Here is his speech at that conference about the origins of Islam and the conflict (unfortunately, I cannot embed it here.)
(h/t Jean V)
The chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces has emphasized that a potential military attack against Syria by the US and its allies will have a ruinous impact on the Israeli regime.
"Any military measure against Syria will draw the Zionists deep in the fire [as well],” said Major General Hassan Firouzabadi in an address on the recent American military threats against the Syrian nation and government on Thursday.
Further elaborating on the ramifications of a potential new military move in the region, the top military commander said, “This will be a huge damage to the human community and its effects will not be merely limited to the Muslim community.”
He stated, “The US, Britain and the rest of their allies will suffer greatly by deploying their military forces to the region and Syria.”
President Assad made the remarks on Thursday while receiving a delegation of Yemeni politicians in the Syrian capital, Damascus, Syria's state television said.Also PressTV:
"Syria will defend itself in the face of any aggression, and threats will only increase its commitment to its principles and its independence," Assad said.
The Syrian president also noted that Syria is determined to crush the Israeli-backed terrorists operating against his government.
“Syria, with its resistant people and valiant army, is determined to wipe out terrorism which is being backed by Israel and Western nations to serve their own purposes of sowing division in the region, fragmenting its people and forcing them into submission,” he added.
Iran says Tehran, Moscow and Beijing have been assured by the Syrian government that it has not used chemical weapons in the fight against Takfiri groups in the Arab country.IRNA:
On Thursday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the reassurance by the Syrian government has been relayed to the UN Under-Secretary-General Jeffery D. Feltman, who was recently on a visit to Iran.
Amir-Abdollahian further said Feltman was also told that the Islamic Republic, itself a “victim of chemical weapons,” is opposed to the use of such weapons in any way.
The Iranian diplomat further described a potential military intervention in Syria as a “strategic mistake, which would not be limited in dimensions if it occurred.”
Addressing his first meeting with members of the 11th government, Ayatollah Khamenei said the US threat of intervention in Syria would be a real catastrophe for the region.Also IRNA:
Any intervention and war mongering will definitely be detrimental to the war mongers.
Addressing his weekly cabinet meeting, Rohani called recent regional developments worrying, and warned, Any adventurism in the Middle East would endanger regional and global stability.And this from the "moderate" foreign minister:
He said people of the world, especially in the region, are not ready for a new war and warned that any adventurism in the region would only result in promotion of extremism and terrorism.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the United States will fall into a trap laid in Syria by the Zionists if Washington launches a military strike on the Arab country.
“The Syria crisis is a trap set by Zionist pressure groups for this country (the United States),” said Zarif in a Tuesday TV interview.
The Syrian parliament appears to have dropped a reference to Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" in a letter to UK MPs.Of course, Shylock was also a Jew.
In the second paragraph of a document obtained by Sky News, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, speaker of the people's assembly of Syria, writes:
We write to you as fathers and mothers, as members of families and communities really not so different to yours. We write to you as fellow human beings for, if you bomb us, shall we not bleed?That line is curiously similar to one delivered by the Jewish money lender Shylock in Shakespeare's classic:
I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, arms, legs, senses, affections, desires? Are we not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?If the intention was to draw a comparison between Syria and Shylock, it may not be taken as a very wise one, for in the play Shylock is a cruel character.
Obama wrote congressional leaders two days after the war against Libya began in March 2011, saying U.S. military action was needed “to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and address the threat posed to international peace and security by the crisis in Libya.” The U.S. strikes, he said, would be “limited in their nature, duration and scope” before the U.S. handed off command of the operation to NATO.NYT Op Ed: Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal
Actually, the initial U.S. strike involved launching 110 cruise missiles from U.S. warships and 45 bombs dropped from B-2 stealth bombers. Limited was a relative term.
Obama cited a U.N. resolution to justify the action, adding that the “United States military efforts are discrete and focused on employing unique U.S. military capabilities to set the conditions for our European allies and Arab partners to carry out the measures authorized by the U.N. Security Council resolution.”
Of course ethics, not only laws, should guide policy decisions. Since the Rwandan genocide and the Balkan mass killings of the 1990s, a movement has emerged in support of adding humanitarian intervention as a third category of lawful war, under the concept of the “responsibility to protect.” It is widely accepted by the United Nations and most governments. It is not, however, in the charter, and it lacks the force of law.Why chemical weapons matter more than bullets
This was evident in Kosovo in 1999, when NATO bombed Yugoslavia without United Nations authorization. Then, as now, Russia and China were unwilling to grant Security Council approval. America and its allies went ahead with what the Independent International Commission on Kosovo later called an “illegal but legitimate” use of force. In that case, NATO accepted implicitly that its act was illegal. It defended it in moral and political language rather than legal terms.
It is easy to see why the argument has traction. Tens of millions of people have died in war and internal repression since the end of WWII and all but a few tens of thousands (brutal as such language may sound) have been victims of chemical or biological weapons. None have died due to a nuclear attack.What Obama Can Learn From Netanyahu on Syria
Yet this misses issues of enormous significance, the first of which is the following: the reason why even the most heinous of regimes have tended not to use WMD has either been because they did not have the technology to acquire them (Rwanda, for example) or because even if they did have them they were so aware of the reputational and existential consequences (see below) of using them that they imposed red lines upon themselves.
Israel’s own Syria policy should hearten the overwhelming majority of Americans who recoil at the idea of another foreign entanglement. Israel has proven that it’s possible to prevent game-changing sophisticated weapons, including long range missiles, from flowing from Syria to the Hezbollah without putting boots on the ground. Furthermore, Israel’s targeted military strikes have been conducted without the country being dragged into Syria’s civil war.Peres: Situation in Syria a ‘crime against humanity’
Beyond this lesson, President Obama needs to demonstrate the fortitude required to make a complete, sudden change in principle and attitude. Indeed, Obama’s realpolitik outlook treats unrest as more dangerous than injustice, and power as more important than human rights. Perhaps this explains the public’s hesitance to get involved in Syria.
“The situation in Syria is not a local incident but a crime against humanity and a breach of international law,” he said. “As such the responsible world is coming together to respond. Syria has crossed a moral boundary. The whole world was witness to the horrific pictures of Syrian children who lay dead on the floor. President Obama spoke on behalf of the whole of humanity when he said this breach of international law, this mass murder, could not go without an appropriate response.”Threatening Israel
He added: “We must understand that the response is global, not local. We are seeing a serious coalition coming together, both militarily and diplomatically.
The anti-Israel bluster from Damascus, Tehran and Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon appear to have disturbed none of the foreign statesmen or opinion-molders, whose alacrity to condemn Israel for any perceived transgression is nothing short of remarkable.On Syrian TV, Threats to Annihilate Israel, US Forces with Chemical Weapons
Moreover, the veiled hints from Moscow about dire repercussions for the entire region in the event of an American attack on the Assad regime might imply warnings of punishment for Israel.
All the while, Israeli commentators strive to outdo each other with educated guesses about whether we are vulnerable, whether it would serve Bashar Assad’s interests to fire at us, whether we should retaliate and how.
A U.S.-led strike on Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by President Bashar Assad's regime likely would involve cruise missile attacks from the sea, which would not need to cross or make use of Jordanian territory.Russia, France deploy warships to eastern Mediterranean
But the remarks underline the U.S. ally's efforts to avoid further friction with its larger neighbor for fear that Assad or his Iranian backers could retaliate.
The Kremlin is to deploy a missile cruiser and an anti-submarine ship to the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days, amid rising tension over a possible US-led military response to Syria’s alleged chemical weapons use.Syria and Israel Lobby Conspiracy Theories
“The well-known situation shaping up in the eastern Mediterranean called for certain corrections to the make-up of the naval forces,” a Moscow military source told Russia’s Interfax news agency.
If anything, events of the last few years in which Arab Spring protests and rebellions have debunked the long-cherished view of Israel’s critics that holds that the conflict with the Palestinians is the central issue around which all conflicts revolve in the Middle East. That’s a concept that those heavily influenced by the Walt-Mearsheimer canard have a tough time wrapping their brains around. But those willing to subscribe to conspiracy theories in which Israel provides the explanation for every mystery and misery on the planet now find themselves searching for an Israel angle about Syria. But other than the fact that Israel will be blamed for the outcome no matter what happens, there is none. Conspiracy theorists and their journalistic enablers need to move on.Orthodox Jewish Youth Pray for Syria
A group of youth involved in the religious-Zionist Bnei Akiva program have started organized prayers on behalf of Syrian civilians who are at risk due to the ongoing civil war in their country. The prayer initiative, which began in Petach Tikva, has now spread to Jewish communities around the world.Guardian clashes with much of the Islamic world over U.S. military action in Syria
Bnei Akiva volunteers who are doing a year of national civilian service in Petach Tikva came up with the idea of coordinating prayers on behalf of innocent Syrians.
Anyone familiar with Guardian editorials on the Middle East would surely recognize the narrative – a template for opposing military action in the Middle East which is employed seemingly regardless of the particular circumstances.BBC presentation of Israeli view on Syria intervention replete with inaccuracies
Interestingly, however, especially in the context of the paper’s political sympathies towards the Arab and Muslim world, if you were to visit the homepage of The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – which defines their group as representing “the collective voice of the Muslim world” – you’d see the following:
The OIC General Secretariat calls for decisive action against the chemical attack in Syria
The statement that “Iraq attacked Tel Aviv with Scud missiles” is of course inaccurate. As was reported by the BBC itself at the time, Scud missiles were also fired by Iraqi forces at Haifa and other locations in Israel, including the Dimona region in the Negev.AP Returns Golan Heights to Syria
The statement “sales of gas masks in Israel have gone up..” is also inaccurate. Gas Masks are not sold to the Israeli public, but distributed by the Home Front Command, in part via the Postal Services.
Interestingly, in the section titled “Lebanon”, this BBC article does not make any reference to Lebanon being “involved” in the conflict in Syria, despite the fact that Hizballah – which holds seats in the Lebanese parliament and government – is actively fighting there.
AP's online "interactive" item entitled "Syria's civil war" contains a map (below) placing the Golan Heights, in their entirety, within Syria.In Egypt’s Sinai, rising militancy threatens peacekeeping force
A dramatic rise in militancy and violence in the vast Sinai desert is increasingly threatening a peacekeeping force there that includes nearly 700 U.S. troops acting as guarantors of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, according to Western military officials.Isi Leibler: The implications of Obama’s failure
Heavily armed locals have blockaded bases and convoys, and, in a few instances, launched attacks against the peacekeepers, raising concerns about not only their safety but also the long-term stability of their mission. That mission had become more challenging even before the most recent phase of Egypt’s post-
revolution crisis, with regional volatility forcing members of the Multinational Force and Observers, many of whom operate out of remote bases, to bolster security and limit their movements.
That Obama is considering abrogating economic aid to Egypt suggests that the US has not absorbed the lessons arising from Jimmy Carter’s naïve and disastrous approach to Iran, which paved the way for the ayatollah’s takeover. Without urgent, remedial aid to Egypt, which depends on imports for the bulk of its food and is rapidly running out of hard currency, total economic meltdown, hunger, riots and even civil war are likely.Reports of the killing of an Iranian Baha’i received
In addition, ongoing US pressure to “democratize” Egypt could enable Russian President Vladimir Putin to restore the Russian-Egyptian nexus which prevailed prior to Sadat’s break with the Soviet Union.
Instead of seeking to impose democracy from without, the US should support Egypt’s military government as a mechanism for forestalling the transformation of Egypt into a breeding ground for jihadists and al-Qaida.
Reports have been received that a well-known member of the Iranian Baha’i community, Mr. Ataollah Rezvani, has been killed in or around the port city of Bandar Abbas in Southern Iran. The event is believed to have taken place on Saturday 24 August 2013. Available information indicates that Mr. Rezvani’s life had been threatened by fanatical elements within the city’s authorities.US asks Tehran to free Jewish ex-FBI agent, two others
The State Department said in a statement that the US is “respectfully” requesting the assistance from Iran’s new president, Hasan Rouhani. Previous requests made to former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used slightly harsher rhetoric.Nigeria: 2 Charged with Assisting Iranian Terror Cell
Levinson, a husband and father of seven who is Jewish, went missing from Kish Island in Iran in March 2007. The former FBI agent was working as a private investigator at the time.
Berende is accused of travelling to Iran to help with "material assistance and terrorist training ... in the use of fire arms, explosives and other related weapons."Iran's Cyber War: Hackers In Service Of The Regime
He is also accused of knowing about spying on two Israeli targets in Lagos - the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish centre and the Lagos branch of AA Consulting - but failing to alert police.
IRGC Claims Iran Can Hack Enemy's Advanced Weapons Systems; Iranian Army Official: 'The Cyber Arena Is Actually The Arena Of The Hidden Imam'
The director of education in Jerusalem has urged families with schoolchildren in Jerusalem to be aware that at least five Palestinian schools are switching to Israeli education materials.Sure - much better to brainwash kids by claiming there was no Temple, that Israel is uniquely evil, and that Jerusalem has no importance to Jews.
Sameer Jibril said the Ebin Rushd and Abdulla bin Hussain schools were using Israeli education materials in the seventh and eighth grades. The Sour Baher school is using them for fourth, fifth and sixth grades, and the Ibin Khaldoun school uses it for seventh graders.
An education official told Ma’an that a meeting took place on Thursday in Herzliya near Tel Aviv for Palestinian and Israeli principals and teachers to discuss switching from Palestinian Authority to Israeli curricula.
The Israeli municipality in Jerusalem offered to increase salaries for teachers and principals who agree to implement the plans in their schools, the official said. The proposal would add about 2,000 shekels (about $550) per student enrolled in schools using Israeli curricula.
A teacher who identified himself as Jibril told Ma'an that using Israeli curricula was a "violation" of Palestinian culture and history.
"This step is very dangerous and touches the awareness of Palestinians in Jerusalem in an effort to brainwash them and control them, especially young generations.”
Among the concerns Palestinian teachers have about the materials are maps purporting to depict the state of Israel which include the West Bank and identify Palestinian territory by Jewish Biblical names.
It also includes history lessons about the destruction of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, which the texts separately identify as the capital of Israel despite an international consensus that the city is occupied.
Another section depicts a conversation between three Arab students who praise Israel's development of Palestinian cities and decide to sing the Israeli national anthem.
Other points of concern include a photograph of the separation wall along with a caption identifying it as Israel's "security fence," and another referring to Israel as a bastion of human rights and democracy.
Dina: The state (Israel) has built and embellished our Arab cities and villages a lot.
Ahmad: And it brought electricity to the schools and shops.
Khaled: And the elderly and the children benefit from Social Security.
Together: Then let's sing the [Israeli National anthem].
The Jewish Population
Around 5.5 million Jews live in the State of Israel (2007). Jews lived in this country (The Land of Israel) many years ago, but most of them left after other nations/peoples conquered it, and for many years, the majority of the Jewish people lived in various countries around the world. In these countries they suffered a lot from hatred and discrimination against them and their religion. Throughout all these years, they longed for this country and wanted to return to it. The Jews who began to return to it wanted to establish a state for the Jewish people in it. In 1948, that is around 60 years ago, Israel was established as a Jewish and democratic state. Today, the majority of the people in the state of Israel are Jews, but still many Jews live abroad…
First of all, we need to establish, without ANY REASONABLE DOUBT – the very basic, foundational premise of the accusation – that a nation-state can indeed employ technology to create and then direct a massive “Frankenstorm’ such as “Sandy”. Let’s begin there.After discussing at length a (real) UN resolution to prohibit military use of climate change techniques, the writer continues:
The average American is blissfully unaware that a man named Nicola Tesla successfully demonstrated a device and a process for precise “weather modification” to various world leaders back in the early 1920′s. For obvious reasons, Tesla’s device and process was immediately stamped “Above Top Secret” – imagine the POWER such a technology could bring to the world’s “Military-Industrialist Complex”. Sadly, not only did Tesla share his device with American military brass, the Russian Bolshevik leaders also received the technology from their Wall Street compatriot “Zionist” agents – and they quickly began perfecting Tesla’s science and technology during the 1930′s and 40′s.
Then came the “Cold War” years. The Soviet Bloc, ruled by Communist Jews, had established their satellite rogue nation-state called Israel in the Middle East in 1948. Aided by the French Zionists, Israel became a nuclear-armed nation 16 years later in 1963 as they successfully built their Dimona nuclear weapons facility against the vociferous objections of President John Kennedy. Aided by their Soviet Jew brethren, there is little doubt that Israel not only built nukes, but also became the epicenter of weather modification applications and international BLACKMAIL operations. It is also highly likely that Kennedy’s position demanding Dimona international inspections was the primary factor leading to his assassination by joint MOSSAD and CIA hit men.
I know – I know – I can hear the cognitive dissonance at work in you, the reader’s brain. “This is the WILDEST, CRAZIEST “Conspiracy Theory” I have ever heard.” It’s just plain “nuts”. After all, Israel is “God’s Chosen Nation” and the world’s Jews are “God’s Chosen People”, right?
Of course, the lying apologists for the Reprobate State (Israel) will declare, and want you to believe, that this treaty was merely a hypothetical exercise – an agreement to never develop such Dr. Strangelove weaponry. No, no, no, dear reader – the fact is that massively effective “weather control” technology was most definitely refined and available during the decade of the 60′s, and President Nixon’s Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon clearly saw the real and present danger such weaponry posed to the entire planet. Do you really believe that the United Nations would spend such massive time, energy, and money on a treaty to outlaw a hypothetical, mere possibility? Of course not.He's got us lying apologists pegged!
Jewish leaders including Mitchell Gropper, chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, called the ads a provocative attack on Jewish people that will incite hatred. "This is of grave concern to our community at large, because the ads make the use of the buses unwelcome and unsafe," Gropper said, noting that terrorist attacks in Israel often target buses.Also:
"I don't think I've ever seen ads on our TransLink system that attack a section of our society. If the transit system will be used to attack Israel and the Jewish people, who is next?"
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto issued a statement saying the group is "disturbed to learn about TransLink's agreement to run historically distorted anti-Israel advertisements."
"While Israel and the Palestinian Authority are currently engaged in peace negotiations to resolve their differences and reach a two-state solution, TransLink will be running ads that are provocative and incite hatred and contempt," said group president Avi Benlolo.
A Wits PhD student, Serge Tshibangu, said the allegations made by BDS were false because he had ordered a ticket and had received confirmation of the order, even though he is “African”: I totally disagree that it is a racist concert.”What has been so far unreported in the media is the bigoted actions of the protesters outside the concert. While the haters said they were going to hold a silent protest - and the Mail & Guardian claimed that they did - a reporter from the Vuvuzela, Emelia Motsai, a journalism student, tweeted otherwise:
Tshibangu said he ordered his tickets on Monday. He had to give his full names and identification number to buy the ticket but he understood it was so his ID number could be checked by Campus Control officers when he arrived at the concert.
Krengel said he “applauded Wits University for upholding the democratic values and freedoms that have made it so fine an academic institution and for its forthright rejection of the intimidatory, bullying tactics of those who do not scruple to undermine those freedoms in order to push their own radical political agendas.”
"Dubula e Juda" of course means "Shoot the Jew."Some protesters have tapes on their mouths, some are singing softly. It was said that this would be a "silent protest" #Witsconcert
Emelia Motsai
Protester are now in the corridors of the great hall shouting "down with zionism down" to those who are going into the #Witsconcert
There is no silence in this protest. The protesters are now singing loudly as #Witsconcert attendees arrive.
Some #Witsconcert attendees rolling their eyes as they pass the shouting protesters. another passed by holding up a scarf written 'israel'
"You have the blood of Palestine children on your jersey" shouted a protester to a lady attending #Witsconcert
Some protesters throwing papers at #Witsconcert attendees as they arrive.
'Dubula e Juda" shoot Judah, sings the protesters #Witsconcert
. A campus control officer just confirmed that the auditorium was full.
At some point the protesters threw papers at concert attendees as they arrived. They also sang, “dubula e juda” (“shoot the Jew”), and chanted “there is no such thing as Israel” and “Israel apartheid” as the concert attendees were coming in.Let's shoot Desai. But by "Desai" I simply mean people who justify saying "Shoot the Jews." Nothing offensive about that, right?
{Muhammed Desai, coordinator of BDS South Africa] said many African people in South Africa when using the word “Jews” meant it in the same way they would have during the eighties. “Just like you would say kill the Boer at funeral during the eighties it wasn’t about killing white people, it was used as a way of identifying with the apartheid regime”.
He said there was no evidence of Jews being harmed because of anti-Semitic impulses, – “the whole idea anti-Semitism is blown out of proportion”. He said if there were anti-Semitic sentiments they would flatly challenge it even if it came from within their protest.
The IDF may punish a group of soldiers for joining a Palestinian party in Hebron after a video emerged of the infantrymen in full gear dancing to PSY’s Gangnam Style with their Palestinian hosts.JPost has the story as well. Not sure where the YouTube caption saying these were Druze came from.
While on patrol in the city, according to a Channel 2 report aired Wednesday night, the Givati Brigade soldiers — armed and in uniform — entered the party and were greeted festively, even being hoisted on the shoulders of the party-goers as they all danced.
The party was attended by members of the Jaabari clan, whose male members are known to members of the terror group Hamas, according to the report.
“This is an incident of utmost severity,” the IDF said in a statement. “The soldiers have been called in for questioning, and the commanders of the brigade and the battalion are investigating. The soldiers [in question] will be dealt with appropriately.”
I know for a fact that Sheikh Jabari is considering suing channel 2 for defaming his clan as Hamas supporters. They do not support PLO or Hamas.
Instead of preparing Palestinians for peace with Israel, the Palestinian Authority leadership has decided to focus its efforts on winning the support of the Israeli public for a peaceful settlement based on the two-state solution.Opposition To 'Abbas Emerging Within Palestinian Authority
In the context of its efforts to "convince" Israelis to accept the two-state solution, the Palestinian Authority recently established a special "Israeli Affairs Committee" with the goal of promoting the idea among the Israeli public.
The committee's main task, in fact, is to scare Israelis that failure to accept all Palestinian demands would plunge the region into another cycle of violence and bloodshed. The Palestinian Authority is hoping that to avoid another intifada, intimidated Israelis would put pressure on their government to comply with Palestinian demands.
Senior Fatah Members Criticize Government For Anti-Democratic Methods, CorruptionPA official Rajoub calls Israelis "bullies" and "you Nazis"
Recently, several senior Fatah members have sharply and openly criticized the nature of the Palestinian Authority (PA) government, headed by President Mahmoud 'Abbas. Essentially, they accused 'Abbas of concentrating in his hands a great number of functions and powers; this, they say, constitutes an infringement of democratic rule. They also alleged that there is corruption in the PA and its security apparatuses, and that they are exceeding their authority and suppressing freedom of expression by intimidating anyone who dares to speak out against 'Abbas.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, said on Tuesday that peace in the Middle East would only be possible if the Palestinian Authority stops educating its children towards hatred of Israel and towards jihad against Jews.Israeli Minister Tells Norway That Palestinians Are Violating Oslo Accords
In a post on his Facebook page, Prosor mentioned the UNRWA-sponsored children's camps which educate young PA Arab children to wage war against Israel.
“The next peace agreement depends on the next generation wanting peace,” he wrote.
“This summer, Palestinian children as young as 5 attended camps where they were taught to hate Jews, glorify suicide bombers and fight a 'holy war' against the State of Israel,” added Prosor.
Elkin asked the foreign minister of the country where the 1993 Oslo Accords were signed to discourage the Palestinian Authority from taking unilateral steps that violate the agreement.Palestinian Authority Accused of 'Lying' as Talks Continue
“If the Oslo agreement said specifically that the Palestinian Authority will not take unilateral steps to establish an independent state, and after about 20 years it goes to the U.N. and asks for recognition of a Palestinian state, who will ensure that if we sign an agreement they will uphold its conditions?” Elkin said, according to Israel Hayom.
On Monday, a senior PA spokesperson declared that the talks had been cancelled, in response to events in Kalandia.MK Tibi: Mob Attack on Soldiers was ‘Legitimate Self-Defense'
"The meeting that was to take place in Jericho... today was cancelled because of the Israeli crime committed in Kalandiya.
"What happened today in Kalandiya shows the real intentions of the Israeli government," said PA Chairman president Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina.
MK Ahmed Tibi, who is no stranger to controversy, may have outdone himself with a new Facebook post justifying a violent attack on IDF soldiers – and calling the soldiers war criminals.Foreign Ministry slams UNRWA for 'jumping to conclusions' in Kalandiya incident
“Throwing rocks at a military jeep full of armed soldiers who came to kill in a refugee camp (Kalandia this time, Jenin two weeks ago) is legitimate and is a form of self-defense,” Tibi wrote.
In an unusually blunt attack on the United Nation’s Relief and Works Agency, the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on the organization to “return to its original humanitarian agenda” and refrain from “one-sided political advocacy.”The ‘hate fest’ of the year coming to a university near you!!
Only in this way, the statement said, could UNRWA “hope to be taken seriously – both by Israel and the international donor community.”
The Foreign Ministry was responding to a press release the organization issued Monday condemning Israel for the death of UN worker Rubin Zayed, a 34-year-old father of four. The agency said this occurred during the IDF operation Monday in Kalandiya where three Palestinians were killed after security forces came under attack while carrying out an arrest.
On Wednesday 11th September and Thursday 12th September, our National University in Canberra is hosting a conference for “Human rights in Palestine”.The Australian: Peace body promotes conflict
This conference/hate fest is associated with a project on ‘Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories’ funded by the British Academy and the Australian National University. The British Academy has provided funding for the project with the aim of encouraging debate and understanding.
One of the many benefits of the rule of law is that everybody is entitled to their day in court. Faced with a complaint of breaching the Race Discrimination Act, two Sydney academics have decided to stage a protest rally instead.BDS groups protest Israel Philharmonic in Buenos Aires
It means that peaceful, law-abiding scholars at the University of Sydney will have their day disrupted by another arrogant display by the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. Sydney Peace Foundation director Stuart Rees and Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies director Jake Lynch would do better to start preparing their defence for the Australian Human Rights Commission hearing they are due to face this week. The Tel Aviv-based Israel Law Centre, Shurat HaDin, has lodged a complaint that the academics' support for the BDS movement breaches race discrimination laws.
Pro-Palestinian groups held an anti-Israel demonstration outside a Buenos Aires theater during a charity concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.Indy legitimises ludicrous charge that Israel is ‘ethnically cleansing’ Jerusalem
Some 50 demonstrators outside the Colon Theatre on Monday called for a boycott, disinvestment and sanctions against Israel.
A statement from the Federation of Palestine-Argentinian institutions and the Association for Human Rights in Palestine — the groups that organized the protest — said Israel “kills one Palestinian child every three days” and that Israel is carrying out a policy of “ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
As you can see, whatever your views on Israel’s decision to build homes in communities in “east” Jerusalem (parts of the city previously controlled by Jordan), the charge that such construction, on lands which are currently uninhabited, constitutes the “ethnic cleansing” of either Muslims or Arabs is nothing but a lie.BBC R2 promotes and mainstreams anti-Israel Greenbelt Festival
If the toxic influence of pro-Palestinian propaganda wasn’t so severe, the charge that Israelis are engaged in anything resembling the ethnic cleansing of Muslims or Arabs would be regarded with the suspicion and contempt that typically greets other discredited anti-Zionist and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Near the beginning of the programme Clare Balding remarks on the “lovely feel” to the festival and her interviewee, the festival’s creative director Paul Northup, describes the event as “inclusive” and engaging”. However, any stray Israelis who happened to stumble upon it would probably find the event decidedly less than inclusive.The Truth about the Siege of Gaza Strip
Balding makes no mention of the fact that one of the festival’s ‘attractions’ was a “giant interactive floor game for all ages” titled “Occupation”.
The Gaza Strip is under a cruel siege which takes no account of the basic needs of the population, Yet the world is silent. Already under the role of now-deposed President Morsi, the Egyptian Army began an operation to destroy and flood the smuggling tunnels. Now, in addition to the fishing areas, the border has been sealed, with no indication of plans to re-open it. At the other end, the State of Israel allows the transfer of people and goods to the Gaza Strip, providing both electricity and water to a territory it itself defines as a “hostile entity”US student says racist campus postings a ‘joke’
A college student acknowledged posting anti-Islam fliers and racist cards around the campus of the historically liberal Oberlin College earlier this year, saying he meant them as a “joke” to provoke a reaction, according to statements he made after being detained by campus security. The student also took credit for the display of a large Nazi flag, which he also said he meant as a joke, and posting the face of Oberlin’s president onto a picture of Adolf Hitler, according to the statements contained in an Oberlin city police report.Adjudicator Rules Against BDS-Infected Academia
An Israeli student won a significant victory against Britain’s BDS-infected academia.Man charged with threatening Fargo synagogue
The background: Smadar Bakovic had repeatedly complained to Warwick University that she wasn’t comfortable with pro-BDS professor Nicola Pratt supervising her Master’s degree dissertation on Israeli Arab identity. Eventually, Pratt gave a low mark to Bakovic’s dissertation, Bakovic had it re-evaluated on appeal, and received a substantially better mark.
A man is facing federal civil rights and threats charges after officials at the Department of Justice said he called the synagogue here and left a message suggesting he was affiliated with Hamas and claiming Islamic Jihad against the head of the synagogue.Book Sounds Alarm on Modern Anti-Israelism and Anti-Semitism (REVIEW)
Dominique Jason Flanigan, 41, of Fargo, also known as Kadafi Al Sadar, was arraigned Monday on two counts of transmitting threatening communications and one count of interference with a federally protected activity, the highest count of which is a felony, according to court documents.
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld sounds the alarm. His new book, “Demonizing Israel and the Jews,” consults a diverse selection of prominent authors, bloggers, politicians, psychiatrists, historians and other expert professionals, gauging the current climate.Israel and China agreement takes direct flights to new heights
This survey is extensive, and it is important. By highlighting his colleagues’ research, Gerstenfeld examines the roots of persistent old-world anti-Semitism and demonstrates how new, hate-fueled, uncompromising, and even genocidal ideologies propagate rapidly.
Under new deal, Israel and China can operate 14 regular weekly flights and seven cargo flights between the two countries • Until now, El Al has operated just three weekly flights from Tel Aviv to Beijing, while Air China does not operate any.PrePex chosen to circumcise 20 million men in Africa
Fourteen African nations with high rates of new HIV infections are hoping an Israeli medical device for non-surgical voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) can curb the epidemic and save lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) has prequalified the PrePax method as part of its widespread HIV prevention programs on the continent.Raising Nemo in the desert
PrePex is the only adult circumcision method, other than conventional surgery, to gain WHO accreditation. The method requires no sutures, no injected anesthesia and sees no blood. Moreover, PrePex can be used by both trained physicians and mid-level providers, such as nurses.
Desert fishing seems like an absurd notion. Yet the lucrative tropical fish-growing industry in Israel’s Negev desert is one of the best, and most environmentally friendly, in the world.Growing fish in Israel's desert
Click on the video to see Arava Research and Development Center Director Alon Gadiel explain why this arid region has become a world leader in the fancy fish industry.
Jewish groups in Vancouver say they are considering suing Trans-Link for accepting controversial political advertisements showing the "disappearance of Palestine due to Israeli occupation over the past 66 years."The ads are even less accurate than the popular four-panel maps that I have shown in the past to be absolute lies.
On Tuesday, a group called the Palestine Awareness Coalition announced the launch of 15 bus posters and a large mural in a central Vancouver SkyTrain station, that depict the territory of Palestine steadily shrinking into the state of Israel in a succession of dated maps.
Marty Roth - a 79-year-old member of the coalition group behind the ad campaign - said they have already won a victory over groups that tried to "suppress" the ads.
"This will be controversial with a number of traditional Jewish organizations that have tried to suppress the ads," Roth claimed. "But Trans-Link has refused to agree with them,
because these are educational ads that are well within national advertising guidelines and the Canadian Charter (of Rights and Freedoms)."
Roth said, as a Canadian Jewish man, he believes Israel is unjustly oppressing the people of Palestine and his group wants to educate the Canadian public about the conflict.
But Jewish leaders including Mitchell Gropper, chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, called the ads a provocative attack on Jewish people that will incite hatred. "This is of grave concern to our community at large, because the ads make the use of the buses unwelcome and unsafe," Gropper said, noting that terrorist attacks in Israel often target buses.
"I don't think I've ever seen ads on our TransLink system that attack a section of our society. If the transit system will be used to attack Israel and the Jewish people, who is next?" Gropper, a Vancouver lawyer, said his group went to the "highest levels" of TransLink and argued that the Palestine ads should be rejected, but they were told TransLink must accept the ads for legal reasons.
The Province sought interviews with TransLink officials but were referred to a prepared statement, which says TransLink sought a "third-party legal opinion" which said the Supreme Court of Canada decided TransLink must run ads such as "Disappearing Palestine" under the Canadian Charter.
(a) Advertisements must not contain inaccurate, deceptive or otherwise misleading claims, statements, illustrations or representations, either direct or implied, with regard to any identified or identifiable product(s) or service(s).This ad clearly and provably fails each of these clauses.
(b) Advertisements must not omit relevant information in a manner that, in the result, is deceptive.
[...]
(e) Both in principle and practice, all advertising claims and representations must be supportable.
The US is in a similar situation. It needs to rush, while the outrage over Assad’s alleged chemical attack remains fresh, but it needs time to assemble itself. Once the obligatory moves to the UN have been made and the machinery of war is in place, the US should offer Bashar Assad an ultimatum. It could even be sugar-coated. Everyone detests the usage of chemical weapons, President Barack Obama could say. They are a heinous weapon. You claim the rebels have used them against your forces. We have evidence of your forces using them against civilians. In the interest of world security we offer you three days to surrender all chemical weapons materials to a UN team. So that they do not fall into the wrong hands. So that the weapons are safe. If you do not comply, we will be left with no alternative but to strike.Iran’s role
As a US-led strike on Syria appears increasingly likely, Israel will be watching closely too. Not wanting to become embroiled in the conflict of its hostile northern neighbor, Israel can only hope that the international community punishes Assad for ordering the use of chemical weapons against his own people, and stops him from using them again.Syria strikes imminent, and right
Only swift action will send a clear message, not only to Syria, but also to Iran. Perhaps just as important is the moral message the civilized world is sending itself.
It is bad enough that the international community has been silent for so long about the civil war in Syria, which has claimed the lives of well over 100,000 people.
The reason why this effectively guarantees military action, and why military action is right, is that the West simply cannot allow a precedent to be set in which the use of chemical weapons is brushed over and ignored. This does not, and must not, mean boots on the ground. Ultimately, the Arab world should sort this out, not us.Analysis: Syria should not be equated with Libya nor Iraq
But we can do something. Extensive cruise missile strikes against Assad's military infrastructure (plus a nice little one on his presidential palace) should be sufficient to make a very necessary point.
Samore says that Kosovo, not Libya or Iraq, provides the best template for comparison to the Syrian crisis. And indeed, the US administration has been studying NATO’s 1999 intervention in the Yugoslav conflict closely in recent days.Syria said to clear out security installations ahead of attack
“The big differences with Libya and Iraq are the facts on the ground,” Samore said. “But it’s based fundamentally on the principle that outside actors can intervene in a local conflict against a government, if that government has failed to protect its people.”
According to activists quoted in a report in the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya media channel, Syria was abandoning command centers and government security offices — sites that it suspects will be targeted in a possible Western strike. New facilities were being set up in secret locations, some of which were reportedly within walking distance of the former centers, and in alternative sites, such as in schools. Trucks were deployed to vacate some of the regime’s main security centers.Report: Assad is in Iran
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and members of his family are in Tehran, after they arrived at Homeini Airport in the presidential plane Tuesday night, sources in Iran's foreign ministry told the website of Lebanese newsaper a-Nahar. The news did not receive confirmation from other official sources.Arab League: Syrian Government Responsible for Chemical Attack
In a statement issued after a meeting in Cairo, the 22-member organization said it held the Syrian government, led by President Bashar Al-Assad, fully responsible for last week's gas attack in which hundreds were killed.Syria: Was Chemical Weapons Massacre a Mistake?
The League said it "demands that all the perpetrators of this heinous crime be presented for international trials,” reported Reuters.
“It’s quite likely that there was a kind of operational mistake here,” the unnamed senior Israeli source told the New York Times. “I don’t think they wanted to kill so many people, especially so many children. Maybe they were trying to hit one place or to get one effect and they got a much greater effect than they thought.”Netanyahu: Israel Will ‘Respond in Strength’ to Any Attack
Israeli experts who were briefed on the attack reportedly said they believe the chemical used was a “cocktail” that included sarin gas. The mix of several components may have been far more deadly than Assad’s troops realized.
“The State of Israel is ready for any scenario,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We are not part of the civil war in Syria but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength.”Jittery Israelis overrun gas mask distribution points
Thousands of Israelis failed in their attempts to obtain gas masks on Wednesday as growing numbers of citizens flooded post offices and IDF Home Front Command distribution centers ahead of an expected US strike on Syria.Human Rights Lawyer: Syrian Atrocities Due to Cuddling [sic - JPress meant "coddling"]
International attorney Richard D. Heideman said that massacres in Syria, including the recent use of deadly gas by the government against its own citizens, are a result of the constant and consistent protection from responsibility which the Syrian regime has enjoyed in the international community.NGO Monitor: HRW Hedges on Syrian Atrocities; Accuses Israel of War Crimes
“The Syrian state violence, not just of recent days, but stretching back two years, are the direct result and byproduct of the ongoing impunity enjoyed by the Syrian Arab republic while conducting terrorist activities stretching back decades,” said Heideman, the lead counsel on behalf of American victims of Syrian terrorism, who has received on behalf of his clients the highest judgments awarded by US Federal Courts against the Syrian Arab Republic as a state sponsor of terror. “The world didn’t care when it assisted in the hijacking of planes, when it helped and assisted terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and acted as a conduit for Iran to smuggle weapons to Lebanon to be used against Israel, and it still doesn’t seem to care when it kills 100,000 of its own people.”
In each of these four examples, HRW accuses Israel conclusively of “war crimes” without any qualifications or disclaimers. And, in each of these four examples, as well as dozens of others over the past decade, HRW levels the harsh accusations despite lacking factual and evidentiary basis for its claims, and without the expertise necessary to draw its speculative conclusions. In fact, later research by NGO Monitor and others showed that, in each of these examples and in almost every case, HRW was wrong about the facts, about the technology and science, and about the legal interpretations.Iran Threatens War That Will “Engulf the Whole Region” if Syria Attacked
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Araqchi, indicated it was equally resolved to defend Assad.UN, Iran agree to restart talks in September
“We want to strongly warn against any military attack in Syria. There will definitely be perilous consequences for the region,” Araqchi told a news conference. “These complications and consequences will not be restricted to Syria. It will engulf the whole region.”
Iran and the UN nuclear agency have agreed to restart talks focused on the agency’s attempts to probe suspicions that Tehran worked on atomic weapons, diplomats said Wednesday, in the first such meeting since Iran’s hard-line president was replaced by a more moderate successor.Hezbollah Places Beirut Stronghold Under Security Lockdown
The diplomats told The Associated Press that the negotiations will resume September 27, with the main focus on gaining access to a section of a military site that the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency has long tried to access.
Following two major bombings in Hezbollah’s largest stronghold in Beirut in less than two months, the group has decided to place the area under security lockdown, Al-Monitor reported Tuesday.Five Hamas members arrested over Egyptian police massacre
According to the report, the group has set up checkpoints, with explosives detection devices and bomb-sniffing dogs at all entrances linking it to Beirut.
Under these procedures, an unnamed correspondent in Beirut reported, every car entering the southern suburbs has to spend nearly two hours before being able to cross the checkpoints set up by Hezbollah.
Five members of Hamas were arrested in northern Sinai recently for involvement in the killing of 25 Egyptian policemen, Arab media reported on Wednesday.Don’t count on Turkey
Quoting “a knowledgeable source” in the city of El-Arish, the Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that 11 suspects were arrested four days ago near the border city of Rafah. Three of the suspect are local residents, three carry foreign passports, and five are Hamas members, the daily claimed.
Considering Turkey’s interest in seeing an end to the violence in Syria, its membership in NATO, and the reported friendship between Obama and Erdogan, it seems logical to expect that Turkey will play a major role in the coming operation. The American-built Incirlik Air Base on Turkey’s southern coast was designed for a moment like this.Israel-Turkey relations sink to new low
But there are number of reasons why Erdogan’s fervent saber rattling will not likely not be matched by his country’s participation:
The breakdown in once-close military ties could be critical if the international community, led by the US, decides to attack in response to the alleged Syrian use of chemical weapons last week. A US strike could trigger a retaliatory response by Syria against either of its neighbors, both close US allies.Bernard-Henri Lévy: My Response to the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan
But officials in both countries confirm that political and military contacts are now limited. They say reconciliation talks meant to repair diplomatic ties have collapsed quietly, and military ties, once the centerpiece of the alliance, are minimal at best. The dire state of affairs was reflected last week when Turkey’s Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, claimed that Israel was behind the recent military coup in Egypt, prompting condemnations from Israel and the US.
Why do you think that Erdogan mentioned you by name and held you responsible for the overthrow of the government in Egypt?
He's out of his mind. He's come unhinged, flipped out. Sorry, but in France, in the United States, people can't stop laughing.
Once again:Settlers escorted into Aqsa mosque compound
Jews visiting Mount on Monday
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) – Dozens of Israeli rightists broke into al-Aqsa Mosque compound through the Old City’s Moroccan Gate Wednesday morning heavily escorted with Israeli police officers, Palestinian officials said.
Officials in the Palestinian ministry of endowments told Ma’an that more than 60 settlers entered the compound in groups and toured its squares.
Buy EoZ's book, PROTOCOLS: EXPOSING MODERN ANTISEMITISM
If you want real peace, don't insist on a divided Jerusalem, @USAmbIsrael
The Apartheid charge, the Abraham Accords and the "right side of history"
With Palestinians, there is no need to exaggerate: they really support murdering random Jews
Great news for Yom HaShoah! There are no antisemites!