02/22 Links Pt1: BDS illegally put Anti-Israel propaganda in 500 London trains; Kerry and the Game of Obfuscation ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Hundreds of London tube trains plastered with anti-Israel ads

Millions of Londoners were exposed Monday to a series of anti-Israel posters on the underground network to mark the beginning of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s 12th annual Israeli Apartheid Week.
Transport for London, which is responsible for the tube service, said this was “an act of vandalism,” the ads were not authorized and staff members were working to take them down, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The posters, designed in the style of BBC reports, attacked the UK broadcasting organization [which is frequently criticized for pro-Palestinian leanings] for biased pro-Israel reporting and claimed Israel used British arms to “massacre Palestinians” during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
A third poster criticized the global security company G4S for working in Israel, while a fourth, titled “Apartheid is Great….Britain,” alleged that more than 100 UK companies continue to supply military equipment to the Jewish State.
The Jewish Chronicle estimated that the ads appeared in some 500 trains.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: Kerry and the Game of Obfuscation

This "intifada" is simply a further phase in a larger plan to destroy Israel. When the plan began officially, with the establishment of the PLO in 1964, there were no "settlements" -- not until after the June 1967 War -- so what exactly were the Palestinians planning to "liberate"?
The current conflict is not about "defending" any mosque from being contaminated by the "filthy feet" of Jews: it is about seeing Israel forced to its knees. Abbas and others seek to reap delicious political fruits from this "intifada."
Here is a novel idea: Kerry could put pressure on the Palestinian and Jordanian leadership to cease anti-Israeli incitement and indoctrination. Now that would be pressure well applied.
Abbas is expected to become a partner in the fight against ISIS and radical Islamist groups. All well and good. Why then is he not expected to stop cheering on and glorifying young Palestinians who attack Jewish Israelis?

Why Israeli Rule of Golan Is Lawful -- and Wise

Israel’s territorial claim arises in part from the principle of “effective occupation,” which provides that territory can be acquired through the exercise of sovereign power on a peaceful and extended basis. Israeli law has applied to the Golan for almost 35 years and Israel has exercised authority in a manner that suits all the residents of the territory.
Moreover, public international law favors stability, order, and peace; it aims to avoid resolutions that expose individuals to death or injury. Accordingly, it should prefer Israeli sovereignty over the Golan to the grim alternatives for the Golan Druze: the tyrannical rule of Shiite Islamist Iran’s puppet Assad, or the tyrannical rule of Islamic State Sunnis.
The international consensus that the Golan belongs to Syria no longer fits the facts and the law. Nor does it coincide with America’s interest in checking the spread of Islamist violence throughout the Middle East and in bolstering a democratic ally. At the first opportunity—unlikely to come before the next president’s inauguration in January 2017—the United States should affirm Israel’s lawful and just exercise of sovereignty over the Golan Heights and urge the international community, particularly U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East, to do the same.

Third suspect nabbed in deadly supermarket stabbing

Israeli security forces said Sunday they had arrested a third suspect in the stabbing attack at a West Bank supermarket that killed an Israeli man Thursday.
Omar Rimawi and Ihad Sabah, both 14, from Beitunia near Ramallah, were identified as the two attackers who stabbed Tuvia Yanai Weissman, 21, and another man at the Rami Levy supermarket in the Sha’ar Binyamin Industrial Zone, southeast of Ramallah.
They were shot by an armed civilian who rushed to the scene after hearing screaming. Sabah died of his wounds. Rimawi remains hospitalized.
Weissman, a dual Israeli-US citizen and resident of the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Mikhmas, was stabbed and critically injured while shopping with his wife, Yael, and 4-month-old daughter, Neta. He later died of his wounds in the hospital.

After deadly stabbing, West Bank supermarket steps up security

Days after an Israeli man was killed by Palestinian assailants at a Rami Levy grocery store in the Sha’ar Binyamin settlement, the discount supermarket chain on Monday announced that bolstered security measures would be implemented at all of their stores in the West Bank.
The announcement came after two senior Rami Levy executives attended a security hearing at the request of police who, after the attack, said the store’s lax security was partly to blame for the Thursday stabbing that killed 21-year-old off-duty soldier Tuvia Yanai Weissman.
Under the new security measures outlined by police, Rami Levy locations in the West Bank must be equipped with security cameras, metal detectors and an increased number of guards, Channel 2 reported.
Police noted the hearing was held in a “positive atmosphere” and said the Rami Levy representatives offered to extend the ramped up security measures to some of their Jerusalem locations.

'Palestinian teen murdered Dafna Meir in Otniel stabbing, then watched a movie'

The 16-year-old Palestinian terrorist who murdered a Jewish mother of six in a stabbing attack in her home in the Otniel settlement in January was indicted Monday in an Israeli military court, Channel 2 reported.
According to the report, the indictment specifies that the teen attacker who killed Dafna Meir on January 17 returned to his home in the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Amra shortly after the stabbing, and watched a movie with his family.
The indictment noted that the Palestinian minor had been influenced by incitement on Palestinian television and therefore decided to murder Jews.
According to Channel 2, the indictment said that the attacker had armed himself with carving knifes before heading to Otniel. Upon arrival in the West Bank settlement, the indictment noted that he approached the Meir family home where he hid in bushes outside. From a distance he watched the 38-year-old nurse and her children inside their home.
The indictment order continued, adding that the terrorist then attacked Meir and began stabbing her in the upper body in front of one of her children. Despite Meir's attempts to ward off the attacker, he was able to overcome her and repeatedly stab her.
Afterward, the assailant fled the scene while Meir lay dying. Meanwhile, emergency workers were called to the house and determined Meir's death.

Palestinian university hosts series honoring Jew-killers

The Palestinian Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, a place known for its support of terrorists, has begun holding academic activities honoring terrorists who have been killed while carrying out attacks to murder Jews.
The first of such programs was held on February 13th in Al Quds, and is expected to spread to other Palestinian Universities in the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The first program commemorated the Armon Hanatziv terrorist Baha 'Alyan, who was killed after slaughtering 3 people and injuring seven others in a terror attack in October of last year.
The event was held under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority's "High Commission for Youth and Sports," a branch of the PA in charge of youth and sports activities in the PA territories. It is expected to be the first of many such events.
According to a report published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), some 2,500 students participated in the event and created a human chain which they called “the chain of the light of the martyrs” a name that is now being used to signify other such programs.

French Jews should have ‘orderly plans in place’ to leave, says top US Jewish leader

The Jews of France should prepare plans to leave the country, a prominent American Jewish leader said.
“They shouldn’t flee. But they should have orderly plans in place,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
“People who want to leave, should be able to leave,” he said of the half-million-strong community. “Things here (in Israel) should be prepared. The licensing process for lawyers, doctors, etc., should be facilitated in order to integrate them quickly.”
There are “whole areas in France” today, Hoenelin noted bleakly in a wide-ranging interview, “where the police don’t venture, and where Jews and Christians don’t go.”

In Israel, It’s a Bipartisan Consensus: No Palestinian State for the Foreseeable Future

In a recent Knesset debate, despite the customary efforts of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition leader Isaac Herzog to differentiate their political positions, it emerged that actually both oppose creating a Palestinian state under prevailing conditions.
Netanyahu’s position on this is well known, ever since he stated as much last year in the run-up to the Israeli elections that confirmed him in office, but Herzog’s statement was new. Herzog said, “The vision of two states is not dead, but it won’t happen tomorrow, surely not as long as you and [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] are afraid to make a move.”
Two aspects of this statement are noteworthy.
First, Palestinians are not reconciled to the idea that a Jewish state can and will exist alongside a Palestinian one. This is reflected in Palestinian polling. A June 2015 Palestine Center for Public Opinion poll found that 49 percent of Palestinians seek a Palestine in place of Israel, while only 29% seek one alongside Israel – and even many of those who seek a neighboring state do not accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state: 88% of Palestinians say Jews have no rights to the land at all.
Second, the assertion that the Israeli government, like Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA), is “afraid” to move on peace highlights the method with which the Israeli left wing has clung to the talisman of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel, irrespective of the conditions on the Palestinian side. As the polls show, it is a matter of Palestinian conviction, not fear, that prevents a peace settlement.
The truth is that successive Israeli governments, Likud and Labor, have all “made a move” in favor of concessions to the PA, sometimes unilaterally, in the hope of securing an eventual agreement. Israeli governments in 2000 and 2008 both advanced proposals for Palestinian statehood throughout Gaza and virtually all of the West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, only to have encountered a PA refusal to accept the plan or to propose an alternative one.

Congress Moves to Boost Investment in Israeli Technology

Congress is seeking to boost U.S. investment in Israeli security technologies and other sectors in response to efforts by international anti-Israel groups to promote economic boycotts of the Jewish state, according to a copy of a measure obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
As lawmakers pave the way for U.S. states to divest taxpayer funds from anti-Israel companies, another group of legislators is pushing a measure that would encourage the Obama administration to invest in new Israeli technologies, including those that could prevent cyber security attacks and other national security threats.
The latest measure comes in response to efforts by anti-Israel supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS, to convince U.S. companies to stop operating in the Jewish state.
Congressional insiders tracking the new measures said that the efforts are garnering bipartisan support and are aimed at sending a message to the Obama administration, as well as anti-Israel groups, that America remains committed to building U.S.-Israel economic ties.
The latest resolution, which is slated to be considered by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, directs the Obama administration “to explore new agreements with Israel, including in the fields of energy, water, agriculture, medicine, neurotechnology and cybersecurity,” according to a copy of the measure viewed by the Free Beacon.

Israel and US Launch Large Joint Missile-Defense Drill

A large multi-day joint exercise between the Israel Defense Forces and the United States European Command officially got underway on Sunday.
According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the goal of the exercise, named Juniper Cobra 16, is to “improve cooperation and coordination between the two militaries and bolster ballistic missile defense capabilities.”
More than 1,700 US soldiers, civilians, and contractors traveled to Israel to take part in the exercise.
Juniper Cobra exercises are held every two years. This year’s exercise marks the eighth since the first one was held in 2001. During the current exercise, the American and Israeli participants are training, via computer simulations, in how to deal with missile and rocket attacks. The various components of Israel’s multi-tiered aerial defense network — including the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow systems — are taking part in the exercise.

IDF releases smartphone app that warns of attacks

The Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command has released a mobile application to warn Israelis of local security threats.
The application, detailed in a call with reporters Monday, was developed by a staff of some 15 people in the Home Front Command, which oversees civilian preparedness. It was launched this month on Android and Apple devices.
Called “Home Front Command,” the application aims to improve on several civilian-developed counterparts that alert Israelis to the warning sirens that blare ahead of incoming missiles. Those applications gained popularity during the 2014 war in Gaza, but alert users to every siren across the country.
The IDF’s alternative will track users based on their GPS location, and alert them only to threats in their immediate area. It will cover a range of emergencies — from earthquakes to terror attacks to incoming rockets. In addition to warning users of the threat, the application will provide instructions on how to respond. It will be available in four languages — Hebrew, English, Arabic and Russian — though it will not be available for download outside Israel.

'Report on Ron Arad - just another tall tale'

The former head of the prisoners and missing persons unit in the Mossad, Rami Igra, dismisses the testimony given by a Lebanese citizen claiming to have seen the missing navigator, and that Ron Arad was tortured and died in 1988.
Igra told Arutz Sheva that the story is nothing more than an attempt by a Lebanese citizen to save his own skin and to prove that he deceived Israel rather than helping it. Aside from the journalistic story, he says that there is no substance to the claim.
"Ron Arad disappeared on May 3, 1988, while an operation was going on in Maydun. He was left in his cell by the guards, who left for an operation and returned to find him no longer there. From this, theories were built and information gathered that pointed to several options. One of which is that the Iranians, who knew about the operation in Maydun, used the guards' absence to take Ron as part of an agreement between representatives of Amal [the terror group that captured Arad] and Imad Mughniyah, the then-coordinator between the Iranians and Hezbollah in Beirut.
"Both Hezbollah and we found out from Wafiq Safa, who was responsible for Hezbollah's prisoners. He said that Imad Mughniyah made significant efforts to get information on Ron Arad, and during the Second Lebanon War he sent bones and information like the parachute and more. In my opinion, Kuntar's information [the new information on Arad's torture and death] is nonsense.

PreOccupiedTerritory: Hamas Frustrated It Can’t Violate Syria Ceasefire Also (satire)

Representatives of the Islamic Resistance Movement that took control of the Gaza Strip in early 2007 voiced frustration today at the emerging cease-fire agreement among various belligerents in the ongoing Syrian conflict, saying thay they have as yet been unable to find a way to violate that agreement as they did numerous ones during the last war with Israel in 2014.
Hamas spokesmen Fawzi Barhoum and Moussa Abu Marzouk called a press conference this afternoon (Monday) to express their sense of being stymied by events elsewhere in the Middle East, where they lack the military presence or resources to undermine efforts to restore calm. The movement became accustomed to such a capacity in the summer of 2014, when Egyptian- and US-brokered cease-fire arrangements repeatedly broke down when Hamas fired rockets or mortars after the cease-fires officially took effect or significantly before they were set to expire.
“Before the Syrian Civil War erupted we could not have foreseen this sad situation,” lamented Barhoum. “We had our headquarters in Syria, in fact, and no small number of activists we could call in. However, we sided with the uprising that followed the Arab Spring, and [Syrian President] Basher Assad expelled us and had our offices closed. We couldn’t violate the emerging cease-fire even if we wanted to.” He expressed the hope that other like-minded militants would step up, or perhaps Assad regime loyalists themselves.

David Singer: Syria – End The Diplomatic Doublespeak Start Getting Serious

The ISSG task force failed to meet once during that critical seven day period. Whilst the UN and the ISSG task force mumbles, fumbles and stumbles, the carnage continues – as the ISSG members remain divided between those supporting Syria’s President Assad retaining power and those seeking his removal.
The ISSG is hopelessly conflicted and needs to adopt a different approach to begin ending the suffering of the Syrian people.
All ISSG members unanimously agree that Islamic State and Al Nusra Front represent a grave threat to world peace and security.
Russia, America, China, France and the United Kingdom – the five permanent members of the Security Council and all ISSG members – need to combine their diplomatic power to procure the passing of an unequivocal and unambiguous Security Council Resolution establishing a UN military force to confront and defeat Islamic State and Al Nusra Front.
Until these enemies are comprehensibly defeated, all else is diplomatic doublespeak and a complete waste of time in ending the conflict in Syria.

IS bombs kill over 150 as US, Russia press Syria truce

A string of suicide bombings near a Shiite shrine outside Syria’s capital and in Homs claimed by jihadists killed more than 150 people Sunday, as Washington and Moscow worked to secure a ceasefire.
The Islamic State group said it was behind the carnage.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said a provisional deal had been reached on the terms of a truce in Syria’s brutal five-year conflict, only for the bloodshed to intensify on the ground.
Near Damascus, a car bombing followed by two consecutive suicide attacks ripped through the area of the Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab and killed 96 people according to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria’s official news agency SANA, quoting a police source, said 178 people, including children, were among the wounded.

IS father kisses son goodbye before sending him on car bombing

The Islamic State recently a video showing a teenage boy kissing his father goodbye before apparently carrying out a suicide car-bombing north of the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Scholars say the group has been posting such videos in increasing numbers recently, suggesting its use of child soldiers exceeds estimates.
The propaganda video was released online by the terrorist organization on February 19.
In the 23-minute film, the teen, identified as Abu Imar al-Omari, is interviewed with his father discussing his impending suicide mission, along with a montage of his training to carry out a vehicle-borne suicide attack. It culminates with footage from a distance claiming to show the teen detonating the explosives-laden SUV in an attack on regime forces.
The boy says on camera that the decision to carry out the suicide bombing was the “greatest feeling one could feel.”

Top Iranian Adviser: All of Israel Within Range of Hezbollah’s ‘100,000 Missiles’

A top Iranian adviser stressed last week that all parts of Israel are now within range of Hezbollah rockets, Tehran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Friday.
Iranian Parliament Speaker’s Adviser for International Affairs Hossein Sheikholeslam made this assertion during a ceremony commemorating the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese Hezbollah terror-master Imad Mughniyah. Claiming Hezbollah now possesses 100,000 missiles, Sheikholeslam said, “There is no place in Israel that the Hezbollah fighters cannot attack.”
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently made a similar proclamation, saying his organization’s “missiles can target any area in occupied Palestine,” while threatening to attack ammonia storage facilities in Israel’s northern city of Haifa.

New IDF Barrier at Northern Border Frustrates Hezbollah

Israeli "artificial barrier" under construction by IDF at northern Galilee border with Lebanon, photographed by Hezbollah.
Innovative new barriers under construction along Israel’s northern border seem to be frustrating Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist organization.
An article published by the Hezbollah-backed Al Manar TV news outlet commented this weekend (Feb. 20) that the “artificial barriers” were being built “in order to prevent Hezbollah fighters from invading Galilee.”
According to the report, the IDF has been building “cliffs and scarps that turns the military movement in the area very difficult.”
The news outlet claims the IDF is creating the barriers as an acknowledgment of its “incapability to face the Islamic Resistance fighters directly. An Israeli officer considered that Hezbollah has not abandoned the southern front despite [his] intervention in Syria.”

Hezbollah: We hacked into Israeli security cameras

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television station said the Lebanon-based terror group has hacked into security cameras in Israel.
According to the late Friday report, the Shiite organization’s “Kadimon” hacking unit has managed to break into security cameras in a variety of locations in Israel, including at the Defense Ministry’s Kirya compound in Tel Aviv.
This is the first time that the organization has claimed to confirm reports in the Lebanese media that its unit has managed to infiltrate “sensitive locations, including social networks pages in Israel,” Israel’s Maariv reported.
There was no Israeli confirmation of the terror group’s claims, nor was there any proof that the footage purportedly obtained was not readily available.

Hezbollah Founder: Neither Russia Nor Iran Serve Interests of Lebanese Shi’ites

One of the founders of Hezbollah has strongly criticized the Iran-backed Lebanese terror organization for its participation in the Syrian civil war, saying that doing so was serving the interests of Tehran and “the Russian conqueror” rather than the Lebanese people.
Subhi al-Tufayli, Hezbollah’s first secretary-general, made his remarks to the Lebanese newspaper al-Mustaqbal Sunday. He expressed fears that Hezbollah’s involvement in the war to support Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad will cause a backlash that will lead to many deaths in both Syria and Lebanon. He also said that Hezbollah should withdraw from Syria, but, he lamented, any decision to do so would be made by Iran, which doesn’t have the best interests of Lebanon’s Shi’ite population at heart.
Muslims must defend the Syrian people by fighting the Russian conqueror as they must defend Palestine by fighting the Zionist conqueror.
Is there a new religion we have not heard about that differentiates between conquerors and permits killing Muslim children in Syria?
I wonder how some of us can give our people and our country to the great powers, believing that Putin is fighting in Syria to exterminate the opposition and that he would leave us alone afterwards.

Elliott Abrams: Iran’s Ruthless Persecution of the Baha’i Continues

The vicious persecution of Iran’s Baha’i community continued this past week. A court sentenced 24 Baha’i to prison sentences of up to 11 years. These are heavy sentences even by Iranian standards.
Their crime? Being Baha’i, and nothing more. The court made not even a pretense that they had committed acts of violence or otherwise broken the law. Their faith has been criminalized in the Islamic Republic.
The next time we read about President Rouhani’s “moderate” government, it is worth remembering these sentences and all the rest of the oppression of Baha’i in Iran. In Rouhani’s years as president, the oppression of the Baha’i, the jailing of their leaders, the exclusion of their children from educational opportunities, and the criminalization of their faith has grown worse and worse. Some “moderate.”

Democratic Senator: White House Funding Not Adequate for IAEA’s Iran Inspections

The White House’s proposed 2017 budget does not include enough money for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to support its inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said Wednesday.
The budget calls for nearly $191 million for the nuclear watchdog, a $5 million increase over the previous year, but less than the $10.6 million increase that the IAEA requested. The United States is the primary financial backer of the IAEA.
“As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am committed to doing everything I can to increase funding for the IAEA during the Appropriations process,” Coons said in a statement. “However, this goal is made considerably more difficult by the administration’s low baseline request.”
While Coons, who is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voted to support the nuclear deal with Iran, he has consistently called for the United States to keep pressure on Tehran to make sure it abides by the deal. Coons emphasized in his statement that “adequate, long-term funding” was needed to ensure that the IAEA could properly monitor Iran under the terms of the nuclear deal.

BDS Fail. Gaza style

The current buzzword is "siege".
Gaza may not be "occupied" but its under "siege".
What does this "siege" look like?
Anti-Israel activists want you to believe that the population of Gaza is suffering and in despair, deprived of all but their most basic needs. Its not true.
Like many shops, the Metro market, a Gaza grocery store, advertises its weekly sales on its Facebook page.
If Gaza is suffering from a shortage of consumer goods because of the Israeli naval blockade, there's no indication of it at the Gaza Metro Market.

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