Harrowed Khamenei Describes His Orlando Nightclub Ordeal (PreOccupied Territory)

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Tehran, June 15 - Now back in the safety of the Iranian capital, Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described for well-wishers the tale of his miraculous survival in the Orlando, Florida nightclub where a Muslim radical killed 49 people and injured 53 on Sunday.

Khamenei, still visibly distraught from the horror of the incident, escaped harm by hiding behind and under other patrons, and managed to hold another person between himself and the gunman long enough to escape the carnage. Friends and relatives in Iran described his actions as heroic.

The Supreme Leader, 76, was spirited back to Iran immediately following the shooting. He had traveled to Orlando to visit the various Disney theme parks and the Universal Studios resort, and in the course of his stay discovered that Pulse, an establishment catering mostly to an LGBT clientele, was celebrating Latin Night as part of Pride Week, and he decided to check out the scene, which is illegal back home in Iran.

However, recalled the Ayatollah, gunfire soon rang out and people scrambled. He managed to avoid being seen by Omar Mateen, the shooter, at one point even flinging a 25-year-old man into the path of the gunfire, an act he regards as heroic. "I soiled myself, but kept my wits about me," he said, breathing heavily as the moments came back. "Somehow I managed to conceal myself from the shooter. I managed to maintain a buffer between him and me of at least one person who was immodestly dressed, and therefore deserved to be shot. But it was close. I hightailed it out of there as best I could."

Khamenei had dismissed his bodyguards for the Pulse excursion, a move he now questions. "Nobody knew who I was there  - I looked like any old hipster, so my personal security as Ayatollah wasn't really in doubt," he explained. "But I guess no one expected this. From now on, I'm not going anywhere without protection," he added, glancing at his wallet.

A spokesman for the Ayatollah said he lost several friends in the massacre, but was still in shock and urged visitors not to bring them up. "Please show sensitivity at this difficult time," the spokesman urged. "It will help with the healing process."

The incident marks the first time since 2011 that Khamenei has encountered such acute physical danger to his life. That year, he was one of seventeen hospitalized for heat stroke at the Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade.

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06/15 Links Pt1: Amnesty: Whitewashing the PFLF to Condemn Israel; Hamas Threatens Jordan

From Ian:

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MEMRI: Palestinian Columnist: Armed Struggle Must Be Ever-Present, But Used According To Circumstances; It Must Not Be Considered A Crime

Following the June 8, 2016 shooting in the Sarona compound in central Tel Aviv, Hani Al-Masri, a columnist for the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, wrote that a distinction must be made between organized resistance, which should be subject to strategic considerations, and spontaneous actions by individuals, which are an effective deterrent because the Israeli security forces are hard pressed to prevent them. He added that, in the absence of a leadership and organized action, spontaneous actions are better than nothing.
Al-Masri called to preserve the option of armed Palestinian resistance as defense against the aggression of the Israeli occupation and the settlers, and to combine it with other modes of resistance, as circumstances require. He added that all Israelis are legitimate targets, since they all serve in the military except for the ultra-Orthodox, most of whom are extremists who incite to kill non-Jews. Al-Masri did advise to avoid targeting children or targeting people indiscriminately in public places, "as befitting the just nature of the [Palestinian] cause and our moral superiority," and to "take into account" the presence of Israeli Arabs and "Jews who oppose the Zionist enterprise or who are fighting to defend Palestinian rights."

PMW: PA TV teaches kids that Israel's Mount Meron is "in Palestine"

PA TV teaches kids that Israel's Mount Meron is "in Palestine"
During the month of Ramadan official Palestinian Authority TV is entertaining kids with different games and quizzes. One quiz question on the children's program The Best Home taught Palestinian children to deny Israel's existence and replace it with "Palestine," when the host presented the highest mountain in Israel (not including Mount Hermon in the Golan), Mount Meron, as "the highest mountain in Palestine":
PA TV host: "What is the highest mountain in Palestine: Mt. Meron, Mt. Olives or Mt. Ebal?"
Girl: "Gerizim."
PA TV host: "Mt. Meron (in the Galilee), Mt. Ebal (near Nablus) or Mt. of Olives (in Jerusalem)?"
Girl: "Ebal."
PA TV host: "Ebal? Is Ebal higher than Meron?"
Girl: "Mt. Meron."
PA TV host: "Good job, good job! Give her a hand!"
[Official PA TV, June 7, 2016]
This is not the first time Mount Meron in northern Israel is presented as being located in "Palestine." Previous years' quizzes have included the same question and many others presenting different locations in Israel as "Palestine."

Why Palestinians Reject Peace

When Shipler was actively reporting on the conflict, he was an exponent of the idea that peace could only come when both sides would be able to see the justice in the claims of the other side. By that definition, it’s clear that one side has moved toward peace, the other has not.
Shipler’s assertion that most Israelis no longer view themselves as the sole victims in this conflict is unquestionable. It is also unquestionable that Palestinian attitudes have gone in the other direction. Indeed, Shipler’s impressions reinforce research conducted by Daniel Polisar demonstrating that support for terror and opposition to peace was mainstream Palestinian opinion and not merely the views of a small group of violent extremists.
After two decades of concessions and withdrawals on Israel’s part, Palestinians now routinely speak of all of Israel—including liberal, cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, where terrorists struck last week—as “occupied” territory. So, despite the emphasis on settlements and Netanyahu’s supposedly hardline personality, Israel’s willingness to do what Shipler and peace activists advised had the opposite effect on the Palestinians than they thought.
By granting legitimacy to Palestinian concerns, Israelis haven’t inspired reciprocity but have encouraged their foes to double down on their narrative in which the Jews are interlopers without rights or history. It has convinced them that the Israelis are thieves who must be forced to disgorge all of their stolen goods (i.e. all of Israel) rather than fellow humans with whom they must share land if there is to be peace. Shipler seems to have caught onto the basic conundrum of the peace process that has eluded many of his successors at the Times and elsewhere in the media.

NGO Monitor: Amnesty International: Whitewashing the PFLF to Condemn Israel

Despite Amnesty’s attempts to scrub Saha’s background, documented by blogger Elder of Ziyon, Abu Saha’s Facebook page contains violent imagery.
Most egregiously, Amnesty describes the PFLP as “a left-wing political party with an armed wing, banned by Israel,” when in fact, it is a terrorist organization as designated by Israel, the US, the EU, Canada, and Australia, and is responsible for airline hijackings, suicide bombings, and mass shooting, and stabbings of civilians.
Amnesty also accuses Israel of employing “arbitrary and repressive” and “abusive use of administrative detention,” and denying “even the slightest semblance of justice.” Amnesty further claims that Israel “detain[s] people indefinitely without charge or trial. [But] Under international law, its use is only permitted in exceptional circumstances and when subjected to stringent safeguards.” As in many other terror cases, Amnesty, falsely and without any basis, accuses Israel of arresting Abu Saha to “suppress peaceful dissent.”
Despite Amnesty’s claims, administrative detention is used by many countries around the world, including the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, and is often a necessary measure in counterterror operations. Furthermore, in Israel, administrative detention is subject to due process and extensive checks and balances and compares favorably to international standards. Any decisions relating to detention can be appealed to the Military Court of Appeals and can be, and often are, challenged at the Israeli High Court of Justice. This essential information is mission from Amnesty’s account.
Based on Amnesty’s history of bias in its reporting on Israel and continued minimizing of terror operations against Israeli civilians, it is not surprising to see yet another politicized attack on Israel whitewashing terror groups like the PFLP. What is surprising, however, is that the Jersualem Post gave publicity to this non-credible NGO.

Honest Reporting: One Man’s Terrorist is Another Man’s Clown

This is a blatant misstatement: Israel does not classify the PFLP as an “extremist” organization. An extremist organization could mean any group on the far end of a political spectrum, while a terror organization carries out an agenda through violence against civilians.
This is why Israel classifies the PLFP as a “terror” organization, as does Canada, the European Union and the United States. The PFLP’s “General Command” is also so designated by the United Kingdom.
In short, almost the entire Western world labels the PFLP a “Terror Organization” and calls its members “Terrorists.” Yet Newsweek was was so eager to avoid using the T-word that the magazine committed clear journalistic bias, specifically misleading terminology.
Why does Newsweek go to such great lengths to avoid calling terrorism what it is? Why create the impression that Israel had arrested an innocent clown at random? It almost seems as if Newsweek had a specific agenda to defend Mohammed Abu Saha, rather than presenting all the facts and allowing news readers to draw their own informed conclusions.
Saha’s not the only clown in this story, but Newsweek’s antics are no laughing matter.

Hamas Threatens Jordan

The signs near the Al-Aqsa mosque were clear: "The cameras will be broken and the hands that hung them will be cut off."
Installing video cameras near the Al Aqsa mosque would be a painful thorn in the side of all the terrorist organizations. The immensely successful collaborations in the area -- those with Jordan and Israel and Egypt and Israel -- serve the security interests of all three countries, as well as the Palestinians who do not wish to be taken over by Islamic extremists even more brutal than the leaders we have now. And that is precisely why Palestinian elements, from the Palestinian Authority to Hamas, were determined to sabotage the project.
Changing the name of the Temple Mount to Haram al Sharif is another example of the treacherous United Nations' rewriting of history. The UN move is seen even by us Muslims as a villainous lie that denies not only the historic Jewish presence in Jerusalem, but the history of Christianity as well. Do they really think we are that stupid?
Regardless of what the treacherous UN thinks, surrendering to Islamist demands will not win the war against terrorism.

David French: Orlando Aftermath: Welcome to Israel's Reality

In my piece up on the home page, I detail the startling rise in frequency and deadliness of jihadist attacks since the rise of ISIS in 2014. Between 9/11 and the spring of 2014 (when ISIS burst on the international scene), only 21 Americans died here in the United States in Islamic terror attacks. Since ISIS declared its caliphate, more than 70 Americans have died in a string of attacks from coast to coast.
We’re slowly moving into Israel’s security reality — the dilemma where external power projection leads to domestic discord and international condemnation, while a purely defensive strategy allows terrorists to recruit, re-arm, and inspire a new wave of jihadists. Israel’s answer is a permanent defensive struggle punctuated by periodic bursts of offensive activity – all of which help keep life in Israel livable and peaceful for the vast majority of its citizens, but at great cost.
Americans hate the notion that there are no good answers to jihad. Something has to work, and if that something helps demonize our political opponents, then all the better. But reality is a harsh teacher, and reality is showing us what a permanent struggle looks like. This is nothing new — western powers have been fighting jihad for more than 1,300 years — but for the American trained in cultural relativism and silly university ideals of diversity, reality can be so shocking that it’s simply easier and more satisfying to deny its existence.
But here’s the bottom line — in the absence of an effective offense, our defensive challenge will grow more difficult. But because there is no way to eradicate jihadist theology from Islam, defense will always be necessary. Welcome to the permanent war. Israel’s been here for a while.

After Orlando: What America Can Learn from Israel's Culture of Preparedness

The Orlando massacre is especially devastating because American society remains wholly unprepared for further attacks of this nature. While the events of September 11 left indelible scars on our collective psyche, they are rapidly receding further into the past and do not represent the “new normal” of terror patterns. Until last December’s San Bernardino attack, Americans had lived under the threat of terrorism for more than a decade without any further major terror events. But these attacks highlighted the unsettling reality that there are a plethora of soft targets in the United States and that ISIS and their ilk will not hesitate to engage them. The government should acknowledge this reality by working to prepare the public rather than expounding on the need for further misadventures abroad or expanding the surveillance capacity of the state.
In 2009, the Homeland Security Institute (HSI) published a fascinating and thorough report for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contrasting the United States and Israeli approaches to informing and engaging their civilian populations on counterterrorism and national security. Its assessment of the United States in this area was sobering: “Ordinary citizens, perhaps the true first responders, often find themselves on the periphery of a homeland security paradigm that seems not quite prepared for the need to foster a culture of citizen preparedness.” While acknowledging the differences in the nature of the terror threats faced by the two states, the report suggested a number of ways in which the United States could benefit from emulating the Israeli example.
The HSI report credited centralized Israeli education programs on the nature and logic of terrorism with strengthening the public’s trust in the government to address terror threats as well as their own ability to play a role in the national security process. Terrorism preparedness in Israel is “a joint responsibility whereby government provides proper education to inform its citizens about the threat and survival tactics while the citizens assume responsibility to operationalize a national culture of preparedness as an able and willing partner in emergencies.” In fostering a sense of civic responsibility and a culture of preparedness for terrorism from an early age, Israeli society is more accepting and proactive in preparing for attacks and thereby more resilient in recovering from them.

Timely Recall of Huffington Worldpost Op-Ed: More Acts of Jewish Terrorism than Muslim Terrorism in the United States

In the wake of a horrific Islamist inspired massacre, its important to remind readers of the mindset that exists in certain quarters of the media culture. On December 9, 2015, The World Post, a "Partnership of the Huffington Post and the Berggruen Institute" published an article by a self-described Palestinian-American humanitarian-student named Omar Alnatour titled, "Muslims are Not Terrorists: A Factual Look at Terrorism and Islam."
Alnatour condemns all acts of terrorism and his tone is moderate. The problem here is the absurdity of the piece and what it reveals about the contempt Huffington Post editors and the publisher must have for their readership.
We can start with title of the piece. The author introduces his subject by refuting a strawman argument. No reasonable person would seriously offer the equation that simply being Muslim means you are a terrorist.

Gigantic Banner Flown Over Downtown Orlando Says: ‘America! Israel Feels Your Pain’

An airplane flying a massive banner declaring Israel’s solidarity with Orlando, following the deadly terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub in the Florida city, was seen flying over the area on Monday.
Photos of the sign, which read: “America, Israel feels your pain,” were first posted on Facebook by the pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs.
The attack — dubbed the worst mass shooting in American history — took place early Sunday morning inside Orlando’s “premier gay nightclub.” It was committed by 29-year-old Omar Mateen, born and bred in the United States to immigrant parents from Afghanistan. Mateen pledged allegiance to Islamist terror group ISIS in a 9-1-1- call during the attack and reportedly shouted “Allahu akbar” as he gunned down his victims, murdering 49 and wounding 53, before getting killed in a shootout with police.
In another Israeli show of support for Orlando, the Tel Aviv Municipality lit up the City Hall building with alternating images of American, Israeli and rainbow flags — the latter representing the LGBTQ community. Some Israelis gathered at Jerusalem’s Zion Square, waving rainbow flags and signs; others held a candlelight vigil at Tel Aviv’s Gan Meir, a park that houses a gay center.
The Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo Ron Huldai sent a letter to the governor of Florida and the mayor of Orlando in the wake of the atrocity.

EXCLUSIVE - Palestinians React to Orlando Terror Massacre: U.S. Policies to Blame

Palestinian reaction to the terrorist attack in Orlando that killed 50 nightclub goers was divided, with some expressing support and others condemning the murderous act.
Breitbart Jerusalem spoke with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank to get their point of view, with some calling it a natural response to U.S. policy in the region.
Abdel Majidawad, a masters student at a university in Gaza, reacted by claiming that American policy in the Middle East is provocative towards Muslims and Arabs, “some of whom are driven by the desire to take revenge on the Americans for what they see every day on the television as the U.S. military kills civilians on a daily basis, including in areas not controlled by ISIS.”
Majidawad claimed that most American bombs are directed at civilian areas where there is no presence of jihadists or those who the Americans label terrorists. “Images of dead innocents naturally drive Muslims to attack American targets, either out of a personal revenge or through recruitment or making contact with the organizations fighting in different areas in order to receive support and carry out an attack in that organization’s name, and that, in my assessment, is what happened in Orlando.”
Ahmad Abu Asser, an unemployed Gazan who recently completed his academic studies, also stated that “American policy is responsible for the attack.”

Orlando gunman’s wife has Palestinian roots, was married before in West Bank

She was a sweet, pretty California girl with Palestinian roots who left an arranged marriage only to find love with a man who committed the worst mass shooting in modern US history.
Little by little, details have begun to emerge about 30-year-old Noor Zahi Salman, who grew up in the small suburb of Rodeo, California, tucked in the dry hills near the oil refineries 25 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Her romance with Omar Mateen — security guard, bodybuilder and devout Muslim — began online, according to a neighbor, and they were married on September 29, 2011, near her hometown, according to public records. The couple has a 3-year-old son.
Early Sunday, the 29-year-old Mateen opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded.

Report: Orlando Jihadi's Father Helped Run Radical Mosque Son ‘Regularly’ Attended

The anti-gay, pro-Taliban father of the radical Islamic terrorist behind the recent carnage at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, FL “served as a director and vice president” of the mosque attended by his son, which authorities describe as a “breeding ground” for jihadists, reports CounterJihad, a component of the Center for Security Policy.
U.S. citizen of Afghan descent Omar Mateen, the 29-year-old jihadist responsible for the June 12 massacre at the Pulse dance club that left 50 people dead, including himself, and 53 others wounded, was a regular worshiper at the Islamic Center of Ft. Pierce in St. Lucie County, FL — home of the terrorist — according the mosque’s imam, Syed Shafeeq Ur Rahman.
The mosque, which was the place of worship of two other jihadist killers, has been linked to radical Islamic extremist ideology. Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), which has claimed responsibility to the attack.
Imam Rahman has alleged that the killer, with whom he rarely interacted, was not a member of his flock.

Orlando Jihadi's Preferred Cleric: Spongebob Turning Muslim Boys into 'F*ggots'

Even as Obama Administration officials fall all over themselves in a mad dash to label Orlando jihadi Omar Mateen “self-radicalized,” more information about the people who helped him self-radicalize is coming to light.
Fox News reported that Mateen was enrolled in the online “Fundamental Islamic Knowledge Seminary,” recently renamed the Timbuktu Seminary, which is run by a fire-breathing cleric named Abu Taubah, a.k.a. Marcus Dwayne Robertson.
Robertson was just released from prison last year, despite “warnings from prosecutors that he would recruit people to carry out violent acts.” He was in prison for weapons and tax fraud charges. Part of his tax fraud scheme involved illegally obtaining a tax refund to finance sending one of his students abroad for terrorist training.
“He was considered so dangerous that he was kept shackled with his own security detail away from other inmates,” the UK Daily Mail writes. “Whenever he was transported to court, authorities had a seven-car caravan of armed federal marshals escort him. He was eventually moved to solitary confinement after prison officials discovered that he was trying to radicalize his fellow inmates.”

CAIR Offers Terror Sympathizers and Misleading Rhetoric to Condemn Orlando Tragedy

There was no recognition during CAIR’s news conference that prominent imams espouse such violent rhetoric toward gay people. Instead, two people invoked the Quranic passage that states, “Whoever saves a life, it’s as if they have saved the life of all of humanity. And if you take a life, it’s as if you have taken the life of all of humanity.”
They stopped short of the next verse, which commands, “the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land.”
Similarly, Rizwan Jaka, a national board member for the Islamic Society of North America, noted the Quran’s instruction that “There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion.” But no one tried to tell impressionable Muslims, like Mateen, why that is more relevant today than the verse that tells them to “kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush.”
It isn’t that difficult. The American-Islamic Forum for Democracy, whose founder Zuhdi Jasser has been attacked by CAIR, issued a statement expressing its sorrow over the Orlando attack and committing during the holy month of Ramadan to “triple down on acknowledging the deep reforms necessary and the responsibility of every Muslim in countering the ideologies that inspire these Islamist savages … Make no mistake. We are again horrifically reminded that our nation and the free world are in a long war that has been declared upon us by global militant Islamists and their Salafi-Jihadi ideology. Understanding this ideology demands that we finally move beyond the false ‘lone wolf’ and ‘violent extremism’ narrative and counter the enemy’s ideology of Islamism and its jihadism.”
After terrorist attacks like Orlando, San Bernardino, and too many others, CAIR’s message focuses on non-Muslims and their thoughts on Islam. Perhaps they would better serve the public by encouraging Muslims to relay to other Muslims why the theological underpinnings that drive the bloodshed are wrong. When other Muslims try to do so, they too often are derided as sellouts.

AP Reporter Grills State Department Spokesman About Cautioning Israel to Exercise Restraint Following Deadly Tel Aviv Terrorist Attack

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner was grilled on Friday by an Associated Press reporter about double standards being applied to Israel.
Responding to comments Toner made in his weekly press conference in relation to Wednesday night’s deadly terrorist attack in Tel Aviv — cautioning Israel to exercise “restraint” — AP‘s Matthew Lee belabored the point.
“Do you recall ever feeling the need to advise, to warn, to urge governments in Europe to use restraint as they respond, when they respond to terrorist attacks?” he asked.
Toner replied: “I can’t come up with an instance, no.”
Lee continued, “Is the situation with the Israelis and the Palestinians just so unique that you think that it is required?”

IDF Intelligence Chief: If our Enemies Knew What We Can Do They’d Give Up

At a session headlined “Israel in a Turbulent Middle East: Strategic Review & Intelligence Assessment” held Wednesday at the 2016 Herzliya Conference, Maj. Gen. Herzl (Herzi) Halevi, Chief of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate warned Israel’s opponents against initiating a conflict, saying, “I am sure that had Nasrallah or any of our enemies known our military capabilities they wouldn’t risk additional conflict.”
Halevi discussed Israel’s challenges and opportunities in today’s middle east, saying “there are a lot of people who live in the Middle East with no electricity. Looking at the GDP per capita or unemployment rates it is noticeable that very big gaps have formed between us and our neighbors. It should not make us happy – A poor Middle East is a hotbed for terrorist organizations.”
“The Game board in the Middle East has changed,” he added. “Instead of few states, there are now many players. The transition from nation states to organizations is very significant. There are no good and bad guys, and players on the field change their identities.”

Netanyahu: Arab Peace Initiative Could be Relevant With Changes on Borders, Refugees

At a meeting of Likud party ministers on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced questions regarding the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, two weeks after saying the initiative included some “positive elements” and that Israel is “willing to negotiate with Arab states’ revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in the region since 2002.”
On Monday, one Likud minister asked Netanyahu what he would do if Arab states were not willing to revise the initiative. “If the Arab states grasp the fact that they need to revise the Arab League proposal according to the changes Israel demands, then we can talk,” Netanyahu replied. “But if they bring the proposal from 2002 and define it as ‘take it or leave it,’ we’ll choose to leave it.”
In response to another question about the Arab Peace Initiative, Netanyahu said the initiative provided a “good foundation, but it clearly must be updated due to the far-reaching changes that have taken place in our region in recent years.”

Between the Lines, UN Praises Israeli Policy in West Bank and Gaza

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is hardly an outlet of Israeli hasbara. Indeed, the headline finding of its latest “Fragmented Lives: Humanitarian Overview 2015” report makes its stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict quite plain: “the Israeli occupation,” says the press release, “is the “main trigger of humanitarian needs among Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory.” But behind the main bullet points disseminated to the press, the report demonstrates a discernible willingness to recognize Israel’s case and welcome its positive steps, revealing a considerably more nuanced and complex picture of the situation than the one in the press release or foreword.
Palestinian casualties did not occur in a vacuum, acknowledges the report, but were inextricably linked to an upswing in Palestinian violence. The rise in Palestinian casualties is explicitly labelled as “a consequence” of the “sharp rise in stabbing, ramming, and shooting attacks by unaffiliated Palestinians against Israeli civilians and forces, and widespread clashes.” The report acknowledges that 23 civilians and two members of the Israeli security forces were killed in 2015, observes that this is the highest since OCHA’s records began in 2005, and repeats the UN Secretary General’s “unreserved” condemnation” of such violence. Meanwhile, the report recognizes that “most Palestinian fatalities… were suspected perpetrators of attacks or alleged attacks on Israelis,” rather than innocent victims of Israeli aggression. It further adds that “the absolute majority of Palestinian injuries occurred during clashes,” hinting that the IDF used force when its soldiers came under attack rather than arbitrarily. OCHA records thirty children killed by the military and settlers, and highlights that two-thirds were involved in “attacks and alleged attacks,” again refuting obscene allegations that Israel has a policy of killing children.

Iraq says it’ll sue Israel for bombing Saddam’s nuclear reactor in 1981

A high-ranking Iraqi official said on Tuesday that his country intends to seek financial compensation for Israel’s destruction of the nuclear reactor at Osirak 35 years ago.
Israeli Air Force F-16 and F-15 fighter jets struck the French-made reactor, located 10 miles outside Baghdad, on June 7, 1981. The attack, codenamed Operation Opera, destroyed the reactor of Saddam Hussein’s belligerent regime, which Israel had feared would soon be capable of producing nuclear weapons.
Humam Hamoudi, first deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, said in a press statement published by the Iraqi news agency AlSumaria: “Iraq is determined to sue Israel for bombing the reactor in July 1981, and to force it to pay financial compensation for the attack.”
Hamoudi’s statement said there was a need to call attention to the issue following the 35th anniversary of the operation.
The Iraqi official called on the UN to activate Security Council Resolution 487, which condemned Operation Opera. Hamudi said the UN decision “gives Iraq the right to request compensation from Israel for its attack on the reactor, which was meant for the development and advancement of the country.”

Knesset Ethics Committee: MKs not allowed on Temple Mount

Despite reports that the Knesset Ethics Committee would be meeting to reverse the ban on MKs visiting the Temple Mount that has been in place since the start of the wave of Palestinian terrorism last October, the committee made the unexpected ruling on Tuesday to keep the ban in place.
At a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, the committee decided the ban would remain in effect unless and until security officials decide otherwise, in which case the committee would re-examine its decision.
Jerusalem District Police Commander Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevy gave meeting participants an overview of the security situation on the Temple Mount and said that for now the Israel Police has not changed its recommendation that MKs keep away from the fraught holy site.
However, Halevy said, the police are considering allowing Arab MKs to visit the Temple Mount to mark the end of Ramadan later this month. Once Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks its conclusion are over, the police may consider allowing Jewish MKs to visit the Temple Mount, depending on the security situation, and under restrictions yet to be determined.

Liberman bars PA liaison from Israel for ‘subversive’ behavior

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman revoked the entry permit for the Palestinian Authority’s liaison to Israel for what were described as “subversive” activities.
The ban on Muhammad Al-Madani, who is also an aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, has the support of the Shin Bet security service, the Ynet news website reported Wednesday.
“A foreign diplomatic official who is trying to intervene in political life in Israel is illegitimate,” Liberman said, without giving any further details.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry last month criticized the decision to make Liberman defense minister, saying his inclusion in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would confirm “the lack of a peace partner in Israel.”

PA demands Israel remove all police from Jerusalem's Old City

The Palestinian Authority, under the leadership of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, has criticized Israel's alleged "extremist" policies, which it claims include calls for revenge, collective punishment against the Palestinian people, and incitement against the Palestinian leadership.
In an official statement, the PA condemned the closure imposed on the town of Yatta near Hevron following last week's deadly terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, saying that it is an example of collective punishment that has become official Israeli policy and is a "flagrant violation" of international law.
The two terrorists who carried out the recent attack in Tel Aviv came from Yatta, and Israel only surrounded the city after information about the attack came to light. Earlier this week the IDF loosened the closure significantly.
The message emphasized that the Palestinian people, "like other nations under occupation", have the right to fight and defend themselves using any means permitted under international law. Unfortunately, it did not show what statutes in international law permit the murder of innocent civilians trying to eat dinner.

West Bank gunmen carjack Palestinian minister

Gunmen hijacked the car of a Palestinian Authority minister as he was driving north of Jerusalem Tuesday, in what appeared to be a revenge attack against the government over recent arrests.
Social Development Ibrahim al-Shaer was being driven near the near the Qalandiya refugee camp when unidentified men obstructed the car, forced him and his driver out by gunpoint and then sped away in the vehicle, a witness told the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency.
Shaer and his driver were unhurt in the incident.
Palestinian police spokesman Luay Irzeiqat told Palestinian media that the minister’s stolen car had been found, but the assailants had not been caught.
A Palestinian security official told Ma’an the assault was likely retribution for a recent arrest of four men in the camp by PA security forces.

'Next war with Hamas will be its last,' senior defense source says

The next war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will be the last for the Islamist regime, a senior source in the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday, though he stressed that Israel is not seeking conflict and will not be the side to initiate hostilities.
Israel has no desire to control Gaza, the source said, but it also will not tolerate an endless "war of attrition" from Hamas, he added.
"The next clash must be the last from the point of view of the Hamas regime. We [Israel] must not initiate war," he added. Yet, a future outbreak of hostilities is unavoidable, the source assessed.
His comments come after senior military officials made changes to the IDF's end goals in any potential future Gaza conflict. Should hostilities erupt again, military planners would seek the destruction of Hamas's military wing, not establishing deterrence like they did in past wars.

Missing Hamas officer rumored to have defected to Israel

A senior Hamas officer in the Gaza Strip has been missing for several days, with reports in the coastal enclave suggesting he crossed the border and turned himself in to Israel.
The elite officer in Hamas’ military wing Izz a-din al-Qassam Brigades, who was not named, is the son of a Hamas judge from Khan Younis in the south of the Strip and was involved in training in the terror group’s cross-border tunnels, according to an Israeli Channel 2 report.
Some Palestinian reports indicated the officer told his family he was going for a hike and crossed the border into Israel, the TV report said. The Hamas officer is believed to have extensive information on the terror group’s underground network.
Earlier this month, Israeli security forces said Hamas operatives can travel throughout the Gaza Strip entirely underground using the terror group’s extensive tunnel network.
Information about the tunnel system has come from the testimony of at least two low-level Hamas members picked up by Israeli troops in the last months, the Shin Bet security service says.

Report: Hamas head Khaled Mashaal to step down

Hamas head Khaled Mashaal will reportedly not seek another term in the upcoming internal elections, scheduled for the end of the year.
According to the London-based paper Rai Alyoum, 56-year-old Mashaal is firm in his decision, unlike his 2013 pledge to retire. He will officially announce the decision sometime before Hamas begins its preparations for elections.
The election will be open to members of the Shura Council, Hamas's decision-making body. The council's membership is made up of representatives for Gaza, Judea and Samaria, "exiled" leaders living elsewhere, and Palestinians serving sentences in Israeli prisons. There are believed to be about 60 people on board, and they are responsible for the group's actions, both political and terror.
Mashaal has led the terror organization for the past twenty years, largely from his office in Damascus

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PreOccupiedTerritory: To Publish Porn Surfing Habits Of Hezbollah, Hamas Leaders (satire)

Israeli military and defense figures speaking at the annual Herzeliya Conference told the audience today that as a preemptive measure, the IDF will soon release detailed information on the pornography consumption by every important Hamas and Hezbollah official.
Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Ganz and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset Yuval Steinitz both referred to the initiative, which is a product of AMAN, Israel’s military intelligence apparatus. Both of them said the project was a pilot begun under a previous administration, and was ready to be launched formally, but has been operating more or less as planned for a number of years. The officials declined to disclose exactly how long.
The initiative, called Publicizing Opponents’ Regional Net Habits for Use in Battle (PORNHUB), uses technology developed by the Israeli military to tap into networks used by enemy commanders and political leaders, and defeats the techniques those figures use to conceal or delete the evidence of their pornography habits, said Ganz.
“Most people think that encryption, deleting browser history, and getting rid of cookies on one’s device are enough to eliminate or hide traces of online activity one doesn’t want known to others,” explained the retired general, part of whose tenure included oversight of PORNHUB. “What many don’t realize is that we developed most, if not all, of the fixes out there that are marketed or portrayed as methods to defeat tracking, precisely as a method of conducting that tracking. The only thing that’s actually concealed is our monitoring of those internet connections.”

Lebanon will become refugee state in next Hezbollah war, says IDF intel chief

Lebanon will become a "state of refugees" from which it will be difficult to recover if there is another war between Israel and Hezbollah, a senior IDF intelligence general said Wednesday.
"The situation in the next conflict will be completely different. We are stronger than we have ever been and are able to deal with any threat," said the head of IDF Military Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Speaking at the 16th Annual Herzliya Conference, Halevi stated that while Israel is not interested in another armed conflict with the Lebanese Shi'ite terror group, the Jewish state is "more prepared than ever" for such an event.
"Never in history have we had an enemy that we know more about," he added.

Should there be a new push to outlaw all of Hezbollah in the EU?

A US Congress hearing on Wednesday spotlighted Hezbollah’s role in an international narcotic trafficking operation that enables the Lebanese Shi’ite group to advance its terrorist goals. Europe remains fertile ground for Hezbollah operations and terrorism finance.
Given Hezbollah’s role in the ongoing slaughter of Syrian civilians and a thwarted attack on Israelis in Cyprus, is it time for Europe to ban all Hezbollah activity in the EU? Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said at the hearing: “An intricate network of money couriers who collect and transport millions of euros in drug proceeds from Europe to the Middle East.
The currency is then paid in Colombia to drug traffickers using the Hawala disbursement system. A large portion of the drug proceeds was found to transit through Lebanon, and a significant percentage of these proceeds is benefiting terrorist organizations, namely Hezbollah.”

Iran's Khamenei threatens to 'set fire' to nuclear deal if West violates

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatened on Tuesday to "set fire" to the nuclear deal sealed with world powers if US presidential candidates reneged on the agreement.
Presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump said last August it would be hard to "rip up" the deal, but if elected president he would "police that contract so tough they don't have a chance".
Iran can expect a shift in relations with the United States to a more aggressive posture under a Republic president, a reversal of the warming trend nurtured by Democratic President Barack Obama.
"The Islamic Republic won't be the first to violate the nuclear deal. Staying faithful to a promise is a Koranic order," Khamenei said, according to state media. "But if the threat from the American presidential candidates to tear up the deal becomes operational then the Islamic Republic will set fire to the deal." He did not identify any candidate and said he did not see a difference between Democrats and Republicans in the comments that state media said he made in a meeting with senior officials including President Hassan Rouhani, who championed the agreement.
Hillary Clinton, who Obama has endorsed to succeed him in the Nov. 8 election, said in March in a speech to a pro-Israel lobby group in Washington that Iran still posed a threat to Israel and needed to be closely watched.
She was secretary of state under Obama during his first term.

Canada court hands over Iran assets to terror victims’ families

A Canadian judge has ordered Iran’s non-diplomatic land and bank accounts in Canada to be handed over to victims of attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah, sponsored by Tehran.
The judgment, obtained by AFP on Friday, awards a reported $13 million to families of Americans who died in eight bombings or hostage-takings in Buenos Aires, Israel, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia from 1983 to 2002.
Hundreds died in the attacks.
The families, led by the parents of Marla Bennett, who was killed when a suicide bomber struck at a cafeteria at Hebrew University in Israel in 2002, had successfully sued the Islamic republic in the United States.
The US court found that Iran was responsible for training Hamas and Hezbollah operatives, as well as backing the groups financially.
But those judgments remain largely unpaid.
“Terrorism is one of the world’s greatest threats,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey said in his decision.

Arrest of Canadian-Iranian Scholar Highlights Threats Dual Nationals Face in Iran

A prominent Canadian-Iranian scholar who was studying women in the Muslim world has been arrested in Iran, highlighting the continued risk that dual nationals face when they travel to the Islamic Republic.
Homa Hoodfar, an anthropologist at Concordia University in Montreal, was first detained in March 10 by an intelligence unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, The New York Times reported. She was later released but not allowed to leave Iran, then arrested again last week and sent Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, according to her family.
“In recent months, the unit that arrested Ms. Hoodfar has questioned dozens of people with two nationalities and arrested several,” the Times noted.
Dual nationality is not recognized by Iran, and the regime denies arrested Iranians access to the consular offices of other countries they are citizens of.
Dual nationals currently held in Iran include businessman Siamak Namazi and his father, Baquer Namazi, both of whom have American and Iranian citizenship. At least two British-Iranians — Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an employee of Thomson Reuters, and businessman Kamal Foroughi — have also been arrested, as has Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national with U.S. permanent residency.
The Times cited speculation that the dual nationals are being held as bargaining chips for future swaps.

Iran accuses British mom of bid to ‘overthrow regime’

A British-Iranian woman who was arrested in Iran in April was accused on Wednesday of seeking to “overthrow the regime,” according to a statement from the powerful Revolutionary Guards.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an employee of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was accused of being “involved in the soft overthrow of the Islamic Republic through… her membership in foreign companies and institutions,” the Mizan news agency quoted a regional Guards branch as saying.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 37, was arrested at Tehran airport on April 3 as she prepared to return to Britain with her daughter after visiting family in Iran, her husband told AFP last week.
Iran doesn’t recognize dual citizenship and, if put on trial, she will be considered an Iranian.

2nd Holocaust Cartoon Contest

It’s perhaps odd that we choose to discuss a contest making ‘fun’ of one of the most monstrous events in human history. Perhaps we do it so you won’t have to.
If you wish to see for yourself the ‘winners’ are available at Iran Cartoon. No link as we have no desire to push this to the front of search engines. The Israel/Jew Haters will find them without any help from us.
Please only share versions that have been defaced and labelled as propaganda. Although Photoshop is probably the ideal tool to achieve this even WINDOWS Paint will do an adequate job.
Who is this French cartoonist who who financially profited from a $12,000 first prize from a Holocaust cartoon accusing (who precisely?) of financially profiting from the Holocaust?
There is surprisingly little autobiographical information, not even from his own blog.

Hallelu Foundation: Israel Defends Europe

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Did the UAE suspend its $500M annual aid to PA?

On June 12, a popular and prolific Palestinian columnist named Jihad el-Khazen wrote an article for the pan-Arab London-based Al Hayat that caused a sensation.

El-Khazen interviewed an unnamed senior Gulf official who sharply criticized President Obama, saying he was acting more as a professor than a president and saying that perhaps Donald Trump would be a better president. He called Obama's Middle East strategy a disaster: "He pulled out of Iraq and then returned. He reduced US forces in Afghanistan and then increased them. He drew red lines in Syria and then ignored them. He says the Saudis are allies, but then he is not serious in cooperating with them. He accuses us in the Arab coalition of killing civilians; the Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan hundreds of thousands of civilians, and now they are blaming us. The situation between the Gulf and Washington has gone from bad to worse."

Crown Prince Zayed of Abu Dhabi

That wasn't the controversial part in the Arab world. This was:

The Gulf official told me that the entire leadership of the Palestinian National Authority must resign, there is no confidence. He asked me, "Have you heard about the PA deal with the United Arab Emirates?" I told him I definitely hadn't and asked him for clarification.

He said that the UAE had for four years subsidized the Palestinian Authority by about $500 million a year, and that he personally carried a symbolic Palestinian keffiyeh in solidarity with the Palestinians.

[Former PA prime minister] Salam Fayyad came to Abu Dhabi, saying he decided to establish a non-governmental organization. Officials in Abu Dhabi chose to support his association with ten million dollars.

They were surprised when the prosecutor general of the Palestinian Authority froze the transfer of $700 thousand dollars to the NGO of Salam Fayyad, and accused the Emirates of trying to launder money through the Palestinian territories.

The official said angrily, "Can you believe that the UAE would choose to launder funds through the Palestinian territories and that the amount is only 700 thousand dollars?"

The Emirates are now demanding the Palestinian president to apologize publicly, and have stopped all aid to the Palestinian Authority.

The official PA Wafa news agency and Fatah went bananas over this. They said that the el-Khazen article was an "obscenity" and asked Al Hayat why they would choose to publish such "vulgarity." They are also demanding that  Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed answer whether he really has the opinions mentioned in the article towards the PA.

But there was no denial that funds had been suspended to the PA.

The Arab world are once again showing how sick they are of the Palestinian issue and their corruption. The West should be wondering why Arabs who know the PA well and have supported them for decades are now cool towards their "brethren."

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Canadian "Independent Jewish Voices" supports antisemitic conspiracy theories, linked to Holocaust denial article

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) is essentially a Canadian version of "Jewish Voice for Peace," a virulently anti-Israel group that uses its Jewish members as a shield against charges of antisemitism - and manages to get media attention as a legitimate voice of the Jewish community.

Whoops.

This link goes to the well-known antisemitic conspiracy theory site Veterans Today, and the editor of that site added these paragraphs to the original article by rabid Ziophobe Alan Hart:

One of the most prevalent abuses of what is called the holocaust is the ritual exploitation of numbers which have long been debunked, but are still continually abused. I used to remind all media ten to twelve years ago that the Auschwitz plaque had been changed from the “four million died”, to roughly “one million died”.

I did the math for them… 6 minus 3 does not equal 6, except in holocaust math. Not a one of them was aware of the change in the Auschwitz plaque; but still, after all of this time, media never fails to use the old debunked number.

This link by IJV to the Holocaust-denial article was exposed by B'nai Brith Canada:

A group that calls itself Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), and passes itself off as an organization that speaks on behalf of Jewish Canadians, promotes Holocaust denial through social media, a B’nai Brith investigation reveals.

Postings on the group’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts have been directing followers to articles from the white supremacist hate site Veterans Today. One article in particular falsely asserts that no more than 1-million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany and characterizes modern antisemitism as a natural reaction to Israeli policies. The article was also promoted online by Sid Shniad, a B.C. resident who serves as IJV’s co-chair and official spokesperson.

Both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Law Poverty Center have denounced Veterans Today as a white supremacist hate site, replete with false accusations of Jewish responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the assassination of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings.

The posting by IJV cannot be described as accidental or unknowing. In fact, one Facebook follower of the IJV page explicitly pointed out that the article supports Holocaust denial, but IJV failed to answer it or delete the link.

IJV then went into attack and coverup mode.

It apologized for linking to the story, but defended author Alan Hart. Here is its amended defense:

In 2015 IJV provided a social media link to an article written by the widely-respected journalist and Mid-East expert Alan Hart entitled, “A truth most Jews don’t want to know about anti-Semitism”. Like Hart, IJV strongly condemns anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial of any kind.

Hart’s article was re-published on a website called Veterans Today which upon further examination proved to be an extremely disreputable site that engages in wild conspiracy theory and Holocaust debunking. The editor at Veterans Today inserted a note into the article denying the number of Jews exterminated in the concentration camps that we find repugnant.

We thoughtlessly linked to Hart’s article on the Veterans Today site. We acknowledge that our oversight in this respect was lax: we didn’t verify the nature of the Veteran’s Today website, and we didn’t examine the Editor’s note. For that, we apologize to our members and supporters for our carelessness. IJV has now removed that link.

IJV is claiming ignorance about the nature of Veterans Today - and also about the fact that the article it linked to included Holocaust denial inserted by VT's editor. It seems more than strange for a group, and many of its members individually, to link to an article without actually reading it.

The idea that they knew nothing about Veterans Today is far-fetched. After all, VT itself praises IJV and its coordinator Tyler Levitan in 2015, with the VT editor saying that he wanted to get in contact with Levitan to see how they could work together.

Even without VT's adding the explicit Holocaust denial to Hart's article, IJV's defense of Alan Hart as a "widely-respected journalist and Mid-East expert" betrays its fringe agenda. After Bnai Brith Canada pointed out that Hart peddles outrageous 9/11 conspiracy theories, IJV added that they don't support that part of Hart's oeuvre. Yet they still defend him and call him "widely respected."

Also, IJV has another 9/11 conspiracy theorist on its steering committee, Diana Ralph. IJV deleted that page after it was exposed.

In fact, IJV has been furiously cleansing its social media timelines and website of embarrassing materials as Bnai Brith Canada has been exposing them.

This isn't the first brush that IJV had with crazed conspiracy theories that they now claim to disavow. Check out this Facebook post from 2012:

This episode shows that IJV is not mainstream and represents no one besides a tiny fringe of self-hating Jews who are happy to use their ostensible Jewish ancestry as a means to bash Israel. Its orgy of support for unhinged antisemitic and anti-Israel conspiracy theories and its pathetic attempts to cover them up in the past few days proves this better than anything else.

(h/t Aidan Fishman)

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"Right wing zealot" Yehudah Glick is more liberal than all of his leftist detractors

Yehudah Glick is routinely referred to in Western media as a "zealot" for his efforts to allow Jews to have equal rights on the Temple Mount. His entrance to Knesset earlier this month brought a wave of tweets and articles calling him every name in the book and using him as further evidence that the current Israeli government is the most "right-wing extremist" government in history.

Today he showed that his critics are all idiots.

Knesset members from nearly every political party were set to propose a new law on Wednesday to halt arms sales to “gross human rights violators” around the world.

Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg has been leading the charge on that front, with help from activist attorney Eitay Mack and Professor Yair Auron of Israel’s Open University. Their proposals, however, have rarely gained traction, as Zandberg’s left-wing party is in the opposition, putting a majority out of reach.

To help raise this issue out of the mire of partisan politics, freshman MK Yehudah Glick of the Likud party stepped into the fray, bringing with him another 16 members of Knesset.

The proposal was written by Mack, but is based on a similar American law, Zandberg told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. It is an amendment to the existing law that would require the Defense Ministry to reject export licenses for Israeli companies selling technology or services to human rights violators.

Though the legislation is originally hers, Zandberg allowed Glick to take charge — and credit — for the renewed initiative. His name deliberately appears above hers on the proposal. “It’s not just alphabetical,” she said.

Glick, a polarizing figure in Israeli politics due to his campaign for the right to Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, also tried to distance the topic from partisan politics.

“I try to deal with things not based on the people, but based on the issue,” Glick told The Times of Israel over the phone on Tuesday. “This is an issue of the Jewish people. We have to be sure that nothing coming from Israel has anything to do with breaking basic human rights on a very severe level.

“There is no reason we should be arming people who are killing women and children.”

Yes, brand-new Knesset member Glick worked with the ultra-left Meretz party to rescue a proposal that is purely liberal and help it gain bipartisan support, something that no one else had done.

This should not be surprising. After all, Glick has campaigned for rights to the Temple Mount based on liberal concepts. But since he was supporting Jewish rights, his critics showed their own antisemitic tendencies by calling him names and tacitly condoning the Arab who tried to assassinate him.

In just a few weeks, Glick has already proven himself to be the most liberal member of Likud. But his critics will never admit that they were wrong about him because to admit that would also be to admit that perhaps Jews should have equal rights to the Temple Mount - and what self-respecting leftist would ever admit that?

Apparently, Yehudah Glick is more liberal than his critics from the Left are.

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Hating Trump in Saudi Arabia (Mike Lumish)

Writing in the Times of Israel, Josef Federman tells us:

An opinion poll of attitudes inside Egypt and Saudi Arabia conducted by Israel’s Interdisciplinary Center found virtually no support for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the two Arab countries.

The survey could signal trouble for Trump if he wins the November election and sets out to devise a Mideast policy. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are two of America’s most powerful and important allies in the Arab world.

When asked who their preferred candidate was, just 3.8 percent of Egyptian respondents chose Trump. In Saudi Arabia, only 6% favored Trump.

According to survey director Alex Mintz, “The overall pattern is that most people … do not support either candidate, but they hate Trump..."

Ya don't say!

They hate Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia, do they?

I have to tell you, it almost makes me want to support the guy.

Saudi Arabia is the very fountainhead of Salafism and thus Islamism and thereby ISIS.

It was the Arabian Peninsula, of course, where Muhammad and his friends came to believe that killing Jews was not only a dandy idea, but adored in the eyes of G-d.

For all that Koranically-based hatred murdering its way around the Middle East, and all those chopped heads toppling onto the beaches in Libya, and all those young girls raped as a matter of religious privilege... let's hand it to our friends on the Saudi peninsula.

Let's hand it to the King, the Crown Prince, and the Royal Family.

Let's give them a big round of applause.

I am not writing this as a Trump supporter, you should know, mainly because the guy is just so obnoxious that I do not see how he can possibly function as president of the United States.

People say that Trump is both a racist and a sexist and he definitely threw away my likely support when he demeaned Carly Fiorina's looks.

The racism charges, however, are primarily based on the notion of a wall separating the United States from Mexico and the fact that Trump intends to keep Islamic terrorists out of the United States.

As to the former, what Trump wants is simply to keep out illegal immigrants and I do not have a problem with that. I do not know that a big wall is the answer and I certainly would hate to see the National Guard rounding up gazillions of Latinos for deportation, but I do not believe in an open-door policy, either.

But Latinos are not the problem.

The gang activity in places like Los Angeles or Phoenix, Arizona, is considerable, but it is not particularly political or ideological and no more troubling than gang activity throughout the United States from other ethnicities, including white people.

And, unlike political Islam, it is not grounded in religiously-based Jew hatred.

Middle Eastern immigration into the United States, though, is another matter entirely.

What we do not want - or what we should not want, at least - is for Jihadis to slide through the process and end up murdering people in places like San Bernadino, California.

It is not "racist" to defend oneself against a large and hostile political movement that would prefer to see your family dead.

Must it be reiterated that polling throughout the Arab-Muslim Middle East demonstrates a distinct hatred for both Jews and Americans?

And why should Jewish Americans happily welcome people who decidely hate us into our own country?

It is a matter of basic common sense and fundamental human decency - particularly among a small minority - to want to protect one's friends and family and children from those who would seek them harm.

No people of any ethnicity would willingly welcome a much larger hostile population into their own homes and it is not bigoted to say so.

But this is the dilemma for Jewish people throughout the world.

Jewish self-defense is considered a form of aggression in both the Middle East and the West.

And it has been that way for a very long time.

Michael Lumish is a blogger at the Israel Thrives blog as well as a regular contributor/blogger at Times of Israel and Jews Down Under.

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