Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, February 10, 2018

02/10 Links: IDF intercepts Iranian UAV; Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria, IAF pilots eject F-16; Shapiro: Why Doesn't Terrorism Against Jews Count?

From Ian:

On February 10, 2018, an Apache helicopter successfully intercepted an Iranian UAV that was launched from Syria and infiltrated Israel. The aircraft was identified by the Aerial Defense Systems early on and was under surveillance until the interception. In response, IDF attacked the Iranian aircraft's launch components in Syrian territory.

Later, also in response to the Iranian UAV that was launched at Israeli territory and was intercepted by the IDF, Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted 12 targets in Syria, including three aerial defense batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran's military establishment in Syria.

During the attack, multiple anti-aircraft missiles were fired at IAF aircraft. The two pilots of an F-16 jet ejected from the aircraft as per procedure, one of whom was seriously injured and taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

“The Syrians and the Iranians, from our point of view, are playing with fire. The Syrians are playing with fire when they allow the Iranians to attack Israel from their soil. We are willing, prepared, and capable to exact a heavy price on anyone that attacks us. However, we are not looking to escalate the situation,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, Head of the International Media Desk.

The IDF sees the Iranian attack and the Syrian response as severe violations of Israeli sovereignty. The IDF will continue to act against any attempt to infiltrate Israeli airspace and will act with determination to prevent any breach of Israeli sovereignty.

Iranian UAV Intercepted by an Israeli Helicopter

Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria, IAF pilots eject F-16

In a major flare up on Israel’s northern border, Israel carried out a large-scale attack against Syrian air defenses and Iranian targets in the war-torn country after an Israeli F-16 crashed during operations to strike Iranian targets in Syria early Saturday morning.

The operation, which was carried out by eight Israeli jets struck 12 targets in Syria, including thee Syrian SA5 and SA17 air defense batteries and four Iranian targets.

According to Syrian media reports, Israel struck the Abu Al-Thaaleb airbase near the town of Kiswah, which is home to Syria’s 1st armored division and part of the Islamic Republic’s buildup in Syria.

The Israeli attack was met with anti-aircraft fire, triggering air raid sirens in the Golan Heights and upper Galilee, warning residents of potential rocket strikes. According to IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis, several missiles hit open areas in northern Israel.

“Iran and Syria are playing with fire,” he said. "The results of our strikes are not yet fully known to them (Iran), and they may be surprised when they discover what we targeted."

Early on Saturday morning, an Iranian drone, which was launched from a Syrian base in the Homs desert, was identified approaching Israeli airspace by the IDF around 4 a.m., setting off alarms across Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley. The drone entered Israel via Jordanian airspace and flew for a minute and a half before it was intercepted by an Israeli Air Force Apache helicopter near the town of Beit She’an.

“We waited for it to cross into our territory,” said IAF chief of air staff Brigadier General Tomer Bar who stressed that it was important for Israel “to get our hands on the drone that was operated by the Iranians.”

“It was the most extensive attack against Syrian anti-aircraft batteries carried out by the IAF since 1982,” Brig.-Gen. Bar stated, stressing that, nonetheless, “we consider this to be a fully successful operation. Israel’s air superiority was not affected today.”

Sirens, clashes in north after IDF shoots down infiltrating Iranian drone

Tensions have been rising along the northern border recently, as Israel has warned repeatedly against Iranian efforts to set up weapons production facilities in Lebanon and establish a presence near the Israeli border with Syria.

According to unconfirmed reports, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes on the Syrian armed forces and their allies since the civil war broke out there in 2011.

The prime minister and senior defense officials have said that the country takes action in Syria when a “red line” is crossed, generally meaning in retaliation to deliberate or accidental attacks on Israel from southern Syria or when advanced weapons are being transferred to the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.

There have, however, been reports of additional Israeli actions that do not appear to have been in response to a violated “red line,” including in attacks against suspected chemical weapons facilities.

Early Wednesday morning, according to Syrian reports, Israeli aircraft bombed a military scientific research facility outside Damascus, which is suspected of both developing chemical weapons for Assad and assisting Iran and Hezbollah in improving their missile technology.

Netanyahu has said that if Iran continues to try and entrench itself in Syria, Israel will “stop it.”

Egypt closes Rafah again, many stranded

From Asharq Al Awsat:

Egypt on Friday closed its border with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said, after Cairo launched a major operation against jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula.
The head of Hamas, the Islamist group which runs Gaza, was however permitted to travel to Cairo for talks before the border was closed a day earlier than planned.
Friday was supposed to be the final of a three-day border opening for humanitarian cases from Gaza, the first time the Rafah border crossing with Egypt had been open in 2018.
"The Rafah border was closed today due to the security situation in Sinai, we were informed by the Egyptian authorities," said Saleh al-Zaq, head of the civil affairs committee which controls the borders.

Scores of Palestinians who managed to get into Egypt are stranded in Egyptian Rafah, as Egypt is not allowing them to travel anywhere.

This was the first time Egypt opened the crossing in a month. The supposed PA/Hamas reconciliation was supposed to result in an ease of travel between Gaza and Egypt, but it never happened.

Of course, Western media isn't interested. When Palestinian suffering cannot be blamed on Israel, its news value approaches zero.

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02/09 Links Pt2: Keith Ellison, Louis Farrakhan and Iran; NYTs Accuses Jews of Stealing Folkdances From Palestinian Arabs; Shall we deny that the Poles are deniers?

From Ian:

Keith Ellison, Louis Farrakhan and Iran

When Rep. Keith Ellison ran for Democratic National Committee chairman, he faced questions about past associations with the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in December 2016, Mr. Ellison angrily accused his critics of a “smear campaign” for “talking about something that happened in 1995,” when Mr. Ellison was 32. It turns out Mr. Ellison—who lost his bid but is now the DNC’s deputy chairman—wasn’t telling the full story.

In 2006, during his first run for Congress from Minnesota, Mr. Ellison conceded he had worked with the Nation of Islam for 18 months before the October 1995 Million Man March. In a letter, he assured Jewish groups: “I reject and condemn the anti-Semitic statements and actions of the Nation of Islam [and] Louis Farrakhan. ”

A decade later, during the DNC leadership contest, he accused Mr. Farrakhan and his organization of sowing “hatred and division, including, anti-Semitism, homophobia and a chauvinistic model of manhood. I disavowed them long ago, condemned their views, and apologized.”

In September 2013, however, Messrs. Ellison and Farrakhan dined together. The occasion was a visit by Iran’s newly elected President Hassan Rouhani to the United Nations. Mr. Rouhani invited Muslim leaders from around the U.S. to dinner after addressing the U.N. General Assembly. Contemporaneous news reports placed Mr. Farrakhan at the dinner. Unreported by mainstream outlets was the presence of Mr. Ellison, along with Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Andre Carson of Indiana. (All three are Democrats; Messrs. Ellison and Carson are Muslim.)

The Nation of Islam website documents the event, noting that Mr. Rouhani “hosted the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Muslim leaders from different Islamic communities and members of the U.S. Congress at a private meeting . . . at the One UN Hotel in Manhattan Sept. 24, 2013 across the street from the UN headquarters.” The Final Call, a Nation of Islam publication, added that “ Keith Ellison of Minnesota . . . participated in the dialogue” after dinner and includes photos of Messrs. Farrakhan and Ellison at the tables. The Michigan-based Islamic House of Wisdom also reported on the meeting, with additional photos. (h/t MtTB)

Democratic Rep. Danny Davis Calls Louis Farrakhan ‘An Outstanding Human Being.’ Farrakhan Says Jews Are ‘Satanic’ And Did 9/11.

Given that Obama repeatedly denounced Farrakhan in the years since and is no longer president, the photo’s release did not cause much of a stir. But unlike Obama, many of the other politicians in that meeting with Farrakhan are still in office, and have not denounced the man the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “an anti-Semite who routinely accuses Jews of manipulating the U.S. government and controlling the levers of world power.” And on Monday, one of Farrakhan’s congressional friends opted to vocally defend him.

“I personally know [Farrakhan], I’ve been to his home, done meetings, participated in events with him,” Democratic Rep. Danny Davis told The Daily Caller’s Peter Hasson. “I don’t regard Louis Farrakhan as an aberration or anything, I regard him as an outstanding human being who commands a following of individuals who are learned and articulate and he plays a big role in the lives of thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people.”

In actuality, Farrakhan is a racist and homophobic cult leader who blames Jews for everything from the slave trade to 9/11. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League have exhaustively documented Farrakhan’s viciously anti-Semitic outbursts. Here is Congressman Davis’s “outstanding human being” in his own words:

“You are wicked deceivers of the American people. You have sucked their blood. You are not real Jews, those of you that are not real Jews. You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell.” (Saviours’ Day Speech, Chicago, 2/25/96)

“Did you know that Jesus had a real problem with the Jewish community? They had power, the rabbis of that day, over the Roman authorities just as they have power today over our government.” (Remarks at Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, 12/1/13)

Black Caucus Members Refuse To Denounce Hate Group Leader Louis Farrakhan

Twenty-one members of the Congressional Black Caucus facing questions about their ties to Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan have all refused to condemn the hate group leader.

The CBC, it was recently revealed, held a secret meeting with Farrakhan in 2005 but hid it from the public to avoid controversy. Twenty-one members of the caucus today were part of the caucus at the time of the secret Farrakhan meeting. All 21 declined to denounce Farrakhan when asked by The Daily Caller.

The Nation of Islam is so extreme that even the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center recognizes it as a hate group, citing the group’s “theology of innate black superiority over whites and the deeply racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay rhetoric of its leaders.”

Farrakhan has praised Hitler, claimed Jews are “Satantic” and said that white people “deserve to die,” among other racist and anti-Semitic statements.

The 21 CBC members, all Democrats, include high-profile Trump critics like Maxine Waters and Al Green, who have long demanded the president’s impeachment.

1818: More Jews in Jerusalem than any other group

From "Travels Along the Mediterranean and Parts Adjacent: In Company with the Earl of Belmore, During the Years 1816-17-18: Extending as Far as the Second Cataract of the Nile, Jerusalem, Damascus, Balbec, &c. ..." by Robert Richardson, 1822, p. 256:

(h/t Jews United with Israel)

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02/09 Links Pt1: US envoy Friedman tears into Haaretz for op-ed disparaging him; Dore Gold: The Assault on the Jewish Connection to Jerusalem; Like water for Gaza

From Ian:

US envoy Friedman tears into Haaretz for op-ed disparaging him

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman tore into the Haaretz daily Friday after the left-wing outlet ran an op-ed criticizing his financial support for the settlement enterprise.

“What has become of .@Haaretz ? Four young children are sitting shiva for their murdered father and this publication calls their community a ‘mountain of curses.’ Have they no decency?” he tweeted.

The “mountain of curses” remark with which Friedman took particular issue was a play on words by columnist Gidon Levy referring to the Har Bracha, or “Mount of blessing,” settlement.

The northern West Bank community was home to Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, a 29-year-old father of four who was stabbed to death by an Israeli Arab terrorist outside the Ariel settlement on Monday.

A day after the murder, Friedman recalled having donated an ambulance to Har Bracha years ago “hoping it would be used to deliver healthy babies.”

“Instead, a man from Har Bracha was just murdered by a terrorist, leaving behind a wife and four children. Palestinian ‘leaders’ [sic] have praised the killer. Praying for the BenGal family,” his Tuesday tweet concluded.

In his Haaretz column, Levy addressed the ambassador’s tweet, taking issue with his donation’s beneficiaries.

“With Friedman’s ambulance or without it, Har Bracha is a mountain of curses. It was a settlement established, like all the others, to poke a stick in the Palestinian eye and drive a stake into any chance of an agreement,” Levy wrote, highlighting the settlement’s location deep inside the northern West Bank.

Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken replied to Friedman’s tweet Friday, posting to the social media network that “Gideon Levy is right. As long as the policy of Israel that your Government and yourself support is obstructing peace process, practical annexation of the territories, perpetuating apartheid, fighting terror but willing to pay its price, there will be more Shivas.”

Video: The Assault on the Jewish Connection to Jerusalem - Dore Gold (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

At a meeting of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation last December, Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, said that Jews are really excellent at faking and counterfeiting history and religion. I was struck by that because I refuse to assault the principles of their faith. They can say whatever they want about their faith as long as they don't try and assault my faith. Part of the tragedy of the current period is this overall assault on the connections between Israel, the Jewish people, and Jerusalem.

In October 2016, UNESCO asserted that the Temple Mount was connected to Islam, but it refused to acknowledge any Jewish connection whatsoever - or for that matter any Christian connection - to the Temple Mount. In the resolution adopted in Paris, it used only the Islamic term for the Temple Mount - Haram al-Sharif, but the actual terminology "Temple Mount," which had been used by international organizations for years, suddenly vanished. A few months later in December 2016, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2334 which called the Old City of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount "occupied Palestinian territory."

The entire international community met together after World War I and said the Jews have a right to reconstitute their ancient homeland. That ought to be worth something. Israel is the only country in the international system whose historical rights were confirmed by both the League of Nations and the United Nations. To completely dismiss the rights of Israel is to dismiss how our rights have been understood by the international community for more than a century.

The cardinal question is who is going to protect Jerusalem in the future. Will it be national movements that doubt the legitimacy of various faiths' connections to Jerusalem, or will it be national movements that understand that there are other national groups that have connections to Jerusalem. If Jerusalem is important to people, if freedom of religious expression is important to people, then only a free and democratic Israel will protect Jerusalem for all the great faiths.

Like water for Gaza

According to a 2016 Haaretz interview with Adnan Ghosheh, a senior water and sanitation specialist at the World Bank, the Gaza Strip will become uninhabitable for human beings by 2020.

This grim forecast is supported by the Institute for National Security Studies in a report titled "Water and Energy Crisis in Gaza: Snapshot 2017."

According to the report, the "lack of clean water for domestic use and unsafe sanitary conditions pose a serious public health threat to the two million people living in the Gaza Strip. By now, large amounts of untreated wastewater have already crossed Gaza's borders and created additional repercussions for several neighboring communities in Egypt and Israel, with Israel at one point forced to close two of its beaches."

When unlimited drinking water flows from the taps in Ashkelon, just north of Gaza, it is too easy to accuse Israel of unjustly dividing this precious resource, as self-righteous Israelis, and Europeans, sometimes do. These voices continue to condescend, absolving the local leadership of any responsibility. But it is the Palestinian leaders who actually bear the blame for this disgraceful situation.

The fact is that the deterioration of Gaza's water aquifers is a perfect reflection of the deterioration of the Oslo Accords. It is not a military or diplomatic issue, but rather a refusal to take any responsibility for providing basic infrastructure that is essential for maintaining the most fundamental aspects of life – preventing disease and death. If only they dug sewer tunnels for the betterment of Gaza rather than terror tunnels to the detriment of Israel.

Was today supposed to be a "day of rage"?

I see no difference between the photos of today's West Bank riots and last week's which had been announced ahead of time as a "day of rage."

Fatah is publishing photos from the same spots as last week. Only scattered youths doing their thing.

Perhaps sensing that the Jerusalem issue has lost all traction, Fatah tried to organize a march for "martyrs" since that has been the hot button topic this week in PalArab media. But even then, the turnout was pathetic:

I suppose if fire is good, and slinging rocks is good, then slinging rocks from inside fire must be great, right?

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I know I shouldn't be astonished anymore by how much nonsense a person with a PhD can spew, but...I still am.

From the Facebook page of Columbia University Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature Hamid Dabashi:

The Woman’s March has now emerged as a major movement in the US and of course the Zionists have deeply infiltrated it the way they infiltrated the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and sought to twist it to the advantage of Israel —

I once posted a full page ad by the Black Americans to Support Israel Committee, which was signed by hundreds of prominent African-Americans in support of Israel from Hank Aaron to Andrew Young.

According to Dabashi, they were all duped by Zionists. Which means that Dabashi doesn't think that African Americans are smart enough to think for themselves.

Yes, that is racism.

Scarlet Johansson is a violent Zionist deeply committed to the systemic theft of Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland— she appears on commercials selling Israeli products made on the stolen and occupied Palestinians lands — her appearance on Women’s March rallies deeply compromises the moral authority of the movement —

"Scarlet Johansson is a violent Zionist"?

Hate to break it to you, Hamid, but movies aren't real life.

Dabashi must have considered her Sodastream commercial to be violently funny. Or maybe she is a secret Mossad agent. We'll have to ask him.

Remember - this guy teaches college students. And gets interviewed on CNN. (And he doesn't even know how to spell Johansson's first name.)

A progressive intersectional faction of the Women’s March (far beyond its Arab and Muslim components) must immediately and categorically denounce this pernicious infiltration and appropriation of the movement and insist on raising the picture of Ahed Tamimi in EVERY AND ALL such rallies — if the movement is to have any credibility beyond its Zionist streak —

Dabashi, who is deeply against the supposed infiltration of the women's movement to Zionism, therefore urges that this very movement be redirected away from feminism to instead talk about Palestinian terror supporter Ahed Tamimi at EVERY event. Which is pretty much the definition of hijacking a movement.

I wonder how someone with zero concept of irony can teach classes on comparative literature.

Zionists are master thieves— they steal Palestinian land and culture, they steal Jewish history and heritage, and they steal every progressive movement to twist it to their advantage— beware!

Yes, more sober analysis from a scholar. Eating falafel is cultural theft if you happen to be Jewish in Israel. Giving Gaza away for free is "theft." I don't have any idea of what he means by stealing Jewish history - from whom? The Neturei Karta guy that is also on his Facebook page?

I wonder if Dabashi considers building mosques on the sites of the Jewish Temples, churches, Hindu temples and other non-Muslim places of worship to be cultural theft. Might be a good topic for his pseudo-scholarship.

(h/t Campus Reform)

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"Apartheid?" poster - Israel Arab Muslim female police officer

Another in the never-ending series of "Apartheid?" posters:

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From Arutz-7:

The Hamas terror organization publicized an apparent hit list of Israeli rabbis and politicians on Wednesday, at a memorial event for the terrorist responsible for the murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevach in Samaria.

Early Tuesday morning, Israeli security forces shot and killed Ahmad Nasser Jarar, the terrorist who led the fatal attack on Rabbi Shevach last month near the entrance to Havat Gilad.

At a memorial service for Jarar, Hamas placed a placard of Jarar next to a series of photographs of various Israeli rabbis and politicians.

Among the rabbis included in the display were Rabbi Raziel and Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, the 29-year-old Har Bracha resident who was stabbed to death by an Arab terrorist in Ariel on Monday.

The pictures of both of the murdered rabbis were covered by a superimposed red ‘X’.

The other figures included in the display, which was an apparent hit list of Israeli Jews, were Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, former Hevron Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Nir Ben-Artzi, Likud MK Yehuda Glick, former Likud MK and Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin.

The Hebrew on the poster is quite poor, but what it appears to say under the murdered rabbis is "Liquidated - Dead" (the word "Dead" is spelled backwards) and under the others it seems to say "Scheduled to be liquidated."

Just something else outrageous from "Palestine" that barely even makes the Israeli media, let alone the international media.

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02/08 Links Pt2: Complicity of Poles in the deaths of Jews is highly underestimated; The West sleeps peacefully because of Israel; Ireland: The Most Anti-Israel Country in Europe?

From Ian:

Complicity of Poles in the deaths of Jews is highly underestimated, scholars say

In a 1970 article, pioneering Polish-Jewish historian Szymon Datner estimated that 200,000 Jews died at the hands of Poles during World War II. Attempting to flee the Germans’ cattle cars and camps, they found their deaths after being handed over to the authorities, informed upon while in hiding, or through murder by their Polish neighbors.

From 1942 to 1945, according to Datner’s calculations, of the 250,000 Jews who attempted to escape the Germans in occupied Poland, only 10-16 percent survived.

A Jewish Holocaust survivor himself, Datner eventually became the head of the Jewish Historical Institute of Warsaw and worked as a historian for the precursor to Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN). But were he alive today, he would potentially be prosecuted for his scholarly findings.

On February 6, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law amendments to the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation Act.

Among its amendments is this controversial section of the bill: “Whoever claims, publicly and contrary to the facts, that the Polish Nation or the Republic of Poland is responsible or co-responsible for Nazi crimes committed by the Third Reich… or for other felonies that constitute crimes against peace, crimes against humanity or war crimes, or whoever otherwise grossly diminishes the responsibility of the true perpetrators of said crimes – shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 years.”

With its vague language, this amendment could be read as mandating that Datner, a respected historian who worked for the institute the bill is named for, be locked up.

Former Polish PM: ‘Of Course Poles Took Part in Holocaust’

A former prime minister entered Poland’s fraught debate over a new law that prohibits discussion of Polish collusion with the Nazi Holocaust, bluntly telling a leading newspaper that “of course” there were cases of Poles collaborating in the extermination of the Jews.

“Of course Poles took part,” former Polish premier Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz told the newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Wednesday.

Emphasizing that “today’s generation is not responsible for what happened,” Cimoszewicz — a social democrat politician who was Poland’s prime minister during the mid-1990s and also served as the country’s foreign minister — urged Poles to talk “openly and honestly” about the experience of Nazi occupation.

Among the historical examples he cited were the “tens of thousands” of “szmalcowniks” — Poles who informed on Jews or extorted their property. At least 60,000 Jews had been denounced by Poles to the Nazi Gestapo, Cimoszewicz said.

Ninety percent of Poland’s pre-war Jewish population of 3 million was murdered following the Nazi German invasion of September 1939.

The former prime minister also noted that more than 6,000 Poles had been honored as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem. “We are all obliged to remember these heroic people, but we must not allow their heroism to cover the crimes and wickedness of a much larger group of Poles,” he continued.

“Antisemitism was and remains endemic in our country,” Cimoszewicz said.

Cimoszewicz accused Poland’s nationalist government of deliberately exaggerating the damage to Poland’s reputation through the use of phrases like “Polish death camp” to describe Auschwitz, the slave labor and execution factory constructed and operated by the Nazi German occupiers near the town of Oświęcim in the south.

March of the Living Will Continue Trips Despite Polish Bill Denying Complicity in Holocaust

The International March of the Living, an educational initiative that has brought more than 250,000 participants to visit concentration camps in Poland, has announced that it will continue its trip in 2018, despite the organization’s opposition to a new Polish law criminalizing statements such as “Polish concentration camps,” or similar statements linking Poland to the heinous crimes against Jews in World War II.

Instead, the organization is calling for “for an open discussion and dialogue on all aspects related to the history of the Holocaust in Poland and Europe, which is also the position of the government of Israel.”

In a statement, March of the Living said, “Like in years before, more than 12,000 participants, Jews and non-Jews alike, including thousands of non-Jewish Polish students, and students from other nations, will take part in the passing the torch of memory from survivors to the next generation. On each trip, the survivors share their precious stories in the very places they transpired, with their students who commit to becoming the bearers of their memories.”

Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, International March of the Living President, said, “We believe it is our sacred responsibility to carry the torch of Holocaust memory and we remain committed to teaching the importance of understanding the past as a means of protecting the future. Now, as much as ever, we believe our mission is of the utmost importance.”

The organization notes that despite the law — which has been panned by Israeli officials — that “great progress has been made in the arena of Polish-Jewish relations and in the relationship between Poland and the State of Israel,” since the inception of the March of the Living program.

Holocaust survivors break into Polish embassy in Tel Aviv

Dozens of Holocaust survivors protested outside the Polish Embassy in Tel Aviv on Thursday, demonstrating against a new law in Poland that criminalizes suggestions of Polish complicity in the Holocaust.

The demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as: “No law can erase history” and “Poles, we remember what you did.”
The demonstrators broke into the compound of the embassy singing Am Yisrael Chai, “The people of Israel live.”

The protest was organized by the Haifa-based Yad Ezer La-Haver foundation, which runs a home in that city for Holocaust survivors.

The Jerusalem Post’s Hebrew-language sister publication Maariv reported that survivor Shalom Steinberg, 95, from Haifa, shouted: “You should be ashamed. I escaped from Auschwitz and weep every night from the things I went through there. Many people like me did not survive, and we will not forget that the Nazis massacred us on your Polish soil.”

Motke Lieber, another Holocaust survivor, added: “How can it be that such a law is passed when the Poles did not help us, and certainly not the Germans?”

"Apartheid?" poster - Muslim woman first responder for United Hatzalah

Continuing the series...

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Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

The conflict between Israel and her enemies is both like and unlike the game of chess.

In ordinary chess there are only two players, and their objectives are identical: to checkmate the opposing king. In the Jewish/Muslim conflict in the Middle East there are a multitude of players, each with its own objective. For example, Israel’s goal is to establish herself as a stable, peaceful country. The Palestinian goal is to replace Israel with an Arab state and remove the Jews from the land between the river and the sea. The Iranian goal is to eliminate an obstacle to expanding Iran’s area of influence throughout the region, and to become a hero to the Muslim world by defeating the Jews. And there are also Russians, Americans, Turks, and others playing.

Nevertheless, chess is a game of strategy based on war – simpler than reality although complicated enough – so there are analogies that can be drawn.

For example, in the opening part of a game of chess, both sides jockey for position. Conflict is muted – a pawn here or there is traded, but the object is to arrange one’s pieces so that after the “middlegame” when the more powerful ones clash, the other side will be at a disadvantage, perhaps with holes blasted in the defenses surrounding its king, with parts of its army destroyed, and forced to constantly defend itself with no respite to develop a counterattack.

Israel and Iran are currently in the positional phase, “developing their pieces” in chess terminology, but make no mistake, what happens today is preparatory to a more violent confrontation. Iran (which did not invent chess but has been playing it since at least 600 CE) is acting systematically to prepare for the more violent middlegame. The Iranian regime is a better than average player.

Israel and the Palestinians are mediocre players, making many “rookie mistakes,” although the Palestinians play somewhat more competently than Israel. Both sides often act without sufficient consideration of the obvious moves that the other side will make in response. For example, in December of 1992 Israel expelled 400 Palestinians , mostly associated with Hamas, to Lebanon. Unfortunately, Lebanon refused to take them, and within a year all of the deported Palestinians had been permitted to return.

But that was a small mistake. The biggest and most damaging error made by Israel was the massive sacrifice offered in the Oslo Accords. It is sometimes advantageous to make an unbalanced exchange in chess, to give up an important piece in return for a great positional advantage or to make possible a “combination” in which the opponent can be forced to choose between unacceptable alternatives. Israel gave up an important piece when she allowed the dying, irrelevant PLO to come back to life, and to insert its cancerous cells into her body.

The sacrifice was supposed to bring about a change in the PLO’s objectives and to make peace possible. But it was based on a complete misunderstanding of the nature and motivations of Arafat and the PLO. The Palestinians accepted the sacrifice and ramped up terrorism and diplomatic warfare against Israel. At the same time, the PLO began its educational project which has borne fruit in today’s young “lone wolf” terrorists.

The biggest Palestinian mistake has been to never accept Israeli offers of a state, even with restrictions on militarization and lack of a “right of return” for the descendants of 1948 Arab refugees. A Palestinian state, no matter how limited, would have greatly improved their strategic and diplomatic positions, and given them time and space to prepare to strike at the heart of the Jewish state. Their ideological dogmatism prevents them from playing an innovative game.

In chess, both sides start almost even (White has a slight advantage from moving first). By 1993, Israel had developed a great advantage over most of its opponents. But much has been lost from a series of blunders, particularly Oslo and the withdrawals from South Lebanon and Gaza. And as Israel has played more and more poorly, the Palestinians have improved. They have taken advantage of the UN and the historic anti-Jewish attitudes in Europe to make significant diplomatic gains. They have not been so successful with the terrorism gambit, as Israel’s security forces have become better at counteracting it.

Iran, busy with her war against Iraq, was mostly out of the game against Israel until the 1990s. But she has recently started to demonstrate her skill. She leveraged the US to end sanctions, prevent financial collapse and provide funding for her military plans, while keeping her nuclear program and even legitimizing it. She exploited the chaos in Iraq and Syria to expand her influence in the region, and to prepare new fronts for the coming war with Israel. She even got the US and Russia to do some of the fighting for her.

Israel is hampered by the lack of a consistent strategy against any of her opponents, possibly because of her internal divisions and democratic tradition. Even when there is a strategy, there is often poor execution. Israel’s pieces, to continue the analogy, sometimes don’t move where they are supposed to! This is less of a problem for the Palestinian, Iranian and Russian players, where there is more or less dictatorial control.

The game continues, in its three (or more) dimensional, multiplayer form. Israel’s most dangerous enemy, Iran, is biding her time until she feels that she is strong enough to come out of the slashing violence of the middlegame with a winning advantage. But this phase will not continue forever.

The middlegame is preparation for the endgame, the systematic pursuit of the enemy that will result in the players realizing or not realizing their often inconsistent goals. That’s in the future. We can’t get there except through the violent middlegame. Let’s hope we have a good strategy and competent leaders to execute it.

But life isn’t chess. Life is more complicated and beset by unexpected events. And if you lose, you don’t get another chance.

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02/08 Links Pt1: Obama-era cash traced to Iran-backed terrorists; U.S. Peace Envoy Blasts Abbas for Denying Jerusalem's Jewish Connection; Glick: While Turkey Was Invading Syria, It Was Also Invading the Super Bowl

From Ian:

Obama-era cash traced to Iran-backed terrorists

The U.S. government has traced some of the $1.7 billion released to Iran by the Obama administration to Iranian-backed terrorists in the two years since the cash was transferred.

According to knowledgeable sources, Iran has used the funds to pay its main proxy, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, along with the Quds Force, Iran’s main foreign intelligence and covert action arm and element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The U.S. money supplied to Iran as part of an arms settlement dating back to the 1970s also has been traced to Iran’s backing of Houthi rebels seeking to take power in Yemen. Iran has been supporting the Yemen rebels as part of a bid to encircle and eventually take control of Saudi Arabia.

The intelligence tracing the American funds to Iranian-backed terrorists is likely to further fuel President Trump’s effort to undo the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration’s main foreign policy initiative codified in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran nuclear deal is called.

Despite promises to reject the deal during the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump announced in January the U.S. would not pull out of the Iran nuclear accord for now. But the president criticized the transfer of money to Tehran and signaled that Washington is going after Iran’s funding of terrorism.

“The enormous financial windfall the Iranian regime received because of the deal — access to more than $100 billion, including $1.8 billion in cash — has not been used to better the lives of the Iranian people,” Mr. Trump said Jan. 12. “Instead, it has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders.”

PMW: Official PA daily admits 161 Palestinians did carry out stabbing attacks during Palestinian terror wave 2015-2016

An article in the official PA daily acknowledged that 161 Palestinians were killed while carrying out stabbing attacks during the Palestinian wave of terror in 2015-2016 during which 40 people were murdered by Palestinians and over 500 wounded.

Palestinian Media Watch documented at the time that the PA falsely claimed that Israel "fabricated" the stabbing attacks, and "planted knives" next to the dead bodies of "innocent Palestinian victims" after having "executed" them in "cold blood."

One cartoon tweeted by Abbas' Fatah Movement in November 2015 visualized the PA libel showing an Israeli soldier dropping knives near the bodies of dead Palestinians: [Fatah Twitter account, Nov. 1, 2015]

The recent article in the official PA daily recognizes the fact that 161 Palestinians were killed while attacking Israelis with knives:
"The Al-Aqsa uprising in 2015 (i.e., Palestinian terror wave, 40 murdered) that broke out spontaneously against the Israeli occupation's insistence on interfering in the affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and continuing its Judaization. It continued for approximately one year, and during that year 250 [Palestinian] civilians died as Martyrs (Shahids), 161 of them while carrying out stabbing operations against the occupation's soldiers and its settlers."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 28, 2018]

Palestinian terror wave (2015-2016) - Palestinian violence and terror attacks against Israelis, including stabbings, shootings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and car rammings. It started in September 2015 and until and including July 2016, 40 people were murdered (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans, and 1 foreign worker from Eritrea) and over 500 wounded.

Caroline Glick: While Turkey Was Invading Syria, It Was Also Invading the Super Bowl

One of the stranger aspects of the Super Bowl LII broadcast on Sunday was the Turkish Airlines sign on the NBC Sports desk during the pre-game show.

NBC also ran a commercial for Turkish Airlines. Starring television celebrity surgeon Dr. Oz, the ad, like previous years’ Turkish Airlines Super Bowl ads, was an advertising work of art. It was brilliantly written and beautifully produced. It’s hard to imagine the average viewer would feel anything other than attracted to Turkey after watching it.

There is nothing wrong with a business or civic group advertising its message. But the uneasiness the ad caused many viewers was reasonable. Turkish Airlines is not a private business. The Turkish government owns a controlling 49.12 percent of the airline. And the Turkish government is not demonstrating affinity with America, let alone with American sports, these days.

To the contrary, although it’s a member of NATO, everywhere you look, Turkey is actively harming American interests.

For example, Turkey has led the diplomatic onslaught against America since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem on December 6.

Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan hosted a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in December to criticize the U.S. and was an outspoken advocate of the U.N. General Assembly’s resolution to condemn the American move.

And just last Tuesday, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) held an America-bashing conference in Istanbul.

As John Rossomando reported for the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) on Monday, the U.S. deported one of the speakers at the conference, Sami al-Arian, in 2015 after he served his prison term for funding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group.

Former ICC prosecutor now helping out university linked to terror

Ma'an reports in Arabic:

Al-Quds University launched the Jerusalem Academy of International Justice as a specialized institute aimed at preparing academic and training programs in the field of litigation before the international criminal law courts and violations of human rights under the auspices of President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Academy will be based in the Old City of Jerusalem and established by the University of Jerusalem in cooperation with Judge Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who will supervise it with his expertise in this field. He will be involved with developing and teaching the curriculum.

Al Quds University is where students regularly hold pro-Hamas, pro-terror rallies:

And it allows student groups to promote and celebrate terror, such as this one extolling car ramming attacks and the assassination attempt of Yehuda Glick:

Is this ignorance on the part of Judge Luis Moreno-Ocampo? This seems unlikely.

Because the ceremony announcing this Jerusalem Academy of International Justice made it clear that the purpose of the academy wasn't to teach international law, but to weaponize international law against Israel:

Justice Minister Ali Abu Diak, speaking on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas on the importance of launching the academy from Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, which comes at a crucial stage after the Trump Declaration on Jerusalem, said that the approval of Judge Ocampo to preside over this academy carries a strong message that international justice will not find resonance anywhere in the world if it does not find a place in Palestine and that the principles of justice, justice and law will be achieved only with the accountability and trial of the occupier.

Abbas' message is explicit: Judge Luis Moreno-Ocampo's involvement in this initiative is to give legitimacy to political and legal attacks on Israel, and there is no other reason that the center exists.

He is not being duped. He is complicit.

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The two top stories at the Palestinian Ministry of Information website (autotranslated above) reveals much about how the West coddles a government whose ideals are completely at odds with civilized society.

The top story threatens any Arab journalist, and their employers, who would dare to visit Israel, in the wake of reports that nine journalists from Morocco. Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Syria are planning to come to Israel next week.

The Ministry of Information called on the Union of Arab Journalists to take punitive measures against the nine Arab journalists, the institutions they work for, their status and their institutions and place them on a blacklist if they agree to a normalization visit [to Israel.]

The Ministry affirms that tolerating Israel and its terrorism constitutes a departure from the Arab ranks and Arab consensus resolutions issued in particular by the Council of Arab Information Ministers. It is a disgrace that can not be justified, nor purged of, because it represents an departure from the official and popular position that Israel is a state of occupation, racism, ethnic cleansing and extremism. The Ministry urges them to establish controls for the non-repetition of such suspicious visits.

The Ministry reiterates that the gates of Palestine are well known to the Palestinian people, who face the worst occupation in two centuries, an occupation that violates international resolutions and laws and practices oppression and terrorism against the Palestinian people and their land and civilization. On every occasion they cry "death to the Arabs", and incite their children to terrorism and the destruction of our people. This occupation can not be supported with visits and normalization with them.

This press release, filled with absurd lies and vitriol, is the official position of the Palestinian government and this ministry, and it is typical of the statements it issues.

But there is no backlash against this call for blacklisting journalists by the Palestinian government. On the contrary - the second story is about how representative of the British consulate visited this same ministry and had a pleasant time where Palestinian officials proudly described how professional they are doing their jobs and how Israel is the state that targets journalists.

Imagine the impact to peace if just once, a Western government would cancel a photo-op visit like this because of the outrageous lies and slanders and threats that come just from this one ministry.

Right now there are no consequences to unacceptable behavior and threats by Palestinian officials. The West holds the key to ensure that they act like adults, if only the EU would express the slightest displeasure over such insane incitement and threats.

Unfortunately, the West continues to treat the Palestinian leaders like spoiled children instead. Only Israel gets chided for things its officials say, in or out of context.

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