05/23 Links Pt1: Netanyahu: Millions of children are taught that Jews are apes and pigs; 'Son of Hamas': Islam is the problem

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From Ian:
How Do You Define a War Crime?
What does Hamas’s massive tunnel-building project mean to the people of Gaza? The answer can be summed up in one word: fear. They live in fear that the structures being dug beneath their homes will start a conflict that will bring down another round of death and destruction upon their families. Speaking off the record to the New York Times’ Gaza correspondents, various residents said anonymously what they couldn’t say in public at the fear of their lives. They had no doubt that much of the aid and building materials that has been sent to Gaza to rebuild the homes that were destroyed the last time Hamas started a war with Israel is being diverted to the Islamist terrorist group’s massive project.
But when asked as to whether Hamas building tunnels in residential neighborhoods whose only purpose is to facilitate cross-border terror raids into Israel is a war crime a Human Rights Watch official that the Times described as an “expert on international law regarding warfare, the best that Sari Bashi could come up with is a shrug of her shoulders. According to Bashi, building terror tunnels in residential neighborhoods is “not explicitly prohibited.”
Really? That, in a nutshell, sums up everything that is wrong with the international community’s response to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
While Bashi, an American-born Israeli lawyer, admits Hamas has “an obligation to take all feasible measures to protect civilians, including not taking the armed conflict to civilian areas, to the extent possible,” she won’t go farther than that. That’s bizarre because it would seem obvious, even to those who aren’t “experts” in international law that structures built solely to facilitate efforts to cross an international border to murder and kidnap is illegal. Indeed, terrorism, whether it is committed via a tunnel or with rockets shot indiscriminately at cities (as Hamas did several thousand times during the 2014 war) or suicide bombings, is always illegal.
But in the upside-down world of human rights activism that a group such as Human Rights Watch epitomizes, ambivalence about Palestinian war crimes is always accompanied by vicious condemnations of Israel’s efforts to defend its people against things like terror tunnels and rocket fire. But while such organizations purport to have great sympathy for the plight of Palestinians, especially those in Gaza, their ire is almost always directed at the wrong people.
Netanyahu: Millions of children are taught that Jews are apes and pigs
Children throughout the Middle East have been brainwashed to believe that Jews are akin to apes and pigs and should be killed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
“Hatred against the Jewish people is so routine in the Middle East that many in the West fail to notice it, let alone condemn it,” Netanyahu said in a prerecorded brief address to the fifth annual Jerusalem Post Conference in New York on the danger of verbal and visual incitement against Jews, particularly on the Hamas-run Al-Aksa television.
“Hateful language that should be condemned everywhere and always, is not condemned everywhere and always,” he said.
“Millions of children are being taught daily that Jews are subhuman, that they are apes and pigs and they have to be destroyed,” he continued.
“These children get up each morning, put their clothes on and go to school. They play with their friends, they ride their bikes,” Netanyahu said as he described a normal childhood routine. “But their pure and impressionable souls are then seized by fanatics. Their minds are poisoned with hatred.”
Such incitement to kill “is one of the worst crimes imaginable,” he said.
“No child should be taught to hate, let alone to kill or to want to die,” he said, adding that this is occurring both in the Palestinian territories, such as Ramallah, and the Middle East in general.
PM Netanyahu addresses the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference


Dermer blasts 'narrative' of a moderate Iran and a peaceful Palestine
Israel's ambassador to the United States slammed on Sunday the "fiction" that a partner for peace exists within the Palestinian Authority, warning of a hostile reaction from Jerusalem to any effort to impose terms of a two-state solution through international bodies.
Addressing The Jerusalem Post's annual conference in New York, Ron Dermer, a close confidante to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that world powers supporting an initiative by France to outline parameters for peace between Israel and the Palestinians are "ignoring the will of the free people who live in the most endangered democracy on Earth."
"These powers, albeit with the best of intentions, will only encourage the Palestinians to continue their 100 year campaign to destroy the one and only Jewish state," Dermer told the crowd.
"Such an effort will not only prevent peace today," he said, but could prevent peace "for decades to come" and bolster international efforts to delegitimize Israel.



Ross: White House took 'conscious decision to try to distance itself from Israel'
Barack Obama is one of five presidents in modern history who has made a “conscious decision to try to distance [himself and his administration] from Israel,” his former aide, Dennis Ross, said on Sunday.
Addressing The Jerusalem Post’s annual conference in New York, Ross, a veteran diplomat who has worked on peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians under the Reagan, H. W. Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations, said the White House has worked under the assumption that “Israel is more of a problem than it is a partner.”
“If you distance yourself from Israel, you’ll gain with the Arabs,” Ross said, summing up the premise of the Obama administration’s policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But he said the assumption is not unique to this White House as former presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Carter and H. W. Bush all tried to distance themselves from Israel for the same reason.
Ross offered his analysis of the policy approach: “Every administration that has tried to distance itself from Israel has gained nothing,” he said.
The diplomat also said the Obama administration worked toward a two-state solution believing it would bring peace to the wider Middle East, but argued that assumption is flawed, as well.
Movie Star Michael Douglas at JPost Conference: ‘This Year Has Been About Rediscovering the Jewish Values That I Cherish’
Movie star/producer Michael Douglas on Sunday described developing a connection to his Judaism through his son.
Appearing as a special guest at the Jerusalem Post‘s annual conference in New York City, Douglas — whose father, veteran Hollywood great Kirk Douglas, is Jewish, while his mother is not — thanked his son, Dylan, for helping him embrace his Jewish roots. He recounted Dylan’s experience at the age of 11, observing his Jewish friends celebrating Shabbat and practicing for their bar mitzvahs — and subsequently telling his father and mother, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, that he, too, wanted a bar mitzvah.
Michael recalled: “We thought, ‘Yeah, sure, this is about the presents…but [Dylan] said, ‘No, when they light the candles on Friday, my soul feels alive and I feel something. When I’m with the group, I feel a togetherness.'”
The actor-producer, who describes himself as a “secular Jew,” said he and his wife were “deeply touched” by their son’s request and decided to have a bar mitzvah for him at their local synagogue in Bedford, NY. Shortly after that, the family took a trip to Israel.
The Fatal Attraction star said his son’s path to Judaism constituted a “complete catharsis” for the actor, who always longed to feel like he was Jewish.
Dr. Ruth speaks of her 'love affair' with Israel at JPost Conference
Renowned sex therapist and media personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer detailed anecdotes of her "love affair' with Israel on Sunday at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York.
The German-born octogenarian who was orphaned by the Holocaust explained that her relation with the Jewish state began some 70 years ago.
Known colloquially a "Dr. Ruth," she told outgoing Post Editor-in-Chief Steve Linde that the outcome of her experience from the Holocaust was to engage in the work of 'tikkun olam' - the Jewish concept for repairing the world.
"I didn't know my repairing the world be about talking about sex day and night," the jovial cultural icon quipped.
However, she turned to a more serious note boasting of her children and grandchildren and underlining that: "Hitler lost and I won."
Westheimer then recounted how she moved to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine and served as a sniper in the Haganah
The celebrated psychologist, who still speaks Hebrew, plans to come to Israel on June 8 to promote one of her most recent books.
'Son of Hamas': Islam is the problem
Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of one Hamas founder Hassan Yousef who in the past served as an undercover agent for the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), on Sunday told the Jerusalem Post conference in New York that “Islam is the problem” and that the free world must fight it.
Yousef, whose code name was “The Green Prince”, risked his life working undercover for the Shin Bet, and during that time he supplied information that prevented dozens of suicide attacks and assassinations of Israelis and exposed numerous Hamas terrorist cells.
He ultimately converted to Christianity and fled to the United States where he was granted political asylum.
“At one point I thought that the Jewish nation is the enemy of humanity. I thought they were the enemy of our people, the Palestinian people, until I experienced what the Jewish nation truly is,” said Yousef, who described Israel as “the only light in the Middle East”.
“We can fool ourselves, but there is an Islamic problem,” he continued, adding, “Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Jihad, the Islamic State (ISIS) and Boko Haram - all of them kill in the name of Allah.”
“There is an Islamic problem and humanity needs to stand against this danger, because it is not directed only against Israel. This danger is against human evolution,” warned Yousef.
“Humanity and the free world must unite. Today the free world should unite against Islam, not against Muslims but against Islam as a belief system. When the president of the free world says that Islam is a religion of peace, he creates the climate for the formation of more terror,” he added. (h/t Alexi)
Son of Hamas Leader: Free People Should Figh Islam


Palestinian woman shot dead during stabbing attempt — police
A Palestinian woman was shot and apparently killed by Border Police guards as she attempted to stab officers at a checkpoint north of Jerusalem early Monday afternoon, police said.
A police spokesperson said troops manning the Ras Bidu checkpoint opened fire after the woman pulled out a knife and advanced toward a border guard.
There were no injuries to security forces, police said in a statement.
The woman was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene. She had no identifying documents on her, the police said.
Police said they initially shot in the air, but after the woman refused to stop, shot at her body.
“I understood immediately this was a terror attack. The alertness of the soldiers next to me without a doubt saved the life of a soldier who was next to me,” a border police commander at the scene said in a statement.
Baby named after hero who tackled terrorists unarmed
The Schmerler family from Talmon in Samaria decided to name their newborn son after Tuvia Yanai Weissman who was murdered by knife-wielding Arab terrorists in a Rami Levi supermarket in Feburary, after he attempted to fight them off bare-handed.
The Schmerler family invited Weissman’s widow, Yael, to the brit milah (circumcision ceremony).
"During the past week, several of Yanai’s blood-stained items were returned to me,” said Yael. “May God avenge his blood. Today we merit to celebrate a covenant of blood. Blood of life, of the covenant of our forefather Abraham, of Yanai Yehuda – son of Eli and Shani Schmerler.”
"It began a few hours prior," said Yael, "Today in the afternoon I received the following message:
Israel Army's Medical Corps Adapts to Knife Intifada - The Media Line
Frenkel said that since October 1, his medical teams have treated more than 450 people wounded in terror attacks, including 250 Israelis (both soldiers and civilians) and 200 Palestinians. He said “many” of the Palestinians, usually attackers, were killed, and 16 Israelis, four soldiers and twelve civilians died in the attacks.
Overall, 30 Israelis and four foreigners have been killed in the past six months, alongside more than 200 Palestinians, most of whom Israel says were involved in carrying out the attacks.
“We realized that we needed two systems to save more lives,” Frenkel said, speaking in his office on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem. “One is more training of our medical staff, and the other is better care of the wounded person, both physically and emotionally.”
To accomplish the first goal, 15 doctors and paramedics have embarked on an intensive training program, including at a medical simulation center at Sheba hospital. They will then train doctors and medics in the field. When it comes to the second goal, Frenkel said they are trying to encourage more resilience.
“One of the things we learned is that emotional health and resilience are very important,” Frenkel said. “When our fighters are resilient they recover from attacks more quickly.”
Medical Dummies That Breathe, Blink, and Bleed
How do you treat a terror victim? What steps do you need to take? Our Medical Corps train on dummies that breath, blink, and bleed to prepare them for the pressures and challenges of the job. While not quite the real thing, it gets pretty close.


French Political Gymnastics and How to Help the Palestinians
The French government seems to be falling over itself to undo its craven vote in favor of a UNESCO resolution accusing Israel -- referred to as the "Occupying Power" in Jerusalem -- of destroying historic structures on the Temple Mount:
It sounds as if they thought they had made a mistake. But the vote was not a mistake. Underestimating the depth of Israel's anger about it might have been a mistake, but not the vote. The French -- who, according to their foreign minister, have "no vested interest" but need to "do something" about Islamic State -- could not have thought that a UNESCO resolution that offended Israel would do anything to slow ISIS "in the region" or in Europe. There is no way it could; the two are not connected.
The French however, apparently thought a vote accusing Israel of something, anything, would keep the Palestinian Authority from presenting a resolution on Palestinian independence to the UN Security Council; Ayrault implied in Israel that the UNESCO vote was a quid pro quo. Why? The French have a veto they could exercise in the UN Security Council. But the Palestinians might then object to France replacing the U.S. as the "Great Power" in the "peace process." They already have experience with a veto-wielding interlocutor -- the U.S. -- and they do not want another. The price of an elevated status for the French appears to entail not vetoing Palestinian resolutions, voting for them in UNESCO, and sacrificing Israel in a process that will end in French recognition of a Palestinian State, whether Israel agrees to be bound to the altar or not.
It should be noted that the Russians immediately put out a statement that the UN-sponsored Middle East Quartet is the "only mechanism" for resolving the Palestinian issue. It is not clear whether Putin was supporting American or Israeli interests. Iran and ISIS are similarly disinclined to see the French ascend on this issue.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, are thrilled to have an international conference where others will make demands of Israel as the Palestinian experiment in self-government degenerates into poverty and chaos by its own economic, political and social choices, looking more like Venezuela every day.
Netanyahu to French PM: Hold direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in Paris without preconditions
France should hold direct Israeli and Palestinian talks at its June 3 parley in Paris on the frozen peace process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his French counterpart when the two met in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon.
“If you really want to help launch peace, then help us launch direct negotiations with [Palestinian Authority] Mahmoud Abbas,” Netanyahu said, as he suggested that the French amend their new peace initiative so that it becomes a platform for such talks.
“I'm ready to clear my schedule and fly to Paris tomorrow. Well, I think tomorrow we're expanding the government, but the day after tomorrow.
“And it's an open offer. I will clear my calendar, and I hope that this is taken up by you and by the Palestinians.
“Israelis and Palestinians have suffered too much. It's time to sit down together and work out our differences so that peace may reign at long last,” Netanyahu told French Prime Minister Manuel Valls who is on his second day of a three day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Likud source: Peace initiative will refute Ya’alon’s claim of extremism
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to embark on a major diplomatic effort to disprove outgoing Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s accusations that, under his premiership, Israel and the Likud Party are heading toward the extreme Right, senior Likud sources said Saturday night.
Netanyahu said Friday there is a great diplomatic opportunity on the horizon because of certain developments in the Middle East and, therefore, he has made efforts to bring the Zionist Union into a unity government. The prime minister said he is “leaving the door open in the most serious fashion” for the Zionist Union to join the government in the future.
Likud sources said Netanyahu is aware that Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog could no longer join the government after Netanyahu decided on an agreement with Yisrael Beytenu and to appoint its leader Avigdor Liberman as defense minister in Ya’alon’s stead rather than complete a deal with Herzog.
The sources said Netanyahu is keeping the foreign affairs portfolio for himself, because he wants to personally handle the diplomatic challenges ahead, including a French initiative and the last few months of the tenure of US President Barack Obama.
Yehuda Glick ascends Temple Mount final time before swearing-in
Temple Mount prayer rights activist Yehuda Glick visited the Temple Mount Monday, in what may be his last visit to Judaism's holiest site until the end of his term in Knesset.
MKs have been banned from ascending the Mount since last year, out of both security concerns which arose in the wake of the latest terror war and an agreement between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Jordanian King Abdullah II.
"I have no intention to violate the orders," Glick said, expressing his understanding of the decision. "The Prime Minister decided on this out of necessity, after the place became the center of incitement from MKs on the Joint List."
"I hope I will be a loyal servant and do good for Israel," he added. "I have many interests that I want to work toward - but of course if I forget you Jerusalem, I forget my right hand, and what has driven me forward until now will continue to drive me."
Glick has long fought for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, where the Jordanian Waqf has been left with de facto control and bans Jewish prayer in a violation of Israel's laws guaranteeing freedom of religion.
PreOccupiedTerritory: The Opposition May Choose A New Leader. It’s So Cute. By Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (satire)
Over the course of more than a year, the various factions of the Opposition had ample opportunity to work to topple my government, the government with the narrowest majority in Knesset history. The explorations and negotiations surrounding the possibility of Labor joining the Coalition were fun, even challenging. Buji tried so hard. He played his heart out. He should be very proud of himself.
But Buji isn’t alone in the Opposition, and others deserve an A for effort. Without Shelly Yechimovich and her supporters openly rebelling against a unity government, no one would know just how hard Buji worked. I’m excited to watch Shelly and her clique try to oust Buji and rule the roost. It will take me back to middle school. I’m old enough now that such retrospection arouses warmth, not awkwardness, and the prospect of watching the Labor Party over the next few months, at least, makes me want to pinch the cheeks of every single participant.
Erel Margalit is a pugnacious one, the kind of kid you give a high five for showing gumption, then share a knowing, affectionate laugh with other grown-ups. With Stav Shaffir at his side, he has serious potential to rule his corner of the playground for the rest of recess.
Then there’s Tzipi. Oh, Tzipi, there, there. Are you thinking of declaring Buji isn’t your friend anymore? I bet within a week you’ll be promising to be Yair Lapid’s best friend, or maybe Bogie’s. These things happen, and not everybody always wants to be everybody else’s friend all the time. It’s perfectly OK to feel scared that no one will want you after you hopped from party to party to party in search of the spotlight.
They are SO cute. I can’t get enough of them.
The toughest police beat in the world is Jerusalem's Old City
Dawn marks the beginning of a perilous hour in the Old City of Jerusalem. After sunrise, thousands of Muslims and Jews gather to perform their respective devotions at the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Western Wall. They are only a stone’s throw apart – and, sadly, that metaphor is only too apt. Every day brings a new risk of bloodshed in a place where the holiest site of Judaism is found alongside the third holiest of Islam.
"A bloody clash near the holy places could trigger a new Palestinian “intifada”, or uprising. Any perceived threat to the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock would cause fury across the Muslim world"
Preventing a conflagration in the tinderbox of the Old City must be the toughest policing job in the world. The task falls to 600 Israeli policemen with the unique beat represented by the warren of alleys enclosed within the Ottoman walls of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
In other cities, the worst that police have to fear if a public order incident gets out of hand is a riot. In Jerusalem, the worst case scenario hardly bears thinking about. A bloody clash near the holy places could trigger a new Palestinian “intifada”, or uprising. Any perceived threat to the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock would cause fury across the Muslim world. The atmosphere is particularly febrile at present because of the frequent stabbing attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, with 110 incidents since last October.

The risks prey on the mind of Superintendent Micky Rosenfeld of the Israeli police. “If you have 50 people who get trampled to death in a stampede near the Western Wall, what does that mean?” he asked. “Catastrophe. The consequences won’t just be in Israel – they’ll be worldwide.”
Concern in Israel as Lebanese army builds watchtowers on border
A series of lookout posts have suddenly popped up along the Lebanon side of the border with Israel, apparently constructed by the Lebanese Army.
The watchtowers, which have appeared in the past month over the border between Kibbutz Rosh Hanikrah and Moshav Zarit, are a cause for concern for local residents, Ynet reported Sunday.
“From these locations it is possible to fire across the border and cause other sorts of trouble,” Erez Adar, head of security at Kibbutz Hanita, told Ynet. “It’s possible that at the moment this is a Lebanese army position, but we understand that in case of conflict they could quickly become Hezbollah positions.”
According to Ynet, the towers allow whoever is manning them to keep a close eye on IDF bases, the security fence that runs along the border, civilian roads and the numerous communities along the frontier.
There is concern over the fact that the towers were built so quickly, all within weeks, Ynet reported.
“A month ago there was nothing here,” said a Zarit resident. “One day they erected the tower and a few weeks later they put up the steps leading to it.”
'Plans for artificial island off Gaza coast in the works'
Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz on Sunday night announced that he is working to advance plans to create an artificial island off the coast of Gaza that could improve the Palestinian enclave's economic and humanitarian situation.
Katz told The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York that the venture would seek to connect the territory to the movement of people and goods
"The off-shore project could provide Gaza with an economic and humanitarian gateway to the world without endangering Israeli security," he said.
Katz suggested that the project would relieve the Gazan population from the "pressure cooker" that has become the Strip, adding that it could serve as both a "buffer and a bridge."
Katz has previously expressed his support for the prospect of a seaport in Gaza as part of efforts to completely sever the Palestinian territory from that of Israel.
"If we cut off from Gaza - we would be cut off from half of the Palestinian problem," he told Israel Radio in March.
Hamas planning public executions in Gaza Strip
Authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip are planning to carry out a series of public executions, the attorney general for the Palestinian enclave said on Sunday.
The terror group has carried out previous executions in Gaza, although rarely in public and mainly of people accused of collaborating with Israel. Sunday’s announcement involved those convicted of criminal offenses.
“Capital punishments will be implemented soon in Gaza,” attorney general Ismail Jaber told journalists. “I ask that they take place before a large crowd.”
Thirteen men, most convicted of murder connected to robberies, are currently awaiting execution, Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said on Friday at the mainly weekly Muslim prayers.
“The victims’ families have the right to demand that the punishments be implemented,” he said.
The families obtained rare permission on Sunday to stage a demonstration outside parliament, with dozens demanding that the executions be carried out.
Hamas Officials Begin Interrogating Trees, Rocks (satire)
Senior Israeli Intelligence officials were witnesses to a highly unusual interrogation late last night, when Hamas members were observed using aggressive interrogation techniques on a number of unsuspecting victims. The two men were caught on camera running around an open field in the dark, yelling at, and sometimes striking, various trees and rocks. Intelligence translators determined that the pair was asking the offending landscape the whereabouts of hiding Jews.
“It’s right there in our official charter,” commented a Hamas spokesman. “It reads, ‘The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say, ‘O Muslim, O servant of God, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’ These brave brothers were simply trying to convince the trees and rocks to turn in any Jews they might be hiding.”
When asked for comment, an IDF spokesperson commented, “To be honest, if they’re checking behind all the trees and rocks, that really limits our hiding space options. I mean, it’s a desert. It’s pretty friggin’ sparse out there.”
Israel returns looted artifacts to Egypt in sign of warming ties
Israel has returned two looted ancient Egyptian sarcophagus covers to Egypt amid warming relations between the countries.
The Foreign Ministry returned the relics to Egypt's ambassador to Israel at a ceremony on Sunday. The ministry said their return was possible due to its "strengthening dialogue" with Egypt's Embassy in Israel.
The Israel Antiquities Authority says the colorful sarcophagus covers date back as early as the 16th and 10th centuries BCE. It says they were shipped from Egypt to Dubai and later from London to Israel. IAA inspectors discovered them in 2012 in an antiquities dealer's store in Jerusalem's Old City.
Israeli authorities seized the artifacts, but their return was put on hold after Egypt's Islamist government in 2012 recalled the Egyptian ambassador during fighting between Israel and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt TV guest calls for death squads to kill, mutilate Israelis
The precise cause of the tragic crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 is still yet to be determined, as investigators hunt for the Airbus A320's black boxes.
But while Islamic terrorism is widely believed to be the most likely cause, Egyptian political commentator Nabih Al-Wahsh believes he knows precisely who downed the plan: yes, you guessed it, Israel.
And in an interview with Egypt's Al-Asseema TV on May 20, Al Wahsh proscribed how, in his view, Egypt should react to the crash.
"All the evidence indicates that the filthy Zionist entity is behind the (EgyptAir) plane crash, and time will prove me right," he said, in comments translated by MEMRI.
"They used a missile," he insisted, before launching into a violent rant - to the obvious discomfort of his host.
"I call upon any Egyptian or Arab man who comes across an Israeli person, to kill him and mutilate his body," he shouted, over the host's vain attempts to urge him "not to call for violence."
"I take full responsibility for saying this," the irate Al Wahsh shot back.
Egyptian Commentator Calls to Establish Death Squads That Will Kill Israelis, Mutilate Their Bodies


Isil carrying out chemical experiments on its prisoners as it moves labs into residential neighbourhoods
Islamic State has moved its chemical weapons operation to densely populated residential areas and is testing homemade chlorine and mustard gas on its prisoners, residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul have claimed.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is reported to have set up laboratories in built-up neighbourhoods in the heart of its so-called caliphate to avoid being targeted by coalition air strikes.
The terror group is known to harbour chemical and nuclear ambitions, and is trying to manufacture weapons not only for attacks within Iraq and Syria but also the West.
It has a special unit for chemical weapons research made up of Iraqi scientists who worked on weapons programmes under Saddam Hussein, as well as foreign experts.
The head of the unit, Sleiman Daoud al-Afari, was captured during a raid by US special forces outside Mosul in March and is now sharing intelligence on Isil’s chemical operation.
The Five Deceptions of Obama-Rhodes Echo Chamber
In his testimony last week before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, concerning the grand Iran deal deception described in a recent New York Times article that was carried out by Obama and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Michael Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, laid out five areas where the White House deceived the American people.
First, Doran in his testimony established that even before he became president, Obama had expressed an interest in rapprochement with Iran. He cited former CIA chief and Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, from The New York Times expose on the echo chamber saying that the administration knew that “They’d have gotten “the [expletive] kicked out of them,” if they had been upfront about their intention to engage Iran.
5) Blaming Allies.
Doran notes that the administation led as a whispering campaign faulting American allies such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for supporting ISIS. But there was no similar campaign to blame Iran and Russia for “fueling the murder machine of the Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad.”
But “Rhodes has directed his most venomous whisper campaign of all at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” who like America’s Sunni allies, wanted to see Iranian regional ambitions constrained, not encouraged. Doran summarized the form of attack against Netanyahu:
The preferred mode of attack, however, is asymmetric—to focus as little as possible on the differences between the two men on Iran and to stress, instead, their disagreements over Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. Rhodes and his echo chamber spin a tale casting Netanyahu as the villain of the Middle East peace process, an arch nationalist with unseemly ties to the right wing of the Republican Party who refuses to make the necessary compromises to bring about an historic reconciliation with the Palestinians.
Where did Ploughshares get its money to sell the Iran deal?
Three weeks after The New York Times Magazine published its profile of deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, in which he describes creating an “echo chamber” of nongovernmental organizations, nuclear proliferation experts and journalists to sell the Iran nuclear deal, it was revealed a group he cited as disseminating the administration’s narrative had donated to news outlets to report on the accord, as well as to other advocacy groups supporting it.
The Ploughshares Fund, a grant-making foundation dedicated to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, gave the liberal Jewish lobbying organization J Street $576,000 to push the agreement and National Public Radio $100,000 to report on President Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy initiative and related issues.
But from where did the 35-year-old organization get its war chest to support a major media organization’s coverage of the negotiations and contribute so generously to one of the most prominent campaigns championing the deal?
Mostly through other large-scale grant-making foundations and philanthropic organizations, some of the largest in the world, such as The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Hewlett Foundation, Open Society Foundations [Soros] and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, each of which gave more than $100,000 to Ploughshares in 2015, according to its latest financial report.
J Street defends itself against charges it got paid to back Iran deal
Responding to reports that it received hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to tout the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran, J Street, the dovish Jewish lobby, responded on Sunday that the deal improves Israel’s security.
“J Street worked to advance the nuclear agreement with Iran out of the belief that this is an important agreement which contributes mightily to Israel’s security,” J Street said in response.
“This is a belief that is shared with many officials in both the Obama administration as well as the Israeli defense establishment and among many in the American Jewish community, most of which supports the agreement,” the organization said.
“The nuclear agreement with Iran blocked Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon for years to come,” J Street said. “As of now, Iran has abided by the terms of the deal.”
Iranian Ayatollah Shirazi: America Is No Longer What It Used to Be; Iran Has Global Final Say


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Truman Library student lesson plans imply Israel shouldn't have been recognized

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The Truman Library has a "student activity" sheet asking questions about how the US decided to recognize Israel.

The questions being asked are at odds with history.

Have the class review the documents regarding the complex issue of recognizing Israel. Look at the history of Palestine, the United Nations proposal, Truman’s friendship with Eddie Jacobson, and the world climate after World War II. What would have happened if Truman would have not recognized Israel? What would the world climate be like if Palestine would have been divided into two nations as in the UN proposition. Would the peace process even be necessary if Truman would have not conceded to Israel?
These are leading questions that ignore the fact that the partition plan was a dead letter because of violent Arab opposition. The idea that somehow the 1947 partition plan, and resultant Arab state, would still be in force in the 21st century had the US backed it in May 1948 is the height of absurdity. The wording that Truman "conceded" to Israel is also ahistorical. He very much made up his own mind.

It gets worse:

The refugees of country “X” have just liberated a province of one of the African nations. The new provincial government has sent a letter to the United States government wanting recognition of the newly liberated province as a legitimate nation. Do you recognize this new country? What protocol do you follow? How will other African Nations respond? What will the United Nations do? What is the country’s historical background? What are the religious and political beliefs held by the people of this new country? What are the qualities of the leaders of the political parties in question? Are there residents of the United States who have ties to country “X”? Would there be pressure from this section of the population to recognize the new government? Tackle these questions and others that a government must wrestle with in recognizing a new country and government?

Truman was nothing if not independent. The timeline on the Truman Library website notes that he resisted pressure from both sides and came up with his own ideas. A small excerpt:

October 4, 1946: On the eve of Yom Kippur, President Truman issues a statement indicating United States support for the creation of a "viable Jewish state."

October 23, 1946: Loy Henderson, director of the State Department's Near East Agency, warns that the immigration of Jewish Communists into Palestine will increase Soviet influence there.

October 28, 1946: President Truman writes to King Saud of Saudi Arabia, informing the king that he believes "that a national home for the Jewish people should be established in Palestine."

1947-48: The White House receives 48,600 telegrams, 790,575 cards, and 81,200 other pieces of mail on the subject of Palestine.

Yet in this interview with Truman he says that he "burned" all of the letters, not wanting to be influenced one way or the other. His friend Eddie Jacobson was instrumental in getting him to speak to Chaim Weizmann (and Truman resisted even that, ignoring an earlier telegram from Jacobson asking him to meet with Weizmann) but the Jewish lobby was utterly ineffectual.



Truman was most certainly not swayed by the Jewish community, just as he was not swayed by the unrelentingly anti-Zionist State Department.

This lesson plan is biased, and it actually insults Truman.

(h/t L. King)

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What does Luke Baker really think about his being questioned by Hamas?

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Heidi Levine in Gaza

The Israel Foreign Press Association issued a statement last week condemning Hamas:
On Thursday, FPA member Heidi Levine, a photographer for SIPA Press, was detained by Hamas security men for more than three hours before she was allowed to leave Gaza. As she exited, Hamas security told her she was banned from the territory, claiming her work “reflects badly on Gaza.” They provided no examples of the work that allegedly upset them.

The FPA strongly condemns the thuggish behavior of the Hamas security and the implication that Hamas should judge what is or isn’t acceptable coverage of Gaza. Unfortunately, this incident is not isolated. A number of FPA members have reported being forced to undergo uncomfortable questioning by Hamas security forces while entering or exiting Gaza in recent months.

We call on Hamas to end these practices immediately and urge the group to give journalists unfettered access in and out of Gaza.
One of the people questioned by Hamas recently was Reuters reporter Luke Baker, who issued a series of tweets about how pleasant the experience was:
























As I pointed out then:

Hamas could have given Baker a full day at a spa it wouldn't matter - a government detaining a journalist for no reason is a form of intimidation. Unless Baker could have freely refused to be questioned, he was being given a message that his actions in Gaza were being watched and that he should be careful not to upset the authorities.

In this case, there is no danger that Baker would ever say anything that would upset his Hamas buddies, and both Hamas and Baker know it. So he enjoyed his tea and chatted freely.



Who is the head of the Foreign Press Association in Israel?

Luke Baker.

Is he now tacitly admitting that he was being intimidated by Hamas in February? Or is he only complaining about the treatment given to Heidi Levine and unnamed others (and why are they unnamed?)

It sounds like Baker was forced to allow this press release because of Hamas becoming too egregious in its intimidation, but he doesn't consider his own being politely questioned as any problem at all.

More likely,  Baker is more concerned about his own access to Gaza than to journalistic ethics of exposing the abuses when it happens to him.

This retweet by the FPA after the Levine story is instructive:




Hamas officials don't offend them because they are intimidating journalists - they offend them because they are unfairly intimidating journalists!

The implication, of course, is that any reporter in Gaza who is critical of Hamas gets what she deserves.

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UN admits Hamas stole cement in Gaza

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Middle East Eye reports:
Israel said late on Sunday it was lifting a ban imposed last month on private imports of cement to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

More than 1.2 million tonnes of construction materials have entered Gaza since the mechanism was set up in 2014, much of it for war reconstruction. According to an Israeli official, 80 truckloads of cement enter Gaza weekly, each carrying 40 tonnes.

The ban was imposed in early April, with Israel accusing Imad al-Baz, deputy director of the Hamas economy ministry, of diverting supplies.

"In accordance with the security assessment and the understandings reached with the international community, as of today Sunday May 22 the re-entry of cement into Gaza has been approved," said a statement from the government body responsible for implementing policies in the Palestinian territories, COGAT.

"The exploitation by Hamas is a severe violation of the construction mechanism and the agreement between COGAT, the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations," said Sunday's English-language statement, in response to an AFP query.

Al-Baz has denied the allegation, saying that the imports were conducted in line with a UN-brokered Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, aimed at allowing for reconstruction after a devastating 2014 war with Israel.
In April, the UN implied that Hamas indeed was diverting cement:
Deliberations between Israeli and UN officials, including Nickolay Mladenov, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, yielded an agreement to allow cement to be imported anew. Stipulations included al-Baz’s dismissal and an increase in the number of Palestinian inspectors on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, according to the sources.

The information about al-Baz’s actions came to light via international actors taking part in the reconstruction effort in Gaza, COGAT said in April.

“We are disappointed that Hamas continues to harm and take advantage of the Palestinian population, only to advance the personal interests of the organization,” COGAT wrote on its Arabic-language Facebook page.

The United Nations condemned the “deviation of materials” in a statement released at the time, but refrained from naming Hamas as responsible.

“Those who seek to gain through the deviation of materials are stealing from their own people and adding to the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza,” said Mladenov.
Haaretz says that this admission has of Hamas stealing cement has become a little more explicit:

Following a hiatus lasting some six weeks, Israel agreed to resume supplies to the private sector in Gaza after UN special envoy Nickolay Mladenov promised to ensure it doesn’t reach Hamas. One of the preventative steps involves stationing additional Palestinian inspectors on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Mladenov also told Israel that the cement Hamas had stolen from private-sector contractors has been returned to them.
Whether we can trust any of this is another story. My impression is that Hamas doesn't usually steal the cement for tunnels, rather Gaza homeowners are choosing to sell the cement that they receive on the black market rather than rebuild their homes, and Hamas is buying it. That is very difficult to stop.


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HRW lies again about international law

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HRW's Sari Bashi

From the New York Times:
Sari Bashi, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch and expert on international law regarding warfare, said that building tunnels in residential neighborhoods was not explicitly prohibited. But she said militant groups had “an obligation to take all feasible measures to protect civilians, including not taking the armed conflict to civilian areas, to the extent possible.”
Here's what the ICRC has to say:

Under the Statute of the International Criminal Court, “utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations” constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.[

The prohibition of using human shields in the Geneva Conventions, Additional Protocol I and the Statute of the International Criminal Court are couched in terms of using the presence (or movements) of civilians or other protected persons to render certain points or areas (or military forces) immune from military operations.

It can be concluded that the use of human shields requires an intentional co-location of military objectives and civilians or persons hors de combat with the specific intent of trying to prevent the targeting of those military objectives.
Why is HRW, which normally errs on the side of protecting civilians when interpreting international law, suddenly deciding to rule against Gaza civilians and for the Hamas terrorists who are deliberately digging tunnels underneath Gaza civilian homes?

Is there really any fundamental legal difference between forcing civilians to be herded to a military site (which is the restrictive way HRW defines human shielding) and placing the military target directly under the homes of civilians, who have nowhere else to go?

We saw this a lot during Operation Protective Edge. Over a dozen Hamas violations of internatinal law were all but ignored by "human rights" groups whose very job is to protect civilians being placed at risk from Hamas actions.

Apparently, when Israel is on the other side, HRW chooses to look the other way for all but the most egregious Hamas crimes.

And the losers are Gaza civilians.


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Some subtle media bias from Reuters

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Last week I reported that Jordan had greatly reduced the number of permits that it gave to Gazans for travel through its territory.

Reuters caught up with the story four days later. But in a bizarre case of burying the lede, you cannot tell what Jordan did until you are well into reading the story.

The headline doesn't say it. The photo is not of the bridge to Jordan but the crossing to Egypt.

The first and second paragraphs imply that Israel is at fault for Abu Abdallah not being able to leave Gaza. It isn't, since Israel has let him out of Gaza many times before.

The third blames Egypt.

Finally, in the fourth paragraph, we learn what is news about this news story.




It's almost as if Reuters didn't want to say anything bad about Jordan and instead wanted to use the story as just another hook to blame Israel (and, in this case, Egypt.)

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Famous faces in Gideon's Way

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I have now watched all 26 episodes of Gideon's Way on Youtube. As I said in my first post on the subject, one of the pleasures of the series is the regular appearance of actors who later became famous in other roles.

So it is that in one episode (Boy with Gun) you will find both Sir Oliver Lacon from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Wally Batty from Last of the Summer Wine.

That first post showed you John Hurt and Michael Cashman. Here are some more familiar faces.


A young Donald Sutherland in The Millionaire's Daughter.



Mrs Bridges from Upstairs Downstairs as a criminal boss in Big Fish, Little Fish.



Harry Hawkins from Softly Softly was on of my first TV heroes. Here is Norman Bowler in Morna before that (and long before Emmerdale).



Mr Lucas from Are You Being Served? appeared as a Constable in The Reluctant Witness...



...while Private Walker from Dad's Army was an Inspector in A Perfect Crime.



And here, before Heartbeat, before Yes Minister, before even Basil Brush, is Derek Fowlds in The Nightlifers.
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Richard Rorty foresaw the rise of Donald Trump in 1997

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My favourite liberal philosopher of recent decades is Richard Rorty, who died in 2007.

An article by Mark Danner in the New York Review of Books quotes a passage from Rorty's 1998 book Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America:
Watching him blather and mug as he casually leaned over the podium in Boca Raton, seeing him cultivate the applause as if directing a symphony and then raise his two hands in thumbs-up gestures as he surfed the waves of applause and the deafening shouts of “USA! USA! USA!,” I recalled a remark that the philosopher Richard Rorty made back in 1997 about “the old industrialized democracies…heading into a Weimar-like period.” Citing evidence from “many writers on socioeconomic policy,” Rorty suggested that 
members of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers—themselves desperately afraid of being downsized—are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else. 
At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for—someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots…. 
One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past forty years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion…. All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet. 
As Trump put it in Nevada, “I love the poorly educated!”
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05/22 Links: Beware the Echo Chamber, Fear the Media Savvy Left, Stick to the Truth; At the epicenter of BDS

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From Ian:
NYTs: As Hamas Tunnels Back Into Israel, Palestinians Are Afraid, Too
Residents said they had heard thudding noises below an incongruous-looking nearby shack that they think covers a tunnel entrance. They said they were too afraid to ask the truck drivers or other men they see around the shack what was going on.
“How can we say they are helping when they are building tunnels?” a woman asked of Hamas, tapping the rubble under her feet.
Naji Sarhan, the deputy housing minister in Gaza, denied that Hamas was taking construction material, particularly cement, intended for reconstruction, instead accusing vendors of illegally selling their supplies on the black market. He said Hamas had “its own ways” to obtain building materials.
In Beit Hanoun’s “Caravan Quarter,” a cluster of donated mobile homes where hundreds have been camped since the war’s end as they wait to rebuild, the anger was palpable.
“We have a Gaza City under the ground, and we have nothing up here,” said one 23-year-old in the camp, who spoke on the condition he be identified only as Akram, and said he made a living delivering groceries.
A neighbor who is 29 and goes by the name Abu Mohammad, said that the danger of nearby tunnels made him reluctant to rebuild. “I give it 99.5 percent that our house will be destroyed again,” he said. “I go crazy thinking about it.”

Simon Wiesenthal Center denounces ‘Israel-bashing’ Romeo and Juliet play
A new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet was denounced by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for its perceived “Israel-bashing.”
The play, currently in previews at Theatricum Botanicum in California’s Topanga Canyon, is set in contemporary East Jerusalem and includes uniformed Israeli soldiers lording over Palestinians. In the play, a character depicting an Israeli soldier executes an unarmed Palestinian woman at close range.
“Shakespeare’s classic love story has been hijacked to demonize the State of Israel,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Jewish NGO’s associate dean, said in a statement. “We do not believe in censorship, but this production has degraded a classic play into a heavy-handed, anti-Israel propaganda platform.”
“As currently staged, Romeo and Juliet is a ‘lose-lose’ proposition,” Cooper continued. “The play loses, the public loses and the truth loses. The genius of Shakespeare should be used to illuminate the human condition and promote understanding of issues, not the distortion of reality,” he concluded.
IsraellyCool: Roger Waters Narrates And Pimps For Anti Israel Propaganda Movie
This next video is 24 minutes, which is 24 minutes of your life you won’t get back. But it does show how utterly dishonest the anti Israel side are. As well as Roger Waters sprouting his BS while wearing a keffiyeh. Just in case you did not already know on whose side of the conflict he stands.
Waters joins the executive producer of the propaganda film Sut Jhally, who looks a bit like Doc Brown. But think big shmuck rather than great Scott. His face also looks like it is suffering from an illegal occupation by his eyebrows.
Waters acts as narrator for the film, which seems to be about how the “Israeli public relations campaign to influence U.S. public opinion.” Which sounds a hell of a lot like those antisemitic tropes about Jews being behind the media.



Netanyahu at Jpost Conference: PA inciting to kill Jews
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the 2016 Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York through a pre-recorded taped speech Sunday, warning of growing anti-Semitism throughout the world and the threat the Jewish state faces in the Middle East.
Addressing the audience, Netanyahu lamented the moral failure of countries, institutions and individuals in not consistently condemning anti-Jewish sentiments throughout the globe whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.
"Words that should be condemned everywhere and always, are not condemned everywhere and always," Netanyahu said
Netanyahu also highlighted the threats facing the Jewish state, especially concerning hostility emanating from Iran and notorious terror organization Hamas.
Al Aqsa TV, a channel controlled by Hamas, is "responsible for much of the violence you see today" against Israel, Netanyahu noted.
"This incitement to kill Jews" and destroy the Jewish state "is the ideology Hamas, Iran and I hate to say, the Palestinian Authority," he added.
'Facebook, Google are part of the problem in Israel's war on terror'
The Israeli government will pass legislation against social media and Internet giants like Facebook and Google if they do not take steps to curb anti-Israel “incitement,” Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York on Sunday.
Erdan made the remarks during a speech in which he outlined the challenges faced by Israel and its supporters in dealing with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
“Social media companies are happy to use the data they collect on all of us to make money, but unfortunately not to help stop terror,” the minister said.
Earlier this year, the Foreign Ministry called on governments around the world to regulate social media in order to combat anti-Semitism and violent incitement, reiterating the government’s support last year for Internet censorship during an anti-racism conference.
Erdan admits massive company caved in by boycotting Israel
Minister equates BDS activists with terrorists.
Public Security and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan admitted at Sunday's Jerusalem Post Conference in New York that G4S, the world's largest security company, stopped doing business in Israel because it caved in to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
In March, the company revoked its contract with Israel following a campaign asking the United Nations to drop its contracts with the firm. The company has claimed that the decision was among many it had taken around the world, but Erdan disputed that claim.
"While almost all companies ignore the intimidation, a tiny minority give in," Erdan said. "For example, BDS was a factor in the decision of security company G4S to sell their operations in Israel. The company is now trying to convince everyone that BDS was not a factor. Don't listen to them. Giving in to BDS was a mistake, both morally and financially. Companies that take such politically-motivated decisions must pay a price, and they will."
Erdan took a risk in exposing G4S, a British multinational security services company that has operations in around 125 countries. His announcement could be cited by BDS activists as a victory after international credit agencies said BDS had not harmed the Israeli economy. But now G4S could be prevented from doing business in US states that have anti-BDS legislation, such as Illinois, South Carolina, Florida, and Iowa, which could deter other companies from making such decisions.
Lauder: Some BDS movements are little more than Muslim Brotherhood recruiting tools
In a passionate speech at The Jerusalem Post conference on Sunday, President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald S. Lauder said that there has never been a better time to forge a peace agreement with the Palestinians, and recalled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2009 Bar Ilan speech in which he expressed support for the two-state solution.
Speaking at the conference in New York, Lauder said that he has spoken with many Arab leaders who have told him they want a peace accord and said that the the possibility of such an agreement is still strong.
“I agree with the Prime Minister [Netanyahu]. I believe deep in my bones that peace is possible. In fact, I believe there has never been a better time for peace…Indeed, the makings of a peace deal are clear to those who are willing to listen.”
Alongside his call for peace, Lauder condemned the UN as “an anti-Israel cartel,” and described the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement against Israel as an international campaign designed to isolate Israel.“The UN today is a hotbed of anti-Israel hatred—a place where the world’s worst human rights abusers are given a platform to denounce Israel,” he said, and condemned the disproportionate attention paid by the organization to Israel. Lauder said that if this attitude persists the US should “re-evaluate” the level of funding it provides to the UN.
America’s next president and the war on terrorism
The Israelis have never asked other countries to endanger the lives of their military personnel to defend the Jewish people. As it now stands, Israel has only to be concerned with the safety and security of its own people and not the lives of foreign troops stationed on Israeli soil.
Currently, government leaders of both the US and Israel are discussing a new MOU (memorandum of understanding) that determines how much defense aid will be allotted to Israel over the next decade. (The current MOU ends in 2018.) The Israeli government is asking for $10b. more than is allowed under the current agreement, billions more than the Obama administration is willing to consider. Israel is seeking a guarantee that missile defense projects so vital to that country’s security will continue to be funded.
The next president of the United States will either learn from the past or repeat it. Israel does not need the help of the US to wage war on terrorism.
The US, however, does need a strategic base in Israel to protect our troops and effectively wage war on radical Islam. The Israelis have the knowhow to go into battle with the US to win the war. To pretend that oil-rich dictators are America’s allies when they finance terrorism with one hand and pretend to fight it with the other is sheer insanity.
Report: Arab states willing to amend 2002 Saudi peace initiative
Arab leaders are hoping that possible amendments to the 2002 Saudi peace initiative could lead to the renewal of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, according to a Channel 10 report.
The Arab League endorsed the Saudi initiative in 2002 and again in 2007.
The Channel 10 report said Arab countries have indicated some of the clauses in the initiative are open to negotiation, including the ones related to the demands that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights and grant Palestinian refugees a "right of return."
However, officials in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' office told Israel Hayom they were unaware of potential changes to the Saudi initiative.
PM vows wider coalition will still seek peace, holds out hope for Zionist Union to join
After snubbing the largest opposition party for the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beytenu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that he was still holding onto hope that the Zionist Union would decide to join the government.
Netanyahu told his cabinet members that he would not appoint anyone to fill the empty foreign minister chair as he was holding that as a bargaining chip to entice the Zionist Union faction into the coalition, according to several reports.
Netanyahu spokesman David Keyes confirmed to The Times of Israel that Netanyahu would hold onto the post.
Last week Netanyahu shook up Israeli politics by jilting the dovish Zionist Union, which he’d been courting to create a unity government, and striking a deal with hawkish former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman instead.
'Liberman backed Kerry while Ya'alon was insulting him,' Indyk says
Avigdor Liberman, whose official appointment to the position of defense minister is by all indications imminent, has a surprising supporter – Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel.
Indyk tweeted on Sunday that while the departure of Moshe Ya’alon has been a source of lament on the part of commentators and political observers in Israel and abroad, it was Liberman who publicly supported his boss, US Secretary of State John Kerry, during his aborted attempt to jumpstart the peace process.
“Liberman says reprehensible things but I remember that he supported SecState Kerry's peace efforts when Ya'alon was insulting him,” Indyk tweeted.
Liberman said to drop demand for death penalty for terrorists
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman on Saturday reportedly dropped his demand for the revival of a draft bill allowing the sentencing of convicted terrorists to death, a request he had previously raised with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a deal for having his five-seat right-wing party join the governing coalition.
Under the coalition agreement, expected to be finalized Sunday, Liberman will become defense minister.
The original bill proposed that convicted terrorists could be sentenced to death with a simple majority of judges, rather than the unanimous decision required under current law.
Last year, the Knesset overwhelmingly voted down a bill, proposed by Yisrael Beytenu, that would have enabled judges to sentence a terrorist to death, with Netanyahu ordering lawmakers from his Likud party to oppose the bill, saying it needed further examination from a legal perspective.
The Sunday Times Confuses a Proposal for Policy
Under the headline “Israel plans death penalty for Palestinian militants,” The Sunday Times (UK) makes the following claim:
Israel is poised to introduce the death penalty for Palestinian militants after Benjamin Netanyahu invited an ultranationalist party to join his coalition government.
There are not one, but two major problems with this headline and article text.
The first is the use of the word “militants.” Militants can describe almost anyone with extreme views. Is Lieberman really proposing the death penalty for any Palestinian deemed to be an extremist?
No. The proposal that Lieberman supports is capital punishment for convicted terrorists. While still controversial, the concept sounds less extreme when accurate terminology is used. (See our Red Lines media bias article and video on Misleading Terminology.)
But the most misleading part of the headline and the article is the assertion that the State of Israel is actively planning this legislation. That is simply not true.
Sanders: Democratic platform must better reflect Palestinian hopes
Seeking to sway policy as any realistic chance of winning the presidential nomination further erodes, Bernie Sanders reportedly wants the Democratic Party to make Palestinian rights more of a priority in its platform.
According to the Washington Post, the Vermont senator wants to see changes that would better reflect Palestinian aspirations for statehood.
Sanders, the only Jewish candidate to ever have won any major party primaries, has throughout the campaign defended Israel’s right to security, but also has called for an end to settlement expansion and criticized what he has said has been Israel’s disproportionate response to Palestinian attacks. He recently came under criticism for claiming that Israel killed 10,000 Palestinians in the last round of fighting in Gaza, a figure that is five times greater than even the Hamas statistics, and one Sanders later walked back.
The Democratic platform as approved in 2012 refers to aspirations for a “just and lasting” agreement that would result in two states. Much of its 300 or so words are otherwise given over to protections for Israel’s security and a demand that Palestinians “recognize Israel’s right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements.”
French prime minister visits Israel in peace plan push
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls arrived in Israel Sunday to advance his country’s plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the face of opposition from his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
Valls, who arrived on Saturday night, was to meet Netanyahu on Monday before traveling to Ramallah on Tuesday to hold talks with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
On Sunday, Valls’s itinerary was mainly devoted to economic and cultural issues.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed the French initiative to hold a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries on June 3, without the Israelis and Palestinians present.
PreOccupiedTerritory: France Delays Mideast Peace Conference Amid Double Standard Shortage (satire)
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault announced today that his country would postpone the Middle East peace conference originally scheduled for the end of this month, to allow for the manufacture and delivery of a sufficient quantity of double standards to apply to Israel.
Ayrault told reporters at a press conference this morning that the conference would take place not beginning May 30, as originally planned, but several weeks later, a delay that would give producers enough time to supply the European, American, and Arab participant nations with the number of double standards they are accustomed to applying to Israel, but of which inventories had been running low. The depletion of the double standards, said the minister, occurred because of improper oversight of double standard stockpiles, a factor that allowed almost anyone to seize and apply double standards with little or no oversight.
“We have had media outlets and international organizations making profligate use of double standards for Israel, seemingly without regard for the quantity of such resources available to the rest of us,” he explained. “On top of the everyday bias against Israel’s legitimacy or concerns, we had UNESCO denying Jewish history, the EU funding illegal Palestinian construction in areas under Israeli control as per Oslo – while condemning Israel for building homes – the hypocritical singling out of Israel as practicing torture – and that was just over the last couple of weeks. Add to that tendentious media coverage and the ongoing use of a unique, cynical, inhumane definition of ‘refugee’ only for Palestinians, and it’s no wonder we’re running low.”
Beware the Echo Chamber, Fear the Media Savvy Left, Stick to the Truth
I’m not sure which is more worrisome: the ease with which the media, politicians and public opinion were manipulated by the White House and by Ben Rhodes and his associates, or the fact that Ben Rhodes and his associates not only do not care care that their methods have been exposed, they are openly proud of how they did it and are apparently just waiting for the next opportunity and client, so they can do it again.
The Ploughshares Fund was one of the most egregious abusers of the public’s right to receive good, unbiased information, when, during the critical period leading up to the Senate vote on the Iran nuclear deal, suddenly new organizations and experts began popping up out of nowhere, filling up the internet and social media with their distorted information.
Ploughshares used their money to network and amplify the voices of 86 organizations and 200 individuals during the Iran Debate, creating, what Ben Rhodes described as an “echo chamber” effect, where it looked and sounded like the voices on their side of the public debate were the overwhelming majority, always making a point to be there to oppose any conflicting opinion.
But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this technique being used.
Remember V15 in Israel? A previously unknown group which popped out of nowhere during the 2015 elections and tried to oust PM Netanyahu, claiming to be a “grassroots” organization, yet flush with suspiciously copious funds, enough to make a lot of noise. Now we know V15 was connected to OneVoice, which had received a $233,500 grant from the US State Department in 2013, according to NGO-Monitor, and, by their own admission, other money from overseas Jews, including S. Daniel Abraham (Founder of Center for Middle East Peace) and Daniel Lubetzky (Founder of PeaceWorks, which created OneVoice Movement). They also hired Jeremy Bird, President Obama’s 2012 campaign director, to help in their anti-Bibi campaign.

NGO: No protection for Israeli banks with PA ties in terrorism lawsuits
Shurat Hadin, an Israeli NGO that focuses on litigating terrorism cases, wrote a letter to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon last Tuesday arguing that any Israeli banks that cooperate with the Palestinian Authority or its banks should not be protected against anti-terrorism lawsuits.
If Kahlon agrees, it could lead Israeli financial institutions to sever ties from Palestinian banks and the PA for fear of lawsuits, and severely damage the Palestinian economy.
“Any encouragement or support given by the state, by the Finance Ministry, by you, or by those acting on your behalf, to any Israeli or international bank in order for them to continue their engagement with the Palestinian banks, let alone any guarantee of protection against anti-terrorism suits, are liable to put relevant persons in breach of many legal provisions,” including those against financing terrorism and money laundering, the group wrote.
In February, The Jerusalem Post’s sister paper Maariv reported that Bank Hapoalim and Discount Bank were considering severing ties from Palestinian banks due to fears that the funds would be used to fund terrorism, and expose the Israeli banks to lawsuits both in Israel and abroad.
‘Post’ poll: Israelis think Trump would be better than Clinton at fighting terrorism
More Israelis believe Donald Trump would be better than Hillary Clinton at fighting terrorism, but even more believe the former secretary of state is more qualified than the real estate mogul to serve as president, according to a poll for The Jerusalem Post.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents said Trump would be a better president to lead the fight against terrorism, as opposed to 21% who chose Clinton. In addition, 36% said Trump was more likely to improve relations between the Israeli and US governments, slightly more than the 34% who chose Clinton.
That said, 40% responded that Clinton is more suited to be president, as opposed to 29% who chose Trump.
Eight percent of respondents answered “neither;” only 3% chose Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who is competing for the nomination of the Democratic Party; and 7% said they favor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has suspended his campaign.
King David Hotel orders Jewish band to remove kippot, tzitzit
One of Jerusalem's top hotels barred a band from wearing yarmulkes and tzitzit, i.e. Jewish religious garb, out of fear of offending its Arab workers.
The King David hotel invited the Inbalim band to play for its workers, Army Radio reports - the vast majority of whom are Arab.
As such, the band adapted its repertoire to suit its audience, including many songs from Umm Kulthum and Farid al-Atrash. But half an hour before the show, the producers banned the band from wearing their yarmulkes, "because it will hurt the feelings of our Arab workers."
The band's director, secular Israeli Noam Cohen, refused to order his musicians to remove their yarmulkes, but offered to have them wear baseball caps as a compromise.
Despite this, half an hour after the show began, the director demanded one musician remove his tzitzit, forcing the band manager to confront hotel management over the demands.
Clashes between Hamas and Fatah renewed after Hamas official slights Yasser Arafat
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Zahar accused Arafat of cowardice during the battle of Karameh, a major skirmish between Fatah militants and IDF forces that took place in the Jordanian town of Karameh in 1968.
"When he saw the Israeli tanks heading toward Karameh, Abu Ammar (Arafat's moniker) fled on his Vespa and did not participate in the fighting. Arafat went to Amman and held a press conference only after the victory in the battle," Zahar claimed.
Zahar's criticism of the late leader is noteworthy because of the importance Palestinians attribute to this battle. The victory claimed by Fatah in Karameh was a turning point in the history of the Palestinian national resistance movement, since it drew the Arab world's attention to the Palestinian issue, and turned Fatah and its leader Yasser Arafat into champions of Palestinian resistance.
The senior Hamas leader further smeared Arafat, stating: "Abu Ammar fought against us, confiscated our weapons, jailed us, tortured us and had security coordination with Israel."
"Arafat is the one who started the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, and he is the one who renounced 80% of Palestinian land," Zahar added.
Zahar's allegations enraged many Fatah supporters, who launched a social media campaign calling on Palestinian Authority President and current Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to put Zahar on trial for "attacking Palestine's martyrs and their forefather, Yasser Arafat."
Israel to allow cement into Gaza after 6-week freeze
Israeli authorities are renewing the transfer of cement to the Gaza Strip’s private sector on Monday after freezing imports for over a month over the claim Hamas was siphoning it off for building tunnels.
Sunday’s decision by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories was confirmed by Israeli and Palestinian sources.
COGAT halted the import of cement and other building materials at the beginning of April after an undisclosed amount of cement intended for the rebuilding effort of the beleaguered Strip was “taken by Imad al-Baz, deputy director of Hamas’s Economic Ministry,” the Defense Ministry body said on its Arabic Facebook page at the time.
Deliberations between Israeli and UN officials, including Nickolay Mladenov, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, yielded an agreement to allow cement to be imported anew. Stipulations included al-Baz’s dismissal and an increase in the number of Palestinian inspectors on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, according to the sources.
At the epicenter of BDS
Over the last 68 years, since the establishment of Israel, we have seen how the Arab world has tried to eliminate Israel through conventional warfare and then by way of intifada and terrorism. But to date, the most effective Arab tactic has been the campaign of demoralization and delegitimization.
As any psychologist would tell you, the human body is capable of miraculously repairing physical wounds, but psychological damage often lasts a lifetime. This psychological campaign is currently underway in many battlefields, including forums of international jurisdiction -- the United Nations, the International Criminal Court of Justice and the International Red Cross, to name a few. However, the most brutal battlefield today is the average U.S. college campus, and some of the leaders of this movement happen to be Jewish students, particularly those lacking adequate knowledge of the history of what happened to our people over the last two centuries.
For many of these students, all of Judaism boils down to the words "tikkun olam" -- repairing the world. They see Judaism exclusively as a social justice movement. Lacking the context of what our people went through that necessitated a national liberation movement, and having heard only stories of Israel's successes in high-tech and medicine, their compassion immediately goes to the underdogs, which, to them, are the Palestinians. In fact, their identification with the Palestinian cause may even make them feel like they are being "good Jews."
About a decade ago, Natan Sharansky wrote that "American university campuses are islands of anti-Semitism within the United States," and that "American Jewish college students are the new Jews of silence." In the ensuing years, the situation got much worse. Many of those college students have graduated and have assumed positions of leadership within the U.S., and their commitment to Israel's survival has been waning.
Jewish Woman Forced to Hide From Anti-Israel Activists at UC-Irvine
An event hosted by a pro-Israel student group ended abruptly Wednesday night as police were called to protect attendees from an angry mob that had gathered. One student who never made it inside the venue called 9-1-1 as she hid in fear from anti-Israel activists who chased her into a building on the University of California-Irvine campus.
Sophomore Eliana Kopley had just left a Holocaust-related event when she was walking toward the facility featuring a screening of “Beneath the Helmet,” a documentary about the Israel Defense Forces. As she arrived at the event hosted by Students Supporting Israel, Ms. Kopley was met by an angry crowd pounding on the doors and windows—engaged in violent chants targeting the Jewish state.
“I was terrified. There is no other word to describe how I felt,” Ms. Kopley told the Haym Salomon Center.
As the mob tried to gain entrance to the event, one protestor shouted, “If we’re not allowed in, you’re not allowed in!”
With the crowd physically forbidding Ms. Kopley from attending the event and chants inciting violence against Jews and Israel such as “Intifada, Intifada—Long live the Intifada!” and “F**k Israel!” Ms. Kopley walked away from the scene.
But she was not alone. A group of female students followed her as she escaped to safety in the room nearby.
“When I turned back, at that moment, I looked at one of the girls and wanted to hide and cry,” Ms. Kopley said.
Throughout this entire time, Ms. Kopley never hung up the phone with her mother, who was anxiously fearful on the other end of the line.
Forward promotes 'Jews of Color' idiocy
What has happened to the Forward? Lately that revered institution of American-Jewish life seems to have been serving as a platform to some radical leftist views. Take this letter from a group calling themselves JoC (Jews of Color), which appeared on 17 May. See my comment below:
'We are a group of JOC in solidarity with Palestine who are organizing in partnership with JVP (Jewish Voice for Palestinians). For us, “Jews of Color” includes Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish people, like Romaniote Jews, who are minoritized under white Ashkenazi-dominated Jewishness.
We share a commitment to the liberation of Palestine and an end to the occupation. We say “organizing in partnership with JVP,” rather than as JVP, because our work is distinct in that it centers racial justice, challenges Ashkenazi-centrism, and because we are autonomous from JVP even as we receive JVP support. '
My comment: it is a shame that these young Jews, unrepresentative of the great majority of the community, have allowed themselves to be co-opted into a pan-Arab imperialist narrative that whitewashes the plight of 'colonised' Mizrahi Jews under Muslim domination, while spreading pseudo-colonial smears against 'white' Ashkenazi Jews. But then, even Stalinism had its fellow travellers and 'useful idiots'.
BBC Trending ignores antisemitic Tweets from featured selfie snapper
The article’s author seemed to be particularly captivated by the story, which was also promoted by additional media outlets.
However, some social media users pointed out that Ms Belkhiri’s Twitter account included messaging (since deleted) rather less representative of “joy and peace” or coexistence.
There has to date been no response from BBC Trending.
Update:
BBC Trending has now published a follow-up article titled “Anti-Semitic statements of ‘joy and peace’ selfie star“.
Fighting the Fight for Free Speech
Last week, I left this comment at an article published at the web site of The Economist:
Since the PLO came into existence in 1964, when there was no “occupation” nor “settlements,” either there must be some other reason for Arab savagery and terror or those who are pro-Palestine simply don’t want Jews to reside anywhere in the Middle East in their own country.
I then received this letter:
Dear Yisrael Medad,
The attached comment, posted under the pen name Rightworder, has been deleted from The Economist online. The comment was removed because it breaks our comments policy:
We remind you that repeated violation of our comments policy may result in your being blocked from posting comments on The Economist online.
Yours sincerely,
Comments Moderator The Economist online
ISIS calls for attacks on West during Ramadan
A new message purporting to come from the spokesman of Islamic State calls on followers to launch attacks on the United States and Europe during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins in early June.
"Ramadan is coming, the month of attacks and jihad, the month of conquest so be prepared and be on alert, and make sure that everyone of you spends it (Ramadan) in the name of God on the attack. Requesting from God that it (Ramadan), God willing, be a month of calamity on the non-believers anywhere, especially by those soldiers and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America," said the message, suggesting attacks on military and civilian targets.
The authenticity of the audio clip, purporting to be from Abu Muhammad al-Adnani and distributed on Saturday by Twitter accounts that usually publish Islamic State statements, could not be verified.
Iranian commander: We can destroy Israel ‘in under 8 minutes’
A senior Iranian military commander boasted that the Islamic Republic could “raze the Zionist regime in less than eight minutes.”
Ahmad Karimpour, a senior adviser to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite unit al-Quds Force, said if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave the order to destroy Israel, the Iranian military had the capacity to do so quickly.
“If the Supreme Leader’s orders [are] to be executed, with the abilities and the equipment at our disposal, we will raze the Zionist regime in less than eight minutes,” Karimpour said Thursday, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
A senior Iranian general on May 9 announced that the country’s armed forces successfully tested a precision-guided, medium-range ballistic missile two weeks earlier that could reach Israel, the state-run Tasnim agency reported.
Cyber-crooks meet their match with Israeli-developed GPS protector
Far more than a tool for Waze users to figure out the best routes to their destinations, the Global Positioning System is used in a wide variety of endeavors and industries.
Among them, to name a few, are agriculture, to help farmers determine the ideal spots to plant crops; shipping, to guide ships across the ocean; retail sales, to help companies keep track of their products; aviation, to ensure that planes are able to get to their destination; and defense, to position systems to ensure response to attack.
With so many industries dependent on GPS, hackers have been trying to take advantage of the system – in some cases, to disable a country’s defenses in order to carry out an attack, but more commonly to extort money from companies by threatening to immobilize them by interfering with their GPS operations unless they pay up.
It’s to defend those victims of GPS hacking that Israeli communications firm Focus Telecom has developed GPSDome, what it says is the first low-cost solution to GPS jamming. The system, according to the company, “is designed to neutralize GPS jammers, which are available at low cost today. The unique aspect of GPSDome is that it, too, is inexpensive, much cheaper than the solutions currently on the market.”
LA girl realizes decade-long dream of joining IDF combat unit
For 10 years, Alisa Sheldon couldn't shake her dream of moving to Israel and serving in the IDF as a combat soldier. Two months ago she realized that dream, joining the ranks of the Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion.
On Saturday, the 25-year-old Sheldon stood at attention with her male and female comrades, swearing their allegiance to the IDF and the State of Israel.
The Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion, a relatively new infantry outfit, was established in 2015. Its mission is to carry out routine security operations in the Jordan Valley region and defend Israel's eastern border.
"When I was 15, I visited Israel for the first time, studying abroad for a semester through my school in Los Angeles," she told Israel Hayom. "The semester lasted four months and I stayed another three months; and I understood that Israel is home.
"Basic training isn't easy for me. I'm with girls who are six or more years younger than me. But what's most important is being a combat soldier and contributing to the state."

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