Pro-Israel activists have expressed contempt of the Nobel Peace Prize after the BDS movement received a nomination, pointing to the fact that late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat received the award in 1994.

The leader of the Red Party in the Norwegian Parliament, Bjornar Moxnes, nominated the International BDS movement on Friday, stating: “As a member of the Norwegian parliament, I proudly use my authority as an elected official to nominate the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

“Awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to the BDS movement would be a powerful sign demonstrating that the international community is committed to supporting a just peace in the Middle East and using peaceful means to end military rule and broader violations of international law," Moxnes wrote in a statement published by Inter Press Service news agency.

Many pro-Israel activists took to social media to express their disdain of the nomination.

"The BDS movement is an anti-peace movement, they made this very clear over and over again," Israeli activist Hen Mazzig told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. "They are 'anti-normalization' of the relationship between Jews and Arabs and actively pushing Palestinians and Israelis to fight each other."

On Monday, Mazzig debated Rebecca Vilkomerson, the Executive Director of the far-left organization Jewish Voice for Peace on i24 News.

Jewish Voice for Peace is reportedly among some 20 organizations on a blacklist Israel is compiling as part of its ban on BDS activists.

The US-organization tweeted that the nomination was “wonderful news.”

Cape Town 2018 is what happens when a city is more concerned about politics than people. Cape Town 2018 is what happens when national government wants to demonstrate to local government who is boss. Cape Town 2018 is what happens when local government is not equipped to deal with a real crisis. And Cape Town 2018 is what happens when communication falls apart to the point that the noise is so deafening, that no message can be heard.

Cape Town 2018 is also what happens when relevant lifesaving solutions are discarded because of BDS and anti-Semitism.

Cape Town is set to be the first major city to run out of water. The city is experiencing its worst drought in history. Residents are being asked to utilize less than 50 liters (13 gallons) per day and it is unlikely that it will avoid “Day Zero.” The day the taps run dry. It is unimaginable what contingencies can be put in place to deal with the series of events that will follow this day.

We all have that friend. Mine often sends me a WhatsApp simply saying “ITYS!” At first, I had no idea what he meant, until I realized he was saying “I told you so” (but was too busy to type out the sentence). It’s annoying and frustrating and infuriating. Especially when he is right. And maybe sometimes it’s not bad to hear it.

There is no satisfaction in the fact the residents of Cape Town are on the brink of a humanitarian crisis that could have and should have been avoided. Even if we saw it coming.

The Trump administration played a key role in thwarting a recent effort by the Irish government to boycott Israel and make it a crime for Irish citizens to purchase products made in contested areas of the Jewish state, a move that would have severely jeopardized Ireland's trade with the United States, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

The Irish Parliament was poised last week to pass a major piece of legislation that would make it crime to engage in trade with Israelis. The bill, which was seen as part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS, would have imprisoned Irish citizens who purchased souvenirs in Israel for a maximum of five years and subjected them to a fine of more than $310,000.

Upon learning of the effort, senior Trump administration officials in the State Department are said to have scrambled to open up channels to Irish leaders in a bid to scuttle the bill and avoid a standoff with the Irish government over the measure.

Trump administration officials are said to have made clear to Irish leaders that passage of the bill would put them starkly at odds with the United States and subject them to inclusion on a list of countries supporting boycotts of the Jewish state.

While some Irish lawmakers described the effort as a "crackpot bill," its passage through the Parliament was all but assured until U.S. officials from the Trump administration became involved, multiple sources told the Free Beacon.

All countries should pass a law like the US’s Taylor Force Act, which bars the Palestinian Authority from making so-called “martyrs payments” to the families of terrorists, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan told a Jerusalem anti-BDS conference of international lawyers on Monday.

Erdan told the conference that the PA’s hand in making payments to terrorists and the families of terrorists creates an atmosphere of incitement and cultivates “a culture of hate.”

Pivoting toward fighting the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign, Erdan said that BDS supporters restrict the IDF from protecting civilians from attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas.

“Courts of law are used to try to prevent the IDF from fighting terrorists who show disregard of any law... attacking Israeli children, while hiding behind Palestinian and Lebanese children,” he said.

Furthermore, the BDS campaign threatens artists on social media who want to perform in Israel and threatens companies who do business in the country, he said. “Boycotters are not interested in human rights or humanitarian law. They couldn’t care less about human rights violations in Iran, Syria and other parts of the Middle East.”

BDS supporters, he continued, “refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish state anywhere in the Middle East,” adding that the campaign was simply an effort to destroy Israel after failed military efforts proved that the country could not be defeated on the battlefield.

In addition, Erdan said, “The BDS movement seeks to drive Israel and the Palestinians apart... delegitimizing Israel and putting up barriers between the sides.”

Several weeks passed, and Kerry launched an odd, aggressive campaign in which he basically pointed an accusing finger at Israel. The Palestinians had said no, but it was Israel’s fault. Kerry, caught in the radical formula that justifies the Palestinians because they are “miserable,” explained repeatedly that terror was actually the result of poverty and turned jihad into a distributive justice movement.

It’s hard to believe that such nonsense came out of the mouth of the secretary of state of the world’s strongest power. A series of studies, including one conducted by the World Bank, have totally refuted Kerry’s argument. The economic situation of most of jihadist terror recruits, the study found, is above average. And in general, there are hundreds of millions of poor people in the world, and they don’t turn to terrorism. Only radicalized Muslims, who are not necessarily the poorest ones in the group, turn to terrorism. But let’s not confuse Kerry with the facts.

What exactly did Kerry tell Hussein Agha? That’s unclear. It’s clear, however, that “the forces of progress” are repeatedly encouraging the Palestinians to radicalize their stance. They are turning the “right of return” into the most important thing, although there is no such right and although it’s clear that the actual demand for such a right is an obstacle to peace.

Peter Beinart, one of the mentors of the Jewish Left in the United States, called on his camp in a 2014 article to ensure that Kerry and President Barack Obama’s peace proposal wouldn’t give the Palestinians less than they were offered in the Clinton Parameters. It’s not that the Palestinians intended on compromising, but the Left already started accusing the administration of making offers which were not good enough. Beinart, let me remind you, defines himself as a Zionist.

Admittedly, peace seems far away, and one of the reasons is that Palestinian rejectionism is supported by Kerry, Beinart and many others from the radical left. Well, not exactly the left. Beinart, Kerry and others are the supporting back of the Palestinian radical right, just like they serve the radical right in Israel. The result will be one big state, and that’s no cause for celebration.

One of the Islamists’ most skilful manoeuvres in recent years has been to wage their war of anti-Semitism behind the armour-plating of ‘Islamophobia’, an impenetrable protection in today’s Europe. And so it is the Jews who suffer because of the continent’s moral cowardice.

In April last year, 65-year-old Sarah Halimi was allegedly beaten to death in her Parisian apartment by her Muslim neighbour. Coming as it did during the final weeks of presidential campaigning, most of the candidates avoided commenting on the subject, as did the majority of the media, who tried to pass it off as the act of a mentally ill individual. This despite the fact eye-witnesses testified they heard Traoré, the alleged killer, scream ‘Allahu akbar’ and recite verses from the Koran as he rained down blows on Madame Halimi.

In the face of a refusal on the part of the police and judiciary to classify the murder as a hate crime the victim’s brother, William Attal, described the killing as ‘a modern day Dreyfus affair’, adding: ‘There is a willing blindness on behalf of the French authorities to see and do justice’.

His words were echoed by CRIF, an umbrella group of Jewish communities in France, which issued a statement, expressing their anger at what they called the official ‘Omerta’ over the killing. ‘What is being hidden?’ they asked. ‘Why this denial of anti-Semitism?’.

The murder was finally declared an anti-Jewish attack in September and Traoré was last week declared mentally fit enough to stand trial. Indeed, his psychiatric report stated that since he beat Halimi to death he is ‘more peaceful’.

The same cannot be said of France’s Jewish population, or what remains of it, with William Attal and his family among the latest to emigrate to the safer environs of Israel.

Three years after the Hyper Kosher siege, the French Jewish community is still wary. Last week, the Minister of Interior published the yearly numbers of anti-Semitic crimes. While racist crimes dropped by 16 percent, violent anti-Semitic ones committed nearby or at Jewish locations increased by 22 percent in 2017. That same week, the trial of Kabili Traore—a Muslim Parisian who stabbed and killed Sarah Halimi, a sixty-year old Jewish Parisian last April—took an unexpected turn as the felony was not recognized as a hate crime, even though, according to several witnesses, Traore shouted anti-Semitic slurs as he murdered his victim.

It is in this context that Radio Shalom, a very popular left-wing French Jewish radio, has decided to relocate. On a frisky Sunday morning in a backstreet near Republique square, Bernard Abouaf, the yarmulke wearing director of the station, opened the door to guests.

“I am the bouncer today,” he said, smiling. The new studio has neither bell nor sign, only a reinforced door. It is a very anonymous entrance, which is intended to keep potential disruptors away.

Abouaf is keen on speaking about the new studio, guaranteeing that the station will keep its “unbiased information.” Launched in the early eighties, Radio Shalom has a sizable audience, registering about 100,000 daily listeners. It is famous for sustaining a conversation in a community that has been less and less inclusive over the years. “Today, the community needs open-minded media, with a strong tone. We also need to be able to listen to everyone,” Abouaf said. While commenting on Halimi’s trial, he added that the French Jewish community needs to gather around a project. For many years, the dislocated community struggled sharing the same opinion on various topics, weakening its representatives.

January was shaped by the Israeli decision to ban high-profile BDS activists from the country — as well as a series of embarrassing missteps by the BDS movement. With support apparently dropping on campus, the BDS movement’s antisemitic anger is exacerbating its clumsiness and prompting new tactics — including linking Israel with the Trump administration and covering its intent with broad “human rights” concerns. These have had limited success, since the antisemitic backgrounds of supporters are often quickly apparent.

The most significant BDS-related development in January was the decision by the government of Israel to ban activists from a number of high profile BDS groups. These include “Jewish Voice for Peace,” Students for Justice in Palestine and its supporting organization — American Muslims for Palestine, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, War on Want, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, BDS South Africa, BDS Chile, and the American Friends Service Committee.

Israeli Strategic Affairs minister Gil Erdan stated the move marked a shift from defense to offense against the BDS movement. Ordain added: “No country would allow visitors who arrive to harm the country to enter it, and certainly not when their goal is to wipe out Israel as a Jewish country.”

Reactions to the announcement were predictable, with prominent media, BDS activists and left wing groups excoriating the decision as an “antidemocratic” infringement of “rights,” and a slap at global Jews. Members of Israeli opposition parties also condemned the move. More thoughtful observers pointed out the right of any national government to control who is admitted.

But others also criticized the decision, noting that it unnecessarily gave BDS groups the opportunity to depict themselves as martyrs, and situated the decision within the calculus of Israeli politics. Since Israel, like other countries, already exercises the ability to restrict entry of undesirables, it is unclear what the practical effect of the list will be.

At our demonstration last week in support of pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig, we witnessed Jewish students beginning to demoralize the anti-Zionist protesters with their enthusiasm and positivity. Mazzig has now twice been dehumanized and defamed in an antisemitic manner during visits to UCL, University College London. However, as Jewish and pro-Israel students, we will continue to stand up for ourselves and our beliefs and strive for an open environment surrounding discussion of the Middle East on campus.

We have indeed reached a milestone. Palestinian demonstrators feel that Jewish students are successfully portraying themselves as “the good guys.”

Last year, Mazzig was violently protested at UCL at his event with CAMERA on Campus UK and UCL Friends of Israel. With the slanderous claim that he was complicit in “war crimes,” we came in expecting to be on the defensive. The Palestinian Society from UCL and other London-based universities caught the Jewish community off-guard. On the whole, our response to their antisemitic chants of “from the river to the sea” was fear and confusion. They jumped through windows, banged on the doors, pushed, shoved and screamed and we were collectively shocked into inaction.

This time, we were prepared to stand up for ourselves in a decisively peaceful manner. We organized a protest entitled “Tel Aviv Takes UCL Quad” and created an atmosphere in which we celebrated our identities, our freedom of expression and the State of Israel. We danced, we sang, we chanted peacefully and we attempted to hand out Israeli food to protesters and passers-by.

An op-ed written by a Palestinian demonstrator after the event recalls that we behaved “appallingly, demonstrating racist and dangerous views.” The same writer, however, notes that we appeared to “win over the hearts of the uninformed.”

For centuries, the principles of national sovereignty and noninterference in internal affairs that arose in Western Europe were central to international relations. Recently, however, this framework has been weaked considerably through a number of mechanisms and practices, including international institutions and allied nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Furthermore, while NGOs are formally independent actors as reflected in their self-descriptions, the boundaries have become blurred, and favored advocacy groups are often closely connected to governments, including as recipients of funding provided to influence the policies and politics of other states. In many Western countries, millions of dollars, pounds, and euros are allocated annually directly to advocacy NGOs active in other countries, or indirectly for distribution to NGOs via international organizations such as by various UN agencies.

Many of the recipients are global actors such as Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, World Vision, and Médecins Sans Frontières, which possess substantial resources. These groups openly seek to influence the policies of governments and international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the late twentieth century, international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) in particular gained standing to participate in the deliberations and activities of international organizations, and their influence has been significant.

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) expressed his appreciation Tuesday to senior Facebook officials for taking immediate corrective action after he alerted them to the exclusion of Israel as an option for one the social media giant’s features.

Now, following Arutz Sheva’s publication of Hikind’s statement, when creating a background profile on Facebook, users can choose the Israeli flag as their frame.

Earlier this week, Hikind issued a public statement calling on Facebook to include the Israeli flag as an option for background profiles, noting that Palestine, a semi-autonomous entity rather than a state, was included – but not the Jewish state.

“As I pointed out to Facebook less than 48 hours ago, Palestine is not even a country, so including Palestine, as they had, and excluding Israel was insulting and sent the wrong message,” said Hikind on Tuesday.

The Labour MP for Leeds North West, Alex Sobel, has recieved a string of antisemitic abuse online following an impassioned speech last week in the House of Commons to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

In a candid and emotional speech to the House, Mr Sobel described how the events of the Holocaust had impacted his family and expressed concern that genocide and intolerance was still taking place around the world.

Shockingly, a Channel 4 Facebook video of Mr Sobel’s speech, which has been viewed over 130,000 times, attracted a stream of antisemitic abuse directed at the MP.

Mr Sobel’s heartfelt speech mentioned family members murdered and sterilised by the Nazi regime. He expressed his sorrow for family members that never even had a chance to live, and shared memories of his great aunt in Tel Aviv having numbers tattooed onto her arm and the confusion that caused him as a child.

However, Channel 4’s video of the speech was strewn with abuse such as: “Meanwhile, let’s forget the current Holocaust” and “…not one mention of the genocidal tyranny being inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the people ‘who suffered so much’. It must be due to his personally deep felt shame that he swept this ongoing tragic event under the carpet.” Another user posted “God in heaven. I’m bloody sick of hearing this. Politicians use the Holocaust like a royal flush in poker.”

In response to the shameful comments, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “Appalling that Alex Sobel has received a stream of antisemitic abuse online after Channel 4 posted a video of his speech to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. We must root out this disgusting prejudice from our society.” Twitter users responded by asking Mr Corbyn whether he would start with antisemites in his own Party.

From an otherwise unremarkable Ha’aretz piece about looking for the evil murdering SOB terrorist who stabbed father of four, 29 year old Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal, yesterday:
According to Palestinian reports, Israeli soldiers raided the town of Kifl Haris near Ariel. Security forces suspect the terorrist fled to the town and are searching Kifl Haris and other neighboring villages. The head of the local council of the town, Abd al-Rahim Buzaya, told Haaretz that the army blocked all the entrances to the town, did not allow anyone to leave and confiscated security cameras from the stores in the village.

The phrase “confiscated security cameras from the stores in the village” is meaningless nonsense. Did they really tear down all the cameras and carry them off with dangling cables in a big sack?The writer probably means “took the digital recordings”. It’s possible they took the physical recording units though that would be dumb because then the cameras wouldn’t be working. What the Ha’aretz writer says here leaves us no way to know what actually happened.

It’s sloppy writing that leaves me doubting everything else they write.

The Independent did what it often does when reporting on Israeli removal of illegal, EU funded buildings in Area C (areas of the West Bank under full Israeli control): they illustrated the story with a photo designed to maximize the desired narrative of Palestinian dispossession.

The photo used for the article (Israel demolishes EU-funded Palestinian classrooms in occupied West Bank, Feb. 5) leaves the impression that the demolition of their classroom – funded by the EU in an attempt to create ‘facts on the ground‘ in the contentious E-1 area connecting Ma’ale Adumim with the rest of Jerusalem – forced Palestinians to learn while sitting outside amidst the rubble.

The photo caption used by the Indy also leaves this impression:
Bedouin children attend improvised class in the village of Abu Nuwar, West Bank, after the Israeli army demolished their two-classroom school in the West Bank on Sunday AP

However, the scene is almost certainly staged, and the Palestinians depicted are not in fact forced to learn while sitting on old tyres. We know that because the full AP photo caption makes this clear:

Indy editors were clearly aware that the children were moved to nearby facilities to continue classes, but decided not to convey this information to readers.

Just last month BBC audiences heard a Hamas official blame Gaza’s poor medical care on Israeli counter-terrorism measures without any challenge from his interviewer. The myth that medical services in Gaza are affected by the blockade is one that has been promoted in the past in BBC content, along with similar fables concerning fuel and the allegation that the counter-terrorism measures are ‘collective punishment’.

“Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade around Gaza aimed at preventing attacks by militants there, though the measure has been condemned by rights groups as a form of collective punishment.” BBC News website, February 13th 2017.

“…the stifling border closures the Israeli government says are for security, the people here say are for collective punishment.” BBC World Service radio, February 1st 2017.

“One of the reasons Gaza’s often described as the largest open-air prison in the world is the difficulty of getting across the border with Israel.” BBC World Service radio, May 19th 2015.

And yet, although it regularly amplifies such inaccurate claims, the BBC at the same time repeatedly refrains from informing its audiences of the stories which would enhance their understanding of why the restrictions placed on the border with the Gaza Strip are necessary.

Penned by a notorious white nationalist and posted to the website of a self-professed advocacy group for Calgary’s Muslim community, an article promoting Holocaust denial has sparked anger and prompted an investigation by city police.

Posted Saturday to muslimsincalgary.ca, the article “Why “No Free Speech” on the Holocaust?” was originally written in February 2007 on the website of David Duke — noted American white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader.

The article — which contains little more than Holocaust-denial boilerplate — has garnered the anger of B’nai Brith Canada, which took particular exception when the website chose to publish the article.

“To post this on Holocaust remembrance day is both vile and repugnant,” said B’nai Brith Canada chief executive officer Michael Mostyn.

“This is outright anti-Semitism and holocaust denial.”

The Republican National Committee denounced on Tuesday an outspoken Holocaust denier and unambiguous anti-Semite, Arthur Jones, who is poised to become the GOP nominee for a US House seat in Illinois.

“We condemn this candidate and his hateful rhetoric in the strongest possible terms,” RNC spokesman Michael Ahrens told The Times of Israel in an email.

Over the weekend, it was revealed that Jones is set to secure his party’s nomination for Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District because no other GOP candidate has entered the race. Since the 1990s, Jones has routinely sought that seat, which represents parts of Chicago and its southwestern suburbs.

Back in the day, the Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim was in the news a fair bit, especially after the ill-fated Mossad operation in Dubai. And he would regularly say ridiculous things. For instance, remember this?

The police chief of Dubai has told a newspaper he received death threats from Israeli spy agency Mossad, after leading an investigation that fingered Mossad for killing a Hamas leader in the Gulf Arab emirate.

I hadn’t given him much thought since then – until this tweet came to my attention.

The Dubai police chief is a strange, little man. Either that, or he’s smoking something he shouldn’t be. Or perhaps both.

He needn’t even look past his own country to see it is the Arab world that finds peaceful relations to be an anathema.

Ten Israelis athletes will represent Israel in four sports at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, February 9-25: short-track speed skater Vladislav Bykanov, Alpine skier Itamar Biran, skeleton racer Adam (AJ) Edelman, and figure skaters Alexei (Oleksii) Bychenko, Daniel Samohin, Evgeni Krasnopolsky, Paige Conners, Adel Tankova, Ronald Zilberberg and Aimee Buchanan.

This is Israel’s largest-ever Winter Olympics delegation since its first participation in the Games in 1994. Three of the current teammates also competed in 2014: Bychenko, Krasnopolsky and Bykanov.

Israel has never won a medal in a Winter Olympics. This year, many fans have their hopes pinned on Bychenko, who earned the silver medal in the 2016 European Figure Skating Championships and is known for mastering difficult moves such as the quadruple jump.

In 2017, Bychenko took 10th place in the figure skating world championships in Helsinki; second place in the Cup of Tyrol competition in Austria and the Golden Spin in Zagreb; and third place at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow and the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Osaka.

An athlete who will be representing Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games told The Algemeiner on Sunday that the Jewish-inspired helmet he will be wearing in the competition is a nod to the obstacles he has overcome in life.

Skeleton athlete AJ Edelman, 26, posted a picture on Instagram on Saturday night of his helmet that was designed with a drawing of the biblical figure Samson, who is shown breaking down pillars with his bare hands.

Edelman told The Algemeiner about the helmet, which also has the image of an Israeli flag on it, “Samson is there to remind people we can do anything. Breaking pillars represents my impossible journey made possible.”

“I was told that I would never make the Olympics for Israel,” he added, “That I could not run fast enough, and I would never be a good competitor. And I wanted to prove that Israelis can do anything.”

Edelman also explained on Twitter how letters on the back of the helmet holds special significance to him. He wrote, “the back of my helmet features a shout-out to my mom, dad, and ‘KR,’ three people who really helped make this journey happen.”

Actor Liev Schreiber, in Israel this week as a guest of the Tel Aviv University student film festival, offered tidbits about his Jewish background and acting advice during a master class.

Schreiber, an American Jewish actor and director, spoke about the origins of his name (he was named for Leo Tolstoy, one of his mother’s favorite writers), his Jewishness (his mother was Jewish, his father was not), and his grandfather, who traveled to Israel every year and was a tremendous inspiration to Schreiber.

Schreiber, who currently stars as Hollywood fixer Ray Donovan in the eponymous Showtime drama series, spoke about his acting, a skill he said is 50 percent intuition, 30% staging and 20% film work.

He has appeared in dozens of films, and on stage as well, winning the 2004 Tony Award for best featured actor for his performance in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

Schreiber made his directorial debut in 2005 as the director and writer of “Everything is Illuminated,” based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, telling a fictionalized history of a Jewish shtetl in Poland. He also starred in “Defiance” (2008), a World War II film about the Bielski partisans.

Gal Gadot will voice herself in an upcoming episode of “The Simpsons,” the actress announced on Twitter Monday.

“I grew up watching @TheSimpsons and now I get to voice myself in an episode!” Gadot tweeted, accompanying a video of herself signing Marge Simpson’s hair.

Gadot will star in an episode titled “Bart’s Not Dead” airing in during season 30, which will debut next fall.

Representatives for Gadot have not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Gadot most recently starred in “Wonder Woman” and “Justice League,” in which she starred as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. She will next star in the sequel to “Wonder Woman” and “Flashpoint.”

“The Simpsons” was created by Matt Groening and debuted in 1989. Its 29th season began on Oct. 1, 2017, and it is the longest-running American sitcom and the longest-running American animated program, with 629 episodes.

It was the dress seen round the world. And now, you can own it yourself.

Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev will be auctioning off the buzzed-about dress she wore on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

Regev's statement piece, if you don't recall, was a floor-length gown emblazoned with the Jerusalem skyline. And an online sale that is set to open soon will auction off the memorable dress, which was designed by Aviad Avik Herman. The bodice was gold with a mesh overlay and a neckline adorned with rhinestones, gems and gold leaf, while the skirt was brocade with a 360-degree print of the Jerusalem skyline - including al-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The cityscape was created in conjunction with graphic designer Boris Sultanov.

The population that UNRWA works with is highly vulnerable and dependent upon the international community to help feed their poor, educate their children, and care for their sick. One million Palestinians in Gaza alone survive on food provided by UNRWA. Our schools educate over half a million children in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank, and they have proven to be centers of excellence, consistently outperforming government schools in the region. All of our students receive education in human rights, nonviolent conflict resolution, and tolerance of differences.

A world that is willing to watch as hungry children cannot access food, students are shut out of their schools, and mothers can no longer access prenatal care is not the world any of us want to live in.

Videos showing women burning the hijab are being posted on social media in solidarity with a protest movement against enforced headscarf in Iran.
Posted online with the hashtag #NoHijabDay, a response to last week's World Hijab Day event, the videos show women removing their headscarves and setting them on fire in front of the camera.

Anoud Al Ali, who grew up in the United Arab Emirates but is now living in France, posted a video of herself burning the hijab and called it 'true happiness'.
She details how she used to be forced to wear the headscarf by her family and in school or she would be punished with lower grades.  

#NoHijabDay

In solidarity with woman who are forced to wear the hijab.#MyStealthyFreedompic.twitter.com/VPgLOnH1Nx

— Yasmine Mohammed (@ConfessionsExMu) February 1, 2018

A young woman in #Iran takes off her #hijab in front of a Basij base (Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Morality Police) to protest against forced hijab in Iran. #Girlsofrevolutionstreet#دختران_خیابان_انقلاب#قیام_بهمن#براندازمpic.twitter.com/wbYTxZp5Yt

— Armin Navabi (@ArminNavabi) February 2, 2018

Europe has ignored important reasons for the Palestinians' distress - such as Hamas' huge annual investments of hundreds of millions of dollars in the manufacture of rockets and the construction of attack tunnels, all at the expense of Gaza's needy residents. No one has ever inquired how much money from humanitarian contributions ends up in the private bank accounts of Palestinian leaders.

The Europeans started asking questions only when it was proved to them that the Palestinian Authority was using aid contributions to pay sizable salaries to Palestinian terrorists who had been convicted and imprisoned in Israel, and to build public institutions and name them after terrorists.

According to the Congressional Research Service, since the Oslo Agreement the U.S. has given the PA $5.2 billion, the highest American foreign-aid total per capita. During the same period, the U.S. gave UNRWA $4.5 billion. The Obama administration doubled American allocations to both the PA and UNRWA. In 2008, the PA received $400 million; in 2009, $900 million. In 2008, UNRWA received $184 million; in 2009, $268 million.

The reduction in aid to UNRWA is justified because this agency perpetuates the Palestinians' status as refugees. Most of its employees in Gaza are affiliated with Hamas, and its schools preach hatred of Jews and Israel. Rockets are stashed beneath the floors of these schools and fired at Israel from their vicinity.

UNRWA should have been closed down long ago and its functions transferred to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which deals with refugees on a worldwide basis.

The United States' definition of a refugee is similar to that of other counties. According to this accepted definition, refugee status is not passed down by inheritance and is not valid for those persons who are citizens of other countries or who live in what is supposedly their own territory. In contrast, more than 2 million Palestinian "refugees" live in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, lands they claim constitute part of their territorial homeland.

If we remove from UNRWA's list of refugees those people who do not meet any of the three criteria, we will then come back to a more reasonable number of somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 Palestinian refugees from the 1948 War of Independence. The remainder could, of course, request humanitarian aid, but they would not be considered refugees by UNRWA.

If the countries of the world are interested in funding genuine humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, this can be done through a variety of alternative channels, whose aim is to create a better future for the population. But first, they must stop using the term "refugees." This is not just a question of semantics: A change in terminology could give the Palestinians hope for a better future instead of ensuring they maintain the victimhood mentality and pass it on to future generations. Second, they must only release funds for the Palestinians on the condition they are then integrated into their host countries or alternatively, those Palestinians living outside Judea, Samaria Gaza find a third country to which to emigrate. Third, they must ensure the funds do not go toward terrorism and incitement.

The implementation of these steps will lead the PA to acknowledge its defeat in the war against the Jewish people's right to self-determination and will put an end to the Palestinian leadership's cynical use of their people and their supporters for the prevention of a solution to the conflict and finally bring about peace.

The Israel Resource News Agency and Center for Near East Policy Research, an agency founded by American immigrant David Bedein in Jerusalem retains local professional (read that "Arabic speaking") journalists who cover UNRWA facilities in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza, producing stories about UNRWA, Hamas and the PA.

Bedein reports that a study he did of memos from UNRWA to Holland, the US, Canada, Australia and the Israel Civil Administration over last year, shows that UNRWA gave assurances that new textbooks and the atmosphere in UNRWA schools would now reflect peace advocacy. They were to be free of the indoctrination to violence which characterized both the previous UNRWA school books translated by the agency and the contents of talks with UNRWA students interviewed over the past few years.

The news agency's local journalists recently acquired the 2018 school books provided by the PA for UNRWA and have checked the contents thoroughly. A report on the textbooks and the screening of two short films of interviews with UNRWA students will take place at the Jerusalem municipality on Thursday, February 8, at 4:30 p.m.

Arutz Sheva received a preview of the report, which shows that except for two pages about peace in new PA/UNRWA school books, UNRWA indoctrination continues, in all UNRWA schools, UNRWA school books and the UNRWA public domain.

It also reveals that although 68 donor nations continue to pour food, medicine and cash into all UNRWA camps, the UNRWA workers union, under tight control of Hamas for the past 18 years, hoards all humanitarian supplies, while contracting foreign press to witness and record a staged UNRWA humanitarian crisis. "If there were a UNRWA Universal Studios, they couldn't do better," Bedein quips.

Saudi Arabia has granted a request by Air India to fly through Saudi airspace en route to Israel, the i24 News website reported Wednesday.

According to the report, the route will service direct flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv. This is the first time the Saudis are allowing flights to Israel to use their airspace.

The new route is expected to cut the flight time between India and Israel from nearly nine hours down to six hours, reducing the airline's fuel costs.

The report has yet to be officially confirmed by Saudi or Indian officials. Israel and India enjoy close ties. The Israeli Tourism Ministry has reportedly offered Air India a $750,000 grant as an incentive to invest in the new route.
Saudi Arabia Denies Israeli Media Reports It Granted Overflight Rights to Air India for Tel Aviv Route

In early December 2017, reports from Saudi Arabia and Egypt claimed that the United States had offered the Palestinians Abu Dis as their capital in the “deal of the century,” rather than Jerusalem.1 The reports were denied.

Just a month later, though, on January 14, 2018, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas publically confirmed that such an offer was made, or in his own words: “In one case we were offered Abu Dis.” Reacting to President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Mahmoud Abbas rejected out of hand the possibility that the Palestinians would accept such a proposal. He presented the case of Abu Dis as what he defined in his last speech as the “slap of the century.”

Mahmoud Abbas’ “insult” can be understood, even if one does not agree with his standpoint. For him, Abu Dis, which was transferred to Palestinian civil control as Area B within the framework of the Oslo Accords, belongs to the distant past.

Since Mahmoud Abbas (as Arafat’s deputy) and Yossi Beilin (a minister in the government of Yitzhak Rabin) drafted the “Beilin-Mahmoud Abbas Agreement” of 1995, a lot of water has gone under the bridge in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over the Jerusalem issue. At the time, the Jerusalem suburb, Abu Dis, took center stage, as it was represented as an alternative capital of sorts for the Palestinians (instead of Jerusalem). However, two Israeli prime ministers, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, have since placed on the negotiating table far-reaching proposals for the division of Jerusalem itself: Barak vis-a-vis Arafat, in Camp David 2000, and Olmert vis-a-vis Mahmoud Abbas in 2008.

Mahmoud Abbas today refuses to accept or even talk about a lesser proposal than what was offered to him then. In fact, he refuses to recognize the different political reality in Israel, represented since 2009 by the elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

When they meet on February 12, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss a new proposed peace negotiations mechanism meant to sideline the United States, a Palestinian diplomat in Russia told the Russian Interfax news agency on Wednesday.

The two men are scheduled to meet in the Black Sea beach resort of Sochi.

Interfax reported the new mechanism would seek to replace the Middle East Quartet, established in Madrid in 2002, which is composed of the US, the UN, the EU and Russia.

The announcement comes as the Palestinian Authority is trying to convince Russia to play a much more prominent role in the peace talks, having declared the US unqualified to act as an “honest broker” due to President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

At the Sochi meeting, Abbas is expected to tell Putin that the Palestinians do not believe the Trump administration is capable of playing any “constructive” or “positive” role in efforts to achieve peace with Israel, a PA official in Ramallah said last week. The PA president has also been seeking greater European involvement in the peace process.

wo official Fatah sources have claimed that Israel is prepared to kill Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. Along with the accusation that Israel would kill Abbas if they had the opportunity, Fatah continues to repeat the libel that Israel assassinated Arafat with poison.

Fatah posted on Facebook that Israel wouldn't "hesitate" to kill Abbas, "After all they already killed Arafat before him":

Posted text: "The attack against [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas has many fronts, and they are all paving the way to one goal: The attempt to steal the popular support from him in preparation for his besiegement, and if they can also kill him, they will not hesitate to do so! After all, they already killed [former PA President] Yasser Arafat before him...
Khalil Nazzal Fatah Movement Secretary in Warsaw"
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Jan. 26, 2018]

Fatah official, Muwaffaq Matar, wrote in an op-ed in the official PA daily that US President Trump and US Ambassador to the UN Haley have launched "an organized and planned attack" against Abbas:

In a December 21, 2017 article in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, Dr. Gamal 'Abd Al-Gawwad, a researcher at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and a lecturer in Political Science at Cairo University, advised Palestinians to forego the armed resistance against Israel, which he described as futile and hopeless. He said that instead, they should consolidate a strategy of non-violent resistance which would be supported internationally and undermine Israel's legitimacy, while also conducting effective negotiations. Calling on the Palestinians to recognize the prevailing balance of power on the ground, 'Abd Al-Gawwad urged them to sign the best possible agreement that they can achieve, even if it is not a just agreement. "Preserving as many as possible of the Palestinian rights is preferable to waiting for a just solution which will restore all the rights that were lost by the [Palestinians'] fathers and grandfathers," he wrote. He added that this would require joint leadership by Fatah and Hamas, which should transcend their narrow interests and behave intelligently.

The following are translated excerpts from his article:
"Declarations against; conferences that conclude with vehement condemnations; decisions adopted by the UN General Assembly after the U.S. vetoes a proposal submitted to the Security Council; demonstrations; stone-throwing; martyrdom [of Palestinians] and the arrests of others by the occupation forces – all these took place following the Trump announcement, but Jerusalem and all of Palestine are still under occupation…

"Our responses [to the Trump announcement] tell the world that the Arabs are outraged at the contempt with which their rights are treated, and this is a positive thing. But our responses also reveal that the value of our actions is limited and they are not effective, and this is very bad. Is there a way to move from the phase of expressing fury to the phase of effective action, [or] in other words, to move to the phase of liberating the largest possible amount of Arab land from the Israeli occupation…?

In remarks made before New York City's Temple Emanu-El on Jan. 24, 2018, former President Barack Obama defended his administration's decision not to veto United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSC) 2334, which asserted that Israeli settlements have “no legal validity,” violate “international law” and are a “major obstacle” to achieving a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Obama told the audience that he allowed UNSC 2334 to pass because “the pace of [Israeli] settlement construction skyrocketed making it almost impossible to make any kind of Palestinian state.”
To be “a true friend of Israel, it is important to be honest about it, and the politics of this country sometimes do not allow for it,” Obama claimed. His comments were uncritically repeated by many major news outlets.

True friends do indeed tell the truth. And the former President is incorrect.

Research available — both at the time of the Dec. 23, 2016 UNSC vote and since — clearly illustrate that settlement construction was not, and is not, an impediment to a two-state solution. Rather, Palestinian intransigence and anti-Semitism are the chief culprits.

In contrast to the U.N.'s claims, settlements are not illegal. The League of Nations Palestine Mandate, Article 6,calls for “close Jewish settlement” on the land west of the Jordan River. The mandate, including Article 6, is upheld by the U.N. Charter, Chapter XII, Article 80.

Nor is settlement construction skyrocketing.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she was ready to make "painful compromises" as negotiators from her conservative bloc and the Social Democrats rushed to clinch a coalition government deal after months of political uncertainty.

The impending coalition deal, however, seems to take an unusual swipe at Israel over its Judea and Samaria settlement enterprise, even though the draft agreement reiterates the fact that "Israel's right to exist is irrefutable for us and a pillar of German politics."

Both sides had billed Tuesday as "decision day" but were still negotiating late into the evening on the stance of any future coalition on reform of the healthcare system and job contracts.

Merkel's failure to cobble together a government more than four months after a national election has raised concerns among investors and its allies at a time when Europe is facing multiple challenges – including eurozone reform and Britain's departure from the EU.

The United States is "disappointed that the Polish president has signed" legislation that would impose criminal penalties for attributing Nazi crimes to the Polish state, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Enactment of this law adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry," Tillerson added.

Polish lawmakers approved the draft legislation last Thursday.

The proposal has triggered a diplomatic spat between Israel and Warsaw's conservative government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comparing it to an effort to change history.

Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice party authored the bill, which calls for up to three years in prison for any intentional attempt to falsely attribute the crimes of Nazi Germany to the Polish state or people.

Law and Justice said it is fighting against the use of phrases like "Polish death camps" to refer to death camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II.

Israel, however, saw the move as an attempt to whitewash the role some Poles played in the killing of Jews during World War II.

The European Parliament removed Polish lawmaker Ryszard Czarnecki as the assembly’s vice president on Wednesday after he insulted a fellow Polish MEP by comparing her to a Nazi collaborator.

MEPs voted by 447 votes to 196 to strip Czarnecki, of Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, of the largely ceremonial office for “serious misconduct.”

Czarnecki, 55, last month branded MEP Roza Thun a “szmalcownik” — an insult referring to Polish collaborators during World War II who handed over Jews to the Nazis for money.

Czarnecki, who is one of 14 European Parliament vice presidents, then refused to apologize during a radio interview.

In January, heads of the main political groups wrote to the parliament president Antonio Tajani to “denounce an unacceptable and degrading declaration” and ask for sanctions for “this deplorable attitude.”

Israeli Minister of Communication Ayoob Kara claimed yesterday that Bahraini Prince Mubarak Al Khalifa is visiting Israel.

“I met publicly for the first time in Tel Aviv with Mubarak Al Khalifa, a Bahraini prince in order to strengthen relations between the two countries,” Kara of Israel’s ruling Likud party said on Twitter.

“Tomorrow [Monday] I will have the honour to host him in the Israeli Knesset,” he added.

Bahrain says it has no relations with Israel however it has been reported that officials from both countries maintain contact and visits privately.

Bahrain delegation’s visit to Israel: Why now and for what purpose?

An official Bahraini delegation visited Tel Aviv in December under instructions from Bahraini monarch Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The visit coincided with US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have repeatedly spoken of the strong secret ties between Tel Aviv and numerous Arab countries in particular Gulf States.

The murder of Raziel Shevah in January was a wakeup call for all the security agencies assigned to combating terror. It was immediately clear that the attack was carried out by a professional, well-trained and well-funded terror cell that carefully chose the location of the ambush near Havat Gilad, escape routes and hiding places for after the attack.

Some of the details regarding the escape and hiding are still under a gag order, but it is clear that they were carried out professionally.

What this means is that this was no "local resistance organization" or "lone wolf attack" but rather the act of a well-entrenched terrorism infrastructure. Hamas has already claimed responsibility.

The difference between an organized terror infrastructure and local, popular terrorism is the amount of time required for its establishment, including "executioners," collaborators to assist them and a well-funded command center, probably located on land not directly under Israeli control. Also necessary are effective and secretive communications channels.

In the case of the "Jarrar squad"—headed by members of the Jarrar family—it is now known that its members carried out a number of terror attacks before Shevah's murder. Despite those attacks, they managed to evade discovery by Israeli security forces.

The cell was discovered only after Raziel's murder and even then they managed an effective escape. An extensive and strenuous operational and intelligence campaign was necessary in order to track them down, despite the fact that the father of Ahmed Jarrar, the head of the cell, was a known senior Hamas member as far back as the second intifada.

The fatal stabbing attack Wednesday morning near Karmei Tzur, as well as the rioting in recent days in Jenin, Burkin and, mainly, Tuesday night in Nablus, reveal a great deal about the prevailing winds in the West Bank. These are reminiscent of the fateful days of December 1987 and October 2000, when the first and second intifadas broke out.

As IDF troops continued their manhunt on Tuesday in Nablus for the terrorist who murdered Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal in Ariel, soldiers came face to face with some 500 violent protesters, according to Israeli estimates, in a clash that left one Palestinian dead and 45 wounded.

Similar, though smaller, violent clashes were seen in recent days in Yamoun, Burkin and Jenin, all surrounding attempts to capture the terrorist Ahmad Jarrar, the suspected murderer of Rabbi Raziel Shevach in an attack in Havat Gilad last month. In the wake of that attack, as IDF soldiers launched raid after raid in search of the elusive Jarrar, his fame grew in the West Bank. By the time Israeli special forces finally reached him in Yamoun before dawn on Tuesday, he had become a hero to Palestinians throughout the West Bank.

Jarrar’s visage can be found seemingly on every other account in Palestinian social media. For his supporters, his heroism was twofold: He managed not only to kill a settler, but also to become a kind of superhero for his ostensibly preternatural ability to evade Israeli forces time and again.

Despite the Israeli army announcement that Jarrar was killed in a shootout in Yamoun, many Palestinians are refusing to believe he is truly dead, with many arguing that he escaped yet again.

A Palestinian assailant was shot dead on Wednesday after stabbing a security guard at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, the Israeli military said.

The civilian guard, stationed at the Karmei Tzur settlement north of Hebron, was slightly wounded. Another security guard shot and killed the attacker, the military said in a statement.

"When we arrived to the scene, we saw a 34-year-old man standing near the entrance to the settlement," Magen David Adom Paramedic Dvora Aviad said. "He was walking, with an injured hand from stabbing. With the assistance of an IDF medical force, we gave him initial medical treatment and he was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in mild condition."

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry named the attacker as 19-year-old Hamza Zamaara from Halhoul.

Following the attack, IDF troops from the Etzion regional brigade began operations in Halhoul, where according to a statement released by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, troops entered the terrorist's home and interrogated his family.

During the course of the operation a riot broke out with local Palestinian residents throwing stones at troops who then responded with crowd dispersal measures. One rioter was arrested.

Hamas Spokesman Hazem Qassim praised the stabbing attack in a Facebook post.

Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank town of Halhul on Wednesday, as troops raided the home of a terrorist who stabbed a security guard and then was shot dead earlier that morning.

“As they entered [Halhul], a riot broke out in which rocks were thrown at the soldiers. The IDF troops responded with riot dispersal means and arrested one of the demonstrators,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

“The forces arrived at the home of the terrorist and interrogated members of his family,” the army said.

Early Wednesday morning, Hamzeh Yousef Zamaareh, 19, stabbed a civilian security guard in the palm of the hand in a guard post at the entrance to the Karmei Tzur settlement, just outside Halhul in the Etzion bloc.

A second guard shot the assailant and killed him, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Fatah has joined Hamas and other Palestinian groups in condemning Israel for killing Ahmad Jarrar in the village of Yamoun, near the West Bank city of Jenin.

Jarrar, who is suspected of coordinating the shooting attack in which Rabbi Raziel Shevach was murdered, was armed and killed in a shootout with the IDF early Tuesday.

Jarrar’s death brought to an end a nearly month-long manhunt for the perpetrators of the January 9 drive-by shooting that killed Rabbi Raziel Shevach, a father of six, as he drove down the highway outside the Havat Gilad outpost where he lived.

Osama Qawassmeh, the spokesman for the Palestinian Authority’s ruling party, Fatah, said the killing of Jarrar would be added to a list of Israeli “crimes” that contravene international law.

Qawassmeh described the killing of Jarrar as “a type of field execution.”

The killing, he added, “will not undermine the determination of our people, who will continue to remain steadfast on their lands and stick to their national rights.”

Another Fatah spokesperson, Jamal Nazzal, also accused Israel of carrying out “bloody extrajudicial killings.”

Fatah legislator Jihad Tummaleh praises Hamas' Ahmed Jarrar as a hero, says Israel could not have killed him without help from "traitors" and "collaborators." pic.twitter.com/6Jp9BXxpJY

— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) February 6, 2018

Palestinians take to the streets in Gaza Strip to honor 'martyr' Ahmed Jarrar. https://t.co/kts9AOQsBN

— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) February 6, 2018

As many continue to demand Ahed “Shirley Temper” Tamimi’s release from Israeli detention, father Bassem has provided us with a reminder as to what this family stands for.

Today, he posted this about freshly dead terrorist Ahmed Jarrar.

Google Translation: "On your spirit in the glory of glory, mercy and peace"

Of course, this is not his first time idolizing terrorists.

It is no wonder his daughter does the same while openly calling for further terrorism. (h/t Yenta Press)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met on Monday with the family of Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian teenager who was filmed slapping and shoving IDF soldiers in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh.

It was the first meeting of its kind between Abbas and the Tamimi family since the arrest of the 17-year-old following the December 15 incident.

Abbas saluted the courage of Ahed and her family “in confronting the might of the occupation and the assaults carried out by its soldiers,” according to a statement released by the PA president’s office after the meeting.

Abbas said that the Tamimi family’s actions were an indication of the Palestinian people’s clinging to their land, the statement added.

“The peaceful popular resistance against the occupation is a powerful weapon in the hands of the Palestinian people and exposes the falsity of the occupation,” Abbas was quoted as telling the Tamimi family.

“It shows the entire world the brutality of the occupation and the right of our people to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state like the rest of the people of the world.”

The Nazareth District Court sentenced a man from Ghajar, on the Lebanese border, to 14 years in prison on Tuesday following a conviction for smuggling explosives from Hezbollah into Israel to carry out a terrorist attack in the Haifa area.

The plot was foiled when security forces found explosives, which the primary defendant, Diab Kahamuz, had hidden south of Metulla near the Lebanese border.

Kahamuz’s brother and three others who were part of the plot were sentenced to prison terms of between 20 and 30 months for offenses ranging from aiding or passing on information to the enemy, to drug crimes to obstruction of justice.

Diab Kahamuz was also ordered to pay an NIS 120,000 fine, while other defendants were fined NIS 20,000 each.

In October 2016, the Northern District Attorney’s Office charged the group with a host of security offenses as the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed it had thwarted the Hezbollah terrorist cell’s plan to plant bombs in the Haifa area.

The agency said six residents of the Alawite village of Ghajar on the Lebanese border were arrested in recent months on suspicion of “severe security offenses” following an investigation that began in July 2016.

Diminishing returns on terminology on which Palestinian activists once relied to provoke outrage in the Muslim world have led them to take more and more desperate rhetorical measures, including a recent trend of inserting the scare-word “Talmudic” into any available news item, poster, broadcast, and speech.

Developments in the Middle East and elsewhere over the last several years have driven home to Muslims the realization that the Palestinian cause pales in importance relative to other challenges facing the region and culture: unrest in Syria, Islamic terrorism across Africa; Iran’s hegemonic ambitions; prolonged drought; instability in Iraq; civil war in Yemen; diminishing oil revenues; civil unrest; and stagnant economies. Accustomed to taking center stage for decades, Palestinian policymakers and propagandists have found themselves at a loss to recapture the attention on which they had become dependent, in the face of governments prioritizing other concerns, and have begun resorting to wielding the rhetorical weapons proven to generate the most outrage, but now with limited results to show for it.

If ten years ago the Muslim world could be inflamed by accusations that Jews were performing “Talmudic rituals” near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinians now find they can barely muster a few dozen protesters across the region with such a report. Lack of familiarity with other forms of expression has resulted in applying the same nomenclature to other propaganda contexts in the hopes that it may strike the right nerve among coreligionists and refocus international attention on Palestinians.

Amid reports that the Israeli air force struck an Iranian base in Syria overnight Tuesday, security cabinet member Naftali Bennett said he's advancing a strategy in which Israel will confront Iran directly rather than just going after its proxies.

"Iran is behind the anti-Israel activity in Syria and Lebanon," Bennett said in an interview to Israeli Radio 103 on Wednesday. "It is an octopus that sends out tentacles and expects us to act against its proxies, while it sits safely in its place. I am promoting a policy that calls for focusing our efforts against Iran itself."

"[Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei is willing to fight Israel until the last drop of Syrian, Lebanese and Gazan blood, but does not send his own troops. For 30 years we have been sending our soldiers to fight Iran, while they sit in safety. It is illogical," Bennett said.

When asked by the show's veteran host Nissim Mishal whether an attack on Iran was imminent, Bennett responded enigmatically.

"The force behind everything is Iran and we must pinpoint the laser on it. I am putting forward a strategic line and saying that we will not be handling things with surgical precision, we view neighborhoods that have rockets as legitimate targets."

Syrian air defense systems intercepted an Israeli air attack on a military position near the capital Damascus early Wednesday, the Syria army said.

“This morning, Israeli warplanes fired several missiles from Lebanese airspace on one of our military positions in the Damascus countryside,” said an army statement carried by state media. “Our air defense systems blocked them and destroyed most of them.”

An AFP correspondent in Damascus heard loud blasts around 3:30 a.m..

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said at least some Israeli missiles had hit military targets near Damascus.

“Syria’s air defense system blocked some of the missiles, but others hit ammunition depots near Jamraya,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Egyptian authorities have opened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip for three days, the Palestinian embassy in Cairo announced on Wednesday.

The terminal will be open in both directions, the embassy said.

It was the first time that the border crossing has been opened since the beginning of this year.

Palestinian ambassador to Egypt Diab Al Louh thanked Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi for the gesture. Al-Louh also thanked the Egyptian security authorities for their assistance.

The last time the terminal was open was 50 days ago. During 2017, the terminal was open for a total of 35 days only.

In the past few months, the Egyptians promised more than once to reopen the border crossing, but failed to do so at the last moment.

The border crossing has been almost continuously closed since 2013. Occasionally, the Egyptians opened the terminal for a few days at a time to allow patients to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment.

Dozens of Gaza residents are battling Hamas under the Islamic State's black flag, reported Tuesday morning Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar in an overview of the struggle between the Islamic State's Sinai branch and Hamas in Gaza.

Dozens of Gazans left the strip to fight in Iraq, Syria and Libya, the paper reported, but have since returned to the region. While some of them turned themselves into Hamas's hands, as the terrorist group is cracking down on the presence of the Islamic State (IS) in the strip, others still have decided to remain in Sinai and battle Hamas there under IS's auspices.

The fight between the two terror groups was dubbed a "direct and vicarious war" by Al Akhbar, the culmination of which was brought to bear in a video put out by IS recently showing the execution of a man named Musa Abu Zamat, who was once an IS activist himself but was killed for transferring arms to Hamas through smuggling tunnels going into Gaza from Sinai.

In the purported execution video, both the speaker and the executioner are former Gaza residents, one of which is even allegedly the son of a senior Hamas official from the al-Shati refugee camp.

Hamas has obtained information, Al Akhbar further reported, that some 50 Gazans are fighting for the IS in Sinai—having joined the extremist Sunni terror group in the past few months—alongside the group's foreign fighters.

The Egyptian army's offensive against IS in Sinai

The share of Gazans in the Islamic State's ranks in the Sinai Peninsula was estimated to be only 10 percent, with the remaining being 50 percent Egyptians and 40 percent citizens of other Arab states.

This report from Gaza on Al Jazeera TV has just been translated into English. It accompanies an article I wrote that will be published (and linked to here) shortly. It shows footage of the multiple bustling, crowded, well-stocked shopping malls, the impressive children’s water parks (at 5:25 in the video), the Olympic-size swimming pools, the fancy restaurants, the nice hotels, the crowded working-class food markets, and so on. -- Tom Gross

France's foreign minister on Wednesday demanded that all Iranian-backed militia, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, leave Syria and said that Turkey and Iran were violating international law through their actions in the country.

Speaking on BFM television, Jean-Yves Le Drian also said there were indications Syrian government forces were using toxic gas against civilians although the UN would need to confirm that.

Asked whether he wanted Turkish armed forces to withdraw from Syria, Le Drian replied that he wanted "the withdrawal of all of those who ought not to be in Syria, including Iranian militia, including Hezbollah."

While not specifically calling for Turkey to pull back from its offensive against Kurdish militias in northern Syria, he said that Ankara should not worsen the conflict.

"Ensuring the security of its borders does not mean killing civilians and that should be condemned. In a dangerous situation in Syria, (Turkey) should not add war to war."

France has backed the Syrian opposition during the seven-year war and is part of the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants.

After years of unsuccessful efforts to cause widespread devastation in the American homeland, ISIS leaders are turning towards fans of the Philadelphia Eagles for advice on how to destroy an American city.

“When I turned on the TV and saw shattered glass, overturned cars and people rioting in the streets, I assumed one of our martyrs had carried out a major attack,” Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told The Mideast Beast. “I was shocked to learn that these valiant warriors were called ‘Philadelphians.’”

Baghdadi said he is unclear on the political motivation behind the massive citywide attack, but that he hopes that they will be willing to work together with ISIS on future operations.

“To do that much damage, they must have had some pretty severe grievances,” he noted. “And I believe that they are supporters of the jihad, since I understand they have also struck against the infidel idol Santa Claus.”

The New York Times op-ed page carries an article by Lawrence Wilkerson headlined “A Familiar Road to War.” It warns, with zero factual basis, that the Trump administration is about to invade Iran the same way the George W. Bush administration invaded Iraq.

It’s a mystery what the Times is doing running a piece from this guy in the first place. As has been noted by both Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute and Dexter Van Zile of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, Wilkerson went on television to speculate, groundlessly, that a poison gas attack on Syrian civilians “could have been an Israeli false flag operation.” (Thanks to online watchdog Mark Jacobs for tipping me off to this on Twitter.)

Second, once the Times piece went up online, it became clear pretty rapidly that there were some accuracy problems.

The website Newsdiffs tracks the changes — at least four different versions of the article. The piece originally said, “Today, the analysts claiming close ties between Al Qaeda and Iran come from the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, which vehemently opposes the Iran nuclear deal and unabashedly calls for regime change in Iran, while taking money from hawks like Sheldon Adelson and Paul Singer, who have made clear what their goals are with Iran.” About six hours after publishing the original piece, the Times stealth-edited it by correcting the name of the research and advocacy group to “the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.” If the Times is going, falsely, to accuse a think tank of dragging America into war with Iran on false pretenses, the least you can ask is that the Times would spell the organization’s name correctly. Alas, the Times couldn’t even initially manage that bare-bones level of accuracy.

Then, nearly ten hours after the original piece was published online, the Times deleted entirely the references to Messrs. Singer and Adelson, and appended a correction:
Correction: February 5, 2018
An earlier version of this article included outdated information about the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Sheldon Adelson is no longer a donor to the organization.

On May 2, Lawrence Wilkerson, a close confidant of Colin Powell who served as chief-of-staff during Powell’s tenure as secretary of state, raised eyebrows when he told Current TV that reports of Syrian chemical weapons use might have been Israeli “false flag operations.” His pronouncement—which was part speculation and part sourced to his friends in the intelligence community—was quickly picked up and rebroadcast as fact by such outlets as Iran’s Press TV and Hezbollah’s Al-Manar.

As the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) points out, this is hardly the first time Wilkerson has made bizarre accusations, but CAMERA does not go far enough. Wilkerson acted as a definitive source for any number of stories throughout the Bush administration until now. As Powell’s chief-of-staff, journalists accepted his pabulum uncritically, never asking whether Wilkerson was at meetings for which he purported to offer first-hand accounts. The fact is that chiefs-of-staff do not go to meetings; they manage offices. Many of those whom Wilkerson pretends to have had conversations with say they never met him.

Nevertheless, Wilkerson remains central to some of the most pernicious—and false—rumors and conspiracies surrounding George W. Bush’s tenure:

“The documentary film ‘Whose Land?’ is not intended to justify the right to exist of the state of Israel. I find such an argument abhorrent. Questioning Israel’s right to exist is pure antisemitism. Such fundamental prejudice should not be dignified by response or contrary argument. How often is the right of Great Britain to exist called into question? Or the United States, Germany, France, China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, any other country. How often is the right to exist of any country other than Israel questioned, argued over, debated, discussed? To do so is exceptional. Exception applied only to the Jewish State. It therefore amounts to antisemitism pure and simple.

In Nazi Germany, the right of Jews to own businesses to own property, to join the professions to go to school to receive medical treatment to live a normal life in the community. All of these were denied them.

Today, Israel’s enemies demand that the Jewish state be isolated, ostracised, banished from the community of nations. These people are the Nazis of the 21st century. Their arguments must not be dignified with a response. These modern-day Nazis are responsible for the greatest slur campaign in the history of humanity spreading false narratives, falsifying and distorting history, lying, deriding, rejecting and despising without cause and for one purpose to abolish the nation state of the Jewish people, Israel.

‘Whose Land?’ does not set out to justify the right of Israel to exist. Instead, it simply tells the truth – a truth that is clear, undeniable and unequivocal. The truth, that for the sake of human civilization and decency, must be heard above the growing cacophony of those who clamour to turn the world against the Jewish state and whose false propaganda not only maligns the innocent and brain washes the unwary but also incites violence and inflames hatred.

The concept of “settler colonialism” has been applied with almost unique vehemence against Israel. But the fact that Jews are the indigenous population of the Southern Levant can be proved with ease. In contrast, historical and genealogical evidence shows Palestinians descend primarily from three primary groups: Muslim invaders, Arab immigrants, and local converts to Islam. The Muslim conquest of Byzantine Palestine in the 7th century CE is a textbook example of settler-colonialism, as is subsequent immigration, particularly during the 19th and 20th centuries under the Ottoman and British Empires. The application of the concept to Jews and Zionism by Palestinians is both ironic and unhelpful.

One of the mainstays of the modern university is the idea of settler-colonialism. This argues that certain societies are birthed by settlers implanted in a foreign territory, either directly by or with the consent of an imperial power. These colonists then dominate and eradicate the indigenous population. They develop bellicose cultures that eliminate the natives from historical, literary, and other narratives. Primary examples often cited are the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and Rhodesia, and Israel.

The settler-colonial argument against Israel posits that Zionism was an imperial tool of Britain (or, alternatively, that Zionism manipulated the British Empire); that Jews represent an alien population implanted into Palestine to usurp the land and displace the people; and that Israel has subjected Palestinians to “genocide,” real, figurative, and cultural.

According to this argument, Israel’s “settler colonialism” is a “structure, not an event,” and is accompanied by a “legacy of foundational violence” that extends back to the First Zionist Congress in 1897 or even before. With Zionism thus imbued with two forms of ineradicable original sin, violent opposition to Israel is legitimized and any forms of compromise, even negotiation, are “misguided and disingenuous because ‘dialogue’ does not tackle the asymmetrical status quo.”

But Middle Eastern history is not amenable to these formulations. Among the many concepts abused and perverted by the Palestinians, accusations of Israeli “genocide” rank the highest for blatant audacity, and for twinned calumny and odiousness. The settler-colonial idea deserves attention for three reasons: its comparatively recent adoption by Palestinians and their advocates; its broader currency in the academy; and its obvious and ironic falsity. (h/t Zvi)

I made my Question Time debut last week as a Labour MP. I was asked about Theresa May, about Brexit, about allegations of rape and how to deal with them and about statues of Margaret Thatcher. I talked about my work as a constituency MP, and as the longest-serving member of the Treasury Select Committee. I discussed my work against child sexual exploitation and abuse and spoke about the economy and immigration. And yet, when I looked at my phone, I found I had received anti-Jewish abuse and an antisemitic death threat on social media. I am not Jewish, I didn’t talk about Jews and I didn’t discuss the Middle East.

This isn’t the first time. I can speak out about knife crime and drugs and the tweets come in – “who is paying you to do your work” “Why don’t you admit you’re in the pay of the Israeli government” and the like. It is not just tweets though. One Labour party member called me a “CIA *******” for dealing with the “antisemitism nonsense” following an appearance I made on the Daily Politics at Labour party conference talking about the Brexit. Not all, but the vast majority of these attacks have come from self-identified “left-wing” activists or Labour party supporters.

Anti-Jewish hate and invective is becoming so obsessive, so fervent that irrespective of what an anti-racist activist is discussing, antisemitism is the online reaction. Last week, Phillip Collins, in the Times, highlighted the problem of Left wing antisemitism and the obsessive hate of Israel. He pointed out that most of the statements people make are not actionable. The death threat I received will be, but much of the abuse fell into the other category. As he said: the “tone of voice, the severity, the passion, the elevation of an issue that should be one among many to a defining idea of political identity.” ”It connects to a loathing of America and of capitalism and of alleged western interference in the Middle East. For the uncomplicated racist, hatred of the undesirable people is the starting point. For the complicated, confused leftist, the denigration of a people is their conclusion.” (h/t Zvi)

Britain’s Conservative prime minister Theresa May led her country in celebrating the centennial of the Balfour Declaration at a commemorative dinner in November, but Jeremy Corbyn, the notoriously hard-left and anti-Israel leader of the Labor party, declined to attend. Although Labor’s shadow foreign secretary did attend, she publicly asserted her disapproval of the occasion and said that the “most important way” for Britain to mark the anniversary would have been “to recognize Palestine.” Indeed, Simon Gordon writes, anti-Zionism has become an increasingly powerful force in British politics—especially, but not exclusively, on the left:

Less than a week after the Balfour centenary, a diplomatic scandal involving senior Israeli officials precipitated the resignation of Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel. One of the most outspoken supporters of Israel in the cabinet, Patel had [allegedly] been meeting Israeli ministers, including Benjamin Netanyahu, behind the foreign secretary’s back, while formally on vacation. . . . But the official version of events was soon called into question. The Jewish Chronicle, citing sources in Downing Street, reported that Patel’s unofficial diplomacy in Israel took place with the consent of the prime minister, who had asked her not to disclose the meetings. The truth of the matter remains unclear. But would a breach of diplomatic protocol involving another country have provoked the same response?

If this was the stance of a relatively Israel-friendly Tory government, what of Labor?

A win for Corbyn, the most left-wing Labor leader in more than 30 years, would radically reverse Britain’s approach to the Middle East. Nor has Labor changed its spots overnight. Since Tony Blair’s resignation in 2007—in part precipitated by his defense of Israel’s 2006 campaign in Lebanon—the party has continually moved to the left in both domestic and foreign policy. . . .

In contrast to [the Conservative former prime minister David] Cameron, [the former Labor leader Edward] Miliband condemned the IDF during Operation Protective Edge [in Gaza]. Two months later, he whipped Labor MPs to back a nonbinding parliamentary motion on the unilateral recognition of Palestine. Whether or not Corbyn makes it to 10 Downing Street, its next Labor occupant is likely to be far less friendly toward Israel than any prime minister since . . . the early 1970s.

In 2010, a nascent pro-Israel organization called Z Street applied to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status. The IRS responded by subjecting the organization to greater-than-usual scrutiny, asking extensive questions about its political positions and opening a formal inquiry into whether it had ties to terrorism—thus preventing it from beginning its operations. After the process dragged on for years, Z Street’s founder Lori Lowenthal Marcus and her husband Jerome successfully sued the IRS, resulting in its eventual and only very recent acknowledgement of malpractice. Jonathan Tobin explains what happened:

The Z Street case must be viewed in the context of what came to be known as the IRS scandal. During the first term of the Obama administration, the IRS began subjecting conservative groups that applied for nonprofit status as educational organizations to the sort of special scrutiny not applied to liberal groups. . . . While no direct link between the White House and IRS decisions was ever produced, what followed was very much in line with the administration’s desire to prevent conservatives from taking advantage of the law. But it was not until after the 2010 midterms and President Obama’s re-election in 2012—when the work of those nonprofits might have impacted public opinion—that the controversy was aired and the policy reversed.

That’s where Z Street comes in. It was applying for 501(c)(3) status as a group that sought to educate the public about Israel. But its support for Jewish settlements put it in the cross hairs of federal bureaucrats, who apparently got the message from on high that such an organization was to be put through the wringer.

As was the case with the concerted process slowdown of some conservative groups, the attention given to Z Street was not about whether it was actually eligible for nonprofit status under the law. Rather, it was a function of the Obama administration’s dislike of its particular politics. Z Street was a supporter of the settlement movement at a time when President Obama was determined to force the Israeli government to stop building in the West Bank. . . .

This was not an inadvertent error [by the IRS]. During the course of their lawsuit, the Marcuses uncovered the fact that the IRS was compiling lists of groups that opposed the Obama administration’s policy toward Israel by drawing upon information from viciously anti-Zionist websites like MondoWeiss and Electronic Intifada. The bureaucrats seeking to mold tax policy to fit Obama’s opinions about the Middle East were not only brazenly seeking to politicize something that should be above politics but were also aware that doing so in this manner was wrong since they wrote to each other about avoiding an email trail that could document their intentions.

Writing on the former Deputy Head of the Muslim Council of Britain Daud Abdullah’s website, Asa Winstanley argues there was an alliance between Nazis and Zionists.

He follows this up with a number of assertions about Israeli policy today and Zionist policy during the Second World War. Little of this bears up to scrutiny. In an article entitled Israel welcomes Nazis while banning pro-Palestinian Jews Winstanley portrays Nazis and Zionists as co-conspirators in the Holocaust;
“An alliance with anti-Semites has been a crucial strategy of Zionist ideology ever since the late 19th century. It started with anti-Semitic Protestant Christian Zionists and later expanded to the Nazis.”

Bearing in mind all of the antisemitism Zionist Jews are receiving at the moment it’s worth tackling the arguments raised by Winstanley in his article and putting the issues he raises to bed.

First is Winstanley’s explanation of the Haavara agreement;
“The agreement facilitated the emigration to Palestine of some Jews with their wealth in return for the World Zionist Movement calling off its boycott of Germany.”

The agreement did facilitate the emigration to Palestine of German Jews but it wasn’t in return for calling off the boycott. As a source Winstanley offers this link. Had he read the source he provides he’d have known this.

A House Democrat on Tuesday defended having met with controversial activist and imam Louis Farrakhan, saying the Nation of Islam leader is an "outstanding human being."

The Daily Caller asked Rep. Danny Davis (D., Ill.) about the revelation that the black separatist leader met with the Congressional Black Caucus in 2005 and was photographed meeting future president Barack Obama during a 2006 CBC meeting.

"I personally know [Farrakhan]; I’ve been to his home, done meetings, participated in events with him," Davis responded.

"I don’t regard Louis Farrakhan as an aberration or anything; I regard him as an outstanding human being who commands a following of individuals who are learned and articulate. And he plays a big role in the lives of thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people," he continued.

Farrakhan has been labeled a virulent anti-Semite by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which notes he "routinely accuses Jews of manipulating the U.S. government and controlling the levers of world power," and has praised Adolf Hitler as a "very great man." (h/t MtTB)

Palestinian minors are involved in a wide range of offences including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons. Key contributing factors are incitement by the Palestinian Authority and recognized terror groups, recruiting of children to engage in conflict and the glorification of violence, and large monthly payments (that increase based on the severity of the crime) by the Palestinian Authority to prisoners and their families.

A debate that focuses exclusively on Israel, but ignores violent crimes and their proximate causes, encourages impunity and emboldens the exploitation of children by Palestinian actors.
Sources for claims against Israel:

• Allegations of mistreatment of Palestinian children in detention originate with radical non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that seek to marginalize Israel through BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions) initiatives. A number have reported links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)– listed as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, UK and Canada.
• The NGOs publish misleading and distorted reports. These inaccuracies and unverified claims are then laundered through a variety of publications, lending them prominence and credibility. At least one of these organizations has remarked that such efforts would allow the NGO to obtain funding from UN agencies and donor governments.
• For instance, many of the NGOs partner with UNICEF’s West Bank office, providing claims that are repeated in “Situation Reports” and other publications. NGO citations to UNICEF are, therefore, self-referential.
• At the time these claims of mistreatment were made and adopted by UNICEF, one of these NGOs had a PFLP “leader” on staff (according to a PFLP announcement).
• In many instances, criticisms of Israeli criminal justice practices lack any legal comparison, contradict international law, and apply a unique and specific standard for Israel alone.

Yesterday Jeremy had a meeting with some “friends”.

These included Malia “Zionist outpost” Bouattia, Ken “never intended to deny the Holocaust” Loach, John “Inminds” McDonnell and co-editor of Red Pepper Michael Calderbank.

Calderbank (centre in the below pic), who describes himself as a ‘socialist’ and is a ‘Parliamentary Researcher for trade unions’, was chairing the manifesto discussion and launch of the book; For The Many: Preparing Labour for Power

It turns out that Calderbank has some pretty strident views on what Jews are allowed to call antisemitism and whether Jews living in the West Bank should expect to be killed.

Jeremy Corbyn tonight reignited the anti-Semitism scandal in the Labour Party by sharing a platform with ousted former NUS President Malia Bouattia at a hard left event in Parliament. Guido can reveal Jezza dropped-by unannounced and spoke alongside Bouattia at a Corbynista book launch which was quietly billed as a ‘Manifesto Discussion’ in Portcullis House. Jezza’s attendance was presumably kept a secret as it would have been too controversial to advertise…

Controversial Bouattia – whose tenure as NUS was marred by accusations of anti-Semitism – addressed the gathering of ardent Corbynistas after Corbyn spoke. In her speech Bouattia praised Corbyn, attacked the government’s Prevent anti-terror programme and accused Labour of “structural racism” – but did not mention the party’s anti-Semitism scandal. Corbyn applauded her speech and posed for photos with Bouattia as they left the event.

Globarg Bashi, the hater behind P is for Palestine – the children’s book glorifying violence and terrorism against Jews in Israel – has proudly posted the following

I wasn’t sure if she meant her Greek neighbors who happened to be in Tom’s restaurant at the time of the photo, or her Greek neighbors who actually own the restaurant. It did not take too long to discover it is option 2.

I find it disgusting that the restaurant made famous by Jerry Seinfeld, a proud Jewish man who also happens to love Israel and detest terrorism (as promoted by this book) – would publicly hitch their wagon to the side that hates Israel and engages in terrorism. All while they continue to play up the fact they were Monk’s diner from Seinfeld.

In the meantime, if you live in New York, please boycott Tom’s restaurant.

“The road to an Israeli-Palestinian deal is vanishing” Washington Post columnist David Ignatius proclaimed in a Jan. 30, 2018 Global Opinion commentary. But Ignatius—a long-time Middle East observer and author of several bestselling spy novels—fails to accurately identify the culprit responsible. He cites two factors: The Trump administrations Dec. 6, 2017 decision to implement the bipartisan 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, thereby recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and settlements in the West Bank. Palestinian rejection of Israel's right to exist and repeated rejection of peace plans are missing in the 76-word column.

Ignatius expresses his concern that “the space for compromise seems to be vanishing,” between Israelis and Palestinians. He uncritically quotes top Palestinian Authority (PA) official Saeb Erekat, who, declared that “the two state solution is dead,” after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Erekat is disingenuous. Palestinian leaders have rejected numerous U.S. and Israeli offers for statehood in exchange for peace with the Jewish state—in 2000 at Camp David, 2001 at Taba and 2008 after the Annapolis Conference. The 2008 offer would have given the Palestinians a state with its capital in eastern Jerusalem and 93% of the West Bank with land swaps to make up the difference (“Missed Opportunity: Olmert, Abbas and Media Bias,” Tablet Magazine, Nov. 23, 2015). Yet, in a 2009 interview with Al-Jazeera, Erekat cheered PA President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to reject the 2008 proposal

Furthermore, Jerusalem has been Israel's capital since its founding in 1948. And the idea that Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) are responsible for the lack of Israeli-Palestinian peace runs counter to the history of the conflict

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), founded in 1998, is celebrating its 20th year of bridging the language gap between the West and the Middle East, South Asia, and now Russia through these regions' media, providing its readers with timely translations from Arabic, Farsi, Urdu-Pashtu, Dari, Turkish, and Russian media as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, MEMRI is producing and disseminating content to hundreds of thousands of email subscribers and millions who view MEMRI TV clips online. MEMRI research is translated into English, French, Polish, Japanese, Spanish, and Hebrew.

“MEMRI was originally created to provide readers, in both the East and the West, comprehensive access to the primary-source material from the Arab and Muslim world,” said MEMRI founder and president Yigal Carmon. “MEMRI is a concept: Wherever there is a conflict between nations, ethnicities, religions, or regions, in order to understand those conflicts and to know how to tackle them, one has to go to primary source material – the media – to understand the present; to the schoolbooks, to understand the future; and to the religious texts, wherever religion plays a role in the life of the individual and the community. MEMRI has been doing this regarding the Arab and Muslim world since its inception 20 years ago, and, in 2016, we added to our mission the Russian media, since Russia is one of the countries in conflict both within itself and with its surroundings. I strongly believe that there is a vital need for research institutes to cover Chinese primary sources, since China is increasingly becoming a threat to its surroundings."

Over the past 20 years, MEMRI has expanded from translating news content from the Arab world to developing comprehensive projects on topics important to policy makers, military, law enforcement, and government. Among these are the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) which tracks, examines, translates, and analyzes threats, planning, and global news by and about jihad and jihadi organizations and individuals, and the Cyber Jihad Lab (CJL) which monitors, translates, and researches jihadi and other types of hacktivist groups and activity, with a focus on encryption and other technologies. The MEMRI Reform Project monitors advocates of reform, including women's and human rights, in the Arab and Muslim world, amplifying their voices and examining the obstacles they face in advancing their cause.

As was the case in one of his previous filmed reports, Bowen implied to BBC World Service listeners that Israeli military courts lack due process.

Bowen: “The chances are that Ahed Tamimi and her mother will end up with jail sentences. The Israeli military courts usually convict. The occupation has been going on for 50 years and it shows no sign of ending. Incidents like this indicate the level of tension and anger that’s often just below the surface. The question is how long before, once again, it erupts into much more serious violence.”

The BBC and Jeremy Bowen knew very well even before his January 31st reports were aired that the twelve charges against Ahed Tamimi include a count of incitement that relates to a video put out by her mother on social media in which Ahed Tamimi’s “message to the world” – as it was described by Nariman Tamimi – was:

“Whether it is stabbings or suicide bombings or throwing stones, everyone must do his part and we must unite in order for our message to be heard that we want to liberate Palestine”

After his reports appeared numerous people reminded Bowen of that fact on social media. The fact that five days later the BBC chose to broadcast yet another report in which that crucial context was not provided to audiences indicates once again that the corporation and its Middle East editor have self-conscripted to a political campaign that has now included no fewer than ten separate reports on Ahed Tamimi since December 19th.

The Labour leader of Haringey Council has announced her decision to stand down over rampant antisemitism and sexism in the local party. After ten years as leader of the Council, Claire Kober told The Times that she could no longer remain in her post due to the extreme hatred that had been subjected to and witnessed. Councillor Kober will stand down when local elections are held in May.

Councillor Kober, who is the most senior Labour woman in local government, cited a number of factors including the involvement of Labour’s Momentum faction in bullying, sexism and the decision to block a flagship housing project, but she said: “The levels of antisemitism I’ve seen in the Labour Party are just astonishing. The only thing I see that’s worse than sexism in the Labour Party is antisemitism.”

Recalling an incident in which Councillors were threatened for proposing to adopt the International Definition of Antisemitism, Councillor Kober said: “I was met with this wall of sound. Many of them Labour Party members screaming, shouting, howling, trying to stop me speaking.” When the motion was passed, one voice was heard shouting: “We will see you at your Constituency Labour Party.” Labour Councillor Joe Goldberg tweeted that he was threatened by fellow Labour Party members.

Councillor Kober was particularly disgusted however when a Momentum-backed candidate told a Jewish Councillor that “you will have more time to count money” after the local elections in May. Councillor Kober’s attempts to have him disciplined or expelled were rejected by the hard-left faction.

World Jewish Congress vice president Robert Singer delivered a petition, signed by over 175,000 people, to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, protesting a planned march by neo-Nazis to celebrate a World War II leader who had close ties with the Third Reich.

The torchlight procession known as the Lukov March commemorates Hristo Lukov, the late Bulgarian war minister and leader of the pro-Nazi Union of the Bulgarian National Legions, who supported anti-Semitic legislation that denied Jews civil rights. It been held annually since 2003 in the capital, Sofia, and is scheduled this year for February 17.

“This is a neo-Nazi march,” Singer said in an interview published Tuesday in the Bulgarian SEGA daily newspaper. “We know that this is a marginal phenomenon, that the Bulgarian people do not support it, and the government does not support it, that the mayor of Sofia has made efforts to ban it during the last three years, but it continues.”

The online petition, launched in January, urges Bulgarian authorities to actively ban the march rather than simply withholding permission for it to be held. Singer gave Borrisov a printed version of the document.

The leader of the UK’s largest trade union, Unite, has claimed that the Labour Party’s ongoing antisemitism crisis is only a problem due to “right-wing media” supposedly exaggerating the issue.

Mr McCluskey made the comments last week during a speech for the Resolution Foundation, according to the Daily Telegraph.

A major ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr McCluskey was reported to have said: “Let’s not kind of highlight too much division as though it’s a problem. It’s a problem because the right wing media try to make it a problem. That’s why we’ve had all the stuff flowing around about misogyny and antisemitism in the Labour Party to try and create an image that the Labour party is somehow a toxic party.”

Following the speech, Mr McCluskey tweeted: “The media try to create more of a division than there is in our movement. @UKLabour the biggest party in Europe. Of course, there will be a range of views. But we deal with each other in a respectful manner and accept the majority view #newpolitics @resfoundation”.

One of Mr McCluskey’s rivals within Unite was previously attacked as a traitor by Diane Abbott for stating that the Labour Party had a problem with antisemitism.

A Polish man has been remanded in custody after being arrested on suspicion of two counts of arson and the antisemitic vandalism of a house owned by a Jewish family in Stamford Hill.

It is alleged that the man moved into the property as a squatter, refused to move out and procured chemicals and weapons before saying that he would stab members of the Jewish family that owned the property and setting fire to bins outside two homes where he believed that they lived at approximately 23:30 on Friday night.

Volunteers from Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, operate a 24-hour response service and went to the scene of the incident to assist police in understanding the significance of the graffiti found there. There they found what appeared to be illegal drugs and deranged graffiti, including hundreds of Stars of David and the number 666, which in Christian numerology is used to refer to Satan.

Stamford Hill Shomrim is monitoring the trial, including the remand status of the defendant.

Supporters of the Chelsea soccer team were caught singing anti-Semitic songs during a game held five days after the British club launched a campaign to stamp out anti-Semitism among its fans.

After the match against fellow Premier League squad Watford on Monday night, an unnamed Chelsea fan told England’s Jewish News that he was hit with a “torrent” of anti-Semitic abuse and moved out of his seat for his safety.

Jonathan Metliss, who heads the group Action Against Discrimination, which is aimed at combating racism among European soccer fans, also was at the game and told the Jewish News that he took photos of the alleged perpetrators for investigators. Metliss said he was “disgusted” by the fans’ behavior.

Chelsea announced last month that it would partner with the Anne Frank House, London’s Jewish Museum and other organizations to provide workshops on the Jewish culture in primary schools. It will also launch an education program for fans who have been banned from games for perpetuating anti-Semitism.

When Tahir Rajabiy and Osher Barayev took the stage at the Center for Jewish History on Monday night, it was the first time the Muslim Uzbek and the Bukharian Jewish musicians had played together in decades — since they grew up together in Tashkent.

For generations, Jews and Muslims played music together in gardens, tea houses and around kitchen tables in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

At the Fourth International Shash-Maqam Forever concert, more than 20 Uzbek and Bukharian musicians celebrated their shared culture and traditions, singing and playing several variations of the long-necked lute, including sato and tamor, along with the ghijak, played more like a violin, and the hand-held drum called a doire. By day, many of the Bukharian musicians work in New York as barbers and drivers.

The concert, hosted by the American Sephardi Federation, was part of a two-day celebration of Shash-Maqam music, a traditional sound developed in the royal courts of the Emirs of the Bukharan empire. A classical genre, it is a complex repertoire of melodies and poetic texts set to instrumental music. (h/t Zvi)

Broadway's new hit "The Band's Visit" is remarkable for what doesn't happen.

The plot revolves around an Egyptian police band's arrival in a tiny Israeli desert village — instead of the thriving cultural center that bears a similar name. But instead of the political debacle the audience might expect, the show is about human interaction, loneliness, the power of music and, ultimately, what makes people similar.

The show stars veteran actor Tony Shalhoub and Broadway's Katrina Lenk (@TheKatrinaLenk), who join director David Cromer to talk with Here & Now's Robin Young about what it means to audiences.
Interview Highlights

On how the show approaches politics, and uses music to bridge divides between Arabs and Israelis

Katrina Lenk: "It's not about politics. It's about people just being people, and having basic human needs: love, food, joy, music. And music is a big connecting tool, I think, when you don't speak the same language." (h/t Zvi)

The Galápagos Islands are known for their unique animal species – giant tortoises, iguanas and sea lions – but none are more legendary than the group of birds known as Darwin’s finches.

Early discoveries from these tiny songbirds, which measure no bigger than a sparrow, are credited for having helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution by natural selection. Now, 11 of the 13 finch species found in the Galápagos are in danger of extinction due to a parasitic fly’s fatal impact on the populations.

A research team from the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment is embarking next week on an expedition to the islands to help save the iconic birds that have become the Galápagos’ symbol.

Internationally acclaimed entomologist Prof. Boaz Yuval will be joined by colleagues Prof. Edouard Jurkevitch and Micki Ben-Yosef for the three-week mission, part of a four-year project funded by the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation together with the University of Minnesota. The team will also collaborate with George Heimpel, an entomologist at the University of Minnesota, and scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation.

Israeli innovation is behind almost half of the healthcare revenues of the 350-year-old German pharmaceutical and chemicals firm Merck, Kai Beckmann, CEO of Performance Materials at the firm, said in an interview on Tuesday.

“Roughly almost half of (our) healthcare revenue is based on innovation stemming from Israel,” Beckmann said. “This tells us a lot of the story of how important” Israel is to Merck.

The Rebif drug marketed by Merck to help decrease the frequency of relapse symptoms of multiple sclerosis had sales of some 1.7 billion euros in 2016, while the Erbitux drug for patients with cancer of the head and neck, also based on Israeli technology, had global sales of around €1 billion, he said.

Merck’s range of products includes biopharmaceutical therapies for cancer and MS, and liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group, which was established in 1668.

“Are you a Jew?”

“Well, I’m Jew….ish.”

It’s a joke you’ve probably heard a hundred times before, but not delivered by Paul Rudd in the middle of a World War II spy thriller.

One of the more jaunty and entertaining films that debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was an adaptation of Nicholas Dawidoff’s successful 1994 biography, “The Catcher Was A Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg.”

The screenplay by Robert Rodat, whose credits include “Saving Private Ryan” and, surprisingly, “Thor: The Dark World,” is eager to juice the adventure aspects on a very curious life.

The movie takes some liberties — compressing some elements, leaving out some facts, teasing audience expectations a bit — but it’s all to the betterment of an enjoyable yarn. You exit the theater chewing on the mysterious Berg, thinking what Marlene Deitrich said about Orson Welles at the end of “Touch of Evil” — “he was some kind of a man.”

“The Catcher Was A Spy” never met a pre- or post-film card it didn’t like, so it opens by giving away what could have been teased out. As the United States raced to create the first atomic bomb, there was great worry that the Nazis would beat them to it. So they sent a former professional ball player to assassinate its lead scientist.

Germany on Tuesday announced that it has extended its agreements with Israel Aerospace Industries for the use of its Heron 1 reconnaissance drones in German military missions in Afghanistan and Mali for another year.

According to an IAI statement, the contract includes the supply of assets and manpower to support Heron 1 systems in the two nations where it is deployed.

The systems are operated by Airbus subsidiary DS Airborne Solutions GmbH.

The Heron has the ability to stay airborne for up to 45 hours. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,270 kilograms (about 2,800 pounds) and a payload of 250 kilograms (550 pounds).

The German Air Force has been operating the Herons in Afghanistan since 2010, where they were involved in thousands of missions, IAI said. In Mali, the system is stationed at the Gao Air Base as part of the U.N.'s Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission.

According to a statement by IAI, forces in Afghanistan and in Mali have logged more than 38,000 flight hours since 2016.

In an interview with Ozzy Osborne about why he has decided to stop touring, one part sticks out:

The No More Tours 2 tour will take Ozzy not just across North America but to South America, Europe and Russia. But there’s one stop he’s particularly looking forward to — Israel.

“I did a show there a few years back — it was unbelievable,” Ozzy said. Nobody goes there, so they really appreciate it, ’cause in Los Angeles and New York everybody’s spoiled there — you get everybody who’s anybody.”

I wouldn’t say “nobody goes there” – actually most artists (who matter) do come here.

But I think Ozzy is pretty adorable and appreciate him admitting the idea of playing in Israel particularly excites him.

There’s nothing sexier right now in Hollywood than an Israeli accent. And actress and model Moran Atias is certainly feeling the love right now.

The 36-year-old Atias, already a presence on the small screen in the United States, has just been cast in an upcoming NBC drama called The Village.

The Village, which NBC picked up for its 2018-2019 season, tells the story of a diverse group of residents living in a Manhattan apartment building. The show, written by Sons of Anarchy’s Mike Daniels, was NBC’s first pilot pickup for next year.

According to Deadline, Atias will be playing Edda, an Iranian immigrant who is detained by immigration officers over fraudulent citizenship papers.

It won't be Atias's first time playing a Middle Eastern character; the Haifa native starred for three seasons in FX's The Tyrant as Leila Al-Fayeed. She can currently be seen in the Fox medical drama The Resident and also appeared in 24: Legacy.

Israeli fencer Dan Alon (March 28, 1945 — January 31, 2018) was a hero of the rarest kind. He did not rush into a burning building to save a neighbor, nor did he stand up to a despotic tyrant. Yet he still set a singular standard for heroism.

Before dawn on September 5, 1972 — in Apartment 2 of the Israeli athletes’ compound at the Munich Olympics — Dan Alon was startled by a machine gun blast. Even before he was fully awake, Alon knew that he had to run. An Israeli sabra learns to recognize the sound of terrorism as early as he learns to recognize his mother’s voice. Run or die. He ran.

Though he survived, Alon’s life was drained from him that day.

Next door, in Apartment 1, a band of Black Septembrists had imprisoned 11 of Alon’s teammates. As the six Olympians in Apartment 2 — a speed walker, a younger fencer, Alon, and three marksmen – struggled into full consciousness, they watched the body of their friend — a wrestler — hurtle past their window and fall onto the concrete below.

Surreptitiously, the six athletes in Apartment 2 were able to escape. Alon, the last to leave, saw a rifleman aiming a Kalisnikov directly at the fencer’s head. The two locked eyes, and then, inexplicably, the terrorist turned away — and Alon dashed for freedom. Yet in that moment, Alon felt his life end.

“I should have gone back. I should have tried to save the others. I should have fought the Palestinians,” he was wont to say. Instead, he and the others were charged with the devastating task of collecting the murdered men’s effects. From the pools of the victims’ blood and the wreckage of their resistance, the athletes from Apartment 2 extricated the toys and souvenirs meant as gifts for the athletes’ families, who were awaiting a triumphant return.

Instead, Dan and his cohorts would carry them home as artifacts in memoriam.

Representatives of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the United States participated in an emergency conference in Brussels on Wednesday of countries and organizations that provide financial support for Palestinians.

Israel presented humanitarian assistance plans at the gathering for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip with a focus on desalination, electricity and natural gas infrastructure projects in addition to upgrading of the industrial zone at the Erez border crossing with Israel. The total cost of the projects is estimated at a billion dollars, which Israel asked the international community to fund.The plan was first reported by Haaretz.

Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, who represented Israel at the conference, presented the plans but noted that carrying them out would require that the PA take responsibility for civilian life in Gaza, which has been under the control of Hamas since the Islamist movement forcefully ousted the PA there in 2007.

Taking their cues from the misguided and erroneously depicted narrative about Gaza, the international community will likely acquiesce to Israel’s latest demand and thus, as a result, fund both colonialism and Israel’s security narrative which is integral to the development which Israel is allegedly envisaging for the territory.

The Israeli plan for Gaza’s infrastructure, therefore, is a step towards alienation. Ushering in a new form of dependency upon Palestinians in Gaza is not a step towards economic opportunity. This time there are many opportunities for Israel, which can extend its warped concept of humanitarian aid and development to a population which it has coldly and deliberately terrorised, murdered and maimed over many decades. Approval by the international community, including finance for the proposed projects, will allow Israel to push the limits in collaboration further. In the event that Israel decides to raze Gaza again with another brutal military offensive, the financial hits will be incurred by its international accomplices, following the established pattern of Israel’s demolition of EU-funded structures, only more severely. It is clear that Israel is seeking to inflict similar repercussions on the remaining fragments of Palestinian territory and there is no swifter way to achieve this than by inviting the international community to participate.

 The Ministry of Information called on the Union of Arab Journalists to take punitive measures against the nine Arab journalists, the institutions they work for, their status and their institutions and place them on a blacklist if they agree to a normalization visit [to Israel.]

 The Ministry affirms that tolerating Israel and its terrorism constitutes a departure from the Arab ranks and Arab consensus resolutions issued in particular by the Council of Arab Information Ministers. It is a disgrace that can not be justified, nor purged of, because it represents an departure from the official and popular position that Israel is a state of occupation, racism, ethnic cleansing and extremism. The Ministry urges them to establish controls for the non-repetition of such suspicious visits.

The Ministry  reiterates that the gates of Palestine are well known to the Palestinian people, who face the worst occupation in two centuries, an occupation that violates international resolutions and laws and practices oppression and terrorism against the Palestinian people and their land and civilization. On every occasion they cry "death to the Arabs", and incite their children to terrorism and the destruction of our people. This occupation can not be supported with visits and normalization with them.

Al-Quds University launched the Jerusalem Academy of International Justice as a specialized institute aimed at preparing academic and training programs in the field of litigation before the international criminal law courts and violations of human rights under the auspices of President Mahmoud Abbas. 

The Academy will be based in the Old City of Jerusalem and established by the University of Jerusalem in cooperation with Judge Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who will supervise it with his expertise in this field. He will be involved with developing and teaching the curriculum. 

Justice Minister Ali Abu Diak, speaking on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas on the importance of launching the academy from Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, which comes at a crucial stage after the Trump Declaration on Jerusalem, said that the approval of Judge Ocampo to preside over this academy carries a strong message that international justice will not find resonance anywhere in the world if it does not find a place in Palestine and that the principles of justice, justice and law will be achieved only with the accountability and trial of the occupier.

The U.S. government has traced some of the $1.7 billion released to Iran by the Obama administration to Iranian-backed terrorists in the two years since the cash was transferred.

According to knowledgeable sources, Iran has used the funds to pay its main proxy, the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, along with the Quds Force, Iran’s main foreign intelligence and covert action arm and element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The U.S. money supplied to Iran as part of an arms settlement dating back to the 1970s also has been traced to Iran’s backing of Houthi rebels seeking to take power in Yemen. Iran has been supporting the Yemen rebels as part of a bid to encircle and eventually take control of Saudi Arabia.

The intelligence tracing the American funds to Iranian-backed terrorists is likely to further fuel President Trump’s effort to undo the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration’s main foreign policy initiative codified in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the Iran nuclear deal is called.

Despite promises to reject the deal during the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump announced in January the U.S. would not pull out of the Iran nuclear accord for now. But the president criticized the transfer of money to Tehran and signaled that Washington is going after Iran’s funding of terrorism.

“The enormous financial windfall the Iranian regime received because of the deal — access to more than $100 billion, including $1.8 billion in cash — has not been used to better the lives of the Iranian people,” Mr. Trump said Jan. 12. “Instead, it has served as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression, and to further line the pockets of corrupt regime leaders.”

An article in the official PA daily acknowledged that 161 Palestinians were killed while carrying out stabbing attacks during the Palestinian wave of terror in 2015-2016 during which 40 people were murdered by Palestinians and over 500 wounded.

Palestinian Media Watch documented at the time that the PA falsely claimed that Israel "fabricated" the stabbing attacks, and "planted knives" next to the dead bodies of "innocent Palestinian victims" after having "executed" them in "cold blood."

One cartoon tweeted by Abbas' Fatah Movement in November 2015 visualized the PA libel showing an Israeli soldier dropping knives near the bodies of dead Palestinians: [Fatah Twitter account, Nov. 1, 2015]

The recent article in the official PA daily recognizes the fact that 161 Palestinians were killed while attacking Israelis with knives:
"The Al-Aqsa uprising in 2015 (i.e., Palestinian terror wave, 40 murdered) that broke out spontaneously against the Israeli occupation's insistence on interfering in the affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and continuing its Judaization. It continued for approximately one year, and during that year 250 [Palestinian] civilians died as Martyrs (Shahids), 161 of them while carrying out stabbing operations against the occupation's soldiers and its settlers."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 28, 2018]

Palestinian terror wave (2015-2016) - Palestinian violence and terror attacks against Israelis, including stabbings, shootings, throwing Molotov cocktails, and car rammings. It started in September 2015 and until and including July 2016, 40 people were murdered (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans, and 1 foreign worker from Eritrea) and over 500 wounded.

One of the stranger aspects of the Super Bowl LII broadcast on Sunday was the Turkish Airlines sign on the NBC Sports desk during the pre-game show.

NBC also ran a commercial for Turkish Airlines. Starring television celebrity surgeon Dr. Oz, the ad, like previous years’ Turkish Airlines Super Bowl ads, was an advertising work of art. It was brilliantly written and beautifully produced. It’s hard to imagine the average viewer would feel anything other than attracted to Turkey after watching it.

There is nothing wrong with a business or civic group advertising its message. But the uneasiness the ad caused many viewers was reasonable. Turkish Airlines is not a private business. The Turkish government owns a controlling 49.12 percent of the airline. And the Turkish government is not demonstrating affinity with America, let alone with American sports, these days.

To the contrary, although it’s a member of NATO, everywhere you look, Turkey is actively harming American interests.

For example, Turkey has led the diplomatic onslaught against America since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem on December 6.

Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan hosted a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in December to criticize the U.S. and was an outspoken advocate of the U.N. General Assembly’s resolution to condemn the American move.

And just last Tuesday, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) held an America-bashing conference in Istanbul.

As John Rossomando reported for the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) on Monday, the U.S. deported one of the speakers at the conference, Sami al-Arian, in 2015 after he served his prison term for funding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group.

Former @UNRefugeeAgency Mideast rep: "UNRWA is in essence a mindless distribution system. It should be replaced by micro-credit schemes or economic development projects aimed at fostering self-sufficiency." https://t.co/R2iukdtswy

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) February 8, 2018

Pakistani-Canadian human rights activist Raheel Raza spoke on Thursday about peace, anti-Semtism in Muslim countries, and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Raza is a author, journalist, and public speaker, as well as a media consultant and anti-racism activist. She is also the author of Their Jihad, Not My Jihad: A Muslim Canadian Woman Speaks Out.

"I'm a practicing observer of Islam, and therefore I believe that the children of Abraham - the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims - need to learn to live together, they need to respect each other, and the rise of anti-Semitism in the Muslim world is something that really bothers me," Raza said. "I know that it is political, and not ideological."

"Don't think that we are taught in the Quran how to hate the Jews," she emphasized. "This is something that is very political and we must fight it on political grounds."

"We need to speak out and this needs to come from within the Muslim communities."

When asked about the Palestinian Authority's policy of paying salaries to terrorists, Raza said, "The problem is, that when you start having conversations, you can talk about these issues. But if the other side won't even recognize the right of Israel to exist, how can you have a conversation?"

American Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt on Thursday slammed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for failing to mention Judaism’s connection to Jerusalem in a speech this week.

Speaking at the Jerusalem Capital of Muslim Youth 2018 festival in Ramallah on Tuesday, Abbas repeatedly emphasized that Jerusalem was a city for Muslims and Christians, without mentioning any of the city’s extensive Jewish history.

“Pres. Abbas states about Jerusalem: ‘it is Arab, Muslim, and Christian.’ And makes no mention of any Jewish ties. Nothing peaceful or productive can come from statements like this,” Greenblatt said in a series of tweets.

“Lasting peace will not be achieved by denying Judaism’s thousands of years of ties to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews,” the US envoy added, recalling President Donald Trump’s recognition in December of the city as Israel’s capital.

American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is being blamed for the crisis in ties between the US and the Palestinians, according to Nabil Abu Rudeinah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman.

Since US President Donald Trump in early December recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and initiated the relocation of the American Embassy in Tel Aviv to the city, US-Palestinian relations have deteriorated significantly.

In the past two months, Palestinians have reportedly halted communications with the US president’s Middle East peace envoys and turned down a meeting with American Vice President Mike Pence.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has withheld part of a planned contribution to a UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees and threatened to cut all assistance to the Palestinian if they do not return to the negotiating table.

“The ambassador’s recommendations and advice, which do not aim to achieve a just peace on the basis of international legitimacy, is what led to this crisis in American-Palestinian relations,” Abu Rudeinah said in statement published on the official PA news site Wafa on Wednesday night.

The poll published by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University on Wednesday reveals that most Israelis consider the Middle East policies of US President Donald Trump to be pro-Israel, in sharp contrast to Israeli views on the policies of former US President Barack Obama.

According the monthly Peace Index poll, approximately 70 percent of Israelis view the current US position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as pro-Israel, with only 4 percent identifying the policies of the current administration as pro-Palestinian.

When the same poll was taken back in May 2011, only 14 percent of respondents identified the Obama administration’s Middle East policy as pro-Israel, with 31 percent labeling Obama’s policies as pro-Palestinian.

US President Donald Trump thanks his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales for announcing he would move his country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

“President Trump thanked President Morales for supporting the United States and Israel, and for his announced decision to move the Guatemalan embassy to Jerusalem,” a White House readout says.

The two meet in Washington ahead of Trump’s appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast.

After Trump announced on December 6 the US would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy to the city, Morales said his country would follow the US and also move its embassy to Jerusalem.

The announced move was praised by Israel, with Prime Minister Netanyahu saying “God bless” Guatemala.

.@IsraeliPM: I'm now concluding a tour of IDF Northern Command that we held w/ the members of the Security Cabinet. I'm impressed by the major work the IDF is doing to defend our borders & our state. We want peace but are prepared for any scenario. I suggest that no one test us. pic.twitter.com/u98kSywFtY

— Embassy of Israel (@IsraelinUSA) February 6, 2018

The Israeli intelligence community recently detected the emergence of serious strategic threats to Israel by Iran, Hizbullah, Syria, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. To prevent these threats from materializing, Israel's diplomatic and military system was enlisted for a concentrated diplomatic-PR effort to deter the threatening elements and use international leverages of influence against them (like Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example).

There are still no Shiite militia fighters near the Golan Heights border, Hizbullah doesn't have a considerable number of precision-guided missiles yet, and there are no Iranian factories for improving the accuracy level of surface-to-surface missiles in Syria or Lebanon. There are, however, preparations and attempts by the Iranian Quds Force and Hizbullah to build such a factory in Lebanon, after a similar factory was destroyed in a bombing in Syria.

The Iranians believe Israel won't dare strike in Lebanon for fear Hizbullah will respond by firing missiles and lead to war. They believe there is mutual deterrence between Israel and Hizbullah, which allows them to fearlessly build the "missile accuracy improvement factories" in Lebanon.

Israel's political-security establishment, however, has conveyed to the Iranians and Hizbullah that their assessment is wrong: "We have red lines, and if precision missile factories are built in Lebanon, or if we detect Shiite militias in the Syrian Golan Heights, we'll act to remove the threat without any hesitations, even if this leads to an escalation and war. If there is an escalation, we'll act immediately, with full force."

A U.S. envoy has assured Lebanon that Israel does not seek an escalation between the countries following a surge in hostile rhetoric, Lebanese and Israeli officials said on Thursday.

The neighbors have exchanged threats and condemnation over a border wall being constructed by Israel, a tender issued by Beirut for oil and gas exploration in disputed waters and arms flows to Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.

Lebanese and Israeli officials said David Satterfield, acting assistant U.S. secretary of state, was in Israel last week and in Lebanon this week on a mediation mission. U.S. officials confirmed his travels without detailing his agenda.

"He [Satterfield] held talks regarding the [border] wall with Israel and said there is no cause for concern, and there is no direction towards escalation," a senior Lebanese government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"He assured the Lebanese that Israel does not want escalation."

An Israeli official said Satterfield was "relaying messages" to Beirut about several matters of contention.

"Our position has always been that we do not want to see the situation inflamed," the official said, adding that at least two European countries were mediating, as well as the United States.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a simple, straightforward message this week when he toured Israel’s border with Syria and Lebanon with top security officials.

“Our face is turned toward peace, we are ready for any eventuality, and I don’t suggest anyone test us,” he said Tuesday in a video message he posted on Twitter, the sound of helicopter blades whirring in the background.

The mixed message signaled Israel’s ambivalence about taking on the terrorist group Hezbollah 12 years after Lebanon and Israel were left gutted by a summer war.

The 2006 war was costly for both sides: Hezbollah, the preeminent militia in Lebanon, lost political capital for inviting a devastating response to its provocations along Israel’s border. Israel’s military and political class at the time paid a price for not decisively winning a war that precipitated a mass internal movement of civilians southward.

Yet the sides are making increasingly belligerent noises. Here are five factors contributing to increasing tensions along the border.

Russia reacted seriously to yesterday's Knesset bill to recognize the Ukrainian genocide in the 1930's advanced by Druze MK Akram Hasson (Kulanu) and marking the Holodomor ("to kill by starvation"), the mass famine in Ukraine between 1932-3 in which millions were killed. The Russian Embassy reacted by saying the bill "sadly distorts history".

Meanwhile, the Russians are applying additional pressure on the media. Yesterday, Russian Deputy Ambassador to Israel Leonid Frolov spoke with Galei Tzahal's Michael Hauser Tov. Frolov was asked whether this law intensifies sensitivities while security coordination between Jerusalem and Moscow regarding Iran and Syria is at its peak.

Frolov said: "This is not a good time to discuss such a proposal. This is a very important time for all the world and now, when Mr. Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital, Israel needs the support not only of the United States; Israel needs the support of many other countries, who think in a different way."

The Ukrainian wholesale murder in the 1930s perpetrated by Stalin is an upsetting issue for the Russians. According to Hasson's proposal, the State of Israel will officially recognize the Ukrainian genocide, and even hold a memorial day and ceremony on the subject.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blocked a vote in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on a bill which would gradually apply Israeli sovereignty to Jewish communities in the West Bank.

The Judea and Samaria sovereignty bill, submitted by Knesset Member Yoav Kish (Likud) calls for “unrestricted construction and to extend Israeli law and sovereignty” throughout Israeli-controlled areas in the West Bank.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation is responsible for determining which proposals are adopted by the majority-ruling coalition. Bills supported by the committee are effectively guaranteed passage in parliament.

Netanyahu blocked the committee’s vote on the bill, instructing that a vote would only take place if the proposal was first coordinated with the US administration.

The Defense Ministry is proposing a bill to deduct sums paid to terrorists from tax monies collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), in light of the Authority’s protocol of wiring monthly payments to convicted terrorists.

The money will be set aside in a special fund, set to have three uses: remuneration for victims of terror who were awarded damages in court, financing for a project that fights terrorism funding and to improve civil infrastructure such as roads and lighting, thus boosting security.

As was recently revealed by the Defense Ministry, payments by the Palestinian Authority to Palestinian prisoners, released prisoners, families of terrorists and those injured by Israel amounted to NIS 1.2 billion annually.

It can be said that these funds are a direct incentive for terrorists, as the average wage among West Bank Palestinians is NIS 2,000 while a terrorist who is a resident of Israel, married with three children and serving a life sentence can receive NIS 10,950 a month.

In 2017, the PA paid Palestinian prisoners and released prisoners more than NIS 550 million, and NIS 687 million to families of suicide bombers. These amount to 7 percent of the budget of the PA, which nevertheless maintains it does not engage in terrorism.

A terrorist sentenced to 3-5 years in prison, meanwhile, receives NIS 2,000 a month, while one who was sentenced to between 20-35 years receives NIS 10,000 a month for the rest of his life.

The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on Wednesday claimed that the Palestinian Authority provided the lead that helped Israel track down and kill Ahmed Jarrar, the terrorist suspected of heading the cell that killed Rabbi Raziel Shevach last month.

Meanwhile, Hamas and other Palestinian groups renewed their demand for an end to security coordination between the PA and Israel.

Jarrar, a member of Hamas’s military wing, was killed in a shootout with the IDF on Tuesday in the village of Al Yamoun in the Jenin area.

A video posted on the Al Qassam website claimed that immediately after Shevach was shot dead on January 9 in the northern West Bank, Israel and the PA began working together to identify the perpetrators.

“The Palestinian Authority provided the lead to the enemy,” the video charged.

It said that after becoming aware of the PA’s collaboration with Israel, Jarrar began preparing himself for a “confrontation” with the IDF.

The Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction on Wednesday warned Palestinians against accepting an invitation to attend a ceremony for the incoming head of the IDF’s District Coordination and Liaison (DCL) center in the Ramallah area.

The ceremony for Azhar Ghanem is scheduled to take place on Thursday at the offices of the Civil Administration, Israel’s military governing authority in the West Bank, near Ramallah.

Several Palestinians have been invited to attend the ceremony, according to a source in the Defense Ministry’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

COGAT is responsible for coordination and liaising with the Palestinian Authority in conjunction with the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Civil Administration is a civil-military body that is charged with implementing Israel’s civil policy in the West Bank. The Civil Administration has eight DCL centers throughout the West Bank.

A leaflet distributed by the Fatah leadership in Ramallah warned that any Palestinian “merchant” who accepts the invitation would be held accountable, both morally and nationally.

This was not the first time that Fatah had called for a boycott of such ceremonies.

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed the convictions and sentences of the three murderers of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, rejecting their appeals.

In May 2016, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Yosef Haim Ben David to life in prison plus 20 years for being the ringleader in the murder of the 16-year-old Arab from Shuafat in east Jerusalem on July 2, 2014.

In February 2016, the same court sentenced two minors who had already been convicted of assisting Ben David with the murder – one to life in prison and one to 21 years in prison.

Abu Khdeir was abducted, burned and brutally murdered on July 2, 2014 after being kidnapped by Ben David and the two minors.

News coverage of the slaying led to Arab riots throughout east Jerusalem and the rest of the country.

The defense ministry recognized Abu Khdeir as a victim of hostile action, granting his family identical compensation rights as the victims of Arab terrorism, such as victims of suicide bombings.

Ben David’s appeal had focused on trying to get the Supreme Court to accept an insanity plea which the lower court had rejected.

There are numerous indicators that the situation in the Gaza Strip has gone from bad to worse. And this has direct implications for Israel. The likelihood of another war with Hamas-controlled Gaza has increased; environmental dangers such as sewage and diseases have become more acute; and Israel’s moral obligation as a neighboring country with the ability to help has become more pressing.

It is difficult to say which of the many crises facing Gazans is the most severe. But it seems that much of the problem stems from the lack of a steady supply of electricity. Sewage treatment plants cannot be operated and large-scale desalination is impossible. Over-pumping of aquifers has resulted in seepage of seawater into the groundwater.

Ahmed al-Yaqoubi, a hydrologist who is an adviser to the Palestinian Water Authority, told the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies last month that almost 90% of the drinking water in Gaza exceeds the maximum salinity standard of the World Health Organization.

Untreated sewage causes sickness and even deaths inside Gaza, and the backflow into the Mediterranean regularly pollutes the beaches of Ashkelon and Ashdod.

The lack of a reliable electricity supply means that hospitals are unable to provide adequate treatment and industry is crippled. This leads in turn to lower productivity, further deterioration of the economy, lower purchasing power, and fewer goods shipped into Gaza. Unemployment is estimated to be around 50%; the number of commercial trucks passing through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza has dropped from over 1,000 to about 350 per day.

It is widely recognized that Hamas, a party that has enjoyed wide popularity among Palestinians at least since 2006 when it won a plurality of the vote in the Palestinians’ last national elections, is to blame for the situation in Gaza.

Thousands of Palestinian travelers gathered at Gaza's border crossing with Egypt on Thursday hoping for a brief chance to leave after Cairo temporarily opened a frontier it largely keeps closed as it battles an Islamist insurgency on the other side.

Israel also maintains tight restrictions on its border with the Gaza Strip, meaning the 2 million Palestinians who live there are rarely able to leave the densely-populated enclave in which the Hamas Islamist movement is the dominant armed force.

In a wheelchair and helped by his wife and daughter, 74-year-old Awni An-Najar said at Rafah crossing that he sought to enter Egypt for treatment of his broken hip.

"Patients must be allowed to travel freely. I want to be able to walk again," he said.

Egypt tends to open the frontier temporarily a few times a year, usually with short notice and little explanation. The latest opening began on Wednesday with no advanced announcement at all.

Palestinian terrorist groups have been considering the possibility in recent days of organizing mass protests by Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip at the border with Israel to try to break into Israeli territory to demonstrate against the worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave, a senior official in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization told Breitbart Jerusalem.

According to the source, the leading jihadist groups active in Gaza – Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – have met to discuss this option and how to get the other factions involved.

The proposal seeks to bring large numbers to protest along the length of the border with Israel with the goal of trying to get over the security fence and put pressure on the Israeli authorities to ease the blockade of Gaza as well as force the Palestinian Authority to join the effort, as it also has a number of sanctions in place against the Hamas-controlled enclave. Israel provides daily humanitarian assistance to Gaza and supplies the Strip with most of its electricity.

The source noted that consultations are ongoing regarding any such protest and the correct time to carry it out, if at all, is still up in the air.

Hani Sawabteh, a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, refused to confirm that any specific plans are being made. However, Sawabteh told Breitbart Jerusalem, “It’s the right of the Palestinians to take all measures and use all options at their disposal to protest the humanitarian disaster that’s hurting the Gaza Strip. We are considering all steps and all actions in that direction.”

On December 2, 2017, a faction named after "the martyr Nidal Al-'Amoudi"[1] within the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced the establishment of "The Martyr Yasser Arafat Base, the first Fatah movement military base in the Gaza Strip." According to the announcement, the base is intended for the training of fighters for the continuation "of the armed struggle."[2]

This faction of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades views itself as part of the Fatah movement in Gaza; however, it does not accept Fatah's current leadership, headed by Mahmoud 'Abbas, and instead supports his political rival Muhammad Dahlan.[3] It is possible that the establishment of this military base was intended to strengthen the military might and status of Muhammad Dahlan's supporters in the Gaza Strip.

The faction's spokesman "Abu Muhammad" discussed the establishment of the base in statements to the Filastin newspaper, which is published in Gaza and identified with Hamas, and also during a telephone interview with the Gaza Alkofiya television channel, which is identified with Muhammad Dahlan's camp, and which is known for its opposition to 'Abbas. In his statements, Abu Muhammad stressed that "no one, whoever he may be, will be able to take the weapons from the resistance" and that "we must defeat the enemy [and drive him out] of our occupied lands, those that were occupied in 1948 and those in the West Bank."[4]

On the occasion of Fatah Day (the 53rd anniversary of Fatah's founding), which took place on December 31, 2017, the Nidal Al-'Amoudi faction released a video in which Abu Muhammad announced that the faction had trained fighters at the Yasser Arafat base for the campaign in Jerusalem.[5]

In a thinly veiled threat, Hamas hung posters on Wednesday featuring the photos of two recent victims of deadly terrorist attacks – Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal and Rabbi Raziel Shevach – alongside photos of living Israeli right-wing politicians and religious leaders.

Both Ben-Gal and Shevach were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in Samaria within the span of a month.

The posters were seen in the Gaza Strip at a memorial service for Ahmed Jarrar, the Palestinian terrorist behind Shevach's murder. Jarrar was killed early Tuesday when Israeli troops raided his home. The service, billed as a martyr's memorial, was held by the Hamas military wing Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Despite the threatening message, the posters did not include a direct call to assassinate the individuals featured in it. The posters included images of Likud MK Yehuda Glick and former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin.

The poster appeared to serve as a general declaration of symbolic intent to murder more Israelis.

Those brave lions of Hamas seem to be soiling their pants right about now.

“Timeout?”

Hamas has declared a state of alert across the blockaded Gaza Strip and decided to evacuate its resistance sites, a Hamas source said on Wednesday.

Speaking with Quds Press on condition of anonymity, a source from Hamas said the state of alert has come in response to the sweeping military maneuvers launched by the Israeli occupation army as of Sunday near Gaza’s borders.

According to the same source, Hamas took serious measures to protect its leadership and gave instructions to its political and military chiefs to change their locations and cease using mobile phones.

Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, also called on its members to evacuate drill camps and security centers in anticipation of abrupt aggressions by Israeli warplanes.

Once again, the Hamas-holes are leading from the front – in running for their lives.

Not that we did not already know they are cowards – you simply have to be when you target innocent men, women and children.

A British Muslim cleric has worked out why the palestinians are suffering.

Clue: It is not because they have spent the best part of a century trying to murder Jews.

.
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
.
British Islamic cleric claims Palestinians and Rohingyas are suffering because Muslims in UK are having premarital sex🐑 and are no longer 👀virgins 😱pic.twitter.com/6fbWqmn3Oo

— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) February 7, 2018

Now that’s what I call the rooting cause of the conflict.

But now I am really confused. This seemingly endless supply of 72 virgins per “martyr” – where are they coming from? Apparently not the UK, I guess.

In the meantime, that cleric really reminds me of someone but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Oh wait..

The president of the Palestinian Authority appeared to accusations today that he and his administration incite violence against Israelis, issuing a call to his people to commit only non-violent terrorist acts.

Mahmoud Abbas addressed Palestinians in a televised speech also carried on official internet channels, and urged them to fight the Occupation with nonviolent methods such as nonviolent stabbings, nonviolent bombings, nonviolent car-rammings, nonviolent stonings, and nonviolent shootings, lest Israel continue to use Palestinian violence as a pretext not to make concessions.

“Every drop of blood spilled in defense of Palestine and in defense of our honor is sacred and glorious,” declared Abbas. “But we must spill that blood – our enemy’s or our own – with wisdom. From this point forth, our holy struggle calls only for nonviolent acts of aggression against the occupier and the settler. Resist, O heroes, by all means! Martyr yourselves for Palestine, taking as many perfidious Jews with you as possible! But nonviolently.”

The president also called on his Hamas and Islamic Jihad rivals to adhere to nonviolent murder, arson, and maiming attempts. “We share the noble goal of freeing our sacred land from the Zionist infidel usurper,” he proclaimed. “We diverge only in tactics, not in ultimate objectives. I therefore adjure you, my brethren in Resistance, when you fire rockets at Israeli towns, when you send fighters through tunnels to wreak murder and mayhem upon the enemy, do so nonviolently.”

Again, the official Jordanian News Agency Petra has published a report full of incitement language and this time, it has added an unforgivable claim.

It has all the regular stuff - "extremists", "settlers", "storm" and "provocative".

But now, there is the lie of "the alleged 'Temple Mount':
Extremist settlers storm Al Aqsa compound Ramallah, Feb.7 (Petra) -- Groups of Israeli extremist settlers early Wednesday renewed its storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Haram Al Sharif in the occupied holy city of Jerusalem, a Palestinian source confirmed.

The General Director of the Islamic Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Affairs, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, told Petra’s reporter in Ramallah that today's raid by the Jewish settlers was carried through al-Magharebah Gate under heavy protection of Israeli special forces.

Extremist settlers provocatively toured the Al-Aqsa yards, and listened to explanations on the alleged "Temple mount", while Muslims worshippers placed in different parts of the mosque protesting against these provocations, Al-Khatib added.

For some time after the U.S. struck a Syrian airbase last April—in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons—Bashar al-Assad’s forces refrained from using poison gas. But in the past few weeks Damascus has fired chlorine gas-filled rockets at civilian neighborhoods at least six times. Noah Rothman asks if the Trump administration will once again enforce its red line:

The Trump administration now faces a moment of truth. It could preserve the moral authority it purchased after declining merely to scold the Syrian regime for deploying weapons of mass destruction against civilians, or it could retreat into a defensive crouch and act like the Syrian regime’s de-facto defense counsel. That, to its everlasting shame, was the Obama administration’s approach to the use of chlorine munitions in Syria. . . .

Chlorine is a dual-use chemical that has industrial applications and, as such, is not subject to the same global prohibition that nerve agents like sarin and VX are. But the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons lists chlorine as a choking agent with potentially lethal battlefield applications. . . .

The last administration’s efforts to downplay the severity of chlorine attacks in Syria were grotesque. President Obama’s appeal to Russia as a source of relief for the people of Syria—a nation that now actively blocks the international community’s efforts to extend the mandate of chemical-weapons inspectors in Syria—was craven.

A Middle Eastern state engaged in multiple military conflicts in the region in which its forces or proxies have killed tens of thousands of indigenous residents of the area harbors serious concerns over the welfare and indigenous sovereignty of the Arabs of Palestine.

Iran, which controls militias in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 locals in a bid to secure the regime of tyrants such as Syrian President Basher al-Assad, expresses grave worry about the safety, security, and freedoms of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. The mullahs’ regime, which also oppresses non-Shiite Arabs within Iran, maintains a policy of making pronouncements on the importance of Palestinians determining their own fate.

In addition to the rhetorical support for Palestinian indigenous rights, the country whose fighters routinely violate the indigenous rights of others in the region provides material support to Palestinian groups working to oust the sovereign Jewish presence from the Middle East by exercising dictatorial control over Palestinians regardless of what Palestinians might think. While in a formal sense the Sunni Muslims of Hamas represent an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, a rival of Iran’s Shia movement, Iran has forged a patron relationship with totalitarian Hamas, which aims to impose its Islamist policies on all of Palestinian society, a testament to Iran’s profound concern for an indigenous people to exercise sovereignty.

In a 1970 article, pioneering Polish-Jewish historian Szymon Datner estimated that 200,000 Jews died at the hands of Poles during World War II. Attempting to flee the Germans’ cattle cars and camps, they found their deaths after being handed over to the authorities, informed upon while in hiding, or through murder by their Polish neighbors.

From 1942 to 1945, according to Datner’s calculations, of the 250,000 Jews who attempted to escape the Germans in occupied Poland, only 10-16 percent survived.

A Jewish Holocaust survivor himself, Datner eventually became the head of the Jewish Historical Institute of Warsaw and worked as a historian for the precursor to Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN). But were he alive today, he would potentially be prosecuted for his scholarly findings.

On February 6, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law amendments to the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation Act.

Among its amendments is this controversial section of the bill: “Whoever claims, publicly and contrary to the facts, that the Polish Nation or the Republic of Poland is responsible or co-responsible for Nazi crimes committed by the Third Reich… or for other felonies that constitute crimes against peace, crimes against humanity or war crimes, or whoever otherwise grossly diminishes the responsibility of the true perpetrators of said crimes – shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 years.”

With its vague language, this amendment could be read as mandating that Datner, a respected historian who worked for the institute the bill is named for, be locked up.

A former prime minister entered Poland’s fraught debate over a new law that prohibits discussion of Polish collusion with the Nazi Holocaust, bluntly telling a leading newspaper that “of course” there were cases of Poles collaborating in the extermination of the Jews.

“Of course Poles took part,” former Polish premier Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz told the newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Wednesday.

Emphasizing that “today’s generation is not responsible for what happened,” Cimoszewicz — a social democrat politician who was Poland’s prime minister during the mid-1990s and also served as the country’s foreign minister — urged Poles to talk “openly and honestly” about the experience of Nazi occupation.

Among the historical examples he cited were the “tens of thousands” of “szmalcowniks” — Poles who informed on Jews or extorted their property. At least 60,000 Jews had been denounced by Poles to the Nazi Gestapo, Cimoszewicz said.

Ninety percent of Poland’s pre-war Jewish population of 3 million was murdered following the Nazi German invasion of September 1939.

The former prime minister also noted that more than 6,000 Poles had been honored as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem. “We are all obliged to remember these heroic people, but we must not allow their heroism to cover the crimes and wickedness of a much larger group of Poles,” he continued.

“Antisemitism was and remains endemic in our country,” Cimoszewicz said.

Cimoszewicz accused Poland’s nationalist government of deliberately exaggerating the damage to Poland’s reputation through the use of phrases like “Polish death camp” to describe Auschwitz, the slave labor and execution factory constructed and operated by the Nazi German occupiers near the town of Oświęcim in the south.

The International March of the Living, an educational initiative that has brought more than 250,000 participants to visit concentration camps in Poland, has announced that it will continue its trip in 2018, despite the organization’s opposition to a new Polish law criminalizing statements such as “Polish concentration camps,” or similar statements linking Poland to the heinous crimes against Jews in World War II.

Instead, the organization is calling for “for an open discussion and dialogue on all aspects related to the history of the Holocaust in Poland and Europe, which is also the position of the government of Israel.”

In a statement, March of the Living said, “Like in years before, more than 12,000 participants, Jews and non-Jews alike, including thousands of non-Jewish Polish students, and students from other nations, will take part in the passing the torch of memory from survivors to the next generation. On each trip, the survivors share their precious stories in the very places they transpired, with their students who commit to becoming the bearers of their memories.”

Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, International March of the Living President, said, “We believe it is our sacred responsibility to carry the torch of Holocaust memory and we remain committed to teaching the importance of understanding the past as a means of protecting the future. Now, as much as ever, we believe our mission is of the utmost importance.”

The organization notes that despite the law — which has been panned by Israeli officials — that “great progress has been made in the arena of Polish-Jewish relations and in the relationship between Poland and the State of Israel,” since the inception of the March of the Living program.

Dozens of Holocaust survivors protested outside the Polish Embassy in Tel Aviv on Thursday, demonstrating against a new law in Poland that criminalizes suggestions of Polish complicity in the Holocaust.

The demonstrators carried signs with slogans such as: “No law can erase history” and “Poles, we remember what you did.”
The demonstrators broke into the compound of the embassy singing Am Yisrael Chai, “The people of Israel live.”

The protest was organized by the Haifa-based Yad Ezer La-Haver foundation, which runs a home in that city for Holocaust survivors.

The Jerusalem Post’s Hebrew-language sister publication Maariv reported that survivor Shalom Steinberg, 95, from Haifa, shouted: “You should be ashamed. I escaped from Auschwitz and weep every night from the things I went through there. Many people like me did not survive, and we will not forget that the Nazis massacred us on your Polish soil.”

Motke Lieber, another Holocaust survivor, added: “How can it be that such a law is passed when the Poles did not help us, and certainly not the Germans?”

While Turkish President Erdogan and Pope Francis were in Rome complimenting each other on Jerusalem and the European Union was rolling out red carpets to Mahmoud Abbas, Israel was protecting the West.

This small state has hitherto prevented Iran from manufacturing the atomic bomb, it has ruined the nuclear plans of Saddam Hussein and Bashar el Assad thanks to two solitary bombings, it guards the security of Jordan that without Israel would collapse today like a cooked pear, it has foiled attacks by ISIS on European civilian flights and we now discover that Egypt's el Sisi has recently asked Israel to bomb ISIS' posts in Sinai.

Israel today is the fireman of the Middle East. Imagine the region, from time to time, without Israel as the anti-Semites of the whole world dream of it. A Middle East of beheaders facing the Mediterranean, a Middle East of planes full of Westerners flying from Sharm el Sheikh and sinking in the Red Sea, a Middle East of a race to atomic weapons by dictatorships of all kinds, a Middle East of even more millions of refugees going to Europe. Tonight we will sleep more peacefully thanks to Israel.

What an extraordinary country is the Jewish State! Tension is rising and extensive military simulations are under way, with the participation of the US Army, in the event of a missile attack Defense Minister Liberman has just warned that Israel will not allow images like those of 2006 to repeat themselves, when the citizens of Beirut were on the beach while the Israelis in Tel Aviv were in shelters.

Yet, this extraordinary little country has just been named the third most innovative in the world by the World Economic Forum. The others are all democracies that have known war 70 years ago, often succumbing to evil. How did Israel innovate despite the fact that it is a democracy at war since its creation? Brain, grit and the prospect of the imminent destruction.

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), which has been at the forefront of anti-Israel sentiment in Ireland, recently led to Israel banning some 20 activists associated with the Dublin-based group from entering the Jewish state as part of recent legislation by the Israeli government targeting anti-Israel BDS groups.

“It’s an Irish obsession to identify with the perceived underdog. It’s very disappointing and a complete distortion of the facts on the ground,” an Irish4Israel spokesman said. “If Israel wants to change the Irish mentality towards Israel, it needs to engage with Ireland more.”

However, one major looming challenge in engagement are recent reports that Israel is mulling closing down its embassy in Ireland as part of plans to shutter seven embassies worldwide due to budget concerns, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Israel first opened its embassy in 1996 — making it one of the last countries in the EU to have an Israeli embassy — after years of negotiations. Despite strained political relations since then, trade between Ireland and Israel has grown significantly, as both countries have become global leaders in areas such as technology and pharmaceuticals. In 2016, Israel was Ireland’s 11th-largest export partner, with $1.63 billion in goods.

Despite growing economic ties, Kittrie believes that Israel needs to improve its outreach to the Irish people if the Jewish state hopes to improve relations with the country.

“Israel has a good story to tell. It needs to do a far better job of telling it to the Irish people,” he said.

“Watching the debate in the Irish Senate, one would think that the lack of peace between Israel and the Palestinians is entirely the fault of Israel. That is just not true. I think education has a big role to play in improving relations between Ireland and Israel.”

I was born an Arab, partly Lebanese, partly Syrian, and partly Egyptian. I was destined to distrust Israel, and let’s be honest, to be an anti-Semite who thinks that Israel exists only because Europeans feel guilty about the Holocaust and Jews control world banks and the US government.

But as luck would have it, I chose a different course. I chose to stand with a people (Jews) that defied all odds and became the only ancient civilization to reclaim its native land from imperialist invaders (Arabs, my ancestors).

I chose to support a state that managed to survive in 1947/49 against much more numerous invaders, and despite the indifference and even hostility of most of the world.

I chose to support a nation that stunned and repelled its allied Arab enemies in six short days in 1967 despite an embargo and condemnation by France which had previously been its main weapons supplier.

I chose to stand with the Jews who despite early setbacks in 1973, and despite a slow and hesitant re-supply by the US that had to overcome a flight ban by most European countries, forced the attacking Arab armies into retreat.

Why the paper of record would give such a man a spot in its vaunted op-ed page is anybody’s guess, though it’s hard to believe that kooks of other stripes would’ve been welcomed so warmly. Can you imagine, for example, an anti-gay bigot writing heartily in support of “reparative therapy”? Neither can I.

Why, then, Wilkerson? Why accept a piece whose main thrust is so ludicrous as to make its author appear to be just a few twitches short of a trip to the loony bin? The answer is simple and scary: It’s because many on the well-groomed left, even if not subscribing to the classical definitions of anti-Semitism, inherently believe things about Israelis and Jews that are, at their very essence, absolutely and absurdly insane. This includes everything from the conviction that a small cabal of Jewish men are forever using their unending wealthy and their mystical sway over Congress to lead generations of innocent American soldiers into needless wars to the belief that Israel’s imperial appetites constantly lead it to meddle in the affairs of its neighbors in murderous and malicious ways.

Thankfully, most people on the left today are sensible enough to understand these ideas are patently lunatic and deeply hateful. Sadly, they can’t seem to shake them off. This is where “experts” like Wilkerson come in handy, flashing their credentials, however flimsy, to say what “everyone already believes.” This is how democracy dies, not in darkness but in the blinding glare of the spotlight publications that ought to know better give bigots like Lawrence Wilkerson.

Students Supporting Israel campaign to highlight the historical right of the Jewish people to live in their homeland focusing on the importance of The Law of Return and stories of immigrant communities to Israel from around the world. By Ilan Sinelnikov

Common accusations we hear on campuses these days include statements such as “Israelis are occupiers from Europe...”; “Jews are white colonialists ...” ; “Israel is a racist state...” and the list goes on. In addition, while it should be clear that sovereign countries have the right to define their own immigration laws, Israel is constantly being criticized for the right of return it provides for Jewish people to the Jewish homeland.

Moreover, questions are raised as to why those who considered Palestinian refugees are not also given the right of return to Israel. All these accusations and critiques are being voiced while completely ignoring the unprecedented miracle of immigration absorption on a mass scale that happened in Israel, where people from many different backgrounds were successfully able to come together as one nation and create a new identity, the “Israeli”.

The new Students Supporting Israel campaign was created to shed the light on these topics above. The program brings together a unique panel of 4 speakers, Jewish Israelis from diverse backgrounds: Ethiopian, Russian, Mexican and North African, to include an overview of the Jewish law of return, its historical significance, how it fulfills the idea of Zionism and a Jewish homeland, and why having a country that defines itself as Jewish is not a topic for debate but an existing fact that questioning it means applying a double standards towards Israel.

From the historical archives, a reminder of the thin line between barbarity and civilisation, and that civilisation cannot be taken for granted. (The image at left is of still-breathing victims of the Kiev pogrom of 1919; the pogrom described below seemingly occurred in 1885, and the author briefly mentions one that took place in 1905.)

This article was printed in The Australian Worker, 16 August 1933; it was entitled 'What a Jewish Pogrom Means'.

For centuries the Jews have been persecuted. But have you ever realised the terror of a pogrom? This description of anti-Jewish riots by David Katharas refers to pre-war Russia, but it might easily be Germany to-day.

This story may help Christians to realise the. horror with which world Jewry has heard of the outbreak of anti-Semitism in Germany, and the depth of feeling behind the protests of our people against the Nazi attacks on the Jews.

I am a trader in the City of London, but Russia is the country of my birth.

I am one of many thousands of Jews in this country and America who have lived through the terror of persecution in Eastern Europe, and who know what anti-Semitism can mean at the hands of the more brutal of the European peoples.

American Jewish leaders are bracing themselves for a documentary series made by the Al Jazeera network expected to claim that pro-Israel groups in Washington are helping Israel to identify and discredit US citizens whom they see as anti-Israel, including supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

Senior pro-Israel activists in the US capital were surprised last week to receive a request by the network for comment on the documentary after having received what they claimed was a promise from the Qatari authorities that the series would not see the light of day, the Haaretz daily reported Thursday.

“Al Jazeera is in the final stages of preparing a documentary concerning the role of pro-Israel advocacy groups in the United States,” the network said in an email dated February 2 and obtained by the Washington Examiner. “The documentary will investigate how such groups secure support for Israel in Congress and how they have been drawn into Israel’s covert campaign to defeat BDS, the movement to boycott, divest and impose sanctions on Israel.”

The email added that the network had “uncovered evidence, which suggests that this campaign may well involve these groups working with Israel to collect intelligence on and discredit US citizens who support BDS, as well as others who are perceived as challenging Israel.”

It gave the Jewish organizations until February 22 to respond.

The Jewish magazine Tablet reported in January of last year that the Israeli embassy in the US; the nongovernmental organization The Israel Project; and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a think tank, were likely to be targeted in the program.

Top legal experts recently gathered in Jerusalem for a three-day summit focused on countering a global delegitimization campaign against Israel. The first-ever Legal Network Initiative was organized by the International Legal Forum, an Israeli nonprofit, in collaboration with Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs and the Israel Bar Association.

“This is the first time where [more than] 150 legal experts from around the world are coming together in one room, at one time, for one conversation — and thinking about the next moves, ideas and legal narratives that should be developed to counter both the delegitimization of the state of Israel, and the various boycott movements taking place around the world,” said Tzahi Gavrieli, director of the Task Force Against Delegitimization within Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

While efforts to delegitimize the right of the Jewish people to have a state have existed since Israel’s establishment, the advent of social media has made this movement more widespread. And Israel has only recently started targeting these campaigns on a state level.

“There are two [issues]: The higher level is delegitimization; the lower is the boycott divestment function,” said Gavrieli. “Until two years ago, boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS] movement organizers were vocal and active with no boundaries. In the last two years, there has been a major and substantial turning point, whereby organizers of boycott movements now feel that they cannot carry out large and significant steps against Israel.

An anti-BDS resolution spearheaded by a Christian-Zionist organization is set to pass in the Ohio Senate, which will make it the 12th state in the union to do so.

“This resolution will provide another hurdle for the antisemitic BDS movement in states across the US,” Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president and founder of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations. “Ohio is the 12th state to introduce a version of the resolution passed in Tennessee in 2016. Proclaiming Justice to the Nations will continue to do everything in our power to defend the rights of our children and grandchildren to study in a safe learning environment without threats or intimidation from antisemitic groups with known ties to terrorism that masquerade on campus as human rights advocates.”

The Ohio Senate will be presented with resolution HCR 10, which condemns the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The resolution was introduced in the Ohio House by Representatives Andy Thompson and Dave Greenspan. “This is the 12th resolution of its kind to be presented to a US State legislature as a result of the efforts of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations,” said PJTN’s Ohio state director, Mike Goldstein.

This bipartisan resolution passed the entire House on December 5, 2017 by a vote of 92-2. HCR 10 was sent to the Senate where it was assigned to the Senate Transportation, Commerce and Workforce Committee, chaired by Senator Frank LaRose.

The resolution focuses on the plight of students that are being harassed, intimidated and attacked in the name of BDS.

This week Michael Burd and Alan Freedman speak with Stuart Robert MP, a Queensland Liberal Parliamentarian who is staunchly supportive of Israel, and then feature a two-part interview with Devorah Halberstam, a New York expert on terrorism, but which began with her own personal tragedy.

We also hear from Pakistan-born West Australian Muslim academic and commentator Sherry Sufi whose views you will find very refreshing, and Isi Leibler joins us as usual from Jerusalem.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from studying international news, it’s the importance of the so-called Status Quo when it come to Jews and what governs their relations with non-Jews. Anything that disrupts or violates the status quo must be prevented. Well, that means we shouldn’t be letting Jews put up an Eruv in our town, because there never was one before, and as everyone with half a brain can tell, that would violate the status quo.

It’s a principle in play in numerous arenas. The international community castigates Israel for disrupting the status quo on the Temple Mount: no Jewish prayer there because it might disrupt the status quo, regardless of the fact that the status quo came to be only as a result of violent Islamic supremacism. The point is that Jews may not disrupt the status quo. In Mahwah, we wish to uphold that principle as well. Do not call us antisemites because we take the same principled stand as most of the world!

The same attitude prevails regarding Jewish settlements in areas beyond the 1949 armistice line with Jordan. Any new Jewish construction creates “facts on the ground” that risk prejudicing the final outcome or feasibility of a final status agreement with the Palestinians, so any Jewish move to alter the sacred status quo is met with international condemnation. All we are saying is apply that test to Mahwah. We cannot allow Jews to create facts on the ground that would prejudice the final demographic character of this township.

NOTE: Since publication of the critique below, much of the Newsweek editorial staff has been fired, and there is speculation that the publication might close entirely. Newsweek is also being investigated for lying about its finances and its web traffic.

There are few journalistic lapses more obvious and unprofessional than simply making up a statement by a public figure. Yet Newsweek’s serial offender, Tom O’Connor, has done exactly that — again.

In his Newsweek article, entitled, “Middle East’s Next Oil War? Israel Threatens Lebanon Over Hezbollah and Natural Gas,” O’Connor fantasizes that at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference on January 29:

Israel has threatened to invade Lebanon amid a recent spat over natural resources and militant groups that, once again, raised tensions between the longtime foes.

He then claims that at the same conference, Israel’s minister of defense, Avigdor Lieberman:

…threatened to wage a full-scale war against Lebanon if Hezbollah launched any attacks against Israel.

But Lieberman never said that in his speech. Period.

HonestReporting has obtained the full text of Lieberman’s remarks, in the original Hebrew.

In their Los Angeles Times article yesterday ("Neither Israel nor Hamas wants another war in Gaza. . . "), Noga Tarnopolsky and Rushdi Abu Alouf err: "Egypt's border with Gaza is closed and Israel allows only trucks carrying food or other humanitarian necessities in and out."

Israel allows commercial goods in and out of the Gaza Strip -- not just humanitarian goods. In fact, according to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Gaza Crossings' Operation Status: Monthly Update (December 2017), in December, 10,327 truckloads of commercial goods entered the Gaza Strip from Israel. This compares to just 460 truckloads of what the United Nations terms humanitarian goods. In other words, the amount of commercial goods which entered the Gaza Strip was more than 22 times greater than the amount of humanitarian goods which entered that month. This ratio is pretty much consistent for all of 2017.

Since 2010, has allowed just about everything into Gaza without restrictions aside from weapons and goods that it considers dual-use items (ie military and civilian use).

We are already used to Facebook’s double standards when it comes to penalizing pro-Israeli people, yet leaving up the most vile antisemitic and pro-terrorism content. But I believe they have now hit a new low.

If you go to change your profile pic, you can choose from a variety of frames.

Notice the first one I am offered?

Perhaps this is clearer:

That is a frame of terrorist Ahmad Jarrar, murderer of Rabbi Raziel Shevach.

I assume anyone can create frame for use, but how Facebook have allowed this is beyond me.

Please join me in reporting it by clicking on the arrow (desktop) or three dots (mobile) next to the frame, and selecting “Report Frame.”

Update: Success! It seems to have been removed.

But I just noticed this other one:

Of the twelve filmed reports relating to the story which appeared on the BBC News website during December, only one – which, significantly, was presented as a backgrounder: “Yolande Knell explains why the city is so important” – gave any historical information. Knell told BBC audiences that:

“Most Israelis see Jerusalem as their “eternal, undivided capital”. Not long after the modern state of Israel was created in 1948, the Israeli parliament was set up in the west of the city. But it wasn’t until the 1967 war with neighbouring Arab countries that Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City, and it later annexed it in a move that’s not recognised internationally.”

As we see, Knell’s ‘backgrounder’ made no mention whatsoever of Jordan’s nineteen-year occupation of parts of Jerusalem and the fact that the later Jordanian annexation was unrecognised by the international community.

Like all the BBC’s numerous reports, this ‘backgrounder’ too failed to note the inclusion of Jerusalem in the territory assigned by the League of Nations to the creation of a Jewish homeland. The belligerent British-backed Jordanian invasion and subsequent ethnic cleansing of Jews from districts including the Old City in 1948, together with the destruction of synagogues and cemeteries, was completely ignored, as was the fact that the 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan specifically stated that the ceasefire lines were not borders. Israel’s warning to Jordan not to participate in the Six Day War was also eliminated from all the BBC’s accounts of events.

An outspoken Holocaust denier and anti-Semite poised to become the Republican nominee for a US House seat reiterated his vitriolic views on Thursday, when he was confronted by on CNN.

In a six-minute segment with Alisyn Camerota during the news network’s morning program, Arthur Jones, a former chair of the American Nazi Party, dismissed the Holocaust as “poppycock” and a “scam,” blamed the pro-Israel lobby for miring America in endless Middle East wars, and said the Jews controlled the nation’s government, its economy and the media.

“It is shocking to hear how vocally and unapologetically racist you are,” Camerota began the segment, after airing remarks he made at a neo-Nazi rally last April. “Are you a Nazi?”

After saying that he had not had any affiliation with a “national socialist organization” for 15-20 years, Jones answered: “I don’t call myself a Nazi. I call myself an American patriot and statesman.”

He did, however, stress that he only belonged to one organization — his own, the America First Committee.

Is Kevin Myers - the Irish journalist - a Holocaust-denier?

In 2009, the firebrand columnist wrote in the Irish Independent, “There was no holocaust (or Holocaust, as my computer software insists) and six million Jews were not murdered by the Third Reich. These two statements of mine are irrefutable truths.”

But earlier this week, the Irish national broadcaster RTE was criticized by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, after a morning-show host categorized Myers as a Holocaust-denier last year.

On Tuesday, the Broadcasting Authority published a decision that upheld a complaint against the Morning Ireland radio show.
The authority claimed, “It was evident from the article as a whole that his description did not in fact amount to a statement denying the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazi regime. Rather, the article was a comment on how language is used and the criminalization of individuals or groups who engage in Holocaust-denial.”

And just as Myers was supposedly vindicated, he appears to be gearing up for a comeback, with an upcoming appearance at The Little Museum in Dublin. It has been just over six months since he was ousted as a columnist from The Sunday Times.

Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, writing under the pen name Céline, published his novel Journey to the End of the Night in 1932; it was praised by his contemporaries as a work of genius, and still retains its place as a seminal work of French modernism. A few years later, he began expressing his admiration for Hitler and hope for a Franco-German alliance, writing a series of viciously anti-Semitic pamphlets. In Céline’s eyes, the fall of France in 1940 was a proud moment. Reviewing a recent, meticulous study of the novelist’s views on Jews and race, Frederic Raphael explores how he returned to polite society after the war:

After France’s capitulation in 1940, . . . Céline was one of a band—Robert Brasillach, Drieu la Rochelle, and Lucien Rebatet at its head—whose gloating collaboration with France’s overlords ensured that their articles and books were printed in unprecedentedly large numbers. . . .

Céline’s post-war affectations of never having meant what he said, or even of never having said it, leave him without the cover of honest monstrosity. Annick Duraffour and Pierre André Taguieff [the new book’s authors] unpick the selective quotations and outright lies that allowed Céline and his bande to pervert the truth about his wriggles and wangles. As early as 1950, he had his supporters. . . .

The factitious category of “genius” spared Ezra Pound, as it has Céline, the consequences of “mere words.” Tactfully confined for a few years, Pound returned to sanity and celebrity status in 1949 by being awarded the first Bollingen prize by a jury of T.S. Eliot and friends. Only the poet Karl Shapiro dissented, to his cost. A veteran of the war in the Pacific, he made the bad career move of taking it seriously that, at the [zenith] of the Holocaust, Pound—while a guest of Mussolini—wrote that Jewish profiteers were transporting Europe’s best men to their deaths in—yes, he actually specified—cattle trucks.

German Jewish businessman Paul Leffmann who in 1938 sold Picasso’s painting “The Actor” to two art dealers for $13,200 so he could escape from Nazi-allied Italy to neutral Switzerland with his wife, was not under duress, and therefore the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is allowed to hold on to the painting, a Federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

In what might be one of the most insensitive decisions regarding Jewish property appropriated between 1933 and 1945, Judge Loretta A. Preska, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled against Leffmann’s estate, arguing that “although the Leffmanns felt economic pressure during the undeniably horrific circumstances of the Nazi and Fascist regimes, that pressure, when not caused by the counterparties to the transaction (or the defendant) where the duress is alleged, is insufficient to prove duress with respect to the transaction.”

Meaning that since the Met itself did not send out its own thugs to bargain down terrified Jewish refugees out of their dwindling riches, it is OK for the museum to continue to display the million dollar artwork.

Actually, it’s $100 million, the amount Leffmann’s great-grandniece, Laurel Zuckerman, administrator of the estate, is demanding from the Met in damages, in addition to the painting.

A 6-year-old British girl has undergone special surgery in Israel that will allow her to keep her leg and her doctor called it a success.

Kyra Warrell, of Brighton, located on the south coast of England, is afflicted with proximal focal femoral deficiency, which will leave her left leg about 8 inches shorter than her right if left untreated. The surgery took place on Sunday at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Dr. Dror Paley, an Israeli-born physician who is internationally recognized for his expertise in limb lengthening and reconstruction, told the London-based Jewish Chronicle that Kyra will be ready for a more difficult leg-lengthening surgery next year.

The family must now raise $132,000 for the second operation, which will take place in Florida, where Paley is the director of the Paley Institute in West Palm Beach, and require them to remain for three months for daily physiotherapy near the hospital to ensure the best chance of success. The family has said they will sell their house to cover the costs, if necessary.

Doctors at Britain’s National Health Service had decided that an above-the-knee amputation, to allow for a prosthetic limb, would be the best option. But Kyra’s parents, Rima and Neil Warrell, wanted their daughter, who loves dancing and gymnastics, to be able to keep her leg.

The Warrells, who are not Jewish, started a crowdfunding campaign to bring Kyra to Israel for the first of three surgeries between now and the time she is 16 to save her leg. They raised about $71,500 of the approximately $78,500 needed for the surgery.

After an action-packed year for Gal Gadot on the big screen, another Israeli star is heading for the spotlight, but this time it’s on the Broadway stage.

Starting in September, Shiri Maimon is expected to star as Roxie Hart in Kander and Ebb’s “Chicago,” a production that has been running for more than 20 years. The Israeli pop star will follow in the footsteps of icons like Liza Minnelli, Brooke Shields and Melanie Griffith, who have all played Roxie on Broadway.

Maimon made her first major mark on the Israeli entertainment scene almost 15 years ago, when she placed second in the inaugural season of “Kochav Nolad,” similar to “American Idol” in the US. A series of hit records helped solidify the Haifa-native as Israel’s representative at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, where she placed fourth.

As reported on Tuesday by Israeli entertainment journalist Guy Pines, it was her lead role in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award-winning musical “Evita” that captured the attention of the “Chicago” producers. “Evita” ran for a year and half at Habima Theater, the national theater of Israel, and received rave reviews.

Other noteworthy Israeli appearances on the Great White Way include Chaim Topol as Tevye the dairyman in “Fiddler on the Roof” and Dudu Fisher’s Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables.”

In Israel, a country with its own history of water struggles and triumphs, experts are weighing in on how Israeli innovation and mindset may be able to help Cape Town and other water-scarce locations avoid future disasters.

“We are known around the world for being experts in water and having developed the most advanced technologies to cope with water scarcity,” says Prof. Eilon Adar, director of Israel’s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben Gurion University.

“But it’s not necessarily so that these technologies can be adapted as is and save the rest of the world. Every society has its own constraints – social, physical, natural – and the most we can do is to try and adapt the Israeli concept to see which technologies or innovations can be tailored for the local needs.”

The road to disaster isn’t set it stone

According to Seth Siegel, author of Let There be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World, water problems like the one in Cape Town are almost always avoidable.

“These problems tend to come at you pretty slowly; therefore you have lots of lead time to fix the problem or prepare your population,” said the New York-based author, activist and businessman. In order to arrive at the point of humanitarian crisis, he says, “you have to have a willful ignoring of your problems.”

Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology all ranked in the top 50 in the 2018 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings released this week.

Tel Aviv University ranked 25th in Asia, down three spots from last years, making it the highest-rated Israeli institution in the Asia rankings, while the Hebrew University of Jerusalem ranked 27th and the Technion came in 41st.

Also in the rankings, the University of Haifa ranked 100th while Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba was No. 104.

These are the sixth annual Asia University Rankings published by the Times Higher Education weekly magazine, which this year ranked the top 350 institutions in Asia based on the same criteria as the World University Rankings – but with modifications to better reflect the characteristics of Asia’s universities.

The rankings judge schools based on 13 performance indicators across all areas including teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

The National University of Singapore was ranked No. 1 for the third year in a row, while five of the top 10 universities were from China or its special administrative region of Hong Kong.

A rare, colorful mosaic dating from the 2nd-3rd century was recently uncovered in the ancient port city of Caesarea, located halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. It is one of the few extant examples of mosaics from the time period in Israel and its craftsmanship is compared by archaeologists to the fine artistry found in Antioch.
A rare Roman mosaic from the 2nd–3rd centuries CE, bearing an inscription in ancient Greek, uncovered in Caesarea during conservation work by the Israel Antiquities Authority. (Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority)

During work on an expansion of Caesarea National Park in what is arguably Israel’s largest conservation and reconstruction project to date, the mosaic was discovered under an opulent commercial structure from the Byzantine period. According to archaeologists Dr. Peter Gendelman and Dr. Uzi ‘Ad, directors of the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority, the mosaic predates the shopping structure by some 300 years and was once part of an even earlier building from approximately 1,800 years ago.

According to the archaeologists, the mosaic measures 3.5 x 8 meters and is “of a rare high quality” comparable to that of Israel’s finest examples from Lod or Tzippori’s Mona Lisa.

There are three figures depicted on the uncovered section, as well as typical multicolored geometric patterns, which were formed using small tesserae (mosaic pieces) placed densely at about 12,000 stones per square meter.

The Hamas terror organization publicized an apparent hit list of Israeli rabbis and politicians on Wednesday, at a memorial event for the terrorist responsible for the murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevach in Samaria.

Early Tuesday morning, Israeli security forces shot and killed Ahmad Nasser Jarar, the terrorist who led the fatal attack on Rabbi Shevach last month near the entrance to Havat Gilad.

At a memorial service for Jarar, Hamas placed a placard of Jarar next to a series of photographs of various Israeli rabbis and politicians.

Among the rabbis included in the display were Rabbi Raziel and Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, the 29-year-old Har Bracha resident who was stabbed to death by an Arab terrorist in Ariel on Monday.

The pictures of both of the murdered rabbis were covered by a superimposed red ‘X’.

The other figures included in the display, which was an apparent hit list of Israeli Jews, were Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, former Hevron Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Nir Ben-Artzi, Likud MK Yehuda Glick, former Likud MK and Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin.

The Woman’s March has now emerged as a major movement in the US and of course the Zionists have deeply infiltrated it the way they infiltrated the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and sought to twist it to the advantage of Israel —

Scarlet Johansson is a violent Zionist deeply committed to the systemic theft of Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland— she appears on commercials selling Israeli products made on the stolen and occupied Palestinians lands — her appearance on Women’s March rallies deeply compromises the moral authority of the movement —

A progressive intersectional faction of the Women’s March (far beyond its Arab and Muslim components) must immediately and categorically denounce this pernicious infiltration and appropriation of the movement and insist on raising the picture of Ahed Tamimi in EVERY AND ALL such rallies— if the movement is to have any credibility beyond its Zionist streak —

Zionists are master thieves— they steal Palestinian land and culture, they steal Jewish history and heritage, and they steal every progressive movement to twist it to their advantage— beware!