07/21 Links Pt1: Refugee Camps or Terrorist Bases?; A Deadly EU Blind Spot on Israel ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: The Palestinians: Refugee Camps or Terrorist Bases?

The 450,000 Palestinians in Lebanon are still banned from several professions, especially in the fields of medicine and law. They refer to these restrictions as apartheid measures. The Lebanese apartheid measures against Palestinians are rarely mentioned in the Western media and international human rights groups. The UN does not seem overly concerned about this discrimination.
Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon have become in the past few decades bases for various innumerable militias and terrorist groups.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA, is formally in charge of the refugee camps in Lebanon, including those that are now providing shelter to Islamist terrorists.
The Lebanese authorities are increasingly running out of patience with the growing Islamist threat.

A Deadly EU Blind Spot on Israel

Following last week’s terror attack in Nice, a Belgian Jewish organization issued a highly unusual statement charging that, had European media not spent months “ignoring” Palestinian terror against Israel out of “political correctness,” the idea of a truck being used as a weapon wouldn’t have come as such a shock. But it now turns out that European officials did something much worse than merely ignoring Palestinian attacks: They issued a 39-page report, signed by almost every EU country, blaming these attacks on “the occupation” rather than the terrorists. The obvious corollary was that European countries had no reason to fear similar attacks and, therefore, they didn’t bother taking precautions that could have greatly reduced the casualties.
The most shocking part of the Nice attack was how high those casualties were: The truck driver managed to kill 84 people before he was stopped. By comparison, as the New York Times reported on Monday, Israel has suffered at least 32 car-ramming attacks since last October, yet all these attacks combined have killed exactly two people (shootings and stabbings are much deadlier). Granted, most involved private cars, but even attacks using buses or heavy construction vehicles never approached the scale of Nice’s casualties. The deadliest ramming attack in Israel’s history, in 2001, killed eight.
Firstly, this is because Israel deploys massive security for mass gatherings like Nice’s Bastille Day celebrations, forcing Palestinian assailants to make do with less densely-populated targets, like bus stops or light rail stops, which greatly lowers the death toll. As an Israeli police spokesman told the New York Times, an Israeli event comparable to the one in Nice would entail “a 360-degree enclosure of the area, with layers of security around the perimeter,” including major roads “blocked off with rows of buses, and smaller side streets with patrol cars,” plus a massive police presence reinforced by counterterrorism units “strategically placed to provide a rapid response, if needed.”
Secondly, Israeli security personnel have no qualms about using deadly force against terrorists in mid-rampage if less lethal means would take longer to succeed because they understand that the best way to save innocent lives is to stop the attack as quickly as possible. This lesson was driven home by a 2008 attack in which a Palestinian plowed a heavy construction vehicle into a crowded Jerusalem street. A policewoman tried to stop him without killing him; she wounded him and then climbed into the cab to handcuff him. But while she was trying to cuff him, he managed to restart the vehicle and kill another person before he was shot dead.

ISIS Praises “Palestinian Tactic” of Truck Attack in Nice

ISIS supporters have praised the terrorist who used his truck to kill 84 people in Nice, France last week, hailing the Palestinians for developing the car ramming method.
“Killing by ramming using civilian cars and trucks is an idea born from the Maqdisi [Palestinian] mind, which has an innovative nature of thinking up jihad tactics,” one ISIS supporter commented on the social network Telegram. “Yesterday they taught us [about] the explosive vest, and many plans for street fighting, and today they taught us this tactic. May Allah bless Jerusalem and the environs of Jerusalem, and may Allah bless all of the Levant… Oh Aqsa, we are coming.”
Vehicular attacks have become a hallmark of Palestinian terrorism. According to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 46 car ramming attacks have been carried out by Palestinian terrorists in Israel since last September. One particularly high-profile incident in October 2015 saw a Palestinian terrorist ram his car into a group of people waiting at a bus-stop, then proceed to exit the vehicle and hack one of those wounded — Rabbi Yeshayahu Krishevsky — to death. (The terrorist involved was later called a “martyr” by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who met with the killer’s family.)

JPost Editorial: Jerusalem Post Editorial: March on

On the eve of this year’s Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, the capital’s mayor has opted out of the event, while leading rabbis continued to spread incitement against it.
Members of the LGBT community have prepared a joyful celebration that otherwise marks one year since the brutal stabbing murder of 16-year-old Shira Banki by a fanatical, homophobic ultra-Orthodox Jew. An augmented police force is being deployed to protect participants from the consequences of incitement that continues unabated from the usual suspects, but in a stunning reversal, Mayor Nir Barkat has apparently joined the inciters.
In an interview with Yediot Aharonot, Barkat – whose municipal coalition is dominated by right-wing and religious members, and who recently joined the Likud in an apparent move to prepare a run for the premiership – stated: “I won’t march, because I don’t want to be part of the harm to the ultra-Orthodox public and the religious-Zionist public... As mayor, I represent everyone, and therefore I’m on the side of the heads of the community and their rights, and I’ll do everything to facilitate their realizing them.”

Jerusalem’s gay pride parade kicks off under heavy security

The fifteenth annual Jerusalem gay pride parade was set to begin marching through downtown Jerusalem under heavy security Thursday afternoon, a year after a religious extremist knifed a teenager to death and wounded six others at 2015’s march.
Ten thousand people were on hand to march under the banner of LGBT pride, but also under the watchful eye of some 2,000 police on hand to secure the highly charged march.
Even before the parade officially began, officers arrested 12 people on suspicion that they intended to disrupt the event, an Israel Police spokeswoman said. Two of them were in possession of knives, Luba Samri said in a statement. “The police will continue to use a firm harm and show zero tolerance toward anyone who tries to disrupt the parade in any way,” she added.
Jerusalem police chief Yoram Halevy said earlier in a briefing to reporters, “There was a serious threat of danger to those participating [in the Jerusalem pride parade.”

Hundreds of police officers to be deployed for Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade

One year after 16-year-old Shira Banki was murdered by a religious zealot during the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, police announced unprecedented security measures for Thursday’s annual LGBT march through downtown Jerusalem.
Expecting a record turnout following last year’s deadly hate crime – committed by Yishai Schlissel, who was released from prison days before for carrying out a similar attack 10 years earlier – police spokeswoman Luba Samri said multiple units are leaving nothing to chance.
Schlissel, who stabbed Banki and six others, expressed no remorse for his crime. He was sentenced to life imprisonment last month.
At his sentencing, the court also took police to task for not stopping a man who publicized his intent to attack participants of the parade.

East Jerusalem Palestinians keep distance from LGBT Pride March

While Jerusalem’s LGBT pride parade is causing roadblocks and a large police presence around West Jerusalem, where the march is taking place, in East Jerusalem Palestinians remain largely indifferent and unaffected by the festivities.
Around Damascus Gate there is a visible calm as vendors sell lychee and cactus fruit, which are in season, and a group of Israeli police quietly munch on falafel.
A gathering of Palestinian men drinking tea after midday Thursday prayers did not know about the march but disagreed with the idea in principle.
“I am against this type of parade as our religion does not approve of homosexuality,” stated Maher Salem who practices law in East Jerusalem.
Abdullah al-Masri a shop owner near Damascus Gate expressed indifference “The gay community is free to buy from my store, but I would not want a parade to come through here, it would cause too much conflict.”

David Singer: Abbas Has Sown The Seeds For His Own Political Demise

Abbas can’t be serious. Asking the United Nations to reject a Report to which it is a contributing party is incomprehensible. Expecting the European Union to act likewise would be irrational.
Abbas joins a long list of Arab leaders who rejected offers made possible by the efforts of the international community to resolve the Arab-Jewish conflict in 1922, 1937, 1947, 2000/1 and 2007.
The conflict could have been ended between 1948 and 1967 with the stroke of an Arab League pen - after six of its member-State armies invaded Palestine in 1948 and forcibly expelled every single Jew living in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), Gaza and East Jerusalem.
United Nations and European Union calls for the creation of a second Arab State in former Palestine – in addition to Jordan – since the 1980 Venice Declaration have been mistakenly construed by the PLO as a licence unrealistically to demand:
* The return of millions of “refugees” to Israel
* Establishment of the prospective State of Palestine in all of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital
* Non-recognition of Israel as the Jewish National Home
The United Nations and the European Union have gone to extraordinary lengths to continue supporting the PLO despite the continuing terror, hatred and incitement now identified in the Quartet Report.
Abbas fumes and fulminates whilst illegally clinging to power.
Attacking the Quartet – and, by association, the United Nations and European Union – are acts of unbelievable ingratitude and incredible political stupidity.
Abbas has sown the seeds for his own political demise.

'Palestinians, Sudan working to restrain Israeli breakthrough in Africa'

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki announced on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority and Sudan are coordinating to “restrain Israeli movements” in the African continent.
“President Mahmoud Abbas and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir [wanted for war crimes by the ICC] discussed developing a strategy for the African continent and coordinating to restrain Israeli attempts to make a breakthrough in Africa,” the Palestinian foreign minister told a group of journalists in Khartoum.
On Saturday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Kigali, Rwanda to deliver an address to the 27th Summit of the African Union.
On Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority president landed in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for a three-day state visit, where he signed a number of agreements with Sudan, one of which establishes a mechanism for political consultations between the PA and Sudanese governments.

If Paris goes ahead with peace summit, I doubt we’ll be there, says Dore Gold

It was unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was kidding or being serious when, answering questions in the Knesset Monday, he congratulated “the foreign minister and his staff” for their excellent work in broadening and deepening Israel’s international relations. He was straight-faced, seemingly in earnest. But surely not, since he was speaking about himself; Netanyahu is the foreign minister.
What is not up for debate is that under his stewardship, the Israeli government can boast some impressive foreign policy achievements: increasingly warm ties with powerhouses Russia, China, Japan and India, normalization with Turkey, new friendships in Africa and, perhaps most importantly, a noticeable rapprochement with Egypt and with other Arab states that have never formally recognized Israel’s existence.
On the downside, relations with Jerusalem’s traditional key allies — the United States and the European Union — are tense due to substantive disagreements over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dore Gold, a long-time confidant of the prime minister, has become the face of Israel’s foreign policy since he became the director-general of the Foreign Ministry in June 2015. In a wide-ranging interview, the Connecticut-born diplomat laid out his views on the current Palestinian leadership and the logic behind Israel’s strategy vis-a-vis with the Arab world. He also elaborated on Israel’s rejection of the French effort to revive the stalled peace process.

Egypt's Sisi wants to 'break deadlock' in peace process

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Thursday his country was serious about pushing forward peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
"Egypt's recent serious effort aims to break the deadlock that has hung over peace efforts," he said in a speech broadcast live on state TV.
"It is a sincere effort to make everyone face their responsibilities and warn of the consequences of delays in achieving peace," he said.
His remarks followed a trip by Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Israel earlier this month, the first such visit in nine years.
Sisi said in May that Egypt was willing to take part in peace talks, saying there was a "real opportunity" for an Israeli-Palestinian deal that could lead to warmer ties between his country and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who met Shoukry during his visit, welcomed Sisi's offer.
Shoukry also met PA leaders in Ramallah.

Israeli UN envoy: Lebanon lying about Israeli truce 'violations'

In a series of letters to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, Lebanon accused Israel of violating their end-of-war agreement for the Second Lebanon War.
A decade since the war was declared over, Lebanon’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Nawaf Salam, wrote a series of letters accusing Israel of violating Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War.
A counter-letter by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon refutes the claims: “These letters contain intentionally misleading accusations against Israel with regards to violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”
In one example, Danon points out that an accusation that Israel threw a smoke bomb toward a dirt road patrolled by the Lebanese Army in Jall al-Alam, is entirely distorted: the smoke bomb landed in Israeli territory, and was thrown in response to suspicious behavior of Lebanese soldiers and Hezbollah members along the border.
In fact, Danon writes, the Blue Line - the border between Israel and Lebanon - was not crossed by Israel during any of the "incidents," which utterly belies the claim that Israel violated resolution 1701.

PA urges more construction in Israeli-controlled Area C

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is calling for more Palestinian construction in Judea and Samaria, and particularly in Area C which is under full Israeli control.
PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, visiting the new city of Rawabi in the Ramallah area, on Wednesday stressed the importance of urban development in all of Judea and Samaria.
"The construction on all parts of our land is our response to the Israeli violations and its displacement and expulsion plans,” said Hamdallah.
He stressed that “the construction is the realization of the Palestinians' natural right to live in freedom, dignity and hopefully like other nations, and proof that Area C is a natural extension of the land and the Palestinian state.”

Israel Passes Law Enabling Knesset to Expel Members Over Incitement

In a 62-47 vote, the Israeli Knesset on Tuesday passed an impeachment law that enables Members of Knesset (MKs) to expel fellow lawmakers who are found to have incited against the state of Israel.
The new law states that Knesset members can pursue the impeachment of other lawmakers if their actions and ideology “negate the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, incite racism, or express support for an armed struggle against the State of Israel by an enemy state or terrorist organization.”
Until now, the Knesset has only been able to take disciplinary action against such Knesset members, and was able to dismiss elected officials only if Israel’s attorney general strips them of their parliamentary immunity. The new law amends this law to give lawmakers the ability to launch impeachment proceedings against fellow lawmakers if the proceedings are supported by at least 70 Knesset members, including at least 10 opposition Knesset members. An affirmative vote from 90 of the Knesset’s 120 members is then needed for the impeachment to pass.
The law was spurred by Arab Member of Knesset Haneen Zoabi, whom many lawmakers want to expel because of her frequent comments against the Israel Defense Forces and other government institutions. But the new law reportedly will not apply to acts committed before it came into effect, so lawmakers will not be able to use the law to expel Zoabi.

PMW: Israeli legislation triggered by PMW report

On April 2, 2016, Palestinian Media Watch exposed that three Israeli-Arab Members of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, met with families of terrorists who had recently been killed while murdering or attempting to murder Israelis. One of the Arab MPs referred to one of the murderers by the Islamic term of highest honor: "Shahids" - Martyrs, a term indicating that the action that brought his death was welcomed and rewarded by God. They all stood in honor of the terrorists while the prayer for the Shahids - Martyrs was recited.
Within hours of PMW's press release, the Israeli-Arabs MPs were condemned across the Israeli political spectrum. A few days later the House Committee of the Israeli Parliament invited PMW director Itamar Marcus to present documentation before the committee, and a few hours later the Parliament's Ethics Committee suspended the MPs for between two and four months.
This week, the Israeli Parliament passed a law intended to prevent any Israeli Member of Parliament from honoring or glorifying terrorists in the future, by permitting the Parliament to expel an MP from Parliament for:
"Incitement to violence or racism, support for armed conflict against Israel, or rejecting Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."
The legislation requires that 90 MPs out of 120 vote in favor of the dismissal.

Warehouse owner indicted for harboring Sarona terrorists

An indictment was filed this morning (Thursday) in the Be'er Sheva Magistrate Court against a warehouse owner in the Bedouin town of Segev Shalom, on charges of harboring individuals who crossed illegally from Judea and Samaria in his warehouse for long periods of time.
The warehouse owner charged 200 NIS per month for every illegal resident staying in the warehouse.
According to the indictment, the two terrorists who perpetrated the deadly attack in the Sarona market in Tel Aviv last month had stayed in the warehouse as they prepared for the attack.
The availability of the warehouse for housing illegal residents had been known to the terrorists in advance. They arrived at 5:00 pm on the day of the attack, shaved and dressed up in the suits that helped them evade suspicion as they walked through the streets of Tel Aviv, entered the Sarona market, and opened fire.
Near 7:00 pm, the terrorists Mohammed and Khaled left the warehouse carrying briefcases containing the weapons that they eventually used to murder 4 people.

Bereaved families protest release of bus bombing accomplice

Thirteen years after their children were murdered in the No. 37 bus bombing in Haifa, bereaved parents and families are protesting the possible parole of an accomplice in the attack, Mounir Rajbi, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence.
Rajbi, who lived in Haifa at the time of the attack, was charged with helping Hamas find a location for the attack, hiding an explosive device, and aiding the terrorist in reaching the attack site. His brother, a Hamas operative from Hebron, was also involved in the attack, which killed 17 people, most of them teenagers and children.
Bereaved family members fought against a plea bargain initially offered to Rajbi and also pushed for him to receive the maximum sentence for aiding and abetting the enemy during wartime. Rajbi was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Over the last several years, the families have also pushed the Interior Ministry to revoke Rajbi's residency status and to deport him to Judea and Samaria. Their request had been repeatedly denied.

Firearms Prices Skyrocket in West Bank Amid Fears of Looming Anarchy

Firearms prices in the West Bank have increased exponentially, a Palestinian security official told Breitbart Jerusalem, a testament to a decline in law and order in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
There are also fears Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will soon leave office, possibly setting off a power struggle amongst Palestinian strongmen vying to take his place.
Sights from bygone years, such as processions of armed militants and acquisition of ammunition have returned, he said. “Everybody knows hell is about to break loose and everybody tries to protect themselves and their interests.”
“The price hike testifies to soaring demand, and it is clear that the West Bank is getting closer to breaking point,” he said. “Once it happens, everybody wants to be ready.”

Palestinian organization blasts latest Hamas death sentences

The Gaza Military Court announced a sentence of death by hanging for a man identified as M.S., aged 59, from the Tuffah area east of Gaza city on charges of "collaborating with the Israeli occupation."
The Higher Military Court said it had confirmed execution orders against two other men, one a 49-year-old man from Khan Yunis, by hanging and a Gaza City man aged 38 by firing squad.
In response, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemned in a statement the "excessive" punishment and said that "civilians should not appear before military courts."
The authorities in Gaza executed three men behind closed doors in May, the first time the death penalty had been carried out since 2014.
13 death sentences have been pronounced this year, 12 of which were issued by military courts, according to PCHR.
Hamas regularly claims to have captured “Israeli spies”, and many times it tries them and sentences them to death.

One Dead, Three Injured as Islamist Mob Attacks Christian Families in Egypt

A Muslim mob attacked the families of two Coptic Christian priests in southern Egypt, killing one man and wounding three others, officials said Monday.
Fam Khalaf, 27, was stabbed to death as the armed mob descended on the Christian families in the town of Tahna al-Gabal late Sunday. The father of one of the priests was among those wounded.
Officials said the fighting stemmed from a personal feud. According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, “local media reports suggest the fighting resulted from an argument between Muslim and Christian children over priority to pass through the street.” Police said four people were arrested over the incident.
The assault drew protests from local Christians against the recent surge in violence against their community. Coptic Christians make up ten percent of Egypt’s population, which is primarily comprised of Sunni Muslims. Members of the Coptic Church, which dates its presence in Egypt to around 50 CE, are occasionally targeted for sectarian attacks and have long complained of discrimination.
On Saturday, a group of Muslims targeted and torched Christian houses in the town of Abu-Yacoub, following rumors that a Christian sought to convert a kindergarten into a church. Fourteen people were arrested in connection to the violence. Another group attacked and set Christian houses ablaze in the town of Kom al-Lufi after a similar rumor circulated last week.

Egypt Orders Muslim Clerics to Deliver Pre-Written Anti-Extremist Sermons

Egypt’s government is drafting Muslim clerics into a campaign against violent extremism by providing them with pre-written weekly sermons they will be expected to read faithfully, and quickly, as the government is also providing imams with time limits to “ensure they do not lose their train of thought.”
Unsurprisingly, the clerics are not pleased. “Several preachers voiced anger at the move, saying it would prevent talented preachers from shining and that different communities had different issues of interest that needed to be discussed in the mosque,” Reuters reports.
One dissenting imam seemed comfortable with the idea of using sermons to address civic issues but objected to a top-down approach from Cairo: “Everywhere in Egypt, every city or village, has different circumstances. A certain village might have a robbery problem and so the sermon should talk about thievery. Another place might have widespread murder and that is what should be discussed.”
As Reuters observes, the Egyptian government has actually been giving imams topics for their Friday sermons since 2014, but now the plan is to give them complete scripts.

Erdogan to world leaders: Mind your own business

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on his policies of purging Turkish society of suspected dissidents in an interview yesterday (Wednesday) with Al-Jazeera, addressing the criticisms of several world leaders directly.
Erdogan's efforts have focused mainly on rooting out all supporters of rival Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who he blames for masterminding Friday night's failed coup. Gulen denies any involvement.
The Turkish President spoke in the interview about the efforts to extradite Mr. Gulen from the US, saying that if the Americans refused to hand Gulen over, it would be a "big mistake." Erdogan claimed that the investigation into the coup has turned up substantial evidence that Gulen was behind it, and that all this evidence has been presented to the Obama administration.
The Turkish government hasn't waited for Gulen's arrival before closing down many of the schools associated with the exiled cleric's religious organization.
"The coup was an attempt by a minority, Gulen's supporters, to impose itself on the majority," said the President.

Turkey Declares 3-Month State of Emergency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared Wednesday that the government would be implementing a three-month state of emergency following Friday’s failed army coup.
The state of emergency grants the president and his cabinet increased powers such as the ability to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and allows them to limit or suspend rights and freedoms.
Speaking after meetings of the national security council and the cabinet at the presidential palace in Ankara, Erdoğan said: “This measure is in no way against democracy, the law and freedoms,” adding, “Europe does not have the right to criticize this decision,” Reuters reports.
EU leaders have been critical of Erdoğan’s response to the coup, which has seen thousands of teachers, public servants, police officers and military personnel, as well as others, suspended from their jobs or detained.

Turkish Pilots who Downed Russian Jet Arrested over Coup Plot

Two Turkish pilots accused of shooting down a Russian plane near the Turkish-Syrian border last November were arrested in the wake of Friday’s failed military coup, AFP reports.
The downing of a Russian jet by Turkish military caused a diplomatic row between the two countries, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it “a stab in the back,” until Moscow and Ankara agreed to restore relations last month.
“Two pilots who were part of the operation to down the Russian Su-24 in November 2015 are in custody” over links with the failed coup, a Turkish official told journalists.
Putin called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after Friday’s coup attempt, deeming it “completely unacceptable” and expressing hope that stability would return, the Kremlin said in a statement. The two leaders plan to meet in August, according to Turkish state media.

One Year after the Iran Nuclear Deal

The Lessons Are Very Simple
The Iranians and the rest of the people living in the Middle East understand that the West is weak. The Iranians, like other Radical Islamists (and Russia) take advantage of that. They proceed with their plans to take over the Middle East from the Pragmatists and threaten Israel. The Pragmatists in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan are scared. Those who are in immediate threat of living under Radical regimes, like the Syrians, are leaving the Middle East and immigrate to Europe (or more precisely to Germany). This huge wave started right after the conclusion of the deal because the deal was the major sign that the West had given up on them. Those who control their own fate are fighting back and look for Israeli cooperation. That is why Israel has strengthened its relations with the pragmatic Arab countries, especially Egypt.
Eventually, we shall all have to live with the consequences. Unless the pragmatists and Israel manage to prevent Iran from reaching its goals, Iran will have in 10-15 years the ability to equip itself with a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons and will not change its messianic nature. This was the exact motive of the deal from the Iranian point of view. Otherwise, the Iranians would not have accepted it. The West knew that very well, but to delay the danger a bit and to avoid any confrontation it was ready to “kick the can down the road” while paving for the Mullahs a guaranteed way to their dreams – and which are our nightmares.

In New Threat to West, Iran Official Calls for Plans to Build Uranium-Enrichment Plant

Iranian officials issued new threats against the West on Wednesday, warning that failure to uphold the nuclear deal will result in harsh consequences, Iranian state media reported.
In an address to the country’s parliament — the Majlis — Speaker Ali Larijani called on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to prepare plans to build a nuclear plant with the express purpose of enriching uranium, the semi-official state news agency Fars reported.
According to Larijani, “disruptive moves” by the UN and the US, coupled with what he claimed to be America’s disloyalty to the year-old Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are sufficient cause for Tehran to take defiant measures.
Also on Wednesday, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, announced that Iran will hold various war games across the country, which will last through the end of the year, Fars reported. The war games are intended to flex Iran’s military muscles and test its advanced missile systems, the IRGC commander said.

Iran left with no choice but to confront the US, official warns

Iran is left with no choice but to confront the US, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani warned Wednesday.
Iran's Press TV quoted Larijani as issuing the warning in light of legislation proposed by US opponents to the Iran nuclear deal to further sanction the Islamic Republic and the UN's first bi-annual report on the deal's implementation released earlier this week which suggested that Iran was not following "the spirit of the deal."
"Majlis (Iranian Parliament), utterly regretting the UN chief’s move, is warning the US administration and its House of Representatives and Senate that injurious measures against the nuclear agreement have reached such a point that there is no way left for Iran but to counteract,” Larijani stated.
Discussing Ban's report, Larijani said, "On the one hand, the Secretary General says in his report that Iran’s commitment is encouraging, and on the other, he makes no reference to Iran’s concerns and complaints about the non-implementation of all of the P5+1’s obligations.”

US court reverses judgment giving Iran building money to terror victims

A record terrorism-related forfeiture order benefiting families of some victims of Iran-sponsored attacks in Israel and elsewhere and others was reversed on appeal Wednesday, leaving in doubt what will happen to a $1 billion Manhattan office building at the center of the legal case.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected a judge’s reasoning in ordering the sale of the 36-story office building and other properties to benefit family members of victims of terrorism attacks, including several attacks in Jerusalem.
The families and the US government had sued the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., the building’s partial owners. US Attorney Preet Bharara has said the sale of the buildings would constitute the largest ever terrorism-related forfeiture.
In 2013, Judge Katherine Forrest said revenue from the buildings passed through a state-owned Iranian bank, violating a US-trade embargo, and thus were eligible for forfeiture. They were to be sold by the US Marshals Service, with proceeds distributed among 19 holders of over $5 billion in terrorism-related judgments against the government of Iran.
The appeals court disagreed with Forrest, casting doubt on evidence that the properties were controlled by Iran.

Argentina seeks extradition of Iranian over AMIA bombing

Argentina on Wednesday asked Singapore and Malaysia Wednesday to extradite a former Iranian foreign minister whom it accuses of involvement in a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center, AFP reports.
An investigating judge issued the request after learning that Ali Akbar Velayati, who is on the Interpol wanted list, was on a lecture tour to the two Southeast Asian countries, a judicial source told the news agency.
Argentine investigators accuse Velayati and four other Iranian former officials, including former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, of orchestrating the July 18, 1994 car bombing at the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association in Buenos Aires.
The Iranians allegedly ordered Iran's Lebanese proxy Hezbollah to carry out the bombing, the deadliest terror attack in the South American country's history.
Iran denies involvement and has repeatedly rejected Argentine demands for the accused to testify.

No Saudi Surprises in 9/11 Commission's '28 Pages'

On July 15, the U.S. Congress released the appendix, redacted since 2002, to the governmental inquiry regarding American intelligence failures in the period leading to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The "28 pages" kept out of the public eye for 14 years have stimulated widespread speculation. One thing, however, came to be accepted widely: that the 28 pages had to do with the involvement of Saudi Arabian subjects or officials in the terrorist atrocities.
Now that the controversial section of the 9/11 report is available for scrutiny, the suspicion that it dealt with Saudis is confirmed.
But the 28 pages do not offer significant evidence of official Saudi support or approval for Al-Qaeda or the 9/11 conspiracy.
Rather, the 28 pages, headed as Part Four of the report, the "Finding, Discussion, and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters," recapitulate matters mainly reported publicly soon after 9/11.

MEMRI: Article In Jordanian Daily: In 9/11 The U.S. – Which Works To Destroy The World – Used Lethal Gas To Melt The Aircraft

In a June 15, 2016 article in the Jordanian daily Al-Dustour, Jordanian lawyer Sufian Al-Shawa claimed that the U.S. has developed a special gas that melts people and objects, and that it utilized this gas in the 9/11 attacks and the 2003 Iraq War. According to Al-Shawa, the U.S. has also supplied this gas to Israel, which used it against Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp. Al-Shawa stated that use of this gas explains the disappearance of the parts of the aircraft that struck the World Trade Center, and the disappearance of the bodies of Iraqi fighters and of 3,000 Palestinian fighters in Jenin. Al-Shawa also mentioned the 1992 crash of El-Al Flight 1862 near Amsterdam, arguing that its high death toll and the disappearance of the passengers were the result of the plane carrying this melting gas.
U.S. Scientists Looks For Ways To Wreak Havoc On Humanity Instead Of Working To Help The World
"There is no end to scientific research. However, some countries, like the U.S., search for ways to wreak havoc instead of having their scientists research fields that would help the world. It seems as though the cowboy genes still reside in the bodies and minds of the Americans... As though the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during WWII, which killed tens of thousands of Japanese, was not enough to get the U.S. to end [its] horrible research and experiments, it recently discovered a new devastating gas that can melt humans, steel, rocks, and basically anything.
"The world began to hear about this gas after the collapse of the famous [Twin] Towers in New York on September 11, 2001 – a crime that Arabs were accused of committing... The whole world saw small passenger jets that were simultaneously hijacked from a number of U.S. airports hit the tall towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. But firefighters did not find the fuselages of the planes that had hit the towers. They also did not find any trace of the passengers on these jets. The question asked was, where are the fuselages of the planes? The planes and the bodies of the pilots were never recovered. So where did they go? The truth is that the U.S. knows the answer, but has not revealed it, and it has remained one of its military secrets.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.