Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, September 14, 2020

Saeb Erakat says Israel assassinated Arafat

PLO secretary general Saeb Erakat gave a long, angry interview with An Najah TV where he accused Israel of being fully responsible for everything wrong in the Middle East and the Palestinians as peace-seeking victims.

Some interesting claims:

"We signed the Oslo Agreement for our desire to achieve peace, end the occupation, live decent lives and solve final status issues, foremost of which is the refugee issue."

In short, Oslo was meant to create two states - both of which would be Palestinian, after the "right of return" was implemented. Jews would have no homeland in the PLO's vision of "peace."

"The Palestinian side has signed many agreements with the Israeli occupation, but in light of negotiations with it it has been proven that they have a negotiating behavior that signs the agreement and does not implement it."

Such as when Arafat said that he renounced terror in 1993 but was behind the deadly Second Intifada? Israel has consistently offered peace but it was never good enough - to say that the Palestinians wanted peace is absurd; they never accepted a peace plan that would leave a Jewish state in existence and secure.

In an angry response to those who blame the Palestinian leadership for the sorry situation they are in, he said, "How can this accusation be directed at the Palestinian leadership that clings to its principles, and what they did with the late President Yasser Arafat for his insistence on East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and the right of return and all Palestinian principles is a perfect example, so they assassinated him."

I have seen examples of Erakat saying in Arabic that Israel assassinated Arafat, but never in English - because he knows that any Western diplomat would laugh him out of the room.

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09/14 Links Pt1: Trump triumphs as PLO continues to dig its own grave; Man of the Year 5780: Jared Corey Kushner; German athletes urge sanctions against Iran for execution of wrestler

From Ian:

The Cultural Genius of the Abraham Accord

This concept of balance derives from the nomadic “way of the desert,” when it was common for tribes to fight over scarce resources, including water. Tribal raids were common, and reciprocity or proportionality of war did not exist. A weak tribe raided by a stronger one, therefore, would be enslaved, taken over, or obliterated. It was thus advantageous for a tribe to have more people and better weapons, for example, to safeguard its survival. Tribal competition in the Middle East is not simply a thing of the past, however. In today’s popular Arab culture, even television shows, such as soap operas, tell tribal stories. Museums in the Gulf display family trees of their countries’ leaders and powerful tribes.

In the corporate world too, photos of ruling families and tribes line the walls of major companies. In the political arena, key cabinet positions — including those of defense, foreign affairs, and intelligence — are allocated according to tribes, not only giving their representatives a seat at the table, but helping to establish loyalty to the country’s ruler and maintain mu-wazana. Even Jordan’s parliament is dominated by tribal, rather than religious or ideological, parties. One reason for this is that the tribe as a unit supports all legal, financial, and social aspects of the lives of individuals.

This primacy of the collective and “balance” in the Arab world is foreign to Western culture, which emphasizes the rights and freedoms of individuals. Westerners doing business in the Middle East thus frequently encounter difficulty as a result of this difference. Western corporations in Arab countries often make the mistake of allocating benefits to their local employees based on individual merit, for example, rather than recognizing the authority of the tribal leaders to decide on such matters.

This brings us to Iran, which created “imbalance” in the region through expansionism, backed by its military and many proxies, and by spreading fear among the Arab countries. This is why Bahrain — whose population is predominantly Shiite, but whose ruling family is Sunni — has followed the UAE’s lead and made peace with Israel. Even neighboring Saudi Arabia appears interested in making a similar arrangement, as was evident in the permission it gave to an El Al plane to use its airspace at the end of August to transport a delegation of American and Israeli dignitaries to Abu Dhabi for the purpose of ironing out the details of the Abraham Accord.

Herein lies the great success of the peace plan brokered by Trump between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan: It is the fruit of identifying an opportunity of an “imbalance” caused by Iran, and formulating a treaty that fits into the culture of mu-wazana. As such, it is bound to be a precursor to many more such treaties.

David Singer: Trump triumphs as PLO continues to dig its own grave

Trump offered the Palestinian Arabs this lifeline:
“I think the Palestinians are going to end up doing something that’s going to be very smart for them. And all their friends are coming into this, and they want to come into it — they want to come into it very badly.

"And I can see a lot of good things happening with respect to the Palestinians, which would be really wonderful. Whether you are on their side or not on their side, people want to see it all brought to an end, and brought to an end quickly. So that’s going to be very important.”

Erekat’s reply was reprehensible:
“[Erekat] said that this free normalization is bizarre as it comes through Jared Kushner, senior advisor to US President Donald Trump, who is a mixture of ignorance and an extremist Zionist who believes that the historic land of Israel is from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and that the Arab regimes are bound by a peace treaty even though they are not at war with Israel, rather only the Palestinian people are at war with Israel.”

Erekat, recently appointed to teach diplomacy at Harvard, continued with a vitriolic personal attack on Trump’s son-in-law Kushner, one which has got Jew-hatred written all over it and will backfire badly.

Erekat clarified the PLO was still pushing the outdated 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and rejecting Trump’s 2020 deal of the century:

“[Erekat] stressed that what is required is to drain the occupation quagmire as stipulated in the Arab Peace Initiative. As for normalization before this is done, then it is accepting that Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre remain under Israeli sovereignty, which was what came in the so-called "deal of the century." This is a major treachery.

Regarding what happened in the meeting of Arab foreign ministers held virtually on Wednesday, Erekat said that the Arab League approved all the decisions except the one that condemns those who deviate from the Arab Peace Initiative, which some countries have objected to, and therefore it was dropped by Palestine so that no one will go to Washington to participate in the normalization steps or support them and say they went with an Arab or Palestinian cover.”

Trump is rapidly advancing peace between Arabs and Jews at a pace never before seen in the last 100 years.

Whilst Trump triumphs - the recalcitrant and rejectionist PLO continues to dig its own grave.

Old habits die hard for the PLO's director of public diplomacy, Hanan Ashrawi.

For decades the PLO would threaten that there would be an outbreak of terrorism or war or popular uprisings if the Palestinian leadership didn't get its way. And for decades, international diplomats believed those threats.

But over time, as the world saw that those threats were empty and that the promised mass Arab uprisings and murderous attacks did not materialize when the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, when it recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, or any other time the PLO promised a strong Arab response.

But this does not stop Hanan Ashrawi from still invoking that tired formula.

In her statement in response to the announcement of an agreement between Israel and Bahrain, she said, "The false promise of prosperity and peace based on the US-Israeli approach will prove itself a destructive mirage that will only further destabilize the region."

How, exactly, would it destabilize the region? She leaves that to Western imagination to hearken back to the 1970's oil shock and Palestinian international terror attacks, to fears of an Arab street uprising, to Hezbollah and Iran activating terror cells.

In the end, it is simply another threat.

This time, though, much of the world is recognizing Palestinian threats for the mafia-style shakedowns that they are.

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This morning, Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohamed Shtayyeh said that the PA ministers are considering presenting a plan to to president Abbas to "reconsider" their relationship with the Arab League in light of the League refusing to pass a resolution condemning the UAE for choosing to normalize relations with Israel.

Shtayyeh said during his speech at the beginning of the cabinet meeting today that the Arab League has become a symbol of Arab impotence, and that normalization of relations with Israel is an affront to Arab dignity.

He added, "Is it possible for Arabs to accept only praying in the Al-Aqsa Mosque while it is under occupation?"

His supposed concern over politicizing the Temple Mount area is a bit hypocritical, coming a few weeks after the PA's Mufti, who works for Mahmoud Abbas, issued a fatwa to not allow any residents of any Arab nation that normalizes relations with Israel to even enter the area.

"Tomorrow will Arab peace initiative will be killed, and Arab solidarity will die. Therefore, we must rise together, and we will witness a black day in the history of the Arab nation and a defeat for the Arab League institution, which is no longer unified, but divided. This day will be added to the calendar of Palestinian pain and the record of Arab fracture," Shtayyeh added.

For decades every Palestinian resolution was passed at the Arab League as the Arabs feigned solidarity with a cause that they increasingly resented. Finally the charade is beginning to end as Arab states choose their own self-interest over the fake solidarity of the Arab world, one where the anti-Israel cause was often the only position Arab League members could agree upon.

Instead of seeing that the winds have changed, the Palestinian leadership is acting as if they are still in charge of how the entire Arab world should act. The Arab refusal to blindly bend to their will is causing lots of rage and zero self-reflection.

The Palestinian Authority is not only telling the Arab League to go to hell, but they are choosing to align with Hamas - the Muslim Brotherhood linked group that has become anathema to much of the Arab world, and which will push Egypt and Jordan away from their own sympathetic stance with the Palestinian Authority. Tomorrow and Friday the PA and Hamas are holding joint anti-UAE rallies and this entire situation is causing them to speak with each other more than they have in many years.

Because of a very skewed sense of honor, the Palestinian Authority is destroying itself. It simply cannot grasp that the world has changed and it must change along with it. There is an opportunity here for a path to statehood that they are refusing to take, and this is alienating them from the larger Arab world that they have relied upon for support. Moreover, a tilt towards Hamas will further estrange them from their benefactors.

The only real question - one that has life and death implications - is whether the PA and PLO will choose to explicitly ally with Iran, Hamas and Islamic Jihad and return to terrorism as their main strategy? They still want to maintain relationships with European powers that have replaced the Arab world as their main champions. But Hamas and the other terror groups are seeing this as an opportunity to return to "armed resistance", a move being actively pushed by Iran and its Hezbollah proxy.

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Iran's anger at Bahrain goes from whiny to threatening

The Islamic Development Organization sounds like a pan-Islamic NGO but it is in fact a mouthpiece of Iran's Supreme Leader.

Here was its whining reaction to the Bahrain/Israel deal, highlighting how much they are appealing to the honor/shame dynamic:

After accepting humiliation by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, now accepting the humiliation of compromise by Bahraini government in diverting the world's public opinion from the first issue of the Islamic world and normalizing relations with the child-killing Israeli regime is a clear betrayal that will never diminish the determination and resistance of nations of the Islamic world. Relying upon the assistance of the Almighty God, we will soon witness the liberation of the occupied lands and territories as well as Al-Quds by the Palestinian people.

With this humiliating compromise, Bahraini rulers should know that allowing Zionist regime to step its foot in the Persian Gulf region will not be a simple issue and not only this irrational act will not lead to the spread of peace and security but also will lead to growing insecurity and instability in the region.

The foolish rulers, who are in a hurry to normalize relations with the occupying regime of Israel, will one day pay a heavy price for this great crime.

In continuation of their struggle in supporting the Palestinian cause, the brave nation of Bahrain will undoubtedly respond to this betrayal of the dictatorial rulers.

While strongly condemning this shameful agreement and humiliating act, the Coordinating Council of the Islamic Development Organization considers it a great treason that history will never forget.

But the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran was more threatening:

In a statement on Saturday, IRGC strongly condemned the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bahrain and the Zionist Regime and noted, “The callous ruler of Bahrain must be waiting for the hard revenge of the soldiers of Quds and the Muslim nation of the country.”

“The shameful act of Al-Khalifa and the Bahraini Regime in establishing relations with the Zionist regime, which was done against the will of the Muslim people of this country, is a great folly and lacks any legitimacy and will receive appropriate responses,” it read.

According to the statement, normalization of relations between a number of Arab countries and the Zionist Regime will never achieve its goals. It is a conspiracy organized by the White House which seeks to impose humiliation on Muslim nations and plunder their resources and wealth.

The statement added that the evil action of the Bahraini Regime will not have any achievements for the US and the Zionist Regime, noting that Muslims especially the Shia Muslims of Bahrain will take strong revenge on those who brought oppression, terror, violence, war, and insecurity to the region.

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Ken Roth of @HRW falsely accuses Israel of being Islamophobic

Ken Roth, head of Human Rights Watch, tweets about how there isn't enough criticism of China's horrible treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

But he can't resist throwing in a baseless accusation against Israel.

The people of Muslim-majority countries are increasingly distraught about their governments' silence regarding China's persecution of Uighur Muslims. If Israel, Myanmar, India, the US are rightfully criticized for their treatment of Muslims, why not China? https://t.co/Pj4saZrvow pic.twitter.com/ERyp8yedic
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) September 10, 2020

If you look at the original Foreign Affairs article he links to, he has changed a crucial word:

And yet the countries and entities that regularly criticize Israel, Myanmar, the United States, and other nations for their actions against Muslims have kept quiet about China’s treatment of the Uighurs.

It is quite valid to point out the hypocrisy of those who regularly criticize Israel or the US for their supposed treatment of Muslims while remaining silent for Uyghur abuses. But Roth changes "regularly" to "rightfully" - saying that the US and Israel are Islamophobic.

I responded on Twitter:

France outlaws burkinis. Not Israel.

Switzerland outlaws minarets. Not Israel.

European nations have more restrictions on Muslim call to prayer than Israel does.

The Israel Museum gives as much space to Islam as to Judaism.

Exactly how does Israel mistreat Muslims, @kenroth? https://t.co/5vyFNluSXQ
— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) September 13, 2020

Claiming that Israel mistreats its Muslim population is nothing short of slander, especially when Israel is more tolerant of Muslims than most Western European countries are by any measure.

But that is par for the course for the human rights defender who regularly attacks the human rights of Jews to live in their historic homeland.

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09/13 Links: What Bahrain’s deal with Israel really means; Caroline Glick: America And The EU—A One-Way Alliance; Saeb Erekat belongs in jail, not at Harvard

From Ian:

What Bahrain’s deal with Israel really means

Noxious or not, his policy had a larger strategic purpose, one that is bearing fruit in recent agreements. Trump was backing the Saudi regime, brutal as it was, because he cared more about their political stability and partnership against the Iran regime than about their deadly assaults on human rights. He may also have remembered that human rights interventions can entangle the US, as they did in Somalia, or lead to chaos and catastrophe, as they did in Libya. In any case, Trump effectively brushed off the killing of Khashoggi and continued to support the Saudi regime, which remained close to Washington, kept pumping oil, and bought more arms to cope with Iran.

By pulling back from direct military engagement in the Middle East while he promoted hardline opposition to Iran, Donald Trump has forced all Arab-Muslim states in the region to choose between appeasing the mullahs or making a common front against them. The Bahrain and UAE agreements with Israel show that they are choosing the latter option. It was Trump’s White House, not the State Department, behind those deals.

The most important potential agreement is between Israel and Saudi Arabia. That’s still far from certain. The Saudis have moved cautiously, despite their strategic vulnerability. There has been a lot of quiet military cooperation with Israel, but few public signs of it. That’s understandable. The Saudi royal family is well aware of their narrow political base and their vulnerability to extreme religious movements, within the Kingdom and outside of it. They know open cooperation with the Jewish state is risky business for a regime whose legitimacy depends on their role as Guardians of the Two Holy Mosques. That is why Mohammad bin Salman is waiting for Saudi Arabia’s friends in the Gulf and North Africa to move first.

Bahrain’s agreement with Israel is another important step in assembling a Washington-led coalition against a major strategic threat. It parallels Trump’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, where he is assembling a coalition against an even bigger enemy, reinforced by economic sanctions and military deterrence. These coalitions, Trump’s reluctance to put American troops in harm’s way, and his public denunciation of Nato partners for free riding on the common defense represent the biggest changes in American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War.

Seth Frantzman: Why Oman’s support for Bahrain-Israel deal is important for the Gulf

Oman’s support for the Bahrain-Israel deal is not entirely surprising since the Gulf nation that was the original trial balloon in 2018 welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Oman’s wording of its support argues that the Bahraini step to normalize relations is linked to achieving peace by ending Israel’s occupation in the West Bank and establishing a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem. Al-Ain and other Gulf media emphasized this point.

The goal of Oman over the last two years has been to help pave the way for countries to be more open to Israel. This was clear in 2018 and early 2019 as Oman stressed this point in forums such as during the Manama Dialogue meeting in 2019. The Sultanate also pushed this point again in Jordan at a meeting near the Dead Sea. The concept was to welcome Israel’s integration into the region. Bahrain has made this point as well.

However, Oman has also been traditionally closer to Iran, serving as a kind of neutral state. It is not close to Turkey though, which is important for Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Thus Oman plays a unique role. Its openness to Israel was well received in Washington in the lead-up and aftermath of Netanyahu's 2018 trip.

In 2020, Oman went through a leadership change when Sultan Qaboos died. A new foreign minister was named in mid-August. Some believed that winds of change might make Oman less open to Israel. But the recent statement signals the opposite.

What’s important here is the growing consensus in these statements of an emerging Gulf paradigm on Israel and normalization. Praising the deal is now becoming a natural and encouraged part of public statements from the alliance system anchored in Riyadh. This includes the statements by Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and also Oman.

Welcomes Bahrain-Israel Peace:
🇺🇸 US
🇬🇧 UK
🇪🇺 EU
🇦🇪 UAE
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇨🇿 Czech
🇦🇹 Austria
🇨🇦 Canada
🇸🇮 Slovenia
🇷🇴 Romania
🇦🇺 Australia
🇩🇪 Germany

Condemns Bahrain-Israel Peace:
🇮🇷 Islamic Republic of Iran
🇵🇸 Palestinian Authority
🇱🇧 Hezbollah
🏴‍☠️ Hamas
🇹🇷 Turkey
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 13, 2020

Caroline Glick: America And The EU—A One-Way Alliance

Whether the issue is Balkan peace, the International Criminal Court, Iran's nuclear program, Russian gas deals or China's 5G network, the EU always adopts positions that reject American leadership. Whatever issue is on the table at any particular moment, if the U.S. has a strong interest in a certain outcome—even if Europe ostensibly shares the U.S.'s goal—the EU adopts a policy opposed to the U.S.

Part of this owes to a freeloader mentality. The EU trusts that the U.S. will achieve its goals and Europe will be the beneficiary of American victories. At the same time, by opposing the U.S., Europe will maintain its close ties with America's enemies at America's expense and to Europe's financial and diplomatic benefit.

Israel is a story in and of itself. The EU doesn't have a unified policy about Kosovar independence. States with separatist minorities like Spain oppose it. States that have no such issues support it. The EU is similarly divided on all issues—except Israel.

The EU's only consistent foreign policy is its hostility towards Israel. When Stano said the notion that a state seeking EU membership would locate its embassy in Israel's capital city is "a matter of serious concern and regret," he was saying that no opposition is possible in the EU's passive-aggressive and continuous drive to weaken and delegitimize the Jewish state.

The Trump administration's domestic opponents have consistently blamed the president for "alienating our European allies." But the fact is, the administration has done nothing hostile to the EU. U.S. foreign policy under Trump aims at advancing U.S. interests by, among other things, promoting the cause of peace in the Middle East, blocking the spread of weapons of mass destruction to rogue regimes, defeating terror forces and blunting China's rise as a global superpower.

U.S. allies, whether in Europe or elsewhere, should applaud and support these efforts. The EU's vicious and sinister response to the Serbia-Kosovo agreement indicates that for all the talk of the Atlantic alliance, that alliance is in reality a one-way street.

Brilliant: Bahrain compliments Palestinians and says they support them; Palestinians tells Bahrain to drop dead

The utter cluelessness of the Palestinian leadership continues.

In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Dr. Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani emphasized that Bahrain still supports the Arab Peace Initiative.

He also took pains to say how much Bahrain supports the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people, and even went out of his way to compliment the Palestinian leadership:

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Palestinian leadership, its firm positions and its continuous efforts to safeguard the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people and work to achieve their legitimate aspirations, and with regard to Bahrain, it affirms its commitment to its continuous and supportive approach to the efforts to enable the Palestinian people to advance their capabilities and enhance their resources to achieve their legitimate aspirations, like other peoples in the world.

How does the Palestinian leadership respond?

Dr. Muhammad Shtayyeh, the Palestinian Prime Minister, said: “We record for history our condemnation of the Bahraini normalization with Israel, following that of the condemned Emirati move, which is a flagrant violation of the official and popular Arab position.”

Shtayyeh said in a statement on Saturday evening that normalization was striking a blow to the Arab backbone and joint Arab action is nothing but a service for the country of use of Israel and its protector, and it is intended for narrow, short-term accounts with the American administration, above considerations of strategic issues, at the expense of the aspirations of the Arab and Islamic nation, Palestinian rights, and legitimization of occupation, settlements, and repeated aggression against Al-Aqsa.

Now, Bahrain and the UAE have a chance to pressure Israel to make peace with the Palestinians. They will be in constant contact with an Israeli leadership that is not only willing but eager to work with them.

Do Palestinian insults against them make it more likely or less likely that they will act to help the Palestinians?

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This morning I tweeted:

I'm still trying to figure out how the brilliant diplomats of the Obama administration weren't able to bring accords between Israel and any Arab country, and the incompetent Trump team managed to do it twice.

While the tweet is snarky, there is a serious answer.

The Obama administration (and, to be fair, plenty of previous administrations as well) took for granted various assumptions about the Middle East. Some of these are in the "everyone knows" category, some of them are from an inability of understanding the dynamics of the Arab world and taking some of their leaders' honor-based statements as being 100% true.

Donald Trump's major strength as President is that he does not accept many of the assumptions that others took for granted, and therefore he has not been straitjacketed by blind adherence to assumptions that are accepted as facts.

Some of these assumptions, in no particular order:

1. Israel is the intransigent party.

2. Settlements are the biggest obstacle to peace.

3. Jerusalem is an intractable problem that must be left for the end of negotiations.

4. Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine in any peace deal.

5. The Arab world cannot make peace with Israel without a Palestinian state first.

6. Unless Palestinians' demands are met, the Middle East (and maybe the world) will explode into war and terrorism.

7. Solving other Middle East issues depends on the Palestinians accepting a peace plan with Israel.

8. The Arab street will never accept any deviation from the Palestinian demands on settlements and Jerusalem.

9. Arab nations will forego their own self-interest for solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

10. A right wing Israeli government cannot be serious about peace.

11. All of Jerusalem is in dispute until Palestinians are given the parts that were under Jordanian rule for 19 years.

12. The US must be in sync with the UN's and EU's dictates for peace.

13. If Palestinians reject a plan, Israel - as the stronger party - should be pressured into more concessions.

14. A two-state solution is the only possible solution.

15. Israeli rejectionism must be punished by the US, but Palestinian rejectionism must never have any negative consequences.

16. The Oslo process is the only possible way towards peace.

17. Any cooperation between Israel and Arab nations must remain quiet and under the radar; if they go public they would be torpedoed by the Arab media and people.

18. Israel is the only adult in the Middle East and as such the only one that should make sacrifices for peace.

When looked at in total, we see that many of these are articles of faith - almost a religion - that have little relationship with reality. And many of these are self-fulfilling assumptions.

Trump looks at the world a completely different way, one with completely different assumptions. Trump's assumption is that everyone wants a deal that maximizes their own self-interest, and that the US can facilitate such deals when it is in the US' own self interest.

It is still an open question whether the Bahrain and UAE deals will work out. But it is clear that the Obama-era assumptions are completely and thoroughly wrong, something that nearly all of those diplomats cannot yet accept.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

The death of the honor/shame culture, part 2

I wrote last week how it seems possible that the UAE (and now Bahrain) acceptance of Israel has the potential to severely damage the honor/shame mentality that has reliably guided the Arab world for a very long time.

I think that the news is vindicating this opinion.

One of the corollaries of the honor/shame system is the refusal to accept win/win solutions, because if your enemy wins, then you lose by definition - and what you lose is honor.

The New York Times has an article about Mahmoud Abbas' continued refusal to accept tax money that Israel owes the Palestinian Authority - out of a bizarre, misguided sense of honor.

The normalization deal with the U.A.E. was not made in coordination with the Palestinians, who adamantly opposed it. And from the Palestinian perspective, suspending annexation wasn’t enough: They wanted it to be canceled.

As a result, Mr. Abbas has refused to go back to the way things were.

Diplomats who have met with him say that Mr. Abbas is intent on extracting some new concessions from Israel with which to assure the Palestinian public that his rejection of the money, and their summer-long hardship, were not all in vain.

Mr. Abbas’s office and several of his most senior aides all declined to comment.

When the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, encouraged Mr. Abbas to take the money in a meeting in Ramallah last week, Mr. Abbas responded, “In return for what?” according to a person familiar with details of the exchange.

He is treating accepting hundreds of millions of dollars as a concession!

This is honor/shame in its purest form - accepting the money is an affront to Abbas' honor, even if that means hurting his own people.

It is obvious to all that accepting the tax revenue is a win/win - Israel doesn't want the money and wants a stable Palestinian Authority, and the PA needs to pay salaries and other expenses.

The European Union, the United Nations, Britain and several Arab countries have all urged the Palestinian Authority to resume accepting the transfers from Israel, according to officials briefed on the talks.

Abbas' bizarre idea of honor is not shared by "several" other Arab countries. They are being practical and want what is best for ordinary Palestinians; Abbas is adamant that honor is more important than his people.

Now, how do you think Arab nations will react to that kind of thinking? A decade ago, they would accept it as a basic requirement to maintain honor. Now they are telling him that some things are more important than honor (or, perhaps, that Abbas' sense of honor is hopelessly skewed.)

The UAE and Bahrain see peace with Israel as a win/win. Mahmoud Abbas sees it as an affront to his honor.

At any rate, Abbas is not gaining any popularity either with his own people or with other Arabs with his refusal to accept the tax money - because Israel wants to give him the money.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

09/12 Links: What Joe Biden told donors at a J Street fundraiser; Trump Admin Optimistic Saudi Arabia Could Be Next to Make Peace with Israel; Iranian champion wrestler Navid Afkari executed

From Ian:

What Joe Biden told donors at a J Street fundraiser

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s indefinitely postponed plans to annex portions of the West Bank during a virtual fundraiser hosted by J Street’s political action committee on Thursday.

In his remarks, obtained by Jewish Insider, Biden said that while “it’s a good thing” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank is “off the table for now,” — with the announcement of the U.S. brokered Israel-United Arab Emirates normalization deal — “I don’t know how much is off the table in terms of Netanyahu’s notions.”

Biden told the group that he assumes “Netanyahu knows and the Israelis know my position” on the matter. “I’ve made clear that I’m going to oppose annexation as president,” he said. “A two-state solution is the only way to ensure Israel’s long-term security while sustaining its Jewish and democratic identity. I don’t know how they do it without a two-state solution. And it’s also the only way to ensure Palestinian rights to a state of their own.”

The Democratic nominee remarked that “Trump has put Israel in danger by tearing up the Iran nuclear deal” and “has undermined the stability of self-determination for the Palestinians, undercutting hope for a viable two-state solution any chance that he gets.”

Regarding the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Biden said, “Like everything else he’s inherited in life, Trump squandered what we left him. So we have to pick up the pieces, and it’s going to be hard. I’ve said that if Iran returns to compliance I will reenter the deal with Iran, and I will move to do that. I’ll work with our allies to make it longer and stronger.” Biden noted that even though Netanyahu was a vocal opponent of the deal, “a lot of the Israeli military supported the agreement.”

Ben Shnider, vice president of political affairs and strategy at J Street, told JI it was “thrilling” for the group to host the former vice president as he “laid out an inspiring vision for how his administration will act to seriously pursue Israeli-Palestinian peace, reverse the terrible damage that Donald Trump has done to our foreign policy and defeat the forces of white nationalist bigotry that pose such a tremendous threat to the American Jewish community.”

After 9/11: can we still talk about Islamist terror?

Today marks the anniversary of the devastating 9/11 terror attacks. Nineteen years on, the fundamental threat of Islamist terrorism remains across much of the world.

Since 9/11, the UK has suffered multiple deadly Islamist terror attacks of its own. This includes the 7/7 London bombings in 2005, which claimed the lives of 52 people, and the 2017 Manchester Arena bombings which killed 22 people attending an Ariana Grande concert. The country has also suffered other deadly Islamist terror incidents, such as the March 2017 Westminster attack, the June 2017 London Bridge attack, and the November 2019 London Bridge stabbings. The perpetrator of the most recent attack, Usman Khan, was an ex-prisoner who was released from jail on license in 2018 – halfway through a 16-year prison sentence for terrorism-related offences. Khan had been participating in Home Office-run rehabilitation schemes for those involved in terrorist activity – eventually carrying out his deadly attack at an offender rehabilitation conference.

While expressing his concerns over the growth of far-right extremism, Neil Basu, the UK’s counter-terrorism policing chief, has made clear that the greatest terror threat still comes from jihadists.

In recent years, however, there has been an increasing amount of thought-policing when it comes to discussion of terrorism – particularly Islamist extremism. This was demonstrated earlier in the year, when The Times revealed that, following calls by the National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP), counter-terrorism police officials had considered dropping the term ‘Islamist’ when referring to religiously motivated terror attacks carried out by Muslim fundamentalists.

Sir Robert Menzies and Australia’s Jewish Community.

In an ABC documentary series to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Liberal Party of Australia, the daughter of Sir Robert Menzies, Heather Henderson, recalled that “sectarianism was alive and well in the fifties” and that her “father fought against that always.”
credit: Menzies Research Centre

Appreciating that he was at the helm of what was then a heavily Protestant-based party, she proceeded to say that the Liberal Party founder “went to great pains to consult and talk to the Jews, the Catholics and everybody he could.”

A great deal, of course, has been written about the legacy of Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister, but what remains under explored is the religious dimension to his Prime Ministership, and, in particular, the important relationship he cultivated with Australia’s small yet significant Jewish community.

What, then, was Menzies’s relationship with the Jewish community? How was it forged and in what ways did it manifest itself in the post-war Australia he led as Prime Minister?

As well as helping to salve the long-running sectarian conflict between Australia’s Protestants and Catholics, Menzies enjoyed an excellent rapport with Australia’s Jewish community. As Josh Frydenberg and David Kemp acknowledge, “Sir Robert Menzies exhibited a marked degree of respect and admiration for the Jewish people” throughout his life. As a friend of Israel, he deeply respected the Jewish legacy for its profound contribution to Western civilisation and admired the Jewish people for their cultural traditions of scholarship, civic-mindedness, and enduring sense of kinship.

Frequently invited to speak at ceremonies organised by the Jewish community, Menzies praised the Jewish people for their contribution to Australia. Remarking that he felt “completely at home” in the company of the Jewish community, Menzies enjoyed friendships with Jewish community leaders and rabbis — including Maurice Ashkenasy, Baron Snider, Sir Israel Brodie and Herman Sanger.

09/11 Links Pt2: Netanyahu on 9/11: We shall always stand with the United States; Ayaan Hirsi Ali: On September 11, here's what Islamists and 'Wokeists' have in common

From Ian:

Netanyahu on 9/11: We shall always stand with the United States

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commemorated Friday those killed during the September 11 attacks on the United States.

In a statement on Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that "Today we remember all those who perished in the greatest terrorist crime in history, committed on September 11, 2001."

He added that "We shall always stand with the United States and free people everywhere in fighting the evil of terrorism."

Alternate Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Benny Gantz also noted the solemness of the day, saying on Twitter Friday "Thinking about our friends in the US today, who are marking 19 years since the unthinkable attack that robbed 3000 innocent people of their lives and changed the world forever. Let the strength and faith of the American people remind us that love will always prevail over hate."

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi likewise released a statement, saying on Twitter "Today I, and all the people of Israel, join with our brothers and sisters in the #US to remember and mourn the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks carried out 19 years ago."

"The victims of 9/11 meant the world for their families and their beloved ones. I know that nothing can heal the wound or ease the pain. Our heart goes out to the families. Forever we will stand by our friend the #US," the statement concluded.

Some 2,996 people were killed in terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, which crashed after being thwarted by passengers on the plane.

Approximately 25,000 people were injured as a result of the attacks, while many more first responders also lost their lives in the years following due to the health effects involved in rescuing trapped survivors.

Remembering Tech Titan Danny Lewin, the Fighting Genius on Flight 11

By most accounts, Danny Lewin was the first victim of 9/11. Seated in seat 9B aboard American Airlines flight 11, he saw Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari, sitting just in front of him, rise and make their way to the cockpit. According to calls from flight attendants to air traffic officials, later documented in the 9/11 Commission’s report, Lewin wasted no time in acting. Having served as an officer in Sayeret Matkal, the Israel Defense Forces’ top unit, he moved to tackle the terrorists. The man in 10B, Satam al-Suqami, moved, too, producing a knife and slitting Lewin’s throat. Less than 30 minutes later, at 8:46 a.m., the plane crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

Elsewhere, in America and all over the world, people desperate for accurate information turned to the Internet for news. Straining under the overwhelming demand of tens of millions of simultaneous requests, the web’s biggest news sites threatened to collapse. Very few did, thanks in large part to the technology that Lewin himself had developed years earlier: Although only 31 at the time of his murder, he was the co-founder of Akamai, a pioneering technology company whose content routing solutions enable the seamless flow of nearly 20 percent of the web’s traffic.

As a terrific new biography of Lewin—No Better Time, by Molly Knight Raskin, released this week—demonstrates, the tenacity that the young entrepreneur displayed in his last moments was the same intense force that propelled him to tech titanhood. Born in Denver, he moved to Israel with his parents at 14 and quickly found high school insufficiently stimulating. Frequently keeping just one step ahead of the truancy officer, he skipped classes to work out at a local gym, eventually winning the title of Mr. Teenage Israel in a coveted bodybuilding competition. When the time came to join the army, Lewin had no doubts about where he belonged—it had to be the best.

Clifford May: The 9/11 anniversary and the 9/11 wars

The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor was a wakeup call. It led to a high-intensity armed conflict that, within a few years, defeated the fascists of Europe and Asia. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington were a wakeup call. They led to a low-intensity armed conflict that, 19 years later, remains inconclusive.

So it should be instructive to hear what President Trump and Vice President Biden say about this week's 9/11 anniversary. My best guess: Both will eulogize the victims, but say little about the policies and strategies necessary to prevent those who call themselves jihadists from achieving their goals over the years ahead.

Americans today face a complex threat matrix. We are menaced by China's ambitious and ruthless rulers; by a virus those rulers somehow let loose on the world; by a revanchist Russia; by a North Korean dictatorship that our diplomats failed to prevent from acquiring nuclear weapons; and by an Iranian regime vowing "Death to America!" Domestically, we are a deeply divided nation. Dazzled by this chaos, you could be forgiven for thinking jihadists are no longer a serious concern. But you'd be wrong.

My colleague, terrorism analyst Thomas Joscelyn, pointed out in congressional testimony in June: "The jihadists today are waging insurgencies across Africa, hotspots in the Middle East, and into South Asia."

Al-Qaida "has spread from South Asia into multiple other countries." Its official branches: "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, and al-Shabaab in Somalia."

The Islamic State, aka ISIS, "is waging an insurgency across parts of Iraq and Syria. It also has noteworthy 'provinces' in Khorasan (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of the surrounding countries), the Sinai, Southeast Asia, Somalia, West Africa, and Yemen. ISIS has terrorist networks in other areas."

These groups have not launched a catastrophic terrorist attack in the West in recent years but that's not because they wouldn't like to. It's in large measure because the US and some allies have taken the fight to them.