From Facebook:
I'm breaking the silence. Here is my report, continuing an important initiative under the Hashtag #האמת_שלי (Hebrew for #My_Truth).
**
Beit Hanoun, the Gaza Strip, 2006. Operation "Autumn's Clouds". We're entering a home. At the entrance, we meet a man and his wife. We take them to a side room and offer them something to drink. We ask the man if he has anything to do with Hamas. "No, of course not, we have no connection to them." Then we ask if they have any weapons in their home. "No, of course not," he replies. The team stays at the house for a few hours. Before leaving it, soldiers who stayed in one of the rooms decide to move the couch, revealing an explosive device aimed at detonating armored vehicles. The man is safe and sound.
**
Beit Hanoun, the Gaza Strip, 2006. Operation "Autumn's Clouds". We are searching for weapons in the town center (Kasbah) and are advancing from one house to the other. In one of them, a middle-aged civilian man doesn’t feel well. Our medic, Roi, diagnoses possible heart problems. We halt the weapons search and advancing to other houses so that Roi can treat him. With the assistance of the man's daughter, a fluent English speaker, we call the Red Crescent and prolong our stay in his home, thereby exposing and endangering ourselves even further.
Shortly after we hear a powerful boom and shrapnel flies all around. An IDF team from an adjacent team operating nearby who has not received word that we are still providing emergency medical treatment to the man in the previous house accidentally activates a break-in device on the door of the home just a few meters from us. It is a miracle that nobody is injured.
**
Zaytoun neighborhood, the Gaza Strip, 2009. Operation Cast Lead”. My team is ordered to take control of an apartment building home to a prominent Hamas operative was living there with his family. The IDF could have easily bombed it from the air but we endanger ourselves and search the building by foot. On the second floor, in the in the parents bedroom there is a large clothes cabinet with a big mirror over it. In a compartment in the cabinet we find grenade launchers, mortar shells, hand guns, rifles, hand grenades, army vests, two-way radios, cell-phones and thousands of bullets.
In the backyard we find two rocket launchers nestled between the olive trees, likely where the sons of the Hamas operative play. In a corner of the yard is a suspicious hut, which, upon searching it, we identify as a factory for assembling rockets. The hut is filled with rockets, explosive devices, fertilizers used for preparing explosives and Arabic manuals for assembling and launching rockets - all this in a private home in which the operative lives with his wife and children. Though the IDF had strong suspicions about what we will find in the home, all of which – and more - ultimately proves to be true, the house is not bombed from the air. IDF soldiers – myself and my team – are dispatched to search the house, thereby minimalizing damage to property and Hamas.
**
I'm writing here after sitting and reading dozens of pages of anonymous testimonies given by "Breaking the Silence" which, like many other testimonies are out of context, lack proof, do not explain the complexities of war and ignore the reality of Hamas’ cynical use of civilians. They are simply ignorance and another opportunity to bash Israeli soldiers.
**
There are stories that are a thousand times more heroic than mine. I am not looking for, nor do I need, any attention. I'm doing this because I am proud of the IDF, I have full trust in the soldiers who fought beside me, and I believe in their high standard of morality. I refuse to allow a tiny, anonymous minority, to slander the IDF. I am aware of mistakes and errors conducted by soldiers in the battlefield. These cases represent a tiny fraction of Israeli soldiers. They are an exception and do not represent IDFs soldiers and officers – including myself - in any way.
**
It is about time we Israelis scrape off our cynicism and start telling our personal stories. “Breaking the Silence” does not tell my story. I recently had the chance to share my story in the U.S. on the StandWithUs Israeli Soldiers Tour. Israeli soldiers: share your story and add the hashtag #האמת_שלי #My_Truth.
**
In the picture: Entering the home of the Hamas terrorist that was not bombed from the air, Zaytoun, Gaza.
Syria-based DamPress has an article saying that the entire reason Saudi Arabia is attacking the Houthis in Yemen is to defend Jews.
The article is called "A war for Israel" by Ali Abboud.
The cartoon says "Jerusalem is that way!" as the Saudi fighter goes towards Yemen. (The words on the garment are a derogatory reference to the Saudi royal family.)
According to the article, the Saudi leaders know that Houthi slogan, "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews, Power to Islam." The phrase that makes them upset is "Damn the Jews."
Abboud says that without understanding this "fact," one cannot explain why the Saudis are bombing the Houthis.
According to this article, Israel is most concerned that a Houthi-dominated Yemen would close the Mandeb Strait between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, so the Saudis are defending Israel from that possibility.
Why is Saudi Arabia so concerned over Israel? Not because they are Zionist.
It is because, you see, the Saudi royal family is really Jewish!
Jews who were fleeing persecution ended up in the Gulf and pretended to be Arabs, according to his version of the legend. They prayed with Muslims and buried their dead in Muslim cemeteries.
But those crafty Jews, who took over Arabia, created the Wahhabi faith in order to destroy Islam from within.
This idea that the al-Saud family is really Jewish has been around for a long time.
(h/t Ibn Boutros)
From Ian:
PMW: Israel conducts “secret medical experiments” on prisoners
One of the ways the Palestinian Authority demonizes Israel is by spreading libels. One such libel claims that Israel conducts medical experiments on Palestinian prisoners, poisons them and deliberately kills them.
Last month, the official PA daily stated that Israel carries out medical experiments and speculated that it “perhaps” poisons them as well:
“The occupation authorities conduct medical experiments on the prisoners, giving them medicines and perhaps poison.” [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 12, 2015]
Director of the PLO Prisoners’ Affairs Commission and PA Parliament Member Issa Karake often reiterates this libel. Recently, after visiting a released prisoner, Karake stated that sick prisoners “are victims of severe crimes committed against prisoners in prisons, which expose them to deadly, chronic diseases resulting from secret medical experiments on their bodies, and their deliberate negligence.” [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 31, 2015]
He has also claimed that:
“[Israeli] prisons have become the source of an epidemic, a source of death and a source of dissemination of diseases in the bodies of the prisoners.” [Official PA TV, April 13, 2015]
The official PA daily has claimed that Israeli prisons have a “system called ‘slow death’” to do away with prisoners, and has compared Israeli treatment to the medical experiments of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who experimented on Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
“[There is] an entire system called 'slow death,' which the Israeli establishment uses against Palestinian prisoners, from the moment of their arrest until they are released... The 'experiments' stage is perhaps one of the most dangerous stages in the slow death of released prisoners, who suffer from diseases, which they contracted in prison. This way, the Israeli jailers attempt to imitate the German Nazis, who were the first to use prisoners as guinea pigs, for testing the weapons and the deadly drugs, which they developed. The Nazi German doctor, Josef Mengele, was the most famous among them." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 17, 2011]
JPost Editorial: Nonproliferation
A centerpiece of US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy agenda has been nonproliferation. But with Saudi Arabia more than just threatening to acquire nuclear capability “off the shelf” from Pakistan and with other Sunni states sure to follow, his dream of a nuclear-free planet seems more out of reach than ever.
Obama’s pursuit of nonproliferation goes back at least to his short tenure in the Senate. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he traveled to Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine to inspect nuclear facilities and developed an idea of international diplomacy. It was at this time that he began talking about initiating conversations with Iran.
In 2009 Obama, in a speech in Prague, made sweeping promises proclaiming that the US has a “moral responsibility” to lead the world toward a nuclear-free reality.
The following year, the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) with Russia was signed.
But the New START treaty was marred by Russia’s unwillingness to cooperate. It was barely ratified and generated no additional nonproliferation deals.
Elsewhere, the nonproliferation cause seemed to be falling apart as well. Not only did North Korea – despite diplomatic efforts – obtain nuclear capability, it began spreading its know-how elsewhere.
Where diplomacy failed, however, the use of force provided remarkable results.
Netanyahu: Jerusalem won’t be divided again
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed that Jerusalem would never be split in any peace deal with the Palestinians, and said construction throughout the capital would continue, despite international criticism.
In a Knesset speech marking Jerusalem Day, which was on Sunday, the prime minister goaded opposition leader Isaac Herzog to clarify his position vis-à-vis Jerusalem and concessions he would be willing to make to the Palestinians. The challenge prompted an angry response from Herzog, who maintained he would never divide Jerusalem, while accusing Netanyahu of calling its unified status into question.
“Jerusalem won’t be divided again,” Netanyahu said. “It won’t go back to being a frontier or a border town.”
The prime minister praised Israeli efforts to develop the capital, while conceding that “it doesn’t mean the unification is perfect.
“It doesn’t mean that there are no problems, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t tasks [ahead of us]. There is a lot to perfect, and a lot to improve, but we will not go backwards.”
Netanyahu said that, with regard to Jerusalem, “I have a clear position — we build in Jerusalem.
PA, Hamas Blast Netanyahu Over Comments on United Jerusalem
Later Monday, both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Hamas movement slammed Netanyahu over his remarks, according to the IANS news agency.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said in a press statement that Netanyahu's remarks contradict UN resolutions and violate international conventions.
"There will be no peace or settlement in the Middle East without having east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestinian state," Abu Rudeineh declared, according to IANS.
He also slammed earlier remarks made by an Israeli minister in Netanyahu's cabinet, who stated that the Jews would soon pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
"Such remarks will lead to a big fire that will be very hard to control either by the Arabs or the Muslims all over the world," warned Abu Rudeineh.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in an emailed press statement that Netanyahu's remarks that Jerusalem would not be divided "shows the failure of the so-called peace process".
"Talking about the resumption of the so-called peace talks with the Israeli occupation while these remarks are mad is like thirsty people looking for water in the desert," Abu Zuhri said, according to IANS.
Top Turkish Cleric Gormez: We Should Not Accept Jerusalem As the Capital of Anyone but the Muslims
In a sermon delivered at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on May 15 and posted on the Internet, Mehmet Gormez, President of the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, said: "We should not accept that Jerusalem be the capital of anyone else. It is the capital city of the Muslims. We ask Allah to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the aggressors."
The Vatican, Palestinian statehood and international law
Above all, Jerusalem must begin to argue vigorously against European Union guidelines, insisting that Palestine’s borders never be based upon pre-1967 lines. In the February 10, 2013 words of Israeli legal expert Ambassador Alan Baker: “The legality of the presence of Israel’s communities in the area [Judea and Samaria] stems from the historic, indigenous and legal rights of the Jewish people to settle in the area, granted pursuant to valid and binding international legal instruments, recognized and accepted by the international community.
These rights cannot be denied or placed in question.”
Accordingly, Jerusalem should finally affirm that Israeli settlement activity is entirely consistent with international law, and also that those jailed Palestinian terrorists who have murdered Israeli civilians will never be released as any so-called “good will gesture.” There is, in short, no defensible reason for Jerusalem to continue its participation in an asymmetrically suicidal diplomacy.
Promisingly, in this connection, the new coalition under Prime Minister Netanyahu is apt to acknowledge this conclusion, and to more vigorously contest any propagandistic Palestinian manipulations of the International Criminal Court.
Before a Palestinian state can be correctly declared, it will first have to satisfy all codified and customary criteria of governing international law. Neither the Vatican nor the European Union can permissibly justify any “end run” around this corpus of binding rules. Jurisprudentially, at least, the creation of Palestine can never be based upon a fully concocted hodgepodge of irrelevant and dangerous political arguments.
Motti Yogev: Annex PA, Give Arabs Limited Autonomy
MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) praised the appointment of Interior Minister Silvan Shalom (Likud) as the minister in charge of peace talks and US-Israel relations, stating that it is a fitting choice.
"Bearing in mind the numerous matters occupying the time of Prime Minister, it is good to appoint a minister who will address this issue, the formulation and the implementation of paths to security and coexistence between us and our neighbors, even between us and the US, the EU and the international community," Yogev stated to Arutz Sheva Tuesday.
However, Yogev explained that Shalom and the entire political system must change their stance on both Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) and US-Israel issues, and formulate a solution different from those which have been suggested thus far.
"There has not been a Palestinian state and there will never be one, and this ridiculous slogan that has taken hold, should be shattered and replaced with a different plan," he said, apparently referring to the "two-state solution" slogan.
Top EU diplomat heads to Mideast to reboot peace talks
The European Union’s top diplomat said Monday that she’s going to the Mideast to try to revive the moribund peace process, and to challenge Israel and the Palestinians to share their ideas on how to break the deadlock.
Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said, “I believe that one thing is clear to everybody in the region, that the status quo is not an option.”
“My very early visit has a political meaning,” Mogherini told a press conference, according to a Reuters report. She took over as the head of EU foreign policy last November, taking over for Catherine Ashton.
Mogherini was set to meet with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during her two-day visit.
Follow Up, AP Correction on Pope's Disputed "Angel of Peace" Comment
The follow up articles examining the uncertainty of the Pope's remarks and the surrounding controversy include those by The New York Times ("Vatican Seeks to Quiet Uproar of Pope's 'Angel of Peace' Remark") and AFP ("Pope 'angel of peace' Abbas comment was encouragement: Vatican"). Reuters has also indicated that an article examining the disputed the statement is under way.
In addition, The Associated Press issued the following correction:
In a story May 16 about Pope Francis meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, The Associated Press erroneously omitted two words when quoting the pope. Francis told Abbas "you are a bit an angel of peace," not "you are an angel of peace." The original Italian quote was, "Lei e un po un angelo della pace."
In response to CAMERA query as to how the AP reached this new wording, we received the following statement from Paul Colford, Director of AP Media Relations:
AP Rome correspondent Nicole Winfield was in attendance and covered last week's exchange between Pope Francis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
After others questioned AP's report that the pope said to Mr. Abbas, "you are an angel of peace," AP reviewed written notes and a videotape of the meeting that supported Winfield's English-language translation of the pope's remarks, except for the omission of two words, the Italian "un po," or "a bit."
A correction distributed by AP on Monday evening shows these two words within the pope's comment as it was originally reported by AP: "you are a bit an angel of peace."
Angering Pope Francis, Netanyahu to Address Cardinals on Recognition of Palestine (satire)
In a sign of growing tension between himself and Pope Francis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday he will address the College of Cardinals regarding the Vatican’s recent recognition of the State of Palestine.
“While I have great respect for the office of the papacy, it’s my duty as the leader of the Jewish nation to prevent the Holy See from making a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said, insisting the speech was not political. “The Cardinals are the only ones who can stop this bad deal.”
Within the College of Cardinals, members appear divided on the Israeli leader’s snub of the head of the Vatican’s executive branch. Supporters of the pope said they would not attend the speech in protest, though they admitted they were looking forward to the extravagant post-speech ice cream social planned by the Israeli embassy. The pope’s opponents, however, said they were eager to hear from the Israeli premier and blamed Francis for the deteriorating relationship between Rome and Jerusalem.
Arab, Israeli diplomats said to hold secret powwow in Jordan
Israeli diplomats and representatives of several Arab states that don’t have formal relations with Israel met in Jordan for clandestine talks, Israel Radio reported Tuesday.
Envoys from the European Union and the United States also attended the meeting, which focused among other things on regional security cooperation should American influence in the Middle East diminish.
Some of the Sunni Arab diplomats expressed a desire to strengthen security ties between their governments and Israel, but said such cooperation would be contingent on advances in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the report said.
The countries in attendance were not named in the report.
A slew of recent reports indicate that covert ties exist between Israel and Gulf states because of their shared concern over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
How Did Clinton Conflict of Interest Schemes Work? Ask Sidney.
For the past two years, liberals have been laughing at Republican attempts to link Hillary Clinton to something incriminating or at least embarrassing about the Benghazi terror attack. But, as we saw with the issue of her emails that was uncovered by the investigatory efforts of the House special committee on Benghazi there is still plenty for her to be concerned about. Today, the latest shoe dropped in a depressing drip, drip, drip of scandal. As the New York Times reports, longtime Clinton family hit man Sidney Blumenthal was simultaneously advising Hillary on Libya during her time serving as secretary of state while also by employed by the Clinton Foundation and also working for other independent groups that were laying the groundwork for her presidential campaign. At best, this blatant conflict of interest raises questions, in the words of the Times, about the “blurry lines between business, politics and philanthropy that have enriched and vexed the Clintons and their inner circle for years.” At worst, it’s another sordid example of the corruption and bad judgment at the heart of the Clinton machine’s style of governing.
The Times goes on to detail the rather tangled web that Blumenthal and his associates wove. But the main questions we should be asking is what on earth was someone knee deep in a bizarre Libyan business scheme acting as an advisor to the secretary of state about a country with which he had previously had little to do.
Blumenthal was writing intelligence memos about Libya that were largely the product of the opinions of his business associates. Some of the memos he wrote made sense. Ambassador Chris Stevens, who would be murdered by terrorists in the Benghazi attack, shot others down. But whether or not they made sense, Clinton circulated them to her department as gospel, appended with notes praising their insight. But whether they were right or wrong, it is simply astonishing that someone who was on her family foundation payroll as well as working for other political outfits aimed at furthering her political future was put in a position where he could influence policy related to his business interests.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinian Authority advances bid to file lawsuits against Israel at ICC
Authority has submitted an official request to the International Criminal Court to set a date to discuss the possibility of two war-crimes lawsuits against Israel, PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki said on Monday.
The Palestinians want the ICC to sue Israel for war crimes it claims were committed during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge and for Jewish building over the 1949 Armistice Line in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Malki, who is currently visiting Italy, told the Voice of Palestine radio station that he submitted the request to the ICC two days ago.
“I have submitted a request to the court to set a date for us to present the files of settlements and Israeli war crimes,” Malki said. “We’re now awaiting the court’s response. This could take place in mid-June.”
Malki said that, once the ICC sets a date, he would head to The Hague to follow up on the case. He said a special Palestinian committee has been entrusted with preparing the files that would be brought before the ICC.
“The procedures have begun and we will work seriously and professionally in accordance with a timeline,” he added.
Iran-backed jihadi threat is top priority for new government, Netanyahu says
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally presented his new cabinet at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday, and vowed to put the fight against Islamist extremists at the top of his agenda.
“This government has been established at a time of great challenges and opportunities,” Netanyahu said. “Our first challenge is to ensure the security of Israel in the face of accumulating threats around us. Radical Islam is lapping at all our borders, nearly all in the form of factions and forces led by Iran and other radical elements.”
He said, however, that the country would seek to forge new alliances given the regional turmoil, hinting at Israel’s shared interests with Sunni states against Iran’s nuclear program.
“Many states in the area have joint interests with us and see eye to with us on the dangers. We will make every effort to translate that partnership into peace.”
Netanyahu added that Israel would seek “a responsible political settlement with the Palestinians.”
Sen. King: Iran Oversight Legislation Is Triumph of Policy over Partisanship
To that end, it’s very important that Congress has a productive and sensible say in approving or disapproving a deal. And in a rare triumph of thoughtful governing over partisan politics, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 earlier this month to make sure that responsible review can happen if a deal is reached. This bill would require that any final agreement with Iran be submitted to Congress for a 30-day review period before congressionally mandated sanctions on Iran could be waived or suspended by the president. A key element of the legislation is that the review would take place after any potential deal is reached with Iran, ensuring that any partisan gamesmanship doesn’t derail the ongoing negotiations.
I should note that the success of this bipartisan bill, which ended up passing the Senate by a vote of 98-1, did not happen overnight. I’ve been involved in the development of this legislation from the very beginning, when a bipartisan group of senators visited the Middle East back in January and began discussing the need for responsible congressional review of any deal. The group – which included me, Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., John McCain, R-Ariz., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., – laid the groundwork for what eventually became the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.
Sen. Graham: Emerging Iran Nuke Deal Unenforceable Unless Strengthened
In order to ensure that the emerging nuclear deal will effectively prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the United States must insist on implementing eight principles to “achieve a sound, enforceable deal,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – S.C) wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal today.
Graham wrote that the principles he is proposing have strong bipartisan support and “largely reflect President Obama’s negotiating position at the start of the process.”
The eight principles outlined by Graham before any restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program should be lifted are: limiting Iran to enough enriched uranium to feed a single commercial reactor; shutting down all of Iran’s hidden and fortified nuclear facilities, including Fordow; allowing “anytime, anywhere” inspections of all Iranian military and non-military sites without allowing Iran a veto over inspections; ensuring sanctions relief is conditioned on certification of Iranian compliance by the International Atomic Energy Agency; creating a well-defined process to “snap back” sanctions in case Iran is caught cheating on an agreement; forbidding Iran from developing advanced centrifuges that could reduce its breakout time; removing all enriched uranium from Iran, other than what is needed for a single reactor; and certifying that Iran has changed its aggressive, destabilizing behavior.
US Must Ensure Israel Can Destroy Iran’s ‘Deeply Buried Nuclear Sites,’ Reps Say
The U.S. must provide Israel with 37,000 pound bunker-buster bombs to ensure the Jewish state has the means to “destroy Iran’s most deeply buried nuclear sites,” two congresspeople wrote on Monday.
“A longstanding component of America’s Iran policy has been a credible military threat to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon … Providing Israel with a stronger capability to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities would help deter Iran from ever trying to break any [nuclear agreement] it may sign,” wrote representatives Grace Meng (D-Queens) and Lee Zeldin (R-LI) in an opinion piece for the New York Post.
The two called for the U.S. to boost Israel’s cache of bunker-busting bombs, which the representatives said no longer could destroy Iran’s most fortified nuclear sites, by providing the Jewish state with GBU-57 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, alternately known at Massive Ordnance Penetrators or MOPs.
Iran has developed underground nuclear facilities, such as the one at Fordow, to shield its research and development activities from military threats, especially from the United States and Israel.
Israel slams US for allegedly allowing Iran to violate sanctions
A senior Israeli official took a swipe at Washington on Tuesday over Iran's purchase of second-hand civilian aircraft, saying the acquisition violated US sanctions and went ahead despite a tip-off from Israel.
Iranian Transport Minister Abbas Akhoondi was quoted on May 11 by the Iranian Students News Agency as saying Tehran bought 15 used commercial planes in the last three months. He did not say who sold them or how they had been acquired.
A long-standing ban on the export of aircraft spare parts to Iran was eased under an interim nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in late 2013, but the US sanctions regime continues to restrict sales of planes.
"Israel learned from intelligence sources about this very significant breach of the sanctions in advance of it occurring," the Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
"We flagged the issue to the US administration," the official said. "Unfortunately, the deal still went through and there was no success in preventing it."
Ayatollah Khamenei: US is Enemy to Both Sunnis and Shias in the Middle East
The United States is the enemy of both Shia and Sunni Muslims, as well as the world’s main sponsor of terrorism, said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Khamenei, who made the remarks during a meeting with a number of Iranian officials and ambassadors of Islamic countries in Tehran, said that Washington was the main sponsor of terrorism in the world and the chief architect of terrorist groups, Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar reported.
On the other hand, Iran “tackled terrorism, hit it in the face, bumped it in the head, and is going to do the same in the future,” he said.
Addressing the recent bill proposed by Congress in favor of arming Iraq’s Kurds and Sunni tribesmen, Khamenei asked rhetorically, “Are they really interested in the Sunnis?”
Khamenei adviser denies role in Buenos Aires bombing
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader is dismissing accusations that he masterminded Argentina’s worst terrorist attack and says that he and the Islamic Republic are innocent.
Ali Akbar Velayati, who was foreign minister of Iran at the time of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, is now an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Former Iranian officials have been on an Interpol capture list for years, but Argentine prosecutors have never been able to question them. Iran has long denied any role in the unsolved bombing that left 85 people dead.
Velayati said in an interview with Argentina’s C5N TV channel broadcast late Monday that he is innocent of the accusation that he masterminded the attack, as is his country. “We believe that this is a baseless accusation, false — a lie.”
“Argentina is under the influence of Zionism and the United States,” he said.
Arab Sentenced to 8 Months in Prison for Incitement on Facebook
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court sentenced Israeli Arab Sami Dais to 8 months in prison on Tuesday, for inciting and supporting terror on Facebook.
Dais, a resident of the neighborhood of A-Tur in Jerusalem, is accused of having published, among other things, a picture of a man dressed as an Orthodox Jew with guns aimed at his head and a knife and a gun over and above him with the caption: "Blood = blood! Kill them, death to settlers."
Several of the posts were made during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza; Dais's posts received many "likes" and "shares" from other users who spread the incitement.
On October 23, 2014, the day after one of the car attacks near the Jerusalem light rail which killed two people, Dais announced, "with dignity and pride, the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine announces the fall of the martyr Abdul Rahman Alslodi Shahid, who killed settlers in an attack in the French Hill neighborhood."
He also openly praised Hamas and the assassination attempt on Temple Mount prayer rights activist Yehuda Glick.
Israel holds Jordanian-Canadian national for alleged Hamas links
Israel has detained a Palestinian with dual Canadian-Jordanian citizenship suspected of links with the Hamas terrorist group, an Israeli security official told Reuters on Monday.
The official, who could not be named, said Ibrahim Siam, an auto parts dealer, was detained on May 5 at the Allenby Bridge as he tried to cross into Jordan from the West Bank.
Khalil Rezq, chairman of the Ramallah Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters that Siam had attended a business conference in Ramallah and accused Israel of "putting obstacles in the way of businessmen wanting to visit Palestine."
Jordanian and Canadian diplomats based in Israel confirmed to Reuters that Siam was being held. The Canadian diplomat said Siam was receiving consular assistance. Both declined to elaborate.
Hamas tunnel may reach into Israel, MK warns
Gaza terror group Hamas is expanding its network of underground tunnels, including one that may reach into Israeli territory, lawmaker and former IDF commander Omer Bar-Lev said Sunday.
Bar-Lev, a Zionist Union MK who sits on the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon for their indecision and failure to act on thwarting the tunnel threat.
“Hamas has gone back to digging tunnels, and it is likely that at least one of them has even crossed the border fence, which is an affront to the State of Israel’s sovereignty,” Bar-Lev said at the opening session of the Israel Bar Association’s conference in Eilat Sunday night, according to a statement from his office.
Israel fought a 50-day war with Gaza-based fighters in July and August, aimed at stemming rocket fire and destroying a network of tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border fence.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinian Authority continues crackdown on Hamas supporters
Palestinian Authority security forces continued their crackdown on Hamas supporters in the West Bank on Monday.
In the Hebron area, the PA General Intelligence Service arrested Anan al-Shahateet, a student at the Polytechnic University, and summoned for interrogation his colleague, Mohamed Rashaideh.
Meanwhile, the PA Preventive Security Service in Hebron arrested 15-year-old Mohamed al-Awawdah.
He is the fourth 10th-grade pupil to be taken into custody in recent days.
In Nablus, 37-year-old Majdi al-Qutub, who recently was arrested by PA security forces, was transferred to the hospital after suffering a health setback, sources close to Hamas in the city said. Two of his brothers, Said and Amjad, were Hamas members who were killed by the IDF during the second Intifada, they said.
Meet the new neighborhood terrorists in Gaza
As Islamic terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East sink to new levels of brutality, the Palestinian terror group Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis and launched thousands of rockets at the Jewish state, finds itself facing a threat to its rule in Gaza.
Over the last month, Islamic State-inspired jihadist groups in Gaza, who ironically argue that Hamas has been too lenient towards Israel and has failed to implement Islamic Sharia Law, have launched a campaign entailing both propaganda and physical attacks on Hamas.
A Salafi terror group that calls itself the “Supporters of the Islamic State in Jerusalem” recently threatened Hamas with a 72-hour ultimatum to release imprisoned Salafi extremists detained by Hamas or face attacks, after Hamas destroyed a mosque belonging to the group and arrested several of its members.
The Salafi jihadists followed up on their calls by launching mortar attacks on a Hamas base in southern Gaza and other attacks on Hamas security posts. Hamas has responded with a large crackdown, setting up checkpoints and deploying gunmen in Salafi strongholds.
Gaza police assault and arrest Al-Jazeera journalist
A Palestinian journalist covering a Turkish minister's visit to the Gaza Strip has accused Palestinian police of physically assaulting him on Sunday.
Muhammed Fayyad, a reporter for Al-Jeezera, told the Palestinian Journalists' Union that he was physically assaulted by multiple police officers at the Gazan Ministry of Endowments after asking why a plain-clothes security guard had shoved him while he took pictures of the minister's visit.
Fayyad added that he "was struck on the head by a police officer" as he was being taken out of the building, according to Palestinian news agency Ma'an.
Fayyad then went to the police station to file a formal complaint, yet was shocked to find that authorities had already issued an arrest order against him.
He was briefly taken to al-Shifa hospital before being formally arrested, complaining that he was beginning to feel the effects of his earlier assault.
PreOccupied Territory: Siblings Accuse Teen Who Cleans Room Of ‘Normalization’ (satire)
A local high-schooler has been ostracized by her brother and sister for tacitly endorsing their parents’ demands that the children of the family take care of themselves and contribute to the family’s collective welfare.
Ohr Dagan, 17, faces shunning and hostility from her fourteen-year-old brother Nir and 12-year-old sister Shahar, after removing the dirty laundry from the floor of her bedroom Sunday afternoon. The two siblings contend that their older sister’s activities serve to cement the unfair control that their parents exert, and that no behavior of any sort that condones such oppression may be tolerated.
Since then, Nir and Shahar have threatened Ohr with retribution, and have repeatedly denounced her engagement in any behavior that smacks of normalizing their parents’ illegal occupation of their children’s lives, even those activities that would directly benefit the three siblings. The anti-normalization faction of the Dagan children argues that sacrificing some comforts is crucial of they are to succeed in generating pressure on their parents to get out of their lives.
Parents Yaron and Tamar, both 40, consistently impose demands and oppressive rules on their children, such as curfews, refraining from destroying the house, and respecting each member of the household. The children bristle under the parental dictatorship, and have resolved to boycott their father and mother so as not to distract from the need to overthrow the imposed rule.
MEMRI: Christians In Lebanon,Fearing ISIS And Jabhat Al-Nusra
As jihadist organizations gain power in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, and especially after large areas of Syria and Iraq have fallen under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS), which is attempting to impose radical Islam there, the Christian and Druze minorities in Lebanon have begun to fear for their future and even for their lives. Several incidents that occurred recently in Lebanon have exacerbated this fear: in early August 2014, ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) invaded the border town of Irsalin northeastern Lebanon and abducted dozens of Lebanese soldiers and security officers there with the cooperation of Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees. Later militants identified with ISIS and JN also attempted to raid the town of Brital, south of Irsal. Following the fighting between the Assad regime and the rebels in the Al-Qalamoun area in Syria, near Lebanon's eastern and northeastern border,there are reports that these organizations plan further incursions into Lebanon. Furthermore, in early October 2014, armed groups affiliated with ISIS and JN, assisted by Syrian refugees, clashed with the Lebanese army in Tripoli and other northern regions. According to Lebanese military sources, these armed clashes were part of a comprehensive plan by ISIS and JN to take over this region in order to create territorial continuity with the Al-Qalamoun area in western Syria.
In addition, over the past year pro-ISIS graffiti appeared near churches and Christian schools in various parts of Lebanon, threatening that the Islamic State is coming and Christians will be slaughtered.
Lebanon's minorities fear not only the encroachment of ISIS and JN on Lebanon's eastern border and the active support these organizations receive from extremist Sunni groups and Syrian refugees within the country;they also fear that the Syrian civil war will spill into Lebanon. The Christians’ concern is exacerbated by the weakness of the central government and the inability of the Lebanese army to protect them, and by their suspicion that no external element will come to their aid except perhaps by granting them immigration permits.
Iran 'Proud' of Hezbollah Progress in Qalamoun
Iran is 'proud' of the achievements of Hezbollah and the Syrian army in a series of recent battles in Qalamoun, an adviser close to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated Monday.
“We feel very proud as we have been watching in the last few days the new victories that the Lebanese resistance and Syrian army are achieving in Qalamoun,” Ali Akbar Velayati said, according to the Lebanese Daily Star. “This contributes to strengthening the axis of resistance not only in Lebanon and Syria, but in the whole region and worldwide.”
Velayati arrived in Lebanon on Sunday and was welcomed by Hezbollah MPs.
Hezbollah and Syrian forces killed 20 Al-Nusra terrorists last week, after seizing significant territory in and around Qalamoun. The Qalamoun region, which lies north of Damascus and runs along the Lebanese border.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to oust rebels from the Qalamoun region, saying the situation "needs radical treatment" but without saying when the assault would start.
Assad, under pressure, may need his friends more than ever
Despite the setbacks for Assad, Western diplomats are cautious about forecasting the end of a leader who has consistently defied forecasts of his demise in the four-year-long war.
Indeed, Assad may have capitalized on the crisis to galvanize some foreign backing: "The regime's attempt to hold together the alliance behind Assad seems to have borne the desired fruit," one Western diplomat said.
But Assad has not been able to convince Western governments including the United States they should engage him as a partner in the fight against Islamic State. A US special forces raid against Islamic State in eastern Syria was carried out without consulting Damascus.
And a senior Israeli intelligence official offered a sobering assessment for Assad and his backers: "His regime is stable, but with many threats. I can tell you that he is not having freedom of movement in Syria, nor is his family. He's doing many, many problematic things in order to preserve the security and the question is how long it will stay like that. I cannot say anything about the time."
Syria Accuses Jordan of Training 'Terrorists'
Syria on Monday accused Jordan of training "terrorists" on its soil and urged the UN Security Council to force an end to Amman's backing of rebel groups, AFP reports.
The accusation came in a letter sent by the Jordanian foreign ministry to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the UN Security Council, the official news agency SANA said.
The letter criticized the "public and systematic support provided by the kingdom of Jordan to terrorist groups, increasing the suffering of Syria's citizens because of crimes committed by these groups".
The letter alleges Jordan "provides logistical support to armed terrorist groups, including (Al-Qaeda affiliate) Al-Nusra Front", according to AFP.
It also accuses Jordan of having "set up terrorist training camps on its soil as well as operations centers to help these groups and facilitate the infiltration of thousands of terrorists a day (into Syria)."
Jordan is a leading supporter of the Syrian opposition, and this month the United States began training opposition fighters on Jordanian soil to fight the Islamic State group.
Syria's government refers to all those seeking Assad's ouster as "terrorists".
JCPA: The Lessons of the Syrian Chemical Weapons Discovery
Implications for the Iranian Nuclear Deal
These developments and Western reactions carry ramifications that go beyond the Syrian context, with direct implications for the planned nuclear deal with Iran:
1. So long as the extent of supervision is dictated by the supervised party’s declarations regarding its facilities, and so long as that party’s intention is to retain prohibited capabilities, that party can conceal facilities or surreptitiously transfer assets to other sites relatively easily. In this context, Iran has made clear yet again that it refuses to allow unlimited access to its military facilities – or, implicitly, to its intelligence facilities and those of the Revolutionary Guard, which obviously could hide crucial components of the nuclear program.
2. The West’s intelligence capabilities are impressive but far from perfect, and sometimes they are not used at all so as not to reveal their existence. This is very plausibly how the Syrians were able to hide their chemical-weapons for so long – up to two years. It may well be, as some in the opposition claim, that in addition to the sites and the toxins we know of, there is still much else yet to be discovered. This would likely be the situation in Iran, too, in an agreement based on the Lausanne framework .
3. Once problematic information emerges, no matter how grave, the West makes no quick decision, let alone taking the required action. The lack of political will to be drawn into a conflict with the party under supervision leads to foot-dragging; the issue is sidelined and its importance downplayed. The chlorine-gas attacks on the Syrian population, for example, have become a humdrum matter that interests no one and is barely mentioned, let alone spurring a response.
From Ma'an:
Fatah and Hamas met with factions on Saturday in Gaza on Saturday to discuss the reconciliation agreement reached in Cairo to reunite the Palestinian territories.
Islamic Jihad invited the parties to its Gaza City offices to review the details of the surprise agreement. It was the first meeting between Hamas and Fatah since the deal was announced in Cairo on Wednesday.
Isn't it wonderful to know that unrepentant terrorist group Islamic Jihad is so supportive of Hamas/Fatah unity, and how the two sides happily accept that venue?
Moderation just ain't what it used to be.
Another classic case of Cohen craziness:
So Qaddafi always thought this could happen, even 42 years into his rule. He feared someone might slice away the myths — Arab nationalist, African unifier, all-powerful non-president — and leave him, disrobed, a little man in a vast vault with nowhere left to go. In the twisted mind of the despot now derided here as “the man with the big hair,” his own demise was the tousle-coiffed specter that would not go away.
Strange, then, that the United States and Europe never thought this could happen — not to Qaddafi, or Mubarak, or Ben Ali, or any of the other murderous plunderers, some now gone, others slaughtering their own people, here in Libya, or in Syria, or Yemen. Policy was based on the mistaken belief that these leaders would last forever.
They were paranoid about their fates. We were convinced of their permanence.
Of course it was not just a conviction about their inevitability that drove U.S. policy toward these dictators. It was a cynical decision to place counterterrorism and security at the top of the agenda and human rights — in this case Arab rights — at the bottom. It was about Big Oil interests. And, to some degree, it was about the perception of what served the security of America’s closest regional ally, Israel.
I just looked through decades of Roger Cohen's columns, and he seems to have missed that Qaddafi might be in danger one day as well. How could he have missed it? Strange, then, that he never thought this could happen!
Equally strange is that he is not predicting that the same thing could happen to Mahmoud Abbas, or the Saudi royals, or Turkey's leadership, or Iran's. No, Cohen can blame the US for bowing to Zionist perceptions in their blindness, but his brilliance - where he can confidently predict what the US and Europe are too stupid and shortsighted to see - is still being obscured.
Come on, Roger - tell us who's next!
And why didn't you sound the alarm in, say, 2008? Wasn't it all so obvious to pundits who don't have the Zionist and counter-terrorist smoke in their eyes?
Today's bit of paranoia out of Iran from FARS News:
CIA and Israeli spy agency, Mossad, have set up a number of drug laboratories along Iran's Eastern borders to produce and smuggle hallucinogenic drugs to Iran, sources reported.
"The CIA-Mossad Joint Staff has started setting up hallucinogenic-drugs production centers at Iran's Eastern borders (with Afghanistan) to produce and smuggle huge drug cargos to Iran through collaboration with the drug mafia operating on the other sides of Iran's Eastern borders (in Afghanistan), " Researcher and investigator Majid Abhari told FNA on Wednesday.
The source said this joint staff has embarked on encouraging drug-traffickers to smuggle these cargos to Iran through odd methods like credit transaction, because drug dealers and traffickers do all their transactions in cash, and credit transaction is meaningless as far as drug deals are concerned.
Earlier, Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar had warned that the Zionist and CIA agents are seeking to boost drug-trafficking in Iran.
"Zionists and CIA's intelligence and security agents stationed in the region are helping drug-traffickers to cross Iran's shared borders with Afghanistan," Mohammad Najjar said last month.
He added that the so-called human rights advocate (the US) is so furious at Iran that it has made large investments to replace traditional drugs with industrial drugs to change drug addiction habits in Iran.
The destructive effects of industrial drugs, like crack and Morphine, is more than the traditional ones and the enemy has planned to spread drug addiction, specially addiction to these industrial narcotics, in Iran, Mohammad Najjar warned.
I think we have proof positive that some Iranians are on crack, from just this article.
From Ian:
Douglas Murray: The Cartoon Wars
Of course, this idea goes to one of the false presumptions of our time: that people on the political left are motivated by good intentions even when they do bad things, while people on the political right are motivated by bad intentions even when they do good things. So a cartoon promoted by Charlie Hebdo may be thought to be provocative in a constructive way, whereas one promoted by AFDI can only be thought if as being provocative in an unconstructive way. Whether people are willing to admit it or not, this is one of the main problems that underlies the reaction to the Texas attack.
Such a distinction is, needless to say, a colossal mistake. When people prefer to focus on the motives of the victims rather than on the motives of the attackers, they will ignore the single most important matter: that an art exhibition, or free speech, has been targeted. The rest is narcissism and slow-learning.
It does not matter if you are right wing or left wing. It does not matter if you are American, Danish, Dutch, Belgian or French, or whether you are from Texas or Copenhagen. These particularities may matter greatly and be endlessly interesting to people in the countries in question. But they matter not a jot to ISIS or their fellow-travellers. What these people are trying to do is to enforce Islamic blasphemy laws across the entire world.
That is all that matters. If we forget this or lose sight of it, not only will we lose free speech, we will lose, period.
Michael Lumish: Say Hello to the Devil
If Pamela Geller is a racist I have yet to see the evidence. What I see is a much maligned woman standing up to the enemies of the Jewish people and to the enemies of the infidel west. What I also see are a whole bunch of moral cowards who defame this woman even as they turn a blind eye to the rise of political Islam throughout the Muslim Middle East.
The rise of political Islam during the Obama administration may be the single most significant geo-political event in world history since the demise of the Soviet Union. The Muslim Middle East is moving from a period of secular-authoritarian nationalism, as exemplified by people such as Gamal Abdel Nasser, to a period of rising theocratic-authoritarianism in the name of Islam. This, it should be emphasized, is not an improvement. On the contrary. While Hosni Mubarack may have been a dictator he, at least, did not believe in some Allah-given right to slaughter Jews and he did not set himself up as an enemy of the United States and the west.
This is what the Muslim Brotherhood has done and it is precisely what Geller opposes.
Of course, it should be something that anyone who believes in secular democracy should oppose, but they don’t. Mainstream media throughout the United States and Europe largely pussy-foot around political Islam despite the fact that it represents everything that the secular west allegedly opposes. Devotees of political Islam (or “radical Islam” or “Islamism”) oppress women, hang Gay people from cranes, and promises the slaughter of the Jewish people and they do so in the name of Allah.
What’s not to like?
Ask Pamela Geller, she’ll have some words.
‘Draw Muhammad’ Winner on Growing Up in Islam and Defeating the Jihad
Breitbart News spoke with Bosch Fawstin, an accomplished artist, cartoonist, and anti-Jihad activist who won first prize at Sunday’s “Draw Muhammad” free speech event in Garland, Texas.
The event came under attack by AK47-weilding jihadists, who were neutralized by a police officer before they could commit mass murder against the free speech art display’s attendees.
Fawstin talked about his unique experience growing up in the Bronx as a Muslim, how his life changed after the 9/11 attacks, and he shared strategies to defeat the global jihadist movement. His artwork is featured throughout the interview.
Breitbart News: You won first prize at the Muhammad Cartoon Contest? What inspired your first-place artwork?
Bosch Fawstin: Quite simply, I wanted to do something different because I’ve been drawing Muhammad for a long time. Ever since the Danish cartoons, and after the Charlie Hebdo attack. Every time something horrific happens. If free speech was under assault, under siege, I drew Muhammad.
This drawing of Muhammad showed him threatening me. He says, angrily, ‘You Can’t Draw Me,” with a sword in his hand. I respond, ‘That’s Why I Draw You.’”
A Reset Button for Israel?
In the coming weeks, President Obama may announce his support for—or at least his non-objection to—a U.N. Security Council resolution defining the terms of a Palestinian state. This would represent an unprecedented break with Israel and mark the culmination of the Obama administration’s six years of confrontation with and animosity toward the Jewish state.
Yet President Obama’s campaign against Israel also provides an opening for those vying to be the next president to describe a pro-Israel agenda. Because American public opinion is solidly pro-Israel, the next president—Democrat or Republican—will be able to move quickly to repair much of the damage caused by the current administration. What kinds of initiatives should 2016 candidates who are friends of Israel consider making part of their foreign policy platforms?
The first thing the next president, Democrat or Republican, might consider doing is downgrading the peace process as the central feature of the U.S.-Israel relationship. On Inauguration Day 2017, the peace process will be more than 25 years old—with very little progress to show and in some cases, such as Gaza, with a situation much worse than before. The pursuit of Palestinian statehood over the past quarter-century has damaged U.S. credibility. It has committed our country to a diplomatic proceeding whose expectations have always been set too high, and in which corrupt and violent figures are promoted as peace partners while an ally is set up to play the role of scapegoat.
Ramallah blasts new Netanyahu government as ‘against peace’
The new right-wing religious coalition government formed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be belligerent and will work against peace, a senior Palestinian official said on Thursday.
The government “will be one of war which will be against peace and stability in our region,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
“This government will set its sights on killing, and reinforcing settlement activities,” he said of Israel’s ongoing construction on land the Palestinians want for a future state.
His remarks came after Netanyahu managed to hammer together a coalition just ahead of a midnight deadline, giving him a knife-edge majority of just one seat in parliament.
Palestinians push to put Israel on UN list of child abusers
The Palestinian Authority is spearheading an effort to have Israel added to a UN list of human rights violators.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, on May 1 sent Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a letter asking him to add Israel to the list of entities committing “grave violations against children.” The secretary-general releases the list in conjunction with his annual report on children and armed conflict.
In a report Tuesday, Middle East Eye, a news site, said Ban is due to release the report in the coming weeks. A petition led by Palestinian solidarity groups is due to arrive on Ban’s desk by Thursday.
Adding Israel to the list would put it in the company of the Taliban, Congolese militias that exploit child soldiers and the Islamic State jihadist group, or ISIS.
Is Iran Really a Partner?
The international community is failing to respond to Iran's weapons and terrorism networks.
In recent years, Iran's networks have been expanding significantly, most often with deadly results for the region.
While Iran's nuclear program is the focus of intense global attention, the international community frequently overlooks the sophisticated Iranian transnational weapons smuggling and terrorism networks, currently fueling wars and instability across the Middle East.
Weapons ships disguised as cargo vessels, Iranian airlines that carry arms, and ground convoys ferrying missiles, rockets, guns, and ammunition are all used to arm members of Iran's regional network.
The lack of attention to these acts of aggression is quite startling in light of the scope of destructive influence they have, not just for the Middle East, but for international security as a whole.
Today, it is possible to look at a number of battles raging in the region; what connects them to one another in this network more often than not is the spurring influence of Iran.
Lifting Sanctions Will Pave Iran's Way to Regional Hegemony
A strengthened Iranian economy in the wake of sanctions removal might carry very negative implications for the situation in the Middle East. While Iran continues to be a major sponsor of terrorism, it has been forced to reduce its assistance to terror groups throughout the Middle East because of economic constraints.
An improvement of Iran’s economic situation and increasing oil exports would bolster Iran’s political and military power in the region.
In the Middle East, three state blocks are currently competing for power: The Saudi-Egyptian axis, Turkey, and the Iranian Shiite axis. The Obama administration’s behavior is strengthening Iran – a grave policy blunder that could allow the country to more efficiently spread its revolutionary ideology. A nuclear deal and the end of sanctions would facilitate Iran’s power ambitions in the region.
Iran has an estimated GDP of $406 billion, which is the second largest in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia. It has a population of 80 million people, making it the second-most populous country in the Middle East after Egypt.
Saudi Arabia, which has an extremely tense relationship with Iran, may face a challenging strategic outlook over the long-term. With the decline of U.S. dependence on Riyadh’s oil, Iran is well set to become the dominant regional power if a nuclear deal is reached and sanctions are removed.
How I learned to love the Iranian bomb
Tehran's largest cemetery, Behesht-e Zahra, contains the graves of thousands of Iranians killed in battle. There's also a polished stone monument bearing this inscription: "To the memory of two Muslim Lebanese youths who on the morning of Sunday, Oct. 23, 1983, in two simultaneous martyrdom operations, with trucks carrying explosives, attacked the headquarters of American occupiers [in south Beirut] and headquarters of French occupiers [in west Beirut] killing 241 American marines and 48 French paratroopers. Their names we do not know, but we will continue their path."
We do know the name of the man who planned those mass murders, which were not against "occupiers," but against international peacekeepers working under U.N. auspices at the request of the Lebanese government. Imad Mughniyeh was a commander of Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanon-based terrorist proxy. Among other attacks for which he was responsible: the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 and the prolonged torture and eventual murder of CIA Beirut station chief William Buckley.
In 2008, Mughniyeh was assassinated. Last year, Iran's foreign minister laid a wreath on Mughniyeh's grave in Beirut.
And recently New York University held an event titled: "A Conversation With His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran." What did he say in response to questions about the tribute he paid to Mughniyeh?
Not a word. No one thought to ask.
Iran Arrests Leading Rights Activist, One Week After FM Says No One Jailed for Opinions
Narges Mohammadi, a leading Iranian human rights activist, was arrested on Tuesday. The arrest comes after Iran’s foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said that “the Islamic Republic doesn’t imprison journalists or dissidents over their views” last week.
The New York Times reported:
Ms. Mohammadi is one of the best-known activists remaining in Iran.
For more than a decade, Ms. Mohammadi, 43, has worked with the Defenders of Human Rights Center. The group was founded by Shirin Ebadi, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Political pressure forced Ms. Ebadi to leave Iran, and she now lives in Switzerland.
This week, Ms. Mohammadi, 43, who has been sentenced to prison terms on multiple occasions for her human rights work, was scheduled to appear in court in connection with a new case filed against her by the Iranian authorities. A request for a delay in that case was denied, leaving her lawyer no time to study the charges against her, Baharnews reported.
Is there a deal with Iran on Stuxnet too?
In light of the malware attacks against their nuclear program, it seems extremely unlikely that Iranian negotiators would agree to a nuclear deal with the United States without reliable assurances that such attacks would stop. Did the US provide such assurances – even verbally – and did the US also provide assurances that it would use its technical assets to blunt similar Israeli attacks?
And what of an attack on Iran's nuclear sites by the Israeli air force? It seems extremely likely that between human intelligence assets in Israel and spy satellites and other "national technical means," the US would pick up telltale signs that Israel was preparing to launch an attack. Did the Iranians demand, and did the US offer assurances, that such an attack would be prevented by, for example, leaking the information to the media?
These are extremely important and sensitive questions, and it would be foolish to expect the administration to offer answers publicly. But behind closed doors one might expect the relevant committees in both the Senate and the House to insist that senior administration officials give full and forthright answers.
Iran reportedly releases seized Maersk cargo ship
Iran has released the Maersk Tigris cargo vessel seized by its patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz last week over a business dispute, official media said Thursday.
“An informed source at the Ports and Maritime Organisation said the Maersk ship was free” to leave the country, the IRNA state news agency reported.
It gave no further details but said an official statement would be issued later on the vessel’s release.
Iran has said it seized the container ship because of a commercial dispute with Denmark’s Maersk group, which chartered the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel.
Eugene Kontorovich: Release of ship by Iran is really a ransom
News reports suggest that Iran may release the Maersk Tigris, which it has held for a week, in a few days – upon receiving payment from Maersk, the vessel’s charterer. It appears Iran is essentially seizing vessels for ransom, or charging a selective toll on transit through international straits. (The crew has reportedly just been released, but the ship is still detained.)
Iran purports to have seized the vessel to satisfy a debt. As I’ve explained, this argument fails on its own. Moreover, fundamental rules of international law prohibit the arrest of vessels in transit for the debts incurred on prior transits or by other vessels. This is codified in Art. 20(2) of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, to which Tehran is a party.
The Islamic Republic has no legal authority to seize the ship. Releasing it on payment of money is not piracy, because that can only committed by non-state actors, but it is definitely a shake-down, and an assertion of general sovereign rights over international shipping lanes. It is likely not the last such ransom Iran will demand.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Takes in Gullible Media
The silence about Iran’s piracy is important as it goes to its overall trustworthiness. Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal published a poll saying that Americans favored a deal with Iran over continued sanctions (the administration’s way of framing the issue) by 54% to 37%. But what if the first half of the polling question had been along the lines of “would you prefer a deal with a nation that violates international law with impunity?” By not properly describing the nature of the Iranian regime, Americans can’t possibly make an informed choice in a poll.
But the problem is deeper than Americans perceptions of Iran. If Iran doesn’t abide by international conventions (even as it seeks to cloak its actions in home highly selective and subjective definition of the rule of law) how can we expect it to keep its word on a future nuclear deal? That’s the question the administration doesn’t want to address and that’s the question that most of media chooses to ignore.
One other thing that’s important to remember is that Zarif (and President Hassan Rouhani) are often portrayed as moderates struggling against hardliners. Zarif’s endorsement of piracy is a reminder that he, too, is hardliner. Or as Victor Davis Hanson calls him, the Westernized Anti-Westerner.
Kerry says US remains concerned about Iran's destabilizing actions in region
Saudi Arabia proposed a five-day humanitarian truce in Yemen on Thursday after weeks of airstrikes and fighting, but said a ceasefire depended on the Houthi militia and its allies also agreeing to lay down arms, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, addressing a news conference alongside Jubeir in Riyadh, welcomed the proposal and added that neither Saudi Arabia nor the United States was talking about sending ground troops into Yemen.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in air raids and fighting since a Saudi-led coalition began strikes against the Houthis on March 26, aimed at pushing the Iranian-allied militia back from captured areas and restoring President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government.
Kerry added that he was "very, very concerned" by Iranian activities in Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere.
Israeli hiker killed in Nepal quake laid to rest
Or Asraf, the Israeli backpacker killed in the earthquake in Nepal last month, was laid to rest in his hometown of Lehavim in the Negev Wednesday afternoon.
Thousands attended the funeral of the only Israeli casualty of the massive earthquake that devastated the Himalayan nation and killed more than 7,600.
“You’re probably in heaven now hugging Yuvi and Yifrach (Yuval Dagan and Tal Yifrach were soldiers in Or’s IDF unit who were killed in last year’s war in Gaza), so no matter what — you’ll never be alone,” one soldier from Asraf’s elite Egoz unit said at the funeral, according to Ynet.
Asraf, who was injured in the war, was hiking in the Langtang area north of the capital, Kathmandu, when the quake struck.
Members of the relief team that recovered Asraf’s remains on Sunday included nine of his comrades from Egoz. They carried his body across dangerous terrain, hit hard by the earthquake, to the nearest village on Sunday night.
“The journey’s over, you’re finally home, but how do you fold up 22 years of life into a coffin?” Asraf’s father, Patrick, said in his eulogy.
Expert: Oil Industry Has Solutions for Israel's Tunnel Problem
Speaking Wednesday at an army gathering discussing military defense techniques, Langosky, a winner of the Israel Prize, said that terrorists relied on the “tunnel option” as their ace in the hole against Israel, because they know the country has been unable to prevent their use. “The terrorists continue to dig tunnels in Gaza and Lebanon. Ten years ago, I told Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, who was then Northern IDF Commander, that Hezbollah was already digging tunnels," he said.
“The greatest danger of these tunnels is if a terror group would seize an area, especially one important for national defense,” said Langosky. “It would be easy for them to kidnap soldiers or civilians from sensitive sites.”
Can the problem be solved? Yes, said Langosky – but the IDF and defense establishment are going to have to do some rethinking. “The key element is to identify tunnels, and there are technologies to do this in use in the oil industry. Tunnel digging creates seismic signals, and there are solutions to detecting these, even deep underground, that have been in use for more than a decade. With a network of sensors near the border, it would be possible to cover the entire area and get alerts on digging activity,” he said.
Langosky said that he and others have been trying to warn the IDF about the dangers – and suggest solutions - for at least a decade. In a sharp debate that followed, Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Naveh said that it was unfair for him to make those accusations without an authorized individual from the IDF who was familiar with the matter present.
IDF to follow up on claims of Gaza tunnel under kibbutz
Amid reports that Hamas has been rebuilding its subterranean infrastructure, the IDF will investigate a possible attack tunnel running below a Gaza border town, following up on ongoing complaints by residents of Kibbutz Nirim that they have been hearing underground construction noises.
A resident of the Israeli border community with the Gaza Strip decided to turn to a private company to evaluate the site, and it concluded that a tunnel was indeed being constructed underground, prompting the army inquiry, Channel 10 reported Wednesday.
The inquiry comes amid sustained efforts by Hamas to rebuild its offensive capabilities against Israel, including the conscription of new fighters, rehabilitating its cross-border attack tunnels and restocking its rocket arsenal with longer-distance rockets.
“A number of side entrances to a tunnel were identified with 70 percent certainty. The tunnel route was mapped out and marked with geo-physical means,” the private report stated. “The findings support the residents’ claims.”
Israel holds naval drill with US, Greece
The Israel Navy took part in a trilateral exercise with the US and Greek navies this week.
The exercise, the largest of its kind, dubbed Noble Dina, involved air-sea maneuvers and the use of a variety of naval vessels. It began on April 27 and will reach its conclusion on May 14, the IDF Spokesman’s Office said.
Three Israeli missile ships – the INS Lahav, a Sa’ar-class ship, and the INS Keshet and the INS Romah, both Sa’ar-4.5 class missile ships – took part.
Israeli dolphin submarines and a naval helicopter also took part.
“On April 29 navy forces reached the Greek island of Crete and held combat exercises as well as technical anti-submarine warfare drills,” the IDF stated.
Report: Hamas Set to Conduct Paragliding Attacks Against Israel
Hamas is developing an air attack capability – by recruiting Palestinian students in Malaysia to carry out attacks on Israel using paragliding equipment, a report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. The report reveals two incidents in which Hamas was found to be conducting training of Palestinian students for such attacks in that country.
In a recent indictment against a terrorist from Hevron, Wasim Kawasme, it was revealed that he was recruited with other students from Judea and Samaria to train for such attacks. Kawasme was arrested in the Khan Yunis area, arrested for terror activity after he was involved in terrorist attacks on behalf of Hamas. He admitted under questioning that he had undergone air attack training in Malaysia, as part of a group of ten terrorists.
Security officials say that Hamas is apparently operating under the radar in Malaysia, away from the eyes of authorities. The terror group is apparently operating under the guise of “social” and “educational” organizations in Malaysia. Many of the groups are being operated by Hamas terrorists, investigators learned from their questioning of Kawasme. At least forty students have been recruited in this manner.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas arrests dozens of Islamic State supporters
Hamas has arrested dozens of Salafi-jihadists who are affiliated with Islamic State, sources in the Gaza Strip said. They said the arrests came following a series of bombings, which were reportedly carried out by the Salafi-jihadists in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, Hamas demolished a mosque frequented by Islamic State supporters in Deir el-Balah.
Hamas said that the mosque was a tent, and not a concrete structure, that was used by the extremists as a meeting venue.
Islamic State supporters have accused Hamas of waging a massive crackdown on their men. They issued a warning to Hamas to release the arrested men within 72 hours or face the repercussions of its actions.
The Salafi-jihadists also issued a warning to several top Hamas security officials in the Gaza Strip who are responsible for the crackdown.
US may sell Saudis bombs once only offered to Israel — report
Amid American efforts to allay Sunni Arab concerns over the nuclear deal with Iran, officials are reportedly considering selling Saudi Arabia bunker buster bombs, which are currently only offered to Israel
American officials said privately this week that the Obama administration is considering selling GBU-28 bunker buster bombs to the Gulf monarchy, the Washington Times reported this week.
Talks for the sale are taking place in secret, since according to a 2008 congressional mandate, the US must ensure Israel’s military superiority in the Middle East. But the American administration is also anxious to reassure its Sunni allies in the region that it is not abandoning them.
In addition to the sale of bunker buster bombs to Saudi Arabia, the US is also considering selling F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates, according to a recent report.
Analysts say the weapons sales could erode Israel’s military edge in the region.
Lebanese Writer Criticizes Houthis' Persecution Of Yemeni Jews, Calls On Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah To Condemn It
In an April 20, 2015 article in the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal, writer Wissam Sa'ade criticized the persecution of Jews in Yemen by the Houthis. Noting the January 2007 expulsion of 45 Yemeni Jews from the Houthi stronghold of Al-Salem and another expulsion of Jews, in July 2014, from the town of Raydah in the 'Amran governorate, Sa'ade said that the Houthis were bullying a small group of impoverished rural Jews in the name of their war against Israel and Zionism and under their motto "death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews, and victory for Islam."
Sa'ade also criticized Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, a supporter of the Houthis who considers them part of the resistance axis, and called on him to have the courage to distance himself from these Houthi acts and to condemn the Houthis for persecuting Yemen's Jews.
"When Mr. Hassan Nasrallah deals with Yemen, he presents Ansar Allah [i.e. the Houthis] as one of the movements fighting Israel in this [Arab] East. But which Israel is this group fighting against?
"This is not the Israel that was established imperialistically on the land of Palestine. This is a different kind of Israel, with but a few hundred residents; unlike the Zionist state, it and its citizens have lived in the mountains [of Yemen] for centuries. [This Israel] has neither nuclear weapons nor Merkava [tanks]. Most of its residents have never been on an airplane, and most are members of the same clan.
Hezbollah Under Pressure After Facing Losses in Syria, Opposition in Lebanon
According to the latest reports from officials in Syria, in the last few days Hezbollah lost four senior commanders in the field, among them Hezbollah’s Qalamoun regional commander, Ali Khalil Alian, whose death was first reported by Arab media on Tuesday.
Today, three other senior commanders were added to the list of Hezbollah’s losses, according to reports cited by Israel’s NRG news. They were: Tawfiq Al-Najjar, Hassan Adnan Al-Asi and Hussein Luweis.
Media outlets affiliated with Hezbollah denied that the Shia organization was taken by surprise, claiming Hezbollah was able to successfully turn the tables on the Nusra Front and its allies.
In addition to the hardships on the battlefield, criticism of Hezbollah has been mounting inside Lebanon, mainly due to a persistent campaign launched by Hariri, one of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s staunchest opponents in the country.
Hariri has repeatedly claimed that Hezbollah’s actions endanger Lebanese security and threaten the country’s borders.
Hezbollah has also been confronting a relatively new phenomenon: strident criticism from its Shia base. Many Shia families see the war in Syria as a war that is not theirs and have criticized Hezbollah for sending their sons into battle.
Carter: Syria Safe Zone Would Require 'Combat Mission'
Turkey has long called for a safe area to be set up along the Syrian-Turkish border to protect civilians but President Barack Obama's administration has yet to endorse the idea.
[Defense Secretary Ashton] Carter emphasized the challenges involved in establishing a buffer zone, and warned that other regional governments might not be ready to contribute to the effort.
"We would need to fight to create such a space and then fight to keep such a space and that's why it's a difficult thing to contemplate," Carter told members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.
Carter was asked about the option by Senator Dick Durbin, one of four senators to send a recent letter to Obama calling for setting up a safe area in Syria.
"Though this may not be a genocide by classic legal definition, it is the humanitarian crisis of our time ... with no end in sight," Durbin was quoted by AFP as having said.
Carter said such a safe zone would be "contested" by the Islamic State (ISIS) group and other extremists on the one hand and the Syrian regime's forces on the other.
The "practicalities" would be "significant," he said.
Syria Is Using Chemical Weapons Again, Rescue Workers Say
Eyes watering, struggling to breathe, Abd al-Mouin, 22, dragged his nephews from a house reeking of noxious fumes, then briefly blacked out. Even fresh air, he recalled, was “burning my lungs.”
The chaos unfolded in the Syrian town of Sarmeen one night this spring as walkie-talkies warned of helicopters flying from a nearby army base, a signal for residents to take cover. Soon, residents said, there were sounds of aircraft, a smell of bleach and gasping victims streaming to a clinic.
Continue reading the main story
Two years after President Bashar al-Assad agreed to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, there is mounting evidence that his government is flouting international law to drop jerry-built chlorine bombs on insurgent-held areas. Lately, the pace of the bombardments in contested areas like Idlib Province has picked up, rescue workers say, as government forces have faced new threats from insurgents. The Assad government has so far evaded more formal scrutiny because of political, legal and technical obstacles to assigning blame for the attacks — a situation that feels surreal to many Syrians under the bombs, who say it is patently clear the government drops them.
US to UN: Investigate Syrian Chemical Weapons Use
The United States wants the UN Security Council to set up an investigation on the use of chemical weapons in Syria following reports of chlorine gas attacks, diplomats said Wednesday.
The investigation would be carried out by a team of experts appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and tasked with establishing who is to blame for the attacks.
"There is mounting evidence of repeated use of chlorine" in Syria, a Security Council diplomat said.
"There is a proposal for a mechanism which would allow relevant experts to have the right kind of access to answer the questions about attribution," said the diplomat.
The United States is taking the lead for the proposal that is set to be discussed at the Security Council on Thursday, according to AFP.
Western diplomats are in contact with Russia, Syria's ally, to discuss whether Moscow would be prepared to support a draft resolution setting up the UN investigation.
Students Gather Packages for Christian Refugees Fleeing ISIS
The Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum led by Father Gabriel Nadaf, the Im Tirtzu movement, and Rescuers Without Borders traveled across Israel and visited several college campuses this week to assist Christian refugees fleeing Islamic State (ISIS).
"It is a dark time in the Middle East, and my heart goes out to the countless victims of our time," Nadaf stated. "Extreme Islamist ideology has taken hold in the Middle East and is their mission to destroy our Christian history, culture and identity."
"Many Christian brethren are with the Lord now, and the others have fled their homes," he continued. "The rest of us pray."
Nadaf announced the project's name as "The Emergency Mission for Christians in the Middle East," with the aim to "provide immediate aid to persecuted and victimized Christians across the Middle East."
G=Grad
Q=Qassam
M=Mortar
P=Unidentified projectile (includes mortars)
R=Unidentified rocket
S=Fell short in Gaza
F=Fatality (Green-Gaza, Red-Israel)
[] - Palestinian claims
April 2011
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|
|
|
|
|
| 1
| 2
|
3
| 4
1Q
| 5
1Q
| 6
| 7
45P (1G)
4Q
| 8
22M
4Q
| 9
38R (15G)
20M
|
10
13R
| 11
| 12
| 13
[2P]
| 14
| 15
2G
| 16
|
17
| 18
| 19
| 20
| 21
| 22
| 23
|
24
| 25
| 26
| 27
| 28
| 29
| 30
|
|
The similarities in suppression tactics employed by Baltimore and Israeli security forces are no coincidence.
Under the cover of counterterrorism training, nearly every major police agency in the United States has traveled to Israel for lessons in occupation enforcement, including many of the agencies active in Baltimore last week.
In 2002, Baltimore city police officers went to Israel on a junket organized by the neoconservative Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), where they studied Israeli occupation tactics used against Palestinians, including “crowd control, and coordination with the media,” according to a JINSA press release. “Participants resolved to begin the process of sharing ‘lessons learned’ in Israel with their law enforcement colleagues in the United States,” boasted JINSA.
Baltimore city police returned to Israel for more occupation training in a 2009 trip arranged by the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange.
On a 2007 training session in Israel, Baltimore County police reportedly “received valued lessons from Israeli officials…about gathering human and electronic intelligence” that can “apply to investigations into organized crime and gangs.”
The Montgomery County Police Department, which sent dozens of police officers to assist in the Baltimore crackdown, has attended several training sessions in Israel, including one in 2010 and another in 2012, both hosted by Project Interchange.
This is phenomenally stupid on multiple levels.
First of all, the programs that Khalek highlights are not for riot control. One of them mentions a demonstration of "crowd control" during a terror attack - not a training session - but most of the training was for counterterrorism techniques such as intelligence gathering and operations to capture terrorists before they begin their operations; border security, mechanisms to delay terrorists on their way to a target such as checkpoints; and site security - the protection of the restaurants, shopping malls and buses that are the preferred terrorist targets, preventing bombings, securing airports and border crossings and performing mass rescue operations.
Secondly, even if Israel did offer training in riot control, it is up to individual police departments to decide on their techniques. They wouldn't photocopy Israel's manual for riot control. They take the lessons that they like and incorporate them into their own programs. One has to be thoroughly consumed with hate in order to blame Japan if someone kills another with a karate kick. (In fact, I am very surprised that Khalek didn't notice that the Baltimore police offers krav maga seminars. )
(For those interested, here is a blog post from someone who took Baltimore cop riot training in 2000, with a comment from someone who took it in 2008. Nothing about Israel, of course. )
According to Khalek's moronic logic, there is another organization responsible for Baltimore police actions:
The United Nations.
Yes, the UN offers police commander training, and one of the sessions was attended by a major in the Baltimore Police Department. Clearly the UN is culpable for the Baltimore riots.
Do you hear how stupid that sounds?
That is how stupid Rania Khalek's argument, the same argument used by other Israel haters, is.
But it isn't stupidity that animates Khalek's half-baked theories. It is pure hate.
The Electronic Intifada readers who buy this argument, however, are truly stupid.
(h/t Mitchell)
