Monday, January 06, 2014
Khaled Abu Toameh: Israeli Arabs: We Do Not Want to Live in Palestinian State
It is much easier for Palestinians to accuse Israel of racism than to admit they do not want to be part of a Palestinian state.Palestinian Terror Education: Funded by U.S. Taxpayers
"This is an imaginary proposal that relates to the Arabs as if they were chess pieces that could be moved around according to the wish of the players." — Ahmed Tibi, Member of Knesset.
If the Arab Knesset members are so worried about becoming citizens of a Palestinian state, they should be working toward integration into, and not separation from, Israel, and listening more to their constituents rather than the voices of Fatah and Hamas.
A ninth-grade PA textbook indoctrinates students into martyrdom. In an exercise where students are asked to connect two sentence, a correct answer links the phrase “Morning of glory and red redemption, nourished by the blood of Martyrs” with the concept of “hope for the liberation of Palestine.”The Palestinians want to dance at two weddings
When UNRWA promotes such sentiments, UNRWA schools violate children’s basic right to protection from harmful influence. The question remains: Will US citizens file complaints against UNRWA with Congress and with the courts, or will US citizens let this kind of US-funded education for terror continue unabated?
Abbas can’t dance at two weddings at the same time, nor can he have his cake and eat it. If he is declaring a Palestinian state based on Resolution 181, and if he genuinely wants a peaceful settlement, he must acknowledge the Jewish state called for in the Resolution.
The State of Israel is not changing its official name, even if it is, in the words of the Balfour Declaration, “a national home for the Jewish people.” It is totally different from the case with Muslim countries.
At least four countries -- Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Pakistan, -- officially term themselves “Islamic Republics.” Even the Palestinian Basic Law of 2003 touches on the issue. Article 4 says, “Islam is the official religion in Palestine…Islamic Sharia shall be a principal source of legislation.”
Barry Rubin: The presentation of the Palestinian Authority's argument is really pitiful
Despite 50 years of cross-border terrorist attacks against Israel, missiles fired against Israel, attempts of boycotts against Israel, and failure to pay Israel for providing electricity to the Palestinian territories, The New York Times article claims, “The Authority’s financial insolvency is creating more problems for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, especially the young.” If a PA government that has existed for two decades wants a situation in which stability is impossible, how can the virtual state of war be blamed on Israelis? Note that when Israel withdrew from the Gaza settlements in 2005, the equipment that was left behind was either stolen or broken by Palestinians. And who started the rocket wars? For 50 years, Palestinian attacks and victims have been bragged about.Kerry seeks support for peace process from Saudi, Arab League
The basic construction of the argument is this: We fought and attacked Israelis and yet throughout the years, only the Israelis were responsible for our suffering. How can the PA make peace with Israel? How credible can it be? After two decades of self-rule, Palestinian public figures can say that Israelis don’t want peace and that Jews subject Palestinian to Jim Crow treatment, yet Israelis and Jews say nothing of the kind and yet are condemned as horrible oppressors and racists.
Saudi Arabia and the Arab League will be involved in building support for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, US Secretary of State John Kerry said before leaving Riyadh and returning to Jerusalem Sunday night.Netanyahu Says Arab Incitement at Root of Conflict; ‘We Are Not Foreigners in Hebron or Bet El’
“Today his majesty was not just encouraging, but supported our efforts in the hopes that we can be successful in the days ahead," Kerry said of his meeting with Saudi King Abdullah.
Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah on Sunday questioned Kerry’s assertion that progress has been made.
“Kerry is revolving in a vicious cycle,” said Azzam al-Ahmed, member of the Fatah Central Committee. “If he continues to propose to the Palestinian side what he’s proposing, he won’t achieve anything.”
Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said, “At today’s meeting, we will discuss the periodic index of incitement in the Palestinian Authority. To my regret, this incitement is continuing.”Hateful anti-Israel education shows PA’s true colors, minister charges
“We have seen examples in recent days. Opposition to recognizing the Jewish state and our right to be here is continuing,” Netanyahu said. “We are not foreigners in Jerusalem, Beit El or Hebron. I reiterate that in my view, this is the root of both the conflict and the incitement, the non-recognition of this basic fact.”
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz pointed to a number of cases of anti-Israel statements as proof that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was not trying to make peace.PA TV teaches children all Israel is "Palestine"
“As it talks of peace in the United Nations, and in the international forums, it teaches for the destruction of the State of Israel and the expulsion or destruction of the Jewish people,” Steinitz told Israel Radio. “It is an entire system of hatred and one that shows elements of admiration of Adolf Hitler as someone who knew how to deal with the Jewish people.”
Steinitz’s presentation focused on denials of Israel’s right to exist; emphasis on Israel’s inevitable disappearance; depiction of Jews as subhuman; and statements that all forms of resistance — including terror — are legitimate.
The official Palestinian Authority TV program for children, The Best Home, broadcast the song "Oh flying bird," which misrepresents cities and sites in Israel as "Palestine." The "Band of Palestine" accompanied several children singing the song:Compilation of 8 versions of a Palestinian song presenting Israeli cities as part of "Palestine"
"My country Palestine is beautiful. Turn to Safed, and then to Tiberias,and send regards to the sea of Acre and Haifa.
Don't forget Nazareth - the Arab fortress, and tell Beit Shean about its people's return. My country Palestine is beautiful."
Parody site knocks ‘huckster’ Kerry
The website for “John Kerry Solutions Ltd.,” at johnkerry.co.il, paints the secretary of state as a huckster peddling solutions — ranging from the merely half-baked to the downright ridiculous — to a plethora of problems.Palestinians held for October attack on Psagot girl
“Having issues with a friend? Need an original idea for a costume?” reads a page on the site titled “About John.”
You can probably guess where it goes from there: “John has the answer! John Kerry Solutions Ltd. We don’t have good solutions, but you’ve got to try something, right?”
Israeli forces have arrested two Palestinian men in connection with an attack on a young girl in the Psagot settlement in October, the Shin Bet security service said Monday.‘Observer’ Vehicle Used as Cover in Hebron Stone Throwing
The attack was initially thought to be a terrorist shooting incident, but investigators now say 9-year-old Noam Glick was stabbed during a burglary gone wrong. Officials are still unsure whether the incident was nationalistically motivated.
The drivers were surprised to realize the rocks were being thrown at them from behind a TIPH [Temporary International Presence in Hebron] vehicle, which was being used for cover.Israeli Mom Dies of Shrapnel Infection From 1970 School Bus Massacre
The stated mandate of the mission is “to promote by their presence a feeling of security to the Palestinians of Hebron and to help to promote stability in the city.”
It appears that TIPH is doing their job very well, as these Palestinian Authority citizens felt very secure in using a TIPH vehicle as cover for attacking Jews.
Leah Revivo, a survivor of the 1970 Avivim school bus massacre in northern Israel, died from a shrapnel infection at age 52 this past week. The shrapnel had been lodged in her brain since the time of the shooting, when she was nine years old. Nine other of Revivo’s classmates from Moshav Avivm were killed in the terror attack that took place close to Kibbutz Baram, in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border, on May 22, 1970.Ex-navy chief: Israel has defenses against Russian missile coveted by Hezbollah
Palestinian terrorists, belonging to the Syrian-sponsored Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization, fired two bazooka shells at the bus, killing 12 Israeli civilians and wounding 25 others.
Israel has defenses in place against the supersonic Russian- made Yakhont anti-ship missile, ex-navy chief Vice-Admiral (res.) Eliezer Marom told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Hezbollah has been smuggling the weapon to Lebanon in pieces to evade Israeli strikes.Egypt Summons Qatari Ambassador Amid Row Over Brotherhood
Describing the Yakhont as the most advanced missile of its kind in the world, Marom said the West does not know very much about the weapon, which flies at low altitude “right over the sea,” reaching speeds of between Mach 2 and Mach 3 (up to three times the speed of sound).
“The Qatari ambassador was summoned over a statement by the Qatari foreign ministry,” Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty was quoted as having said.Morsi's Third Trial to Begin January 28
In a statement earlier on Saturday, Qatar had said the recent decision to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group was “a prelude to a shoot-to-kill policy” against demonstrators.
The ousted president faces several trials, and this one is related to charges of organizing prison breaks with the help of foreign groups.Head of Nile TV sacked for airing video on Morsi's achievements
Head of the state-owned Nile TV Mervat Mohsen was removed from her post on Sunday after the channel aired a video on the achievments of deposed president Mohamed Morsi.Egypt bars Canadian Shi'ites from entering
Egypt stopped 61 Canadian Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims from entering the country and decided to hold them at Cairo airport until their onward flight, security officials said on Sunday.Syrian rebels clash with al-Qaeda-linked fighters
The Canadians landed in Egypt from Iraq to complete a pilgrimage to Shi'ite sites in the region, but were kept out on the orders of security authorities, said airport security officials who gave no further explanation. Canadians are usually allowed into Egypt with a visa bought upon arrival.
Syrian opposition fighters battled rival rebels from an al-Qaida-linked faction across parts of northern Syria on Sunday, as deep fissures within the insurgency erupted into some of the most serious and sustained violence between groups opposed to President Bashar Assad since the country’s conflict began.Where is Turkey Going?
The clashes, which broke out on Friday and have spread to parts of four provinces, pit an array of moderate and ultraconservative Islamist brigades against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an extremist group that has become both feared and resented in parts of opposition-held areas for trying to impose its hardline interpretation of Islam.
Gülen, in reaction to the implication by Erdogan and his supporters that Gülen, and his followers in the judiciary and police had turned against the AKP, burst out with rhetoric that belied his long-cultivated image of unruffled tranquility. Gülen issued a video sermon, rebroadcast widely on Turkish television channels, in which he denounced "Those who don't see the thief but go after those who chase the thief ... May Allah bring fire to their homes."Turkey Fires Cops Who Stopped Weapons Shipment to Syrian Jihadists
Erdogan replied in a subdued manner, on December 22, before leaving on a trip to Pakistan: "We pray for Muslims to reach the right way, not for their damnation. Cursing is such a trick among Muslims it will return to one who did this like a boomerang."
The unraveling of relations between Erdogan and Gülen has begun to overshadow the details of the corruption scandal that brought it about. On December 17, fifty individuals were arrested in Istanbul and Ankara. The focal point of the investigation was a deal between Turkey and Iran for Turkey to provide gold in payment for Iranian oil, circumventing international financial sanctions against Tehran.
Police officers who followed and stopped a truck that was allegedly carrying weapons to Syria have been removed from their positions.Lebanese Christians Protest Burning of Library by Islamic Extremists
The truck was followed by a team of police from Hatay’s Terror and Organized Crime Department on a tipoff that it was carrying weapons and ammunition to Syria. It was stopped twice by the police, first near a gendarmerie outpost on the Reyhanlı-Kırıkhan road and again on the Muratpaşa road. The police were prevented from searching the truck’s cargo by an official statement from Gov. Celalettin Lekesiz, who said the cargo was a state secret.
Hundreds of Lebanese Christians took to the streets in Tripoli to protest the torching of a decades-old library owned by a Greek Orthodox priest.Hezbollah’s ideological crisis
The demonstrators held up banners reading, “Tripoli, peaceful town” and “this is contrary to the values of the Prophet [Mohammed],” Ya Libnan reported.
As one Shiite Lebanese satirist put it the day after Nasrallah’s speech, “Either the fighters have lost Palestine on the map and think it is in Syria [or] they were informed that the road to Jerusalem runs through Qusayr and Homs,” locations in Syria where Hezbollah has fought with Assad loyalists against Sunni rebels.
The implication is clear: Lebanon’s Party of God is no longer a pure “Islamic resistance” fighting Israel but a sectarian militia and Iranian proxy doing Bashar al-Assad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran’s bidding at the expense of fellow Muslims. And it therefore does not surprise that the pokes come from extremist circles too. In June, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a Lebanon-based al-Qaeda-affiliated group, released a statement challenging Nasrallah and his Hezbollah fighters “to fire one bullet at occupied Palestine and claim responsibility” for it. They could fire at Israel from either Lebanon or Syria, the statement continued, seeing as Hezbollah “fired thousands of shells and bullets upon unarmed Sunnis and their women, elderly, and children, and destroyed their homes on top of them.”
