Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 04, 2017

12/04 Links Pt1: The method to Trump’s madness on Jerusalem may make sense; Palestinians: More Missed Opportunities

From Ian:

MEMRI: Emirati Writer Al-Habtoor: Now Is The Time To Make Peace With Israel, In Order To Resolve Palestinian Issue And Join Forces In Fighting Iran

In an article in the English-language Saudi daily Arab News titled "A Window Has Opened for Middle East Peace — Let’s Grab the Chance," prominent Emirati businessman and writer Khalaf Ahmad Al-Habtoor states that the Arabs and Israel currently have a vested interest in settling their differences and making peace, in order to join forces in fighting their common enemies: Iran and its allies. He stresses, however, that such cooperation between Israel and the Arabs will be difficult without making progress towards the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. To this end, he advises both the Palestinians and Israelis to put aside their grievances and unrealistic expectations, and work together to find a pragmatic and feasible solution to the conflict. Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, he urges him to turn to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, in whom he will find true allies for advancing peace with the Palestinians and also for fighting Israel's and the Arab's common enemies.

The following are excerpts from his column:
"The human race [has been]... successful in resolving the bitterest of conflicts. Who could have imagined that Germany and Japan would become two of the closest US allies, or that the Berlin Wall would fall and free Soviet satellite nations from communism? Humanity always finds a way forward on the path to peace, with one exception — the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has dragged on painfully in one form or another since the birth of the Israeli state, condemning millions to misery.

"This untenable situation has resulted in serial wars between Israelis and Arabs, and the failure to reach an accord is not for the want of trying on the part of mediators. In 2000, a Palestinian state was close to being a reality but was thwarted by leadership changes in Israel and the US, where voters delivered hawks.
Any efforts in that direction since then have been nothing more than token. Palestinian hopes have been dimmed and most fear they have been abandoned by the community of nations and by a Palestinian-fatigued media.

Palestinians: More Missed Opportunities

The PFLP, like Hamas and other Palestinian groups, makes no secret of its goal to "liberate Palestine, from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea." All should be commended for their honesty. If anyone has any doubts, their plan means the total destruction of Israel. Thus, as chairman of the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas cannot say that he represents the entire organization. He has no leverage with the PFLP, DFLP and the remaining terror groups operating under the umbrella of his PLO.

And now we come to the million dollar question: Does Abbas really represent all of Fatah? The answer is simple and clear: No. Over the past few decades, Fatah has witnessed sharp divisions and disputes, resulting in a number of splinter groups that broke away and are now openly challenging Abbas's leadership and policies.

While Abbas is making noises about a peace process, his own Fatah faction is inciting violence and calling for the destruction of Israel. While Abbas is talking about his interest in achieving a two-state solution, his partners in the PLO, including the PFLP and DFLP, are openly calling for the destruction of Israel and advocating an armed struggle. While Abbas is claiming that he is the legitimate president of the Palestinians, many Palestinians, including senior officials in his Fatah faction, are legitimately stating he has no mandate from his people to sign any agreement with Israel.

The method to Trump’s madness on Jerusalem may make sense

In the end, perhaps only a president so completely divorced from diplomatic reality and utterly indifferent to international opinion could do it. Despite the difficulties and the manifest dangers involved with keeping America’s promise—enshrined in U.S. law passed by Congress—to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, President Donald Trump may actually do it sometime in the next week.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the State Department had informed U.S. embassies around the world about a plan to make the move and to begin planning for how to deal with the protests that would inevitably follow.

For U.S. diplomats living abroad—especially those in the Middle East or working in any Muslim-majority country—this is no joke. If Trump makes good on the pledge, the response from the Arab street will likely be nasty and might rival or even exceed the destruction, violence and even murder that resulted when a Danish newspaper published a few satirical cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed. Egged on by Iran and other radical Islamists, protests will be massive and will carry a hefty price tag.

This is why most observers, including those sympathetic to Israel, have been skeptical about talk of an embassy move. Few thought even a president as unconventional as Trump would do something that virtually everyone in the foreign policy establishment as well as moderate Arab nations thinks would not only create a crisis, but also preclude any progress toward a two-state solution or peace.

Why then is Trump contemplating something the smart people are convinced is foolish? The answer from his critics—whose numbers increase every time he lets loose with an ill-considered tweet or statement—is that he is an ignorant fool. Yet, as with those obnoxious tweets, which distract his foes from policy issues and amuse his fans, there may be a method to the madness. It’s entirely possible that Trump is either being guided to or is stumbling along a path that could be saner than the supposedly safer course steered by his predecessors on Jerusalem.

During my semi-monthly foray into Twitter, I noticed an activist friend discussing a familiar dilemma that arose (again) in the context of the recent New School outrage where anti-Semites like Linda Sarsour took it upon themselves to publically define anti-Semitism to exclude all of the bigoted things they say and do to make Israelis (but just the Jewish ones) seem like monsters.

The discussion was not over the event itself, but how to react to it since going after the panelists or the New School faculty that decided such an event was a great idea would inevitably trigger accusations against Israel’s supporters of censorship.

This situation is yet another example of the strategy Israel’s defamers use to put their opponents in lose-lose situations where we are faced with either protesting their latest outrages - making us vulnerable to accusations that we are attacking free speech - or doing nothing and letting our foes get away with whatever they want.

There is a simple and a complicated answer to how to respond to provocations knowing that accusations of censorship are inevitable if we use our free speech rights to speak the truth or defend against BDS BS.

Starting with the simple, years ago a grizzled veteran of professional politics taught me that you’re going to get whacked just as hard for “buying the election” if you raise and spend $5 or $500,000 to defeat an opponent. Given that, why not live with accusations and a half-a-million-dollar war chest vs. the same accusations and a pittance?

Over my decade and a half in the BDS game, I’ve learned that our side will always be characterized as enemies of free speech, whether we organize a massive protest or simply write a subdued letter to the editor. So there is really nothing to be gained from shying away from trying to bury the other side. In fact, strategies that might seem like overkill (such as passing state and national legislation against a BDS program that has yet to gain any purchase in the US) communicate to opponents that (1) we take their accusations of censorship as seriously as they take our accusations of hypocrisy and bigotry; and (2) we are willing to do what it takes (and then some) to defeat them.

A different issue the New School event brought up has to do with who has the initiative. Are we destined to have to wait until our opponents commit the next outrage, and then be left with no options other than to respond?

This gets us to the more complex answer to the original question of what to do when the next anti-Israel grotesque shows up in our face, a question that boils down to the whole “offense vs. defense” debate that tends to paralyze the Jewish community when dealing with BDS and similar issues.

As I’ve discussed a number of times, the pro-Israel community is subject to regular fights over whether or how we can “go on the attack” and force our opponents to respond to us, rather than “playing defense” by responding to their provocations and campaigns time and time again.

The problem with this line of reasoning is that it presumes our only options are to respond to our enemy’s vicious assaults or become our enemies by launching our own assaults that force Israel’s enemies to respond to our (true) accusations (such as accusations of bigotry, sexism, homophobia and totalitarianism directed at the Arab world), or shaming opponents by pointing out their ties to terrorism or hypocrisy vis-à-vis human rights.

While there is enormous satisfaction in “turning the tables” on your foes, there are a number of reasons why this never tends to work for us, all of which boil down to issues of asymmetry. Specifically, while Israel’s enemies are at war with the Jewish state and its supporters, we are not at war with them. We do not, for example, want to see our opponents destroyed, and thus will never be able to build and sustain decades-long campaigns to vilify Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims in the way those groups have sustained their decades-long attack on the nation they want eradicated.

So are we left with no options then to get into a defensive crouch and hope those that hate us will eventually see the error of their ways and leave us alone?

The answer to that question is too long to include in a pair of summarizing paragraphs (although my complete response can be read here). But to sum these arguments up in a few quick sentences: the whole offense-vs-defense argument demonstrates a lack of historical understanding of the nature of warfare which leaves us unfamiliar with the kind of war – a siege war – we are actually fighting.

For a siege (like the one we find ourselves in) is a form of warfare, regardless of which side of the siege line your find yourself on. And fighting a siege war involves all the martial values of courage, cleverness, steadfastness and creativity since both the besieger and besieged have strengths and weaknesses that can be capitalized on or exploited. Understand this and you are well on your way to understanding our options when the next outrage hits.

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.

2.1 million human bombs aimed at Israel

The 2017 Global Humanitarian Assistance Report has a graph showing the countries that host the most refugees and internally displaced persons in the world:

Yes, "Palestine" is counted as hosting 2.1 million refugees or IDPs, the tenth highest number in the world.

The numbers come from UNRWA, meaning that they are all considered "refugees."

That's 46% - nearly half - of all Palestinian Arabs under Palestinian Authority rule that are considered to be displaced from their homes.

Where are their "real" homes? Israel, of course.

The entire report talks about how much aid countries get, and as always, the Palestinians receive a disproportionate amount of aid compared to other countries on a per capita basis. They receive over a billion dollars a year of international aid.

But not one dollar of that aid goes towards permanently settling the "refugees" in "Palestine!"

Hundreds of millions of that aid, in fact, goes towards the exact opposite goal: to maintain the refugee status of 2.1 million people who live within the borders of their declared state!

It means that the Palestinian Authority doesn't want nearly half of its people to live in its own borders. It wants 2.1 million of the people it pretends to represent and care about to be used as weapons against Israel's existence.

2.1 million tiny human bombs.

But this also means that the Western nations, when they fund UNRWA, they are funding the very project that is being used by the Arabs to destroy Israel over the long term. They pretend that they are sending humanitarian aid towards a vulnerable people, but they are not stepping back and asking - why are these people vulnerable, living in an entity that is fairly average for Arab nations economically?

The EU (and US) funds lots of programs for the Palestinians - to learn governance, to improve their court systems, to enhance their police forces, to work towards equal rights for women. Yet not a penny is being used to reduce the "refugee" and "IDP" population of the territories, a basic human need in every single other country with a large refugee population.

So, yes, the EU and US, by pretending that UNRWA's "Palestine refugees" are really refugees, are contributing to the Palestinian goal of destroying Israel demographically by pretending that each of those 2.1 million people - and millions more who really are languishing in camps in Lebanon and Jordan and Syria - are truly refugees who cannot possibly ever lose that status unless they overrun Israel.

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 New York Times has a bombshell report:

In a mysterious trip last month, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, traveled to Saudi Arabia’s capital for consultations with the hard-charging crown prince about President Trump’s plans for Middle East peace. What was said when the doors were closed, however, has since roiled the region.

According to Palestinian, Arab and European officials who have heard Mr. Abbas’s version of the conversation, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presented a plan that would be more tilted toward the Israelis than any ever embraced by the American government, one that presumably no Palestinian leader could ever accept.

The Palestinians would get a state of their own but only noncontiguous parts of the West Bank and only limited sovereignty over their own territory. The vast majority of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which most of the world considers illegal, would remain. The Palestinians would not be given East Jerusalem as their capital and there would be no right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

... the prince had offered to sweeten the agreement with vastly increased financial support to the Palestinians.

The reaction to this plan by everyone is to reject it out of hand. The highlighted portion of the NYT article shows that even the reporters cannot help but to say that the plan is unworkable - consciously taking as a given that the Palestinian demands for Jerusalem as their capital and ceding large areas where Jews already live as well as giving up on the nonexistent "right of return" are non-negotiable.

And it isn't only Hamas being quoted as being dead-set against such a plan.

[W]ord of the plan has worried even some of the United States’ closest allies, who are eager for clarification from the White House.

An adviser to President Emmanuel Macron of France, speaking on condition of anonymity, said French officials had heard a version of some of the Saudi proposals, which sounded very similar to Israel’s opening bid and not acceptable to Palestinians.

He said that France had told the Americans that if they wanted to start discussions, they should proceed, but should remember that France and many other countries also have interests and concerns in the region.

Jerusalem and "right of return" to Israel - both of which have nothing to do with the possibility of an independent Palestinian state - are considered by Westerners to be reasonable demands by Palestinians, so much so that floating an idea of a Palestinian state without those two orthogonal demands is considered absurd by Western leaders.

What's wrong with this picture? Palestinians have never had their own nation, and they are yet again being offered one for free - but their other demands that have nothing to do with nationhood are considered by people who supposedly thirst for a real peace to be reasonable, and Israeli concerns that both of those demands are unacceptable are dismissed.

The world has accepted Palestinian propaganda as fact.

Details of Salman's plan aside, it shows that the goal of Palestinians is, as always, not to have a state. their desire for an independent state is the biggest myth of them all. They could have one. They could have had one a half dozen times over the years.

Their goal is the "right of return" to destroy the Jewish State demographically and control of Jewish holy places in Jerusalem to destroy the Jewish State spiritually. The demand for a state is secondary, not primary.

The problem is that decades of Palestinian "red lines" over those two issues that have nothing to do with statehood are considered to be part and parcel of the Palestinian state that Westerners pretend is needed to push for a wider regional peace.

Palestinian propaganda since 1967 has made the entire world believe the myth that these two issues are critical to a two-state solution, not proof that Palestinians aren't really interested in a two-state solution. Prince Salman is showing that the emperor has no clothes - and the entire world is saying that he is insane and Abbas is clothed in the finest of silks and gold-threaded fashion.

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.

Video: John Bolton on why the US should recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital

A poor quality video I took with my cell phone off of one of the video screens at the Bet El dinner in New York, December 3, 2017.

Bolton makes some good points about why the US should recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

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.

Gazans gathered to demonstrate to urge the lifting of sanctions on Gaza on Sunday, and Gaza youth groups will do the same on Monday.

But they aren't saying a word about Israel.

The sanctions that they are referring to are those by the Palestinian Authority to limit fuel, electricity, healthcare, and environmental issues like sewage treatment.

Despite the "reconciliation" agreement between Hamas and the PA in October, the PA has not yet lifted the sanctions it imposed on Gaza during the year.

For some reason, there are no demonstrations in London or Amman against the Palestinians for hurting other Palestinians.

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.

12/03 Links: PM likens Iran to Nazi Germany; Pence’s Amazing Speech Destroyed Palestinian Claims; Hamas demands the PA government resign

From Ian:

PM likens Iran to Nazi Germany in its ‘commitment to murder Jews’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday compared Iran to Nazi Germany, pointing to Iran’s “commitment to murder Jews.” At the same time, Netanyahu said Israel would be the first country to re-establish ties with Iran once the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei falls.

In a video broadcast to the Brookings Institute’s Saban Forum in Washington, Netanyahu referred to Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman calling Iran’s supreme leader the “new Hitler of the Middle East” who must be stopped.

“Obviously, there are some important differences between Nazi Germany and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Netanyahu said. “But both regimes do have two important things in common. One, a ruthless commitment to impose tyranny and terror. And second, a ruthless commitment to murder Jews.”

There are some 20,000 Jews currently living in Iran.

Netanyahu went on to talk about a new book on World War II he is currently reading, which condemns the so-called appeasement policies of British politicians who believed Hitler was not the threat others made him out to be.

“Deception,” Netanyahu quoted the book’s author, Victor Davis Hanson, “is the mother’s milk of tyrannies.”

“I am sure many of you heard Iran’s silver-tongued foreign minister charmingly explain that Iran is a modern power. It harbors no hatred towards anyone. Right,” Netanyahu said sarcastically.

Soldier stabbed to death at Arad bus station laid to rest

Hundreds of people came to the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv to pay their respects as Sergeant Ron Yitzhak Kokia, an IDF soldier stabbed to death at a bus station in the southern city of Arad, was laid to rest Sunday.

The infantryman was killed Thursday night in an apparent nationalistic attack while waiting for a bus near a shopping mall.

“Go on your way, my son.” Kokia’s mother, Levana, said in front of some 500 friends and family. “Angels will welcome you, and floral tapestries will be laid before you. Go on your way into the arms of God.”

“We have no words to describe how to continue living with the thought that you are not with us,” Kokia’s sister Shani said between sobs. “How were you there [in the bus station] all by yourself without us around to protect you? We so badly want to have been there during your last moments to hug you and not let go.”
Hundreds attend the funeral of 19-year old Israeli soldier Ron Kokia in the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery on December 3, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Large numbers of security forces carried out searches overnight and into Friday morning in the Arad area to locate the attackers, publishing pictures of searches in agricultural fields and animal sheds.

Police said Friday that officers were searching the area for two assailants who fled the scene and had set up roadblocks and “heightened security measures.” Helicopters also took part in the search.

VP Mike Pence’s Amazing Speech Destroyed Palestinian Claims

The media, of course, missed it completely but Mike Pence’s speech the other night was pretty amazing. On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the UN General Assembly vote to offer the Arabs a large chunk of Israel they didn’t deserve, Pence drove a horse and carriage through Palestinian Arab claims to the land of Israel.

You can watch the whole speech above, but here are the most important passages:
We gather today on the eve of a historic anniversary to celebrate what happened here, in this very hall, 70 years ago when the United Nations declared to the modern world an ancient truth, that the Jewish people have a natural, irrevocable right to an independent state in their ancestral and eternal homeland. (Applause.)

This is Zionism: “irrevocable right to an independent state in their ancestral and eternal homeland.” It would be nice if more Jews in America understood this properly let alone the (Christian) Vice President.

So in May 1947, less than two years after its inception, the United Nations formed the Special Commission on Palestine to propose paths forward for that region.

And on November 29, 1947 — 70 years ago tomorrow — the General Assembly gathered in this great hall and passed Resolution 181, calling for creation of the Jewish State of Israel. (Applause.)

Now to be clear: Israel needed no resolution to exist, for Israel’s right to exist is self-evident and timeless.

Muslims find proof Israel cooperates with ISIS! (Well, not really.)

Islam21C breathlessly reports the proof for what Muslims have been accusing Israel of doing for years:

The Zionist state might cooperate with the notorious cult, Daesh, a report published by Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) suggested, as reported by Yeni Safak. ITIC is known for its close ties with the Zionist state’s ‘intelligence’ agencies. [1]
Observers have long pointed out common traits between the two self-proclaimed states—one claiming to an ‘Islamic’ state and the other a ‘Jewish’ state. Both are known to cause extensive damages—including the murdering of civilians [2]—in the regions that they occupy—illegally according to International Law.
...
This ITIC report, however, might be the beginning of an official and public relationship, co-operation, and even financing of the terrorist organisation through the reviled “state”.
The report suggests that the Zionist state might begin cooperating—if it has not already—with Daesh, to decrease Iranian presence in Syria.

Wow, that is news! Let's see the source, Yeni Safak, a hardline conservative Turkish newspaper:

A report published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, which is known for its close relations with Israeli intelligence agencies, revealed that Israel might cooperate with the Daesh terrorist organization against Iran’s increasing presence in Syria and Iraq.
Noting that Daesh is a threat for the whole region, the report said that Israel’s main concern is Iran’s plan to increase its influence in Syria and its possibility to send weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon through the country.
“The Iranian presence in Syria increases the likelihood of friction with Israel and may lead to an escalation between the two countries,” it stated.
Daesh, whose Iraq and Syria presence is almost ended, “will likely change its combat patterns and revert to guerrilla tactics and terrorism following the end of the campaign against it in Iraq, and may carry out hit-and-run attacks against Iranian vehicles moving along the land,” according to report. Earlier, there were reports that Israel allegedly controlled some cells within Daesh.
According to the report, Iran will struggle to respond to a Daesh attack: “We assess that Iran and the militias under their patronage will struggle to provide an adequate response to this terrorism challenge.”

I can't quite find the quote that says that Israel plans to cooperate with ISIS.

Needless to say, the original Meir Amit ITIC report quoted here says nothing of the sort.

But Islam21C also points to another article from the same lying Turkish source, that is even bigger "news":

The U.S., which intervened in Iraq in 1991 and Syria in 2013, is preparing to declare various "boutique states" in these two countries in order to grant the Peshmerga and Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) legitimacy. A commander who held a senior position in the Syrian army for an extended period of time and shifted to opposition ranks in 2013 made striking evaluations to Yeni Şafak.
“I was told that in the second half of 2018, a total of seven boutique states would be declared in Syria and Iraq,” the opposition commander said, adding that officials from the U.S. State Department and Pentagon had held meetings with them in Turkey’s Hatay province’s Reyhanlı district.

They even have a map of these seven "boutique states" - and look what the name of the Iraqi state in the northwest of Iraq is called, according to these Turkish journalists:

Yes- "Israel."

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 Palestinian Arab game of using threats to accomplish their political goals is in full swing.

Member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Hanan Ashrawi warned Saturday against U.S. considering moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Also head of Information and Culture Department, Ashrawi said "such a step would destabilize the whole region, destroy the peace process, disqualify the U.S. from its role in the region and generate a new wave of extremism."
"I hope that nobody would take such a step; this would be an extremely irresponsible and dangerous," she said, warning that it is "very dangerous and would transform into a religious issue."

Plenty of Palestinian officials are saying the same thing. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas adviser Mahmoud Habash, in Abbas' presence, said "the world will pay the price" if the US moves the embassy.

Would recognizing East Jerusalem as capital of "Palestine" do the same? Funny how when the same Palestinian officials can demand that, no one seems to say that it would ignite a religious war, or that terror would ensue if such a move was taken.

Because Jews don't act irrationally. They don't threaten violence. They don't routinely engage in terror.

The US Embassy would be in part of Jerusalem that is inside the Green Line. There is no international law issue, no religious issue, no peace process issue, and no issue of stopping the US from brokering peace. All of the issues being brought up have nothing to do with reality. They are naked threats, pure and simple.

What Ashrawi and Habash and other Palestinian officials are really saying is the same thing that Arabs have told the West over the years: "Look, we Arabs are irrational, violent people. If you do something to upset us, we cannot be held responsible because, frankly, we are mentally unstable. Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure that nothing happens that might upset us.

"Don't pretend that there is any rational basis for our threatening to burn half the world if you do something we don't like. There isn't. Treat us like we have severe psychological problems, like we have no free will or rational thought. Our violence is because of your actions.

"And, by the way, you must grant statehood to this group of mentally unstable, violent people. Because who knows what we can do to you if you don't?"

The way to react to threats is not to cave to them. The way to force people to act like adults is to force them to take responsibility for their own actions. Any violence is the fault of the people who do the violence and those who incite them.

It is a lesson that the West has a hard time swallowing, but it is the only way to stop tomorrow's threats.

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.

No one who is at all familiar with Israeli newspapers really expects honest journalism from Haaretz any more, but that doesn't mean that their methods don't need to be exposed.

Amira Hass wrote an article about how Israel is delaying Gaza patients from being approved for medical treatment in Israel, saying that things are much worse this year than ever.

About 25 paragraphs of the article are accusations against Israel and descriptions of specific heartbreaking cases of Gaza children who have died or are very sick because they are waiting on responses.

Buried in the middle of the article is the Shin Bet response:

The Shin Bet said in response, “Over the past year, we have seen an increase in the practice whereby terrorist organizations, headed by Hamas, exploit the departure of Gaza residents (including for medical treatment) to promote terrorist activity, including by transferring explosives, money for terrorism and other means of promoting terrorist activity.
“This past April, two Palestinians who had been allowed entry into Israel so that one of them could receive medical treatment for cancer were caught at the Erez crossing. Their baggage was found to contain medical tubes, inside of which explosives were hidden that apparently were meant for a Hamas attack in Israel.
“Given the great danger this activity presents, strict security checks are performed on everyone applying to leave Gaza. Naturally, these checks take time, and efforts are constantly being made to reduce that time and prioritize the handling of all entry applications, with an emphasis on humanitarian applications whose subject is entering Israel to receive life-saving medical treatment.”

Although the article includes the usual hyperlinks to topics when they are relevant, this article doesn't bother to link to Haaretz' own reporting of the story of the two sisters, one who had cancer, who were caught attempting to smuggle explosives into Israel.

Later on, the Shin Bet is quoted as saying that many of the cases that Haaretz mentioned to them of people waiting to enter, or who had died waiting, had been, in fact, approved to enter Israel. Hass didn't bother to verify the Shin Bet response in the piece, making the reader think that they are simply making it up. It would undermine the entire story if he Shin Bet claims were true, after all.

Finally, in the next to last paragraph, she writes:

In recent months there has been a drop in the stock of medications used in conjunction with chemotherapy, they wrote, and it is difficult to perform surgery to remove tumors because of the shortage of fuel and electricity. Moreover, in Gaza there are no radiation or radioactive iodine treatments, nor is there equipment for following the progress of the disease. In addition, both the Majadala-Efrat letter and the B’Tselem report note that the Palestinian Authority is now pursuing a policy of reducing the number of patients sent for treatment outside Gaza.

The reason for the drop in medications, which result in more applications for medical treatment in Israel and therefore more delays? The Palestinian Authority.

The reasons for the drop in electricity and fuel, causing surgeries to not be possible in Gaza and causing more people to seek treatment in Israel, endangering their lives? The Palestinian Authority.

The reason that there are fewer patients being approved to leave Gaza? The Palestinian Authority!

But Haaretz and Hass downplay this. They barely mention enough to pretend to be even-handed (which, in Amira Hass' case, is an improvement), but the average reader comes away with this story with more hate for Israel, and none for the Palestinians who pursue a policy of directly hurting their own people.

Which is, after all, the intent.

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.

12/02 Links: Next Week in Jerusalem?; Germany Slammed for Denying Israel’s Ownership of Dead Sea Scrolls

From Ian:

White House Notifies US Embassies Around the World of Plan to Recognize Jerusalem as Capital of Israel

The Trump administration has notified U.S. embassies around the world that it plans to formally recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel, according to a report published Thursday by The Wall Street Journal. The plan includes the future relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

According to the report, the plan has not been finalized, but envoys were being notified so that they can inform their host governments and prepare for possible protests.
Advertisement

Officials said a formal announcement may come as early as next week.

President Donald Trump faces a December 4 deadline to decide whether to sign another six-month waiver of the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 1995, passed by Congress which requires the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The waiver, included in the legislation, allows the president to delay the transfer for a six-month period on the condition there is a risk to “national security.”

“The president has always said it is a matter of when, not if, [the embassy will relocate to Jerusalem],” a White House spokesperson said. “The president is still considering options and we have nothing to announce.”

Next Week in Jerusalem?

Reports that Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but delay moving the Embassy from Tel Aviv.

During the campaign and transition, Donald Trump was clear in his promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.

As with prior administrations, there was walk-back in reality, and the Embassy still is in Tel Aviv.

In the past week there has been much speculation that an announcement about moving the Embassy was near, but that speculation was denied by the administration.

Today, there is widespread reporting that next Wednesday Trump will announce — well, it’s not really clear what. It could be a move of the Embassy, or it could be a recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital without moving the Embassy.

Reuters reports:
U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to deliver a speech on Wednesday recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a senior U.S. official said on Friday, a move that could upend decades of American policy and further inflame tensions in the Middle East.

Two administration officials said on Thursday that even as Trump was considering the controversial declaration, he was expected to again delay his campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv….

A U.S. stance deviating from that of previous presidents, who have insisted that the matter must be decided in peace negotiations, would anger Palestinians, who want the city’s eastern sector as the capital of their future state, and the broader Arab world.

If that report is true, it represents half a loaf. Particularly if the boundaries of “Jerusalem” are left uncertain and Jerusalem is not recognized as the undivided capital of Israel. It would be mostly an empty word statement, but one which doubtlessly will be met with fury from the Palestinians.

Edgar Davidson: If Theresa May was really interested in fighting Islamist terrorism ......

Today Theresa May is in Jordan discussing strategies to combat terrorism. Instead of trying to stop people (including Donald Trump) from highlighting Islamic threats online, she could ask the King of Jordan to comply with their extradition treaty with the USA.......

Ahlam Tamimi is the female Hamas terrorist who planned and engineered the 2001 massacre of 16 people, including 8 children, in Jerusalem’s Sbarro restaurant. One of her victims was 15-year-old Malki Roth (an American citizen) and her parents maintain an incredible blog about the case here.

As a mass murderer of Jewish kids she was the most 'honoured' of all the terrorists released in the ludicrous exchange for Gilad Shalit. She became a major celebrity in the Arab world, presenting a weekly TV programme where she encouraged millions of viewers to emulate her crimes. By inciting terrorism Tamimi was subject to re-arrest under the terms of the release, but by living in Jordan the Israelis were unable to re-arrest her. However, because two of her victims were American citizens the FBI has recently put Tamimi on their most wanted terrorist list and requested her extradition from Jordan. The Jordanians, who also recently honoured child murderer Ahmad Dakamseh, have refused.

Here is Tamimi smiling when she is told in prison for the first time how many children she killed:

Today was the annual Palestinian Christmas tree lighting ceremony, with plenty of prominent Palestinians attending.

This is always a cynical exercise. As happens every year, it is a ceremony meant to bash Israel, and to pretend that Christians are equal to Muslims under Palestinian Arab rule.

The facts are that Bethlehem was a majority Christian city until it was under Palestinian rule, and Christians have been fleeing Bethlehem for years as Muslims harass and intimidate and force them out.

But PA prime minister Rami al Hamdallah said at the ceremony, "Despite the settlement activities carried out by Israel, the Palestinian people still believe in the culture of coexistence, brotherhood and peace that our Lord Jesus Christ has brought to them, and we call on the entire world to take a united stand to end the longest occupation and oppression of history. And the realization of the rights of our people and the recognition of its state, especially as the two-state solution is in real and serious danger due to Israel's persistence in its violations and its disregard for international law, human rights principles and signed agreements. "

The tree lighting isn't to remind people of peace on earth and goodwill towards men. it is meant to bash Israel, the only nation in the region that Christians aren't fleeing.

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.