[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 08/23 Links: Daniel Tragerman's mother: 'We wanted to watch him grow up'

From Ian:

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Daniel Tragerman’s mother: ‘We wanted to watch him grow up’

The mother of 4-year-old Daniel Tragerman, who was killed by a Gaza mortar shell on Friday, said on Saturday that the family was preparing to leave their home for safer areas when the attack came.
Gila Tragerman said a shell had exploded in their kibbutz, Nahal Oz, some time earlier, convincing the family to leave for her parents’ house in Kiryat Ono, near Tel Aviv.
“The suitcases were already packed,” she said. “A minute before the explosion I went out to take Uri’s baby carrier (her young son) from the clothesline and met the neighbor. I asked him if they were leaving and told him we were setting off now. I went inside and there was the Color Red siren.
“The children were playing in a tent inside the house, and from the moment of the siren to the explosion only three seconds passed. We didn’t have time to get the children and go into the protected room.”

Amira Hass's Flawed Analysis of Gazan Civilian Casualties

Hass's argument is fractured and falls apart under scrutiny.
1) She asserts that the high proportion of males is due to their higher propensity for public spaces, but she offers no evidence that the Israelis preferentially target public spaces where crowds of men might routinely assemble. Without offering evidence that the Israelis indiscriminately target public spaces - independent of situations in which the presence of combatants have been confirmed - her assertion has no value. In fact, there is evidence pointing to the opposite conclusion. In light of the more than 5000 targeted missiles and thousands of artillery shells fired by the Israelis and only 2,000 Gazan fatalities that resulted, the evidence strongly indicates that the Israelis make every effort to avoid firing into public spaces occupied by random people. If Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling were routinely striking public spaces in a wanton manner simply to inflict casualties, the fatality count would be much higher.
2) While she offers an explanation - unsubstantiated as it is - why there are many more male fatalities than female, her explanation fails to address the age pattern of the fatalities. There is a spike starting at the age of 17 and peaking in the early to mid 20s which then rapidly diminishes. This pattern is more credibly explained by combatants than it is by Hass's observations that males attend mosques, funerals and hang out watching the World Cup.
In conclusion, Hass's attempt to discredit Israeli claims that combatants contribute a far higher portion of the fatalities than the Palestinian groups admit is not at all convincing.

Stallone, Schwarzenegger lead Hollywood assault on Hamas

A long list of Hollywood heavyweights have put their names to a letter slamming Hamas over the “devastating loss of life endured by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza.”
The reported 187 signatories, who include Mayim Bialik, Minnie Driver, Kelsey Grammer, Seth Rogen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Silverman[!], and Sylvester Stallone, condemn the “ideologies of hatred and genocide which are reflected in Hamas’ charter, Article 7 of which reads, ‘There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!’”
In their letter, set to be published on Sunday in Billboard, Variety and Hollywood Reporter, and also in leading US newspapers, they write that “Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor can it be allowed to hold its own people hostage. Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope, not our human shields.”
Other signatories include director Ivan Reitman, writer Aaron Sorkin[!], producers Michael Rotenberg and Avi Lerner, composer Michael Nyman, talent manager Danny Sussman and mogul Haim Saban, Ynet reported Saturday.

Netanyahu vows 'Hamas will pay heavy price' for death of Israeli boy

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed on Friday that "Hamas will pay a heavy price" for the death of a four-year-old boy who suffered fatal wounds from a barrage of mortars that struck a kibbutz not far from the border with the Gaza Strip.
The premier spoke with the head of the Sha'ar Hanegev regional council, Alon Shuster, by telephone shortly after news broke of the boy's death.
Netanyahu told Shuster that the Israeli military will intensify its actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip "until the goals of Operation Protective Edge are achieved."

BBC report on “Israeli boy’s death” totals a sentence and a half, fails to name victim

An article titled “Gaza conflict: Israeli boy’s death ‘will intensify ops‘” appeared on the BBC News website’s Middle East page on the evening of August 22nd. The BBC’s report allots a sentence and a half to the subject matter of the story as presented in its headline.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said military operations will “intensify” after an Israeli boy was killed by fire from Gaza.
The four-year-old died in a mortar attack on a southern Israeli village near the Gaza border.”
The caption to the photograph used to illustrate the article states:
“Mr Netanyahu sent his condolences to the boy’s family and accused Hamas of firing the rocket that killed him”.

Soldier who fought in Gaza critically injured by rocket

An IDF soldier who fought in Gaza during the recent ground operation there was critically injured by a rocket in Ashdod Friday night while on vacation from the army. The soldier, 21, serves in the military’s Ordnance Corps and had only recently returned from combat. His younger brother, 19 and a soldier in the air force, was lightly injured. They were hit while in their car.
Doctors told Ynet the badly wounded soldier had been brought in with shrapnel in his brain. He is currently in stable but critical condition.
“They were just on vacation and went out to enjoy themselves,” the young men’s father said. “They’re lucky there was an ambulance right behind them that picked them up immediately after they were injured.”

Dutch Official Calls ISIS "A Zionist Plot"

In addition to her career within the executive, Haifi is also a prominent member of the Labor Party. She was a member of the city council of The Hague from 1994 to 1998, and since 2011 has served as a talent recruiter and talent coach for the party's branch at The Hague. The city, which is also the seat of government in the Netherlands, has the country's most sizeable population of immigrants from Islamic countries; and Haifi functioned as one of its most vocal representatives. It is not clear how many people of a similar mindset she recruited into the Dutch Labor Party.
As co-founder of the action committee "Herstel het Vertrouwen" ["Restore Trust"] against "ethnic profiling" by the police in The Hague, Haifi enjoys sizeable backing from the Islamic immigrant community there: within a matter of days 5,600 people "liked" a Facebook page supporting Haifi. Not surprisingly, this page too is filled with conspiratorial and anti-Semitic views while at the same time bemoaning the unfair and discriminatory treatment meted out to Haifi for speaking "the truth."
Haifi's comments come at a time when widespread anti-Semitism among Muslims has become painfully visible. In the past months in The Hague, three pro-Gaza rallies have taken place, all of which have featuring ISIS flags, along with signs in Arabic calling to "Kill all Jews," and a quote from the hadith [the acts and sayings of Muhammad] that, "There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." The police were remarkably reluctant to arrest the protesters.
Despite the discriminatory and conspiratorial nature of Haifi's statements, the leadership of the Labor party, which has always presented itself as the champion of the victims of discrimination, has not ousted or suspended her. They have only announced they will "talk with Ms. Haifi" about her tweet.
The reluctance thoroughly to screen Muslim security officials, the reluctance of the Dutch authorities to see the genocidal terrorist group ISIS for what it is, and the reluctance to fire Ms. Haifi from all her government and party positions, all illustrate how the charge of "Islamophobia" is being used as a political weapon -- to silence people so that any opposition will be neutralized before it can even start.

Minister: Civilians under fire should leave south

Only hours after families in the southern community of Nahal Oz unanimously decided to depart from the area until further notice for fear of rocket attacks, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich on Saturday advised civilians in towns near the Gaza Strip to leave their homes and travel up north for a while to “take a break” from the constant barrages fired by Hamas.
During a visit to towns in the south, Aharonovich told reporters that the IDF may be forced to continue its operations in the Palestinian enclave for quite some time, adding that the Israeli public must be prepared to deal with the consequences of such a scenario.
“We need to strike [Hamas] down, and there is much work yet,” he said, according to Ynet. “The IDF has dealt a blow to Hamas but [the people of Israel] need to be patient.”
The public security minister stressed that Israel must not accept a situation in which it is engaged in a war of attrition with Hamas.

Families abandon homes near Gaza border, head north

Ya’alon was set to make an appearance at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where four-year-old Daniel Tragerman was killed on Friday by a mortar shell, but the visit was nixed because of the heavy rocket fire throughout the day Saturday, prompting the ire of the residents.
The kibbutz dining hall was hit by a mortar shell Saturday morning.
Nahal Oz residents interviewed by Channel 10 expressed their frustration with the cancelation, asking why the government and the military told them it was safe to return to their homes earlier this month when it was much too dangerous even for the defense minister.

IDF warns Gazans: Steer clear from terror sites

The IDF called on residents of Gaza to steer clear of areas used to wage attacks against Israel. The army distributed leaflets across the coastal territory and warned the population via recorded voice messages and text messages that it "will use force against any military or civilian facility used for terrorist activities."
"Any house that is used to wage attacks against Israel will be targeted," the leaflets read. "The mission is still ongoing; Beware."
"For your own safety," the army admonished Gaza residents, "prevent terrorists from using your property for terror activities and keep clear from any place where militants are operating."

Terrorist shot in east Jerusalem neighborhood for firing at nearby Jewish homes

An unidentified 20-year-old Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem’s Shuafat neighborhood, who repeatedly fired gun shots at Jewish homes in neighboring Pisgat Ze’ev on Friday and Saturday afternoon, is in serious condition after being shot by police.
According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the suspect first fired shots at several Jewish residences Friday afternoon, leaving bullet holes in many of them, although none of the occupants were injured.
Following an intensive overnight undercover investigation into the shooting, Rosenfeld said Border Police officers came across the suspect in Shuafat on Saturday afternoon, once again shooting at Jewish homes.

IDF releases details on Shejaiya battle in which 7 soldiers died July 20

Fresh details was released Friday of a deadly battle in the Gaza Strip neighborhood of Shejaiya a month ago in which seven Golani Brigade soldiers were killed. The remains of one of the seven, Sgt. Oron Shaul, are believed to be held by Hamas operatives.
Published after the army completed the first stage of an investigation into the incident, the details released Friday traced the events that apparently enabled Hamas to snatch Shaul’s body shortly after he was killed.
The battle in Shejaiya, a Hamas stronghold close to the Israel-Gaza border, began overnight Saturday-Sunday on July 19-20, two days after Israel launched a ground offensive focused on finding and demolishing Hamas’s cross-border attack tunnels and thwarting rocket fire.

Liberman says Israel's Gaza operation should end with 'Hamas waving white flag'

In an interview with Channel 2 that aired just a few hours after it was learned that a four-year-old boy succumbed to his wounds which he sustained as a result of a mortar strike on a kibbutz near the Gaza frontier, Liberman said that the government needs to spell out "a strategic goal" that encompasses "defeating Hamas, bringing it to submission."
"That means Hamas waves the white flag," the foreign minister said. "That is a realistic scenario, and it must be a goal."
Liberman told Channel 2 that Israel must aim for a complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. "That means Hamas would have no capability to fire missiles at Israel, no capability to manufacture missiles, and no capability to build tunnels," Liberman said.

Egypt urges open-ended truce, new ceasefire talks

Egypt on Saturday called for an open-ended truce in the Gaza Strip, urging the Palestinians and Israel to return to indirect talks.
The call from the foreign ministry came shortly after Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev had no immediate comment on the Egyptian call.

Mashaal admits Hamas members killed Israeli teens

“We were not aware of this action taken by this group of Hamas members in advance,” he said. “But we understand people are frustrated under the occupation and the oppression, and they take all kinds of action.”
He added, “We learned about these confessions from the Israeli investigation … Hamas political leadership was not aware of all these details. We learned about it later on.”
In the same breath, Mashaal claimed that Hamas differed from Syria and Iraq’s Islamic State (IS) — which he called a “religious, violent group” that is a “totally different phenomenon” from Hamas — in that it does not target civilians, aiming its rockets “most of the time” at military targets and IDF bases.
“Our view is that soldiers and settlers on the West Bank are aggressors, and they are illegally living in this occupied and stolen land. And the right to resist is the right of Palestinians,” he said, implying that the three youths who were found dead near Hebron were legitimate targets because their school was located in the West Bank.

Mashaal says rockets are aimed at military bases, not civilians

The civilian death and injuries as a result of the renewed rocket fire are not the intention of the rockets, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal told Yahoo News during an interview in Cairo on Saturday.
"We do not target civilians, and we try most of the time to aim at military targets and Israeli bases," Mashaal said.
"But we admit that we have a problem. We do not have sophisticated weapons. We do not have the weapons available to our enemy … so aiming is difficult. We do promise you, though, that we will try in the future and we will warn people … We have given warnings to Israeli civilians. We promise that if we get more precise weapons, we will only target military targets," he said.

PA official says Hamas executions ‘like ISIS’

A Palestinian Authority official denounced Hamas Saturday for its executions in Gaza Friday of 18 suspected collaborators with Israel, calling the killings “cold-blooded murders.”
Hamas was reported Saturday to have executed another four alleged collaborators in the Jabaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip
Tayeb Abdel Rahim, the PA president’s secretary-general, said the executions are reminiscent of actions conducted by extreme Islamist groups such as the Islamic State, which has taken over large areas in northern Iraq and Syria.

Amnesty Condemns Hamas Over Executions

Amnesty International on Friday called on Hamas to stop the executions of suspected collaborators with Israel.
The group’s call came amid reports that at least 18 more Gazans were put to death by firing squad for allegedly providing information to Israel.
“This flurry of executions by Hamas is made even more shocking by the fact that the victims were sentenced to death after trials which, if they happened at all, were summary and grossly unfair,” said Anne FitzGerald, Amnesty International’s Director of Research and Crisis Response.
“Hamas must immediately and totally cease its use of the death penalty,” she declared.

Hamas voices support for membership of 'Palestine' in ICC

Hamas has signed a document supporting PA President Abbas' bid to join the International Criminal Court, according to a senior Hamas official. The move comes as Abbas contemplates the court option in order to file war crimes charges against Israel.
Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk took to Facebook on Saturday to announce that his organization has "signed a paper" supporting any Palestinian Authority initiative to join the Hague-based international tribunal. He said Abbas requested the agreement of Palestinian factions "before he goes to sign [the ICC’s founding treaty] the Rome Statute."

Abbas, Mashaal seek UN timetable to ‘end Israeli occupation’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas’s political leader Khaled Mashaal urged the United Nations to draw up a “timetable” for the end of the “Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories,” Qatar state media said Friday night.
Abbas and Mashaal issued the appeal during talks in Doha, as fighting continued in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Qatar’s state news agency QNA said.

What is Hamas, and Why is it Considered a Terrorist Organization? Buck Sexton Explains


Obama's Strategy For Fighting Terrorism: 'Except When The Terrorists Are Targeting Jews'

Since the start of the Gaza operation, Obama has allowed Israel to go only so far in trying to destroy Hamas before demanding a cease-fire. Contrary to America's ally Israel, Obama's strategy is to bring Hamas to the negotiating table as opposed to extracting "this cancer, so that it does not spread."
Why is Obama's goal to eradicate ISIS but only to bring Hamas to the bargaining table? There can be only one answer, as there is only one difference between the two terrorist groups: unlike ISIS which targets everyone, Hamas' primary target is the Jews, not only in Israel, but in America, and indeed across the world.
Talking heads on both sides of the aisle have declared their consternation about President Obama's strategy for fighting terrorism. It's quite easy to understand when one realizes there is one rule for the terrorists who want to kill the Jews and a different rule for the terrorists who target a broader range of people.

Why Billions to Rebuild Gaza Will Go to Waste Yet Again

Serry, who apparently inhabits a parallel universe, blithely asserted that the UN has successfully monitored projects in Gaza in the past and can do so today as well. This, of course, is the same UN that was shocked to discover Hamas rockets stored in three UNRWA schools in Gaza–and then promptly handed the rockets back to Hamas. It’s the same UN that allowed Hamas to booby-trap a UN clinic, resulting in its destruction when Hamas blew it up to kill nearby Israeli soldiers. It’s the same UN whose Gaza teacher’s union–i.e., the people who educate students at UNRWA schools–is run by Hamas, which controls all 11 seats on the union’s board, and whose “educators” include prominent members of Hamas’s military wing. And it’s the same UN whose own auditor recently released a damning report on the UN Development Program’s procurement in Gaza.
Inter alia, this report found that contract employees performed “core” procurement tasks that only regular staffers are supposed to perform, including for “significant” construction projects; that the UN wasn’t “monitoring and recording actual work” performed by contract employees handling “core” functions; that at least $8 million in construction spending was falsely recorded at far lower prices, thereby shielding it from scrutiny by higher-level officials who must approve major outlays; that many payments and receipts weren’t recorded; and that UNDP didn’t use an electronic fund transfer system that would let it monitor bank transactions and detect those “not made by UNDP.” In short, contrary to Serry’s assertion that “UN construction materials were not used for the [Hamas] tunnels,” the UN has no clue what was happening at its construction programs in Gaza.

Why It’s So Easy for Liberal Jews to Judge Israel

That is why Amy Klien can only attend Jewish anti-Israel events or “peace” rallies. She can’t go to the non-Jewish one. That is why groups like Jewish voice for peace have “Jewish” in their name. They can’t be a ‘Voice for Peace’, because they need to wear signs claiming they are “Jews who object”, not just “people who object.” Take away the “Jewish” aspect and Liberal Zionism wants no part of it. Because this is a movement that admits only Jewish voices and is only for other Jews people. It is why it is profoundly ineffective, but also why it continues to play a role.
Liberal Zionism’s bluff can always be called by saying “let’s have a Palestinian articulate the Palestinian side.” Then the Beinarts are neutered because they are used to telling us what “Ahmed thinks”, how the “Arab street feels and suffers.” Don’t let Dov Waxman tell “us” the Palestinian position as he did with Ilan Peleg in the 2011 book Israel’s Palestinians. When Oren Yiftachel tells us about “social justice” on the kibbutz he grew up on and that the Bedouin are indigenous, he means to keep them in a place of permanent subordination so he can tell us how they think, who they are. Liberal Zionists adopt the same position as bourgeois socialists and revolutionaries who know what “is best” for the proletariat and colonize the workers to work on their “behalf.” This is why at actual Palestinian rallies you don’t see any liberal Zionists. Their efforts are directed entirely inward: op-eds about their “struggle”, articles about how hard it is to “sit on the couch during the Gaza war.”

Gaza protests in London 2014: hatred and ignorance on display

These videos from @MsMarpleLondon are well worth watching, for a taste of the hatred on display in the recent Gaza protests:

London Gaza Protests 2014 Vile Antisemitism and ignorance


London Gaza Protests 2014 In support of terror


CAIR Chief: Never Mind ISIS, 'Israel is the Biggest Threat to World Peace'

Vladimir Putin's Russian forces remain poised for a possible takeover of neighboring Ukraine. Nuclear-armed North Korea is ruled by an unstable, nihilistic dictator who constantly makes new threats against American allies and the United States itself (along with some of its filmmakers). The Islamic State terrorist group slaughters as many people who cross its path and poses a credible threat of genocide against the ancient Yazidi people in Iraq.
But according to Nihad Awad, head of the supposedly mainstream Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), those threats to global peace pale in comparison with the real threat to world peace and security: Israel.

Jewish Man Arrested after Chasing off 'Anti-Semitic' Pro-Palestinian Protesters in London

A Jewish man has been arrested for common assault after he drove away socialist, pro-Palestinian protestors who were menacing a kosher delicatessen in Bushey, just north of London.
Jewish News is reporting that witnesses described how a group of around 15 men, who had been taking part in a socialist ‘March for jobs’ unfurled Palestinian flags outside Flax’s Kosher Deli, at about 5.20pm last Tuesday. Some of the customers went out to confront the men, chasing them down the street where the scene escalated into violence.
Hertfordshire Police confirmed the arrest; the man has now been bailed and will have to appear in court.

Anti-Israel Protesters Morph into Ferguson Protesters in New York City

A group of anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters morphed into supporters of slain Missouri teen Michael Brown in New York's Sara D. Roosevelt Park Wednesday evening as #HandsUp, #TurnUp protests spread outside the St. Louis, Missouri, area.
A group of protesters went from pro-Palestinian marchers to critics of the police in Ferguson, Missouri, Wednesday, chanting "Please don’t shoot me dead! I got my hands on my head!"
Saying they were marching to "show solidarity with Ferguson," the group verbally attacked police and claimed common cause with protesters in Ferguson.
"The police are an occupying force in New York City!” one protester said through a megaphone. "The police are an occupying force in Ferguson!"

Code Pink's grand Adventure in Jack London Square

Even by Code Pink's standards, "Operation Annoy Barbara Boxer" was an epic failure. Having telegraphed their plan to “occupy” the Senator’s office across the interwebs, the police were ready and waiting for the group as they trickled in to Jack London Square on Tuesday, August 19th.
Code Pink organizers seemed hurt and baffled that they weren’t being allowed to take over the Senator’s office, but quickly set to work occupying the empty plaza. It was hard for them. The plaza was very big, and their group was very small.

Beatlemania Invades the Gaza Strip (SATIRE)

While currently focused on delivering a rocket into every Israeli home, Hamas has not left its own people behind. To gently wipe away the tears of children strategically placed inside kindergartens as human shields, the Hamas Interior Ministry has recently produced a number of catchy jingles.
Putting a uniquely jihadist spin on the most influential musical act in history, some of Hamas’s tributes to classic Beatles songs have actually gone viral, becoming hugely popular not only inside Gaza and the Arab World, but developing a devoted following in London, Long Island and Weyburn, Saskatchewan.
Below, are the most viewed of all Hamas’s lovingly produced Beatles-inspired music videos:
1) I Wanna Hold your Head
2) Long Tall Fajr
3) Good Day Palestine

Chancellor issues campus-wide email explaining Salaita decision (Update: Trustees and officials support)

The Urbana-Champaign News-Gazette now reports that Chancellor Phyllis Wise has sent a campus-wide email:
"In her first public statement about Professor Steven Salaita, University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise said her decision to not forward his appointment to trustees for formal approval was not influenced by his criticism of Israel.
The university, she said, cannot tolerate “personal and disrespectful words or actions that demean and abuse either viewpoints themselves or those who express them.”
“We have a particular duty to our students to ensure that they live in a community of scholarship that challenges their assumptions about the world but that also respects their rights as individuals. A Jewish student, a Palestinian student, or any student of any faith or background must feel confident that personal views can be expressed and that philosophical disagreements with a faculty member can be debated in a civil, thoughtful and mutually respectful manner. Most important, every student must know that every instructor recognizes and values that student as a human being. If we have lost that, we have lost much more than our standing as a world-class institution of higher education,” Wise sent in a mass e-mail to the campus community Friday afternoon."

Turkish Jewish couple murdered in their Istanbul home

A prominent Turkish Jewish businessman and his wife were stabbed to death Friday at their apartment in Istanbul’s upscale Ortakoy neighborhood.
The caretaker of the two victims — who were named as Jak Karako, 77, and Georgia Karako, 69 — was said to be the prime suspect in the killings. Police launched a manhunt for him.
Karako established Ören Bayan, one of the most famous textile brands in Turkey. His sons later took over the business, but it was no longer owned by the family.
The motive for the murders was said to be unclear.

Tel Aviv terror victim testifies in Arab Bank lawsuit

A Federal District Court in Brooklyn trying a case by terror victims in Israel against the Jordan-based Arab Bank heard testimony Thursday from a victim of suicide bombing at the Mike’s Place bar in Tel Aviv in 2003.
Joshua Faudem worked at the bar, and on the day of the attack, he had finished his daytime shift, but was still there, accompanied by his girlfriend. He recalled that he had just said goodbye to a friend who was leaving for a trip to the US and another friend was on the stage singing.
“Then, the explosion,” he told the court, according to the New York Times. “The explosion. There was a bomb. I immediately jumped on my girlfriend; I threw her on the ground and covered her.”

Pro-Hamas Demonstration on Temple Mount

On Friday afternoon, Muslims on the Temple Mount ran a pro-Hamas demonstration on the Temple Mount.

Work With Syria’s Dictator to End ISIS Says Former UK Army Chief

The former head of the British Army General the Lord Dannatt has called on the UK and America to open up discussions about working with Syria to defeat ISIS. Lord Dannatt appeared on the BBC Today programme to say that despite the human rights record of President Assad the countries do now need to work together.
General Dannatt told BBC Radio 4: “I think whether it’s above the counter or below the counter, a conversation is going to have to be had with him.”
He continued: “Because if there’s going to be any question of airstrikes [against Islamic State] over Syrian airspace, it has got to be with the Assad regime’s approval.”
He went on to suggest that the House of Commons had been right to vote against military intervention in Syria last year but things had changed now. He also hinted that Britain had been naive to assume that the Arab Springs would lead to a more democratic region.

US may ‘take action’ against Islamic State in Syria

The White House said it was ready to “take action” against any threat to America as it indicated serious consideration of US military strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria.
Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said late Friday that “any strategy to deal with the ISIL organization has to deal with both sides of the border, Iraq and Syria.”
“If we see plotting against Americans, we see a threat to the US emanating from anywhere, we stand ready to take action against that threat,” Rhodes added.
“We’ve made very clear time and again that if you come after Americans, we’re going to come after you wherever you are, and that’s what’s going to guide our planning in the days to come.”

Ann Summers sorry for Isis lingerie

A British lingerie chain store issued an apology on Friday after launching a new line of sexy underwear named after an Egyptian goddess whose name sounds like that of the terrorist group massacring its way through Syria and northern Iraq.
Ann Summers stressed that it “does not support or condone terrorism” after coming under fire this week for releasing the ‘Isis’ underwear range — which some critics said sounded too similar to the acronym of the previous name of the Islamic State jihadist group, ISIS — short for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Incidentally, the skimpy bras and knickers of the brand-new line are available only in black and white, the colors of the Islamic State’s flag.

Iran refuses IAEA access to Parchin base

Iran will not give UN nuclear inspectors access to a military base outside Tehran that they have been seeking to visit since 2005, Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan said on Saturday.
Dehgan’s comments came just two days before a deadline for Iran to give its response to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over historic allegations of a military dimension to its nuclear research.
“The agency carried out several visits to Parchin (before 2005), took samples and found nothing untoward,” Dehgan told the ISNA news agency. “There is therefore no reason for new access to Parchin as nothing new has come up since the last inspections.”

Holocaust Hiding Place for Jewish Sisters Revealed for First Time Intact in Home of Polish Christian Family (PHOTOS)

A hideout used by Jews during the Holocaust was recently discovered still intact in the home of a Polish Christian family whose ancestors risked their lives and were ultimately killed for concealing two Jewish girls from Nazi officers.
The Kowalski family, who live in the small town of Ciepielow, about a two hour drive south of Warsaw, hid the Jewish girls for no money or reward in a purpose-built cellar under their kitchen.
The girls were from the same village as the Kowalskis and were friends with the family even before World War II started, according to Andrzej Ossowski, a specialist in the field of forensics and genetics, and the head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.
One of their neighbors became suspicious and reported the family to the local SS. When the Nazis then arrived and found the Jewish girls they took them, along with the seven Kowalski family members who lived in the home, to the backyard barn and burnt them alive.

Toronto ‘We Will Not Be Silent’ march draws over 4,000

Despite gloomy, overcast skies that eventually turned into a downpour, more than 4,000 Jewish Torontonians, and a healthy contingent of Christians and other non-Jews, were lead by Holocaust survivors in a march up the city’s largely Jewish Bathurst street on Wednesday. The August 20 event was launched in the face of a global resurgence of anti-Semitism cloaked in the guise of anti-Zionism, say organizers.
The protest, called “We Will Not Be Silent!,” was a community march against anti-Semitism and the demonization of the Jewish State and organized by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, its advocacy arm, the Centre for Jewish and Israel Affairs (CIJA), and a coalition of community organizations.
Wet but undeterred, march participants, most of whom dressed in blue and white, showed their solidarity with Israel by proudly waving Israeli and Canadian flags while singing Hebrew folk songs. Passing cars honked horns in support.

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Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 8/23/2014 09:00:00 PM