Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, October 08, 2017

Palestinians upset that Ambassador Friedman "performed Talmudic rituals" at Kotel today

Today, thousands of Jews flocked to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem to participate in the "priestly blessing" performed on the holiday of Sukkot.

One of them was US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

This prompted Palestinian media to recoil in horror that Friedman was performing "Talmudic rituals" with "thousands of settlers" at the "western wall of Al Aqsa Mosque."

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who express loyalty to Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, confirmed that they will never put down their weapons, no matter what.

They claim that their right to kill Jewish Israelis, which they call "resistance," is guaranteed under international law.

Abu Mohammed, a military spokesman for the group, said in a statement Saturday that "resistance is a legitimate weapon that is guaranteed by all international laws, to defend the right of the Palestinian people and the occupied territory."

The only possible place that the Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades can get funding from is from Fatah, under Mahmoud Abbas. Arafat was known to have paid them directly.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

10/07 Links: LV mayor ‘Israel lives with this every day’; Glick: Hamas is the great victor

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: In this round of reconciliation talks, Hamas is the great victor

In other words, the PA will now be responsible for keeping the lights on and picking up the garbage.

And Hamas will be free to concentrate on preparing for and initiating its next terror war against Israel. It can dig tunnels. It can build missiles. It can expand its operational ties with Hezbollah, Islamic State, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Fatah.

In the wake of Hamas’s leadership’s meetings in Tehran, Sinwar told reporters that Hamas is now moving full speed ahead toward doing all of these things. Sinwar said that Hamas is “developing our military strength in order to liberate Palestine.” He added, “Every day we build missiles and continue military training.”

Thousands of people, he said, are working “day and night” to prepare Hamas’s next terror war against Israel. And indeed, two weeks ago, two Hamas terrorists were killed when the tunnels they were digging collapsed on them.

Tuesday’s surrender ceremonies tell us two things.

First, the notion that Fatah is even remotely interested in defeating Hamas is complete nonsense. For 10 years since its forces were humiliated and routed in Gaza, Fatah has faithfully funded and defended Hamas. Abbas’s only concern is staying in charge of his Israeli-protected fiefdom in Ramallah. To this end, he will finance – with US and EU taxpayer monies – and defend another 10 Hamas wars with Israel.

The second lesson we learn from Hamas’s victory is that we need to curb our enthusiasm for Sisi and his regime in Egypt, and for his backers in the UAE. Sisi’s decision to facilitate and mediate Hamas’s newest victory over Fatah shows that his alliance with Israel is tactical and limited in scope. His decision to side with Israel against Hamas during Operation Protective Edge three years ago may not repeat itself in the next war.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner: Follow Israel’s example: We must wage financial warfare against terrorists

The United States and nations around the world battle ISIS and other terrorist groups with special forces and other ground combat troops, pilots of manned aircraft and drones, police, explosives experts, intelligence agents and informers. But to win the fight we also need financial experts who can deprive terrorists of money they require to wage war against us.

Israel – a favorite target of terrorists for decades – has developed a highly effective financial warfare template to hit terrorists in their wallets. The U.S. has already used this template to fight ISIS and other terrorist groups – and now European nations should follow.
Harpoon

Money is the common denominator behind everything that ISIS and other terrorist groups do and threaten to do. Without the cash to fund fighters and leaders, there would be no global jihad against the West. Islamic fundamentalism and despair might inspire terror, but money fuels it.

Israel came to terms with this reality years ago, during the last intifada from 2000 to 2005, when a seemingly endless wave of Palestinian suicide bombers attacked the country’s towns and cities. The Israeli military and security services waged relentless efforts to end the bloodshed, and elite counterterrorist units launched daring raids to kill and capture key terrorists – but the bombings continued.

Israeli leaders realized they needed a new approach – something that could provide short-term benefits and change the long-term paradigm. So Israel shifted its focus to the money that financed everything from bomb-building factories to the cash bonuses issued to the families of suicide bombers.

The Jewish state formed a multiagency task force codenamed Harpoon to wage financial warfare against its enemies. The Harpoon unit followed the terrorist money from its source – whether it was cash raised by charities in the U.S., or multimillion-dollar transfers from Iran, the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia.

Harpoon expanded its operational reach in 2002. Following the money wasn’t enough. The cash and the accounts had to be taken from the terrorists or destroyed.

Caroline Glick: Trump and Obama’s third term

The problem is that substantively, there is no real difference between the two administrations – not in the Middle East and not anywhere.

Take Iran’s nuclear program for example.

In accordance with the US Nuclear Agreement Review Act (2015), on October 15, Trump is obligated to make his quarterly report to Congress certifying or decertifying Iranian compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal it concluded with Obama two years ago.

The issue of whether or not to certify Iranian compliance has been the beginning, middle and end of all US policy discussions on Iran’s nuclear program since Trump entered office.

Despite Trump’s stated opposition to the deal, his top advisers Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have pressured him into twice certifying Iranian compliance.

On the face of it, the debate about Iranian compliance ought to be about competing interpretations of Iran’s behavior. In practice, though, facts play little role in the discourse.

The Iranians announced as soon as the deal was concluded that they would not permit UN inspectors to enter any nuclear site they define as a “military installation.”

This hollowed out the entire inspections regime.

After all, if Iran can bar inspectors from its nuclear installations, there is no way for inspectors to know if Iran’s nuclear operations accord with or breach of the restrictions it agreed to in the agreement.

In other words, neither Obama nor Trump has had any way to credibly certify Iranian compliance, because the US has no idea what Iran is doing.

And everyone knows this.

Chag sameach! Plus a Sukkah photo to upset Israel's enemies

Tonight is the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and I won't be blogging from sundown (on the East Coast of the US) until Saturday night or Sunday.

Here's a photo of Benjamin Netanyahu in a sukkah, taking the traditional lulav and etrog:

Note the pictures on the walls.

One is a panorama of Jerusalem - without the Dome of the Rock or Al Aqsa mosques.

The other is a depiction of the Second Temple.

Some people's heads might explode.

Chag sameach!

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

10/04 Links Pt2: Phillips: That UN reaction to 'son of Hamas'; Collier: My name is Rachel ‘X’

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: That UN reaction to 'son of Hamas'

Please join me in this clip as I discuss with Avi Abelow of Israel Video Network the amazing, comical and oh-so-telling reaction of UN delegates to home truths being told to them by the “son of Hamas”.

.@Facebook now blocking video from being shared—but at 2,994,885 views, it is the most watched speech in UN history. https://t.co/e8zP5gbkRD pic.twitter.com/eaLpvtGWM2
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 3, 2017

David Collier: My name is Rachel ‘X’

On 2 October 1938, Arab ‘rioters’ infiltrated a Jewish neighbourhood in Tiberias. They first cut the telephone wires to frustrate calls for help. They then set about massacring innocent civilians. According to the British:

‘It was systematically organized and savagely executed. Of the nineteen Jews killed, including women and children, all save four were stabbed to death.’

There were about 70 armed Arabs involved in the attack, they set fire to Jewish homes and the local synagogue. According to Wiki ‘in one house a mother, and her five children were killed’.

Wiki doesn’t explain that the father, Shimon Mizrachi, was elsewhere, on guard duty protecting other families. Nor does the account give you the names and ages of those five murdered children. Ezra (aged twelve), Miriam (five), Yocheved (three), Samuel (two) and Hephzibah (one).

It doesn’t give you the mother’s name either. The mother’s name was Rachel.

The Rachel of Kiryat Shmona
Kiryat Shmona is about 35 miles from Tiberias. A city in the Northern District of Israel, near the Lebanese border.

On 11 April 1974, terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) attacked civilians in Kiryat Shmona. These terrorists first tried to attack a school, but there was nobody inside. Instead they attacked a nearby residential building. Rehov (St) Yehuda Halevi number 15. They went from flat to flat in a barbaric killing spree. Eighteen people were murdered, half of them were children.

Anisa Stern (47) was one of the victims, killed alongside her eight-year-old daughter. The daughter’s name was Rachel
The Rachel of Ma’alot-Tarshiha

Just a few weeks after the massacre in Kiryat Shmona, on the 12th May 1974, a group of fifteen to seventeen year old students set out on a field trip of the Galilee. It was three days before Israel’s twenty-sixth Independence Day. It was a large student group and they had made arrangements to spend a night at the Netiv Meir School in Ma’alot.

Barry Shaw: The asymmetry of the Israel-Palestinian conflict

The international community ignores the misuse of funding to the Palestinian Authority with over $300 million allocated to terrorists and their families. Not only Hamas, but also the PA is a terror-ridden organization. Palestine Media Watch, in its latest report dated Sept. 27, revealed that the Palestinian Authority now has 75 schools named after terrorists or Nazi collaborators. One of these schools is funded by the Belgian government.

Both sides of the Palestinian political divide constantly make inflammatory anti-Semitic remarks when referring to Israel. Mahmoud Abbas has a long history of hitting at Jews as he assaults Israel.

While addressing the European Parliament on June 24, 2016, he accused rabbis of demanding the Israeli government poison Palestinian water. Prior to that, in another blatantly offensive anti-Semitic remark, he said that "we will not allow Jews with their filthy feet" to defile the Temple Mount.

Deep Palestinian anti-Semitism can be found in the infamous Hamas Charter, which quotes the hadith: "The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."

This then is the asymmetry that prevents any possible solution to the impasse between Israel and the Palestinians.

It is not about borders or territory. It is about this deep schism between the two sides that has prevented progress for decades.

Until the international community faces up to this obvious obstacle of the ideological asymmetry between the two sides, do not expect a solution any day soon.

10/04 Links Pt1: Toameh: A State Within a State?; Phillips: Has Interpol gone stark, staring mad?

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: A State Within a State?

For now, however, Hamas seems prepared to swallow the bitter pill -- because the name of the game for Hamas is survival. Isolated and cash-stripped, Hamas will collude with anyone who offers it "oxygen".

Abbas, for his part, has agreed to serve as the savior of Hamas. Why? One simple reason: he does not wish to see a concord between Mohammed Dahlan and Hamas. In Abbas's view, the "reconciliation" deal is a victory not because Hamas has surrendered or relinquished security control over the Gaza Strip, but because he managed to foil Dahlan's return to Gaza and the political arena. Backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other Arab countries, Dahlan's return and rendezvous with Hamas would have been a severe blow to Abbas and his Palestinian Authority.

A Dahlan-Hamas alliance would have undermined Abbas's claim to be the president of all Palestinians, including those in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, such an alliance would have emboldened Dahlan, who lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates, and would have enhanced his prospects of succeeding Abbas as president of the PA.

Hamas has every reason to be satisfied with the "reconciliation" deal with Abbas. Its only concession was to dismantle its "administrative committee," which served as a shadow government in the Gaza Strip. Hamas shed no tears in this move, which absolved it from managing civilian affairs and paying salaries. Offloading this responsibility frees up Hamas to fortify its military capabilities.

Notably, the Egyptian-engineered deal does not require Hamas to make any political concessions. This in itself is a huge achievement for Hamas. Hamas is not being asked to recognize Israel's right to exist or accept any peace process.

The Gaza Strip is now headed toward a new era where it will be divided between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas – one in charge of civilian issues while the second has full security control.

This situation, if it remains unresolved, will most likely lead to the renewal of tensions between the two sides. The Gaza Strip is headed towards a situation of a state within a state. As of now, it is safe to call their arrangement a three-state solution: one Palestinian state in the West Bank and two in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah and Hamas must be laughing their heads off as, under weak and impotent governments, they see their power grow.

Melanie Phillips: Has Interpol gone stark, staring mad?

Please join me in this clip as I discuss with avi Abelow of Israel Video Network the implications of the extraordinary decision by Interpol to admit a fictional country to its ranks.

Today's crazed antisemitism, from Turkey and Kashmir

Arabs who live near Israel have been trained to downplay their feelings about Jews and replace that word with "Zionists" in their English-language media, because they learned that the West is not yet accepting of blatant antisemitism - only the euphemistic kind that says "Zionists" control the banks and Hollywood and America.

But those Israel haters from beyond the immediate neighborhood of Israel are not as careful.

A long, disjointed anti-Israel rant at KashmirWatch includes:

World had expected President Obama to reign in the fascist Zionist criminal regime in West Asia so that peace is allowed to herald in the region. He did not or could not do that and let Israel as powerful as ever. Now with the arrival of Trump Israel, though opposed him during the poll, got a shot in it s terror arm. Israel had expected the supposed Mossad agent Mrs. Hillary Clinton to defeat “erratic” Trump to continue with the pro-Israeli policies. It took time, therefore, for Israel to recover from the disappointment and disillusionment over Clinton exit. But as Trump came to office Israel and its Mossad plus the powerful Jewish community USA began getting closer to the White House and Netanyahu became a special guest of Trump whose Jewish son in law is playing his worth make USA a Zionist proxy.

So, whenever Israel tells there is something wrong with US policy for Israel or West Asia, it only wants US president to remember that it was USA and UK that created Israel as a spoiled foisted child and it’s their prime duty to shield all its crimes against humanity.

European states were fed up with criminal-terrorist operations of Jews in the continent and UK got rid of them by carving out a separate Israel in 1948 within Palestine by killing and pushing the Palestinians out of their lands.

From Turkey's Yeni Safak, an equally crazy article entitled "From where are the plans of the Crusader-Zionist alliance running?":

While [William] Safire, one of the symbolic figures of the Jewish lobby, was writing these [words of support for an independent Kurdistan] then U.S. President George H. W. Bush said:

"We are determined to keep our country as the leader of the Jewish-Christian union" (Aug. 24, 1992)

...Ecevit, the Prime Minister of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition government established after the elections in April 1999...was the guest of B'NAI B'RITH, the "roof organization" of all Jewish organizations in the world on Feb. 1, 2002, during the last months of his office as prime minister! It was TESEV’s founder, İshak Alaton, who introduced Gülen to B'NAI B'RITH managers years before he entered the masonic lodge in 1975.

I still don't know what that guy's thesis is, I think that the US and Israel were trying to carve up Turkey (no pun intended) and are now working on Iraq and Syria.

( I found no evidence of the Bush quote about a Jewish-Christian union.]

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

The best years in Palestinian history, economically, were under "occupation"

The "Report on UNCTAD Assistance to the Palestinian People: Developments in the Economy of the
Occupied Palestinian Territory" came out in September.

It tries to spin the statistics to blame Israel for all Palestinian ills, but the numbers show something very interesting.

When the West Bank and Gaza were under complete Israeli control, there was essentially no unemployment for Palestinian Arabs - 2.8%. Only after Oslo did unemployment go up, and it soared after the PLO decided to start a terror war.

UNCTAD complains about how Palestinians have been dependent on Israeli jobs for so long, but doesn't mention that they've had since 1994 - 23 years - to build an independent economy. And they didn't bother.

The other interesting statistic: "The [Palestinian] economy grew by an average 7.4 per cent in 1969–1992 and 4.4 per cent in 1994–2016."

7.4% annually from 1969-1992? Those are numbers that any country in the world would kill for!

And it was all because of Israeli "occupation."

UNCTAD spins and spins and blames all of today's Palestinian economic woes on "occupation" for page after page. But it isn't occupation that has caused the Palestinian economy to go down the toilet - it was the decisions of Palestinian leadership to create a bloated bureaucracy that employs many, the support terror attacks which chased away Israeli employers, to shoot rockets at Israel prompting wars.

(h/t Irene)

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

More evidence the Jerusalem US consulate is taking on more of Tel Aviv's tasks

On Monday we noted that the US Consulate in Jerusalem had taken on responsibilities that had been done in the Embassy in Tel Aviv beforehand.

There seems to be a pattern.

The January 2017 newsletter of the US Embassy Tel Aviv, called the "Embassy Tel Aviv’s Consular Sun Times", says which US citizens go to which location for services:

Welcome to Tel Aviv!
The American Citizen Services Unit of U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv provides information and assistance to all U.S. citizens residing in Israel.

U.S. citizens visiting or residing in Jerusalem, the West Bank, or Gaza should contact U.S. Consulate General Jerusalem for assistance.

The Consular Agency in Haifa is also available to provide services to residents and visitors in the Haifa area.

This month, the newsletter is no longer called the "Embassy Tel Aviv’s Consular Sun Times." It is now the "Embassy Tel Aviv, Consulate General Jerusalem and Consular Agency Haifa Joint Newsletter."

And it now says that all Israelis can go to the Jerusalem consulate for their services, not just those in Jerusalem and the West Bank:

American Citizen Services are available at three locations:
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv;
the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem; and
the Consular Agency in Haifa.
All three locations stand ready to provide routine consular services, including notarial services and acceptance of applications for passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad. You are welcome to apply anywhere.

While this may be simple streamlining (notice how Haifa's consulate also seems to have added responsibilities), any way you look at it the Jerusalem consulate is taking on more responsibilities for US citizens in all of Israel (like Social Security) compared to what it did before. Also, the Jerusalem Consulate is more obviously connected to the US Embassy in Israel than it was before, when it acted essentially independently of Tel Aviv and was more oriented towards services to Palestinians.

There is a clear change of tone going on in the Jerusalem consulate as to its role.

(h/t Irene)

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

10/03 Links Pt2: Refugees, Intersectionalists, and Jews; Valerie Plame and the Echo Chamber’s Antisemitism

From Ian:

Linda Sarsour Tells Social Justice Rally Attendees to Be Ready to ‘Put Their Lives on the Line’

Women's March co-organizer Linda Sarsour encouraged those at a social justice rally in New York City Sunday to be ready to "put their lives on the line" for "the movement," according to footage of her speech seen by the Washington Free Beacon.

"I am willing to die for black people, for indigenous people. I am willing to die for Muslim people, I am willing to die for the most marginalized people in this country. I am not afraid. The question is, are you ready to do that?" chanted Sarsour at the March for Racial Justice.

Sarsour also made pointed remarks toward Zionist activists who participated in the march across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was organized to include those unable to attend a similar march in D.C. on Saturday, due to it being the Jewish high holiday fast of Yom Kippur.

With groups in attendance such as Zioness, which has a feminist-Zionist platform, Sarsour called for anti-Israel indoctrination by and for Jews.

"It is not my job as a Palestinian Muslim to educate Jewish people that Palestinians deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. That is the job of Jewish people," said Sarsour over loud cheers.

Sarsour also once again chanted her oft-repeated cry that "we will not be intimidated by right-wing Zionists, by white supremacists, by racists."

In remarks that Zionist attendees said they believed were directed toward them, Sarsour said she "didn't feel safe" by elements in the crowd.

Exclusive interview: 'Son of Hamas,' the speaker who shocked the UNHRC

“Hamas, which I know well, is an ideological political organization that views extreme violence as a means to achieve its political ends. In the 21st century an individual or group that tries to achieve its goals by violent means should not be legitimized by anybody. In my definition, Hamas is a terror organization.

“I have seen how radically different the behavior of democratic Israel is from that of Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is still living in the 7th century, something Europe cannot even understand. Over the years I have realized that due to their religious views, Hamas cannot make peace with Israel. Their interpretation of Islam requires that cease fires alone are possible with infidels, not peace. Such a cease fire can last no more than 15 years. No political solution will ever satisfy Hamas in the long term. It is not about borders but who believes in their God and who does not. Hamas’ target is not just Israel, but for Islam to gain control over all non-believers.”

Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in 1978 in Ramallah, son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founder of Hamas. After involvement in anti-Israeli activities he was arrested by the Israeli Shin Bet security service. When he was imprisoned he initially decided to become a double agent. After he saw the huge difference in behavior between Israel and Hamas he served as a key agent of the Israeli security services and continued to act in that capacity for ten years.

Yousef’s story is described in the 2010 bestseller, “Son of Hamas, A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices” which has been translated into many languages. The movie “The Green Prince” which tells his story was released in 2014. Yousef converted to Christianity and now lives in the United States where he was granted asylum in 2010.

This interview was carried out on 27 September 2017, two days after Yousef spoke -- under the auspices of UN Watch -- at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The video of that speech received millions of hits. In our conversation he repeated several of the statements he made at the UNHRC.

Melanie Phillips: Staging incitement at the Young Vic

London’s Young Vic theatre is staging a revival of the hate-inciting, Israel-phobic agit-prop called My Name is Rachel Corrie which was first put on in 2005. With exquisitely horrible timing, its previews started last Friday evening which was Kol Nidrei, or the beginning of Yom Kippur which is the most holy day in the Jewish religious calendar. A protest is being staged outside the theatre every night; with enormous decency and commitment, a group of Christians leafleted the theatre during the Yom Kippur performances.

Last July Jonathan Hoffman, who is involved in the protests, wrote an excellent piece on Harry’s Place about this malevolent travesty in which he revealed the truth about Rachel Corrie, her poisonous organisation and what happened to her.

People who never knew or who have forgotten this 12 year-old story need to understand quite how vicious is this staged event and what enduring shame it brings to the Young Vic theatre. I therefore reproduce Jonathan’s blog post with permission below.

London’s Young Vic theatre is reviving ‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’. There will be 27 performances, starting with previews on Kol Nidre (29 September); press night is 4 October. The theatre holds 70, so 1890 people will have the chance to see this play which incites hatred against Israel and therefore against its supporters, at a theatre which is supported by the taxpayer.

The Facts
Rachel Corrie was a young American (age 23). The play is extracts from her emails and diaries, selected by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner. She was idealistic but very naïve. She volunteered for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group that opposes Israel’s existence and whose members seek to prevent the Israeli army from acting against terrorists in Gaza and Judea/Samaria. The IDF’s ability to operate effectively in these areas against terrorists has been systematically and intentionally obstructed by groups of foreign volunteers for the ISM, used by the Palestinian Authority as “human shields”. By interfering with Israeli counter-terrorism operations, the ISM directly endangers the lives of Israeli civilians.

You would think the Mudar Zahran sycophants would crawl under a rock after the revelations of last week's column: Mudar Zahran and the Right Wing Jewish Conspiracy. But no. In spite of overwhelming substantiated evidence that Zahran is running a massive operation to deceive and mislead the Jews, they have doubled down.

This makes me sad. I don't want anyone hurt as I was hurt. I don't want my people to be a laughing stock, or be fingered by the Arab world as conspiring to overthrow the King. This is bad for us, for our people.

But our people read that blog—the links, all the proofs cited there—and looked the other way. They saw how Zahran claims to be a political refugee, but in reality, owed a large debt to a Jordan bank. They saw how his own father disowned him. How he uses photos of dead people and pretends they are his cabinet members.

Mudar Zahran: His entire archive deleted from Gatestone

They saw how the Arab people take umbrage at Zahran's claims and ridicule him. And they saw how Zahran approached me to slander award-winning journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, because of his obsession with the man, and how Gatestone Institute deleted Zahran's entire archive.

They saw how he threatened ME, one of their own.

Our people read that blog, blinked, blew their noses, and kept on promoting their false god.

They asked me: "Okay, so you think Zahran is bad news. Is that any reason to hurt the conference, or to destroy the Jordan is Palestine option?"

It's only about Mudar Zahran

To which I must reiterate: this is not about the conference or the Jordan is Palestine option. This is about a scam of major proportions, one that is really hurting our people.

Think about it: if Zahran really wanted regime change in Jordan, no one would say boo. But why appeal only to conservative, mostly Israeli Jews? Where are his Arab supporters (and no, they are not hiding in Arabic on Google as Zahran claims)? Why hold a conference, furthermore, in Jerusalem when Zahran lives in London? Why not lobby the UK, the US, and other western nations for assistance in reaching this goal?

Here is the answer: it's all a scam.

The scam targets the Jews of Israel.

Alone.

Mudar Zahran and his Zionist conspiracy

This scam is generating resentment toward us in the Arab world and especially in Jordan. It has us rubbing our hands with glee, plotting against King Abdullah with our (likely imagined by the Jordanians) hooked noses and hands dripping with the blood of non-Jews.

Is that really how you want to be seen?

And it is Zahran who is getting you to incriminate yourselves.

Zahran is, moreover, setting Jew against Jew through his mouthpieces. An article entitled King Abdullah of Jordan Needs to Abdicate appeared in the Times of Israel, Israel National News, and the American Thinker. The author is listed as Ted Belman. The piece (among many ridiculous claims) makes the accusation that Khaled Abu Toameh, Caroline Glick, and I (referred to as "X, Y, and Z") are working as operatives for King Abdullah of Jordan. Why would Ted Belman write such silly and libelous statements about his co-religionists? And the title of this piece, coming from a Jerusalem Jew! Cringe-worthy.

The Times of Israel removed the piece. It still appears on Israel National News and The American Thinker, though the former deleted this libelous excerpt:

The King’s Jerusalem Operatives Are Smearing the Conference. The regime has also undertaken a smear and confusion campaign in Jerusalem through Arab Israeli Journalist Mr X. Several Israeli sources have confirmed to the JOC that Mr. X has been calling his contacts, telling them that “The event is fake” and that “Mudar Zahran is a fraud”. Furthermore, Mr. X utilized two women who are very close to him to spread the same rumors; Ms Y, and Ms Z. Both women have been launching a terrorist type campaign on social media smearing the conference, the speakers and anyone who will be attending. Mr. X has sent several email messages to those involved in the conference telling them that the conference is “a sham” and that “it would hurt their reputation to be associated with Mudar Zahran”.

Another example of lies that Mr X, Ms Y and Ms Z are spreading is that some of the confirmed speakers were not attending at all. A journalistic source close to Jordan’s king’s royal media desk has confirmed that Mr X has been asked to undertake this under-cover operation by the king’s office. The source then added that Mr X “would not be putting all this effort for free or just because he enjoys it”.

I know Ted to be a generally good guy who works hard for Israel. Is it possible he was duped into doing this thing for Mudar Zahran? Did he put his name on Mudar's article in not one, but three publications? Can it be that under the name Ted Belman, this article appeared in three publications accusing me, a fellow Jew, of being an agent of the King of Jordan?

And before all the Arab nations of the world!

It beggars belief.

Mudar Zahran: Disowned son

But why then, would my fellow Jews refrain from slandering me for this man's sake when they completely ignore what Mudar's own father said about him, continuing their seemingly unconditional support. I linked to Adnan Zahran's denunciation of his son Mudar in my last column. Here is a rough translation for so you can get a feel for it:

"Myself and the entire family and clan distance ourselves from you and your false and unjust statements and interviews. You are far from the truth and the right. Especially after your numerous and recurring promises to stop attacking our Royal Hashemite family."

Mudar's own father is calling him a liar, someone who breaks promises. Mudar's Jewish supporters, meanwhile, think they know Mudar better than Mudar's own father and clan! They support Mudar on the basis of words issued from his mouth and not on the basis of anything he has done or achieved. Because he has done and achieved nothing.

Which brings us to Michael Ross.

Michael Ross is a real person. Mudar claims him as his chief of staff. Rachel Avraham claims he is the Michael Ben Abraham and Michael Ben Avraham who wrote the slanderous pieces about Khaled Abu Toameh that got her fired.

But why should this "Republican conservative lobbyist" California Jew Michael Ross suddenly take an ardent interest in writing about an Israeli Arab journalist?

And what is his area of interest as a lobbyist?

CORN??

via GIPHY

In last week's piece, I mentioned that Abu Toameh had won the Daniel Pearl Award. He also won the Hudson Award and CAMERA's Emet Award. But more importantly, he won the approval of the Israeli media with the Israel Media Critical Award. I have yet to meet the journalist, or anyone at all who has a bad thing to say about Khaled Abu Toameh.

Except Mudar Zahran, his minions, and his fake accounts. The ones he used to threaten me. The ones he used to threaten Khaled. The one he used of a dead US pilot as stand in for his "Shadow Secretary of Homeland Security."

Three articles by, about, or referencing Mudar appeared in Jerusalem Online during Rachel Avraham's tenure there. There was one by Mudar, one by Avraham interviewing Mudar, and this one by Michael Ross from this same time period, urging Trump to speak to. . . MUDAR ZAHRAN!

Could Rachel be handling Zahran's PR? Could she be serving as Mudar's ghost writer?

Mudar Zahran cons Jewish women

Rachel is not a bad person. She is caught up in something and is unable to get loose. It's an old story. I shared my own embarrassing tale of near-ensnarement. Bat Zion Susskind said the same thing happened to her with Mudar. He charmed her with words. Made her think he was the answer to the all the bloodshed, all the war and terror.

At that time, Bat Zion was living in the UK. So enamored of him was she that she even spoke to her contacts at that time, at the Israeli embassy in London, and suggested they have Zahran appear before them to offer an overview of what he can do for the Middle East. He did, eventually, speak to them. Batzi's support for him was total.

Here is a photo of her holding a sign that says, "Jordan is Palestine."

Batzi really believed in Mudar and his plan. That is until she discovered that he is not the man he pretends to be.

Batzi is not the only tale of female Jewish woe in relation to this man. Mudar Zahran told "X" (who is too embarrassed to use her real name here) that his mother was forcibly converted to Islam. According to this tale, Mudar's mom was JEWISH. Which would arguably make Mudar Zahran a Jew! X's heart went out to him.

She was IN.

Until she figured out he was a fraud. That happened sometime around the time he tried to get X to smear Khaled Abu Toameh.

Mudar Zahran uses flattery

Mery Nickey's experience mirrored my own and Batzi's. He flattered her, and attempted to cajole her into slandering Khaled Abu Toameh.

Always, always, always, Zahran comes back to a single thought: "How can I hurt Khaled Abu Toameh?"

He can't let it rest. It's an illness.

Mudar Zahran messed with the wrong woman

Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a Harvard law grad and former writer at the Jewish Press, was approached by Mudar Zahran. He wanted her to interview him for the Press. This, of course, was his way of worming his way into her confidence to get her to smear Khaled Abu Toameh. The minute she saw what he was up to, she ended things, right then and there. Lori described this in an email she sent to the organizer of the conference, Ted Belman:
Prior to that interview I was very interested in Zahran's agenda - there aren't too many lovers of Israel who wouldn't hope that Jordan could be the homeland for the Palestinian Arabs. After about an hour into our Skype interview, Zahran told me about an Israeli Arab journalist who was not what he appeared to be and was on the payroll of the Jordanian king, and he told me that journalist was Khaled. When I pushed back, Zahran insisted this was true. I never published the interview and I've never spoken with Zahran again. And I've been warning people about Zahran since then.

Khaled abu Toameh is one of, if not the single greatest source of truth about the Middle East conflict between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel. By attacking him both publicly and through friends and the use of [pseudonyms], Zahran has done and continues to do a grave disservice to Israel.

This bitter fight was begun by Zahran, not Khaled. And it has nothing to do with the conference, but everything to do with Zahran's reputation which he is solely responsible for destroying.

Mudar Zahran is dangerous

Now I'd really like to stop here. I'd much rather write up adorable Only In Israel stories. But right now, we are in danger.

I feel I've got no choice at all, but to keep laying those cards out on the table. This is the real Mudar Zahran: everything connected to him is evil.

And bad for our people.

UPDATE: For the sake of transparency, this piece has been amended regarding Mudar Zahran's academic credentials. I am certainly willing to further research this matter.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

A regular man, Niv Nehemiah would have preferred to remain anonymous. His family takes no comfort in being told that he is a hero. They want him to heal, to stop being in so much pain.

Two months after the terror attack in the Yavneh grocery store, where he works, everything is a challenge. He can now walk with support. Slowly, painfully. His speech is improving. The knife that plunged in to his head and his neck, ripped his vocal cords, missing the jugular by millimeters.

Real heroes don’t look like comic book super-heroes. They aren’t necessarily big, strong or muscular. They are people, uncomfortable with the title. When told they are heroes, they tend to blink, look away and then say: “I just did what I had to do.” Or, like WW2 veterans say: “the heroes are the ones that did not come home.”

When asked about his heroism, Niv says simply: “I’m not a hero…. The main thought I had in my head was that I am fighting for my life for my children and my wife.”

When asked if he had to relive the attack, would he choose to run away, Niv answers: “No. The instinct is to fight, for your family.”

The signs of his injuries still very visible, Niv is in obvious pain. For him, the battle against the terrorist is not over. He has difficulty swallowing. The things we do with ease, without even thinking about them are difficult for Niv and yet he has decided that he wants to attend the trial of the terrorist.

When asked why, Niv explains: “It’s not to show that I won, that I am out of this a ‘hero’. It is to show the people of Israel that we stood against terror and won.”

It is not easy to look your would-be murderer in the eye. It is not easy to look calm and dignified when you are in pain. Niv’s personal battle is now to heal but yet again he is thinking of something bigger than himself. During the attack it was his family. Now it is his Nation. His indomitable spirit will not accept anything less than victory.

This is what heroism looks like.

Beware the person who claims the title of hero with ease and with pride. They are not worthy.

Courage is usually considered to be lack of fear but that is not true. Niv’s courage during the attack came from terrible fear of never again seeing the people he loves most. Niv’s courage to stand in front of his attacker, to show that although the terrorist broke his body he could not break Niv’s spirit – that comes from sheer determination.

Heroism is not about being stronger than other people, it is about loving something more than yourself.

Click on the link to view Israel’s Channel Two news item about Niv Nehemiah. Even if you don’t understand the language, Niv’s strength, despite his injuries, is obvious: http://www.mako.co.il/news-israel/local-q3_2017/Article-38742fed8e3de51004.htm

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.