Jerusalem, July 14 - A stalwart supporter of this city's Premier League team, known for the jingoistic, often-racist, and sometimes-violent passion of its core demographic, plans to return from this evening's match too late to catch evening services at his synagogue, forcing him to look for nine other men who can take time away from their customary after-hours vandalism to form the necessary quorum for communal devotionals.
Shimon Abutbul, 30, told reporters on his way to the Beitar Jerusalem game against B'nei Sakhnin that he hopes to catch Ma'ariv, the evening liturgy, after the match, while acknowledging that doing so will require assembling a minyan, the ten necessary men over the age of thirteen, while hundreds, perhaps thousands, of fans express either their jubilation at a victory over the mostly-Arab opposing team, or their frustration at losing to them, by smashing windows, beating up people wearing anything other than yellow-and-black Beitar colors, strewing trash, spray-painting nationalist slogans, and harassing passers-by.
"I'm still saying Kaddish for my mother," explained Abutbul, a produce-stall proprietor by day. "She was always supportive of the things that kept our family connected to our community and heritage, and support for Beitar has long been a staple of that culture. I've managed not to miss a single time since she died six months ago. We'll have to leave some things to God, and I don't mean just the performance of our boys down on the pitch tonight. We have to show those filthy Arabs who's boss now, on the field and off. Black and yellow!"
Jerusalem-Sakhnin games often devolve into fights between opposing groups of fans, who bring the resentments and animosity of the Arab-Israeli conflict to each match between the two clubs. Conservative sensibilities among Beitar's Jewish supporters assign symbolic political importance to the rivalry and feel the need to reassert, by proxy, Jewish sovereignty after centuries of life as an underclass under Islamic rule; Sakhnin fans bring to the confrontation both the shame of Arabs having lost their dominant position despite outnumbering and outgunning the Jews of 1948 and 1967, and the cumulative grievances of discrimination against their minority since the founding of the modern state of Israel. More than once, law enforcement has ordered games between the two squads to take place with no fans in attendance, both as a penalty for the disorder and as a preventive measure.
Abutbul boasted that he once succeeded in assembling a minyan after a Grateful Dead tribute concert, but conceded that not all the participants were necessarily in a mental state to realize they formed part of the quorum
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It is the credible threat of force that allows economic and diplomatic pressure to advance with success. And it is the lack of such a threat that gives way to deeply flawed agreements that provide Iran pathways to nuclear weapons.
Biden yesterday reaffirmed his commitment to returning to the 2015 nuclear deal — an agreement that offers more policy challenges than solutions.
Under the deal, Iran gets a financial package worth up to $275 billion in the first year and as much as $800 billion over the next five. With a trillion dollars available by 2030 for Iran’s missile program, sponsorship of terrorism and Revolutionary Guard, the agreement enables Tehran to set a dozen more fires around the Middle East that force a US response to defend American citizens, embassies and allies. And in the end, without demanding a full accounting of Iran’s nuclear activities or destroying a single centrifuge, the deal’s expiration dates all but guarantee Iran will still cross the nuclear threshold at a future time of its choosing.
To be sure, Russia and China would like nothing more than to see an America bogged down by never-ending Iranian nuclear extortion and escalation. That is why they are the strongest proponents of a nuclear deal with Iran. They know that the more money Iran has available for terrorism, missiles and nuclear expansion in the Middle East, the more American time and resources will consistently be diverted from Asia and Europe to mitigate the latest Iran-sponsored crisis. That, unfortunately, is a strategic reality supporters of an Iran nuclear deal fail to grasp.
Facing reporters in Israel, Biden reluctantly stated he would consider military action against Iran as a last resort. But given his commitment to the Iran deal and aversion to combat operations in the Middle East, it is more likely Iran acquires nuclear weapons than Biden orders a military strike.
Plan of action?
That leaves Israel as the world’s last line of defense. Over the past weeks, Jerusalem has widened its covert campaign against Iran — conducting clandestine strikes, cyber-attacks and assassinations deep inside the Islamic Republic. At a minimum, Biden should commit to his counterpart that the US will not get in Israel’s way. Better though would be an offer of US support through a combination of intelligence coordination, expedited defense transfers, and covert action — while simultaneously ratcheting up economic and diplomatic pressure to further weaken the regime, even as the president insists publicly his goal is a return to a nuclear deal.
Biden doesn’t want to make the difficult decisions necessary to stop Iran’s drive to nuclear weapons. Hopefully he’s willing to let Israel save America from years of Middle East quagmires.
The declaration on Iran sends a message that while the US and Israel may disagree on how best to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and about whether Iran needs to be stopped, they are in total agreement on the need to prevent the Islamic Republic from getting nuclear arms, and will ensure that it is unable to do so.
Coming at a time when the nuclear talks with Iran are on the verge of collapse, when Tehran is moving perilously close to the nuclear threshold, and as Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet in Iran next week with its leaders, this is not a message being sent in a vacuum.
In addition, the reaffirmation that will come in the proclamation regarding Israel’s QME – something already anchored in congressional legislation – is important now considering the multi-billion dollar arms deals the US has signed, and is in the process of signing, with the Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Reaffirming Israel’s QME now means that the US pledges to uphold it even in the Abraham Accords era, when the major recipients of US arms – such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – are at peace with Israel. But what happens if there are seismic changes in those countries, or in Saudi Arabia, and the rulers are overthrown? Israel will still need to have a military edge on them, and this commitment reaffirms that.
This proclamation further anchors the close strategic ties between the countries. The tighter that knot is tied, the better.
Problems with the “Jerusalem Declaration”
It is worth noting, however, that this is a proclamation and has no legal standing. There have been other such declarations made by US presidents toward Israel in one form or another – such as George W. Bush’s famous letter to Ariel Sharon – that had a shelf life of the duration of that president’s tenure, but which can – as Barack Obama did with the Bush letter – later be largely disregarded
Biden’s proclamation is a powerful declaration of friendship, for which Israel should be extremely grateful. It is not, however, a treaty or legally binding document. There is a difference, and both Israel’s policymakers and the public would do well to keep that in mind.
George W. Bush visited Israel twice during his presidency. In January 2008, he came to bolster the dialogue between prime minister Ehud Olmert and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, returning that May to be part of the celebrations marking Israel’s 60th year of independence.
President Barack Obama traveled to the Middle East in June 2009 where he addressed the Muslim world from Cairo University. Obama controversially chose to avoid an Israel stopover, deliberately seeking to signal “daylight” between Washington and Jerusalem.
Obama ended up visiting Israel at the beginning of his second term, hoping to open the door for incoming-secretary of state John Kerry’s (ultimately ill-fated) effort to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace.
In May 2017, Donald Trump chose to make his first international trip as president to the Middle East, combining visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Riyadh, Trump met with Arab leaders from across the region. In Jerusalem, he broke the taboo on American presidents visiting the Western Wall.
Biden’s presence this week is designed to showcase the strength of the US-Israel partnership. In addition, the president’s visit conveniently serves as a public cushion for his Saudi rapprochement, following a period of strained Riyadh-Washington ties due to Biden’s overt criticism of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And perhaps, Biden, like Clinton in 1996, also wants to buttress the political standing of an Israeli prime minister who many see as a more comfortable fit for his Democratic administration.
Yet, as we have seen, Biden is not the first president, and won’t be the last, to utilize an Israel visit to advance disparate goals.
Jewish Voice for "Peace" Political Director Beth Miller reveals that the organization supports dead Jews.
In a bizarre attempt at far-Leftist humor, she writes:
Israel bringing Iron Dome batteries to the tarmac for Biden is like wearing the sweater your aunt gave you whenever she comes over. If your aunt was an imperial military power and you'd begged her for the sweater in order to maintain military control over the people you occupy.
Usually people don't want to wear their aunts' sweaters, but Israel definitely loves Iron Dome.
Notwithstanding Millers lack of understanding how jokes work, she is calling Iron Dome - a purely defensive system meant to save Israeli lives, that has never hurt a single Palestinian - as something meant "to maintain military control over the people you occupy."
Meaning, according to Miller and JVP, Iron Dome should never have been built. Hamas and Islamic Jihad has every right to shoot rockets aimed specifically at Israeli civilians in Israeli population centers, under this sickening concept of morality.
Iron Dome allows Israel to brush off rocket attacks that otherwise would require a major military response. It saves at least as many Palestinian lives as it saves Israeli lives. But JVP doesn't care about the Palestinians in Gaza or elsewhere; their entire purpose is to oppose Jewish rights and Jews living in security.
Never has the both the "Jewish" and "peace" part of their name been proven more Orwellian.
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The Palestinian Authority has signed numerous international conventions, without any reservations. It never intended to adhere to any of them. The only reason it signed them, as admitted by Palestinians themselves, is to make it appear to be a legitimate state so it can bring charges against Israel at the ICC.
However, these conventions do have requirements, so the Palestinian leaders must then submit to the UN a sheaf of lies to cover for the fact that they never did anything substantial to take on their obligations under international law.
One of the many international conventions the PA signed was the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 2014. (It also signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention in 2017. )
One of the provisions in the Convention is the issue a report within one year of signing the Comvention and then an additional one every four years afterwards on how it has implemented the Convention. The PA has finally issued its initial report that should have been published in 2015.
The 67-page report is a joke. It brags about passing laws and says nothing about actual efforts on the ground to stop torture. It is a whitewash that even Palestinian NGOs are upset about. UN Watch dissects it very nicely.
Beyond that, as always, the Palestinian Authority uses this report not to discuss its own human rights abuses, but to blame Israel for everything. To do this, it resorts to a torrent of lies.
It is difficult to overstate how pervasive the Palestinian industry of lies is. Every statement, every document, every official press agency report is simply filled with falsehoods, and the average observer simply cannot believe that the "State of Palestine" would lie so egregiously in official reports to the UN or official statements to the world. The Palestinians have created a brand new propaganda method - instead of the famous Big Lie of Hitler and Goebbels, the Palestinians have perfected a Sea of Lies technique, making up thousands of little lies that build on each other so the overall effect is that so many lies in such seeming detail must be true.
It would take encyclopedias to expose every single one of the falsehoods in the Sea of Lies. I will show only one of them here.
In Paragraph 47, the Palestinian authors claim:
The conditions of detention in which Palestinian women [in Israeli prisons] are held are wretched.... They are forced to give birth with their hands bound, regardless of the pain they endure in
labour and childbirth.
There are no footnotes for the charge that Israeli prison authorities shackle pregnant prisoners during childbirth.
It is completely made up.
The last pregnant Palestinian prisoner in Israeli prison was Anhar al-Deek, who had tried to stab Israelis. After a public campaign she was released to give birth while under house arrest. She had smuggled out a letter claiming that she would be shackled while giving birth in an Israeli hospital, but it simply isn't true.
The source for the lie seems to be from a previous prisoner who gave birth in an Israeli hospital, 15 years ago. Palestinian NGOs submitted to the UN this "testimony" which itself is highly suspect, but even she doesn't claim that she gave birth while handcuffed: "After delivery, I was cuffed by having one arm and one leg tied to the bed. In this position I was left for several hours before being taken back to my room."
What is not said is that this woman - a mother of eight - had attempted a suicide bombing while she was already nine months pregnant. She didn't seem to have much concern for her unborn child then. And that is a pretty good reason to take extra precautions to ensure she didn't escape from a hospital room only weeks after attempting to mass murder Jews.
It is obvious that Israel doesn't handcuff Palestinian prisoners as they are giving birth. Even the most anti-Israel NGO doesn't make that claim. But the Palestinian Authority does, in official documentation sent to the UN.
The major goal in everything they do, every statement they make, is to demonize Israel. And their citizens are expected to do the same. The rules are clear.
This one sentence in this one document proves that you cannot believe a word the Palestinian Authority says.
In a sane world, a consistent pattern of lying would destroy the credibility of the liar. But with the Sea of Lies, the web of falsehoods is perceived as increasing the credibility of the lies and the liars. The media is guilty of not bothering to do the slightest fact check of Palestinian statements; indeed they report them uncritically - because they want to believe the lies of a Jew-hating, terror supporting organization.
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At the end of the Council's proceedings, the Minister of Interior made before His Majesty the King, may God preserve Him, a presentation on the measures elaborated, pursuant to the High Royal Instructions on the organization of the Moroccan Jewish community.
These measures are based on the supreme responsibility of His Majesty the King as Commander of the Faithful and guarantor of the free exercise of worship for all Moroccans, all religious confessions included, and come to enshrine the Hebrew tributary as a component of the Moroccan culture rich of its multiple tributaries.
The scheme submitted to the High Appreciation of His Majesty the King, drawn up after extensive consultations with representatives of the Jewish community and personalities belonging to it, includes the following bodies:
1- The National Council of the Moroccan Jewish Community:
It is responsible for managing the affairs of the community and safeguarding the cultural and religious heritage and influence of Judaism and its authentic Moroccan values. Regional committees of the Council will be responsible for managing the day-to-day issues and affairs of the community's members.
2- The Committee of Moroccan Jews living abroad:
It works to consolidate the ties of Moroccan Jews living abroad with their country of origin, to strengthen their cultural and religious influence and to defend the supreme interests of the Kingdom.
3- The Foundation of Moroccan Judaism:
Its mission is to promote and watch over the Jewish-Moroccan intangible heritage, to safeguard its traditions and to preserve its specificities.
King Mohammed VI was always sympathetic towards his Jewish subjects, but until the Abraham Accords he couldn't have allowed an organization for Moroccan Jews abroad - for the simple reason that most of them live in Israel.
This brings up an additional benefit of the Abraham Accords: it has significantly reduced the amount of antisemitism in the media of Gulf countries and Morocco.
The ADL's polls from 2014 in the states most affected by the Abraham Accords indicated that in Morocco, 80% of the citizens held antisemitic attitudes; UAE 80%, Bahrain 81%, Saudi Arabia 74%, Oman 76%.. The Palestinian territories was 93%.
Until there is a new survey, we won't know how much the Accords have reduced Arab antisemitism, but it is a fair bet that with fewer antisemitic articles and stories in the media - and far more stories sympathetic to Jews - the attitudes of the citizens will be positively impacted towards Jews.
The progressives who never admitted that there was an Arab antisemitism problem likewise will not admit that reducing Arab antisemitism is a clear win from a human rights perspective. They try to spin the agreements as if they are somehow making human rights worse for the Arab signatories, when in fact when they are more favorably disposed towards Jews they are also more open to all non-Muslims.
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The Biden administration has invited Shireen Abu Akleh’s family to Washington to “engage directly” with the slain Palestinian-American reporter’s relatives, who have expressed outrage over the US determination that she was not intentionally killed by the IDF during a raid in the West Bank.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Israel on Wednesday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke recently on the phone with members of the Abu Akleh family and extended the invitation.
“The administration, at the president’s direction, has been very much engaged in helping try to determine what exactly happened around the tragic circumstances of her death,” Sullivan said, adding that “this subject will be one of the subjects at play in this visit.”
Abu Akleh was killed on May 11 while covering clashes between IDF soldiers and Palestinian gunmen. The Palestinian Authority said its investigation proved that the Al Jazeera journalist was intentionally targeted and killed by the IDF, while Israel insists there is not enough evidence to draw a definitive conclusion.
After nearly two months, the PA agreed to hand over the bullet used to kill Abu Akleh to US authorities, who proceeded to conduct a forensic examination. On July 4, the State Department announced that the probe had been inconclusive because the bullet was too badly damaged.
Washington added that it had reviewed the separate investigations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, concluding that she was likely struck by Israeli fire, though it found “no reason to believe that this was intentional.”
Rep. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) spent years cultivating a relationship with a pro-Palestinian activist who once tweeted that she wants to "set Israel on fire with my own hands & watch it burn to ashes along with every Israeli in it."
Bush, a member of the far-left "Squad" of lawmakers known for their anti-Israel attitudes, has been working alongside anti-Israel activist Neveen Ayesh since at least 2017, according to information published by Canary Mission, a watchdog group that tracks anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activists online. While Bush has publicly condemned attacks on the Jewish community, her relationship with Ayesh and other anti-Israel activists is drawing accusations that these statements are empty rhetoric.
Ayesh, who has been active in several leading anti-Israel groups, including American Muslims for Palestine, organized a 2020 fundraiser for Bush that featured Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), one of Congress's most vocal opponents of the Jewish state, and Linda Sarsour, an activist who has repeatedly used anti-Semitic rhetoric. An invitation for the fundraiser, titled "Muslims for Cori," is accessible on the ActBlue website, an online donation portal used by Democrats.
The relationship between Ayesh and Bush is raising fresh questions about the congresswoman's support for anti-Israel causes and willingness to partner with individuals who have expressed hatred toward Jewish people.
"Neveen Ayesh has shown support for terror organizations, wants to kill every Israeli, and called being Jewish a crime worthy of the rope," a Canary Mission spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. "Her anti-Semitism is publicly known information. It was even discussed on the floor of the Missouri House of Representatives. However, Cori Bush had no problem benefiting from a fundraiser organized by Ayesh and enjoys a long-standing relationship with her."
Bush, the watchdog group said, must provide her constituents with "an explanation." A Bush spokesman did not respond to a Free Beacon request for comment on the 2020 fundraiser and the congresswoman's relationship with Ayesh. Bush and Ayesh were pictured together as recently as 2020 and as early as 2017 during a trip to the Middle East.
Ayesh in February defended Hamas, comparing the group's armed resistance against Israel to Ukraine's war against "their oppressors" in Russia. People "somehow have an issue with Palestinians doing the same," she tweeted.
Ayesh has lambasted Israel on social media and wished death upon its citizens, posts that were made before she formed an alliance with Bush. Many of the most controversial tweets have since been deleted but remain archived online, with original screenshots, by Canary Mission.
"I want to set Israel on fire with my own hands & watch it burn to ashes along with every Israeli in it," Ayesh tweeted in February 2014.
"Once again I want to personally set Israel & all the Israelis in it on fire & watch them burn to ashes. Burn you bastards #IHateYou," she wrote one month later.
Nine European states rejected Israel’s designation of six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations, in a joint statement released on Tuesday.
Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden came out against the Israeli decision, announced in October. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Foreign Ministry said then that Palestinian NGOs Addameer, Al-Haq, Bisan Center, Defense for Children International Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) had extensive enough ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to be considered branches of the group, designated as terrorists by the US, EU and others.
“No substantial information was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy toward the six Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to designate these NGOs as ‘terrorist organizations,’” the statement reads.
“Should evidence be made available to the contrary, we would act accordingly. In the absence of such evidence, we will continue our cooperation and strong support for the civil society in the [occupied Palestinian territories]. A free and strong civil society is indispensable for promoting democratic values and for the two-state solution.”
Among the items the Israeli government has made public to show the connection between the organizations and the PFLP is a video from the Palestinian Wattan Media Network of leading figures in the NGOs, including Khalida Jarrar and Abdullatif Ghaith of Addameer, Shawan Jabarin of Al-Haq, Gebril Muhamad of Bisan, and Ahmad Sa’adat of the UPWC, at an event in a hall with dozens of PFLP flags hanging.
Background
The event in Ramallah honored PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, who according to information posted by the PFLP, took part in the establishment of Addameer, UHWC and UAWC.
In 2019, the PFLP planted a bomb, killing 17-year-old Rina Shnerb and injuring her relatives.
"Should evidence be made available to the contrary, we would act accordingly. In the absence of such evidence, we will continue our cooperation and strong support for the civil society in the [occupied Palestinian territories]"
The joint statement
UAWC’s Finance and Administration director Abdul Razeq Farraj was indicted in October 2019 on four counts, including aiding an attempted murder in the terrorist attack on the Shnerb family. Farraj’s indictment refers to Ubai Al-Aboudi, a PFLP member working with Farraj on recruitment, and the UAWC’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer until April 2019. The commander of the PFLP terror cell that prepared and detonated the bomb was Samer Arbid, and accounted for UAWC at the time of his 2019 arrest.
The Netherlands previously acknowledged the UAWC’s ties to the PFLP, and that Dutch funds paid the salaries of the NGO’s employees that carried out the attack that killed Shnerb.
President Biden, like it or not, is in Israel. Israelis on
the left are thrilled. To prove it, Peace Now hung a massive
PLO flag on the side of a Tel Aviv building to welcome the President.
Israelis on the right, far from welcoming the President, are gritting their
teeth at the anticipated challenges to Israel’s sovereignty, and the
concessions that are sure to be demanded of Israel, alone.
The views of the Israeli left and right, in this regard, are
in diametric opposition. One wing, the left, wants the American president to
force Israel to give the Arabs everything they want. Money, land, a state. They
want Biden to demand that Israel stop
building Jewish homes.
The Israeli right, on the other hand, wishes the American
president would mind his own business and leave us alone. Don’t patronize us.
Don’t tell us what we can and cannot do.
The right is jealous for Israel’s right to make its own
decisions on matters of national importance like any other sovereign nation. We
don’t like being squeezed for concessions, we don’t like being forced to give
succor to despotic Arab regimes that incite their people to cut down Jews in
the streets of the Jewish State. It sticks in our collective craw.
The right, moreover, perceives a profound insult in the way these
presidential visits tend to manifest. They see a disturbing pattern to the
visits in which Israel is threatened, abused, and extorted. Israel is treated
like the enemy, and told to jump when Abbas, the architect of the murder of so
many Jews, says jump.
The PA, meanwhile, is treated with indulgent presidential
paternalism. America has always told the Arabs, albeit in diplomatic code, “You’re
Arabs. Of course you can’t help murdering Jews. We understand. We’ll get you
some of their land, give you some more money, and you’ll calm down for a bit.” *Cue
the presidential wink and backslap*
Whether right, left, or Arab, on one thing we all agree: all
of us know by now that a president’s visit means monumental traffic snarls, in
particular along the narrow streets of Jerusalem. According to general
consensus, until Biden leaves the country, one might as well cancel all
appointments and stay
home.
Of course there are worse things than traffic, for instance,
terror attacks. Arabs generally attempt to murder Jews whenever a president or
even a vice president visits Israel. It happened when George W. Bush came to
Israel in January 2011. From the Meir Amit Intelligence and
Terrorism Information Center:
1. On the morning of Tuesday, January 8, the remains and fragments
of two rockets were found in the Western Galilee town of Shlomi. Investigation
showed them to be two 107-mm rockets fired from Lebanon during the night.
2. In the early afternoon of the same day, a roadside
bombing targeted a vehicle traveling on a road to the north of Sidon. Two
soldiers belonging to the Irish contingent of the peacekeeping force were
wounded as a result.
It happened when Obama visited Israel. A terrorist took it
in his head to ram Jewish civilians with a backhoe, right near Obama’s hotel.
It happened when Biden was vice president. From Time
Magazine:
A Palestinian attacker went on a stabbing rampage, killing
an American student and tourist and wounding nine others before being shot by
police, according to officials. The bloody attack unfolded in the ancient
Mediterranean coastal port city of Jaffa, which joins Tel Aviv—a mixed Arab and
Jewish area—and came soon after two other serious attacks across Israel in a
little under two hours.
On Tuesday evening, as Biden was at the Peres Centre for
Peace in Jaffa, a Palestinian man ran down the seaside promenade, stabbing and
wounding three people, before fleeing and carrying out stabbings in two other
places, wounding another seven people. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said
the attacker, 22-year-old Bashar Masalha, from Auja, near Qalqilyah in the West
Bank, was shot dead. Israeli police also confirmed the 29-year-old American
student and tourist—identified as Vanderbilt University student Taylor
Force—had died of his wounds on his way to hospital in Tel Aviv. The Israeli
news website Ynet reported that his wife was also critically wounded.
The stabbings in and around Jaffa, came on a violent day
when four other people were killed—three Palestinian attackers and a
50-year-old Palestinian woman who Israeli police say intended to carry out a
stabbing attack. The day is one of the worst in a five-month wave of violence
between Israelis and Palestinians, in which 30 Israelis and nearly 200
Palestinians have been killed, two-thirds of which Israeli officials say were
killed while carrying or attempting to carry out attacks.
Less than two hours before the attack in Jaffa, a
Palestinian man on a motorbike opened fire on two Israeli border police on a
main shopping street in East Jerusalem, wounding them both, before he was shot
and killed in turn. Within minutes of this attack, another Palestinian man
stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in the neck in Petah Tikvah, near Tel
Aviv. The man removed the knife from his neck and used it to stab and kill his
attacker, Israeli television media reported.
You would think that terrorists would think twice before
committing violent acts in the run-up or even during an American president’s visit
to Israel. After all, the Arabs stand to gain from such visits, which always
end with largesse for the PA and concessions from Israel. Why risk such
concessions by behaving in a manner not conducive to reward? It seems
illogical.
Logic, however, never applies when it comes to Israel and
the Jews. The terrorists, with encouragement by the PA, believe that if they target
Jews with violent acts of terror, the president will force Israel to make
concessions. Unfortunately, they’re right. That’s exactly what happens. Every
single time.
This is a tragic dynamic that should not exist: Arab
violence followed by Israeli concessions. Why should Israel reward terror?
Because a third party demands it, in this case the American president.
To the Israeli right, this makes no sense. It makes us
chafe. Common sense says we should give no concessions to terrorists. To the
contrary, terrorists and regimes that legitimate and foment terror, for example
the PA, should be punished, their aid slashed. They should be shunned, treated
not as desperados, but as the antisemites and murderers they are.
President Biden, of course, has already shown his disdain
for the Jews, and his approval of the despotic Arab regime that attacks them.
The President’s itinerary includes a visit
to an Arab hospital on the Mount
of Olives, the first time an American president has visited an institution
in “East” Jerusalem. The hospital visit sends the message that Biden does not
recognize Israel’s sovereignty over a united Jerusalem, and is rolling back Trump’s
recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. There was even a
diplomatic kerfuffle over whether an Israeli security detail or perhaps even a minor
official from the Ministry of Health would be allowed to accompany the
President’s entourage. Underscoring the intent of Biden’s hospital visit, the
President will announce his intention to give $100m
to “Palestinian” hospitals—this during a time of rising US inflation—to show
American support for the people responsible for spilling so much Jewish blood. This,
after he had already restored approximately $500 million in aid to the “Palestinian”
people.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was pleased to remind
us of this support for the people who murder Jews in his July 11 press
conference, in which he also, remarkably, attributed a Hamas ceasefire to
Biden: “Under President Biden’s leadership, we helped end the war in Gaza,
which easily could have lasted months, in just 11 days.”
How has Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
responded to American expressions of support for his people? Abbas’ response to
Biden’s cash gift is to demand even more. He wants Biden to abolish the Taylor
Force Act that put an end to US economic aid for the PA until such time as it ceases
paying salaries to terrorists and their families, otherwise known as Pay for
Slay. Abbas not only demands these things, but doubles down on his support for terror
by raising the salaries of hundreds
of terrorists.
The PA, in fact, has issued a long list of demands from the
Biden administration, accompanied by threats, including more terror attacks on
Jews. From MEMRI:
The Palestinian leadership, headed by President Mahmoud
'Abbas, clearly articulated what it expected the visit to yield – namely the
fulfilment of a series of commitments they claim Biden made them during his election
campaign and since the start of his presidency. Chief of these demands are: the
removal of the PLO from the Congress list of terror organizations; the
reopening of the PLO representation in Washington, which was shut down by the
previous administration; the reopening of the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem,
which served as the U.S. representation to the PA until it was closed upon the
Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital; the
renewal of the U.S. financial aid to the PA, halted in August 2018 by president
Trump; exerting significant pressure on Israel to halt what the Palestinian
leadership refers to as Israel's unilateral settlement activities in the West
Bank, its attempts to change the status quo in East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and
the escalation of its actions against the Palestinians; a reiteration of the
U.S. commitment to the two-state solution, and serious action towards renewing
the negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel . . .
. . . Fatah Revolutionary Council member and Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida columnist Muwaffaq Matar [warned] that, in the current
situation, there are only two options: Biden's visit will either restart the
political process, or it will lead to consequences that the Israelis cannot
imagine, and the U.S. administration will be responsible for this. He wrote:
"The U.S. administration will have to bear the consequences for the fact
that we [Palestinians] have only two options, and no third option: either a
breakthrough in a peace process based on the UN resolutions – which must begin
with practical measures and by exerting pressure on the occupation, settlement
and apartheid state, i.e., the state of Israel… – or else the second option,
which will [dire] beyond the expectations of the experts and strategic analysts
of the Israeli occupation and its supporters…"
In other words, if Biden doesn’t give us what we want, we
will kill Jews.
Abbas need not worry. Biden looks with favor upon many of
these demands. The American president is, for example, reportedly mulling over
a demand that Israel stop building homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria: the
ever popular building
freeze that so delights the Arab people, who want these territories handed
over to them Judenrein. Anticipating this demand, and wanting to please the US
president, Lapid, according to the Jewish
Press, “ordered the removal of two plans from the Jerusalem District
Planning and Building Committee agenda,” which would have created “a total of
2,000 new housing units in Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem.”
Alas, Lapid was thwarted in his desire to earn the affection
of the Biden administration. Ayelet
Shaked, Israel’s Interior Minister, countermanded the order. “I will not
allow harm to construction plans for Jews only on my watch,” said Shaked in a
statement. “So, I decided to postpone all of the plans, by a week.”
Again, not to worry. Lapid has other ways to kiss up to
Biden. Lapid, in tandem with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, plan to give Biden
the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor, an award not dissimilar from giving
Obama a Nobel Peace Prize, before he even stepped foot in the White House. From
Arutz Sheva:
“This award makes no sense. A ‘true friend of Israel’ and
fighter against antisemitism would not pursue the numerous policies undermining
Israel’s sovereignty and security that President Biden and his administration
are pursuing, including 100’s of millions of U.S. tax dollars financially
aiding and abetting Palestinian Arab terror against Jews,” said ZOA National
President Morton A. Klein and Director of Research & Special Projects Liz
Berney in a statement.
“Nor would ‘a true friend of Israel’ take advantage of
Israel’s caretaker government to make visits, as Biden is doing, to symbolic
Palestinian Authority institutions in eastern Jerusalem. Former Israeli
Ambassador Danny Danon noted that these Biden visits are unprecedented and were
‘created to pave the way for the U.S. administration to challenge Israel’s
sovereignty over Jerusalem,’” they added.
“Biden bragged about giving $500 million of U.S. taxpayer
dollars to the Palestinian Arabs – and is planning to announce an additional
aid package for Palestinian Arab facilities on his upcoming trip to Israel.
This funding for Palestinian Arab government functions aids and abets terror by
freeing up the $400 million per year that the Palestinian Authority spends on
substantial lifetime pensions to reward Arab terrorists for murdering Jews and
Americans. (The more Jews murdered, the higher the PA reward.) Biden is
blatantly violating and/or circumventing the Taylor Force Act. The Biden
administration’s indirect funding of these heinous PA payments needs to end.”
“In addition,” said ZOA, “Biden restored funding to UNRWA –
which hides Hamas rockets in its schools, employs Hamas terrorists, and teaches
children to murder Jews. UNRWA textbooks currently used throughout both Gaza
and the Palestinian Authority teach students to die as a martyr by killing
Israelis.”
“Outrageously, Biden and his administration (including
Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Nides) condemn Jews for building homes in the
lawful Jewish homelands in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria while saying nothing
about massive illegal Arab building. It’s time for the Biden administration to
end these blatant antisemitic attacks on Jews’ rights to live in the Jewish homeland,”
said Klein and Berney.
“Biden has attacked Jews for living in the Jewish homeland
throughout his political career. In 1982, then-Senator Biden threatened
then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during a Senate Foreign Relations
Committee meeting to cut aid to Israel if Israel refused to agree to Biden’s
demands to stop Jews from living in Judea/Samaria. PM Begin famously responded:
‘Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew
with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history.
Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody
came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We
fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend
them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your
aid.’”
“But now, Lapid and Isaac Herzog are responding to Biden’s
lifelong anti-Jewish policies by giving Biden and award! Where is their pride?”
said Klein and Berney.
It’s great to have this support from American Zionists. But
where are the Israeli Zionists in all of this? Why aren’t we hearing their
voices? Because the Israeli government has squelched its attempts to speak out.
From the Jewish
Press:
Israel Police denied a request submitted by a group of
nationalist organizations to protest President Joe Biden’s visit to eastern
Jerusalem later this week. The Regavim movement responded, saying, “Lapid
agrees that eastern Jerusalem is not part of Israel’s capital.”
Ahead of Biden’s visit, and in response to reports that
Israel will allow the presidential delegation to visit eastern Jerusalem
without official coordination with or an escort by the Israeli government, the
Zionist organizations Regavim, The Sovereignty Movement, Im Tirtzu, The
Bithonistim, Ad Kan, and ZOA submitted a permit request to the Police for a
protest vigil along the route of Biden’s entourage, “to clearly demonstrate the
Zionist view on Israeli sovereignty over its unified capital, and to sound the
alarm against the government’s failure to express the basic Zionist principle
of Jerusalem as the undivided, eternal capital of the sovereign State of
Israel. “
Israel Police denied the permit request, claiming that all
roads along the route to the proposed demonstration site would be closed during
the presidential visit. In a Police Regional Headquarters hearing of the
request Monday morning, two alternatives were proposed: the demonstration could
go ahead at the location in question only after President Biden concluded his
visit or the organizations may seek a permit for an alternative location, away
from the route of the visit altogether.
The Zionist organizations expressed their anger and
frustration, arguing that the alternatives do not permit them to express their
legitimate Zionist position appropriately. The only alternative they agreed to
would allow them to express their political views in eastern Jerusalem during
Biden’s visit.
If the police persist in denying them their right of free
speech, the Zionist groups plan to seek relief from the High Court of Justice.
Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim, said: “This is
nothing short of a complete breakdown of the system. The Israeli government
gave in and allows the visit, thus is re-dividing our capital – in violation of
both US and Israeli laws. This is an outrageous capitulation and we demand the
right to express our objection with our presence in Israel’s united capital. If
the police denies us this right, we will appeal to the High Court of Justice.”
The Israeli right is tired of having its rights trampled not
only by Biden and his handlers, but by the Israeli leadership. It doesn’t seem
to matter whether our leaders are to the left, right, or center, the resultant
kowtowing to American druthers is the same. It doesn’t matter whom we vote for,
or what we do. They stop us from building homes in our indigenous territory,
and they offer incentives to the people who want to kill us, rather than live
with us in peace on Jewish land.
All that is left, it seems is our undying hope. Hope for an
Israeli leader with cajones, and hope
for another American president who understands our rights in the region, a
president who is unafraid of withdrawing support for Arab terror, and most of
all, a president with creative new ideas for bringing peace to our region.
As long as in the heart within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And toward the eastern edges, onward,
An eye gazes toward Zion.
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope that is two-thousand years old,
To be a free nation in our land,
The Land of Zion and Jerusalem.*
*Translation of Hatikvah, the Israeli anthem, lyrics
composed by Naftali Herz Imber, circa 1878.
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Peter Thomas, known as Baron Thomas of Gwydir, was a British Conservative politician. He was the first Welshman to become Chairman of the Conservative Party, serving from 1970 to 1972, and the first Conservative to serve as Secretary of State for Wales, holding that office from 1970 to 1974
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Mayhew, says that the views of the noble Lord, Lord Haskel [that Israeli settlements do not violate Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions], are not widely shared. Listening to the noble Lord, Lord Mayhew, it is clear that his views are widely shared by those who have an aversion to the state of Israel. For many years he has demonstrated his views on that matter. I applaud what was said by the noble Lord, Lord Haskel. I thought his contribution important.
However, I am somewhat anxious about the way in which the debate is going. I understand that the Question before the House is: "whether the Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention". In anticipation of my noble friend Lord Gilmour giving the reasons why he was asking the Question, I obtained a copy of the Convention for the Protection of War Victims. I assume that my noble friend is referring to the last paragraph of Article 49. It states: The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies". That is the end of the article. It begins by dealing with individual or mass forcible transfers as well as the deportation of protected persons from occupied territories. It was put into the convention at the end of the war as a result of the dreadful activities of the Nazi administration, in particular the mass transfer of population in order to get rid of people regarded as being unacceptable; in name, the Jews. They were taken to be liquidated from one country to another and were moved from one place to another. That is why we have Article 49 in the convention.
I remind the House of Article 2. It states that, "the present convention shall apply to … armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties". The convention applies, to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party. I therefore ask the House to consider this question: which is the high contracting party whose territory is occupied? In other words, which state has sovereign title to the West Bank?
In 1967 Jordan was in occupation. It is generally accepted that after its annexation of the territories, Jordan had no sovereignty in international law. Its presence in Judaea and Samaria was only given de jure recognition by two countries out of the whole international community. Therefore, if one is dealing with points of law, as my noble friend's Question seeks, it seems clear that the West Bank, at present occupied by Israel, does not belong to any other state, and the convention therefore does not apply. The answer to the first and dominant part of my noble friend's Question is therefore no.
I shall raise another matter if I have time. The last legal sovereignty over the territories was that of the League of Nations mandate of 1922. It can be argued that its provisions still hold legal weight. The mandate stipulated that the area was to be part of the Jewish homeland, and that Jewish settlement there was to be encouraged.
I have referred the House to those two matters, namely, the effect of Article 2 and the mandate, to indicate how ridiculous it is even to contemplate that major national and ethnic issues can ever be solved by raising legal points.
That last paragraph seems to me that he is not so much saying that he is making a legal argument as saying that legal arguments are irrelevant since anyone can interpret them as they wish, and the only solution is political.
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The Jerusalem Declaration of the US-Israel Strategic Partnership will be a centerpiece of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel on Wednesday through Friday.
The agreement includes a joint stance against Iran’s nuclear program and regional aggression, with both countries saying they will use “all elements of national power” to ensure Iran never attains a nuclear weapon.
In addition, President Biden will reaffirm his commitment to Israel’s security, including its qualitative military edge and ability to defend itself by itself.
Helping Israel defend itself
The declaration states the US plans to follow up on the 10-year $38 billion Memorandum of Understanding on military aid signed with Israel, addressing emerging threats and new developments in the region.
Iran is at the top of Israel’s agenda for bilateral meetings with the Americans at all levels, including Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s meeting with Biden, a senior Israeli official said.
“Iran is continuing to violate its obligations and continues to deceive the international community,” the official said.
“Things published in recent weeks – and even just yesterday – statements by our American counterparts, reflected that,” referring to a remark by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that Iran plans to provide Russia with hundreds of drones.
When it comes to indirect negotiations between Iran and the US on the latter’s nuclear program, “Iran is playing for time,” the official added. “As long as Iran believes time is on its side, it will not give in or make any concessions. Time has run out [on the 2015 Iran deal], and it is crucial to exert pressure on Iran.”
Collaboration with the Biden administration on the Iran front is “very strong,” and Israel is grateful for it, the official stated, expressing hope that work on a joint strategy will be taken “to the next level” during Biden’s visit.
An Arab NATO?
Iran is also gambling on the fact that previous plans for a regional alliance, what some have called an “Arab NATO,” have never emerged. That means Iran believes Egypt and Jordan do not want to be part of any grouping that is perceived as anti-Iran.
The goal of using Zangeneh to discuss the visit is that if Iran is wrong, then the regime can simply move on, while the media used someone else to communicate the regime’s concerns. The article notes that the US cannot implement a regional partnership linking Israel and the Arab states because the US does not recognize how complex the region is.
“There are many obstacles in this field. America does not have the previous authority it once held to exercise its authority or to do this through military force. Of course, in the field of arms sales, America sells its military equipment and Saudi Arabia also buys it, but all these goals are lofty goals that cannot be achieved.”
The writer goes on to note that while normalization will continue, the US president will likely be in office for only another two years. That means, Iran believes, Riyadh might not gamble on any assurances from Biden.
In short, Iran is counting on regional complexity, Saudi caution, and Jordanian and Egyptian foreign policy to prevent the emergence of an alliance in the region that would exclude Iran. Iran is obviously concerned but it is waiting to see what will happen. It also appears to be concerned that it must tread carefully and not provoke a crisis while Biden is here.
That means Iran might be weighing whether it wants to use drones and missiles to attack or threaten Israel, Saudi Arabia or US troops in Iraq and Syria. Iran has used its proxies to carry out some 29 attacks since last October against US forces in Iraq and Syria. Of course, the lack of Iranian messaging does not mean that such attacks will not happen. However, Iran appears concerned about driving Israel and the Arab states into any kind of alliance.
US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his Zionism and the strong ties between the US and Israel in his remarks upon landing in Israel on Wednesday.
“You need not be a Jew to be Zionist,” Biden said, repeating past comments to which Lapid referred in his remarks at Ben-Gurion Airport.
The two-day visit to Israel is Biden’s tenth, but his first as president. Remarking on his first trip to Israel, in 1973, during which he met then-prime minister Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin, who later became prime minister, the president said he had “the great honor of living part of the history of this great place.”
“Every chance to return to this great country, where the ancient roots of the Jewish people date back to biblical times is a blessing,” he said. “The connection between the Israeli people and the American people is bone deep, and generation after generation that connection grows as we invest in each other and dream together.”
Biden spoke of US and Israel partnering on “the most cutting-edge defense systems in the world,” shortly before he went to a presentation by the Defense Ministry that included an Iron Dome battery and the laser-based Iron Beam missile defense system.
“We will continue to advance Israel’s integration in the region and expand emerging forms and engagements like new I2U2 summit,” of Israel, the US, India and the UAE whose leaders are set to convene via video link on Thursday, “to deepen the economic cooperation between the Middle East and Indo-Pacific,” the president said.
Biden said he will also discuss his “continued support – even though I know it’s not in the near term – for a two-state solution, which remains the best way for equal measures of security, freedom, opportunity and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians.”
The president spoke of his strong connection to Israel and the Jewish people going back to his childhood, when his father, a “righteous Christian” told him and his siblings about the Holocaust and “imbued in us a sense of obligation.”
Biden planned to visit Yad Vashem after departing from Ben-Gurion Airport, where he said he will “honor the six million Jewish lives stolen in the genocide and continue what we must do every day, to bear witness…and honor those we lost so that we never forget that lesson.”
(The complete video is available at the above link)
It just goes to show you that when it comes to brainwashing their children to hate, the PA can really give Hamas and their videos a run for their money.
The dishonesty of Abbas and the PA goes further however, and extends to manipulating the law and distorting evidence.
On May 19, 2020, Abbas -- who has a history of threatening to quit and to annul the Oslo Accords -- did it again, claiming that the PA no longer saw itself as being obligated by its agreements and accords that it had signed with Israel.
The Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones.
[Wafa, Official PA News Agency, May 19, 2020, Official PA TV, May 19, 2020] [Emphasis added]
The day after Abbas made the announcement, Palestinian PM Shtayyeh released a press release:
“During the meeting, Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh confirmed the Palestinian government's full support to the decision announced yesterday by H.E. President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership that we are absolved of all signed agreements and understandings with the Israeli and American sides. The Prime Minister stressed that we would work on translating this decision on the ground.”
And a week later Shtayyeh again confirmed that all agreements with Israel were null and void:
“Today, the Cabinet will finalize plans related to the leadership’s decision, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, that Palestine is absolved of all agreements with Israel.”
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber requested information from Abbas “to provide additional information on this statement [by Abbas cancelling all agreements with Israel], including on the question whether it pertains to any of the Oslo agreements between Palestine and Israel.”
Sure enough, Abbas responded -- and lied to the ICC:
“Substantively, the Statement declares that if Israel proceeds with annexation, a material breach of the agreements between the two sides, then it will have annulled any remnants of the Oslo Accords and all other agreements concluded between them.”
Abbas lied, claiming it was merely a warning and not a declaration. Abbas knew that if he admitted that the PA actually annulled the Oslo Accords, the PA -- and his presidency -- would be null and void as well.
But as Hirsch points out, Abbas lied about something else -- his voluntary confession to a war crime.
During Abbas's original speech, he also proclaimed:
Currently, [the Israelis] have asked the banks not to pay the prisoners, [but] we will pay, no matter what they want. (literally: “against the will of their father.” emphasis added)
And he liked so much how that sounded that Abbas broadcast that excerpt on PA TV 5 times:
Abbas: “We vow to our honorable Martyrs and heroic prisoners – [The Israelis] have asked the banks not to pay the prisoners, [but] we will pay, no matter what they want."
[Official PA TV, Abbas’ original speech on May 19, 2020, broadcast on May 20, 2020]
However, when Abbas dutifully responded to the ICC request for the text of his speech -- he changed what he actually said:
Eighth: … We pledge to our honoured martyrs, our brave prisoners and our heroic wounded to remain faithful to our oath until victory, freedom, independence and return are achieved...
No mention that Abbas proudly boasted that he was going to continue his pay-for-slay policy.
Why not?
Because 5 months earlier, on December 5, 2019, the The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) came out with its Report on Preliminary Examination Activities, detailing its preliminary examination into situations under consideration for possible investigation. While Israel was one of those under consideration -- so too was the Palestinian Authority:
According to this, the ICC was considering the PA not only for the crime against humanity of torture -- but also for the possible Rome Statute crime of paying stipends to families of Palestinian terrorists (pay-for-slay).
But it's not as if Abbas really had anything to worry about. I asked Lt. Col Hirsch if Abbas faced any backlash for falsifying the document he gave to the PA. He confirmed:
The Prosecutor said nothing. While the court referred to the document, it said nothing about the fact that the version submitted was falsified.
Ms Bensouda said there was a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes were committed in the context of the war, and that charges could be filed against Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel and members of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. [emphasis added]
While Hamas and "other Palestinian armed groups" were mentioned, it was 'in the context of war.' There was no mention of the torture and terrorist payments conducted by the PA. That would be the same PA that happily met with Bensouda to help her prepare for declaring the investigation of Israel.
Photo by WAFA, the official PA news agency, showing PA Prime Minister Shtayyeh meeting with ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in February, 2020
It is not surprising then to find another example of the PA's disregard for truth and the law when it comes to the investigation into the death of Shireen Abu Akleh -- and how it is ignored.
It took nearly 2 months before the PA finally turned over the alleged bullet that it claims killed Abu Akleh. What are we supposed to make of that delay?
the bullet had no “chain of custody,” so the P.A. could not prove it was the same bullet that killed Akleh. As evidence, it would be inadmissible in any American court. The fact that the P.A. waited so long to release the bullet, even though it was too damaged to be of any use, also casts doubt on its credibility.
The Palestinian Authority on Saturday said it has given the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to American forensic experts, taking a step toward resolving a standoff with Israel over the investigation into her death...It signaled that both sides may be working to find a solution to the deadlock.
The fact that the PA has falsified a document to the ICC in the past, might justify a more skeptical view.
"the bullet underwent a severe transformation at the hands of a hammer that created a deep depression in its back, which cannot be formed by the projectile's movement alone"...Regarding alterations made to the bullet prior to the PA allowing foreign experts to analyze it, Shahaf says he can detect streaks of crushing as well as an internal depression, which can only be produced by a hammer of enormous weight. The squeezing in question was performed on the back of the bullet and not its front, which smashes on impact. [emphasis added]
This makes the conclusion reached by the US on the incident rival the ICC when it comes to treating the Palestinian Authority with kid gloves. Based in part on the damaged, unverified bullet, the US came to the conclusion that the bullet was likely fired from the Israeli position, but not intentionally. How it was possible to reach this conclusion -- which left neither the PA nor Israel happy -- is unclear. But some kind of conclusion was necessary to try and resolve the issue before Biden's arrival in the Middle East was necessary.
And like the ICC, no official US condemnation of the delay in delivering the bullet or of the unexplained damage to the bullet was forthcoming.
Neither the falsification of a document nor the destroying of evidence by the PA merits a response.
The U.N. Committee against Torture (CAT) — a subsidiary of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) — convenes today in Geneva, where it will investigate instances of enforced disappearances, violent interrogations and the holding of the remains of Israeli soldiers, among other issues. In addition to investigating the Palestinian Authority, the committee will also probe Botswana, Nicaragua and the United Arab Emirates.
In accordance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Palestinian Authority was required to submit a report detailing its adherence to the convention.
Not surprisingly, there is no mention of the Palestinian record on human rights -- only on Israel.
Also noted in the article:
The PA report was initially due in 2015, but was not submitted until 2019 — a delay not addressed in the report.
Not surprising -- neither the delay, nor the failure of the UN to think it worth mentioning.
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Thursday, July 14, 2022
Elder of Ziyon
Jerusalem, July 14 - A stalwart supporter of this city's Premier League team, known for the jingoistic, often-racist, and sometimes-violent passion of its core demographic, plans to return from this evening's match too late to catch evening services at his synagogue, forcing him to look for nine other men who can take time away from their customary after-hours vandalism to form the necessary quorum for communal devotionals.
