Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

06/17 Links Pt2: The peace process hoax; Could Jordan Fall?; Obama Fiddles While the World Burns

From Ian:

Over 100 years ago an impossible dream was conceived to create a state for the beleaguered Jews, where they could for the first time in 2,000 years be masters of their own destiny.
That dream has been destroyed by the peace process, with the very legitimacy of the Jewish state now contingent on the eventual formation of a Palestinian terror state.
Israel has allowed its sovereignty to be eroded bit by bit, and unless the Jewish state extricates itself from this insanity, the international community will go on perpetuating the two-state lie until Israel is weakened to such a point whereby the real “solution” of its enemies can be actualized.
Israel has been destroyed before; it might never have been reconstituted if Jewish farmers and Holocaust survivors had not vanquished seven invading Arab armies in 1948.

Brandeis Professor Slams Israel, 'Holocaustic Ethnic Cleansing'

In documents obtained by TruthRevolt, Brandeis University professor Donald Hindley slammed Israel and an initiative to plant trees in the "occupied, terrorized but still Palestinian territories" in 2007.
Under the subject line "Plant a Tree, Bury a Palestinian," the professor of politics declared, "[t]here's something wrong with this exhortation to send even more money to Israel- this time in order to plant olive trees." "We cut down Palestinian olive trees, while planting new ones on the expanding Jewish frontier."
"Zionist olive trees grow wondrously on Palestinian corpses," he added. "In that way, we combine great trees with our own holocaustic ethnic cleansing."
In April, Hindley was among 87 Brandeis faculty members who petitioned for the cancelation of the honorary degree extended to human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Could Jordan Fall?

Security officials acknowledge that ISIS already has cells in Jordan. King Abdullah II of Jordan does himself no favors. Like Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia or Ayad Allawi in Iraq, Abdullah is far more popular abroad than he is at home. Indeed, when he assumed the throne upon the death of his father, Abdullah was fluent in English but stumbled through Arabic. His wife Rania might charm Western audiences and might be imagined to attract Palestinian support because of her own heritage, but her profligate spending and tin ear to the plight of ordinary people has antagonized many Jordanians.
Many tensions Jordan faces are not Abdullah’s fault: While Jordan has, more than any other Arab state, worked to integrate the Palestinian refugee population, it has also been hit by waves of refugees, first from Iraq and then from Syria. Those working among the Syrian refugees in Turkey and Jordan report that they have not previously seen such a radicalized population. Jordan also does not have the natural resources of some of its neighbors: Saudi Arabia and Iraq are oil-rich and Israel now has gas.

Mudar Zahran: A Palestinian Jordan: Opportunities vs. threats

The concept of a Palestinian state in Jordan is not new. In fact, Jordan was created based on the Faisal-Weizmann agreement by which Jews agreed to give away 78 percent of the British Mandate for Palestine to the Hashemites to establish a homeland for the Palestinian Arabs.
The Hashemites have never kept their promise. Even today, the UNHCR reports that Jordan’s Palestinian majority is still treated as “refugees” by Jordan’s king.
Still, the concept of a Palestinian Jordan – and a Jewish Israel – has come back to life after the Arab Spring.

The Guardian whitewashes historic Iraqi antisemitism

From Comment is Free in The Guardian, by Sami Ramadani, arguing that Iraqis have been very tolerant of other cultures over the centuries:

[Nobody] has yet produced historical evidence of significant communal fighting between Iraq's religions, sects, ethnicities or nationalities. Prior to the 2003 US-led occupation, the only incident was the 1941 violent looting of Jewish neighbourhoods – which is still shrouded in mystery as to who planned it. Documents relating to that criminal incident are still kept secret at the Public Records Office by orders of successive British governments. The bombing of synagogues in Baghdad in 1950-51 turned out to be the work of Zionists to frighten Iraq's Jews – one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world – into emigrating to Israel following their refusal to do so.

Ramadani makes three statements: that there was no sectarian strife in Iraq before 1941, that the 1941 Farhud cannot be blamed on Iraqis, and that the 1950-51 synagogue bombings were clearly perpetrated by Zionists.

None of those claims are accurate.

A search finds this description of the Jews of Baghdad in 1883 by a Christian missionary:

Much of our work in Baghdad is amongst the Jews. The great majority of the Baghdad Jews are sunk in ignorance and superstition. There are twenty-one synagogues in Baghdad, in all of which morning prayers are said daily at dawn. This is still sacred soil to the Jews, who have here the tombs of Ezra and Ezekiel, Joshua the High Priest, and the Sheikh Isaac. With the Jews at Baghdad life is completely absorbed in the hard struggle for existence amid surroundings of wretchedness and misery, and they dwell in the midst of a hostile population, who at any moment may indulge in violent outbursts of fanatical hatred.

The Moslems of Baghdad, if they differ at all from those of their creed elsewhere, it is only in being more ignorant and fanatical. They are mostly Sunnis; but there is also, as might be expected from the vicinity of their shrines and sacred places, a considerable population of Shiahs.

Even other 19th century observers who say that Jews were treated well note that non-Muslims were prohibited from wearing certain items of clothing, for example.

Relatively speaking, yes, Ottoman Iraq was better for Jews than many places in Europe, but don't pretend that things were wonderful.

Wikipedia goes on to tell us:

In the 1930s, the situation of the Jews in Iraq deteriorated. Previously, the growing Iraqi Arab nationalist sentiment included Iraqi Jews as fellow Arabs, but these views changed with the introduction of Nazi propaganda and the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian Mandate. Despite protestations of their loyalty to Iraq, Iraqi Jews were increasingly subject to discrimination and harsh laws. On August 27, 1934 many Jews were dismissed from public service, and quotas were set up in colleges and universities. Zionist activities were banned, as was the teaching of Jewish history and Hebrew in Jewish schools.

JTA tells us of other antisemitic actions in Iraq before the 1941 Farhud pogrom that killed nearly 200. In 1932, the government ordered Jewish schools to be open on Saturdays and closed on Fridays. A major yeshiva in Baghdad was burned down in 1937. Jewish shop windows were smashed in 1938.

Farhud mass grave

As far as the Farhud itself is concerned, even a cursory knowledge of the pogrom shows that Iraqi Muslims engaged in the anti-Jewish riots with fervor. Jews were attacked by mobs as well as the police. To sweep that under the rug as if it was done by only pro-Nazi elements, ignoring the history of antisemitism in Iraq beforehand, is dishonest to say the least.

Finally, while some scholars do believe that Zionists were behind the synagogue bombings in 1950-51 (that caused no injuries,) others disagree. An Israeli commission of inquiry in 1960 did not find evidence for Zionist involvement. Other historians note that an antisemitic Iraqi army officer who had similar explosive devices in his possession was arrested but never charged.

Comment may be free, but The Guardian has an obligation to fact-check what people write.

(h/t Ronald)

Abu Amer

An Arab "Israeli affairs expert" from Gaza, claims that the way that the IDF names military operations is part of a campaign of "psychological warfare" against the Palestinian people.

Adnan Abu Amer noticed that "Operation Brother's Keeper" has a Biblical basis. (He really is an expert!) Amer says that the names of operations like these are sourced in a Psychological warfare Department of the IDF, where Jews dream up names to maximize the terror they can inflict on poor, unsuspecting Arabs.

He notes that "Brother's Keeper" carries a "religious and political dimension." By searching through the Torah and Tanach and Talmud for these names, the IDF is asserting that they have a divine mission, according to Abu Amer.

Abu Amer notes that there has been an increase in the number of religious soldiers, so that the IDF is teaching its troops that to kill Palestinian Arabs is a divine command.

The "expert" adds that IDF soldiers chant the names of the operation as they perform their duties.

However, these names cause fear and terror for Palestinians, he says.

Another "expert," Antoine Shalhat, agrees with Israeli motives in naming these operations and he helpfully adds that the Talmud encourages Jews to kill women and children.

Of the Israeli operations listed in the article, I am only aware of two of them having any Biblical-type name - Brother's Keeper and Pillar of Cloud (Defense.) The others named were Defensive Shield, Summer Rain, Autumn Clouds, Hot Winter and Cast Lead.

IMDB lists at least fifty movies and TV episodes named a variant of "Brother's Keeper."

Just more proof that Zionists own Hollywood!

06/17 Links Pt1: Rivlin: We don’t need to be fearful in our country; Chloe Valdary: Mad World

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: Festering terrorism

Once again the nation has been thrown into a collective state of trepidation. Once again terrorism, inspired by an extremist Islamist theology, has struck in the form of kidnapping.
For a time it seemed as though a relative qualm could be maintained indefinitely. There were, of course, incidents of rock throwing and firebombings. But the general impression was that the Palestinians had learned from the trauma of the second intifada that they could achieve nothing through terrorism. Violence would only be met with more violence.
Unfortunately, that was just an impression. Just under the surface there was a hotbed of terrorist activity. In 2013, according to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, there were more than 30 kidnapping attempts foiled by our security forces. So far in 2014, 14 attempts have been prevented. In over 10 incidents, terrorists sitting in prisons helped organize the kidnapping attempts.

Khaled Abu Toameh: How the West Facilitates Hamas's Mission

The Obama Administration and those EU governments that rushed to welcome the alliance between Fatah and Hamas did not want to pay attention to the Islamist movement's announcements that it would take advantage of the unity government to move terrorism to the West Bank.
If it turns out that Hamas was indeed behind the kidnapping of the Israeli youths, it shows that the movement has kept its word to use the reconciliation pact with Fatah as a means to move its terror activities to the West Bank. Hamas's ultimate goal is to extend its control to the West Bank, and not merely get new jobs and salaries from Abbas.
The honeymoon between Fatah and Hamas now seems to be nearing its end as the two parties resume their rhetorical attacks on each other in the aftermath of the kidnapping. Abbas may now finally have realized that Hamas's real intention is to get rid of him and turn the West Bank into a battlefield against Israel.
It is obvious that all those who were quick to welcome the partnership between Fatah and Hamas -- the U.S. and Europe -- have emboldened and legitimized the Islamist movement, thus facilitating its mission to carry out terror attacks against Israelis as well as to take over the West Bank.

Chloe Valdary: Mad World

And, to add insult to injury, the world pays the salaries of the corrupt P.A.-Hamas government all while proclaiming to the Arabs that it would be a great idea if the P.A. and Hamas would continue to rule over them. Civil liberties be damned.
No one ever gives a crap about Palestinian Arabs. We just say we do. Because it sounds good and looks nice to write on our Facebook statuses. Actually, we just hate Israel. Because no one ever gives a crap about Jews. And this is a bit strange since the Jewish state is the freest state in the entire Middle East, with rights for women and other minorities.
But we already established that we don’t really give a crap about women either.
Apathy. Hypocrisy. Selfishness. Mad World.
Will you be the one who brings in the light?

Alan Baker: Palestinians and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

One may wonder how the UN Secretary General, the Swiss government and the 194 states parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Geneva conventions, as well as Abbas and his colleagues in the Palestinian leadership, will now relate to contractual obligations incumbent on the Palestinian pursuant to those agreements in light of the kidnapping and illegal hostage holding of three Israeli youths. Two of those youths fall within the age of children as defined in Article 1 – “under 18” – of the convention on the rights of the child.
Even more pertinent is how all the parties view the Palestinian abduction and hostage-taking of the Israeli children in light of the obligation pursuant to Article 34 of the Fourth Geneva convention (1949) according to which “The taking of hostages is prohibited.”

Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child Calls on UN to Do More to Help Save Kidnapped Teens

In a statement on Saturday, Ki-Boon had condemned the kidnapping, expressing “his solidarity with the families of the abducted” and called “for their immediate release.”
But MK Orly Levi-Abekasis, Chair of the Knesset Committee on the Rights of the Child, asked the UN leader to take active steps to help return the three yeshiva students Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16.
Levi-Abekasis wrote: “The abduction constitutes a profound infringement of conventions and a blatant violation of the right of Israeli children to lead a peaceful, unthreatened life. These are not soldiers, nor were they engaged in battle – they are three young adolescents who should have been dividing their time between preparation for their final exams and their family circle.”

A couple of months after the Egyptian revolution, authorities arrested a Jordanian telecommunications engineer for allegedly directing international phone calls from Egypt to Israeli intelligence, as well as attempting to spread Zionist hair products that cause infertility through Egypt.

The trial of Bashar Abu-Zaid and, in absentia, a (probably fictional) Israeli Mossad agent, "Ophir Harary," has been postponed numerous times since 2011. Abu-Zaid sounds like he is not exactly sane, accusing an Egyptian billionaire of attempting to poison him and screaming at judges during the process.

This week he was sentenced to a year in prison for insulting the Egyptian judiciary, separate from his espionage trial.

An Egyptian newspaper reproduced the Egyptian prosecutor's arguments in the case.

Islam Hamad, head of the State Security Prosecutor's office, started the trial by quoting the Koran 16:118, which says "And to those who are Jews We have prohibited that which We related to you before. And We did not wrong them [thereby], but they were wronging themselves," explaining that Egypt has been faced with malicious Jewish plots for the past 60 years.

The prosecutor claims that Abu-Zaid looked up the names of Israelis on the Internet to contact them about selling the phone call information, and hooked up with this "Ophir Harary", the supposed Mossad agent.

Also, the prosecution claimed "that the accused volunteered to implement Zionist products to spread disease, cancer and infertility, and that he admitted so himself during the investigation, that the Zionist entity is afraid of manpower for the Egyptians, because their numbers are enormous and now exceeds 85 million people."

When Abu Zaid was arrested, he was also accused of importing Zionist hair products that supposedly caused infertility, with an ingredient called "creatine."

The idea that Israelis are attempting to sterilize Arabs has been popular for years, along with the contradictory claim that Israelis are attempting to make Arabs sex-crazy.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

"Operation Brother's Keeper" roundup

Families of the kidnapped teens came together to ask for prayers,

Afterward, flanked by the other parents, Racheli Sprecher Frankel, mother of Naftali Frenkel, told reporters outside the house that the meeting was “very significant.”

“We want… to strengthen security forces, who are working day and night, the decision makers, and the prime minister, who is in contact with us,” she said. “We pray that all the soldiers, and our children, will come home without injury. We send our thanks to all everyone participating in this extraordinary effort.

“During these days,” she continued, “we feel deeply embraced by the entire Jewish nation, which accompanies us throughout the day, which gives us so much support. We ask that the prayers continue… That’s it, all we want is to hug our children. Eyal, Gil-ad, Naftali, we love you, we miss you, be strong, be strong!”

The IDF raided terror nests in Nablus. From the IDF Blog:

IDF soldiers conducted an extensive operation last night, uncovering hundreds of weapons and explosives in Nablus. The forces arrested over 40 terrorist suspects and seized several Palestinian weapons caches. The mission continued Operation Brother’s Keeper, Israel’s extensive effort to find three Israeli teens kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.

Don't know how reliable this is, but there are reports that the kidnapping by Hamas has cause the PA to halt reconciliation with Hamas. An unnamed PA official said that if it is proven that Hamas was behind it then unity would be stopped.

Reprehensible terrorist-supporting MK Haneen Zoabi defends a war crime:

The kidnappers of three yeshiva students last weekend are not terrorists, MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) said Tuesday.

"They're people who don't see any way to change their reality and they are forced to use these means until Israel will wake up a little, until Israeli citizens and society will wake up and feel the suffering of the other," Zoabi said in an interview on Radio Tel Aviv, adding that the kidnappers live under occupation.

"So an Israeli MK is openly justifying the kidnapping of Israeli boys?" the interviewer, Sharon Gal, asked.

"I'm not surprised at all," she responded.

"I'm surprised you're still walking around freely," Gal said, and Zoabi hung up on him.

Her cousin Mohammed Zoabi, who has been outspoken in his support for Israel and has been receiving major coverage in Israeli and Arab media, has been receiving death threats - apparently from his relatives in Nazareth.

Palestinian Arabs have been posting photos of their children celebrating the kidnappings.

Newest "Apartheid?" Poster: Col. Ghassan Alian

Latest in my viral poster series....

English story about the proposed appointment last October here. The actual appointment happened earlier this month.

(h/t Kramerica)

Anti-BDS resolution passes at Western Washington U

I missed this remarkable story from last week. (Yeah, I know, Ian probably caught it because he doesn't miss much, but I have been really busy....)

Associated Students of Western Washington University (ASWWU) became the first North American university student government to pass a proactive resolution against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In a 7-0 vote, ASWWU resolved that it would not consider BDS resolutions based on national origin because of the “tensions between students related to foreign conflicts should be managed in a healthy and collaborative manner rather than be exacerbated.”

Additionally, the resolution noted that BDS campaigns could result in students being targeted based on their nationality and lead to “disrespectful bias, hostility, hate, or harassment.”

The initiative to pass the anti-BDS resolution was led by Western Washington University (WWU) student Alysa Kipersztok, who brought the resolution to the student government after hearing about how the boycott issue has sharply divided student bodies at other schools.

“I’ve seen how divisive anti-Israel BDS campaigns have been on campuses across the country. [WWU] is a warm, respectful, inclusive community,” Kipersztok said in a statement.

Here's the resolution:

WHEREAS, universities should foster an environment of peace and promotion of global welfare; and,

WHEREAS, Western Washington University is a liberal arts institution that values holistic and multi-faceted approaches to complex issues; and,

WHEREAS, it is the mission of Western Washington University to “bring together individuals of diverse backgrounds and perspectives in an inclusive, student-centered university”; and,

WHEREAS, inclusion is one of the core values of the Associated Students as expressed in the Strategic Plan; and,

WHEREAS, it is the duty of ASWWU to fairly represent the diverse interests and views of all students at Western Washington University and to foster dialogue, learning, and an inclusive campus environment; and,

WHEREAS, ASWWU has an obligation to focus its attention and resources primarily on addressing issues directly impacting the general welfare of the student body; and,

WHEREAS, to maintain a safe and inclusive campus environment, tensions between students related to foreign conflicts should be managed in a healthy and collaborative manner rather than be exacerbated; and,

WHEREAS, boycott, divestment, and sanction measures rooted in national origin or other identity-based features can cause students to be targeted on the basis of nationality; and,

WHEREAS, isolation of student groups can lead to the perpetration of disrespectful bias, hostility, hate, or harassment, against those groups; therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, the ASWWU shall not take positions advocating divestment from, boycott of, sanctioning, or ceasing collaboration with companies, products, or organizations due to their nation of origin.

If BDS folks celebrate their victories as well as their defeats, how do they react to the complete crushing of their entire raison d'être?

06/16 Links Pt2: War of Independence isn't over; Starbucks uses wireless Israeli phone chargers

From Ian:

War of Independence isn't over

The difference between extremist Palestinians and Palestinians with whom we hold peace talks is an imaginary one created by the Israeli Left, which has tired of bearing the burden of maintaining the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. If a poll was taken of the Palestinian public, it is certain that the kidnappers would be seen as heroes at the forefront of the effort to realize the dream of removing the Jews from their homeland. The only difference between Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is that Haniyeh says what he really thinks, while Abbas masks his intentions with sweet words and doublespeak. It is a great shame that there are Israelis who have been captivated by the charm of the false rhetoric of Yasser Arafat's disciples, exalting the victims of the peace process.
While the Israel Defense Forces and other Israeli security entities are doing everything they can to find the kidnapped teens and the citizens of Israel are united in prayer and concern, some Israeli media commentators have rushed to explain that the kidnapping was the result of a lack of a political horizon and the fact that Jews live in Gush Etzion. This interpretation is an evil distortion of reality. The truth is completely different. The teens were kidnapped because they were Jews living in their historic homeland, regardless of the location of their place of study or residence. Jews were maliciously murdered in the past by Palestinian terrorists at the Dolphinarium discotheque in Tel Aviv, a hotel in Netanya, a restaurant in Haifa and on the streets of Jerusalem. Only people with short memories have forgotten the history of our modern-day return to Zion, in which many Jews were killed for no reason, even before the Six-Day War and the liberation of our homeland.

Video: Arabs Attack Jews in Jerusalem's Old City

Jews were walking back from the mass prayer that was held at the Western Wall (Kotel) Sunday for the teens abducted by Hamas Thursday, when Arabs attacked with chairs and rocks. The Jews held their ground until police intervened.

Arabs attack Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem

Michael Lumish: Why Shouldn't They Kidnap Jews?

Within recent decades Arab and old Soviet propaganda convinced the well-meaning (and not so well-meaning) in the progressive-left that Jews are "Occupying" the innocent "indigenous" population of "historical Palestine."
The progressives - in the years since the 1967 war allegedly turned Jewish Israelis into "Goliath" - convinced the majority of diaspora Jews that Israel is somehow "illegally occupying" what is, in fact, the current and historical land of the Jewish people.
Jews are accused of illegally occupying the very land that we come from and many diaspora Jews unwittingly (or so one hopes) promote the notion.

From CBC News:

James ‘Jim’ Keegstra, a prominent Canadian holocaust denier and former high school teacher in Eckville, Alta., is dead at the age of 80, CBC News learned late Thursday night.

Keegstra made international headlines in 1983 when he was accused of teaching students that the history of the Holocaust was fraudulent, and that a Jewish conspiracy was responsible for many of the world’s problems.

It was alleged that Keegstra had been teaching his anti-Semitic views to his social studies class for 14 years before a parent complained to the local school board about his lessons.

In January 1984, Keegstra was stripped of his teaching certificate and charged with “wilfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group” under the Criminal Code of Canada.

At the time, no one had been successfully convicted under Canada’s hate propaganda laws enacted in 1970.

Keegstra was represented at trial by attorney Doug Christie, a political activist originally from B.C., who would go on to defend some of Canada’s most high-profile Holocaust deniers.

Keegstra was convicted at his original trial and fined $5,000. His lawyers appealed the decision, arguing that the law was unconstitutional and that it violated provisions on freedom of expression in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

After multiple trials and appeals the case eventually reached the Supreme Court of Canada, who in 1990 and again in 1996 upheld Keegstra’s conviction in a landmark ruling that found that the Criminal Code section on public incitement of hatred did infringe on Charter rights, but that infringement was justified.

Keegstra received a one-year suspended sentence, one year of probation, and community service.

Here are details from the 1990 Supreme Court proceedings, listed as the facts of the case:

Mr. Keegstra, a secondary school teacher in Eckville, a small town in Alberta, was convicted of unlawfully promoting hatred under s. 319(2). The evidence established that he had systematically denigrated Jews and Judaism in his classes. He described Jews by such epithets as "revolutionists", "treacherous", "imposters", "communists", "secret", "sneaky", "manipulative", and "deceptive". He taught that the Jewish people are "barbaric", "subversive", "sadistic", "materialistic", "money-loving" and "power hungry". He maintained that anyone Jewish must be evil and that anyone evil must be Jewish. Not only did he maintain these things; he advised the students that they must accept his views as true unless they were able to contradict them. Moreover, he expected his students to regurgitate these notions in essays and examinations. If they did so, they received good marks. If they did not, their marks were poor.

Naturally, Iran's PressTV offers a eulogy of sorts saying that Keegstra was a patriot who was unfairly attacked by those evil Jews. Upset over the story about his death in Sun News, the writer says:

While masquerading as defenders of liberty, the kosher talking heads of Sun News are little more than gatekeepers tasked with shifting the blame for the loss of civil liberties in Canada away from its true architects: the organized Jewish-Zionist community.

I love how antisemites defend antisemites by engaging in antisemitism - which Iran, of course, strenuously denies engaging in.

From USA Today:

U.S.-Iranian military cooperation to stem advancing Sunni extremists in Iraq moved a theoretical step closer Monday after Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington is "open to discussions" with Tehran over the idea and would not rule anything out.

"I think we are open to any constructive process here that could minimize the violence, hold Iraq together, the integrity of the country and eliminate the presence of outside terrorist forces that are ripping it apart," Kerry said in an interview with Yahoo! News. He said President Obama was vetting "every option that is available," including drone strikes.

My how things change. It seems only yesterday that the State Department was ferociously accusing Iran of supporting terror in Iraq.

But it wasn't yesterday. It was six long weeks ago, when it released its 2013 State Sponsors of Terror report.

Designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984, Iran continued its terrorist-related activity, including support for Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and for Hizballah. It has also increased its presence in Africa and attempted to smuggle arms to Houthi separatists in Yemen and Shia oppositionists in Bahrain. Iran used the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and its regional proxy groups to implement foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations, and create instability in the Middle East. The IRGC-QF is the regime’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad.

...
Despite its pledge to support Iraq’s stabilization, Iran trained, funded, and provided guidance to Iraqi Shia militant groups. The IRGC-QF, in concert with Hizballah, provided training outside of Iraq as well as advisors inside Iraq for Shia militants in the construction and use of sophisticated improvised explosive device technology and other advanced weaponry. Similar to Hizballah fighters, many of these trained Shia militants then use these skills to fight for the Asad regime in Syria, often at the behest of Iran.

On January 23, 2013, Yemeni authorities seized an Iranian dhow, the Jihan, off the coast of Yemen. The dhow was carrying sophisticated Chinese antiaircraft missiles, C-4 explosives, rocket-propelled grenades, and a number of other weapons and explosives. The shipment of lethal aid was likely headed to Houthi separatists in Northern Yemen. Iran actively supports members of the Houthi movement, including activities intended to build military capabilities, which could pose a greater threat to security and stability in Yemen and the surrounding region.

Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) members it continued to detain, and refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody. Iran allowed AQ facilitators Muhsin al-Fadhli and Adel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi al-Harbi to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and also to Syria. Al-Fadhli is a veteran AQ operative who has been active for years. Al-Fadhli began working with the Iran-based AQ facilitation network in 2009 and was later arrested by Iranian authorities. He was released in 2011 and assumed leadership of the Iran-based AQ facilitation network.

Iran remains a state of proliferation concern. Despite multiple UNSCRs requiring Iran to suspend its sensitive nuclear proliferation activities, Iran continued to violate its international obligations regarding its nuclear program. For further information, see the Report to Congress on Iran-related Multilateral Sanctions Regime Efforts (November 2013), and the Report on the Status of Bilateral and Multilateral Efforts Aimed at Curtailing the Pursuit of Iran of Nuclear Weapons Technology (September 2012).

So now the State Department is interested in allying with a state that has helped Sunni terrorists from Al Qaeda in order to...fight Sunni terrorists in Iraq. While at the same time it arms Shiite terrorists. Because they are so much better. The state terrorists are now wonderful people, because Shiites - like Hezbollah - are so much nicer than those mean Sunnis. Don't be overly concerned about the unintended consequences of supporting Shiite terrorists, just like you shouldn't worry about the unintended consequences of abandoning a nation before it had a chance to learn how to deal with terrorists.

And to be fair, Iran was only considered a state sponsor of terror from 1984 until, um, late April 2014. That was a long time ago.

Now that Iran's support of Shiite terrorists is in fashion, maybe the US will award them with less restrictions on building a nuclear weapon.. After all, you have to reward bloodthirsty jihadists when their interests appear to temporarily coincide with yours, don't you? It's the decent, human thing to do.

(h/t TIP)

06/16 Links Pt1: Abduction Roundup: News, Support, Sherri Mandel, #BringBackOurBoys

From Ian:

#BringBackOurBoys

Obviously, we know that posting pictures and news updates with the hashtag #BringBackOurBoys ISN’T going to bring back our boys. But it is going to do SOMETHING: In an online environment where so many people condemn Israel, where major international newspapers send out alerts about a freaking golf tournament (seriously) and NOT about these 3 kidnapped boys, where so many people are separated by continents and oceans and are longing for some kind of community as we wait and we wait and we wait, this hashtag helps.
And apparently, the parents of these boys notice, too, and they receive some measure of comfort from it. And that should be reason enough.

#Bringbackourboys goes viral

Israel’s digital diplomacy has already had an amazing success. Initiated by graduates of the University of Haifa’s Ambassadors Online program, the “Bring Back Our Boys” online campaign on behalf of the three kidnapped teenagers has attracted global attention.Over 79000 people have :liked” their facebook page.

Israeli Celebrities Join BringBackOurBoys Campaign to Free Kidnapped Kids

Popular singer Shai Gabso also joined in, posing with a photo of himself, hold his hand up with each of the words written with a marker on his fingers, adding the word “#peace.”
Legendary studio guitarist Avi Singolda posted a photo of himself with the hashtag written on a piece of paper stuck between the strings of his guitar.
Israeli basketball player, Omri Casspi, of the Houston Rockets, posted an Israeli flag with the hashtag and a sign reading “Am Yisrael Chai!” (“The people of Israel live!”) on his Facebook page. He also added a traditional ancient Hebrew prayer for the release of captives in text below the photo.

Watch: Israeli Hollywood Star Protests for Teens in Times Square

Israeli Hollywood actress and internationally renowned model Moran Atias protested in New York's landmark Times Square on Sunday, calling for the return of the three Israeli yeshiva students who were kidnapped by terrorists last Thursday night from Kfar Etzion, Judea.
Atias stood alone in Times Square, holding a sign with "three Israeli teens kidnapped from their homeland" written on it, with their names Eyal (Yifrah), Naftali (Frenkel) and Gilad (Sha'ar) written below.

Australian Jewry rallies for kidnapped teens

Jewish community members “felt something needed to be done and were looking for ways to help,” Rafi Lawrence, the head of Sydney’s Bnei Akiva branch, told the Times of Israel. “While it’s hard to bridge the physical gap between us, we can still try and help on a spiritual level.”
“All movements, madrichim [leaders] and chanichim [participants], as the active face of Zionism in Australia, are invited to attend and participate. This issue is very close to home — the people kidnapped are the same age as our chanichim,” he wrote in an email. The movements’ plight didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Watch: Kidnapped Teen Sings at Cousin's Wedding

A heart-wrenching YouTube video shows Eyal Yifrah, the 19-year-old yeshiva student who was kidnapped along with two other students last Thursday by terrorists, in happier times.
Yifrah can be seen in the video playing the guitar and singing at the April 10 wedding of a cousin of his. The video was posted to YouTube two days after the wedding as a present to them, and shared on Facebook on Monday by David Ha'ivri, a local activist and resident of Kfar Tapuach in Samaria.