Palestinian Muslims upset by English-language tours of the Temple Mount

The Palestinian Safa news agency is alarmed.

In conjunction with the escalation of the Israeli attacks on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, an extremist Jewish organization affiliated with the alleged "Temple groups" launched tourist "guided tours" for English-speaking intruders, in order to introduce them to the mosque, as the "Temple", in a dangerous precedent that is the first of its kind.

The "Beyadenu" organization, or what is known as "The Temple Mount in Our Hands", launched its first guided tour inside Al-Aqsa, in cooperation with the "Return to the Temple Mount" organization, which announced that this tour will be organized monthly for the English-speaking community in order to "connect with the Temple Mount." .

The occupation seeks, behind these "tourist tours", to perpetuate the Jewish presence in Al-Aqsa Mosque, falsify and Judaize Arab and Islamic history in it, as well as impose spatial and temporal division.

The Waqf categorically rejects these dangerous measures, which affect the sanctity of Al-Aqsa, saying: "Extremists are waging a new war on Al-Aqsa, with the aim of brainwashing its visitors, inciting against Muslims and Palestinians, and promoting the Talmudic narrative that contradicts our Quranic narrative, which leads to an imbalance in the mosque."

They warn of the danger of such tours and guidance programs, which are among the most dangerous Judaization programs, which will lead to an attempt to create a new reality in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The tourist guidance is a prerogative of the Waqf Department, and the occupation has no right to encroach and interfere in its affairs and management of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Whew! Jews telling the truth about the Temple Mount really gets these Palestinian Muslims upset!

You can see the Beyadenu website here, to help arrange your own English language tour of the most sacred spot in Judaism.

It has been ten years since I had my own personal English-language tour of the Temple Mount, provided by Yisrael Medad, and it still holds up:

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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01/04 Links Pt1: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can't be solved, only ended; UNRWA paving the road to conflict; Iran vows response to Khamenei cartoons in Charlie Hebdo

From Ian:

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can't be solved, only ended - opinion

It’s not about what Israel does, but about what Israel is and represents. That’s why many oppose Israel and support its enemies.

Attempts to find “solutions” were based on leftist assumptions that in order to have peace, Israel must make compromises and concessions. This was the basis of the Oslo Accords that legitimized the PLO and created the Palestinian Authority. The “peace process” was a hoax, a hype to bring Arafat and the PLO back to Israel and empower them.

This confused way of thinking persists. It is the basis of what is called the “two-state-solution,” (2SS) an independent Arab Palestinian state based on the 1949 Armistice lines, and support for United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

In response to threats from the EU, UN, and even the Biden administration, Israel concedes, which always leads to more problems. The IDF, COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) and police destroyed Jewish property for no rational reason and restrict building in settlements. Israeli leaders (including Netanyahu) went along with the fraud of trying to appease the Palestinians and those who supported them. Why should this absurdity continue? Who does it serve?

Jews who live in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem are not “occupying Palestinian territory.” It is not “illegal,” and there is no basis for this accusation. Jews should be protected and encouraged wherever they live. That’s what Zionism means. That’s what the new government will hopefully do. Some are opposed, and some call for a “civil war.”

Our recent elections indicated that most Israelis want a realistic agenda that ensures their safety and security. Dealing with Palestinian terrorism is our first and foremost concern, and – as many understand, the PA/Hamas are unwilling and unable to stop it. Palestinian identity was and is based on a “one-state solution” – “from the river to the sea.” This goal, enabled and facilitated by the Oslo Accords, is why resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains elusive.

The most practical and realistic alternative to the 2SS is to recognize Jordan as the homeland of the Palestinians – all of those who want to live in peace. Engaging in and supporting terrorism and seeking Israel’s destruction is simply not an option. The conflict cannot be resolved, but it can be ended by understanding why it exists.

UNRWA paving the road to conflict

The 67 nations and 33 agencies which aid UNWRA do not demand a change in its policies that support the perpetuation of conflict. Op-ed.

Realizing the extent of incitement in UNRWA schools and summer camps, the Trump administration cut US funding to UNWRA in 2018 for lack of “accountability.” The Biden administration has resumed funding but only under the condition that its education curriculum is for peace.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the UN, Gilad Erdan called for “countries to freeze contributions until UNRWA teachers expressing support terror are fired”. But the funding continues.

In 1967, following Israel’s victory in the Six Day War, when the IDF took control of the Arab populations of Judea and Samaria and Gaza, school textbooks used by Palestinian Arabs rejected Israel’s existence and incited violence. But, then placed under Israeli administration of COGAT,(Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), new text books were implemented.

However, the signing of the Oslo accords on September 13, 1993, which would give the Palestinian Authority control over education in territories which they administered as a result of the agreements, saw a steady deterioration in the curriculum. Incitement to violence against Israel again abounded in what was supposed to be the beginnings of a process of reconciliation. With the OSLO Accords came the deterioration of UNWRA sponsored institutions, as anti-Israel propaganda proliferated in the territories.

Since Oslo, donor countries have not demanded accountability. Journalist, David Bedein who heads the Israel Resource News Agency and the author of ‘UNRWA Roadblock to Peace’, stated that when he posed the question to thirty-five of the sixty-seven nation which fund UNRWA, as to how they track the funds and where they are going, “they replied that they rely upon the rigorous oversight of UNRWA.”

Today, UNRWA facilities primes tomorrow’s generation for conflict. UNRWA should be seeking real solutions to what was the rejection by Arab nations of the partition of the land in 1947, according to UN resolution 181. Their leaders’ statements denying culpability belies their agenda, which is to allow perpetuation of conflict and the continued hope by Palestinian Arabs to flood Israel with refugees.

Iran vows response to Khamenei cartoons in French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo

Iran warned France on Wednesday it would respond after “insulting” cartoons depicting Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The weekly had published dozens of cartoons on the same day ridiculing the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic Republic.

The magazine said the cartoons were part of a competition it launched in December in support of the protests triggered by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

“The insulting and indecent act of a French publication in publishing cartoons against the religious and political authority will not go without an effective and decisive response,” tweeted Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“We will not allow the French government to go beyond its bounds. They have definitely chosen the wrong path.”

The French magazine said the contest aimed “to support the struggle of Iranians who are fighting for their freedom.”

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Daily incitement at the State Department - where is the Jewish and Israeli media?

Yisrael Medad writes an important piece in the Jerusalem Post:

Said Arikat is the Washington Bureau Chief of the Al Quds daily newspaper and ...is a long-time Washington-based journalist.

True to his newspaper’s self-assumed role as trumpeting an ideological presentation of pro-Palestinianism, Arikat has, to his credit, maneuvered himself into an ideal position through his presence at US State Department press briefings.

There, he never fails to present the various spokespersons at the podium with carefully worded questions that usually trumpet a propaganda angle, inserting doubtful “facts.” He always leads those spokespersons to utter conclusions that would both aid the cause of Palestine while deviously demonizing Israel.

If anything, Medad understates the issue. Every day, it seems, the State Department spokesperson calls on this relatively obscure reporter, and every day Said Arikat uses that opportunity to put rabid anti-Israel lies - and sometimes, antisemitic lies - on the official public record, pretending that he is simply asking questions.

I've noted before how Arikat once implied that Israel controls members of Congress and has them do their bidding. I've also written about how he (and others) have tried to leverage  US support for Ukraine's self-defense as being the same thing as Palestinian terror attacks, using the word "resistance" for both of them.

But Arikat's propaganda is inserted into most briefings. 

When the US says it is against collective punishment, Arikat asks whether Israel closing its borders on election day is "collective punishment."

He framed a question about Israel killing six known terrorists in Nablus as "Ned, the past few days have witnessed an increased assault by the Israeli occupational army into towns and villages, killing a number of people, killing six people last night alone in a home."

Or, this cunning question, knowing that the US considers the West Bank to be occupied, Arikat tries to extend that: "Do you dispute that the Palestinians are militarily occupied, that Israel has annexed Palestinian land? Do you dispute that? Do you dispute that they have forcibly removed populations? "

These examples are only from the past month.

The State Department spokesperson usually ignores or correctly responds to these, but the fact remains that not only are these questions on the record, but the other reporters in the room and those watching the live webcasts hear one-sided anti-Israel propaganda, brought to them by the US State Department.

Arikat has every right to be there and to ask questions, even to spout lies. But, as Medad points out:

What is lacking at these press briefings, these challenges of American foreign policy and the prejudicial framing of the stories, is the voice of Israeli journalists and American Jewish media representatives. No one is there to politely, but authoritatively, ask questions predicated on the true circumstances. 

They could request information on acts – or lack thereof – on the part of Mahmoud Abbas’s regime. They could ask why the Taylor Force Act is basically a dead letter. Or why President Biden, on his recent trip to Jerusalem’s Augusta Victoria Hospital, refused an Israeli escort, or whether the hundreds of millions of dollars his administration has pledged actually accomplish anything positive.

There are major Jewish media outlets, such as the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and the Jewish News Syndicate, as well as national and Washington local Jewish weeklies like the Algemeiner, The Jewish Press and The Jewish Week.

There are Israeli newspapers, and radio and television correspondents based there. Can’t they regularly send a reporter, or pool a reporter, to cover the State Department beat? Even a college intern? 

That is the question. The State Department should be asked about what they are doing to bring Ahlam Tamimi to justice and why they fund Jordan despite their obligations to extradite her. They should be pressed on responding to Mahmoud Abbas' praise of the most obscene terrorists.  They should be asked to comment on daily incitement in official Palestinian media, including antisemitism. 

I'm sure that a Jewish philanthropist could fund the salary of a reporter to attend State Department briefings and ask tough questions from the other side. It is an easy and obvious thing to do. So why isn't it happening?

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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11/13 Links: Palestinian Resolution at UN Is a Desperate Step; Major Terror Attack in Turkey, 6 Dead, 53 Wounded"; Chappelle: 'Not a crazy thing to think' that Jews run Hollywood

From Ian:

Palestinian Resolution at UN Is a Desperate Step

The worst-case scenario – a future declaration by the ICJ stating that Judea and Samaria are being annexed – will not be a blow to Israel, but a headache at most. The countries that are already hostile to the Jewish state do not need a court to justify their approach. Similarly, the states that understand the situation or support Israel will not change their policies because of a political opinion disguised as international law. There have been plenty of these over the years and we are still standing.

Saturday's vote at the UN makes it clear who is on our side and who is against us. Sixty-nine countries opposed the measure, which is not a few. These include the United States, Germany, Canada, and Australia, where left-wing governments have been in power in recent years. Italy stood by us for the first time as well, as did others.

Most other Western countries abstained. Those who supported the Palestinians were mostly Arab, Muslim, or African countries, with one notable exception: Ukraine, which continues to put sticks in our wheels at the UN while asking Israel for favors in reality. Strange.

And speaking of reality, it is not yet certain whether the ICJ will even publish the opinion that the UN is requesting. The whole world knows that the conflict is political, not legal. With this very rationale, many countries have turned to the ICC requesting not to advance Palestinian claims against Israel. By the looks of things, those requests were convincing. The process is stuck there, which is a good thing.

In any case, even if such an opinion is published, it will take years before it is written. So early in the game, no one knows what it will say, much less what its effect will be on the world. But it doesn't mean we can bury our heads in the sand.

The Palestinian appeal to the ICJ is a desperate step taken by Mahmoud Abbas and his people in order to internationalize the conflict. This process started more than a decade ago, which is when-then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not counteract.

Abbas learned that he is not held responsible for the diplomatic battles he starts with Israel, which is why he has since escalated by appealing to a long list of international institutions.

It was a dire mistake. Israel has and has had a lot of leverage against Abbas and the senior PA officials. There is no reason, for example, for him to fly to meet with leaders around the globe as long as he seeks to undermine Israel's status. The same goes for other senior PA members as well.

These are the first tools in the toolbox and they are now at the disposal of the new government. They will have to use them until the final vote in the General Assembly in a month. In addition, the new foreign and defense ministers – when appointed – will have to make it clear to the US that it must put limits on the Palestinian Authority. The administration is very afraid of its disintegration. It must therefore contribute to returning the demon attempting to internationalize the conflict straight back into the bottle.

Lapid calls to exact price from Palestinians for UN ‘occupation’ vote

Israel is preparing a security and diplomatic response to the Palestinians for their UN resolution calling on the International Court of Justice to consider the illegality of Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Sunday.

Lapid instructed the government to prepare a “security and diplomatic toolbox” to respond.

“The way to resolve the conflict does not pass through the halls of the UN or other international bodies, and the Palestinians’ move at the UN will have consequences,” the prime minister warned.

The UN General Assembly Fourth Committee voted 98-17 on Friday to ask the ICJ to consider whether the IDF’s ongoing presence in Judea and Samaria, east Jerusalem and the Golan can be considered de-facto annexation after 56 years. The resolution, officially proposed by Nicaragua because “Palestine” is a UN observer, questions the status of Jerusalem, ignoring Jewish ties to its holiest site, the Temple Mount, and referring to it as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). The resolution must be approved in another, full UN General Assembly vote before it goes to The Hague.

Israel slams UN panel decision on West Bank probe

Israeli leaders are decrying a UN decision to seek a legal opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel's activity in the West Bank.

Former ambassador Daniel Shek joins us to discuss how Israel will approach the resolution, and the countries that voted in favor, including Ukraine.

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