Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 02, 2013

12/02 Links Pt1: Syrian violence spills into Israel, Ex-CIA Chief: We've Accepted Iranian Enrichment

From Ian:

Violence from Syria spills over into Israel

The Syrian civil war was felt in Israel on Monday as, in two separate incidents, a mortar shell hit the town of Majdal Shams and an IDF unit came under fire in the southern Golan Heights, according to the army.
The unit that came under fire incurred no casualties and returned fire toward the source of the attack. The IDF said it believes the shooting was an inadvertent spillover from violence in Syria, not an intentional attack on Israeli forces.
The Israeli soldiers returned fire and reported that they hit at least one Syrian soldier, Israel Radio reported.

Navy Expects 'Reverse Gaza Flotilla'

The IDF estimates that dozens of Arab and European activists will be on the flotilla, and that it will include several boats.
The flotilla is the initiative of a group that is calld Shabab al-Intifada and was planned to take place Friday, but was postponed. The group said on its Facebook page that its intent is to “break the naval siege of Gaza,” and that the participants will be young people from Gaza and other countries, who do not belong to any political movement.
IDF sources told Israel Hayom that it is too early to say how “serious” the flotilla will be.

The Partition Plan, the Negev and the Next Accusation

Today, Israel’s sovereignty over the Negev is being challenged by European NGOs and elected officials, who deny Israel’s sovereign right to implement the Prawer Plan dealing with the resettlement of the region's Bedouin population. In July 2012, the European Parliament passed a bill calling upon Israel to stop the Prawer Plan. On October 17, 2013, the “Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats” in the European Parliament took part in a seminar in Brussels on the Bedouins in the Negev. The event displayed a large poster that read: “Stop Prawer-Begin Plan, no ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Bedouins.”
When Chaim Weizman finally obtained the Negev’s inclusion into the proposed Jewish state, he did not imagine that Israel’s sovereignty over that desert would be challenged six decades later. And today’s Israeli leaders, who seem to believe that Israel will be left alone once it retreats to the 1949 armistice lines, would be well-advised to take note of the fact that Israel is being accused of “occupation” within its pre-1967 borders. (h/t Bob Knot)

Bayit Yehudi: Probe Arab MKs over Beduin protests

Bayit Yehudi called for Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein to investigate Arab MKs for incitement Sunday, following their participation in protests against the Prawer-Begin Plan for land in the Negev that turned violent Saturday night.
MK Orit Struck (Bayit Yehudi) wrote a letter to Weinstein in the name of her party, extensively quoting speeches Arab lawmakers gave about the Prawer-Begin Bill in the Knesset on June 24 of this year, which she said incited to violence.
“MKs incited in the plenum and clearly called for violence if there is progress in legislating and implementing the Prawer Bill,” Struck explained. “We can see a direct connection between their calls for violent protests and the events in the south Saturday, which endangered the lives of police and citizens in a way that is unacceptable in a democracy.”

Video: Arab MK Aids Rioters

Radical Arab Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi, a former advisor to Yasser Arafat, played a part in the large-scale violent Muslim riot in the Negev Saturday. A video aired by an Arab television channel – and proudly posted by Tibi on Facebook – shows him trying to prevent the detainment of a boy who had taken part in the violence. Tibi can be heard shouting at police, "He's a boy... you are inflaming the atmosphere... you should be ashemed of yourselves."
Other rioters shout "you are racist!", a very popular refrain among Arabs engaged in confrontations with Israeli law enforcement. (h/t Jewess)

Tel Aviv bus bomber convicted in plea bargain

Muhammad Mafarji, 18 years old at the time of the attack, was found guilty of attempted murder and aiding the enemy during wartime. This was an apparent reference to Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.
Mafarji’s lawyer reached a plea bargain with the prosecution, under which the state will not seek a sentence of more than 25 years in prison for the act.
He confessed to the Shin Bet security service that he placed an explosive device on bus No. 142 on November 21, at the time of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense against Gaza rocket fire. The bomb detonated near the Israeli military’s headquarters in the center of Tel Aviv, injuring 28 people.

PMW: Released prisoner, murderer: "We will not regret what we did"

PA Security Forces Arrest 20 Salafists

Palestinian Authority security forces arrested 20 Salafists on Sunday, AFP reported, citing a senior source.
The report of the arrests came hours after a Gaza-based group affiliated with Al-Qaeda confirmed it has infiltrated Judea and Samaria as part of its war against “the Jews,” Christians, infidels and the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas Cancels 26th Anniversary Celebrations Due to Lack of Funds

2 weeks after Hamas marked the 1-year anniversary of "Operation Pillar of Defense," the terrorist regime in Gaza has been forced to cancel its 26th anniversary celebrations, Channel 10 reports.
"The smart thing for us to do right now is to cancel the festivities and spend the money on other projects to alleviate the suffering of the residents. we do not have the money for it now," said Ashraf Abu Zaid.
According to the report, the terror organization encountered budgetary difficulties due to restrictions imposed by Egypt's siege on the rogue territory, as well as Israel repeatedly destroying its arms and supplies smuggling tunnels.

Paramilitary Training in Gaza High Schools

Geneva: A Historic and Dangerous Agreement

Furthermore, this interim arrangement leads to a profound reconfiguration of the entire region according to the new U.S. orientation to advance a comprehensive dialogue with Iran, which leaves Israel and Saudi Arabia behind — America's traditional allies in the region. Obama apparently wants to restore good relations with Teheran and nothing else matters as long as it's achieved, even if this requires turning a blind eye to Syria, accepting a pro-Iranian government in Iraq, reaching a tacit understanding with the Hezbollah terrorists, and allowing Iran to become virtually a nuclear state — that is, with the capability to produce a nuclear bomb in no time. The problem is that the U.S. Administration just doesn't seem to understand the Middle East: that no one in the region is going to sit idly. The nuclear proliferation that America didn't want is going to be the only thing it will get, due to its rushed desire to sign a deal with Iran.
This agreement is based on a double delusion: That we can trust Iran and that, if Iranians don't honor the deal, we will be able to impose new sanctions. And yet, what it actually does is to put an end to the sanctions regime without the ayatollahs putting an end to their stated ambitions. In six months, Iran will not be further from a nuclear bomb but we will be further from the capacity to impose more sanctions.

Ex-CIA Chief: Face It, We've Accepted Iranian Enrichment

The United States' former CIA and NSA Director, Gen. Michael Hayden, said Sunday that the deal made with Iran at Geneva means that Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium and be a nuclear threshold state.
“Let's be honest with ourselves,” Hayden told Fox News Sunday. "We have accepted Iranian uranium enrichment. There's no question about that. That's a different red line than we used to have."
"It says in the agreement that we will come to an agreement with regard to their right to enrich, which is very different from the UN Security Council resolutions to date, which say that they do not have a right to enrich.”

Obama's Iran optimism will fade

However, it is likely that this wave of optimism will soon fade away and become etched into the collective memory as another Obama-created illusion that, like those that preceded it, crashed in the face of pesky reality. Let's bear in mind that the interim deal with Iran is open to various interpretations, which may make things more difficult for President Barack Obama as he tries to mobilize public and congressional support for his conciliatory policy toward Iran. For example, America's willingness to allow Iran to continue construction work at the Arak plutonium reactor site could enable Iran to nibble away at the prohibition that the interim deal imposed on the operation of the reactor.

Netanyahu: I will not 'shut up' when Israel's interests are at stake

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his predecessor Ehud Olmert battled over Israel’s Iran policy Sunday, with Olmert slamming Netanyahu for “waging war” against the US administration and Netanyahu responding that he would speak out loudly when Israel’s security is at stake.
“As opposed to others, when I see that interests vital to the security of Israel’s citizens are in danger, I will not be quiet,” Netanyahu said in Rome in a clear reference to comments Olmert made earlier in the day.

'Olmert Thinks Israel is America's Slave'

MK Tzahi Hanegbi ('Likud Beytenu') fired back at former prime minister Ehud Olmert Monday after Olmert attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for publicly airing differences with the White House.
"He spoke only about one thing, as if we have one enemy, Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Hanegbi said. “It is too bad that he wasted such an important and meaningful event on personal matters against the prime minister.”
"His belief is not new,” added Hanegbi. “He believes that Israel should be the lowly slave of the United States.”

Iran: Quran has marked Israelis as ‘rabid dogs and pigs’

In the wake of news that Israel will send a delegation to Washington, D.C. to influence the Obama administration’s international negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, the Islamic Republic is stepping up its attacks on the Jewish state.
“This vicious temperament of dogs and pigs is you (Israel),” said Ayatollah Mohammad Imami Kashani, a member of the Assembly of Experts, the body that appoints the supreme leader, at Tehran’s interim Friday prayer. “The Quran has marked on your foreheads that you will be humiliated. The Zionist officials are like animals, and truly as rogue thugs they do whatever they want, killing people, creating bloodshed and destroying whatever they want.”

Syrian opposition splintered ahead of peace talks

The Geneva talks have raised the possibility of a negotiated end to a conflict activists say has killed more than 120,000 people. But with a fractured opposition, many have little hope for strong negotiations with emissaries of President Bashar Assad.
“Each of them represents himself and maybe his wife,” said an anti-government activist in the central Homs province, who uses the pseudonym Abul Hoda. “Nobody here pays any attention to what they say.”

Unconfirmed Report: Nasrallah Injured

Syrian rebel forces claim that they have succeeded in injuring Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a Lebanese website reported this morning, citing a Facebook message. No other source has confirmed the report.
The Lebanese report was cited by JerusalemOnLine, which did not name the website that carried the news.
According to the report, a commander of the Free Syrian Army announced that members of Jabhat Al-Nusra, an Islamist Sunni rebel group linked to Al Qaeda, succeeded in the early morning hours in blowing up the headquarters where Nasrallah lives in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon.
The Lebanese report relies on a Facebook message published by one of the rebel organizations, according to which 22 Hezbollah members guarding Nasrallah were killed during the blast while Nasrallah himself was injured.

Saudi Arabia's foreign labour crackdown drives out 2m migrants

More than eight million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia – more than half the entire workforce – fill manual, clerical, and service jobs. "Many suffer abuses and labour exploitation, sometimes amounting to slavery-like conditions," says Human Rights Watch.
The kafala system ties foreign workers' residency permits to sponsoring employers whose consent is required for workers to change jobs or leave the country. A Pakistani man employed as a driver, for example, needs permission to work in a shop. Employers often abuse this power in violation of Saudi law to confiscate passports, withhold wages and force migrants to work against their will or on exploitative terms.

Saudi Offers “Castrated African Slave” for Sale on Facebook

No it’s not a joke. Saudi Arabia had an estimated 300,000 slaves in 1960. Slavery was then officially abolished, but unofficially continues to exist.
Saudis who travel outside their country sometimes bring their slaves with them, leading to run-ins with the law. One of the ugliest such incidents was the murder of a slave by a Saudi prince in London.

Saudi preacher: It's OK if you accidentally kill Muslim women & children when murdering Infidels VIDEO

A Saudi Wahhabi preacher who appeared on Saudi "al-Thaminah" TV stated that the killing of Muslim women and children is permissible according to his sources when it's done as collateral damage resulting from the "lawful" aim of killing infidels. These Wahhabi preachers are the ones providing fatwas to combatants in Syria regarding what they view as religiously approved rules of war. Civilians in Syria have been indiscriminately targeted by Wahhabi terrorists supported by Saudi Arabia, all done under the justification of fighting an "infidel regime".

The siege on Palestinian Arabs that the world ignores

The Lebanon Daily Star reported last month:

BEIRUT: Residents and fighters fear they may be starved out of the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk as the siege of the Palestinian area approaches its fifth month, mirroring the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation in many of the capital’s suburbs. The relatively new practice of blockading neighborhoods reflects a shifting strategy among rebel and government forces, analysts say, as both sides hunker down for what is expected to be a long war of attrition.

Yarmouk was originally a camp for Syria’s Palestinian refugees but has since expanded into a sprawling neighborhood in Damascus’ rebel-held southern belt. It has been encircled by troops loyal to President Bashar Assad since February.

On the second day of Ramadan, July 10, government forces tightened their grip on the area and sealed off a checkpoint that was the area’s only gateway to the capital, which was previously only sporadically open to allow through aid and fleeing residents.

The movement of food, medicine and people came to a complete halt.

“Civilians are totally forbidden from going out of the camp. At the same time, no food is coming in. They [the soldiers] have refused to let in vaccines for polio, measles, chickenpox and flu,” said Abdullah, an activist who has been stuck inside the neighborhood for over a year.

That siege is now 139 days old.

While the world constantly hears about a "siege" on Gaza where there are no restrictions by Israel on fuel, medicine,food or hundreds of other items,and where hundreds of people enter and leave every week, no one is talking about the real siege of tens of thousands of people in Yarmouk which is now on day 139.

Similarly, the death toll of Palestinians in Syria has now reached 1781, the vast majority of whom are civilians. But there is no Goldstone Report about this. No UN resolutions about Palestinians in Syria. No special sessions of the Security Council, nothing at the UN Human Rights Council, and very little in the media. No political Christmas carols being sung outside Syrian embassies.

I'm sure there is a rational explanation for why the "pro-Palestinian" crowd is exerting so much little effort on helping Palestinians literally starving to death.

And it probably has to do with the fact that they aren't "pro-Palestinian" at all.

(h/t Yerushalimey on caroling)

Independent (UK) publishes article about Gaza woes without mentioning who runs Gaza

Sometimes, anti-Israel propaganda is subtle.

The Independent (UK) publishes a first-person account of living in Gaza from Sally Idwedar. The headline already shows how the newspaper wants to spin the piece.

Life in Gaza: ‘We wake up to terrifying sonic booms and try to sleep while Israelis are shelling’

I was thinking about how I would start to write about life in Gaza – how I would lay the words out with eloquence – when suddenly an explosion boomed close by and those thoughts fled my mind.

I didn’t know the source; maybe it was internal training or perhaps another air strike. Movement and horns stopped on the street below, a brief pause to make sure it wasn’t anyone close that was hit, then movement resumed. My heart is still pounding and my mind racing and, like every other woman in Gaza, I say a quick prayer of thanks that my family is near and safe and hope no one was hurt.

My husband lights a cigarette in the next room while reports come in that it was an “internal” explosion from training. Either way I guess it doesn’t really matter, it is just enough to remind us nothing in Gaza is ever normal....

The UN issued a report last week saying Gaza is becoming uninhabitable and the humanitarian conditions are deteriorating – sadly that is true.

We wake up to terrifying sonic booms and try to sleep while the Israeli navy is shelling. Simple things like daily running water and a full day of electricity have now become luxuries. Nearly four weeks ago the sole power generator in Gaza stopped working due to lack of fuel. We had become used to the eight hours of electricity we were allotted but now we are down to four to six hours at a time and lengthy 12-14 hour blackouts.

...Two weeks ago the sewage pumping stations stopped working in many areas – they simply did not have the fuel to work. Raw sewage leaks into the streets. Fathers carry their children to get to school and most cars won’t venture into it. The sludge reeks and brings mosquitoes in swarms.

There is fear it will end up in the water supply as well. The Al-Shati refugee camp, also known as Beach camp, has reported foul smelling and discoloured water this week and many have fallen ill with stomach maladies already. My area has been lucky so far, no sewage in the streets but unfortunately we don’t have any water at all.

...This is life in Gaza now: a constant struggle to find the bare necessities. Gaza life is about always being prepared for the worst case scenario because normally that is what happens. It has been a year since the last major Israeli aggression here and we are trying to pick up the pieces. Constructions materials are now refused entry so repairs have ground to a halt.

Our life lines – the tunnels from Egypt – have been severed. Without them we don’t have a consistent flow of food, medicine and fuel. The border with Israel is often closed and only half of the needed trucks of aid are allowed in when it is open. The items on the market shelves are withering away and prices are getting higher and higher.

Most of the article is about the fuel shortages and resulting problems. Egypt is briefly mentioned but the real culprit is clearly Israel, even if she is smart enough not to say it directly.

Even the anecdote in the beginning of the explosion she heard had nothing to do with Israel - but the readers are primed to hate Israel because of the headline.

And what is missing from the article?

Hamas.

Hamas is not mentioned once. Hamas, which takes the bulk of fuel and concrete for itself, not to mention medicine and other crucial goods. Hamas, who was probably responsible for the explosion that so terrified Idwedar. Hamas, which has money for building terror tunnels but can't pay market prices for fuel to help Gazans. Hamas, which is deliberately causing Gazans to suffer so it can pressure the PA and Qatar and other Arabs to give it fuel for free or at an extreme discount. Hamas, whose history of terrorism and refusal to accept Israel's very existence is the reason that there are restrictions on Gaza to begin with. Hamas, whose support of the Muslim Brotherhood is the reason Egypt is hemming in Gaza.

Whether Idwedar is protecting Hamas or is afraid of repercussions of mentioning Hamas while she lives in Gaza is irrelevant. For the Independent to publish an article about how Gaza's infrastructure is falling apart without once mentioning who is in charge of that infrastructure and the history behind it is irresponsible. Adding an anti-Israel headline is just icing on the cake.

Not to mention that there was clearly no fact checking either - Israel doesn't block trucks from entering Gaza; the reason some trucks don't show up is from disputes between Gazans and their suppliers. Israel does stop dual use items - but again, that is Hamas' fault for using cement for terror instead of building Gaza.

But you wouldn't know that from reading this first-person account.

In 2005, the official lighting of the Christmas Tree in Bethlehem took place on December 15.

In 2009, the official lighting of the tree in Bethlehem took place on December 22.

In 2011, it happened on December 15.

In 2012, it happened on December 14.

This year, it happened on November 30 .

Press coverage of the lighting ceremony in previous years was scant. This year, it was more extensive, and the speeches were political:

Among the speakers at the night's events was Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, who said in his remarks that "Palestine has preserved the values of peace and tolerance by celebrating Christmas for centuries."

He marked the ceremony by saying that, "the Christmas celebrations commence from the city which has always been an authentic part of history, human heritage, and national identity."

Palestine Press Agency adds that Hamdallah said that the values of "peace and tolerance" will bring tidings of "freedom and dignity and complete salvation from the occupation and freedom from the settlements, ending the unjust siege on our people in the Gaza Strip , and upholding the principles of justice and law, in the independent state of Palestine on the whole land occupied since 1967, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem as its capital."

The Bethlehem mayor's speech was just as political.

It looks like the PLO has decided that they can get a couple of extra weeks of Israel bashing in under the banner of "peace and tolerance."

I also can't shake the idea that this year's lighting ceremony was intended to coincide with Chanukah, to try to divert attention away from a holiday that celebrates Jewish nationhood thousands of years before Palestinian Arab nationalism existed.

Muslim family attacked in Jerusalem - because attackers thought they were Jewish

From YNet:

A Muslim family from east Jerusalem was attacked two weeks ago by three Arab youths near the road of Sur Baher. Only after the group learnt that the family was in fact Palestinian did they leave them alone.

Rashuan Salman, his wife and their baby daughter were making their way from Umm-Tuba to Jerusalem, using the same road used by the family of two-year-old Avigail Ben Zion who was moderately injured after being hit in the head by a rock, when they were attacked.

"After driving along the road near Sur Baher three Arab youths jumped up on us," Salman told Ynet on Sunday.

"They tried to pull us out of the car and hit us, it seemed they were intent on lynching us. They tried opening the doors and my wife begged them to leave us alone. She spoke to them in Arabic and only then did they understand that we ourselves are Arabs, and left us alone. I hit the gas and drove away as fast as possible."

According to him, the youth clearly mistook them for Jews: "Me and my wife look Jewish, even the police officer who arrived said 'at first sight I was sure you were Jews.' He told us that these types of things happen all the time."

What's that word again when people target Jews for no other reason except that they are Jews?

It's on the tip of my tongue...

Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it doesn't apply to the attackers here.

(h/t Gary)

75 year old recipe for "Palestinian Levivot" and other Chanukah delicacies

From the Palestine Post, December 15, 1938:

Interestingly, this page distinguishes between levivot - regular pancakes - and potato pancakes, while today they are considered the same thing - latkes.

Haaretz has an interesting history of the word levivot, the latke and sufganiya.

I suppose this is evidence that Chanukah latkes are really a Palestinian Arab food - after all, we've heard the same arguments about the Palestinian football teams, the Palestine pound and stamps of Palestine from the 1930s and 1940s as somehow being proof of an ancient Arab nation of Palestine.

What's one more lie?

Chanukah video post #5: "Eight Nights a Week" plus The Colbert Report

The inevitable Beatles parody (h/t Yerushalimey):

Plus a mashup of recent Colbert mentions of Chanukah:

ICC wouldn't have jurisdiction over settlements

Here is the abstract of a new paper by Professor Eugene Kontorovich, who I have quoted before.

Writing in the Journal of International Criminal Justice, Kontorovich notes that according to current law, the ICC does not have the right to rule about the legality of settlements - something the PLO threatens Israel with constantly.

In the wake of the United Nations General Assembly’s recognition of Palestinian statehood, the Palestinian government has made clear its intention to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where it could, in principle, challenge the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. This article explores a significant jurisdictional hurdle for such a case. (To focus on jurisdictional issues, the article assumes for the sake of argument the validity of the merits of legal claims against the settlements.) The ICC can only consider situations ‘on the territory’ of Palestine. Yet the scope of that territory remains undefined. The norm against settlements arises in situations of occupation. However, in the majority view an ‘occupation’ can arise even in an area that is not the territory of any state. In this respect, ICC jurisdiction is narrower than the corresponding Geneva Convention norm, as it only extends to sovereign state territory. Thus even if Israel is an occupying power throughout the West Bank for the purposes of substantive humanitarian law, this does not establish that settlement activity occurs ‘on the territory’ of Palestine. Moreover, both the General Assembly resolution and the International Court of Justice’s Wall Advisory opinion make clear that the borders of Palestine remain undefined. The ICC lacks the power to determine boundaries of states, and certainly of non-member states. Given that Israel is a non-member state, determining the borders of Palestine, even for jurisdictional purposes, would violate the Monetary Gold principle, as it would also determine Israel’s borders. Moreover, the Oslo Accords give Israel exclusive criminal jurisdiction over Israelis in the West Bank. Palestine cannot delegate to the ICC territorial jurisdiction that it does not possess.

12/01 Links: Israel, the Pilgrims and the Maccabees, The truth about Christians in Bethlehem

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Israel, the Pilgrims and the Maccabees

So too today, Israel is castigated by Obama and his supporters in Washington, Europe and the media as a warmonger for realistically foreseeing the consequences of last weekend’s nuclear deal with Iran. Even worse, they are portraying Israel as a rogue state that will be subject to punishment if it dares to militarily strike Iran’s nuclear installations. In other words, rather than threatening Iran – the leading state sponsor of terrorism, led by a regime that is pursuing an illicit nuclear weapons program while threatening Israel with annihilation – with military strikes if it refuses to cease and desist from building nuclear weapons, the world powers are threatening Israel.
British Foreign Minister William Hague made this projection of Iranian criminality onto its intended victim the explicit policy of the world powers on Monday during his appearance before the British Parliament.
Promising that Britain will be “on its guard” to prevent any state from threatening the agreement with Iran, Hague said, “We would discourage anybody in the world, including Israel, from taking any steps that would undermine this agreement and we will make that very clear to all concerned.” In other words, as Hague, Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry see things, Iran needs to be protected from Israel.

Iran is happy. Next up: The Palestinians

I think the expectation that Obama will give Israel time to salve its wounds is misguided. This is a president who came to office determined to weaken the influence of the pro-Israel community, and "rebalance" Israel's relationship with its neighbors, Iran and the Palestinians. Rebalancing of course, can be defined here as weakening Israel's strategic position, since Israel's relative strength is perceived to be unfair and some of its power (and wealth) needs to be redistributed.
The president, a narcissist to the end, may think he is on a roll in the Middle East. His press clippings are certainly better these days on this front than for his health care reform. So with a bit of momentum, he may well think now is the time for him to slam down the hammer on the so-called "peace process," or rather, slam it down once again on Israel. And if he needs a workman to do the job, he can count on John Kerry, who, once again, will be "reporting for duty."

Examining the BBC’s track record on Jewish refugees from Arab lands

On November 30th 2013 the BBC News website’s home page and Middle East page both promoted a feature titled “In pictures: Early years of Palestinian refugees” which showcases images from the newly digitised archives of UNRWA – currently being promoted by that organization within the framework of its permanent public relations campaign.
Quite how the promotion of campaigning material produced by politically motivated organisations can be considered part of the BBC’s remit or in adherence to its editorial guidelines on impartiality is a (big) question in itself, but it is notable that the captions to the photographs showcased by the BBC adhere diligently to the UNRWA script, with the text accompanying the final photograph, for example, reading:

“There are now four generations of Palestinian refugees. The “right of return” to their former homes in what is now Israel remains one of the thorniest issues in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”
But of course the issue of Palestinian refugees is only half the story. The other half – that of Jewish refugees from Arab lands – has no dedicated UN refugee agency to document its history, no hereditary refugee status, no UN sponsored ‘Solidarity Day’ and no UN funded committee to champion its ‘inalienable rights’.

The Israeli Left and the Myth of ‘Palestinian’ Susiya

A legal battle over a historic site in the Hevron Hills continues, with Israeli far-left groups joining the Palestinian Authority in accusing Israel of “forced displacement” of Arab villagers in Susiya. They have won support from several international left-wing groups and media outlets as well.
The problem: the “Palestinian village” that Israel is supposedly uprooting never existed.
Tzviki Bar-Hai, the head of the Har Hevron regional council, explained the issue in an interview with Arutz Sheva. Bar-Hai has seen the development of the archaeological site at Susiya – which is home to the remains of an ancient Jewish village - from day one.
Not only did “Palestinian Susiya” not exist in the 1800s, as has been claimed by the far-left group B’Tselem, but it did not even exist in the 1980s, he reported.

Bereaved Father’s Disgust: ‘Just Free all Terrorists Now’

If the government is planning to release dozens more convicted terrorist killers, it should simply free them now rather than dragging out the process, bereaved father and anti-terrorism activist Ron Kerman has argued.
“Why wait nine months? Just release all the terrorists today already,” Kerman told Arutz Sheva.
Kerman’s suggestion came in response to reports that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is planning to end negotiations with Israel as soon as the terrorist release is complete. Abbas has openly declared that his goal is to free all PA terrorists from Israeli prisons, and that he does not plan to compromise on a single issue in negotiations.

Israeli officials: Obama gave Iran right to enrich, destroying sanctions

Unnamed Israeli officials denounced US President Barack Obama on Friday night for presiding over failed negotiations with Iran under which, they said, the sanctions pressure on Tehran is collapsing and the Islamic Republic has been granted the right to enrich uranium. The entire wall of sanctions, painstakingly constructed over years, is already crumbling and “will collapse within months,” the officials were quoted as saying.
In comments reported by Israel’s Channel 2 news and attributed to unnamed senior Israeli officials and official sources in Jerusalem, Obama was castigated for ostensibly showing he “will do anything to avoid a situation in which he will have to resort to force” against Iran.

Netanyahu orders Mossad to expose Iranian breaches of interim deal

Mossad, as well as the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate, have been told to dig up evidence of Iranian duplicity ahead of Obama’s push to win support for the deal in Congress and thus head off legislators’ demands for further sanctions against Iran, the Sunday Times reported, citing Israeli defense sources.
“Everyone has his own view regarding the Geneva agreement,” an Israeli intelligence source was quoted as saying. “But it is clear that if a smoking gun is produced, it will tumble like a house of cards.”
If Israel does produce evidence that Iran is flouting its deal with the world powers, the agreement could prove a tough sell for Obama in Congress.

Rouhani says Iran will intensify nuclear work

Not only is Iran not going to dismantle any of its nuclear facilities as part of an effort to reach a long-term agreement to limit its nuclear development, it will also construct a second nuclear reactor at Bushehr, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in comments over the weekend.
Addressing provincial managers and officials of Bushehr province on Saturday night, Rouhani said "Based on our estimates, the second nuclear power plant will be built in the same province and I hope that we can use the facilities of this province," Fars News reported. According to the report, Iran has identified 34 locations throughout the country where new nuclear facilities could be built.

Obama has accepted a nuclear Iran

The more facts that come to light from the negotiations in Geneva, the more the agreement appears to resemble Swiss cheese. There are many holes in the agreement as well as some serious vagueness. Barack Obama and John Kerry are not persuading the average American that this was any kind of achievement. They simply assume that most of the American public are willing to have their leaders deceive them. This is what the fight is about on Capitol Hill. In the present round, Israel is not holding back its criticism of the agreement, but neither is it taking steps against the While House.
Analyzing the administration's conduct leads to the conclusion -- for which there is yet no proof -- that Obama has made a decision to reconcile himself to Iran's nuclearization. Perhaps full nuclearization, perhaps stopping at a point where Iran is a threshold country that can assemble four nuclear bombs in a very short period of time. There is no "smoking gun" to prove this circumstantial belief, but the evidence is getting stronger by the day.

Iranian, Turkish spy services working in 'close collaboration'

Ambassador Alireza Bikdeli, speaking at a conference in Ankara, said the Iranian Intelligence service MOIS was working in "close collaboration" with Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT).
Speaking to the Turkish daily Hürriyet, Bigdeli said the intelligence cooperation between the two countries were at a level that should be between strong neighbors, which bothered Western powers as well as Israeli authorities.

Erdogan's problems with his neighbors

What went wrong? Dubbed “neo-Ottomanism” by various analysts, the AKP Party’s foreign policy sought to establish Turkey as a model state for the Arab world, at a time when the Arab Spring continues to reshape the political landscape. A romantic in nature, Erdogan envisaged a renaissance of Turkey’s soft power – with him at the helm – that would push the ideas of democracy, modernism and peaceful reconciliation in a troubled region.
As a non-Arab actor, however, Erdogan found religion, rather than national identity, to be the common value to appeal to the Arab masses. As a selfdeclared “conservative democrat,” he guided his party members to voice support for free elections in all Arab states, while allying themselves with the Islamist-leaning and populist political movements, with whom they share common ideological roots.

Find your way around the mall with Mally

The idea was developed by Issa, a Christian Arab woman from the Haifa area, with a Spanish partner. The new app is already installed in a mall in Toledo, Spain, and two more malls are coming on board next. It is currently available in English, Hebrew, Spanish and Catalan.
“We are closing a deal with a shopping center’s administration agency, which is holding 47 malls in Spain. They all have Google Indoor [Google Maps on Android devices] already, but are totally unsatisfied with it,” she says.
“To map the malls around the world isn’t easy,” she continues. “We give the whole experience. When you enter, we not only help you navigate but also give you content and information — what offers are being made right now.“

‘Like sending back art Nazis looted’: Iraqi Jews who fled persecution fight to stop U.S. from returning stolen artifacts to Baghdad

Set against the historical backdrop, the impending return of the Iraqi Jewish archive to Iraq has angered an ex-patriot community scattered by tragic circumstance. American and Iraqi Jews worldwide are urging the U.S. government to return the Jewish items to the Iraqi Jews. A petition signed by 47 members of Congress was delivered to Secretary of State John Kerry on Nov. 13, asserting that the “Government of Iraq has no legitimate claim to these artifacts,” echoing earlier statements from New York Senator Chuck Schumer.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, added his voice to his American counterparts in an email to the National Post Friday. “It is unfortunate that Iraq is simply not prepared to openly chronicle this tragic history as a monument for the people of Iraq, towards a meaningful reconciliation, or towards the historical preservation of archives and other items that document the ancient heritage of Iraqi Jewry,” the minister wrote. (h/t AlexandreM)

Netanyahu heads for Rome to meet Pope, Italian PM

Netanyahu is expected to invite the pope to Israel.
The meeting will be the prime minister’s first with the current pope, who met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in October at the Vatican and with President Shimon Peres in April. Netanyahu met with the previous pope, Benedict XVI, in 2009, as well as with Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Six government ministers are joining Netanyahu on the trip and will meet with the Italian government.

With song and remorse, an unlikely Amish group comes to Israel

The group, which flew out of Israel early Sunday morning, is unique in the traditional Amish world. Brought to the country by Keshet, an Israeli educational tourism company, its members were on their third Reconciliation Mission to Israel to Israel to build bridges with the Jewish people and show remorse for what they called the Amish community’s apathy at generations of Jewish suffering.
“We, the Amish and Anabaptist people turned away from the Jewish nation, while they were in their darkest hour of need,” reads the group’s mission statement. “We hardened our hearts against them, we left them — never lifting our voices in protest against the atrocities that were committed against them. We want to publicly repent of this and acknowledge our support of Israel.”

Repressing Christians through an Islamised Jesus

Time and again, Muslims, especially those in Egypt, project Islamic thinking onto Christians: thus the Coptic church has been accused of smuggling and storing weapons in its churches to take over the nation (when in fact mosques are regularly exposed housing illegal weapons for the jihad).
It has been acused of kidnapping and torturing Coptic girls who convert to Islam (when in fact Muslim converts to Christianity -- apostates -- are regularly beaten, imprisoned, and sometimes killed); and even of supporting suicide-attacks when the church speaks of Copts being martyred (because in Islam being “martyred” so often means actively sacrificing one’s life in “holy war”).

The truth about Christians in Bethlehem (a repost from 2012)

Facts overlaid in top of a propaganda video made by the Palestinian Authority for Christmas 2012. They don't want you to know that Christians are fleeing Palestinian-ruled areas because of harassment and discrimination.

Israel Defense Forces assemble in ‘menorah formation’

How do members of the Israel Defense Forces wish a Happy Hanukkah? By assuming “menorah formation,” of course. (h/t MtTB)

Today's "storming" of the Temple Mount

JPost reports:

Clashes broke out between Jewish and Muslim worshipers at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, prompting police to close the site to Jewish worshipers.

According to Army Radio, a group of Jewish worshipers visiting the Temple Mount began singing Hanukka songs and demonstratively praying despite police instruction against such activity.

Several dozen Muslim worshipers responded by attacking the Jewish worshipers. Police broke up the clashes, detaining two Jewish worshipers and two Muslims in the process.

So the worst that Jews do is - sing.

Once again, as they do every day, Arab media is condemning "Jewish extremists storming" the Temple Mount.

Let's look at the video made by the Al Aqsa Foundation of today's events, slightly edited:

Arab media is also saying that a planned Chanukah lighting ceremony this week at the Kotel will be a "desecration of the Buraq Wall by Netanyahu" as "settlers perform Talmudic rituals."

Egypt may revoke citizenship of Gazans who are MB - and maybe Hamas - members

In 2011, Egypt started allowing Palestinians who had Egyptian mothers to become citizens. Tens of thousands of Gazans applied for citizenship, and hundreds received it.

The episode exposed one of the biggest lies of the Middle East, a lie that has been espoused by UNRWA from the beginning of its existence - that Palestinian Arabs do not want citizenship in Arab countries, and would prefer to remain stateless in anticipation of "return."

One of the most prominent to receive citizenship in Egypt was none other than Mahmoud Zahar, a prominent Hamas leader.

Now, it looks like Egypt may be having second thoughts.

According to reports, new Egyptian citizens who live in Gaza are receiving notices that their citizenship could be revoked if they are affiliated with any political party that is banned in Egypt. And the current Egyptian regime has banned the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas is of course an offshoot of the MB.

The reports say that many Gazans seeking to enter Egypt are being harassed at the Rafah crossing if their political views are considered suspect. Egyptian authorities have responded that naturalized citizens are not allowed to belong to any political party for five years after becoming citizens.

When Zahar became an Egyptian citizen he said explicitly that he wanted to vote for the Muslim Brotherhood in elections.

I have still yet to see a single major human rights group insist that Palestinians who wish to become citizens of Arab countries have that right. Not one.

According to a Ma'an editorial:

Immediately after Israeli forces murdered Mahmoud al-Najjar, Mousa Makhamra and Muhammad Nayroukh in Yatta on Tuesday, Israel started a large media campaign claiming the three men were planning to found an al-Qaeda-affiliated group in the West Bank.

The campaign was very fast, very large and prepared in advance. Media outlets in the Arab world and in Palestine bought the Israeli argument to a certain extent by quoting reports about the incident from Israeli sources.

The absence of an official Palestinian account, and the fact that Palestinian factions and security services remained silent, helped circulate the Israeli account and even give it some credibility. ...The world has almost forgotten that Israeli forces carried out a predetermined, well planned military attack against young men in the prime of their youth driving a civilian car.

PCHR described it this way:

On Tuesday evening, 26 November 2013, Israeli forces killed in 2 separate attacks of an extra-judicial execution and excessive use of lethal forces 3 Palestinian civilians in the vicinity of Yatta, south of Hebron.

In a new crime of extra-judicial execution, Israeli forces killed 2 Palestinian civilians in Hebron by targeting their vehicle near Zaif area, north of Yatta, south of the city. ...

Half an hour later, in an excessive use of force, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in the south of Hebron. ....

After examination of the crime scene, it was found that Israeli forces had opened fire randomly at al-Najjar while he was walking near the house, due to which, he was hit by a number of bullets causing his death before he was taken to the hospital.

The IDF's version of events and Palestinian corroboration was all but ignored in Arab media:

Thousands of mourners attended the funerals Wednesday of three suspected Palestinian militants who were killed in an Israeli army raid in the West Bank the day before.

The three were jihadi Salafis, or followers of a militant stream of puritanical Islam, and had planned attacks on Israelis and on the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian self-rule government in the West Bank, said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman.

Lerner said the group had started putting together a terrorist infrastructure, including assembling weapons and explosives. He said the cell was the "first substantial indication" of violent activity by jihadi Salafis in the West Bank.

A Palestinian security official said jihadi Salafis in the West Bank are a cause of concern, but declined to give an estimate on how many there are.

Lerner said Israeli special forces stopped the car the three were riding in and shot out the tires. He said the men in the car acted suspiciously and that soldiers opened fire, killing two, while the third escaped on foot. The fugitive was later killed in a hideout several kilometers (miles) away, Lerner said.

Palestinian security forces previously had attempted to arrest the three, but they escaped, said Nairouh's brother Obeidallah and al-Najjar's uncle, Taleb.

Palestinian police have arrested 22 suspected jihadi Salafis in Hebron and the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin in the last three weeks, the Palestinian security official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

Obeidallah Nairouh said his brother had served six years in an Israeli prison for Hamas-related activities. In prison, Mohammed quit Hamas and drifted toward the Salafis, his brother said.

He said his brother was upset with Hamas for not imposing Shariah law in Gaza and spoke frequently about the need to engage in jihad, or holy war.

Today, an Al-Qaeda group admitted that these three were jihadists:

An al-Qaeda-linked group said three militants killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces last week were its members, and that their presence there showed that the Islamist network had taken root in the Palestinian territory.

"By the will of God Almighty, the global jihadi doctrine has reached the bank of pride, the West Bank, planting its foothold after all attempts to thwart its presence," said a statement posted by Majles Shura al-Mujahideen, or Holy Warriors' Assembly, on an Islamist web forum.

In its online statement, Majles Shura al-Mujahideen denounced the peacemaking efforts and threatened attacks on Israel and the PA.

"We call on every sincere person to cut off what is called 'negotiations', which causes one's nose to turn away with its foul stench of collaboration," the statement said. "We are serious about fighting the aggression against religion by the blaspheming Jews and the hypocritical collaborators."

Now let's return to Ma'an's editorial. After downplaying the idea that these were jihadists, it said that even if they were, they shouldn't be attacked - they should be respected - just like the IDF engages in dialogue with Haredim!

Fighting Jihadist Salafist ideologies and radicalism shouldn't be through targeted assassinations of supporters of these ideologies, simply because, violence begets violence. The right way to do that is through the withdrawal of the occupation on one hand, and through dialogue between Palestinian organizations and Salafists on the other. Those people should be invited to dialogue sessions to listen to their thoughts and obsessions.

There will never be any solution except through education, reflection, dialogue and participation. Israel has been trying for years to get religious people to do military service through dialogue with those people and through listening to their demands.

Yes, Ma'an believes that al-Qaeda and black-hatted Jews are the same thing - and that jihadists just want to talk about their feelings. the poor people are just troubled by the moderation of Hamas and the PA, and only want to be heard.

Their violence is a cry for help! The poor mujahadeen are so vulnerable and alone.

We should be sending social workers to Pakistan and Afghanistan, not drones!

11/30 Links: Bloodlust and lies, International "law" as the anti-Zionist Bible, French BDSers Fined

From Ian:

Sarah Honig: Bloodlust and lies

Thus started the Nazi-financed, three-year Arab revolt – an uprising that was every bit as deformed as the misnamed Arab Spring. Haj-Amin’s ambitious undertaking cost thousands of lives, but paradoxically it fortified the emergent Jewish state, which would achieve independence 12 years later.
Haj-Amin wasn’t the odd-man-out. He gave expression to his people’s overwhelming vehemence. Already in 1937 Josef Goebbels praised Arab “national and racial awareness,” noting that “in Palestine they hoist Nazi flags and deck their homes with swastikas and portraits of Hitler.”
Arabs were among the first to latch onto Nazi ideology. Undisguised fascist parties proliferated – from Syria’s Nationalist-Socialists headed by Anton Saada to Ahmed Hussein’s Young Egypt. Haj-Amin was the kingpin.

Israel and Creation Myths

Had there been no war, there would have been no dispossession, and yet, there still would have been a thriving Jewish State in former Palestine. Arab property was neither coveted nor needed before the war, although occasionally it was plundered and appropriated afterward. (But the same is true for thousands of Jewish homes and property that ended up in Arab-controlled Palestinian areas, i.e, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, not to mention the millions of Jews plundered in Arab countries in revenge for the “Naqba.”)
To conclude, many currently existing nation-states, besides the US, “willed” themselves into existence often by throwing off the rule of a foreign power (e.g. Greece, India, Pakistan) or were born out civil war (e.g., South Korea, Eritrea). Israel is no different, and has no less of a right to exist than any of those nations. And all of the claims that somehow Israel is an artificial entity with no right to exist is just a myth.
The world has been sorely remiss in remaining silent in or acquiescing to the blatant lies the anti-Israel forces spread. The issue is not simply historical accuracy and fairness. Palestinian Arab hatred, intransigence and violence is fueled by this false narrative of Israel’s illegitimacy. Peace will only be possible when Palestinian leadership and its supporters are forced to confront and acknowledge the truth: The Palestinian Naqba was self inflicted. It’s time for Palestinians to own up to that fact, to put an end to their “righteous” warfare, and for them to live in peace with their Israeli neighbors.

International "law" as the anti-Zionist Bible

Consider the latest parallel case when Israel was slammed for violating international law on occupation while Morocco, another "occupier", came away with a handshake and a deal.
The slammer and the deal maker was the European Union. Lawyers advised that no law stopped Europe making a fisheries deal with Morocco over occupied waters in Western Sahara. Allowing European companies to drill for oil in those waters, despite a UN legal opinion that it would violate international law, was also no problem. ‘Thank you very much,’ said the fatcats of Brussels. Morocco was happy too; the EU offered to pay a royalty for access to the occupied zone.

Hillel Neuer: Reports that Israel joined the UN Human Rights Council’s Western group are premature

Contrary to several news reports, admission to WEOG in Geneva does not mean membership on the 47-nation council. Israel like every other UN member state automatically has the status of an observer state at the council. Whether a state is one of the 47 voting members of the council, or one of its 146 observer states, all (except Israel) essentially belong to one of the five regional groups.
Contrary to exaggerated reports in the Israeli media, the country’s admission to WEOG would have zero effect on the Arab states’ continued ability to target Israel through excessive, one-sided and disproportionate resolutions, urgent sessions, and the special agenda item that focuses on Israel at every council meeting.

Amer Studies Assoc May Boycott Israeli Univs, Reveal Ignorance

In other words, all those who blathered on, urging the ASA to approve the resolution to boycott Israeli academic institutions presumably would prefer that there were no Palestinian Arab institutions of higher learning.
Because not a single one of the 19 degree granting institutions serving the Arab Muslim population of the “West Bank” or Gaza existed before 1967.
Several universities were established in the 1970′s, including the University of Palestine, which is located in Gaza, and was founded in 1972. Prior to the “Occupation,” Egypt controlled Gaza and maintained the Palestinian Arab population living there under unrelenting military rule.

French court fines boycott-Israel activists for discrimination

A French court imposed a $1,300 fine on members of an anti-Israel group who called on supermarket shoppers to boycott Israeli products.
The Court of Appeals of Colmar near Strasbourg fined each of the group’s 12 members individually on Wednesday for their participation in a pro-boycott activity in 2009-2010, which the court qualified as “provocation to discrimination.” The court also gave the activists a suspended jail sentence, according to a report by the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities.

Mother of 2-Year-Old Victim of Rock Throwing Attack Speaks Out

The mother of a two-year-old toddler was still in shock on Friday, as Avigail Ben-Zion recovered in a Jerusalem hospital from injuries sustained by rocks thrown at their moving car by four Arab teenagers on Thursday evening on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.
“Avigail will be fine,” Shirin Ben-Zion told Channel 2. ”She has a fractured skull, and we wait. I never thought that something like this could happen. Initially, I thought it was an accident, but then I realized very quickly that what crashed into us wasn’t any vehicle.”
Referring to her assailants, Ben-Zion was at a loss for words: “I can not talk about them as people – those figures who decided to hurt kids, I have nothing to say about them.”

Toddler injured by stone-throwers in Jerusalem not news for the BBC

The BBC’s Jerusalem Bureau is some eleven minutes’ drive from the location of the incident in which Avigail was injured. Twenty-four hours later, no report on the attack has appeared on the BBC News website. Readers of the website can, however, instead learn all about Orthodox beauty salons in Jerusalem.

Abbas: We'll Never Give Up on a Single Demand

While no official ceremony was scheduled Friday in the PA to mark the November 29, 2012 vote of the UN General Assembly, in anniversary comments published a day earlier, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas pledged to do everything possible to establish a Palestinian state with its capital in eastern Jerusalem.
The comments were published by the official PA news agency Wafa and quoted by AFP on Friday.
Abbas said that he would "never give up an ounce of the Palestinians' demands nor sign a peace agreement that failed to meet the aspirations of the people."

PMW: Song glorifying violence at PA Arafat memorial

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the Palestinian Authority often chooses this song to be performed at official events. Recently, it was performed at an event under the auspices of Abbas. The song was also recently performed in a historical context at an event celebrating Palestinian musical folklore arranged by the PA Ministry of Culture.

Sunni, Shi’a Strife Brings Uncertainty to Israel

“Once the Geneva agreement is signed, the military option will be back on the table. The Saudis are furious and are willing to give Israel all the help it needs,” an anonymous source told the Sunday Times.
“Most of the Middle East has an interest in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. At the moment it seems the world powers, led by America, are going to cave in to Iran. So you don’t really have a choice, you need to cooperate with the ‘devil’ as you see it,” Karsh told JNS.org.
“When Netanyahu is campaigning against Iran’s nuclear weapons, while America has this romance with [newly elected Iranian President Hassan] Rouhani, many Arabs are saying right now, ‘Well thank God someone is doing it,’” Ajami said.
Fueled by Iran’s desire for regional hegemony, the Sunni and Shi’a battles are unlikely to abate anytime soon, forcing Israel look for unlikely new partners, covertly or not, to confront its most dangerous enemies.
“Israel and Saudi Arabia agree on most things, they could almost have a silent partnership. They don’t have to acknowledge it. You won’t be seeing the Star of David flying in Riyadh anytime soon, but I think strategically, in view of the Iranian assault, there is a covert understanding between Saudi Arabia and Israel on what this region should look like,” Ajami said.

Obama Sides With Putin, Assad, and Khamenei

The outlines of a deal emerged: Assad would stay, Iran’s coffers would be refilled and its nuclear project continued in most of its important aspects, and Russia would have a partner. And President Obama would get his deal. Not a perfect deal. Not a “this justifies the Nobel Peace Prize” deal. But a deal.
Oh, yes, and the Iranian regime would be safe from military action as long as the conversation continues. Indeed, at least one report indicates that the White House made clear to Israel and Saudi Arabia, who have been huddling in the corner a lot of late, that military action against Iran will not be tolerated.
Thus has the United States become the guarantor of the Iranian and Syrian regimes, and of Russian interests in the Middle East. How far we’ve fallen.

‘Secret talks with Iran led Obama to shelve strike on Syria’

The issue of Assad’s chemical weapons use came up in the secret US-Iran contacts held in recent months in Oman, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported Friday, and it quoted unnamed Israeli intelligence and security sources asserting Obama’s change of heart was affected by those contacts.
The report speculated that Iran persuaded Assad to agree to dismantle his chemical weapons capability in return for Obama not carrying out the intended attack.

‘US freed top Iranian scientist as part of secret talks ahead of Geneva deal’

The secret back channel of negotiations between Iran and the United States, which led to this month’s interim deal in Geneva on Iran’s rogue nuclear program, has also seen a series of prisoner releases by both sides, which have played a central role in bridging the distance between the two nations, the Times of Israel has been told.
In the most dramatic of those releases, the US in April released a top Iranian scientist, Mojtaba Atarodi, who had been arrested in 2011 for attempting to acquire equipment that could be used for Iran’s military-nuclear programs.

Iranian Nuclear Envoy Slams Israeli 'Aggression'

Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) slammed Israel on Friday, accusing the Jewish state of attacking its neighbors and committing atrocities.
"Israel, sitting on 200 nuclear warheads all of them targeted at Muslim cities ... is crying wolf about nuclear proliferation,” the envoy, Reza Najafi, told the UN nuclear agency.

US offers to destroy Syrian chemical arms offshore

The US has offered to help destroy some of the most lethal parts of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile at an offshore facility, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical weapons said Saturday.
The international organization’s director-general, Ahmet Uzumcu, said in The Hague, Netherlands that the US government will contribute “a destruction technology, full operational support and financing to neutralize” the weapons, most likely on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea. The weapons are to be removed from Syria by Dec. 31.

Watchdog says Syria most dangerous country for journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Tuesday that the civil war in Syria posed the greatest danger for working reporters in conflict areas.
“Syria remains the most dangerous country in the world for journalists,” CPJ said. “At least 55 journalists have been killed covering the conflict since 2011, with local journalists comprising 90 percent of the fatalities.”

Swiss lawmaker excluded from party after saying Israel is "on path of carbonization"

Swiss lawmaker Denis Menoud was excluded from the populist Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG) on Friday after commenting that Israel was "on the path of carbonization" following the signing of the interim nuclear deal with Iran, AFP reported.
His comments, written on his Facebook page on Tuesday, caused an uproar in the party, leading party president Roger Colay to condemn his words and demanding him to resign.
Johanne Gurfinkel of CICAD, a Swiss group that monitors anti-Semitism, called on Menoud to “publicly apologize for his statement.” Gurfinkel also asked Menoud’s rightist MCG party to take a stand against “this type of hateful comments.” (h/t Bob Knot)

Swiss alderman seeks ban on Hanukkah ceremony

A city council member from Geneva has warned his municipality against allowing a public Hanukkah event, which he said would violate Swiss law.
“I’m not afraid of being called anti-Semitic, because my request is not directed at a religious community [but at] the authorities, which do not comply with the law by issuing an authorization for this event,” council member Pierre Gauthier is quoted as telling the Tribune de Geneve daily newspaper this week.

BBC does a makeover on Hannukah

Readers celebrating Hanukkah may be rather surprised to learn that, according to that article, that they are in fact marking the rededication of the Temple after the “victory of the Maccabees against the Syrians”.
Where did Lewis glean that curious piece of information? It appears to have been taken from the source to which he links in that section of his article: a page titled ‘Hanukkah’ on the BBC Schools website. There, teachers and students seeking information (presumably factual) from a site which is self-promoted as “educational resources from the BBC” are told that:

Two stories from Switzerland

From Global Post:

From LaLiberte

A local deputy from Switzerland's populist Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG) was excluded from the regional party on Friday for appearing to support the destruction of Israel.

Denis Menoud wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday that following Iran's historic nuclear deal with the West, "the key thing is that Israel is on the path to being incinerated."

His words caused an immediate outcry, with the Swiss Jewish rights group CICAD demanding the party "make a stand regarding this type of despicable remark."

Menoud, who later deleted the post from the page, told the Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve his remarks had been taken out of context.

"The point was the agreement with Iran... Israel is the loser, strategically and politically, from this plan. Anything else is a toxic and abusive interpretation," he said.

From Times of Israel:

A city council member from Geneva has warned his municipality against allowing a public Hanukkah event, which he said would violate Swiss law.

“I’m not afraid of being called anti-Semitic, because my request is not directed at a religious community [but at] the authorities, which do not comply with the law by issuing an authorization for this event,” council member Pierre Gauthier is quoted as telling the Tribune de Geneve daily newspaper this week.

In a letter to the mayor, Gauthier, who is the secretary of a not-for-profit called “Geneva Secular Coordination,” cited Switzerland’s Law of Foreign Worship, which states that “no celebration of worship, procession or any religious ceremony is allowed on public roads.”

He urged the mayor’s office to cancel a public candle-lighting event on Mollard Square scheduled for Dec. 3. The organizer of the event, Rabbi Mendel Pevzner of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, told the Tribune, “This is not a religious event but a moment of sharing, open to all faiths. Since 1991, we have never encountered a problem.”

(h/t Bob Knot)