,
Oh my people, people of eternity
With my determination, my fire and the volcano of my vendetta
With the longing in my blood for my land and my home
𝄆 I have climbed the mountains and fought the wars
I have conquered the impossible, and crossed the frontiers 𝄇
With the resolve of the winds and the fire of the weapons
And the determination of my nation in the land of struggle
𝄆 Palestine is my home, and the path of my triumphal[b]
Palestine is my vendetta and the land of withstanding 𝄇
By the oath under the shade of the flag
By my land and nation, and the fire of pain
𝄆 I will live as a warrior, I will remain a warrior,
I will die as a warrior - until my country returns 𝄇
Yes, Elder's First Rule of Palestinian Projection ("whenever Palestinians accuse Israel of doing some crime, they are doing that exact crime, usually on a far grander scale than their accusations") remains in force, 16 years since I coined it.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
We've noted previously that the Waqf tourist guides to the Temple Mount from the 1920s through 1950 freely admitted that the Dome of the Rock was built on the spot of the two Jewish Temples. Now the updated editions of the Waqf guide explicitly denies any Jewish connection to the Mount.
But a new photo book of the Temple Mount, "The Noble Sanctuary Book," has just been released and it was clearly made with the blessings of the Jordanian government and the Waqf, which granted the photographer Bashar Tabbah access to places not open to the public. The introduction was written by a member of Jordan's royal family.
The historical section of the book was written by an American archaeologist, Dr. Robert Schick. And his description indicates that the Temples were indeed on that site - and he brings proof from the Quran:
There is a little wiggle room there to say that it is possible that the Temples were elsewhere in Jerusalem, and it looks like Schick tried to thread the needle between honesty and the desires of the Jordanians. But his wording "Other verses associated with the Masjid al-Aqsa compound" immediately after the Quranic reference to the Temples makes it clear that the book says that the Quran is referring to the Temples on the Temple Mount.
Before anyone heard of Palestinians, this was not a controversial position. Many Muslim scholars over the centuries knew that the entire reason the Dome of the Rock was built where it was is because it was the site of the Temples and they wanted to build something that would approach the majesty of the originals. However, the official position changed in the 1950s and 60s, culminating in explicit Temple denial by Yasir Arafat at Camp David.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
A new survey of Jordanians by the Washington Institute reveals that Jordanian hate for Israel reaches the level of self-harm.
The Washington Institute’s Program on Arab Politics/Fikra Forum regularly surveys the Arab world. Its latest poll shows that Jordanians remain implacably anti-Israel and would rather Jordan suffer than allow even the most beneficial ties with the hated Jewish state.
84% of Jordanians across all age groups are opposed to having business deals with Israeli companies even if it would help their economy.
Previous polls do not seem to have asked similar questions in quite the same way; in 2020 89% disagreed that "people who want to have business or sports contacts with Israelis should be allowed to do so." But that question was worded that the only person to lose out would be the would-be businessperson; here they were asked if they themselves would prefer to have a worse economy rather than allowing business deals with Israeli (meaning Jewish-owned Israeli) companies.
The psychosis gets even worse in the answer to the question of whether, in case of a natural disaster like an earthquake, Arab countries should refuse aid from Israel. 76% agreed with that statement, meaning that they are willing to sacrifice their own or other Arab lives rather than even see Israelis helping them.
This is beyond spite. With spite, there is at least the concept that one's pain is worth the satisfaction of hurting the other party. But refusing aid does not hurt Israel in the least - the only victims are the refusers themselves.
This cannot be explained by standard psychological descriptions of racism or hate. Very few racists would walk out of the hospital when they see the doctor about to treat them is of another race. In that case, self-preservation would trump racism; for Jordanians the hate overcomes the bigotry. How can that be?
As with much else in the Middle East, it can be explained by another framework: that of the honor/shame mentality. To allow themselves to be helped by the hated Israelis - again, exclusively meaning Israeli Jews - would be an affront to the Arab honor, because it means that the Jews can provide something they cannot provide adequately themselves. Accepting aid from people they consider inferior dhimmis is shameful, and that shame is more powerful than physical health, or economic gains, or human life itself.
This is a fundamentally different type of antisemitic mindset than the ones we are familiar with in the Western world. And it is one that is barely dealt with in psychological texts, which often try to lump all kinds of bigotry and racism into the same bucket.
The Jordanian response to this poll prove that Arab antisemitism, as expressed today, is different from that of traditional antisemites. Honor/shame is a powerful incentive that goes beyond the idea of self preservation. It cannot be combatted with outreach programs - it requires a fundamental change in the very way much of the Arab world thinks.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
Members of an Israeli delegation were denied entry into Jordan Tuesday, after border guards refused to allow those wearing Jewish garb from entering the country.
The incident occurred at the Rabin border crossing in Eilat, on the border with the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, when a delegation of Israeli municipal leaders tried to enter the Hashemite kingdom for an educational tour.
Jordanian border officials ordered the delegation members to lift up their shirts, so that the guards could see if they were wearing any religious Jewish garments underneath.
Tour participants who were not wearing identifiably Jewish garb, such as kippot (yarmulkes) or tzitzit (a four-cornered, fringed traditional Jewish garment) were permitted to cross the border, while those who were wearing religious garments were refused entry.
One participant told Israel Hayom that a Jordanian border guard took his kippah and threw it in the trash.
These are not the actions of an overzealous security guard. Stories like this pop up every few months. Official Jordanian policy is to confiscate any object that is remotely Jewish at the border with Israel, even if they are hidden within luggage.
The official reason? This is done for the visitors' own safety.
That excuse is itself fascinating. Jews have traveled to other Muslim-majority countries, even those with no diplomatic relations with Israel, with their kipot and tallitot and tefillin with no issues. Only Jordan claims that the mere whiff of Judaism could whip its citizens into a murderous frenzy. And only Jordan blames the Jews for upsetting their Muslim residents by merely existing as Jews.
The blatantly antisemitic policy has been in place since at least 2015. Jordanians have complained bitterly when they see photos of religious Jews praying at the "Tomb of Aaron":
However, it appears that some Hasidic groups have managed to arrange trips specifically to visit and pray at that spot - on the Breslov Hasidic website they have a poster for a planned three day trip last summer, and they claim they have visited every year without incident, although they admit to having had to curtail some of their activities due to Jordanian concerns. But their annual trip originates from Israel.
So there is a little more to this story; perhaps organized tour groups arranged through some Jordanian travel agents are allowed.
Also, I have not seen anyone mention that Jews flying to Amman being harassed for wearing kipot or tzitzit.
But the official stated policy remains one of explicit antisemitism.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
Last Friday, UNRWA held a donor's conference at the UN headquarters in New York. The agency's head laid out its financial problems in his opening remarks.
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) sounded the alarm about the Agency’s deepening funding crisis. Addressing this year’s Pledging Conference for UNRWA convened by the President of the General Assembly, Commissioner-General Lazzarini warned of the risk of the Agency’s collapse.
“While we are grateful for the pledges announced, they are below the funds that the Agency needs to keep over 700 UNRWA schools and 140 clinics open from September onwards,” said Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
Some of the Agency’s most committed donors have indicated they will substantially decrease their contributions in 2023.
Today, according to reports, UNRWA announced how many new pledges it received.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees UNRWA announced shocking data today, noting that it received $13 million in new pledges during the donors' conference held in New York last Friday.
UNRWA said in a statement today, "Most of the pledges referred to in the conference were merely confirmation of the amounts already received and spent in the first five months of 2023. As expected, donors are using the pledging conference to publicly confirm the support they have already provided to UNRWA this year."
Some of the announced donations, according to the UNRWA statement, were "a public confirmation of the amounts previously discussed and agreed upon with UNRWA. This money has not yet been received, but will be transferred to the agency in the coming months. We've already factored these funds into our financial projections for the rest of the year. This money has already been calculated, and the issue of receiving it will not change our financial situation, as some of the financing pledges referred to are for the year 2024 and beyond. "
UNRWA stressed, "In short, and unfortunately, only about 13 million US dollars have been announced...This funding will help reduce the expected deficit this year. Since we need about 70 million US dollars per month to cover our basic costs, this amount will not be enough to sustain the services after September.”
I could not find this announcement on the UNRWA platforms as of this writing, but it rings true. Donors have been getting tired of forever increasing demands by UNRWA - and since UNRWA has no mechanism to take people off of their rolls, it will keep increasing forever.
We've discussed before what must be done. Some 2 million "refugees" live in Jordan as Jordanian citizens. They should not be getting a dime. Jordan is a sovereign nation and provides education and health care to its citizens; nearly all of the UNRWA recipients there are full citizens, and there is no reason for the world to pay for their shelter, doctors and schooling.
Jordan instead keeps the Palestinian and non-Palestinian citizens in separate schools, separate medical facilities and to an extent separate living areas.
Sounds like apartheid, doesn't it? But this apartheid is funded by the entire world!
There is similarly little reason for UNRWA in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority has its own schools and fairly good medical facilities, Palestinian "refugees" should be allowed to use them like every Palestinian. UNRWA funds could be redirected to the PA for a couple of years to take care of the logistics of combining the two systems, but there is no reason for the world to fund Palestinian "refugees" who live within the borders of British Mandate Palestine - they are not refugees under any reasonable definition.
Of course, nearly all UNRWA aid recipients are not refugees. But before dismantling UNRWA altogether, lets solve its financial problems in a reasonable way without causing undue hardship on those who really are dependent on UNRWA services, in Lebanon, parts of Syria and Gaza.
No one is asking these questions, at least not out loud. But without asking these questions and making the decisions to treat Palestinians just like anyone else in need, using the same criteria and the same eligibility, then things would become far worse for the Palestinians that UNRWA is supposed to be supporting.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.
She was the last of the 16 victims of the Sbarro Massacre to die, the last victim of the Hamas terrorist Ahlam Tamimi who masterminded that terrorist attack and lives today in Jordan, free and something of a celebrity.
If the US is frustrated by Jordan's refusal to honor its extradition treaty and hand over the terrorist, it is hiding it well. On May 25, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on the 77th anniversary of Jordanian independence:
The United States and Jordan share an enduring, strategic relationship deeply rooted in shared interests and values. We appreciate the important role Jordan plays in promoting peace and security across the region and countering violent extremism. (emphasis added)
During her hearing a few weeks ago on her nomination as the next US Ambassador to Jordan, Yael Lempert resisted Sen. Ted Cruz's suggestion that every tool should be used in order to pressure Jordan into honoring its treaty, including withholding aid. Lempert replied:
I think that that would need to be weighed very carefully against the range of issues and priorities that we have with the Jordanians before considering such a step, which I think would be profound.
Of course, Lempert added the expected, "I think that what I can confirm to you is that I will do everything in my power to ensure that Ahlam Tamimi faces justice in the United States," but the impression remains that somehow in the interests of Middle East peace, the US has to be careful not to apply too much pressure, that special considerations need to be taken into account.
But it's not that Jordan is completely opposed to extraditing terrorists.
That is an interesting counterpoint to the case of Ahlam Tamimi, where the court also opposed extradition, yet despite a formal treaty, the court's decision stood, while in the case of UAE, the decision -- and authority -- of the Jordanian court was pushed aside. Arnold Roth, whose daughter was one of Tamimi's victims, pointed out the double standard:
Of course, the difference might be whether the victims were Arabs -- or Jews.
This inability of the US to pressure Arab countries on the issue of terrorism -- even when the US provides funding -- is evident in US relations with the Palestinian Authority as well.
“We are working to bring pay-to-slay to an end. Period,” Leaf said. Asked if the administration had succeeded, Leaf replied, “not yet.”
Is the Biden administration working as hard to end "pay-to-slay" as it is on getting Jordan to extradite Tamimi, who is responsible for the Americans who died in the Sbarro Massacre?
Putting aside the claim by the White House that they can bypass both the PA and the PLO and provide money directly to the Palestinian Arabs without violating the Taylor Force Act, why is the Biden Administration welcoming terrorists to the White House?
As Sen. Cruz put it:
You sent a report to Congress that officially certified that the Palestinian Authority and the PLO…have not met the legal requirements for ‘terminating payments for acts of terrorism against Israeli and US citizens. Now publicly, the administration defends engaging with terrorists, you claim things are going well, but when you file a statutorily mandated report with Congress, you admit the PLO is continuing what are called ‘pay-to-slay’ payments. They are paying for terrorists to murder Americans and to murder Israelis. And nonetheless, this administration is bringing those terrorist leaders to Washington, is bringing them to cocktail parties to wine and dine political leaders. [emphasis added]
Is this so different from King Abdullah II of Jordan being welcomed in the US and praised as a great friend of the US and ally in the fight against terrorism, while he refuses to honor his extradition treaty with the US and harbors the women who masterminded the Sbarro Massacre which killed Americans?
This possibility of a double standard when it comes to Middle East terrorism that affects Americans was expressed out loud in 2016 during a hearing before the Subcommittee on National Security of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The subject was Seeking Justice for Victims of Palestinian Terrorism in Israel. Chairing the hearing was then-Congressman Ron DeSantis. The issue was the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism within the Department of Justice and whether it was fulfilling its function in obtaining justice for the families of the victims of Palestinian terrorism.
At one point, DeSantis addressed Brad Wiegmann, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the US Department of Justice. It became clear that there was a discrepancy between the number of terrorists being brought to justice who killed Americans in the Middle East as opposed to terrorists who killed Americans anywhere else in the world:
Mr. DeSantis: Mr. Wiegmann, the committee has counted that since '93, at
least 64 Americans have been killed, as well as two unborn
children, and 91 have been wounded by terrorists in Israel in
disputed territories.
How many terrorists who have killed or wounded Americans in
Israel or disputed territories has the United States indicted,
extradited, or prosecuted during this time period?
Mr. Wiegmann: I think the answer is--is none.
Mr. DeSantis: Okay. How many terrorists who have killed or
wounded Americans anywhere else overseas has the United States
indicted, extradited, or prosecuted?
Mr. Wiegmann: I don't have an exact figure for you.
Mr. DeSantis: But it would be a decent size number, though,
correct?
Mr. Wiegmann: It would be a significant number, yes.
Here is the video:
A little later, DeSantis looked for an explanation for this discrepancy:
Mr. DeSantis: Now, it's- been alleged that the reason that DOJ does not
prosecute the Palestinian terrorists who harm Americans in
Israel, the disputed territories, is that the Department of
Justice is concerned that such prosecutions will harm efforts
to promote the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, or that it
will actually harm the Palestinian Authority.
So let me ask you straight up, is that a consideration the
Department of Justice?
Mr. Wiegmann: I can assure that is absolutely not the case.
Mr. DeSantis: And has the State Department ever made
arguments to the Department of Justice to handle some of the
Palestinian terrorism cases differently than you may normally
handle, say, a terrorism case in Asia?
Mr. Wiegmann: Absolutely not.
Here is the video:
Wiegmann says flat out in his testimony that there is no consideration making the US pull their punches when it comes to bringing Palestinian terrorists to justice -- neither a concern for possible harm to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, nor a concern that extraditing Palestinian terrorists might harm the Palestinian Authority.
Yet those suspicions persist and now some believe that it is Jordan that the US is concerned might be harmed by insisting on extraditing the terrorist responsible for the deaths of Americans, even as we see that there are considerations that cause Jordan to extradite to a fellow Arab country but not to its US ally.
There is nothing to indicate that Wiegmann was not telling the truth. Yet the fact remains that American survivors of Palestinian terrorism, the families of the victims -- and the families who lost loved ones in the Sbarro Massacre are not getting the justice that was promised to them and that they deserve.
If this is not because of political reasons, then what is the reason?
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There aren't too many things to see in the virtual tour of the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington DC. But several of the objects on display that show the paperwork behind lifecycle events of Palestinians are interesting - unintentionally.
There are two marriage certificates and one birth certificate.
Outside of the handwritten description of the father of the baby having a nationality of "Palestinian," none of these documents, issued by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, say anything about Palestine.
There is also a pair of passports issued in 1946. They don't say "Passport of Palestine." They say "British Passport - Palestine" and there is Hebrew inside along with Arabic.
This same museum proudly shows a 1938 National Geographic map of the Middle East called "Bible Lands" that uses "Palestine" as a clear English translation of Eretz Yisrael, but the museum considers this "proof" that there was a nation called Palestine. But that is a map that had no official function. Every document in the museum from a government proves that there was no such nation.
Why would a museum of the Palestinian people show paperwork that contradicts the idea of a Palestinian nation? And what happened to the parts of Palestine under Jordanian control in 1949?
Palestinians accuse Israel of erasing their Palestinian nationality from before 1948, but....what about Jordan? We see that Jordan did not call keep any vestige of "Palestine" in the areas it illegally annexed. Jordan literally erased Palestine. Why did no Palestinian Arab protest about this?
Yet it appears that Jordan did maintain records of which citizens came from Palestine and who did not - with the aim of potentially disenfranchising the Palestinians by forcibly "returning" them to a Palestine that never existed. Moreover, the family that donated these documents were never refugees - the father was born in Nablus in the 1930s.
The museum documentation doesn't mention any of this, of course. Because it isn't interested in the real history of the Palestinian people, a people created in the 1960s purely to paint Israel as a Goliath. The museum's entire purpose is to delegitimize Israel by not only placing all the blame of the Palestinian "diaspora" on Israel, but also in erasing the entire Jewish history in the Levant as it carefully curates pottery and artwork to avoid any mention of any Jewish presence on the Land.
A careful look at the "Museum of the Palestinian People" shows that there was never a Palestine.
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The Palestine Post, May 28, 1948, reported on the gleeful and deliberate destruction of the Hurva Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The secondary story on the right column describes the many times that this synagogue had been destroyed by Muslims, or attempted to be destroyed, and how it had always been rebuilt.
Israel complained to the world about this destruction, to no avail (May 29).
The following month, a delegation of rabbis inspected the Jewish Quarter to see the destruction.
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Weekend long read
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1) The ITIC reports on ‘The New Palestinian Authority Government’. “The new
government has 23 ministers, compared to 26 in the government headed by...
Th...
Weekend long read
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1) The ITIC reports on ‘The New Palestinian Authority Government’. “The new
government has 23 ministers, compared to 26 in the government headed by...
Th...
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A new post reviews the Italian Fascist's regime's involvement in the
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The Betar Naval Academy was
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Passover is the occasion for two Israeli newspapers to focus on the Jewish
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If Not Now Seder Advanced To Friday Morning
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They cannot afford to squander such an opportunity to piggyback their
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The post If Not Now Seder Advanced To F...
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Seeing it from THEIR side.
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The West likes its Jews passive, dependent, and weak. When American
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One of the great unsolved mysteries of the 21st century is why, given what
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The obituary that follows was published yesterday by *Times of Israel* under
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Closing Jews Down Under Website
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With a heavyish heart I am closing down the website after ten years.
It is and it isn’t an easy decision after 10 years of constant work. The
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Lockdown II thoughts: Day 1 Opposition politicians have been banging on
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Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Elder of Ziyon
